The Eyeopener Nov 11, 2015

7/24/2019 The Eyeopener Nov 11, 2015

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Volume 49 - Issue 9November 11, 2015theeyeopener.com

@theeyeopenerSince 1967

PHOTO:JAKESCOTT

The growth of an urbanfarming empire whereyoud least expect it.

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Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015 NEWS 3

By Keith Capstick

This year the Ryerson StudentsUnion (RSU) collaborated with

he university to deposit studentshealth and dental opt-out directlynto their RAMMS account but

ome students say that this pro-ess is negatively impacting low-ncome students.

The opt-out money is depositednto the same account as tuition,herefore students who havent

paid all of their winter tuition have

o take an extra step and request aheque to get to their money.The RSU told The Eyeopener

on Monday that they have put aplan in motion to allow studentswith outstanding winter fees to

equest a one-time withdrawalrom RAMSS to get their money.

The window to apply will be Nov.

1-18.Obaid Ullah, the RSUs vice-

president operations, says that

he decision was made to coun-eract last years long wait timesor direct-deposit. This choice was

made so students would receiveheir money as efficiently as pos-ible, he said.

Last year they tried a direct de-posit system and it failed miser-bly, said Ullah. The intent was

for students to receive their moneyback and then you can request arefund [from RAMSS] and get it

back if you wanted to, but thenwinter fees were put on. A fewstudents are upset.

Last year students waited untilmid-November until they wereable to gain access to their opt-out

money. The incoming RSU execu-tive, in cooperation with their newinsurance broker, held a survey in

September to figure out the bestway to tackle this issue a sur-vey which they point to as their

reasoning for this new deposit sys-tem.

Continuing Education Students

Association of Ryerson (CESAR)

President Denise Hammond saidat Mondays CESAR annual gen-

eral meeting that Chang Schoolstudents should have their chequesavailable for pick up next week.

We chose to not do it through

the university, she said. We be-lieve that its important for you asa student who pays that fee, that

if that fee is returned it should bereturned to you and not to the uni-versity.

But Ullah urges that this wontaffect your OSAP in any way anddoesnt see this affecting low-in-

come students more so than others.A lot of low-income students

already cant opt out of the plan,

just because they dont have ad-ditional coverage, and without

additional coverage you cant optout, said Ullah. So its mostlyaffecting people who have addi-tional coverage.

Some of the negative feedbackthat the RSU has received centresaround students who count on

these funds every year and maynot have the financial stability towait for the cheque, despite hav-

ing pre-existing health and dentalcoverage.

Vajdaan Tanveer, a student

whos recently been critical ofthe RSUs stance on tuition fees

This year, your opt-out money will be deposited into your RAMSS account instead of direct deposit refunds

In past years, students waited in line to pick up health and dental opt-out cheques. PHOTO: JESS TSANG

Adam Kahan saying goodbyeto Rye after 12 years

News Bites

Adam Kahan, the vice-president university advancement, is leaving onDec. 10. Reporter Natalia Balcerzak sat down for a Q&A with the manwhos partially responsible for putting Ryerson on the map:

Q: How does it make you feel seeing posters of Ryerson around To-

onto?A:One of the first things I did in terms of planning was I went to the

oard, asked for money so that we could put our image everywhere weossibly could on the streets, on the buildings ... so that people couldot go anywhere without confronting Ryerson. It was a strategic plan to

reate our presence in the downtown core.

Read more on theeyeopener.com.

Ryerson Arts Society to getstudent money, RyersonScience Society will not

On Nov. 5, the Ryerson Arts Society (RAS) succeeded in approving a

30 per-semester, per-student levy while the Ryerson Science SocietyRSS) failed to pass a $22 levy in their own referendum.

RAS chair Marzia Riaz said she is relieved the referendum process

s over and her group will be able to start focusing on actual events,ctual goals.The levy will help the RAS give Faculty of Arts students academic

onferences, grants, awards and more events.Despite not getting their levy approved (245 NO, 199 YES), RSS

President Ana Sofia Vargas Garza said the group will continue to func-

ion, as they have for the past three years.Read more on theeyeopener.com.

in alignment with the RSU oppo-sitional group, Reignite Ryerson,

shares these concerns.I feel that the particular chang-

es that were made to the opt outplan for this year disproportion-ately harmed lower-income stu-dents, said Tanveer.

Tanveer also expressed that al-though last years system wasntperfect, he was uncomfortable

with the fact that the RSU workedin tandem with the university tomake this new process come to

fruition.The students union is an au-

tonomous organization, so the fact

that theyre getting so entrenchedinto the works of the university isalso something thats concerning,

said Tanveer.But Ullah maintains that this has

been a step forward from last year.

Generally, from the feedbackfrom the survey, students are hap-py with the process. There are a

few students that were upset, I canunderstand where theyre comingfrom, he said.

University registrar CharmaineHack said winter tuition was actu-ally charged two months later this

year, despite the RSU originallyspeculating it had been chargedearlier than usual.

