March 18, 2010University of Toronto’s Independent Weekly Vol. XXXIII N0. 2

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the newspaper page 5

the newspaper the newspaper Portrait of the artist He said, he said

Read candidates’ Q&A on

Fundamentals ofFundamentalism

Continued on page 4

U of T South Asian seminar explores religion’s roleVEENAY SEHDEV

Fundamentalism is a term that has been misused into ambiguity. It is no surprise then that the questions What is fundamentalism and Who is a fundamentalist were the pri-mary issues discussed at “The Raj of Religious Fundamentalism.”Misha Munim, founder and presi-dent of U of T’s South Asian Devel-opment Council, said “fundamen-talism is a contentious issue right now.” Munim founded the club because she wanted students to be-come more aware of South Asian

Opposition could rehaul GC CodeInterview with vice-provost Jill Matus

MNRUPE VIRK & TEJAS PARASHER

Since the Governing Council Town-hall on March 1st, U of T’s contro-versial Student Code of Conduct has become one of the most divisive topics on campus. On March 11th, the newspaper published an article in which GC Candidate Joeita Gup-ta criticized the administration for using the Code exclusively to stifl e on-campus dissent. Gupta says the Code of Conduct is a “political tool” imposed on students without their consent, redundant because the university already has so many other behaviour laws and policies in place.

This week, the newspaper’s Mn-rupe Virk sat down with Jill Matus, U of T’s Vice Provost of Students, to shed some light on this contro-versy.

the newspaper: At a recent Gov-erning Council meeting, you sug-gested the possibility of abolishing the Code if opposition to it became widespread.

Jill Matus: What I said was that broad consultations would be un-dertaken as part of the updating process, and that if it became ap-parent that views such as those expressed by the members were widely held, they would be taken under advisement. If there were suffi cient expressions of interest in a full review of the Code, that could be an outcome.

tn: The Student Code of Conduct was established in 1992. Why was there a sudden need for a Code at this time? Did any particular events spark its implementation?

JM: This is a complex issue. However, the sixth paragraph in the preamble of the Code summarizes its need in the current climate: “The University must defi ne standards of student behaviour and make pro-visions for student discipline with respect to conduct that jeopardizes the good order and proper func-tioning of the academic and non-academic programs and activities of the University or its divisions, that endangers the health, safety, rights or property of its members or visitors, or that adversely affects the property of the University or bod-ies related to it, where such conduct is not, for the University’s defi ned

Continued on page 4 Continued on page 5

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‘Harassing’ videos could mean 25 demerit points

for Change campaign Masse publicly disassociates from Mongeau;

Mongeau refuses to take down videos

HELENE GODERIS

As the elections for next year’s UTSU executives draw to a close, the number of demerits handed out by Chief Returning Offi cer Da-vid Blocker are piling up for the Change slate. Candidates can ac-crue a total of 35 demerits before being disqualifi ed from the elec-tions.

On March 17, CRO David Blocker handed Change U of T presidential candidate Steve Masse 25 demerit points for videos shot and posted to YouTube by Antonin Mongeau that were deemed harassing to the Stronger Together campaign. The controversy is nothing new: Mon-geau was a cause of demerits to the Change slate in the 2009 election. These demerits could prove detri-mental to Masse, who only had 3 demerit points previously, while Stronger Together presidential candidate Adam Awad only has 5 demerits as at press time.

Mongeau, Alumni Chair of EFUT, posted a video last week shot with his blackberry. In it, he alleges that RSU President-elect Toby Whitfi eld, while campaign-ing for the Stronger Together slate, tore down EFUT’s posters at Sid

Smith. While the video does not actually show Whitfi eld tearing down EFUT’s posters, Whitfi eld has not denied these charges.

The second video is shot outside a meeting called by Stronger To-gether supporters; in it, the sup-porters continually state they feel harassed being fi lmed by Mon-geau. Masse shows up outside the meeting, later stating he believed it was an open meeting held by the MSA, where Masse had planned to clarify misconceptions about his campaign. The CRO is penalizing Masse for interrupting the Stron-ger Together meeting, deeming it ‘general sabotage.’

CRO Ruling 18, found on UTSU’s website, concluded that “Mr. Mon-geau is acting as a non-arms length third party campaigner for the Change U of T team.” CRO Ruling 21 goes on to address complaints by Stronger Together supporters who felt “intimidated, harassed, and badgered when being followed and fi lmed by Mr. Mongeau...that the harassment and fi lming was wit-nessed and condoned by Change U of T candidates and volunteers, and Varsity reporters.”

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The Lady Godiva band marches to Sid Smith to join the Change U of T rally. Two slates - Stronger Together and Change U of T - are vying for executive

positions at UTSU. Elections run until 7pm on March 18.

Delia Massa chops her locks at U of T Cuts for Cancer which took place March 15-16. Donations were delivered to Angel Hair for Kids, Locks of Love and the Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign.

