Graffiti 2010-2011

By: George Wan

Recently, I read an article about the effects languages have on the way we think. It got me thinking so I decided to share this article with you.

The suggestion that languages affect the way we think was first put forth by Benjamin Lee Whorf in 1940. He said that languages restricted our thoughts and if an idea is unable to be expressed in a language, speakers of that language will be unable to grasp the concept of that idea.

Now, let’s test it. In the Chinese language, all verb tenses take the same form (unlike English where a past tense verb gets an –ed tacked on to the end or a future tense verb gets aided by an auxiliary verb like “will”). If you want to say “I will go there” in Mandarin, you’ll just end up saying “I go there”. That means Chinese people cannot grasp the concept of time, right? There is one pronoun to represent he and she in the Chinese language. That means Chinese people cannot comprehend the concept of gender. Huh, what!? Of course we understand the concept time and gender. What was that guy smoking?

So after some time, people went through that same process and realized that Whorf’s idea was preposterous and any study done on this topic after that revelation would be dismissed as equally ludicrous as Whorf’s words of wisdom. As a result, there were minimal progress on the understanding of how languages actually affect the way we think.

Though it is true that languages don’t restrict the way we think, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t affect the way we think. For example, in the English language, a noun that refers to a person does not take a feminine or masculine form depending on the gender of that person being referred to unlike other languages such as French. Every time you wish to say “a friend”, for example, in French, you would have to think, “Is that friend a male or a female?” and add an –e accordingly. But in English, you don’t have to do that. This extra thought process in French, Spanish, and many other languages forces the speaker to subconsciously think of and notice details that are often absent in the thoughts of an English-speaker.

Another example is the gender-noun in languages such as French, Spanish, German, and Russian. The article outlined a study that showed whether speakers of those languages had a virile impression towards some objects while effeminate impressions towards others. Individuals were asked whether they considered various objects more masculine or feminine. The results showed that speakers of languages with gender-nouns do indeed have certain feelings towards static objects in a way that speakers of languages such as English cannot understand and would find extremely weird.

What was interesting about the results of the study was that German and Spanish speakers would often contradict each other’s opinion of the gender of particular objects. This was because German and Spanish are two languages where many objects’ genders are reversed! For example, “el sol”, which means sun, is a masculine noun in Spanish while “die Sonne”, which also means “the sun”, is a feminine noun in German. Similar contradictions also exist between other languages. This could mean that some speakers of different languages would have different views about the world around them and in turn, cause different ways of thinking between them. To us, a bridge is not a man bridge or a woman bridge; it’s just a bridge.

Perhaps the most interesting topic in that article was about an aboriginal Australian tongue called Guugu Yimithirr. There is no left or right in that language and the only way of conveying directions is by cardinal points – North, South, East, and West (Imagine asking yourself: “Is the coin in my East hand or my West hand?”). Speakers of those kinds of languages are trained since birth to know where north is as we know where left is. Let’s make fun of Whorf again. Does this mean that those people have no sense of direction because they don’t have a word for left and right? He couldn’t be more wrong. An experiment was done to a native speaker of another similar language, Tzeltal. He was blindfolded and spun around twenty times. When asked to point out the cardinal points after, he correctly identified their directions while still stumbling from dizziness. Now that guy would totally rock a vectors test.

Because their languages use geographic directions rather than egocentric ones, those native speakers may view the world differently from us. We think that the world exists around us and my right is right regardless of what the other guy means when he says “Your right is not right but my left.” However, speakers of those languages understand that the world doesn’t revolve around them so they use directions relative to the Earth itself. If you see a speaker of Guugu Yimithirr pointing South at himself, he’s most likely pointing though his body at something behind him; while if you and I were pointing at ourselves, we’re probably pointing at ourselves.

So to what extent do languages affect the way we think? Scientists have no direct answer to that question; the ineffable complexity of our brain and how minute changes in our surroundings can have a profound effect on the way we think is just incomprehensible to us at this time. We know that languages may affect the way we think but not to a point that it restricts us from certain ways of thinking. So now we just need to pick the right answer from within that range. It’ll take a while. In the mean time, try not to learn German or Spanish. It might mess you up. And if you’re not too busy, take Guugu Yimithirr classes. You never know when you’ll be stuck in the middle of nowhere.

