McGill Tribune Vol. 32 Issue 23

Volume No. 32 Issue No. 23

TRIBUNE THE mcgill

Published by the Tribune Publication Society

sports march madness preview p 22 arts & entertainment Exclusive Interview with Adam Gopnik P 18

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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

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Editorial P.6 Endorsements P. 9-14

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(Alexandra Allaire, Simon Poitrimolt, Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune)

Industrial relations program to be redesigned, “modernized” Interdisciplinary program suffers from lack of faculty, advisors; Industrial Relations chair says student input “vital” Jessica Fu Contributor McGill’s industrial relations program, which was in danger of being terminated earlier this semester, will face re-structuring that will allow the program to continue to exist within the Faculty of Arts.

The industrial relations program is an interdisciplinary pro-

gram that allows students to study labour-management relations. The program includes courses in both the Faculties of Arts and Management, although students are officially registered in the Faculty of Arts.

Lucyna Lach, associate dean of arts and professor in the School of Social Work, is working on the re-structuring process with Robert Hebdon, re-appointed chair of the

Industrial Relations program and current associate dean and professor in the Faculty of Management.

Lach noted that this is a critical time to think about what the program should look like heading into the future, and how to make those changes. One of the reasons the program was at risk of being cancelled was due to agreement that what was being taught in the classroom was

out of touch with the reality of the industry and the workforce.

According to Lach, changes to the program will take into consideration the drastic shift in issues faced in the workforce since the program was established in 1945.

Lach noted that in 1945, strikes were a common issue in the workforce, whereas now, issues revolve around different matters, such as

gender.

“There’s a perception that the program has been around for a long time, [it] was designed in a different time, and that it would be really interesting to sit back and reflect on how to modernize it, if you will,” Lach said.

Hebdon agrees that the proSee “Indus. Relations” on p. 2

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Industrial Relations program will face restructuring Continued from cover

gram needs to be updated to survive. Hebdon noted that many of the professors who taught and who currently teach in the program are of retirement age.

“A program can’t run on its own, it needs faculty to teach it and look after it, and there’s a sense now that many faculty that were committed to industrial relations have retired or are about to retire,” he said.

“So [the program] definitely needs a remake. It’s now just a matter of setting up a process to make that happen in the most effective way.”

Hebdon noted that he would like to see the program maintain an interdisciplinary approach by continuing to integrate courses from dif-

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ferent departments in the Faculties of Arts and Management.

“That’s how industrial relations started really—it was a commonality, an interdisciplinary approach to solving a workplace problem [such as] strikes,” he said. “Now I think the issues [are] different and they’re new, but I think there’s a similar kind of interest [in an interdisciplinary approach] that I see.”

Despite a current lack of faculty and advisors, student interest in the industrial relations program has been steadily increasing since 2003, according to Hebdon.

“When I started, enrollment was in the [mid-seventies],” Hebdon said. “It hovered around that for

Liberal leadership candidate

JoyceMurray

Joyce Murray has been considered a “dark horse” in the Liberal Party of Canada leadership race since the start of the campaign period on Nov. 14, 2012. She recently received a celebrity boost as a result of endorsements from Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki, and several advocacy groups, such as Avaaz and Leadnow.ca.

One week before the final lead-

ership debate, the Tribune spoke to Murray, a former Cabinet minister in the B.C. government, about her vision of a sustainable society, electoral cooperation, and what young Canadians want from their political representatives today.

McGill Tribune: In your platform, you propose that the Liberals form a one-time agree-

a few years, and … around 2003, it went down. It’s low point was 55 … but it’s almost doubled [since].”

The McGill Industrial Relations Association (MIRA), which represents the students enrolled in the program, expressed concerns to the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) about the possibility of the program’s discontinuation earlier this semester.

“We were just told by upperlevel administration within [the program] that there was potential for the program to be cancelled,” MIRA President Benjamin Kershman said.

“There were people that either didn’t want the responsibility that was attached to heading up the program

before Hebdon received the head position, or it may have been something do with the fact that ... big budget cuts [were announced], and this was one of the smaller programs.”

Kershman informed Justin Fletcher, vice-president internal of the AUS, that the program was at risk of termination. As a next step, Fletcher and Kershan submitted a motion to the Feb. 18 AUS General Assembly (GA). The motion intended to galvanize AUS support for maintaining the industrial relations program within the Faculty of Arts. It was passed by a consultative forum, as the GA failed to reach quorum.

“It’s important that the Faculty

of Arts offer[s] a variety of programs,” Fletcher said. “Industrial relations has a lot of management, sociology, and economics [courses], and interdisciplinary studies are really important because you [acquire] skills… you get exposed to so many different areas.”

Even though the program is no longer facing the risk of discontinuation, discussions on changes are ongoing, and will include students, according to Hebdon.

“The [MIRA] know that they will have input on [redesigning the] program,” Hebdon said. “We plan on having students formally on the committee … student input is vital.”

ment with the NDP and the Green Party in order to defeat the Conservatives in the 2015 federal elections. Why do you think none of the other Liberal leadership candidates have proposed electoral cooperation?

Joyce Murray: I want to just connect the dots between that strategy and the purpose behind it, which is electoral reform. I strongly believe that our current first-pastthe-post system is not only nonrepresentative … [but it] is contributing to the polarized, divisive tone of working in Ottawa, which is counter-productive to addressing the conflicts [and] policy challenges of today. So, I believe we need … a more proportional representationstyle system, but in order to do that, we have got to defeat Stephen Harper.… That’s what the one-time electoral cooperation is all about— it’s to avoid the vote splitting. And I was surprised that none of the other candidates support that. The majority of Liberals support that, according to a forum research poll on Feb. 6 … the majority of NDP supports it, and the majority of Greens support it.

hungry for a change in our system, where [Members of Parliament] and parties work more collaboratively together. So … the whole cooperation strategy and electoral reform strategy has attracted tens of thousands of young people to my campaign. Secondly, is … my vision of a sustainable society. I think young people … become apathetic when they see representatives make shortterm decisions … that don’t contribute to the long-term well being of our society and our country. So, I think they’re looking for a more integrated vision with policies that would move us forward in that direction of a sustainable society.…

Some [young people] will of course gravitate towards Justin Trudeau.

I’m not going to pretend that he doesn’t have a celebrity status— that’s very appealing. At the same time … people want to make sure that whoever becomes the leader of the party actually has a track record of delivering on leadership. And I have that. People know that [I have] a track record of tough decisions, of strategic decisions, of facing difficult situations and solving them successfully—both in the private sector and in government. So … my experience demonstrates that I’m the right person to lead the [Liberal Party].

the coming months, even though he had reached a conclusion that there was no pathway to success for him.

How will that change the race? I think a lot of the people that were supporting Marc were people that were looking for experience, leadership and substantive policy, and that’s exactly what I’m offering. So, I’m optimistic that many of them will take a look at me and put their support behind me.

MT: Justin Trudeau has been described as a candidate who appeals to younger voters. What are the defining parts of your platform that target youth and students, and that distinguish you from Trudeau?

JM: Many of the people that have signed up to support me are young Canadians, and they’ve signed up to support me for three separate reasons, I would conjecture. One is because young people have no patience for this divisive and negative posturing that goes on in Ottawa.… It turns them off and makes them apathetic, and they’re

MT: What is your reaction to Mark Garneau’s recent withdrawal from the leadership race?

How does this change the nature of the race?

JM: Well, first I was surprised, and then disappointed. Because, we’re in a race to win, but we’re also in the race to bring forward ideas, to invigorate the Liberal Party through reaching out to Liberals and supporters, and I think … there was a lot that Marc could contribute over

MT: Your platform focuses heavily on sustainability, ranging from climate change policy, to food security, to digital access.

Why do you think there’s been resistance to “sustainable” policymaking in the past? Do you see this changing in the next decade?

JM: Perhaps Canadians were not as aware of some of the risks of inaction [around environmental issues], and some of the economic costs of inaction. And … from a climate change perspective, [it] certainly has become more and more clear to … the public that there’s major costs and risks [to] human well being ... The other side of it is that the opportunities of stimulating innovation and solutions to reducing our footprint will be lost if green investment passes Canada by … and there’s uncertainty, because we have a federal government that hasn’t made [environmental policy] a priority. So, I do see it changing. I think that Canadians are … starting to see the whole picture together: a focus on long-term, environmental sustainability is crucial for our economic and social sustainability as well.

—This interview was edited and condensed by Bea Britneff

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| Tuesday, March 19, 2013

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Arts forum addresses TA concerns about budget cuts

Campus labour unions fear salary freezes; removal of 101 arts courses to help alleviate TA underfunding in the faculty Bea Britneff News Editor Students, union members, and administrators came together to discuss the Quebec government’s announced budget cuts at a student-led Faculty of Arts forum last Thursday.

Topics covered during the forum included teaching assistants’ (TA) concerns with regards to the budget cuts, and the removal of 101 arts courses for the 2013-2014 academic year.

The forum, which took place in the Madeleine Parent Room in the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Building, featured several speakers, including Dean of Students Andre Costopoulos, Jaime MacLean, president of the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE), and Justin Marleau, chair of AGSEM—McGill’s teaching union which represents TAs employed at the university.

Marleau presented first, and explained to the 30 attendees that TAs have been facing financial difficulties since 2007. Marleau said that while the university’s operating budget increased by approximately $200 million between 2007 and 2012, TAs have actually seen a 0.04 per cent decline in the revenue allocated to them. He claimed the TA funding should have increased by two million dollars.

Marleau explained that this underfunding, coupled with increased

undergraduate enrollment, has resulted in a decline in the number of hours that the average TA can offer to undergraduates. He expressed concern that the Parti Québécois’ budget cuts will only worsen TAs’ financial reality.

“What we’ve heard from the administration already [is] that they’re seeking across-the-board salary freezes,” Marleau said. “A teaching assistant with a full teaching load in one semester makes about $4500 for that course. That’s not a lot of money, especially when you have to pay tuition.”

MacLean also expressed concern that, as a result of the budget cuts, the McGill administration might ask AMUSE to delay pay increases promised in collective agreements, or that AMUSE members—many of whom are students working part-time—might be at a greater risk of losing their jobs with little notice, in comparison to other McGill employees.

Marleau offered several alternative ways in which the budget cuts could be made in the next few years without hurting TAs and other unionized employees, such as cutting the salaries of senior administrators, which Marleau believes would not directly impact the quality of education and research at the university.

Following Marleau’s presentation, Costopoulos pointed to the cuts to arts courses piloted by Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi—under-

taken to get rid of low-enrollment courses—which are hoped to address the ongoing pressures felt by TAs. “[Having] fewer very small classes … [and reducing] the size of the largest classes by distributing the students more evenly in the classes … in a sense, results in more classes for which a TA is needed,” Costopoulos explained.

Associate Dean of Arts (Academic Administration and Oversight) Gillian Lane-Mercier, who was in the audience, reinforced Costopoulos’s statement, and confirmed that TAs will receive increased funding by September. “[Dean Manfredi] … is very adamant about wanting to increase the TA budget by this process,” she said. “We now … have the actual statistics. There will be exactly 101 less courses on the 2013-2014 offerings, and the TA budget has been upped by 16 per cent.”

Mercedes Sharpe, vice-president internal of the Anthropology Students’ Association (ASA) and co-organizer of Thursday’s forum, asked Costopoulos whether student input would be considered in the reorganization of arts courses. “[The] Curriculum Committee, [the] Committee on Student Affairs, [and] various working groups set up by [Dean Manfredi] … are [all] part of this planning exercise,” Costopoulos responded. “Students are represented on all those bodies.”

Costopoulos encouraged par-

Justin Marleau spoke for teaching union. (Elizabeth Flannery / McGill Tribune) ticipants to use their voices in university and faculty governance, and to ensure that student seats on important committees are filled.

Following the forum’s conclusion, several student participants said they were pleased by what was discussed at the event, and by what they learned from the afternoon’s discussions.

“I think it was good … to talk about how these cuts will affect labour on campus,” Sheehan Moore, vice-president publications of the ASA and co-organizer of the forum, said. “I think there is a tendency to talk about, ‘What is the student quality of life going to be?’ and … a tendency to forget that McGill employs thousands of people and that they are also [affected by the budget cuts].”

“Being able to understand the parallels between the uncertainties felt by upper administration, felt by

the labourers, felt by students … to see how that’s impacting everyone, and being able to have very consistent dialogue about it, I think was very helpful,” Sharpe said.

Looking at the big picture, however, Moore said he believes there needs to be an overarching change in how consultation occurs at McGill. “[Dean Costopoulos commented] about how … when people do talk, they are listened to. And I don’t think it’s that simple,” Moore said. “I think [that] if you have that many people saying that they don’t feel heard, then there is a culture of people—of employees and students and faculty—not being heard.

And so … I would really like to see McGill making concerted efforts to change that, and not just say, ‘Look, we made a committee’ [to discuss the situation].”

City

Concordia’s full-time faculty union ready to strike

CUFA frustrated after months of collective agreement negotiations; member concerns include workload, salaries Andra Cernavskis News Editor In the midst of difficult and ongoing negotiations with the administration, the Concordia University Faculty Association (CUFA)—the union that represents all full-time faculty members at Concordia, including professors and librarians— voted 74 per cent in favour of a strike mandate on Mar. 9. The mandate allows CUFA to go on strike with 48-hours notice.

CUFA has been negotiating its collective agreement with Concordia for the past 15 months. The vote for a strike mandate is the furthest CUFA has ever gone towards a strike while negotiating their collective agreement with the university.

CUFA President Lucie Lequin expressed frustration over the progress of the negotiations and said that the union will evaluate whether

or not it will go on strike following meetings this week.

“It takes two to tango,” Lequin said. “In a way, we are not deciding when the strike will take place. In a way, the administration is deciding that.”

Lequin noted that if the Concordia administration makes no concessions this week, a strike would become an appealing option for the union. The union’s actions depend on how the administration handles their demands on non-monetary issues and monetary issues alike, according to Lequin.

One of the non-financial issues the union is most concerned about is the workload of people hired by Concordia on “extended-term” and “limited-term” contracts. These are non-permanent faculty members most of whom have three-year contracts and teach courses at the university. CUFA wants the univer-

sity to reconsider how many courses these workers have to teach in a year.

“Some teach seven courses in a year, and we feel that is too much if they are different courses,” Lequin said. “We would like to do something for them, so they can have a fair workload.”

Lequin noted that Concordia has offered no compromise on that issue.

Another non-monetary aspect involved in the negotiations over the collective agreement deals with the autonomy of Concordia librarians, Lequin explained. Librarians are contractually obligated to complete research while also performing their library duties. However, CUFA wants librarians to have more decision-making power over what hours they conduct their research.

CUFA is also asking for a 2.2 per cent salary increase each year for five years, which is how long the

collective agreement would last.

“We are not expecting our way on all these issues,” Lequin said. “Of course, we are willing to move, but [the administration] also [has] to be willing to move. It’s a give and take [situation].”

Chris Mota, director of media relations at Concordia, said that the administration cannot say much while the negotiations are still ongoing. She noted that a government conciliator was brought into the negotiations in December. She also said that the administration made its latest offer to CUFA on Mar. 1.

“Concordia deposited a global offer of settlement for the renewal of the collective agreement with the Concordia University Faculty Association [CUFA],” Mota said.

Lequin said that she has not seen any tensions arising on campus between professors and students as a result of the vote.

Concordia Students’ Union (CSU) Vice-President External Simon-Pierre Lauzon said the only informaiton he had is that a potential strike would not affect students, referring to a letter CSU received from the CUFA executive.

“Our students are our #1 commitment and we will do everything we can to avoid disrupting classes and delaying the submission of grades,” the letter reads.

“Unfortunately, given the bullying tactics of the Employer at the bargaining table and Concordia’s poor history of labour relations in general, we may have no choice but to resort to job action,” the letter continues. “We sincerely hope this does not come to pass but it a possibility.”

Lauzon said the CSU plans to meet with Lequin but this meeting has not yet occurred.

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Walking tour brings attention to military research at McGill Demilitarize McGill denounces lack of trasnparency in weapons development; tour guides discuss denied ATI requests Emma Windfeld News Editor On Mar. 14, a dozen McGill students and recent graduates gathered outside the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Building to participate in the Military Research Walking Tour.

The walking tour was organized by Demilitarize McGill, a student-run group aimed at ending military research at the university.

Kevin Paul, a first year law student and member of Demilitarize McGill, led the hour-long tour which covered three locations on campus, including the Nahum Gelberg Law Library, the Macdonald Engineering Building, and the seventh floor of the 688 Sherbrooke building.

