The Eyeopener — November 9, 2011

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3November 9, 2011 The EyeopenerNEWS

Rye plans to shun historic Sam sign

BY MICHAEL CHEN

On the night of Nov. 2, a sewage

pipe backup caused the Interna-

tional Living and Learning Centre

(ILLC) to shut down its rst oor

and parking garage.

Maggie’s Eatery and the aected

classrooms are closed for restora-

tion.

Mitigation crews were immedi-

ately called to handle the risk of

contamination from moisture.

“They continued that work in

taking down damaged drywall,

moldy carpets,” said Chad Nut-

tall, manager for student housing

services.

He said it was the main sewer

line that runs along Mutual Street

which disconnected and backed

up their line.

“Obviously that sewage had no-

where to go and just started back-

ing up the pipe and then eventu-

ally it would start coming out the

drains on the rst oor,” said Nut-

tall.

The domestic fresh water in the

building had to be turned o the

next day to prevent more water

from ooding the rst oor.

Showers and washrooms were

made available at Pitman Hall for

the ILLC students during the day.

After sta did an inspection, the

water supply was restored Thurs-

day evening.

Nuall said the extent of damag-

es and the cost will not be known

until later this week.

“There’s a great deal of damage

on the rst oor and the parking

garage so we’re certainly prepar-

ing a claim that will go through

insurance,” he said.

The eight classes originally on

the rst oor had to be relocated to

classrooms in Kerr Hall East, Eric

Palin Hall, Victoria building, Ted

Rogers School of Management and

Sally Horsfall Eaton Centre. Park-

ing was also redirected to Pitman

Hall.

Pitman Hall’s cafeteria is now

open on weekends.

Maggie’s sta will work at Pit-

man and other campus locations

will stay open longer.

Krissatya Wisesa, a rst-year

business management student,

nds that Pitman has fewer veg-

etarian options.

“I feel like you’re downgrading

by eating [at Pitman] because ev-

erything is dierent. At Maggie’s,

they had a vegetarian menu,” said

Wisesa.

Rebecca East, a rst-year image

arts student, said she misses the

home-cooked meals at Maggie’s.

Before Pitman, she “was about to

call Student Housing Services and

call them for money from my meal

plan so that I could buy groceries.”

Ryerson has vowed to pay homage to the Sam the Record Man site by incorporating its iconic signage into the new StudentLearning Centre, but documents revealed they would rather not. Associate News Editor Carolyn Turgeon investigates

FILE PHOTO

Sam the Record Man was once

an integral part of Yonge Street,

but Ryerson is not a fan of the icon-

ic sign.

“I would rather not use the

sign,” said Ryerson President Shel-

don Levy.

This would come as a surprise

for community members who

campaigned extensively to save

the sign in 2007-08.

The piece of Toronto’s heritage

was designated as such by Kyle

Rae and the Heritage Recommen-

dation Board during his term as

Ward 27 councillor.

Rae, who has since established

urban consultant company PQR

Solutions, said that when Sam’s

went bankrupt there were many

people who contacted his oce

and made Facebook groups about

maintaining the sign.

“There were probably two gen-

erations of Torontonians who grew

up and saw it as their rite of pas-

sage as teenagers,” said Rae. “I

agreed at that time that there was

probably a signicant impact from

that sign.”

He now views the sign’s signi-

cance in a dierent light.

“There is still a cadre of Toron-

tonians that can identify with this

sign, but many current ones don’t

know [about it],” he said.

He understands the university’s

hesitation to place the sign on one

of their buildings. “It’s dicult to

expect Ryerson to stick the sign on

their property when the associa-

tion will be lost,” said Rae.

The stipulations were that if

they were to build on the property,

Sam’s sign would have to be re-

2001 Sam the Record Manwas forced to le for bank-ruptcy on Oct. 30, which ap-plied to 30 stores owned by

the family and was partiallydue to their $15-million debt.

2002 Sam’s sons Jasonand Bobby reopened theYonge Street store alongwith 11 franchise stores. The

franchise stores outside ofToronto were not a part ofthe bankruptcy ling.

2007 On June 22, citycouncil voted in favour ofdesignating the property asa heritage site. The building

was designated because theOntario Heritage Act had norules for store signs.

2007 On June 30, theagship store on Yonge andGould streets closed perma-nently. They pointed to the

inuence of technology onthe industry as a reason fortheir decision.

2008 On Jan. 18, RyersonUniversity bought the prop-erty to expand their campus,and later on decided to use

it for their upcoming StudentLearning Centre.

ILLC shut after sewage flooding

PHOTO: REBECCA BURTON

stored from its broken down state

and then incorporated.

The original plan was that the

sign could either be used in the

design of the Student Learning

Centre (SLC) or put on the South

side of the library building, facing

Gould Street.

“In order for the university to

be able to move on [the property]

they had to negotiate with the city

where the sign would be recon-

structed,” said Levy.

“I’m not sure, to be honest, if

that’s something we should be ask-

ing property owners to do,” said

current Ward 27 councillor KristynWong-Tam.

Levy also revealed that restor-

ing and mounting the sign to the

building will cost approximately

$250,000, which he believes could

be beer spent by the university.

Concillor Wong-Tam said there

are other complications as well.

“It may not be physically possi-

ble given the size of the sign as well

as technology having changed,”

she said.

The sign also doesn’t t into

the city’s new sustainable design

for Yonge Street, and its outdated

technology would be power con-

suming and hard to accommodate.

There are now discussions for a

more appropriate use of the sign or

a dierent tribute that would beer

fulll the needs of the school.

“We are trying to discuss with

[city council] a beer place to me-

morialize the Sam’s location,” said

Levy.

The Eyeopener obtained a status

report on the SLC which proposed

a sidewalk tribute instead of the

original plan.

Levy acknowledged that a side-

walk tribute was being considered,

while Wong-Tam said Ryerson had

taken steps in developing an inter-

pretive commemorative plaque for

the property.

Levy does not think Sam Snider-

man’s sons, Bobby and Jason,

would object.

“It wasn’t family that made the

issue, it was certain members of

the Toronto community that saw it

as an important thing and the city

council respected their wishes andput it as a condition on the univer-

sity,” said Levy.

He said Ryerson will make their

case, and the citizens may argue

against it, but it will ultimately be

up to the council.

“Should they make no other

decision we are obliged to follow

what they have already decided

and we will,” said Levy.

According to Rae, the sign was

never properly maintained and the

city had to get Sam a grant before

he would x it in the late ‘90s.

“We were trying to get it to look

like the people who owned proper-

ty on Yonge Street cared,” said Rae.

“Frankly, Sam didn’t care.”

Maggie’s Eatery ater the fooding.

Sam the Record Man in 2008.

Frankly, Sam didn’t care.— Kyle Rae,

former Ward 27 councillor



EDITOR-IN-CHIEFLauren “NOT MUM” Strapagiel

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4 November 9, 2011The Eyeopener EDITORIAL

LAURENSTRAPAGIELEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Rye neverwantedSam

If you’re surprised that Ryerson

doesn’t want to use the Sam the Re-

cord Man sign, you shouldn’t be.

When the Student Learning Cen-

tre’s plans were rst revealed, the

building was modern, airy and

unlike anything else on the Yonge

Street strip. And that is precisely

why you didn’t see the Sam’s sign

anywhere.The neon spinning records were

installed almost half a century ago,

far before anyone was making at-

tempts to revitalize Yonge Street.

There was no place to buy a Mac-

book or a trendy burrito and there

were far fewer billboards lighting

up the Yonge and Dundas intersec-

tion.

There were strip joints, bars and

prostitutes balancing on their heels

in between. Sam’s is a relic of Yonge

Street’s ungentried and griy

past. A memorable part of Toron-

to’s history for some, but it’s a time

that Ryerson is building to forget.

