The Bull & Bear: November 2013 issue

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THE BULL & BEAR

Investigating the Hult Controversy Keeping Your Enemies Close Are We Sustainable Yet? Swimming with the Sharks

It Ain’t Easy Being Green: Sustainability at McGill

November 2013 Issue 003 Vol. 11 bullandbearmcgill.com

A publication of the

Editor’s Note JD Moirez

MEDIA EDITOR

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NEWS 4 Mobile Eats in Montreal 6 Investigating the Hult Controversy 8 Recruitment: The Path to a Future Career

BUSINESS 11 Understanding Investment Banking 12 Printing the Future 14 The Gender Yield 15 Keeping Your Enemies Close

FEATURE 16 Reboot McGill: Beyond Recycling 18 Change from Within 20 The Good Green Life 20 Are We Sustainable Yet?

LIFESTYLE 24 Is Fair Trade Just About Trading Fairly?

25 Women and the Will to Lead 26 Out with the New, In with the Old

OPINION 27 Your Cellphone is Pissing Me Off 28 Letters: Maybe McGill Students Dislike the Colour Red 29 A Crisis of University Pride 30 Swimming with the Sharks 314floors for Some 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.

Cover by Jenny Kim

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s the outgoing Media Editor, I must admit that writing editorial notes isn’t part of my usual tasks. When I started as a photographer, I got used to chasing riots downtown, scrumming through crowds for picture-perfect moments of HMB, and working my way through clubs during first-year ragers. Yet only a few years later, I find myself contemplating my last issue and am truly overwhelmed; not only by the sheer amount of content we have amassed over the past two years, but mostly by the eyeopening experiences I have lived through.

A magazine is only as good as the sum of its parts and our studentrun publication is no exception. During my time at The Bull & Bear, I have been humbled by the talented individuals who willingly devote their lives to improving The Bull & Bear. In 2011, we were a barely-functional team of eager students, and now all 85 of us work in unison under the bold “B” we call our own.

As a whole, the McGill community is defined not only by its brilliant minds, but more importantly, by its passionate people. As Media Editor, I have had the opportunity to work with such passionate people to showcase the various events into which they pour their time and energy, simultaneously contributing towards campus enrichment. Whether it was AIESEC helping students enter the workforce, IRSAM and its thrilling McMUN experience, or Relay for Life and its heartwarming devotion towards cancer research, it is undoubtable that we are at an institution where opportunity is not withheld from those who aspire. As a media outlet, it is therefore our duty to translate and share that energy into words and photographs.

So, as a final word, I present some advice to all newcomers to McGill: get involved in our community. As a first year, I was conditioned in believing that GPA was the key to professional success, and I was mistaken. Courses provide us with valuable knowledge, but rarely with a framework to apply them - and that’s where clubs come in. At McGill, you have the privilege of choosing between hundreds of student-led initiatives, and I firmly believe that you will be able to find a suitable match. Before turning down an application, ask yourself whether it’s due to a lack of motivation, or if it’s just your fear of rejection manifesting itself. I implore you, if it’s the latterdon’t give up. Ultimately, you must shape the campus and not the other way around.

As late-nights working with The Bull & Bear in Bronfman basement have become a way of life, parting ways will certainly be a challenge.

However, I have no reservations regarding the talent of my successors, Nat & Alain. They are the ones behind the media content in this issue’s look into Sustainability, and I can’t wait to see the bright path they’ll take in moving this publication forward.

Regards,

JD Moirez, Media Editor jd@bullandbearmcgill.com

BRIEFS

Briefs

Your guide to events around campus Movember

The Nutcracker Market

November 1 - 30

November 28 - December 8

Watch boys show off their manliness.

The best part: it’s all for charity!

‘Tis the season at this holiday market.

10% of proceeds go to The Nutcracker Fund for Children.

Taste MTL November 1 - 11

Tarun Koshy Executive Editor

Marisa Samek Lifestyle Editor

Some of Montreal’s delectable restaurants are going prix-fixe- 3 courses, 1 price.

Max Feinsot Managing Editor

Laura Thistle Lead Opinion Editor

Doron Lurie Editor-at-Large

Alex Petralia Opinion Editor

Matthew Hunter Chief Layout Editor

Flora Bertin Anthony Heinrich Hayley Lim Michelle Paspe Sisi Ye Layout Editors

Annual BASiC Semi-Formal November 9, 9PM Thomson House Ladies and Gents, the 20s are back at this Great Gatsby themed party!

SSMU Special General Assembly November 13 Hear from your six SSMU execs and debate motions! Sounds like fun!

Alain Kasparian JD Moirez Nat Carson Media Editors Aimee Pellegrino Lead News Editor Jonathan Craske Lead Business Editor Andrew Marcovitch Business Editor

Kapil Mehra Advertising Director Henry Fuz-Keeve Lead Web Editor Charlotte Plamondon Social Media Rep

April Wu Lead Lifestyle Editor

Effusion a Capella November 24 L’Astral Listen to their beautiful harmonies and lipsynch to some amazing mashups!

Thanksgiving USA Edition November 28 Time for turkey, gravy and pumpkin pie for our friends across the border.

The Bull & Bear - November 2013

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NEWS

Mobile Eats in

MONTREAL

A retrospective on Montreal’s food truck revival Kevin Toda

NEWS WRITER

PHOTO BY ARJUN MEHTA

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or the first time in 66 years, food trucks are once again gracing the streets of Montreal. A recent pilot project in Ville-Marie has made it legal for a select few food trucks to operate from June to September around specific areas of the city. In addition to this, a separate, but related food truck and trailer program has been running at both McGill’s Downtown and MacDonald campuses.

The Montreal program selected nine locations, including one on McGill’s downtown campus as test locations. The McGill program has consisted of a rotating shift of a smaller group of food trucks and one trailer camped outside the Redpath Museum by the Leacock building.

Daniel Jones, co-owner of waffle truck Guafrabec, explained the situation.

“To start off, the city created a panel of judges to hear pitches from 40 or so food trucks. The city eventually granted a small

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number of permits to around 30 trucks, all of which were pre-existing restaurants or caterers.”

This criterion was included because of the concerns raised by restaurant owners who felt food trucks, which are held to less regulations than restaurants, may scuttle away with a key chunk of their business.

The City Hall committee consisted of a chef, a nutritionist, a wine critic, bureaucrats and a few representatives from local development agencies.

Prior to the creation of the city’s pilot project, there existed a group of food trucks, Association des restauranteurs de rue du Quebec, that organized food trucks and helped them find work around the city. Once the project was created, they were given the mandate by the city to run a food truck schedule.

“As for the process of becoming legal, we are under the same rules of hygiene as

restaurants,” noted Julien Ebert, from Pas de Cochons Dans Mon Salon, a mobile barbecue restaurant.

Food trucks have become popular in many other North American cities.

There have been a number of different approaches to food truck projects across the nation, with varying success rates.

Toronto’s cancelled “Toronto a La Carte” is widely considered a failure after driving many cart owners thousands of dollars into debt, but the city still has a handful of gourmet trucks and a large number of non-gourmet truck and non-truck options on the streets. Vancouver’s gourmet food truck market is faring a bit better than Toronto’s. Vancity actually ranks high in comparison with American cities, boasting 114 licensed food trucks as of last spring.

The City of Montreal chose locations specifically to avoid direct competition with restaurants. Another stipulation

NEWS was that the vendors must operate within fully functional trucks. Food wagons are unacceptable as they must be towed or carried by another vehicle.

This is particularly frustrating for mobile restaurants such as Pas de Cochons Dans Mon Salon, as they are a food trailer and are therefore not officially apart of the Montreal pilot program. As such, they are only eligible to operate at events or in areas

let food trucks operate.”

Initially the city had chosen McTavish Street for one of their locations for food trucks, but the choice was made without contacting the university. “Once the plan was rolling, we decided that the current Redpath location was best for us,” said Laperle.

Food and Dining Services at McGill wanted a variety of trucks to work rotating

it’s going to become one of the best spots in the city for a food truck,” he enthused.

“The set up for us is really amazing, the campus is beautiful and the people are really nice to us.”

Laperle also has high hopes for the program going forward. “I would like to have have trucks on campus permanently, year round,” he asserted. “This would have the advantage of having something new

GUAFRABEC

PAS DE

COCHONS

that specifically grant them permission to operate, such as the Lachine Canal and the McGill Campus.

Gaufrabec also began as a trailer, but has since opened a brick-and-mortar shop and a truck of their own. “We started out in 2010 with mobile kiosks and we participated in festivals and special events in and outside of Montreal,” recalled Jones.

“We decided to invest in a truck because it would be easier than the wagons. When we heard wind of a commission being set up to investigate the possibility of legalizing street food in Montreal, we thought it was amazing timing.”

While the Montreal City pilot project was underway, McGill Food and Dining Services started their own food truck pilot program. Mathieu Laperle, Director of Food and Dining Services at McGill, explained that his group had been trying to get a food truck at McGill for years.

“The challenge with McGill’s great location is that there are so many food options so close to campus. Our challenge is to give reasons for students to eat on campus instead,” he related.

“The idea of bringing food trucks at McGill started three years ago,” Laperle noted. “We were trying to submit different proposals to the University, but kept getting rejected for various reasons. This was around the time when the school was trying to eliminate all traffic on campus and the costs of the University operating its own truck was much too expensive.

This all changed when the city decided to The Bull & Bear - November 2013

MCGILL

GO

BBQ

TRUCK TOFOOD MONTREAL

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shifts at the downtown and MacDonald campuses, so they approached 15 different trucks individually, totally independent from the Montreal project and the food truck association. McGill also has different criteria than the city. For instance, they allow trailers like Pas de Cochons to operate on campus.

Pas de Cochons jumped at the chance to open up shop at McGill. “We were simply given the opportunity to operate on the McGill campus and we happily agreed,” Ebert beamed. “Someone from McGill came to see the trailer at the Just for Laughs festival, asked how we operate, our menu, prices and speed. From there, the rest was pretty standard. It was a good and easy process.” They have recently bought a truck and are in the process of getting it ready for the road for next summer.

Since this is the first year of the project, there are a still a few kinks to work out. “It would be useful if there was some sort of schedule available so people could know in advance which food trucks would be on campus at what time, and on what day,” suggested Merry Longthorne, U3 French Translation. Guafrabec’s Daniel Jones also had feeback to give. “Perhaps there could be more than one truck at a time,” he mused. “There is currently only one spot designated at Macfarm and one downtown.”

Ebert sees a bright future for food trucks at McGill. “As people on campus get used to having food trucks there everyday,

and great everyday while requiring little investment from the University itself. One of the current issues is that most of the trucks are cash only. It would be a great to perhaps one day to see meal plans accepted at one of the trucks. It is still early. but so far we have had positive feedback.”

Guafrabec has also noticed a benefit.

“Our business on campus is honestly better than on the streets of Montreal,” Jones revealed. “The response is better.

It varies of course by day or even hour.

It depends on the day of the week, the weather and other activities occurring at the same time.”

The waffle truck hopes to stay running throughout the winter. “We would love to be year round. We were told this was a pilot project that had a definite opening and closing date, but we would like, and are hoping for, a continuation of food trucks on campus all winter. Our product is appreciated in the cold.”

Running a food trucks can be a tricky business, but some think it can all be worth it. “We have crazy hours and each week has its surprises, when its not the trailer that breaks, its a fridge,” Jones admitted.

“Staff will not show up for work, or the sun doesn’t come out. You never know how many clients you’re going to get. It could go like that for a while, but its all forgotten when we see people eat, when they come to thank us after with a little bit of BBQ sauce on their face.”

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NEWS

Investigating the

HULT Controversy A winning team, a disgruntled grad student, his angry father, and a solution for world hunger.

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t the end of September, shortly after McGill’s Hult business team won $1 million for their business proposal at the Hult Business Competition, a wave of articles detailing the story of Jakub Dzamba were published. Dzamba is a PhD student in Architecture at McGill, who accused the Hult team of plagiarism, regarding their winning presentation at the Clinton Global Initiative.

I noticed, however, that all articles on the subject focused on one side or the other: either the Hult team’s win or Jakub’s allegations against the team. Interested in listening to both sides of the story, especially after having interviewed the Hult team back in March, I set up interviews with both the Hult team and Dzamba.

On Wednesday, October 9, I interviewed the Hult business team. They had much to say about their win, their project, and their future plans, but were not interested in discussing the Dzamba issue. Team member Jesse Pearlstein

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responded that they were not at liberty to speak about the controversy with Dzamba, but that “mediations are being conducted with the McGill faculty, and both parties are cooperating.”

