The Bull & Bear | November 2014 – Mental Health Issue

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The Bull & Bear November 2014

THE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE

A Publication of the

Table of Contents Issue 3, Volume 13

Editor’s Note

News 4 Spirituality and Mental Health 6 Faculty of Management to Take Over Mcgill Bookstore 7 #ConsentMcGill

Feature 10 State of Affairs: Treating Mental Illness at McGill 12 Stress: Ressts, but Rearranged 13 Destigmatizing Mental Health 15 Suceeding in the Business World wIth Mental Illness

Business 17 HP & Hewlett Packard 19 What’s Worse: Contagion or Fear of Contagion?

22 ISIS: A Most Profitable Business Venture

Opinion 25 Give Me a Fall Reading Week Or Give Me an F 26 How Did We Get an F in Free Speech?

28 Movember Satire

Lifestyle 30 Theatre Review: Monster 31 Eating Well for Dummies 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.

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ow that we are past the halfway point of the semester, November provides a time to recuperate as midterm grades roll in and we gear up to tackle the imminent stress that the end of the year brings. This period of limbo provides the time to address what should take priority in student’s lives but is too often ignored: mental health.

As any McGill student knows, mental health is a pertinent issue around campus aggravated by heavy workloads, strict grading policies, and ambitious dreams of students. The lack of sunlight during the dim Montreal winters doesn’t help barring from barring our bodies from the Vitamin D needed to keep us happy. Whether you have a friend who suffers from mental health issues, or you yourself have felt the effects, the debilitating impact that mental illness can have on one’s social and academic lives needs to be recognized.

In this issue, we aim to unpack the dense topic from a News perspective by reporting on the services offered to address mental health holistically, through McGill Mental Health Services and the Office of Spirituality and Religious Life. Opinion articles analyze these services and provide suggestions – such as a Fall Reading Week – on how McGill can take steps to alleviate students’ stress. Business examines the role of mental illness in the workplace. Practical and important advice is provided by Lifestyle on how to best manage stress.

In the spirit of this month’s theme, it is important to mention that if you are struggling with your mental health or are concerned about a friend, to not hesitate to seek advice by calling McGill Nightline 514-398-6246, open till 3am everyday, or to seek help on- or off-campus.

To conclude I offer my guide to post-midterm relaxation: stay away from the library, eat copious amounts of baked goods, do your three weeks of laundry that has piled up and spend some quality time with Netflix. I wish you luck as you embark on ‘starting’ that paper that is due in one, two, or three weeks.

Kathleen Tully News Editor

Briefs

Editorial Board November 2014

Your guide to events around campus and the city Player’s Theatre presents: “6 Characters in Search of an Author” November 12-15 & 19-22 at 8pm Directed by Anna Gordon. At the SSMU building.

Taste MTL Oct. 30 - Nov 9.

Various restaurants across the city.

Max Feinsot Executive Editor Alain Kasparian Managing Editor Sijia Ye William Werblow Chief Layout Editors Yuliya Gorelkina Suzanne Ma Elizabeth Emerson Lucia Mkhitarova Kathryn Witteosch Flora Bertin Kiera Harrison Layout Editors Nat Carson Stella Lee Jenny Liao Media Editors Ana Maljkovic Kathleen Tully Julia Rodriguez News Editors

Cinemania: French Film Festival Nov. 6 - 16.

Imperial Cinema 1430 Rue Bleury

Chukwubwuikem Nnebe Stéphanie Thomas Opinion Editors Kimberley Evans Chelsey Ju Lifestyle Editors Alan Liu Arash Nayerahmadi Business Editors

Image + Nation November 20-30 Montreal Lesbian/Gay/Bi/ Trans Film festival

Kosa Akra Victoria Paskannaya Ebuka Ufondu Web Editors Paul de Bretteville Marketing Director Annie Tseng Cover Ilustaration

NEWS

SPIRITUALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH student services promote balance and spiritual well-being Jessica Lyver, News Writer

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ental health and well-being encompass many aspects of an individual’s life, among them is spiritual well-being. Amanda Unruh, Health Promotion Coordinator for Healthy McGill, describes the concept of wellness, “like a circle, divided into sections.

These components are spiritual, physical, emotional as well as many others which vary amongst individuals.”

She continued, “spirituality is an important faction of one’s mental state as it keeps one feeling connected to something larger. It is separate from people’s day-to-day stresses, and gives a sense of connectedness both within a community and with the larger world.”

Student’s Spiritual Lives The McGill Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (MORSL), a component of McGill’s Student Services, is a resource for students seeking to advance their spirituality and actively improve their mental well-being. The service holds an office in the Brown building where students can access a variety of information on the services provided by MORSL or simply enjoy the tranquil environment of the lounge or meditation room. In addition to information the office also provides quiet places in which students can connect to themselves and relax.

The director of MORSL, Sara Parks identified the three types of student needs that MORSL works to reach out to: “Students who identify as religious or spiritual, students who are interested in becoming more religiously literate, and students who are interested in inner-care, self-care, or spiritual well-being.”

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The office tries to connect students who identify as religious or spiritual to communities on campus as well as in the greater Montreal area. For students who do not identify with a particular religion but self-identify as spiritual, they can attend non-denominational programs designed to help them explore their spirituality.

Inter-Faith Initiatives A team of multi-faith chaplains that work with MORSL to offer both guidance and religious support to students who belong to a particular faith as well as answer questions that any students have regarding a particular sect. The office is also home to a multi-faith library that is available to students.

“Having access to multi-faith chaplains really helps all students feel connected within the McGill community,” Parks explained. “Knowing that there are people who understand where they are coming from or why they might suffer from a particular stress because of their faith, spiritual belief or religious tradition.”

Activities such as guided and individual meditation and yoga are available to all students. Although not being a self-identified religious or spiritual student, Alexandra Tighe, U3 Psychology and Religious Studies, looks favorably upon religion as “a framework in which to put life’s challenges into perspective. I can appreciate the sense of structure and belonging.”

Community building is an important focus for MORSL. “Feeling like you belong and having a group to identify with helps with mental well-being,” Parks claimed.

November 2014

NEWS

Given that MORSL is run through McGill Student Services it connects to other facets of student life. As Parks expressed, “all the facets of a student’s life are inter-connected and we at Student Services look to be able to serve students in any way they see as necessary to ensure their mental health does not compete or operate separately because we realize that well-being is so interconnected that every facet of student life needs to be healthy in order for them have a successful experience at McGill.”

Quality Communities MORSL hosts events and offers volunteer opportunities through organizations such as the Yellow Door, a community organization that partners students with local seniors and provides a performance venue for amateur artists, poets and musicians. “My Neighbour’s Faith” is another group offered by MORSL that allows program students to travel to a variety of sacred sites throughout Montreal. MORSL also organizes the Winter Coat project where international students have the opportunity to receive lightly used winter clothing from faith communities throughout Montreal. Although not all of the services provided by MORSL have a direct connection to spirituality, they are all connected to wellness, which contributes to a student’s ability to succeed.

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MORSL works to foster community on campus. “All of our events are really small but we try to go with a quantity of events rather than focus on size because this way people are able to find their niche.”

Staff member, Alissa Yip, feels MORSL “gets a lot of access to different faith communities both around McGill and Montreal” and finds the office “a relaxing place to relieve the stress of being a student.”

Alternative Outlets There are also a number of religious and spiritual clubs associated with SSMU that offer students access to communities with which they share common beliefs, traditions and faiths such as McGill Hillel Jewish Students Association, Newman Students’ Society, Muslim Students Association, and McGill Sikh Students Association. There is also an Interfaith Student Council which aims to connect students of different faiths and beliefs. Their threefold mandate aims to “promote collaboration and networking” amongst religious groups at McGill to “find a common ground by celebrating diversity with unity.” As well as being a collective voice for religious students on campus, they seek to create an environment for all students to have their spiritual and religious needs met in order to positively attribute to their overall wellness.

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NEWS

Desautels Faculty of Management to TakE over McGill Bookstore Building Move-in projected in Winter 2016 Bria Herbert, News Writer

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he Desautels Faculty of Management will be taking over the McGill Bookstore building, with a projected move-in period of Winter 2016. The announcement was made during homecoming weekend.

“For quite some time, the Faculty of Management has been looking for additional space to meet their space needs, as they have grown in terms of the number of students and as they have grown in terms of programs,” stated Vice-Principal Michael Di Grappa. “I know that we have looked at a number of different options including completely moving out of the Bronfman building and moving to other buildings on campus or off campus.”

The Faculty of Management has been experiencing a critical space deficit - while the Bronfman building was designed for 1500 students, the faculty currently houses over 2500 students.

Di Grappa explained that the expansion will “give a chance to the faculty to have more appropriate and better quality space for the students and for the programs.” He views it as a positive transition, stating “I think [there] is going to be a net benefit.” The goal of the move is to provide a higher level of quality to the student experience.

