Maria Cruz
Contributions
Never stop being curious
It’s fitting that one of our final articles of the year was a speech by Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale on the importance of...
Students are speaking. Listen.
A few weeks ago I was scrolling through Facebook and came across something rather disturbing. The Globe and Mail had posted a video regarding...
Defending fearless women
Just in case you haven’t heard of it yet, there’s a statue by McCann New York and its client State Street Global Advisors entitled,...
Don’t underestimate the comedian
Last week, I went to go see Jordan Peele’s Get Out. I knew a long time ago when I saw the trailer for it,...
UTSU adjusts its spring election dates
UTSU has decided to reschedule its spring elections after a dispute over the dates with UTMSU.
Following UTMSU’s online and in-print announcement of its spring...
It’s time to ditch superiority
When I was in high school, I remember sitting with my friends in my English class and talking about where we would be applying...
Current students will be shafted
Premier Kathleen Wynne attended a meeting with students in Kaneff to discuss the potential setbacks of offering all students free tuition.
While I understand that...
Respect for your fellow writer
Last week I attended a wonderful talk, which is part of the Literature Matters series taking place at U of T. Host Smaro Kamboureli...
Focusing on mental health
I’m sure that plenty of us have seen the commercials for Bell Let’s Talk this year on TV. Various celebrities and families discuss their...
Gloom replaced by comedy
Back in 2004, Lemony Snicket’s critically-acclaimed children’s books, A Series of Unfortunate Events, finally got the big screen attention it deserved. With A-list actors...
Living without an audience
Over the winter break, I watched a pretty insightful video of Simon Sinek on Inside Quest talking about millennials.
It’s tough to know where people...
Free speech isn’t an excuse
Our news section this week includes an article about a group called Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. They gave UTSU and UTMSU an F...
Women decide for themselves
For some, the word “abortion” holds more weight than it does for others. Some think the word is synonymous with death. Others think the...
Falling Angels (Barbara Gowdy)
My Canadian Fiction class with Brent Wood has produced some pretty challenging work. Not in terms of difficulty, but in terms of content. Falling...
Trump’s win will affect us all
I don’t even know where to start. Weeks before the actual election results came out, I had this overwhelming suspicion that Trump would take...
A needed change is coming
When I first came to this school, not a whole lot was being offered in terms of the English program when it came to...
The dangers of biased reporting
I feel like this horse has been beaten to death by now but I want to talk about Jordan Peterson.
Shockingly, I’ve had a few...
U of T’s unreachable hierarchies
It doesn’t take much to see just how much money students put into their unions and university. UTMSU is given $22.13 a semester. UTSU...
The importance of investigation
Running a paper gives the opportunity for several people throughout the year to come knocking on your door or calling the office with complaints....
Exposure to beauty standards
I wonder how many people will recognize the name Mara Wilson if I don’t mention what movies she’s been in. Some, of course, would...
A death certificate for creativity
I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to write another editorial on censorship so soon after my last one, but something grabbed my attention...
Aversion is no reason to censor
Headline: Ohio police post graphic photo of overdosed parents in SUV with four-year-old child in backseat
This story first broke out on September 9. For...
A new wave of journalism
It’s a strange thing to be a part of the newspaper industry this young. Disclosing my majors to people (english and professional writing and...
UTMSU announces departure of executive director, services manager
UTMSU has announced the departure of its executive director and services manager, effective next month.
In a memo released Thursday evening, UTMSU president Nour Alideeb...
A very (non)sentimental thank you
It’s been a long day. I think after spending, on occasion, as many as 14 hours in this office on a Sunday with school...
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (Xiaolu Guo)
Before joining my professional writing and communications class, Re-languaging: Writing Across Cultures and Languages, I had never heard of Xiaolu Guo. I’m aware that...
A healthy amount of comedy
When it comes to politics, I considered myself to be one of those ignorant millenials who didn’t really know too much about what was...
U of T colleges face off at Drama Fest
Hailey Mason
From February 10 to 14, Hart House Theatre and the U of T Drama Coalition hosted the U of T Drama Festival. The...
Greased efforts
It would be unfair of me to begin this review without mentioning my love for the original Grease. I know I was biased going...
Trigger warnings in the classroom
I want to talk for a moment about trigger warnings. Now, the article published last week in The Medium had some pretty good points...
A glimmer of hope for future grads
In my op-ed from a few months ago, I discussed the pros and serious cons of being an English and professional writing major. Despite...
A community of young writers
I know it’s been a while since I’ve written an op-ed, but I’m going to pretend my words were insightful enough for you to...
What are you going to do with that degree?
There really isn’t any way to defend myself when people ask, “What do you plan on doing with an English degree?” The answer, “To...
Online threats part of an ongoing issue
Writing any sort of criticism or opinion piece, especially as a journalist, is bound to get under someone’s skin. I’ve only ever been confronted...
Giving UTM’s radio station new life
If you were a UTM student back in the ’60s, CFRE was all the buzz as Erindale’s first radio station. But it had some...
Cruz Reviews: April trailers
WOMAN IN GOLD
Based on the true story of Holocaust survivor Maria Altmann, this flick tells the story of Altmann and her lawyer fighting the...
Dance festival finds its beat
Cheerleaders, salsa dancing, ballerinas, booty-shaking—the U of T Festival of Dance had it all. The 20th annual festival kicked off last Friday and stretched...
