McGill Tribune Vol. 35, Issue 23

The McGill Tribune TUesday, March 22, 2016 curiosity delivers

Volume No. 35 Issue No. 23

Editorial: winter 2016 pgss referendum endorsements

FEATURE: Canada needs to real- m c gilltribune.com ize the full potential of its @m c gilltribune youth

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Spotted: McGill in the movies Anna St. Clair Contributor When you’re trying to make it to your 8:30 a.m. lectures on a freezing cold winter morning, it’s hard to imagine that McGill resembles the bowels of the Pentagon or a military base during the zombie apocalypse.

Yet in the past, Hollywood has managed to transform locations around campus into exotic locations.

Here are a few Hollywood films where you can spot McGill in the background.

Brooklyn (2015)

Ben Ger celebrates his win at Gerts. (Natalie Vineberg / McGill Tribune)

Ben Ger wins SSMU presidency

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AVEQ affiliation, Constitutional ammendments 13.2, 13.3 fail Regina Wung Staff Writer Following the second-lowest voter turnout since 2005, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) elected Ben Ger as SSMU President with 65.4 per cent of the vote over his opponent, Jordan Sinder. 7.5 per cent of the undergraduate student body participated in the Winter Referendum and SSMU elections.

Ger’s colleagues on the exec-

utive team will be Vice-President (VP) Operations Sacha Magder, VP Internal Daniel Lawrie, VP Finance Niall Carolan, VP External David Aird, VP University Affairs Erin Sobat, and VP Student Life Elaine Patterson. Ger is optimistic about delivering his campaign promises.

“I am unbelievably thankful,” Ger said. “I’m excited the student body trusts me with this position. I’m looking forward to [next year], hopefully the best year that SSMU has ever had.

Council Reform Committee will come through, we are going to include more voices at the table, whether that be exactly at SSMU council or somewhere else. Our finances will be balanced, we’ll figure out a way to make sure everyone’s happy.”

Sinder praised his campaign team and its efforts and declared his continued support for Ger in the future.

“I’m honestly very proud,” Sinder said. “We did everything that we could as a campaign team

[....] We raised important issues, we engaged students who otherwise might not have been engaged in SSMU politics [...] and I have absolutely no regrets with the campaign that we ran. But with that said, Ben is a great guy, he’s been really involved with SSMU, he’s well-experienced for this position, and he’s going to be a great president. I’m going to be the biggest supporter of his presidency next year, and I look forward to working with him.”

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Zooming out on Quebec’s immigration issue Albert Park Columnist A survey conducted in 2013 revealed that only 40 per cent of McGill undergraduates remained in Quebec after graduation. These results reflect a worrying trend in regards to the province’s ability to retain newcomers, a problem which is partly responsible for its steady decline in population growth rate. In an effort to alleviate this issue, Que-

bec Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil recently outlined a new policy aimed at streamlining the immigration process and improving the retention of foreign talent in the province. Parallel to Weil’s plans, proposals around immigration policies have been stirring up on the federal stage as well: Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship John McCallum has stated that the Liberal government will bring in up to 305,000 permanent

residents by the end of 2016, with an increased focus on family reunification and refugee settlement.

The federal government’s decision to shift their priority from economic immigrants to families and refugees has attracted criticism.

Since the main reason for economic migrants to come to Canada is in search of job opportunities, they are portrayed as benefitting the nation’s economy, which in turn will bring in more immigrants. But in the case of

Quebec, the issue is not so simple due to strict language requirements.

But as section 95 of the Canadian Constitution states, immigration policies are a shared responsibility between the federal and provincial governments. As such, it is possible that the federal government’s immigration policy will complement Quebec’s policy objectives­ —especially given the factors that cause new Canadians to leave Quebec.

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Brooklyn was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay at this year’s Academy Awards. While its plot and action revolve around the New York City borough of its title, the movie was actually filmed in Montreal.

Producers chose Montreal because it resembles 1950s Brooklyn more than present-day Brooklyn. The film follows Eilis (Saoirse Ronan), an Irish immigrant, to New York in the 1950s. While working as a cashier, Eilis takes night classes at Brooklyn College, whose classrooms and hallways look suspiciously similar to McGill’s—becuase they are. The scenes at Brooklyn College were actually filmed in the McConnell Engineering Building. When Eilis first arrives in New York she stays at a boarding house for young women run by the cranky Mrs. Keogh (Julie Walters). Keogh enforces a conservative lifestyle on the girls, especially when it comes to bringing boys over. The interior of the boarding house was actually filmed at Alpha Delta Phi fraternity on rue Stanley.

X Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

The seventh movie in the X-men franchise transformed the Arts Building into the 1970s Pentagon.

Professor X (James McAvoy), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Quicksilver (Evan Peters), and Beast (Nicholas Hoult) take a tour of the Pentagon while hatching their plan to break Magneto out from the maximum security prison cell below.

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NEWS

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Panel discusses legal euthanasia in Canada New federal law could require changes in Quebec regulations Joseph Timan Contributor McGill’s Freethought Association hosted a panel on assisted suicide on March 15 to discuss the federal decriminalization of physician-assisted dying—which will come into effect on June 6 this year. This follows the Feb. 2015 ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada, instating the right to physicianassisted suicide. Prior to that, Quebec had been the only province to allow terminally ill patients to determine how their life ended. The panellists addressed issues raised by opponents to medically assisted dying and discussed necessary changes to Quebec law as a result of federal decriminalization.

Public opinion Susan Desjardins, who spoke on behalf of Dying with

Dignity Canada, an organisation that advocates for physicianassisted dying, addressed concerns of various groups in opposition to the Court’s ruling. In one example, she criticised the Catholic Health Sponsors of Ontario for instructing institutions within its purview not to provide access to medical assistance in dying.

“This flies in the face of the views of Catholics polled regarding assisted dying,” Desjardins said. “In October 2014, 85 per cent of Catholics polled supported physician assisted dying.”

Dr. Carolyn Ellis, associate professor at the McGill Biomedical Ethics Unit, highlighted the difficulties for healthcare professionals to publicly support medically assisted dying even though many polls indicate that most physicians in Quebec are in favour of it.

“It’s harder to speak up in

favour of it, in fear that then you’ll be stigmatized as a doctor who kills,” Ellis said. “The fear factor of human nature leads people to not go public about some important values, but they’re willing to participate.”

Federal legislation Desjardins discussed a report by the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Physician Assisted Dying, published on Feb. 25, which made 21 recommendations to assist the Canadian government in its efforts to legislate the decriminalization of physician-assisted dying,.

“The recommendations ensure that the conscience rights of healthcare professionals are protected, that access to assisted dying is monitored, and that the laws and protocols associated with medical assistance in dying are reviewed by parliament on a regular basis,” Desjardins said.

Ellis, who testified at the Joint Parliamentary Committee, discussed the recommendations made on eligibility. She argued that an individual’s capacity to consent should be the driving factor in whether or not they’re granted authority to consent on their own behalf.

“In Quebec and two other provinces age is a legal factor in whether you can consent for medical interventions,” said Ellis. “The more consistent view would be, if one is able to make the particular medical decision at hand, that they should do so.”

Legislation in Quebec Jean-Pierre Ménard, a specialist in the defence of victims in the health system and professor at Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Quebec Á Montreal, and Université de Montreal, addressed a concern expressed by an audience member regarding abuse of medical assistance in dying.

“Under Quebec Law, nobody can suggest or propose that the patient should have assisted death,” Ménard said. “A doctor has to make sure that the patient is totally free of any kind of outside pressure, and that they’re fully informed, and a second doctor has to confirm the process.”

Ellis mentioned Quebec’s role as a leader in this field being the only province currently that permits medically assisted dying. Nevertheless, she claimed that the scope of the provincial law will have to be broadened in order to avoid inconsistency with the forthcoming federal legislation.

“It’s very clear from our comments that Quebec Law is inconsistent with this [federal] law,” Ellis said. “It’s a much more conservative view and it will need to somehow bring itself into compliance with the forthcoming federal law.”

Ben Ger wins SSMU presidency amid low voter turnout All but three referendum questions pass Regina Wung Staff Writer Continued from Page 1.

Patterson, the only woman on the incoming executive, pointed to equitability as priority for next year.

“I’m really thrilled and so thankful that I get to be in this position next year, and I hopefully get to lay down the groundwork for it,” Patterson said. “As far as being the only woman on the executive next year, I am certain that all of the men that I will be working with next year have good heads on their shoulders and that I will be able to convey things to them about [...] gender equality, but also hopefully just equitability in the general sense.”

Winter 2016 referendum questions The question on whether or not SSMU will affiliate with the new Quebec student federation, the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ), failed, with 62.1 per cent voting “No.” Aird, as incoming VP External, expressed disappointment in the motion’s failurer.

“I think that it was tough to communicate the true value of joining AVEQ to the student body,” Aird said. “I think that

the texts that were [...] on the ballots didn’t do justice to the true value of joining a federation [....] I think people were reluctant to pay a new fee that they weren’t convinced that it would actually benefit them. For that reason, I fully intend on revisiting the question next year, once students have had more time to talk about it,w more time to see what goes on with AVEQ and revisit the arguments in favour and against.”

The proposed general constitutional amendments were passed, with 72.7 per cent voting “Yes.” The proposed amendments to Articles 13.2 and 13.3, which would have created a General Assembly (GA) steering committee failed, with 52.6 per cent voting “No.” The Motion Regarding the Creation of a Club Fund Fee passed, earning 57.4 per cent “Yes,” while 81.6 per cent voted for the creation of a mental health fee. The proposal for an increase in the SSMU health plan fee to cover mental health passed, with 73.6 per cent votes in support.

The motion regarding the TVM: Student Television at McGill Fee renewal passed with 54.9 per cent voting “Yes.” However, the Motion to Increase the TVM fee failed with 61.9 per cent dissenting. The motion to renew the SSMU equity fee passed with a majority of 65.8

Ben Ger celebrates winning the SSMU presidency. (Natalie Vineberg / McGill Tribune) per cent. The motion to renew the SSMU Access Bursary Fund also passed with 67.9 per cent voting for renewal. Both the smoke-free campus plebiscite and the on-campus bike facility plebiscite passed, earning majorities of 73 per cent and 83.1

per cent, respectively.

Senators for 2016-2017 Elected Senators include Science Senator Sean Taylor, Arts & Science Senator Guy Ettlin, Music Senator Mitchel

Russo, Engineering Senator Alexander Dow, Education Senator Parvesh Chainani, Medicine Senator Joshua Chin, Law Senator Shannon Snow, and Arts Senators William Cleveland, Casarina Hocevar, and Charles Keita.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

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NEWS

pgss executive candidate profiles and endorsements Victor Frankel

Victor Frankel, a PhD candidate in the Department of Biology, is running unopposed for the secretary-general position. Frankel has served as PGSS representative and environment commissioner for the Department of Biology, and plans to use the skills he learned in these positions to advocate on behalf of PGSS positions at the university administration level. As environment commissioner, he has attended Board of Governors (BoG) meetings throughout the past year, and has had a chance to become familiar with how university governance functions. Frankel views the secretary-general position as having two main components: Acting as a support system for constituent involvement ,and increasing awareness of PGSS-run services such as mental health support. As secretary-general, Frankel promises to focus on increasing postgraduate student engagement, as well as advocating for an ambitious climate change policy for the university.

He plans to increase PGSS’ social media presence, especially through their Facebook page, to communicate with members, increase attendance at events, and gather feedback from constituents. He will also use Thompson House and the events held there as a point of communication with students. Frankel plans to streamline council meetings and relations with the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), in order to increase access to services and strengthen student initiatives.

Secretary-General:“Yes”

The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote for Frankel’s candidacy for the secretary-general position.

Through his work on the PGSS council, he has gained a wealth of experience that will serve him well in the role. Throughout his time at McGill, he has also demonstrated a commitment to furthering PGSS’ mission. Moreover, his platform highlights key areas of improvement that the PGSS needs.

Although Frankel has a strong background in environmental sustainability, he must ensure that he focuses on all aspects of the secretary-general portfolio during his tenure. As the PGSS’ most visible member, he will act as the society’s representative to the Senate and to the BoG. As such, he must represent movements and initiatives that his constituents want, not just those that relate to the environment like lobbying for McGill to divest from fossil fuel companies.

Moving forward, Frankel must ensure that student consultation and project facilitation continue to be at the forefront of his agenda. The role of the secretary-general is incredibly fluid and its direct responsibilities change from year to year. Additionally, the constituency that the PGSS represents is notoriously difficult to consult with effectively and to engage with on a substantive level. Given the natural uncertainty the position has on a yearly basis and the inherent challenges with post-graduate

(Photo courtesy of PGSS)

Mina Anadolu

Mina Anadolu is a PhD student in neuroscience and currently serves as PGSS internal affair officer, taking the position in January after the resignation of Sahil Kumar. Anadolu, who is running uncontested, has organized new types of events since taking the position. These include an oreintaion week for post-graduate students and healthy lifestyle night, and she hopes to continue planning events that will increase participation from the graduate student community as well as foster collaborations with other organizations at McGill. She also will increase the diversity of events offered, stating that the Internal Affairs Office (IAO) will organize at least one event per semester which addresses equity and diversity, health and wellness, environment, student welfare, family care or sustainability.

Anadolu also aims to develop a transportation system for students at the Macdonald campus to attend PGSS events downtown. Andalou emphasizes that her strategy of collecting feedback about the events the IAO hosts helps to improve the quality of the programming offered to students. Andalou stresses that improving the communication of events, services, and referenda, will be a focus of her candidacy.

Internal Affairs Officer: “Yes”

The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote for Mina Anadolu for the position of IAO of PGSS. As she would be returning to the portfolio after having taken it up in December 2015, Anadolu knows the intricacies of the position and what needs to be done in order for the portfolio to be managed smoothly. In addition to her experience, Anadolu comes to this round of elections with new ideas for projects and events, such as a plan to provide safe transportation to and from PGSS events for students living at Macdonald Campus, in order to make the events more widely accessible. Anadolu has demonstrated that she is willing and able to work with various campus groups to make this project, as well as many others, a success; collaborative effort is one of the three main principles (in addition to fact-based decision making and inclusive events) stated in her platform.

She clearly understands the issues faced by PGSS, especially the difficulties in student engagement given the busy schedules of many graduate students. She has witnessed these obstacles while in the position, and now comes with tangible methods to overcome them.

These clear plans provide a promising outlook for her vision of the portfolio, and, in addition to her previous experience, make her a very qualified candidate.

