THE VARSITY The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
January 22, 2024
Vol. CXLIV, No. XV
U of T librarians’ 45-year battle for updated labour policies has come to an end The UTFA reached a settlement with s U of T’ governing council in December
Tom Law Labour Correspondent
On December 18, 2023, U of T’s librarians received what seems like an early Christmas present — a negotiated settlement that saw a retroactive pay rise, increased job security, and improvements in working conditions. The settlement marks the culmination of six years’ worth of negotiations between the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) and the university’s Governing Council and a broader, decades-long fight to improve librarians’ contractual rights. The settlement also marks the first time that U of T has updated its Policies for Librarians (PFL) since the policies’ establishment in 1978. It would seem that these updates are long overdue. “Academic libraries are dynamic and constantly evolving in response to changes
Mean w e n e h t f o w ARTS: A reviesical adaptation Girls mu p a ge 1 6
in technology, education, research practices, changing societal perspectives and user needs,” wrote Harriet Sonne de Torrens, chair of the UTFA Librarians Committee, to The Varsity. The long fight The UTFA Librarians Committee has been looking into how their employment terms compare to librarians at other Canadian universities since 2006, as part of their quest to improve their working terms, Sonne de Torrens wrote. By 2021, U of T librarians secured some key victories under the leadership of UTFA Lead Negotiator Kathleen Scheaffer. These victories included updating three documents: Principles for Consultation, which Sonne de Torrens noted made the process of amending annual performance assessments more “collegial;” an updated vacation policy; and an agreement on
da’s SPORTS: Canavening e disappointing17 p a ge
professional development days that defined, for the first time, what constitutes librarians’ “research days” — activities that can include self-directed research, workshops, and conferences. At the same time, many of the UTFA’s negotiations with U of T were still ongoing, and not just over the PFL. University librarians’ employment terms are enshrined in a bundle of disparate agreements. Part of this is the result of how vast U of T’s library system is, covering 40 libraries across three campuses and hundreds of student programs. But this lack of centralized labour terms also paints a scattergun picture of U of T’s approach to collective negotiations with the UTFA. Continued on page 5.
udine Gay ’s la C t a h W : T N COMME academia r o f s n a e m n resignatio page 13
SCSU appoints new vice-president equity
General election nomination period begins, Winter General Meeting date confirmed James Bullanoff UTSC Bureau Chief
On January 17, the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) held its monthly Board of Directors (BOD) meeting. To fill the vacancy on the union’s executive team, directors elected Vyshnavi Kanagarajamuthaly as its new vice president (VP) equity in a contested election. The BOD also scheduled the union’s Winter General Meeting for March 25. New VP Equity During an in-camera portion of the meeting that wasn’t available to the press, the SCSU executive team presented two candidates for VP equity to the board. Later, the board
voted in Kanagarajamuthaly as the new VP. The union’s former VP Equity Denise Nmashie stepped down from her role in December to better pursue her academic goals. “I definitely love the work that SCSU has been doing thus far,” said Kanagarajamuthaly in an interview with The Varsity, noting her excitement to work with the rest of the executive committee for the next four months. Kanagarajamuthaly — a fourth-year student studying international development studies and public policy — previously worked as president of the International Development Studies Students’ Association (IDSSA) at UTSC but stepped down to fulfill her new role. She also previously served as a part-time director for the union.
According to David, during an interview the SCSU conducted with Kanagarajamuthaly, she said that she’s interested in working alongside the Palestinian Cultural Club, as well as other organizations serving racialized or otherwise marginalized students, to ensure that they are given a platform. She also hopes to work on providing accommodations for international students from countries that have suffered from war. “It is really imperative that we have a VP equity that’s making the different issues affecting different populations across the UTSC community heard, seen, and represented properly,” she told The Varsity. The SCSU hoped to appoint a new VP equity in time to plan Black History Month programming, and the union has
already begun planning different events. Kanagarajamuthaly told The Varsity that she views Black History Month as “of the utmost importance,” particularly given the large Black and African diasporic community at UTSC. “I’m really excited about the new VP equity’s appointment,” said David. “I’ve seen the increase in student engagement as well as the work that she’s been putting in within the IDSSA, as well as for equity issues on campus.” Kanagarajamuthaly will serve as VP equity until April 2024, when a new set of executives — to be elected during the union’s spring general elections — will take office. Continued on page 2.
2
THE VARSITY
news@thevarsity.ca
NEWS
The Varsity would like to acknowledge that our office is built on the traditional territory of several First Nations, including the Huron-Wendat, the Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit. Journalists have historically harmed Indigenous communities by overlooking their stories, contributing to stereotypes, and telling their stories without their input. Therefore, we make this acknowledgement as a starting point for our responsibility to tell those stories more accurately, critically, and in accordance with the wishes of Indigenous Peoples.
THE V
THE VARSITY Vol. CXLIV, No. 15 21 Sussex Avenue, Suite 306 Toronto, ON M5S 1J6 (416) 946-7600
thevarsity.ca
the.varsity
thevarsitynewspaper
the.varsity
@TheVarsity
The Varsity
MASTHEAD Sarah Artemia Kronenfeld Editor-in-Chief
editor@thevarsity.ca
Caroline Bellamy Creative Director
creative@thevarsity.ca
Andrea Zhao Managing Editor, External
managingexternal@thevarsity.ca
Shernise Mohammed-Ali Managing Editor, Internal
managinginternal@thevarsity.ca
Mekhi Quarshie Managing Online Editor
online@thevarsity.ca
Ajeetha Vithiyananthan Senior Copy Editor
copy@thevarsity.ca
Kyla Cassandra Cortez Deputy Senior Copy Editor
deputysce@thevarsity.ca
Jessie Schwalb News Editor
news@thevarsity.ca
Selia Sanchez Deputy News Editor
deputynews@thevarsity.ca
Maeve Ellis Assistant News Editor
assistantnews@thevarsity.ca
Eleanor Yuneun Park Comment Editor
comment@thevarsity.ca
Georgia Kelly Business & Labour Editor Alice Boyle Features Editor
biz@thevarsity.ca features@thevarsity.ca
Milena Pappalardo Arts & Culture Editor
arts@thevarsity.ca
Salma Ragheb Science Editor
science@thevarsity.ca
Kunal Dadlani Sports Editor
sports@thevarsity.ca
Arthur Dennyson Hamdani Design Editor
design@thevarsity.ca
Kaisa Kasekamp Design Editor
design@thevarsity.ca
Zeynep Poyanli Photo Editor
photos@thevarsity.ca
Jessica Lam Illustration Editor
illustration@thevarsity.ca
Olya Fedossenko Video Editor
video@thevarsity.ca
Aaron Hong Front End Web Developer
aaronh@thevarsity.ca
Andrew Hong Back End Web Developer
andrewh@thevarsity.ca
Kamilla Bekbossynova UTM Bureau Chief
utm@thevarsity.ca
James Bullanoff UTSC Bureau Chief
utsc@thevarsity.ca
Emma Livingstone Graduate Bureau Chief
grad@thevarsity.ca
Vacant Public Editor Ozair Anwar Chaudhry, Lina Tupak-Karim Associate Senior Copy Editors Devin Botar, Muzna Erum, Eshnika Singh Associate News Editors Divine Angubua, Isabella Liu Associate Comment Editors Caitlin Adams Associate Features Editor
publiceditor@thevarsity.ca Ahmad Khan, Caroline Ho, Jake Takeuchi Associate Sports Editor Nina Uzunović, Victoria Man Associate B&L Editors Catherine Doan, Kevin Li Associate Design Editors Biew Biew Sakulwannadee Zoe Peddle-Stevenson Associate Illo Editor
Alyssa Ukani Associate A&C Editor
Albert Xie, Valerie Yao Associate Photo Editors Medha Surajpal, Jeanine Varney Julie Han, Genevieve Sugrue Associate Science Editors Associate Video Editors Salina Khan Vacant Social Media Manager Associate Web Developer
Continued from the cover: SCSU board meeting. Spring elections timeline January 17 also marked the first day for the union’s general elections nomination period, which will last until February 5. According to David, students interested in campaigning during the upcoming election must collect nomination
packages from the SCSU office and gather signatures for their respective roles. Candidates for BOD positions have to get 50 signatures to appear on the ballot, whereas candidates for the executive team need 100 signatures each. “I hope there are more students that actually end up running this year, I really wish to see more engagement,” David told The Varsity.
U of T community members gather to remember four-year anniversary of PS752 downing Eight community members died when Iranian government shot down plane in 2020 Emma Livingstone Graduate Bureau Chief
Content warning: This article contains mentions of death. “An international tragedy, a Canadian tragedy, and a University of Toronto tragedy” — that was how Niloofar Ganji, an executive member of University of Toronto Students for a Free Iran (UTSFI), described the 2020 downing of International Flight PS752 to a crowd gathered in the Bahen Centre. The memorial service, organized by the UTSFI, took place on January 11 and marked the fourthyear anniversary of the PS752 crash. On January 8, 2020, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down the Ukrainian Airlines flight minutes into its flight from Tehran to Kyiv. All 176 passengers onboard the flight lost their lives, including eight members of the U of T community: Mohammad Amin Jebelli; Mohammad Asadi Lari; Zeynab Asadi Lari; Mohammad Salehe; Zahra Hasani; Mohammad Mahdi Elyasi; Mojtaba Abbasnezhad; and Mohammad Amin Beiruti. The event The event, titled “The Quest for Truth and Justice: Remembering the Downing of Flight PS752,” began with an introductory speech from UTSFI members, who told the crowd that the event aimed to both commemorate the lives lost on the flight and serve as a rallying cry for “collective affirmation” of the community’s search for justice. The student group led a moment of silence to remember the victims of the crash. Photos of the victims lay across the floor of the lecture hall where the event was held. Professor Alexie Tcheuyap — associate vicepresident and vice-provost, international student experience — spoke to the room on behalf of the
university administration. Tcheuyap recognized the impact the crash had on the university community, reiterating that the university joins with the Iranian community in honouring the lives of the PS752 victims. “We miss them, and we all missed out on the many ways that they would have contributed to our society,” he said. Tcheuyap further stressed the university’s commitment to memorializing the lives lost from the U of T community through the Iranian Student Memorial Scholarship, a needs-based scholarship available to international students from Iran and international or domestic students in Iranian studies at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The event also included speeches from several community members who discussed the ongoing fight to bring justice for victims of the PS752 crash. The speakers spoke in Farsi, with English translations shown on a projector. Mohsen Ahmadipour, whose spouse Roja Azadian died in the crash, outlined demands made to the Canadian government by the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims. The association, founded by families of victims, aims to “keep the memories of the passengers alive” and seek justice regarding the IRGC’s involvement in the crash. The IRGC maintains that it shot down the flight due to “human error.” However, an investigation conducted by the Canadian government determined in June 2021 that the Iranian government and military “directly put Flight PS752 and other civilian aircraft in danger by creating conditions in which a SAM operator could launch missiles at them and by failing to take adequate preventative measures to reduce this high risk.” The military shot down the flight during a period of heightened US-Iran tensions; the Iranian military had launched missiles into Iraq hours earlier. In June 2023, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom brought a case against the Iranian government in the International Court of
Lead Copy Editors: Ikjot Grewal, Darya Kartalaei, Anuraag Kumar Nair, Elizabeth Li, Cindy Liang, Madison Truong, Despina Zakynthinou Copy Editors: Theresa Balocating, Olivia Cerello, Daniela Cernaz, Avery Chua, Sophie Esther Ramsey, Alex Lee, Stella Luke, Vesa Lunji, Suchir Madhira, Jasmine Noone, Theo O'Connell, Faryat Tabassum, Carter Vis, Nora Zolfaghari Designers: Nicolas Albornoz, Saira Mehnaj Cover: Jessica Lam
BUSINESS OFFICE
Ishir Wadhwa Business Manager
business@thevarsity.ca
Rania Sadik Business Associate Eva Tsai Advertising Executive Vacant Advertising Executive
raniasadik@thevarsity.ca evat@thevarsity.ca @thevarsity.ca
The Varsity is the University of Toronto’s largest student newspaper, publishing since 1880. It is printed by Master Web Inc. . on recycled newsprint stock. Content © 2024 by The Varsity. All
rights reserved. Any editorial inquiries and/or letters should be directed to the sections associated with them; emails listed above. The Varsity reserves the right to edit all submissions. Inquiries regarding ad sales can be made to ads@thevarsity.ca. ISSN: 0042-2789
24-year-old cabin crew member Maria Mykytiuk died in the PS752 crash. RAYMOND WONG/THEVARSITY
On February 12, the SCSU will host an allcandidates forum, where all the candidates running for the elections will be present to talk about election procedures. The voting period for the general elections will run from March 4–6, and students will be able to vote in the Instructional Centre, Student Centre, and Bladen Wing hallway. Justice (ICJ) to hold the Iranian government to account for shooting down the plane. In a statement released on January 4, the association demanded that the Canadian government designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization and “initiate provisional measures” at the International Court of Justice related to the Iranian government’s mistreatment of the victims’ families. The statement also calls on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to open a criminal case against the IRGC in Canada. “I will not forgive until I see with my own eyes a better tomorrow for the children of that land, and I will never forget,” Ahmadipour told the crowd. The second guest speaker, Saeid Dehghan, a human rights lawyer and author, discussed the legal processes for seeking truth and justice for the PS752 victims. He argued that the legal processes undertaken by the Iranian government played the role of a “show trial” that did not hold government officials transparently to account. The third guest speaker, Atena Daemi, a human rights activist, spoke about the state of education in Iran, which she argued prioritizes “ideological instruction” over “academic education.” She reiterated the importance of supporting student activists by offering free online courses and providing scholarships and visas for expelled students who wish to continue their studies. Daemi also spoke about the students who were killed during the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests and asked the crowd to stand in solidarity with those who “paid the ultimate price for seeking a peaceful sky over their homeland.” A September 2023 Amnesty International report found that, between September and December 2022, Iranian security forces unlawfully killed hundreds of protesters and bystanders and arbitrarily arrested tens of thousands. Pouria Saffaran, a UTSFI member and first-year masters student in developmental psychology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, told The Varsity that it was important that the student group continue to memorialize the downing of flight PS752 not as a single tragedy. Instead, they noted that the crash was one in a string of tragedies under the rule of Iran’s current regime. Saffaran reiterated that the group plans to continue working alongside the Iranian community, including the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims, and continue hosting events to accomplish that goal.
