The Eyeopener — November 19, 2014

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Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014 NEWS 3

Tents, boards, motions and unrestA disconnect between RSU executives and BoG student representatives has led to a shanty town outside of Jorgenson Hall

he RSU is demonstrating with a tent cit y outside Jorgenson Hall.PHOTO: ROB FOREMAN

By Sierra Bein, Jake Scott andackie Hong

t was halfway through the Ryer-on Students’ Union’s (RSU) fall

eneral meeting on Nov. 11 whenhe issues between the RSU and

student representative on the

Board of Governors (BoG) be-ame apparent.During a discussion about a

motion to launch the RSU’s newampaign, Freeze the Fees, Tyler

Webb, a student representative of

the BoG spoke out against a reso-lution that called for the numberof student members on the BoG

to be increased from three to six.Webb did not disclose his positionon the BoG. The Freeze the Fees

campaign aims to stop tuition in-creases, and calls for the school toaccept an alternative budget to the

BoG.The motion was put forward

by RSU Vice-President Education

Jesse Root.“I think it’s time for some sham-

ing. If you’re going to come andvote against our campaign thattries to call you to account, you

are going to risk losing … ac-countability,” Root said after

the meeting. He said two studentmembers of the BoG, Webb and Joseph Vukovic, were present atthe meeting. However, Webb said

he believes he was the only BoGstudent representative there.

The three current BoG student

members are Webb, Vukovic andNoah Geist.

“There were three votes against

[the motion], two of them are ourstudent [representatives on the]BoG, in fact, who the motion spe-

cifically targets. So you can un-derstand why they were againstit and we’ll be following up with

them about that,” Root said afterthe meeting.

The motion, which also said

the RSU will “develop an ag-gressive campaign,” ultimatelypassed, allowing the RSU to begin

their campaign with an inaugu-ral Freeze the Fees rally on Nov.17. The RSU has set up a “tentcity” in front of Jorgenson Hall

to protest what it said is Ryer-son University’s “refusal to workwith students and Ryerson com-

munity members on a budget that

does not include budget cuts and

tuition fee increases for the tenthyear in a row.”

In a press release, the RSU said

students will camp out “until the

university co-operates to presentan alternative budget to be con-

sidered at the Board of GovernorsMeeting in April.”

Webb said he disagrees with the

RSU’s tactics.“It’s representative of … the

kind of drastic actions I don’t think

are necessary to make change hap-pen,” he said. “I’m a big believerin conversation and moving for-

ward on, you know, equal footing,and that large public statementsdon’t get anywhere near as much

done as … sitting down and work-ing through things.”

Tension has been growing be-tween the RSU and student repre-sentatives on the BoG since Octo-ber. As The Eyeopener previously

reported, the RSU said it was de-nied the opportunity to speak di-rectly at the upcoming BoG meet-

ing about creating an “alternatebudget” that would not includetuition fee increases or service

cuts. The union was told to speakto the student BoG members whowould present the proposal on the

RSU’s behalf. However, the RSU

said the student representatives

were reluctant to work with them,stating they were unable to reachthem. The RSU launched a brief

Twitter campaign to get the atten-

tion of the representatives.“I’m not convinced that their

minds are on our side,” Root said.

“That’s why we’re feeling we needto rally … because there’s no otheraccountability mechanisms.”

Webb said that he had beensending emails to Root since Oct.20 and didn’t receive a response

until Oct. 31, three days beforethe deadline to submit motionsto the BoG. He said this wasn’t

enough time to make a decisionon the motion.

“I’m not going to take anything

on faith, I think it’s part of my re-

sponsibility and kind of my dutyas a board member to kind of sit

down with people and understandwhere motions and ideas are com-ing [from] before I put them to the

board,” Webb said.According to Root, “tent city”

isn’t going anywhere until their

demands are met. The BoG meet-ing will take place on Nov. 27.

“Ultimately, we still recognize

that the place of action is the BoGso we’re going to continue to pres-sure there,” Root said.

FCAD union breaks down budgetThe newest student society on campus presented its budget to students

By Zoe Melnyk

The Ryerson Communication andDesign Society (RCDS), the uni-ersity’s youngest student society,

eld its first semi-annual generalmeeting on Nov. 13.

Tyler Webb, president of RCDS,

poke about the efforts being madeo help students through fundingnd offering opportunities to net-

work with companies that could

ead to possible internships.Webb explained that the five

ore functions of RCDS are to

ffer support to student groups,tudent projects, attendance atonferences and competitions, cre-

ting and hosting year-end showsnd offering bursaries.“That is our mandate, to serve

hose students,” Webb said, refer-ing to the 4,000 Faculty of Com-

munication and Design (FCAD)

tudents.Casey Yuen, vice president of

nance, explained how the budget

s broken up and the goals RCDSopes to reach in order to benefit

tudents. Operating expenses cameo a total of $145,080, taking theargest portion of RCDS’ $400,080udget. Student group funding

came second with a total budget of$100,000. Year-end show fundingcame to a total of $40,000, fol-

lowed by student project fundingat $30,000 and conferences andcompetitions at $20,000. $5,000

was set for bursaries.Yuen said that the board mem-

bers are made of students paying

the same fees as any other FCADstudent so budget spending deci-sions are made to benefit the stu-

dents as much as possible.“We understand and we know

exactly where that money is go-

ing,” Yuen said.A major priority of the meeting

was transparency of the budget.

Students at the meeting wantedproof of the budget spendings.Miri Makin, manager of studentrelations and development, of-

fered the students reassurance.“There is a yearly auditing pro-

cess to keep the budget even more

transparent,” Makin said.Questions were then raised

about the annual auditing process

being performed by a Ryerson

staff member.Makin, who performs the an-

nual informal internal audits, as-sured the students that it is done

purely in the interest to save mon-

ey. Makin also explained that anofficial audit by a non-Ryersonemployee will be done every three

to five years.After the budget was discussed,

each executive member of the

board had the opportunity to ex-plain the purpose and benefits of-fered from their department. Ex-

ecutive members said they wouldwork to give students access to the

funds they need to further theirown projects.

