Last Thursday, the St. George campusstudent union, UTSU, held their AnnualGeneral Meeting (AGM), which sawapproximately 75 students in atten-dance. The union represents approxi-mately 41,000 full-time undergraduatestudents at both UTM and St. George.The meeting, scheduled to begin at 6

p.m., was delayed for approximately 45minutes. Students in attendance becameimpatient and questioned the delay. Themeeting was called to order at 6:47 p.m.

by the chair Ashkon Hashemi, who fol-lowed Robert’s Rules of Order for theproceedings.The meeting began with student Alex

Heuton, who sits on the UTSU board ofdirectors as the Innis College representa-tive. Heuton questioned why the meet-ing began almost an hour after the pro-vided notice time. The chair explainedthat UTM students were on their wayand traffic delayed their arrival.Students questioned why the agenda

for the meeting did not have an “otherbusiness” item, which would allow stu-dents to introduce new items for discus-sion. The chair allowed a vote to intro-duce the “other business” item which

passed unanimously.Several students lined up to speak at

the microphone on issues the AGMattendees approved for themeeting.Heuton took to the microphone again

to address his concerns that amend-ments to bylaws and policies could notbe made at the AGM without first beingapproved at a policy and procedurescommittee meeting. Heuton argued thatan exception should have been made tointroduce new policy amendments,because no policy and procedure com-mittee meeting was called prior to theAGM. Heuton held an e-mail fromUTSU President Sandy Hudson, datedJuly 25, 2009, and stated that a request

for a policy meeting was denied byHudson because there was no chair ofthe committee. He argued that a policyand procedures meeting has been calledfor this week, to which Heuton said “[It]doesn't make sense to have a policymeeting after the AGM.” Hudsonresponded by stating that any boardmember can call a meeting, and she hadmade attempts to call meetings butcould not confirm attendance frommembers.“I take offence that you believe you

completed your task as [UTSU] presi-dent,” said Heuton.

Monday, November 23, 2009 Volume 36, Issue 10

PAGE 7

An investigation conducted by TheMedium has exposed a mishandlingof the collection and distribution ofproxy forms at UTM for the 2009Annual General Meeting of theUniversity of Toronto Student’sUnion, which took place lastThursday at the St. George campus.Proxy forms allow one student to

hold up to as many as eleven votes,provided the voter gets ten other full-time students to sign the proxy formand include their student numbers.Proxy forms can thus sway importantvotes in an Annual General Meeting.In last week’s UTSU AGM, whereroughly 22 out of the 26 UTM stu-dents in attendance held proxy forms,their presence amounted to over 200votes.In both the UTSU and the

UTMSU’s constitutions, AnnualGeneral Meetings are to be held in thefall session of each year so that full-time students can review their union’sfinancial statements and vote on anyamendments of the constitution orproposed bylaw changes.As indicated in the UTSU website,

U of T students could collect proxyforms in only two locations: Room115 in UTM’s Student Centre, whichis manned by UTMSU office manager

Linda Feener, and the UTSU St.George office. No other location wasauthorized. Yet in an email sent toThe Medium, Feener stated that not asingle UTM student had picked upproxy forms at her office. “I had somehere in my office in case anyonewanted one. [UTSU] sent out anemail that indicated [students] couldpick up one from me too, but I didnot give any out.”Yet around 22 UTM students

showed up at the AGM with proxyforms. It isn’t clear whether the stu-dents obtained the proxy forms at theSt. George office, but their student

numbers would have been recorded.In their conversations with TheMedium, no UTSU or UTMSU repre-sentative offered this explanation, andno student has come forth stating thatthey collected their forms at the St.George location.UTSU VP internal Adnan Najmi

said that signed proxy forms werefaxed to him by UTSMU staff mem-ber Dhananjai Kohli “once they werecollected from UTMSU.”Najmi added that Kohli was “the

staff member at UTMSU we werecoordinating with about logistics forthe AGM. It is common practice at a

students' union, and most organiza-tions, for staff to support logistics.”The UTMSU website, however, doesnot list Kohli as an employee, eventhough every other full-time andpart-time employee is listed“My comment is ‘no comment,’”

said Kohli.UTMSU VP equity Vickita Bhatt

admitted to urging students to collectproxy forms and to “get them in ontime,” but when asked where she haddirected students and to whom, Bhattsaid, “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask[UTMSU President] Joey Santiago.”In a phone call with The Medium,

President Santiago’s confirmed thatKohli supervised the proxy distribu-tion and collection at UTM fromNovember 16 to November 17.Thomas Kristan, a division 3 direc-

tor who sits on both the UTMSU andthe UTSU Boards of Directors, saidhe was not given clear directions onhow to collect a proxy form for theAGM, and therefore did not have anyother votes besides his own. “Theproxy forms have been destroyed,”said Najmi, arguing that they con-tained “[students’] personal informa-tion.”Najmi extended the deadline for

proxy forms to students at only UTMwithout consultation with the UTSUBoard of Directors. And although theforms were due last Monday at 5p.m., proxy forms were only deliveredto the UTM campus by a board mem-ber 30 minutes past the deadline.According to Santiago, executivedirector Mohammed Hashim madecopies of proxy forms sent to himand distributed some to Feener’soffice, and the rest to Kohli the morn-ing of November 16. The unnum-bered forms were faxed back to Najmiat UTSU by 8 p.m. on Tuesday.Henry Ssali, UTMSU VP external

and, according to the Union’s consti-tution, the liaison between UTSU andUTMS, said that he was never con-tacted by the UTSU to organize logis-tics for the AGM. “I was never com-municated with on issues pertainingto the UTSU AGM. The town hall forUTMSU was on the same day and mypriority is to UTM students,” saidSsali.

AGM proxy forms mishandled at UTM

Matthew Filipowich/Medium File Photo

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SAALIHA MALIKNEWS EDITOR

9° 4° 9° 6° 9° 1° 9° 4° 5° 0° 5° 1° 5° 2°

INSIDE

Students get TTC breakPPAAGGEE 33

New MoonPPAAGGEE 77

Rooftop Green HousePPaaggee 88

A fine day for UTMSoccerPPAAGGEE 1111

Tensions run high at the UTSU AGMSSAAAALLIIHHAA MMAALLIIKK NEWS EDITOR

see UUTTSSUU on page 33

Last Thursday, the UTMSU held anopen-panel town hall in the PresentationRoom of the Student Centre. Rather thanbeing a formal meeting, the town hallaimed to facilitate communicationbetween the UTMSU and the students,said UTMSU President Joey Santiago.The audience, composed of around 30students, also had the opportunity tolearn of upcomingUTMSUprojects.President Santiago, who chaired the

event, began with a presentation outlin-ing the various services that UTMSUprovides. These include the UPass,Orientation Week, the Blind Duck Pub,the Print Shop, bursaries, and fundingfor campus clubs and academic societies.Organizers presented video footage

fromOrientationWeek 2009 to highlightUTMSU’s efforts in assisting first-yearstudents in their transition into universi-ty. Students in the audience belted outOrientation Week cheers as theywatched the video, including the well-known, “This is madness! This isErindale!”Outlining their goals for this year,

President Santiago listed campaign goalsthat included increasing student partici-pation, strengthening the campus’ pres-ence in the city of Mississauga and estab-lishing unity amongst students. “It’simportant for everyone to know whattheir union offers and that they need notsequester themselves. We take directionfrom ourmembers and ourmembers areyou,” said theUTMSUPresident.The new discounted student rate for

the TTC Metropass was introduced asrecent achievement of the student union.Next year, university students can buy aMetropass for $89—a $22 discount off ofthe regular price.Many students in attendance stated

they had been greatly affected by the lossof 400 parking spaces, due to the con-struction of the new Health Sciencescomplex and the Instructional Centre.According to President Santiago, morethan 100 students are on the waitlist forparking passes. The University adminis-tration has proposed a multilevel parkingstructure to accommodate the parkingdemand, and the UTMSU is currentlyworking to ensure the project is notfunded from students’ pockets, saidSantiago.During the one-hour question and

answer period, a student asked, “Whatactions will the student union take toprovide greater study space?”“The library does not have the capaci-

ty to hold 11,000 students,” said thePresident. “The Student Centre, howev-er, will be open for those studying lateinto the night. The Presentation Room,Green Room, Board Room and BlindDuck Pub are all options for students toutilize.” Another student suggested thatUTSMUbook classrooms as study space.Many in the audience complained

about what they called “the unsatisfacto-ry food options on campus.” Accordingto President Santiago, the Universityshares a contract with Chartwells, thefood company who primarily suppliestheUniversity.“While previous student unions man-

aged to ensure that the Blind Duck Pubremained separate, the contract includesrestrictions on its development. TheBlind Duck Pub cannot expand or priceitems in such a way that they will becomea competitor of Chartwells.”Residence Council President Marc

Bressler told students that the Universityadministration are held accountable forfood prices, as any increase must beapproved by the administration. Santiagoencouraged students to email BillMcFadden, director of hospitality and

retail services at UTM. “Perhaps this willresult in an outcome similar to that of thelibrary’s restoring its service,” saidPresident Santiago.Stressing that the union’s door is

always open to students, Santiago saidthere would be regular town halls toensure “we’re on track with students”and called the town hall “very produc-tive.”“I wish the turn out was a little bit bet-

ter; it’s important for students to getinvolved. But the topics that werebrought up were good,” said second-yearpolitical science student and UTMSUboardmember ThomasKristan.Upcoming union-organized events

include the Exam Destressor and theFebruary Reading Week trip. The ExamDestressor, according to the UTMSU, isone of its most popular events. Free foodand drinks will be provided for studentsthat optimize the library’s 24-hour ser-vice. The first Exam Destressor will takeplace onDecember 1 in the CCT atrium.

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Can’t put the pieces together?

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 200922 THE MEDIUM

November 12Theft Under $5,000Campus Police invest igated thetheft of a cell phone from the gymarea . Est imated va lue of s to lenproperty is $500.

