McGill Tribune vol. 37 Issue 23

The McGill Tribune TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018 | VOL. 37 | ISSUE 23 JOKE ISSUE

BUILDING CLOSURE Asbestos, lobster people discovered in SSMU HVAC, closure extended

PG. 78 °

Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University

FEATURE Why do kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch

PGs. ∞

McGILLTRIBUNE.COM | @McGILLTRIBUNE

ASK AINSLEY I saw my prof at the gym and he asked me to spot him

0 < PG. < 20

‘Maybe’ campaigners firmly resolve to decide SSMU’s fate at some point soon

Organizers unsure what SSMU stands for exactly PG. 4

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

69 VOTE MARGIN

2

McGill Food and Dining Services to host a Real Food Week Abeer Almahdi Contributor McGill Food and Dining Services often hosts themed food events, such as Tropical Dinner, Taste of Greece, Seoul Food, Vietnamazing, and Taste of India. Now, it has decided to take its theme in a different direction. For the first time in McGill history, cafeterias will hold a Real Food Week, to give students a taste of edible food. This initiative follows the event Sustainable Eating: Last Week’s Leftovers, after student complaints that the food was too similar to regular cafeteria days.

“Preparing for Real Food Week is going to be a real challenge,” Director of Food and Dining Services Shirley Temple said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “We are going to have to make an effort to use all real ingredients like actual fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. We are going to have to stop getting all of our produce from decade-old cans, and make sure any products we use have not yet passed their expiration dates [...] it’s going to be tough. These aren’t things we’re used to thinking about.”

Since this is the first time that McGill Food and Dining Services has decided to embark on a challenge of this magnitude, it created a feedback

form for students in residence to express their desires for the week.

“I was pleased to see that almost all students in residence filled out this form,” Temple said.

“Over 96 per cent wanted to see a pinch more spices so that the food tastes slightly less cardboardy, while just over 94 per cent wanted to feel safe knowing that they will not get sick after eating, and finally, almost 100 per cent of students don’t remember what fresh fruit and vegetables taste like.”

Temple is open to hosting more themed events in the future, but with certain conditions attached.

“Of course we will try to integrate some of the feedback,” Temple said. “One of our goals for this week is to bring back those nostalgic memories of edible food for students, so we will definitely look into bringing a variety of real vegetables and fruit to campus. However, our kitchens are adamantly against the use of spices and seasoning.

We have never have used them, and we never will.

It’s just not in our beliefs or value system. We destroyed our last spice rack in 1831, and we never looked back.”

Even though Food and Dining Services is maintaining its flavourless mandate, students are excited about the prospect of food slightly less

Food and Dining Services is maintaining its flavourless mandate. (mcgill.ca) likely to make them ill.

“At the McGill cafeterias, you are getting more than just a meal, you are also getting food poisoning, or nausea, its almost always one or the other, or even both for the adventurous eater,” U0 Arts and Molson Hall resident Arnold Palmer said.

Real Food Week is set to take place in the Fall 2018 semester, at the Royal Victoria College Cafeteria. If the initiative turns out to be a success, Food and Dining Services will continue it as an annual event, and may even start integrating real food into the cafeterias’ daily menus.

New class on cannabis to be taught by Ontario hash lord Doug Ford

Professor Doug Ford arrives on campus in time for class. (theglobeandmail.com)

Lucas Birdman Contributor Recreational marijuana is set to be legalized in Canada this summer, and not only are more people rolling fatties, but schools throughout Canada, such as Durham College and Niagara College, are offering classes focused on cannabis. As a result, McGill Principal Suzie Porpier recently announced that in the Fall 2018 semester, the Arts department will be offering just such a course.

“We’re extremely excited to be offering a comprehensive marijuana education class for our students who were total nerds in high school and never learned how to smoke on their own,” Porpier said.

Interested students in the coming months will be able to add AGRO 420: Cannabis Culture: An Introduction to Dank to their Minerva course lists.

What separates McGill’s approach to marijuana education is that rather than focus on marketing strategies or business tactics, AGRO

420 will focus on proper usage techniques, cannabis culture, and stoner identification. The course will be taught by the illustrious leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario himself, Douglas Ford. Ford is particularly qualified to teach the class, due to his previous career as an Ontario hash dealer. In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Ford outlined some of the specifics of the course work and class structure.

“Students will learn how to make a gravity bong out of only a cooking pot and an empty wine bottle, stoner style standards such as huf socks and thrasher hoodies, and how to delineate between ‘Gas,’ ‘Mid,’ and ‘that reggie,’” Ford said.

“Students will also be instructed on other cannabis-related terminology, like ‘ripped,’ and ‘stoned,’ and how to properly respond when someone says, ‘Yo dude it’s already been an hour, this edible isn’t working, I’m taking another.’”

Ford further explained AGRO 420’s hands-on approach to learning.

A good portion of the class will be devoted to proper rolling techniques, covering joints—both king size and

regular—as well as a variety of blunt wraps of different brands. The course will feature a special guest lecture from University of Colorado Professor Nicholas Fern, on the rolling of backwoods blunts. Furthermore, the class’ final exams will be marked collectively, pass or fail. Students will be assessed on their ability to effectively hotbox the entirety of Leacock 132 within the given time period.

McGill administration and faculty are extremely excited about this opportunity to offer students real life skills, such as finally being able to answer affirmatively to the age-old question “Can someone make a bowl out of this apple?”

“Once the class registration opens up, I might even kick-back and light up a fat doink myself to celebrate,” Porpier said. “We’re extremely excited to have such a prominent and world-renowned individual in the field teaching the class.”

In the meantime, students will continue to prepare with rigorous extracurricular coursework, hunkering down in their dorms, rather than Redpath or Schulich, to study for this particular class.

3 CONFITURE’S DIARY

Tuesday, March 27, 2017

Canadiens trade Bergevin to Sabres for bag of pucks

Tre Mansdoerfer congratulates Corinne Bulger on not having to be SSMU President

General Manager Marc Bergevin was moved to the Buffalo Sabres for a bag of practice pucks. (yahoo.com)

Owen Gibbs Contributor

The Montreal Canadiens announced Thursday that they have traded General Manager Marc Bergevin to the Buffalo Sabres for a bag of practice pucks that were found in the back room of the KeyBank Center. This news comes after months of speculation from fans and critics, who have long suspected that Bergevin’s subpar performance as GM would force the Canadiens to make a move.

“He’s had some good moments over the years, but recent performances have been undoubtedly underwhelming,” Canadiens owner, president, and CEO Geoff Molson said. “We felt that Marc needed a change of scenery in order to improve his performance. Buffalo will give him that opportunity.”

Many of Bergevin’s critics have pointed to poor trades and free agent signings—such as those of Jonathon Drouin and Karl Alzner—as reasons for his departure. Compared to the talent the Habs gave up to acquire the two players, both have underwhelmed this season.

“His performance as GM has deteriorated in recent years,” Montreal Gazette sports reporter Pat Hickey said. “Everyone is criticizing him, and I think it’s getting to the guy.”

Following the announcement, the Sabres faithful has erupted with rage on social media platforms. Even Buffalo Head Coach Phil Housley has voiced his criticism of the trade.

“I really think Montreal cheated us on this one,” Housley said. “We give up an entire bag of pucks and Marc is all we get for it? We could have gotten a good practice or two out of those pucks. It’s absolute robbery.”

Housley will likely try Bergevin out on the Sabres’ fourth line for a few games prior to the end of the season. If they’re lucky, they might get a goal or two out of him before Buffalo misses the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season. If not, he should be a strong veteran presence for rookie Buffalo GM Jason Botterill, who has not yet learned how to destroy a franchise.

“Obviously I wish the results had gone the other way,” Mansdoerfer said. (Soft Goth Sutton / The McGill Tribune) doerfer’s support, and acknowledges that he was equally as worthy a candidate.

“With a voting participation of only 16.5 per On March 21, Elections SSMU announced that Tre Mansdoerfer, U2 Engineering, is the cent, the election results really could have gone president-elect of the Students’ Society of McGill either way,” Bulger said. “Tre has contributed so University (SSMU) for the 2018-2019 school year. much to the McGIll Community over the past three With a differential of only 69 votes between the years, and I really wish there was room for two of two candidates, Mansdoerfer explained that while us to avoid Legislative Council.”

Mansdoerfer says he’s trying to remain posihe remained hopeful throughout election night, he eventually had to muster the pride to call his op- tive regardless, focusing his energy on some of the job’s more exciting projects, like avoiding asponent and concede.

“Obviously I wish the results had gone the bestos-related illnesses, and working to solve the other way,” Mansdoerfer said in an interview with Palestinian-Israeli conflict once and for all.

“Right now I’m just trying to focus on teamThe McGill Tribune. “But Corinne ran a hardfought campaign, and no one is more qualified to building,” Mansdoerfer said. “I really hope to have be one of the 27,525 students who does not have to a more cohesive executive than last year’s.”

In addition to Mansdoerfer, the newly-elected publicly represent this decaying institution.”

While Mansdoerfer is disappointed by the executive team is comprised of an accused Zionist spy, as well as an alleged anti-semite. election’s outcome, he has total faith in Bulger.

“Accessibility, transparency, and accountabil“Again, Corinne is one of the kindest and most hardworking people I know,” Mansdoerfer added. ity,” Mansdoerfer keeps repeating dead-eyed.

At press time, Mansdoerfer was seen pre“She has earned every opportunity to not have to interact with a group of politically-ambitious, bor- emptively drafting a tell-all to the Bull & Bear and whisper-shouting “institutional memory” under his derline-sociopathic 20-year-olds.”

Bulger, U2 Arts, said she appreciates Mans- breath.

SSMuna Toblerone Contributor

Freshmen forgotten no more Sanchi Bhalla Contributor As the cold spring air brings Montreal more snow, and students retreat to their beds in the short break between midterms and finals, some students refuse to relax. McGill’s Forgotten Freshmen refuse to be complacent in their own misery.

The group started in order to “[raise] awareness of the pitifully broken McGill Community Facebook group,” resulting from a glitch in Facebook’s system that didn’t allow certain students with McGill emails to join the university’s online community. Now, the Forgotten Freshmen have metamorphisized into a political movement. Tired of being left out of McGillrelated memes and notifications about the nearest samosa sales, the 817 members have decided to march on Service Point on Apr. 5 at 12 p.m. sharp, and stage a sit-in until they’re added to the official community.

When asked why being a part of the McGill Facebook community mattered, Matthew Hearty, U1 Management, brought to light the underlying problem of discrimination.

“I failed a class last semester because the professor was useless and the student study groups were a part of the Facebook community,” Hearty said. “But more than academically, it has affected me socially. I was three days late to the whole “hygiene de vie” joke, and by that time it was already dated.

Whenever I referenced it, I got eye rolls and scoffs, instead of the laughs that early adopters generated. My boyfriend broke up with me because of my outdated humour. With bad grades, no friends, and no significant other, what do I have left? The McGill Facebook community has taken everything away from me.”

A peek into the Forgotten Freshmen offices, located in the basement of the University Centre—they haven’t yet been told that it’s closing down—shows extensive preparation for this march. Signs bearing slogans like “we will not be forgotten” and “I’d rather be a bumblebee” litter every corner, while a list of ways to get into the community—legal and illegal—hangs behind the door. One of these, “talk to Facebook execs,” has been crossed out multiple times, perhaps due to the failure of their last attempted revolt; on Feb. 8, they decided to shout at the Facebook representative at Techfair, as reports indicated that that representative was personally responsible for the glitch due to a rumoured grudge against McGill’s own Suzanne Fortier.

“Yes, I do remember the very vocal students who attended the fair,” the Facebook representative said. “Unfortunately there seems to be an error in the McGill system itself. McGill should perhaps consider looking more deeply into this issue which seems to plague hundreds of McGillians.”

Compared to that previous attempt, this uprising seems different. For one, all 817 members are attending, at least ac-

The Forgotten Freshmen have metamorphisized into a political movement.

(Soft Goth Sutton / The McGill Tribune) cording to the Facebook event, though staff assume that about 400 will actually turn up. Additionally, Second Cup will provide refreshments.

“People often forget about us as well,” said a Second Cup customer service representative. “Starbucks and Timmies take up all the media attention; we know what feeling left out looks like, and so we’re sponsoring this event, in the hopes that marginalized voices will finally be heard.”

SUZE CLUES 4

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Bull & Bear meeting raided by police; Wildlife Act violations suspected Bright Bart Simpson Contributor Montreal police were called to Cybertheque Pod #4 in the Redpath basement Thursday after receiving complaints of intimidating and disruptive behaviour by two student magazine employees. Witnesses reported hearing grunts, dominance challenges, and heated debate over fiscal policy.

Police arrived on the scene to find a meeting of a bull and a bear. They refused to comply with officers’ requests to disperse, citing “the importance of press freedom.”

A tense standoff ensued as police attempted to negotiate. Officers sent in hay and berries—in an attempt to calm the animals’ nerves—to no avail. After repeated bluff charges from the bull and bear, police were forced to call animal control for back-up. Help arrived as bylaw officers brought bear spray and red handkerchiefs.

After a minute of chaos, the animals were restrained. The beasts have been charged with causing a disturbance and violating the Canada Wildlife Act. “Thankfully, the situation was defused without any seri-

U0 science student still trapped in the Adams Auditorium disaster zone.

Katia Innes Contributor

Officers sent in hay and berries in an attempt to calm the animals’ nerves. (rcinet.ca) ous injuries or death,” a Service Expression (CJFE), a press-freede Police de la Ville de Montréal dom advocacy group that special(SPVM) spokesperson said. “But izes in bull publications, echoed we were very lucky. Who knows these sentiments. what could have happened if this “People like to dismiss anibull got all over campus. This mal media as ‘not real journalincident really underscores the ism,’ but that’s simply untrue,” importance of not letting aggresCJFE wrote in a statement to The sive, multi-tonne animals enrol McGill Tribune. “By bridging the in university.” taxonomic gap between them, The wild creatures’ counsel this bull and bear duo has proviews things differently. “This is duced some of the most insightyet another example of the police ful think-pieces on smoking I’ve in this province disrespecting the ever read. They deserve constiturights of journalists,” Marc Fertional protection as much as any dinand, the lawyer representing of us.” the pair, said. “It’s as if they’d Neither the bull nor the never heard of the Chamberland bear provided comment, as neiCommission.” ther can speak. A bail hearing is Canine Journalists for Free scheduled for next week.

‘Maybe’ campaigners firmly resolve to decide SSMU’s fate at some point soon Organizers unsure what SSMU stands for exactly Domenic Casciato News Editor Coinciding with the recent rare appearance of the Super Blue Blood Moon on Jan. 31, SSMU’s fate will be decided on April 1 when students vote on whether they would like to see its home, the University Central building, immolated in a ritual bonfire hosted by the McGill Outdoors Collective (MOC) or spared until Jan 31, 2037, when the next Super Blue Blood Moon is prophesied to appear.

