It's Business Time, UTSC style

We all know them. Those dark, mysterious creatures with the aura of self awareness encapsulating them. They have a swagger in their walk, a shine on their shoes and a glint in their eyes. No, I am not referring to campus security. I refer to one of UTSC's most formidable entities, 'The Management Student.' We've all seen them sauntering through the hallways in their suits, ready to impress the pants off any unsuspecting audience.

This is a tad on the dramatic side but there is an element of truth to the matter. From my personal experience, for a Management student any opportunity to wear a suit is a good one.

No offense to my home-boys in the Arts (sorry Med kids I don't interact with any of you) but you need to take a leaf out of the Management book.

Being the President for SIFE (and not being bias in any way, promise) I decided maybe I best tackle the topic of evaluating the presence of Management club. Our contenders are MESA, DECA, TMG, IS and SIFE.  Here's the breakdown:

MESA: Management and Economics Student Association  http://www.mesa.ca

Purpose: "MESA is mandated to represent the academic and program-related concerns of students in Management, as well as to provide programming, activities, and other events relevant and of interest to students."

Impact: MESA helps all the bright-eyed first year students to get involved and active on campus. They have a lot of well-organized and executed events which do add some flavour to the UTSC club scene. 

Following: Everyone and their grandmothers in Management know about this club. The only downer is that it is obviously not inclusive to students from other disciplines. 

DECA  http://www.decautsc.ca

Purpose: "To foster a truly unique and personalized experience for every member of DECA UTSC through a focus on the development of professional and personal skills that are transferable to their future careers."

Impact: Based on my investigation, DECA has one major case study competition which is the main focus of their activity, besides workshops. DECA seems to have a really committed exec team that are still holding a table in the IC lobby; that's commitment! 

Following: Lots of people join DECA based on knowing the organization from high school. A few people in the past have stated that if they were not a part of the competition, which was a little pricey expense wise, they felt a little disconnected. 

Investment Society  http://www.investmentsociety.ca

Purpose: "Investment Society @ UTSC provides opportunities to gain knowledge about investments and finance through interactive workshops and seminars and an open platform and network for students who are interested in finance."

Impact: Pretty interactive workshops coupled with plenty of partnerships with other clubs makes investment society a very active campus group. Also a very clear goal helps to add to a consistent following.

Following: Strong following since most members stick around for long periods of time. Slightly more inclusive than other clubs since they teach financial skills as oppose to expecting a preexisting knowledge base.  

When anyone says it is 'business time' this always plays in my head.

The Marketing Group  https://www.facebook.com/TMGatUTSC?fref=ts

The Marketing Group (TMG)

Purpose: "Providing the UTSC student community and faculty with a feasible way to learn about Marketing and Consumer Engagement. The events and initiatives thrown will be designed to teach students about all forms of Marketing."

Impact: New group thus has the disadvantage of no legacy, but gosh I am a fan of whoever their graphic designer is! The pink sheep to me is genius. They say the marketing people are the party management people. If so, making their presence known should be no problem. 

Following: 133 likes on Facebook is the only source I can quote.

SIFE/ ENACTUS UTSC  http://www.sifeutsc.org,

https://www.facebook.com/groups/54098756369/

Purpose: "SIFE is an international non-profit organization that brings together student leaders to create a better, more sustainable world through the positive power of business. Conducts projects fulfilling the criterion of helping people, the planet and generating profit."

Impact: Relatively low on-campus impact but is striving to change that. Hoping to spread the word about their name change this November (ENACTUS).  

Following: Mid-size exec team of 30 and in and out volunteers. Unlike other clubs there is no position for general members, which means the team itself is a tight-knit group. 

Conclusion: Management groups are more goal orientated and in my opinion very well organised but non-inclusive. Sigh. Tell me the Studio Art major with all the Accounting/Economics majors to boss around. 

If a group you know of has not been mentioned feel free to let me know in the comments section!


This week's SWAG SIGHTING contestant is......

This man knows when business time is..

Name: Taylor-James Esch
Year: 2nd
Major: Specialist in Astrophysics (My brain went numb in awe)
Verdict: The man dresses like a rockstar but he's cooler because he's an astrophysicist. I mean there is a juxtaposition of of a tool belt and a vest, with that hair to boot. Needless to say this is my favourite swag entry so far.

Enough fan-girl-ing for today.

