The Eyeopener — March 2, 2011 — Magazine

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Volume 44, Issue 20 | Wednesday, March 2, 2011

PHOTO: MARTA IW



The Eyeopener

MASTHEAD

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Shannon Higgins

NEWS

Sarah Del Giallo

Emma Prestwich

ASSOCIATE NEWS

Rebecca Burton

FEATURES

Mariana Ionova

BIZ & TECH

Ian Vandaelle

ARTS & LIFE

Gianluca Inglesi

SPORTS

Sean Tepper

The EyeopenerVolume 44 / Issue 20Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Ryerson’s Independent PaperSince 1967

theeyeopener.com

PHOTO

Marta Iwanek

Lindsay Boeckl

ASSOCIATE PHOTO

Chelsea Pottage

FUN

Kats Quinto

COMMUNITY

Allyssia Alleyne

ONLINE MEDIA

Lee Richardson

ONLINE

Aleysha Haniff John Shmuel

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

Lauren Strapagiel

GENERAL MANAGER

Liane McLarty

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Chris Roberts

DESIGN DIRECTOR

J.D. Mowat

CIRCULATION MANAGER

Megan Higgins

ZOMBIE MAKE-UP

Nicole Steeves

MODELS

Sydney Benedet

Brad MacInnisNicholas Silveri

Aleysha Haniff

SPORTS

Sean Tepper



The Eyeopener1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE UNDEAD CAMPUS p.9Emma Prestwich reports on how empty

lots and construction projects are

turning Ryerson into a ghost town.

DEAD ON ARRIVAL p.16School spirit is dead at Ryerson.

Aleysha Haniff investigates the

time of death.

THE PRICE OF TALENT p.19Sean Tepper discovers why recruitment

could be the key to rebuilding the

Rams’ reputation.

RYERSON’S UNCHARTED

EDUCATION p.29How is quality of education measured

at Ryerson? Rebecca Burton reports.

18 YEARS LATER ZOMBIESCHOOL GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN p.3

ANATOMY OF AN UNDEAD STUDENT p.4

ZOMBIES RULE CAMPUS p.6

STAY TOGETHER AND LIVE p.8

HOW LONG WILL YOU SURVIVE p.14

GARDEN FEVER WON’T FIX ALL p.21

LET RYE-GONES BE BYGONES p.26

DEAD MEN ON CAMPUS p.27

RYERSON’S HALLOWED GROUND p.28

STAYING ALIVE AT RYERSON p.32

PHOTO: MARTA IWANEK



The Eyeopener2

EDITORIAL

cramps Ryerson’s style and stops the university from reach-

ing its full potential.

So forget the The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks,

Ryerson zombies move faster than Left 4 Dead’s highly con-

tagious Green Flu virus. Here’s what you need to do:

First, ip to page 14 where community editor Allyssia

Alleyne helps you determine your odds of surviving with a

handy owchart. Next, examine the anatomy of an undead

student on page 4 to help keep your brains in your headand out of a zombie’s tummy. Dying to know how Ryer-

son measures the quality of teaching? Read news editor

Rebecca Burton’s story on page 29.

Also, check out page 32 for tips on how to ght the out-

break and make the most of your time at Ryerson.

If my braaains are eaten before you read this message,

please remember one thing. You are alive. Zombie virus or

not, enjoy the time you have here it doesn’t last forever.

Shannon Higgins, Editor-in-Chief

The Student Campus Centre is eerilysilent as I leave the Eyeopener ofce

in the wee hours o Tuesday morning.I head outside and my heels echo as

I race down a deserted Gould Street.It’s bitter cold and missing my modeo escape is not an option. Suddenly,two fgures appear on the sidewalk,hobbling towards me. Fog rom a sewervent obscures my view and I squint tocheck out the approaching threat. Asthey slowly pass under a street light theirsickly aces and dead eyes disturb me.I’ve only ever seen aces like these duringscary movies. Scary movies that endbadly or young women walking alone in

the dead o night.

Ryerson University has been infected.

It’s too late to amputate the affected area, so put down

the machete and listen here.

We are facing a zombie apocalypse. Seriously.

Don’t believe me? Just look around campus. Hordes of

exhausted bodies trudge up and down Gould Street every-

day.

Their bodies are contorted from lugging heavy text-

books on the commute. They are unresponsive to friendlygestures, angry about everything and mesmerized by the

latest text message on their smartphone.

This special magazine issue of the Eyeopener will give

you all the tools necessary to survive the plague and es-

cape a horric fate.

This year we decided to use satire and undead fun to

show how Ryerson University is on the brink of becom-

ing a zombieland campus. Stalled construction projects,

poor quality education and a lack of student engagement

PHOTO: MARTA IWANEK



The Eyeopener3

RYE OF THE DEAD

Of the many pointless

and pseudo-intellectual

conversations I have had

with my friends in Pit-

man Hall, not one comes

close to the useless hy-

pothetical value of thezombie question: What

would you do if there

was a zombie outbreak

in Toronto?

More importantly,

where would you go?

For me, a resident in

Pitman Hall, the “rez bub-

ble” is the rst thing that

comes to mind. Yonge-

Dundas Square, the

AMC building, the Eaton

Centre, Yonge Street,all of which are just a

few steps away from my

dorm room.

They have started to

feel like the only places I

know in Toronto.

Three blocks west and

I’m at Yonge-Dundas

Square. Three blocks east

and I’m asking for direc-

tions.

That’s why I’d probably

be eaten rst.

Living in residence

has its benets. The aver-

age Pitman resident can

wake up 20 minutes be-fore a class, sans sobriety,

and still make it before

most commuters.

Unfortunately, this

makes for exceptional la-

ziness which would lead

to the demise and utter

zombication of most

rez students.

Residence also limits

your geographical ex-

pansions and your urban

excursions in one of the

most diverse cities in

the world. Also, the most

populated city in Canada

not a good thing in a

zombie apocalypse.

The rez bubble exists

for one main reason: stu-

dents are strangers in the

big city upon arrival.

I recall moving herefrom Calgary in August

and settling into Pitman

Hall.

There were two des-

tinations that we visited

every day for the rst

two weeks: the LCBO on

Yonge and Dundas and

Pita Land on Gerrard and

Mutual.

The LCBO was for

obvious reasons, and

Pita Land has good and

greasy food (albeit not

nearly as nutritious as

healthy human esh).

Why did we choose

these two locations ini-

tially? Familiarity. We

heard people mention-

ing Pita Land being

“bomb” and “right there”

or the LCBO being “twosteps away from rez” . We

registered them in our

minds as familiar, places

we recognized and knew.

The rez bubble is the

ultimate result of this

familiarity. Locations

within close proximity

to Pitman Hall start as

landmarks and indica-

tors to guide guests vis-

iting Toronto. Then they

slowly become part of

residence life.

Sooner or later, they

are the only thing you

Get out while you still canMohamed Omar explains why the residence bubble won’t be a stable bunkerwhen the T-Virus hits Toronto

know in Toronto. That

said, not every student is

forever locked in the rez

bubble.

Some students, you

might call them ‘the sur-

vivors’, make a habit of trying a new restaurant

every Sunday.

