the newspaper investigates strange activity at 1 Spadina Crescent By Joe Zabukovec

www.thenewspaper.caUofT independent weekly

April 10 2008 Vol. XXX No. XXVI

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Y IS

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A M

AR

IE

This Sunday, thousands will gather down-

town at Nathan Phillips Square for the 5th

annual Global Day For Darfur. Around the

world, over thirty countries will host their

own versions of the event.

Organized by Students Taking Action

Now Darfur (STAND) Canada and Proj-

ect Equity International, the event is not

only to raise awareness and support for

the victims in Sudan, but is also a unified

call to demand continued action from our

government.

The complex political and humanitar-

ian crisis in Darfur erupted 5 years ago as

a conflict between rebel groups and the

Sudanese government.

The rebels launched a series of attacks

on government military installations. The

government responded by expanding and

arming militias known as the Janjaweed,

who identify themselves as Arab, launch-

ing a campaign backed by the Sudanese

military against non-Arab communities.

Civilians continue to suffer as the Suda-

nese government, through their Janjaweed

proxies, restrict international humanitarian

access, bomb civilian targets with aircraft,

raze villages, abduct children, and engage

in a campaign of mass rape.

Day For Darfur will have speakers such

as MP Glen Pearson, who has witnessed

firsthand the suffering of the Sudanese

people. In 1998, he went to the country

to begin human rights and development

work. Pearson and his wife, Jane Roy, have

even adopted three children from Sudan.

“A lot of people don’t understand the

urgency of the people of Darfur,” says

Hilary Tam, Event Coordinator at STAND

UofT. “We are their hope.”

As of March 25th, Foreign Affairs Min-

ister Maxime Bernier promised Canada

would work to protect Darfur and dedi-

cate money to diplomacy.

Prime Minister Paul Martin met with

STAND, who pressed him on Darfur

policy.

Their mandate is to “mobilize a criti-

cal mass of Canadian students, citizens,

and decision makers to end the crisis in

Darfur, and respond to future threats of

genocide.”

This Sunday, at 1pm, get out there

and show Sudan that Canada cares.

Members of AlwaysQuestion, UTSU, and

several cross-provincial student organi-

zations discussed the state of education at

the Open Forum on the Inaccessibility of

Education. Hosted by Ad Hoc Committee

for Just Education, the participants spoke

about ways to educate and mobilize stu-

dents to protest.

Members of the committee expounded

on reasons that called for major changes

to the educational system, and mentioned

what those changes should be. Following

the lecture, there was an open mic forum

where students took turns bouncing

ideas off one another on ways to unify

cross-provincial student organizations

that shared common goals, and on ways

to refine protest strategies.

The committee proposed three “prin-

ciples” to change the educational system.

Reasons for these changes include enor-

mous debt, as well as less family time as a

result of overworking.

First off, tuition fees should be elimi-

nated altogether. The committee high-

lighted the possibility of such an action

by using the examples of free education

set by Norway, Sweden, and Finland. If

the Canadian government were to reduce

military spending and demand higher

classes to pay more taxes, then free edu-

cation would come to fruition.

Secondly, within UofT, the Governing

Council should be made up of students,

workers, and faculty only. A mere eight

students out of the fifty GC members rep-

resent the student body; the other thirty-

eight include corporate executives, law-

yers, chairmen, presidents, and doctors.

The third and final change would be

to immediately end “police aggression

against student dissent” by preventing

police to operate on campus.

Students then took turns discussing

ways to improve their public image and

methods of dissent, in reaction to the Var-

sity’s coverage of the Simcoe Hall protests.

In response to the possibility of Chandler

Levack helming the paper next year, the

committee is considering launching its

own paper to provide a more left-leaning

perspective on such events.

Some members of the committee dis-

agreed on the various ways to protest,

while others suggested forgoing the bu-

reaucracy of petitions. However, the ma-

jority agreed that strong campaigns about

UofT-related issues, tighter organization,

sit-ins and peaceful protests, are the best

way to reach out to UofT’s apathet-

ic student body.

The November 22nd issue of the newspa-

per featured an article entitled “Starving

Artists” in which eight students in UofT’s

Fine Arts programs had to come up with

a very large sum of money to put on their

very own art show.

Their art show, Anomaly, took place a

week ago and Mahan Javadi, one of the

students originally interviewed, stopped

by the newspaper headquarters to let us

know how it went.

“We didn’t raise as much as we were

aiming for, so we had to negotiate how

long the show went for, and the location

that it took place. There were holes in

the wall, so we had to do some repairs

and paint the place. What we didn’t

have in money we had to make up for

in manual labour.”