The option of expanding into the bookstore was something that became possible in the past few months but the project is something that has been in the works for quite some time, Di Grappa explained. The new building will house study spaces, classrooms, faculty offices, administrative offices, and student space. The transition process

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has already started and that Desautels is “planning studies with respect to the costs and specific work that has to be done to transform the bookstore into a building that is ready to meet the needs of the Faculty of Management,” DiGrappa elaborated.

“The bookstore will have to look into its own operating model and figure out how much space it needs and different ways it can continue to provide high quality services to students.”

The move will be funded through philanthropy with a generous gift from Marcel Desautels to be applied to the project. A fundraising campaign will be started to support other parts of the project. Marcel Desautels has previously given gifts totaling $32-million to McGill.

The Faculty of Management was named in honor of Desautels in 2005 and in 2007 he received an honorary doctorate from McGill in recognition of his contributions to business education.

November 2014

NEWS

However, it has not yet been determined where the bookstore will move. “The bookstore will have to look into its own operating model and figure out how much space it needs and different ways it can continue to provide high quality services to students,” Di Grappa explained. At the same time as planning studies will be done for the Faculty of Management, the school will “undertake the study of the bookstore to figure out the best solution is for it [and] where to relocate it. The bookstore itself will have to be funded separately, it is considered a space that is not funded by the government so we obviously have to come up with our own funds to pay for that. That will be part of the business plan for the bookstore.”

Student involvement will be handled by the faculty itself, with the opportunity to consult with students and keep them informed. MUS President Sean Finnell explained that student consultation will surround “what kind of study space they find most effective and what they find they could benefit more from [...] do they prefer indi-

vidual study areas or more group study areas or do they prefer more computer labs?” The survey will mostly cover different study features and will be gauging what students want to see more of. “This will be contingent on what can fit into the architectural plans or what the building manager can work out,” expressed Finnell.

“The MUS is putting together a student space committee” he continued, “who will put together a survey which will be sent out to management students sometime in November. That committee will put together a report to present to the faculty. Obviously students are frustrated with the lack of space. There is a space deficit in the school; this is a way to help fix that,” Finnell expressed, echoing students’ sentiments.

“The goal is to have the faculty move into the building between January to spring of 2016,” Di Grappa stated.

The bookstore will be relocated before then and will move out before any physical work such as renovations and construction are started to transform the building.

Consent Week Brings Larger Discussion of Sexual Assault to Campus: Programming encourages students to discover how consent affects their daily lives

Julia Rodriguez, News Editor

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uring the third week of October, Healthy McGill, in partnership with numerous campus organizations, services, and faculties hosted #ConsentMcGill, a week long initiative to discuss the role of consent in our everyday lives as well as in sexual encounters. The initiative was part of an ongoing effort spearheaded by the Harm Reduction Liaison, Bianca Tétrault, to promote

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safety, informed consent, and to foster a safe campus environment in which students feel comfortable discussing these issues.

North American Universities Confront Campus Culture This movement for the discussion of safe sex, consent, and best practices concerning these issues comes

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NEWS in the wake of three Redmen football players being accused of sexual assault of a Concordia student.

More recently, it was revealed that a current member of the Redmen had previously pled guilty to assault charges. The university knew of similar prior charges the player faced yet the player was still allowed on the team’s roster.

Tétrault acknowledged that the current campus focus on consent is in part related to recent incidents involving the Redmen but emphasizes that discussion surrounding consent and sexual assault is part of a larger movement across campuses in North America. “There was a push from the community following accusations made against the Redmen” explained Tétrault, “however Consent Week is also part of a larger movement across North America to address issues of assault on campus.”

Tétrault modeled programming at McGill after successful campaigns to raise awareness of campus sexual assaults at the University of Arizona and University of California, Los Angeles.

Consent Week coordinator Amanda Unruh recognized that McGill is participating in a discussion that is happening across North America. “Its not just McGill, this is part of a larger issue that is really being highlighted at the University level.”

In April, a White House task force released a series of recommendations to help American schools to confront sexual assault on their campuses. “A lot of Canadian schools have been using those recommendations as a platform,” elaborated Unruh. “There have been a number of high profile sexual assault cases that have come to light on campus. In that light there are a lot of values that the university wants to instill in its students when they come to university and consent is an important component of that.”

Laying a Foundation Unruh emphasized that consent is important both insexual situations and in day-to-day life. “Often consent messaging gets tied into sexual assault messaging but we wanted there to be something very specific to encourage people to ask, listen, and respect one another when asking for consent but also to respect one another if consent isn’t given.”

Consent Week focused on everyday consent as a way of building a foundation on which people can grow their comfort both in discussing and exercising consent. “We are not always the best at asking and respecting consent in day-to-day life. You can extrapolate a lot of that into the sexual arena as well.” By building student’s capacity to exercise and respect consent in their daily lives Unruh hopes that students will feel more comfortable using active consent in their sexual relationships.

Unruh reiterated that consent is not only an issue in the sexual arena, but also that people have difficulty using consent in their daily lives .“If someone asks you to go to a party and you don’t want to go we are likely to make excuses rather than saying we don’t want to go. We might say ‘I can’t ,I have to write a paper’ or ‘I have something else going on.’ We aren’t that great at saying ‘no’ and feeling comfortable with that ‘no’. And not everyone is great at respecting that ‘no’ either.”

This ethos drew many student volunteers to participate in the campaign. Monika Viktorova, a second year masters student in Biochemistry also feels that consent is part of developing relationships. “Consent is an important part of our lives both in our sexual interactions but also our daily interactions with people. I think asking, listening and respecting people is crucial to having healthy relationships.”

Building Up For Unruh, #ConsentMcGill is a foundation on which further initiatives will build. “This is just the first step in a lot of other programming that will be done throughout the year,” she clarified. Bystander training and a Sexual Assault Week will be included in future initiatives.

As Tétrault expressed, McGill athletic coaches have volunteered to be the first group on campus to receive the bystander training. No students will be required to participate in the training but Tétrault hopes that students will also show interest. “Sexual assault doesn’t discriminate,” she pointed out. “Everyone can benefit from this type of training.”

Consent week as well as future programming was conceived to offer students a vocabulary but also a safe space to handle issues of consent. Concluded Tétrault: “We recognize that it is important to feel safe when discussing these issues and that is something we are trying to foster.”

Want to learn more about campus news while working with an awesome team?

If so, apply now to write for the News section of The Bull & Bear today!

Read more details at: www.bullandbearmcgill.com/join/news/ 8

November 2014

NOVEMBER FEATURE

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS The most resilient muscle in your body can be vulnerable, too.

ILLUSTRATION BY JOYCE SZEYIN SIU

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Feature

State of affairs:

treating mental illness at mcgill

A survey of services offered to support students as they cope with mental illness Victoria Eon, News Writer

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ental Health Services (MHS) at McGill prides itself on providing comprehensive diagnosis and treatment for various “mental health difficulties,” including but not limited to anxiety, depression, obsessions or compulsions, ADHD, eating disorders, seasonal mood disorders, trauma-related anxiety, and substance abuse. Featuring drop-in urgent care, appointments with health professionals, counselling services, and peer support networks, MHS strives to “respond to student need in a flexible way,” according to Executive Director of Student Services Jana Luker.

“The uptake for mental health services has increased [over the last five years],” Luker explained. “We’ve responded with a more diverse counseling base.”

However, with increased awareness, the current climate of mental health treatment at McGill has raised concerns -- particularly questions of accessibility and efficiency. These critiques prompted McGill to conduct a study of 2,500 students in October 2013. The study identified several challenges the university community faces in mediating mental illness and outlined ambitious goals for promoting a more communicative and healthy campus, especially when it comes to promoting discussion about psychological well-being.

According to the study, 5-9 percent of McGill students reported utilizing psychological support services on campus, while another 3-5 percent sought help outside of McGill. These numbers are promisingly low.

However, they do not necessarily indicate the number of students suffering from mental health issues. Many stu-

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dents may seek help but lack access or knowledge of the services available to them. There are also others, unfortunately, who suffer in silence MHS as Triage With a minimum waiting time of 2-3 weeks for a 1 hour appointment, MHS has limited resources for immediate, long-term, and preventive care. Length of prolonged conditions and lack of continuity in providers have been points of contention between the administration and the student body.

“MHS is a crisis center,” explained a U3 International Development student who wished to remain anonymous.

“There’s no prevention work or help for students to grow out of their problems.” This student detailed from experience how waitlists could stretch far beyond 2-3 weeks.

Delayed care “only aggravates problems,” the student added, and is a, “disservice to those who are proactive and seek early intervention.” This student sought outside services after a drop-in urgent care session in which the psychiatrist was “visibly overwhelmed” and “misplaced his frustrations” on the student.

“A 2 hour wait turns into eternity when you’re panicking [...] and having anxiety attacks in the waiting room,” stated former McGill student and 2012 Loran Scholar, Alana Lapworth. Lapworth attended MHS drop-in urgent care twice and waited on average 2-3 hours each time for a brief 15 minute examination. Apart from the wait, she described the care she received on her two visits as “two complete extremes.” She detailed

November 2014

Feature how one provider was accusatory and pushed her to take medication while the other gave her, “thoughtful words of encouragement [to] end the semester strong.” Lapworth later withdrew from McGill.

