Monthly Archives: November 2008

Secret Services – Part I

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I was walking down the intersection of St. George Street and Wilcocks Street, heading towards Sidney Smith, and I hear a young man say “Excuse me, do you know if there is a Post Office on campus?” Thinking fast, my brain flashed, “Yes I do!” and as I turned to address the young man, I realized he wasn’t talking to me. Of course, the person he was speaking to had no idea, so I pulled out my trusty residence book, and I flashed a dazzling “I-know-where-everything-is” smile and told him where the post office is.

 

 

For us residence kids, we have what I call the trusty, handy-dandy res book. At the risk of sounding like Steve from Blues Clues (sorry, little kid reference), I am going to let you in on the secrets, and share (in the next few posts) about all sorts of off-campus services. I’ll give you a lot of annoying street names, but having a general idea with the main intersections will help you when you’re in a rush.

 

Post Offices

For all of you, like that young man, who need a post office, we have one right on campus. It’s located on the first floor of the U of T bookstore in the Koffler Student Centre (located at College and St. George). There is also a post office on Spadina – its near Harbord and Bloor, and on Bloor there is a Shoppers Drug Mart (which also has a post office).

 

Health Services

You’re cutting tomatoes at 4 in the morning and you cut your hand and blood gushes out. You need health services!! There are 24-hour emergency rooms available at Mount Sinai Hospital and Toronto General Hospital at University Ave and Gerrard St respectively.

 

Shoppers Drug Mart (along Bloor Street, just west of Spadina) is open till midnight. Snowdon Pharmacy is closer (Bloor and St. George), but it closes at 6pm.

 

 

Banks

Need money? All the major banks can be found on campus, and you can save yourself $1.50 transaction by going to and ATM of the bank your account is in.

 

TD Canada Trust: there is a TD ATM on the second floor of Robarts library, and a TD Bank at Bay and Bloor and Bathurst and Bloor.

 

CIBC: There is a CIBC bank at Spadina and College

 

Bank of Montreal: right at St.George and Bloor Street W. when you come out of  St. George Subway Station.

 

Scotiabank: There is an ATM in Sidney Smith, and a bank at Spadina and Bloor Street.

 

Royal Bank: You can find an ATM at the Koffler Student Center, as well as on the side of the Tim Hortons on Bloor Street, right when you come out of the Bedford Entrance of St. George subway. This ATM lets you do much more (like deposit) than the one at Koffler. You can also find a bank at Spadina and Harbord.

 

Alterna Credit Union: College and Bay Street.

 

 

Books

For textbooks, the U of T bookstore has many books (found in the Koffler Student Center) and there are also many books for general reading. There are discount textbooks all along College Street (though some don’t take credit cards). There are also places like the Bob Miller Bookroom for obscure text findings.

 

For general reading, Robarts Library is quite good. As a student who has borrowed over 70 fiction books (Agatha Christie, Edgar Wallace and more) you can find many books. UTM’s library has a very current reading selection, and you can get them ordered to Robarts or Gerstein. We also have the World’s Biggest Bookstore located at Dundas and Yonge Street, and Indigo at the Manulife Center

 

 

That’s a good start – next post will be awesome restaurants in the area to cater to all personal styles and flavours. Check it out!

 

Adios Amigo!

 

Fariya

Hissing Cockroaches and Confused Flowers: A History Student in the BIO150 Lab

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There are some questions which never fail to rouse my curiosity. One of them pertains to how flowering plants, native to to the southern hemisphere but growing in small brown pots on my living room table, know that even though it’s winter here, it’s summer back home; and they celebrate by bursting into flower as the first snowflakes hit the ground outside. My Christmas Cactus is one such culprit.

How does this pertain to U of T, you may ask? My answer: biology class. After this term I only have one class to finish in order to complete my degree, and as I’m already a few years older than most fourth-year students, most of my friends question my sanity when they realize I intend to take a full-time course load over the spring. This summer I decided that although I’m very happy with the historical database I’ve internally amassed, I wouldn’t feel right about graduating without at least a basic understanding of some other rather important fields of study. That is how I, a die-hard history student, ended up in the BIO150 lab.

Having not participated in a lab for several years, I was admittedly a little scared at the start of term that I would be that dupe who, standing above the microscope trying to figure out how to turn the thing on, would accidentally start a chemical fire at my lab station and permanently ruin biology for everyone. Luckily this has not yet happened. Instead, the labs have become my favourite courses of the term.

