Headline goes We’re doing Rye grads make here xxxx xxxx bike lanes wrong hockey history xxxxxx xxx xxx page 11 page 9
Headline goes here xxxx xxx page xx
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2017
yersonian R
ryersonian.ca Volume 72 Number 8
Produced by the Ryerson School of Journalism
Ryerson pot policies still up in smoke MAGGIE MACINTOSH RYERSONIAN
Canadians will be able to smoke marijuana legally this summer, but it remains unclear how Ryerson will police its use. Last week, the Ontario government unveiled plans to regulate the sale of marijuana online and at 150 stores operated by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Under the legislation, those 19 and older in the province will be able to possess up to 30 grams of dried marijuana and grow a maximum of four house plants. The House of Commons first introduced legislation in April to legalize and regulate the drug starting July 1, 2018.
Provinces are now establishing regulations for its sale and use. However, it is still unclear how universities, including Ryerson, will regulate on-campus marijuana usage. “We simply don’t have answers quite yet,” Ryerson’s public affairs manager Johanna VanderMaas told the Ryersonian in an email. “As details and guidelines emerge regarding marijuana legalization, we will certainly be very engaged and involved in discussing our own internal policies.” If passed, the Ontario Cannabis Act will also ban the use of cannabis in public places like Gould Street.
What’s online Check out ryersonian.ca to read about a nature walk that helps students’ mental wellness, as well as a feature on accessibility challenges on campus.
‘You run like a girl’ Rye grad Nadia Addesi’s project showcases portraits and interviews that try to challenge stigmas and empower women. page 8 KATE SKELLY | RYERSONIAN
Please see CODE page 3
Listen
Watch Morning Update
weekdays at 10 a.m. on CJRU And subscribe to the podcast
Ryersonian This Week on iTunes and Google Play
Morning Update weekdays at 10 a.m.
Ryersonian This Week Fridays at 2 p.m.
Available on Facebook Live, ryersonian.ca, and on screens throughout the RCC
2
R yersonian News
Rye students react to TTC overcrowding ryersonian.ca Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Millennials most likely to attend Remembrance Day events: poll
New audit on campus accessibility
New survey says millennials least likely to wear poppies but most likely to attend ceremonies
BROOKE TAYLOR
NATASHA HERMANN
The Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) is planning an accessibility audit after the Student Learning Centre (SLC) was criticized for inaccessibility last week. David Lepofsky, the chair of Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, released a video on Oct. 29 showing the SLC’s problems with accessibility. The video showed him walking into pillars and getting turned around on stairs because of angled railings. It also shows him bumping into people whose legs hang off what Lepofsky calls the “hangout steps” into the ramp area. The RSU audit will be led by Camryn Harlick, who reached out to a third-party organization and provided an accessibility audit checklist. “We want to check what we should be looking for instead of creating our own,” said RSU president Susanne Nyaga. “They have expertise in this area.” The RSU will use volunteers to help complete the audit with the assistance of Ryerson students, faculty and staff who have both visible and non-visible disabilities. RyeACCESS will be included in the process, Nyaga added. “We never support doing work for a community without involving that community,” said Nyaga. Nyaga said the goal is to be able to create long- and short-term plans for Ryerson to become a more accessible university.
RYERSONIAN
Millennials are more likely to attend Remembrance Day services than any other age group in Canada. That’s according to results from a poll Historica Canada released Monday. The poll, conducted by Ipsos, found 37 per cent of people aged 18 to 34 are planning to commemorate Remembrance Day by participating in an event. Only 23 per cent of those in the generation X category (aged 35-54), and 29 per cent of baby boomers (55 years of age and older) plan to attend a commemoration, according to the poll. First-year engineering student Adam Ferguson is surprised by the results of the study. “I’m walking around campus and I don’t see anyone wearing poppies,” he said. Based on the poll results, 70 per cent of millennials are likely to wear a poppy, but they are still the least likely group among the three surveyed generations to do so. Overall, the poll concluded that three in 10 Canadians plan to attend Remembrance Day ceremonies. This is three points higher than last year. The poll revealed that only about half of Canadians willingly attended a Remembrance Day ceremony in the past. This Remembrance Day commemorates pivotal battles, like the 100th anniversary of the battles of Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele,
NATASHA HERMANN | RYERSONIAN
Above: Film studies student Alexandra Tse wears a poppy for Remembrance Day. Below: Ryerson community members can find poppies for a donation at the Student Learning Centre.
