The McGill Tribune Vol. 36 Issue 9

STUDENT LIVING “Secrets hidden in Mount Royal Park” pg. 07

FEATURE “The Internet vernacular: Discussing meme culture” pg. 08-09

The McGill Tribune

EDITORIAL: UNACCEPTABLE AND URGENT: MCGILL MUST REACH AGREEMENT WITH AMUSE pg. 05 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016

VOL. 36 ISSUE 9

PUBLISHED BY THE SPT, A STUDENT SOCIETY OF MCGILL UNIVERSITY

McGILLTRIBUNE.COM

SaintWoods develops Montreal nightlife with “democratic cool”

Zach Macklovitch speaks to the welcoming nature of the city’s club scene April Barrett

Managing Editor

Charles Marchand-Thibault caught a 24-yard pass in the second quarter. (L-A Benoit) / The McGill Tribune)

From libraries to laboratories, McGill faces a strike AMUSE calls for a five-day strike for casual employees

Domenic Casciato Contributor On the morning of Oct. 29, the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) went on strike. AMUSE met with members of the university administration on Oct. 28 to discuss proposed changes to their collective

agreement with the university regarding the Work Study program.

AMUSE announced that they would go on strike the night of Oct. 28 after the administration refused to make any concessions. The strike will last five days, concluding on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 2. Representing over 1,500 McGill employees, AMUSE mem-

bers work in the university’s libraries, gyms, residences, laboratories, and numerous other facilities.

Since May 2015, AMUSE has been in negotiations with the university’s administration to create a new collective bargaining agreement—a contract between the university and AMUSE that determines the starting wages,

benefits, and non-monetary privileges afforded to casual employees. AMUSE’s previous collective agreement expired in April 2015.

After a number of their demands were rejected, AMUSE voted for a strike mandate on Oct. 20, which allowed the negotiating team to use the threat of a strike to pressure the university.

PG. 02

Maple Leafs Head Coach Babcock still remembers his Redmen roots Right guard for the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs while a medical student at McGill Aaron Rose Sports Editor “These are my best friends in the world,” Mike Babcock said, looking down at an old picture of the 1986-87 Redmen hockey team. “We’ve been together for a long, long time and we still get

together all the time.”

Being the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs is an exhausting job. The 53 year-old two-time Olympic gold medalist and Stanley Cup Champion is under constant scrutiny in arguably the most hockeyobsessed city in the world.

Despite the big stage and the persistent strain, he has never forgotten his McGill roots.

“I can’t tell you how special this place is,” Babcock said.

His journey to hockey immortality started long before McGill. Unlike so many young Canadians, he wasn’t born with a

pg. 11 - 13

hockey stick in his hand or pads on his legs.

“I never started playing hockey until I was eight,” Babcock said. “I lived in the Northwest Territories and we didn’t have a skating rink. I had my own dog team and a trap line when I was a little kid, but no hockey.

PG. 16

Apartment 200, SuWu, and École Privée are clubs known for their unconventional conceptual design, hip-hop friendly atmosphere, and lines of young people stretching around the block. These venues are familiar to any Montrealer who frequents St-Laurent for a night out and they have begun to attract international attention from customers like Rihanna, Nas, Skepta, Mac Miller, and PARTYNEXTDOOR. These clubs are among the most prominent in the Montreal nightlife scene, and the common thread between them is SaintWoods. SaintWoods is a multipurpose project; what began as an artist booking and event promotions company has evolved into a club owner/fashion brand. The company is headed by Concordia alumnus Zach Macklovitch and McGill graduate Nathan Gannage.

Under the pair’s tutelage, Saint Woods bought empty venues, starting with SuWu in 2013, and flipped them into the three clubs they run today.

Macklovitch, who grew up on Montreal’s West Island, started when he was 16 years old as a club promoter. By 22, he was working as an artist booker for Time Supper Club, at which point he met Gannage and became a partner at SaintWoods.

Macklovitch and Gannage’s business model as artist bookers was to always track present cultural trends, and then look past them for a new direction.

For example, Saint Woods booked Avicii before his international popularity, aiming to introduce EDM to the college demographic.

“Our goal was to throw cutting edge events to people who weren’t maybe originally interested,” Macklovitch said.

PG. 07

2 news

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

From libraries to laboratories, McGill faces a strike AMUSE calls for a five-day strike for casual employees Domenic Casciato Contributor Continued from page 1.

During the Oct. 28 meeting, AMUSE proposed changes to the Work Study program, including publicly posting job opportunities and creating a formal system for Work Study employees to provide feedback about their employment. Claire Michela, president of AMUSE and member of its negotiating team, was present at the Oct. 28 meeting.

“The university has made it clear that they won’t include the changes that we feel are necessary for our members in the collective agreement,” Michela said. “We tried all day to make a change that would suit our needs and be acceptable to the university, and we couldn’t do that, so we had to exercise our strike mandate at the end of the day, unfortunately.”