BUSTED FOR MARIJUANA?The police were wrong to arrest you, because

the marijuana prohibition has recently become constitutionally invalid, again.

Get in touch with U of T Philosophy Professor Hutchinson to find out how you (or your lawyer) should defend you from

this vexatious charge.

Did U of T officials act against you? Let Prof. H. show you how they can be sued for punitive damages:

doughutchinson@gmail.com.

2 March 18, 2010

the newspaperEditor-in-Chief

Helene Goderis

Arts EditorSarah D’Angelo

News EditorAmy Stupavsky

Layout EditorVictoria Dobbs

ContributorsAlan Jones, Cara Sabatini, Veenay Sehdev,

Thiru Shathasivam, Mnrupe Virk, Joele Walinga

the newspaper1 Spadina Crescent, Suite 245

Toronto, ON M5S 1A1Editorial: 416-593-1552

thenewspaper@gmail.comwww.thenewspaper.ca

the newspaper is U of T’s independent weekly paper, published by Planet Publications Inc.,

a non-profi t corporation.

All U of T community members, including students, staff and faculty, are encouraged to contribute to the newspaper.

Business ManagerTaylor Ramsay

ads@thenewspaper.ca

the guest editorial

Photo EditorAlex Nursall

Illustrations EditorMike Winters

Associate News EditorsTomasz BugajskiTejas Parasher

Science EditorTim Ryan

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Associate Arts EditorsCara SabatiniCailin SmartMnrupe Virk

Campus Co-op Residence Inc. is a co-operative in fi nancial straights. “Rejuvenation,” its for-mer plan to build new properties to support its aging houses, was abandoned and not replaced. It is unclear at present how it will raise the necessary revenue to keep its houses from degrading to slum condition.

CCRI’s fi nancial position is currently crippled by losses from high summer vacancies (i.e. rents not collected on rooms not rent-ed). These losses have increased from $80,000 a year in the 90s and early 2000s to a current bud-geted level of $250,000.

For CCRI residents, this has meant coping with large increas-es to their rent, to the point when it can no longer be said that CCRI is a cheaper, better alternative to the private rental market. These rent increases have largely been justifi ed as the duty of current members to support the co-op for the benefi t of future generations. However, when the rent increas-es come to mean raising rents to above market-level, (and CCRI experiences the corresponding and foreseeable decline in reve-nue) the moral argument breaks down and it’s morally required to

think rationally about the market conditions in order to set rental rates appropriately.

To an extent, the problem of decay of CCRI houses century homes is inevitable. Previous large scale investments into the houses were only made possible due to government programs which effectively subsidized large structural repairs (i.e. CMHC’s grant of $370,000 to CCRI in 1985). However, specifi c irratio-nal actions by CCRI have greatly exaggerated its own problems over the last decade.

To understand why, it must be grasped that CCRI sells two prod-ucts: school year rental housing, and summer rental housing. Dur-ing the school year CCRI mem-bership is restricted to current students, and during the summer the housing is open to anyone willing to pay rent. These are two different products because they sell to different markets, they have different elasticities (in a highly elastic market, demand reacts quickly to changes in pric-ing - vice versa for inelastic), and they respond to different sets of competing goods. However, despite this obvious economic reality, CCRI has for time ever-

lasting held to the dogma that its school year rental prices should be the same as its summer rental prices. The fact that CCRI reports projected earnings and actual in-come to the membership with a single yearly fi gure, rather than by term, serves to conceals the absurdity of this dogma from the membership.

When one looks at the month to month data more carefully, the problem is clear: for the last sev-eral years, the increased rent at CCRI has been refl ected in actual increases in revenue during the periods from September to April. However, in the summer, the actual earnings have steadily de-clined despite (or rather, due to) these higher rents. This can eas-ily be explained if one recognizes that summer and winter rents are different products, and thus have a different price at which their de-mand and supply curves intersect (i.e. the point of profi t maximiza-tion). It is a simple truth for clas-sical economics that if one sets the price too high, every further increase in price will reduce prof-it. Modifi cations in the price of a good will only increase profi t if that modifi cation moves it closer to the ideal price point.

It is not obvious that CCRI’s summer rental prices were sig-nifi cantly below market, even as far back as 2002. This hypothesis is supported by the data which shows demand (i.e. the num-ber of summer renters) strongly dropping off as summer prices increased.

Price is not the only issue here: at the same time, U of T had re-cently built a glut of new student housing, which greatly increased the supply of cleaner summer stu-dent housing downtown. CCRI did not respond to this increase in market supply for summer hous-

ing with either a signifi cant effort to increase the cleanliness of its housing (i.e. by hiring house-keepers), or by lowering rents. To make matters worse, CCRI be-gan charging non-students extra surcharges to live in CCRI during summer months only. This lack of attention paid to the elasticity of summer demand reached its high point in 2009 when summer vacancy losses topped $350,000.