According to Paul, the purpose of the event was to spread awareness about McGill’s academic and financial participation in military research. “[We want to] share information on what connections McGill has to weapons development in a way that addresses the lack of transparency the university has shown,” Paul said.

The tour’s first stop was the Law Library, where Cadence O’Neal, U0 women’s studies, spoke about a collection of law school graduates’ theses which thank the U.S. Air Force for funding their education at McGill.

Kevin Paul talks to students about military research at McGill. (Anna Katycheva / McGill Tribune) “We do know some things for sure,” O’Neal said. “These military organizations are paying for their members to come study here and produce academia that they can use to further their own interests. It is unacceptable to me, and to Demilitarize McGill, that our university is instrumental in the production of these laws that serve these institutions.”

Isaac Stethem, who graduated from McGill with an arts degree earlier this year, discussed the denied ATI requests made by students—including some Demilitarize McGill members—to the university on various subjects.

“It’s not just that those 14 people—or anyone they can be associated with—who can’t file any more [ATI] requests, but also the McGill Daily and The Link,” Stethem said.

SSMU Vice-President External Robin Reid-Fraser is one of the 14 students who filed an ATI request.

She said she is not satisfied with some of McGill’s reasons for denying her ATI request, which concerns military research at the university.

“Part of the excuse [McGill is] making is that answering all these [ATI] requests requires a large amount of resources, and basically, it’s impossible for them to function because they have all this extra work due to these requests,” Reid Fraser said.

After visiting the Law Library, the tour walked to a basement lab in the Macdonald Engineering Building, where the topic of discussion was the Faculty of Engineering’s history in military research dating back to the 1960s, as well as their

alleged lack of transparency about weapons development. Today, the Shock Wave Physics Group and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Lab are two McGill groups which still engage in aircraft engineering and the study of detonation phenomena.

A statement on the CFD Lab website does not mention involvement or funding from the military.

“The primary objective of the McGill CFD Lab is to develop advanced numerical technologies in multidisciplinary aerodynamics in order to allow for an integrated aircraft design approach through concurrent engineering,” the website states. “Research funding is primarily contributed by the federal as well as the provincial governments through the following agen-

cies: NSERC, CFI, FQRNT; and industries such as Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney, Bell Helicopter, and a large number of private companies.”

Demilitarize McGill claims that much of their funding comes from the U.S. Military.

“At this moment, McGill is developing the technologies that the U.S. military will use to kill more efficiently, at the same time as profiting from various military interventions which mean new research opportunities for the CFD Lab and the Shock Wave Physics Group,” said Paul.

The tour ended at 688 Sherbrooke, where discussion turned to drone research.

“Through the industry-sponsored CFD Lab, McGill is involved in the development of technology for lethal attack drones, which are being deployed by the United States in an increasingly borderless war with no end in sight,” said Paul.

Paul emphasized Demilitarize McGill’s mandate, which is to end weapons research at McGill.

“Allowing military research at McGill to continue means allowing the university to remain complicit in war. We don’t need a policy review or a consultation forum, we don’t need more bureaucracy, we need to end military research at McGill,” said Paul.

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Police presence pervades peaceful protest Demonstration part of weekly program of marches; protestors express concern about impact of tuition indexation Fiona Schlumberger Contributor On the night of Mar. 12, about 200 students and activists assembled under the rain in downtown Montreal to protest the tuition indexation announced by the Parti Québécois (PQ) at the two-day Summit on Higher Education held in late February.

In comparison to the protests of thousands that occurred more immediately after the Summit—which ended in violence and multiple arrests—last Tuesday’s demonstration featured fewer protestors and was peaceful through its entirety.

Protestors assembled at Place Émilie Gamelin at 8:00 p.m. before starting their march west along Sherbrooke. The protest then turned down Aylmer, and east on President Kennedy, before dispersing at the intersection of de Maisonneuve and St. Denis.

The planned demonstration was closely regulated by a large police force that shepherded the protestors away from side streets. The Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) outnumbered the protestors along the route, and accompanied the march on horseback, on bikes, and in riot gear, while closely containing the crowd.

This protest was the second of what is planned to be a program of weekly marches against tuition increases, or what some are calling the “Printemps Érable 2.0.”

Students who took part in the protest expressed concern for the impact of the proposed indexation, and the prohibitive cost of education.

“Let’s say if I didn’t have the money to attend college and buy books and such, as some people won’t if the indexation goes… society will dumb down and I’m definitely against that,” Andery Kole-

sov, a second-year fine arts student at Dawson College, said. “I think we’re supposed to progress and go towards new horizons.”

Other students, like Meloée Prud’homme, who is completing a Master in Biology at the Université de Montréal, fears that the financial impact the indexation could have on their daily lives.

“I have two kids, I’m alone, I have to [do] my master’s degree, and I have difficulties making ends meet, so [indexing tuition is] not a solution,” she said.

A feeling of disappointment with the PQ pervaded the march.

Prud’homme said she predicts that the PQ will now begin to act like the former Liberal government in their responses to protests last year. “[The PQ is] going to pass us off as villains while we’re here marching passively,” she said.

Montreal police outnumber protesters. (Simon Poitrimolt / McGill Tribune)

Curiosity delivers. |

the fate of SARC

Highlights SSMU

from the Mar.14

By Cece Zhang

revision of tuition and student fees Certain charges to students’ fees are to be reviewed by the Students’ Society of McGill Unviersity (SSMU) and faculty members.

A motion presented at the SSMU Winter General Assembly (GA) on Feb. 27 called upon SSMU to “conduct a thorough review of all tuition and fees charged in all faculties or schools to which its members belong.” The motion was passed as a consultative forum—as the GA did not meet quorum—and was brought to Council for debate.

SSMU Political Campaigns Coordinator Christopher Bangs, who moved the motion at the GA, spoke to Council on Thursday evening, explaining that his recent experience with unclarified fees in one of his classes motivated him to bring forward the motion. Bangs clarified that he drafted and presented the motion as a regular McGill student, and not as the Political Campaigns Coordinator.

Council Science Representative David Chaim asked for clarification on who would enact the review, which led to an amendment of the motion.

The following clause was added: “Be it resolved that the SSMU VicePresident (VP) University Affairs office undertake the aforementioned review on behalf of the student association SSMU.” The motion originally passed with seven in favour, five opposed, and 12 abstentions, but it was later brought back to the table after InterResidence Council Representative Sarah Southey motioned to reconsider the document on the grounds that the high number of people abstaining indicated the need for further discussion.

Councillors went on to discuss the role of faculties in reviewing tuition and fees. Senate Caucus Representative Moe Nasr pointed out that since faculty associations have more direct ties with the course fees in question, they should be the actors involved in the review.

Other councillors supported a joint project between SSMU and the faculty associations.

What happened last week in Compiled by andra cernavskis & emma windfeld hundreds arrested at montreal anti-police brutality protest Last Friday at 4 p.m., a crowd gathered outside Montreal police headquarters on the corner of rue Saint-Urbain and rue Ontario to participate in the 17th annual march protesting police brutality.

During the two-hour event, more than 250 people were arrested, mainly for concealing their identity and failing to inform police of their itinerary—actions which are both considered illegal under municipal bylaw P-6. In addition, over 150 fines of $637 were handed out for participating in the protest.

The police overseeing the march were dressed in riot gear, and employed gas bombs to disperse the protesters. Two police officers were taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Last year’s march saw 226 protesters arrested.

Dinel presented a report on the Student Advisory Resource Committee (SARC) to councillors.

SARC’s purpose is to help students navigate the McGill bureaucracy so that they can have their voices heard to a greater extent within SSMU and the administration.

SSMU Council allowed SARC a trial run over the 2012-2013 academic year to see if it would be an effective committee. The trial run ended on Mar. 15.

In her report, Dinel advised that SARC be kept as a committee, but that, in the interest of stabilization and institutionalization, it should be merged with the SSMU Policy Committee.

David Benrimoh, who is in his second year in the Faculty of Medi-

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cine, and Raphael Uribe Arango, U2 arts, are representatives of SARC. They gave a report on the Committee’s progress over the course of the academic year.

Councillors also approved three “SARC’s been bringquestions that will be voted upon ing together students to during the special SSMU referenmake policies that affect dum period, which lasts from all of us, that benefit all Apr. 5 to Apr. 13. The Charity Fee of $0.50, the Sustainability Projects students, that also help inFund fee of $0.50, and the SSMU dividual students have a Environment Fee of $1.25 are all voice and have an impact on up for renewal from the period of campus, which a lot of stuFall 2013 to Winter 2018. dents didn’t feel they could

funds’ and services’ fees up for renewal

because they didn’t know how to go about writing proposals, or working with SSMU,” Benrimoh said.

Following the presentations, Council adopted Dinel’s report.

Conflict Minerals screened as negative investment

Council discussed a motion that called for SSMU’s Financial Ethics Research Committee (FERC) to be “mandated to include conflict minerals as a ‘Negative Screen,’” which would then allow for SSMU to consider conflict mineral-free investments.

FERC is a committee that aims to establish sustainable and ethical policies and practices for SSMU. The motion passed with 22 in favour, zero opposed, and two abstentions.

(Michael Paolucci / McGill Tribune) “It has to be done by [faculties] ... but it should be done as a joint project between SSMU and the faculty associations,” SSMU VP University Affairs Haley Dinel said.

SSMU VP Clubs and Services Allison Cooper proposed an amendment for SSMU to act in accordance with faculty associations, which was

added to the motion. The motion passed with a vote of 21 in favour, zero opposed, and two abstentions.

SSMU VP External Robin Reid-Fraser later commended the members of Council on actively resolving the motion’s unaddressed problems.

Canada?

ford conflict-of-interest case to go to Supreme Court

canada slips in un human development rankings

On Mar. 15, Toronto resident Paul Magder brought the Divisional Court ruling that allowed Rob Ford to maintain his position as mayor of Toronto to the Supreme Court of Canada. However, it could potentially be months before the Supreme Court decides whether or not to take the case.

Magder filed a conflict-ofinterest complaint against Ford in March 2012, alleging that the Toronto mayor violated the law by participating in a vote in which he had a financial stake of the outcome.

Magder brought the lawsuit to the Ontario Superior Court, where the trial began in early September. The Superior Court ruled on Nov. 26 that Ford be removed from mayoral office.

Following the trial, Ford took the case to the Divisional Court, which overturned the Ontario court’s decision. In late February, Ford also filed documents requesting that Magder cover his legal fees.

Magder claims that this case brings up new questions about “powers of municipalities to govern themselves and to hold public officials to account,” the CBC reported.

Based on the annual United Nations’ human development index report that was released on Mar. 14, Canada now ranks as the 11th most developed country, which is one place down from last year. In contrast, Canada ranked as the most developed country in the world in the 1990s.

When numbers are adjusted to consider gender inequality, Canada occupies the 18th spot.

The NDP blames this decline on the Conservative government, who have been in power during Canada’s biggest falls in the rankings.

“I think it’s really sad to see that we’ve dropped so far under the Conservatives,” NDP deputy leader Megan Leslie told the CBC. “And I think it reinforces what the NDP … and organizations like the Conference Board of Canada have been saying, about the fact that there’s a growing income inequality gap in Canada .... That gap creates serious problems, and I don’t think the Conservatives have been taking it seriously.”

b.c. prisoners’ rights group sues government over religious discrimination

former nova scotia cabinet minister pleads guilty to fraud

A British Columbian prisoners’ rights group is suing the federal government for violating the constitutional rights of non-Christian inmates by denying them reasonable access to religious services.

The government is laying off 49 part-time chaplains—31 Christian and 18 non-Christian chaplains —who provide religious council at federal prisons. Once the lay-offs take effect later this month, there will no longer be any non-Christian chaplains in B.C. In the lawsuit, eight current and former inmates request that the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) resume the contracts of the nonChristian chaplains.

CSC currently employs 71 fulltime Christian chaplains and 2 Muslim chaplains to service all federal prisons in Canada. CSC intends the laid-off part-time chaplains to be replaced by volunteers and by the preexisting full-time chaplains.

Russell MacKinnon, a former Nova Scotia cabinet minister, pleaded guilty to accusations of fraud and breach of trust last Friday.

Following this disclosure, MacKinnon was given an eightmonth conditional sentence, which will be served “in the community,” according to The National Post.

After this conditional sentence, he will face four months of house arrest, and then a year of probation.

Two years ago, MacKinnon was charged alongside former Liberal politician Dave Wilson, former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Richard Hurlburt, and Independent member Trevor Zinck, after the province’s auditor found evidence of foul play in constituency allowance spending following an investigation.

Wilson and Hurlburt have since been sentenced, and Zinck awaits trial in June. Wilson received nine months in prison for defrauding the public of $61,000, and Hurlburt was put under house arrest for a year as a result of similar findings.

opinion editorial

THE Mcgill

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

This election matters, and every vote counts This week, as you are bombarded by emails and Facebook invitations to vote in the SSMU executive elections, you may come up with a number of excuses for why you can’t, or don’t want to vote. Some of these might be legitimate, but if you say that it takes too long, that you just don’t care, or that SSMU doesn’t matter, you are sadly misinformed.

Would you entrust an operational budget of over $1.5 million to someone you have “no opinion” about? Based on finances alone, the decision is a heavy one. Ask an Arts student at McGill how they felt when the AUS had $12,000 in cash stolen, and the same year, spent well beyond its budget—all due to an executive with little financial experience. Students have every right to be upset with the executive, but those who did not vote in that election certainly share some of the burden. While the bulk of responsibility rests upon the shoulders of the elected officials, the electors are not inculpable when things go awry, particularly if there was a better option avail-

able.

Another reason this election is important to you, us, and the rest of the McGill community is that SSMU is our main representative to the administration. In 20132014, SSMU will likely still be engaged in negotiating the lease on the SSMU building, the hub for student life on campus. Were that process to go off the rails, students might be made to pay exorbitant fees to continue using the building, and in a worst case—though highly unlikely—scenario, lose the building entirely. With inevitable budget cuts looming, who will defend the interests of students at the highest levels of power within the university? If this election doesn’t matter, that would mean the people responsible for negotiating the lease don’t matter, and neither do those tasked with making sure the cuts don’t affect integral parts of student life and learning. But these things do matter, and so does the election.

SSMU has also been one of the first points of call during oncampus emergencies. When riot

police injured students on campus and when others were hurt in protests, SSMU arranged to take care of their medical needs. Just this semester, President Josh Redel took control when a pipe broke and flooded McTavish, making sure that students were safe and out of harm’s way. The executives care

“With inevitable

budget cuts looming, who will defend the interests of students at the highest levels of power within the university?

”

about you. You should care about who they are.

There are more reasons to vote, however, beyond a fear of incompetence. Past SSMU executives have created lasting legacies that affect our daily lives even now. Have you enjoyed having a longer winter break the past two

years? Is it helpful to be able to access the library 24 hours a day?

How about having the student lounge in Shatner? All of those initiatives stemmed from the SSMU executive. That same executive is responsible for the operations of Gert’s, and will eventually make the final decision on newly available space in Shatner, which could possibly become a student-run café. What will next year’s executive do to improve our lives? Read their platforms and vote for the one you think is best, because it will make a difference.

But maybe you don’t think your vote matters because you are simply one out of 30,000 undergrads voting in this election.

Sadly, your vote has more power than you think; you will likely be one out of only 5,000, judging by typical voter turnout levels. If that ratio is still too insignificant for you, consider that Redel won last year’s presidential election by just 23 votes—roughly the size of this editorial board. Your vote counts; your vote matters. This election matters; SSMU matters. Vote.

What the disputed islands represent

Whitney Pang

Commentary

Last month, South Korea began its largest national ban on Japanese goods in history. The ban comes in response to the Japanese government’s Feb. 22 celebration of Takeshima Day, commemorating Japan’s acquisition of the disputed islands in the Sea of Japan through the 1952 Treaty of San Francisco. All in all, around 600 million Korean business enterprises boycotted Japanese goods to challenge Japanese claim over the islands.

As a Hong Kong native, island politics is not an unfamiliar topic to me. The Baodiao movement is a social movement in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, which asserts Chinese sovereignty

Opinion Editor Ben Carter-Whitney opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editor Caity Hui scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Living Editor Jacqui Galbraith studentliving@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Sara Espinal Henao feature@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Chris Liu and William Burgess arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Steven Lampert and Jeff Downey sports@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editors Alexandra Allaire and Simon Poitrimolt photo@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Susanne Wang design@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Heather H. Lee and Yael Chapman design@mcgilltribune.com Online Editor Victor Temprano online@mcgilltribune.com Social Media Editor Lisa Yang socialmedia@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Adrien Hu copy@mcgilltribune.com Advertising Manager Myriam Richard cpm@ssmu.mcgill.ca Publisher Chad Ronalds

columnists over the Diaoyu Islands (“Fishing Islands”), despite Japan’s control over the territory. These islands were owned by other Asian countries prior to Japanese acquisition during WWII. The Diaoyu and Takeshima disputes are not trivial matters of who gets which fishing island.