This affinity emerged during the very first lab, where we were to be observe, even handle, a variety of big, exotic, and very alive insects. Stick insects, rhino beetles, hissing cockroaches, and giant caterpillars had all been invited, and I was going to meet them all. While I didn’t actually hold the giant hissing cockroach, I did get to play with the baby stick insects. These little critters wobble back and forth in imitation of branches moving in the wind, when the leaves upon which they stand are moved.

Successive labs proved just as interesting. In one we grew metal-tolerant grasses; in another we scored genes using protein electrophoresis; in another still we simulated genetic drift by mating with other classmates. (Read: exchanging white slips of paper carrying letter symbols representing genes). The lab room itself is a veritable treasure trove of oddities. Reminiscent of a nineteenth-century phrenologist’s study, it’s filled with animal skulls, reptile skeletons, and taxidermied birds; just the kind of space where you could lose yourself for an hour or two before you realized you were late for your next class.

The science courses I’m taking this year are perhaps superfluous to my final plans; but nonetheless, I do feel (and I’m not just being positive because this is a U of T blog) that this variety of new courses has absolutely enriched my university experience. And I’m sure that it will be knowledge that I’ll use at various junctions down the road – not least when a lull in the conversation at social events allows me to bring up the hissing cockroaches one last time.

- Mary

(Why Didn’t I Know About) The Centre for Women and Trans People

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Well, people, U of T has a place called the Centre for Women and Trans People, all the way on the Spadina side of life; specifically at 563 Spadina Avenue, in the North Borden Building. Kind of by New College. It’s open Monday to Thursday, from 11 am to 6 pm. The centre is a drop-in space, aimed at being, progressive, inclusive, anti-oppressive, and “fun, feminist, and friendly”. It is. In addition to being an open and kind of liberating place to chill, they also have a plethora of information resources, such as the ‘Dr. Chun Resource Library’ (providing access to ‘factual, critical and alternative materials’ and supporting marginalized voices), and peer support groups. These, and community cooking on Thursdays, a group session for Aboriginal women and women of colour on Wednesdays, programs and services such as child care space, information on health, general and sexual, various workshops, and many other things my post will not do justice to. The centre is also a hub of political activism; for example, it is notably queer positive, (not just queer friendly), and November 20th was the Trans Day of Remembrance at U of T. A public remembrance service for trans people victimized and murdered was held at Sidney Smith at noon.

The centre was established in 1986, when a group of women pitched tents in front of Simcoe Hall and demanded it.

...

I’ve traversed there only twice, once for the Thursday ‘Stitch ‘n’ Bitch’ session, an open, social gathering of knitters, sewers (TMNT?) and crafty-er-ers; secondly for a screening of this otherworldly, sexually ambiguous film called ‘Orlando’. Both times were decent. Or dece, as it were.

When I read about the place on their website, I really wanted to check it out. It seemed proportionate to many of the things my brain is now latching onto, i.e., noting the Stitch ‘n’ Bitch, the call for zine submissions, the various discussion sessions for women to talk openly about whatever which I feel I sorely need, so, yes, I really wanted to find the time to go. And I did!

THE THURSDAY: It was dark outside, and the centre was awfully quiet when I went in. Initial reaction: maintain the quiet. I attempted to enter as silently as possible and must have looked very nervous in doing so, as I usually do and as Mom continually points out. In opposition to the usual awkward glares one gets when entering a small social setting, the two volunteers were perfectly friendly, made me feel welcome and also alluded that I did not have to sneak around as if I was disturbing them. This geniality, of course, made me squirrel around more.

My own social clumsiness aside, they invited me to join them at the table, was offered crackers and tea (omfg tea – my only weakness), and we engaged in light conversation. To a U of T student teetering between ironically hopeless apathy and slight sanguinity for school, her social life, and let’s face it life in general, conversation with new (and old) acquaintances is always welcome as a sign that human beings with souls still exist.

Sadly, the Stitch ‘n’ Bitch session did not occur formally as scheduled on that particular Thursday. Boo. I had brought my sweater-with-a-patch-half-on-it to finish. But, one of the volunteers was kind enough to pull out some of the, we’ll say, ‘public-usage’ knitting needles and sit with me for a bit, and we continued to chat about school and life. An interesting thing I learned in chatting was of certain courses that double as Women’s Studies courses and their designated course code. For example, some English courses can go towards a Women’s Studies degree. This is fate. I could not figure out my second minor until now.

And yes, I did learn the volunteers’ names; I just wish to not mention them for possible privacy reasons. That and you should go to the centre yourself.

