JAN 27 2015 - The Eyeopener

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Volume 49 - Issue 14January 27, 2016

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2/16

2 Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016

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IMPARTIALITY

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LEARNING

INDEPENDENCE

ANNUAL REPORT

FOR JULY 1, 2014 TO

JUNE 30, 2015 FOR THE

OMBUDSPERSON AT

RYERSON UNIVERSITY

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The Office of the Ombudsperson at

Ryerson presents its

2014 / 2015Annual Reportto the Ryerson Community.

The Ombudspersons Office is:

Independent Impartial Confidential Fair

Read the report online at:www.ryerson.ca/ombuds

63 Gould St., 2nd Floor, Rooms OAK215 / 216Toronto, ON M5B 1E9

416.979.5000 ext. [email protected]


3/16

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 NEWS 3

By Nicole Schmidt

Since starting his studies at Ry-

erson, first-year theatre student

Aaron Wolfe-Maxwell has been

dealing with a long list of accom-

modation issues. On the first day

of one of his classes, he says hisprofessor suggested dropping the

course because it would be too

hard.

Wolfe-Maxwell was born Deaf,

and the lack of appropriate re-

sources on campus makes it dif-

ficult for him to fully participatein classes.

Its so sad to see that people

underestimate me because of my

Deafness, said Wolfe-Maxwell.

Ignorance made me to lose my

motivation in school. I ended upmissing many days I was fail-

ing a course because there was no

support.Accommodation for deaf stu-

dents has always creatted chal-

lenges at Ryerson. A new taskforce is being assembled to address

these issues, but several members

of the deaf community have ex-

pressed concerns about a lack of

representation.

Denise ONeil Green, assistant

vice-president/vice-provost, eq-uity, diversity and inclusion (EDI),

was selected as chair of the com-

mittee. Shes also responsible for

overseeing seven other committees

and administrative groups, in-

cluding the Aboriginal Education

Council and the Academic Senate.ONeil Green has experience with

Many students in the deaf community face barriers on campus. PHOTO: ANNIE ARNONE

a variety of accessibility issues oncampus, but she does not have

specific expertise dealing with theproblems deaf students face.

The idea of bringing Denise[in] was really to consult. We are

not bringing her as a specialist,

said interim president Mohamed

Lachemi. I think she has a very

good understanding of issues

faced by students in different cat-egories.

In October 2015, Ellen Hibbard a Deaf Ryerson alumna who

received her PhD in communica-tions and culture from the school

in 2015 and promotes access on

campus and Deborah Fels

the inclusive media design centresdirector suggested the creation

of a task force lead by a deaf con-

sultant to help reduce barriers on

campus. Lachemi was the provost

and vice-president academic at the

time.Plans have been made to add a

deaf person to the task force, and

the committee is expected to seek

external input. But in a community

thats often isolated because of a

communication barrier, Hibbard

said its important that the major-ity of the committee has experience

with deaf specific issues. If members

arent fluent in American Sign Lan-

guage (ASL), it becomes a lot moredifficult for them to meet with deaf

students to discuss problems.

It is not possible to ask some-one who has general knowledge

of inclusion and access to apply

general knowledge to Deaf people

because Deaf people have unique

issues, culture and language, said

Hibbard. Its like having a maletask force to address discrimina-

tion and oppression against wom-

en.

Fels said theres a large pool of

knowledgeable staff and students

at Ryerson disability studies

faculty, Deaf alumni and Deaf fac-

ulty all have a lot of insight. Sheadded that having a token deaf

person on the task force isn

enough.

Theyre just throwing mor

VPs and directors at the prob

lem, she said. Hearing peopl

think they know whats best fodeaf people and thats a problem

deaf students are feeling lik

theyre being pushed around an

not being heard. This committe

is more evidence to the problem.

Hibbard and Fels said thescheduled a meeting with ONe

Green to discuss some of the is

sues in March 2015, but ha

to cancel because Fels was sick

Both said theyve made several at

tempts to reschedule over the pas

11 months, but ONeil Green hanot returned any of their calls o

emails.

ONeil Green said in an ema

that EDI is fully committed to val

ues of community and inclusionand that all students, faculty, stafand alumni are welcome to shar

their experiences. I definitel

plan to reach out to our alum an

schedule a meeting to address an

miscommunication that may hav

occurred, she wrote.Ryerson does not have any ASL

interpreters on staff. Marc Emond

manager of Academic Accommo

dation Support, said these service

must be booked externally at leas

two weeks in advance. Bookin

interpreters for classes can taklonger because sometimes the

need specialized training, depend

ing on the course content.SEE ACCESS ON PAGE 7

New task force addressing deaf issues sparks criticismMembers of the deaf community have expressed concerns over lack of representation on a task force addressing accommodation issues

Access to Ed debate heating up, again

The access to education debate at Rye is alive and well. PHOTO: FARNIA FEK

By Keith Capstick

After a semester of debate sur-

rounding access to education at

Ryerson, vice-president education

Cormac McGee and the Ryerson

Students Union (RSU) met with

a representative from the OntarioMinistry of Training, Colleges and

Universities on Jan. 25.

McGee brought with him a plan

to work with the province to createa base pool of finances to compen-

sate students for unpaid work theyparticipate in to finish their degree.

Money would come every year

to offset the cost of unpaid intern-

ships that are for credit because a

lot of those costs get downloaded

onto students, McGee said. This

money needs to come from theprovince because if you try to get

[an employer] to pay, theyre just

going to slash the placements.

This process beginning is the

culmination of the RSUs battle

to find a way to fight for access toeducation on campus but notably

is not centered around the goal

previous RSU governments have

prioritized freezing tuition fees.

McGee said this goal isnt real-

istic.

I really think that the province

didnt really take us seriously before

we showed up We wanted to goin with something that was really

tangible, McGee said. When you

have a province thats trying to dig

out of their massive deficit right

now I dont think freezing tuition isreally on the table for them at all.

Vajdaan Tanveer a vocal

member of Reignite Ryerson

the group of students who have

been critical of the RSUs inability

to take an official stance on tuition

fees, is frustrated by this outcome.It shows the lack of genuine

effort that they put in initially be-

cause when they first started [to

discuss access to education] their

initial comment was that there

was work to be done with the

province in terms of tuition fees,Tanveer said. Now I dont think

they were being genuine in that,

I think they just wanted to say

something.

Reignite doesnt see this specific

fight for unpaid internships as a

campus-wide campaign, and de-

spite applauding the cause, they saytuition fees are where the fight lies.

He definitely isnt representing

all of the school right now in the

work that hes doing in terms of

access to education, said Tanveer.

Back at Ryerson the next day,

McGee took to the Ryerson Boardof Governors with a presentation of

the key issues students at Ryerson

are facing. These issues range from

accessibility to mental health sup-

port and shortening wait times for

counselling. The presentation is thefirst step of the RSUs involvement

with the macro budgeting commit-

tee to help distribute funds to the

places students want them.

McGee said due to the schools

rocky relationship with previousRSU governments, they were appre-

hensive about starting this process.

Obviously relationships be-

tween administration and RSU

havent always been great and

theres obviously some trust issues

but I think theyre ready to listen

to us, McGee said.

According to McGee this is thefirst time students have been consid-

ered in the macro budgeting process

outside budgeting town halls the

school held in previous years. He

said process wont allow admin-

istration to go up into Jorgensen

Hall and not be heard from again.Whats different this year is that

were the first people theyre hear-

ing from, McGee said. Im work-

ing to set up a date where were

going to host a public event where

[the macro group] is going to repor

back on how theyre committing t

each one of these [requests].

Reignite is skeptical the same dialogue-only mentality wont con

tinue with this latest RSU attempt

Im glad theyre bringing stu

dents into the fold but its a piec

of a larger puzzle. My question

is, Whats going to be the resulof this? said Mitchell Demars

a fourth-year politics and gover

nance student, who is a member o

Reignite. Just more dialogue or i

there going to be a serious fundin

priority change?