The strike is disrupting services across campus. Athletics and Recreation Services posted an update on their website that many of their facilities and services will be either disrupted or cancelled during the strike. In an email to The Tribune , Julie Fortier, communications manager at McGill Human Resources, wrote that the university is working to mitigate the impacts of the strike.

“The university has been developing contingency plans in the past few days to try to limit the impact of the strike on our

operations and the activities planned for the next few days,” Fortier wrote. “This means getting some managers to fill in for some of the casual employees, if needed, or identifying tasks that will need to be postponed for now.”

AMUSE’s original collective agreement with the university requires that certain essential services, including the Mental Health Clinic, Research Animals and Farm Animals, Gross Anatomy, Pathology Laboratories, and McGill Residences, would be maintained for the duration of any strike. The administration and the AMUSE negotiating team have collaborated to create a contingency plan to continue providing these services despite the work stoppage elsewhere. Without such a plan, services like providing care for animals used in research laboratories and having a person occupying the front desks at residences during the weekends would be suspended.

“Basically, we won’t let [essential services] be harmed by having a strike,” Michela said.

In an attempt to mitigate the costs of the strike for casual employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is aiding AMUSE by providing union members who showed up to participate for shifts at AMUSE’s various picket line protests with strike pay. Jamie Cernek, U3 Political Science, works as a casual employee at both the Arts Internship Office and at McLennan Library.

AMUSE members participate in a picket line during a strike ending Nov. 2. (Photo courtesy of Claire Michela) “I actually don’t work on the days that the strike is happening,” Cernek said.

“I know people who work on those days, [...] but no one [that] really depends that much on their Work Study or casual job

that they would be in dire straits.”

The AMUSE negotiating team and the McGill administration will meet on Nov. 10 to further discuss the collective agreement.

Tribune Explains: GA and Referenda

(May Lim / The McGill Tribune)

Julia Metraux Staff Writer What is Assembly?

the

General

The General Assembly (GA) is a method of direct decisionmaking that takes place once a semester for members of Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU). The Fall GA will

take place on Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. in the Shatner Building.

All SSMU members, which includes all undergraduate students at the Downtown Campus, are able to participate in the GA. Students can submit, directly vote on, and directly amend motions.

SSMU has created a guide to help students draft their GA motions, which can be found on their web-

site. The GA is an opportunity for direct democracy, according to SSMU President Ben Ger. “It’s a place for political change,” Ger said. “You can bring forward motions [and] policies. It’s a great place for debate.

Over the past few years, people have talked about what the point of the GA [is]. It provides a large forum for students to come together [and] for students to be part of the discussion, not just the decision.”

According to SSMU Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Cameron McKeich, motions have to pass two rounds of voting in order to be ratified at the GA. “For the GA, there is an inperson meeting in which students vote by raising their hands [or] sometimes by a secret ballot,” McKeich said. “Motions that are approved by more than 50 per cent of voters [50 members], those questions will be put through an online ratification [...] to ensure that a greater number of students have the ability to participate in the GA process that were not able to attend in person.”

Ger believes administrative support would help the attendance and success of the GA, as some students are forced to miss

the GA due to academic commitments. Concordia University and the University of Ottawa, for example, have adopted different academic initiatives, such as permitting students to miss class on the day of the GA. “I think our institution [the administration] hasn’t in the past recognized the importance of student-led initiatives, student debates, [and] student democracy,” Ger said. “Some people in the [administration] are very disconnected from the campus and don’t see how central SSMU governance is. Students in the past have been graded during times of the [GA], while at other universities that is not the case.”

What is the Referendum?

The other form of direct democracy for SSMU members is the referendum. Similar to the GA, referenda periods are held once a semester. This semester, the referendum campaigning period starts on Nov. 7, the same day as the General Assembly, and ends on Nov. 8. Voting itself lasts a week, and will take place from Nov. 11 to Nov. 18.

All SSMU members are able to place a question on the ballot, according to McKeich. First, the

wording of the question needs to be approved by the CEO. Next, the author of the referendum goes through a signature collecting process. SSMU has created a guide to help students prepare questions, which can be found on their website.

“To get a question on the referenda someone needs to collect 100 signatures from SSMU members from a minimum of four faculties, and a maximum of 30 per cent of signatures can be from one faculty,” McKeich said. “[For] questions that are asking for a fee levy or a specific allocation of money, the CEO will consult with the [Vice-President] of Finance.”

The period for students to submit questions for review and collect signatures was from Oct. 14 to 31 this semester.

Ger said that the Referenda is important because it allows members of SSMU to have a voice in their funding.

“Students want to use student money for student services, like menstrual products, but the university redirects the money,” Ger said. “[A pro of] the Referenda is that it’s a [...] place for a direct democracy and a great place to influence change.”

news 3

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Doing it right: Student Services seeks to reopen Shag Shop Current online-only store part of sexual health advocacy

Students are able to make online orders through the Healthy McGill website and pick up their purchases on campus. (L-A Benoit / The McGill Tribune)

Holly Cabrera Staff Writer

McGill’s Shag Shop is looking to move into a physical space again as renovations of Student Services in the Brown Building are expected to begin in February 2017. Since 2005, the Shag Shop, a safe sex and health store, has been offering products ranging from contraceptives to vibrators and toys at low prices. After closing its storefront in 2014, the Shag Shop has maintained an exclusively online store that allows students to purchase online and pick up orders on campus.