Stay beautiful UTSC

Zarish

The High-Tech World of UTSC

Just by being a member of U of T, you’re eligible for tons of free and discounted software and hardware. From my experience, few people know about these services. Today, you can consider yourself one of the lucky ones.

First, UTSC’s IITS provides tech-related information and links to software downloads. For free, you can download an app that allows you to print wirelessly to campus printers from your personal computer. The days of waiting furiously to get a library computer—needing to print an assignment for a class at two o’clock when it’s one fifty already, and there’s some insensitive lowlife watching The Big Bang Theory on the campus computer (“Why can’t he just go home to watch this,” you’re asking yourself, your legs now turning inwards from impatience like you need to pee), and then when you finally get a free computer having to log in which takes another five minutes and your head is hot with anger, and the collective noise of the library, similar in decibel and pitch to that of a Chuck-E Cheese’s at high noon, is making things even worse here for you—well, those days are over.

Also from IITS, you can download for free a Firefox add-on that searches the UTSC Intranet Directory and an installer that properly configures Skype for use with the campus network. From IITS you can download more free software, such as Microsoft Security Essentials (antivirus) and Cisco Jabber (a video conferencing client). IITS also lists recommended specs for a computer for university use.

U of T’s Licensed Software Office allows you to purchase software at special negotiated prices, right from the site (you’ll need to do this on a campus computer). The shipping is also free. The selection includes software useful for classes, such as Statistics and Mathematics packages, as well as software useful for general computing, like Adobe Acrobat, 7-Zip, or antivirus software.

Of course, the U of T bookstore sells software at student prices, including Adobe Photoshop CS6 (only $199; normally over three times that) and Microsoft Office applications. As for hardware, the bookstore promises to beat the prices of any other Apple dealers in the GTA.

Dell offers prices specific to U of T students, promising up to 30% in U of T member program savings and an exclusive financing offer. Go to dell.ca/mpp and use the member ID 2146522 when you check out.

Most of these offers were well-hidden in U of T’s family of websites. These were all that I could find. If there are more hidden goodies out there, in the sprawling complexes of U of T’s online world, leave a tip in the comments.

Getting Out of Your Shell

When you think back to your first year of university you probably think about how the first couple months were the toughest. If you weren't lucky enough to have at least a couple friends to join you from your high school you probably remember eating lunch alone in the library or the student centre pretending to do work so you seem like you're doing something important and can't be bothered. When in reality, it was just hard for you to first step out of your shell and meet new people. If you are a first year reading this, I'm here to tell you that it's completely normal and I believe it's actually a part of the transition into university!

University is a completely different atmosphere from high school. New people, new place, new schedules and to top it all off you have classes of over 500 people. It's no wonder it's so hard for most of us to step out of our shells. Another thing about university is that there aren't many "cliques" like high school, everybody is just trying to find their place.

You first years already have a step above all your peers because you go to UTSC. One of the main reasons I chose to come here was that there aren't a lot of people compared to other big name universities. As you walk through the halls you become familiar with faces of people that are in your program and it becomes like some sort of family.

So, the point of this post? I'm going to give you ways that you can meet new people and hopefully step out of your shell because, let's face it, everyone is looking to meet new people and make new friends during their first year. Just be confident and smile. Some of my suggestions might be obvious but not enough people do them.

Volunteer: This is the one thing that is always and will always be available for you. All you need to do is find some events happening and talk to someone. I can't stress enough how important it is to actually talk to someone instead of just messaging them. It makes a world of a difference.

Join/Start new clubs: This is the easiest way to get your voice heard and get people to notice you.

Stay at school: I've seen too many people go straight home after their classes are done. Now this may be convenient but how are you going to meet new people and find out about opportunities on campus just by being there for classes? I can't tell you how many new people I've met just by going to the gym after class or going to the library to get some work done.

And lastly,

Just smile: Being polite and introducing yourself is probably the easiest and most effective way to meet somebody new. And as long as you're polite about it, you'll definitely feel a lot better at the end of the day.

If you have any other tips for people having troubles stepping out of their shells let me know in the comments section below!

Until next week,

Peace and love. 

Peace and Chicken Grease: At UTSC's very own Rex's Den

Let’s be rational here; university students are probably NOT the ideal population group to review restaurants. By definition alone, we’re incapable of giving an unbiased opinion about food retailers. Why? Pray tell?