Why would Ryerson want to put

a hunk of ancient neon discs on

their shiny new Yonge Street real

estate?

Their goal is the future and see-

ing through the task of bringing

Bloor Street’s pizzazz and the Dis-

covery District’s reputation for

innovation to Yonge Street. And

they’re certainly not going to let a

much-loved but very much dead

music store get in their way.

Even the politicians who fought

to have the sign preserved are giv-

ing the thought of using them on

the SLC a big ol’ “meh.”

Is it fair for Ryerson to buy a To-ronto landmark then try to pass

o the duty of reviving the signs?

That’s for you to decide.

Tweet us @theeyeopener with

what you think should become of

Sam’s spinning signs.

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Ryerson school of social work

master’s student Sinem Ketenci is

taking the university to the Hu-

man Rights Tribunal of Ontario on

allegations of being deemed “racist

and inhuman” by a professor and

discriminated against for her belief

and work in ethical veganism.

“I have been blacklisted and fur-

ther marginalized. At present time

no faculty member is willing to

give me a reference,” said Ketenci.

Ketenci immigrated to Canada

from Turkey 10 years ago and start-

ed her master’s degree at Ryerson

in Sepember 2010. Upon entering

the program she formed “collegial

relations with other students and

faculty members.” In combination

with her master’s program she was

a class representative and graduate

teaching assistant.

Ketenci asked to incorporate her

research on animal rights and ethi-

cal veganism into an assignment

in October 2010. The professor

she was working with at the time

said “she did not know very much

about the subject maer,” but ex-

pressed a willingness to learn.

Yet the assignment was returned

with comments from her professor

that it was “very racist and inhu-

man.” The professor disagreed

with her stance of puing the suf-

fering of animals and the suering

of racialized people in the same

context.

“This is unspeakable of being

accused like this. I myself am a ra-

cialized immigrant woman,” said

Ketenci.

Ketenci said the professor and

herself came to an understanding

that they would respect each oth-

er’s beliefs. The professor agreed

she would not become a barrier to

Ketenci pursuing this research in

potential PhD programs.

In December 2010, Ketenci was

not only criticized by her teaching

assistant supervisor but also asked

if she understood how much she

had upset fellow sta. The teach-

ing assistant refused to continue to

work with her.

The same day she met with her

master research proposal (MRP)

supervisor who also criticized her.

Ketenci wrote in her leer to the

tribunal that they called her “very

oensive, dogmatic, not a critical

thinker, not open minded and dis-

honest.”

Ketenci said she was informed in

January 2011 that if she continued

with this subject maer her mas-

Student takes Rye to rights tribunalAfter four months of doing her master’s research project on ethical veganism, Sinem Ketenci was called “racist” and told toswitch topics. Ketenci is now taking the case to the Human Rights Tribunal. News Editor Rebecca Burton reports

Ryerson grad Sinem Ketenci says she has been “blacklisted” at Ryerson. PHOTO: MOHAMED OMAR

No home for exchange students coming to RyeBY SHAUNA UPTON

Students headed to Ryerson on

exchange are forced to nd their

own living arrangements. With

only eight month contracts, Hous-

ing Services oers no solutions to

students studying here for one se-

mester.

“The majority of exchange stu-

dents are here for one semester and

the bulk of them come in Septem-

ber,” said Gigi Law, international

communication and administrative

ocer at Ryerson.

New Zealand’s Auckland Uni-

versity of Technology (AUT) stu-

dent Emily Brown assumed cam-

pus housing would be available at

Ryerson.

“One of the main things I was

looking forward to with the ex-

change experience was living in a

dorm on campus,” she said.

Brown, studying human resourc-

es, stayed in a hotel for a few weeks

while looking for more permanent

accommodation.

She believed that the university

wasn’t particularly concerned if she

had somewhere to live or not.

ter’s would not be granted. All the

faculty members knew about the

topic, she said. “I was rejected after

four months of so much support.”

Nora Farrell, ombudsperson at

Ryerson said “there are not any

policies in place to indicate what

a student can or cannot pursue.”

There are policies on whether the

approach taken to the subject is

academic, she said. Her advice was

if a master’s student is having trou-

ble working with their program

advisor, the student is advised to

go to the program director.

In order to receive her master’s

degree, Ketenci changed her topicto the global food crisis. In a meet-

ing on Jan. 17, it was decided she

would change MRP supervisors.

The original supervisor said he

would send leers to the PhD pro-

grams in which she was applying

to state that he was no longer her

supervisor.

Ketenci said she was never told

those leers would be leers of

withdrawal explicitly stating that

the professor no longer supported

her PhD applications.

“The main case of discrimination

is not changing the topic. It was the

withdrawal leer to the schools to

which I sent in my PhD applica-

tions,” said Ketenci.

The leers of withdrawal were

sent to the Ontario Institute for

Studies in Education (OISE), at the

University of Toronto, where Ke-

tenci applied for PhD programs,

on Jan. 20, 2011.

“I didn’t even know the nature

of the leers. The only reason I

knew were because the leers were

cc’d to me. It was unethical because

I wasn’t given a chance to clarify

the issue,” she said.

In the policies of Ryerson grad-

uate studies it outlines that all

conict should try to be resolved

through “informal program chan-

nels.” It also states that whenever

possible “formal communications

should be limited to those parties

directly concerned in dealing with

the problems.”

Ketenci brought the issue to the

oce of discrimination and ha-

rassment at Ryerson in Septem-

ber 2011. Ketenci was told that it

should be considered an academic

maer and decision and that it was

not an issue of discrimination or a

failure to accommodate.Ketenci disagreed with the re-

sponse and wrote that the situa-

tion was a “serious threat towards

freedom of speech and freedom of

belief.”

Ketenci’s PhD applications have

since been rejected.

“No university would accept

PhD applications with withdrawal

leers. It’s a very serious accusa-

tion,” she said.

Fiona Gardener, admissions

and registration clerk of graduate

admissions at OISE, said that situ-

ations like this could only be dis-

cussed on a case by case basis but

that “it’s a unique situation, that

doesn’t happen very often.”

Ryerson was unavailable for any

comment at this time but Bruce

Piercey, director of university

advancement, said “we haven’t

received formal notication that

anything from the Human Rights

Tribunal of Ontario has been led.”

Full details of Ketenci’s creed for

ethical veganism is outlined in her

leer to the tribunal and she is ask-

ing for $15,000 in compensation.

“They’re hosting us,” said

Brown. “At home they take respon-

sibility for the student’s safety.”

Rachel Paine, an AUT student in

business information and tourism

management, said she knows Ry-

erson students who have lived on

campus at her university.

She believes living on campus

would have changed the dynamic

of her exchange.

“I potentially would’ve goen a

beer feel of Canada,” she said. “I

would have goen to know a few

more Canadian students, not just

exchange students.”

Ida Soe Asle, a Copenhagen

Business School student from Den-

mark, and Alex Blenko, an inter-

national business student from the

University of Portsmouth in the

U.K., said their universities oer

on-campus housing.

“The responsibility rests with

the individual student,” said Glen

Weppler, director of student com-

munity life.

Weppler is responsible for stu-

dent housing services, which of-

fers an o-campus listing for

rental accommodations in the city.

The service allows anyone to post,

which raises safety concerns for in-

ternational students.

The location is not ideal to cre-

ate additional housing, which has

resulted in approximately 400 stu-

dents on the waiting list.

“Other institutions may have

an easier time accommodating ex-

change students because they have

open rooms,” said Chad Nuall,

manager of student housing. “We

have such demand for our rooms.”

No university wouldaccept PhD applica-

tions with withdrawal

letters. It’s a very seri-

ous accusation.

— Sinem Ketenci,

Master’s student



Kerr Hall a pain to maintain

6 November 9, 2011The Eyeopener NEWS

Chang profs eager to please studentsFor Chang School instructors, negative student feedback could mean the end of their teaching days. News Editor Mariana

Ionova looks at whether profs are hiking up marks in hopes of getting A’s on their instructor evaluations

Chang School instructors reapply every semester and student satisfaction affects their chances of being hired.

