March 19, 2018

Vol. CXXXVIII, No. 22 March 19, 2018 thevarsity.ca —— University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880

e l U e S c T t i U o n e h s T e d r n w u a y e r . a This is Michelle Mabira.

This is Anne Boucher.

Both are running for President.

There are candidates running for other positions too.

Find out who on page 10.

The UTMSU elections began last week.

Voting will begin on Tuesday, March 20.

Read more on page 3.

2 • THE VARSITY • NEWS

Vol. CXXXVIII, No. 22 21 Sussex Avenue, Suite 306 Toronto, ON M5S 1J6 (416) 946-7600 thevarsity.ca

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How to follow along with The Varsity’s coverage of the UTSU spring elections: UTSU Executive Debates, March 20 and 21 The Varsity will live-tweet the debates and write recaps.

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“Spilling the Tea” Daily videos recounting the news of day, Monday to Thursday in the evenings.

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President and VP Internal debate at The Varsity, March 23 at 5:00 pm The debate will be moderated by Deputy News Editor Aidan Currie and Associate News Editor Josie Kao. It will be livestreamed on our social media.

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Artist Visit: Kai Cheng Thom

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UTSU Spring Elections Executive Debate Location: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Auditorium Time: 6:30–9:00 pm Price: Free

President and VP Internal debate at The Varsity

Time: 4:00–6:00 pm

Location: 21 Sussex Avenue, Room 201

Price: Free with registration

Time: 5:00–7:00 pm

UTM Muslim Students’ Assocation Social Night 2.0 Location & Time: Brothers: Spigel Hall, 7:00–9:00 pm.

Sisters: Faculty Club, 6:00–8:00 pm

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TCDS Presents: Sunday in the Park with George Location: George Ignatieff Theatre Time: 8:00–10:30 pm Price: $15 for students, $20 for adults

MARCH 19, 2018 • 3

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Campaign period for UTMSU elections underway One UTM slate unopposed for all executive positions Ilya Bañares & Jillian Schuler Associate News Editors

The campaign period for the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) began on March 12 and will continue until March 22. Voting will take place from March 20–22.

The One UTM slate is uncontested across all five executive positions. The slate’s platform includes the removal of the Student System Access Fee, alongside a number of other social and environmental justice commitments. The Board of Directors positions for Division II and III are heavily contested, but no candidates are listed on the UTMSU website as running for the Division IV and V positions.

The $55 Student System Access Fee, included on students’ invoices, “is charged for access to the Student

Web Service [ACORN/ROSI],” according to the university. One UTM, on its website, says the fee “used to be collected when students used to enrol in classes over the phone. With the evolution of the internet and systems like ACORN, the fee was grandfathered.” One UTM pledges to lobby Governing Council and the provincial government to eliminate the fee.

Other points of One UTM’s platform include fighting for free tuition, working on a GTA U-Pass with a focus on Brampton and Oakville, developing survivor support groups and implementing consent culture training, relaunching the task force on campus racism, developing a local environmental justice campaign, and working with academic societies to develop a mentorship program.

Felipe Nagata, the current Vice-

U-Pass to cost $280 per semester, pending TTC board approval Full-time UTSG undergrads to vote in U-Pass referendum during UTSU elections

Aidan Currie Deputy News Editor

UTSG full-time undergraduates would pay $280 per semester — $70 per month — for a new U-Pass if the cost is approved by the TTC board on March 20, and if UTSG students vote in support of the U-Pass in its upcoming referendum.

It was expected that the U-Pass could cost up to $322.50 per semester, which is $80.60 a month.

Currently, a TTC postsecondary metropass costs $116.75 per month.

The U-Pass “is designed to be revenue and cost neutral,” according to a report from Kirsten Watson, the TTC’s Acting Deputy Chief Executive Officer/Chief Customer Officer.

The report estimates that during the academic year, the TTC generates $7.3 million per month in revenue

from full-time students at the four eligible postsecondary institutions: UTSG, Ryerson University, OCAD University, and George Brown College. The cost of the U-Pass would guarantee that revenue for the TTC. Students will not be able to opt out of the U-Pass. Exceptions will include students “whose personal circumstances or needs related to a protected ground under the Ontario Human Rights Code restrict their ability to utilize transit.”

The U-Pass will only be implemented on PRESTO. Additionally, the report requires that the student unions of the four postsecondary institutions agree to a four-year term on the U-Pass.

UTSG students will be able to vote on whether to implement the U-Pass during the UTSU spring elections period, running from March 26–28.

The elections voting period will take place from March 20-22. MARGAUX PARKER/THE VARSITY

President Campus Life at the UTMSU, is running to be the next president of the union. Nagata, a third-year Political Science student, previously served as a Division III board member on the UTMSU. His individual platform focuses on expanding the printing centre and the free breakfast program, as well as establishing “an Online Swag mall” for clubs and student societies.

Yan Li, a second-year Political Science and Economics student, is running for Vice-President Internal.

Li is campaigning to expand student

services and relaunch a UTMSU app.

Atif Abdullah, current associate to the Vice-President University Affairs and a second-year Computer Science student, is running for Vice-President External. In his candidate statement, Abdullah pledges to “secure student discounts and advocate for the elimination of tuition fees for ALL students.”

Leena Arbaji, the UTMSU’s Sustainability Coordinator and a fourthyear Environmental Science student, is running for Vice-President Equity. Arbaji pledges to develop and

implement an environmental justice campaign, challenge rape culture on campus, and relaunch the task force on campus racism. “My team and I believe that we can help foster a culture of respect, inclusivity, and diversity here,” reads her candidate statement.

Andres Posada, a third-year Management student and President of the Latin American Students’ Association, is running for Vice-President University Affairs. He plans to lobby to extend the deadline for receiving a full refund upon dropping a course.

UTSC hosts Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development Mitzie Hunter talks OSAP, transit improvements at student town hall Abhya Adlakha & Khrysten Mieras Varsity Staff

The Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) and Centennial College Students’ Association Incorporated (CCSAI) hosted a student town hall with Minister Mitzie Hunter on March 14 at the UTSC campus.

Hunter is the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development and the MPP for Scarborough-Guildwood. She is currently running for re-election as the Ontario Liberal candidate in Scarborough-Guildwood.

The town hall discussion focused on accessible tuition, which is highlighted in the recent provincial budget’s reformed OSAP program, as well as issues surrounding domestic and international tuition fees, experiential learning, and transit affordability for students.

Hunter reminisced on her days at UTSC as an undergraduate student.

“It was on this campus that I found meaning and strength to that voice,” she said. “We would sit as students and debate for hours... It was on this campus, in this university, that my scope and definition of the world and my place in that was expanded.”

She also spoke about her work on OSAP reform. “Over 224,000 students, in fact, have access to free tuition through OSAP... Students are graduating with less financial burden than otherwise,” said Hunter.

Hunter said she was dedicated to making postsecondary education more accessible to students of all backgrounds, especially underrepre-

sented groups.

“We’re very committed to that as a government, continuing to invest in the skills and in the talent of our people and making sure that Ontario is a province that is fair and inclusive for everyone,” she said.

In the Q&A session, students asked questions about the future of transit systems and infrastructure in Scarborough, investments in postsecondary education, accessible education for Indigenous people, experiential learning, and the rising costs of tuition fees.

Regarding transit systems, Hunter talked about the many projects that are both currently underway and planned – one of them being the Guildwood GO Station.

“It’s being completely redesigned, and we’re adding a third track… so that at the end of the day, we can introduce a GO Regional Express Rail, which means that we will have faster service across our system,” said Hunter.

She also mentioned the possibility of extending a transit system to the UTSC campus: “I am going to fight to expand the [Scarborough] RT from Kennedy station along Eglinton Morningside to the UTSC campus, so that students can get where they need to go faster and more comfortably.”

Hunter brought up her annual youth career fair program to reflect on the importance of experiential learning. She believes that “students as young as grade seven, as well as high school students, need to get a sense of who they want to be in the future.”

She also highlighted the importance of experiential learning outside of school, which she said can

further contribute to students’ success in postsecondary education and the job market.

“Experiential learning is really helping to bring students closer to the jobs of the future, because it’s really about work-integrated learning, so while students are learning in school, they have an opportunity to have hands-on real-world experience, which actually enhances what they’re learning in the classroom,” said Hunter.

Hunter has also helped in creating a program called Career Kickstart to help students coming out of postsecondary to get their first job.

“Employers need to be more open to hiring students, so we’ve created a program to help bridge that,” she said. “We’ve invested in many different programs across the province that are helping students to get real hands on experience while they’re learning.”

When one student asked why the government is drawing funding from postsecondary institutions, which they said is leading to higher tuition costs, Hunter replied that contrary to popular belief, the government has actually increased investments in postsecondary education and will “continue to increase our support” for postsecondary education.

Hunter says that access has improved with the reformed OSAP program. The reformed program removes the age limit so that people can easily access postsecondary education at different stages in their lives. It also takes away the requirement that Indigenous students contribute $3,000 to the program.

4 • THE VARSITY • NEWS

news@thevarsity.ca

Victoria College criticized by student council over “complete absence of sustainability” Lack of environmental action in the president’s priorities, says VUSAC Josie Kao Associate News Editor

The sustainability commission of Victoria College’s student council is criticizing the college’s administration for what they view as a lack of action on environmental sustainability. Victoria University Students’ Administrative Council’s (VUSAC) sustainability commission sent a letter on February 28 to Victoria College’s President, William Robins. “Not only is sustainability not a priority within the administration, but it would appear to barely even be given consideration,” reads the letter.

The letter was in response to Robins’ presidential priorities document, which was sent to VUSAC to ask for their feedback, according to VUSAC Sustainability Commissioner Jared Connoy.

The commission writes in the letter that there is a “complete absence of

sustainability in [Robins’] presidential priorities document,” which they described as “incredibly disappointing.”

“As it is now within the administration, there’s not a single initiative or person that takes care of sustainability,” said Connoy. “Every single environmental initiative has fallen upon the shoulders of students, which in my opinion isn’t right and shouldn’t [have] been that way, especially considering that [Vic’s] student body is very environmentally conscious.”

In response to the criticism, Robins sent a letter to the Commission on March 16, stating that the presidential priorities document “intentionally focuses on the academic mission of Victoria University.”

“As the document acknowledges, there are many areas of our operations which this document does not directly address that nevertheless remain important priorities for the university,” wrote Robins. “Thus, while

issues such as environmental sustainability… are not directly encompassed in the document, that does not mean that they are not priorities for Victoria University. I assure you that they are.”

In regards to VUSAC’s criticism that Victoria does not have anyone dedicated to the sustainability portfolio, Robins wrote that, “Importantly, the hiring of Mr. Vikas Mehta as Vic’s new Director of Physical Plant is a strategic decision to bring to Vic a professional with extensive experience working with students, faculty and staff on sustainability, zero carbon, and greening initiatives.”

Robins also cites a number of the college’s sustainability initiatives, including installing new technology to reduce energy and water use, as well as new drinking fountains “to assist in waste diversion, reducing plastic bottle waste.” The latter began as a joint initiative with student groups.

In an email statement to The

“Blackness in White Institutions” tackles issues Black students face at U of T Activists, educators, students discuss systemic problems at event

From left: LeRoi Newbold, Lauriann Wade, Justice Huyer, and Chimwemwe Alao.

ANDY TAKAGI/THE VARSITY

Simrit Khabra Varsity Contributor

The University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) hosted a panel discussion called “Blackness in White

Institutions” on March 14, part of the union’s eXpression Against Oppression series.

Chimwemwe Alao, Vice-President Equity of the UTSU, probed panelists about topics ranging from what was

referred to as an anti-Black structure inherent in the university to experiences of anti-Black racism at U of T. The venue, the JJR Macleod Auditorium, was filled with students, community members, professionals, and activists. Students from other Ontario universities were also in attendance.

Organized by the UTSU’s Social Justice & Equity Commission, the panel included Lauriann Wade, registrar and sessional lecturer for U of T’s Transitional Year Programme; LeRoi Newbold, a member of the steering committee for BlackLivesMatter-Toronto (BLM-TO); and Justice Huyer, an activist and the Vice-President of the Black Students’ Association.

“There are no safe spaces for being Black on campus,” said Huyer in her opening remarks. Huyer discussed how Black students face specific challenges entering a “space that wasn’t

DARREN CHENG/THE VARSITY

Varsity, Connoy said that while Robins’ response does address some of his concerns, “sustainability is still not a responsibility of anyone in the administration. There is no mention of improving Vic’s sustainability being a part of [Mehta’s] job requirement.”

“Furthermore, all of the sustainability initiatives are of benefit to [Vic] (in terms of saving money on lost water, heat, electricity, etc.), and not particularly indicative of environmental concern,” wrote Connoy. He also added that there was no mention of composting at Victoria in Robins’

letter.

“Student-led initiatives are great, but given the structure of the college, it’s just not feasible to just have students running all of the environmental initiatives,” said Connoy. “I think it’s really important that sustainability becomes a responsibility of someone in the administration and not just perhaps a consideration of the administration.”