This way they avoid

eating from the ILLC for

breakfast (starts to taste

like brains to the unin-

fected human).

This however, costs

money a rare com-

modity in student life.

So to return to the

whole zombie theory,

my experience with therez bubble would help

me survive temporarily

in the general campus

area.

But what if the zom-

bies take over the resi-

dence bubble?

When hell comes to

earth, where the hell do

we go?

Three blocks west and I’m at Yonge-Dundas Square. Three blocks

east and I’m asking for directions.

Mohamed Omar

Mohamed Omar barricades himself in Pitman Hall where the vital signs of student life are in danger of extinction. PHOTO: CHELSEA POTTAGE



The Eyeopener04

RYE OF THE DEAD

PHOTOS: MARTA IWANEK

ZOMBIE A

ZOMBIE B



The Eyeopener05

RYE OF THE DEAD

AUTOPSY OF AN

UNDEAD STUDENTArts & Life Editor Gianluca Inglesi takes a stab at CSI and examines two typicalRyerson zombies on the cold table of a morgue

ZOMBIE A

ZOMBIE B

♦ Zombie A was discovered ly-

ing across a Gould Street picnic

table and was suited up even

dead he was still ready to “hit the

ground running.” Surrounding

him were many shopping bags

as well as a messenger bag full of

heavy textbooks. This could have

made it more challenging for his

already wounded body to weavethrough the planters.

♦ Upon examination of Zombie

A’s ears it can be concluded that

damage is a result of high volume

levels from iPod headphones.

This student must have listened

to music between classes and

on his commute. Broken ribs and

skid marks on Bond Street sug-

gest that Zombie A may have

been hit by a construction vehi-cle before reaching Gould Street.

♦ Testing Zombie A’s eyesight

led to a discovery of nearly per-

fect vision that had not been

damaged by UV rays. One can

only assume that this student

protected them with Ray Ban

sunglasses. Also, note that Zom-

bie A ingested brains before dy-

ing but his stomach was already

full of Thai food from resurrectedstudent favourite Salad King.

♦ Zombie B was found in the

Yonge-Dundas subway stationclenching her iPhone, which

displayed a recent tweet read-

ing, ‘Must eat brains #sohungry’.

Zombie B was leaving campus

very late and her body showed

signs of exhaustion, which could

signify that she was a student in

the faculty of engineering, archi-

tecture and science.

♦ Multiple calluses and blisters

on the Zombie B’s feet indicatethe regular wearing of tight, con-

stricting shoes such as oxfords

or combat boots which may have

made it more difcult for the

zombie to run from danger. RSU

forms found in Zombie B’s bag

indicate that she was attempting

to organize a Zombie campus

group called ‘Undead R People 2’.

♦ Markings around Zombie B’s

neck signify strangling as a pos-sible cause of death. The shape

of the markings point to a circle

scarf as the weapon of choice,

another trend among students.

On Zombie B’s person, a debit

receipt was found revealing that

the student made a late night

purchase of brains at the 24-hour

Metro and asked for cash back.

Time of death: 12:10 a.m.

Cause of death: hit by moving vehicle

Evidence:

Time of death: 2:45 a.m.

Cause of death: Asphyxiation

Evidence:



The Eyeopener06

RYE OF THE DEAD

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The Eyeopener07

RYE OF THE DEAD

ZOMBIES RULE CAMPUSPhotography by Marta Iwanek

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RYE OF THE DEAD

The Eyeopener8

Stay together and liveStudent life at Ryerson is in danger of extinction. News editor Sarah Del Giallo looks at how program cliques are battling the trend

There may be hope in surviving Ryerson’s undead student life. PHOTO: MARTA IWANEK

No one survives alone in a zombie

apocalypse. Think of the movies. There’salways a group of people who bond with

each other for moral support, and use that

community to survive – or at least survive

longer than most of the human race.

In regards to student life, Ryerson

campus could be compared to a zombie

wasteland. At other universities, like the

University of Western Ontario or Queens

University, the student community is alive

and apparent to all those around. Ryer-

son’s campus, however, is full of students

who come to campus for one thing and

one thing only – brains. Or the student

equivalent to eating brains, which is sit-

ting alone in class, grabbing a coffee and

drinking it in quiet isolation before going

home.

Most university campuses are a place to

hang out, party and make friends. But the

qualities that make Ryerson different from

other universities also alter student life.

We’re in the heart of downtown To-

ronto. There’s a constant sense of rush

when you enter the core of this city, and it

doesn’t stop when you step onto campus.

Despite wanting to make a life-long friend

or two at Ryerson, nobody seems to havethe time to stop and chill while they scurry

down Gould Street.

Ryerson is also a commuter school, so

most of the students here already live in

the GTA. They live in the cities they grew

up in, with their friends from high school.

It isn’t necessary to make friends on cam-

pus, because their life isn’t on campus. It

isn’t that Ryerson students aren’t sociable,

but their social lives exist elsewhere.

So here we are, on Ryerson’s metaphori-

cal wasteland. Is there anyone else out

there who wants more than a degree?

There is hope, my friends. There are sur-

vivors. Groups of students who use Ryer-

son as a place of sociability and network-

ing.

But unless you’re already in one of these

groups, you probably don’t know what I’m

talking about.

These groups tend to be program spe-

cic. Think of theatre, engineering, nurs-

ing or people from fashion and interior

design.

The programs where students tend to

form stronger and faster bonds are the

programs with small class numbers, an in-tense workload, practical learning experi-

ences and group work.

“I like having a group of ve to six guys

that I talk to, and the way this program

works out, I end up having that group of

ve to six guys,” said Alex Loree, a second-

year aerospace engineering student.

Jessica Raffa, a second-year fashion

communication student said, “I think it’s

because our program is so intense that

we spend so much time together. It just

almost makes it more natural to make

friends.”

But there’s still hope for those who’ve

been infected with the antisocial zom-

bie virus. When you’re getting coffee and

waiting an eternity in line, say hello to

your zombie neighbour. Or talk to the

person sitting next to you in class. They’ll

probably appreciate the social interaction.

Step out of the wasteland Ryerson.

Let yourself have a university experience

that’s more than just a degree more

than just brains. Come back to life. It’s

pretty great out here.



The Eyeopener9

RYE OF THE DEAD

The dead campus

V isitors entering Ryerson

campus at Yonge and

Gould Sts. are greeted

by a pit that is the future

home of the Student Learning Cen-

tre and a fenced-off patch of gravel

where the old Empress Hotel once

stood.

Further down Gould is the partial-

ly nished Image Arts building, and

just beside it are a cluster of build-

ings on Bond St., most of which are

either not open to the public or in-

visible to passerby.

2011 marks the fth year since

the implementation of the Master

Plan, a 133-page document out-

lining a plan to enliven Ryerson’s

campus and increase academic and

research space. “Urban intensica-

tion” is the rst of the three Master

Plan goals, and in order to reach this

goal, Ryerson has to make the most

efcient use of its land and the

properties around campus.

