The Bull & Bear: March 2014 issue

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Inside Divest Who Runs the World?

Tracking Accountability Microsoft’s Future: Up in the Clouds Quebec Elections: Three Stooges

THE BULL & BEAR

Realpolitik at McGill

March 2014 Issue 007 Vol. 11 bullandbearmcgill.com

A publication of the

Editor's Note

NEWS 4 Inside Divest

LIFESTYLE 7 Who Runs the World?

9 (Almost) Free Exercise 10 The Education Revolution

FEATURE 13 MUS Report Cards 15 Tracking Accountability 17 McGill Learns from its Students

BUSINESS 20 We’re at the Hotel Motel Desautels 21 Defending the 1%, Really? Really.

23 Microsoft’s Future: Up in the Clouds

OPINION 25 26 27 29

Case Against “Politically Correct” Quebec Elections: Three Stooges Golden Toilets vs. Golden Days Satire: McGill Combats Offensive Content 30 Guide to Superbowl 2014

Cover Design by Joyce Siu

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Dafe Oputu, Lead News Editor

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eading Week has ended, and whether you’re returning from tropical locales or have spent the break here in Montreal, you’re probably more than a little tired of winter. But fear not!

It’s March, so spring is (supposedly) right around the corner.

As always, spring comes with the inevitable shuffle of wrapping up the year and preparing for the next one. March is the time to think about surviving exam season, plans for the summer, and - for some of us post-graduation options.

With elections season in full swing the student body is taking stock of the year’s accomplishments and challenges in preparation for a better 2014-2015 experience. Students are getting ready for the future by making plans for the summer and beyond, but they’re also making decisions that will change how next year’s students experience McGill.

In light of this, we at the Bull & Bear thought it appropriate to present our first ever Student Politics issue. In this issue you will find tips on how to hold your representatives accountable, evaluations of the outgoing MUS executives, a response to “Farnangate”, and the incredible story behind the Faculty of Management’s new student proposed program. And because our interaction with politics extends beyond the campus, we’ll touch on the upcoming provincial elections as well.

Like many of our editors, this will be my final semester at McGill. As I leave I sincerely hope McGill students continue to get involved in ways that make our school a better place.

Enjoy the issue! We at The Bull & Bear hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

Best, Dafe Oputu

The Bull & Bear is published by the Management Undergraduate Society. The content of this publication is the responsibility of the Management Undergraduate Society and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University.

Briefs Your guide to events around campus Five Days for the Homeless March 10-15 Students fundraise for homeless youth, while experiencing firsthand the challenges encountered by the homeless.

What is Happening in Ukraine and Why? March 13 Learn about recent events in the Ukraine from Maria Popova, professor of Political Science Faculty Olympics “McGilligan’s Island” by SSMU March 13-15

Staff Tarun Koshy Executive Editor William Werblow Sijia Ye Chief Layout Editors Alain Kasparian Nat Carson Media Editors Dafe Oputu Lead News Editor Shannon Epstein Tess Wrobleski News Editors April Wu Lead Lifestyle Editor

Marisa Samek Lifestyle Editor Jonathan Craske Lead Business Editor Stéphanie Thomas Lead Opinion Editor Alex Petralia Opinion Editor Yuliya Gorelkina Hayley Lim Michelle Paspe Layout Editors Henry Fuz-Keeve Lead Web Editor

Find out where your faculty stands through some fun and games.

St. Patrick’s Day March 17 Celebrate St. Patrick with inappropriate levels of drunkenness and the colour green.

P(H)ASSION March 21 Raise money for HIV/AIDs awareness and take in the latest trends in fashion.

A Night in Casablanca Grad Ball Who wouldn’t want to relive their high school prom?

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News

Demilitarize, Divest, and Student Demand for Sustainability Investigating the many facets of the movement to divest at McGill

Julia Rodriguez and Megan Tan, News Writers

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year and a half ago, three McGill students who were inspired by the Climate Change Youth Coalition decided to address Canada’s fossil fuel dependency. The students– one of which was David Summerhays, who holds a BA in History from McGill– submitted Access to Information (ATI) requests to the McGill administration regarding the extent of McGill’s involvement in the fossil fuel industry.

The Onset of Controversy When the Divest members submitted ATI requests, they were looking to find out which fossil fuel companies McGill was investing in, and whether McGill held research contracts or job fair agreements from these companies. However, the process of obtaining this information resulted in a complaint where numerous students – including Summerhays – were accused of conspiring to overwhelm the secretary with the requests.

Recently, a settlement was reached between the students and McGill administration, where, according to Summerhays, McGill “agreed to a timeline for responding to [their] requests, and in exchange [the students] chose the requests [they] were most interested in.” McGill is expected to reply to Summerhays’ request by the end of March, while other requests will be met at separate times.

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Demilitarize McGill is among a number of other organizations that submitted ATI requests to McGill administration. According to Demiltiarize’s Twitter page, the administration “has until Friday [February 28] to respond to military research ATIs.” To increase transparency, McGill revealed its investments in fossil fuel companies such as BP, Nexen, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, and Crescent Point Energy. Motivated by these findings, Divest McGill formed to protest against McGill’s $30 million investment in these companies.

The Development of Divest Since its foundation in September 2012, Divest McGill has increased its presence on campus through campaigns against the exploitations taking place at the Tar Sands. Their mission is to decrease Canada’s dependence on fossil fuel by demanding that McGill divest its investments in fossil fuel and tar sands companies.

Out of McGill’s endowment of $1 billion, three percent are invested in these fossil fuel companies.

Divest is pushing for the McGill administration to invest in different industries or even alternative energy resources, which have been shown to be more profitable than the fossil fuel companies for the last one to

News five years, according to Divest McGill member Amina Moustaqim-Barrette.

While Divest acknowledges the insignificant impact they may have on the economic aspect of the companies, their focus is mainly on the social and political impact their protests will have on their surroundings. Moustaqim-Barrette states that by doing so, they are “stigmatizing the industry, socially” and using a “social tactic to tell politicians that the society cares about this issue” so as to urge these politicians to “do something at a federal and municipal level.”

The movement to divest is not unique to McGill.

Across North America, universities and even major cities have committed to not only divesting from fossil fuel companies, but also exploring alternative energy options.

Divest McGill believes the unified effort of Divest movements across the nation is crucial to the movement’s lasting social impact. In that spirit, Divest McGill is in close partnership with Divest Concordia.

Demilitarize: Different Tactics, Same Aim Divest and Demilitarize are similar in that they endeavor to challenge how universities use their power to influence society.

According to Demilitarize member Kevin Paul: “Both organizations reject the disintegration of the boundaries between the university as a public institution and the sphere of the public market.” Despite this shared aim, the groups address different aspects of McGill’s behavior as an institution, and use extremely different means to promote their cause.

Divest McGill actively lobbies McGill’s administration to promote their agenda. They use existing processes and in this way the changes they implement are from within. Demilitarize rejects these institutional challenges and instead lobbies to place external pressure on the administration. They do so by raising student awareness of military research, picketing labs, and other means of direct action.

Demilitarize McGill has not always taken such radical means. When the club was first formed in 1984, their strategies included lobbying administrators, filing formal complaints, and proposing new policies. The initial strategies of the club are similar to those currently used by Divest.

The Bull & Bear - March 2014

After a four-year battle with administration, Demilitarize succeeded in implementing an ethical policy which required any military funded research to indicate negative implications of the research in the grant application. To their disappointment, the club did not believe that the administration adequately enforced the policy.

Demilitarize voiced their concern in 2009, proposing new policies to more strictly enforce ethical guidelines.

This proposal was rejected by McGill.

The club’s modern incarnation has since abandoned this approach of working within the institutional framework, having been discouraged by previous failures with the administration to act in accordance with the aforementioned policy.

Demilitarize has been criticized for their extreme methods; however, the organization feels it is warranted in light of their past interactions with the institution. “If the administration isn’t sympathetic to the cause then they won’t prioritize it,” explained Azad Kalemkiarian, a first year Urban System’s student and Demilitarize member. “If McGill does divest, it will only be because they face immense pressure. For that to happen there needs to be an intensification of the dialogue on campus to include as many people in the movement as possible.”

Joining the Movement Recently, the divest movement was taken up by Lockout Petroculture, a temporary group that formed to disrupt the Petroculture conference that took place on McGill’s campus from February 6th to 7th. The conference examined the ways in which the oil industry influences individual’s daily lives. Lockout Petroculture claimed that the conference disproportionately featured pro-oil opinions, failing to recognize the environmental and social harms caused by the oil sands.

Divest McGill stands in solidarity with the mission of Lockout Petroculture, according to Moustaqim-Barrette. Divest also took issue with the conference because “the conference’s premise was whether Canada is a petroculture, and whether Canada is socially and economically reliant on fossil fuels,” she stated. She believes this “should not even be a question.” Furthermore, the (Continued on page 6)

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News conference hosted a speaker who denies the occurrence of climate change, to which Moustaqim-Barrette stated: “it’s absolutely ridiculous that is happening at an academic conference,” and noted the overwhelming scientific evidence to support the issue.

On February 7th, a group of 30 individuals from Lockout Petroculture barricaded the conference building. The protest was so effective that the conference was forced to relocate to another building for the day.

While Divest McGill did not arrange the barricading protest, six to seven Divest members – in their bright orange shirts and Divest McGill buttons – organized an effort to attend the conference and participate in the discussion. According to Moustaqim-Barrette, the members actively engaged in the debate by asking questions to speakers on both sides, and helped focus the conversation away from suggestions on how to make fossil fuels or pipelines safer to how to transition away from fossil fuels.