Credit takes place of cash in new opt-out process


4/12

4 EDITORIAL Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015

Editor-in-ChiefSean The Sheen Machine

Wetselaar

NewsKeith Shawarma King

CapstickFarnia Khao Sai Fekri

Laura Meow Mix Woodward

FeaturesEmma One more hour Cos-

grove

Biz and TechJacob Pass the third Dub

Arts and LifeAl Mayonnaise Downham

SportsDevin Keener Jones

CommunitiesDylan Walking satire Freeman-

Grist

Photo

Sierra TEXT ME BeinJake III ScottAnnie Banannie Arnone

FunRobert Dont leave Mackenzie

Media

Rob Camper Foreman

OnlineJosh Purpose BeneteauNicole Vampire Schmidt

Lee Snappy dresser Richardson

General ManagerLiane Clean-up crew McLarty

Advertising Manager

Chris Skinheads at my partiesRoberts

Design DirectorJ.D. The Enforcer Mowat

Intern ArmyGracie All-Star BrisonMikayla MVP Fasullo

Ben One hop, two HoppeVictoria Dunk Sykes

Angela Shes back Feng

ContributorsChris Rooftopz Blanchette

Chayonika Hey gurl Chandra

Igor THE APPS ARE COM-ING Magun

Justin Olimar ChandlerSunday Panopticon Aken

Alexandria Everyone likes youLee

Anika Hombre SyedaMaddie EyeVirgin Binning

Natasha I love arts HermannJake Scoopie Kivanc

Natalia Q&A queen BalcerzakBehdad BEHstepDAD Mahichi

Ramisha Clutch FarooqTagwa I really like soccer Moyo

Skyler Pickton AshBahoz Solo Dara

Nicole ValedictorianDi Donato.

Playing the part of the AnnoyingTalking Coffee Mug this week arespoons, as projectiles. Im a fan ofeating with spoons, but I dislikethem when they are hurled at myface. I know that they were plas-tic, and that none of them hit mebecause they werent baseballs, butlets show some decorum, people.The Eyeopener is Ryersons largestand only independent student news-paper. It is owned and operated byRye Eye Publishing Inc., a non-profitcorporation owned by the studentsof Ryerson.

Our offices are on the second floorof the Student Campus Centre. Youcan reach us at 416-979-5262, attheeyeopener.com or on Twitter at@theeyeopener.

BySeanWetselaar

Dont like thenews? Change it!

A pile of newspapers, because honestly how was I supposedo illustrate this story?

PHOTO: SEAN WETSELAAR

attention: seekers of glory

the eyeopener winter 2016

elections are coming to a

bar near you. speeches onnov. 26, voting on nov. 27.

interested in joining this

shitshow? come to scc 207

for details. keep an eye on

this space for updates.

ts pretty common knowledgeor people that associate withournalism that the fine insti-ution of The Eyeopener is ait of a cult. We spend a lot ofime thinking about, and work-ng on the 15 or so pages thatome before the Sudoku, whichould win you a gift card.So youll have to forgive me for

pending a bit more time talking

bout what we do here.The Eyeopener is run, as

ouve probably gathered by theist to the right of this column ev-ry week in print, by our mast-

head all of the editors whoroduce and manage content for

the paper. Those editors (includ-ing me!) were chosen by theirpeers, and our regular contribu-tors, at an election last April.And in the world of Eyeopenerelections, were approaching themidterm.

That means a few spots on ourmasthead are going to be open(well tell you which ones in thissection next week). My reasonsfor telling you about the inner-workings of the paper like thisare two-fold. First, if youre ajournalist (but not necessarilya journalism student), then you

could be joining the illustriousgang that produces the Eye.

If youre not gunning to joinour ranks, which is probbalya tad more likely, then this stillmatters to you. Because no mat-ter what happens on Nov. 27

when we elect new editors, thereis going to be fresh blood in ouroffice.

And theres never been abetter time to make sure thosepeople produce content describ-ing what matters to you. Thatsimportant because you paytheir paycheque. Every Ryersonstudent pays a levy of $18.40 per

year to help keep our publicationrunning. Help us make sure thatyour money isnt wasted.

A lot of people believe thatjournalism happens in a vacuum.That people like me sit in ouroffices, dream up what oughtto matter to the masses and dis-seminate it. The motto in thevenerable New York Times All the news thats fit to print is a hangover from the dayswhen maybe that was true.

But the truth is that were along way from those days. Newsin this decade is perhaps more

democratic than it has ever been.In a space where everyone has aplatform to express themselves,its almost impossible for anyjournalist who cares to ignoretheir audience.

So, wonderful people ofRyerson, Im writing this plea toyou. If you ever look at our pub-lication and think, They dontcare about me. My issues shouldbe in this paper, then pleasecome bitch us out.

Ultimately, this paper is atool to serve you all of you.And I know that we can alwaysdo a better job. So help us out.

Come by the office, call us, emailus (Im [email protected]), tweet at us however youplease.

Whatever you do, dont remainsilent. Your voice is important help us make it heard.

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5/12

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015 NEWS 5

The early morning haters: To the SenateBy Maddie Binning

Early morning exams are one step

loser to getting scrapped.

In March, a petition to eliminate

a.m. final exams was created

by Husain Mulla, a fourth-yearmarketing student. He started the

petition on Change.org while

unning for a student-at-large po-

ition in the Ryerson Senate. Now,

fter being elected, Mulla will pres-

nt his proposal in the first Senate

meeting in the winter semester.

Even though its in my last year

and] its not even going to affect

me, I want to make a change be-

ause if theres a better solution

out there that can help students

achieve higher grades then I really

want to pursue that, Mulla said.

The petition, which has more

than 1,400 supporters, is meant to

present the issue to the university.

