March Issue

THE
UNDERGROUND
MAR. 11 - APR. 7 / V. 37, I. 07
UTSC’S OFFICIAL STUDENT PUBLICATION SINCE 1982

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CONTENTS
NEWS
6 SCSU ELECTIONS DRAMA
8 THE FCC NET NEUTRALITY REPEAL &
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR INTERNET FREEDOM
10 #BELLLETSTALK ABOUT THIS USELESS HASHTAG
ARTS & LIFE
12 FREEDOM OF SPEECH
14 HEAL THE WORLD
16 ANTICIPATION, ANXIETIES, & ADVENTURE
18 REPRESENT, REPRESENT:
THE IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSITY AT UOFT AND BEYOND
20 SPEAKING YOUR MIND: THE IMPORTANCE
OF OPENING UP ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH
social
justice
Poets'
Corner
The Alt-Left, Identity Politics,
and the State of Social Justic:
Movements on University Campuses
SCIENCE & TECH
36 SCIENCE OF SEXUALITY
38 FAKE NEWS BLUES: HOW TO FIND IT
40 TECH & ACCOUNTABILITY
ASK UG
42 CHRISTIANITY & SOCIAL JUSTICE:
CAN THEY GET ALONG?

EDITORIAL
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KRISTINA DUKOSKI
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SR COPY EDITOR
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ART
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PUBLICATION
DATES
SEP. 4 2017
OCT. 8 2017
NOV. 6 2017
DEC. 10 2017
JAN. 11 2018
FEB. 7 2018
MAR. 11 2018
APR. 8 2018
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07
MARCH

NEWS | 6
7
| NEWS
Mirza Abu Bakr Baig,
News Editor
T
his past election season has been
one of the most contentious and
controversial, and has left much of
the campus divided regarding the SCSU, the
elections process, and the general political
atmosphere on campus.
The SCSU elections for the upcoming 2018-
2019 school year had proven to be extremely
contentious, and in some cases confrontational.
Candidates running for presidency were
disqualified and subsequently reinstated,
only to be disqualified again. Current SCSU
members have been accused of corruption and
have faced condemnation from many students
on campus. The Chief Returning Officer (CRO)
has become a notorious figure on campus, with
the original CRO resigning at the onset of the
elections drama, and the newly instated one
remaining a controversial and divisive figure.
Many students are still unaware of what exactly
took place during the whole elections episode.
“I don’t even know what’s going on,” says Ringo
Chewey, a first-year computer science major.
“I just wanna know what’s going on,” demands
Jonah Martinez, a fourth-year city studies
major. This article will attempt to summarize
and provide a brief chronology of the 2018-2019
SCSU elections drama up until this point.
The official campaign period for the 2018-2019
SCSU elections was January 23rd – February
8th. The ‘All-Candidates Meeting’ took place on
the 22nd, a day prior. It was at this event that
Deena Hassan, the current VP Operations and
candidate for Presidency for the upcoming year,
led a protest alongside members of her election
cohort and students on campus. She demanded
that the SCSU elections be immediately frozen
because of what she perceived as her unfair
disqualification from candidacy.
Earlier the same day, the SCSU released a
statement on Facebook detailing the rulings
of the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) that
disqualified Hassan and Rayyan Alibux, another
one of the three presidential candidates. The
letter read: “The two candidates were deemed
ineligible due to not collecting sufficient valid
member signatures. A valid signature is outlined
by Bylaw II of the SCSU bylaws. During the
nomination period, executive candidates
are required to collect 100 valid member
signatures.” Valid members are any students
enrolled in classes, since part of their tuition
fees go toward funding the Student Union.
This ruling was verified a section time after the
Vice-Provost Students Office re-examined the
signatures.
It was further reported, “Another Candidate
[Hassan] has been disqualified because the
CRO received multiple photos over the course
of two days of this candidate wearing a sweater
indicating their position and/or status while
collecting nominations which is a violation of
the EPC.” This resulted in Hassan receiving
35 demerit points- 15 for “abuse of position
or status,” and 20 for “malicious or intentional
violation of this code.” This ruling was appealed,
and at 3:00 P.M on January 22nd, the Elections
Appeal Committee announced that they upheld
the ruling on Hassan’s disqualification after
examining photo evidence of her wearing her
SCSU sweater while collecting signatures. The
letter stated that this decision was final and
could not be appealed again.
It was for this reason that the All-Candidates
Meeting was protested by Hassan, Alibux, and
other students/supporters. The CRO and other
members of the Union tried to stop the protesters
from entering the room in SL 232, but failed to
do so. Hassan, along with other supports/cohort
members, climbed onto the table and chanted,
“Freeze SCSU Elections.” Shortly thereafter,
she gave a speech explaining her situation, her
indignation at the CRO’s decision to disqualify
here, and her grievances with the SCSU’s
actions and operations generally. Videos of
the protest erupted social media, and students
previously unaware of developments in the
election were confronted with accusations of
corruption against their Student Union. Their
demands were partially met, as the elections
were temporarily frozen.
Two days after, on January 24th, the SCSU
released a letter announcing the resignation of
the CRO. The CRO stated: “I regret to inform
you that I will be resigning from my position as
CRO. During the All Candidates Meeting, I was
grabbed by students, thrown onto a table and
punched in the face. Because of these events,
I do not wish to continue as CRO due to fear
for my own safety.” It was reported that he left
the meeting with minor injuries. The letter also
urged interested individuals to apply for the
newly vacant position.
These allegations by the previous CRO
are extremely dubious, or, at the very least,
unsubstantiated. There is no video evidence
of him being thrown onto a table and punched
in the face, and eyewitnesses at the protest
routinely deny that this happened.
An online petition was launched by UTSC
students demanding Hassan be reinstated for
presidency. The videos of the All Candidates
Meeting and social media posts regarding
the Elections were spreading amongst UTSC
students. Eventually, whether due to the
petitions, negotiations, or internal deliberation
within the SCSU, Hassan was granted
permission to run again on January 29th after
the renewed All Candidates Meeting. This is
the same day that the elections process was
restarted after being frozen for a week, in
addition to a new CRO being announced.
Hassan’s elections team was called ‘Rise
Up UTSC’, and conducted regular elections
activities and campaigns following the January
29th announcements.
Hassan’s reinstatement did not last long,
however, as she was issued an official warning
by the SCSU on February 1st for violating the
election rules relating to ‘Misrepresentation
of Facts’, ‘Pre-Campaigning’, and ‘Fair Play’.
It was claimed that she had failed to uphold
certain stipulations placed upon her during the
January 29th All Candidates Meeting, some of
which include a formal apology posted on social
media disavowing her previous statements,
and the removal of the online petition and other
social media posts condemning the SCSU
with accusations of corruption, bias, special
interests, etc. The CRO maintains that the
videos of Hassan’s speech, as well as social
media posts by members of Rise Up UTSC
(her election cohort), and other UTSC students,
perpetuate lies and false allegations against the
SCSU. It is further asserted that “The events of
Jan 22nd willingly or unwillingly have created
an unfair advantage to Hassan. Therefore,
the CRO has determined to issue a campaign
violation”.
The Underground can confirm that Hassan
did in fact post a formal apology on Facebook,
as well as remove posts/videos of the protest
or other incendiary statements against SCSU
on her Facebook page. It remains unclear
how she can have been expected to remove
all posts and/or videos of the January 22nd
Meeting, since she does not have any control
on what other people post online aside from her
immediate cohort (which is still not completely
within her control). She also did not start the
petition, as it was created and posted by other
students on campus.
On February 2nd, a resolution was passed
by the CRO against Hassan concerning the
aforementioned violations. Hassan appealed
this decision. On February 5, the Appeals
committee reviewed the evidence and
amended the CRO’s ruling and lowering the
demerit points charged against her. This was
not enough to prevent her disqualification, and
the same day the SCSU published a letter
announcing that she was once against barred
from running in the SCSU 2018 Spring Election.
Unable to do anything for the moment, Hassan
was forced to watch the rest of the elections
unfold. Voting took place from February 6-8.
The two competing slates were Rise Up UTSC
and UTSC Voice. Rise Up UTSC ended up
winning all but three positions in the official
election results. Nicole Brayiannis, leader of
UTSC Voice, was elected President, with the
rest of the executive positions and most of the
director positions being taken by Rise Up UTSC
candidates.
The following Monday there was a Board of
Directors Meeting. All the existing executives
and board of directors were present. Hassan
attempted to pass a resolution that would null
the results for the presidential bid and begin a
process to reinstate her for candidacy (which
would be followed by a revote). The resolution
failed, as the Chair of the Board said that the
board of directors meeting is not the appropriate
forum to deal with this issue, nor was there any
precedent of such issues being dealt with at
a Board of Directors Meeting. Instead, it was
suggested that she attempt to pass the motion
at the upcoming General Meeting in March.
That is possibly Hassan’s last chance for having
a shot at becoming president, and even then, it
is highly unlikely.
The atmosphere in the room during the meeting
was extremely tense and antagonistic. Hassan
at one point expressed that, “Tensions in my
office are very toxic. The president [Sana] will
not speak with me, and I can only talk to her
through email or if a third party is present.” The
board members themselves seem to be split
on which side of the divide to take, with some
dissenting against SCSU, others remaining
faithful, and some remaining neutral.
This whole election debacle has left many
students confused, angry, or annoyed, while
others did not give it any attention. Certain
actions of the SCSU have not helped the
situation. For example, the SCSU Executive
Candidate Forum, an event for the competing
executive candidates to meet and debate with
one another regarding who is the best-suited
for the job, was held in a lowkey room at the
bottom floor of the Student Center behind Rex’s
Den, called Rex’s Lab. Furthermore, the event
was only announced a day before it happened,
and the room can only hold a very small amount
of people. This meager advertising is in sharp
contrast to the excessive advertising
that the Montreal Reading Week Trip
has received, amongst other
events. This, on top of other
policies/actions on the part of
the Student Union, especially their
championing of identity-politics initiatives and
general politicization of their institution, has
pushed many students against the SCSU.
“I’d like to see more transparency from the
SCSU, the students deserve better,” remarks
Steven Lu, a fourth-year statistics major.
“Like the majority of students here, I am happy
with the election results. I believe that these
newly-elected individuals were running for
election for the right reasons – to be the voice
for UTSC and bring about issues that students
actually care about,” says Samantha McTernan,
a second-year Neuroscience student. “Rise Up
has already shown transparency – something
that has been missing in past SCSU teams.
Students saw all of this and know this, and
this is why they won. It’s clear Rise Up cares
about the student labour movement and are a
hardworking group of people with experience
who care about UTSC students. I’m happy to
have them represent me in all matters.”
Yumna Rehan, a fifth-year molecular biology
and political science major, says “It was an
uncomfortable experience to come to school
and see all this drama when elections are
supposed to bring about the best of the
democratic spirit, but in many ways, it did the
exact opposite and divided everyone.”
Candidates running for election had to be extra
paranoid about where they campaigned, what
they posted on social media, or if they were
committing any acts that could be interpreted as
violating the election by-laws. This is because
they were being photographed anonymously,
and if they were pictured doing anything
illegal they would receive demerit points. It
is understandable that bylaws would exist to
prevent unfair campaign tactics, however the
fact that candidates had to be paranoid about
what they posted on social media, or what others
may have posted speaking on behalf of them, is
troubling and indicative of a suppressed political
atmosphere. These by-laws should perhaps be
re-examined during the next general meeting.
The Underground will be conducting interviews
with SCSU executives, Deena Hassan, and
the newly-elected President Nicole Brayiannis
to offer their respective perspectives/stories
regarding the elections.
Elections
Drama
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