November 12Controlled Drugs and SubstancesActCampus Po l i c e inve s t i ga t ed arepor t o f three ma le s smokingmarijuana outside of a residence.

November 12 Theft Under $5,000Campus Police invest igated thethe f t o f a c e l l phone f rom theLibrary. Estimated value of stolenproperty is $300.

November 13Information - SolicitingA female was cautioned for sellingproducts on campus. The femalewas escorted off UTM Campus.

November 14Motor Vehicle AccidentCampus Po l i ce inve s t i ga t ed amotor vehicle accident. A witnessrepor ted see ing a veh ic l e h i t aparked vehicle . The vehicle leftthe scene without reporting theincident.

November 14Safety ConcernCampus Police investigated twomale s tha t were suspec t ed o fbreaking into a vehicle. Furtherinvestigation found the males had

locked their keys in the vehicleand smashed a window to ga inentry to retrieve their keys.

November 15Noise ComplaintCampus Po l i c e inve s t i ga t ed areport of loud music and talkingin a r e s idence . Campus Po l i c eadvised the occupants to lowertheir music and keep the noiselevel down. They complied.

November 15Theft Under $5,000Campus Police invest igated thethe f t o f t ex tbooks near OPH.Estimated value of stolen propertyis $300.

November 16Noise CompliantCampus Po l i c e inve s t i ga t ed areport of loud music coming froma townhouse residence. CampusPolice advised the occupants toturn down their music and theoccupants complied.

November 16Theft Under $5,000Campus Police invest igated thetheft of a wallet from a residence.The owner of the wallet also saidthat her credit cards were usedfraudulently.

November 17Library Code of ConductCampus Police investigated a malewho had cont ravened l i b ra ry

rules. The male was banned fromthe Library until further notice.

November 18Medical CallEmergency Med ica l Se rv i ce sassisted a female that was feelingunwell in the Kaneff Centre. Thestudent was transported to hospi-tal by ambulance.

November 18Recovered PropertyA b i cyc l e be long ing to theUniversity BikeShare program wasrecovered by the C i ty o fMiss i s sauga . The proper ty waspicked up by Campus Police andreturned to the owner.

Campus police weekly summaries November 12, 2009 to November 18, 2009

Last Fr iday , Professor JohnEsposito, the founding director atthe Centre for Muslim-ChristianRela t ions a t GeorgetownUniversity in the United States,addressed an audience of 500 pro-fessors, students, community mem-bers, leaders and academics at St.Michael’s College at the St. Georgecampus. The “Future o f I s lam and

Muslim-West Relations” lecturewas a par t o f a spec ia l - lec tureseries organized by St. Michael’sCollege. The Pluralism-Series lec-ture was open to any member ofthe community inc luding UTMstudents and was advertised to theUTM student body through thefacul ty in the Department o fHistorical Studies.“Most of you would know that

some of his prominent works havebeen featured by Oxford UniversityPress and are standard texts forreligious-studies courses on Islamsuch as the Oxford His tory ofIs lam, the Oxford I s lamicDict ionary , and the OxfordEncyc lopedia o f the ModernIs lamic World ,” sa id ProfessorMark McGowan, S t . Michae l ’ sCollege’s principal , as he intro-duced Professor Esposito, who haspubl ished over forty books andnumerous journal articles on theissue of topic of Muslim Christianrelations.In his address to the staff and

students , Professor Espos i toexplored the political issues of thewar in Afghanistan and Iraq andthe f rag i le s t ructure o f North-American society in the aftermath

of the 9/11. He advocated a “robustrel igious plural ism between theAbrahamic fa i ths o f I s lam,Christianity and Judaism that chal-lenges the older notion of co-exis-tence that is merely tolerance orPeople of the Book.” “I think one of the most crucial

points in his lecture was that thetraditional understanding of co-existence must change in the West.Ins tead of ignor ing the other ' sbeliefs, people have to start explor-ing what their fellow students, pro-fessors, co-workers, or neighbors'be l ie fs are and what inf luencestheir worldview,” said RummanKhalid, a student who attended thelecture. Jeremy Malinowski, anoth-er attendee, said that U of T shouldbe at “the fore-front of leading thediscourse of religious pluralism,multiculturalism and equality” dueto its vast faculty and student body.Over the course of the next cou-

ple o f days , His Grace ThomasCollins, Arch-Bishop of Torontoand Chance l lor o f S t . Michae lsCol lege wi l l confer the U of TDoctorate of Sacred Letters to dis-tinguished academics for their con-tinued work in religious and plu-ra l i sm s tudies a t the Theologygraduate convocation.Professor Esposito is one of the

two individuals receiving the hon-orary degree from the Centre forJewish Christian Relations for hiswork on triggering an academicdialogue on understanding betweenIslam and Christianity. ProfessorSusannah Herschel will also receivea similar honorary doctorate forher work on the f ie ld of JewishStudies and the Christian-Jewishengagement in Germany during the19th and 20th centuries.

John Esposito speaks up forpluralism at U of T

OOVVAAIISS SSHHAAHH

UTMSU hosts town hall toseek student directionSSTTEEFFAANNIIEE MMAARROOTTTTAA

Laura Chiovitti/The Medium

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STUDENTS GET A DEALNEWSMONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009 THE MEDIUM 33

POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATESFOR REWARDING CAREERS

business.humber.ca

FINANCIAL PLANNINGGLOBAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENTHUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENTINTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTINTERNATIONAL MARKETINGMARKETING MANAGEMENTPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Students question priorities at AGM Drug awarenessweek hits UTM

“You ran on a ticket called ‘demandaccess ’ when you have done somuch to prevent it. Where is theaccess when no pol icy meet ingoccurred before the AGM? Thismeeting is outrageous.” The next issue raised was a dis-

crepancy on the notice given for themeeting. According to the UTSUbylaws, Bylaw 3- Meetings 1 .3-Notice, “Notice shall be provided tomembers fourteen (14) days prior tothe meeting in the campus paperand website.” VP internal AdnanNajmi clarified that The Varsityprinted their notice on their website14 days prior to the meet ingbecause there was no issue printedthat week. Hudson introduced executive

members of UTSU during thePresident's address, including VPinternal and services Adnan Najmi,VP university affairs Adam Awad,VP external Hadia Akhtar, VP equi-ty Daniella Kyei and VP campus lifeDaniel le Sandhu. Hudson spokeabout the accomplishments of theUTSU this year , including therecent Drop Fees for a Poverty-FreeOntario campaign, Orientat ionWeek and homecoming. Hudsonthanked students who signed peti-tions to lobby the TTC to lowerfares for Metropasses, which she

said resulted in a discount for post-secondary students starting nextfall. UTM student Walied Khogali was

first to address the tension at theAGM. “I want to bring theMississauga love because there's alot of tension in the room.” Khogalihighlighted the successes of theUTSU and suggested that UTSUhold regular town halls for studentsto address their concerns. “Let's cel-ebrate, not criticize. Let's face it,students are busy studying. Not toomany students show up to AGMsbut if you criticize, we're not goingto win those battles.”The president of St. Michaels stu-

dent union, James Finlay, gave anexplanation on why tension existedin the room. “This campus wantedanother vision. Members on the St.George campus are not happy. Themajority of students do not agreewith people here .” Finlay ques-tioned what initiative Hudson hastaken to “bridge the gap and discon-tent on campus.” Hudson main-tained that the UTSU works withboth colleges and clubs on campus,and wants to work with colleges tomend relationships. Hudson received many difficult

questions and comments during themeeting, especially when a studentcame to the microphone and askedHudson to define solidarity, a com-mon backbone to campaigns led bythe UTSU. “If someone disagrees,

are they still represented by UTSU?”Hudson immediately said, “Of

course they are members. Solidaritymeans we are working to alleviateour issues.” Not all students in attendance

were disappointed by the studentunion’s actions. A student came tothe microphone and gave a heartfeltspeech on her experience withUTSU. “I want to use this opportu-nity to show how thankful I am. Iwas totally lost, I could not partici-pate in my college orientation andit ’ s good that you can go otherplaces,” said Masima G., referringto a l ternat ive orientat ion weekactivities organized by the UTSU. Gabe de Roche, a fourth-year

Trinity College student, was onewho opposed UTM students havingvotes at the UTSU AGM. “If it's truethat all fees paid by UTM studentsare repaid and they choose how tospend their money, is it fair that,with no financial stake, they canvote in our elections and stack thisAGM?” Hudson responded that stu-dents at UTM are members, andexplained that UTSU and UTMSUwork closely to collaborate on cam-paigns and services for students. The meeting, which lasted over

four hours, heard statements fromstudents who have had unsuccessfulattempts at accessing financial doc-uments, as well as students who didnot feel UTM students should havebeen allowed to vote.

UUTTSSUU continued from ccoovveerr

Metropass fees dropped for studentsPost�secondary students will be offered discounted metropassesstarting next fall

Last week, the UTMSU joined studentunions from across the GTA to call onthe Toronto Transit Commission tostop fare increases. Student unionscame together to support an affordabletransit pass. They pushed to maintainthe current V.I.P. Metropass ratesavailable for students and suggestedthat the TTC extend high school stu-dent rates for fares, tickets andmetropasses to college and universitystudents. The student unions also insisted

that students, regardless of age or fullor part-time student status, should beeligible for a discount on theMetropasses.The campaign, called Fair Student

Fares, was launched by the CanadianFederation of Students soon after theTTC announced that it will be raisingfares. Student unions across the GTAcollected thousands of petitions indays to demonstrate the opposition forthe fare increase and to demand con-cessions in the form of discounted stu-dent fares for post-secondary educa-tion students.The concessions in student fares

came after an afternoon of deputationsfrom student leaders and representa-tives of the Canadian Federation ofStudents-Ontario, pleading that withhigh levels of youth unemploymentand rising tuition, student have noability to pay more.“Students have had enough and

can’t stomach another fare increase,”said Hamid Osman of the CanadianFederation of Students at the monthlyTTC meeting at City Hall.UTMSU President Joey Santiago

echoed Osman’s comment. He empha-sized that UTM students must be eligi-ble for the discount as well, althoughsome of them are not Toronto resi-dents. Due to the growth of the UTM

campus in the next 30 years, more stu-dents living in the downtown core willbe commuting to UTM and will needto use the Metropass, said Santiago.After the depositions, city coun-

cilors on the commission voted on aslightly lower Metropass levy insteadof the 15 percent increase TTC staffhad initially proposed. The price of a regular Metropass

will go up 11 percent to $121, ratherthan the $126 that was originally sug-gested. Post-secondary students willpay the same price high school stu-

dents are charged, which is currently$99 a month. The change won’t takeeffect until September 2010. Post-secondary students will also be

eligible for a discounted $89 a monthpass under the TTC MetropassDiscount Program. “This is a victory we should all be

proud of. For the first time in the his-tory of Toronto, college and universitystudents are going to be able to pay astudent rate for a Metropass,” saidMaria Galvez , UTMSU VP universityaffairs.

