The McGill Tribune Vol. 36 Issue 7

NEWS “SSMU Council considers motion to provide female hygienic products” pg. 04

FEATURE “Pride and press: the ecosystem of McGill’s student media” pg. 08-09

The McGill Tribune

EDITORIAL: CLARIFYING MCGILL’S COMMUNICATION PROBLEM pg. 05

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

VOL. 36 ISSUE 7

PUBLISHED BY THE SPT, A STUDENT SOCIETY OF MCGILL UNIVERSITY

McGILLTRIBUNE.COM

A PLANNER WITH AN AGENDA School Schmool combines local art, activism in planner Marie Labrosse Contributor

Sarah Foulkes (left) and Becky Seltzer (right) star in TNC’s Ghost World. (Ava Zwolinski / The McGill Tribune)

TNC’s Ghost World brings the graphic novel to life Selin Altuntur Arts & Entertainment Editor Fans of indie classics, rejoice; Ghost World has been adapted for the stage, right on McGill soil.

Following the fragile relationship between best friends Enid (Becky Seltzer) and Becky (Sarah Foulkes), Ghost World is a portrait

of a bond that unravels under the strain of growing up. Told through conversational vignettes, the play stays true to the original graphic novel. Director Josie Teed’s stage adaptation of the graphic novel does a splendid job of capturing the relatable ennui of Clowe’s story in a way that resonates with a live audience.

The adaption was no easy task, however, and it may take a little getting used to for theatregoers who expect a certain amount of vitality and physicality in stage performances. The first few minutes of the production feel slightly awkward as its slow pace is established. Yet, the deliberateness of this choice

becomes clear after only a few minutes. Enid and Becky’s relationship is somewhat strained, and they don’t appear to like each other very much—their bond can be better described as a co-dependence. Their friendship is their only method of coping with their frustrations with the outside world.

PG. 10

Defining human appreciation for art and music Examining the neurophysiology of aesthetics Janine Xu Contributor “What do we think is beautiful?

How do our brains interpret what we perceive?” Physiology Professor Dr. Leon Glass asked the audience.

His presentation, as part of the Cutting Edge Lectures in Science

hosted by the Redpath Museum, discussed how chaos and fractals can be used to define human appreciation of art and music.

From strange music generated from computer algorithms to the aesthetics of images of Mandelbrot sets, the audience was drawn into a little-known world where art is

combined with science and math.

Chaos models find underlying patterns in a system which otherwise seem to be disordered or random.

The ‘butterfly effect’ is often cited as an example of this model—the metaphorical idea that a butterfly that flaps its wings in Brazil sets off a chain of reactions that eventually

pg. 11 - 13

causes a tornado in Kansas. In a mathematical sense, an example of chaos would be taking a number between one and zero, subtracting it from one, and multiplying it by four times the original. This results in a seemingly random string of numbers, essentially producing a chaotic sequence.

PG. 14

As the mayhem of the semester engulfs students, many find it difficult to keep track of their busy schedule. A planner can help with that. School Schmool, a multi-purpose agenda published yearly by the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) at McGill and Concordia, aims to do exactly that and more.

Presented as “your radical guide to your often unradical school,” School Schmool aims to bring together the activist student communities from McGill, Concordia, and Montreal at large. Aside from an agenda section, the 2016-2017 issue of School Schmool features poetry and visual artwork submitted by local artists and writers. The book also features articles addressing social justice issues, such as gender and racial equality, and a list of groups and resources available to Montreal students. These include health and counselling services, and student activist groups like the Union for Gender Empowerment.

The agenda is just one of QPIRG McGill’s many socialjustice oriented projects and endeavours. The student-run non-profit organization is the Quebec branch of Public Interest Research Groups, which began to emerge in the early 1970s in university campuses across the U.S. and Canada. As explained in the planner, QPIRG “conducts research, education, and action on environmental and social justice issues at McGill University and in the Montreal community.”

PG. 11

2 THE trIBUNE EXPLAINS Calvin Trottier-Chi Staff Writer What is the McGill Senate?

The McGill Senate was established in 1935 as an elected body intended to serve as a link between the McGill community and the Board of Governors (BoG). The BoG is partially comprised of elected Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) executives, with remaining members appointed by the administration. Officially, Senate is the highest governing academic body at McGill and debates and advises on policy related to academia, such as revisions to research misconduct policies and examination policies. The Senate is made up of 13 undergraduate representatives on behalf of SSMU, eight graduate representative on behalf of PGSS, and 90 faculty members and staff, including deans and professors elected from within each faculty. Elected faculty members serve for three years, whereas student representatives serve for one. The Principal and the SecretaryGeneral chair Senate meetings and have the responsibilities of moderating debate and giving the deciding vote in the event of a tie.

NEWS

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

M c G ill senate What does the McGill Senate Do? Being an academic body, the Senate focuses on curriculum decisions as well as academic research, and is influenced by the general desires of the student community.

By contrast, the BoG is recognized as McGill’s highest legal body. SSMU VicePresident University Affairs Erin Sobat expressed displeasure that such an arrangement delegates the Senate to the role of an advisory body, with the majority of decision-making happening within the Board and, thus, without much student influence.

“A lot of things that come to Senate are already decided on at the committee level or the administrative level,” Sobat said.

“Oftentimes, when something is brought up that’s more operational in nature, usually they’re administrative decisions that they don’t want to discuss more publically, they’ll say that it’s a matter for the Board and we can’t talk about it [at Senate].”

Regular Meetings, Joint Board-Senate Meeting, and Confidential Sessions There are three arrangements of Senate meetings: Senate’s regular committee meetings, the annual Joint Board-Senate meeting, and confidential sessions.

The Senate is composed of several committees, most of which meet once a

month. It has regular standing committees that do not change over time and can create ad hoc committees to address emerging issues. It also has standing regulation committees that are convened when specific regulations are enacted–such as the Committee on Student Grievances–which meets only when a student files a complaint against a university employee.

The Joint Board-Senate meeting has members of the BoG and Senate meet once a year to discuss an important theme.

While no binding decisions are made at these meetings, they are important for fostering discussion and cooperation between these two governing bodies. At the end of each meeting, members are asked to suggest next year’s theme. The theme for 2016-2017 is “McGill’s Sustainability Plans and Initiatives” and past years’ themes have included “Designing a Smart Campus for the 21st Century” and “Mental Health at McGill University.”

“Board members and Senators are asked to fill out a questionnaire after each Joint Board-Senate meeting; one of the questions is for suggestions of topics for future meetings,” Secretary General Edyta Rogowska said. “No decisions are made [at the meeting], it is simply an opportunity for the Board and the Senate to

(May Lim / The McGill Tribune) discuss matters they consider relevant to the university’s mission.”

Senate can also meet confidentially on topics related to private affairs of individuals.

“In practice, [confidential sessions are] generally [for] the Report of the Honorary Degrees and Convocations Committee which contains recommendations on honorary degree recipients and recipients for other awards,” Rogowska said.

Potential national marijuana legislation to be voted on in Spring 2017 McGill professor to sit on federal advisory task force Chelsea Chen Contributor Following a history of prohibition and criminalization since 1923, the legalization of marijuana will soon be brought to a vote in Canada. The Liberal government will be announcing their new legislation in the spring of 2017, in line with their current platform.

A nine-member task force of experts was formed to advise the Canadian government on how to best move forward with its plan to legalize marijuana. The Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation has engaged with the public, government officials, indigenous peoples, youth, and health experts across Canada. Dr. Mark Ware, a cannabinoid researcher and a professor of Family Medicine at McGill, is the vice-chair of the task force. According to Ware, the discussion is not whether Canada should legalize marijuana, but how to best legalize it.

“We haven’t made any recommendations,” Dr. Ware said in an email to The Tribune. “We are still deliberating on the input that we’ve received.”

Dr. Caleb Abaka Bouhairie, a McGill Medicine alumni and a Montreal physician, believes that marijuana may hold promise for patients suffering from a variety of diseases.

“From a medicinal perspective, there is a growing body of literature that describes both their harmful and their potentially beneficial effects [in treatments for] epilepsy, certain chronic pain disorders, anorexia, cachexia, glaucoma, and refractory nausea,” Dr. Bouhairie wrote in an email to The Tribune.

Kapil Sareen-Khanna, U3 Medicine,

tologist and pain researcher at the Research says that the medical community has yet to Institute of the McGill University Health see a trend of long-term damage from mariCentre, and a professor of medicine at Mcjuana use.

Gill, commented on the uncertainties that “[Decades after the onset of widespread surround marijuana. cigarette use, we’ve seen] women’s lung “This is a lot of basic scientific knowlcancer and heart disease rates still just hitedge about the cannabinoid system,” ting the plateau and trying to curve downDr. Fitzcharles said. “However, it is a wards [whereas] men’s have started to leap of faith to jump from curve down earlier,” Sareen-Khanna [our understanding of] said. “But with weed, we haven’t seen that system to the use of any huge associations marijuana in the patient [in trends].” population.”

According D r . to Sareen-KhanFitzcharles exna, the arguments plained that deagainst the legalspite the growization of ing body of scimarijuana entific literature, are similar there is still not to those that enough clinican be made cal evidence against other that supports drugs, such as the claim used alcohol and by proponents of letobacco: Ingalization that marcreased poten(Justine Touchon / The McGill Tribune) ijuana-based meditial for substance cines are effective abuse, adverse and useful for large populations of people. side-effects, and the risk of addiction. How“The medical world has not yet done ever, marijuana has medicinal properties its due diligence to provide the evidence for whereas many other legal drugs do not. the safety of using marijuana in many condi“The active compounds called cannabitions, particularly in the rheumatic diseases,” noids [found in marijuana] act on cannabiDr. Fitzcharles said. “We have no knowledge noid receptors […] in the gut to reduce pain, of what marijuana combined with other increase mobility, and reduce inflammation drugs would do, let alone what marijuana and in the amygdala, the part of the brain does on its own.” that processes anxiety and fear,” SareenAccording to Dr. Fitzcharles, the prohiKhanna said. “[But] officially, it’s not really bition of marijuana has presented a challenge approved, there’s no real medical approval to necessary scientific research. She believes [for marijuana use]” that without such clinical evidence, researchDr. Mary-Ann Fitzcharles, a rheuma-

ers cannot expect to be adequately educated about the effects of marijuana.

“It’s been extremely difficult,” Dr. Fitzcharles said. “There is no question that with all the legalities and illegalities of marijuana, the clinical researchers have had great difficulties with moving ahead with research.

As physicians who base our management on evidence, we have to advocate for the good and proper research” Andrew DiNunzio, U4 Science, feels that marijuana is already widely accessible for recreational users in Montreal.

“Every Sunday, if you go to Tam-Tams [in Mount Royal Park], you can smell the weed, and the cops are right there,” DiNunzio said. “People smoke there all the time.

I don’t think things will be much different under the new law.”

McGill Director of Internal Communications, Doug Sweet, stated that it is too early to speculate on how the legalization of marijuana will affect the university campus.

In connection with the movement towards a smoke-free campus, Sweet said that all forms of smoking will be covered by the university’s smoking policy.

“We presume that whatever smoking policy will be in effect at McGill at the time will apply,” Sweet said.

According to Dr. Fitzcharles, with Spring 2017 fast approaching, the public needs to be mindful that with the advent of the new marijuana legislation comes a wave of new concerns.

“The public generally believes that marijuana is safe and is not addictive […] most importantly, that you are safe to drive,” Dr. Fitzcharles said. “We must acknowledge that marijuana is not a panacea. It’s not an agent without any negative consequences.”

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

SSMU hosts second annual Student Academic Summit Talks demystify university advocacy

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NEWS Kahnawake tutoring program enters fourth year

Students in grades 7-11 paired with McGill student tutors and mentors

Holly Cabrera Staff Writer On Oct. 15, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) held its second annual Student Academic Summit to educate students on how to effect change on campus through university governance systems. The summit consisted of discussions focused on university advocacy and addressing upcoming initiatives, including faculty-based mental health programming, McGill’s Draft Policy Against Sexual Violence, the Library Improvement Fund, as well as the Office for Students with Disabilities’ (OSD) new Universal Design for Learning (UDL) toolkit.

According Erin Sobat, SSMU Vice-President (VP) University Affairs and organizer of the event, this year’s summit was targeted not only at student representatives but also anyone interested in effecting meaningful change at McGill.

“Certainly we want not just to reach students who are already involved, but we also want to make sure that [students] have concrete ways to act,” Sobat said. “The goal of this whole day is SSMU playing this coordinating role where we can provide resources, referrals, and contacts for students to take on [these initiatives] because we just don’t have the capacity to do it all, and we’re also not best suited to advocate for something in a particular department, unlike the students who are most engaged in that department or even just students taking classes.”