To understand CCRI’s logic in this irrational price setting it is necessary to recognize that when one sets the price of a good or service below the optimal price point, every increase in price will in fact produce an increase in revenue. So, if a co-operative is under the market price, (as a cooperative which claims to be affordable in downtown Toronto rightly should be!) any increase in price will correspond to an in-crease in revenue. In this situa-tion, it may be considered appro-priate to moralize a rent increase, i.e. ‘we’ve been irresponsible, so we need to raise rents’. However, when current rents are level with the market price, one should not straightforwardly assume that further increasing rents will re-sult in increased revenue. Thus, when rents are level with the pri-vate market, it makes no sense to moralize about the need for high-er rental costs - since higher costs will likely result in lower rev-enues anyway. In 2010, it is not obvious that CCRI’s winter rents are any longer below market, and it should assume that further drastic increases in rent may very well result in lower winter rental revenues.

The defeat of the proposed 4% rent increase as of May 1st 2010, and its replacement with a 2% rent increase as of September 1st 2010 is the fi rst step forward to thinking rationally about CCRI rental revenues. The second step is to separate winter from sum-mer rent such that they must be raised separately, and that projected earnings and actual revenue for summer must be re-ported to members as a separate item in the CCRI budget.

- Tristan Laing

CCRI provides affordable housing, such as this theme house, Toad Lane.

Why CCRI should stop moralizing and rationalize its rents

UTSUpresidential profile Q&A

Steve Masse Adam Awad

HELENE GODERISCandidates were asked to keep their responses under 70 words.

3March 18, 2010 the news

Our platform is focused on addressing the barriers that we face, as students, to getting an education, both inside and out of the classroom. We want to deal with the issues that have a real im-pact on students’ lives like transit and tuition fees. It is based on solid experience and demonstrated commitment to the is-sues in a way that is lacking from the opposition’s platform.

What is yourcampaign ina nutshell?

What sets yourcampaign apart from

your opponent’s? What gives youan edge over

your opponent?

What is youraction plan regarding

Towards 2030?

UTSU and CFS have been criticized for lack of transparency and engage-ment. How do you plan to

address this concern?

What do you see as UTSU’s role in advo-cacy? In the student

experience?

Rock, paper,or scissors?

What do you seeas the most

important issues to tackle in 2010-11?

What will beyour priority?

Experience; hands down. Also, our platform addresses many of the causes of students’ disconnect on campus and our less-than-stellar stu-dent experience. It is not a lack of events, but rather that students work too much, have too many expenses, feel unsafe on campus, or commute from far away that keeps people from being engaged in campus life.

As it stands, our priorities include saving students money with transit discounts and putting textbooks on Blackboard as well as building a safer community by addressing issues of system-atic discrimination. Our fi nal list of priorities will, of course, be determined by our membership and the issues they bring to us.

We will continue the work that we have done this year op-posing the corporatisation and privatisation of the uni-versity. We will also continue to push for student-friend-ly policies that support our ability to engage on campus.

I think that much of this comes from ignorance, so we plan to communicate both the role and the activities of both the U.T.S.U. as well as other members of the Federation to stu-dents on campus. I think that it would also be useful for each of the College and Faculty councils to have presentations on the two organisations. I think that people would be more engaged if they knew more of the issues with which the Union deals.

The Union has the responsibility to advocate on behalf of stu-dents, regardless of how popular an issue may be. As a third party, it plays a unique roll in being able to defend students while preventing reprisal by maintaining anonymity of the stu-dents. We also have the responsibility to support and collaborate with those engaged in improving the student experience. Clubs, for example, play an essential role in the community and must be supported. They are, arguably, the lifeblood of campus life.

Paper (it’s symbolic).

Our team is really committed to improving the student experience and work-ing for effective, results-based advocacy. We are a team of unpaid, pas-sionate student leaders from across campus that are committed to mak-ing your time here at UofT the best that it can be. We promise to build the Student Commons, work towards OSAP reform while creating meaning-ful employment, and create a vibrant, equitable, and spirited community!

The biggest difference between our campaign is that we are explicit in our support for an improved student experience, an equitable campus, and effective advocacy. Our opponent’s have unfortunately forgotten that a signifi cant part of the Union’s role is to foster relationships between stu-dents and create a campus that is about more than just academics. Our team understands that the Union must fulfi ll many roles, one of which is to improve your experience at UofT. Our campaign’s edge comes from the fact that our team is composed entirely of current UofT students. Un-like Stronger Together, we see no need to reach out to other universi-ties for support in our elections - UofT students are our only priority!

When elected, our team will be working very closely with student stake-holders to help eliminate Flat Fees, build the Student Commons, and cre-ate a more inclusive community. In order to be successful in these endea-vours, it is imperative that you elect members that are well-connected with student groups on campus. We count most of the college council and some professional faculty council presidents and executives amongst our vast network of supporters. These relationships will be integral to achieving success as it relates to all of the initiatives I’ve just mentioned.