and the 75th anniversary of the 1942 Dieppe Raid. Ferguson hopes to attend an event around campus and said he believes if millennials “don’t keep up the traditions, then it’s going to be forgotten.” The university has planned its annual Remembrance Day ceremony for 10:50 a.m. on Nov. 10. Ryerson provost and vice-president academic Michael Benarroch will host the event. Third-year Ryerson student Brandon Moe said millennials attend ceremonies because the generation wants a way to connect with history, outside of learning about war in school or through family members.
NATASHA HERMANN | RYERSONIAN
“By wearing the poppies and going to those events, you gain that connection back,” he said. Moe said young people can use social media to share support for veterans. Historica Canada’s poll suggests
numbers of people attending ceremonies will continue to climb next year, as the 100-year anniversary of the First World War armistice approaches. @Natasha_H96
RYERSONIAN
@bro0ketaylor
4
R yersonian
News 3
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
CODE cont’d...
Code of conduct bans drug possession and consumption
WANTED: CHRISTMAS GIFT WRAPPERS Great job for creative individuals! Downtown, Midtown Toronto, Brampton locations Managers earn up to $14.25/hour + bonuses Wrappers up to $12.50/hour
VanderMaas said that maintaining an appropriate learning environment is a priority for the university. Ryerson currently has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to marijuana usage. “Given right now it’s an illegal substance, it’s treated as such,” said Simon Finn, Ryerson’s student conduct officer. “Once that changes, I’m sure there’ll be updates and information from the university as to what’s expected.” Ryerson’s Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct states community members, “shall not possess, provide, or consume illegal drugs.” The code applies to all those on-campus. It also applies to
individuals off-campus if they declare they represent the university or participate in a course or university event outside Ryerson’s grounds. Among the code’s penalties are written apologies, community service, bans from Ryerson buildings or areas, course de-enrolment and expulsion. “I haven’t smoked on campus but I have seen it and I smell it almost every day,” third-year philosophy student Yulian Starchenko said. Starchenko said the two main areas where people smoke pot are the quad and the ServiceHub balcony. Philosophy majors like Starchenko are the most likely university students to roll joints during
study breaks. That’s according to the 2018 Maclean’s university study. The study also found that 33 per cent of Ryerson students use pot at least once a year. Bishop’s University in Quebec had the highest rate of usage among the 49 universities at 60 per cent. There were 384 respondents to this year’s Maclean’s survey and rankings system, which asked students multiple-choice questions about their university experience. Toking was self-reported. Only three per cent of Ryerson respondents said they use marijuana on a daily basis. @macintoshmaggie
Full & Part Time Available - December 1 to 24. TO APPLY, GO TO:
www.TorontoWraps.com FREE FACIAL (with product) Acne, Acne Scars Dry & Oily Skin Free 15 min Electrolysis/Laser victoryskincare.com
Yonge & Beautiful Cosmetic Clinic 384 Yonge Street, Unit 8 At Aura Shopping Yonge/Gerrard
416-921-2512 bestbeautydeal @hotmail.com
Students, Provide your opinion about Ryerson professors and courses!
Complete the online
Faculty Course Survey for a chance to win one of two Apple Watches!
- Log into my.ryerson.ca
- Click “Complete the Survey”
- Go to “Participate” module
- Answer the survey questions
- Click “Faculty Course Survey”
- Provide comments to your professors Scan to complete surveys on your mobile device
44 Advertisement
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
R yersonian
You saw an empty building.
Celebrating Mattamy Athletic Centre’s 5th Anniversary. Thank you for five years of spirit, excellence, community and pride. Thanks especially to‌ All Ryerson students Mattamy Homes & Peter E. Gilgan The Government of Canada Loblaw Companies Coca-Cola Les Aliments Unifood The Kavanagh family Your leadership was a game changer.
We saw the future of athletics at Ryerson.
