[opirgyork] People’s Forum on Campus Safety Next Week + Upcoming Events!

[OPIRG York]

Hello OPIRG York members and community!

Check out the amazing line-up of events that are happening @ York U, and
there is lots going on across the city and you can see a digest of a bunch
of upcoming events here. If you have events you would like OPIRG York to
send out to this listserv, feel free to forward the callouts to
victoria at opirgyork.ca.

You can always contact us at any time about ways to get involved, and help
out, or if you are interested in other issues that we can help connect you
too and feel free to stop by the OPIRG York office at 449C Student Centre
anytime during regular office hours (Mon-Thurs. 10-5pm) to chat!

-OPIRG York
--
www.opirgyork.ca
416-736-5724
opirg at yorku.ca


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*In this email:*
*
*
*OPIRG YORK NEWS*
*
*
*(1) **ONGOING: Concerned About Racial Profiling at York University?*
*(2) Feb 4: Environmental Justice Organizing Meeting @ York - Stop Line 9!*
*(3)** **Feb 6: Art For Justice: New Members Meeting*
*(4) **Feb 7: **People’s Forum on Campus Safety
(5) Feb 7: **Canada and the Palestine Question: Imperial Politics and the
Campus Left*
*(6) **Feb 7: SFT at YORK Film Screening: "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion"*


*COMMUNITY NEWS*

*(1) Feb 1: **Iconoclast Issue Launch Party*
*(2) Feb 2:**SOAPBOX!: Comic Books, Reading & Music*
*(3) Feb 3:**IDLE NO MORE! Day of Action Against G.E **Uranium Processing
Plant*
*(4)** Feb 3: Toward The United Front: Translations for the 21st Century
with John Riddell*
*(5) Feb 5: STATUS QUO? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada*
*(6) **ONGOING: **Art'Scool workshops & Gatherings *
*(7) Feb 8: **Justseeds: Migration Now! And More for Social Change*
*(8)TOMORROW: **Emergency Action: Cuts Cost Lives, No More Homeless Deaths!*

*
*

*OPIRG YORK NEWS *


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*Concerned About Racial Profiling at York University?*

Concerned about the recent crimes and sexual assaults that have been going
on at York University? Concerned by the recent influx of Toronto Police on
campus, and feel intimidated by them (the police)?
Concerned about the racial profiling going on at York university,
specifically by the Toronto Police? Have you seen Toronto Police or Campus
Security ID'ing/carding people on campus recently?
Please get in touch with OPIRG York - victoria at opirgyork.ca - to find out
some ways to get involved, to prevent this from happening!
*#CopsOffCampus *


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*Environmental Justice Organizing Meeting @ York - Stop Line 9!*

*Date*: Mon. Feb. 4th
*Time*: 3:30-5pm
*Location*: 311B Student Centre, York University
*On facebook:* https://www.facebook.com/events/123706494472842

Join us to discuss community canvassing against the Line 9 pipeline and tar
sands, plan on-campus awareness actions and envision other plans for the
Environmental Justice Working Group. New members are always welcome!

If you want to get involved, please email ecojusticeyork at gmail.com.

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*Art For Justice: New Members Meeting*

*Date*: Wednesday February 6,
*Time*: 1:00pm-3:30pm
*Location*: Room 311C Student Centre, York University
*On Facebook:* https://www.facebook.com/events/529135837118287/?ref=2

Join us for a new members meeting to learn about what we have planned for
2013 and how you can plug in. We are always looking for new ideas and
projects to collaborate on.

Art For Justice aims to bring a radical and progressive approach to
art-making within student and community organizing. We utilize different
sorts of art not only to provide materials for movement, but also as a
movement itself.

GOALS

(1) Share skills and resources by organizing accessible arts-based
workshops for students and community members

(2) Work in collaboration with other OPIRG working groups and
student/community organizations that mobilize for social and environmental
justice

art444justice at gmail.com


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*People’s Forum on Campus Safety *

*Invite friends on Facebook:*
https://www.facebook.com/events/337156096397724/

*Date*: Thursday, February 7th
*Time*: 1pm
*Location*: Vari Hall, York University

You are invited to come out to Vari Hall on Thursday February 7, 2013 at
1:00 PM and have your voice heard!

York students are increasingly concerned about safety on campus. This is
not a new phenomenon to York University. In 2008, METRAC completed a safety
audit of York’s campus. It seems that instead of investing in education and
initiating systemic change, the York administration has only been
interpreting the METRAC's recommendations superficially and implementing PR
moves such as inviting more police onto campus and arming security.