The original aim was $8000, a num-

ber that had been successfully raised by

last years Thesis class. Unfortunately,

the students were unable to match last

years’ number.

“In the end we managed to raise about

$4000. So, not nearly as much as last year,

but we didn’t have as many people in our

class as they did last year either.”

Despite the shortage of funds, Mahan

was still pleased with the success of their

exhibit and is confident that their hard

worked paid off.

“The turnout was amazing. Opening

night we had about 100 people show up,

Starving Artists Get Their Share

Global Day For Darfur

New College Discusses New IdeasOpen Forum considers creating new campus publication

STAND organizes annual rally

By Tia Maryanne Kim

By Moe Abbas

See Artists cont. pg. 2

The University of Toronto Students’ Union

congratulates The Newspaper on 30 great

years of independent journalism at U of T.

Thanks for providing students a variety of

relevant and critical reporting throughout

the years.

2 the newspaper 10 April 2008

BEER • WINGS • POOL • JAVA

SPORTS • JUKEBOX • SPIRITS

EVENTS • OPEN STAGE

the newspaperEditor-in-Chief

Joe Zabukovec

Managing EditorSean Liliani

Arts EditorNiya Bajaj

News EditorAlexandra Kazia

Associate EditorTimothy Ryan

Art DirectorElena Viltovskaia

Copy Editor Elizabeth Hilborn

ContributorsAlan Osadetz, Lauren Greenwood,

Moe Abbas, Matthew Pope , Rehaana Manek

1 Spadina Crescent, Suite 245

Toronto, Ontario,

M5S 1A1

editorial:(416) 593-1552 fax: (416) 593-0552

www.thenewspaper.ca

Photo EditorEvan Jordan

CONG

RATULATIONS

30 and counting!

open 7am - midnight | 365 days per year416.978.2452 www.harthouse.ca

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I am writing concerning a recent article

in the newspaper, entitled “10 Reasons it's

not OK to be fat”. This article was highly

inappropriate and is in stark contrast to

the University's deeply held values of

equity and tolerance. At the University of

Toronto, we strive to be an equitable and

inclusive community, rich with diversity,

protecting the human rights of all persons,

and based upon understanding and mu-

tual respect for the dignity and worth of

every person.

The leadership of this University has

an unwavering commitment to providing

a positive experience for all students. The

article was demeaning and marginalized

a specific group of people on the basis of

their physical characteristics. We strongly

urge the newspaper to apologize to its read-

ers and to refrain from articles of this na-

ture in the future.

Angela Hildyard Vice-President,

Human Resources & Equity.

RE: 10 Reasons It’s Not OK to be

Fat

Just as Jonathan Swift did not actually

consider eating children a ‘modest pro-

posal’, Sasha Baron Cohen was not re-

alistically proposing to “throw the jews

down the well”; similarly, the newspaper

does not actually believe fat people “ruin

moments”.

the newspaper does not intend to put it-

self in such esteemed comedic company

but what we do have in common with the

aforementioned satirists is that our mes-

sage has been misunderstood.

It seems an inherent risk in running sat-

ire is that it be misconstrued as something

sincere, and this fate has unfortunately

fallen upon the newspaper’s weekly sa-

tirical column, ‘the jock talk’. In a twist of

misunderstood meaning, the body image

obsessed persona created by the author

of ‘the jock talk’ has bloggers accusing

the newspaper of exalting the exact preju-

dice we have been mocking all year.

Two weeks ago, the column contained a

crassly titled list “10 Reasons Why It’s Not

OK to be Fat”. In pushing the envelope too

far, we realize that the column became in-

distinguishable from the bigotry we were

intending to satirize. We thank everyone

who wrote in to let us know how taste-

less this was and apologize to anyone who

was offended.

Letter to the Editor

In 2005 this campus saw 98% of students

vote in opposition to the fee hike. February

7th 2007 saw thousands of students march

in protest to tuition hikes.

No one wants to owe fifty thousand

dollars after graduating. Such a person has

either never gotten a phone call from a col-

lection agency or has someone else to foot

the bill. This is not a reality for most of us.

Education is not a commodity.

On March 20th, students took action;

they believed raising residence fees by

20% was outrageous and wrong. For this

they’ve been strung through every media

outlet from CityTV to the Varsity, who took

it upon itself to misinform with inaccurate

information, condone personal malicious

attacks, and enforce really bad journalism.