Students spend countless hoursputting in hard work in order to

achieve a grade which can eventu-

ally help them bag a good job once

they graduate, the petition reads.

Having to write an exam at 8

a.m. can kill this dream.

Mulla plans to present his pro-

posal to the Senate with a variety

of solutions, so that even if one

doesnt work, you can look to-

wards the other ones.

Ryerson Students Union (RSU)

President Andrea Bartlett said

these changes can be implemented

by the senate.

Our senate rep, Victoria [Mor-

ton] ... has plans to bring it up at

the next senate meeting, Bartlettsaid.

The meeting will be on Jan. 26.

In their November 2014 general

meeting, the RSU voted in favour

of a motion to lobby to end 8 a.m.

classes.

But space limitations make the

elimination of 8 a.m. classes im-

possible, according to Ryerson

Registrar Charmaine Hack. Ex-

ternal facilities like the Metro To-

ronto Convention Centre are al-

ready being used in order to meet

the current need for examination

spaces. To make use of more ex-

ternal facilities would require an

in-depth look at the associated

costs Hack said.The reality is that the demand

for space still far outpaces the ac-

tual space available for classes and

examinations, said Hack. So

it continues to be impossible to

avoid 8 a.m. classes or exams.

Adrian Argudo, a second-year

chemistry student, said he recog-

nizes the struggles of scheduling

classes with limited space, but as a

commuter with four early classes,

he wishes there was a way to fix

the issue.

I myself face a two-hour com-

mute to and from Ryerson every

day, said Argudo. Eight a.m.

class would have me waking up at

around five. If I were to stay up,say, until 1 a.m., I would get ap-

proximately four hours of sleep,

so thats typically what I get.

Hack said the Office of the Reg-

istrar has been looking at other

universities different lengths of

exams scheduled, [and] the use of

tiered versus flat classrooms, the

use of one room for simultaneous

exams to improve the situation in

the future.

Tuition fee feud reignited

tudents protest high tuition fees as part of last years Freeze the Fees campaign. PHOTO: STEPHEN ARMSTRONG

By Keith Capstick

With their demands set for theuniversity and the Ryerson Stu-

dents Union (RSU), Reignite

Ryerson has released a new state-

ment regarding tuition fees and

heir stance on current RSU vice-

president education, Cormac Mc-

Gee.

In a document obtained by The

Eyeopener entitled, Why Freeze

he Fees Failed, the group at-

empts to distance itself from last

ears campaign and questions the

elationship the new RSU execu-

ive has with the administration

nd the anti-Freeze the Fees cam-

paign Rise for Ryerson.Among the Rise for Ryerson

roup were prominent student

eaders, including the current

VP-Education. We only hope he

hanged his perspective about tu-

tion fees since then, as his port-

olio deals specifically with tuition

ees and access to education. What

n irony, the press release reads.

Since the onset of Reignite Ry-

rson, McGee has reached out to

epresentatives from the group to

et up a one-on-one meeting and

has called for their attendance at

he first meeting of this years stu-

dent action committee on Nov 10.

McGee says that his stance on

dealing with the issue of tuition

ncreases is that its something

o be taken up with the provin-

ial government and not with the

schools administration.

This is not the institution, this

is a systemic issue that needs to besolved on the ministry level and

Im trying to do that in the way

I know how and the way I think

it would work by drawing out a

reasonable and rational proposal

and right now Im in the research

part, McGee said. You cant

just sleep in a tent and make this

happen.

Vajdaan Tanveer, a student who

was part of last years Freeze the

Fees campaign and was part of the

development of Reignite, emphat-

ically disagrees with this stance.

I completely disagree with

Cormac on this particular thing,said Tanveer. I agree with Cor-

mac on saying provincial govern-

ment is a long-term thing for this

and I agree that the federal gov-

ernment should be taking more

of a stance on making education

more accessible but to say that

the school doesnt have a part to

play in that conversation is very

untrue.

But McGee said to make any

real change, he needs to be per-

sonally contacted and not called

out on an anonymous Facebook

post. He also maintained that

hed like to see members from

Reignite out at RSU events in the

future.

Id love if Reignite showed up

and we could have a conversa-

tion that isnt taking up SAGM

and AGM times to make these

statements when that doesnt help

push forward any motions to helpwith our bylaws or initiatives,

McGee said.

Tanveer was explicit about Re-

ignites frustrations with McGees

involvement with the school and

described much of the RSUs work

this year as all image without any

substance. He also explained the

groups reasoning behind nam-

ing McGee in the their list of de-

mands, saying that it was an issue

of accountability.

The whole branding theyve

been doing theres a lot of image,

but no substance and one of their

responses to that was we want tocreate the image so people know

who we are so they can come to

us, said Tanveer.

He went on to explain that

much of the groups initial frus-

tration was centered around the

RSU addressing their group and

its members rather than their de-

mands. The group has maintained

that its focus is on the issue of tu-

ition fees, not political jockeying

or individualized motives and that

they look forward to meeting with

the RSU in the future.

McGee admits that his work to

this point on the issue of tuition

hasnt been public, which couldbe why students have started an

opposition campaign because

students dont know the work hes

been doing.

All RSU members (full time undergrads and full andpart-time grads) are eligible to vote on by-law changes,motions, & set direction!