Sobat admits that McGill’s governance may appear ambiguous to many students. As such, he intended for the summit to clarify policy development in governance structures.

“Understandably, students don’t have a full picture of how the university is structured in terms of governance and decision-making,” said Sobat. “Even for elected [representatives] or elected Senators, it often takes them a few months of their role to actually understand where they fit and everything, and what can they do [….] I hope [the summit] makes [it...] more clear, because it can be intimidating” A portion of the summit was dedicated to the UDL toolkit, an educational framework meant to accommodate different learning styles. In the presentation, Associate Director of the OSD Tanja Beck emphasized how professors can use the UDL toolkit to provide a more inclusive learning experience and to improve evaluation methods for students without disabilities.

“Professors have a concern that it will lower academic standards, which is really something that we’re not going for at all,” Beck said. “It’s so important for faculty to know what they really want to assess. They need to ask themselves, ‘Am I really assessing if [students] can write by hand or can they also type the essay? Is it really necessary for students to sit down and do a test in 3 hours or can they do it over two days as a take-home exam?’ Once they’ve clearly identified those [priorities], it’s a lot easier to decide when they can be flexible and when they can’t. And that’s really the starting point of UDL.” According to Elizabeth Reed, U2 Arts student and VP Academic for the Anthropology Students’ Association (ASA), felt that the summit solidified her understanding of students’ rights and introduced her to resources she can recommend to those struggling with their studies.

“It’s been really helpful to hear more about what I can do for the people I’m supposed to represent,” Reed said.

Moreover, for Reed, the summit shed light on how to advance projects as a student representative. She felt the summit was helpful in showing her where she can go for help when trying to enact change in her department.

“It’s hard to find that information somewhere else, so these kind of summits are useful because I found out stuff today [...] that could really help my projects and the projects of my colleagues [on the ASA],” Reed said.

pleting homework is a positive achievement and relieves a lot McGill student volunteers tutor for an hour and a half every Wednesday at Kahnawake Survival School. (Kahnawake Survival School)

Alexia Martel-Desjardins Contributor The Ronteweiénstha Tehontatia’takéhnhen tutoring and separate mentorship programs at the Kahnawake Survival School (KSS), both run by the Social Equity and Diversity Education (SEDE) Office at McGill, held their first sessions of the year on Oct. 5 and Oct. 17 respectively. KSS is a community-run middle and high school serving students from the Kahnawake reservation near Montreal.

According to Allan Vicaire, Indigenous Education advisor at SEDE and program coordinator, programs at KSS were first launched in 2013.

“The tutoring program is entering its fourth year, and the mentorship program is entering its [… second] and a half year [...],” said Allan Vicaire.

According to Petal McComber, guidance counselor at KSS and coordinator of the tutoring program, the student attendance varies based on the KSS students’ academic schedule “It is open to all students from [grade] seven to eleven,” McComber said. “There can be 12 students one week and more on other weeks as exams are closer.”

On Wednesday afternoons, McGill students spend an hour and a half tutoring in Kahnawake. According to Vicaire, the program aims to help teachers bring all the students to the same level, especially in mathematics.

“From my understanding, the students in Kahnawake have access to three different elementary schools, so then I think when they come into KSS, it’s not all the same curriculum, so [they] all have a very different knowledge of mathematics,” Vicaire said.

The KSS students participate in the tutoring program voluntarily or at their teacher’s request. Vicaire noted that participation rates tend to increase as students become familiar with the program and create connections with tutors.

“It’s been remarkable to see the same students come out each week […],” Vicaire said. “Every year we always go through a little kind of bump and after […] we build that trust […] we have more participation from our [McGill] students and their students.”

Hannah Arseneau-Danielis, a U3 Education student who participated as a tutor last year, has observed the benefits of the program.

“I have noticed positive differences in many students over the course of the school year, both in terms of their academic performance and behaviour,” Arseneau-Danielis said.

“I think this is related to a student’s confidence [….] Com-

of stress, while simultaneously boosting their confidence.”

In the mentorship program, KSS students are matched with a university student who can help them prepare for CEGEP. Vicaire explains that leaving the close-knit Kahnawake community and school area may be intimidating and McGill students can provide advice and reassurance.

“Their classes are small, [... they’re] 12 people, so that means they are always with the same people […] but when they get outside the community it can be overwhelming,” Vicaire said. “We pair up grade 11 students with McGill students […] and during the year there’s about six to eight activities.”

Vicaire emphasized the holistic approach of the program, which is to inform Kahnawake students about all the aspects surrounding post-secondary education, beyond their future programs and courses.

“We want to focus […] on [the idea that] going to university is also more than just a career, it’s more about being a transformative experience […] whether you want to join a sports team, or you want to be politically active […] there are so many options,” Vicaire said.

According to McComber, KSS students have given positive feedback on the opportunity to interact with older students.

“The students find it useful as they network and have a contact person that has gone through CEGEP and university, that have experienced similar issues that they may encounter,” McComber said.

All McGill students are welcome to participate in the tutoring program. Arseneau-Danielis thinks increased involvement of education students would enhance the positive impacts of the tutoring sessions, since their skills are of particular relevance to the program.

“We have a lot to offer as future teachers because we are receiving specialized training in this field [….],” ArseneauDanielis said. “I think the program is extremely beneficial and a great addition to the McGill and greater Montreal community.”

Rachel Simmons, a research assistant to the chair of the Department of Family Medicine who graduated with master’s degree from McGill in 2015, participated in the program last year and felt that the tutoring sessions benefited both tutors and tutees.

“I think the tutors learn a lot too,” Simmons said. “I certainly learned a lot about a community that struggles with high-school dropout rates, and how to still achieve meaningful progress academically even if you may not have access to all the resources you are used to.”

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NEWS

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

SSMU Council considers motion to provide female hygienic products AMUSE bargaining process and Musician’s Collection fee discussed Cherry Ng Staff Writer On Oct. 13, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) legislative council discussed motions supporting the Association of McGill University Supports Employees (AMUSE) collective bargaining and distribution of free menstrual hygiene products. The meeting also covered the creation of a fee for the Musician’s Collective and increasing the student fee for Midnight Kitchen.

Free Menstrual Hygiene Products Fee SSMU President Ben Ger presenteSSMU President Ben Ger presented a motion that would support the creation of a fund for freely supplying and distributing menstrual products on campus to undergraduate students. According to Ger, the purpose of the motion is to focus on advocacy for the provision of free products and will be funded by a provisional fee of $1.68 per student per semester if approved by the student body.

The higher pricing of products labeled ‘feminine’ and the perception of menstrual products as luxury goods are examples of the gendering of products.

In comparison, items that are used by both genders—such as toilet paper—are supplied for free.

“A large part of this motion is about advocacy,” Ger said. “There will be education awareness, like lobbying around the gendering of products and the pricing discrimination surrounding the gendering of hygiene products.”

Elaine Patterson, VP Student Life, explained the logistics behind the distribution of menstrual products. “[We] have done research on providing different types of menstrual products, mostly tampons and pads,” Patterson said. “We have research on different suppliers [....] The idea is that with [the $1.68] fee, there will be 20 pads and tampons for each student per cycle.”

According to Patterson, if not all tampons and pads get used, the leftover money will go towards alternative menstrual care products in the following school year.

AMUSE Collective Bargaining AMUSE, a labour union that represents casual or temporary employees at McGill, is currently in the process of bargaining for a new collective agreement for its workers that regulates the terms and conditions of employees in

the workplace. According to Claire Michela, president of AMUSE, independent research found that the average living wage in Montreal is $15.38 per hour: however, many AMUSE employees are paid $10.85.

“We compared our situation with McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA) employees who work similar jobs for more hours,” Michela said. “They get lots of benefits that we don’t. This [mandate] is basically regarding our demands which are basically to raise our wages, to make our jobs more stable, [and] to increase accessibility for students.”

Richard (Tre) Mansdoerfer, an engineering representative, voiced concern that small campus businesses may be forced to cut staff if the minimum wage is raised.

“It’s awesome to increase [the] minimum wage, [...] but for something like Frostbite [that only has] four employees who are paid $12 an hour, [...] an increase to $15 can mean that they can only hire three people,” Mansdoerfer said. “So, instead of increasing the amount of money available to every person, you increase the wage, but you have one person take a hit.”

When asked if raising wages will

Council members discuss motion to provide free female hygenic products. (Noah Sutton / The McGill Tribune) come at the cost of reducing the amount free of charge. To financially support the of available jobs, Michela said that this Musician’s Collective, an opt-outable $0.10 fee per student per semester was would not be the case.

“Casuals are doing more of the proposed.

The fee will be used to cover mainwork than ever,” Michela said. “Casuals are and still would be way cheaper tenance costs of the jam space. Patterson labour than MUNACA labour. It makes explained that SSMU’s general operatsense to keep hiring casual employees. I ing budget can no longer support the don’t think [cutting jobs] is very likely Musician’s Collective.

“All the expenses incurred by the to happen.”

Musician’s Collective [were] subsidized Creation of a Musician’s Collective by the SSMU’s operational budget,” Patterson said. “Typically that ended Fee Since its designation as a service up being $2,000 of SSMU’s operating in 2012, the Musician’s Collective has budget. SSMU’s operating budget is [no been subsidized by the SSMU general longer] able to subsidize things like [the operating budget. The Musician’s Col- Musician’s Collective] because [subsilective provides a public ‘jam space’ that dizing] is a non sustainable way of fundcan be booked by any McGill student, ing a service.”

Bioengineering department seeks to form undergraduate society

Engineering Undergradute Society suggests 2018 starting date Holly Cabrera Staff Writer Following the Quebec Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement’s approval of McGill University’s bioengineering undergraduate program in June 2016, students of the department are now campaigning for their own society.

First year bioengineering students Niloufar Serajmehdizadeh and Itai Wine have been elected as representatives to shadow Chemical Engineering Students’ Society (CHESS) and McGill Association of Mechanical Engineers (MAME) respectively, in order learn about the operations of a student group.

By forming an undergraduate society, bioengineering students look to gain access to their own student lounge, establish formal connections with companies in their field, schedule workshops and outings that would help advance students’ careers, and maintain a relationship with department heads.

Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) Council President Jean-Louis Shi, U4 Mechanical Engineering, stressed that student representatives should learn how EUS operates before diving into their own projects. Shi intends for a bioengineering society to be established in two years.

“Most of our departments have 400 students on average,” Shi said. “With only 30 students in the department, we tried to make sure that [the bioengineering department] have the right resources, the right tools to create events, and have their own services and initiatives. Within these two years, we’ll build up the leadership of a future bioengineering department […] we want to give them an understanding [of] how to work with the EUS. Unfortunately, a lot of things

there is no rule saying that you need to be [a certain] amount of people to start a student society.”

The EUS Council gave voting privileges to a single bioengineering representative present at meeting on Oct 12. Serajmehdizadeh and Wine will therefore take turns voting on EUS Council motions.

“I felt that they still needed a voice,” Shi said. “I decided to pass a motion to give the bioengineering class one vote at council. So, now they at least have representation on council.”

Despite submitting a petition to the EUS, the motion to create a bioengineering student society has been postponed to the following EUS Council meeting on the grounds that the Council Professor Yu Xia lectures bioengineering students. (Noah Sutton / The McGill Tribune) speaker was not notified 72 hours prior. However, in an email to The Tribune, Serajmehdizadeh in our society are not written down. It’s a lot of attributed this delay to a misunderstanding beMAME President Dimitri Calomiris reiterated passed down knowledge of how to organize tween both parties. the impossibility of forming a bioengineering events.”

“The motion got postponed due to miscomsociety this year.

Serajmehdizadeh voiced her dissatisfaction munication on both sides,” Serajmehdizadeh “It takes a large amount of planning, knowlwith the lack of functions dedicated to bioengisaid. “EUS is actually cooperating with us now edge, and funding,” Calomiris wrote. “It is inneering students. and [Shi] agreed to have a meeting with all the credibly unfeasible for a brand new department “We are invited to [other engineering deBUSS (Bioengineering Undergraduate Student to set up an operational society this year. As such, partments’] events but a lot of their events don’t Society) execs and discuss the possibility of a mechanical took a representative to show the bioapply to us,” Serajmehdizadeh said. “[CHESS] student society.” engineering students how things are run on our gets tours for a chemical factory, but it’s not reShi confirmed that he would meet with both side such that they can follow in our footsteps.” ally relevant to [bioengineering] students. This is bioengineering representatives on Oct. 24.

Serajmehdizadeh insists that there are no one of our main arguments for why we want our “We’re going to meet them and have a chat strained relations between the bioengineering own student society with our own events. Right with the whole society that they created,” Shi department, CHESS, and MAME. Even so, she now, we’re shadowing these two student societsaid. “We’ll ask them to meet us more regularly voiced frustration with the EUS. ies [CHESS and MAME] because we don’t have if they want to go forward with this. Right now, “Our main tension is with EUS [….] Before [our own society].”