Robins responded to The Varsity’s request for comment by citing his letter to VUSAC’s Sustainability Commission.

made for you, that doesn’t work for you, that works to destroy you.” The discussion led to personal anecdotes about inequitable experiences at U of T regarding the treatment of sexual assault victims, and instances of antiBlack racism, which is also ingrained in the university structure. Huyer emphasized the lack of support offered to victims of abuse.

Wade spoke about her experience as one of the only Black registrars on campus. “I’m a bridge. People have to walk across me to get where they are going,” she said, referring to the services she provides to her students.

Although she identifies her work as “emotionally labour intensive,” she emphasized that “the only thing keeping me in is seeing faces like this that would much rather see faces like mine on the other side of the table.”

Newbold has been an educator for 14 years and spoke about his experiences as a teacher candidate at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. He worked on the BLM-TO campaign to remove police officers from public schools, recalling an inci-

dent where “a six-year-old girl ended up being handcuffed by the wrists and ankles” in a Toronto classroom.

During the Q&A period, attendees asked for academic and career advice. Wade closed the panel with some guidance, telling attendees, “I want you to believe in your dreams… imagine what it’s like to live everyday without having to ask these questions.” Huyer pressed the importance of finding resources and like-minded peers on campus, as well as caring for mental wellness.

This was the final event of the annual eXpression Against Oppression series, an initiative that’s one of the priorities of Alao’s portfolio. “I am really glad that throughout my term I was able to make sure that Blackness wasn’t censored, hosting events specifically focused on anti-Blackness like this [one,]” he said. The event was initially scheduled to take place on February 2, but Alao said the organizers “moved [the event] partly out of the idea that Black history is more than just the month of February.”

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MARCH 19, 2018 • 5

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U of T proposed budget increases financial aid spending, capital projects on all three campuses $2.676 billion in budgeted operating revenue is expected, an 8.2 per cent increase from last year Governing Council will vote on the proposed operating budget on April 5. STEVEN LEE/THE VARSITY

Ann Marie Elpa Varsity Staff

The University of Toronto released their proposed budget for the upcoming 2018–2019 fiscal year, which featured increased funding in financial aid, research opportunities, and graduate programs. The budget reports a total budgeted operating revenue of $2.676 billion, 8.2 per cent higher than the 2017–2018 budget.

Expenses in the proposed budget include large-scale building projects

on all three campuses, including an increase in spending toward the total deferred maintenance liability, an increase in student aid, and grants and diversity initiatives. $224 million is budgeted toward student aid for the 2018–2019 fiscal year.

This figure is expected to grow to $260 million over five years. The increase in spending on financial aid can be attributed to the university’s policy on student financial support. The statement principle outlines that, “No student offered admission to a program at the

University of Toronto should be unable to enter or complete the program due to lack of financial means”.

The proposed budget also aims to fund diversity and equity initiatives.

A total of $3 million over a course of three years will be allocated to coordinate access programs for students from underrepresented groups on campus.

Similarly, $3 million over a course of three years will be set aside to fund postdoctoral fellowships for individuals from underrepresented groups. In turn, this will diversify the amount of minor-

ity scholars across the country.

Deferred maintenance has been a critical issue, costing the university $549 million in liabilities this year.

Of that $549 million cost, UTSG accounts for $478 million with an increase of $4 million compared to last year. UTSC and UTM campuses saw decreases of $2 million and $4 million, respectively. $18 million has been allotted for deferred maintenance repairs, specifically at the St. George campus, while $2.5 million are set aside for the UTM and UTSC campus in their respective budgets.

OSAP Changes in the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) were also included in the report. The program was changed to include free tuition for students from low and middle-income families, 30 per cent off tuition grants, and opportunity-based grants for students to reduce loan debt. 55 per cent of U of T students receive OSAP payments.

Funding for the University of Toronto Advanced Planning for Students program (UTAPS) is also projected to increase by an additional $13 million over the planning period.

UTAPS gives grants to OSAP eligible students based on financial need.

Revenues Much of the university’s operating revenue is obtained through provincial operating grants, tuition, and various student fees. Tuition and grant revenue for 2018–2019 is projected to be $2.336 billion, a 2.5 per cent increase compared to the $2.279 billion projected last year. Similarly, large endowments from the university’s greater community have also contributed over $2.38 billion to the operating revenue.

This year, a maximum three per cent increase will be added to tuition for Arts & Science students. Tuition fees for graduate and professional program students may also be increased by a maximum of five per cent. The university has also proposed to align tuition fees for international PhD students with the domestic rate.

The university recently signed a new Strategic Mandate Agreement (SMA2) with the province of Ontario.

The agreement aims to re-establish the university’s leadership role in research and innovation in Ontario. SMA2 aims to include funding for 631 new master’s student spaces and 198 new doctoral student spaces by fall 2019.

Governing Council will vote on the $2.68 billion proposed operating budget for the 2018–2019 fiscal year on April 5.

The Breakdown: UTSU elections rules and demerits What you need to know about the campaign period Aidan Currie Deputy News Editor

The University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) spring elections are underway, with in-person campaigning taking place from March 19 at 9:00 am to March 25 at 6:00 pm, and online campaigning permitted until voting closes on March 28 at 6:00 pm.

The union’s Elections and Procedures Code (EPC) contains rules and regulations regarding campaign materials and practices, and how demerit points are assigned based on the severity of an offence.

Basic rules of engagement Pre-campaigning is against the rules of UTSU elections, per Article VI of the EPC. Pre-campaigning includes posting or distributing campaign materials, online campaigning, social media statements, classroom campaign speeches, and campaigning at social events before the campaign period. A violation of this rule is worth a maximum of 20 demerit points.

Any candidate who is a current UTSU volunteer, staff, committee, or Board of Directors member must remove themselves from all involvement with the election prior to the start of the nomination period. For example, if an individual sits on the Elections and Referenda Committee (ERC), they cannot run in elections unless they remove themselves from that position.

Candidates are also liable for the actions and rule violations of any “NonArm’s Length Party,” defined as an individual or group that has publicly campaigned with a candidate, used a candidate’s approved campaign materials with the candidate’s consent, or acted in violation of the EPC and had their actions publicly defended by a candidate.

All campaign methods, including advertisements and physical materials, must be approved by the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) in advance.

The CRO must approve campaign materials within 24 hours of having received them from a candidate.

Demerit points Demerit points are the penalties associated with any campaign material, campaign conduct, or rules of fair play violation. The amount of demerit points a candidate should receive is determined by the CRO and the ERC. Executive candidates — those running for the positions of President, Vice-President Internal, VP University Affairs, VP External, VP Equity, VP Campus Life, and VP Professional Faculties — are limited to 35 demerit points before they are disqualified from the race. College and faculty director candidates are limited to 20 demerit points.

Once a candidate has breached a rule, the CRO and ERC consider whether or not the candidate attempted to correct the violation in a reasonable time period, continued the violation after being informed that they were doing so by the CRO, is personally responsible for the violation, broke the rules of fair play in a way that relates to the Grounds of Discrimination defined in the Ontario Human Rights Code, or gained a significant unwarranted advantage because of the violation.

Campaign material violations range in severity from misrepresentation of facts, worth a maximum of three demerits, to unapproved material and pre-campaign materials, worth a maximum of 15 demerit points each. Intentional misrepresentation of facts, however, is worth a maximum of 10 demerit points.

Campaign material violations Violation

Max demerit points

Unapproved material

15

Pre-campaign materials

15

Intentional misrepresentation of facts

10

Multiple violations within 10 metres

8

Post-campaign materials Materials displayed in an unauthorized zone Multiple violations in the same location/ building Misrepresentation of facts

Campaigning violations Violation

Max demerit points

Breaking university, municipal, provincial, and/or federal law/ regulation while campaigning

35

Physical/in person campaigning during voting period

25

5

Pre-campaigning

5

4

3

Campaigning violations include inperson campaigning during the voting period, worth 25 demerit points, and “personally campaigning to a student while they are voting online,” worth 15 demerit points. Pre-campaigning is worth 20 demerits. Breaking a university, municipal, provincial, or federal law while campaigning is worth 35 demerits, and therefore automatic disqualification of the candidate.

UTSU elections also adhere to the rules of fair play, which prohibit campaign-related materials, actions, or communications that are “sexually explicit or pornographic,” or exploit or exhibit minors in such a way. Additionally, campaign materials or actions cannot create a “genuine risk of physical injury or property damage,” threaten people or public safety, or organize or encourage harm. Campaigns cannot promote self-harm, eating disorders, or hard drug abuse,

Rules of fair play Violation

Max demerit points

Failure to comply with the spirit purpose of the elections

20

Gross misrepresentation of facts

20

20

20

Malicious or intentional violations of Elections Procedure Code or policy

Personally campaigning to a student while they are voting online

15

Unsanctioned use of union resources

15

Unauthorized campaigners

15

Use of benefits acquired by virtue of office

15

Intentional misrepresentation of facts

5

10

Candidates enforcing the Elections Procedure Code

Campaigning in an unauthorized area

5

10

Failure to follow grievance procedures

Cross campaigning with a candidate running in a non-UTSU-run election

Repeated frivolous complaints and/or appeals

3

8

1 per $2

Multiple violations within ten metres

8

Spending over the prescribed limit, to a max of $20

Improper distribution of campaign materials

8

Unsolicited campaigning (including e-mail and phone calls)

8

Post-campaigning

5

Failure to submit campaign receipts and/ or signed statement of having no expenses

8

Misrepresentation of facts

3

nor can they attack, bully, or harass “nonpublic people.”

Appealing a CRO ruling Candidates can appeal all CRO rulings to the ERC in writing within 48 hours of the candidate being informed of the ruling. At the ERC meeting at which a candidate’s appeal is considered, the CRO explains the reasons for making their decision. The candidate or candidates may issue an oral or written statement presenting their case.

Voting ERC members then deliberate and decide on whether to uphold, overturn, or amend the CRO’s original ruling. Deliberation cannot be done in camera.

6 • THE VARSITY • NEWS

news@thevarsity.ca

U of T launches website detailing “commitment to free expression”

Theology graduate students vote to remain in UTSU

freespeech.utoronto.ca launched March 8

Health and dental plan “main factor” in decision, says CRO Silas Le Blanc Varsity Staff

SCREENSHOT VIA FREESPEECH.UTORONTO.CA

Imani Stewart Varsity Staff

Last week, U of T launched a website, freespeech.utoronto.ca, detailing the university’s policies on free speech.

The launch was announced in a March 8 statement from U of T President Meric Gertler and Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr.

The new website contains a collection of policies and statements on free speech and related topics, gives links to statements issued by other organizations, and provides answers to frequently asked questions from the university community.

The university’s commitment to free speech is built upon two policies, the Statement of Institutional Purpose and the Statement on Freedom of Speech, both released

by Governing Council in 1992. The university says “that commitment has been tested, defended, and enlarged” since 1992 with the 2006 Statement on Equity, Diversity, and

Excellence. All three statements are available on the new website.

The university defines free speech as “the right to examine, question, investigate, speculate upon, and comment on issues without reference to prescribed doctrine, as well as the right to criticize society at large.” The website highlights that freedom of speech and expression is important on the university campus because debating alternative ideas and modes of thinking contributes to social change and advances human rights.

The website also details the responsibilities that accompany the right to free speech and freedom of expression. The university community and its policies are bound by both federal and provincial law, as well as an atmosphere of civility and inclusion important to the learning environment of U of T. The website stresses that the standards of respect and inclusion should not hinder but rather support academic freedom.

“An important foundation for the University of Toronto’s widely celebrated excellence is our academic community’s remarkable diversity – ethnic, racial, cultural, linguistic, religious, socio-economic, and intellectual,” the university says in answer to a frequently asked question on whether free speech is at odds with equity. The statement argues that, “The interaction and competition among so many different ideas stretch and test our beliefs and spark new insights, leading to discovery, understanding, and advances in the human condition.”

The university’s new website also includes information about freedom of speech on campus in relation to events and protests. The university maintains that when an event takes place on campus this does not mean that it has received the endorsement of the university administration. The website also reiterates that the right to peaceful protest is part of freedom of expression.

Members of the Toronto School of Theology Graduate Students’ Association (TGSA) voted in a referendum last week to remain part of the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU).

The referendum was held to decide whether TGSA members would remain in the UTSU or leave to join the U of T Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU). Exactly 50 per cent of students voted to leave the UTSU for the UTGSU; the TGSA’s policies required a two-thirds majority. The turnout was 62 students, which met quorum.

The TSGA remains the only graduate students’ association that is part of the UTSU; every other graduate student group is part of the UTGSU. Graduate students at the Toronto School of Theology (TST) are members of the UTSU alongside the rest of the TST students, the majority of whom are second-entry undergraduates.

“For some time, graduate students at TST have raised the question as to whether it would be more appropriate for us to be members of UTGSU, as we are graduate students,” wrote the TGSA’s Vice-President Internal and Chief Returning Officer, Robyn Boeré.