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NEWS Mina Moradi

Moradi’s qualifications for this position come from her past financial and accounting experience managing the food service and food contracts of two hospitals. As incoming Financial Affairs Officer, the most challenging part of her portfolio would be addressing the current Special Projects Fund deficit of over $600,000. To lessen this deficit, she plans to resubmit a referendum question for a fee increase to PGSS, despite this referendum question failing the first time it was proposed. If this question again fails to pass, Moradi stated that she will consider budget cuts, although has no concrete plans on where the cuts would go. To make these types of financial decisions, she hopes to consult with the other members of the PGSS executive team and open up feedback to council. Her plans for increased transparency are to submit the budget to the other executives on a bi-monthly basis, and possibly to create a budget sub-committee. Moradi describes herself as a “PGSS outsider,” and plans to compensate for her lack of experience by involving council in her decision-making.

Financial Affairs Officer: “No”

Moradi’s plan for the Financial Affairs portfolio lacks the specificity and scope needed for an affirming endorsement.

Her platform hinges on a proposed increase to graduate student fees—a proposal that has already been attempted and voted down earlier this academic year. While the PGSS’ deficit of over $600,000 would seem to necessitate a fee increase, it is not enough to assume it would be implemented. Her backup plan of enacting budget cuts if the fee is not implemented lacks any specific information, only specifying that she would make sure the cuts would “spare services” and “[not] hurt PGSS’s core mission.”

The fact that so much of what she plans to do relies on the feedback of other PGSS executives is admirable, but also points to a lack of detailed knowledge of the PGSS budget.

This stems from Moradi’s status as a self-described “PGSS outsider,” which is a problem in light of her seeming failure to learn more about the specifics of the position for which she is running. Beyond her idea to present the budget on a bi-monthly basis, Moradi lacks any concrete proposals that would make her a viable candidate for this position.

Vertika

Vertika, a PhD student in the Department of Political Science, is running against Jacob Lavigne for the position of PGSS External Affairs Officer (EAO).

Vertika has experience as a PGSS councillor for the McGill Graduate Association for Political Studies Students (MGAPSS), and has worked as a member of the External Affairs Committee (EAC). As part of her work with the EAC, Vertika has contributed to the organization of a forum on the student movement in Quebec and resistance to austerity, which will be held this coming April.

If elected as EAO, Vertika hopes to engage graduate students in a meaningful way so as to allow them to have a voice in political movements that affect student rights. A main platform point of hers is the cre-

Jacob Lavigne

(Photo courtesy of Vertika)

Jacob Lavigne is one of two students running to be the PGSS EAO, the only contested position in this year’s elections. He has served as a member of the PGSS EAC, president of the McGill Additive Manufacturing Students’ Society (MAMSS), and vice-president (VP) Academic for the Experimental Surgery Graduate Students’ Society (ESGSS), among other endeavours.

He is also a native of Montreal and is fluently bilingual in English and French.

Lavigne’s platform is based around three principles: Government lobbying, professional development opportunities, and equity campaigns. Through his work with MAMSS, Lavigne has collaborated with students from other universities in Montreal, including Concordia University. Additionally, he has worked

External Affairs Officer: Vertika

While both Lavigne and Vertika have served on the EAC and have presented clear action plans to institute as the EAO, Vertika ultimately presented a more concise platform that was better suited to the role. Vertika clearly articulated the purpose behind politicizing PGSS, and provided clear arguments as to how she would work with student groups outside of McGill to further realise the external goals of PGSS. Lavigne, by contrast, expressed his intention to utilize his term as EAO to emphasize professional development opportunities, which falls outside of the portfolio.

On the issue of student federations, Vertika showed a more nuanced understanding in her inter-

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

ation of a forum, held once per semester, which will allow students to debate relevant issues and give her feedback which she can use to prioritize advocacy efforts. Vertika plans to create a mobilization listserve to engage students who are interested in learning more about student advocacy. Additionally, she hopes to revive the PGSS International Student Caucus—a team of postgraduate students who serve as a resource for international students.

Vertika has stated that she will offer support to various student political campaigns, including the Land Acknowledgement Campaign, Divest McGill, and McGill BDS Action Network. She also plans to work towards the legislation of Bill 76, which will dissolve the age limitations for STM student rates.

with municipal politicians, health professionals, and engineering professionals through MAMSS and other groups such as HackMcGill and Hacking Health. He also wants to focus government lobbying efforts on initiatives directly impact students’ lives such as policies that affect international students, research, and environmental sustainability.

During his tenure he wants to smooth out the transition into the labour market for post-graduate students through events such as seminars, networking opportunities, and workshops. He is also interested in ensuring that Education students are compensated for their internships; encouraging opportunities for women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields; as well as joining the province-wide “Sans Oui, C’est NON!”—a sexual assault prevention campaign.

view with the Tribune of how to correctly move forward. She effectively communicated the need for a fair and democratic process by which to consult students on L’Union Étudiante du Quebec (UÉQ) and the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ), the two burgeoning student federations.

Unlike Vertika, Lavigne is fully bilingual in French and English, which would undoubtedly serve him in the position of EAO; however, Vertika is intending to take steps to improve her French proficiency. Additionally, neither of the current SSMU or PGSS external affairs officers are bilingual, but both have been able to stand their ground against other francophone universities. So long as Vertika follows through on her commitment to improve her French, she will likely excel in the position.

Jenny Ann Pura Member Services Officer

Jenny Ann Pura, a PhD student in Surgical Research, is running unopposed for the position of PGSS Member Services Officer (MSO). Pura has served as VP External of her department’s student society, and is currently a member of the Committee for Member Support (CMS). She has also been involved with the PGSS council since 2012.

The MSO is the PGSS’ advocate for the services that McGill provides graduate students, such as Career Planning, Health and Mental Health, Financial Aid, International Students and the First People’s House. As MSO, Pura has expressed her desire to continue the work that the incumbent MSO, Brighita Lungu, has done to create better mental health support for students by emphasizing preventative measures. She wants to make services more easily accessible to students by creating an online form that encompasses all of the various availabble services. It would allow students to simply select what they are looking for, and instantly receive information directing them to a specific location or referring them to the appropriate service. Pura has also expressed her desire to join the province-wide “Sans Oui, C’est NON!” campaign, initiated by the University of Montreal student association.

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NEWS

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Membership Services Officer: “No”

Pura’s platform lacks the specificity and vision expected of an individual who has been involved with the PGSS since 2012. The MSO position is extremely important for the PGSS, which often struggles to engage the student body. As such, it is essential that candidates for this role develop and are able to present concrete suggestions for how to engage PGSS members in providing, accessing, and improving available services.

Pura has failed to provide the electorate and the Tribune any sufficient information about her platform in order to endorse her. While her platform does mention the importance of mental health resources and support, the Consent McGill campaign and the provincial “Sans Oui, C’est NON!” campaign, it does not offer any concrete ideas for how to engage in these various issues. Following in the footsteps of the current MSO Brighita Lungu is a fine goal, but by not offering even minor changes or additions Pura fails to demonstrate what she will bring to the portfolio.

Furthermore, while it is commendable that Pura has decided to run for a second year in a row, her current platform has not addressed the concerns the Tribune held last year. Her platform remains a continuation of the status quo; the fact that she has not progressed signals a failure to launch.

Nicholas Dunn Academic Affairs Officer

(mcgill.ca)

Nicholas Dunn, a first year doctoral candidate in the Department of Philosophy, is running unopposed for the position of Academic Affairs Officer (AAO). He has experience working in student journalism and as a member of hiring committees as an undergraduate and Masters student, respectively. Although he is in his first year at McGill, Dunn has identified the lack of research and study space for post-graduate students as a key area for improvement. To rectify this, Dunn pledges to lobby McGill for increased workspaces throughout McGill’s libraries in both the downtown and Macdonald campuses. He also is in support of the Fiat Lux plan to modernize the university’s library service.

Another aspect of Dunn’s platform is to increase consultative efforts by engaging student input through committees. He aims to aggressively advertise for these open positions. Additionally, he plans on implementing a new reporting structure to ensure that committees are more effective and transparent.

Dunn has identified the ongoing budget cuts that McGill faces as a key challenge that his portfolio faces. He is also planning on looking at a more diverse array of funding sources to increase

professional development and graduate supervision opportunities.

Academic Affairs Officer: “Yes”

Although Dunn is only in his first year at PGSS, he demonstrates a strong understanding of what this position entails. He has proven his desire to understand the role, by meeting with Devin Mills, the current AAO. Furthermore, he has shown recognition for the important needs of graduate students and has tangible ideas to improve areas, such as budget, funding, and work space for graduate students at McGill, and how to revitalize committees and transparency.

While Dunn has a lack of experience in student governance, he has shown his capabilities and commitment towards engaging with what students think they need. Dunn has proved a willingness to continue establishing ongoing projects.

He understands that in order to improve and carry projects forward, he must establish relationships and learn from the people who have worked on them before. He has a realistic vision of the issue of funding at McGill, and is committed to ensuring that he will continue to lobby for PGSS despite these conditions.

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Opinion

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

e d i tor i a l

PGSS Winter 2016 Referendum endorsements Legal Information Clinic Fee Levy: “Yes” The Legal Information Clinic at McGill (LICM) provides essential services to undergraduate and graduate students alike. It is completely student-run and provides free legal information. The clinic does not provide legal advice, but helps students navigate channels and learn their rights.

Student Advocacy, part of the LICM, represents students to the university in cases of disciplinary offence or mistreatment by the university. In short, while the presence of the LICM may not be loud or immediately apparent, it is a key component of the student experience.

This referendum question seeks to resolve the disparity that currently exists in fees paid to the LICM. Graduate students typically use the LICM far more than undergraduates, but pay less for the same services. Currently, undergraduate students pay $4.50 per semester for the LICM, whereas graduate students pay $2.00 per semester.

This, however, is not the only reason for the increase.

The fee has not been increased for graduate students since 1990. If adjusted for inflation, the fee would now be $3.29. As such, the increase accounts for inflation while also enabling the LICM to improve its services.

C ommentary

Albert Park Columnist Continued from Page 1.

In discussing the topic of immigration in Quebec, the elephant in the room must be addressed: The strict language requirements. Regardless of where one stands on the province’s voracious language debates, there is no denying that a primary

Errata:

If the fee levy fails, the LICM has said that they will readjust the services that are available to PGSS members in proportion to how much they pay vis-a-vis undergraduate students. The consequence of such an adjustment would be devastating for a student body that needs free consultations.

The key draws of the LICM are that it is open 40 hours a week, is available easily on campus, and employs seven students, as well as its advocacy services. Not only does it provide invaluable experience for Law students, it also makes its services available to all McGill students. By raising the fee, it will increase its accessibility to the student body.

The argument against the fee increase contends that the LICM is redundant. However, as a bilingual clinic that provides free services to students, it is particularly important for many McGill students—especially those who are anglophone and newcomers to Montreal. Though other clinics undoubtedly exist and provide similar services in Montreal, the ease of accessing a legal clinic on campus cannot be understated. Moreover, receiving advice from students who are familiar with the inner-workings of McGill is particularly important when students are dealing with academicspecific complaints and concerns.

World University Service of

Canada Refugee Scholarship Fee Levy: “Yes” The World University Services Canada (WUSC) is a non-profit group that works to provide education to refugees. It is represented on multiple campuses across Canada by student groups, including WUSC McGill.

WUSC heads the Student Refugee Program (SRP), the only program of its kind in the world. Refugees are usually not permitted to study in their country of refuge, but through the SRP refugees may become students.

The SRP provides funding for tuition and living costs in their first year of education. At the end of their first year, the students apply for permanent residency and may then access student loans.

The current fee levy of $0.50 is not sufficient to cover two students.

WUSC has been dipping into its endowment in order to maintain its current levels of support since 2011, but this fund will soon run out. Not only will increasing the fee enable WUSC to support two students, it will also allow it to support an additional student per year. $2.00 per student will enable WUSC to support three students through the SRP next year; if this question fails, they will only be able to support two students in 20172018.

The WUSC non-opt-outable fee

began in 1986 at $0.50. It has not increased since then. Non-opt-outable fees are incredibly important for initiatives on campus, such as the SRP, that require a stable source of income in order to support its work. If its revenue were variable year to year, WUSC would be constrained to making decisions based on short time horizons and more limited funds. In the case of supporting refugee students, a source of stable income is a matter of humanitarian need. The return for student fees is substantial and has a clear, direct impact. By paying the fee, students are directly contributing to the education of someone who would otherwise not have access to McGill.

Though the difference between two and three students seems small on paper, this would be a dramatic and concrete improvement. Students who pay the fee know exactly where the money is going—to refugee students who would otherwise be unable to receive a university education. The refugee crisis unfolding around the world brings the urgency of programs such as the SRP into focus. The need for programs like the SRP will not expire. By proposing to increase the fee, WUSC demonstrates that it is taking a global perspective on this financial issue. In supporting the fee increase, the McGill community would demonstrate its commitment to an inclusive, accessible campus.

Editor-in-Chief Mayaz Alam editor@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Hayley Lim hlim@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Shrinkhala Dawadi sdawadi@mcgilltribune.com Morgan Alexander malexander@mcgilltribune.com Julie Vanderperre jvanderperre@mcgilltribune.com News Editors Jenna Stanwood, Laura Hanrahan, Aislinn Kalob news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editor Julia Dick opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editor Chloe Nevitt scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Living Editor Hailey MacKinnon studentliving@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Natalie Wong features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Christopher Lutes and April Barrett arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Nicholas Jasinski and Zikomo Smith sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editor Domitille Biehlmann design@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editors Natalie Vineberg and Noah Sutton photo@mcgilltribune.com Web Developers William Burgess webdev@mcgilltribune.com Matt Smith online@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Adrien Hu copy@mcgilltribune.com

Zooming out on Quebec’s immigration issue

cause behind the drain of new immigrants in the province are the poor career prospects offered to non-French speakers, which in turn contributes to declining economic growth. Quebec has one of the highest rates of unemployment amongst immigrants at 11.5 per cent. Bearing this in mind, it is unlikely that bringing in more economic migrants, who are by definition mainly looking for improved livelihood, will boost the province’s growth rate.

Instead, in order to reconcile the steep language requirements with the need to retain more foreigners, the provincial government must look to introduce other influences to make foreigners feel like they can make a permanent home in Quebec, despite initial challenges in the work field. Foreigners will only learn French and plan to integrate into

the working world once they feel ready to fully settle down in the province. Family reunification is one effective way to facilitate this.

A good example of this can be seen through international students in Quebec. International students often come to the country without their parents or partners, and some of them eventually become permanent residents of Canada as well. These students may come to Quebec for schooling; however, without a solid foundation of family members in the province, it is difficult to view it as a home, and so they see it as a stepping stone towards graduation after which they leave to another province with better economic opportunities. If these students enjoy their lives in Quebec and could sponsor their families to live in the

province as well, it would provide more incentive for them to stay and build a career, boosting the retention of foreign talent.

