the eyeopener — march 9, 2011

Eyeopenerthe

volume 44 / issue 21 Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Ryerson’s Independent Paper Since 1967

theeyeopener.com

PHO

TO: C

HEL

SEA

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TTA

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THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW AT RYERSON

PAGE 7

The Eyeopener2 Wednesday, March 9, 2011

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Want to be an Eyeopener editor?Ever wonder what it’s like to work in a newsroom?Here’s your chance. All fall 2011 masthead positions are open and up for grabs. Any Ryerson student can run for a paid editorial gig. Drop by SCC 207 for more details and a nomination form. Head to theeyeopener.com/eyeblog for more info. Election details TBA.

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The EyeopenerWednesday, March 9, 2011 3NEWS

TTC slashesdiscount passes forpart-time studentsBY SAMANTHA SIM

Ryerson’s mutating programs

BY STEVE GOETZ

As Ryerson continues to expand in size it also drastically changes its aca-demic programs every few years. For students in the midst of their degrees, these changes could mean anything from additional work hours to a com-plete re-design of programs and fac-ulties.

Since 2006, a total of 13 different programs experienced changes.

The majority of the changes oc-curred in the engineering depart-ment as mechanical, electrical, com-puter, civil, aerospace and chemical engineering all underwent changes in 2007.

Based on Ryerson’s governing structure, in order to change a pro-gram it must be approved by the dean of the individual department. If the proposed change is drastic it must be approved by Senate before the department can start to phase in the program.

Some students greatest concern is the disruption of their academic

Image Arts students left out of decisions on new building BY SARAH JONES

In the past few weeks, Gould Street has been lit up by a rainbow of co-loured LED lights that shine from the nearly complete Image Arts building. But with 75 per cent of the building finished, Ryerson’s Image Arts stu-dents are wondering why they are just being consulted now.

Members of the Image Arts com-munity, including students, profes-sors and administrators, met on March 3 to conduct a town meeting to discuss the highly buzzed about Image Arts building.

Most students were largely unaf-fected by the construction when it began in 2008, but the Image Arts faculty, which includes film, photog-

The Toronto Transit Commis-sion (TTC) announced March 1 that it’s eliminating the $99 discounted monthly Metropass for part-time uni-versity and college students.

Part-time students will now have to purchase the full-price adult pass for $121 as of Sept. 2011.

Nicole Barrafato, a part-time stu-dent, doesn’t see the reason for the TTC’s move.

“I definitely don’t understand the decision,” she said. “Often part-time students are also working part-time, so they can afford school, and are more strapped for cash than full-time students.”

The move is expected to save the TTC $1.4 million annually.

TTC spokesperson Jessica Martin said it was a cost-saving measure.

“Of course it’s not the ideal decision to cut it, but it was a financial hit we could not afford,” she said.

Ryerson Students’ Union President Toby Whitfield said the TTC’s decision was expected.

“In December I was at city hall. At the meeting, councillors alluded they’d be revoking the discounted pass for part-time students,” he said.

Whitfield said the RSU understands that students, full-time and part-time, have to worry about many costs.

“[We know] students don’t only have to juggle things like rent and food costs, they also have to deal with money for textbooks and school fees,” he said.

Second-year nursing student Shamhad Abdi said there should be no difference made between part-time and full-time students.

“I don’t think it’s fair. There shouldn’t be a differentiation,” she said. “You could be taking fewer classes but coming in the same number of days as full-time [students].”

Whitfield said the RSU will con-tinue to ensure the $99 Metropass is offered to full-time students. He said part-time students can still purchase the $107 transferable pass through the RSU.

Annie Hyder, VP Student Rights for Continuing Education Students at Ry-erson (CESAR), is a part-time public administration student.

“Our students are constituents, with different needs,” she said. “We want recognition by institutions [like the TTC] that we are students.”

raphy and new media, was dispersed haphazardly throughout the campus. New media students relocated to the Rogers Communications Centre. Film and Photography students were shunted to workshops with inade-quate lighting and too little space.

“We’re really pushing the envelope to get you in by September,” said Julia Hanigsberg, Ryerson’s newest vice-president, administration and finance.

The Image Arts building is an ini-tiative of the university’s Master Plan, an ambitious framework for revitaliz-ing the campus and the surrounding downtown neighbourhood.

Now that the department is prepar-ing to move into their new home, stu-

dents want to know what their place will be in the new building. Many are concerned that their needs will still not be met.

“Beyond gentrification of our cam-pus via Lite-Brite, who are we? It’s a building, it’s walls, but I can find that anywhere, for less than what I’m pay-ing to be here,” said photography stu-dent Kyle Brohman.

Despite the murmurs of discon-tent from some Image Arts students, school administration said the build-ing will create a space for students of all disciplines to mingle.

“We think a sense of space is impor-tant, to have people want to spend time on the campus,” Hanigsberg said.

The building includes an $8 million project, the Ryerson Photography Gallery and Research Centre, which will house the Black Star Historical Black and White Photography Collec-tion. The ground floor will also play host to an outsider café or coffee shop franchise that has yet to be de-termined.

Some image arts students don’t think the new building will be per-fect, nor are they happy about that fact that they won’t receive any com-pensation for the lost resources and decreased educational value they’ve had to tolerate for the past two years.

“There is a complete lack of com-pensation for lost production space

now,” said Michael Thompson, a sec-ond-year photography student.

Since the school has made it clear that compensation in the form of tu-ition refunds would be impossible, other suggestions were offered by students, such as accommodating alumni in the new space after they’ve graduated, giving them a place to cre-ate.

The building administration has committed themselves to anoth-er meeting with the students in a month’s time.

“I guess all we can really say is that we’re here now. We can’t really march back in time to improve communica-tion,” Hanigsberg said.

plans, which has the potential to weaken the quality of their education.

“In our year, some kids got really screwed over,” said Paul James, a fifth-year architecture student. “It was just really sloppy.”

James, said the architecture pro-

gram was more challenging before it received a major change in curricu-lum after 2006.

According to the chair of Archi-tecture, Kendra Schank Smith, major changes were implemented in 2007. “We make these changes to update the curriculum and make it more rel-

evant for students,” Smith said.The new curriculum requires stu-

dents to complete assignments on the computer instead of drafting by hand, a process that requires focus and attention to detail, James said.

Christopher Evans, Vice Provost Ac-ademic, said the university puts pro-cesses in place to protect the school’s reputation as it continues to modify degrees and faculties.

“No student is placed at academic risk by program change,” Evans said.

According to Evans, significant program changes are phased in over a number of years to ensure that all students who started in the older cur-riculum can finish before it is phased out.

Evans said occasionally there are students who take an extended leave from school and come back to see the curriculum is no longer offered. In those cases, the school will make ac-commodations for students.

According to the university’s cur-

rent academic plan, Ryerson may un-dergo another round of expansion, increasing enrolment by 30 to 50 per cent in the next decade, to meet the demand for post-secondary educa-tion in a growing GTA.

Last year, the Provost’s Academic Structure Commission, a committee tasked with recommending changes to the university’s faculty structure, delivered its final report recommend-ing changes to accommodate the an-ticipated growth. If put forward and approved by the Senate, the faculty of engineering, architecture and science would separate into distinct faculties, and a faculty of law would be formed.

Ryerson President Sheldon Levy said it’s crucial that Ryerson main-tain its tradition of partnering theory with practice when restructuring programs. “That’s our distinctive char-acter. If we didn’t do that, we would slowly become someone who we’re not.”