Its like having a male task

force to address discrimina-

tion and oppression against

women


4/16

4 EDITORIAL Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016

Editor-in-ChiefSean Cant pronounce

Wetselaar

NewsKeith Get Fucked Capstick

Nicole You Got This SchmidtAl NUGGETS Donwham

Features

Farnia Quidditch Scar Fekri

Biz and TechJacob Hey Al Dub

Arts and LifeKaroun fArts Chahinian

SportsDevin SweatSwag Jones

CommunitiesAlanna Monday Night Lights

Rizza

PhotoAnnie Alive Selfie ArnoneJake Whos Jake? Scott

Chris Pretty boy Blanchette

FunSkyler Crystal Balls Ash

MediaRob Dad Style 2016 Foreman

OnlineIgor Dont Start Beef MagunTagwa Burns the Beef MoyoLee Wheres the Beef? Rich-

ardson

General ManagerLiane Thugnificent McLarty

Advertising Manager

Chris Don Roberts

Design DirectorJ.D. Wall Cleaver Mowat

Intern ArmyGracie Goodbye Brison

Mikayla Farewell FasulloBen Hydrate Hoppe

Victoria Thanks Sykes

ContributorsSarah Cool Nike hat KrichelBrennan Hes back! DohertyLindsay Bearcat Christopher

Robert Splifficated MackenziePremila Bees knees DSa

Nick Im not DunneNoella Smaug Ovid

Noushin Aqua cellar Ziafati

Ammi Amother chickenParmar

Deni ANSWER ME VerklanZeinab Strut Saidoun

Twoey Slay Gray

Evan Call me back ManningLuke Sweeter manz Galati

Mitchell Still cool ThompsonEmma Hiss-terical King

Alexia Retweets Di PrioreNicole Real-Eyes Di Donato

Playing the part of the AnnoyinTalking Coffee Mug this week is m

coffee mug, which I wish had morcoffe in it.

The Eyeopener is Ryersons largesand only independent student news

paper. It is owned and operated bRye Eye Publishing Inc., a non

profit corporation owned by the students of 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.

Hoops, hopes and togethernessBySeanWetselaar

Aaron Best doing his thing. PHOTO: LUKE GALAT

Im not a basketball fan. To be

honest, I barely pay attention to

sports in general.

When I came to Ryerson, I was

told about our sports teams, andsome of the sports editors at The

Eyeopener tried over the years

to convince me that things were

changing for the athletics depart-

ment.

I nodded along, sipped my cof-

fee and continued to pay as littleattention as I could.

And on a campus dominated by

creative hipsters and anti-jocks,

I hardly feel my apathy was un-

usual. But heres the thing this

weekend our mens basketballteam toppled the two best teams in

the country. And its a huge fuck-

ing deal.As youll read in our sports sec-

tion this week, our wins over Car-

leton and the University of Ottawamark a peak in the quarter of a

century of struggle put in by the

program.

But our teams winning is about

more than just a lot of hours putin at the gym, a lot of blood and

sweat, and a lot of money spent

painting Rise With Us on walls.

Ryersons athletics, and the al-

most unimaginable rise in popu-

larity our schools sports teams

have experienced in the last fiveyears alone, are part of the bigger

story of our school.

Ryerson has spent the better

part of the last decade and a half

or so since it became a full-fledge

university searching for an iden-tity. That, much like the awkward

soul-searching of many adoles-

cents, has been a long process.

But as our little campus grows up,

learns to shave and starts packing

for college, weve slowly settledinto a sense of community that

I honestly believe Sheldon Levy

probably would have called a pipe

dream in 2005.

Theres a good chance that you,dear reader, do not care whether

our basketball team takes home anational championship this spring

which is looking like an in-

creasingly unridiculous possibility.

But I want you to take a minute to

smile about it anyway.Because little by little, trophy

by trophy, new program by new

program, it seems like weve got

ourselves a real school here.

A better reputation for the

school that will one day sit onyour resum cant possibly hurt,

especially given how much it will

likely cost. And lets be real, it feels

pretty good to kick Ottawas ass.

CORRECTIONIn a Wednesday, Jan. 20 articlentitled RU Tired of paying founpaid work? The Eyeopeneincorrectly identified Alyson Rogers as having mental health issuesThe Eyeoepener regrets this error

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5/16


By Brennan Doherty

The Ryerson Students Union

(RSU) rejected the last appeal bythe Mens Issues Awareness Soci-

ety (MIAS) to become an officially

sanctioned student group.

RSU president Andrea Bartlettsaid that the group cannot appeal

any further.

MIAS, which styles itself as a

space for Ryerson students and af-

filiates to discuss the issues facing

men and boys today, first applied

for campus group status in Octo-ber. The RSUs Board of Directors

has consistently rejected the group

Kevin Arriola at the RSU Board of Directors meeting. PHOTO: AL DOWNHAM

the latest attempt to establish

a mens issues organization on-campus.

What were doing is reallyraising issues that have never

been [talked] about or usually

disregarded, said Kevin Arriola,

MIASs president.Arriola said the verdict didnt

surprise him.

I knew I was coming into a

kangaroo court, so Im not really

surprised with the decision. Now

we have to think about the next

step, he said.Despite lobbying efforts by the

Canadian Association For Equal-

ity (CAFE) a Toronto-based

mens rights group to influenceMondays decision, Bartlett said the

vote would ultimately be out of her

hands.

While I have received numerous

calls and emails from the member-

ship of CAFE urging me to recon-sider the decision, the decision is

one of the committee, Bartlett

wrote via message before the meet-

ing. She said she arranged a one-on-

one meeting with Arriola before,

but hed refused unless several jour-

nalists were present to record theirconversation.

Arriola was questioned by sev-

eral directors at the meeting about

his groups commitment to equity

which the RSU said isnt consis-

tent with their policies.We are definitely approach-

ing [mens issues] from an equity

standpoint, Arriola said. He

added the groups egalitarianismmeans equity is kind of implied.

Several directors said thatMIAS recognition as a student

group would make female staff

and students at Ryerson feel un-

safe.

When there are women who

are attending these spaces because

they want to see whats beingtalked about, how will you ensure

that there are no voices that are

targeting or oppressing anyone

else? said Carolyn Myers, equity

correspondent for the Board of

Governors.

Arriola has consistently denied

that there are any safety issues as-

sociated with MIAS.

Alyson Rogers, co-organizer ofthe Ryerson Feminist Collective,

was relieved to hear the groups

appeal was denied.

I thank the RSU Board of Di-

rectors (BOD) for making a really

good decision for women on cam-

pus, feminists on campus, sexualassault survivors on campus and

really just student safety in gen-

eral, she said.

MIAS first application to the

BOD in October was rejected,

according to the RSU transcripts,because the groups constitution

was ambiguous and duplicated

functioning of existing equity

centres. Arriola was repeatedly

questioned by directors on this.

A working relationship withCAFE which several RSU direc-

tors consider a hate group has

also hindered Arriolas efforts.

In Decembers meeting, Arriola

promised the RSU he wouldnt in-

vite anyone from CAFE.

We are willing to work wit

you guys, he told the commit

tee. We wont have CAFE here

anyone who ever speaks to CAFE

[we] will eliminate them from thpool.

CAFE hosted both of MIAS off

campus events, and backs Ryer

son-affiliated mens issues group

in an upcoming human right

case against universities opposinthem. We have a chance here t

win a precedent that will open th

door to unimpeded campus event

and debates across campus, the

wrote in a fundraising post.

Arriola was tight-lipped abouthe details of the case. Were jus

still not sure about that, he said

Rogers was especially concerne

about CAFE.

People organizing with thes

beliefs is of course a concern fo

us. Yeah, it is concerning. Whil

this vote is good, theres still morwork to be done around misogyn

and sexism on campus.

Ultimately, Arriola said that hi

group will keep fighting for recog

nition, holding events at CAFEheadquarters off-campus.

Mens issues group fails to get ratified

Curriculum getting aboriginal update

By Annie Arnone

Ryerson University and Journal-

ists for Human Rights (JHR) are

working together to bring contentabout indigenous communities

into Ryersons journalism curricu-

lum.

Associate chair of journalism,

Janice Neil, said that in the winter

of 2017 a new elective will be of-

fered to students between secondand fourth year that will focus on

indigenous content.

The Truth and Reconciliation

Commission of Canada (TRC)called on Canadian journalism

programs to require educationfor all students on the history of

Aboriginal peoples and states

this in detail in their Call to Ac-

tion report, under recommenda-

tion 86, published in December.

