2 Monday, august 23, 2010 VARSITY NEWS [email protected] Two New Degrees Offered at U of T he Munk School and Computer Science bring more practical degrees to U of T

Rajin Singh is that our graduates would be inno- vators who will take leadership posi- VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR tions in any of the three sectors.” The University of Toronto will be of- Across campus the Department of fering two new masters programs this Computer Science has established September. The Master of Global Af- the Master of Science in Applied fairs at the Munk School of Global Af- Computing, another new profession- fairs and the Master of Science in Ap- al degree. Known for being highly plied Computing at the Department of research-intensive at the postgradu- Computer Science come in response ate level, the department also saw a to a growing demand for professional strong student demand for profes- and applied postgraduate studies. sional experience as opposed to The MGA degree at the Munk purely research-based projects. School seeks to bridge the sectors of “After doing extensive outreach, government, business and NGO work we came to a programme that plays while addressing the changing land- to our particular strengths: research scape of global affairs. The program in aid of technology transfer to indus- is directed of Steven Bernstein, previ- try,” states M.Sc. of Applied Comput- ously director of the Master of Arts in ing program director Eugene Fiume. International Relations program. Along with taking the program spe- “We purposely called it a Master in cific graduate level courses students Global Affairs instead of Internation- in the program also take courses in al Relations not because states are communications and business. The irrelevant, but because we want peo- professional M.Sc. of Applied Com- ple to recognize that this old model puting also requires internships spe- is just one way the world is interact- cifically in transferring technology to ing,” says Bernstein. “It grew out of industry and the private sector. student demand for a degree where “Students will also do internships they could develop applied skills in in industry on well-defined projects addition to knowledge which would The Munk Centre aims to bridge government, business and NGO work with its new Masters program. DAVID PIKE/THE VARSITY that require the deployment of new launch their careers.” research results into industry,” notes The program seeks to bridge the Médicins Sans Frontières (Doctors gram’s inception, applicants have already working overseas, in gov- Dr. Fiume. “To my knowledge, there is sectors of government, business and Without Borders) and current cross- already expressed a high interest. ernment or are law, business, and no programme like this anywhere.” NGO work and features a mandatory appointed faculty at the Munk School. The selective program admits 40 engineering postgraduates. The program proved to be highly internship component, where over- “He told us that when he was in Rwan- students from among a large pool of “We were [...] happy to get MBA selective. Only six students were cho- seas placement is stressed. da as a medical professional, he didn’t applicants. According to Bernstein, grads who had terrific skills in man- sen from one hundred and twenty ap- “James Orbinski is one of the sto- understand the political forces lead- most applicants are undergraduates agement but not necessarily the cul- plicants in the inaugural year. Fiume ries of this degree,” says Bernstein, ing to the problems.” from a social sciences background, tural and political knowledge to act suggests that expanded enrollment referencing former president of In only two months after the pro- but around 10 per cent have been globally,” says Bernstein. “Our vision may be a possibility in the future. Help Conquer Cancer with your Computer U of T program allows anyone to use their computer to run medical calculations Cole Carruthers uploaded from the members’ com- age day the WC Grid calculates 288 puters back to the WC Grid server.” CPU-years of data. This is the same VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR HCC is part of the World Commu- amount of data a single computer Curing cancer can be added to the nity Grid, a distributed-computing running at full capacity would take list of ways to procrastinate come network funded by IBM that sup- 288 years to complete. September. U of T’s Help Conquer ports computer-intensive research The ability of grid computing to Cancer (HCC) project uses your projects. The WCG estimates that fight disease is not a new concept. computer’s spare processing cycles computer owners typically only In 2003 scientists used the technol- to understand the functions of can- use 10 to 15 per cent of their com- ogy to uncover 45 potential genes to cer-fighting proteins. puter’s power. fight smallpox. Other grid comput- The program works by asking vol- The collective computing power ing projects currently underway re- unteers to download a program that of grid computing far surpasses the late to HIV and muscular dystrophy. fetches data whenever their com- ability of any supercomputer. The WCG was founded in 2004 puter is turned on but not in use. “The numbers describing the with the mission of becoming the Anytime a screen-saver would nor- World Community Grid are crazy,” largest computer grid in the world. mally turn on, the program fetches says Cumbaa. “There are about HCC is funded by the Foun- data to calculate. 520,000 members that contribute dation for Innovation, the Canada “A project’s data is divided into to the WC Grid, donating computer Research Chair Program, the Natu- work units and sent out to WC Grid time from 1,580,000 computers” ral Science and Engineering Re- members’ computers,” explains Sci- Since HCC launched in Novem- search Council of Canada, and IBM. entific Associate Chistian Cumbaa. ber 2007 the program has screened To learn more about HCC and use “Each work unit takes a few seconds over 12,000 proteins and generated your computer to fight cancer, visit U of T’s Help Conquer Cancer project helps understand cancer ighting proteins. to download [...] once complete, it is over 115,000,000 images. In an aver- www.worldcomputinggrid.org ALEX NURSALL/THE VARSITY

THE EditoR–in–ChiEF FEatuREs EditoR assoCiatE Photo EditoR ContRiButoRs: Luke Savage Sean MacKay James Bradford [email protected] [email protected] Patrick Baud, Cole Carruthers, Kevin Draper, Angela

PRoduCtion ManagER assoCiatE nEws EditoRs VARSITY Rogelio Briseño onlinE EditoR Domingo, Mersiha Gadzo, Bernada Gospic, Patrick Langille, Elizabeth Kagedan [email protected] Joe Howell Nick McKinlay, Tahsin Najam, Daniel Portoraro, Danielle [email protected] Dylan C. Robertson 21 sussex avenue, suite 306 dEsign EditoR Robinson, Jordan Rivera, Omar Saeed, Semra Eylul Sevi, toronto, on M5s 1J6 Tom Cardoso sEnioR CoPy EditoR assoCiatE CoMMEnt EditoRs Natalie Sequeira, Rajin Singh, Pheobe Uguy, Eradj Yakabov [email protected] Laura Kathleen Maize Abdi Aidid AR Photo EditoR [email protected] E V SIT H Y David Pike Maria Cichocz T [email protected] CoPy EditoRs Amanda Marie-Quintino The Varsity Board of Directors nEws EditoR assoCiatE a&E EditoRs Andrew Rusk Dylan C. Robertson Brigit Katz ChaiR & CEo BoaRd MEMBERs [email protected] Alex Ross Ariel Lewis Emily Sommers Dimitris Apostolopoulos (st. george) Natalie Sequeira [email protected] TH R CoMMEnt EditoR Jessica Denyer (st. george) E PE STU SPA DENT NEW Alex Ross illustRations EditoR assoCiatE sPoRts EditoR Michael Di Leo (utM) [email protected] ChiEF FinanCial oFFiCER Alex Nursall Elisabeth Laratta Adam Heller (ProFac) Ruichen Zhu Editorial: advertising: sCiEnCE EditoR [email protected] Joe Howell (Masthead) [email protected] (416) 946-7600 (416) 946-7604 Erene Stergiopoulos assoCiatE sCiEnCE EditoRs Ken Kuran (ProFac) [email protected] diRECtoR oF RECRuitMEnt & tRaining Alexandra Irena Eremia Amanda Marie-Quintino (staff) Amanda Marie-Quintino ChiEF oPERations oFFiCER aRts & EntERtainMEnt EditoRs Charlotte Tombs Noah Mazereeuw (st. george) VARSITY PUBLICATIONS: Will Sloan & Emily Kellogg [email protected] Dimitris Apostolopoulos [email protected] Semra Eylul Sevi (staff)

listings EditoR assoCiatE FEatuRE EditoRs EditoR-in-ChiEF Emily Sommers (st. george) sPoRts EditoR General Manager Ad Designer Natalie Cooper Navi Lamba Luke Savage Ruichen Zhu (ProFac) Roberta Bell [email protected] david levine Rogelio Briseño [email protected] Jenny Jin Hee Lee [email protected] Vacant (utsC) [email protected] VARSITY NEWS Monday, august 23, 2010 3 UTSC Dean of Student Affairs retires Tom Nowers retires ater 12 years with the university