For more info on your membership inthe Students Union visit www.rsuonline.ca

FREE DINNERASL interpretation provided. If you need other accommodations to ensureyour participation, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible.

CALLING ALL MEMBERS

Monday, Nov. 30

TRSM 1067

of theRyerson Students Union

55 Dundas St. W

FALL

GENERAL

MEETING

The deadline to submit motions:

Media requests to attend should be sent to theRSU President at [email protected]


6/12

6 Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015FEATURES

Arlene Throness is standing

in a sea of kale. Eat what-

ever you want, she says.

We part the seas and dive into the

ood around our ankles, floatingo the rows of baby greens.

I recommend making a salad,

Throness says; she is energetic

nd sharp. She picks a little bou-

quet for each of us mustardy

at soi, fun jen and mizuna I

devour the spicy red and green

mixture. We finish off with edible

purple borage flowers, planted in

n empty patch to attract bees for

pollination. Twenty feet below us,

n engineering student bites into a

bland sandwich, probably.

Throness, a handful of volun-

eers and I are on a farm. On a

oof. Its as though a giant hand

plucked a small-scale farm from

ural Ontario and accidentally

dropped it on top of the George

Vari Engineering and Computing

Centre. Here in the epicentre of

the largest city in Canada is the

Ryes HomeGrown (RHG) 10,000

square-foot market farm. Thron-

ess is the urban agriculture coor-

dinator she is the brains andthe backbone of the operation, in

charge of both planning and pro-

gramming. And also everything,

she says.

The significance of a farm on a

roof is hard to comprehend until

youre up there, witnessing rows

of plants growing in real time

before a backdrop of skyscrap-

ers and bustling city streets. The

garden is meticulously planned

with tidy rows of vegetables and

human-size straw walkways to

sit or kneel in while harvesting.

Vegetable families like brassicas

(radish, broccoli), nightshade (to-

mato, potato) and legumes (beans,

peas) are grouped together in dif-

ferent sections of the roof, along-

side companion plants like basil

and cilantro that ward off pests.

Throness refuses to use pesticides

or synthetic sprays, opting for

organic methods like compost-

ing plant waste for fertilizer and

hand-picking weeds.

Its veryempowering to beable to grow your

own food

This quarter-acre patch of

land established just last year

yielded 8,000 pounds of food

in the 2015 growing season and

5,000 pounds in 2014. With ris-

ing food insecurity in cities, the

urban farm is a welcome addition

to campus.

The 2015 Daily Bread Food

Bank annual hunger report re-

vealed the increasing number of

Torontonians turning to food

banks. Since the recession hit in

2008, total client visits have in-

creased by 12 per cent, food bank

use increased 45 per cent in To-rontos inner suburbs (Etobicoke,

North York and Scarborough),

and the average length of time

visiting a food bank has doubled

from one year to two years.

Throness says having the knowl-

edge and infrastructure to grow

food in a city makes us a more re-

silient and healthy society. The ulti-

mate goal of RHG is to become an

all-encompassing resource for peo-

ple who want to learn about and

practice urban agriculture. I think

urban agriculture is really trendy

right now and thats exciting be-

cause if we make it part of our

mainstream culture again its only

going to have a positive impact on

our society, Throness says.

With the success of this agricul-

tural experiment, its clear that the

rooftop farm has already made an

impact, proving the possibilities of

farming in the big city.

Its very empowering to be able

to grow your own food.

RHG began as a student

group in 2011 with the

goal of growing food, start-

ing with a small garden on Gould

Street and expanding to spaces in

the Quad, planters at Pitman Hall

and a greenhouse in the architec-

ture building used to grow micro-

greens through the winter.

In 2013, Garth Poppleton of

custodial services pointed out that

the Andrew and Valerie Pringle

Environmental Green Roof on top

of the engineering building might

be a possible space for growing.

[Garth] was the one who invit-

ed us to come to the roof and gave

us the keys and put trust in the

project, Throness says. So thats

a huge part, is just to have the uni-

versity be willing to say yes.

FROM ROOFTO TABLEby Emma Cosgrove

Ryes HomeGrown harvested more than 8,000 pounds of food this season

on their rooftop farm, making strides for Toronto urban agriculture

and sharing the knowledge, too.


7/12

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015 7FEATURES

The green roof was built in004 as part of the original infra-tructure of the building to catch

tormwater runoff and reduce

heat absorption in the summer.Over 10 years, seeds had blown

onto the roof. Daylilies and weedsprouted and thrived a sign ofertility.

Throness who has a degree inpermaculture, a bachelor of politi-al science and human geographyrom Concordia University, and

ears of farm experience all overhe country was hired by Ryer-on as the urban agricultural co-

ordinator of the project. She wasmmediately intrigued, knowinghat urban agriculture isnt nor-

mally recognized as a legitimateprofession.

Finding the roof I was like,OK, this is exciting, this is an op-portunity. And then of course thefirst year was exhausting, like try-

ng to convert the whole roof and

balance the books and make surethat it all happened, she says.

With the financial support ofthe university, they spent sev-eral months at the beginning of

the 2014 growing season trans-forming the roof to a farm: sheetmulching, adding two inches of

topsoil which they will do eachyear digging rows and planting

seeds.

This year was RHGs firstfull operational season.

A team of Throness, fourpaid interns, CSA members anddrop-in volunteers planted, cul-

tivated and harvested the 8,000pounds of food.