Paul James is an architecture student who went through the final year of the old curriculum. PHOTO: CHELSEA POTTAGE

As Ryerson continues to evolve, growing in both geographical size and student population, programs are being revamped to accommodate the change. But administrators may not understand the effect on students

They think they’re helping us out but they’re making it harder.

— Paul James, fifth-year architecture

student

— WITH FILES FROM REBECCA BURTON, SARAH DEL GIALLO AND EMMA PRESTWICH

4 EDITORIALThe Eyeopener Wednesday, March 9, 2011

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The Eyeopener is Ryerson’s largest and independent student newspaper. It is owned and operated by Rye Eye Publishing Inc., a non-profit corporation owned by the students of Ryerson. Our office is on the second floor of the Student Campus Centre and you can reach us at theeyeopener.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFShannon “CHIEF PRINCESS” Higgins

NEWSSarah “PORNO LIZ” Del Giallo

Emma “VAMPIRO NUMERO UNO” PrestwichASSOCIATE NEWS

Rebecca “EL RUSO ULTIMO” BurtonFEATURES

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ASSOCIATE PHOTOChelsea “LA MUERTE INSANO” Pottage

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Mike “RUDE AWAKENINGS” Duncan

Want to be an Eyeopener editor?

Ivan Joseph clearly hasn’t heard of the Streisand effect.

It’s a pretty simple concept — an attempt to hide information backfires and generates way more interest in the information.

Joseph, Ryerson’s Athletic Director, is adamant the Eyeopener and the public never see how his department spends its $1,010,029 budget.

Back in January, I asked my in-trepid sports editor Sean Tepper to get his hands on the budget. Ryerson snagged Maple Leaf Gardens Decem-ber 2009 and the athletic referendum for more funding passed in March 2009, so Tepper and I were expecting some interesting changes to the ex-panded portfolio. Mainly we wanted to know how the money was split up and thought the numbers could be published as an infographic.

Tepper asked Joseph for a copy of the budget in early January. After a couple of weeks we were given a pathetic four-line spreadsheet with the overall budget broken down be-tween salary, benefits and non-salary expenses.

So we filed a formal request for information on Jan. 24. Ryerson is subject to Ontario’s Freedom of Infor-mation and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). Under FIPPA, Ryerson’s finan-cial information is privy to the public (with some limitations). The process usually takes 30 days and costs a small processing fee, so Tepper and I patiently waited for more results.

A month later, we receive the same meagre sheet Joseph gave to Tepper in January. Bottom line, Joseph says we’ll never get our hands on more de-tails and we’d get the recruiting bud-get over his dead body. He says the

SHANNON HIGGINSEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Game on

Do you want free piggy-back rides? Do you have a burning desire to write, edit and expose Ryerson’s dark underbelly? Here’s your chance. All fall 2011 masthead positions are open and up for grabs. Any Ryerson student can run for a paid editorial gig. Drop by SCC 207 for more details and a nomination form. Head to theeyeopener.com/eyeblog for more info. Election details TBA. Up for grabs: Editor-in-Chief (1), News (2), Associate News (1), Sports (1), Arts & Life (1), Community (1), Media (1), Photo (2), Associate Photo (1), Business (1), Features (1), Online (1), and Fun (1).

PHOTO: LINDSAY BOECKL

recruiting budget should be private because the numbers would give competing teams an advantage.

What does Barbara Streisand have to do with this? Well, back in 2003 ev-eryone’s favourite funny girl freaked out and sued a photographer for posting pictures of her Malibu home online. Her home was shown among many other photos of the California coast and wasn’t generating much attention or high traffic. But after she sued the photog, traffic to the website exploded, other sites picked up the story and everyone and their mother has now seen her home.

So, the Streisand effect refers to the publicity sparked from attempts to suppress information. For a man with a PhD in sports psychology, you’d think Joseph would appreciate the concept.

Now, my imagination is racing. What could be so juicy in his modest budget that keeps Joseph from want-ing to share? What teams are getting more funding? Do women’s teams receive equal financial support? How much does Ryerson spend on recruit-ing? Why is Joseph hellbent on keep-ing the budget hidden?

Joseph can play hardball until he’s blue in the face. It might take a month. It might take a year. But mark my words — the Eyeopener will get to see how Joseph is spending his cash. And we’ll publish everything.

****Ever wonder who calls the shots at

Ryerson? What is a Board of Gover-nors? Who is on the Senate? Why both-er voting in the ongoing elections? Go to page 7 for associate news editor Rebecca Burton’s breakdown of the most powerful bodies on campus.

Correction‘Gardens fever won’t fix all’ was

printed with the wrong author last week. Victor Ferreira wrote the story.

Our sincere apologies.

PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER DALE

The Eyeopener 5Wednesday, March 9, 2011 NEWS

Students who have been forced to withdraw from their program for not meeting academic standards now have new options. PHOTO: CHELSEA POTTAGE

Senate passes new process to help reinstate studentsBY MARILEE DEVRIES

CKLN wins two-year slander suit

BY CAROLYN TURGEON

Senate has approved a new pro-cess to help students who have been kicked out of their programs for not meeting academic standards.

Vice Provost Academic Christopher Evans presented the new Required to Withdraw (RTW) program in Senate on March 1. He said it’s an evolution of the previous model, the Fresh Start program.

“We recognized that RTW students are most academically vulnerable. The revisions are aimed to help them,” Evans said.

With the previous RTW program, students were required to sit out for two semesters before being eligible to reapply.

Within that time, any extra courses they may have taken towards their program elsewhere would not be rec-ognized by Ryerson.

Evans said the students who were required to withdraw were somewhat alienated from the school.

“The school said goodbye, don’t want to see you for [a year]. The most probable outcome is that they go away and never come back.”

With the installation of the newly revised program, students who are required to withdraw have three op-tions. They can sit out for two semes-ters before reapplying, as with the old program, or they can begin a step program to be reinstated. This pro-gram has students sit out of school for one semester, after which they reap-ply to their program.

Once accepted, they take two courses in the first semester, and if they meet the program’s expecta-tions, they are eligible to take up to four courses. If they meet the expec-

tations again, they are guaranteed to be reinstated.

“To expect students to go from nothing back to full academics seemed unrealistic,” Evans said of the changes. “This will allow students to work towards building back academic credibility, and they’ll be able to prove to themselves and their program that they have what it takes.”

There is also a new option for trans-fer students. If a student who was re-quired to withdraw wants to transfer to a new Ryerson program, they apply for that program through the univer-sity admissions office. If the program of choice accepts the applicant, they may decide to offer the step program.

The modifications to the RTW pro-gram are good news for students who face academic difficulties in programs such as nursing, where there is a time limit to graduate. With the new op-tions, only one semester will be lost, which will enable faster completion than before.

“The committee worked very hard and seriously on this. We worked to balance the needs of students and the needs of the institution,” Evans said.

“I’m very optimistic about its effects.”

Ryerson’s campus radio station was awarded $1,200 in legal costs on March 3, when a slander case against them was dismissed.

The case against CKLN was brought forward by John Lennon, a main shareholder in a local entertainment publishing company, John Headley Lennon Music Limited.

“In our view, it was frivolous,” said Andrew Lehrer, vice-chair and secre-tary of CKLN’s board.

“I think the court agrees with us be-cause they sided with us. It took two years, and we’ve had four court cases this year alone.”

According to a contract, CKLN was supposed to give away tickets to shows and air advertisements for the company in late 2008.