I first spoke to Jakub Dzamba two days later, and he was very willing to speak about the controversy. He described how he became involved with the team back in February 2013, when two team members approached him inquiring about his designs for the cricket farms. “In the end, what I contributed was about 50% of the graphic design for the presentation,” he claimed. “[I also contributed] some strategy and coaching for the presentation.”

Dzamba maintains that the team made an informal agreement to make him a member of the team if they won at the Boston Regional Final. However, the Hult Rules only allow for a maximum of five people per team, and the team already consisted of five members. After the Hult team’s win at the Regional Final, Hult

Tess Wrobleski NEWS WRITER

judges refused to let Dzamba join the team. “I expected that [beforehand], and I brought that up,” Dzamba noted. ”They said if it did not work they would find another way.” Afterward, according to Dzamba, the Hult team ignored him and then took credit for the graphic designs he had made for the team’s presentation at the Regional Final Competition.

The Bull & Bear spoke with the McGill Hult team in March, following their win at the Boston Regional Final Competition.

During the interview, the team disagreed over whether they should refer to Jakub Dzamba as a “partner” or a “collaborator”– and this debate continues today. For how much of the winning presentation should Dzamba be given credit?

According to a resolution proposed by McGill administrative staff in August, “Mr. Dzamba made a substantive contribution to the Hult Prize Regional Final presentation that warrants recognition.” In addition, “Mr. Dzamba originally filed a Report of

NEWS Invention in August 2012, long before the McGill Hult Prize Team contacted him for consultation... Mr. Dzamba played a leading role in the invention of the cricket farming device in question. To date, there is no evidence that any of the Hult Prize Team’s contributions to the device rose to the level of status as a co-inventor for the patent.”

However, the resolution makes no mention of the team’s Final Presentation at the Clinton Global Initiative. According to the team, none of Dzamba’s designs or graphics appeared on the winning presentation. They insists that the presentation was based on internal research done by the team over the summer, after the team severed ties with Dzamba.

After performing on-the-ground research in Thailand, Mexico, and Kenya, the team shifted away from Dzamba’s small-scale cricket farm and toward cricket farming on a larger scale in rural areas. Shobita Soor, a member of the team, explained that people in the urban slums are not interested in farming, and would rather buy crickets in the marketplace. While it can be agreed that Dzamba contributed to the presentation at the Boston Regional Competition, it is unclear how much of the Final presentation can be attributed to Dzamba’s research.

Thursday night, I received an anonymous email informing me that “despite Jakub Dzamba’s best efforts to convince him not to, his dad has come to Montreal to protest the Hult issue.” The email said he would be protesting outside the Bronfman Building throughout the night.

I spoke briefly with the elder Mr. Dzamba, who expressed regret toward the lack of acknowledgement of his son’s research. He stated: “I raised [Dzamba] to understand that academic integrity and research integrity are untouchable.” He accused McGill of turning a blind eye to the violation of Dzamba’s intellectual property rights.

Although the school has been accused of encouraging unethical behavior in its students following this controversy, McGill is not obligated to mediate the issue due to its existence outside of the academic classroom. Ultimately, it is up to Dzamba and the Hult team to reach an agreement on their own, as the University cannot be held responsible for presenting a resolution agreeable to both parties.

Mr. Dzamba had no further comment on the controversy, but suggested that I The Bull & Bear - November 2013

research both his son’s presentation at the Dobson Cup and the McGill team’s final presentation. I was unable to locate the documents, despite intensive efforts.

Further research concluded that the documents have been taken offline while mediations between the McGill team and Dzamba continue. Later, I looked into the email address from which I received the tip.

I found it was connected to a Facebook page of a local Montreal graphic design company.

The page included images of Dzamba and his wife.

Biking home from campus after speaking with Dzamba, a member of the Hult team was biking just a bit ahead of me.

I have interviewed the team twice now, and considered us to be on “speaking terms.”

When I tried to approach the team member on my bike, he sped up significantly. He began to run red lights and stop signs, checking behind himself constantly.

Perhaps he did not recognize me, but I felt both slighted and nervous at this response to my presence.

As students, we are constantly warned about the “evils” of plagiarism, but what about the protection of our own intellectual property? In the case of a student stealing from another, how far can the University go to protect its those involved? And what if it is in the best interests of the University to protect one student over another? The Hult team has brought a lot of positive public attention to McGill. The University could

damage its reputation by admitting that its prize-winning team won because of the research and efforts of another student.

On Friday, I attended a conference for the Social Economic Initiative. As I approached the building, I found Mr. Dzamba still protesting. He had been joined by a younger woman, who I recognized as Jakub Dzamba’s wife from my previous investigation into the anonymous email I had been sent. I introduced myself, and attempted to inquire subtly about whether she had sent me an email. She did not know anything about the email and seemed rather taken aback. I excused myself and went inside. Now even more curious about the person who supplied the anonymous tip, I emailed the address asking if the person “was a friend of Dzamba’s, and would he/ she like to make a comment on the Hult controversy?” The email went unanswered.

At the SEI Conference, two members of the Hult team presented their winning pitch.

Bill Clinton described Aspire as a “tangible, substantial solution” to the problem of food insecurity. The solution is beyond the scope of Dzamba’s cricket farming technology.

The proposal is extraordinary for the way that it uses available technologies, while adapting itself for the cultures of its target populations. It address the problems of malnutrition and food insecurity in these areas.

This brings me to the final question raised by the controversy surrounding Hult– what if the project is in the interest of social good? If a business has the potential to save millions of lives, does it justify unethical behavior in other veins? I do not pretend to have an answer to this question, but I do think it raises interesting ethical dilemmas. In fact, when asked how the team felt about others “copying” their idea of cricket farming, Hult team member Zev Thompson commented that the team would welcome competition in their business: “it would be better for the world, because it would mean that people were eating much more efficiently farmed food, which is really [the] overarching mission of Aspire.”

In the process of “investigating Hult,” I have stumbled across more questions than answers. Both Dzamba and the members of Aspire Food Group are brilliant, enthusiastic social entrepreneurs with the potential to bring positive change to the world. Hopefully, soon, they will be able to focus on just that.

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NEWS

Management Suits Up

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or most management students, recruitment is an extremely hectic period of time. “Recruitment is a whirlwind,” describes Corey Greenwald, U2 Accounting. “You’re faced with meeting so many people and absorbing so much information over a short period of time.”

Unlike students studying sciences or arts, management students are fortunate to have the Soutar Career Centre, open to all Desautels students from U0 to U3. The Centre is focused primarily on recruitment, and ultimately on helping students through the grueling process.

The centre offers many different career services. Each major has their own career advisor that specializes in career prep for a particular field, including finance, accounting, marketing and consulting.

Zahra Ladhani, a career advisor at the Soutar Centre, explained the extensive advising process for management students. “For U0 and U1, the access is very structured. The students need to attend Career Prep 101, and then meet with a peer advisor to get their resume reviewed. Then they can make an appointment with their specific career advisor to go over interview preparation, job search strategies and a more in-depth resume review.”

Besides individual appointments, the centre holds workshops on interview

preparation, cover letter preparation and job search strategies.

What most people are unaware of is that recruitment actually differs between majors at Desautels. Finance recruitment is different from accounting recruitment, which is different from consulting recruitment, and so on.

“All services are the same for all majors, but for accounting recruitment, most recruitment activities are organized by The Management Accounting Society (MAS). They get in touch with firms to set up the tours,” noted Ladhani.

Peg Brunelle, a career advisor specializing in marketing recruitment, added that students targeting certain industries often face unique challenges.

“Students in marketing really need to be specific about the organizations that they are interested in and follow the

Recruitment: The Path to a Future Career

activity that is taking place within these organizations,” she outlined. “Relevant internships in promotional agencies, working with Illustrator or Photoshop, assuming a sales role for the summer, and understanding Excel are all things that will make transition into Marketing more smooth.”

Danielle Dagenais, a career advisor specializing in finance recruitment, advises students to take advantage of mock interviews to practice their interview skills. “These interviews are usually with McGill alumni who work at various companies. It is the only interview situation where you will receive candid feedback, which will help you improve.”

Desautels also provides its students with additional interview preparation.

“Students can come see an advisor oneon one for a mock interview session,” Dagenais added. “This session will be a practice interview for a student’s specific recruitment type.”

Dan Viner, U3 Finance and Economics, went through finance recruitment this past year. “While there are a wide range of different finance positions being offered, from investment banking to financial leadership rotational programs, it is an extremely competitive process,” he explained. Viner made good use of the resources available to him during this grueling period. “McGill Career Services offers workshops including optional

Dafe Oputu

NEWS WRITER

Shanon Epstein NEWS WRITER

NEWS mock interviews where feedback and points of improvement are provided.”

Julia Riscaldino, a career advisor at The Soutar Centre, remarked that consulting recruitment is very different than in most other industries.

“Consulting is unique in that there is a lot of preparation involved for students.

Practicing cases is a must and should start early, well before recruitment.”

She encourages students interested in consulting to join clubs or competitions where there are opportunities to practice case-cracking which helps improve problem-solving and teamwork skills.

In terms of recruitment for information systems, organizational behaviour and human resources students, Riscaldino believes that students need to be more proactive. “ These fields require students to be inquisitive, and to research companies in order to understand their technology or organizational or HR needs. As most companies have technology and HR departments there are many opportunities for students.”

When does recruitment take place? “For full-time and summer accounting positions, recruitment is done in September. For finance and consulting, full-time recruitment is usually also done in September, whereas summer recruitment is done in January,” Ladhani said. Dagenais added that some employers are breaking this mold. “Lately, more companies have been recruiting for summer internships earlier than January, sometimes starting as early as September.”

Dagenais further explained that those looking to go abroad face additional challenges. “Students need to pay attention to timing. Students looking for jobs in Hong Kong, Paris, London or elsewhere all have different recruitment periods. Students interested in working overseas need to be aware of when the recruitment season occurs.”

Ladhani noted that looking for work need not be limited to the traditional recruitment periods. “For a lot of streams, a lot of recruitment can be done throughout the year.

Companies are always hiring and are The Bull & Bear - November 2013

always looking for good people. There are also a lot of companies that do not recruit on campus. 80 percent of jobs are not posted and are found through word of mouth or through your own personal network.”

For out-of -province McGill students, recruitment can start as early as August. The most popular location to recruit outside of Montreal is Toronto.

“This year, in May, we reached out to firms in Toronto and asked if they wanted to hold firm tours in August for McGill students,” explained Ladhani.

“Students were given enough notice so they could make appropriate travel arrangements. This would be their first or second connection with the Toronto representatives.”

Stephanie Winitsky, U2 Accounting, went through the recruiting process for a Toronto firm. “I began receiving e-mails regarding recruitment last semester and was given the opportunity to visit the firms in our respective cities over the summer,” she related. “Zahra [Ladhani] continuously kept us up-to date with information on specific office tour dates in which out-of-province firm representatives would attend.”

For students seeking jobs in British Columbia or Alberta, the recruitment process requires more student initiative. “Many of the BC and Alberta students will reach out to the reps in the summer and ask to meet up with them,” Ladhani pointed out. “They will then apply with everyone else. Interviews can be conducted on the phone or on Skype. Some firms will have second round interviews that involve flying the candidate out to their respective city.””

Although The Soutar Centre is an asset during the recruiting process, Ladhani stresses that it is not the only important factor to a student’s success.

“Most people who take advantage of our services are really happy with them, but it does require preparation and proactivity on the student’s part by engaging early with Career Services and thoroughly exploring the BCom Career Portal, at www.mcgill.ca/desautelscareer.”

Overall, the recruitment process

is a stressful but rewarding period.

Daniel Viner maintains an optimistic perspective. “Despite the high level of stress, countless days of wearing a suit to school and the realization that you are to be moving on to a new chapter of your life, it seems as though it usually works out for everyone in the end.”

For some, it can even be an enjoyable experience. “I loved all of recruitment,” Corey Greenwald enthused. “I had a great time meeting new people and hearing about how they were in the same position as me.”

Meanwhile, Arts and Science Work For Free

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or many McGill students, On Campus Recruitment and career services are traditionally associated with Desautels.

Management’s recruitment services, managed by the Soutar Career Centre, is probably the most well-known source for campus recruitment. However, not all of the anxious students rushing around are in management, and they will eventually need jobs too.

McGill’s Career Planning Services (CaPS) runs its own recruitment services, available to all McGill students.