Natalie Sequeira dio theatre and more performance space are needed. He also suggests an VARSITY STAFF outdoor soccer and cricket pitch and Tom Nowers, dean of Student Affairs at least 700 more spaces in residence, at UTSC, has retired after 12 years of and has recommended to administra- managing an office that supports the tion that space be made — such as an academic and personal success of the atrium in one of the buildings — to university’s students. contain all student service offices. Nowers retires at a time when he When asked about a few things not still feels he is at the top of his game many people know about him, Now- rather than jaded or frustrated. “I ers mentioned his love for fine art and want more control of my life […] to re- painting, photography, and antique capture some interests I had before,” boats. He also dropped out of univer- he says. He still hopes to do some sity when neuroscience was not work- consulting as well as travelling and ing for him. spending more time with his family. “I travelled alone to Europe […] He also cited a more morbid rea- and flew to Nairobi.” He spent 13 son for his retirement. “I have had months moving through Europe and three people in my life die before 60, then West through Africa from Kenya all in high pressure jobs,” he said. to Abidjan. “It does you well to step With a heavy workload in a job that out of your comfort zone. You need he cannot scale down, Nowers de- to find out what your boundaries are After 12 years of service as UTSC Dean of Student Affairs, Tom Nowers retires. ALINA SMIRNOVA/TORONTO OBSERVER cided to retire. and challenge [yourself]. I don’t think Nowers has spent 31 years in stu- of the Oppressed” and the American students to replace the animosity to- realized they should expect more […] you can do that theoretically.” dent affairs, starting out at Marianop- Council on Education’s “the Student ward administration. in their student experience.” While he feels he has accomplished olis College in Montreal where he was Personnel Point of View.” They “envi- “Look at the world through the lens A big conflict has been balancing a lot over 12 years, Nowers wishes the coordinator of Student Services. sioned education as a dialogical se- of a student [and] not top down,” said his work and family. With a home of- he could have accomplished more. “I He was recruited by Bishop’s Univer- ries of transactions between parties Nowers. “Students don’t care who fice and inability to see most vaca- wish I [could have developed more] sity in Lennoxville, , where he of mutual respect,” said Nowers. reports to whom. They want some- tions through to the end, Nowers ad- residences. [It’s unfortunate] that was the first Dean of Student Affairs. When Nowers came to UTSC he thing meaningful to them. I tried to mits the balance was “out of whack.” the only sports field [was] taken up “I’ve never had a predecessor,” he found a lot lacking. Residences were integrate service consistent with the In a speech given at a farewell recep- by portables and that we couldn’t get said. “I’ve always come to empty of- in bad shape and there were too few needs of students.” tion held at UTSC, Nowers thanked better access to the valley.” fices.” He made the move to UTSC in staff members in the residence office, A few years after Nowers came to his family for their support despite “As students move through one of March 1998. accessibility, health and wellness, UTSC, he proposed the idea of the stu- his many absences. the steepest learning curves of their During his years at McGill, Now- and career services. dent centre, which opened in 2004. “I While UTSC has its student centre lives, it is a time when they experi- ers came across two texts that he He began to develop not only more would take student government mem- and future Pan Am sports complex, ence many challenges,” he said. “I says represented his “call to action.” focused offices with higher staff num- bers to other universities […] and let Nowers says the campus needs more. [feel] humbled by the opportunity to These were Paulo Frere’s “Pedagogy bers, but to build a relationship with them talk to their fellow leaders. They Considering the diverse talent, a stu- serve [them].” Turning ideas into businesses he Varsity looks at the work of the Innovations and Partnerships Oice

Semra Eylul Sevi meaningful relationships with mem- bers from the private, public and gov- VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR ernment sectors,” said Lewis. When a U of T invention has comm- IPO is funded by the university and ericial potential the Innovations and has about twenty-five full time staff. Partnerships Office (IPO) at U of T The budget is about $3M annually gets involved. and the main office is located in the “The main objective of IPO is to MaRS building. facilitate the application of knowl- While undergraduate students are edge generated at U of T to a world not involved in the operations of IPO, beyond U of T,” said Professor Peter many projects supported by the IPO Lewis, IPO’s acting executive direc- hire undergraduate students as re- tor and U of T’s associate vice presi- search assistants. dent, research. Projects that present commercial The IPO was previously known as promise are handed off to the MaRS The Innovation Group (TIG) had as Innovation where they receive fund- its core role the issue of commer- ing based on their anticipated return cialization. Responsible for receiving on investment. and accessing disclosures and de- The IPO has recently been involved veloping technology into marketable with the work of Professor Aaron and sell-able resources, the group al- Wheeler, the Canada Research Chair tered its name to incorporate its role of Bioanalytical Chemistry at the Uni- in making partnerships, specifically versity of Toronto. Wheeler’s work Peter Lewis builds meaningful relationships with members from the public, private and government sectors. JAMES BRADFORD/THE VARSITY business development opportunities focuses on using digital microfluidics for researchers. to measure hormone levels in tissue IPO and the MaRS Innovation have postdoctoral fellows. Two recent PhD nose breast cancer, but helps show “Its function is to help recognize as simply and accurately as possible, provided funding to Wheeler Micro- students are working with Wheeler to whether estrogen levels are elevated, and realize the potential of innova- a technology potentially useful in fluids Labratory, a lab that includes commercialize the technology. which can signal a higher risk for the tions developed at U of T by building early breast cancer detection. ten graduate students and three “The chip is not yet ready to diag- disease,” says Wheeler. Families underestimate the cost of university TD inds that when it comes to their child’s admission, 15 per cent of families have no clue how they’ll help foot the bill

Tahsin Najam they will finance it. ments saving plan is relatively new.” tuition sometimes overwhelming. el is valued more than ever within “With the provincial government Of the 1001 students surveyed, “[...] sometimes paying for tuition the job market. VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR having raised the amount that a stu- half the respondents are working along with other costs can still be “With a very large portion of Uni- Relying on Mom and Dad to foot dent is able to receive with OSAP, this summer to help pay for school challenging,” says Srinivasan, sug- versity of Toronto students getting the bill of university may not be the but also raising the minimum salary and 66 per cent will be unable to gesting early in high school as a OSAP loans, nearly 40 per cent, they best idea. needed to receive the student loans, earn enough money to cover ex- time to start looking at university often face very severe debts at the A TD Canada Trust Education and neither students nor parents have penses. 44 per cent of students are financing options. end of their education,” said Trinity Finances Survey published August planned for the financing of post- relying on student loans to aid their A 2009 TD study revealed that College Registrar Bruce Bowden. 16 reports that whilw 87 per cent secondary educations,” said Barbara payments whereas another 27 per a four-year undergraduate degree “While students pay for their educa- of parents say they plan to pay all Timmins of TD Bank Financial Group. cent are using RESPs. The study was costs approximately $80,000 for tion through a combination of their or part of the costs of their child’s “[There has been] an increase in fees conducted in July. students living away from home. Fi- own savings and work, scholarships post-secondary education, 26 per without parents having the ability to Despite working all summer to fi- nancing post-secondary education and bursaries, even that may not cent say they have yet to start sav- be able to plan for the rise in costs. nance his studies, fourth-year student comes at a time when degrees or be enough to completely finance a ing and another 15 have no idea how Furthermore, the federal govern- Arun Srinivasan still finds university training beyond the high-school lev- post-secondary education.” 4 Monday, august 23, 2010 VARSITY NEWS [email protected]