Divest considered their participation in the conference to be successful, and were openly endorsed by environ-

mental group speakers at the event. Moustaqim-Barrette recounts that Divest was not expecting this outpour of support, and was glad that they made many allies that day.

The last day of the conference, Divest organized a “counter-conference” called “Notre Futur! For a Fossil-Free Future.” They invited students to share their visions for a fossil-free future, and provide students an opportunity to oppose the perpetuation of the petroculture.

Looking Ahead Moustaqim-Barette added that Divest plans to hold several workshops over the year to “explain what Divest is, why they are doing it and what they are divesting from” to clarify their mission to the student body. Additionally, they intend to focus on professor outreach.

Divest hopes that McGill will “divest in a few years, if not sooner” thanks to Divest’s active meetings with the administration, and additional societal pressure to move away from fossil fuels. If the university decides to divests from fossil fuels, it will certainly be an outstanding for success for all of the students involved in the movement.

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Lifestyle

Who Runs the World?

Breaking down Beyoncé’s global domination Kate Nishida, Lifestyle Writer Via insidebythemusic.blogspot.ca

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ueen Bey. Yoncé. Sasha Fierce. Mrs. Carter. No matter which alter ego you choose, the vast majority of individuals will know whom you are referring to. Beyoncé Knowles has become the most compelling and influential musician of the 21st century. Transgressing traditional demographic groups, she has created a global community united in their adoration for the pop-cultural icon. In fact, I have yet to meet anyone over the age of eleven who does not at the very least respect (if not worship) Ms. Knowles. Who else can get away with demanding the world to “bow down b****es”, knowing that we will happily do so?

Beyoncé’s iconic status does not come unwarranted.

With a repertoire of songs consisting of “Crazy in Love”, “Diva”, “Single Ladies”, and my current favourite “Drunk in Love”, she is one of the best-selling artists of all time.

Not to mention that her success recently inspired a New Jersey college to introduce a course they have titled “Politicizing Beyoncé”. At the same time, Hollywood hosts a plethora of female artists who, like Beyoncé, are blessed with both beauty and immense talent, yet their respective followings are laughable in comparison to Queen

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Bey’s fan base (cleverly nicknamed the “Beyhive”). Alas, many of them have had to resort to reality television to stay marginally relevant - Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, need I say more?

What makes Queen Bey the exception? Is she overrated or is her global domination entirely justified? To make my case that the Bey is indeed a gift to the human race and worthy of her royal status, here are eight reasons I believe Beyoncé has proven to be utterly flawless.

1. She’s a self-described “modern-day feminist” Beginning her career with Destiny’s Child and performing hits like “Survivor” and “Independent Women”, it is clear that Beyoncé is a self-made woman. She often speaks out about the importance of feminine sexuality, as well as, the need for gender equality in the workforce.

At the same time she refuses to shy away from her image as a devoted wife and mother. In fact, it’s one of her (Continued on page 6)

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Lifestyle proudest achievements. “Why do you have to choose what type of woman you are?”, she recently preached to British Vogue. “I’m just a woman and I love being a woman.”

2. She’s a quadruple threat Seriously, what can’t this woman do? The musician proved that she’s more than capable of acting in box-office hits like Dreamgirls and Austin Powers: Goldmember.

She continues to collaborate on new clothing designs with her mother Tina, for their fashion label House of Deréon. Despite her busy side careers, she still makes time to churn out one hit after another. Bey has evolved into a strategic businesswoman and global brand name, having been named as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People last year.

3. She’s one half of the most powerful celebrity couples to ever exist I challenge you to think of a more influential duo on pop-culture than Mr. and Mrs. Carter. Even the birth of Prince George had nothing on Blue Ivy, who is equally deserving of R&B royalty status. I’m fairly certain that even President Obama knew he won the jackpot upon discovering that the powerhouse couple wanted to befriend him and support his campaign.

4. She really cares about her fans.

On December 13th 2013, Beyoncé changed the music game. Without using any promotional tools, she dropped a 14-track album accompanied by 17 music videos on iTunes. She expressed that the surprise album enabled her to speak to her fans directly, stating that “There is so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans”. A quick scroll through her iambeyonce Tumblr page, comprised of behind the scenes images of her world tour and other personal photographs, illustrates the importance she attributes to such direct communication between her and her adoring fans.

5. Our favourite celebrities are equally obsessed with her

— after the release of Beyoncé’s secret album — after watching Beyoncé at the 2014 Grammys 6. She’s “bootylicious” Combining the words “booty” and “delicious”, Bey developed a term so popular that it even made its way into the Oxford dictionary. Being “bootylicious” not only refers to one’s sexual attractiveness, but the power of the feminine body in general. The Destiny’s Child classic is only one out of the many instances in which Beyoncé celebrates her curves. In this way, she provides a more realistic portrayal of women, acting as a role model for positive body image conceptions.

7. She is…SASHA FIERCE On her onstage personality: “I have someone else that takes over when it’s time for me to work and when I’m on stage…(it) kind of protects me and who I really am.” If you haven’t watched Bey’s Superbowl halftime show in 2012, now is the time to do so.

8. She doesn’t forget where she came from Most band members who break off to become a solo act do everything in their power to shed their former image (ahem, Justin Timberlake). Yet Beyoncé often reminisces back to her Destiny’s Child roots and is still tight with former group mate, Kelly Rowland. She is always reminding fans of her humble upbringing in Houston, Texas and even chose to include footage of herself performing as a child in her recent video “Flawless”. “I love you, Houston!” The adorable soon-to-be icon said.

No, we love YOU, Beyoncé.

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Lifestyle

(Almost) Free Exercise

Via gorecess.wordpress.com

How to exercise on a budget in Montreal Liz Willcock, Lifestyle Writer

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never understood why exercise wasn’t free. I mean, if I’m going to spend 75 minutes in a sweltering room adopting various torturous poses and wishing painful deaths on an instructor - it better be free. Yet I too am guilty of begrudgingly shelling out $15 every now and then for a yoga class. By my estimate, I could save up to $80 a month if I simply stopped paying for exercise.

Ironically, I would probably allocate that amount and more on the Oreos I consume while lazing around the house all day, but that’s another story.

Exercise is essential to a healthy lifestyle, and it’s not something I’m willing to sacrifice, and neither should you. Thankfully, we live in a city where free exercise is not an abstract concept, but rather available in a great variety of ways (if you know where to look). Whether it is at a gym or in the great outdoors, there are always places in Montreal to get in shape for absolutely free or for a minimal charge.

Spin Energie: Thursday 10:30 I think I speak for the vast majority of students when I say the $15 price tag for a spin class is just too high.

Thankfully, every Thursday morning at 10:30, the fine people of Lululemon put on a free class at Spin Energie.

For 45 minutes you can sweat, dance, and harbor a com-

The Bull & Bear - March 2014

pletely baseless hatred towards your instructor free of charge. Spin Energie is located just below Parc and Milton, and lies just outside of the McGill ghetto.

Lululemon Athletica: Sundays 9 am If you’re looking for something more slow-paced, Lululemon Athletica on St. Catherine Street has the perfect class. They clear out the store for floor space and host the yoga class before their opening hours. Though 9 AM on a Sunday seems akin to sacrilege for those of us that like our beauty sleep on weekends (and every other day of the week), you’ll find no nicer Zen group of people to be around so early in the morning. However, be sure to check the schedule because sometimes they switch it up.

Moksha hot yoga: variable times This has been the best way that I’ve been able to find regular and free yoga classes in Montreal. Moksha is an incredible hot yoga studio with locations in NDG, West Island, and above the shopper’s drug mart on St. Laurent, but the $15 classes can add up. Aspiring instructors will post times and locations of free classes in the Facebook group, Moksha Yoga – Free Hot Yoga – Practice Classes Taught by New Teachers. They are usually pretty similar in quality to classes you pay for, and quite frequent!

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Lifestyle McGill Fitness Center For those of you that didn’t spring for the gym membership at the beginning of the term, don’t count the McGill fitness center as entirely out of your budget. Students can use the pool without a gym membership, as long as they check the schedule. Though the men’s basketball team might have sporadic aqua-fit sessions, you can pretty much bet on the pool being free from 8 am to 4 pm and after 6:30 pm until closing hours. There are also $2 Pay-As-You-Go classes for a variety of activities, from Spin to Zumba.

Montreal’s outdoor skating rinks If you’re like me and prefer exercise that doesn’t look or feel like exercise, Montreal’s outdoor skating

rinks are perfect. There are 275 skating rinks in Montreal, which means more likely than not, there’s one near you. My two favorites are Beaver Lake on top of Mont Royal, and the Old Port rink. If you have a pair of skates, this activity lies safely in the free zone. Otherwise, both of these locations have stalls where you can rent a pair of skates for $9 for two hours.

So for all of my friends that excused their threemonth exercise sabbaticals by claiming they are just “too poor”, you no longer have an excuse. As long as you’re willing to plan in advance and alter your exercise habits, there never need be reason to drop $15 on a yoga class again. There are plenty of indoor and outdoor facilities, where you can get your recommended dose of exercise without breaking the bank.

The Education Revolution How Andy Nulman’s class, “Marketing and Society” is changing the way we learn

Mor Pecht, Lifestyle Writer

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sat down with Andy Nulman, co-founder of Just for Laughs to discuss how his new course, “Marketing and Society,” is stirring up a revolution in the classroom. Technology has profoundly changed our environment. Andy’s class is one of the few courses offered at McGill where social media participation counts towards our grade. The major project, equivalent to a final exam, is launching our very own YouTube channel.

What is the most prominent effect technology has had on education?