Lack of job security for Chang

School instructors may be pushing

profs to go easy on students in a

bid to keep them happy.

Chang School Continuing Edu-

cation instructors are contracted

on a term-by-term basis, with an

hourly wage of $133.10 for a total

of 42 hours each semester. But once

the term is over, they must apply

again to be considered for another

contract for the following term.

Linda Kowel, manager of in-

structor relations, said Chang

School instructors are in “contin-

gent teaching” positions, which

are not designed to provide job

stability but to meet the school’s

teaching needs.

“It’s not career teaching,” said

Kowel. “At the Chang School, that’s

not our intent. We oer courses

and we are looking for instructors

to teach those courses.”

When an instructor reapplies for

a teaching position, the school con-

siders factors like their academic

credentials, experience in their

eld and prior post-secondary

teaching experience. But they’re

also asked to demonstrate they can

successfully engage with students

by aaching faculty course sur-

veys, which are considered con-

dential and are not available to

anyone other than the instructor.

“Denitely, student feedback is

very important,” said Saeed Ne-

jatian, program director for engi-

neering, architecture and science.

“Obviously the voice of the stu-

dents plays a solid role. If you get

negative points, it’s something that

we denitely consider but the posi-

tive feedback is also considered.”

This could lead instructors to as-

sociate positive student feedback

with a higher chance of being hired

for another term, according to Ne-

jatian.

“Everybody in their right mind

would think that way,” he said. “If

they get good feedback from their

students, the chances of being con-

sidered for another opportunity

will be there. If they get negative

comments, they know that — or at

least, I would know that — those

chances are not going to be good.”

While Kowel acknowledges that

students who are satised with

their grades may produce more

favourable course faculty surveys,

the school tried to keep the process

“as objective as possible.”

“We always recommend that

evaluation surveys be done before

the end of term because, when stu-

dents get their nal grades, they

may be more or less happy,” she

said.

But some students claim Chang

School instructors are still more

forgiving towards students than

professors in full-time programs.

John Colangelo, who graduated

from the business management

program last year, took nearly

20 courses at the Chang School

throughout his four years at Ry-

erson. He mainly took them be-

cause they were easier to t into

his schedule but the diculty level

of the courses was also a consider-

ation.

“The material is just as dicult

but [Chang courses] tend to be

more exible with due dates and

more lenient with grading,” he

said. “I guess I thought it myself,

‘I have to take this hard course, I’m

going to see if it’s oered through

the Chang School and, that way, it

might be a bit easier.’”

Colangelo remembered that an

instructor he had for a statistics

PHOTO: LINDSAY BOECKL

BY SAMANTHA SIM

Water trickles down steadily

from a missing ceiling panel in the

Kerr Hall basement, while a black

garbage bag aempts to stop the

persistent leak. On the third oor

of the building, a row of four miss-

ing ceiling panels have left wires

hanging over students as they walk

by to get to their chemistry labs. In

other parts of the building, electri-

cal outlets with missing socket cov-

ers and chipping wall panels serve

as a constant reminder that the

building has seen beer days.

Keeping up with maintenance of

the 48-year-old building has pre-

sented a challenge for Ryerson as

the university has aempted to ret-

rot inaccessible space, aging labs

and deteriorating facilities.

Ryerson President Sheldon Levy

said maintaining Kerr Hall is dif-

cult and costly largely because it

needs more work than newer fa-

cilities.

“It’s like your house — as it gets

old, things start breaking and the

maintenance goes up,” he said.

This summer, Ryerson spent a

total of $5.3 million on campus re-

pairs and a signicant part of that

funding was spent on Kerr Hall

updates.

Most of the work in the build-

ing was concentrated in Kerr HallNorth, which saw three of its labs

renovated. Room 307 B/C received

an electrical upgrade that was sup-

posed to be completed in Septem-

ber. The rest of the lab will be n-

ished during the school year.

Kerr Hall North room

205 is receiving a

fume hood re-

configuration

and an ex-

pansion to

allow for

simultane-

ous experi-

ments. The

lab’s work-

study envi-

ronment will

be improved

with new light x-

tures and ceiling.

The chemical engineer-

ing polymer research lab in room

113A got a new ventilation unit

and benches, as well as new oor-

ing, wall and ceiling nishes. Kerr

Hall East received two signicant

lab upgrades, a thermodynamic/

heat transfer lab (KHE-029) and a

uid mechanics lab (KHE-031).

In addition, Kerr Hall is geing

an electrical upgrade that will in-

crease the current electrical capac-

ity to a high-voltage electrical feedof 13.8 kV and will allow for even

more future developments and ex-

pansions of the building’s lab fa-

cilities. The project is slated for an

August 2012 completion.

But some students argue main-

tenance should priori-

tize updating lab

equipment in-

stead of xing

the physi-

cal space in

Kerr Hall.

“ S o m e

of the in-

struments

are really

old,” says

Phillip Junor,

a second-year

chemistry student.

“They seem to replace

things like a broken cup-

board door when we really need

new analytical balances.”

Senyo Akakpo, a third-year bio-

physics student, also believes stu-

dents’ priorities lie elsewhere.

“We don’t really care about the

lab as a whole, the equipment is

the most important.”

course pushed a midterm back one

week because the class was not pre-

pared. He noted the process and

exibility was “a lile bit like high

school.”

Kowel said the school does not

evaluate grade scales and does not

analyze any data to determine the

grade averages produced by spe-

cic instructors. “We don’t know

if a particular instructor is grading

higher or lower than his or her col-

leagues.”

But Ryerson President Sheldon

Levy said one study of Ted Rog-

ers School of Management courses

showed marks at the Chang School

are in fact lower than those in day-time courses. Nonetheless, he not-

ed that using student satisfaction to

evaluate instructors is problematic.

“Students aren’t customers buy-

ing a product. If a student has dif-

culty, doesn’t work and gets a

failing grade and they say they’re

not satised, it’s not like they’ve

bought a commodity. I think even

the notion of student satisfaction

has to be looked upon very care-

fully and not jump to conclusions

at all. ”

Kowel said the school tries to

enforce quality teaching through

classroom observations, where pro-

gram coordinators evaluate new

instructors by siing in a class. The

information from those sessions is

then placed in their les and con-

sidered during future applications.

“We watch closely, whenever

we can get feedback, we will use it.

Still, it’s a learning process for a lot

of our instructors for the rst few

terms,” she said.

PHOTO: MARIANA IONOVA




Briefs &Groaners

A USB key was reported

missing on Nov. 2 from the Ted

Rogers building. The individu-

al said no personal information

was on the stick. Only his porn

collection.

On Nov. 3 one of the candy

machines in the Student Cam-

pus Centre was vandalized.

The report said the machine

experienced forced entry in

the coin slot. It’s not our fault

we’re too broke to even aord

a quarter.

Security were called in to

take care of an individual who

dropped a weight on his foot.

An ambulance was called butthe individual said he would

go to the hospital on his own.

Our workout tip: less weight,

more reps.

RSU to debatespace issues

Tuition fees, student space and

TTC Metropasses are some of the

issues the Ryerson Students’ Union

(RSU) will discuss at the AnnualGeneral Meeting on Nov. 9.

The meeting requires at least

100 students to aend or the RSU

is “not able to conduct business,”

said Caitlin Smith, RSU president.

At the meeting, executives will

present students with a report

from the last six months and -

nancial statements from the audi-

tor. Students will vote on motions,

serve amendments and bring new

ideas forward.

In April, the AGM did not meet

quorum and the RSU was forced

to adjourn early, postponing any

signicant motion decisions until

this fall.

This time around, the RSU is

hoping to engage students in an ac-

tive conversation about the issues

that aect them.