Neil said that the class willencompass everything suggested

in recommendation 86 by both

informing journalism students

about what they should know

and giving them a foundation of

knowledge and historical con-

text, but also how the mediafailed or succeeded in depicting

indigenous people, in the past,

and what you can do as a jour-

nalist going forward.

Third-year student, Joleine

Kasper believes TRCs recom-mendation will be useful in edu-

cating journalists on indigenous

content. In terms of number 86

its important for journalists to be

educated on the history because a

lot of people lack that knowledgeand theres a lot of stigma and dis-

crimination [against indigenous

people].

TRC aims to shed light on indige-

nous history specifically the Indi-

an Residential Schools agreement.

Executive Director of JHR, Ra-

chel Pulfer, says she believes intro-

ducing a new class will allow an

opportunity for open-minded dis-cussion among young journalists.

Working with journalism stu-

dents at the beginning of their ca-

reer leaves a real opportunity to

insure an open-minded approach

to coverage and understandingof where these [indigenous] com-

munities have come from, she

said. It also equips journalism

students with the knowledge they

need to cover these issues later on

in whatever form of media theychoose.

Both the University of Winnipeg

and Lakehead University are mak-

ing it mandatory for undergradu-

ate students to take a three-credit

course in indigenous culture in or-

der to graduate.According to Ryerson interim-

president Mohammed Lachemi,

the university took action after

TRC published their report.

The first thing that we did was

put a committee in place, he said.When we developed this, we re-

ally engaged the aboriginal com-

munity in the discussion to see

what are their needs.

Kasper believes that it is im-

portant to come together as a na-tion, and this curriculum change

will be a step toward doing so.

Its time we rebuild the rela-

tionship between aboriginal and

non-aboriginal communities.

Its time we re-build therelationship between ab-

original and non-aboriginal

communities.

Ryerson responds to Truth and Reconcilation Commission recommendations


6/16

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016NEWS

RSU president Andrea Bartlett and BoD chair Abe Snobar. PHOTO: AL DOWNHA

New student groups, new policyBy Sarah Krichel

The Ryerson Students Union

(RSU) approved a motion to up-date their harassment, discrimina-

tion and workplace violence pol-

icy on Monday at their Board of

Directors (BoD) meeting.

RSU president Andrea Bartlett

said that she will meet with thecity of Toronto in February to find

ways to improve campus safety.

What I want to understand is

how it works from the citys per-

spective, Bartlett said. This is

like a step one meeting to under-

stand if its even on their radar.The updated policy ensures Ry-

ersons environment remains a safe

place free of discrimination or ha-

rassment of any kind, from racism

to sexism and ableism. It also givesinstruction to those victimized.

Here is a recap of the other mo-

tions presented at the meeting:

Opting out of health and den-

tal plan PASSED

Students will have the choice ofopting out of the health and dental

insurance plan coverage and can

choose between having their refund

credited to their RAMSS account or

receiving a cheque.

Gallivan and Associates to op-

erate Health and Dental Plan and

Wellness PASSEDThe division of People Corpo-

ration used in previous years was

reappointed as the Ryerson consul-

tant for the health and dental insur-ance. Effective until Aug. 31, 2021.

Photography Club PASSED

The Photography Club of Ryer-

son was ratified with official status

as an RSU group with the rights

in the Students Group Policy. Thegroup has already held photo walks

from the Ryerson Student Learning

Centre to the Polson Pier to the Dis-

tillery District.

Somali Students Association

PASSED

The Somali Students Associationat Ryerson was ratified with official

status as an RSU group. The club is

meant to bring Somali students and

any other students together to edu-

cate them about Somalian culture

through events like movie nights.

Election of the Equity and So-

cial Justice Commissioner Chair

PASSEDCassandra Myers, a board rep-

resentative from the Faculty of

Community Services, was elected

for the position and will be acting

as a liaison between the board an

the executive when handling issue

involving equity and social justice

The Mens Issues Awarenes

Societys appeal REJECTED

Another motion was delayed un

til the BoDs next meeting to add first year and international studen

representative to the RSUs board

Briefs&

groaners> Enraged man hurls coffee at

student

Some douche threw a cuppa hoJoe at some dude in Yonge-Dun

das Square. If that wasnt ba

enough, the poor dude was the

threatened with a metal bar.

Geez Louise. Dont you hat

it when Tim Hortons screws uyour order?

> Partially naked dancing dud

spotted on Gould Street

A man was reported exposing hi

goods (which werent that goodon Gould Street. When securit

arrived, he was no longer naked

He was, however, found dancing

Let your freak flag fly, yo

dancing queen.

Seen some crazy shit on cam-

pus? Let us know. Email news@

theeyeopener.com

> You wanna go, bro?

Security removed Ryersons verown He-Man from the Matta

my Athletic Centre after he wa

caught yelling, Who wants t

fight? indiscriminately.

His motives were unclear, bu

were guessing its something tdo with his manhood.

> Two peas in the pod

After a commotion in the

podium was reported, a couple

was found #bangaranging in awashroom. However, their love

was fleeting, as they refused to

identify themselves and immedi

ately fled campus.

> Coffee crusader

A man stole straws from the SLCStarbucks and threw garbage ev

erywhere. Hes probably pisseabout the cafes recent War o

Christmas or whatever.

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7/16


Ryerson has leased new lab space in the MaRS building. PHOTO: JAKE SCOTT

By Keith Capstick

The Ryerson faculty of science isgetting 20,000 square feet of new

lab space.

Ryerson has leased the space

from the MaRS building on College

Street, across from the University

of Torontos St. George campus.Before faculty moves in, the space

will be renovated and equipped

with stat-of-the-art materials for

students and researchers.

Imogen Coe, the dean of the fac-

ulty of science, says the space was

urgently needed.The space will be slotted out

for researchers who currently have

either no space at all, or very small

and outdated amounts of space,

Coe said.

This space will be dedicated al-most entirely to the science faculty

in an effort to accommodate the

disciplines unique space require-ments.

We signed an agreement with

MaRS to get new space, whichwould also be available to our

researchers including students ...

which is a huge addition to our

researchers in biology and science

in general, said Ryerson interim

president Mohamed Lachemi.

The space will be largely wet

lab space, where chemicals and

other hazardous substances can behandled safely in liquid form.

This is the latest in a succession

of initiatives from the administra-

tion to create more space for thefaculty of science. Ryerson was

at St. Michaels Hospital on Jan.

26 to unveil its new Institute forBiomedical Engineering and Sci-

ence Technology (iBEST) which

will house 15 faculty members

and 40 students. The school plans

to set aside a large portion of the

new Daphne Cockwell Health Sci-

ences Complex to various science

departments including nursing.

Lachemi recognizes this consis-tent effort to growing the faculty.

The faculty of science is the

newest faculty at Ryerson and of

course we have to accommodatetheir space needs, Lachemi said.

Bryan Laks, a third-year bio-medical science student, is excited

about the prospect of having im-

proved equipment and hopes the

schools motivation to create more

science space will help put the pro-

gram on the map.All of our labs are in Kerr Hall

The Jan. 21 RCDS board meeting where slates were eliminated.PHOTO: AL DOWNHAM

By Al Downham

An emergency general meeting(GM) will be held by the RyersonCommunication and Design Soci-

ety (RCDS) Friday after a petition

called for discussion on the soci-

etys elimination of election slates.

You need an actual general

public vote to really know what[FCAD members] want or not,

said third-year performance dance

student John-Charles Vaughan,

the petitions creator.

The petition, titled Call for

RCDS Emergency General Meet-ing, was created hours after the

RCDS Board of Directors (BoD)

meeting Jan. 21. It requested a GM

on the BoDs ruling to eliminate

slates for the 2016-17 RCDS BoDelection Feb. 10-12. A slate is a

team running for election.Until [a GM] is held, the bylaw

stands and the upcoming electoral

process of our student society will

be impacted, the petition states.

Vaughan said the RCDS BoD can

put in their bylaws as they wish,but wanted to ensure students could

voice their opinion on the amend-

ment at an emergency GM before

elections. Vaughan said he has no

preference between slates or indi-

vidual candiates for the election.It wasnt so much what the

motion was, it was how the inner

workings got the say on it but not

the student body, Vaughan said.

