McGill Tribune Vol. 32 Issue 13

Volume No. 32 Issue No. 13

TRIBUNE THE mcgill

Published by the Tribune Publication Society

curiosity delivers

steroids in academia P 10 photo spread p5

album reviews p 16 Martlet volleyball p 20

@mcgill_tribune ­ • www. mcgilltribune.com ­

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Students at Nov. 22 demonstration call for free education Erica Friesen News Editor On Nov. 22, students gathered in Montreal to protest in favour of free tuition and show their solidarity for student causes across the world.

The protest was part of a global education strike week organized by the International Student Movement, a coordination platform for student mobilization worldwide. As part of the movement, 60,000 students across Quebec voted for strikes that varied in length from one day to the entire week, lasting from Nov. 14 to Nov. 22.

The protest was organized by the Association pour une solidarité See “60,000” on p. 3

Students demonstrate in solidarity with student movements around the world. (Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune)

McGill Principal plans to revise campus security measures

Heather Munroe-Blum responds to Manfredi report; creates working group to re-examine Code of Student Conduct Bea Britneff News Editor On Nov. 23, Principal Heather Munroe-Blum accepted all three recommendations to revise the Code of Student Conduct and security on campus from Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi’s Report of the Open Forum on Freedom of Expression and Peaceful Assembly. In an email to the McGill community, MunroeBlum detailed the steps that the administration has already taken—and will continue to take—to implement these recommendations.

Munroe-Blum mandated Manfredi’s report following Dean of Law Daniel Jutras’ report on the events of Nov. 10, 2011, when an occupation of the James Administration Building ended with riot police dispersing and pepper-spraying students on campus. The Principal asked Manfredi to chair a series of openforum sessions where students, faculty, non-academic staff, and senior administration could discuss campus issues, including the right to peaceful assembly on campus.

Published on Oct. 8, Manfredi’s report describes the key discussions and concerns conveyed at the four open-forum sessions, which took place between March 1 and May 2, and provides three recommendations based on that dialogue. These recommendations include the clarification of several clauses in the Code of Student Conduct, the revision of the Provisional Protocol, and a review of McGill Security Services’ training program.

In response to Manfredi’s first recommendation regarding the Code of Student Conduct, Munroe-Blum said she has created a working group specifically mandated to deal with this issue. She has asked professor Lydia White, associate provost (policies, procedures and equity), to chair the group.

Munroe-Blum has mandated that the working group consider Section 6.3.1 of Manfredi’s report, which discusses the use of masks and other forms of concealed identity within the context of a protest.

The Principal asked that the group bring recommended amendments

of the Code to the McGill Senate in February or March 2013. Senate will formally consider recommended amendments in March or April 2013.

In an email to the Tribune, White commented on the challenge of making changes to the Code.

“Terminology can sometimes be open to multiple interpretations,” White wrote. “This is one of the issues that we will have to consider.”

According to White, three student senators will sit on the work group—one undergraduate, one graduate, and one Continuing Studies—whose names will be proposed by the Senate Nominating Committee. She said the group’s first meeting will probably occur in mid-December or early January.

Munroe-Blum also addressed Manfredi’s recommendation that “the ‘James Protocol’ should be revised or reconsidered with a view towards adopting a less restrictive approach to access and security.”

“Changes have already been implemented, and further work is currently under way on making

physical changes to the first floor of the James Administration Building, so that visitors to the building are admitted quickly and efficiently while maintaining the safety and security of the approximately 300 people who work in the building,” Munroe-Blum wrote.

Munroe-Blum confirmed that she has accepted Vice-Principal (Administration and Finance) Michael Di Grappa’s proposal to revise the James Protocol, which includes rules and procedures for scheduled and unscheduled visitors to the James Building, as well as further suggestions to facilitate access for frequent visitors.

According to Di Grappa’s proposal, the James Protocol is open to revision.

“The Protocol will be reviewed once we have a chance to evaluate effectiveness of the changes being made to the entrance,” Di Grappa wrote. “[It] will also be reviewed periodically to ensure it meets the needs of [both] our community [and the James Building] personnel.”

Regarding Manfredi’s recom-

mendation that Security Services review their training program, Munroe-Blum said she has accepted Di Grappa’s suggested two initiatives.

These include a training program “to ensure that Security Services personnel ... have a full understanding of the Code of Student Conduct,” and regular meetings between the Dean of Students and Security personnel starting in December. The purpose of these meetings is to ensure a common understanding of Security Services’ roles and procedures, to improve the nature and accuracy of incident reports, and to maintain open communication on matters related to the disciplinary process.

Munroe-Blum also provided an update on the Provisional Protocol regarding demonstrations, protests, and occupations on McGill’s campuses.

“Work is under way on adapting the Provisional Protocol into a permanent protocol, and a first draft will be sent on Nov. 30 … to the McGill community for comments and See “Response” on p. 2

NEWS campus

Response Admin seeks to connect to students via email Continued from cover

suggestions,” she wrote.

Munroe-Blum said suggestions will be integrated into a document, that will be presented to Senate on Jan. 23, 2013, and to the Board of Governors on Jan 29, 2013.

Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President Haley Dinel’s was pleased to hear that Munroe-Blum had embraced Manfredi’s recommendations. However, she believes that much work remains. Dinel also expressed several concerns with regard to White’s work group and the James Protocol.

“The [work group] is smaller than I imagined ... I would [have] liked to have seen more students [in the group] because it is an issue that is absolutely critical for us at this juncture with the university,” Dinel said. “My concern with the [revised] James Protocol is that is does not address the [issue] that the building is closed off ... there is still perceived, and often real, separation between the James Building and the rest of campus.”

“what’snewstudents@mcgill” emails offer new source of information for campus services Leila Sloman Contributor In the last two weeks, McGill has started a new communications service called “what’snewstudents@ mcgill.” This new initiative consists of a series of weekly emails that the administration uses to provide students with information about various events and services on campus.

Director of Internal Communications Doug Sweet said the new campaign was designed to improve the rapport between the administration and the student body at McGill. The idea is based off of “what’snew@mcgill,” the faculty and staff email service run by the Internal Communications staff that goes out twice a week. “[The service] provides ‘news you can use’ in one weekly email delivered on a day free of classes, when people actually might have time to read it,” Sweet said.

According to Sweet, “what’snewstudents” aims to channel all the information the adminis-

tration needs to convey to students into one message, including health services, library information, student services, and more. The goal is to make students feel more connected, and to facilitate communication between the administration and the students.

Although McGill has only sent out two “what’snewstudents@mcgill” emails so far, Sweet expressed cautious optimism about student reception of the service.

“It’s early yet, but the reaction to this seems to be very positive and the number of opt-outs is so far remarkably small,” he said.

The first email—sent to students on Nov. 18—contained a link to a story run by the McGill Reporter, the McGill administration’s publication, on the announcement of the appointment of Andre Costopoulos as Dean of Students. The second email, which came out last Sunday, included information about International Student Services.

Emily Dehority, U0 science, said she approves of the new ser-

vice, but that the administration needs to take a step further.

“I think that the emails are a good start, assuming they live up to their potential as vessels of information, but I would love to see way better communication with new and future students, through information packets in the mail, more extensive websites, and logistics instead of lip service at Discover McGill,” she said.

Postgraduate Students’ Society of McGill University (PGSS) President Jonathan Mooney has endorsed the new effort as a way to increase the accessibility of both the administration, and as an effective way for the administration to communicate information to students.

Mooney said that the PGSS has encouraged McGill’s Office of Communication and External Relations to move away from the MRO communication system of last year.

“Over the course of several meetings and phone conversations, we strongly expressed the view that the MRO communication system

from the previous year was not wellreceived by students and stated that we support efforts to move toward less frequent, more targeted communication with students,” he said.

He also said that the Office of Communications and External Relations has done more this year to receive input from the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and PGSS regarding communication strategies.

“I hope [this] will in the long term make communication more effective in a way that is noticeable by students,” he said.

SSMU President Josh Redel has also endorsed the administration’s efforts.

“Myself and many other students talked about the need for more constant communication over the course of last year,” Redel said. “I think that this new email format will provide for just that. I think that the need for drastically revamped internal communications was something that the university really picked up on after last year.”

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Students voice education grievances at SSMU summit

SSMU VP External to compile and deliver primary student concerns, including non-Quebec tuition, to TaCEQ Chris Liu A&E Editor Last week, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) held a series of consultation sessions to prepare for the Parti Québécois’s (PQ) summit on higher education planned for February 2013. Led

by SSMU Vice-President External Robin Reid-Fraser, the three sessions covered many topics, including student representation at McGill, and out-of-province and international students’ concerns about their place in the student movement.

SSMU will be represented at the provincial summit through the Quebec Student Roundtable (Table de concertation étudiante du Québec, or TaCEQ).

According to Reid-Fraser, these consultations are to air students’ concerns, which SSMU will bring to TaCEQ, who will subsequently take these concerns to the summit.

Although much publicity around the summit centres on the topic of tuition, Reid-Fraser said SSMU’s events also aimed to engage students in other topics.

“With the student strike and

everything that was happening last year ... there is a lot of focus on the issue of tuition,” Reid-Fraser said.

“There are so many other things about universities. There are students who weren’t super engaged with the issue of tuition, but might have other concerns.”

Students brought up the topic of student representation, and voiced frustrations with the current format of student representation in McGill’s administration and governance structures. “[McGill] is supposed to be a public institution,” said Lily Hoffman, U3 arts, as a response to ReidFraser’s discussion of students sitting on committees to appoint new provosts and principals. “We’re all supposed to have access in attending, but that equals access to affecting how it’s run.”

Other students expressed frustration over what they saw as student apathy at McGill.

“In my experience at McGill, we appear to have a small portion of students invested in governance and politics—those [who] are serving as elected officials [and] officers of faculty associations and SSMU, and

those who continuously show up and speak their minds at General Assemblies,” said SSMU Speaker Nida Nizam. “Other than that, it seems to be difficult to get the larger student body engaged in the process.”

Devin Dziadyk, science representative to SSMU Council, said he thinks student apathy at McGill come from students putting course grades first.

“There is such a priority on academics above all else,” he said. “[There is] a perception that … the only [thing] that’s going to mean anything in the future is what your marks are,” he said.

A number of students also expressed concern over the status of out-of-province and international students within Quebec.

“When [tuition increases] impact non-Quebec students, do we get that kind of solidarity from the Quebec associations that wanted it from us during the strike?” Reid-Fraser asked.

She also said that she perceives ambivalence towards international and out-of-province students within TaCEQ, noting the weak response she receives from the organization

Robin Reid-Fraser led the discussion. (Michael Paolucci / McGill Tribune) when she suggests that they adopt an official position to reject an outof-province tuition increase.

Although the PQ repealed last year’s tuition increases for Quebec students, they have not yet announced a decision regarding outof-province and international students. Some students voiced fears that the recent repeal of the tuition hike, which was proposed by the former Liberal government, may

be offset by an increase in out-ofprovince and international fees. This was the outcome following a previous student movement in 1996 during the PQ government of Lucien Bouchard.

SSMU’s series of consultation sessions, the first of their kind at McGill, ended last Friday. The PostGraduate Students’ Society will hold a separate series of discussions on education in early December.

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NEWS

| Tuesday, November 27, 2012

City

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60,000 students across Quebec go on solidarity strikes

Protest draws awareness to International Student Movement week; ASSÉ to participate in Quebec education summit Continued from cover syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ), one of the largest student groups in Quebec. ASSÉ helped to coordinate last year’s student strikes against the former provincial Liberal government’s proposed tuition increases.

ASSÉ spokesperson Jérémie Bédard-Wien emphasized the importance of connecting Quebec students with other student movements around the world, especially now that the Parti Québécois (PQ) has repealed the tuition increases.

“Many movements have used us as an example of a successful struggle against tuition increases,” he said. “These movements showed us tremendous solidarity last spring, as we were facing police brutality, exclusion, and political repression. It is a chance for us today to say thank you to these movements, and demonstrate our solidarity with theirs.”

According to the International Student Movement’s website, the movement was endorsed by over 100 groups in 36 countries.

“We’re nearing a point where

we’re able to effectively share tactics, [and] share methods of organization in order to make all of our movements better and more effective,” Bédard-Wien said.

Students’ Society of McGill University Vice-President External Robin Reid-Fraser attended the protest with a small group of McGill students.

“It’s so important to remember that this kind of struggle is happening all over the world, and to show that we have these ways of creating connections and showing that solidarity, especially since the police response in many other places can be even more severe than here in Quebec,” she said.

Starting at Victoria Square, the protest wound through downtown Montreal, before ending at Parc Émilie Gamelin. Although the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) declared the protest illegal because the organizers did not disclose their planned route, SPVM announced that they would allow the protest to continue as long as no criminal acts were committed. No arrests were made.

Bédard-Wien emphasized that free education will continue to be the theme of ASSÉ’s campaign as the organization looks towards the provincial education summit that the PQ is planning for February.

“We want the summit to be a place [where] the university community as a whole [can meet], and not [just] economic elites,” he said.

“We also want the summit to be a place where we can talk about the fundamental orientations of our education system.”

On Nov. 8, ASSÉ submitted several requests to the provincial government about the way the summit will be run. These included the concern that the chosen themes of discussion do not allow for a conversation about the mission of educational institutions.

Last Sunday, ASSÉ announced that they will participate in the summit, despite not having received a response from the government regarding these requests. The organization will also hold a protest during the summit, however, and will leave the discussions they feel decisions have been made in advance.

Drummers march in the Nov. 22 protest. (Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune) At the Nov. 22 protest, many students expressed concerns over the effectiveness of the upcoming education summit. Thomas Sallá, a student at Le cégep du Vieux Montréal, said he hopes the education summit can be an effective way of addressing student issues. However, he emphasized that continued stu-

dent mobilization is necessary to keep pressure on the government.

“I hope we’ll keep this level of mobilization, because we can accomplish great things by staying ready to go back in the streets,” Sallá said. “I hope we’ll keep this fighting spirit.”

province

Minister of Higher Education suggests legalizing student strikes

ASSÉ spokesperson Jérémie Bédard-Wien concerned that treating students as unions could limit their ability to strike Andra Cernavskis News Editor Two weeks ago, Quebec Minister of Higher Education Pierre Duchesne proposed that the government grant student associations the legal right to strike.

Last spring, many student associations across Quebec voted to go on strike to oppose the former Liberal government’s proposed tuition increases. The Liberal government did not recognize these strikes as legal.

Instead, it called the actions “boycotts,” which prompted the Quebec Superior Court to interpret student strikes as such.

The courts implemented over 20 injunctions against students who formed picket lines, as well as schools that cancelled classes. These injunctions mandated students to return to class, even if they were members of an association that had voted to go on strike. Not all of the court’s orders were respected, however. For instance, Cégep de L’Outaouais cancelled its classes in May despite court orders.

Duchesne has stated that the government’s insistence on referring to the events of last spring as “boy-

cotts” only aggravated the situation, and disparaged some of the actions of the Charest government.

“The consequence was an important social crisis with long-lasting instability,” Duchesne told La Presse in French.

Duchesne has said that giving student associations the legal right to strike will create more stability in the province in the event of student protests against government actions such as tuition hikes. According to La Presse, Duchesne’s proposal will be discussed at the upcoming Quebec summit on higher education, which is scheduled to take place in February 2013.

Jérémie Bédard-Wien, spokesperson for L’Association pour une solidarité syndicale Étudiante (ASSÉ), said the association is concerned about the consequences of the government legislating student strikes in the same way as labour union strikes.

According to Bédard-Wien, labour unions only have the right to strike when it is time to negotiate a collective agreement. They cannot legally strike for political reasons.

“If the legislation [that Duchesne is proposing] is similar to the legislation of the right to strike for

workers, then we would most presumably lose the right to strike in certain situations—for instance, political reasons,” he said. “This would really limit our reach.”

Bédard-Wien said that students would continue to strike for political reasons, regardless of any future laws that could legally limit this ability.

