According to the unofficial results of the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) elections, held from March 20–22, 2018, the One UTM slate has won all five executive positions. Given that all executive candidates on the One UTM slate ran unopposed — a first in my three years at UTM — their victory was unsurprising.

The lack of opposition against One UTM discouraged me from voting during the elections, because their victory seemed like a foregone conclusion. Though I was approached to vote by both student volunteers as well as by members of One UTM, I still doubted whether my one vote would make a difference. I suspect many students had similar thoughts — the votes cast for each executive position was around 1,930 students, which accounts for approximately 13.5 per cent of over 14,000 students who represented by the UTMSU.

Though I agree with many of One UTM’s platform points, I still wish that there had been at least some competition, in the form of another slate or independent candidates, to allow for debate. Debating would allow the student body to see how exactly One UTM candidates would reach its goals, namely by exposing any flaws or inconsistencies in their claims or plans.

Hopefully future UTMSU elections will not be plagued by such a lack of competition.  For now, however, I look forward to seeing what changes One UTM will bring to UTM, and especially whether it will deliver on the promise of eliminating the $55 Student System Access fee that was central to its platform.

Zeahaa Rehman is a third-year student at UTM studying Linguistics and Professional Writing and Communication.

It seems that members of the U of T administration were left wanting more after the results of the Portal Naming Contest were announced in December 2017. Since one naming contest was not enough, UTM launched another earlier this month, this time for the new north building that is scheduled to open in the summer of 2018.

The contest invited UTM staff, students, and faculty to suggest a name for the new north building between February 12 and February 25. Subsequently, a committee formed by UTM’s staff, students, and faculty will review and recommend three names from these suggestions to Dr. Ulrich Krull, the principal of UTM. Krull will, in turn, pass along one name to be approved by the administration.

Though Susan Senese, UTM’s Interim Chief Administrative Officer, called this contest a “community opportunity,” it is highly likely that the results of this contest will generate frivolous responses rather than serious ones.

Undergraduate students make up the largest portion of UTM’s community, and many of these students share and create memes. Outside of the campus context, the results of numerous naming contests in the recent past have been skewed by meme-wielding internet users.

Mountain Dew’s 2012 Dub the Dew contest to name its soft drink resulted in suggestions ranging from “Fapple” to “Gushing Granny.” A public vote in 2016 to name the new UK Polar Royal Research Ship resulted in 124,109 votes for “Boaty McBoatface.” When the Philadelphia Zoo asked the public to name its newborn baby gorilla in 2016, it was bombarded with suggestions of “Harambe,” the gorilla who was fatally shot by a Cincinnati Zoo worker earlier that year after a three-year-old child climbed into his enclosure, and whose death was subsequently memorialized through memes.

U of T’s new portal name, Quercus, was also subjected to similar mockery by members of a Facebook group devoted to U of T memes, who likened it to “Ridiculus.”

Given that “Building McBuildingFace” and “Glassy Squares Boi” — both names derived from memes — have already been suggested, thanks to the U of T subreddit, I doubt that leaving the name up to the UTM community is the best idea. At this rate, students will be attending classes in the “Ignorant and Hurtful Building.”

Zeahaa Rehman is a third-year student at UTM studying Linguistics and Professional Writing.

UTM TimeTracker is a new online scheduling tool meant to help students organize their academic lives. The tool, launched by UTM’s Office of Student Transition, can track assignment due dates, study time, and grades. Developed by a UTM alumnus, TimeTracker was created to mitigate concerns that poor time management is a large barrier to academic success.

“Most new university students face a new, flexible study environment where they have a great degree of independence in planning their time,” said Sveta Frunchak, Learning Strategist with the UTM Office of Student Transition’s Orientation and Transition Programs. “Research shows that procrastination — in [an] academic environment, mostly in the form of delaying completion of assignment and postponing to study for an exam — is very common among students around the world.”

The main feature of the tool is an organizational calendar that can be customized to a student’s particular schedule. Students can upload their schedules from ACORN, and additional non-academic events and extracurricular activities can be added as well.

“The tool has a holistic nature,” said Frunchak. By integrating co-curricular engagement and wellness measuring, it “provides students personalized support and accountability with tracking their time.”

