the eyeopener november 25, 2015
TRANSCRIPT
7/23/2019 The Eyeopener November 25, 2015
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-eyeopener-november-25-2015 1/12
Volume 49 - Issue 11November 25, 2015theeyeopener.com
@theeyeopenerSince 1967
PHOTO: JAKE SCOTT
THE ENDof his era
Sheldon Levy,
Ryerson and
how everythingchanged. P6
7/23/2019 The Eyeopener November 25, 2015
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-eyeopener-november-25-2015 2/12
2 Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015
Shawarma Just Got Better!Now Serving Shawarma& Halal Deli On A Sub
NOW OPEN
10% OFF
With a purchase of $5 or moreMust present coupon when ordering. Not valid with any other offer.
One coupon per customer per order. December 31, 2015.(Downtown)
7/23/2019 The Eyeopener November 25, 2015
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-eyeopener-november-25-2015 3/12
Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015 NEWS 3
Equity service centres propose new levyBy Jacob Dubé
Ryerson’s equity service centres
have published a report that pro-poses seeking a student levy toover their growing costs.
The service centres, which in-lude The Centre for Women &
Trans People, The Good Food
Centre, Racialised Students’ Col-ective, RyeAccess, RyePride andhe Trans Collective, are proposing
two-dollar per-student levy thatwould possibly replace their an-nual budget given to them by theRyerson Students’ Union (RSU).
Equity and campaigns organiserCorey Scott said that there weremany options available when he
reated the report, but a studentevy seemed the most obvious.
“It’s a good way to make sure
hat, especially in a scenario wherehe equity service centres fall un-
der the students’ union, [they]
know they have this budget setside,” Scott said.He said that a lot of other simi-
ar organizations across Canada,ike the University of Toronto’students for Barrier-free Access,
have a student levy in place — al-owing them to have a reserve thathelps them plan for deficits. Under
he current structure, he said thatsn’t feasible.
“The problem is because we’re
organizations within another or-anization, the strategic growth
s a bit fluctuating. It’s difficult tofigure out what that growth willook like year to year,” Scott said.So having a dedicated levy allows
ach of those equity service centres
or all the equity service centrescollectively to strategically grow
together.”According to the first semester
revenues and expenditures report,
the equity service centres werenearly $16,000 over their $45,615budget for the 2015-2016 year by
August.Vice-president equity Rabia
Idrees said that in previous years,the equity service centres had more
spending freedom, and this year’sRSU has implemented more con-trols to make sure their expenses
are in check.“I guess that shift has been dif-
ferent for the equity service cen-
tres because there are people thatworked there last year that arestill working there this year, so I
guess it’s a drastic change that theyfeel,” Idrees said. “But at the endof the day, it’s better to do it that
way to make sure what’s being
spent is within the budget.”According to RSU president
Andrea Bartlett, implementing alevy would require tuition fees toincrease by the two dollars per
student, as proposed.The equity service centres have,
in the past, campaigned and par-
ticipated in events centered onfighting tuition costs, such as thissummer’s pride week theme “Free
Love, Free Education.” Theirwebsite also mentions rising tu-
ition fees in Ontario, and “byworking together and organizingcampaigns and initiatives, we canmake change and win major victo-
ries for students.”Bartlett said the equity services
all took a firm stance on not in-creasing tuition, and that RSU
vice-president education CormacMcGee has been criticised by for-mer equity service centre employ-
ees about his stance on tuition fees.“I think that’s it’s ironic that, if
it’s indeed a levy, that the groups
who are fighting against us to de-crease tuition fees are now askingus to lobby to go through a ref-
erendum to increase them again,”Bartlett said.
Scott said the equity service cen-
tres have not taken a clear stanceon tuition fees, but they have his-
torically been active in tuition re-
form, especially for marginalizedstudents.
RSU vice-president operations
Obaid Ullah said the options for alevy are either to have a referendumthrough the RSU, or the equity cen-
tres would form a separate societyand hold their own. But Idrees saidsocieties are usually faculty-based,
so the membership of the societywould be harder to pin down.
“I don’t know if there’s an un-
derlying them-versus-us mentalitythat’s going on in the ESC, I don’tknow what’s going on,” Idrees
said. “I don’t know if they haveany personal problems with us be-cause we are the different Trans-
form team. That might have madethem want to start their own soci-ety, separate from the RSU.”
Muslim banner taken down...againBy Behdad Mahichi
An Ahmadiyya Muslim Students’
Association (AMSA) of Ryersonbanner hanging in front of LakeDevo by was cut down in what the
roup calls an act of Islamopho-
bia.Titled “Islam: At Odds with the
West…?” the event scheduled forDec. 3 will be a forum for studentso ask questions about the religion.
The banner was tied betweenwo trees with rope. On Monday,t had been torn on one side, cut-ing through the metal covered
holes. The banner cost $220.Ali Ahmed, president of AMSA
Ryerson, said this is the second
ime they’ve had their posters van-dalized in two years.
Last year, the group held an
vent focused on fighting extrem-st influence towards Canadian
outh — but their banner, whichwas again hung above Lake Devo,was taken down as well.