Luker hopes that MHS can expand beyond crisis management counselling and address larger behavior patterns. “Life is complex,” she explained, “and students are looking for solutions to more complex problems.”

MHS has “responded with additional clinicians and more diverse modalities.” These new methods include use of technology for diagnosing and coping with crippling conditions. The university now offers an online self-assessment tools which can be accessed through the McGill Counselling Services website. However, this new initiative has been criticized by those who feel online diagnosis further isolates those who are suffering.

To assist students during exam periods and other times of peak demand, Luker outlined a proposed sustainable solution in which MHS would outsource care to Montreal hospitals and clinics for students who feel comfortable. This initiative continues Student Services’ efforts to respond to student needs in a flexible way.

Their ultimate goal is to “support student success and wellbeing,” says Luker.

The Pressure of McGill Academics The onset of mental illness in adolescents and young adults most often occurs before the age of 24. This is a period when genetic predispositions to a variety of disorders can have an impact on behavior and overall health.

For many individuals, university can be a fragile time of personal and intellectual growth that is only compounded by the added stressor of mental illness.

Deputy Provost Ollivier Dyens believes mental illness is, “acute at McGill,” and often correlates directly to the demand students place on themselves to perform well academically. Because of the likelihood of mental illness to manifest during university years, it is often hard to distinguish if anxiety, for example, is a product of academic stress or indicates a stronger underlying condition. This ambiguity has some students worried.

The anonymous U3 student has observed a deeper-rooted “misconception [on campus] that all mental health problems stem from academic stress.” These issues could be pre-existing or lifelong conditions.

“Mental health - as a field - is broader than that.”

Indeed, some students perceive a bias in the disseminated literature on campus. For example, most of the posters in Student Services address primarily academic topics such as dealing with exam stress or “coping with perfectionism,” instead of promoting a more balanced view of prevalent issues such recognizing the signs and symptoms of depression, severe anxiety disorder, or substance abuse. All of these are valid health concerns that can be aggravated or triggered by academic stress, but not necessarily caused by it.

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Prevention and Self-Awareness The 2013 study drew attention to the need to provide more effective preventive care. Dyens explained how his position has increasingly focused on, “how to provide students the fundamental support [required] to prevent serious problems from arising.” Dyens stated that the administration’s “tactics have shifted to [target] better preparation of the student body before they come to McGill.”

By expanding McGill 101, an online website currently designed to provide information to first years, and employing more technology, Dyens aims to “lower the pressure in other aspects of campus life, through services, support systems, and residences,” so that students can focus on their studies without unnecessary burdens.

This encompasses McGill’s long-term goal to improve campus culture and the social outlook on mental illness and overall well being. “Our approach is to provide students with the tools to monitor their own progress” Dyens added.

In addition to understanding key signs and symptoms of mental illness, Luker suggests students “anticipate and plan” around peak times of academic stress.

The first responders are the students themselves, who are encouraged to “become involved in various aspects of [campus] life,” as a preventative measure. Luker stressed that making positive personal changes should be a precursor to seeking professional help.

Offering Peer Support MHS promotes use of peer support networks (PSN) as an alternative to counselling services. Groups such as Students in Mind provide a one-on-one confidential drop in service for students. Built on the basis of “active listening,” PSN volunteers, students extensively trained on how to navigate campus-related resources, provide a “pair of open ears to students who can’t access services,” according to PSN Chair Phil Leger. “Seeing a professional may be intimidating,” explained Leger. “PSN serves as an accessible option” into the MHS system.

Services such as PSN reflect growing on-campus support for more wholistic, less formal forms of support.

Other organizations on the island of Montreal provide additional options for seeking psychological or psychiatric help. One example, Head and Hands offers a “harm-reduction, holistic” approach to treating mental illness.

Peer Support Networks: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 5-7 PM in the Brown Student Services Building Room 2100 Head and Hands: www.headandhands.ca Mental Health Services: http://www.mcgill.ca/ mentalhealth/home

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Feature

Restss, but rearranged

The science of stress and approaching it with healthy habits

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Charlie Harkness, Lifetyle Writer

f you have ever done 20 hours of work in 10 hours, pulled an all-nighter, or taken a power nap in the library, you have probably experienced stress. Stress is a normal biological response to external or internal factors. Everybody has experienced some degree of stress in their lives, and, as students, we tend to have fluctuating rhythms of stress that rise and fall along with our exams and assignment schedules.

Stress can be seen as the body preparing itself for a challenging period. Depending on the person, that challenge can stem from multiple sources and vary in magnitude. For some, stress comes from a variety of sources, such as a personal crisis or working long hours. Stress is quite inevitable; what is important is understanding and managing it.

To an extent, stress is a healthy body response. The neuroanatomy of stress is complex, and science has yet to prove exactly what causes it. However, what can be said is that from external and internal stimuli the brain activates different regions. Activation will cause the release of neurotransmitters that further causes hormone release in the body. These events activate the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the well known “Fight or Flight” response. The body prepares itself to undergo a stressful situation by inhibiting certain body functions that help maintain homeostasis (the process of achieving physiological balance).

The body is always trying to remain balanced.

Sometimes the scales are tipped slightly to get through a difficult period in your life. A typical McGill student considers finals as a long stressful period; the body can adapt to undertaking multiple late nights, and hours of cramming, but not without a price. In stressful situations, a major hormone released is cortisol. Cortisol acts in the body to suppress the immune function and increases energy supplies to muscle and brain by breaking down other parts of the body. This means that if you have five days before an exam and you do not want to feel tired or sick, your body is pumping out hormones to make you feel energetic and healthy. However, once the exam is over your body is off-balance. It has to deal with

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over expending energy and lowering its immune system for short term gain. Again, stress is healthy in the short term, but in the long term it can have negative effects. It is a way of undertaking more extreme conditions so you can benefit in the long term.

Ways of dealing with stress One of the best ways to handle stress is to plan accordingly to limit the amount of stress you will experience. This means: do not procrastinate, and prepare ahead for stressful periods. Unfortunately, for those of us who are reading this well after the window of not procrastinating, there are no cures for stress. But there are ways to help manage it.

Exercise is one of the top ways to relieve stress, anxiety, and in general it will just make you feel better.

Exercise will release endorphins, which are endogenous (produced by the body) opioids. Endorphins are thought to be the cause of the “Runners High” and are associated with feelings of euphoria, energy, and pain relief. Exercise is already a healthy option to blow off steam, with the added benefit of getting a natural high, more people should be taking time during midterms to do some form of aerobic activity.

If the gym is not your style, guided mediation is another option. McGill Counseling Services offer multiple audio files for relaxation and meditation that are easy to access online. Guided meditation gives people a way to quiet down the worried voice in their head and listen to gentle instructions to relax. For more options on mental health and other ways to deal with stress, check out McGill Mental Health and Counselling services.

Both offer workshops, drop in, and programs that can help out students.

If neither of those work for you, let me offer some personal advice: take a deep breath, stop what you are doing, and go for a walk. Life is hard, and McGill does not make it any easier at times. Over time, the worries you have will fade away, and eventually what seemed like the end of the world will be years behind you.

November 2014

Feature

Destigmatizing

Mental Health What’s being done to increase accessibility to and awareness of Mental Health Services at McGill

Louis Ramirez, Opinion Writer

“Mental health is arguably the most pressing issue facing students at university.”

And so reads SSMU’s policy outline on mental health, a claim that is later substantiated by a set of frightening facts and figures on the state of mental health at McGill. In an online survey conducted by SSMU during the winter of 2012, it was found that roughly 10 percent of 463 respondents had considered suicide in their time at the university. Meanwhile, 4 percent had in fact attempted to end their own lives. Furthermore, in the 2012-2013 academic year, McGill’s Mental Health Services reported a 25 percent increase in the number of cases undertaken.

Any true understanding of the devastating gravity

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ILLUSTRATION BY ANNIE TSENG of these figures is reserved for the burdened, as there is no formula that can begin to calculate nor do justice to the suffering of these students and their loved ones. One can’t help but be saddened by the fact that these young and bright individuals are faced with a daily struggle trying to find the satisfaction necessary to make life worth living, with a number of them almost succombing to their despair. In light of this, we are forced to think about our duties and responsibilities towards mental health, both as individuals and as a community.

While there is always room for improvement, SSMU has led the charge by implementing a number of praiseworthy measures in a notable effort to raise awareness.

These commendable actions are consistent with the organization’s founding principles that “all students have a right to live and study in an atmosphere that promotes and facilitates wellness and mental and physical health.”

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Feature Following years of the ongoing stigmatization of mental illnesses in the academic community and society at large, it is truly uplifting to see time and financial resources being dedicated to helping those of us who are afflicted.

This year, Rez Life, the organization that runs mandatory consent seminars in residence, added a mental health awareness component to its Rez Project workshops. This initiative is quite significant, as it makes a critical difference in creating “safer spaces” for individuals who experience mental health issues in residence.