I’m not sure if they’re aware of the technicalities reaching out to CHESS, we were reaching out As part of their student fees, bioengineerof how to run events with the EUS. If they don’t to EUS itself to start a student society, but they ing students contribute to a student society fund. want to do the chaperoning [with CHESS and weren’t agreeing with it,” Serajmehdizadeh said.

However, due to the small number of students MAME], we have to make sure they have the ‘They were like you have to wait. You’re not a lot enrolled in the program, this capital amounts to right learning path because that’s the most crucial of people. But then Kerry Lawless [President of approximately $200. In an email to The Tribune, aspect of creating a society.”

CHESS] sent me the constitution of the EUS and

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Opinion

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

e d i to r i a l

Editor-in-Chief Julia Dick editor@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Natalie Vineberg nvineberg@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors April Barrett abarrett@mcgilltribune.com Nicholas Jasinski njasinski@mcgilltribune.com News Editors Jenna Stanwood, Sara Cullen, William Pang news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editors Emma Avery & David Watson opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editor Lydia Kaprelian scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Living Editor Audrey Carleton studentliving@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Albert Park features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Selin Altuntur & Evelyn Goessling arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Zikomo Smith & Aaron Rose sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Domitille Biehlmann & Daniel Freed design@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editor L-A Benoit photo@mcgilltribune.com Multimedia Editor Noah Sutton multimedia@mcgilltribune.com Web Developers Clare Lyle webdev@mcgilltribune.com Daniel Lutes online@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Areni Nicoghosian copy@mcgilltribune.com Business Manager Mingye Chen business@mcgilltribune.com

Clarifying McGill’s communication problem In a recent sit-down with The McGill Tribune and other campus media, McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier stated that because McGill is a large community, communication will always be a critique of the administration. While this comment should not be taken out of context, it raises questions about what communication at a university entails. The McGill administration is often criticized for a lack of transparency and communication, making it important to distinguish between the two.

Transparency refers to the availability of information regarding university policies, decisions, and procedures.

Although related, this is an entirely different grounds for critique than that of communication. Communication itself is a vague concept, and perhaps all members of the McGill community are in part guilty of speaking out against a lack of communication before properly defining what it means. The Tribune acknowledges that it has in the past criticized the university for a lack of communication in regards to specific issues; it is therefore important to clarify the terms involved in these conversations.

The rhetoric surrounding communication must distinguish between the dissemination of and engagement with information. The former is the university’s responsibility, but the latter requires active involvement from students, student leaders, and administrators. The McGill Office of Communications and External Relations addresses five areas

off the board

Advertising Executives Richard Blaser, Alexander Beaumont, Zain Hussain ads@mcgilltribune.com Publisher Chad Ronalds

TPS Board of Directors

Mingye Chen, Julia Dick, Audrey Carleton, Shrinkhala Dawadi, Arman Bery, Clare Fogarty, Arden Li

Staff Writers

Christopher Li, Margaux Delalex, Morgan Davis, Julia Metraux, Arman Bery, Nicole Spadotto, Joe Khammar, Alexandra Harvey, Lauren Benson-Armer, Eric NobleMarks, Ariella Garmaise, Jacqueline Houston, Calvin Trottier-Chi, Cherry Ng, Holly Cabrera, Ava Zwolinski, Andy Wang, Izze Siemann, Justine Touchon, Ceci Steyn, Alissa Zilber, Cordelia Cho, Madeline Kinney,

Contributors

Alexia Martel-Desjardins, Amber Hord, Chelsea Chen, David Cohn, Elias Blahacek, Flaminia Cooper, Gabriel Rincon, Jake Cruickshank, Dr.Andrew Potter, Gibran Haque, Janine Xu, Jeannie Richardson, Marie Labrosse, Miguel Principe, Patrick Beacham Wasif Husain

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.

Sara Cullen News Editor There is a pervasive cycling culture in Montreal; dozens of bike shops are dotted throughout the city and there is a persistent set of cyclists who are dedicated to riding their bikes even during the winter months. Despite the presence of a thriving cycling culture, active transportation infrastructure leaves something to be desired in Montreal.

The city has space to improve upon the pre-existing set of bike paths and should be doing more to increase the amount of bicycles on the road.

The benefits of active transportation, which include reducing the amount of traffic on major roads and decreasing fuel consumption, demonstrate that it is time for cities to promote this type of transit. In order to do so, city plan-

of communication. The two of primary concern are Internal Communications and Communications Services. The former refers to “ensuring that members of the community are well-informed of any major University news, events, and announcements.” This includes publishing content on The McGill Reporter.

The latter includes the management of McGill’s various websites.

In keeping these aspects of communication in mind, McGill does a reasonable job of communicating information to its students via email. “What’s New” communications emails highlight everything from new policies and services to faculty achievements and external recognition. Principal Fortier sends summary emails to all members of the university community after every Board of Governors meeting.

Inevitably, there is an element of public relations and image management to university communications emails and The McGill Reporter. However, this inclusion of news unrelated to governance waters down communications about important policy decision-making processes, perhaps contributing to student perceptions that the university fails to adequately communicate to them.

Furthermore, mass emails can be alienating when they take an official university stance on specific issues without acknowledging student voices—or at least showing a genuine willingness to listen to them. While dissemination falls squarely on the university’s shoulders, engagement is a multifaceted issue that

illustrates the two-way street of communication at post-secondary institutions.

At the same time, students must differentiate availability of information from engagement with that information.

The administration cannot be expected to anticipate what kinds of issues students want to be communicated with about. If students are dissatisfied with McGill’s communications, they should voice these concerns concretely. Communication is a complex task, and the administration must reflect on why it has been criticized and what can be done to resolve the issue. The university must not resign itself to the inevitability of such issues without actively seeking a solution.

Furthermore, it is in McGill’s best interests for its students to be engaged with administrative decisions and policies. When students become apathetic, they are more likely to jump to uninformed criticism. In this regard, Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens’ newly planned Student Life and Learning Liaison Group— which will meet twice a semester “to learn, consult, and collaborate on topics important to students”—has the potential to generate more effective communications strategies that will increase student engagement.

In order to further improve this communication, McGill should consider creating an opt-in checklist of email listservs that students could choose to subscribe to. While university emails

regarding important developments to student services or policies should remain mandatory, students would benefit from the ability to choose what information they are interested in receiving.

This would help students to feel less inundated and more likely to ingest information that they view as relevant.

Another possibility would be for members of the administration to hold town-hall or question-and-answer sessions on issues that are typically inaccessible to students, such as on policy and governance decisions. As an example, in a “What’s New” communications email sent on Oct. 16, McGill announced that it will be holding a town-hall on the university’s budgeting process on Oct. 24. Students should take advantage of these opportunities to provide direct feedback to the administration.

Ultimately, solving—or at least mitigating—critiques of McGill’s communications requires students and administration to meet in the middle. It is ironic that Principal Fortier chose to lament critiques of communication during an interview with campus media; if communication is criticized, McGill must reflect on why this is the case, and actively seek strategies to combat this issue. Defaulting to the position that communication issues are unavoidable is not productive. Likewise, students cannot blindly criticize the university about its communications if they are not doing their part to engage with the information they do receive.

Safer bike infrastructure the route to gender parity among cyclists ners must consider the factors that deter people from cycling in the first place, one of which is the danger associated with riding a bicycle. According to a Montreal police report, the amount of cyclist deaths in the city has gone up by 50 per cent.

Many people are not aware that cycling is an activity that tends to have disproportionate numbers of male and female riders. A recent Ryerson University study found that by providing increased safe cycling infrastructure, the amount of female riders is likely to increase—challenging the predominantly male cycling culture. By making overall improvements to the cycling transport system, the City of Montreal can create a more inclusive cycling space that encourages all genders to use active transportation for their daily commutes.

The element of risk associated with urban cycling is something that—while important to both sexes—has a greater effect on females. A Deakin University study on female participation in cycling has shown that women are less likely to engage in risk-taking behaviour, and therefore show less of a preference for cycling than men. The 2011 National Household Survey found that only 36 per cent of cyclists in the Montreal area are female, demonstrating that cycling is indeed a male dominated method of transportation. Since women are more

likely to be held back by the dangers associated with cycling, improving cycling infrastructure is crucial. Creating safer infrastructure will make cycling more appealing to those who do not currently consider it to be a viable method of transportation.

It is not that women are less partial to cycling, but that the current infrastructure does not provide cyclists— particularly females—with a desirable level of safety. The city has expressed a desire to create a safer environment for cyclists with the release of plan called Vision Zéro, which promises to target certain unsafe intersections and reduce the amount of cyclist injuries. No timeline has yet been presented, however, and certain aspects are still vague. For example, the plan states one of their short-term actions will be to “develop a bicycle plan based on cyclist safety,” but gives no information on what this entails. While the creation of this plan is a step in the right direction, the city will need to offer more details before cyclists can be assured that their safety is a priority.

Because of the insufficient cycling infrastructure and the disproportionate numbers of male cyclists in Montreal, certain women’s cycling groups, such as Vélobabes, are currently working to foster a more female-inclusive cycling community without making changes to

the built environment. Started in 2014, Vélobabes is a bi-monthly social ride club open to female-identifying cyclists.

Despite the wide reach of Montreal’s bike culture, this is one of the only female-centric cycling clubs easily found with a Google search. If the city was to prioritize the safety of bicyclists, studies show that there would there be a greater female presence in the Montreal bike scene. It’s time for Montreal to prove that this is the case.

While Montreal is taking a step towards safe cycling infrastructure with Vision Zéro, a concrete plan with realistic deadlines needs to be shared with the cycling community. The city has expressed that it values the safety of cyclists, but has not yet acknowledged the gender disparity that exists among them.

Safe active transportation has the potential to benefit users—regardless of their gender—and should be an area of focus for the city. According to a Rutgers University study, more cyclist-friendly cities, including several in Germany and the Netherlands, do not report a large difference in numbers between male and female cyclists. This demonstrates that a more equitable cycling system is possible. By developing safer cycling infrastructure, Montreal can increase not only the total number of cyclists on

its roads, but the gender parity among this group as well.

6 CAMPUS C O N V ER S A T I O N

OPINION

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Justin Trudeau’s promises, one year in

Wednesday, Oct. 19 marks the first anniversary of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s election. One year after campaigning on a promise of “real change” for Canadians, what has Trudeau accomplished so far in office? We asked members of the McGill community to evaluate the Prime Minister on some of his core issues, including marijuana legalization, gender equality, electoral reform, foreign policy, and immigration and refugee policy. Read more responses at www.mcgilltribune.com/opinion.

Foreign policy does not live up to goal of global leadership Gabriel Rincon Contributor

Central to Prime Minister Trudeau’s election campaign was a shift in foreign policy from the Harper era. Three key policy proposals marking the change of administration were ending the Iraq combat mission, committing to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions, and restoring Canadian leadership in promoting global safety and peace. Unfortunately, Trudeau has failed to fulfill these promises after a year in office.

While Trudeau kept his word and withdrew all Canadian fighter jets from Iraq and Syria, Canadian special forces remain in Iraq in a combat capacity. The special forces’ mission is to train Kurdish fighters for their fight against ISIS; however, Brigadier-General Peter Dawe, deputy commander, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, has told reporters that the mission is slowly evolving from “a more defensive posture to more offensive one,” as Canadian forces are beginning to exchange fire with ISIS fighters. Trudeau’s campaign proposal did include training for Kurdish forces, so he has kept that promise. However, Canadian troops engaging in firefights definitely violates the spirit of the Trudeau’s pledge to end the combat mission.

As for the promotion of world safety and peace, peacekeepers have yet to be deployed and Trudeau has made two decisions that compromise Canada’s international human rights leadership.

According to defence officials, likely destinations for Canadian peacekeepers are Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, which would make for exceptionally dangerous blue-helmet peacekeeping missions. Given the risk inherent in these potential peacekeeping deployments, it would be difficult to fault Trudeau for taking the time to carefully consider which mission is the best fit for Canadian peacekeepers. However, in other policy initiatives, Trudeau’s actions have not matched his ‘peace and safety’ rhetoric.

Despite warnings that the arms might be used against civilians, the Trudeau government allowed a Canadian company to sell $15 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia. Here the strong principles of Canadian leadership and world safety were outweighed by economic factors.

Similarly, on his trip to China, Trudeau and Chinese leaders discussed an extradition treaty between the two nations. The concern with this treaty is that it would allow China to persecute economic and political dissidents after they entered the supposed asylum of Canada. Thus, potential economic relations with China have led Trudeau to consider compromising human rights protection for political refugees.