NEWS | 8
SHANNON CHIN /
THE UNDERGROUND
9
| NEWS
The FCC Net Neutrality Repeal
& What This Means for Internet Freedom
Tracy Jinxi Li,
Contributor
N
et Neutrality has recently been
repealed by the FCC, and odds are
stacked against proponents as
they fight to restore a free and open internet.
On Dec. 13, 2017, Ajit Pai, Chairman of the
FCC (Federal Communications Commission)
addresses “all of the internet trolls with a PSA,”
outlining “7 things you can still do on the internet
after net neutrality.”
In this quirky and seemingly innocent video,
Pai plays with a fidget spinner, does the harlem
shake, and takes photos of cute animals.
Contrary to the uplifting ukulele track playing in
the background, the PSA is one of YouTube’s
most controversial and disliked videos.
This is not without good reason.
Last month, the FCC voted to repeal net
neutrality protections in the United States.
This was a divisive move which has triggered
outrage both within the United States and
North America in general, with wide reaching
consequences for internet freedom around the
world.
Currently, this order places Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) under the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC), which removes much
regulation from the FCC. The repeal of net
neutrality gives ISPs much more freedom,
allowing them to control how consumers use
the internet. Many perceive this to be a threat to
collective freedom on the internet.
The following are the original rules which
had gone into effect during the Obama
Administration’s FCC in 2015:
1. BLOCKING
Internet Service Providers could not discriminate
against any lawful content by blocking websites
or apps.
2. THROTTLING
Service Providers could not slow the
transmission of data based on the nature of the
content, as long as it was legal.
3. PAID PRIORITIZATION
Service providers could not create an internet
fast lane for companies and consumers who
paid premiums, and a slow lane for those who
did not.
In other words, net neutrality ensures that
Internet Service Providers such as Comcast,
AT&T, Spectrum, and Verizon treat all data
sent over the same network equally, no matter
whether it is an email, phone call, or the latest
show on Netflix. Under this core principle, ISPs
and companies are unable to favour sites and
services or charge customers fees to access or
quickly load certain websites.
These have all been repealed during a 3-2
party-line vote in favour of the Republicans
against net neutrality in late 2017.
“What saddens me the most today is that the
agency that was supposed to protect you is
actually abandoning you,” says Mignon Clyburn,
Federal Communications Commissioner from
the Democratic Party during her dissenting
argument against the repeal, “but what I am
pleased to be able to say today, is that the fight
to save net neutrality does not end today. The
agency does not have the final word. Thank
goodness for that.”
Indeed, the battle is not over yet.
Currently, there exists much efforts from
consumer advocates, technology companies
such as Facebook and Google, and nonprofits
such as the New York Public Library which are
proponents for a free and open internet. Despite
the repeal, multiple public interest organizations
and State Attorney Generals have filed multiple
lawsuits against the FCC to challenge this
repeal.
On January 16th, the Democrats announced
that all 49 senators, and one Republican will vote
on a bill using the CRA (Congressional Review
Act) to reinstate the regulation. This aims to
utilize the CRA act by invalidating the repeal
regulation with “a resolution of disapproval” to
Congress. Democratic Senator Ed Markey calls
this, “A big step toward restoring a free and
open internet.”
However, the odds are still stacked against
proponents of net neutrality, with many stating
that it is unlikely for this bill to succeed. In
order for the CRA to be approved, Democrats
will need 51 votes in the Senate as well as a
majority in the House of Representatives, where
Republicans currently outnumber Democrats
238 to 193. In addition to this, President Trump
must sign the CRA, which is unlikely given his
track record for regulation.
While the fight for an open internet still has not
been lost, advocates seem to have their fair
share of work cut out for them.
Indeed, the problems with net neutrality is broad
and far reaching. According to political scientist
James Wilson, net neutrality is an issue
which suffers from “entrepreneurial politics.”
It is a system which benefits all Americans as
consumers and citizens, nonetheless, has
costs which point to lower opportunities for
telecommunications companies to gain profit
from the powerful world wide web.
Wilson calls this a battle between special
interest groups. Without net neutrality,
companies such as Comcast and Verizon could
charge companies extra “paid priority” fees to
ensure their web connections are stable.
“Now is the moment [that] people need to realize
this is happening,” journalist Philip DeFranco
urges his listeners on YouTube, “If you do not
want this to happen, you need to make yourself
known and take a step forward.”
But for now, net neutrality is on its last dying
breath.
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018 VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07 www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

NEWS | 10
11
| NEWS
#BellLetsTalk about this useless hashtag
Mariem Naem,
Contributor
he #BellLetsTalk movement has
made significant achievements in
recent years in terms of raising
awareness of mental health issue. It is important
to reflect upon such a popular and influential
movement, as even the most successful of
movements can hide shortcomings beneath the
surface.
Millions of tweets, snaps, and Facebook
posts flooded timelines on January 31st, 2018
when #BellLetsTalk was being used to raise
awareness and $6,919,199.75 for Mental Health
in Canada. If you’re unaware, #BellLetsTalk
is an annual social media event where for an
entire day, any posts containing the hashtag
will engage Bell to automatically donate 5
cents to Canadian mental health initiatives. It’s
Canada's largest corporate initiative dedicated
to mental health, according to its website. There
were millions of posts, some of which contained
people sharing their personal struggles, others
that included meaningful or thought-provoking
statements, and all of them expressing their
support for the heartwarming initiative. Bell, the
company who is credited for starting the social
movement, has received praise for backing
such an impactful campaign, something
unprecedented in Canada and unseen by other
international corporations in the same league.
All that being said, it’s important to critically look
at this initiative and read in between the lines;
it might not be as impressive as you may think.
Let's Talk About Inconsistency and
Lack of Diversity
The support and coverage this hashtag gets
really provokes thoughtful discourse regarding
mental health, and I’m sure many have struggled
mentally (or sadly continue to struggle) at one
time or another, so it’s a very relatable subject.
What I’m not enthusiastic about is the fact that
after the event, no one continues to advocate
for these issues until the next year when the
event rolls by again. It’s very inconsistent, and
because of that, it makes it very difficult to
ensue change to further develop Mental Health
programs. On top of that, the spokespeople that
Bell usually promote, including Howie Mandell
and Clara Hughes, are primarily wealthy
folks with successful recovery stories. There
needs to be more diverse selection, as mental
health affects EVERYONE, and shouldn’t be
romanticized, and with the shortage of varying
viewpoints, #BellLetsTalk cannot have as great
an impact on Canadians.
Let’s Talk About Hypocrisy
Bell may seem like a strong advocate for
improved mental health resources and
support, but workplace policy begs to differ.
Andrea Rizzo, who had worked for Bell for
20 years, conducted an interview with CBC
news, exposing the workplace violations her
and many other employees faced. Employees
at the call centre are expected to make a
sale every call, and specific targets are made
according to number of workdays per month.
Rizzo claims that employees felt so pressured
that they resorted to selling products/services
to people of low-income families and others
who couldn’t benefit simply to meet quota. She
also mentions how, due to ergonomic issues,
she had developed a strain injury in her wrist
known as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Her targets
were temporary lowered, for some time before
rising back to original targets, meaning Bell did
not adequately accommodate her accessibility
needs.
Other employees gave their insight following
Rizzo’s whistleblower scandal. One exemployee
said they lost 40 pounds in a few
months and had to go on “stress leave.”
Managers would call at 3am to ask why targets
weren’t met for the month. Countless people
experienced anxiety attacks and suffered from
depression in fear of retribution for not meeting
sales targets. In 2007, the company even
went as far as to cut post-retirement medical
benefits to improve margins of profit. A personal
testimony made by an employee who had quit
mentioned that her contract did not grant her
access to Bell Media’s Employee Assistance
Plan, meaning she had no access to mental
health care through Bell, despite the fact that
she was serving as a broadcast associate. She
had also stated she was denied sick day pay
and dental benefits. Many were fired for the
very same mental health issues #BellLetsTalk
supports. Bell denied these allegations,
saying, “Bell has taken a leadership position
in workplace mental health, it’s part of the way
we work at every level that’s been recognized
by [many].” Although head office may have
regard for wellbeing, these regional managers
clearly do not. How can the company behind
#BellLetsTalk be so negligent towards its own
employees?
Let’s Talk About Private Interests
Bell gets a massive amount of praise for
executing this project every year. It clearly
benefits their private interests in multiple
ways. If you think about it, every post that
you promote the hashtag in simultaneously
promotes the telecom company, which doesn’t
really have a place advocating for mental
health, as the media it provides can sometimes
be problematic. Attaching a corporate brand
name to your mental health stories means
you are inadvertently crediting the company,
acting as a spokesperson for them, which is
free PR; also, let's take into account the fact
that the money Bell donates will receive HUGE
tax reductions, which contribute less taxes to
national and regional Canadian governments
that would have been spent on public services,
including public Health Care and research. Free
advertising and tax cuts… why didn’t they come
up with this idea sooner?!
Let’s Talk About Reparative Therapy
Lastly, let’s take a look at where the 7 million
dollars goes. According to the official website,
there’s millions donated to community fund
grants designed for children and youth,
indigenous communities, and military family
support. That’s a remarkable achievement
for them, especially since these are the
communities that can truly benefit from these
grants. In addition, crisis and distress lines, techbased
mental health programs, and trained staff
and volunteers have also been funded. It’s no
doubt that Bell has had a positive influence, and
has encouraged many to destroy the stigma
that surrounds mental illness. Bell also has a
list of Hospitals and organizations it has helped
fund, including CAMH. However, this is where
we run into problems.
CAMH is the Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health in Toronto, and it employs one Doctor,
Kenneth Zucker, who is their Psychologistin-Chief
and Head of the Gender Identity
Service in the Child, Youth, and Family
Program. Kenneth Zucker is an advocate of
trans-reparative therapy or the notion that
transgender individuals can “heal” themselves
if they try hard enough. He has published
multiple studies on reparative therapy that are
filled with transphobic content. By 2007, CAMH
had launched an internal study to investigate
the complaints. Eventually, Dr. Zucker was
terminated, but for a while, Bell was funding this
project. Although this is a condemnation of a
particular party, it’s important to note as many
use this fact as an excuse to shame social
movement when in fact, Bell and CAMH have
addressed the issue to the best of their ability.
With that being said, there are positive effects
coming from this hashtag. Yes, it does have
multiple flaws that it needs to address, but it
has also done a wonderful job of encouraging
people to speak out, invoking support and unity,
and breaking down stigma. There’s only hope
that in the future this movement can be built up
to something even more powerful and beneficial
to Canadians for generations to come.
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018 VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07 www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