‘CHANGES’ – CONTINUED FROM PG 1 all be protected. We will be preserving almost all of the graduate programs [with the exception integrate both so that undergrads could “benefit of changes to comparative literature]. There will from the research and advanced education tak- be no faculty discontinuing their appointments ing place,” similar to cinema studies programs. or losing their jobs as a result of these changes.” Also proposed are more international experi- There remains some confusion among fac- ences, a greater role for colleges, and multidis- ulty. In an e-mail, Hutcheon indicated she was ciplinary courses in which a subject is taught puzzled after reading this week’s report after using all three areas of the faculty: humanities, the SPC originally said the Centre for Compara- social sciences, and sciences. tive Literature would be disestablished: “Both “We want to find new ways to make it easier East Asian Studies and Comparative Literature for undergraduate students to engage with our seem to have been told, privately, something dif- core strengths in research and graduate educa- ferent from what we read today.” tion,” said Gertler. “We want Arts and Science to be distinguished by offering our students the STRUCTURAL DEFICIT best of both worlds. That they can take advan- The main reason for the proposed changes is tage and get involved, and also be part of small- the faculty’s large structural deficit. As of this er learning communities.” April, the difference between the faculty’s rev- Gertler added that the recent discontinuation enues and spending has accumulated to 56 mil- of the joint specialist in political science and lion dollars, almost a third of which was gener- economics is unrelated. ated last year, and will soon surpass 60 million. “We have a limited ability to support these ini- DISSENT tiatives,” said Gertler. “The risk is that we have Gertler published his academic plan this week, spread our finite resources too thinly, to the although much upheaval has taken place be- possible detriment of all programs throughout tween its release and the SPC reports which the faculty.” were sent to individual units three weeks ago. Gertler added that his office is “looking for Faculty have met to discuss the proposed new organizational structures to economize changes and issue letters of protest to the on overhead administrative costs and allow us dean’s office. Academics outside U of T have to put more money into the classroom”. also written letters to the president and stu- Academic planning documents state that dents have created Facebook groups and blogs the main causes of the deficit include the eco- to voice their concerns, post incoming letters of nomic recession, less faculty retiring than support and organize. anticipated, insufficient financial investment In online forums, some have even contrived a from government, and tight provincial regula- telling acronym to describe their animosity for Meric Gertler has proposed sweeping changes including the creation of the School of Languages and Literatures. tions on tuition fees. the proposed School of Languages and Litera- We have been quite strapped financially and it ture at U of T: SLLUT. partment of East Asian Studies (EAS). Thomas closing the department. The proposed changes has been difficult,” said Gertler. One of the potential amalgamations, compar- Keirstead, interim chair of EAS, released the to EAS have gained media attention within the ative literature, has attracted much attention SPC’s EAS report and issued a feisty public re- Chinese-Canadian diaspora. WHERE WE ARE GOING from both mainstream and social media. sponse. He estimates roughly half the students “With the new changes, no students will “When we come back together in the fall, we’re “We feel sad for the students and faculty but in the proposed school would be studying EAS, be able to study Asia in-depth,” said EAS going to have a number of public meetings we feel sad for the university. Because the U of T while only a quarter of professors would spe- student union president Michel Marion. “Not were the plan will be introduced by me and has such a strong reputation for being a leader cialize in EAS. only is it a reinforcement of the school’s eu- discussed. People will be able to register their in interdisciplinary research,” said Linda Hu- “We don’t see how we fit within the proposed ro-centrism and a setback in time, but it also concerns,” said Gertler. “We will listen to con- cheon, professor at the Centre for Comparative school. We’re not a literature or language de- negates Asia’s central importance in the eco- cerns, we will come forward beginning later in Literature as well as its first graduate. partment,” said Keirstead in an interview, ex- nomic and political worlds.” the fall with proposals that require governance “It’s a step institutionally and intellectually plaining that EAS has globally been multidisci- According to ASSU president Gavin Nowlan, approval, such as creation or disestablishment backwards. U of T used to have a reputation for plinary since the ‘80s. “We specialize in history, all faculty students will receive less specialized of schools and departments.” being very conservative, and it’s about to have philosophy, social sciences, and literature; in support if the proposals are adapted. At the end of his planning document, Gertler that reputation again. We will try to make a case humanistic inquiry.” “The whole point is to remove support staff listed the deadlines for detailed reports to be for not getting rid of a major discipline within Andre Schmid, former EAS chair, agrees. in the different programs and streamline the completed on each major change. Most are due the university,” said Hutcheon. “We’re not going “It’s what [EAS at U of T] is known for in administration. This is what a lot of students, this December, after which changes would be down without a bit of a fight.” North America. Many of our professors don’t when academic planning started this year, voted on by Governing Council. “We are understandably confused and fright- fit easily into any other departments, they’re at were afraid of. That the university is going to Asked how he finds these decisions, Gertler ened,” said Ryan Culpepper, co-organizer of a loss of what to do. Some of them will probably limit a number of the smaller interdisciplin- said he has mixed feelings. Save Comp Lit at U of T. “It’s our shared opin- just leave.” ary programs. It looks as if that fear may be “These are very tough decisions when some ion that the quality of our doctoral degrees, and “No one had heard of merging programs. I coming true.” people have invested a lot of energy in creating certainly of our experience as grad students, think there’s been zero consultation with the Nowlan added that ASSU will lobby U of T ad- something like a centre and making it work. We will be deeply compromised. departments.” ministration to not go ahead with all its propos- know [these] kind of changes are very difficult “At this time, we choose to treat the proposal “The entire process took place behind closed als for the School of Language and Literatures. for many people to accept right away. … as just what it is: a proposal. Nothing official doors and in considerable secrecy. We had no UTSU president Adam Awad did not reply to re- “We have both a huge challenge and a tre- has happened, and no concrete proposal exists. inclination anything like this was coming,” said quests for comment. mendous opportunity right now given the situ- We nevertheless remain willing to come to the Keirstead. “I really don’t think the dean has in Gertler stressed that all students enrolled in ation that the faculty is in, to ask these very table and have a real discussion, and it’s our mind inconveniencing students [but] there’s programs by this fall will be able to complete existential questions about the shape, the size, intention to initiate this discussion if the deans been very little explanation.” their degrees, and that both programs and staff the scope, the content of a faculty. That’s kind refuse to do so.” According to Schmid, the Korea Foundation, will not be cut. of exhilarating. You don’t get to do that very But the most controversy has generated from which donated $3.2 million to U of T in 2006, “We will not be closing any undergraduate often, and hopefully we won’t have to do this the proposed school’s amalgamation of the De- has written to Gertler asking him to reconsider programs as a result of these changes, they will again for a very long time.”

‘DUDLEY’ – CONTINUED FROM PG 1 UTSC] and I need to get better. I real- ized there was happiness out there wrap my head around the idea that for me and […] I was too scared to I deserve that. I see myself as such go chase it, and that was inconsis- a screw up […] that I get inspired to tent with what I was telling people.” be what the people in the audience Drew’s job is yet to be filled, though think I am. I will never be better than Hamza Khan, who has worked with when I’m speaking. That’s the best Drew, will take over until the end of Drew there is.” September. “I did the best I could on Drew cites an inspiring rea- the way out to make sure that my son for leaving UTSC. He tells a leaving would have as small an im- story about his friend Alison who pact as possible,” he says. dropped out of university several Since his decision to leave, Drew times until she found a place that has set up the company Nuance was right for her. Leadership, where he hopes to “What made Alison so spectacu- host weekly workshops at several lar was that she had the courage schools. He has also applied to to keep making changes until she speak at TEDx Toronto, and is wait- had the life that she deserved, and ing to hear back. I was telling this story to a group of Having invested so much into students in Calgary in June and a the leadership program, Drew voice in my head when I said it said thinks it’s time to accomplish more you’re a hypocrite. I couldn’t shake outside of his work. “Follow your it. I realized I wasn’t happy.” heart, follow your dream, you can “I was telling people to have the do whatever you think you can and courage to make changes in their when you do so it has a positive im- lives until they were happy, and pact on others. This is my version I wasn’t doing it [and] I realized I of living up to the message I gave couldn’t go back up on stage again for a while. And I’m not saying I until I did it.” didn’t do that but I think I can do “There [is] no step forward [at it better.” Dudley has started a company, Nuance Leadership, and has applied to speak at TEDx Toronto. JAMES BRADFORD/THE VARSITY [email protected] VARSITY NEWS Monday, august 23, 2010 5 The End of Summer A day at the CNE. Photos by Tom Cardoso and Rémi Carreiro.

VARSITY A&E [email protected] Monday, august 23, 2010 9 Fire Island Arcade Fire’s Toronto Island performance encompasses their career.