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
4
R yersonian
News 5
6
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
R yers
Features
Ryerson student by da Meet Narcos actor
The broadcast student talks about his role in Degrassi, his frien
EMMA KING | RYERSONIAN
Raymond Ablack is currently in his third year at Ryerson as an RTA School of Media broadcast student. He took a year off studies to film season 3 of Narcos. EMMA KING AND MADDIE MACNEIL RYERSONIAN
It’s 4 p.m. and you’re home from school. Although you should probably be doing your homework, you sit on the couch and turn on the TV. You’re feeling nostalgic, so maybe you’ll watch a couple old episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation. But then you remember the third season of Narcos was released and you haven’t caught up yet. You’re torn between the two. Two completely different shows with different casts, right?
Wrong. Meet Raymond Ablack, a 27-year-old actor from Toronto who plays both Sav Bhandari in Degrassi: The Next Generation and Agent Stoddard in the third season of Narcos. Ablack, a third-year broadcast student at Ryerson, said he has been given the chance to both go to school and continue his acting career. He decided to pursue a broadcast degree simply because he felt that if he wanted to be a part of the acting industry, he should know all aspects of production and media.
Ablack said his program has opened him up to many possible career paths aside from acting. “There have been courses that
have made me think, maybe I want to produce now. But also, I like comedy writing and I still like acting. I’m not entirely sure. I love sports and maybe I’d like to be a sports
I don’t think I could do both school and a career if I went anywhere else. — Raymond Ablack
sonian
Features
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
7
ay, DEA agent by night: r Raymond Ablack
ndship with Drake and the struggles of being an actor of colour broadcaster. That’s yet to be discovered. We’ll see,” said Ablack. Ablack said his acting career didn’t start overnight. It began when his parents took him to see a production of The Lion King at the Princess of Wales Theatre, where a boy was playing the role of Young Simba. “I walked away from that show thinking, ‘I can do what that kid was doing,’” said Ablack. He then went on to audition for the same part after seeing open calls for the
“I had a terrible mullet and I thought that was cool. It wasn’t. I thought it looked good,” said Ablack. Some of his co-stars included Nina Dobrev (his first kiss), and Toronto rapper Drake — or as Ablack knows him, Aubrey Graham. “Aubrey is a really wonderful man — I’d like to be like him,” said Ablack. “I used to play his music at home on Myspace and then come back to set the next day and bump his songs in the green room. He’d
It forced me to grow up ... as an actor, to try and stretch that range. — Raymond Ablack show in the newspaper. “By fluke, I got the part. I’ve been auditioning ever since.” Ablack played Young Simba for a year. Afterwards, he auditioned for commercials while also playing hockey and attending high school. After four auditions and one screen test, he landed himself a role on the popular Canadian TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation. Ablack is now recognized as Sav Bhandari, a “level-headed and mature” character as described by the Degrassi Wiki Fandom page. Bhandari comes from a traditional Muslim background, and would disobey the rules of his parents — even dating girls outside of his religion. Ablack said that being cast on Degrassi may have been the best thing to ever happen to him, but that it can be embarrassing to learn how to act on a show that’s internationally available. All of his mistakes were there for the world to see. Bad haircuts and first kisses were just some of the things he can relive when watching old episodes of the show.
be like, ‘It’s OK man, just turn that off. I don’t want anyone to know.’ He was very humble.” Ablack said that Degrassi was the place he realized that acting may be something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. “I really fell in love with the craft of acting. I started to go to acting classes and really tried to jump in with both feet. I think that made me really commit to this as a career,” said Ablack. After Degrassi, he went on to appear in shows such as Orphan Black and Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments. Most recently, Ablack was cast in the third season of Narcos as drug enforcement agent Stoddard. When Ablack got the email saying he had landed an audition for Narcos, he was in disbelief. “There’s no freaking way that they’re going to hire me,” Ablack had thought. “They can have any number of great actors in the States or in Canada. Why would they go with me?” But they wanted him. So Ablack took a
year off school to film the show in Bogota, Colombia. “I don’t think I could do both school and a career if I went anywhere else,” he said. Ablack said playing a drug enforcement agent has broadened his repertoire as an actor. “It’s very easy to default into kind of those quirky little things or habits that I did being on a teenage show. You can just play shy boy: that’s my bread and butter, I can do shy kid all the time,” said Ablack. “But playing a drug enforcement agent, you have to be a little more bold. It forced me a little bit to grow up as an actor, to try and stretch that range.” Raymond’s upcoming project is a couple of episodes on the comedy Good Witch. He also stars in the webseries Teenagers, for which he won a 2016 Indie Series Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama. Ablack said that despite his success, being an actor of colour has its difficulties. He said that lead roles are mostly given to men who are white and blond. “Now, they’re looking at all ethnicities, but even then you know you’re only going in so that these production companies aren’t sued later on when they show that they auditioned one brand of person,” says Ablack. “I’ve played a bunch of Rajs, and I’m glad to have played a bunch of Rajs,” he added. But he also said that he’s looking forward to playing a “Raj” that isn’t a stereotyped brown person. “Not just computer geeks, but Raj who is holding the gun. That would be cool and I’m looking forward to that.”