Good cause, subpar performances
It’s pretty rare that I attend an event I dislike so much there’s hardly anything positive for me to write about it, but alas,...
Student art right on the horizon of graduation
Many new beginnings come with spring; things slowly begin to come back to life and we can finally ditch our $300 winter jackets. For...
New spins on clichés
It’s rare to find a horror movie nowadays that doesn’t disappoint; clichés spring up, the villains aren’t anything new, and jump scares have become...
Student fashion show rocks Hart House
This year’s Rock on Runway fashion show by UTChinese was a huge improvement over what I heard of last year. The venue was larger,...
Grief’s hidden beauty
I am the kind of person whose emotions are based on what I see others doing. Unfunny movies become funny when I hear a...
A burst of Hindustani culture
Students lent their ears to Indian music and culture as part of “Sarang: A Series of South Asian Performing Arts” in the MiST last...
Diasporic family ties and the queer
It’s always nerve-wracking to have to tell your parents a secret, let alone when it’s about your sexuality. The U of T Sexual and...
The gruesome murder at Hart House
Hart House put on an entirely different kind of production for the end of the season. Rather than taking on another Shakespeare play, director...
Poets plough through Pump & Patio noise
UTM students eagerly piled into the Erindale Pump and Patio last Thursday for EDSS’s Poetry Night Live. Students sang, recited slam, danced, and stuffed...
A new ambassador for suicide prevention
Hope after Suicide: One Woman’s Journey from Darkness to Light is a novel by Wendy Parmley about her mother’s traumatic suicide when Parmley was...
Cruz Reviews: March trailers
CHAPPIE
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you to yet another movie in which a thinking, feeling robot is just a misunderstood being rather...
Film Festival doesn’t disappoint
When I went to the UTM Film Festival two years ago, technical difficulties failed to impress the crowd of about 10. This time around,...
Discovering UTM’s comfort zones
Comfort Zones is an upcoming event at Blackwood Gallery that takes a step back from the traditional style to bring viewers a more in-depth look...
Troubadours steal the drama festival
Hart House Theatre and the U of T Drama Coalition presented the 23rd annual U of T Drama Festival last week. The festival ran...
Poetry in motion
Slam poets Andre Prefontaine and Sabrina Benaim came to UTM earlier this month at a poetry masterclass EDSS held for students.
Prefontaine is a slam...
Just a shadow of Bob Dylan?
Is Bob Dylan’s new album a hit or a miss? The Medium’s Maria Cruz and Chris Antilope weigh in.
Maria Cruz: It's a wonderful personal look into...
The best of the best gather ’round
If you happened to be walking around the CCT atrium at 6 p.m. last Friday, you would have been greeted by a jazz trio...
No fluff in this play
In her second year back at the U of T Drama Festival, fourth-year student Laura McCallum has teamed up with fellow fourth-year Jaime Lujan...
Cruz Reviews: February Trailers
JUPITER ASCENDING
This sci-fi flick centres on the idea that alien heirs and heiresses are set to rule the residents of Earth and several other...
Divine voices, infernal show
It’s not every day you see Jesus in skinny jeans, but director Luke Brown brought exactly that to Hart House with his rendition of...
The psychology of a serial murderer
Currently in the production phase, EDSS TV’s latest film, Shattered, differs greatly from Dry on a Sunday, which they premiered in the Student Centre...
Grist comes and goes
Hilary Grist released Come and Go early last year in June. I’ve never heard of her before, but I didn’t mind this album. The...
Beloved Disney characters come to life
Disney Infinity, brought to us by Avalanche Software, is easily one of the most fun children’s games I’ve played in quite some time. Giving...
Cruz Reviews: January trailers
TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT
Marion Cotillard stars as Sandra, a woman who’s forced to take time off from work after suffering a nervous breakdown. However,...
Cruz Reviews: December trailers
SERENA
Based on the novel by Ron Rash, Serena tells the story of newlywed couple George (Bradley Cooper) and Serena Pemberton (Jennifer Lawrence). Together, they...
Exams are over and it’s the best time of the year
POTTED POTTER
Written and performed by BBC stars Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, this show condenses the entire Harry Potter series into a mere 70...
EDSS TV premieres stoner comedy
Last Monday, EDSS offered students Pepsi and popcorn in the Student Centre as well as a free seat at the premiere of their first...
Soul in a wide-brimmed hat
I don’t even know how to explain to you what it was like seeing Bob Dylan in concert. Last Monday, I took a girlfriend...
Support for students’ art
Stockpiled with student art, the Department of Visual Studies Student Society’s annual art sale took place on campus each afternoon last week. Migrating from...
Unknown talent takes the stage
I consider myself a creative writer who supports the arts and others like me who are just trying to get their names out there....
Cover songs that outdo the originals
At Spigel Hall for the Residence Arts Council coffeehouse last Wednesday, the room wasn’t too decked out and the lights were dim, but it...
The Tempest sails on rocky seas
Hart House Theatre’s second theatre production, The Tempest, drew a crowd that filled a little less than half the theatre for its third night,...
Hutton comes back to Hart House
Next week, Shakespeare’s The Tempest will be playing at Hart House as the theatre’s second play of the season. The play tells the story...
Put down the pen, pick up a broken pencil
With NanoWrimo beginning once again this November, writers everywhere will be immersed in cranking out as much as they can before the end of...