In conjunction with Weil’s plans to smooth out the integration of immigrants into the province by providing more access to French education, increased settlements of families in Quebec can be a boon for the provincial growth rate.

The federal government’s plans to bring in more refugees can also work symbiotically with the provinces’ goal to retain more immigrants. Quebecers are already doing their part to welcome new Syrian refugees in the province and to make them feel at home. Community support and engagement with newcomers is an effective way to plant a long-term desire to become a part of the province.

In an article published in Volume 35, Issue 22 titled “SSMU Winter 2016 Referendum Endorsements,” the Tribune incorrectly stated that TVM receives funding from SSMU. The Tribune regrets this error.

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o f f t h e b oar d

April Barrett Arts & Entertainment Editor In a weird, grown-up way, getting drunk can make us feel like little kids again, with not a care in the world and a lower capacity of physical functioning.

The term ‘binge drinking culture’ is thrown around a lot at in a university setting. The definition of binge drinking is the heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time with the

C ommentary

Augustin de Trogoff Contributor With the first whiffs of spring weather signalling the end of the internship hunting season, many students are still searching for something to do with their summers. Many will be planning to volunteer abroad: Observers estimate the number of people that volunteered abroad in 2015 to be as high as 10 million in what is now a billion dollar industry.

Many voices have lambasted socalled “voluntourism,” questioning the ethical implications behind it and the effect on the communities it purports to help. While such concerns are real, research by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) points out that volunteers are essential actors in develop-

7

OPINION

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Beyond the red cup

primary intention of becoming intoxicated. For men, this means consuming five or more drinks, for women it’s consuming four or more drinks within two hours.

This definition might provoke any non-sober McGill student to feel a weird mix of recognition, embarrassment, and, finally, reclamation. Drinking to be drunk is what adolescence is all about!

If not now, then when? At the same time, the semi-shame still lingers; something that can be considered pathological is an ingrained part of our lives.

Much of McGill’s social culture revolves around heavy drinking. Events like Frosh, power hours, Science Games, Faculty Olympics, Carnival, and E-week all celebrate the combination of a roomful of young, stressed-out people trying to let loose and a flowing supply of booze. In a highly demanding academic setting, excessive drinking can feel

like the only leisure activity by which to utterly unwind; however, decentralizing drinking from campus life is not only achievable, it can be really fun.

A good start is acknowledging that none of us have a very solid defence for binge drinking, other than a classic, ‘We’re all going to die eventually anyway!’ Everyone understands its negative consequences. Much of the motivation for binge drinking is that it breaks down inhibition. Stress alleviation is only the beginning; other side effects include confidence, social ease, increased chances of romance and a few warm, pleasant hours of forgetting your middle name. In addition to this, many first-years who come to McGill embrace the low drinking age and lack of parental supervision. What’s more, peer pressure doesn’t exist like it does in afterschool specials: Binge drinking

culture isn’t forced on us, it’s implicitly learned. When you see people you like having fun while drinking, you want to emulate it.

Still, there remains something sad about your most treasured memories coming from moments that are really hard to remember.

The solution doesn’t have to be cutting these events, or drinking in general, out of a student’s life entirely. Escaping ‘binge drinking culture’ can simply mean engaging in leisure activities that don’t consistently put drinking front and centre. A university setting has a lot to offer other than stress and liquor— there are so many workshops, non-academic conferences, and activity-based clubs that all come with peers who have the ideas and energy to make things happen. Decentralizing drinking from student life can also happen on a more personal level. It’s surprisingly refreshing to make

C ommentary

a little movie with your friends or form a cover band, play cards, walk up the mountain, or cook together. It’s easy for the big events to become the only time spent socializing. When these events are almost always located in a bar, club, and/or frat house, one can believe that heavy drinking and ‘important occasion’ go hand in hand.

Breaking down binge drinking culture becomes possible when you realize that a disconcertingly high blood alcohol content isn’t what makes you interesting. If you really want to­ feel like a kid again—even just for a little while—remember the activities you used to engage in, before drinking was ever a part of your life. Try emulating the imagination of an eight year old with free time, friends, and limited expertise, and, chances are, that’s when things will get really interesting.

Reevaluating the pitfalls of voluntourism ing countries, providing logistic support and extending the reach of otherwise strained government services. Such findings indicate that the solution to the problems surrounding voluntourism is not to dismiss it altogether. Rather, the industry needs to be rebranded— or rather de-branded—so that resources are used intelligently and effectively while prioritizing the interests of local communities. In so doing, travellers must take responsibility for where they choose to go, and with whom.

Profiting on someone’s desire to help others has undeniable ethical consequences. The requirements of marketing strategies means that idealized visions of service to poorer communities, peddled by agencies offering allinclusive deals, are often far from the realities of what needs to be accomplished. Building schools is all well and good, but volunteers— especially students—rarely possess the appropriate skills and experience. In her viral article “The Problem With Little White Girls (And Boys),” blogger Pippa Biddle recounts a trip to Tanzania she went on with her high school class.

They were tasked with building a library, but their masonry was so shoddy that each night local work-

“

The war against voluntourism that has raged in blog posts and opinion columns has resulted in a black-and-white depiction of the issue, discouraging those who listen from getting involved at all.

ers would undo the day’s work and rebuild the structure.

Thought and care on the part of volunteers and organizers would have done much to avoid this harm. Simple measures such as mandatory training and sensitizing programs for volunteers would do much to curtail exploitation. Students should be encouraged to volunteer responsibly, to do their research, and to avoid the trappings of mass-market voluntourism.

Their search for a volunteering opportunity should be based both on the nature and quality of the contri-

bution they could make, and on the experiences they could gain.

There are echoes of the ‘journey to the colonies’ trope in voluntourist activities. As Rafia Zakaria explains in her piece “The white tourist’s burden,” voluntourism feeds a saviour-beggar relationship, perpetuated by the misconceived notion that other people’s problems are simpler to solve than our own. Why, ask the critics, do we not help in our own communities? It seems that the focus of volunteer trips often appears to be on one’s own experience of service rather than on the contribution made. Consider the stereotypical volunteer at an orphanage, bonding with a child only to disappear after a few days. The volunteer might leave with a more open mind and a more compassionate heart, but the child is left wondering why their new friend left. The answer to these criticisms is frustratingly straightforward: Students must realize that volunteering is not inherently good.

The war against voluntourism that has raged in blog posts and opinion columns has resulted in a black-and-white depiction of the issue, discouraging those who listen from getting involved at all.

But there is value in engaging in

ethical travel pursuits. Research has shown that volunteers provide some things that few other aid workers can. For example, in the IDS study, the volunteer’s status as both insider and outsider in a community is highlighted as an essential link between locals and NGOs. Volunteers can help locals fill out forms to apply for funding to build, for example, a clinic. They can also help locals understand how to effectively communicate with and get aid from their government.

As clichéd as it sounds, volunteering fosters cross-cultural relationships. For students, volunteering can be an opportunity to gain valuable experience in the context of their field of study. Moreover, volunteering is often how aid workers begin their careers. Some have raised the question of whether this creates aid professionals who assume that they, by virtue of their work, can do no harm. This problem is nothing except a product of an industry that sells travel packages by playing to feelings of altruism. Eliminating such harmful side-effects has to involve efforts on the part of prospective volunteers to be conscious of their actions, and to demand that the voluntourism industry take responsibility for itself.

Interested in graphic design or photography? We’re hiring design and photo editors for the 2016-2017 school year!

Send your CV, a cover letter, and three samples of your work to editor@mcgilltribune.com by March 23rd.

8

Student Living

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Getting inked: The realities of tattoos in the workplace Are tattoos becoming socially acceptable in the office?

Audrey Carleton Staff Writer The growing prevalence of tattoos in North American media and in society at large has made them an attractive option for students today. Increasingly, figureheads of social and political importance have revealed their tattoos to the public, including Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Samantha Cameron, wife of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; however, tattoos still carry with them the possibility of discrimination from employers, which can be limiting for many in the choice of whether or not to get inked.

One precaution commonly taken before getting a tattoo is to locate it strategically so that it can be covered up, if need be, for professional and formal environments. For some, finding a location on their body that can be easily hidden is a preliminary step to getting a tattoo.

Trudeau, for example, has been cited as the only world leader with a tattoo known to the public. This does not mean that no other world leaders have tattoos, but rather that he is the only one who has made it publicly known. In the world of politics and other white-collar careers, visible tattoos are not widely acceptable, and

may be seen as a sign of informality or disrespect for the profession.

“Depending on the industry, tattoos can be more or less acceptable,” Cindy Mancuso, Arts and Diversity advisor at the McGill Career Planning Services (CaPS), said. “Students need to use their good judgment when going for an interview. Most individuals I’ve seen with tattoos have them in places that are easily hidden. For most interviews, we suggest that individuals [err] on the side of dressing up if they are not sure what the attire should be.

Unless someone has tattoo sleeves, or tattoos on their hands, face [or neck], they usually get covered up with the appropriate attire.”

Further, in some professions, employers reserve the right to regulate the dress of employees with visible tattoos. Tess Kaiser, U2 Arts, has firsthand experience with such a policy.

“I worked at a German restaurant where the waitresses had to wear dirndls, the traditional German dress,” Kaiser explained. “There were a couple of girls where, even though it was hot and it was the summer, they had to wear shawls because they had tattoos.”

Kaiser also suspected that her employment prospects were decreased because of a tattoo on her

upper back. “[My tattoo] could have been part of the reason I didn’t become a waitress there,” Kaiser said. “I was never [promoted] when other people were; I was just a busser. They knew that I had a tattoo; I don’t know if that was entirely it, but I’m sure even if I did become a waitress there, it would’ve been an issue. I would’ve had to cover it up.”

The negative societal connotations of tattoos have longranging impacts across many fields beyond the service industry. Andrea Terceros, U1 Neuroscience, who has several tattoos on her arms and hands, can anticipate receiving pushback against her tattoos in the medical field.

“I guess going to [medical] school, there are people who don’t necessarily want to see their doctors with tattoos,” Terceros said. “There’s a bit of a stereotype and a stigma [...]

[Were I asked to remove my tattoos by employers,] if that’s my dream and they want that, I would probably remove them.”

On the other hand, many people get tattoos because of the deep personal significance of the image or message in their tattoo. For this reason, it can be upsetting to receive negative feedback from employers. “[Tattoos should be treated] as you treat someone’s shirt,” said

Jacob Garrah, U1 Environment, in reference to his half-sleeve tattoo.

“It’s someone’s personal choice— it should be a total non-issue. If someone was really like, ‘You cannot have that showing, please wear a long-sleeved shirt,’ I’d be a little upset, because it means a lot to me, and I made it very visible for a reason.”

Further, Garrah postulated that regulation or discrimination of employees with tattoos may be a used to hide other social biases.

“Tattoos can sometimes be an excuse to discriminate against someone,” Garrah explained. “I’m a white male working at a research institute or working in a customer service physical labour environment, they have no reason to discriminate against me, so my tattoo [and] my piercings [are] totally fine. But if someone had that implicit bias against someone, and then they had a tattoo [...] it can be like a proxy.”

Though Mancuso suggested that students dress to appeal to employers by hiding their tattoos, she also recognized the agency of employees in choosing how to express themselves.

“It generally takes 30 seconds to make an impression, so students need to be mindful of what kind of impression they

Jacob Garrah’s sleeve tattoo (Audrey Carleton / McGill Tribune) want to make,” Mancuso said.

“On the flip side, some people might decide they don’t want to work for a company that may discriminate on the basis of body art—this is valid too. It is a personal choice at the end of the day.”

student of the week

N

MAry-Liz Power u3 Arts

By Keara Campos

(Natalie Vineberg / McGill Tribune)

ot having enough free time is a problem for most McGill students, but Mary-Liz Power, a U3 Psychology student with minors in Marketing and Behavioural Science, finds herself loving her constantly busy schedule.

Power volunteers her time with the McGill Psychology Students Association (MPSA) as their organization’s U3 representative, organizing events and liaising with other departments. Additionally, she is VP Internal for McGill Red Thunder, a staff member at Bar des Arts (BDA), and a mentor with the Indigenous Student Mentorship Program.

I realized that there was a lot of other stuff out there that I hadn’t been doing yet,” Power explained. “So I decided to start getting involved with other stuff because I had a lot of free time and I didn’t know what to do with myself.”

For the first three years of her McGill degree, Power was a varsity athlete on the Martlet rugby team, playing hooker and occasionally flank.

After leaving the team, she began to divide her time among new groups.

Power has been a member of Red Thunder since 2013, and has joined other initiatives this past year, such as a mentorship program that runs out of the Kahnawake Survival School.

“I am really interested in the plight of indigenous peoples in Canada, and am trying to find my place in the process of recognition of indigenous rights,” Power said. “I’d really like to do more with indigenous activism in the future, but this is one thing I’ve started doing.”

Power’s passion for teamwork and community outreach is highlighted in her endeavours such as the Indigenous Student Mentorship Program and Red Thunder, the latter which advocates for creating a community around athletics at McGill. By joining different campus initiatives, Power has had the opportunity to meet new groups of people within the larger McGill community, which she explained is an important part of her overall experience.

“There is a lot out there at McGill that a lot of people don’t realize,” Power said. “It’s looking for where you fit and where your community is, and when you find it it’s fate!”

As a former varsity athlete, Power still enjoys playing sports by participating in hockey, ultimate frisbee, and soccer intramurals. For her, it’s not playing to win but rather for reconnecting with old friends and finding new ones.

“I think it’s really shown me more of [McGill] than I would have seen

otherwise,” Power said. “I feel like I’ve gotten a lot more out of the experience than I would have if I had just floated through it.”

Q&A McGill Tribune (MT): What type of small dog breed would you be if you were a dog?

Mary-Liz Power (MLP): I think I’d be a Pug or a

Jack Russell terrier or a Papillion. I think I have the hustle and the heart like they do.

MT: Would you rather have feet for hands or hands for feet?

MLP: Hands for feet. I could be really dexeterious with my finger-toes.

MT: Would you rather fight thousands of small mutant babies or one giant mutant baby?

MLP: This is for real my nightmare. I think one big

baby because the small babies would scare me a lot more than the big baby would.

MT: If you were a social media platform, which one would you be?

MLP: I would be Twitter. I just got Twitter [...] and I’ve become obsessed with it really quickly because nobody follows me so I can just say random stuff (@ yungscone_).