@Emma_King7 @MadisonMacneil
KNOWN FOR:
Degrassi : The Next Generation Sav Bhandari 2007-2011
Teenagers Gabriel 2014-2017
Narcos Agent Stoddard 2017-Present
8
R yersonian
Beloved Tamagotchi makes a comeback
Arts & Life Challenging stigma, like a girl
ryersonian.ca
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Ryerson graduate creates online series to spark positive change KATE SKELLY RYERSONIAN
What does it mean to “run like a girl”? For Ainsley Garbut, it means spreading stillbirth awareness, after giving birth to her stillborn daughter two years ago. For Rora Blue, it means learning to handle her late-stage Lyme disease and creating art. For Ash Soto, it means advocating for body positivity after being diagnosed with vitiligo at the age of 12. These women are only three of the dozens sharing their stories on yourunlikeagirl and challenging stigmas through the female-empowering online series. Nadia Addesi graduated from Ryerson’s School of Social Work in April with a degree in her hand and years of internship experience in her back pocket, but no job waiting for her on the other side. Not being one to lay low, she initiated her own project, inspired by Humans of New York and an appetite to use social media for positive change. Now, with over 32,000 Instagram followers, and an inbox full of requests to be a part of the series, yourunlikeagirl has become a platform for women to shed light on their imperfections, obstacles and vulnerabilities, while showing the world how far they’ve come. From a burn survivor, to a Special Olympics champion, to women battling cancer or leaving abusive relationships, the series taps into a deeper side of social media that young women
don’t swipe past on their explore pages every day. “It’s real and it’s what people want to see,” Addesi said. “So many people can be going through so much and you’d never guess it just based on their social media or how they present themselves. It’s made me realize that you don’t know everybody’s story.” This mindset stemmed from one of her first social work courses, where her favourite professor, Steven Solomon, asked the students to write down why they enrolled in the program. They all folded up their papers and threw them across the room, picking up each other’s and reading them aloud. Addesi remembers realizing that nobody had the same answer — each student’s story was different. She said if it hadn’t been for her social work experience at Ryerson, yourunlikeagirl probably would not exist. Solomon describes Addesi’s journey at Ryerson and where she is today as a solid piece of evidence of what the social work program can produce. He says yourunlikeagirl is something to keep an eye on. “I think there’s a clarity to it. It’s a form of advocacy. It’s a form of resistance. It’s a form of support. It’s giving space,” he said. “I just think it’s awesome.” According to Solomon, even the series’ name is changing how people think. “The work that she’s doing is putting us on the road to where the day will come when ‘run like a girl’ will be the highest form of
KATE SKELLY | RYERSONIAN
Nadia Addesi, a 2017 social work graduate, records an interview for the launch of yourunlikeagirl’s YouTube channel.
compliment,” he said. For Jennifer Kriski, this road is being paved by genuine conversation. Kriski was featured on yourunlikeagirl’s Instagram in October, opening up about her experience with anxiety and panic disorder. It was not until she found her voice, shared her story, and began reading the dozens of comments on her post, that she discovered the kindness in strangers. “I was smiling for days and days. I had to screenshot almost every comment because I was so shocked at how many people were replying to me. I even take it out and read the comments when I’m down, and it instantly cheers me up,” Kriski said.