Michal Stolarczyk a FCAD

member and third-year journal-ism student that signed the peti-tion said the BoD can say all

they want that parties and slates

shouldnt be in the election, but

the motion should have waited un-

til a GM where at least 30 FCAD

members must attend for quorum.The RCDS constitution states

special GMs can be called by the

societys vice-president adminis-

tration and operations a po-

sition currently held by Paulina

Gusciora when a written re-quest is submitted and signed by

at least 50 FCAD members. The

petition reached the minimum re-

quirement Jan. 24.

During debate, RCDS BoD

members including vice-president

finance Luke Villemaire said mak-ing candidates run individually

allows for an easy playing field,

while vice-president events Tavia

Bakowski said [elections without

slates] may be overwhelming to

first-year students.I think it shows through mo-

tivation theyre trying to turn the

election more towards the individ-

ual, Stolarczyk said.

RCDS President Casey Yuen,

who suggested an emergency GMat the BoD meeting, said changes

to bylaws can happen at board lev-

el but are also brought to the GM

to inform the public. She was vot-

ed into her position last year with

right now and its just a very out-dated building. All the labs are a bit

outdated, they have the old chalk-

boards and some of the equipment

has kind of broken down, Laks

said. Every single time somebody

asks me my program their firstquestion is, Oh I didnt know Ryer-

son had science. This will definitely

give us a name.

Construction is set to begin on

the renovation of the space this

spring and will be finished in time

for the beginning of the next aca-demic year in September, accord-

ing to Lachemi.

RCDS plans emergency GM

Envision RCDS, an electoral slate.

Yuen said the RCDS BoD be-

lieves in giving equal opportunityamong potential candidates. She

said she sees pros and cons of

both slates and individual candi-dates.

If you believe in the mandate

[of a slate] and how they think the

organization should be run, it al-

lows students who dont know

every single person agree on whatthey believe in, Yuen said. I

would assume a student would be

confused at the many posters [of

individual candidates]. It would

get a little confusing. But its

something they should care about.Its something that does impact

them.

Science is getting new digs Deafstudentsface barrierson campus

ACCESS CONTINUED FROM

PAGE 3

Sidney Drmay, coordinator aRyeACCESS, added that the un

versity doesnt have accredite

ASL classes. RyeACCESS offer

courses, but they can only take 3

students per session despite

larger interest.New staff are required to do

mandatory online training cours

and additional training is avail

able through Ryersons Academi

Accommodation Services. But Fel

said the training is not sufficientKnowing about a standard an

implementing those things in

classroom are two very differenthings, she said. Every disabilit

needs a different approach.

Ryersons Academic Accommodation of Students with Dis

abilities policy says that instruc

tors should strive to make cours

curriculum and materials an

course activities accessible to a

students, and the Accommoda

tion for Persons with DisabilitiePolicy says that students will b

considered individually to deter

mine accommodations.

Still, some Deaf students hav

experienced discrimination an

have had problems with facult

not properly accommodatinthem.

Wolfe-Maxwell said one of hi

professors refused to show vid

eos with subtitles. Jenny Leung

a third-year business technologmajor who is also Deaf, said sh

had similar issues with closed cap

tioning services.

We expect professors to knowwhat to do and students to tak

on the advocacy needed to con

vince a professor the right way t

do things, said Fels.

Heather Willis, accessibility co

ordinator in the office of EquityDiversion and Inclusion at Ryer

son, said its not about integratin

disabled people into spaces it

about integrating accessibility int

what already exists. Disability i

created by societal barriers, shsaid. Were not there yet, bu

were always learning from eac

other and sharing ideas to mak

things better.

Knowing about a standard and

implementing those things in a

classroom are two very differen

things. Every disability needs a

different approach


8/16

8 Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016FEATURES

There was more than enough room for JeremyDavidson to sneak into the next lane. He wasstopped at a red light in downtown Toronto,traffic wasnt moving and neither was the cab

that was slightly behind him in the next lane over. So, like

any driver trying to squeeze into congested Toronto traf-fic, Davidson took advantage and angled his car into thenext lane.

Thats when the cabbie stepped on the gas, aiming rightfor the side of his vehicle. And there was no sign of himslowing down.

Davidson had only been an Uber driver for a couple ofweeks. With no training other than a 10-minute video thatinstructed him to give water to his customers like a limou-sine driver, he did what most drivers would do: with notime to check where he was going, he jerked his vehicleback into his lane. The cab screeched to a halt where hisunder-a-month-old 2016 Dodge Caravan had once been. Itwouldve hit his car if he hadnt pulled away.

Obviously I thought they were an idiot for doing it,says the Ted Rogers School of Management class of 2014graduate. I do [feel guilty driving for Uber] in the sensethat it takes over all these peoples jobs. But at the same

time, I have to survive, too.

Toronto taxis have been saying the same thing,protesting Ubers presence in Toronto with nu-merous protests shutting down major streetsthis past year. In October, Toronto City Council

voted to update existing taxi and limousine laws to applyto Uber, which includes paying for proper licensing andbrokerage fees. But the battle between the two industriesis an inherently unfair one taxi drivers fixed metrecharges arent able to compete with Ubers lower prices.Taxi drivers are forced to pay an average of $1,000 inannual-renewal fees on taxi plates, stickers and provin-cial plates; $40 for an annual criminal-record check; feesfor a CPR refresher course; $950 in monthly car and in-surance payments; and about $525 in monthly broker-age, depending on the drivers dispatch company and thenumber of calls the driver buys from dispatch.

Although city council asked Uber to stop its services in

the interim, the company which launched its Torontochapter in 2010 continued to operate with more than500,000 riders and at least 20,000 drivers in Toronto.On Jan. 22, Uber released a statement saying it had beengranted a brokerage license for all services except uberX

(for which drivers use their own vehicles) effective-ly eliminating the threat of one of the two charges laidagainst its drivers.

According to Ubers website, partners spend anaverage of 10hours driving perweek which

a 2015 study by PrincetonUniversity cited as one ofthe most attractive charac-teristics of the ridesharingcompany for its drivers.While no Canadian studieshave analyzed the makeupof Ubers drivers, the Princ-eton study found that sevenper cent of Uber drivers in the United States are students.These students were a large part of the 32 per cent of drivers

who worked for Uber while looking for a steady, full-timejob like Davidson, whos been primarily landscapingsince graduation, with a brief stint as a security guard be-fore studying Arabic for 8 months. Working for Uber was aconvenient decision thats been helping him pay off $35,000in student loans and $21,000 in car payments. He didnthave to leave his house after landscaping for 12 hours toapply or have an interview the only time he stepped intothe Uber headquarters was to double check that there wereno hidden fees.

Sitting behind a computer in the Toronto offices onAdelaide Street East is Justin Valmores. At home in themodern glass and wood-panel swank of the HQ, Valmoresworks full-time as a community support representative.He spends around 40 hours a week responding to emailsabout lost wallets and surcharges, while also juggling a fullcourse load as a third-year RTA student.

I dont think I could have ever landed myself a better

opportunity than with Uber, says Valmores, whos beeworking with the company for four months.

The success story of Uber has come up in several of hclasses, Valmores says. Sitting in his advertising copywring class, students discussed the creativity behind Uber

elastic brand. This is what Valmores characterizes as thdifference between the (cheaper) uberX service, and (thmore luxurious) UberBLACK.

The first time that Valmores used Uber, in fact, was witan UberBLACK.

It was April 2015, anValmores was headed tthe RTA programs TARAawards with three friendStanding at the corneof Victoria and Dundastreets, dressed in a tuxedand with $20 of free Ubecredit in his pocket, he embarked on his first car ride

The guy opened thdoor for us. He had treats, he had a bottle of water in thback, and Im thinking, Do I pay for this? Do I not? Ho

does this work? he recalls. The affordable luxury of thUberBLACK, combined with other services like the competitively-priced uberX, is what Valmores says defines thpopularity of Uber in Toronto especially for universitstudents who could use the extra dollars here and there

Davidson is a more recent addition to the Uber teamhaving started in December. Since then, hes made contacin marketing by talking to a few customers. And, as Uballows drivers to set their own schedules, Davidson says makes applying for marketing jobs and scheduling inteviews easier (though hes working 30-40 hours per weekBut those are largely the only positive aspects of Uber fohim.