On November 29, 2012, York University’s President Mamdouh Shoukri, in
partnership with the Toronto Police Services, held a community forum to
discuss improvements to campus safety. During this forum, racialized
students and many others brought fourth serious concerns about racial
profiling and other safety issues on York Campus, and these concerns were
dismissed and the voices of York students were silenced.

In order to challenge violence on campus, we must address the systemic
causes of violence – including misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism,
poverty, war, and ongoing settler-colonialism on First Nations land.
Increasing police presence is at best a “band-aid” solution to a broader
social problem.

Increased police presence on campus has actually led to many students
feeling unsafe at York University. Police are not the answer to addressing
the serious concerns of gender-based violence. Racial profiling has been a
common practice by police in low-income and racialized communities,
prompting the ‘carding’ of many black male students and community members
at York University. Women and trans people are not safe with cops on
campus! Racialized students are not safe with cops on campus! Free Speech
is not safe with cops on campus! We want to hear from you - the students
and community members of York University!

A coalition of student and community groups and organizations - including
Justice Is Not Colour-Blind (JINCB), York University Black Students’
Alliance (YUBSA), Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) York, the
Centre for Women and Trans People (CWTP), CUPE 3903 Trans-Feminist Action
Collective, the Graduate Students Association at York (YUGSA), and Students
Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) York – invite you on February 7 to a
People’s Forum on Campus Safety.

Let’s begin to address campus safety by creating a democratic student
community that values the perspectives and experiences of marginalized
students and community members. Let’s challenge the structural causes of
violence that pervade our campus and our society!

*Contact Us: *copsoffcampus at gmail.com
*To EDORSE or participate:* copsoffcampus at gmail.com
*
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*Canada and the Palestine Question: Imperial Politics and the Campus Left*

*When*: Thursday, February 7 at 4:30-6:30pm
*Where*: Graduate Students' Association (GSA) Lounge, room 430 Student
Centre
*On facebook*: https://www.facebook.com/events/442124492532525/?ref=2

Israeli elections season has painted a frightening political picture.
There clearly exist no Israeli social forces that can challenge the
reigning politics of colonial domination; indeed the principal internal
challenge to traditional state institutions, such as it is, comes from the
rising far right. The imbalance of power between Israel and the
Palestinians thus suggests an extremely dangerous future.

Thanks largely to U.S sponsorship, Israel is maintaining broad Western
support for its apartheid governance and escalated killings of
Palestinians. The Harper government has positioned Canada at the centre of
this international problem, isolated on the extreme pro-Israel fringe of
world politics. The question of how to challenge this sustained complicity
demands our attention.

Anti-imperialist opposition can benefit from historical grounding, and the
politics of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) are most strategic
when carefully adapted to particular contexts. In this spirit, this talk
will review the history of Canadian politics on the Palestine question,
from the ethnic cleansing of 1948 to the contemporary “peace process” --
including how this has played out over the decades at York University.


Formerly an organizer with the Palestine Solidarity Committee at York
University (2005-08), Dan Freeman-Maloy is currently a PhD student at the
University of Exeter’s Centre for Palestine Studies. He worked with the
York Federation of Students (YFS), was an editor for Excalibur, and more
recently has written for publications ranging from ZNet and Race & Class
to The Journal of Palestine Studies. Dan hosts a writings site at
www.notesonhypocrisy.com.
*
*

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*SFT at YORK Film Screening: "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion"*

Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) @ YORK's first film screening of the year,
the documentary "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion".

*Date*: Thursday, February 7th
*Time*: 5:30pm
*Location*: NAT Taylor Cinema
*On Facebook:* https://www.facebook.com/events/522205947811364/?ref=2

*About us: *Students for a Free Tibet @ York University is a political club
where Tibetan students as well as other students of York University work
together to raise awareness of the chinese colonialism and oppression in
"Tibet" on campus and to reach out to more people to support us and hope
for freedom and independence of Tibet. We are hosting one of our most
important events this year, our very first film screening of this year. We
welcome anyone and everyone for this very important event for raising
awareness and discussing about the current issues and history of oppression
and resistance in Tibet. The film will begin at 6PM but we recommend have
everyone come in early and we will have Q&A afterwards led by Rinchen
Dolma. The film screening will be held in the Nat Taylor Cinema at York's
Keele Campus, directions will be posted in school on the day of event.