“I don’t want to say who did
t and why it happened,” said
Ahmed, “but Islamophobia is
huge right now. It’s somethingwe’re trying to tackle every day,and I think the best way to do that
is through education, dialogue andbuilding bridges with each other.”
Ahmed said that ironically, the
event was planned to tackle Islam-ophobia.
“We need to reach out to stu-
dents before anyone else does withsomething that isn’t true,” he said.
Ryerson Students’ Union vice-president equity Rabia Idrees saidthat the group notified her, andthen filled out a formal complaint
to Ryerson Security.
“I’m not going to give the blame
to a Ryerson student, it could beanybody from the Toronto area,”she said. “There’s clearly a lot ofignorance, hatred, misinformation
that people have on others whofollow the Islamic faith.”
“We’ll put it back up, and it
can come down a hundred moretimes,” said Ahmed.
“We’re not going to respond
back with hate or violence, once
we do find out who did it, we’renot going to hold any grudges.
We’re going to do what Islamteaches us, we’re going to be re-spectful and peaceful.”
The banner before it was taken down. PHOTO COURTESY: ALI AHMED
The equity service centres, housed in the SCC, are proposing a student levy to cover their costs. PHOTO: CHARLES VANEGAS
7/23/2019 The Eyeopener November 25, 2015
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-eyeopener-november-25-2015 4/12
4 EDITORIAL Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015
Editor-in-Chief Sean “Pretty Prancing Prankster”
Wetselaar
NewsKeith “X and 3” Capstick
Farnia “Maybe right” FekriLaura “Fisticuffs” Woodward
FeaturesEmma “Three drafts” Cosgrove
Biz and Tech Jacob “Peanut sauce” Dubé
Arts and Life
Al “Morning soda” Downham
SportsDevin “Watching TV” Jones
CommunitiesDylan “Foreign correspondant”
Freeman-Grist
PhotoSierra “Wudt” Bein
Jake “Has the plague” ScottAnnie “SD” Arnone
FunRobert “Majestic” Mackenzie
MediaRob “Cereal” Foreman
Online Josh “Finally leaving” Beneteau
Nicole “15 hours” SchmidtLee “Probably on his patio”
Richardson
General ManagerLiane “Beer sherpa” McLarty
Advertising ManagerChris “End in sight” Roberts
Design Director
J.D. “Hawt” Mowat
Intern ArmyGracie “Wanda” Brison
Mikayla “Phoebe” FasulloBen “Ralphie” HoppeAngela “Keesha” Feng
Victoria “Dorothy Ann” Sykes
ContributorsNoushin “In the sink” Ziafati
Noella “Nihlist” OvidIgor “Come app me” MagunBehdad “BehFamilyFriend”
MahichiAnika “Montreal” Syeda
The editorial is online this week! To read Editor-in-Chief Sean Wetselaar’s thoughts on a departing Levy, how his attitudechanged the university and why he once bought us a turkey, head on down to theeyeopener.com.
PHOTO: MARISSA DEDERER
Alexandria “Slapshot” Lee Jonah “Feature wizard” BrunetChris “Sweater man” Blanchette
Tagwa “BLING” Moyo Jacob “Blazé” ThielenLidia “Bold” AbrahaIris “Snapshot” Kim
Emily “Order of” Craig-EvansMitchell “Double Agent”
ThompsonAlanna “Warrior” Rizza”
Sawyer “Backpacker” BogdanNick “the Ripper” Matthews
Skyler “Gacy” AshYoup “Rifkin” Zondag
Playing the part of the AnnoyingTalking Coffee Mug this week isTrish. Who does that, Trish?
The Eyeopener is Ryerson’s largestand only independent student news- paper. It is owned and operated byRye Eye Publishing Inc., a non- profit corporation owned by the stu-dents of Ryerson.
Our offices are on the second floorof the Student Campus Centre. Youcan reach us at 416-979-5262, attheeyeopener.com or on Twitter at@theeyeopener.
Online: Farewell president Levy
All RSU members (full time undergrads and full andpart-time grads) are eligible to vote on by-law changes,motions, & set direction!
For more info on your membership inthe Students’ Union visit www.rsuonline.ca
FREE DINNERASL interpretation provided. If you need other accommodations to ensureyour participation, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible.
• Discuss student issues• Have your say on RSU campaigns and initiatives
• Exercise your democratic right
CALLING ALL MEMBERS
5:30pm Registration • 6pm-9pm
Monday, Nov. 30
TRSM 1067
of theRyerson Students’ Union
55 Dundas St. W
FALL
GENERAL
MEETING
The deadline to submit motions:
Monday, Nov. 16 at 5pm.
Media requests to attend should be sent to theRSU President at [email protected]
7/23/2019 The Eyeopener November 25, 2015
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-eyeopener-november-25-2015 5/12
Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015 NEWS 5
Take me to Church Street development
By Anika Syeda
Ryerson’s development on ChurchStreet is in the final stages of de-sign and construction is nearly
ready to begin.The development will be named
the Daphne Cockwell Health Sci-
ences Complex — after receivingan $8 million donation from the Jack Cockwell family and Brook-
field Partners Foundation. Thecrew on the project plans to breakground on Dec. 2.
In the tallest part of the struc-
ture, there will be 330 studentresidence units.