A

lthough Uber says that drivers can make $2an hour, Davidson says its only about $15 aftededucting gas costs. The drivers vehicle and insurance are also considered personal expense

As his wife is studying on a full scholarship at the Unive

Working for UBER is a

convenient decision thats

been helping him pay off

$35,000 in student loans

: GAUGING THE IMPACUBER


9/16

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 9FEATURES

sity of Toronto for a masters degree in criminology, Da-vidson is the sole debtor and income earner for the newly-wed couple. To afford rent in their basement North Yorkapartment, vehicle payments, insurance, gas and food, the24-year-old needs to earn at least $2,500 per month. But

earning that bare minimum wont be possible if Uberbecomes regulated.They (Uber) have two advantages. One is that theyve

got a great product and the other i s that theyre not follow-ing the same regulations that other companies are follow-ing, says Ryerson business-ethics professor Chris Mac-Donald. The fact that youve got a great product isntunfair the fact that youre keeping your costs low by notfollowing the rules is characterized as not fair.

Davidson says that if limousine and taxi licensing by-laws are applied to Uber, he would quit right away. Un-less theyre paying you to do this, its not worth it at all.It would take a week of you working just to pay for thecommercial insurance, he says.

Like many non-professional Uber drivers, Davidson useshis personal auto insurance to protect himself on the road.At $290 a month, its the cheapest insurance he can find asa 24-year-old male.

For third-year Ryerson sociology student Saba Mir-salari, the lack of insurance isnt the only reasonwhy shes never taken an Uber which she calls aregulation-free taxi service, even though the cheap

prices are tempting. As the daughter of a taxi driver, shesfundamentally against the idea.

Its not just because, Oh, my fathers a cab driver,I shouldnt be doing this. Its also a personal choice,Mirsalari says. For me safety is a huge deal. I know thatwhen Im in a licensed cab, whether thats Beck Taxi,Crown Taxi, Co-Op or any other cab ... that Im goingto be safe and I know that, God forbid, if anything everwere to happen to me in that cab, that company wouldhave my back.

Taxicabs have additional safety features for passengersthat Uber does not. These include 17 days of training fordrivers, the mandatory cab and driver information on the

back of the car seat, a 24/7 call centre that ensures all driv-

ers facing serious complaints receive additional trainingand appropriate disciplinary actions, and security camerasthat are accessible to the Toronto Police Service.

But, for Mirsalaris father, Jafar, those additional secu-rity measures arent enough for the drivers security. One

of his first brushes with danger was in 1989 when, at 3:15a.m., two men opened the back door of his Chevrolet taxias he was turning a corner at Yonge and Bloor streets.With no power locks on the doors, Jafar had no choice butto take them to their dead-end street destination, when theman sitting directly behind him grabbed him by the neckas his partner tried to reach for his pockets. Jafar managedto release himself, and the two men took off when theyrealized that Jafar was fighting back.

For Davidson, driving for Uber is much more ex-hausting than a 12-hour landscaping shift. Notonly does he have the added pressure of drivingto the customers liking to keep his rating at 4.66,

but hes also had to defend his religion to Islamophobiccustomers in his vehicle.

The smartphone app allows users to see exactly who andwhere their driver is, how long it will take for the vehicleto arrive and which vehicle the partner is driving (a detail

thats required and verified by Uber). But it doesnt allowthe driver to save names ofrude or abusive custom-ers, which makes findingtroublesome passengersdifficult.

Davidson says that themost he can do is rate them.Its easy for passengers to receive a 5-star rating from thedriver, unless they were a no-show or were abusive. For adriver, it all depends on the passengers mood and opinions.

One customer was particularly opinionated about Da-vidsons kufi, a rounded cap often associated with Islam.As Davidson drove him from East Richmond Hill to ahouse in the west end, the man ranted about how David-son shouldnt be wearing religious symbols in the work-place and how he agreed with Donald Trumps views on

Muslims. His wife sat quietly in the back seat.

Although Davidson accidentally rated them five staout of habit, then reported them at the end of the night, hgot the last word.

I told him, This is my vehicle if you dont like it, ycan get out right now.

Though Uber employees are told to be leveheaded when engaging in Uber versus taxi dbates (They tell us, Even though we work witUber, we still need to take into consideratio

how they feel) Valmores says the popularity of Uber natural after the lengthy monopoly of the taxi industry oToronto transportation. Its about time that we kind okeep up with technology ... and use this as a way to, yoknow, better our services.

But with a growing usership of Uber which boassafer conditions for drivers and customers amongyoung people, Jafar has lost about a quarter of his incomHis dispatch, Beck Taxi, receives almost 50 per cent lecalls than in previous years, with wait times in betweecalls stretching to over an hour. Back when he first startein the taxi industry 29 years ago, a slow day meant a 20 30-minute gap in calls.

Although his wife works full-time as a receptionist at

dental practice, Jafar finds himself driving downtown ata.m. on weekends, and nogoing home until 3:30 a.mon other nights. He doethis to cover for slow Mondays and Tuesdays, pay ohis $270,000 mortgagepay into the RESP tha

funds his son and his daughters degrees, and for the linof credit paying for Mirsalaris travel costs for her semestabroad in Singapore. Some weeks, Jafar works up to 9hours to cover his expenses.

[Mom and dad have] never made me think about student debt. Theyve been like, No, this is our job. Weyour parents. In order to do that, I see the amount of timthey both spend working, Mirsalari says. But the daythat he works long hours, I can definitely see that he com

home really tired.

THE UBER VerSus TAXI DEBATE ON ryerson STUDENTS. BY DENI VeRKLAN

jafar has lost about a

quarter of his income

RIGHT TO LEFT:

MIRSALARI AND

HER FATHER, JAFAR

(PHOTO COURTESY

SABA MIRSALARI);

AN UBER DRIVER

(PHOTO COURTESY

UBER);

A TORONTO TAXI

STOPS ON FRONT

STREET (PHOTO:

ANNIE ARNONE)


10/16

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016BIZ & TECH10

Rye grad gets $1 million from Dragon

Ryerson grad Charith Perera (right) pitching to the dragons.

PHOTO COURTESY: CHARITH PERER

By Noella Ovid

A Ryerson graduate and his part-ner received $1 million in fundingfor their auto parts e-commercecompany from Michele Romanowon CBCs Dragons Den.

Best friends Charith Perera andMubin Vaid started their self-funded business, TDot Perfor-mance, while Perera was a financestudent at the Ted Rogers Schoolof Management.

In 2008, the duo went door-to-door selling LED strips importedfrom China to local retailers inToronto.

When I was in school, [I] justneeded a way of making money,said Perera. [I] then realized therewas a need for this because no onewas doing it.

Since then, their business hasevolved into a national Canadianautomotive retailer through theirwebsite, which sells car perfor-mance parts and accessories.

The company was named oneof Canadas fastest growing busi-nesses in the Profit Hot 50 list in2013 and has projected sales of$10 million for 2015.

TDot Performance has ware-houses all over Canada that shipdirectly to the consumer, avoidingextra shipping costs.

The fact that you dont takeinventory is super attractive. Thatis what kills all retail businesses,

Romanow said on the show.Before auditioning for DragonsDen, Perera entered various busi-ness competitions at Ryerson.

I thought I would be [nervousbut I felt very comfortable on sebecause it kind of brought bacmemories of when we were ibusiness-plan competitions at Ryerson, he said.

Their mobile friendly websicurrently has more than 200,00products available in the onlinshop, with no international cutoms duties or brokerage fees fotheir customers.

To demonstrate the frustratiocustomers go through with U.Scompanies on a daily basis, Peera and Vaid hosted a game showcalled The Price is Not Rightwithin their pitch.

They showed the hundreds odollars their buyers could savin purchasing car parts by avoiding the exchange duties and som

taxes of cross border shopping.That is the best business I hav

seen so far [on Dragons Den],said Romanow on the show.

The team asked for $1 millioin exchange for a 25 per cent equity stake in their company.

Without any capital, its realhard to grow. You only get to certain size, said Perera.

They accepted Romanows ofer of 27 per cent, which they arstill finalizing.