This past weekend, Addesi rallied female friends and family to shoot an introduction video for yourunlikeagirl’s YouTube channel, set to launch at the end of the month. Women crowded into the brightly lit room, taking their turns filling the empty stool in front of the white backdrop in the centre of the room. Addesi asked each of them what they love about being a woman. From getting to play around with makeup to someday becoming a mother, the responses ranged across a variety of perspectives. One woman, in particular, said she loves being a woman because of the opportunity to be a positive role model and break down
barriers for females around the world. When Addesi asked them what their least favourite thing about being a woman is, the responses were similar across the board — the challenge to live up to societal expectations. “I think, regardless, mentally or physically, our challenges shouldn’t define us. Mental health and disabilities shouldn’t define us,” Kriski said. “As individuals, the dreams we have, our accomplishments, our thoughts and everything that makes us unique — that defines us.” @kate_skelly
R yersonian Sports
9
Men’s soccer team earns bronze ryersonian.ca Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Rye grads part of hockey history Canadian Women’s Hockey League players are being paid for the first time
STEVEN ELLIS RYERSONIAN
For the first time since the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) formed in 2007, players competing in the nation’s highest level of women’s hockey will receive financial compensation for their efforts. This means former Ryerson hockey stars Melissa Wronzberg and Jessica Hartwick are making history as part of the first wave of professional female hockey players in Canada. Starting this season, athletes will get anywhere between $2,000 and $10,000. Living the professional hockey lifestyle is something kids throughout the country dream of. While most female hockey players still don’t earn a living wage, being paid is a step in the right direction. Wronzberg, 24, who graduated from Ryerson’s School of Journalism in 2016, has a job at a sports apparel store in addition to coaching and playing the game she loves. During her graduating year, Wronzberg was one of three Rams picked in the 2016 CWHL draft — the first three players Ryerson has ever sent to the league. Wronzberg, along with her teammate Jessica Hartwick, was drafted by Brampton Thunder last year, a team that relocated to Markham. Hartwick, 24, was picked 38th overall by Markham at the 2016 CWHL draft, five picks before Wronzberg. Hartwick played on the men’s hockey team at Notre Dame
COURTESY TERI DE҃LAURO | CWHL
Melissa Wronzberg gets ready for a faceoff for the Markham Thunder.
Catholic Secondary School prior to starting her five-year career at Ryerson in 2011. She was team captain for two seasons, finished her tenure as the team’s power-play goal leader with six goals, and joined Wronzberg as one of the few players to play 100 games for the Rams. Hartwick is still a part of Ryerson University, as a skate training specialist, and is in the process of starting her own hockey development program, Hart & Stride Hockey Development Inc. Looking back at her days as a Ryerson student, she said she misses her teammates the most. “When you are with a group of girls for hours upon hours, seven days a week, you make a really strong connection with them,” Hartwick said. Like Hartwick, Wronzberg
is living her dream of playing against her Olympic heroes and becoming an inspiration to young girls across the country. But she also has unique memories about her time at Ryerson. An honour roll student and former female hockey player of the year at Premier Elite Athletes’ Collegiate in Toronto, Wronzberg never missed a single game during her five-year career with the Rams. As such, Wronzberg set a record for most points ever by a Rams player, finishing with 60 points in 124 games played. Personal achievements aside, Wronzberg was a part of something more important than any single player could achieve. On Feb. 13, 2015, Wronzberg helped set up Emma Rutherford with the goal which sent the Rams to their first and only
playoff appearance to date. The team wouldn’t make it out of the first round against Guelph, but that doesn’t diminish the effort. In fact, it’s one of Wronzberg’s favourite memories at the school. “It was a first for the program so it was nice to see all our hard work pay off, especially after the first couple seasons we had,” she said. Hartwick was the captain of that historic Ryerson team. With the guidance of the Rams coaching staff, Wronzberg and Hartwick put their names in the running for the CWHL draft following the end of their time at Ryerson. The league was a goal of Wronzberg’s for a while, with the idea of playing against athletes she watched compete for
gold medals at the Olympics as an exciting incentive. “I figured I might as well try or I’d regret it,” said Wronzberg. Going to Brampton brought her career full circle, having played through the Brampton system as a young girl. “I had no preference going into the draft, but I was pretty excited that it was Brampton and it turns out I love the girls on the team. So looking back I’m really happy it worked out the way it did,” Wronzberg said. Hartwick said she was pleased to have a friend drafted with her after years of playing together. She said it was exciting to know that there would be a familiar face on the team. With the 2018 Olympics taking many of the league’s top stars, teams will be forced to play without some key players throughout the year. For Markham, Laura Stacey, Laura Fortino and Jocelyne Larocque are all expected to represent their nation in South Korea. This means that Wronzberg and Hartwick will be called upon to fill in the gaps throughout the year and help their team compete for the 2018 Clarkson Cup. “Both of them have been given a lot more responsibility this year, Hartwick especially,” said Markham Thunder general manager, Chelsea Purcell. “With us losing our four national-level defence (players), she has stepped up into a top role.”