“All of these motions are to

show that we’ve got the support of

the body, the membership,” said

Smith.

The RSU hopes the meeting

will help inform students about

the need to lobby for a reduction

in tuition fees. Smith said the Lib-

eral party lied to students when it

promised a 30 per cent decrease

during the provincial election.

“Unfortunately it’s not a realtuition fee reduction,” said Smith,

“it’s actually a grant.”

Smith said she would like to see

this grant money go towards an

overall tuition reduction, which

would amount to about a 13 per

cent decrease.

The RSU is also reevaluating the

use of student space in the SCC

and a motion is being brought for-

ward by Rodney Diverlus, vice-

president of equity, to campaign

for additional multi-faith space.

Right now there is a single non-

bookable room in the SCC, while

there are over a dozen faith-based

groups at Ryerson.

The RSU is also looking to form

a commiee of ve students to look

at how SCC space is being used

and to make adjustments to match

student needs. The ad-hoc student

space commiee will be decided at

Wednesday’s meeting.

Smith said it’s also important

to continue lobbying for a student

TTC pass, which was introduced

in 2010 after continuous pressure

from student unions and the Ca-

nadian Federation of Students.

But the $99 pass could now be in

jeopardy due to TTC budget cuts,

according to Smith.

“We fought really hard to get

that pass to begin with,” said

Smith.

Also on the meeting’s agenda

are motions for a campaign regard-

ing food security, the workstudyprogram and a campaign against

gender-based violence. The AGM

will take place in Room 115 of the

SCC starting at 5 p.m.

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8 November 9, 2011The Eyeopener BIZ & TECH

Help

WantedWorking retail can be a sweet gig

for any student. Better hours and numerous

positions await eager part-time workers. But big

companies aren’t your friend, and the the staff

need some help.Jeff Lagerquist reports

It’s nearly impossible to ignore the endless stream of

shoppers, the ominous billboards and the glaring lights

that cast a continual glow over Ryerson’s campus. Cer-

tainly there’s no denying that we live and study in the

shadow of Canada’s retail giants. While some see these

xtures as imposing symbols of all-mighty consumer cap-

italism, many look towards them for jobs.

In Toronto, the retail sector workforce employs more

than 140,000people, accord-

ing to the 2010

City of Toronto

Annual Em-

ployment Sur-

vey. With such a

high concentra-

tion of those op-

portunities just

steps away from

Ryerson, many students are eager to cash in. However,

like any other industry, retail employers don’t always

play by the rules.

Hanna Mohammed is a third-year journalism student.

She’s also a sales associate and bra specialist at Victoria’s

Secret; an employer she says doesn’t always provide her

with enough support.

“I nd the management is really sloppy,” said Moham-

med. It took nearly a month for the store’s ve managers

to approve changes to her work schedule so she could at-

tend all of her classes, and that was just the beginning.

Aorney Andrea Wobick works with law rm Green

& Chercover and defends clients against injustices in

the workplace. She says students in retail are prime tar-

gets for labour rights issues, and they rarely take action

against employers.

“Students are, for the most part, looking to earn money

for tuition and groceries. They usually aren’t willing to

take on their managers or employer, so long as they get

their paycheques. And I completely understand that,”

said Wobick.

Eagar to earn, Mohammed would often agree to work

overtime. Several of her co-workers found these extra

shifts were not being documented.

“You really have to comb through your paycheque and

make sure you are geing paid for enough hours,” she

said. “It really adds up after a while.”

Victoria’s Secret is owned by parent company Limited

Brands, which also owns Pink, Bath & Body Works, C.O.

Bigelow, La Senza, White Barn Candle Co., and Henri

Bendel.

The company drew $8.6 billion in sales in 2009.

In the retail game, big sales

gures mean big line-ups.

Retail workers are almost

always on their feet. They

wear a friendly smile — fake

at times — as they serve

their customers. Breaks pro-

vide much needed moments

for rest and nutrition.

According to section 20 of Ontario’s Employment Stan-

dards Act, an employee is to work no more than ve hours

straight without a break of at least 30 minutes. Some em-

ployers pay during breaks, but it’s not required.

“The 30-minute break

can also be split into

two 15-minute breaks,

but only if both the em-

ployee and employer set

up an agreement. In any

case, the break is manda-

tory,” said Wobick.

“We would usually

get only a few minutes

for our breaks,” said Mohammed. A frustrated co-worker

eventually posted a copy of the Employment Standards

Act in the break room to bring aention to this issue.

“They printed it out and underlined the part that says

we should be geing half an hour,” she said.

That was back in June.

“People are still complaining about it,” said Moham-

med. Management agreed to look at the issue after the

busy holiday season.

“To be honest, I don’t think they will,” she said.

“Employers don’t get to choose when it’s convenient to

uphold the Employment Standards Act. It’s their obliga-

tion to do that all of the time, regardless of holiday shop-

pers,” said Wobick.

Second-year photography student Callan Field worked

for Vistek, a photography retailer, over the summer.

Vistek has six locations across Canada, and Field worked

over the summer as a shipping and receiving assistant.“It was hard not being treated like an adult sta mem-

ber,” he said.

Only 18-years-old at the time, he was by far the young-

est employee. Field’s vaguely dened job description

meant that he spent a considerable amount of time com-

pleting menial tasks around the store, and was often left

siing around the shipping department with nothing to

do.

“It seemed like they just didn’t know what to do with

me most of the time,” said Field, who was grateful to be

earning money in his chosen eld of study.

While boring afternoons spent watching the clock in the

shipping department are by no means illegal, being asked

to perform dangerous tasks certainly is.

“Looking back,

some of the things

they had me do-

ing were complete-

ly unsafe,” said

Field, who didn’t

know his rights

at the time. Hav-

ing worked other

jobs since leaving

Vistek, he now has a clearer understanding of the law.

Section 43 of Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety

Act states that employees have the right to refuse work

that he or she believes to be unsafe. This can include ma-

chinery or equipment, potential workplace violence, or in

Field’s case the physical condition of the workplace itself.

“It comes down to a judgment call that an employ-

ee has to make. However, that may be easier said than

done when you have a manager standing over you,” said

[Students] usually aren’t willing to take on their managersor employer, so long as they get their paycheques.

— Andrea Wobick, Attorney at Green and Chercover

You really have to comb through your paycheque and makesure you are getting paid for enough hours.

— Hanna Mohammed,Victoria’s Secret employee



9November 9, 2011 The EyeopenerBIZ & TECH

TWEETSOF THE WEEK

@mmmeganChecked my online foot-print as per @theeyeopen-er’s article. When yougoogle my name afully loaded cheeseburgercomes out of your printer.

@nicolenicolsonThe man on the cover of@TheEyeopener is wear-ing an @ArkellsMusic shirt.Looks like you’ve “made it”,boys ;)

@ctimeeLove that I must get up atan ungodly hour to dropbox my essay. What is thepoint of a drop box behindthe locked doors. You suck#Ryerson

@ashleybabyyy“the no.1 thing i like aboutryerson is that its not UofT”#ryerson #thetorontostar

FREE

APPSOF THE WEEK

Pick up next week’s issue for a look into the dirty world of

internships. Catered specically to students, they will often

force a decision between money and experience. We’ve heard

most people need both.

PHOTO: CHELSEA POTTAGE

Want to vent your frustration

or make us laugh? Use the#eyeforatweet hashtag. Ifwe like what we see, wemay print it! Be sure tofollow @theeyeopener forall your Ryerson news.

Stitcher RadioiPhone | BlackBerry | Android

Okay friends. It’s time to turnoff your playlists for a secondand expand your interests.And enter Stitcher Radio.You can take your pick ofover 5,000 podcasts and liveAM/FM feeds.

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Think of this as Boggle onyour phone, because that’spretty much what it is. Thisword game is addictive. Youhave been warned.