thevarsity.ca/category/news
JANUARY 22, 2024
3
85 per cent of UTM math class fail exam, sparking discussion on department shortcomings Half of students scored below 26 per cent on final for MAT224 — Linear Algebra II at UTM Maeve Ellis Assistant News Editor
The final exam for MAT224 — Linear Algebra II at UTM had an average grade of 29 per cent, sparking discussion about how U of T teaches and assesses students taking math courses. 94 of the 110 students who took the final scored below 50 per cent, and only one student received a mark above an 80. When asked for comment, a UTM spokesperson mentioned that 28.4 per cent of students ultimately failed the course, but the majority of those who failed did not sit for the exam. 93 per cent of students who took the exam passed the course. U of T’s Academic Handbook for Instructors, a manual that provides guidance for instructors, advises that, in second year courses, generally no more than 10 per cent of students in a course should fail it, and roughly 15–35 per cent of students should receive a course mark above 80 per cent. MAT224 is one of two options that students in the UTM math major can choose from for 0.5 of the 2.5 credits the major requires in second year. The half-year course also serves as a prerequisite for seven third-year math courses listed on the UTM academic calendar. A post about the final’s low average went viral on r/UofT, the university’s page on Reddit, becoming the most upvoted post of the last month and third most upvoted post of the last year. Many comments blamed the professors
ZOE PEDDLE-STEVENSON/THEVARSITY
and the school for the students’ poor results. Inside the course Professor Michael Pawliuk, one of the course’s instructors, told The Varsity that, before the final, students’ performance in the course seemed similar to that of previous semesters. He was “quite surprised by the final result.” He said it was indicative of broader issues at UTM, including pandemic lockdowns impacting students’ prerequisite knowledge and students having less contact with peers for advice and mentorship. “The sorts of social skills that you develop — being in class, talking to people and having students who are a year ahead of you [or] two years ahead of you that can offer you that guidance and mentorship — those supports weakened during lockdown,” Pawliuk said. His main advice for students is to use the resources that classes already provide, like office hours, and to attend classes as a default. He also said that he will replace optional quizzes with in-class activities this semester and possibly make bigger changes in the future. “During the summer, we’ll have more deliberation, thinking about how we want to go forward with this. Was this a blip that just happened, or is this a more major thing that needs to be addressed?” Razeen Ali, a third-year UTM student majoring in computer science and math, told The Varsity that he liked how the course was run
overall but found that finals didn’t accurately test how well students understood the material. “The profs were great, my friends and I came out of the course feeling like we learnt something and had no problems with the teaching style — just had a problem with how our finals were tested,” he said. “Someone who only memorized those specific parts [that were tested] but understood nothing else would’ve aced the exam. Either test us to apply our overall understanding or let us know we need to memorize some stuff.” Student perspectives Students who have studied before under Pawliuk say that blame doesn’t necessarily lie with the professors teaching the course. Dylan Galego, a fourth-year computer science student at UTM, took another iteration of MAT224 with Pawliuk in the Winter term of the 2021–2022 academic year and said he had a positive experience. According to a course-wide email from Pawliuk that the professor forwarded to The Varsity, the MAT224 average for the final was 52.6 per cent in 2021–2022. Galego also didn’t place any blame on professors and instead said that prerequisites that weren’t adequately preparing students, along with a course structure with not enough in-person evaluations, could be to blame. “When it comes to exams, you have to get
it done really quickly [but] you don’t have any practice with that. So I felt like some people might have been initially overconfident or underprepared,” he told The Varsity. In response, Pawliuk told The Varsity that a large reason that he has assigned take-home assessments throughout the course is to take off the time pressure. “There’s a lot of theory in this course that the computations can be long and tedious so we try to let students show that they can succeed in a non-time pressured situation.” Other math courses not adding up One student told The Varsity that this recent exam could be indicative of wider issues in the math department. Shlomo Alon, a fourth-year computer science (CS) specialist at UTM, used to be in the math department but switched out because of the department’s structure. He noted a lack of practice exams and generally less passion from instructors. “I learned like 10 times as much over my years in the CS department relative to the math department,” he told The Varsity. “It’s just torture for the sake of torture.” Overall, Pawliuk said it takes both instructors and students to make courses successful. “I think of it like a handshake. It’s on us as instructors to put out our hand and to do our part. And it’s also on the students to reach out and to make that connection.”
4
THE VARSITY
news@thevarsity.ca
NEWS
Why the UTSU recently became a homeowner
email to The Varsity, about the union’s house acquisition. The SRP is primarily organized by the UTSU and World University Service Canada (WUSC), an organization that aims to provide education, economic opportunities, and empowerment to marginalized youth in countries across the global south and in Canada, focusing on refugees and women. Since 2003, the UTSU has sponsored student refugees participating in the SRP through the WUSC student levy, which undergraduate students support through a 76-cent semesterly fee in both the fall and winter semesters. U of T itself also contributes to the program. Currently, the UTSU program accepts one or two students each year on an alternating basis, meaning there are six students in the program at any given time. In the past, students enrolled in the SRP have come from countries including Uganda, Kenya, Syria, and Nigeria. First-year SRP students live in residence at New College. During their first year, the UTSU supports SRP students by providing them with clothing and food. Once the SRP students enter their second year, they move into the house. The UTSU then “provides the students with work opportunities through part-time jobs,” according to Shechtman, including employment options at the UTSU itself. New College and the U of T registrar provide
UTSU purchases house for its Student Refugee Program Selia Sanchez Deputy News Editor
When the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) Vice-President Operations Samir Mechel presented the union’s 2022–2023 audited financial statements at its November 19 Annual General Meeting, he didn’t mention any property acquisitions. However, the financial statements shared at the meeting reveal that the UTSU has achieved a dream that seems out of reach for many Torontonians — the union now owns a house. The UTSU purchased the house for $2,250,000 on July 28, 2023, through a combination of cash and a mortgage. The house serves as a home for students in the union’s Student Refugee Program (SRP). The Student Refugee Program “The primary aim of this initiative is to offer secondyear (and in the future, second and up) U of T students who are part of SRP an opportunity to develop life skills while living among their peers,” wrote UTSU President Elizabeth Shechtman in an
The UTSU Student Commons. CAROLINE BELLAMY/THEVARSITY
additional funding to cover the students’ tuition. SRP students are also supported by the UTSUNew College Local Committee, which is a group of UTSU and New College representatives who assist the students with navigating campus and the Toronto context. Shechtman said that the local committee helps the students find employment, provides them with English-learning resources, and helps out with other needs. Shechtman explained that in any given year, three to four SRP students will reside in the house at no cost. The union hopes that this bridges the transition “between on-campus residence and independent living, thereby fostering stability in [students’] lives.” The first cohort of second-year students currently sponsored by the SRP moved into the house in fall 2023, according to Shechtman.
The Breakdown: How do I access academic counselling services? Resources to improve academic results for your next semester Victoria Man Associate B&L Editor
As classes pick up in the second semester and students fall back into a routine of learning and applying, The Varsity is here to break down the different services available for students looking to work toward better academic results. Academic counselling at the University of Toronto involves both group and individual strategies that aid students in strengthening their academic skills. From group study opportunities to workshops to individual meetings with specialists, the university offers its students a wide range of options to improve their academic skills.
Group study opportunities Recognized Study Groups (RSG) are part of a program at U of T that encourages group studying. RSGs are small study groups with up to eight students enrolled in a specific course led by an RSG student leader. Through a workshop led by Sidney Smith Commons’ upper-year Study Group Assistants, RSG leaders get training on how to ensure the academic success of the group members. Students can join an RSG through the A&S Online Services website, committing to an hour per week to study with peers. All members of the RSG review and study material together. After meeting several different expectations of RSGs — which include attending weekly RSG meetings, writing an end-of-term reflection, and more — students can get that work recognized on their Co-Curricular Record, an official U of T document that provides a record of a student’s extra-curricular involvement.
Academic workshops There are numerous workshops available to U of T students that focus on developing and strengthening academic skills. Students can find many standalone workshops or workshop series for learning skills, university preparation, course correction, identity and learning, and more through the academic success calendar on CLNx. Workshops are led by a variety of experts, from instructors to learning strategists to academic mentors. Covering a wide range of topics, such as improving reading, writing, mindset, and time management, workshops are ultimately opportunities to listen to experts give academic counselling in a group setting. University Prep, for example, is a series of three workshops focused on preparing students academically for university learning. Students can access recordings of meetings and materials by enrolling in the University Prep course on Quercus and registering for a session. Students can earn Co-Curricular recognition if they participate in all three workshops and submit a reflection on what they learned.
Jessie Schwalb News Editor
From a new co-op program to a new major to an update on the second attempt for credit (SAC) policy, the January 11 UTM Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) meeting included multiple decisions that will directly impact UTM students. New co-op internship program The AAC passed a motion approving a co-op internship program that will involve programs in six departments at UTM: the departments of Biology; Chemical and Physical Sciences; Economics; Management; Mathematical and Computational Sciences; and the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology. Starting in the fall 2024 semester, UTM students in 20 programs within these departments will be able to choose to enroll in a stream of their program that will prepare them to participate in a 12or 16-month paid internship. Students in six additional programs in the Department of Management
will be able to enroll in the program starting in the fall 2025 semester. Vice-Dean, Academic Experience Andreas Bendlin told the council that enrolment requirements will vary depending on the department, and eligible students will apply after they’ve completed their first year or received four credits. Students in the program will complete four asynchronous work-readiness modules before the internship to help prepare them for their workplace experience, and one additional module during the internship. Staff will guide the students throughout the recruitment process, and students’ full-time work will begin during the summer between their third year and their fourth year, or during the fall semester of their fourth year — leaving students on track to graduate in five years. Participating in the program will cost both international and domestic students $3,960 in fees, $1,940 of which students would pay before the work placement begins. Students will not pay tuition during their co-op year. Bendlin clarified that the university has budgeted money to cover
Disclosure: Elizabeth Shechtman was an Associate News Editor for The Varsity during the 2021–2022 school year. One-on-one counselling Meeting a learning strategist privately through booking an appointment is another way to get academic counselling. Learning strategists guide students by developing a tailored strategy plan to improve management skills and study techniques. Students can access meetings with learning strategists across UTSG by scheduling online via CLNx and booking online through several college and faculty systems. The Faculty of Arts and Science also offers drop-in sessions for students in the faculty at the Student Success Commons on Wednesday afternoons. At UTSC, students can access preappointments and same-day drop-ins through the Academic Advising and Career Centre by calling (416) 287-7561. For UTM students, the university has a separate booking system to meet with learning strategists, with the option to meet online or in person, depending on the area of expertise. Some other services to explore for academic counselling include tutoring, the Academic Success peer-mentor appointments, the Academic Success resource library, and Study Hubs. U of T lists these services and others on the Student Life Academic Success website.
fees for students who cannot pay them initially. U of T will determine on a “case by case” basis whether students who can’t pay initially will pay back the university later or won’t have to repay the fees at all. Bendlin noted that the program is initially partnering with a smaller group of departments to ensure it can place students in internships, hoping to add other departments “as quickly as possible.” He told the councillors that the program is part of UTM’s push to open opportunities for experiential learning that students seem to desire and contribute to “meaningful employment” in Mississauga.
choose one of two streams under mathematical sciences: mathematics, which will retain the same admission and completion requirements as the existing mathematical science major, or applied mathematics. These streams will share common enrolment requirements and a common pool of courses but differ in their learning outcomes and some of their requirements. The applied mathematics major will focus on a common set of tools students can use to model and study real-world issues spanning many disciplines, including economics, physics, and information sciences. Dryer said that applied mathematics streams are common at other universities, “so much so that not having one seems to be an exception.” He explained that this stream will give students a more “complete” understanding of these tools and allow them to apply their skills to more fields, compared to pairing the mathematical sciences minor with a different major.
A new math major AAC members also passed a motion creating a new applied mathematics major at UTM. Currently, UTM students can enroll in a major in mathematical sciences. However, Associate Dean, Academic Programs Marc Dryer told the council that many students want to complete a degree more focused on applied math and have done so by pairing the mathematical sciences minor with a major, such as economics, which allows them to apply their math skills. With this motion, students will have the opportunity starting in the fall 2024 semester to
Changing the Second Attempt for Credit policy Under the current SAC policy, students can retake up to 1.0 credits that will count toward their CGPA and degree credits, and the grade and credit from the first time the student took the class will be marked as “extra” on their transcript. Toward the end of the AAC meeting, the council passed a motion to amend the policy’s wording. Now if a student fails the course again after applying for SAC, the policy won’t apply, and the course won’t count toward their 1.0 credits available under SAC policy.
UTM adds new co-op internship program in six departments, creates applied mathematics major UTM Academic Affairs Committee updates UTM’s Second Attempt for Credit policy
The property The house is in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood. It’s approximately 3,000 square feet and includes five bedrooms and three bathrooms. According to Shechtman, “Acquiring this property allows the UTSU to have a tangible asset that aligns with [their] long-term financial goals.” She explained that the UTSU had acquired the house through a mortgage, which she described as a “strategic move” that helped the union secure a place for the students to live while potentially helping the union’s future finances.
Business & Labour
January 22, 2024 varsity.ca/category/business biz@thevarsity.ca 1978 hiring policies are out of touch with changing technology, research practices, spokesperson says. VALERIE YAO/THE VARSITY
Continued from cover New contract and terms of agreement The December negotiations updated four other agreements impacting librarians’ working terms, in addition to the PFL: the Letter of Understanding on Secondments for Librarians, Contractually Limited Term Appointments (CLTA) Librarians, Research and Study Leave, and Article 4 of the Memorandum of Understanding. Sonne de Torrens noted that general improvements to the agreements include “greater clarity and consistency” across existing policies, more transparency for hiring and promotions, “decreased precarity of employment,” and “new language enshrining a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.” Regarding transparency, the PFL guarantees a new appeals process for some librarians who make complaints about being denied promotions. The process applies to librarians in ranks two and three — ranks corresponding to librarians’
probationary or permanent status, as well as the university’s assessment of their professional accomplishments. The updated terms of employment also give all librarians more room to diversify their experience by allowing them to apply for secondment placements — where they temporarily work elsewhere in the library system — and extending their research and study leave to be equivalent with university faculty. The PFL has also improved job security across the board. The university can no longer cite ‘financial exigency’ or ‘fiscal stringency’ in justification for terminating employed librarians’ contracts — loosely-defined terms relating to the university’s financial state that the 1978 PFL allowed the administration to use as reasoning for termination. CLTA librarians who were previously in precarious employment will enjoy more secure terms. Following the settlement, rank three and four Scholars Portal Librarians with at least three years of continuous service will automatically be
granted a recurring term appointment, ending the “contract to contract” nature that has fed a sense of precariousness in their employment. Other Scholars Portal Librarians are now entitled to know whether or not their contract will be renewed at least three months before their existing contract term ends. All Scholars Portal Librarians on CLTAs will now have the right to apply for permanent positions, while their CLTA service time must be considered in their application. They will also get an increase in severance pay. Furthermore, the Ontario Superior Court’s decision to strike down Ontario’s Bill 124 in November 2022, which restricted public sector pay rises to one per cent per year, has since allowed the UTFA to negotiate across-the-board salary increases of eight per cent for UTFA members, faculty, and librarians. Insight into the role of U of T librarians According to Sonne de Torrens, these improve-
ments in employment security and pay are long overdue and reflect the sheer volume of work that U of T requires from its librarians. Maintaining all of U of T’s collections — more than 12 million volumes in 341 languages, with over 31,000 linear meters of archival material, in excess of 150,000 new print volumes acquired annually, and housing more than 500 servers with a combined storage capacity of 1.5 petabytes — is no mean feat. “The specialized knowledge and skills of the UofT academic librarians maintain, develop, and sustain these dynamic and vital collections for the University’s teaching and research missions,” she wrote. Although these new terms close the latest chapter on negotiations, Sonne de Torrens emphasized that employment terms must remain a live issue. It has taken 45 years to update librarians’ policies in response to the continuously evolving role of research, teaching, and academic librarianship at U of T — and that was too long. “We can’t let this happen again!” Sonne de Torrens emphasized.
Will the future actually be female? Despite highly publicized successes, intersectional barriers still block women from the C-suite Aunkita Roy Varsity Contributor
When Janet Truncale was named as the next CEO of Ernst & Young LLP (EY) in November 2023, she made history by becoming the first woman to lead one of the firms the industry calls the Big Four — Deloitte, KPMG, PwC, and EY, the four largest professional services firms in the world by revenue. This major advancement contributes to an S&P Global Market Intelligence projection that, by 2030, half of corporate leadership will consist of women. Yet, major corporations in the finance and accounting sectors remain far from achieving gender parity and equal representation in the C-suite — a company’s senior executive positions. This underrepresentation has trickled down to entrylevel and middle-management roles; the talent pipeline of woman employees continues to experience delayed progress. Record numbers of women leaders are exiting companies to pursue better opportunities, particularly to join organizations where professional development and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) — three core values that organizations adopt to support diversity in the workplace — are prioritized through fair pay, performance review practices, and organized educational company events about sexism, racism, and homophobia issues. The rising importance of DEI efforts within organizations is part of a post-pandemic effort to combat the workplace inequities faced by women and racialized employees, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 lockdowns. The term “she-cession” is used to refer to the high unemployment rates all women, in comparison to white men, have seen in the financial services sector in the past three years — a major contributing factor to the persistent gender wage gap. A 2015 study conducted by Rotman’s Gender and the Economy Department affirms that senior decision-makers are influenced by gender stereotypes when determining compensation, and this has continued to be a major obstacle women face on the path to senior leadership positions.