“Student strikes are legal right now,” he said. “They are legal because nothing makes them illegal .... Students enforce strikes because they believe in the power of collective decision-making and general assemblies. They don’t enforce strikes because it is legal or illegal.”

He also expressed concern about the law’s effect on the autonomy of student associations. The proposed law would require a student strike vote to be like that of a labour union, meaning it would have to occur by secret ballot and would need to pass by a majority vote.

“What’s important to notice is that such legislation would really infringe on the ability for student associations to govern themselves,” he said. “Students have the right ... to choose what methods of voting they want to use.”

If student strikes were to be recognized under the law, students

would also be legally permitted to prevent other students from entering classrooms. Furthermore, it would become more difficult for Quebec courts to provide individual students with injunctions allowing them to cross picket lines.

However, Bédard-Wien expressed disbelief that legalizing student strikes would stop the courts from handing out injunctions entirely. He referred, once again, to labour unions.

“Using the example of workers rights, many legal strikes [are] repressed eventually by injunctions,” he said. “Legislating the right to strike does not necessarily mean that you can no longer use injunctions …. The history of Quebec has many cases of this.”

According to La Presse, Liberal education critic Gerry Sklavounos has also criticized Duchesne’s proposal because Quebec taxpayers would continue to pay for services that no one would benefit from during a potential strike, such as heating, electricity, and professors’ salaries.

Students’ Society of McGill University Vice-President External Robin Reid-Fraser said that the Quebec Student Roundtable (Table de concertation étudiante du Québec, or

TaCEQ), of which SSMU is a member association, has yet to take a position on Duchesne’s proposal.

“We ... didn’t take a formal position on it because everyone felt like there needed to be more discussionamong our membership,” she said.

She noted that there could be positives to legislating student strikes.

“On the one hand the idea of creating some kind of formal legislation around it is interesting, particularly since this past strike saw, by far, the heaviest legal intervention of any in Quebec history,” she said. “If there is now a lot of precedent for restricting strike activities, then it may be worthwhile to put in place a framework of what is allowed, or at least some procedural aspects to make things clearer.”

She also said that she has a lot of questions that would need to be addressed before she could fully support Duchesne’s proposal.

Her many questions include what a legal framework would look like exactly and if students would be involved in helping to create the specifics of the law.

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012 |

NEWS

| Curiosity delivers.

student government

Poor advertising suggested as cause of low AUS GA turnout Assembly passes five non-binding motions, including mandate to support accessible education Andra Cernavskis News Editor On Monday night, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) failed to meet quorum at its Fall General Assembly (GA). The GA passed several motions as a consultative forum, including motions mandating AUS support for accessible education and for the AUS to help promote departmental GAs. The AUS began holding GAs in Fall 2011. Last semester, over 1,000 students attended its spring GA as a contentious general strike motion was on the agenda as part of a larger student movement opposing provincial tuition fee increases. Multiple rooms were required to accommodate all participants.

Because this week’s GA did not meet quorum, successful motions will serve as recommendations to the AUS Council. In order for the GA to pass binding resolutions, 150 arts students must be present. Approximately 30 to 35 people were present for Monday’s GA, which ran for about two hours.

Some attendees suggested that Monday’s low turnout may have resulted from a lack of advertis-

What happened last week in Classified document reveals Harper’s new foreign policy Last Tuesday, the CBC announced it had obtained a confidential document prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, urging the federal government to focus on economic, rather than diplomatic and humanitarian concerns when dealing with emerging markets such as China.

According to the CBC, the document is a “draft of a highly classified new ‘Canadian foreign policy plan,’ ” which encourages Canada to “pursue political relationships in tandem with economic interests, even where political interests or values may not align.”

Absent from the document is the idea of using trade deals to pressure countries on human rights and other humanitarian concerns. Peacekeeping, foreign aid, and diplomacy receive “scant mention,” according to CBC. The classified document drew criticism from New Democratic P arty Leader Tom Mulcair, who said that the government is abandoning Canada’s traditional advocacy for democracy, human rights, and international aid.

Harper denied that the document represents government policy.

ing. Arts Representative to the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Claire Stewart-Kanigan said the use of flyers and more classroom announcements could have helped raise awareness. She also pointed to the fact that the motions were only made available to AUS members a few hours before the GA began. “[Classroom announcements] provide the opportunity for more discussion between the AUS and our constituents about what’s going to be brought up at the GA and these motions for us,” Stewart-Kanigan said. “I do wish that the motions would have been made available to AUS members ahead of time. … A General Assembly might not spark [students’] interest, but one of the motions might.”

However, AUS Vice-President Communications Yasmeen Gholmieh said the AUS used multiple methods of promotion, including posters, emails, and social media tools, and could not have done much more in the way of advertising.

“I think the GA was well-advertised, and it’s a shame that we had such a low turnout,” she said. “We advertised to the point where some

Canada?

people actually contacted us, saying we should stop sending out emails about the GA.” Gholmieh expressed concern about the criticisms the AUS executive team faced from students at the GA, both during and after the event.

“Both SSMU and AUS General Assemblies have faced issues with low student turnout in the past, and I think it is unfair to blame the low turnout only on the VP Communications,” she said. “I, along with the Chief Returning Officer and the President, did our best to advertise the GA. In the future, we will start advertising it sooner.”

The consultative forum passed five motions, which dealt with facilitating increased departmental democracy by encouraging departmental GAs, lobbying McGill to free the university from financial ties to fossil fuels, opposing Plan Nord, and opposing Canadian aggression towards Iran. Many of these motions were originally discussed at the SSMU GA earlier this year.

The forum also discussed a motion mandating support for accessible education. The motion passed following an amendment by SSMU Vice-President External Robin Re-

Students vote at the Fall AUS GA. (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune) id-Fraser, which included a clause mandating that “the AUS lobby McGill University to refund the tuition still pending to out-of-province and international students.”

A motion regarding the creation of a “Students Helping Students” fund was tabled indefinitely. The motion sought to re-allocate preexisting funds from AUS student fees. If passed, $0.75 per student, each semester, would be assigned to the creation of a fund that could help students financially affected by a student strike.

Students at the consultative forum expressed concern over the specifics of how and to whom the funds would be delegated, as well as what would happen to the funds if a strike were not called in a specific year. Nicole Georges, arts representative to SSMU, called for amendments to address these concerns.

“I have a concern with the ability [of present and future] AUS executives … to be giving away money like this,” she said. “Is there going to be somebody surveying the AUS executive to make sure that the money goes toward people who are deserving?”

Lily Schwarzbaum, U3 arts, said she found the discussion and proposed amendments to the motion problematic.

“I think amendments are not the place to lay out step-by-step execution plans,” Schwarzbaum said. “[Motions] are mandates that are for representatives who are elected in order to sit through longer meetings.”

Since the motions only passed as recommendations, they will be brought to the next AUS Council on Nov. 28, when councillors will vote to either reject or adopt them.

quarry project defeated by small ontario town Residents of the Melancthon township in southern Ontario have successfully defeated an American company’s attempt to open the largest quarry in Canada. The Highland Companies officially withdrew their application to open the quarry last Wednesday, after two years of conflict with the town’s citizens over the issue.

According to The Globe and Mail, the company originally started buying land six years ago, under the proposal that it would start a potato farm, but locals began to express alarm when it made an application to build a limestone quarry on 2,300 hectares of land.

Criticisms of the project included the quarry’s potential impact on groundwater and soil in the region.

For example, the quarry would have been below the level of ground saturated with water, requiring the company to pump water to the surface to keep the work area dry.

A spokesperson for the Highland Companies said it withdrew support because of a lack of support from both the community, and the Ontario government. The latter had ordered an environmental assessment of the quarry last September, even though such assessments are not mandatory for the development of quarries.

minister criticizes rcmp gender imbalances In a letter dated last Thursday, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews criticized the behaviour of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Bob Paulson for his treatment of gender issues in Canada’s national police force.

Specifically, Toews criticized Paulson’s choice to speak with media about an internal report investigating issues such as gender imbalances and sexual harassment in the RCMP. Paulson discussed the report on Thursday, before it was officially released to the public on Friday.

According to the internal report, women are less likely to be promoted within the RCMP, largely due to a “selection bias” against women. Currently, only 20 per cent of the police force consists of women, despite the RCMP’s stated goal of 35 per cent representation.

Toews’ letter also found fault with the RCMP’s lack of clarity in their plans to deal with these issues.

Toews has given the RCMP until Dec. 11 to present him with a report, outlining a concrete plan for addressing the issues detailed in the report.

Compiled by chris liu and Erica friesen

New Quebec budget affirms repeal of tuition increase Last Tuesday, the Parti Québécois (PQ) tabled a budget containing both spending cuts and tax increases.

The budget commits to repealing the former Liberal government’s tuition fee increases, which led to provincewide student protests earlier this year.

Similarly, the PQ will repeal increases to financial aid and bursaries that were also promised by the previous Liberal government. Decisions regarding additional investment to universities will be made following the education summit in February 2013.

Both the Parti Liberal du Québec and the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) promised to vote against the budget. However, interim Liberal leader Jean-Marc Fournier has indicated that his party does not intend to force another election by defeating the budget. The vote is expected to take place by the end of the month.

Another measure includes tax increases on those who make over $100,000 per year. Infrastructure spending will be cut by $1.5 billion annually, while the additional $5 billion in infrastructure spending Liberals promised during their provincial election campaign will be delayed.

The budget plans for a spending increase of 1.8 per cent, the lowest increase in Quebec in 14 years.

Canada attempts to raise quota on bluefin tuna Last Monday, Canada failed to convince the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to allow an increase in the amount of bluefin tuna that can be fished out of the Atlantic Ocean. The ICCAT is responsible for the protection of tuna, as well as other tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean.

Presently, the Canadian government is considering labelling the bluefin tuna as an endangered species, as over-fishing has drastically reduced bluefin populations on the East Coast.

Nevertheless, Canada proposed an increase in the bluefin quota from 1,750 to 2,000 tonnes to the ICCAT. The proposal did not pass, and has led some environmentalists to criticize Canada’s position on bluefin tuna fishing as out of line with that of the international community.

During the same conference, Canada defeated the European Union’s attempt to mandate the release of porbeagles (a type of mackerel shark) caught in ICCAT fisheries worldwide.

The porbeagle is an endangered shark that can be found off the coast of Newfoundland. According to the CBC, the porbeagle’s population has been reduced by almost 90 per cent since the 1960s due to over-fishing.

In the streets Photos by

Alexandra Allaire, Sacha Pereira Da Silva, and Mike King

Science & technology

TECHNOLOGY

Nano advances poised to change everyday technology McGill lab has developed scope to image ‘nanoworld’ Jacob Kantorowitz Contributor In the ‘nanoworld’ a human hair is huge: roughly 100,000 nanometres in diameter. Dr. Peter Grütter, a McGill University physics professor, has committed himself to understanding the miniscule realm of nanotechnology.

Dr. Grütter’s group develops microscopes used for research in the emerging field of nanoelectronics— tiny computers that use the nanometre structure of various systems to process, store, or transmit information.

This isn’t your average high school scope—the machine works by detecting intermolecular forces.

It then uses the information to create an image, “by controlling the [intermolecular] forces, which are a function of distance, large separations create relatively smaller forces,” Dr. Grütter explains.

His team also applies these tools to a variety of other applications, including analyzing information processing in the brain (by studying synapses—the junctions between neurons), plastic deformations, charge generation in organic photovoltaic systems, and the limiting factors in lithium ion batteries.

It is a unique field involving close collaboration with other facil-

ity experts in fields such as “modeling, neurons, biochemical sensors in academia, and industry.”

Dr. Grütter was one of the founding members of NanoQuebec—a non-profit agency funded by the Quebec government that funds nanotechnology research.

The agency provides “fix[ed] funding to 11 laboratories, so that they can hire qualified personnel to run equipment in the labs, and they [also] fund university-based research projects,” Dolores Martinez, Scientific Director of NanoQuebec, said.

At McGill, NanoQuebec provided the first type of funding to two laboratories: the Facility for Electron Microscopy Research, and McGill NanoTools Microfab. They are also currently funding two research projects.

According to Martinez, NanoQuebec’s mission is to “support nanotechnology-enabled innovation.” Recently, for example, NanoQuebec funded the developers of an intelligent fiber that can detect blood, sending a distress signal if the wearer is injured.

Nanotechnology is an important field because of the “combination of interesting science and economic [or] societal impact, ” Martinez said. For example, adding nanoparticles to cement can make

ASK

By Leigh Miller

it stronger. Nanoparticles can also function as an effective drug delivery system for patients. “[NanoQuebec does] great science internationally, applies it to important societal problems, and produces innovative products ... NanoQuebec brings money to the table and engages people,” Martinez said.

At the nano level, “gravity is not really an issue,” she explains.

Matter does not act as it does in our macro world. For example, surface tensions are disproportionately large, making water appear impassable.

“There is a tug-of-war between van der Waals forces and thermal agitation: huge van der Waals forces make nanoparticles extremely sticky and thermal forces make them bounce around erratically,” she said.

Van der Waals forces occur at the molecular level, and are typically weak.

Another interesting element of the nanoworld, according to Martinez, is that “quantum effects start to play a role: a material’s optical, electrical, and magnetic properties will be affected compared to its bulk form.”

Transferring these properties to the macro-sized world could yield “new types of catalysts that are much more reactive, composites that are much stronger, extremely

Nanowires, like the one at center, could stimulate technological advances in computing. (vectorblog.com) fast transistors based on quantum effects, high-efficiency fuel cells.”

The ‘nanoworld’ offers an infinite number of potential applications.

Martinez believes Nanotechnology is essential in cultivating new technologies such as nextgeneration quantum computers, high-efficiency organic solar cells, magnetic nanoparticles for targeted

drug delivery through the vascular network, and high-efficiency automotive fuel cells.

“Nanotechnology will transform our society, much the same way as the automobile or computers [did], but predicting the future, when and how this will happen, is not an exact science,” Dr. Grütter said.

SCITECH By

Why should I put plastic on my window in the winter?

In Montreal, the sound of ripping plastic is the first sign of spring, as the city tears off window coverings to let in the first warm breezes. Unfortunately, spring is a distant prospect, and the first cold breezes are just beginning their assault.

The basic science behind window coverings is heat transfer, a branch of thermodynamics that deals with the movement of thermal energy. The same laws that govern heat transfer through a window are also at work in your body, your toaster, and anywhere an object or fluid is hotter than its surroundings.

In general, two processes

cause heat to leak from your window. First, cold air near the window is composed of molecules that are moving more slowly than the warm air in the room; the warm molecules then collide with the cold, and transfer energy like a cue ball hitting a pool ball.

This is called conduction. Like the cue ball, the warm molecules in the room are outnumbered by the cold ones outside. The second process, convection, occurs as the air cycles through the room. Since the cold air is denser than the warm air, it sinks—creating a current in the room that brings more warm air in contact with the cold window—speeding up the heat

transfer and creating a layer of cold air on the floor.

Covering the window with plastic creates an isolated layer of air that slows heat transfer, which could also be achieved with a second pane of glass, a thermal curtain, or even a net full of stuffed animals. The choice of plastic is essentially an economic one. The quality of an insulator is measured by its thermal resistance, or R-value, which is related to how easily heat can move through the substance.

The most effective covers leave between 9.53 and 19.05 millimetres of air between glass and plastic, the thickest insulat-

ing layer with minimal convection currents. If the plastic isn’t completely sealed, convection currents can still move between the window and the room. While both a single-pane window and the air space have an R-value of approximately one (polyeurathane foam, a better insulator, has an R-value of 6.25), the combined effect of the plastic and window is still more effective than the window alone.

Heat transfer increases proportionally with the difference in temperature between indoors and outdoors, so as the weather grows colder, heat escapes more quickly.

For those who cannot stand the

idea of heat slowly leaking away, one fail-proof thermodynamic solution remains: keep your apartment the same temperature as the outdoors.