The building will be home to
the school of nursing, the schoolof nutrition and the school of oc-cupational and public health. It
will also house the midwifery edu-cation program, the communica-tions, government and community
engagement department, univer-sity advancement, food servicesand a new learning zone called
the Fabrication Zone built for stu-dents to make physical projects.
The school has been collabo-
rating on the Church Street de-
velopment with architecture firmPerkins+Will since mid-2013.
Representatives from each of
the university’s programs and de-partments who will be using the
building will meet with the firm todiscuss their needs early on in theprocess.
Perkins+Will is working on the
final stages of the design while theEastern Construction CompanyLtd. prepares to work on the site
once the excavation and shoringpermits are issued by the city.
“Our plans are about 75 per
cent complete,” said AndrewFrontini, the design lead on
the project.“We’re still working on details
of how the [indoor building ma-terials] and interior design looks,
but the structure is just about de-
signed and they’re starting workon the building.”
Fortini said the current stageof design is expected to lastthroughout the winter and then
Perkins+Will will supervise theconstruction.
The excavation and site prepa-
ration stage is expected to contin-ue through June of next year. Thebuilding is expected to be complet-
ed in fall 2018.
McGill offering an LGBTQ+ scholarship— should Ryerson do the same?
By Maddie Binning
As of last Thursday, McGill Uni-ersity offers a scholarship to
ecognize LGBTQ+ leadership.At Ryerson, there are no internalcholarships available specifically
or the LGBTQ+ community.Several Ryerson students, such
s first-year English student Matt-
Blois, questioned the necessity forsimilar scholarship at Ryerson.“I just don’t see the need for
his,” Blois said.
Timothy Thompson, chief oper-ting officer at TD Asset Manage-
ment, is the donator of McGill’s
cholarship.“Back in 1990, if there had been
n award [like this] it might have
llowed me to bring my whole selfo school,” he says.
Graduating with an MBA from
McGill University’s Desautels Fac-ulty of Management and carvingout a career in banking and fi-
nance, Thompson said he has littleecollection of talks of diversity.Over the course of my career of
5 years, the conversation aboutdiversity and inclusion has defi-nitely opened up,” he said.
Thompson will be donating annnual scholarship of $20,000
or each of the next five years to aMBA student within or in supportof the LGBTQ+ community atDesautels who demonstrates both
cademic excellence and exem-
plary commitment and leadership
within the LGBTQ+ community.The City of Toronto Street
Needs Assessment confirmed that20 per cent of youth in the shel-
ter system identify as lesbian, gay,bisexual, transsexual or queer.This is more than twice the rate of
homelessness for all age groups.According to McGill first-year
physics and mathematics student
Elias Hess Childs, such a scholar-ship is necessary if all students areto approach loans from similar fi-nancial standing.
“I think a lot of people confuseequity and equality,” said Childs.
“The purpose of affirmative ac-tion has always to been to levelthe playing field, not give anyonea head start.”
The question of whether an
LGBTQ+-specific scholarship
ought to exist divided studentsinto two opposing factions.
“Consider that some LGBTQ+people are actually kicked out oftheir homes or no longer receive
financial support once they come
out as LGBT+ to their parents,”said first-year RTA student Aaron
Brown.However, students in opposition
to the scholarship argue that there
is adequate funding for somebodyin need of it, regardless of whetherthey are straight or not. According
to Blois, OSAP and other ways ofobtaining funds for school negatethe need for an LGBTQ+-oriented
scholarship.“If your grades are high enough
you can apply for scholarships,
gay or not,” Blois said.Gay first-year computer science
student David Jardine agrees withBlois, but added that LGBTQ+students are not yet at a level play-ing field with heterosexual and cis-
gender students in terms of socialstatus and acceptance.
“I assume this scholarship is an
attempt to level the playing fieldby giving LGBTQ+ people a betterchance at getting a post-secondary
education,” he said. “While thatis great, I think Canada’s anti-discrimination laws are sufficientenough to give us a good chance
of getting employed.”Promoting the message of em-
bracing all sexualities takes pre-
cedence over compensating mon-etarily for the lack of societalacceptance, Jardine said, and uni-
versities should prioritize aware-ness campaigns.
The Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex is planned to break ground on Dec. 2 and be completed for use in fall 2018
A rendering of the Church Street Development. PHOTO COURTESY: RYERSON UNIVERSITY
“Back in 1990, if there had
been an award [like this]
it might have allowed me
to bring my whole self to
school”Swipe & WinYour OneCard is your Ticket into the Game!
FOR TICKET INFORMATION VISIT
www.mattamyathleticcentre.ca
RYERSONRAMS RYERSONRAMS.CA#WeRRams
7/23/2019 The Eyeopener November 25, 2015
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-eyeopener-november-25-2015 6/12
6 Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015FEATURES
TH E AG ERyerson President Sheldon Levy is packing up his ofce — this semester will be his last. JONA
Erin McGinn remembers her
first meeting with Sheldon
Levy after he became Ryer-
on’s president, walking together
hrough Yonge-Dundas Square in
he fall of 2005. Levy was trying
o convince McGinn — a former
olleague from his time working
n government and institutional
elations at the University of To-
onto (U of T) — to come work
with him.