Frunchak said many students “need to learn how [to] organize their out-of-class time effectively.” With this in mind, there is a statistics tab that helps plan how much time should be spent working on each course.

Other features include a mark calculator that can determine grade point average. These statistics generate personalized weekly reports that can give students a sense of how they are doing academically and how they can improve.

Even though it was created for UTM students, TimeTracker is available for free to any U of T student. Only a valid UTORid is required to access it.

The Office of Student Transition is currently hosting tutorials to help students learn how to use the calendar. Students can sign up on the office’s official website.

UTM is currently undergoing a $17 million renovation project to update the biology, chemistry, and physics lab spaces housed in the Davis Building.

This undertaking is part of the Lab Innovation for Toronto (LIFT) project that began in July 2016. The project is a $190 million partnership between U of T and the provincial and federal governments to upgrade nearly half of U of T’s labs over the next two years. The university will pay $91.8 million, and the federal and provincial governments will contribute $83.7 million and $14.3 million, respectively.

UTM will use its funding to update its research facilities with newer equipment. According to The Medium, some of the renovated labs in the Davis Building have been combined to create larger, collaborative spaces. Upgraded fume hoods and machine ventilation to remove chemicals and agents from the air within the labs will be added.

Two of the labs, run by Professor Angela Lange and Assistant Professor Andrew Beharry, will see the installation of the new fume hoods as well as the installation of cell culture rooms, dedicated microscope suites, and quarantine rooms.

A significant portion of the funding will also go toward the installation of backup generators and new heating and air conditioning units.

Though the aesthetics from renovations are appealing, a well-functioning lab plays a key role in research developments.

The facilities were built in 1972, and the air handling and electrical systems were found to be inefficient. The aging system also required numerous repairs thattook significant time.

The LIFT project renovations to the Davis Building are expected to finish by this spring.

Coinciding with the annual Bell Let’s Talk Day, UTM’s Health and Counselling Centre hosted Let’s Talk UTM Day on January 31, a campus initiative to open the conversation around mental health.

#BellLetsTalk is a national social media campaign run by Bell Canada to encourage discussion of mental health issues. Let’s Talk UTM is the first campus-wide initiative of its kind at U of T; the University of St. Michael’s College also hosted a Bell Let’s Talk event on January 31.

The Let’s Talk UTM event featured a mental health resource fair and multimedia exhibits promoting open dialogue around mental health. The event also offered free coffee, self-care bags, and Bell Let’s Talk toques.

Designed for accessibility, the event was stationed in the CCT atrium from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and attracted a steady stream of students all day.

Let’s Talk UTM was organized with the help of student wellness ambassadors, who were there to provide information on mental health resources, including the Canadian Mental Health Association, Jack.org, the Centre for International Experience, Career Centre, and Accessibility Services. A mental health nurse, dietician, and counselor from the Health and Counselling Centre were also present to speak to students.

Organizer and UTM health education coordinator Ravi Gabble told The Varsity that these experts were at the event because it was important to adopt a holistic approach to talking about mental health, saying that it “intersects with all these different areas.”

“They recognize that, so they’re out here to provide information to students about the different services and resources available to students on campus,” said Gabble.

At the core of the event was a photo exhibit called The Stories of Resiliency, which served to showcase student, staff, faculty, and alumni participants’ stories of overcoming mental illness.

According to Gabble, “The biggest message we want people to take away is that you’re not alone, that everybody has mental health struggles. It’s supposed to be inspirational and really emphasizes resiliency as a skill.”

“We realize there’s a stigma to mental health,” organizer and wellness ambassador Ogogho Ajari told The Varsity. “Essentially with this campaign we open that ground for conversation, make it easy for someone to talk about what they’re going through.”

While organizers intended to leverage the now nationally recognized day for mental health, they expressed hopes that the conversation will continue long-term.

“We always saw this as a year-long thing,” said Gabble. “We’re going to continue to populate the Stories of Resiliency photos throughout the year and share them over social media and then probably build up again towards 2019.”

