Varsity

Cleaner air, better ice: U of T acquires electric Zamboni for Varsity Arena

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 21:42:12 +0000

Cleaner air, better ice: U of T acquires electric Zamboni for Varsity Arena

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 02/16/2024 - 16:42

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U of T’s Varsity Arena joins an estimated quarter of the roughly 1,000 indoor rinks in Ontario that are now serviced by electric ice resurfacers (photo by Seyran Mammadov)

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

Our Community

Climate Change

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Hockey

Sustainability

Varsity

Varsity Blues

Subheadline

A growing number of Ontario rinks are moving away from gas-powered ice resurfacing machines since they can pollute indoor air

The ��Ƶ’s Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE) has acquired an electric ice resurfacing machine for the Varsity Arena, a zero-emissions vehicle that will improve the quality of ice – and air.

Often referred to as “Zambonis” after Frank J. Zamboni, Jr., a block ice salesman who patented the technology in 1953, ice resurfacing machines maintain the skating surface by shaving the top layer of ice, washing the remaining ice and then spreading out an even layer of water that freezes between skate times.

But a growing number of rinks are now moving away from gas-powered Zambonis since they emit exhaust fumes that pollute indoor air.

“An electric Zamboni eliminates the source of indoor air pollution and reduces the ventilation requirements for the arena, which means energy savings and operational cost reductions for the facility,” says Ian Stephen, assistant facility manager at the Varsity Arena and Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

“It also provides a superior system of maintaining ice in the arena.”

U of T’s Varsity Arena joins an estimated quarter of the roughly 1,000 indoor rinks in Ontario now serviced by electric ice resurfacers following Health Canada’s 2021 recommendations to use electric resurfacers and edgers to improve air quality in arenas.

Ian Stephen, assistant facility manager at the Varsity and Goldring Centre, poses next to a newly purchased electric Zamboni (photo by Jill Clark)

The electric Zamboni also makes better ice by using laser beams, a technology first used in the construction industry to level ground. To set it up, the Varsity Arena rink pad had to be measured first without ice to factor in any high or low spots.

“With the laser mounted on a pole and the receiver on the Zamboni, the blade moves automatically to create the most level ice possible,” Stephen says.

Another new feature is so-called “fast ice,” which is created with misting jets on the back of the electric Zamboni.

“They mist water onto the ice as opposed to it dripping down and a flutter cloth just dragging the water and trying to fill in everything,” says Stephen. “The misting helps take some of the oxygen out of the water, which makes the ice harder when it freezes – so it also creates a better surface.”

While electric Zambonis are more expensive than the gas-powered models, they are expected to save on fuel and maintenance over their lifetimes.

“Think of all the savings on energy, water and time,” Stephens says.

In addition to the electric Zamboni, KPE has also replaced a pick-up truck that hauled equipment with an electric van – one of several environmentally conscious projects underway at the university.

In a celebration of Pride and inclusion, U of T raises flags above Varsity Stadium

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 16:36:23 +0000

In a celebration of Pride and inclusion, U of T raises flags above Varsity Stadium

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 06/04/2020 - 12:36

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The Trans Flag, Canadian flag and new "More Colour, More Pride" flag fly above Varsity Stadium (photo by Jill Clark)

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

Our Community

Diversity and Inclusion

Equity

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Pride

Sexual & Gender Diversity Office

Varsity

When the Pride and trans flags were raised this week at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Stadium on St. George campus, there was no cheering audience to mark the occasion. Due to COVID-19, all public gatherings have been cancelled until further notice. But the empty stands weren’t the only thing that was different about the event this year: The Pride flag had black and brown added to its colour palette.

“The addition of the black and brown stripes serves to highlight the importance of representation and inclusion of queer, trans, Black, Indigenous and people of colour (QTBIPOC) communities and is a sign of U of T’s commitment to being intentionally inclusive,” says David Pereira, director of U of T’s Sexual & Gender Diversity Office.

“The newly added black and brown stripes are a visible symbol of the importance of including more voices and experiences in the LGBTQ2S+ community.”