9

Student Living

Tuesday,March 22, 2016

Spring into style

Save or splurge: Three looks for different budgets Rachel Summers Contributor Most McGill students know all too well that when the faintest signs of spring arise, there will always be a few students on campus who bust out their spring/summer clothes far too prematurely. Even though the first day of spring is technically March 20, this date is deceiving to McGillians, as snow has been known to grace the campus well into April while bringing sadness, annoyance, and frustration along with it.

Warm weather will come eventually, though, and when it does, a (further) lack of desire to study will likely affect many students. To combat this pain, one can turn to a well-tested and widely recommended mood alleviator: Retail therapy.

Browsing and picking out a few spring items will make the awkward weather adjustment much smoother, and give students something to look forward to in light of the looming final exam

season.

This spring, certain staple items such as the trench coat have been reimagined, and other completely new items like the sleeveless long vest are popping up at most popular retail stores.

Suede is also trendy right now and is great for the spring weather, as it’s more substantial than cotton or silkier fabrics.

These additions to stores’ Spring 2016 collections are pictured below.

Classics like striped shirts and light wash jeans are still prominent, and together make an easy outfit to assemble. In an economical sense, light wash jeans can’t be worn all season long, so splurging on them compared to dark wash denim might not make the most sense for everyone.

With some time and research, less expensive versions of spring staple items can be found that your future self will be thankful for. Below are some spring wardrobe suggestions that can be catered to different budgets.

S A V E

S P L U R G E (garageclothing.com, urbanoutfitters.com)

S A V E

S P L U R G E (zara.com, aritzia.com)

TEDxMcGill conference inspires innovation across campus Students look to the potential of paradigm shifts and challenging the status quo Emma Whitehall Contributor On March 19, the work of executive organizers for the TEDxMcGill conference culminated in a seamless, inspired day, which included eight speeches from innovators across an array of disciplines. Groundbreaking presentations ranged from those by Moon Ribas, a self-identified ‘cyborg’ who can feel the vibrations of earthquakes around the world, to Thione Niang, the founder of Give1Project, a non-profit dedicated to the empowerment of young leaders in communities around the world.

The event was marked by the theme ‘Paradigm Shift.’ The goal was for the curated selection of speakers to trigger the audience to change the way they think about an array of topics.

“We wanted a theme that made people [not only] reflect and question today, but where we are headed tomorrow,” Cassandra Delage, president of the executive committee, said. “We wanted as much variety as possible [so that] attendees come out of the event with at least one speaker that changed their way of thinking.”

From the moment attendees arrived, there was a parallel sense of innovation across disciplines

and even within the venue itself. Le Salon 1861—a former church—has undergone a massive transformation into an impressive, inspiring community space that works to bring people together in the same sense that the church was able to from its origins.

Passion was a common underlying thread that linked all the speakers and their talks.

Christopher Emerson, co-founder of SpherePlay—a media player software startup—spoke on the topic of storytelling and its important place in the world.

Despite TEDx conferences being an independently run branch of the TED organization—an operation that hosts conferences on a much larger scale intended to inspire and educate—the event’s calibre and the selected speakers’ ability to inspire warranted its association with the TED name.

“TED represents a bringing together of minds [that are] bursting with ideas,” Emerson said. “I think every single person that gives a TED talk is filled with a message or something that inspires them so much, that they can’t contain it, and it has to erupt out of them [....] Paradigm shifts can come about more powerfully and more effectively when the story is told well.”

Pointing to the fact that some

of the most recognized changemakers, from Benjamin Franklin to Nelson Mandela, began at relatively young ages, Niang was acutely aware of the audience demographic and the unique opportunity his story could inspire. After coming up in a poor, 28-person family in Senegal, West Africa, his journey can be equated to those of Christopher Emerson speaking to students at the TedxMcGill conference. (Emma Whitehall / McGill Tribune) very recognizable innovators that he show them that they have potential for any paradigm shift to occur. used as examples.

I think progressing our outlook “If you look at history, to make a difference.”

This sort of excitement and on education will very quickly everything that’s changed has changed through young people,” passion sought to inspire students accelerate innovation and change Niang said. “We are stuck to envision innovative ideas in the world.”

According to Miakouchkine, together. If tomorrow is your last, that also might one day land conference’s message what have we done for [those less them on a TED stage. Michelle the Miakouchkine, U3 Cognitive reverberated among the audience fortunate]?”

This sentiment is exactly Science and attendee of the of young students and innovators.

“I love how every talk found herself what Delage had in mind conference, this idea of when designing the conference thinking about innovation within incorporated challenging the status quo,” education. alongside her executive team.

“The beauty of this kind Miakouchkine said. “There is “‘Paradigm Shift’ is relevant to McGill students because they of inspiration is that it can be always a solution to the world’s have the power to make the shift applied to so many fields,” most perplexing problems [....] It or the changes that they wish to Miakouchkine said. “Personally, was deeply inspiring how many see happen,” Delage said, “The I’d love to see ideas on how to of the speakers overcame great goal was to empower and push improve education as well as challenges, and were met with people to take action. We wanted [how to] make it more accessible. even greater rewards and lessons to open the eyes of students and Education is absolutely critical afterwards.”

Canada needs to realize the full potential of its youth.

Joy Aguilar Illustration by Hayley Lim

D

uring the recent United Nations (UN) conference on climate change (COP21) last December, youth activists successfully negotiated with member states to acknowledge the importance of intergenerational equity when taking action to address climate change in the Paris Agreement.

“This is a testament to an entirely youth-driven, multi-year lobbying effort to situate the wellbeing of future generations as a core principle of climate policy,” Adam Hasz, member of the SustainUS youth delegation to COP21, said.

The inclusion of intergenerational participants in the Paris Agreement is one example of effective youth engagement in a UN conference. More specifically, intergenerational equity contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 13 on taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

According to the SecretaryGeneral’s Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi,the role of youth as partners will help determine the success of the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“We need to engage youth as partners in development [...] not to support young people as if they were a charitable thing, but we need to invest in young people because it’s a smart investment,” Alhendawi said. “We can’t achieve the SDGs if youth are considered as beneficiaries [...] there are too many to cater for. They are half of the world’s population, and in some regions like in Africa, the number of young people will continue to grow over the next 40 years.”

As part of his 2015 electoral

platform, prime minister Justin Trudeau included 217 promises— one of which is to create a national youth advisory council, “consisting of young Canadians aged 16 to 24 to provide non-partisan advice to the Prime Minister on issues the country is facing.”

The implementation of a national youth advisory council is one way that young people may be involved in decision-making processes on a domestic level; however, this doesn’t account for youth involvement on an international level.

In order to shift the perception of youth as beneficiaries to partners in the international sphere, young people need to play an active role in decision-making processes that affect them, alongside governments and other stakeholders. Youth can participate in decision-making processes on an international level through the United Nations Youth Delegate Programme.

The program allows young people to represent youth perspectives from their country at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and functional commissions of the UN Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC) as part of their country’s official delegation.

According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ (UN DESA) /Guide to Youth Delegates to the United Nations/, the “underlying principle of youth participation in the work of the United Nations is that it leads to better policy and programmatic responses to the problems facing young people today.”

Through the Youth Delegate Programme, not only are young people empowered to directly im-

pact policies but governments also benefit from the perspectives of young people in the implementation of sound policies.

“Listening to youth and making them full partners in the decisionmaking process can help governments enact more effective and legitimate policies and programmes, especially with regard to youth issues,” UN DESA noted.

Establishing a youth delegate programme to the UN falls under the discretion of a member state; currently, Canada does not have a youth delegate programme. The presence of official Canadian youth delegates at the UNGA was last recorded in 2005, which was the inaugural year for Canadian youth delegates at the UNGA. According to UN DESA in the Guide to Youth Delegates to the United Nations, the role of a youth delegate differs depending on the country but usually entails tasks at the international and domestic levels.

Internationally, youth delegates may advise their country’s official delegation to the UN on issues related to young people. Youth delegates also attend intergovernmental meetings and informal negotiations at the UN. Following their work at the UN, youth delegates return to their home country and share their insights with other young people by visiting universities, schools, youth organizations and other civil society organizations.

“A majority of a youth delegate’s tasks is devoted to these domestic activities,” Ralien Bekkers, a former Dutch youth delegate on sustainable development, said.

In last year’s UNGA, only 48

youth delegates from 27 member states participated in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural). With the UN’s total of 193 member states, this reflects a low number of member states participating in the youth delegate program.

According to the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) in the /Youth at the UN: A Handbook for Establishing National Youth Delegate Programme to the United Nations/, the lack of accessible information on how to establish a national youth delegation, is a challenge for countries that have not yet created the program.

“Establishing such a programme comes with its own unique set of difficulties, including convincing government officials of its value, navigating bureaucracy, overcoming funding challenges, and putting the appropriate processes in place for a sustainable and democratic programme,” the WFUNA handbook read.

Overcoming the challenges of establishing a Youth Delegate Programme is worthwhile. Apart from empowering young people and allowing the government to produce sound policies for young people, including youth voices in an official delegation enriches policy dialogue and improves communication and cooperation channels between youth and governments according to UN DESA in the Guide to Youth Delegates to the United Nations.

“Upon returning to their home countries, youth delegates often promote continued progress in the development and implementation of youth policies at the national level and encourage other young

people to discuss more fully the development of their communities and nations,” UN DESA noted. “Youth delegates also spread awareness and knowledge about the work of the United Nations to young people in their home countries, making them important actors in promoting the aims and principles of the organization.”

With many students at McGill University who are passionate about international issues that are discussed at the UN, the Youth Delegate Programme would be an excellent avenue through which students may voice their concerns within the UN system, provide input for policies, and reach out to other youth to talk about ongoing UN processes.

The program in the Netherlands, which is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is one example of a successful youth dialogue program.

As part of the Dutch National Youth Council, Bekkers worked on sustainable development for a twoyear term from 2012 to 2014, starting at the age of 20 years old. At the time, she was studying for her Bachelor of Science in Future Planet Studies at the University of Amsterdam.

Bekkers has been an advocate for sustainability and climate action since 2009, under the mission of working for a sustainable world for future generations. As a youth delegate, she represented Dutch youth at UN intergovernmental meetings related to sustainable development, and collected input from young people to present to policymakers.

Bekkers’ first appearance at the UN level was at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro.

“One of our main points as youth [during the conference] was to get education on sustainable development in the text,” Bekkers said.

Bekkers and other youth activists managed to negotiate for member states to include the importance of informal education in paragraph 231 of the outcome document of the conference, which encourages “Member States to promote Sustainable Development awareness among youth, inter alia, by promoting programmes for non-formal education in accordance with the goals of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.”

Germany also supports a strong youth delegate programme, sending two youth delegates for sustainable development to serve two-year terms. The youth delegates on sustainable development are supported by the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety.

Currently, 21-year old Jasmin Burgermeister serves as one of the official youth delegates on sustainable development as a member of the German Federal Youth Council.

Her term began last year just before the she attended and represented German youth at the UN High-level Political Forum for Sustainable De-

velopment in New York City.

Studying international relations and global history at the University of Erfurt, Burgermeister is an advocate for European integration and collaboration in external affairs along with social and sustainable development.

Her tasks as a youth delegate include speaking out for the implementation and review of the SDGs to young people (especially with regards to the role that youth play in these processes) and politicians, as well as promoting the UN to young people.

Burgermeister also participated in this year’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum in New York City. On behalf of German youth, Burgermeister addressed other youth delegates and representatives of member states, emphasizing the importance of youth in the monitoring and review of the SDGs, also known as the 2030 Agenda.

“We talked a lot about the role of youth in implementing the [2030] agenda (the overarching theme of

“

processes involving member states, met with diplomats to discuss various international issues, and attended events hosted by UN bodies and non-governmental organizations.

IRSAM President Kaitlyn Bowman, U3 Industrial Relations, said that attending these intergovernmental meetings gives the opportunity for students to learn about international processes at the UN level.

“This allows them to share their knowledge with their peers on campus and bring conversations from the UN back to McGill,” Bowman said.

On a national level, Young Diplomats of Canada (YDC) has enabled youth participation within the UN system by sending Canadian youth who are at least 18 years of age and younger than 30 to World BankInternational Monetary Fund Annual Meetings and the World Trade Organization Public Forum.

Apart from meetings within the UN system, YDC sends delegates to the Y8 and Y20 summits (the youth engagement platforms for the G8

Listening to youth and making them full partners in the decision-making process can help governments enact more effective and legitimate policies and programmes, especially with regard to youth issues. this forum for the last two days), but I think we must not forget that the youth has a role to play in the monitoring and reviewing process of this agenda,” Burgermeister said.

“The HLPF, the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, will be the main body to ensure the review and monitoring process,” Burgermeister said. “I am a youth delegate accredited to the HLPF and I just wanted to use this opportunity to call out to all the young people present in this room [and] also to member states’ delegations to establish or to found a youth delegate programme in your country.”

While the Government of Canada does not have an official Canadian Youth Delegate Programme to the UN, McGill has facilitated the presence of youth at the UN. Holding consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, the International Relations Students’ Association of McGill, Inc. (IRSAM) sends student delegates to intergovernmental meetings at the UN Headquarters in New York City twice a year.

This year, the organization sent delegations to the Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission on Social and Economic Development. The delegations observed

and G20 summits) and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Forum.

At these forums, youths selected by the YDC can advocate for policies that echo Canadian youth perspectives. An example of the impact of YDC’s engagement with international processes is the acknowledgement of the Y20’s inputs in the youth unemployment section of the G20 leaders’ 2014 communiqué.

If an official youth delegate programme were to be implemented, the Canadian federal government must ensure that the selected young people truly represent Canadian youth perspectives.

From her time at the ECOSOC Youth Forum, Burgermeister saw that even with regional representation, the real representation of the world’s youth has not been ensured.

“If we really want to establish the ECOSOC Youth Forum as a body to express young voices, we also need to consider the legitimacy of the Forum’s participants based on factors such as the participants’ origin, their social class, their education, what kind of youth they represent, and the youth organizations that they are part of,” Burgermeister said.

Even after being selected as official delegates, challenges lie ahead

for Canadian youth representatives.

Burgermeister notes that a major challenge that she faces as a Youth Delegate is not being taken seriously as an equitable partners and being viewed as quota youth.

“Young people have to participate as partners in international politics, but this is only possible if they can be taken seriously by decisionmakers regarding the things they are saying,” Burgermeister said. “This means they [youth] have to have real expertise in topics they are discussing.”

It is worth having discussions on potential challenges because the current political environment is ready for the implementation of a Youth Delegate Programme. With Prime Minister Trudeau as the Minister of Youth, the concept of including young people as part of the Canadian delegation to the UN is feasible.