Arcade Fire’s Win Butler performs at the Toronto Island concert. TOM CARDOSO/THE VARSITY

Luke Savage Future Shops, and McDonalds’ had away in tragic succession. Neon teen tracks. But unlike Funeral, in At the Toronto Island concert, VARSITY STAFF sprung from the earth, bringing with Bible, the follow-up which emerged which these connections felt some- the band played much of The Sub- them a burgeoning sprawl of urban three years later, blends in its title what spurious, there is a real struc- urbs along with older material, with The sun was setting and the air development. Columns of identical evocations of the most synthetic ture to The Suburbs, making it the relentless energy and a powerful, was sweltering as Arcade Fire took homes had sprouted like dandelions and the most sacred, while its most effective Arcade Fire record to symphonic sound. The rendition the stage at Toronto’s Center Island and the city’s old boundaries disap- sounds layer the earthy textures date: the opening title track is a true of the Funeral classic “Rebellion on August 14. Following a charged peared. Like in so many other cities of Funeral with both the electronic conceptual preamble to the rest of (Lies)” prompted the entire audi- performance by local favourites across North America, this growth buzz of synthesizers and the hal- the record in a way that “Neighbour- ence to repeat the melodic refrain The Sadies and a soulful, exuber- was rudely interrupted by the top- lowed hum of church organs. The hood #1 (Tunnels),” the opening dozens of times after the band fin- ant set by newcomer Janelle Monae, pling of the global financial pyramid Suburbs, the band’s newest creation, track from Funeral, wwwas not. ished playing. “Wake Up” was ac- the Montreal band stepped out to in 2008. and the centerpiece of its Toronto Is- The album opens with a jovial but companied by a vibrant light-show thunderous applause before play- Bust and boom, boom and bust. land show, is no less expansive, and vaguely dissonant chord progres- which briefly turned night into ing eighteen songs spanning their Win Butler, a native of a similar even more ambitious. sion as Butler sings: day. The album’s final track (save entire career. sprawl outside of Houston, Texas, the short epilogue “The Suburbs, Having released their third studio who has fronted the Arcade Fire In the suburbs I Continued”) also appeared near album The Suburbs earlier in Au- since its formation in 2003, once Like the real- I learned to drive the end of the concert. The pulsat- gust, this was the first time many of commented that there was some- world sprawls in And you told me we’d never survive ing “Sprawl II, Mountains Beyond the songs had been performed live thing deeply suburban about the Grab your mother’s keys we’re Mountains” is a soaring sketch in Toronto, and the island concert’s band’s music. “I think we have a Woodstock and leavin’ of a never-ending suburbia spill- huge crowd was a mix of young and drive to find a semblance of univer- Houston — idyllic but ing over the horizon. Despite its old, urban, suburban, and rural. I sality, which to me seems innate to You always seemed so sure theme, the song is somehow uplift- discovered that several of the peo- kids from the suburbs. You relate to sculpted with sterile That one day we’d fight in ing: the gloomy suburban waste- ple standing next to me throughout different kinds of things than some- precision — The In a suburban world land left by the booms and busts the performance had travelled from one who grew up in a super-rural your part of town gets minor of the past 50 years never sounded Woodstock, : a smallish city environment or in a really dense Suburbs juxtaposes So you’re standin’ on the opposite so glorious. situated in the province’s agricul- big city, where there’s an actual feelings of serenity shore tural heartland — and also the big- culture.” But by the time the first bombs fell They heard me singing and they told gest town nearby during much of This was in 2004, predating Funeral, with desolation and We were already bored me to stop my childhood. the album that propelled the Arcade emptiness. Quit these pretentious things and On one side, Woodstock had an Fire to success. Yet each record the These opening stanzas, with their just punch the clock ever-struggling mall, which chain band has produced has increasingly simultaneously sublime and dysto- Sometimes I wonder if the world’s stores would briefly colonize before affirmed these words: aesthetically Inspired by fraternal band-mates pian overtones, set the tone for the so small abandoning due to poor business. unbound to any particular musical ha- William and Win Butler’s childhood rest of the album, which wavers be- Can we ever get away from the By the time I stopped frequenting ven, instead fluctuating within a pas- in the Houston sprawl, the record tween oppositional moods and emo- sprawl? the city after moving to Stratford for tiche of different themes, moods, and uses suburbia as a canvas for an ex- tions, sometimes meshing them to- Living in the sprawl high school, the emaciated concrete instrumentations. ploration of consumerism, urban ex- gether. Like the real-world sprawls in Dead shopping malls rise like moun- structures of the strip had been Funeral is an often dark, yet ulti- istence, and modernity. Like Funeral Woodstock and Houston, idyllic but tains beyond mountains completely abandoned, while the mately uplifting album, conceived the album is heavily self-referential, sculpted with sterile precision, The And there’s no end in sight other side of the city had exploded during a year when several of the with particular themes, melodies, Suburbs juxtaposes feelings of seren- I need the darkness, someone with growth. Walmarts, Best Buys, band members’ relatives passed and lyrics recurring across its six- ity with desolation and emptiness. please cut the lights [email protected] VARSITY ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Monday, august 23, 2010 11 , the Great God Kratos Lover, ighter, God. Punisher, Drago, Expendable. Pecs, biceps, packages. Yes, the Varsity sits down with the legend.

