Get ready to turn up the heat - and the stickiness. Environment Canada has said that this weekend will bring extremely humid weather to  many cities in Southwestern Ontario starting tomorrow (Sunday). Temperature levels may rise up to and beyond 30  degrees Celsius.

While getting ready for the hot, wet weather, it's important to keep a couple of things in mind in order to stay healthy. Humidity causes a lot of sweating. Because of this, the body tends to lose a lot of water and salts, so it's important to make sure you're making up for the loss. Try carrying a bottle of water around with you if you intend to go out, but it is best to stay indoors and stay cool. A cold shower also doesn't hurt in bringing your body temperature down. If you're staying home, try opening doors within the house to increase ventilation. Also, keep areas such as the bathroom extra dry by turning on vent fans for a little while to avoid excessive moisture.

Hope you have a great weekend!

When we first make new friends, we have no way of knowing how they will change our lives. At around this time last year, I had the pleasure of meeting someone who still influences me today. We did not see each other every day, nor did we talk often. Yet the brief time I spent with her made all the difference. Sadly, it has been half a year since her family and friends lost her to a hard-fought battle against cancer.

Kirran Shoaib was the type of person that you met and instantly fell in love with. Within seconds, she had you smiling. Just the first time I met her, she had introduced me to her entire family through the photos she proudly showed off on her phone.

She was so strong that despite how sick she got and how grim her future looked, she always stayed positive. She never gave up and continued fighting her sickness. Even up until those last moments, she talked about the things she would do when she got better. While her friends and family worried about what was to come, she took it upon herself to crack jokes and make everyone smile.

These brief encounters with her have been amongst the most meaningful in my life. The love she had for her family teaches us to never be unappreciative of our own. Her optimism while fighting cancer shows us that we should never give up, regardless of how big of an obstacle we might think we’re facing. And her selflessness up until the very end is exemplary of how we should all live.

Kirran means light and I cannot think of a name more fitting for someone who did just that – bring light into the lives of everyone around her.

Five months have passed, but her memory is as alive as ever. Please remember Kirran and her family in your duas.

According to a new Toronto Star investigation, road tolls and congestion charges will be required to support the upcoming $4 billion Sheppard subway line.

Although the mayor had initially promised that the new subway lines would not cost taxpayers, according to former TTC commission Gordon Chong, who was selected by Rob Ford to oversee the details in the plan, depending on the private sector isn’t a realistic option.

Even though the Star’s poll indicates there is opposition on the part of Toronto’s citizens against the idea of using tolls for the DVP or Gardiner, it also indicates that the opposition is less strong when taking into account that the money will be used towards public transit.

Gordon Chong has been commended by other politicians for speaking out about this issue.

Philanthropist: an individual who seeks to helping out in charitable ways; especially in the way of generous donations of money to causes that will help the greater good. Who qualifies as a philanthropist? Who decides that someone can qualify as a philanthropist? Is it a universal decision? Or do some certain people decide that someone is a philanthropist? Of course, you and I can agree that being beneficial via charitable means is an honor also if the personnel is aiding the education system. The education system, especially something so grand as post-secondary education, should have an organized curriculum that would be of use to a society in the near future by providing well-educated and informed students who are ready to make a change in the world for the greater good.But then why are educational systems turning into corporate takeovers?  Surely, a school as esteemed as the University of Toronto would never allow something like this to happen on their watch… What? … They have? The “Munk Centre of Global Affairs”? Peter Munk, is the president and owner of Barrick Gold Mining Corp, the largest mining company in Canada and one of the biggest in the world; with 11 locations in North America, 6 in South America, 1 in Asia, 5 in Africa and 6 in Australia Pacific – which makes it 29 mining locations all over the world. Also take this in:
          -approximately 140 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves
          -6.5 billion pounds of copper reserves
          -1.07 billion ounces of silver
Don’t believe me? Check it out on the official website:

http://www.barrick.com/GlobalOperations/default.aspx.

Which obviously meant that Mr. Munk has a lot of money to throw around; so he decided to throw some towards UofT – with conditions of his own. There has been a lot of debate occurring at the University in accordance to Munk’s association to the school now. Many conflicts revolve around this donation.