My second time going was for the screening of ‘Orlando’, a film adaptation of a Virginia Woolf novel. Upon seeing the words ‘gender-bending’ in its description, I had to go. This time there were more people, understandably, but it was still super quiet! I recognized the two volunteers I had met before, one of them addressing me with “Hello, mouse,” due to my mousey way of entering. It was relatively quiet, but chatting ensued and the atmosphere became more comfortable. As it usually does. Not to mention there were cookies! Popcorn! Carrots! Humus and healthy alternatives! After the film, there was a short discussion period; some of the film’s themes, whether it could be considered feminist and if it spoke to trans issues, but mostly… whether the film made any sense at all.

U of T needs more comfortable, personal settings. Example: Robarts? No. The Women’s Centre is the first comfy hang-out place I’ve found on campus, and the fact that is declares itself an unprejudiced space only makes it better. I was still self-conscious for some reason, but knowing at the back of your head that no one is going to, or is supposed to, judge you helps internally at least. Especially when some part of you (e.g., 10%) believes that some people can.

This is without mentioning the political standpoint this centre holds. With a child-friendly space and the community cupboard… This place is probably a great source of aid for many of the students we don’t normally think about, and I say probably because I myself, living with my mom and sister in relative stability, cannot fathom it. The only reconciling would be to volunteer there myself.

(lightbulb?)

One would expect a big, huge campus like ours to have more human-friendly areas to meet with other students of similar mindsets, or hey even different mindsets, and not be already constructed into a strict, impervious social circle! Somewhere you can communicate with actual human beings! AUGH!

Perhaps I am just scared of people and need to be assured of their amicability first. But that’s just me. This centre is obviously an amazing source of… you know what, just go there.

- Liesl

Bloodletting Yet No Miraculous Cures

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For those who did not get the Vincent Lam allusion, just think of the title as a more collegiate way of saying “screwed”.

Which many of us have been and will be during every midterm and exam season. The following, which I’ve conveniently borrowed from a post titled “Are you this type of student?” on Biome, the UofT Life Science student forum, accurately demonstrates the academic life of a Crammer:

New school semester:

At the first week:

At the second week:

Before the mid-term test:

During the mid-term test:

After the mid-term test:

Once know the final exam schedule:

Before the final exam:

7 days before final exam:

6 days before final exam:

5 days before final exam:

4 days before final exam:

3 days before final exam:

2 days before final exam:

1 day before final exam:

A night before final exam:

1 hour before final exam:

During the final exam:

Once walk out from the exam hall:

After the final exam, during the holiday:

a

a

I know.

When I first saw this I also laughed my head off – at one point in my life at least, I’ve been there, from the Neurotic Keener at the beginning of a semester to the WEEEE-I-Totally-Failed*-But-Who-The-Hell-Even-Cares shadow of a soul after finishing my exams. Am I a bad student? Perhaps–but then so would the majority of students on this planet.

Although it’s yet to be that wonderful time of the year where caffeine consumption reaches an all time high, for me this past week has been almost equally hellish in terms of the level of stress I was experiencing. When I saw these animated images on Biome while still cramming for my tests, I laughed and then almost cried, because well, it was a pretty bad time to be reminded of my past mistakes (i.e. slacking off when I actually had time to better solidify my knowledge on the role of MHC’s in cytotoxic T-cell response to endogenous peptides). Procrastination has always been my Achilles heel, and I know I’d really, honestly accomplish great things had I not fallen into its inescapable claws so many years ago (…or so I tell myself as a strategy to remain somewhat cheerful day-in, day-out). This week, however, I decided to be PRO-ACTIVE for once, and struggled to maintain that Neurotic Keener identity until at least my tests finished. To accomplish this, I even wrote little Post-It notes saying things like “It’s NOT too late. DON’T give up!!!!” and stuck them on the wall next to my mirror.

NOT joking.

In case you were wondering–it didn’t work. What did happen though, was that my brain had simply stopped taking in new information every night (errrr….morning?) after 3 am, while sending the single message that I needed my beauty sleep. No matter how hard I tried to stuff what had become senseless, useless and intangible facts into my brain, as soon as I’d move onto the next page in my notes, these previously reviewed “junk” would suddenly be forgotten. Simply put, I just didn’t want to study anymore. And I thought about my swiftly disappearing dream of getting into a good science graduate school, and told myself that if worst comes to worst, there’s always journalism.

After my tests were over, I thought about why I was stressed to a point where I wasn’t even panicking about my lack of motivation anymore. It didn’t take long before I realized that this was my issue:

 

burnout [burn-out]

–noun
Fatigue, frustration, or apathy resulting from prolonged stress, overwork, or intense activity.