Because student groups playsuch a large roll in the budget

decision process, a bylaw amend-ment was passed in order to allowone student group representative

sit in on Student Group and Proj-ect Funding Committee meetings.A second motion was immediately

passed that allowed voting for thestudent group representatives totake place during the academic

year. Previously, voting was heldover the summer during an RCDSretreat.

The meeting wrapped up with

a reminder that nominations fornew board members will begin January 2015 and voting will fol-

low in February.



4 EDITORIAL Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014

Editor-in-Chief Mohamed “Loves Sean” Omar

News Jackie “Will Miss Sean” Hong

Sierra “Hearts Sean” Bein

Jake “Needs Sean” Scott

FeaturesSean “Is Sean” Wetselaar

Biz & TechLaura “Adores Sean” Woodward

Arts and LifeLeah “Requires Sean” Hansen

Sports Josh “Demands Sean” Beneteau

CommunitiesNatalia “Breathes Sean” Balcerzak

Photo

Farnia “Drinks Sean” Fekri

Jess “Smells Sean” Tsang

Rob “Consumes Sean” Foreman

FunKeith “Dreams Of Sean” Capstick

Media Behdad “Smokes Sean” Mahichi

OnlineNicole “Bleeds Sean” Schmidt John “Ti Amo, Sean” Shmuel

Web DeveloperKerry “Developes Sean” Wall

CopyeditorBecca “Edits Sean” Goss

General ManagerLiane “Manages Sean” McLarty

Advertising Manager

Chris “Advertises Sean” Roberts

Design Director J.D. “Designs Sean” Mowat

ContributorsNick “Creates Sean” DunneAnnie “Molds Sean” Arnone

Ruth “Sketches Sean” RemudaroStephen “Sells Sean” ArmstrongEbony-Renee “Clones Sean”

BakerAndrei “Profits Off Sean” Pora

Badri “Films Sean” MuraliVictoria “Writes Sean” Shariati Justin “Draws Sean” Chandler

Lisa “Lists Sean” CummingEmma “Aligns Sean” Cosgrove

Brennan “Reports Sean” DohertyMichael “Quotes Sean” Chen

Zoe “Interviews Sean” Melnyk Jonah “Features Sean” Brunet

Devin “Plays Sean” JonesDaniel “Idolizes Sean” Rocchi

Alex “Downloads Sean” DownhamEmily “Worships Sean” Craig-EvansBlair “Pays Cash To Sean” Mlotek

Jake “Owns Sean” Kivanc Jack “Cooks Sean” Hopkins

Laura “Hires Sean” MacInnes-RaeCaterina “Fires Sean” AmaralAmmi “Engulfs Sean” Parmar

Sunday “Deconstructs Sean” Aken

Super Awesome Interns Julia “Rebuilds Sean” Tomasone

Anika “Improves Sean” Syeda

Hayley “BECOMES SEAN” Adam

Playing the part of the Annoying Talk-

ing Coffee Mug this week is those

people walking in front of you on the

sidewalk who think to themselves,

“ARE THERE PEOPLE WALKING

BEHIND ME? YES? OKAY, I AM

GOING TO STOP WALKING AND

BLOCK THEIR WAY NOW.”

The Eyeopener is Ryerson’s larg-est and only independent student

newspaper. It is owned and oper-

ated by Rye Eye Publishing Inc., a

non-profit corporation owned by

the students of Ryerson. Our of-

fices are on the second floor of the

Student Campus Centre.

You can reach us at 416-979-5262,

at theeyeopener.com or on Twitter

at @theeyeopener.

Union’s dedication is in tentsThe Ryerson Students’ Union is camping in f ront of Jorgenson Hall, the school’s main administrative building. PHOTO: ROB FOREMAN

ByMohamedOmar

Believe it or not, university stu-

dent politics is not sexy.

Occasionally, on television and

in the movies, post-secondary

student activism is portrayed as

explosive, unrelenting, passionate.

Think Channing Tatum running

around shouting “Benghazi, man,Benghazi!”

But Hollywood-ified depictions

of protests that show legions of

angry and dedicated students com-

ing out in droves couldn’t be far-

ther from reality.

Here at Ryerson, we have the

granny’s panties of student activ-

ism. Our student body unknow-

ingly waves it like a massive

white flag.

If any student on campus came

up to me and said, “The major-

ity of this campus does not give a

twirling shit about its student gov-

ernment,” I would not have much

ammo to argue.

If another ran up to me and

said, “The voter turnout rate for

our student elections has been on

a steady incline for the past five

years!” then I would call animal

services and tell them a drunk

badger is spewing lies.

It would be horrendously

wrong, however, to accuse the

Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU)

— the official, elected student

government — of not being

dogged in its student activism.

But around its zeal for student-

led initiatives, I notice a terrible,

demotivating situation.Here is the current state of the

RSU, from where I see it:

It’s executive was elected by less

than 7 per cent of students on a

campus of 30,000.

It must, in all its actions, strive

to serve those 30,000 students,

with barely any of them giving a

parrot’s ass about what’s going on.

In order to get things done at

the level of Ryerson’s Board of

Governors (which controls financ-

es, property, major projects, etc.),

it must have a student representa-

tive take its concerns to the board.

There are three student repre-

sentatives on the board who aren’t

helping the union, leaving it virtual-

ly impotent in its quest to penetrate

Ryerson’s decision-making process.

Finally, the RSU has chosen one

of the most monumental challeng-

es a student government can take

on: lowering — and eventually

abolishing — tuition fees.

The RSU’s explosive dedication

to that cause is evident in its cur-

rent campaign, Freeze the Fees,

which kicked off Monday.