The entrepreneurs plan to keedoing what theyre doing to accelerate the growth of their busness. They will be using the mon

ey for all aspects of the businesincluding more marketing anproducts, as well as improvintheir website.

Dragons Dens Michele Romanow funds grads biz


11/16

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 BIZ & TECH 11

Gettin wet with models. 3D models

A 3D model of the Don River watershed. PHOTO COURTESY: CLAIRE OSWALD

By Noushin Ziafati

The Don River ebbs and flows

throughout its 38 k.m. length

across the Greater Toronto Area

(GTA), but in a classroom its the

size of a textbook.

To show the massive scale of

this body of water, among othersacross the GTA, two Ryerson pro-

fessors are printing 3D models ofevery watershed, which are bodies

of water, to teach high school stu-

dents about urban water.

Geography professor ClaireOswald is collaborating with

professor and chair of geography

and environmental studies Claus

Rinner and Ryerson-affiliated 3D

printing company Think2Thing to

create these watershed models.Oswald and Rinner received

funding last spring from Ryersons

RECODE, an initiative based

around working with university

businesses. Once their proposal

for the 3D printing project got

approved, they started buildingmodels and creating a teaching

plan for the year-long project.

The reason that weve been do-

ing these 3D printings is that we

think that they might be really use-

ful for helping people understand... some issues that our watersheds

are having and also to point out

some environmental stewardship

opportunities, Oswald said.

After finishing a 3D printing

course at the Toronto ReferenceLibrary, Oswald and Rinner used

the librarys Digital Innovation

Hub printer to print out their first

model, which is the 3D elevation

model of the Don River water-

shed. The model is made out ofa renewable and biodegradableplastic.

So far, the two have printed all

of the Toronto and Region Con-

servation Authoritys watersheds.

Undergraduate students in the

Geographic Analysis and Envi-ronment and Urban Sustainability

programs are taking part in the

project as well. Theyre collecting

data for the 3D print models and

creating content that they will take

to some high schools this term.Matthew Tam, a third-year

geographic analysis student, is

involved in data collection and

analysis for the watershed model

prints. He believes that showing

students 3D models of watersheds

is an effective tool.

I think as high schoolers, they

want to see something real likea model instead of reading

[about a watershed] from a text-

book. Its more interactive. They

can actually see it, touch it in per-

son, Tam said.

Similarly, Rinner said that view-ing a 3D elevation model that isable to illustrate the different pro-

cesses of water, particularly in ur-

ban watersheds, is a new way to

teach students about water.

Sarah Brigel, a fourth-year envi-

ronmental and urban sustainabil-ity student, said that the content

for this project which her and four

group members are working on is

designed to focus on the students

local area and allow them to cre-

ate a personal connection to theirlocal watershed.

We think that this is a really

important opportunity to not only

engage students at a younger ageand maybe give them a possibility

or a direction into university but

also, just to show students that atany age, they can be stewards of

their environment, she said.

Oswald is also a member of

Ryerson Urban Water (RUW),

which is a multi-disciplinary col-

lective of researchers and expertswho aim to support a healthy ur-

ban water cycle while promoting

new ways to teach students about

water. Angela Murphy, the man-

ager of Ryerson Urban Water, is

also supportive of Oswald andRinners project.

Most of the RUW folks that

have bridged out to differentschools have done so in very il-

lustrative, practical ways, said

Murphy. If there is a pond or a

creek behind the school, thatskind of the focal point where they

begin the discussion and in other

cases, they take things with them

like watershed models, and thats

where the example of a 3D model

was very useful.Rinner and Oswald are cur-

rently working on a larger, higher

quality reprint of the Don River

watershed with Think2Things

printers, which will feature colour

overlay on the print to distinguish

different land uses by colour.

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12/16

12 ARTS & LIFE Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016

Paige Foskett discovered her love of dance after dealing with mental health issues. PHOTO: CHRIS BLANCHETT

By Karoun Chahinian

She was slowly suffocating.

Drowning in her endless streamof thoughts and worries. Every

day seemed to be darker than

the last and the walls that once

held her life together were slowly

falling apart. The moment when

Paige Foskett felt as if she hit rockbottom on that hospital bed was

the moment she was given a sec-

ond chance and discovered her

passion for dance.

The first time she danced since

that experience felt like a breath

of fresh air. Finally free after whatfelt like a lifetime of darkness, ev-

ery movement relieved her body

of repressed pain and anxiety.

Dance quickly became her safe

space.

The arts are universally knownas a form of creative expression,

but in the field of psychology,

they have even been recognizedas legitimate forms of therapy.

They are a part of most peo-

ples daily lives. Whether itsthrough singing, dancing, paint-

ing, writing, filmmaking the

list goes on art is cathartic and

is often reached out to in mo-

ments of pressure and stress. Butwhat has changed in the last 50

years is their legitimization as a

vital form of therapy for mental

illness, formally known as ex-

pressive art therapy, which Lee

Shields has been practising for 17

years.The experience of art-mak-

ing always helped me so much

through difficult times of my life

and I also really wanted to work

with people, so both my worlds

came together, said Shields. Arttherapy has traditionally only

been centred around visual arts,

but I branched into expressive art

therapy where I move from one

art modality to another.

Shields graduated from the so-cial work program at Ryerson in

1994 and then enrolled in the art

therapy program at the Interna-

tional School of Interdisciplinary

Studies Canada. The programtouches on different art platforms

being utilized therapeutically, butShields favours movement, voice

and visual arts.

She believes that having a close

relationship with your client and

making them feel accepted and

comfortable is just as important

as the art-making, especially with

her older clients.

With my adult clients, theresa reconnection with a part of

themselves that wants to play,

said Shields. We live in a world

thats so structured around per-

fection that I think this form of

therapy is relieving.Cassandra Myers, a third-year

child and youth care student at

Ryerson founded the art therapyprogram Art Buddies in 2014

with the help of Ryerson sociol-

ogy professor Jean Golden. She

also works at Head Start Mon-tessori school where she leads

two- to five-year-olds through

sensory art therapy sessions.

Art has always been my safe

place, but I never wanted to pur-

sue a full art degree, thats whyart therapy is just magic, said

Myers. Especially when work-

ing with children, you can reach

them without being so evasive

and direct, its a more holistic op-

tion.Myers passion for art therapy

derived from her personal strug-gles with mental illness and how

she used artistic outlets like spo-

ken word and visual arts to cope

with it.Ive been predisposed to men-

tal health issues my whole life,

but I was always able to cope

with them through multiple out-

lets, said Myers. To centre my-

self everyday when dealing with

anxiety, doing anything artistic isso helpful.

People coping with mental ill-

nesses are often battling with

their own thoughts and verbal-

izing them may feel impossible,

which is when Foskett, a fourth-

year media production student,

turns to dance.When Im dancing as a re-

lease, I basically take every nega-

tive and destructive emotion that

Im experiencing and use my

body to fight them off, said Fo-

skett. Sometimes my dancing is

very constructive, but other timesit feels like meditating. I just let

my body do the talking.

Foskett battled with severe de-

pression at the age of 15 and be-

gan to stop eating and sleeping,which resulted in her experienc-ing a physical and mental break-

down.

Dance was what saved me,

said Foskett. I felt as if my

world was crashing down and I

didnt have anything or anyone.After she began seeing a psychi-

atrist, she was advised to try dif-

ferent activities to keep her mind

and body busy, but felt an instant

connection with dance.

Chelsy Dagger, a second-year

film studies student, is a musi-cian, filmmaker and visual artist

who has coped with depression,

bipolar and borderline personal-

ity disorder throughout her life.She uses all those different art

platforms for healing purposes.As a filmmaker, she would take

darker memories or experiences

and transform them into short

films.

My thoughts and emotions

from those darker experienceswould form into characters and

it would make me feel good be-

cause Im able to make some-

thing beautiful out of them, said

Dagger.

She was alsov hospitalized at theage of 15 and said the main thing

that got her through it was art.