 

Many students suffer from burn-out throughout their undergrad. It mostly depends on how resilient they are, but ultimately it involves them “breaking down” in one form or another. Some get sick (from more colds to fevers to coughing to hives). Some party until they drop. Some shop until they drop. Some shed tears in their forlorn cells also known as dorm rooms. Others engage in activities that, well, I don’t think I should mention here. Me? On top of becoming a depressed, goal-less shopaholic who (besides shopping) sleeps an unnaturally heavy amount of time per day, I become extremely absent-minded and begin to lose everything. Like last year, I lost my wallet along with some one hundred bucks in cash after writing an exam in December.

Burning out is terrible. Once you start to feel burned out, it feels as if there’s no miraculous cure (or God) to save you. I’ve always felt that only solution is for the source of stress to go away, which often means that you have no solution but to face it head-on and expect a quick and relatively painless death. But, remember that human beings have great potentials, especially when being pushed towards their limits, and it is possible for you to find salvation–in yourself.

So I decided to look up some resources in student counseling that might help to deal with this prevalent illness. While the following are not sure-fire tips that would be your savior under such circumstances, it wouldn’t hurt to give them a try if you are beyond despair (which is often the case, as witnessed by commuters sleeping on Robarts’ couches at 3 in the morning) :

  1. Keep an ultimate goal in mind: take a few moments every day and do something that keeps you in touch with your goals. That might mean quickly flipping through the brochure for prospective students at a grad/professional school you want to get into, or, for something more immediate, think of what fun awaits you when you survive this war with flying colours!
  2. Stare at your transcript: that’s right–print out the one for the current term, keep it beside you on your desk (somewhere visible and attention-grabbing), and stare at those “IPRs”. As long as they remain IPRs, you still have the ability to change these final outcomes that, in many cases, will determine your fate in this course as well as post-graduation. This is supposed to make you feel that you still have the power to improve your marks, and that you are still in control of your own life.
  3. Avoid all sources of demotivation: if your parents tend to push you to do better academically, don’t call them to panic about “not being ready” for exams. Similarly, if a friend does well in this course and is well-prepared, ignore him/her until the test is over. Overall speaking, avoid people who, as nice as they might be, would nevertheless make you feel like crap.
  4. Maintain your regular daily life pattern: eat nutritious foods (and less sugary snacks), and SLEEP, for God’s sake. This depends on who you are though. Pulling an all-nighter the night before a test/exam might work for some, but it’s definitely not for me, as my brain goes dead the next day and recalling information becomes impossible. For those who CAN pull this off, beware of its long-term consequences. I find that overworking your body once or twice is possibly plausible in dire circumstances, but it takes an extremely long period of time afterward for your body to recuperate, and often you sacrifice more along this process than originally intended (i.e. sleeping pattern messed up, resulting in missed classes, etc).
  5. Be realistic: don’t overcommit. No matter how much you plan to accomplish in the limited amount of time you have, know your limit, and make sure that you rigidly execute these plans according to your schedule. This prevents you from having an additional source of stress: that black, lingering feeling of incompetency that overshadows every action you take and robs you of the confidence that is so necessary during the critical hours before an exam.
  6. Focus on the positive, even if it’s done on purpose: great news–you are allowed to mess with your own perceptions! Focus on the things you’ve already done in preparation for this test/exam, and reassure yourself that hey, at least you know something! If listening to lecture recordings is a part of your study routine, try using Windows Media to change how much time has passed for the lecture to how much time still remains–counting down is always happier than counting up from 0.
  7. Avoid perfectionism: before diving into the smaller details, take a step back and look at the course as a whole. What’s the purpose of each lecture? How does one topic connect to the next? Use the syllabus to create a real/mental outline and make this your “course barebone”, and fill in details from thereon. Details only end up making no sense if you don’t understand where it falls into place with regards to the bigger picture. Don’t mindlessly memorize everything you come across. It might work in some circumstances, but you’d mostly likely end up feeling scattered and even more panicky as a result.

Just because everyone else might fit into the stereotype of that little rabbit thingie in the animations displayed above, doesn’t mean that it’s okay to be that type of student. Plan ahead, and practice good time-management (easier said than done). CALSS at UofT provides a series of learning skills workshops that might help you in this aspect.

While like all fathers, my dad hasn’t been correct about everything he’s lectured me on so far, I’ve realized that he is right about one thing: that studying is like running a long distance race, and pacing, amongst many other factors, is critical to success.

And like all daughters, I should probably listen to him more. :)

–Lucy

a

a

*Note: “Failed” here is used in a relative sense only, as a 3.7 course mark could mean “dreams come true” for one individual but “shame upon my family name” for another.

Men of Movember

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I think I chose the worst time possible to start up a regular blog for u of t. This semester alone, my sister got married, my friend has moved into my basement and, on Nov. 18th, my grandpa died.