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Curiosity delivers. |

science & technology

| Tuesday, November 27, 2012

TECHNOLOGy

7

CWTA creates blacklist for stolen mobile devices Public service site seeks to make citizens ‘phone-smart’ Kieran Steer Contributor

By Sept. 2013, would-be thieves may not want to bother with cell phones and wireless devices.

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) is working with the Groupe Spéciale Mobile Association (GSMA) to create a global database—employing new strategies to fight cell phone theft. The groups hope these new strategies will eliminate any profit from selling stolen phones.

The GSMA global database is creating a “blacklist” that will deny service to lost and stolen phones.

To make this strategy effective, the GSMA has coordinated with cell phone companies to ensure that they will cooperate. As of Sept. 2013, no mobile carrier in Canada will offer service to a blacklisted device.

To identify phones on this blacklist, the GSMA uses a very secure system. Each phone carries a unique serial number, known as an IMEI number, that identifies the device. Accessing this number is simple: dial *#06# on a cell phone.

For most devices and networks, the number will automatically display on the screen.

The serial number is also printed on the back of devices, behind the battery, and can be accessed on the phone’s packaging. The number is important for reporting the stolen phone, so the GSMA recommends keeping a copy for reference.

All serial numbers are recorded and stored in the GSMA global database. Carriers currently access the number for statistics on which devices and features are most commonly used by consumers. With the new blacklist, the carriers will also be able to share this number to ensure that all networks know when a phone has been reported lost or stolen. The number is unique and cannot be changed­—even by resetting the phone or changing the SIM card—so it provides an extremely secure method for locating devices.

“The phones get on the blacklist when they are reported by the consumer to their carrier,” Ashlee Smith, communications manager at CWTA, said. “The carrier will then send the [serial] number to the

global list and the device will … be blocked from accessing another network.”

To support this new level of security, the CWTA is also pushing for federal legislation.

“CWTA and our members are calling on the federal government to consider legislative measures that could augment industry solutions to contribute to the reduction of cell phone theft in Canada. This may include legislation that targets those who change [serial] numbers on devices,” Smith said.

Although having a phone stolen is a financial loss, to many the real value of the device is the data within. To address this concern, the CWTA is using Public Service Announcements to spread awareness of mobile device theft to Canadians. In addition to the commercials, CWTA has created the website www.protectyourdata.ca, which provides detailed strategies for using mobile devices safely. The site provides information on the technology behind phones, how they work, and ways to become more ‘phone-smart,’ such as password protection.

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Phone passwords are a simple data security measure.(i41.tinypic.com)

Across 1. Plentiful 7. Cash inflow 12. Liquid snow 13. Bitmap 14. Peter Grutter, for one 15. Turkish empire 17. ___ and cranny 19. Bean-based candy 21. Young child (Sp.) 23. Rub-a-dub-dub place 24. Skilled crafter 25. To ___ list 27. Reserved book, with on 29. Twilight Cullen 30. South American empire 32. Texas tea 33. Bill Withers song “___ me” 34. ___ we forget 35. French outdoors, with air 37. Women’s magazine 38. Basil-based sauce 39. Apologetic Outkast song, with Jackson 40. Overseas experience (abbr.)

41. Your student bar 42. To restore

44. e.g. Lebowski and Jesus 46. Bile-y 47. Soup a l’___n 48. Run fast 50. Opaque weather 51. Organic fruit chews 52. First word of candlestick’s refrain 53. Drinking night excursions 54. Place that can’t be found, except by them that already know it’s there: ___ de muerta 55. Roped in

Down 1. Reptile with a pointed snout 2. e.g. Hippocratic 3. Airplane pressure sensor 4. To boost immunity 5. Russian river 6. Less common spelling of Yemen capital 7. Computer geek (2 words) 8. Wachowski ‘one’ 9. Buddies 10. General practitioner title 11. Mistakenly

16. Construction kings of Montreal?

18. “Right in the ___” 20. Highest up 22. Colloquialism for war in Southeast Asia 26. Price of a scoop at Frostbite (if you bring your own cup) 27. Dennis or Edward 28. Edmonton’s team 31. British juvenile fiction author 33. One card game?

36. Word with apostrophe confusion 39. Bogart film, The ___ Falcon 41. U.S. tech company founded by Edison 42. Juxtaposition poems 43. Weather phenomenon 44. Exploding objects 45. Water blossom 46. Bear noises 48. Poet ___ Silverstein 49. Normal or trooper 51. Lower right compass point 53. Philosophy degree, for one

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opinion editorial

THE Mcgill

TRIBUNE Editor-in-Chief Elisa Muyl editor@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Carolina Millán Ronchetti cmillanronchetti@mcgilltribune.com Adam Sadinsky asadinsky@mcgilltribune.com

Individual access must be upheld in the right to education Earlier this month, Parti Québécois (PQ) Education Minister Pierre Duchesne announced a plan to grant student associations the legal right to strike. While it was quickly rebuffed by some in the Quebec political scene, particularly those who saw the move as yet another attempt at political posturing on the part of the PQ, Duchesne’s proposal raises an important question. Though boycotts of classes at cégeps and universities this past academic year were commonly referred to as “student strikes,” they were not legally protected in the same way that labour strikes are. Rather, in the eyes of the government, the movement was composed of individual students’ choice to boycott class. As evidenced by the many injunctions brought against student associations over the spring, students were not permitted to prevent their peers from attending class.

In stark contrast, Duchesne’s new proposal would grant striking student associations permission to set up picket lines and the right to legally—and peacefully—block ac-

cess to class.

We find Duchesne’s proposal troubling, in large part because we believe strongly in the individual right of students to attend class, even in the face of a majority strike vote. Education is a public service, and a majority of students voting to strike does not legitimize preventing access to this service. We value boycotting class as a powerful discoursive tool, but it is effective as civil disobedience, not as a legally enrishined right.

We take particular issue with allowing student strikes to operate under a legal framework, because that would further legitimize student associations as final decision-making bodies for all of their constituents. Unlike labour unions, which people enter for protection and collectivization, student associations are more informal and represent a greater diversity of viewpoints.

There is also the issue of consent— membership in most student associations is automatic and a necessary condition of attending university.

“We have a

fundamental problem with allowing a majority of students to prevent access to education, even if this is with the view of ultimately improving accessible education.

”

Legal student strikes hold more clout than boycotts. Of course, this is chief advantage cited by proponents, but the economics of a sanctioned student strike are hugely problematic. The all-or-nothing nature of a legal strike would likely lead to the closing of a university if half of the students voted in favour of such action. This means professors, administrators, and employees would all still be paid—at the public’s expense—for work no one would benefit from. Much of this fi-

nancial burden rests with taxpayers.

Students certainly have the right to come together as a faculty or student association and collectively choose to boycott class; but they do not the right to put the burden of that decision on a third party, even if the tactic ultimately puts pressure on the government.

More importantly, legal strike action puts a larger part of that burden on dissenting students. During the boycott last year, all students continued to pay tuition. If it were legally sanctioned, students who chose not to strike would be paying for a service from which they would not benefit.

We have a fundamental problem with allowing a majority of students to prevent access to education, even if this is with the view of ultimately improving accessible education. There are other ways to achieve such a goal that do not involve harming our peers, including protests and political action. Enshrining this right in law would give it legitimacy; we don’t believe it deserves that legal recognition.

Dissent—Ideals require solidarity, not indifference The Tribune’s editorial board was split this week over the concept of legal student strikes. This dissenting editorial argues for students’ right to strike in light of the struggle for accessible higher education in Quebec. We do not agree with the position expressed in the editorial above that the individual right to attend class supersedes the right of accessibile education, or that so-called “boycotts” are an effective and meaningful way to pursue collective action.

Gaps and questions certainly exist that require us to avoid the conflation of tuition-paying students with labouring workers. That being said, strikes are, in both cases, a valuable tactic of collective action in struggling for rights. They have often ensured that a majority is not only heard, but is taken seriously by those who hold institutional power.

If not enforced, a strike is ineffective, and encourages those in power to provoke division amongst strikers and to ignore their demands. Student unions, given the right to strike, would likely need to be restructured or redefined in order to function fair-

ly in a context that does not involve workers. Yet, the need to struggle collectively remains central in light of the continuing fight for accessible education in our society.

“Education is not

an individual pursuit based on our ability to buy degrees; accessible education is a way to grow as a society, and fighting for this right is a struggle for equality.

”

Free education in Quebec is recognized as a universal right and has been realized in sectors of education up to and including public cégeps. University education is also public, insofar as it is overseen and subsidized by the province. Some 49 per cent of McGill’s revenue comes from the provincial government, and 28 per cent comes from student tuition—a proportion that has in-

creased yearly, nearly tripling since the early ’80s. The average student debt after graduation in Quebec today is $13,000.

If education is truly a public service and a universal right, why is it that students here have been burdened financially for this right, above and beyond taxation? The notion expressed in the editorial above that, rather than voting on striking collectively, students should “boycott” classes—as though they were commodities—speaks to the growing reality in our society that education is not a right, but a product that can be bought and sold. The idea is this: those who pay should get their money’s worth. However, education is not an individual pursuit based on our ability to buy degrees; accessible education is a way to grow as a society, and fighting for this right is a struggle for equality. Such a struggle requires the ability to stand in solidarity and the willingness to take personal risks in order to maintain and further this accessibility that has advanced us in our lives.

This is a debate not only about the student right to strike, but about

whether education is a privilege for those who can pay individually or whether it is a public right that should be guarded for all and advanced to society’s most vulnerable. The legal inability to stand in solidarity as students risks harming our peers and future generations because we cannot unite effectively in defense of Quebec’s ideals, even after a majority vote.

In the struggle for accessible education, powerful action is required. “Boycotts” are not only ineffective but self-defeating, because such a notion promotes individual indifference and reifies the notion of education as a commodity, rather than a right we must struggle to maintain. In demanding our rights, we must each face risks, but the benefit is immense for society and for the values we wish to see passed on to future generations.

Andra Cernavskis, Victor Temprano, and Samuel Reynolds participated in this dissent and agree with the views presented. Adrien Hu, Chris Liu, Carolina Millán Ronchetti, Elisa Muyl, and Adam Sadinsky did not align with either side.

Production Manager Sam Reynolds sreynolds@mcgilltribune.com News Editors Bea Britneff, Andra Cervnavskis and Erica Friesen news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editor Anand Bery opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editors Leigh Miller and Caity Hui scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Living Editor Jacqui Galbraith studentliving@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Sara Espinal Henao feature@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Chris Liu and Ilia Blinderman arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Steven Lampert and Jeff Downey sports@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editors Alexandra Allaire and Simon Poitrimolt photo@mcgilltribune.com Senior Design Editor Susanne Wang design@mcgilltribune.com Design Editor Heather H. Lee design@mcgilltribune.com Online Editor Victor Temprano online@mcgilltribune.com Social Media Editor Lisa Yang socialmedia@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Adrien Hu copy@mcgilltribune.com Advertising Manager Myriam Richard cpm@ssmu.mcgill.ca Publisher Chad Ronalds

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Contributors Leila Sloman, Joshua Freedman, Meghan Sauer, Jacob Kantoronitz, Kieran Steer, Gregory Frank, William Burgess, Zoe Power, Alex Shiri, Nicole Rainteau, Joanna Schacter, Mayaz Alam, Trevor Drummond, Remi Lu, Rebecca Babcock, James Hutchingame, Anna Katycheva, Mike King, Michael Paolucci, Sacha Pereira Da Silva, Josh Walker, Remi Lu, Alex KpegloHennessy, Roger Hamilton-Martin

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Advertising Brown Student Building Suite 1200, 3600 McTavish Montreal, QC H3A 1Y2 T: 514.398.6835 F: 514.398.7490 The McGill Tribune is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Société de Publication de la Tribune, a student society of McGill University. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of The McGill Tribune and the Société de Publication de la Tribune, and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University.

Letters to the editor may be sent to editor@mcgilltribune.com and must include the contributor’s name, program and year and contact information. Letters should be kept under 300 words and submitted only to the Tribune. Submissions judged by the Tribune Publication Society to be libellous, sexist, racist, homophobic or solely promotional in nature will not be published. The Tribune reserves the right to edit all contributions. Editorials are decided upon and written by the editorial

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State of the Liberal leadership race

Joshua Freedman

Commentary

Now that the American election is finally over, we can once again set our sights closer to home, where an interesting leadership battle is brewing in the Liberal caucus between Martha Hall-Findlay, Justin Trudeau, and more recently, Marc Garneau—who is expected to declare his candidacy very soon.

As things stand now, the Conservatives and New Democrats are playing it politically safe, each trusting that a cautious approach will lead them to victory in the next election. In contrast, the reduction to third party status has forced the Liberals to break this tedious pattern.

They have attempted to distinguish

War on Twitter

Meghan Sauer

Commentary

Following eight days of rocket exchanges, hundreds of deaths, and thousands of injuries, Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire last Wednesday. The thousand-yearold conflict and ongoing political and religious tension over the land known today as Israel is a primary cause of the eruption of violence— but an external element, new to warfare, helped propel it.

Twitter is known for its featured celebrity commentary and its youth appeal—the most-followed twitter accounts include those of pop stars Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. But of the 170 million Twitter accounts in active use, two belong to Hamas’ al-

Corruption and McGill’s obsession with rankings

Victor Temprano

Online Editor

The recent case of Arthur Porter comes as little surprise to those who have some sense of how McGill, and other big universities in general, recruit well-known and topranking professors. Benefits such as large, publicly undisclosed salaries and low-interest loans are a perk if you are a valued academic signing a contract with McGill. For Porter, this meant nearly $100,000 on top of his public $256,000 salary—for teaching he may not have done— and access to a $500,000 loan at one per cent interest, given explicitly for real estate deals.

These benefits are not at all indicative of a poorly-working administration, or of one individual’s corrupt attempt to steal from taxpayers and students. One of McGill’s major

themselves from the other parties by putting forward some innovative ideas with yet-to-be-determined results. The Liberals hope that these pioneering ideas will draw immediate attention to their upcoming leadership convention—attention which will later be parlayed into further electoral gains.

Justin Trudeau made a big splash this week by declaring himself unabashedly in favour of a Chinese petroleum company’s attempt to buy Nexen, a Calgary-based oil company. Meanwhile, the Conservatives have been hemming and hawing about the proposed deal, stating that they need to consider Canada’s economic interest, in defiance of the party’s supposed pro free market principles. Unsurprisingly, the New Democratic Party (NDP) has come out against the bill, arguing that it is selling Canada’s sovereignty, apparently unaware that this practice is common in all developed econo-

mies. Trudeau has also given tentative support to marijuana’s potential decriminalization in the future, a position that will likely prove popular amongst wide swathes of the population.

Martha Hall-Findlay has also swung to the right on some economic positions, declaring that the policy of supply management in the dairy and poultry sectors is an antiquated relic from Canada’s past. Marc Garneau has similarly been critical of the Tories’ economic stewardship, and he will likely run his campaign promising increased fiscal leadership.

All of the above seem to be incredibly tactical moves on the Liberals’ part. The Liberal Party of the ’90s is best remembered for its sensible economic policies that reversed Canada’s economic decline.

While Canada has handled the recession better than most other Western countries, the Conservatives’ prom-

ise to balance the budget continues to be pushed back, and growth has been less than stellar these past few quarters. The Liberals seem to be positioning themselves as responsible fiscal conservatives with more liberal social policies—a ploy that they calculate is a winning formula.

However, there is still a lot more fine-tuning that the Liberals need to do if they expect to regain their position as Canada’s default ruling power. The Liberals must take the attitude that winning the next election would be an unexpected bonus, and that it is more important to broadly position the party for the future. The fiscally conservative message will go some ways in rehabilitating the Party’s Western support, although recent derogatory comments about the West continue to plague their efforts. The Grits must also find a way to win back traditional Liberal seats in Quebec. Having a native son such as Trudeau or Garneau at the helm

would certainly help there.