10
R yersonian Editorial
Read more Opionions online ryersonian.ca Wednesday, November 8, 2017
EDITORIAL
Strike: No ‘two sides’ Four weeks in, Ontario college faculty (including some at Ryerson) and librarians are still in a dispute with the College Employer Council and so far, the response from students has been annoyance and indignation at both sides. This is the wrong approach. Yes, having classes you paid for cancelled is irritating. But no student has ever lost their year over a strike before and it is the administrators’ responsibility to ensure it stays that way. Faculty and librarians have nothing to do with it. On top of that, the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union is demanding colleges be run better. More job security means more preparation time. Qasim Alibhai, a sessional ESL instructor, told CBC news it is not currently uncommon for a contract teacher to be handed materials for a course the night before it begins. The union asked for a 50:50 ratio of full-time to part-time hiring to fix this. The College Employer Council rejected the offer. The bargaining team said it would cede too much control over curricula and scheduling to faculty, and that it would cost the province too much. Though far from unanimous, the strike has roused anger among some students who are demanding the dispute end so they can return to class. As the Ryersonian reported last week, a few dozen students gathered at Queen’s Park for the Students First Rally organized by the College Student Alliance. “We are not pawns,” read one of the protest signs, while another read, “Students are worth it. End the strike.”
The rally followed three weeks of general student complaining, throughout the media, that their lives are being disrupted and their disgustingly high tuition is being wasted. Both are true, but whining about it and imploring both sides to sit down and be civil will accomplish very little. Tuition is so high and faculty jobs are insecure because of cutbacks to education spending. The strike is fighting cutbacks. The fact that OPSEU is standing up and challenging the policy that makes both faculty and student lives miserable is a good thing for us. As well, OPSEU has repeatedly called for an end to tuition hikes, and for increased investment in education. Last year, the president of the Canadian Labour Congress called for free education and endorsed the Canadian Federation of Students’ rally for an end to tuition. It would help if the CLC and OPSEU were more vocal on this front. That may not thrill the College Student Alliance, which generally leans right, but it may help establish solidarity between students and striking faculty. The reality is the same government that is looking to quash faculty demands for more job security is also driving up tuition, and any enemy of it that demands greater investment in education is in line with students’ interests. By all means, be angry that our tuition is infuriatingly high and that effectively no guarantees have been given that your time and money won’t be wasted by administrators. But recognize a common interest between those standing up to austerity.
BROOKE TAYLOR | RYERSONIAN
OPINION
Tied up on TTC JUSTIN CHANDLER RYERSONIAN
Wonder Woman may hold the key to improving Toronto’s public transit experience, or at least, her creator might. When psychologist and polygraph-inventor William Moulton Marston started writing Wonder Woman in the 1940s, he imbued the comics with his theory of loving submission. Called DISC (Dominance, Inducement, Submission and Compliance) the theory supposes people are happiest when they submit to a loving authority. To find DISC illustrated outside of comics, just look at your morning commute on the TTC. What could be more dominant than the system so many of us depend on to get around? While
the TTC is not solely responsible for the subway delays, broken Presto machines and overcrowded buses that plague commuters, it is their public face. So, we have a dominator in the TTC and a submissive in the commuter. But of course, this submission is not garnered willingly. It’s clear the majority of Toronto’s commuters resist submission. You can see it in eyes rolling at delay announcements or the fist-shaking when buses too full to pick up passengers skip stops. What’s worse are acts of rebellion: the spats, shoves and shouting matches that come when commuter tensions peak. I once watched two women squabble intensly over some slight on a bus. They followed this up by making phone calls in which each loudly bad-mouthed the other. Imagine a better way — one in which passengers lovingly submit to their commute. This Marstonian way exists outside of transit planning (though we need that, too). It’s about learning to live with reality..