“UTGSU provides services that are more targeted to the needs to graduate students, and would have given TGSA

more representation with respect to governance,” continued Boeré, adding that the referendum was more about whether the TGSA wanted to join the UTGSU, not whether they wanted to leave the UTSU. UTSU membership comes with a health and dental plan, which also provides vision care, travel insurance, and mental health coverage. “In my opinion, the main factor that contributed to the decision to stay in UTSU was the health/dental plan, specifically the mental health coverage,” wrote Boeré.

UTSU President Mathias Memmel said the UTSU does not have “any special arrangements in place for TST students, but when we lobby the government and the administration we do so on issues that we feel benefit all students, including those in professional programs.”

50 per cent of students voted to leave the UTSU, but the TGSA’s policies require a two-thirds majority.

SOFIA LUDWIG/THE VARSITY

Comment

March 19, 2018 var.st/comment comment@thevarsity.ca

There's value in abstaining Abstention votes allow students to voice their opinions in campus elections without being forced to make uninformed or undesirable choices Angela Feng Campus Politics Columnist

Tons of student elections occur around the end of the school year. It can be too much for even the most actively engaged students to handle.

Staying informed is an incredibly important aspect of a free and open democracy, and yet many students likely choose to stay out of elections because they feel that they don’t know enough to participate. Disillusionment with student politics has also contributed to low voter turnout.

Keeping track of candidate platforms and promises might also seem pointless in the face of an overwhelming number of due dates threatening precarious GPAs right before exam season. While elections can be a great opportunity to engage otherwise uninterested students in governance and to voice major student issues, the timing is unfortunate and may alienate all but those who are accustomed to keeping up with student politics.

Though it might be tempting to stay out of elections, most ballots offer up an important, impartial option: the abstention.

Voting ‘abstain’ lets politicians know that they have not done enough to win your support, and that you may not be entirely informed about their platforms. However, it also signifies that you are aware of the importance of the election, and more crucially, of your position and responsibility to keep these incoming elected officials in check.

Though it may seem counterintuitive, the abstention vote is key to staying active in student politics at U of T. It signifies that you

care about the campus’ welfare, but it relieves you from being forced to take sides. Unlike municipal, provincial, and federal elections, student politicians need not be bound to historical ideologies or traditions — their only definite quality is their assumed concern for student well-being and dedication to enriching student life, on and off campus.

No candidate can hope to form an ethereal, iconic image like that of Barack Obama — or even Rob Ford. Instead, many student politicians seem like helpful, non-partisan leaders who, if we are to assume the best of people, will generally try to work for the benefit of students.

At the same time, student politics can become divisive very quickly, and many want to stay out of the drama. Abstaining can be used to make a statement that the voter prefers no single candidate on the ballot, as opposed to being forced to play favourites.

‘Abstain’ votes can also be used to address issues with election turnout. Low voter turnout at U of T is often assumed to reflect the lack of interest in student politics on campus, but this is not necessarily true.

It might just reflect that students are disinterested in individual candidates but remain aware of the operations of the entire body. Last year’s University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) elections saw a turnout of 11.8 per cent, but strong opinions on the UTSU’s Hudson settlement and vocal opposition to the proposed modification of the Vice-President University Affairs and Vice-President Equity positions show that many students are invested in UTSU affairs.

Alternatively, low polling numbers could actually reflect dissatisfaction with

It’s time to get rid of daylight saving time Alongside health risks and economic costs, losing sleep is the last thing students need Zach Rosen Current Affairs Columnist

As my tenure as Current Affairs Columnist approaches its end, I’ve been inclined to reflect on some of the important issues that I have discussed in my column this year. I’ve shared my opinions on environmental issues, legal issues like restrictions on protest and on religious expression, and the impact of social media on discourse and democracy.

But perhaps no topic has hit closer to home than this one: I really, really don’t like losing sleep.

Daylight saving time (DST) is stupid. It’s a failed solution to a problem that no longer exists. It’s an inconvenience just small enough to elude serious scrutiny but just big enough to annoy the hell out of practically everyone for 72 hours.

DST is problematic enough to be widely hated, but it’s trivial enough to make seriously opposing it seem unworthy of the effort. That hesitance ends now.

Though it had been proposed and

FIONA TUNG/THE VARSITY

discussed at various times prior to World War I, DST was first implemented by the German Empire and its allies in 1916 as a wartime

Students thinking of opting out of elections altogether should consider the benefit of the 'abstain' vote.

SOFIA LUDWIG/THE VARSITY

the system entirely. But if this is the case, then refraining from voting does not do an adequate job of communicating this message. It is difficult to distinguish between people who choose not to vote because they do not care and people who are opposed to the current state of affairs. Abstaining does the job of distinguishing between the two: voting ‘abstain’ means you care enough to go to the polls but cannot bring yourself to support any one of the options.

The message that ‘abstain’ votes send to the campus community is very important.

Voting ‘abstain’ tells elected officials that the students who did not vote for them are watching and that indiscretions will not go unnoticed. Furthermore, it encourages

candidates to more clearly define their platforms and intentions. Large numbers of abstentions would indicate to student politicians that there are lapses in their policies and engagement efforts that simply do not include or welcome all of their constituents, but that there is still continued interest in campus issues, even if students don’t have time to do the research.

If you feel confused or dissatisfied with your choices this election season, at least make it known by putting it on the record.

coal-rationing measure. Not to be outdone, Britain and many of its allies, including Canada, soon tumbled into line — and out of bed. Reasoning that it may as well lose an hour of sleep so long as it was also losing a 300-year-old dynasty, Russia followed suit in 1917. The United States joined the lack-ofslumber party the following year.

Fast forward more than a century — today, we’re not at war, and we no longer get much of our energy from coal. More pertinently, the way we consume energy has changed dramatically: people aren’t exactly in the habit of waiting until sundown to turn on their phones or turn up the air conditioning.

In fact, a study conducted in Indiana after statewide DST was finally introduced in 2006 found that the change actually resulted in a one per cent increase in residential electricity use. Turns out that implementing 90-yearold austerity measures isn’t the best way to cut down on your utility bill.

Failing to save electricity isn’t DST’s only shortcoming. It is also associated with measurable health risks that far exceed the possibility of dislocating your shoulder trying to reach the one clock in your apartment that doesn’t adjust on its own. A study in Finland found an eight per cent increase in the overall rate of stroke during the two days after a DST adjustment. The effects were more pronounced for people who are more vulnerable: 20 per cent greater than normal for people over 65, 25 per cent greater for cancer patients.

The health risks associated with DST don’t stop there. A study from the University of

Alabama at Birmingham concluded that the spring switch is associated with a 10 per cent increase in heart attacks the Monday and Tuesday afterward, while the subsequent fall reversal is associated with a 10 per cent decrease in the same fashion. And according to a 2009 study surveying this effect from 1983–2006, workers sustained more and more severe workplace injuries on the Monday following the switch to DST. Turns out that grogginess can be fatal.

There are economic drawbacks to DST as well, beyond just the cost of an extra cup of coffee. Given the lost productivity and increased workplace injuries, some have suggested that the cost of one lost hour of sleep is nearly half a billion dollars of lost productivity in the United States alone.

Here’s the bottom line. Like 70,000 other students across the three glorious U of T campuses, I’m stressed. It feels like I have more hours of work to do than there are hours in the day. So it doesn’t help to lose the first hour or two of the day to sluggishness or fatigue. And it certainly doesn’t help to know that the chances of me getting run over trying to cross Spadina are ever-so-slightly higher than usual because the guy behind the wheel didn’t get his three winks.

Get rid of DST! We have enough to deal with as is.

Angela Feng is a second-year student at St. Michael’s College studying Anthropology and Cinema Studies. She is The Varsity’s Campus Politics Columnist.

Zach Rosen is a second-year student at Trinity College studying History and Philosophy. He is The Varsity’s Current Affairs Columnist.

8 • THE VARSITY • COMMENT

comment@thevarsity.ca

Mindful and on the mend From bureaucratic clinic procedures to unsympathetic professors, students make recommendations for addressing shortcomings in mental health supports at U of T

Tackling long wait times by committing to consistent follow-ups I am always told by well-meaning friends, colleagues, and strangers on the internet that I should never be scared to reach out for mental health support. Yet when I try to make a counseling appointment at UTM’s Health & Counselling Centre (HCC), I am told that the next available appointment is a nearly month away. Adept at masking the urgency of the issue, I don’t push for an earlier appointment. By the time I meet my counselor, the event triggering my mental illness has passed and my feelings have somewhat subsided because I have already indulged in the unhealthy and self-destructive coping mechanisms that I was hoping to avoid. I leave many of my counseling appointments feeling like they are a waste of time and thinking that I don’t need to go back.

Months go by between my counseling appointments, meaning that any feelings that arise between sessions usually don’t come up by the time my next appointment comes around. The HCC, well aware of my precarious mental health given the extensive phone survey I had to fill out before I began counseling, never follows up with me during these months. This simply enables me to continue putting off counseling appointments because there

is no one to hold me responsible, causing my mental health to worsen. It is a vicious cycle: I cannot attend counseling because my mental health is too poor, and my mental health remains poor because I do not attend counseling.

U of T’s mental health services, despite being available, are not actually accessible. Long waiting times and lack of follow-up between counseling appointments are detrimental to students seeking help for their mental illness. They allow students to indulge in unhealthy coping mechanisms without any intervention.

The university needs to address this problem by implementing policies to ensure that counselors continuously keep in contact with all students who report mental illness, and that the number of counselors available for students is proportional to the student population on campus.

Zeahaa Rehman is a third-year student at UTM studying Linguistics and Professional Writing and Communication.

FIONA TUNG/THE VARSITY

Revising the university’s action plans to make them less show, more substance

FIONA TUNG/THE VARSITY

Students’ limited access to the mental health resources available on campus is reflective of a dearth of information and resources about treatment. Millennials experience higher levels of mental illness, with suicide being the second leading cause of death for young people in Canada. Although broader initiatives are being pursued to destigmatize mental illness and support mental health, these are not the best means to treat specific ailments — students often require access to specialized services.

The university offers relatively little information on how to access mental health aids on campus, and much of what is offered can be unclear. While U of T’s main mental health website shares its vision and initiatives for making treatment of mental health on campus a priority, the heightened grandeur presented about what the university can offer to someone experiencing a mental health crisis comes off more like useless jargon rather than a constructive path to a healthier mind.

In my own experience of needing help and reaching out, I simply did not know how to put together a plan of action given the information I was presented with online. This lack of useful information presented an obstruction that discouraged me from seeking further resources beyond the website, which ultimately worsened my depression and anxiety.

There are many complexities associated with establishing a better mental health framework. However, this issue is one that requires a simple solution. When someone is feeling distressed, they need to be given information and resources in the clearest way possible. Posting convoluted reports online for the sake of keeping up appearances is not useful to addressing individual experiences and does not provide sufficient guidance at a time where guidance is very much needed.

Rehana Mushtaq is a second-year student at Innis College studying English and Religion.

Directing funds to address shortages in professionals on and off campus The biggest problem with the mental health system at U of T is that there simply aren’t enough therapists to keep up with demand. We’re among the largest universities in Canada, but somehow we don’t have enough doctors to service students — which is unacceptable.

According to The Globe and Mail, a fifth of Canadian postsecondary students suffer from some kind of mental illness, such as depression or anxiety. If we were to transpose this figure to U of T’s 70,000-person undergraduate population, that would mean over 14,000 students need to be able to access adequate mental health care. Unfortunately, many are going without.

I’m one of them. I’ve been able to access a general practitioner at U of T who prescribed me an antidepressant to help with my anxiety, as I don’t have a family doctor. However, I have been trying since October to speak to a therapist in the U of T system, with no luck whatsoever.

Now, if U of T doesn’t want to be on the hook for failing to supply therapy to the students who need it — especially given the stress that takes place within the university itself — the least they could do is improve student health care coverage so we can see

people outside the system. Student Life’s website claims that the University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP) may include “counselling and psychological services,” but these services aren’t listed on UHIP’s website or in its information booklet. Studentcare, the supplementary health insurance plan offered by the University of Toronto Students’ Union, does cover some psychological counseling services — up to $125 per visit, and a maximum of 20 visits per policy year — but they will not cover psychotherapy, which is often more expensive.

Either U of T needs to hire more counselors and beef up their mental health care for students, or students should be provided with the resources to help them see people outside the university.

Adina Heisler is a third-year student at University College studying Women and Gender Studies and English. She is The Varsity’s Student Life Columnist.

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MARCH 19, 2018 • 9

var.st/comment

Removing counterproductive limits on counseling sessions There is no time limit on healing. But U of T’s strategy for addressing and supporting mental health is flawed; by limiting quantity of care, it also limits students’ ability to recover.

Upon experiencing a traumatic event and being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, I sought a solution through the UTSC Health & Wellness Centre. Although everyone I encountered throughout my experience was extremely kind and understanding, I was faced with harsh university policies on mental health and wellness. Namely, I was informed that the university’s health insurance plan only covers the first eight sessions of therapy.