What all Canadians can hope for is that a rejuvenated Liberal party will not only be a boon for Liberal supporters, but that their cohesive message will force the Conservatives and New Democrats to step up their game as well. The cautious approach taken by both the Conservatives and the NDP robs Canada of potentially impactful legislative accomplishments, and is not to the country’s benefit. So far, the Liberal leadership campaign has broken historical taboos around foreign takeovers, and criticized outdated economic practices that have not been challenged in a long time. A more open-ended and innovative political culture is desperately needed in these times, and the Liberal campaign is a great step on the path of redeeming our stodgy and monotonous election cycles.

Qasssam Brigades (AQ) and Israel’s Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The AQ and the IDF are military organizations on the Eastern Mediterranean coast unable to compromise the opposing beliefs—political, religious, and otherwise—which tie them to the same land. So when each staked claims on new ground—the Twittersphere—war was inevitable. They posted attack updates, successful hits, death tolls, as well as videos and pictures of explosions, wreckage, and the civilians on the ground.

Each also tweeted threats against its enemy. While the internet today acts like a natural extension to our physical world, in many ways, it distorts and trivializes what is real. The images, videos, and words we see on our screens inevitably contain bias.

War invaded western living rooms in the ’60s through household television sets, forever changing the way North Americans at home viewed military conflict. Smartphones and laptops have allowed the

portable web to keep us informed wherever we take it: war is with us on the bus ride to campus, it accompanies us to a boring lecture, and might even keep us up in bed late at night. One could argue that war is closer and more real to us than ever before— but is it really?

The images and videos shared via the AQ and IDF Twitter accounts are emotionally captivating, and in turn, quite persuasive. But at the same time that a rocket hits Jerusalem in a Youtube video posted by the IDF, Hamas could be reporting a brand-new list of deaths in the Gaza Strip. The accounts are heavily biased, and neither one is tweeting all of the facts. They aren’t intended for their own civilians, either, but serve more as propaganda machines than news sources. Each has English language accounts, and post links to French and Spanish versions. The images of strong and serious Hamas soldiers and of Israeli children’s bedrooms destroyed by rockets are

posted specifically for the rest of the world to see, and one can easily be persuaded one way or the other. The tragedies of a war occurring across an ocean cannot be accurately expressed in the palm of a western spectator’s hand. Rocket sirens coupled with constant, imminent danger—not buzzes or notification beeps—are keeping those under attack on both sides up at night. Foreign support is each army’s objective, but the domain in which propaganda is presented hurts their cause.

Because we are accustomed to frivolous 140-character blurbs on our Twitter feeds, the combination of 140-character threats and death tolls just doesn’t feel right. But when they do find their way there, they blend into the mass of all other blurbs, and become a part of Twitter’s trivial landscape. By waging war on Twitter, Hamas and Israel may be unintentionally trivializing their own battles—and war in general—for their foreign followers. In

fact, the opposing governments interact over the Internet, replying to and re-tweeting each other. While they geographically rest side by side, the two have never been able to communicate directly in the real world; Twitter has created a space for them to safely interact. But how safe is it when thousands of people read every update? Because of social media’s instantaneous and democratic nature, many Twitter users—youth, politicians, and celebrities alike—are subject to the impulses of irrational tweeting. When battling armies enter the cyberspace, they are just as likely to make irrational, impulsive statements. When thousands of people read them, these statements could possibly have great consequences which could spill over into the ‘real world.’

War has taken on a new, questionable form. It may distort our very definitions of conflict.

causes for overspending, according to a Financial Fact Sheet put out by the Office of the Provost, is its “expenses associated with [the] recruitment and retention of top academics.” Porter is an example of how this monetized and rankings-oriented university efficiently bureaucratizes the movement of wealth from taxpayers and students to those who can give the university what it needs: namely, another rankings boost.

Porter is an anomaly in that he has not fully paid McGill back; but he is not an anomaly in the sense that, if one has a certain degree of prestige, it is far from unusual to have back-room deals where extra money can be secured from university coffers. This back-room stinks of an ‘old boys’ club,’ and it tells of a university structure built with the intention of making it easy for staff members—or more precisely, staff who have some value to rankings and are therefore considered worth retaining—to rely on taxpayers and tuition to get as much as they think

they need for their own private use.

The obsession with rankings institutionalizes friendliness towards corruption in the form of self-serving and non-transparent transfers of revenue from taxpayers and students to prestigious individuals. This strays far from the ideal of a public university.

49 per cent of McGill’s budget comes from Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS), and another 28 per cent from student tuition payments. 33 per cent of students at McGill receive some type of government aid, mainly in the form of loans with interest. Without doubt, even the loneliest student reading this has at least one friend using student loans, which have rates that vary between five and eight per cent—if not more.

Student loans will prove a burden for years, and perhaps decades after graduation, depending on one’s job prospects. This means that those using student loans will be paying proportionally far more for bor-

rowing than Porter would have had to pay on his one per cent McGillapproved property loan. While Porter’s high income would disqualify his children for student loans, Porter himself qualified for borrowing from McGill’s taxpayer and tuition revenue for his housing acquisitions—borrowing for which he was already approved from banks. Such is the price of “top academics.”

The best professors are by no means always the most visible. Yet renowned figures certainly bring the most public attention; and that, for McGill and other large universities, is the most important factor.

Porter, after all, may not even have taught the courses he was paid for at McGill; it seems fair to say that he was being paid his extra salaries, not for his teaching, but for his public prestige. The ideals of liberal education—free and critical thought —serve not as guides, but as rhetorical devices in McGill’s obsessive pursuit of the preservation of its prestige.

The institutionalization of easy money is disgusting, but not unexpected in a highly capital- and rankings-oriented university that must bend the rules and hide some professors’ salaries in order to stay ahead.

While students are incurring debts that will likely chain them for decades, well-paid Arthur Porters get whatever they need, because they have ‘real value’ to the university.

McGill wants more money every year—in part to keep up with the demand for continually growing back-room contract benefits. This may very well be what you want university to be: a place focused on recruitment for rankings, and not for teaching; on the prestigious McGill brand, rather than on free thinking; on back-room deals, rather than openness and solidarity with each other. You are the students; you can shrug your shoulders, and do as you like. But don’t be surprised at this instance of corruption; for if getting ahead is the only important thing, what else would you expect?

Man and superman:

Are neurocognitive enhancing drugs the steroids of the academic world?

By Ilia Blinderman

L

ucas* weighs over 350 lbs. He has a shaved head and a large frame densely covered with a menacing coat of tattoos. He’s also the strongest human being I’ve ever met. While waiting at the dingy 24-hour coffee shop where we had arranged to meet, I bumped into two friends and we spoke to pass the time. When Lucas arrived, and I excused myself from the conversation, one of them whispered, wide-eyed, “Did that guy just eat someone?”

Lucas, whom I’d met several years ago at my gym, had mentioned numerous times that he supplies steroids to those who seek them, but that he would tell people how to use them in moderation rather than watch them damage their health and throw money down the anabolic drain.

I was curious to speak to Lucas because of a recent academic paper written by Steven Hyman, the former director of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. In recent years, the medical community has been in the throes of a vigorous debate regarding the use of neurocognitive enhancing drugs—such as Provigil and Adderall—in the healthy population.

While voicing a cautiously optimistic view of neuroenhancers, Hyman pointed out how similar these substances were to performance enhancing drugs in sports.

“A player who did not want to take anabolic steroids or growth hormone when nearly everyone else, including his own teammates, was taking such drugs, would be at a significant disadvantage ‘playing naked,’ as it has been said. If an athletic scholarship or a high salary were at stake, it might be very difficult to resist the unfortunate community norm. This scenario can be extended to performance with psychotropic drugs,” wrote Hyman in Neuron, in 2011. The comparison between taking the occasional dose of Ritalin to study and using steroids for sports seems excessive, but its potential merits are troubling enough to investigate. *** Lance Armstrong’s public lynching following the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s October 2012 report came with brutal swiftness. The damning evidence comprised of over 200 pages of testimony by those, including many teammates, who witnessed his personal blood-doping habits and his coercive intimidation of those who failed to fall in line.

Immediately, two camps emerged: those who wished the seven-time Tour de France winner and cancer-survivor well, and those who felt betrayed by his mendacious denials of doping; the former, it seems, comprised a controversial minority.

Ironically, the history of the Tour—a grueling road race spanning some 3,500 km and lasting the better part of a month—is replete with drug use.

Since its inception, competitors took strychnine to tighten weakened muscles, sniffed ether to dull the pain in their legs, and regularly consumed

amphetamines. Fausto Coppi, a two-time winner, once declared that “those who claim [that cyclists do not take amphetamine], it’s not worth talking to them about cycling.”

When I asked Lucas about other sports, he categorically denied that such prevalent use is unique to cycling. “They all do juice, [Armstrong] just got caught. Carl Lewis even said years later that he was on juice when he was competing against Ben Johnson [in the 1984 Olympics], now he’s laughing, ‘I was on juice too!’” Lucas echoed Lewis’ laugh.

“Every baseball player over 30, guaranteed, takes steroids. There’s no way a grown man can run every day, play a game every day.

His joints, forget about it. Society wants to be naïve and think nobody’s on juice, it’s stupid.

Give the same amount of juice to another player, and they won’t be able to perform that way. What makes a guy in the top five and in the top 25?

It’s genetics. If you’re going into any field where you’re a professional athlete, you’ve got to realize that you’ll need to take steroids. It’s impossible to recuperate from your workouts without taking that supplement to rebuild your muscle.”

Paradoxically, we tend to enjoy displays of preternatural athleticism as long as we remain unaware of their connection to banned substances.

When we learn of steroid use, criticisms generally include the health risks which accompany this substance’s abuse, the unfair “loading of the dice” in one athlete’s favour, and the poor example that athletes who use such substances set for the public.

Kyle,* a former captain of a McGill varsity squad who competed at a national level, admits that this is a strange juxtaposition.

“I watch the NFL. It’s like going to the zoo and watching animals play. I watch the NBA, it’s like seeing a spectacle. There’s nothing I can do that even remotely resembles anything they can.

Steroids are pretty prevalent in the NFL—if you don’t know that, you should. Get over it, cause it’s the way it is. Those guys aren’t natural. They get paid to be unnatural!” he exclaims. If anything, he notes, it would be dangerous not to use them. Yet, he remains uncertain.

“Is it wrong? I’d like to think so. I’d like to think that there’s some sort of honour in sport that people should try for, that’s what I’ve seen in my day. But, Lance got his title stripped. The guy before him got his title stripped, and how many of the [winners] were celebrated? I feel bad for Lance, he lost a lot.

They’ve had a target on his back for a long time.

He was just lucky to get away with it, but so did everyone else. If you want to have a level playing field, make it clean for everyone. If you want to have a clean, natural sport, have a clean natural sport.” *** Interestingly, our attempts at enhancing

mental powers are no more recent than our attempts to improve our physical condition. Many romantic poets used opium while writing. Coleridge produced his famed Kubla Khan under its haze. Writers, such as Hemingway and Faulkner, imbibed near superhuman amounts of alcohol. And the Beatles, as Chuck Klosterman notes in a 2007 essay, “started taking serious drugs, and those drugs altered their musical performance. Though it may not have been their overt intent, the Beatles took performanceenhancing drugs. And this is germane to sports for

one reason: Absolutely no one holds it against them.

No one views Rubber Soul and Revolver as “less authentic” albums, despite the fact that they would not (and probably could not) have been made by people who weren’t on drugs. Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road on a Benzedrine binge, yet nobody thinks this makes his novel less significant.”

We pardon this mix of creativity and substance use, in part, because it leads to such subjectively varied results. Who’s to say that A Farewell to Arms was a better novel than Absalom, Absalom?

Adderall is a brand name psychostimulant drug.

Adderall directly affects the neural pathway associated with reward, leading to risks of addiction.

Also known as Modafinil, Provigil is a treatment of narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, and sleep apnea. Studies of healthy individuals have noted its short-term increases of attention in the wellrested; and maintainance of wakefulness, memory, and executive function in the sleep deprived

Methylphenidate (MPH; MPD), better known as Ritalin, is a psychostimulant drug approved for treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome and narcolepsy. In healthy individuals, MPH has a positive effect on memory.

Images from kaiserpermanente.org, webmd.com, technewsdaily.com

Whereas marathon times can be measured precisely, we have yet to convince ourselves that drugs such as Adderall or Provigil have equally concrete effects. No surprise, considering that the short-term cognitive benefits of such drugs in healthy people are a recent finding.

The academic setting, in particular that of an elite university, is a fertile climate for exploring such ideas. Kyle, an excellent student himself, believes that McGill’s high-achieving students are more likely to use study drugs, than its varsity players are to use banned substances.

“They call it the ‘Brawn Drain’—it takes our top quality athletes and brings them [to the big colleges]. They get better deals down there. Even if it’s a fringe sport—they give you a full ride, why would you turn it down, to be in a [Big 10 school] environment? They have more flexibility to let kids in, whereas McGill’s a highly academic school. A lot of the time, you can’t get the best athletes through the door. McGill athletics has really been [trying to] make it a welcoming place, just to have people come and play. Lots of great programs—but it’s far behind other schools.”

While the focus on McGill’s varsity sports is a fraction of that found in many U.S. schools, Kyle notes McGill students can be incredibly competitive when it comes to grades. This is their professional domain, whether they’re vying for places in grad school, or lucrative job offers. In fact, a paper in Addiction showed study drug use to be more prevalent at competitive schools.

Jonathan, a first-year in one of McGill’s most competitive programs, states that, while a stigma surrounds neurocognitive enhancing drugs, he doesn’t take it too seriously.

“It doesn’t mean that you can’t have a non productive day—it’s just a bit of a facilitator. The only reason you feel a little bit guilty is because there’s a bit of a stigma, but when my friends asked me if I did, I said yes straight up. After taking it, I don’t feel like it gave me an IQ boost. It’s still working with what you have.” *** For those who don’t engage in steroid use to improve sports performance, the goal is aesthetic.

Kyle notes a marked difference between the McGill’s varsity gym and its main gym in this regard. “[At] the main gym—I’ve seen a lot more, and talked a lot more about banned substances. In the varsity gym, I haven’t seen anything that’s been below board. It’s a huge attitude shift between the two. People who train in the varsity gym aren’t there to look good. It’s very functional, very much sports specific, and oriented towards being an athlete. By the time you hit our age, and you’re doing a sport, you know that you’re either going to be able to do it after university or you’re not. In 99 per cent of people’s situations, this ends after university. You lose the drive, you lose your team, because you’re done. You lose structure. That’s when you start to embrace training for other things. The use of banned

substances is more associated with commonplace training than the McGill varsity community.”

Lucas agrees.

“People that are doing stuff like steroids, it’s because they’ve been brought up on the Internet,” he states emphatically. “The most popular thing on the internet is the porn star world, and the new culture is a Jersey Shore culture: everyone wants a six pack, everyone wants to have muscles, because they associate muscles with getting pussy. It’s all vanity.”

Even in academic circles, placing such importance on cognitive function is rare. If the ability to remember a nine-digit string of random numbers led people to be more attractive, our society would be a vastly different place, and the debate on study drugs would be much more one-sided.

Of course, while numerous studies have confirmed the harms of steroid abuse, use of neurocognitive enhancing drugs in healthy individuals is relatively recent, and long-term study data is scarce. And, although substances such as Addrall and Ritalin affect the dopamine pathways, leading to potentially addictive properties, others, like Provigil, are less understood. Jennifer Fishman, Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Ethics Unit at McGill University, expresses concerns regarding long term use.

“Even if there are no short-term side effects, [study drugs impact our] brain chemistry, and we don’t know the long-term effects.”

Hyman’s comparison of steroid use to neurocognitive enhancing drugs is, in part, correct.

To a significant degree, a historical distinction is responsible for our differing attitudes towards the two: while we’ve possessed methods of increasing strength and muscle mass for decades, our discovery of reliable mechanisms for improving mental attributes is a recent development. In light of such novelty, and its corollary lack of data on the detrimental effects of neurocognitive enhancers, its seems that many ethicists are wise to reign in our enthusiasm regarding such drugs.

Fishman believes that, pressures aside, the decision to enhance performance ultimately comes down to a personal choice.