The glass ceiling is cracking, but the rung is still broken A common phrase used to describe the inequalities faced by women and minoritized workers in achieving promotions to executive and upper management roles is the ‘glass ceiling.’ We can see positive signs of overcoming its effects in some areas. More women getting hired at the level of directors of departments or divisions and above. Women in senior-level positions — such as CEO, president, or general manager — have a higher average promotion rate than men. Though these are stepping stones in the right direction, the glass ceiling is no longer the biggest obstacle women face on the path to the C-suite. The largest gap between the total number of women and men employees is at the manager level, acting as a broken rung on the ladder toward the glass ceiling. Once again, this underrepresentation has detrimental impacts on all levels of management. This is the long-term impact of the broken rung: the low number of women in manager positions results in fewer women being promoted to senior manager, and the pattern continues with every subsequent level above that. The management consulting firm McKinsey & Company describes this broken rung as the foremost barrier preventing women from becoming managers and progressing beyond entry-level roles. Because of the broken rung, all women lose ground. If left unaddressed, it will only widen the gap in leadership and compensation between men and women. Government and corporation efforts to advance gender equality To narrow the gender pay gap, the Canadian government established the Pay Equity Act in 2021. It required all federally regulated employers with 10 or more employees to create pay equity committees, with institutions set to publish comprehensive pay equity plans and increase employee compensation starting September 3, 2024. According to Morningstar DBRS, the Act’s approval was — at least partially — influenced by the increased value investors and regulators
have placed on gender diversity and pay equity practices after the pandemic. This has also led to the emergence of gender lens investing, an approach that can improve both financial and social returns for companies and investors. According to Rotman Professor Sarah Kaplan, investing with a gender lens is about addressing the implicit biases of men and women in the workplace, allocating capital to develop more “gender-positive, diversity-positive policies,” and creating products and services that benefit the women and girls impacted by gender inequality. Jackie VanderBrug, a managing director at Bank of America and the key researcher in introducing this approach to the industry, asserts that gender lens investing is not about excluding men or limiting investors; it allows investors to recognize the experiences and needs of both men and women. By using the approach to increase women’s access to capital and financial services, companies contribute to achieving gender equality while strengthening future business opportunities. However, this is only one element of the solution.
In the end, it is up to the firms Aside from gender lens investing, McKinsey & Company reports that creating employee resource groups with tailored content for women — plus resources specifically for women of colour — improves employer performance in strengthening DEI policy implementation. Also, introducing formal mentorship and sponsorship programs for women — and specific programs for women of colour — at all management levels can benefit the company alongside the individual by creating a stronger workforce and a better environment for all. Fixing the broken rung and breaking the glass ceiling ultimately depends on companies’ commitment to the transparent recording and tracking of compensation inequities and gender representation. If companies use metrics and data to set gender parity targets, some might see their increased hiring of women as arbitrary or unfair. However, collecting data on things that drive women’s professional development in the workplace, such as hiring and promotion, could allow firms to create more equal opportunities for women that lead to their career advancement. KATE CARACCI/THEVARSITY
Science
January 22, 2024 thevarsity.ca/category/science science@thevarsity.ca Photograph of a young girl before and after insulin treatment. COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Photograph of a young girl before and after insulin treatment. COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/THE VARSITY
Insulin: Toronto’s gift to the world A brief explanation of how insulin improves the lives of people with diabetes Bruno Macia Varsity Staff
On January 23, 1922, a 14-year-old boy who was severely ill at the Toronto General Hospital became the first person to receive a purified insulin shot. That boy was Leonard Thompson, and like many others, he suffered from diabetes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 422 million people in the world lived with diabetes in 2014. The number didn’t decline as the decade went by: more recent data from the International Diabetes Federation show about 537 million people with diabetes as of 2021. Although these statistics are disconcerting, it is perhaps of consolation to remember that while diabetes was once considered a fatal disease, now, with the discovery and distribution of insulin, people with diabetes can lead normal lives. It is not an overstatement to say that insulin, Frederick Banting and Charles Best’s discovery at the University of Toronto, has saved millions. What is diabetes? Simply put, diabetes is a chronic disease where glucose, the body’s and brain’s main fuel, cannot get into the body’s cells. Glucose comes from the food we eat or is produced by our bodies and enters the bloodstream during the digestive process. Once there, the pancreas detects the rising glucose levels in the bloodstream and releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin works like a key, opening a unique door in cell membranes so glucose can leave the bloodstream and access the cells. The effect is simple: glucose levels in the bloodstream decrease, and your cells will have fuel to work so your body can perform its duties, such as thinking, breathing, and moving every single muscle of your body. Yes, that includes every beat of your heart. Now, if the insulin hormone, which plays a pivotal role in the process of glucose cellular uptake, fails to do its job, there are consequences. Depending on the reason for insulin failing to
fulfill its role, people contract different types of diabetes. “It’s not me. It’s the pancreas”: this is the case in type 1 diabetes. Here, the pancreas — the sole organ responsible for producing and releasing insulin — produces little to no insulin, meaning that patients within this group depend on external insulin to live. This is the type that Leonard had, and it tends to appear in childhood and teenage years. Type 1 diabetes is primarily stems from an autoimmune response — whose exact nature remains unknown — that affects the pancreas function. “It is still not me. It’s the pancreas and the cells”: this is the case of type 2 diabetes. Here, either the pancreas produces little to no insulin, or cells don’t respond to the insulin, which is also called insulin resistance. In the latter scenario, the body’s cells don’t recognize insulin as a key, and therefore, glucose won’t be able to cross the cells’ membrane. This results in overwork from the pancreas as it tries to lower rising glucose levels, a vicious cycle that can lead to the organ’s own failure. This type is mainly seen in adults because it is triggered by life factors such as diet, lack of physical activity, age, and metabolic conditions. There are other types of diabetes which are mostly associated with very specific conditions. For example, gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy in women who weren’t diagnosed with diabetes before. If treated correctly, the condition will reverse after childbirth; if not, there may be severe and life-threatening consequences for the fetus. What happens if insulin doesn’t do its job? Our body cells interact with specific molecules via “mediators.” Insulin is one of these mediators. It arrives at the cell membrane and triggers a cascade of events that transports the glucose through the membrane, as cells won’t interact directly with glucose due to the glucose’s size and molecular complexity. So, if the insulin doesn’t help the glucose get into the cell, glucose will keep flowing in the bloodstream. A high glucose level in the blood is called
hyperglycemia, and it can become dangerous for various reasons. Firstly, glucose is sticky. Similar to when you overload your coffee with sugar so that the drink becomes thicker, glucose will make blood more viscous and sticky. The more glucose is present in the blood, the more likely the big molecule will adhere to the membranes of the tissues it encounters while travelling through the bloodstream. In particular, glucose will eventually adhere in the eyes, causing blindness; the kidneys, ending in renal failure; the heart, causing strokes and heart attacks; the vascular system, causing clogged veins and atherosclerosis; and the nerves, leading to a loss of mobility, especially in feet and legs. Combined with damage to the vascular system, diabetes-caused damage to the nerves can end in amputations. The overall consequence of untreated diabetes is a progressive organ failure that is not compatible with life. Secondly, and most importantly, hyperglycemia’s persistence over time can lead to what an untreated diabetic patient will experience as symptoms of diabetes. Although not all individuals are the same and, therefore, experience different things, initially, it is most likely that hyperglycemia will increase the rate at which a person urinates; tons of glucose in the blood require the kidneys to work harder to filter it out of the blood via urine. The more you urinate, the more water you need to drink, so uncontrollable thirst is another symptom of diabetes. In addition, someone with hyperglycemia might feel extreme tiredness and experience weight loss. Although there is tons of glucose in the bloodstream, insulin is not there to help it get inside the cells. When the cells are not receiving fuel, they will send signals to the brain for you to eat, eat, and eat. Under this panorama, a person with these symptoms might feel irritated and have intense headaches, including blurred vision. If the hyperglycemic state remains uncontrolled over time, it will lead to organ damage and progressive organ dysfunction.
The gift of insulin, the medicine Today, over a hundred years after that early morning when Banting woke up to draft a 25-word hypothesis to cure diabetes on a piece of paper, insulin is one of the best medicines we can use to control hyperglycemia. The administration of external insulin into the body is a resource used by millions of people with diabetes every day. Nowadays, multiple devices are available that help people with diabetes sense their glucose levels and better dose an insulin shot. Insulin, as medicine, is vital for patients with type 1 diabetes, where their pancreas produces insufficient insulin. This contrasts with type 2 patients, where adequate care and diet can leave an insulin shot as a last resort. In fact, an early diagnosis of type 2, in a stage called pre-diabetes, an accurate treatment design from physicians and dietitians that patients adhere to can result in the ability to avoid insulin therapy altogether. The science and technology applied to research over the years since insulin’s discovery have helped to make better diagnoses and treatments. Challenges for people with diabetes today include accessibility to insulin as a medicine, a need for better delivery methods for the drug administration to improve life quality, and lastly, an overall social change regarding diet, physical activity, stress management and work/life balance. The effect of Banting and Best’s discovery at U of T is powerful. Imagine Leonard Thompson coming in and out of unconsciousness and receiving the first purified insulin shot, showing signs of improved health and subsequently going on to live. This was a miraculous outcome. A U of T surgeon described patients with diabetes after taking insulin as being “awakened dramatically, snatched from death’s door.” This is all thanks to the endeavours of Banting, Best, J. J. R. Macleod — an international expert in diabetes who pushed Banting to pursue his idea — and James B. Collip, who helped purify the extract, making it safe for human trials. What a riveting story of collaboration and creativity, based here, at U of T.
thevarsity.ca/category/science
JANUARY 22, 2024
7
How a tiny blue-ringed octopus inspired a new signalling technology Learning how to modulate light from a cephalopod Medha Surajpal Associate Science Editor
Imagine you are a small crab in the Indian Ocean, making your way across a shallow coral reef, when you’re suddenly caught in the tight grasp of a softbodied creature. You struggle to get away, but your legs don’t move — you have become prey. An unlucky meeting with a certain blue-ringed octopus cuts your trip short as its beak pierces your shell, allowing its potent venom to paralyze you. The iridescent, flashing blue rings covering its skin quickly disappear as the octopus returns to its camouflaged state. The greater blue-ringed octopus, or Hapalochlaena lunulata, is one of the ocean’s most toxic animals. This golf ball-sized sea-dweller is known, and named, for its sophisticated ability to change its appearance. This unique feature of the blue-ringed octopus, to signal warnings and camouflage according to its surroundings, has now guided chemists and engineers in creating technology that can modulate and reflect light and heat. Chromatophores to conceal and protect Like many cephalopods — members of a highly organized class of marine animals, notably squid and octopuses — the blue-ringed octopus has thousands of specialized cells called chromatophores under its skin. These cells contain sacs of pigment that widen when the octopus is threatened. Chromatophores work extremely fast. Both squid and octopuses have control over these sacs, allowing them to react to threats in milliseconds. When alarmed, the octopus tightens the muscles surrounding the chromatophores, drawing back the brown areas around them to reveal a vibrant ring of blue. These blue rings flash until the danger has passed. The flashes of blue are not created by a pigment but by a class of light-reflecting chromatophores known as iridophores. These cells reflect blue light because of the way they are structured, and are actually colourless. When the brownpigmented chromatophores draw back, the thin
layer of iridophores on top of the skin reflects an almost glowing, vibrant blue. In an instant, the octopus can activate its distinct pattern of blue rings against its natural yellow-tan base, sending a clear message of “STAY BACK.” The sophisticated modulation of these chromatophores allows the blue-ringed octopus to rapidly adapt to its surroundings, whether by blending into the tan colour of the sand to hide, or flashing a warning signal to predators while it hunts for food.
matophores does not deplete a lot of resources, so they can continue signalling as long as the octopus remains unharmed. In other words, the octopuses’ deception is sustainable. The chromatophores’ ability to sense the environment of the octopus allows the iridophores to stay uncovered, reflecting light for the duration of a perceived threat. When the chromatophores are closed, the octopus is a brown-yellow, camouflaging it into the sand. When the chromatophores are open, the
ZOE PEDDLE-STEVENSON/THEVARSITY
Drawing engineering ideas from an octopus In a 2023 study in Nature Communications, researchers at the University of California Irvine (UCI) drew inspiration from this remarkable ability. The team, composed of several chemists and biomolecular engineers, was fascinated by the signalling mechanism of the blue-ringed octopus. The senior co-author of the paper, Alon Gorodetsky, told The Varsity in an interview, “We were most inspired by this ability to signal [a warning] by changing the intensity of those blue rings.” The signalling system of the blue-ringed octopus offers a solution to issues that the creators of current camouflage technology are still dealing with regarding sustainability. The function of the chro-
reflective iridophores are revealed, sending a rapid and clear signal to potential threats. If a lab could invent a structure that could modulate its colour indefinitely like this, but also respond to change quickly and with as much precision as a blueringed octopus, then they could have a highly capable camouflage system. The researchers at UCI developed a designer dye using acenes — chemical compounds of linearly fused rings of carbon atoms — that could be either blue or brown, similar in appearance to the colours found in the blue-ringed octopus. Acenes are easily synthesized and can be modified to respond to pulses of electricity and light, but are often unstable. The larger the ring is, the more likely
it is to lose its structure in open air, leading most acenes to deteriorate quickly after synthesis. Gorodetsky and colleagues developed an acene variant that was noticeably stable and responsive and could flash blue upon activation using light. This acene-like molecule could survive years in the air, while also maintaining its responsive properties. Using this material, the researchers developed a system consisting of electrodes to conduct the command that controls blue-ring intensity, and a film of blue rings surrounded by brown circles that could continuously be triggered by ultraviolet and near-infrared light to flash blue rings. How can octopus-inspired signalling be used in the real world? A molecule like this acene variant has tremendous potential in technological applications. The key feature of these molecules is their responsiveness to light, whether it’s infrared, visible, or ultraviolet. “You can use them for tunable colour in clothing, potentially, or even vehicles after more development,” said Gorodetsky in an interview with The Varsity. The bioinspired devices can also be extended to manipulating heat. According to Gorodetsky, “You can change how heat is reflected or transmitted, and you can change how visible light is reflected or transmitted using the principles from these animals.” If you apply the same concept of tuning a molecule like acenes to reflect a specific light source, you could tune a molecule to a specific heat source, meaning this technology could be used in thermal management. Gorodetsky mentioned the applications of adaptable molecules in sustainable buildings. He spoke about the possibility of bioinspired facades for buildings that could adapt to the environment and regulate the climate of a structure with a reduced amount of energy. If a group of chemists and computer engineers can draw inspiration from marine life, surely we can find a way to make sustainable technology by observing the world around us. The greater blue-ringed octopus is a fascinating creature that reminds us that we can still learn so much from nature.