Students simply went into Simcoe Hall

and demanded that the University admin-

istration stop a tuition fee hike and refused

to leave unless these demands were met.

The majority of criticism came because

many felt there was no connection be-

tween this struggle and that of Palestine,

Afghanistan, and Iraq.

Did the students in these countries

suddenly stop existing? Do we all live

in such a vapid, self-important bubble

that we refuse to see that every action

has a reaction? This means that if you

support students here, you support

them everywhere.

As for campus police, it’s quite simple:

the police should not manhandle students.

Period. University should be a safe envi-

ronment for students. It is not an avenue

for Campus Police to abuse their authority.

In Mexico police are not allowed on cam-

pus, and why should they be here? It’s not

for our protection. Their job is to serve and

protect students, not to act as the personal

bodyguards of the administration.

As students we are allowing the ad-

ministration to create divisions among

us. The same thing happened with the

Varsity bubble; I voted against it. That

doesn’t mean that I am against the pursuit

of excellence by athletes, but I do not think

students should pay for it. When Varsity

Stadium was built, students opposed, but

the University built it anyway. In regards

to the bubble, the administration said that

if students didn’t pay they would give the

bubble to private users.

As a student, why refuse to use your

power to change what directly affects

you? It was students just like you who

fought for undergraduates to be allowed

in Robarts. Students pushed to remove

the “men-only” policy at Hart House. Stu-

dents pushed for the University to divest

from Apartheid South Africa.

Somewhere in between the jobs, read-

ings, essays, exams, lack of sleep, and

Redbulls, we as students forgot where we

came from. Think of Tiananmen Square,

the Civil Rights movement; think racial

and gender equality; these things flour-

ished on university campuses because

this is where they should flourish. There is

something to be said for the level of stu-

dent apathy on this campus. At least the

Zionists and ‘love-in’ protestors took a

stance, however misled.

Right now you’re drinking your coffee,

you’re reading this newspaper and think-

ing to yourself, “Whatever, this doesn’t

affect me.” But it does. Every time you

choose to ignore, walk away, say, “fuck

off” or “I don’t care,” you take away your

own power.

Maybe Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine

don’t directly affect you. What about fair

housing, affordable food, racism, sexism,

or discrimination? Does it affect you now?

If you don’t stand for something, you’ll

fall for anything. These words are as true

now as ever.

Opinion

maybe more. The artwork really worked

well with each other in terms of spac-

ing and appearance. It had a great feel

to it.”

Completely unrelated to the Thesis

Project, recently at 1 Spadina there was

performance art installation that took

place throughout the large and brood-

ing historic landmark. The event was

essentially an art class that invited their

friends and family to come view their

hard work.

Mahan has taken part in a previous

year and he was really impressed with

this years’ showcase. He described one

that he particularly enjoyed.

“One artist picked up her male friend,

lifted him over her shoulders and as-

cended three flights of stairs. When she

reached the top she actually collapsed

from fatigue. It was pretty amazing and

definitely one of my favourite ones that

night.”

For more information on what is go-

ing on or has happened in the UofT Fine

Arts program you can visit www.

visthesis08.com

There is no artist

apathy at UofTOne Last Call For Student Action by Rehaana Manek

Artists cont. from pg. 1

Exam Stress Got You Down? Timothy Ryan is Here to Help.

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We’ve all been there in some way, shape or

form. Three exams in three days (a.k.a. the

UofT special); you have worked your ass

off for the first two and as the invigilator

instructs, “Pens down!” to conclude your

second exam at 5pm, you realize that you

have exactly 16 hours before your final 9am

exam. You couldn’t be any less prepared.

The realization of your bleak situation

begins to set in. After working out your

current mark in the class you calculate the

mark you will need on your final to salvage

a 65 in the course. After a few productive

hours of studying you look at the pile of

material that you haven’t yet touched and

the adrenaline begins to race through your

torso as the panic consumes you. For the

next few hours leading up to the exam, no

matter how hard you try, not one more fac-

toid will stick to your brain.

Exam stress can lead to a multitude of

harmful symptoms. The physical effects can

include increased heart rate, unexplained

pains and aches, blurred vision and constant

fatigue. On the psychological side, students

often experience anxiety, irritability, forget-

fulness, and an unwillingness to eat.

If a number of these symptoms are expe-

rienced for long periods of time (for instance,

throughout the majority of an examination

period) consider taking action to help com-

bat them. Recognize when you are stressing

out and relax; call a friend to talk about noth-

ing. Eat and sleep well; refrain from study-

ing while under the covers or in the dinner

hall. Personally, nothing beats stress more

effectively than the gym. You can’t focus on

the stress when your legs are on fire from the

stationary bike.