After a year, Trudeau’s foreign policy has been produced ambiguous results. The change of tone and rhetoric from the Harper era showing support for international efforts, like peacekeeping, is commendable. However, Canadian troops directly engaging ISIS betrays his promise to end the combat mission in Iraq. And the possible Chinese extradition treaty and the Saudi arms deal tarnish Trudeau’s promised global leadership. These broken promises hardly reverse the fear that Trudeau is all talk and little substance.

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On track for marijuana legalization

Electoral reform yet another unkept promise

Jake Cruickshank Contributor

Marijuana reform was an important aspect of Justin Trudeau’s 2015 election campaign, as he incorporated legalization into the Liberal Party’s official platform. In order to maintain the positive sentiment his exceedingly canny social-media PR team has engendered among young voters, it was a policy on which he had to follow through. And he did not disappoint: During his first year in office, Trudeau’s government has been steadfast in his push for marijuana legalization.

Trudeau’s government has worked steadily towards marijuana legalization since taking office. Just over six months into his term, the federal government launched the Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation—a nine-member group comprised of experts in the fields of medicine, law enforcement, and substance abuse. The task force, per the Government of Canada website, will “seek input on the design of a new system to legalize, strictly regulate, and restrict access to marijuana. Their advice will be considered by the Government of Canada as the new framework is developed.”

With the task force established as an engine to advise the government on marijuana legalization, skeptics might have worried that the legalization movement within government would become isolated from day-to-day business of government and lose steam. But the task force has been busy, running an online survey over the summer focused on marijuana legalization that received over 30,000 responses. The task force is set to review the responses and incorporate them into a report, which is going to be presented to Prime Minister Trudeau in November.

While there hasn’t yet been any major policy change in the realm of marijuana—Trudeau nixed the idea of pre-legalization decriminalization—this is the result of Trudeau’s careful approach. He has avoided rushing into faulty or hastily-formed policy, instead assuring consistent behind-the-scenes progress. Since assuming office, the Prime Minister has not shown a single sign of wavering on this issue.

Trudeau should be applauded for making consistent progress and is on track to fulfill his promise to legalize marijuana i n 2017.

Andrew Potter Director, McGill Institute for the Study of Canada

When Justin Trudeau swore in his first cabinet last Nov. 4, one of the big surprises was the inclusion of the rookie MP from Peterborough, Maryam Monsef. As minister of democratic institutions, her job would be to make good on Trudeau’s pledge that the 2015 vote would be the last federal election held under the “first-past-the-post” electoral system.

Not only was Monsef very young and very inexperienced politically, but she also had no obvious familiarity, let alone expertise, with the file. And so the punters gathered on opposite sides of the betting pool: On the cynical side were those convinced that Trudeau had made the promise in haste, regretted it, and giving it to a politically weak minister was the best way of making sure it didn’t go anywhere. Across from them were the optimists who believed that Trudeau intended to take personal charge of the file, and that Monsef’s job was to act as the public relations advocate for the reform package that would be developed in the deepest recesses of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Almost a year later, it’s clear that the cynics were—as usual— justified, because electoral reform is going nowhere under this government, though not because Monsef hasn’t thrown herself into the job. After a serious misstep over the committee membership and some deer-in-headlights moments, she’s become a capable advocate for reform. She has a handbook, a hashtag, and electoral reform zealot Elizabeth May on her side. She’s even managed to convince some of her cabinet colleagues to hold #ERRE [Electoral Reform, Réforme Électorale] town halls.

Not that it matters. University of British Columbia political scientist Ken Carty is a veteran of the provincial attempts at electoral reform over the last decade. And as he argues in a new paper written for the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, there is one common thread to the failures of reform in Ontario, Quebec, BC, and the Maritimes—it is the complete absence of political leadership from the relevant premier.

The upshot is that if Justin Trudeau doesn’t get religion on the need for reform, it’s simply not going to happen. That is why Monsef’s big problem is the one person she needs to bring on board seems either uninterested or unconvinced. And with time running out and lots of places to spend his political capital, electoral reform is looking like yet another Liberal promise that will go unkept.

Andrew Potter is the Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. In cooperation with the Faculty of Law, MISC is hosting a workshop on electoral reform on Nov. 1. For details visit mcgill.ca/misc

(Alejandra Morales / The McGill Tribune)

Student Living

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

7

A planner with an agenda

School Schmool combines local art, activism in planner Marie Labrosse Contributor Continued from page 1.

School Schmool already has an extensive history as a QPIRG project, as it dates back to 1994. At the time, it was an independent bi-annual publication, which included group profiles, articles, and resources for Montreal students, especially those interested in the social and environmental justice issues central to QPIRG’s mandate. When the project was revived in 2006, it followed those same principles while adding a second focus: The agenda.

School Schmool now aims to be the ultimate tool to track both students’ busy academic and activist schedules.

For QPIRG McGill’s Outreach Coordinator and recent McGill graduate Raphaële Frison, School Schmool has retained its original purpose, while expanding upon it. “[ School Schmool] was

revived as more of an agenda, but still has that original idea of being a resource guide,” Frison said. “We have articles, mixtapes, music suggestions, recipes, astrology. All sorts of things.”

As a collaborative project between the McGill and Concordia branches of QPIRG, School Schmool is representative of the united and diverse activist community that surrounds the organizations. The variety of material featured in the agenda illustrates QPIRG’s efforts to educate and engage students in justice issues that affect the community. For example, an article on intersectional feminism is followed by a “beginner’s guide to herbalism.” The planner also offers tips for the everyday life of a student. The “Super Broke-Ass Guide to Montreal: Students” offers advice in a tone that ranges from straightforward to hilariously enlightening, listing tips such as, “live with lots of roommates,” or “scam yuppies, [because…] yuppies

will pay a shit ton of money for things you might already be doing,” or even, “sabotage your local bank/government office/university administration building,” just for fun.

As an agenda, School Schmool has to compete with the many other options supplied by McGill and Concordia, as well as all those found in mainstream stationery stores. The planner’s editorial board pinpoints this competition as one of the reasons for the creation of the alternative planner. “ School Schmool was created because people felt that agendas provided by McGill were way too capitalist,” Annie Chen, a co-coordinator of this year’s issue and recent McGill graduate, said. “They had too many ads which were featured, dependent on having the financial resources to buy ads.”

By being financially independent, School Schmool editors aim to banish what they perceive as an endless capitalist system perpetuated

by the alternatives provided by other student organizations and departments.

“I contributed a couple bucks for the agenda because it really matters to me that it’s ad free,” Aidan GilchristBlackwood, U3 Arts student and owner of a School Schmool agenda, said. “To me, the financial model shows that collectively-financed and collectively-supported projects can work, which I think is an especially important message in the context of austerity.”

School Schmool’s success supersedes a simple opposition to the capitalist system; it aims to act as a comprehensive activist tool for the university student.

Chen estimates that the latest edition of the agenda is one of QPIRG’s most successful yet.

“The agenda goes beyond what’s been done with previous publications,” Chen said. “The activist purpose of the project has only gotten stronger over time. One of the mandates of School Schmool is to provide

students with things they would never learn otherwise, and I think we’ve achieved that.”

Students who have purchased the agenda also find that School Schmool is not only a useful organizing tool, but also a successfully informative project.

“I really love the texts,” Gilchrist-Blackwood said. “I feel like I’ve learned a lot through them about the organizing context of McGill and Montreal.”

By combining a helpful planner section with engaging artwork and instructive resources about social justice issues of concern for students, School Schmool transcends the purpose of a simple agenda and becomes an essential tool in the arsenal of all politicallydedicated students.

School Schmool 2016-2017 is still available at various locations across McGill— including the QPIRG Office, Midnight Kitchen, and Organic Campus—and across Concordia, while in stock.

Stick n’ poke tattoo culture spreads across Montreal

DIY tattoos make body art more comfortable and financially accessible Amber Hord Contributor The centuries-old stick n’ poke tattooing technique has skyrocketed in popularity in North America since the 1960s. These DIY tattoos are made by dipping a needle in tattoo ink and repeatedly puncturing the skin. Specifically in Montreal, stick n’ poke tattoos have become increasingly common in recent years as a less expensive alternative to tattoos executed with guns.

Stick n’ poke

tattoos cater to a different clientele than traditional tattoos, not only in their affordability, but also in their unique aesthetic. Though they can differ greatly in style, stick n’ poke tattoos are often characterized by their unique intricate designs. This minimalistic aesthetic of stick n’ pokes cannot be achieved as successfully with gun tattoos.

“Stick n’ poke offers a different visual effect, as it can be more pointillist,” Toronto-based

Stick n’ poke tattoos are a more financially accessible alternative to traditional tattoos. (Daria Kiselava / The McGill Tribune)

stick n’ poke artist Fion Liu said.

“Also, with stick n’ poke, you can control how deep the needle can go, unlike tattoos done with guns.”

Much like with traditional tattoos, the designs that clients choose vary a lot depending on the style of the artist. For example, some of Liu’s pieces employ the same image layering technique in three different colours, but each tattoo has a subject that is unique to the client.

“For the most part, people tend to get artist’s [pre-drawn designs on] flash sheets a lot and embrace the unique aesthetic of each artist,” Liu said. “Generally stick n’ poke artists [...] stick with small to medium sized tattoos.”

In addition to the aesthetic differences between gun tattoos and stick n’ pokes, the latter cut expenses for both the artist and the client. There is no standard fee, and stick n’ poke artists don’t have to give a portion of their earnings to the shop or parlour at which they’re employed, as traditional tattoo artists do. This is one of the driving forces behind the recent boom in popularity of stick n’ poke among students in Montreal.

“Stick n’ pokes are cheaper than normal tattoos,” Chloe Rowen, U3 Arts, said. “It’s convenient too.

I got mine in my apartment while I was drinking and hanging out with

friends. I was listening to music and had people distracting me, it was great.”

The flexibility and convenience of stick n’ poke tattoos is another key factor in their growth. If the proper tools are available, stick n’ poke tattooing can be performed anywhere, at anytime, by anyone.

Liu, for example, has given tattoos backstage at concerts and in the smoking rooms at concert venues.

It is also common among students to give and receive stick n’ pokes in a friend’s apartment or at a house party.

“While some sessions are planned and even paid for, it’s also common that people see my stick n’ pokes at a party, and ask for one on the spot,” Mayson MillerThompson, U3 Arts student and local artist, said.

For many, the idea of getting a tattoo in an unregulated space brings up issues of safety and sanitation. Miller-Thompson and Liu both stress safety as important to keep in mind, even though, according to Liu, stick n’ pokes heal more quickly and easily than traditional tattoos.

“I’ve given around 100 stick n’ pokes, and no one has ever gotten an infection,” MillerThompson said. “One of the most important things to remember is to use gloves. Also, I notice that

people are more comfortable when I unwrap a sterile needle in front of them.”

There is no doubt that social media has helped facilitate the surge of stick n’ pokes. Platforms like Instagram help stick n’ poke artists to develop their brand and share the specific aesthetic of their tattoos with a wider audience. Liu also attributes much of the rise of stick n’ poke tattoos across Canada to Bunz, a trade-based online community for exchanging goods and services. The site provides a platform for people to connect with stick n’ poke artists in their city, and allows them to trade items, goods, and services for tattoos instead of paying for them.

“The scene on Bunz has been spreading the word of stick n’ poke quite broadly,” Liu said. “The cheap cost and fast-paced design process are also perks that attract more people to stick n’ poke.”

Stick n’ poke tattoos provide a strong complement to the model of accessibility—financial, and otherwise—that Bunz maintains.

Therein lies the undercurrent of its spread across student communities in Montreal; stick n’ poke tattoos are a source of body art that meets the limits of student wallets, and allows the comfort and flexibility to self-decorate in an environment of one’s choice.

tor at The Daily explains the role the paper serves in providing a platform for those who don’t always get to have their voices heard at McGill. “[The Daily’s] Statement of Principles relates to who we give space [to], or what we try to prioritize in terms of what traditionally doesn’t get coverage [in the media] or what we think that we can cover in a more critical or inclusive way,” Ionescu said.

However, she stresses that even though The Daily deals with anti-oppressive politics, this doesn’t mean that it is selective in who it allows to write articles—something she sees as a common misconception among the student body.

“Because we deal with anti-oppressive politics, I think that people find that [...] inaccessible almost,” Ionescu said. “People think that we very exclusively cover those kinds of [...] events, but a lot of times those are just the people who come to us. More or less anyone can write for us. We’ll reject a piece in very rare cases.”

Although it is difficult to gauge the exact effect of campus media on the administration and student societies’ decisions, both Alam and Ionescu point to the role of campus media in bringing attention to student activism and demands for change on specific issues. To this end, student publications editorialize and report on various issues pertaining to campus, such as sexual assault and divestment.