BECAUSE WE ARE ALWAYS HUNGRY! We’re surviving on extra large double/doubles, scrounging up leftovers out of sketchy looking tupperware, adding up every last dime and quarter to buy beer   juice, and munching on week-old pizza crusts. We couldn't possibly turn down a hot meal (well, maybe if there were a tooth in it or something), and would probably go so far as to actually PAY for one, provided our budget allowed it, or more accurately, provided we were willing to forego little luxuries like water and Tylenol for the next week or so. How then, are we supposed to sit down, order a meal that ISN'T engineered by Kraft Foods or Great Value, and manage to be critical about it in between inappropriately sized bites and  ginormous gulps of  beer   iced tea?

Well, turns out it is possible. I took a crack at it. Oh, speaking of me, (yes, I not-so-subtly steered this spectacularly one-sided conversation towards myself as soon as I could) I’m Maha. I’m a 4^th year Environmental Science & International Development major. I’m almost out of here, so naturally I've taken to speaking my mind freely and perhaps a tad more obnoxiously than usual. I love UTSC, creepy buildings and all, and it’s an honour to be able join the Pulse team and take this opportunity to write about various aspects of our little Scarborough community.  I journeyed down to our campus restaurant/bar Rex’s Den on Thursday evening, to check it out in a new light and hopefully come back with a few words to jot down about it. DISCLAIMER: this is not so much a review, as it is just a general observation. I've eaten there way too many times to be able to seem ‘shocked and awed’ about anything at this point, but I believe it’s important to put certain realities about our campus right out there. I suppose we could go so far as to call this a pros and cons type of deal.

Issue Numero Uno: Time.

My experience visiting the den has taught me to manipulate timings according to when I ACTUALLY want to eat. What this means is, that because I like to eat dinner at night, naturally, I need to get to Rex’s Den in the evening. It’s the only way to be able to finish my food without having to traipse out of there at closing time with half my burger hanging out of my mouth. When a friend and I walked in there Thursday evening, we were promptly seated by the hostess, and then promptly forgotten about. It took 19 minutes for a server to show up, only to tell us that she’d thought we’d been there for a long time and thus, didn't need a server at all. Yeah, I don’t get it either. We ordered immediately, (I didn't even scan the menu!) sat back, took our coats off, settled in. Pretty much everything you do when you’re getting ready for a long wait, short of signing a lease.

Issue Numero Dos:  Food

It’s simple; the food at Rex’s is good. It’s actually slightly more than good. Some of it’s great! The fries are delicious, the chicken is salmonella-free whilst also being tender, and the Coke tastes like Coke. Was it irritating that they were all out of straws? Yes. Was it irritating that I didn't get a napkin until AFTER I had a ketchup mustache  Yes. But the quality of what I scarfed down was high, and the server was friendly enough to have earned a decent tip. Well, not Four Seasons decent, Olive Garden decent.

Over the past 18 months, Rex’s den has undergone a major transformation. They've developed and refurbished a bar that supports a wildly stressed-out student population. Their menu changes regularly, but then, so do their chefs. It manages to maintain a zesty vibe by collaborating with campus partners and hosting events frequently. In the past two months alone, they've screened the American Election Debates, hosted poetry events for UTSC’s Queer week, and held private club events. Their staff suffers through some raging criticism about long waits and sub par service, but it’s been a crunch for them to manage the constant hiring demands. Their management is constantly criticized for being either over- or under-staffed. Result? The servers won’t be happy if they don’t get enough shifts to pay that phone bill, and the customers won’t be happy if they don’t get a napkin for their ketchup mustaches.

Food is a lot about politics. That’s what our campus’ food options battle through every year; financial issues with the SCSU, university rules and regulations, first-years barging in and out with resumes, so on and so forth. BUT IT’S (post) THANKSGIVING PEOPLE! The time has come to take that deep breath and be a little grateful about the fact that we even have a place to eat where we don’t have to hold the trays ourselves, and that we’re alive at all, and that we’re not at Ryerson, or York. Whoa, went WAY off topic there. Back on track, I think it’s safe to assume that most of us will take what we get, and continue to visit Rex’s, for the live music, the sweet potato fries, the soft booth seats that aren't so harsh on certain areas and lot’s more.

Eat well oh fair/medium/dark ones! (I don’t know how politically correct that was).