Sovereignty over the islands involves the possession of oil reserves in the Pacific Ocean, but on the civil level, sentiments towards the islands represent a form of nationalism fueled by residual resentment of past foreign aggression—especially that of the WWII. Caroline Rose’s article in Japanese Forum, “Patriotism not Taboo,” describes how contemporary Asian nationalism has emerged as “state and cultural nationalism” rather than “ethnic nationalism.” Since the 1930s, governments have evoked patriotic rhetoric as a means to garner the people’s support for its economic and foreign policies. We understand nationalism as a collective consciousness united by a

News Editors Bea Britneff, Andra Cernavskis and Emma Windfeld news@mcgilltribune.com

TPS Board of Directors Jacob Hardy (Chair): chair@mcgilltribune.com, Bea Britneff, Elisa Muyl, Jonathan Newburgh, Maria Surilas

language, culture and geographical boundaries; yet it also points to the understanding of the homogeneous ‘other’—a collective enemy. This can potentially give rise to racism.

Controversies such as island disputes, the alteration of Japanese history textbooks on WWII, and visits of Japanese heads of state to the Yasukuni Shrine perpetuate the perception of the ‘antagonistic other.’ The internet has given rise to anti-Japanese “trolling” on Chinese and Korean forums, which often evoke WWII atrocities. The first time I felt patriotic as an ethnic Chinese was during high school history class, when we learnt about the appalling human experiments conducted in Unit 731, a biological warfare research unit formed by the Japanese military in Northeast China during the early phases of WWII. In retrospect, I see my anger and surge of empathy for my countrymen as a form of nationalistic sentiment.

Is such patriotic anger socially progressive? There are instances where ‘civil’ nationalism

is beneficial. The Chinese May 4th movement in 1919 was not unlike the Korean ban on Takeshima Day: a nationwide boycott of Japanese imports took place in response to the Japanese acquisition of the Shandong province. The movement sparked a renaissance, which facilitated the emergence of contemporary Chinese culture in politics and literature.

This article may raise more questions than answers on the huge topic of nationalism, but I emphasize that we should recognize the potential dangers of what seem like perfectly benign sentiments towards one’s home country. I do support the Korean ban on Takeshima Day, but one must learn to separate politics from personal grudges against another culture or race. Martin Luther King once said, “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” We may be a long way from achieving ‘love,’ but learning not to hate is a positive first step.

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Contributors

Mayaz Alam, Ilia Blinderman, Lucy Cui, Tom DiNardo, Joshua Freedman, Elizabeth Flannery, Jessica Fu, Abishek Gupta, Anna Katycheva, Alex Kpeglo-Hennessy, Remi Lu, Jennifer Moh, Abraham Moussako, Whitney Pang, Michael Paolucci, Nicole Rainteau, Fiona Schlumberger, Marlee Vinegar, Diana Wright, Tracy Yuen, Cece Zhang

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

Letters to the editor may be sent to editor@mcgilltribune.com and must include the contributor’s name, program and year and contact information. Letters should be kept under 300 words and submitted only to the Tribune. Submissions judged by the Tribune Publication Society to be libellous, sexist, racist, homophobic or solely promotional in nature will not be published. The Tribune reserves the right to edit all contributions. Editorials are decided upon and written by the editorial board. All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the McGill Tribune, its editors or its staff. Please recycle this newspaper.

Curiosity delivers. | Outrage over drones is misplaced

Joshua Freedman

Commentary

On Wednesday, Mar. 6, United States Senator Rand Paul conducted a 13-hour filibuster in response to the Attorney General’s refusal to provide a clear answer to the question of whether the President has “the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil.” Paul’s impressive feat of stamina was praised by partisans on the Left and Right alike, and caused Attorney General Eric Holder to declare the next day that under no circumstance would drones ever be used to kill American citizens on American soil. While sympathetic to the thrust of Paul’s complaints, it seems that there was a large amount of irrationality surrounding his question, bringing clearer into focus the overblown fears about drones in general.

To put it simply, Paul’s question to Holder was ludicrous, revealing the paranoia surrounding

Understanding the role of social media

Abraham Moussako Commentary With the rise of social networking as a viable medium for debate, political messaging has changed the way we view public opinion. Companies, for example, have strategies for increasing “engagement” and “brand awareness” on social networks, and media organizations often troll Facebook and Twitter for everything from sources to story reaction. Lost in all of this is a realistic evaluation of exactly who is online, commenting and tweeting their reactions to the news.

The seemingly swift success of the Arab Spring uprisings, specifically in Egypt, aided in some measure by social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, led to pronouncements by thinkers, academics, and ‘public intellectuals’ that social media was not simply an accelerant on an already-sparked fire of revolt, but

opinion

| Tuesday, March 19, 2013

drone technology. Imagine a Senator asking the same question to the Attorney General, but substitute the word drone with “helicopter,” “gun,” or “F-35”—the Bill of Rights clearly defends citizens’ right to live, and it is correspondingly obvious that the President is not granted the power to kill citizens by the Constitution. The only conclusion one can draw from this

“The only conclusion

one can draw from this episode, then, is that drones are singularly unsettling in the mind of the average American.

”

episode, then, is that drones are singularly unsettling in the mind of the average American.

This sense of fear was evident during the police manhunt for the fugitive ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner. As Dorner fled into the mountains, the police department made use of drone technology in its search for him.

Predictably, the news media fixated on this fact, as if these drones were equipped with Hellfire missiles, ready to assassinate Dorner from the sky. How the use of these rather the spark of revolt itself.

The backlash against these pronouncements was swift, and began a sort of meta-debate about western reaction to the uprising, but the idea that social media was a transformative force in the realm of politics and public opinion was cemented. What both sides of this debate seemed to have forgotten was that social media plays, at best, a supplementary role to social movements, not a primary one. The “Green Revolution” protests following the Iranian elections in 2009 are a great example of an uprising fueled by social media that ultimately failed to effect the meaningful change it was intending.

Closer to home, the presidential election in the US last year provided another case study in how social media has skewed our perceptions of public opinion.

The election cycle, which began on the Republican side just after 2010 midterm elections, featured a long, grueling series of debates.

Each of these, from the primaries to the general election, was accompanied by a lively conversation on social media; politicians and their surrogates trying to spin the results in real-time, and journalists talking amongst themselves.

The real-time nature of the conversation, reacting to the debate, however, did not actu-

Rand Paul spoke for thirty hours against Jones. (ronpaul.com) drones was in any way different from the police using a helicopter, besides being much cheaper and effective, was left unanswered.

All of the above is unsurprising, considering that supposedly well-informed technological magazines like Wired consistently warn their readers about the rise of the drone age. On the cover of a June magazine, Chris Anderson warned Wired’s readers of a future where people will spy on their neighbors with drones, and spouses will spy on one another to sniff out infidelity. Lost in these scare tactics was a simple point.

Namely, you need someone to operate a drone for it to be of any ally prove more enlightening as to what “people” were thinking of the debate. Oftentimes, all the Twitter element added was a quickening to the formation of the conventional wisdom; reporters piggybacking off of their colleagues, themselves often shaped by the political partisans and operatives that flooded the medium during debates.

The major issue with relying on the “voice” of social media is that even when there isn’t a setpiece event tailor made for political reaction, such as a debate or a speech, the audience on these platforms is highly unrepresentative of the public at large. A study

“Romney’s rush

to judgment was an attempt to score political points, instead of waiting to hear about the facts— an undesirable attribute in a president.

”

use. Do we really expect a future where people are spending all day sitting on their couch, avoiding work, so that they can spy on their neighbour with a drone? Moreprising; Only 16 per cent of American internet users are also on Twitter. Even discounting the fact that those 16 per cent are likely not representative of the American public, there is a probable selection bias when it comes to who tweets what; because one has to take the initiative to post on social media about an issue, those who feel strongly about the issue are the ones talking loudest.

What should we take away from this? There is some truth to the alleged transformative effect of social media; stories cer-

7

over, how is this any different from hiring a private investigator?

Indeed, it is this fear of machines that likely underlies the basis of Paul’s questioning, and people’s fears of drones in general. Roboticist Masahiro Mori coined a concept in 1970 called the uncanny valley, a term he used to describe the drop in comfort level that we experience when seeing machines replicate humans. While not a perfect analogy—drones are not acting like humans, but are merely replacing human functions—Mori’s term still seems to apply. Humans are largely comfortable with people piloting flying instruments of death, but an autonomous agent replicating the same actions still causes distress. This does not mean that we should let our fears get the better of us. Drones will probably be increasingly used in domestic contents, and they will likely have very positive utility. What would have really been something to cheer about was if Paul’s 13-hour filibuster targeted something that may truly be a breach of the President’s powers—the President’s endorsement of the increased use of drones to wage war abroad.

tainly move faster, and debate often occurs in several-hour long bursts over relatively trivial miniconflicts. Even so, it is important to remember that the vast majority of these stories fizzle out before they even reach the average citizen. Getting a handle on what “the public” thinks about any issue is difficult, even with the best of methods. The true value of social media lies in using it as a sort of “colour” to the story; a detailed look at the thoughts of what a very narrow, self selected slice of the public thinks of an event.

“What both sides of this debate seemed to have forgotten was that social media plays, at best, a supplementary role to social movements, not a primary one.” by the Pew Research Center on the reaction on Twitter to various political and policy events found that the general tone on the site was often at odds with surveyed responses.

This is not particularly sur-

(seos.ws)

Student living

advice column

Ask

Dear Tribby,

y b b i Tr

Dear Tribby, I decided to move in with three close friends from residence, but over the course of the year, I’ve realized that we really shouldn’t have been roommates. I still value my friendships with all three girls, but I only want to live with one of them in the upcoming year.

That being said, I’m not sure if she still wants to keep living with the other two, although I do know that they get on her nerves as well. Should I just stick it out, and try to get her to find a new place with me, or start from scratch with completely new roommates?

Got problems? E-mail us at studentliving@mcgilltribune. com.

Dear “Ready for a change,”

Roommate problems can have long-term repercussions which you may have to deal with on a daily basis. If you want to move out and find a new place, I suggest that you follow your instincts rather than act out of the fear of ruining a friendship. These girls are clearly important to you, but you’ve got to consider what you’re willing to put up with. A lease is a full 12 months, meaning you’ll have to live another uncomfortable year with the three of them should you decide to stay.

My advice for you, is first, to communicate. Talk it out with the girl that you want to live with. You may be nervous about her reaction, but it’s worth it to be honest with her—wanting to explore other living arrangements doesn’t make you a bad person! Just open up a light conversation with her to see where she stands. If you two happen to be on the same page, then great! You can then bring it up with the other two girls. However, if she had no intentions of moving out, then don’t waste time including her in your plans for next year. You can find other potential roommates, or start house hunting on McGill Classifieds, housing groups on Facebook, and Craigslist.

Next, you need to be proactive. The biggest problem right now is that you are racing with time! The faster you decide your living plans for next year, the faster you can find new roommates and begin the apartment hunt.

Don’t rush your decision, but don’t waste time guessing what people are thinking, either—just ask. The sooner you decide, the easier you’ll make it for your currrent roommates anyway. They can either find a new roommate, or search for a new house of their own. Good luck; I hope you find something that’s the right fit for you!

Yours truly,

Tribby

- Ready for a change

student Year of the

McGill Tribune: Has it been at all difficult to balance your time between a performance major and a business minor, given how different they are?

Owen Nelson: For sure. Music takes a lot, a lot, a lot of time in your schedule. You have to do rehearsals that are two to three hours; a lot of times, students are in two or three combos in a semester, and they’re in a big band or a choir. So you have to budget your time really well. Being in business, it’s definitely been a challenge making time for music and academic courses. Because a lot of times, music students, they don’t spend time in the library, you know? They’re focused on that one degree. So for me, I’ve focused a lot of time on business.

Owen Nelson Jazz Performance U4 (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune)

MT: In arts courses, the standard set up is: midterm, paper, final.

Is there any sort of standard format for most of your music courses?

ON: It really depends on the class.

For jazz performance, we have to do music theory, and that’s more written.

We have to do composition classes, where we learn how to write music, so that’s more ‘you have to write basically a song every week, and then you have to perform it in front of the class.’ And then there’s an improvisa-

I’m worried a good friend of mine may be suffering from depression, or even contemplating suicide. I’m afraid to confront them about it directly, but I feel like I need to do or say something. What should I do? ­—Worried Friend

Dear “Worried Friend,” Since you mentioned that you are good friends with this person, have you tried talking to him or her about it? Chances are if this friend trusts you enough and is the type of person that is willing to share, he or she may tell you how they’re feeling and why. If, however, this individual is more reserved with their emotions, then obviously don’t start your conversation with, “You look horrible, do you want to talk about it?”

Some people may feel like you are trying to force them into telling you why they’re feeling down. Instead, try to indirectly figure out what the issue could be, by spending more time together and observing their behavior in different settings.

With many coffee shops around campus, you could go out on a Saturday afternoon and just hang out. This way, you might be able to figure out if anything big just happened in their life, such as the loss of a

family member, a breakup, or bad grades.

Through casual hangouts, you can better gauge if a serious problem exists, or if you were just getting worried over nothing.

However, if you do realize that something really is wrong, and your friend is reluctant to open up about it, you can bring up the McGill Nightline. Whether as a direct suggestion that they might like to talk to someone anonymously, or mentioned casually in passing, make sure they know that is a resource available to students (McGill Nightline: 514-398-MAIN [6246] 6 p.m.-3 a.m., during the school year.) Or, at the end of the day, if they tell you that they’ve been feeling very depressed lately but don’t want to talk about it, you can give them the number to the McGill Counseling Service as well. They offer counseling appointments, group therapy sessions, and emergency crisis drop-in hours. The drop-in hours go from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Monday to Friday in the Brown Student Services Building, and counseling sessions are by appointment.

The bottom line is to pay more attention to this friend. If you receive any weird texts or phone calls from them, seek help immediately. After all, it’s better to go through a false alarm than to ignore your instincts and let the situation deteriorate.

Yours truly,

Tribby

Over Reading Week, students voted on their favourite Tribune Student of the Week.

Owen Nelson, U4 Jazz Performance, won with 33 per cent of the votes. He spoke to the Tribune a bit more about his degree, his travel plans, and his childhood idol.

with Jacqui Galbraith

tion course, where you learn how to improvise over songs. So that’s really performance-based; you basically create your own melody on the spot, over a song.

MT: Do you have a favourite course or professor that you’ve worked with?

ON: I think so far, my favourite professor has been Gary Whittaker, in the business school. He taught an entrepreneurship course, and it was really cool because he’s not an academic; he’s a real businessman—a successful businessman. It was really cool to learn from someone who has actually been successful in business.

He taught us how to write a business plan, and how to make business deals and how to negotiate. That was by far the best course I’ve taken.

MT: Can you tell me about the music competition you recently won?

ON: Yeah, I’m in a band called Static Gold, and we just played a battle of the bands at Le National, and the winner of the competition gets—I think—35 hours in a recording studio, a free music video, a show in Toronto, and promotion or something.

We get to play a show at Club Soda on May 19, so we won, and we’re going to be playing there.

MT: And what about your plans to play in Ibiza this summer?

Can you elaborate on those?

ON: I met a DJ when I went travelling to Spain, two summers ago. My heart was broken, and I just bought a ticket to Madrid. I was playing my saxophone in the streets for money, and having an adventure, and I met a DJ who invited me to a party on top of an apartment building. So we played all night, until like 5 a.m. on top of this building, and we’ve stayed in touch ever since. So we’ve been recording together, and he got a residency at a club on the island of Ibiza, and he asked me to come play with him.

MT: So how long are you planning on staying there?

ON: I’m planning on being there for a couple of months, and then I got a job [lined up] in Palm Beach, Florida, after, so I’m moving [there].

MT: How did it come about that you are going Atlanta to record with Pastor Troy?

ON: Pastor Troy is one of my childhood idols. I was bullied pretty badly

in high school, and I would listen to his music for inspiration. A couple of months ago he was on the radio, and I called the radio station and asked them if I could talk to him. So I did, and he asked me to send him my music. Now I’m talking to his manager about…. going down there. It’s in the works, I’m crossing my fingers, and really hoping it works out.