The union and its supporters are

now camping in front of Jorgen-

son Hall, where the offices of the

president and other higher-ups arelocated. They’re hunkering down

until the school accepts, among

other things, to see an alternate

budget — created by a coalition of

students, faculty, staff and others

— at its board meeting. This bud-

get would include frozen tuition

fees and no budget cuts.

Camping out is not the craziest

of protest methods, and despite

getting some coverage on CP24

and CityNews, it likely won’t get

students rushing to join.

But when you consider the

RSU’s declining influence and sup-

port on campus, its apathetic-as-

a-doorknob student populace, itsto refusal say “Fuck it, I’m done”

when everyone else has — it de-

serves to be commended.



Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014 NEWS 5

Students to help hack the libraryBy Michael Chen

First-year radio and television arts

tudent Liz Corbo knows how the

0-year-old Ryerson library com-pares to other buildings on campus.

“I find myself walking the pathrom the Rogers Communications

Centre, a beautiful building that

eels new and fresh, to the librarybuilding, a place where some-imes, I dread.”

Corbo will be attending anIdea Hack” event next Wednes-

day to find out how she can im-prove the building’s interior look.

According to Strategic ProjectsLiaison Carrie-Ann Bissonnette,he office of the provost has allo-

ated $75,000 as a one-time pilotproject to help revitalize and in-

use the current library with stu-dent pride and spirit. The money ismanaged by the Project Funds Al-ocations Committee for Students.

“As students, we spend a ton of

time in the library. Sometimes, apaint job can make a huge differ-ence,” Corbo said.

The student-led creative firm be-hind the event, Bodhi Collective, islooking for more ideas on how to

revitalize the library.One example from the collec-

tive is “Stairways to Stimulation.”

The project plans to encouragemore people to use the stairs inthe library. The physical changes

include installing kinetic energyfloor tiles leading to the stairs, andadding air pollution-absorbing

moss walls and charging stationsin the stairwells.

Students can submit their ideas

to fix any existing space or issuein the library as part of the unof-

ficially named “LIB Invigorate”initiative, said Linh Nguyen, afourth-year economics student be-hind the collective.

“We know that there will be

some students who have a well-developed idea or design proposal.And there might be other students

who might have a very basic andbare concept,” Nguyen said. “Soin this process, we want to makethe connections they need to form

a more solid idea.”After the students submit their

ideas, the collective and Ryerson

academic stakeholders, includingthe offices of the president andlibrary management, will review

and approve them.Then, students will present their

ideas to the funds committee,

which will determine how much itwill cost.

If the idea receives funding, the

campus facilities and sustainabil-

ity department will carry out theproject.

For the full story on library

hacking, visit theeyeopener.com

Students vote to nix 8 a.m. classThe RSU will be lobbying against early lectures as well as pop quizzes

By Jake Scott, Sierra Bein andackie Hong

Ryerson students may no longerhave to struggle to wake up for 8

.m. classes or deal with the un-pleasant surprise of a pop quiz ifhe Ryerson Students’ Union gets

ts way.Two motions passed at the RSU

all general meeting on Nov. 11

alling for the RSU to lobby Ry-rson’s administration to put annd to unannounced quizzes, as

well as classes that start before 10

.m. However, the motions mustnow pass through a series of stepsbefore becoming reality.

“The first [move] is to startalking to administration about

what the feasibility looks like

nd develop a coherent [request]round the things that came out

of our [fall general meeting] to

enate,” RSU President RajeanHoilett said. Hoilett has been aommuter himself and said he had

o travel almost two hours fromAjax to make it to his classes.

“I know for myself it wasn’t the

most conducive thing to learningnd 8 a.m. classes were somethinghat you avoided like the plague,”

he said.The motions said that pop quiz-

es are “unfair and unreasonable

o students” and described 8 a.m.lasses as “extremely inconve-

nient for students, especially thosewho commute from hours away.”

Third-year mechanical engi-neering student Gorgis Gorgis

ommutes to school from Etobi-oke and has four 8 a.m. classeshis semester — three lectures and

one lab. He said he would wel-come the motion for later class

start times.“I don’t go to lectures,” Gorgis

said, adding that he would prefer

to attend classes but his commute,which can take up to an hour anda half, makes it difficult for him

to show up on time. “I’m not get-ting all the materials, so I have tostudy by myself.”

But while ditching early classesin favour of a 10 a.m. start timemight seem like an easy fix to drea-ry-eyed commuters, it may prove

difficult to actually implement.“The challenge is that we have

to be able to accommodate the

schedule and with the number ofhours and the number of classeswe have. That’s already diffi-

cult,” Ryerson President Sheldon

Levy said.“So I think it would be an enor-

mous, enormous logistic chal-lenge and I would think [it wouldbe] impossible. We start early be-

cause there’s no other choice.”Ryerson Registrar Charmaine

Hack agrees.“In the absence of a substantial

increase in classroom facilities,

the reality is that 8 a.m. classescannot be avoided,” Hack said in

an email. She added that studentshave unsuccessfully requested forthe end of 8 a.m. classes in thepast.

Ryerson English professor Lau-ra Fisher teaches classes that startat 8 a.m. She said she knows the

early start puts extra stress on herstudents, especially commuters,but thinks it’s a necessary part of

being at a growing university.“We’ve been expanding dra-

matically and broadening our

reach as a university in recentyears and all of this is good forRyerson students. 8 a.m. classes

are just a part of that growth—

it means we can accommodatemore students in classes,” Fisher

said in an email.“I don’t think I would trade

Ryerson’s growth as a universityfor an extra hour or two of sleep,

however much I would enjoy it.”

Some students spend over two hours in t ransit getting to schoolPHOTO: JAKE SCOTT

_ . - - :

Worried about Christmas shopping?? Come shop at the annual

Fair Trade Market for free at the Gladstone Hotel,

November 29th– 30th.