Peace and Chicken Grease UTSC.

Maha 

Being Queer at UTSC: An interview With Katherine Hele

Hello UTSC Students!  My name is Jakub Wasikiewicz (I know, but trust me, it’s better you just don’t bother trying to pronounce it for now), and I’ve just started writing for UTSC Pulse. I’m a second year English and Philosophy student, who considers himself lucky to be able to finally take apart the STUFF of UTSC.

To start with, I’d like to explore some of the people of UTSC. What makes us so special anyway? So for this week I’ve interviewed Kathering Hele, Outreach Executive of SC:OUT. Katherine talks to UTSC Pulse about the importance of having positive spaces on Campus, embracing the multicultural community of UTSC, and queer people being acknowledged and accepted on campus.

If you’d like to know more information about SC:OUT, as well as its events and volunteer opportunities, visit their website at www.scarboroughout.com.  You can also stop by their office, BV 334/336, to have some incredible discussions on the most comfortable couches on campus, guaranteed.

What do you have to do with SC:OUT ?

I am the outreach executive for SC:OUT so I am responsible for communicating between different groups with SC:OUT or different groups on and around campus.

How long have you had this position?

I was elected last semester – so since April – but I have been a member since my first year and I’m going into my third year right now.

So what’s your favourite thing about being a part of SC:OUT?

Well, there’s a couple things. One thing I really like doing is the events. I love our talent nights, they’re like my favorite thing. Probably because I get to perform, which everyone loves to do. But also because I get to see so many folks performing, and performing types of things that you don’t typically get to perform. So we have a lot of folks doing drag, or performing spoken word pieces that are gender related and related around orientation, things that people don’t always get to talk about. It is a fun night – you get to explore talent and that stuff – but it also starts discussions, so I really like it. And I also just really love being in the office space and having conversations with folks about issues, what’s going on and how we experience things and experience this campus and how we want to change it. 

What do you think SC:OUT  does for the school?

Well, yeah, definitely starting discussions. One of the things I think that we do that’s really important is collabing with other groups.  For example, we’re part of Open Dialogue so through that we have the opportunity to communicate in dialogue with people from the Muslim Student Association, The Bahá'í Association, various different Christian groups on campus, the Moral Atheists, and all these other groups. Also to provide a space on campus, a physical space for people who are LGBTQ and Allies where they can actually feel comfortable sitting with their boyfriend or girlfriend on a couch, or even being comfortable on campus, and for a lot of people those places are very few and far between.

Why do you think this space is so crucial?

As a queer person on campus there are very limited spaces on campus where I can sit and study and do my own thing without hearing people saying, “Oh that’s so gay,” or hearing people call friends a fag. I don’t want to deal with that every single day. And when I’m outside of this space, a lot of the time I do. It’s really important that we have a space where that’s not ok.

Also, there’s a number of folks on campus who don’t “pass.” I’m pretty lucky I pass pretty well. So for me it’s like, you know, as long as I don’t mention it, people aren’t going to say anything. But for some folks it’s very difficult for people to go around on campus and not have people say things to them, not have people treat them badly. So even having this physical space where socially and just physically you can exist, and be who you are, it’s really crucial for a lot of people. I mean, in a perfect world we wouldn’t need this place, because this whole campus would be a positive space. But the fact that is we do need it and we do have it. It’s a huge resource.

What do you mean by pass?

By pass I mean like, ok well, if you don’t pass more people are more likely to perceive you as being part of the LGBTQ community. It also applies to other marginalized groups as well, so like if you have a disability, if you are a person of colour, if you are part of a certain religion, or any other group that you’re affiliated with for which you can experience discrimination or oppression, if you can pass as being not part of that group, pass as being part of the privileged group, it’s a little bit different than if you can’t pass. Part of not passing would be for example, I had a girlfriend and I’m walking around holding her hand, [making it] fairly obvious that I’m not straight, then I wouldn’t be passing.

What would you like to see changed on campus?

Do you have six hours?

Name one thing.

OK, the biggest thing would be: our campus talks a lot about how diverse we are, and how we’re so accepting. 

Because we have a lot of folks that are, you know, people of colour, people of different races and religions and people of different background. And we embrace that and that’s a beautiful thing. I would like to see that extended to the LGBTQ community on campus, and to have people actually realize that we’re here.