Chaos is everywhere What chaos means in science, and where you can find it Avery Murrell Varsity Contributor
Scientists have long desired to unlock the secret of chaos and order the disordered. From mathematics and philosophy to biology and psychology, many disciplines study the phenomenon of chaos. In early science, theories of determinism proposed that events in the universe are predetermined and inevitable. Causality allows predictability, but while this idea has led to the development of countless statistical models of the universe and nature, they haven’t been able to predict everything. Random phenomena exist. Tiny changes to the initial conditions of a system can lead to enormous changes in the final product, and a small error can precede a massive one — a phenomenon whose study is known as chaos theory. Chaos theory is everywhere Chaos theory is a mathematical theory that explores the concept that everything in the universe tends towards chaos. In mathematics, data often has outliers — values that are extremely different from the rest of a set of data — that result from true variation within something being studied, or from error. If the variation is the result of error, then it is considered ‘noise,’ which can induce chaos in nonlinear systems — systems that don’t change linearly in proportion to their variables. From a philosophical perspective, chaos theory says that a fully predictable universe is impossible because the universe’s tendency to change at ran-
dom prevents every process from being repeated in the exact same way every time. Physics defines chaos in a behavioural manner. Some planets’ orbits, for example, never repeat themselves — they’re irregular and therefore chaotic. Thus, we cannot fully predict planetary positions as they move along these orbits. In evolution, constant changes in the environment and complex interactions between competing traits have led to chaos in the evolution of phenotypes — meaning the observable traits of an organism. So, it is impossible to understand all the forces at play during the course of evolution because of chaos. Even genomes — the entire collection of DNA in a cell — are a record of randomness, since mutations — changes to a DNA sequence — and genetic drift — the change in frequency of a specific gene variant in a population due to random chance — are beyond our ability to predict and control. Yet, mutations and genetic drift are inducers of the diversity and individuality of organisms. With chemistry, consider the phase transition of water: boiling water is a chaotic process because its state is more unstable, whereas order is achieved in water’s solid form to maintain the structure of ice. In this way, chaos seems to increase as energy is added to a substance. As you contemplate chaos, consider this development: the human heart, a predictable component of our bodies, grows stronger when its rhythm faces minor deviations. In the midst of chaos, in what we can’t control, we live and we grow.
COURTESY OF MILLER FRED CC WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
8
THE VARSITY
science@thevarsity.ca
SCIENCE
Can giant air cleaners solve the air pollution crisis? China has constructed the world’s largest experimental air-purifying tower
A 100-metre-high air purification tower in Xi’an in Shaanxi province has helped mitigate air pollution. COURTESY OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL PARK SERVICE (NPS) CC WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Elizabeth Xu Varsity Contributor
In 2016, researchers in Xi’an, China — a city long plagued by air pollution — constructed the world’s largest experimental air-purifying tower. The researchers, from the Institute of Earth Environment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, found that the surrounding area of over three square miles has improved in air quality. Data collected in the vicinity of the experimental tower shows that this kind of tower presents promising solutions for cities contending with the escalating air pollution crisis. If similar initiatives were implemented globally, their impact could extend beyond individual cities, resulting in significant benefits for public health. Air quality: The current landscape Awareness of air pollution’s detrimental effects dates back several decades, when the US government was one of the first countries to introduce legislation to reduce air pollution: the Air Pollution Control Act, signed in 1955, provided funding for air pollution research. The enactment of the 1970 US Clean Air Act allowed regulators to limit emissions from both industrial sources and transportation, leading to efforts to reduce air pollution emissions, such as investments in the development of cleaner, less carbon-intensive technologies. Despite increased awareness of air pollution, data reveals that hardly any place on Earth is spared from unhealthy air conditions. A study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal found that only approximately 0.2 per cent of
global land has been exposed to fine particulate matter — any particles that are 2.5 microns or smaller in diameter, also known as PM2.5 — at concentrations lower than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended annual limit of five micrograms per cubic metre. This fine particulate matter originates as a byproduct of industrial combustion and poses a significant threat to human health due to its ability to be inhaled deep into the lungs. This means that more than 99 per cent of global land is exposed to dangerous concentrations of fine particulate matter, which originates as a byproduct of industrial combustion and poses a significant threat to human health due to its ability to be inhaled deep into the lungs. A 2022 WHO report looked at findings from over 6,000 cities across 117 countries that are monitoring air quality. About 99 per cent of the global population breathes air that’s over WHO’s quality limits, with the most significant impacts on low and middle-income countries. WHO’s data from 2019 showed that regions with high industrial activity, like areas in southern and eastern Asia, face a heightened risk of air quality issues. In some of these places, air quality is over WHO’s daily limit — 15 micrograms of gaseous pollutants per cubic metre — for over 90 per cent of the year. This leaves the majority of the global population vulnerable to the health risks associated with chronic exposure to air pollution, such as lung cancer and heart diseases, resulting in 6.7 million premature deaths worldwide. How does the giant air filter work? Standing at over 100 metres tall — and costing
the Shaanxi provincial government roughly 2.69 million CAD to build — Xi’an’s air-purifying tower produces clean air at a rate of about eight cubic metres per second. The tower operates using solar energy that traps solar heat in the tower, which heats up polluted air drawn in through the tower’s base in an effect similar to the greenhouse effect. This heated air then rises through the filters within the tower. Since its activation, the tower has cleansed more than 10 million cubic metres of air daily, significantly enhancing the air quality in its vicinity. Plans are underway to construct more towers across China in areas with unhealthy air quality levels, including Guangzhou, Hebei, and Henan. To assess the impact of these experimental air purifiers, Xi’an placed over a dozen pollution monitoring stations across a 10-square-kilometre area around the tower. In just a few months, preliminary results found a 15 per cent reduction in PM2.5 levels during episodes of heavy pollution. With promising preliminary results and expansion plans to introduce these projects to more Chinese cities, other countries are taking note. Kurin Systems, an air purification company based in India, was inspired by the giant air purifier tower in Xi’an and intends to install a 12-metre purification tower in New Delhi, long plagued with poor air as one of the world’s most polluted cities, with hopes to purify 1,130 cubic metres of air per day within an area of about five square kilometres. Limitations and concerns for giant air purifiers While large air filter towers hold potential for providing clean air to surrounding communities,
their capacity remains local. Cao Junji, a chemist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Key Laboratory of Aerosol Chemistry and Physics in Xi’an, proposed building up to half a dozen purifying towers around the city to significantly reduce air pollution. Furthermore, these air purifiers cannot replace indoor air filtration systems for buildings in highly polluted areas, such as factories and airports. In such cases, air purifiers and air filters remain the best solution for safe indoor air quality. Critics argue that without more data regarding the power consumption for these filtration towers, the energy input required for operating these giant air purifiers seems like they might not be the best use of energy. Redirecting the same amount of power to generate clean electricity or reducing pollution at the source could also significantly reduce pollution. Other scientists worry that these towers may not effectively filter toxins that can be precursors to harmful particulate matter or liquids capable of penetrating the lungs and causing health problems, such as sulphur dioxide gas or secondary gaseous pollutants like ozone. Nevertheless, giant air cleaners offer hope in areas where air quality is a major concern. While they may have limits and cannot singlehandedly purify the air for entire cities, they serve as a valuable resource for improving air quality in regions of dangerous air quality levels where the reduction of air pollution is very difficult. They can potentially provide a temporary solution as scientists and policymakers work on strategies to reduce air pollution at its source.
Mars, bacteria, and horse-drawn carriages A review of H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds Hannah Shaw Wilson Varsity Contributor
War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells is an 1898 literary classic, having inspired a blockbuster radio play in the 1930s and multiple text-to-screen adaptations, including one directed by Steven Spielberg that starred big names like Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. Through his masterful and unique storytelling, Wells has predated and elevated his work above the myriad of similar “alien invasion” stories. The novel begins by discussing the differences between Earth and Mars. It describes that the red planet, once assumed to be barren, sustained highly intelligent life long before our own planet was molten. However, Mars’ limited resources have dwindled — thus, Martians saw Earth as the solution to their problem of scarcity. The narrator transitions from these scientific musings to his own routine and how it was disrupted upon the Martians’ arrival in England. When they first land, the Martians initially seem to pose no threat to humankind, but the narrator’s anxieties about the Martians become heightened when they destroy spectators of the landing with their heat ray. The English militia slowly loses control as they are overpowered by the Martians, and human institutions such as press and governance crumble amid the mass chaos incurred by the Martians’ arrival. The lives lost to the intelligent and armed Martians rapidly accumulate as they attempt to exterminate humans with intense heat waves and poisonous gas. These deaths invoke fear in the narrator and the characters that stir madness, stripping mankind to its most raw and unbridled state. The society that remains warps into a perverse competition for survival. As he maneuvers through the Martians’ new stomping ground, the morose narrator concludes that humanity has been defeated. He mourns his
wife, whom he presumes to be dead, and the fate of the world as he aimlessly roams the bloody, battered, and stagnant London streets. However, this bleak conclusion is not as it seems. The human right to walk upon the Earth is reestablished as the Martians perish due to earthly bacteria. The Martians’ aims proved futile as our microscopic terrestrial defence invaded their immune systems from the moment they arrived. The book ends with a reflection on the emotional reunion of the narrator and his wife and the restoration of civilization. The evolving world of science fiction Several characteristics of this novel differentiate it from the modern science fiction industry. First, the longevity of the novel’s relevance within the genre has created a whimsical clash between the futuristic and the antiquated. The futuristic register of the sci-fi elements Wells created is juxtaposed with the quaint late-Victorian aesthetic of his timehe futuristic register of the sci-fi elements Wells created are juxtaposed with the quaint late-Victorian aesthetic of his time. So, it appears jarring and perhaps comedic to watch as the hero escapes electronic heat rays in a horse-drawn carriage. At many points in the story, Wells employs a stringently factual and scientific tone. While one might suppose that the lack of passion in the narrator’s voice would diminish the story’s ability to emotionally compel an audience, this unique writing style accomplishes just the opposite. The story’s narrator presents as a well-educated philosopher who sets upon recounting the historic encounter with the Martians. The level of detail that he goes into — such as the oxygen levels and gravitational strength on Mars and Earth, respectively — sounds like a factual, historical or scientific document to the reader. It thus fully submerges readers into this fantastical and foreboding world by allowing readers to see how such an invasion might play out in reality.
Wells’ book acts as a thought experiment on how humans would react and behave under such catastrophic circumstances. This classic novel, however, has more than its realism to thank for its continued popularity. Beyond its creativity, War of the Worlds has resonated with individuals for so many years due to one of its simple but timeless themes: hope. Despite the desperate situation the narrator finds himself in, his assertion that humanity had lost was premature. Wells drags his readers through a bleak story that evokes strong feelings of loneliness and helplessness, only to prop them up again in the heartfelt resolution. The novel urges readers to persevere through adversity and never let their hope for the future evanesce. It is this critical ability to connect with personal struggles through a fictional event that highlights the true brilliance of Wells’ timeless story. Currently, we know that life on Mars may only exist in the form of microscopic bacteria, so the Wellsian tale seems farther from our reality than it did to readers in the 1890s. However, NASA scientists remain highly interested in the atmosphere and astrobiology of the red planet, with several research and engineering programs dedicated to Mars exploration. Several fields of science are also dedicated to finding life elsewhere in the universe. For example, scientists at NASA use tools such as the Kepler and James Webb telescopes to identify potential hosts
to extraterrestrial life. We know from this research that Wells’ story is relevant because the idea of alien interaction still looms over us as we continue to research the 5,569 and counting planets we’ve discovered in the rest of the universe.
H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. ZEYNEP POYANLI/THEVARSITY
thevarsity.ca/category/science
JANUARY 22, 2024
9
Weathering the storm: Order of Canada inductee Ian Burton on adapting to climate change Seven current or former U of T faculty were appointed to the Order of Canada in December Amy Mann Varsity Contributor
In December, geographer and U of T Professor Emeritus Ian Burton and six other current or former U of T faculty members received one of the Canadian government’s highest honours: an appointment to the Order of Canada. Since the 1990s, Burton has researched how people can adapt to climate change, interrogating the social, political, and economic causes of disasters. He has worked on three assessment reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — a United Nations (UN) body that aims to advance climate change research — and consulted for multiple organizations, including the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and the UN Development Programme. To discuss how we should think about disaster and adaptation, The Varsity recently spoke with Burton over coffee. During our conversation — which has been edited for length and clarity — we discussed his work on the cultural dimension of disaster, the need for adaptation to climate change, and his hopes for the planet’s future. The Varsity: You wrote that, at the time you were entering the field, there was a broadening recognition that we, as a society, have a lot of control over disasters, and that it’s not just punishment from God or these natural things that no one can control. How has our understanding of disasters changed over your career? Ian Burton: There are a lot of different ideas about what causes a disaster that have built
on each other. Historically speaking, these were acts of God, or maybe just acts of nature. Disaster was a punishment for something — Noah’s Flood is the classic example of that. Then we went into a period of post-industrial revolution in the nineteenth century, where we felt that disasters could be controlled. Classically, in the case of floods, we could build dams, dikes, and levees to keep the floodwaters contained. If there was still a disaster, it was because we had not applied enough control. But the floods and disasters still occurred, so that self-confidence declined. Now, explanations focus on why people are vulnerable and why people are exposed to disasters. For example, standards for building codes are set to make buildings resistant to earthquakes or floods. People building the buildings want to cut their costs, so they don’t conform to the building codes and standards. And if people try to make them conform, then they do a little bit of bribery. Then you can ask: what is it about the system that permits bribery, corruption, and other ways of getting around the building codes? It gets to a broader diagnosis of not what is bad about the decisions, but what is bad about the social and political context in which those decisions are made. TV: That’s funny, because as we’'ve had this increasing recognition, there’s also been a lot more disasters. IB: [Laughs] There have been more disasters, and the cost of disasters has steadily gone up. Part of it is that there are a lot more people, and the economy has grown. Even still, it seems that the cost of disasters has been
going up faster than economic growth. It’s also a systems issue. Climate change is causing the frequency and magnitude of extreme events to go up. TV: What have you taken away from living through this? IB: I’ve been one of the earliest and strongest advocates of adaptation. Since the climate change convention of 1992, there has been a dichotomy: either you mitigate or you adapt. Mitigation was always the popular thing to do. I was one of the early people to say you’re not going to be able to do that fast enough to prevent climate change. Climate change is going to occur, and it’s going to have impacts. In addition to mitigation, we need to learn how to adapt. That’s been my hope. It is quite a complicated issue. What do you mean by adaptation? Adapt to what? It’s a different thing if I am a farmer, a health business, or an engineer. And it depends on your location and the time dimension: am I adapting to what it is now or to what it will be? TV: What makes you hopeful right now, if anything? IB: What makes me hopeful is that there is more questioning about the state of the world, the economy, and the state of society. One of the big effects of neoliberalism over the last several years has been the huge growth in inequality. At the same time, there are emerging economies in the Global South that have grown quickly, so the inequality between rich and poor countries is diminishing. As the inequality between nations has tended to diminish, the inequality within the countries has grown enormously.
I think there’s a chance that there will be an increase in the common interest of poor people across the world. I think the hopefulness begins when you have a counterreaction to this growth in inequality, a swing to the left, or at least a swing back to the centre. TV: Do you have anything more to add? IB: We need to see much more attention paid to how all sectors of the economy will adapt. We don’t know yet precisely what that is going to look like because it depends on how much climate change we get, and what kinds of climate change happen where. Agriculture, for example, is affected across the world. So what we’re adapting to is not clear enough, and there’s a lot of uncertainty. We also need to think about how climate change affects different parts of the country: interiors, rivers, more arid or humid areas, and so on. And you need to do that not only nationally, you also need to do that globally. TV: I learned in one of my classes that adaptation is just a subsection of one of the UN’s sustainable development goals. There are many goals forabout mitigating environmental catastrophe, but very little space is given to adaptation. IB: That’s right. So, I don’t have answers. I have a lot of questions. I think the questions are: get thinking about the impacts of climate change and what we need to do to respond to those impacts in different sectors, different places, and different timescales. Disclosure: Amy Mann is an organizer with Climate Justice UofT.