As an Indigenous student, UTSC can be an isolating space. It is UTSG that hosts the majority of Indigenous spaces at U of T, such as First Nations House and the Centre for Indigenous Studies. Over the past year, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission committee has been advocating for UTSC to invest in and create Indigenous spaces as well hire Indigenous faculty and staff. This has yet to happen.

For years, UTSC has not taken a role in engaging the local urban Indigenous community, often resulting in a huge lack of awareness and education around Indigeneity. UTSC does not offer courses in Indigenous studies, leaving many disciplines lacking foundational knowledge on the history of settler-colonialism in Canada and contemporary issues such as reconciliation. UTSC needs to do more work to meaningfully engage Indigenous peoples and perspectives in the university space.

Diane Hill is a fourth-year student at UTSC studying Health Studies and Anthropology.

When I first walked through the sad-looking doors of UTSC’s Instructional Centre, I remembered a tip that was given to me: to do well on exams, I must practice test questions using old exams. It made sense to me — practicing on previous exams would familiarize me with the exams’ format and questions. I could also practice writing the exam within the time limit, reducing stress and time pressure.

So, approaching midterms, I searched for my courses’ past exams in U of T’s Old Exams Repository — but my courses were not included in UTSC’s limited exams list. I realized that, unless restricted by faculty request, the repository provides UTSG students with all of their courses’ three most recent years of previous exams. UTSC instructors, however, submit previous exams on a voluntary and inconsistent basis. As a result, the repository hosts an overwhelming number of UTSG exams and only a meagre number of UTSC exams.

Given our school’s stressful environment, having the ability to access old exams would help improve students’ mental health by ensuring they are well prepared for finals. Yet it seems that in U of T’s eyes, UTSC is never a priority. It is difficult to grasp how a university prides itself on being ‘tri-campus’ without giving students at all three of its campuses the right to see all their courses’ past exams online.

Jayra Almanzor is a first-year student at UTSC studying Journalism.

‘Scarbage,’ the high school of U of T, and the place where academia goes to die — I’ve heard UTSC called all of these things by St. George students. Frankly, the name-calling is a bit childish at times, but during frosh, when every college is spitting out insults like sunflower seeds, it is considered acceptable and admittedly fun to watch. But these stereotypes are only vaguely true.

I’ve lived in Scarborough for nearly half my life and can personally understand the ‘Scarbage’ claims — referring mostly to the location of the university rather than the people. There’s no way a university located in Scarborough wouldn’t be made fun of for being in Scarborough, so I’ll give them that.
It’s also true that UTSC looks like a high school. But being a smaller campus has its advantages, like smaller class sizes, shorter walking distance between buildings, and, of course, the sense of community.

The one stereotype that I strongly disagree with is the quality of academia. UTSC’s small environment comes with one important advantage, and that’s the fact that I can go to my prof’s office hours and have a three-hour conversation about democratic tyranny without being interrupted. The academic minds at U of T are world-class, and at UTSC they are easily accessible.

Tebat Kadhem is a third-year student at UTSC studying International Development, Public Policy, and Public Law.

Many believe that UTSC is like a high school, especially when compared to UTSG, which is both larger in size and more established. These two facts steal the attention away from UTSC and don’t allow it to come out of its older sibling’s shadow.

As a student who has taken classes at both campuses, I can say that UTSC is definitely the friendlier campus. It is important to note that large campus size doesn’t always equate to a happier student population. For many, the small size of UTSC allows for strong friendships to be made. This doesn’t hold true for the downtown campus, as arguably the only surefire ways to make long-lasting friendships is to either live on campus or to join school clubs.

UTSC may be smaller than UTSG, but it creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere for all students who attend it. The campus size provides students with ample opportunities to create strong bonds with people that they meet, which also includes staff and faculty at the school. UTSG may get the glory of being an older and larger campus, but UTSC’s friendliness makes up for it.

Tania Sleman is a third-year student at UTSC studying Human Biology and Psychology.

While students and tourists flock to appreciate the Gothic architecture at UTSG, I find more beauty when taking a rejuvenating stroll down the Valley at UTSC. The Valley, also known as the Ravine Zone or the Highland Creek Ravine, is a little gem of a place tucked away behind the lower campus. It is hugged by tall maple trees and unique native trees and overgrown bushes, parting a paved path in the middle that is perfect for strolls. The beautiful Valley acts as the meditation spot for many students, travelers, and trekkers who wish to escape from the stressful institutional spaces of university life and enjoy the wildlife or outdoor activities.