WWAALLIIEEDD KKHHOOGGAALLII

Photo/Tom Cochrane

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At 11 a.m. last Thursday, a drawn-look ing young man sa t in theBlink Duck. A tubular mesh slingimmobilized his left arm againsthis chest. White gauze circled hisforehead. Blood seeped throughthe bandages. His bandaged righthand was miss ing a thumb. Hefumbled with his forkThis boy was one of 14 UTM

student par t ic ipants in It CouldHave Been You, the Peer HeathEducators’ Drug Awareness Weekprogram. It Could Have Been Youwas a collaboration between thePeer Hea l th Educa tor s o f theHealth and Counseling Center andthe Er inda l e Co l l ege Spec i a lResponse Team, ECSpeRT.In addi t ion to the bandaging

and make-up skil lfully executedby the ECSpeRT crew, PHEs andECSpeRT members manned twotab l e s in the Mee t ing P l ace toanswer ques t ions and pro-vide curious students with infor-mation and resources. The “injured”par t i c ipan t s were a sked to goabout the i r da i l y bus ines s a sthough nothing was wrong. Whenconcerned peers asked what hadhappened, the tight-lipped partici-pants handed them a card thatd i r ec t ed them to the Mee t ingPlace.The Peer Hea th Educa tor s

showed s tudents how to detectan impaired driver, what to do insuch a ca se , and wha t a r e thealternatives to getting behind the

wheel after consuming alcohol. Atthe ECSpeRT table, students couldexperience being put into a spinalcolumn or wearing a neck brace,another gentle deterrent.“The idea is to put the experi-

ence where people can’t ignore it.Right in their faces,” said Amy Jinof ECSpeRT. “ I t ’ s not only thedrunk drivers that get hurt. A lotof the time, the drunk drivers arefa r l e s s in jured than the poormotor i s t s and pedes t r ians thatcome in to contac t wi th them.”Every day, 206 people are injuredin alcohol-related car crashes inCanada. An addit ional four arekilled. Stephanie Falcone, the leader of

the PHE’s drug and alcohol team,said, “We want to counter the ‘thatwon’t or can’t happen to me’ men-tality that many students hold. Byhaving a seriously injured personsit next to you in lecture strug-gl ing to function with a bustedarm and head wounds―or evenjus t s t and ing beh ind you a tTimmy’s― the PHE is hoping toburst that illusory safety bubble.”Accord ing to Fa l cone , the I t

Could Have Been You event will bea yearly occurrence. Everyone iswelcome and encouraged to par-ticipate.

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nneewwss@@mmeeddiiuummoonnlliinnee..ccaa

OPINIONSTUDENTS DESERVE BETTERMONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 200944 THE MEDIUM

When t h e UTMSU Annua lG en e r a l Me e t i n g t o o k

place last November, I thoughtfu ture AGMs could hard ly ge tmo r e c on t r o v e r s i a l . Y e t l a s tweek’s events proved me wrong.At the Univers i ty of Toronto

Student’s Union AGM, which tookplace last Thursday, over 20 UTMstudents, including a few UTMSUexecutives, brandished proxy formsthat enabled them to vote for up toeleven students each. They did notobtain these forms at UTM, sinceLinda Feener, the person supposedto hand them out, told The Mediumthat not a s ingle s tudent hadapproached her about the forms.This begs the question: How werethese forms handed out, filled andcollected?UTMSU defenders will point out

that students might have obtainedthe forms in UTSU’s downtownoffice, which was the second autho-rized pickup location. But this pos-sibility seems unlikely. The reasonsare threefold: Firstly, no UTMSU orUTSU suggested that this had beenthe case—surely they would havedone so , but only i f they couldprove it. Secondly, both the UTSUand the UTSMU promptlydestroyed the proxy forms, so evenif an inquiry were launched, wewould likely never find which stu-dents picked up these forms andwhere they did it . Thirdly, mostUTM students would probablychoose to pick up the forms in theirown campus.

The Medium, by the way, encour-ages students with any informationabout this episode to knock on ourdoor, drop us a line, call us—wewill listen to you, and if the factsbear out, we will help you makeyour voice heard. This AGM issue raises many seri-

ous questions. Why were UTMSUexecutives, who according to theirown Constitution must be part-timestudents, voting in an AGM that isclearly intended for full-time stu-dents? And if these executives arefull-time students, then how canthey work as UTMSU executives?One way or the other, a violationseems to be taking place. Furthermore , why did the

UTMSU create its own alternativemethod for picking up and distrib-uting proxy forms? We have con-f irmed that former UTMSU VPexternal “DJ” Kohli handed outproxy forms—forms, which, by theway, were unnumbered and thusuntraceable. Anyone could havecopied them and handed them outwith, shall we say, undue generosi-ty . According to the UTMSUConstitution and By-Laws, underthe heading By Law 3 – Meetings,1 .5 Proxy: “no member [of theUnion] shall carry more than 10proxies,” and no member shouldhave more than one proxy form.This entitles each member to carrya maximum of 11 votes—ten prox-

ies plus their own. Mr. Kohli heldmore than one form in his posses-sion. Last ly , why did the UTMSU

destroy all proxy forms so prompt-ly? Adnan Najmi, VP internal ser-vices at UTSU, argued that theUnions destroyed the forms becausethey contained students’ personalinformation. I f that ’ s the case ,another question arises: Why didthe Unions not find an alternativemethod to collect proxy votes, suchas T-card validation at the time ofcollection or proxy form pickup? This information should have

been archived for future referenceand, if need be, for future investiga-tion. Their destruction suggestsmany ugly scenarios , especia l lygiven last year’s scandal in which,for those who are unfamiliar withthe i ssue , “UTMSU execut iveshanded out nameless and signedproxy forms—with eight to ten stu-dent signatures filled out at the bot-tom—to certain students, so thatthey could vote to support theUTMSU in whatever motion theunion wished to pass.” I’m quotingfrom “UTMSU Proxy gate scandal,”an article that The Medium pub-lished last year after we learned ofthis regrettable incident. Then-UTMSU President Wasah Maliksaid the matter would be investigat-ed. We are s t i l l wai t ing for theresul ts of las t year`s promisedinvestigation. One thing i s c lear : Both the

UTMSU and UTSU are benefitingfrom too much control over theprocess of the proxy forms distribu-tion and collection. Even if none ofthese events had taken place, thefact that the UTMSU and UTSUhave such control raises concerns ofaccountability and democracy, twomissions that UTSMU claims tostrive for. The bottom l ine i s that the

UTMSU picks up proxy forms inways that clash with its own guide-lines. The UTMSU has total controlover this process, so that no one candemand to see these proxy forms.The UTMSU destroys these formsnot one day after the AGM, wellbefore the dust settles and curiouseyes can pry into their business,which is the business of all U of Tstudents. Indeed, we fund every-thing that the UTMSU does ,whether we want to or not, sinceopting out of UTMSU fees is not anoption. Linda Feener has said that in this

year’s UTMSU AGM, she will keepthe proxy forms in her office, room115 in the Student Centre . “Toensure that there will be no prob-lems,” as Mrs. Feener put it, shenumbered all proxy forms and willinitial them when she hands themout. Moreover, students who pickup a proxy form must return it toMrs. Feener only. We should all take cue. Like any

government or powerful body, theUTMSU will only act with trans-parency and respect for its own reg-ulations, as well as respect for thevery students it purports to repre-sent, when we question it, when weprobe it, when we demand of it thatit gives us what it should be givingus already: The truth.

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ALAIN LATOUREDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Transparency: Aforgotten ideal?

Dear Editor,

The Speak Out against Oppressionpoetry event, held last Friday, wasorganized in conjunction withUTMSU. They recently rejected thepoems I sent them, without justifica-tion, after having charged me the $10application fee.The event, dealing with spoken word

poetry, is explicitly about oppression,yet the submission guidelines clearlystate no “vulgar language, profanity orsexual references.” This prohibition issenseless because it withholds cursewords, which illuminate and highlightspecific points if used correctly in apoetic forum. Colloquial speech, sexualor not, is universal, and the organizers’desire to be politically correct ends upironically oppressing the participants.The guidelines also state an acceptanceof “all political, individual & religiousviewpoints,” yet one’s poetry must“value people of all ethnicities and cul-tural backgrounds.” There is a contra-diction in these two ideas of acceptanceand value, because they exclude cultur-al criticism, meaning there is a suppo-sition that all “cultural backgrounds”and “ethnicities” are flawless, which isfar from the case. If all cultures wereflawless, oppression wouldn’t exist.

The point of speaking againstoppression is to offer constructive criti-cism to enable ethical, social and politi-cal progress. This is the opposite ofwhat the event can achieve due to thelimiting of the freedom of speech.My verses, needless to say, poke fun

rather than harm. If they offend any-one, it is only by way of the questioningof oppressive practices. There is no usefor poetry if I cannot find the smallgrain of hope that lies hidden in gangviolence, or the comedy that surroundsa single mother abandoned by herpartner late one evening.And when it is discovered that those

at UTMSU didn't even read the poetry,it'll be all the worse, since MY union,the one I help pay for, isn't represent-ing me or giving me a voice, the way itshould.