Lennon claimed his company received calls from listeners, men-tioning that on Sept. 12, 2008, the company’s advertisement was followed by a negative comment from the announcer.

His goal was to collect $10,000 in damages for the loss of customers caused by on-air slander.

“We believe they are respon-sible for the duty of their business,” Lennon told the judge on Feb. 16,

the second last court date. The vice-chair of CKLN’s board

started his position in August 2009. He said there was no record of a

request from Lennon for the radio episodes in which the alleged slan-der occurred until the month before

The school said goodbye, don’t want to see you for [a year]. The most probable outcome is that they go away and never come back.

— Christopher Evans,Vice Provost Academic

It’s been more a nuisance than anything else.

— Andrew Lehrer,vice-chair CKLN

he arrived. Lehrer, in his defence, cited the Canadian Radio and Televi-sion Communication Act, which says that stations are only required to keep “logger tapes” of broadcasts for the previous four weeks.

“My understanding is that we were only required to keep them for 30 days and the first letter arrived just over that,” Lehrer had told the court.

The case was postponed again as Lennon had failed to file a tape he brought as proof.

In the final court session, it was de-clared that Lennon had no evidence that he had suffered any damages.

“It’s been more a nuisance than anything else, having to go to court and taking time off of work,” said Lehrer.

We believe they are respon-sible for the duty of their business.

— John Lennonplaintiff

Briefs and Groaners: The Big One

We, the news team, have been warning all of you for weeks now to never leave your shit unattend-ed on campus. Especially in a place as vast, scary and public as the li-brary. Well on March 5, yet another laptop was stolen.

But this one was different.This time, students took the

fucker down. Gloria Antwi, a fourth-year crimi-

nal justice student was studying in the library with her boyfriend. They were working on their laptops on floor 10 of the building.

Antwi’s boyfriend went to pick groceries, leaving his laptop be-hind for Antwi to watch. When he called to double check an item on the list, Antwi got up from her seat to answer the call. She said she was gone for no more than a minute.

When she got back to her cu-bicle, his laptop was gone.

But there was a man standing to the side, and Antwi remembered he had been staring at her about 20 minutes before.

She asked him if he had taken the computer.

He started to quickly walk away, and Antwi screamed that he had taken her laptop.

Antwi said at least five people got up to corner the man, and that he denied taking the computer at first, but then took it out of his bag and tried to leave.

The students wouldn’t let him leave, and when he tried, Antwi said they forced him to the ground and held him there until security arrived.

They informed him they were making a citizen’s arrest.

Security arrived and took the man and later handed him over to the police.

“Even though it was a bad expe-rience, in the sense that Ryerson is a community, it was a good experi-ence,” Antwi said.

Haroon Chaudhry, 22, was charged with two counts of theft, one count of possession of prop-erty obtained by crime and one count of fraud.

Toronto business man John Lennon of John Headly Lennon Music Limited filed against CKLN for slander in 2009

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The Eyeopener6 Wednesday, March 9, 2011NEWS

Library fines reach $60,020BY REBECCA BURTONASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

Students frequenting Ryerson’s li-brary have already racked up a $60, 020 bill in owed library fines for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Even though overdue fees could mean withheld grades and prohibited enrollment, students have paid over $120, 000 in fees to the library for the last several years.

A library fee doesn’t total much, with book fines set at $0.50 a day up to a maximum of $20 and DVD/VHS at $3 per day to a maximum of $100. Where students are slapped with the greatest fees is in reserve items that can cost up to $2 an hour.

When the overdue item reaches the 30 day mark, students are subject to pay the automatic system generated fee of $100.

According to head circulation su-pervisor Mandissa Arlain, the $100 fee

has been in place for awhile. The rea-son is to balance out the costs of re-placement as books vary significantly in price.

Third-year public health and safety student Rima Rowsell said she was hit with the $100 fine for failing to return an environmental economics book due last semester on Dec. 16. Rowsell said she returned the book immedi-ately following her final exam on Dec. 15. The following day she received a message it was overdue.

Rowsell followed up by contact-ing the library informing them that the item had been returned. Her only option was to wait four weeks for the library staff to perform routine checks to see if the item would turn up. “Our staff check up to four times. Every week they go to any possible place it could be held, such as the row or sec-

tion the item is normally held, to see if the item shows up,” Arlain said.

Rowsell said if there had been se-curity cameras pointing to the return slots she could have proven that she had been at the library that day.

According to Arlain, while there are security cameras in the library there are no specific ones angled at the cir-culation desk or return slots.

“What motivation would I have to take the book?” Rowsell said.

In 2010, the total library fines paid reached a total of $129, 000 and in 2009, it amounted to $124, 000.

These fees do not include the op-tion that many students choose to replace lost books themselves, even through discount or used book stores.

“In most cases this is what students do,” Arlain said.

Rowsell opted for this choice, but

initially purchased the wrong edi-tion. Therefore her total fees resulted in $78.44, with two separate editions waiting to be delivered to her.

The fines accumulated don’t go straight back into the library but in-stead are sent back to the general revenue of the university through Financial Services, said Madeleine Lefebvre, senior librarian. The library then receives funding from this cen-tral budget. The majority of fees go towards staffing at about 58 per cent and acquisitions that take 38 per cent, she said.

Rowsell said her frustration was not with the fees alone but rather the lim-ited options she had to either pay or not move into her next semester.

“Even a $10 fine can have your grades withheld. That’s a lot of power for the library to have,” Rowsell said.

News edition

@Hanigsberg(Julia Hanigsberg, vice president administration and finance)Joys of aging are few but delighted to have abandoned the vanity of not wearing a hat bc of my hair and styl-ish jacket leaving a frozen tush

Whoopi Goldberg in an adult diaper commercial? So sad!

@chadtweets(Chad Nuttall, manager of student housing services)Let’s all agree on one thing. Chapped lips are going to effect your perfor-mance on all you can eat wing night.

@eggythemascot(Seriously? It’s Eggy, the mascot.)today is Jersday!

@Wepps(Glen Weppler, Director, Student Community Life)Thankfully the #Raptors tix were freebies. No chance I’d pay to c that team again. Oh my!

I just unlocked the “Babysitter” badge on @foursquare! http://4sq.com/ehlsOb

I’ve never danced as much as I have these past few days. The secret for anyone who ever wished to dance w me: Threaten to cry & poop! #fb

@rodneydiverlus(Rodney Diverlus, RSU VP equity)Snow storm can’t keep us down. Dancing it up with @caitlins87, @george_ievski in ottawa!

Why is it flooded in this citty? I want to propose a new tax for more drainage systems #ottawafail #mothernaturefail

@Rob_Em(Rob Emerson, manager of administration and finance)Some days I’m pretty sure someone has dared Daughter 1.0 & 2.0 to see how long they can go while continu-ously making noise. #fb

For those who’ve never had the plea-sure, I can tell you: stitches in your eyelid = seriously itchy. #MustResis-tUrgeToItch

So Colin Firth wasn’t even nominated for Bridget Jones Diary, but wins for The Kings Speech? I’ll never under-stand the #Oscars...

Look Gwyneth, please just pick ONE thing to suck at, and and just suck at it as best you can, mm-Kay?