Each of these things will have some kind of big emotional effect on any normal person, but to have all three within the span of just a couple weeks is kind of overwhelming.

I think the only reason I’m currently writing this instead of lying in bed is because, to be honest, looking at this week’s pictures kind of cheers me up…so I may as well dive in.

 

See what I mean?

I know…I know…a photo like that sort of screams for an explanation, doesn’t it?

Well…here you go.

…

Don’t worry, I’ll go deeper than that.

…

The only reason I have these photos is I happen to know a guy called Daniel Kahn.

Right now, he’s the Literary and Creative Arts Commissioner at University College… but I’ll have you know that I met him a while ago, back before all that glamour and honor was bestowed on him, and back when another fellow called Josh Penslar was still an undergrad at U of T.

Well, things have changed in the past year and now several men are running around UC this month sporting moustaches because of these two.

Wow, I know, what an intriguing set up.

Anyways, what these photos are doing is acknowledging the fact that it is Movember, the month when men grow mustaches to raise money (and awareness) for prostate cancer.

And that’s not a spelling error… it’s November with a mo for moustache on it.

As of this year, young Mr. Penslar is the Marketing and Communications assistant for Movember Canada and Danny, as UC lit. Commissioner, has brought Movember officially onto campus, by making a UC “mo Bros and Sista’s” team and encouraging the guys at UC to grow mustaches and get their friends/family to sponsor them as they do so.

* Movember is a worldwide month-long event, and in Canada the money goes to the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada. *

And here is UC’s man behind the moustache, Danny Kahn.

This wasn’t an easy photo to get.

I nearly didn’t get it at all, because I’d gotten a phone call just a while before this from my parents telling me about my grandpa, and to be honest, the last thing I wanted to do at that moment was stay around campus and photograph happy young people accomplishing good things.

I just really wanted to go home and get into bed, but I couldn’t because there wouldn’t be a car for me to drive home in for a couple of hours anyway (yup, commuting sucks).

But, in the end, I’m kind of glad I did stay…because at least now I have this gem:

 and for at least five seconds at a time, it definitely does make me smile.

* – Every year around 24,700 Canadian men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and about 4,300 die of the disease, making it the number one cancer threat to Canadian men.
- 1 in 7 men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime.
- All men over the age of 40 are potentially at risk and should talk to their doctor about the disease and early detection. Prostate cancer is 95% curable if detected and treated early.
The money raised by Movember is donated directly to the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada who will use the funds to create awareness and fund research across the country into prevention, detection and treatment, with a goal to ending the threat of prostate cancer.

For those that have supported Movember in previous years you can be very proud of the impact it has had and can check out the details here.

-Heather

Your Honour, Presenting the Pre-Law Society

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As a connection with last week’s Sussex Clubhouse, I thought I’d follow in Mary’s footsteps, and feature a club (check out Mary’s Mais oui – you too can speak French on campus! blog post!).

U of T’s Pre-Law Society has an extensive member base, and caters to students of all disciplines and ideas. Regardless of your year of study, type of degree or potential career interests, you can learn all about going to law school, being a lawyer, studying in other countries, and writing the LSAT.

What do they have going on?

Mock LSATS

Important for students applying to law school this November, and taking the LSAT this December, Mock LSATS serve as an excellent studying technique for prepping for a real LSAT. The LSAT (Law School Admissions Test) is a standardized test that law schools use to put applicants on a level playing field. Regardless of whether you want to study in Canada or outside, this test is a major bargaining chip in being considered a competitive applicant.

The Next Mock LSAT this club has set up is Sat. Nov 22 (that’s tomorrow!). You need to bring your membership, and register in advance. If you miss that one, there will be another held on the 29th.

Guest Speakers

Of course, once you start applying to law school, you realize you have no idea where you want to go. The Pre-Law Society invites speakers from law schools in the province, around the country and internationally (including U.S.A., Australia, and the U.K.) You can get updates from their website about upcoming presentations and how to RSVP.

Writing Opportunities

So you’re not really into the whole legal thing? Or maybe you want to beef up your resume for law school? Well, The Pre-Law Society even has opportunities for individuals hoping to write. They publish a legal newsletter called “Voir Dire” in which students can be featured, become columnists, editors and more. It is a great opportunity to get involved, especially for students who just want to improve their writing.

Volunteering

Previously there have been opportunities for volunteering through programs such as “Lawyers feeding the Hungry”. While this year’s volunteer opportunities are still being ironed out, the club is assuring student this year will bring new volunteer positions and bring back some of the good old events.