Engineers Without Borders will also be hosting various events to

celebrate our Fair Trade Month with free fair trade food

and prizes!

For more information email: [email protected]

www.facebook.com/EWBRyerson



6 Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014FEATURES

“it’s really

hard to leave”After being at the centre of Ryerson’s decision making for nearlya decade, Julia Hanigsberg is moving on to a new job in a newfield. Sean Wetselaar and Jonah Brunet take a look at hercareer so far

In a glassed-in room tucked into the

back of the Mattamy Athletic Centre,

surrounded by a small crowd of for-

mally-dressed retirees, Julia Hanigs-

berg is giving a speech. The crowd is made

up almost entirely by Ryerson employees

that have retired in the last year and theirfamilies. The higher-ups like to give them a

formal send-off as part of a big managerial

idea that the administration is a family —

but for Hanigsberg this is not just another

event on her exceedingly packed schedule.

It’s one of her last appointments in her

time as vice-president administration and

finance at the school.

As the retirees — from dozens of de-

partments — progress across the stage to

the sound of a short biography detailing

their careers and “years of service,” two

other people are, in a way, being given

their own send off. The first is the presi-

dent — Sheldon Levy — who will retire at

the end of this academic year. The other isHanigsberg, who will be moving on to a

new job as president and CEO of Holland

Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.

Her last day at the school she has helped

to remake is Nov. 28.

She doesn’t like to use the phrase “the

end of an era” — Hanigsberg says the

foundation she has helped to build is too

strong for it to be accurate. But there’s

no question that the departure of two of

the change-makers that have reshaped the

school is a big shift for the once-belea-

guered polytechnic. And if her departure

is not the end of an era, Julia Hanigsberg’s

shift out of the school is certainly the end

of a crucial chapter.

Hanigsberg came to the school

in January 2006 as general

counsel and secretary of the

board of governors. She’d

come from a decade in government, the

capstone of which was her time as chief of

staff for the Attorney General’s office. There

are more bullet points on her resume than

there’s room to print, but after leaving gov-

ernment she spent a semester teaching at Os-

goode Hall Law School at York University.It was during her time at Osgoode that she

met Sheldon Levy, then the newly-appointed

president of Ryerson. In those days, Levy

was still working to rebrand the admin-

istration after the reign of his predecessor,

Claude Lajeunesse, which was plagued by

a lack of transparency and infighting. Levy

needed strong people to back him, and he

convinced Hanigsberg quickly.

In those years, the relatively new Liberal

government was “putting lots of money into

Canadian universities,” Hanigsberg says.

And Ryerson, the University of Toronto and

York were all in the process of changing

presidents, leading to a real sense of renewal

in the sector. “It was an interesting time inpost-secondary,” she says.

She was introduced to Levy through a

mutual friend and, “within five minutes, but

it was probably more like 30 seconds, I was

like, ‘I want to work for this guy,’” she says.

“It was that ... kind of excitement and

change and opportunity that transition

brings.”

She spent a year as interim Dean of the

Chang School beginning in 2008. In 2010

she moved to her current portfolio, where

she has worked on projects reaching from

buildings like the Student Learning Centre

to new managerial policies in the nine de-

partments she wrangles.

Twice a year, Hanigsberg brings to-

gether the leaders of her nine di-

visions. She’s a strong believer in

conflating the personal and pro-

fessional, and was disheartened when, in thePHOTO: JESS TSANG

PHOTO: ROB FOREMA



Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014 7FEATURES

first of these gatherings three years ago, ev-

ryone remained in their division clique andhere were few new friends to speak of. Thisear however, the room is buzzing before

he even arrives.It’s a snowy, overcast November day, and

white light filters in through thin blinds on

he Oakham lounge windows. The place isdone up elegantly in black-and-white table-loths, which compliment a glossy black

piano in one corner and twin black-brickfireplaces. Combined with the sandy brickwalls, exposed wooden rafters and tinynowflakes swirling outside, the décor gives

he vibe of a high-end ski resort.Hanigsberg arrives and wanders around

he room, stopping at each table, chatting

nd laughing as she goes. A lunch buffetheats up in one corner, filling the air with thecent of roast chicken and tomato sauce. In

he opposite corner, there’s a table stackedwith hardcover books titled “The Orga-nized Mind.”

“Think of them as an early holiday gift,”ays Hanigsberg as she makes her rounds.It didn’t make sense for me to be giving

ifts from beyond the grave.”The topic of her departure is a popular

one, broached by long-time employees with

ad smiles.“It’s dwindling down,” she says. “I’m be-

oming less relevant in all the conversations

… You can’t really be prepared for it until ithappens.”

But there is far more laughter than tears

s Hanigsberg steps up to the microphonet the front of the room, tossing friendlyabs at colleagues — Dan who won’t stop

alking, or Jim who’s texting under the ta-ble. Rather than departure, happiness is theheme of her speech. She refers to the group

lternately as a “merry band” and a “mot-ey crew.”

“November has really hit me hard,” sheays. “We underestimate the impact we can

have in an organization as big as this.”

Her job is a complicated one. In

simplest terms, Hanigsberg’s

office is responsible for every-thing that falls under her nine

departments. These range from IT to capitalprojects and cover a huge range and numberof disciplines.

The result of having such a broad manage-ial role is that a lot of Hanigsberg’s time ispent coordinating and communicating with

her nearly 650 employees. And according toPinoo Bindhani, Hanigsberg’s executive di-ector (or as Bindhani phrases it, “chief oftaff”), it’s crucial that a V.P. is able to come

nto projects and understand them quickly.“She is a leader who can understand is-

ues and can arrive at what the core issue is

with a laser-like focus,” Bindhani says. “Thelarity that she brings to any issue is com-

mendable.”It was in an effort to bring her depart-

ments together that Hanigsberg and thedministration introduced a buzzy phrase

that is now synonymous with the school’sadmin — “people first.” The term itself

first appeared in Levy’s administrativemanifesto, “the master plan,” and had todo with pedestrianization of campus. But

Hanigsberg broadened it extensively in ablog post, and today it is a far-reachingterm. At the mantra’s core, what Hanigs-

berg and others have tried to do is shiftthe focus of the organization to people —

students, staff and faculty — before otherobjectives.