By: Sabina Wex

Most people think that Asian parents are the only ones who much about their kids’ marks. On the contrary, lots of other parents who aren’t Asian, also care about their children’s grades. But everyone feels the pressure to get good grades to please their parents, even if their parents aren’t that strict.

On November 18^th 2010, every NT student was stressed out. Was it exams? Was it presenting your speech?

No.

It was report card day.

Report cards almost stress students out more than exams, because your parents are going to see how you’re really doing in your classes (you can’t hide your report card in your locker like you did with that 35 on your science test). Most parents don’t get angry with their children for bad marks, they are more disappointed. Unfortunately, disappointment can sometimes be worse than anger. Instead of upsetting you, your parents have made you feel guilty. And usually, all you want to do is make your parents proud, but your bad marks make you feel like you just took candy from a baby.

Not only do your parents get to see your marks, but they see how well you behave, too. Sometimes the conduct component can be even worse than the grades. Even if you’re doing well in the class, having a teacher say that you are disruptive or too talkative can sometimes can bother your parents even more.

Our parents are probably just trying to be helpful; they just want us to have a good life, after all. But the ways they address those concerns can sometimes come out as harsh and unfair. The reason for this is probably because marks weren’t as big a deal back then as they were now. Not as many people went to university, so there was no reason to need high grades and have a million extracurricular activities.

Nowadays, there is so much pressure to get into university. The majority of NT grads go to university—not college, the army or the workforce. Our society views university as part of the cycle: school, university, work. So without high grades you can’t complete this cycle. Sure, you could do one of the other post-secondary options, there’s nothing wrong with any of them! But many parents today are pushing their children towards the university route, which isn’t always the smartest thing. Mike Holmes, a professional contractor, says that Canada has less and less tradesmen every year. In 10 years, tradesmen will make a lot of money if this deficiency continues. And where do tradesmen get trained? College—not university.

Parents need to stop stressing their kids out; it’s stressful enough being a teenager. School and friends can be a handful sometimes, but home is supposed to be a place where you can get away from it all. And when your parents are nagging you too, you’ll just be even more stressed. Too much stress isn’t good for learning, so you’ll just end up doing worse and then the cycle will start all over again. And that cycle isn’t one you want to be wound up in.

By: Nina Fainman-Adelman

What’s black and white and red all over? What oozes when you poke it, and churns when you leave it alone? To find the answer, don’t look to any puzzle book; instead, try your forehead, nose, and back. More commonly known as a “zit”, this swollen hill of pink flesh is the one thing known to break glass, pay off dermatologists’ mortgages, and send blotchy-red faces on 7am Shoppers trips. Zits are universally known as the crux of teenage humiliation and the subject of many J-14 “Embarrassing Moment” stories; however, zits are not all that bad; they are a symbol of unity among teenagers, an emblem of wisdom sent by Mother Nature, preparing us for greater grievances as we mature, and a badge of honour distinguishing adolescents from other age groups.

Consumerism and the adult world have brainwashed us to believe that zits are “…highly irritating… and unsightly”. Young *Emily Miller, who has just entered the world of pimple cream and cover up, agrees. “It’s like these companies want you to feel bad about yourself, just so they can sell more of their product.” Regardless of the method used to sell acne treatments, teens are willing to pay good money in the hopes of clear skin. In fact, a survey published in the Archives of Dermatology, reveals that teens would pay on average $275 to never have acne. A North Toronto survey furthers this idea, as students would be willing to pay up to one thousand dollars to do the same. But is this really the society we want to live in? A society where markings, distinguishing a coming-of-age, are seen as blemishes? Where individuals will go to all ends to remove evidence of these “eyesores”? It’s time for us as teenagers to band together, to declare zits “beauty spots,” and learn to love them.