Laying down in that dreary

hospital room with luminescen

lights shining down on her, sh

felt drained. With a mind full o

dark thoughts and images, he

hand itched to draw. She needed

release, but was left with nothingThey wouldnt let her have a fork

or pen, worried she may hurt her

self. Thankfully, they allowed he

to have a pencil which they had

dulled. Notepad in hand, she fel

temporary bliss. While it wouldnlast for long, she was able to es

cape the clutter in her mind.Since then Ive gone throug

multiple art phases. Sometime

Im really into drawing and ar

because I dont want to speak

There are days when Im thinkina lot and thats when I want t

write a song, said Dagger. Ar

lets all your thoughts out an

somehow empties your mind.

Dagger has also participated i

many art therapy sessions at thGeorge Hull Centre for Childre

and Families for two years an

at the Centre for Addiction an

Mental Health. She said they ar

most helpful when she cant fin

the right words, or does not wan

to find them, to express whashes feeling.

While living with mental il

nesses may be burdenening, Dag

ger said it is still a part of who yo

are and not a weakness unless you

let it be one.Transforming my negativ

experiences or memories into a

art form stops me from demon

izing them and letting them dra

me down, said Dagger. I wan

people to understand that mentahealth disorders are hard, but a

the same time I hate that peopl

demonize them they are a par

of you and you need to learn to

deal with them.

Art is more than fun for some Ryerson students, its healing


13/16

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 SPORTS 13

Next, the Rams will take on the third ranked University of Brock Badgers Feb. 3 at home. PHOTO: LUKE GALATI

Best team inthe country?Ram right

By Chris Blanchette

Aaron Best raised his arms as the

buzzer rang throughout the Mat-

tamy Athletic Centre. This time,not for a game-winning shot, or

the three-point shot for which hehas become so known, but to cel-

ebrate history a milestone in his

five-year career as a member of the

Ryerson mens basketball team.As the Rams exited the court,

embracing one another, it became

clear that this was not just anoth-

er season for a Ryerson program

that had spent its first 25 years

unable to reach double-digits inthe wins column. And with the

CIS confirming Tuesday the Rams

are ranked as the best team in the

country, emotions are high.

As Best held his arms high in the

foreground of a gym, lit brightly

by a scoreboard that read Ryer-son: 87 Ottawa: 80, it felt for the

first time that this team really had

proven last years success was no

fluke. That if anything, the third-

place finish in the CIS champion-

ships was a sign of better things tocome.

Were not content. Our goal

isnt to be number one, its to stay

number one and win a national

championship, said Ryerson for-

ward, Jean-Victor Mukama, whowas responsible for the game seal-

ing steal in Ryersons win over Ot-

tawa.

Ryerson made a statement by

taking down the second-rankedCarleton Ravens for the first time

since the 2000 season, defeating

the first place Ottawa Gee-Gees

the next night. When the final

buzzer had sounded and Drakes

Back-to-Back boomed over the

gym speakers, those first 25 yearsof suffering could not have felt

more distant. However, in order to

acknowledge last weekends suc-

cess, the preseason questions that

surrounded the team must be ac-knowledged as well.

Back in August, Ryerson head

coach Roy Rana announced that he

would be taking a sabbatical from

the team for the 2015-16 season.This meant that Patrick Tatham,

who had been on the Rams coach-ing staff since 2011, would assume

Ranas old duties and become in-

terim head coach. On top of the

coaching change, the Rams also

lost key players in Jahmal Jones,

Jordon Gauthier, Bjorn Michaelsenand Kadeem Green.

Despite the third-place CIS fin-

ish a year prior (the best in school

history), Ryerson headed into the

preseason and new year with an in-

terim head coach, a crop of untest-ed talent and a medley of questions

that would need to be answered

with important roles to fill.In Ryersons OUA home opener,

they narrowly defeated the Univer-

sity of Toronto thanks to a buzzer

beating layup by Juwon Grannum.Despite a shaky start to the season,

Tatham was nothing short of confi-

dent in his team.

I dont want to place any expec-

tations on this team as far as cham-

pionships go, but I can tell you thatthis team is definitely champion-

ship caliber, Tatham said in No-

vember, after the home opener.

The Rams went on to finish the

first half of the season with a 4-1

record, their only loss coming atthe hands of the Windsor Lancers.

The second half of the seasonhas seen the Rams rattle off four-

straight wins. On top of the wins

against Carleton and Ottawa, they

have also defeated Queens, whichallowed them to gain sole posses-

sion of first in the OUA East. A

big help in these wins has been the

return of big men Adam Voll and

Green who originally opted not

to play this season but missed the

sport and returned to the team aweek ago. Their presence has aid-

ed the Rams inside, both in scor-

ing and rim protection.

Ryerson is playing its best bas-

ketball of the season and as for

where the team is headed, it seems

that Tathams preseason predic-

tions were accurate.

I told him (Rana) that this was

going to be a pretty good team.

It was just a matter of getting the

young guys to play the Ryerson

way, said Tatham.In their next game the Rams will

get another shot at third-ranked

Brock on Feb. 3, who they lost

92-83 to in the preseason.

In addition to this seasons suc-cess, it seems they are already

finding a way to build towards the

future. The Rams recently landed

the Waterloo Warriors transfer

Myles Charvis. According to Ta-

tham, it was Charvis who reachedout to Ryerson after Rana decided

to go on sabbatical.

Tatham said that Ryerson shied

away from Charvis when he was

still in high school because guard

and recent graduate Jahmal Joneswas still in his third year.

Charvis averaged 20.3 points per

game over 20 games in 2014-15 for

Waterloo. Hes a solid scorer with

three years of eligibility left and

will add even more depth to theRyerson bench.

He (Miles) had said yes long

before this all happened, Tatham

said. He reached out to us afterRoy mentioned leaving. The whole

thing was sporadic really.While seemingly a simple ges-

ture, Best raising his arms encap-

sulates a quarter century of sweat

and struggle. And as the collective

Rams fanbase cheers on arguably

the best team the program has everseen, its important to note that

what they make look easy takes

hours of dedicated repitition.

And riding high as only the best

team in the country can, the Ryer-

son Rams mens basketball teamwill now turn their sights to the the

pinncale of their sport a national

chamipionship.

It was just a matter of get-ting the young guys to play

the Ryerson way.

Were not content. our goal

isnt to be number one, it;s

to stay number one.

Points Per Game 87.9 2nd

FG % 42.6% 6th

3Pt Per Game 12.2 1st

Off. RPG 12.7 5th

Def. RPG 15.2 3rd

Steals 8.9 5th

Home Attend. Avg. 248 5th

category Score OUA ranking


14/16

14 COMMUNITIES Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2015

When I first heard about a cat caf

opening up in Toronto, I was be-

yond excited. Coffee? Yes. Cats?Even better. Both of those things,

together? I must be dreaming.

TOT the Cat Caf opened in

November 2014 and is run byKenneth Chai and Scott Tan. It is

located at 298 College Street.Chai found inspiration to open

the caf from his own cat, Olen,

who died.

The owners requested for the

interview to be done over email.

They sign their email as Olen, in

memory of Chais cat.We came to a conclusion that if

this was going to be our concept,

why dont we do it in a good way,

such as helping rescued cats find a

new home, said the owners via

email.I went into the caf with high ex-

pectations. Cat cafs are becoming

Ryerson prof creates radio data toolBy Alanna Rizza

Cat Caf is pawsitively pawsome

By Emma King

A Ryerson professor has created

an interactive data tool to show

the amount of diversity in Toron-

tos top radio stations.

Lori Beckstead, an RTA school

of media professor, created Inter-active Radio: Diversity on Air, a

radio that shows the percentage of

racialised male and female radio

hosts in Torontos top 22 stations.

The radio stations were ranked ac-

cording to audience share ratings.

I had a feeling that radiowasnt keeping pace in terms of

who was on air and how to ac-cess the microphone with respect

to the [diversity] of Toronto, said

Beckstead.

Her research started in 2009

and was modelled after the Cana-

dian Employment and Equity Act.

She updated her research in 2014and saw that diversity in radio

has changed marginally but not

much.

The radio has two knobs. By

turning the gender knob, the ra-

dio will play back a soundscape ofmale or female voices from a spe-

cific radio station.

If you were tuning into a [sta-tion] where the hosts are 75 per

cent male, the radio would play

back at 75 per cent volume, said

Beckstead.

There is also an antenna that

works like a volume-unit metre.The antenna moves to show the

exact percentage of racialised

males or females.