If you suffer from, say, a depressive disorder, the hope is that the acknowledgement of your condition through honest dialogue will reduce the alienation that too often results from living with people who may not understand your predicament because of a lack of common experience.

Encouragingly, last month, from October 5 to 11, Rez Life also held a Mental Health Awareness Week in collaboration with a variety of student groups. As part of a campus-wide initiative led by McGill Mental Health Services, events included open forums on student experiences, talks on mental health in residence, and a variety of therapy-oriented measures. Additionally, as per SSMU’s Mental Health Five Year Plan, a Mental Health Committee “comprised of representatives from student mental health groups on campus” will be established under the portfolio of SSMU’s VP University Affairs.

These vital steps, which emphasize prevention and

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“mental health first aid,” come at the same time as the recent announcement of the McGill Wellness Portal, whose main objective is to destigmatize mental health treatment and increase awareness of the many campus services that often go underused. With a $500,000 grant from Bell, the University is developing a self-screening website where students will be able to identify the possible symptoms they may be experiencing of different mental health issues – such as anxiety, depression, alcoholism, and eating disorders – from the comfort and privacy of their own bedroom. Now in the testing stages, this new tool – which will also provide students with directions toward appropriate care – is slated for release in March or April 2015.

The experience of suffering mental health issues at university, be it in first year or due to exam stress, is grueling without a doubt. Thankfully, the two initiatives described above are truly significant steps are in the right direction. I am no expert on the subject, but it is my hope that they will make a crucial difference.

That being said, while most rightfully hail the remarkable efforts of our mental health services, it is no secret that they are badly strained, so much so that horror stories of students being misdiagnosed/screened out sometimes accompany those of successful recovery.

Hopefully, these new measures will serve to relieve our financially limited Mental Health Services by increasing the reach and use of preventive action.

Combined with the work of our excellent clinical staff, one can only hope these initiatives will serve to create a healthier environment for all McGill students. Not only will we have better access to care in our moments of need, but we will also find it easier to discuss these issues of mental health with a crowd that is more educated, and in an environment that is more tolerant and hopefully less stigmatized.

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

November 2014

Succeeding

Feature

in the Business World with

Mental Illness

People with mental disorders prove to be unique assets for their employers Maud Chiche and Philippe Rich, Business Writers

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magine you are an interviewer looking to hire a new intern. After several rounds of interviews, you are left with two strong, intelligent and charismatic candidates. There is a catch, though: one of them is diagnosed with Autism. Would you choose the candidate with a severe mental disorder over the other equally talented one? Most people are quick to dismiss the candidate with Autism. We take a contrarian view.

As a society, we are undeniably becoming much more accepting of mental disorders. Our colleagues and friends are more comfortable openly discussing their depression, anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder than they would have been in decades past. Even those who experience more severe issues, like Autism, Asperger’s, and Motor/ Tic disorders (among them Tourette’s syndrome) live in a more accepting and open society than generations before them. That said, there is still work to be done.

Archaic social norms in the business world?

When it comes to the professional environment however, things are a little different. Living with a mental disorder is not something one tends to brag about when searching for a job. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, some 70 to 80 percent of psychiatric-diagnosed individuals are unemployed. A recent study by the Canadian Health Association reveals that only one out of 1000 pass the first candidate screening.

Fortunately, not all people with mental disorders remain jobless. Rejected by recruiters, some of them have the energy to start their own enterprise. Attention-deficit disorders (ADD), dyslexia, obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) are all entrepreneur-friendly conditions.

Pierre Peladeau, the founder of the Quebecor empire, openly discusses his manic depression. George Soros, the man behind Soros Fund Management - one of the most profitable hedge funds in history - suffered from a lifetime mental distress. He compared himself to “a sick person with a parasitic fund swelling inexorably inside his body.”

Some of recent influential entrepreneurs also show many traits of mental particularities. Mark Zuckerberg is well-known for his “touch of Asperger’s” while Steve Jobs’ obsession with details is often described as OCD. Winston Churchill had bipolar disorder, Henry Heinz was OCD, Isaac Newton was described as psychotic.

The benefits of diversity Despite the apparent challenges they face, many mentally ill individuals succeed in turning their perceived “weakness” into their biggest strength. People suffering from mental disorders think differently. They have different approaches and logic schemes. And this is exactly why they can be an asset for a company.

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Feature

Rob Lachenauer, CEO and a co-founder of Banyan Family Business Advisors, witnessed a great change and improvement in his corporate culture after hiring a woman suffering from mental illness. Her fresh ideas and new perspectives reenergized and unified the management team. “Over the past few years, she has become not only a core member of our team, but a large part of the glue that holds the firm together” explains Lachenauer in Why I Hired an Executive with a Mental Illness. “What she brought to the table was deep self-awareness, a keen mind, and profound emotional intelligence.”

There are numerous examples of people who live with mental disorders and mental illness and excel in the business world. What’s more, their condition can even contribute to their success.

Discovering a passion for finance In 2004, during his residency in neurology at Stanford Hospital, 32-year-old Michael Burry discovered a vivid interest for financial markets. It soon became his new obsession. He would work all day on his medical studies and spend his nights reading about finance. He had always been very passionate about his precise fields of interest and showed little interest in social interactions.

When his son was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, Burry started reading about its common symptoms: difficulties with engaging in social routines, empathizing with others, and controlling feelings. He was especially intrigued by two of the symptoms on the list: above-average intelligence and a tendency to have very specialized fields of interest or hobbies. He could no longer deny the obvious. Was his own success due to his particular mental condition? Without a doubt.

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Asperger’s syndrome allowed him to understand financial markets like no one else at the time. Despite his limited social capacities, he managed to convince enough investors to participate in his new hedge fund. In 2005, he became particularly interested in understanding how subprime-mortgage bond worked and soon discovered “the extension of credit by instrument.” In short, he was one of the first and few investors to realize that “lenders had lost it.” Banks were creating aberrant financial instruments to justify their massive lending to decreasingly creditworthy borrowers.

His special interest and perseverance not only allowed him to foresee the subprime crisis, but also to find a way to bet against the system as mortgage bonds were impossible to short. Michael Lewis describes in great depth in The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine how he came up with the idea of using credit-default swaps on subprime mortgage bonds - a form of insurance against the default of specific mortgage bonds.

Burry’s success story is not an isolated case. The job requirements for computer programmer, statistician or quantitative analyst look incredibly similar to the list of symptoms of Autism and Asperger’s syndrome. Tech firms are seeking workers with incredible attention to detail, while hedge funds look for candidates with phenomenal quant skills. It is absolutely about time that we open our doors to people living with mental disorders.

The only clear barrier between the mentally ill and the mentally healthy comes from preconception spread in society - infamous social norms. Employers would benefit greatly if they overcome these prejudices. Real change may manifest itself as a balance between a embracing different way of thinking and pursuing unique diversity in the workplace.

November 2014

Business

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hp & hewlett packard

symbiosis of a technology company Alexandre Duchesne, Business Writer

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he idiosyncratic processes of the cell can be expanded as an analogy to illustrate HP’s unprecedented split. A given cell must be in constant symbiosis with its external and internal environments while maintaining flexibility for prospective shocks. At some point, the cell at maturity must duplicate itself to ensure the perennial functioning and growth of the organism.

And that’s what Meg Whitman, did on October 5 with the $112 billion tech dinosaur that is HP.

“Bigger is no longer better. EBay and PayPal, GE Appliances and Electrolux - the cases are numerous.”

The proposed split will separate the well-performing PC and printers division from the B2B corporate hardware and service operations into two distinct publicly traded companies called respectively HP Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. Whitman’s enthusiasm transcended her speech at the press conference: “It will provide each new company with the independence, focus, financial resources, and flexibility they need to adapt quickly to market and customer dynamics.” The announcement was

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welcomed by markets recording a 6 percent increase of HP’s stock price at the following opening.

However, some experts remain frigid regarding the Whitman’s strategic shift. Analysts at Bernstein Research attested that the prospective separation, “fueled by weakness, not strength,” will generate “material negative synergies” that could impede the distribution and commercialization of the respective corporations’ products. When considering the sales plunge of 19 percent in HP’s enterprise hardware division and termination of 55,000 positions from the last fiscal year, these problems need to be addressed. Emergent competitors such as Lenovo tighten the PC market irremediably while existing players bend under the yoke of aggressive cost leadership strategies.

Notwithstanding the subsequent wave of skepticism, the project is fully supported by Ralph Whitworth, former HP chairman, affirming that HP’s emancipation of the “inefficiencies that invariably plague large business conglomerates” will coincide with a new era of exploration of related markets such as 3D printing.

And this reshuffle of HP’s corporate architecture echoes a global growing trend of spinoffs. Solely last year, a total $1.6 trillion worth of subsidiaries have been sold to third parties. Bigger is no longer better. EBay and PayPal, GE Appliances and Electrolux - the cases are numerous.

Nevertheless, no consensus on the pertinence of this strategy has been established among scholars.