As an active member of the Union who has strongly opposed the implemen-tation of the Towards 2030 plan, I feel that my team and I have the ability to engage students in a way that will make university administration reevaluate their goals. We must engage students in creative and innovative ways, educate community leaders about the negative impact of this document, and then mo-bilize students, faculty, and even administration in opposing this regressive visioning document. We can only be successful in opposing the Towards 2030 proposal if we are able to engage a wide breadth of students from across UofT.

The UTSU and CFS are valuable resources within the student community. Unfortunately, students are often left wondering what purposes the UTSU and CFS serve. This is a very important problem that needs immediate at-tention. Our team wants to ensure that students have access to all Union documents and that communication between UTSU and students is as seamless as possible. It is important to us that we are as transparent and accessible as we would expect from the administration and government.

Over the past few years, UTSU has been largely ineffective in advo-cating for students when it comes to reducing tuition fees at UofT. Throughout the tenure of Mr. Awad (Presidential candidate for Stron-ger Together), student tuition fees have risen dramatically. Last year marked the arrival of a very regressive policy known as Flat Fees. The fl at fees framework will be reviewed in 2011 and we need a strong team of student advocates working towards eliminating this policy.Our team’s position as it relates to the student experience is far supe-rior. Every member of our team has been incredibly effective at creating communities within their respective colleges, professional faculties, and clubs. We have the experience at building bridges and uniting UofT. We will build the Student Commons, host huge collaborative events, and cre-ate opportunities for students to fi nd a community within the university!

Rock.

presidential

Steve Masse

March 18, 2010

presidential profile Q&Aprofile Q&A

Adam Awad

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Forays into fundamentalismCont’d from page 1

GC interviewCont’d from page 1

Do you enjoy the academically stimulat-ing atmosphere of Robarts? How about the historic appeal of Gerstein? Maybe the automatic glass doors at Pratt? What is your favorite part about U of T’s plethora of reposi-tories?

Following Har-vard, Yale, and Berkely, U of T of-fers the fourth largest university library system in North America. So, what is the best part about it? Well, last month students entered a contest, producing videos to answer just this: Why I Love the Library. Now it’s our job – as fellow library enthusiasts or perhaps simply as dilettantes of the amateur film – to decide whose answer is best.

The “I Love the Library,” contest is modeled after a similar one that was put on by the University of Waterloo two years ago in order to discover students’ priorities when it came to their study spaces. This contest’s films include a va-riety of answers ranging from the librar-ies’ smell to their infinite sleeping pos-sibilities. Some contributors even gave their answers in the form of an animated

Biggest lover or loser?

short.The finalists were judged based on

three criteria: 1) Creativity – is the narra-tive compelling and original? 2) Content – is the contest theme and personal en-

gagement with the library efficiently demon-

strated? And 3) Cinematography – is the film visually stimulating and artistically appeal-

ing? The first and second place prizes are

ipod touches and all run-ners up will receive a $25 Ama-

rak gift card to be cashed in at any favorite library eatery (or other cafeteria

on campus, provided the individual can tear himself away from the alluring atmo-sphere of Robarts’ Reading Room).

Reference Librarian and contest co-ordinator, Margaret Wall, said a lot of positive feedback was received and that there is potential for more library-themed contests in the future. The polls are now open until March 25 and the winner will be announced the next day. It’s now our turn to judge: library lover or just another U of T student in need of a life outside “the Stacks.” Watch the films and make your decision at www.library.utoronto.ca/ilovethelibrary/vote.

CARA SABITINI

Why U of T students can’t get enough of the library

4 March 18, 2010the inside

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the automatic glass doors at Pratt? What is your favorite part about U of T’s plethora of reposi-

Following Har-vard, Yale, and Berkely, U of T of-fers the fourth largest university library system in North America. So, what is the best part about it? Well, last month students entered a contest,

gagement with the library efficiently demon-

strated? And 3) Cinematography – is the film visually stimulating and artistically appeal-

ing? The first and second place prizes are

ipod touches and all run-ners up will receive a $25 Ama-

rak gift card to be cashed in at any favorite library eatery (or other cafeteria

political issues from a more objec-tive academic perspective rather than the mainstream media’s lens.

The event, hosted by the South Asian Development Council on March 16 in Seeley Hall, featured a panel discussion and Q + A pe-riod. The two panelists - Haroon Siddiqui, a member of the Order of Canada, recipient of the World Press Freedom Award, and Toronto Star journalist, and Eric Margolis, an award-winning, internationally syndicated Toronto Sun journalist - engaged the audience in a pertinent and insightful discussion.

Siddiqui started by quoting Kar-en Armstrong’s defi nition of fun-damentalism: a reaction against and a rejection of modern West-ern society. Siddiqui then outlined a diverse group of people who can be considered religious fundamen-talists, from observers of Islam to American Presidents to Hindutva followers. Margolis added to the list by pointing to small Christian com-

munities in Alberta who are anti-Islamic. “No one likes to talk about them, but they’re there.”