In anticipation of the existence referendum, both “Yes” and “No” campaigns have begun distributing materials, lobbying students at some of the busiest points on campus, performing ceremonies at dusk, and setting up campaign stands at the O-intersection. However, on the morning of March 24, a third group of students discreetly erected their own booth at the O-intersection bearing a banner with only two words: “Vote? Maybe.”

Ian Decisiv, a U4 Economics student who enrolled an extra year to find the perfect major, said he decided to help organize the “Maybe” campaign after months of careful consideration.

“I finally reached that point where I said, ‘have I had enough of SSMU?’,” Decisiv managed to explain despite severe anxiety. “What is the point of SSMU even? Other than its services, especially mental health stuff. I mean, I personally have never used them, but a lot of people I know have said they were really helpful. I don’t know, immolation seems like a lot, but so is paying to subsidize the VicePresident Internal’s asbestos habit.”

Indie Firenze, U2 Psychology and co-organizer of the “Maybe” campaign, explained in an interview with The McGill Tribune that she has never entered University Central and did not participate in Frosh during her freshman year.

“A lot of people in my residence were worried that I missed out on Frosh, but I really didn’t care about it either

way,” Firenze mumbled. “Like, I’ve had beer before, thanks.

Anybody who stays friends with their Frosh team past second year is weird anyways. The campaign? Sorry, I’m not actually sure what ‘SSMU’ is. Isn’t that something you need to call an HVAC technician to fix?”

Ever since it was first erected, the “Maybe” booth has hosted aggressive attempts by members of both the “No” and “Yes” campaigns to persuade its supporters. Members of the “Yes” campaign in particular insist that if they could engage apathetic students in the “Maybe” movement, SSMU could potentially affect campus life in a fractionally less underwhelming way.

“SSMU has made negligible to mild impacts on the lives of almost every student,” Zac Charine, SSMU President and “Yes” campaign chairperson, asserted smarmily, later noting that this is mostly due to Gorts bar, and that the mild impact is typically a short hangover. “We’re so important. How can the ‘Maybe’ campaign ignore our advocacy initiatives? We are the only people who could possibly speak on behalf of the student body, and the administration listens to us at least 10 per cent of the time.”

Rich White, an organizer of the “No” campaign who became infamous for pledging to never have friends outside of Management and Engineering, detailed why he decided to advocate to burn down University Central once and for all.

“Much like members of the ‘Maybe’ campaign, I rarely if ever have actually set foot in the SSMU building,” White said with a blank stare, chuckling. “But I like to see things burn, and I hate you all. I hate all the clubs that have rejected me. I hate the Arts students that wouldn’t be my friends, and I even despise the ‘Maybe’ campaigners for their sense of belonging. I want you to watch as the precious memories, connections, and experiences you created at SSMU are reduced to soot and ash, and vanish from existence for eternity.

I want to see you weep. Also, huge thanks to the MOC for offering to host the ritual bonfire.”

This excerpt belongs to a series of documents recovered from the FDA stairwell. They are speculated to originate from during the Adams Auditorium Ceiling Tile Blitzkrieg.

As I write this, I am currently trapped in the fifth row of seats in the Adams Auditorium. I wish I could leave–I wish I could be free to toil through WebWork in Schulich, or even feel the crunch of snow beneath my feet again–but as the ceiling tiles fall left and right, I find myself paralyzed with fear, unable to run as a precariously bent tile looks greedily towards the ground.

It all began last Monday. It was a day like any other, and as I sat in my usual spot in Adams, I noticed that something seemed off.

Maybe it was the fact that the newly installed projector suspiciously ceased to function. Maybe it was the giant X made of yellow caution tape thrown across the entire fourth row. Or it may have been the mysterious water that seeped through the ceiling tiles. Regardless, no one could have seen what was coming next. As I found myself dozing off through the third clicker question of the lecture, an unmistakable, unforgettable thud was heard throughout the auditorium. I will never forget that sound. An entire ceiling tile had fallen onto the roped off seats and landed violently on the ground, just like Aja did in the premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3.

Since then two more tiles have fallen, the puddles keep growing, and the water is slowly rising. I am now ankle-deep in brown water. I don’t know how much longer I can hang on. There are only so many empty Roddick Roast cups I can use to collect the dripping water. At this point, the question is no longer “Will another tile fall?” but “When will the next fall?” I have fashioned a hat out of one of the many “McGill 24” posters to offer myself meager protection from the falling debris and the dripping water. The ink that once proudly read “Thank You to Our 30,000 Donors for Keeping Our Campus Beautiful” has long washed away, leaving only streaks of red and white on my sorry face. The syllabus says that there’s a General Chemistry 2 lecture scheduled here at 10:05, so I will shoulder this burden for as long as I am able. IF YOU FIND THIS PLEASE SEND HELP.

More tiles have fallen, the puddles keep growing, and the water is slowly rising. (wikimapia.org)

5 NEWS

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

PGSS Elections 2018 Mohammad Amini

Secretary-General

Mohammed Amini is currently pursuing his master’s in Computer Science. After running in the Secretary-General by-election in November 2017, he made an effort to forge relationships with current External Affairs Officer Hocine Slimani and current Secretary-General Maria Tippler. He has also attended PGSS general meetings in order to learn more about the duties and responsibilities of the Secretary-General. Outside of McGill, he has travelled the world extensively and worked as a manager in an Iranian embassy, where he helped find common ground between businesspeople from different cultures speaking several different languages. Amini cites this experience as fundamental in building his communication and leadership skills, and feels that his abilities making him qualified for the position of Secretary-General.

To Amini, the major responsibilities of the Secretary-General’s portfolio are promoting outreach to the PGSS membership and ensuring that the executive team works together effectively.

As such, engaging the PGSS membership is one of his top priorities. He stresses the importance of reaching out to postgraduates and making them aware of all of the services, events, and other community opportunities that PGSS has to offer them. An actionable plan in Amini’s platform is bringing various post-graduate student associations (PGSAs) together to host shared events fostering collaboration and innovation at McGill. Through a mobile application, he also intends to improve communication between the society and its members, make postgraduate services more accessible, and streamline the process of reserving spaces in buildings across campus.

Helena Zakrezewski

Helena Zakrzewski, currently a graduate student in Experimental Surgery, is running for the position of PGSS Secretary-General. She is a recent graduate of the Doctor of Medicine program at the University of Calgary, which she completed while on hiatus from her graduate degree at McGill, and will be returning to McGill to complete her PhD in Fall 2018. She served as PGSS’s Health Commissioner from 2012 to 2013 in addition to having further experience in activism and student governance; Zakrzewski advocated for students on the Equity and Diversity Accreditation Sub-Committee for the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary, and was a student member for the National Working Group on Medical Student Mistreatment.

Zakrzewski’s primary goal as Secretary-General is to re-engage PGSS members. She believes that the PGSS’ communication methods have not undergone significant enough change in recent years and that this stagnation has resulted in apathy among the society’s members. She sees the PGSS app, instead of Facebook events, as the most effective way to make the society feel relevant to the daily lives of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Additionally, Zakrzewski aims to promote fairer opportunities for international students, who pay more than their Canadian counterparts for tuition and health insurance while suffering from a lack of funding for their projects. Her preliminary plan to alleviate the financial strain of health insurance is to secure savings for students, although she commends PGSS’ health plan for covering essential medications.

Endorsement: no to both

The McGill Tribune does not endorse either candidate running for Secretary-General.

Though Zakrzewski has prior experience working in PGSS, it has been five years since she has held any PGSS office. This is problematic, as she has not demonstrated a sufficient level of knowledge of PGSS or of the office of Secretary-General. Despite her extensive studies and work within a university context, her skills and experience are not directly transferable to the role of Secretary-General.

Furthermore, though she has described some proposals for the office, she has not outlined plans for their implementation. Additionally, in a role like Secretary-General, being able to maintain and guide the executive team is essential and it is unclear if she possesses the necessary leadership experience to fulfill that role.

While Amini has made efforts to build his platform since his last campaign, his goals also

external affairs officer

hocine slimani

academic affairs officer

maria tippler

lack concrete implementation plans. That, in some instances, he has considered minor goals more thoroughly than major objectives indicates that his platform is not fully aligned with the needs of the PGSS membership.

Much of Amini’s experience and many of his skills are not transferable to the office of Secretary-General. He has no formal experience with the PGSS and, though he has worked to learn about the society, he has not demonstrated sufficient knowledge to qualify him to hold office.

The McGill Tribune hopes that, in the period between elections and the beginning of the 2018-19 academic year, candidates arise who can the position with optimal PGSS knowledge, goals, and concrete ideas and can present a viable candidacy for Secretary-General in the PGSS by-election.

Hocine Slimani, a PhD student at McGill, is the current External Affairs Officer (EAO) and wishes to serve a second term next year. There are no other candidates for this position. Slimani completed his bachelor’s degree at Université de Montréal, where he was involved in planning events for various student associations and attended graduate school in Europe.

Slimani’s 2017 campaign focused on making the provincial government aware of the benefits of considering postdoctoral students as employees. In pursuit of this, he faced opposition from the Association of McGill University Research Employees (AMURE). However, he still sees it as a priority given that, in some cases, their status remains unclear. He hopes to collaborate with the Quebec Student Union (QSU) in lobbying the provincial government to revoke postdocs’ employee status. Slimani favours pursuing affiliation to QSU over the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ), and intends to hold a referendum on affiliation with QSU in the Fall. In the meantime, however, he hopes that another student association that is currently a member of QSU would put forward this mandate on PGSS’s behalf.

Slimani is committed to increasing engagement with PGSS membership by providing important resources and contacts to students. Specifically, he hopes to connect innovation initiatives at PGSS with projects stemming from the broader Montreal community.

Endorsement: YES with reservations Slimani’s experience as EAO makes him a qualified candidate for a second term. Last year, the Tribune chose not to endorse Slimani out of concern that his goals were not feasible and were beyond the scope of his position. However, it is clear that Slimani has gained a stronger understanding of his role and has adjusted his objectives accordingly. Therefore, the Tribune endorses a “yes” vote for Hocine Slimani this term.

Slimani’s clear passion for helping PGSS members and advocating for graduate student issues both within PGSS and beyond is admirable. His desire to extend his term also demonstrates his comfort in the position and willingness to enact further change.

Slimani has faced overwhelming challenges on a number of key items on his agenda, including disposing of the employee status of postdocs and lobbying for PGSS affiliation with QSU. He failed to articulate a concrete platform this year or articulate a fresh, inspired set of ideas for the EAO portfolio. Though he is committed to his role, the Tribune would like to see Slimani develop new, innovative goals and continue to bring focus, energy, and ambition to his role.

Maria Tippler, PhD student in neurology, is the current Secretary-General of the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS), serving since the by-election in November. In addition to being active in student-run associations since 2014, she has also been very involved in PGSS for many years. From June to November 2017, Tippler served as the student Support Commissioner for PGSS, and in her role provided students with information regarding rights and responsibilities and oversaw both the Committee for Member Support and Member Legal Support Fund. Her platform includes raising awareness of mental health issues, increasing transparency in PGSS, and improving student spaces.

Firstly, Tippler hopes to collaborate with McGill’s Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies office to create an event for professors called “How to Supervise Your Students” (for professors). Tippler would like to create conferences to discuss topics such as academia and stress culture, work-life balance, and student resources within PGSS and McGill.

To increase transparency in the society, Tippler plans to upload meeting minutes onto the Academic Affairs Officers and PGSS websites for students to access. She also aims to make information about student funding opportunities readily available to students through PGSS channels. Additionally, she intends to work with the External Affairs Officer to discover academic-related initiatives with external organizations.

Lastly, she would like to create a set of guidelines for each PGSS position and better organize the society’s website to facilitate the committee application procedure, making it more accessible to students.

Endorsement: YES With her experience in student-run associations such as Brain Reach North and the Graduate Student Association for Neuroscience since 2014, Tippler has an abundance of institutional and managerial experience at McGill, which will help her adapt to the role of Academic Affairs Officer (AAO). Throughout her interview with the Tribune, Tippler demonstrated in-depth knowledge of the AAO portfolio.

Also noble is Tippler’s commitment to preserving institutional memory. One of her projects includes reviewing PGSS documents going back to 1998 to compile a 30-page document on the history of PGSS and verifying whether initiatives have been executed according to the society’s rules and procedures. Tippler has demonstrated outstanding organization skills and genuine care for her work.

Although she recognizes that the position of AAO will present her with a new set of challenges, Tippler feels that by taking on a more focused portfolio, then Secretary-General will be able to devote more time to her work and accomplish all of her projects.

6 NEWS

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Compost pilot project to launch in La Citadelle residence Compost bins will be color coded and have interactive screens Daniela Garabitosilva Contributor As part of the McGill Vision 2020 plan to introduce environmentally-sustainable operations on campus, McGill’s Facilities Management and Ancillary Services department is implementing the Zero Waste Project, which will introduce compost bins across campus.

Composting is the natural biological process in which various microorganisms decompose organic waste—such as food scraps, paper, and grass clippings—and convert it into an organic soil fertilizer, which is better for the environment than using chemical fertilizers in agriculture.

It is also a sustainable way to dispose of garbage as, according to Environment Canada, organic waste accounts for 40 per cent of residential waste. Currently, the Zero Waste Project is centred around five campus buildings: La Citadelle, Brown, Trottier, McConnell Arena, and the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) building.

The first compost bins will be placed at La Citadelle residence in April. After examining whether waste is being put in the correct bins and obtaining feedback from students, cleaning staff, and building managers, the Zero Waste Project team aims to expand the project’s reach to the remaining four buildings before the Winter 2019 semester.

“The pilot is going to start probably by next month and once we get the feedback from the pilot project we will make changes to the bins and the ways we are

implementing this project,” Zero Waste Project student volunteer Aditya Jain said.

One of the primary aims of the project is to mitigate compost contamination by educating students on what they can and cannot compost.

“Previously, we had a few compost bins and the biggest complaint we received from the service provider was that the compost was highly contaminated and that they had to literally throw it out,” Jain said.

The McGill Office of Sustainability has already created a video to educate students on composting. Additionally, the Zero Waste Project team plans to place rotational screens on waste bins that indicate the types of waste that should be deposited in each bin. Finally, to facilitate proper waste sorting, Facilities Management and Ancillary Services will implement a standardized colour scheme to differentiate waste bins on campus.

“We want to put up good, clear signage and make sure it is unified across campus,” Zero Waste Project student volunteer Antonia Butler said. “People are confused because they see different colours, so it has to be very unified.”

One of the challenges Jain and Butler faced in implementing the project was a lack of data on McGill’s waste diversion rate and previous attempts at composting.

In light of this, one of the core strategies of the Zero Waste Project is to record the amount of compostable, landfill, and recyclable waste each building produces.