“I think many would say that it’s naïve to think of any of these as a free choice—to take these drugs, or not. But on the other hand, we are all subjecting ourselves to this kind of society which makes us want to keep up. We do it to ourselves, right? Nobody makes us to it. When we talk about the pressures, they’re amorphous. Unless you’re an extremely high-level athlete, there’s no coach,” she said. “I think the hardest part is that we each choose how we’re going to participate. And, while it’s not a free choice in any way, it’s not a conspiracy. It’s not big brother surveillance society. It’s much more of the self-surveillance that we all do.” *names anonymity

have

been

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ensure

Student living pro tips

First stops at McGill: Where to look for the help you need The Tribune’s guide to navigating the large sea of student services available on campus Elisa Muyl Editor-in-Chief McGill is infamously large and impersonal, and students must adjust to a certain level of independence.

Some students make it through four years without ever going to see their advisor. Although many students may feel that they can do it all themselves, there are a lot of services available at McGill for when you just need a little help. Here are a few first stops, right in time for the Fall final season: Service Point: When in doubt, go to Service Point. Front desk personnel and a series of advisors can handle any administrative task you can throw at them. Whether it’s a new ID card; documentation, such as proof of enrolment, diplomas; or official transcripts, Service Point should be your first stop. The staff can provide information on tuition and fees, approve late course withdrawals, and point you towards a different advisor if they can’t help you themselves.

Where: Service Point is located on the ground floor of the McClennan Library, now accessible by McTavish or through a hallway beside the language lab in the library.

McGill Student Health Service: For a drop-in appointment on weekdays, students should line up as early as possible in front of 3511 Peel. Doors open at 8:00 a.m., and appointments fill up quickly. In the afternoon, the staff typically continue to accept appointments, but only to see nurses. The clinic closes at 4:00 p.m., so aim to have your emergencies earlier on in the day, if you can. Bring your student ID and health care or insurance card.

For non-emergencies, call 514398-6017 on the 15th to book an appointment for the upcoming month.

To get help after hours, call InfoSanté at 8-1-1.

Nightline: McGill Nightline’s phone lines are open from 6:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. every day, and provide free and confidential listening, information, and referrals for students. Volunteers are trained in non-judgmental, active listening. Beyond providing crisis services, the hotline welcomes all kinds of calls, and fields requests for everything from directions to advice on take-out menus and medical referrals.

To reach Nightline, dial (514) 398 MAIN (6246).

McGill Scholarships and Student Aid Office: The SSAO aims to help all students manage their finances and help fund their education. It provides information for governmental aid on provincial, national, and international levels, and offers financial aid on the bases of both need and merit.

It administers McGill’s work-study program and offers information about a wide range of awards, as well as tips for money management, loans, and dealing with financial emergencies.

Visit the SSAO every weekday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Brown Student Services, suite 3200 or call 514-398-6013.

Shag Shop: The Shag Shop is McGill’s source of information on sexual health issues. It provides inexpensive sexual health resources and contraception, and answers questions in person and online through an anonymous question form, ‘Ask Dr. T’ (http://www.mcgill.ca/studenthealth/ask).

When and where: The Shag Shop is open 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. It is located on the third floor of the Brown Student

services building, and is accessible through 3600 McTavish or by 3511 Peel.

McGill Legal Information Clinic: The (LICM) is a volunteer service run by law students and provides information on most areas of provincial and federal law, excluding criminal and tax law or large construction contracts. Volunteers can only provide general information and cannot give counsel, but they do provide referrals to community or legal organizations. The LICM is a good first stop for students who want to know more about how to handle a possibly delicate legal situation.

LICM is located on the first floor of the SSMU building, and is open 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and until 8:00 p.m. on Tuesdays.

SACOMSS: The Sexual Assault Centre of McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS) offers support, advocacy, and outreach for survivors of sexual assault. SACOMSS also runs a helpline, support groups, and a series of training sessions, as well as offers contact information for counselling services and health clinics in Mon-

treal. It’s non-judgmental and entirely volunteer-run, and is located in the basement of the SSMU building, in room B-27.

To contact SACOMSS, visit their offices, their website (sacomss. org), or dial (514) 398-8500.

Counselling Services and McGill Mental Health: Technically two separate entities, McGill Counselling and McGill Mental Health both offer support to McGill students. Counselling Services is staffed mostly by counsellors and psychologists, while the Mental Health staff is composed largely of psychiatrists, who typically handle more serious cases and prescribe medication. An Intake Counsellor can direct students who are unsure of what sort of help they need, to the right place.

Intake service is open from noon to 4:00 p.m. in room 4200 of the Brown Building. Counselling Services are open for drop-in weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the same location, and Mental Health reception is open 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., room 5500.

By Adam Sadinsky

Chicken Soup Recipe Jewish mothers have been telling their kinderlach—children in Yiddish—for centuries, that a bowl of hot chicken soup can cure any ailment, physical or emotional. As flu—and finals—season kicks in, put away the ramen noodles and make yourself a (really) big pot of chicken soup. It freezes extremely well, and it never hurts to have some around when you’re just not feeling yourself.

Ingredients: 16 cups cold water 6 skinless chicken thighs 3 whole onions, peeled 4 carrots, cut in thirds 3 stalks celery, cut in thirds

3 parsnips, cut in thirds Handful fresh dill Handful fresh parsley Salt and pepper to taste 1 cup broad egg noodles

Instructions: Wash, peel, and cut fresh vegetables. Combine all ingredients in a pot, and bring to boil. Skim the foam from the top, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for three hours. My grandmother would add some matzo balls (or kneidlach) before serving, but some broad egg noodles will do just fine. Add salt and pepper to your liking, and enjoy!

uniquely

Do you know someone involved on campus?

Have a friend with a quick wit?

By James Hutchingame

Mixed

Drink

Recipes

The Last Wish Bacardi 151® is a drink that makes any shooter special and memorable, tequila is what brings out the best and worst in all of us. Throw in Triple Sec® and you have the icing on the cake—to a bartender anyway.

Ingredients: 1/3 oz. Bacardi 151® 1/3 oz. Tequila 1/3 oz. Triple Sec®

Burning Bank As an avid ‘Coke over Pepsi’ fan, I was always disappointed when my server would bring my mixed drink with the latter whenever I ordered an [insert cheap liquor here] and Coke. So here’s my drop shot to be submerged in one kind of pop, and one kind of pop only. You guessed it: Coke.

Ingredients: ½ oz. Fireball® ½ oz. Goldschläger® 3-4 oz. Coca-Cola® Pour Fireball and Goldschläger equally into a shot glass—the order does not matter. Drop into a tall, thin glass of enough Coke, so that the shot glass is fully submerged, and presto! A balance of sweet and spicy, and a possible candidate for Coke’s newest ad campaign. Just remember, you heard it here first.

Pour each of these into a shot glass in the order above, and enjoy the love/hate relationship that is sure to follow.

Nominate them for

student of the week!

Images from www.urban75.com, www.getghostgear.com

Email us at

studentliving@mcgilltribune.com

Curiosity delivers. |

STUDENT LIVING

| Tuesday November 27, 2012

restaurant review

13

Nilufar offers exotic fare on a budget

Fresh falafel, succulent shawarmas, and scrumptious soups will keep you coming back Rebecca Babcock Contributor Shawarmas and pitas are among McGill students’ favourite foods. With their special sauces and spices, they make for comforting, savoury, and yummy choices. While it’s not all that hard to find a place that serves Middle Eastern food in Montreal, if you don’t find the right place your experience will be mediocre at best.

We all have our go-to places for the nights when braving the kitchen just doesn’t appeal. These are often near by, but once in a blue moon there is a truly compelling reason to get out of the McGill bubble and head towards Concordia. One such draw is a truly delectable Middle Eastern fast-food restaurant by the name of Nilufar.

A block past the Guy-Concordia Metro Station, this unassuming gem is not very noticeable amongst all the other restaurants one can find

on rue Ste. Catherine. The sign is now, after 20 years in business, a faded green and pink banner, and the place looks rather run-of-the-mill.

This impression doesn’t last long, once you get inside.

Nilufar is best known for their soup, falafel pita, and drink combo which comes with a big serving of soup, a pita with two medium-sized tomato and lettuce falafel, and a choice of lemonade or peach juice for just under three dollars, tax included.

Over the past few years, I’ve tried my fair share and have become something of a falafel aficionado.

I’ve bought falafel balls from Costco, I’ve made them from a pre-made mix bought at my local grocery store, and I’ve had the dish at other restaurants. It’s no exaggeration when I say that Nilufar’s is the best falafel I’ve tasted. It’s crispy on the outside yet moist and flavourful on the inside—the perfect texture.

While the unbelievable price

might have you think that you’re in for some questionable ingredients; this is far from the truth. Nilufar’s menu boasts homemade barley, vegetable, lentil, Moroccan, and Tanzanian soups, just to name a few. They don’t have all of these options every day, but you won’t be disappointed with any soup you choose; all are hearty and will more than fill you up. My personal favourites are the Moroccan and the barley, but if you like something a little spicier, the Tanzanian soup is definitely for you.

As a vegetarian, I have only tried Nilufar’s falafel, but the restaurant also offers a multitude of meat dishes. Fear not, meat-lovers, you’ll be just as satisfied with your savoury shawarma as the veggie lovers are with their falafel. You will just have to pay a little bit more. Nilufar also serves Halal food, and is vegan friendly—making it a perfect option for any restaurant-goer.

While Nilufar offers catering— including personalized menus—for

student week of the

Nilufar serves delicious and inexpensive Middle Eastern food. (yelp.ca) private events, most people prefer to dine-in, whether by themselves for some peace and quiet, or in a group to catch-up with friends. An added bonus of dining at Nilufar is the short wait. Food is served in less than eight minutes—or 15 on a particularly busy day.

With its quick service, homemade food, and cheap prices, Nilufar is great for students looking for

satisfying, filling, and home-cooked meals on a budget.

Nilufar is located at: 1923 Rue Sainte-Catherine O, Montreal, Quebec Opening hours are: Mon-Fri: 10:00-21:00, Sat: 11:00-19:00, Sunday: Closed.

Telephone: (514)-846-1947

This student of the week was nominated for her work on the executive team of the Women in House program.

with Jacqui Galbraith

Q: What’s your dream job?

A: I would actually like to be a parliamentarian eventually. Or [something] where I could work to impact policies … but have a chance to travel on the job and really communicate with people—facilitate groups of people.

Q: So some sort of mediation between parliament and the voters themselves?

A: Yeah, I guess that would lead me to lobbyist or something like that. I’m not shutting any doors, but I’d like to be able to create change, and work with people.

Q: What’s your favourite study spot in Montreal?

A: I really like McLennan, there’s this little nook in the back of the first floor that I like to study at.

Q: If you won the lottery, what’s the very first thing you would buy?

A: A trip to somewhere; maybe to visit my sister in South Africa. She’s interning [there] as a photographer.

Vanessa Wattamaniuk U3 Political science (Simon Poitrimolt / McGill Tribune)

Q: What’s the last song you remember listening to?

A: I may have watched the Phantom of the Opera last night. So the last song from that.

Q: What’s the first thing you think of when I say ‘Winter break’?

A: Home. I haven’t been home for a year, so I’ve been looking forward to it.

Q: Were you in Montreal last summer?

A: I was just working here and really spending my first summer in Montreal, which I’ve wanted to do for a while.

I [worked] at Provigo … but I got a chance to go to the jazz festival and do a little bit of travelling.

Q: What’s next on your travelling bucket list?

A: I’m planning to take a year off of school once I graduate. I would like to work in a different country; I’ve been to Europe a couple of times, but I’ve yet to do a real Euro-trip. I’d also like to go to South Africa to visit my sister.

Q: You were nominated for your work on the exec team for Women in House, can you talk a bit about that program?

A: It’s two days [in Ottawa], Wednesday and Thursday [of last week]. There are three coordinators, and each year it changes, so people who are participants in the program the year before get selected to be coordinators the following year. There’s not really any staff involvement; it is funded by different groups from McGill, but [Women in

House] was really completely student run; just the three of us.

Q: So what do the two days entail?

A: The first day you just organize speakers; a lot of prominent parliamentarians. We [had] morning speakers … [like] Nancy Peckford, who’s the director of Equal Voice [an organization dedicated to electing more women to parliament] … and then we [took] a tour of parliament, [attended] question period, and in the afternoon we [heard] MP speakers. This year we had Elizabeth May and Niki Ashton [among others]. In the evening, we [attended] a reception hosted by Senator Fraser just for us. There are several senators and a couple of MPs who come, and it’s a much more casual setting. The second day all of the girls [got] paired up with a member of parliament, and they [got] to shadow them for the whole day.

Q: Are the girls paired up randomly, or do you and the other two coordinators have a say in that?

A: Each of the [applicants] writes quite a bit about themselves, so from that we get a general idea of their interests.

From there we try to pair them with the MP that is most appropriate for them.

Q: Are you part of the process for selecting next year’s coordinators?

A: Yes, so [during] second semester we’re going to be getting applications for people who want to be coordinators next year. The three of us will see who works best together as a team, because that’s really important.

Q: How old is this program?

A: This was our 12th anniversary.

Q: Which MP did you shadow last year?

A: I shadowed Kelly Block from the Conservative party. Even though our political ideologies weren’t necessarily aligned, it was really interesting just going to the committee meetings, and hearing people speak about programs I’d actually heard of.

Q: What advice would you offer to other girls interested in this program to get the most out of it?

A: One thing I know I have problems with sometimes is, if they’re MPs, I feel they must be these supernatural beings that are so intelligent; and I’ll find myself hesitant to speak my mind. But just realize that they’re people, and you can just approach them and speak with them. That’s the way you’re going to get the most out of the program, [by] just speaking to them on a person to person level.

Follow us on Twitter! @mcgill_tribune

arts & entertainment Music

Jazzed-up McGill prof to perform at Segal Centre

Pianist, drummer, recording engineer—and full-time professor—André White’s still got the groove Gregory Frank Contributor What makes a jazz concert exciting? Piano quintets featuring vibraphones, Spanish-bebop fusion, and never-previously-released songs, obviously. Taking the hint, drummer, pianist, and McGill music professor André White will take to the Segal stage next week. With esteemed vibraphonist François Stevenson, guitarist Carlos Jimenez, bassist Alex Walkington, and drummer Dave Laing, The André White Quintet will present an eclectic array of music, composed entirely

by White.

“You need to think how the textures are going to work. You don’t want it to be too dense,” White comments, referring to the combination of vibraphone, guitar, and piano— an exciting feature of his upcoming concert. “I like the challenge of working with those three instruments.”

White says his music is “firmly steeped in the bebop tradition,” and he was surrounded by jazz while growing up. “That’s sort of [the] music that’s been pounded into my brain ... to me, that really relates to all the music that comes after it, it’s not like you separate it.”

And he doesn’t. Even when the music in question precedes bebop chronologically, White stays crafty.

Inspired by the great 19th century Spanish composers Granados and Albéniz, he composed a special suite that “would refer to that period, that music.” “[But] it’s still jazz music,” he reassures. “I’ve been trying to get the sound of that music and marry it to contemporary jazz.”

The “El Toro Suite” from his album El Toro is anything but a literal transcription from the Spanish originals. “[I’m] working on it from the perspective of a jazz musician who’s self-taught,” says White. “I haven’t

actually taken Granados’ music and put it in front of me and stole some stuff.” Rather, he tries “to get the flavour and add it to [his] own original music.”

“And that’s hard,” he concedes, “because you put yourself in a time period, and try to extract that back to reality.”

However, when it comes to bebop’s relevance in White’s music, he admits: “I don’t want to just stay in 1940. I’m trying to incorporate some new things as well.” On top of his affinity towards Charlie Parker and Bill Evans, White keeps listening to music, especially to those produced

by Schulich’s own “unbelievable talent.”