Cruz Reviews: November trailers
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Based on the life of Stephen Hawking, The Theory of Everything follows the physicist’s (Eddie Redmayne) life as a young student...
Our own Halloween cult classics
I’m not going to pretend that on Halloween I don’t ditch every party (not that I necessarily get invited but that’s besides the point),...
Taking on darker projects
EDSS TV was created earlier this year in March by Siddharth Singh, this year’s president of the English and Drama Student Society, who observed...
On being one with your character
The Medium sat down with Matt Gilgenbach to talk about the newly released Neverending Nightmares, a video game about his real-life mental health struggles.
The...
New kind of horror
Neverending Nightmares, a game created by Matt Gilgenbach, takes players into the terrifying world of mental illness—specifically Gilgenbach’s real-life nightmares associated with his OCD...
Cruz Reviews: October trailers
ONE CHANCE
Based on the true story of Paul Potts (James Corden), the 2007 winner of Britain’s Got Talent, One Chance follows the life of...
Reading between the spaces
U of T’s John Ricco is an associate professor of contemporary art, media theory, and criticism. His work focuses on Jean-Luc Nancy’s philosophies of...
Destined to survive its flaws
After having departed from Halo, Bungie has introduced a new game, Destiny, which has broken records by bringing in over $50 million since its...
Wilde first night at Hart House
Tackling a play by one of the best-known writers of all time, director Cory Doran offered audiences his rendition of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance...
Age is just a number
I won’t lie—when I read that Leonard Cohen was coming out with a new album, I was pretty sure everyone was wrong. I thought...
Changing their sound
It’s hard to say for sure if The Kooks fans will recognize the band’s new sound on Listen, but frontman Luke Pritchard did warn...
Craig Cardiff | Love Is Louder (Than All This Noise) Part...
Love Is Louder (Than All This Noise) Part 1 & 2 is an album inspired by a project that Canadian singer Craig Cardiff started...
Steering clear of the typical plot
It’s pretty tough to find a romantic comedy that doesn’t disappoint audiences with a typical plotline and B-list actors, but The F Word succeeded...
10 years: worth the wait
Death from Above 1979 is back, baby. It only took 10 years, but all good things are worth the wait. Now, when I say...
Breathless over The Leftovers’ last showing
The Leftovers has been up against some serious competition since joining HBO programming. With shows like Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, and True Detective,...
Maninder Chana’s take on real Islam
Maninder Chana is an award-winning writer, director, and actor whose latest film to be released, Little Terrors, deals with an American boy recruited by...
How a terrorist is made
Possibly the first movie to ever show the other side of terrorism, Little Terrors tells the story of American boy Samih (Armaan Kabli), who...
Cruz Reviews: September trailers
No Good Deed
An escaped convict (Idris Elba) breaks into the home of a wife and mother (Taraji P. Henson) and terrorizes her family. I’m...
Blast from the past
During the two weeks I had free in my summer course I told myself that I would get a head start on all my...
Sims 4 was not worth all the hype
I can’t remember exactly when I heard about The Sims 4, but what I do know is that I have been waiting rather impatiently...
Putting safety back into social media
While she was in school completing her college degree, entrepreneur Cynthia Tercier had barely any time to connect with her friends. “There were some...
St. Patty is not who you thought he was
St. Patrick’s Day is upon us (assuming you’re reading this on Monday) and students can hardly wait to paint their faces with shamrocks and...
Hook-up culture gets to be a part of everyday life
Hitting up clubs and going home with strangers has never been easier than with Justin Mateen and Sean Rad’s 2012 creation: Tinder. With geolocation...
Black is always the new black
In honour of Black History Month, UTM’s Women’s Centre hosted Black is the New Black in the Student Centre last Thursday. The event featured...
Chess at UTM
There are ancient references to an Erindale chess club in old issues of the the Medium. A prominent one exists at St. George to...
The new age of social media
All right friends, here’s the deal. Don’t pretend that it isn’t annoying to juggle every social media profile you have, especially when you’re uploading...
Ode to all the single ladies
Valentine’s Day. God help me. I can practically hear Chopin’s funeral march while my 53-year-old aunt takes me to La Senza to pick up...
A surprise for students
Did you happen to receive a rose with an inspirational quote last week in the Student Centre? What about a waffle? With a few...
Protecting women on campus
CampUS, a two-year initiative and the result of a collaboration between Interim Place and UTM, began in March 2012 with the goal of making...
How universities aren’t preparing students
Ron McGowan has been working with countless college and university students around the world to help them find work after they’ve graduated. He’s the...
Encouraging people to be Kindr
In the Psychology Today article “Can an App Really Spread Kindness? Meet Kindr”, published last October, Pamela Rutledge, PhD, discussed the app Kindr, introduced...
Studying children’s speech patterns
Elizabeth Johnson, associate professor in the department of psychology, is the third of four CRCs to be named last year. Johnson specializes in working...
Less drinking than the national trend
A student stopping by the pub for a casual drink after class isn’t unheard of. Sadly, neither is seeing your male roommate so hammered...
Olé, olé, OLAS at U of T
The trend of alienation of Latin American students—including startling figures in the US from as recently as 2010—across Canada and the United States led...
Gunning down the cancer cells
Patrick Gunning, PhD and associate chemistry professor at UTM, has been presented with several awards throughout his young career. Just last year, he was...