See something strange? Want to tweet about it? So do we, and so do your administrators. Here are some ground breaking issues they’ve been tweeting about recently:

The library has the ability to withhold grades and restrict enrollment and students pay over $120,000 annually in overdue library fines

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The Eyeopener 7NEWS

WHO’S PULLING THE STRINGS AT RYE?The Board of Governors and the Senate election began on March 7, for the

first time combined as a double election. The race will continue until online polls close on March 10 at 4:30 p.m. Read below to find out why you should care, who’s running and why these are some of the most important people on campus. Associate news editor Rebecca Burton reports

Senate

Board of Governors

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

CANDIDATESSanta LouisGazi Farak

Tracy LeparuloOsman HamidKarol PawlinaMartin Rochon

Parvinder SachdevaLiana Salvador Andrew West

Shimul Yousuf

WHEN:Voting closes March 10 @4:30 p.m.WHERE:Go to my.ryerson.ca, click on ‘Hot Links’ then ‘Senate Election 2011’

STILL LOST?Visit theeyeopener.com for our take on the election

AT-LARGE STUDENT CANDIDATES

(Vote for 5)Michelle Opasinis - Arts

Fairuz Shickh - ArtsAndrew McAllister - FCADRebecca Zanussi - FCAD

Steven Ryan Bentley - FCSLiana Salvador - FCS

Kemoo (Mohammed) El Sayed - FEASNika Zolfaghari - FEASShone Thomas - TRSMRachel Velsher - TRSM

STUDENT CANDIDATES

REPRESENTING FACULTIES

(Vote for one from each faculty)

ARTSHerberth Canas, Criminal Justice

Darlene Ferreira, Public Administration & Governance

Olivia ong, Arts & Contem-porary Studies

TRSMAmber Moores,

Hospitality and Tourism Management

Viktoria Ovoian, Business Management

Nancy Sandhu, Business Management

FCADKelan Brown, Perfor-

mance ActingSteve Silva, Journal-

ismFCS

Neda Hamzavi, Nursing

Alex (Cindy) Hill, Occupa-tional Health & SafetyDonna Ryder, Social

Work

FEASBiniam Admikew, Computer

EngineeringHasan Akhter, Mechanical EngineeringSherif El-Tawil, Industrial Engineering

Qasim Mian, Electrical EngineeringArash Mirzaei, Biology

Priya Persaud, Chemical EngineeringShimul Yousuf, Electical

Engineering

Graduate Studies

Waqas Manzoor, Aerospace Engineering

Golam Morshed, Mechanical EngineeringMartin Rochon, Business ManagementCharles Sule, Environmental Applied

Science and ManagementChang School

(Acclaimed)Ugochukwu E. AsagwaraSerena Gasparitsch, Busi-

ness Management

Members of Ryerson’s 24-member Board of Governors include high-profile names, like popular menswear retailer Harry Rosen, along with a combination of students, public, faculty and staff.

The board elects three students annually to help govern Ryerson.

This body is responsible for the universi-ty’s budget, approving funds for buildings, like the acquisition of Maple Leaf Gardens and allocating the university’s endowments.

Students often feel more attached to the issues brought forward during the Ry-erson Students’ Union elections, said Erin McGinn, BOG’s interim secretary. But the RSU has no say when the final decision is made by the board. For students concerned about their yearly tuition debt, this body decides, based on the budget, whether or not to increase tuition year by year.

An extra week’s vacation during the fall and a new minor in both journalism and fashion, all thanks to Ryerson’s Senate. This committee is the academic policy-making body of the university, responsible for program changes, new courses, electives, minors and majors. Included in these academic decisions are issues like turnitin.com and decisions regarding academic misconduct.

One student from each of the seven faculties and five at-large student candidates are elected to the Senate. The group meets approximately eight times a year, in a public meeting. At the last meeting on March 1, Senate addressed the changes to the required- to-withdraw program, affecting all students currently on probationary standing.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: CHELSEA POTTAGEDESIGN: REBECCA BURTON

The Eyeopener8 Wednesday, March 9, 2011FEATURES

Back-up school no more

ILLUSTRATION: LEE RICHARDSONSTATISTICS: OUAC

University of Toronto

York University

Ryerson University

Total applications65,947


First choiceapplications23,237

Total accepted offers of admission12,387



First choice accepted offers3,409

First choiceaccepted offers 7,968




First choiceaccepted offers 3,508

After years of being treated like a joke, Ryerson finally had enough. It would not take any more name-calling. People would finally stop asking whether it was a university at all. It would become a downtown staple, a campus students would be proud to call their own.

President Sheldon Levy set out to change Ryerson’s image in 2006, when he introduced the Master Plan, a project meant to revitalize the campus and ce-ment the university’s downtown pres-ence. Ryerson would no longer be for-gotten, tucked amidst retail storefronts and office buildings.

“Within five years, everyone will know where Ryerson University is,” Levy vowed to the crowd of 300 people gathered for the unveiling of the project.

Five years later, the campus is not the student paradise Levy described. But his vision has begun to materialize. For many, Ryerson is not a back-up school anymore. Some are even listing it as their first-choice school.

Last year, Ryerson ranked second in overal number of first-choice applica-tions in the province, right after the Uni-versity of Toronto.

According to Ontario Universities’ Ap-plication Centre statistics, Ryerson re-ceived 52,299 applications and nearly 28 per cent of them listed the university as a first-choice. U of T received 65,947 appli-

cations and was selected as a first choice in 35 per cent of them. York University received a total of 50,741 applications and 21 per cent listed it as a first choice.

The numbers kept by Ryerson’s office of admissions are even more striking. When internal applications by students switching programs or resuming their studies are included, the university re-ceived a total of 66,857 applications in 2010, said Charmaine Hack, associate registrar and director of undergraduate admissions and recruitment.

Keith Alnwick, Ryerson’s registrar, said the interest in the university is the high-est it has been in the past decade. He said that the increase in applicants—es-pecially those selecting Ryerson as their first-choice school—is largely due to its downtown location and its unique pro-grams.

Ryerson has also become one of the top Ontario universities students end up choosing. Ryerson issued 25,453 of-fers and 32 per cent of those applicants registered in the 2010-2011 school year. In mid-August, there were still over 8,900 students on waiting lists for admission, according to the office of admissions and recruitment.

In Alnwick’s view, being a back-up school is a thing of the past for Ryerson.

“Get with the program. That view is a decade out of date.”

For years, Ryerson has struggled to gain respect, attract students and ditch the “Rye High” label. Now, as the university sends out acceptance letters, Samantha Sim investigates whether students are jumping for joy or if they’re just glad they got into their back-up school

9Wednesday, March 9, 2011 ARTS & LIFE The Eyeopener

BY LINDSAY BRINK

Alysa Pires laughs self-consciously while having her photo taken, fret-ting about what her mother would say about the sweater she’s wearing, and whether or not to use the barre. However, once she starts dancing, her movements are fluid and confi-dent, her eyes trained on the mirror as she twists her body for the cam-era.

Pires, a third-year dance student, is an aspiring choreographer. She has two group pieces in the Ryerson Theatre School’s upcoming Choreo-graphic Works, a show which show-cases the talent of Ryerson’s most promising choreographers.

“That’s kind of why I came to Ry-erson, because I’m really interested in choreography and I used to do all my own solos for competitions,” she said.

Pires is directing her fellow stu-dents in her two group pieces: Repeat After Me, I Am Free and ...It Wouldn’t Be In Springtime.

Repeat After Me, I Am Free features 12 student dancers and portrays ideas of conformity and individual-ity.

“There’s a lot of unison and peo-

ple breaking away from the norm and joining the group. There’s this graffiti that’s all over the UK, and it’s the same four or five lines that come back in all the tags, and the last line is ‘repeat after me, I am free’.”