Trevor AbesUTM English and Philosophy student

EDITOR’S NOTE: As per Mr. Abes’request, one of the two poems in ques-tion was printed in our last issue. Wefelt it was worthy of publication. Mr.Abes submitted the remaining poem toour own poetry contest.

Speaking out against oppression

Letters to the Editor

Dear fellow students,

With this letter I want to express mydeep dissatisfaction with the behaviorof many students in the Library. On several occasions throughout

the term, I needed a quiet place tostudy on campus, so the Libraryseemed to be the logical choice.However, every single time I wasforced to leave within minutesbecause of the noise levels generatedby the rest of the students there.Always the loudest spots are the tableson the fourth floor, including the newones next to the rooftop garden,which is a designated Silent Zone.Since I can easily hear what thosepeople are talking about, I havenoticed that the topic is almost neverschool projects and classes, but gos-siping, sport, make-up—you name it.I am tired of telling people to keep itquiet every five minutes. It is impossi-ble to concentrate and study in suchenvironment, so that is why I amforced to leave and look for otherlocations on campus, which turn outto be just as loud.I don't know if the library staff has

the responsibility to control the noiselevels in the Library. Even if they do,they have to have at least five peoplewhose sole job responsibility will to

be to just walk around and warn stu-dents to restrain from loud talking. Ofcourse, there is one, much easier solu-tion to the problem—people shouldnot make so much noise.By that, I mean (and I have experi-

enced all of these in the Library):• no music from your phone, which

includes listening it on mega-loudheadphones;• no chatting over current celebrity

issues;• no presentation rehearsals in the

middle of the fourth floor Quiet Zone(yes, I have seen even that);Even though our campus is small,

there are many wonderful placeswhere people can go to chat. If some-one needs a list of them, I will behappy to provide one. The Library is aplace to study, to concentrate andthink. To do research for projects. Toread a book (some people have for-gotten that main Library function).Keep my advice in mind next time

when you meet with your friends todiscuss the latest episode of yourfavorite show or yesterday's Leafsgame. The person next to you is hav-ing a test, presentation and a midtermtomorrow.

Zdravko DimitrovUTM Student, BBA program

On silence and respect

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009 THE MEDIUM 55

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 200966 THE MEDIUM

Michael Di Leo, Editor | arts@mediumonline.ca

Love, sex, and magicA Midsummer Night’s Dream debuts at Hart House

How do you spruce up one ofShakespeare’s most famous plays andmanage to send the audiencethrough tears of laughter in theprocess? Hart House Theatre’s pro-duction of A Midsummer Night’sDream makes that possible. Directedby Jeremy Hutton, whose past direc-tions include Arcadia, King Lear, andRomeo and Juliet, the classic tale oflove, sex and magic departs fromstructured Athenian society, andtakes shape in mischievous VictorianEngland, fully equipped with gloomylampposts, black umbrellas and suit-clad suitors. This “spin,” or anymodernization of A MidsummerNight’s Dream ,“is almost alwaysexpected, as if a wildly original set-ting was the only prerequisite for asuccessful production,” Huttonexplains. As a result, the directordoesn’t veer too far from the originaland ensures that key elements, suchas the forest, remain intact. Very much a sum of the play’s

parts, the forest is more than just asetting. All magical instances takeplace in the fairies’ domain, but moreprominently, the forest sparks thelicentious behaviour, inherent to thefairies, in all those who pass through.Hutton therefore has fun with thisessential component and implementsanother “spin,” in which the tradi-tional fairy community is substitutedby a group of dark-magic gypsies.

“You can have fairies without wings,but never fairies without magic. Nomatter what ‘spin’ you take.”Composed of many plays-within-a-

play, A Midsummer Night’s Dreaminitially focuses on the relationshipsthat form and fall apart betweenHermia (Adrianna Prosser),Lysander (Andy Cockburn),Demetrius (Andrew Knowlton) andHelena (Carly Chamberlain). Hermiadesires Lysander as her husband butis forced by her father, Egeus (RobCandy), to marry Demetrius.Demetrius in turn is fuelled by a lustfor Hermia and spends his time infutile pursuit of her, while Helena’sunrequited love for Demetrius grows

stronger as he pushes her away. Thisjumbled mess of love and hate is ofits own nature, but when the fairiesintervene and sprinkle magical juiceinto their eyes, true love is squan-dered and false love is stirred. Oberon (Kevin McGarry), the King

of Fairies, orders Robin the Puck(Borcé Petrovski) to fix his foolishmisdoings with the Athenians, butOberon himself teaches his fairyQueen, Titania (Carolyn Hall), a les-son in love. The juice makes her fallmadly in love with a man who’s headhas been turned into an ass’s. Theunfortunate soul is Bottom (NeilSilcox), a member of the ridiculoustheatre troupe, the RudeMechanicals, who occupy a largeportion of the play as they practicetheir own play they will performed atDuke Theseus (Andrew Dundass)and Duchess Hippolyta’s (MargaretThompson) wedding. The intertwin-ing of all three plots occurs, and theresulting situations create anupheaval of the most hilarious kind. The dynamic between the actors

and actresses in Hutton’s adaptationof “Shakespeare’s sexiest comedy” iseasily the reason for the play’s hugesuccess. The relationships betweenthe Athenian lovers are conventionalat the start, but transform into hys-terical obsessions when Cockburnand Knowlton run around the stagein their skivvies. Their slapstickantics and lovesick demeanour are soin sync that the interchangeability ofDemetrius and Lysander ultimatelycome through with ease. Prosser is particularly apt at con-

veying Hermia’s self-admiration andeventual breakdown after both suit-ors kick her to the curb and fall inlove with Helena. Prosser’s theatri-cality, bursting with pouty tantrumsand tearful outbursts, closely rivalsChamberlain’s melancholic disposi-tion as Helena; she establishes herinitial frustration at Hermia’s moredesirable eyes and Demetrius’ unrec-iprocated feelings, but nonetheless isable to transform herself into acrazed stalker-like figure wheneverDemetrius draws near.Chamberlain flawlessly turns hos-

tile when Helena believes she is beingmocked after the suitors’ declarationof their newfound love for her. Thecatfight that ensues between the twowomen is quite amusing, and drawsheavily on modern situations involv-ing home wreckers and jealous ex-lovers. The band of gypsy fairies is one of

the play’s most alluring features.Their time on stage is accompaniedby exotic, Eastern-type music towhich they partake in wonderfullytraditional Gypsy-style dances thatwere choreographed by AshleighPowell . Brandon Kleiman’s setdesign is also stunning, as colourfullanterns are lowered from the ceilingduring the dances and hang like starsover an elaborately created Gypsycaravan. Borcé Petrovski’s portrayal of the

maniacal and mischievous Puck isexceptionally dark and mysterious;he jumps and rolls in and out ofscenes, and is skillfully imperceptibleto other characters as well as theaudience at times. Kevin McGarry’sperformance as Oberon is sultry andcommanding despite Oberon’s gen-eral inability to control Titania, andhis level of confidence is spot-on, as

he flaunts Oberon’s ability to com-mand mortals at the snap of his fin-gers. Puck and Oberon are furthermystified by the snaking, black tat-toos emblazoned across their headsand arms, much to the skill of make-up designer Larissa Palaszczuk.Titania’s impish behaviour is effort-lessly conveyed by Carolyn Hall, whomanipulates and seduces the men inthe play with ease. Yet by far themost side-splitting performancesbelongs to the actors that comprisethe Rude Mechanicals. Their well-executed portrayals of over-the-topplayers preparing for their produc-tion of Pyramus and Thisbe leavesthe crowd guffawing and tearing upwhenever they took the stage. Thomas Gough plays Peter Quince,

the troupe’s exasperated managerwho must keep the other dim-wittedplayers in line, lest they completelyrun amuck with their bountifulimaginations. Jim Armstrong’s ren-dering of a wall and Max Shkvorets’role as moonshine are hysterical asboth roles are pointless in the RudeMechanicals’ play, but their actualroles as Snout and Starveling nicelycapture the naivety of both charac-ters. While the players’ clownish per-sonas are enough to make the audi-ence keel over in laughter, NeilSilcox’ interpretation as Bottom trulysends the play into a stratosphere ofhilarity. Silcox manages to make bothBottom and his character as Pyramusso ridiculously hysterical that I waspersonally in tears, and he receivedaudience applause throughout manyof his monologues. Performances such as this just go to

show that Shakespearean comediesremain highly entertaining, no mat-ter how boring high school studentsbelieve them to be. While alreadyhumorous in text, the performancesliterally come to life on stage. AMidsummer Night’s Dream runs untilDecember 5 at Hart House Theatreon the St. George campus. Call the Uof T Box Office at (416) 978-8849 orvisit www.harthousetheatre.ca forshowtimes and ticket prices.

NNIIVVEESS HHAAJJDDIINNASSISTANT A&E EDITOR

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November 22, 1979 - MEDIUM II

OLD FANGSARTS & ENTERTAINMENTMONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009 THE MEDIUM 77

Film review: New MoonThe second installment of the Twilight saga hit theatres last week to record attendence numbers. But is it worth the hype?

Forbidden love is in the air, and fansbitten by the vampire bug are backfor more. New Moon , the secondinstallment of Stephenie Meyer’sTwilight saga, continues the story ofBella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and herever-seventeen vampire boyfriend,Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).Directed by Chris Weitz, New Moonexplores some of the dangers vam-pires, even the human-friendlyCullen family, pose towardshumans, the hidden vampire worldand its laws, and the introduction ofnew supernatural beings—the were-wolf pack.