The panelists also touched on other issues in the region. Margolis’ moniker for Pakistan - ‘Rent-i-stan’ - elicited chuckles from the crowd. Margolis explained that “the only thing not bought were the moun-tains.” He went on to conclude that “Pakistan was supposed to be an Is-lamic banner for good government, now it’s one hell of a disappointing mess.” Siddiqui lightened the mood when he joked that Pakistan “used to have a good cricket team.”

This knowledgeable, comple-mentary duo had us laughing and lamenting at the intricacies of South Asian political landscape. They also enlightened us with the problem behind this rampant fundamental-ism in South Asia.

Rather than pointing the fi nger at “crazy mullahs” or “turbaned Muja-hedeen” for fundamentalism, both panelists agreed that Pakistan’s

woes and the fundamentalism in Islam was in large part due to the meddling of the west and funda-mentalism in the USA. Siddiqui was quick to remind the audience that George W. Bush felt ordained by God to wage this war; Margo-lis added that 79% of Born Again Christians supported W.’s ‘divinely-inspired’ move.

For information on future events hosted by the South Asian Develop-ment Council, visit southasiandc.sa.utoronto.ca.

the fashion

Daniel Bob Kaell, Media Commons My fashion focus? A fusion of fabulous and frugal. I get my clothes from lost and founds and used clothing stores. My perfect outfi t is a colorful collage of odds and odds that make people think, “SEX!”. My current favorite ward-robe piece is my red scarf. Being a fashion visionary is diffi cult but I must follow the voices in my head.

Mike Evans, 1 Spadina CresecentI always go for natural fibers that feel interesting, and I like things to fit properly. I also have a moral hesi-tancy towards clothing with labels or symbols on them, and haven’t bought anything like that since I took SOC101. I get a lot of my clothes from second hand shops, and remove the tags from staple items like pants that you need to buy at normal stores.

purposes, adequately regulated by civil and criminal law.”

Generally speaking, the Code cas-es that come to the attention of our offi ce focus on conduct that endan-gers the health and safety of others. We consider the Code to be a tool to protect students and other Univer-sity members from other students.

tn: Critics point to the existence of University policies/codes al-ready in place that address the issues covered by the Code of Con-duct. Why the need for a separate Student Code of Conduct?

JM: There are indeed other Uni-versity policies that deal with stu-dent conduct, but there is no overlap with the Code of Student Conduct. The fi rst few paragraphs of section B of the Code clearly outline the ju-risdiction of the Code and several specifi c examples of conduct which are handled by other procedures. For example, sexual harassment is handled by the Policy & Procedures: Sexual Harassment, not the Code of Student Conduct. Residences also have their own procedures and the Code cannot apply when a matter has been dealt with under such dis-ciplinary provisions.

tn: Does the University need its own legal framework when there are already provincial/federal laws in place?

JM: The Code assists our com-munity in several ways. First, it provides reasonable options for dealing with specifi c types of of-fences which may not be handled in a way which meets the University’s needs. I would also note that it may not always be in the best interests of either the complainants or the re-spondents of Code complaints for a

matter to be handled by the courts. In some cases, simple restitution is the only outcome being sought. In addition, resolution of criminal matters may take many years. A Code complaint can be resolved relatively quickly.

In principle, the Code is a policy rooted very deeply in the education-al mission of the University. Our hope is that educational outcomes, rather than punitive measures, are sought when a Code complaint is being handled. Dealing with mat-ters within the University, instead of referring them only to the criminal justice system, provides in our view a better opportunity for learning.

tn: How do you feel the Code has been used in the past?

JM: My understanding is that his-torically there have been extremely few cases which actually proceed to a hearing under the Code (probably less than fi ve or six a year). Instead, the Code is used as a frame of refer-ence to defi ne acceptable behavior in a university setting. It is prob-ably true that some people see this as a punitive tool. It is my hope that an updated code will emphasize rights as well as responsibilities and better convey a sense of balance be-tween them. Indeed, a number of individuals including students have supported this concept.

tn: How do you think students should voice their dissatisfaction with the code if, as many critics claim, the very act of doing so is criminalized under its provisions?

JM: Voicing dissent, includ-ing criticism of the University, in a manner which does not interfere with the rights of others is protected by a number of University policies. While there is an offense dealing with obstruction of University ac-tivities or the rights of others to carry out legitimate activities, my understanding is that this provision is rarely used.

Videos for Change?Cont’d from page 1

Last night while trying to gather the remnants of an interview over Facebook chat, Skype and Hot-

mail I was beginning to get a fl avor for

Rebecca Fin Si-monetti’s multi-

d i m e n s i o n a l work as an artist.