Telling stories

Pride and press: The ecosystem of McGill’s student media (Laurie-Anne Benoit / The McGill Tribune)

Emma Avery Opinion Editor

G

rowing up, I always answered the ubiquitous question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ with the word ‘journalist.’ Of course, I didn’t know nearly half of what the term meant, and even now am only beginning to scratch the surface of it. I simply knew that I had a passion for writing and understanding other people; journalism seemed like the logical follow-up to that drive.

However, the declining state of the journalism industry today is daunting.

PostMedia, Canada’s largest newspaper chain, cut 90 jobs in Jan. 2015. In the third quarter of 2016, it reported a $23.7 million loss, with print advertising revenues down 19.4 per cent. In Sept. 2015, Montreal’s La Presse laid off 158 employees. It now only prints on Saturdays, instead publishing daily content on its app. In August, The Toronto Star laid off 52 employees.

Student journalists are of course aware of the reality of the journalism industry; campus publications are exploring ways to transition into online content, increase their social media presence, and attract more readers. At the same time, McGill’s student publications are fortunate in that their readership levels are not directly correlated with their survival. The McGill Tribune, The McGill Daily, and Le Délit are all independent student groups primarily funded by student fees. The Tribune is published by the Societé de Publication de la Tribune, and The Daily and Le Délit are published by the Daily Publications Society, and both receive student fees. Other publications—such as The Bull & Bear and The McGill Students’ Business Review—receive funding from the Faculty of Management. In the face of a struggling newspaper industry, student newspapers remain somewhat insulated.

In fact, campus journalism at McGill seems to be growing. The Faculty of Management’s The Bull & Bear and the Faculty of Arts’ Leacock’s were both recently reinvigorated. Last year, two new publications were introduced to the McGill community—The McGill Students’ Business Review and The Tab McGill. Such developments at least indicate an increase in the number of student publications on campus. However, numbers alone do not represent the full story. The mosaic of in-

dividual experiences with student journalism reveals the diversity in the passion of individual editors and writers, and the diversity of roles that different publications seek to play on campus.

Impact on student life For Mayaz Alam, former editor-in-chief at The McGill Tribune and current digital editor at The Globe and Mail, the role of a student newspaper is twofold: On one hand, it should bring attention to student accomplishments. Even in the smaller local-interest stories—such as stories of individual student athletes or student research—he sees concrete examples of how student publications can and do impact the student body, and put a spotlight on something that students may not have been aware of.

“One of the biggest responsibilities of a student newspaper […] is to cover things that highlight student achievement and student initiatives,” Alam said. “I think in that regard, [throughout my time as an editor] we were able to change or have an impact on student discourse or student life.”

At the same time, there is also the goal of having the voice of the newspaper make a difference in students’ lives and sway governance decisions. As an editorial board, making an impact on campus decision-making can be trickier—but is equally important.

“In terms of the impact on [the student body], it really is a mixed bag, because it’s hard to get students [at large] to care,” Alam said. “[The Tribune will] write things that [… Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executives and Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) executives and…] the McGill administration care about, but it doesn’t necessarily resonate with the student population.”

The McGill Daily is McGill’s oldest student publication, and has evolved from its roots as a sports broadsheet. Sonia Ionescu, U2 Science and coordinating edi-

In terms of maximizing the impact student publications can have in swaying campus sentiments, the question becomes one of figuring out what student interests are and defining a niche somewhere within that sphere.

As McGill’s only French publication, Le Délit aims to promote francophones at McGill. Yves Boju, U3 Arts and production coordinator at Le Délit, explains how the paper sheds light on another side of the McGill community that other groups don’t always highlight. “[When students are from] Montreal, they don’t necessarily move out of their parents’ to residence in first year, so they get less involved in the whole McGill community,” Boju said. “[We’re] not [working] against anglophones at McGill, just to present a different view of what McGill is.”

Théophile Vareille, U3 Arts and news editor at Le Délit, adds that the purpose of Le Délit is not just to be a French translation of English news on campus, but rather to highlight events within the francophone community and to promote those voices.

“We have the role to make sure that the French language remains alive and dynamic on campus,” Vareille said. “Every one of our readers speaks and reads English so we’re not aiming to just be a [French] version of The Daily or The Tribune, but to actually provide something different or more [related to] Montreal.”

For Julia Dick, U4 Arts and current editor-in-chief at The McGill Tribune, understanding the reason behind a publication’s existence is inseparable from both the question of how to engage readers and the question of why engagement and readership matter.

“Something that I really believe is crucial for [...] outreach and engagement [...] is sharing stories about The Tribune with people, and teaching the community more about what The Tribune is [and] why we exist on campus,” Dick said. “When people understand the why of any organization, whether it’s in journalism or [not], engagement is the natural second step.

When you have a clearly identifiable identity and something for people to relate to or to be curious about, that leads into engagement and readership.”

Even once engagement has been achieved, there is a line to be drawn between telling stories that publications think their readers want to read, and telling ones that they feel ought to be told. At McGill, this dynamic often involves the general student apathy towards SSMU and anything student politics-related, in contrast to a common sentiment among campus publications that these issues absolutely need to be covered. “[There is a] general hostility towards anything that’s even loosely connected to SSMU or student politics,” Vareille said. “I fear more the lack of interest of students than the general decline of newspapers.”

With the sheer amount of content available to readers online, it can be difficult for readers to sift through the clickbait articles and for publications to get the important—but perhaps less entertaining—stories read.

“The freedom of the press is a very integral part of any

democracy,” Alam said. “With that role, we have to make sure that even if something isn’t doing well analytically or if people aren’t clicking on it, if it’s the story of the day and it has journalistic merit, it is our responsibility to promote that and to get people reading it in whatever way we can. Because it does matter, and people deserve to know and have a right to know about certain things that are going on.”

Experiences of student journalism Telling stories may be the overarching essence of journalism, but there are a variety of reasons why students get involved in campus publications. Some dream of working in journalism, some see it as short-term endeavour, while others fall into it entirely by chance.

Alam explains how being a journalist was never his plan—he started as a sports contributor, not because he wanted to be a journalist, but because he wanted to be involved in the sports community at McGill. Even after his first year as a contributor, he never intended to become an editor. Three years later, he works for one of the largest newspapers in the country.

“I don’t have your typical journalism story,” Alam said. “I never wanted to be a journalist growing up. I sort of fell into this through the back door [...] and it became my life.”

For others, journalism remains an uncertain dream. Vareille got into student journalism because of a passion for writing; however, on whether he will pursue professional journalism after graduating, he remains unsure.

“Not necessarily,” Vareille said. “It would be a pipe dream. Today, it’s probably pretty hard to do. Even if I don’t manage to get into journalism, I think being [...] part of an actual newspaper in university has been my most valuable experience.”

Some students seek out a stronger connection to the McGill community through journalism and reporting. Katherine Hutter, U2 Arts, is a news reporter for The Bull & Bear. Although she is not planning to pursue journalism in the long run, being involved with the magazine has made her feel more in touch with the community and more invested in student issues.

“My amount of effort and dedication that I want to put into it has grown since I’ve started, because I see the potential that the publication [has] and all the stories we could cover,” Hutter said. “Now, whenever I walk around campus, I always have an eye out for something I could report on, and I like to research and see what’s going on.”

Alam echoes Hutter’s feeling that McGill can leave students to figure everything out on their own.

McGill is an internationally recognized school, but its research focus—combined with its lack of funding—leaves little room for it to provide enough work experience opportunities for students. Undergraduate lectures are often large and impersonal, whereas creating a newspaper gives students the chance to apply creative, analytical, and problem-solving skills in an intimate team environment.

“My time at The Tribune prepared me more for life after McGill than McGill did,” Alam said. “Generally, [...] McGill prioritizes research more than anything else. But, a lot of people go to university hoping that it will prepare them for the job market and McGill doesn’t necessarily do a good job of that based on how the curriculum is structured […] especially in the Faculty of Arts [….] The Tribune gave me real life experiences before I stepped out into the real world and that was something that McGill didn’t necessarily give me.”

Telling stories about student politics and issues happening on campus can be both exciting and fulfilling. Hutter describes the thrill in rushing to report breaking news events and conducting interviews.

“My favourite part is probably, weirdly enough, deadlines,” Hutter said. “There’s this sense of pressure […] it’s not something I have to do, but I really want to do it [….] I like that pressure [….] There’s something exciting about that.”

There is also excitement in working within a motivated and passionate team environment and being invested in the creation of something unique. Dick explains that working for a newspaper offers countless opportunities for her to witness the people she works with express creativity and individual freedom in working towards a common goal.

“I love watching [editors and contributors] figure out what space they want to fill on campus with their section and

how what they’re doing in the section comes together within the whole paper,” Dick said. “People come to me with all these amazing ideas and all I have to do is say ‘Yeah, totally, that sounds amazing.’ [The people are] what make me very excited to come into work each day.”

The fact that so many are still involved and deeply invested in student journalism, despite the uncertain future of the Canadian industry, points to journalism’s relevance beyond the supposed death of the daily print newspaper.

While forms of news and media may be evolving, the investigative drive to tell stories and expose the truth is fundamentally human.

What matters is how journalists make sure those voices are heard.

“I don’t necessarily think reporting is going to change that much— the analytical skills of reporters and the doggedness and the passion they have for finding the truth—I think that’s still going to be a driving force of how people get the news,” Alam said. “The bigger aspect is going to be in h o w w e

“

The mosaic of individual experiences with student journalism reveals the diversity in the passions of individual editors and writers, and the diversity of roles that different publications seek to play on campus.

as a n industry try and get the news in front of people’s eyeballs, and how we can get them to pay attention [….] Because there’s a lot more content out there, it’s harder to get people to focus on what you’re doing and why your story matters.”

In my experience, telling stories that matter is about listening. From coverage of campus politics, to advocating for change on specific issues, to highlighting student achievements, to writing a good piece of satire every once in awhile, student journalism is inextricable from student life—whether or not all members of the community choose to read it. While one hopes that campus media does resonate with student interest, in the end, it’s about listening to what others have to say and trying to critically understand where they are coming from and what can be added to that conversation.

”

10

Student Living

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

WORD ON THE Y How do you take care of yourself during midterms?

As midterm season takes over, many McGill students fall victim to stress, putting self-care on the back burner. In a new column titled Word on the Y, in which students passing by the Y-intersection voice their perspective on a question, The McGill Tribune heard from students on how they take care of themselves during midterm season.

Jeannie Richardson, Flaminia Cooper, Daniel Freed & Audrey Carleton Contributor, Contributor, Design Editor & Student Living Editor

Sara Harvey, U1 English Literature

David Aird, Vice-President (VP) External of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)

“I find drinking during midterms actually calms me down. A glass of wine, or three, or six shots of tequila. If you take a break from an essay you’re writing, it’s really, really chill.”

“Oh shit, nothing. I slept in my office last night, it was terrible. I don’t take good care of myself at all. Is that bad?”

Graeme Balint, U3 Electrical Engineering

Maya Koparkar, U2 International Development Studies

“I’m really anal about getting enough sleep, so if an exam is the next morning at [9 a.m.], I’ll go to bed by 1, even if I don’t feel prepared at all. I’d rather be wellrested than cram for another four hours and not get enough sleep.”

“I [sometimes have] midterm anxiety, so I got a colouring book, and it has a bunch of positive messages in it. It’s really cheesy, I know, but it’s like, ‘You did better than you thought,’ so if I have to come home after a long day studying at McLennan, I’ll just throw on Netflix and colour, and zone out.”

Ellie Solloway, U2 Honours Political Science and Sociology “I would say if you have the capacity to take the day before your midterm slow, then go for it. If you’re not cramming, you should be taking it slow that day, because it helps centre yourself. And work on visualization. Visualizing how you would do well on an exam, because it helps build your confidence, and it also is proven to improve your results.”Ellie

Julie Chouinard, U2 Chemical Engineering “I force myself to take nice long showers, and do all the shit that I would normally do, like condition and moisturize.”

Solloway, U2 Honours Political Science and Socio

Xander Smit, U3 Economics Ben Butz-Weidner, U3 Political Science and History “Sitting in the sun, that makes a world of difference. When you’re just in the library all day, you don’t get your vitamin D. The sun makes everyone happy.”

“When I get my coffee in the morning, I’ll buy a treat, and then I’ll wait [until] later in the day when I get some work done, and then I get to reward myself with it. Plus drinking a lot of water. If you don’t drink water, you end up getting sick.”

Ben Butz-Weidner, U3 Political Science and History

Students reveal their self-care strategies . (Flaminia Cooper / The McGill Tribune)

11

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Robert Mapplethorpe zooms in on explicit scenes with finesse

Focus: Perfection exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Tara Allen-Flanagan Contributor When thinking of museum walls, one does not typically imagine blown-up photographs of leather-clad men engaging in sexual acts. In museums, penises are meant to be covered with little leafs, or left flaccid.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ current temporary exhibit Focus: Perfection is the late Robert Mapplethorpe’s largest to date. The exhibit plays with viewers’ expectations and presents sexually explicit scenes as high art. What one would typically keep a secret is thrust into the public eye; however, the atmosphere is anything but awkward.