Their budget of $70,000 was

supplemented by the university aswell as revenue from the marketand food services. Around half ofthe harvest is sold at the Wednes-

day farmers market on GouldStreet. The rest is divided betweencampus services and weekly veggie

boxes for volunteers who sign upfor the community-supported ag-riculture (CSA) program. CSA is a

financial model traditionally usedby small-scale farmers to share therisk and reward of their harvest

with consumers. In RHGs case,each of the 20 working membersputs in three hours per week at the

farm and takes home a basket offood for $5.

Its fun to mimic a farm our

whole thing is that we want to bejust like a small-scale farm so thatswhy we have a five-year crop rota-

tion and a CSA and were goingto market and doing all this stuff

because I think its exciting forpeople to be able to engage withthat farm culture right in the city,Throness says.

Farming is risky business.Throness says because urban agri-culture is a new field born out of

the nonprofit sector, most peopleworking in it struggle to make aliving wage.

You have to love the lifestylebecause youre not going to makea lot of money and youre going to

work really hard. Its really hardwork, she says. Thats why CSAis essential to keeping the farm in

operation.It can be really stressful not

knowing if you have a job the nextyear, she says. Hopefully when

[volunteers] put Ryes Home-Grown on their resume it willhave weight or resonance in them

getting jobs and helping build sim-ilar projects in other places.

Throness says she has been in-

volved in far too many farmingprojects with people who hadno idea what they were doing

thats why she got her agriculturaldegree. But when youre aroundsomeone like Throness its not

hard to learn. Thats a really fun

thing about farming, that you canreally learn by doing and seeing

and observing and chatting whileyoure working ... you dont evenknow youre learning.

On the roof, Spencer Quinn

helps us turn huge compostpiles, throwing earth with

wriggling worms on the mound of

decaying plants as we shovel it withpitchforks. He is kind and quiet,offering the odd suggestion and an-

swering our questions. He sympa-thizes when dust blows in our eyesand mouths, kicked up by the high

winds on the roof, like its hap-pened to him hundreds of times.

Quinn was the gardening co-ordinator intern for RHG for the

2015 season after volunteeringconsistently last year. He helpedout with volunteer sessions in the

on-ground gardens and monthlyFirst Friday events like this one,worked the market stand on

Wednesdays and knows the innerworkings of the rooftop farm.

I like being outdoors and

theres just something aboutgrowing food that intrigues me,Quinn says. I also like how it

sort of connects people to the foodthat theyre eating whereas maybetheres some sort of disconnect if

youre just going to the grocerystore and buying your food.

Quinn, who received his cer-

tificate in food security at Ryersontwo years ago, has his own 250square-foot garden at his house

where he grows vegetables. His fa-vourite thing to grow is potatoesbecause its always a surprise dig-

ging them up.He says the key to helping peo-

ple grow food in cities is space

community gardens and insti-tutional programs like RHG help

with this. Quinn is one of the fourinterns, the other three with po-sitions in communications, out-reach and programming. Quinn

isnt sure if he will return to theroof next year. He hopes to havea market farm of his own in thefuture.

Among the thick stalks of

kale, the 20-foot beanfence and leaves glowing

emerald in the sunlight, we dive

into a mini feast of baba ganoush,kale pesto, celery sticks and sliceddaikon radish, all from the garden

and prepared by Throness. Its ear-

ly November now, the end of thegrowing season, and most of the

crops have been harvested. In theempty beds, the team has plantedcover crops winter rye and clo-ver which protect the soil and

pull in nitrogen over the winter.The team will finish harvestingwithin the next few weeks. In Feb-

ruary, they will begin work in thegreenhouse, planting seeds.

As the sun goes down over the

city the team munches silently, tiredafter several hours of work. ForThroness, eating is the best part.

I think whats kept me goingover the years is that the reward

of growing food is eating it, andsometimes thats all the rewardyou need in life, she says. Its sosatisfying immediate gratifica-

tion. Thats what food is.

PHOTO: CHRIS BLANCHETTE



PHOTO: EMMA COSGROVE


8/12

8 BIZ & TECH Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015

Students to send mushrooms to spaceRye students, partnered with high schoolers, are sending fungi to the International Space Station to test their growth in microgravity

Mario may not be the only one eat-ng mushrooms in space.

Third-year Ryerson students

Komalpreet Kahlon, GemmaMancuso and Francis Buguisre part of a team that won the

hance to send an experiment tohe International Space StationISS). The experiment, which

hould be launched in late March,will test how oyster mushroomsrow in microgravity.[Oyster mushrooms] could

potentially be a food source thatstronauts could grow for them-

elves in space. Theyre easy torow, Mancuso, a biomedicalcience student, said.Because they are high in fibre,

ow in fat and can grow fromwaste such as used coffee groundsnd cardboard, oyster mushrooms

might be a good regenerating foodource on long-term space mis-ions, the team said.

Kahlon, Mancuso and Buguisdesigned their experiment for theRyerson Student Spaceflight Exper-

ments Program (SSEP), a competi-ion in which Ryerson undergradu-tes teamed up with high school

tudents to design an experimenthat could study the effect of mi-rogravity on a physical, chemical

or biological system. About 90 stu-dents competed.