The square was an open con-
truction site back then, unfinished
op-floor interiors visible throughkeletal steel-frame facades. Pre-
occupied with Ryerson’s dismal
thletic facilities, Levy remarked,
Wouldn’t it be nice if someone
put an ice rink up there?”
“What is he talking about?”
McGinn remembers thinking.
Who would ever put a skating
ink on the third story of a build-
ng?”
She accepted his offer and be-
ame assistant vice president of
ommunications, government and
ommunity engagement.
Seven years later, Levy stood
beaming on Ryerson’s third-
floor ice rink as Stephen Harper
dropped a ceremonial puck to
mark the opening of the Mattamy
Athletic Centre (MAC), a sprawl-
ng new athletic complex on the
top two floors of historic Maple
Leaf Gardens.
Levy couldn’t see the future,
but he could help shape it and
did so multiple times to bring
Ryerson closer and closer, build-
ing by building, to his vision. The
expanded Ted Rogers School of
Management, the MAC, the reno-
vated Ryerson Image Centre and,
most recently, Yonge Street’s Stu-
dent Learning Centre all stand in
testament to his drive and am-
bition on behalf of his campus.
Now, as he moves on to becomeOntario’s deputy minister of train-
ing, colleges and universities, we
at Ryerson are left to contemplate
our university without him, and
can’t help but wonder if the prog-
ress he championed will stop.
“It’s grown from acommuter campus
to a campus studentswant to spend their
time on”
- Sheldon Levy
For those who know Levy —
those who worked alongside him
over the past decade and will
carry on without him come next
semester — it isn’t an ardent city
builder they will miss. It’s a man.
It’s a personality, a warmth and
a sense of humour. Levy’s many
tangible accomplishments, ex-
panding his campus both physi-
cally and in terms of student
engagement, will no doubt come
to define his legacy at Ryerson —
but they’ve also been thoroughly
covered, both in this and other
Toronto publications. (Toronto
Life ranked him 28 on a list of
“The 50 Most Influential Peoplein Toronto.”) Perhaps most re-
markable about Levy is that,
while accomplishing all that he
did, he remained a pleasure to be
around. He was always smiling.
He seemed to be having fun.
“The thing about a leader is that
you need to be all the things the
business books tell you a leader
should be — vision and hard work
and so on,” says Charles Falzon,
dean of radio and television arts.
“But the real secret is that you
have to be human first. That’s
what strikes me about Sheldon.”
Sheldon Levy is the only son
of parents from Poland and
Russia — a truck driver
and a homemaker. He grew up
with two sisters in a small house
near Dufferin and Eglinton. In his
teens, he slacked off, skipped class
and failed Grade 10 at Downs-
view Public School. He’s nothing
if not relatable.
Levy’s path from high school
burnout to Ryerson president was
an unlikely one made possible by
a series of mentors. The first was
a high school teacher who recog-
nized his talent for math, in which
Levy went on to earn a master’s
degree from York. The last was
former Ontario premier Bill Davis
who, when Levy was on the fence
about becoming Ryerson’s presi-dent in 2005, urged him to stick
with it.
Years later, Davis would phone
Levy to inform him he’d won
the 2014 Egerton Ryerson award
for dedication to public educa-
tion. Levy became the first person
from Ryerson to receive Ryerson’s
award.
Now, at 67, education is a com-
mon theme in Levy’s family. His
wife and two daughters are all
schoolteachers, making it no sur-
prise when he asserts, repeatedly
over the course of his tenure and
at the heart of every decision he
makes as president, that students
come first.
Upon arriving at Ryerson, Levy
was disappointed by the low
amount of student engagement,
with few electing to spend their
free time on campus, before or af-
ter class. His predecessor, Claude
Lajeunesse, was a nuclear physi-
cist who’d worked hard to en-
trench Ryerson as a university in
the academic sense, but had little
of Levy’s charisma and hadn’t
done much to enhance his stu-
dents’ campus experience.
The Ryerson Levy saw in his
first days as president was a uni-
versity that struggled to express
itself with the pride of historic
schools such as Queen’s or U of T.It was an environment out of sync
with what it meant to students,
and the pride Levy knew existed.
Adam Kahan, vice-president of
university advancement, still re-
members Levy’s first directive as
president to improve his campus,
bringing it physically closer to the
way students felt about it: “Let’s
plant flowers.”
Ten years after that first sym-
bolic action, Levy says remedying
the issue of student engagement
on campus is his greatest achieve-
ment at Ryerson. “It’s grown from
a commuter campus to a campus
students want to spend their timeon,” he says. Each new space he
created for Ryerson all worked to-
ward the common goal of students
engaging with their university.
PHOTO: MARISSA DEDERER
7/23/2019 The Eyeopener November 25, 2015
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-eyeopener-november-25-2015 7/12
Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015 7FEATURES
son made more than the president
of the United States, taking homeover $445,000.
But according to those who
know Levy, whopping paychequeshaven’t changed a thing abouthim. “He doesn’t take himself se-
riously,” Hanigsberg says. “He’sthe least elitist person you’re evergoing to meet. He doesn’t care if
you’re a rich donor or a first-yearstudent who just walked in andplunked yourself down in his of-fice.”