Pires found inspiration for …It Wouldn’t Be In Springtime in the mu-sical Camelot, finally deciding on a quartet about infidelity.

“I have to work like that,” she says. “It provides a constant inspiration because if you’re feeling stuck for movement you can just go back to source material and be inspired again.”

Pires describes choreography as part creativity, part organization and part group management.

“You have to be creative in the way that you need to choreograph the actual movement, and then or-ganization in the way that you have

to organize the bodies and the space and the music, and management be-cause you need to teach it and you need keep everyone on task.”

Camille Stopps is choreographing her own solo for the show and sees the opportunity to be in the teach-ing role as valuable.

“It’s a nice way to step out of the dance and see your work on some-one else because you are able to capture the entire aesthetic of the piece,” she said.

However, Pires said the most im-portant thing for a choreographer is the dancers.

“I always feel like my dancers are doing me a favour, not the other way around. They’re putting in all this ex-

tra time for me, for the piece that I want to have.”

Stopps is in another group piece choreographed by a classmate. A challenge students have in training for these shows is working with fel-low students.

“You have to think about rehears-als in a professional setting. You can’t think of your choreographer as a classmate when working with them.”

Pires is fond of technical dancers, who can execute her choreography well, but she draws a line between what she calls ‘moves’ and ‘choreog-raphy’.

“It’s really easy to say, I want you to do a pirouette or I want you to

kick your leg up to your face, but it’s not as easy to do choreography. Even though I have these amaz-ing dancers who can do anything, sometimes they’re doing stuff that isn’t really hard,” she said. “There’s a difference between what’s impres-sive and what touches people.”

And when it comes to her own pieces she wants to leaven an im-pression.

“I hope it gives them something to think about. I hope people enjoy them while they’re watching, but that they remember them.”

Choreographic Works runs March 9-12 and 14-19.

Tickets are available through the Ryerson Theatre box office.

Dancers turned mentors

Stress levels are high across the graduating class of the Faculty of

Communication and Design. Artists are devoting late nights to complete some of their best work yet for viewing in Ryer-son’s end of year shows.

When Andrew McGill set out to create his fourth-year new media thesis project he want-ed to harness his obsession with light and energy.

The piece entitled Contact 4444 will be displayed in META, the fourth-year new media show, to which McGill is still adding finishing touches. To incorporate text into the struc-ture, he used incandescent light bulbs that are spaced four inches apart on a solid steel grid the size of an amp.

McGill said he would be self-ish in saying his project was a solo act. Though it was his original idea, he has received help from people around him.

“Friends, colleagues and professors have helped me with elements of my piece. My own family is giving me lots of support; my dad is re-ally knowledgeable as a welder and electrician.”

In the fashion studios, fourth-year design students have been working on collec-tions for Mass Exodus, their end of year show, since Sep-tember.

Andrea Leask, head of ward-robe for Mass Exodus, de-

scribes the first step as having to submit designer packages in the first month of school, complete with all sketches and technicals for their collection.

Next, they had to create muslins from their sketches, a rough draft of each piece, eventually determining what fabrics and patterns to build their final pieces with.

And during the winter se-mester each week they had to complete one look for the run-way – their collection totalling five looks should be ready for the Zenith + Nadir stage in the coming weeks.

“Some collections are ex-tremely extravagant,” Leask said.

Among them is a costume collection, which in its intrica-cy involves corsets and other pieces that designers are not accustomed to making. Bridal collections include luxuri-ous but massive dresses that involve drafting what seems to be endless yards of fab-ric. Across the spectrum one menswear designer has four to five pieces per look, which is far more than anyone else.

Many fourth-year Mass Exo-dus designers have contracted portions of their work, but it has not always been a com-plete success, according to Leask.

“It may seem like an easier option, but a lot of designers had to end up redoing things

themselves because they weren’t satisfied with the con-tracted work. It put them be-hind schedule,” Leask said.

Andrea Pelletier, a fourth-year photography student, used multimedia to create her portion of the Maximum Ex-posure gallery, titled Summer.

She used a three-part process to create a soft and dreamy image of a campsite in the middle of the warm, sunny months. She took the original photos last summer when she was on a camping expedition with friends. In September she painted versions of the scenes. And then she eventually used scanning techniques to bring it all together.

“What I like about it is that it’s not as perfect as a mass produced photo. The brush marks aren’t always in the lines and there are splash marks and other tiny imperfections that for me add to it,” Pelletier said.

Pelletier is deciding how much of her process she wants to show to her audience. By showing the original photo-graphs, the paintings, the scans and the finished product will add a desired ambiguity to her work she said.

“You have to ask yourself where it started. Whether it’s that moment on the lake or the painting of it. I like to ask ques-tions of my audience instead of telling them everything.”—With files from Brian Boudreau

Corsets, lightbulbs and paint: Arts & Life editor Gianluca Inglesi looks at how Rye artists get from sketch pad to final product in time for the end of year shows

Alysa Pires rehearses for Choreographic Works, which opens tonight in the Ryerson theatre. PHOTO: CHELSEA POTTAGE

META’s Andrew McGill works on his project ‘Contact 4444’.

Want to be front row (or as close as possible) at Mass Exodus this year?Tickets are on sale every Monday and Wednesday in

front of the library between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.Price range: $20- $30. Cash only

You can’t think of your choreographer as a classmate when working with them.

— Camille Stopps,fourth-year dance

COURTESY OF ANDREW MCGILL

The Eyeopener10 Wednesday, March 9, 2011 BIZ & TECH

See something strange on campus? Administration got you down? If you’re on Twitter, use the #eyeforatweet hashtag to share your frustration, or just make us laugh. If we like what we see, we may just print it! And be sure to follow @theeyeopener for all your Ryerson news.

@cr_marr@theeyeopener I’m lazy, enjoy coffee/smoking/hour breaks and being overpaid, how do i become a #Ryerson maintenance staffer?

@jfctaylorSaw Ben Mulroney in a Ryerson bathroom... weird.

@ Kaibensonwhen I was in journalism school I didn’t read a paper for 4 years #Danoutofcontext

@ TheInkyFootnoteThe ‘Borgs’ have been mentioned in both of my last classes. Star trek has a large fan-base at ryerson #ryerson #star trek

Coding around the clockJeff Lagerquist reports on Toronto students who designed new smartphone apps through the night

Inspired by a memorable scene in The Social Network, Microsoft issued a challenge to post-secondary students from the GTA last weekend. The Windows Phone 7 Code-a-Thon ran for 24-hours at Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone. Students were tasked with developing the mobile apps for the Windows Phone Mar-ketplace. Although it lacked the mandatory tequila shots featured in the critically acclaimed film, the energy and spirit of competition rivaled anything seen on the silver screen.

After 24 hours of non-stop whiteboard scribbling, key-board banging, and screen squinting, Andrei Borodin won first prize for his eastern-European inspired card game app called Durak. The third-year U of T computer science student admits Durak, which is Russian for “fool,” has been released on other devices. However, his version for the Windows Phone 7 includes a token exchange, which adds a gambling element.

“It’s very addictive,” Boro-din said, speaking quickly in mid-competition.

A group of second-year Ryerson computer sciences students developed FakeCall, an application that sets off

a pre-programmed incom-ing call using data from the device’s contact info. It even features a voice that coaches users through a phony one-sided conversation, so they don’t have to rely on improv skills in front of someone they’re desperately trying to avoid.