MT: What did you guys talk about when you first called the radio station?

ON: I basically told him that his music helped me get through a lot of things in my life, and how much I appreciated him. We talked about martial arts, and he told me that he wanted me to teach him some kickboxing, and that I should send him my music.

MT: What’s been your favourite event or activity that you’ve taken part in at McGill this year?

ON: Probably when my band played at Open Air Pub [OAP]. It’s always awesome to do that.

MT: What’s your lucky charm?

ON: I guess when I play the saxophone, I have a power stance, and I feel invincible. Actually, I have two.

It’s like my turbo-mode.

Get to know

youR

SSMU candidates These interviews have been edited and condensed

by sara espinal henao

photos by Sam Reynolds Alexandra Allaire Simon Poitrimolt

VP EXTERNAL Samuel Harris VP External

The VP External Affairs represents the Society off-campus at the provincial and federal levels.This individual communicates the Society’s policies and stances to external bodies and agencies and must develop projects and initiatives that advance the interests of SSMU members beyond the Roddrick gates.

McGill Tribune: How does your experience qualify you for this position?

Samuel Harris: Well, I’ve been on the external affairs committee of SSMU all year. I’ve gone to TaCEQ meetings.

I’ve also had extensive discussions with this year’s VP External, Robin ReidFraser. I feel [that] I have a very good knowledge of what the position entails.

Also, I’m fluently bilingual, so I think that’s an important communication skill, especially for this position.

VP clubs & services Stefan Fong

VP Clubs & Services McGill Tribune: What experiences do you have that have prepared you for this positi on?

Stefan Fong: When I joined McGill, I knew right away that I was going to be a part of a student group because that’s what I had done since high school and following on through CEGEP. I found The Musician’s Collective by pure chance, and it so happened that the semester that I joined McGill, they were looking for four new executives. I joined as a new executive, and since then, I’ve just been part of that student group at McGill. I’ve been president of The Musician’s Collective for a year now and

MT: You said that it’s important that the VP External is someone who bridges the gaps. How do you think you’ll be able to do that?

SH: I mentioned that I’m fully bilingual, which I think is a big help. I’m Montreal born and raised so I think I have a unique perspective. As somebody who has grown up here my whole life, I’ve been immersed in Quebec politics, society, etcetera.

MT: What’s your overall vision of the VP External portfolio?

SH: I see it as generally all relations external to McGill undergrads, more specifically what that means is relations with the government, with other universities, and even with the Montreal community and specifically, Milton-Parc. [At] each of those levels, we want to strengthen and build on those relationships. One thing I haven’t mentioned so far is that I want to have discussion workshops with other

Montreal universities, especially the francophone ones, but even Concordia.

We’re very geographically close to them, and yet we don’t have [close relationships]…. Last spring we had different opinions, but why didn’t we ever sit down together to discuss them?

MT: If you had a superpower, which one would you have?

SH: Levitating, so that I could lie down anywhere with enough resistance that I could basically just sleep anywhere.

The VP Clubs and Services manages all relations between the SSMU and the university’s numerous clubs, publications, and services. This person is in charge of communicating SSMU’s policies to these groups, as well as of providing them with support.

before then I was VP External and VP F inance. I’ve been juggling both roles because they have never done finance before and I started doing that for them.

MT: What would you bring out of that experience to the portfolio?

SF: A great thing about my group is that it’s an overarching network of musicians.

And so, part of my job as External when I joined was communicating with other groups and because of that, I’ve gotten to know what other groups have to face.

Especially this year, because we’ve got an office and we share the office, I hear everyone’s grievances. I’ve gotten to know a lot of different clubs. I get to talk with them and see what sort of issues they have been dealing with. My job was to talk to Carol Frasier, who used to be the VP Clubs and Services, and also talk

to Shayam Patel ,who used to be the VP Finance. This year, I’ve been working a lot with Alison because we just turned into a service. And so, interactions with SSMU have taught me what’s going on.

be shared with the C&S representatives so that everyone would be able to share their responsibility. In that sense, the C&S reps would better be able to represent students on council because they’d be more familiar with the issues that a lot of the clubs are facing.

MT: So given your experience, how would you change as VP Clubs and Services?

SF: one of the things that I find unfortunate is the fact that there are three C&S reps … but as clubs, we were never told that these three students are there to help us and to represent us ... I think that Alison gets overwhelmed by so many emails from clubs because, as soon as they have a problem, they think that Alison will be able to help them.

And it’s true that it’s her job, but 300 clubs sending emails daily, it’s a lot to go through, and some of that work could

MT: How would you work to address those issues? Specifically? can go on the website. You can fill out the form directly there. You don’t have to submit it in person.

SF: Each club is like its own island, You have to be flexible and be able to deal with a range of issues. I know one other thing that Alison is working on this year is what is it called Clubpedia. It’s important to make sure that clubs have easy access to this kind of [financial and administrative] information and Clubpedia is a fantastic way of doing it by putting everything in one place. You

MT: If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

SF: Oh my goodness ... I think that it would be really cool to be able to control the elements. That would be pretty insane.

VP Finance and Operations The Vice-President Finance & Operations (VP FOPS) manages the society’s finances and is in charge of setting up and making revisions to the SSMU’s annual budget. This person works directly with executives and student groups on the funding, financial planning, and budgeting of their operations.

Thomas Kim

McGill Tribune: What experience do you have specifically that qualify you for this position?

Thomas Kim: I did communications and PR for a legal clinic in Ontario. I was responsible for PR for the campaign, so

Tyler Hofmeister MT: What experience do you have, specifically that makes you ideal for this position?

TH: I co-chaired MUS Carnival. It’s an event that has a budget around $100,000 .… I oversaw a committee of 16 people to make sure it went well and I think it went very smoothly. I was chief of staff for my faculty Frosh. I oversaw 32 Frosh staffers for that. I’ve had numerous involvements in business competitions. I was sent to West Point

contacting media, and media relations, and outreach. I was also responsible for soliciting corporate and individual sponsorship and donation for the clinic, and was successful in doing both.

I have experience in Montreal with event planning. Part of that [involves] coordinating things with other people, working around multiple peoples’ schedules, creating a budget, revising that budget to maximize profits … as well as promotion and PR ....

So, I’ve had a lot of experience working with financial details but also working in outreach initiatives, and that’s what I’m really basing my platform on. last year when I was a director on McMUN chair. On top of that, before I came to McGill, I worked in a bar. I was a manager and I oversaw well over $100,000 of sales and inventory.

I took care of daily sales reports. This is right along what I’ve been doing for a long time. I really think the skills I’ve developed over the past four-plus years are going to translate well to this position.

MT: Do you have any particular visions on projects you will bring to McGill?

TH: I think my focus is going to be getting tangible things done ....

Things like the student-run café. [Also] currently, there isn’t a formularized

MT: What are your tangible, concrete plans for a student-run café?

TK: Well ... it’s very difficult to have a tangible plan, given that there is still the lease negotiation going on ….

However, what I can say, after the lease negotiation is done, and we are aware of what the contract is and how much money SSMU is required to pay, the step would be to look at the five-year financial plan, and to see if the money allocated for the student-run café is still feasible to allocate. After you examine how much money can be allocated, then you need to take that money and create a budget.

Once you have that budget, you take that budget and create a business plan. method to determine the order of how the committee goes through all the funding applications. So I talked about formalizing a triage process for that and actually publicizing the process .… I think this will help it significantly, specifically for events that have deadlines which require that funding. The second thing was looking at [having] multiple deadlines [for funding]… [so that] Instead of one giant pile of funding applications, they will come in a more manageable pace.

MT: What are your plans with the student-run café and the other space that is becoming available?

TH: I’m kind of putting the café on hold

They have already set a menu—that was researched last year. This year, I hear that they’re in the process of researching equipment and details like tables and chairs. So, assuming that those two things are done, the next step would be the lease and the business plan.

MT: So, beyond the student-run café, what specific plans do you have for next year that you’d like to input?

TK: Well, one of my [plans] is long-term financial sustainability. [I want to] look into creating a committee to examine the possibility of SSMU opening an alumni relations office. And that office [would be]incorporated as a charity and

because that will depend on whether or not students want that. After looking through the survey results ... the first step would be going over the current business plan, which would break down exactly what needs to be done into a series of steps. For example, going to the Architecture Student Society and getting them to draw out floor plans. Then looking at what the overhead would be, so what would it actually cost, what supplies we need …. This would allow me to fast track it and make sure that it does happen.

MT: What were you for Halloween?

TH: I was originally Max from Where the Wild Things Are, but I had the wrong

a distinctive entity to that of SSMU, so that SSMU can use that office to broaden its revenue input through soliciting individual donations, and be able to give those donors tax receipts— something that SSMU is unable to do given that they’re not a charity, they’re a non-profit.

MT: What were you for Halloween?

TK: What was I for Halloween this year?

I didn’t dress up ‘cause I was studying in the library that night, and I ended up going out later, so I just said that I was a professor and dressed up really nerdy.

jumpsuit, so I traded with a friend of mine for Tintin. He had the little dog and the safety pinned it to his shoulder, and I had the similar coloured shirt he wears so it was really great.

VP University Affairs

The VP University Affairs, manages the relations between SSMU and the McGill administration. This person organizes represents the Society on all committees and subcommittees of Senate, university selection committees for deans and directors, and through meetings with University representatives. directly relates to being able to deal with administration, and also represent student interests.

Sam Gregory McGill Tribune: How does your experience qualify you for the position of VP of University Affairs?

Sam Gregory: [There are] two experiences which I bring to the table that I think qualify me the best: The first is this year I’m working as … an ombudsman … for McGill food and dining services. McGill Food and Dining Administration recognized me as someone who was able to work and both represent students and understand where the administration was coming from .... Secondly, this year I’m working at SSMU as the Senate and Committee Secretary General for Haley Dinel, the current VP UA.... I’m in the office almost every day, I know the key issues, I know the methods to address them. I’ve got a very good understanding of the university and the different communities that exist, what they do, and what they’re supposed to address.

MT: In your opinion, what is the significance of consultation fairs and how do you see getting more to students to go?

SG: We need to bring the consultation fairs back to the university-wide level.

I think there are two ways we can make it more effective ... we can have a day with two consultation fairs, one where students can just attend, and a second where students are invited by the administration to bring their points of view, and maybe the administration selects student of lower academic rankings, higher academic rankings

from each faculty, so that they can get a broad perspective of students, and so they can move forward on issues like that. The second thing is move consultation fairs to a much more accessible location. What about the new group study area in Redpath?

Locations that are open to students and where students who are just walking by in their day-to-day life can come in and partcicipate in the consultation fair.

MT: What do you think is the most important part of the UA portfolio?

SG: I think it’s hands down being the student representation on Senate, and representing students on Senate.

There’s lots of other very important parts of it, and like equity’s a key part of it, and libraries—I think the VP UA portfolio is responsible for everything to do with the libraries at the university.

But Senate is where a lot of the issues are debated, and where a lot of the decisions are made. And so ensuring that students are represented there, and that we’re representing everyone’s interests.

MT: And what were you for Halloween?

SG: I was a palm tree. I had this big thing on my head and hula stuff.

Joey Shea MT: What experiences qualify you for the position?

JS: I’m the VP Academic for the PSSA, and last semester I chaired two of the hiring committees for the new political theory prof and the new international relations prof, and the new comparative politics prof. So, on a faculty level, I think that experience

McGill Tribune: What tangible experiences do you have that qualify you for the position?

Brian Farnan: Going into this year, as VP External for [the Faculty of] Arts working with an executive team. With regards to frosh and events planning, I’ve coordinated Arts Frosh, which was one of the biggestfaculty Froshes. Being both an executive and a coordinator, we cleared $17,000 profit …. I knew that I was running for this position since September, so [I’ve been] figuring out logisitics … talking to Mike Szpejda since the beginning of the year, and then attending the working groups that he sits on as well as the larger Orientation planning groups.

MT: So, based on all these experiences you have, what professional and personal skills have you developed in that time that will prepare you for SSMU VP Internal?

BF: First, it’s dealing with people. I think that’s a skill I’ve just grown because it’s a skill that you realize you need.

It’s being approachable. It’s being open-minded ... The other aspect is kind of just like breaking with tradition .…

MT: What were you for Halloween this year?

JS: Oh my God. I was so many things for Halloween. Halloween is my favourite holiday. I was Carrie, if you’ve seen the horror film, the ’70s Steven King: the one where she’s covered in blood. I was Nietzsche on Oct 31, which was a Wednesday. I had an existentialism exam on Nietzsche so I dressed up as Nietzsche, it was pretty cool. I was like the only one actually dressed up on campus. I dressed up as the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.

VP Internal The VP Internal oversees activities for SSMU members, and coordinates faculty, clubs, and student associations to facilitates communication between them.

With my External position this year, we [were] in charge of philanthropy. So in years past, it’s been like a charity week … a five-day long, isolated event ... I took issue with that at the beginning of the year. So what I did was I changed it, so that I created a committee, it’s called the Arts Community Engagement Committee, and so just doing that job throughout the year, in smaller, more focused ways.

Brian Farnan

MT: Your platform discusses professionalizing SSMU in a sense. How, specifically, is this going to strengthen the link between students and administration?

JS: The Internship Offices Network is the network that coordinates internships for sciences, agricultural sciences, arts, management and engineering. I want to coordinate with them so that students can do academic internships at SSMU. At the last GA, one of the really good motions that was passed was one on conflict minerals by the girls in the STAND club, and it was a really good motion, really well researched. I want to have the opportunity to have those really

well researched motions at SSMU, and so I think coordinating with the internships office would not only be providing students with internships at SSMU, but it would also be [a way] to have more policy documents on the desk of the administration, and strengthen our policy that way.

Julia Kryluk McGill Tribune: Why are you a good candidate for this position?

Julia Kryluk: I work extensively with the current VP Internal, and I was at the Student Programming Network Committee, which is the main committee that the VP internal oversees, so it plans SSMU’s events.

And so, I planned all the events for last year and this year. Also, I’ve done a lot of events for the Science [faculty]. I was a Frosh coordinator this past summer. I was also the Science Carnival coordinator last January. I also sat as the Science Councilor coordinator so I have a lot of experience within SSMU. I’ve seen all the exec reports, what it’s

MT: What projects would you want to implement next year that are different?

BF: Well, the Simplify McGill is a huge one for me, because I think that these are little, simple things you can do that don’t take a lot of man power, they don’t take a lot of resources.... The Equitable Events Protocol is something that the equity commissioners are working on, that I would really like to get solidified and get included because it kind of links to this other thing that I want to do, which is create a chair on every events committee or at least have a step that is purely consultative before an event gets off the ground …to go through the Equity and Sustainability Chair and just see what their thoughts are.

The other thing … is implement a system that essentially makes the application process for Orientation staff and leaders a lot more thorough …. I would love to [create a] certificate program for Orientation staff and Frosh leaders … essentially just adding more credibility to these positions .... Setting that tone and setting that expectation right away works because… when they think that they are something important, then they usually reciprocate with behaviour that reflects that MT: What were you for Halloween?

BF: I was a baby. I wore a man diaper and stuff. It was great. Hopefully that picture doesn’t make it into this issue.

really like to be an Internal. And also working with all the events, having coordinated them before gave me firsthand experience of actually doing these events, as opposed to opposed to only observational experience.

Also part of my platform is integrating all ages events because each year there are many students that can’t participate because they are underage …. So I introduced the idea of an all-ages Frosh at the same time as faculty Frosh run by SSMU that would alleviate the pressure of faculties to decide to plan all these different events where there’s no drinking on top of their other events.

MT: You mentioned that equity is a big part of your platform.What specific ideas do you have to promote equity on campus?

JK: Definitely educating students about what is equity and what is an equitable event. That includes first and foremost educating events leaders and coordinators because they are the ones who interact one on one with the students … they are the point of contact with the students ….

What matters is to make the average student familiar with that term.

MT: You mentioned during last Wendnesday’s the debate having a calendar of events. How are you planning to move this forward?

JK: The first step would be deciding the format… deciding the information we need from science, arts, clubs, and athletics and asking them “do you want to be included in this? ….There’s someone already at SSMU who does things like these and who works on the interactive calendar for Frosh where students can pick the events that they want to go to .... Often, students don’t know what’s going on. [They] cannot find it in the listserv, or the website had no information …putting it all in one place, and making it inclusive and accessible [would make everything easier].

MT: In what way is this better than the listservs? Because at least in the listservs you get everything in your inbox. With the calendar you’d have to go and find it.

JK: The listervs are a good tool, but also people don’t always read them.

Also, especially this year they aren’t really regular …. I think that having a second tool is very useful, and where everything is in one place, can also become a primary tool in the future.