ARTS & LIFE | 12
13
| ARTS & LIFE
Freedom of Speech
Annie Kozaris,
Contributor
Are there limits to your freedom?
When people talk about freedom of speech, a
question that typically arises is, ‘What are the
boundaries for what one can or cannot say, and
are these boundaries common to everyone?’ To
some, freedom of speech means the ability to
say whatever one wishes to say because they
are legally permitted to do so. Others believe
that there are restrictions as to what one can
say.
By definition, freedom of speech is a principle
that supports the freedom of an individual or
community to articulate one's opinions and
ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship or
sanction." This topic affects us all, and it means
something different to everyone. Malaika
Hennie, a fourth-year English student at UTSC,
tells us her opinion on freedom of speech:
“Realistically, freedom of speech and hate
speech can be easily intertwined, but racists and
bigots will say it’s their right to preach what they
want, regardless of how it may seriously hurt
someone. It is extremely important to recognize
how dangerous it is to dismiss self evaluation.
We must always think of the words that we say
before we speak them into existence. Whether
we like it or not, there are right and wrong
answers, especially in regards to morality. What
is wrong is using your freedom of speech to
belittle and degrade someone just because of
your incentive and systematically oppressive
ideologies. Personally, freedom of speech can
certainly be criticized and ridiculed because of
the way some choose to abuse this right. By at
least trying to listen and respect others, we as
a society can truly get somewhere.” I agree..
The boundary to freedom of speech has to do
with respect and being considerate of how other
people would feel if they heard specific words
being said.
For some individuals, freedom of speech is
about saying whatever you want but being
respectful of others. Stavroula Georgiadis, a
second-year human biology and French student
at UTSC, shares her personal opinion on the
subject of freedom of speech and discrimination:
“Freedom of speech means having the right to
give personal opinions on controversial issues
without the fear of judgement or consequences.
It is the ability to speak your mind and express
your thoughts in an accepting environment. It
is what enables large scale changes in society
that start with the expression of ideas that go
against the norms; it is the catalyst of change.
It is our ability to fight for a future we envision
and believe in, and our ability to create hope.
It is the right to believe in anything we wish, to
speak about our beliefs and share them with
one another to instill growth.” With that being
said, freedom of speech is all about expression
and sharing opinions without being hateful. We
must share what we believe in and learn from
it, this allows us to grow together. “Freedom of
speech is the single most important right that
we have, as it is what allows us to live our lives
authentically without restraint on our ability
to revolutionize the world we live in. It is the
greatest power we could have,” she adds.
Fourth year linguistics student, Elanna Clayton,
adds to the conversation on the freedom
of speech: “Free speech is really important
because everyone deserves their own opinion
and to never [have it] be oppressed. However,
when it comes to free speech, I think people
sometimes take it too far and use it to put other
people down. I don’t think freedom of speech
should be used to be racist, homophobic, or
sexist because those are things that put people
down and suppress an individual’s identity,
which is never okay. As long as people learn
to be respectful and care for others and their
feelings and identities, freedom of speech is an
amazing form of expression.”
Freedom of speech is also about one’s
identity and who one really is. Identity is tied
with freedom of speech because one can be
whoever they want and be without fear of being
discriminated against.
As for myself, I believe freedom of speech is
all about respect. I believe that no matter what
age you are, or who you are, the capacity to
speak freely should not serve as an excuse
or justification for offending others. I believe
we should all take what we say a little more
into consideration and only spread kindness
through our words.
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

ARTS & LIFE | 14
15
| ARTS & LIFE
SHANNON CHIN /
THE UNDERGROUND
Heal the World
Humna Wasim,
Contributor
It can be easy to fall under the
impression that the world is all doom
and gloom, but despite the horrible things
happening around the world, there are still those
who are determined to make a positive impact
We live in an imperfect world; from civil
wars plaguing Syria, South Sudan, and the
Democratic Republic of Congo to the genocide
of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar to the global
climate crisis, sometimes it may feel like there is
little good left in the world.
Despite all the awful things happening around
the world, it’s important not to become cynical
or hopeless. Small actions can have a large
impact in making the world a better place, and
these actions can happen a lot closer to you
than you may think- even in your own university.
Sarah Syed, a third-year health science major at
UTSC, founded Global Youth Impact alongside
her three siblings. “Global Youth Impact is a nonprofit
organization that is essentially a platform
to empower youth locally and globally through
leadership, raising awareness of global issues,
social advocacy, workshops, and community
engagement.” She shares the motivation
behind the organization: “What inspired us to
start our own non-profit organization was our
interests and passions as children. Growing up,
we always took interest in volunteering, and our
parents are our biggest role models for that. As
we've been volunteering for many years, we
realized the strength of our passion for raising
awareness on community issues and global
issues. It is because of this that we created an
organization to empower young people to get
together and make a difference.”
Since its creation, the Global Youth Impact has
organized various initiatives to raise awareness
and fundraise for various global and local
issues: “As part of our Help the Homeless
initiative, we created care packages to distribute
across the GTA. We also attended the United
Nations annual Youth Assembly as a team of
15 delegates to represent Global Youth Impact.
Recently, we also created a campaign, Through
the Eyes of Rohingya, to raise awareness and
fundraise for the crisis in Myanmar.”
Along with fundraising initiatives, Global Youth
Impact also seeks to empower and educate
youth: “We actually hold workshops at local highschools
geared towards raising awareness on
the Sustainable Development Goals developed
by the United Nations. In this day and age, it’s
becoming critical for youth to become involved
in the issues affecting the world today.”
When asked about future plans for the
organization, Syed adds, “Overall, we would
like to continue to grow as a non-profit
organization, especially through implementing
more leadership workshops across various high
schools. Ideally, we would like to open up Global
Youth Impact chapters at other universities to
expand the number of youth getting involved in
making a difference.”
Despite the success of the organization in
having an impact on local and global issues,
making a difference isn’t always as evident.
Fiona Mariyadas, a first-year co-op life sciences
student, also does her best to make a difference
in her local community: “There’s this local
food bank near where I live, and sometimes,
especially around Christmas time, it gets very
busy and they need extra help packaging and
distributing food,” She explains. “Sometimes,
it’s hard to imagine how many people rely on the
food bank for their everyday meals, so for me,
it’s a very humbling
experience to help
out. It doesn’t take
very long, but it’s something
I enjoy doing. In more ways
than one, it’s a very rewarding
experience.”
It’s important to remember that there are
many different ways to make a difference.
Combining her passion for organizing and
executing events, Abeir Wasim, a fourth-year
neuroscience specialist, shares how she helped
make a difference in her local community: “This
summer, I helped my family and I organize
an independent SickKids approved event.
With help from our friends, family, and local
community in Ajax, we actually raised over
$2000,” She explains, “It’s a different experience
when you’re personally fundraising for your own
event, and at times, making sure everything
was running smoothly was a little stressful, but
in the end, it was a special event for our entire
community.”
“I think it’s important to realize that having an
impact isn’t difficult, it doesn’t always have to be
a strenuous and time-consuming process,” She
adds, “It’s something that can be as simple as
standing up for what you believe in, and sharing
that passion with others.”
In the end, whether it involves a global issue or
a local issue, whether it’s something as small
as taking the time to reduce plastic-use, or
something as large as volunteering abroadit’s
important to remember that you are always
making an impact in someone else’s life, and
that is the most empowering aspect of it all.
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07 www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

ARTS & LIFE | 16
MATTHEW NAREA /
THE UNDERGROUND
17
| ARTS & LIFE
Anticipation
Anxieties &
Adventures
Eva Wissting & Rupinder Grewal,
Contributors
L
isten in as Eva Wissting, a third-year
English Specialist with a minor in
Creative Writing, International/transfer
student (Class of 2019), and Rupinder Grewal,
a fourth-year double major in Neuroscience &
Psychology, Sociology minor (Class of 2018),
discuss their immanent graduation.
Eva:
Hey Rupinder, what does it feel like knowing
you’re graduating soon? What do you most look
forward to?
Rupinder:
To finally get four months off from not having
to study or worry about exams, and celebrate
all of my accomplishments! I’m hoping to travel
abroad with one of my best friends and perhaps
take a road trip to the East Coast with my
family. I definitely think relaxing and having new
adventures after completing my degree will be
exciting and well-deserved. What about you?
Eva:
What I look forward to the most with graduation
next year is being able to apply for a Master’s
in literary studies or creative writing. That’s why
I decided to go back to university for a second
degree. I also look forward to celebrating. It’s
been pretty intense moving to a new country,
studying in a new language and figuring out
how the university system works over here, so I
think I deserve it. After my first degree, I actually
didn’t really celebrate. My family was abroad
and I had already started a new job. There
wasn’t time for a celebration and after a while
it just seemed too late. Afterwards, I regretted
not celebrating all the hard work that went into
my degree.
Rupinder:
Yes, that’s something I don’t want to regret,
especially since I’m planning to continue on with
school in the fall. What about graduation do you
not look forward to?
Eva:
It always takes me a while to settle in and to
find my place. Although I’ll be looking forward to
what comes next, I know I will also feel stressed
about starting over with something new.
I remember before finishing my last degree, a
lot of us graduates worried about the transition
from student life to a career. In the end, it worked
out fine for everyone--even those of us who
didn’t get our dream jobs eventually discovered
new paths that we hadn’t thought about before.
I worked in the IT sector for a long time, which
was something I had never imagined doing
before, but it was good.
I think anyone who manages to handle the
stressful life of university is well equipped for
the work market, as long as you keep your mind
open and are prepared to try different things.
Rupinder:
I can totally relate to the anxieties of job hunting.
Something I am definitely not looking forward to
is hearing the question, “So, have you found a
job in your field yet?” I know one of the hardest
things after graduation is going to be trying to
find a job or path that will be suitable for me.
It causes anxiety because we don’t know what
lies ahead of us. My motto is - don’t let the fear
of trying something new get the best of you, and
instead, embrace it. That’s something I have
learned during my four years at UTSC.
Eva:
So where do you hope to be one year from
now?
Rupinder:
One year from now, I hope to be done two
semesters of my Bachelor of Education (BEd)
certification, and to have experience working
as a student teacher in a classroom. After
completing a BEd, my hopes are to go on to
doing a Masters of Education (MEd). In some
way or form, wherever I end up, I hope that I will
be able to make a difference in people’s lives.
Eva:
I can’t believe you only have a couple of more
weeks left in completing your degree Rupinder,
what do you think you’ll miss the most from
university?
Rupinder:
Definitely the people, including coworkers at
the library, friends I have made since first year,
and the professors I have been so fortunate to
have and become acquainted with. I’ll also miss
the UTSC campus, especially the valley during
the fall, and my favourite lecture hall, SY110.
And finally, all the moments: Ranting endlessly
about how badly an exam went with friends,
trying so hard to look for a place to study,
meeting people from all walks of life, walking
through the Farmer’s market on Wednesdays,
and trying new things like Dragon boating.
Eva:
I agree; the people that I’ve gotten to know
here are what I’ll miss the most. I have
enjoyed meeting a lot of smart, interesting,
and enthusiastic people––both professors and
students.
Now that you’re almost done, what advice
would you give your younger self if you could?
Rupinder:
Looking back, I see much clearer now how
most of my anxieties and stresses at university
were temporary. University can be a struggle for
finding your passion or how to make the best
choices, but regardless of that, I’ll cherish the
experiences and opportunities that I have had
at UTSC.
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