On exam day, avoid talking to the inse-

cure douchebag who stands around parading

how he went over each lecture 41 times be-

fore reciting the entire Krebs cycle. Immedi-

ately after the exam, avoid him again when

he wants to discuss his answers to questions

4-19 of your 20 question exam. Involving

yourself in ‘exam post-mortem’ only stresses

you out in preparing for upcoming exams.

Finally, if you come to the point where

you know you are going to fail that last

exam, below this article I have included a

few surefire excuses to get out of them. Per-

sonally, I have never used any of these and

truly believe in academic honesty.

Concussion – To lower stress levels you

decided to play (insert physical sport) and hit

your head. You have headaches, dizziness

-and if it is really bad- nausea and vomiting.

If you are deathly allergic to (insert aller-

gen), eat some before injecting yourself with

an epi-pen and walking through the doors to

your friendly, local emergency room. A pea-

nut allergy will do just the trick.

Family sickness and/or death. Might have

to get a death certificate for that one, and it

may shift your karma.

the science by Timothy Ryan

“I believe that open discourse ultimately

serves understanding and that repressing

images gives them too much power.”

On April 3rd, Art Spiegelman, one of

comicdom’s most celebrated cartoonists,

gave a lecture entitled Comix 101: Forbid-

den Images and The Art of Outrage to a

packed house at the Isabel Bader Theatre.

The lecture discussed the power of car-

toons as an incendiary vehicle of politi-

cal and social commentary as well as the

medium’s penchant for political incorrect-

ness.

The author of Maus focused particularly

on mainstream media’s stifled freedom of

expression in the post 9/11 social milieu,

discussing the censorship of the infamous

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons that

labeled the Islamic prophet a terrorist, and

the violent world-wide reaction they pro-

voked.

Spiegelman’s affinity for the 2005 in-

cident goes beyond academic dissection,

since he has a history of being censored. In

2006, Chapters-Indigo banned an issue of

Harper’s containing Spiegelman’s critique

of provocative cartoons, including the Jyl-

lands-Posten cartoons. The cover featured

iconic, racially-stereotyped caricatures.

The incident, as the cartoonist pointed out,

proved the cartoon medium’s unmatched

power to provoke and stimulate in an age

where shocking images, like those of Abu

Ghraib, are openly distributed throughout

the mainstream media.

Spiegelman also spoke about resign-

ing from his post at The New Yorker a few

months after 9/11 to protest against media

self-censorship, and gushed about Mad

magazine’s courageous sincerity and pro-

gressive leanings.

“[It] changed our culture. [The maga-

zine] single-handedly undermined the

Rockwell-aura of McCarthy America.”

The first generation of Mad readers, he

went on to say, grew up to protest against

the Vietnam War.

Touching briefly on the subject of Maus,

his Pulitzer-Prize winning visual meta-

phor featuring anthropomorphically-

represented races during the Holocaust,

Spiegelman confessed it was less a medi-

tation on the horrors of the genocide, like

Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, than it was

about a cartoonist struggling to under-

stand his father and his experiences of the

Holocaust through fragmented and am-

biguous memories.

Art Spiegelman’s most recent work is

In The Shadow of No Towers (2004), a collec-

tion of illustrations highlighting post-9/11

paranoia and his disillusionment with the

US government’s response to the

event.

Special thanks to everyone who helped with the newspaper’s 30th anniversary:

Career Servies; Rotman; UofT Fine Arts Dept.; O!ce of the President

Spiegelman Speaks Out Graphic Novelist lectures at Isabel Bader Theatre on the post 9/11 paranoia By Moe Abbas

Ken used to do our taxes. Now he only does

his own.

Wine has a higher alcohol content. Ken is aware and looks forward

to the entertainment that Tom will soon provide.

Note that Tom Simpson is drinking beer. Ken Whitehurst has chosen a more authoritative pose.

4 the newspaper 10 April 2008

NOW

NOW

NOW

THEN

THEN

THEN

the newspaper celebrates 30 years of outstanding journalism! Here are a couple co-founders reminiscing

When I said that Ken used to do our taxes, I meant that he used to make funny faces and doodle a lot.

Sometimes the best thing two editors can do is kick back and relax.

I guess things really haven’t changed that much at all.

Sarah Fulford, editor of Toronto Life maga-

zine and former editor of the newspaper,

admits that the year after graduation was

probably “the scariest year of my life, I

think.” Like many who are approaching

graduation, she found that the simple

course of her life had been interrupted:

high school, university, and then…?