Maria Bernier, U3 Philosophy and Economics, is taking advantage of CaPS recruitment for the first time. “I didn’t even know this existed,” she remarked.“I didn’t know there was recruitment available for Arts students, aside from maybe for grad schools.”

McGill’s hectic recruitment season is a combination of several different recruitment seasons, organized by many advisors. The faculties of Law, Engineering and Management have their own career centres. and each runs their own On Campus Recruitment. At the same time, CaPS runs recruitment for all students, regardless of faculty.

During the year, the centres for those three departments and the advisors for Medicine and Education work closely with CaPS. “The centres are separate,” explained Director of CaPS Darlene Hnatchuk. “They don’t report to us. We work together to make sure our services and programs

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NEWS are comprehensive for students.

That way students get to benefit from both discipline-specific and wider range programs and activities.”

McGill’s two largest faculties do not have their own career centres, nor do they have dedicated career advisors.

So, how does the career picture look for McGill’s Arts and Science students?

While Arts does not have a career centre of its own, the Arts Internship Office (AIO) carries out some of its functions, and like the career centres of other faculties, it also works closely with CaPS year round.

Anne Turner is the manager of the AIO, which has been running since 2004. “In the faculties with career centres, they do both internships during the year and exit internships,” she noted. “Here we do internships, but we direct students to CaPS for other career information because they are the experts and we don’t want to duplicate their efforts.” The Faculty of Science’s Science Internship & Field Studies office, which was started just a year later, works in much the same way. It directs students to CaPS for advising, resume help and other career services.

Unlike the Soutar Centre, the AIO’s mandate is narrower and focuses only on internships - paid or unpaid rather than on jobs. These internships do not usually directly translate into employment after graduation. “The ultimate goal for us isn’t to connect you with an organization that will give you a job after,” Turner explained. “That’s not to say it doesn’t happen - and it’s great when it happens - but that’s not the ultimate goal.”

“With government internships, for example, it’s not likely that you would get hired right away. But later on there’s value in having that experience and it can help a lot. Our focus was to develop a very strong fund to assist students with travel and living expenses with AIO awards.”

Why do Arts and Science students not have their own career centres, when faculties like Management and Engineering do? One reason might be because of the amount of variation in

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those faculties. “It’s a little difficult to imagine Arts working that way,” Turner mused. “With the professional programs you typically have a career where people generally go, such as engineering, law, or management. Arts is so varied that I think we would be duplicating services without being very specific.”

Bernier agrees.

“I thought consulting work was really interesting, which is why I did recruitment. I think a lot of Arts students would enjoy that, but on the other hand, there are students looking at law or academia. I think there’s certainly more variety in what you want to do in Arts.”

Graduate studies also seem to be a popular alternative to entering the workforce for some McGill graduates, but the lack of statistics for all faculties makes comparison difficult. CaPS circulated its first “Destinations Survey” in 2011 to students in Arts and Science.

Of those surveyed, 64 percent were either employed or seeking work, while 36 percent were pursuing higher education.

“From what I see and hear, medical school seems to be the plan for most science majors,” noted Aaron Phua, U3 Pharmacology. The routes taken by Arts students post-graduation are often much less straightforward. “There certainly is a lot of variety in what people do after a B.A,” Bernier pointed out. “There are some students that would be interested in recruitment and career advice. But on the other hand, there are students looking at law or academia, which means more schooling.” By contrast, management students generally need several years of work experience before applying to an MBA program.

In addition, a career centre for Arts or Science would have trouble being as structured as Management’s, especially in the first few years. Part of what makes the Soutar Centre so integral to management students is that it is a mandatory part of their education.

Every entering student is required to meet with their assigned career advisor, have their resumes reviewed, and get feedback from their peers. With so many incoming students in Arts and Science,

such a program would not be possible without an army of career advisors.

With the high levels of effort and manpower required to set up individual career centres, it is little wonder that the larger faculties have chosen to rely on the existing services of CaPS. “I think with the resources we have now, this is the extent of what we can do,” Turner revealed. “We decided to make our priority funding internships. We thought about it and decided it made sense - and I think it still does - to have CaPS handle other aspects of career advising. They have the resources, staff and experience to do so. ” In a way, this logic is not much different from the career centres at the professional faculties. According to Darlene Hnatchuk, even faculties with their own career centres frequently turn to CaPS for their resources. “We do a lot of outreach to potential employers.

We also have access to resources that wouldn’t be feasible for any faculty to have on their own, but become feasible when you’re talking about the whole school.” During recruitment season, even students who have their own career centres choose to take part in CaPS oncampus instead of, or in addition to, their own recruitment processes.

However, the AIO does plan to expand in other ways. While internships at international, government and non-governmental organizations have accounted for most of the office’s opportunities in the past, there are plans to promote more business externships.

“These would be a bit different from what we usually have, more private companies for people interested in that,” Turner stated. “We’re starting by finding funding sources for externships, but in the meantime students can propose their own projects as well.”

Turner does not feel that any change is warranted, but recognizes that she is not part of the group that actually uses these services. “I think the system as we have it works fine, but that’s really something for students to say. At the end of the day that’s who we’re here for.”

BUSINESS

Understanding Investment Banking

The ins and outs of a well-known but often misunderstood industry Sean Saggi

BUSINESS WRITER

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ig money. Long hours. Young age. If you hear these words in a conversation, it likely concerns investment banking. Countless people from various faculties strive to begin their career in investment banking, with the primary intention of earning enormous sums of money at a young age and leading a glorious life. However, prospective bankers seldom know what investment banking is really like.

The Word on the Street A common misconception amongst both management and non-management students is that investment banking consists of investing money on behalf of institutions, such as pension funds, or wealthy individuals, in the stock market, while incurring no risk yourself.

An investment bank is a financial institution which helps corporations, governments, and private businesses raise capital by acting as the underwriter in the issuance of stocks and bonds, and helps them execute large transactions. Twitter, for example, has hired the investment bank Goldman Sachs to underwrite its impending IPO. An investment bank can assist in mergers and acquisitions of corporations, and facilitate the trading of derivatives, equities, or bonds by acting as a market maker. Typically, bulge-bracket investment banks will also have an equity research division, which communicates with the management of companies to obtain information required for thorough analysis. This research is then used by investors to make investment decisions.

What do I do as an investment banker?

Investment banking consists primarily of four departments: the investment banking division (IBD), The Bull & Bear - November 2013

sales and trading (S&T), research, and equity capital markets (ECM). As an eager student, it is critical to understand the differences between these divisions, and the tasks associated with each.

Investment banking professionals focus on corporate advising to facilitate transactions such as mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, recapitalization, or selling assets. They take a long-term focus on serving their customers.

Equity capital markets is the nucleus of the investment bank, and often works with IBD to provide external financing to their clients’ transactions. ECM takes a short-term focus on the single transaction they are working on. They are the product experts, and provide advisory to the pricing, sizing and pitch of a of a bid to raise capital.

The sales and trading department analyzes the market and performs the execution of transactions and trading for the bank. Sales professionals maintain relationships with institutional investors who support the banks operations.

Lastly, the research department provides follow-on stock coverage to the banks clients, and operates independently from IBD. Safeguards must be put in place to avoid sharing of insider information between researchers and investment bankers.

At a an investment bank that has both an IBD and a research department, a “Chinese Wall” must be put into place. This serves as a virtual block of information flows between investment banking professionals and researchers.

As a result, analysts cannot encourage the public to trade stocks for which the investment bank has insider information.

What about the glory and the money?

The primary tasks of analysts and associates will be conducting financial analysis, creating pitch materials, and answering to client requests. Analysts are rarely client-facing, and are involved primarily in back-office work. On average, analysts within the mergers and acquisitions group can expect to work 90100 hours per week, and even more when in the midst of a deal. The work week is shorter in equity research and sales and trading, averaging “just” 60 to 70 hours. It becomes very difficult for young analysts to commit to social plans or relationships because of the unpredictable hours.

Undoubtedly, the pay at bulge-bracket investment banks is attractive. For first year analysts in the IB division, base salary is typically $80,000, with bonus ranging from 15-150 percent of base. In equity research, base salary is $70,000, with bonus ranging from 30-50 percent. Also, don’t forget about the $10,000 signing bonus.

Still want to be an investment banker?

Recruiting season for internships is just heating up, with peak hiring occurring in early January. Jobs with bulge-bracket global investment banks such as J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley are all extremely competitive.

The top Canadian banks are Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, and TD. Investment banking is a highpowered and lucrative career path, but is not for everyone. As an investment banker, work will probably be your top priority for the rest of your life. It is up to ambitious students to decide whether the potential rewards are worth the sacrifice.

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BUSINESS

Printing The Future Where the 3D printing industry stands today Ethan Belmonte

BUSINESS WRITER

O

nce considered a novelty, 3D printing has broken out into the mainstream over the last year. Last month, NASA announced that it plans to launch a 3D printer into space by 2014, allowing astronauts to print tools, parts for repair, functioning satellites, and even food. The biotechnology industry has also begun to adopt 3D printing; surgeons can now print tailor-made replacement joints for their patients.

However, not all of the potential applications of this new technology

are fun or lifesaving. Earlier this year, 25-year-old Cody Wilson gained notoriety for creating an opensource website allowing anyone to access blueprint files needed to print functional guns from the comfort of a desk chair. These “wiki weapons” sparked controversy on both sides of the US gun control debate, and on the 3D printing phenomenon in general. What isn’t subject to debate is the groundbreaking potential that the industry has to offer virtually all spectrums of society.

In a nutshell, 3D printing (or “additive manufacturing”) allows hard, durable, and fully functional threedimensional objects to be “printed,” layer by layer, using a wide array of materials, colours, and textures. The designs and specifications of the end product are determined by an easily distributable computer file; websites like Thingiverse.com and Defcad.com already host an assortment of different 3D blueprint files ranging from jewelry to working gadgets and machines.

3D printing has the potential to

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BUSINESS lessen the importance of economies of scale – particularly for individual consumers and households.

At present, if one were to commission a big firm like IKEA to produce a single coffee mug designed to their own specifications, it would cost a relative fortune compared to purchasing a mass-produced, pre-designed mug.

Having a 3D printer at home could one day alleviate the problem and cost (should printers fall in price, which they should at the current trajectory) of having to go out and find specific parts for broken appliances and furniture.

However, the biggest opportunities for the 3D printing industry lie in its potential integration

countries with poor infrastructure (i.e. developing nations), as products and materials could be produced without the need for solid distribution channels, transportation systems, or scarce material inputs.

This upside is the reason why some analysts are already hailing 3D printing as the next mini industrial revolution – one to rival the personal computing revolution. This optimism has been greeted bullishly by the market, particularly towards the likes of Stratasys (NASD:SSYS), 3D Systems Inc. (NASD:DDD), and ExOne (NASD:XONE), the industry’s main players that comprise the majority of the 3D printing space.

into production lines, and eventually the entire supply chain. 3D printing technology has the potential to change the way goods are produced, eliminating the need for highly fragmented production processes by consolidating several stages in an assembly line. If 3D printing companies – or the manufacturers that employ the printers – can get around the issue of printing complex moving parts, assembly lines may become a thing of the past. Evidently, the costcutting implications that 3D printing could have for business are immense.

The technology could also prove useful for industry in

Shares of SSYS have soared 28 percent since January and 63 percent Y/Y. Similarly, DDD has climbed 44 percent YTD and a whopping 113 percent over the last 365 days.

Most impressive is XONE, which has risen almost 100 percent since its IPO in February of this year.

Many questions are still unanswered, however, and countless risks remain. From a fundamental standpoint, the multiples that these companies trade at appear to be borderline ridiculous, even when considering the variation in these metrics that are commonplace with the technology sector. DDD, for example,

The Bull & Bear - November 2013

trades at a lofty 114 times P/E. SSYS is up about 70 percent from its 52-week low. Over a 12-month-trailing period, both SSYS and ExOne failed to show profitability, a commonality amongst tech plays yet still a very relevant risk.

The technology of the products themselves, too, is subject to several key restraints. At present, printing moveable pieces (without physical assembly) has been an issue, posing problems for the prospect of automated manufacturing.

Also, until metal can be used as a printing substance on a regular and affordable basis, applications – particularly for the likes of NASA – will be limited. Consumers, too, will find difficulty in rationalizing the purchase of a thousand-plus dollar 3D printer to print household items – the printers themselves must become more commoditized first before making themselves commonplace in households.