According to interim Senior Director of Student Services Cara Piperni, Student Health Services hopes the Shag Shop will regain a physical space in Fall 2017 once renovations are completed.

“The ideal state is to have a physical space as well as to have an online store,” Piperni said. “We’re hoping to carve out a small space for the Shag Shop to live again. This is not a commitment, but it’s on our list of things that we would like to address [....] Within 18 months, we’ll know whether that’s something we can do or not.”

Piperni explained that the Shag Shop’s first and foremost purpose is to be a health-education resource for students.

“The goal of the Shag Shop has never been to make a profit,” Piperni said. “It’s really been about creating awareness and providing products at a very low cost. So, there’s no impediment for students’ accessing these supplies. Doing kits for parties is one way just to create awareness that we’re here, peer health educators are here, [and] supplies are here and easy to get in a confidential manner. So, it’s all just part of promoting good sexual health.”

Despite the lack of a physical shop, Health Promotion Coordinator Marianne Perron notes that McGill health educators regularly respond to students’ health-related questions via email, telephone, and at campus health kiosks.

“We [health educators] do try to have a strong presence,” Perron said. “While the Shag Shop did allow people to drop in and ask sexual health questions specifically, I think that our presence on campus definitely allows students to ask those questions and other questions on mental health subjects, or nutrition, or whatever it might be.”

Piperni said the reason behind the Shag Shop’s closing was to make the First People’s House wheelchair accessible. An elevator was installed in the shop’s former space to create a passage through Health Services.

“The reason was a good one,” Piperni said. “[It...] was in the renovation plans for a long time. There was actually an indigenous student who was wheelchair-bound and thus, was the impetus for accelerating it.”

Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President University Affairs Erin Sobat said that the continued absence of a physical store shows a lack of sufficient health promotion campaigns on the McGill campus.

“While I understand the reasons for closing the physical Shag Shop, I think this speaks to an overall lack of investment in health promotion resources at McGill,” Sobat said. “For example, Healthy McGill’s budget was cut for this year, which simply does not align with the proactive, preventative approach that the administration claims to be promoting. We need to see expanded education efforts across campus, such as mental health training for students and faculty members down to the department level.”

Katherine Belisle, U3 Arts, expressed how encouraging sexual health education would make students more inclined to buy these products and practice safe sex.

“I think part of taking control of your sex life is learning where to get things that would reduce risk in your sexual interactions,” Belisle said. “Through empowerment, people are able to take it upon themselves, even if the Shag Shop isn’t there, they’ll go somewhere else to get [products…] And that’s when people really start buying things that matter for them.”

University Provost hosts town hall to discuss McGill budget Public invited to ask questions and share concerns Domenic Casciato Contributor McGill’s Office of the Budget held a town hall on Oct. 25 to discuss the budget for the 2017 fiscal year, explain how it was created, and allow the public to ask questions and give their input about what they would like to see included as the budget is finalized in April 2017. The meeting was hosted by Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi.

According to Manfredi, these town halls are usually held during a financial crisis, but McGill is currently financially stable, making this town hall an exception to this rule.

“I thought it would be good to have a broader kind of conversation about the budget, and also to have an opportunity outside of the crisis period to hear some things that are on [the public’s] minds as to what we should be thinking about as we produce the university’s budget,” Manfredi said.

The town hall was divided between a presentation by Manfredi and a question-and-answer period.

Manfredi began his presentation by discussing the operating fund, which covers McGill’s daily revenues and expenditures. Manfredi provided a quick overview of the revenues that contribute to the operating budget, and then went into detail about McGill’s specific operating costs.

“About three quarters of our operating revenue is determined by student enrolment,” Manfredi said.

“Student enrolment determines our government grant, and [...] determines how much we collect in tuition fees.”

Manfredi also presented on McGill’s budget planning agreements, which are the outcome of a series of meetings between the Office of the Budget and representatives from different faculties and administrative units. These agreements are an important part of the creation of the Financial & Budget Model (FBM), McGill’s multi-year budget plan. The agreements will create funding plans for temporary and continuing projects for the the next three years. Associate Provost (Budget and Resources) Ghyslaine McClure explained in an email to The McGill Tribune that she will deal directly with approving these projects.

“All the approved financial requests are communicated to [my office],” McClure wrote. “[We then

work] with the Budget Office to include them in the FBM.” The meetings bring together 23 units from faculties and the administration to talk about their financial and educational priorities. It is a five month process that will conclude in December. “[This process includes] accountability reporting on the activities of the previous year, talking about what needs to be done going forward, and then there’s an iterative exchange to develop an incremental budget for the following three fiscal years,” said Manfredi. “The budget that we’ll get next year is really a function of the budget we have this year.”