“The idea behind the contest is to get people familiar with the develop-ment tools. We believe the Windows Phone 7 is the easiest phone to write for. By showing people how easy it is, I’m hoping they will write more applications,” said Joey Devilla, a Microsoft de-veloper. He proudly wore a red t-shirt with the slogan “More Fart Apps” in bold white letters.

Devilla believes provid-ing a library of innovative high-quality mobile applica-tions is the key to marketing a smart phone. App devel-opment is what the mobile industry refers to as a “life-style business,” where tech savvy amateurs create soft-ware to earn extra cash. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Code-a-Thon promotion aims to recruit the next generation of app developers.

It would be a massive understatement to say that

mobile devices have evolved dramatically over the past decade.

“Today’s phones have the power of a desktop comput-er from just a few years ago, now it’s always in your pocket. They have chips that were super state-of-the-art around the time of Napster, but now they run on batteries and last for at least a day,” Devilla said.

When the powerful chips and the vast array of sensors packed into the average smartphone are combined with the endless stream of information avail-able online, the possibilities for mobile app developers are nearly endless.

“People are just begin-ning to take advantage of the technology. It’s really going to change the way we social-ize and access information,” Devilla said.

Apple currently boasts over 350,000 apps for the iPhone. The Windows Phone Mar-ketplace only offers around 8,000, well behind Android and Blackberry. Despite the numbers, Devilla isn’t worried. “We estimate that two thirds to three quarters of North Americans have yet to buy their first smart phone,” he said.Code-a-thon winner Andrei Borodin inspects his new

phone. PHOTO: LINDSAY BOECKL

You haven’t caught them all just yetBY IAN VANDAELLE

It’s been 15 years, more than 200 million games sold and more creatures than most can count, but Pokemon is still going strong, both in our hearts and our hands. The epic journeys of trainers worldwide continues with this past weekends launch of Pokemon Black and White, which has introduced another 156 Pokemon that will confuse anyone who can remember when there were only 151 of them (let alone who remembers the old “Missingno” trick.) So come, take a stroll down memory lane and reflect on how far we’ve come and see Ian’s highly suspect list of the best and worst.

GENERATION 1 (POKEMON RED, BLUE AND YELLOW):

Ah, the good old days in Kanto. Back when debates raged on about who was better: Squir-tle, Charmander or Bulbasaur, or whether you could catch a Pikachu in Veridian Forest.

The screen on the old Game-boy Colour wasn’t backlit, mean-ing that finding Articuno in the Seafoam Islands was damn near impossible to do in the evening or god forbid, in the car.

It was a simpler time, a time when Eevee only had three possible evolutions, there was only one Porygon and you had to choose between Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee at the Dojo.

A more elegant time, when the only Pokemon with genders started as Nidorans, you wanted to punch Lt. Surge and his stupid hidden switches and you had to discover who the hell was run-ning the Pokemon PC.

GENERATION 2 (POKEMON GOLD AND SILVER):

The world grew a little bigger in the second-generation as the new continent Johto was introduced, along with 100 new Pokemon, a day and night sys-tem, Pokemon who apparently grew junk and started making eggs and specialized Poke Balls.

They stuck with the tried and true Grass, Water and Fire starter Pokemon, the resident Poke-expert still can’t figure out if you’re a boy or a girl and your rival is still a jerk.

There were 16 badges to col-lect this time around, you could fight your old protagonist on top of a mountain (which seems somewhat dangerous) and there was a big gold bird in a burnt-out tower. You even got to chase legendary dog Pokemon all over the world, like some kind of sick dog catcher holding a deep vendetta against your quarry.

GENERATION 3 (POKEMON RUBY AND SAPPHIRE):

I hated these games. There, I said it. They were the low water mark of the franchise. Yeah, there were 135 new Pokemon introduced, none of whom are worthy of mention here.

The world became smaller again (only one continent) and time apparently ceased to exist.

The villains were eco-terror-ists, for god’s sake. They wanted to change the climate of the region for no discernibly sane reason, and for some reason a 13-year-old was the only one who could stop them.

I realize that, apparently, there is no police presence or discern-ible legislative system in these settings, but COME ON.

Fortunately for the franchise, Ruby and Sapphire introduced double battles, allowing trainers to fight 2-on-2. This is the only saving grace.

GENERATION 4 (POKEMON DIAMOND AND PEARL):

Pokemon made its trium-phant return in the fourth generation, thankfully put-ting eco-terrorists on the back burner, though the new villains wanted to destroy and recreate the world, which was weird.

These games also introduced something Pokefans were al-ways afraid of: new Pokemon de-signs started to run thin, as 107 new monsters were introduced, many of whom made no sense at all. These included the grin-ning Venus fly trap Carnivine, the three-faced honeycomb monster Combee and what appears to be a miniature hot air balloon with eyes, Drifloon. This generation also introduced an underground world, which confused everyone and has thankfully been abandoned, as no one picked up Pokemon to wander around underground.

GENERATION 5 (POKEMON BLACK AND WHITE):

This generation introduces something odd and a little unsettling. The “villains” seem to actually be good guys. Team Plasma is a group that seeks to free Pokemon from human oppression and tries to stop people using them for fighting.

They’re trying to shut down the equivalent of a million Mi-chael Vicks. And they’re the bad guys. Uhh, okay then.

Black and White attempt to show the duality of man and na-ture (or so they claim) and the whole place is based on New York. It also adds 156 Pokemon to the stable, many of which are as dumbfounding as the previ-ous generations introduction. There’s even one that becomes a progressively larger ice cream sundae, and another that seems to be entirely comprised of garbage.

BEST OF THE GENERATION:GENGARGengar was near impossible to hit, grinned like the Cheshire Cat, had strong attacks and was cool as hell. ‘Nuff said.

BEST OF THE GENERATION:TYRANITARTyranitar is essentially a dinosaur made of rock. It weighs 450 lbs and can cause earthquakes.

BEST OF THE GENERATION:SHARPEDOThe name says it all. This is a shark-torpedo crossbreed. Is there anything more awesome?

BEST OF THE GENERATION:LUXRAYIt’s a Thundercat. A thundercat with awesome electric attacks and a mean growl. Thundercats are go!

BEST OF THE GENERATION:LIEPARDJust look at those eyes. They positively drip with disdain. Plus I haven’t played the game, so judg-ing the best Pokemon is difficult.

THE TRUE POKE-ABOMINATIONS

VANILLITE

Yes, that’s an ice cream cone that can apparently be used in battle. How getting your opponent’s fingers all sticky became a battle plan is beyond me.

SPOINK

Spoink is what children’s nightmares are made of. A pig that has lost its legs in a tragic farming accident and is forced to bounce around on its tail, silently wishing for death. To make matters worse (or perhaps better for the poor little guy), if it stops bouncing, it will immediately die.

ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF NINTENDO NORTH AMERICA. ART BY KEN SUGIMORI

11COMMUNITY The EyeopenerWednesday, March 9, 2011

Rye celebrates ‘Canadian Rosa Parks’

While civil rights activist Rosa Parks may have been a trailblazer in the United States, her Canadian counter-part Viola Desmond had been pro-testing for over nine years by the time Parks’ bus boycott hit local news.

On March 7, Ryerson’s Black His-tory Awareness Committee hosted the jam-packed Viola Desmond Day

Awards, a ceremony celebrating Des-mond’s life, for the third year in a row.

The awards, each named after a history-making black Canadian wom-an, were given to three women in the Ryerson community and one high school student.