Provost and vice-president aca-demic Mohamed Lachemi, whowill be taking over as interim pres-
ident come December (an unenvi-able position due to the toughnessof the act he must follow), first
met Levy when he was a facultymember. He agrees the president’shumbleness was a defining char-
acteristic. “You don’t feel thatthere’s a difference between himas a president and the rest of us,”
Lachemi says.From colleagues in administra-
tion even on down to the janito-
rial staff, Levy’s down-to-earthdemeanour and active sense of
humour had an impact on thosehe encountered. One janitor evenwrote a song about Levy, andhad it professionally recorded by
a professor in the RTA School of
O F LEV Y RUNET takes a deeper look at the man, the plan and the pursuit of a revitalized Ryerson.
Levy’s decade of transfor-
mative city-building wasn’tonly noticed by current
tudents, but also did wonders
or attracting prospective ones (akey indicator of success for anyuniversity). Ryerson currently
eceives approximately 10 appli-ations for every available spot
— higher than any other univer-
ity in Ontario. And, comparedo just over 4,000 when he began
his tenure, last year Levy wel-
omed more than 7,000 first-yeartudents to his campus. Growthor Levy was about students more
han about buildings and he wasbringing his downtown campusmore of both.
“I always wanted to leave whenpeople said, ‘Why are you leav-
ng?’” Levy says. “I never wantedo overstay my welcome.” But, in014, Ryerson’s board of gover-
nors quietly changed a long-stand-
ng university bylaw limiting any
president to two five-year terms.The message, it seemed, was that
Levy was welcome to Ryerson’spresidency for as long as he want-ed.
Ryerson’s Student LearningCentre, which opened ear-
lier this year on the cornerof Yonge and Gould streets, is anotherworldly eight-storey glass
hulk that best illustrates Levy’scommitment to Ryerson students.“It wasn’t about monoliths to the
administration or monoliths toresearch,” says Julia Hanigsberg,
former vice-president of finance.“The most spectacular views weregoing to be given to students.”
Although Levy gave the sleek,new and absurdly modern $112million building to his students
(while Ryerson executives remainin stodgy Jorgensen Hall, a grey-brown brick tower), Levy’s tenurehasn’t exactly been an act of char-
ity. In 2013, the president of Ryer-
Media.“It’s difficult to leave,” says
Levy when asked about his song,which was performed for him onemorning in his office. “And it just
makes it more difficult when peo-ple are thanking you.”
Considering his preoccupation
with the needs and ideas of others— both students and fellow staff,— it should come as no surprise
that people generally like Levy. Af-ter all, his approach to presidencywas emphatically about people.
Hanigsberg speaks fondly of herfirst executive’s retreat at Levy’scottage on Crowe Lake, explain-
ing that the theme might as wellhave been, “What the hell do youwant?” Levy was master of the
brainstorming session and valuedthe ideas of others with a manage-ment style that encouraged partici-
pation from everyone. Hanigsbergcalls it “spaghetti-at-the-wall lead-ership.”
“You’re going to have a reallyhard time getting anyone to sayanything bad about Sheldon,” she
says — a joke at the expense of myjournalistic sense of balance. And,
in the end, I never did.
In his last month as president,it’s already become clear that
Ryerson will miss Levy —from faculty to students to jani-
tors. If not for all he’s done, the
numerous grand achievementsfor which he’s been thoroughlypraised (his farewell celebration
is Nov. 25 at the MAC), we’llmiss him for who he was. Put-ting aside his accomplishments,which conjure images of business
tycoons and million-dollar hand-shakes, Levy is best characterizedby the little things — the small,
human moments that will be re-membered by colleagues long af-ter his departure.
For Lachemi, one such momenthappened last winter, walkingback from an off-campus event
near University Avenue. Levy hadsuggested they walk in spite of thecold, which was increasingly get-
ting to Lachemi, who had left histoque on campus. As soon as Levynoticed him shivering, he removed
his own hat and insisted Lachemitake it. “I have more hair thanhim,” Lachemi quips. “But he
forced me to accept it.”Even after they made it back
to campus, Levy refused to take
his hat back. For Lachemi, nowand more so come December,
when Levy will leave Ryerson forQueen’s Park, it has become afond memento. “I still have thathat,” he says, laughing. “I’m keep-
ing it because it’s from him.”
“You’re going to have a really hardtime getting anyone to say anything
bad about Sheldon” - Julia Hanigsberg
PHOTO: DASHA ZOLOTA
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Levyannounces plans to transform the Maple LeafGardens, 2009; with Stephen Harper at theMAC unveiling, 2012; Sheldon Heavy; speakingat the DMZ; grocery shopping with The Eyeopener ;
breaking ground at the SLC construction site, 2013.
FILE PHOTO
PHOTO: SEAN TEPPER
PHOTO: LINDSAY BOECKL
PHOTO: MARISSA DEDERERPHOTO: LEE RICHARDSON
PHOTO: LINDSAY BOECKL
7/23/2019 The Eyeopener November 25, 2015
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-eyeopener-november-25-2015 8/12
8 Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015
Elections for the Eyeopener’s 2016 winter masthead are happening!where: The Ram in the Rye, VIP ‘Party’ Room when: Thursday, Nov. 26. Speeches start at 7 p.m.
who: We’re electing the following positions: News editor (2), Photo editor, Online editor (2),Features editor, Arts & Life editor, Communities editor, Fun editor
ANYONE CAN APPLY! Come to SCC 207 for details and nomination forms.Speeches should be TWO MINUTES LONG (ahhh! public speaking!). There will be a timer. You’ve been
warned. An open question period will follow speeches, with an additional fact-based question period for news.