Despite the downsides, market performance shows little signs of slowing down. Tech research group Gartner forecasts sub-$100,000 3D printer shipments to grow by 49 percent by the end of 2013, and by another 75 percent in 2014, implying a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 95 percent over the next five years (a premium over their own estimate of 25-30 percent CAGR).

Furthermore, major players have been making strides in expanding capacity to accommodate the growing demand, with 3D Systems Inc. making 38 acquisitions to date.

With a potentially massive and diversified market, and a technology with an extremely high ceiling, the future for 3D printing is bright – so long as expectations are tempered.

If the current trajectory continues, and firms are able to meet the lofty earnings and growth multiples predicted for them, investors in 3D printing companies should be very happy with their holdings.

Just don’t expect live organisms to be printed anytime soon.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any of the aforementioned stocks, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

13

The Gender Yield: A Business Case for Gender Equality In addition to being the right thing to do, promoting gender equality emerges as the smart thing to do

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ver the last decade, the debate about gender equality has progressively shifted from a human rights perspective to focusing on the societal and economic value of promoting gender equity and diversity.

This shift has led to the publication of various surveys on the gender gap by the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and the creation of a UN Agency entirely for the empowerment of women. These studies show that overall, most countries are making progress at closing the gender gap, but there still remain significant challenges ahead.

Today’s organizations, companies, and nations understand that smart talent management draws from the entire population. Fundamentally, no entity can outperform the competition if it leaves out what equals to half its population behind. Fully integrating women into the workplace and the marketplace can yield significant returns, a phenomenon often referred to as the Gender Dividend.

Indeed, women, especially in emerging countries, represent an incredible but insufficiently-tapped resource.

The current labour model being followed by organizations originates from the industrial era, and tends to treat talent as a cost of selling. But in our increasingly knowledge-based economy, the evolving trend is to consider talent

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as an asset. Nowadays, more than 85 percent of corporate value creation relies on the intangible assets of people, brands, and intellectual property, according to the Harvard Business Review. In this context, women make up an integral component in both the talent and consumer markets.

For instance, an increase in the proportion of women in leadership positions improves boardroom decisions as women provide diversified human experiences and competencies. This situation ultimately enriches the quality of the decisions that gender-diverse teams produce. These are not merely expected conclusions: Scott Page, a professor at the University of Michigan has proven this mathematically in his Diversity Production Theory.

This can be oversimplified as [Crowd Error = Average Error – Diversity]. In layman’s terms, the more gender diverse a team is, the better it is at decision-making and problem solving. Period.

In addition to having a fundamental role to play in the internal structures of an organization, women are also increasingly playing a vital external role as customers. As women continue to enter the workforce, they will have more of their own money to spend. The earning power of women is growing faster than that of men, and this trait is even more visible in developing countries.

Guy-Rene Kayombya BUSINESS WRITER

Furthermore, women already control 80 percent of family buying decisions, ranging from coffee, cars, to cancer treatment providers. In summary, women constitute the largest untapped emerging market the world has ever seen.

Using empirical evidence, Goldman Sachs has proven that women have different spending patterns and preferences than men, yet most companies still consider them a niche audience.

There are tremendous opportunities for companies that are willing to further employ and listen to women at their decisions table, as this would bring a greater understanding of female spending habits into the marketplace. This would create a virtuous cycle that would make their products higher economic earners while simultaneously increasing women’s earning power.

Visionary business leaders have understood the Gender Yield Phenomenon early on. This sentiment is illustrated by Dr. Suresh Kana, CEO for Southern Africa and Africa Region Senior Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers: “We, as leaders, must recognize that the retention, advancement and empowerment of considerable female talent is fundamental to the future growth and sustainability of our firm.” Investing in women is not only the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do.

BUSINESS

Keeping Your Enemies Close Using the Commitment of Traders Report to gain an edge in the market Maxime Riahi

BUSINESS WRITER

L

adies and gentlemen, get ready to add another powerful tool to your trading and investing toolkit: the Commitment of Traders Report (COT). Published every Friday from our friends over at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the COT report offers us insights on the previous Tuesday’s flow of money into the market.

For any given market, we have particular groups of people trading in it. The two most important are: 1.

The large traders (noncommercials). This group is made up of hedge funds and other big players who mainly partake in the markets to gain a profit from speculation.

2. The Hedgers (commercials). This group is made up of people who are in the market by necessity. Farmers who need to sell their crops will enter the financial market to hedge their risk. Multinational companies often need to enter financial markets to limit their foreign exchange risk. The hedger group takes positions in the market as insurance, not as a means of making speculative profit.

The COT report lets us see what positions these two groups are taking.

We can then use this as information to tell us what these groups think about future price movements. There are two main things to look at when studying the COT report: momentum and extremes.

Momentum When large speculator open interest is continually moving up and above The Bull & Bear - November 2013

zero, it means that new buy positions are being added. If more buy positions keep getting added to the total open interest, it is a positive sign that large speculators think prices will go up.

If you are considering taking a long position in a particular futures, first check the COT report to see what large speculators are up too. If you see that the market is net-long (meaning there are more long positions than short positions) and the net-long keeps increasing, it means that large speculators probably think that prices will increase and so you can feel validated in taking a long position.

Essentially the COT report on large trader activity can be used as a confirming indicator that prices will likely continue to go in a particular direction, especially if the large traders are piling on a one-sided trade.

Extremes The COT report is also an exceptional indicator for market reversals. Since any given market is usually made up of a finite amount of participants, if the majority of those participants are on one side of the market (either all long or all short) then there is a significant imbalance in place.

The scenario is quite simple. Imagine that based on previous data from the COT report you deduced that there are about 50,000 large traders. If the large trader position is reaching the 50,000 or -50,000 point, it should signal that the majority of the market is on one side of the spectrum. Further, if large trader positions are around 50,000 it means that most of

them are long and expect prices to go up.

The problem with analyzing a market extreme is that if everyone who wanted to buy has already bought, there is no one left to make prices go higher from further buying. So the market reaches an extreme and the only thing left for investors to do is to close out the long trade. This creates some sell orders. Other traders see the prices start to go down and start to sell as well. The result is a flood of sell orders, as most of the long positions are abandoned and unwound.

As a savvy trader, when a market reaches an extreme, you should take caution in following the crowd, and might even consider betting against it.

People tend to forget that markets are run by people. People are prone to error because they reason in part with their emotions. People see prices going up and think they might go even higher. They don’t want to miss out on the next best thing. This ideology works sometimes, and you may infact make a speculative profit by jumping on the bandwagon and riding the wave.

The only issue is that when too many people jump on the bandwagon, it stops moving and eventually breaks down.

Since the market is made up of people, it is worth your while to pay attention to what the participants are doing and thinking. In the financial game, it really does pay to keep your enemies close.

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FEATURE

McGill:

Beyond Recycling

McGill’s students are reshaping how we deal with e-waste and having fun doing it Dafe Oputu

NEWS WRITER

M

cGill has a lot of computers, and things inevitably go wrong with them. Scattered across McGill’s many libraries are almost 600 computers, laptops, and electronic workstations of various kinds. This does not include the computers found in nonlibrary buildings such as the language labs and faculty study areas. On top of this are the computers not for public use in laboratories, classrooms, offices, and library counters all over the university.

Students spill their Tim Horton’s double-doubles on them, they get damaged in flash reservoir floods, or if they somehow survive the endless liquid onslaught, they get too old and (budget cuts notwithstanding) are replaced.

Disposal of these computers is one of the responsibilities of McGill Hazardous Waste Management (HWM). HWM handles products that are chemical, biomedical, radioactive, or just really sharp. But a considerable amount of their work is spent on electronic and technological garbage, also known simply as e-waste.

Since the start of McGill’s Clean and Green project, a local recycling company called Kadisal comes by both the Downtown and MacDonald campuses to collect, destroy and recycle e-waste. But even if our technological trash is properly recycled, is it still wasteful if the technology in question is still useable? Reboot McGill certainly thinks so.

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Reboot McGill is a student-run club with an interesting mandate.

Reboot intercepts the usual recycling process to refurbish unwanted laptops and send them out for reuse in the McGill community. Started in 2009 by McGill Engineering students, Reboot McGill redistributed 100 computers in its first year. This was done with a budget of $200, provided by the McGill Sustainability Fund. In recent years, the club has drawn funding from the Engineering Undergraduate Society.

When Hazardous Waste Management picks up electrical waste, it separates the completely unusable stuff from anything that still works.

“Computers that are still decent and functional are sent to Reboot,” explained Christian Bouchard, manager of HWM. “Everything else we send to Kadisal.

Before Reboot came around, we would send it all to Kadisal.”

Reboot has already repaired 70 computers since the beginning of the year. Currently the club has a dozen members. I stopped by the Reboot McGill office and workstation to talk to Amber Gamrat and Shivan Kaul Sahib, two current members, and Daniel Ranga a former director of the club.

“A lot of the things that are thrown out still work in some way,” Gamrat noted. “Most of the time you look at it and its missing a component. Even if its not working its still useful for parts. In the end, someone could get a computer.

We request a donation, but basically if you need a computer you get one. It’s not going to be the fastest or newest computer, but it helps a lot of people.”

For those of us who grew up learning about the three R’s, Reduce, Reuse & Recycle, it may seem surprising to hear that they are not all considered equal.

While recycling is more sustainable than simply throwing everything away, there are some challenges with recycling in general, and with e-waste recycling in particular. In 2008 the EU released a Waste Framework Directive, which ranked five waste management strategies from most to least desirable.

Topping the list was prevention and reduction, while the least desirable strategy was simple disposing. In comparison, reusing materials was ranked second, while recycling came in third.

All forms of recycling require energy. The heavy metals, plastics and manmade materials in much of our technology pose further challenges to the process. The result is that we expend a lot of energy, some of it polluting, in an effort to recycle our waste.

Joshua Kyle, one of the founders of Reboot, presented at a TEDx Talk in 2011, where he discussed the problems of computer recycling. “Because our laws are strict here, lots of companies send their computer waste to be recycled overseas,” he decried. “There, they are recycled in ways that are harmful to the

FEATURE environment and to human health.”

There is also the problem of “downcycling,” a term referring to the fact that most products are recycled to produce products of lower and lower value, until they eventually cannot be recycled further and have to be disposed of. All this is happening as we are using more technology, for shorter periods of time, thus, generating more technological waste.

For this reason, there have been growing calls to focus on reusing rather than, or in addition to, safe recycling processes. According to the Telecommunications Industry Association, the average original owner keeps a laptop for only three years and a cellphone for only 24 months. Many of these electronics are still in good working condition and can be recycled, refurbished or donated to schools and charities.

Kadisal Canada has been qualified under the Recycler Qualification Program (RQP) since 2010. The program is part of the Electronic Products Recycling Association (EPRA), a not-for-profit national organization. The RQP certification sets minimum requirements “to ensure that [end-of-life electronics] are handled in an environmentally sound and socially acceptable manner that protects the environment and safeguards worker health and safety.” All the same, some of the costs of recycling that make reusing an attractive alternative still apply.

In advocating that we reuse our reusables, Reboot McGill is a local example of a potential solution to the challenges posed by e-waste. Reboot actually goes a little bit further by managing to even salvage the working parts of non-functioning computers.

Once Reboot receives computers from HWM, their team wipes them, installs free software and gives them out to those who need them. This normally means McGill clubs and graduate students. “Plate Club was one of the first clubs we helped out,” Ranga proudly said. “We’ve also given some out to CKUT, McGill Nightline and others.”

These computers can also find their way into the larger Montreal community. Santropol Roulant and The Yellow Door are examples of local groups that have received computers from Reboot. Santropol Roulant The Bull & Bear - November 2013

delivers meals to people’s homes, and The Yellow Door is a multipurpose community organization with links to the McGill community.

Reboot members can join without any experience in building computers, and many of the current members joined to simply learn more. While the club was started by engineering students, the current membership is varied. “One of the current executives is in neuroscience,” Gamrat pointed out.

“We have people in all sorts of areas.”

Kaul Sahib, who is in computer engineering, joined Reboot to get some experience pertaining to his major.

“Normally you don’t actually get to open a computer until your third year,” he enthused. “By joining Reboot, I got to do it in my first semester!”

“We’re thinking of doing a series of workshops where people can stop

by and learn how to fix computers,” he added. “Possibly next semester.”

During the year, Reboot does not take computers from students, but they plan to have their second annual electronics drop-off drive in late April.

Students will be encouraged to drop off both working and non-functioning laptops, phones and other electronics.