Apart from promising to create a national youth advisory council, the Government of Canada suggested the feasibility of a youth delegation to the UN through its recruitment of a youth delegation (open to those aged 15 to 18) to the Junior 7 (J7) Summit—a G7 event hosted by the Government of Japan who will have G7 chairmanship in 2016—which will take place from 22 to 28 April 2016 in Kuwana City (Mie Prefecture), Japan.

The latest move by the federal government that supports the feasibility of a Youth Delegate Programme is Prime Minister Trudeau’s campaign for a Security Council seat. “[Canada’s campaign for a Security Council seat] should include a commitment to restore the youth delegate component of Canada’s voice at the United Nations,” Colin Robertson, current vice-president and fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said. “I can’t think of a better way to bring fresh thinking and new ideas to the UN. It would also help prepare the next generation of Canada’s multilateral diplomats.”

Ultimately, the creation of a Youth Delegate Programme requires a change in mindset.

“The smart mindset required for achieving the SDGs is thinking about youth as partners, creating more opportunities for them to be engaged politically, socially, economically [...],” Alhendawi said.

“I think the challenge is now that for many people, they are still thinking of young people as talking at young people, not talking to young people; we need to engage them more smartly, and I think that’s the transition that the United Nations marked itself by having this logo of the United Nations working with, not only working for, young people,” Alhendawi said.

In working towards the SDGs, Trudeau must step up and work with youth as equal partners through the creation of a Youth Delegate Programme in order to tap into the skills and talents that young people have to offer.

Only then can the full potential of young people be realized.

12

Science & technology

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

McGill University Procurement Service to seek alternate antibody supplier Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc. accused of major animal rights violations Andy Wang Contributor Antibodies, also known as immunoglobulins, are proteins that can bind to foreign molecules in the body. Discovered in the early 20th century, the incredible specificity with which they can bind to proteins became an irreplaceable tool in the repertoire of molecular biology.

Because of this, scientists have been able to manipulate antibodies in a number of ways.

For example, antibodies are used in immunohistochemistry, where they are made fluorescent and can be used by scientists to track the location of certain particles. Another technique, known as western blots, are used by scientists to separate proteins based on specific properties, such as hydrophobicity, pH, and electric charge.

In the early 1980s, due to the growing antibody demands in the ever-increasing number of research facilities around the world, biotechnology companies quickly commercialized the process. Today, antibodies are readily available to researchers online. For a fee, antibodies against nearly any molecule can be produced.

Currently, the majority of biotechnology companies use rabbits and goats to create these antibodies. The animals are kept in farms and are injected with proteins and pathogens to provoke immune responses.

Companies then harvest antibodies from the plasma of these animals by extracting their blood. By then giving animals the time to generate more antibodies, companies can repeat this process over and over. In 2011 alone, biotechnology companies generated $1.6 billion in revenues solely from antibodies; however, the lucrative side of commercial antibody production is not the entire story.

While these biotechnology companies are convenient for researchers, they are also held to lesser ethical and animal rights standards. Since the relationship of research institutions to biotechnological companies is that of consumer and supplier, researchers are often unaware of—or sometimes even indifferent to—the animal rights violations of these companies.

As early as 2005, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) fined Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc. (SCBT), the world’s second largest antibody supplier, for a sum of $4,600. In 2012 alone, SCBT accounted for

53 per cent of global antibody transactions.

The violations included problems with “animal sanitation, veterinary care, and personnel sanitation.” The company has since faced a slew of litigations from the USDA, with the most recent lawsuit due to resume on April 5.

For these corporations, any and all products procured or produced by animals have to adhere to strict humane and ethical conditions. In the United States, these requirements are outlined in the Animal Welfare Act (AWA)—currently the only Federal law in the United States to protect animals used for purposes of scientific research.

Unfortunately it doesn’t always work.

According to the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), a US non-profit organization aimed at “[alleviating] the suffering inflicted on animals by people,” the USDA could face fines up to $10,000 per day for every violation of the Animal Welfare Act. Furthermore, the AWI indicated that SCBT is the only company have three separate complaints filed against them by the USDA, and—pending the trial—stands to have its commercial licence permanently revoked.

Despite two separate complaints filed by the USDA, animal rights watchdogs throughout the United States say they did not see any cessation of these violations.

In January 2013, taking matters into its own hands, the national non-profit Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), on behalf of Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN), alleged that SCBT violated California legislature for the proper care of animals.

The allegation was supported by numerous Animals Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) inspections.

“APHIS investigations have documented multiple violations over the past six years at Santa Cruz Biotech, and have repeatedly cited the corporation for unlawful neglect of goats,” the APHIS wrote in a press release. “Emaciated and severely malnourished animals were discovered with untreated skin conditions and painful respiratory ailments, and one goat had an untreated broken leg.”

Amidst this slew of ongoing litigations, SCBT is within legal boundaries to conduct its business uninterrupted. And on the side of antibody consumers, the facts are even more disheartening. “[Nine hundred and one

“

On Jan. 12, 2016 all of the animals from Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc. disappeared. (cdn.onegreenplanet.org)

“[Nine hundred and one biomedical] laboratories—the vast majority of the estimated 1,100 in the US—violated the Animal Welfare Act in 2012,” SAEN stated in a press release in April 2013.

biomedical] laboratories—the vast majority of the estimated 1,100 in the US—violated the Animal Welfare Act in 2012,” SAEN stated in a press release in April 2013.

It seems that the majority of research institutions in the United States are either negligent or unconscious of animal welfare problems. Until very recently, McGill University was also unaware of the allegations.

However, on Feb. 19, 2016, McGill University Procurement Services sent a letter to SCBT enquiring into the allegations of animal rights violations. The letter required SCBT to inform McGill University of “any action, plan, or strategy […] to ensure that all animals under your care are treated according to these [USDA] rules and regulations,” and that “McGill University has already started investigating alternative suppliers.”

Only three days later, on Feb. 22, McGill University issued a

memo addressing the issue.

“Due to other negative findings related to Santa Cruz Biotechnology’s practices, Procurement Service is taking additional measures, [which include] redirecting an order to an alternative source of supply, where possible,” the memo read.

According to McGill University Project Manager of Sustainable Procurement, Stephanie Leclerc, the other negative findings include the disappearance of thousands of goats and rabbits from SCBT’s California facilities. On Jan. 12, 2016, USDA inspectors reported that no animals were present during the inspection.

Cathy Liss, director of the AWI, suspects that the animals were killed, as research animals cannot be sold for meat. Furthermore, Liss doubts that “such a large number of animals bred for such a specific purpose would find a buyer.”

McGill is now taking the necessary steps to ensure the sustainability and accountability of its suppliers, which, according to current estimates, number at 7,000.

Previously, SCBT accounted for only $150,000 CAD of the $270 CAD million total that McGill University spends annually. After McGill University Procurement Service’s immediate response to redirect all orders, only three researchers continued to purchase antibodies from SCBT. “[Their research is] already very advanced, which made it impossible for them to change sources,” Leclerc wrote in an e-mail to the McGill Tribune.

According to the McGill’s website, all research conducted on animals at McGill must “abide by guidelines established by the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC).” Currently, there is no regulation on the conduct

and actions of McGill University suppliers.

In the past, McGill University has never taken actions against suppliers accused of animal rights violations. On a broader perspective, SCBT’s violations could be the driving force for research institutions to become more cognizant of animal welfare. “[Hopefully] these allegations will prompt a cultural change among those involved in animal research,” Alice Ra’anan, director of government relations and science policy at the American Physiological Society stated.

At McGill, this appears to be the case.

“Procurement Services was already drafting a Supplier Code of Conduct with this issue came about,” Leclerc wrote. “Our draft initially covered ethical principles, social principles, and environmental principles, but did not cover animal welfare principles. Thanks to the alert […] we have now included a whole new section on animal welfare.”

When adopted, McGill University’s Supplier Code of Conduct will require all life science suppliers to the University to provide specific proof that laboratories are compliant or meeting recognized standards.

And the university is taking steps to raise awareness across Canadian universities. “[McGill’s Procurement Services] has alerted many other institutions across Canada, most of whom did not know about this situation either,” Leclerc stated.

Leclerc hopes that McGill researchers will go forward and only purchase from ethical sources.

“It implies a lot of research and work, but we believe this is the only way to go,” Leclerc wrote.

13

Science & technology

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

A guide to choosing a graduate school supervisor Tackling grad school one step at a time Kristian Shulist Contributor When picking a graduate school, many students spend hours scrutinizing the location, the size, and the prestige of the school they’re interested in attending. When picking a supervisor however, many students do not invest the same amount of time and effort into their choice and often end up working in lab environments they dislike. “[Graduate school] is really supervisor-dependent,” Simon Sehayek, a physics PhD student from the Wiseman Lab at McGill, explained.

“It’s about finding [a professor] who is right for you. Different people have different styles. You have to make sure your personalities are compatible.”

When searching for graduate school supervisors, one of the main things a student needs to consider is compatibility with a professor’s managing style. Students must also reflect on what they want and need from their supervisor.

“There has to be a very deep introspective analysis of yourself— your own personality—before you make a decision,” Professor Richard Roy from the Department of Biology said. “And it’s much more based on you [....] It’s ‘What do I want,’ and ‘How would I feel in an environment,’ and ‘What makes me feel good about going to work every day?’”

It is important to take some time and really consider what is wanted out of grad school, then, after all this deep thinking, comes the time to begin searching.

Step one: Try to narrow down the vast number of possible options “I knew I wanted to do biophysics [but] there aren’t many biophysicists currently at McGill, so I had a choice between four profs,” Sehayek said.

Be it a city, a university, a

specific subject, or a biological model organism, choose something to help lessen the overwhelming options. Once the list is shorter and more manageable, begin to check out websites, journal articles or anything to get a feel for the nature of the research and whether it is appealing.

Some general things to consider during this step include whether the lab publishes often. Check databases such as Google Scholar or PubMed to see when they last published. Look for papers where the professor is the last author. This is an indication that the particular professor’s lab did most, or all of the work as opposed to a collaboration with another lab.

Another thing to consider is the kind of journals a supervisor is publishing in. Impact factor—a score which reflects the citation frequency of the journal—is an easy way to quickly assess the relative importance of the journal within its specific field. Impact factor should be used with caution as citation rates can differ vastly between fields, and thus, cannot be used to compare across disciplines.

Step two: Email interesting professors It is best to secure a supervisor before applying to the graduate program at the university. Often, the supervisor has a lot of pull as to whether a student is accepted into the program, even if the student has less than stellar grades. Matei Petrescu, a PhD student in the Department of Physics from the Gervais Lab, attributes his acceptance to graduate school to the relationship he developed with his future supervisor during summer internships.

“He had the power to get me [into the graduate program],” Petrescu said.

“If I’d just applied with no supervisor, chances were I wouldn’t have made it [….] I’m really sure about that.”

Many undergraduates may not realize the important fact that grades do

not have to be a deciding factor. Good grades are not necessarily an indication of graduate school success.

“If they make the [graduate school grade] requirement, then it’s okay,” Roy said. “Even if they are below the requirement, I’ll go up to bat for somebody. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a 3.8 or a 4 GPA, as long as you really want to do science, you’ll be fine [....] I think the ability to be resourceful and problem solving is probably much more important.”

Professors are generally very busy people, so send one carefully written email.

“Keep the email professional, reasonably short [...] but hit the main highlights of your résumé,” Katie Stewart, a biochemistry PhD candidate from the Bouchard lab, said. “Start off with a preamble, not ‘Are you looking to hire?’ But ‘I’m interested in your lab, and these are the reasons I am interested; this is my background, and this is my CGPA.’” Stewart also suggests attaching a transcript and a résumé to the email.

“You want to make it easy for [the professor] to decide that they want you as quickly as possible,” she said. “I find that having everything all together really helps with that.”

Step three: Interview potential supervisors (and their lab members) Speaking to a professor can be a bit daunting, but remember that this is not only to determine whether the student is a good fit for the professor and the lab, but also to determine whether the professor and the lab are a good fit for the student. Like any interview, preparation is key.

“Most profs have websites, so read the website [and] also check the date that the website was last updated, because often you are going to find that the website is like three or four years out of date,” Stewart said. “If that’s the

case then you want to [...] look for their more recent articles. You don’t have to necessarily understand everything about the article [...] but you should try to come up with one question. It doesn’t even have to be a reasonably intelligent question; it should be something that demonstrates that you’re interested.”

The goal of this meeting is to try to assess the compatibility of the student with the professor, research and other lab members. The latter is not to be underestimated; co-worker relationships are important in graduate school as Tiago Salvador, a PhD candidate in math from the Oberman Lab, points out.

“I think it’s important to keep a social life,” Salvador explained.

“It was my case when I moved here, I didn’t know anyone so it was definitely important to get along with my officemates and people in general in the math department. Sometimes you’re going to get stuck in something and you don’t necessarily want to talk to your supervisor right away [....] And it’s great if you can just bounce [ideas] off a friend” These co-worker relationships are not only important for troubleshooting, but also for emotional support during the inevitable research lows.

“It’s not going to be your supervisor necessarily that’s always supporting you—it’s going to be the lab that gets you through those [tough] parts,” Stewart said. “You have to like the supervisor, you have to like your project, but most [importantly], you have to like the people in the lab.

That’s the thing that’s going to get you through all of those lows, which come more frequently than what you’d expect.”

Step four: Make a decision This is the hardest step because unlike most relationships, where people typically have a lot of time to determine their compatibilities,

choosing a supervisor often happens with very little facetime. Simon Bernard, a physics PhD student from the Sankey Lab, initially met his supervisor during an undergraduate class.

“I was lucky in the sense that I decided to stay at the same university [where I completed my undergraduate degree],” Bernard said. “If you go overseas, sometimes it’s just one visit which lasts an afternoon and that’s a coin toss.”

Indeed, it seems the best option (if available) is to work or volunteer for the supervisor in advance to get an understanding of their managing style and the lab environment.

Unfortunately, that is not always an option. To compensate for this, some departments have a rotational program which allows students to get to know supervisors and the research before fully committing.

However, in Canada, these programs are less prevalent than standard programs. For example, McGill only offers two rotational programs in science-related fields.

Where does that leave the rest of the students who are unable to work for their professor in advance or whose department of choice does not offer a rotational program. Often, most information is gathered by talking to the current or past graduate students one-onone and reading between the lines with a keen ear for keywords or red flags.

“Make sure you actually talk to the future lab mates,” Stewart said. “And you should talk to them without the supervisor present. If the supervisor doesn’t want you to do that, it’s not a good situation [….] Don’t go to that lab.”

A chart is included below as a guideline to indicate some of the most common supervision styles and the types of graduate students that may or may not be compatible with these styles.