Will Sloan * * * ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR “Any actor will tell you that to play yourself Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee are hiding is the hardest thing, because you never think in a house, surrounded by enemies, trying to you’re enough,” says Lundgren of the demands think of a plan, in the 1991 film Showdown in of playing both a complicated character and, Little Tokyo. “We’re in trouble here, champ,” well, ‘Dolph,’ the action icon. “In this case it’s says Lee. “There’re more bad guys here than difficult for me because Gunner is this crazy we have bullets.” guy who has a lot of problems, he’s very flawed, Lundgren, shirtless in skintight shorts, hands he’s a bit nuts — more so than I am, I think. But Lee some ammunition. Lee watches Lundgren at the same time you want a little bit of charm to stride across the room, then cocks his gun. come through so that he’s likable on some level, “Just in case we get killed,” says Lee, “I wanted so it’s that kind of balancing act.” to tell you…” In film after film, Lundgren faces the paradox Lundgren looks up from stuffing weapons in of embodying both god and man, and in The his belt. Punisher (1989) we see the most unvarnished “You have the biggest dick I’ve ever seen on glimpse at the dark side of his persona. He is a man.” Frank Castle, a cop turned vigilante after the Lundgren pauses, and smiles slightly. mob killed his family, now responsible for the “Thanks. I don’t know what to say.” deaths of 125 gangsters. He kills everyone in his Lee grasps his gun. “How ‘bout, ‘Don’t get path; the police are helpless to stop his wrath. killed’?” A god in exile, we join him in his hideout in the Lundgren picks up two swords and holds city sewers, where he meditates, his sweaty, them in both hands. We see him from a frontal naked body dripping mud and soot. His inner view. His abs are deep; his pecs are round and monologue is despairing. hard. “Don’t get killed.” “I still talk to God sometimes. I ask him if what Nineteen years later, I am shaking hands with I’m doing is right or wrong. I’m still waiting for an the owner of said dick, at a roundtable inter- answer. And until I get one, I’ll be out here. And view where he is promoting Sylvester Stallone’s until I get one, I’ll be out here. Waiting. Watching. new action film The Expendables. Forbiddingly The guilty will be punished.” tall, with a huge chest and a face carved out of In The Expendables, Lundgren plays the marble, Dolph Lundgren is one of the few ac- group’s most unstable member, a weak-willed tion stars who looks even bigger in person. He addict, easily manipulated by the enemy into is also one of the few members of the Expend- becoming just another faceless henchman. He ables who doesn’t appear surgically mutilated. per athlete,” said his handlers. They might have Nowhere is the Man v. Lundgren dichotomy is the latest in a long line of Lundgren gods who At 52, he suggests a pumped-up late period added, “And a super man.” greater than Masters of the Universe (1987), fall from grace. Robert Redford, but with a heavily-lined face Cannon Films’ Conan/Star Wars mashup, star- “You’re often vanquished in films,” says a re- and bleach-white hair recalling Klaus Kinski. * * * ring Lundgren as ‘He-Man,’ great warrior from porter. “I’m thinking it takes a big man to take “Let me ask about keeping your muscula- the planet Eternia. Transported to 1987 Middle that over and over.” ture,” says a reporter. “How much do you work “Yeah, there is a bit of healthy competition,” America, this titanic swordsman in shoulder “Yes,” Lundgren smiles. “What I thought was out on a daily basis?” says Lundgren of the Expendables cast — a pads and a leather speedo was surrounded by cool about the character [in The Expendables] “Well, it depends. If I fly to Canada at 1 and get tough-guy rogues gallery including Jason Sta- donut-eating cops and stringy-haired teens and is the fact that there’s actually something hap- up at 5:30 to go and do a talk show, then I don’t tham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, and, young, rail-thin Courtney Coxes. pening to him. He doesn’t just walk around with get time to work out that much, but I do about briefly, Arnold Schwarzenegger. “You’re next to In Masters of the Universe, He-Man fights the a gun and shoot people, he actually has a bit of four or five times a week. I try to do martial arts other guys who have their own movies, or may villainous Skeletor (Frank Langella) for the Cos- a dilemma, and he’s a flawed character, which twice a week, and I try to do weights twice a be bigger than you, or better actors, or bigger, mic Key, which stands to make its possessor obviously is much more interesting to play be- week, that’s kind of my basic. And then I’ll add with bigger arms, or have more money, or they the all-powerful ruler of the universe. “KNEEL cause you have something to do, something to another day of martial arts or I’ll add a day of run the state, whatever it is. But, y’know, every- BEFORE YOUR MASTER!” says Skeletor to He- think about when you’re sitting in your trailer.” cardio or I’ll do some more weights…” body has some shortcomings, and I think in Man. “You are no longer my EQUAL! I am more “When I see that you and Stallone and all His partially unbuttoned shirt shows a that company everybody gets to be a bit of an than man! MORE THAN LIFE! I… AM… A… those action guys are in a movie together,” I say, smooth, tanned chest. His shirt clings to his underdog and feel some of their own inadequa- GOD!” But Skeletor receives his comeuppance, “I come in with certain preconceived notions. torso as if about to burst. I can see his nipples. cies, and I think that’s a good thing. Everybody and by the end it is He-Man – the true Master of Do you ever feel hindered or restricted by ex- feels they’re part of a team.” But Lundgren is the Universe — who wields the key. Light ema- pectations? Do you look for ways to subvert * * * not homogenous with other men. Even among nates from his body, and his mighty voice can them?” the Expendables he looks superhuman, tow- be heard across the galaxy. He has completed “Yeah, well, it’s a great genre to be in, action “He’s starred in more action movies than ering over Stallone and Statham, and beating the transition from Man to God. movies will always exist, they’ll go on forever, almost anybody else, maybe except Clint East- even Li in a martial arts battle. He is more than “I… HAVE… THE POWER!” and you have a huge audience, especially over- wood, so he knows a lot,” says Lundgren of his just a man. seas where the audiences are, I think, more Expendables director, Sylvester Stallone. “It loyal… But obviously, yeah, you try to stretch could be something simple like, for instance, and do things you haven’t done before. As an ‘Dolph, just use your charm in this scene. You actor, this role, even though he is the guy who don’t have to act. Leave that to De Niro or what- blows people away, I thought, ‘Yeah, look, I get ever. Just be charming.’ He has very simple, to have some flaws, and play a guy who’s a bit effective things that he can do as an actor. pained,’ and I thought that was good. Y’know, Y’know, you don’t have to go into, well, ‘What’s it’s enough for people to maybe take notice and your backstory? What’s your [character’s] see something they haven’t seen before.” childhood?’” Lundgren earned immortality as Ivan Drago, * * * the steroid-pumped Russian Communist in Rocky IV (1985), another Stallone-directed film. In 2009’s Universal Soldier: Regeneration, Lun- To create the perfect fighter, Drago’s Soviet han- dgren re-visited one of his most famous roles: dlers worked him day and night, draining him of Andrew Scott, A/K/A ‘DR13,’ deceased Vietnam all humanity. He was a walking vessel, a guinea vet turned re-animated killing machine. Dor- pig for drugs and exercise, showing no remorse mant since 1992’s Universal Soldier, Andrew is even when killing Apollo Creed in the ring. “If he reactivated to fight and destroy Luc Deveraux dies… he dies.” (Jean-Claude Van Damme), his part-man, part- In the training montage, Drago reached his machine enemy from the first film who had physical peak. While Rocky chopped wood and gone into hiding to rediscover his humanity. climbed snowy hills in isolated, backwoods Andrew Scott feels no such compulsion. Russia, Drago let his sinister Soviet handlers Lundgren continues to work prolifically, par- use punishing scientific experiments to en- ticularly in the direct-to-DVD realm, but has hance his perfect body. Drago in a little red never quite cracked the action A-list, perhaps jumper, his pecs cleaving as he strains to lift a because his characters lack the self-effacing hu- weight… Drago’s ass cheeks, firm and station- mour of Sly or Arnie. We can imagine having a ary as his legs worked the exercise machines… drink with Rocky Balboa, but Drago the fallen Drago’s shoulder glistening as it takes a steroid god seems too mythic for such mortal trifles. In shot… these were the images that made Lund- many ways, Andrew Scott is the ultimate Lund- gren a star. gren creation: Beefy as He-Man, tragic as Gun- When Rocky and Drago finally met in the ring, ner, emptier than Drago, with more brute force the light refracted from both their sweaty, crev- than the Punisher, and with as big a dick as the iced bodies, but it was the blonde, fair-skinned Showdown in Little Tokyo guy (presumably), he Drago who appeared to glow. Drago was a “su- is Lundgren in excelsis.

[email protected] VARSITY SCIENCE Monday, august 23, 2010 13 New indings released on the genetic basis of autism Results from Phase 2 of the Autism Genome Project are a huge step toward developing targeted genetic treatment for autism spectrum disorders

Danielle Robinson map. In doing so, they found that the VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR genes affected were involved with proteins that all interact and com- A team of scientists from The Au- municate with one other, and which tism Genome Project Consortium were all associated with brain devel- have identified significant changes opment. in the DNA of individuals with au- These findings are important be- tism. Composed of over 175 Cana- cause knowing many of the genes dian and international scientists, the involved in autism — particularly Consortium has been conducting an the four rare genes mentioned in the ongoing study of the genes in autis- article by Scherer and his team pub- tic individuals since 2000, and after lished in the June 9 edition of Nature 10 years of research into the second Magazine — means that autism can phase of their experiment, they have be detected early if an individual is made considerable developments in found to possess one of these genes. the understanding and treatment of In relation to the developments in Autism Spectrum Disorders. the treatment and study of autism, re- The study is the largest of its kind searchers have also made progress in to address ASDs, and was conducted the treatment for Fragile X syndrome, using 1,500 North American and Eu- an intellectual disability involving ropean families with at least one au- 30% of the symptoms associated tistic child, as well as a large group of with autism. In finding the gene that control individuals who did not pos- causes Fragile X syndrome, scientists sess autism-related genes. It was led have developed animal models of the by Prof. Stephen Scherer, correspond- gene on which they can test drugs. ing author of the study, director of Phase 3 of the Autism Genome the McLaughlin Centre at U of T, and Project will involve developing senior scientist and director of the drugs to treat the autistic genes, Centre for Applied Genomics at Sick- made by the Autism Genome Project notes that it was a lengthy process people without the disorder. In some as researchers have already done Kids, along with Dr. Peter Szatmari, Consortium have made it possible to that required much time. cases, the genes were inherited, but for Fragile X syndrome. As Scherer co-principal investigator, director for detect some of the genes involved By conducting studies on twins in others there were new changes stated, “Being able to string together the Oxford Centre for Child Studies, with autism early on, thereby allow- with identical genomes, Scherer that were specific to autistic individu- genes and proteins that encode into and professor at McMaster Univer- ing individuals with ASDs to receive and his team were able to confirm als. These new changes were found in the same functional pathway gives sity. Dr. Dalila Pinto, a post-doctoral treatment and intervention. the finding that autism is genetic. In about six percent of the individuals more possible entryways into the research fellow at SickKids, was the Researchers in the study used the particular, they confirmed that one with autism. pathways,” thus allowing scientists lead author of the study. highest possible resolution microar- particular genetic variation, called a Researchers were also able to iden- to have more targets and allowing ASDs constitute a group of develop- rays — also called gene chips — to copy number variation is involved in tify many of the genes connected with them to modulate the entryways. mental conditions characterized by scan the genomes of the study par- autism. CNVs occur when an individ- autism that were previously unknown The project has made great leaps in communication difficulties and chal- ticipants. The microarrays contain ual has one or three copies of a gene, before the study was conducted. The the study and understanding of ASDs. lenges in social interaction and un- DNA probes (short fragments of instead of having the regular two cop- study showed that there were CNVs As Scherer stated, concerning the derstanding. One in 110 individuals is DNA used to detect a specific se- ies that are held by the majority of the hitting hundreds of genes that are recent developments of the project: diagnosed with an ASD, and it is four quence of bases in the target DNA) population. known to be involved in the develop- “[We can now] really design, in a ra- times more common in males than from across the human genome, and The researchers found that one ment of the brain. The researchers tional way, therapeutics as opposed females. Currently there are no drugs can scan a million different refer- subset of individuals with autism had then took all the genes affected by to just stabbing in the dark as we were to treat autism, but the developments ence points across the gene. Scherer more CNVs than the control group of CNVs and created a cellular network all along.” From bench to bedside U of T researchers discover correlation between protein marker Ep-ICD and the severity of thyroid cancer