I have walked down the majestic steps of the Valley during the hard times in my life. Whether it was coping with exam stress or personal issues, the Valley has helped me escape reality and reboot myself — something that is much more difficult to do on the crowded downtown campus. The fact is that UTSG does not have secluded, natural spots that allow people to remove themselves and recover from the everyday stress of student life, and it is too bad that what UTSC has to offer in this regard often gets ignored.

Madiha Turshin is a fourth-year student at UTSC studying Media Studies and History.

As an English and History student, I have sometimes browsed the UTSG course calendar and been shocked at the number of courses available in comparison to the ones at UTM. Don’t get me wrong, I love my campus and the feel of a close-knit community, but sometimes I wish that we had the same options as students at UTSG.

This academic year, UTM is offering 54 English courses over the two terms, compared to the 62 available at UTSG. UTM is a great and resourceful campus, but we could use just a little bit more choice and variety to align us with the opportunities available at UTSG.

When it comes to reputation and attention, UTSG is seen as the superior campus, and course options certainly play a role in establishing that status. It is important to recognize the importance and influence of the two other campuses as well. We are privileged to be students at the University of Toronto, and perhaps that privilege can be spread across the three campuses in a more satisfactory manner.

Aisha Malik is a fourth-year student at UTM studying English and History.

Four years ago, I was just your typical UTSG student. I was attending a prestigious school and working toward a prestigious engineering degree, all with the prestigious backdrop of Toronto to keep me company. I had it all. When I switched into a writing program at UTM, I expected to feel isolated due to the commute and distance from friends, but I could not have foreseen the disappointment my decision would awaken in others.

Professors, peers, the parents of children I babysat — everyone seemed shocked and personally disgusted by my decision to go to a ‘lesser’ program, a ‘lesser’ school. Even now, after the switch and with no reference to my past, my studies at UTM are met with polite nods and smiles. My GPA receives congratulations that sound inauthentic or patronizing, because everyone assumes it’s easier to achieve academic success at UTM. Everyone behaves as if my professors do not bear the same credentials as the professors at UTSG, and furthermore, as if every UTSG professor is outstanding, even though we all know that isn’t true.

It’s time to stop treating UTM like a second choice to UTSG — they are unequivocally both parts of the same institution.

Jenisse Minott is a third-year student at UTM studying Communications, Culture, Information & Technology and Professional Writing. She is an Associate Comment Editor for The Varsity.

Whenever I reveal the ‘secret’ that I’m a UTM student to the people I meet at UTSG, I’m constantly met with confusion, shock, and sometimes hostility. Statements like, ‘What do you mean?’ and, ‘Oh, you’re not supposed to share that’ are just some of the responses I’ve received, and I’ve never understood why.

A similar response was heard on a larger scale during The Varsity’s UTSU presidential debate on March 13, 2017. Micah Ryu, then-disqualified presidential candidate for the Reboot UofT slate, answered a question about how Reboot planned to reach out to students on the UTM campus with the response, “Frankly, UTM students should fuck off.”

Why are UTM students as a whole seen as otherworldly creatures that live on a satellite light years away from the metropolitan UTSG campus? Many of the experiences UTSG students face are, in fact, not unique to them. Surprise! We all have the same Blackboard maintenance, ACORN lags, and waitlist troubles. UTM students are not less deserving of anything. I’m tired.

Elham Numan is a student at UTM studying Art & Art History and English. She is The Varsity’s Creative Director.

I’m a copy editor at UTM’s The Medium. Both The Medium and The Varsity get their funding from student levy fees. The stark difference between the two, however, is that The Varsity gets fees from both UTM and UTSG, whereas The Medium only gets funding from UTM.