MT: What were you for Halloween?

JK: I was Wonder Woman.

ssmu President Christopher Bangs MT: Why do you think you are qualified for the position?

Chris Bangs: I started my career working with SSMU as the founder of the Independent Student Inquiry …. We were a completely autonomous student group; we worked closely with the VP UA, and VP Clubs & Services [and] Alison Cooper was another founder, so I had this perspective as an outside student group that worked for SSMU support, and worked for students that way. Now, I’m Campaigns Coordinator for SSMU, I work with Equity, Sustainability, Environmental Commissioners etc... I’ve worked with all six portfolios to get things done, and I’ve been very lucky to build these strong connections across [the] university. Also, I’m on the by-law review committee, so we are re-writing the constitution right now, getting into what the SSMU governing documents actually are.

MT: Based on this experience in the last year, what’s the biggest issue that you think you’ll have to deal with next year?

CB: The lease. I don’t have any more information than the average student, so I hope that’ll get resolved this year, and they say that it will.

MT: They said that last year too.

CB: Yeah, it’s been three years now, so we’ll see, it could be a glaring issue.

But I think the largest one, and the one that’s on students’ minds the most is these budget cuts and this tuition hike.

The combination of them, I think, is really disastrous for McGill, for McGill students, and for the university system as a whole.

That’s something I really want to work with: [trying] to stop the hike and the cuts, and then working within McGill to make sure [that] if we have to have the funding cuts, they’re done in an equitable and fair way .… I want to make sure [that] that the cuts, if they have to go through, are maybe more confined to expenses like lawyers’ fees and administrators […] not [necessarily] contributing to student life or faculty on campus.

MT: Last year, as you said, you were a big part of the Independent Student Inquiry.

How do you foresee actually working with the administration, rather than maybe creating something that’s separate from their own policies?

CB: Clearly, the Independent Student Inquiry was independent of McGill, but it wasn’t independent in the context of opportunities to engage. As we worked with the VP UA, we met with the principal, we met with the Deputy Provost Student Life and Learning [Morton J.] Mendelson, Dean Manfredi, who was conducting a review of the provisional protocol, to talk about it with them .… I am working very closely with the Board of Governors right now, with Divest McGill, and I probably,

as President, would sit on the Board of Governors, and [be] the student, outside of the students on the Board of Governors right now, who has the most experience actually dealing with the body. And so I think that I have very strong allies there, I’ve worked closely with them, and I think that I’m going to approach it with cautious optimism, especially in the context of the new principal and the new DPSLL. MT: What are the most important ways that your platform differs from your opponent’s?

CB: She has a focus on mental and physical health, and I think that’s really great. I think that what I’m most excited about is how to translate these vague ideas into very concrete things. So when I’m talking about mental health, I [have] two very concrete things I want to do: The first one would be to have a 13 cents per semester mental health fund, so that would raise $6,000 a year, and that could go to fund things that come out of this program, but also things like student research and conferences, puppy petting in the library, special support for students with disabilities, or disadvantaged students, etcetera. The other idea is, a motion, or a referendum question [because] student services are paid for entirely by students, McGill doesn’t pay for it at all … they don’t provide any direct funding. And so they charge about 1.5 per cent of the money that students give to student services … and they’re going to try to raise that by a couple percentage points, and half the money that we are giving to student services is going straight to James Admin, instead of things that we need .... I’d want to give the choice to support these really great frontline services [without increasing the] percentage fee that [the university is] charging.

The President acts as the coordinator executive of the SSMU. As spokesperson of the Society, this person represents SSMU members at the University Senate and Board of Governors, and maintains relations with the university’s administration, faculty and student associations.

Furthermore, as Chair of the Executive Committee, is also in charge of coordinating and overseeing the process of the Council’s agendas.

Christopher Bangs

Katie Larson MT: How has your experience working with SSMU qualified you for the position of President?

KL: I have been working with SSMU for a very long time now, around three years. The second year I started as VP external of Music Undergraduate Student Association, and so I sat on SSMU Legislative Council. And then last year, as President, I worked with Maggie and the other student Presidents. This year, I’m back as Legislative Councilor and Internal again, and I’ve put a lot more time into committee work, doing events, Steering Committee, external affairs, and funding. So it’s been a really good experience. The first time I did the SSMU thing, I was working a lot for Clubs & Services …. And then I worked there this summer as one of the culture/ project coordinators. So I have a pretty good grasp on how it works day-to-day and what really goes on and where it is really going.

MT: What’s your vision for SSMU? KL: Something that I see as a challenge but also as an opportunity is to really try to get more face time with students, both with SSMU executives as they’re representing so many different students .... [And I will] try to have as much of an open door as possible.

I also really want to keep the push going towards collaboration between the student associations, [and] the student groups on campus. Since I’ve been here working in them, I’ve seen it really go from the first year I did it … and since that’s where my background is, I’d like to bring that forward and see how we can get services involved in that.

Within the university, I [also] think that the things that the university should be really looking towards are from the student services perspective. Mental and physical health [are] always an issue here. [There are] ways to improve that, not necessarily from a budget perspective [only]. I think having to commit to better communication about it or just keeping the website updated; just little things to make sure that everybody

knows how to help themselves, even possibly asking each other how to partner or work with other things around the community to increase those services would be interesting.

On the academic side, two things that we have discussed at length with Professor Mendelsson, [are] advising and course evaluations, that is [deciding] when [course] evaluations [should] happen. [And also] making sure professors are following the rules about the syllabi. We’ve discussed different ways that it could be remedied. It’s just something that needs to be pushed through the channels, especially at Senate and at academic policy committee. I think that could happen next year.

Within SSMU, I’d really like to review the way that we do student staffing executive positions, because as President, I’d be in charge of Human Resources, [I would be] looking for other sources of funding, whether it be government or provincial grants to come in, to have us increase student staff hours or jobs if we can. And for the executive positions, they need to be more clearly defined in the constitution and by-laws so that the mandates can be clear and people can have more of a way to feel that they’re really empowered by legislation for the job to move forward with it.

MT: Do you have any plans to bolster GA participation, or do you have any plans for the GA now?

KL: It’s absolutely a necessity to have [a GA] when we need it. So for example, last year there were 1,000 people at a GA because there was a serious issue, which was on going on strike or not. So that’s an example [that if] people really want to make a strong decision, the platform needs to be available for it to happen. However, I don’t think that it’s necessarily productive or helpful if we’re just telling people, “Oh, come to the GA. Make a motion because we have to have a GA motion.” There’s not really any substance behind it. It’s not really helping anybody.

Endorsements: cS, external, finance VP Finance and operations - tyler hofmeister

VP Clubs & Services - No (Stefan Fong) Although he is running unopposed, the Tribune was unwilling to endorse Stefan Fong for the position of VP Clubs and Services. While he brings the perspective of somebody who has experienced the SSMU clubs & services system first-hand, Fong lacks any experience in student representation. Although he is undeniably passionate about clubs at McGill, and very aware of the challenges that students face on a regular basis, we do not find him to be qualified or prepared for this position.

What really sets him apart from his opponent is his direct experience managing high-level budgets, for which he was extremely accountable. With the possibility of negotiations over the SSMU building’s lease spilling over into next year, and SSMU’s tight budgetary situation, the importance of competency in this realm cannot be overstated.

Our most serious concern is Fong’s near complete lack of concrete plans or strategies. When asked about things that he would change if elected, he was quick to identify issues with SSMU’s interactions with clubs, but struggled to come up with any tangible solutions to these problems.

Although he clearly has the best interests of McGill’s clubs at heart, his lack of institutional knowledge and experience may prevent him from properly guarding these interests.

Nonetheless, Fong did bring forward some good ideas for the portfolio—he wants to better use the Clubs & Services Representatives and have them engaging directly with the clubs, and is also proposing a trial budget system which would help clubs who are planning to apply for service status.

If Fong fails to achieve a majority ‘Yes’ vote, there will be another nomination and campaign period, to which he would not be disqualified from re-applying. We would see this as an opportunity for him to bring forward a stronger platform with more specific objectives, and demonstrate exactly how he plans to use his passion as an asset in this position. If not, it may provide an opportunity for someone more experienced to join the race.

For the position of VP Finance and Operations, the Tribune endorses Tyler Hofmeister based on his extensive experience and evident enthusiasm for the job. We feel that he is very well-equipped to work closely with the other execs, and to guide SSMU through what are increasingly uncertain times.

Hofmeister’s experience working with McGill organizations is also an asset, both with the MUS and McMUN. His level of engagement with student life at McGill gives him the tools and perspectives necessary to best represent the interests of his fellow students in his work.

VP external - Sam Harris Running uncontested, Samuel Harris has the Tribune’s endorsement for the position of VP External.

He is running on a strong platform which looks to raise McGill students’ awareness of external groups such as TaCEQ, inform students of political issues on the provincial level that influence us in an ongoing way, and better integrate McGill into the communities around the school. Also taking into account his experience with the SSMU External Affairs Committee, we feel that Harris is a strong candidate There were some discussions amongst our editorial board as to the implications of Harris’ own political leanings, and whether they will allow him to be representative of the student body as a whole. However, the VP External position has traditionally been a fairly political one. Robin Reid-Fraser, who currently holds the position, brought forward similar concerns from our editorial board last year, but has gone on to do a fntastic job, staying aware of the opinions around campus, and representing them faithfully. We believe that Harris will follow the precedent that she has set in this respect.

While we were not impressed with his performance at the debate, where he seemed nervous and lacking in conviction, his individual interview with us left a markedly better impression. Hopefully he will quickly grow into the role, becoming more consistent and confident in his interactions in order to represent the views and interests of more than 20,000 students.

endorsements:

ua, internal, president

vp internal - julia kryluk (with reservations) The Tribune endorses Julia Kryluk, with reservations. Her spirited enthusiasm, and her vision of an inclusive Frosh are both very strong points of her platform. We also greatly support her ideas for the communications aspect of the job, including a greater amount of communication with SSMU’s clubs and services, and ensuring that their announcements are heard, through the creation of a comprehensive, userfriendly, and accessible events calendar. The latter of these has been discussed for years, and we urge Kryluk, if elected, to see this initiative through.

VP university affairs - joey shea We were very impressed with both candidates for the position of VP University Affairs.

Gregory and Shea each hold impressive lists of qualifications for the job, and both have assembled comprehensive platforms that place an emphasis on positive but effective relations with the administration, and renewed efforts towards student engagement. Both are personable and approachable, and we truly feel that either candidate would be well-equipped to serve the students of McGill for the coming year.

However, thanks in part to her ambitions to do more with the UA portfolio than has been seen in the past, the Tribune’s endorsement goes to Joey Shea. Her plans to work closely with the VP External to build continuity in SSMU’s interactions with the administration and its partners outside of the university are impressive. We also believe Shea’s past experience working with administrators will prove to be an asset, especially in a year where multiple high-level personnel changes at McGill could present an opportunity to reinvent the students’ relationship with the administration.

With that said, we also hope to see Gregory continue to work with SSMU, and look forward to his candidacy in future elections. In this campaign, he has proven himself as a true contender with good ideas and a strong work ethic. As he is only completing his second year at McGill, we feel that with a little more experience, he will be an invaluable member of a future year’s executive team.

While she does have extensive experience planning and carrying out events, we are not convinced that Kryluk is fully prepared for the high-level nature of the position, including the level of crisis management skills that will be required of her. Since the most demanding part of the VP Internal’s job takes place right at the beginning of the year, there is very little time to acclimatize.

As for Brian Farnan, his Simplify McGill initiative, although a noble objective, doesn’t seem entirely thought through. We were not convinced of its feasibility, and the way in which it would be practically implemented was unclear. One very good idea that his platform does identify is the establishment of an Equity Chair who would be consulted in the planning process of all events, and given the opportunity to identify concerns in matters relating to equity.

Finally, we were disappointed to see that neither candidate has a concrete plan for SSMU’s listserv communications, which are in desperate need of an update.

president - chris bangs (with reservations) After lengthy discussion and consideration, through much of which our editorial board was almost evenly split, the Tribune endorses Chris Bangs for President of SSMU, with reservations. We see Bangs as a nearly ideal candidate, with extensive experience in SSMU, and exceptional organizational skills. Most of all, we commend his clear vision for McGill, his detailed and specific platform, and the passion he puts into everything does.

This passion, however, is also the source of our reservations. Through his highly visible social activism over the past few years, Bangs put himself at odds with both the administration in the past, with his involvement in the Independent Student Inquiry into the events of Nov. 10, 2011, the website McGilliLeaked, and most recently, Divest McGill. We hope that he will make concerted efforts not to further distance himself from the administration, and that any past tensions will be put aside by both sides in favour of a constructive working relationship.

Bangs has also seen criticism from students, especially regarding a video recorded a year ago that has recently surfaced, showing him and other students interrupting a class in protest of the planned tuition hikes. Should he get the position of president, Bangs will need to actively demonstrate that he is representing the collective interests of McGill students, and not just advancing his own political goals. As for his actions in the video, we hope that he will hold himself to a higher standard as an elected representative.

We have seen Bangs go to great lengths in the past to support causes he believes in. Assuming that he is able to put aside his personal views and do what is right for students, we feel that having such a devoted individual working tirelessly to realize his vision of equitability and sustainability is something that can only be good for SSMU.

Student living

By Jacqui Galbraith

Irish stew with dumplings Recipe

A genuine Irish family recipe to help alleviate your post-St. Paddy’s Day blues. This quick recipe is easy to prepare, and will definitely fill you up. Reheated leftovers are also delicious!

Serves 6-8

Stew:

Dumplings:

2 cups cooked meat, diced (any of lamb, beef, pork, etc.)

2 cups water 4 onions, sliced 4 potatoes, diced 1 carrot, diced ½ cup cabbage, chopped ¾ tsp. salt Dash of pepper Dash of mace (spice) Cook meat thoroughly (method will vary depending on which type of meat you use). Then, fill a deep stew pot with water and the cooked meat. Bring water to a gentle boil, then lower to medium heat. Chop vegetables and stir into pot along with seasoning. Simmer gently for 30 minutes. About 15 minutes before serving, add dumplings without stirring, and cover pot tightly. Cook for an additional 15 minutes; serve immediately.

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour ½ tsp. salt 3 tsp. baking powder ¼ tsp. baking soda 3 tbsp. margarine or shortening 1¼ cups milk Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in margarine or shortening. Add milk. On a floured cutting board, gather dough into a ball and knead 20 times. Roll out dough about ½ inch thick and cut into circles with a floured cutter. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 15 minutes.

Images from www.babble.com, www.missigs.com The McGill Tribune is looking for members for its 20132014 editorial board! We are now accepting edi-

tor applications for the following sections:

News, Opinion, Student Living, Science & Technology, Features, Arts & Entertainment, Sports, Design, Photo, Copy, and Social Media, as well as for Creative Director.

To apply, send three relevant writing, photo, or design samples, a CV and a cover letter to editor@mcgilltribune.com

by Tuesday, March 25 at 5pm.

Please direct any questions to Elisa Muyl at editor@mcgilltribune.com.

up close and personal

A handy new way to think about your John Hancock Graphologist Annette Poizner gives a look into handwriting analysis and possible benefits to mental health Lucy Cui Contributor How do you take notes in class?

On your laptop right?

Most of us learned to print the alphabet the same way, using the same models, and often the same, techniques. Although there is a universal model for handwriting, the way we form letters varies greatly among individuals. That’s because we all approach the process of writing in different ways. In fact, the way you write may say a lot about your personality.

Handwritten class notes have gotten uncreasingly uncommon, and the less we write by hand, the more out of practice we become. As laptops, tablets and handheld mobiles are becoming our media of choice, some are saying that handwritten text is becoming an irrelevant method of communication altogether. In this

context, graphology—the reading of an individual’s personality structure through the analysis of their handwriting—shifts some focus once again to an increasingly esoteric habit.

Graphologists like Toronto’s Annette Poizner, author of Clinical Graphology: An Interpretive Manual for Mental Health Practitioners, believe that handwriting can be useful for a variety of purposes other than communication.

Most importantly, they tout the use of handwriting samples by mental health specialists to gain insight into patients’ personality traits and emotional dispositions. The practice may have positive implications for university health centres looking to broaden access to counselling and mental health.

An interview with Poizner provided plenty of insight into the scientific theory behind graphology and its uses. Handwriting, which Poizner

describes as “the written trace of each individual’s preferred rhythm, style and habitual manner of moving,” is used in what is called projective personality assessment. In the assessment, psychologists evaluate subtleties such as the length of pen strokes, the size of writing, the shape of letters, which side of the margin is left wider than the other, and the fluidity in penmanship. According to Poizner, these attributes can tell a graphologist with a sharply trained eye a great deal about someone with whom they have never even spoken.