The ‘More Colour; More Pride’ flag was designed in 2017 by Philadelphia’s Office of LGBT Affairs, which worked with the advertising agency Tierney on an inclusivity campaign. The added black and brown stripes were meant to address issues of racism and exclusion in Philadelphia’s gay neighbourhood, but the new symbol quickly raised the attention of communities of colour globally.

“Raising the ‘More Colour; More Pride’ flag along with the Trans Flag at U of T’s Varsity Stadium is a testament to our faculty’s commitment to the LGBTQ2S+ community and our ongoing work towards greater representation and inclusion of queer, trans, Black, Indigenous and people of colour,” says Robin Waley, assistant manager of co-curricular diversity and equity at U of T’s Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE).

“Through U of T Sport & Rec programs like the Diversity in Motion Conference, Black Excellence Kiki Ball and Move with Pride workshop series, we provide students with intersectional learning opportunities from the diversity of experiences that exist within the LGBTQ2S+ community.”

Professor Ira Jacobs, dean of KPE, says he regrets that the U of T community wasn’t able to come together this year to celebrate the raising of the flags in person.

“I enjoyed watching it on video with the rest of our supportive community,” he says. “It was a proud reminder of our faculty’s and university’s dedication to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion at all levels, not only in research and education, but also in our broad spectrum of co-curricular physical activity and sport programs.”

Reflecting on the protests against anti-Black racism and racial violence that have swept across the United States and countries around the world, Jacobs affirmed the faculty’s solidarity with the Black community.

“I am proud to be the dean of a faculty that intentionally embeds equity, diversity and inclusion awareness within its curriculum, and within the framework of sport and recreation opportunities for all U of T students,” says Jacobs, adding the faculty recently produced its first equity report to highlight its efforts to uphold these values.

“We know that sport and recreation are not immune to racism. But we also know that sport can be a powerful platform for positive individual, social, political and collective development.

“As a faculty, we are dedicated to studying, researching and advocating for physical activity and sport, not only because they are vital to personal health, but because they are so important to societal health.”

U of T Pride Flag Raising 2020 from UofT Kinesiology & Phys Ed on Vimeo.

The making of a champion: U of T's Kylie Masse sets her sights on Tokyo 2020

geoff.vendeville — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 14:16:30 +0000

The making of a champion: U of T's Kylie Masse sets her sights on Tokyo 2020

geoff.vendeville Tue, 09/10/2019 - 10:16

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Kylie Masse came to U of T ranked 201st in the 100-metre backstroke, now her best event, and went on to clinch an Olympic bronze medal and set a world record with consistency that's "beyond compare" (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Our Community

Athletic Centre

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Undergraduate Students

Varsity

Wearing tinted goggles, a black Speedo suit and faux pearl earrings, Kylie Masse takes her starting position on the block as cheers echo throughout the ��Ƶ’s cavernous Athletic Centre.

Three, two, one. Masse moves reflexively, like a machine getting into gear. She dives, resurfaces and surges forward into her lane for the 200-metre butterfly. “TORONTO” is spelled out in block letters under the pool’s surface.

Having reached her fifth and final year of varsity eligibility this past season, the home meet against Western University earlier this year would be one of Masse’s last at the university. Over that period, Masse went from relative obscurity to winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and capturing a world record in the 100-metre backstroke.

“Winning the bronze, I never thought that was even possible,” Masse tells U of T News. “I never imagined myself on the [Olympic] podium that early on in my career … It really showed me what I was capable of and how much more I could still do.”

Now, Masse has her sights on the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she’s looking to reach the podium once again. She's already begun preparing in earnest – only this time around she’s facing the heightened expectations that come with being a veteran of the sport. If that weren't enough, she’s also wrapping up her U of T degree in kinesiology, with an eye to pursuing a career in health care after graduation.

Fortunately, Masse is better suited than most to handle the pressure.

Byron MacDonald, U of T’s varsity swim coach, has seen other U of T athletes reach the Olympics in his 42 years with the team. But he says Masse’s steady, low-key approach has yielded results that are rare in an unpredictable sport where the line between success and failure is measured in hundredths of a second.