Proponents of spinoffs argue that such tactical restructuring permits the unlocking of hidden value to shareholders accessing to more transparency and greater selection power. HP’s 6 percent stock price appreciation on the following day of the announcement and EBay’s 8 percent are clear examples. More importantly, such seg-

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Business mentation would allow greater directional and operational flexibility, with greater strategic focus on the new enterprises. Results are empirical. According to research conducted by Anil Shivdasani of the University of North Carolina, stocks of firms evolving in niche and focused sectors of the demand spectrum would dominate conglomerates by an annual margin of 11.4 percent.

Altria Group Inc. exemplifies the perfect success story in which Whitman could repel the detractors of her maneuver. In 2007, Altria proceeded with Kraft’s spinoff and, later in 2012, dissociated itself from its booming snack operations registered under Mondelez International Inc. Today, the initial agents composing Altria Group are booming with a market capitalization expansion of 71 percent from 2007, beating the market by 32.5 percent.

On the flip side, with the announced fragmentation, HP’s vulnerability to Lenovo’s aggressive expansionary objectives will be exacerbated. Benefiting from costs reductions propelled by the purchase of IBM’s server business, Lenovo will exert predatory pricing schemes to take over a diminished HP. This marks a constant tradeoff between synergies and operational flexibility with distribution and procurement economies of scale associated with integrated corporations.

With so many trade-offs affecting a split, there are bound to be repercussions for a company. To put it scientifically, it would be Newton’s third law of motion: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” On October 7, HP’s stock price fell back to just 2 percent above

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its initial value before Whitman’s announcement. “Quite disappointing”, some would say. According to Jay Ritter, across the 166 spinoffs orchestrated by parent companies with annual sales exceeding the billion dollar threshold, returns have matched the markets’ performance. Thus, if past history is any indication, HP’s spin-off may prove less momentous than anticipated.

“If past history is any indication, HP’s spinoff may prove less momentous than anticipated.”

Will HP be able to grow and exploit its competitive advantages to the detriment of its arising competitors?

Will the current strategy payoff? These are all uncertainties. But, one thing is limpid: the current trend of spin-offs and corporate cleavages has been reinforcing the accounts of investment bankers garnering $9.4 billion so far this year. In America, one thing is sure: Wall Street will always have the last word.

November 2014

Business

What’s worse: Contagion or Fear of Contagion?

The Background on the Economic Impacts of Ebola Natalya Hibbert, Business Writer

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he hysteria around Ebola is becoming so out of hand that Halloween costumes have been created to resemble the doctors currently working in Hazmat suits in West Africa. The government of Australia has shut its doors to all West African countries for fear of the disease spreading to its country and American lawmakers are lobbying for the same political action. Given these drastic actions is Ebola starting to take an economic toll? What are the actual economic impacts of Ebola?

Background on the disease and the Public Fear Factor As of late October, 2014 Ebola has killed over 5,000 people - mostly in West Africa. The deadly virus has killed one person in the United States and on Friday a doctor in NYC became the fourth person to test positive for Ebola in the country. Symptoms of the disease include: fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache, and sore throat.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the virus is only contagious when patients begin showing symptoms. The natural host of Ebola is believed to be the fruit bat and is usually spread among wild animals before it reaches humans. it is spread through contact with blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person, as well as

exposure to objects such as contaminated needles.

The countries in West Africa that have bore the brunt of the disease are Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Nigeria and the Ivory Coast have recently been found to be Ebola-free, and so far organizations such as Doctors without Borders are working around the clock to prevent contamination of neighbouring countries. The WHO also advises that effective infection control in the US and other countries means that it is unlikely the virus will spread very far, but it is still a lingering concern.

However the greatest concern that has been voiced

by IMF and World Bank leaders is the public fear factor rather than the disease itself.

Public Fear Factor Most analysts are apprehensive of the fact that the indirect costs of public risk aversion can cause much more damage to the global economy than the direct cost of health care outlays and other containment expenditures.

Not only will travel and vacation expenditures be affected, but also, if policymakers give in to this hysteria and make bad policy decisions national economies could experience adverse effects. Bad policies that isolate West Africa away from the rest of the world will cause a fall in consumer confidence that will affect the world economy, which is exactly what governments must avoid in the midst the recovery from the very recent economic crisis.

It seems that this negative sentiment is already starting to spread. Last week an NBC poll found that 58 percent of Americans were in favour of a travel ban on flight to Ebola-afflicted countries Mass media has heightened fears to irrational levels.

Another element that aggravates the public fear factor is the virus’ high fatality rate and its gruesome symptoms even though it’s very unlikely. How will this public fear factor cause disruptions in global economy and financial markets?

Assessing the economic and financial impacts The World Bank estimates an economic drain of

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Business $36.2 billion in the pan-West African economy if the crisis continues for two years. This decline is mostly due to risk averse behavior.The countries that surround those that are still inflicted have been severely affected economically. These economies depend heavily on foreign investment making them extremely vulnerable to even the slightest shocks.

Nigeria and the Ivory Coast in particular have had to close trade from their borders with the affected countries.

Multinational corporations have also been negatively impacted by having to take protective measures to prevent any negative press or drops in the stock price. For example Nestle SA, the world’s largest food producer, has sharply limited employee travel to the affected region and said its operations are on high alert for the disease. The

"However the greatest concern that has been voiced by IMF and World Bank leaders is the public fear factor rather than the disease itself."

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greater effect is what will become of homegrown African businesses like Kenya Airways whose sales may fall by 4 percent this year alone.

It also should be noted that this worst-case scenario of $32.6 billion drain will spread beyond the neighboring countries and will swallow all of West Africa -this figure doesn’t even include any costs beyond the next 18 months. Most economies today are described as “interdependent” therefore if consumer confidence drops it could very well devastate neighboring countries as well.

Nigeria currently has a GDP of $500 billion and it relies on international investment to refurbish ports, build power plants, and erect waterfront skyscrapers for its

November 2014

Business upper class. This could easily disappear if foreign direct investment ends with an abrupt halt.

The virus has also caused ripple effects in the stock markets. Some firms have been able to take advantage of the situation while others have come to suffer.

Although there is general concern that airports and public areas are no longer safe, stocks for American Airlines and United Airlines have reported record setting profits. Hilton Worldwide and Starwood Hotels are also at risk if worries about Ebola cause people to curtail their vacation plans. Tekmira(TKMR), a Canadian biotech and pharmaceuticals firm, saw its stock surge in September after the FDA authorized its drug for Ebola for patients in the US (the stock has since fallen). NewLink Genetics (NLNK) is working with the WHO and other agencies on an Ebola vaccine. Shares have surged 57 percent in the past month. Lakeland Industries (LAKE) said in September that it was boosting production of protective Hazmat suits in response to growing demand; its stock has surged 76 percent in the last four weeks. Other companies haven’t been so lucky, Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises have come under pressure after it was discovered that a healthcare worker who handled Ebola test samples was quarantined on a cruise ship earlier this month.

"Analysts have gone far enough to compare Ebola to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) to figure out the magnitude of economic impacts" Ebola compared to SARS Analysts have gone far enough to compare Ebola to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) to figure out the magnitude of economic impacts. Andrew Zarnett an analyst from Deutsche Bank created a financial model to study the consequences of Ebola by examining the most recent SARS epidemic. In 2003, SARS infected 8,098 people, killed 774, and spread to 29 countries, primarily impacting China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Due to its airborne nature, the disease even spread to Toronto. In total the disease cost East Asian countries about $20 billion according to the

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WHO, but it also cost the United States about $7 billion - purely due to the public fear factor. People stopped traveling and booking vacations due to hysteria, despite no deaths in the country. Asian airline companies took a $6 billion hit, whereas the impact on hotels in Hong Kong proved to be much worse. Zarnett analyzed the effects through the revenue per available room ratio, which plunged by 89 percent in April 2003 and was depressed through the rest of the year. The plunge was less steep in Toronto, where RevPAR fell by 44 percent and even in the United States RevPAR fell by 7 percent around the same time. These examples of losses must be taken into account when trying to tally the economic costs of Ebola.

Another study led by UK economists that modeled the global economic fallout of a hypothetical influenza pandemic predicted only a 0.5 percent GDP loss from the base effect of the disease itself but up to 8 percent due to policies intended to mitigate its spread, such as school closures. Thus showing that the public fear factor will have stronger ramifications than the disease itself.

Conclusion These studies show that the bigger threat to the global economy and markets lies in those who simply fear the disease itself. While the hysteria continues to build through the media, which attempts to capitalize on public panic, it is imperative that policymakers have a strong grasp on the concept of the public fear factor. Otherwise, economic losses will be exorbitant.

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Business

ISIS: A MOST PROFITABLE BUSINESS VENTURE The Islamic State is on its way to become the most profitable, illegitimate business in the world Sébastien Grégoire, Business Writer

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he Islamic State (IS), once called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has experienced shocking growth since the beginning of 2014, when it captured vast territory across Iraq and Syria in a short matter of time. With its successes on the battlefield, it has been able to build a sustainable economy to finance its activities. At the helm is the self-proclaimed caliph, the mysterious Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who now governs an area comprising of 8 million inhabitants and controlling an estimated $2 billion in assets. Indeed, there is much to worry about the expansion and size of the Islamic State.