ARTS & LIFE | 18
19
| ARTS & LIFE
Represent, Represent:
The Importance of Diversity at UofT and Beyond
Marcus Medford,
Arts & Life Editor
Huda Hassan
Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo
U
of T is often touted as a beacon of
light when it comes to diversity, but
that diversity is not reflected in the
teaching staff.
When I’m not writing and editing articles for The
Underground, I work as a hospitality worker
for UTSG’s catering company, St. George
Catering. In addition to setting up the event
spaces and serving food, I spend a fair amount
of time at work observing the people attending
these events. People-watching is particularly
interesting around the end of the Fall and
Spring semesters, as many of the events I work
for are celebratory outings for faculties and
staff. Being that they’re professors employed by
the University of Toronto, they are supposedly
among the world’s brightest minds in their
respective fields, so it’s interesting observing
them congregate away from their usual habitat
of offices or lecterns. One thing I’ve noticed is
that, despite their prestige, they’re no different
than the rest of us. They make messes, they
get tipsy and cause a ruckus, they take bigger
portions than they’re supposed to— the usual.
Another thing I’ve noticed is how few of them
are black. There’s usually one or none; and if
I’m lucky, there’ll be a couple racially-ambiguous
people who might be black.
A 2012 study by the Canadian Ethnic Studies
Association revealed that visible minorities are
underrepresented in the teaching staff at 14
of 17 major universities, despite the fact that
24 percent of visible minorities have a PhD.
Huda Hassan, a PhD student in women and
gender studies at UofT, began offering help
to black women completing their grad school
applications free-of-charge to pay forward those
who had helped her when she was first applying
for her graduate degrees. Another motivation
for Hassan was seeing more black faces in the
realm of academia.
“There’s an issue of diversity in academia and
there’s definitely an issue of seeing black folk in
academia,” Hassan tells Metro News Toronto. “I
don’t think that’s a commentary on black folks.
That’s a commentary on the academy.”
The lack of diversity among U of T’s teaching
staff is not reflective of its student population.
According to a 2014 survey, nearly 60 percent
of all U of T students identify as “non-white”.
Both staff and students are aware of the lack
of diversity among the university’s faculty
members according to one professor. "I've had
numerous students tell me I'm the first female
faculty member of colour they've had here
from students who've been here for 3-4 years,"
Rachel La Touche explains. La Touche is a
sociology professor at UTSG and believes that
diversity is hugely important when it comes to
university for a variety of reasons.
Having faces that look like yours isn't the most
important issue regarding diversity, however
La Touche believes that it does matter: "For
students who are interested in pursuing higher
education but perhaps note that it doesn't seem
like a place for them because they don't see
anyone who looks like them in those institutions,"
she says. Diversity also means representing
a variety of ideas and perspectives, which is
particularly important in academia. Recall the
story of U of T English professor David Gilmour
who said he was "not interested in teaching
books by women" or "Chinese authors" because
they don't resonate with him on a personal level.
Gilmour has the right to instruct his class as he
sees fit and, while he may not identify with the
works of female or Chinese authors, students in
his class might, but these students won't have
their experiences reflected in the curriculum
because they are not reflected in the staff.
A strong sense of community is especially
important to Indigenous students, according
to Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo, director of the
First Nations House at U of T. Hamilton-Diabo
likens the FNH to a community centre where
Indigenous students can receive academic
support and advice, financial support, library
access, connect with elders and other dropin
services: "Whatever the issue is, we want
them to open up and get to know us too. And
that's a very important part of our process;
building that relationship, making sure they're
understood and that helps us respond to them,"
Hamilton-Diabo explains. A community of
support is important because "students are in
programs and sometimes they're the only ones
representing the Indigenous community so they
feel alone. It can be difficult for them to connect
with other students, the faculty or what they're
studying, but just finding students with similar
experiences can actually help" he adds.
As the city — and the world — grows increasingly
diverse, so does the importance of having equal
representation in different areas of life. The
Honorable Jean Augustine is Canada’s first
black female Member of Parliament and one
of the people responsible for getting February
recognized as Black History Month in Canada.
Augustine believes that more representation
and inclusion can lead to progress on issues
facing marginalized peoples, particularly when
it comes to people in decision-making positions.
Seeing people who are similar to you in these
positions can also be a source of inspiration
too: “If you can’t see yourself there, it becomes
harder to get there,” Augustine states.
There have been times at work where I’ve
thought that becoming a prof is an unreachable
goal. There have been times at work where
I’ve thought that I need to become a prof just
so that some black student 10-15 years from
now doesn’t have to feel the same way that I
did. Inclusion and representation give children
someone to look up to, someone like them,
someone to give them permission to have and
pursue their dreams. Role models give us goals
to reach and paths to follow, but if there isn’t a
path already outlined for you, don’t be afraid to
blaze a trail of your own.
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

ARTS & LIFE | 20
21
| ARTS & LIFE
Anya Eland,
Contributor
L
ife gets a little bit sweeter when we
care for ourselves.
Everyone has a unique and beautiful mind.
Given the diversity of mental forms, not all
symptoms of various conditions affect all minds
in the same ways, nor are the symptoms always
overt.
Some people deal with mental health issues
directly, as by experiencing depression, while
others are affected by them indirectly through
someone they know, such as a close friend or
family member. “So many people deal with it,
yet so many people feel alone when they’re in
that state of mind. Being in that place myself
— especially at such a young age — I know
that if someone were to tell me that what I was
feeling at that time was okay and that it would
eventually release its grip on me, or that a lot
of people experienced depression and anxiety,
than I would have gotten better a lot sooner
than I did,” says first-year journalism student
Sophia Lim.
It is becoming more acceptable and more
common for people in our society to have open
and honest conversations about mental health
to raise awareness, end stigma, and remind
those suffering that they're not alone. For
example, the annual Bell ‘Let’s Talk’ campaign
is an initiative to help spread awareness and
promote conversations of mental health while
raising money for mental health services. Bell’s
initiative has been the subject of lots of talk in the
years since it first launched in 2010. According
to Bell, 4-out-of-5 Canadians reported that they
became more aware of mental health issues
since the initiative started. “Society has made
it a point to spread awareness on issues such
as this and has accepted it with open arms,
creating a positive space for those who are
experiencing their own mental health journeys,”
Lim adds.
Though these types of campaigns definitely
help raise awareness, there are still a large
number of individuals who struggle to talk about
or seek help regarding their mental health issue
due to stigma. The prejudice and stereotypes
that come along with the stigma can make
people afraid and ashamed of seeking help.
Some individuals are critical of themselves
when it comes to their mental health issues,
blaming themselves for their situations, while
some claim that they don’t deserve help or that
they simply can’t be helped.
One of the stereotypes associated with
mental illness is that the people who suffer
from them are weak or are simply seeking
attention. These misconceptions aid in the
spread of stigma surrounding mental health
and contribute negatively to the lives of
people with mental health issues as well as
the general public. According to the Canadian
Mental Health Association, “Almost one half
(49%) of those who feel they have suffered
from depression or anxiety have never gone
to see a doctor about this problem.” One of
the ways we can stop the stigma surrounding
mental health is by encouraging people to
engage in honest conversations about their
own mental health and that of others: “More
open discussion about mental health will
break down barriers and harmful stigmas while
encouraging understanding,” says second-year
environmental science student, Anisha Prasad.
The words we use often contribute to the stigma
surrounding mental health. Mental health
terms are often used in ways that diminish
the seriousness of the disorders and belittle
the people who live with them. For example,
sometimes people will exaggerate mild feelings
of sadness or disappointment, likening them
to depression. Additionally, OCD (obsessive
compulsive disorder) is often used as a
punchline. Some people think the characteristics
of OCD are simply a desire for cleanliness and
perfection; for example, if something isn’t done
the way someone wants, they might say, “Oh
my OCD is acting up.” Educating ourselves and
broadening our knowledge of mental health, as
well as being understanding and empathetic
supports those struggling with mental health
issues.
Maintaining your physical health means taking
care of your body by eating well and being
active on a regular basis. The same approach
should be taken when it comes to looking after
your mental health. “If a part of your body is
physically not as it is supposed to be, then why
would you not treat your ‘internal body the same
way?” Lim remarks. “When you get a physical
wound like a cut, it’s plain as day that you are
hurt, but sometimes, when it comes to the mind,
it’s not always so clear. Especially as students,
constant stress is normal and, to an extent, it is
an expected reality, but the line between good
stress and bad stress can be hard to distinguish
… it can be so hard to see, and having good
supports who can help you to recognize and
address these things definitely helps,” says
Kathrina de Villa, president of The Mental
Health Unity Group at UTSC.
With society becoming more aware about
mental health and mental health issues, people
feel more comfortable opening up with their own
mental health stories: “Mental health is now
being introduced in schools earlier on, so kids
are exposed to the topic at a younger age. This
means it is better understood at a young age,
so when they are of age, critical conversations
about mental health can be held,” says Prasad.
“People are also more accepting of things that
in the past, that they weren’t so accepting about
before… advancements in technology [also]
play a large role. With the internet, television,
Google, people in this generation are exposed to
more information and differing perspectives and
at a much faster rate than someone who grew
up in the pre-internet era,” de Villa comments.
Talking to someone about your mental health
for the first time can be terrifying, but it’s an
essential first step to the road to recovery.
UTSC offers a number of resources on campus
to help those struggling with mental health,
including counsellors and peer-led wellness
programs. We also have The Mental Unity
Group, a campus group for students, run by
students with a passion for mental health who
want to take action. “We are different from
other mental health organizations in that we go
beyond raising awareness and advocacy. We
are for students who are aware of the stigma
and who want to learn how to respond. Our
overarching goal is to build a stronger UTSC
community, where the whole community is
unified, informed, and ready to respond,” de
Villa explains.
People have different methods of dealing with
their mental health. The important thing to
know is that you matter and your mental health
should come first: “[I give myself] a lot of selfreassurance
and talk things out with myself.
I also listen to Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday
podcasts which, although it sounds really lame,
keeps me calm. It’s like listening to positive
reaffirmations; constantly reminding myself
that I am young and that there is always time
for myself no matter what. Knowing that I come
first before all things is what keeps me sane,”
Lim explains. “To avoid becoming overwhelmed
I keep my support system close and talk to
friends and family. Writing and sketching helps
as well, ” says Prasad.
Speaking
Your Mind:
The Importance of Opening
Up About Mental Health
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

PHOTO ESSAY BY:
ALI JAVEED /
THE UNDERGROUND
social
justice
Toronto has always been a hotbed for activists and everyday citizens to practice
their freedom of assembly as listed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Here is a
collection of photographs encapsulating the last 6 months of rallies, protests, and
demonstrations in our beloved city.