At the end of his 2011 presentation, Kyle expressed hope that Reboot really would reshape how we think about waste and technology. “I see the Reboot program and what we’ve accomplished as a great success,” he concluded. “My goal would be to one day see a place in Montreal that would use the model and make the scope wider so that everyone from Montreal could help in what we’re doing. I’d like to help reboot Montreal.”

ILLUSTRATION BY JENNY KIM

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Exploring the substance and potential value of sustainable and responsible investing

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erhaps you are familiar with the black and white photograph of a nine-year-old Vietnamese girl running down a road nude with a group of villagers in obvious distress. She painfully grimaces at the photographer as a dark cloud of smoke envelops the sky behind her. The sight of the emaciated prepubescent leaves the viewer frozen and unable to fathom what has happened. She has just survived an aerial bombing and her back burns with freshly dropped napalm.

The expression of agony on her face is considered one of the most haunting and iconic images of the Vietnam War; it serves as a reminder of the horrors unleashed by industrial warfare in the twentieth century.

What is far less known, however, is that its publication led to nationwide protests against Dow Chemical, the manufacturer of napalm, and sounded the early stirrings of a new wave of sustainable and responsible investing that is altering the landscape of modern investment management.

Sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) has seen dramatic growth over the last decade and

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is having an increasing influence on both institutional and retail investors. According to the United States Sustainable Investment Forum, money managers using environmental, social, and corporate governance criteria in their portfolio selection represented over $2.3 trillion in assets under management in 2001 and more than $3.7 trillion in 2012. Assets managed according to SRI principles have increased at a disproportionately higher rate than those that are not: since 1995, total assets under management increased by 376 percent, while SRl assets have increased by 486 percent.

Although no strict definition of its objectives exists, SRI encompasses a broad range of issues that influence corporate behaviour in the pursuit of social progress. Examples of initiatives include improving climate risk disclosure, adopting sustainable forestry practices, exposing human rights violations, requiring transparency for executive compensation, and pushing for reforms to corporate governance with a view of emboldening shareholder activism.

To achieve these ends, sustainable

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ChanGe From Within

Alvin Chauhan

BUSINESS WRITER

investors draw on a number of investing styles. This can include positive screening, moving capital into companies with strong social and environmental standards; exclusionary screening; divesting portfolios of companies that violate ethical criteria; and even pursuing a best-of-class approach, rewarding companies that are not necessarily lauded for their sustainability track record, but which exhibit higher levels of social responsibility than industry rivals. SRI has gained considerable momentum over the years as legendary hedge fund traders and frugal pensioners alike are pulled into its expanding sphere of influence.

Despite the impressive results, serious doubts remain over the convictions of so-called sustainable investors.

Determining whether a particular portfolio or investment fund gets branded “sustainable and socially responsible” hinges on meeting the incredibly vague and loose threshold of whether ethical criteria were applied in the portfolio selection process. As can be imagined, this sets an extremely low bar for what gets the coveted title of “sustainable,” and makes it

FEATURE incredibly easy for money managers to go through the motions of investing ethically without materially changing investing decisions or making tough choices. Simply self-reporting one’s adherence to socially responsible criteria is enough to stroke the egos of clients and win accolades from august international institutions. To actually ensure rigorous compliance for the awarding of the badge of sustainability is an entirely different matter, and one that remains a central challenge for advocates of responsible investing.

Skeptics have characterized sustainable investors as idealistic followers of an elite-driven fad, blind to the supremacy of the profit motive, and naively convinced that mercenary capitalists will sacrifice their profits at the altar of high moral principles.

They are not without reason.

Revelations that many of the major financial institutions on Wall Street misled investors into purchasing toxic mortgage-backed securities prerecession only reinforce the popular view of the financial industry as a snake pit of predatory psychopaths.

Abundant cynicism notwithstanding, the question of whether pursuing sustainable investment comes at a monetary cost has not been adequately answered, though a brief exploration of the empirical literature yields interesting and surprising results.

The first SRI index, FTSE KLD 400, was created in 1990 to measure the performance of a broad allocation of socially responsible stocks; the equivalent Canadian index is the Jantzi Social Index (JSI). In both cases, each SRI index slightly outperformed its corresponding benchmark- the S&P 500 and the S&P/TXS Composite respectively.

Considered alone this could be construed as settling the debate and suggests critics of sustainability have missed the forest for the trees in their free markets theology.

This is not, however, the whole story. A study by Bartolomeo and Kurtz (2011) found that SRI indices outperformed the S&P 500 during the years 1992-1999 leading up to the tech bubble, but underperformed the S&P 500 in the subsequent period from 1999-2010. This, along with other findings, led to the conclusion The Bull & Bear - November 2013

that the superior performance of SRI indices was factor driven rather than indicative of any greater intrinsic value to sustainability. Higher market betas (measures of systematic risk), greater allocation to growth stocks, an overweighting in the IT sector, and general differences in investing styles and industry sizes were viewed as strong factors explaining the variations in performance. Seeking to further challenge the view that socially responsible investing may lead to higher returns, a study by Schroder (2005) revealed that 20 of 29 SRI indices were riskier than their corresponding benchmarks and consequently underperformed when returns were looked at on a risk-adjusted basis Ultimately, more time and data will be needed before definitive conclusions can be reached. For many, the data currently available is considered sufficiently convincing to assert that sustainable investing should not be seen as harmful to returns. The Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute has subscribed to this view and states: “Investors seeking superior performance have incurred no material benefits or costs from owning stocks in sustainable and socially responsible companies.” For the time being, outright hostility toward sustainable investing may be unfounded.

Perhaps the most staggering discoveries from a survey of the literature are the primary findings of two studies: Eccles, Ioannou and Serafeim (2013) of Harvard Business School and Blank and Daniel (2002).

The former finds that portfolios composed only of high sustainability companies significantly outperform portfolios composed only of low sustainability companies, and the latter demonstrates how portfolios constructed using only socially and economically efficient companies significantly outperform common benchmarks like the S&P 500. In both cases, the differences could not be attributed to market risk, style bias, or investment strategy.

Eccles, Ioannou, and Serafeim propose that high sustainability companies are better able to attract human capital, establish more reliable

supply chains, avoid costly conflicts with local communities, and invest more heavily in innovation to manage the pressures and constraints of social and environmental engagement.

These characteristics are further enhanced by distinct governance structures common to highsustainability companies. Boards are directly involved in sustainability issues, executive compensation is linked to social objectives, and higher levels of shareholder engagement are encouraged. All these attributes serve as indicators of premium, high quality companies with promising growth prospects and strong profitability. Blank and Daniel argue that this constitutes a mispricing of information that reflects the market’s under-appreciation of the significance and impact of a corporation’s ecological performance.

An overview of the literature seems to suggest that SRI strategies impose no monetary cost on the investor and have the capacity to generate superior returns. Hardened disciples of the efficient market hypothesis will argue that any advantage, if there is one, will be competed away as investors become aware of the potential benefits and adjust their behavior accordingly.

In any event, it is undeniable that the empirical data dispels the notion that investing purely for one’s wallet and investing for one’s conscience are mutually exclusive. The difficulties of ensuring compliance and setting rigorous requirements for the label of ‘sustainable,’ however, remain difficult and challenging areas for the future of sustainable investing.

It appears that investment managers may have incentives to invest in socially responsible companies for no other reason than sheer financial gain.

Caution must be urged before rushing to final judgment. The passing of time allows for the analysis of new data and information as well as a more nuanced understanding of the interplay between investor behaviour and market outcomes.

There has long been a tension between the common good and personal gain. Do not expect that debate to be resolved anytime soon.

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FEATURE

5 Ways to Turn your Apartment into an Eco-Friendly Oasis Caroline Corbett-Thompson LIFESTYLE WRITER

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he ‘Go Green’ movement is a personal and global initiative, aspiring to eliminate as much waste as possible. Being ecoconscious is all about habit, but turning this habit into a lifestyle proves to be the hardest part. In that regard, Kristen Perry, member of the SSMU Environment Committee, is a model citizen. Leaving home to study at McGill was her f irst step towards sustainable living: “When I had to do every thing by myself, I began to think more about my choices.” Nobody is going to become a sustainability expert overnight, but here are some of Kristen’s tips to get you started: be procured for a cheaper price if your town hosts a worm farming community. You can f ind this information online.

How to: Place worms and soil in a medium-size container. This size of the container depends on how much food you are planning on composting.

1. Place compostable waste evenly in soil 2. Add a layer of newspaper on top of the soil to retain moisture 3. If you are planning on compos-ting highly acidic food such What is it? Using red wigglers, as citrus peels, mix it with eggshells a special species of earthworm, to in order to balance out the pH. compost organic materials. These 4. For quicker composting, use worms usually cost approximately smaller food items. Corn cobs are $40 per pound, though they can going to take a while for the worms

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to go through, while lettuce leaves will compost much more easily.

5. Once you see that the vegetables or fruits have disappeared into the ground, just remove the now highly fertile earth and use it to start your own little rooftop garden.

What is it? It’s simply a desk lamp that uses solar battery power.

How to: Leave it charging on your windowsill all day, and by nightfall it is ready to use.

Where do you buy one? Kristen bought hers from IKEA (SUN NA N $19.99), but solar powered lamps are available at most furniture stores.

FEATURE important requirements are a large pot of boiling water, cans, fruits or vegetables (preferably locally grown), and patience!

What is it? When eating away from home, bringing your own cutlery can save the waste created by using the plastic knives and forks.

Reusable pouches are convenient for doing groceries and avoiding all those plastic bags. Their size is also ideal for picking up discounted grub at grocery stores such as Segal’s (4001 Saint-Laurent, corner of Duluth) that sell bulk food. Even though this supermarket initially seems unorganized, their studentfriendly prices def initely make it worth your while.

What is it? In the last couple of years, preserving your own fruits and vegetables has become a popular trend. It’s a great way to save money, avoid the additives and chemicals in processed foods, and eat healthy all-natural foods.

Not to mention, homemade jams, jellies, and pickles are great gifts and conversation starters!

How to: Canning is a complex process that can take longer than many of the other sustainable living

options. In order to get detailed instructions on how to can and preserve fruit, a quick web search on “How to can your own fruits” will yield great results. The most

The Bull & Bear - November 2013

What is it? Free, recycled furniture.

Seriously, it’s free.

Avoid those over complicated, relationship-ruining IKEA manuals and remain eco-friendly by f inding your furniture on freecycle.org.

Instead of buying new furniture, this site puts you in contact with people who want to give away their old couches, desks, and bookshelves. All you need to do is pick it up and it’s yours to keep. Did I mention that membership is free?

University is the perfect time to start living sustainably. As Kristen said, we can f inally make our own choices and take charge of our own initiatives. Reducing our carbon impact can start with as small an

action as carrying your own cutlery.

Although it takes persistence to change your Starbucks-guzzling lifestyle into an eco-friendly one, there are many green groups on campus to help you along the way.

An easy way to get in contact with your green side is to attend workshops hosted by the 50 green groups around campus. McGill also offers signif icant sums for groups or individuals who are looking to begin their own initiatives.

The Sustainability Project Fund offers $840,000 to sustainability initiatives all across campus.

To f ind out where to buy your own red wigglers, how to grow your own produce, or how to connect with other ecological initiatives on campus, you can subscribe to the SSMU Environment Committee listserv by sending an email to env i r on ment . s smu@g m a i l .c om .

Start living the good, green life!

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FEATURE

Are We

Sustainable Yet?

Why it is so hard to produce social change Christie Wei

OPINION WRITER

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hile there has been a lot of negativity surrounding campus lately—from budget cuts to falling rankings to libraries that until recently weren’t 24/7—McGill is at least doing something right in terms of its direction towards a sustainable campus. With the establishment of the McGill Office of Sustainability (MOOS), the Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF), and Vision 2020, a campus-wide collaboration for a stronger culture of sustainability has begun.

Looking through the SPF’s list of activities, you’ll find more than a hundred projects that tackle a range of sustainability issues involving different faculties and stakeholders.

As for Vision 2020, the project provides a framework for “building a culture of sustainability at McGill,” ensuring that sustainability objectives pan out through clear goal setting, action plans, reporting and monitoring standards.

Despite McGill’s operating budget cuts and large spending deficit, funds are still being dedicated to environmental issues. However, regardless of the funds being provided for sustainable efforts, we’ve yet to see real widespread changes in student attitudes toward sustainability.