Professor Emeritus Ian Burton has researched adaptation to climate change. COURTESY OF SGT RONALD DUCHESNE CC THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
10
THE VARSITY
FEATURES
That oddly-placed statue hurts more than the building’s aesthetic Hostile architecture exacerbates barriers for the unhoused Artemis Reidmueller Varsity Contributor
In March last year, on an early Monday morning, I was walking back to my residence from Robarts when I saw three men seeking shelter together on an air vent in front of a University Health Network (UHN) building. It was cold, and they’d clearly been trying to stay warm by tying a blanket over the vent, in order to contain the marginal warmth emanating from it. A few years ago, that same vent was the subject of controversy when the UHN installed an uncomfortable, spiny metallic grate over it — a textbook example of hostile architecture. Hostile architecture is an urban design strategy intended to influence public and pedestrian behaviour, with strategies such as concrete notches on a curb to prevent people from skateboarding along it or metal grates used to block air vents. While hostile architecture is often proposed as a way to ensure public safety and accessibility, more often than not, it’s a way to keep people experiencing homelessness out of public spaces. Hostile architecture is ubiquitous in Toronto and many other major cities around the world. Whether you were aware of it or not, you have probably seen hostile architecture around the city. For one, it is often disguised as architectural design choices or even art. In her thesis An Uncomfortable City, University of Victoria alum Jessica Annan discussed how cities use statues to block certain areas from public access. Her thesis contained an
image of metal silhouettes placed on heating vents, occupying a space now inaccessible to those who could have sought warmth there.
Altogether, this hostile architecture makes Toronto a less welcoming — and more dehumanizing — city. Hostile architecture is also sometimes hidden under the guise of disability accommodation. Last year, in Galway, Ireland, a city councillor proposed a plan to place benches around the city that feature a hole in the centre — preventing people from lying down on them — and argued that this design was intended to promote wheelchair accessibility. This design faced criticism from wheelchair users themselves, who argued that
such benches were only hostile architecture thinly veiled as an accommodation. It is important to know what hostile architecture is and be able to recognize it around UTSG and downtown Toronto. Extra armrests in the middle of benches, the spikes on the sidewalks, and the bars over the vents are highly visible to the public eye. Altogether, this hostile architecture makes Toronto a less welcoming — and more dehumanizing — city. How hostile architecture makes it worse Anika Rosen, an undergraduate student at Trent University studying sociology, investigated how hostile architecture prevents people experiencing homelessness from occupying public spaces. Rosen writes that it does this by physically restricting the unhoused from using objects in public spaces outside of their intended purpose. For example, adding dividers between seats on a park bench restricts the public to using the bench for sitting only. Rosen’s research reveals a widespread notion among the public that homelessness is “inherently disruptive and unsightly,” and that pushing them out of these spaces was justified. Rosen writes that this notion is exacerbated by “anti-homeless policies” creating a perception of criminality toward homelessness, as the policies paint necessary actions such as bathing as illegal, when done in spaces deemed public. A 2015 study in Frontiers in Psychology echoes Rosen’s findings. The study found that people experiencing homelessness faced stigma and judgment, which impacted the way others treated them.
In its most recent study, the Centre for Homelessness Impact noted the importance of understanding how “unconscious forces and biases” impact public perception of homelessness. Misconceptions — such as ideas about the prevalence of substance abuse among the unhoused, and misestimations of the percentage of our population experiencing homelessness — create an environment of hostility towards people experiencing homelessness.
Hostile architecture is ubiquitous in Toronto and many other major cities around the world. Whether you were aware of it or not, you have probably seen hostile architecture around the city. Rather than challenge these misconceptions, hostile architecture reinforces them by framing certain actions that are commonly associated with homelessness — such as sleeping in public — as abnormal and disrespectful. By treating homelessness as something that should be hidden from the public eye, city councillors fall short of focusing on solutions that will benefit both the people experiencing homelessness and community wellness. On the other hand, preventing homelessness requires long-term solutions supported by research, such
features@thevarsity.ca
Hostile architecture serves as a way for us to avoid confronting the root causes of homelessness, and we cannot allow it to be overlooked and accepted as a permanent staple of our cities. as affordable and supportive housing and easy access to physical and mental health care, including substance use programs. A 2021 paper in The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health discussed how many of those experiencing chronic homelessness cannot afford housing due to health issues, which are then further exacerbated by lacking housing security. To simultaneously address both issues, we must make mental and physical health care readily available and free to access for everyone. According to the City of Toronto, the leading cause of death among people experiencing homelessness is drug toxicity. Harm reduction workers around Toronto have outspokenly advocated for more funding for supervised consumption sites, where people can use drugs in a monitored environment. Many research papers have demonstrated a need for more funding for social services, health care policies, and substance use programs, which could be implemented to improve the quality of life for people experiencing homelessness. Unlike hostile architecture, these programs can actually address problems caused by homelessness, rather than simply hide it. Part of a vicious system Sometimes, a public bench or vent is the only place to go for rest, but hostile architecture makes even these spaces inaccessible, and in doing so, removes any prospect of feasible shelter — becoming the final step in making this city unlivable. This isn’t just about a bench; it reflects a cycle that leaves people experiencing homelessness vulnerable to harsh weather conditions without a guarantee of physical safety. There are currently over 10,000 unhoused people in Toronto, and the Toronto City Council has declared homelessness an emergency. Toronto’s cost of living is unattainable for many, so many people move out of or are evicted from their property. Shelters are overcrowded and do not receive enough funding to provide proper security or support to their residents living there. Encampments often get shut down. Finally, hostile architecture removes the simplest of options: a bench. Toronto’s infrastructure has not been set up to support low-income households, and instead seems to cater consistently to the wealthy. This makes it difficult for many to afford the city’s high cost of living. In its December 2023 report, the online real estate renting platform Rentals.ca stated that the average asking price on monthly rent for a one-bedroom Toronto apartment in November was $2,601. Meanwhile, a 2016 census conducted by Statistics Canada showed that, between 2006 and 2016, there was a 36 per cent decrease in the number of Toronto properties for which
current renters were paying under $1,000. At the same time, there was a 323 per cent increase in the number of units that cost renters over $1,500 per month. Inflation has also disproportionately impacted students. In 2019, Covenant House Toronto, which is part of a chain of homeless shelters in major cities across Canada, reported that 26 per cent of its residents were students — and Covenant House Toronto is only one of many shelters across the city that support those experiencing homelessness. The City of Toronto defines shelters as facilities that provide people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity to sleep, while also providing essential services including laundry, meals, and physical and mental health care. In recent years, the city has shut down several temporary shelters around Toronto it had set up during the height of the pandemic. In January 2023, CTV News reported that the city planned to close five shelters over the year, which — according to a report made by city staff — was intended to facilitate a transition away from temporary shelters and towards more long-term solutions to housing security. Yet the same report admitted that closing these shelters could pose significant damage to those who relied on their services. The lack of affordable housing to replace the closing shelters, accompanied by an increasing proportion of Toronto’s population experiencing homelessness, has contributed to space shortages in shelters that are still open. According to a CBC News article published in July 2023, shelters for people experiencing homelessness in Toronto turned away 273 people
a night on average in the month of June. Even those who can secure a spot in shelters often prefer not to stay there for long. Many people who’ve spent time in shelters report thefts and violence, creating a difficult living situation that some people experiencing homelessness avoid, despite the dangers of sleeping outside, especially in the winter months. According to the Toronto Star, some people seeking shelter who looked to tent encampments did so due to safety concerns and shelter overcrowding — but the Toronto Police Service frequently evicts encampment residents.
So what’s next? Hostile architecture does not address any of the root causes or contributing factors of homelessness. Instead, it targets people who have been beaten down by the system and further ostracizes them by preventing them from existing in public spaces. Hostile architecture serves as a way for us to avoid confronting the root causes of homelessness, and we cannot allow it to be overlooked and accepted as a permanent staple of our cities.
Anger has great power when it is used properly and is directed at the right people. Many community members have taken it into their own hands to catalogue instances of hostile architecture to demonstrate how common it has become and to show people how to identify it when it has been disguised. An example of this is DefensiveTO, a website created in 2019, which allows anyone to upload photos and locations
of hostile architecture in downtown Toronto. For an audience outside Toronto, there is also r/ HostileArchitecture, a popular subreddit dedicated to sharing examples of hostile architecture worldwide. The bars covering the air vent in front of the hospital — the only source of warmth for the men I saw that early morning — were only removed after community members wrote, called, and emailed the administrators who were responsible until they uncovered them. Anger has great power when it is used properly and is directed at the right people. For example, by emailing the office of Toronto’s mayor, Olivia Chow; University–Rosedale’s member of provincial parliament, Jessica Bell; or the premier himself, Doug Ford. This reaffirms that U of T students are members of the downtown Toronto community, and have an invaluable voice to contribute to local politics. Tell these politicians that you do not support hostile architecture in Toronto, and ask them to fund researched solutions instead, such as supportive housing arrangements and free mental health care. To end homelessness, and improve the quality of life for everyone in our community, we must not look away — but look forward to a better Toronto for everyone.
THEVARSITY THEVARSITY JESSICA LAM/
JESSICA LAM/
Comment
January 22, 2024 thevarsity.ca/category/comment comment@thevarsity.ca
Op-Ed: The UTM Academic Plan is a once-in-a-degree opportunity for students to shape our university Student representative Ehab James on why students need to weigh in Take the time to help ensure that this plan reflects the best interests of UTM students. LEXEY BURNS/THEVARSITY
Ehab James Varsity Contributor
UTM is at a very important inflection point. I, along with several department chairs, directors and deans, am working on the next UTM Academic Plan, which is a five-year high-level plan impacting everything pertaining to academics on campus. The Plan must address a wide range of issues: from student success, to the future of teaching, to working with artificial intelligence (AI). In a post-COVID world, UTM is adapting to a unique set of circumstances. A rapidly changing academic environment, coupled with concerns surrounding student success, means that the future of employability and the value of a U of T degree are all on the line. The Academic Plan Task Force was made to create UTM’s next academic plan, which influences most aspects of academics on campus and elements of student life. It is used to inform the creation of most other policies and
procedures that different academic units, departments, and services offer. During the first meeting of the Academic Plan Task Force in November 2023, UTM VicePrincipal, Academic and Dean Nicholas Rule stated that the membership of the task force was very carefully decided. However, I couldn’t help but notice I was the only student at the table. Each of the other members were members of the dean’s office; department chairs; directors of campus units, such as Information & Instructional Technology Services; and the interim chief librarian. This was also the case in 2017, when UTM made its previous and currently operational academic plan. As the Academic Plan impacts all the over 19,500 members of the UTM community, including students, staff, faculty, plus 69,000 alumni, these members are supposed to be factored into the plan’s decision-making process. Being the only student representative for both undergraduate and graduate students, however, my very large constituency propor-
tionally receives the least representation on the task force. The Academic Plan is more than just a set of guidelines. It provides the blueprint for many important decisions that impact students, from policies to practices, funding to research. This plan sets the university’s vision for the future. With this, I have to say I am worried. I worry about how the institutions designed to represent students have dropped the ball and aren’t involving themselves with this work. I worry about the changes I see and hear professors and departments making. I worry about the future of our university, and the representation of student concerns. Something this important should not be left up to just one student representative. The very first thing I brought to the task force was my concern over AI in the classroom, how it will impact future students in a post-COVID world, and how professors are reacting to it now — such as by increasingly relying on exams and using tests instead of assignments as means of assessing students. While these changes in classrooms may seem small and inconsequential, they are anything but. I have heard directly from students about how some changes they have noticed in classrooms are hurting their chances of success. So, why should you, the reader, care? My hope is that through working on this plan, we take a healthier approach to academics: one that helps students who are struggling succeed and one that ensures that no student is left behind in any aspect, whether it is through ensuring in-class assessments and exams are fair in their content, creating equitable grading policies, or working to eliminate false academic offence allegations and change key
administrative policies. There is a lot to tackle in this plan, and many students have reached out to me and raised concerns regarding what they want to see and how the university may address their needs. My role on this task force is to represent all students. That was my intention from day one and will be until the plan is complete. As your voice at the table, your collective needs and wants are what I will bring to it. As one student, however, I rely on your input to make sure your concerns are heard by everyone deciding what this plan will look like. This is an opportunity for students to band together and show university administrators what our priorities are. Whether you are in your first or last year, or an alum, I end with one very simple request. Take the time to participate in this process and help ensure that this plan reflects the best interests of students and all UTM community members. Your voice matters. Send me an email, or message me on Instagram (@ehab_ james). Stop and talk to me if you see me on campus. Talk to your friends about what they want to see. Reach out to your clubs, which I have all invited to present directly to our task force. Our window of opportunity to bring real change is closing. Find the time to make sure this plan is done right because it decides your future, the future of your alma mater, and the future of tens of thousands of students who will feel the effects of this plan after us. Ehab James is a third-year undergraduate student, double majoring in Political Science and Sociology at UTM. Ehab is a member of the UTM Campus Council, UTM Academic Affairs Committee, UTM Nominating Committee, and the UTM Academic Plan Task Force.
U of T’s architecture stifles well-being, but it’s improving Current projects and future plans for U of T’s architecture are windows into students’ wellness Max Zhang Comment Columnist
This past winter break was the first time I’d been home since coming to college. In my first hours at home, I was filled with a sense of familiar calm — but soon, I was filled with the irrepressible sensation of being stuck and suffocated in the suburbs. When I got back, walking out of College subway station and onto the lively glowing street was a breath of fresh air. Still, I can’t say the same for a lot of buildings at U of T. Circumstance has an undeniably profound impact on mental health. A collection of studies shows that exposure to the environment — through factors such as urbanicity, the degree to which a geographical area is considered urban; housing conditions; and access to green space — have wide-ranging impacts on mental health. In particular, a 2023 study in the journal European Psychiatry summarized findings on the impact of architecture, concluding that “incorporating elements such as natural lighting, open floor plans, private and open community spaces, artwork, safety procedures, and nature/views of nature, provides a supportive environment for the mental well-being and the treatment of mental disorders.” Considering students spend a vast majority of their time on campus — or at least a substantial amount, in the case of commuters — I believe the onus then lies with U of T to take conscious action in their design to ensure student wellbeing. Architecture at U of T An examination of one of UTSG’s flagship buildings, Robarts Library, can reveal the current state of affairs at U of T. Hailed as a “brutalist masterpiece” by the Canadian architecture magazine Spacing, Robarts is undeniably the heart of campus, with up to 18,000 students passing through each day. As Robarts holds such central status
in campus life, it should, at the bare minimum, be a pleasant experience to look at, if not perfectly designed for student well-being. Robarts sadly fails this bar in the public’s view, having been nominated by readers of the Toronto Star for the “worst building in the city.”