New Moon opens with Bella andEdward in a meadow. Bella sees hergrandmother across the field. Whileintroducing Edward, Bella realizesthat the white-haired figure oppositeher is herself many decades later,while Edward remains seventeen.This dream represents a recurringtheme in the movie: Bella’s fear ofaging, and her wish for Edward toturn her into a vampire.

The scene continues with Bella’seighteenth birthday. At a party heldat the Cullen’s lavish home, Bellaaccidentally nicks herself on somewrapping paper. The tiny paper cutlooks innocuous enough, but thesingle drop of blood dripping ontothe carpet sparks off a deadly chainreaction among the Cullen vampires,who still hunger for human blooddespite making the conscious deci-sion to only consume animal blood.The very next day, Edward leavesBella, the Cullen family disappears,and Bel la fal ls into a spiral ingdepression.

Pattinson and Stewart have greatphysical chemistry, but Edward

seems a little too monotone and life-less in his interactions with Bella atthe beginning of the movie.Edward’s brooding good looksmight stun movie viewers, but JacobBlack (Taylor Lautner) steals a goodportion of the spotlight and themovie. Jacob pulls Bella out of herdepression, and a hint of romancebuilds between them, spokenthrough Jacob’s lingering hands onBella’s while teaching her to ride adirt bike and the many times he triesto hold Bella’s hand or kiss her, onlyto be foiled by other people or theringing of the phone. Stewart, likethe character she plays, comes alivewhen she is on screen with Lautner.

Lautner plays Jacob, a gangly andlong-haired teenager who likes tin-kering with mechanics, as well asJacob after his werewolf transforma-tion. Jacob, after he has “turned

wolf,” looks mature, extremely fitand very different from the teenagemechanic, and Lautner captures thetransformation well.

Readers of the novel wil l bepleased with the movie’s pacing.New Moon jumps straight into theaction with little unnecessary scenes,and sets up foreshadowing early onin the movie. Reminiscent of thenovel, the beginning of New Moonshows a flash of a scene that occurslater on in the movie—Bella runningthrough a crowd of crimson-cloakedfigures. The movie is set up well forthe revelation of the Volturi, Jacob’srevelation of his werewolf heritage,and for Victoria, the vampire whocontinually hunts Bella as revengefor her dead lover’s death. NewMoon, in comparison to its moviepredecessor, contains much moreaction, but does not leave out the

crucial interactions between thecharacters.

New Moon excels in its cinematog-raphy. There are beautiful vistas ofItaly, dark silhouettes of autumntrees against a night sky, meadowscenes and rolling grasslands. Theonly problem with the stunningbackgrounds is the lighting: Forks,where New Moon is primarily set, isrenowned for its foggy, misty days,allowing the vampires to move with-out revealing their inhuman, glitter-ing skin, whereas the movie containsfar too many bright, sunshinyscenes.

There are often close-ups, both ofthe actors and of important details,such as the burning of Bella’s bloodybandages in a silver bowl to elimi-nate the potent smell of blood in theCullen’s home. New Moon speedsthrough Bel la ’s long months of

depression with the camera turningin circles, alternately showing anexpressionless, almost catatonicBella and the view outside her win-dow, which changes from summer,to autumn and winter with each rev-olution. This calls into mind the actof turning the pages of a book; likethe New Moon novel, the movie sim-ply states the month (October,November, and December) withbackground music and no dialogueto show the passing of time.

The special effects in New Moonare spectacular. The werewolves, inparticular, appear extremely lifelikeand realistic, while subtle changes inthe eyes and body language clearlyconvey the wolf’s thoughts and emo-tions. The use of alternating slowmotion and the speeding up ofscenes to illustrate the vampires andwerewolves’ inhuman strength,speed and agi l i ty is a definiteimprovement from the comic tree-leaping feats Edward pulled off inTwilight. One of the most excitingscenes in the movie (other than theentire Italy arc with the Volturi,where Pattinson finally wrenchesback the spotlight) is the Quileutewerewolves’ hunt and chase afterVictoria.

New Moon, with its larger budget,has better cinematography, specialeffects and sets than Twilight, butviewers can thank screenwriterMelissa Rosenberg for the movie’ssolid storyline and steady pacing.New Moon ’ s makers know theiraudiences well—they included plen-ty of shirtless shots of Jacob andEdward. Other than a few eyebrow-raising comical moments, such asBella’s hallucinations of Edward(who appears as a ghostly apparitionwhenever she puts herself in dan-ger), New Moon is a solid movie thatwill appeal to both fans and newviewers alike.

SSUU LLYYNN LLIIEEWWCOPY EDITOR

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Blondie finds its own niche

Blondie produces a brand of New Wavesound touched by the subtle presence ofdisco chic that has firmly implanted thegroup into the mainstream. Certainlythe group has evolved, and refined itsstyle since its inception. Several yearsago they played at Seneca College as theback-up for Iggy Pop, who at the timewas touring with David Bowie as hiskeyboard player. Blondie put on a per-formance that nearly stole the show.With Deborah Harry dressed sixties-ishcomplete with knee high white vinylboots singing such golden tunes asMacArthur Park and Red Rubber Ball,the performance was devastatingly purepower-pop. This style has practicallybeen abandoned by the group to theextent that they have lost their cult fol-lowing in favour of a wider audience.UNIQUE SOUND

However in this instance the resultingpackage is a far superior product. Theearly Blondie was crude—relying onvolume and inertia for their initial suc-cess. Realizing they were riding on thecrest of a wave of success, Blondiedropped some of its weaker membersand opted for a more distinct andunique sound.

The most consistent member ofBlondie is Deborah Harry. Rather thanbeing strikingly beautiful, she is sensual.Her turned down lips and impish quali-ties along with her penetrating eyes haveimmediate appeal. Rather than beingblatant and overt, her sexuality is enig-matic. At age 32, going on 16, she epito-mizes the older woman fantasy to manyyounger men. Her singing is driving andconcise. To many people, she is Blondie.To Deborah Harry, as many a floun-

dering interviewer has found, to call herBlondie is a profound insult. Yet the

group remains shrouded within hermystique and privacy that excuses suchfaux pas. After appearing on the famedcover of the Rolling Stone, the groupwere so enraged by the article writtenabout them that they completelydenounced the magazine for an auto-cratic, self-motivated attitude. Not anunreasonable judgement.LIMELIGHTWith the immense success of ParallelLines, the group has been thrust into thelimelight. Although there has been anobviously premeditated attempt to pop-ularize their music, Blondie cannot beaccused of the same calculating homog-enized product as the Knack. In fact, thesuccess of Parallel Lines commerciallywas a surprise to the group. But withsuch singles as Heart of Glass and OneWay or Another, Blondie uniquely cap-tures the applause of an extremely wideaudience.

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 20098 THE MEDIUM

Amir Ahmed, Editor | features@mediumonline.ca

A talk with Christof Migone

● I was born in Geneva, Switzerland,and grew up there until I moved toBuenos Aires, Argentina when I was11. My mum is Austrian and mydad is Argentinian and he workedfor the United Nations as an inter-preter. Two years later, in 1977, wemoved to Montreal because my dadgot a job there. I’ve since lived inOttawa, Halifax, Quebec City, NewYork City and now Toronto.

● Art was never really encour-aged or discouraged in my family.My brother and I were really inde-pendent. We were supported by ourparents, but thankfully not pushedin a particular direction in terms ofa career. I moved out right at theend of high school.

● I started doing art by doingradio in college. Being relativelyshy, I somehow found it easier tospeak to a microphone than a per-

son. The fact that the number ofaudiences l istening through theradio was potentially quite large wasokay, because they were invisibleand thereby anonymous.

● My entry to the world of artwas through music. Very quickly,one f inds that al l art forms areintertwined, and influences rarelystick to defined fields. In terms ofwhat I was listening to at the time:Throbbing Gristle, Crass, CabaretVoltaire, Sun Ra, Erik Satie, TheFall, Gang of Four, Prince Far I,Merzbow, They all overlapped withother art forms in some way.

● I curated my first exhibitionin 1990 in Ottawa at the SawGallery. It was titled Touch ThatDial and featured works that hadradiophonic properties.

● When you do radio , you’recurating in a sense. You’re curatingtime. You’re selecting a sequence ofsongs , you’re construct ing aplaylist. These decisions determinewhat the audience will hear—DJ ascurator. That’s very much akin towhat a curator does.

● The main job of the curator,simply stated, is to select works andplace them in the gallery. Often these lect ion is based on researcharound a theme and finding worksthat generate a conversation on saidtheme. In order to find the works, Iconduct studio visits, regularly visitga l ler ies and museums, and doextensive research in the relevantliterature.

● In the case of a gallery , thecurator has a spatial element toconfigure. The arrangement will

determine what kind of experiencethe visitor will have. The exhibitionconst i tutes a kind of narrat ive ,albeit usually a non-linear one.

● Curatorial Studies is quite anew field, especially compared toArt History, the discipline it hasemerged from. In a sense, it is botha specialization from within ArtHistory, and a hybrid, post-discipli-nary field, which also has strongaffinities with a host of other areassuch as Cultural Studies, Architecture,Design, Communication, amongstothers.

● I often encourage my studentsto combat paralysis and get togeth-er, rent a space, and organize theirown exhibition. Opportunities toexhibit are rare. You often have tomake it happen yourself, and that’sespecially true for those who arejust starting. Plus the experience ofthe do-i t-yourse l f approach isinvaluable.

● I started off dabbling in artaround the same time I got involvedin radio. I wrote some poetry (pret-ty bad poetry in retrospect), didsome graf f i t i in the street , gotinvolved politically, was in the punkscene. Despite my strong back-ground in sound, I’ve never stuck toone single medium. My interest liesmore in the idea behind a piece,and the idea will often determinewhat form the piece will take.

● I began my undergraduatestudies wanting to become a bio-chemist. I took courses in all thesciences, but also one elective inphilosophy that blew my mind. Atthe time, I felt a strong need to

comprehend the world around meand the structures of society. Thatcourse didn’t offer the answers tothose questions as much as a lan-guage to discuss them. This openeda door , and combined with myinterest in music , I quickly gotinterested in Dada, Surrealism andall the avant-garde movements ofthe early 20th century. The agenda ofthose movements were all encom-passing. In other words, a lot ofthem focused on all facets of life,not just on formal aesthetic ques-tions.

