Arrest made in new vandalism

The humour in heartbreak

High calories, low marks

Feminism and pink lemonade

From struggle to superstar

News, page 3 Arts, page 5 Features, page 8Opinion, page 4 Sports, page 11

UTMSU election results to be released todayFinal week of campaigning sees plenty demerits issued and new allegations

JOSHAN RAMNAUTH/THE MEDIUMElection results are expected to be released today.

Saini leaving UTM for AustraliaSaini will leave UTM as of August 31 of this year

UTM principal and U of T VP Deep Saini is leaving UTM effec-tive August 31 to begin a new role as vice-chancellor of Australia’s University of Canberra in Septem-ber.

As announced on Wednesday, Saini has been appointed as the university’s fifth vice-chancellor located in Bruce, Canberra, Aus-tralia Capital Territory, Australia. He has held his current role at U of T since 2010 and was reappointed last year after undergoing a five-year review.

“Much of what I am today was shaped during my doctoral studies in Australia,” said Saini in the Uni-versity of Canberra’s announce-ment. “My wife and I started our shared journey here. It is a privi-lege to now return to serve the country where it all began and to which I owe the crucial formative steps of an exceptionally reward-

ing career.”According to Nicolle Wahl,

UTM’s assistant director, commu-nications (digital), nominations will be open until March 22 to appoint U of T’s interim VP and principal of UTM. Nominations

will also soon be collected to as-semble an advisory committee re-sponsible for the evaluation and recommendation of potential can-didates to fill the role after Saini leaves.

HIBA TRABOULSIWITH NOTES FROMNICOLE DANESINEWS EDITOR UTMSU and UTM Students for Life

will soon face each other in court as legal questioning begins this week.

In January, UTMSFL filed a suit against UTMSU with claims that the union denied their group club sta-tus and funding due to their pro-life views, claims that UTMSU has nei-ther confirmed nor denied since the suit was launched.

According to UTMSFL president Diane Zettel, both UTMSU and UT-MSFL will be questioned by their lawyers on Tuesday, and lawyers rep-resenting UTMSFL anticipate that a court date will be set in June.

“We have not heard […] anything directly from UTMSU,” said Zettel in an email to The Medium last week, who confirmed that the group con-tinues to remain active on campus amidst the legal suit. “We table as a club every week. We engage students in discussion about life issues and abortion.”

UTMSFL is currently a registered ULife student group recognized by U

of T.When asked to confirm if UTMSU

would be participating in legal ques-tioning and who from UTMSU would be questioned, UTMSU president Ebi Agbeyegbe did not provide comment on the matter.

“There are new developments in the case,” said Agbeyegbe in an email to The Medium on Friday. “We are speaking to our executive committee and confirming with our lawyers the details of everything before we can speak to the matter.”

The suit also mentioned the Cana-dian Federation of Students, a nation-al student advocacy group UTMSU is currently a member of. Lawyers representing UTMSFL claim that the CFS has previously “passed a mo-tion encouraging its member student unions not to recognize student clubs with pro-life views” and cite the mo-tion as being passed back in 2008.

The Medium is unable to indepen-dently verify any of the legal claims made by UTMSFL and the CFS has not responded to multiple interview requests.

NICOLE DANESINEWS EDITOR

UTMSU and UTMSFL to be questioned this week

Election results determining the victors of the UTMSU’s 2016/17 executive team and board of direc-tors are expected to be announced today following three days of voting, which ran from Tuesday through Thursday last week.

In an email to The Medium last Wednesday, UTMSU VP inter-nal Francesco Otello-DeLuca ex-plained that the union was expect-ing a high voter turnout for this year’s election, although numbers reflecting voter turnout have yet to be released.

In the last week of campaign-ing ahead of voting results, slates challenged demerit points and re-sponded to accusations.

DEMERIT POINTS By the end of the elections, all can-didates except independent presi-dential candidate Daniel Lyght racked up demerit points, includ-

ing several due to some candidates allegedly accessing their UTMSU email accounts, which is unauthor-ized for candidates and campaign volunteers during the election.

“When an executive leaves the UTMSU on a leave of absence, they give their password or their account to the president,” ex-plained Nour Alideeb, Unite UTM

presidential candidate, who faced demerit points for allegedly ac-cessing her email. “I get a lot of academic offence cases, so [UT-MSU president Ebi Agbeyegbe]

probably forwarded it to my coor-dinators because I’m on a leave of absence.”

At the time, Alideeb planned to appeal the notice, and as of March 6, the demerit points against both her and Unite UTM volunteer Tyrell Subban for the same allega-tion were crossed out and reduced to five demerits.

Emerson Calcada of UTM Awaken was also given demerit points for allegedly accessing his UTMSU email, which he denied doing.

“I sat down with the CRO and my team and we checked the last time I accessed [my email]; it was February 22,” said Calcada. The demerit points against Calcada were also reduced from 15 to five.

UTM Focus faced allegations of harassment. The Wall of Transpar-ency reported “multiple instances where a person that has been iden-tified as a non–arm’s length party has harassed and slander[ed] can-didates from another slate”.

ALICIA BOATTOASSOCIATE NEWS EDITORNICOLE DANESINEWS EDITOR

Elections continued on page 2

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUMSaini will become vice-chancellor as of September 1.

2 «NEWS THE MEDIUM 03.14.2016

March 3, 8:50 p.m.MischiefUTM students were waiting for a bus at the east side bus stop on Mississau-ga Road by the North Entrance. A ve-hicle went by them at high speed and as it passed them, a passenger threw raw eggs.

March 7, 7:45 p.m.Theft Under $5,000A student reported that her iPhone 6s was stolen from the change room at

the gym.

March 8, 9:45 a.m.Theft Under $5,000A student reported to Campus Police the theft of his parking permit.

March 8, 4:40 p.m.Medical Call A student had slipped and fell on the stairway in IB while she was running to class.

These reports are those that have been released to TheMedium and do not necessarily constitute an exhaustive list.

Students can contact the UTM Campus Police at 905 828 5200, Peel Regional Police at 905 453 3311, or Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222 8477.

Students donate for Nate204 students registered as donors

Lifeline: UTM Blood and Stem Cell Society saw an increased number of students registering to become stem cell donors in support of their an-nual campaign this year.

According to Anmol Biajar, co-president of Lifeline UTM and fourth-year life sciences student, the turnout was significantly higher this year. Approximately 167 stu-dents registered by 4 p.m. on Tues-day, while only 70 students had registered around the same time last year. By the end of the day, 204 students had registered.

Students had their cheeks swabbed in the CCT building to join a network of donors by regis-tering with OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network.

In an interview with The Medi-um, Biajar discussed the face of this year’s campaign: a seven-year-old boy named Nate with a rare condi-tion called Fanconi anemia. If he doesn’t find a donor, Nate may have up to three years to live. According to Biajar, Nate and his father at-tended a select number of lectures to speak to students.

“This year, UTM has outdone it-self. We’ve broken our blood donor clinic record and stem cell clinic record all because of the amazing work of the executive team and support received from the UTM

community,” said Biajar. “I want to thank the UTM community [for] giving hope to kids like Nate.”

Nate’s story inspired first-year political science student Ramneek Bhoday and a friend to register.

“If we were in that situation, we would want someone to do the same,” said Bhoday.

Lilet Raffiñan, territory manager of the Canadian Blood Services, ex-plained that samples collected will go to a laboratory to get tested for human leukocyte antigens, which are “inherited genetic markers” that determine whether donors are matched with any patients. If matches are found, stem cells would be taken out of the blood and stored in the Canadian Blood Services Bank.

“There are close to 1,000 patients waiting for a stem transplant, and their chances of finding a match within their family is only about 25 percent, but their chances of find-ing a match within their ethnicity is much greater,” said Raffiñan, who also explained that stem cell donor information is available worldwide, allowing patients around the globe to find a potential match.

Those who were not able to get swabbed on Tuesday and are inter-ested in becoming a donor can still visit the Heartland Blood Donor Clinic to register.

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

Stem cell donors registered with OneMatch.

FARHAT AMINI

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUMMultiple candidates faced demerit points during the election.

Allegations and promises fly in

last week of union elections

Elections continued from Cover

The ruling had been retracted and the demerits reduced to zero as of March 6.

Kamal Ali, UTM Focus candi-date for VP external, was also ac-cused of collecting nomination signatures in the UTMAC office, an area that is restricted during the election period. The demerit points assigned carried a “pend-ing” status as of press time.

UTM Focus presidential candi-date Ridwan Olow did not wish to comment on the allegations lev-elled against his team member.

Independent presidential can-didate Ibrahim Bouteraa also re-ceived 10 demerit points for alleg-edly campaigning in the library.

“I was giving a stack of flyers to a friend/volunteer that I came to know from my election and I was giving him the stacks on the li-brary fourth floor,” said Bouteraa, who claimed that an unspecified candidate running for a seat on the UTMSU board of directors filmed him while in the library. “I didn’t know that you could not have cam-paign material in the library.

“It was my fault, but I didn’t know that it was a breach of the rules,” said Bouteraa, who chose not to appeal the points.

Independent presidential candi-date Andrew Williams also faced 25 demerit points for allegedly not providing a list of campaign volun-teers and failing to use a standard-ized notice regarding the recycling of campaign materials.

“In terms of my flyer being en-vironmentally friendly, there was a recycling sign on it; it did say, ‘Please dispose responsibly’,” said Williams. “It has to be a very, very specific message”.