and psychological improvement among subjects. But nearly every engineering building I’ve walked through has been a maze of dull tones and minimal windows, with dim, dreary lighting. Of course, this is not a shortcoming only
ANJALI SANIL/THEVARSITY
Beyond Robarts, U of T classrooms are no better at providing inspiring spaces. Most notably, most STEM buildings, especially those for the Faculty of Engineering, provide depressing, grayscale environments. Students, especially engineering students — most of whom have approximately 25–30 hours of instruction a week in their first year — are trapped in those environments for most of their productive hours. Researchers from Central Michigan University showed that, in a work environment, exposure to the natural environment — in particular, sunlight — resulted in both physical
embodied in engineering buildings, as most older buildings suffer from the same monotonicity and lack of natural light. How U of T can do better — and what it’s doing Buildings don’t spring up overnight, but U of T’s recent and current building projects look very promising to me. Recent renovations and newer buildings include Robarts Commons, the gleaming five-storey attachment to the main library with a wall of windows and no shortage of natural light. The university is also planning many new buildings and expansions. Notably, two months ago, U
of T broke ground on an expansion to Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories. Renderings of the expansion display a focus on natural light and open spaces. Other new projects include the SpadinaSussex Student Residence, which I consider an important step to keeping up with the competitive housing market in Toronto and well planned for student well-being with plenty of sunshine. U of T is also planning what I see as its most ambitious project: the construction of a new Academic Tower behind the Munk School of Global Affairs. Proposed as “an iconic, precedent-setting building” designed to be Canada’s tallest academic wooden building, the glass-lined tower projects a commitment to sustainability and student well-being through conscious architecture. U of T is also planning the pedestrianization of another street through its Willcocks Commons project, providing space for more green spaces. Finally, some of the areas in U of T’s massive Landmark Project are in their final stages, with renovations around King’s College Circle showing a clear dedication to promoting green spaces and an increased focus on pedestrians. In particular, I had the pleasure of walking through a small, halffinished garden in construction near University College. Even in the dead of night with tarps of dirt scattered around, I could see a bright future ahead. I believe U of T is doing its best in many ways. For a university that predates its country, the buildings have aged functionally well, and the university is providing ample effort to update and renovate as our understanding of architecture and well-being evolves. To me, it seems that the clear vision of creating spaces with more natural light and greenery shows U of T’s understanding of how urban design affects mental health and a commitment to providing the best experience for students. Max Zhang is a first-year student at Woodsworth College, studying computer science. He is the Mental Health columnist for The Varsity’s Comment section.
thevarsity.ca/category/comment
JANUARY 22, 2024
13
Canada’s arms trade with Israel sends the wrong message Canada’s arms exports may conflict with its human rights principles Emma Dobrovnik Comment Columnist
2023 was the deadliest year recorded in the occupied West Bank since the United Nations (UN) began reporting in 2005. Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank killed at least 477 Palestinians over the course of the year, more than half of them after October 7. At the same time, the value of Canada’s arms trade with Israel has surged over the past several years. I find Canada’s supply of military weapons to Israel concerning, given the possibility that the weapons will be used to kill and maim Palestinians in the occupied territories. To prevent its exports from being involved in the perpetration of war crimes and crimes against humanity, I believe Canada must halt its arms trade with Israel. Amid all these documented civilian casualties, I feel that Canada’s military trade with Israel should be scrutinized more closely. It’s worth noting that Canada is legally responsible for ensuring that its arms exports are not “used in the commission of serious violations of international law or serious violence against women and children,” as outlined in the international Arms Trade Treaty. For perspective, about 70 per cent of those killed in Gaza between October 7 and December
18 were women and children. What’s more, an October Amnesty International report has documented unlawful action by the state of Israel since October 7, including but not limited to counts of indiscriminate fire, which have caused mass civilian casualties. The prohibition against assault on civilians is a core tenet of international humanitarian law, yet the report found multiple cases of attacks by the Israeli military when there were no military objects present at the time. This is to say nothing of how the Israeli government has blocked food, water, and fuel into the West Bank, in what Human Rights Watch has reported is a deliberate use of starvation as warfare. Unsurprisingly, depriving civilians of essential goods also constitutes a war crime. This blatant disregard for Gaza’s citizens comes at a time in which Canada’s weapons trade with Israel is seeing record highs. In fact, the value of Canada’s military exports to Israel has been growing steadily since the mid-2000s. In 2022, Canada transferred over $21 million in military goods to Israel, hitting the third-highest level of Canadian military exports to Israel to date — even when adjusting for inflation. Canada’s annual report from that same year indicates that Israel was second only to the US in terms of the amount of export permits it granted
Claudine Gay’s resignation, and the end of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion This is only the beginning of US conservatives’ campaign against liberal pedagogy Divine Angubua Associate Comment Editor
She has been accused of minimizing antisemitism, calling for the genocide of Jews, and intimidating the free press. She was accused of ‘serial plagiarism’ by conservative activist Christopher Rufo, who also said she lacked the merit and competence required of arguably the most powerful academic office in North America. She was the first Black president of Harvard University, the first person of colour to hold the office, and only the second woman to do so in the institution’s almost 400-year history. After a tense and dramatic six months, Claudine Gay resigned as president and has returned to her work as a faculty member at Harvard, where she may be lowered from the cross upon which she was left alone. Of course, her enemies cheered. She had embodied the perfect canvas on which America’s conservatives and other scrutineers of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives (DEI) could stage another battle for the fate of their vulnerable nation. With Gay’s resignation came my certainty that the days of DEI were numbered and the darkest still to come. Following the striking down of affirmative action by the Supreme Court of the United States, a case in which Harvard was a defendant, America’s right-wing establishment took up their mission to rid higher education of the infestation of liberal pedagogy and rhetoric, and especially the widespread policies, practices, and initiatives that celebrated and granted privilege based on identity as a method of correcting the historical exclusion of marginalized groups. No more taking in students simply because they presented a sob story about being Black or gay or a woman. Every student has to earn their place, especially at an institution like Harvard. After all, Martin Luther King Jr. himself dreamt of a nation where no one would be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character, right?
So, to return to the glowing past of a colourblind America, where we pretended like everybody had a fair chance and operated as such, Gay had to leave. Her scholarly résumé, Los Angeles Times columnist Robin Abcarian wrote, was “thinner” than many of the presidents that came before her; her promotion from dean of the faculty of arts and sciences after only five years was suspicious and too quick. Was she perhaps chosen for her creative and emboldening decision-making or her singular vision for a more vibrant and engaged Harvard? I guess we shall never know because such considerations must not constitute the content of one’s character. What we did come to know was that Gay’s testimony before Congress in December, following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent launch of violence into Gaza, was where it all went wrong. When New York Republican representative Elise Stefanik asked Gay whether Harvard admissions would rescind offers against applicants saying “from the river to the sea” or “intifada” to specifically advocate “for the murder of Jews,” Gay stated that the type of “hateful reckless offensive speech” was “personally abhorrent” to her. Upon Stefanik’s other question on whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated Harvard’s bullying and harassment rules, Gay responded that the school takes action depending on the context in which the language is used. Gay clarified that individuals are not sanctioned for their political views or speech until said views and speech turn into conduct that violates the behaviour-based policies that categorize something as serious as bullying, intimidation, or calling for the genocide of an entire race or demographic. The simple fact is that under the US First Amendment, the nation’s primary bastion of free speech, pro-Palestine students in the US are allowed to use the phrase “From the River to the Sea” to rally support for the liberation of Palestine.
It would be remiss not to pause arms exports to Israel, as Canada has done so before. ZEYNEP POYANLI/THEVARSITY
for military technology and goods. While a significant portion of exports went toward Israel’s space program, approximately eight million dollars worth of this went towards either military aircraft or explosives. In light of this, we ought to consider how Canada’s role as an arms-exporting nation may conflict with its international obligations and human rights principles. This concern isn’t new: the possibility for Canada to indirectly contribute to human rights abuses is precisely why its arms trade has been historically subject to restrictions, such as twoway embargoes, where the country is required to halt all military item transfers to another country. Embargoes aim to prevent the exchange of military equipment between the countries involved and can be invoked on humanitarian grounds. It would be remiss not to pause arms exports to Israel, as Canada has done so before. Canada’s previous arms embargo with Israel was implemented in the late 1980s. Interestingly, this sanction was imposed as a response to violence against Palestinian citizens during the first intifada. Of course, the conditions that brought about the ban aren’t unlike those facing Palestinians today. If anything, I believe an embargo is needed now more than ever. Whereas Israeli forces killed roughly 1,100 Palestinians during the first five-
year intifada, nearly 25,000 were killed in Gaza since October 7 alone. At this point, it’s become increasingly difficult to ignore the gravity of Israeli violations. In the current global context, Canada’s Israeli arms trade is inconsistent with both its domestic legislation and its commitment to global diplomacy. A report commissioned by the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East — a Canadian pro-Palestine advocacy organization — suggests that Canada not only suspend its military trade with Israel but also launch a parliamentary investigation to determine whether Canadian exports have been used in attacks against civilians in Gaza. Transparency is imperative when lives are at stake. Beyond potentially supporting a breach of international law, the continued transfer of military goods to Israel conveys an indifference toward the rule of international law — and toward the sheer levels of devastation in occupied Palestine.
Pro-Israel students in the US are also allowed to use the phrase as they rally support for the expunging of Hamas. Herein lies what some may see as the uncomfortable, unsatisfactory truth about free speech: until it crosses into conduct, it is protected by the law. As Eugene Volokh, a professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles, reminds us in an interview with ABC News, “advocacy of genocide is sometimes protected under the First Amendment and sometimes not.” Gay’s responses to Stefanik are indicative of how some questions cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. Gay’s responses were factually right, despite effectively laying herself into the careful trap of righteous right-wing outrage. Several legislators demanded that she resign, billion-dollar donors began to pull their funding from Harvard, and then came the accusations of plagiarism driven by Christopher Rufo’s fierce and tactical campaign. Harvard’s board issued a statement in support of Gay, and after an independent review of the former president’s published work, it concluded that a few missing quotation marks did not qualify her resignation. Most recently, the school defended their review on January 19 through a report to a congressional committee. Still, the scrutiny of her work grew obsessive with no regard for its content, which evidenced the link between the production of a strong democracy and the placing of previously excluded
communities into halls of power. Gay grew weary of it and soon resigned. I see a larger plot to unravel our faith in pillars of society, and characterize them as sites of liberal indoctrination and speech suppression, to be clear in the case of Claudine Gay. In a presidential election year, America’s right wing is desperate for a chance at power, pointedly fighting for the colourblind equality that they think King marched and died for; where the full content of one’s character was limited to the borders of a standardized test paper, with no concern for the stories, ambitions, talents, or social potential of America’s stakeholders.
Emma Dobrovnik is a third-year student at St. Michael’s College studying political science and criminology. She is a Director of Mentorship for the Association of Political Science Students and an International Affairs columnist for The Varsity’s Comment section.
Divine Angubua is a third-year student at UTM studying history, political science, and creative writing. He is the editor-in-chief of With Caffeine and Careful Thought and a staff writer at The Medium. He is an associate comment editor of The Varsity.
Gay may have been calculated and unsentimental, but she was bold, and she was right.
COURTESY OF CHARLOTTE OLSEN/OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS CC WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
14
THE VARSITY
comment@thevarsity.ca
COMMENT
Kosovo’s recent visa liberalization is a step forward for Albanians everywhere Observing a historical moment as an Albanian student Vesa Lunji Varsity Contributor
For 16 years now, Kosovo has stood as an independent country. In 1999, Serbia committed ethnic cleansing against Albanians in Kosovo, which was part of former Yugoslavia. In 2008, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization intervened to help Kosovo gain independence. Since then, the Republic of Kosovo has been composed of diverse cultures, but its approximately 1.9 million inhabitants have not had the same rights for liberty of movement as many other people in Europe — until now. On January 1, the European Commission made a pivotal decision to implement Kosovo’s visa liberalization — a significant moment for Albanians everywhere. This choice means that citizens of Kosovo can travel outside the country without a visa to 27 European countries for up to 90 days in any given 180-day period. Historically, the European Commission’s reluctance to grant visa liberalization has restricted the freedom of Albanians, but this recent shift in visa requirements now offers them newfound opportunities to enrich their community. Conversations surrounding the possibility of visa liberalization in Kosovo started in 2012. Two years later, the European Commission concluded that, while Kosovo made adequate progress in fulfilling the requirements that the Commission deemed necessary, it would require the country to take
further action before setting up a visa liberalization program. In 2018, Kosovo met all outstanding requirements the European Commission had set for the visa liberalization act to go into effect. That same year, during the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs’ parliamentary vote to enact visa liberalization, 30 members of the parliament voted in favour of the act, 10 voted against, and two abstained. Votes continued to fluctuate until this year; it took six years after it met all set criteria for Kosovo to gain this freedom. As an Albanian myself, this news was long awaited and exciting. It signifies a historical moment for the people of Kosovo, as they now have the same liberties as other independent countries. Even though I grew up in the US, I consider Kosovo my second home. It is a country with a rich culture and history, and I have learned a lot from my experiences in Kosovo. However, during my time there, I have also seen how difficult it is to not have the same opportunities as everyone else. Some people have been lucky enough to obtain a visa, but most were not given that chance. This new fulfilment is a recognition of the equal chances every citizen deserves. A key benefit that this new law can bring is that it enhances Kosovo’s educational landscape. By allowing people to see the world without constraints, this will let them broaden their horizons more readily than ever before. I believe seeing di-
Comic Just Checkin’ In
Kyanna Velasquez Varsity Contributor
The recent decision is a recognition of the equal chances every citizen deserves. COURTESY OF MUHAMER IBRAHIMI CC WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
verse cultures is crucial for individuals to be openminded so they can contribute to creating a more knowledgeable community. Having more chances to go abroad will increase learning prospects and aggrandize their learning experience by exposing them to more multifaceted perspectives. In turn, a more cultivated society forms a foundation for a stronger community because it will cause economic growth, reduce crime rates, and foster more good-natured people. This ability to travel without a visa represents a notable stride toward European integration for Kosovo. As more people travel, the contact between Kosovo and European Union (EU) member states will continue to rise. Cultural exchange and tourism will likely soar at rates that will better the economy while fostering an interconnected community. An influential aspect of this new development is that Kosovo is now closer to being seen as an independent country by all EU states. This is crucial not only because it signifies a diplomatic
achievement but also because it contributes to strengthening the rights of Albanians. The most important element of visa liberalization in Kosovo is its affirmation of the essential privileges inherent to humanity. People will now be able to explore possibilities without being confined. It is also important to note that many people in Kosovo have families that reside in other countries. Allowing citizens of Kosovo to travel freely serves as a unifying force, encouraging reunions that were not easily attainable before 2024. I believe the visa liberalization in Kosovo will be considerable progress for the Albanian community, as it grants Albanians fundamental freedoms everyone deserves. As education levels, chances of European integration, and the implementation of basic human rights increase, Kosovo’s culture will also get stronger. Vesa Lunji is a first-year student at University College studying Life Sciences.
Arts & Culture
January 22, 2024 thevarsity.ca/category/arts-culture arts@thevarsity.ca
Why it’s important to dress your best at university How not wearing sweatpants might make you feel better while attending class James Raposo Varsity Contributor
At the beginning of my four long years at U of T, I made a vow never to wear sweatpants to school, and it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. It is easy to see why fashion and personal style are at the bottom of people’s priorities during the school year. However, I think dressing up can be an immensely productive experience amid everything that bogs us down. What you wear at school is something you can control In a world of stress and extensive uncertainty, where it is easy to feel powerless in the major goings-on of society, we find a modicum of control in choosing what we wear. Our clothing can empower us by giving us a sense of authority in our university life — to me, that is nothing to be scoffed at! Moreover, the period between finishing secondary school and joining the workforce is one of the only times when you have total control over what you can wear. Without being hindered by things like dress codes, school uniforms, parental control, and the like, there is really no better time to experiment and find what clothes make you feel happy and presentable. I find it hard to communicate my personality through words, so it is supremely satisfying to express myself through my clothes. A choice as seemingly insignificant as the shoes we wear can say a lot to others. Clothing serves as a means of extracting one’s personal, internal self and presenting it on the outside.
for me is spending an afternoon in advance trying on almost all of my clothes, and taking pictures of what works and what doesn’t. This way, your bad fits stay in your Recently Deleted folder, instead of tossed together when you rush out the door. Also, creating themes for your outfits depending on the occasion is a fun way to avoid “clothing block.” I love watching movies, and I generally try to adapt my look toward something one of my favourite characters may be wearing. Another fun theme I’ve been running with is centring an entire outfit on an item that’s been dwelling in the depths of my closet, which has helped me escape a fashion rut. Our fashion senses tend to hibernate in the winter, but they don’t have to. These are just a few ways to get you thinking about your next outfit. Beyond looking good, there are many reasons why dressing well boosts your morale and self-expression. Now, please put down those sweatpants once and for all!