But Ryerson’s three most recent

projects have faced a number of

delays, and the university currently

owns several incomplete or invis-

ible buildings. This combination

of stagnant construction projects

and underused or inaccessible fa-

cilities isn’t helping foster President

Sheldon Levy’s vision of Ryerson as

a New York University (NYU)-type

campus; instead it’s making the

university a ghost town. George

Baird, former dean of the faculty of

architecture, landscape and design

at the University of Toronto, said he

thinks the nature of the area around

campus means Ryerson can only

expand through re-development,

and the university’s current situa-

tion is odd and presents challenges

for building community.

“I don’t disagree that the interim

period has problems,” he said.

He said the effective use of build-

ings on street level is a big factor in

creating animated street life. “The

fact that people don’t go there

means [the areas] are out of the

public mind.”

Despite being in the heart of downtown, many Ryerson University buildings lacks life. Between construc-

tion and abandoned campus sites, the school has a long way to go before becoming a thriving campus.News editor Emma Prestwich reports



The Eyeopener10

RYE OF THE DEAD

The derelict

Gerrard Copy

Centre at

Gerrard and

Mutual Sts.

closed last year

and remains

empty though

the university

says it has plans

to re-develop

the space.

PHOTOS:

MARTA IWANEK



The Eyeopener11

RYE OF THE DEAD

In 2007, Ryerson acquired the oldSam the Record Man property. Fouryears later, the university is set to bebe-gin construction of the Student Learn-ing Centre (SLC) will start in the nextsix months, if Ryerson gets approval

from the city to begin construction.The learning centre is set to be n-ished by the winter of 2013-14, and

Levy said its success as an active hubfor students will be a denitive step toachieving the Master Plan.

“If we can achieve that, then there’sno stopping us,” he said.

The most illustrious project, MapleLeaf Gardens, was slated for comple-tion this March, but the date waspushed back to November after reno-vation setbacks.

When the rink was excavated forparking, workers encountered under-ground water and that added time,Levy said.

The university received $20 millionin government stimulus funding forthe project. One requirement of thefunding was that the Gardens be com-

pleted this March.Levy admitted the March comple-

tion date was ambitious, but luckily,the provincial government extendedthe deadlines for all funded projects.

“If not, we would have movedheaven and earth to complete it [byMarch],” he said.

Director of athletics Ivan Joseph

didn’t see the construction delays asan issue, and shrugged off the sug-gestion that it might be hard to keepboth the Gardens and the recreationand athletics centre popular if bothfacilities are open.

“We want to be as ambitious as pos-sible,” he said.

Another stagnant project is the$112 million Image Arts building ren-ovation. The building was slated toopen last October, but now has beenpushed to this September.

“I understand this is a particularly

trying year,” said Alexandra Ander-son, interim Image Arts chair, in anemail to students, staff and faculty inthe department.

She said the staff are currentlyworking on making sure all teachingand production spaces are set up bySeptember.

Levy said there were a lot of chal-lenges in converting the building,which had previously been a brewery,into a gallery.

Along with these half-nished

projects, there are a string of facili-ties around campus with bright blueRyerson signs but no campus activity.While many of these seemingly dead

buildings aren’t necessarily empty,they’re still not accessible to most Ry-erson students. Even staff questionhow the various facilities are used.

We want to be as

ambitious as possible.

Ivan Joseph,

director of Athletics



The Eyeopener12

RYE OF THE DEAD

Half of the building at 111 Gerrard St. is unlabeled and the other half is completely empty. PHOTO: MARTA IWANEK

It has been designated

to be used in a better

way as a larger,

better building.

Sheldon Levy,

Ryerson President

Ryerson security services supervisor

Imre Juurlink said security often is not

informed about the status of a build-

ing and how heavily it’s being used.

Another property in transition is

the Gerrard Copy Centre. It was listed

as a place for printing and copying for

essential campus services and depart-

ments until July 2010, but is no longeroperational.

Director of ancillary services John

Corallo said the copy centre closed

down because of a lack of customer

trafc, and the university is consider-

ing using it as a food services kiosk or

a satellite OneCard centre.

Levy said the site has been desig-

nated for redevelopment under the

Master Plan as an academic building

or a potential residence.

The university held a contest last

year to search for potential new resi-

dence designs for the copy centre

through the RFP (request for propos-

als) process, but has only received two

responses.“It’s been designated to be used

in a better way as a larger, better

building,” Levy said.

The other half of the copy centre

is the locked Research and Graduate

Studies. Half the musty facility, which

contains ofces on the second and

third oors, requires OneCard access

and an appointment to get in. The

other half houses study cubicles and

ofces for graduate students.

Across campus, the enigmatic Mon-

etary Times building houses ofces,boardrooms and labs for the civil en-

gineering department. But the three-

storey heritage building shows no

signs of use from the outside.

Administrative assistant Kim

Kritzer, who works in the building,

said part of the building’s invisibility

might have to do with the fact that

civil engineering students take their

classes in the George Vari Engineering

and Computing Centre.

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The Eyeopener13

RYE OF THE DEAD

She said while the space isn’t ideal,

the department is stuck there until the

university decides to purchase more

real estate to house the new aculty

o science, ater a provost’s committee

recommended that science split rom

the aculty o engineering, architec-ture and science in October.

Baird who works with an architec-

ture and urban design frm, compared

Ryerson’s stagnant campus to the

Cloud Gardens park at Bay and Ade-

laide Streets that he helped design. He

said the park sat unbuilt or a decade

and a hal, and that it was killed the

community lie around the site.

“It meant that it was even more out

o the way [or people],” he said.

He suggested that Ryerson make

use o its empty buildings by fnding

temporary uses, such as gallery displayspaces.

Vice-president administration and

fnance Julia Hanigsberg said the uni-

versity wants to be wise about build-

ings like Monetary Times and the Ger-

rard Copy Centre. “We don’t want to

leave them vacant, but we don’t want

to put that many resources in them i

they’re going to be re-developed,”she

said.

According to Levy, the school has

plans to replace a number o buildings,

including the copy centre. “What

we’re doing is in line with urban inten-sifcation,” he said.

“It’s a very long-term, ambitious

goal o the university.” Kritzer said she

thinks the university is making good

use o its limited real estate. “I mean,

the campus is like a amily, and any

amily has kids o dierent ages.”



The Eyeopener14

RYE OF THE DEAD

How long will you survive?

ARTS

When the campus falls to chaos during the inevitable zombie apocalypse, how long will you and

your peers survive before joining the ranks of the undead? Remember: all faculties are equal, butsome faculties are more zombie-proof than others

Is essay writing your greatest skill?

Yes

12 hours

No

Like getting your hands dirty?

Yes

Wilderness survivalexperience?

Yes

Taken a psych

course?

Yes

2 years

No

1 year

Yes

3 months

No

1 month

No Know how to use a

gun?

No

Read The Prince? No

1 week

Yes Take it to heart?

Yes

4 years/until the

revolution

No

1 week

COMMUNITY SERVICES

Do you see the goodin everyone?

Yes

5 seconds

NoKnow about foodor health?

No 3 daysYes

Would youleave a friend

behind?

Yes Work wellin groups?

NoAlways trying to

save people?

No

6 monthsYes

Indefinitely

No

3 months

Yes

1 month

By Community Editor Allyssia AlleyneIllustration by Lauren Strapagiel



The Eyeopener15

RYE OF THE DEAD

COMMUNICATIONAND DESIGN

Want to be on TV?

