• In late January, the Arbor Room announced its closure after 51 years, and despite large-scale student protests and petitions with thousands of names, the closure went forward, though the space went to a private restaurant instead of a franchised company. The eatery is set to reopen this month.

• In March, Islamophobic attacks came to a head with hateful graffiti, physical and verbal assaults, and the hit-and-run of a Muslim student. The U of T population was galvanized, holding meetings and rallies to support who felt threatened on the campus and to ask how such things could happen on our usually tolerant campus.

• That same month, the SAC election went forward with little genuine opposition to the existing platform. Most of the positions were acclaimed.

• In May, the university made the switch from previous food services supplier Sodexho to Aramark. Once again, protesters took to the campus streets, most of them union workers fearing the change would threaten their jobs, pay, and overall treatment.

• In June, 17 Toronto-area youths were held on terrorism-related charges. Saad Khalid, one of the detained, was a student at UTM. Their trials will take place later this year.

• In September, when professor Doug Hutchinson (who jokingly dubbed himself “the pothead prof” in a statement he sent to the administration “outing” his puffing) got official authorization to smoke marijuana on campus, and was even given his own room to do so. Having used the drug for medicinal purposes for the past 10 years, Hutchinson contended it didn’t interfere with his work, and invited students to attend his classes and evaluate his teaching. Coincidentally, Hart House was showcasing a much-acclaimed run of Reefer Madness the same week that Hutchinson’s news came out.

• On the last day of September, the U of T campus was part of Nuit Blanche, an all-night art and culture showcase that took place in numerous forms all over the city.

• In October, the Israeli-Palestinian debate boiled over on campus again, as the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid organized a conference that denounced Israel’s policies. Jewish campus groups denounced the conference. The issue will likely bubble up again next month at Israeli Apartheid Week 2007.

• Though its bid for a levy increase failed in October, student-run cycle shop the Bikechain vowed to run another campaign for a funding boost this term.

• At its annual general meeting in November, the Students’ Administrative Council, which represent undergraduate students at St. George and UTM voted to rebrand itself as the University of Toronto Students’ Union starting in May.

//SCIENCE
2006: The year of the stem cell
The Korean cloning controversy made headlines at the beginning of 2006, a year when the stem cell debate took centre stage in politics and science. Not only did an international array of scientists meet in Toronto for an annual stem cell meeting, but the research presented there suggested that scientists may be able to use skin cells to make embryonic stem cells. With Bush’s September veto of the stem cell bill and the political antics that followed, stem cell research is entering 2007 with political and medical promise.

// SPORTS
• Field Hockey: In what was coach Beth Ali’s final season, U of T went undefeated en route to the OUA championship title. The Blues took the bronze medal at the national championship tournament. Malinda Hapuarachchi won Player of the Year.

-Sandy Huen, Christophe Poirier & Amy Smithers