“The fact that this girl gets to the top of the podium, let alone the podium, almost every single time she races – the consistency she shows is beyond compare.”

Masse’s relentless ways were on full display this summer in Gwangju, South Korea, where she defended her world title in the 100-metre backstroke – her best event – against the world’s top swimmers, including Olivia Smoliga, the American record-holder in the 50-metre backstroke, and Kathleen Baker, the Salem, N.C.-born swimmer who robbed Masse of her world record last year.

With the swimming world watching, Masse again exploded off her block and kept pace with the leaders. Only an arm’s length separated the leading swimmers as they came within touching distance to the wall. The commentator spoke in broken rhythm. “Masse in front,” he said. “Smoliga, Smoliga has responded… Smoliga, Masse, it’s going to be tight… who gets there? Masse gets there!”

Yet, despite the gutsy performance in South Korea, Masse needs no reminding of how quickly fortunes can change in swimming. And with Tokyo 2020 fast approaching, even tougher tests lie ahead. Not only does Masse now swim with a target painted on her V-shaped frame, she must increasingly cope with a new crop of hungry, young competitors looking to make a big splash on the world stage – just as Masse herself once did.

Kylie Masse (centre) poses with her gold medal at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea in July. New Zealand's Erika Jane Fairweather (left) took silver, while U.S. swimmer Olivia Smoliga captured bronze (photo by Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

Humble beginnings

Raised in LaSalle, Ont., Masse can’t remember when she first started swimming. It was probably around age three. She says she was “a little bit of a klutz” and “not exactly anyone’s prediction of an Olympian.” Although she comes from an active family, she says school was just as important.

“It was all about balance,” Masse says. “Sport was a huge thing, but so was school and there was an equal amount of hard work dedicated to both.”

From ages eight to 18, Masse swam with the Windsor Essex Swim Team. Her former coach, Andrei Semenov, says Masse didn’t have a competitive swimmer’s build when she was younger. “She was tiny, tiny, tiny,” Semenov says, adding Masse stood below many of her teammates’ shoulders.

But what Masse lacked physically, she more than made up for with leadership and attitude.

“She always swam for the team,” Semenov says, “not just for Kylie Masse.”

Prior to university, Masse ranked 201^st in the world in the 100-metre backstroke, which would later become her signature event. Though it was still early days, Masse showed enough promise in her high school years to appear on the radar of varsity scouts in both Canada and the United States.

Kylie Masse (centre) learned the fundamentals of the sport on the Windsor Essex Swim Team when she was young. “She was tiny, tiny, tiny,” says her then-coach Andrei Semenov (photo courtesy of Andrei Semenov)

Masse had already been weighing offers from several schools when MacDonald, the U of T swim coach, came calling. But between high school classes, swimming practice and recruitment trips, Masse wasn’t sure she had time for yet another campus tour. But MacDonald persisted, asking her to come and train with the team on one of the only free days in her calendar: a Thanksgiving Monday.

Joined by another swimming prospect from Quebec, Masse arrived at U of T to find a closed campus and a deserted pool – hardly ideal circumstances for a winning sales pitch. So, MacDonald improvised and invited the two swimmers to his family’s home for a turkey dinner.

“I did feel kind of bad actually,” Masse recalls, “but it was super special that he brought us to his house.”

The meeting clearly left an impression, though it probably weighed less heavily in Masse’s ultimate decision than the range of resources offered at Canada’s largest university and the school’s location – less than a day’s drive away from Masse’s hometown.

“I came here and just felt that I would be able to achieve my goals and dreams,” she recalls.

Masse’s path to the Olympic Games was far from linear. She suffered a devastating disappointment in her second year at U of T when she failed to qualify for the Pan American Games in Toronto. Masse went into the last leg of trials as the top seed, but soon lost her focus.

“I just got caught up in the race, thinking about what else was happening, or what could happen or what couldn’t happen if I didn’t make the team,” she says.

“It definitely was kind of a wake-up call and that’s been part of the journey.”