Wobick.

“They had me climbing shelves over a storey o the

ground,” said Field.

In the stock room at Vistek, employees would often scale

the shelving to retrieve boxes containing high-end ink jet

printers and large rolls of paper. The narrow space between

the rows of shelves made it impossible to use a stepladder to

access the upper levels.

Field and his fellow employees would balance themselveswith one foot on the edge of the shelf and the other support-

ed by the shelf across the aisle, as they passed heavy boxes

down to a coworker.

“I was never really scared, but it wouldn’t have taken much

for somebody to get seriously hurt,” said Field.

Field said Vistek did not oer any sort of safety training to

its warehouse employees.

“In any workplace with more than 20 regular workers, an

employer is required to have a joint health and safety com-

miee with employees trained in how to deal with workplace

safety issues,” said Wobick.

Ontario’s labour legislation uses an escalating scale of

nes to punish delinquent employers. A rst oense carries

a ne of $100,000, and multiple infractions can cost as much

as $500,000. But large corporations have prey deep pockets.

It’s certainly a problem when you have large employers

that can aord hefty legal fees to avoid prosecution altogeth-

er. And when the absolute maximum ne is a drop in the

bucket for them, it’s fair to say that there is not equal bargain-

ing power, even with the legislation,” said Wobick.

While working in retail may be tempting, resolving a work-

place issue is generally more challenging than in other lines

of work. Still, if you like uniforms and faking people skills,

retail may be for you.

“The best part about my job is that I make money. That’s

prey much it. But I’d rather not be poor,” said Mohammed.

Who and how much...By Gender

CashiersMen: 86 per centWomen: 14 per cent

SalespeopleMen: 42 per centWomen: 58 per cent

BuyersMen: 50 per centWomen: 50 per cent

Store ManagersMen: 58 per centWomen: 42 per cent

The average ageof a manager or buyeris 43-years-old

Annual Salaries(part time)

Cashiers$7,789

Salespeople$11,240

Supervisors$16,772

Store managers$29,690

6.5 per centof managers work part time

46 per centof retail employees workpart time



10November 9, 2011 The EyeopenerFEATURES

The dual lives of three Ryerson members. Expect the unexpected.Two roles, one player

Steven Park rubs his

hands on his blue jeans,

then puts them in his

pocket, and takes them out

again; not quite sure where

to put them. He is dgety,

not sure what to make of the

situation. “I’m not really a

politician, so I’ll still talk to

reporters,” he jokes. Park isa fourth-year computer sci-

ence student, but he’s also

risen the ranks to become

president of the Computer

Science Course Union.

He organizes events and

represents students to fac-

ulty, but it’s also a good way

to make friends. He’s grow-

ing facial hair in support of

prostate cancer awareness

with some of his friends this

month. “I’m hoping to have

a nice pair of handlebars,”

he says.

Handlebars would help

his role-playing, when he

plays a old, grouchy cleric

in Dungeons and Dragons.

He goes to weekly game

night for the Association of

Ryerson Role-Players and

Gamers (ARRG). Every

Thursday the group meets

in Oakham House. It’s

Park’s second month, but

he’s been a gamer for much

longer.

The ARRG members told

him to become the cleric

role while he played. Cleric

Park may be grouchy, but

wise and caring too. “Going

into rrroll makes it moooore

fun,” he explains as he dem-

onstrates the “Sean Con-

nery” British-style voice he

uses.

Playing board games is a

way for Park to relax from

the hectic life he leads.

Travelling from North To-

ronto makes long days, soits a good stress reliever.

Tonight the gamers are

playing Munchkin, a fanta-

sy card game that involves

baling monsters to rise to

level 10. Park sits with his

head down, his black bangs

bouncing o the front of his

glasses. “I feel like I’m do-

ing something wrong here,”

he tells the group, “I’m sor-

ry guys, I haven’t played

this game in like three

years.” Every few turns the

game stops so Park can ex-

plain the rules to the four

other confused players.

Soon they’re interrupted

by a group of Live Action

Role Players (LARPers).

Everyone heads over to the

quad and they hand out

“weapons” — mostly golf

clubs or sticks with foam

over them.

They’re split into two

teams and a bale begins.

Park strikes down oppo-

nents with his sword. “I’ve

never LARPed before,” he

says, “It’s awesome, but it’s

exercise and I get tired very

easily.”

There’s a lot going on

around Haley Wolfenden

— people cheer, numbered

lights ash red and icker

new scores, the smell of hot

dogs and mustard wafts

through the air — but the

seer for the Ryerson Rams

women’s volleyball team

only has one thing on hermind — the yellow and

purple volleyball headed

straight towards her.

She jumps and spikes

the ball, making the sound

of two hands colliding in a

single clap, while her loose

braid swings left.

Wolfenden has played

the game for over 11 years,

starting in Grade 6 in her

hometown of Oawa. “I

can’t even imagine my life

without it, without volley-

ball,” Wolfenden says with

determination in her eyes

but a sense of realization in

her voice. She’s in her fourth

and nal year. Now, with

experience in hand, she is

continuously guiding her

team, tugging at her shirt,

pulling it outwards to hide

the plays she is revealing

to her teammates through

simple signs that to onlook-

ers seem like nothing more

than two ngers in the air

symbolizing peace.

Giving these signs wasn’t

something Wolfenden was

used to. “I had never been

a seer before and now

my team looks to me for

plays,” she said. It was up

and down, but she’s learned

to love it and “lead by ex-

ample.” Over the past three

years, Wolfenden has scored

the highest number of as-

sists — 930. Before reach-

ing Ryerson in 2005 she was

named MVP of the NationalCapitals, a competitive Oa-

wa-based volleyball club.

Stretching her horizons,

Wolfenden referees volley-

ball intramurals every Mon-

day night. What started out

as an extra gig for money,

turned out to be much more.

“It is the best way to spend

my Monday nights. I don’t

even see it as a job.”

Her focus and re is

replaced with a laid-back

demeanor when she’s refer-

eeing. Her eyes still follow

the ball, but she’s at ease.

She has a navy whistle in

her mouth and her hands

busily scribble down tallies.

She continuously laughs

and jokes with the players,

as if they were friends, bare-

ly making any calls and the

players never arguing back.

They just simply exchange

quick and wiy words.

Volleyball as a passion

and a hobby runs in her

family. Her older sister,

24 and her younger sister,

18, both currently play for

varsity teams in their

universities.

It’s a quiet Friday morn-

ing in Kerr Hall South, and

room 239 gradually lls

with students awaiting their

morning lecture in Music

and Film. They talk quietly

amongst themselves and

eye the clock as it ticks clos-

er to 10:10 a.m.

With seconds to spare,a man in a white tee and

jeans, shouldering a back-

pack ducks into the room.

For a newcomer, it takes a

moment to realize that this

man is not a student, but the

professor in charge of the

lecture.

Paul Swoger-Ruston isn’t

what many students would

probably consider an aver-

age professor. On campus,

Swoger-Ruston is the Aca-

demic Coordinator for the

Chang School’s Certicate

in Music: Global and Cul-

tural Contexts.

But in his own time, he’s

also a guitarist in two active

bands, a composer, and all-

around musician.

Since seventh grade,

Swoger-Ruston has played

guitar. He didn’t let the

initial novelty wear o and

has played ever since. The

decision to join a band came

more recently.

He plays with two bands,

Frankie Foo and Combo

Royale. The rst is a group

of players ages 20-65 who

get together to play regular

shows, but rarely rehearse.

“It’s more great play-

ers having fun,” Swoger-

Ruston says. Frankie Foo

plays ska music, a combina-

tion of rock and jazz which

developed from reggae.

Combo Royale, an early

acoustics band, rehearses

every other week and usual-ly plays three to four shows

a month, making it more

of a time commitment for

Swoger-Ruston.