In fact, the McGill professor is a product of that very crowd. He earned his M. Mus in sound recording at McGill, and followed that career path for some time, recording over 100 CDs featuring artists such as Kirk MacDonald and René Bolduc. So bringing the behind-the-

scenes recording artist to the Segal’s centre stage is a neat contrast—this show is about him.

But it’s also about the audience: “I want people who walk away from the concert [to] have a melody from the concert in their heads,” says White. “I’m trying to stay with the idea that the songs are memorable, but they’re not so complicated that they make your brain hurt.”

With all the modernist music out there, one finds solace in music that’s easy to listen to.

“For me, the most important thing is to play a good solo on every tune, not to play the parts perfectly, but that the improvising is at the highest level it can be, that I can produce,” White says. “That’s my interest, and that’s what I enjoy. It’s like when you close your eyes, and you play a good solo, sometimes it’s better than sex. Not always—but sometimes,” White laughs.

The musician and McGill professor is the exception to the rule

André White. (segalcentre.org) that it’s nearly impossible to sustain yourself as a jazz musician. His upcoming performance promises quality music, delivered by a cohesive band, and pieces that are less Spanish, and more White.

The André White Quintet performs at the Segal Centre (5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine) Dec. 2. Tickets start at $15.

MUsic

McGill alumnus and current DJ Kid Koala spins up a storm Eric San’s Vinyl Vaudeville Tour stops in hometown for a night of popcorn, puppets—and an element of surprise William Burgess Contributor DJ Eric San, aka “Kid Koala,” stresses the importance of DIY style in producing his latest album, 12 bit Blues.

“It’s kind of like if you’re a chef and you’re growing your own vegetables,” says the Canadian beat chopper and ‘turntablist’ of his latest project.

While Kid Koala constructed the album almost entirely from samples, it sounds incredibly cohesive. Besides sourcing old blues recordings, Kid Koala has been making good use of his vinyl cutter: recording sounds, pressing them, and squeezing them into the limited memory of his beloved SP1200 sampler—a relic of hip-hop’s golden age. He appreciates the

“human groove” that the machine is able to reproduce, even if that kind of groove was traditionally used for old-school beats of artists like Public Enemy and Cypress Hill.

“When I finally got my hands on one in the studio, the interface was very fluid and natural,” he says.

“But instead of using this kind of iconic hip-hop machine to make a hip-hop record, I decided to make a blues record.”

San’s homemade mentality permeates almost every aspect of his work—from the build-your-own cardboard turntable that is packaged with the 12 bit Blues CD, to his insistence on mixing everything live with no safety net.

“I like the feeling of balancing the shows on three needles,” he says, a strategy that is intended to keep both the audience and him on their

toes. On his Vinyl Vaudeville Tour, which stops in Montreal this Thursday, he comes armed with three turntables and a mixer, as well as a host of other “sideshows” that include giant cardboard gramophones, a popcorn popper, a magnetic dartboard, dancing girls, and puppets.

New ideas for segments of the show come to Kid Koala after every city, or even during a concert.

“It starts in one place, and then with every subsequent song there’s this different act, and we have to kind of transform what’s happening on stage every time, and it keeps getting bigger and weirder,” San says.

The ‘old-school spectacle’ is aimed at both turntable heads and people who might not have a preconceived notion of what a ‘turntablist’ does, especially in a modern era of DJs using digital tools.

Projectors aimed at Kid Koala will highlight his scratching talent while other segments interact with the live music, including vaudeville dancers that swing to the slow, bluesy tunes.

Since the music on 12 bit Blues naturally has a slow tempo and a 6/8 swing, which isn’t exactly conducive to a big, lively concert, Kid Koala wanted to include something that would add to the energy of the show.

The new tour and album will, perhaps, quell the appetite of chef Koala’s fans, who have been eagerly anticipating rapper Del the Funkee Homosapien’s Deltron Event II—a sequel to the classic Deltron 3030, on which Kid Koala was a collaborator. The album has been in the works for 10 years, plagued by delays and missed release dates, but San says that he’s “been listening to

it for a month now,” and that it will be released by EMI this spring, adding that “It does laps around the first record, for sure.” Hip-hop heads in LA got to see an exclusive preview of Event II when the Vinyl Vaudeville tour kicked off with special guest producer Dan the Automator earlier this month, but no such thing is planned for later dates. Nevertheless, Kid Koala has something special up his sleeve for the stop in his native Montreal, which he didn’t want to give away. Whatever it is, seeing a true vinyl master loop and sample blues live should in itself be worth the price of admission.

The Vinyl Vaudeville Tour comes to Montreal Nov. 19th at Corona Theatre (2490 Notre-Dame West). Admission is $31.

could be good FILM Montreal Brazil Film Festival

DANCE Sunya

THEATRE

The sixth annual event will showcase fourteen features and documentaries, including the nation’s official entry for the 2013 Oscars, The Clown.

The Segal Centre’s Choreographers-inResidence Sinha Danse and Constantinople presents a new piece blending dance and Persian-inspired music.

A synthesis of different cultures and art forms, Peleus and Thetis fuses Western drama and Jingju (Chinese opera) to reexamine the epic of Greek myth.

Nov. 30 to Dec. 6th at Cinema du Parc (3575 avenue du Parc).

Dec. 1, 8 p.m., Segal Centre (5170 Chemin de la Cote-Ste-Catherine). Free admission; RSVP at segalcentre.org

Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, Concordia’s D. B. Clarke Theatre (1455 de Maisonneuve).

Student tickets $5.

Peleus and Thetis at Concordia

DANCE Bouge d’ici presents MASH UP

COMMUNITY EVENT Yelp presents Nice Mo!

A jam-packed evening of performance, dance, song, and poetry that serves as the fundraiser for the Bouge d’ici festival.

Free party with complimentary bites and drinks—celebrate Movember while supporting local business.

Nov. 30, 7 p.m., Shift Space (1190 St. Antoine West). Tickets $10.

Nov. 27, 7 - 9 p.m., Il Motore (179 JeanTalon West). RSVP at yelp.ca/events

Curiosity delivers. |

arts & entertainment

| Tuesday, November 27, 2012

theatre

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Seeing RED will feel like anything but

The Segal Centre’s latest production tackles abstract impressionism and the commoditization of art William Burgess Contributor “What do you see?” repeats Mark Rothko to his assistant in an early scene of the Segal Centre’s RED, a Montreal production of the hit Broadway play by John Logan.

Lead actor Randy Hughson’s shrewd Rothko may as well be directing that question at us, his mantra imploring the audience to gaze deeply into the canvases that comprise the stage’s backdrop.

In translating the famous abstract impressionist’s work and life to theatre, careful attention is paid to the stage, so that the transfer of medium from painting to production remains faithful to Rothko’s artistic statement. The industrial-looking stage mimics the gym that he worked in, complete with towering works in progress and a wooden floor that the actors pace and splatter with paint.

Rothko and his young assistant Ken (Jesse Aaron Dwyre) wheel the gigantic canvases around, adjusting the lights that illuminate their bodies in order to examine themselves. The actors’ in-scene manipulation of set pieces has them additionally serve as studio props, which helps create an immersive scene. The accuracy

of the set, including the paintings, adds to this aim, too.

“Our building techniques, the way we make things, the lighting instruments that we’re using are all very authentic,” says Jonathan Rondeau, the Segal Centre’s director of production.

Authenticity is a concept Rothko himself struggled with throughout his career. RED focuses on a critical period in his life when he was commissioned to paint a series of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant in the Seagram Building in New York City, a project whose artistic integrity Ken eventually challenges. Ken is initially wide-eyed, reacting timidly to Rothko’s brash lectures and abrupt, pseudo-intellectual musings. Later on, however, their dynamic changes. “[Ken] starts to infiltrate the relationship Rothko has with the paintings,” says Dwyre. “That’s when the show starts to break open, and we get revelations.” As Ken critiques the Rothkos from across a generation gap—according to Dwyre, he’s even more new-school than Rothko was at the time—RED explores the meaning and value of art.

The value of a Rothko is currently a hot topic in the art world.

Art collectors have been criticized for turning Rothko’s paintings into commodities that preserve wealth, rather than visual statements for the enjoyment of everyone. Two weeks ago, Rothko’s No. 1 (Royal Red and Blue) sold for $75 million at the Sotheby’s auction house, the second-highest ever paid for one of his paintings. Orange, Red, Yellow sold for nearly $87 million earlier this year.

This issue is also examined in David Cronenberg’s 2012 film Cosmopolis, in which a predatory capitalist, played by Robert Pattison, expresses an interest in buying the entire Rothko Chapel, and is disappointed when his art dealer explains that it’s not for sale. The film comments on the irony of Rothko creating his Chapel as a public, nondenominational space, where anyone could see his work—a response to the privatization of his artwork that he considered the Seagram murals to be a part of. As RED shows, the inherent exclusivity of the Four Season’s space was the main reason the commission was ultimately turned down.

To continue the tradition of democratization of Rothko’s work, the Segal Centre will hold a free educa-

Randy Hughson and Jesse Aaron Dwyre. (Anna Katycheva / McGill Tribune) tion session at McGill next week.

The production may receive a fortuitious boost by two events: the Musée Des Beaux-Arts’ impressionism exhibit, and the much-hyped film, Skyfall, written by RED’s Logan— events that the Segal Centre hopes will encourage Montreal audiences

to experience Rothko at a price that won’t put them in the red.

RED runs from Nov. 29 to Dec. 16, 2012 at the Segal Centre (5170 Chemin de la Croix-Ste-Catherine).

Student admission $24.

theatre

Loucho scores big with kids—and the kid in all of us

When children’s theatre, balloons, and clowns meet social critique and alcohol, magic occurs

Loucho is assuredly less creepy in person. (theatresaintecatherine.com) Zoe Power Contributor Playing at Theatre Sainte-Catherine until December 2, Loucho: The Multicoloured Machine is a colourful explosion of giggles, gags, dance, juggling, balloons, hula hooping, acrobatics, pantomime, amazing feats of strength and bal-

ance, and straight-up fun. It has live music, audience participation, fabulous costuming, and a liquor license.

Take note: when this show says “all ages,” it doesn’t mean ‘for kids:’ it means ‘ditch your parties, gigs, and other supposedly cool Friday night activities, and get on down here.’

Written by Mark Louch, who also plays the lead—but featuring

about one-fifth improvisation from the talented cast—Loucho is a tale with all the hallmarks of a winning production.

Drama! Dunderwaits, a mischievous, and rather terrifying villain, has seized control of a mysterious multi-coloured machine, and stands to suck all colour out of Loucho’s already bleak and impersonal world. Our hero is an endearing and inexperienced everyman who, one day at his office, unexpectedly receives an urgent summons to embark on an epic venture to save his world and loved ones. Will he succeed?

Romance! Loucho’s bumbling companion for the journey is the sweet-as-pie Sam (Lise Vigneault).

From the pair’s synchronized sneezing and shared states of continual awkward bewilderment, we can tell Sam belongs by Loucho’s side forever—but will they realize this in time?

Amazing onstage feats! A night out at Loucho will treat you to a myriad of acts: from mid-air twists and plummets of jaw-dropping audacity, to a bowling-themed juggling

extravaganza performed by a man with an impressively sleazy moustache, and a villain so terrifying that a member of audience had to be escorted out crying—twice.

Insightful social commentary!

Loucho’s is a ‘hypermodern techcrazed world destitute of colour,’ in which no joy exists. Everyone wears black and white, and the craze for technology is so rampant that even babies have cell phones. As comical as Dunderwaits and her monochrome, tech-obsessed henchmen may be, do they reveal to us a dark image of our future? This theme is surprisingly well-handled: the cast hails from a production company that specializes not in children’s fare, but instead produces instead thought-provoking theatre for the thinking adult. The threat of lost community and identity is communicated in a manner far less obtrusive and in-your-face than most adult literature or theatre—and with more fire. Did I mention there’s fire?

Sex appeal! Be sceptical as much as you like here, but the fact of the matter is, there’s repeated handholding, and very nearly, even

a kissing scene! Abigail, the benevolent blushing maiden with an aweinspiring solo hula scene, is played by the stunning burlesque producer Esmerelda Jasso-Nadaeu. You heard it here—burlesque!

A free lesson in French! The performance gets by on amazingly little dialogue: Loucho is a master of communicating in a void of sound, and it’s always impressive when it takes the voice of another performer to make you realize that the lead himself hasn’t uttered a sound for the past two scenes. Here, the scenes are constructed with the visual and the physical firmly at the centre. But, for those from out of town, bilingual children’s theatre is in itself, a spectacle to behold.

So get over your fears of clowns and “all-ages” event tags, and get on down to the circus. You might go in ‘ironically,’ but I challenge anyone with some humour and soul to leave this show without a genuine smile on their face.

Loucho runs until Dec. 2 at Théâtre Ste. Catherine (264 Ste. Catherine East). Tickets $15.

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012 |

arts & entertainment

Album

visual arts

reviews

Blown Up: Gaming and War—a frustrating chore Latest MAI exhibit misses the mark Ilia Blinderman A&E Editor

Scala & Kolacny Brothers December

SoHo Ghetto Humble Beginnings Make for Good Night Life

John Frusciante PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone

Warner Brothers Canada

Self-released

Record Collection

There are no “Hallelujahs” or “Jingle Bells” in this Christmas cover compilation, but the unconventional song choices, including covers of Linkin Park, Coldplay, and Damien Rice, only augment the audible pleasure of December.

This is choir music: voice-centric and airy, but managing to stand out with exceptional emotional expression and arrangement. The melodic female voices accompanied by piano are almost church-like, but the album is supplemented by a couple of male solos, percussion, and electric guitar on certain tracks, which ensure that songs don’t bleed into each other. Each is distinct and more than pleasant to listen to in its own way.

The Belgian women’s rock choir, conducted, arranged, and accompanied by two brothers, gained attention when their cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” was featured in the trailer for The Social Network. They have released five studio albums of specially-made arrangements of well-known musicians, won numerous awards, and have been featured on The Simpsons, Downton Abbey, Conan, SXSW, and the London 2012 Olympic closing ceremony.

Their success is a testament to their ability to take songs that would never be considered choir material and turning them into beautiful, and in this case seasonal, arrangements.

Linkin Park’s “My December,” Coldplay’s “Christmas Lights,” Joni Mitchell’s “River,” Sufjan Stevens’ “It’s Christmas! Let’s Be Glad,” Damien Rice’s “Eskimo,” and “Did I Make the Most of Loving You,” from the Downton Abbey soundtrack are particularly lovely covers. Though these aren’t typical Christmas songs, December doesn’t have a single track that doesn’t call to mind crisp winter night air and snow crunching under boots, and embody that Christmas feeling.

Halifax’s SoHo Ghetto have created a pleasant, if not wholly unique, blend of pop and orchestral styles. The indie band’s newly released EP, Humble Beginnings Make for Good Night Life, certainly correspond to that style. The six tracks provide easy-listening, but a few listens are necessary to appreciate the songs’ nuances.

The EP opens gently with “Honorable Mention.” Strings precede a steady drum beat overlaid by lead singer Marc Antoine’s indie crooning. “Anchor Tattoo” is, unfortunately, as dull and as tired as an actual anchor tattoo—monotonous, except for a slightly more interesting chorus. “Day of Saints and Lovers,” on the other hand, brings more heartfelt passion with a combination of frantic strings and complementary vocals.

“Heart, Beat, Skip” almost reaches the point of an anthem but lacks punch; only the lyrics “it could be the beat you can’t afford to miss” hit home. A slow lament at the beginning of “Arrows and Vines” progresses into a melancholy jig, with a distinctively Celtic vibe. Antoine’s evocative drawl, makes this the brightest addition to this EP. “Your Weapon,” a steady-tempo ballad, comes in a close second, with its wonderful vocal and melodic appeal.

Humble Beginnings Make for Good Night Life can be rather dull at times. The appeal of certain songs, however, makes it impossible to discount SoHo Ghetto. The EP clearly demonstrates the group’s skill in crafting songs emblazoned with their own character.

If you are among the many that are disappointed with the latest Red Hot Chili Peppers album, 2011’s I’m With You, here’s the possible explanation, and a potential cure.