It opened the world. In my opinion, [technology] eliminated the need for traditional education and memorization. There is so much going on a daily basis. Why go back and memorize things from the past when the reality is at your fingertips? With technology, you have today at your fingertips.

In my time, I learned by text on blackboards and whiteboards. Overhead screens were ground-breaking back then. Today the learning is all real time thus cre-

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ating a need for a different approach to education that teaches today’s tools and how to think in a new era.

How did you construct the curriculum?

The class is mainly based on the YouTube playbook.

I have to be really careful from planning things out too much because the online world is constantly changing.

I’m writing lectures in December that might be completely obsolete by the end of January! For example, even the sale of WhatsApp changes the vantage point of what we are doing.

I chose to focus on YouTube since it is today’s tool: it’s easily accessible, fun, and allows people with different skill sets to come together. You need to remember certain things are constant but in a business, art, and many other subjects within a higher education setting ideas are changing rapidly. How do you teach these subjects without taking into account the developments in the real world? I find it shocking that many professors use the same teaching materials year after year.

Lifestyle

“Embedding technology throughout the syllabus and encouraging the use of social media creates an experience that extends outside the classroom.”

-Andy Nulman What do you hope to achieve in your class “Marketing and Society” To stand out and have a group of people who can say they did something unique. As marketers, we are creating a relationship with our consumers and that’s exactly what we are doing in this class. We took the concept of relationship marketing and built upon that. We are creating an experience that someone will talk about. No one is going to pass a test and show somebody else and maybe even make some money from it. In this class, you are going to make something that you are going to share.

At the micro level we are learning to use a popular social media tool. We’re learning about YouTube, the integra-

tion of YouTube as a marketing tool, and how this integration works. At the macro, we are doing something people will talk about, something they will be engaged with. The life lesson is the macro of the class: you need to do something different to stand out.

How is this class revolutionary?

This class is revolutionary only in terms of the context of the tools we use. These skills aren’t usually considered part of a university education but we use YouTube and Facebook all the time in our private lives. Embedding technology throughout the syllabus and encouraging the use of social media creates an experience that extends outside the classroom. For me, school was just means to an end.

While taking classes I didn’t feel fully immersed in the experience. I believe you [students] need a different approach and appreciate the breadth of education we are given today. There’s more to it than always looking to leave.

Now that’s revolutionary.

In our interview Andy anecdotally mentioned his wife catching him communicating with us on Marketing and Society’s Facebook page during the late hours of evening. By bringing real life to the classroom and vice versa, we are trying to merge the two together and create a real relationship.

Moreover, the class will continue beyond the classroom as the YouTube channels we spent the semester creating take on lives of their own after their April launch.

Looking towards the future On March 28th, YouTube is expecting to hold their first educator lab to empower educators who want to integrate YouTube education into their courses. In the not-so-distant future, we might even be able to become “YouTube certified”. Why not? Technology has revolutionized education and created new needs. As a student in Andy Nulman’s class, I feel empowered to be part of something new and refreshing.

Courtesy of Daichi Ishikawa and Luis Carlos Pombo

The Bull & Bear - March 2014

Visit McGill’s “Marketing and Society” page on Facebook to learn more!

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News

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Feature

MUS Report Cards

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Dafe Oputu, Lead News Editor

ith elections finishing up The Bull & Bear has decided to take a look back at the past year and evaluate our outgoing MUS executive team. Evaluations were done by comparing candidates’ campaign action plans with their achievements over the past year. We also gave special consideration to the long term impact of executive accomplishments; giving extra points to projects we see sticking around in the coming years.

Keep in mind that the grading is subjective and that all our MUS execs have done a great job in 2013-2014. Here’s hoping we have an equally talented bunch next year!

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Joël Taillefer - President Present at almost every Desautels event and quick to respond to emails: President Taillefer gets high points for accessibility. Taillefer has also made lasting changes to MUS’ organization by creating the roles of VP Corporate Relations and VP Cases and Competitions, and by working through the Society’s first year with the new Constitution. “Our goal is to generate new successes with the betterment of what we currently have in place in terms of events and structures.”

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Aaron Ehgoetz - VP Internal The outgoing VP internal came into his position promising to improve student engagement in elections and to focus on the sustainability aspect of his portfolio. In both goals, Ehgoetz has been generally successful. Student turnout went up 5% in both the referendum and the executive elections compared to last year. This was partly thanks to new promotional techniques such as integrating the referendum with MUS’ welcome back carnival, as well as increasing promotion of MUS politics during events like Carnival. In the past year, 4a7 has encouraged students to bring reusable cups by charging those who do not. Sinfully Asian has also started composting, with mixed results.

Often seen on the 2nd floor of Bronfman talking to students, Ehgoetz scored well on accessibility. Long term impact of Ehgoetz policies is unclear, in fact Sinfully Asian composting seems destined to fade out. And elections marketing depends on the willingness of future VP Internals to continue the effort.

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Ross McDonach - VP Academic McDonach’s platform last year promised to focus on transferable skills in the curriculum, add value to the curriculum, and improve operational efficiency. In the past year McDonach has worked to add lectures on course on writing CVs and cover letters, to the BUSA 250 curriculum. McDonach also worked with the co-chairs of Case League to split the formerly full-year course into semester long courses - allowing more students to participate. “We are not trying to teach students how to master the case crack method,” says McDonach, “we want to introduce them to it - the half year method is ideal in that regard.”

By merging the Graduating and U2 Case Competitions into one, and creating the new VP Cases & Competitions, it is fair to say McDonach has taken his efficiency pledge seriously.

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News

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Flavie Laliberte - VP External Laliberte’s main goal for the 2013-2014 school year was to work with the Desautels Management Case Competition to “increase competitiveness and build a strong basis for our delegations for future competitions.” Laliberte has worked the past year to redesign the training structure and recruitment program for case competitions. Consequently, this year the McGill team won third place overall at Financial Open, the most competitive the team has been in three years. Additionally, she worked to change McGill’s image at case competitions. In the past year, the school has been seen as more involved, and more approachable within the community of Montreal business schools.

Sean Alex Finnell - VP Engagement Finnell came in promising to improve MUS events, make them more unique, and increase the charity component. This year’s frosh saw participation increase from 78 to 85 percent, with new policies making the event more inclusive for students who do not drink alcohol. “We were also able to make Carnival more philanthropic,” he adds, “our old cancer auction record was $23,000, and we reached $30,000 this year.” Finnell’s changes to the MUS Concert Series have caused increased engagement and will likely be continued in future years. Also new events like Hockey Night in Bronfman and collaboration with Red Thunder will likely become staples of MUS student life.

Shintaro Matsui - VP Communications Matsui has made lasting changes in MUS’ relations with studio and media. Particularly important (in our humble opinion) is the new Memorandum of Agreement between the MUS and The Bull & Bear. “The relationship was strained between us and the B&B,” Matsui explained, “there wasn’t a proper structure. So I worked closely with Joël to create one.” Matsui also increased the number of First Year Involvement Team events and has seen an increase in attendance. “I want to convey to the student body that the MUS is an umbrella which multiple events, services and clubs fall under.”

Ibrahim Irfan - VP Finance Since coming into the role of VP Finance, Irfan has managed to pay 65% of MUS debt, craft a new fiscal policy, and generate $100,000 in tax refunds by refiling old taxes. The new policy and the extra $100,000 for future years gave our outgoing VP Finance high marks in Lasting Impact.

Feature

Trac king Accountability How to make sure your student representatives are delivering on their promises Niall Carolan, Lifestyle Writer Via cdn.thewire.com

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s a student voter, you’ve been badgered for signatures, had your Facebook timeline blanketed by words of endorsement, and at this point you’re just looking forward to a 4á7 where political announcements no longer hinder your drinking ability. While these unwanted side-effects may plague election season, student government improves student life within Bronfman and continues to enhance our faculty’s representation outside McGill.

Unfortunately, the repeatedly weak attendance to the electoral debates demonstrates the lack of student interest and involvement in the whole electoral process. This situation ultimately opens the door to complacency and reduces pressure on candidates to perform. Students should play a more active role in the electoral process by becoming knowledgeable about their faculty and its representatives, and by raising their concerns directly to those elect-

The Bull & Bear - March 2014

ed. This article arms you with the knowledge you need to keep student government accountable, effective, and working for you.

Stay informed Make sure elected officials are delivering on their promises by being as informed as possible about your faculty, a task that is much easier than it sounds. For instance, the MUS website has access to information on council policy, the new constitution, and meeting minutes. I understand that you may rather spend an hour watching the latest episode of House of Cards over reading the MUS constitution, but the added understanding of the MUS framework will help you to determine what constitutes worthwhile policy or not. Frank would approve.

Another useful way to get more connected is to read

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Feature campus publications. They follow various faculties’ culture and events, and offers a mouthpiece to students wishing to voice their opinions and concerns. For the real book-worms out there, try reading several different

best way to find out information is to ask the candidates yourself. Believe it or not, elected student officials are just that—students who enjoy unwinding at 4á7 every bit as much as you do and who are more

Unfortunately, the repeatedly weak attendance to the electoral debates demonstrates the lack of student interest and involvement in the whole electoral process. This situation ultimately opens the door to complacency and reduces pressure on candidates to perform.

McGill publications to gain greater insight into where your faculty fits-in within the wider McGill community.

Knowing your faculty’s political framework allows you to form a more informed opinion on policy adjustment and how to become involved in the faculty’s direction moving forward. For instance, all executive meetings are open to any MUS member, and the VPs hold office hours on the second floor to ensure they are a primary point of contact for students.