As teenagers, we bend over backwards to fit in. We buy the same shoes, wear the same jackets, and use the same cell phones. However, while we go out of our way to fit in, we neglect to consider the most obvious source of unity: zits. No matter what gender, race, weight, or culture, “[if] you’re a teen, chances are pretty good that you have some acne.” In fact, approximately 85% of teens have acne at some point in their adolescence. Zits liberate us from the seemingly impossible task of blending in and show us that we’re not alone in this stage of our lives. Some say that “[perhaps] only the war against acne can unify the teenagers around the globe together.”

In the few years of adolescence, teenagers are expected to learn a lot before they can be recognized as fully fledged adults. The zit represents a very important life lesson that all adults have learned at some point: humiliation. In an interview with Susan Goldberg, a part-time social worker, it was conveyed that “teenagers need to learn to be embarrassed… If [they] dwell on silly little setbacks, [they] will have a hard time getting anywhere.” Zits are Mother Nature’s way of preparing us for the obstacles we will face as we mature. If we can’t learn to deal with little annoyances, like a few measly red bumps, how will we be able to deal with the bigger problems in life?

With the fast pace of the 21^st century, society has taught us to cherish every landmark of age, because as we all know, life goes by fast. We celebrate our first steps as toddlers, our first day of school as children, our first dance as preteens, and first job as adults. So what is left to celebrate as teens? You guessed it: those puffy red friends leering at us from the top of our foreheads. There aren’t many things that make teenagers unique from adults or children. Most of the time when teenagers act, dress, or look a certain way we are deemed either “mature” or “childish”. Many North Toronto students agree with the fact that “zits are one of the few things that we as teenagers have for just ourselves.” Being a teenager is about growing up and accepting a new stage in our lives, so why do we try so hard to cover-up one of the few markings of our coming-of-age? Zach Bader-Shami, a grade 12 student at North Toronto C.I notes that“[It] is an essential part to growing up that we experience changes, and [we should] embrace [those] changes,” not hide from them.

Part of being a teenager is getting zits, so if society says no to zits, society is saying no to teenagers. Our time has come to flip this horror story on its head and embrace our inner zit. The zit is more than a puss-y infection due to oil-clogged pores; it’s a represents the melding of teenagers around the world, familiarizes us with the greater obstacles we will face as we mature, and differentiates teenagers from other age groups. So next time you wake up to find a shiny red sebum-filled mountain smack dab in the middle of your forehead, get excited. It’s your time to shine.

By: Lucy Cao

For years, scientists have tried to map out our brains, a mass of unparalleled thinking power, superior to that of any other animal. By definition, it is the center of the human nervous system and it is essential to our very survival. Its complicated structure has bamboozled scientists for centuries; one small alteration could mean the difference between life and death. Even a little shift in the amount of oxygen or pressure could leave a person seriously brain damaged. But how could something so vital to our well-being be so fragile? Are we unintentionally hurting the only thing that is keeping us alive?

In the 21^st century, our understanding of the brain has increased significantly, yet we are still miles away from knowing why the brain is so severely affected by sleep deprivation. J. Christian Gillin, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), admits that we have gone very far in mapping out the functions of the brain, but we do not know how to improve or enhance its performance. He says that “perhaps [someday] we will be able to devise interventions to alleviate the behavioural impairments associated with lack of sleep.” Every animal sleeps, but why the brain needs sleep remains a mystery.

Sleep deprivation is a commonplace occurrence in modern day culture. Every day there seems to be twice as much work and half as much time to complete it in, and truthfully, the lack of sleep affects most people in significant ways whether they know it or not. While people in different age groups require different amounts of sleep, everyone, whether young or old, needs some shut-eye; human beings cannot survive on willpower alone. The belief that people can train their bodies to not require as much sleep as they once did before is false. Rest is essential to the regeneration of one’s body, and the brain, like all other muscles in the body, needs it in order to function properly. The effects of sleep deprivation on behaviour have been tested with relation to the presence of activity in different sections of the cerebral cortex.