The following people have
contributed four times or more
to The Eyeopener this semester
and are eligible to vote, along
with current masthead. Voting
will take place Friday, Nov. 27
The Eyeopener winter election extrava-palooza™
RUN SPEAK VOTE
Igor Magun, Anika Syeda, Tagwa Moyo, Skyler Ash, Behdad Mahichi, Bahoz Dara, Emily Craig-Evans, Brennan Doherty,
Nick Dunne, Nick Matthews, Bronté Cambey, Nicole Di Donato, Alanna Rizza, Zach Dolgin, Brandon Buechler, Matt Ouellet,
Ben Shelley, Daniel Rocchi, Deven Knill, Luke Galati, Karoun Chahinian, Allan Perkins, Justin Chandler, Jake Kivanc,
Sophie Hamelin, Badri Murali, Deni Verklan, Natalia Balcerzak, Youp Zondag, Noushin Ziafati, Noella Ovid, Chris Blanchette.
If your name isn’t here and should be, email [email protected]
nominations and posters are due by 5 pm november 26.
voting will begin at 11 am, november 27th. polls close at 5 pm. vote in person at scc207,by phone, email or via facebook.
ppp
7/23/2019 The Eyeopener November 25, 2015
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-eyeopener-november-25-2015 9/12
Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015 BIZ & TECH 9
Ryerson profs Robert Clapperton (above) and Matthew Tiesen created a game to simulate business ventures. PHOTO: TAGWA MOYO
Rye profs create accessible business game
New Indian businesses come to DMZ
President Sheldon Levy with the Survelytics team. PHOTO: C OURTESY MANDAR VAIDYA
By Noushin Ziafati
By Noella Ovid
A duo of Ryerson professors are
using computer games and in-class
ctivities to try and teach students
bout how to start and maintain
businesses.Robert Clapperton, along
with collaborator Matthew Ties-
en, have developed a simulation
ame called the Global Social In-
novation Game (GSIG), which
will teach high school students
n grades 11 and 12 how to start
businesses that will work to solve
ocial problems instead of simply
making money.
“It’s a simulation because in
eality, to expect high school stu-
dents to start a business is not nec-
ssarily realistic but it’ll be as real
feeling for them as possible,”
Clapperton said.The GSIG will be piloted in Feb-
uary 2016 as a six-week extracur-
icular activity, which interested
high-school students can volun-
eer to participate in. The game is
0 per cent computer-based and
he other half requires students to
ngage with in-person interactions
Five Indian startups will be joining
Ryerson’s DMZ from Nov. 30 to
Dec. 11 as a part of its accelerator
program.
The contest winners are selected
by Zone Startups India, a jointenture of Ryerson Futures Inc.
nd the Bombay Stock Exchange
nstitute. LightMetrics and Plack-
l from Bangalore, Neuron and
wift File Transfer from Delhi and
urvelytics from Thane are partici-
pating in the program.
These startups were chosen
mong 300 business applicants
on the “potential of their business
o go global.”
Plackal
This company is behind an app
alled LoveCycles. The app helps
women track their reproduc-
ive health by tracking menstrual
ycles and mapping out different
phases to increase accuracy of
ontraception and consumption.
“As the app evolves, we are
ooking to get into adjacent areas,
like tracking pregnancy or sharing
this data with your partner [or] a
doctor,” said John Paul, founder
and CEO of Plackal. “Also, per-
haps a community angle wherein
women can connect with their
peers and discuss issues around re-
productive health.”Neuron
A data analytics firm of only 15
people, Neuron is hoping to offer
their platform as a service for de-
velopers of sentiment analysis and
language processing.
“I think coming to Canada will
open up a lot of doors for us,”
said Veer Mishra, founder and
CEO. “Partnering with companies
that are actually operating into e-
commerce or maybe primarily the
companies that have a lot of data
and they don’t know what to do
about it. I think we have the an-
swers [for] that.”
Mishra said the company is look-
ing to explore possible business
expansion opportunities and has a
plan to set up a branch in Canada.
“The idea is we may start off
with establishing a small sales
team there and then maybe ship a
research base as well,” he said.
Survelytics
Survelytics is a digital market re-search platform for anyone that
wants to conduct surveys or collect
data. The app is available on both
iOS and Android and consists of
image, audio, video and location
features.
“The difference here is you
don’t need connectivity. So even
if you don’t have any data, you
can collect data on these apps and
later synchronize that data. And
the person who has designed the
survey can start looking at the
results online in real time,” said
Mandar Vaidya, founder and
CEO of Survelytics.Through the DMZ, Survelytics
is looking to use Canada as a base
to sell their product in the North-
American market. The company
sees Canada as a good launch pad
and a great opportunity to take the
startup to new heights in sales and
market penetration, Vaidya said.