Munk donated $35 Million, which will be donated over an extended period of time. Munk wants his own say with what will be taught in the school and wants “to discuss the programs, activities and initiatives of the School in greater detail.” Basically, what Munk wants to be taught at the school will be taught otherwise there maybe consequences, such as withholding the donation money.

Munk’s mining corporation is accused of human rights violations, labour violations and environmental devastation. Gold mining itself is known to be the most environmentally damaging industry in of itself; they use cyanide and other such harmful chemicals which have connections to diseases, it contaminates the water and disturbs wildlife. Not only this, but destruction of many unspoken villages and displacement of communities, killings of anti-mining activists and destruction of agriculture.

Students are worried about what kind of influence this man will have on the teaching of such an intricate subject of Global Affairs. These factors concerning Munk are shocking, will it actually have an effect on the academia at UofT?

A man accused of first-degree murder in the death of York University student, Qian Liu, was held in custody after a brief court appearance on April 21st.

The 23-year-old Chinese student was online with a friend in China at around 1 a.m. on Friday, and while the two were chatting, a man entered the apartment. A struggle followed during which the computer was turned off. Following the altercation, the online witness contacted people known to Liu out of concern for her safety.

Police said they are still missing key pieces of evidence, such as Liu's external webcam, her Think-pad and her cell-phone. Police in Toronto did not reveal how they had tied Mr Dickson to the killing, and earlier, investigators said they had yet to determine the cause of death.

York University said in a released statement on Thursday that Dickson was not a registered student and does not have a degree from the university.

However, a 2008 newsletter from the Atlantic Council of Canada, a group founded to promote NATO at which Dickson was formerly an executive assistant, described him as a former York student who was twice re-elected vice-president of the undergraduate political science council. Dickson is expected to make a brief court appearance via video on April 24.

This incident reminds us all about the importance of safety and community. The University of Toronto is committed to promoting an environment where students, faculty and staff can feel safe to learn, work and live.   I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the numerous
programs and services available to you on campus.

For more information on security services at three of the U of T campuses, please visit the following websites:

Community Safety Office
http://www.communitysafety.utoronto.ca

U of T Campus Police
http://www.campuspolice.utoronto.ca/site3.aspx

UTSC Campus Police Services
http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~police/index.html

UTM Campus Police
http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/index.php?id=1986

An International team of researchers have found that the gene associated with the loss of our ability to sense pain is involved with the loss of our sense of smell.

For undertaking this research Professor Frank Zufall, of the University Of Saarland School of Medicine, in Germany, and colleagues tested 3 people in their 30s with a rare inability to feel pain ( also known as congenital analgesia) and found that they were also unable to sense smell at all ( a condition known as anosmia). Surprisingly, none of the subjects were aware of the fact that they couldn’t smell.

An inability of feel pain may sound intriguing, but people with this kind of condition often harm themselves leading to severe damage through frequently biting their tongues, breaking bones or even burning themselves.

It is scientifically known that the inability to feel pain is due to a particular defective gene known as SCN9A, coding for a type of sodium channel which a essential for nerve impulse conduction and sending neural messages.

Now the question arises is whether sodium channels are important in smell detection too. Researchers were able to detect this by producing a genetically altered strain of mice lacking sodium channels and an ability to smell.

This study shows that in years to come we should consider a drug for having a side-effect of smell (or lack of it), as several of the current pharmaceutical companies are targeting such particular sodium channels to invent and develop new pain relief drugs.

On January 26, 2011, a TTC passenger caught a TTC driver on the bus route 165 Weston Road North, texting while he was driving a full bus. Going 50km/h, it is said he was texting on what seemed to be “a blackberry like” device.

Mike Schmitz, the passenger says that the driver was more focused on his phone and not on the road. The passenger seeing this took a picture with his own phone of the driver texting. Schmitz says, “He wasn’t even paying attention to the road” because he was so in tuned with his phone. The TTC is investigating the case and assures the public that the driver will be disciplined.