ADRESS & DIRECTIONS:

York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario
M3J 1P3

3 DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR TRANSPORTATION

1. DOWNSVIEW SUBWAY STATION THEN BUS 196A or 196
2. KEELE SUBWAY STATION THEN BUS 41
3. JANE SUBWAY STATION THEN BUS 35


*COMMUNITY NEWS*
*
*
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*Iconoclast Issue Launch Party*
*
*
*Date*: Friday, 1 2013
*Time*: 9:00 pm
*Location: *460 Spadina Ave, Toronto, Ontario
*On Facebook: *https://www.facebook.com/events/148207475334228/
 Iconoclast Media is unrepentantly delighted to invite you to celebrate the
launch of our most recent issue: CRUEL AND UNUSUAL - in which we cast a
stern, disapproving glare at the fucked up correlation between mental
health issues, poverty and the prison-industrial-complex.

Come out and grab a free copy, a few drinks and shake your behind to the
deadly musical stylings of DJs Exobase and Omnishambles.

Doors open at 9pm
Raffle prizes!!
$5-10 (pay what you can)

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*SOAPBOX!: Comic Books, Reading & Music*
*
*
*Date*: Saturday, Feb 2 2013
*Time*: 6pm until 9pm
*Location: *746 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario
*On Facebook: *https://www.facebook.com/events/407494696002888/?ref=2
*
*
The R3 Collective presents:

(H)afrocentric:
The Comic

SOAPBOX!
An Evening of Storytelling, Music and Comic Book Art

Open Reception: 6pm - 7pm
Show: 7pm - 9pm

$7 at the door/pay what you can
@ A Different Booklist

(H)afrocentric comic book signing & live screenprinting

*BYOT-shirt (or hoodie, sweatpants, tote bag, binders full of paper or
whatever you wish). There will be screenprinting with a choice of different
(H)afrocentric logos.

Website - http://hafrocentric.com/
Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hafrocentric-The-Comic/
237608499615950


Featuring special guest Jewels Smith

With performances by R3 Collective members:
Sedina Fiati
Amai Kuda
Jamaias Dacosta
Afi Browne
Izzy Mackenzie

Accessible entrance, regrettably washrooms are not accessible.


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*IDLE NO MORE! Day of Action Against G.E **Uranium Processing Plant*
*
*
*
*
*Date*: Sunday, Feb 3 2013
*Time*: 11am until 6pm
*Location: *1005 Lansdowne ave, then 1025 Lansdowne ave.
*On Facebook: *https://www.facebook.com/events/201612006646242/

*
*
Greetings All!

When: On February 3rd people will be gathering for a Day of Action Against
G.E. Uranium Processing Plant located in a residential Toronto Area

What and Where: We will gather at 11AM at the nearby coffee time (1005
Lansdowne Ave.) to meet each other and share information. See map:
http://www.yellowpages.ca/bus/Ontario/Toronto/Coffee-Time/2192573.html

By 11:30AM we will have walked to the plant ( 4 minute walk), and gather
for a ceremony.
See map: http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1025+lansdowne+avenu
e&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq&hnear=0x882b346b3b701afb%3A0x5bf0
26bf8013bd03%2C1025+Lansdowne+Ave%2C+Toronto%2C+ON+M
6H+4H2&gl=ca&sa=X&ei=EbAIUdvXKof-0gHxkIH4Dg&ved=0CC8Q8gEwAA

Then we will march through the neighbourhood together, finishing at
Lansdowne and Dupont intersection for round dancing and snacks. Please feel
free to bring fruits, cookies, coffee, granola bars or whatever you wish!

We could go on about the hazards of this facility, or the fact that the
uranium is being extracted from communities that do not consent to such
developing, are unaware of the extractions, and even worse are being
physically and mentally effected by the invasion and destruction of the
land.

In order for this plant to be productive and function, it requires uranium,
and this extraction has detrimental effects on more than one community. The
uranium extraction effects start with the first nations communities where
it is extracted, to the community members that reside near the processing
plant (and some are not even aware of what is going on in the front/back
yard!!)

For more information on a group that would also like to Stop G.E.'s Uranium
Factory in West End Toronto at: https://www.facebook.com/
groups/370015163080483/

Anyone who would like to help collaborate and put forth their efforts,
please contact one of the fb hosts!!

****WE WOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR ANY CONTRIBUTIONS SUCH AS FLAG POLES AND OTHER
FLAG/POSTER MATERIALS (paint, markers, cloth, etc.)****
*
*

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*Toward The United Front: Translations for the 21st Century With John
Riddell*
*
*
*Date*: Sunday, Feb 3 2013
*Time*: 4pm until 6pm
*Location:* 252 Bloor Street W., Toronto, Ontario
*On Facebook: *https://www.facebook.com/events/214155678720927/
*
*
Join us for a book launch of Toward the United Front: Proceedings of the
Fourth Congress of the Communist International, 1922. The full congress
record is now available for the first time in English and in paperback.