“The proudest thing for me is now Ihear people saying it all the time — it’s just

a normal thing to say,” she says.“It’s part of the vernacular.”

That connectivity between depart-ments and people has been cen-tral to Hanigsberg’s time at the

school. As Bindhani put it, “Wedon’t want people working in silos.” En-suring that there are open lines and a will-

ingness to speak truth to power is one ofthe hardest parts of Hanigsberg’s job, andthat is perhaps no more evident than in the

recent Gould Street debacle. The project,

which included a two-stage repainting ofGould, would eventually cost the school$111,000 in essentially lost funds and lead

to a public apology from Hanigsberg her-self.

The apology was classic Hanigsberg —

in a sector that has often been defined bysecrecy and a lack of transparency in theadministration, it would not have been

a surprise to find a different executivesweeping the problems under the rug. ButHanigsberg took ownership for the mis-

take — which she says arose at least inpart from a failure on her part to listen tothose under her. Many of her people said

that the paint-job was rushed and predict-ed some of the problems that arose.

“Understandably I have heard frommany of you how deeply disappointed youwere,” she wrote in her public apology in January. “You are right to be disappoint-

ed.”It was partly a desire to be transpar-

ent — Hanigsberg writes a blog, tweets

obsessively and pushes accessibility to thestudents wherever possible. But there wasanother factor at play. “I was genuinely

sorry,” she says.

As Hanigsberg says, it’s difficult

to quantify the impact that oneperson can have, especially onan organization as big as Ryer-

son. She might be one of the most senior

executives at the school, responsible forinnumerable high-level decisions, but Ry-

erson employs around 6,500 people acrossits divisions.

Hanigsberg likes to talk about the im-

pact that Levy has had on her — profes-sionally and personally. She calls him a“dream boss” and credits him with muchof Ryerson’s “extremely intentional”

growth. But for all the ways in which Levyhas affected Ryerson, Hanigsberg has af-fected many of her own people — as the

deluge of well-wishers seems to prove.November has, like so many things that

once seemed so very far away, come all

at once for Hanigsberg — and now she isstaring into the face of her last weeks at

the institution she has helped to reshape.On Nov. 25, Ryerson will be hosting afarewell party for the departing vice-presi-dent. “It’s my party & I’ll cry if I want to,”

she tweeted on Monday.It has been an emotional month for

Hanigsberg and the rest of the senior staffon the 13th floor of Jorgenson Hall.

“Can I say that it’s really hard to leave?”

she says, as tears begin to form in the cor-ners of her eyes. “It’s really hard to leave.It’s really emotional.”

The thing that really gets Hanigsbergthough, is not just the leaving — it’s the

people that keep telling her about her im-pact. The same ones she has pushed for

from the beginning.“She was the one that pulled us all to-

gether to say that the most important thing

that we have going at the university arepeople,” Levy says.

And odds are, that — more than any of

her many achievements in the past nineyears — will be her legacy.

It’s dwindling down. I’m becoming

less relevant in all the conversa-

tions. You can’t really be prepared

for it until it happensPHOTOS ABOVE: JESS TSANG. BELOW: ROB FOREMAN



8 SPORTS Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014

Science of the RamsSchool of nutrition wants to help Rams get better on the court, ice and field

By Josh Beneteau

The jocks and geeks of Ryerson

have found something to work to-

ether on.The school of nutrition and the

arsity athletics department have

partnered on a program to increase

he efficiency of athlete exercise.

The Nutrition and Exercise

Testing Lab (NExT) has state-of-

he-art equipment to find data that

hey can then use to provide more

ccurate recommendations to ath-

etes’ training schedules.

“At the end of the day, you have

o train on a regular basis, but if

ou can train smart, then you’re

oing to end up with athletes who

re better athletes,” says Nick Bel-

issimo, assistant professor at thechool of nutrition.

Bellissimo has been working

with Sam Walls, the strength and

onditioning coordinator for the

thletic department, on the pilot

program. They run the athletes

hrough a few tests including the

most important one, called the

VO2 max test. VO2 is the rate at

which your body uses oxygen.

Athletes are hooked up to a

machine with a mask, which has

two tubes running to a computer.The athletes then run on a tread-

mill. Every minute, the speed and

incline of the treadmill increase.

With the increased workload, the

athlete’s breathing and heart rate

rises.

“It’s a weird feeling, because

your nose is plugged and you

have the mask on,” fourth-year

women’s basketball player Keneca

Pingue-Gilles says. “It’s not really

how you would play basketball.”

Walls says when the athlete

crosses their peak heart rate, called

the ventilatory threshold, they will

suddenly become really exhaust-ed. So the heart rate at that value

becomes a value that can then be

used to recommend how much ex-

ercise should be done.

“That’s a very valuable num-

ber,” he says. “Now we can take

this information and be much

more accurate in the prescription

of their training program.”

In past years, Walls says he would

recommend a percentage range for

ideal heart rate based solely on the

age of the athlete. Now, with eachathlete getting their own specific

number, his recommendations can

be more beneficial to the athlete.

The program has only been test-

ed on the women’s basketball team

but Walls says they are looking to

run the men’s soccer team through

it soon. The main purpose of the

pilot stage is to see how efficiently

the VO2 test can be run.

Previously, athletes would be

tested together with the beep test.

They would all line up together in

the gym and run back and forth.

As athletes would hit their ventila-

tor threshold they would stop run-ning and the test would go until

everyone had reached their peak.