Think of it like making your bed The theory that making the bed in the morning leads to an uptick in productivity, confidence, and happiness is widely known and discussed. Even U of T’s own Jordan Peterson raves about how making your bed can bring about order in your personal life. Although I rarely make my bed, I do put on a nice outfit every day — I can find order just as easily with snazzy jeans or my favourite army jacket. I understand the temptation to wear sweatpants every day; they are comfortable and easy to put on and forget about. But when I wear them out, it conflates my “go-mode” with my relaxation time. Nothing is better than changing out of day clothes into a cozy sweat-suit, so why rob yourself of that precious feeling of winding down by dressing in sweats all the time? I see it as the same as wearing a suit at home — some lines are not meant to be blurred! Some tips to help you dress up every day Firstly, wear the clothes you own. This may seem obvious, but often, when people tell others to start “dressing nice,” they encourage crazy spending on a whole new wardrobe. I reject that advice. I encourage you to wear what you already own and what makes you feel confident and presentable. From this, you can learn the silhouettes, materials, and styles you love that instill confidence. Clothes are meant to be worn — and to me, this means wearing them until they become totally unwearable. Repeat your outfits. Repeat your favourite fit because it looks good, and then find interesting ways to spin it into something new! Secondly, scrambling for a good outfit 10 minutes before class is a recipe for disaster. What works
Students spotted on campus in their winter swag.
AARON NETHANEL & AMAREENA SALEH & ERI DIXON & MASHIYAT AHMED & MILENA PAPPALARDO/THEVARSITY
16
THE VARSITY
arts@thevarsity.ca
ARTS & CULTURE
The new Mean Girls is less mean, more musical Is Tina Fey’s new adaptation of the cinema classic still “fetch”? Audrey Lai Varsity Contributor
Get in loser, we’re watching Mean Girls (2024)! The Mean Girls musical film, which premiered on January 12 and is in theatres now, follows the same plot as the 2004 cult classic. If you’ve been living under a rock for the last 20 years — or if you’ve been labelled a “homeschooled jungle freak” like the film’s protagonist — the Mean Girls story follows 16-year-old Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), who goes to high school in the US for the first time after being homeschooled by her researcher mom (Jenna Fischer) in Kenya. She befriends artsy Janis ‘Imi‘ike (Auliʻi Cravalho) and theatrical Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey), but she is ultimately pulled into the school’s popular
clique, The Plastics — consisting of the head diva Regina George (Reneé Rapp), ditzy Karen Shetty (Avantika Vandanapu), and insecure Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood). Cady infiltrates the clique to learn its secrets and woo her crush, Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney), but soon, she finds herself captivated by the world of the titular mean girls. The 2024 cast had significant hot pink shoes to fill, and they did so remarkably. Rapp, who reprised her role as Regina from the 2019–2020 Broadway production of Mean Girls, stole the show in her captivating performances of fanfavourite songs from the musical, such as “Someone Gets Hurt” and “World Burn.” Her character is still delightfully vicious, despite some of her lines lacking the same cruel bite as 2004 Regina.
Reneé Rapp and Avantika Vandanapu strut down the hall as the new Regina and Karen. ZEYNEP POYANLI/THEVARSITY
Cravalho’s charmingly spunky characterization of Janis was spot-on, and she was phenomenal in her performance of “I’d Rather Be Me.” Spivey and Vandanapu were comedic standouts in their respective roles as Damien and Karen. Although I loved Rice’s performance as Cady, her lack of musical theatre experience compared to her castmates was at times evident, as they tended to overshadow her singing in this film. One major caveat of the movie was its insistence on modernizing the original story by including storytelling through social media, although it did so better than its stage production. Its TikTok montages felt cringeworthy and out of touch, especially compared to the rest of the film’s clever humour. I found that a modernization of the Mean Girls plotline was unnecessary in the first place because Gen Z had already grown up watching the film. I also felt that the movie’s attempt to make costumes feel trendy for Gen Z audiences fell flat. In bleak comparison to the 2004 film, whose iconic outfits continue to inspire “Y2K fashion” to this day, 2024 Regina dons corset tops and neon pants that could be found on SHEIN’s homepage in 2020. While the recent increase of fast fashion is partly to blame, I found that the musical remake could have better tastefully recreated nostalgic styles, perhaps like in the high school film Bottoms (2023). Most of Mean Girls’ (2024) criticism stems from its marketing, which confused the public — the musical aspect of the movie was omitted from much of its promotional material, and some of its trailers hid the fact that it was a musical,
with one trailer opting to use Olivia Rodrigo’s “get him back!” as background music rather than a song from its own soundtrack. This reflects a recent effort from marketing teams to hide the fact that movie musicals are, in fact, musicals — such as for the movie Wonka (2023) — seemingly just to increase ticket sales. This marketing tactic backfired on the part of Mean Girls (2024) because it gave audiences both heightened and skewed expectations. General audiences expected a reboot of the 2004 movie instead of a movie adaptation of the musical. The poor public perception of the movie before it was even released resulted from this miscommunication, and I think marketing the remake toward musical theatre lovers would have been a better choice. Despite these faults, Mean Girls (2024) successfully captures the essence of the stage production and the 2004 film. Dance numbers and dream sequences are fabulously campy: “Revenge Party” and “Sexy” are standouts. Iconic dialogue from the 2004 movie is combined with hysterical new lines — Karen describes Regina’s pimple as “sexy, like a face breast” — and the immensely talented ensemble delivered a spectacular performance. Arguably, the musical sequences were the best part of the film. In fact, I wish the movie had incorporated more material from the musical setlist, especially Gretchen and Karen’s parts in “Meet the Plastics.” Is Mean Girls (2024) corny? Absolutely. Is Mean Girls (2024) as good as the original movie? Of course not. But it’s not trying to be. Is Mean Girls (2024) fun? Well, I would say it’s pretty “grool.”
Exploring the philosophical questions of Studio Ghibli movies From existentialism to environmentalism, Miyazaki’s work remains profound Quin Xie Varsity Contributor
Japanese anime director Hayao Miyazaki has a way of weaving reflections on life into his fairy tales, which tinge his works with serenity and introspection. His latest film, The Boy and the Heron, was one of the runners-up of the Toronto International Film Festival 2023 People’s Choice Award and arrived back in theatres again this past December. The Japanese title for The Boy and the Heron is “How Do You Live” — the same name as the classical Japanese novel gifted to the 12-year-old protagonist, Mahito, by his mother. The answer to this somewhat artless existential question is given in the boy’s own name, which means “the sincere one.” At this stage of his career, Miyazaki is adept at employing signs and symbols from earlier works to construct an elaborate fictional universe. These details are probably more about self-reference than fan service, but the audience’s interpretation is still essential to Miyazaki’s films, as it is to any creative work. What are some of the philosophical ideas that the audience can glean from Studio Ghibli’s symbolism? The authenticity of childhood identity Many of Miyazaki’s adventures — think the cat bus and Totoro that only Satsuki and Mei can see, and the talking cat that only Kiki can hear — are exclusive to children. Their innocence represents an identity yet to be developed. Through these adventures, where they are faced with choices, the young protagonists construct their identities and achieve transcendence. In this last Ghibli movie, Mahito, at the beginning, is traumatized by the upheaval of World War II. Shortly after his family’s relocation to the countryside, Mahito stumbles across a derelict tower that serves as a gate to the fantasy world, where he finds his place in the family and the world. Notably, Mahito discovers the tower by squeezing through an impossibly narrow tunnel while chasing after a heron. Through this adventure, the values Mahito learns are love, authenticity, and even a flavour of
unconditional acceptance of existence extolled by Nietzsche. By putting a piece of himself in this character, Miyazaki allows us to empathize with his reflection on existential questions. In another Studio Ghibli movie, Spirited Away, by going through a tunnel, Chihiro, the protagonist, discovers a bathhouse for spirits. Here again, by holding on to her identity and her name despite her circumstances, she holds true to herself, unyielding to the gaudiness and greed of the bathhouse. The question of identity is a thread that has been present and evolved in Studio Ghibli movies throughout the years. A living universe Like the tiny unborn souls in The Boy and the Heron, Warawara the forest spirit in Princess Mononoke, and Susuwatari in My Neighbor Totoro, the guiding spirits in Spirited Away may originate from Japanese Shinto religion and folklore, where spirits are thought to roam and inhabit the world. That’s why we see so many shrines dedicated to natural forces, beings and landscapes throughout Japan: the Shimogamo Shrine for thunder, the Heian Shrine for previous emperors, and Fushimi Inaritaisha for rice and agriculture. Furthermore, the modern retelling of ghost tales, or Kaidan, is a popular genre in Japanese anime, where ghosts are represented either as incarnations of strong human emotions and wills, or inhabitants of nature disturbed by human activities. My personal favourites are Mushishi, Mononoke, and Natsume’s Book of Friends. In Miyazaki’s films, forests are used to represent the ultimate embodiment of nature and sacredness. In particular, Miyazaki emphasizes the harmony and equality between natural beings and human beings. Miyazaki films such as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro teach that nature is a living, unitary entity as opposed to a resource for humans to exploit at will. Beyond Japanese philosophy, this is a perspective shared by German philosopher Martin Heidegger, as well as numerous Indigenous philosophies who preceded him. In Heidegger’s work,
modern human society is propelled by the transition of technology from a means of revealing the potential of natural beings to a tool of excessive exploitation. Greed and morality In line with the reverence for nature is Miyazaki’s unequivocal denunciation of war. Almost all his films show the innocent lives of civilians implicated in war for naught. His attitude is summarized in the famous line from Porco Rosso, his most autobiographical work: “I’d rather be a pig than a fascist.” On the other hand, the way Miyazaki has addressed the topic of environmentalism has evolved over the years from an outright denouncing of greed to a more complex picture of personal motivation. Achieving prosperity while respecting our duties toward Earth has been an ethical dilemma among environmentalists since the early period of Henry David Thoreau. In Miyazaki’s earlier film Castle in the Sky, the government agent Muska wants to take control over Laputa solely out of greed; in Princess Mononoke, the leader of Iron Town Eboshi only promotes iron and firearm production to
feed her people; and in The Boy and the Heron, the pelicans who eat the unborn souls do so because it is the only way to survive in the underworld. Miyazaki’s increasingly nuanced attitude allows the viewer to contemplate human ontology — what it means to exist as human beings — which, at times, seems to be incompatible with the laws of nature. How do humans balance morality and authenticity with survival, especially in a society with growing industrial pressure? It is no wonder that Studio Ghibli movies are loved by people all around the world despite their diverse cultural backgrounds, ages, and ideologies. The themes of these movies — existential and ontological questions, meaningful connections, and environmentalism — sit squarely at the crossroads between Western and non-Western philosophies, addressing universal questions of the human condition. I can’t think of a better way to get through the long, bleak Toronto winter than with a Studio Ghibli movie, maybe while eating a tartine thickly spread with butter and jam that drips along the crust of the bread — just the way they’re shown in a Miyazaki movie.
The Boy and the Heron is currently in theatres. COURTESY OF TIFF
Sports
January 22, 2024 thevarsity.ca/category/sports sports@thevarsity.ca
UFC 297: Canada’s disappointing evening Women Canadian fighters show out as everyone else falters Ahmad Khan Associate Sports Editor
In June 2023, at the mixed martial arts (MMA) Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 289, Canada had a perfect evening. A clean sweep by all five fighters at UFC 289 in Vancouver set the tone for the future of Canadian mixed martial arts. On January 20, fans came out in droves to the Scotiabank Arena for UFC 297, vocalizing their support in screaming cheers for the home country fighters. Yet, even with victories from Jasmine Jasudavicius and Gillian Robertson, the narrative after Saturday wasn’t nearly as positive as it was back in June. Jasmine Jasudavicius Jasudavicius had a dominant performance last June, really showing out for Canadian fans. She hoped to replicate her performance in Toronto, but she ran into turmoil during fight week. Her opponent Priscila Cachoeira struggled to make the agreed-upon 126-pound weight limit before the fight. The fighters initially moved the bout’s weight limit to 130 pounds, yet facing the risk of cancellation, both agreed to increase the limit again to 136 pounds after Cachoeira again couldn’t make the agreed-upon weight. “[If] we make it 132 or 133 and then she misses weight, the Ontario commission might just be like nah, the fight’s not happening,” Jasudavicius explained. Even with all the allowances Cachoeira was given, Jasudavicius put on one of her best performances to date. Jasudavicius dominated in all three rounds, finding great success in both striking and takedowns, and threatening submission. Round three completed the clinic, with Jasudavicius ending the bout with a d’arce choke. The match was an incredible performance by Jasudavicius in one of the most one-sided performances you’ll ever see. Gillian Robertson Gillian Robertson faced Polyana Viana in a strawweight bout that showcased her grappling ability. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt easily took Viana down early in round one. Robertson secured several takedowns on Viana, landing a variety of strikes while threatening submissions. Viana continued to take a pummeling, courtesy of Robertson’s right hand, until officials had to stop the bout in the second round. “I wanted to cry out of happiness, I was so excited to be here,” shared Robertson in a post-win press conference. The support she received from fans was pivotal for her performance, feeding off the crowd’s energy and earning her second TKO victory. Mike ‘Proper’ Malott Mike ‘Proper’ Malott’s last win came in Vancouver, where he submitted Adam Fugitt in a guillotine choke, completing Canada’s sweep. Seen as the country’s best chance at capturing UFC gold, he was quickly dubbed as Canada’s “next big rising” star. Such expectations come with pressure, but, from experience, if you asked Malott about that, he would respond: “What pressure, dude?” During fight week, Malott spoke to The Varsity about his expectations for Saturday night. “I’m going to have 20,000 people chanting for me and screaming my name,” he said. “That’s privilege, not pressure.” He shared that he felt empowered by the support he was receiving and was adamant he wouldn’t lose focus on his goal. “This is something I’ve spent the last 20 years preparing to do,” he said. On Saturday’s fight against Neil Magny, Malott opened strong with the crowd chanting his name. He banked two rounds dominantly, with a flurry of calf kicks in the first and a strong ground game in the second. The third round was more of the same, yet after a takedown by Malott, Magny got back to
his feet and landed a takedown of his own. Magny transitioned to back mount, pouring down shots on an exhausted Malott before officials stopped the bout in Magny’s favour in the final round. Marc-André Barriault Like Malott, Marc-André Barriault’s last win came at UFC 289 with a unanimous decision over Eryk Anders. During the week, he hoped to break into the top 15 with a win over 14th-ranked welterweight Chris Curtis. Unfortunately, his plans faltered on Saturday. The first two rounds were lacklustre, as boos echoed around the arena, with both fighters having low output. The last round saw both fighters step on the gas. Soon after Curtis landed punishing shots to Barriault’s body, both fought in the pocket, exchanging hooks and uppercuts to the head and body. As the final bell rang, it was a toss-up for who won. To the disappointment of Canadian fans, Curtis got the nod. Serhiy Sidey Serhiy Sidey made his UFC debut this Saturday. It was the culmination of a professional career that began in 2018 at Burlington Training Center Fight Promotions. “I just had to put in the hard work, get one per cent better every single day,” Sidey explained when The Varsity asked about his journey. He faced Ramon Taveras in a rematch of a controversial bout that happened late last year on Dana White’s contender series — many fans believed that Taveras suffered an early stoppage after Sidey connected with a straight right. At UFC 297, Sidey sought to kill all doubts about his performance. But all that awaited him was more controversy. A gruelling back and forth left fans with the same questions they entered with. Taveras took the first round, but round two saw the fight turn into a
full-fledged war, as Sidey’s face turned battered, bruised, and bloody. Despite the visual, two of the three judges had scored the bout evenly going into the third round, after Sidey forced Taveras onto the backfoot. The two continued to exchange over the final five minutes, but ultimately, Sidey lost in a split decision that the fans believed he won, possibly setting up a trilogy in the future. Charles Jourdain Charles Jourdain finally got his chance to fight on home soil this past Saturday. A featherweight fighter with 15 wins to his name, the Montréal native sought to continue the win streak that began last year. During fight week, Jourdain explained to The Varsity how evolving his game has involved growing more mature as a fighter. “There’s some risk that you can take when there’s an opportunity for it, but those opportunities come [on their own time], don’t try to chase them too much,” he said. The key to becoming a better mixed martial artist was understanding how to get better at winning. “If you’re ahead, you don’t need to do that spinning heel kick that might get you down,” he added. Two spinning heel kicks later, Jourdain found himself down one round against Sean Woodson. Despite his struggles, Jourdain continued to push forward. However, the reach of the 6’2 featherweight kept Jourdain at bay, forcing him to flurry to close the distance but struggling to land clean. Following the final bell, controversy struck again, as Woodson won by split decision — though the confused crowd seemed to believe that Jourdain’s name had been read.