For a university with such an outstanding reputation and track record, I was shocked that I would be thrown into my recovery journey on an agenda. No one can easily accept their situation, open up and trust in a professional, and heal on a calendar timeline. It took me almost six months to build up the strength

to tell a professional what I had been through. I have no doubt that the therapist would be just as supportive as everyone else in the office, but it is extremely distressing to think that I would be kicked to the curb after my eighth session.

The important fact to take away here is that there is no uniform healing process. I concluded that I would rather pay additional money to my tuition and bills in order to fund additional sessions off campus, rather than try and prematurely work through the thoughts that accompany trauma. I cannot imagine how frustrating this information is for someone whose condition is more paralyzing than mine, including students who cannot afford mental health therapy outside of U of T. Amarra Mohamed is a second-year student at UTSC studying Journalism.

PEARL CAO/THE VARSITY

Eliminating the need for family doctor referrals

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The Health & Wellness Centre at UTSG offers services for mental health like group therapy, individual psychotherapy, and pharmacotherapy. There isn’t much in the way of procedure listed on the Health & Wellness website, but after trying to find out about the assistance that is available, it became evident that getting help isn’t as straightforward as the website makes it seem.

Before any assistance is offered, the Health & Wellness Centre requires a family doctor’s referral and consent to gain access to past medical records. Though the referral can be done through a doctor external to the university or through one of Health & Wellness’ staff, no alternatives to this process are offered, and the folks at reception insist on new patients getting this referral.

Upon calling the centre later and asking for justification, they said that this is just the way the system works, and without it, the procedure to get an appointment would take much longer.

After pressing for options that don’t require this referral process, I was rerouted to the various embedded counseling options that

are run by upper-year students at U of T’s colleges, faculties, and departments.

Getting a family doctor’s referral isn’t always possible, nor is it what people necessarily want to do, given, for instance, a potential lack of comfort in confiding one’s mental health issues to a general practitioner. The Health & Wellness Centre should look at treatment options that don’t require intermediary steps such as this one. Drop-in services and appointments throughout the day would enable students to talk to someone who is licensed and who has the ability to help them in some capacity. Going from these brief appointments to a more serious care plan would be a good next step — and while this step may require a referral, there should be options to continue with care for patients who aren’t able to provide one.

Aimin Shahid is a second-year student at Victoria College studying English and Writing and Rhetoric.

Encouraging professors to be understanding and flexible Speaking both from personal experience and the testimonials of others, students still find it difficult to admit to their instructors that their schoolwork is suffering due to illnesses that aren’t immediately ‘visible.’ Simply arriving to class late or failing to meet the deadline for an assignment, even with advance notice, might be greeted with hostility or outright refusal to accommodate. It is the responsibility of everyone in the classroom to create an environment more conducive to talking about mental illness.

Nevertheless, many professors will often express how precariously exhausting undergraduate life is, but they aren’t willing to change the practices in their classrooms that might make things worse.

This isn’t just a problem at U of T. At Carnegie Mellon University, a renowned centre of educational reform strategies, anthropologist Lauren Herckis found that sticking to a familiar style of lecturing is often a higher priority for instructors than implementing needed changes to their teaching style. Professors are at the top of their fields, and it is understandable that they might find it hard to relate to students’ problems. But changes to

specific practices can also spur positive developments in mindset.

For example, professors should be open to deviating from rigid timeframes. U of T can and should be the first to experiment with new training for teachers — similar to existing diversity training — geared toward mental illness and accessibility. Just as colleges have counselors on hand, perhaps we should consider assigning more counselors to faculties, so that students can talk to someone with knowledge of the coursework with which they are struggling.

If we can’t expand the reach that Accessibility Services can cover, then perhaps we should be telling professors to trust the word of a student more than they do now. The reality is that no student wants to fall behind or let their schoolwork suffer — so when it happens, they often have good reasons.

Arjun Kaul is a fourth-year student at St. Michael’s College studying Neuroscience.

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Making essential changes to classroom pedagogy

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If the university wants to improve mental health, then it should also look to the classroom. Given the stress that academics often create in students’ lives, we can and must transform how we teach, learn, and assess.

For starters, professors should eliminate late penalties for assignments. Fear of mark deductions only induces stress and anxiety, and it does nothing to enhance our learning. These penalties should be forgotten and replaced. Instead, deadlines should be negotiated, fairly staggered, or automatically extended.

The way participation marks are calculated should also be revisited. Participation marks often do little to assess our understanding or committment to course material. Instead, they deduct arbitrary marks from those who find themselves unable to go to class or too anxious to speak in front of a crowd.

Participation can be measured in more accomodating ways, such as written reflections or short online quizzes.

Finally, we should also allow students to negotiate syllabuses with professors at the beginning and even throughout the term.

Given the diversity of skills in the classroom, students ought to have some influence over their preferred assignment styles — for instance, opt for written work instead of presentations.

Instructors can also offer students options as to how to distribute the weight of assignments, alongside flexible deadlines. Such measures are not unprecedented in courses at U of T. Some other suggestions include having ‘do-over’ policies, expanding credit/no credit options, having mandatory professor check-ins and feedback sessions, uploading lectures online, and having instructors set up study groups for large classes.

Changes like this would transform university pedagogy as we know it. Instructors should be motivated to adapt curricula to accommodate students’ needs and desires in order to prevent the learning process from being a drain on our health and well-being.

Stanley Treivus is a fifth-year student at Innis College studying Human Geography and Political Science.

Two slates, two independents face off in UTSU elections

Read profiles of each UTSU executive candidate at var.st/utsu2018

Compass only complete executive slate Jack O.Denton News Editor

The campaign period for the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) elections began on March 19. Three of the seven executive positions on Canada’s second largest students’ union are uncontested.

Anne Boucher and Michelle Mabira are running for president. Boucher, the current VicePresident External of the UTSU, leads the Compass slate. Mabira, an independent, was the President of the African Students’ Association last year and describes herself more as a student activist than a student politician.

Of Compass’ seven executive candidates, two are current UTSU executives, one is a member of the Board of Directors, two are current or former UTSU staff members, and two have no prior UTSU experience. The other slate, ️oundless, has two executive candidates: one is a former UTSU staff member, and the other has no prior UTSU experience. Another independent candidate is also running for an executive position.

The union’s members — full-time undergraduates at UTSG and UTM, as well as graduate students in the Toronto School of Theology — will

vote for 13 directors representing the university’s colleges, eight representing the professional faculties, and six representing academic programs within the Faculty of Arts & Science. Another five professional faculty seats, a seat representing the Faculty of Music, and three seats from New College will be determined by internal elections in these constituencies’ student associations.

The elections will be held concurrently with a fee increase referendum to establish a mandatory, non-refundable U-Pass, which would give students unlimited, semester-long use of the TTC. The fee would be $280 per session — $70 per month — pending TTC board approval on March 20.

The issues at play The UTSU and University of Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) are in the midst of renegotiating their Associate Membership Agreement, which binds the unions’ governance and fee remittance structure. These negotiations could either see the status quo continue or the two unions separate completely. Both Boucher and Mabira believe the unions should remain in the agreement, though Boucher wants to alter it to give the UTMSU more autonomy for advocacy work.

This year, the UTSU took a firm stance on its membership in the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), a nationwide students’ union to which the UTSU membership paid $818,131 in the 2016–2017 fiscal year. The union’s current executive wants to leave. Next year could be formative in moving toward defederation, especially if students elect Compass, a slate whose leadership supports leaving the CFS. Mabira, the independent presidential candidate, is in support of a referendum on the union’s membership and would support a democratic decision made by students.

The Student Commons, a student-run centre set to open in September, will require smart budgeting and financial management. Compass’ VP Internal candidate, Tyler Biswurm, said he would prioritize student jobs; ️oundless’ VP Internal candidate, Alyy Patel, said she also wants student jobs at the centre and would try to get a bar in the building and use the profits to fund scholarships for students with financial need. The union has been labouring over the Student Commons for years, and deciding the first VP Internal to oversee its finances is an important decision for students.

Students also have a meaningful decision to make in deciding the next VP Campus Life. Com-

pass’ Yolanda Alfaro said she would revamp orientation and restructure clubs funding to remove the focus on the union’s priorities. Independent Spencer Robertson said he would not change orientation and would take a fiscally conservative but flexible approach to funding clubs.

Compass’ candidate for VP Professional Faculties, Yasmine El Sanyoura, is from the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. This position, created in 2015, has not yet been held by a non-Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering student. ️oundless’ candidate, Gallop Jia Le Fan, is an engineering student. Fan pledges to make the UTSU more respected in professional faculties. El Sanyoura promises to undertake a mental health audit for students in professional faculties to improve services.

Compass’ candidates for VP University Affairs, External, and Equity — Joshua Grondin, Yuli Liu, and Ammara Wasim — are uncontested. They have collectively committed to advocacy work related to academic rights, mental health, international student tuition, and services for minority and marginalized students.

Voting will take place online from March 26–28 at utsu.simplyvoting.com.

President Anne Boucher

Michelle Mabira

Compass

Aidan Currie Deputy News Editor

Compass’ presidential candidate is Anne Boucher, the UTSU’s current Vice-President External. Boucher is a fifth-year St. Michael’s College student studying Political Science and Environmental Studies. If elected President, she said that her goal would be to make the UTSU “more human.”

Boucher believes students have lost trust in the UTSU, referencing the recently settled Sandra Hudson lawsuit, and described the current UTSU as “very corporate,” having spent the last few years remediating finances.

Boucher’s priorities are ensuring the transition to the Student Commons is smooth and successful, making the Commons accessible and welcoming in its first year, supporting any vote to leave the CFS, and lobbying “to reintroduce the federal transit tax credit and to increase transit subsidies for students.”

As Vice-President External, Boucher headed the U-Commute

Independent

initiative to introduce a referendum to add a $280 per semester UPass for UTSG undergrads. “From this point… it’s up to the students to decide,” she said. “I’m very neutral [about] the outcome, but I am proud of being able to negotiate up until this point.”

Boucher also believes that the Associate Membership Agreement between the UTSU and UTMSU should be changed.

“The agreement as it is now is not great for either side,” she said. “I do think the agreement should be improved to reflect the needs of the UTM students, and that would be giving the autonomy of the UTMSU to do their own advocacy work.”

Boucher also said that she would not consider hiring back the two full-time staff members who were laid off in May 2017, citing the long-term financial solvency of the union and that, in her view, “services remained the same” without them.

— With files from Josie Kao and Jacob Lorinc

Josie Kao Associate News Editor

Independent presidential candidate Michelle Mabira is a fourth-year student studying Strategic Management at Rotman Commerce. Mabira said that her goal for the UTSU is to make sure that people from marginalized communities are not left out. She intends to encourage UTSU leaders to be “student activists first, student politicians after.”

She said that others she would have liked to have seen in various UTSU positions did not run because they were not “comfortable” with the union. “They feel ostracized, and that’s rather unfortunate because this union is also theirs as well.”

As a student, Mabira was involved in campaigns supporting two UTSU employees who were laid off earlier last year to save money, but if she were elected, she would not immediately rehire them. “I wouldn’t jeopardize the union.”

“If it’s a matter of ‘we can’t afford it,’ then that’s another question you would have to consider,” she said.

Mabira recognizes the concern that

the union will go bankrupt in a few years, but she questions the legitimacy of the numbers current UTSU President Mathias Memmel is providing. She said that Memmel claimed he was qualified to calculate those financials based on an internship he completed at an auditing firm. “I would try to get more experienced people to look at these numbers, because this is a serious issue.”

On the topic of the CFS, Mabira realizes that it is “one of the most polarizing topics on this campus.” She sees that there are many students on either side of the argument and “will stay in the middle so that students feel comfortable knowing that someone represents them no matter what.” She said she has already signed the You Decide petition to call a referendum.

With regard to the future relationship of the UTSU and the UTMSU, Mabira believes that they should remain partners because there is “strength in numbers.” She said that all students are affected by the decisions of university administration and that staying united gives students greater power.

— With files from Jack O. Denton

VP Internal Tyler Biswurm Compass

VP External Alyy Patel Boundless

Yuli Liu

Compass

Second-year Computer Science and Ethics, Society, and Law Former VUSAC Councillor

Fourth-year Sexual Diversity Studies and Sociology Former UTSU Associate VP Internal

Third-year Architectural Studies Current VP External at Chinese Students and Scholars Association

Union finances: Would publish “human-readable” budget to improve union’s financial transparency.

Union finances: Believes it is counter-productive to separate advocacy work and finances. Would ensure programming and services are “intersectional.”

CFS Membership Stance: Supports leaving CFS, saying “no real work [is] evident.”

Student Commons: Would try to get a bar into the Student Commons and use the profits to fund scholarships for students.

Advocacy: Lobbying for “fairer rules on international student tuition increase caps.”

Student Commons: Would make 50 per cent of human resources costs of Student Commons go toward student jobs.

VP Campus Life Yolanda Alforo Compass

U-Pass: Would support U-Pass if most students do.

