WHO: United Nations Development Program at UofT

WHAT: Their first general meeting

WHEN: Thursday, January 26, 2012 from 3-5pm

WHERE: Hart House South Dining Hall

For more information go to: http://www.facebook.com/events/212639118825261/

This is a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same. In the late 1940s, you could go to the Bank of Nova Scotia on the northeast corner of Spadina and Bloor, and then cross the street to buy some candy. In 2012, you can do the same thing!

As always, thank you to all of our bloggers and readers for your ongoing dedication.  Leah and I hope you all had a wonderful break and are looking ahead to the new year.

We are always looking for new bloggers as well as vloggers.  If you are interested in either, please email us at contact@blogut.ca.  As you will have noticed, we have updated the layout of the blog so let us know what you think in the comment section below!

All the best in the year to come,

Leah and Ally

Co-Editors

Dear New Year’s Eve:

I would really, honestly love to believe that you are going to be a wonderful, magical night of fun and partying with friends, that will culminate with a perfect countdown to midnight, the jovial tone of all of which will amount to my having a simply tremendous year.

However, I have been alive for 19 long, eventful years and in those years I have acquired some deep, extensive wisdom (read: absolutely none). Unfortunately, I have, in the more recent of those years, come to see you for what you really are, New Year’s Eve. When I was young, I would watch TV and see all the fun people appeared to be having in New York City, while watching special episodes of all sorts of shows depicting how exciting it was to ring in a new year. Now, I see how wrong those shows were.

I have yet to experience a New Year’s Eve that has lived up to the confetti-filled, tacky sunglasses, champagne, fancy outfits, kindled romances, all smiles image of the evening that I was educated in back in the day. My New Year’s Eves have consistently disappointed: unless you get on guest list 15 months in advance (slight exaggeration), be prepared to spend your midnight standing in line in the cold outside a mediocre club or bar. I have tried the messy house party, and I’ve even tried a hockey game. Yet ever year I’ve brought in the New Year tired, cold, and disillusioned. Every year, it’s “where are we going to go?” every day up until the actual day, and then on that day, it’s the hunt for something to do, and it’s snowing, and “what am I go to wear?”, and the self-evident cynic in me just questions why I bother, year after year. I go out a lot of nights in a given year; and on most of those nights, I will enjoy myself. But the only magic of New Year’s Eve for me is its apparent curse.

In the moment, it’s exciting. I will give you that, New Year’s Eve. That countdown leading up to midnight, and midnight itself, brings a bit of a flutter to my heart. But after a minute or so of celebrating that, it’s January 1^st, and I’ve had my fill.

Now there’s an entire movie, featuring approximately 600 celebrities (no exaggeration this time), dedicated to the cause of continuing the myth of the wonders of this night. I’m sure there are many people out there who enjoy their New Year’s Eve, such as all those celebrities most likely, but for myself and any other skeptics who feel gypped by New Year’s Eve, I thought I would put this out there. New Year’s Eve, come on. Step your game up.

Most sincerely,

A New Year’s Eve Cynic.

(I also go by Danielle.)

We have the second official teaser for the University of Toronto Lip Dub. Check it out below and let us know what you think:

Your students love printing out your powerpoint slides. They offer a great scaffold for our note taking and save a lot of stress when studying. However, a great many of you do not know how to design efficient slides that not only transmit what we have to memorize for the midterm but also save us money on paper and ink.

Example 1: White backgrounds are our friends

The BAD slides have a dark background which sucks ink out of our cartridges at home. It also makes the paper heavy and warped, making us feel guilty when we look at it.

Example 2: Meaningful slides are key

Notice how useless the figure is. All that it is meant to tell us that there are many disease causing mutation in our genome. Was it really necessary to have this diagram pollute our already over saturated minds?

Example 3: Slide count matters!

I don’t care how long the lecture is but if your presentation has over 50 slides then there is something wrong with your approach. Remember, students print multiple slides per page (usually six) and double sided, so aim for your total slide count to add up to no more than 5 pieces of paper.

Example 4: Free your mind from lines

NEWSFLASH: Nobody likes having those lines next to slides. They serve no purpose and just take up more paper. Having six slides per page is much more logical and earth-friendly.

I can feel it in the air – that distinct sense of shifting, as students are handing in their last essays and attending their last few lectures; the end of the semester is finally approaching, and as usual, it looks gruesome. The exam period – not only the actual writing of the tests, but the process of studying – overnights at Robarts, rewriting and rereading, cue cards, highlighters, coffee, sweatpants, snow, slouching – is just around the corner. It’s not a pretty time for U of T students, but it’s always laced with the comforting knowledge that winter break, that brief pause in our otherwise non-stop academic year (pardon me – there was that oh-so-satisfying “micro reading week”) where we might do a bit reading for year-long courses, but mostly can sleep, breathe, eat, and do all those other things that normal, non-U of T students do regularly and might consider, in fact, necessary to human survival.

I’m hoping to maintain my peace of mind during exam season this year, and while I know those moments of panic are unavoidable, there are certainly a lot of opportunities on campus for students to relax and defeat the stress plague, if only momentarily.

Hart House offers a variety of programs to soothe the stressed student:

• Massage Mondays – Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like. Free massages, because U of T knows – you deserve it.
• Lunchtime Crafts – Personally, I find arts and crafts to be really relaxing – though, of course, I have never produced anything presentable. Distract yourself with a little A&C, and who knows, maybe you will produce a great work!
• ThursTeas – Enjoy a warm cup of tea at Hart House while chatting with some new friends or reading a (non-school related, perhaps) book.
• Let Shakespeare distract you with the production of Macbeth playing at Hart House Theatre until November 26.
• Jazz at Oscars – This free event every Friday night brings all sorts of different music to the Hart House Arbor Room. Be entranced by live music to distract yourself from stress. The monthly Sunday concert in the Great Hall might also be of interest.

It’s difficult for students to keep up exercising during exam time, but sometimes going to the gym is exactly what you need to wake you up and keep you studying productively. Both the Athletic centre and Hart House offer a wide variety of drop-in fitness classes. The AC has free yoga among its repertoire, certainly a relaxing pastime.

The Multi-Faith Centre offers a variety of yoga and meditation courses over the term, designed to help you relax and find peace of mind.

The Angela Grauerholz exhibit is still on the University of Toronto Art Centre until November 26, and the centre remains open until December 10, for your perusing pleasure. Take your mind off exams by taking a brief tour through this great U of T resource.

Every Friday night at Innis Café, story tellers come deliver tales for “1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling”, a tradition which has been running since 1978. A well-told story could be just the right thing you need to wind down and distract yourself from the looming stress of exams. Innis Town Hall also has inexpensive movies playing throughout the exam period, which may also serve as a welcome distraction.

Exam period is one I clearly characterize as bleak, but I think there are definitely ways to limit your stress. You do yourself a disservice by climbing under a pile of books in a library for a week and not facing the light of day until you are forced to enter the outside world in order to walk to your exam destination. Taking some time during the exam period to not study for exams will make the time you spend studying all the more productive. It’s always a pleasant feeling to realize that the world is going on when you feel like it’s ending, so allow yourself to bear witness to that comforting truth by taking a break. Whether it’s a yoga class, or just a walk around our beautiful campus, indulge yourself this exam period, if only for a moment.