Mapplethorpe is famous for his controversial images, probing portraits, and selfprofessed goal of capturing perfection in photographic form.

Monochromatic portraits of the New York art scene’s brightest members, such as Patti Smith and Yoko Ono, line the walls of the largest exhibition room.

These walls are accented with shades of purple—the colour of royalty, an intentional choice given Mapplethorpe’s tendency

to seek aristocratic company.

Faint sounds of punk rock music play from speakers, and the exhibit features a large display of art relating to Mapplethorpe’s artistic relationship with Smith.

In the next room, the mood is pensive and mysterious. The quiet music and dim lighting in the portrait hall is interrupted by a caution sign. Visitors are warned by signs at the entrance that if they venture through the rooms on either side of the hallway, they will see sexually explicit content. If they do not wish to see such content, they can remain in the centre hall to look at still life photographs of flowers, the first component of Mapplethorpe’s X, Y, Z series—a later project in which he revisits his favourite subjects.

However, if visitors look at the spaces between these floral photographs, they will catch a glimpse of the extremely sexual scenes that are being showcased in the rooms beyond. The display is fully revealed when one enters the side rooms, where the second component of the series is displayed: A sequence of photographs of gay couples engaging in sadomasochism.

Rather than marveling at the

Mapplethorpe’s photography is highly sculptural. (mbam.qc.ca)

pornographic imagery on display, viewers appreciate how beautifully it is presented.

Mapplethorpe’s photographs, presented in black and white, are smooth and flawlessly lit. His technique alone demarcates him as a master of his craft.

The classical music playing in the background of the next room seems jarring when considering the salacious display

in the previous area. Pictures of black men in contorted positions are shown next to images of marble statues. These statues challenge high art’s longstanding tradition of sculpting bodies out of white marble—a trend which implicates that whiteness is a hallmark of high art. This comparison has been criticized as fetizhising, but it is important to note that Mapplethorpe treats the bodies of most of his subjects as sculptural objects. In his nonportrait works, personal identity takes a backseat to aesthetic perfection.

Mapplethorpe’s technique certainly succeeds in pleasing the eye.

The final space of the exhibit focuses on the reception of Mapplethorpe’s work, which was exhibited at a crucial time during the American Culture Wars of the 1980s and 90s. Many groups protested the presentation of his work in museums due to its so-called scandalous nature, and claimed his work was not art.

In interviews from the 1980s, shown on the wall alongside the critiques, many interviewees compliment his formal technique and treatment of sensitive subjects. Each of Mapplethorpe’s photographs reveal the hand of

a perfectionist and a confident master. As the interviewees claim, his work should be treated accordingly. Although the critical comments are valid, they seem to intentionally avoid talking about the taboo subjects that the photographs overtly address. Focusing on formal attributes over subject matter plays into Mapplethorpe’s artistic intentions: The viewer is not meant to focus on the subject, but on the beautiful way the subject is presented.

Some viewers believed Mapplethorpe was glorifying porn, presenting salacious photographs as art in order to gain notoriety. These critics, however, must have never seen his art in person. Mapplethorpe’s sincerity is apparent through the awe-inspiring mastery of his technique. One would be hard pressed to find another room in the world where it feels comfortable to view explicit sexual scenes while standing next to strangers.

This exhibit runs at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts until Jan. 22. Admission is $12 for those under 30, $20 for ages 30 and up.

Learn more at mbam.qc.ca.

Amanda Knox: Faux femme fatale

Netflix’s documentary explores sexism in media and judicial systems Ariella Garmaise Staff Writer Following the success of true crime series Making a Murderer, Netflix released its documentary Amanda Knox on Sept. 30. The film recounts the arrest and acquittal of American exchange student Amanda Knox and her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecitio in the murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher. Directors Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn take a different approach to the true crime drama genre; Unlike its predecessors, Amanda Knox is not a ‘whodunnit.’ McGinn explained on late night talk show Chelsea earlier this month; “The Italian court system has already settled that story.” Instead, the film takes a look at why the Amanda Knox trial ignited a cultural obsession, and investigates the media’s construction of this decade’s most famous faux femme fatale.

“There are those who believe my innocence and there are those who believe in my guilt. There’s no in-between,” a weary and intentionally made-down Knox muses to an off-camera interviewer

at the beginning of the documentary.

“Either I’m a psychopath in sheep’s clothing, or I am you.”

While chilling, Knox’s monologue fails to capture why the American public was so compelled by her story. The media did not follow Knox because she was some kind of an ‘everywoman.’ The documentary makes sure to remind its audience at each stage of its narrative that Knox is exceptionally beautiful.

The documentary questions whether her looks play any role in her verdict. Knox seems equally confused by the unprecedented character assassination the Italian prosecution launched against her.

“You’re trying to find the answers in my eyes when the answer is right over there,” she exclaims retrospectively in the documentary, responding to the court declaration that the DNA evidence the prosecution found is illegitimate and contaminated.

Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini’s entire case against Knox was character-based, contorted to fit a preconceived perception of guilt. In their reporting, Mignini and his henchmen depicted Knox

as a beautiful girl who tricked her innocent boyfriend into carrying out a heinous sex-crime. Throughout the entire trial, Knox’s sexuality was synonymous with her guilt.

The documentary goes beyond how Mignini convicted Knox by painting her as a dangerous seductress, and instead explores the ways in which the media as a whole was complicit with this narrative.

As most reviews have gleefully pointed out, the real villain in the Amanda Knox trial was English Daily Mail journalist, Nick Pisa. Sleazily charming and undeservedly smug, Pisa denies any responsibility for the false stories he wrote about Knox.

Rather, he contends that factchecking was unrealistic because, “then I let my rival get in there first before me, and then, hey I’ve lost a scoop.” Pisa compares the rush he felt getting front page stories to “having sex,”—a fitting metaphor, considering the ways in which he and the rest of the media sexualized Knox. They referred to her as “Foxy Knoxy,” her Myspace username. When Italian prison officials falsely led Knox to believe she was HIV positive, newspapers

Knox’s looks were argued as evidence of her guilt. (People.com)

leaked a private entry from her diary in which she listed all the men with whom she had been sexually involved. Publishing increasingly outrageous accusations of Amanda’s sexual history, Pisa and his cohorts were concerned not with the specifics of a murder trial, but with satiating their readers’ darker appetites.

The sexism that both prosecutors and media perpetuated in the Amanda Knox trial still resides in the public psyche. Just as Knox’s good looks were evidence

of her guilt, her big blue eyes were painted by some publications as proof of her innocence. While Knox is a household name, her Italian boyfriend, who was also convicted in the murder, is often forgotten.

Amanda Knox is a compelling documentary because its horror lies not in the gory details of a murder trial, but in the ways in which the sexism ingrained the in media leaks over into the judicial system.

Amanda Knox is available to stream on Netflix.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

12

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

TNC’s Ghost World brings the graphic novel to life

Becky Seltzer stars in TNC’s Ghost World. (Ava Zwolinski / The McGill Tribune)

Selin Altuntur Arts & Entertainement Editor Continued from page 1.

This portrayal of adolescent female friendship is nonetheless deeply relatable, particularly when their relationship’s

P op R h etori c

subtle competitive edge becomes more apparent.

Enid’s decision to apply to college sets their friendship into a tailspin as Becky struggles with feelings of inadequacy and her fear of being left behind. Meanwhile, Enid is anguished with lingering self-hatred and a profound need to be accepted by others. The play

resonates deeply with anyone who has experienced uneasiness over impending changes and the heartbreak of losing a confidant due to choices that lead to different paths.

Seltzer and Foulkes do a masterful job of portraying such complicated characters, delivering haughty dialogue under a thin veil of emotional pain. It can be especially difficult for an actor to be true to a character that hides how they feel. Seltzer perfectly captures the soulless, uncaring persona Enid tries to embody.

Becky and Enid spend most of their spare time toying with unassuming men, whose attention is a temporary treatment for their insecurities. Josh, Becky and Enid’s endearingly befuddled friend, is played by John Hanchar. Hanchar’s gives a sympathetic performance of Josh—he is perpetually confused by the girls’ oscillation between neediness and apathy. Jake Belman’s portrayal of John Ellis, an overly-friendly astrologer, is convincingly creepy; the unease he evokes demonstrates Belman’s skill in depicting Ellis as the distasteful individual he is.

Teed makes one particularly risky decision in staging scenes where Enid and Becky interact with less important characters—she often positions the other

characters with their backs toward the audience.

This is an unconventional choice that initially seems amateurish, though it serves a clear purpose. Having these secondary characters appear faceless emphasizes how Enid and Becky see outsiders as objects to be toyed with.

Teed’s unusual blocking focuses on the main characters’ reactions.

Arranged against a pastel pink and blue set that appears lifted from the pages of the graphic novel, this theatrical rendition of Ghost World is a faithful reenactment of the cult classic with enough individuality to stand on its own. Each performer evidently developed a personal connection to their roles, contributing to success of the total production. The emotional honesty of their performances will move an audience of students who might sometimes feel like ghosts drifting through life, unclear as to where they are being taken.

Ghost World, presented by Tuesday Night Cafe Theatre, runs from Oct. 19 through Oct. 22 in Morice Hall in the Islamic Studies Building. Admission is $6 for students and seniors and $10 for general admission. To reserve tickets email tnc.foh@gmail.com.

A ne w b att l e f ie l d in t h e f i g h t o v er v i d eo g ames

Battlefield 1 introduces a century-old war to a new generation

David Watson Opinion Editor There is something oddly familiar about the criticism levelled against Battlefield 1, the next installment of Electronic Arts (EA)’s hugely successful military franchise, after the game was revealed in early May 2016. Just as all other oncenovel entertainment trends—such as television, rock, and rap music had to face in their infancies—video games have had to bear the brunt of the predictable, alarmist reaction from those convinced it will destroy the morality and common decency of young people.

The moral panic surrounding video games has largely subsided as of late, thanks in part to the lack of evidence to suggest a link between violent games and criminal behaviour, and the increasing popularity of video games. A recent survey showed that those who have experience with video games are six times less likely to

believe that playing video games can be correlated to mass shootings.

The recent criticism of Battlefield 1, while tinted by the game-bashing of years past, has taken on a somewhat new form. After the release of just 60 seconds of footage from a game that will feature dozens of hours of gameplay, some were already intent on denouncing it. These critics honed in on the one aspect that set Battlefield 1 apart from other major titles: It’s a game about the First World War. Critics argued that, while games inspired by historical events are okay in theory, game developers should steer clear of this particular conflict.

As one skeptic, Jake Muncy, wrote for Wired, the First World War is not an appropriate setting since it “offers no clear-cut narrative of heroism or villainy, just squabbling dynasties vying for their own interests in a particularly brutal war.”

The underlying assumption here is that video games aren’t an intellectual medium, and are ill-suited

to portray ‘serious’ realities like those of the infamous ‘War to End all Wars.’

This mistaken assumption would put video games in a subordinate category, below other art forms like books, music, television, and film—all of which extensively document the First World War. Video games have come a long way in recent years, and many have earned critical acclaim for their immersive, profound storytelling abilities. 2013’s The Last of Us and 2014’s Grand Theft Auto V both earned top-notch reviews for their immersive narratives. The former is a gripping post-apocalyptic story and the latter “an intelligent and sharp-tongued satire of contemporary America,” according to critic Dan Stapleton in 2014. Not to mention, big-name Hollywood actors such as Kevin Spacey, Ellen Page, and Game of Thrones star Kit Harington have all appeared in recent games as voice and motion capture actors; a trend that suggests that Hollywood has already acknowledged the gaming

Battlefield 1’s trailer is visceral and poignant. (vg247.com)

industry as a valid medium to tell serious, compelling stories.

Yet perhaps the most obvious sign that games are up to the task of portraying the First World War is Battlefield 1. The campaign trailer, released in late September, is a powerful display of the game’s storytelling potential. In it we see the war through the eyes of a diverse cast of characters: An African-American soldier on the Western Front, a British tank crew, a pair of Allied pilots, a Bedouin woman fighting alongside Lawrence of Arabia. The trauma of the war is shown through their eyes; the dialogue and action presents their various motivations, fears, and experiences.

The result is nuanced, visceral, and poignant: everything critics said Battlefield 1 couldn’t be. It even dispels several myths about a war that people tend to remember as Eurocentric through its diverse cast of characters and portrayal of battles far beyond the Western Front. The trailer

is proof that, with the right approach, games can tackle a complex and nuanced topic—like the horrors of the First World War—just as capably as any book or movie.