VP Equity Spencer Robertson Independent

Ammara Wasim Compass

Fourth-year Biology and Human Biology Current Innis College Student Society President

Second-year Urban Studies U of T Tabletop Gaming Club President

Fifth-year Visual Studies Current UTSU VP Campus Life

Plans for clubs funding: Restructure to move the focus away from the UTSU. Believes the the current system places too much emphasis on what the union wants.

Plans for clubs funding: Would adopt a fiscally conservative approach and make clubs funding approval process easier and more flexibile.

Equity Collectives: Collaborating with them directly and getting them more involved in lobbying campaigns.

Plans for orientation: Would revamp orientation and ensure the union isn’t “doing the same old events every single year.”

Plans for orientation: Would not change the structure of orientation week.

What can the UTSU do better?: Says the union can better represent marginalized communities and plans on working with groups such as the Black Students’ Association to make the union more progressive.

Should ‘controversial’ clubs receive funding?: Believes the union should not fund clubs that directly take away the rights of students to feel safe on campus.

Should ‘controversial’ clubs receive funding?: Wouldn’t fund clubs “easily described as ‘controversial.’”

VP Professional Faculties Yasmine El Sanyoura

VP University Affairs Gallop Fan Boundless

Joshua Grondin Compass

Compass

Fourth-year Architectural Studies Current UTSU Director for Architecture and Visual Studies

Fourth-year Engineering Member of the U of T Robotics Association and the Blue Sky Solar Racing club

Fourth-year Economics and International Relations Current UTSU Associate VP External

Pro fac engagement: Re-examine how the UTSU can better serve professional faculties students.

Has reached out to other professional faculties for input and would continue to do so.

Pro fac engagement: Would hold events for students in professional faculties that better work around their schedules.

Mandatory leave policy: Would lobby against the policy. Doesn’t think he could ever support a policy that removed students from campus against their will.

To change: Would make the UTSU more respectable in the professional faculties and ensure that “people in my faculty no longer constantly associate swear words with the UTSU, and instead people are thankful that the UTSU exists.”

Online voting & Referendums: Would increase online voting accessibility. Would assess whether to implement quorum for referendums on case-bycase basis — believes decisions should reflect the wider student body but knows students can’t be forced to care.

To change: Would conduct a mental health audit for students in professional faculties to improve available specialized services.

Arts&Culture

March 19, 2018 var.st/arts arts@thevarsity.ca

Toronto Women’s Fashion Week hits Toronto waterfront Fan favourites and new talent grace the runways in the event’s second instalment Teodora Pasca Comment Editor

Toronto Women’s Fashion Week (TW) ran from March 6–14 this year, showcasing fall and winter looks for 2018. With shows taking place at One Yonge Street, right

by Lake Ontario, TW showcased some of the most iconic women’s fashion designers in Canada as well as up-and-coming talent.

TW’s shows were preceded by Toronto Men’s Fashion Week (TOM), which took place March 3–17. TW was launched in 2017 by the creators of TOM, partly to fill the void left by the passing of Toronto Fashion Week, an event previously organized by IMG Canada that was shut down due to a scarcity of funding.

Despite only being in its second year, TW did not disappoint. This year’s starstudded lineup brought much-needed excitement and glamour to a city just beginning to wake up from the winter. The Varsity sent a reporter to cover three TW shows this year, zoom lens and heels in tow.

A model walks the runway as part of MIKEAL D's show on March 14 for Toronto Women's Fashion Week. TEODORA PASCA/THE VARSITY

WomensFashion4Hope — March 13 As TW’s signature charity show, the catwalk at WomensFashion4Hope featured celebrity models dedicated to raising money for the Kol Hope Foundation, an organization for children with disabilities. Sporting dresses, jewellery, and headpieces from Queen West boutique Pearls & Pockets, the show was a welcome breath of spring air. Standout pieces included a beaded floor-length gown worn by R&B singer-songwriter Jayd Ink, a silk tuxedo jacket and veiled hat

worn by Miss Universe Canada Lauren Howe, and a magnificent purple train lined with roses worn by model Dani Doucette.

The cheerful vibe at WomensFashion4Hope also stood in contrast to the steely composure one might expect from a fashion show. Each model let their personality shine through their walk down the runway, laughing and blowing kisses to friends in the crowd.

MIKEAL D — March 14 Mikael Derderian found his early fashion inspiration as a child in his

parents’ workshop in Beirut. When his family fled to Canada to escape war in Lebanon years later, he made a name for himself as an internationally renowned designer. In 2012, he established his private label, MIKEAL D, and this year at TW he brought a stunning collection of evening gowns to the runway.

The MIKAEL D show opened with soothing white and cream tones, delicate beaded bodices, and structured full skirts. The calm of the first half of the show, however, was sharply interrupted by a sudden change in

mood. Thunderous music and projections of storm clouds and dark smoke paralleled the black, grey, and emerald fabrics appearing on the catwalk as the show unfolded. Glimmering cheekbones and pops of magenta eyeshadow made the models clothed in Derderian’s creations look all the more ethereal.

Rudsak — March 14 TW 2018 closed with a three-part unisex show from Rudsak, an iconic outerwear and accessories label born in Montréal. The show opened with

a black-and-white video game montage projected behind the catwalk as models showed off Rudsak’s latest collection, their hair slicked back into super long ponytails or braids and their faces partially masked by coloured visors.

With models outfitted head to toe in fur, leather, and quilted nylon, Rudsak delivered the clean-cut neutrals and structured silhouettes that are to be expected of the label. Splashes of silver and camo, oversized totes, and glossy black gloves also evoked the brand’s familiar and coveted edge.

Blue ballads: a playlist for the last snowfalls Songs to unwind to while waiting for spring

Mena Fouda Varsity Contributor

“White Winter Hymnal” by Fleet Foxes No chill playlist would be complete without the soothing sounds of Fleet Foxes. Play this song to build up your winter soundscape — one with comforting harmonies and lyrics that transport you to the most picturesque of winter locations.

“Hiding Tonight” by Alex Turner You might recognize Turner’s voice from rock band Arctic Monkeys, but here he slows things down on a selection from his soundtrack for the 2010 movie Submarine. The whole album is six songs that will cradle you and rock you to a peaceful sleep, but this particular song is perfect for hiding under some blankets and thinking over your inner angst.

MIA CARNEVALE/THE VARSITY

“Dreamer” by Low Roar This song puts an emphasis on its haunting vocals more than anything else. Float away with this melancholic tune — you won’t want to come back.

“A Lack of Color” by Death Cab for Cutie No acoustic playlist would be complete without the fathers of angsty, sad music. This is a love song for a love story that doesn’t quite work out in the end — it leaves you in the embrace of a broken heart.

“Some Things Cosmic” by Angel Olsen Olsen has a voice that makes you feel vulnerable. She completely strips it back on this song, as her soul rises up from her body. We guarantee yours will, too.

“Apocalypse” by Cigarettes After Sex This particular Cigs After Sex tune makes you feel like twirling around while lead singer Greg Gonzalez’s

crooning voice wraps around you.

“Holy Dances” by Beach House There are a number of Beach House songs that are strong contenders for a chill playlist, but this one has that feeling of magic that comes from seeing the first snowfall of the season or having snowflakes fall on your eyelashes.

“Visions of Gideon” by Sufjan Stevens As soon as Stevens begins to sing, your eyes will sort of go, ‘I don’t know what’s happening right now, but the tears have started flowing.’

This song was featured on the soundtrack for Call Me By Your Name, and it speaks of heartbreak and broken memories.

“Love Songs for Robots” by Patrick Watson Watson’s voice is like a soft whisper in your ear. It builds up with soft electric vibes until you’re dancing, waiting for the winter to end.

MARCH 19, 2018 • 13

var.st/arts

Student performers and the streets of Toronto A closer look at the experiences of student buskers Matias Gutierrez Varsity Staff

If you’ve ever spent time walking through Toronto’s downtown or subway stations, then you’ve likely encountered musicians and artists exhibiting their craft and filling the city with sweet tunes and energy. These performers come from all walks of life, collectively brightening Toronto’s street corners with their passion for performance.

Many of the best and brightest street performers in Toronto are either current or former music students who have taken their passions beyond the classroom. These are accomplished musicians who have, for one reason or another, decided to busk among busy Toronto residents and commuters.

I recently sat down with two of Toronto’s most prominent busking bands, The Sidewalk Crusaders and Eighth Street Orchestra, both of which include former and current U of T students. Together, we unpacked the public’s perception of street performing, spoke about their experiences, and discussed how the streets of Toronto have changed the performers they attract.

Peter Cavanagh from The Sidewalk Crusaders started busking because he was curious about it and wanted to gain exposure. The energy of performing outdoors, which differentiates busking from performing in regular venues, drew him in.

“It helped me be more comfortable and confident performing. When you’re only a few feet away from the audience on the street you feel so much more open and alive,” said Cavanagh.

The Sidewalk Crusaders can often be heard playing pop, swing, funk, and jazz music at major Toronto intersections.

Busking is a unique experience for many performers, and Cavanagh views himself as the potential difference between a normal day and good day for pedestrians. “Usually, in To-

ronto people are just busy with their day and they’re trying to get from point A to point B. I feel like when they hear music, it brightens their day,” he said.

Alex Redman, another member of The Sidewalk Crusaders, believes that “you get to glimpse into people’s souls a bit. There’s many different characters and types of people.” Redman added that being out in public can enhance the performance experience.

Busking often generates a perception that obscures the art of street performance. Performing on the street may seem desperate to some, and it could be argued that the time of talented musicians is worth more than mere handfuls of change.

While the reality of street performance can be quite different, it doesn’t mean that these performers have been immune to these attitudes. Often, musicians are forced to busk because, despite the number of musicians in Toronto having increased, the number of available music venues around the city has remained the same.

Patrick Smith of Eighth Street Orchestra, a group composed of current U of T music students and recent graduates, has seen firsthand how street performing can sometimes be looked down upon as a last resort for talented musicians.

Smith responded to this line of thinking during our interview. “Sorry if you’re old and don’t get it, but we’re trying to build something here,” he said.

That ‘something’ is a music career, and busking has definitely helped these musicians in many different ways. Cavanagh related one such instance. “On Bay and Bloor you’ll run into a lot of people who are well off, like this one time this guy saw us and asked us to play at his son’s pool party the next day in Vaughan,” he said. “He had so much money — it was a crazy gig.”

Beyond the search for money and exposure, the performers share a passion for music and musical expres-

Skule Night returns for its 97th anniversary The engineering musical and sketch comedy revue has been in the works since July

PHOTO BY DAVID PECILE, COURTESY OF SKULE NITE

sion.

Nolan Murphy, the brightly dressed leader of Eighth Street Orchestra and a U of T music student, sees value in bringing music to all the different corners of Toronto. Alongside his brother Kaelin Murphy, Nolan has built a community around the band by enlisting accomplished musicians and organizing shows.

Leighton Harrell, a fellow member of Eighth Street Orchestra, told me that Nolan’s work to network students and musicians has helped expose him to many musical experiences not typical of the average student musician.

The culture shock of busking was a recurring theme among many of the performers’ experiences.

“It’s a really different environment,” said Redman. “I studied classical music when I did music at U of T, and especially with the trombone, I would just sit for hours and get everything perfect.”

“When I started playing on the street, I started memorizing music which I wasn’t used to and started developing this ability to just stop giving a shit,” he said.

“What the hell do I do with a music degree?” asked Smith. “I was playing in a couple bands, but what street performing offers to students, in contrast to U of T music, is that you learn a lot of things about performance that you will never ever learn in a classroom.”

Some aspects of street performing, however, make it at times perilous and daunting. The Sidewalk Crusaders have had a few such experiences. “You run into a lot of really weird stuff,” said Cavanagh, relating an anecdote about a man with a knife rushing the band while they performed at Yonge Street and Gerrard Street before police showed up.

Above all, these musicians are resilient. Kyle Windjack and David Riddel, both accomplished musicians and members of Eighth Street Orchestra, have had to wear many different hats to pursue their music careers — literally. “I dressed up as a Minion,” re-

Sabrina Ramroop Varsity Columnist

Skule Nite, the annual revue put on

by U of T’s engineering students, returned for its 97th run from March 14– 17 at Hart House Theatre. The sketch comedy and musical showcase was composed completely of work by current engineering students and alums.

Skule Nite allows engineers to showcase their talents in song, dance, and sketch writing. The musical poked fun at the quirks of university experiences, including relationships and online dating, finding a job, studying and food cravings, and the occasional summoning of Satan.

The show’s production process lasted nearly an entire year, with the creative work and brainstorming beginning in July and auditions in September. The students’ work definitely came through in their performance.

Chris Renaud, an engineering alum and this year’s musical director of Skule Nite, described the songs as “cre-

Eighth Street Orchestra is composed of current U of T music students and alums.

PHOTO COURTESY OF EIGHTH STREET ORCHESTRA

called Windjack.

Performing in costume, on cruise ships, or busking may not be the life that a young musician dreams of when they think about their ideal musical career, but that can be what it takes to find your professional path.