The ‘and then’ was the problem. A

graduate of King’s College in Halifax

with a Liberal Arts degree in Classics and

Philosophy, Fulford was not sure what

she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

She says, “I had no professional expertise

whatsoever and it was like falling off a

cliff. It was absolutely terrifying. That is

why I ran away.” She ran to Israel to clear

her head and spent a year in Jerusalem

where she published a few articles. This is

when she realized journalism was in her

future. “I [then] realized the way I was go-

ing to understand the world was through

magazines, and newspapers, and story-

telling. And I wanted to be a part of that

somehow.”

Called up by an editor of the newspaper

who was searching for a succesor, Fulford

accepted not knowing anything about

UofT and partnered with a student who

would teach her the ropes.

Reflecting on her ascent from the news-

paper to Toronto Life, Fulford adds that

there are two ways up: “beaver away tak-

ing on little assignments; and the other is

to leap frog over all of that which is by

doing something kind of crazy and risky

and that will get you noticed.”—she chose

the latter.

But what are the chances of success in

the world of print media now that we are

in the age of the internet?

Fulford is not as pessimistic as some

but admits that there are major things

going on in the industry. One is the

cutting back of staff in many newspa-

pers (in part due to lower profits) and

another is advertisers shifting to online

venues such as Craigslist.

However, she insists that there will al-

ways be a market for print media; more

magazines exist now than ever. There are

things that magazines can provide for

readers, like good long articles, a certain

quality of interaction between text and

photography, and a feeling of community.

“I’m lucky because in Toronto Life it is

pretty clear what people are looking for.

They want to be part of an intelligent, so-

phisticated, energetic enthusiastic conver-

sation about the city they live in.”

Fulford says that the internet presents

us with a big, yet promising, challenge.

“The ones that will triumph are the ones

that come up with enthusiastic solutions.

In a way, it may be good for the business

as a whole to have this sort of massive new

frontier, because you cannot do things the

way you’ve always done things and that is

kind of an energizing force.”

She gives a final word of advice to grad-

uates: “the confidence you start to feel in

your 30s comes too late in a way. When

you have lots of time, and hunger and am-

bition in your 20s it’s a wonderful time to

be bold and ad-

venturous.”

the newspaper 510 April 2008

If you think it’s just the newspaper celebrat-

ing its birthday this month, then think

again! UofT’s own campus radio station,

CIUT 89.5FM, becomes legal (in the States)

this month and earlier this week, the news-

paper sat down with CIUT’s Station Man-

ager, Ken Stowar, and their Outreach Co-

ordinator, Jamais Da Costa, to talk about

the station’s anniversary and what their

future holds.

Though they have been bouncing

around the AM dial since the 1960s, CIUT

found its permanent home on the FM fre-

quency 21 years ago and has never looked

back. Boasting the broadest signal reach of

all campus/community radio stations in

Southern Ontario, CIUT 89.5 FM is avail-

able to a population of approximately 8

million people, and that’s just locally.

Online for at least a decade (“some-

where in our archives it talks about us be-

ing the first campus station going online,”

says Stowar), CIUT has also expanded to

satellite radio and digital cable, drastically

expanding their listenership. “There was

someone who called in on our Funky Fri-

days show,” said Stowar. “He was an ex-

ecutive chef on an executive yacht off the

coast of Turkey.”

Though having exotic listeners call in

is exciting, Stowar went on to stress the

importance of the local audience. “First

and foremost, we’re still a local radio sta-

tion, that’s who we serve, our immediate

area which is in our case, Barrie to Buffalo,

Kitchener to Cobourg, and if anyone else is

interested in what we do, no matter where

they are on this planet, they are certainly

free to tune in and listen to us but we want

to be sure that we’re delivering a lot of lo-

cal content.”

Stowar also stressed the importance

of a constant connection with UofT.

“Embracing the University of Toronto is

a big issue with us,” said Stowar. When

it comes to programming, “we have the

faculty of medicine (The Mainline), the

Munk Center for International Studies,

Hart House (Beyond the Classroom), the

department of astrophysics, I’m hoping

to bring them on, as well as the faculty of

law and music.”

Other notable shows provided by

CIUT are the recently acquired and in-

creasingly popular Democracy Now, and

The Green Majority, the only weekly one-

hour environmental radio news program

in the country.