- Are autonomous and do not mind radio silence for several weeks or months - Are able to recognize when they need help and are comfortable initiating most meetings with their supervisor

- Prefer to have more direction (important at the beginning of graduate studies)

- Do not mind touching base with people often

- Are irritated when people check in frequently

- Have no problem sticking to strict working hours (this may include vacation days)

- Like a flexible work schedule

- Are comfortable frequently speaking up and asking questions to clarify - Are fine with having a strictly professional relationship and do not expect emotional support for their supervisor - Put research as a top priority

- Are not great at verbal communication - Prefer to figure things out on their own - Feel it is important that the supervisor empathize with them - Hope to look to their supervisor for both professional and life

14

Science & technology

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Fields come together: BASiC hosts yearly scientific conference

Unconventional talks at McGill’s National Integrative Research Council Ben Cohen-Murison Contributor This Friday, McGill hosted their latest event in integrative research, the National Integrative Research Council (NiRC) at Thomson House. The point of the event, held annually since 2011, is to encourage McGill students to research beyond the limits of their field.

Keynote speakers presented on a variety of subjects such as genome editing and Neanderthals.

The founding association of the event, McGill’s Bachelor of Arts and Sciences Integrative Council (BASiC), hopes to inspire students to innovate using multiple disciplines. One of the speakers—Nicole Buckley, a representative from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)—argued that in order to achieve this, students and scientists would need to break down barriers between fields.

“The greatest things that’ll happen by going into space will be actually what we learn about ourselves [and] about human [...] physiology,” Buckley said. “[The way to innovate will be by breaking] down the barrier between space research, and Earth research so it becomes [just] research. I’m hoping to see a point when people publish results,

say, in Physical Science, [and] someone will say ‘Did you do that without gravity? What were your results?’”

This kind of approach seems to be inspiring students.

“It was totally fascinating,” Wolf Hibbard, a McGill Chemical Engineering student said. “I think space is something that for everyone—no matter what you’re studying—is a cool thing. So it was really cool to hear from [...] the top of the top scientists: From the [CSA].”

Buckley then spoke about the issue of developing propulsion systems for improved space travel. Scientists have considered using things like artificial gravity to make systems more efficient and environmentally friendly.

But solving issues like this one requires many levels of science, and many different disciplines.

“I think this is why this conference was really important,” Buckley said.

“Because it brought together so many broad disciplines, and I think that you need them all. Human exploration [is] going to take it all to make it work.”

The tone of the event was adapted for science and non-science students, explained Bimo Chan, who recentlygraduated from McGill’s Department of Physics.

“I think it was definitely accessible for someone who was not in science,” Chan stated. “There were technical bits and pieces, but overall, it was [an] inspiring talk.”

The issue, particularly for BASiC, is to come up with an event that will inspire people from multiple disciplines and that is only possible if there is not an excessive amount of jargon and advanced concepts. In fact, with talks like Buckley’s on space travel—using language everyone can understand— misconceptions about science might start to disappear.

“You watch television, and you see all these really great science fiction shows where people are going to space and they’re walking around, and you don’t realize that it takes a [...] toll on the human body,” Buckley explained.

“I think people don’t even realize how hard it is [to walk in space].”

In particular, Buckley joked that she remembers watching episodes of Star Trek and seeing people walk around with ease. As the NIRC event wrapped up at Thomson House, talk of Star Trek and space propulsion seemed to contrast starkly with the old-fashioned decor and the debonair service that the building is known for. But the jarring juxtaposition made sense. One of the NiRC’s main

Erika Kleiderman covered the impact of the CRISPR technique on genetic engineering.

(Photo courtesy of: NiRC Facebook) goals is to blend different styles in learning and to transcend the boundaries of arts and science.

Awards were given to celebrate the unconventional methods of McGill students like Celeste Welch, Esther Vinarov, Farhad Udwadia, and Tobias Atkin, who presented their own research alongside more established academics.

The work of Maya Stein, Nina

Fainman-Adelman and Elizabeth Church was also featured. Stein of McGill University won the award in the best student poster cattegory for her work on the different painreactions between men and women, and Jennifer Peruniak of Dalhousie University won the award for the best student oral presentation on the social determinants of childhood

Why do people like Donald Trump?

Science can explain (kind of) Lydia Kaprelian Contributor Donald Trump has dominated the 2016 US presidential campaign thus far. He has been making headlines ever since the announcement of his presidential campaign almost a year ago in June 2015. According to the most recent national polling averages out of FiveThirtyEight, Trump is leading the Republican nomination race at 39.1 per cent (beating his nearest competitor Senator Ted Cruz by 16 per cent). Many are perplexed, however, by his swift ascent to dominate the polls—when Trump announced his candidacy, he was polling at 3.5 per cent. But it turns out that science has a lot to offer to explain the appeal behind ‘The Donald.’

For many who support Trump, they will tell you he’s unlike any other candidate because he speaks his mind without care for political correctness or censorship.

“Donald is funny, playful, and colourful, but most of all, he is honest,” actor Jon Voigt explained in an endorsement statement. “No frills, no fuss, only candid truths.”

Many Trump supporters find his unfiltered speech refreshing because it goes against the mould of the calculated, edited, proofread politician. For many of his supporters it’s not that they necessarily agree with what he says, but how he says it.

“Yeah, he’s batsh*t crazy; if he

wins, it will be nuts [but] I genuinely believe he’s the only honest politician running,” One Redditor posted.

Trump has garnered a reputation as an honest candidate, despite Politifact—a Pulitzer-prize winning political fact checker—ranking 78 per cent of his statements as mostly false, false, or completely false.

Part of the reason for Trump’s perceived honest persona may be because of the many non-normative, non-self-serving statements he’s made on the campaign trail. For example, Trump famously said, about former GOP presidential candidate John McCain, “I like people who weren’t captured.” Though his disrespectful statement on McCain was unlikely to win him much sympathy, it did reinforce his commitment to his unfiltered opinions. Trump has said plenty of cruel and rude statements throughout his campaign; but since many of them have not been self-serving or standard political fodder, the things he says seem to be more authentic because, why else would he be saying them?

Trump’s word patterns also help create an apparent authenticity. For example, unlike many of his political counterparts, Trump rarely speaks in full sentences. “[Trump’s] unique rhetorical style may come off as incoherent and unintelligible when we compare it with the organized structure of other candidates’ answers,” Jennifer Sclafani,

Georgetown University linguist told Live Science. “On the other hand, his conversational style may also help construct an identity for him as authentic, relatable, and trustworthy, which are qualities that voters look for in a presidential candidate.”

Trump uses simple words and phrases in his speeches, often repeating them in order to hammer down the point. He tends to avoid political jargon.

For example, in discussing illegal immigration, he rarely uses the words “immigration” or “deportation” in his speech. Instead, he will use parallel phrases like “come in” and “come out.”

Framing the illegal immigration issue in simple black-and-white terms is another tactic Trump employs in his speeches, which he generally uses to lessen uncertainty on any particular issue.

Avoiding shades of gray is a useful political maneuver in the Republican Party, with many conservatives ranking highly in ambiguity (or uncertainty) intolerance. Psychological research has shown that individuals who feel uneasy, uncertain, or anxious are significantly more likely to be politically conservative. In using unambiguous language, Trump speaks suitably to politically conservative voters.

Much of Trump’s unambiguous speech has centered on violence and fear. Things like fear of terrorist attacks and illegal immigrants who are dangerous rapists has propelled Trump to many media headlines. Like

Donald Trump has been employing a variety of psychological techniques to win the GOP nomination. (forbes.com) many of the themes present in Trump’s campaign, fear stimulates a very primal instinct. By launching the fight-or-flight response in the brain’s amygdala, fear and anxiety make it difficult for our body to process higher-level thinking.

In utilizing and focusing on fear, Trump makes it very difficult to pay attention to anything else.

When Senator Marco Rubio suspended his presidential campaign, he warned Americans not to “give into the fear,” highlighting Trump’s tactic of fear-mongering. Fear-mongering is nothing new to politicians, yet it is important to be cognizant of the word choice Trump uses in his campaign.

“I think we also have to look at the rhetoric coming from [Trump] in the presidential campaign,” Rubio said, “Leaders cannot say whatever they want, because words have consequences. They lead to actions that others take. And when the person you’re supporting for president is going around saying things like, ‘Go ahead and slap them around, I’ll pay your legal fees,’ what do you think is going to happen next?”

Check out this week’s Minds & Matters podcast that discusses this very topic at mcgilltribune.com/ scitech

15

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Mixing mediums: Ragnar Kjartansson plays with collaboration at the Musée d’art contemporain Evelyn Goessling Staff Writer In every live performance—be it theatrical, musical, or artistic—there is a sense of immediacy and visceral presence in the interaction between artist and audience. Video can never quite recreate that experience, but, as with Ragnar Kjartansson’s exhibition at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, it can capture an equally powerful act. Kjartansson’s three works stretch the boundaries of experiencing a performance through documentation.

The first room of the exhibition is a display of Kjartansson’s most recent work, “World Light—The Life and Death of an Artist” (2015). A dark room is illuminated by the bluish hue of four centrally-facing screens, each playing different scenes from a filmed drama.

The drama in question is Kjartansson’s interpretation of the 1940 Icelandic novel by the same name. It tells the story of a young man on a tumultuous journey to become a poet. The set of each scene is simple and almost amateur in its theatricality, which confuses the work’s categorization between cinema, drama, and video.

Another confusing factor is the blend between theater and reality. At times, a butler character addresses the audience directly, removing himself from his role in the fantasy. At other times, an assistant comes in with a clap

P o p r h et o ri c

board to mark the beginning of a scene, letting the behind-the-scenes world seep into both the audience’s reality and the story’s fantasy. The four screens— simultaneously showing different parts of the same story—and then some instances that aren’t a part of the story at all, create a confusing and at times overwhelming experience. It is hard to get a grasp on what is actually going on, but the impression of the story is perhaps more important than the actual plot. This manipulation of storytelling creates a unique viewing experience and understanding of an essential Icelandic tale.

The second work in the exhibition is another video titled “A Lot of Sorrow” (2013-14), documenting a six-hour performance by The National. The US rock band performed its song “Sorrow” for six hours straight at MoMA PS1, a contemporary art showcase, in New York, with occasional appearances

by Kjartansson, who conceived and organized the piece. The song is quite repetitive at the start; to repeat it as a whole an additional 105 times is an incredible exercise of endurance and dedication to the music and the performance. The National sings, “sorrow found me when I was young / Sorrow waited, sorrow won / . . . / I don’t wanna get over you” over and over. The lyrics and music are intensely personal and emotional, yet each repetition expresses the same level of emotional

Kjartansson’s multimedia exhibit questions what it means to be part of an audience. (macm.org) depth and passion. With every repetition there is a dual experience of deepening and refreshing emotions. The sting of sorrow is renewed every time, but at the same time it feels as if these emotions are reconciled as an essential part of love and suffering.

The largest and most impressive work in the exhibition is a video installation made up of ten screens, each showing a musician sequestered in a room of an upstate New York mansion.

The musicians cannot see each other, but have headphones with which to hear each other. They proceed to play a piece composed by Kjartansson with words by his ex wife, the artist and poet Ásdís Sif Gunnarsdóttir: “Once again

I’ve fallen into my feminine ways,” a phrase that Kjartansson says relates to the process of separation from his wife. Each screen displays an intimate moment with the musician: there is a sense that they are deeply immersed in the creative process, sometimes nude, or in bed, or simply barefoot in a nightgown, and entirely alone in their creative space. The dynamic between the private and the performative is tentative but entirely honest. By performing a private creative process, the artist invites the audience in, and the experience is captivating.

Simultaneous to the intimate experience, there is the aspect of public collaboration. The musicians appear

lost in their individuality while sharing in the joy of making music together.

In this piece, Kjartanssan beautifully creates an experience that allows nonmusicians to share in the magic of making music.

Kjartanssan’s work is all about endurance, passion, and collaboration.

His video installations include the audience in the complicated dichotomy of public creation and artistic performance. In these three pieces, artists work together while each individual is highlighted, mirroring the way humans exist and create things in communities while ultimately living in the isolation of our own bodies and minds.

T h e R ise o f A r c h ie 2 . 0

Selin Altuntur Contributor After 75 years, the Archie universe is undergoing a muchneeded update. In July of last year, for the first time in the comic’s history, Archie, along with its multiple spinoff series centered around specific characters, was relaunched with an aesthetic that reflected a modernized Riverdale universe with ‘edgier’ characters and storylines. Archie and his friends now look almost unrecognizable after their creators abandoned the classic drawing style that had remained largely unchanged since the comic’s debut in the 1940s. Archie’s art is sleeker and more attractive, rendering it more appealing to audiences that may not be particularly familiar with the comics and their cast of characters.

But this overhaul doesn’t simply stop at the surface. The comic is trying its hand at tackling relevant social issues that have been thrust to the forefront of public discourse as of late. In a recent issue of Jughead, it is revealed that the titular character identifies as asexual. Jughead’s lack of interest in dating has been central to his character since the beginning, and regularly played out in his vocal disgust of women and preference

of eating to dating. However, the character was still assumed to be straight until the recent reveal, a move that was met with lots of praise on the Internet, particularly considering the pervasive invisibility of asexuality in the media.

This isn’t the first time an Archie character has made headlines for coming out. In 2010, Kevin Keller was introduced in an issue of Veronica and came out to Jughead as gay soon after his introduction.

This was pretty big for the comic at the time, as they had never included a character who had identified as anything other than straight. Keller became so popular that the creators began an entire series centered around him. however, the move was controversial, and after Keller was introduced as an adult in a Life with Archie storyline where his marriage to another man was shown, some groups called for the removal of the comic from stands at Toys ‘R’ Us. In response, a story was written in Kevin Keller about Keller facing adversity and homophobia at school.

It’s great to see a well-known comic adapting to the current social climate and addressing issues in a positive and thoughtful way; however, the best thing about the inclusivity of Archie comics is that

its characters are not treated as novelties— every new thing you learn about them feels natural and has a place within the story.

Although Archie comics are obviously making an effort to be contemporary, they are not doing it in a way that objectifies their characters for token diversity.