That test would take 15 minutes

and cover everyone on the team.

The VO2 test can take up to 40

minutes per person. With close

to 20 or more athletes per team,

it could take up to a week to do

The treadmill used to give VO2 tests.PHOTO COURTESY NICK BELLISSIMO

Benched blockers are buddies

By Devin Jones

Jake Danson and Knick Daweshould be heated rivals, but instead

they make fun of each other in the

way two good friends would.

Both are the backups to men’s

hockey goalie Troy Passingham,

who in his fourth year has played

in all 12 Rams games this season

— Dawe and Danson have yet to

hit the ice.

“He is a big bastard,” said

Dawe, 21, referring to the six-

foot-five Passingham. “[But] he’s

been a great teammate and friend

to me so far.”

The only thing the two play-

ers don’t have in common comesdown to a matter of style. Dan-

son, 21, uses “athletic” to de-

scribe himself while Dawe goes for

“technically sound.” Before Ry-

erson, both goalies played in the

Ontario Junior Hockey League —

Danson for the Newmarket Hur-

ricanes and Dawe for the Aurora

Tigers, two teams that just happen

to be cross-town rivals. Despite

the battle for the backup position,

neither player hints at animosity

toward the other, a competition

they chalk up to a friendly rivalry.

“It’s just like if you were to

play against your friends, on the

ice you compete and fight against

each other, but when you’re done

you’ll go out and have a beer,”

Dawe said. “You’re always going

to have someone behind you push-

ing you, trying to take your spot.

We’re friends and you try not totake it personally.”

Dawe has been anointed the

backup for now but nearly identi-

cal save percentages in the 2013-14

season — Dawe with a .916 and

Danson with a .908 — makes the

battle for the spot still competitve.

“In terms of competing, we’ve

talked to both of them. They both

understand the role and as long as

there’s healthy competition, then it’s

all okay,” head coach Graham Wise

said. “It’s all about showing them

that you have confidence in their

abilities.”

Even though he sits in thecrowd, Danson is enjoying the Ry-

erson experience. He’s using the

facilities and support around him

to improve his game, so he’ll beready when called upon.

“I’ve had some pretty amazing

hockey experiences, but the big-

gest thing about coming here was

having a support group around

me,” Danson said. “There’s a

great group of guys who really

mesh together and support each

other, which has made playing

hockey a lot of fun again.”

No matter who gets the job

as the backup goalie on the now

8-4 Rams, Dawe and Danson —

sounding straight out of a ‘70s

buddy cop film — will use the

rivalry to improve their play andone day get into a game.

the test.

Walls says that even though it

may be time consuming, they are

moving forward with the project.

“Our optimal vision is to have

it where we test them right at the

beginning of the season and right

at the end of the season to end up

seeing what particular qualities are

lost and what are maintained,” he

says.

Bellissimo doesn’t run the tests

himself; he lets his undergrad andgraduate students get the experi-

ence. That way, both the athletes

and the nutrition students get

first-hand experience with tech-

nology used almost exclusively at

the highest levels of sport.

Partnering with other faculties

is important, says Ryerson athletic

director Ivan Joseph. He says any

way they can get an advantage in

the third period or fourth quarter

is worth pursuing.

“We always look to partner

with our faculties because they

are the experts,” Joseph says. “It’s

not like the old days where if you

wanted to know if a guy was fit

you asked him how his leg was.

Now you have to be more scien-

tific and this is just one asset that

we have.”For Pingue-Gilles and the other

women’s basketball players, know-

ing they could get an advantage

from these extra tests is exciting.

“It’s supposed to be hard but

everything is analytical and statis-

tics now,” she says. “I think it will

help us get better.”

Rookie goalies Jake Danson and Knick Dawe are riding the pine for the Rams

Danson (left) and Dawe are competing to be the Rams’ backup goalie.

PHOTO: ANNIE ARNONE



Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014 ARTS & LIFE 9

Rye grad explores the Art of DarknessFeature-length documentary on “drug series” artist featured at film festival exploring mental health

A new documentary produced by

Ryerson graduate documents the

mesmerizing self-portraits of Bry-

n Lewis Saunders, the man best-

known for creating self-portraits

under the influence of a variety of

drugs.

The film, Art of Darkness, pre-

miered at the Rendezvous with

Madness Film Festival Nov. 14,which took place at TIFF Bell

Lightbox.

The documentary is the first

Artist Brian Lewis Saunders, most famous for his 11-day “drug series” of self-portraits, is featured in Rye grad’s documentary.

PHOTO COURTESY DAVID PARKER

By Alex Downham feature-length film for alumnus

David Parker, an award-winning

writer, producer and director. Art

of Darkness reveals “sociopathic

tendencies” in Saunder’s self-por-

trait series.

“The movie is about art and art

as therapy,” Parker said in a panel.

“At first, I thought I could pin a

psychological disposition on Bry-

an, but I still have no clue.”

Since March 1995, 43-year-oldSaunders has drawn a self por-

trait every day. Driven by “des-

peration” and an “obsession with

pain,” the painter’s series includes

mores than 10,000 self-portraits.

“When I do these paintings it’s

like an exorcism,” Saunders said

in the film. “Unless I go into a

coma or have a heavy stroke, I’ll

never miss a day until I die.”

Saunders is known for his 11-

day “drug series” of self-portraits

which he drew under the influence

of numerous drugs. The artist got

high on drugs including hash, her-oin, lighter fluid, cough syrup and

angel dust.

“I was getting drugs by mail

from project supporters,” Saun-

ders said in the panel. “Eventually

I had to stop because it just took

too much of a toll on my brain. It

was insane.”The outcome was stylistically

scattered. While his hash self-por-

trait is full of vivid, pastel colours,

his bath salts sketch looks almost

inhuman, borderline unrecogniz-

able.

This series is what sparked

Parker’s interest in Saunders. After

seeing the series in 2012, Parker

contacted the artist.