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In spite of countless opportunities to get involved, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than passionate environmental science students or your friendly neighborhood green-freaks participating in these events. While sustainability is a huge buzzword at McGill, and is widely recognized as a respectable initiative, simply recognizing its existence does not translate into positive and substantial impacts towards a solution. We can pour all the money we want into promoting environmentalism, but until we change our attitudes toward it, we will not move any quicker toward the path to sustainability.

Have you heard of Vision 2020?

Probably. But can you explain what it is? Probably not, according to the Vision 2020 Failure Report. Despite the huge amount of PR and visibility campaigns behind sustainability on campus, involvement by the wider student population doesn’t seem to be catching on. Due to some serious psychological implications and societal norms that accompany the label of “sustainability,” efforts toward creating a more sustainable world are simply not picking up. This will take some serious social change to fix.

Apparently, sustainability just

isn’t that hip. A new study from the University of Toronto published in the European Journal of Social Psychology shows that negative stereotypes placed on activists like environmentalists make the public less inclined to support their causes, even if they agree with their fundamental values.

People don’t like environmentalists because they are seen as “militant” and “eccentric.” People are more responsive when approached by people that aren’t seen as typical environmentalists, but rather as an average person like you or me.

However, the issue of involvement goes beyond just the fear of blending into the negative environmentalist stereotype, but instead becoming the caricatured environmental, morally inconsistent hypocrite. For instance, I was once called out by a friend for the simple act of recycling scrap paper.

I was accused of “pretending to care” about the environment in my act of “moral righteousness.” Even celebrated environmentalist Al Gore, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, has been attacked by critics for the enormous energy bill he paid on his eightbathroom mansion, which was 20 times the size of the national average. Despite the fact that we both care about the

environment, one single transgression transforms us into hypocrites.

The label of “environmentalist” is similar dietary labels like vegetarianism; seemingly, you can’t call yourself a vegetarian if you enjoy the occasional slab of steak. The common perception is that you’re either an environmentalist or you’re not; you can’t be in between or else you’re a hypocrite, too impure to represent eco-friendly ideals. In labeling environmentalists, there are no shades of grey—only black and white. If you dare to call yourself an environmentalist, you also risk becoming a hypocrite should you ever once neglect the environment.

The implication of this absolutism is obvious. Avoiding the label of environmentalist allows you to avoid the significant responsibility of participating. As a result, you are less likely to feel obliged to live sustainably.

However, hypocrisy is not the main issue preventing us from supporting sustainability. The root cause of our environmental apathy is what leads us to such hypocrisy; we humans are, in essence, an unsustainable race.

The underlying issue behind our lack of action is not the individual negative cognitive associations with environmentalism. Rather, it is the systemic obstructions within our consumerist society that make us hypocrites for doing environmentally friendly things. As Harvard change management professor John Kotter argues, change resistance is more likely to be systemic than individualbased. We are in a status quo, a state of equilibrium, bounded by current social norms and our market-based principles which encourage us to keep living our comfortable lifestyles instead of living sustainably: we eat meat instead of vegetables, despite the former being substantially more energy intensive; we go to the unsustainable and industrially-farmed, but convenient, supermarket instead of the local farmers market.

On a macro level, the two desires of economic growth and sustainable living will always be mutually exclusive. The marketing geniuses able to convince us of the existence of a “green” product deserve a roaring applause for their

The Bull & Bear - November 2013

FEATURE ability to candy-coat consumption as being green. A “green product” is oxymoronic by definition. Similarly, environmentalism is hypocritical by definition. Sure, you can opt for an environmentally friendly product, but in the end, the action still entails the unsustainable consumption of something. The reality is that it’s hard to be truly sustainable given our current societal values.

This is the attitude-action gap: one can have good intentions for the environment, but still have little impact through concrete actions.

For instance, a 2013 study from Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology showed that even if subjects reported being well aware of environmental issues and supportive of sustainability initiatives, they still consumed about the same amount in terms of energy, water, housing space, and urban travel as people that expressed indifference towards sustainability issues. You can talk the pro-sustainability talk, but it’s hard to walk the walk in a consumerist society.

Avoiding the label of environmentalist allows you to avoid the significant responsibility of participating We still live in a materialistic world, where consumption is the goal and waste is the end product. Ultimately, whether or not we have the resources to be sustainable, our society is not one which is conducive to such efforts.

Without some drastic social change, it will be impossible to truly bring about any environmental change.

These cognitive and systemic issues sound dooming for the future of sustainability. However, the light at the end of the tunnel brightens with more research into the psychological side of sustainability, such as the use of incentive programs and pricing strategies, to create a wider sustainability initiative throughout the whole population. We can only have a truly sustainable campus when the word “sustainable” doesn’t need to be mentioned any more. That is when we will know that sustainability is the norm, and that the negative implications surrounding it have disappeared.

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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LIFESTYLE

Is Fair Trade Just About Trading Fairly?

The Ins-And-Outs of Fair Trade Don Wang

LIFESTYLE WRITER

PHOTOS VIA FAIRTRADE.CA

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he Fairtrade label has been growing over the years, and has gained a lot of international recognition. We see the Fairtrade logo on coffee, chocolates, and teas, but what exactly does Fair Trade entail? Is there a difference between Fair Trade and Fairtrade? Who benefits from it?

Why should we even support it? Sometimes the best place to get answers is surprisingly close to home. I sat down with Jessica Hoch, VP Fair Trade of the McGill chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), ready to learn what Fair Trade is all about.

What is the difference between Fair Trade and Fairtrade?

Fair Trade is a movement working towards making trade practice and policy fairer. There are several different organisations working to promote fair trade practice and policy, through product certification, advocacy, campaigning, and educational work.

Fairtrade is the labelling system controlled by Fairtrade Labelling Organisations (FLO) International and its national partners in different countries. The Fairtrade mark appears on products that meet Fairtrade standards and come from Fairtrade certified producer organisations.

How would you define “Fair Trade”?

Fair Trade incorporates social, environmental, and economic sustainability into its principles. Market prices fluctuate all the time because of supply and demand, weather, and other factors. This fluctuation can really hurt a farmer’s livelihood as it makes earning a stable income more difficult. The Fairtrade organization guarantees that the price of a product can cover the average costs of sustainable production. If the market price drops below the sustainable price, buyers are held to the Fairtrade minimum price and the farmers won’t be affected. If the market price is higher

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than the Fairtrade minimum, buyers of Fairtrade products must pay the higher price. This ensures that the farmers will always be getting the best deal. So in a sense it’s a security net for farmers, and gives them a bit of stability.

Who benefits from Fairtrade labelling?

The Fairtrade brand was made mostly to benefit farmers in developing countries, especially in Central and South America, Africa, and parts of Asia. It gives farmers better market access and safe working conditions.

There’s also the Fairtrade premium, which is separate from the Fairtrade price.

The premium is a sum of money that goes into a communal fund that workers and farmers can use to improve their community. They can use it for projects like education, healthcare, and farm improvements. In this way, Fairtrade helps not only the farmers, but also their communities.

How does someone get certified Fairtrade?

To be certified Fairtrade, there is a certification process done by Fairtrade Canada.

For example, the farm has to be free of child and slave labour, the workers must have the right to unionize, and they have to adhere to the United Nations charter of Human Rights. The products have to be grown and harvested to Fairtrade standards and production is closely monitored to ensure the integrity of the products sold.

So these are the social and economical aspects of Fairtrade, but what about the environment?

The certification also includes considerations for the protection and conservation of the environment. Think of it this way. Before Fairtrade, farmers might have had to use unsustainable agricultural practices to make ends meet, but with Fairtrade, the farming process should encourage the protection of

their ecosystem, and they should be using less harmful chemicals. Fairtrade farmers aren’t allowed to use genetically modified crops, they must crop rotations, and are required to source water sustainably. Keeping their environment clean and healthy will mean that the farmers can sustain themselves in the long run instead of just reaping short-term profits.

What is the ultimate goal of the Fair Trade movement?

The long-term goal of any non-governmental organization is to not have to exist.

Right now farmers are getting a good and fair price for their product, safe working conditions, ecological sustainability, good market access, and food for their families because of Fairtrade. Ideally at one point in the future, farmers can have all these things without needing Fairtrade labelling to regulate them; those conditions will just be the norm.

Are there any other Fairtrade products other than coffee, chocolate, and tea?

Those are definitely the most common products that you see on the market. but there are also Fair Trade cotton, flowers, spices, wine, and even soccer balls, basketballs, and footballs! There is actually a pretty wide-range of products, although right now they are more obscure.

There has been a large Organic movement in North America, do you think the same thing will happen or is happening with Fair Trade?

There will always be some amount of skepticism that goes along with anything that involves some sort of labeling. That definitely happened with Organic items and there will also be that kind of dialogue with Fair Trade. Ultimately, I hope more people will buy Fairtrade products while conserving the integrity of the Fairtrade label.

LIFESTYLE How does Engineers Without Borders fit into all of this?

EWB Canada as an organization has lots of projects, such as promoting the Canadian Fairtrade Network. EWB itself is more focused on the outreach aspect of Fair Trade, making it more accessible and visible on the Canadian market. Our goal is to increase available Fairtrade products on campus at a student-friendly price.

What does the Fair Trade section of the McGill EWB chapter do?

McGill is now Fairtrade certified, which means there are Fairtrade products in the campus cafeterias, the residence cafeterias, and the student-run stores on campus. Aside from promoting Fair Trade, we do outreach

and awareness. For example, we had Fair Trade Campus Week in September, and a Halloween chocolate sale in October. We sold Fairtrade chocolate bars and bite-sized chocolates in cute Halloween themed bags.

Other than going to the grocery store and buying Fairtrade products, how else can people get involved or support Fair Trade?

People can support or volunteer with EWB. They can also tell their friends and family about Fairtrade products. For example, if everyone starts buying Fairtrade coffee, it makes a big difference to the farmers’ lives. There is also a Fair Trade Montreal for people who are interested. Right now, most of our promotions about fair trade are

geared towards engineers and FDA/McConnell since our origins are in EWB. However, we hope to eventually reach a broader range of students in all different faculties!

If you would like to support Fair Trade on campus, make sure to check out the Fair Trade Corner in the FDA hallway, right across from the Engineering Advising Office. They are there on Mondays and Fridays from 9:30 to 3:30, ready to fill you up with warm and delicious coffee, and if you’re lucky, they might also have some home-baked goodies. If coffee is not your thing they also have tea and hot chocolate, all Fairtrade of course. If you need some caffeine to refuel your study attempts, while also supporting a good cause, Fairtrade is the way to go.

Women and the Will to Lead Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s new book, Lean In, encourages women to own their accomplishments and trust in their abilities to be powerful leaders Mor Pecht

LIFESTYLE WRITER

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hen Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, found herself on Forbes’ list of the World’s Most Powerful Women she admitted that, “far from feeling powerful, I felt embarrassed and exposed.” She even told colleagues that she thought the list was “ridiculous” until her Executive Assistant, Camille Hart, pulled her aside and suggested Sandberg was handling this publicity poorly. Hart said that Sandberg needed to “lean in” and accept, rather than shy away from, this great honour.

In her new book, Lean In, Sandberg urges women to fight for what they deserve in the workplace. She encourages women to confront gender stereotypes at a time when gender bias is still more alive and well than most of us may want to admit. Lean In shows how despite the major improvements regarding gender equality, further strides towards equal opportunity for women still need to be taken.

Women today have truly benefited from the struggles of previous generations. Nevertheless, men still run the world. Sandberg reveals that out of 197 heads of state, only 22 are women; out of the top 500 companies by revenue, only 21 are headed by women; and women hold just 98 out of 531 congressional offices in the United States. This imbalance can also be seen at Desautels: a quick comparison of the male and female full- time The Bull & Bear - November 2013

faculty members showed a ratio of 2.7:1, with close to 70 men compared to 25 women.

Beyond demonstrating that women still occupy less powerful roles than men, Sandberg explains that women in positions of power are also less liked than men in the same positions. She discusses the “Howard/ Heidi” study, where a person of identical characteristics and qualifications was presented to a group of students, once as female Heidi and once as male Howard. Students were then asked to rate them based on several criteria. The students rated them as equally successful, but they found Howard more likeable while Heidi seemed more selfish and not “the type of person you would want to hire or work for.” Sandberg concluded that a successful woman is less liked than a successful man.

Given these results, how motivated are women to do well if their success leads others to dislike them? Sandberg admits that she has undermined her own accomplishments for fear that others would be turned off by her abilities. During her first performance review with Mark Zuckerberg, six months into her job at Facebook, Zuckerberg told her that her desire to be liked by everyone was holding her back. “If you please everyone you won’t change anything,” he advised. Sandberg exhorts working women to overcome the “Howard/Heidi” stereotype and to take pride

in their achievements. “Everyone needs to get more comfortable with female leaders,” she writes, “including female leaders themselves.”