Liquid Gold The group funds itself throughout various activities, all of them considered illegal under Iraqi and international law. The first and most documented sector of its revenue is the oil industry. Militants have seized a considerable number of oil wells in Iraq, sparing them from as much damage as possible in the fighting prior to the captures. They have also promised protection to the oil workers in return for keeping production running. IS has captured one of Syria’s biggest oil fields, Al-Omar, which produced 30,000 barrels/day. However, since its capture, it produces only 10,000 barrels/day. In addition to lacking qualified labour to keep production running at full capacity, IS does not know how to extract petroleum in a safe manner to minimize the risk of accidents. As of now, according to experts, IS produces at total of between 80,000 and 100,000 barrels per day from the 80 captured oil wells. Unfortunately for them, not all are functional, as most were sealed by the Iraqi government before being abandoned to the extremists.

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IS pumps 100,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day in the Ajul oilfield, east of Tikrit (Saddam Hussein’s hometown). In comparison, the rest of Iraq under governmental control produces around 3,500,000 barrels a day. This generates daily revenues of $2-3 million for IS, as quoted by experts.

Following extraction, IS ships some of the oil to refineries in Eastern Syria. This is necessary for most oil pumped in Northern Iraq, as the quality of petroleum there is very low compared with international standards.

The quality is so low that it is given a specific name: bitumen, a very “heavy” type of oil, expensive to refine and sold at lower prices on international markets. Since August, oil refining has decreased when the international coalition (composed of the United States, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia) conducted airstrikes on the refineries.

IS then sells oil on the black market to multiple buyers in order to avoid confrontation. For the first ten days of August, IS successfully shipped the oil to Iran through Kurdish territory, generating revenues of 1 million dollars every day (the total revenue from the short operation was around $10 million). On the 11th day, Iraqi forces put an end to the convoys by destroying most with helicopter airstrikes. The rest were captured by Kurdish peshmerga ground troops.

Even with such a setback, the extremist group continues to sell its oil to Turkish traders at the Syrian/Turkish border for $25 per barrel and does so by bribing border security officials. They also sell to gas stations in the Mosul area. Depending on the oil quality, those distributors will sell merchandise between $1.00 and $1.50 per litre. This perfectly suits merchants in the business as well as IS; the

November 2014

Business price is three times higher than before the war, when the government subsidized gas. It is even believed that IS sells its oil to buyers as unlikely as the Syrian regime and Shiite and Kurdish businessmen from Lebanon and Iraq.

Taxation (without representation) In addition to its huge revenues from oil, IS also uses other conventional ways of financing its fast-paced expansion. Like every normal state or civic entity, it has come up with a number of taxes aimed at the 8 million inhabitants under its control.

For example, it applies a specific tax on farms. Farmers are taxed based on the size of their arable land, not on crop production. IS does so because taxing in this way requires significantly less monitoring, but also means that, in times of drought, farm businesses would be unsustainable. It is easy to understand why many farmers have fled the region controlled by IS. The group also demands tributes from all other businesses to continue their activities. If they default on their payment it vows, on some occasions, to execute publicly all owners, managers, and employees of the defaulting business.

“IS has proven a stronger foe than anyone could have expected when they first appeared in the Syrian Civil War.�

As if that were not enough, the organization has begun taxing all merchandise entering the city of Mosul, a method widely used in merchant trading during medieval times in Europe . Large trucks are taxed $400, small trucks $100 and cars that are transporting goods $50.

Finally, similar to multiple governments, IS surprisingly applies public transport fees in Raqqa and Mosul. If a passenger is caught avoiding paying for transport, they are considered thieves and is punishable by a public hand amputation Punish thieves, but keep stealing At the beginning of its uprising and before having to rely on steady and domestic sources of income, IS prof-

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ited from illicit activities (i.e. robbery, kidnapping and plundering) prior to relying on steady, domestic sources of income.

In previous weeks, Iraqi intelligence officers searched the safehouse of a late IS commander and found hard drives listing illicit transactions of plundered antiquities, valued at a total of $36 million. The drives revealed that in 2012, the group plundered the ancient city Apamea.

Later, in 2014, IS captured the city of Mosul and seized 500 billion dinars ($425 million) from the central bank.

During various other robberies in the city, they also collected considerable amounts of gold, a practical asset for their organization as they can participate in transactions involving illegal substances (i.e. weapons, intelligence).

Like all other terrorist organizations, small and large, the group has relied on kidnapping, donations and extortion from individuals.

It is widely believed that the group receives funds from extremist sympathizers in Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia, and that transactions occur either in mosques or by use of social media. The exact figure of funding transactions has so far not been found, but is expected to diminish.

Additional revenues are generated for IS through kidnapping. Since the beginning of the conflict, it is estimated that revenues of $10 million have been amassed through this method, according to an anonymous US official. However, IS no longer uses hostages primarily as bargaining assets for ransom, but rather as leverage against foreign governments who participate in the coalition to destroy IS. The rebels also rely on capturing towns and cities such as Mosul and introducing rules under which non-Sunnis are given the choice of leaving, converting to Islam or getting executed. More recently, IS has let non-Muslims (it is not clear about how they consider Shiites) stay in occupied towns if they pay a heavy protection fee.

Who wants free guns?

In conducting their war against Iraq and rebel factions in Syria, IS has amassed a large weapons stockpile.

Indeed, its arms stockpile has exponentially increased in

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Business the past few months, during which time it has captured many military bases from Iraqi and Syrian armies and raided weapon convoys en route to other more moderate rebel factions. It now possesses hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military equipment manufactured in the US, including old tank models, modern artillery pieces and anti-tank rocket launchers. Having acquired these assets, which constitute a surprisingly large arsenal for a what was once a mere branch of a terrorist organization, the group has had no need of buying weapons. It has therefore been able to purchase other necessities with the cash on hand to continue its expansion.

No money is easy money The Islamic State, with all its power and potential, aspires to become a true nation-state in the middle of Iraq and Syria. By gaining additional territory and ruling over more and more people of both countries, it must meet the inhabitants’ expectations and gradually take up additional responsibilities. This, in turn, is becoming harder to manage and many believe that its downfall will come not from warfare, but from poor governance and lack of popular support in the territories it controls. Using all the resources at hand, it is easy for the rebel faction to rule over many towns in Iraq and Syria. Unfortunately, although it has a large army, it lacks the knowledge, expertise and human resources to govern effectively all the territory it has conquered and maintain the way of life people were accustomed to before.

The rebel state has considerable leverage over the population, since it is in charge of the distribution of basic commodities, such as food and natural gas for cooking, and because its officers can execute whomever they wish, at any time and under any pretext. It is also impossible to adopt economic sanctions, anti-money-laundering laws, and banking regulations, because the IS economy is a cash economy, completely independent from the international financial system.

But experts estimate that composed of only 30,000 militants - that must police a population of 8 million

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people. To prevent an uprising that would impede their plans, they must minimize dissent by acquiring the population’s favor, and so must maintain all important public services, such as healthcare and trash collection. This takes a considerable amount of money and resources from The Islamic State’s war machine, as they must continue to pay public servants.

Most importantly, they must continue to pay all workers, technicians and engineers in charge of oil production. Valérie Marcel, an oil expert at Chatham House in London, expects that oil production will decrease consistently over time as IS lacks the technicians to maintain and repair refineries and oil wells it controls. The rebel state is no exception and, just like every standard business, it can profit from its revenues, but it must also take into account all necessary expenses, and in this case, they are mounting and will soon be overwhelming.

“In conducting their war against Iraq and rebel factions in Syria, IS has amassed a large weapons stockpile.”

Taliban 2.0?

IS has proven a stronger foe than anyone could have expected when they first appeared in the Syrian Civil War. Today, coalition airstrikes and the Kurdish ground forces will not be enough to swipe aside the rebel state. “They’ve gone from being the world’s richest terrorist organization to the world’s poorest state,” says Michael Knights, a Middle East expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. However, it is still not, and will not be, economically and militarily powerful enough to pose a threat similar to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in 2003. In other words, it will never be able to conduct conventional warfare against the likes of the US and the UK. What is feared by the West is that, just like Afghanistan and Sudan before them, IS will serve as recruiting and training grounds for terrorists and as bases to conduct attacks and recruit abroad.

And who exactly is this self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? Could IS simply be a personal business venture for this man? It may be that experts will arrive to the same conclusion with IS as they did with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda: one of the organization’s main goals is to make money. In that sense, the Islamic State is an illegitimate business like any other, and a very lucrative one.

November 2014

Opinion

Give Me a Fall Reading Week or Give Me an F A student’s desperate plea for a break (longer than two days) Ryan Ehrenworth, Opinion Writer The skies over Montreal begin to paint themselves a bleak hue of grey, as the gradual transition from summer into winter begins. Such is the pathetic fallacy of fall at McGill. Indeed, Halloween is nothing compared to the true fright of the student body that manifests itself in the form of coursework. Midterms, conferences, presentations, labs, papers and a variety of other daunting tasks lie ahead of students in the short period of midterm season, during which stress hangs over campus like a dark cloud.