CAMPAIGN PROMISESAs part of their campaign, Unite UTM pledged to donate 100 per-cent of their salaries to bursaries for students if they did not work

towards their campaign promises next year.

“People talk a lot about account-ability and transparency; one of the first things is that not all stu-dents know that UTMSU execu-tives get paid,” said Alideeb in an interview with The Medium. “I think that this would be a great way to have more conversations with students, get them plugged in, get them working on the issues with us and, you know, uniting.”

When asked how their slate would go about evaluating wheth-er or not their slate would return their salaries, Alideeb explained that there would be no formal judgement process to determine if their slate made an effort to fulfill their promises, but that feedback from students would be an im-portant factor. Alideeb also did not believe that the pledge would give their slate a competitive edge against other candidates.

When asked if their slate could accomplish more than 50 campaign promises in one year, Alideeb said it is not likely for all to be accom-plished but stressed the impor-tance of laying the groundwork for future student unions.

“I think it’s important to be re-alistic and self-critical as to what our capacities are and what we’d be able to do in one year,” said Alideeb. “I think it’s important to set up a culture shift, to set up the framework for other individuals to come in the future to also build upwards.”

ACCUSATIONS

Accusations surfaced on social media Thursday evening that Unite UTM copied elements from a 2007 UTMSU slate led by current UTMSU executive director Walied Khogali, who was then running for president as part of a slate also named Unite UTM.

In an email statement, Unite UTM denied Khogali’s involve-ment with their campaign.

“Walied's slate did use this same campaign tactic years ago in 2007, we believe, when he ran,” Unite UTM wrote in statement to The Medium on Friday. “Walied did NOT help our slate design our plat-form in any way. This campaign tactic came from knowledge, hard work, and research performed by members of our campaign team to set us apart from every other team participating in these elections”.

Unite UTM also claimed that other slates had similar promises in their campaign platforms and the needs of students have been the same for several years.

“We would also like to point out that if you take a look at every sin-gle team’s platform points and the platform points of teams that have run in the past, we're pretty sure you can find similarities from ev-ery team to teams in the past,” the statement added. “This is due to the fact that priorities of students on the UTM campus have stayed similar to some extent and some things have yet to be accomplished so they need to be continuously worked [on].”

In an email to The Medium on Friday, Khogali denied any in-volvement in Unite UTM’s cam-paign.

“I am writing to confirm that I did not help UTM unite or any other slate or independent candi-dates formulate their promises,” said Khogali.

The Medium was unable to ver-ify the authenticity of the alleged 2007 campaign poster.

Unite UTM pledged to donate 100 percent of

their salaries to bursaries for students if they did not work towards their campaign promises.

Jakub Bernad, a 26-year-old male from Mississauga, has been charged after being arrested for al-legedly vandalizing posters in the RAWC.

According to Peel Regional Po-lice public information officer George Tudos, the vandalism was discovered on February 29 at 11:34 a.m and Bernad is set to appear in court on April 1. Although Tu-dos would not disclose what the vandalism consisted of, an earlier Campus Police report published in The Medium on March 7 indi-cated that the vandalism was done on posters “promoting sexual and gender diversity inclusion”.

Bernad has been charged with mischief under $5,000.

According to UTM Campus Police manager Robert Messacar, it is believed that the vandalized posters at the centre of the inves-tigation may have been a part of

the Change Room Project, a new initiative working to “[amplify] the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students in locker rooms and change rooms—some of the very spaces where they often go unheard”.

Led by Hart House in collabora-tion with several other partners, the Change Room Project works to bring awareness to the issues members of the LGBTQ commu-nity face in athletic change rooms by using quotes from 54 interviews conducted by Faculty of Kinesiol-ogy and Physical Education profes-

sor Caroline Fusco, whose research examines how barriers such as change rooms prevent the LGBTQ community from participating in sports.

The installations feature quotes posted on digital screens and the walls of U of T athletic change rooms, including a quote from Elise, a U of T graduate student and lesbian whose quote states, “The first time I encountered a homo-phobic slur, it was written on the wall in a locker room in elementary school.”

In an interview with The Medi-um, Hart House program coordi-nator Day Milman confirmed that they have not been contacted or informed of the incident.

The exhibit installations are now installed on all three U of T campuses at the RAWC, the Hart House Fitness Centre, UTSC, the Goldring Centre for High Perfor-mance Sport, and the UTSG Ath-letics Centre.

03.14.2016 THE MEDIUM NEWS» 3

Luke Matthews1st year, computer science

Anne Servidad3rd year, commerce

Jeffrey Wu1st year, computer science

Kristina Todic1st year, computer science

I did vote because I noticed some candidates were really trying to make a difference.

No, I didn’t, because I’m only here two days a week and didn’t have time.

No, I didn’t vote. Maybe next year.

I didn’t vote because I for-got and all of the candidates sounded the same.

»DID YOU VOTE IN THE UTMSU ELECTIONS?

In celebration of International Women’s Day last Tuesday, UTM’s Because I Am a Girl Club held an awareness campaign throughout the week to inform students about gen-der inequalities present in develop-ing and Westernized countries.

In Davis and the Student Cen-tre last Monday to Wednesday, club volunteers set up information booths to educate and inform stu-dents about issues related to gender inequality, human rights, feminism, and misogyny. The booths also provided information comparing gender roles in various countries around the world.

“Gender inequality is still very much real, and the more aware-ness we can generate about this, the closer we become to solving the

problem,” said UTM’s Because I Am a Girl promotions executive, Nicole DiLeonardo, in an interview with The Medium.

Since its launch last September, the club regularly sells Popeye’s on campus and hosts activities to raise funds to sponsor one male and two

female children in a developing country through Plan Canada’s Be-cause I Am a Girl program. Accord-ing to Shireen Owis, the club’s VP internal affairs, the cost of achiev-ing their goal is approximately

$1,400. So far, the club has raised approximately $1,100 and is close to meeting their goal by the end of the semester.

“The celebration of International Women’s Day this week is the per-fect opportunity to educate stu-dents in a fun and engaging way,” said Owis, who also explained that the club prides itself on promoting basic human rights and equality for both men and women.

The activities also allowed stu-dents to win prizes and learn more about the realities and myths sur-rounding gender biases and persist-ing inequalities. Activities included a spin-the-wheel game, quiz, and photo booths. In addition to infor-mative pamphlets, club members handed out cake and pink lemonade to students. Students also had the opportunity to win tickets to the Sky Zone and Archery District.

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUMit is believed that the vandalism was made against installations from the Change Room Project.

Man arrested by Peel Police

for vandalism at the RAWC

WARD SUROUR

OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUMUTM’s Because I Am a Girl club was launched last September

Students shed light on global gender inequality UTM’s Because I Am a Girl has been raising funds to sponsor three children through Plan Canada

AMANDA BORTHWICKSTAFF WRITER

it is believed that the vandalized posters at the

centre of the investigation may have

been a part of the Change Room Project

So far, the club has raised approximately

$1,100 and are close to meeting their goal by the

end of the semester.

4 « 03.14.2016

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Why I don’t call myself a feministLabels can mean almost anything when taken out of context

As many of us know, International Women’s Day was celebrated last Tuesday. At UTM, part of the celebrations involved a weeklong awareness campaign by the Be-cause I am a Girl club, which in-cluded information booths and even a pink lemonade stand.

Reading about it reminded me of a discussion in a South Asian history class last year about gen-der and philanthropic organi-zations seemingly dedicated to women’s rights.

As part of the discussion, the prof pulled up the Because I am a Girl webpage as an example of how even organizations that pur-port to help a specific group can at times perpetuate the same op-pressive ideas that they’re trying to combat.

Taking a quick glance at the Be-cause I am a Girl website, under “What we need to stop saying to girls” are phrases that either im-ply the inferiority of women or stereotype them. And yet, one of the group’s fundraising options is to host your own pink lemonade stand. The emphasis on the colour

pink throughout the site adds to the homogenization of the gender, which is frankly not helpful com-ing from a group dedicated to the liberation of women.

Which brings me to my own complicated relationship with feminism. Over years of listening to debates about what does and

does not qualify as feminism, I’ve found that in many cases, what one person considers to be femi-nist can be the same thing that an-other person considers to be anti-feminist.

One such example that’s very close to me personally is the de-bate over the hijab and niqab and what they symbolize in a feminist landscape. The debate can be sum-

marized succinctly in a 2011 car-toon by Malcolm Evans. The car-toon depicts two women walking past each other on the sidewalk. One woman is dressed in a bi-kini and sunglasses and the other is covered from head to toe in a burqa and a face veil. The woman in the bikini stares at the woman in the burqa and thinks to herself, “Everything covered but her eyes. What a cruel male-dominated cul-ture!” For her part, the woman in the burqa looks back at the woman in the bikini and thinks, “Nothing covered but her eyes. What a cruel male-dominated culture!”

Suffice it to say, what a person considers to be feminist or not has a lot to do with an individual’s worldview. A lot of us will agree in theory with many of the ideals that are touted as feminist: equal rights, equal pay, etc. Yet in prac-tice, a specific action can be inter-preted in totally opposite ways de-pending on a person’s background, as the cartoon makes clear.