Justice for Rohingya now – Die in. September 16, 2017. 4:19pm.
On a march towards Queen’s Park, a public die-in was organized to raise awareness
of the genocide of the Rohingya people by the Myanmar government.
Unity Rally. August 22, 2017. 7:12pm.
People of all ages, ethnicities, religions and genders gathered to celebrate diversity
and solidarity against hate speech. A group of drummers gave a heartbeat to the
chants that continued through the rain

Torontonians Against Fascism - Counter Protest. January 27, 2018. 2:05pm.
A number of alt-right groups had gathered in Mel Lastman Square to protest
“Islamisation of the west”. This was countered by Torontonians Against Fascism and
their allies.

Rally Against White Supremacy. November 4, 2017. 4:19pm.
Following the distribution of flyers for a white supremacy rally at Kew Beach, the
community assembled within 72hrs with music, and megaphones ready to drown
out hate. The white supremacists never showed up…I guess history hasn’t proven
them to be the most reliable people.
Idle No More. December 21, 2017. 3:37pm.
Members of the indigenous community accompanied by the community blocked
off traffic on Yonge and Dundas with ceremonial songs and a community dance.

Poets'
Corner
Make the right choices,
find your path
31
| FEATURE
Many Horrors
There’s much wrong in the world
Many horrors I see.
Thousands of peoples displaced
Tanks and casualties
A shell detonates
Turning homes into debris
Thousands of young people
Shipped overseas
By force or by nationalism
Fighting for our country
We kill each other
In order to be free.
More senseless violence
Happens in the streets
Slugs zip through the air
Another casualty.
I had a dream I was shot
For a pair of 23s
I could only bleed
On the concrete unconsciously.
In the stillness
A voice spoke to me
“Marcus, my child
Many horrors I see.
Religion vs. religion
Breeding animosity
Landfills, toxic lakes
Executed trees
The creatures I gave to you
Subjects to cruelty
Sexism, racism
Homelessness, poverty.”
A thick silence
The voice sighed heavily
“I gave you words
To speak in harmony
But look at all the harm
You’ve done to me.”
@MarsThePoet
Read the books, revise your notes, be on time.
Participate actively in class. Please come to
office hours if you have any questions. Please get
in touch ahead of time if you need an extension.
Don’t email procedural questions already
explained in class. Go through the poems and
answer the questions. Print copies for everyone.
Read the first half of the novel by Tuesday
Prepare for the quiz. Make an argument, make it
good, make it original and interesting. Be
mindful of academic integrity. Manage your
time and take care of your health. The book
is now available at the bookstore. Stay awake
during lecture and ask intelligent questions. Let
the professors know you for the right reasons.
Learn the MLA. Read the short stories and tell us
what you think about them. Memorize the years,
the names, the titles––the men, always the men,
the white men, and some of the others.
Apparently, it’s hard to find a book by a woman
from that time period.
(Hard for whom?)
Go through your text at least three times before
handing it in.
Write legibly. Write correctly.
Think correctly.
Fit in.
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The Alt-Left, Identity Politics,
and the State of Social JusticE:
Movements on University Campuses
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

FEATURE | 32 33 | FEATURE
Mirza Abu Bakr Baig,
News Editor
T
his piece is a critical reflection on the
‘Alt-Left’, Identity Politics, and the
State of Social Justice Movements on
University Campuses.
I will soon have completed my final semester
at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and
the campus has changed significantly during
my brief period here. I am not referring to formal
changes, but instead in terms of the social and
political atmosphere that has come to permeate
this institution, as well as universities in North
America more generally.
During my first two years, I was actively involved
in ‘social justice’ initiatives, be they in relation to
the rights of Palestinians, showing ‘solidarity’
for unarmed Black people extra-judicially killed
by police officers, or environmental advocacy.
To this day, my positions on these particular
issues have changed very little, however my
perception of those who participate in the
aforementioned, and other related, social
justice efforts has changed completely. When
I started off at UTSC, the tactics, rhetoric, and
mentality - as well as the mentality of my fellow
students engaging in this type of activism -
was rooted in rational principles, reasonable
demands, and genuine/well-informed outrage
against societal injustices. I believe this type of
activism is disappearing, and during my time at
UTSC, especially during my latter years, this
reasonable advocacy mutated into the spectre
of irrational, impractical, and bitter identity
politics.
Social justice campaigns, once rooted in
respectable incentives, have been poisoned
by the paralyzing, fundamentally irrational toxin
that is identity politics. This identity politics
has simplified reality for those who adopt this
pernicious mentality. One no longer needs to
understand the nuances and complexities of
human existence. All analysis is truncated to the
level of race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion
affiliation, or other arbitrary pre-determined
physical and/or personal characteristics. This
type of reductionism has arguably done more
to destroy the collective psychology of younger
generations than any other ideological traps
perpetuated by centers of power, institutions of
oppression, or systems of injustice.
Within the echo-chamber that is identity politics,
arbitrary predetermined characteristics are used
to render whole groups of people guilty, culpable,
or evil. Conversely, arbitrary predetermined
characteristics are also used to render whole
groups of people infallible and beyond critique;
with varying degrees of infallibility depending on
which side of the spectrum of oppression they
fall under and how deep a position they occupy
within it. Categorical judgements can therefore
be made through this arbitrary criterion if one
finds their metaphysical recourse in the ‘radical’
epistemologies of ‘critical theory’ and identity
politics.
The implications of such a worldview are selfevident.
If you are white, a man, heterosexual,
or hold other attributes that are common
amongst the ‘dominant’ class of society, certain
assumptions can be made about you in terms
of how complicit you are in the evils of the world
and what right you have to speak for yourself
and express your own opinions. On the other
hand, if you are a coloured person, a woman,
non-cisgendered, or fall under other ‘nontraditional’
classifications, you automatically
have the ethical high ground, all of the moral
ammunition to attack those who may hold even
slightly different viewpoints than you, and the
self-righteousness to guarantee the intellectual
self-destruction of social justice movements
that were once founded in the noble objectives
of justice and equality.
This is not to say that women are not subjected
to inequality and different standards, that
people of colour do not continue to suffer from
prejudice or racism, or that ethnic, sexual, or
other minorities do not face unique and unfair
challenges in society. They indisputably do.
The issue is that identity politics has shifted
the means and motivations of these ‘activists’.
A few examples should suffice for the lucky
individuals who have not yet been exposed to
the delusional narratives of the alt-left.
The former VP Equity of the Scarborough
Campus Students Union, Yusra Khogali, made
national headlines when she asserted that
Justin Trudeau, on top of being a liar and a
hypocrite, is a “white supremacist terrorist” at an
anti-Islamophobia rally in Toronto in early 2017.
This was after Trump had attempted to pass
the first iteration of his ‘Muslim Ban’. Trudeau,
in response to Trump’s executive order,
had tweeted “To those fleeing persecution,
terror & war, Canadians will welcome you,
regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength
#WelcomeToCanada”. Khogali was apparently
speaking in defense of Muslims. As a Muslim, I
completely disavow her machinations.
You do not have to agree with everything
Trudeau stands for, but he is infinitely more
reasonable and humane than Trump and many
other leaders in the world. He is patently against
the unfair demonization of Islam and the rapidly
growing hatred of Muslims. It is a sign of a
democratic society to relentlessly question and
critique those in power; that must always be
encouraged and is at the essence of producing
a responsible citizenry. However, slandering
them with ludicrous accusations such as the
one levelled against Trudeau does little more for
the accuser than exposing their own ignorance.
We should be careful because Trudeau, for all
his alleged faults, could easily be replaced with
someone who holds little patience for the plight
of ‘marginalized’ peoples. I am not naïve enough
to believe that his policies are necessarily
reflective of his words in any significant capacity,
but rhetoric and discourse still matter. If you do
not see the difference between a genuine “white
supremacist terrorist” and Trudeau, you are a
living tragedy.
This is scratching the surface. In a Facebook
post that could almost be mistaken for satire,
Khogali wrote:
Whiteness is not humxness
infact, white skin is sub-humxn
all phenotypes exist within the black family
and white ppl are a genetic defect of blackness
and
white ppl are recessive genetic defects. this is
factual.
white ppl need white supremacy as a
mechanism to protect
their survival as a people because all they can
do is
produce themselves. black ppl simply through
their dominant genes can literally wipe out the
white race if
we had the power to
Keep in mind that she has a large following
and is at the head of BLM (Black Lives Matter)
Toronto.
Bret Weinstein, a biology professor at Evergreen
State College in Olympia, Washington State,
who supported Occupy Wall Street and is
a self-identified progressive, went viral for
being vilified and condemned by students at
his college in June 2017. He disagreed with
a decision by certain student activists who
wanted to racially segregate the campus for a
day. It was demanded that “white students, staff
and faculty will be invited to leave campus for
the day’s activities,” and that students of colour
needed this as they felt unwelcome on campus
following the election of Donald Trump. Videos
of the protests that ensued in response to
Weinstein’s conscientious dissent are difficult to
watch. They are filled with embarrassing, cringeworthy
categorical statements that denigrate
white people. There were chants of “these racist
teachers have got to go,” and “whiteness is the
most violent system to ever breathe,” amongst
many other things. Disagreeing with a racist
policy does not make you a racist. You cannot
just toss unsubstantiated accusations like that
around and expect to maintain any semblance
of credibility, be it against Trudeau, Weinstein,
or tenured psychology U of T professors who,
although initially moderate and reasonable,
have been pushed away to the far-right by the
‘alt-left’ and their antics.
These antics include melodramatic statements
such as, “All men are trash/rapists,” or
the notion that all white people today are
responsible for historical crimes committed by
their ancestors at some point in history. If you
defend men, you are defending the patriarchy.
If you defend white people, you are protecting
the white supremacist super-structure. If you
critique communism, you are in support of the
capitalist mega-machine. In the discourse of
identity politics, there are always abstractions
within which to find recourse when you cannot
prove your points through logical inquiry/
exposition. There are set, predetermined
answers and responses for everything. Identity
politics makes the world simple and easy
to understand. It becomes black-and-white
(literally), like a Hollywood movie. Confirmation
bias is everywhere; anything can be interpreted
as offensive, racist, sexist, misogynistic, etc.
You must always be careful so as not to engage
in “micro-aggressions”, “mansplaining”, or
displaying “white tears”.
There is an argument tossed around that it is
impossible to be racist towards white people.
This is because racism results from prejudice
plus power. You can be prejudiced towards
white people, but never racist. This exemplifies
the infantile, idiotic logic of many on the altleft.
Many people believe this argument
unquestioningly. If you can never be racist
against white people, because racism is
prejudice plus power, then does that negate
the instances in which non-white people hold
positions of relative power in society and exercise
it in a manner that excludes or disempowers
white people because of their race? Do all white
people objectively benefit from the current world
order? If so, should there not be homeless white
people or disenfranchised white working-class
people? Many white people voted for Trump
because they have been betrayed by the
Liberal establishment for decades without end,
be it under the Clintons or Obama - who were
completely subservient to corporate power
and passed policies that benefited the rich and
harmed the poor. If you are willing to grant that
there are instances in society in which a white
person is put at a disadvantage, even by their
fellow white people, because of their race,
then this whole prejudice plus power argument
falls apart. If you completely deny that such
circumstances ever arise then that that speaks
more to your own lack of understanding of how
the world works than any grand trans-historical
racial conspiracies. You can definitely be racist
toward white people.
There is a term for people who engage in these
types of pseudo-social justice initiatives, one
that is popular on internet forums and amongst
the alt-right/conservatives: ‘social justice
warrior’ (SJW). It is one of the many tragedies of
the left that social justice can, in the year 2018,
be so easily ridiculed. Its reputation has been
seriously tainted, perhaps permanently.
It should not need to be said, but those types of
categorical judgements do not in any way reflect
reality. It does not matter if these alt-leftists do not
“literally” mean every white person or man, as
many claim. Making categorical statements like
that, then creating excuses when your fallacies
are exposed, is a weak tool both intellectually
and pragmatically. Here are two examples of
altruistic human beings that pseudo/alt-leftists
would have difficulty explaining.
Rachel Corrie was a 23-year old American
peace activist who stood in front of an Israeli
bulldozer in a nonviolent protest against the
illegal Israeli demolition of a Palestinian home.
She was run-over and killed. An American born
white woman, in her moral indignation against
Israeli occupation, war crimes, apartheid,
colonization, and ethnic cleansing, travelled to
a foreign land to defend a people that were not
her own and was killed for it. Her family’s lawsuit
failed, and the Israel Defense Forces were,
unsurprisingly, not reprimanded in any way for
her murder. Her family has yet to receive any
semblance of justice for what happened to their
daughter. She was born and raised in Olympia,
Washington, and attended Evergreen State
College. Had she still been alive and attending
Evergreen State College today, she would have
been asked to stay away from campus on the
day of white exclusion.
Thomas Paine was an American revolutionary
famous for his Enlightenment ideals and his
influential pamphlet Common Sense. He
was a dedicated abolitionist. Despite being a
pivotal figure in the American revolution - and
it is arguable that the revolution would have
failed without Paine’s political and ethical
works - he spent much of his life either being
betrayed by his contemporaries or in prison.
Paine was heavily critical of figures like George
Washington for their defense of chattel slavery
and their general moral hypocrisy. It is popularly
speculated that Washington conspired with
Maximilien Robespierre – the infamous hero
of the French Revolution and eventual tyrant
of the Reign of Terror – to imprison Paine
during his time in France. He narrowly escaped
execution for denouncing the tyranny of the
Jacobins during the French post-revolutionary
period. Paine’s moral convictions, be they
against slavery or abuses of power by the rich
and affluent in society, speak to his venerable
character. He remained a champion of working
class peoples his entire life. However, due to his
radical nature in an increasingly conservative
America, he become a pariah for speaking truth
to power. The greatest American revolutionary
to ever live, and one of the most influential
figures of the Enlightenment, would go on to die
“largely unforgotten, a pauper in New York City”
(Hedges 2014). His funeral was attended by six
people, two of whom were black.
The fact that examples need to be given to
remind people that moral excellence is not
unique to any particular race or gender points
to the regression in the current discourse. This
should be common sense.
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018 VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