Don’t believe me? Simply strike up a conversation with any student on campus during the month of October and they will go off on a tangent about the mental stress triggered by their midterms. It is not a rare sight to see people sleeping in the library, to see students studying by moonlight at absurd hours, or to see students outright having a mental breakdown over their unmanageable deadlines.

To me, this is completely unacceptable.

As an institution that is highly competitive and replete with overachievers, McGill’s academic environment inadvertently places its students under stress and duress. Because most students have achieved academic excellence in the past, it renders the possibility of a poor grade unacceptable to many. However, this is not survival of the fittest, nor is it a battle for occupational supremacy; this is a university. McGill should be a place for broadening horizons and fostering cooperation, a place to pursue educational enlightenment rather than mental anguish.

With this in mind, I make my case for a fall reading week at McGill University.

Far gone are the days of pool-side margaritas in barely-pronounceable tropical places. Far gone are the magnificent mountain mise-en-scène, typical of your lavish family ski holiday. Far gone is the dream of blissful ignorance that could have been a fall reading week.

McGill, you have eluded us from the week-long nirvana – that we rightfully deserve – for far too long. We have climbed our mountains of paperwork, we have pro-

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pelled through our deadlines, and we have conquered half of a semester that was as challenging as any other. And all that for what? A single day off at Thanksgiving?

There is a serious benefit in giving students a week off during the fall term. For our most motivated scholastics, it’s a chance to hack away at the piled-up remnants of work from the semester, or to give students a period of serenity where no lectures or assignments can contribute to their academic deficit.

Conversely, degenerates, myself included, will use the week as a chance to catch up on some lost sleep, to watch for the millionth time The Good the Bad and The Ugly, and simply to relax.

Though the idea of a fall reading week may seem to some as nothing more than the collective dream of an exasperated and exhausted student body, is it so hard to imagine that McGill – in its bureaucratic dystopia – might actually awaken to our reality and hear me out? After all, other universities, like Western and Carleton, have recently introduced a fall reading week in support of its students, after having carefully considered the validity of their grievances. Heck, even U of T got one! Although it’s only two days, it’s still better than none.

All in all, in life, there needs to be a balance between both work and leisure. Our winter semester already knows this sweet taste of balanced freedom. Now it’s time for fall to follow suit, and for McGill to seriously consider implementing a fall reading week if not for the passionate yet delicate nature of its overachieving students, then at least for our mental well-being.

As the saying goes: “Give me liberty or give me death”; but now I say: “Give me a fall reading week, or give me an F.” 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

How Did We Get an F in Free Speech?

Bridging the gap between freedom of expression and inclusive policies Jennifer Yoon, Opinion Writer

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his year, McGill was ranked one of the worst universities in Canada for freedom of speech according to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF). The JCCF is a registered charity founded “for the purpose of advancing and promoting the core principles of freedom and equality.” As such, it releases an annual “Campus Freedom Index” wherein 52 publicly-funded universities – and their student unions – are assessed on how well they preserved freedom of speech on campus over the past year. In this year’s edition, both McGill and our august SSMU were ranked third worst in the country for upholding free expression in their policies and practices. While the former was awarded Ds throughout, the latter was showered with a mix of Ds for its policies and highly-coveted Fs for its practices.

Why? Specifically in SSMU’s case, it was deemed that the organization apparently “actively discriminated against campus clubs purely on the basis of the club’s beliefs, opinions or philosophy, by: 1) refusing to certify a proposed campus club; 2) refusing to provide a club with funding on par with other campus clubs; 3) refusing to provide a club with equal access to resources such as room-booking or space-bookings;

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4) imposing other restrictions on clubs based on the content of club’s expression, or based on the club’s beliefs, opinions or philosophy.”

By these standards, SSMU’s F grade for its practices is fair. At McGill, it’s no secret that we, as a community, tend to bend over backwards to accommodate political correctness. I think that this high premium on being politically correct is a genuine reflection of the sentiment of many people in our community, where there is incredible work being done to protect all individuals against discrimination and harassment. That being said, by institutionalizing these efforts and making them obligatory, the implementation of our anti-discrimination policies renders them strained and rather insincere in practice.

All this makes me wonder: how many of our inclusivity policies – the very same ones that earned us that F – are truly reflective of the attitudes of the students that make up our university?

When you think about it, some of SSMU’s actions are entirely detached from the value-systems of the silent majority here at McGill. Who can forget the historic hoopla that was Farnangate? Of course, the fact that someone was offended by an implicit connotation they perceived in the image certainly needed to be addressed. However,

November 2014

Opinion did that redress need to take the shape of a public apology delivered to the inboxes of each and every single student, despite the fact that Farnan’s apology was – as he learned too late – entirely out of tune with the opinions expressed by a majority of those same students?

It’s true that, more often than not, the inconveniences of the majority are but a small price to pay when compared to the pain and discrimination experienced on a regular basis by those of the marginalized minority. However, it’s also true that, by restricting freedom of speech on campus, the overrepresentation of certain voices – to the point of silencing others – breeds resentment; and far too often, resentment breeds a trivialization the bigger issue at hand.

The fact that Farnangate was transformed into a universal punchline by its bitter end is a clear sign that the crux of the matter was regrettably swept under the rug. Throughout the entire debacle, never once was there a meaningful discussion about the fact that young black men are in fact too often labelled as violent by media and law enforcement alike – an issue that has become particularly relevant following the ongoing events in Ferguson, Missouri.

One of the cases that JCCF cited as contributing to our F grade was SSMU’s decision to revoke the official club status of Choose Life, a pro-life group on campus.

Their decision was preceded by a talk held by the organization called “Echoes of the Holocaust,” which juxtaposed the modern realities of abortion with the past atrocities of the Holocaust. Condoned by SSMU, student protesters shut down the event, and the club was revoked on the grounds of “hate speech”, as well as “the use of ‘question-

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able statistics from questionable sources,’ and the use of graphic imagery.” This verdict was in line with the sentiment shared by many students on the offensive nature of the group’s actions, as detailed in the complaints made to the Equity Commission.

From the aggressive backlash from the student body, it is clear that many on campus viewed the actions of Choose Life as harassment, and sought protective measures from being affronted with images and messages they considered disturbing. The club’s actions fit the definition of harassment in SSMU’s Equity Policy: “any behaviour, act, comment, or display that demeans, belittles, and/or causes personal, psychological, or social harm to an individual or group, including an act or acts of intimidation or threat.” Thus, SSMU’s grating condemnation and swift reaction can rightfully be seen as entirely valid.

But this definition can also be applied to Farnangate, seeing as the one anonymous complaint delivered to the Equity Commission was enough to render Farnan guilty of harassment under SSMU’s policies. Though both cases contributed to our F grade, it is absurd to claim that the initial scope of Farnangate as a campus-wide issue was equivalent to that of Choose Life. The drastic difference in SSMU’s reaction to both cases brings into question not only the competing principles of free speech and inclusive policy, but also whether the nature and universality of the attitudes of SSMU’s constituents should be considered in deciding whether or not one principle should be favoured over another.

As aforementioned, Farnangate was the result of one anonymous complaint, whereas Choose Life was faced with multiple formal grievances from many individuals and organisations alike. Though it is important to preserve the principle of free speech, there is – and must be – a threshold past which the protection of individuals from harassment and intimidation can limit freedom of expression. Thus, the request of the many students who saw the actions of this organization as harassment seems to me a reasonable one, and should therefore serve to justify for the ensuing obstruction of freedom of speech.

Because the ugly truth is that discrimination and harassment do in fact happen on our campus, people need a level of protective measures to create a safer space.

Therefore, we mustn’t see freedom of expression and inclusivity as black and white; we must find the middle ground. Hence, it is hugely problematic that SSMU often rules one of these principles over the other without being sensitive to or – at the very least – cognizant of the general attitude held by the student body. SSMU must strive to find a balance between freedom of speech and inclusive policies by embracing and tapping into the organic dialogue that already occurs among students.

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

27

Opinion

A HAIRY SITUATION Daniel Galef, Opinion Writer

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ow that students look more like professors than professors do, it seems that beards have crossed that final threshold into acceptability, and, indeed, perhaps they have. Certainly the average university student tends to be more pogonologically active than others, and whether this is due to ironic hipsterism or simple laziness in shaving practices is yet to be determined.

However, even in this enlightened age of men wearing their pride on their face and hanging down scraggly onto their chest, the scruffy, “unshaven” look is still demonized by mainstream society, despite the fact that it is a stage one must unfortunately suffer through in order to achieve new heights (and lengths). It has been made clear that being either clean-shaven or cultivating a one-inch beard is fine, but anything past that or in the itchy and scratchy realm of the novice hoping to look like Homer (the Greek one, obviously): scruffiness continues to be socially vilified.