The problem that I continue to have with the way “feminism” as a term is used, however, is that, even

in academic contexts, there are at-tempts made to homogenize the movement and definitively label this or that action as “feminist” or “patriarchal”. Oversimplifications such as these don’t do justice to the complex nature of feminism or to the complex struggles that women face. Individual women may have very different reasons for doing what they do, and in some cases they may be driven by a conscious feminist mindset while in others, they may not. Individuals are far too complicated to define by a sin-gle umbrella term.

Yes, International Women’s Day is a good initiative for spreading awareness of the continued strug-gle that women face. But perhaps the message that’s lost in the pink lemonade is that while feminism itself is a simple label, the mean-ings underlying it are anything but.

YOURS,

MARIA IQBAL

The flip side of trigger warningsCan art maintain its impact without the element of shock?Last month, I attended U of T’s Drama Festival, which showcases new work acted, written, and di-rected by students at U of T’s vari-ous colleges. I saw the two shows that played on the last day of the festival, and before they began, the audience was provided with a trig-ger warning for the second play: footage of needle use would be projected during the performance. This was in addition to the trigger warnings already provided in the program, like violence and discus-sion of sexual assault.

I’ve become used to the warn-ings I see when I go to the the-atre: usually strobe lights and ma-ture language. Occasionally there will be a warning for full frontal nudity (don’t judge me—I saw a production of Hosanna by Michel Tremblay once). I respect that kind of warning. But what hap-pens when we have to warn theatre patrons about every single aspect of a show? Does a production of The Wizard of Oz get trigger warn-ings because there’s a live dog? Produce Angels in America, Equus, or Spring Awakening, and your list of trigger warnings will be three pages long.

I believe that in an educational setting, trigger warnings have a place—if you have to get that Eng-

lish credit, it’s your right to know if there’s something in the books that qualifies as sensitive material. But in the world of live perfor-mance, I’m not sure that holds up in the same way.

Showing footage of needle use was a choice that the director and/or playwright made with certain outcomes in mind. Maybe they wanted shock value. I’m not a big fan of needles. Do I have a pho-bia? Not officially. But even so I’d rather not spend an extended

period of time watching some-one else prepping a syringe. With the warning, though, I wasn’t re-ally even surprised by the images. Knowing about them beforehand killed any kind of emotional re-sponse beyond, “Eww. I’m glad that’s not happening to me right now.”

I’ll admit that I don’t really get to talk about trigger warnings

since I don’t feel like I particu-larly need them. Although I was grateful for the warning before Hosanna—I was young enough that I hadn’t read the play, and I’d also never seen a fully naked adult man.

But here’s the other side of that argument. When I was in grade 12, I took Writer’s Craft, which was taught by one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. I’m not sure how much of what we studied was TDSB-approved, and I’m also pretty sure my teacher didn’t care. So one day I found myself putting a copy of a novel called Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison on special order from Chapters and Indigo.

Bastard out of Carolina is about a girl named Bone growing up in wrong-side-of-the-tracks South Carolina. Bone’s father ran off be-fore she was born, and her mother Anney remarries a man named Glen. Glen is abusive in many ways, leaving Anney to choose be-tween her husband and her child. And Glen, jealous of Anney’s love for Bone, takes out his anger on his stepdaughter.

You can see where this is going.The final scene in the book is

absolutely harrowing and has nev-er, ever left me.

My Writer’s Craft teacher told us before we read the book that it would be tough, but didn’t give us any specifics. And honestly, I’m grateful for it. Because if I’d known what was going to happen, chances are I wouldn’t have fin-ished the book. That would have been a problem, and not just for my coursework. Arguably, Alli-son’s book taught me how to write. I learned the value of short sen-tences, of not giving the reader any more than they absolutely need. I would have missed out on some truly great art.

Was I shocked and disturbed? Absolutely. But I’m pretty sure that was the point. I don’t believe in violence for violence’s sake, but sometimes shock value is the only way to get your message across.

I don’t know where the line is between not enough trigger warn-ings and too many, and I’m not go-ing to pretend I do. But I do think that art, even in the U of T Drama Festival setting, needs to be al-lowed to maintain some element of surprise in order to do what art does: change people’s minds.

Kate Cattell-DanielsArts & Entertainment Editor

I don’t believe in violence for violence’s sake,

but sometimes shock value is the only way to get your message

across.

Oversimplifications don’t do justice to the

complex nature of feminism or to the

complex struggles that women face.

03.14.2016 » 5

The laughing matter of infertilityNew web series by UTM cinema studies grad tackles the subject matter with a comedic twist

Life often throws us obstacles we’re unable to control. While we may not have the power to prevent these challenges, we can choose how we respond to them. Wendy Litner, the creator and writer of How to Buy a Baby, is taking this approach to life.

On March 1, the teaser for How to Buy a Baby was released online. In this new web series, Litner portrays the widely unrecognized subject of infertility through the lens of com-edy. Litner, who personally suffers from infertility and has been under-going fertility treatments for two and a half years with her husband, hopes the series will educate viewers on the subject while also providing encour-agement for those who experience a similar struggle.

How to Buy a Baby follows married couple Jane and Charlie Levy as they cope with the challenges of infertility. The teaser shows the pair enduring in vitro fertilization treatments and un-solicited advice from Debbie, a new mother who believes that diet altera-tion will result in pregnancy.

The web series aims to raise aware-ness towards infertility and the bil-lion-dollar treatment industry that surrounds it.

“What we’re trying to do is educate viewers about infertility,” says Tanya

Hoshi, U of T alumna and the pro-ducer of the web series. “A lot of peo-ple don’t know about [infertility] and [How to Buy a Baby] is a good way for people to understand that there’s this entire community of people who are trying to have kids and they are con-stantly bombarded with unsolicited advice… The world around them is just popping out babies while they’re struggling for one.”

Litner discovered the inspiration for her web series through her blog

“SadInTheCity”, in which she posts stories about her life with infertility. After receiving an immense amount of positive feedback and realizing that followers wanted to learn more about the subject, Litner decided to create content that followers could watch as well.

Litner premiered How to Buy a Baby at the Women on Screen’s Web Series Incubator in last November. Women on Screen is an organization dedicated to the representation of To-

ronto women in the film industry. At the Web Series Incubator, Litner was given the opportunity to showcase her pilot script to an audience.

Since the release of the teaser two weeks ago, Litner has already received an enormous amount of positive feedback from the infertility community and others interested in the series. “The infertility commu-nity is overwhelmingly positive and very encouraging and they love this,” Hoshi remarks. With Litner’s person-

al insight into the subject, How to Buy a Baby promises to give a voice to this underrepresented community.

“Wendy is definitely hoping to encourage people and say, ‘Don’t be discouraged by the world around you and the fact that you’re not getting results.’ She’s hoping [How to Buy a Baby] will be an outlet for [infertile] people to realize that there are others going through the same thing,” Hoshi adds.

Although the topic of infertility is weighty, Litner’s comedic approach is a powerful way of conveying her message. While the endeavors of Jane and Charlie educate viewers on IVF treatments and the impact of infertil-ity on a marriage, the quirky couple also makes us laugh during the pro-cess.

“We’re taking a subject that is so delicate and sensitive and not neces-sarily funny, but we’re trying to get people to laugh at the world around it,” Hoshi says. “I think it’s so impor-tant that [How to Buy a Baby] is a comedy. It’s less dramatic and shows less of the bad side [of infertility], which would really only target the people going through this. At least with comedy, everyone can laugh and everyone can enjoy the short epi-sodes. It’s making them laugh and it’s educating them at the same time.”

Actors soar in season’s closing productionTheatre Erindale’s final show of the season combines laughter, tears, and a healthy dose of talent

One of the first signs of a great play is that you don’t know you’re watch-ing it.

Let me explain that a little better. It’s the same as watching a great movie or reading a great novel. Time flies—and stops—simultaneously. There is noth-ing except that story and those charac-ters. Coming out of a play like Theatre Erindale’s production of The Seagull is like waking from a dream that is half nightmare and half paradise.

I will tell you something: I don’t cry at the theatre. I’ve come close—but The Seagull had me the closest to tears I’ve been in a very long time. The crazy part is that I was laughing at the same time. It was funny. It was funny because it’s such an unbearably, almost embarrassingly human play.

If there is one thing Anton Chek-hov is good at, it’s writing characters, a fact that has not slipped director Me-lee Hutton’s notice. These people are clumsy and sad and happy and in love. They’re also stupid, sassy, and overly dramatic, and I love every single one

of them. It’s not easy to sit down and say, “Oh, he’s the villain and she’s the lover and he’s the leading man.” Ac-tual lives are not like that, and neither is Chekhov’s play.

The Seagull is essentially about art and love and the place where the two meet. I’ll give you some warning: it’s a

head-on collision for the ages. Arka-dina (Kyra Weichert) is an aging ac-tress who was once very famous and is now stuck on her brother Sorin’s (Na-thaniel Kinghan) estate with her son Constantin (Isaac Giles). Constantin is trying to be a writer, and the play opens with the first backyard staging

of one of his plays. The play stars the beautiful Nina (Tatiana Haas), whom Constantin is in love with. And Nina is in love with him too, until the fa-mous fiction writer Trigorin (Stuart Hefford) catches her eye. This plot-line is further complicated by the fact that Masha (Sarah Kern), daughter of

the manager of Sorin’s estate (Con-nor Dutchak) is also in love with Constantin. Masha, in turn, is being chased by the schoolmaster Medve-denko (Nathaniel Voll).