Shantae Johns, a fourth-year Ry-erson nursing student, received the

Maddy Hayes award. Johns said she felt blessed to have her efforts recog-nized.

“It’s one thing to work hard, but it’s another thing to get recognized for it,” said Johns.

The remaining three awards went to Althea Prince, a Ryerson sociology professor, Shauna Bookal, the events

coordinator for the Rams, and Jaicyea Smith, a Grade 11 student at Earl Haig Secondary School in Toronto.

Desmond, who died in 1965, was a black woman who became successful running a lucrative beauty products business and salon in Nova Scotia. She was arrested and charged in 1946 when she refused to give up her seat in the whites-only section of a New Glasgow movie theatre. Desmond’s case made history as one of the most talked-about examples of racial dis-crimination in Canada. Her crime, of-ficially recorded as tax evasion by the Canadian government, wasn’t par-doned until last April.

Her 84-year-old sister Wanda Rob-son, who spoke at the ceremony, de-scribed Desmond as a “taskmaster.”

“Viola Desmond did not do any-thing less than 100 per cent. I wouldn’t want to work for her,” she said.

Darrell Bowden, who works with the Ryerson-based Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Services (DHPS), said the ceremony was a “huge undertaking”, especially when it came to transporting Robson from her home in Nova Scotia to Toronto.

Bowden said recognizing Canadian Black history is as important as taking note of the Black Americans who have

made history. “To say that Viola Desmond was the

Rosa Parks of Canada is a misnomer. Rosa Parks’ bus boycott didn’t happen until 1955. [Desmond] was arrested in 1946. It would be more accurate to say that Rosa Parks was the American Viola Desmond,” he said.

Cassandra Johnson, also of the DHPS, praised the Ryerson students and staff who helped make the event possible. She said the organization process was a solid example of team-work.

“It was a full university effort,” said Johnson, a third-year sociology stu-dent.

The ceremony also featured several other guest speakers and artists, in-cluding Canadian blues singer Jackie Richardson and jazz pianist Joe Sealy, who opened and closed the ceremo-ny.

“Canadian students must speak out against oppression in order for soci-ety to move forward,” said Robson.

“Your time is limited. Do what you have to do, but if you see injustice, speak up and do something about it.”

Grace Benac reports on Canadian civil rights trailblazer Viola Desmond and the Ryerson award ceremony in her honour

Wanda Robson (right), Desmond’s sister, with Ryerson student Cassandra Johnson.

Canadian students must speak out against oppression in order for society to move forward.”

— Wanda Robson

PHOTO: STEVEN GOETZ

When Liana Salvador asked RyePRIDE about the transgender community at Ryerson as research for a nursing proj-ect, she was met with an unexpected response.

“They told us there was only one out, trans-identified person at the en-tire university that they knew of,” said Salvador, who is also VP Education at the Ryerson Student’s Union.

That one student is Jake Pyne, one of the speakers at Ryerson’s first ever Trans-Action for Community Health forum, which was held on March 7 and was organized by nursing stu-dents.

Pyne, a fourth-year social work stu-dent and trans activist, is well aware of Ryerson’s negligible trans commu-nity.

“If there is one I don’t know of it,” Pyne said. “As far as I know, I’m the only one.”

Pine sat alongside Alan Sears, a Ry-erson sociology professor, Charmaine Torres, a Ryerson graduate and nurse at the Hassle-Free Clinic, and Susan

Gapka, a well-known Toronto trans-activist.

The four discussed the challenges of making change in an institution like Ryerson, where trans people are often not even recognized.

“Why would Ryerson change poli-cies for a group they don’t recognize exists?” Pyne said.

Trans people are not given the chance to identify as such at Ryerson, according to Pyne. Application forms and other documents require that students identify as male or female.

“Ryerson needs to start counting trans people,” he said.

Another recurring theme at the forum was the need for inclusion of trans people in the Ryerson curricu-lum.

The solution, according to Sears, is not to offer a single course on trans issues, but to make all courses more trans-inclusive. This would mean re-thinking the curriculum in most pro-grams, especially those dealing with biology, anatomy and healthcare. Though it could be a lot of work, Sears believes changing course content is

an important step toward making Ry-erson a safer, more inclusive place.

“There’s many people of good will out there who have prejudices be-cause they just don’t know,” he said, “We need to challenge again and again to de-normalize.”

The nursing faculty’s lack of infor-mation on trans people was of par-ticular concern at the forum.

The students behind the forum felt the brief amount of time they spent learning about queer and trans pa-tients—about four days in total—was simply not enough.

“There’s a lack of awareness about

what trans even means,” said Salva-dor. “We don’t know what to say in a health interview with a trans person.”

As a university in Toronto, a city with one of Canada’s largest trans populations, Ryerson is already taking steps towards creating a more trans positive campus. For example, the planned inclusion of gender neutral washrooms in the new Maple Leaf Gardens complex is a step in the right direction, Pyne said.

According to Sears, the biggest changes must come from within the student body.

“If you don’t change the system you get caught in the masses,” he said.

Students call for trans-education

BY ALYSSA GARRISON

Jake Pyne speaking at the Trans-Action forum.

Why would Ryerson change policies for a group they don’t recognize exists?

— Jake Pyne, fourth-year social work

PHOTO: LINDSAY BOECKL

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why stop now?

It would be more accurate to say that Rosa Parks was the American Viola Desmond. “

— Darrell Bowden, DHPS


THE FOLLOWING ACTS ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED:

• Soliciting votes by providing voters with a laptop and area to vote.

• Soliciting votes in computer labs or handing out fl yers in computer labs during the voting period.

WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR VOTE

• When casting your ballot do not leave your computer screen or ballot page open and unattended.

• Do not let anyone else vote for you.

• Do not let someone bully you into voting for them or their friend.

TAKE A STAND

Please report electoral coercion to the relevant Returning Offi cer: For the Board of Governors email [email protected] or for Senate email [email protected]

Remember there is zero tolerance for this behaviour.

No one can force you to vote for someone!

All relevant election information is available on the elections websites:

www.ryerson.ca/governors/elections www.ryerson.ca/senate/elections

Be Aware of Your Voting Rights

When participating in Board of Governors and Senate Elections

Wednesday March 9, 2011 The Eyeopener 13SPORTS

Alex Braletic has played profes-sional soccer in Canada and Europe, was named to the Canadian Inter-university Sport (CIS) all-Canadian soccer team for the past two years and is one of 17 Ryerson University student-athletes at risk of losing eli-gibility next season.

While only around 10 per cent of Ryerson student-athletes are on some form of academic probation, Ryerson has introduced a new man-datory course that aims to keep their top athletes in-play.

On top of fulfilling his weekly re-sponsibilities as the captain and star midfielder of the men’s soccer team, Braletic, who is in his second-year of electrical engineering, is having trou-ble getting his grades up to par.

“I’m at a point in my life where it’s extremely hard to excel at both. I tried, but I can’t say it’s worked out for me,” he said.

Ryerson’s director of athletics, Ivan Joseph, and Ryerson’s athlete service coordinator, Beth McCharles created an “Academic Success” course this winter to force athletes to focus on their studies.

Student-athletes with a grade point average (GPA) under 2.5 are considered to be on athletic proba-tion and are expected to attend both study hall and the “Academic Suc-cess” class; however though they are not at-risk of missing any practices

or games. However, athletes with a GPA below 2.0 are considered to be on academic probation and have one semester to get their GPA above 2.0. If they cannot do this, they are not al-lowed to continue being part of the team.