FEATURE | 34 35 | FEATURE
Was there ever any doubt, when universities
become the bastions of social justice activism,
that the intentions of such students were
sincere? That their outrage and indignation
against the world as it is was legitimate and real,
without ulterior motivations or childish inhibitions
plaguing their activism? When George Bush
Jr., in his lust for oil and imperial control of the
Middle East, first become responsible for the
deaths of a hundred-thousand innocent Iraqis
through an illegal war, when African-Americans
continued to be extra-judicially executed at
the hands of cowardly police offers, when
Palestinians continued to live under apartheid
and ethnic cleansing, and when indigenous
peoples continued to suffer from systematic
injustices and a legacy of dispossession, would
any semi-educated person with a decent moral
upbringing have questioned the cause of social
justice, so long as it remained grounded in
reality? This transformation of social justice
movements did not occur coincidentally or in a
vacuum. There are philosophical assumptions
at the root of ‘critical theories’ and identity
politics, and they are important to understand.
The Philosophical
Assumptions at
the Core of Leftist
Identity Politics and
the Alt-Left
Critical theory is a philosophical approach that
seeks to apply a critical lens in examinations/
studies of society, culture, civilization,
institutions and mechanisms of power, and
so on. Spawning forth from critical theories,
especially toward the end of the twentieth
century, were more specific epistemologies
(theories of knowledge) that sought to apply the
critical theory framework through the filters of
race, gender, ethnicity, or other persona-based
qualities. It aims to be reflective and scrutinizing
of existing societal ideologies, structural
configurations, and general assumptions. It
is based on deconstruction, especially on a
discursive level. It is extremely valuable as a
tool for understanding the context in which one
lives, as well as the specific institutions that
produce inequalities or injustices. No one can
deny that these perspectives have great utility.
Many of the founders of these epistemologies,
such as Michel Foucault, Frantz Fanon,
Edward Said, or Antonio Gramsci, are amongst
the most penetrating and insightful thinkers
in recent history. They were instrumental in
spawning academic critiques that elucidated
the suffering of much of the world at the
hands of an industrialized, Western political
elite throughout recent centuries and into the
modern era. Unfortunately, the people that
have inherited their philosophies over time are
not even fractionally as reputable or intelligent.
They have taken otherwise sound, practical
societal critiques to their absurd extremes.
These radical ideologies were mixed into the
cauldron of postmodernism and Marxism;
the former being one of the most backward
philosophies to ever gain legitimacy in
intellectual circles, and the latter being possibly
the most attractive metaphysical approach for
young people still developing their view of the
world.
Postmodernism is a complicated,
comprehensive philosophical system that can
be characterized by skepticism, subjectivism,
relativism, a questioning of prevailing hegemonic
assumptions and institutions in society, and
a rejection of Enlightenment ideals such as
reason. Ideology is seen as an instrument
of power. Postmodernism is associated with
movements such as post-structuralism and
post-materialism. It posits that there are
no objective knowledge claims and value
hierarchies. Instead, everything is relative and
socially constructed. All aspects of reality, even
science itself, can be deconstructed to socially
constructed phenomena specific to certain
modes of thinking, lifestyles, societal norms, or
individual perceptions of the world. There is no
objective morality or normative consistency to
postmodernism. It can justify anything because
it does not follow any rational standards itself: it
rejects reason. Roger Martin Du Gard captures
this sentiment when he writes in Les Thibaults:
“Everything has got to be smashed to start
with. Our whole damned civilization has got to
go, before we can bring any decency into the
world.”
On the other hand, Marxism is grounded in a
logical mode of thinking, historical materialism,
that puts material needs at the forefront of
human existence on Earth and explains the
consequent structuring of society as shaped
by the need to fulfill these historical needs (the
modes of production). Without getting too into
the details, Karl Marx’s immortal statement that
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the
history of class struggles” established the basis
for conflict theory, which claims that society is in
a state of perpetual conflict due to competition
for limited resources. Social order is maintained
by domination and power, and the wealthy
and powerful maintain their supremacy by any
means necessary, especially the suppression
of the poor and powerless. Marxist dialectics
outline specific stages of history which evolve
in a progressive manner and culminate in the
working-class revolution against the capitalist
bourgeoisie, at which point all class is abolished
through the removal of private property. A
communist society is subsequently established,
in which the public owns the means of
production.
Marx’s genius cannot be denied, both as an
economist and a philosopher of modernity. His
critiques of capitalism are the most incisive and
prescient of anyone in history, and his insights
continue to yield value well after his death.
However, his political prescriptions, which are
not completely divorced from his economic
analysis, are fantasies. Hierarchies will always
exist in the world, for better or worse. Even
if the hypothetical communist society were
to arrive and everyone achieved absolute
equality temporarily, eventually power would
be consolidated by the few all over again.
Aside from its abstract speculations, political
Marxism has failed tremendously throughout
the twentieth century, with literally tens of
millions of people perishing in the Soviet Union,
Communist China, and other Marxist states
along the way. This is what happens when
utopian visions meet reality. It is a lesson for the
alt-left to think deeper about the all the problems
they believe they have a solution for.
These three forces – critical theory,
postmodernism, and Marxism (and its related
Conflict Theory) – comprise the ideological
formula behind extreme identity politics and
the new Alt-Left. It is a destructive combination.
It is unceasingly skeptical of established
knowledge, unapologetically belligerent against
those it deems the enemy, and philosophically
incoherent as a matter of principle. Under this
postmodernist approach, ‘activists’ engaging
in identity politicking can justify to themselves
statements such as, “You don’t understand my
personal reality and lived experience, therefore
you can’t tell me anything and everything I do
is justified.” I have heard this line of thought
countless times. Everything is reduced to being
a social construct. Nothing is objectively true,
therefore, there is no point trying to use rational
argumentation. They can use nebulous terms
like ‘whiteness’ or ‘white privilege’ to broadly
paint anyone who can be identified with white
skin under the same brush. One can learn the
general gist of these epistemologies in a very
short period of time. Why else do university
students pick up on it so quickly? Did the equity
and anti-oppression workshops suddenly
elevate these individuals with transcendent
wisdom and supreme moral authority? Is it
because we, young people, have been imbued
with a unique generational consciousness that
makes us more morally upright than any of
our ancestors, or do we enjoy occupying the
moral high-ground, not having to ever be selfcritical
and, instead, taking the easy route of
externalizing evil to the outside world?
If everything is predetermined by race, gender,
sexuality, ethnicity, religion, etc., then why
bother debating at all? How can people be
accountable or morally at fault if their evils were
predetermined? White “allies” can capitulate
to all of the demands of postmodern critical
theorist activists, and they will still never be
good enough. I have witnessed this type of
bitterness personally. It is frustrating to see the
way in which my white friends both on and off
campus do not know how to respond to the
hateful rhetoric that paints them as villains and
degenerates. When you are in your mother’s
womb, you do not choose what your arbitrary
physical characteristics will be. You should
never be condemned for it. Identity politics
unconsciously, or perhaps willingly, attempts
to erase free will and individual agency in the
grand scheme of fighting externalized evils.
Many of these social justice movements started
by minorities were about not being judged.
Minorities were tired of being unable to conform
or fit into societal standards, and sought a
judgement-free atmosphere. They tragically
fell into the trap of now being the judgementpassers
as a matter of policy. Evil in the world
is not an issue of race, it is an issue of power,
and admittedly one race happens to have the
overwhelming majority of power due to the
unravelling of history. People in power, not
people who have a certain skin colour, should
be the target of social and political justice. Alt-left
identity politics creates a Manichean worldview
that traps its adherents into forgetting that both
good and evil exist within everyone. Attempts to
explain reality by attaching all the great evils of
the world to a specific group of people erases
this concrete law of life.
The aim of building utopia on Earth is a deadend,
as this world will never be paradise
and there will always, to some extent, be
inequality, struggle, and suffering. This is an
inextinguishable component in the equation
of life on Earth. Modern identity politics,
social justice movements, and the alt-left
almost always self-identify under a branch of
Marxism, communism, or anarchism. Their
goal is the removal of all suffering, which they
view as equivalent to dismantling the “white
cisgendered hetero-patriarchal system.” Their
goal is unattainable, as hierarchy will, no matter
what, always exist to a degree. This does
not justify oppression or injustice; it is simply
stating a fact. It is better to work around such
parameters and produce the most egalitarian
society that is possible, as opposed to naively
engaging in utopian thinking.
Self-Reflection as
the Highest Virtue
What exactly have young people such as
ourselves done to become angels? Did we go
through purgatory while in the womb, emerging
as infallible saints that must make moralizing
judgements about everything and everyone,
never having the maturity to self-reflect and
be critical about one’s own role in the grand
scheme of injustices? One of the reasons we
respect our elders – which is sadly less and
less the case nowadays – is because they
have lived much longer and by extension
have been through more and have greater
wisdoms to offer. I am extremely skeptical that
undergraduate students have the world figured
out the way we believe we do.
There are real white supremacists out there, and
what is going on in university campuses have
already empowered them greatly. YouTube
personalities and internet bloggers who are
genuinely racist, bigoted, sexist, Islamophobic,
etc., have made livings out of bashing ‘social
justice warriors’. They have appropriated the
principles of reason and rationality that once
characterized the left. The anger of white
people tired of being constantly bashed is
legitimate, and people who would formerly have
been sympathetic to social justice causes have
been pushed away. There will be serious longterm
consequences for all of this.
Young people have to make a habit of being
self-reflective and self-critical, and drop all of
the bitterness. The first noble truth of Buddhism
is that the world is suffering. It is inevitable.
The goal of fighting injustice is to minimize
this suffering as much as possible. As cliché
as it sounds, along the path it is easy for good
intentioned people to become self-righteous
and become as wicked as the groups/systems/
injustices they want to dismantle.
This is the tragedy of the Left on university
campuses.
“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018 VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