Then, everything falls to pieces. But you’ll be laughing on the floor while it happens.

The aesthetic of The Seagull is star-tling in itself. The colour scheme is pale and creamy (except for Masha, who wears black because she finds her life depressing). Arkadina appro-priately changes her clothes for every scene, wearing dress after dress that just keep getting more sparkly and elaborate. The furniture is also mostly pale, and all of this contrasts nicely with the dark floor of the stage.

In keeping with the rest of Theatre Erindale’s plays this semester, the back wall of the set is used for projections throughout. I was especially fond of the forest and lake in the first act. The green light of the trees reflected on the actors’ faces and clothes, making me think of the colour sunlight has as it comes through the trees.

HAILEY MASONASSOCIATE A&E EDITOR

YOUTUBE.COM/HOWTOBUYABABY/PHOTOHow to Buy a Baby aims to educate with comedy.

KATE CATTELL-DANIELSA&E EDITOR

JIM SMAGATA/PHOTO

The Seagull is a touching and hilarious show.

Seagullvcontinued on page 6

Baby continued on page 6

6 «ARTS THE MEDIUM 03.14.2016

Standing on the edgeUTMDC jumps off into uncharted metatheatrical territory

FACEBOOK.COM/UTMDRAMACLUB/PHOTOWatch your step.

There’s a man standing on the edge of a seven-story building. He’s trying to decide whether or not to jump.

Between Thursday and Saturday last week, the UTM Drama Club per-formed 7 Stories, originally written by the Canadian playwright Morris Panych and premiered in 1989.

I found it fascinating that apart from the protagonist (Jackson Watt-Bowers), the unnamed man in the bowler hat, almost all the actors had to play their parts confined within seven window frames. The play was heavy on dialogue and the actors didn’t move around much, yet sever-al topics worthy of rumination were touched upon amid their comedic banter.

Existentialist at heart, the struc-ture of the writing always managed to push aside or ignore heavy sub-ject matter using dark comedy, as all the characters seemed to be too busy trying to find meaning in their

meaningless, though amusing, acts.The show had some pretty intense

moments of metatheatre at times, such as when the spotlight focused on Michael Merchant (Yona Roth) as he criticized the meaning of a play in its ambitiousness to capture an en-tire life’s worth within a mere hour or two—with no intermission.

Many moments of black humour occurred in the play in charac-ters such as a nurse (Aria Sharma) claiming to be a humanitarian who actually loathes people; a psychiatrist (Stanley Tomlinson) who never got any sleep and needed a psychiatrist himself; and a couple (Mackenzie Burton, Lindsay Wu) that expressed their love by trying to kill one an-other.

It seemed to me that the crux of the psychological ailments of all these characters was that they were in a contradictory state of being. It was as if they were so busy just living that they didn’t take the time in their lives to question what they were liv-

ing for. Such a play, no matter how hard it tries to snuff the question, cannot stop one from asking: what is the meaning of life? The story starts off with the protagonist wanting to jump off the building—how much longer could he go without having to face that question?

And the answer was truly mind-boggling. He does jump, yet he does not fall. As directors Hanna Termaat and Mackenzie Connelly wrote in their directors’ note, “There is much interpretation that comes with see-ing this show.” I would have to agree. What does flying instead of falling mean for a man who jumped off a seven-story building? I think most of the audience was bewildered by this development as well, but before we could make sense of the symbolism behind it, a police officer (Dakota Rivait) appeared, telling us folks to go home; there was nothing to watch here because the show was over—and it couldn’t get any more meta-theatrical then that.

AYESHA TIRMZI

“Write, don’t edit”

How do you convey your emotions when no word exists in the English language to explain them? How are we limited by cultural borders? How can we use an art form to overcome resistance? And what is resistance, anyway? Questions like these were raised at Poetic Resistance, a poetry workshop held last Thursday by the Afghan Students’ Association. The event was held in collaboration with UTM alumna Frishta Bastan, former president of the ASA and founder of Fresh Poetry.

According to Bastan, the goal of the event was to “take back the narra-tive that’s always been imposed [on] you in English, but to rewrite and relive your own life, your own na-tive tongue, and your identity”. The “resist” in Poetic Resistance referred to not only political resistance, but a refusal to stop others from defining your identity. The event was open to students of all backgrounds.

Bastan advised students to write a number of words that came to mind when they thought of “resistance”, which then led to a dialogue about what resistance means to them. For some, it meant breaking away from stereotypes; for others, it led to the questioning of cultural borders as a

form of separating oneself from their neighbour. Bastan then told students to weave their individual words to-gether into sentences.

“Write, don’t edit,” she recom-mended. “Don’t think too much.” Bastan suggests avoiding editing while writing the first draft to retain the raw emotions of a poem.

Two student translators, Wares Fa-zelyar and Telwasa Akbarzai, assisted others in translating their work into Farsi and Pashto.

The students then worked to cre-ate a collaborative poem. Each stu-dent added a few lines of their “re-sistance”, whether it was an internal struggle, a battle with faith, or an external conflict. They aimed to seam together an untitled poem that conveyed opposite sides of the same struggle, connecting everyone in the room. The collaborative poem was written in English so all could under-stand, and yet it showed the strength of each student in standing up for their own identity and refusing to be defined. Though many felt that the colonial language caused barriers, it also served as the tool to strengthen the solidarity in the room.

The poem will be digitally un-veiled by the Afghan Student Associ-ation and Bastan on their Facebook page.

ZARA RIZWANSTAFF WRITER

The name Steve Harris fails to ring an immediate bell of recognition, but part of me thinks that I have heard of him in the past. In fact, I know I have, and it’s the voice of Iron Maiden’s founder. Many artists from successful groups go on to create solo careers for themselves and not all make the cut. He’s got something to prove in British Lions.

Harris played bass for Iron Maiden and was also one of the main song writers. This holds true as I listen to the first song; the heavy metal influ-ence is prominent. The riffs on “This is My God” kick in and they are sharp and aggressive. The song sounds like an attack that persists even as it breaks for the chorus. This is incredible to me because Harris’ voice is in no way an obvious choice for the heavy metal genre. It’s soft to an extent and doesn’t command the power needed to prevent being overshadowed by the track, which is exactly what happens.

The aggression doesn’t change in the song style as “Lost Worlds” begins. I think both of these songs could have worked out better in the form of soft rock. No mistake, the tracks are great so far and each song has edge to it, but Harris’s voice just feels out of place, es-pecially as he harmonizes with back-ups throughout the chorus. My point

is proven near the end of the song, when the playing becomes predomi-nantly acoustic. During this acoustic phase, his voice is much more audible and the listener can interpret a more soulful rendition of the lyrics.

I progress to “The Chosen Ones” and I am surprised to find that he has altered his vocal style a bit. Instead of straight singing, he’s spun the song in such a way that it’s somewhat of a mu-sical chant. His voice is more promi-nent this time, presumably because he’s not focusing on showcasing a vo-cal ability.

As I wind down to the last few songs, I feel a sort of relief. I don’t find the album particularly difficult to get through, but it is music I feel that I could have put on and paid no at-tention to whatsoever. The tracks are all well structured and well written, but they’ve been done before. They take influence from pop and soft rock, and I can tell that there’s some Sting influence. None of the lyrics managed to really speak to me; the lyrics that could have been catchy were over-powered by the instrumentals and the ones that weren’t just didn’t manage to stick with me.

Hopefully this isn’t Harris’ final solo endeavour. The issue seems to be that it’s not adventurous enough. Harris sticks close to the Iron Maiden influence. British Lion is not my cup of tea.

RIAUD ABDULSTAFF WRITERDon’t forget to

bring the tissues

Despite what you may be thinking up to this point, there is an actual seagull in the play. Constantin shoots it in the first half and leaves it with Nina, who wraps the dead bird in a blanket and tucks it beside the wick-er couch she’s sitting on. Then Nina and Trigorin perform an entire scene practically sitting on top of a dead seagull which, when discovered, gets gently passed from one to the other like a baby. This is an important im-age for later. But in that moment, it’s just another of the strange things that happens sometimes. Also, good on the props department for getting the dead bird neck just right.

It’s difficult to pull individual per-formers from this show. Although the cast can technically be separated into lead and secondary characters, at its heart The Seagull is an en-semble piece. Each actor has found what makes their character a person, with feelings and history. Haas plays a lovely Nina, clearly marking the

downward spiral from aspiring artist to exhausted, grieving actress, and the scene between her and Giles in Act IV is the one that nearly had me crying in my seat.

Voll and Cameron Grant (who plays Dorn, a doctor), though not playing the wordiest of roles none-theless find depth that often had me straying slightly from the main ac-tion to watch their reactions. And Polina (Colette Fitzgerald) speaks her mind quite loudly with only her eyes, using body language and facial expressions as well as the written text.

I appreciate a production that is brave enough to take its time. For in-stance, there’s a moment after Con-stantin’s attempted suicide where Arkadina changes his bandage. There is nothing rushed in this ac-tion, and the two exchange maybe three lines each throughout. It’s a good point: people in the world do not talk all the time. There are mo-ments of silence.

The Seagull runs until March 20.

How much for the baby?