“There was no data available on campus about what the waste rate was and what the diversion rates were,” Butler

The Zero Waste Peoject has recorded the volume and type of waste produced by each building on campus.

(Zoe Yalden / The McGill Tribune) said. “We just got a few volunteers and we said ‘go to trash bins for two weeks and count the items.’ That was our waste audit. The data showed there was a lot of non-trash waste going into garbage bins. So, obviously, there was a need for composting.”

Additionally, the Project hopes to put its compost infrastructure to use by distributing compostable utensils and food containers at all food locations on campus.

For the time being, La Citadelle

residents are excited to pioneer this project and hope that it will be expanded to other residences in the near future.

“I think it’s a really great initiative,” Cristina Lau, U0 Management, said. “I remember when me and my roommate first moved in we were really disappointed that the closest compost station was at RVC cafeteria. I’m really excited to see how residence transforms into a more environmentally conscious environment in the next few years.”

Tribune Explains: CAMSR CAMSR’s role in socially responsible investment under scrutiny Laura Oprescu Staff Writer What is CAMSR? The Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR) is an ad hoc committee whose mandate is to advise the Board of Governors (BoG) on socially responsible investing. Final decisions on the University’s academic, business, and financial affairs rest with the BoG. For an investment to be considered sociallyresponsible, it must have both a positive social impact and produce positive returns on investment. For example, it would only be considered socially responsible for McGill to invest in a firm that produces solar energy if the firm’s stock were appreciating in value.

CAMSR is currently composed of 10 members: five from faculty and staff, one student representative, the chair of the BoG, the Principal, and one senior steward.

CAMSR’s members are appointed by the BoG, usually on the recommendation of the Nominating, Governance and Ethics Committee.

Proposed changes to the terms of reference CAMSR’s terms of reference, which define the committee’s scope, are currently under review. CAMSR has met twice to discuss the proposed changes and held a

community consultation session at which students and faculty were encouraged to ask questions and provide feedback. The changes would prevent CAMSR from endorsing investment in social or political causes. This would also prevent CAMSR from advising the board to withdraw their investments for social or political purposes, such as divesting from the fossil fuel industry in support of sustainability.

Student and faculty groups including Divest McGill, Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights’ (SPHR) McGill chapter, and the McGill Association of University Teachers’ (MAUT) Council have vocally opposed the proposed changes as they severely limit CAMSR’s scope of influence over McGill’s investments. On Nov. 8, 2017 MAUT voted unanimously to divest from fossil fuels. Citing McGill’s decision to divest from South African companies to protest apartheid in 1985, and from tobacco companies in 2007, MAUT argues that McGill divestment has been successful in the past. Divest McGill has conducted numerous sit-ins and protests against the university’s continued investment in the fossil fuel industry. If the proposed changes are approved, CAMSR would no longer be mandated to address these concerns.

Divest McGill interrupted the BoG’s Dec. 12 meeting to protest the proposed changes, forcing the BoG to adjourn early.

The proposed changes to CAMSR’s terms of reference could impeed their ability to advocate for sustainable investments.

(May Lim / The McGill Tribune) Following the interruption, Divest McGill outlined their concerns about the proposed changes in a letter to CAMSR. Divest McGill has also criticized the BoG for failing to conduct sufficient research about the implications of preventing CAMSR from advising on socially responsible investment. The BoG consulted six experts prior to submitting the proposed changes, but these were experts primarily in green chemistry and sustainability, not in socially responsible

investing. Additionally, the BoG failed to publicize the names and testimonies of the experts until Divest conducted a week-long sit-in outside Principal Suzanne Fortier’s office. Only five of the six testimonies were subsequently released. CAMSR and the BoG have previously been criticized for their lack of transparency, particularly concerning CAMSR’s terms of reference.

CAMSR last met on March 21 to discuss the proposed changes to the terms of reference in a closed meeting.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

7 NEWS Editor-in-Chief Nicholas Jasinski editor@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Noah Sutton nsutton@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Audrey Carleton acarleton@mcgilltribune.com Emma Avery eavery@mcgilltribune.com Selin Altuntur saltuntur@mcgilltribune.com News Editors Holly Cabrera, Domenic Casciato, & Calvin Trottier-Chi news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editors Jackie Houston & Alexandra Harvey opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editor Jade Prevost-Manuel scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Living Editor Catherine Morrison studentliving@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Marie Labrosse features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Dylan Adamson & Ariella Garmaise arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Stephen Gill & Selwynne Hawkins sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Arshaaq Jiffry & Elli Slavitch design@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editor Ava Zwolinski photo@mcgilltribune.com Multimedia Editor Tristan Surman multimedia@mcgilltribune.com Web Developers Daniel Lutes webdev@mcgilltribune.com Julia Kafato online@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Ayanna De Graff copy@mcgilltribune.com Business Manager Daniel Minuk business@mcgilltribune.com Advertising Executives Grayson Castell & Katherine Hutter ads@mcgilltribune.com Publisher Chad Ronalds

TPS Board of Directors

Nicholas Jasinski, Daniel Minuk, Katherine Hutter, Anthony Kuan, Elli Slavitch, Holly Cabrera, Jeeventh Kaur, Katherine Milazzo, Becca Hoff

Staff Writers

Kendall McGowan, Cherry Wu, Laura Oprescu, Andras Nemeth, Grace Gunning, Gabriel Rincon, Avleen Mokha, Virginia Shram, Sophie Brzozowski, Sam Min, Oceane Marescal, Emma Gillies, Miguel Principe, Janine Xu, Jordan Foy, Miya Keilin, Gabe Nisker, Winnie Lin, Cordelia Cho, Erica Stefano, Gabriel Helfant, Margaux Delalex, Ceci Steyn, Bilal Virji

Contributors

Amina Magnin, Arindam Das, Cordellia Cho, Daniela Garabito, Daria Kiseleva, Gwenyth Wren, Helen Wu, Johanna Cline, Karl Neumann, Katia Innes, Kellyane Levac, Kevin Reynolds, Kyle Dewsnap, Luke Sarabia, Mary Keith, Mathilde Hourticq, Nina Russell, Owen Gibbs, Sabrina Girard-Lamas, Erica Stefano, Sanchi Bhalla, Sunny Kim, Taylor Burnett, Winnie Lin, Zoe Doran, Zoe Yalden

Tribune Office

Shatner University Centre Suite 110, 3480 McTavish Montreal, QC H3A 0E7 T: 514.398.6789 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.

SSMU adopts revoked EU working definition of anti-Semitism

Councillors raise concerns about wording of the definition Nina Russell Contributor

The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) has been plagued by allegations of anti-Semitism since its General Assembly (GA) in Fall 2017, where students failed to ratify a Jewish student to the Board of Directors (BoD) allegedly based in part on his pro-Israel affiliations. In response to these accusations, SSMU Legislative Council approved a motion at its March 15 meeting to implement a series of recommendations designed to make the GA a more inclusive space for Jewish students.

Among these recommendations was the adoption of a new definition of the term ‘anti-Semitism’ to address instances of prejudice against Jewish students within SSMU institutions. Other suggestions included education for McGill students and mandatory training for SSMU executives on anti-Semitism.

The recommendations came from the SSMU AntiSemitism Committee, a BoD committee commissioned to address instances of anti-Semitism and propose preventative mechanisms within the McGill

community. The committee includes representatives from the Jewish Studies Students’ Association, Chabad at McGill, Israel on Campus, Am McGill, Hillel McGill, Independent Jewish Voices, a SSMU Director, and a SSMU Councillor.

Of their recommendations, one of the most contentious was the adoption of a definition of anti-Semitism in accordance with the European Union (EU) Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) definition.

“Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews,” the FRA definition reads. “Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antiSemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

In addition, such manifestations could also target the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.”

Though the definition was widely accepted and reaffirmed by both the Ottawa Protocol and the London Declaration on Combating Antisemitism, neither the FRA nor the EU ever officially adopted it. In 2013 the FRA website dropped the working paper which in-

cluded the “working definition of anti-Semitism” following controversy regarding a clause which some claimed silenced criticism of Israel. SSMU’s definition includes this clause.

“Examples of the ways in which anti-Semitism manifests itself with regard to the State of

“

SSMU Council approved a motion to implement a series of recommendations designed to make the GA a more inclusive space for Jewish students.

”

Israel taking into account the overall context could include [...denying] Jewish people their right to self-determination, defined by the UN Charter as ‘the right to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development,” the

clause reads.

This clause drew the most controversy at Council on March 15. Though Palestinians’ right to self-determination was addressed in a footnote on the motion, those who support groups that advocate for human rights in Palestine—such as Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) and Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR)—raised concerns that this footnote was not included as a clause.

“I think there’s a lot of issues as to whether [criticism of the State of Israel and antiSemitism] can be separated,” Social Work Students’ Association representative Matthew Savage said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “I would have prefered to see the full UN definition instead of half of it in the clause and the rest in the footnote just because without that [...] we can’t have an actual conversation about what it means to peacefully protest government abuses of people in their land.”

Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) McGill asserted the ways in which discussion surrounding Israel-Palestine is integral to ensuring that no voices are left out.

“IJV McGill wholeheartedly opposes these assertions,”

IJV wrote in a statement published to their Facebook page.

“Most of the Jews, Palestinians and others who support BDS and/or identify as anti or non-Zionist, act not out of antiSemitism, but out of an urge to seek justice for the oppressed.

Calling these political positions anti-Semitic limits the scope of Jewish identity, as well as the discourse surrounding IsraelPalestine, marginalizing Jews and non-Jews alike who support peace in the region.”

The Anti-Semitism Committee emphasized that the definition was created to reflect the diversity of voices within the Jewish community.

“In regards to those involved in BDS activism, it is important to note that a Jewish pro-BDS activist sat on the committee,” the AntiSemitism Committee wrote in a statement to the Tribune.

“We believe it is imperative that the diverse cross-section of Jewish students represented on this committee are allowed to mobilize their lived experiences to define anti-Semitism.

The product of this committee does not define BDS activism as anti-Semitic. Rather, the definition provides ways in which activism regarding Israel can veer into anti-Semitism, and cautions against it.”

PGSS Council debates motion to amend commissioner roles Proposed changes scrapped after controversial debate Helen Wu Contributor The Post-Graduate Students’ Society of McGill University (PGSS) Council held a meeting on March 21 during which they announced an accessibility audit of Thomson House and discussed a motion to amend the responsibilities of PGSS commissioners.

Accessibility Audit of Thomson House

PGSS Financial Affairs Officer Matthew Satterthwaite announced that a review of the Society’s accessibility is currently underway at Thomson House. Occupational Therapy students at McGill have partnered with the organization Accessible Montreal to conduct the audit, which will take place between March 12 and May 11.

“What we want to do at Thomson House is not only address the physical barriers but also expand our notion of what accessibility is in terms of services that are being provided, usability of spaces, and disabilities like visual impairment,” Satterthwaite said.

Motion to Amend the PGSS Society Activities Manual to Amend Commissioner Roles and Duties

The main discussion of the meeting concerned a motion to amend the roles and duties of PGSS commissioners—PGSS officials that pursue a variety of advocacy portfolios independently of PGSS

executives. Broadly, the motion delineates whom commissioners report to, what their responsibilities are, and how much they are paid. The most divisive clauses addressed mandating PGSS executives to supervise commissioners and creating a stipend amounting to six hours of work per week at a rate of 15 dollars per hour for commissioners.

The PGSS executives explained that these changes are necessary to accommodate the commissioners’ expanding portfolios and to provide them with sufficient support to achieve their goals.

“When you bring in a new commissioner, you are bringing in the brightest and most motivated people in the bunch who want to take on these initiatives, [...but] over time all these initiatives pile up and snowball,” Satterthwaite said. “So, the spirit behind this motion and these amendments is really to better define the role and the scope of the commissioner portfolio within the PGSS, align commissioners with specific executive portfolios, and allow commissioners better access to PGSS resources.”

Equity Commissioner Tim Hadjis and Health Commissioner Freddy Lee were present at the meeting. They spoke in support of the motion and described its potential benefits.

“It’s about better streamlining information and resources so that we can accomplish our initiatives better at PGSS,” Hadjis said. “It’s not about taking away power, that’s not what they’re doing, it’s just facilitating the process of accomplishing initiatives at PGSS.”

According to PGSS External Affairs Officer Hocine Slimani, this motion was endorsed by both the PGSS Executive Committee and the commissioners as the best way to rectify the structural inefficiencies that led a number of commissioners to resign in 2017.

“What’s proposed here is what we think, as [commissioners and executives], is the best solution according to our current reality,” Slimani said. ”We think it is better than the current model because, in the last year, three commissioners left.”

Nonetheless, many graduate students present at the meeting did not support the motion, emphasizing that it could restrict commissioners. Among its detractors was Amir Nosrat, a graduate student with Desautels Doctoral Students.

“Commissioners are the first line of defence against the executives making mistakes and in actually holding the executive accountable to the policies and values that our membership has,” Nosrat said. “Executives are essentially hijacking the commissioners [....] This is to me is a motion that is all about concentrating power, it’s about concentrating authority, and it’s about reducing accountability.”

The motion failed to pass in council. However, the clause establishing a six hour work week for commissioners will be moving forward to the Governance Committee for approval.

“Unfortunately council did not approve of these changes [other than the six hour week], although they were endorsed and seen as very positive changes

by Executives and Commissioners,” Satterthwaite wrote in a message to The McGill Tribune.

NEWS

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

BSN spearheading development of McGill Africana Studies Program Program to highlight contributions of diasporic African communities

The creation of an Africana Studies program at McGill was first proposed by the Black Students’ Network in 1991. (havana-moon.com)

Helen Wu Contributor The Black Student’s Network of McGill (BSN) is currently spearheading an initiative to develop an Africana Studies program in the Faculty of Arts. The program would offer an interdisciplinary study of the histories, politics, cultures, and contributions people with African heritage and in the African diaspora have made to communities throughout the world. Although McGill currently offers major, minor, and honours programs on both African Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies, OmmuKulsoon J. Abdul-Rahman, vice-president (VP) Finance of the BSN, believes that an Africana Studies program would provide a novel intercontinental perspective by adopting a great focus on diasporic African communities.

“One can pursue African Studies and one can pursue Latin American and Caribbean Studies.” Abdul-Rahman said. “Whereas, if we were to have an Africana Studies program it would encompass all peoples of African descent thus unifying these two programs into one and including the African diaspora from other regions of the world as well.”

McGill’s African Studies program, developed in 1969, was the first of its kind in North America. However, Abdul-Rahman finds that the university’s current approach to African studies is very limited.

“We promote the notion that we should not speak of Africa as a country and we should move past the single narratives, however we then have courses that are titled Foreign Policy Africa [POLI 352], as if 54 countries share the same foreign policy,” Abdul-Rahman said. “As someone who is of Ghanaian descent it is not only quite difficult to sit through courses that fail to acknowledge our varying experiences and histories, but it is frustrating because ultimately it is the students that suffer.”