Omar Saeed of thyroid cancers were previously to form Ep-ICD. Although this pathway VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR underestimated, they are now known is well understood, the reasons for the to be more prevalent than the medical association between elevated Ep-ICD “Translational research, from bench community initially believed, thanks to and aggressive thyroid cancers are to bedside,” is how Dr. Paul G. Walfish new techniques used to identify them. unclear and potentially the subject of describes recent work conducted in his Thyroid cancers tend to occur more future research. For Walfish’s team, lab, which has led to the discovery of an frequently in women, and their cause future areas of study will involve defin- intracellular biomarker and its use in is similar to that of any cancer: cells ing the degrees of aggressiveness of identifying aggressive thyroid cancer. mutate and become cancerous when thyroid cancer, including how closely Walfish, an emeritus professor at they lose their ability to regulate and Ep-ICD levels can match gradients of U of T’s Faculty of Medicine and re- control division. thyroid cancer severity. searcher at Mt. Sinai Hospital, is the Walfish’s research team looked at ar- Perhaps the most noteworthy feature senior author of the study published chived thyroid cancer tissue samples of the study is just how “striking the this June in the journal BMC Cancer. from patients and found that in cases correlation is between life expectancy His research team included U of T of aggressive thyroid cancer, increased and chemical marker levels,” Walfish and Mt. Sinai affiliated scientists Dr. levels of the biomarker Ep-ICD were remarks. The correlation between nu- Ranju Ralhan, Jun Cao, Terence Lim, found in the nucleus and cytoplasm of clear Ep-ICD levels and the reduction Dr. Christina MacMillan, and Dr. Jer- thyroid cells. In cases of low-grade pap- in overall survival time in thyroid can- emy L. Freeman. illary thyroid cancers — a less severe cer patients was astonishingly strong. The research is clinically applicable, class of thyroid cancers associated Over 10 years of average survival time with results that may be seen in the with a much more positive prognosis separated the high and low Ep-ICD pa- short term and has the potential to as- — Ep-ICD levels were virtually unde- tient categories. sist medical practitioners in predicting tectable. According to the published Correlating the levels of certain patient survival outcomes and improv- article, Ep-ICD levels in the nucleus of biomarkers to the severity of a cancer ing the diagnosis of thyroid cancers. thyroid cells “may serve as a useful bio- is a concept that can be applied not Thyroid cancers are a disorder of marker for aggressive thyroid cancer only to thyroid cancers but poten- the thyroid gland, a small but impor- and may represent a novel diagnostic, tially to every cancer. Walfish’s team tant endocrine gland located just be- prognostic and therapeutic target.” is indeed “in the process of investi- low the adam’s apple in humans. The Ep-ICD is formed from a precursor gating whether similar mechanisms thyroid releases hormones involved in protein in the cell membrane called occur in other epithelial cancers,” maintaining heart rate, body tempera- Ep-CAM, which eventually gets cleaved hoping to find results as compelling dr. Paul g. walish. ture, and metabolism. While the rates and relocates to the nucleus of the cell as those from this study. 14 Monday, august 23, 2010 VARSITY SCIENCE [email protected] Keep it personal Storing DNA records without consent raises privacy concerns in B.C.

Phoebe Uguy Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) reg- VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR istries, or DNA databases, are of- ten employed as “forensics tools,” While collecting blood samples designed to identify criminal sus- from newborns is a standard rou- pects or missing persons and crack tine in hospitals, most parents cold cases. Though extremely use- would likely be worried to discover ful, mtDNA registries are only as that the hospitals were retaining valuable as their sample size. these DNA samples for purposes Vancouver parents were not the other than genetic screening. first to take action against such A blood sample from a small cases, and similar battles are cur- prick on the foot of a newborn al- rently taking place both in Minne- lows the hospital to test for health sota and Ireland. problems and diseases before the In Texas, state officials were sued baby is discharged. Privacy con- last year for storing and using in- cerns arise, however, when the fant blood samples without paren- genetic material of an infant avail- tal consent. The Texas Department able in these blood samples is be- of State Health Services reported ing used for other purposes, such that these DNA records were used as medical research, without the for a variety of medical projects consent of parents. investigating birth defects, child- In , the Civil hood cancer, and environmental Liberties Association is currently toxin exposure. The department supporting a class action lawsuit was also revealed to have trans- against the province for storing up ferred hundreds of these blood to 800,000 DNA records without spot cards to an Armed Forces lab consent. Complaints were received to help build a DNA database, as from Vancouver parents who another research project. Whether were concerned that this act was it was intentional or not, the devel- a breach of privacy as they were opments of the latter project were not informed of how these samples David Eby, executive director of on the information they received lative Assembly will allow the Min- certainly underreported. Follow- would be used for anything except the BCCLA, explains that the main about the test from the hospital.” ister of Health to access personal ing the conclusion of the lawsuit genetic screening of their child. point of concern is not the fact that Some argue that there are posi- information, such as DNA records, in December 2009, the department These records, known as blood these tests are being conducted, tive benefits to conducting scien- and share it across provincial gov- agreed to destroy the more than spot cards, include the infant’s but rather it’s “what happens af- tific research on DNA samples on a ernment departments, including five million infant blood spot re- name and date of birth, and are ter the test.” Parents are not told blind basis. However, serious ques- law enforcement agencies, without cords being kept in storage. stored at a private facility operated that the samples will be used for tions remain concerning the legali- notice or consent from affected The BCCLA has advised concerned by Iron Mountain and occasion- anything other than health-related ty of taking private information and individuals. Privacy advocates parents to wait for a resolution to the ally made available to medical re- screening, but once in storage, the using it without consent, especially are certainly wary of the dangers class action, or to request that their searchers. Eleven years of samples records can become available to outside of research. of these new provisions, and the childrens’ records be returned to collected from infants in B.C. and law enforcement and government, A new law supporting the dissem- BCCLA states that the current re- them. As of July 2010, there are no the Yukon are currently on file, and as well as researchers. ination of such information has the cords, stored in addition to those current significant developments on there is no policy concerning how “[Parents] had no idea that these potential to aggravate the debate that will emerge with the new law, the BCCLA lawsuit in Vancouver al- long these records will be stored or things were going to happen. In further. The new provisions to Bill could create the largest DNA data- though Eby states that the litigation if they will ever be destroyed. fact, they were told the opposite 11 from the recent 2010 B.C. Legis- base in Canada. is underway. Original squid