Recently gradu-ated from OCAD this

past spring with a BFA in painting and draw-ing, Fin launched a solo

show last Saturday at The Music Gallery. (179

John Street) Along side moments of

eerie emotional intensity captured within her paintings,

‘When I go deaf’ also exhibits her recent musical endeavors. And, prior to all this, Rebecca Fin also attended York for

Fin? I am not through with you

film production, but says she finds paint-ing a better medium to communicate through. Key to her work is the connec-tion between sound and images.

In 2008 she released a full length solo album and has since then been an ac-tive musician in Toronto. As one half of Wet Nurse and a member of Blues, Fin explains that creating both images and sounds is a symbiotic relationship. While visually conveying the, “transformed and falsified realities” of our own psyche, her sounds attempt to evoke these captured feelings upon the listener. From an an-thropological perspective, the aim is to draw out a subjects’ inner monologue, to capture saturated moments of intense euphoria or depression.

I ask, “Why do you paint only girls?” “ I am a girl,” she replies. Immersed in the culture she studies, Rebecca Fin de-scribes her work as, “ethnographic.”

Considered observational and experi-ential, she is both subject and observer in her own work. The subheadings, “People sleeping,” and “What is it?” can be found under her website - rebeccasimonetti.

SAARAH D’ANGELO com - displaying how she methodically observes, and reshapes her surround-ings according to her own understand-ing of what these experiences mean. Par-ticularly intrigued by trance like states, Fin draws parallels between sleep and death, trauma and ecstasy, as moments of conjured fantasy. Her paintings bring to life a world unseen but felt, attempt-ing to excavate the psychological make-believe out of reality. Fin says this is one of the reasons she switched into painting and drawing from film at York. “Painting allows a certain level of freedom to bend reality,” she Explains. “Film is entirely lo-cated in the physical world so it is harder to escape its confines.”

If ever you find yourself meandering through Kensington, you might be able to catch her latest work in progress at The White House Studio. But, perhaps if this is too invasive I would encourage you to visit The Music Gallery. ‘When I go deaf,’ runs from March 1st until April 30th during concert hours. Rebecca Fin thinks reality is really psychedelic, let her persuade you.

Artist profile: Rebecca Fin Simonetti

5March 18, 2010 the inside

Unless Change publicly disassociates from Mongeau and the videos are removed, these demerit points could hurt Masse’s chances of fi nishing the election.

Both Masse and Mongeau deny Mon-geau’s agency with the Change campaign. “I emailed [the CRO] to state that An-tonin is not a part of our campaign,” said Masse. “We are planning on appealing tomorrow. This is defi -nitely something that needs to be addressed.”

While Mongeau admits his stance against Stronger Together, he says, “I have never supported Change at U of T. Not this year, not last year. I have never campaigned for Change. I have never been to a meeting for Change. I have never put up a poster for Change. I have never handed out a fl yer for Change. Not this year, not last year.”

While publicly disassociating from Mongeau may protect Masse, Mongeau’s refusal to remove the videos could still be problematic for Change’s demerit tally. “To-day I sent an email to [CRO] David Blocker stating that I’m an independent journalist, that I’m protected under the laws of Canada,” Mongeau said. “The videos are not coming down under any circumstances whatsoever.”

Videos for Change?

Last night while trying to gather the remnants of an interview over Facebook chat, Skype and Hot-

mail I was beginning to get a fl avor for

Rebecca Fin Si-monetti’s multi-

d i m e n s i o n a l work as an artist.

Recently gradu-ated from OCAD this

past spring with a BFA in painting and draw-ing, Fin launched a solo

show last Saturday at The Music Gallery. (179

John Street) Along side moments of

eerie emotional intensity captured within her paintings,

‘When I go deaf’ also exhibits her recent musical endeavors. And, prior to all this, Rebecca Fin also attended York for

Fin? I am not through with you

SAARAH D’ANGELO

Artist profile: Rebecca Fin SimonettiUnless Change publicly disassociates from

Mongeau and the videos are removed, these demerit points could hurt Masse’s chances

Both Masse and Mongeau deny Mon-geau’s agency with the Change campaign. “I emailed [the CRO] to state that An-tonin is not a part of our campaign,” said Masse. “We are planning on appealing tomorrow. This is defi -nitely something that needs to be

While Mongeau admits his stance against Stronger Together,

for Change. I have never been to a meeting for Change. I have never put up a poster for Change. I have never handed out a fl yer for Change.

While publicly disassociating from Mongeau may protect Masse, Mongeau’s refusal to remove the videos could still be problematic for Change’s demerit tally. “To-day I sent an email to [CRO] David Blocker stating that I’m an independent journalist, that I’m protected under the laws of Canada,” Mongeau said. “The videos are not coming down under any circumstances whatsoever.”

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Locate that thing and pin it down by Rebecca Fin Simonetti

6 March 18, 2010the science

TIM RYAN

In Science World, PubMed rep-resents the information highway by which scientists communicate and share their data. Like (most) highways, it is free to use and pro-vided by the government, Ameri-ca’s National Library of Medicine at the National Institute of Health (NIH). But riding the PubMed in-formational highway is like driv-ing anywhere in Quebec. Instead of whiplash, searching PubMed often leaves one with a headache, and perpetually lost.