As one of the Arts Senators elected

for the 2018-2019 academic year, AbdulRahman hopes to be a key player in pushing for the development of Africana Studies at McGill. A large part of her platform involved bringing forward course proposals to the Senate Academic Policy committee (APC). “[I’ll prioritize] gathering data in terms of student interests as well as working with the professors that specialize in this field to curate course proposals and then present them before the Senate APC Subcommittee on Courses and Teaching Programs,” AbdulRahman said.

BSN first proposed the idea of developing an Africana Studies program at McGill to the History Department in 1991. After the proposal was rejected in 1993, the Africana Studies Committee organized in 1994 with the goal of promoting understanding of the role played by Africans and peoples of African descent in shaping modern history.

“Our goal is to move forward with the goals set forth by this committee over 25 years ago,” Christelle Tessono, VP political of the BSN, said.

According to Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) VP Academic Madeline Wilson, the AUS Executive is not currently involved in the development of an Africana Studies program. However, she believes that such a program will be viable and, in general, encourages departmental student associations to advocate for the revision or expansion of academic curricula.

“I think that an expansion of the African Studies program has the potential to greatly impact both the social and academic discourse at McGill surrounding non-Western places and ideas,” Wilson said. “Although I recognize that I myself am not very educated on much non-Western material, I believe that the current narrative around such places as purely developing trivializes their importance and opens the door to exoticization.

I believe that an expansion of the African Studies program would be able to contribute to the necessary exposure to amend this discourse.”

8

Support for SSMU VP External-Elect Marina Cupido remains divisive Candidacy was opposed by prominent Vote No campaign Cherry Wu Staff Writer In the 2018-2019 Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executive election, Vice-President (VP) External-Elect Marina Cupido received 1,645 “No” votes—a substantially higher number than the candidates for other positions received. Her candidacy was opposed by the group McGill Students for an Inclusive SSMU, which condemned Cupido for expressing solidarity with former arts representative Igor Sadikov and allegedly disregarding President Muna Tojiboeva’s mistreatment at SSMU. Last February, while in office, Sadikov sparked outrage with his controversial tweet “punch a zionist today.” He was further criticized when he claimed at a Legislative Council meeting that Jewish people do not constitute a homogeneous ethnic group. While many accused Sadikov of escalating anti-Semitic sentiments, Cupido publicly defended him. In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Cupido elaborated on her reasons for supporting Sadikov.

“I understand Zionism as a settler colonialism,” Cupido said. “It was my understanding that [Sadikov] was expressing opposition to Zionism as a political movement, and the violence that it enacts [....] Based on my discussions with Jewish people, I believed that his statement about homogeneity was true.”

Though Cupido acknowledged the lack of nuance in Sadikov’s statements, her stance was met with backlash during her campaign. As a Jewish person, David Naftulin, U1 Arts, found Cupido’s view on Zionism and Judaism particularly troubling.

“Judaism and Zionism are not the same thing necessarily, but they are [...] very important to most people of Jewish identity,” Nafutlin said. “It is not about the Zionism. It is about the veiled targeting of Jewish students.”

Regarding the claim that Jews do not make up a single peoplehood, Naftulin criticized Cupido for not understanding Jewish identity.

“Judaism is inherently not evangelist,” Naftulin said. “Jews do not make an attempt to convert others [....] There are individuals who are not members of the Jewish ethnic group. However, [...] Jewish people are a peoplehood which results from a single ethnic group.”

However, Hani Abramson, U2 Arts and Jewish member of Cupido’s campaign team, argued in favour of Cupido’s understanding of Judaism.

“There are Jews by choice who are just as Jewish as people who were born Jewish,” Abramson said. “I think that referring to the Jewish people as a homogeneous ethnic group [...] lends itself to associations with racial hygiene and eugenic theory that has been mobilized against Jews by anti-Semites.”

Inclusive SSMU also claimed that Cupido was dismissive of gendered violence that Tojiboeva experienced during her tenure. This accusation largely stems from an article published in the Bull and Bear on Oct. 20 in which Tojiboeva wrote about opposition within the SSMU executive, of which six of the seven original members were women. In a statement to The McGill Tribune, Inclusive SSMU warned the public to be informed. “[Cupido’s] lies don’t change the fact that she continues to deny the lived experiences of Muna Tojiboeva,” Inclusive SSMU, whose members chose to remain anonymous, wrote. “[Cupido] has directly attacked survivors of gendered violence and encouraged violence against students.”

However, throughout her tenure, Tojiboeva never highlighted gendered violence, with no mention of it in her article, in her response to declarations of no confidence, in the suspension of VP Finance Arisha Khan, or in the divisive debates of the Fall 2017 General Assembly. Her critics did not mention gendered violence either. In her response to Inclusive SSMU’s allegations, Cupido emphasized that Tojiboeva never used the term “gendered violence” to describe her experiences within SSMU. “What the No campaign is doing is imposing the language of gendered violence on one woman to slander another woman who is a survivor of gendered violence,” Cupido said. “It is so hard to even articulate how harmful and disingenuous the campaign is.”

Despite the close election results, Cupido affirmed that she has received a democratic mandate from SSMU members to properly represent all interests on campus. Further, some “No” voters indicated their willingness to collaborate with Cupido.

“Truthfully, my ‘No’ is not necessarily to defeat her, but to make her understand that her rhetoric has harmed students,” Naftulin said. “[Now] she has an opportunity to internalize those concerns [...and] to be a constructive, understanding voice for all students.”

SSMU VP External-Elect Marina Cupido defended her perspective on Jewish ethnicity and denied that there were legitimate allegations of gendered violence against her. (Tristan Surman / The McGill Tribune)

Tuesday, March 27 , 2018

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 9

You think you’re better than me, kid?

You’ve gotta be kidding me with this shmuck Gino Adamson Guest Columnist The McGill Tribune is excited to introduce guest columnist Gino Adamson, A&E Editor Dylan’s recently-retired uncle.

His interests include going to the movies, being naked longer than comfortable in gym locker rooms, large khaki pants, hanging out at the barber shop, and hitting on young waitresses. Following a particularly inflammatory family dinner appearance, Gino signed up for an a Twitter account.

Though his Logan Paul op-ed was too explicit to publish, he’s here today to give us two cents on Call Me By Your Name superstar Timothée Chalamet.

So I heard about this kid the other day.

Real big-shot, “it boy”-type kid. Name’s “Timothée Chalamet.” For real, that’s his name. With the accent ‘eh-goo’ and everything. Sounds more like a bottle of vino than a man. Like some perfume my wife would wear or something. So anyways, I was on the Twitters, just scrolling the tweets, and I come across this flippy

haired, dreamboaty little twerp. And all the girlies just love him. He’s Timberlake, he’s Patterson—or whatshisname—that vampire creep, he’s Eddy Norton, the girlies just can’t get enough of him. They tweet out their little heart eyes and the hashtag “baes,” it’s enough to make you hurl. So I get on the Google, I’m looking him up—turns out the kid’s in everything these days. I watch some interviews. Kid’s on Kimmel, he’s on Ellen, talking about some chick flicky Kiss Me By His Name or Tweety Bird. I wanna know— which one’s he playing, the tweety or the bird? And I haven’t said nothing about the gays, mind you. But the kid’s a pipsqueak, I’m not even kidding around. “Lil Timmy,” I call him. “Timmy Two-Pounds.” He’s wearing these all-white suits at these fancy award shows, give me a break. My five-yearold niece could whoop this kid’s ass. I tell you, if any daughter of mine ever brought this punk home for dinner, I’d have him out the door before you can say Al Pacino. So anyways, I’m watching Toys ‘R Us Timmy on the Ellen DeGeneres TV show—I love her, by the way, very funny woman, which is something you don’t often see—and Timmy’s got the wavy hair coming down over his eyes, he’s wearing his little skinny

pants, acting like a regular mooch. He’s all nervous and fidgety, but he has this way of speaking that makes you feel less nervous when you’re watching him talk. He’s joking around with his big buddy there, that Winkelvoss weirdo, they’re telling their funny stories from the movies. You can practically feel everyone in the room falling in love with the kid. There’s this one part—Ellen, God love her, plays this

embarrassing clip of Tiny Timmy when he was a kid—and you see Timmy on the show rubbing his face in his hands and acting all shy, his hair’s falling all over his face, and I could just die. I mean. I could just. I could.

He’s so beauti—. I could die because he’s such a pipsqueak. What am I saying? You think you’re better than me, kid? You think you’re some kind of Hollywood bigshot?

Come around to my neighbourhood.

Look at this smug little prick with his curly locks and his melt-your-heart smile. (medium.com)

From the Viewpoint: Mosaica taught me how to love dance Student-run dance company came together for a bombastic performance Kevin Reynolds Contributor I’m going to be honest—I know next to nothing about dance. It was therefore with some measure of anxiety that I attended the Mosaica Dance Company’s annual spring showcase. Of course the show would be good, of that I had very little doubt. The problem was instead how to write about something of which I know so little, how to do justice to something which I might appreciate without necessarily understanding.

To give a little background: The Mosaica Dance Company held its annual spring showcase from March 23-24. The event, evocatively titled and themed “ROUGE,” was the 34th such production in the company’s history. Mosaica is a student run dance company founded in 1984 at McGill. With a special focus on equity and inclusivity, each movement of the night was choreographed by the company’s coordinators and dancers.

All of this was in an attempt to celebrate what makes the company special among similar collectives, namely the diversity of its members and the styles of dance it incorporates.

The night’s first segment was “Fell From Your Heart.” Set to the song “Cosmic Love” by Florence and the Machine and performed by the whole company, it marked

a triumphant opening to the event.

As the song progressed, my initial anxieties as an audience member who knows very little about dance were quickly replaced with envy. I am someone whose dance repertoire basically consists of the first three moves from “The Evolution of Dance” and a pseudoironic dab thrown in for good measure. It seemed inconceivable that, not only could one person dance like this, but a whole company. As the song gained momentum, so too did the dance itself, with increasingly acrobatic maneuvers and bombastic running, jumping, and tumbling. After what felt like a miniature version of an Olympic Opening Ceremony, the lights dimmed and the cast was introduced in a video presentation.

The next movement was a fiery segment called “Tenacity,” a name well earned. There was a close focus paid to colour throughout the show, with background lighting and the dancers’ outfits changing to mirror the mood and tempo of the songs. Tenacity was all red— with fast, explosive movements.

Set to “Riot Rhythm” by Sleigh Bells, the music heightened this explosive and dynamic effect.

A personal highlight of the night was the Kill-Bill-esque “Cell Block Tango” from the musical Chicago—another performance highlighted by its red lighting and outfits. The choreography incorporated exaggerated scenes

Mosaica shared more with Cirque du Soleil than the National Ballet.

(Arindam Das / The McGill Tribune) of comic and bloody retribution by outlaw women against their dastardly spouses. The number was executed perfectly. In most movies, the line between fighting and dance is blurred to create more dramatic and visually exciting, choreographed scenes.

Here, Mosaica used the same effect in the opposite capacity. Rather than making a fight seem more dance-like, “Cell Block Tango” instead injected its dancing and choreography with a healthy dose of kung-fu movie violence. It was a thrilling performance, with dancers springboarding over each other, using the bodies of their fellow performers as platforms from which sequences of pantomimed fighting and revenge were launched. Throughout the show, audience members directed a near constant stream of applause at individual dancers or the sequence as a whole.

It hit me about halfway through the show that most of the audience probably knew as little about dance as I did. Despite our uninitiated perspective, the dynamism and energy of the show translated to all of us, with the audience’s warm response serving as an affirmation of the program’s commitment to entertain and impress.

Using and abusing Uncovering the cocaine culture at McGill Catherine Morrison / Student Living Editor

In no place is the “work hard, play hard” attitude more present than at McGill. As one of Canada’s most prestigious universities, known for its competitive acceptance rate and dilige body, one might not expect the school to have a considerable number of drug users. in a city where hard drug use is prevalent, McGill’s cocaine culture, although wellrampant.

“I guess I always knew there was a culture [of cocaine use] at McGill,” Tyler*, student, said. “I mean you hear the upper residence [McConnell, Molson, Gardner] st and it comes with the territory of being a competitive intellectual environment. What was how casual it all was, how comfortable and normal the experience is.”

In an online survey on cocaine use by the university’s students conducted by T Tribune, 38 per cent of the 329 respondents said that they had used cocaine during th McGill.

For many, the culture of cocaine use at McGill became apparent to them early o time at the university. For Colin Graham, U1 Arts, the introduction to groups of coc came as a shock during his first few months in McGill’s residences.

“There was a girl I met last year in residence [...] who told me that she [...] do regularly,” Graham said. “This initially shocked me, [...] I hadn’t heard of anyone doin regularly before. However, after being here for a year, the drug has [become] very nor me as I now know of a number of people who use it.”

While some students encounter the drug through connections in residence, othe aware of its widespread use in more public settings, like during their first nights out w in Montreal.

“I guess I knew there would be some kind of drug presence like in any university setting,” Hannah*, a U3 Arts student, sa ever, I was a bit caught off guard when I was first expose frat party during the first days of Frosh. I was in this g with one of my friends and he offered us some. I pressured to try it seeing as I just assumed it was everyone did here.”

As students become accustomed to usin and spend more time with a group of friends consume cocaine themselves, uncontrolled becomes much more routine.

“Ever since I moved into my apartm both of my roommates do cocaine, [I do cantly more often,” Hannah said. “I lite just about every weekend now. The am my friends do makes me feel like I’m that much, when I really am. Last got about $70 worth of it and I did half of it all [by] myse

ent student . However, -hidden, is

a U2 Arts tereotypes, t struck me

The McGill heir time at

on in their caine users

oes cocaine ng cocaine rmalized to

ers become with friends

at McGill, aid. “Howed to it at a guy’s room I felt a bit something

ng cocaine s who also use often

ment where it] signifierally do it mount that m not doing t night, we I basically elf.”

As a stimulant drug, uppers like cocaine activate the pleasure and reward centre of the brain, boosting the user’s energy and alertness. Student respondents to the Tribune’s survey reported similar effects resulting from their cocaine use, which causes over 12 per cent of respondents to prefer consuming cocaine instead of alcohol during a night out and 15 per cent to prefer using cocaine instead of smoking marijuana.

“I like to use cocaine because I never get hungover the next day and it gives me this confidence boost that I can’t find elsewhere,” Jacob*, a U1 Science student, said. “It makes me feel like I can do anything.”

The effects of cocaine on the human body result in the drug being a popular choice among party-goers who seek the sensation of increased energy and confidence during a night out. Graham, for instance, said he mostly notices people using the drug when going out clubbing.

“When you go to Sky night club, you’ll always notice at least one person on cocaine,” Graham said. “The whole concept of a nightclub is to [...] dance with people, and hook up with people. Drugs just go hand in hand with hooking up because [...] a big part of [cocaine’s effects] is that apparently it makes you feel really social and confident.”