For him one of the hard-

est things can be nding

balance. “You have to

really carve out your time,”

he says. “Composing in par-

ticular has been hard to get

back to.”

Between teaching, music

and a family with two young

children, nding time for all

his interests can be dicult,

Swoger-Ruston says. “I’m

sort of in my ideal scenario.

I get bored doing one thing.

I always have a couple hats

on. I like the variety.”

After the lecture, Swoger-

Ruston leaves the room, his

backpack on and shues

his runners down the hall-

way. He blends in with the

students, but instead of

returning to an apartment,

or residence, Swoger-Rus-

ton heads back to his oce.

After all, making a career

out of music isn’t easy. He

has a lot of work to do be-

fore he can play.

BY CORMAC MCGEE BY ALVINA SIDDIQUI BY SEAN WETSELAAR

President and Gamer Player and Ref Prof and Rocker

P H O T O S : ( L - R ) M O H A M E D O M A R ,

D A S H A Z O L A T A &

L I N D S A Y B O E C K L



11November 9, 2011 The EyeopenerSPORTS

The year of the ramTheScore

PHOTO: LINDSAY BOECKLOla Adegboruwa against Dalhousie

Friday’s results

Men’s Basketball:

Ryerson 91 @ Santa Clara60

Men’s Hockey:

Ryerson 1 @ Concordia 3

Women’s Hockey:

Ryerson 1 @ Queen’s 5

Men’s Volleyball:

McMaster 2 @ Ryerson 3

Women’s Volleyball:


Saturday’s results

Men’s Hockey:

Ryerson 1 @ UQTR 9

Women’s Hockey:

Ryerson 2 @ UOIT 6

Men’s Volleyball:


Women’s Volleyball:

Ryerson 1 @ Brock 3

Men’s Basketball

Ryerson 47 @ Stanford 100

BY

GABRIEL LEE

Men’s volleyball winshome opener

In their rst game of the season, Ryerson’s men’s volleyball team

managed to outlast the McMaster Marauders 3-2. Luka Milosevic

and Alex Dawson led the Rams with 19 points and 15 kills each.

Roman Kabanov added 16 points and 13 kills.

PHOTO: DASHA ZOLOTA

Monday’s results

Men’s Basketball

Ryerson 66 @ Rhode Is-land 97

Aleksa Miladinovic spikes the ball against McMaster

For the second straight season,

the men’s basketball team’s main

adversary won’t be the University

of Toronto Varsity Blues, nor will it

be the Ontario University Athletics

(OUA) powerhouse Carleton Ra-

vens who knocked them out of the

playos last season. No, the Rams’

main adversary this season will be

their ability to stay healthy.

The 12 players that head coach

Roy Rana put on the hardwoodthroughout the Rams’ recent pre-

season home stand was not indica-

tive of the talent he will have on the

oor night-in, night-out. Not only

was their co-captain and starting

shooting guard Ola Adegboruwa

geing back into shape after o-

season surgery, limited, but for-

ward Bjorn Michaelson re-injured

his forearm. As if that wasn’t bad

enough, the team’s all-world point

guard, Jahmal Jones, wasn’t even

in the country for the preseason, as

he was representing Team Canada

at the Pan Am Games in Mexico.

In their places were players who

made the team through the open

tryout process thrusted into action,

while veteran role players where

forced to take on a larger roles.To

put it simply, the Rams were just

above mediocre in the pre-season

With a healthy roster, there is no

doubt the Rams will make a lot of

noise in the OUA East, but without

three of their projected starters,

the Rams squeaked out a nail biter

against Dalhousie 71-68, before re-

ceiving a dose of reality from Man-

itoba, losing 74-66 in a game the

Rams looked out of from the start.

Jones’ absence left the Rams

without a point guard, as the Rams

were unable to handle Manitoba’s

full court pressure defense without

Jones calling the shots. However,

second-year shooting guard Jor-

don Gauthier was given the green

light on oence and he showed

why he was an OUA all-rookie last

year, leading the Rams in scoring

both nights and converting seven

three pointers en route to a game-

high 27 points in the game against

Dalhousie.While most of his veteran players

graduated at the end of last season,

Rana’s done a great job at replen-

ishing the team’s already youth-

ful roster. At 6’4, Aaron Best is a

rookie who’s built and plays like

a poor man’s Kevin Durant, while

another name you should become

familiar with is Nem Stankovic, a

6’9 monster of a forward who was

forced to sit out last season as a

transfer from Chicago State.

If Stankovic and the aforemen-

tioned Michaelsen stay healthy,

the Rams pose a frontcourt that

very few teams in the country can

match. But that’s a big if.

In the 2010-11 campaign, Mi-

chaelsen, who is 6’11”, appeared

in just three conference games due

to injuries. He enters 2011 with an-

other injury to his forearm

How high can the Rams climb

in the standings? That depends on

how well Jones plays. As electric

as Jones was last season, the Rams

need their oor general to take the

step from a great player on an av-

erage team to the best player on a

contender, and playing alongside

the top Canadian university play-

ers during the Pan Am Games can

only boost Jones’ condence.

That being said, th–e measuring

stick of success in Canadian Inter-

university Sports (CIS) basketball

has been the Ravens, who have

won seven of the last nine national

championships. Their dominance

in the CIS circuit is comparable

to the John Wooden led UCLA

teams in the 60’s and Bill Russell’s

11 championships with the NBA’s

Boston Celtics.

Both of those teams eventually

ran into a foe that ended their de-

cade of dominance, and I genu-

inely believe that if the core of this

Rams team meshes over the next

couple years they could be the next

dynasty in the OUA.

Friday night will usher a new

era of Ryerson men’s basketball,

and as history has proved, nothing

can stop a team whose time has

come.

That is, nothing except for inju-

ries.



After a trip overseas with

$10,000 worth of equipment and

12 weeks of lming in the Philip-

pines, a group of Ryerson alums

are screening Sugarbowl , their

documentary about the Filipino

sugar industry, at the Toronto

Reel Asian International Film

Festival.

The idea was conceived by Sha-

sha Nakhai, a journalism grad,

who originally pitched it at the

Reel Asian pitch competition.

She said it had always been at the

back of her mind.

“I didn’t think we’d win,” says

Nakhai. “But if we did, it would

jumpstart production. It forced

us to focus the idea into a lm

concept.”Nakhai, who was born in the

Philippines, wanted to evoke the

sense of loss she associates with

the place she loves.

“I poured my life into this for

the past year,” she says. “It’s

like a child and we’ve just given

birth.”

However, the project was not

without its challenges. Before

they started lming, they had

trouble nding someone to re-

cord their sound. There was also

the maer of geing $10,000

worth of equipment through cus-

toms in the Philippines.

“Normally you have to pay a

$2,000 bond on it,” said Nakhai.

However, when they arrived in

the Philippines, the crew was

escorted by the press secretary

of the prime minister, thanks to

connections with the CBC.

But the lm wouldn’t have

come together without the help

of her fellow Ryerson grads, Rich

Williamson, a former lm stu-

dent, and Nicole Rogers, a jour-

nalism grad.

Williamson says their dierent

skill sets helped production ow

more smoothly than expected.

“Shasha got me into journal-

ism, and I got her into lm,”

he explains. “There were days

when I was thankful that I had

someone so on-point to keep the

production going, but there were

times when I had to say, ‘No, Ineed to get this shot.’”

Though the lm focuses on the

impact of globalization, coloni-

zation and demand for commod-

ity, this is never explicitly stated.

However, having shown the lm

to friends, the team is condant

that they’ll get their message

across regardless.

“We just want people to be-

come interested in this place.

For those who’ve never heard of

it, they can say, ‘Hey, I want to

learn more’,” she says. “It’s com-

parable to any economic down-

turn. There’s denitely a bigger

picture here.”