Yes No

Fact-checking

before acting?

TED ROGERS SCHOOLOF MANAGEMENT

Do you have another degree?

Yes No

5 minutes(see appropriate

faculty)

ENGINEERING,ARCHITECTURE AND

SCIENCE

Able to constructshelter, weapons or

transportation?

Yes

Basic socialskills?

Awesome chemicalknowledge?

Yes

2 years

No

Yes

Indefinitely

No

Creativeproblemsolving?

Yes

2 years

No

Consider changingmajors

Competitive?

No

5 days

Yes

Massive ego?

Yes

1 week

No

Leadership experience?

Yes

4 months

No

1 week

Yes No

Goneundercover?

Yes No

Get caught?Yes

1 monthNo

3 months

Good atcreating

characters?

Yes

Do peopletrust you?

No

2 weeks

Yes

1 month

Valueaesthetics?

No

NoYes

2 days

Yourereally inFCAD?

Honestly?

2 weeks

No



The Eyeopener16

RYE OF THE DEAD

DEAD ON ARRIVAL

School spirit has been ailing for years. Online editor Aleysha Haniff digs for the realreason we’re doomed to wander a lifeless campus

Ryersonian image courtesy of Ryerson University Archives and Special Collections, RG95-1, Parades

Kristina Kulikova’s routine hasn’t

changed a bit since she started at Ryerson.

The economics and nance student starts

her day with a much-needed cup of coffee

after trekking to campus from Richmond

Hill. She goes to class. She meets with

friends for lunch. Next, she might swing by

the economics department and do some

work. After that, it’s time to go home.

Kulikova, who also trains as a competitive

ballroom dancer, has followed this

schedule for four years. She loves Ryerson,

she says. But she hasn’t opted in to what

she calls “the big picture” -- the idea that

Ryerson can be more than a place to go

learn.

“If you’re concentrating on studies all

the time, you don’t see that,” she says.

When Ryerson opened in 1948, it was

viewed as an experiment. The students

who roamed the halls had to prove

themselves by lling niche jobs after

the end of World War II. This founding

principle didn’t disappear in the following

decades. If anything, it’s the foremost

factor that lures students to campus and a

key part of Ryerson’s marketing campaign.

Yet what’s forgotten are the effects

an industry-driven focus can have on

campus life. School spirit is dead and has

been for years. It’s part of the university’s

legacy, entwined with the career-focused

programs that have dened Ryerson.

To a university administration, however,

“the big picture” isn’t about campus spirit

but campus expansion at a breathtaking

pace. Ryerson was a work in progress long

before the quest for Maple Leaf Gardens

captivated Toronto media. But something

has to be pushed out to make room for

all this growth, and that something is

students, condemned to wander a campus

full of buildings but little else.

Ryerson’s rst graduating class entered



The Eyeopener17

RYE OF THE DEAD

the workorce in 1950.

The institute’s frst yearbook,

Ryersonia, also debuted that

year. Pages were spotted with

pink-tinted photos o idealistic

grads, mostly men with asprinkling o women, many

describing his or her respective

career path in the tiny blurb

under each headshot.

“Alors!” reads the fnal

paragraph o the editors’

oreword. “Turn these pages

and recall our instructors, turn

these pages and recall the sages

and scamps among our student

colleagues, turn these pages and

re-live and re-create the campuslie as shown in Ryersonia 1950.”

The frst two years o student

activity were summarized in

three pages about athletics,

student dances and enrolment

increases, with an entire

subsection dubbed “lively social

lie.” RIOT, now a radio and

television comedy production,

involved every aculty. The

Ryersonian, which frst went to

press in 1948, published a list

o new students that included

where he or she went to high

school. Faculties each consisted

o a handul o proessors.

Ryerson, indeed, was a smaller

place.

In the early 1950s, two

things were important

according to Ryerson’s

ofcial history: fnding

jobs and achievingconormity. Principal Howard

Kerr, Ryerson’s frst top

administrator, made a point

o establishing traditions to

make parents and students

alike eel more comortable

about the concept o a

polytechnical school. He

wanted all the trappings o a

traditional institution the

songs, the clubs, the cheers

and the teams.But then came the

1960s, and Ryerson wasn’t

immune to the eects o the

transormation o the outside

world. Mark Bonokoski,

a ormer Eyeopener and

Ryersonian editor, graduated

rom Ryerson’s journalismprogram in 1972. He helped lead

sit-ins at the president’s ofce and

held symposiums on the English

department, which he thought

was a joke.

“The sit-ins at the president’s

ofce we had maybe 50, 60

students help take it over with us.

We negotiated with the president

right in his ofce to get our

demands through,” Bonokoski

says. “Because it [Ryerson] wasso small then, it was a more o a

collective rather than just a great

big huge stew,” he said.

Even then, school pride came

rom the act that graduates in

programs such as RTA, ashion and

business administration ound

jobs, Bonokoski says.

At the same time, as editor o

the Eyeopener, he helped organize

marches o what he said were

thousands o students, protesting

both the length o the Vietnam

War and nuclear testing. “It seems

much more complacent today.

But these are dierent times too,”

Bonokoski says. “O course, this

was all pre-technology. There were

no cellphones, no Internet.”

Because it [Ryerson] was so small then,

it was a more o a collective rather than

just a great big huge stew.

It seems much more complacent today.

But these are dierent times too.



The Eyeopener18

RYE OF THE DEAD

Complacency and technology seem to describe the 2011Ryerson Students’ Union elections perfectly. Two groups of

journalists from the Ryersonian and the Eyeopener huddle

around laptops, recording each fresh news tidbit with live-

blogging software. Other than one group of student politi-

cians, no one else is there to watch the predictable results

trickle in.

Sean Carson was elected RSU vice-president operations

that night, moving from his role as vice-president student

life and events. On paper, the RSU offers a plethora of student

groups, course unions, pub nights, guest speakers, parades

and coffeehouses.

But despite the range of events, there’s still an issue tobe tackled. “There are 24,000 students at Ryerson. And then

there’s me,” Carson says.

Carson maintains that many events are well-attended, and

the student union is the key player in getting people togeth-

er on campus.

But he says there’s only so much he can do with a lack of

student space on campus.

“Students are certainly pushing us to the edges of ourcapacity for we could offer here on campus for events,” he

says.

School population has exploded in recent years, making

the need for more buildings even more urgent. Just more

than 25,000 full-time undergraduates enrolled at Ryerson

for the 2009-10 school year. Ten years earlier, about 14,000

walked the halls.

Carson says students need more space to study, go to

class and hang out. More importantly, he says, they need

the time to t all that in their schedules, which can be dif-

cult when many students work part- or full-time.

Wayne Petrozzi, who teaches in the politics and publicadministration department, can address both sides of the

expansion conundrum.

A twenty-something Petrozzi answered a newspaper ad

in 1976 and started to instruct at Ryerson while he worked

on his Ph.D. Petrozzi saw rst-hand the camaraderie and

in some cases, the competitiveness that existed in vari-

ous programs.