An important aspect of the web se-ries is that it’s not specifically target-ed towards the infertility communi-ty. Due to the comedic element, How to Buy a Baby is a series that every-one can enjoy, whether they relate to the content or not. “We want this to be a show that can be enjoyed by ev-eryone because we’re focusing main-ly on Jane and Charlie’s marriage through the niche lens of infertility. It’s about the trials and tribulations of marriage. It’s about love, friends, and, of course, family. But we get to look at it through the lens of infertil-ity,” Hoshi says.

Currently, Litner and her pro-duction team (including Hoshi and co-producer Priscilla Galvez), are competing for the Independent Pro-duction Fund, which will allow them to complete the remaining 14 epi-sodes of the show. Visit How to Buy a Baby on YouTube, Facebook, Twit-ter, or Instagram to support their content.

Baby continued from page 5 Seagull continued from page 5

8 « 03.14.2016

What’s it like to be a female academic?The Medium spoke to professors Havelka, Blake, and Shin about their experiences as professors

This week, The Medium reached out to UTM female faculty members to find out what it’s like to be a female member of their discipline, their ex-periences so far, and how to address challenges that may arise in their work environment.

MONIKA HAVELKAGeography, senior lecturer and asso-ciate chair

Asked what it’s like to be a fe-male faculty member in the geog-raphy discipline, professor Monika Havelka laughs.

“Well, it’s one of those things where I’ve never not been a female—you don’t know what it’s compared to,” she says. “It’s sort of funny to think even what my discipline is because I’m in a very interdisciplin-ary department. So there’s people from very, very broad backgrounds and I think that, in general, creates a very inclusive environment […] I tend to think of myself as a biolo-gist, Professor [Barbara] Murck is a geologist, and Professor [Pierre] Desrochers is an economist.”

While Havelka has had a posi-tive experience here at UTM, other experiences have not been as sup-

portive.“I’ve seen the other side of it. You

know, you do feel—I don’t know if marginalized is exactly the word that I’m looking for—but you’re sort of conscious that being female is something that is a little ‘other’ to the central culture,” says Havelka.

An obvious challenge that female professionals face is raising children and maintaining a balance between a career and a family.

“Nobody asked my husband how he was managing to juggle a ca-reer and children,” says Havelka, highlighting the gender imbalance that was present in her time. “This is still sort of an issue, [but] now it is evolving. I see a lot of men in this generation who are more in-volved and approaching parenting as an equal partnership, which cre-ates a whole different landscape for women who are trying to get on to a

career track after being home at the beginning with kids.”

Havelka believes that the family balance issue is an artificial barrier, and doesn’t have to be there. She believes that there are other chal-lenges that exist, that are harder to overcome due to the way individu-als are socialized.

“Things that are considered to be strengths in men can be perceived as weaknesses in women. Being

forthright […] a woman is consid-ered pushy—that loaded language [is still present],” she says.

“It’s a socialization thing—break-ing that down, I think, does come with time, having more female mentors, female role models, and so on. […] When you expect your professors to be women, CEOs to be women, people in government to be women, and so on […] it changes that at the very beginning for girls growing up when they see this around them as part of the normal landscape,” says Havelka.

While Havelka personally feels that as a man, she would not have accomplished more than she has as a woman, she does believe that her early socialization made a signifi-cant difference.

“I feel like it has taken a lot longer to come into myself and feel like my voice is valuable and I have some-thing to contribute,” she says.

Havelka recalls a recent memory where she felt that her voice had not been heard. While at a meeting where several individuals were dis-cussing a topic, she proposed a solu-tion, which was not commented on. However, a short while later, when a male individual offered the same solution, he was heard and received credit for the idea.

Female continued on page 9

FARAH QAISERFEATURES EDITORMAHNOOR AYUBASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITOR

SARAH YASSINE/THE MEDIUMLast Tuesday, International Women’s Day was celebrated all over the world.

Sugar—a silent threat to academicsWhile junk food may satisfy your cravings, you may want to consider the effect it has on your GPA

It’s near the end of the semester, a time where stress levels are at their highest for students. Usually in times of high stress, people tend to crave things that aren’t always good for them. One of the major things students might gear towards is junk food.

While sugar-filled treats can pro-vide temporary relief in moments of stress, do these treats cause more harm than good when it comes to academic performance?

Last Thursday, a tabling event took place on campus that discussed sev-eral initiatives and topics, including whether sugar creates a negative im-pact on academic performance. This presentation was a part of a larger initiative by a health psychology class (PSY333) taught by Professor Judith Andersen.

Andersen emphasizes the impor-tance of having practical experience, which is why she set up the project in

this manner.“As a professor, my view is that

students should be given the oppor-tunity to actively participate in learn-ing, not just always sit in class and

listen to lectures,” she says. “Our class is an action-oriented course promot-ing health behaviour, health activism, and social change. This is a third-year course and for most students, in one

to two years they will be out in the real world, competing for jobs and trying to move ahead in new careers.”

A main goal of the presentation, aside from raising awareness on the

effects of sugar on academic perfor-mance, was to encourage health be-haviour changes in the student popu-lation at UTM.

“What we’re trying to do with this tabling event is to get students at UTM to commit to a health behav-iour change by limiting their sugar intake to within the World Health Organization recommendations for a number of days of their choosing,” says Caitlyn D’Souza, co-organizer of the project and third-year biology specialist.

D’Souza goes on to explain that the well known adage that it takes 21 days to make a habit is false due to scientific studies.

“The average person takes 66 days to form a habit, but even with that, there is large variance between indi-viduals. So at our booth, we’re getting people to set their own sugar goal, and giving them the motivation and tools to help them get there,” she says.

OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUM PSY333 students seek to explain the effects sugar can have on students’ academic performance.

KARINA COTRANSTAFF WRITER

GPA continued on page 9

03.14.2016 THE MEDIUM FEATURES» 9

Sugar affects GPA

One major problem with excessive sugar intake is that the recipient might be unaware of exactly how much sugar they are consuming. The WHO recommends keeping sugar in-take to 25 grams per day.

However, for those who have a lot of sugar, this might seem like too small an amount, so cutting down to at least 50 grams a day is a good start-ing point.

D’Souza cautions students to start reading the labels of what they eat and drink. Using Tim Horton beverages as an example, she says, “There are 46 grams of sugar in an iced cappuccino, and even a medium double double has 22 grams of sugar.”

There is a reason why some people, after having an iced cappuccino, will feel very jittery and shaky. It’s not a side effect of the caffeine, but the effect of consuming large amounts of sugar in a short time period.

Research has been done on the ef-fects of sugar on the body, but just re-cently, this topic has emerged again in science.

A 2016 study by Noble and Kanoski found out that the health effects of sugar are not correlated with the ef-fects of obesity. This was done through testing on rats. D’Souza says that it was found that “obese rats fed a high sugar diet had health ramifications over and above obese rats fed a high fat diet“.

Further studies have claimed that the intake of sugar can be related to stress levels in the brain. “A 2016 study by Maniam [and colleagues] found that unstressed rats who consumed sugar had the same brain patterns as stressed out rats […] in the hippo-campus. So snacking on a chocolate bar while cramming for a midterm won’t help stress levels or memory,” D’Souza says.

Those junk foods that students might gear towards to relieve stress may not be relieving stress but making it worse. Studies by Hsu et al. (2015) and Noble and Kanoski prove that sugar affects memory because high sugar intake causes inflammation in the hippocampus, a part of the brain

that is crucial for learning and mem-ory processes.

D’Souza relates this to the pressure UTM students feel towards getting 4.0 GPAs, saying, “Studies like this show that sugar won’t help in achiev-ing those. Another thing we’ve no-ticed at UTM is that many of the pro-grams are memorization driven. [The group presenting the sugar research] are biology and psychology students, and any advantage memory-wise is important.”

Diet and sugar intake has a startling impact on academic performance and the mental wellness of students. Sugar may seem harmless, but because of the amount people unknowingly con-sume, it is a silent threat.

If the main goal is to improve aca-demic performance, and as a result the state of your body in times of high stress, it is recommended to change your diet.

“Staying within those sugar guide-lines through small snack swaps can help keep one’s memory sharp and boost GPA in the long term, or at least lower stress and help memory enough to ace those midterms in the short term. For example, instead of pop or juice, have fruit-infused water, and in-stead of a muffin or granola bar in the morning, chia seed pudding or oat-meal is a good option,” says D’Souza.

Other projects similar to this one took place in Kaneff on the same day.

“They are all positive, health be-haviour change or awareness projects. They are meant to provide the public with the most current, evidence-based information on health and wellness,” says Andersen.

This year, the projects took a more active initiative by bringing awareness right to the heart of the student popu-lation, in person. This was a different approach from last year.

“In the past, students created video projects and posted them,” Andersen says. “Students have the opportunity to be creative and I have even had some student videos picked up by real health campaigns and school wellness programs (Cornell University) for campus-wide initiatives. This shows the power of undergraduate voices in motivating real change in the world.”

GPA continued from page 8

A beginner’s guide to taxes

MAYDA ALKHALDI/ THE MEDIUMTaxes—the one word that can inspire feelings of terror in almost every UTM student.

Who needs to file taxes? Pretty much everyone. Yes, even if you’re not working.

“[Every] Canadian resident needs to file taxes,” says Nausheen Adam, services manager at UTMSU and manager of UTMSU’s Tax Clinic. “International students who go to school here also need to file taxes.”

“If you do not file your taxes, you are losing out on your tuition cred-its,” Adam notes.