A team of researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine used fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) technology to monitor the activity in the brains of a few sleep-deprived subjects. The researchers were surprised to find that there was a direct correlation between the activity displayed in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the brain and the sleepiness of the subject. They found that the sleepier the subject was, the more activity was observed in the PFC. Additionally, a brain region called the temporal lobe was activated only by well rested subjects when they participated in verbal learning exercises. However this region, which is responsible for language processing,was not activated in sleep deprived subjects. The effects of this inactivity can be observed by the slurred speech in subjects who have gone for prolonged periods with no sleep.

In a previous study that was also led by Gillin and his team of researchers, the team studied sleep-deprived subjects performing an arithmetic task involving subtraction. Similar to the results of the previous study, the fMRI scans showed that the rested subjects activated a certain part of their brain that the sleep-deprived subjects did not. Altogether, the sleep-deprived subjects had fewer correct answers and had omitted more questions compared to the well rested subjects.

One can argue that sleep deprivation is a great part of a high school student’s life. With a life composed mainly of homework, tests, assignments, and exams, us NT students are bound to be stressed and sleep deprived. In a survey of 30 students, 80% of them report to have pulled off all-nighters. And 96% of those people agree that these all nighters have affected the way they behave and think the next day. This effectively proves that sleep-loss affects learning and memory. When preparing for challenges such as exams and tests, sleep could prove to be a valuable part of a study strategy. Studies have shown that animals and humans who are deprived of sleep do not perform well on memory tasks. According to Michael P. Stryker, Ph.D., researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, sleep “provokes slightly more plasticity (connections between nerve cells) than double the amount of exposure to experience.” This means that a student would achieve the same amount of plasticity (or “learning”) reviewing her notes thoroughly and then slept compared to if she had just pulled and all-nighter reviewing her material.

One study even suggests that sleep deprivation is just as bad as alcohol impairment. In a study published by the British Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, researchers in Australia and New Zealand found that sleep deprivation can have some of the same hazardous effects as being drunk. The study found that people who drove after being awake for 17 to 19 hours performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05 percent.

By studying the correlation between the effects of sleep deprivation of the brain and behaviour, it allows us to observe how a person’s behaviour changes as the brain shuts down. The brain is like a muscle; while it needs to be exercised, it also needs rest. Similar to the way a person cannot jog continuously for three days, the brain cannot operate without breaks. While tired or stressed out muscles will result in restriction of movement, a tired brain will use its only defence which is to shut down the whole body. Without sleep, our brains deteriorate, and our behaviour will also suffer accordingly.

By: Kevin Lee

This is the Internet. Or, at least, these are a few rules the misanthropes of the world have applied to the Internet. I’m not talking about Facebook, or whatever inane social networking sites the majority of the NT students subscribe to. I’m talking about /b/ (oh no) and 4chan, which is quite possibly the largest congregation of trolls and jerks that Internet bandwidth can support. If you were to picture the Internet as a place of morality, the giant black hole in the middle would be /b/, and the closest objects to that black hole would be gaming forums and chat systems. The best thing about a black hole? It’s always sucking more stuff into it.

Before my actual article begins, it needs to be stated that not all people who play online video games and go on these websites are gigantic nitwits who do their best to make everyone else’s lives miserable. However, a good number of them do, and mostly because they’re online. 4chan isn’t the only ‘black hole’ of the Internet. It’s simply the largest.

Being online gives everyone one basic protection: anonymity. No, I don’t want to hear about how the cops, FBI, CIA, or some weird no-life hacker can track you down. To these people, you are just a random dot in Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. You are a negligible, insignificant dot in a sea of other insignificant dots. This is what makes hate crimes on the Internet hard to catch: the law relies on the administrators and moderators of these websites to enforce it. This is what separates Facebook and 4chan: Everyone on 4chan is anonymous; no one on Facebook is. The law will not intervene unless you pull a Julian Assange.