Such early setbacks can sometimes derail an athlete’s career. But Masse bounced back. Just a few months later at the 2016 International University Sports Federation (FISU) World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea, she swam the 100-metre backstroke in what was then a personal best time of 59.97 seconds, clinching the gold medal and coming in just 14 hundredths of a second off the record for that competition.

The swimming community suddenly took notice of the new 19-year-old on the block; Brittany MacLean, a Team Canada freestyle swimmer, even congratulated Masse on Twitter.

“I was so in awe that [MacLean] knew who I was or saw the result,” Masse says. “That kind of got me thinking, ‘If I keep working, maybe this could be my event.’”

Masse’s U of T varsity teammate Eli Wall says her success at those games opened people’s eyes to her potential.

“She herself and everyone else realized that she was the real deal,” he says. “I mean, she was virtually nowhere on the world stage the year before that, and she went on to win a gold medal at these big international university games.

“That gave her a lot of momentum going into Rio.”

Masse would not disappoint.

A winning bet

Masse had more on the line than just a medal in Brazil. She and her coaches made a deal after she had reached the final: If she could top MacDonald’s sixth-place finish at the 1972 Games in Munich, she would get a pair of tickets to see hip-hop superstar Drake in Toronto.

“That was our little running joke,” Masse says.

On finals day, MacDonald watched from the press box above the bleachers, where he was commentating for CBC. Linda Kiefer, the assistant head coach of the Varsity Blues swim team, had a poolside view of the action as one of Team Canada’s coaches.

At the race’s halfway mark, Masse turned and touched the wall after the three leaders, making her a longshot for the podium. But she accelerated in the final stretch and touched the wall alongside China’s Fu Yuanhui, sharing third place in a photo finish.

Kylie Masse of Canada celebrates third place in the women's 100-metre backstroke at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (photo by Ian MacNicol via Getty Images)

“Post-race I was inundated with interviews,” Masse later wrote in a personal essay for CBC. “There were questions about the sport itself, questions that I had never really put into words before.”

Her coaches, meanwhile, made good on their bet. Masse went to see Drake at the Air Canada Centre in the fall with her friend Penny Oleksiak, who, at 17, became Canada’s youngest Olympic champion with a break-out performance and five-medal haul.

But neither the Olympic medal nor what followed – the TV interviews and Speedo sponsorship – appear to have gone to Masse’s head. Instead of displaying her bronze medal, Masse keeps it tucked away in her sock drawer.

Her coaches say that’s par for the course for Masse, who doesn’t like to draw much attention to herself or boast of her achievements. Asked for an anecdote that reveals something of Masse’s personality, Kiefer tells the story of when she encouraged Masse to introduce herself to Gregorio Paltrinieri, an Italian distance freestyle champion. Masse balked, reasoning that he wouldn’t know who she was – after all, he’s an Olympian.

“So are you,” Kiefer reminded her.

Swimming, school and superstition

It can be difficult for U of T students to keep their head above water – never mind juggling up to nine swimming practices per week, three gym sessions, two physiotherapy appointments, out-of-town tournaments and media requests.

A typical day for Masse begins around 5:30 a.m. and finishes at 9:30 p.m, homework permitting. When she’s not swimming, she’s doing what most other students do: studying for finals and racing across campus to get to her elective, an introductory Spanish class. While she’s had her share of late nights hitting the books, Masse can claim at least one victory beyond the pool: She’s managed to avoid pulling an all-nighter in Robarts library.

Of course, being an Olympian comes with a few perks, particularly if you’re a kinesiology student like Masse. In one class on the Olympics and Paralympics – focusing on their achievements, prospects, problems – Masse and her peers were told to write a profile of an Olympian. So, Masse began her research by firing off a text message to Oleksiak and ended up with an A-plus.

Varsity swim coaches MacDonald and Kiefer know how hard it can be for swimmers to balance the demands of the sport with school and everything else life throws at them. Their coaching partnership has lasted almost three decades, longer than many marriages. Somewhere along the line they developed a key insight: a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer.