“We’ve got a really diverse listener-

ship,” said Da Costa, “which is why that’s

our mandate, to provide as much multicul-

tural and diverse types of shows.” Shows

that both Da Costa and Stowar believe you

can’t find in the mainstream. According to

Stowar, who, like Da Costa, left a position

in mainstream radio to work for CIUT,

“the true talent is here.”

So what is UofT giving CIUT on the

occasion of their 21st birthday? The pos-

sibility of a brand new home! Due to the

expansion of Rotman, both CIUT and

the Classics building are being forced to

relocate to places currently unknown.

While one might expect the pending evic-

tion might to draw controversy, we were

surprised to find out that that’s not the

case. “I’ve been here over 20 years,” said

Stowar, citing the run down nature of the

building. “I can’t wait.”

The excitement to leave 91 St. George

comes largely from an imminent deal

with the university for new space –CIUT

remains tight lipped on the specifics un-

til the arrangement is finalized. “We’re

speaking with one place in particular on

campus here and if it all pans out it will

be a wonderful thing, mutually beneficial

to both.”

To celebrate their 21st anniversary, CIUT

is holding their biannual “Friends of 89.5”

membership drive all week long. Depen-

dent on the monetary amount, donors can

receive a CIUT newsletter, a selection of

hats, t-shirts and tote bags, and/or entry

into grand prize draws. By calling the

pledge line at 416-946-7800 or going online

at ciut.fm, you too can give CIUT

the gift of support.

the newspaper: At the beginning of

the school year, what did you see as the

single biggest issue you needed to ad-

dress?

President David Naylor: Govern-

ment funding. Per student funding at

Ontario universities is still more than 25%

lower than the average of the other nine

provinces; only Nova Scotia is lower. On

a per capita basis, Ontario is dead last, and

if you adjust for our higher-than-average

provincial per capita GDP, the gap is big-

ger still. As well, the federal government

does not cover the full institutional costs of

research, and that means we have to back-

fill financially every time we get a grant.

On the federal front, I was also worried

about graduate scholarships and coverage

for undergrads once the Canadian Mil-

lennium Scholarship Foundation (CMSF)

wound down.

Obviously the Canada Student Loans

Program is the biggest and best known

source of federal support for students in

post-secondary institutions, but CMSF has

been important for many undergraduates

here.

tn: At the end of the school year, what do

you see now as the single biggest issue

you’d like to address?

DN: The same: Government funding.

The McGuinty Government has given us

some meaningful year-end help, but the

base funding just isn't there to enhance

quality. It's the undergraduate experience

where most Ontario universities get hit,

with higher student-faculty ratios and

lower scores on surveys of student satis-

faction and engagement. The feds have

added some new graduate scholarships,

and given a strong signal that they'll re-

place the Millennium scholarships with a

needs-based program. But we still have a

challenge with federal grants. The insti-

tution incurs about 50 cents of extra costs

for every dollar received in the form of a

federal research grant. In Canada the pay-

ment to offset those costs runs at just over

20 cents on the dollar, whereas American

institutions get full coverage on their fed-

eral grants. It's a very frustrating situation.

Who speaks for students and how do you

let the students feel they are accurately

represented?

tn: Who speaks for students and how do

you let the students feel that they are ac-

curately represented?

DN: The big student groups have the

loudest voices, and have a formalized role

in decision-making processes such as the

Council on Student Services. But there are

literally hundreds of students involved in

a huge number of bodies that are various

advisory or decision-making including

search committees, curriculum task forces,

residence councils, faculty and campus

councils, and Governing Council.

As to accurate representation, I think the

question is upside down. The administra-

tion can't force students to vote in elections

or plebiscites, and we can't conscript stu-

dents to run for positions in the various

organizations that have openings. It's up

to students to get involved and to make

their voices heard. Otherwise, you can't

complain if a small and unrepresentative

group of activists claims to speak for ev-

eryone.

I'd also emphasize that engagement with

campus organizations is a great learning

experience for students. I know that the

politics even in small clubs can be intense,

but it's great preparation for the organiza-

tional politics you're likely to encounter no

matter what you do in later life!

tn: The class divide on campus is some-

thing that everyone feels to some degree.

How can we bridge the gap between the

OSAP dependent and economically en-

dowed students?

DN: Interesting question. First, I would

rather study at a place where there is a

wide range of family incomes and back-

grounds than a place like Queen's where

the income patterns are more homoge-

neous. It's a more realistic snapshot of the

world. And it's also a strong signal that the

institution is managing to keep itself ac-

cessible to the best and brightest. Second,

moving the OSAP threshold to $75,000

has helped a little bit. It means that more

students are able to combine OSAP with

some family support.