Jughead’s The old Jughead would probably still fit in on today’s campus . (Alissa Zilbertechiene / McGill Tribune) asexuality, although a recent revelation, is come to love about him. feel familiar to longtime fans of In fact, other than an artistic the comics. Perhaps this is the not all that hard to believe. As a character, he has only ever had overhaul and a greater emphasis most admirable aspect of the one relationship with another on social commentary, Archie comic’s rebranding: While it character, Ethel, and he has comics have not changed all has developed its characters and generally only agreed to dates that much. The characters adapted to a society in which in order to get a free meal. His themselves are still familiar, as individual sexual identity can be distaste for dating and displays of is the dynamic between them. accepted and celebrated, it still sexuality have been central to his Reading a new edition of Archie remains close to its relatively image, and his asexuality naturally or Jughead won’t be a jarring unassuming, happy-go-lucky fits in to the identity fans have trip into a new world, it will still roots.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Spotted: McGill in the movies Anna St. Clair Contributor Continued from Page 1.

While Magneto’s actual prison cell is a sci-fi construction of white hallways and glass, the main floors of the Pentagon are recognizable as the Arts Building’s main and basement hallway. A department of defense seal can be seen on the floor, right outside the main entrance and Moyse Hall theatre. On his way to steal back his helmet, Magneto marches through the Arts Building’s basement hallway, where the row of seats and outlets will be recognizable, yet seems eerie when devoid of students studying and munching on Subway.

Warm Bodies (2013)

Warm Bodies is a new take on Romeo and Juliet for the zombie-obsessed cultural era. Nicholas Hoult plays R, a zombie who yearns for emotional connection. He finds it in Julie (Teresa Palmer), a human, and daughter of the military

Get Smart (2008) was notable for its CGI destruction of the Arts Building façade. (mcgill.ca) commander leading the fight against the zombies. Military vehicles and personnel roam the Y-intersection and the façade and interior of the Redpath Museum have been transformed into a military base and human safe-zone. The scenes take place at night, and the interior of the building has been altered— digitally and physically—so it’s a little difficult to recognize McGill. Warm Bodies does

provide us with one piece of useful information: In the event of zombie apocalypse, the Redpath Museum makes for an ideal shelter.

Get Smart (2008)

Steve Carell plays Max Smart, also known as Agent 86, the bumbling spy of secret agency CONTROL in this 2008 comedy. After being accused of being a double agent for terrorist

organization KAOS, Agent 86 is put in a prison cell located in the basement of the Arts Building. The location choices of X-Men and Get Smart raise an important question: Why do movie producers see McGill and immediately think “this would be great as a prison?”

After breaking out of his cell, Agent 86 drives a car through the main entrance of CONTROL headquarters, played by the

Arts Building’s main entrance.

Perhaps this explains the recent construction? He drives them past the Three Bares fountain before his car stalls and he hails a cab at the Y-intersection. As the CONTROL headquarters is supposed to be set in a fictionalized Washington D.C., an American flag flies on the flagpole, and a US mailbox can be spotted on the corner of the Y-intersection.

Fokus Film Festival showcases student creativity Evelyn Goessling Staff Writer Time and time again McGill students prove that the lack of a formal visual arts department is in no way an obstacle to fantastic productions. Fokus Film Festival is just one example of the wealth of creativity at this school, and as the only festival of its kind the submissions are particularly rich and interesting. Now in its 10th year, Fokus showcases student films made in and around the McGill community. The following is a list of a few true standouts of the night.

Moscow I Miss You by Sashka Avanyan

The festival opener, Moscow I Miss You by Sashka Avanyan, is a short but sweet tribute to the filmmaker’s homeland. Via screen grabs of Google Street View the audience travels through the streets of Moscow, stopping at personal landmarks along the way. At each landmark an old home photo pops up: The filmmaker in her old apartment, posing in front of the water, or as a child, with her mother.

There is a strong sense of duality in this film technique. Google Street View is extremely public and accessible to anyone, but Avanyan’s use of the technology makes each location intimate and

personal. On this virtual tour of the city it becomes apparent that revisiting one’s homeland, even virtually, is both painful and comforting.

Waterway to Stardom: Who is Flood Girl? by Lou Gatti

Lou Gatti’s tongue-in-cheek TVM Special Report seeks out the elusive story behind Flood Girl, the iconic McGillian who in 2013 was swept away by sudden flooding on McTavish. Who is this girl? What were her motives?

Her desires? Hopes? Dreams? A former classmate, who preferred to remain anonymous, related her derring-do nature. The source said that they weren’t surprised by this after her “reckless interpretation of metaphor and allusion” in their German literature class.

Maybe it was drunkenness, or an unprecedented desire to get across the street to Gerts. Maybe it was bravery, or an ill-informed attempt at internet fame.

Whatever the motivation, Flood Girl found her place in McGill lore. Gatti’s short film captures the wonderfully kitschy essence of Flood Girl and McGill’s culture around the tale.

Smoke Dreams by Cody Lieberman

Cody Lieberman’s entry into the Avant Garde category is a

Fokus Film Festival shows reveals McGill students’ hidden talents. (Emma Hameau/ McGill Tribune) cross between a nightmare and dream sequence. The short film, like many dreams, cuts between seemingly unrelated images, but seems to follow some sort of subconscious thread. In this case, the apparent thread is highly influenced by David Lynch: viewers see several clips from Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks .

There’s also a general sense of disjointed paranoia (Lynch’s signature) that comes through in the film. Clouded by smoke, darkness, and obscured by almost

too-loud patches of dialogue, the film doesn’t appear to have a plot. Instead the audience is left with a mysteriously spooky representation of the dream world.

Karma Police by Ben Koring

Like the documentary entry Waterway to Stardom , Karma Police doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously, and this pays off immensely in laughs. The film features two guardian angels of

karma, watching our every move to see if we return that wallet we found on the street, or correct the cashier when they give us too much change. The angels, one an optimistic newbie, the other a cynic who’s reportedly been on the job for 75,000 years, watch their target to determine if he’s a decent guy or a “lost cause.”

This clever film gives voice to the eyes in the sky that keeps our consciences in check—although they may not be as straight-edge as we’d expect.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Tuesday, March 22, 2016 p l a y re v ie w

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T N C ’ s T h e F l o o d T h erea f ter f ee l s w as h e d u p

Ian Rodgers Contributor The Flood Thereafter was a risky choice for a student production.

Tuesday Night Café Theatre (TNC) Directors Daphné Morin and Cleo da Fonseca chose a complex piece that weaves surrealism, small-town identity, and Greek myth together.

Coming in closer to two hours than the promised hour and a half, The Flood Thereafter plods along its way to an unsatisfying conclusion, with brief flashes of insight scattered throughout.

The play tells the story of a small fishing town in rural Quebec, told primarily through the lens of a young stripper named June (Camille Banville). June is beloved by the people of the town but feels trapped.

When a young trucker named Dennis’ (Jérémy Benoit) truck breaks down, she chases after him and the freedom he represents. June acts as a kind of siren, drawing Dennis ever deeper into the twisted affairs of the town even as she tries to win him as her way out.

Their relationship shakes the town out of its established order, allowing hidden stories and secrets to rise to the surface.

The most glaring issue with the production was one of representation.

The play features several old, wornout small town characters that student actors did not show a complete understanding of. Pierre-Luc Senécal plays Homer, a disabled fisherman torn between his duty to his wife and

his attraction to June. Senécal’s voice begins with a raspy quality, but loses that along the way. His portrayal never hits the emotional levels available within the text. The agony and confusion of the character don’t come through. Several times throughout the play, his character joins his drinking buddy, George (Thomas Khullar), to watch June dance, a performance that is supposedly so beautiful it makes the men cry. These scenes succeed in a certain way: June is placed behind a screen behind the audience, leaving a bit of uncertainty whether to look at the men or her. This questioning in alignment is a nice touch, but unfortunately the men ham up this scene with over the top gestures, failing to capture anything that looks like genuine desire.

There are multiple moments during the performance where the actors’ performances come off as robotic, rather than indulging in the deeper meaning of their actions. For instance, early in the play George’s character is said to rip up napkins in a diner. In a later scene, George enters the diner and begins to methodically tear the napkins as if it’s part of his job, not as someone taking his frustration out on the environment around him. His partner in that scene, Grace (Morin), plays a mother from a rural town in Quebec. Throughout the show she deftly switches between French and English, but her English is so perfect that it makes her character’s background difficult to believe.

Amalea Ruffett plays Homer’s

The Flood Thereafter merges surrealism with small-town identity. (Photo courtesy of Marina Miller / TNC) wife, Penelope, who waits at home as per her namesake. Ruffett utilized a very traditional “Theatre Voice,” which worked when she acted as a storyteller but did not really fit her character. Even though she is made up to look like an older woman, she doesn’t carry herself with any kind of weight that her character’s age suggests. In a scene of seduction where she flirts with Dennis—a much younger man—she manages to seem somewhat seductive but the pent up desire of a loveless marriage is missing, and Benoit and her don’t interact well enough to make the scene compelling.

Benoit and Banville do play the young lovers well—they have enough chemistry to make a sexual pantomime late in the play effective.

Benoit is drawn into the whirlpool of the sleepy town, showing his curiosity and frustration successfully, making both his attraction to June and responsibility to his girlfriend believable. Banville aptly captures the innocence of her character, if not her sexuality. A minor gripe with her performance is how she was made to wear a textually significant wig clumsily on top of her hair rather than covering her hair up, another small but significant error that harms suspension of disbelief. The play has a few more of such errors—glasses which are supposed to have ice and don’t, hair that is supposed to be like rope but has clearly been conditioned within a day, and injuries that haphazardly appear and disappear.

These minor errors compound

an uninspired direction of dialogue.

For a play with an enormous amount of dialogue and long monologues, there are far too many scenes blocked with two characters simply sitting next to each-other looking out into the audience. Furthermore, these scenes of dialogue have far too many pauses, making moments where silence could be powerful less so and slowing the pace even more. While, perhaps this directorial decision was to make the audience feel trapped in the small town with the townspeople, it ultimately comes out boring. Surrealism from the source text is almost absent, only shown through lighting in the dance sequences and the play’s ending.

The Flood Thereafter will be at TNC from Mar. 23-25 at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $6 for students.

a bigger stage for his creative voice.

“Really [I wanted to come to McGill] because of Montreal,” Sinclair said. “I really wanted to break onto the music scene over here [....] I really like how it’s a hub for music in Canada.”

While Sinclair notes that he is spoiled by the number of venues in the Montreal music scene, he has yet to play any live shows outside of McGill-run coffee houses. Instead, Sinclair is choosing to wait on finding a band before looking for venues to play.

“I haven’t made much of a conscious effort to search out for ways to expand on my music here, but there are so many places which I can start out,” Sinclair acknowledged. “Right now I’m in a bit of a lull because I’m playing on my own. I enjoy the energy of playing in a live band where people are building off each other’s energy, so I’d really like to find some people to play with first.”

Sinclair’s fascination with the Montreal music scene comes off the back of years of musical experience.

After starting to play piano when he was six years-old, Sinclair began writing songs when he was 13 or 14—mainly “because of girls.”

Since then, Sinclair has been writing

avidly, yet sporadically. Bloom is in fact a compilation of his best works throughout high school up to this point. It reflects the adolescent angst and emotion that many feel at that time, and writing seems to be a therapeutic outlet for these emotions.

“I didn’t start writing [Bloom] with the thought in mind that I would be creating an album, but then sometime last year, I thought that high school was a pretty crazy time, so I wanted to tell the story of what had happened over the last four years,” he said. “There aren’t clear linear stories or anything like that, but they’re very reflective of times when I was feeling stressed out by things. That’s when I typically find writing easiest.”

While Sinclair’s album may deal with reaching maturity, his awareness of his own creativity is already markedly precocious. He labels his work practices as “scatterbrained,” and readily acknowledges how Bloom is a project that can’t be replicated, given how tied up it is in his past experiences. This kind of outlook is indicative of the organic nature of Sinclair’s music, an entity which develops with his own growth, and is never forced.

“It seems these days, so many young musicians try too hard to appeal

to what’s popular, and the stuff that they feel they have to be making in order to gain more listeners,” Sinclair said. “But, I think you just make the music you truly want to be making then it becomes a lot more fun, and less restrictive.”

Sinclair really does seem to be having fun. Whether it’s his occasional partialness to dancing in his bedroom to ’80s hits, seeing punk bands called Diarrhea Planet, or remixing “lullaby” versions of ’90s rap hits, there is a carefree feel to the way Sinclair both consumes and creates music. Because of the kind of organic and comfortable creative process Sinclair has, it might mean that another project won’t come out for a while. Yet behind the scenes it seems like his creative engine is constantly whirring, even though the results may not be as prolific.

“I’d really like to make a concept album at some point,” Sinclair said.

“I really like the idea of actually connecting a full on story through an album.”

While this strange mixture of relaxation and passion for music means Sinclair probably won’t be releasing something else for a while, what listeners will see will most likely be a very thoughtful and meaningful project.

A rtist S p o t l i g h t E l l i o t S in c l air

Elliot Sinclair has been making music his whole life. (Photo courtesy of Eliott Sinclair)

Alfie Crooks Contributor With the emergence of Montreal as a hotbed of indie music, a number of up-and-coming musicians have migrated here, looking to make it in the plethora of bars and clubs the city has to offer. Montreal still holds the title as one of the independent music capitals of North America, and has

attracted a number of creative minds to the Milton Gates. U0 Arts students Elliot Sinclair, the musician behind Alright, Lights, is no exception.

Coming from Kingston, Ontario, the singer-songwriter’s impressively sophisticated and haunting album, Bloom was released this past January via Soundcloud. For him, coming to McGill wasn’t just about getting an education, but was also about finding

18

Sports

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Redmen come away from CIS Nationals empty-handed, despite excellent season Redmen lose two thrillers against Dinos, Thunderbirds Zikomo Smith Sports Editor The McGill Redmen basketball team suffered two heartbreaking losses at the CIS National Championships in Vancouver; the Redmen gave up a lead in the final minute to lose the quarterfinal game 72-69 against finalist Calgary Dinos on Thursday, and then lost the consolation semifinal game 6968 against the UBC Thunderbirds.

The two tightly contested defeats capped an excellent Redmen season that saw the team go 12-4 in the RSEQ regular season, and storm to an RSEQ title. McGill played with remarkable flexibility all season: They had one of the strongest benches in the country, were dominant rebounders, and were the best fourth-quarter team in the RSEQ. On Thursday, McGill went up 69-66 courtesy of junior guard Dele Ogundokun’s three-pointer with a minute left. Calgary responded with three big plays, hitting a layup with 46 seconds to go, drawing a foul with 26 seconds to go, and then making a steal with 10 seconds left on the clock, ultimately sealing the game.

“We came here to win the title this year, we didn’t come to play for fifth or sixth, we came here to win,” Coach Dave DeAveiro explained, per McGill Athletics. “To not execute down the stretch is extremely frustrating. [....]

Jenning Leung backs down a Laval defender. (Daniel Mortimer/ McGill Tribune) We can’t help Calgary win games, and I thought tonight we helped Calgary win this game.”