Masse, in particular, is so naturally upbeat that her coaches know there’s something amiss if she turns up for practice without a smile. “If you’ve ever watched her, she has fun,” Kiefer says. “If she comes on deck and she’s not dancing or bopping or singing, it’s like ‘Uh oh.’”

Masse (centre) in one of her last home meets with U of T's varsity team against Western University (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Kiefer pays attention to every detail about her swimmers, even if they might seem trivial. After she noticed Masse wearing faux pearl earrings to races, she assumed they were good luck charms and kept a back-up pair in case Masse’s jewelry ever went missing at an inopportune time. After all, superstition comes in many shapes and sizes in swimming. Michael Phelps reportedly swings his arms on the starting block the same way before each race. Another American Olympic medalist, Mel Stewart, told Swim World Magazine that he sticks to the same menu before each meet: green tea and spaghetti with red sauce.

But, as it turned out, Masse simply wore the earrings because she liked how they look – although she’s been wearing them less frequently lately because she doesn’t want them to get stuck in her cap during a race or lose them in the water.

Still, Kiefer says she keeps a surplus of faux pearl earrings on hand – “just in case.”

Hungry for more

At just 21 years old, Masse was already on top of the world.

At the world aquatic championships in Budapest, she made history by swimming the 100-metre backstroke in 58.10, snapping a world record that had stood for eight years.

Her immediate reaction was disbelief. “I touched the wall and looked back and had to make sure I was looking at the right name and the right time,” she told reporters in a conference call after the race.

“I was just super excited. In the moment I don't even know what I was thinking but excitement and joy."

Her status as world-record holder was relatively short-lived. Just 368 days later, Team USA’s Kathleen Baker – the same swimmer who edged Masse for silver at Rio in 2016 – smashed Masse’s record with a time of 58 seconds flat at the American national championships. To add insult to injury, Baker captured the record in an outdoor pool, where times are thought to be slower. “I watched a lot of Shark Week,” Baker later said in a news release, “so I was channeling my inner shark there.”

MacDonald said it was a tough summer for Masse, who, in a short time, went from unlikely challenger to defending champion. She had “a bull’s eye on her back as the world-record holder,” her coach says.

Whereas Masse once raced in the pool’s outer lanes, reserved for the lower seeds, now she swims in the middle lanes side-by-side with the world’s best – and where everyone is watching. Yet, unlike the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, where she lost focus and failed to qualify, Masse no longer crumbles under pressure.

Masse was following the American championships – and Baker’s “inner shark” performance – from Japan, where she was at a staging camp for the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.

“Obviously I was a bit disappointed,” she recalls. “But I think it just gave me more motivation and lit a fire under me, like, ‘I want it back.’”

Barely a week after losing her record, she faced her and the Australian heavyweight Emily Seebohm at the Pan Pacific Games in Tokyo. She held off Baker and swept past Seebohm with powerful strokes in the dying seconds, one of Masse’s signature strengths.

Kylie Masse (right) is congratulated by Australia’s Emily Seebohm after winning the gold medal the women's 200-metre backstroke at the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo, Japan (photo by Kiyoshi Ota via Getty Images)

In hindsight, MacDonald says that losing her record may have ended up being a blessing in disguise for Masse as she prepares for the 2020 Tokyo Games.

“Now she’s hungry,” he says.

Back on campus, Masse handily wins the 200-metre butterfly at the meet against Western, finishing well ahead of the runner up. While such meets are comparatively low stakes, it’s impossible to tell – for a casual observer at least – whether Masse is making a distinction once she’s zooming through the water.

What is clear is that Masse’s preparations for Tokyo 2020 have begun in earnest. She is taking just one or two courses at U of T this year to save her energy and has signed on to a new international swimming league, which aims to give the world’s top swimmers new opportunities outside of the Olympics and other regional and international championships.

When asked if the upcoming Games could be her last, Masse – perhaps not surprisingly – shows little interest in engaging in such introspection when there’s work to be done.

“I’m focusing on the now and I’m going to think about that later,” she says. “I’m going to swim for as long as I enjoy it.”