“I knew there was more to this

guy than just one work,” Parker

said. “It was hard to get in touch

though because he initially thought

I was a drug enforcement officer.”

After meeting Saunders, Parkerdiscovered the artist’s fixation on

personal trauma. In Art of Dark-

ness, Saunders said his creative

inspiration often comes from early

interactions with “the bad peo-

ple,” a malevolent, almost super-

natural group.

“I would be afraid to come

home as a kid because I thought

they were around,” Saunders said.

“I would perform ritualistic funer-

als in bed to make them believe I

was dead already.”As he aged, Saunders distanced

himself from the living and be-

came interested in death. As an

adult, he recalls death closing in

as neighbours passed away and a

close friend attempted suicide.

“When my friend shot himself, I

had to clean up the blood and tell

his family what happened,” Saun-

ders said in the film, pointing to

an abstract self portrait of a robot.

“It was scary. I eventually left the

mess, but I remember feeling like a

robot telling his relatives.”

Saunders said despite how pain-

ful his focus on trauma can be, it’sa way for him “to get the most ex-

perience out of life.”

“I want my work to give psycho-

paths a sense of feeling,” Saunders

said in the panel. “The feelings in

my self-portraits, spoken word and

others need to be so intense that

this group of people feel it too.”

Prof wins Emmy for cancer PSAGame On Cancer campaign nets prof John Tarver cinematography award

Ryerson School of Image Arts profes-

or John Tarver has won an Emmy

or his work as art director with the

Game On Cancer campaign, an ini-

iative meant to raise awareness for

he fight against cancer.

Tarver’s work on the campaign’s

ommercial — which depicts a

ootball game between the Detroit

Lions and various types of cancer

By Blair Mlotek

PHOTO COURTESY GAME ON CANCER CAMPAIGN

he Game On Cancer campaign aims to raise awareness for cancer research.

— received an Emmy award for

best cinematography in the short

form category.

The Lions face off against a

theoretical football team that in-

cludes players such as lung cancer,

breast cancer and brain cancer, all

displayed in the name bars on the

backs of their jerseys.

“It’s about time that you experi-

enced the world of pain,” one Li-

ons players tells a member of the

opposing team.

Tarver said that the goal of the

campaign is to raise awareness

about cancer in a unique way. All

funds that are raised will go into

cancer research.

“The idea was to create some-thing that would get people’s atten-

tion … that was out of the ordinary

for a health or cancer awareness

campaign,” he said.

Tarver said the process of mak-

ing the commercial wasn’t always

a smooth one. The team ended up

filming outside in the rain, creat-

ing the dark and dramatic mood in

which the commercial takes place.

The group had originally

planned to film in an NFL stadium

but its availability fell through.

Tarver said that this turned out to

be a good thing, as it forced the

team to come up with a more cre-

ative decision that benefited the

commercial.

For the full story, visit

theeyeopener.com



10 BIZ & TECH Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014

Rye students water the documentary industry

Sports, fashion and tech — oh my

Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Cen-tre (MAC) hosted Toronto’s firstsports wearable technology hack-

athon, SportsHack.The three-day event took place

Nov. 14-16 and was partnered with

Ryerson, IBM and We Are Wear-able. SportsHack invited teams todevelop new and resourceful wear-

able technology that could be usedby the sports industry.

“We’re trying to collaborate tobuild an innovation ecosystem,”

project manager Jarrod Ladou-ceur said. “Ryerson is an inno-vation university and we want

to find new ways to expand ourreach. The SportsHack is just oneof those ways.”

Nineteen teams presented afunctional demo of their device orapplication to a panel of judges.

“As a group of judges, we lookedat a number of metrics like prac-ticality, the effort they’ve put into

it, what they were thinking whenthey were building it and how com-mercializable the technology can

be,” said Hossein Rahnama, theresearch and innovation director ofRyerson’s Digital Media Zone.

“We were impressed by thenumbers of people who participat-ed, the quality of the projects and

talents we saw. Their technologywas very comparable with what’shappening in the market globally.

It shows potential.”The final three teams presented

their wearable devices to headjudge Bruce Croxon, former CBCDragon’s Den personality andco-founder of Lavalife, to choose

By Sunday Aken

By Ammi Parmar

One student’s struggle to makedocumentary has led to an on-

ine platform dedicated to helpingoung and aspiring documentary

filmmakers.

Docseed is a website and an Ra-dio and Television Arts (RTA) final-ear thesis project that connects

spiring documentary filmmakerswith mentoring professionals. Thementorship is presented throughblog posts, webisodes, FAQs and

production tutorials to teach usershe small but crucial things that areequired in the documentary film

ndustry.Docseed was inspired by one of

the creator’s struggle with creatingshort films. “I started making my

own documentary film this sum-mer after I’d taken the documen-tary production course at Ryerson

and I realized really soon into itthat I had absolutely no idea what I

was doing,” said Dawsyn Borland,a fourth-year RTA student and ex-ecutive producer of Docseed.

“I was working on a project that

required me to get a media passand I could not figure out howto get a media pass for my life. I

looked everywhere online, therewas nothing, I consulted a fewpeople and they had no idea either.

I came to the realization that uni-versity had taught me the theory,

but I didn’t actually have the prac-tical application to go ahead and

make my own documentary film.”Patrick McGuire, documentary

producer and managing editor of

VICE Canada and John Kastner,four-time Emmy Award winner

have confirmed their partnershipwith Docseed.

The team is currently crowdfund-ing its startup on Indiegogo, with

a goal of $2,000. The money willgo towards location permits andvenue costs required to film theirmentorship webisodes, the website

development costs and marketing.The web platform is planned tolaunch on Feb. 20, 2015.