If graphology was implemented into traditional counselling and psychology services, a patient could conceivably send over samples to be analyzed, and allow professionals a considerable understanding of the patients’ personalities even before their first face-to-face appointment.

Analysis of drawings and written material can be used in this manner as well.

Is this tactic truly scientific or just a ruse, in the vein of fortune telling or tarot reading? Can it really produce scientifically accurate and meaningful results?

Poizner cautions that graphology is more of a “therapeutic tool” than an empirical scientific measure, and emphasizes that graphology should always be used alongside other more traditional assessment methods. However, she underlines that previous research participants in observational studies examining graphology done at the University of Toronto have reported positive experiences with handwriting analysis. In general, researchers found that participants were more eager to participate and respond openly to therapeutic evaluation after first encountering these more unconventional method. Knowledge gleaned from graphological analysis were used to help guide discussion in subsequent face-to-face appoint-

ments. Notably, these insights were particularly useful in the context of family and marital therapy, as they provided substantial context about patients’ personalities and communicative differences.

Even if students remain skeptical about the true effectiveness of graphology—as does this author— Poizner thinks students should recognize the field’s growing relevance.

Recently, studies and publications on graphology have been well-received by the Canadian Psychological Association, and the Canadian Association of Spirituality and Social Work. Although graphology is not currently widely-practiced in North America, it could be an upand-coming influence on the practices of psychiatry, psychology and social work. Professionals and students alike may find it worthwhile to give handwriting and graphology a second look, as a means of getting to know themselves a little bit better.

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Tuesday, March 19, 2013 |

science & technology

| Curiosity delivers.

SCIENCE

Exceptions to the epidemic?

Advances in HIV treatment point to functional cure Caity Hui Science & Technology Editor Over the last 30 years, science has seen many breakthroughs with respect to AIDS caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Affecting over 34 million people worldwide, billions of dollars have been donated to finding a cure for this disease. However, as of 2013, there is still no cure for AIDS or HIV infection. Antiretroviral treatments available on the market only suppress HIV symptoms. Currently, the disease can be delayed, but not completely cured.

Along with tuberculosis and malaria, HIV is one of the three most widely spread infectious diseases, responsible for many deaths on an annual basis. The virus replicates by inserting its genetic code into human cells, and particularly, a type of T cell known as CD4 cells. T cells are key players in the immune system.

As T cells are depleted, afflicted patients eventually reach a point where they cannot battle infectious diseases or cancers.

As more and more T cells are infected with HIV, the virus levels rise in the blood. At this point, the immune system attempts to fight off the virus, causing side effects that in-

clude aches, pains, and fever. However, although the levels of the virus decrease, it is not entirely eliminated from the body. The problem with HIV is that it remains in the blood in low levels as a provirus, its dormant form, which the immune system is unable to recognize. Since T cells are long lived, they will continue to replicate their genomes, along with the virus. After years without symptoms of the infection, the levels of the virus can rise, causing in AIDS. Although scientists are still searching for a cure, many cases suggest we aren’t far away from discovering a permanent treatment.

In 1985, researchers discovered a group of female prostitutes in Nairobi, Kenya, who seemed immune to AIDS. Their bodies produced an army of killer T cells to protect the immune system from cells infected with HIV. Usually, people do not maintain high levels of T cells for long periods of time, once the initial infection is fought off, an individual’s T cell count drops. Yet, in the case of these women, their killer T cell levels remained high, and they continuously drove back the infection whenever it recurred. Researchers have not found any aspect that is fully consistent amongst the women’s immune systems, suggest-

ing the protection could come from multiple overlapping genetic factors.

In 2007, Timothy Brown, the “Berlin patient,” became widely known as the only person cured of HIV after he received bone marrow transplants to treat leukemia.

His doctor, Gero Hütter, found a donor who was both a genetic match and had a rare mutation, known as CCR4-delta32, which makes the CD4 cells resistant to infection by HIV. While some scientists were skeptical of whether or not he was actually ‘cured’ of AIDS, tests showed that Brown’s CD4 T cell counts remained fairly stable and HIV genetic material was found only at a level that was barely detectable in the most sensitive tests.

All of these results led to the conclusion that through Brown’s treatment, progress was made towards permanently curing the infection.

The most recent discovery in the battle against AIDS occurred this March in Mississippi: a baby girl, born with HIV was cured very early in life after treatment with a standard drug therapy. Unlike the “Berlin patient,” whose HIV infection was completely eradicated with an elaborate treatment for leukemia in 2007, the baby was given an in-

Dr. Hannah Gay made the decision to treat the baby with drugs even before her infection was confirmed. (lancasteronline.com) expensive treatment of a cocktail composed of three widely available drugs, already used to treat HIV infection in infants. Researchers believe that it was this early use of antiviral treatment that cured the infant, as it kept the virus from forming hard-to-treat viral reservoirs— the proviruses. Her doctor, Hannah Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, was surprised to discover that after 28 months, tests for HIV-specific antibodies—the standard clinical indicator of HIV infection—were negative.

Although much progress has been made towards HIV/AIDS treatment in the past, few discoveries have received such media attention

as this most recent finding. Perhaps it is because this Mississippi case is the first time an infant has received a functional cure. This is a rare event, in which a person achieves remission without the need for drugs, and standard blood tests show no signs that the virus is making copies of itself.

More testing needs to be done to see if the treatment would have the same effect on similarly infected children. Nonetheless, these results could change the way high-risk babies are treated for HIV. Though we still do not have a universal treatment for HIV/AIDS, we are now one step closer to finding a permanent cure.

Spotlight Spotlight on on research research Demystifying the Mathematician Tracy Yuen Contributor In honour of “Women’s Month.” Each week , in March, the Tribune is profiling different female researchers at McGill, and the story behind their work.

For most of us, the idea of working as a mathematician seems too far-fetched. Dr. Johanna Nešlehová, associate professor in the department of mathematics and statistics at McGill, certainly felt that way throughout primary school. This all changed in high school when an inspiring teacher sparked Nešlehová’s interest in mathematics, and motivated her to pursue the subject at university.

“We were on the same wavelength, everything just clicked,” Nešlehová recalled.

Guidance from various mentors have played a major role in Nešlehová’s career development.

Throughout her studies in the Czech Republic and Germany, she

met many influential female statisticians who eventually became her role models. Other than the occasional odd comment from elderly professors, she says that her experience as a female in mathematics has been very positive.

“You meet people that are so accomplished and inspiring, yet are completely human and have lives,” Nešlehová joked.

As for encouraging her own students, she feels that McGill could benefit from a mentorship program, where students can receive practical training and guidance to prepare them for careers outside of academia. Nešlehová thinks that outreach can also be done at the high school level, where advanced mathematicians could have the opportunity to demystify preconceptions about working in math and statistics earlier on.

The development of these types of programs is important, as statisticians are in high demand.

Sectors such as healthcare, finance, and public policy are in need of

experts to help them manage and understand mass amounts of information. As advances in technology have increased data collection, there is an increasing need for new strategies to properly handle and draw accurate conclusions from such large datasets.

“There are all sorts of applications in statistics, in all sort of sciences,” explained Nešlehová.

This diversity in career options is even showcased in her own careerpath. Since finishing her PhD at the University of Oldenburg, Nešlehová has completed a fellowship at the University of Hamburg, consulted for financial institutions internationally, and conducted postdoctoral research on neuroscience at Harvard Medical School.

Her current research focuses on extreme value theory (trying to predict the occurrence of very rare events), and copulas. Copulas are mathematical functions used to describe how random quantities relate and interact with one another. Her work aims to devise new methods

Nešlehová was skeptical about working as a mathematician, but various role models throughout her education have helped spark her interest in the field.

(Remi Lu / McGill Tribune) to calculate such functions, and apply them to medical and environmental research.

The 2008 financial crisis is thought to be partly attributable to copulas; traders allegedly misused a formula that models complex risks in the financial market, and, as a result, they made riskier decisions than intended. This example further highlights the gap between academia and industry, and the need to

emphasize practical training (application and communication of theories) throughout undergraduate and graduate studies.

For students still hesitant to enter the field of mathematics, Nešlehová offers a last bit of reassurance: “If you study math, there’s nothing to lose. You’re going to train your brain, and learn how to think.”

Curiosity delivers. |

science & technology

SCIENCE

| Tuesday, March 19, 2013

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Neuroimaging allows scientists to see thoughts Technological developments enable researchers to track and predict brain activity Marlee Vinegar Contributor Scientists are getting closer to something mothers have been doing for years: knowing what we’re thinking. The development of neuroimaging technology— various techniques used to directly and indirectly image the brain— has shifted our understanding of how the brain works. Recently, two studies utilized technology to visualize brain activity associated with the brain’s perception of the external and social worlds.

For many years, the brain was a mystery. It could only be studied through invasive procedures, and usually, only when a patient was dead. Now, using neuroimaging technology to observe brain activity, scientists can see how multiple parts of the brain work together to process and store sensory information.

A team of cognitive neuroscientists at Cornell University is making use of functional magnetic resonance imagery (fMRI) to understand the physical mechanisms that allow humans to interpret their social sphere. This technology has allowed scientists to see who a person is thinking of for the first time

in history.

Participants in the Cornell study were given the personality traits of four individuals, and then asked to imagine how each would behave in a set of scenarios. The researchers were able to predict who the participants were thinking of based on activity patterns in the brain’s medial prefrontal cortex.

This region of the brain stores and analyzes personality traits.

The brain combines personality traits to represent individuals in “personality models,” which are what the brain uses to predict behaviour. As you learn more about a person, the brain continues to combine their personality traits to create accurate and complete models. It is for this reason that parents may be able to predict their child’s behaviour.

Social cognition disorders, like autism, are also linked to the anterior medial prefrontal cortex.

Research from Cornell suggests that these disorders are due to a person’s inability to accurately develop these personality models.

Just as fascinating is a study conducted by scientists from Japan’s National Institute of Genetics in Shizuoka Prefecture, which took advantage of the larval ze-

brafish’s translucent head, and the brightness of the green flourescent protein (GFP) to track how the fish take in their environment.

When neurons are activated, calcium concentration increases in nerve cells, which illuminates the GFP. Through the illumination of this protein, researchers could observe brain activity during predation by creating transgenic fish (fish with a GFP gene) that express GFP in their optic tetum (the centre of visual processing in the brain).

Researchers first recorded the fish’s response to a moving dot on a screen and next to paramecium, a common prey of the fish. The stimuli caused neurons to flash across the brain, which corresponded to the directional movement of the dot and paramecium. Using realtime video, scientists observed the zebrafish’s brain activity, as it responded to its environment.

In the future, these techniques will be used to observe and map the neural activities implicated in other forms of thinking and learning, taking scientists one step closer to understanding the mysteries of the human brain. However, as far as someone being able to see my thoughts, I’d prefer to keep those to myself, thank you.

Cornell researchers used fMRIs to observe brain activity. (scientopia.org)

APP REVIEWS

BY: ABHISHEK GUPTA

With finals less than a month away, the Tribune has reviewed three productivity apps to help keep you on top of your work.

Stay Focused

This app is a go-to for studying before any midterm or final. StayFocusd increases your productivity by limiting the amount of time that you can spend on “time-wasting” websites.

Developed by Transfusion Media, this free extension to the Google Chrome web browser blocks URLs with a twist. Unlike the popular app Self Control, StayFocusd allows you to block websites like Facebook or YouTube, but still visit them for a limited amount of time. What this means is that if you decide to spend 60 minutes watching YouTube videos, updating your Facebook status, or playing online poker, you will be unable to access all the content that you have blocked for the rest of the day. So if you find yourself wishing there was some way to stop yourself from watching random people “do the Harlem Shake,” install this app and embrace productivity.

Bump

Bump simplifies sharing. As a cross-platform app—meaning it works for a variety of smartphone typesit aids in transferring data between two devices that both possess the application. What makes this app stand out is the sheer ease with which it accomplishes this task—just bump together the phones between which you want to make the transfer and voilà! Smartphone users can transfer contact information, photos, and files to each other over the internet through this method. The developers have now added the additional functionality of bumping your phone with your computer to seamlessly make transfers. Available for both iPhone and Android devices, it’s a steal for the price—free!

Dunno

Dubbed the “Research-it-later” app, this technology helps you keep track of your train of thought.

Contrary to note-taking apps or to-do lists, the main function of Dunno is to perform research for you while you’re away from the web. Essentially, Dunno helps you to record any thought that comes to your mind, and then it automatically performs background research on the recorded item. Though the results are not too in-depth—you don’t want to use Dunno for a research paper—the app succeeds in googling things for you to look at later. So, if someone mentions a musician you haven’t heard of, but you don’t have the time to look the artist up on Wikipedia, put it in Dunno. The app will consolidate information about that artist and notify you when it is ready to be read. Available for the Mac and iOS, never again will you catch yourself regretting not having instantly looked something up because you didn’t have the time.

Image Source: www.att.com, mac.appstorm.net, cdn.pastemagazine.com, maximumpc.com

arts & entertainment Interview

Celebrated author Adam Gopnik dishes advice McGill alumnus discusses the writing process, art criticism, and the Pergamon Altar Ilia Blinderman Contributor When Adam Gopnik was growing up in 1970s Montreal, he chose to steer clear of CEGEP. Instead—like Will Hunting—he simply went to the library and read. The choice appears to have paid off. Since completing his BA in Art History, the McGill alumnus (’80) has become an esteemed author, with three National Magazine Awards and a George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting to his name. His essays in the New Yorker magazine, where Gopnik is a staff writer, deal with a wide range of topics. From art, to science, to anthropology, they nevertheless remain edifying without verging on the pedagogic, imbued with a light, measured humour. After his recent Macnamara lecture on learning and mastery at McGill, the Tribune spoke to Gopnik about the process which led to his literary success.

MT: You came to writing through art criticism. How did you develop the interest to write on other topics?

AG: I don’t know that I ever did, really. It’s like the matrix— more of a three dimensional illusion of erudition than the real thing. The truth is I never really wanted to be an art critic in particular, it just was an accident of my own personal history that I found myself in New York City with a scholarship to do graduate work in art history. It was a way of getting from Montreal to New York. Once I’d done that, I had a certain expertise in art … that was a very natural thing for me to be writing about. But the art history was much more instrumental to my ambitions as

a writer, than writing was instrumental for my desire to be an art historian, or an art critic.

MT: Did it provide a base of historical context and a cultural awareness, or is it just the fact that you read so much?

AG: Yes, it did—I got my basic training in … research [when] doing academic work in art history, but the simple truth is I think I would’ve done exactly the same things that I picked up in art history. The real foundational moments in the making of my own mind came from going into a library when I was 16 or 15. I think those were really the crucial years, and the experience of digging deep in a library and taking pleasure in it, finding that it’s a reliable source of pleasure for me—that shaped my mind.

My mind worked better at that age than it has since, and to the degree that I’m able to do good work now, I really feed off the capital that I’d accumulated in those years.

MT: What is a key piece of advice for someone who wants to write?

AG: There’s a piece of practical advice I always give. The key to actually writing things is taking the mental task of writing, and transforming it into the physical task that your mind and intuitions are invariably smarter and truer than you are. It always happens to be that the things that people like best or enjoy the most in my own writing are things I was scarcely aware of when I was writing them. It just seems to be the seamless, the obvious, the self-evident way. So the trick with writing is to trust your own mind, and to simply put the words down on paper, or

Adam Gopnik, literary titan and art connoisseur. (thewalrus.tumblr.com) ligently, you just have to apply yourself. If you have anything to say, if you have any reservoir of wit or feeling in your mind, it will be expressed.

in pixel form, and the only way to do that, that I’ve found in 30 years of doing it, is to simply centre it not in your head, but in the pit of your stomach, and make it a task like riding a stationary bicycle at a health club.

And when you succeed in making it a physical task, you can astonish yourself in spite of the relentless and never-ending exasperations and aggravations of the task of writing. Just as if you go to the gym every day and ride the bike for 40 minutes, your lungs expand; if you sit and simply try and write as though you were riding a bike, your work expands. It’s the same advice that every writer always gives, that you just have to apply yourself to it; but I mean it in a more encouraging sense: you don’t have to apply yourself to it intel-

MT: What is the most important thing for students to get out of their university experience?