Office Hours

The website features Office Hours – students can come in and not only buy their membership ($10 for new members, $5 for returning) but they can also sit with an Executive and ask questions about applying to law schools, best LSAT materials, where to find information, and which representatives to talk to. It’s a great chance for students to get help if you’re applying to, or even considering, law school, or to be directed to a credible source so that you can get the information you need.

The University of Toronto Pre-Law Society is really for anyone who wants to learn about available options within a legal field. They can give you the inside scoop and give you the best tips and hints!

Ciao!

Fariya

 

Toronto University Students’ Book Exchange

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Today I did some basic math. I’ve been at U of T for eight terms (including summer courses), taking an average of four courses per term, and buying an average of four books per class. Although the price of books varies widely, I estimated that the average cost of each book is about $40, evening out the price of those colossal $120 texts with the much more agreeable $20 ones. Thanks to my history skills, I can assess that the total amount of money I’ve spent on books during my university career is around $1300. If I extrapolate these costs until my graduation date, the price will be closer to $1500. And while $1500 isn’t the kind of cost that, spread out over four years, is necessarily going to do me in, it does still represent a healthy investment. The same amount could pay for a few months’ rent, a new winter coat every couple of winters, or eight trips to the dentist.

All this math to tell you that there is a way to avoid spending vast amounts on books: a service called the Toronto University Students’ Book Exchange. TUSBE is a student-run service where you can bring your old textbooks and sell them back (at a discounted price) to students who need them, making back some of the money initially spent on them. At TUSBE you can also find used texts required for your classes and pick them up for a reduced price.

To sell books, the TUSBE website allows you to post old textbooks and put them up for sale, and to search for books that you need. All you need to sign up is an email address, which assists you in either being contacted or contacting other people when you find a book in TUSBE’s giant book catalogue. You search online by title, author, course, or even by campus. A considerable list of books then materializes, individual posts describing the book’s condition, its price, and the courses it’s required for. On top of this, there is also frequently extra material included with the book, including old tests, exams, and notes you can use to help you study. After browsing through a myriad of titles, and selecting those of interest (or those required) you then simply contact the vendor through the TUSBE system, via email; and arrange to pick up your book.

Established in 1998, the service is now the largest book exchange in Toronto, with over 75,000 books for sale. Participating institutions include the three U of T campuses, Ryerson University, and York University. The organization’s mandate is based, at least in part, on trying to save students money. As I’ve calculated it, the accumulated savings you’d make over the span of a university career definitely makes TUSBE worth looking into, particularly when January rolls around again and a host of new profs cheerfully hand out another set of extensive reading lists; and all the while you are sure you can hear your wallet groaning in your pocket.

- Mary

So I wanted this cheesecake…

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I lost my faith in the Second Cup about a year ago when I wanted cheesecake.

“Does it have any nuts?” I asked

“I dunno. Hey, dude, does this have nuts?” The guy behind the counter turned and asked his partner, and his partner answered confidently with a “No, its just apple cinnamon. That’s crumble and sugar on the top.”

Well, I bought the cake, but it only took me a few short moments on my own time to discover that in fact, yes, there were chopped nuts on top.

This is never fun news when you’re allergic to them.

….yay….

It’s hard to have allergies if you go to U of T. This hit home further when I wanted to order soup at a campus café, and no one on staff knew what sort of vegetables were used in the soup. I was pointed to the woman in charge, who simply shrugged.

Everyone who has a food allergy knows that eating isn’t just eating, instead it’s a process of navigation, and that safety comes before experimentation every time you decided to eat in a public space.

Likewise, students with a food allergy are more than aware that public school is over, the real world is now, and that there is no one to coddle and protect them from harmful foods. They are also aware that other university students like nuts, or various reaction-causing vegetables, and want to be served them on campus. However, knowing this only makes eating on campus less fun.

But things at universities across Canada are changing. Topix and Allergic Living, in two respective articles, have celebrated the fact that at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, regarding the student/allergy dilemma, presents several solutions. One is a main cafeteria with a no nuts/no peanuts policy, and the second is cluster housing for those with serious allergies (which essentially means a safe allergen free zone on campus). Carleton University in Ottawa also gets kudos for having eliminated nuts from the main residence dining hall menu. Furthermore, Carleton’s Student Emergency Response Team (CUSERT) proudly announces on its website that as of on Feb. 3 2006, its volunteers were certified to administer EpiPens. This makes them one of only several SERTS at a Canadian university to be able to do so. Hamilton’s McMaster became the first in 2003.