Continued on page 24

PHOTO: MARTA IWANEK



The Eyeopener 19

RYE OF THE DEAD

The Price of TalentFor years Ryerson has been the laughing stock in the

world of interuniversity athletics. Some of Ryerson’stop coaches and administrators are trying to change

that by recruiting the most promising athletes in

the country. But how far is Ryerson willing to go to

acquire the best student players?

By Sean Tepper

Photography by marta iwanek



The Eyeopener20

RYE OF THE DEAD

Every year, thousands of highschool athletes receive DVDs,pamphlets, phone calls and

e-mails from coaches hoping to lureyoung talent to their university.

While it only takes a few momentsfor a prospective recruit to sign auniversity’s formal letter of intent,

the process that it takes to get thatplayer`s signature on the dotted line isslow and time consuming at the bestof times.

“In the coaching business you neverget any time off,” says Roy Rana, who isin his sophomore season as the headcoach of Ryerson’s basketball team.“People think that when your season

is done... coaches go golng in theoff-season. But recruiting never everever stops.”

Despite budget cuts, self-imposedacademic regulations and Ontario ath-letic scholarship restrictions, RyersonUniversity is serious about developing

an ultra-competitive athletics reputa-tion and is focusing on player recruits

to revive the once dead program.Like most of Ryerson’s Canadian

Interuniversity Sports (CIS) coaches,Rana is quickly learning that recruitingis a full time job.

“Recruiting starts with talentidentication,” he says. “Before youstart to recruit [someone] you have towatch a lot of players and decide if he

ts in your program. There is a lot of research involved.”

When he is not running practices orcoaching his team through a game,Rana can be found in his ofce, wherehe will either be sitting at his desk staring at his brightly lit MacBook, onthe telephone getting inside infor-mation from high school coaches, or

texting prospective players on hisBlackberry. However most of the timehe does all three simultaneously.

“I’m [already] looking at kids that

will graduate in 2015-2016,” he says.“We need to project [now] what wewill need at that time.”

According to CIS rules, universitiesare allowed to give students a fullathletics scholarship that covers thecost of their education for as longas they play varsity sports and meet

the school’s academic requirements.However, under Ontario UniversityAthletics (OUA) rules student athletesare only allowed to be given $3,500.

That means Ryerson has to work even harder to sell themselves to per-spective student athletes who are ableto leave Ontario for full scholarships.

Beyond the scholarship restriction,

Ryerson’s biggest recruiting roadblock is self-imposed. The university doesn’taccept any student athletes with anaverage below 80 per cent.

Budgetary restrictions at Ryersonalso challenge coaches like Rana.Every CIS team at Ryerson is given a

recruiting budget, which varies fromteam to team. After coaches present a

proposal for their budget to Ivan Jo-seph, the school’s director of athletics,it’s up to the coaches to allocate theirfunds as they see t.

Repeated attempts by the Eyeopen-er to retrieve the recruiting budgetwere unsuccessful. Both Joseph andall of the coaches interviewed for thisarticle declined to comment on how

much or how little they receive fortheir team.

“I would never give it up [but] I cantell you that it’s more than a dollar andless than $5000,” Joseph says.

Joseph also refused to provide theEyeopener with individual teams’recruiting budgets.

“We would never give it out; it

would give a signicant advantage of our competitors over us.”

While Joseph is adamant that thebudget is enough to “get the job

done”, Canadian universities have asignicantly lower budget to recruitplayers than their U.S. counterparts.

“Your budget will dictate how faryou can go,” Rana said.

“I’ll go into the heart of Africa if Ihave to. I’m willing to go wherever Ineed to go. But unfortunately that’s

not the reality, I don’t have thatcharter plane that I can jump onto torecruit a kid. “

Coaches say technology has helped

them make better use of their bud-gets.

“Just e-mail alone has changed thestyle of recruiting,” says StephanieWhite, the head coach of the women’s

hockey team, who uses phone calls,text messages, e-mails and YouTubevideos to help with recruitment.

“We can do a fair amount of work without having to leave [Ontario].It helps you lower your recruitingbudget.”

Dustin Reid, the head coach of thewomen’s volleyball team, has already

traveled across the country in hopesof recruiting some of the top femalevolleyball players in Canada. Althoughhis budget doesn’t cover all of histravel costs, Reid says he will do what-ever it takes to build a strong team.

“I was hired to build a volleyballprogram that will [help] the school’sreputation,” he says. “If I’ve got to nd

a way outside of [our recruiting bud-get] I’ll do it.”

Graham Wise, the head coach of the men’s hockey team, never has amoment to himself, even when hegoes to watch his son play hockey.Jamie Wise is a left winger for OntarioHockey League’s (OHL) Mississauga St.Michael’s Majors and even when his

father shows up to watch him play, heis scouting out the rest of the talenton the ice.

Continued on page 25

“I’ll go into the heart of Africa if I have

to. I’m willing to go whereever i have to.”

Roy Rana, men’s basketball coach



The Eyeopener21

RYE OF THE DEAD

Gardens fever won’t fix all

The Ryerson men’s soccer team

earned its best nish in the school’shistory this year, nishing in fourth

place in Ontario University Athletics

and narrowly missing out on qualify-

ing for a chance to win the Canadian

Interuniversity Sport national champi-

onship.

Too bad no one was in the stands to

witness history in the making.

“It’s like an empty graveyard,” said

Ivan Joseph, head coach of the Ryer-

son Rams and director of athletics.

Although soccer is recognized as

the world’s most popular sport, Ryer-

son’s men’s team has one of the worst

attendance records of any of Ryerson’s

CIS teams.

“Ryerson has a soccer team? I didn’t

even know,” said Rachel Szereszewski,

a second-year fashion student.

The Rams play all of their home soc-

cer games at Lamport Stadium, which

holds 9,600 fans, nearly half of the

22,000 capacity at Toronto F.C.’s BMO

eld. However, the stadium is located

on 1151 King St. W, approximately 30to 45 minutes away from Ryerson’s

downtown campus depending on

trafc.

“Most games are on Saturday and

Sunday. Driving through the weekend

trafc isn’t the most fun thing,” Joseph

said. “If we were closer we’d see a

signicant turn-about.” Fans gather

in semi-impressive numbers to watch

the men and women’s basketball and

volleyball teams play at Kerr Hall Gym,

but the only signs of life in the stands

of Lamport Stadium are family mem-

bers and close friends of some of the

athletes playing.

One of the main objectives when

the Gardens opens is to revive Ryer-

son’s dormant fan base and create

excitement around their sports teams.

Ryerson has even gone so far as hiring

Global Spectrum, a Connecticut-based

company, to manage Maple Leaf

Gardens and get students to show up

by turning every home game into an

exciting event.Only time will tell if the facility will

create a bigger fan base, but even if it

does, the soccer team won’t benet

from it. They will not be making the

move into the historic Toronto build-

ing.

In a country where hockey holds

a high importance in the hearts of

sports fan, Ryerson’s hockey teams

should, in theory, have the largest fol-

lowing.

But they have as little support as the

soccer teams and Ryerson is banking

on the Gardens to bring new fans to

the stands.

Currently, the men’s hockey team

plays at George Bell Arena which is

located near St. Clair Avenue West and

Keele Street, and the women’s team

play all the way up in North York. Like

the trip to Lamport, travelling from

campus to either of these arenas takesanywhere from 30 to 45 minutes.