Now, when the only punishment is being banned from a certain website/game, do you really care about breaking social norms, rules, laws? You could make an ass out of yourself, and no one would really know it was you. You would be free to exercise your Freudian impulses. When you are anonymous in a group of strangers, free to do anything you want, you could say the most horrible things and absolutely ruin someone else’s day, and the only thing you’d have to deal with is your conscience (and who cares about that these days?) Dear sir and madam, you have now been introduced to the ‘troll’. For those who need clarification, a troll is a person whose only objective is to anger other people for the sake of angering other people simply because he can.

The ‘Rules of the Internet’ (see a few of them above), most likely written by a troll for other trolls, are in fact not rules at all, but rather simple observations of trends on the Internet. Girls really don’t exist on these sites, or publicly in online games. It would be safe to say a large majority of online ‘communities’ would assume every person they meet online, regardless of avatar gender, is male. Why? Because these communities, until very recently (maybe 5 to 10 years ago), were only male. It was often a rare occurrence that you run into a girl. (does he meaning gaming sites in particular?)

These ‘facts’ combined give birth to the rampant misogynistic trolling on the Internet. Most females who use the voice chat on Xbox Live are told to “get back in the kitchen to make sandwiches.” The term ‘raped’ is sometimes used to rub in a brutal defeat in online games. To the women who read this: Yes, it’s crude and offensive. No, you’re not the only ones who are targeted by trolls. If you are Jewish, you will be trolled. If you are Black, you will be trolled. If you are Asian, you will be trolled. If you are gay, you will be trolled. If you exist on the Internet, you will be trolled. No ifs, buts, or maybes.

In fact, trolling has become so widespread that these offensive statements have often lost meaning to the ‘inhabitants’ of the Internet. When a gamer is told he got “raped”, he doesn’t get the immediately interpret the horrid meaning of the word. He just sighs dejectedly at his defeat, and gets on with his life. Sexist jokes are frequently made in bad humour, not just online, but in real life. The vast range of black comedy that stems and is used by trolls have stopped being limited to the Internet. You may scoff in disgust, wondering when you’ve ever done something so offensive, but when was the last time you’ve laughed at a “That’s what she said!” joke?

Contrary to what Kate Monster says, the Internet is not a pleasant place. You cannot make it a pleasant place. It is a cesspool of humanity’s worst aspects. It is a black hole, and that will only keep sucking things in. My only advice to avoid being sucked in?

Don’t feed the trolls.

By Julia Schabas

Chilliwack, Kensington, Montebello, Mystique, Constable, Banff. Yes, it all sounds familiar doesn’t it? We’re talking about those dreaded (or perhaps not so dreaded) coats you see at every street corner in the city: the “true North strong and free” Canada Goose jackets.

The outerwear company was established in 1957 to outfit the scientists and researchers on expeditions to the North and South poles. The jackets, pants, hats, gloves – you name it – have been engineered to endure the bitter cold of the sub-sub-sub-zero weathers of the poles. And for some reason now, they have migrated in every direction all over the world.

On the Canada Goose website, they claim that “Canadians know cold weather – it’s part of our national identity.” Anyone who has seen or survived a Canadian winter can surely agree with the statement. We’ve seen snow days, slipped on the slush and ice, and heard the snow ploughs trudging down our streets at 6 AM; we all know winter very well.

It’s interesting though, how when we were younger, it really seemed that no one wanted to dress warmly. Think of all those times you fought with your parents, arguing over wearing that ugly red hat with the pom-pom on top. We wanted to brave the cold, to show how tough and invincible we were. Well, our childhood is over, and we’ve given up on those days of fearlessness. We’re finally listening to our parents, and putting on those layers of sweaters and scarves – or maybe just the one layer of the Canada Goose jacket.

“What I love most about my Goose,” says grade 11 Lily Ljubicic, “is how warm and soft it is.” Once you’ve tried on a Goose, it’s hard to disagree. The down lining just sucks you right into its warmth, and the fleece-lined pockets are to die for. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past two winters, or just don’t pay attention as you walk down the street, these jackets are everywhere. It’s hard to turn a street corner or people-watch outside the school without seeing one. In every shape and colour, the flocks of Goose have splattered all over the world.