Josephine Nalbantoglu, dean of Graduate Studies, found the town hall to be very educational. Representing the financial and educational objectives of graduate and postdoctoral studies, Nalbantoglu is a member of one of the units working with the Office of the Budget to prepare a budget planning agreement.

“I didn’t know what was involved with the process, and how the numbers are crunched together, and how priorities are determined,” Nalbantoglu said.

In her role representing graduate and postdoctoral studies in the creation of the FBM, Nalbantoglu has direct influence on how the budget is planned.

“I have to prepare my own agreement for graduate studies,” Nalbantoglu said. “My role in the agreement process is to look over the landscape and see what we need for graduate studies. So, I’m basically supporting graduate studies and advocating for graduate studies, trying to get enough resources to make funding better, [...] to recruit the best students, and to give them better services.”

According to Manfredi, the budget is not cause for concern as its current stability will allow the administration to better plan for the future.

“I’ll end with some optimistic words,” Manfredi said. “These town halls were often done in the context of a budget crisis, a revenue crisis, and I don’t think we’re there. I won’t say that we’re in a period of major growth, but I think we’re in a period of budgetary stability which will allow us to [...] make sure that our decisions are driven, really, by our actual priorities that we want to pursue as opposed to responding reactively to external shocks.”

The administrative and faculty units will complete their agreements by January 2017, and this will be a finalizing step for the FBM.

McGill’s Office of the Budget held a town hall to discuss the university’s funds. (Amanda Fiore / The McGill Tribune)

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Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Public consultation to discuss campus-wide smoking ban Town hall meeting considers updates to current policy Cherry Ng Staff Writer On Sept. 25, a town hall meeting was held to discuss McGill’s potential transition to a smokefree campus. According to plebiscites run by both the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) in 2016, 73 per cent of undergraduate stu-

dents and 77 per cent of graduate students would like a smoke-free campus.

McGill’s current policy prohibits smoking within a nine-metre radius of any door leading to a university building. The proposed policy–which is currently in draft form–will not allow smoking anywhere on campus. Products specified in the policy include those that use tobacco or tobacco

McGill plans to convert to a smoke-free campus by Nov. 2017. (Wendy Tran / The McGill Tribune)

derived substances and produce vapour or smoke.

According to Paul Guenther, senior campus planner, the creation of the new policy was initiated in the Spring of 2016. The draft was developed by a working group comprised of various student and administration representatives that included PGSS Member Services Officer Jenny Ann Pura, SSMU Vice President (VP) University Affairs Erin Sobat, Associate Dean of Students Glenn Zabowski, Director of McGill Security Services Pierre Barbarie, and other officials. “[There were] the complaints from the student community regarding the amount of secondhand smoke on campus, especially in the [McLennan-Redpath Library] underpass,” Guenther said. “The Draft Policy was developed and presented by the SSMU to the university in Spring 2016 [.... In] April 2016, [we received a] request from the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec [Ministry of Health and Social Services of Quebec] that all Quebec post-secondary institutions create a non-smoking policy and establish non-smoking environments by Nov. 26, 2017.”

The current Draft Policy was

developed with the SSMU Draft Smoking Policy as a framework and incorporates other evidencebased research.

“This research included campus-wide surveys, academic literature from peer-reviewed journals, and exploring best-practices from other university campuses,” Guenther said.

For the working group, the focus of the new policy is to ensure a safer, healthier, and cleaner campus for the entire community.

“The rights of one person and their desire to smoke should not negatively impact the rights of other people and their health,” Guenther said. “This is the main issue.”

The policy will be self-enforced by the McGill community.

David Benrimoh, a first year psychiatry resident and a member of the smoking policy working group, noted that self-enforcement has worked well on other campuses.

“Security went around at Harvard [for example] with little cards explaining the policy to smokers,” Benrimoh said. “Eventually, people will understand the policy. It becomes part of the culture of the campus. It becomes a part of the incoming mindset of

the students coming to the university.”

Harvard implemented a nonsmoking policy in 2014. SixtyFive per cent of students and seventy-two per cent of faculty and staff members reported a noticeable decline in campus smoking within the year of implementation.

In response to the smoking draft policy, SSMU has begun the development of student-focused non-smoking campaigns. Currently, the health benefit plan that covers students and staff on campus subsidizes counselling while the Régie de L’assurance Maladie du Québec (RAMQ) includes access to cessation tools for people who want to stop smoking.

While there are benefits to a smoke-free campus, concerns remain. SSMU Engineering Senator Alexander Dow noted that smoking off campus could pose a safety issue.

“The [Schulich doors] don’t allow access back to FDA [after hours],” Dow said. “To come back into the building, you have to walk all the way back to McConnell. I’ve had a security incident there. I can second saying that the street isn’t always the safest place [to smoke].”

SEAMLESS event connects students to McGill student services

Focus on consent and mental health education Zikomo Smith Sports Editor The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and Campus Life and Engagement (CL&E) invited speakers from six McGill offices to table at the fifth annual Student Executives at the McGill Learning, Engaging, Sharing, and Strategizing (SEAMLESS) summit on Oct. 24. The event aims to inform student leaders about services provided for the McGill community.