Instead of having study hall on a drop-in basis like it did in the past, it is mandatory for student athletes on probation to attend a two-hour study hall.

“I want the GPA of our athletes to be 3.0,” said Joseph. “It’s not there yet. We’ve still got ways to go.”

Despite playing a large role in last season’s historic finish, which saw the Rams make the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) semi-finals before losing 2-1 to the York Lions, Braletic is at-risk of missing the entire 2011 soc-cer season.

To improve his grades and get back on track academically, Braletic, who was named the number one athlete at Ryerson by the Eyeopener, has been excused from all off-season soccer practices.

“I’ve been getting great marks,” he said.

Although he had fewer classes than most of his teammates last sea-son, Braletic said he still had more than double the class hours. That coupled with his captaincy was sim-ply too much for him to manage.

Because it is up to individual

schools and not the CIS to deter-mine their academic guidelines for student-athletes, there are no records kept for students who miss playing time due to academic standing.

Markus Molder, a third year Ryer-son student, but first year arts and contemporary studies student, was one of Braletic’s teammates last sea-son. Unlike his captain, he was named an OUA East all-star for the second time in a row, while receiving a GPA of 3.75.

“I’m a third-year student taking first year courses. I know how to study for exams, and how professors want their papers written.”

While he intends to play next sea-son, Braletic said school undoubtedly has to come first for him from now on, and the team dynamic is going to have to adjust

“Some of the guys are going to have to step up their leadership re-sponsibilities,” he said.

With his grades improving and the reality that playing soccer for a living is difficult to attain, Braletic said he’s realizing that his future is in engi-neering.

“If you had asked me that ques-tion last year, I would have told you professional soccer player – hands down – but right now, it’s electrical engineer.”

— WITH FILES FROM ELAYNE TEIXEIRA-MILLAR

Grades before goalsRyerson athletics has implemented a new program that hopes to keep its star athletes on the field. Matthew Oxman reports

Read Elayne Teixeira-Millar’s article on the academic success class at theeyeopener.com/sports

Alex Braletic playing against York University. PHOTO: ROB MOYSEY

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APPROBATIONSCLIENT CRA DIRECTEUR DE CRÉATION SERVICE À LA CLIENTÈLE

NUMÉRO D’ANNONCE 11

NUMÉRO DE DOSSIER 3934 DIRECTEUR ARTISTIQUE CLIENT

FORMATS 10" X 15.375"

PUBLICATION/PROJET Campus plus RÉDACTEUR STUDIO

CRÉÉ PAR Mélanie

K

Buying contraband cigarettes costs more than you think. It fuels other criminal activities, such as the traffi cking of drugs and guns. Individuals caught in possession of contraband cigarettes face serious consequences ranging from a fi ne to jail time.

contrabandconsequences.gc.ca

L’achat de cigarettes de contrebande coûte plus cher qu’on le pense : il alimente d’autres activités criminelles comme le trafi c d’armes et de drogues. Les individus pris en possession de cigarettes de contrebande s’exposent à de graves conséquences, allant de l’amende jusqu’à l’emprisonnement.

consequencesdelacontrebande.gc.ca

CRA-3934-BE-11.indd 1 11-02-01 10:06

The EyeopenerWednesday, March 9, 2011 HARD(LY) NEWS 15

WTF IS IT?

A. Sleeping dog B. Infected camel ear

C. Bubbleblowing vagina

Taking university seriously is a trend

that is slowly but surely luring many young

people into its snares. As a concerned, re-

habilitating addict of studying, I feel obli-

gated to stand firm and meet this threat.

I recall three main factors that caused

me to stop slacking: curiosity, ambition,

and peer pressure.

Harbouring even a tiny sliver of inter

est in your classes can be quite danger-

ous. To counter this, I recommend that stu-

dents channel their inner curiosity towards

thing’s unrelated to school. If you get a kick

out of rich celebrities suffering, you could

check out Entertainment Weekly, which

should debrief you on the latest rehab

check-ins. If you still haven’t given up on

the Leafs, that’s also OK, because most of

Toronto’s newspapers haven’t either. The

point is that you want to have your mind

running with things that are fun — not

things that will get you somewhere in life.

Tips from a recovering addict

Ambition is second on my list of taboos

for slackers who are tempted to take school

seriously. If you are aiming for an A in even

one of your courses, you’ve already com-

mitted your first mistake. To combat am-

bition, you need to drastically lower your

expectations. Try gunning for a “pass” for a

change. The lower your goals are, the more

realistic and easily achievable they’ll be. To

reinforce this mindset, I suggest the follow-

ing: the next time you “pass”, poke fun at all

those suckers you beat by a few percent.

Then kick back and relax, as you feel your

ego accelerate from zero to hero in a cou-

ple of seconds flat.

My third piece of advice concerns peer

pressure. The following traits should help

you recognize bad company:

BY ABDULKARIM MUHASEEN

POEMS FROM MYBLEEDING <3

Oliver was stunned to wake upFrom an incredibly detailed

dreamThat he

Throughout the morningInterpreted as a metaphor for

Him to overcome his adversitiesHowever

As the day wore onHe’d come to understand thatHis most memorable dreamWas strangely reminiscent

To the plot of Independence Day

~L. Richardson

3. Consistent studying habits are par-

ticularly dangerous. Some students waste

several hours a day studying. To add insult,

they “say” that it helps them stay stress-free.

However, this begs the question: Is it worth

it? You can easily get drunk off of some Red

Bull, and cram a semester’s worth of infor-

mation in a mere 12 hours. And that’s not

even the best part. Research shows that by

cramming, you won’t retain all that boring

content for long.

4. These students are never satisfied

with anything short of an A. Since ambition

is destructive (see above for details), being

around ambitious people is obviously not

recommended.

When students displaying these traits

are spotted, you want to remain calm, turn

around slowly and then run for your dear

life! The urge to study and do well in school

is unbelievably contagious.

I now want to make one final point. Wise

counsel is useless unless the recipient ac-

tually implements it. Therefore, I urge you

to put my advice to use. Why? Because al-

though it has taken courage to share these

insights, it will be worth it if I can save you

from the trauma of success. Just be thank-

ful that I took school seriously, so you will

never have to.

2. Another characteristic of bad peers

is their obsession with organization. Take it

from me: the most organized students are

the most anal retentive. You, on the other

hand, can save yourself from worry, bind-

ers and colour coded dividers by chucking

your notes in the recycling bin.

1. They harass your professor with stu-

pid questions (and yes there is such a thing

as a stupid question). This is especially ag-

gravating if they happen to sit right by you

when you’re trying to squeeze in a couple

hours of rest during lectures.

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RYERSON ATHLETICS AND RECREATON PRESENTS

A TOWN HALL MEETING FOR THE RYERSON COMMUNITY ON THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE

A S P O R T M O D E L R E V I E W

ALL STUDENTS, STAFF AND FACULTYARE WELCOME. YOUR VOICE MATTERS!Come and share your thoughts, opinions and

suggestions on Athletics and Recreation as we move into the future.

Friday March 11, 2011 at 2:30pmWednesday March 16, 2011 at 5:00pm

LOCATED IN KHW 269CF R E E P I Z Z A A N D D R I N K S


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10Dundas Nov24 BC Ad_10Dundas Nov24 BC Ad 11-01-17 5:03 PM Page 6

the eyeopener — march 9, 2011

Documents

fifthyear architecture

student population

associate photo

architecture pro

year architecture studentgram

chair of architecture

contiki holidays

academic programs