“It’s funny seeing strangers on the street wearing the same colour as you,” says Lily, “because you awkwardly stare each other down to see who’s wearing the coat better.” The jackets come in a whole assortment of colours; from brown to summit pink, iceberg, and even sand; Canada Goose has got you covered on the colour front. Although it is a pretty funny sight to see a whole line of girls and guys all wearing the same black coloured jacket, which seems to be the most popular colour choice.

There comes a point, however, where teenagers are just buying these expensive jackets not just as a source of warmth, but as a status symbol. Of course it’s important to stay warm, but teens are also losing their sense of creativity, and just going along with the status quo. Not that there is anything wrong with going with the flow, but do you really want to be wearing the same coat as your boyfriend? Your best friend? Your mom? Your entire English class?

Besides, our parents grew up without these fancy, engineered coats, and I’m sure the odds of them suffering from hypothermia because of the lack of a ridiculously warm coat are slim to none. The coats also range from about $300 to $625, which can easily make a large dent in our parents, or our own wallets. Why not put that money towards post-secondary education, or put into your savings?

As we deal with the increasing stats of homelessness, warmth is simply becoming a privilege, and not a right. In this day and age, it should be turned around. So for those of you who got a Canada Goose jacket over the holidays, not just because of its immense warmth, but so that you can fit in with your friends, that’s not really something worth being toast[y] to.

By Jessie Peng

You’re drenched in sweat as you clench last week’s calculus test in your hands. The red pen mark is etched into the paper: 16/20. You furiously punch it into your calculator: 80%. You’re a little disappointed. You pulled half an all-nighter to study for that test, went in for extra help, and even peeked a bit at Bobby’s paper beside you.  Bobby turns to you, sees your mark, and smirks. You brush it off. But his next words are what get to you most. “Aw shucks, an Asian fail, guess your parents are taking out the bamboo stick tonight.”

The person described in this scenario may not necessarily be you (especially if you have blond hair and green eyes), but the Asian stereotype should not have come as a surprise. In today’s education system, the Asian stereotype has come to define the “ideal” student: she’s motivated, hardworking, has a 99% average, is a human calculator, and is wanted by universities from across the country.  But just when you think that being labeled an overachiever is a compliment, think again.

In the November issue of Maclean’s, an article titled “Too Asian?” criticized the high Asian population at top-tier institutions such as UofT and UBC, claiming that the strong work-ethics and competitive attitudes of its Asian students have deterred many elite, private-schooled Caucasian students from attending. It went on implying that Asians are “segregated from mainstream campus life” as they prioritize academics over “social-interaction, athletics, and self-actualization,” goals that a Caucasian student would aim for.

Having said this, why has the Asian race become so synonymous with words such as “nerd” and “geek”?

One explanation behind the stereotype is that Asians, most having immigrated to Canada within only the last twenty years, have been pressured by socio-economic reasons to work hard. In a new country, and in the face of discrimination, the only way to gain status, recognition, and merit would be through obtaining high academic achievements, and in turn, a well-paying job. Or as Tracy He, a grade 12 student puts it, “Competition arises as Asians all know that we have to study to be successful…unlike some private school kids, we don’t have inheritances or trust-funds to rely on.”

Another theory is that due to Canada’s high immigration standards, Asian parents who come are usually highly-educated, and most likely expect the same from their children. “Getting here was not easy. My parents had to study a lot to be able to come here, so the least I can do is bring home a good report card. At the same time, we don’t have bamboo sticks at home…I do what I do out of self-motivation,” says Jenny Peng, another grade 12 NT student.

Obviously, with a timetable bombarded with demanding courses like enriched English, three maths, and physics, there’s little time left to organize a club, let alone make hockey practices three times a week. And that applies to everyone, not just to Asians. The problem here is that because majority of the students facing this hectic course-load happen to be Asian, Asians have become falsely labeled as being “socially awkward” as well.