Tables at the summit included information on consent education and the Draft Policy against Sexual Violence, social equity and diversity education, co-curricular record and career planning, mental health, advocacy on and off campus, and student rights and responsibilities.

According to co-organizer and Student Life Project Development Specialist Aleksandra Djurdjevic, CL&E has changed the format of SEAMLESS this year.

“We have made this one much shorter [in length than in past years],” Djurdjevic said. “It was only two hours and we want to have it monthly. So, the biggest change is frequency. How often we want to have this event? We also want to connect with more stakeholders at McGill, so we are giving people

Student executives met with McGill officers on Oct. 24 for the annual SEAMLESS summit. (Photo courtesy of Aleksandra Djurdjevic) the freedom to choose which resources seem the most important to them and we are going to get feedback and use that feedback to inform future events.”

Consent Education

Harm Reduction Liaison Officer Bianca Tétrault spoke about the Draft Policy against Sexual Violence and consent education. In particular, Tetrault discussed a poster campaign that disseminates information around campus about responding to disclosures of sexual violence.

“I launched these poster campaigns recognizing I cannot get everyone to a workshop, but understanding that I can get people the materials to

know how to respond,” Tétrault said.

Tetrault also encouraged faculties to get in contact with the Office of the Dean of Students to run workshops within their faculties, emphasizing the new active bystander workshop run in collaboration with Student Services and Residence Life. The workshops teach students how to interrupt situations that could potentially lead to sexual violence.

According to Tétrault, the McGill administration recognizes the Dean’s Office’s work on the issue of sexual assault in addition to assistance from other groups.

“There are other groups working on [this issue], for example [the Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students

Society (SACOMSS)],” Tétrault said.

“So, of course, there are other people who can work with us.”

Mental Health

McGill Student Services Mental Health Education Coordinators Tamara Cassis and Chloe Rourke spoke about the importance of faculty-based mental health initiatives in meeting the needs of individual faculties.

“The faculty-based option is that it is something you can do right away,” Cassis said. “It is a piecemeal approach, not a university-wide initiative, but it does mean we can tailor our programs to each faculty.”

According to Cassis, there is a

diversity of mental health resources offered to the McGill community by Student Services.

“We provide a menu of options of things that we can offer, things like workshops, needs assessments, integrating lecture material into your courses, creating physical spaces for mental health,” Cassis said.

This approach has been successful in the anatomy, education, and music faculties, according to Cassis.

“Anatomy had a 35 per cent response rate [to our surveys],” Cassis said. “The response was that 91 per cent of students felt that faculties should take some step to addressing mental health needs. When it came out, it was a lot easier to get faculty members on board.”

According to Cassis, the Faculty of Music—based on a needs assessment survey—introduced easily accessible ice packs for injured students, and began providing relaxation zones to help reduce burnout rates amongst students.

Larger faculties, such as the Faculty of Arts, present different challenges.

“We think about [mental health] more on a departmental level [within the Faculty of Arts],” Cassis said. “It is such a big faculty, so it is harder to handle.”

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

OPINION 5

e d ito 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

Unacceptable and urgent: McGill must reach agreement with AMUSE After a meeting with the McGill administration on Oct. 28, the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) calle a five day strike, which began on Oct. 29. AMUSE is a labour union representing approximately 1,500 casual and temporary employees in both part-time and full-time positions. It has been negotiating with McGill for a new collective agreement since April 2015, when the previous one expired. It is unacceptable that negotiations have taken this long and that AMUSE members have been forced to operate under an expired agreement during this time. McGill must recognize these demands and find a way to incorporate them into the new collective agreement as soon as possible.

On a flyer handed out after members of the union voted in favour of strike actions in a special assembly on Oct. 20, AMUSE highlights five priorities: Equal treatment of casual workers, accurate job descriptions and pay, seniority and benefits for casual workers, a living wage, and improvements to the Work Study job posting system. AMUSE has also asked for McGill identifica-

off the board

Copy Editor Areni Nicoghosian copy@mcgilltribune.com Business Manager Mingye Chen business@mcgilltribune.com 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, Jackie 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

Charlotte Hings, Domenic Casciato, Dylan Adamson, Emma Gillies, Gibran Haque, Grace Hebert, Jeannie Richardson, Phi Khanh Hoang, Selwynne Hawkins, Tara Allen-Flanagan, Wendy Tran

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.

Jenna Stanwood News Editor For citizens of the United States, this has been the most entertaining— and for some, the most nauseating— presidential election in memory. Disgruntled voters are threatening not to cast their vote because they feel neither large-party candidate suits their interests, and the movement to vote third party is gaining steam, especially among millennial voters upset over Bernie Sanders’ loss in the primary.

On top of all this, there seems to be a new scandal almost every day.