Sunday, February 3
4:00-6:00 PM
Room 5280
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)
University of Toronto
252 Bloor St. W. (at St. George subway).

Editor and translator John Riddell will reflect on lessons of translating
the rich conversations and debates that shaped a generation of
revolutionaries, and the implications for activists in current conditions
of global capitalism. John has translated and edited seven volumes of
documents of the Communist movement in the era of the Russian revolution.
Two further volumes are now in preparation, which will complete this
extraordinary project.

And hear comments from some of those who supported the work involved in
this important publication: David McNally, Suzannne Weiss, Paul Kellogg and
Greg Albo.


Moderated by Abbie Bakan. Book signing will follow the event.

Organized by Historical Materialism Toronto and Ideas Left Out.

(Event Photo is by bluebus, downloaded from Wikimedia Commons. It is a
photo of a replica of Taitlin’s Tower, a monument to the Third
International which was designed by Russian architect Vladimir Tatlin, but
never built.)* *


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*STATUS QUO? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada*
*
*
*Date*: Tuesday, Feb 5 2013
*Time*: 6:45pm until 9:00pm
*Location:* 506 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario
*On Facebook: *https://www.facebook.com/events/235421843259504/?ref=2

**Director Karen Cho, Peggy Cooke (The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada)
and
Martha Friendly (Childcare Resource and Research Unit) will be in
attendance for a discussion after the screening. This screening is a
co-presentation with the National Film Board of Canada, The Childcare
Resource and Research Unit, The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, and the
Philippine Women Centre of Ontario.

STATUS QUO? THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF FEMINISM IN CANADA
Karen Cho / CA / 2012 / 87 ' / English

Feminism has shaped the society we live in. But just how far has it brought
us, and how relevant is it today? Status Quo? asks these questions and
uncovers provocative - at times shocking - answers about the evolution of
women's equality in Canada. Interweaving a wealth of dynamic archival
material with startling contemporary stories, the film situates the vibrant
Canadian women's movement in its history-making context. In 1967 the
landmark Toyal Commission on the Status of Women made recommendations to
address the inequalities faced by women. Now, Status Quo? zeroes in on key
concerns such as violence against women, access to abortion, and universal
childcare, asking how much progress we have truly made on these issues.
Status Quo? is crucial viewing for every Canadian, especially those
unfamiliar with the vital achievements of the feminist movement. This
striking, in-depth documentary pays homage to Canada's feminist forerunners
and raises important questions about where and how we should move on from
here.

cinemapolitica.org/bloor


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*Art'Scool workshops & Gatherings *
*
*
*Date*: Friday, Feb 8 2013 Until March 24
*Time*: 4:45 pm until 2:00 pm
*On Facebook: *https://www.facebook.com/events/198019637006245/?ref=2

FREE workshops! Pls check back for updates.
This is art as activism that not only acts for the sake of acting, but
searches for intelligent, creative means of self-empowerment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday Feb 1 – Sketch Intro
Exercises, techniques, activities for all levels. This space is also
provided for self-care and creating at your own pace.
Facilitator: Salomeh
Space: Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil St.
Time: 7:30-9pm
*feel free to bring your own sketching utensils. some will be provided :)
------
the Language of Storytelling
Fri Feb 8 (weekly for 8 weeks)
Facilitator: Arestia & Navraaj
Space: Accents Bookstore
Time: 4:45-
http://www.facebook.com/events/328705520569077/
-----
Date: TBD
THEME: 1billionrising V-day art actions
Facilitator: Veronica and Salomeh
Space:
Time:
Ideas: in solidarity with 1billionrising V-day art actions: monologue
reading & writing, collective collage, valentine card creation.
------
Monday Feb 4th
SILK SCREEN PRINTING
Facilitator: Johnny
Space: his home
>From 4pm-7pm
Materials: participants bring t-shirts/fabric and or material to silk
screen onto
Space is limited!
-----
Friday Feb 8 – Sketching II
Building on basics techniques; as well as activities for
intermediate/advanced creators. This space is also provided for self-care
and creating at your own pace.
Facilitator: Salomeh
Space: Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil St.
Time: 7:30-9pm
-----
Thurs Feb 14 V-Day DANCE
Facilitator: Veronica
Space:
Time: 7pm-2am
-----
Date: TBD - 3 series Mixed Medium (MARCH)
Facilitator: Salomeh
Space:
Time:
1. Reclaimed art
2. Alternative techniques
3. Human rights collective sculpture
-----
Sun March 24th
art’Scool pop-up at 627 Queen St West !!!
Followed by Sun-Thurs collective exhibit themed around social justice. Only
items contributed by creators will be selected to be on display. Note not
all pieces may be included due to space. Theme must be: SOCIAL JUSTICE.
*
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   - Justseeds: Migration Now! And More for Social Change