According to Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, possession of cocaine can result in seven years’ imprisonment, while trafficking and production of cocaine can lead to a life sentence. In spite of the severity of the charges they may face if caught with cocaine, many students still find that drug use has become so normalized that they often forget about the repercussions.

“In Canada, it feels like marijuana is already legal,” Tyler said. “My friends and I smoke it anywhere, any time without even thinking twice about it. I guess that’s why I feel [the same] about using other drugs like cocaine in clubs and other [public] places [....] I’m so used to not hiding my drug use that sometimes I forget that I could get in a lot of trouble if I get caught.”

Students’ lessened perception of the illegality of cocaine is likely due to the fact that criminal charges are not always brought against users. Some students like Graham have witnessed their friends getting caught with the drug, but not suffering any grave direct consequence.

“When I’ve been in night clubs, specifically in Sky, I’ve seen people doing drugs in the bathroom on many different occasions,” Graham said. “One day when I was there, two of my friends got caught in the bathroom stall doing key bumps [snorting a small amount of a powdered drug off of a key] together and they got kicked out of the club. There were no further repercussions, they were just kicked out of the club for the night.”

In addition to the potential judicial reverberations of being caught with cocaine, use of the drug also has many dangerous health consequences. The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction lists numerous dangerous short-term effects of cocaine use including increased heart rate and blood pressure, agitation, and paranoia, and an even longer list of long term effects such as kidney failure, cardiovascular problems, and memory disruptions.

“I honestly don’t really know what cocaine does,” Hannah said. “The only effect [of cocaine] I know about is that it can burn a hole in your septum. I learned that in a science class, and it’s literally the only effect I know.”

For some students, the presence of hard drugs in a university setting which already has such a heavy drinking culture is concerning. Eliza Snodgrass, U1 Arts, worries that cocaine use during competitive drinking weeks such as Carnival and Hype Week where alcohol also abounds poses an additional danger to the organization of the events.

“It’s crazy how normalized drug use is at McGill,” Snodgrass said. “We already have a big drinking culture to begin with, and things like Carnival and Hype Week that make drug use seem so fun and normal makes it hard to remember that you can die from it [....] If it’s your first time and someone gives you something and you don’t know how to tell what’s in it or how much to take, you can literally die from coke on your first time [....]

You’re not going to die from one beer, but with one bump of cocaine you could if there’s other stuff mixed in.”

According to the Tribune’s survey, cocaine is respondents’ third substance

of choice on a night out after alcohol and marijuana. In light o f cocaine’s widespread use in the student community and young people’s apparent ignorance of the consequences of imprudent drug use, one could argue that McGill is not doing enough to inform students about the presence and potential dangers of cocaine use. Especially given the recent outbreak of the fentanyl crisis in Montreal, which has caused 24 confirmed drug overdoses in Montreal, and 12 deaths linked to overdose since Aug. 1, the importance for students to be aware of the risks of cocaine and other hard drug use is more important than ever. Although fentanyl poses a deadly threat, according to the Tribune's survey, only 51 per cent of student respondents worry about its potential presence in cocaine before consuming the drug.

“There are a lot of instances when people have died from overdosing, especially in college,” Jacob said. “I think it's important for McGill to recognize that and have ways to tell people what to do if they see someone struggling. In my first year, my floor fellow basically told us that they knew we were going to try drugs and [...] that in case we did overdose, we should write what drug we took on a piece of paper and stick it in our back pocket, so that someone who finds us would be able to recognize what we’ve done and inform a trained professional.”

But those trained professionals appear to be few and far between, and access to them is predicated upon first navigating the labyrinth of Counselling Services, currently under integrative restructuring. All of McGill’s counselling services’ information on substance use consists of external links to apps and videos, instead of offering on-site educational resources. The University of British Columbia, on the other hand, offers a detailed overview for students wishing to know more about substance use and abuse. Their featured resources and tools include a link to a university workshop on overdose first aid and substance use. McGill’s Substance Misuse Program on the other hand cannot be accessed through the university’s counselling services’ list of resources.

Moreover, McGill’s administration has demonstrated a conservative approach to dealing with preventative education concerning hard drug use among students. Healthy McGill, a student services initiative at McGill, is one of the only groups on campus to take on a uniquely pedagogical approach to informing students about substance use.

“At Healthy McGill, we use a harm-reduction approach when doing drug and alcohol education, with the goal of providing students with resources and information that can help them reduce risk and make the choices that are right for them,” Daneese Rao, representative of Healthy McGill’s Party Safe committee wrote in an email to the Tribune. “One of the models we use is ‘Just Say KNOW’—know what [drug] you're using, know the risks and effects, know why you're using, and know that you're in control.”

While this resource’s efforts are commendable, McGill needs more educational resources like it. In thinking about how the McGill community can make cocaine use safer, there is a necessity for a heightened awareness about the drug. It is important for students to first recognize the presence of cocaine culture at McGill, in order to foster a safe and open discussion about it.

“Sometimes I feel the need to lie to my friends about my cocaine use,” Hannah said. “[... I] really think this needs to change if there’s going to be any progress done in making use of the drug safer. If there’s already an open discussion about alcohol and marijuana use, why can’t we open a discussion about cocaine use as well?”

*Name changed at the request of the student.

About the survey: The student survey referenced in this article does not meet scientific standards.

The author of this article distributed the survey to the McGill student body using an anonymous Google form. The survey included a combination of multiple-choice, Likert scale, and open-ended questions about students experiences with cocaine use during their time at McGill University.

During the data-collection period, the author posted the survey link to various McGill community groups on Facebook and Reddit over the course of eight days from March 15 to March 22. In total, 329 students responded to the survey.

12 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

More than just Another News Story 21st century journalism for a 21st century crisis Katia Innes Contributor Another News Story begins with the image of four figures fleeing in the dead of night. Visible only in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, we quickly realize the figures are a father walking frantically with his three children. It is 2015, and they are Syrian refugees struggling to find a way into Germany.

On March 20, Concordia’s Cinema Politica affiliate showcased the directorial debut of Orban Wallace. Best known for his work on the visual effects of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, with Another News Story Wallace follows a group of refugees hailing from the Middle East and Africa along their plight. From their arrival on the island of Lesbos, Greece, through their journey into Eastern Europe, and, ultimately, their second homecoming in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel had promised to open doors to all refugees.

As opposed to other, more typical human-interest pieces, Another News Story delves further into the problem by examining not only the journey of the refugee, but the role of the media during these conflicts. In the height of conflict, the media holds the coveted power of deciding what is worthy of our attention. The relationship between the media and its subject has always been tricky, and journalists have always balanced the fine line between respectful coverage and sensationalism.

Wallace grapples with this relationship by weaving between narratives. There’s Mahasen, a Syrian woman determined to reach Germany so she may be reunited with her children after four long years. The film also follows the community of reporters that has formed during their coverage of the refugee crisis, all of whom camp and travel together—including Bruno and Johnny, a Belgian journalist and cameraman duo.

By chronicling these two stories, Wallace reveals the unique relationship between the modern media and its subjects. As audiences itch for minute-to-minute coverage, journalists must push themselves even further to deliver stories in real time. Journalists are aiming to present more visceral and authentic experiences to share with audiences, eschewing non-biased reporting as they assist migrants to board trains or hop fences.

Unfortunately, Wallace shows that this journalistic intrusion may also lead to the mistreatment of refugees. Though this evolving relationship between journalists and subjects has adapted to the 24-hour news cycle, it has remained morally ambiguous and murky. It’s hard not to feel uneasy as Wallace films white, male European reporters casually smoking and laughing as they are surrounded by the stoic refugees. For the world to see news unfold, in real time, journalists must of course be present—yet this presence can be equally as damaging as it is constructive.

Regardless of whether it is morally right or not, wherever there’s a story, reporters will flock. As the boats landed in Lesbos,

Another News Story examines journalistic integrity in times of crisis. (Sunny Kim / The McGill Tribune)

hoards of journalists rushed forward, pushing cameras into the faces of wearied and starving refugees. It’s unclear whether their immediate intrusion onto the scene is more exploitative or comiserative. However, as Richard Engel, chief foreign correspondent of NBC News said, “Happiness is universal, but misery, that’s solitary.”

Though it might be ugly, and though it will always be biased, the media will always try and connect viewers to the unique terrors that manifest across the globe. Uneasily, modern viewers must grapple with the dilemma of genuinely wanting to be informed, and watching real-life horrors unfold for their viewing pleasure.

These teens are out of hand and need to be stopped Approaching the end of Riverdale’s second season, what have we learned?

Luke Sarabia Contributor Riverdale is an absurd, ridiculous show that I couldn’t possibly force myself to stop watching. Every Thursday, I sit for 45 minutes shouting and cackling at these crazy teens on my TV. I end each episode baffled, both at the show’s ridiculousness, and my own powerlessness to quit.

Riverdale, now nearing the end of its second season, premiered last January on the CW and on Netflix in Canada. The show reimagines the long-running Archie comics and its affiliated characters as a gritty teen drama, in the vein of 13 Reasons Why. The premise,

essentially, is Archie comics, but Archie has sex, and crimes happen. Riverdale takes aim at the comics’ idyllic suburban setting. Someone goes missing, perfect families have terrible secrets, there’s a mysterious new girl in town.

You’ve seen this before. Riverdale, however, pushes your expectations to the limit and then some, resulting in scenes that are shocking and embarrassing, and always entertaining.

We learn in the first episode of season one, for instance, that Archie has had a monthslong relationship with his 30-year-old teacher.

It is made clear that Archie and the gang are about 15 or 16. The show tops this problematic and bizarre moment innumerable times.

Loveable Jughead joins a gang, and cuts other

For the love of God, would someone please give Jughead a chesseburger. (popsugar.com)

gang members with knives. Archie literally starts a student crime-fighting militia group.

Riverdale’s violent crime rate is equalled only by its dance-off rate.

Yet season one, despite its baffling moments, featured a compelling mystery that managed to remain interesting over 13 episodes, not to mention a decent cliffhanger ending.

The show can also be occasionally visually impressive. Scenes inside the iconic Pop’s Chocolate Shoppe are lit strikingly with neon beams of red and blue, giving them a distinct comic-book look.

The second season, however, grows more nonsensical and less compelling. At a certain point, any reasonable person has to wonder if whoever writes Riverdale is for real. It is often challenging to believe so. The characters behave so unsympatheticly that they seem to parody themselves—perhaps intentionally.

Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has made no secret of the influence of the seminal ‘90s drama Twin Peaks on Riverdale, which masterfully parodied melodramatic soap operas while practically inventing the evil-hiding-ina-small-town TV trope. There are a number of clear visual references to it in Riverdale, which likely also borrows Peaks’ satirical tendency toward absurd narratives and hilariously irrational characters. However, if Riverdale is attempting a self-conscious jab at bad teen dramas, Archie comics, and America itself, it is mostly lost in execution. The writing is often far too poor and the acting too stilted to evidence

any effective sense of satire. While the show at its best manages a convincing deconstruction of small-town facades, it often leaves much of the gist of the comics behind, with its characters and setting sometimes appearing related only nominally.

What I mean by this, of course, is that Jughead doesn’t eat nearly enough cheeseburgers in this show. Historically, Jughead is known for his wit and his goofy hat. But the crux of his character is how much food that boy can eat. Any given Archie comic features Jughead wolfing down a plate of 10 burgers, a full pizza, and multiple shakes with ease—seemingly without chewing. It is aweinspiring. Yet, in the show’s first two years, Cole Sprouse’s Jughead has eaten a pitiful two burgers in 29 episodes, both of which came in season two (season three does have Jughead eating a lot of burgers following a hunger strike.) If Aguirre-Sacasa is going for a Twin Peaks-esque absurd soap satire, why not include the most ridiculous and hilarious aspect of Riverdale’s source material?

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if Riverdale is satire, successful or otherwise. I will continue to watch this show because I have no other choice.

There will probably never be a point where it becomes unwatchable; a show this ridiculous jumped the shark the moment it was conceived.

Whatever half-assed mystery is thrown at me next I will watch powerlessly, and in desperate hope that it will bring more cheeseburgers to poor, starving Jughead.

OPINION 13

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Uncontested SSMU executive: Show students why you deserved their votes The results of this year’s Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executive elections are out. The short of it: Nearly every candidate on the ballot won, because nearly every candidate ran uncontested. For the presidency—the only contested position—Tre Mansdoerfer edged out Corinne Bulger by only 69 votes.

Voter turnout was higher than previous years, at 32.8 per cent. Yet, for multiple candidates, more students abstained than voted “Yes.” If one counts abstentions as a candidate, “Abstain” actually came second for the presidency, with 38 more votes than Bulger.

The outcome of this election means two things for next year’s SSMU executive committee. First, the incoming executives have to prove they are worthy of being on the executive committee, despite running unopposed. They must demonstrate that they are the right people for the job, and, crucially, that they will be accountable to students. Second, this election shows, as usual, that SSMU and the McGill community have serious work to do when it comes to engaging students with their society.

That is not to say that next year’s executives are unqualified. Many seem more than cut out for their positions.

However, right now, their most relevant

OFF THE BOARD

Ava Zwolinski Photo Editor The “Change My Mind” meme emerged this past February, when a conservative commentator named Steven Crowder set up a table outside the campus of Texas Christian University with a sign reading, “Male privilege is a myth, change my mind.” Crowder has a YouTube page and a podcast where he frequently engages others in discussions on controversial topics ranging from a woman’s right to an abortion to gender politics.

Despite the gravity of the discourse Crowder provokes, the perceived outlandishness of his views by a fairly liberal young population on campus led to an online parody of his segment. These include statements like: “ratatouille would beat stuart little’s ass in a fight: change my mind,” or “pop tarts are ravioli: change my mind.”

With the emergence of several McGill meme Instagram accounts

qualification as a team is that they actually wanted to be SSMU executives. Now that they are SSMU executives, they must demonstrate everything else that they bring to the table, and rise to the challenge of being the responsive, accountable, and competent leaders that McGill students deserve.

This will be more challenging for some executives than others: Next year’s team has a wide range of levels of experience with SSMU, and The McGill Tribune has expressed serious concerns about at least one incoming executive’s qualifications.

That only makes it more important that the president and vice-presidents-elect form a cohesive team. They should learn from the conflicts that have plagued this year’s executive, and work to support, not undermine each other.

Moreover, election by a voter turnout of just over 30 per cent—never mind the fact that all candidates received at least 30 per cent abstentions—doesn’t make for much of a democratic mandate. It is therefore essential that these executives make concerted and ongoing effort to hear out student voices, and put concrete, specific action into maintaining and improving the society’s accountability.