It was back and forth the entire game. McGill led the first quarter 1915, but trailed by two points at the half.

McGill and Calgary were constantly trading leads, taking it to the wire and providing riveting entertainment for the 1,250-strong crowd.

Ogundokun stood out for the Redmen with 19 points on 8-14

shooting, and added four assists. Junior point guard Jenning Leung connected on 5-10 from the three point line to add 15 points for the Redmen, as well as recording five steals. Both players were key for the Redmen all season: Leung’s three-point shooting and ball handling contributed to McGill’s dynamic offence, and Ogundokun’s defensive play on the perimeter and on the boards was a cornerstone of McGill’s defensive dominance.

Against UBC on Friday, McGill dug itself out of a 16 point halftime deficit, only to lose in excruciating fashion 69-68. Ogundokun and Leung starred once again with 15 points apiece. Junior guard Michael Peterkin also contributed 10 rebounds off the bench in a spirited performance.

McGill, however, was always playing from behind. The Redmen only led once in the entire game, with a minute and a half left on the clock. The

comeback, however, was encouraging and indicative of their mental strength.

Redmen Head Coach Dave DeAveiro also used the game as an opportunity to play younger players, and other players who did not see much game time during the regular season.

McGill maintained its rebounding advantage against UBC, and also won the turnover battle 25-17. McGill, however, only shot 35 per cent. from the field in comparison to UBC’s 49 per cent.

The Redmen may have come away from the weekend emptyhanded, but they demonstrated all the qualities that will make them an RSEQ and CIS powerhouse in years to come: Excellent, dogged rebounding, accurate three point shooting, and incredible temperament in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Vincent Dufort played his final game as well as guard Tychon Carter-Newman.

McGill is in a good place, having exhibited consistent RSEQ success.

On a national scale, a deep CIS run is required to vindicate the program’s talented foundation.

“We were pretty good this year,” DeAveiro said, per McGill Athletics.

“I think we’re getting closer. We played against two very good teams [....] I was proud of what we’re doing and I expect us to be competing for a provincial championship next year and back at Nationals in Halifax.”

Basketball: RSEQ Champion Martlets place fourth at CIS Nationals Powerhouse McGill falls short of lofty expectations Nick Jasinski Sports Editor The 2016 RSEQ champion McGill Martlets traveled to the CIS Final 8 at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, New Brunswick as the No. 1 seed. It was their fifth straight RSEQ championship, only the first time that McGill has entered Nationals as the first seed. Last year the Martlets progressed to the final game, but lost in the finals in a tight game to the Windsor Lancers, who won their fifth straight title. This year, McGill went into the tournament last Thursday with a 22-2 overall record against CIS opponents this season. They also had the best defensive record of any team–allowing an average of only 50.7 points per game, and riding a 15-game win streak. “[We’d] had a target on our back all year so [we were] familiar with the pressure of being a top-ranked team,” veteran Head Coach Ryan Thorne, who is in his 13th year at the helm, said.

The Martlets’ first outing of the weekend came in the quarterfinal against the eighthseeded hosts UNB. The Martlets came out firing, scoring 20 points in the first quarter with seniors Mariam Sylla and Dianna Ros and junior Alex Kiss-Rusk leading the way, scoring 12, 11, and 10 points apiece for the night. McGill let the home team come back a bit in the second half, but comfortably won 5852 to progress to the semifinal against the Ryerson Rams.

Thorne, won was named the 2016 CIS Coach-of-the-Year, praised his co-captain Ros’ influence on the players around them.

“That’s veteran leadership out there, that’s maturity,” Thorne said. “There were some key decisions that changed the momentum of the game and that’s why you need her out there in crunch time.”

Saturday’s semifinal against fifth-seeded Ryerson, who were the highest scoring team in the country this year, proved to

be a harder challenge for McGill. The Rams’ offence came out strong, outscoring the Martlets 45-28 in the first half for the Martlets’ largest deficit of the season.

“We lost it in the first half,” Thorne said.

“We weren’t focused and disciplined and they took advantage of that, creating turnovers and getting transition baskets.”

The Martlets were unable to find an answer in the second half, trailing by 20 at the end of the third quarter and finishing the game down by 15 with a score of 87-72. Ryerson had three players with over 15 points, while junior forward Jennifer Silver’s 21 points led McGill’s losing effort.

“I’m disappointed,” Silver said. “We didn’t do the little things that we talked about pregame, we didn’t execute the gameplan and we got hurt on the things we were trying to avoid.”

McGill entered the bronze-

Gigi Cabillo drives to the basket. (Mayaz Alam / McGill Tribune) medal game against the No. 3 seed Saint Mary’s Huskies without Sylla, who succumbed to a knee injury the night before against Ryerson. Kiss-Rusk put up her ninth double-double of the season–scoring 16 points and registering 11 boards–but it wasn’t enough to make up for McGill’s offensive difficulties.

The Martlets fell 56-43, their lowest offensive output in four years. Coach Thorne summed up the team’s sentiment after the

loss.

“Disappointed, I think that’s the one word,” Thorne said. “We didn’t play well at all through this whole tournament, and having our best player out really showed today. For a team that battled and worked so hard all season long it’s unfortunate, the outcome, but you have to look across the board: Players and coaches, we all could have done better.”

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

19

Sports

How to take great sports photos The Tribune photo editors share their top tips Noah Sutton & Natalie Vineberg Photo Editors

It’s all about the gadgets:

The saying goes it’s not the camera that takes great photos, it’s the person behind it. Not so true for sports. A photographer at the Olympics may carry two Canon 5Ds ($6000), a wide angle zoom lens such as a 24-70mm f/2.8 ($2000) and a telephoto lens such as the 400mm (up to $7000!). Unlike working in a studio, sports action happens quickly and unpredictably. A photographer may want a long lens as well as a shorter lens connected to a camera at all times, making switching easy no matter where the action goes.

You likely don’t want to front the exorbitant start-up cost, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take great photos. Unfortunately, it does mean you’ll be working with some limitations. Pricey cameras offer the largest benefit in “motor speed”, or how quickly one can take photos.

With lenses, you’re paying for “focal length” which determines how close an object appears to the camera.

Continuous but planned shooting:

For a lot of sports, the exciting moments happen fast and infrequently, but are nevertheless not to be missed. Setting your camera on “continuous” shooting mode lets your camera keep taking photos without having to load each one, so you can get the most photos for the time you have. That being said, just shooting on continuous is a waste of time. Waiting for the right moment is really important, and you can spend more time waiting than actually taking photos; do this and you’ll be far more likely to get something interesting because you’ll be ready for it.

Be wary of “rubber necking”: It is so tempting to look down after every shot and see how it turned out, yet too many photographers spend the game with their head behind the camera, and not through the lens. Yes, it’s satisfying, but you must pick your head up from time to time or you risk missing the chance to photograph the great shot you were watching for.

Sports are about passion and competition:

A perfectly timed shot may look incredible, but it always falls short of one that tells a story. A hockey player winding up for a goal is less memorable than the image of an opponent with dread in their eyes racing to catch him. Tension creates a great photo. For example, in one photo of Redmen basketball player Dele Ogundokun preparing to take a free-throw in front of a sold-out crowd during the RSEQ basketball finals, there’s only one player as a main focus and there’s no sign of him moving. In another scenario, this could look incredibly boring. In this instance, the sold-out stands were part of the spectacle, and capturing their eagerness along with the players focus conveyed the importance and intensity of this game. It worked really well—you feel like everyone’s stopped for the moment while the player is about to shoot, and you can feel how focused he is.

Read up on the sport:

This one’s a pretty simple tip, but actually knowing how the sport works really helps, because then you can know when important things are going to happen, and you don’t risk missing it.

Photos courtesy of L-A Benoit, Mayaz Alam, Daniel Mortimer, Natalie Vineberg

20

Sports

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Training for Super Smash Bros How to prepare for eSports tournaments

An eSports matchup in front of a sold-out crowd. (www.wii-brasil.com )

Luka Čiklovan Staff writer Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. has been a staple of many a childhood since the ’90s and beyond.

Created by the legendary Masahiro Sakurai, “Smash” presents itself as a cuddly, kid-friendly fighting game wherein a greatest hits of Nintendo characters duke it out for supremacy by attempting to knock each other out of an arena. Past this veneer of simplicity, however, lies one of the

most technical fighting games on the eSports scene.

The classic game franchise contains a number of game-engine glitches and design oversights that allow for the discovery of advanced techniques and typically complex, unnatural looking inputs that push the limits of the game by providing slight character advantages though extra speed, momentum control, or even infinite combos in some cases.

Yet all is not sunshine and rainbows in Nintendo-land. While glorious

on screen, overexertion on the video-game controllers can damage players’ hands, and cut short many a Smash career. Healthy habits to protect the body, and extensive practice sessions to master complex techniques, are thus crucial to any eSports player preparing to do well on the tournament circuit.

‘Labbing,’ or training against a computer-controlled dummy within the game, is by far the most common method of practice aside from playing friendly matches.

Here players can familiarize themselves with nuances of the physics, move set, and combo game of their character through extended iteration.

“I typically like to learn a string of combos that I know will always land, and then repeat them over and over again [until it] becomes muscle memory, so I don’t really have to think about them so hard in a match,” Joshua Loke, a member of the McGill eSports Student Association, explained. “It’s easy to get spammy and just try to rage out all your inputs really fast, so I try to avoid pressing buttons either unnecessarily hard or quickly when I train, though that’s not always easy to do in a match setting.”

Smash’s infamous ‘space animals,’ comprised of Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi from Nintendo’s Star Fox, have caused many a pro player to get carpal tunnel syndrome on account of their twitchy playstyle, highlighting the importance of fostering calm habits.

Beyond the basics, ‘labbing’ offers trainers the opportunity to examine ‘frame data.’ Just as a cartoon consists of a bunch of still pictures that are then rapidly shown in succession to produce motion, Super Smash Bros comprises many frames strung together to produce animations, with the amount of frames per second known as ‘frame rate.’ While it may sound trivial, knowing the exact number of frames a move lasts can mean the difference between a $5,000 first place prize and chump change. The need for such technical knowledge offers a pretty high barrier of entry to top-level play in Smash.

Daniel Lim, a frequent visitor of the McGill eSports Associations’ weekly Smash events, testifies to this barrier.

“It takes a really long time to master these techs, like I’ve been playing a year now, and I would say I only have 60 or 70 per cent of

them down,” Lim said. “You can practice all these things alone, but in matches timings change depending on the situation; lag is different, for example, depending on if you’re hit higher or lower, and that adaptation is something you can’t train for besides [by] playing.”

Lim went on to describe that the true meta-game of Smash lies not within the physical button presses and combo game, but actually on a mental playing field where comfortable players, so comfortable that their characters are merely extensions of themselves, try to predict opponents and plan out strategies given such extensive knowledge of the same metagame by both players. Learning how to cope with the mental pressure that tournament hype brings is a crucial skill, one which results in many players opting to bring headphones to their matches in an attempt to stay calm and Smash on.

Ultimately, eSports–much like regular sports–demand an intense amount of training and dedication from players who want to make a name for themselves, and Smash is no exception: Practice makes (frame) perfect.

Hockey: Martlets fall to Thunderbirds, Tommies despite valiant effort Pyke, Sutter named players of the game the night, barring McGill’s hopes for a podium finish in the tournament.

“We fought hard all game long,” McGill Head Coach Peter Smith said.

“We battled right until the very end.

We outshot [UBC], but they kept us to the outside a lot. We needed a bounce and we didn’t get one. Unfortunately, sometimes that’s how the game goes.”

Fifth-year forward Erika Pyke received player of the game honours for the Martlets.

Friday The Martlets in action. (Emma Hameau/McGillTribune)

Nicole Spadotto Staff writer Thursday The McGill Martlets hockey team dropped its first game of the CIS Championship weekend against the UBC Thunderbirds. The loss dashed the team’s medal hopes, giving them a best-case-scenario fifth place finish in Calgary, the site of the National Championships.

The Thunderbirds dominated early on in the game, taking a quick 2-0 lead by the end of the first period off of goals by Hannah Clayton-Carroll and Kathleen Cahoon on the powerplay.

McGill looked as though it was

going to stage a resurgence after forward Gabrielle Davidson converted on a Stefanie Pohlod opportunity on the powerplay, roofing the puck past UBC’s fruitlessly-sprawled goaltender, Danielle Dube. Less than four minutes later, however, Logan Boyd of the Thunderbirds got a quick shot over the right shoulder of McGill goaltender Taylor Hough to close the second period.

Despite a quick third period goal from centre Melodie Daoust to pull McGill within one goal, UBC played tight defensively and outplayed the Martlets for loose pucks. With just over a minute left, and with Hough pulled for an extra attacker, Cahoon scored an empty net goal for her second of

The Martlets were upset by the St. Thomas Tommies 2-1 in the consolation round, which led to an early exit for last year’s national runners-up.

Near the end of the first period, Davidson got a quick snapshot goal from below the hashmarks, beating Tommies goaltender Taylor Cook blocker side to put McGill up 1-0.

Davidson’s goal marked her second of the tournament for the McGill scoring lead on the weekend. After the goal, however, the Martlets took a penalty, shifting momentum towards the Tommies. Kelty Apperson pounced on a rebound on the powerplay, edging the puck past Hough to tie the game.

The second period remained scoreless, despite McGill outshooting St. Thomas 14-9.

Midway through the third,

Tommies forward Lauren Henman slipped a pass from Caley Steinert through Hough’s five-hole to jump ahead 2-1. St. Thomas would hang onto the lead for the win.

“I thought there were a lot of good things in that game,” Smith said.

“We had so many scoring chances [but] we just couldn’t put the puck in the net.”

Senior forward Olivia Sutter of Red Deer, Alberta was awarded player of the game for McGill.

Stat corner

McGill outshot their opponents 71-49 over the course of the two games.

Despite their dominating advantage in shots, the Martlets only managed to score 3 goals on the weekend, two of which came off the stick of graduating forward Gabrielle Davidson.

Quotable

“For our graduating players, they’ve had a great run. They all graduate with a National Championship back in 2014. For our returning players, they see what it takes to get all the way to the top.

Quite frankly, I don’t think there’s anything but positives coming out of it”— Smith on the Martlets early exit, and finding the positives in the losses.

Play of the weekend

Davidson scored the first goal of the weekend for McGill, during the team’s attempt to come back from a 2-0 deficit at the hands of UBC. Davidson roofed the puck from inside the crease over the Thunderbirds goaltender Dube. The goal shifted momentum in favour of the Martlets and set the stage for an attempted resurgence.