Your realistic resolutions
Here’s a tiny reminder of all the resolutions made this year that probably won’t last the first week of January. Take a deep breath,...
The science of active perception
Mohan Matthen is a philosophy professor at the University of Toronto, and last November his tenure as Canadian Research Chair in philosophy, perception, and...
The gift that just keeps on taking
Don’t kid yourself—we’ve all received presents that were recycled, came with a hidden agenda, or just plain sucked. Time identified six types of bad...
Tired of the Black Friday approach
Having been suckered into giving my email address to every store that asks, I get bombarded with emails by the time Black Friday rolls...
Transgender: a minority within a minority
After its inception 11 years ago, preceding that of the Equity Office, OUT@UTM became the first forum on campus where LGBTQ students could be...
Don’t expect to fly through a bird course
Don’t pretend you haven’t taken a “bird course” in university. Easy classes are sought by many students looking to boost their GPA when they...
Revisiting our green projects
Wondering why it seems impossible to get a bottle of water on campus? It’s because of the bottled water ban, one of UTM’s recent...
Poetry as a means of finding one’s soul
UTM’s Living Library was hosted in the Instructional Building café last week, providing students with the opportunity to speak with and learn more about...
A helpline for Ontario postsecondary students
Last week, the UTM Health and Counselling Centre informed students about a new helpline, Good2Talk, through an update on their website. UTM hosts several...
Drinking their way to perfection
Stay awake late enough and you’ll surely catch an infomercial on the latest diet craze. Pills replacing meals, the new Abs Buster Excalibur (I’m...
I ain’t sayin’ she a gold digger
You and your significant other have just finished a lovely meal at… somewhere inexpensive, probably, considering your student budget. The waiter walks over with...
What intimidates the intimidating?
’Tis the season to open Netflix and grab your favourite stuffed animal for protection. Many students will go to a Halloween party this year,...
Zombiepocalypse
Finally, your worst nightmare has become reality: drooling, lumbering zombies walk the Earth. Your home is not safe enough, and somehow or other you...
Fighting stereotyping of Somalia
What comes to mind when you hear the word “Somalia”? How much do you know about the people, their culture, and their religion? The...
Helping students help each other out
What if there was a place where students could find and share relevant course content like notes and past assignments and exams? Imagine not...
Work experience trumps education
In early July of this year, Troy Media published an article by Roslyn Kunin discussing the difficulties faced by recent graduates seeking jobs in...
Preparing for the workforce
After you’re finally handed your diploma, do you know which career path you plan on taking? What exactly you’re planning to do with your...
You thought it was over but it’s not
University is a place where students of diverse backgrounds, having reached a slightly higher threshold of maturity than they had in high school, come...
Rethinking safety on campus after dark
Recent well-publicized reports of at least two sexual assaults on female students at York University raise questions about the security of UTM’s students—a concern...
Why we dread the classroom
Armed with backpacks found on sale at Walmart and every type of pen known to man, we students are settling into another school year....
Striking an original chord
After planning the project for over a year, the UTM Music Club released an album of original songs by UTM students and held a...
Pride and presumption
Being an English major myself, I understand why people believe that writing is an essential skill for the field. The program is more full...
UTM filmmakers step out from behind the camera
The Department of Visual Studies Student Society held the awards ceremony for the UTM Film Festival in the CCT Building last Wednesday. A few...
Celebrating Black History Month
On February 12, in connection with several other events celebrating Black History Month, Caribbean Connections held an open mic night in the Blind Duck...
Can you survive on $25?
One week. I’m $25 rich. The goal? To survive five days on campus on this budget, eating one or two meals a day.
We all...
Review: Josh Groban
All that Echoes, Josh Groban’s sixth and latest album, hit shelves on February 5. Groban went all out with instruments this time around. In...
Students unite to celebrate UTM talent
UTMSU held their annual Unity Through Diversity initiative this past week, beginning on Monday with the Cultural Expo. The week was jam-packed with fun...
All flash and no substance
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters follows the same basic storyline as its fairytale source material, but director Tom Wirkola adds an action and horror...
Blame the bell curve
The semester’s over and you’ve just had your soul crushed by ROSI telling you your final mark in a course. You were sure you’d...
Getting to the heart of the matter
The latest play the UC Follies theatre troupe put on, Doubt, has a particularly taboo plotline. It’s based on the stage 2004 stage play...
Lifehouse returns with more of the same
After a two-year disappearance, Lifehouse have returned with their new album, Almeria. Released in December, Almeria doesn’t stray too far from the usual sound...
A night of poetry, music, and coffee
The UTM English and Drama Student Society held a coffeehouse filled with music, poetry, and laughter to warm students’ hearts on a chilly Friday...
Keep the cat videos coming
“Well, obviously you’re not studying,” your friend says as she leans across the barrier between two library cubicles. She points at your laptop screen....
Does GPA suffer when you have a job?
For many students, the stress of studying we’ll all feel in the next few weeks isn’t the only weight they’ll be carrying. In June...
What do your stress-related dreams mean?
Falling
Maria Cruz
You’re strolling down the street on a warm summer day. You wave hello to friendly strangers as they pass you by. You’re merrily...
Educational eating
“Downtown Baby”, an article published by The Grid in June, was by a Toronto parent who defended his decision to raise his son in...
Never stop being curious
It’s fitting that one of our final articles of the year was a speech by Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale on the importance of...