Hold your candidates accountable In order to keep the elected accountable, you must understand what they promise to deliver. While running, each candidate submits a three point platform from which the electorate bases their vote. Tradition-

than willing to discuss issues that affect those who elected them. It is straight from the officials that you are likely to find the most up-to-date and relevant information. For example, if you have concerns over the Desautels grading policy, the VP Academic can discuss that with you and has the power to work closely with professors and Career Services to make necessary changes.

Each VP and Board member holds a specific position ranging from Engagement to Corporate Relations.

The MUS website profiles each position and its current holder, so that you can be sure which executive to approach should you have questions pertaining to their portfolio. As always, never be shy to ask questions.

Members of the council were elected or appointed be-

“You don’t have to become the president of your faculty to make a difference.” ally, the election process itself is very public and the most cursory Facebook search would reveal any official’s platform. For the most consolidated information base on the MUS, EUS and SSMU elections; however, visit The Bull & Bear Elections 2014 Coverage online to find full candidate profiles, including their qualifications and a breakdown of their platform, along with recorded debates.

Engage with your executives Beyond conducting your own research, the single

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cause they demonstrated a commitment to their faculty and should continue to demonstrate that zeal when presented with a student’s concern.

You don’t have to become the president of your faculty to make a difference. Improve Bronfman by familiarizing yourself with its governance, engaging executives, and holding them accountable for their promises.

Transparency and accountability are touted in almost every electoral platform, and all too often they simply remain buzzwords. Now it is up to you, the students, to transform those words into action.

Feature

mcgill learns from its students A comprehensive look at three new program offerings from Desautels, and the story behind them Jonathon Craske, Lead Business Editor

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here is no doubt that a typical university experience is, regrettably, a one way street. Although we may like to hold on to the belief that we participate in an open dialogue with our peers, faculty, and administration, the realities of the modern post-secondary education experience is two-dimensional. Student input in terms of programs are often kept to course reviews which, although invaluable, are limited in scope and influence.

This coming Fall, however, the Desautels Faculty of Management will be offering one of the first programs of its kind in Canada, driven largely by student input and faculty collaboration. The efforts of a select few individuals, combined with a growing emphasis on interdisciplinary studies, both within Desautels and between faculties, and an increasingly socially conscious economic system, have yielded the release of three new programs from the Strategy and Management.

The Origins of the Initiative Every so often, the Desautels Faculty of Management goes through a sort of internal auditing process, in which educators and administrators take a comprehensive look at the state of the faculty, their programs, and their curriculums. In the most recent iteration of this process, fo-

cus was placed on developing a more interdisciplinary approach to management education. A reduction in the number of required core courses and emphasis on diversified program structure meant students were encouraged to supplement their studies in management with substantiating elements of study from a variety of fields.

At the same time, two young students were just discovering a project that would take them through more than two-and-a-half years of their undergraduate degree, an accredited independent study, and ultimately result in the development of an entirely new program structure for strategy, social business, and global strategy management at McGill.

Joanna Klimczak and Mariana Botero are the two students who, during their time at McGill, worked alongside faculty and administration in developing the newly released Strategy Major, as well as the Social Business & Enterprise and Global Strategy Concentrations. While student involvement has always been a strongpoint of Desautels, there has never been such an effective mobilization of passionate and dedicated individuals.

What the Program Is Available to incoming students this coming academic year as well as retroactively applying to students

“The students bring a lot of energy, a lot of great ideas, and they bring the student perspective...�

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Feature who have amassed the correct credits, the initiatives of Klimczak, Botero, and the faculty have resulted in three new programs: an all-new major in Strategic Management and concentration in Social Business & Enterprise, as well as a refined concentration in Global Strategy.

The goal of the program is to “combine traditional topics in strategic management…with attention to pressing social and environmental changes.” While there are similar programs in the US, there are few like it in Canada. Students are able to explore a variety of perspectives on their primary study of management, and can tailor the course structure to their specific interests.

“There’s no doubt that social and environmental context is an increasingly relevant aspect to any stream of management or business” says an anonymous consulting professional. “With the rise of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, as well as the increasing pressure on companies to adapt to issues that were otherwise beyond their scope of operations, such as the environment, students need a broader perspective than ever before to be as effective as possible in their chosen fields.”

How it Came to Be “For me, the whole reason why I wanted to go into management - though it might sound unconventional was I wanted to use business studies and apply them in some form of development.” says Klimczak. Her drive and commitment to the idea of using business as a means of promoting sustainable and responsible development may be a far cry from the traditional motivations of studying management, but they are increasingly relevant as the faculty continues to develop. “I see the power of business, and what kind of influence it has on an international scale, whether its institutions or private enterprise.”

While there was no Strategy major offered when Klimczak began her time at McGill, this in no way impeded her in her pursuit of finding ways to engage management as an avenue of international social development.

In her first few months, Klimczak sought out and attended an event in which McGill hosted 2006 Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, famed micro financier behind the Grameen Bank. It was the first time she had been able to see how social business as a field of study can manifest, and served as the fulcrum in her journey to effect change not only for herself, but for the field in general.

“I started to scope campus, asking ‘are there courses taught on social entrepreneurship in general?’ I had come across some courses in the in the existing Social Context & Business concentration that had some relationship with concrete aspects of social business, so I started looking at campus clubs and other students in-

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Klimczak (pictured) and Botero have both dedicated nearly 3 years of their time at McGill to the development of these programs. volved.” It was through the Office for Sustainability that she met Mariana Botero, a student who shared her passion of social business. “We thought ‘why don’t we go ask the professors, maybe there’s something we don’t know.’”

Klimczak and Botero were eventually directed towards Emine Sarigollu, the program director for the BCom at Desautels. In their first discussions with the administrators of the faculty, they began to brainstorm, and eventually embarked on an accredited independent study to explore possible templates for a Social Business concentration. “We were so excited to work on the study…There was support and constructive criticism coming from the faculty, but we were always aware that this was just an idea…We were realistic in our expectations.”

Students and Faculty Intersecting They were eventually led to the initiatives of Professor Robert David, who along with other faculty members, had been working on the development of the strategy major and revising social context concentration for a number of years. “We had already been talking about a strategic management major for years, but we weren’t really sure, and nothing had ever been done about it…we wanted to re-energize, and rethink, the old social context concentration, because we knew it wasn’t really responding to student needs, but we didn’t really know why, or what to turn it into.”

After Klimczak and Botero presented to the Undergraduate Program Committee for the first time, word spread across the faculty that two students had come armed with curriculum adjustment documentation, ready to make a splash. “I remember this being brought to my desk, and my initial reaction being one of puzzlement” says David, recalling the first time he had heard

Feature of Klimczak and Botero’s efforts. “It was clearly similar to what we had been working on. My reaction was along the lines of ‘why haven’t I heard about this before?’”

“I think it’s fair to say we were both trepidacious about each other” recalls David. “These are the most action oriented students I’ve ever seen, and they were probably equally irritated at having to talk to somebody else.” Klimczak and Botero were, at this point, in the thick of the notorious bureaucracies of McGill. They had been in contact with several administrators and faculty, and were still in the early stages of developing their ideas. This did not, however, deter them in anyway.

“We were under the understanding that ‘we’ll see what works, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll change it.’

Things changed along the way, but as long as everyone is working towards the same goal at the end of the day, and those values are held true, the rest will [fall into place].”

Klimczak and Botero spend several weeks discussing the details of their proposal with David, and eventually, the two parties began to realize that their goals intersected more than they originally thought.

“It all just kind of clicked” says Klimczak. “After Mariana and I met with Professor David in the Strategy area, it was a lot more effectively managed, concrete, and doable. There was already a faculty initiative that we could contribute to, rather than having to try and propose something from scratch.” As David points out, the understanding of the bureaucracy and processes that he and other faculty brought to the project was complemented by the passion and drive of Klimczak and Botero.

“The students bring a lot of energy, a lot of great ideas, and they bring the student perspective, which we very much need to have. As faculty, we could technically have put these programs in place without students, but they would have been nowhere near as good as they will be. It would have been a lesser product without the students.”

What it means for Management Academics As the program is released, all eyes are on the number of students that elect to pursue these new program offerings. While the goal is not necessarily to match the numbers of programs like Finance or Marketing, David, Botero, and Klimczak are eager to see what sort of interest their program will generate.

There are, however, other dimensions to consider. “We want to see that those numbers are there. But at the same time, we want to see the qualitative comments from students.” says David. In a faculty that is dominated by highly specialized, depth-oriented areas of study (Finance, Accounting, etc.), the strategy area and its new programs are looking to offer students a

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more multidisciplinary feel.

Whereas the more established areas of the management studies are praised for their excellent career prospects, they are at the same time berated as being the ‘default’ for too many students. In discussing these areas, David concedes that ““the numbers are high, but sometimes students are disappointed. It’s kind of a default option, and that really defeats the purpose. What I want is the opposite. Maybe our numbers will never get near finance, but if they are decent, and then we get great qualitative feedback, then I’ll be very happy with what we’ve done.”

The argument again comes down to exploring a more multidisciplinary approach to management education. Years after the faculty reduced the number of core courses offered to allow students more freedom to take non-management electives, the emphasis on broadening the scope of commerce programs has only gotten stronger. These new programs, says David, are “building in that direction…I’m a big believer in that approach.”

What it means for McGill McGill, and higher education in Canada in general, is often criticized for it’s slow-to-react, almost dimwitted approach to accommodating emerging trends in the world of management. These programs, however, are an almost unprecedented display of institutional agility, as the excitement and drive of two students was transformed into entirely revamped program offerings in under three years.