Since strongest creative force in the band, guitarist John Frusciante, departed the group, he has been pouring his talents into solo material. This individual work has finally been released, in the form of an EP titled Letur-Lefr, and a longer work, PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone.

The album comes with a warning; Frusciante is an imaginative musician who has been looking to give a truly free reign to his talent for some time, so don’t listen to this expecting Blood Sugar Sex Magic 2.

The 11th studio album from Frusciante is a complete departure.

He claims the genre as progressive synth-pop. The initially striking thing about the record is the cover art; it looks like it might have been drawn by a four year old—or by Frusciante during the heroin years.

PBX is not as instantly likeable as Letur-Lefr, and the main criticism of the record is in its confusing production. At times it jars, and sounds as though drum and bass beats could have been added to the disturbing vocals from songs off his first two solo albums. It is difficult to get settled as the beats tend not to sit still, but change in a way that can feel discordant.

This being said, there are stellar tracks. The best are ‘Ratiug,’ in which Wu-Tang auxiliary Kinetic 9 makes a brief but smooth appearance; “Mistakes,” with its sweeping keyboard runs; and “Uprane,” which best showcases the span of Frusciante’s voice from delicate to soul crushingly raw.

—Joanna Schacter

| Curiosity delivers.

—Alex Kpeglo-Hennessy

— Roger Hamilton-Martin

Check out Arts & Entertainment blog, updated daily! www.mcgilltribune.com/ae

I walked through the doors of the Montreal, arts interculturels (MAI) last Friday to find the exhibit space deserted. “Excellent,” I thought to myself, as I passed the archway to the main hall—the stormy afternoon seemed an opportune time, and the ideal backdrop, to see the MAI’s latest offering, Blown Up: Gaming and War. The exhibit’s arrangement exudes an ominous atmosphere, like some ephemeral worry one can’t quite remember. It is difficult not to appreciate the effects of this backdrop: viewers’ footsteps echo when striking the wooden floors, and the dim light pushes one’s gaze to the three pieces.

The first sight to greet visitors entering the sparsely arranged space is a lone, illuminated podium, atop which rest a keyboard, headphones, and mouse. On the opposing wall, a projector displays the title screen of the game, Wafaa Bilal’s The Night of Bush Capturing: A Virtual Jihadi (NBC:VJ). The idea alone is intriguing: Bilal inserted a graphical representation of himself, virtually recruited to assassinate George Bush Jr., into a two-bit piece of al-Qaeda propaganda entitled The Night of Bush Capturing (2006). The game consisted of the player passing six levels to eventually assassinate the former president. This, in turn, was a crudely orchestrated instance of cosmetic surgery on another game, an equally obscene piece of programming by the title of Quest for Saddam (2003), wherein players mow down Saddam-lookalikes until— surprise—they kill the final Saddam (in a humorous twist, the al-Qaeda version attempted to remove anything remotely American from the game, such as the Red Cross packs players can use to boost health; nevertheless, al-Qaeda’s programmers seemed to have forgotten an open book on the first level, which displays a picture of a camel).

I spent the better part of an hour on Bilal’s provocative piece (when the exhibit initially opened in the U.S., it was boycotted and shut down by locals who, never having had a chance to play the game, were uncertain as to why exactly it was that they opposed it), failing to see how it differed from the al-Qaeda iteration. Terrible gameplay, painful graphics, and offended gaming sensibilities aside, NBC:VJ provided disappointingly little by way of political statement: the credits still listed the “Global Islamic Media Front”

(GIMF—a suitably inane acronym) as responsible, and Bilal’s avatar was nowhere to be seen.

Only having come home, and scouring the web for details on the game, did I discover the hitch: Bilal chose to make minimal adjustments to the game. In fact, when demonstrating NBC:VJ at a Rensselaer Institute lecture, Bilal noted “Just don’t blink because you’re going to see me in the game, and if you blink you’re going to miss it.” Rather than communicating the pervading sense of danger and alarm gripping Iraqi citizens, as was his aim, Bilal essentially shanghais the player into participating in a piece of al-Qaeda propaganda.

Due to space constraints, I can say little about the remaining pieces.

Harun Farocki’s Watson is Down, one quarter of his Serious Games I-IV video installation, repeatedly plays on another wall; it’s akin to listening to a quarter of a song, and the lack of context that the three remaining pieces would have provided is strident.

The final piece, Mohammed Mohsen’s Weak, was, perhaps, the most interesting. Housed in a sleek black arcade-game exterior, Mohsen’s work rests between those of Farocki and Bilal, its default Windows 98 flying-star screensaver and foreboding joystick inviting players to try their luck. When I gripped the joystick, the screen filled with halfformed, pixelated shapes. Gunfire and sounds of military communications emerge, failure messages appear, but there is neither a goal, nor any sense of control. A blooming buzzing confusion ensues, coupled with a prevailing sense of discomfort. Such sentiments are well within the scope of the work: Mohsen attempts to portray tragedy, reconstructed from half-formed memories. Still, the same results may be derived from the press release, which states that “absurdity acquires meaning in the intimacy of nostalgia, amidst violence and tragedy.”

In spite of the atmospheric setting and flashes of emotion, Blown Up remains a regretful testament to the difficulties of communicating through novel media rather than a poignant portrayal of conflict. In the meantime, to those wishing to experience gaming and war, I recommend reading Owen’s Dulce Et Decorum Est and picking up a copy of Call of Duty.

Blown Up: Gaming and War runs until Dec. 15 at the MAI (3680 Jeanne-Mance, bureau 103), Free admission.

Curiosity delivers. |

arts & entertainment

| Tuesday, November 27, 2012

film

17

Hitchcock: the ‘master of suspense’ at his finest Stellar cast of Hopkins, Mirren, and Johansson tells story behind a great film—and a great man Alex Shiri Contributor The conception, production, and release of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is truly a whirlwind story in its own right. With an exceptional cast consisting of Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, and Jessica Biel, Hitchcock is the definition of Oscar bait. Director Sacha Gervasi’s innovative telling of Alfred Hitchcock’s story sets this film apart from the current selection of Hollywood franchises in theatres this month. The film is fairly fastpaced, spanning from the release of Hitchcock’s North by Northwest to the staggered release of Pyscho in the summer of 1960, with Hopkins and Mirren bringing the tumultuous relationship between Hitchcock and his wife Alma to life.

The film begins and ends with Alfred Hitchcock speaking to the audience, explaining how his vision for Pyscho came to be. This introduction is quite a powerful tactic, making the viewer feel a connection to Hitchcock and his story before the film even begins. The film’s second scene is a view into the life of Ed-

Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) made an indelible mark on cinematic history. (cinematoria.org) ward Gain, the murderer and body snatcher that Pyscho’s lead character, Norman Bates, is based on.

Following this scene, Gervasi brings the audience straight into the glitz and glam of 1960s-era Hollywood: the Paramount lot, limousine

drivers, chandelier-filled restaurants, and of course, Hitchcock’s home.

This is where “Hitch’s”—as he is known among colleagues, friends, and family—idea for Psycho hatches, following a reporter’s comment about the famed director’s age. The

scene showcases Hitchcock’s desperate spirit; all he wanted was to make a film that was out of the ordinary, which would shock audiences instead of giving them the normal action and suspense he was known for at the time.

Pyscho was the answer. In the meantime, a friend named Witt (Danny Huston) approaches Hitch’s wife Alma to help him rework a script. Tiring of Hitchcock’s obsession with Psycho, not to mention his difficult attitude, Alma decides to take on the project, creating a rift in her relationship with Hitch.

The love story between Hitchcock’s lead characters is the driving force behind the movie. While the production of Psycho goes on at Paramount with Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel playing actors under Hitchock’s direction, the real question is whether Hitch or Alma will be the first to apologize and bring up the issues they are facing in their relationship.

Hitchcock is certainly worth the trip to the movie theatre this holiday season, and offers a glimpse into the famed Hollywood director’s life. As he tells Johansson’s character before filming the famous shower scene in Psycho, “my camera tells the absolute truth,” which must mean that Marion Crane was pretty scared of that bloody knife.

theatre

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

Moyse Hall presents vengeance, venom, and vindictiveness in The Revenger’s Tragedy Nicole Rainteau Contributor Fear of the feminine captured by an entirely female cast, McGill English department’s production of The Revenger’s Tragedy by Thomas Middleton adds a layer of gendered irony to the Jacobean-era tragedy.

This directorial choice by Patrick Neilson illuminates the period’s anxiety regarding women’s sexuality, bringing together a variety of lively and talented young women to convey the parody of the early 17th century revenge tragedies.

The play focuses on Vindice’s vengeful scheme against the corrupt duke for the murder of his beloved Gloriana. The revenger disguises himself as the low-life, Piato, with the help of his brother Hippolito, to infiltrate the corrupt Italian court. In a ploy typical of revenge plays, the brothers’ plan faces several obstacles—the first being Piato’s hire by the duke’s son, Lussurio, to seduce his chaste sister Castiza.

The subplot examines the duke’s less-than-noble family, which unravels more than the duchess’ corset during a sex scene, adding further conspiracies to the com-

Castiza (Laura McEown) and Vindice (Cece Grey) in a rather enticing scene. (Simon Poitrimolt / The McGill Tribune) plex tale. Meanwhile, Vindice and Hippolito pursue the duke’s grizzly downfall. With the foreboding thunderclaps, a dubstep masquerade, and recurring references to Hamlet, it is unsurprising that the brothers’ increasingly intricate plan turns comically bloody. Pay attention to this black comedy: one wandering thought and you’ll miss who ‘accidentally’ killed whom.

A striking tableau, one of many to come, opens the play to introduce the larger than life characters, clothed exquisitely by Catherine Bradley’s costuming class. Like the

production, the costumes are reminiscent of the period, with a modern edge; a theme also congruent with Carling Tedesco’s innovative sound design. In contrast to the traditional Baroque music that frames the earlier scenes, Tedesco’s choice of heavy beats during the masquerade are a shocking delight. This edge adds to the tension of the climactic blood bath spiralling out of control.

The cast’s stylized character choices provide comic relief while sustaining the energy of the play—a difficult task considering the twisted plot. Adriane Epprecht’s portrayal of

the immoral duke drives the first act until she is pinned to the floor by her tongue. Her bold, physical choices are effective, and made for the most of the memorable scenes in the play.

Along with Rebecca Babcock (Hippolito) and Cece Grey (Vindice), Epprecht commits to Sam Cooper’s (Lussurio) convincing fight choreography. Although the murderous spectacles gain momentum in the second act, Epprecht’s vivacity is missed.

The relentless Vindice, and his alter ego Piato, maximize stage time, and as a result, Grey is rarely

offstage. The play depends on her character’s vendetta, and therefore her energy. Grey does not disappoint. Her scenes with Sam Cooper (Lussurio) are particularly hilarious because of her rapid venomous asides before her pledges to serve Lussurio. However, Grey is, at times, lost under Piato’s large moustache, and unfortunately missed an opportunity to differentiate between her character’s two faces. Cooper’s Lussurio was excellent. Her chemistry with Grey made their scenes of lengthy dialogue dynamic, and her physicality and vocal presence commanded the stage—like the heir to a dukedom should.

The women give an impressive performance. Their dedication to their eccentric characters heightens the impact of the play’s dark humour. This polished performance is the product of a strong ensemble crew and cast, who will have you marveling at the constant dynamic turn of events.

The Revenger’s Tragedy runs from Nov. 29 until Dec. 1 at Moyse Hall, Arts Building. Student tickets $5.

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012 |

sports

| Curiosity delivers.

Hockey — Redmen 4, Nipissing 3

All Braun in third period rally, Redmen freeze Lakers McGill overcomes late two-goal deficit; sweep weekend home contests Remi Lu Contributor The Redmen entered McConnell Arena this weekend looking to bounce back after a disappointing loss against the UQTR Patriotes.

They did so in an exhilarating fashion, dominating both the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and the Nipissing Lakers in back-to-back contests that had McGill fans cheering through the weekend.

After defeating the Blues 3-2 in a shootout the night before, the Redmen skated into Saturday’s game against the Lakers with the intention of defending their home ice once again. They didn’t disappoint, prevailing 4-3.

McGill started the game blazing, attacking Nipissing’s defence by moving the puck and executing on second-chance opportunities. Despite Laker goalie Daniel Spence’s stellar play, first-year centre Mathieu Pompei finally converted McGill’s offensive efforts into a goal, with about five minutes left in the first.

The Redmen ended the period with an astonishing 24-4 shots-on-goal advantage, silencing any worries that they may be drained by their previous night’s contest against Toronto.

“Players are used to playing [many] games… and we practice every day to get used to playing with fatigue. I don’t think [that exhaustion] was a factor today,” assistant captain Marc-Olivier Vachon said

Around the

Defensive duo Ryan McKiernan and Vincent Barnard steer the puck to safety. (Remi Lu / McGill Tribune) after the game.

Unfortunately, when the Redmen entered the second frame, they seemed like a different team than the one that closed out the first period.

The contest settled into a back-andforth match, with McGill’s play taking a backseat to Nipissing’s increased offensive pressure. Lakers’ Grant Toulmin scored off of a rebound shot nine minutes into the period, and Kevin Rebelo recorded another quick goal a minute later

to put Nipissing ahead, 2-1. McGill ended the period looking disoriented, prompting Redmen Head Coach Kelly Nobes to refocus his group.

“Our coach told us the statistics that we had the first period, how we outshot [Nipissing] and outplayed them, and how we didn’t bring that into the second,” freshman leftwinger Trevor Braun said. “We [knew] what to do, we just [had] to pull it together … and win that game.”

Riding their momentum from the second period, the Lakers opened the last frame looking to continue their physical play.

Nipissing’s Vern Cooper added to their goal total, which extended the team’s lead to two, and consequently sparked an increase in scrappy play between the teams. However, the Redmen furiously rallied back on offence, with Braun leading the way.

He scored his first CIS goal midway through the third, and tallied anthank the man upstairs. I was able to multiply my talents tonight,” Taylor said after the game. He probably meant multiply by billions. In any case, I’ll have what he’s having.

W

BASKETBALL — Well, Raptor fans, there’s not much to say.

Toronto lost four heartbreakers this past week, a trend that has been developing since their 90-88 loss to Indiana in the season opener. First, the Raps blew a fourth quarter lead against Philly on Tuesday. Then, they followed that effort up with two straight one-point losses to Charlotte and Detroit. Finally, they fell in double overtime to San Antonio on Sunday afternoon. One bright spot for the team: Jonas Valanciunas. The big Lithuanian rookie tallied a career-high 22 points on Sunday, and is impressing executives and players around the league.

In NCAA Division III basketball news (no, really), Grinnell Pioneers guard Jack Taylor broke an NCAA record with 138 points in a 179-104 victory over the Faith Baptist Bible College Eagles on Tuesday night. Taylor shot 52 for 108 from the field, but only made 27 of his 71 attempted three-pointers. “I gotta

ater cooler

In case you were too busy being impeached from your mayoral position, here’s what you missed this past week in the world of sports ...

FORMULA 1 — Sebastian Vettel became the youngest threetime Formula 1 champion, after finishing sixth in the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday. The 25-year-old German becomes the first driver to win three titles in a row since seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher won five straight from 2000-2004. Schumacher is retiring for the second time after returning to race in 2010. He leaves as the most successful Formula 1 driver ever: with the most wins, pole positions, fastest laps, and most podium finishes in the sport’s history.

The 2013 season will kick off in March. We’re sure North American sports fans can’t wait.

other just two minutes later, thanks to a 25-foot rocket to tie the game at 3-3. The Redmen and the crowd were ignited. McGill capped off the comeback after Pompei capitalized on the powerplay with only three minutes left in the game. The Redmen stalled Nipissing’s attack in the final stretch, and sealed their onegoal victory.

The Redmen have played well lately, going 8-2 in their last 10 games after starting the season 0-3.