Sports editor Sean Tepper looks at the impact Maple Lea Gardens couldhave on flling empty stands

PHOTO: MARTA IWANEK



The Eyeopener22

RYE OF THE DEAD

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“Distance is the main problem,” said GrahamWise, head coach of the men’s hockey team.“We’re quite far from campus.”

Szereszewski said she could not see herself travelling that far to watch a game, especiallywhen more convenient alternatives are offered.

“If you want to watch volleyball or basketball,you just have to walk across campus,” she said.

With the $60 million acquisition and renova-tion of Maple Leaf Gardens, both the men’s andwomen’s hockey teams are scheduled to playtheir home games a lot closer to campus in thenear future.

To Wise, this is the solution to poor attendance.“Once we move to Maple Leaf Gardens and

everything is closer, the opportunity to connect

[fans to the team] will be better,” Wise said.The men’s basketball and volleyball teams

draw impressive numbers nearly every time theyplay at Kerr Hall Gym in front of their home fans.The men’s basketball team in particular averagesmore than 150 fans per game.

However, the same cannot be said about thewomen’s teams.

Dustin Reid, head coach of the women’s vol-

leyball team, said he has no doubt that mostattendance issues stem from scheduling and notbecause people are disinterested in the women’steams.

“We usually average 50 to 100 fans but therehave been a lot of times when we’ve gottenunder 50,” Reid said.

“If you’re always playing on weekends, then it’sa challenge. We also usually play the rst game

of a double-header [with the men’s team]. Whenwe’re by ourselves, we draw more fans.”

Joseph has planned events surrounding thegames in order to draw some sort of attentionto the team. This year, Joseph rented a bus andoffered a free meal to lure students to a soccergame.

The men’s hockey team has also attempted toincrease its connection to the student body.

“We had our athletes meet the rst-years asthey were moving into residence,” Wise said.

“It was a great way to connect.”Spreading the word about the men’s soccer

team is also something that assistant coach KevinSouter is looking forward to tackling.

“We have to do more PR [public relations], haveour guys reach out to the community and makelasting connections, and recruit more fans,” Sout-

er said. “It’s going to take time, but ultimately it’sgoing to be a success. I would love to ll Lamportone day.”

“It’s going to take time, but ultimately it’s going tobe a success. I would love to ll Lamport one day.

Kevin Souter, men’s soccer

assistant coach



The Eyeopener23

RYE OF THE DEAD



The Eyeopener24

RYE OF THE DEAD

“Dead on Arrival “ continued from page 18.

Over the past 35 years, his faculty alone has

expanded from taking up about three oors of

Jorgenson Hall to lling nearly every level of the

old building. Ryerson changed from a school

that offered some degree programs to a full-edged university in 1993. Enrolment went up.

Buildings went up. Petrozzi suspects the cam-

pus’s growth made it harder to develop inter-

personal relationships with faculty and fellows

alike. The core basis of student life, however,

stubbornly remained the same.

“I think the student life piece was always

something that was always more rooted in the

program basis of the place than anything else,

which in many ways I think was an advantage,”

Petrozzi says. “Kind of insulated students a bit

from the scale of what was going on around

them and still provided a possibility to in the

way neighbourhoods provided a possibility to

know those around you while still living in

this bigger thing called the city.”

He says there are pros to expansion and

growth, namely the increasing diversity of the

school’s student body and faculty. Yet some-

thing changed in the 80s and more notably the

90s, though he can’t say if Ryerson has indeed

lost its sense of community.

Instead, Ryerson might have lost the carefree

youthfulness immortalized in Ryersonia 1950.

Petrozzi says students are forced to juggle ex-tra work just to stay in school. And unlike earlier

decades, he explains, students aren’t guaran-

teed a good job if they work hard in school.

“At some point you reach a sizable enough

percentage of students who are busily leading

two lives instead of one, and it has an impact,”

Petrozzi says. At the same time, Ryerson has

grown substantially making it even harder to

socialize on campus.

“What that optimism meant you know, the

fact that you weren’t fearing all the time about

your future meant that you could kind of enjoy the day instead of incessantly worrying

about the next one and the one six down from

then.”

Kristina Kulikova, will be graduating this April.

Looking back, she thinks things would have

been different if she had lived in residence. She

acknowledges all the effort put into student life

at Ryerson, even if she never got involved.

“Even if you’re not part of the events, you still

feel like that it’s not about going to class, gradu-

ating and having a job.”

At some point you reach a sizable

enough percentage of students who

are busily leading two lives instead of one, and it has an impact.



The Eyeopener25

RYE OF THE DEAD

“The Price of Talent” continued from page

20.

“I can kill two birds with one stone,”

Wise says. “There are a lot of players in

OHL that we are interested in. The thing is

that it’s such a competitive environmentthat there are several other teams talking

to these kids as well. You just gotta touch

base with them, watch them play and

keep in constant contact with them until

they say that they are not interested or

they want to pursue applying [to Ryer-

son].”

Under the watch of former athletics

director David Dubois, who was red

unexpectedly in 2008, Ryerson’s men and

women’s volleyball, basketball and soccer

teams along with the men’s hockey teamhad a dismal 151-397 win-loss record

between 2004 and 2007.

Ryerson’s athletic history has forced

the university to use its new facilities and

academic programs to sell potential play-

ers on the idea of becoming a Ram. White

says this strategy is working.

“As an athlete, why wouldn’t you want

to come to a school that is building new

facilities for not only athletes, but stu-

dents?” White says.

“Our number one goal is

our academic performance

and our number two

goal is our athletic

performance.”

Ivan Joseph,

director of athletics

Wise agrees. “Right now it ’s the fact that

we are moving into Maple Leaf Gardens

[which] will be a huge bonus to our pro-

gram,” he says.

While the impending renovation of

Maple Leaf Gardens is Ryerson’s biggest

sell at the moment, Ryerson’s up and

coming athletics program is garnering

a lot of attention from recruits around

the country. But, like all of the schools inOntario, Ryerson is put at a disadvantage

when it comes to recruiting.

While Joseph’s master plan is to trans-

form Ryerson’s athletics program into

a CIS power house, he says he refuses

to attain that by sacricing the school’s

academic integrity.

“Our number one goal is our academic

performance and our number two goal is

our athletic performance,” Joseph says.

PHOTO: MARTA IWANEK

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The Eyeopener26

RYE OF THE DEAD

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take it tech

Ryerson once enjoyed an intense school spirit.

The Blue and Gold Ball was all the rage, Chariot

races were an exciting annual event and despitehaving nowhere to practise on campus, sports

were heavily supported

especially football.

The area was kinda

shady, but it

provided low-cost

housing. The

redevelopment in

the 60s began the

commuter school

era.

Major Howard Kerr seemed like an asshole

on the outside, but he attended school

dances and visited sick faculties in the hospital.

He even invited students

without Christmas

plans to his home.

Just don’t let

him catch you

violating the dress

code (neck tie and

shirt) because hewill seriously tell

you to go home.