Alums fnd sweet success

Crew members shooting in the Philippines. COURTESY OF NICOLE ROGERS

BY VICTORIA KUGLIN

Rye actors stage a revolution

The Ryerson Theatre School

is chaotic. Music plays loudly, a

soundtrack for the students run-

ning in and out of the building,

from oor to oor.

Actors, dancers and production

students gather at the lounge onthe second oor and share jokes,

smiles, hugs and all the stress that

comes with being a theatre student

at Ryerson.

“Does my hair look okay?” a stu-

dent asks right before entering a

last minute audition.

“Do you want me to help you

carry that?” asks another as some-

one walks by carrying loads of

posters and props.

For one family of 18 students,

it’s only natural that they feel so

connected to one another. They’ve

worked together for the last four

years.

This time around, this group of

fourth-year students are breathing

life into The Bundle, a play by Eng-

lish playwright Edward Bond, from

Nov. 15 to 24.

The Bundle , set in China, follows

the life of Wang, who is found by

a river by a ferryman (performed

by theatre student Anthony Rella)

and raised in a lower-class lifestyle.

As he grows up, Wang and his fel-

low villagers try to overcome the

inequalities imposed by landown-ers in the region. Wang eventually

becomes the military voice for the

lower class.

“[The Bundle] is about justice,

revolution and oppression. It’s a

ght of the people against a totali-

tarian government in pursuit of lib-

erty,” says Rella.

The story of Wang and his peo-

ple is the “story of any people who

have gone through oppression”

adds Karen Slater, who plays Pu-

Toi, a Chinese revolutionary.

“The miscommunication be-

tween government and people …

and it’s not just in China. The Bun-

dle is mirrored in any society, like

Mexico and the Middle East,” says

Slater.

The cast is working under the

guidance of Alan Dilworth, an

award-winning director who has

worked in theatres across Canada

and in the United States and nomi-

nated Toronto’s best emerging male

director in 2008 by NOW Magazine.

“His approach is very dierent

from anything done at Ryerson be-

fore” says Rella.

Students are encouraged to

“learn as they go” with a more

hands-on approach to the play, and

to work with images rather than

words and sentences. Dilworth

focuses on the student’s potential

to embrace their characters rather

than ing their proles.

“We don’t have to worry about

adapting our voices or bodies to be-

come the character,” explains SlaterWorking in something like The

Bundle at Ryerson is such a won-

derful experience because it’s not

always that such a big group of

people want to put all their hard

work and energy into the same

project, she adds.

“Unfortunately students won’t

have the same opportunity to work

on a huge ensemble pieces once

they graduate” she says.

Though the play isn’t traditional

fare or a well-known classeic, Rella

hopes that students will take the

time to check out the Bundle even.

“It is an important story,” he

says.

The Bundle runs from Nov. 15 to

Nov. 24 at Ryerson Theatre. Student

tickets are $14, while general admis-

sion is $18. Cash only!

For their second production of the year, the Ryerson Theatre tackles TheBundle, a play about a group of oppressed villagers who rise against anoppessive government. Marina Ferreira reports

The Bundle is mirrored

in any society, likeMexico and the MiddleEast.

— Karen Slater,fourth-year acting

12 November 9, 2011The Eyeopener ARTS

It’s a ght of the peopleagainst a totalitariangovernment in pursuitof liberty.— Anthony Rella, fourth-

year acting



13November 9, 2011 The EyeopenerARTS & LIFE

Q&A: Gaëlle Morel, Image Arts Curator

EYE: What brings you to our hum-

ble school?

GM: I really like the idea of work-

ing in a university because I like

working with students and faculty.

I like doing research, so I do like all

the aspects of working here.

Some students have come and

seen me, and we’ll be having stu-

dent shows at the building. I’m re-

ally interested in seeing students’

work. [The Ryerson Image Centre]

won’t only be a gallery with col-

lections. It will also be a research

centre, so it will be a fantastic op-

portunity for me to work.

EYE: So what exactly does a cura-

tor do?

GM: A curator is someone who

creates exhibitions, so he or she

does research and tries to pull it

together. In my case, that would

be dierent arts — photography,

new media, lms. A curator tries to

give sense to a question that some-

one would have. A curator coordi-

nates and creates exhibitions to try

and make the audience understand

how, why, when, to explain to

them a particular question. A cura-

tor is the link between the artist and

the public.

EYE: When the Ryerson Image

Centre nally opens, it’s going

to have 292,000 photojournalistic

prints from the Black Star collec-

tion. What can you tell us about

that?

GM: In 2005, an anonymous donor

gave the Black Star collection to Ry-

erson. It is almost 300,000 images

from 1,000 photojournalists. It’s a

wonderful collection. It’s of interest

to anyone. If, for example, you’re

looking for a special or specic

thing, you can go from sociology to

journalism. It is a very large collec-

tion of many themes and topics.

EYE: You’re very interested in the

history of photography and photo-

journalism. Will you try to reect

your passions in your work as cu-

rator?

GM: Yes, I do like working with

new media and with lm. It would

be an interdisciplinary centre, so

we will denitely have mixed me-

dia.

EYE: You say you like the idea of

working in a university; do you

have a fond memory from your

own days in university?

GM: Oh, it was in Paris, so just be-

ing in Paris was fantastic enough.

Being a student in Paris, being 20

years old in Paris ... It was the best

time of my life.

Though Ryerson Image Centre isn’t set to open until September 2012, Ry-erson has already appointed Gaëlle Morel as its rst curator. Morel, who

has a PhD in History of Contemporary Art, from the University of Paris,will help create a long-term exhibition plan for the centre. Sofa Mikhay-lova checked in with the academic to discuss her new role

ILLUSTRATION BY CATHERINE POLCZ

Students starved for dance studio space

Ryerson may oer several us-

able studios for dance students, but

those in other programs aren’t so

lucky.

Alicia Wright, a third-year busi-

ness management student, became

aware of Ryerson’s death of dance

space last October when she was

rehearsing for the annual multicul-

tural show with other members of

the United Black Students at Ryer-

son.

Instead of practicing in a proper

dance studio with sprung oors

and mirrors, they made do with the

spaces available.

“We used any available space

that had enough room and an out-let,” she said. This often meant

practicing on the cement oors of

the second-oor lounge of the Stu-

dent Campus Centre, or the hall-

way near the main gynmasium.

There are three studios located in

the Ryerson Theatre School (RTS),

but only theatre school students

have access to them. There are also

three multi-purpose studios avail-

able for rent at the Ryerson Athletic

Centre, but students must pay the

RAC membership fee — $68.14 a

year — in order to rent them.

“It really sucks for Ryerson,” said

Wright.

According to Anthony Seymour,

recreation manager at the RAC, this

policy is in place because the space

is mainly intended for members.

“If they’re RAC members we do

have studios available that students

can sign out for personal use,” he

said. “They can just reserve studio

[space] for up to two hours a day.”

This lack of space has not gone

Ryerson may cater to its performance dance students with several professional studios, but there’s far less on the menu fordancers outside of the program. Arts & Lie Editor Allyssia Alleyne reports

unnoticed. At last semester’s an-

nual general meeting, the Ryerson

Student Union’s (RSU) vice-pres-

ident equity Rodney Diverlus put

forth a motion to lobby the univer-

sity for more usable dance space.

“The RSU received a mandate

from members at a general meet-

ing and worked with our campus

groups to gain access to free, book-

able studio space on campus,” said

Alyssa Williams, vice-president

student life.

She says that student groups

have been removed from dierent

locations by security, and that some

spaces being used are considered

“unt and unsafe for dancing,” likecorridors and rooms without tem-

perature control.

According to Williams, fullling

this mandate is an immediate prior-

ity because studio space is needed

to build a sense of community on

campus.

“These groups need to be able

to celebrate and showcase their

talents, and many of our groups

participate in inter-university com-

petitions to represent and boost Ry-

erson’s reputation.”