The Tax Clinic is staffed by eight supervisors and 40 UTM student volunteers, who have completed on-line training provided by the CRA. The free clinic is offered to any stu-dent, whether or not they go to UTM or U of T.

“Some people live in Mississauga, but they go somewhere else to study,” Adam says. “These individuals can also bring in their tax forms to the clinic.”

The forms students need to bring with them can vary depending on a student’s situation. It’s a good idea to bring along a void cheque or a copy of a direct deposit slip from your bank. This allows for direct deposit

to your bank account, which makes for faster returns, including any GST/HST rebates, the Ontario Trilli-um Benefit, and any other funds you may get when you file your taxes.

All students should bring their T2202A form (Tuition, Education, and Textbook Amounts Certificate). If students have received a scholar-ship, then a T4A form (Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income) will also be needed. Both the T2202A and T4A forms can be downloaded from ACORN.

Another aspect to consider are tu-ition credits. If you have tuition cred-its from last year, then you should bring along your 2014/15 Notice of Assessment. If you worked, even for a short time, bring any T4 slips (Statement of Remuneration Paid). If you have investment income, you will need your T5 slip (Statement of Investment Income) and any receipts for charitable donations.

Many students aren’t sure about what they’re allowed to claim. For in-stance, you may not realize that you can claim a portion of your rent, so bring your rent receipts if you have them, or a letter from your landlord that confirms where you lived and

how much you paid in rent. The Tax Clinic doesn’t necessarily need this letter, but it’s good to have it on file just in case you’re ever audited. Got any transit receipts for monthly bus or train passes? These can be claimed as well.

According to Adam, not many in-ternational students are aware of the service provided by the clinic. She says that it’s a good idea for inter-national students to start filing taxes now if they plan to live and work in Canada after graduation.

Additionally, international stu-dents need to have a Social Insur-ance Number or an Individual Tax Number. Forms to obtain the latter can be found on the UTMSU Tax Clinic webpage and must be sent to the Canadian Revenue Agency prior to filing. The Tax Clinic can’t file your taxes without it.

The UTMSU Tax Clinic will run from March 14 to April 15 and will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Student Centre. Appointments can also be made through the UTMSU Info Booth. While it’s a good idea to book an appointment—especially in April—they also accept walk-ins.

NICO MARA-MCKAY

“The barriers are real and are still present today”

“Ninety percent of the time I would have just taken it, but I said that I had made the exact same point about half an hour ago, and if you thought it was a great idea then, we would have all been out by now,” recalls Havelka. While there was a bit of silence fol-lowing her statement at the meeting, Havelka was happy with getting it off her chest instead of letting it go.

“I’m really cognizant of the fact that I’m a white woman who grew up in a white culture and so on—what I feel is not the same as a woman of colour, who is obviously going to have a very different experience,” says Havelka.

Overall, Havelka believes that this is a good time to enter her discipline, as it is getting better.

However, there are also some “ugly elements” that have popped up in today’s society. Havelka believes that the Internet gives the opportu-

nity to hear ugly voices that may not otherwise be quite so vocal.

“Sometimes it’s good to know what’s out there, but it’s hard to tell what’s dominant. When you read something really hideous, when someone makes some kind of hor-rific statement […] is it a significant minority or is it a tiny, fringe minor-ity?” comments Havelka.

However, Havelka believes that while the barriers are real and are still present today, there are more re-sources to overcome them.

“It’s not your fault if you’re en-countering those barriers—but when you’re trying to problem-solve, look outside yourself. Look to other peo-ple who will mentor you—look for help,” she says.

When asked whether she thinks that International Women’s Day is an important occasion, Havelka re-counts what she said to her son ear-lier that day.

“My son said, ‘Why do we have to

have International Women’s Day?’ I said that [we have to] because ev-ery other day is International Men’s Day!” she says.

On a more serious note, Havelka says, “I still think that we need [In-ternational Women’s Day]. It’s re-ally important to remember that the sorts of things that we worry about here—[that] we’re in a privileged ‘first world society’ [and] there [are] massive inequities that women all over the world face. It’s nice to put the focus on that [as] there are still places that still have a long way to go.”

LIZA BLAKEEnglish and drama, assistant profes-sor

“It’s slightly easier to be a female faculty member in the humanities than it is in the sciences,” comments professor Liza Blake. “There is some-thing of an old-boys club at a lot of universities, and you sometimes run

into it when you go to conferences. Certainly, female graduate students and female professors still have to put up with going to conferences and being harassed. But we’ve taken over—we lady professors—have sort of taken over humanities in a way that hasn’t quite happened in the sci-ences yet.”

According to Blake, many hu-manities departments have a much higher percentage of women than STEM disciplines.

“It’s better because I think a lot of the arguments—especially if you’re not just a female professor, but a feminist professor—are easier to make in our classrooms,” Blake says. “They’re a lot more expected, but that also means it’s sometimes hard-er to point out inequities because we assume that this is the safe depart-ment to come to, but that in fact you’re always going to come against hardships.”

When asked about how she ap-

proaches challenges such as discrim-ination and marginalization in her work environment, Blake illustrated her answer with an example.

Last semester, Blake, and fellow English profs Suzanne Akbari and Alexandra Gillespie, and other part-ners organized a conference made up of medievalists, artists, and activists. A key concern was that women tend to get harassed at such events.

“It’s a big problem in general, but especially focused in medieval his-tory,” says Blake.

To combat the problem, a state-ment was placed at the front of the conference program, saying, “Ha-rassment will absolutely not be tol-erated,” and three individuals were deemed as safe persons to approach regarding such incidents. Addition-ally, a very strong message was in-cluded: “If you are harassing some-one, stop it.”

Female continued from page 8

Female continued on page 10

10 «FEATURES THE MEDIUM 03.14.2016

This week’s recipe for Blackboard Special

has been provided by Marell Tomeh, a first-

year English major.

If Tomeh’s name sounds familiar, it may

be because you recall her inspirational tale

(“All in for ALL; survivor returns to UTM“)

from last month.

In case you’re wondering what she’s

been up to since then, last Friday, Tomeh

participated in the Canadian Cancer Soci-

ety’s Relay For Life at the U of T St. George

campus. Tomeh’s team (“ALL FOR ALL—

Leukemia awareness”) raised $1,040 for

the cause—which happens to be the high-

est amount raised by participating teams

at the 2016 Relay For Life event.

Tomeh’s recipe is a chocolate biscuit

cake, or, as she calls it, a “lazy cake”.

“My mom always made this cake grow-

ing up and it is quite popular in my culture,”

says Tomeh. “It is the easiest cake to

make—hence the title—and it’s delicious.”

I’ll take Tomeh’s word for it—let’s check

out the recipe below.

Lazy Cake

INGREDIENTS

•½ tsp vanilla extract

• ½ cup of crushed walnuts (optional)

• 1 bar of butter

• 1 cup of granulated sugar

• 1 row of tea biscuits (as many as you

like)

• 3 whole eggs

• 5 tbsp cocoa

METHOD

1.Place the bar of butter on your kitchen

counter. Let it stand until it reaches room

temperature or can be spread easily.

2.Place the butter into a mixer. Blend.

3.Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla to the

mixture.

4.Continue to blend and gradually add co-

coa until the mixture has thick chocolate

consistency.

5.Pour mixture into a bowl.

6.In a separate bowl, crush the tea

biscuits into small bite-sized pieces. Add

the crushed biscuits and walnuts to the

chocolate mixture.

7. Pour the mixture onto a sheet of

plastic wrap to form a long bar, so that it

resembles a log cake.

8.Roll up the contents in the plastic wrap.

Twist ends.

9.This mixture will form a total of 3 bars,

so repeat steps 8 and 9 for each bar.

10.Freeze for 2 hours.

11.Unwrap bar and slice each piece ½

inch thick.

12.Serve immediately.

SERVES 6–8

Towards tomorrow

Toyota is heading towards tomorrow with technology. In addition to the usual run-through of learning about the technical aspects of cars at an auto show, Toyota has created an in-teractive gallery to further showcase their products.

Upon entering the gallery, the Prius C Technology is the first car that you see. After inspecting the ve-hicle, you can use the Gear VR Ocu-lus Rift. This virtual reality headset comes with a video game controller, allowing the user to play a three-level game to collect points while navigat-ing the Prius C.

The second car was the Scion iM, engaging you with digital paint-ing. Next to the vehicle, the viewer chooses one of three murals, and with touchscreen paint cans, they can choose the colour, size, and transpar-ency of the brush to paint the land-scapes in a graffiti-style experience. Upon finishing their drawing, the user can email themselves the image.

The third car was the RAV4 hybrid technology package. You have the option to choose one of three back-drops to take a photo with the car.

The final car was the Prius hybrid, a larger technology-enabled vehicle that will be available later this month.

Cyril Dimitris, VP sales and mar-keting at Toyota, says that this is the first time the company has inserted their vehicles in a mall with an inter-active gallery. The reasoning behind this decision was to “enhance cus-tomer experience by creating a fun, interactive, informative environment infused with technology”.

“We wanted to bridge the offline and online gap. Research showed the path to purchase was changing with technology as people wanted to see and touch the vehicles,” says

Dimitris. “You interact with the ac-tivities firsthand in a non-pressure, non-sales environment, which cre-ates a different experience. It allows the company to diversify the content. By creating this gallery, people expe-rience the delight and excitement of the brand.”

Each model on display is from this year.