“Busking challenges us to be forward thinking,” said Smith.

The performers’ love of music remains pure. It is that same love that has allowed them to venture onto the streets of Toronto and experience completely new aspects of performance and music that other musicians may never encounter. They credit busking with helping them mature and

develop a knack for showmanship.

The Sidewalk Crusaders will be performing at the Beaches International Jazz Festival in July, and Eighth Street Orchestra have an album on the way. They are both, ultimately, on an exciting journey of learning and honing their craft.

“Us as a band, we’re just trying to figure it all out together,” said Smith.

“We’re really trying to change the game as to how you can become a musician. It’s more than just go to school, make a record, and make money. You need to think outside the box.”

ative re-imaginings of other songs.”

The songs featured in the musical all had their lyrics rewritten with lyrics to match the sense of humour of the musical. “The songs are picked first in the summer… and ultimately form most of the vision of the show,” said Renaud.

Renaud broke down the process of the music behind the musical. “It’s a pretty fun process because the people in the creative team — myself, the directors, the vocals, the choreo team, the producers — we all get to pick our own ideas for songs,” said Renaud. “It takes a long time for us to go through each individual song… put together concepts, discuss the feasibility, and how awesome it would be.”

The songs remain at the core of the musical, with the sketches emerging from them. “It was a really fun process and one of my favourite parts about doing Skule Nite,” said Renaud.

Pia Dimayuga, a cast member of Skule Nite and current engineering student, discussed the intensive work that went into their performances.

“We started having some rehearsals in the fall and then starting second semester, much more heavily. Cast are in rehearsal about 16 hours a week.”

This includes working on both their sketches and musical numbers. Dimayuga said that there are two weekday rehearsals for the sketches, which are workshopped with the director and assistant director. On weekends, the cast rehearses vocals and choreography.

This year, Dimayuga, a Skule Nite veteran, joined the cast again. The show’s basis of combining sketch and music doesn’t change, but the changing cast adds to the experience. “I think Skule Nite is one of those really cool things that is very different every year because the people that you do it with [are] very different every year,” she said.

What stays the same is the ethos of the show. As Renaud puts it: “a big [and] kind of unique fact about Skule Nite is that we’re engineers doing artistic stuff.”

14 • THE VARSITY • ARTS & CULTURE

arts@thevarsity.ca

The problem with Wakanda In Black Panther, the nation's governance policy leaves much to be desired MIA CARNEVALE/THE VARSITY

Kevin Yin Varsity Columnist

As a disclaimer to the nitpicking that is to follow, I liked Black Panther. It was fun, progressive, and more thoughtful than the bulk of Marvel Studios’ past releases. But there are definitely some particulars about the movie’s depiction of Wakanda that do not add up.

First of all, why is the King of Wakanda the first field agent you send to deal with threats to national security? When Ulysses Klaue, the film’s first villain, resurfaces, T’Challa is the primary agent sent to capture or kill him, despite his other obligations.

In other words, let’s put the governance of the most technologically advanced nation on Earth on hold, because we can find no one else to capture this insane man with a vibranium hand blaster thing.

It’s not only a poor use of a head of state’s time, but it’s also an enormous risk to political stability — you’re risking the life of your leader. It was unfortunate when T’Challa’s father was killed in a United Nations bombing, but frankly, with espionage policy like this, I’m shocked that the turnover rate of Wakandan kings isn’t way higher.

You might say that I’m being unfair, because Wakanda’s king is the only one who drinks the Heart-Shaped Herb juice and is thus the most physically prepared to execute these missions.

But then why haven’t the roles of Black Panther and King of Wakanda been separated, given that they clearly conflict with one another?

I can just imagine the Wakandan news headlines: “Third King this year KIA, time for military espionage reform?” And then people would be furious because the King being Black Panther is in their Second Amendment, or something.

Next, why does Wakanda select its leader by combat? How does physical strength and martial arts training represent an accurate assessment of political acumen or leadership skills?

Don’t get me wrong, I would be first in line to buy a ticket to a WWE Trump vs. Clinton Championship for the presidency, but personally, the novelty would not outweigh the obvious dangers of that selection process.

Watching M’Baku and T’Challa fight to submission for the throne made me feel like Chuck Woodchuck from Bojack Horseman when Mr. Peanutbutter challenges him to a ski race for

the Governorship of California. Wakanda is meant to be technologically advanced and socially progressive. Why are they still using this archaic process to select their leaders?

Getting rid of this process would have solved a key conflict in the plot. Killmonger takes over Wakanda by doing nothing more than defeating T’Challa in a fight. At least Trump had some electoral support from the people he had to govern when he won, even as a political outsider. And Trump campaigned for months to make himself appear viable.

Killmonger shows up and takes the throne in one day, and the only person he had supporting him was the guy from Get Out. It’s as if the Wakandans constructed their political system with Death Star logic. “No, no, we have to set up the system such that the whole thing could blow up in our faces with one proton torpedo,” in this case the proton torpedo being a metaphor for a megalomaniac ex-military man who wants Wakanda to leave behind its isolationist ways and support the international liberation of Black people.

Finally, why have the Wakandan elite become so lax on their isolationist mantra? This is arguably the most confusing point, because it’s an actual plot hole. Others we can suspend disbelief, attribute to culture, dumb luck, and a status quo of not challenging the throne.

But given the actions of Okoye and T’Challa, the world should long have been looking into Wakanda’s connection to vibranium. T’Challa fights in public, with his Black Panther suit on, to capture Klaue in South Korea, despite the presence of his CIA friend Everett Ross, who only knows him as the Wakandan leader.

Later in the film, T’Challa’s inner circle chastises him for bringing Ross to Wakanda to heal his injuries, for fear that he’ll report the truth about them back to America. But earlier scenes should have already raised huge suspicions for Ross about T’Challa and the gang.

Ross was purchasing a Wakandan artifact that Klaue claims to be made of vibranium. He should have already been putting two and two together about Wakanda’s ability to work with vibranium.

And even though Ross was only present for the end of the chase with Klaue, he still sees T’Challa as Black Panther, the guy who stops bullets, blows up cars, and captures Klaue. T’Challa is even the one who turns Klaue over to Ross.

Why is the question “Hey man, where did

you get that suit from?” never raised? T’Challa’s snap decision to reveal his identity to Ross sheds major doubt on the seriousness of how Wakandan leaders take their country’s secrecy.

It just doesn’t make sense to have physical competitions for leadership or send your king to perform assassinations. And it definitely

doesn’t make sense to approve of that king and his entourage revealing their possession of a high-tech panther suit when your goal is to hide your technology from the rest of the world.

Albeit a great film, Black Panther is probably not a great guide on the basics of how to run a country.

Science

March 19, 2018 var.st/science science@thevarsity.ca

Quality over quantity in research How a culture of competition is hindering scientific success Amirahmad Azhieh Varsity Contributor

In the midst of the Vietnam War, American public intellectual and scientist Noam Chomsky wrote an essay titled “The Responsibility of Intellectuals.” Chomsky argued that intellectuals bear more responsibility than other citizens for actions committed by their state. This is because intellectuals have, in an academic setting, the privilege of access to more resources, more time to spend on reading and writing, and most importantly, the ability to critically think about what they read and hear.

This begs the question: to what extent are we, as students, responsible for the sociopolitical issues of today, and what types of actions must we take? To investigate our roles, we must first understand what these issues are and their origins.

Since the 1970s, a new world order has influenced the lifestyles of ordinary people through the ‘values’ it rewards and the ‘vices’ it punishes.

This was largely due to the intensification of the hegemony of capitalist culture in today’s world following the introduction of neoliberal economic policies. Capitalist culture encourages the establishment of hierarchy and competition.

It appears as though the scientific community has also adopted the capitalist value structure, as academia and other scientific institutions encourage this ‘rise to the top’ mentality.

It would not be farfetched to claim that nowadays, what is most respected within the sciences, particularly among the non-scientific community, is not what has been discovered and how it has been

achieved, but rather who has been awarded a prize and whose article has the most citations. These attitudes largely reflect the competition-based nature of economic values that have infiltrated the sciences.

Microbiologists Arturo Casadevall and Ferric C. Fang noted that by changing this culture of competition, we can encourage quality over quantity. We must place more emphasis on basic research instead of only application-based research thought to be directly connected to certain social priorities, as basic research is more likely to lead to unintended discoveries.

Casadevall and Fang also noted that in today’s culture, scientists must be “self-promoting entrepreneurs” with high ambitions. Their research careers, if not their entire lives, are heavily dependent on grant funding.

In other words, they must be good business people as well.

Unfortunately, a 2017 report by Canada’s Fundamental Science Review indicated that funding support for fundamental research at Canadian universities has been on the decline.

James Till, co-discoverer of stem cells, and John Polanyi, have emphasized the importance of funding in basic science. Polanyi, a Nobel laureate, likened the government’s underinvestment in those areas to undervaluing something “absolutely essential to our being.”

One could even go so far as to say that the shift to the current capitalist structure has resulted in an abandonment of enlightenment values like free inquiry and truth-seeking within the scientific community.

Of course, despite its relation to capitalist norms, nobody would ques-

MIA CARNEVALE/THE VARSITY

tion the need for competition in the advancement of the sciences — just refer to the famous Leibniz-Newton quarrel over who invented calculus first. However, unlike the business world, competition can never act as more than a simple means to reach nobler goals in the scientific world.

The focus on competition rivals free inquiry at universities as well: take a look at students around you.

A lot of students are concerned with how to get a 4.0 GPA, how to balance extracurricular activities, how to get involved in a club to pad their résumés, how to get a position in a professor’s lab to eventually get a reference letter, and many other examples you have probably experienced as a U of T student.

However, it is not fair to place

all the blame for this competitive culture on the students, since the problem is pervasive within the entire scientific community.

What can students do, then? The answer is not simple. So long as capitalism is the main force shaping our lives and directing our actions, competitive culture will persist.

Still, students can get involved in organizations or speak with professors directly about these issues.

Together, we can bring these concerns to policy makers and look for practical solutions to remove the atmosphere of unnecessary competition. It is up to us to collaborate and reject the values created and imposed upon us by the business world.

It might be difficult, as many of these values have been internalized

by the scientific community, but a rigorous attempt to bring such attitudes into consciousness will eventually lead to reforms in the ways we look at our own professional lives. After all, science has never been about getting ‘good’ or ‘bad’ results but instead has been driven by one’s curiosity and subsequent discovery through trial and error — whether or not what is discovered is rewarded immediately or goes unnoticed for generations.

We need to start with ourselves and carry out the domestic reforms in the hope that one day universities will act as institutions that prioritize values such as creativity, independence, and equality instead of being passive followers of socioeconomic trends without evaluating them first.

St. Michael’s Hospital performs new surgery procedure The ‘Pascal system’ is significantly less invasive than standard leaky heart valve treatment Elizabeth Chelmecki Varsity Contributor

Dr. Neil Fam is the interventional cardiologist at St. Michael’s Hospital who successfully performed a surgery-first: he repaired the tricuspid valve of a patient with tricuspid regurgitation using a new device called the Pascal system.

Located in the heart, the tricuspid valve has three flaps, called leaflets, that open and close to allow blood flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle and to prevent blood from flowing backward. Tricuspid regurgitation is a condition that occurs when the tricuspid valve does not close properly and blood leaks into the right atrium of the heart.

“The quality of life is quite poor [for patients with tricuspid regurgitation],” said Fam. There are many

symptoms associated with tricuspid regurgitation: it can cause weakness, fatigue, and swelling, and may be a result of heart failure. As a result, patients with leaky heart valves are frequently in and out of hospitals.

The standard treatment for severe tricuspid regurgitation is an invasive open heart valve repair or replacement. For many patients, especially the elderly, this procedure can be too risky and comes with a long recovery period.

Using the Pascal system, which was developed by medical company Edwards Lifesciences, the surgery becomes much less invasive. The device is guided to the heart via a catheter that is inserted into the femoral vein in the leg. The Pascal system stops blood from flowing backward using a spacer, which fills the space between the leaflets and clamps the

leaky valve. The device is permanent and stays in the heart.

The Pascal system reduces the recovery period from months to days and is much less invasive than the standard treatment. The first patient was an 82-year-old woman with recurrent visits to the hospital due to advanced right heart failure and tricuspid regurgitation. After the procedure, the patient’s condition significantly improved, and within days, they were discharged and able to leave the hospital.

“There was a precedent. Everything that happens in science and medicine is usually a step on top of something else. Before, we were using a different device called a Mitraclip to do the same type of procedure. Then, this device was created by a large valve company that basically took all the shortcomings of the other device and

MIA CARNEVALE/THE VARSITY

improved on it,” said Fam. The procedure has already been performed on other patients, and it is being adapted by other surgeons outside of St. Michael’s Hospital.

It is a surgery that Fam thinks is

very reproducible. “We are doing this procedure on more patients.

This is not just in Toronto. We are collaborating with people in Europe too,” said Fam. “This procedure is becoming international.”