In other schools across the country, students are not enjoying as much success. Similar efforts have been met with lukewarm administrative support, and passionate students are often confined to the scope of a student club.

The extent to which Klimczak and Botero were able to influence the academic direction of their faculty is staggering, and should serve as an encouraging demonstration of what can happen when there is constructive intersection of collaborative efforts.

While this may not represent a turning point for McGill in terms of long term committee structure, it serves as a testament to what can happen when student-faculty collaborations allow the drive of engaged students to be led through the networks of bureaucracy to yield tangible results in a relatively short amount of time. After roughly five stages of discussion, deliberation, and ultimately approval, Klimczak, Botero, and David have seen their efforts come to fruition. “It’s just about trying” says Klimczak. “If you have a vision, you see the value in it for the University and for its students, and it really just makes sense to make that vision a reality...then just go for it.”

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Business

We’re at the Hotel Motel Desautels The Final Installment of a 3-Part Overview of Case Studies at McGill Alan Liu, Business Writer

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ast article (McGill Once, McGill Twice), we discussed the possibilities offered by the Desautels Management Leadership Seminar and the four competitions under the banner of the Desautels Management Competition Committee. This article will feature opportunities to represent McGill in international competitions, which are the pinnacle of case achievement in the faculty of management. This process starts with students taking Case Class in their U2 and U3 years, which is a requirement to be chosen for the international competitions that McGill attend. Upon completion, select individuals from the class are chosen and given a chance to travel abroad for case competitions. October this past year, for example, a group of McGill students traveled to Portugal for the University of Porto International Case Competition, while another group will be headed to Serbia for the Belgrade Business International Case Competition in early April. Last, but not least, McGill students have the opportunity to participate in our very own case competition. The McGill Management International Case Competition (MMICC) is an annual event that brings the top business talent from around the world to Montreal for a week of fun, academics, and friendship building.

Case Analysis and Presentation (BUSA 499), commonly referred to as Case Class, accepts a select group of students with the intent of mastering their case presentation and preparation skills.

Taught by Richard Donovan, students fuse multidisciplinary knowledge from their core classes and fields of study to craft a solution to real world business problems.

What differentiates Case Class from an introductory club such as Case League is that the former stresses the importance of persuasiveness, delivery, and presentation. From designing appropriate slides to answering the questions posed by judges following the presentation, Case Class students are differentiated by their soft skills.

While many would have the technical ability necessary to thrive in a competition, the soft skills are what set a team apart from their competition. For anyone interested in participating in academic cases for Jeux du Commerce (JDC), international case competitions, or simply

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honing their presentation abilities, Case Class is a definite must during your undergraduate years.

As an example of successful former Case Class students, four undergraduates - Katan Patel, Shonezi Noor, Jeremy Singer, and Brooke Freeman - won the first place prize at the University of Porto International Case Competition. Though it was the first international case competition in Portuguese history, McGill has already established a name for itself there. In a few months time, four other students will depart for the University of Belgrade Business International Case Competition to compete on behalf of McGill in hopes of repeating what Katan, Shonezi, Jeremy, and Brooke did in Porto. However, for the participants, this trip will be worth more than just the experience of solving a case. Ultimately, it is the connections they establish, the people they meet, and the experience they have that will remain with them forever. From touring the host city to interacting with local students, participants have an opportunity to immerse themselves in a world completely new to them.

Last but not least, McGill also proudly hosts its very own annual international case competition—the McGill Management International Case Competition (MMICC). In its 14th edition, this conference will feature schools from eight different countries, spanning Europe to Asia. Dubbed the “world’s friendliest case competition,” MMICC has an outstanding reputation in the global case network and has an extensive waiting list of schools wishing to participate. Its locally and internationally prestigious status has been bolstered by the endorsement of individuals from faculty professors to the Prime Minister of Canada. While the event itself spans the week of March 17th-23rd, the actual presentations will be open to the public on the 22nd. Students will have the opportunity to observe world-class presentations free of charge. It is a wonderful opportunity to learn from the cream of the crop.

Case culture is a growing phenomenon not just in Canada or North America, but throughout the increasingly global business world. Both employers and academic institutions are promoting the use of cases as a

Business method of assessment and instruction. Articulation, problem solving, and critical thinking are becoming vital skills to possess in the modern workforce and case competitions are a prime opportunity to start. Students, whether they are in U0 or U3, with limited experience but wish

to participate ought to take advantage of the opportunities offered immediately. Whether you are seeking foundational presentation and problem solving skills or just more interaction with other students and the faculty, case competitions will provide the opportunities you seek.

Defending the One Percent, Really? Really.

Alvin Chauhan, Business Writer Detractors of the 1 percent should reconsider their resentment.

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ealth inequality stirs the emotions and excites controversy like few other social issues of our time. The statistics are jarring – the top 1 percent of Americans take in 35 percent of all US wealth, and the top 20 percent receive more than half. Globally, this polarization deepens, with the richest 1 percent owning nearly half of all global wealth, and the richest 10 percent owning 86 percent. The chasm between the haves and have-nots has triggered fierce resentment as critics call for sweeping reforms to level what they perceive to be an uneven playing field. Others dismiss such attempts as socialist maneuvers to redistribute wealth and restrict economic freedom.

Harvard economist, N. Gregory Mankiw, finds himself somewhere in the latter camp and offers his views in the recently published “Defending the One Percent”.

Mankiw examines the distribution of wealth and income with a rigorous economic logic and lays out a poignant case for why wishing away inequality is naïve. Despite this, he leaves the reader skeptical of many of the article’s claims and generally dissatisfied with the superficial coverage of certain core ideas. The paper ambitiously tackles a broad swath of issues spanning taxation, utilitarian models of social welfare, the role of financial incentives, the heritability of intelligence, globalization and technology, and the shift to a knowledge-based economy, among others. No real debate on income inequality can be had, however, without some focus on the tension between

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merit and rent-seeking in the pursuit of wealth, and the author weighs in with his personal insights.

Mankiw begins by asking us to perform a thought experiment: consider an egalitarian utopia that enjoys perfect equality. Imagine then that this society is unsettled by the emergence of an entrepreneur who releases a game-changing product. Mankiw tells us to think of “Steve Jobs as he develops the iPod,” or “J.K. Rowling as she writes her Harry Potter books.” The entrepreneur cashes in on the massive popularity of the item, grows incredibly wealthy, and suddenly our idealized society is ravaged with inequality. The thought experiment captures the author’s view of how Western society has progressed over the last few decades with a disproportionate share of the rise in income accruing to the top 1 percent.

Specifically, the share of national income (excluding capital gains) earned by the 1 percent rose from 7.7 percent in 1973, to 17.4 percent in 2010. These high earners have made “significant economic contributions” according to the author and have therefore “reaped large gains”.

It is clear Mankiw endorses the view that the ultra-rich have amassed their wealth through merit and talent, and should therefore be shielded from populist demonization.

He admits that this would be problematic, however, if rising incomes were achieved by some other, less virtuous means.

This could include rent seeking and an increased ability to exploit the political and economic climate for predatory

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Business self-interest. Arguing the contrary, he states: “there is no good reason to believe that rent-seeking by the rich is more pervasive today than it was in the 1970’s, when the income share of the top 1 percent was much lower than it is today.”

This terse and matter-of-fact reply gives us nothing in the way of real empirical evidence or substantiation. The role of rent-seeking strikes at the very heart of the debate and to brusquely cast it aside as though the absence of rent-seeking were a truism draws Mankiw’s work into suspicion.

Steve Jobs and J.K. Rowling loom large in the popular imagination as self-made prodigies who have achieved immense financial success. But can the same be said about Wall Street executives who speculated recklessly, faced bankruptcy, got bailed out, and are now wealthier than ever?

Rent-seeking in the financial sector is a contentious topic that has provoked heated and ongoing debate especially in the aftermath of the crisis. To not engage with the issue in any depth is disappointing and leaves Mankiw exposed to heavy criticism.

Fortunately, other authors emerge to fill in the gap.

Seeking to measure the role the financial sector plays in supplying candidates for the top one percent, a research paper on individual tax returns from 2004 to 2005 (Bakija, Cole, Heim) revealed that the top 1 percent is primarily made up of salaried executives at nonfinancial businesses (30 percent), followed by doctors (14 percent), financiers (13 percent), and lawyers (8 percent). Unraveling rent-seeking in the financial industry is difficult and far from straightforward. Even if assuming the worst, however, it is clear that financial elites are dwarfed in number by the professional-managerial echelon of business whose value to the economy is tangible and more clearly demonstrated.

Similarly striking was the finding that there were more than 330,000 non-salaried financial executives in the top 1% and 45,000 in the top 0.1%, numbers far greater than what can be accounted for by the cadre of top executives at Fortune 500 companies. This implies that many of the nation’s highest compensated executives work for small and medium sized businesses often considered to be the real engine and driver of growth in the economy, and not positioned to exploit the connections and lobbying power of big companies that invite accusations of rent-seeking.

These results and others lead Emmanuel Saez of the University of California (Berkeley) to write, “The top income earners today are not ‘rentiers’ deriving their incomes from past wealth but rather are the ‘working rich,’ highly paid employees or entrepreneurs who have not yet accumulated fortunes comparable to those accumulated during the Gilded Age.” A quick glance at the tech barons and start-up moguls clustered in Silicon Valley re-

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inforces the view of the self-made millionaire who has drawn on his talents and not on an inheritance.

To his credit, Mankiw mentions the rise of high-frequency trading, a type of trading where computer algorithms shaving fractions of a second off trades are used to lock in huge profits, as a textbook example of the unproductive, high finance wealth extraction that runs rampant.