SCIENCE & TECH | 36
37
| SCIENCE & TECH
SHANNON CHIN /
THE UNDERGROUND
Science of Sexuality
Ali Javeed,
Science & Tech Editor
H
omosexuality is not simply a lifestyle
choice: it is in your DNA. New
research suggests that two genes may
influence the development of homosexuality in
males.
In North America, heterosexuality (attraction
to the opposite sex) is the norm. This has
been perpetuated in the education system
through textbooks, the media--by featuring
predominately male-female romantic
relationships, and laws that prohibit the marriage
of same-sex couples. These are only a few
examples, but they have led to homosexuality
(attraction to the same sex) being viewed as
“unnatural” or immoral by some.
A new study published in the peer-reviewed
Nature Research Journal: Scientific Reports by
11 authors and 12 collaborators (which will be
referred to as Sanders et al.) from universities
across the United States found that individual
genes have been pinpointed that may impact
how sexual orientation develops in males, both
in the womb and after they’re born.
According to Planned Parenthood, sexual
orientation is “who you’re attracted to and
want to have relationships with.” If you are
attracted to the same gender as you, you are
homosexual, if you are attracted to both genders
you are bisexual, and if you are attracted to the
opposite gender, you are heterosexual. It is also
important to note that sexual orientation takes
places on a continuum; meaning that these
three identities are not necessarily rigid. Two
people may both identify as heterosexual, while
one may be slightly less attracted to men than
the other, but still be considered heterosexual
rather than bisexual. This would mean that
they’re closer to one side of the spectrum than
the other. Individuals may shift or fluctuate in
how attracted they are to one sexual orientation
throughout their lifetime.
Heterosexual Homosexual
Note: There are also sexualities that do not fit
on this continuum such as:
Pansexual: Someone attracted to all genders
including trans, bi, intersex and others.
Asexual: Someone who does not experience
any sexual attraction.
Queer: Someone who doesn’t identify with
traditional sexuality norms.
Let’s talk about the science of it. DNA (Deoxyribo-
Nucleic Acid) contains genetic instructions for
the development and function of organisms.
DNA itself is made up of smaller building blocks
called nucleotides. There are 4 types: Adenine,
Thymine, Cytosine, and Guanine.
A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP)
is a variation in DNA that may influence an
individual’s inheritance of certain characteristics.
The study by Sanders et al. analyzed 1077
homosexual and 1231 heterosexual men’s
genomes (every single nucleotide pair in their
bodies) and compared the two to find singleletter
variations in their DNA sequences. The
researchers identified two genes that may
impact a man’s sexual orientation.
SLITRK6
In previous research by Simon LeVay (1991),
it was found that the hypothalamus - part of
the brain responsible for the production of
essential hormones - differed in size between
homosexual and heterosexual men. The
gene SLITRK6, was found to be active in the
brain of male mice foetuses a few days after
they’re born. This is significant, as humans
and mice have a genetic similarity of 97.5% -
also why scientists commonly experiment on
mice. Levay’s work also explains that this is
an important time for sexual differentiation in
the brain, so this might create a possible link
between biology and sexual orientation.
TSHR
This gene is present in the brain as part of an
important process that stimulates the thyroid
(the thyroid produces hormones that regulate
metabolic rate). In short, the gene helps to
control thyroid function. According to the
study by Sanders et al., the TSHR function is
disturbed by a genetic condition called Grave’s
disease which causes the thyroid gland to
“become overactive, accelerating metabolism
and leading to weight-loss.” Data from the
Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen found
that Grave’s disease was more common in
homosexual than heterosexual men, which
is complimented by an article from the
Preventative Medicine Journal, which suggests
that homosexual men tend to be more thin – this
may be as a result of an overactive thyroid. This
relates back to sexual orientation as this genetic
variation (TSHR) that seems to be present in
homosexual men – regulates the thyroid, and
the disruption of the thyroid’s function from
Grave’s disease is also found more commonly
in homosexual men.
With all of this being said, not all homosexual
men have this variant in their genes. The study
also acknowledges that there are multiple
genes, each with a low effect that cumulates
to produce homosexuality. The study also
acknowledges that there will be men who have
multiple variations that may increase their
chances of being homosexual – but won’t be.
Any minor variance in our genetic sequencing
that may form in the womb can have a large
impact after the person grows. This is seen
through differences in our eye and hair colour
and, as mentioned above, homosexuality
is just a product of one of these variations.
Homosexuality is not a lifestyle choice. It is not
about “finding the right one”. It’s completely
natural and, as suggested by research, it is
written in the DNA of an individual to make
up who they are as a person. It is simply a
collection of genetic variations that don’t impede
or provide a disadvantage – just influence who
an individual is attracted to.
There is no reason to judge someone based on
such a small genetic difference. Imagine being
discriminated upon based on something as
arbitrary as your head shape!
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018 VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

SCIENCE & TECH | 38
39
| SCIENCE & TECH
Jayra Almanzor,
Contributor
I
nform yourself by watching out for
those who are trying to misinform. Be
confident when you call out ‘Fake News!’
after reading this article.
Scientists unlocked the gateway to hell by
drilling a hole 14.4 kilometres deep in Siberia.
The temperature in the hole reached 2,000 ℃
and emitted what seemed to be millions of souls
screaming in agony. The scientists on-site, who
fled with nothing but their lives, have not been
the same since. The lucky ones who made it out
of the psychiatric ward ended up converting to
Christianity.
As a naïve kid, I genuinely believed this
disturbing story and even shared it with my
friends. It wasn’t until several years later that
I found out that the real-sounding screams I
heard in that YouTube video in 2006 weren’t
mistakes in the past may also be in the same
dangerous position, as they are now unable to
escape fake news that may continuously target
them, thus posing a challenge for people who
want to distinguish the real from the fake.
“It’s easy to believe in things that seem to be
unfavourable to the political agenda we disagree
with,” says first-year journalism student Jazz
Wong. “In that way, it really affects how we
conduct… political discourse within our school.
If we were to receive false information… about
this world, it really influences our future actions
on the things and people around us.”
The real problem with fake news is that it is
often difficult to differentiate from real news.
Because of economic incentives and the ability
of social media to spread information quickly,
fake news writers have been pumping out hoax
after hoax, from the Pope endorsing Trump to
conspiracy theories that Obama was an Israeli
spy. Coupled with the increasing prevalence
of digitally altered images and fake social
media accounts, when it comes to fake news,
the phrase, “seeing is believing” is no longer
accurate. Therefore, it is important to develop
our digital literacies to improve our fake news
sensors.
HOW TO SPOT A FAKE NEWS ARTICLE:
When looking at an article, first, check the
domain name. If it looks odd or if it ends in
something like “.com.co,” it is most likely fake
news. Normally, websites ending in “.org” or
“.gov” are reputable. However, other measures
also have to be taken into account. For example,
looking at the author’s past publications and
listed sources are ways to check the paper’s
credibility. Check the website’s “About” page;
is it simply a satirical website like The Onion
or The Beaverton? Equally important is to
verify suspicious websites, either through fact
checkers such as FactCheck.org or Snopes,
or by reading multiple news sources to see if
they are reporting the same details. Of course,
proper grammar and punctuation are also
something to consider when fake news hunting.
The fake news business is a lucrative one; that
is why there is so much of it. We must be vigilant
not only to protect ourselves and informed
discourse, but also society and the free press
that is supposed to carry and nurture it. That
is why, as U of T students, it is our collective
responsibility to set a good example and
become role models for other citizens and other
nations.
Fake News Blues:
How to find it
real. The story, dubbed the “Well to Hell,” is just
a hoax, a religious propaganda. Fake news.
If an individual sees the headline, “McDonald’s
French Fries May Contain Cure for Baldness,”
on the The Onion without knowing that it is one
of the most popular satire news sites on the
Internet, it may lead someone to assume that
the article is “fake news”.
What qualifies something as fake news is
its intention to proliferate and intentionally
deceive readers for political, religious, or
financial gain. That means publications such
as The Onion, which make their satirical nature
clear to their readers and are therefore void of
any hidden agendas, cannot be considered
fake news.
Although fake news has been around since
ancient times one of the most famous examples
comes from the sixth century. Byzantine
historian Procopius of Caesarea knowingly
included false information in the records
of Emperor Justinian in order to tarnish his
reputation. In contemporary time, the phrase
fake news became viral in 2017 after Trump
replied, “You’re fake news” to CNN reporter
Jim Acosta after the reporter asked Trump a
question following an event at the White House.
After that, a surge of people started using
the term, albeit often incorrectly. In fact, even
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has joined
the bandwagon, accusing news outlet Rappler
of “fake news.” The reason? For publishing
unfavourable – but true – news about him, which
ranged from his illegal drug campaign that killed
thousands without habeas corpus, to his trash
talk aimed toward figures such as former U.S.
President Barack Obama. The news Rappler
covered, such as Duterte’s drug controversy,
was also covered by other news outlets such as
The New York Times.
A recent case of political fake news from
January 2018, through a story that current
First Lady Melania Trump had allegedly copied
Michelle Obama’s 2016 Martin Luther King
(MLK) Day message for her own. This fake
news story gained inspiration from Melania’s
2016 controversy where she did in fact deliver a
speech at the Republican National Convention
(RNC) that was suspiciously similar to a
speech Michelle gave. Fake news stories that
are being published now, continuously target
Melania, accusing her of plagiarism most likely
driven with the possible intent of smearing
the Republican Party’s reputation. If anything,
Melania’s mistake in 2016 makes it easier to
believe later fake news stories that undermine
her credibility. Other politicians who have made
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018 VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