Who are you calling a new girl? U of T alumna Rebecca Addelman on writing comedy in Hollywood

vzaretski — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 20:02:43 +0000

Who are you calling a new girl? U of T alumna Rebecca Addelman on writing comedy in Hollywood

vzaretski Fri, 07/28/2017 - 16:02

Cutline

Alumna Rebecca Addelman has written for the Fox hit ‘New Girl’ (photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

Author legacy

David Silverberg

Topic

Subheadline

She landed a job with the hit show ‘New Girl’ and worked on Judd Apatow's Netflix show ‘Love’

After graduating from U of T, Rebecca Addelman started acting in improv and sketch troupes in Toronto. She loved comedy and was soon jetting off to Los Angeles, where she landed a writing job with the hit Fox show New Girl.

Addelman graduated from U of T in 2004 and has been writing for TV ever since, most recently for Judd Apatow’s Netflix show Love. Her first feature film – Paper Year – comes out this fall.

The Q & A below was originally published at U of T Magazine.

L.A. is the big time. What did you find most challenging about writing for New Girl?

It’s a big operation and there are a lot of people involved. You might be a writer of a given episode, but what’s challenging is that your writing gets vetted at so many different levels. Sometimes as many as 20 writers read the script and go through it.

That reminds me of something Amy Poehler once said about writing comedy for television: “Be open to changing all the material you think is really brilliant. Even the most talented people don’t fight every day for every one of their jokes.”

That’s something you learn with experience, and I find experience leads to confidence. When starting out as writer, you want to prove yourself and show that you can hang with the more seasoned writers. For me, at least, I had a tendency to be more defensive and not accept criticism or notes.

I learned to be generous. What I mean is that the greatest gift is to let others have interesting ideas and let them know when they have the answers to a story’s problem. Those defensive walls come down, and then it’s easier to work with fellow writers in a really open way. What’s created together is much stronger than what’s created alone.

Comedy has a reputation for being a boy’s club. How do you find it?

It definitely used to be male-centric, whether you look at The Simpsons or Saturday Night Live. But today, I don’t see that anymore. Love’s writer room is 50 per cent women, the same with New Girl. To me that means TV series are offering more voices to viewers and telling stories that reflect the actual world around us.

Judd Apatow is one of Hollywood’s most successful screenwriters right now. What did you learn from him while writing for Love?

He always pushes to make the story more truthful in some way. He ensures we hunker down and basically write psychological analyses of these characters we create. He asks us a lot, “What truly makes them tick?” He wants big comedy too, which means any set piece or moment in a script that you can point to and say, “That will be funny.” But he wants it to come from a place that feels honest. Otherwise, you’re writing something fake. He learned a lot of that from his mentor, the late comedian Gary Shandling.

When you’re running a show, you need to make decisions quickly and stick with them. Judd knows what he finds funny and what story he’d like to tell and knows right away how he wants something changed. And that’s a great skill to have in television.

You wrote and directed Paper Year about young newlyweds, who start to question their relationship. How much is autobiographical?

The story is definitely inspired by my life. I got married young and also divorced young, and the film is about what a couple goes through on their first – and only – year of marriage.

Getting divorced and living through the aftermath was tough, but it felt cathartic to write about it. I needed to get it out of my system.

It doesn’t sound like a comedy.

The film is funny in parts. It’s very serious in others. Some scenes are so awkward that I think they’re funny. The humour is less obvious, and I like to think that it’s woven into the fabric of the characters. There is no big comedy in the movie! But the last thing I wanted to make was a deathly earnest film. Those are the worst.

What do you find funny?

I don’t think you ever know if what you find funny will make anyone else laugh. Only through trial and error and experience do you start to hone your instincts and begin to trust your gut. But even your gut can have an off day. If I think it’s funny then that’s enough for me. And as long as a few other people get what I’m doing, I’ll feel good.

Were there any U of T experiences that inspired you to be a film and TV writer?

I threw myself into the sports editor position at the Varsity newspaper, and it allowed me to do a lot of writing. I wanted to expand the sports section to broaden the idea of what athletics could mean, such as a piece we did on transgender athletes.