Students are speaking. Listen.
A few weeks ago I was scrolling through Facebook and came across something rather disturbing. The Globe and Mail had posted a video regarding...
Defending fearless women
Just in case you haven’t heard of it yet, there’s a statue by McCann New York and its client State Street Global Advisors entitled,...
Don’t underestimate the comedian
Last week, I went to go see Jordan Peele’s Get Out. I knew a long time ago when I saw the trailer for it,...
It’s time to ditch superiority
When I was in high school, I remember sitting with my friends in my English class and talking about where we would be applying...
Current students will be shafted
Premier Kathleen Wynne attended a meeting with students in Kaneff to discuss the potential setbacks of offering all students free tuition.
While I understand that...
Respect for your fellow writer
Last week I attended a wonderful talk, which is part of the Literature Matters series taking place at U of T. Host Smaro Kamboureli...
Focusing on mental health
I’m sure that plenty of us have seen the commercials for Bell Let’s Talk this year on TV. Various celebrities and families discuss their...
Gloom replaced by comedy
Back in 2004, Lemony Snicket’s critically-acclaimed children’s books, A Series of Unfortunate Events, finally got the big screen attention it deserved. With A-list actors...
Living without an audience
Over the winter break, I watched a pretty insightful video of Simon Sinek on Inside Quest talking about millennials.
It’s tough to know where people...
Free speech isn’t an excuse
Our news section this week includes an article about a group called Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. They gave UTSU and UTMSU an F...
Women decide for themselves
For some, the word “abortion” holds more weight than it does for others. Some think the word is synonymous with death. Others think the...
Falling Angels (Barbara Gowdy)
My Canadian Fiction class with Brent Wood has produced some pretty challenging work. Not in terms of difficulty, but in terms of content. Falling...
Trump’s win will affect us all
I don’t even know where to start. Weeks before the actual election results came out, I had this overwhelming suspicion that Trump would take...
A needed change is coming
When I first came to this school, not a whole lot was being offered in terms of the English program when it came to...
The dangers of biased reporting
I feel like this horse has been beaten to death by now but I want to talk about Jordan Peterson.
Shockingly, I’ve had a few...
U of T’s unreachable hierarchies
It doesn’t take much to see just how much money students put into their unions and university. UTMSU is given $22.13 a semester. UTSU...
The importance of investigation
Running a paper gives the opportunity for several people throughout the year to come knocking on your door or calling the office with complaints....
Exposure to beauty standards
I wonder how many people will recognize the name Mara Wilson if I don’t mention what movies she’s been in. Some, of course, would...
A death certificate for creativity
I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to write another editorial on censorship so soon after my last one, but something grabbed my attention...
Aversion is no reason to censor
Headline: Ohio police post graphic photo of overdosed parents in SUV with four-year-old child in backseat
This story first broke out on September 9. For...
A new wave of journalism
It’s a strange thing to be a part of the newspaper industry this young. Disclosing my majors to people (english and professional writing and...
UTMSU announces departure of executive director, services manager
UTMSU has announced the departure of its executive director and services manager, effective next month.
In a memo released Thursday evening, UTMSU president Nour Alideeb...
A very (non)sentimental thank you
It’s been a long day. I think after spending, on occasion, as many as 14 hours in this office on a Sunday with school...
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (Xiaolu Guo)
Before joining my professional writing and communications class, Re-languaging: Writing Across Cultures and Languages, I had never heard of Xiaolu Guo. I’m aware that...
A healthy amount of comedy
When it comes to politics, I considered myself to be one of those ignorant millenials who didn’t really know too much about what was...
U of T colleges face off at Drama Fest
Hailey Mason
From February 10 to 14, Hart House Theatre and the U of T Drama Coalition hosted the U of T Drama Festival. The...
Greased efforts
It would be unfair of me to begin this review without mentioning my love for the original Grease. I know I was biased going...
Trigger warnings in the classroom
I want to talk for a moment about trigger warnings. Now, the article published last week in The Medium had some pretty good points...
A glimmer of hope for future grads
In my op-ed from a few months ago, I discussed the pros and serious cons of being an English and professional writing major. Despite...
A community of young writers
I know it’s been a while since I’ve written an op-ed, but I’m going to pretend my words were insightful enough for you to...
What are you going to do with that degree?
There really isn’t any way to defend myself when people ask, “What do you plan on doing with an English degree?” The answer, “To...
Online threats part of an ongoing issue
Writing any sort of criticism or opinion piece, especially as a journalist, is bound to get under someone’s skin. I’ve only ever been confronted...
Giving UTM’s radio station new life
If you were a UTM student back in the ’60s, CFRE was all the buzz as Erindale’s first radio station. But it had some...
Cruz Reviews: April trailers
WOMAN IN GOLD
Based on the true story of Holocaust survivor Maria Altmann, this flick tells the story of Altmann and her lawyer fighting the...
Dance festival finds its beat
Cheerleaders, salsa dancing, ballerinas, booty-shaking—the U of T Festival of Dance had it all. The 20th annual festival kicked off last Friday and stretched...
Good cause, subpar performances
It’s pretty rare that I attend an event I dislike so much there’s hardly anything positive for me to write about it, but alas,...
Student art right on the horizon of graduation
Many new beginnings come with spring; things slowly begin to come back to life and we can finally ditch our $300 winter jackets. For...