Once you’re in the thick of it, no resistance can make a commute faster or more efficient. So, just surrender. In this Paradise Island for commuters, we willingly don our bonds. We make space for new passengers by shuffling to the back. We take crowding and delays in stride, recognizing drivers and fellow passengers are not to blame for them. Maybe it’s Utopian. What we need is inducement, the critical piece of Marston’s equation whereby the dominator makes submission pleasurable. For Marston, inducement often demanded an erotic component, but I’ll stop short of suggesting fare inspectors carry lassos. That would add a new layer of meaning to, “sorry, I got tied up on the subway.” Maybe, all people need to know is once they submit, they can relax. If we recognize we’re all bound by the same chains, maybe we’ll learn to love them. @mr_lois_lane
R yersonian Voices
11
Read more Voices online ryersonian.ca Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Biking g outside the lines In June, I began riding everywhere, unprepared for the hatred I now harbour for bike lanes JOSH CUPIT RYERSONIAN
I broke my rib mountain biking, last month. It was raining, and I took more speed into a stubby berm than the slick clay allowed. Ribs collided with gnarled tree roots, and the weaker of the two snapped. I kept on riding, of course. I was only a quarter of the way through my route, so turning around seemed silly. The next week, I returned to the same trail, as it rained and at night. It was fun. Most people assume this masochistic fervour extends to my morning commute. If I spend my weekends flying down an unlit singletrack with a broken rib, I must be one of those militant commuters with a Cycle Toronto sticker on his bike. I thought I might be too. I’ve been hit by four cars (so far), and I have nothing but disdain for the drivers in my native North York. There’s something about waking up on the street next to your bike after being sideswiped by the only car on a four-lane road that pushes a cyclist toward the bike lane mindset. It also pushes a cyclist toward the hospital, where he has to wait six hours for stitches. I moved downtown in June and began riding everywhere, unprepared for the hatred I now harbour for bike lanes. The problem is the afterthought nature of the lanes. “You want a lane?” asks the city. “You’ll get a lane. It’s going to be narrow, poorly paved, and full of parked cars. Have fun.” Cyclists don’t all move at the
NATASHA HERMANN | RYERSONIAN
same speed. Due to the single-bike width of the bike lanes, every user must slow to the pace of the most leisurely cyclist. Worse, the most leisurely cyclist in any lane is invariably a confused tourist on a Bixi bike, travelling at walking pace and veering about wildly. While I’m on the subject of which riders you should hate, I’d like to address UberEATS and Foodora riders: You are the taxi drivers of cyclists. I don’t care how important you think you are, you’re slow and you don’t need to ride to the head of the line at every red light and hold me up. For people who are paid to ride bikes, you’re sure terrible at it. Bloor Street, where I live, is a prime example of bike lanes done wrong. Instead of two lanes of traffic, one of each is a segregated
bike lane. This means the remaining lanes are too narrow to facilitate mixed use by both bikes and cars. Bloor’s cycling lanes are also way too narrow, which means faster cyclists can’t pass slower riders safely. It also makes passing electric scooters, or electric wheelchairs, or joggers (all of which are apparently bikes now) even tougher. Though cycling uptown affords no segregated lanes (even on major arteries that are faster and busier than downtown streets) , the wider, four-lane roads provide ample space for cars to pass. That means it also allows for faster and slower cyclists to ride uninhibited by each other. It’s not a perfect solution, but I prefer it to bike lanes. I’m not against bike lanes in concept. I’ve been hit by enough cars
to know the dangers of unsegregated traffic (although one of those cars had to drive on the sidewalk to get me). But the current bike lanes aren’t the solution. They don’t address the problem of drivers who “door” cyclists, and they force cyclists to deal with the same traffic jams motorists deal with. To be effective, we need a few changes. Most importantly (in my opinion, for whatever that’s worth), cycling lanes need to accommodate passing riders. That, or driving lanes need to be wide enough so that faster riders can keep their speed up at their own risk, without slowing drivers down. Perhaps more obvious is the need to keep drivers, and their parked cars, out of the bike lanes. On the unsegregated lanes, like those on College Street, many
drivers treat the bike lanes as a set of VIP driving lanes, reserved for only the most privileged of road users. Similarly special and important people also park or stop their cars in the bike lanes regularly, even on the segregated style found on Bloor Street. This sort of abuse is a daily occurrence. Bike lanes need to be raised, or physically separated by something more imposing than floppy reflective posts and some road paint. Or maybe, parking cops could stop ticketing me for parking in my own driveway (yes, that happened once) and start patrolling the bike lanes. A lot of it also comes down to broader enforcement. As mentioned earlier, the bike lane has become everything from a jogging course for very special people who can’t use sidewalks, to a path perfectly sized for mopeds, to a convenient gathering point halfway between your car and the sidewalk (because that’s a big trip to make in one go). People do this because they’re lazy and they know they’ll get away with it. There’s no cure for laziness, but visible and committed enforcement could make a difference. Biking in the city will never be a pleasant experience. Personally, I’ll probably hate it no matter what. But the current attempt at bike lanes is particularly pitiful, and we need to do better if cycling in Toronto is going to improve. As it stands, being hit by a car is less painful than riding in bike lanes.