AG: Nobody knows what will prepare you for the work you’re going to do, and the work you’re going to have. I did art history, and that turned out to occupy a very small part of my life. It’s part of my pleasures, because I love going to museums and galleries, but it’s not what I ended up writing about. All of that effort—memorizing lists of postimpressionists, or the iconography of the Pergamon Altar—was

wasted. But of course, in another way, it wasn’t, because what’s at the core of education is accomplishment—that is, mastering something, whether it’s a system of guitar chords, or magic tricks, or the name of post-impressionists, or the iconography of the Pergamon Altar. Once you’ve demonstrated to yourself that you’re capable of mastery, then any kind of mastery you tend to approach in life tends to yield much more easily to you. The thing I would tell any student is master something; really learn it, whether it’s the piano, or the history of science.

Adam Gopnik’s latest book, The Table Comes First: France, Family, and the Meaning of Food, is available in stores now.

could be good Book Launch For As Far As The Eye Can See

Film The Horse Palace

Rock Opera Jesus Christ Super Band

Concert Raíces, Caña y Son

Film Festival Regarding Disability

Translated for the first time into English by Judith Cowan, this anthology by revered Quebecois poet Robert Melançon is a meditation on art, nature, and the vagaries of perception.

The evening will also feature poet and visual artist Jessica Hiemstra. Hosted

by Eric Ormsby.

In examining Montreal’s oldest stable, first-time documentary filmmaker Nadine Gomez investigates urban decay and architectural transformation.

A one-of-a-kind musical comedy experience that pays homage to a famous cult classic musical. This is the Saviour as you’ve never seen him before. Judas, Mary Magdalene, and Peter also appear to assist the Son of God in saving souls and rocking hard.

Held as part of Action Week Against Racism and presented by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA), the concert coincides with the museum’s current exhibition of Peruvian art and reflects the multicultural roots of the South American nation.

The first of its kind in Quebec, Regarding Disability promotes awareness and appreciation of the perspectives, achievements, and artistic expressions of people with different disabilities, and raises concerns regarding inclusion and accessibility.

Wednesday, Mar. 20 to Saturday, Mar. 23, 8 p.m., Theatre Sainte Catherine (264 Ste-Catherine East). Tickets $15.

Thursday, Mar. 21, 7:30 p.m., MMFA (1380 Sherbrooke West). Free admission with exhibition ticket.

Thursday, Mar. 21 to Thursday, Mar. 28. For details see http://sites.google. com/site/unregardsurelehandicap

Wednesday, Mar. 27, 7:30 p.m., The Word Bookstore (469 Milton).

Wednesday, Mar. 20, 7 p.m., Centre Culturel Georges-Vanier (2450 Workman).

Saturday, Mar. 23, 7 p.m., Centre Phi (407 Saint-Pierre).

Curiosity delivers. |

arts & entertainment

| Tuesday, March 19, 2013

THEATRE

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TNC Theatre’s latest production hits close to home Talented cast of Based on a True Story create their own characters in a livid, one-of-a-kind show Nicole Rainteau Contributor Highly character driven, Based on a True Story follows the lives of ‘troubled’ youths and the biases attached to their lifestyle. Director Isaac Robinson and his talented ensemble examine human problems in this piece of devised theatre, as the cast animate semi-fictional characters that they each helped to write.

The audience is first thrust into Danny’s (Justin Lazarus) mind, who begins the play by breaking down the fourth wall and staring down the audience members. Indeed, the entire script boasts an awareness of the audience with its use of confessional monologues. Lazarus dynamically reveals the world through Danny’s drug-influenced eyes, and his perception of how others view ‘people like him.’ He captures the audience’s attention with his frantic energy, interspersed with glimpses of his softer side, as he talks about the love of his life, Camille (Kim Drapack). After overcoming some early nerves, Lazarus’ ability to shock the audience with Danny’s highs and lows is

Troubled youth indeed. (Courtesy of Victor Tangermann) stunning. He is crazed, calm, vulnerable, and desperate, sometimes all in one breath—and leaves the audience wondering, “Who would Danny be if he wasn’t high?”

Opposite the erratic Danny

is the hilariously loveable Stevie (Cara Krisman), his faithful second in command. Together, the two feed off of each other on the stage. Krisman’s physical performance is scene stealing, whether she is fumbling

around with her much loved wine bottle, searching for “the thing that tastes like what she wants,” or espousing her desire to stay sober so that she can be an artist. She presents Stevie’s struggle with care, uncovering the layers of her character.

Caught in between Lazarus and Krisman, Drapack is sometimes lost. Her character Camille acts as a calming influence on Danny, but points out that he only ever listens to Stevie anyway. As a result, it is difficult to find a purpose for Camille, other than that her world revolves around Danny. The writing for this character is weaker than the others, as her development is left until the end of the play, and reveals more about Danny than her.

The performances of Emily Doyle, playing Judge Parks, and Michael Ruderman, as Officer Davis, are notable. They bring depth to characters who could have easily been conveyed as two-dimensional villains trying to maintain an unjust order. Like Danny, an imperfect hero, Parks and Davis are both sympathetic, staying true to Robinson’s determination to show no clear right

or wrong. Ruderman is striking. His honesty is evocative, and it is hard to condemn his character’s excessively violent arrests.

Set designer David Costello captures the stark contrast between the two battling worlds, simply by breaking the stage in two. He uses the intimate space wisely. Judge Parks’ courtroom and Officer Davis’ police station claim one side of the stage, neatly decorated with poster boards, while the other is cluttered with beaten up chairs and graffiti, the latter painted by art director Vanessa Chazelle.

Although the writing is weak in some areas, causing the play to drag, the well-directed acting provides a strong backbone for this ambitious collaborative project. Based on a True Story takes a hard look at its characters, and reinforces the fact that everyone has their own demons to confront.

TNC Theatre’s Based on a True Story runs from Mar. 20 to 23 at 8 p.m., Morrice Hall (3485 McTavish). Student tickets $6.

FILM

Now playing: homemade McGill movies

Student Television at McGill (TVM) hosts seventh annual Fokus Film Festival showcasing student films Will Burgess A&E Editor A few weeks after the Oscars, Student Television at McGill (TVM) is returning with its own annual film festival—albeit on a much smaller scale. The Fokus Film Festival, now in its seventh year, comprises of a series of events, including a 72-hour filmmaking competition and the screening of the submitted films, which will take place at Cinema du Parc on Mar. 21. Thrown into the mix is a viewing of Salt of the Earth (1954), which is the sole connection to this year’s theme of blacklisting and censorship in a Red Scare-era film industry.

Unlike the era’s House Committee on Un-American Activities, TVM does not reject many of its “crowdsourced” films. This brings in mixed results both in the films’ cohesion to a central theme, as well as their overall quality, although a few outstanding pieces are bound to carry the festival.

“We usually play most of what we get,” says festival director Molly Bower. “Most of the films we get are really well made;

Still from Salon Carmen, one of Fokus’ official selections. Directed by Alex Cherney. (Courtesy of TVM) a lot of thought is put into them.

And so we’re always proud to show them.”

Fatal Occupation, the project of students Sarah Leitner, Hannah O’Rear, and Emma Baker, began as an assignment for their class in the study of cinematic horror. The film was conceived during the student uprisings in Montreal—a time when ‘occupation’ described a type of protest more often than a type of employment. The movie’s antagonist works as a secu-

rity guard; a serial killer with a flashlight as a murder weapon and a penchant for student protestor homicide. The short film follows him across the campus, making reference to both horror movie tropes and McGill in-jokes, and works by making satirical jabs in the right places as well as taking a neutral political stance.

Less than half of the films were shown at Fokus’ press screening, and the 72-hour filmmaking competition took place

while this article was being written, so perhaps the best is yet to come. But the most impressive film so far is Ruffle , by Alexander Kasstan. Set to “New Error,”

by German band Moderat, and shot in reverse motion, the work chronicles the brief journey of a man walking through a park in France. The chosen track, which advances as steadily as the man’s gait, is featured prominently, and gives the impression of a music video. Although Kasstan didn’t

have this concept in mind originally, he has since contacted Moderat, and hopes to get an endorsement from the band.

Much like CKUT, or the McGill Tribune, one of the mandates of TVM is to educate students in the production of a medium that is not widely embraced by a specific McGill department. Fokus realizes this goal by providing a vehicle for students to get their films seen by a broader audience, and encourages those who wouldn’t normally show their films publicly to participate.

“TV McGill is a really great source for learning production,” says Leitner. “That’s where I learned everything, and their equipment is amazing.”

“It’s a skill that takes a long time to develop,” adds Bower.

“For the people that are able to learn it while they’re here, without any program at all, it’s a miracle.”

TVM’s Fokus Film Festival runs this Thursday, Mar. 21 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Cinema du Parc (3575 Avenue du Parc). Admission is $6 in advance and $7 at the door.

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Tuesday, March 19, 2013 |

arts & entertainment

Album Suuns Images du Futur

VISUAL ART

reviews

Brighton MA Oh Lost Fast Plastic

Transgressive

Suuns’ lead singer Ben Shemie refers to the environment in which his Montreal band recorded Images du Futur—the Quebec student protests of last year—as, according to the press release, “a climate of excitement, hope, and frustration.”

But if the album is a political statement, it would be best described as resigned apathy.

Shemie has occasional bouts of angsty singing through his gritted teeth, as on album opener “Powers of Ten” where his vocals gain momentum from an anxious guitar riff.

On the rest of the album, however, Shemie tends to mumble and croon, channeling a muddier Thom Yorke.

Shemie’s voice is quite beautiful, which is why it’s a shame he throws it away so easily. Three quarters way through the album, Suuns sounds tight on “Bambi,” with a throbbing, randomly arpeggiated bass and a sharp, insistent guitar melody, punctuated by a strong snare drum. Over his band’s excited noise, he sighs, “To want to can’t you feel / Maybe you can see / To want to can’t you see / Maybe they be.” On some parts of this album, one simply wishes that Shemie would just spit it out.

The rest of the band has a refined post-punk sound that has obviously been carefully moderated to provide enough space for a rhythm that lopes along with confidence.

“Edie’s Dream,” with its mellow, laissez-faire beat, is a perfect example of this—a highlight of the album. Images du Futur, as a sophomore effort, contains snapshots of brilliance. But for this to have been a fully realized soundtrack to Montreal’s uncertain future, Shemie should have worked harder to see eye-to-eye with the rest of his band’s vision.

“We weren’t built to last; we were built to explode,” croons Matt Kerstein. The lead singer of Chicago-based quintet Brighton MA delivers the line evocatively in “Bulletproof,” the opener for the group’s sophomore release Oh Lost—and at first, one is tempted to believe him.

Unfortunately, the sonic vitality seen in “Bulletproof” is the exception rather than the rule on an album largely in the same mold as the indie-rock multitude. The shimmering, trembling guitar chords soon give way to pedestrian soundscapes—forgettable at best, and sagging at worst.

A low point comes during “Thirst,” when awkwardly syncopated notes steadily drill into one’s skull, like maggots feasting into carrion.

That said, Oh Lost is not devoid of merit. “Sweet Delusions” is a standout, with its smoky bass line and guitar solos that rip its chords to shreds. “Good Kind of Crazy” channels a calm, rustic sweetness, charming listeners with clear instrumentation, and lyrics about the “summer breeze” and “swinging through the back porch screen.”

Perhaps the most valuable asset for Brighton MA is Kerstein’s vocals, which are front and centre in nearly every track (and for good reason).

Kerstein’s voice is nuanced, raw, and weathered, cutting through often listless arrangements with power and confidence.

In this day and age, it is not enough for indie-rock bands to simply push vague themes of ‘youth’ and ‘rusticity.’ Oh Lost’s melodic and lyrical mediocrity is not a death knell for the group—but it certainy is a wake-up call.

With Foal’s newest release, Holy Fire, the British indie rockers have succeeded in producing a multitude of tracks that emphasize their unique sounds. Although it does not quite reach the sheer magnitude of their masterpiece “Spanish Sahara” from their previous album Total Life Forever, they have still created a fantastic arrangement of tracks. Altogether, Foals have begun to create a darker atmosphere with their music, quite different from the unencumbered productions they’ve made in the past.

The album opens with “Prelude,” a melange of rock percussion and gritty but ethereal lyricism. The second track and single “Inhaler” drives catchy beats towards a climax of lead singer Yannis Philippakis’ yearning call for “space.” The most anthemic track is certainly “My Number”—frustratingly catchy and difficult to stop listening to. “Bad Habit” provides a little bit of contrast with the rest of the album, as it’s more electronic in nature. It also features some of Philippakis’ more emotionally vulnerable performances. “Milk & Black Spiders” may have an enigmatic title, but it’s a straightforward expression of commitment for a person. The album comes to a close with “Moon” which seems to be similar in format to the band’s hit song “Spanish Sahara.” It sedately winds down without some of the edginess that characterizes the rest of Holy Fire.

Foals have clearly demonstrated their growth as a group. They’ve incorporated new inspirations and experiences to create an impressive third album. Philippakis noted that some of the band’s inspirations are “voodoo, the swamp, sexuality, byzantine iconography, and music ... the decline of the bee populations, hip hop, and stoner rock”—and they’ve certainly amalgamated these elements into something admirable.

— Chris Liu

Snowbirds in the wild

Concordia graduate holds photo exhibition

Foals Holy Fire

Secretly Canadian

— Will Burgess

| Curiosity delivers.

— Alex Kpeglo-Hennessy

Benoit et Suzanne (2012). (Mika Goodfriend / Courtesy of the artist)

Will Burgess A&E Editor Last week, the one question that inevitably dominated casual conversations among McGill students was where everyone spent their reading weeks. A lucky few had the opportunity to travel south and enjoy warmer weather, staying in the West Indies or even Florida, a traditional destination for March break. While we’re all back at school now, the sun-soaked retirees for which Florida is perhaps even more known remain on extended vacation, and they’re the subject of Concordia photography graduate Mika Goodfriend’s exhibit Snowbirds.

Goodfriend’s photographs are on display in the exterior of Concordia’s FOFA Gallery, behind glass that adds to the voyeuristic nature of the shots of the elderly and their vacation homes. Ninety-eight per cent of the residents are from Quebec, and together they form the community of Breezy Hill RV Resort in Pompano Beach. Their heritage is an integral part of Goodfriend’s project, and he claims his Anglophone identity prevented him from becoming fully immersed in this community, despite his own upbringing in Quebec. Consequently, the series appears to be taken from an outsider’s perspective; an anthropological study of a lost culture. The photographs focus on the imported knick-knacks and tanned faces that create the Breezy Hill residents’ home away from home, a fabrication of which they certainly seem proud in their portraits.

The series and its motivations appear, however, to be at odds with each other—why travel to Florida to study Quebec culture? At first glance, Goodfriend’s stated goal of an introspective identity search seems suspicious. Florida has always been the subject of jokes about its elderly residents, and it is easy to

interpret the humour in these photographs as condescending.

When I asked Goodfriend about what made his photos funny, he brought up this possibility himself, saying, “I’m not trying to make fun of them in any way. People, I suppose, could read into it as they like, but clearly through my artist statement and my whole raison d’être …

I have a deep respect for snowbirds, and for these people who I became friends with.”

While his images are carefully arranged, Goodfriend’s explanation of his project is candid, and lends credence to its sincerity, even if the images themselves don’t communicate it transparently. In preparation for his portraits, he spent a little over a month building relationships with the community in order to gain their trust, and despite the kitsch that surrounds them, the expressions of Breezy Hill’s snowbirds are both natural and acute. Their portraits reveal a certain kind of wisdom, the result of a simple happiness that has found its way into a community that leaves its worries behind by migrating to the Sunshine State.

Success seems to have taken Goodfriend by surprise. His exhibit won the national prize of the Bank of Montreal student contest “1st Art!” last August, a competition he entered on the suggestion of one of his photography professors. During my interview, friends approached him to congratulate him on his gallery opening, and he sheepishly excused himself to speak to “the media.”

Snowbirds is certainly an indication of promise for Goodfriend’s career now that he’s graduated with a second bachelor’s degree, and hopefully the $10,000 BMO award will encourage him to keep traveling.

Snowbirds is on display at Concordia’s FOFA gallery until Apr. 4.

Free admission.

Curiosity delivers. |

arts & entertainment

| Tuesday, March 19, 2013

21

Film

Fanning the flames of violence

Stoker’s flat script and mediocre acting are saved by director Park Chan-wook’s mezmerizing style Chris Liu A&E Editor I loathed Django Unchained— Tarantino’s masturbatory exercise in self-aggrandizement. Yet even I can admire the beauty of one particular shot from the film, when a rich ruby blood spurt sprays across a field of snow-white cotton. Not only did this visual reinforce the horrific human toll of commodification—it also looked downright gorgeous.