SSMU must be functional and effective next year, for immediate pragmatic

reasons, such as the building closure, but also for the society’s longer-term interests: Namely, re-engaging student engagement and involvement in SSMU. Between allegations of anti-Semitism at the Fall 2017 General Assembly and executives’ various internal conflicts throughout the year, student attitudes toward the society currently range from status-quo apathy to active resentment. The result is yet another election with a dearth of candidates and tepid voter engagement.

Incoming executives often cite the importance of renewing student interest in SSMU. And, while often failing to also provide workable solutions, they’re not wrong: SSMU can’t ignore the problem of student disengagement indefinitely. The society is, ultimately, run by students— if no students step up to the job, it can’t exist. However, student disinterest in SSMU isn’t inevitable, nor unsolvable.

By showing students what a functioning society does for them, SSMU shows students why they should be engaged in their student union, and maybe even be involved.

Demonstrating SSMU’s full value is admittedly a tall order. While students can see firsthand what campus groups and services do for them, SSMU’s administrative role in making those groups

EDITORIAL

and initiatives possible is more behindthe-scenes. Improving information sharing and transparency around executives’ dayto-day responsibilities are good places to start, both during election periods and throughout the year. When students see how SSMU can impact them in concrete, positive ways, they pay attention.

Response to the referendum question on a Fall reading week policy is a testament to this: Only 6.1 per cent of voters abstained.

Student groups on campus have a role to play on this front, as well. Campus press, organization included, serve to hold SSMU accountable, but also to keep students informed and engaged enough to do the same. Reporting on SSMU regularly, accurately, and compellingly is something we continue to work on. An electorate motivated to vote conscientiously is also in clubs’ and services’ best interests.

After all, these groups can only function effectively with a SSMU executive competent enough to support them.

Student apathy toward SSMU is a campus-wide problem, and demands a campus-wide solution. That starts with a strong executive team showing students why they should care in the first place. The 2018-2019 president and vice-presidentselect have their work cut out for them. It’s up to them to prove their worth.

Memes are best for roasting the McGill administration in the last few years, McGill students have been adapting popular meme templates to create student-relevant content. Take, for example, the Change My Mind meme posted by the Instagram account @spicy_martlet_memes, where Crowder’s head has been replaced with McGill Principal Suzanne Fortier’s, and his sign photo-shopped to read, “McTavish could still be improved a little bit: change my mind.” Satirically reinterpreting Crowder’s Change My Mind table into something relevant to the McGill student is not only humourous, but taps into the communication gap on campus between the administration and the student body.

Student-run meme pages provide a space to co-ruminate about this gap: It often feels like McGill is not listening to students, not meeting their needs, and falling short in providing adequate essential services, like mental health support.

This general frustration among McGill students also extends to physical hindrances to their experience that include the seemingly never-ending McTavish construction. McTavish Street has undergone construction numerous times in the last four years.

Roadblocks have posed many difficulties for individuals with injuries or mobility impairments and local businesses, making it an especially salient topic for students.

One only needs to recall Winter

2017’s treacherous narrow metal staircase in front of the Brown building. Amid general frustrations with the construction in the city of Montreal and annoyance at the administration—who once advised students to just “keep calm and carry on” despite the dangerous obstacles—memes are the cathartic release students need.

For example, the Deputy Provost of Student Life and Learning Ollivier Dyens’ notorious

“

[A McGill meme] taps into the communication gap on campus between the administration and the student body.

”

suggestion that students practice good “hygiene de vie” to cope with mental health challenges quickly went viral. Dyens’ statement upset many students. In turn, it fuelled an abundance of meme posts across various Instagram pages, all featuring sarcastic commentary on the statement, allowing students to air their grievances.

While many memes posted in student-run Instagram accounts are purely for comedic purposes, they

(@burnsidebasementsoupcafe69) also can serve a more politicallyengaged purpose. During the recent SSMU president elections, former candidate Corinne Bulger stated in an interview with the The McGill Tribune that “meme culture can be used as a really powerful tool to hold our admin accountable, especially in such a public forum.”

A direct example of Bulger’s remarks can be seen in one McGill student Instagram account, @burnsidebasementsoupcafe69, which published a flurry of memes following Dyens’ “hygiene de vie” gaffe. Included among these memes was a single image with a

direct message: “This is Ollivier Dyens…Don’t let him get reelected.”

Ultimately, memes offer more than just a humourous outlet to scroll through between classes: They speak to students’ concerns and frustrations with the McGill administration, and because of this are an important tool to understand the opinions and interests of the student body. Perhaps the administration should pay more attention to these outlets, and address the concerns they raise. In the meantime, it’s much more fun to collectively laugh at them.

14 OPINION

COMMENTARY

Johanna Cline Contributor During a recent studying session in Trottier, my friend—a female engineering student—overheard two male students heatedly critiquing the call for women in engineering. The two students asserted that female engineers are “taking jobs away from the men who need to provide for families.”

While most students today would agree that this mindset is archaic, gender disparity sadly persists across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, and contributes to an unwelcoming atmosphere toward women pursuing STEM careers. In Canada, women represent only 33 per cent of STEM university graduates, a statistic that is still lower in engineering and mathematics-based degrees. At McGill, less than one third of engineering students are female. Bringing women

COMMENTARY

Kyle Dewsnap Contributor Facebook has had a rough week. In the past seven days, four different lawsuits were filed against it, Sonos temporarily left its advertising program, and Elon Musk joined the #DeleteFacebook movement by removing SpaceX’s and Tesla’s profiles from the social media giant’s platform. With Facebook in the throws of a full-blown reputational crisis, students should learn one thing: Their personal data is more valuable than cash, and should be treated

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

To close the gender gap, STEM fields need to change from the inside out

into male-dominated STEM fields is crucial for rectifying the gender wage gap. However, methods for addressing the lack of women in STEM need to go beyond meeting short-term quotas.

Institutions must also aim to reform the fields in the long-run, by tackling gender bias and dismantling patriarchal norms so that women are valued and respected both today, and in the future.

A report published on March 8 by the Canada-U.S. Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders details methods for boosting the proportion of women in STEM careers. Its recommendations include developing outreach programs for high school students and increasing female role models—such as female professors—in STEM faculties to make women feel more welcome.

The council also advises universities to increase support within STEM faculties by developing networks for women that boost the chances of retaining female students. McGill’s Scientista is an example of this kind of group: The campus organization supports and empowers women in STEM by connecting them with fellow female students pursuing degrees in similar fields.

The council’s prescriptions appear to be effective. The University of Toronto, for example, attributes its unusual 40 per cent female engineering class ratio to its new pre-university outreach program. The program

supports incoming female students using strategies including targeted personal follow-ups with female applicants and incentivizing scholarships. The council’s recommendations are tangible, evidently effective ways to boost female representation in STEM. Given the persisting gender gap in fields like engineering and computer science at McGill, the university administration should consider implementing strategies from the report—such as high school outreach—as interim solutions for boosting female representation.

However, the report’s recommendations fail to provide long-term plans for tackling the underlying gender bias in STEM that repeatedly deters women from these areas of study. Professional fulfillment comes partly from feeling valued in one’s place of work, and if women are repeatedly underestimated or unwelcome in STEM, those fields will not be as attractive to them. Changing this will require reworking fundamental gender perceptions; pouring women into STEM careers to fill a gender quota is not a sustainable way to solve the issue. If women are going to thrive in these fields, the fields themselves must change from the inside out.

Gender bias in STEM arises from socialization processes that promote the notion that men and women have distinct roles they’re supposed to fill. These traditional norms present STEM fields as male domains,

thereby discouraging women from participating. While there are plenty of successful women in STEM, internal biases remain prevalent and continue to hamper female participation.

Ismael Mourifié, associate professor of economics at the University of Toronto, recognizes this issue and recommends that governments disrupt gendered career perceptions by investing in childhood education intervention. He points out that when girls are repeatedly shown that STEM roles are primarily for men, they may feel inadequate or deterred from those fields. Moreover, gender bias influences how men think of and treat women— including underestimating or resenting them in what they see as male fields (think: Trottier guys). If people are taught from a young age to see STEM

(Winnie Lin / The McGill Tribune) as gender-neutral, females are less likely to be deterred from pursuing those professions, and males in STEM are more likely to respect their female colleagues.

While Mourifié’s suggestions don’t necessarily offer a quick fix for institutions that want to solve the lack of women in their STEM faculties, he raises an important point. Gender bias remains the root of the gender gap in STEM fields. To eliminate the gap, perceptions of women in STEM need to be disrupted. In addition to shortterm methods for meeting gender quotas, institutions must also consider how to change the perception of women in STEM over time. Only then will they fully resolve the deeper issues contributing to this gender disparity.

Data Bank: Your Facebook account is worth more than your chequing account as such.

Facebook’s current crisis has been years in the making.

In 2015, Dr. Aleksandr Kogan, a researcher at Cambridge University, collected research data through an app called “thisisyourdigitallife.” Individuals were paid to link their Facebook account to the app, and then complete surveys. The app would combine their data into a personality profile that could be used for psychological research.

However, Kogan then passed this information on to Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL). Cambridge Analytica, SCL’s political advertising firm, used this data to build personalized ads tailored to individuals. These ads targeted one’s “inner demons,” as described by former Cambridge Analytica employee and whistleblower Christopher Wylie. Both Ted Cruz’s primary campaign and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign bought their services.

Cambridge Analytica is just the most recent example of how dangerous data sharing can be. While only 270,000 people downloaded thisisyourdigitallife

onto their phones, Cambridge Analytica was still able to build personality profiles for 50 million Facebook users. Kogan’s app had access to users’ friends lists, which exponentially expanded how many people the app could collect data on. Facebook isn’t entirely to blame for this. If users had been more cautious about who they gave their data to, Kogan’s app wouldn’t have been able to influence the millions of people that it did. Even users who didn’t mind sharing their data with Kogan’s app still implicitly gave it access to all of their friends’ data.

Mark Zuckerberg built his empire on taking individuals’ private information and making it public. Anyone who has seen Jesse Eisenberg’s The Social Network will remember that “The Facebook” started as “Facemash,” a website on which Harvard students ranked the attractiveness of their female peers. Features such as the “like” button have made Facebook incredibly successful at convincing people to share everything online. A 2015 University of California study found that a computer with

access to a subject’s Facebook profile was better than a human at making accurate personality predictions.

This is why companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat don’t need to sell subscriptions.

Users ‘pay’ for access to their platform with their data, which the companies can then sell to advertisers. Some ad firms pay $1,200 per user for the kind of personal data that Facebook has—a figure that speaks to how valuable this information is. Yet, because the process of giving data away is often so automatic—users are required to accept terms and conditions, and privacy settings are usually off by default—internet users are attuned to giving their information to anyone who asks.

It’s easy to give away personal data online: It’s fun, it’s addictive, and it’s quick. Features like location sharing, purchase tracking, and friend lists make Facebook as interesting and useful as possible; however, they also allow companies to amass an extraordinary amount of personal information. Furthermore, many of these sharing settings are either defaults or are hidden deep

within user settings. In order to make this data trade more visible, some have suggested that companies literally pay users for their personal data. But why wait for companies and governments to regulate this data economy?

Students can start treating their data like cash right now, by recognizing that each interaction with a website has a price.

The future is going to be built on data, meaning that intelligent consumers must lead the way. While a data economy is still fairly far into our future (although DataCoup, a startup, has started to build a “personal data marketplace”), students don’t need to wait for this future in order to be smart about their interactions with social media.

Thinking about Facebook’s awful privacy record should cause people to question how much data they really need to give out. Sure, students may have to stop geotagging their awesome brunch photos, but until Facebook can guarantee that another Cambridge Analytica crisis won’t happen again, they should think about whether documenting their lives is worth the cost.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

STUDENT LIVING 15

Making the most of failed midterms

Frostbite consoles failing students with free ice cream Sanchi Bhalla Contributor By this time of the semester everyone is extremely stressed. Asking a friend how their recent midterm went offers a high chance of inspiring an emotional breakdown. Luckily, Frostbiteâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;located in McConnell Engineering Building and operated by the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS)â&#x20AC;&#x201D;is ready to console any student who gets below a 40 per cent on their midterm or final with free ice cream.

While dessert is the cure to all pain, buying endless pints of Häagen Dazs from Montreal dĂŠpanneurs is a big hit on anyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bank account.

Rather than having to bear the cost of an icecream cone in addition to the cost your recent midterm will have on your GPA, just show up to Frostbite with a physical copy or a screenshot of your failed midterm grade on MyCourses, and walk away with a free small ice cream.

With flavours ranging from vanilla to strawberry

daiquiri, anyone can raise their spirits with the help of Frostbite. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No matter what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going through, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to be sad when thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ice cream around and bumping jams are playing,â&#x20AC;? Jacqueline Liu, U3 chemical engineering student and Frostbite employee said.â&#x20AC;&#x153;When midterms come around, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to stay positive under the high stress. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s even worse when you fail a midterm that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve studied really hard for.â&#x20AC;?

Although located in the Engineering Building, Frostbite offers frozen solace to McGill students across all faculties and departments. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are some notorious courses in engineering, with midterm averages in the 30s to 40s,â&#x20AC;? Liu said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those midterms have surely caused a lot of unnecessary stress and tears.

But we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want that at Frostbite. We might not be able to change those horrible midterms, but at least we can cheer people up with some free ice cream and offer some positive words of encouragement.â&#x20AC;?

For Rande Gearing, U3 Arts, Frostbite offered much needed consolation after receiving a highly unfortunate first year midterm grade. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had a linear algebra class in my first year that I decided to never go to because I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really like my prof,â&#x20AC;? Gearing said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The day before the midterm I tried to teach myself everything I needed to know for the exam, but I ended up just texting all my friends instead. The next day, during the midterm, I giggled because I knew nothing. But when I got the midterm back, I found out I only got one out of eight answers right. I was disappointed with my grade but was happy when I found out I could get free ice cream from Frostbite for it.â&#x20AC;?

While receiving a horrible grade can be discouraging for any student, Frostbite brings light and laughter to the situation, reminding all at McGill that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not alone. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The funniest moments are when multiple groups of people per day start coming to Frostbite to collect their failed-exam ice creams, you know

A scoop of ice cream is the perfect cure to any sadness.

(Taylor Burnett / The McGill Tribune) a horrific exam must have been handed back recently,â&#x20AC;? Liu said.

Next time you receive a failing grade on a midterm or exam, dry your tears, stop planning ways to poison your professor, and make your way over to Frostbite to forget the pain. Once you show them your gradeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t judgeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; and enjoy a delicious scoop of ice cream, that exam will be the last thing on your mind.

Four McGill friendships everyone is guilty of having Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no need to be shy about having a go-to note-taking friend Amina Magnin Hourticq Contributors

&

Mathilde

With over 40,000 students, McGill is a hub for social interaction, where every conversation between students has the potential to initiate a lifelong friendship. In addition to their ride or dies, all students have a couple of friends that they may not want to admit to having.

To highlight these overlooked partnerships The McGill Tribune created a list of friendships that all students share.