“Since we access the U.S. mar-
ket remotely, it is an impediment
in getting new customers. So we
look at Canada as a base so that
we can easily go to approach the
U.S. market and the Canadian
market, and be more acceptable
in that because we will be a local
entity,” said Vaidya.Check out theeyeopener.com
for the profiles on the other Zone
Startups India winners, LightMet-
rics and Neuron.
between classmates and teachers.
Students will create risk-free
businesses and will aim to ad-dress the United Nations Millen-
nium Development Goals, includ-
ing poverty alleviation, education
and sustainability.
Clapperton approached Me to
We, a for-profit social enterprise,
with the game. They are now
working together on the GSIG
project to create a curriculum for
high school students that will get
them involved with social activ-ism and entrepreneurship for lon-
ger periods of time, as opposed to
single day events such as We Day
celebrations.
The GSIG project was funded by
Ryerson’s RECODE, an initiative
based around fuelling social inno-
vation and encouraging students
to become social entrepreneurs.
RECODE had a grant competition,
which Clapperton and Tiessen ap-plied to last year. Once their pro-
posal for the GSIG got approved,
they started building the game.
The project is inspired by Clap-
perton’s work at Ryerson as a
professional communication pro-
fessor. This fall, he introduced
similar simulations to his students
at Ryerson in CMN279, an intro-
duction to professional communi-
cation course.
“The simulation version that
we developed is where the stu-
dents don’t go to any classrooms,
it’s purely digital and there’s nosyllabus, there [are] no modules,
there [are] no lessons,” he said.
“They join a fictitious com-
munications consulting company
and they get put on client teams
and they work on projects with
real clients. So they work through
a series of projects, and in those
projects, they learn everything
that they learn in a communica-
tions course but by practicing it
and doing it.”
Clapperton hopes this simula-
tion-based form of teaching will
appeal to students that want to
learn things they can directlytranslate to the real world in the
future.
“It’s the most fun way to teach.
You can’t beat it,” he said. “For
the courses and for the game, I’m
really looking forward to seeing
what kind of ideas come out of
the students.”
7/23/2019 The Eyeopener November 25, 2015
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-eyeopener-november-25-2015 10/12
Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015 SPORTS 10
The crickets of Ryerson chirping awayBy Gracie Brison
The Ryerson cricket team received offical team status last February. PHOTO: DEVIN JONES
The Ryerson cricket club which
started last year has been recog-
nized by the university and became
an official team this past February.
Due to a high level of interestfrom prospective players, the club
created two team for their tourna-
ment in King City in August. One
team made it to the quarters and
the other to the semi-finals out of
twelve teams. RSU vice-president
operations and captain of one of
the teams, Obaid Ullah, feels that
the success of the tournament
helped influence the decision to
create an official team.
“There’s always been cricket
but it’s never been through official
channels. People used to play but
no one put in the effort to unite
and organize with the university
requirements,” Ullah said. “We’ve
seen a big increase in the numberof students participating and we’re
slowly progressing forward.”
Cricket is a complicated sport, so
here is a quick synopsis of the over-
all game. A bat, a ball, and 11 play-
ers on each team is required. The
field on which the game is played
is referred to as the pitch. At either
end of the pitch are three wooden
stakes, referred to as wickets.
The team batting is responsible
for defending the wickets by try-
ing to hit the ball with a curved
bat. The fielding team attempts to
prevent runs being scored by set-
ting up in positions most likely tocatch the ball. The striker must
hit the ball and run to the oppo-
site end of the pitch while his non-
striking partner runs to his end.
The run doesn’t count unless the
player touches the ground with
their bat or their body. A batter
can be called out if the pitcher
knocks over the wickets.
This past October the team trav-
eled to Boston Mass. where they
participated in and won the Amer-
ican College Cricket Dream11
North East Championships, tak-
ing home the trophy. The Rams
defeated Rutgers University by five
wickets, to win the tournament forthe third time since 2011.
The men of the cricket club have
always taken a pretty serious ap-
proach to the game. And despite
having only club status, they do
have support from the administra-
tion and are looking for funding to
take the team to the next level. They
have already been receiving more
publicity and much more support
from the crowds. Come game time,
Kerr Hall gym will have cricket fans
coming in from all over.
“We had a game last week and
that was probably our biggest
crowd yet. We had commentarygoing on, we had music, and a
different university coming in,”
said captain of the other team An-
ees Saeed. “As a player, I feel the
home ground advantage and we’re
feeling the support.”
The biggest tournament and
challenge for the cricket team
comes in March when they’ll par-
ticipate in the American College
National championships in Flori-
da. Last season the Rams lost in
the semi-final game by one run,
placing third. For Ullah, this year’s
tournament is all about redeeming
themselves and aiming for a berth
in the finals.So with the cricket club now of-
fical the Rams are on their way
to their first seaon of competitive
play. Here’s to a wicket season.
Research StudyThe role of the human gut microbiome in depression:
Pathophysiology and impact on treatment
You are invited to participate in a research study thatis looking at changes that happen in your body when
starting or changing an antidepressant
You may be eligible to participate if you:
are between the ages of 18 – 60have problems with depression
not currently taking a psychiatric medication
You will be reimbursed for your participation
For more information call Asem Bala 416-351-3732 ext. 2301 oremail [email protected]
7/23/2019 The Eyeopener November 25, 2015
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-eyeopener-november-25-2015 11/12
Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015 FUN 11
Numbers’ Best SudokuDrop off your completed sudoku with your contact info to The
Eyeopener office (SCC 207) for your chance to win a $25 iTunes gift
card! In honour of numbers, and because it’s sudoku, all answers arenumbers. How do you like ‘dem apples?!