New spins on clichés
It’s rare to find a horror movie nowadays that doesn’t disappoint; clichés spring up, the villains aren’t anything new, and jump scares have become...
Student fashion show rocks Hart House
This year’s Rock on Runway fashion show by UTChinese was a huge improvement over what I heard of last year. The venue was larger,...
Grief’s hidden beauty
I am the kind of person whose emotions are based on what I see others doing. Unfunny movies become funny when I hear a...
A burst of Hindustani culture
Students lent their ears to Indian music and culture as part of “Sarang: A Series of South Asian Performing Arts” in the MiST last...
Diasporic family ties and the queer
It’s always nerve-wracking to have to tell your parents a secret, let alone when it’s about your sexuality. The U of T Sexual and...
The gruesome murder at Hart House
Hart House put on an entirely different kind of production for the end of the season. Rather than taking on another Shakespeare play, director...
Poets plough through Pump & Patio noise
UTM students eagerly piled into the Erindale Pump and Patio last Thursday for EDSS’s Poetry Night Live. Students sang, recited slam, danced, and stuffed...
A new ambassador for suicide prevention
Hope after Suicide: One Woman’s Journey from Darkness to Light is a novel by Wendy Parmley about her mother’s traumatic suicide when Parmley was...
Cruz Reviews: March trailers
CHAPPIE
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you to yet another movie in which a thinking, feeling robot is just a misunderstood being rather...
Film Festival doesn’t disappoint
When I went to the UTM Film Festival two years ago, technical difficulties failed to impress the crowd of about 10. This time around,...
Discovering UTM’s comfort zones
Comfort Zones is an upcoming event at Blackwood Gallery that takes a step back from the traditional style to bring viewers a more in-depth look...
Troubadours steal the drama festival
Hart House Theatre and the U of T Drama Coalition presented the 23rd annual U of T Drama Festival last week. The festival ran...
Poetry in motion
Slam poets Andre Prefontaine and Sabrina Benaim came to UTM earlier this month at a poetry masterclass EDSS held for students.
Prefontaine is a slam...
Just a shadow of Bob Dylan?
Is Bob Dylan’s new album a hit or a miss? The Medium’s Maria Cruz and Chris Antilope weigh in.
Maria Cruz: It's a wonderful personal look into...
The best of the best gather ’round
If you happened to be walking around the CCT atrium at 6 p.m. last Friday, you would have been greeted by a jazz trio...
No fluff in this play
In her second year back at the U of T Drama Festival, fourth-year student Laura McCallum has teamed up with fellow fourth-year Jaime Lujan...
Cruz Reviews: February Trailers
JUPITER ASCENDING
This sci-fi flick centres on the idea that alien heirs and heiresses are set to rule the residents of Earth and several other...
Divine voices, infernal show
It’s not every day you see Jesus in skinny jeans, but director Luke Brown brought exactly that to Hart House with his rendition of...
The psychology of a serial murderer
Currently in the production phase, EDSS TV’s latest film, Shattered, differs greatly from Dry on a Sunday, which they premiered in the Student Centre...
Grist comes and goes
Hilary Grist released Come and Go early last year in June. I’ve never heard of her before, but I didn’t mind this album. The...
Beloved Disney characters come to life
Disney Infinity, brought to us by Avalanche Software, is easily one of the most fun children’s games I’ve played in quite some time. Giving...
Cruz Reviews: January trailers
TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT
Marion Cotillard stars as Sandra, a woman who’s forced to take time off from work after suffering a nervous breakdown. However,...
Cruz Reviews: December trailers
SERENA
Based on the novel by Ron Rash, Serena tells the story of newlywed couple George (Bradley Cooper) and Serena Pemberton (Jennifer Lawrence). Together, they...
Exams are over and it’s the best time of the year
POTTED POTTER
Written and performed by BBC stars Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, this show condenses the entire Harry Potter series into a mere 70...
EDSS TV premieres stoner comedy
Last Monday, EDSS offered students Pepsi and popcorn in the Student Centre as well as a free seat at the premiere of their first...
Soul in a wide-brimmed hat
I don’t even know how to explain to you what it was like seeing Bob Dylan in concert. Last Monday, I took a girlfriend...
Support for students’ art
Stockpiled with student art, the Department of Visual Studies Student Society’s annual art sale took place on campus each afternoon last week. Migrating from...
Unknown talent takes the stage
I consider myself a creative writer who supports the arts and others like me who are just trying to get their names out there....
Cover songs that outdo the originals
At Spigel Hall for the Residence Arts Council coffeehouse last Wednesday, the room wasn’t too decked out and the lights were dim, but it...
The Tempest sails on rocky seas
Hart House Theatre’s second theatre production, The Tempest, drew a crowd that filled a little less than half the theatre for its third night,...
Hutton comes back to Hart House
Next week, Shakespeare’s The Tempest will be playing at Hart House as the theatre’s second play of the season. The play tells the story...
Put down the pen, pick up a broken pencil
With NanoWrimo beginning once again this November, writers everywhere will be immersed in cranking out as much as they can before the end of...
Cruz Reviews: November trailers
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Based on the life of Stephen Hawking, The Theory of Everything follows the physicist’s (Eddie Redmayne) life as a young student...
Our own Halloween cult classics
I’m not going to pretend that on Halloween I don’t ditch every party (not that I necessarily get invited but that’s besides the point),...