The One With All The Lecture Notes (TOWATLN) This reliable friend is one that everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thankful to have.

We all know that one person who miraculously always makes it to every 8:30 a.m. lecture and whose notes look like they could be something out of an Oxford textbook. In addition to being super cool, super nice, and maybe even super funny, this is the friend who will be there to guide you through your final exam. Have a Wednesday 8:30 a.m. conflicting with your Tuesday CafĂŠ Campus plans? No worries, TOWATLNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got you. Havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been doing the readings all semester long?

TOWATLN has them in a compact, two-page, bulleted document ready for you to look over. And when the murky tide of final exams rolls in and threatens to drown you whole, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to save TOWATLN a seat in McLennan for your last minute tutoring session.

The Forgotten (TFFB)

Frosh

Bestie

Remember the joyous days of Frosh when the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and everything smelled of new beginnings and beer? Specifically, remember that one friend you shared those days with, who, although you had only just met them, managed to see you at your best and definitely at your worst all in four days?

We call this one TFFB becauseâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; chances areâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;even though you thought you two would be besties forever and live out your McGill career side by side, your paths diverged within two days of Frosh week ending. TFFB knows all your darkest secrets that you drunkenly confessed while they were holding back your hair after power hour, has seen you get wet and wild at Beach Day, and is always there to exchange an awkward â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;heyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; when you bump into each other at the Y-intersection.

The One You Know from High School (TOYKFHS) While some students are lucky enough to have made it to McGill with a high school bestie, chances are most of us came to McGill with one or two acquaintances that we would have never described as anything more than just â&#x20AC;&#x153;classmatesâ&#x20AC;? back home.

This is the pal you always knew existed but never spoke a word to in all four years of high school.

Fast-forward to a few months after high school graduation, and here you are running into those same peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in a new school, new cityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;on the other side of the country or halfway across the world. And whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been months or years since those high school days, you still find yourself

True friends come from all different places.

(Daria Kiseleva / The McGill Tribune) forcing an awkward smile and wave as you run into them amid the confused crowd of students rushing in and out of Leacock 132. But donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry: Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re sure to have plenty of time for more painful small talk when you inevitably find them sitting next to you on your flight back home.

The One With The Cute Friend (TOWTCF) Now although you love TOWTCF, you love how cute their friend is even more. Spending time with TOWTCF is always a blastâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as long as they bring the cute friend along. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s be real, all you want is an excuse to get closer to their friend in hopes of a potential hookup or romance. We wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t call this friendship opportunist, but hey, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the survival of the fittest out here and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing nothing but using your opportunities wisely.

STUDENT

ESSAY

CONTEST

CATEGORIES AND PRIZES 1st Prize: 2nd Prize: 3rd Prize:

High School

Undergraduate

Graduate

$1,500 $1,000 $500

$1,500 $1,000 $500

$1,500 $1,000 $500

201 Topic

*ODSFBTJOH UIF .JOJNVN 8BHF (PPE *OUFOUJPOT #BE 1PMJDZ

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: JUNE , 2018 For complete contest details, visit:

StudentEssayContest.org For more information contact the Education Programs department at student@fraserinstitute.org or by phone at 1â&#x2C6;&#x2122;800â&#x2C6;&#x2122;665â&#x2C6;&#x2122;3558 ext. 538.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

16 STUDENT LIVING

How to avoid someone on campus

From dodging an encounter with your latest hook up to your least-favourite TA Mary Keith Contributor We’ve all been there: You’re walking on campus and you take a moment to look up from your phone, only to spot someone 20 steps away who you would much rather avoid seeing. Instead of sucking it up and just engaging in that one-second interaction, we would rather avoid any acknowledgement of their existence. To help students avoid the unavoidable in the least-obvious way, The McGill Tribune has a few tips to offer on how to escape an unwanted on-campus encounter.

Avoid eye contact First and foremost, if you spot this person and don’t want to deal with small talk, do not make eye contact. If you pretend that you never see them, the chances are that they will likely not go out of their way to engage with you either. If you both happen to spot each other at the same time, act aloof. After you see them, pretend that you have not just yet processed their presence. The other person will probably be confused as to why you completely avoided them, and, in turn, may avoid you in the future—so keep that in mind.

Do some studying In order to avoid a conversation with an approaching peer, pretend you’re on your way to the most important exam of your McGill career. Pull out your notebook—or even better, a textbook— and do some “reading” on your walk to class. If you look laser-focused, the person will feel rude if they try to interrupt you for a quick chat.

Duck into the nearest classroom This solution is not always the best as you may walk into an uncomfortable situation—like an important meeting between a student and a professor or a fourth year’s seminar presentation. However, if you’re desperate for a more elaborate escape, darting from the path you’re on into a hidden location is guaranteed to help you avoid someone.

If possible, try not to stop in your tracks and walk in the opposite direction—nothing could be more obvious.

Drop your belongings When you see that unwanted someone coming your way, drop everything in your grasp. By making it look like their sight distracted you enough to make you drop your most prized possessions, they will feel so guilty that they won’t dare approach you. The best part is that while they walk by, you’ll be too busy picking up whatever you dropped to feel inclined to say anything. Although this may result in a broken iPhone screen, it’ll be worth it.

Pretend you’re on an emotional phone call If the person you’re trying to avoid always acknowledges you and forces uncomfortable small talk even when it’s obvious they should just let you be, it may be necessary to take additional steps in ignoring them. If you’ve tried it all and can’t get them off your back, consider embarrassing yourself, and pretend you’re on an extremely emotional phone call. Although you may get some strange looks on campus, pulling out the water works and crying for your mom on the phone is a sure-fire way to make sure that unwanted someone leaves you alone the next time they pass you.

We all just need to avoid someone every once in a while.

(Arshaaq Jiffry / The McGill Tribune)

Coffee shops that are actually conducive to studying Our 11th list on what are really the best cafés for studying

With an abundance of cafés in Montreal, it’s hard to decide which place is the best for over-caffeinating. To help students choose where to pretend to study, The McGill Tribune has compiled a list of the best coffeeshops that are sure to brew up good ideas for any upcoming paper or project.

Starbucks - 475 Sherbrooke Street West A mere two minutes away from McGill’s Downtown campus, this café offers a quintessential university experience that few coffee shops can truly match. Opened in 2016, it’s attached to McGill’s Carrefour Sherbrooke residence, so study-goers can enjoy a cup of coffee while listening to the sounds of first years stressing over their exams. The ambience of this Starbucks is unique, with an upstairs study area that mimics Birks Library without librarians constantly shushing you. However, one let down is that many menu items are frequently unavailable at this location—if you have a hankering for a quiche, you will most likely have to look elsewhere.

Google review: 4.2 / 5 Tribune rating: 3/5 Doug Clapp on Google Reviews: “Starbucks has lost its charm. I prefer locally-owned places.”

Starbucks - 3452 Park Avenue This Starbucks coffee shop provides customers with a gorgeous view of avenue du Parc, the most iconic street in Montreal’s Milton-Parc neighbourhood. If you don’t mind competing with other McGill students for a table where half of the outlets don’t even work, this is the study spot for you. However, with the generic “indie coffee shop” playlist blaring so loudly that you can hear it through your headphones, and food way too expensive for the frugal scholar, you’ll probably only be able to study here for a maximum of 10 unproductive minutes.

Janine Xu and Miguel Principe Contributors

Make sure to visit this location as soon as possible as it’s closing on March 30.

Yelp rating: 3/5 Tribune rating: 3/5 Brian L., on Yelp: “Two stars only out of respect for the rest of the Starbucks chain. Strongly recommend going elsewhere.”

Starbucks - 1455 Peel Street Located in the heart of Les Cours Mont-Royal, this Starbucks goes against the grain when it comes to environment. Situated in the underground mall, it boasts a sinusoidal pattern of pedestrian chaos and lulled tranquility every four to six minutes in accordance with the arrival of the nearby metro. It also showcases an impressive interior design by blending its seating into the surrounding food court area. Best of all, this Starbucks has the worst online rating of all the coffee shops in the list, boasting a solid two out of five stars on Yelp.

Yelp rating: 2/5 Tribune rating: 4/5 Tanya E.J. on Google Reviews: “Thankfully there’s another Starbucks just upstairs across the street lol.”

Starbucks - 3601 St Laurent Blvd Found in the beautiful Plateau neighbourhood, this Starbucks is one of a kind. Only a couple of blocks away from beloved Café Campus, its location offers the

During you next visit to the coffee shop make sure to try the new Crystal Ball Frappuccino to get the full Starbucks experience. (timetoast.com) perfect balance between class and trash. In addition, they offer many pastries that closer-to-campus locations cannot, but keep in mind that their quality does in no way compare to the many local bakeries nearby. However, it may be hard to find a spot to sit since the place tends to be packed with students trying to avoid the library.

Yelp rating: 4/5 Tribune rating: 5/5 Ashley G. on Google reviews: “There’s one girl who works here who is really nice, the rest of the staff suck. I go in once a day and it never changes. They’re just rude.”

17 science & technology

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Lufa Farms uses Montreal rooftops to feed the growing urban population Urban agriculture company offers students cheap-but-delicious baskets of produce Zoe Doran Contributor Lufa Farms, a Montreal urban agriculture company, is working on revolutionizing the city’s food system, based on two key ideas: Growing food where people live and growing it more sustainability. Best described as an online farmer’s market, Lufa Farms operates three rooftop greenhouses in Montreal, which produce more than 100 types of vegetables annually. Fresh produce is delivered the same day that it’s harvested and is supplemented by the company’s partners (including Ferme La Rose des Vents, Fromagerie du Vieux St-François, Aux Vivres, and others) who provide sustainably and humanely-raised meats, as well as dairy, eggs, baked goods, pastas, vegan alternatives, and more. Lufa Farms’ unique focus on both taste and sustainability allows customers to reconnect with their food.

Customers can complete an easy sign-up online, customize their personal basket of food, and pick it up at one of the 450 pickup points scattered throughout Montreal. Vegetables

are harvested overnight and delivered the following afternoon at the customer’s preferred location.

Fortunately for McGill students, Lufa Farms makes buying locally-sourced food affordable. The minimum basket order is $15, but Thibault Sorret, a Lufa Farms employee, said in an interview with the The McGill Tribune that many students may supplement their normal grocery shopping with Lufa Farms’ vegetables.

“Most students use Lufa Farms as a vegetable complement to [their] normal grocery shopping,” Sorret said. “[First they] chose a base, like quinoa or rice, then add vegetables, which are the best and cheapest pesticide-free vegetables in Montreal, and finish with protein.”

The primary goal of local agriculture is to produce good taste, not durability for transport or yield capabilities, so Lufa Farms hopes to show consumers the value difference and importance of food grown close to home.

“If you use this approach, you will eat healthier, but you will be able to adjust [shopping at Lufa Farms] to your budget,”

Sorret said. “[Hopefully] the more people who develop a connection to their food, the more people will question why supermarket food [lacks the same quality of taste.]”

Lufa Farms prides itself on using no new land, meaning that their hydroponic greenhouse systems—employing agriculture that produces crops without soil—are exclusively on the rooftops of existing buildings.

All greenhouses use a closed circuit water system, which collects rainwater, snowmelt, and recycles 100 per cent of gray water and waste water from the agricultural process. Lufa Farms also uses biocontrols—instead of pesticides—for their crops, and organic waste is composted on-site. Lufa Farms’ innovative technology represents a switch back to localized agriculture.

In the next two years, the company hopes to expand to the United States and gain attention internationally. Urban agriculture is a relatively new field, with the potential to revolutionize the way we think about food production.

The company’s greatest expenses are the construction and maintenance of its rooftop greenhouses, but as Lufa Farms

Producing over 100 types of vegetables annually, Lufa Farms offers affordable food baskets for hungry students. (Lufa Farms) the island of Montreal with fresh and local foods that are sustainably produced.

Montreal might not often be considered an agricultural city, with long winters that bring bone-chilling temperatures and unsightly amounts of snow. The city’s bizzare seasonality has restricted Montrealers’ food choices to often tasteless and subpar quality produce which has travelled thousands of miles, just to be selected begrudgingly from the aisles of the local supermarket. This leaves urban agriculture, and companies like Lufa Farms, as the first stepping stone to a more sustainable future for the city.

expands, they will reduce the costs of their products, making the Lufa Farms choice an even more economically-accessible option. According to Sorret, Lufa Farms’ current success demonstrates that if cities take advantage of their unused rooftop space, they have the potential to create largely selfsustainable food production systems.

“Rooftop farms on only just 19 rooftops of large malls could feed the entire city, even in cities, like Montreal, with challenging climates,” Sorret said.

The company hopes to cater to customers living on and near

Neuroscience gets even brainier with open access science McGill and the Neurological Institute join the Canadian Open Karl Neumann Contributor The human brain is the most complex, compact system known in the universe, and certainly one of the most mysterious.

Researchers from McGill and the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, now known as the Neuro, have long been at the forefront of neuroscience. This includes Wilder Penfield, who discovered brain areas that control our movements and sensations, and Brenda Milner, whose work with patient H.M. founded the field of neuropsychology.

On Feb. 19, McGill and the Neuro opened another chapter of neuroscientific progress by joining the Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform or CONP, an open access network for brain data. CONP is partnered with universities across Canada, including the University of Toronto and Queen’s University, and is internationally connected with Oxford University and John Hopkins University.

CONP will connect researchers across Canada and the world to a single, gargantuan dataset,

making up to 10,000 terabytes of brain data available to members of the partnership. To put this into perspective, one terabyte is equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes of data, enough to hold about 40 days worth of video. This informational treasure trove will help investigators create a more holistic understanding of the brain and provide important context for future experiments.

CONP is not restricted to just human brain data; it also includes animal models and cellular neuroscience data that can be used translationally to understand the underlying mechanisms of neuroscience.

Open science not only increases the validity of research, it also accelerates the pace at which research can be done.

Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and certain types of dementia can all be improved by treatments more rapidly developed thanks to CONP. After joining the partnership, the Neuro promised to refrain from patenting any of their discoveries for five years in order to let others use the most recent innovations and data. This extraordinary move

puts the focus away from profit, shifting it to ensuring that patients benefit, as well as researchers eager to harness the cutting edge of brain science and medicine.

Professor Maria Natasha Rajah, d​irector of the​​ Brain Imaging Center a​ t Douglas Hospital Research Centre a​nd​ associate ​professor of ​Psychiatry​ at McGill, told The McGill Tribune that this change will increase the efficiency of research and taxpayer dollars that go into funding grants.

“We invest up to $200,000 or more in data collection for a single experiment, and once we are finished publishing our papers it seems to be a waste of resources to just store the data in a backup system,” Rajah said. “CONP is a great opportunity for the research community to give back​and give older data new life​.”

The platform also solves one of the biggest problems in neuroscience research: Generalizability across populations that differ genetically and geographically.