I will not hide the fact that I am a staunch Democrat who loves, supports, and has already voted for Hillary Clinton. However, aside from the two-party system and the public disapproval of both candidates, there is a glaring issue in this debate: Eventful presidential campaigns such as this one, which provide constant fodder for the hungry media, are overshadowing congressional races that are ar-

tion cards to be administered to its non-student members, to allow them access to McGill buildings and services. In a press release, the McGill administration stated that a consensus was reached on Oct. 24 regarding “the content of a possible agreement on this matter.”

Given the hiring freeze on regular positions at McGill and the fact that casual employees are relied on to fill full-time positions, it is imperative that casual workers are respected and given as much job security as possible. Rights such as recognition of seniority and priority for re-hire are not egregious requests.

If casual employees are fulfilling the tasks of long-term, full-time employees, as stated in AMUSE’s bylaws, they deserve “access to the same benefits, in a manner proportionate to their work hours, as regular full-time employees at McGill.”

This is especially important for the non-student workers that the union represents, who aren’t covered by student health plans at McGill.

Furthermore, part-time positions on campus are important sources of employment for those unable to secure jobs in the city of Montreal, whether because of visa

or language constraints. As such, it is imperative that these workers are treated with respect and that opportunities for these students to find stable employment with fair wages on campus are as available as possible.

AMUSE supports the Fifteen and Fair movement in calling for a $15 minimum wage, but this demand is about more than just a number. It is about advocating for equal treatment of workers, respect, and paying people fairly for the work they do. Although it is likely infeasible for the administration to implement such a change overnight, McGill should take leadership by committing to raising the wages of its casual workers with a strict plan and deadlines. Presently, these are between $10.85 and $12.24 per hour, with the lowest class only ten cents higher than Quebec’s minimum wage of $10.75 per hour. Regardless of whether it accepts the $15 demand, McGill has an opportunity to take a leadership role in this movement by increasing the minimum wage of its workers—something that is increasingly becoming a nation-wide trend.

According to AMUSE’s negotiations update, its main aim in meeting with the administration

on Oct. 28 was “to secure a commitment from the employer that the Work Study job system will be renovated according to [its] members urgent needs.” Students are only at university for a short period of time, and the university’s inaction and refusal to meet this demand has negative consequences for students on the Work Study program. In the current system, these students are not guaranteed a job on campus, despite qualifying for financial aid.

Specifically, AMUSE is asking for Work Study jobs to “be posted in a transparent and standardized manner” and for the creation of a feedback system in order to “empower students to have a say in how the Work Study program affects the students as workers.” Although there is a database for job postings, it is not mandatory for Work Study jobs to be posted, making it difficult for students to find positions on campus.

A lack of accessibility to Work Study jobs and insufficient wages, benefits, and respect for casual workers negatively impact present workers—especially those with financial need. The time for footdragging in the process of negotiations has long passed.

Down the ballot: Presidential hooplah overshadows Congress guably more important for the future of the country. Voters must remember that the presidential candidates will not be the only names on the ballot on Nov. 8.

The current Congress has been dubbed the least effective in recent American history, and polls show it’s also the least popular. Partisanship within the House of Representatives and the Senate—and between the two Republican majority bodies and the Democratic presidency—have stalled legislation, and even forced a shutdown of the federal government in the Fall of 2013 due to a budget dispute.

The American system works best with some balance in Congress, and some willingness from at least one of the chambers to cooperate with presidential initiatives. Pundits from both sides of the aisle recognize that Republicans have made it their mission since the 2008 election to prevent legislation supported by Obama from passing into law. If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, but is faced with a Republican-dominated Congress more conservative than the last, this will mean four more years of inaction. A more frightening scenario is a potential Trump presidency combined with a conservative Republican-dominated Congress, in which there would be no measure to stop him from pushing far-right legislation through both chambers.

This Election Day, all 435 seats in the House and 34 out of the 100 Senate seats will be contested. The

House is likely to remain in a Republican majority, but there is a chance that Democrats could take control of the Senate. But even if Democrats manage to sweep the Senate, the 2018 electoral forecast looks especially grim for them. Republican voters tend to show up to midterm polls more reliably than Democrats, putting the latter party at risk of losing whatever majority they may gain. If the Democrats cannot hold the Senate in subsequent midterm elections, the Republicans would have no incentive to cooperate with a Democratic presidency, resulting in more obstructionism.

According to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Centre, some of the most important issues in this election are the economy, health care, gun policy reform, immigration, and social security. These are all topics that the next Congress will be producing legislation on—not the Oval Office.

In fact, most of the issues that attract voters to third party candidates will be addressed through legislation. Free or more affordable higher education, changes to Obamacare and social security, and gun control policy cannot come out of an executive order—they must come from legislation drafted and voted on in Congress. The Vice President even has the potential to play a more important role than the president in his capacity as the tiebreaker in the Senate, in the case that the Republican-Democrat margin is a small one.

Furthermore, this upcoming Congress will have an important duty that the last did not: The Senate will have to confirm at least one Supreme Court nominee—and may confirm up to three—potentially changing the balance of the court for the next two decades. There is currently a name before the Senate for the Supreme Court, but Republicans have refused to have a confirmation vote while Obama remains in office. This appointment would determine the political leaning of the court by breaking the current four-four split between conservative and progressive justices.