Funding determines not only where we can afford to publish our papers and magazines — without compromising professional quality, that is — but also how often we can publish. I find it unfair that The Medium does not also get funding from the UTSG campus, because many students who attend UTSG are also from the City of Mississauga. The Medium does not only publish Mississauga-focused content; it focuses on issues pertinent to students across all campuses. Likewise, The Varsity does not produce enough Mississauga-focused content, even though they receive levy fees from students in Mississauga.

Many students from both campuses take courses from the other. Let’s unite and not compete — we’re on the same team here.

Ayesha Tak is a fourth-year student at UTM studying Sociology.

I was accepted to both UTM and UTSG about four years ago, and I weighed the pros and cons of each campus before I made the decision to attend UTM. When I accepted my offer, I received looks, questions, and worrisome expressions of concern. That was the summer I began to realize that there were real differences between UTM and UTSG. However, I am ultimately glad that I chose the campus where I have spent some really good years.

The UTM campus is small, but feels like a community. You will probably pass by the same people daily and know everyone in your program within the first year. Although our campus doesn’t rival Hogwarts, the newer architecture is aesthetically pleasing. Plus, freaking out over where to find your classes in first year isn’t an option, given that everything is within a few minutes’ walking distance.

Choosing UTM is not a consolation prize after not getting into UTSG. It’s an experience that regenerates you without needing city lights or a vast campus space. UTM has given me what I needed because it’s been like a friend — a place where I don’t get lost, literally and figuratively — and a place that is still U of T, but a warmer, more tightly knit version.

Keena Alwahaidi is a fourth-year student at UTM studying English.

There is something inherently powerful and enjoyable about memes. A single picture or phrase can be reworded and reshaped as needed by the user to express emotions that words alone can’t quite express.

As enjoyable as memes are, however, they can often become hurtful rather than humourous — ignorant, hurtful, and even banal at times. The memes about UTM are often all three. From mocking how frequently UTM students spot deer to confessions deeming UTM an inferior school, these memes reduce the second-largest division of U of T, whose diversity and research know no bounds, to a barn overrun by deer. Joining the deer are undergraduate students whose grades and intellect, apparently not meeting the standards of UTSG’s requirements, have damned them to a bland, personally unfulfilling, and academically undemanding life at UTM.

It is time to move away from these stale and overtired memes and focus this meme-making energy to shed light on other sides of UTM, even if it is for mocking purposes. For starters, our athletic centre is called the RAWC, we have a cricket pitch on campus that nobody uses, and every ride on the UTM Shuttle is wild from start to finish — meme those things, if you will.

Zeahaa Rehman is a third-year student at UTM studying Linguistics and Professional Writing.

“I believe colonialism is bad. Saying that may be quite a start to a better kind of world.” With those words, Audra Simpson, Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Jackman Humanities Institute, ended her lecture titled “Savage States: Settler Governance in the Age of Sorrow.”

The lecture, held last Wednesday at the Jackman Humanities building, was crowded, leaving many attendees sitting on the floor or leaning against a wall.

This lecture is part of the #callresponse exhibition currently on display at UTM’s Blackwood Gallery. It is an artistic collaboration between artists and respondents.

The process began with five local art commissions by Indigenous female artists. The artists were then asked to ‘call’ a viewer to respond to the work. Both the artists’ calls and the viewers’ ‘responses’ are included in the exhibition.

The #callresponse exhibition features work from Christi Belcourt, Isaac Murdoch, Maria Hupfield, IV Castellanos, Esther Neff, Ursula Johnson, Cheryl L’Hirondelle, Tanya Willard, Marcia Crosby, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, and Tania Tagaq.

In total, #callresponse is comprised of 12 artworks, nine of which are displayed at the Blackwood Gallery, with others exhibiting at the e|gallery and Bernie Miller Lightbox. Five of the works from the Blackwood Gallery’s Inuit prints collection also hang on the second floor of the UTM library.

The subject of the art varies.

Willard’s “Intergenerational effects (I found these in the BUSH),” for instance, references the dark history of substance abuse and residential schools in Indigenous communities.

Willard’s work features two glass Listerine bottles containing blue seed beads and a rolled-up picture inside each of them. One picture shows children ready to be transported to residential schools on the back of pickup trucks, while another depicts the windows of the Basilica of Saint Sabina, a historical church in Rome. This piece might seem quaint until the onlooker realizes the depth of pain and trauma to which it speaks.