● In my own work , I ’ve oftenused the sounds the body producesas my palette. Music largely paysattention solely to the voice, but thebody contains a virtual orchestra ofsounds at its disposal. For instance,I’ve done a piece called Crackers,where I asked different people tocrack different parts of their bodies.A more recent piece, I , featuressounds of someone who had anenlarged tear-duct and could holdhis nose and whistle out of his eye.

● There is often a mischievouselement to my work.

● When I teach the audio artc lass , I usual ly start by ta lkingabout John Cage’s so-called silentcomposition, 4’33”, which consistsof four minutes and thirty-threeseconds where not a single note isplayed. The piece is meant to bringto attention to the existing environ-mental sound, and that is achievedthrough a subtle yet radical mis-chievousness.

● The purpose of art is to pushbeyond art, beyond itself.

● People often dismiss artbecause they feel that they are con-fronted by anything and everythingin gal leries . They are given fewbearings, especially with works thatdo not fit into the accepted conven-t ions of known forms, such aspainting, photography and sculp-ture. I take a positive outlook onthat situation by saying that thatcomplete openness means that boththe artist and the viewer are in aposition of shared vulnerability.They both face the limitlessness ofthe imagination. The challenge isenormous.

● The gal ler ies have becomethese unique spaces where there areno holds barred. They are spaces ofintensely rigorous exploration andexperimentation. The gallery is acontext where new ways of thinkingtake form.

● Ultimately we want to commu-nicate, we want to foster conversa-t ion. I hope students put theBlackwood Gallery in their regularweekly routine. What is presentedin both gal lery spaces regularlychanges (the Blackwood proper inthe Kaneff, and the e|gallery in theCCT building).

● A visit to the gallery can strikeyou negatively or positively. I actu-ally don’t mind either; they bothsignify an active engagement. Theonly troubl ing and undesirablereact ion is indif ference. A visi tdoesn’t necessarily have to result infull comprehension. I believe thatthe best exhibitions are more proneto generate questions than answerthem.

Artist, professor and curator Christof Migone speaks about his life and his approach to art

Christof Migone is a multidiscipli�nary artist, curator and writer. Hiswork and research delves into lan�guage, voice, bodies, perfor�mance, intimacy, complicity andendurance. He has released sixsolo audio CDs on various labels.His installations have been exhibit�ed around the world. He is current�ly a lecturer at the University ofToronto Mississauga and servesas Director/Curator of theBlackwood Gallery. View hisworks at blackwoodgallery.ca, andchristofmigone.com.

MMIICCHHAAEELL DDII LLEEOOA&E EDITOR

Matthew Filipowich/The Medium

FEATURESMONDAY,NOVEMBER 23, 2009 THE MEDIUM 9

AROUND CAMPUS

DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND THE MEDIUM WRITING CONTEST DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO JANUARY 8, 2010

Few students notice the glass-coveredconstruction atop the SouthBuilding’s roof as they make theirway to class. While wandering themaze-like corridors on the fifth floor,they may stare out the windows andglimpse leafy ferns and towering cactibehind the structure’s glass walls.

This is the Erindale greenhouse(room 5036), run by Marianne Kalich,the greenhouse horticulturist.Accessible from the South Building’sfifth floor or by the service elevators,visitors make their way from the ele-vator and simply follow the pastedarrow signs around the corner to thegreenhouse entrance.

The Biology Department runs thegreenhouse facility for teaching andresearch purposes. According toKalich, the Biology Department con-ducts research with various insect

types, and the greenhouse’s mainpurpose is to “churn out food forinsects that eat plant material.” Whatgrows in the greenhouse depends onwhat research biology professorsconduct. The greenhouse currentlygrows ferns and flowering plants, andmore exotic types such as bananatrees and giant cacti.

“We grow many of the plants wehave because they are big plants thatrequire years to reach maturity. Weplant them so that when a scientistneeds them for research in the future,they don’t need to wait years,” Kalichsays. The greenhouse also serves asan onsite field study location forfirst-year biology students. Thegreenhouse maintains a wide varietyof plants that showcase the diversityin plant life, while allowing studentsin molecular biology to study thechloroplasts in tobacco, corn andSwiss chard.

The Erindale greenhouse was builtin 1977, and hasn’t changed in its

forty-two year history. Greenhousesare built to last ten years, and theErindale greenhouse is long overduefor repairs. The Biology departmenthas drawn plans for renovation: theyhope to expand the greenhouse byfifty percent, and to build three hous-es as oppose to the current singlehouse. This will allow Kalich and herteam to set three different tempera-tures to simulate different climates.The greenhouse also uses basementrooms in the South Building togrown wheat and the common fig,and owns a outdoor plot of landbeside Principal’s Road.

The greenhouse is also making thetransition from using chemical fertil-izers to more natural alternatives.“The greenhouse is currently pesti-cide-free, but not chemical-free,”Kalich says. The greenhouse containsa compost facility, and Kalichencourages students to bring in theircompost, both to aid the environ-ment and to provide the greenhouse

with a natural fertilizer.Kalich also highlights a common

problem that the greenhouse encoun-ters: disposing of surplus plants whenwinter sets in. “Sometimes we’recalled curators, and as curators, youtake things and file them away.Unfortunately, you can’t do that withliving things. They grow, and they dieif you don’t take care of them.” Thisyear, the greenhouse will hold a plantsale on November 25 and 26 in theLink between the CCT Building andthe Library. Prices range from $2 to$10, with all proceeds going to theUTM United Way Campaign.

Kalich welcomes any student whowishes to visit the greenhouse. “Youdon’t have to be a biologist,” she says.“The greenhouse is open for anyonewho wants to come in and wanderthrough the plants, especially duringthe winter. The greenhouse is warmand humid, and many plants remainin bloom throughout the cold season.Just come on in and take a look.”

SSUU LLYYNN LLIIEEWWCOPY EDITOR

Discovering UTM: The secret garden

Matthew Filipowich/The MediumJason Hu/The Medium

Even the birds sometimes sweat inthe heat of northern Nigeria. Thesoft hum of the air condit ionerblends with the sounds of earlymorning classes. I sit in the thirdrow to the left in classroom JS3A. Iam thir teen and in the highes tjunior high grade. The black card-board covered bulletin boards havered squiggly boarders and cartooncharacter faces beside every sub-ject. Papers with A+ grades hangstapled to the bulletin boards andhigh glass windows on both sidesof the c lassroom brighten ourchoice of red and black colours.I sit at my desk, twirling a pen

during a History period. My friendZinaria sits behind me, writing outBackstreet Boys lyrics and occa-sionally poking me with her pen toconfirm a lyric. Mr. Ike, a youngba ld ing man on his t ippy toes ,writes away on the board under anunderlined “Historical Studies.” Hewri tes wi th his le f t arm out-stretched as far as he can. I stareout the high glass windows, andwatch teachers convers ing andsmall birds fluttering.A woman dressed in a long flow-

ing gown runs into the schoolbare foot , wi th tears s t reamingdown her face. She runs past thewindow and I lose sight of her. Hervoice trails down the hallway andwe hear her next door.“I just want my daughter! I just

want my daughter!” the womanscreams.“Madam, please!” Mr. Jeffery,

the Physical Education teacher,begins to plead.“I just want my daughter. I want

to leave this place,” the womanscreams louder.“Madam, whatever it is, you have

to calm down!” Mr. Jeffery screamsover the woman’s wails.Teachers from other JS classes

walk towards JS3B and plead withMr. Jeffery to the woman. Muffledvoices trail to my class as tablesscreech and feet shuffle. Mr. Ikecloses his notebook and peeks outinto the open hallway.

“I’ll be right back,” he mutterswhile wiping his chalky hands on ahandkerchie f . I g lance back atZinaria as her pen rolls back andforth on the sheet of messy lyrics.“What is that a l l about?” she

asks.“Didn’ t you see the bare foot

lady?” I ask her.“No,” she responds, shaking her

head. “Wait—what barefoot lady?”“Maybe she’s gone mental,” Ify

jokes from the second row“Could i t be the ra l ly?”

Josephine asks with her eyes wideopen. “It couldn’t be right?”I shake my head. “Maybe some-

thing is wrong at her home.”Several students walk towards

JS3B after being left unattended forseveral minutes. The mother anddaughter walk away hand in hand.The girl follows her mother withher head down. Teachers start togather in the open hallway, mutter-ing in low voices , and the VicePrincipal Mr. Seth arrives to jointhem.“They’re killing people in town!”

Aisha from JS3B yel l s from theclassroom doorway. She runs downthe ha l lway wi th her backpackbouncing on her back.My stomach drops. The class-

room drowns in silence as headsturn to look at others to confirm if

we had all heard the same. Somestudents walk out to get the gist ofwhat is really happening.Mr. Ike walks in and opens his

briefcase. Several books fall fromthe teacher’s desk as he gathersthem. His dark brown dress pantsand cream coloured dress shir tcrease as he stoops to pick themup. “I t seems c lasses are overtoday. You may leave if you wish.”

I touch the empty pocket of myblue skirt and sigh. Cell phones areprohibited in school and today Iobeyed the rule, as usual. Turningto Josephine, I consider borrowinghers just to call my mom.“Do you have your cell phone?”

Josephine asks me as if she is amind reader.“No” I respond.“Do you have your cell phone?”

she asks Zinaria, who tosses thingsinto her backpack.Zinaria shakes her head. “No.”“Wel l who has the i r ce l l

phone?!” Josephine yells over thenoise and half empty classroom.No one responds.