If Trump is elected president with a conservative Congress, the next Supreme Court justice could be a conservative who, among a myriad of other issues, could help the overturn of Roe v. Wade, reversing women’s right to have an abortion in the U.S..

There is a toxic trend in U.S. elections of inflating the office of the President far beyond its relative capacity. The President does not have, and never has had, the power to make laws or determine the national budget. This is not to say that the President does not matter—the next commander-in-chief has their work cut out for them. However, Clinton, Trump, Stein, and Johnson should not be the only names voters know when they go to the polls next Tuesday.

This is especially true to those voters who feel alienated by the presidential race. There is more at stake on Election Day than just the Oval Office.

6 OPINION

C o m m e nt a r y

Alexandra Harvey Columnist Amanda and Hardy Leighton were, by all appearances, a young, happy, stable married couple from North Vancouver. They decided to celebrate the purchase of their first home— fit with a yard for their two-year-old son—by getting a little high. On July 20, they were found dead in their home.

The cause of their deaths—and a record high of other Canadians this year—was fentanyl: An opioid painkiller 100 times more powerful than morphine that is often found laced in street drugs.

The Leightons, along with many of the faces of fentanyl overdoses, were not drug addicts. They used drugs recre-

C o m m e nt a r y

Domenic Casciato Contributor McGill’s endowment fund is a hot button topic. Since September alone, there has been a disruption of McGill’s Board of Governors by Divest McGill to raise awareness of sustainability, a series of open forums on sustainability, and a presentation about global growth and the environment. Many McGill students are passionately concerned with whether the university is invested in a sustainable future; groups such as Divest are convinced that McGill is not.

But, even if McGill is not a proponent of sustainable development and environmental protection, it does not mean

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

A deadly high: Universities must take measures to educate and protect against fentanyl overdoses ationally and infrequently. They had no idea they were ingesting the fatal opioid. Fentanyl is infecting communities across Canada as it creeps its way into party drugs.

This epidemic affects everyone.

University students are especially vulnerable given that young adults are more likely to use drugs than any other age group. As such, Canadian universities have a responsibility to educate students about drug safety and protect them against overdosing on fentanyl.

Traces of fentanyl have been found in counterfeit OxyContin, Percocet, and Xanax pills, as well as in other drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and MDMA. Fentanyl is cheap, so it is cut into drugs like cocaine to buff them up for buyers.

What makes fentanyl so dangerous is how potent it is: One microgram of fentanyl—the size of one grain of salt—can mean the difference between a euphoric high and death.

Though intended as a prescription pain-reliever, the presence of illicit fentanyl in Canada is growing at a rapid rate. In BC and Alberta—the two provinces most affected by the drug—

fentanyl-linked fatalities spiked from 42 in 2012 to 418 in 2015. There were 508 illicit drug deaths in BC from January to September 2016, 60 per cent of which

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Post-secondary institutions have a key role in influencing and raising awareness about the risks of drug culture.

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were linked to fentanyl. Two people die from opioid overdoses in Ontario every single day. This national epidemic is projected to reach new heights before it slows down. No community is immune.

The combination of cocaine, a stimulant, and fentanyl, a depressant, is especially deadly. Because cocaine is a social drug often used at parties, its mar-

riage to fentanyl opens up the painkiller’s devastating effects to a much larger audience. This summer, nine people overdosed on fentanyl-laced cocaine in the span of 20 minutes in Delta, BC. Just a few weeks ago, five partiers in Barrie, ON, met the same fate. There’s no such thing as doing a ‘harmless’ line at a party anymore.

University is a pivotal, formative chapter in an individual’s life, and university students are prone to going out and experimenting. Post-secondary institutions play a key role in influencing and raising awareness about the risks of drug culture. Universities must inform students about drug safety and foster open, judgment-free spaces where students can access overdose prevention tools and seek help and information.

There’s no chemical remedy for addiction, but naloxone, an antidote drug, can save lives in cases of fentanyl overdoses. Naloxone counteracts the effects of opioids such as heroin, fentanyl, and morphine. In response to the rising fentanyl epidemic, the University of British Columbia is now administering free take-home naloxone kits and

training students on how to use them.

At the University of Calgary, naloxone is available to students with a history of opioid use and a prescription from a registered nurse; however, keeping naloxone behind-the-counter is not productive. If an overdose occurs, it is the friends or family of the opioid user who need the counterdrug to save a loved one. In a literal life-or-death situation, universities must be as proactive as possible.

Fentanyl has yet to have as deadly an impact in Quebec as it has had out West; still, the epidemic is spreading across the country—and it’s way too close for comfort. While individuals have a responsibility to inform themselves about safe drug use and exercise judgment, universities must take the initiative now to protect students from this nationwide crisis. Universal access to naloxone kits is a significant step that should be implemented immediately.

Given students’ proximity to party drugs, they are especially vulnerable.

Fentanyl is strong, relentless, and allconsuming—and its next victim could be someone you know.