Brad Katona Brad Katona won the Ultimate Fighter for the first time in 2018 but was released by the UFC after going 2–2 in his four bouts. Katona went to Brave CF following his departure, winning and defending their bantamweight championship, before returning to The Ultimate Fighter and winning once again. “It was definitely the hard road, going over to Brave, fighting the killers that they had,” he told The Varsity. Yet, facing the tough opposition that he did in Brave gave him confidence for his UFC return. “I’m like a fine wine, I get better over time,” he said. He faced Garrett Armfield in a competitive bout. Katona had success late in the rounds, getting the better of his opponent in the grappling exchanges. But Armfield’s boxing overshadowed those exchanges, and ultimately the fight ended with the first unanimous decision victory of the night in favour of him. Hope! The women fighters seized the moment at UFC 297, taking advantage of the home crowd and producing dominant victories. Both fighters earned the Performance of The Night award, reaping the rewards for their outstanding performances. While the remaining Canadian fighters struggled all night, there was still light at the end of the tunnel — all the decision losses were tight and, early on, Malott was commanding in the ring. Overall, the future for Canadian MMA is still bright: this event saw a pair of fantastic victories, and a few lessons for those who suffered unfortunate defeats.
The UFC returned to Toronto for the first time since 2018. AHMAD KHAN/THEVARSITY
18
THE VARSITY
sports@thevarsity.ca
SPORTS
this season is to win the national championship, but Wong and the team know that the journey has a lot of steps. As Medel describes, Wong and the men’s hockey team will take this journey slowly, focusing on enhancing their game by taking it piece by piece. When asked about playing hockey after graduation, Wong said, “I’m a ‘take it as it comes’ kind of guy,” but he expressed that he would love to continue playing hockey after graduation. He encouraged aspiring Varsity Blue athletes to keep working hard, as nothing compares to the value of hard work. Surely, wherever Wong goes, he will bring his passion, talent, and diligence with him.
Game-changer on the ice: The rise of Nick Wong Unfolding a hockey journey fueled by skill, determination, and camaraderie Jennifer Lee Varsity Contributor
In the realm of the Ontario University Athletics men’s ice hockey, one name has been resonating with both players and fans alike — Nick Wong. A second-year Rotman Commerce student, Wong is a centre forward for the Varsity Blues men’s ice hockey team. Emerging as a powerful force on the ice, he has made significant strides in his hockey career throughout his life. Journey to the Varsity Blues Wong’s love for hockey began at the age of three. “My brothers were playing before me as goalies, and I always wanted to play with them,” Wong said in an interview with The Varsity. His brothers had a big influence on him as he entered the world of hockey, but former Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin was also a big inspiration. Wong started playing hockey competitively in Guelph. He played there for about six years before moving to the Mississauga Senators in the Greater Toronto Hockey League — where he stayed until the Oshawa Generals drafted him into the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). After a couple of seasons in Oshawa, he was traded to the Kingston Frontenacs, though Wong played his final year in the OHL with the Saginaw Spirit. Wong described his past experiences with the teams in the OHL as a “big help in getting to where I am today” and praised his former teammates on their level of professionalism. It was in December 2021, during his last year in Saginaw, when Varsity Blues head coach Ryan Medel invited Wong to join the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team.
“Coach Ryan Medel gave me a call and said, ‘Hey, would you be interested in coming?’ [And] I said, ‘Yeah, of course,’” Wong said. “He showed me some of the facilities, and I just fell in love with it right away. [After that] it was a pretty easy decision to make.” Excellence on the ice Wong has served the Blues well this season, becoming an integral part of the team’s offense with his skill and vision. As of January 21, Wong has scored 10 goals and assisted in 18 goals. His strong performance is a testament to his prowess, tenacity, and commendable work ethic. Despite grappling with injuries last year, he has rebounded with resilience. Spending time with the team’s strength coach during the summer, Wong elevated his fitness levels and pushed himself further. “There was a noticeable difference in him coming back, just in terms of his speed and his strength, compared to his first year,” Medel said in an interview with The Varsity. “He is the first one on [the ice] every day at practice, and he is the last one off.” Cole Purboo, the men’s ice hockey team captain and Wong’s teammate, complimented Wong’s scoring touch and hockey IQ. “He really eats, sleeps, and breathes hockey,” said Purboo in an interview with The Varsity. Teamwork, friendship, and support Nevertheless, Wong credits his success to the collaborative efforts of his team. “[With] everyone being on the same page, they make it easy to make chances,” said Wong. “We push each other in practice to become a little bit better every day.” For Wong, the most rewarding aspect of hockey transcends
the game itself; it lies in the camaraderie and care among teammates throughout their shared journey. “You have an extended family here… so I think we’ve made some lifelong connections for the rest of our lives,” Wong said. Yet, he considers his greatest supporters to be his family — his parents, who come out to almost all of his games, and his siblings. “Even in the summer, I played a lot of hockey with my brother. He came out and stopped some pucks for us actually, it’s pretty funny,” said Wong. Off the ice Beyond the rink, Wong enjoys weightlifting, spikeball, playing tennis with his mom, and trying out new restaurants with his friends. On campus, he loves studying in the Blue and White Room and grabbing shawarmas from the food truck Food from East. He is also part of U of T’s Sustainable Innovation Group, a club that helps small businesses become more sustainable with funding and grants while advocating for sustainability. “I met a person who I did a study with, and she told me it was a good opportunity to be out of your comfort zone and learn something new,” Wong said. “[So,] it’s been cool to apply some of the concepts I’ve learned throughout school in real life.” Where his future leads The team’s goal for
Nick Wong has made significant contributions on the ice this season. SEYRAN MAMMADOV CC VARSITY BLUES MEDIA
Elim Haile Varsity Contributor
Fast. Ferocious. Lethal. These are some of the traits of a mamba and traits attributed to the late, great Kobe Bryant. But if you add some Canadian maple to the mix, you create something new and unique. His name is RJ Barrett. Barrett embraced his “Maple Mamba” identity in his fourth game with the Toronto Raptors against the Golden State Warriors on the first Sunday of 2024. With his dominant display of 37 points, six assists, and six rebounds, he spearheaded the Raptors to a huge win, showcasing his sky-high potential. Maple origins Barrett grew up in Mississauga with a family who bestowed upon him his athletic gifts. His father, Rowan Barrett, was a former Canadian basketball player who represented Canada at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. His mother, Kesha Duhaney, was a National Collegiate Athletic Association athlete at St. John’s University. As a 14-year-old, Barrett participated in the Team Ontario U15 basketball team, with a commanding performance against Québec, scoring 37 points and leading Team Ontario to victory and their seventh consecutive Canadian National Championship title in 2014. He committed to Duke University in 2017, where he received the nickname “the Maple Mamba,” paying homage to his Canadian roots and his
competitive “Kobe mentality” on the court. In 2018, Barrett had a notable return to Toronto, scoring 35 points and leading Duke to an exhibition win against the U of T Varsity Blues. A year later, he was selected third overall by the New York Knicks in the 2019 NBA Draft.
The Maple Mamba has returned home
RJ Barrett’s trade to the Toronto Raptors opens a door for him to blossom The prodigal son returns Before the turn of the new year, the stars aligned to bring the Canadian native home. On December 30, a trade was completed that sent OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn to the New York Knicks, in exchange for Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and a 2024 secondround pick to the Toronto Raptors. The trade shocked Barrett. In an interview with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears, he spoke on his thoughts when he received the news from his agent. “I had no clue. I just got the call when it happened. I was like, ‘What is going on?’” Barrett said. “I was so confused. I didn’t see it coming. When he told me the Raptors, I was like, ‘Okay, at least I’m coming home.’” When he arrived in Toronto, Barrett met with teammate Immanuel Quickley to film the Raptors show programming “Open
Gym.” He spoke about his love and appreciation Toronto’s food
for culture. “You gotta grab me some Osmow’s... it’s Mediterranean food, it’s fire. You get some rice and chicken, got a lot of garlic sauce! Ouuu,” Barrett exclaimed. As the two Raptors players were being driven around downtown
Toronto, they approached a local Tim Hortons shop, stirring more conversation. “Get some Timbits, some honey-glazed timbits,” Barrett said before promptly explaining what Timbits are to a confused Quickley. His great appetite for Canadian household restaurants further transcends to a greater appetite for scoring points in games. Barrett’s trade to Toronto also provides the platform for basketball expansion in Canada. With a record number of 26 Canadian players in the NBA, including NBA champion Jamal Murray and All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Barrett has the opportunity to shine brightly as not only a Canadian but as “the Canadian on Canada’s team.” He’ll be able to inspire the next generation of Canadian players not just from a digital screen, but in the same backyard, providing a physical connection to reach the hearts of every NBA dreamer in Canada. The Raptors have a gem in their hands, and with Barrett’s innate drive to compete on the court, the scene is set for the talented 23-year-old to ascend to greatness.
The New York Knicks recently traded RJ Barrett to the Toronto Raptors. SANDRO HALANK CC WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
thevarsity.ca/category/sports
JANUARY 22, 2024 19
Blues apply offensive pressure to dominate against Ridgebacks while ‘thinking pink’ Ellen Ougrinov’s 27 points steers Blues women’s basketball team to victory Tamara Shihab Varsity Contributor
pink night,” said Blues guard Ellen Ougrinov in a post-game interview with The Varsity.
Emerging from a challenging four-game losing streak, the Varsity Blues women’s basketball team defeated the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks 71–54 on January 17, securing their first victory of the new year. The women’s team showed out in limited edition “Think Pink” jerseys in support of U SPORTS 17th annual “Shoot for the Cure” campaign for the battle against breast cancer. “It was a really good team win; we knew we wanted to come out and get the win, especially on the
What happened The Blues had a rocky start but eventually gained the lead in the first quarter with forward Sabrina Nero’s swift lay-up off a fast break, assisted by guard Sienna Caesar. Soon after, Ougrinov finally sank a three-pointer, immediately setting the tone for the team as they successfully dominated until the end of the quarter. Following the energy from the end of the first quarter, the Blues increased the pressure on the Ridgebacks with impressive defence, recording
18 total rebounds. Nero showed up aggressively as she continuously attacked the paint and drew two fouls in the quarter. She was a key player in maintaining the Blues’ offensive intensity. The Blues also made all their second-quarter field goals from the three-point line, with three shots from Ougrinov and two by guard Kiara Graham. After another big offensive quarter, the Blues closed the first half with a 40–19 lead. Blues guard Kaylee Williams started the third quarter off strong and nailed a three-pointer off the backboard, ensuring the team applied the same level of intensity against the Ridgebacks. The crowd cheered louder as the Blues gained a 29-point lead after Ougrinov made her seventh three-point shot of the game. The team also dominated the glass, grabbing 17 total of-
fensive and defensive rebounds, of which Blues guard Gabrielle Reed grabbed six. The intensity during the fourth quarter slowed down as everyone at the Goldring Centre was confident that the Blues would secure the win. Although the win was practically certain with their 23-point lead, Nero, Reed, and Blues forward Alex Jaglall continued to attack the rim, adding two points each. The Blues defeated the Ridgebacks with a final score of 71–54. The Blues not only dominated on the court but showcased excellent teamwork, passing and communication to achieve their win. “Shoutout [to] Sab for protecting the rim [and] Kaylee [Williams] for those steals,” Ougrinov said. “Shoutout [to] everyone — that was a good team win.” What’s next On January 20, the Blues faced off against the Queen’s University Golden Gaels at home and lost 81–69. They play against the Algoma University Thunderbirds on January 27.
The Blues were strong on the offensive and defensive end. ARU DAS CC VARSITY BLUES MEDIA
Blues effortlessly sweep Ontario Tech Ridgebacks on home court Baker, Ngamba and Daudu steer Blues men’s basketball to their sixth win in seven games Tamara Shihab Varsity Contributor
After defeating the Windsor Lancers last weekend, the Varsity Blues men’s basketball team continued to extend their impressive run of form and conquered the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks on January 17 in a chilly night at the Goldring Centre. The Blues were an offensive powerhouse and secured a 94–68 win.
The Blues overpowered the Ridgebacks on the court. ARU DAS CC VARSITY BLUES MEDIA
What happened Blues guard Nadav Sahar started off the first quarter strong, confidently sinking a three-pointer within the first 33 seconds of the game. The Blues maintained this lead until the end of the first, where guard Callum Baker impressively secured eight points in the quarter while only playing eight minutes. The team also applied pressure defensively, restraining the Ridgebacks to only three successful field goals in the first quarter. The Blues also snagged 14 rebounds and closed the first quarter, dominating the scoreboard 24–11. The Blues continued their lead and scored 28 points in the second quarter. Second-year guard Noah Ngamba led the Blues in points in the quarter, nailing all of his field goals in only four minutes on the court. Although the team’s field goal shooting percentage became less inefficient, the Blues still dominated the first half 52–33. After having a relatively slow first half, Blues forward Anthony Daudu showed out big in the third quarter with a team-high of 10 points and
four rebounds — including two impressive backto-back threes. At this point, the Blues escalated their offensive pressure and successfully shot 71.7 per cent, filling the Goldring Centre with proud cheers. They also had aggressive control of the ball on defense — with 12 total rebounds — and limited the Ridgebacks to only 13 points in the quarter. In the final quarter, Sahar scored the first Blues shot and the team’s only three-pointer of the quarter. The Blues achieved a consistent 20-plus-point lead after halftime and were even up by 33 points halfway through the fourth quarter. As the Blues entered the last quarter up 77– 46, the offensive scoring pressure decreased, as the team added only 17 points. Yet, the Blues closed the game, easily securing a 94–68 victory. In the end, Baker racked up a team-high 22 points, and Ngamba made 20 points, helping secure the victory. Both a top-three scorer and key player in defense, Daudu added 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. The team’s overall defense was unmatched, as the Blues made 21 points off turnovers and 13 second-chance points. What’s next The Blues battled with the Queen’s University Golden Gaels — who currently have an impressive record of 12–3 — at home on January 20, but lost 96–91. The team will now travel to play against the Algoma University Thunderbirds on Saturday, January 27.
20
THE VARSITY
ADVERTISEMENTS
JANUARY 22, 2024
The Varsity’s Varsity’s Weekly Crossword — The precipitation game Elise Corbin Puzzles Correspondent
Answers to the previous crossword
Check out our new games section on the website!!
https://thevarsity.ca/ category/games/