But not everyone thinks that

more accessible dance space is nec-

essary. Fourth-year performance

dance student Veronica Madrabaja-

kis thinks students should appreci-

ate the space that is available.

`“We’re very lucky to have all

the spaces that we do have,” she

said. “It would be great if we had

an extremely large building with all

sorts of studio space, but unfortu-

nately we don’t.”

—With les from Brian CapitaoPHOTO: MARISSA DEDEREROnly Ryerson Theatre School students have access to the building’s studios.

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November 9, 201114 The Eyeopener COMMUNITIES

Shedding some light on homelessnessA new student-run, non-prot organization proles people on the streets in exchange for food and clothing

TODO

Wednesday Nov. 9

HOLOCAUST

EDUCATION WEEK

2-4 p.m. @ Heaslip House,

seventh oor

THE 2011 RYERSON

EXPERIENCE FAIR

2:30-5 p.m. Nov. 10 @

Jorgensen Hall, rst oor.

Credit Union Lounge

Thursday, Nov. 10

RYERSON EID

CELEBRATION

11 a.m.-3 p.m.@ Upper Hub, 2nd

oor cafeteria, Podium Building

LITERATURES IN MODERNITY

OPEN HOUSE

5-7 p.m. @ Jorgenson Hall, Room

JOR 1043

JERSDAY: Presented by RSU

and Italian Students’ Association

9 p.m.- 2 a.m.@ The Ram in the

Rye.

Friday, Nov. 11

RYERSON EID

CELEBRATION

11 a.m.-3 p.m.@ Upper Hub,

2nd oor cafeteria, Podium

Building

LITERATURES IN MODERNITY

OPEN HOUSE

5-7 p.m. @ Jorgenson Hall, Room

JOR 1043

REMEMBRANCE DAY

10:45 a.m. @ North end of Kerr

Hall quad

Wednesday , Nov. 16

FCS STUDENT

RECOGNITION

LUNCHEON AND OPEN

HOUSE

1-3 p.m. @ Sally Horsefall

Eatons Centre Atrium

Thursday , Nov. 17

QUEEN’S- BLYTH

WORLDWIDE INFORMA-

TION SESSION

Earn credits, study abroad

7 p.m. Location TBA

HOSTING AN EVENT?KNOW OF AN EVENTHAPPENING ONCAMPUS?

COMMUNITIES@

THEEYEOPENER.COM

TO GET IN THE TODO LIST!

BY LINDSAY FITZGERALD

To the average student, Jason

Serroul might just be the guy who

opens the door for you at Tim Hor-

tons on Victoria Street in the morn-

ing and wishes you a good evening

after a long day at school.

But what you don’t know is that

the 34-year-old self-proclaimed

jack-of-all-trades has sporadically

lived on and o the streets since he

was a kid.

That was until he was diagnosed

with schizophrenia in his late 20s,

deeming him mentally ill by the

province. The soft-spoken Serroul

was forced into the Toronto East

General Hospital in East York.

MakeTreksLikeImHomeless, a

student-run non-prot organiza-

tion, has told stories that are similar

to Serroul’s to dispel the public’s

general misconceptions and igno-

rance about homelessness,

They have made it their goal to

show the harsh reality of living on

the streets.

Tom Evans, a fourth-year lm

student, came up with the idea for

the organization after he befriend-

ed Darryl, a homeless man whom

he talked to everyday on his way

home from school for a year.

To help publicize the cause, Ev-

ans decided to lm an interview

with Darryl and post it on You-

Tube.

The members of MakeTreks give

people who live on the streets care

packages in return for a lmed in-

terview.

“The whole idea is to rid

the ignorance that surrounds

homelessness,”said Evans. “Rather

than [only] seeing a drunk bum,

[we want people to] see that ve-

year-old boy who was raped by his

dad.”

According to the Toronto Shel-

ter, Support and Housing Admin-

istration, in April 2009 there were

an estimated 5,086 homeless peo-

ple in Toronto.

Care packages, worth $100, are

comprised completely of dona-

tions and sales from merchandise

they sell on their website.

Evans has posted six interviews,

with several others waiting to be

posted on their website.

Peter Rosenthal, a University of

Toronto professor for the faculty of

law said the issues of homelessness

in Toronto are part of the “casuali-

ties of capitalism.”

Rosenthal is also on the execu-

tive team for Toronto Disaster Re-

lief Commiee (TDRC) and is one

of three lawyers working on cases

dealing with the lack of housing

programs in Toronto.

“One of the most horrible aspects

of Canadian society, in wealthy so-

ciety, is we allow people to live so

poorly,” he said.

Bill Chapman, program director

for community services at the Met-

ropolitan United Church, started

working as a community services

counsellor in 2002.

Chapman said that he was home-

less for a short period of time in the

early 1990s.

“I had an alcohol addiction

[which] I am now completely free

of. It was not for a lack of aord-

able housing,” he said. “There is a

huge misconception [of homeless-

ness]. Ask anyone who has worked

closely with them.”

Metropolitan United Church

works directly with Toronto drop-

in network service programs, coun-

seling and housing support.

Although Chapman has come to

terms with his past, he said that he

would have told them anything to

get a roof over his head.

“I was in denial of my addic-

tion,” he said. “I would have toldthem a dierent reason to why I

was homeless. I’m not sure to what

extent we are geing the whole

truth.”

Chapman said that if MakeTreks

oered him housing in exchange

for his story, “I would have done

anything for a place.”

But he said that it wouldn’t have

helped him.

“It may have even enabled me to

avoid dealing with the root cause

of my homelessness.”

Chapman said that, from his ex-

perience, the root cause of home-

lessness is addiction.

“As soon as we start depending

on something to make us feel good,

such as alcohol, drugs, another per-

son, a material thing, it will inevita-

bly turn into suering,”he said.

“[But] I think it is important that

we hear any story that would bring

aention to suering in our com-

munity.”

Evans said he wanted to start

the organization to expose people

to the issues surrounding our city

and community.

“The whole idea is not to judge

them until you walk in their shoes.”

Evergreen Yonge Street Mission is one of the many shelters in Toronto. PHOTO: CHELSEA POTTAGE

Like you.You’ve got a lot on your plate

balancing education and lie.

At Athabasca University’s

Faculty of Business, you can

pick up an online course that

fts your schedule and your

needs. Our business is helping

you complete your degree.

Learn more at

www.business.athabascau.ca.

Accountable.



15November 9, 2011 The EyeopenerFUN

Spot the Differences!

WIN FREE SHIT!!!Congrats to Matt Veri or winning the Sudoku draw last week!

Find all eight dierences and submit this with your name and contact ino to the

Eyeopener ofce (SCC 207) by Monday, November 14th and you too could win $50!

(The kids with laptops are on Facebook, why can’t you have un too?)

Flying High FiveCorgi of the Week

Corgi of the Weekknows you can do it too

BY: MICHAEL WINKLER



16 November 9, 2011The Eyeopener

JACK ASTOR’SANDJACK

NICHOLSONLL ON ONE LEVEL

10

DUNDASEAST

6 levels of fun, food & flicks!Baskin Robbins • California Thai • Caribbean Queen • Chipotle • Harvey’s

Jack Astor’s • Johnny Rockets • Jugo Juice • Juice Rush • Koryo Korean BBQ

Made in Japan • Milestones • Milo’s Pita • Mrs. Field’s • Opa! Souvlaki

Pumpernickel’s • Sauté Rose • Starbucks • Subway • Tim Hortons • Timothy’s

Woo Buffet Restaurant & Lounge. With 25 fabulous eateries you’ll always find

something to satisfy any craving. Plus, visit our great stores like Adidas,

Future Shop, WIND Mobile, Petals & Twigs and more!

25 EATERIES + 15 GREAT SHOPS

NE CORNER OF YONGE & DUNDASACROSS FROM DUNDAS SQUARE

The Eyeopener — November 9, 2011

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