How does the NIH monopolize access to scientifi c journals? In 2007, former President George W. Bush signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, included in which, was a provision requiring that any peer reviewed scientifi c journal article produced using NIH funding, be electronically submitted to PubMed Central within one year of its publication date. It isn’t that scientists’ arms are being twisted to submit their works, however. As a collective group, an information pool like PubMed is something that is ab-solutely essential in order to stay in touch, to see what colleagues and the competition are doing.

But the problem lies in that the NIH dominates access to scientifi c journals, and runs the service free of charge. Because the service isn’t a business with a bottom line, and no one else can distribute the 19.5 million articles on PubMed, there is absolutely no motivation for the NIH to con-

cern itself with user satisfaction.Anna Kushnir writes a blog for

the Nature Publishing Group and said it better than I ever could, “I have spent an absurd amount of time on PubMed recently and can say in no uncertain terms that it is making my dissertation writing way more painful than it needs to be. I can hold a paper in my hands, search for two authors’ last names and have PubMed come up with nothing.”

Librarians see it the other way; Dean Giustini, a UBC biomedi-cal librarian, argues that it isn’t PubMed, but the user who is bro-ken. Well, Dean, with all due re-spect, you’re a fucking librarian. Your entire career as a biomedi-cal librarian revolves around the mastering of PubMed. As a re-searcher, who wants to focus his time on experiments and acquir-ing data, building an intimate re-lationship with PubMed isn’t high on my priority list. I don’t want to take one of the many classes of-fered at U of T libraries to learn the intricacies of PubMed. I just want it to work like Google.

Don’t picture me throwing a temper tantrum after another unsuccessful PubMed search be-cause it doesn’t happen (alright, maybe once, but I was on a tight deadline and listening to a lot of Coldplay). All scientists are (or should be) PubMed competent. But the extra minutes lost here and there because of a slightly fl awed search database add up over the course of a 5-year PhD program.

PubMed, PubDreadTim Ryan complains again

Curing AIDS one banana at a timeNew research suggests protein from bananas

capable of preventing HIV infectionTHIRU SHATHASIVAM

A new compound has been identifi ed as a potent inhibitor of HIV infection. BanLec is a naturally occurring lectin pro-tein found in one of the most popular fruits around the world: the banana!

In general lectin pro-teins have the capacity to bind carbohydrate structures, and BanLec was previously studied for its strong affi nity to mannose-carbohydrates. Con-sidering that, scientists at the University of Michigan Medi-cal Centre, headed by Dr. David Markovitz, investigated wheth-er BanLec was capable of bind-ing the mannose-carbohydrate structures present in the HIV-1 envelope, and inadvertently blocking infection. Their fi nd-ings were just published in the March 19th issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

According to their research, when cells (including blood cells obtained from human donors) were pretreated with BanLec proteins (purifi ed from ripened bananas) before expo-

sure to HIV-1 viruses, infection was prevented. More impres-sively, similar results were ob-served with monocyte-derived macrophages, which are cells of the immune system known

to swallow harmful foreign particles by entrapping

them in membrane vesicles. Further analysis revealed Ban-Lec blocked infection by bind-ing the mannose structures of the virus envelop and prevent-ing attachment (and thus entry) into potential host cells.

To assess the relative po-tency of BanLec, its effi ciency was compared to two anti-HIV lectin-based drugs currently in clinical use. It fared so well that the authors anticipate BanLec is a real contender for use in a future anti-HIV vaginal micro-bicide (and a possibly cheaper one given its natural source).

Considering development of an effi cacious HIV vaccine is unlikely in the near future,

new drugs and techniques are desperately needed to stopping the spread of HIV. The rate of new infections is so high, it is outpacing the number of indi-viduals receiving anti-retroviral drugs by 2.5 fold. The strongest disconnect can be seen in devel-

oping countries due to hu-man suffering and cost of treatment.Dr. Markovitz believes

development of a long-lasting, self-applied microbicide is very pressing, especially for devel-oping countries where women have little control over sexual encounters. Such a product could effectively inhibit HIV transmission by blocking the virus from integrating into its target cell.

Research is already underway to molecularly alter BanLec to enhance its potential clinical performance. It is estimated that a microbicide that is only 60% effective with a 20% cover-age could prevent up to 2.5 mil-lion infections in three years. Even a modest success could save millions of lives.

of HIV infection. BanLec is a naturally occurring lectin pro-

bind carbohydrate structures, and BanLec was previously studied for its strong affi nity to mannose-carbohydrates. Con-

macrophages, which are cells of the immune system known

to swallow harmful foreign particles by entrapping

them in membrane vesicles. Further analysis revealed Ban-

outpacing the number of indi-viduals receiving anti-retroviral drugs by 2.5 fold. The strongest disconnect can be seen in devel-

oping countries due to hu-

development of a long-lasting, self-applied microbicide is very pressing, especially for devel-

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7March 18, 2010 the arts

ALAN JONESJOELE WALINGA

Not since Snakes on a Planehas a movie garnered so much attention for the simplicity of its title. Hot Tub Time Machine. It’s genius, real-ly, in its simplic-ity. It’s about a hot tub that also happens to be a time machine. It also happens to be a really funny comedy about three friends who realize that their lives did not proceed in the manner in which they had hoped and have the chance to change it all. But seriously, it’s about a hot tub that also hap-pens to be a time machine.