   *Date*: Friday, Feb 8, 3013
   *Time*: 6pm until 10pm
   *Location:* Graduate Gallery at OCAD University 205 Richmond St. W
   *On Facebook: *https://www.facebook.com/events/146018452222511/?ref=2

   Migration Now! is a limited-edition portfolio of handmade
   prints addressing migrant issues from Justseeds &
   CultureStrike. In addition to the members of Justseeds,
   participating artists include former Minister of Culture for the
   Black Panther Party Emory Douglas, and Undocumented
   DREAM Act agitators, Julio Salgado and Felipe Baeza.
   The exhibit will also feature a selection of graphics from No One Is
   Illegal Toronto, Justseeds portfolios on resource extraction and prisons,
   and the Imaging Apartheid poster project, based in Montreal. Programming
   will highlight the knowledge and experiences of activists and organizers
   from Toronto, and how art and social justice can impact one another.

   About Justseeds: Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative is a
   decentralized network of 24 artists committed to making print
   and design work that reflects a radical social, environmental,
   and political stance. With members working from the U.S., Canada, and
   Mexico, Justseeds operates both as a unified collaboration of similarly
   minded printmakers and as a loose collection of creative individuals with
   unique viewpoints and working methods. We believe in the transformative
   power of personal expression in concert with collective action.

   www.migrationnow.com<http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.migrationnow.com&h=6AQGjBIB1&s=1>

   www.justseeds.org<http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.justseeds.org&h=lAQFglxrb&s=1>

   www.beehivecollective.org<http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beehivecollective.org&h=JAQHkk-It&s=1>
   http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/
   www.justicia4migrantworkers.org<http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.justicia4migrantworkers.org&h=fAQGJHqx2&s=1>


   FRIDAY FEBRUARY 8, 2013. 6:00-10:00 pm
   OPENING RECEPTION with music by DJ TEACH, refreshments, print sale,
   and live silkscreen printing with Radical Design School


   TUESDAY FEBRARY 12, 2013. 7:00-9:00 pm
   PANEL DISCUSSION with No One Is Illegal Toronto,
   Justicia for Migrant Workers, Beehive Collective, and Radical Design
   School. Moderated by Mary Tremonte of Justseeds.

   Accessible space, free events.

   *==============================*
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   *
   *
   *Emergency Action: Cuts Cost Lives, No More Homeless Deaths!*
   *
   *
   *Date: Friday, February 1st
   Time:12noon
   Location: Metro Hall, 55 John St. (King and John)

   In the past week there have been two homeless deaths in Toronto– that
   makes 36 in one year alone (that we know about)! This comes at a time
   when
   the City of Toronto and the Province have both cut funding to homeless
   prevention programs, shelters, and housing. These cuts cost lives.
   Shelters are already overcrowded and there is a chronic lack of supports
   and housing. Join us on Friday to demand that the City immediately
   release
   contingency funding for shelters, reverse the cuts to shelters and
   housing, make it easier for people to access the Housing Stabilization
   Fund (the replacement to Community Start-Up), and stop lying to the
   public
   about space in the shelter system and instead take action to end homeless
   deaths!

   **We are calling on organizations and individuals to please sign-on to
   the
   the statement of demands to the City. This Statement is below. On Friday
   we will be delivering this.

   To endorse this statement and to get involved, please contact:
   ocap at tao.ca
    416-925-6939

   Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Health Providers Against Poverty, Aids
   Action Now!*
   *
   *
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-OPIRG York
--
www.opirgyork.ca
416-736-5724
opirg at yorku.ca


*There are many ways to get involved at OPIRG. We currently have 8 OPIRG
York working groups:*
Art For Justice, Justice is Not Colour Blind, Students for a Free Tibet, YU
Free Press, Environmental Justice York, Progressive Filipino Canadians for
Community Empowerment and Development (PFCCED), Students Against Israeli
Apartheid, and the Vanier Prison Support Line working group. You can contact
Victoria Barnett, our volunteer coordinator, about ways to get involved in
these working groups: victoria at opirgyork.ca.

*We also have three different collectives: *PrOPIRGanda Radio, Radical
Reading Room and PrOPIRGanda Zine- see the callouts below. You can contact
us about ways to get involved in these collectives: opirg at yorku.ca.
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