With the non-fiction documen-tary industry growing and chang-ing, filmmakers are constantly

learning new things.“Non-fiction is becoming more

popular in our society and we’reconstantly trying to find mediumsthat are as real as they can get. Ifelt that pursuing a venture within

The creators of Docseed: Jackie Lyon (top left), Ashley Windibank (top middle),Rachelle Dobson (top right), Dakota Wotton (bottom left), Dawsyn Borland (middlebottom), Chelsea Bennett (bottom middle), Natalie Neri (bottom right)

PHOTO COURTESY DAKOTA WOTTON

the winners.Croxon chose Team Raisins’

armband device that is worn byathletes to track their performanceduring a game. Their performance

data is then transferred into a heatmap — colourfully representingthe data values in 2D images —

for coaches to analyze real-time

performance. The statistics showwhere athletes are excelling andwhere they need improvement.

Second place was KANU, a team

that designed a glove for rowers toextract data, including the times

the rowers are synchronized.Croxon gave third place to Cali-

ber One, a team of high school

students that designed an app thatmonitors exercises by trackinga user’s progress and comparing

it with friends for a leaderboardworkout competition.

“I love what Ryerson is doing topush Canadian innovation ahead,”said Croxon to the audience. “AsLavalife showed, you can build a

business out of anything.”Runner-up prizes included a

minimum of $1,000 cash, software

and a mentorship opportunity.The grand prize, granted to

Team Raisins, was a $7,500 cash

prize and $3,000 in software,mentorship and conference admis-sion, as well as a spot in Ryerson’s

Fashion Zone accelerator to fur-ther the idea.

non-fiction filmmaking would be awonderful tool because everyone is

constantly looking for something

that they feel is authentic and raw,and that is what documentary film

making is,” Borland said.

SportsHack gives students the opportunity to design wearable technology for sports

The winners of SportsHack, Team Raisins, with their $7,500 cheque.PHOTO: ANDREI PORA

I love what Ryerson is doing

to push Canadian innovation

ahead

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[email protected] • www.rsuonline.ca/services

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Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014 FUN & TRAGEDY 11

MINK Gives life for RYe

LLUSTRATION: JESS TSANG

Rosencrantz the mink died fight-ng for Ryerson students’ lives this

past weekend.The Eyeopener has learned

hat Rosencrantz flew high into

he sky and hurled his furiousmink body into a meteor thatwas en route to destroy Ryer-

on’s campus. It has since beendiscovered that the meteor waspushed out of its atmospheric

orbit by Shia LaBeouf, who haslways wanted to give Ryerson aShia surprise.”When asked about Rosen-

rantz’s bravery, Ryerson Presi-dent Sheldon Levy said, “Thisheroic act will never be forgotten,

LaBeouf will pay for what he didto my scotch drinkin’ buddy.”

According to comments from

his band of minstrel minks, Ros-encrantz had special powers. Hehad super-strength and could fly,

but kept these skills from theRyerson community in order tolive a “normal Rye-life.” Rosen-

crantz used these special skills tofly straight into the heart of the

meteor and destroy it before itcould do any harm.

There has been no sign of Ros-encrantz or his feathered hat since

the incident.Since the incident, Levy has al-

luded to a possible renaming of

the university in light of theserecent heroic actions. “The ideaof ‘Minkerson’ has been thrown

around here and there over thelast few days,” said Levy.

The world police are in hot

pursuit of LaBeouf and believethat he has fled to the far reachesof a place called “Prince Edward

Island.” The Eyeopener staff hasnot yet been able to confirm ex-

actly where that is.The Eyeopener asks the Ryer-

son community to remember Ros-encrantz in their hearts and mindsfor the next few days. He was the

hero we needed, and he’ll never beforgotten.

Bring your completed sudoku to The Eyeopener office (SCC 207) andyou’ll be entered to win a $25 Baskin Robbins gift card.

Rejected poems from rye’s highest

My bike! My bike!

My Starbucks for a bike!

The gears creak and crankWheels wobble, not true

UntrueThere are too many fuckingGEARS on this bike

One gear two gear three gearFOUR GEAR MORE GEARMORE GEAR

I need to fix it, to dotricks with itI will strip it, rip it, paint itSell that shit on Kijiji

for fifty-some-odd bonesThen head to a fancy bike shopDrop three paycheques

right on the handle barsThank god there are no gears

It’s fixed! It’s fixed!Fixed with tricks and slicksMy bike is a fixieMy friends respect me

Close to the doors I smokecrack a joke

Blow it at a blokeSomeone coughsI say fuck off

Ayo!Fuck the nine-metre ruleI’m a fine heater dude

Think I’m rude?It’s tobacco, not crack yo.So here I huddle hearing

hatersskaterschronic masturbators

Blow-up doll inflatorsThey don’t know methey don’t smoke with me

How could they?Puffing flavoured vapour

trying to savourthe labourof my breathing.Pass my inhaler.

5 a.m. hit the showerTrudge out into the snow

waiting on, waiting onwaiting on this FUCKING BUSIt comes, but not fast.

6 a.m. and the guy next to meis rubbing my leg with his dog.6:30 a.m. off the bus and waiting

on a train.Roll down those sweet tracksfast! PLEASE I’M FREEZING!

Why do I even live here?7:15 a.m. train pulls up peoplePUSH and PUSH and now.I missed that goddamn train.

My prof is going to kill me.SHIT! I don’t think that wasDUE TODAY!?

Good lord, 7:45 a.m.

PANIC ATTACK!Cab seems like a viable option

It is, right?I mean, hell, it’s only Brampton.

By Psycho List By Saya Nide By Zoe Phucked

Visit the newly designed Hub Café and get a

fresh take on your food. Enjoy local, delicious

and affordable choices.

Hungryforchange?

PROGRAM SUPPORTER

Tweet and Instagram your photos with #LoveMyHub and

you could win free Ontario-sourced meals and treats.

food.ryerson.ca @RUEats



2 Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014

Documents

The Eyeopener — November 19, 2014