Battlefield 1 represents a chance to reintroduce a century-old war to a new generation in an original and engaging way; it deserves to be taken seriously. Of course, the ultimate success or failure of the game is still to be seen, as it launches on Oct. 21.

Those quick to criticize Battlefield 1 for pushing the boundaries of a stilldeveloping medium should be wary: as with those who attacked other nascent artistic mediums in the past, they run the risk of being proved spectacularly wrong. Those criticisms levelled at rock music, for instance, seem laughable today: a Time article from 1956 unironically warned that the effect of rock on teens bore “passing resemblance to Hitler mass meetings.”

Critics of Battlefield 1 may not be as blatantly wrong, but they are mistaken in the same way.

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Science & technology

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

F r o m t h e b r a i n s t e m Now you hear it, now you don’t: The disappearance of truth from American politics David Cohn Contributor American politicians are rarely known for their honesty, and their performances in presidential debates tend to be no exception. From Gerald Ford’s claim in 1976 that “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe” to Mitt Romney’s assertion in 2012 that the Obama administration took 14 days before acknowledging the Benghazi attack as an act of terror, there is a long history of politicians resorting to falsehoods in an effort to win debates.

The most recent presidential debate on Oct. 9, between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, wandered farther from the facts than any has before.

Over the course of the debate, Trump told a variety of lies: Apparently, he did not support the Iraq war, said the 2008 Clinton campaign originated the “birther” conspiracy against then Senator Barack Obama, and made the baffling assertion that “nobody has more respect for women than I do.”

While Clinton mostly steered clear of blatant falsehoods during the debate, she has struggled throughout the campaign to be honest regarding the presence of classified information on a private email server that she used as Secretary of State.

Both candidates are trusted by only a small percentage

of voters, with a Fox News poll released Oct. 13 showing that Clinton and Trump were described as “honest and trustworthy” by just 33 per cent and 32 per cent of likely voters, respectively.

Data backs up the anecdotal evidence of the 2016 candidates’ remarkable dishonesty.

Politifact, a non-partisan factchecking website operated by the Tampa Bay Times , catalogues statements made by politicians, rating them as either ‘Pants on Fire,’ False, Mostly False, Half True, Mostly True, or True.

The website has rated a total of 289 statements by Donald Trump, and has rated only 29 per cent of them Half True or higher. Conversely, for a total of 269 statements made by Hillary Clinton, 72 per cent were rated ‘Half True’ or higher. Trump also received the ‘Pants on Fire’ rating for 17 per cent of his statements, while only 2 per cent of Clinton’s statements received that rating.

For all of the 2016 major party candidates—including those who did not win their primary—52 per cent of statements were at least Half True. This marks a noticeable decline from the 2012 campaign, when 57 per cent of statements were at least Half True, and an even steeper decrease from the 2008 campaign, when 67 per cent of statements received at least that rating.

One possible reason for this

decline is the rise of alternative media that creates hyper-partisan echo chambers where truth is rarely a priority.

“This is the worst campaign that I can remember,” McGill Professor of Political Science Harold Waller, an expert on U.S. politics, said. “The problem is that the media seem to have abandoned the practice—which I think is important for the media— of being impartial in reporting the news. The line between reporting the news and editorializing is becoming blurred.”

Websites such as Breitbart— whose chairman, Steve Bannon, has been Trump’s campaign chief executive since August— provide their target audience with an alternative version of the truth: A ‘truth’ which supports the inaccurate claims of their favoured candidates with faulty evidence and conspiracy theories, all under the guise of an unbiased news organization.

Conservative media outlets aren’t the only companies guilty of falsehoods either: Left-leaning sites such as The Huffington Post, particularly during the Democratic primary, often abandon the truth in order to push their message and draw visitors.

The existence of alternative media means that there will be sources that will defend statements as true and supporters of that candidate will inevitably cling to the sources that tell them what they want to hear while

The statistical prevalence of false statements has increased in American elections. (Amanda Fiore / The McGill Tribune)

denouncing more objective and unbiased sources. The resulting increase in traffic and popularity incentivizes media companies to become even less impartial in the hopes of driving up revenue,

creating a vicious feedback loop.

If this cycle continues, the day may arise when truth in politics is like a black-and-white movie—antiquated and perhaps charming, but obsolete.

Combatting dystopian visions of the future with Seeds of Good Anthropocene project Local environmental projects help envision Earth’s future Izze Siemann Staff Writer The Earth has reached a new epoch, one in which the climate is largely impacted by human activities. The anthropocene, as scientists call this period, is often viewed as hopeless, a geological age which will bring environmental destruction; or, in an even more dystopian view, an era that will lead to the end of life as we know it.

“The Anthropocene [...] is the name for a new geological epoch in which humanity has become a force reshaping the geological, biological, and atmospheric dynamics of Earth,” the Seeds of Good Anthropocene website explains.

As an evolving and unique time period, much is unknown about the anthropocene. In collaboration with Stockholm University in Sweden and Stellenbosch University in

South Africa, McGill is leading a project called Seeds of Good Anthropocene.

“We aim to counterbalance current dystopic visions of the future,” the project’s websites states.

Shocking images of environmental peril in the news—as well as some courses at McGill— aren’t helping improve the situation but are rather creating a sense of hopelessness: The Great Barrier Reef is dying, rivers are running dry, and species are going extinct.

Associate Professor in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences and the School of Environment at McGill, Dr. Elena Bennett, brings together “bright spots” of environmental action from around the world to study how humanity can build a healthy anthropocene.

“We see our seeds of good change and our blind spots as

pockets of a better future that’s already in existence today,” Bennett said in a video for the World Economic Forum.

As the lead author, Bennett published “Bright spots: seeds of a good anthropocene” in the October 2016 issue of The Ecological Society of America’s Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

“The paper proposed [how] social and environmental projects can reverse a pattern in which human prosperity has come with harms to ecosystems and excluded communities,” Andrew Revkin wrote in The New York Times opinion blog Dot Earth.

The paper on Good anthropocenes provides an introduction to the project and how these bright spots may be used to develop more useful scenarios for the future.

“I want to find ideas that

challenge my view of what the world would be like, or have a better vision [...of] ‘good’ than I have,” Bennett said. “We try to push for [bright spots] that are transformational, rather than just ‘good news’ stories.”

Bennett and her team are investigating these social and environmental projects. Most were started by citizens with no special qualifications, only the desire to help the environment.

Bennett recounted the tale of a woman in England who noticed that a large portion of the sidewalk in her neighbourhood was unused and could be used to grow vegetables. Replacing cement with vegetable patches became more meaningful, as the community began to came together to cook meals. Health in Harmony, another ‘bright spot’ reviewed in the paper, is a project based in Indonesia that

offers free or low-cost health care in exchange for a commitment to protect the native forests. In these cases, both the planet’s climate and communities are becoming stronger and healthier.

The Seeds of a Good Anthropocene project has two inspirational messages. First, there is hope—set aside the dystopian image of a dead and chaotic planet Earth and think about how we can build a better environment for future generations. Second, reporting on ‘bright spots’ may inspire someone to make a similar impact in their neighbourhood.

Analysis of bright spots will help develop a better image for the future of our planet, and help to create a Good Anthropocene.

Although Earth has been damaged by humankind, it can still be saved.

“We can’t build a world that we can’t even imagine,” Bennett said.

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Science & technology

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Defining human appreciation for art and music Examining the neurophysiology of aesthetics Janine Xu Contributor Continued from page 1.

In a mathematical sense, an example of chaos would be taking a number between one and zero, subtracting it from one, and multiplying it by four times the original. This results in a seemingly random string of numbers, essentially producing a chaotic sequence.

The theory can also be applied to music. Glass displayed sound clips created by Jeff Pressing, a chemist and jazz musician from the University of Rochester who “songified” an aperiodic time sequence based on different pitches. The result is not completely unexpected—a jumble of cacophonic sounds, akin to smashing piano keys together.

“I don’t know whether you like that, or [not], or would like to go to a concert listening to that,” Glass said.

Yet, when a chaotic sequence is applied to an already wellknown piece, the effect is much more pleasing. This time, showing a chaotic variation of Bach’s Prelude in C, the differences are

harder to discern—the variation almost sounds like a jazzy interpretation.

“What we think is beautiful is based on human experiences,” Glass explained. “Chaos is alien.”

As a musician himself, Glass plays the french horn in the I Medici di orchestra at McGill.

Comparing Bach’s chaotic music variations with Jackson Pollock’s paintings, Glass challenged the audience to consider how cultural heritage along with societal influences can sway perceptions of beauty.

Visually, chaos can be represented in the startlingly beautiful nature of fractals.

Mathematically, fractals are geometric structures that repeat on every scale. Fractals can also be found in nature, such as in snowflakes or pinecones. “[Does fractal art produce] an aesthetically pleasing image?”

Glass asked. “[Certainly] much more so than the chaotic music.”

‘Glass patterns’—named after Glass himself—emerge from seeming randomness by Xeroxing a sheet of white paper over and over. By superimposing a transparent cover of one iteration over another, Glass presented

Dr. Leon Glass uses mathematical models of chaos to explain human appreciation of art. (L-A Benoit / The McGill Tribune)

a beautiful circular design that eventually formed from dots on a sheet of paper. The audience was completely caught off guard by the emergence of the patterns that there was an audible gasp as the unexpected structure appeared on the screen.

Examining these visuals

can help scientists understand what’s happening in the brain.

In a 2002 study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, New York University researchers compared the responses of brain cells in monkeys to dynamic Glass patterns by examining information processes that take

place at individual neuronal levels. “[When you] are looking at some complex image, or hearing some complex sound, it’s not just one region of the brain that’s active,” Glass said. “[There] are many different parts of the brain working together.”

Energy experts discuss Canada’s energy landscape

The Walrus Talks Energy: Perspectives on Canada and global climate change Miguel Principe Contributor As one of the top five oil and natural gas producing countries, Canada shapes the global conversation on the future of energy and the related issue of global climate change. At The Walrus Talks Energy, eight presenters from a variety of professions discussed Canada’s perspective in the global energy economy.

Christopher Ragan, McGill associate professor of Economics and chair of Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission, first presented his “fivenouns” key to a low-carbon world.

“Order” and “unpredictability” were used to explain how the global market has short-term predictability in its price patterns, despite long-term unpredictability due to innovations and policy changes. Ragan used “transition” and “seduction” to describe how Canada must envision and encourage individuals to switch to a low-carbon market through regulations or subsidies.

“The final noun, which is ‘efficacy,’ is what kinds of policy can achieve the transition that we want and do it in a [...] low cost way,” Ragan said.

Leah Lawrence, president and CEO of publicly-funded Sustainable

Ross Hornby of General Electric Canada discusses the future of Canada’s energy landscape. (L-A Benoit / The McGill Tribune)

Development Technology Canada, presented the role that small companies have in disrupting the status quo in the energy sector. She argued that small companies can be more motivated to introduce new innovations than traditional utility companies. Now that renewable energy is about to reach a peak, Lawrence believes it is the perfect time for smaller companies to enter the energy market.

General Electric Canada’s Vice

President for government affairs and policy, Ross Hornby, explained the role of the democratization of electric power: New innovations such as small-scale wind turbines, run-of-the-mill hydropower, and photovoltaic solar have helped distribute energy closer to its location of generation. This helps remote communities and developing countries become less reliant on external energy sources. Having local renewable energy sources means

more power to residents, stable jobs, and lower costs of electricity.

Deborah Yedlin, business columnist for The Calgary Herald, discussed the hypocrisy that certain people express when discussing their stance on non-renewable energy.

Yedlin criticized Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre for protesting the Energy East pipeline while allowing sewage to be dumped into the Saint Lawrence River.

Tanya Barnaby, executive director for the Mi’gmawei Mawiomi Secretariat, spoke on wind energy’s role in the empowerment of the Mi’gmaq, a First Nations territory in Gaspesie.

“We are building a wind farm [...] to be self-sufficient,” Barnaby said. “Our end goal is to generate revenues that will fund our own governments.”

The Mi’gmaq prioritized building the wind farm in an ecofriendly and cost-efficient way.

The wind-farm will add a level of self-sufficiency for the Mi’gmaq, in addition to providing 100 new jobs.

Jane Kearns, senior advisor for MaRS Cleantech—a private company specializing in services for energy entrepreneurs, delved deeper into Canadian small business innovators. She discussed companies such as Morgan Power, which

provides low-cost solar panels, and General Fusion, a Burnaby-based company trying to develop fusion as a source of energy.

Nicholas Parker, of Global Acceleration Powers—a financial company dedicated to developing energy alternatives, explained the opportunity Canada currently has in China. “[Canada is] losing global market share in terms of clean tech exports [...] and yet, we have institutions [...] which are incubating Canadian companies which are now ready for primetime,” Barnaby said.

“China can help solve problems that we have [and] problems that they have.”