Each of the cars on the second floor is equipped with the STAR Safety System, which includes a pre-collision system with pedestrian de-tection, dynamic cruise control, and lane departure alert with steering as-sist, just to name a few features. Ex-cluding the Scion iM, the cars are all push to start.

These four vehicles are located on the second level of Square One. In the centre court of the mall, Toyota is showcasing four other cars: the Corolla, the Yaris, the Sudan, and the Prius V. These vehicles are the com-pany’s core products.

Every weekend starting April 15, people will be able to take test drives of the six cars in the Square One parking lot. People will also be able to earn air miles each time. These test drives will be available for one month.

The gallery officially launched on March 5. It will run until the end of May.

SAMINA SULTANA

Academia is a long road“[It] was really important because it says that not just if and when you’re victimized, here’s who to come to—but also people should stop harass-ing, and it’s important for every member of the conference to be in-volved with that,” says Blake.

Blake also recounted an experi-ence of one of her colleagues experi-encing discrimination.

At one point in her career, Blake’s colleague was a part of a panel that was interviewing prospective stu-dents. The panel included a profes-sor (Blake’s colleague), an admis-sions person, and a current student. Blake’s colleague arrived early that day, and upon asking for a key to the interview room, she was told, “Those are for professors only, and […] you should wait for the professor to ar-rive to get in.”

“Even in humanities, it’s tough. As a young female professor, I often get mistaken for an undergrad, which is annoying. I started wearing more suits in my first year so that people could tell that I was a professor,” says Blake.

As for the challenges today, Blake says, “Sexism, when it happens, is a lot more subtle […] For example, having to constantly identify your-self as a professor in a meeting. A lot of the times, service work gets shift-ed to female professors—although again, this department is very good at protecting my time in relation to my male colleagues.”

On the other hand, in the class-room, it’s different, as Blake says that there is a different power structure involved.

“As a professor, you can do things, like write lectures focusing on femi-nist issues. You can be really explicit about how class participation works. Women are sort of socialized grow-ing up to see into the room and give way in conversation, and things like that,” Blake says.

Blake also comments that while there are certain aspects of teach-ing that students may find annoying (such as group work), they are in fact good techniques to allow everyone to find their voice.

“But if all you do is say, ‘Everyone, here’s a topic for discussion, and now you talk about it,’ there are certain people who [would be] comfortable talking about that—and a lot of time, that’s gendered,” she says.

According to Blake, group work gives every individual a chance to speak, despite their socialization.

Another important aspect is to create a safe space within classrooms and office hours.

“Making clear that you, as a pro-fessor, are open to students being able to come in and talk to you. If something happens in class that you are uncomfortable with, they know that there are no repercussions with coming in and talking it through,” says Blake.

However, she adds, “It’s not enough—it’s never enough. But we, in this department especially, we are thinking about how to do that and how to make sure all of our class-rooms are safe.”

JUMI SHINChemistry, associate professor

Jumi Shin is a chemistry profes-

sor who, while driving the multi-disciplinary Shin research group towards designing gene-regulatory anti-cancer proteins and exploring how nanoparticles affect cellular evolution, also chairs the Awards Committee for the Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences. When she isn’t observing genomic mutations and teaching students the fundamentals of organic chemistry, Shin also takes time for the gym and listening to her nine-year-old son’s and 12-year old daughter’s hockey stories.

“I think there are a lot more wom-en now in fields like chemistry and physics than there were, say, 20 years ago,” says Shin.

“The progress however, has been glacially slow,” she says, as academia in general, not just the position she is in now, is a long road to travel.

While Shin does allude to the exis-tence of a ceiling for women’s profes-sional progress, she says for her, it’s worth it.

“It is a real privilege to be teaching here, and I think I’m really blessed with everything my position has to offer,” she says.

Shin describes the experience of interacting with a range of students, enjoying the vitality of undergradu-ate students and the advancement of graduate students. “Research is so rapid, I love introducing new aspects to the course,” she says while at the same time “getting to do cutting-edge research in the lab”.

Inspired by her father, who was a physicist, Shin began her undergrad-uate career at Harvard and completed her Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology. While she mentions being good at math, science, and the piano as a child—what she calls a “stereotypical Asian upbringing”—her father always encouraged her to pursue all sorts of opportunities.

“He used to be present at all kinds of performances. I used to look at the audience and it used to be a mom, mom, mom, and my dad,” she says.

Although she calls herself lucky, Shin points towards research that reports the significant role played by mothers in shaping their children’s success, including how working mothers provide strong role models for their children. She expresses con-cern over the continued and deeply rooted nature of sexism and racism, not limited to earlier generations.

“You’d be surprised at some com-ments I receive in student opinion surveys, and these are young stu-dents,” she says.

She relates an exchange when a male undergraduate told her male colleague that he would not report to a female supervisor. “We were shocked that a student would admit to feeling like that,” she says. Con-veying this to a senior faculty mem-ber does suggest the presence of a strong underlying sentiment shared by some people, but Shin adds how-

ever that this is largely an individual issue.

“We need to have female and mi-nority role models, we need diversity in positions of authority and see that it is possible to be a high-achiever and successful regardless of what you look like,” she says.

Shin also says that “your thinking and attitudes start at home” i.e. what you learn at home largely determines your values and the kind of friends you ultimately go on to make.

Speaking from the point of view of someone mentoring a class of 250 students and often accommodating 20 to 30 students in her office mul-tiple times a week, she describes how watching students learn and grow through this process is tremendously rewarding.

“Students in my lab often come to me worried about job applications and where they’re going, and I tell them to just keep following up, keep trying, it always works out,” she says. “I often have them come back to me and say, ‘I just heard back, Professor; they want me to start next week.’ ”

Shin mentions how for a largely male-dominated discipline, the so-cial aspect of a workplace environ-ment appears to be a challenge and inclusion is not as obvious. Women may not fit into the same roles, and she doesn’t see trends changing much in the next 20 or so years.

Shin does remain concerned over incidents such as the pro-rape van-dalism story, and similar events in other universities, saying, “It’s very important for every member—not just females—to familiarize yourself with procedures and rules.”

While Shin emphasizes how in-cidents such as these require major action, she describes her progress in the profession as a combination of keeping your head down and know-ing when to speak up. “I suggest this to all my students: document every-thing and keep your facts straight.”

Referring to her Korean back-ground, she mentions how although her family was, in a way, very pro-gressive, she was still asked the same stereotypical questions after her graduation: “When are you getting married. When are you having kids?”

While Shin says that didn’t happen for her for a long time, she eventually met the right person, and she thor-oughly enjoys the dynamic between her work and family life.

“When I’m here in my office, I close the door and I get stuff done,” says Shin. “But I don’t think a lot of people appreciate the balance.”

Although I’m surprised at how she manages to make time for a balance, she tells me, “I’ve actually had a lot of male colleagues share this sentiment with me. There is no other feeling like the feeling you get when you get done what you got done, and then you go home.”

Shin laughs as she says that her own daughter is understandably good at math and music, but “when she told me she’s interested in per-forming and visual arts, I told her [to] go ahead. I’ve never steered her towards the sciences”.

Shin suggests how although this may be telling of her own experience in the field, the progress you make is determined by your passion and de-termination, and this applies to ev-ery individual.

Female continued from page 9

“Research showed the path to purchase was

changing with technology as people

wanted to see and touch the vehicles.”

“There is no other feeling like the feeling you get when you get

done what you got done, and then you go home.”

—Jumi Shin

03.14.2016 » 11

Started from the bottom, now he’s hereAndrew Williams talks about how basketball was a positive outlet for him during times of struggle

Basketball has been an influential fac-tor in Andrew Williams’ success in life, but it took a lot of hard work for his dreams to come true. His charis-matic personality has brought him popularity and recognition on the campus; nevertheless, Williams has a humble heart and puts others before himself. Williams has gone through tough stages in his life that have torn him down, but his dreams and goals have kept his spirit alive and you can see it in his composure and confi-dence here at UTM.

The fourth-year English major was a high school dropout from the Father Michael Goetz Secondary School. He got into the wrong crowd at an early age. Thanks to the transi-tional year program, a curriculum for minorities who haven’t had proper accessibility to earn a high school di-ploma, he managed to get into U of T St. George. As good as the opportu-nity was to study on that campus, he never found community. To worsen his experience at the school, by the third month of university he suf-

fered an MCL tear in his right knee. “I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life,” says Williams. This re-sulted in the biggest struggle he ever had to face. “I couldn’t hoop, so I be-gan to have severe anxiety, which led to depression.”

While studying at St. George, he found the opportunity to come to UTM Eagles basketball practice to prove to the coaches that he had the potential to join the team. Despite his injury, he managed to come to the UTM practice and in his second year,

he was given the opportunity to study at this campus and play basketball for the Eagles.

This was Williams’ last shot to prove to himself and the coaches that he was capable of doing great things. The day Williams got accepted to

the basketball team, he changed his mindset and way of living. He started to believe that anything is possible and that if he puts his mind to some-thing, he can do it. As his basketball skills became better and he focused more on success, more opportunities started to come his way.