However, there remains a handful of oases in the year during which it is perfectly acceptable, or even expected,

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not to be shorn; and, with careful judgment and meticulous planning, one can enjoy continual (and almost continuous) beardiness. Thus, it is in the interest of this silent and patchy minority that I present the following guide to when it is and isn’t okay to look like a caveman.

Perhaps the most widely-known and widely-followed of these exceptions is also the longest, spanning the entire month of November, called either No-Shave November, Noshember, Moshavember, or Movember, only one of which I made up. Not only an excuse to shave three minutes off your morning tasklist, Movember is also a charity event in which you can participate by competitively growing facial hair and donating to prostate cancer research.

Though it is often criticized for being a hotbed of “slacktivism,” this campaign has nonetheless been successful in raising both awareness and money for a good cause.

Another crafty example of fair-game hairiness is the “Playoff Beard”. Originally reserved for the players themselves, this tradition of not shaving during the Stanley

November 2014

Opinion

“Remove the whiskers, and you remove the man.”

– Stephen Leacock Cup Playoffs has spread to the fans, largely through the efforts of the NHL, with the Beard-A-Thon charity event having attracted 22,000 participants in its first four years alone. Traditionally, one only refrains from shaving when their team enters the playoffs to when they exit. Thus, this window can trivially be maximized by simply becoming a fan of either one of the final two teams. I’m not a sports guy, but that sounds simple enough.

In fact, one does not even need to be a hockey fan to partake in this fun; the tradition has spread rapidly to other sports with lengthy final rounds including soccer, American football, baseball, basketball, and tennis, whose own pioneer, Björn Borg, is speculated to have served as an influence by not shaving during Wimbledon.

By becoming a fan of as many of these sports as possible, you can vastly increase the percentage of the year during which you can leave your razor, strop, and scuttle to gather dust. Better yet, if the leap from players to fans doesn’t strike you as legitimate, you can always become

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a player yourself, thus unquestionably qualifying you to follow suit.

If sports aren’t your forte, then good ol’ Oxbridge has your solution instead. According to Cherwell, an independent student newspaper of Oxford University, a similar trend has been cropping up among university students, whereby one does not shave during exam season – arguably the academic version of playoffs. Therefore, between your last class and your last final exam, you are free to relax and let your hair down, even if it’s off your chin.

Depending on when your exams happen to be, this may last as long as two and a half weeks, a duration than can optimized by choosing one’s courses solely based on exam dates. Heck, it’s as good a system as any I’ve come across.

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

29

Lifestyle

Theatre Review: “Monster” by Tuesday Night Cafe Theatre

I’m friends with the monster that’s inside my head Kimberly Evans, Lifestyle Editor

T

uesday Night Cafe’s (TNC) production of “Monster” by Daniel MacIvor and Daniel Brooks opened October 15. A one-woman tour de force, co-director and only actress Laura Orozco, along with co-director Dilan Nebioglu, and the rest of the TNC team delivered a stunning performance of a deeply complex play tackling mental health issues.

It is difficult to deliver a basic premise for what “Monster” is about. The main theme is mental health, however, through six different characters many aspects of this large umbrella term are explored: from addiction, to abuse, depression, relationship issues, and parental responsibility.

“Monster” was hard to follow at times, but it must be made clear that this was purely an aspect of the script, and not Tuesday Night Café’s production itself. Laura was exceptional, and as she morphed seamlessly from male to female roles, it was made clear that mental health issues have nothing to do with gender – as stereotypes can often go - and everything to do with simply being human.

The play lasts 1 hour 15 minutes without interval.

Not only is there no interval, but there is no pause in the play itself. Laura was six characters, one after the other in perfect sequence, never missing a beat. For someone who hasn’t acted in six years, this is an exceptional return to the stage, and she deserves both praise and congratulations.

A few things stood out from the play itself, especially its portrayal of addiction through the character Joe. The production team did a great job with visual effects, and the audience was given an intense and real insight into mental processes behind addiction. As Laura (aka Joe) alternately whispered and screamed her way through her character’s journey, she eerily portrayed the dark cognitive disorders that plague part of society.

There was the torture of being in an environment full of drugs and alcohol, the pressure becoming too much until you explode, the euphoria of the high… until you

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come crashing into the comedown, complete with overall senses of shame and worthlessness. There was exaggeration for dramatic effect, but the outcome was striking nonetheless. When speaking about her experience of playing Joe, Laura said, “he was the most challenging, and my favourite on the page.”

Al’s character demonstrated a secondary theme: depression. There was a satirical take on group therapies such as Alcoholics Anonymous, and Al’s feelings of isolation were brought to the forefront during this scene of group interaction. The impact that depression can have on relationships and daily life was accurately depicted.

Laura stated that Janine – Al’s girlfriend - was her favourite character to play, she brought a lot of depth and empathy into the character of Al himself. Depression has been quoted as being a “silent killer”. It is often misunderstood as someone just being pessimistic, or having the wrong attitude. Al’s character revealed what depression looks like: inside and outside, sufferer and observer.

When discussing TNC’s production process, it seems to have taken place remarkably quickly for such a polished performance. In only six weeks an entire play was not only memorized by a single actress/co-director, but was also produced without a technical glitch for both sound and set. Interesting to note is that the script of “Monster” contains no stage directions. Therefore, the TNC team had the double-edged sword of extra creative freedom combined with extra work. Their engaging stage set coupled with props being both original and inventive without detracting too much from the actress.

Overall, “Monster” gets a mixed review, but TNC gets a stellar one. The script was personally not to my taste, despite some interesting plot twists and insights onto the very important and universally relevant theme of mental health issues. That being said, I thought TNC demonstrated skill and talent in both production and acting, and I look forward to seeing what their next play will be!

November 2014

Lifestyle

Eating Well for Dummies How to Effectively Take on Stress Jessica Farber, Lifestyle Writer

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he height of midterm season may be behind us for some, but unfortunately, term papers and finals are just around the corner. Before letting stress consume you, take a minute to think about how you might keep your mental health in check this coming exam season. While there are many great ways to release stress like yoga, exercise, and being with close friends, succumbing to a diet of Pop Tarts and Domino’s pizza is not one of them. There are actually several foods that you may already have in the cabinet or can easily get (inexpensively) that have been proven to decrease stress levels.

Practice some self-love, and fuel your body with foods that sustain you throughout the day and help beat the pressures of everyday life.

Here are some of the top best and worst foods for maintaining mental health and curbing stress:

5 Best:

Avocados: These delicious silky fruits are loaded with potassium, which keep blood pressure low, as well as Vitamin B and E. They go great in salads, in smoothies, spread on toast, and of course with chips as guacamole.

Cashews: Though high in calories, cashews have tons of protein and are a great source of zinc. Low zinc levels have been linked to anxiety and depression, and since our bodies have no natural way of storing zinc, incorporating it into our daily diet is important. Try making a snack pack with cashews and raisins (and maybe other nuts) to bring on-the-go. They also serve as a nice crunchy garnish on stir-fries and salads.

Dark Chocolate: Yes, its perfectly okay to indulge every once in a while. The sugars in chocolate cause the brain to produce serotonin, which elevates mood levels. A recent study at Columbia University suggests that the flavanols, a type of antioxidant found in dark chocolate, improve blood circulation, heart health and memory.

Salmon: Other naturally fatty types of fish like tuna and sardines have fatty acids called Omega-3s, which boost serotonin and regulate adrenaline levels to have a calm-

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ing effect. A great way to prepare salmon is to bake it!

The salmon’s natural oil cooks it tenderly.

Oatmeal: A complex whole grain carbohydrate, oatmeal is the ultimate breakfast food which will leave you fortified for hours and hours. Oatmeal can also help boost serotonin levels and contains high amounts of fiber, which is also great for your digestive system.

5 Worst:

Energy Drinks: The next time you find yourself having to stay up late to cram for an exam or finish a project, steer clear of these highly caffeinated and overly sugary drinks. The caffeine will make you jittery, anxious and you will find yourself unable to concentrate once the sugar crash hits. Try a banana for extra natural energy instead. Even better, go to sleep and wake up early. Your body has a natural method to restore energy, and sometimes it’s better to let it do so.

Processed Food: Though these tend to be the foods we crave while stressed, the high sugar, fat, and sodium content in processed food is more likely to boost cortisol levels. High levels can leads to increased risk for depression and anxiety. On top of that, there is of course the weight gain associated with processed food.

Spicy Food: Ever tried to write a paper or take a calculus exam on an upset stomach? Especially if you are already stressed, in which case food takes longer to digest, spicy food tends to aggravate the digestive system and may cause acid reflux or stomach pains. Of course, not feeling well is in itself, a stressful situation.

French Fries: The carbohydrates in French fries may give you a quick energy fix, but the high fat and sodium levels won’t sustain you. All fried foods are likely to cause weight gain and bloating.

Alcohol: Despite any preconceived notions, a glass of wine before bed will not actually help you relax. Alcohol causes the brain to release cortisol, which boosts anxiety and stress.

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