Women are taught to be humble, which often makes us our greatest enemy. Sandberg confesses that she was only able to negotiate with Zuckerberg for a higher wage after receiving encouragement from her husband. This anecdote yet again displays Sandberg’s own vulnerability—even as a COO of a multibillion company— and underlines how tough it can be, as a woman, to realize our worth and fight for what we deserve in the business world.

Finally, Sandberg discusses the responsibilities of the emerging female elite, a group that has become a prominent part of society over the past few decades. “We stand on the shoulders of the women who came before us,” she describes, “women who had to fight for the rights that we now take for granted.”

Our great-grandmothers could never have imagined the kind of lives we have now, because we have many more choices than the women who came before us. Belonging to a newly educated and free generation of women, we have the power to reshape our societies. So, let’s not lean back, but rather, let’s lean in and make our grandmothers proud!

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LIFESTYLE

Out with the New, In with the Old The time for vintage shopping is now Chelsey Ju

LIFESTYLE WRITER

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ver catch yourself staring at your closet and guiltily wondering if you need a new: a.) Cardigan? b.) Punny t-shirt? c.) Ugly grandpa sweater? d.) Pair of trousers? e.) Onesie? f.) Last minute costume? g.) All of the above?

Instead of facing constant frustration over the fact that you have nothing to wear, here’s a cheap alternative: why not take Macklemore’s advice and hit the thrift shops? Even if you aren’t a shopaholic, thrift stores offer a vast collection of miscellaneous items you never knew you wanted!

By utilizing thrift shops, you are actively supporting sustainability and thoroughly exploring the fashion realm, whilst enjoying the thrill of the hunt. Montreal’s the perfect place to start thrifting. Don’t know where to start? Here is a list of four

well-known thrift shops around the city to help you on your newfound quest for distinctive, eco-friendly fashion.

EVA B This incredibly distinctive store near the corner of St. Laurent and Ontario will have your fashion senses tingling to the max. The staff has as equally kitschy a vibe as Eva B itself, offering you lemonade, tea, or hot chocolate upon entering.

This fully stocked thrift shop is equipped with a beat-down (but still playable!) piano, old theatre seats, and samosas for sale. The ambiance of the store will keep you browsing their aisles upon aisles of clothing for hours. You won’t be disappointed with their high quality, cheap prices, and huge selection of costumes for rent. The only downside is that it might take a while to browse through the entire store (read: all day). Oh, and did I mention their infamous, two story high, pit of $1 clothing?

FRIPERIE A popular destination for the city’s vintage shoppers, Friperie is a dandy store that you’ll be sure to find something to fall in love with. Friperie takes much pride in its stock of mint condition vintage clothing, so most everything you find will be in tip-top shape. Of course, quality comes with a price, no matter what decade it’s from, which is the boutique’s only slight downfall. Nonetheless, packed with options, Friperie is a great place to visit. Hopefully you’ll stumble in and find that Pulp Fiction inspired outfit you’ve always dreamed of. It’s also perfect for gift shopping, if you’re looking for some old memorabilia for that sports or music fanatic friend of yours.

ILLUSTRATION BY HAYLEY LIM

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KITSCH N’ SWELL Didn’t find what you were looking for at Friperie? That’s all right, stop by Kitsch n’ Swell right next door! A mirage of art and colours, the store itself will grab your attention. Animatedly lit by an assortment of lamps and filled with exotic décor, Kitsch n’ Swell is less a store than it is a stylish friend’s apartment. Products wise, you will catch yourself asking way too many times “Do I really need this”?

Just say yes. A mug shaped like a tree trunk with a squirrel perching on the handle? Yes. A shirt embroidered with little ducks? Yes. After all, your stressed McGill soul deserves some glints of happiness, doesn’t it?

LOST & FOUND Lost & Found is a very established, 100 percent sustainable clothing, shoes, and furniture store. They strictly focus on re-selling brand and designer clothing (Christian Louboutin, Armani, Francois Beauregard, Ralph Lauren etc.), so the goods are a bit on the pricey side, but rarely over $100 even for such high-end names. Everything is mint condition, as they do immediate repairs and touch ups to any products if necessary. They also have the occasional rock n’ roll memorabilia (such as a 1989 Rolling stones Urban Jungle tour T shirt), and receive new shipments every day. Containing simple, classy, elegant, and vintage style, Lost & Found has us screaming, “I love vintage!”

Eva B 2015 St. Laurent. Blvd Friperie 3976 St. Laurent Blvd Kitsch n’ Swell 3972 St. Laurent Blvd Lost & Found 5319 Parc Avenue

OPINION

YOUR CELL PHONE IS

PISSING ME OFF

Don’t make me go Naomi Campbell on you Adam Banks

OPINION WRITER

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icture this. You’re ten minutes into an uncomfortably packed 300-person lecture on SomethingRequired-For-Your-Major. The professor presents a slideshow containing exactly the information you need to pass your midterm. All of a sudden, a classmate raises his/her smartphone into the air to take a video of the slideshow instead of taking notes. Another person sees what that person is doing and figures it might be a good idea to do the same.

In this ridiculous hypothetical situation, concentrating on the main screen becomes impossible. After all, a bunch of people right in front of you have their cellphones up in the air, viewing the scene through a tiny little screen that might as well be the world’s worst television, while completely ignoring the point of the lecture. On a similar note, have you ever been fully absorbed in the movie theatre

PHOTO VIA FLICKR

seems hard to believe, but 90% of people I didn’t poll agree that concerts are better if you actually pay attention. I’d like to suggest that we ban non-essential cell phone usage at concerts (taking handheld videos, yelling into the phone, etc.) in order to bring the focus back to the music itself.

I understand people who want to take a picture of their favourite band and post it on Facebook or Twitter. This makes sense.

What doesn’t make sense is a blurry twenty-second clip of That One Famous Song that some drunken auteur thinks is definitely good enough to post on YouTube.

Not to mention the fact that the person who takes the video usually suffocates the phone’s microphone to death with his or her outstretched hand. If I had a nickel for every time I saw smartphones being misused at a concert I’d be rich enough to buy a private show booking. Or, you

90% of people I didn’t poll agree that concerts are better if you actually pay attention experience—almost to the point of forgetting about the real world—only to be jolted back to reality when someone in front of you starts texting?

This is how I feel when I see people watching concerts through their smartphones, ruining everyone else’s experience by “filming” the concert. I’ve noticed some other sectors of the world trying to ban the digital distractions as well. In an attempt to increase class participation and curb rampant Facebook stalking, several professors of mine have started banning laptops and reverting to the tried and true method of handwritten notes.

This granny-style way of taking notes is annoying at first because you have to actually pay attention, but in the end it helps you focus and remember the lectures. The same logic applies to live music. I know it

The Bull & Bear - November 2013

know, one of those cell-phone kill switches. But I don’t want to have to do that; I want to be able to enjoy the shows I go to, without worrying about a cell phone blocking my view.

Rest assured that I’m not the only person who dislikes this camera-phone-video trend. Would the issue be clearer if the artists themselves made comments on the matter? Because they have. In fact, most of the people I’ve spoken with regarding the cell phone problem are local musicians, and they don’t like it either. Artists like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bob Dylan, and Prince (no surprise there) have all spoken out on the matter and have tried to ban cell phone usage at their concerts… and drunken concertgoers are pissed that they can’t take their beloved video clips.

But that’s life. If the artist is unhappy, and

a large segment of the crowd is distracted and divided, the mood for the entire concert is off and the show is as good as it could have been sans screens. So why should we continue to act as if it’s societally acceptable?

Cell phone use—and by that, I mean actual calling and texting—is essential at large festivals such as Osheaga and Bonnaroo, because finding your friends without a cell phone requires carrying around one of those twenty-foot Osheaga poles (if you’ve ever been to a music festival in the middle of nowhere, you are probably aware of how difficult it is to find your friends in a crowd of thousands who are also trying to find their friends). I don’t have a problem with that; I’m talking about something else. It’s like goddamned screenage dream out there with all these rebellious youngins waving their iPhones around. This is why screens crack, ladies and gentlemen. But I digress.

The point I’d like to make is that concerts—like movies, school, and walking across a busy street without dying—are so much better once you put away the screen and experience them in reality. Concerts aren’t as special if your only memoir of them is existence of a poorly recorded video. When people try to take video of concerts, they’re not only ruining it for the rest of us by blocking our view— they’re also ruining it for themselves.

A few years down the line, when you rewatch that 45-second concert video with your friends, you might find that you have no memories of the concert itself, because you were too busy trying to record it. And you’ll have no choice but to insist, “This sounded way better in person, I promise.”

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

Letters: Maybe McGill Students Dislike the Colour Red A response to “Considering the harms of sports culture: Why sports culture doesn’t matter at McGill,” McGill Tribune - Oct. 22, 2013 Alex Rohrbach

OPINION CONTRIBUTOR

I

’m grateful we have students at McGill who have the courage to speak up and share controversial opinions.

I came north of the border to surround myself with thoughtful students from international backgrounds and to challenge myself with varying viewpoints. Mr. Michaels, I sincerely thank you for sharing your thoughts about the negative effects of sports culture, but as to the premises of your argument, I find fault.

Here’s why.

Central to your reasoning is a poorly developed “culture of exclusion,” supposedly perpetuated by athletes the world over. I am one of those athletes. You know, the kind of jock—your word, not mine— who asks for tutoring when it looks like he might get an “A-” and rereads “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” in the downtime before his semi-final game.

With twelve years experience playing on organized sports teams, I find exclusivity runs contradictory to the organizations for which I have played, including McGill Athletics.

I notice you write, “I don’t think that anywhere on earth there exists a positive ‘strong culture of athletics.’” That is a blanket statement, but your opinion nonetheless. I could point out to you that the city of Boston rallied around the Red Sox after the horrific Boston bombing, or that New Orleans found communal

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strength from their football team after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. I could bring up heartwarming Olympic stories, or, for an example closer to home, I could start talking about Right to Play – and I think we both know it would be game, set, and match—but then again, I really don’t have to.

Semper necessitas probandi incumbit ei qui agit “The necessity of proof always lies with the person who lays charges.” By hiding behind the powerful word maybe and infinite possibilities that spring from the word, anyone can provide a long list of reasons why McGill students might stay away from sporting events. Maybe McGill students don’t want to walk up to Molson Stadium. Maybe McGill students find ticket prices too expensive. Maybe McGill students dislike the colour red.

Endless are the reasons, each one more plausible than the next, but where is the evidence to support these claims?

From a handful of extreme cases dealing with aggressive homophobes and high school bullies, you characterize the worldwide institution of athletics as oppressive and exclusionary, not to mention racist, sexist, and homophobic. You go on to label athletics at McGill as conducive to binge drinking – interesting because my team, and I imagine other McGill teams, has a 24-hour no-drinking policy

before games. Finally, you claim McGill Athletics has both hurt and alienated students on campus.

You identify problems endemic to society, not to athletics. Take away football games, and students are still going to binge drink, probably even more so.

Someone is just as likely to run into a homophobe waiting in thePHOTO queue outside VIA FLICKR the Bell Centre, no matter if the line is for a Habs’ game or a music concert.

I completely agree with you in saying, “I only want a strong culture of athletics here if it’s going to be inclusive, positive, and non-oppressive.” Beyond athletics, this is a student culture each and every McGill student should strive to make possible.

In that spirit of inclusivity, I welcome you to come watch the McGill Redmen lacrosse team defend the national championship in Molson Stadium, November 2.

Alex Rohrbach is a U3 finance major and economics minor. He is co-captain of the McGill Redmen lacrosse team.

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

A Crisis of University Pride and How to Save It Boosting School Spirit and Funding Through Athletics

O

n any given Saturday between September and December, over 100,000 people can be observed lining up outside 1201 South Main Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Rain or shine, there they are, waiting impatiently to get in. No, they are not outside their neighborhood Apple store waiting to buy a new iPhone 5S. Rather, they are outside Michigan Stadium, affectionately known as “The Big House,” wearing yellow and blue from head to toe, ready to cheer on the University of Michigan Wolverines football team.

That’s more than 100,000 tickets sold, as well as innumerable Michigan hats, shirts, and so on every home game since 1975. Meanwhile, 1,369 miles south in Austin, Texas, the University of Texas brings in over $120M yearly through its athletic programs. While these numbers are staggering, the impact that college sports have on universities and campuses extend far beyond these direct inflows of funds.