U of T researchers uncover 500-million-year old squid ancestor

Jordan Rivera VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

Researchers at the University tom, with large stalked eyes and a long pair of grasping tenta- of Toronto have finally clas- cles, which the researchers believe helped it hunt for and con- sified a 500 million year The sume prey. The creature probably swam using its larger lateral old squid-like carnivore study fins and its nozzle-like funnel to accelerate by jet propulsion. known as Nectocaris reveals that The findings mean that cephalopods originated 30 million pteryx, a discovery Nectocaris is sim- years earlier than previously thought, much closer to the first three decades in the ilar to known members of the appearance of complex animals in the Cambrian explosion, making. modern cephalopod group, which Smith explains as “an explosion of biodiversity in living PhD student Mar- which includes squid, octopus, organisms about 500 million years ago.” tin Smith and cura- cuttlefish, and nautilus, as well as This is of particular significance since it was previously tor Jean-Bernard common fossils such as the now- thought that cephalopods evolved in the Late Cambrian period, Caron of U of T’s De- extinct ammonites and belemnites. when gradual modifications to the shells of creeping, snail-like partment of Ecol- “This is significant because it means animals made them able to float. The classification of Nectoca- ogy and Evolution- that primitive cephalopods were around much ris reveals that the first cephalopods actually started swimming ary Biology and E earlier than we thought, and offers a reinterpreta- without the aid of gas-filled shells, and that shells evolved much R the Department of TU tion of the long-held origins of this important group later, most likely in response to increased levels of competition NA Natural History at S/ of marine animals,” says Smith. “We know very little and predation in the Late Cambrian period. LIN the ROM made the OL about the relationships between the major groups of “We go from simple pre-Cambrian life-forms to something NE C discovery, which was MARIAN mollusks, and the early history of the group. Fossils like as complex as a cephalopod in the geological blink of an eye, recently published in Nature. Nectocaris help us map out how the groups alive today might which illustrates just how quickly evolution can produce Smith explains, “We think that be related, and how they evolved. This tells us something about complexity.” this extremely rare creature is an how biodiversity originated in the past, and helps us to under- Smith, who studied chemistry at Cambridge and whose early ancestor of squids, octopuses, and other cephalopods.” stand the rich tapestry of life today.” work now focuses on convergent evolution agrees there are The discovery was made possible by fossils collected by the The study required examining nearly 100 fossils to recon- still surprises to be found in the fossil record. “Fossils can ROM from the famous Burgess Shale site in the UNESCO World struct and visualize three-dimensionally the prehistoric Nec- only ever tell us a part of the story. Exceptional soft-bodied Heritage Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks in British Columbia tocaris, a procedure involving technical drawings and mapping fossils like Nectocaris, combined with advances in develop- over the past 30 years. Previously, all knowledge of Nectocaris out the contrasting dark and light features of the fossils. mental and molecular biology, still have a lot to bring to the came from a lone specimen described in 1976, whose ambiguous The specimens collected from the Burgess Shale site reveal table, and I’m sure that they will continue to help us refine characteristics made Nectocaris impossible to classify until now. that Nectocaris was kite-shaped and flattened from top to bot- and replace our current hypotheses.” VARSITY SPORTS [email protected] Monday, august 26, 2010 15 For love and the game

Angela Domingo VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR

University of Toronto alumni Juha and Johanna Mikkola (nee Kytola) have just returned to Toronto from their wedding and honeymoon when they join me for an early morning coffee. “Mr. And Mrs. ” tell me a bit about the sport, and how they first brought one of Europe’s most popular games to Canada, where it has since spread like wildfire inspiring a number of regular leagues in North America, the Canada Cup Floorball Championship, and even recognition as an official Summer Olympic event.

loorball is a fast-paced and exciting Ftype of indoor hockey that is wildly popular in Europe and is played by mil- lions of people in more than 50 coun- tries around the world. Growing up in , where the game is played by just about everyone, Juha and Johanna developed an early love for it, and for each other. newlyweds Juha and Johanna Mikkola are responsible for bringing one of Europe’s most popular sports to Canada. “Juha and I met through mutual friends when we were in high school in Helsinki. I remember being sixteen years old and going to watch Juha play ing years of experience on you, there’s It was at the University of Toronto The annual event which was born but the inspiration for the sport and in these intense floorball matches,” re- no way to get into it. where Juha and Johanna set down in 2004 with six participating teams how far it’s come is definitely Juha. I calls Johanna. “With floorball, you really could just roots for the game in Canada, but by recently had its seventh anniversary. think success has really come from Juha and Johanna attended two of grab a stick and head to a gym to play. the time they had both completed The tournament has since expanded his genuine, unselfish passion to only a handful of Finland’s interna- The potential was there,” explains Juha. their studies - his in Commerce, hers in to an impressive 57 teams and 800 grow the sport that we both love.” tional schools. They found themselves They first introduced floorball to a Economics and Political Science - they players from around the globe. Having recently received official part of a very small population of stu- few friends at a softball game. Juha hap- found it increasingly difficult to keep In addition to establishing a regular recognition by Olympic committee dents that didn’t already have floorball pened to have a few sticks in his bag, floorball going on campus. floorball league and the Canada Cup, as a summer Olympic sport - the goal integrated into their school program. and they just passed the ball around To branch out from the University another product of the couple’s pas- is to have floorball teams playing in Juha credits his father for his first the field. level, the pair then organized and sion for the sport is the floorball equip- 2020 - the Canadian floorball move- formal foray into the sport. Their friends took to it quickly. co-chaired the Canada Cup Floorball ment import and sales company they ment is on the rise and is only gaining “My dad suggested that I try to put “The softball team start was really Championship. started together, FloorballPro Inc. momentum. together a proper floorball club in funny,” Johanna recalls, “But the only “That called for participation from Juha is quick to give credit to his The Mikkola’s see the next stage school, especially so we could get gym gym time we could get at the Athletic different areas. People got to hear wife. of development as working towards space.” he jokes, “Dad’s first good idea.” Centre was Saturday around 9:00 am. about it and there was a bit of media “As floorball gets bigger, especially establishing a structure allowing for Little did he know that he’d be doing It was really early, but turned out to be buzz. We had some local supporters with the Canada Cup where we deal a league in every city in Ontario. a similar kind of promotion upon mov- fun. Especially when people were still and sponsors, and really got the word with so many people and volunteers, Aside from continuing to promote ing to Toronto not long afterwards. hung over from Friday nights.” out. The game is fun, and accessible, coordination and a really good team floorball to the youth as an excel- Juha had already enjoyed a year at The friends took what gym time was and really translates to hockey skills, is so important. Jo is amazing at deal- lent off-ice, dryland skills training the University of Southern California in available to them, and did whatever so those three elements continue to ing with people.” for hockey, in recent years, Juha and Los Angeles when he decided to follow they could to get games going. draw in a wide demographic of people Johanna is just as quick to return Johanna have been putting a special Johanna to school in Toronto. Because “We all chipped in to pay for gym who, happily, keep coming back,” Jo- the praise. effort into getting kids involved in of the obvious crossovers with hockey, space. And just to demonstrate the lack hanna says of the tournament’s debut. “I might be inspiring to our team, the sport by introducing it to the the couple was expecting some sort of of funds at the time, we used to take the school system. local floorball following and were sur- plastic bibs from McDonald’s and wear A safer, more economical, yet prised at what they didn’t find. them in place of real pinnies to mark off equally fun alternative to indoor “We were shocked that no one really the teams,” explains Johanna, “We still hockey, the majority of the 300 played floorball here, especially given laugh about those days.” schools that Juha has held work- how huge hockey is. There wasn’t even They presented the game to the stu- shops in have since integrated it into one floorball club in the whole prov- dent council who recognized it and they their school system. ince of Ontario.” received recognition from the universi- Far from resting on their laurels, Knowing that he wasn’t about to ty soon after. the early success that the couple leave the sport behind, it came down The student council helped with has had in growing floorball in Can- to a decision between getting into a funding for some basic equipment, ada has only motivated them to work new game - ice hockey - or teaching and during club days Juha and Jo- harder to get the game introduced to people to play the game he was already hanna would set up a booth and play as wide an audience as possible. so familiar with. The choice wasn’t too floorball videos that they put together Through all their progress, howev- difficult. to encourage more people to take part. er, they haven’t forgotten their alma “I hate learning new things.” “What I was really very active in – mater. It didn’t take long for them to discov- and people still joke about this - was “We would love to see floorball er that despite hockey’s popular fol- e-mailing everyone,” laughs Juha, “I back at U of T again. We always say lowing, many people downtown didn’t wouldn’t leave them alone until they we have a soft spot for where we actually play the sport. got back to me saying either that they started it all. If there is an interest, “Let’s say you’ve just moved here and were interested or they weren’t. I still we’d be more than happy to do any- you’re 20 years old and you’ve never have those lists. A lot of those people As a U of T student, Juha organized early morning floorball practices in the thing we could to help keep it going, played hockey. With everyone else hav- still play today.” Athletic Centre. VARSITY ARCHIVES even just as a club,” says Juha. 16 Monday, august 26, 2010 VARSITY SPORTS [email protected] Hangin’ with the head honcho U of T to host he Varsity’s BERNARDA GOSPIC sat down with U of T’s three CIS women’s Director of Intercollegiate and High Performance Sport to get the low-down on what the Varsity Blues will be up to this year championships in three years fter a two year stint at the Univer- boost the morale not just for the ath- A sity of Waterloo and a gap year letes themselves but the entire school? at Ryerson, Beth Ali has returned to BA: I definitely do! People jump onto her home of seventeen years at the the bandwagon around a team that Elisabeth Laratta Centre for High Performance Sport. It University of Toronto. The seasoned starts to do really well because they ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR will be located on Devonshire Place veteran was Head Coach of the Field want to feel a part of it. They want and house a 2,000 seat basketball Hockey Program and Manager of the to be engaged. We have to engage The University of Toronto will host and volleyball court. Community Service Program and Ath- our student body around intercolle- three women’s Canadian Interuni- Drakich is very eager for her team, letic Centre from 1990 until 2004. She giate athletics and Varsity sport and versity Sport (CIS) championships who are guaranteed to be in the then assumed the role of Manager of my view is that when you come to within the next five years. championships as the hosts, to have Intercollegiate Sport, a post which she U of T, you become a Varsity Blue. The CIS announced that the Varsity the opportunity to compete for the held until her departure in 2007. Whether you’re an athlete, a coach, Blues have won bids to host the 2012- championship in the new volleyball A Varsity Blue through and a spectator, a fan, a student, every- 13 women’s hockey, 2013-14 women’s facilities. through, Mrs Ali is excited to be back one is a Varsity Blue. soccer, and 2014-15 women’s volley- “One thing that will be really excit- and working as the new Director of ball national championships. ing is to have the chance to compete Intercollegiate and High Performance TV: That being said, where do you Women’s volleyball head coach, for the National Championship in the Sport on her home turf. think that U of T teams will place in the Kristine Drakich, is excited to have new U of T Goldring Centre for High BETH ALI’S PREDICTIONS OUA and the CIS this year? landed a CIS championship on home Performance Sport. This will really The Varsity: As the new Director of FOR THE UPCOMING BA: I would say that U of T always turf. demonstrate University of Toronto’s Intercollegiate and High Performance SEASON wins a certain number of champion- “We are thrilled to have the oppor- commitment to sporting excellence Sport at the University of Toronto what ships and I think that that will hap- tunity to bring the Championships to from the student-athletes, to the pas- exactly do you oversee? FOOTBALL: We have a very good re- pen again. We have excellent student our campus. It’s a chance to show- sionate supporters and to the excel- Beth Ali: I look after the full Var- cruiting class for football this year and I athletes here, we have very strong case the best CIS women’s volleyball lent facilities.” sity Blues Program, which means think we’ll see a bit of a move there. coaches and we have good programs. right here at U of T and to compete for all of the athletic programs here at We are always in the hunt for not only a National Championships at home.” the University including the CIS and MEN’S SOCCER: We’re host- playoff contention, but winning the Although Drakich believes that U the OUA. I also look after the High ing the National Championships banners. I can’t tell you how many of T excels in supporting high perfor- Performance Program, which was for Men’s Soccer this year. They we’re going to win, but I think we’re mance sports, she thinks that host- introduced three years ago in part- came fourth in the nation last year, going to be in the hunt for a number of ing the championships will further nership with the Ministry of Health although they were ranked number them, I’m sure. improve athletics at U of T. Promotion. We provide support ser- one going into the tournament. They “The fact that U of T will be hosting vices like sports medicine, training learned some good lessons and TV: Recently, Simon Fraser Univer- so many championships in the next and facilities to high performance they’ll be playing on their home field sity in BC became the first Canadian few years, and has hosted so many athletes here in the city. so I think there could be a lot of ex- school to enter the NCAA and compete in the past, demonstrates that U of T citement around that championship. in their Division II. Do you think this is is a school that supports high perfor- TV: What do you hope to bring to both a direction a lot of Canadian universi- mance sport. This is a great thing for the school and the scoreboard this WOMEN’S FIELD HOCKEY: ties will begin to take? recruitment of student-athletes in all year? Women’s Field Hockey is always a BA: Most of the schools in the CIS are sports. It shows them that U of T is BA: I’m stepping into a program that perennial favourite, so we’ll see how committed to the CIS. We all see that a place where excellence in both aca- has a tradition of excellence and the they do. there are things that can be done bet- demics and athletics are valued.” Write for Sports Varsity Blues brand is huge not just ter and everyone is working hard to U of T’s facilities stand out as some in Toronto and Ontario, but across WOMEN’S VOLLEY BALL: Last make it better. The CIS board is very of the best places in Canada to com- the country. So right now we’re get- year our Women’s Volleyball team made unique and we are very much about pete in. ting our athletes on the field, we’re it to the National Championship and student athletes and the importance In 2006, the building of the state- Contact: getting our coaches in place and weren’t necessarily expected to. They of academics around the experience of-the-art 5,000 seat Varsity Centre, [email protected] we’re making sure that we’re ready are obviously a good group of athletes of the student athletes. I will expect which boasts an artificial turf field to go for the season. and since they’ve had a taste of it I that we will push forward to make of the highest quality available, was TV: Do you think that an outstanding would imagine that they would want to our brand better, not to look to some- completed. Plans are also in the performance by a team or athlete can get back there again. where else to find that. works for the creation of the Goldring Alex the Great he Varsity’s biggest fanatic delves into the surprise success of the this season