Mankiw fails however to address the more important structural changes that have arisen, specifically the close ties that have formed between big business and politics An analysis of the financial disclosures of the 535 members of Congress in 2012 revealed that the median net worth of all House members was $869,000, and the median net worth of Senators a staggering $2.5 million. Such figures are deeply unsettling and seem to suggest that lobbying and behind-closed-door deal making have become growing, menacing forces that require serious attention. This is not say that the overall economic system is plagued by corruption or cronyism. We have never lived in a period of greater economic liberalization where private enterprise can flourish and disruption and creative destruction are largely unhindered. The globalization of commerce has exposed industries far and wide to intense competition.

Under extreme pressure, companies must either innovate or face being driven out of business. These innovations have benefited the consumer in the form of better and cheaper products, while at the same time making certain individuals extraordinarily wealthy.

This is exactly what Mankiw alludes to when he quotes Brynjolfsson and McAfee as saying, “Aided by digital technologies, entrepreneurs, CEO’s, entertainment stars, and financial executives have been able to leverage their talents across global markets and capture rewards that would have been unimaginable in earlier times.” International trade has allowed producers to gain access to foreign consumers with fewer barriers and has contributed to the rapid increase in wealth and purchasing power of emerging market countries who increasingly demand sophisticated, high-tech goods. Profits are now multiplied exponentially, the stakes are higher than ever, and a winner-take-all economy ensues where only a few firms remain.

To see a small number of elite players dominate the market leaves many disenchanted, yet it is increasingly becoming the norm. Messaging applications for smartphones, for example, constitute a billion dollar market, but the hundreds of millions of people who send messages on their phones are spread out among only a small handful of different apps who capture a disproportionate share of the profits. Similar trends are being seen in the telecommunications, manufacturing and phar-

Business maceuticals industries. Far from being the outcome of collusion, the supremacy of the few has arisen from the interaction of market forces and has led to greater efficiency and productivity as firms are called on to meet rising expectations with stronger performance.

Whether due to hyperspecialization, herding behaviour, or a social Darwinian strand of neoliberalism, it’s becoming increasingly costly to not be among the

very best at what you do. Staying on top requires that firms are properly run and the professional-managerial class entrusted with this finds that the rewards are high.

What prevails is a ruthlessly competitive environment where mediocrity gets modestly compensated and the superstar performers get an increasingly bigger piece of the pie. What matters, however, is that they are getting their just desserts.

Microsoft’s Future: Up in the Clouds Natalya Hibbert, Business Writer

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wice a day for forty days, Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, sought out contenders from the Israelite army to fight in single combat. The Israelites, however, were too afraid to challenge him. David, upon hearing that Saul would promise a reward to any man who could defeat Goliath, accepted the challenge. David declines Saul’s armor and faces Goliath with a sling and five stones. Upon exchanging valiant remarks, David hurls a stone from his sling as hard as he could, and hits Goliath right in the forehead, allowing him to then slay the champion. Microsoft’s search for its new CEO has been somewhat towards this goal. It needs a leader to slay what is the future of the technology industry: cloud services and mobile devices. More and more consumers are working on the move now, and the glory of the portable-PC is quickly fading.

This is where Satya Nadella comes in. Earlier this February he was announced as Microsoft’s newly selected CEO. Nedella’s success marked the end of months of rumours that had several names being considered for the position, including Alan Mullay, Hans Vestberg, and others.

Nadella’s experience and background are enough to make him qualified for the job. He is an engineer with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science.

He also received his MBA at the University of Chicago shortly after he started working for Microsoft. Nedella has worked at Microsoft for 22 years in total.

Perhaps more importantly, though, he has played a pivotal role in leading Microsoft’s operations in the rapidly expanding market for cloud computing.

Cloud Computing and Microsoft Cloud computing is, in it’s simplest form, the ability to secure and allocate computing resources via a network. It allows network-based software and hardware access and control, rather than “real”, on-site computing resources. As is suggested with the term “cloud,” it is the highly transferable, accessible, and mobile offering of services and products without the boundaries of physical resources. Typically, there is a location that hosts these services “in the

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Business cloud” so that other users (buyers) do not have to. The major players of cloud computing, for both businesses and consumers alike, are Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, with market share allocated in that order. As this market continues to expand, Nadella’s experience developing and running this growing aspect of Microsoft’s business was no doubt one of the foremost reasons for his candidacy for the CEO position.

Nadella’s mission is to steer the company towards heightened profitability by setting up new businesses.

He sees it as his responsibility is to set a course through what he calls a “cloud-first, mobile-first world.” As of now, the company is doing fairly well in the cloud computing business. It is hosting more and more businesses each year in its own data centers, and it has been selling a growing amount of software as a continually updated online service. Revenue from this past quarter for cloud services has doubled since last year, sitting at roughly $600 million USD. Nadella is already setting the stage for Microsoft’s transition. Rather than a traditional press conference, Nadella spent his first few weeks introducing himself and taking questions from Microsoft’s vice presidents and managers, already demonstrating that he would be operating differently from his predecessor. He was calm and collected while answering questions from the media, and at the end of the press-webcast stated: “if you have to get back to a meeting because it’s more interesting or important, please…” This is a complete departure from Ballmer’s “rally the troops” and passion-oriented business persona, to a more subdued leader, who is showing that is he here to help, listen, and take on ideas. Experts say that this may be key to Microsoft’s future as it must let go of past successes and missed opportunities, and transition into new businesses. This is an important cultural shift as the firm matures.

Though Microsoft has been struggling in terms in new product markets, it is still a major leader in the tech industry. Its revenue for six months to December was $43 billion USD, up 15 percent from last year. Its net income was $11.8 billion USD, up 8.8 percent, and its cash totaled $84 billion USD. It still has a strong market capitalization of $300 billion USD, but has lost market share in emerging sectors, and been slow to react to the rapidly developing environment of the tech sector.

Perhaps most notably, and despite several revised efforts, the firm is still lagging in the mobile phone sector.

Windows Phone ranks third behind Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS. Though the company reported some improvement in revenue from last year, its tablet platforms are considered to be all but a complete flop, and its recent purchase of Nokia’s mobile-phone division may not be

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enough to overcome the advantage held by rivals Apple and Google. Overall, the company has failed to win over customers with their mobile phone products, and analysts fear that this may seriously hurt the firm in the future.

As both businesses and consumers continue to rely more heavily on mobile computing solutions, it becomes more and more essential for firms to adapt to this stream of business. Analysts at Forrester Research Group say that in order to reconcile this, Microsoft should hire product developers to create apps for Microsoft to draw in more consumers, especially now when more independent vendors than ever are creating apps for iOS and Android. Forrester also explained how it might be in the company’s best interest to start creating apps for its Microsoft Suite programs - including Microsoft Office - considering these are still prominent in traditional business operations, and can be used for tablets.

Nwadella seems to already be aware of this. At a financial analysts meeting in September this past year, he described how Microsoft’s mobile device management software has to handle devices that run on Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone equally.

He also explained that the new direction for the company is writing software for the next wave of mobile devices, instead of focusing on the production of smartphones. Though he professed enthusiasm for Microsoft’s devices and the Nokia deal, he still thinks the company should steer away. In an in-house interview on February 4th, he said “Today we have a particular definition of mobile which is perhaps skewed towards the mobile phone.”

He added: “If you think about how everything we do at home or at work is going to be digitally mediated…[it is] all going to be changed by software.” He is explaining here that taking the route towards providing software for mobile devices as opposed to producing them could significantly increase the company’s profitability.

For mature companies that have already hit their peak, they need an analytical leader rather than a driving and expressive leader like Ballmer, especially when prevailing profitability trends point downward. Microsoft needs to start their “second wave of thinking” instead of riding on the success of its Windows operating system for personal computers, which, while stable and profitable, is eroding in terms of its scope. This requires both diligence and patience, which was always the style of Bill Gates, and Nadella as well. From what we’ve seen so far, Nadella is on the right path. After months of deliberations, analysts seem to agree that Microsoft has made the right choice in its new CEO. Perhaps Nadella is the David that will slay what is Microsoft’s struggle for innovation, in the end only time will tell.

Opinion

The Case Against Being

“Politically Correct” It has become a byword for bigotry

Sam Robinson, Opinion Writer

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igots judge people and their actions based on appearances.

But that’s what so-called liberal crusaders are doing under the guise of “political correctness.” We see them everywhere: on internet discussion boards, Facebook, and most commonly, The McGill Daily. They tell us with no basis to believe that people have been discriminated against, despite the fact that discrimination typically requires motive. But this requirement of motive goes by the wayside when the alleged discriminator comes from a “privileged” group, such as whites and/or males. They must be discriminating because of who they are - their logical arguments are immediately discounted. Does this not sound a little ad hominem? Political correctness has gone from being counter-prejudice to a means of prejudice. It’s regressive and shameful.

The war to be politically correct has undermined the stature of this school. SSMU VP Internal Brian Farnan’s forced apology in a listserv over an allegedly racist .gif of U.S. President Barack Obama kicking down a door was an international embarrassment for McGill. And shouldn’t it be? The tenuous charge of racism against the offending email - completely ignoring the accompanying text bemoaning midterms - was predicated on Farnan being part of a privileged group.

It’s hard not to read some of the writing on campus and not ironically feel discriminated against among all the politically correct cries of discrimination. Last year’s McGill Daily piece, “Complicating Space”, claimed that “non-marginalized” people (any combination of: white, male, able-bodied, or heterosexual) were unfairly participating in the school’s anti-discrimination campaign, safe space. It asserted that members of these privileged groups simply didn’t suffer the same amount of bullying or hardship in their lives, if at all. That they are somehow not entitled to safe haven from those things because of who they are. Are we, as a community, supposed to gloss over - to marginalize - an individual’s life experience based on their racial identi-

The Bull & Bear - March 2014

ty, sexuality, or gender? The answer is self-evident.