Taking on darker projects
EDSS TV was created earlier this year in March by Siddharth Singh, this year’s president of the English and Drama Student Society, who observed...
On being one with your character
The Medium sat down with Matt Gilgenbach to talk about the newly released Neverending Nightmares, a video game about his real-life mental health struggles.
The...
New kind of horror
Neverending Nightmares, a game created by Matt Gilgenbach, takes players into the terrifying world of mental illness—specifically Gilgenbach’s real-life nightmares associated with his OCD...
Cruz Reviews: October trailers
ONE CHANCE
Based on the true story of Paul Potts (James Corden), the 2007 winner of Britain’s Got Talent, One Chance follows the life of...
Reading between the spaces
U of T’s John Ricco is an associate professor of contemporary art, media theory, and criticism. His work focuses on Jean-Luc Nancy’s philosophies of...
Destined to survive its flaws
After having departed from Halo, Bungie has introduced a new game, Destiny, which has broken records by bringing in over $50 million since its...
Wilde first night at Hart House
Tackling a play by one of the best-known writers of all time, director Cory Doran offered audiences his rendition of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance...
Age is just a number
I won’t lie—when I read that Leonard Cohen was coming out with a new album, I was pretty sure everyone was wrong. I thought...
Changing their sound
It’s hard to say for sure if The Kooks fans will recognize the band’s new sound on Listen, but frontman Luke Pritchard did warn...
Craig Cardiff | Love Is Louder (Than All This Noise) Part...
Love Is Louder (Than All This Noise) Part 1 & 2 is an album inspired by a project that Canadian singer Craig Cardiff started...
Steering clear of the typical plot
It’s pretty tough to find a romantic comedy that doesn’t disappoint audiences with a typical plotline and B-list actors, but The F Word succeeded...
10 years: worth the wait
Death from Above 1979 is back, baby. It only took 10 years, but all good things are worth the wait. Now, when I say...
Breathless over The Leftovers’ last showing
The Leftovers has been up against some serious competition since joining HBO programming. With shows like Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, and True Detective,...
Maninder Chana’s take on real Islam
Maninder Chana is an award-winning writer, director, and actor whose latest film to be released, Little Terrors, deals with an American boy recruited by...
How a terrorist is made
Possibly the first movie to ever show the other side of terrorism, Little Terrors tells the story of American boy Samih (Armaan Kabli), who...
Cruz Reviews: September trailers
No Good Deed
An escaped convict (Idris Elba) breaks into the home of a wife and mother (Taraji P. Henson) and terrorizes her family. I’m...
Blast from the past
During the two weeks I had free in my summer course I told myself that I would get a head start on all my...
Sims 4 was not worth all the hype
I can’t remember exactly when I heard about The Sims 4, but what I do know is that I have been waiting rather impatiently...
Putting safety back into social media
While she was in school completing her college degree, entrepreneur Cynthia Tercier had barely any time to connect with her friends. “There were some...
St. Patty is not who you thought he was
St. Patrick’s Day is upon us (assuming you’re reading this on Monday) and students can hardly wait to paint their faces with shamrocks and...
Hook-up culture gets to be a part of everyday life
Hitting up clubs and going home with strangers has never been easier than with Justin Mateen and Sean Rad’s 2012 creation: Tinder. With geolocation...
Black is always the new black
In honour of Black History Month, UTM’s Women’s Centre hosted Black is the New Black in the Student Centre last Thursday. The event featured...
Chess at UTM
There are ancient references to an Erindale chess club in old issues of the the Medium. A prominent one exists at St. George to...
The new age of social media
All right friends, here’s the deal. Don’t pretend that it isn’t annoying to juggle every social media profile you have, especially when you’re uploading...
Ode to all the single ladies
Valentine’s Day. God help me. I can practically hear Chopin’s funeral march while my 53-year-old aunt takes me to La Senza to pick up...
A surprise for students
Did you happen to receive a rose with an inspirational quote last week in the Student Centre? What about a waffle? With a few...
Protecting women on campus
CampUS, a two-year initiative and the result of a collaboration between Interim Place and UTM, began in March 2012 with the goal of making...
How universities aren’t preparing students
Ron McGowan has been working with countless college and university students around the world to help them find work after they’ve graduated. He’s the...
Encouraging people to be Kindr
In the Psychology Today article “Can an App Really Spread Kindness? Meet Kindr”, published last October, Pamela Rutledge, PhD, discussed the app Kindr, introduced...
Studying children’s speech patterns
Elizabeth Johnson, associate professor in the department of psychology, is the third of four CRCs to be named last year. Johnson specializes in working...
Less drinking than the national trend
A student stopping by the pub for a casual drink after class isn’t unheard of. Sadly, neither is seeing your male roommate so hammered...
Olé, olé, OLAS at U of T
The trend of alienation of Latin American students—including startling figures in the US from as recently as 2010—across Canada and the United States led...
Gunning down the cancer cells
Patrick Gunning, PhD and associate chemistry professor at UTM, has been presented with several awards throughout his young career. Just last year, he was...
Your realistic resolutions
Here’s a tiny reminder of all the resolutions made this year that probably won’t last the first week of January. Take a deep breath,...
The science of active perception
Mohan Matthen is a philosophy professor at the University of Toronto, and last November his tenure as Canadian Research Chair in philosophy, perception, and...