Kevin Draper staff in the coming years. Anthopoulos, who began his career VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR , acquired in the earth- in baseball answering fan mail for the shaking trade for Roy Halladay last Montreal Expos and slowly worked his The last four years for the Toronto Blue December, is poised to play for the big way to the top of the Jays, has made a Jays’ fans have closely resembled the league team next season after a suc- handful of shrewd trades that improved last four decades for Maple Leafs fans cessful career in the minor leagues. the team dramatically. – boom and bust cycles of optimism, Zach Stewart remains in the minors, His swap of Brandon League, a some well-deserved, some the product but he is surely not far from contribut- dime-a-dozen relief and a mi- of hometown blindness ing in the major leagues. nor leaguer, for Brandan Morrow now Ten months removed from the firing They will join Shaun Marcum, Ricky looks ingenious as Morrow thrives as PROFILE of long-time General Manager J.P. Ric- Romero, Brett Cecil, Brandon Morrow, a starter. ciardi, the Jays are in the midst of yet and Mark Rzepczynski in a very potent More recently, he traded career jour- Alex Anthopoulous is part another rebuilding effort under rookie starting rotation. neyman and intended one-year stop- of a new generation of GM . The true shocker this year, however, gap shortstop Alex Gonzalez to Atlanta baseball general manag- Of course, many around the organi- has been the squad’s power-driven of- for Yunel Escobar, who was once re- ers who have never played zation argue that this is more of “build- fense. They lead the league by a com- garded as one of league’s elite players at the sport themselves but ing” project than a “rebuilding” one. fortable margin in home runs, which, his position before a weak start to this have a strong knowledge of The foundation is well in place and if predicted before the season, would season lowered his trade value. Like refined statistical informa- has exceeded all expectations this sea- have made the Jays’ dismal odds of Morrow, he has thrived as a Jay and the tion. A McMaster Econom- son, as a young cast of players have led winning the World Series look impres- trade was brazen robbery in hindsight. ics graduate, Anthopoulos the Jays to a record that hovers near sive. Leading the charge has been Jose The argument has been made before, truly did take the path less five games over .500 so far, a shock to Bautista, a career backup utility player but with a bit of time for their young traveled to the top of the nearly every fan and analyst. who is close to hitting 40 home runs. to mature and their jaw-drop- Jays. He began his career The Jays now boast an army of Other players have emerged to con- ping offense to further gel, Canada’s answering fan mail for the Just for fun has now turned into young starting pitchers that can keep tribute as well, including Vernon Wells, only remaining Montreal Expos, and gradu- the ultimate high-stakes game in the team in any game at the major who was largely ineffective last year af- team could be in contention for the title ally talked his way into writing trying to evaluate talent and get league level, and two more high-ceiling ter signing a $20 million a season mega well before Barack Obama runs for re- scouting reports “just for fun.” the Jays ahead in the league. prospects are poised to the join the contract. election.