Outside of school, the extreme politically correct are also abundant, accusing non-marginalized media figures of discrimination in the most superficial way. Programs like Lorne Michael’s Saturday Night Live, Lena Dunham’s Girls, and Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee have drawn ire for their lack (although not absence) of identifiable minorities. Critics claimed this could only result from racism, not from any other hiring policy. When the first two producers attempted to change their shows, and Seinfeld told Buzzfeed race doesn’t factor into his interview list (only who’s the most funny), each fielded cries of racism yet again. But because every complaint is valid in our system of political correctness, all they’ve done is gone from one wrong to another. You’re damned if you do political correctness in any form, it seems.

Political correctness to this extreme is obscene. No question: prejudice and discrimination still haunt us, and they need to be purged. But assuming that some group of people is bound to discriminate, that their actions are bound to be wrong because of who they are - that’s definitely discrimination as well. Do we turn the apparatus of discrimination around to “dominant” non-marginalized groups or do we get rid of it altogether? Two wrongs don’t fix our rights.

To fight discrimination, we must move away from labelling people by their identities. We need to abandon classifying people by their religion, gender, nation, sexuality, or race. Even if these groups roughly indicate social status, privilege, or ability to achieve success as they unfortunately (sometimes) do, it does not give us the right to infer. More than our stereotypical groupings define who we are. The politically correct crowd should listen to Martin Luther King about judging the “content of [one’s] character” rather than stereotyping them. It’s a message that works both ways.

Where discrimination exists, it should be obvious or at least apparent. There should be evidence out there that

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Opinion harm was intended - that opportunities were denied or people were disrespected intentionally due to their identity. Case in point: a provincial government that’s attempting to refuse employment to anyone who visibly identifies with their “foreign” culture and religion. That’s a problem.

But otherwise, claiming discrimination when it’s barely plausible ignores the real issues - the real problems to fix.

There is inequality out there. But, unlike what the politically correct say, it doesn’t just come from discrimination. Income inequality, faltering access to education, unjust laws - these all strike across identity divides, al-

though not always equally. And more than just offend, these things hold people from their dreams.

Yes, discrimination is an easy, wide target. It unfortunately still exists. But to charge someone with discrimination requires a modicum of proof. There are other things we should be doing than jumping to blame. If we actually want to break the cycle of prejudice, we can’t be a part of it.

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Bull & Bear.

Quebec's Three Stooges Vying for Power Quebec political parties ready to further destroy the province Anthony Depatie, Opinion Writer

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ith the Parti Quebecois (PQ) calling for elections on April 7th, all of Quebec’s provincial parties have hit the campaign trail with the hopes of gathering as many votes as they can. From old, recycled one-liners to promises more empty than an eighteenth-century pirate’s handle of rum at sunrise, Quebec politicians of all stripes will be pandering for support.

While politics is generally a dirty, phony game all across the globe, Quebec’s political situation - with one (major) party intent on destroying the province’s economy and converting it into a full-blown welfare state - stands out from the pack.

But while the PQ has rightfully taken much flack for wreaking havoc on the province’s economic prospects, prompting many to call for a concerted effort to keep them out of power, the reality is far more dire than anyone would like to admit. Indeed, with all of the political debate revolving around nonsense such as separation and the Charter of Values - rather than on issues that actually affect people on a day-to-day basis - none of the parties have developed any sort of original, practical and/or efficient platform.

Little time and attention need be paid to separatist politics’ direct effect on the health of the province of Quebec. By consistently practicing a reckless form of divisive politics, the PQ’s raison d’être is to destroy all

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forms of potentially fruitful relationships with the rest of Canada with the aim of ensuring that its children will grow to become monolingual buffoons, dependent on the political elite’s handouts to stay alive. Regrettably, no matter the outcome of the election, the PQ’s sovereignty utopia has already significantly handicapped the province by polarizing political opinions and rendering alternative choices virtually as useless as Pauline Marois.

The sad reality of Quebec politics is that instead of a truly free voting system, Quebecers must be rational and vote strategically. Regardless of whether one supports the (Coalition Avenir Québec) CAQ’s political agenda or prefers Option Nationale’s approach to obtaining sovereignty, voting for any party other than the Liberals or the PQ is a waste of a vote. If you are a Federalist, you must vote for the Liberals to keep the PQ out, and if you long for separation, then you must vote for the PQ. There are no alternatives; voting for the CAQ favours the PQ and voting for Option Nationale or Quebec Solidaire divides the sovereignist vote, helping the Federalist Liberals.

While it certainly is fashionable to mock the PQ for its insistence on destroying the province, one would be remiss to ignore the fact that the Liberals and the CAQ are composed of equally intellectually derelict individuals. As a consequence of the PQ’s determination to break up Canada and the population’s refusal to look beyond

Opinion the poorly thought-out idea of creating an intolerant francophone ghetto, other parties have had no incentive to field remotely competent candidates. Rather, the current Quebec model of politics is predicated on pitting three fools against one another, with each promising different kinds of handouts and measures to protect la langue française. As a result, the voting comes down to being pro-sovereignty (PQ), pro-Canada (Liberals), or undecided (CAQ). This is our democracy.

As the traditional option for Federalist voters, the Liberals are a complacent, disorganized party, with little leadership and no credibility in the wake of numerous corruption accusations. On the other hand, the CAQ seems to be creating its platform on the go and have been remarkably ambivalent on the topic of sovereignty.

True, the CAQ does not want to have a referendum within the next five years, but its leader and ex-PQ minister François Legault has yet to fully repudiate his nationalist tendencies. While it is undeniable that the PQ poses the greatest threat to the province, it is extremely disheartening to witness the near-universal absence of compe-

tence and relevant debate in Quebec’s provincial politics.

As long as Quebecers allow political elites to control their destinies by encouraging monolingualism, promoting xenophobia, extorting tax money and driving business out, the province does not stand a chance to bounce back from its status as North America’s backwaters. Unfortunately, none of these issues are likely to be addressed any time soon, as the only debating topic and decision factor in provincial politics is sovereignty.

Until that changes - and there is no sign of that happening in the foreseeable future - the province is unlikely to evolve from its current decrepitude. Instead, it will surely continue to lag increasingly further behind the rest of the continent, suffocated by its senses of self-pity and hypocrisy. As a mere sign of recognition for living in a democratic society, Quebecers should all report to vote on April 7th - as for participating in a truly democratic one, they shouldn’t get their hopes up.

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Bull & Bear.ww

GOLDEN TOILETS VS. GOLDEN DAYS “I’d rather be in a dorm than a f*cking hotel suite!”

Aneri Nanavaty, Opinion Writer

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s a first-year student, just a few short weeks into McGill showed me that despite our fancy hotel-style residences, the true spirit of college lies in dorms. Despite being a convenient housing alternative for a university located in the heart of Montreal, hotels cater to young professionals, not students. Dorm-style residences, on the other hand, offer a better experience for first-years because they offer so much more than a pretty skyline and private bathrooms.

Aah, McGill rez-life…where inebriated froshies are herded into various residences, be they hotels, apartments or dorms. I too entered McGill residences a dewyeyed freshman, disillusioned and misled. I thought I’d end up being best friends with my roommate, drink

The Bull & Bear - March 2014

beer with my floor and absolutely love everything about my fancy hotel-style residence. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I was even dumb enough to think that I’d enjoy my cafeteria food and the wide variety of meals they’d offer.

Hah, that definitely didn’t happen (thank god for ramen noodles).

While I lucked out and got a great room, fun roommate and a pretty decent floor, my residence experience is not nearly as close-knit as I’d imagined it’d be. Why? Because apartment and hotel-style residences are designed for adults, not kids. The truth is we’d all be better off living in dorms. I live in a hotel right now and I can say that had I lived in a dorm, even if that meant walking up the hill, my Rez experience would have been

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Opinion

much more fulfilling. Living in a hotel is a suffocating thing at times, and while you’re grateful for the private bathrooms on hung-over Saturday mornings, it’s just not as fun.

A hotel intends to give every guest the utmost privacy and as a result effectively isolates students. It’s like living in a box. You have no reason to interact with anyone else other han your roommate, and often, you don’t. Living in a hotel seemed glamorous to me at first, thinking I was so spoiled. But in retrospect, I don’t think being broke due to that insane rent is really all that glamorous.

Honestly Citadelle, keep your flat screen TV’s I’d rather have friends. New Residence is amazingly convenient, what with a mall right in the basement, but what it makes up for in convenience, it lacks in warmth. The closest I’ve gotten to some of my floor mates is stepping over their passed out bodies on my way to breakfast.

Then, there are apartments, like Solin or Greenbriar. Apartment-style residences are cheating students out of their first-year experiences. First-year is supposed to be all about meeting people you don’t like, eating gross food that looks way too much like last night’s dinner, and getting drunk together on the floor of your hallway. Apartments offer none of this. For those of you who think that the apartment offers you a chance to cook your own food and live in your own space, you can keep your fancy dinner parties and privacy to yourself after all, you’ll be the only invitee.

If you want to act all fancy, just attend a McGill wine

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and cheese event. You’re a first-year: you’re supposed to eat crappy food and hear your neighbours…exercising…in the room next to you. Residence is about that messy, uncomfortable lifestyle. You’re supposed to have a mismatched collage of rowdy, geeky, hipster, snooty kids. You’re supposed to eat ramen noodles straight from the pot in a cramped dorm room. And you’re definitely not supposed to have fancy rooms with marble countertops and flat screen TV’s. If that wasn’t enough, let’s add gold toilets and champagne running from the taps, shall we?