The University of Toronto is slightly behind these initiatives, and for students living in residence who have food allergies, the school advises them to, “work with the food services company to find appropriate dining choices”, a plan that is not always foolproof, something discovered by Christine Creese according to the Off to College-With Allergies article by Amy Cameron. Despite discussions with staff, it was not unusual for Creese, a U of T student, to feel sick after meals. After my experience with some of the food service staff here at U of T, I’m not really very surprised. A lot of people don’t know what is in which food, and are too busy to care.

But our university’s public attitude towards the special ‘food needs’ of students isn’t uncaring. In November, U of T was named Canada’s most “vegetarian friendly university” in an online competition, a boon to any student who can’t eat meat at school due to religious or ethical reasons. In a bid to soothe students’ sense of social justice, on September 19, 2006, the school declared that, “U of T (has) proudly announced an initiative to bring local, sustainably produced food to campus– made possible through a partnership with Local Food Plus, non-profit organization that brings farmers and consumers together.” Our school is so proud of this, that the statement remains under the news section of our dining website.

This is all wonderful and uplifting…but what about me? I’m tired of eating pizza on campus, and I’m tired of cheesecake and soup representing chance and peril…things that cheesecake and soup were never meant to be. Local is good, vegetarian is great, but how about accommodating a few anaphylactics too?

-Heather

Lucy’s Life Rules

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Making generalizations is an inevitable part of life. When I was still young and innocent, I used to pose Great Questions that I had thought were oh-so-intellectual, but as it turns out, the rest of the world (aka philosophers) had already thought of them tens and thousands of years beforehand. When I found that I couldn’t get through Plato’s “The Republic” without falling asleep, I realized that becoming the world’s next Sartre was an impossible dream. So instead, I now turn my hopes to the next best thing: a desperate attempt at becoming the world’s next Dr. Phil.

For centuries humanity have not just been posing Great Questions, but also proposing Great Answers. Surprisingly, this system of thinking can be very well applied to an undergraduate’s life at UofT. I shall demonstrate:

Great Question: “What the hell am I doing here?!” –a common angry outcry among many first years (and some fourth years).

Great Answer: “To reap the fruits of higher education, and to be enlightened by knowledge.” –a typical pro-academia answer not common among any student body.

Which is bad. After all, as students, many of us are close to living in subsidized housing because of heavy tuition costs, and on top of that, we are paying all this money in exchange for the even heavier amount of work required for us to do well in courses, and ultimately get our degrees.

So I thought about it, and I realized that unless we adopt an optimistic way of thinking which truly values our education for what it is and not what it would eventually lead to, our diplomas would indeed be as just useful as toilet paper. Therefore I devised the following:

Lucy’s Top 5 Life Rules at University of Toronto

5. Have some crazy fun once in a while. It’s easy to be constantly bogged down by schoolwork. The trend tends to be that you get stressed by “all the stuff” you have to do, yet when it comes down to actually doing it, you procrastinate and let time waste away. Facebook, MSN and TV shows are common culprits. Instead, try following the motto “Work hard, play hard”, so that whatever it is you choose to do, you are completely absorbed in the moment. Also, periodically scheduling something fun to do allows you to look forward to something exciting, to work towards something, and thus making those tedious readings and problem sets more bearable for the time being.

4. Be brave, be very, very brave. So you’ve picked a tough spot to be in. Actually, one of the toughest undergrad institutions in the country. Think of this as a time that tests your resilience. In my first year, my very first term test was organic chemistry, and my mark in it was a 65. In the same week, I got back my fine art history essay and my mark in that was a 68. Having consistently been a 90s student in high school, this was a huge shock to me. The day I found out my chemistry test mark, I sat down on the floor of Lash Miller below where my grade was posted, and cried. I actually cried a lot in my first year, for every failure and extreme success I had encountered or brought upon myself. (Corollary to rule #4: it is okay to cry.) In the end, it is important to keep things in perspective, and realize that when one door closes, another opens. Don’t be scared, and have faith in your abilities. After my horrible first term test mark, I literally worked my butt off for my second term test. My mark for that one was a 94. Moral of the story? When you put your whole self into achieving a certain goal, magic happens and the universe opens its doors for you.

3. Be open to love. Love comes in many forms. We love our parents in one way, friends in another, and perhaps that significant other if you are lucky. Treasure your relationships with others, no matter how far away or how close they are to you. As I continue my undergrad career, I’ve come to realize the true importance of social ties. Knowing that there are people out there rooting for me is what got me through some of my darkest moments. Keep in touch with those high school buddies, and remember to call your parents once in a while even if it’s not for monetary purposes. In a lecture, talk to the stranger sitting next to you not just when you want their lecture recordings, and don’t let all the conversation with your roommate be on conflict resolution. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Moreover, love yourself no matter what. Someone had once compared self-worth to a 10-dollar bill. No matter how hard you crumble it, its worth doesn’t change and it’s still 10 dollars. Similarly, no matter how badly you end up failing (a test, a course, a relationship, an opportunity), unhappy incidents should not break your inner core of belief for who you really are, and you should never allow you to fail yourself.