Ryersons competition was one

of 14 SSEPs held across NorthAmerica this year and the first

SEP held in Canada.The SSEP initiative is run by

he National Center for Earthnd Space Science Education

NCESSE), an American educa-

tional organization.With Grade 11 students Ku-

genthini Tharmalulasekaram and

Modlin Orange, Kahlon, Man-cuso and Buguis made up TeamU, one of the 26 teams that com-

peted at Ryerson. The top threeexperiments from each communityhosting an SSEP were sent to theNCESSE in the spring. The orga-

nization picked a winner in eachcommunity. Team U was the win-ner at Ryerson.

Koivisto said he thinks theNCESSE picked Team Us proposalbecause it provided more insight

for humanity than the other two

sent by Ryerson.The biggest problem, in the

beginning, was finding somethingthat would survive and was stablewhen it was out of our hands, and

would be preserved by the time itgets back to us, biomedical-sci-ence student Buguis said. He said

the oyster mushrooms spores areresistant to drying and heat.

Kahlon, who studies medical

physics, said the spores Team Usends up will remain dormant andnot need nutrients until they reach

the ISS and are activated for theexperiment.

The team does not know whichdirection the fungus mycelia(similar to plant roots) will grow,Kahlon said.

They also dont know if the fun-gus will be able to extract the waterand nutrients it needs without stan-

dard Earth gravity.When it goes into space, Team

Us experiment will be contained

in an 8.4 ml tube separated intothree compartments by clamps.One compartment will hold mush-

room spores and rice straw forthem to eat and grow on. Anotherwill hold water gel crystals to hy-drate the spores. A third will hold

an agent to kill the fungus once ithas grown for about two weeks.This ensures all growth will oc-

cur in space. The dead fungus willremain preserved in the tube so

Team U can analyze it when it re-turns to Earth.

Team U was only allowed togive two minutes of instructionsto the astronauts on the ISS. The

first step is to open the clampseparating the water gel crystalsfrom the spores and rice straw and

then gently shake the tube for aminute, which should trigger thegrowth of the mushrooms. The

second step, which should takeplace about two weeks later, is toopen the second clamp and shake

the tube for a minute to kill andpreserve the fungus.

When the experiment tube re-turns to Team U, they will com-

pare its growth to a controlled ex-periment they conducted on Earth.

Even if there is less growth, but

there is growth, that still shows alot of promise, Kahlon said. Thatwould still mean oyster mushrooms

can grow in microgravity.

With the launch about fourmonths away, Team U is workingto grow the microscopic spores

they will send to the ISS and arestruggling to extract them. Theyare also planning how theyll

analyze the experiment once it iscompleted.

Kahlon said it was a great learn-

ing experience to design an ex-periment that faced real-worldchallenges such as transport and

storage.In the classroom, I feel like ev-

erything youre given is under such

ideal conditions, but here, all thisreality was thrown at us, she said.

Team U plans to publish paperson their experiment and mightuse it for a fourth-year thesis,Kahlon said.

Faculty of science dean Imogen

Coe said Ryersons involvement inthe SSEP helped young people ofdifferent backgrounds get access to

science and the opportunity to en-gage with it.

Koivisto said he is unsure if Ry-

erson will participate in the SSEPagain. To compete, the RyersonSSEP had to pay about $30,000

to the NCESSE. Six sponsors, in-cluding Ryerson and the RyersonFaculty of Science, donated the

money. The Natural Sciences andEngineering Research Council ofCanada donated about $21,000.

Coe said if it can be funded,she would like to support anotherspaceflight program.

By Justin Chandler

Oyster mushrooms could

potentially be a food source

hat astronauts could grow

or themselves in space

ILLUSTRATION: SIERRA BEIN

Team U is working to grow

the microscopic spores they

will send to the ISS

What grows up, must come down.


9/12

Toronto-based videographer Jorge

Lozanos MOVING STILL_stilllife appearing at the Ryer-son Image Centre [RIC] is a

glimpse into the harsh lifestyle ofSilo, Colombia.

MOVING STILL_still life

remade into eight screens from itsoriginal seven for the RICs SalahJ. Bachir New Media Wall is an

installation depicting life in Silo,Colombia, where national war hasbeen active for over 50 years. Theinstallation includes images, inter-

views, re-enactments and more.Lozano grew up in a similar

neighbourhood to Silo, immersed

in gangs and war. As a student, hefought in the civil war against op-pressive militaristic forces.

Ive seen shootings, peopledying, bullets very close, makingsound, he said. This is a thing

that happens daily.MOVING STILL_still

life is a collage of im-

ages of his subjects, theirfriends and family, theculture-rich streets of

poverty-stricken Colom-bian neighbourhoods,the surrounding land-

scapes and interviewsconducted by Lozanos

workshop participantsEdward BlackFire, Ro-dolfo Tovar and RonaldVergara. They gathered

interviews with criminals,

innocent civilians and others. The

installation translates their wordsthrough English subtitles.

A lot of people have asked me Are they that eloquent or is ityour translation? he said. Theydont even imagine people in ghet-

toes could be intelligent.The artist said neighbour-

hoods ripe with violence are often

eclipsed by an overbearing stigmathat paint every character as thebad guy. Lozano integrates vio-

lent re-enactments, or portraitsof reality, of the characters lives,including shots of blood-coveredgunslingers holding up hospital

patients. However, he makes sureto show the bad guys sympa-

thetic qualities.Real life criminals are intervi-

wed, including 15-year-old assas-sin Mikael, who carries a black

gun, saying silver shines andthey run before you kill them.When asked where and how he

finds his weapons, he laughs, say-ing, What do you mean, how?