A traditional dorm residence far surpasses any other style of residences. There’s a sense of ‘college’ in dorms - a camaraderie that forms in a way that hotels or apartments don’t allow. For most people, this is the first time we’re living alone, and when you’re cooped up in a hotel room or an apartment, you can never feel at home. According to an important-sounding study I just made up, first-years will have a much better rezlife if they live in dorms because they can share their experiences with the people they live with. You can bitch about your grades and midterms, ogle at the rez hotties together and beat each other at beer pong. Hotels don’t let you form the same camaraderie. Hotels isolate you to your own floor at best and it’s extremely hard to break out of that shell. I never truly found residence appealing in my considerably luxurious hotel room. Not to mention, dorms are so much nicer to my bank account than hotels.

I’m not saying living in dorms means you’ll be BFFS with everyone, or that you’ll enjoy sharing your personal space. But from my idealistic beer goggles, I pump my fist and yell, “Dorms are what college is all about! Embrace them!” Dorms may not be glamorous, neighbour the SAQ or be private and personal. But dorm-style residences do offer a unique brand of fun that add to your crazy freshman year. As for that fancy lifestyle, we’ve got the rest of our lives to live like that anyway.

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Bull & Bear.

Opinion

SSMU DEPLOYING THOUGHT DETECTION TECHNOLOGY TO COMBAT OFFENSIVE CONTENT A SATIRICAL PIECE Wyatt Hnatiw, Opinion Writer

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s it has become increasingly difficult to stop the flood of offensive, non-PC content plaguing McGill in the form of Facebook comments, memes and. gifs of Barack Obama kicking down doors, SSMU has decided to invest in thought-detection technology to stop potentially offensive ideas before they can be vocalized by the privileged masses of McGill students.

SSMU spokesperson Daniel Johnson explained, “It’s really the next step. As effective as our safe space posters have been, we still haven’t been able to prevent McGill students from having politically incorrect thoughts. That changes today.”

“When we detect offensive thought material, the offender will be brought into SSMU and made to wear a pin branding them a micro-aggressor. We believe this will be the best way to stop our students from thinking things they would never, ever vocalize.”

Reaction from the student body has been mixed; one student remarked, “while I certainly recognize the damage that .gifs, .jpegs even .pngs can do, I wonder if this might be slightly too much.”

The decision to employ this revolutionary technology was made after the SSMU equity committee failed to deliver desired results.

“When we detect offensive thought material, the offender will be brought into SSMU and made to wear a pin branding them a micro-aggressor.”

Johnson elaborated, “The committee tried to chaperone each McGill student 24/7 and monitor their actions for anything that could be potentially construed as micro-aggressive to the McGill community as a whole.”

“The program was ultimately shelved because the committee was completely overwhelmed by all of the potentially micro aggressive content.”

A committee member, who refused to be named,

The Bull & Bear - March 2014

commented: “it was just too much: people asking Asian friends if they wanted to get sushi on the weekend, playing sports with their black friends. I couldn’t take it anymore.”

“It was just too much: people asking Asian friends if they wanted to get sushi on the weekend, playing sports with their black friends. I couldn’t take it anymore.”

The funding for this initiative comes in the form of a $50, non-refundable annual fee. When asked about the cost, SSMU Boondoggle Financing Director Jonathan Merryweather commented, “imaginary technology isn’t cheap. In order to make the McGill Thought Monitoring Service a reality, we needed to appropriate funds while making sure we don’t offend anyone in any way. Initially, we considered a lower price, but that may have been construed as offensive, implying McGill students were poor.”

“With the Redpath renovations nearly, almost, maybe finished, we’re able to make this project our next big undertaking. We expect it to be completed some time in 2050.”

While some students expressed concern about the student governing body spying on their innermost thoughts, the majority of those surveyed support the body’s action on the matter. U20 Regulation/ Bureaucracy student Christine Smith stated, “it’s a small sacrifice to make, I really don’t care if SSMU has unlimited access to all my thoughts, as long as it prevents me from saying or doing something that could potentially in some way be construed as offensive.”

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Bull & Bear.

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Opinion

When it comes to the super bowl not everyone’s

A WINNER

YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO EVERYTHING THAT TRANSIPRED Anthony Depatie, Opinion Writer

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nd just like that, another chapter in the NFL’s history is over and the interminable seven-month wait for the next season begins. With Super Bowl XLVIII in the books, the Seattle Seahawks can now revel in levels of glory unbeknownst to those who have neither won the championship game nor crowned themselves Emperor of France. On the other hand, the Denver Broncos must search the depths of their souls and find a way to rally around the agony of being annihilated in front of the entire planet.

In the meantime, for fans, the next few months will be a sad return to the monotony of everyday life, devoid of the escape provided by the fleeting impression that, at 1 p.m. every Sunday, we were all part of a team working tirelessly towards life’s ultimate achievement: the Vince Lombardi trophy. However, before we must feign a newfound appreciation for romantic Sunday brunches with our girlfriends, let’s look back at the biggest winners and losers in the Western world’s most important and culturally relevant event of the year.

Winners The Seattle Seahawks: This one requires no ex-

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PHOTO VIA FLICKR

planation. The players are now legends, the bandwagon stretches 37 miles long, jersey sales will go through the roof and the world is at their feet.

Airlines and oil companies: One team hails from Seattle, the other from Denver. The game was played in New York. Throughout the entire Super Bowl era, this was only the fifth time that teams had to travel over a combined 4,000 miles to play the game. In other words, it was a great time to operate Boeing 777s or to sell bulk quantity of fossil fuels. Somewhere in America, Al Gore is sulking.

Eli Manning & Tom Brady: The two men destined to perpetually be compared to Peyton Manning can now rest easy. Eli, whose interception-to-touchdown ratio is similar to Jennifer Lopez’ bomb-to-hit ratio, somehow stays ahead of big brother in Super Bowl wins. As for Brady, while his title lead was safe, a Manning win would’ve solidified Manning’s case for Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T.) and perhaps drawn Mrs. Bundchen away from “Tom Terrific.”

Everyone who watched the half time show: Whether or not you like Bruno Mars or believe that it was a good idea for Anthony Kiedis to perform shirtless,

Opinion at least Macklemore wasn’t booked to perform. He might have corrupted the Grammys, albeit by no fault of his own, but the Super Bowl was spared. Also, no Bieber.

Losers The Denver Broncos: Al Sharpton would’ve had better chances to score with Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman than the Broncos did against Seattle’s defense.

That said, though he did not put forth his best performance, Peyton Manning will likely receive more flak than he deserves considering the pitiful amount of support he received from his teammates. Another future Hall of Famer, Champ Bailey, may have also missed his last opportunity to win it all. If 2014 is the year of the Horse, someone forgot to tell the Broncos.

Advertisers: Never mind the mixed reviews for the commercials, there were plenty of successes: Budweiser’s horse/puppy combo shed more than its fair share of pre-een tears, and Bud Light’s “Perfect Beer for Whatever” sent men around the world rushing to the nearest beer store in the hopes of later petting Don Cheadle’s llama in an elevator. The biggest problem for advertisers was quite literally the game itself. Seattle conquered MetLife Stadium about as quickly as the Nazis conquered France, steering people’s attention away from the screen and onto their smartphones or the nearest bucket of chicken wings.

Fans: Saving the most important for last, this year’s Super Bowl was an absolute disaster for fans. From the onset, the fan experience seemed in jeopardy when the NFL announced that tailgating would not be permitted before the game – a move that baffled many. As for the game itself, it has already been referred to as one of the most boring Super Bowls in history; after warm-ups, the game wasn’t even close, robbing fans of the back-andforth battle that they had so long anticipated. Luckily for the NFL, the league benefits from arguably the most most loyal fan base in all professional sports, meaning that they should not see the game’s poor showing have an effect on their bottom-line.

less, for a league that has transcended the usual boundaries of sports associations, this year’s Super Bowl will likely go down as another success in terms of exposure and revenue-generation. Until next year, friends.

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Bull & Bear.

Wrapping Up All in all, every contest must have winners and losers, with this year’s Super Bowl being no different. The quintessential display of North America’s best elements, be it elite athleticism, tireless work ethic, terrific technological capacity and production, or the ability to temporarily transform strangers into the best of friends, the Super Bowl has brought glory to both the Seattle organization and to America, whose greatness was witnessed across the world. Unfortunately, the biggest losers on Sunday evening were the true football fans. Neverthe-

The Bull & Bear - March 2014

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Our guide to your next opinionated conversation

Stroumboulopoulos on Hockey Night in Canada Finally, someone to help MacLean deal with Don “Piano Fingers” Cherry

Matthew McConaughey at the Oscars “You’re very welcome” - Future Matt

SSMU Elections Time to shake hands and kiss babies. Just don’t mix up the two.

Marois’ English debate I’ll take ‘Ridiculous’ for 500, Mr. Trebek

Matrix prequel trilogy Mr. Anderson, welcome back. We missed you.

Russia Effectively Annexing Crimea Move along…nothing to see here, people. Just your everyday Russian imperialism...

Rob Ford on Kimmel show It was like watching the Hindenburg, but worse

“Spring” weather Come to Canada, they said. You get wonderful seasons, they said.

Home stretch before the summer Enough time has passed to give up on New Year’s Resolutions; time to load up on coffee and timbits

Daylight Savings Time Thanks, Obama