Shade from JS3B comes over toour class. We are in different class-es but we a lways hang out , ea tlunch and leave together . “Sowhere do we go now?” Shade asks,pushing her bangs to cover her faceas she walks into the classroom.“What happened in there?” Ify

and several classmates ask Shade.“Well, Henrietta’s mother came

in yelling and Mr. Jeffery was try-ing to calm her down, but she keptsay ing people at the ra l ly werebeing slaughtered and that on herway here fights had broken out andpeople are being stabbed and killedright on the side of the road.”I fee l a pa in in my ches t .

Something is terribly wrong.“What do you mean people are

being killed?” Josephine asks.“People are be ing ki l l ed?” A

wide-eyed Collins asks.Shade l i f t s a brow and nods .

“That’s what I’ve been saying orare you deaf?”Collins swings his backpack over

his right shoulder and runs outinto the crowded hallway.“ I th ink i t ’ s a Musl im and

Christ ian thing.” Shade tel ls usonce we are alone in the classroom.“So Chr is t ians are k i l l ing

Musl ims and Musl im ki l l ingChr is t ians? That ’ s so s tupid ,”Josephine yells.“I know.” Shade folds her arms.

“So what do we do now?”“We should head to the parking

lot.” I suggest, heading out into theopen hallway with friends. “I betthey will come for us soon.”At the parking lot, the entire stu-

dent population yet to go home allga ther in groups . The mi l i tarygraveyard is blocked off by low oldbrick fences and the red sand ofthe unpaved parking lot heats upthe soles of our shoes. Josephinetosses her backpack on the stonecarved bench shielded by the mon-ument.“Even I think Sharia law is stu-

pid. And I’m Muslim!” Josephine

exc la ims . She goes on to argueabout how even Musl ims don’ twant the Shar ia law and howimpractical it is to have one wherethe religious population is almostequal.Josephine talks a lot.I choose to keep s i l ent . My

father left for Abuja, the Nigeriancapital, after I was dropped off atschool hours ago. Chances werethat he had arrived at the capitaland it would take him two hours toreturn. I worry about getting homeand if my mom will turn on theTV. Eventually I start to hope anaunt will call and inform her of thechaos so she can rush over to getme.“I’m going to ask the guys if they

have a ce l l phone ,” Josephinedecides.I watch Josephine as she laughs

with the boys and punches them onthe arm. I bet ask ing for a ce l lphone is far from the conversationshe is having with them.“I’m sure my mom will come get

me,” Shade whispers. “I just hopeshe doesn’t have any trouble get-ting here.”Shade l ives two stree t s away

from my house but, like my moth-er, I dislike asking for favours.“I’m not sure who will get me.” I

sigh. “Maybe I should ask Hadiza.”“I wouldn’t suggest getting a ride

from a Muslim. I mean what if youget a lift and on the way somethinggoes wrong and you’re the onlyChristian in the car?”“Hadiza is my best f r iend,” I

smi le . “ I ’ve known her s incekindergarten. I doubt anything willgo wrong.”“Just don’t,” Zinaria chips in.I don’t argue and continue to

worry.Minutes later, a convoy of black

cars with sirens speed down andZinaria gets up to leave. She asksus to keep in touch and to stay safeas security guards jump out andhelp Zinaria into a black car.“Leas t she doesn ’ t have to

worry,” Shade sighs. “Being theDeputy Governor’s daughter andall.”An hour later, only a handful of

students remain along with Shadeand me. A cream colouredMercedes races down the streetand turns into the unpaved parkinglot. Mrs. Balogun pulls up in frontof Shade and I, with a trail of duststarting from the turn into the lotto the bench Shade and I are seat-ed. Shade’s younger brother peeksup from the back seat, clutchinghis seat belt tightly.“Nicole, what are you still doing

here? Haven’t they come for youyet?” Mrs. Balogun asks, rollingdown a window and breath ingheavily.“No. My dad left for Abuja this

morning. I’m still waiting for mymom to come get me.”“You know your mother never

watches TV unti l i t s t ime for 9o’clock news,” Mrs. Balogun sighs.“Get in the car. I’ll take you home.”Shade jumps in the front seat

and I get in the back. The coolleather seats soothe our heatedskin.“Put on your seat bel t . ” Mrs .

Balogun demands . She watchesfrom the rear view mirror as I dragthe seat belt. Once she hears theclick the Mercedes takes off leavingdust behind.Three months later , I saw my

friends at school again. We neverspoke about the riot. Not once.

FEATURES POETRY AND PROSE

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 20091100 THE MEDIUM

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The riotsNNIICCOOLLEE AABBBBAA

You sat discontented—well I know,As I killed that grunt with an SMG.

And there’s no surpassing your eye’s glowSo despite the coolness of Halo 3I wrote this little verse to showJust how much you mean to me

The way your hair waves in the breeze,Like a HORNET lowering for a killOr bringing a SCARAB to its knees,

Defies all of my poetic skill.You’re cooler than Miranda Keyes,And your laugh is far more a thrillThan a headshot swift and clean,

And a fair few I have seen.

Speaking of headshots, how cool would it beTo hang out with Master Chief one day?

Or the guys from ODST?Anyway, I’ll end this poem and sayI love Halo, but I love you too,

And I’d give it all up if you asked me to.Really

GGOORRDDOONN FFRREEEEMMAANN

Love and lasers

“An hour later, only ahandful of studentsremain along with

Shade and me. A creamcoloured Mercedes

races down the streetand turns into the

unpaved parking lot.”

Want to write for Features? Have an idea for an article? Contact Amir at Features@mediumonline.ca

Creative Corner

The UTM Eagles men’s soccer teamfinished the season undefeated witha record of 4 – 0 – 2, as i t beatUTSC 2 to 1 in a thrilling champi-onship match.Last year, the UTM Eagles men’s

soccer team fai led to reach thechampionship game for the firsttime in three years, so this seasonmany spectators thought that theEagles had something to prove.Having lost a number of key

players last year due to graduationand academic ineligibility, CoachOmar saw this as a rebuilding year.He found room for optimism dur-ing the pre-season try-outs with anumber of standout freshman andplayers.As the defending champions ,

UTSC displayed their composureand experience by creat ing twochances within the first ten min-utes. Both strikes, however, wereblocked by the Eagles defense.The first clear opportunity of the

game fell to UTM in the 14th minutefrom a UTM corner kick. The ballswung into the near post andseemed to go through everyonebefore eventually finding its way toUTM’s Anthony Said. The UTSCgoalkeeper managed to recover intime to block the shot as Said firedthe ball towards the net.Despite bui lding up their

momentum from the close opportu-nity, the Eagles found themselvesstruggling to clear their lines from along ball forward by UTSC. TheEagles played the ball inside to JohnFigol, who found two UTSC playersright on his back. UTM lost posses-sion, and the UTSC players brokeacross the width of the Eagles box.As the defense scrambled, playopened up for the UTSC’s midfield-er Steve Martino to have a strike atthe ball, and eventually hit a crispstrike low and hard into the bottomleft corner of the UTM net.As the first half progressed, the

game became scrappy, with notmany more chances for either teamreally materializing apart from oneat the 35 th minute for UTSC.Fortunately for the Eagles, PaoloZaffino made a great challenge onthe back post to disrupt the advanc-ing UTSC forward.Towards the end of the first half,

UTM players John Figol and BryanBourguignon both came out of thegame with injuries. The first halfended with 0 – 1 to UTSC’s advan-tage.As the second half started, Coach

Omar made some roster changes,moving Bourguignon to the leftwing and pushing Ernesto Raurellup to play on the right side of mid-field.The change paid off five minutes

later as UTM’s Shingo Nozaka

made a defensive play and passedthe ball wide across the defensivel ine to Waleed Malik , whoadvanced about 20 yards with theball. The UTSC fullback pushed upto pressure the ball. Raurell brokein behind the defensive line and wasplayed a beautiful ball by Malik.Raurell put his head down and

drove to the byline, before trying todrive in a cross to Rocha, who hadpulled away at the back post. TheUTSC ful lback recovered andblocked the cross. Raurell flickedthe ball, hit the UTSC player in thehand and gained a penalty shot forthe Eagles.Eagles’ Neil D’Silva walked up to

take the penalty shot. Despite theenormous pressure, D’Silva dis-patched the spot kick in the bottomleft corner of the net , sendingUTSC’s goalie in the wrong direc-tion and putting the game even at 1– 1.Rivalry was rampant and the

Referee warranted a red card toUTSC’s Nav Chahal after an overlyaggress ive play , a cal l that theUTSC coaching staff and benchargued against.As the game progressed, UTM

played their own style of play andimposed their will on the game. Thefans started to see the kind of freeflowing attacking soccer that hadcarried the Eagles to an undefeatedseason, and UTSC couldn’t cope.A man up as a result of the red

card, UTM started to become a lit-t le undiscipl ined defensively asMalik and Zaffino, the full backs,started to play higher and leavegaps in behind. This lead to a fewmoments of uncertainty as UTSCstarted to target these areas and cre-ate legitimate scoring chances.Around 15 minutes from the end,

UTM hit UTSC on the counterattack. UTSC were caught being toooverly aggressive with their offen-sive schemes and turned the ballover again. Nozaka recovered andplayed the ball directly down theline to Raurell, who powered for-ward before turning the ball insideto Jaime Gonzalez . Gonzalezcl ipped the bal l to Rocha, whoplaced a left-foot volley into the farcorner of the net. With 12 minutesleft on the clock, the game stood atUTM – 2 UTSC – 1.A flash point occurred, however,

as the game crept into injury time.During the play, Bourguignon

crept out to the right wing andreceived the ball, only to get tackledby UTSC’s Anthony Barriffe. Theofficials did their best to keep thegame under control as both team’splayers and coaching staf fexchanged heated words.The final whistle blew for full

time, and the crowd rose to salutethe UTM Eagles as they becamethe 2009 men’s tri-campussoccer champions.