Third, we do need more bursaries and

an overhaul of the student loan system

to provide more long-term interest relief.

Cutting tuitions doesn't fix the problem.

We use tuition fees to generate bursary

revenues. Freezing fees simply benefits

those who can afford to pay at the expense

of those who might receive bursaries. But

tuition redistribution also doesn't do it. We

need more imaginative and flexible loan

programs with higher and more variable

thresholds.

tn: On students’ rights and privileges:

what UofT privileges are confused as

rights and vice versa?

DN: I agree we need to reflect constantly

on rights and privileges as a learning com-

munity. But for brevity, let me just focus on

an issue that's been more visible recently:

the rights and responsibilities of angry stu-

dents. Young people are often angry about

the state of the world. The angriest stu-

dents have sometimes been through chal-

lenging personal circumstances, and oth-

ers of that mind-set are more advantaged

but particularly sensitive to the world's

injustices. On the other hand, there are

thousands of students here who have per-

sonal challenges and show great sensitiv-

ity to the plight of others without getting

into a state of chronic rage. It's not hard

Celebrates by holding weeklong fundraising drive. by Elizabeth Hilborn

CIUT turns 21!

Sarah Fulford Sees Clear Skies For Magazine Mediathe newspaper alum leaves print media behind for glossy spreads

In an exclusive interview

President Naylor sums up the academic year

by Alexandra Kazia

by Matthew Pope

See Interwiev cont. pg. 6

6 the newspaper 1 0 April 2008

Well. The end of school is nearing, which

also means that the newspaper writers’

meetings will soon be over, along with

the free chicken wings that I always

show up for.

In all your interpersonal relationships,

whether with friends, business acquain-

tances, or drunk people you want to bone,

the way to benefit the most out of your re-

lationships is in getting people to take you

seriously. For someone to see the person

that you truly are it is important that they

have your attention, respect, and mutual

understanding.

The key to being noticed starts with

making a great first impression. Business

cards are great for this. At any given time

I carry at least six or seven different styles

of business cards, so that I’m prepared no

matter whom I meet.

If I run into a possible business partner I

play the off-white Venture Capitalist card.

People are instantly impressed with how

young I am to own my own firm.

If I’m out at the bar and I approach a

girl I’m interested in, I will bust out my

Detective Agency card. It makes for great

conversation, and I never run out of he-

roic stories that I can make up on the spot.

Nothing melts a girl’s heart faster than

solving a mystery that has been greatly af-

fecting her life. Most of these mysteries are

usually linked to her favourite shoes.

If the girl is younger than me, naïve,

and I want to quickly bypass any sad at-

tempt at conversation, I bust out my But-

ler/Male Stripper business card, which is

basically just a picture of me naked, shot

from below, with an emphasis on my pri-

mary penetrative organ (a.k.a. The Hot

Beef Injector).

A nice safeguard is never leaving the

house without my Oval-Lacto Vegan So-

ciety business card that I give to people

whom I would like to avoid contact with.

Once they see this business card they

never want to have anything to do with

me again.

Secondly, make sure you have stun-

ning, well-defined deltoids to highlight

a confident, broad-shouldered physique.

This means you have to hit one thing, and

only one thing as hard as possible: mili-

tary press. Before giving a thesis proposal

to your professor, interviewing for a job, or

asking a girl if it’s OK for you to motorboat

her, make sure that you are doing reps on

the military rack with at least 120 lbs MIN-

IMUM. Otherwise, your arguments and

ideas will be whittled down to the recog-

nition level of an online blog post.

Thirdly, and most importantly, al-

ways avoid obscure references to Ein-

stein and Voltaire.

I hope that reading my column this past

school year has helped you evolve into a

better person. By now you should have

firmly instilled the belief that you can ac-

complish anything. Jock on!

the jock talk by Alan Osadetz

Getting People to Take You Seriously to connect all manner of things at UofT

to conflicts and injustices at home and

abroad. It's also easy to fulminate about

how UofT should fix A or B, and thereby

make the world better. In reality, however,

students here are underwritten heavily by

taxpayers as they attend one of the world's

great public universities, and they live in a

fabulous multicultural urban region that is

part of a democratic nation with strong so-

cial programs and many well-entrenched

rights and freedoms.

Caricaturing UofT as the centre of some

evil empire is like confusing Bambi and

Godzilla. To me it seems better to use

one's anger as motivation to do something

constructive in a really impoverished com-

munity or in a major conflict zone, rather

than raging against circumstances here

that countless millions of other people

worldwide would see as hugely privi-

leged and enviable.

tn: What was your greatest success this

year?