16 • THE VARSITY • SCIENCE

science@thevarsity.ca

What’s the significance of the equinox?

Exploring the astrophysical and cultural significance of the event

GHEYANA PURBODININGRAT/THE VARSITY

Spencer Y. Ki Varsity Staff

The solstice is a staple of American fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft’s stories: devious cultists must await the coming of the longest day of the year to summon some antediluvian monstrosity that will wreak havoc on the world. Yet, while it is common knowledge that the first day of summer and the first day of winter are known as solstices, seldom considered are the equinoxes, which many cultures mark as the start of spring and autumn.

With the spring — or vernal — equinox fast approaching on March 20, one might wonder what exactly is signified by these infrequentlydiscussed events. Principally, it must be noted that the solstices and equinoxes aren’t tied to the seasons purely by coincidence.

A common myth is that seasons are caused by the distance of the Earth to the Sun. “The distance

Science Around Town Charmaine Nyakonda Varsity Staff

between the Earth and the Sun only changes by a few percent over the year, which amounts to a very small change in the intensity of the sunlight hitting the Earth,” wrote Dr. Tyler Natoli, a fellow at the Dunlap Institute, in an email to The Varsity.

It is instead the angle at which our planet’s hemispheres are tilted toward or away from the Sun each season that matters most. “The Earth is tilted with respect to [its] orbit so that when it is summer in the northern hemisphere, that hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun,” said Dr. Hilding Neilson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics.

“When we are tilted towards the Sun, sunlight is more concentrated, and days are longer. In winter the north is tilted away, and light is less concentrated.”

What does all this have to do with the spring equinox? “There are two days a year when neither

the northern or southern hemisphere are closer to the Sun than the other,” said Natoli. “These two days are the [equinoxes] where everywhere on Earth enjoys roughly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.”

It would thus be fair to say that the equinoxes are the ‘middle-est’ days of the year.

With this in mind, there isn’t really anything especially exciting about the upcoming equinox — at least not astrophysically. Culturally, however, this is a different story.

“First Nations celebrate the equinox; many groups have sunrise ceremonies to celebrate the day and the coming of spring,” wrote Neilson, who is also an expert in Indigenous astronomy. “This is a particularly important time since it is a time to collect sap from trees that is a source of nutrition.

Around this time, bears will start awaking from hibernation and birds migrating back northward.

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This presentation will discuss structural interactions present in each virus and how the function of virus is enabled.

Date: Monday, March 19 Time: 11:00 am Location: Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, 160 College Street, Cecil C. Yip Red Seminar Room Admission: Free

Both are important food sources for many First Nations.”

Neilson also noted several international architectural oddities, demonstrating that the significance of the equinox is not an isolated affair. “Angkor Wat is one monument with an alignment; if you are standing on the western gate there the Sun rises over the central tower during the equinox. At Chichen Itza, during the equinox sunset the light hits the pyramid, giving the image of a massive snake, though we do not know if this was intended by the builders. In Chaco Culture National Historical park in New Mexico, the Chacoan people designed the Sun Dagger where rocks are arranged in a cave aligned toward the east. During the equinoxes and solstices light makes a unique design onto drawings on the cave wall, giving the Sun Dagger its name.”

However, Dr. Edward Banning, Graduate and Undergraduate

Science Research Panel This panel will feature science professors who will explain how to get involved in research at UTSC. Date: Tuesday, March 20 Time 3:00 – 5:00 pm Location: Humanities Wing, 1265 Military Trail, Room 305 Admission: Free

Chair of the Department of Anthropology, cautioned against seeing sun-drawn patterns everywhere you look. “Any building that has a door or window on its east side will have a beam of light pointing exactly west during sunrise on the vernal equinox.”

‘Manhattanhenge,’ a term coined by popular astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, is a famous case in point: every solstice sunset perfectly aligns with 34th Street in Manhattan, New York, among others.

“I would only consider that to be convincing evidence that the builders intentionally designed the monument to record the equinox if there was some special marker, such as a niche or an artistic element, on the western wall where the beam would strike only on the equinoxes. Otherwise, the ‘alignment’ could be just by chance,” wrote Banning.

Beyond the Brain: A Multidisciplinary Conference on Neurodegenerative Diseases The Neurodegenerative Disease Society of Toronto will be hosting a conference to raise awareness about neurodegenerative diseases and the current insights on research, technology, and policy in this field.

Date: Saturday, March 24 Time: 9:30 am to 5:00 pm Location: Medical Sciences Building, 1 King’s College Circle, JJR Macleod Auditorium Admission: Free

Sports

March 19, 2018 var.st/sports sports@thevarsity.ca

The backbone of Blues soccer’s backline Blues defenders Laura Krkachovski and Christine Mulligan reflect on their varsity careers Michael Teoh Deputy Senior Copy Editor

It’s exactly 9:00 am on an overcast March morning when Laura Krkachovski and Christine Mulligan walk into the room, coffees in hand. Outside, the clouds have dyed the sky a silver-grey hue that streams delicately into the room, creating a pensive aura befitting the occasion. The two Varsity Blues stars sit, ready to reflect on their storied soccer journeys.

Krkachovski wears a maroon hoodie with a slightly faded Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) logo plastered across it; Mulligan wears a light top. The two are fifth-year Blues athletes — two-year co-captains of the women’s soccer team who have dressed 153 times combined — and, as Krkachovski says, “Obviously we’re best friends off the field.”

In October, the pair received a frame commemorating their contributions, before they faced a tough 1–0 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoff defeat that called time on their exceptional Blues careers.

Formative years Krkachovski and Mulligan, lifelong defenders, faced very different journeys en route to becoming the beating heart of the Blues defense.

Out of high school in Markham, Krkachovski was being courted by both U of T and McMaster’s soccer programs and made her decision with a primary focus on athletics.

Mulligan, on the other hand, “lived really close to UBC” and sought pastures new. “I also really liked the academic programs that U of T has so that was a big draw for me and it worked out as well that I could play soccer.”

It would be Mulligan who would break into the starting lineup in 2013, impressing with two goals: one a headed effort and the other a 40yard belter, both of which she describes as “flukey.”

Their rookie campaign ended with a fifth-place finish in the CIS Championship, with Mulligan playing all but eight minutes of action in the three CIS games; Krkachovski made the bench for the last of the three games.

In a reversal of fortunes, Krkachovski thrived in second year while Mulligan dressed just five times before sustaining

Laura Krkachovski and Christine Mulligan embrace (also pictured below). SEYRAN MAMMADOV/COURTESY OF THE VARSITY BLUES

a season-long injury. Unfortunately, Krkachovski’s breakout season would end in defeat at the OUA quarter final stage.

Heart of the defense With Krkachovski having shone in 2014 and Mulligan returning from an injury layoff eager to recapture her rookie form, the Blues had a promising new defensive partnership — and blossoming friendship — heading into 2015.

“Every morning before game day we’d meet for a coffee… enjoy it, then go to the game,” says Krkachovski. It’s pleasing, then, to see that even five months after the season’s finale, they’re still enjoying a morning coffee together.

“We like to make a lot of jokes when we’re playing,” says Mulligan. “Often our teammates will look back and we’re laughing.” Mulligan adds that the easygoing chatter cements a strong understanding on the pitch between one another, and Krkachovski agrees.

“She knows when she’s losing me… she’ll be like, ‘Come on, I’m losing you and you’re not talking anymore.’ She definitely keeps me going when I need that,” says Krkachovski.

Krkachovski takes a brief pause before continuing her thought. It’s the kind of pause that just might, in other circumstances and between any other pairing, constitute an awkward break, but sitting next to Mulligan, it’s a comfortable, shared silence.

“Say we mess up and you look up and the whole team is looking back at you. You could read the disappointment on [their] face, but then I have her beside me or she has me to be like, ‘Okay, it’s fine. We’re still okay, everything is going to be fine,’” says Krkachovski.

“That went a long way.”

Still, as co-captains, the two maintained an open channel of communication with the rest of the team, and they would stand up for their squad without hesitation.

“She can be harder on people, and I can be the nicer person sometimes. We just balance each other out,” says Mulligan.

“Mull’s more of the ‘motherly supportive’ type,” says Krkachovski with a smirk. “Put that direct quote in there.”

Their complementary technical skills also solidified their leadership

and status as strong role models.

Krkachovski’s main strengths are her passing accuracy and vision, while Mulligan’s lie in her aerial presence and long ball abilities — think of Krkachovski as the ball-playing foil to Mulligan’s limited defender role. Mulligan is comfortable holding back and sweeping to accommodate Krkachovski, whom she jokingly describes as “a striker at heart.”

In 2015, the two dressed for all 17 games, with Krkachovski starting every one. She would also score her first goal for the Blues that season.

She considers this fact for a moment and looks at Mulligan for confirmation.

“Is that where you shot it almost straight in the air?” offers Mulligan, sparking Krkachovski’s recollection.

“It was for sure going to Bloor Street,” says Krkachovski.

“She was probably five yards away from the net.”

“And I cranked it.”

“Straight up.”

“And yeah it went bar down. It was pretty good,” says Krkachovski, satisfied with the backand-forth recount of the two-and-a-half-yearold landmark. The pair’s Blues careers are so closely intertwined that this becomes a common occurrence as they piece together memories.

Krkachovski would end 2015 with an OUA East second team all-star honour. “By the end of third year I was really starting to get confident, know my role,” she says. “And then fourth year I just went balls to the wall.”

In their fourth year, 2016, the two started 14 games together, and Krkachovski was again rewarded for her balls-to-the-wall efforts with an OUA East second team all-star honour. However, despite her and Mulligan’s best efforts, the team would fall at the OUA playoff stage for the second year in a row.

Disappointment and development The next question floats in the air for a few seconds, eliciting a longer pause from Krkachovski and Mulligan. “What’s the biggest life lesson the two of you have taken out, being part of the Varsity Blues program?” Krkachovski then submits an affirmative response that elicits Mulligan’s agreement.

“No matter how much hard work you put into something, it’s not always going to go your way.”

“The amount of effort her and I put in at least the past three years straight… and then we still end up in sixth place. We still end up with only five clean sheets,” responds Mulligan.

“You still have to work hard on everything you want to do well in your life,” adds Mulligan. “But hard work doesn’t equal success, it just equals a better chance of success, I guess.”

Despite their unrelenting dedication, their team has been dumped out at the playoff stage of the OUA for the last three seasons. In 2015,

they finished fourth in their OUA regular season conference standings with four clean sheets.

In 2016 and 2017, they finished sixth, with five clean sheets each year.

Soccer is a game of such fine margins that a small slip-up at any point could be costly. Especially as defenders, Krkachovski and Mulligan are acutely aware of this. “It’s not a glamorous role,” says Mulligan.

While clean sheets are never truly a barometer of defensive success, the disappointing truth is that the team never made it back to the CIS Championship — or U SPORTS, as it was rebranded in 2016 — level after their first-year adventure, where they qualified as the hosts.

Though nice, Krkachovski’s CIS hoodie bears an uncomfortable weight as a reminder of a tournament that the Blues have not progressed to in four years — a stage that she and Mulligan undoubtedly deserve to have played more on.

But despite the Blues’ shortcomings on the pitch, Krkachovski and Mulligan’s everyday successes for Toronto as leaders, teammates, and friends are insurmountable. “We’re all really good friends with the rest of our team,” says Mulligan. “All my best friends pretty much are from soccer.”

While it may be cheesy to say, it’s these experiences that truly define success.

So it goes Krkachovski offers her own cheesy pearl of wisdom to her previous point: “I know this one’s super cheesy, but just to actually enjoy it. You get so caught up… and all of a sudden we’re like, ‘It’s our grad game. Now what?’”

That’s a question she’s had to contend with after the end of the season. Over the past five years, she’s relied on soccer to give her a release from stress. As someone who obsessed over the team’s standing and performance for five years, the stark contrast of a final season is a bittersweet and jarring reminder to her — and all graduating Blues athletes — that nothing lasts forever. But with all she’s achieved over five years, Krkachovski is bound to overcome this challenge with ease.

Mulligan faced somewhat similar circumstances in 2016 as she approached the end of her four-year undergraduate degree, before she earned “a bonus year” upon being accepted for her master’s in Nutritional Sciences in 2017.

“I’m enjoying the extra spare time, but I think it’ll be really weird in August when everyone’s back to playing and we’re watching from the stands,” she adds.

The Blues’ Krkachovski and Mulligan era may have ended, but the two clearly won’t be forgetting about their team anytime soon.

While the March clouds outside still drain the blue from the sky, not even the changing seasons can drain the Blues from Laura Krkachovski and Christine Mulligan.

18 • THE VARSITY • SPORTS

sports@thevarsity.ca

The pay chasm between male and female athletics The pervasiveness of gendered economic inequality Kate Reeve Associate Sports Editor

Across disciplines, athletes are united by their mutual pursuit of excellence. Each face a particular set of challenges and roadblocks, whether they be financial, physical, or psychological.