UTM women’s division 1 soccerwon 2-0 over UTSC after a blowoutperformance. The victory, UTM’ssecond over UTSC in a year, meantthat the team finished the 2009-2010 season as undefeated return-ing champions, with 25 goals forand four goals against.“We’re putting the team back on

a winning streak,” said midfielderRashmi Benawra.Nicole DiNardo, a third-year stu-

dent in the Accounting Specialistprogram, scored in the first tenminutes of the f inal game frommidfielder Rashmi Benwara’s air-borne pass. The goal was cal ledback because of a linesman whoissued UTSC a goal kick.The almost non-existent UTSC

presence in the game was dulledfurther by UTM student ErinDoane’s goal in the second half.“I thought we were dominating

the entire game,” said Doane, areturning midfielder and second-year student in the Art and ArtHistory program.“[Having a 2-0 advantage]

calmed down our team,” saidBenwara.The championship win marks the

seven game winning streak for theundefeated women’s divis ion 1team this year.“I never doubted that we would

win,” said UTM goal ie KarinaNowysz , a third-year Pol i t ica lScience student. Karina joined theteam this year along with rookiedefender and first year managementstudent Sarah Elkami.“I enjoyed every minute of this

season,” said graduate SamanthaUshedo. “The final game [was my

favorite moment], when the mascotran onto the field and hugged NadiaPiotto after she scored the firstgoal.”Piotto scored the first goal of the

championship game, from a left-footed strike ten yards above centre,with only seconds to spare beforethe end of first half.“We need to continue this inten-

sity,” said coach Rob Brown, wholed the UTM team last year to win

their first championship in over adecade.UTM came out with a passion

unmatched by their play in any oftheir previous games. They wantedto win, they came out with intensityand they finished what they startedout to do.The championship win marks the

seven game winning streak for theundefeated women’s divis ion 1team this year.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009 THE MEDIUM 1111

Andrew Tysiak , Editor | sports@mediumonline.ca

A day to remember for UTM soccerOn November 15, both men’s tri�campus and women’s division 1 soccer teams won theirrespective championship matches

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Will Shanahan’s accomplishmentspropel him into the Hall of Fame?

This past week in the NHL, hopefulhall-of-famer Brendan Shanahanretired after an illustrious career.The 1987 second overall pick playedfor the New Jersey Devils for fourseasons, where he became one of theleague’s top superstars. Shanahansigned with the St. Louis Blues andrecorded two fifty goal seasons in thefour seasons he played there. He wasthen traded to the Hartford Whalersfor physical defenseman ChrisPronger. After one tumultuous sea-son with the Whalers, he was tradedto the Detroit Red Wings. This is where Shanahan made his

mark on the league. He played an

enormous role on the team duringtheir dynasty years, winning threeStanley Cups in only six seasons. Heends his career with the team thatbegan it all, the New Jersey Devils. Shanahan grew up in Mimico,

Ontario, and played high schoolhockey for Michael Power. He wastheir main scoring prowess duringtheir Gold Medal at the OFSAAfinals in 1985. He then played for theLondon Knights of the OHL beforebeing drafted in 1987. His number,19, is retired by London for all of hisaccomplishments. During his 21-year career, Shanahan scored 656goals and 1354 points in 1524 careergames. This puts him eleventh in allt ime goals and twenty-third inpoints. He is the only player in histo-

ry to record over 600 goals and 2000penalty minutes, making him theultimate power forward. Shanahan wanted to spend time

with family and friends in theBoston area, where he currentlyresides. It probably won’t take longbefore he is back in the game at apersonnel level. Shanahan should bea top candidate to join the NHLPA,or even to become a GM of a team atsome point. His hockey sense andleadership off the ice will add knowl-edge to any team who is willing topay for it.Expect Shanahan to be enshrined

in the Hall of Fame in 2013 for hisefforts both on and off the ice.Without a doubt, he deserves to becalled a hall-of-famer.

WWIILLLLIIAAMM RROOBBEERRTTSSOONN

SPORTSHOOPS TALKMONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 20091122 THE MEDIUM

Eagles pick apart short-handed UCUTM men’s division 1 basketball team wins 78�50 against University College

The game saw the UTM Eaglesquickly outplay their opponents.Within f ive minutes of the f irstwhistle, UTM’s points doubled thatof University College. Early gameaction also included a UC turnover,followed by a missed three-pointshot.UC forwards responded quickly

to their miss, securing two consecu-tive rebounds and a two-point jumpshot . UTM came back with aturnover of their own by JoshuaSumi. Sumi and Julian Gentles, whodisplayed stellar passing ability, fin-ished off their sequence with a dunkattempt for two points.While UTM showed more core

basketball competency than theiropponents, UC players showed acommendable willingness to keepup with the UTM team despite alackluster UC bench. UTM player Elias Sbiet led UTM

with strong defensive presence andcontinuously stopped UC advancesin the key. The Eagles also got a lotof free-throw practice, as they felt astrong referee presence during themajority of the game. With only three minutes remain-

ing in the f irst hal f , Kent Brayshowed a burst of energy as he drib-bled past two UC defenders to sinkan effortless layup. A foul on thefollowing play allowed Faiz Ahmedto add one more point to thealready significant UTM lead.

Play began to die down as timedwindled, until UTM’s Elias Sbiet lita match under the Eagles in the lastfew minutes of first-half play. Sbietshowed aggressiveness on defensethat led to a scoring opportunityshortly after. The second half of play saw a

handful of successful free throwsand great passing sets by UTM. The cohesion of the UTM team

shone through when the play wascalm, such as the end of the secondhalf. Andre Woodroffe benefittedfrom this reworked strategy whenhe rebounded a missed UC freethrow. Woodroffe drove a straightpass to UTM’s Sbiet, resulting in aplay that overtook the court andUC. Sbiet lifted the ball towards thenet in a pass to Woodruffe, showedhe wanted a basket, propelled him-self into one of the highest jumps ofthe game and slammed in a two-pointer. UTM ended the game withseventeen fouls; UC had nine. Passing and unselfish play are the

Eagles ’ s trengths. They seem tosense when a good passing opportu-nity is available. (Their dynamic,however, tends to fall apart whenthey try to make fancy passesinstead of safe, sure passes). Theyalso know when to be a bit selfish inthe drive towards the basket. Thekey to the Eagles game is to calmdown the play and make strong,crisp passes. The next men’s division 1 home

game takes place on January 20 at 8p.m.

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The Raptors’ ability to come back willdefine their seasonDespite a mediocre start to the season, the Raptors show flashes of brilliance during several comeback victories

Currently holding a 6-7 record, andcoming off a dismal 1-3 road tripwhich saw them lose three games in arow to Phoenix, Denver and Utah, itappears that the Raptors are doingtheir best impression of last year’ssquad. Weak interior defense, incon-sistent shooting and poor chemistrycontinue to plague the Raptors. Theirfans, however, need not worry. TheRaptors have developed one key traitthat was absent from last year: thecomeback ability. This is a trait neces-sary for any team in the NBA if theywant to be considered legitimatechampionship contenders. During their pitiful 33 win season

last year, it seemed that whenever theRaptors fell behind in a game therewas little hope of them coming back,no matter how small or large thedeficit. They were 8-33 (5-19 on theroad and 3-14 at home) while trailingat halftime. And when trailing afterthree quarters, they had an embarrass-ing 5-40 record. Whether it wasbecause they had no clutch shooter toget them over the hump or any playerwith the ability to make that keymomentum changing defensive stop, it

was clear that the team could not per-form under pressure. Just 12 games into this season, the

Raptors have already made threeimpressive comebacks. The first onewas on the road against the favoredNew Orleans Hornets on November 6.Down 56-51 during the early stages ofthe third quarter, the Raptors woke upand went on a 27-4 run to end thequarter, largely because of ChrisBosh’s unstoppable shooting stroke.He finished the game shooting a per-fect 9-9 from the field and racked up27 points. As for the team, they put thegame out of reach by the fourth quar-ter, and won 107-90.At the November 11 homegame

against the Chicago Bulls, the Raptorsput up weak efforts in the first twoquarters, much to the dismay of thefans in attendance. They allowed Bullscentre Joakim Noah to establish hispresence in the paint and receive easyoffensive rebounds, while guardDerrick Rose ran circles around theentire Raptors squad. The Bulls endedthe half with 60 points, even thoughthey were in the midst of a scoringslump, and left the Raptors trailingthem by seven points. In the third quarter, the margin was

as high as 11, but this time around, theRaptors used their impressive defen-sive play to change the momentum ofthe game. Both Amir Johnson androokie DeMar DeRozan grabbed key

rebounds and made great hustle plays,while the rest of the team fed off theirenergy. They held the Bulls to just 29second-half points and used a 14-1 runover the final 6:24 minutes to pullaway for a 99-89 win.

The most impressive comeback vic-tory this season was against the LosAngeles Clippers on November 13.The team rallied from a 22-pointdeficit to win 104-89. The rally ties thebiggest comeback of any game in the

Raptors’ fifteen-year history. Theyhave only accomplished such a feattwice before, most recently against theWashington Wizards in February,2005. After dismantling the Bulls justtwo days prior, the Raptors continuedthe pattern of starting out slow. Even though the Raptors were the

favorites to win, the Clippers came outstrong and picked apart the lazyRaptor defenders. It almost seemed asif they were able to score wheneverthey wanted, including guard BaronDavis, who was able to make severaleye popping jumpers during the firstquarter. The Raptors, however, reliedon their bench to supply them withsome scoring and energy. MarcoBelinelli had a breakout game and pro-vided a spark with 15 points off thebench for the Raptors, including aclutch 3-pointer with 3:10 remainingthat essentially sealed the deal. Theyoutscored the Clippers 30-15 in thefinal quarter and earned themselves ahard fought victory. The Raptors obtained all three of

these comeback victories in differentways. However, these occurrences donot solidify the Raptors as legitimateEastern Conference contenders. Theyhave to prove that they can beat topechelon teams that are big and physi-cally tough, such as the Boston Celtics,Los Angeles Lakers and the DenverNuggets, to even be considered in thediscussion.

ANDREW TYSIAKSPORTS EDITOR

Reuters

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