SCIENCE & TECH | 40
41
| SCIENCE & TECH
Tech & Accountability
Robin Jacob,
Contributor
Cameras on phones have given normal
people who see injustice a way of
reporting to the world, but with great
power comes great responsibility.
In decades past, reporting the news was left
to corporate outlets with professional anchors
and journalists. It was up to the big budget
corporations to provide pictures, videos, and
inform a family huddled around a television what
was going on in the world. Fast forward to 2018,
now anyone with a phone and a social media
account can be the source of today’s most
up to date and relevant breaking news. The
potential is truly limitless due to the continuous
improvement of phone cameras and video
technologies. In a society where individuals
are constantly fighting to be the first or fastest
at everything, it is these same smart devices
that give us unrestricted and raw first-person
accounts of how events take place. Our tech
today leaves us, and those around us, more
accountable than ever before, proving time and
again that they can be used for so much more
than updating Snapchat stories and scrolling
through Facebook quizzes.
News doesn’t wait for the media to come
and report it; breaking news just happens.
Unfortunately, this includes acts of both justice
and injustice. Although they enforce the legal
system, police officers are not above the law
and should be held to the same standard as
normal citizens. This brings me to a sad but all
too common story: police brutality.
According to the Law Dictionary, police brutality
is defined as “excessive and/or unnecessary
force by police when dealing with civilians.”
This means crossing the line between force and
violence. It is through the technology in your
pockets - smartphones - that average citizens
are able to hold police accountable for such
actions of brutality.
Since February, the family of Pierre Coriolan
has been suing the Montreal police department
for his death last summer. They lost the
58-year-old male to cardiac arrest in hospital
after he had experienced excessive violence
at the hands of police. The family is suing the
Montreal Police Department with their case
based around video evidence captured by a
neighbour’s smartphone.
The video shows four officers in a hallway
with Coriolan, who was then shot with plastic
bullets and a stun gun. He fell to his knees,
grabbed his chest, and said “I can’t.” Instead
of approaching him, the officers shot two more
rounds and Coriolan fell flat on the ground.
While on the ground, the video caught an officer
beating Coriolan with a baton. He was rushed
to hospital with cardiac arrest where he died as
a result of his injuries. It’s stories like these that
prove how vital smart phones can be in cases
in which human rights are being broken, such
as the right to be subdued by police officers in a
safe manner. If it wasn’t for Pierre’s neighbour,
the family would not have had evidence to file
a case against the department or find out what
caused Pierre to have a heart attack.
Stories similar to Pierre’s are all too common
in the media. Daniel Shaver, a 26-year-old
pest-control worker from Arizona, had his
death captured by body camera footage from
the officer that killed him. Shaver had a pellet
gun for work which he pointed out the window
in order to show his friends it’s scope; this was
seen and reported. After authorities arrived, the
(now public) footage shows Shaver being told to
put his hands up, and crawl towards the officer
(conflicting instructions) all while Shaver begs
“please don’t shoot.” As Shaver reaches for
his waistband, officer Philip Brailsford thought
he was reaching for the gun and shot him 5
times with an AK-15 rifle. The investigation
reported that Shaver was unarmed. The officer
was charged with second-degree murder and
was fired from the police department, but was
acquitted of charges at the end of the 6-week
trial.
Body cameras are another piece of technology
that can be used by police departments to hold
their officers accountable. In this case, although
Shaver was unarmed, the action of reaching
for his waistband looked like a clear threat,
especially after the reports the police received;
this can be seen in the video. Some critics of the
trial’s decision may claim that Shaver reached
for his waistband to lift up his sagging pants as
he was crawling - a natural instinct for most -
and didn’t deserve to be shot. Although no
speculation can bring Shaver back, it’s with the
help of technology that we are able to discuss
such a situation.
Our technology can help bring justice to
those who are in need. It can also be used to
advocate for social change in areas that are not
highlighted as much as they should be. Stories
like seven-year-old Zainab; a Pakistani girl who
was kidnapped, raped, murdered, and found
in a dumpster. The story broke just days into
the new year, captivating the world’s attention,
sparking the hashtag #Justice4Zainab. Nobel
prize winner Malala Yousafzai tweeted, “It has
to stop,” speaking about the injustice faced by
women in Pakistan who are being abused and
mistreated with no one to hold accountable.
Zainab’s murderer was eventually found, put
on trial, and sentenced to death in compliance
with state laws. It is with the help of technology
that the world held the Pakistani legal system
accountable to do their jobs by making the case
so high-profile.
Health studies student Naomi Park, comments
on what it means to be accountable with our
technology. She acknowledges the fact that
technology does have the potential to bring out
the truth when it is being hidden: “It is good to
take videos if you do have a phone because
people can lie if they are guilty of something.”
That being said, she raises another crucial point;
we, as consumers of media, must be skeptical
of the videos and images we see online. It is so
easy to edit something or publish a “simulated”
scenario to support a hidden agenda. We, as
citizens, should not take everything at face
value. The downside to anyone being able to
post anything means some “fake news” can
find its way to our TVs and timelines. That
just leaves a greater responsibility on us as
consumers to be more aware and to make sure
we verify the sources of things we see online
and not just accept it blindly.
Cameras on phones have given normal people
who see injustice a way of reporting to the world.
But with great power comes great responsibility.
Most people our age see our media platforms
and technology as outlets or pastimes used to
connect us to one another. The truth is, they are
more powerful than we realize. It is with these
same pieces of technology that us, as students
and young people, can truly change the world. It
is up to us to speak up and be heard. If we don’t
hold others accountable, who will?
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07
www. the-underground.ca MARCH 2018
VOLUME 37, ISSUE 07

ASK UG | 42
Christianity & Social Justice:
Can They Get Along?
"R
eligion and social justice. Two words
that often don’t go together, but in
all reality, one comes from the other.
Religion laid foundations for social justice, such
as Christianity’s emphasis on forgiving, helping
the poor, forgiving the sinners and accepting
them, etc. I personally believe that the two go
hand-in-hand.
Now, a little background on me. I grew up in
a predominant Christian household and still
practice Anglicanism to this day, so you would
imagine that I’m just a boring old rich white kid
from midtown Toronto who doesn’t care much
for left-wing politics or social justice for that
matter, but no, it’s the opposite.
I personally find that the teachings of Jesus
and other religions are deeply embedded into
the ideas and practices behind social justice.
Growing up, my father always told me to be
kind and passionate towards other people, no
matter who they are--no matter their ethnicity,
religion, or sexual orientation. Every human
being deserves to be treated equally and with
decency and respect. That’s what I learned
from my father. My mother, a fundraiser who
constantly worked with less fortunate people,
taught me to be compassionate and caring
towards others.
Through my faith as a Christian, I have become
very passionate about social justice, but I’m
nothing like my counterparts in the South with
their *alleged* Bible thumping, gun toting,
extremely bigoted, homophobic and racist
ways. No, in fact, I’m a registered Liberal, and
I go out every Tuesday to volunteer with the
Liberal party in downtown Toronto.
Despite that Christianity and politics are
displayed in the media as being so infused
with far-right, I find that Christianity itself is
very radical and progressive. But 2000 years
ago, the words of Jesus and the Bible were
incredibly radical to the Jewish leaders and
other believers of Judaism at the time. The
idea that you had a loving God that intervened
on your behalf daily and sent His only Son to
die on the cross so that we could be forgiven
for our sins even when we don’t deserve to be
was absolutely earth-shattering. Compared
to the Jewish order in place at the time, Jesus
was very leftist and progressive; also, the fact
that Jesus would sit down with sinners, break
bread with them, forgive them for what they did,
and just love and accept them resonates with
many today. The emphasis He put on helping
the poor and treating others different than you
with respect, love, and kindness have heavily
influenced my political views and personal
beliefs. In fact, I feel like it’s justified them.
Religion, I believe, still holds a place in
society, regardless of what it is, as it provides
moral stance for social justice. Besides,
having something spiritual in your life is good,
regardless whether or not you believe in all of
it.”
~Andy St.John
Do you want to contribute to
THE
UNDERGROUND
Come to our contributor’s meetings and help us shape our
next issue. You can contribute online or in print to our
news, arts and life, science and tech, and sports and
wellness section with your pitches or ideas and get first
pick if you choose to write an article!
Meetings are once a month on Wednesday from 5 PM- 6
PM in The Underground office (SL-234).
Other UTSC Thoughts on Social Justice
Do you think social justice collides with
religions?
No, because as a Christian, I believe it is the
right thing to be just, to be kind, and to be
humble. I also believe that real religion is that
which consists of visiting the fatherless and
widows when they are in trouble and living lives
that are pure and different from the rest of the
world.
~Anonymous
If you're not directly involved, let us know
what social justice means to you, or if
there's a certain interpretation of the term in
your culture.
To me, social justice means doing good deeds,
seeking justice, fighting oppression, bringing
justice to those who do not have parents, and
standing up for the following groups of people:
widows, those who can’t speak for themselves,
as well as those who are poor and in need. I
believe that engaging in social justice also
involves being able to judge correctly and wisely,
being kind to everyone, and not oppressing or
harming anyone. Furthermore, I believe that
social justice also includes helping those who
have been robbed.
~Anonymous
Conceivably, there has been a lot going on the
UTSC grounds, and many students aren’t happy
with what January has brought. That does not
mean that we should remain passive…
Why bother stirring hell up, right? Wrong.
You have a voice: let it be heard.
With love,
Erza Applebaum
Got Questions?
Email: AskUG@the-underground.ca!
Issue
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Contributor’s Meeting
SEP. 6 2017
OCT. 4 2017
NOV. 8 2017
DEC. 6 2017
JAN. 3 2018
FEB. 7 2018
MAR. 7 2018
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Email editor@the-underground.ca
for the latest information.
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