By his fourth year, he joined the UTM Athletic Council as the direc-tor of health and wellness. “I wanted to get basketball more recognized at UTM,” says Williams, when asked why he joined the council. He said he doesn’t want students to feel like they just pay their tuition, get a degree, and graduate; he wants students to be part of something bigger. He wants the campus to be a community where everybody can rely on one another. He believes that through sports, espe-cially basketball, UTM can establish this healthy community. “Getting ac-cepted to the Eagles basketball team was the last chance I had,” says Wil-liams. This is what made him turn his life around, and perseverance is how he managed to have the success he has today.

JOSHAN RAMNAUTH/THE MEDIUM

Williams plays with the same number, 23, that Michael Jordan played with throughout his career.

GUSTAVO SILVA

Williams continued on page 12

Making it in the sports bizPanelists share lessons on how they became successful

FACEBOOK.COM/SPORTSANDBUSINESS/PHOTOThe first step to success is actually showing up.

For anyone who’s ever dreamed of taking their talents to a sports or-ganization and working to build their brand, but felt like it was too difficult or that the sports industry was very particular, you’re wrong. There are people from many dif-ferent walks of life and educational backgrounds that have made their way into a prominent role and af-fected an organization for the better. Many of the most insightful quotes and suggestions for this year’s

Sports Industry Conference at Rot-man College on March 4 came from a panel of speakers whose primary objective was to feed information to undergraduate students from all over North America about the tri-als and tribulations it takes to make it. They motivated everyone in the room with their personal stories of success.

First of all, you need to show up. Be accountable and treat others as they wish to be treated. Attitude is the important topic for anyone wanting to make it in their desired industry. It doesn’t matter which

league you work for; everyone knows everyone. If you wish to work in sports at any position, you have to be cognisant of how you treat oth-ers. “One important rule is to think about how you’d like to be treated, and then treat that other person even better,” says Trevor Georgie, president of the Canadian Hockey League’s Saint John Sea Dogs.

“Never chase short money. Put in the preparation and bet on yourself to succeed,” says Tyler Currie, direc-tor of international affairs, NHLPA.

U of T conquers CFL combine

Business continued on page 12

ERIC HEWITSONSPORTS EDITOR

Six football players from the U of T Varsity Blues program were in-vited to the CFL Toronto regional combine last Thursday. Levi Noel, a first team all-Canadian receiver from the 2014 season, was invited to the national combine, which be-gan on Friday and ended on Sun-day.

Last year, out of the three re-gional combine locations, seven athletes were selected in the 2015 CFL Draft.

The previous regional combine success of other athletes gives high hopes for Blues third-year running back Lukas Gavac, who ran 226 yards on 33 carries last season. In 2014, the Mississauga native and UTM criminology student had his best season. Gavac ranked fifth in the OUA with 677 rushing yards on 87 carries, scoring a team-high sev-en touchdowns. Gavac was plagued by a few injuries over the past four seasons, but his performances are too outstanding for CFL scouts not to acknowledge what he can bring to a professional program.

D. J. Sackey, a native of Missis-

sauga and fellow UTM student, also got the invitation because of his outstanding play throughout his entire Varsity Blues career. Standing 6’ 5”, 300 lb offensive lineman Sackey recorded 21 rep-etitions on the 225-pound bench press segment.

Levi Noel, the Varsity Blues re-ceiver, was known as one of the most intriguing prospects to take the field. Noel amassed scouts with his 36-inch vertical jump (tied for second best), his 10’ 9.5” broad jump (second best), and 4.6-sec-ond 40-yard dash time.

“I showed that I had another gear in me and that I was ready to go. I’m proud that I finished all the drills the best I could. I’d say the best event was the one-on-ones,” says a tired Noel after the physical performance side of the combine was finished for him. “I wanted to go and show that through injury and adversity, I can still play.”

Other notable Varsity Blues ath-letes who performed at this year’s regional combine were receiver Bo-ris Isakov, linebacker Farouk Musa, and defensive linemen Zack Luk-ings and Aaron Jervis.

ERIC HEWITSONSPORTS EDITOR

12 «SPORTS THE MEDIUM 03.14.2016

“You should get one of these—do you even know what this is? It’s a fitness orb, and it’s completely changed my life. Forget everything you thought you knew about ab workouts; this ab workout is spe-cially designed to strengthen your core, has numerous health benefits, strengthens your back, improves your performance at sports, and leads to more enjoyable sex,” says Dwight Schrute, before Jim Halpert stabs the exercise ball underneath him.

If Dwight Schrute, the fan-favourite character from The Of-fice, knows the physical benefits of working out at your desk, then you probably should too. Even Stanley Hudson found ways to work out at his desk when the entire office came together for a weight loss challenge. He put a weight on his feet and did sitting leg raises, ultimately working out his core and hip flexor muscles.

About 50 percent of Canadian adults admit that they don’t get the physical exercise they need. Sitting all day increases your risk of obesity, back pain, leg cramps, poor posture,

tense muscles, and boredom. Dur-ing March and April, it seems like all this schoolwork has us sitting while we’re working, and also while we’re enjoying ourselves—season four of House of Cards just came out on Netflix, yay. Workplace or classroom workouts can help make the most of your limited hours and make you feel fresh, fit, confident, and accomplished. By using a little creativity, you’ll be able to satisfy your health needs.

SITTING ON A STABILITY BALLThe stability ball is a piece of ex-ercise equipment used for strength training, allowing you to improve balance and stability and correcting poor posture like hunching over in your chair. The stability ball is also known as a Swiss ball or yoga ball; it‘s inflated and constructed of a soft

PVC material. Sitting on a stability ball can improve posture because it’s always engaging abdominal muscles. Stronger ab muscles pro-tect the lower back as well. When sitting on the ball, keep your feet flat and firm on the ground, thighs parallel to the ground, back straight, and gaze towards the middle of the screen. You may look ridiculous bringing a stability ball to class, so many keep it at home.

RESISTANCE BAND EXERCISEResistance bands are a great way to strengthen your training routine or rehabilitation. They come in dif-ferent sizes, lengths, and strengths. The most famous bands come with handles, allowing you to grip the band conveniently. These move-ments may seem like stretches at first glance, but after doing them for a while, you’ll realize they’re exer-cises. There’s nothing better for your attention and mood than increasing your heart rate and pumping your blood quicker from increased activ-ity. Getting creative with the ways you loosen your hips, tighten your core, or tone your arms will leave you satisfied and craving more.

ERIC HEWITSONSPORTS EDITOR

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUMYour posture while sitting at your desk is critically important to your overall health.

The time to shine is nowLuck plays an incredibly important role in our day-to-day lives. Almost everyone can look at the things in their life that they are grateful for and pinpoint a moment that occurred out of their control that landed them that “thing”. But without sacrifices, you’ll never give yourself the opportunity to get lucky. Take odd jobs that no-body else wants, meet new people with peculiar personalities, and di-

versify your talents by taking on tasks you normally wouldn’t—this is what separates the best from the mediocre. “You need to be prepared for when luck presents itself,” says Georgie.

“The same quirky, funny personali-ty that you’re scared to show in public might just be your biggest advantage,” says Rachel Bonnetta, co-host of Fox Sports Soccer @TheBuzze. “I dropped

an F-bomb in my first MLSE inter-views” she says. Ultimately, you have to believe in yourself and what you’re capable of doing. You are your great-est asset. Bonnetta landed her dream job, interviewing the greatest athletes from around the world, because she went beyond the norm and made the decision to use her authentic self, rather than conform to guidelines. One of the better lines of the Sports Industry Conference 2016 was Bon-netta reiterating, “It’s important not to be timid because your voice is just as valuable as the next person’s.”

Last but not least, invest in yourself financially. “Put some money aside and invest in yourself as a business,” says Georgie. Invest your time: follow the industry to help you gain knowl-edge and understand relevant issues. “Always be updated with the sec-tor you want to work in,” says Vijay Setlur, sports marketing instructor at York University. Investing in the right people through mentorships and net-working opportunities will help you grow as a professional. “Networking is ageless,” says Georgie.

If you’re serious about starting a successful life for yourself in the field you want to work tirelessly in, your time is now.

Business continued from page 11

“One important rule is to think about how you would like to be treated,

then treat the other person even better.”

— Trevor Georgie

Balling out like “Mike” for UTM

“If you fail a test, it doesn’t mean you’re a loser. You can’t be wor-ried about failure,” says Williams. Basketball is what gave him the op-portunity to succeed, and he wants every UTM student to know that when they get a challenge in their lives, that they should face it and believe in himself or herself.

Williams believes that the UTM Eagles basketball team chemistry is developing to soaring heights—ev-eryone is growing into a contribut-ing factor. The Eagles have made it to the finals, preparing for their tilt against UTSC this Wednesday.

“I admire my team’s work ethic and their endurance despite this season being a roller coaster,” says Williams, the relied-upon Eagles

point guard.Williams wants to see UTM bas-

ketball join the Ontario College Athletic Association—playing the best colleges in Ontario to hope-fully win a championship. He rec-ommends all students who want to succeed in basketball to not stay stagnant. Students who keep mov-ing and accept new challenges will go far. “You have to be goal-oriented and love what you do to thrive,” says Williams.

In 10 years, he sees himself teach-ing at his former school, and his goal is to coach the youth basketball team. “I am very self-driven, and I don’t like underachievement,” he says. He is confident that his past challenges will help future Father Michael Goetz Secondary School students head in the right direction.

Williams continued from page 11

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

Williams is also UTMAC health and wellness director.

Sitting all day increases your risk of obesity, back pain, leg cramps, poor

posture, tense muscles, and boredom.