12
R yersonian
Full story available at ryersonian.ca
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Campus Connection
Campus Comment y p ‘zombie bill’ that would fine pedestrians for using g a cellphone p while crossing the street? “As someone who just recently got into an accident with a distracted driver, I would really rather we crack down on distracted driving laws.”
–Daniella Altobella
Events Nov. 9: Community Transformation Café: Art and Innovation 12:30 - 2 p.m. Sally Horsfall Eaton Centre for Studies in Community Health
Nov. 10: Remembrance Ceremony 10: 50 - 11:15 a.m. North end of quad
“It would make things more difficult. It seems unnecessary. There’s lots of bigger things to be worried about. This isn’t super pressing.”
Nov. 13:
– Heather Taylor-Singh
Trans Inclusion in Sport Panel Discussion
BROOKE TAYLOR | RYERSONIAN
Ryerson Falls Behind on Accessibility Ryerson student Lara Wong someঞmes has to go back to her residence to use the washroom, because not all bathrooms on campus are accessible. Ryerson has recently been criঞcized for missing the mark on accessibility. For people with physical disabiliঞes, the SLC is an obstacle because of its hidden accessible entrances, stairs, pillars, glass walls and revolving doors. The apparent lack of accessibility at the SLC is especially surprising given that the building is only three years old.
Newsroom Manager Joti Grewal
Managing Editor Audio Michael D’Alimonte
Deputy Editors Justin Chandler Nikhil Sharma
Managing Editor Print Donya Ziaee
Managing Editors Digital Melissa Galevski Olivia Zollino Kate Skelly
Managing Editors Engagement Sophie Armstrong Morgan Bocknek Iris Robin
News Editors Matthew Amha Jacob Cappe Hayley Hanks Nikhil Sharma
2 - 3:30 p.m. Alumni Lounge, Mattamy Athletic Centre
“I get the rationale, they don’t want pedestrians dying on the roads if it can be helped. On the other hand, a pedestrian walking into a car never killed a driver.”
Video Producer
Instructors
Milca Kuflu Mitchell Thompson
Natasha Hermann Imani Walker
Peter Bakogeorge Sonya Fatah
Features Editors
Audio Producers
Publisher
Ricardo Serrano Justin Chandler
Janice Neil
Photo & Graphic Editors Nadia Khamsi Ammi Parmar Brooke Taylor
Video Reporters Julie Do Jenny Zhen
Social Producer Sade Lewis
Copy Editors Managing Editor Video Jessica Cheung
Arts & Life Editor Michelle McNally
Sports Editor Brenda Molina-Navidad
Josh Cupit Joti Grewal Dan Marino
Nov. 14: Trans Pedagogy 12 - 2 p.m. Podium 372
–Brennan Doherty
Op-Ed Editors
Devika Desai Heather Stewart
Day
Reporters Matthew Amha Tawanna F. Hyman Leila Netz Isabella Perrone Aileen Zangouei
Contact Us We would like to hear from you. Please include your name, program and year. Unsigned letters will not be published. We reserve the right to edit letters for length.
Ad Sales Support Julia Dodge
Production Co-ordinator/Ad Sales Steven Goetz 416-979-5000 ext. 7424
Ryerson University 80 Gould Street Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3 Newsroom: 416-979-5323 Email: sonian@ryerson.ca
Ryersonian.ca @TheRyersonian TheRyersonian @theryersonian The Ryersonian