“Numbers constitute the only universal language.”
- Nathanael West
‘He’s just not funny anymore’
obert Mackenzie isn’t going anywhere. PHOTO: SIERRA BEIN
The public is looking to oust Robert Mackenzie in wake of recent allegations
The Ryerson community is calling
or The Eyeopener’s fun editor toesign amidst recent evidence ofn embezzlement scheme.
“This whole scam ofirty money has completelyhanged the way I view the sec-
ion,” said Maggie Gorman, aegular fun reader. “He’s just notunny anymore.”
Two weeks ago, an Eyeopen-
r Funvestigation revealed thatmore than $250,000 of Fun-ertisement revenue was unac-
ounted for. Last week, Love-ug*, a source who was directly
nvolved in Funvertisement devel-pment and production, revealedhat fun editor Robert Macken-ie had been illegally pocketing
percentage of profit from eachunvertisement. Lovebug alsoaid that Mackenzie had been
By Pew Chalmers charging the paper “travel ex-
penses” for his weekend getawaysto Hamilton.
This week, Mackenzie spokepublically about the chargesagainst him for the first time
at a press conference outsideof the Sally Horsfall building. “Ihave worked diligently to bring
the fun section out of the darkages and I don’t plan on handingover my successes anytime soon,”he said.
Unfortunately for Mackenzie,the press conference hasn’t re-moved the public outcry as the
evidence against him continues togrow.
“This kind of greed is dis-gusting,” third-year biologystudent Trey Dillon said after theconference. “We can’t trust him
anymore. He needs to be fired.”Mackenzie is currently un-
der contract until the end
of the school year. Protestors are
demanding the editor to resign bythe end of the fall semester.
In the thick of the mayhem,
several editors at The Eyeopen-
er have joined the campaignto have their colleague resign.
“As journalists, there’s no waywe can support the lying, cheat-ing and stealing that Robert has
perpetuated this year,” saidsports editor Devin Jones.“We are asking him to resign and
not to further diminish our pa-per’s integrity.”
It appears that Mackenzie
has no plans to step downfrom his role as fun editor. The
public will next hear fromMackenzie in the bi-annual Stateof the Fun Section address nextweek.
*The source’s name has been
changed to protect their identity
It is getting colder outside and that
can mean only one thing… it’s timeto put on those shoes!
I’m Ralph Pork, and I love shoes.I guess you could say I’m a shoe
enthusiast. But you can’t say I’m
a shoe fanatic. I don’t like it. Stopcalling me that.
Shoes protect your feet and theykeep your feet warm. Heck, some-times shoes can even make you
look stylish!Don’t be influenced by hobbits
and other anti-shoe activists. Go
get yourself a pair of shoes. Youcan buy shoes at Foot Locker, Aldo,Payless, Sears, Kiddie Kobbler and
even Factory Shoe. And I’m surethere’s more where that came from.
In fact, if you notice a place
that sells shoes that wasn’t named
above, send me an email and I willadd it to my list.
If you’re looking for a certain
style, there are a number of dif-ferent shoe brands. There’s Nike,Prada, Vans, New Balance, Con-
verse and even Saucony. And guesswhat, there may even be more hid-ing around out there!
In fact, if you notice a shoe brand
that wasn’t named above, send mean email and I will add it to my list.
Canadians are accustomed totaking their shoes off inside theirhouses. But you know ol’ Pork-
chop doesn’t play by those rules.In my home I scatter stray shardsof glass on the floor to make those
who disrobe their feet pay the ulti-mate price.
So don’t be naïve. Don’t let theanti-shoe activists fool you. Trust
your ol’ pal Ralph and put yourshoes on.With files from Robert Mackenzie
FunvertisementBy Ralph Pork
Dr. Alex Aronov & Dr. Roy Suarez & Associates
655 Bay Street Unit 7(Corner of Bay & Elm - Concourse Level)
416 595 1200bayelmdental.com
FREE IN-OFFICEWHITENING WITH X RAYS, CLEANING& NEW PATIENTEXAM.
STUDENT
DISCOUNTS.
7/23/2019 The Eyeopener November 25, 2015
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-eyeopener-november-25-2015 12/12
Wednesday, Nov. 25, 201512
Need a break from your books for a quick bite or refreshment?10 Dundas East is just around the corner to satisfy your craving.We’re only a short walk from class, right at Yonge & Dundas.
Baskin Robbins
Blaze Pizza
California Thai
Caribbean Queen
Chipotle
Curry & Co.
DAVIDsTEA
Harvey’s
Milo’s Pita
Opa! Souvlaki
Poptopia/Yoyo’sYogurt Café
Real FruitBubble Tea
Sauté Rosé
Starbucks
Subway
The Beer StoreExpress
Tim Hortons
Wine Rack
Restaurants
Jack Astor’s Bar & Grill
Milestones Grill & Bar
Shark Club
Spring Sushi
IN THE
FOODCOURT
FREE
WIFI