The gift that just keeps on taking
Don’t kid yourself—we’ve all received presents that were recycled, came with a hidden agenda, or just plain sucked. Time identified six types of bad...
Tired of the Black Friday approach
Having been suckered into giving my email address to every store that asks, I get bombarded with emails by the time Black Friday rolls...
Transgender: a minority within a minority
After its inception 11 years ago, preceding that of the Equity Office, OUT@UTM became the first forum on campus where LGBTQ students could be...
Don’t expect to fly through a bird course
Don’t pretend you haven’t taken a “bird course” in university. Easy classes are sought by many students looking to boost their GPA when they...
Revisiting our green projects
Wondering why it seems impossible to get a bottle of water on campus? It’s because of the bottled water ban, one of UTM’s recent...
Poetry as a means of finding one’s soul
UTM’s Living Library was hosted in the Instructional Building café last week, providing students with the opportunity to speak with and learn more about...
A helpline for Ontario postsecondary students
Last week, the UTM Health and Counselling Centre informed students about a new helpline, Good2Talk, through an update on their website. UTM hosts several...
Drinking their way to perfection
Stay awake late enough and you’ll surely catch an infomercial on the latest diet craze. Pills replacing meals, the new Abs Buster Excalibur (I’m...
I ain’t sayin’ she a gold digger
You and your significant other have just finished a lovely meal at… somewhere inexpensive, probably, considering your student budget. The waiter walks over with...
What intimidates the intimidating?
’Tis the season to open Netflix and grab your favourite stuffed animal for protection. Many students will go to a Halloween party this year,...
Zombiepocalypse
Finally, your worst nightmare has become reality: drooling, lumbering zombies walk the Earth. Your home is not safe enough, and somehow or other you...
Fighting stereotyping of Somalia
What comes to mind when you hear the word “Somalia”? How much do you know about the people, their culture, and their religion? The...
Helping students help each other out
What if there was a place where students could find and share relevant course content like notes and past assignments and exams? Imagine not...
Work experience trumps education
In early July of this year, Troy Media published an article by Roslyn Kunin discussing the difficulties faced by recent graduates seeking jobs in...
Preparing for the workforce
After you’re finally handed your diploma, do you know which career path you plan on taking? What exactly you’re planning to do with your...
You thought it was over but it’s not
University is a place where students of diverse backgrounds, having reached a slightly higher threshold of maturity than they had in high school, come...
Striking an original chord
After planning the project for over a year, the UTM Music Club released an album of original songs by UTM students and held a...
Pride and presumption
Being an English major myself, I understand why people believe that writing is an essential skill for the field. The program is more full...
UTM filmmakers step out from behind the camera
The Department of Visual Studies Student Society held the awards ceremony for the UTM Film Festival in the CCT Building last Wednesday. A few...
Celebrating Black History Month
On February 12, in connection with several other events celebrating Black History Month, Caribbean Connections held an open mic night in the Blind Duck...
Can you survive on $25?
One week. I’m $25 rich. The goal? To survive five days on campus on this budget, eating one or two meals a day.
We all...
Review: Josh Groban
All that Echoes, Josh Groban’s sixth and latest album, hit shelves on February 5. Groban went all out with instruments this time around. In...
Students unite to celebrate UTM talent
UTMSU held their annual Unity Through Diversity initiative this past week, beginning on Monday with the Cultural Expo. The week was jam-packed with fun...
All flash and no substance
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters follows the same basic storyline as its fairytale source material, but director Tom Wirkola adds an action and horror...
Blame the bell curve
The semester’s over and you’ve just had your soul crushed by ROSI telling you your final mark in a course. You were sure you’d...
Getting to the heart of the matter
The latest play the UC Follies theatre troupe put on, Doubt, has a particularly taboo plotline. It’s based on the stage 2004 stage play...
Lifehouse returns with more of the same
After a two-year disappearance, Lifehouse have returned with their new album, Almeria. Released in December, Almeria doesn’t stray too far from the usual sound...
A night of poetry, music, and coffee
The UTM English and Drama Student Society held a coffeehouse filled with music, poetry, and laughter to warm students’ hearts on a chilly Friday...
Keep the cat videos coming
“Well, obviously you’re not studying,” your friend says as she leans across the barrier between two library cubicles. She points at your laptop screen....
Does GPA suffer when you have a job?
For many students, the stress of studying we’ll all feel in the next few weeks isn’t the only weight they’ll be carrying. In June...
What do your stress-related dreams mean?
Falling
Maria Cruz
You’re strolling down the street on a warm summer day. You wave hello to friendly strangers as they pass you by. You’re merrily...
Educational eating
“Downtown Baby”, an article published by The Grid in June, was by a Toronto parent who defended his decision to raise his son in...
UTSU adjusts its spring election dates
UTSU has decided to reschedule its spring elections after a dispute over the dates with UTMSU.
Following UTMSU’s online and in-print announcement of its spring...
Rethinking safety on campus after dark
Recent well-publicized reports of at least two sexual assaults on female students at York University raise questions about the security of UTM’s students—a concern...
Why we dread the classroom
Armed with backpacks found on sale at Walmart and every type of pen known to man, we students are settling into another school year....
Student fashion show rocks Hart House
This year’s Rock on Runway fashion show by UTChinese was a huge improvement over what I heard of last year. The venue was larger,...