Last to speak was McGill Professor of Management Studies Henry Mintzberg, who focused on how we use energy rather than how we produce it.

“I think the problem of climate change has been significantly caused by the imbalance of society between business, government, and [...] civil society,” Mintzberg said. “Business [...and] government [have] to contribute to the solution of this problem. The plural sector has to contribute to a wake-up call that says this problem goes beyond business— this problem is caused largely by how we’ve been living.”

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Sports

15

PO I NT C o u n t e r p o i n t Who is closer to winning a Championship?

(NHL.bamcontent.com)

Toronto Maple Leafs

(CDN.turner.com)

Toronto Raptors

Smart management and a youth movement

The North inching closer

Years of disappointment, hopelessness, confusion, and pathetic performances by the Toronto It’s a great time to be a Toronto sports fan. The Maple Leafs look rejuvenated while the Blue Maple Leafs have officially ended. While the Toronto Raptors spent their off-season continuing to Jays are making another deep run in the playoffs. However, the Toronto Raptors are the team search in vain for a game-changing threat, the Leafs drafted centreman Auston Matthews with their some people tend to forget. The Raptors have not only developed one of the best home atmofirst overall pick. Now, just a few games into the season, Matthews is already living up to the hype and spheres in the NBA, but are the Toronto team closest to winning a league title. looks to be a surefire NHL superstar in the making. His addition, coupled with the team’s deep prospect Last May marked the end of one of the greatest Toronto sports playoff runs in modern pool, make the Leafs a good bet to win a Stanley Cup in the near future—before the Raptors win an history. After two series victories and two wins in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Raptors NBA championship. were finally eliminated by the eventual champion Cleveland Cavaliers. At the same time, the As a generational talent, Matthews will fill the gaping void left empty since icon Mats Sundin was Maple Leafs were golfing, having just finished dead last in the NHL. Even with the addition of leading the first line. His outstanding performances will lead Toronto to many victories first-overall pick Austin Matthews, the Leafs will not be a contender for many years. and will attract future star free agents to the team to play alongside him. Ultimately, Quality management is key to winning titles and the Raptors’ execuMatthews’ arrival provides the Leafs with a leader, a franchise cornerstone, tives have been making shrewd decisions in recent years. The Leafs, and the upside to become one of the NHL’s top point-producing players however, have struggled with coaching and management up until for years to come. very recently. In the 2013-2014 season, the Raptors’ hiring of On the back end, defenceman Morgan Rielly is already a top General Manager Masai Ujiri changed the team’s mindset. line player for the Leafs at just 22 years old. He has the skating Toronto made the postseason for the first time since ex-star skill, size, vision, and hockey IQ to lead a transition out of his Raptor Chris Bosh was playing for the team. It felt like Raptors team’s own end or to quarterback a power play unit. He has a stepping stone for the franchise. Led by Head Coach grown and improved in each of the first three seasons he has Dwayne Casey, point guard Kyle Lowry, and guard been in the NHL, and will only continue to produce higher Demar Derozan, the Raptors have a core that can suspoint totals while rear-guarding a successful Leafs squad. tain success. Ujiri now has a strong balance of veterBehind him, 6’4”, 220 pound goalie Frederik Andersen ans and young players. The young-guns like Corey The Leafs have made smart moves as of late, but you looks to continue his NHL success after arriving from the Joseph, Norman Powell, and Delon Wright now have can’t pick against a team that went to game six of the Western Conference runners up Anaheim Ducks after the the opportunity to grow with the team. Ujiri’s asset end of last season. Inking a five-year deal this off-season, the management has been superb as he repeatedly shipped Eastern Conference Finals last year. One big move and Leafs see Anderson as a large goaltender with the potential out older players for draft picks and cap space. He then some luck might end up with the Raptors winning it all to be similar to Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop. turned the extra money into key additions like DeMarre very soon.

These intelligent and farsighted moves are largely thanks Carroll and Jared Sullinger. to recent personnel changes made by the team’s management.

The Raptors not only have the players and personnel Two summers ago, team President Brendan Shanahan hired Mike in place, but have developed a culture that attracts high proBabcock, the most decorated coach in the modern era, as head coach. file players and fans. The Maple Leafs lie at the other end of Shanahan then added legendary General Manager Lou Lamoriello to the spectrum. They’ve had a losing culture for years and players run the team. The duo has already started working wonders both on and are constantly negatively scrutinized by the fans and media alike. off the ice. Babcock has begun grooming the team’s young players into future Those who feel that they have something to prove want to come to the superstars, while Lamoriello has made many profitable transactions, bringing in Raptors and contribute to its culture–Toronto is a relevant city with a deep veteran players on one-year deals then trading them for draft picks at the trade deadline. core of basketball players. Conversely, the Leafs have never come close to attractThey’ve turned these draft picks into future stars and now have some of the most exciting prospects in ing the NHL’s superstars, like Steven Stamkos or John Tavares, in recent seasons. Meanwhile, the league, including Matthews. the Raptors have been able to make legitimate contact pitches to Kevin Durant and other high While it’s certainly difficult to critisize a team that made it to a conference finals, the Toronto profile players in free agency. This is important because, as LeBron James reaches the end of his Raptors never had a realistic chance to win the Larry O’Brien trophy last year. The NBA has become a peak years, the King’s crown will be up for grabs. In the NHL, the Leafs have to compete with superstar-driven league, with a handful of basketball virtuosos relied on to completely take over a game the many established teams, such as the Blackhawks, Kings, Penguins, and Capitals. for their team. Unfortunately for their title aspirations, the Raptors lack a superstar to lead them to the Ultimately, the Raptors performed all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last year promised land. As good as Kyle Lowry and DeMar Derozan are, they never truly stood a chance against and have built the foundation for many more championship runs. Matthews has certainly been LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Unlike the Leafs, who already have the talent in place they impressive, but he’s far from making the Leafs relevant. Besides, Toronto Maple Leafs fans love will need to succeed in the future, the Raptors have a glass ceiling, and will be unable to break through to over-hype the talent and prospects they have early on into the season. Frankly, a classic Leafs and beat the superstar-studded NBA teams when the stakes are high. Thus, while the Raptors will choke wouldn’t surprise anyone. For now, the Raptors are on the map and have shown the league continue to be a very good team in the Eastern conference, the Leafs appear destined to win a Stanley that it’s their time to win, while the Leafs will continue to deal with too many cultural and interCup Championship sometime in the next four or five years. When the confetti flies at the Air Canada nal problems to ever make it past the bottom of the league.

Centre, rest assured it’ll be blue and white.

—Wasif Husain

Editors’ Pick

— Elias Blahacek

Contributor

Contributor

16

Sports

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

McGill Redmen football’s first half success too much for Bishop’s to overcome Redmen move to 3-3 record as playoff hopes remain alive

37-14 Redmen between the two teams was a 30-16 loss for the Redmen.

“We had about eight or nine turnovers that game, and I don’t think a team can win a game when they turn the ball over that much,” Redmen receiver Jonathan Mack said. “That being said, we still did a lot of good things [that game], we just can’t [make] any minimal mistakes against Concordia.”

Patrick Beacham Contributor The McGill Redmen (3-3) beat back both the cold and the Bishop’s Gaiters (1-5) in Lennoxville on Oct. 14, on their way to a 37-14 victory.

The Redmen closed the first half with a dominant 23-0 lead to canter home for a victory in front of a crowded Coulter field on a freezing October evening.

The victory comes two weeks after a devastating loss to Laval that handed McGill a losing record.

According to Redmen Head Coach Ronald Hilaire, beating the Gaiters on Friday was necessary to increase morale and salvage the team’s playoff chances in the final stretch of the regular season.

“A win like this was something we needed,” Hilaire said. “We came out firing on all cylinders in the first half. I’m not quite pleased with our beginning of the second half, but we had the fortitude to come back from that, we executed, and we came out with the win.”

With daunting defensive play, the Redmen shut out the Gaiters in the first half. Despite a brief surge

Quotable

“The line blocked great, we had a good running game, quarterback made a great pass, so yeah, that’s it.”—McGill wide receiver Jeremy Sauvageau after scoring his first ever touchdown for the Redmen.

Wide reciever Jeremy Sauvageau catching a pass from quarterback Frederic Paquette-Perrault. (Patrick Beacham / The McGill Tribune) On top of the turnovers, the Redmen defence played inconsistently in the second half, allowing the Gaiters to get on the board with two touchdowns.

However, the Gaiters failed to continue the momentum they had started at the beginning of the half.

Their last chance to close the gap before the end of the game was

by Bishops’ in the beginning of the second half, McGill kept up a strong offensive game save for a few turnovers close to their own endzone.

“We just had a little bit of trouble in the endzone, [but] it’s been like that since the beginning of the season,” Redmen wide receiver Jeremy Sauvageau said. “Except [for] that, it was a good win.”

buried when Redmen defensive back Olivier Therrien intercepted the Gaiters late in the fourth quarter.

“I saw the ball and I just thought about picking it off,” Therrien said.

“It felt good.”

The Redmen have a rematch over their season opener against the Concordia Stingers slated for Oct. 22 at Concordia. The first match

Stat Corner

Despite taking 159 penalty yards, the Redmen had 575 offensive yards to the Gaiters’ 108.

Moment of the Game

Halfway through the third quarter, the Redmen tried to rush the ball at the goal line, but the Gaiters’ Arnaud Dandin forced a turnover and ran 104 yards down the field for the second and final Gaiter touchdown.

In praise of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool How gegenpress is making the club relevant again Gibran Haque Contributor The charismatic Jurgen Klopp arrived at Liverpool FC as a highly pedigreed manager last year. He previously led Borussia Dortmund–a midtable Bundesliga club before his arrival in 2008–to two Bundesliga titles and a European Champions League final appearance in 2013. Liverpool fans anticipated Klopp’s arrival with skyhigh expectations. For the first time in a while a top-four English Premier League (EPL) finish, or even a title seemed within grasp.

Liverpool fans tasted success under former manager Brendan Rodgers when his Luis Suarez-led team finished runners-up in the 2013-14 EPL season. However, the Northern Irishman’s inflexible tactics and insistence on possession football led to his downfall. Klopp’s arrival demanded he address the lack of goals from midfield, a leaky defence, and a team short on confidence.

In his first game in charge, a 0-0 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, Klopp’s now famous ‘gegenpressing’ (counterpressing) playing style was evident, albeit as a work-in-progress. Gegenpress is organized, aggressive pressing high up the pitch in order to regain possession of the ball as quickly as possible,

and then counterattack by moving the ball quickly between players. This requires a high level of structure—one person begins the pressing and the rest of the team follows in order to cover passing lanes and reduce holes in the defence.

In that match against Tottenham, Klopp started off with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Emre Can and Lucas in the holding roles; Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana, and James Milner in the mid-field; and Divock Origi at the top. Liverpool’s game was relentless in its pace and full of excitement. Klopp’s tactics have since developed as he’s experimented with different players and formations.

Fans and the rest of the Premier League now realize how effective Liverpool’s gegenpressing is. The system came into its own against Manchester City in November 2015.

Liverpool began with a 4-3-3 formation with Coutinho, Lallana, and Roberto Firmino forming the front three.

Firmino–who Rodgers played out of position on the wing or as an attacking midfielder–started in his natural centreforward position. The strategy proved to be a masterstroke by Klopp. Firmino and Coutinho’s constant pressure and slick skills on the ball proved too much for the usually-solid City defence and the Reds won the game 4-1. This es-

Klopp has brought passion and energy back to Anfield. (mirror.co.uk) tablished Firmino not only as a starting forward, but a vital part of the team.

Fastforward to this season and Liverpool have the players required to make Klopp’s system work. Klopp’s insistence on double training sessions in preseason ensured that his players knew his philosophy inside out. The German addressed the Reds’ longstanding defensive frailties by bringing in 6’4” centre-back Joel Matip from Schalke. Klopp also brought in Senegalese international Sadio Mane from Southampton for £30 million to

add to Liverpool’s attacking ranks. The forward’s blistering pace, dribbling skills, and shooting ability added much needed directness to Liverpool’s attack.

Tactically, Klopp switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a fluid 4-3-3 with Jordan Henderson, Lallana, and Georginio Wijnaldum in the middle of the park; and Firmino, Coutinho, and Mane in the front three. In this formation, two of the midfielders forward while one sits deep. The midfield pairing of Lallana and Wijnaldum is better equipped to join the attack without having to go

wide, as they are joined by the wide attackers when Liverpool has possession of the ball. The introduction of James Milner, a natural winger/midfielder, to left back has also improved Liverpool’s defence.

Klopp finally has a team of players he wants, playing the style he wants. Liverpool seem back at their best, and are genuine title-contenders this season. After the doom and gloom of the mid-2000’s, Jurgen Klopp is ushering in a new era—one that could bring silverware to the club.