As expected, the G20 has taken over the Twittersphere the past week with users from all ages and walks of life, tweeting about the happenings downtown. Some (okay many) expressed their displeasure and outrage of what went down during the G20, provided live updates, and others even used Twitter to organize protests. So…where were you during the G20 weekend? Did you catch any of the protests? Were you a protester yourself? Let us know!

SexyDragon (a.k.a. Yang) is back with another video in which he is running around Toronto in a banana costume. Why? A banana is white on the inside and yellow on the outside — this is how some people describe Asians who are so-called “white-washed.” Yang wants to emphasize how silly it is to label people this way, by being an actual banana!

Ah, the last day of the 2010 U.T.S.U election! It’s been quite an exciting time at U of T these past few days as our campus has been filled with orange, green, pamphlets, solicitors, music, and why yes, even scandal! At around the same time last year, I wrote a blog post that described my pretty shameful lack of knowledge about the election, campaign slates, and the U.T.S.U in general and so I promised myself that this year, I’d get myself a little more involved…actually take the to learn about each side’s platform, and why yes, even chat with a few of the candidates and campaigners that we try so hard to avoid on our way to Sid Smith (I know, right?)! And this wasn’t one of those things that I said I would do but wouldn’t actually…I’ve actually been pretty involved this election campaign. I know what each slate stands for, watched the debates, actually knew the people I voted for (and didn’t just use the innie, minnie, mynie, moe trick), and omg even read The Varsity for the first time in a very, very long time.

This is not actually me.

But here’s the thing. I’m a student and I’m a commuter. And though I’ve educated myself about both Change and Stronger Together’s campaign platform, I still feel there’s this sort of disconnect between myself and U.T.S.U. I’ve spoken to many commuters about this same issue and almost 100% of them share the same sentiments. True, this wasn’t a scientific poll and I really only talked to maybe 20 student commuters out of the thousands at U of T, but something tells me that this is a pretty general feeling. I honestly don’t see how some of these things affect me in any direct or tangible sense. The closest thing that might is probably the discount on TTC metropasses (amazing feat btw). But I don’t even buy a TTC metropass. It still comes out to be more expensive for me personally than to just buy tokens. And okay fine, fighting to reduce fees is incredibly important but I’m graduating in a year (fingers crossed) and this probably won’t happen anytime soon so once again, irrelevant and not applicable to me…

Don’t get me wrong, I care about this school and I’m incredibly proud to be a part of it but I can’t help shake the feeling that there is and might always be this unbridgeable discord between us. And with all these candidates constantly talking my ear off about how I matter…how they’re going to make student life better…and how this is our U of T and that they can and will make a difference…I find myself questioning all these broad, sweeping, and optimistic claims.

Anyway, just thought I’d give my thoughts and hopefully a different perspective. Here’s hoping that the slate I voted for will bridge that gap for my last and final year at U of T and really, make a change

jhr’s (Journalists for Human Rights) annual human rights magazine, SPEAK, is looking for article submissions! The theme of Speak this year is “Human Rights in New Media” so if you have written or would like to write a piece that is of or related to this topic, you can send it over to davidkumagai@gmail.com. This is an absolutely great opportunity to have your work published in a widely read and well-established publication so do not miss out!

Check out last year’s edition of SPEAK magazine here.

After two days of one of the most hotly contended UTSU elections in recent memory, I bring you some preliminary results – that are COMPLETELY UNSCIENTIFIC AND INFORMAL OF COURSE !!! (thanks, CRO) – but interesting nonetheless. The Sexual Education Centre has received permission from the CRO to conduct a poll of voters by inviting them to choose coloured condoms representative of the slate of candidates they support. One of the organizers of the COMPLETELY UNSCIENTIFIC AND INFORMAL poll offered to share them with yours truly after the post written yesterday and my speculation that with more data I might have a future writing for the OkCupid blog. (SEC had decided that everyone would have access to their collected data, regardless of their election affiliation.)

The numbers are in and to heighten the suspense I’m going to post them after the jump! (more…)

This weekend on March 5th and 6th, the students of the University of Toronto International Health Program (UTIHP) hosted the Health and Human Rights Conference at the J.J.R. MacLeod Auditorium. Gathering a smorgasbord of scholars, professionals, thought-leaders, and concerned and socially-conscious youth, the HHRights Conference was a two day affair that sought to tackle the crucial but highly problematic issue of international aid and development. Asking hard questions about the current impact of aid, its current flaws, and potential solutions, the event generated truly thought-provoking and insightful discussions and conversations. Some highlights include:

1. Opening performance of “Broken Land – A Song for Haiti” by JC and Karim.

I have no idea who these guys are (fellow U of T students, I presume) but what a way to start the conference! A soulful performance with equally riveting lyrics that set the mood for the rest of the evening. Have a listen to the song here…

2. Opening Keynote presented by George Roter

Engineers without Borders Co-founder and Co-CEO George Roter kick started the event by sharing his experiences during his time in various African countries, drawing the link between the rather abstract theme of aid and development to its human connection. After all, as he said, the conference is “about these human beings living in extraordinarily challenging conditions who want to see change for the better”. With a brief history of the development of aid and highlighting specific thought starters, George set the context for the conference reminding the audience that “we need to go beyond the idea of charity and start thinking about [aid] as opportunity, as partnership”.

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I just thought that something like this would be amusing to write considering that I’ve been going through several weeks of non-stop total exhaustion all thanks to my courseload of 6 courses. Without further ado, here are 10 things that all or at least most of you should relate to if you are, in fact, a student at university. (more…)