Rajah elaborated that CONP could facilitate the collection of data at an international level, helping

“

combat more complex diseases. “[Data that] crosses borders gives us access to a more representative sample of participants​,” Rajah said. “Specific diseases, such as Alzheimer’s,​​ [...] may be influenced by individual differences in genetics, diet, education, and other lifestyle and environmental factors. [...

Many] of these questions relating to diversity in brain aging would benefit from larger, international, and diverse samples.​​CONP has the potential to help us tackle these bigger questions which are​important because different treatments might be better for different ​samples​.”

Joining CONP will foster an environment where researchers’ methodologies from across the globe can converge to create more replicable and compatible findings.

“A key thing that CONP brings is harmonization,” Rajah noted. “By having researchers from across Canada and the world collaborate, we can share and standardize our methods and make sure that once we’re finished collecting data, it can be integrated with the full dataset.”

This extraordinary move puts the focus away from profit, shifting it to ensuring that patients benefit, as well as researchers eager to harness the cutting edge of brain science and medicine.

”

The open science revolution is only beginning and McGill and the Neuro are joining in to reap the rewards it can bring.

“This is the future, this is where neuroscience and medical imaging is going,” Rajah said.

science & technology 18

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

McGill multiple sclerosis research leads the fight against the disease The chaperone protein calnexin could be involved in the development of MS Gwenyth Wren Contributor Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system (CNS) which causes circulating immune cells, called T cells, to gain access to the CNS across the blood-brain barrier. This causes inflammation, myelin destruction, and neuronal damage. MS affects over 2.5 million people world-wide and is the leading cause of disability in young adults.This disease prevents nerves from conducting the proper signals, resulting in deficiencies in movement and cognitive function.

It is extremely debilitating, and at this time there is no effective treatment.

Yet, there is hope. Researchers at McGill and the University of Alberta have made a discovery that could one day be used to prevent the symptoms and progression of the disease. While examining donated human brain tissues, scientists discovered that the

brains of MS patients have a high content of a protein called calnexin.

Compared to the brains of healthy patients, this protein is involved in controlling the blood-brain barrier’s functioning and protein quality control. The calnexin cycle is also a McGill discovery, which was defined and collaborated on by Dr. David Thomson and Dr. John Bergeron.

The blood-brain barrier plays a critical role in many CNS diseases, including MS. This is because the barrier restricts the transfer of cells and molecules to the CNS. When certain cells like T cells, which destroy the protective covering of neurons called myelin, permeate the blood-brain barrier, it disrupts the function of the nervous system and can compromise neuronal functioning. High calnexin levels increase the ability of T cells to access the brain. These cells permeate the blood-brain barrier and attack neurons, causing brain and spinal cord inflammation and nerve damage.

The high abundance of

calnexin in MS brain tissue has led scientists to believe that it must play a role in the development

“

This extraordinary move puts the focus away from profit, shifting it to ensuring that patients benefit [....]

”

of the disease. Researchers induced mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

(EAE). In a breakthrough in MS research, they found that mice lacking calnexin were resistant to EAE. Luis Agellon, professor at the McGill School of Human Nutrition and one of the researchers of this study, discussed the work’s potential in creating new therapies for the disease.

“We find that mice that are lacking calnexin show complete resistance to the consequences of EAE, which by extension suggests that they don’t get MS,” Agellon said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “This has opened the area of investigation that can produce ideas and therapies in preventing [...] and treating the disease.”

Agellon also discussed the future directions that MS research can take to manipulate calnexin in order to strengthen the blood-brain barrier.

“Now that we know that calnexin is involved in the pathogenesis of MS, we can see calnexin is necessary for T cell migration into the CNS,” Agellon

explained. “Removing calnexin strengthens the integrity of the barrier, which breaks down when there is MS. This allows T cells to gain access. The next step is to see how the loss of calnexin manages to strengthen the blood brain barrier.”

The prevalence of MS is two to three times higher in women than in men. Agellon highlighted research questions that could develop from this observation.

“Women are three times as likely as [men] to get MS,” Agellon said. “[Is] there something special about how cells are configured in females? Is calnexin overactive in women [permitting] the [disease’s] progression?”

Evidently, Agellon’s research is very promising. Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, with one in every 330 citizens living with the disease.

Research, like that conducted

by McGill and the University of Alberta brings medical advancements gradually closer to developing an effective treatment for this debilitating disease.

Immortality in the natural world Four animals that defy aging Emma Gillies Staff Writer Harry Potter fans know that Fawkes the phoenix’s fiery demise wasn’t the end of him; he was simply reborn from the ashes. Phoenixes, of course, are mythical creatures. Immortality in real animals is likely the stuff of fantasy.

Yet, as it turns out, biological immortality only refers to creatures that don’t exhibit signs of aging, and has been observed in animals such as tortoises, sea urchins, clams, and rockfish. Unlike humans and many other animals, these organisms show negligible senescence, or deterioration with age: As age progresses, death rates, reproduction, and survival characteristics like strength and mobility remain largely unchanged.

External forces such as predation, starvation, disease, and unfavourable environmental conditions still prevent animals from living forever. Internal problems that are not a result of aging, like kidney disease, may also cause biologically immortal organisms to die. Whether or not these animals can really live forever is difficult to predict since extremely old specimens are very rare and, in many cases, scientists have to kill an organism

The naked mole rat is the only known mammal that doesn’t show signs of aging.

(Taylor Burnett / The McGill Tribune) to measure its age. Nevertheless, these animals’ efforts warrant some recognition. Below are four creatures that defy aging as we know it.

genome to discover the secret behind its longevity. Living in cold water certainly helps, since low temperatures slow the metabolism and aging process.

Greenland shark Somniosus microcephalus Also known as ‘sleeper sharks’ for their slow movement, these massive Arctic fish are often blinded by parasites that feed on their eyes. Very little is known about the mysterious species, and our understanding is largely anecdotal. However, they’re believed to be the vertebrate that lives the longest.

According to a 2016 study in Science, these apex predators may live for more than 400 years.

Scientists are currently trying to sequence the shark’s

American lobster Homarus americanus These bottom-dwelling creatures live in the Atlantic Ocean off the Eastern coast of North America. They feed mainly on fish and molluscs, exhibit indeterminate growth—that in, they never stop growing—and regularly live for more than 50 years. Like other arthropods, lobsters must shed their shells to grow. Unfortunately, as this evidence of their age is literally molted away, it’s difficult for researchers to determine their true age.

Like the Greenland Shark, the American Lobster inhabits cold waters, which contributes to its age defiance by slowing its metabolism.

Another explanation lies in its telomeres, the caps that protect the ends of chromosomes during DNA replication. Since telomeres are shortened when chromosomes replicate, longer telomeres correspond to longer life because they protect a greater portion of the chromosome. According to a 1998 study published in FEBS Letters, telomerase—an enzyme that lengthens telomeres—is found in every organ of the American lobster’s body.

Naked mole rat Heterocephalus glaber Native to parts of East Africa, naked mole rats are hairless, wrinkled little rodents that live in almost pitchblack burrows. They co-exist in colonies of hundreds of individuals and exhibit a complex social structure similar to that of eusocial insects, in which there is a queen, a few breeding males, and many worker individuals.

These animals also can’t feel most types of pain, almost never get cancer, and are astoundingly tolerant to low-level or poor oxygen conditions. In fact, according to a study in eLife, they are the only known mammal

that doesn’t show signs of aging, making them the perfect model for human aging research.

Immortal jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii This tiny jellyfish is probably the closest a real-life creature can get to undergoing a similar transformation to Fawkes the phoenix. Found in the Mediterranean Sea and sometimes in the Atlantic Ocean, they can revert to an earlier stage in their development when threatened. They start life as planulae, or larvae, and eventually assemble with other planulae on the seafloor to create colonies of polyps. Through a form of asexual reproduction known as budding, in which an outgrowth formed from cell division develops into a new organism, medusae—the adult form of jellyfish—break off from the polyps to continue life in a free-swimming state.

When faced with stresses like starvation or injury, the adult jellyfish can revert to its polyp stage, eventually releasing medusae that are genetically identical to the original adult. This process of transforming specialized cells into other types of cells is called transdifferentiation, an important area of study in stem cell research.

cartoons 19

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Cartoons Hop of Progress / Daria Kiseleva

What Love is All About / Cordelia Cho

Getting to School in the Montreal Winter / Sabrina Girard-Lamas

Different Faculties as Animals / Sunny Kim

Mice @ McGill/ Winnie Lin

Voter Turnout / Erica Stefano

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

20 sports

Cassie Campbell-Pascall resigns as CWHL governor Canadian hockey legend leaves position to advocate for united women’s league Jordan Foy Staff Writer Within the world of North American women’s hockey, there is a growing movement to unite the two professional leagues: The Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) and the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL). This movement has gained significant momentum after hockey icon Cassie Campbell-Pascall—three-time Olympic Medalist and former captain of the Canadian women’s hockey team—voiced her support.

On March 20, Campbell-Pascall stepped down from her position as a governor of the CWHL. Her main reason for resigning was the ability to publicly speak about her beliefs regarding the merging of the CWHL and the NWHL. The most prominent advantage to unifying the leagues would be pooling talent. A unified, more competitive league would make it easier to attract fans and grow the sport because of increased star-versus-star matchups.

The CWHL includes seven teams across Canada, the United States, and China, and has

Cassie Campbell-Pascall, former governor of the CWHL, stepped down to advocate for unification with the NWHL. (Todd Korol / The Globe and Mail)

been in existence since 2007. The NWHL, meanwhile, debuted in 2015 and includes four teams based exclusively out of the United States.

News of Campbell-Pascall’s choice to leave the CWHL comes after comments

by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in an interview with Calgary radio station Sportsnet 960, in which he opined that there should be one women’s league, and that it is difficult for the NHL to engage with two leagues.

“I think there probably isn’t enough talent for two leagues right now,” Bettman said.

“Having two leagues makes it more difficult for us to get involved [.…] Women’s hockey need to get stronger, particularly if there’s going to be a meaningful pro league. Fragmentation doesn’t help in that pursuit.”

Indeed, a single unified league represents the best path for the sport moving forward. A unified league would mean that the game’s best players would be concentrated in one place, resulting in a higher level of competition— which would attract fans and grow the sport.

The increased competition could also improve the talent of future generations of players, further perpetuating growth.

In speaking out on the creation of a combined professional women’s league, Campbell-Pascall voiced frustration with the commissioners of each league: CWHL commissioner Brenda Andress and NWHL commissioner Dani Rylan.

“Both commissioners know what needs to happen,” Campbell-Pascall said on Sportsnet 960. “You have to point the finger at both

commissioners. If I’m commissioner and I hear Gary Bettman finally come public and say those comments, what am I waiting for and what am I doing?”

In a later interview with The Canadian Press, Campbell-Pascall reiterated that her focus was for the two leagues to join.

“I’m not at odds with the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, and I’m not at odds with the National Women’s Hockey League,” Campbell-Pascall said. “I’m at odds with why we haven’t become one.”

Her actions have prompted a plethora of players from both leagues to speak out about the matter, taking to social media using “#oneleague,” in a mass show of support.

Regardless of the importance of having one professional women’s league to fans and players alike, the logistics of merging the two leagues could prove problematic. But, from all accounts, it appears as if the topic is not something on the radar of either Andress or Rylan. Their lack of dialogue is certainly inhibiting the beginning of the process.

When Hilary Knight signed with Les Canadiennes earlier this month, the possibility arose that she might one day play alongside Olympic rival Marie-Philip Poulin, who took the end of the season off after participating in the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.

With one league, matchups and rosters like these will become the rule rather than the exception. It is important for professional sports leagues to market their stars, and a unified women’s league would certainly be conducive to this.

Montreal should get out of 2026 World Cup bid while it can

Overwhelming financial burden outweighs potential benefits Owen Gibbs Contributor The FIFA World Cup is undoubtedly the most popular sporting event on Earth. The world stops and watches every four years while the best of the best compete for international glory in the world’s most popular sport: Soccer. With all that exposure, hosting the World Cup can provide a country with a treasure trove of publicity, potentially increasing a nation’s international stature. Countries and cities clamour for the opportunity to host matches—an opportunity that Montreal may soon have as part of the North American bid to host the 2026 tournament.

Earlier this month, the leaders of the joint Canada-United States-Mexico bid officially submitted a proposal to FIFA, the sport’s international governing body. Montreal, Toronto, and Edmonton are the three potential Canadian host cities, with three Mexican cities and 17 American cities rounding out the proposal. The final list will not be confirmed until 2021, one year after the host is selected between North America’s bid and the Moroccan Football Federation’s. For Canadian fans, a North American World Cup may seem like a dream come true, but fan sentiment should not be the only factor in such a decision. In fact, a closer look makes one thing clear: Montreal should pull out of the bid as soon as possible.

Hosting the World Cup could be a disastrous prospect for a city like Montreal, primarily because of the associated financial strain. Prior to submission, Vancouver, Chicago, and Minneapolis all withdrew from the North America bid due to FIFA’s financial demands. While Minneapolis is a

relatively insignificant loss, the other two are major soccer hubs: Chicago hosted matches during the 1994 World Cup and is the home of U.S. national soccer, while Vancouver hosted the final of the 2015 Women’s World Cup. When asked about the decision, British Columbia Premier John Horgan explained that FIFA wanted a “blank cheque” to pay for expenses during the tournament. Chicago and Minneapolis cited similar concerns.

FIFA is not known for being kind to host cities with such blank cheques. Often, the government of the host city or region is expected to give FIFA access to an unlimited supply of taxpayer money to cover all expenses during the tournament, from athlete accommodation to security, to transportation, to stadium upgrades, or construction of a new stadium altogether. On that note, Montreal’s never fully operational Olympic Stadium has been gradually falling into disrepair, so either major renovations or a completely new venue would be necessary in order to host. Of course, the City of Montreal would be asked to foot the bill.

Furthermore, FIFA would be in charge of construction, and its human rights record is appalling.

According to The Guardian, FIFA has been complicit in creating abusive conditions for temporary foreign workers, including salaries below minimum wage and unsafe work environments. Construction for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has pushed FIFA to an appalling new low—including forced labour, worker intimidation, and media arrests. While such violations might not fly in Montreal, from a moral standpoint, it’s clearly the right choice to not get in bed with such a reprehensible organization.

Meanwhile, FIFA uses its considerable power

to negotiate tax exemptions, meaning that they escape with the lion’s share of the profits, robbing host nations of hundreds of millions of dollars.

FIFA’s profits from a single World Cup often exceed the billion-dollar mark. On the other hand, by some estimates, Montreal would hold no more than four competition matches, meaning that the city would

receive little in return for doing FIFA’s dirty work.

Time is running out for Montreal and the province of Quebec to pull out of the bid. If government officials know what is best for their city and wish to set a good example, they will do just that before Montreal is hit with an economic disaster beyond its control.