The normal way. Contacts.

Despite the childs calloused de-meanor, Lozano said these guns

are made available to him bywealthier countries like the U.S.

They dont make the weap-

ons, Lozano he said. The sys-tem makes the weapons.

Another interview delves into

the life of a female paramilitarysoldier in prison. Her group hasbeen known to control mas-

sive territories and ethnicallycleanse leftist, queer and othermarginalized communities.

Remedios is a mother in the in-stallation heavily involved with

one paramilitary group that raid-ed a neighbourhood.

I dont feel sorry, said Reme-dios. If I have to do it again I will,

to fight for peace and tranquility.But according to the videogra-

pher, many Colombian viewers

changed sentiment to-wards the paramilitariesupon watching his inter-view with Remedios. Lo-

zano shows her as intelli-gent and a loving mother.

Regardless of being in

this fascistic kind of group,shes human, he said.

In a conflict, not every-

one knows who is the badguy.

MOVING STILL_still

lifeis at the RIC unti Dec.13.

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015 ARTS & LIFE 9

RU artists open Ur Room

Looking for a welcoming envi-

onment in the art community, aroup of Ryerson students is open-ng Ur Room, a multimedia art

pace based on inclusivity.We feel like the [fine art] in-

dustry is a little difficult to break

nto and thought this would be aood way to motivate ourselves,nd others as well, to just do it,

ust get out there and create, saido-founder Fiona Kenney.The artspace started by Ken-

ney, Camila Rocha, Raven Lam,

Maggie Alpaugh and MadeleineEtmanski showcases up-and-oming Toronto designers, artists

nd troublemakers. And insteadof focusing on specific mediums,Ur Rooms founders look to in-

lude all photographers, videogra-phers, fashion designers and more.

We were tired of having ideas

of wanting to create, but feelinghat we couldnt do it because

were not actually in arts pro-

rams ourselves, Kenney, a cre-tive industries student, said.So, the founders created Ur

By Alexandria Lee Room, welcoming new artistslooking to join the community.

[Your bedroom] is the most

comfortable space you could everthink of and where youre your-self, Rocha said. Its your room,

[where] you can be the most trueform of yourself.

The five second-year students

are either in interior design (Et-manski), creative industires (Ken-ney, Alpaugh, Rocha) or mediaproduction (Lam).

The Ur Room founders draw in-spiration from their own academicbackgrounds, and undertake new

projects in different mediums.Our whole idea is being able

to explore our identities and be-

ing able to branch out its un-restricted, said Rocha. So muchof what weve seen in the past is

separation, like, Oh, you takepictures? This is your space, this isonly what you can do.

Lam whose piece focuses onlooking yourself in the mirrorand seeing objects from your past,

present, and future and Rochamade seperate three-dimensionalworks, while Kenneys graphic

design prints depict women try-

ing to be cute and naive whilstalso mature and independent.Alpaughs fashion focuses on com-

bining words of rebellion withinnocent looking clothing and

Etmanski is creating a resin sculp-ture, something she said is com-pletely out of her element.

In addition to the founders art,

local musicians Lithe & Free andKIDSHELPPHONE will be DJing.For future openings, the group en-

courages anyone to join.[Well accept] anything that

somebody wants to call their art,

and if we can accommodate wewill show it, said Lam.

The theme of the gallery willchange each month, but loose in-

terpretations are welcome.We want to be this blank slate

who are we to say whether ornot your arts good, we think thatart is subjective, said Rocha.

The founders of Ur Room are

looking to recruit anyone wishingto submit for next months gallery.

The opening reception is Friday

at 9 p.m. at 29 Huron St. There isa $2 entrance fee.

Life in Silo is Moving, Still

COURTESY: JORGE LOZANO: MOVING STILL_STILL LIFE (INSTALLATION VIEW),2015 RILEY SNELLING, RYERSON IMAGE CENTRE

PHOTO COURTESY: RAVEN LAM

PHOTO: AL DOWNHAM

Ur Room aims to create an inclusive artspace.

The artspace is located on 29 Huron St.

By Anika Syeda


10/12

Two teams, one coach: a balancing act

Dustin Reid is coaching two successful volleyball teams this season. PHOTO COURTESY: ALEX DADDESE

By Gracie Brison

The rock comes to Rye

Reids volleyball career.

That was sort of the moment

where I started to look at the sport

with a little more desire, a little

more motivation, that it might be

something that could offer some

opportunities for me, Reid said.After his career as a player end-

ed, Reid coached in Switzerland

before returning to Canada to be-

come the Technical Director of the

Ontario Volleyball Association.

Shortly after, Ryerson received a

grant from the Coaches Associa-

tion of Ontario to make a full-time

position, the first one the womens

program ever had. Reid accepted

the offer in 2008 and has been

coaching at Ryerson ever since.

Over the years, Reid has helped

shape the womens volleyball team

into the powerhouse program its

become. As of last season, Reidhas collected 46 victories as the

head coach and this year, has add-

ed four more wins to his record. In

the 2012-13 season, Reid coached

the Rams to their best season ever,

posting a 14-4 record and reach-

ing the OUA Final Four for only

the second time in the programs

history.

After coaching the womens

team for eight years and the mens

for only a month-and-a-half, Reid

is trying to give both teams toppriority.