What makes this movie w o r t h w h i l e isn’t the prem-ise, but rather the screenplay, which is bet-

ter than it needs to be, and the chemistry of the four leads, which is essential for a movie like this. The four leads are sent back in time to 1986 via a ski resort hot tub. Once there, they

attempt to retrace their steps as not to create a butterfl y ef-fect that could change their lives in the present while Clark Duke, who is consider-ably younger than his co-stars, comes along for the ride with a mission of his own. Themes of f r i e n d s h i p and growing up together are explored, but they nev-er grow to be so manipula-tive that they take over the humour of

the premise. Really, any fi lm in which John Cusack ingests a cocktail of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and psilocybin mush-rooms is OK with me.

Rob Corddry steals many of the scenes; as Craig Robinson points out early in the fi lm “he’s like your friend who’s an assh-ole, but he’s our asshole.” And to top it all off, Crispin Glover delivers an inspired cameo as a soon-to-be armless bellhop.

Unlike any number of R-Rated comedies, the screenplay goes to lengths to make sure that not too many clichés of the genre are utilized. Random events are referenced without being explained, certain plot threads that could have easily been exploited for sentimen-tal manipulation are solved in unexpected ways (Clark Duke ensuring he is conceived) while other seemingly inconsequen-tial plot threads take on mean-ing (Rob Corddry’s show down with some Red Dawn obsessed ski patrollers); all of which makes the movie a rather enjoy-able throwback to the 1980’s. Despite an illogical (and some-what chauvinistic) fi nale, Hot Tub Time Machine is worth seeing.

No rage against theHot Tub Time Machine

“any film in which John Cusack ingests a cocktail of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and psilocybin mush-rooms is OK with me”

If you were worried that you would not be able to fi nd some-thing face-numbingly boring to do with yourself today, Philip Roth’s The Breast, could put you at ease. With the starch blend of weak minded dialogue, redundancy, and lack of plot, The Breast builds and promptly crushes your hopes with the fl ip of each page. The story begins with David Kepesh, a recurring character in Roth’s novels. Kepesh is a hy-pochondriac who has ironically undergone a “hermaphroditic explosion of chromosomes,” rendering him a 155lb female mammary. Written retrospec-tively, Kepesh gives the ini-tial impression of being more interested in his novel sexual cravings than surprised by his acknowledged Kafkaesque state of grotesquery. In this way the story continues for a 78 page lifetime: visitors come, go, he is bathed and takes pleasure, and he and his doctor discuss the will to live. Throughout these banalities, Kepesh maintains a relationship with his girlfriend from before the metamorphosis, who, similar to Grete Samsa of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, is

portrayed with the sympathetic harbouring of a burden. It is not until the latter pages of the no-vella that Kepesh succumbs to denial, fi guring it more likely to be a crazy man than a female breast. Shortly after introduc-ing this notion, however, Roth seems to exhaust it, and Kepesh assumes his original mindset. The novella then concludes with Rainer Maria Rilke’s Archaic Torso of Apollo.While Roth uses many inter-esting concepts in The Breast, it would appear that they are not only of prior, classic liter-ary origin, but that they are not creatively utilized, simply in-serted. Instead of arriving at a plot justifying conclusion, Roth uses Rilke’s poem which, with its own strength and precision, leaves the reader momentarily content, merely suspending their disappointment. After beginning The Breast, it is likely that you will fi nd yourself unable to put it down. With each page you will hope to discover some kind of meaning; any kind of meaning. Then upon the concluding Rilke poem you will learn that some things, however meaningless and despite all rea-son, simply exist.

The Breast hassagged since the ‘70s

Old books, new reviews

8 March 18, 2010the backpage“ the campus comment ”

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“I feel like when it comes to campus politics, the way to get people to vote isn’t through harassing them constantly, as it just ends up being an invasion of personal space.” - Sahar

the newspaper asks: What, if anything, is the most annoying thing about UTSU elections?

“The constant bickering and the lack of cat-based initia-tives.” - Latvia

“What bugs me the most is when candidates come into classes at the start to do speeches. I once had a prof cut someone off.” - Ron

“Being woken up by marching bands outside my window.” - Rachel

“No idea, I have no clue what you’re talking about.”- Eliza

“Someone stuck a poster to my back while I was sleeping.”- Liisa