How would you describe your career trajectory?

One thing has often followed the next for me: live comedy to writing for TV to writing a movie to directing. I’ve always been attracted to a challenge. Each new career incarnation has been more challenging than the last.

And your dream job?

I felt like I just did it with Paper Year. I feel guilty even calling it a job because I was able to realize my own work, and that’s very satisfying. I’d love to do it again but maybe next time with a bigger budget.

U of T's Varsity Blues join student athletes across Canada for Bell Let's Talk Day

ullahnor — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 18:03:25 +0000

U of T's Varsity Blues join student athletes across Canada for Bell Let's Talk Day

ullahnor Wed, 01/25/2017 - 13:03

Cutline

A still shot of Varsity Blues swimmer Nathalin Moy from the Bell Let's Talk video series

Jelena Damjanovic

Author legacy

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education

The ��Ƶ’s 900 Varsity Blues athletes are among the 20,000 student athletes from 53 Canadian universities joining forces for Bell Let's Talk Day.

Wearing Bell Let's Talk toques, the student athletes are helping lead conversations on campus about the impact of mental illness and how to fight the stigma attached to it.

“Mental wellness is a significant focus on the ��Ƶ campus and the Varsity Blues are committed to participating in projects that promote a safe and judgment-free environment in which to discuss mental health,” says Beth Ali, executive director of athletics and co-curricular physical activity at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education. “Our student athletes have partnered with the Bell Let's Talk campaign to advance education and discussion on mental health and encourage support and assistance for all who need it.”

Leading up to Jan. 25, student athletes across Canada have been hosting events at 100 university games and appearing in the Bell Let’s Talk video series.

The Blues hosted two men’s hockey games, track and field, and swimming events where fans had the opportunity to sign talk bubbles and banners in support of mental health. They were also encouraged to take pictures and share them on social media on Bell Let’s Talk Day. Bell is expected to donate 5 cents to Canadian mental health programs for each of these interactions.

Varsity Blues swimmer Nathalin Moy and hockey player Mason Nowak are two of six Academic All-Canadian student athletes featured in the Bell Let’s Talk video.

“I’ve been an advocate for student athlete mental health initiatives since I burned out from swimming a few years ago so this was a perfect opportunity to directly get involved in the cause,” says Moy, who is in her final year of engineering science at U of T.

“As student athletes we are in a unique position to set an example in shaping the conversation on mental health. We are under a lot of pressure to perform both academically and athletically, and though it can be tough at times, the sports culture demands sucking it up and always pushing through the pain. If we can break that culture down and create a safe space where conversations around mental health can occur naturally, the rest of the world will follow.”

Moy is excited that the Bell Let’s Talk campaign this year involved student athletes across the country, representing all university sport conferences, including the Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Atlantic University Sport (AUS), Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA) and Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ).

“By involving the entire Canadian student athlete community, the campaign’s mission to spread awareness and start the conversation on mental health will reach a whole new level,” says Moy.

U of T's student weekly hires a public editor

geoff.vendeville — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 17:06:20 +0000

U of T's student weekly hires a public editor

geoff.vendeville Wed, 01/25/2017 - 12:06

Cutline

Sophie Borwein, a PhD student in political science, is the first-ever public editor at "The Varsity" (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Author legacy

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Subheadline

“The Varsity” says this may be the first public editor for a Canadian campus newspaper

These are challenging times for journalism as politicians peddle “alternative facts” and good reporting is eclipsed by fake news.

“If there was ever a golden era of newspaper journalism, this isn’t it,” said Sophie Borwein, the first-ever public editor of The Varsity in a column in which she introduced herself to readers.

Read Borwein's first article as public editor

Although the decision to hire a public editor was in the works for over a year and had nothing to do with recent controversies, The Varsity’s editor-in-chief says it was an opportune time.

“I feel that student newspapers like The Varsity have an important role to play in setting a high standard of accountability to readers, especially given that trust in the media is currently low,” said Alex McKeen, The Varsity's editor-in-chief.