2. Know thyself! This is cliché but so true. Without having a deep understanding of who you are, it is impossible to decide on a direction in life (that you would not end up regretting). Four years of undergrad may seem long at first glance, but time stealthily creeps away. For everything you do, ask yourself how this experience would benefit you, and ultimately, make you a better person. There’s honestly so little time but so much to do. Knowing what you really want in life prevents you from taking unnecessary detours later on. Also, knowing who you are and where your limit is helps you to keep on feeling good about yourself when faced with tough competition who look like they might one day rule the world.

1. It’s the process that matters, not the end result. Life—and education—is what you make of it. Both are better to be treated as a process than as a means to “get somewhere”. Most of the time it’ll mean work—tons and tons of work—and the reward that comes with it would mostly likely be glorious yet brief at its best. So what do you do? You can’t quit, because anyone who’s ever tried to quit knows that even choosing to quit isn’t as easy as it sounds. Since we are all stuck with the process anyway, we might as well as enjoy it. To me, the mere understanding that I’m choosing to take part in this process and taking on challenges along the way means much more than what would ultimately come out of it. So slow down, and enjoy what you are actually doing, instead of rushing through each day as if you can’t wait to get it over with and move on to something “better”, be it law school or med school or making babies. Recently, I’ve realized that whenever you only have one goal in your mind and temporarily put down everything else in the name of achieving that “something greater”, even if you do end up achieving that goal in the end, you’d still feel that all that time was “lost”, because while you were fighting for it, you didn’t have the chance to appreciate all the other aspects of your life that nevertheless deserved your attention. So focus on today, and have faith in tomorrow.

-Lucy

Welcome to the Sussex Clubhouse!!

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You’ve tried everything – went to all the club fairs, checked out the Hart House, got on all the mailing lists, and scoured the streets for newsletters. You’ve just had to face it, there’s no club out there that’s just right for you.

 

Never fear, I am here!!

 

Welcome to 21 Sussex Ave., Toronto, home to over 50 student life organizations, that will knock your socks off!

 

After taking a tour around the building, gaining “one-time-only” access into some of the student office spaces, and holding office hours there myself, I can give you all the secrets to making the most of this building and the services it offers.

 

Location

21 Sussex Ave. is at the corner of Huron Street and Sussex Ave (no way!) and is northwest of Robarts Library. On a CampusMap, the building code is SC, or you can just use GoogleMaps and look it up yourself.

 

 

Offices

The Sussex Clubhouse is home to:

·     Campus Community Police (Floor 1)

·     The Community Safety Office (Floor 2)

·     The Varsity student newspaper (Floors 2 & 3)

·     Student Life Programs staff (Floor 3)

·    Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office (Floor 3)

·    Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Student Resources and Programs (Floor 4)

·     Facilities for use by campus groups (Floors 4 & 5)

·     Over 50 student organizations (Floors 4, 5 & 6)

 

 

Student Organizations

 Here are some of the organizations you can find at The Club House

  • Pre-Law Society
  • Chinese Students Association
  • Crumpled Paper Art & Creative Writing Magazine
  • Only Human Dance Collective
  • Teachers Without Borders
  • Investing in Integrity
  • War Child
  • Party for a Cause
  • Peace by PEACE

 

… And much, much more! You can checkout out this ClubBrochure PDF and look at a list of all the clubs featured at the Clubhouse.

 

 

Event

Okay, so you want to check it out, but you don’t want to wander the building like a lost soul?

The Sussex Clubhouse is having a “Club Crawl” during the depths of winter, as they put it, where you can enjoy hot chocolate, popcorn, and connect with student groups (representatives from every student group will be there). It’s a huge event, Sussex Community’s largest event of the year.

It’s been scheduled for Thursday January 24th, 2008 from 3-6pm. I’ve given you enough advance notice, so mark it in your schedules, and be sure to come! This year’s event theme is ‘Da Sussex Code’ and you can get involved the competition to crack the code and win a prize!

It’s a great opportunity, so check it out!

 

Overview

You can surf around the main website here and click around for more information, and ideas about how to get involved.

 

If you ever want to check out the building, post me a comment. I hold office hours there once a week, and I can give you the inside scoop!

 

- Fariya