DN: There are almost 12,000 employees at

UofT. All successes are collective. As well,

the University operates on a long-term

horizon.

Because things move incrementally, I

could cite a lot of positive mid-sized steps.

Some tangible enhancements to the un-

dergraduate student experience on all

three campuses. Some great new faculty

recruited from around the world. Some

new buildings finished or under devel-

opment, not least the Student Commons

and athletics complex on the St. George

campus, the RAWC at UTM, and the Sci-

ence Building at UTSC. Some new public

funding for a range of exciting programs

and projects. Some very notable benefac-

tions to support faculty, staff and students

in their academic work. And some greater

clarity about future enrolment patterns

and the long-term future of the institution.

It's a grind, partly because the resources

are so tight.

But it's a fabulous place with amazing

people, and so good things keep happen-

ing.

tn: What was your biggest disappoint-

ment? In hindsight, would you have

done anything different?

DN: The biggest disappointment has been

the continued shortfall in funding for our

core educational mission. We can bump up

tuitions, but that mostly serves to keep us

from losing more ground. We can initiate

some very exciting projects and programs

with fund-raising and special grants from

both levels of government. But we just

don't have enough staff to provide the

level of personal service that I think our

students deserve. As to hindsight, anyone

in a leadership role spends time wonder-

ing if things might have gone differently if

we'd done A instead of B. But in the final

analysis, you can't drive forward looking

in the rearview mirror.

David Naylor gives us the highs and lows for 2007-2008

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Interview cont. from pg.5

8 the newspaper 10 April 2008 BACKPAGE

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SUBJECT TO CLASSIFICATION

IN THEATRES APRIL 25TH!

We’ve had many successes this year, including passing ASSU-initiated proposals at the Faculty of Arts and Science Council ensuring that a significant piece of work of 10% or more is returned to students by the drop date deadline, and allowing students to be eligible for up to three “late withdrawals” from their courses without having to petition.

My biggest disappointment was witnessing the administration call in police to remove peacefully protesting students rather than have to talk to them or look them in the eye. On March 20, 2008, over forty students staged a sit-in at Simcoe Hall – many of them who have been lobbying the administration for years.

I wish I had been prepared for the cumbersome nature of inter-personal politics and the limits of achieving success within the confines of University bureaucracy. I leave behind no disappoint-ments but carry with me a sense of disillusionment in our ability to forge change in a system which preys on division amongst per-sonalities that too often lose sight of the big picture.

Students speak for themselves and student unions are responsible for responding to issues raised by their membership. Student unions were formed by students who wanted to be active in improving their educations and the world around them. We should recognize that our academic experience is inherently linked to our lived experience and seek to support our members in addressing the systemic barriers that they face, including poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, transpho-bia, ableism, and discrimination based upon immigration status.

Many voices claim to speak for students. What’s difficult is en-suring the accurate voices are not contradicted by unelected spokespeople. Having the University lobby in support of the is-sues students mandated us to work on is key to achieving change. Without a unified voice, governments can continue to ignore our call for an equitable post-secondary education system.

According to UofT’s Statement of Institutional Purpose, the university is dedicated to principles of “equal opportunity, equity and justice.” But if the university moves toward commercialization of research and deregulation of tuition, it will only expand divides as opposed to working towards getting rid of them. In order to bridge the gap, we as students must organize together with staff, faculty, and community members to fight for equal access to education. Students should leave the university feeling equipped to transform the society we live in to eliminate class and other divides.

Until post-secondary education is accessible and affordable to those who wish to attend, the gap will continue to exist, grow and divide our community. It is impossible to offer intermediaries to bridge these groups when students are overburdened with unmanageable debt and loans. Instead of catching an on-campus film after class or attending a free lecture with friends, students are rushing to get to their part-time job to alleviate their financial woes.

Working with students to bring an unprecedented node of stu-

dent-controlled space to our campus. The Student Commons is

truly a historic opportunity.

Biggest disappointment? In hindsight,

would you have done anything different?

Who speaks for students and how do you

let the students feel they are accurately

represented?

The class divide on campus is something

that everyone feels to some degree. How

can we bridge the gap between OSAP

dependant students and economically en-

dowed students?

What was your greatest success this year?

Ryan Hayes, President of ASSU (left), and Andrea Armborst,

President of UTSU (right), answer the BIG QUESTIONS

The Prez Sez