LET RYE- GONESBE BYGONESFun editor Kats Quinto brings back ve funfacts from the dusty undead archives

IN THE 50s, THE MISS RYERSON CONTEST

FEATURED MALE STUDENTS IN DRAG

BECAUSE VERY FEW WOMEN ATTENDED THE

SCHOOL.Walter Pitman taught

a history course

during his

appointment as

the fourth Ryerson

president. Maybehe did it to qualify

for the Arts

Division ball hockey

tournament, which

he was a part of.

SMOKE BREAKS DID NOT EXIST IN THE LATE 60s

AND THE 70s BECAUSE SMOKING IN CLASS WAS

ALLOWED FOR BOTH STUDENTS AND PROFS.

PHOTOS FROM “SERVING SOCIETY’S NEEDS” BY RONALD STAGG



The Eyeopener27

RYE OF THE DEAD

Dead men on campus

1 George Vari (Aug. 14, 1923- Dec. 9,

2010) Vari was a real estate developer,philanthropist and a civil engineer to boot.He and his wife, Helen, donated $5 millionto the engineering and computing build-ing project that was completed in 2004and was subsequently named for him.He was also a big donor to U of T and York,

but we won’t hold that against him.

2 Ted Rogers Jr. (May 27, 1933- Dec. 2,

2008) It seems like half of Ryerson isnamed for Rogers, but for good reason.He and his wife Loretta donated$15 million to Ryerson in 2007, and Ryesubsequently obliged his gift by nam-ing the school of management after thecommunications magnate. Upon his death,Rogers was listed as the fthrichest Canadian.

3 Howard Kerr (Dec. 25, 1900- Jun. 16,

1984) Kerr was Ryerson’s rst principal andwas a huge part of Ryerson even comingto be. Kerr helped convince the Ontariogovernment that Ryerson was worthestablishing, turning the old Training andRe-establishment Institute into the Ryer-son Polytechnic Institute back in 1948.

Kerr served as Ryerson’s principal until1966, and later established a templatefor Ontario’s community colleges.

4 Eric Palin (?- Jan. 11, 1971) Palin wasa electrical whiz, and helped train radartechnicians for WWII. He helped launcha school of electronics near Ryerson’spredecessor, the Normal School, in 1944and was an original Ryerson staff member.Palin was the director of Electric technol-ogy and RTA from 1948-58.

5 Eugene O’Keefe (Dec. 10, 1827- Oct. 1,

1913) O’Keefe is Rye’s patron saint of booze. His brewery sat at the corner of Victoria and Gould, now encompassedby the Heaslip Centre, and his formermansion is now the O’Keefe residence.O’Keefe was also noted for his donationsto the Toronto Catholic community. Hedonated millions of dollars in his life, andhelped build ve Catholic churches inToronto.

6 William Heaslip Heaslip was the Chairand CEO of the Grafton Group, a largemen’s clothing retailer. Heaslip and hiswife, Nona, were a frequent donors toRyerson, the Toronto Symphony Orchestraand the Canadian Opera Company.

Ian Vandaelle reports on Ryerson’s habit of naming buildings after dead folks

ILLUSTRATION: LEE RICHARDSON

1

23

4

5

6



The Eyeopener28

RYE OF THE DEAD

Ryerson University

has history to be

proud of. After all, its land

carries a rich tradition of

the two staples of uni-

versity lifeeducation

and drinking. Sure, there

were churches, houses

and stores here, but the

most important parts

were all boozing ’n’ book learning.

In 1846 Egerton Ry-

erson convinced the

government to fund

the Upper Canada Nor-

mal School, a teacher’s

college that became

known as “the cradle of

Ontario’s education sys-

tem.” The campus, called

Saint James Square, was

essentially where Kerr

Hall quad is now. Ryer-son bought the patch of

swampy land before it

was within Toronto city

limits and made it into

an educational landmark.

The Normal School

became a military train-

ing center during World

War II, and was later a

re-establishment centre

for veterans. In 1948 this

became the Ryerson In-

stitute of Technology,

and in the 50s, Kerr Hallwas built around the

three original buildings

at Saint James Square.

Destroying those inte-

rior buildings took until

1963. Now only the fa-

çade remains, forming

the gateway arch to the

Recreation and Athletics

Centre.

In the late 1800s, Eu-

gene O’Keefeyes, the

O’Keefe House guy

bought and renovated

a brewery at Gould and

Victoria Streets, where

we now have a book-

store, a Tim Horton’s and

a parking garage. What

the hell, modern world?

After buying and

renovating the brewery,

O’Keefe moved into ahouse on Bond Street

and added a third oor.

O’Keefe House still is Ry-

erson’s oldest residence

but it has notably fewer

badass brewers living in

it.

The brewery was de-

molished in the 80s after

well over a century of

keeping Canadians hap-

py and well-lubricated.

Across from the brew-ery, at the site of today’s

Victoria Building, was a

public school, labeled

only as “public school”

on one map (apparently

that qualied as a com-

plete name for a school

in the 19th century).

Of course, many other

historic sites grace the

land in and around our

campus. The Imperial

Pub, formerly the Impe-

rial Hotel, was aroundbefore the Great Depres-

sion. There was also The

Empress Hotel, which

until last April was the

Salad King venue. It was a

music hotspot in the 50s

and 60s. Unfortunately, it

burned down in January.

Ryerson was considering

buying the property

maybe they’ll build us a

new brewery.

Ryerson’s hallowed groundOK, so it turns out Ryerson wasn’t built on a graveyard. But the land we spend most ofour time has a pretty freakin’ cool history. Kai Benson unearths Ryerson’s undead past



The Eyeopener29

RYE OF THE DEAD

RYERSON’S

UNCHARTEDEDUCATION

By Rebecca Burton

Photography by Marta Iwanek



The Eyeopener 30

RYE OF THE DEAD

aryn Elliot and her

riends crowded around

their made-up bingo

cards.

They weren’t waiting

or a B5. Instead she was waiting to hear one

o the fve topics her proessor constantly

ranted about in class, she says.

The pro begins to talk about how hu-

mans are evil. “Bingo!”

Elliot, a second-year radio and television

arts student, sat through this communica-

tion class or 13 weeks last semester. During

the semester, the class watched a three-

hour movie the proessor made his ex-girl-

riend watch the night beore, and learntabout the enslavement o horses.

“He just expressed his own opinion.

It’s understandable because most proes-

sors do but usually it connects back to the

course,” she said.

“I learned nothing in that class.”

Elliot submitted a mandatory response

paragraph ater every class saying the class

was pointless. She created an anonymous

hotmail account and sent two e-mails about

his teaching to her department head. She

even flled out the aculty course survey. El-

liot never heard back about her complaints.

According to Elliot, the proessor dis-missed the complaints by students saying it

didn’t matter what they thought, it’s what

he taught.

Elliot is part o only one quarter o stu-

dents who give eedback to aculty proes-

sors through surveys.

And even when there is an extremely

negative response rom students, it is near-

ly impossible to dismiss tenured proessors,

according to John Isbister, Vice Provost Fac-

ulty Aairs.

Ryerson University prides itsel on being

a unique real-world oriented university, but

the once polytechnic institute is still haunt-ed by the persistent ‘Rye High’ nickname.

And when students question the quality o

their education they have no clear avenue

to judge how it ranks.