Athletes have to overcome these difficulties to make it to the professional leagues, the pearly gates of sponsorships, adoring fans, and custom shoes. But for the majority of professional female athletes, this is not the case. For women, who already face more barriers to athletic success than their male counterparts, the pearly gates are rusted shut.

As CBS reports, although the Title IX civil rights law in the US regulates equal opportunities between male and female athletes, “there are still major discrepancies in pay, facilities and exposure.” Further, professional women’s sports are marginalized by the sports media complex, diluting their representative power for up-and-coming young female athletes. The few women who do manage to rise to professional athletic acclaim, such as Serena Williams and Lindsey Vonn, are anomalies. For the majority of female professional athletes, their athletic careers are just one facet of an incredibly busy life.

In recent years, pay discrepancies between male and female employees have been thrust into the limelight. Although women have been advocating for equal pay for decades, only recently has this gap become a genuine topic of discussion in the public sphere. On average, in the US, women earn roughly 77 per cent of what

their male counterparts earn. However, women have the same expenses as men, the same education, and the same great rapport with their boss. So why are they paid less? Because of gender identity. It is also important to note that these discrepancies are much worse for women of colour. Black women make 65 cents to every white man’s dollar, and Hispanic women make only 58 cents. These intersecting vectors of oppression are visible across industries, including professional sports. As the field of elite athletics is dominated by men, it should come as no surprise that the pay gap between male and female athletes is even worse.

Let’s illustrate this by taking a look at professional basketball. The average salary in the NBA is approximately $5.9 million. The league’s top earner in 2018, Stephen Curry, will make nearly $37.5 million this year — and that’s not including sponsorships or other advertising deals. The pay ceiling per team in the league is $99,093,000.

Many NBA players who depart college enter the league and instantly own houses, cars, and live lavish lifestyles. In the offseason, they train with their team members, work out with personal trainers, and rest for the coming season.

Now cut to the WNBA. The average salary hovers around $70,000. Their team salary pay cap is $976,300. Most WNBA players don’t get an off-season — instead, they get on a plane.

Take Los Angeles Sparks star and 2016 league MVP Nneka Ogwumike for example. Most of her overall income comes from her contract with Dynamo Kursk, a Russian pro team that she plays for in the WNBA’s off-season. She

doesn’t own a house or car; instead, she’s saving up for her master’s degree.

The potency of this issue is further illustrated

by Diana Taurasi, a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Taurasi sat out the entire 2015 WNBA season at the request of her Russian Premier League team UMMC Ekaterinburg in order to protect her financial future. Her salary in Russia? $1.5 million. She explained in an open letter that “the year-round nature of women’s basketball takes its toll and the financial opportunity with [her] team in Russia would have been irresponsible to turn down.” This talent drain is incredibly detrimental to the WNBA, which struggles with revenue and attendance.

Maya Moore looks to grab the rebound.

SusanLesch/CC WIKIPEDIA

In 2017, the United States national women’s hockey team threatened to boycott the World Championships if they were not given the same treatment as the men’s national team. This request included higher wages, more media

coverage, better facilities, and an increase in staff. “We are asking for a living wage and for USA Hockey to fully support its programs for women and girls and stop treating us like an afterthought,” said captain Megan Duggan. “We have represented our country with dignity and deserve to be treated with fairness and respect.”

After a protracted and very public debate, the women won. Their salaries jumped from roughly $6,000 a year to $70,000 annually, and they were granted increased travel funding and increased media emphasis. Prior to this, CNN reported that most team members worked one or two jobs on the side or depended on their families for financial support. The United States national women’s soccer team also pressed for better treatment in 2016, filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). To date, the EEOC has not ruled on their case.

Maya Moore, a forward for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx , says the issue is visibility. “Visibility is nuanced and it can take many forms, from organized youth leagues all the way up to marketing and sponsorships on the professional level,” she wrote in a personal essay published in The Players’ Tribune. Her concern was shared by the US women’s hockey team, who noted that USA Hockey spends $3.5 million annually to promote hockey for boys, but next to nothing for girls.

The pay gap in professional sports cannot be resolved in a day, or even a decade. Women’s professional leagues need more sponsorships, more airtime, more fans, better venues, better youth programming, and much more. But before all that, they need — and deserve — respect.

In the words of Moore, “There seems to be a higher standard for women but that’s OK — it forces you to rise. When you rise, when your greatness is authentic — that’s what captures imaginations.”

“That’s when people see you.”

Notice of Referendum Voting is online at www.utsu.simplyvoting.com Campaign Period: Mar 19, 09:00—Mar 28, 06:00pm Voting Period: Mar 26, 12:00am —Mar 28th, 06:00pm The University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) is seeking the consent of its members at the St. George Campus to establish a non-refundable U-Pass fee of up to $322.50 per session (including the Summer session), as of the Fall 2018 session. Members will only be charged the fee for sessions in which they are enrolled. The Board of Directors of the UTSU will be authorized to increase the fee by up to 5% per year, in order to account for the cost of administration and increases in the cost of transit.

In the event of a “Yes” vote, every member of the UTSU will be entitled to a PRESTO-based U-Pass, which will grant unlimited, semester-long use of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) transit system at no additional cost. A Post-Secondary Metropass currently costs $116.75 per month. The U-Pass fee will be up to $80.60 per month in 2018-19.

Are you in favour of establishing a non-refundable U-Pass fee, as described in the preamble? [ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Abstain

MARCH 19, 2018 • 19

var.st/sports

Why the Raptors need to be taken seriously

Killer abs can’t be achieved solely by performing crunches

Toronto sits in first place in the Eastern Conference

It’s never too early to start on your summer body

Alex Mulego Varsity Contributor

It was a battle of the top two teams in their respective conferences on March 9. For one team, the Houston Rockets, this game meant continuing their season-high winning streak of 17 games as they looked to secure the top spot in the Western Conference. For the other team, the Toronto Raptors, it was a battle for recognition.

The atmosphere of the game had the whole city buzzing. It was wire-to-wire; the Raptors were able to go up early in the contest, which gave the Rockets some adversity as they weren’t accustomed to playing from behind. As expected, the Rockets were able to get it close in the final minutes of the game, but when it was all said and done, the Raptors beat Houston 108–105. Kyle Lowry scored 30 points, and DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points.

When the buzzer sounded, the arena was euphoric. It was almost as if the NBA title was won on that night. From the head office to the coaches and right down to the players, this matchup was more than just another game.

The Raptors improved to 28–5 at home, the best record in the NBA. They have hit the 50-win mark faster than any other time in franchise history and are currently riding a ten-game winning streak, as of March 17.

It seems like only yesterday that ESPN projected Toronto to finish sixth in the Eastern Conference with 43.4 wins. Projections like that and comments about the Raptors being solely a regular season team are what sparked the changes that led to the team’s current success. In an exit media session last year, Raptors president Masai Ujiri made it clear that the Raptors needed a “culture reset.” At the time, nobody knew what that meant. Would they fire the coaching staff or make a blockbuster trade? While there was pressure from every Raptors fan about what to do next, Ujiri decided to stick with the roster he had

and instead administered an entire revamp of their offense.

That decision is now paying its dividends and then some. The Raptors are firmly ahead in the Eastern Conference with a five game lead over the second-place Boston Celtics and a 12.5 game lead over their rivals, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Raptors were criticized for having a heavy isolated offense that ranked dead last in assists per game last season at 18.5 per game.

This season, they are ranked sixth at 23.9 assists per game. Another important change for them was the production from the bench. Last season they were ranked 26th out of 30 teams in bench scoring, but this season they jumped to sixth.

All of these improvements bode well for a title run. In past years, when Lowry or Derozan struggled with their shot, the entire Raptors offense stalled. This year, they have more weapons, and this will make their offense much harder to guard.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether you believe the Raptors are serious title contenders or not. They’ve had that chip on their shoulder all season long. They have the best record in the East and are the only team in the NBA in the top five in offensive and defensive rating.

For the Raptors, it’s about reaching new heights, and that starts in the playoffs. This team has a legitimate shot at the title, and it’s time for the rest of the league to pay them their dues.

Former Raptor Cory Joseph attempts a layup against the New York Knicks. Rg19989/CC WIKIMEDIA

The sweeper diaries A Varsity Blues event staff member details his experiences cleaning the Goldring court Isaac Consenstein Varsity Contributor

This year, I was lucky enough to be a part of the Varsity Blues event staff for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Every time I received the staffing schedule before the first basketball double header at the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport, I remember feeling slightly disappointed that I was always assigned to be a sweeper. Back then, I couldn’t wait to eventually graduate to the scoring table, but, fortunately for me, that time never came. I quickly realized that sweeping the sweat off the court was the best possible gig I could ask for.

When I was growing up, I would watch those few young volunteers at NBA games pass the balls to players at shootaround, give them water on the bench, or sweep the floor during the game. I would always wonder how in the world those kids got so lucky — I was so envious that

they got to be so close to the action every single night. Somehow, I stumbled upon the same position.

Although Blues basketball is not quite the NBA, each game is extremely well programmed, and everyone playing, working, or in attendance is fully invested in the game. This environment made the sweeper job truly fun.

Watching the game from under the hoop is probably the best view in the gym. I felt much more secure in my chair with my mop than I would have felt sitting at the scoring table, which seemed intimidating.

From under the hoop I could get a close look at the coaches, bench, players, and referees.

Whenever there was a rough play under the hoop, I could see it first hand. I could judge whether I thought there was a foul and anticipate an argument between player and referee.

I could catch every missed box out or defensive rotation, guess whether a player would be

DARREN CHENG/THE VARSITY

Jordan LoMonaco Varsity Staff

Have you ever wanted washboard abs like Zac Efron, Gigi Hadid, or David Beckham?

While summer may still seem far away, this spring season could be the time to get a head start on your beach body. Fitness trainers and health bloggers often preach about the key to achieving rock-hard abs and their special secret is usually crunches.

However, have you ever wondered if crunches are actually the best workout for getting a flatter stomach?

Hate to burst your bubble, but they actually aren’t.

The belief that crunches are the ‘be all and end all’ of ab exercises stems from the belief that you can essentially target fat loss through exercise. The notion of ‘spot reduction’ seems to intuitively make sense; if you do specific exercises that engage specific muscles and areas, you’d essentially be burning fat around those areas. Just like how crunches specifically engage the muscles in our core, we should effectively be burning all the fat in the area as we build muscle.

Unfortunately, these claims are patently false.

A 2013 study performed by Rodrigo Ramírez-Campillo found that even after individuals had been subjected to 12 weeks of intensive leg training on their non-dominant leg, results did not show any change

subbed out, and look to see the coach’s reaction.

Since basketball players are among the most visually exposed athletes with their light outfits and lack of headgear, I could read each player’s mood and engagement throughout each contest.

The unique insight my position gave me allowed me to predict which direction a game would go.

Confident stature, smiles, and a loud cheering bench showed me that they weren’t going to lose the lead, while blank faces and arguing with referees was a sign they might be vulnerable.

Each time a player fell down, I would jump out of my seat, weasel my way between players, and wipe up the wet spot left by the player.

Sometimes, the referee would even look directly at me and point to the wet spot.

One night, after sweeping up a really big wet spot, the referee looked at me and asked, “Hey, do you do houses or apartments?” I responded, “Of course. Cash only though!”

Another night, the ball was wedged between the backboard and the rim, causing an awkward pause in the game. I assumed the referee or one of the girls would jump up and poke it out of the rim, but about 30 seconds had passed and no one had done anything. Fifth-year guard Rahshida Atkinson then yelled, “Isaac! Get the

in fat mass or fat percentage in either leg. In fact, they actually showed reduced fat mass in the trunk and arms instead.

Another 2014 study by Sachin S. Vispute looked at the effects of abdominal workouts in two different groups. One group performed extensive sets of core exercises over the span of six weeks, while the control group did nothing. At the end of those six weeks, interestingly enough, there were no significant differences in abdominal appearance or even the fat percentage between both groups.

This is due in part because most of those specific ab exercises, like crunches, don’t actually burn many calories. You cannot lose fat if you are not burning calories. The University of California, Irvine conducted a study in 1971 focused on the quantity of fat and muscle in the right and left arms of tennis players, to determine if ‘spot reduction’ is indeed valid. Each subject performed the same exercise plan for many years, and the researchers found that there was no significant difference in fat quantities between both arms, completely discrediting the idea of ‘spot reduction.’

In the end, doing 1,000 crunches could increase the strength of some of your stomach muscles and core. More effective exercises include planks, bridges, or leg raises, but you wouldn’t necessarily start seeing a six-pack until you’ve combined this with fat burning exercises, like high-intensity cardio, as well as a healthy diet.

ball!” So I jumped up and released the ball from the rim with my hand and received a round of applause.

I quickly sat back down, feeling like I was overstepping my job description.

I had plenty of flattering interactions throughout the season. One referee told me that I was the best sweeper in Ontario University Athletics, and I even had the pleasure of goofing around with the mascot when they would come, grab my mop, and help clean up the court.

These were just some small anecdotes of my vital, yet often unnoticed, position with the Blues events staff — a true honour.

PEARL CAO/THE VARSITY

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