Beckstead said that the audi-

ence of Toronto is not as engaged

in radio because there is a lack ofdiversity of radio hosts.

I really want to start a conver-

sation about this issue because ra-

dio is an aural medium, you cant

see the people who are on air,

said Beckstead.

Its easier to hide behind a mi-crophone, because you cant nec-

essarily tell from someones voice

[if] theyre racialised.

Becksteads data shows that outof the 22 radio stations only one

station has more female hosts thanmales. Her data also indicates that

the number of racialised people

out of all of the stations is under

17 per cent.

Ana Moreno, a first year RTA

student, said that talking about

diversity is important, especially

since, there is so much [social]

change happening.I think it is super important

to have an equal balance of both

genders and a diversity of races

in radio because [people] who

are growing up in todays societyshould grow up with diversity as anorm, said Moreno.

I think we should [talk about

diversity] so that theres no gap of

information. If the young [people]

of society are growing up with

diversity, all ages should be in-

formed in the same way.

The radio is currently on displa

at Gallery 1313 on Queen StreeWest until Jan. 31. It will be pu

on display at the Allan Slaight Ra

dio Institute in the Rogers Com

munication Centre in February o

March, according to Beckstead.

Beckstead hopes to update heresearch every five years.

I hope to keep gathering th

data to measure whether there i

any change, and hopefully Ill b

able to display the radio in man

different places to get peopl

thinking and talking about this issue, said Beckstead.

PHOTO: EMMA KING

popular- Quebec already has four

of them.

The caf has a warm and cozy

atmosphere to it. For health and

safety reasons, the cats are sec-tioned off behind a glass wall.

My friend Alexia and I ordered

hot chocolates, while the drinks

may be a little pricy, it makes upfor the fact that theres no entrance

fee to go into the cat area. You canalso purchase cat treats before go-

ing to see the cats.

There are a few rules to follow

while in the enclosed cat space in-

cluding no flash photography and

you have to wear the slippers that

are provided.To my utter disappointment, you

arent allowed to pick up the cats.

There is also a enter at your own

risk rule, since the cats can turn

into unpredictable assholes.

Upon entering the cat area, I wasin heaven. There are three cats cur-

rently housed at TOT the Cat Caf:

Bud, Tabitha, and Neko. They ar

all available for adoption.

TOT the Cat Caf will be con

sidered a vacation home for themuntil they get adopted, the owner

wrote.

The caf is also a great place t

go if youre looking to de-stress

All of the cats were friendly, playful and cute.

Unfortunately there is a 15 min

ute time limit if the caf is busy.

Coffee = de-stress, cat = relax

especially during final exams,

said the owners over email. Cats

purring has [a] healing effect ana proven reduction of cortiso

level[s].

TOT The Cat Caf is plannin

on introducing a meal special fo

students in the near future.

For the first of its kind in Toron

to, Chai and Tan did a good joof combining ones love for cof

fee and ones love for animals. It

pretty much purrfect.

PHOTO COURTESY: LORI BECKSTEAInteractive Radio: Diversity on Air auralization tool.

Cat at TOT the Cat Caf.

Any questions, please contact Dawn Murray,RSU's Health & Dental Plan Administratorat 416-979-5255 x2311or email at: [email protected]

All full-time students just starting classes in the Winterterm are charged a fee of $197.00 for the Members'Health and Dental Plan. The charge is reflected onyour tuition fee statement and is a pro-rated amountfor health and dental benefits provided by the Plan.Benefit coverage is from January 1st, 2016 until

August 31, 2016.

New students starting in the Winter term only canopt-out. If you did NOT opt out on line in fall term you

cannot apply now for winter term deadline.

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18:1;5688:1;568


15/16

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 FUN 15

What a sad, oppressed little dunce. PHOTO: CHRIS BLANCHETTE

What a dunceBy Skyler Ash

An investigation has revealed thatIsaac Curmudgeon, an associate

professor in the history depart-ment at Ryerson University, hasbeen inflicting 19th Century formsof punishment on his students.

After several students came for-ward with formal complaints, itwas found that Curmudgeon pun-ished students in his classroom inways that Ryerson University of-ficials deemed highly unethicaland just plain weird.

Curmudgeon would force stu-dents to wear dunce caps, standwith their hands out at shoulderlevel and hold their textbooks some coming in at 600 pages for several minutes and pick up a

jar of beans that he would pouronto the floor. It was also revealedthat he would force students withlong hair to braid it so he could tieit to pegs high up on the wall.

But I would never use thestrap, said Curmudgeon, be-cause thats just inappropriate.

Max Cringe, a 21-year-old his-tory major, said that Curmudgeonforced him to wear a dunce capand sit on a stool at the front ofthe classroom after he checked hisphone in class. It was really em-

barrassing, said Cringe. Plus, Idont look very good in white, soit was unflattering all around.

In an interview with The

Eyeopener, Curmudgeon said thathe feels no shame, no regrets forhis actions. They were interrupt-ing a lesson, they deserve it!

As a history professor, Curmud-geon feels that these punishmentsenhance the classroom experience.The only way to study history isto immerse yourself in it, even thehairy parts.

Kayley Cana, a 19-year-old cre-ative industries student, said shehad her hair pegged to the wallonce. I couldnt move or else itpulled my hair. After leavingclass that day, Cana filed a com-plaint with Ryerson immediately.

Cana also said that Curmud-geon would take photos of thestudents being punished with aPolaroid camera he kept at hisdesk and then display the photoson a wall of shame.

On Jan. 23, Ryerson Universityofficials suspended Curmudgeonfrom teaching until further notice.

Curmudgeon was last seen onJan. 24 leaving his office in Jor-genson Hall wearing a dunce capand carrying a box of Polaroids,laughing maniacally.

Aries(March 21 April 19)Notice your flaws.There are a lot of them.

You should really work on that.Taurus(April 20 May 20)Your friends would likeyou better if you werent

so annoying (so tone it down).Gemini(May 21 June 20)Things might not be go-ing your way right now,

and its your fault. Blame yourself.Cancer(June 21 July 22)Break out into song anddance to alleviate ten-

sion in awkward situations, itll begood, trust me.Leo(July 23 Aug. 22)Be on the lookout forpeople breaking into

song and dance have your camera ready. That shit will pay off.

Virgo(Aug. 23 Sep. 22)Apparently some planets have aligned an

some cool stuff might happen tyou. What a load of crap.

Libra(Sep. 23 Oct. 22)Want to find love? Mtoo. Im so lonely. S

lonelyScorpio(Oct. 23 Nov. 21)You will come intmoney soon (once yo

work that bank job, then youll bgood to go).

Sagittarius(Nov. 22 Dec. 21)The stars are saying thayoure going to have

good week, as long as you keeyour lying mouth shut.

ACROSS2. Joey starred on the soap oper_____ of our lives.3. Name of Ross monkey.6. Chandlers on-and-off girlfrien(first name).7. Where does Joey get his heastuck to scare Chandler?8. We were on a ______!9. Chandler and Joey have a ____table instead of a kitchen table.11. When Ross and Rachel makup, Pheobe says, Hes her _____!

13. What is the name of Ross anCarols son?DOWN1. Who does Rachel almost marrin season one?3. First name of Pheoebes huband.4. Ross and Rachel get married ___ _____ (2 words).5. Beloved coffee shop (2 words)10. Monica dated a guy nameFun ______.12. How many kids does Pheobogive birth to?

!

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Drop your completed puzzle o

with your contact info to ThEyeopener office (SCC 207) foyour chance to win a $25 Subwagift card!

Capricorn(Dec. 22 Jan. 20)Things will go your way

this week, but not that really im-portant thing that you need to gowell. That will go horribly awry.Good luck with that.

Aquarius(Jan. 21 Feb. 19)You cant fix everything.You already knew thatthough, based on the

state of your eyebrows.Pisces(Feb. 20 March 20)The stars are saying thatyoure a little bitch.

The Standard Travel Backpack. Its a damn good bag.

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16/16

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 201616

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Nightly Specials Include:;< 7=0'8,>

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Wednesdays

8pm to 11pm

Presents Ryerson

OPEN MIC

NIGHT

COME BE A STAR!

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Nightly Specials

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ightly Specials

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Documents

JAN 27 2015 - The Eyeopener