The #callresponse exhibition is part of Stewardship, the fourth exhibition or ‘circuit’ of Take Care, a five-part series of exhibitions, performances, and workshops organized by the Blackwood Gallery at UTM. Take Care aims to confront the crisis of care through mobilizing more than 100 artists, activists, curators, and researchers. The series is curated by Letters & Handshakes, a collaboration between Dr. Greg de Peuter of Wilfrid Laurier University and UTM’s Dr. Christine Shaw.

Another key part of the #callresponse exhibition are public programs, such as lectures and panel discussions, which help to further the discussion produced by the works of art.

During her lecture, Simpson touched on how it feels to exist on lands shaped by theft, both of labour and land. She highlighted statistics that show the comparative political disempowerment of Indigenous populations: over 400 years after colonization began, Indigenous people now own only two per cent of their lands.

She also spoke at length about the title of ‘town-destroyer’ that has been bestowed upon American presidents. George Washington, the first President of the United States, inherited this title from his great-grandfather, who destroyed Piscataway villages in present day Virginia. Washington, in turn, ordered the Solomon Expedition during the Revolutionary War — a campaign that destroyed up to 40 Iroquois villages in New York.

“The President… in the new settler nation earned a name that operates as a title conferred upon him — that of town destroyer. He too has a name and a structure that he inhabits, and it is an adaptation to the new worlds. That structure remains in spite of who actually inhabits it,” explained Simpson.

Simpson also addressed what she called “the killing kind of kindness” shown by Prime Minister Trudeau, referred to as the ‘pipeline-supporting’ prime minister.

“The irony of interest here is that he is culling from the conservative American playbook,” continued Simpson. “And he’s going to do it with differential emotional architecture than the man in the south, but with emotional and economically driven architecture just the same.”

“His emotional architecture builds on a 30-year project of force that takes now the form of contrition — the production of good feelings, along with many selfies.”

#callresponse will run at the Blackwood Gallery until January 27, 2018.

Branded food service outlets at UTM are raising prices in anticipation of the upcoming minimum wage increase. Costs are expected to increase by five to 11 per cent, as opposed to the previous average year-on-year increase of three per cent.

Prices for non-branded food are also set to increase, although it is unclear by how much. UTM is set to work with its catering partner Chartwells to keep its non-branded price increases “as low as possible given the increase in labour costs and expected increase in food costs,” according to the minutes of the Food Service Advisory Committee meeting on November 15.

The Food Service Advisory Committee evaluates and reviews various policy and operational aspects pertaining to food services at UTM and serves in a consultative capacity responsible to Vicky Jezierski, Director of Hospitality and Retail Services at UTM.

Jezierski explained, “University of Toronto Mississauga has no control over price changes in branded food service outlets… We do not set our branded prices at premium or non-traditional price levels that some other campuses do.”

The food price increases will also affect student meal plan rates, since these can be used at both branded and non-branded vendors on and off-campus. Jezierski noted that food prices are “the driving force” behind proposed meal plan rates.

“We are still in this part of the process, so the price increase for non-branded food service outlets has not been finalized,” said Jezierski. “Our focus is… also on sustainable food service hours of operation and service levels from year to year while still maintaining food prices at UTM that are well below the average of food prices at other Canadian college and universities.”

Jezierski said that Hospitality and Retail Services cannot subsidize increased costs because it “operates as an ancillary and is not in a position to get subsidies from the UTM’s operating budget.”

UTM Dining Services has put up printed notices of these increases at the various branded services’ kiosks, including at the Tim Hortons in the William G. Davis Building. The notices indicate that branded services “will be introducing price increases consistently for the remainder of the year.”

All branded services are implementing price increases, such as Bento Sushi, Subway, and all branded vendors in the Temporary Food Court, including Booster Juice, Elements, and Pizza Pizza.

As of the 2017 University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) AGM, the Blind Duck pub, a UTMSU division, had not indicated increases in price. The pub is currently running a deficit as UTMSU executives opted not to increase food costs last year despite increases in the cost of sales.

The UTMSU did not respond to The Varsity’s request for comment in time for publication.