I had a lot of worries for the

players on the womens team be-

cause I think that they maybe felt

why did they have to have less of

either my time, or my attention?

Reid said. What did they do to

deserve that? But theyve been

fabulous.

Following in the footsteps of last

seasons mens head coach, Mirek

Porosa who is on leave for personal

reasons, requires melding old sys-tems with Reids own stratagies.

Off to a great start this season

with both teams above .500, Reid

seems to be balancing his time be-

tween the two quite well. But the

Rams arent his only priorities. He

is also a husband and a father of

two. Reid admits that time man-

agement isnt his strongest point,

but he seems to be managing a

hectic schedule very well.

I think if you talk to my family

they wouldnt say that Im balanc-ing it great, but I think they under-

stand how passionate I am about

what I do, Reid said.

His passion for the game is helping

Reid do it all. A father, a husband,

the mens coach and the womens

coach; it seems that Dustin Reid and

balance are just mutually suited.

Wings and beer, peanut butter and

elly, or Dustin Reid and balance.

ome things are just mutually suit-

d to each other. Despite contend-

ng with a busy schedule by coach-ng both the women and mens

olleyball teams this year, Reid is

more than ready for the challenge.

A former volleyball superstar,

Reid brought his volleyball exper-

ise to Ryerson eight years ago.

Having played professionally in

Europe, Reid has also represented

Canada in more than 120 inter-

national matches including two

world cups, and headed up On-

arios gold medal winning team at

he 1993 Canada Games.

Reid started volleying young.

His inspiration to pick up the sport

ame from close friend, Ken Da-ies, who was a great all-around

thlete, and particularly a volley-

ball fanatic.

In Reids first year, and Davies

enior year, of highschool, Davies

was tragically killed in a car acci-

dent by a drunk driver. Despite the

oss, Davies had a big impact on

For most competitive athletes,

tarting young is an integral pro-ess to developing their skills to

professional level. Often NHL

hockey stars tell stories about

earning to skate before they could

walk. But for Perry Marshall, his

passion for curling began later in

ife, finding out about the sport at

he University of Toronto.

The old football coach used to

be a curler, and he would start a

ocial gathering of curlers and non

urlers, Marshall said. Its where

first got exposed to it, going out

o it socially and then I got inter-

sted competitively after that.

Two years ago Stuart Leslie wastanding with fellow curlers Alex

Champ and Nicole Titkai on the

padded floor of a local Toronto

urling rink, deep in discussion,

when they made history.

All three were advanced junior

evel curlers on the competitive

ircuit, but had started to notice

n absence at the university level.

There was no Ryerson curling

eam, so they decided to create

heir own.

But with no plan, no proposal

nd no coach, they knew Ryerson

thletics would have a hard time

aking three teenagers seriously.

And they were right. Athletic di-

ector Ivan Joseph had told them

hat a curling club was possible

ometime in the future, but not

now. And left it at that.

They had thrown the first rock

down the ice, but without proper

guidance they just werent sure

where it would land.Cue Perry Marshall, who over-

heard the trio talking in the chilly

arena and decided to cut in.

If youre thinking of starting a

team please let me know. I want

to get involved with this, Mar-

shall said. I want to make this

happen for you guys so we can get

Ryerson on the map.

The group was stunned. They

knew about Marshalls profes-

sional work on the competitive

circuit, and quickly got into talks

with athletics to get him on board.

A towering figure in the Cana-

dian curling world, Marshall hascoached teams his entire adult

life, from curling to hockey to

baseball. Marshall also partici-

pates in competitive curling at lo-

cal, regional and provincial levels

in his free time.

For the past 10 years, Marshall

has been heading various mens

and womens teams across On-

tario. His teams have reached pro-

vincial finals on two occasions.

Now he has set his sights on

Ryerson.

Titkai originally met Marshall

a few years earlier at a competi-

tive tournament that she played in

with his daughter. She used to justknow him as the guy that came

and watched them every weekend.

Without Perry we wouldnt be

here today, said Titkai. He was

By Ramisha Farooq just so committed from the begin-ning. He wanted to have this hap-

pen, and it was important to have

him with us for that.Two years later and theyve

been approved for club status at

Ryerson. It is the first curling team

at Ryerson since the 1960s and

the first womens team in Ryer-

sons history. The team attributes

this success to Marshall.

He said, Congratulations, you

guys did it! even though it was

majority him. He said, You guys

made this happen too, said Tit-

kai. Marshall then took them out

for a congratulatory dinner.

It was then that we realized the

amount of work that Perry had

put into our proposal. [RyersonAthletics] said it was one of the

most impressive applications they

had ever received, said Leslie.

The group currently only has

club status. This means Marshall

is volunteering his time with-

out pay to coach the team. The

teams status and success depends

on this.

Nick Asquini, the varsity op-

erations coordinator for Ryerson

Athletics, echoed the statement

Marshalls players have been say-

ing all along.

It usually takes a year or two

for a coach to understand how

university sports work, but Perry

knew everything going in. He

came in and hit the ground run-

ning, Asquini said.

With files from Devin Jones.

10 SPORTS Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015


11/12

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015 FUN 11

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A guide to eating superfoods

Being healthy is hard, becausehealthy food is disgusting. When

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Discrepancyfound inFUNding

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More to come.

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12/12

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 201512

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