Perfect tackle sunk by newsmen’s immaturity
Re: Cover picture, Sept. 20
I had just picked up the latest copy of The Varsity (September 20, 2004). My eye was immediately drawn to the terrific action photo on page one of the Varsity Blues Women’s Rugby game against Waterloo. It’s a shot of Heather Moyse making what looks like a technically perfect tackle against an opposing team member.
Then I read the title caption above the picture. It read “GROPE THERAPY”.
As it is, I find this caption offensive and demeaning. The women’s rugby players are talented, hard-working, elite and extremely tough athletes who are iconoclasts, breaking down sexist barriers that prevented women from enjoying and excelling at sports previously played only by men.
They deserve a great deal more than to have some quasi-wit at The Varsity belittling their work, the implications of which are quite startling.
Is The Varsity jokingly suggesting that women rugby players are in the sport to grope each other? Or that woman rugby players are in need of therapy? Or is it joking that women in general are in need of therapy?
It is surprising and disappointing to see the newspaper representing Canada’s largest university engaging in humour that can only be described as both homophobic and misogynistic. What if a similar photo of the men’s football team bore that caption?
Mike Quinsey
OISE/UT Student
Head Wrestling Coach, Varsity Blues
Marijuana not harmless
Re: An afternoon on the grass, Sept. 20
I’m as liberal as the next gal when it comes to the legalization of marijuana. However, I do feel that this article has inaccurately depicted smoking marijuana as being harmless.
Next to a large photograph of an individual leisurely rolling what The Varsity refers to casually as an “herbal cigarette” there lies an embedded quotation from our SAC VP which reads “you can’t really argue that marijuana causes bodily harm”.
As of yet, cannabinoid effects cannot be separated from the effects of inhaling the smoke of burning plant material and contaminants. Smoked marijuana is a crude THC delivery system that also delivers harmful substances.
While the benefits certainly outweigh the risks for those individuals who are terminally ill or suffer from debilitating pain, healthy individuals should keep in mind that smoking marijuana is certainly not harmless.
Brooke M.
No Moore articles!
Along with the piece on September 7th, (“Moore Deceit”), the “Left and right are equally intolerant” op-ed in Monday’s Varsity makes me wonder whether month-after movie reviews are even worth reading.
Fahrenheit 9/11 was a film, not an academic paper. Moore is an artist, a provocateur, not a reasoned journalist or politician.
The fact that Moore’s film made a dent in an otherwise apathetic public speaks volumes–it made politics “cool” and accessible for a while, something significant which critics often overlook and disregard.
Call it propaganda, call it bad journalism, call it whatever you want; just remember U of T students, you’re watching it at a theatre, not for a political science course.
Aasim Hasany
NDP not Democrats
Re: “Hate and Congrats for SAC”, Sept. 20.
In a letter to The Varsity on September 20, David Fernandes says he read that U of T NDP is supporting John Kerry, and then asks, “am I reading right?”
The answer to his question is obviously not; perhaps the New Democrats were mixed up with the U of T Democrats Abroad, a separate club on campus, which was in fact featured in the September 20 Varsity. The U of T NDP Club has not endorsed any candidate in the US election.
Rather, the U of T NDP is sponsoring an open forum on Friday, October 1 at 7:00 pm on whom the left ought to support for American president.
The venue is the USWA Hall at 25 Cecil St, and speakers will include proponents of both the Democratic and Green Parties of America.
All views concerning the best alternative to Bush are welcome.
Dan Minkin
Secretary, U of T NDP