The last shot of Stoker, directed

by Park Chan-wook (Oldboy), is very similar and equally sublime to the one described above. Even though the film has a fraction of the on-screen violence that Django vainly brandishes, Stoker is decidedly more engrossing, more tense, and more enjoyable. Tarantino should take a page from Park’s playbook.

The aesthetics of morbidity come not from quantity, but quality.

A director renowned in Korea and among cinephiles, Park’s latest is his first English-language film.

The story follows India (Mia Wasikowska) as she mourns the unexpected death of her father, while dealing with the equally sudden

Stoker dazzles with a “heady mixture of lust and bloodlust.” Here, Mia Wasikowska as India Stoker. (www.iri.ie)

appearance of an estranged relative. Stoker’s script drapes itself in Hitchcockian pastiche, and runs the gauntlet of seemingly usual tropes: a creepy Gothic mansion (replete with blood red walls), the introverted daughter, the handsome yet eerie uncle (Matthew Goode), and the mother that’s oblivious to it all (Nicole Kidman).

The film’s most problematic aspects can be traced to this rather

cookiecutter screenplay. Written by Prison Break star Wentworth Miller, a good three-fourths of the story is characterized by a sagging plotline and sonorous dialogue. The devilish ending, while exciting, doesn’t make up for the rather boring and bland material before it.

Consequently, the acting in Stoker is far from revelatory. Between Kidman’s stilted delivery, Goode’s uneven performance, and

Jacki Weaver’s all-too-brief appearance as the saviour aunt, only Wasikowska manages to leave a positive impression. Playing a young girl in way over her head is nothing new for Wasikowska, who is best known for her roles in Alice in Wonderland and Jane Eyre. But India offers an opportunity to showcase a raw, unadulterated form of adolescence, and Wasikowska seizes these moments with dazzling efficacy.

That such moments arrive at all for Wasikowska is no doubt thanks to Park. In fact, what makes Stoker rise above its script is Park’s indelible style as auteur, an aromatic and hypnotizing mix of eroticism and violence. A shower scene that one expects to be an homage to Hitchcock’s Psycho instead takes a turn towards territory more reminiscent of Lynch, Cronenberg, or von Trier. This heady mixture of lust and bloodlust is Stoker’s greatest strength. Though the film never reaches the stomachchurning viscerality of Oldboy, the direction nevertheless belies an assured aesthetic sensibility of which lesser directors can only dream.

It’s always nice to see a film escape the event horizon of a mediocre script. That Stoker does so is due to clever sound mixing, adventurous cinematography, and most of all, to Park’s masterful artistry and guidance.

Stoker is playing at Cinema du Parc (3575 Avenue du Parc) and the Cineplex Forum (2313 Ste-Catherine Ouest).

INTERVIEW

In synth we Trust: interview with Robert Alfons Better known as Trust, Winnipegger and musician Alfons talks touring and producing

Trust is currently working on the follow-up to his hit debut. (Huffington Post)

Diana Wright Contributor ‘Winnipeg’ and ‘vampiric slouchy dance-pop’ might not nor-

mally be used in the same sentence, but they describe Robert Alfons, the man behind Trust, one of Canada’s recent breakthrough indie acts.

Alfons has been on the road al-

most continuously since the release of 2012’s TRST, his band’s debut full-length album.

Working on the album was a “very stressful” experience, “because you’re living out of a suitcase,” says Alfons. “Even though you’re surrounded by people all the time, it’s still very isolating.”

Trust has also recently gone through a noticeable lineup change— perhaps adding to the tour’s loneliness—since Maya Postepski, who also plays in the band Austra, has been conspicuously absent from the tour. In response to this, and very keenly avoiding any clear confirmation of the split, Alfons says that Trust is “just [his] project” and “definitely very separate from Austra.”

“I have no connection to that band,” he reiterates.

TRST is a dark record, but that doesn’t mean that all of its creator’s influences are dark. Alfons cites himself as a big fan of Ace of Base’s first album The Sign, having been introduced to the band as a child by his sister.

“It’s still to this day a very solid record,” says Alfons. “It was one of

the first albums that I remember loving from start to finish, and it’s … really good dance music.”

In fact, his fondness for ’80s and ’90s music has been monumental in shaping his sound.

“There is a nostalgia to the music I make, which is not a bad thing,” says Alfons. “Sometimes it just feels like you’ve known these sounds for a long time.”

Interestingly, Alfons also admits to preferring the experience of recording to performing for a live audience.

“The creating of music and the studio stuff is where most of my love lies,” he says. “But the touring thing has … been really enjoyable. It’s a nice companion to making music.”

Recently, he’s been combining the two by working on his follow up to TRST while touring, and cites “the energy at shows” as an inspiration for influencing his writing and creating.

“There’s new people around all the time, and there’s a party every night, essentially, and that’s very different from a solemn, solitude [way of working] where you can make

music every day,” says Alfons.

When the ‘sophomore slump’ comes up, he replies, “I just feel lucky to be able to put out a record…. I think there’s pressure there if I want to dig into it but I don’t generally feel like there is…. I’m fine if people hate it.”

Although hesitant to disclose too much about the new album’s sound, Alfons reveals that “It’s going to be different because it has to be, but I’m sure similar in a lot of ways…. After this tour I’m going to have more time to sit down and work on it.”

In the meantime, TRST has been nominated for Electronic Album of the Year at the 2013 Junos, alongside breakthrough acts Crystal Castles, Grimes, and Purity Ring.

The recognition is something Alfons appreciates: “It’s definitely an honour; it’s really exciting to be in a group with those artists. That’s a really amazing group to be looking at that’s just from Canada.”

Trust performs Mar. 22 at S.A.T. (1201 St. Laurent). Advanced tickets $17.50; $20 door.

22

Tuesday, March 19, 2013 |

sports

| Curiosity delivers.

MARCH MADNESS 10

tips to making sense of the madness

Each year, pundits, die-hards, and average fans struggle to fill out their NCAA March Madness brackets. The tournament of 68 is always unpredicatable, so here are 10 tips to help you get through the fun, but stressful process:

1. When deciding whether or not to pick a team through to the next round, examine thier record closely: not just overall, but particularly in their last 10 games. Pay special attention to how they performed in their conference tournament, as a team that’s riding a wave of momentum may have the upper hand. In addition, remember that some conferences are better than others; 23-8 in the Big East is probably better than 26-7 in the Big South.

louisville louisville saint louis

midwest michigan st.

2. Don’t pick all the No.1 seeds to advance to the Final Four. It’s only happened once in the 75 years of the NCAA Tournament, and with the amount of parity this year, don’t count on the supposed heavyweights to all reach Atlanta.

3. It’s usually advisable to have a No. 1 seed win the entire tournament.

louisville

michigan st. duke

However, this year is different. Nearly all the potential No. 1-3 seeds are fairly evenly-matched.

4. Even though Duke and Missouri both lost last year as No. 2 seeds in the first round, take this as a statistical anomaly. You should be able to slot your No. 1-3 seeds into the round of 32 without any qualms.

5. Choose one Mid-Major team to fall in love with and ride them to the Elite Eight. It’s generally better to avoid sending more than one through, as by the later stages of the tournament, the majority of Cinderella stories will have struck midnight.

louisville

6. Be on the lookout for experience-laden teams who return numerous key players from an NCAA tournament squad last year. This time of the year brings an enormous amount of pressure on the student athletes, and these teams will have the invaluable experience required to stay cool, calm, and collected in the most pressure-packed moments.

7. Long gone are the glory days of the giants who commanded non-stop attention in the paint. College basketball has become a guard’s game, and teams with two or more talented guards should be expected to have the ball-handling and shot-making required to make noise.

gonzaga wisconsin wisconsin

8. Choose at least one No. 5-12 first round upset. I don’t know what it is about this classic matchup, but every year it seems as though one No. 12 seed shocks their higher seeded opponent in the first round.

9. Try and see which teams have a regional advantage in the early round games. Higher seeds have the Selection Committee on their side when they end up playing games only a few hours from campus, but some lesser schools can get lucky. This makes a huge difference, as more of their fans will attend the games, lending the teams a home-courtesque advantage.

10. Choose teams whose head coaches have been proven winners in March and April. Candidates include Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo and Butler Head Coach Brad Stevens, who have each proven time and time again their ability to take less talented squads to the final two weekends.

— Mayaz Alam

west

new mexico

new mexico new mexico ohio st.

Sweet 16

elite eight

final four

Curiosity delivers. |

sports

| Tuesday, March 19, 2013

23

PREVIEW kansas kansas VCU kansas

south

florida

regional quick hits

Midwest Favourite Louisville Darkhorse Saint Louis Bracket Buster Valparaiso Overrated Duke

florida georgetown

Favourite Ohio State Darkhorse Wisconsin Bracket Buster Belmont Overrated Gonzaga

Champion:

kansas KansaS Indiana indiana syracuse miami (FL)

east

butler

miami (FL) miami (FL)

final four

elite eight

West

Sweet 16

South Favourite Kansas Darkhorse VCU Bracket Buster South Dakota St. Overrated Michigan

East Favourite Indiana Darkhorse Butler Bracket Buster Davidson Overrated Syracuse

19

SPORTS

CIS Women’s BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS­

Playing on Sunday: Martlets claim consolation final Martlets lose opener to host Regina, storm back to finish fifth Remi Lu Contributor After cruising to an RSEQ championship and securing a berth in the CIS Final 8 for the second consecutive year, the McGill Martlets arrived in Regina, Saskatchewan looking to make some noise and win their first ever Bronze Baby trophy.

Although the Martlets fell short of their title aspirations, they proceeded to notch a respectable fifth place finish amongst an extremely talented Final 8 after winning the consolation finals 71-50 over the Ottawa GeeGees.

The sixth-seeded Martlets kicked off the tournament Friday evening against the hometown favourite Regina Cougars in front of a raucous crowd. However, it was clear that the Regina’s home-court advantage was a non-factor for McGill, as they remained composed and stretched their lead to six points in the second quarter after a threepointer by fourth-year guard Diana Ros. Ros was named McGill’s player of the game after compiling a team-high 13 points, five rebounds, and five assists. The Martlets entered halftime with a 28-23 lead.

The contest remained evenly matched in the third frame, with the two teams trading blows en route to a slight 40-39 Regina advantage.

However, the fourth quarter was a different story for McGill. They had a few lapses on the defensive end, giving up rebounds and turning the ball over. The Cougars went on a furious 10-0 scoring run halfway through the final quarter to take a 59-48 lead with 2:55 to go. It was

From the “Hey Boston Bruins, get out of the way!” yelled a gruff Quebecer, laughing at my dad posing in black and gold next to a statue of Maurice “The Rocket” Richard outside the Bell Centre. He had insisted we pose next to the Canadiens legend, which would not have been so bad if my mother knew how to work an iPhone camera.

She finally got the picture she wanted, and I waved a hand in silent embarrassment at the now long queue of Montreal fans, waiting to get their picture taken with the statue. We walked toward the main gates to watch the Penguins-Habs game on Hockey Night in Canada.

Several months ago, when I knew

Sylla was named CIS Rookie of the Year. (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune) too late for the Martlets to mount a comeback, and the game ultimately ended in a 68-53 Regina victory.

The Cougars’ defensive tenacity was problematic for the Martlets all game, as McGill shot just 29.5 per cent from the field, and were dominated on the glass 46-25.

“We had a good start and over the first three quarters, we were basically executing our game plan,” Martlet Head Coach Ryan Thorne said. “Defensively, our help was there … but then they made some adjustments and we tried to adjust, but I don’t think we followed through on what needed to be done. … We just gave up too much in the fourth, defensively.”

The Martlets took to the court on Saturday to face the Fraser Valley Cascades and their star player Kayli Sartori in the consolation semifinals. Following a pedestrian first quarter, McGill’s offence exploded in the second and third frames, out-

scoring Fraser Valley 46-24. Unlike the game against Regina, McGill shot 40 per cent from the field, and an impressive 81.5 per cent from the line, which was markedly different from their embarrassing 59.1 per cent free throw shooting the night before. The Cascades never recovered from the scoring onslaught, as the Martlets claimed the 70-52 victory.

McGill dominated thanks to great scoring balance led by veteran forward Anneth Him-Lazarenko and guard Francoise Charest, who both recorded 12 points in the contest.

Standout rookie forward Mariam Sylla also tallied a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. She was honoured in the pre-tournament awards ceremonies with the Kathy Shields Award for CIS Rookie-ofthe-Year. She’s had a stellar debut year, and was ranked first in offensive rebounds and second in defensive rebounds across the CIS.

cheap my parents were going to be coming to Montreal for the first weekend of Reading Week, I offhandedly suggested to my dad that we try to get Habs tickets. Each year I’ve been at McGill, I’ve managed to go to one game. I had already seen the Canadiens beat Winnipeg earlier in the season, but knowing my dad’s affinity for hockey, and inability to resist the prospect of experiencing true Canadian culture, I thought I’d propose the idea.

We looked at the schedule and saw that the Penguins were coming to town. The thought of seeing the greatest modern hockey player—Sidney Crosby—on my mom’s hometown team was enough to convince them both to purchase tickets.

Through some glitch in Stub Hub’s system, we scored four tickets for the price of three, closer to the ice than the origi-

Seats

Despite the previous night’s loss against Regina, the Martlets never lost focus on their goal: to play on Sunday.

“The reality is that we told the team when we arrived that our goal was to be playing on Sunday, so we haven’t moved away from that,” Coach Thorne said. “There’s the consolation side and the championship side. Either way, when you come into this tournament, you want to be playing on Sunday.”

McGill tipped off against the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Sunday morning in the consolation finals. Early on, it was apparent that the Martlets would dominate the game, as they jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead. By the end of the first half, McGill’s second-year guard Gabriela Hebert had 12 points on 5-5 shooting to give the Martlets a 40-24 lead heading into the half. Hebert would end up recording 19 points on perfect shooting, going 7-7 from the

field and 3-3 from three-point range.

She was also awarded the Player of the Game.

“Gabriela is a [streak] shooter and you have to let her shoot until she cools off, but she just didn’t cool off today,” Thorne said.

Aside from a third quarter scare, McGill led after every quarter and ended up dispatching the GeeGees 71-50. Sylla was solid inside once again with 14 points and 8 rebounds in the winning effort, while Ros tallied six assists. The Martlets finished the weekend in fifth place with the victory.

The real winners of the weekend, however, was the University of Windsor, who took home the CIS championship after beating the favoured Cougars in the gold medal final. Saint Mary’s University won the bronze after beating the University of Calgary Dinos 83-73.

Sunday’s win marked the end of the university career of HimLazarenko, a five year team veteran.

She recorded 1545 points and 858 rebounds over her career, and has her name cemented in McGill’s history books as the all-time leader in both categories.

The Martlets have a bright future ahead of them, with the majority of this year’s team returning for next season. The added playoff experience has been invaluable, and this year’s dominance once again puts them in prime position to be the RSEQ favourite for the 2013-2014 campaign.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES By: Tom DiNardo

nal seats we had tried to buy.

The Bell Centre was a sea of red, white, and blue with a surprising amount of black and gold peppered throughout.

Enthusiastic staff members in yellow shirts greeted us with loud cheers as we took the escalator up to our seats. It turned out our “better seats” were only about ten rows from the nosebleed section in the Best Buy Family Zone. It didn’t matter; from that angle, we could see the whole rink.

After a long-winded intro, where every Habs player was given equal share of the highlight reel, came the performance of the American and Canadian national anthems. “The Star Spangled Banner” always causes my chest to swell with patriotic pride, but it doesn’t feel like a proper hockey game without a

hearty rendition of “O Canada.”

The performance was definitely less awkward than the last game I attended, when the Quebecois Maurice Richard statue. (wikimedia.org) separatist next to me booed throughout the entire song.

The game turned out to be the highest-scoring game I’ve ever seen shot by Kris Letang. Ultilive. When the Habs scored, the stadium mately, the Pens’ Brandon Sutter scored erupted; everyone jumped out of their the overtime goal—his second of the chairs, high-fived, and cheered. When night—to claim victory for the Pens, the Penguins scored, my mom was the causing the Habs fans to silently file out only one in our section to let out a be- of the stadium.

Walking out onto Avenue des Calated whoop and fist pump.

Going into the game, Crosby had nadiens-de-Montréal, I heard a mixture tallied 31 points on the season, but of voices speaking in French and Engthe superstar was barely noticeable on lish, talking about the game. I smiled to the ice. Nonetheless, he seemed to al- myself, as we walked past the statue of ways be in the right position and tallied Richard, feeling somewhat closer to the two assists and a goal off a rebounded habitants of Montreal.