The TTC has a clear and strict policy concerning texting while operating a vehicle. The TTC forbids the use of cell phones of any kind while the bus driver is operating a vehicle.

Not only is this a safety hazard but texting while driving is illegal in Ontario. The no texting while driving law was introduced in October 2009.

A driver can be fined up to five hundred dollars for such an act.

But is this fine merely enough for those who are in charge of so many lives?

Does a fine justify such an act when so many people’s lives are put in danger?

You be the judge. 

On January 12, 2011 a bright and beautiful spark left us. Kirran Shoaib passed away after battling colon cancer for the past 3 years. In the end, it overcame her but her strength still prevails in the hearts of her family, friends and community. Her father, Shoaib Alam, had passed away only two weeks earlier.

I haven't ever met this girl, but truths of her warm heart and beautiful character spread like wildfire across the Muslim Community in the GTA in the final weeks of her struggle. I wish I had gotten to know her better, seen her suceed in school and excel in extracurricular activities. Had experienced first hand the promise that she held in her heart for a bright future.

So I, like so many others, was broken hearted when I listened to her story.  How she has left behind 5 siblings and a mother left to care for them on her own. Their strength through such a difficult tight is a tough test from Allah, and mashAllah- we all can learn a valuable lesson in patience and strength from the Shoaib family.

May Allah wrap Kirran and her father in an endless mercy and give them the highest place in heaven and give them the best company in the afterlife. Ameen.

Please remember her and her family in your du'as. They really need it at this time. If you can do anything to contribute financially to Kirrans mother and five siblings, please go to

Islamic Relief as it will be handling all financial support for the family. 

As new years resolutions are put to test throughout the following months and as everyone makes an enthusiastic pledge of sticking to them, very few are realistically possible to attain.

Often, there is a mad rush to join the gym and lose the extra pounds, reminding us of the residual effects of last year. If you’ve wanted to burn off the weight sins of 2010 but aren’t so keen on treadmills or stationary bicycle, there is actually a great way to start off the fresh year that awaits us. Ourfaves.com was able to bring the very best of Toronto culture for the passionate locals by listing the top four places in Toronto to break a sweat:

#1 - Rock Oasis
Neighbourhood: King West

"They have the highest climbing routes of any of the indoor gyms in the city, in two 60-foot towers, and several bouldering areas. The changing area includes lockers (bring your own lock), change rooms, washrooms and showers, and they sell some snacks and drinks at the front desk. Beginners can rent shoes (bring a pair of thin socks) and a harness.... " 

#2 - Breathe Yoga Studio
Neighbourhood: Bloor West Village

"A welcoming yoga community, fantastic teachers, a great schedule and variety of classes: restorative, Iyengar, Ashtanga, Pre/post natal and flow. Workshops by in-house and guest teachers are a great way to build your practice. ..."

#3 - Old School Muay Thai
Neighbourhood: Entertainment District

"Great place to learn muay thai and have a great workout! Classes are available Saturday to Wednesday and range from small to large depending on the day of the week. The instructors are very approachable and understand that everyone is at a different skill level and help everyone along the way. Convenient location downtown, good group of people and a great workout make this a fave!" 

#4 - CrossFit Toronto
Neighbourhood: Leslieville

"I've been interested in fitness for a while, and Crossfit is the most effective program I have ever tried by far. It is designed specifically to boost your cardio endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. The workouts are challenging and fun (they whoop your butt!), are completely different each day, and are making me fitter every week...."

Toronto City Hall along with Vancouver City and Victoria has voted in favour of demanding an apology from Maclean’s for publishing the ‘Too Asian’ article. The article talks about increasing competition at major universities created by Asian students who party less and study more. These students are aforementioned to stick to their own Asian groups and not mingle with other students on campus. Other “white” students believe that they take away from the undergrad university experience and therefore avoid these schools. The apparent solution is limiting Asian enrolment in top academia schools. Such proposed racial discrimination at an institution that is above all to serve the purpose of higher education is what many people are appalled about.

Maclean’s ‘Too Asian’ article: http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/11/10/too-asian/