November 14
Congress to
Campus visits U of T
Two former congressmen – Owen Pickett of Virginia and Nick Smith
of Michigan – visited
the Munk Centre as a part of the Congress to
Campus program, an unpaid endeavor that seeks to educate academic
communities about the workings of American politics. The talk allowed
the former congressmen to share their personal history in Congress and
shed some light on the mechanics of the governing body. Owen Pickett
seemed somewhat optimistic about the future of the Congress, saying
that the new Democratic majority will make congressional activity more
bipartisan – previously, the Democrats were excluded from the
legislative process due to a Republican majority in both houses and the
office of the President. “There is no more bully pulpit,”
he said. “This is good for Congress and good for our
country.”
The audience questioning session that followed veered
towards the “tough” side. “Is the US ready to elect
a woman or visible minority into the presidency?” was answered
that while the US is probably
ready to move away from all-male leadership, it would take a person of
outstanding character and charisma, previously established and of a
respectable record, to overturn the patriarchy. There were, of course,
questions about the status of the US in the current
war in the Middle East. Nick Smith
accurately depicted the current position of the US as
“somewhere between Iraq and a hard
place.”
November 18
U of T Medical
School sponsors 7th Annual EarthTones Concert
The EarthTones concert, organised by the U of T Medical School, is an event
that benefits international health care initiatives aimed at children.
Through ticket sales, raffles and a silent auction, the benefit
supported foundations including Free the Children (Kenya and rural China), The Kamport
HIV Village (Cambodia), and the
Panzai Hospital Fundraising Campaign (Democratic Republic of Congo).
The concert series features musical performances from many students of
the medical school as well as other performers at large.
Two of the evening’s best received performances were
the opening and closing acts: TBA acapella and Orbital Groove,
respectively. TBA is U of T’s own rock vocal group, which
features many singers and one human drum machine. The show’s
closer, Orbital Groove, is the official band of the U of T Medical
School and was the most anticipated act of the evening. Perhaps the
most interesting performance, however, was given by a group called TC3
– a youth musical initiative with participants between the ages
of 7 – 18.
November 25
Samba for Sudan:
An evening to Raise Money and Awareness about the Humanitarian Crisis
in Darfur
On Saturday, November 25th, STAND (Students Taking Action
Now: Darfur) at the University of Toronto held an event
to raise money for refugees from Darfur, Sudan. At 10:00 PM, students and members of the community
took over the second floor of Fez Batik for an event featuring Samba Elegua, African drummers, salsa and capoeira performers and salsa lessons. As the
situation in Darfur worsens, STAND UofT encourages everyone to come out and take a
stand against the humanitarian crisis.
For more
information, please contact:
Eleanore Gann, President
of STAND UofT
STANDUofT@standcanada.org
416- 371
–8763