The team’s improved chemistry and the further development of the roster stand testament to this turnaround. McGill has had continued injury troubles in the early goings, and have played without co-captains Marc-Andre Daneau and Patrick Belzile, as well as first-year defenseman Jean-Philippe Mathieu. However, Coach Nobes is confident that his team will continue to improve and play well.

“We have pretty good depth, so I wouldn’t say that [injuries] have affected our approach,” he said. “You know, certainly, not having our captains in the lineup is not something that any team wants. And the other guys have had to step-up into that leadership role. [Hopefully] we’ll get some guys back next weekend, and for sure after Christmas.”

The McGill Redmen will hit the ice looking to continue their winning streak when they take on the Ryerson Rams at the Maple Leaf Gardens on Nov. 30.

FOOTBALL — The 100th Grey Cup took place this past Sunday night, pleasing Mounties and Canadian football fans around the country. The Toronto Argonauts prevailed over the Calgary Stampeders 35-22 in front of their home crowd at Rogers Centre in Toronto. The title marks their first championship since 2004. Argos’ quarterback Ricky Ray proved his critics wrong with an impressive postseason run, culminating in two touchdown passes in the big game. The Argos defence led the way and stalled Calgary’s offence from the beginning of the contest.

Starting running back Chad Kackert was named the Grey Cup’s Most Outstanding Player after he recorded 195 yards of total offence in the victory. Kackert was actually cut by Calgary a couple of years ago, so the performance was in typical revenge fashion. Rejoice, Toronto sports fans! You finally have something to cheer about! Oh, and Biebs totally killed the halftime show.

Curiosity delivers. |

sports

| Tuesday, November 27, 2012

POINT COUNTERPOINT Blue jays

O

will win the AL EAST The blockbuster trade between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Miami Marlins has finally been made official. Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Emilio Bonifacio will by playing baseball north of the border next summer. The Jays also signed free-agent Melky Cabrera, who hit .346 last year, and was the MVP of the All-Star Game.

According to my fellow contributor, the Jays are acquiring a great deal of risk with this deal. But are they?

Johnson is injury prone, but he’s also in the final year of his contract, and should be motivated to put up a huge season.

Reyes has been equally fragile, but he’s only two years removed from a batting title and led the National League in plate appearances last season. Cabrera was suspended 50 games for using performance-enhancing drugs, but in his previous drug-free season, he had 201 hits and 44 doubles.

The risk is present, but the upside of this acquisition is unquestioned. Everyone in baseball is talking about the Jays again.

The real story is this: Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopolous pulled the trigger on a deal that makes his team instant contenders. Their projected lineup may turn out to be one of the most prolific offences in baseball— the type that can carry a team to a division title, even with an average pitching staff.

Lucky for Jays fans, their hurlers should also be well above average. The top four starters in the rotation will be

the aforementioned Johnson and Buehrle, along with Ricky Romero, and Brandon Morrow. Again, there is some risk and injury history here, but the upside is exciting.

One of the biggest questions surrounding the deal is how the new players will adapt to the AL East division—generally known as the toughest in the league. But for the first time in a decade, the division looks vulnerable and the Blue Jays have a chance to seize the opportunity. The Boston Red Sox are rebuilding, the New York Yankees are getting old, and the Baltimore Orioles will regress after their surprising playoff appearance this past season.

That means that the Tampa Bay Rays may be Toronto’s toughest competition, and even they are set to lose B.J. Upton while dangling half their pitching rotation as trade bait.

There are many moves still to be made this offseason, and in two weeks, another team in this division could become the instant favourite—especially if the Yankees sign Josh Hamilton. But as we stand today, the Toronto Blue Jays have the most well-rounded roster in the division. Their lineup is deep and powerful, their pitching staff is ripe with potential, and they have one of the best general managers in the league.

Toronto is buzzing about its team and with good reason. The Jays are back, and soon to be AL East champions.

— Trevor Drummond

Sports

VS Winner

Blue JAys Will Win the AL East

espite the injury risk of D some of the acquisitions, the Jays will take advantage of the weakened AL East to climb to the top of the divison. Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle will immensely improve the team’s rotation, while Jose Reyes will provide the Jays’ with a top-ofthe-order stud.

BLue Jays

will not win the AL EAST For much of the past decade, the MLB landscape has been dominated by one division—the American League (AL) East. Despite fielding some quality teams that have posted winning records, the Toronto Blue Jays remain the only team from the division not to have made the playoffs in the last 10 years.

However, this offseason has the culmination of GM Alex Anthopolous’ plan to launch the Jays to the forefront of the World Series discussion. Earlier this month, Anthopolous pounced on the Miami Marlins fire sale and completed a mega trade that netted the Jays Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buerhle, and Emilio Bonifacio. The Jays also signed Melky Cabrera, capping off a string of bold moves that brought an influx of talent to Toronto and excitement to Canada. Although the new-look Jays finally have the talent to reach the top of the AL East, their quest will ultimately be thwarted by one of the division’s powerhouses.

Reyes, the biggest name in the trade, is an injury-prone player. He relies on his speed to turn himself into an excellent hitter and fielder, which will not bode well for the future as he gets older.

If Reyes manages to stay healthy, one needs to only look at Carl Crawford—a similarly built player—to envision what kind of regression may lie in Reyes’ future.

Cabrera has spent the majority of his career being a league average hitter

and fielder, while exhibiting little power or speed. His two most productive seasons have come under the influence of steroids, eliciting doubts as to whether Cabrera can produce post performance enhancing drug use.

The most consistent of the new additions, Mark Buehrle, should continue pitching at an All-Star level, but is also the oldest at 33 years old.

Finally, recently re-hired manager, John Gibbons, is simply not the right person to lead this roster. Gibbons’ track record inspires little confidence in his abilities as a manager, possessing a lifetime .500 record. Also, his career is littered with controversies surrounding his handling of veteran players. Sound familiar? It’s the same kind of mishandling of veterans that caused former Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine to lose his job after guiding a similarly starstudded squad to a 69-93 finish.

The AL East produced the American League’s wildcard winner, nine out of the past 10 years, and also sent a team to the World Series in five of those years. In essence, what this debate boils down to, is whether or not I have faith in Toronto over the tough field of teams in the AL East. When the Jays’ roster is filled with question marks and the division is as deep as it is talented, I’m inclined to go with the field. Jays’ fans will have to wait for yet another year.

—Mayaz Alam basketball — Concordia 72, Martlets 63

Slow Start plagues Martlets

briefs

By Steven Lampert

Basketball — Redmen 69, Concordia 68

Redmen defeat Stingers in Dramatic finish Dufort records 25 pts., 14 reb. in win The McGill Redmen passed their first true test of the season on Saturday afternoon by defeating the Concordia Stingers 69-68, on the road to improve to 3-0 on the season. Again, Vincent Dufort was huge for the Redmen. He scored a game-high 25 points on 12-18 shooting, and grabbed 14 rebounds in 34 minutes played. McGill built a six point lead heading into halftime, but struggled in the third quarter with too many turnovers. Concordia

n Nov. 19, the MLB approved a blockbuster 12-player deal between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Miami Marlins. The Blue Jays received an influx of proven, but injuryprone MLB talent, and sent a slew of top prospects to the Marlins. With the trade, many baseball analysts believe the Jays are the favourites to take home the American League (AL) East crown next season.

Two contributors weigh in on Toronto’s chances.

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capitalized and outscored the Redmen 24-11 in the quarter. McGill rallied after being down nine points, with seven minutes left to play to take a four-point lead. Concordia drained a three-pointer with just less than five seconds to go, but it wasn’t enough as the Redmen walked away with the one-point victory. McGill extended its winning streak to 11 games dating back to the preseason, and opens its home schedule against Bishop’s on Nov. 29

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Hockey — Martlets 7, Carleton 1

Martlets extend unbeaten streak to 10 Clement-Heydra tallies six points in rout The No.1-ranked McGill Martlets routed the Carleton Ravens on Saturday night 7-1, to extend their undefeated streak to 10 games. Despite playing without leading scorer Leslie Oles, the rest of the Martlet roster stepped up in a big way. Katia ClementHeydra scored a hat-trick, and added three assists, while secondyear teammate Mélodie Daoust recorded five points, including two goals. With the five-point outburst, Daoust takes over the top of the CIS national scoring lead with 31 points in just 10 games. Although

the Martlets weren’t sharp in the first period, they still managed to build a two-goal lead. Carleton opened the second frame with their only tally on the night, but McGill responded with three straight to close the period. Clement-Heydra scored two of her three markers in the third period to seal the game.

Martlet goaltender Andrea Weckman was solid in net, stopping 14 of the 15 shots she faced. McGill returns home for a rematch against Carleton at McConnell Arena on Nov. 30.

A career-high 25 points from first-year guard Marie-Pier Bastrash was not enough, as the McGill Martlets fell to the Concordia Stingers 72-63 on Saturday. Concordia was on fire right out of the gate and built a quick 15-0 lead.

The Martlets calmed the pace and ended up narrowing the Stingers’ lead to just three points by the end of the first half. McGill went on a 12-1 scoring run in the last four minutes of the third to take a 52-50 lead heading into the final quarter. However, echoing their poor start, the Martlets came out flat in the fourth and never recovered. Martlet centre Anneth Him-Lazarenko had another solid outing by registering 17 points and collecting eight boards in 32 minutes. The Martlets got virtually nothing from Mariam Sylla and Dianna Ros—the latter coming off an ankle injury. The Martlets will hit the court against Bishop’s for their home opener on Nov. 29.

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SPORTS

Volleyball — AUS Interlock

Martlets reduce errors, roll against AUS opponents

McGill wins three of four games; strong performances by veteran leaders Geneviève Plante, Marcela Mansure Jeff Downey Sports Editor Love Competition Hall was packed with women’s volleyball action all weekend. Starting Friday, McGill hosted the second round of AUS Interlock play, a bi-seasonal tournament which pits RSEQ teams against four of the eight members of the AUS division.

Earlier this season, McGill travelled east to take on the first batch of Atlantic teams, and left with a 3-1 record. The Martlets matched their last result and finished interleague play for the year with a strong 6-2 record.

On Friday night, the Martlets easily handled the Memorial Seahawks. Though under-sized against Quebec teams, McGill switched roles on Friday, using their height advantage to roll over Memorial, 3-0. The first set was competitive, and the Martlets overcame two deficits to take the set 25-22. Third-year captain Geneviève Plante and fifthyear setter Marcela Mansure were instrumental in the match and connected 12 times in the game. The second and third sets were merely filler, as McGill’s cohesive and relaxed play made for an easy victory.

Next up, the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds couldn’t do much to stop the Martlet machine on Saturday afternoon. In a match that took just over an hour to complete, McGill exploited the slower UNB middles, en route to another decisive straight set victory, 25-19,

Plante and Hébert rise for the block against Memorial. (Simon Poitrimolt / McGill Tribune) 25-17, and 25-16. Virginie Hébert, a third-year middle, stood out this time around, contributing eight kills, three aces, and three blocks in the effort.

In the evening affair, the Martlets highlighted the offensive prowess of their two starting power hitters. Rookie sensation Catherine Amyot flew to 15 kills on 37 attempts, while Plante added another 14 on her own 37 attempts. They

THIRD MAN IN I woke up on Saturday, opened my curtains, and noticed a brisk November wind carrying snowflakes through the early morning (maybe afternoon) air. I thought to myself, “it’s about time, this is Canada.

Snow in November is normal, expected.” But this November has not been normal; it has not been Canadian. Earlier this month, hundreds of students packed Gert’s to take in the results of the American election. This past weekend, many of my Canadian friends have decided to post on Facebook what they are thankful for, seemingly forgetting that we celebrated Thanksgiving a month ago. Whither my culture, my country?

However, this month’s saddest event occurred on Sunday. For those unaware, or those who don’t watch TSN on the regular, Sunday marked the 100th iteration of the Grey Cup.

helped pave the way to a four set victory over Cape Breton.

Offence has traditionally come naturally to McGill. What made the difference this weekend was the Martlets’ discipline. While the team committed 18 service errors just a week ago against Laval, the Martlets only gave up 19 total over the first three games of the tournament.

“We were really strong this weekend; we fought way more than

we had fought in previous weeks.

The difference was that we played together, stopped worrying about the score, and passed and served much better,” Hébert said. “[This had] a huge impact on our offensive and defensive transitions, which gave us much more momentum.”

McGill’s final match took place on Sunday against the Moncton Blue Eagles, and it was the only blemish on an otherwise excellent weekend

for the Martlets. Looking slightly overwhelmed by Moncton’s intensity, McGill had no answer to their opponent’s scrappy attitude. Despite strong performances from third-year right side Marie-Christine Lapointe and newcomer Ashley Norfleet, the Martlets lost their only match of the weekend in three sets. Head Coach Rachelle Beliveau, honoured recently for coaching her 900th career match, added her thoughts on the loss, and the weekend as a whole.

“Moncton is a team that fights really, really hard, and does the basics well. At the start, we were doing very well, leading by five or six points. We let it go just a little bit and Moncton will always take advantage of it,” Beliveau said. “It’s disappointing because we wanted to finish on a good note. It’s the last game of the semester and we wanted a good ending ... but [overall] the weekend was great, and we played very well.”

McGill heads into the break with a mediocre 7-7 record. Marred by inconsistent play against tough RSEQ competition, the Martlets find themselves last in the league.

But, the team has found bright spots in some young players, and still has plenty of games left to right the ship.

“The RSEQ is a strong league ... we are competing in the toughest league and gaining maturity,” Beliveau said. “We know what the calibre is now ... so we’ll be starting again around Christmas time.”

CFL: why don’t we stand on guard for thee?

This trophy, the oldest in North America, is reflective of Canada itself. It represents a league overshadowed by one south of the border, it is played in the harshest of elements, and it is refreshingly unique and misunderstood. Unfortunately, the halftime show duo of Carly Rae Jepsen and Justin Bieber produced more headlines than the champion Toronto Argonauts.

But there is more to the Grey Cup—and to Canada—than an inferiority complex. Sure, the majority of the players in the league are only here because they couldn’t make it in the NFL. Yes, the most famous Grey Cups, the 1950 ‘Mud Bowl,’ the 1962 ‘Fog Bowl,’ and the 1977 ‘Ice Bowl,’ were defined by the weather. But this is a game that is refreshingly humble amidst the uncontrollable commercialization of pro sports. Above all, the league

engages communities regardless of their size, and is uniquely ours as a nation.

The average CFL salary is about $85,000; though, it is not uncommon for rookies to earn less than half of that sum. Undoubtedly, this is a generous salary for playing a game, but it dwarfs in comparison to the median NFL salary of $770,000.

CFL players play at the second highest level of professional football globally, but they are—as far as professional football players can go— regular guys. Every superstar in the league has some fatal flaw that kept them from ‘making it.’ Despite that fact, for many, the love of the game and a newly adopted country drives them to play football in this strange land. Some, like Toronto Argonauts legend Mike “Pinball” Clemons, now even call Canada their adopted home.

The endearingly local nature of the league also adds to its appeal.

Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal might be the ‘sexy’ places to play, but the teams with the greatest followings reside in smaller cities.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders represent the Regina metro area of 210,556—marginally bigger than Green Bay, Wisconsin, the NFL’s tiniest outpost. Their fans travel to see the team play its rivals across the prairies, and bring the party to whichever stadium they invade.

Moreover, the club is community owned, meaning that fans on its board of directors make the most important decisions. From Calgary to Hamilton, the CFL’s die-hard supporters prove that the game is alive and well, particularly in the smaller locales which they call home.

Finally, this game is ours. It is even more Canadian than hock-

ey. No other country in the world plays football with three downs and awards single points for missing a field goal—how Canadian is that?

The NFL is great, its skill is unparalleled, but occasionally we should stop looking south. We should stop being envious at what our neighbours are doing and take pride in what we have created, what generations of Canadians have loved and called their own.

Next year, when the Grey Cup is played on the frozen tundra of Mosaic Stadium in Regina, take part in this Canadian tradition and embrace the game, that is as beautiful as Canada itself. We started doing it 100 years ago; it’s time to re-join the party.

—Adam Sadinsky