Borwein, a third-year PhD student in political science, is in charge of hearing readers’ complaints to ensure that the student weekly – with a student audience of 87,000 across all three campuses – always meets the standards of honesty, accuracy and fairness laid out in the paper’s code of ethics.

She is believed to be the only public editor of a student paper in Canada. Even among major Canadian news outlets, there are few like her. Only The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and the Brunswick News group have public editors, while CBC and Radio-Canada have ombudsmen, J-Source reported in a story about Borwein’s new job.

Read a column by the Toronto Star’s public editor about Borwein’s appointment

U of T News met with Borwein at The Varsity’s office to hear about her plans as public editor and her thoughts on the state of journalism today.

What makes a good public editor?

Taking readers’ concerns seriously. I spoke to Kathy English about this recently, and she said it’s sort of like being a judge. You have to trust your instinct against the code you’re expected to be upholding, and then you have to make a decision. And you have to recognize that not everyone is going to be happy with it, but you have to stick to it.

Why do you think there was so much interest in your appointment?

I think it's the timing. Everybody is grappling with the question of what to do about these scary trends in journalism.

And for publications like The Varsity that have been around for a very long time that to me is its big advantage: the longevity, the consistency, the ability to show that over time you've upheld certain standards. I think this is just another piece of that.

What do you mean by “scary trends?”

The funny thing about this job is that The Varsity has been looking for a public editor for a while now so it wasn't a reaction to the most recent trends in the U.S.

But, I mean, it's scary out there for media.

If you can have a press secretary who gets up there and says we have a different set of facts for you, I don't know what you do with that.

And I don't know what you do with a candidate and now a president who has a different view of reality. It breaks every basic understanding of a journalist's role. I don't envy the media, in the U.S. in particular, which is grappling with this question of how helpful it is to keep calling Donald Trump a liar.

There’s obviously been a lot of questions about whether it’s still helpful to call him out on all his lies in a toxic environment where readers are predisposed not to trust media outlets. Politicians can use that as further fuel to say it’s partisan reporting.

U of T Varsity Blues rugby football team is inducted into the 2016 Ontario Sports Hall of Fame

ullahnor — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 19:58:38 +0000

U of T Varsity Blues rugby football team is inducted into the 2016 Ontario Sports Hall of Fame

ullahnor Tue, 10/25/2016 - 15:58

Cutline

Photo of the 1909 Varsity rugby football team (photo courtesy of U of T Archives)

Jelena Damjanovic

Author legacy

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

City & Culture

Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education

Varsity

football

Subheadline

The team won the first Grey Cup in 1909

For every sport, there's always that one game, a championship series or a specific moment that fans cherish for years to come.

For the ��Ƶ's Varsity Blues rugby football team – the original Varsity football team – that special moment happened in December of 1909, a game none of us are old enough to remember.

Playing in front of a packed Rosedale field, the Blues faced off against the Toronto Parkdale Canoes Club, eventually clinching the game with a score of 26-6 and winning the first-ever Grey Cup.

Named after Canada’s Governor General Albert Henry George Grey, the Cup is now awarded to the champions of the Canadian Football League.

The 1909 Blues team was inducted Oct. 17 into the 2016 Ontario Sports Hall of Fame for winning the first Grey Cup. They were presented with the Ferguson Jenkins Heritage Award, introduced in 2011 to commemorate those one-of-a-kind moments in the history of sports in Ontario.

Professor Ira Jacobs, dean of U of T's Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, accepted the award on behalf of the ��Ƶ, thanking the committee “for recognizing the legacy of a game that happened 107 years ago and evolved into a recreational, social, and cultural phenomenon, and a truly national legacy.”

The Blues went on to win the Cup for the next two years, in 1910 and 1911, and again in 1920 “making U of T the winningest university with four Grey Cups,” said Jacobs.

The team's legacy was acknowledged earlier in the year with a Grey Cup commemorative plaque mounted on the U of T Varsity Stadium by the Historic Sites and Monuments Boards of Canada, and Parks Canada.

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U of T Varsity Blues rugby football team is inducted into the 2016 Ontario Sports Hall of Fame