Vol. CXXXV, No. 15
19 January, 2015
The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
IN THE SPOTLIGHT In conversation with Lights on her new album Little Machines PG. 14
Where the university Tuition without representation meets the hospital U of T, Toronto teaching hospitals maintain unique relationship in teaching, learning Alex McKeen
ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
Last year, the average admission gpa of students in the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine was 3.94. Two-hundred and fifty-nine students enrolled in the first-year md program. There are nine teaching hospitals that are fully affiliated with the university, five of which are within one kilometre of the Faculty of Medicine, which is also the largest medical school in Canada. All of this can paint an intimidating picture for prospective medical students, a sentiment that Ali Damji, a second-year student at the medical school and vice-president, external affairs of the Medical Society, says is very common. “It seems very overwhelming when you encounter U of T and you see how vast its networks are,” says Damji. Yet the “vast networks” Damji describes may be the most distinctive aspect of medical education in Toronto, while also having a profound impact on patient care and research advancements. To Damji, it is a major incentive to attend U of T medical school in the first place. “I think it’s an enormous strength of the program,” he says.
AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM The Medical Sciences Building on the southeast side of King’s College Circle is just the tip of the iceberg in the University of Toronto’s health web. The university is an integral member in a network of institutions called Toronto Academic Health Sciences Network (tahsn), which includes all of the university’s affiliated hospitals as full members, in addition to four associate level institutions. According to tahsn’s website, members of the network participate in healthcare and biomedical research and teach undergraduate and post-graduate medical and healthcare professional students. While the network may seem straightforward, the dynamic relationships between U of T and the academic hospitals represented by tahsn are unique. Dr. Brian Hodges, vice-president of education at the University Health Network (uhn), works at the intersection of the hospital and the university. He describes tahsn as a consortium of independent institutions that are highly supportive of one another and share a common goal.
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International students protest inability to run for Governing Council Salvatore Basilone and Iris Robin ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITORS
Yelize Beygo knew that her Governing Council nomination would be rejected instantly. Nonetheless, the second-year student filled in the required form and went through the process to protest the fact that those without Canadian citizenship are barred from serving on the University of Toronto’s highest decision-making body. “I think the question is, why should I not be able to serve on the Governing Council?” says Beygo, who has Swiss and Turkish citizenship and is a vice president of the International Students Association (iNSA). “I pay my fees as any other student in the university, and the duties of the Governing Council are not things I cannot do,” she explains. The U of T Governing Council manages most of the university’s affairs from budgets and academic programs to student life and tuition fees. However, it is the Ontario government, not the university, which sets the rules that prevent Beygo and other non-citizens from serving. The Varsity spoke with the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities,
which provided information on how any changes to the governance structure could be made, but did not say whether they would make such changes. “The administration agrees with the merits of pursuing this important issue, and has begun to consult with legal counsel and with relevant staff within the Ontario Government to do so,” says Louis Charpentier, secretary of the Governing Council. “The question of such restrictions — not just for international students but for all governors — is a complex one and the University is actively engaged in exploring options to respond to it.” Beygo met the rule with surprise. “I just found it unreal that in a country like Canada (regarded as a leader in human rights) and an institution like the University of Toronto (claiming to have the biggest international student body of the country), students were still excepted from running at the university’s highest democratic decision-making body based on their citizenship,” she says. She describes her past experience in Turkey going to a school where students had no say,
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INSIDE Comment The culture of perfection
Features Paving new paths
Competition and pressure plague U of T students
First in the Family brings resources to first-generation university students
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Science Undergrad secures $100,000 grant
Sports
First-year student Cathy Tie launches biotech company
Campus table tennis club seeks varsity status
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Ping pong problems