Though every country has its own set of challenges and downsides, the United States has had tremendous success at fostering school spirit and pride across the nation’s many campuses. From bumper stickers to grey workout shirts, college-educated Americans show a passion for their school that is uncharacteristic in other parts of the world, including Canada. Beyond incredibly lively crowds at athletic events, this sense of affiliation follows students and alumni for the rest of their lives.

Though most students would likely argue that they chose their school mainly for its academics, there is no doubting that spirited campuses play an important role in attracting high school applicants. After all, if these thousands of people walk around campus decked out in school gear, and are willing to obliterate their vocal chords supporting classmates in a variety of events, the school must be an exciting place to spend four years in pursuit of a degree. Furthermore, the presence of thousands of alumni at these events also signals that these insti-

The Bull & Bear - November 2013

tutions foster strong networks that are likely to benefit graduates in their quest for career advancement. If anything, having a common alma mater is an effective icebreaker, especially when alumni are so feverishly proud.

By comparison, school spirit and the sense of affiliation is exasperatingly low in Canadian universities. Though most Canadian students are undoubtedly fond of their schools, they remain a far cry away from the near-obsession with universities in the United States. Considering the funding issues that many schools have been dealing with, especially in Quebec, our academic institutions would greatly benefit developing a stronger sense of belonging. Though colleges and universities have staff dedicated to reaching out to alumni during fundraising drives, perhaps the most efficient way to amass donations is by fostering school pride, with athletics serving as an effective means to do so.

With only a fraction of the United States’ population and far less lucrative television deals, Canadian universities face numerous obstacles preventing them from generating as much hype around athletics as their American counterparts. While even at McGill, groups such as Red Thunder and Fight Band work to assemble students and energize athletic events, the school would benefit from finding additional ways to promote its sporting competitions and build a following for their athletic teams.

In a city the size of Montreal, where entertaining activities abound, universities must double down on their efforts to attract students and alumni to athletic events.

“There are so many things to do around the city that it is easy to overlook sporting events within the McGill community,” argues Bobby Fitzpatrick, a U2 International Development student. He adds, “it would be neat if multiple events on campus could be integrated with one another to increase attendance and excitement.”

Given the popularity of Lower Field

Anthony Depatie OPINION WRITER

gatherings, such as O.A.P., the McGill administration should organize tailgate events for athletic events, filled with live music, grills, and cheap beer. These types of pregame festivities provide almost as much entertainment as the competitions themselves and go a long way in fostering school spirit.

As well, highlights of the various games, which are already aired in the Fitness Center, should be played on televisions across the campus’ many buildings. It would serve as a pervasive reminder to students that there are many great athletic events going on around campus and help build a following for our teams.

More importantly, sports are an incredible outlet through which men and women can push themselves to the limit of their potential, develop friendships that will last a lifetime, as well as learn the virtues of teamwork, sportsmanship, and leadership.

It also enables universities to advance their students’ personal and professional growth through additional dimensions, beyond just academics.

Ultimately, increasing school spirit is essential to motivating current and former students to contribute to the school’s growth. Despite being consistently ranked amongst the world’s top-25 universities with a student body of over 30,000, McGill’s endowment fund only ranks 67th in North America. While this discrepancy is certainly the result of a several factors, there is no denying that the relatively low level of school spirit, compared to American counterparts, affects financial contributions.

Not only have athletics long been, and will continue to be an extraordinary medium to foster school affiliation and pride, but they also have the potential to help amass vast amounts of donations. That’s more money to fund research projects, renovate classrooms, fund projects and perhaps even solve McGill’s budget crisis.

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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Desautels faculty manifests unethical behaviour in students

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE WANG

Swimming With The Sharks 7

:15 a.m., after a 30-minute route, the sight of the Bronfman building propelled me from an awkward walk-jog to an even more graceless gallop as I rushed to be the first in line to see an advisor. I was third. Yes, it was add-drop week and another overly enthusiastic early bird got the luxury of skipping the long impending line. In an hour’s time, the line of drowsy, anxious students traced all along the three building walls.

By 9:00 a.m., all hopes for seeing an advisor had vanished.

One of the students, near the end of the line, bravely broke the link and came to ask lucky number one at what time he had arrived in order to be first. “Oh of course, I arrived at around 8:00 a.m.,” said number one, lying shamelessly to the concerned student. As the student left, number one turned to number two and snickered, “… as if I’d allow him to get here before me tomorrow.” Dear student number one, I applaud your impeccable lying skills; I’m sure it was worth it as you stared into the abyss of your meaningless achievement. But you are no exception: you are what I like to call a Desautels “shark,” and you help bolster the pitiless and unethical behaviour that permeates within Bronfman walls.

The Bronfman culture, under all the glitz and glam, is stealthily hostile. The mélange of the extraordinary pressure, the vigorous competition, the conspicuous grading curve and the overly individualistic “I must be the greatest” mentality has molded a culture where people will resort to any length to be the best.

To illuminate, just a few weeks ago one of my closest friends told me that he had discovered that he was rather talented in finance and had decided to pursue it as a major.

Almost all the students in his finance class would approach him to solve questions before the midterm. He smiled proudly - much more than proudly, as the next few sentences

30

Ceren Koca

OPINION WRITER

slipped from his lips, “…but I gave them all the wrong answers and they all believed me.

And the question actually came up on the midterm! I’m a genius.” I was astonished to realize that even my dear friend, after a year of studying in Desautels, had morphed into a shark.

I had another friend tell me on the phone that she didn’t study at all for the midterm coming up in two days. “It’s going to be really easy anyways,” she reassured me. “You don’t need to study much.” Her carefree attitude reduced my urgency and enthusiasm to study as much as I might have. Indeed, she was an excellent shark, the kind that psychologically knew how to manipulate you. It was by sheer coincidence that I ran into her best friend on the very same day. I asked her if she knew what my “friend” had been up to lately, only to find out that she had been locked in her room studying for the same midterm for the past three days. I had swallowed my first bitter spoonful of Desautels manipulation, and every similar incident I witnessed thereafter became more and more normal.

It was only during my cross-cultural course that I realized just how apparent was this aspect of Desautels culture. We, a group of more than 40 students, were all asked to blurt out the first few words that came to our minds when we thought of the Desautels faculty culture. Among the descriptives were, “status,” “high competition,” “individu

alistic,” “every man for himself,” “unfriendly,” and “reputation.” Of course, there were much more amicable descriptives as well, but the majority of the class was well aware of the cutthroat corporate culture within Bronfman’s walls. Especially the students on exchange expressed their disbelief in the lack of sharing with, and compassion for, their peers.

For those of you who are skeptical, arching their eyebrows into an exponential curve, you must be living under a rock. For the past week, I’ve been asking dozens upon dozens of students, both inside and outside the faculty of management, how they felt about the Desautels faculty culture. I was dazed at just how passionately people actually felt about this issue, but had never spoken up about it or complained publicly until asked.

We deserve all the terrible stereotypes other faculties give us.

Students I interviewed from other faculties stated that when they entered the Desautels building, “they could feel the tension in the air.” While I cannot feel this tension anymore myself, I reminisce about my first few days in Desautels and can remember distinctly feeling insecure, yet always wondering why.

Students both inside and outside of Desautels were often dissatisfied by how harshly they felt judged on their clothes. “Coming to class in sweatpants and flip-flops lead to sickly stares that make you feel like you’re a dirty

OPINION mop” was one of my favourite comments. The superficial importance on status artifacts, such as designer clothing and being well dressed, is a direct manifestation of the presumptuous culture among students, which is, in my opinion, incalculably ridiculous.

Why have we developed these norms among students? The mandated grading curve is not the sole culprit: other faculties do not harbour the same norms, while also implementing curving grades. I believe it is the outdated Darwinian notion that the reallife business environment is a harsh jungle

in which only the strong can survive. I also blame the glamorization of such norms from TV shows such as Suits.

Our key to thriving in organizations and the real world depends on influencing others by inspiring and resonating with them, not by manipulating them. Self-interest reduces productivity and the flow of knowledge sharing within organizations. It also promotes the scandals we hear about much too often in major companies such as Enron or AIG. Implications for the student body are immense. Five people from within my social

circle have dropped out of Desautels because they could not handle the academic environment. All of them have developed some sort of depression or anxiety.

So, why do we accept this type of behaviour if so many are unhappy about it? I’m not sure of the answer. What I do know is that we need to change. By thinking more critically about our behaviour, we can create a more rewarding Desautels experience.

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

4Floors for Some, No Floors For Others

The problem with 4Floors ticket sales and how to fix it

I

am sitting in my apartment at 3 p.m. on Thursday and I am rather disgruntled.

The reason? I was unable to acquire a 4Floors ticket.

Admittedly, this complaint sounds somewhat petty. And to be clear, I don’t have an issue with SSMU, simply with the practice that results from this event. And, based on the 4Floors Facebook event, I am not the only person in this situation. After waiting for four hours over the span of two days, hundreds of people were informed that tickets were sold out. “Better luck next time”, they were told. For other events, this this would be the point at which disappointed hopefuls make other plans. But not 4Floors. Instead, we run to the Facebook group, because we all know that over half the tickets ‘sold’ will be immediately resold by early purchasers for two to three times face value.

This article is not the result of an intense fear of missing out; it stems from frustration. This resale market hurts students and in no way benefits SSMU. The secondary ticket market around 4Floors is the product of a perfect storm of conditions. First, the event is exclusively McGill, eliminating the possibility of professional ticket brokers buying hundreds of tickets to rig the market. Second, each student can only buy four $15 bracelets for a grand investment of $60. Lastly, demand is high; everyone wants to go to 4Floors. These four factors result in nearly everyone lining up on the first day to buy four tickets and the event selling out almost instantaneously.

Without a doubt, 4Floors is a hugely popular event; by selling tickets within a three hour period during the day in the middle of midterm season, it is clear that hundreds of stu-

The Bull & Bear - November 2013

dents are simply not going to be able to make it in time to buy tickets from SSMU. Granted, students can still get a hold of tickets - albeit at the grossly inflated prices from scalpers. You might argue, “that’s just the free market at work; this happens at concerts and events all the time, there’s no stopping it.” However, there is a way to stop this widespread resale of tickets: if ticket sales were limited to one per person, roughly four times the number of people who were successful on day one would have been able to buy tickets legitimately. Such a scenario would mean that nearly every attendee of the event would have bought their ticket at a reasonable price, and prohibitively high resale prices would be almost completely eliminated for this event.

SSMU needs to make this change. This frantic secondary market does nothing but hurt students; it rewards those willing to wait in line for hours on a weekday and indirectly discriminates against people who either don’t have the money for exorbitant resale prices or don’t have the time to go chasing one of these overpriced gray market bracelets. Furthermore, SSMU gains nothing from this scramble for bracelets; they do not receive a cut of any secondary market sales, it does not translate into more drink sales at the event, and the exact same number of people will attend 4Floors no matter what happens. Then again, maybe drinks would sell more if every other attendee didn’t spend double on their bracelet.

If anything, the only reason I can think of for SSMU not using this sale method is to generate hype for the event. Yes, the feverish demand is good for publicity. And yes, this hype has worked to a degree. Hundreds of

Wyatt Hnatiw

OPINION WRITER

people are sharing the 4Floors picture and commenting with their hashtags (myself included) because it could mean a free ticket.

But I don’t feel 4Floors needs this extra publicity anymore. Is anyone worried that without this resale market 4Floors wouldn’t be just as popular an event? It has sold out for years. In fact, 4Floors is the only major McGill event on the 31st this year – and it is always a lot of fun. It is going to sell out no matter what happens, but right now unnecessary obstacles are being constructed by students with a mind for morally grey capitalism seeking to make a few bucks.

This practice isn’t the fault of one person or the result of a calculated decision to harm the students. The four tickets per person practice has been the norm for years. But the ever-increasing role that the secondary market for these tickets plays necessitates a more careful consideration of what we want from this event. Do we want to cost McGill students more money or make this event cheaper and more simple for everyone?

SSMU will make the same profit both ways; the same number of people will attend. So we should be focusing on how to keep the prices low for the students. By reducing ticket sales to one ticket per person, more students will get tickets, prices will be fairer, and there will be far fewer bitter students forced to pay upwards of $50 for a ticket that should cost them $15. I won’t be here to see if they take my advice next year, but I’m sure the hundreds of people posting on the Facebook group right now would appreciate it.

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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