However, Sabrina Ren, a grade 12 student, goes perfectly against this “socially awkward” title. While maintaining an average well over 90%, she’s also managed to juggle editing for Graffiti and Pentagon, orienting new students as a P.A.L.s leader, and designing for the fashion show, just to name a few. “Marks are really important to me, but I know it’s possible to do extra-curriculars at the same time. It’s just a matter of time-management.”

It’s undeniable that Asians are very academically focused, and are heavily populated at institutions such as UofT. But the ultimate question now arises: at NT, how much does this unspoken racial dilemma affect our university decision?

“Not at all,” says Jenny. “UofT is competitive, but at a university ranked in the top 20 world-wide, that sort of competition is inevitable. I don’t think Asians have anything to do with it. I think that some of us are simply intimidated by the intense competition, and are trying to find a scapegoat for it. And at majority of the student body, why not pick the Asians?”

Tracy agrees. “Ideally, I’d love to leave home and see what’s beyond, but coming from a racially-diverse city like Toronto, I know a lot of Asian students pick UofT because it’s easier for their families. I’m sure UofT can be just as much of a party school; it all depends on what your priorities are. You shouldn’t choose based on generalizations.”

Sabrina adds a similar input, “I’d love to keep doing the activities that I’m doing now, and that shouldn’t matter whether it’s at UofT or at Western.”

In the end, all three students come to one consensus: their university decisions will rely little on the demographics of the school, and more so on factors such as geographic location, program highlights, unique extra-curricular opportunities, and scholarships.

“UofT is competitive,” says Jenny, “But every school will have its ups and downs. The important thing is to not let one smudge ruin the bigger picture.”

By: Zachary Bader-Shamai

Ok, so for those of you who know the reference of the title, this article is not about Brian Wilson and his filthy (but in a good way) playoff beard. This article will express my feelings about facial hair and in particular what needs to improve from a Movember standpoint at NT. So what exactly is Movember? I’m sure a lot of people are still asking themselves this, if they’re not entirely curious as to what Movember is. It is the month of November, but Mustachified! Although I am sure you all saw the beautiful mustaches sported by some of our male staff members, I want to express the details that got left out about Movember.

The goal of Movember is to raise awareness and funds to help cure testicular cancer. In Canada alone, testicular cancer will affect 1 in 6 men. It is the most common cancer to affect Canadian men and will be the cause of 4,400 deaths this year alone. This lack of awareness amongst the student body I put on myself. Although Movember has existed since 2003, this was the first year I had heard of it, and I immediately wanted to run a few events, but out of a lack of time, nothing came to fruition. Some lovely gentlemen still took part in Movember in the form of mustache growers or for those who cannot grow mustaches (cough* yours truly *cough) did a no-shave-November.

So I just want to say thank you to all of the male students who grew mustaches or beards to support Movember. To finish this point I want to send a quick message to whom ever is the BAA prez next year – November comes quick, and if you are not prepared, it will pass you by in a flash, so plan for next year and make it a Movember to remember.

Now on to a different issue- Pogonophobia, which is otherwise known as a fear of beards. This part of the article is for the Norsewomen out there reading this article with a grimace on their faces due to facial hair. What exactly is so bad about facial hair? Let’s look at this question philosophically. Sigmund Freud said that religion and the idea of God for that matter are based on a longing for a father figure. Having established this idea, let’s now look at the majority of Norsewomen at NT. It’s say to be safe that the majority of these Norsewomen have a father who loves them and whom they love in return. Let’s go even further and assume that at some point in these Norsewomen’s young lives, their fathers have sported some sort of facial hair. Now let’s recap: the majority of Norsewomen at NT having loving fathers, who at some point in their lives have sported facial hair, and a father figure (according to Freud) is Godly. Unless my calculations are incorrect, there should be more Norsewomen digging the beards and staches of our Norsemen (unless they are atheist). Clearly this is not an exact science, but in the off chance that my theory makes sense to any Norsewomen reading this, I would then like to finish by saying this: my name is Zachary Bader-Shamai, I am currently growing a beard and I am currently single…Ladies… wink wink nudge nudge