Is it possible to measure the level o edu-

cation at Ryerson?

“The true answer is no. It’s so individual-

ized,” said Isbister. Instead, Ryerson mea-

sures the quality o education

I learned nothing in thatclass.

Karyn Elliot, RTA student

K



The Eyeopener31

RYE OF THE DEAD

We’re the best of whatwe are. We’re adifferent institution

Adam Kahan,VP University Advancement

through surveys like the faculty course sur-vey produced on a yearly basis.

According to the Association of Universi-

ties and Colleges of Canada, most schools

rely solely on these annual student surveys

to judge the satisfaction of their students.

Now in its 18th year as an accredited uni-

versity, Ryerson has developed from a small

institute born to provide an alternative to

apprenticeship technical training into a

booming hub of 28,000 students in more

than 40 programs. The province ofcially

accredited Ryerson in 1993 when a bill was

passed to grant them ofcial status.

As a university, Ryerson moderates itsown academic success. The provincial Min-

istry of Universities and Colleges acts as an

overseer looking at the accountability of

Ryerson to assist them in development and

to aid prospective students.

In their assessment, they look at employ-

ment rates at six months and two years after

graduation, degree completion rates and

Ontario Student Loan default rates.

And Ryerson on paper ranks high. In the

past few years, Ryerson experienced some

of the highest application numbers, ap-

proximately 65 000 applicants for the 5 000available spots.

Within six months an architecture gradu-

ate is 92.3 per cent likely to already be work-

ing. Compare this to neighbouring Uni-

versity of Toronto that holds the historical

esteem and a greater selection of programs,

and Ryerson is almost on par with their 100

per cent average of obtaining a job after

completing the architecture program.

“We’re the best of what we are. We don’t

try to compete because of what we are,”

said Adam Kahan, Vice President of Univer-

sity Advancement. “We’re a different institu-tion,” he said.

But problems arise when Ryerson relies

solely on the faculty course survey as one of

the key indicators of success.

Of the small population of students that

completed the faculty course survey in fall

of 2010, most marks remained in the high

average of 1 to 2.4 out of 5, indicating most

students agreed with the statements pre-

sented.

The survey included 14 questions such

as, ‘is the instructor knowledgeable about

the course material?’

Anver Saloojee, head of the Ryerson Fac-ulty Association, who holds a tenure profes-

sor position in the department of politics,

received an average score of 1.1 to 1.2. A

reasonably high average, he said.

But this data remains very department

oriented. If bad results come in, it is dealt

with internally between the faculty mem-

ber and the department. If that professor is

tenure it becomes nearly impossible to dis-

miss them, according to John Isbister.

Along with their secured position they

are granted academic freedom, a problem

Elliot says she faced during her many mis-

guided lectures.

“Individual data is not released and that’s

the problem. The benets are very individu-

al. For instance, students can’t use this [data]

in picking courses,” said Isbister.

Instead he said students would have to

rely on alternatives such as ratemyprofes-

sor.com, which offer the same student driv-

en perspective.

The surveys also aid in the departmen-

tal decisions over choosing to promote a

teacher. Close attention is paid to a teach-

er’s rst ve years when they are on pro-bation in which they must submit reports

every year.

“Ryerson doesn’t want to make a lifetime

commitment to someone who’s not a good

teacher,” said Isbister.

The idea of tenure is controversial in it-

self, according to Isbister.

But if Ryerson chooses, after ve years

probation and a number of peer to peer

evaluations, to grant a teacher tenure the

professor will be given academic freedom.

The main purpose of tenure, indicating a

professors full time status, is to ensure pro-

fessors will not be red for expressing his orher own opinions. But this also grants a lot

of leeway from the outlined course materi-

als.

In another survey Ryerson participates

called the National Survey of Student En-

gagement, more disturbing scores, accord-

ing to Isbister, indicated that as a student

went further along in their education the

scores for student engagement on campus

and fulllment of their programs dropped.

As a result, Isbister said Ryerson will be

undergoing a whole curriculum redesign to

offer more choice for students.

“We tell you what courses to take. We’re

beginning to think we’re too directive,” he

said.

According to Isbister, students will still

leave Ryerson as a professional but their

four years will grant them more avenues to

explore what they personally want to study.

“There will still be less choice than strictly

liberal arts universities but we may have

gone overboard,” said Isbister.

“We’re not in agreements yet but we’re

working on it.”



The Eyeopener32

RYE OF THE DEAD

Staying alive at RyersonBetween part-time jobs and full-time classes, it’s easy to become a shell of

a person, groggily stumbling from one task to the next.Community Editor

Allyssia Alleyne shares the secret to having a life

Explore the terrain

The world extends beyond the confines of Ryer-

son’s inspiring campus. Take to the streets to

discover what this exciting city has to offer, from

the lands of our rival c lans at the University of

Toronto to the rich cultures of Queen Street

West, and the mysterious northern regions

past Bloor Street.

Sharpen

your

weapons

The pen is mightier

than the sword.

Knowledge is pow-

er. In short, those

skills you learn

in lecture might

actually come in

handy some day,so pay attention.

Besides: nothing

looks better to

generous aunts

than a transcript

full of As.

Forge

alliances

Though it’s easy and convenient

to restrict your allies to the peo-

ple you see in your daily labs,

people from other programs

do have much to offer in

terms of resources, skills and

fun times. Don’t be afraid to

extend the olive branch to

create allies out of enemies.

Maintain your health

The undead and the uninteresting prey on the

sluggish and lazy. A little exercise a few times

a week laps at the RAC or Quidditch in

the quad and a somewhat balanced diet

can do a world of good when it comes to

escaping zombies (who are infamously

slow) or just catching the last GO Bus

home.

Join a team

Nothing will endanger your life like the

inability to work with others. (Just ask

Caesar!) To the socially-inclined stu-

dent, Ryerson offers plenty of clubs

and organization students can join.

Find one that interests you and

learn how to play nice with others.

If you’re already a social butterfly,

this is a great way to

meet new peo-

ple and dosomething

you enjoy.

Create

safe

havens

Help protect

yourself and

your fellows

from ignorant

revenants bystanding up

against op-

pression and

discrimination

based on sex,

gender or other

factors (except

zombie status.)

PHOTO: MARTA IWANEK



T O DO:Course Intention

Begins March 14th

Plan t o C ount Y ourself In!

w w w .ry erson.ca/ current st udent s/ essr/ courseint ent ion/



PROCRASTINATING,

AN’T CONCENTRATE?PROCRASTINATE

BETTER ON AULL STOMACHOk students, turn to 10 Dundas EastBagel Stop • Baskin Robbins • Bubble Tease • California Thai • Caribbean Queen • ChipotleHarvey’s • Jack Astor’s • Johnny Rockets • Jugo Juice • Juice Rush • Kitchen Food Fair

Koryo Korean BBQ • Made in Japan • Milestones • Milo’s Pita • Mrs. Field’s • Opa! Souvlaki

Pumpernickel • Sauté Rose • Starbucks • Subway • Tim Hortons • Timothy’s • Woo’s Restaurant

FOOD COURT 101MASTER 25 GREAT EATERIES10DUNDASEAST

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The Eyeopener — March 2, 2011 — Magazine