A lot of folks, especially if you challenge them because they’re saying something that’s homophobic, transphobic, or queerphobic, will say, “Well, there’s no gay people here so it’s no big deal!” Well, number one when I’m saying that it’s kind of ironic, but it’s also incredibly inaccurate because we have a lot of people on campus that are part of the LGBTQ community and who deserve to be able to live their lives without having to feel like there’s something wrong with them on this campus. I mean we’re all university students in 2012, this should be basic stuff.

And how are you trying to break these barriers on campus?

Part of what SC:OUT is trying to do as an entity is increase our visibility. So, some of that is through events, through postering campaigns, through collaborating with other groups. I think that’s the best way to make ourselves visible, because if we hold events with other groups, then their members come and it passes through word of mouth.

Also we’re looking for more speakers to come and actually talk about things like intersexuality and how we reconcile religion and being queer, and how we reconcile different cultural backgrounds and being queer, and how you can still embrace these traditions that you hold true and still embrace queer folks as well. So honestly I think a lot of it’s education, and having discussions, having these discussions and a lot of it’s making people aware.

Finding Myself in the Graduate School Fair

So there I was. The gymnasium has been fashioned into a fairground of booths, like St. Lawrence Market with booklets and pens instead of trial-sized sausages and cheese. The fluorescent lighting bakes everything with a harsh orange glow. The people at the door make me swipe my student card into a scanner, maybe to make sure I’m not an imposter, and I’m pushed right in, into the battle.

There’s every graduate school imaginable. Dentistry, massage therapy, business administration, education, rehabilitation science, acupuncture, forestry, law, medicine, and more. It’s an all-out melee to get to the medical school booths, while the representatives for some of the more obscure schools look bored and lonely. I want to talk to them just to make their day, but don’t. I also walk quickly away when a representative from one of the dentistry schools starts to make a kilowatt smile in my direction.

I’m on a mission, after all.

I want very much to go to law school, to have the letters LL.B. behind my name. As far as any direction in my life goes, this is it. I want my neighbours to look at me and go, Wow, he’s a lawyer. I want my kids to boast about it on the school yard. Whether or not I’d enjoy being a lawyer is another question, to be asked only after I graduate from law school. No, it’s the prestige. That is what life is about.

In the fairgrounds I wander lost. There’s a map in the back, but I haven’t found it yet. The voices and the people criss-crossing through the aisles, and the scent of longing in the representatives, a smell something like Come here…please talk to me, or, for the ones in the medical school booths, Go away, are disorienting.  There are numerous aisles I walk up and down, like a shopping mall with humans instead of groceries. The cardboard backings of the booths extend into the sky. Voices and footsteps echo through the cavernous room. There’s not enough air circulation.

Finally I find the map, hidden in the weirdest possible place, and realize that I’d just walked past the law schools. I head over, my heart thumping.

I take some free pens, and flip through the literature while standing awkwardly back. The entrance requirements to U of T Law School make my stomach turn. I’m not sure if I’m sweating from the humidity or something else. I approach the other booths for the literature, careful to smile at the representatives while not making eye contact so that they won’t try to speak to me. I’ve heard it all before: oh, the hours you will work, the astronomical grades you will have to have, the LSAT which you’ll have to ace, the water you will have to walk on. But no pressure, they will say through giant polished teeth. I’m sure you can do it.

I’m walking up to the booth for U.K. law schools when the representative starts talking to me. “Hi,” he says.

“Hello,” I say. I try to keep glancing to the booklets so he’ll realize that I just want to take one and leave.

He says something miraculous. “No LSAT.” No LSAT? No undergraduate degree needed either. In the U.K. you can apply to law school straight out of high school, so they’d just look at your high school marks.

“And what kind of high schools marks would you need?” I ask.

“An 80 average.” He smiles. “Which you probably already have, because you’re at U of T, right?”

I nod. It seems very good. U.K. LLB degrees take three years, not four. The fees are lower or comparable to Canadian law schools, and getting accredited for practice in Canada is now “routine”.

I leave the graduate school fair with my options opened. I will still probably wait to get my undergraduate degree, but I have a plan B to fall on if I don’t get into a Canadian law school. The U.K. seems like a fine place, full of gorgeous architecture, sexy accents, and prestige. Lots of prestige. I might even adopt an English accent to go along with the letters after my last name—something else for my kids to sing about in the schoolyard.