Tuition-paying students not complicit in McGill’s investment practices that, by paying tuition, its students are complicit in the university’s investment practices.

On July 27, Malcolm Gladwell appeared in a video for Business Insider, in which he asserted that students and their parents should view their tuition payments as an investment in the larger world, not just an investment in their own educational capital. By looking at how their universities spend their money, students can determine whether or not they are complicit in a “moral crime”—in other words, the university’s politically regressive reinvestment of their dollar. A responsible coffee drinker makes sure that their local cafe buys its beans from fair trade sources.

Nowadays, fair-trade beans are a necessity for any respectable cafe. Likewise, Gladwell argued that higher education is a marketplace: If students and parents pay tuition or donate to universities that invest money in ways that “do good,” they send a message to all universities about what investment practices are acceptable. However, although students should be concerned with and inform themselves on their university’s investments, they are not responsible for them.

Aside from the subjectivity of the term ‘good,’ Gladwell’s argument relies on a number of assumptions. It makes the idea of the university, its interests, and its investments monolithic. Universities—McGill included—are made up of a number of moving, often conflicting parts, with many different interests involved. McGill, for example, has spent over $5 million on projects for the Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF), but has nearly three times that amount invested in what are, according to the latest report by Alberta Oil Magazine, five of the top ten largest fossil fuel and pipeline companies. Furthermore, according to Divest McGill, these are only five of over 35 major companies in the fossil fuel industry that McGill invests in with its endowment. Although the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) gave McGill a gold star sustainability rating in September, from a perspective that dichotomizes sustainability and the fossil fuel industry, McGill is actually a net opponent of sustainability. Clearly, McGill’s investment of its money is complex, not unidimensional.

Gladwell assumes that students,

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Regardless of whether the university itself should reevaluate its own investments, it is hard to argue that students have any complicity in them.

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by paying tuition, are complicit in whatever regressive investments their universities make. At McGill, this isn’t true. According to a summary of the budget released by McGill’s Office of the Budget, student tuition is collected as revenue for McGill’s operating fund—the fund that covers the daily costs of McGill—including employee salaries, student services, and various non-salary expenditures. The university is prohibited from using inter-fund transfers to move operational revenues into the endowment fund, so student tuition is never used in the university’s in-

vestments. At the same time, a non-optoutable fee of $0.50 is charged to each student account for the SPF. The revenue that student tuition contributes to McGill is spent in part on sustainability projects, not the university’s fossil fuel investments. Regardless of whether the university itself should reevaluate its own investments, it is hard to argue that students have any complicity in them.

Gladwell has an interesting insight into the power students have on the university market, but goes too far when he implicates students and parents in a “moral crime,” at least when it comes to McGill. If students aren’t directly involved in any of the university’s investments, it is unfair to give these students any moral responsibility over a university’s investment practices. Students should be interested, engaged, and concerned, but they are not responsible. This is not to say that a college market more heavily weighted towards schools with investments in sustainability would not have an effect on McGill’s choice not to divest; however, it does mean that student tuition paid to McGill shouldn’t be considered much more than an investment in one’s own education.

Errata: - An article in the Oct. 18 issue titled “Potential national marijuana legislation to be voted on in Spring 2017” incorrectly stated that Sareen-Khanna said that marijuana has only medicinal properties while alcohol and tobacco do not. In fact, he specified that alcohol and tobacco have greater acute, chronic, and physiological effects than marijuana. In addition, it misquoted Sareen-Khanna as saying cannaboids work in the amygdala, the part of the brain that processes fear and anxiety, when in fact he said that cannaboids work in the cannaboid receptors in the gut and the brain. Another article in the Oct. 18 issue was titled “McGill faces $1.3 million in deferred maintenance costs” when in fact it faces $1.3 billion in deferred maintenance costs.

- An article in the Oct. 25 issue titled “AMUSE general assembly authorizes strike mandate” included inaccurate information regarding the 2011 MUNACA strike. It took place on Sept.

1, one week after the Aug. 24 strike vote—not 24 hours after the strike vote. In addition, the article incorrectly stated that the Class A minimum pay rate is $10.55/hour when in fact it is $10.85/hour. Finally, it incorrectly attributed Maxim Baru’s quote to Bradley Powell.

STUDENT LIVING 7

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Saint Woods develops Montreal nightlife with “democratic cool” Zach Macklovitch speaks to the welcoming nature of the city’s club scene

April Barrett Managing Editor Continued from page 1.

“It was always kind of what me and [Gannage] like to call ‘social experiments.’ That’s kind of the basis of the company [....] We liked giving people what they weren’t expecting.”

Macklovitch sticks by this experimental, culture-based model. He is passionate about SaintWoods being an arbiter of cool—keeping on top of trends is an art in itself. He explained that the SaintWoods model of ‘cool’ is based on what their team feels people are missing in their lives. “[A cultural trend] comes from a want or a need of more,” Macklovitch explained. “A$AP Rocky popped off and streetwear popped off because there was a lack of that kind of music and that kind of fashion at the time [....]

It’s always interconnected based on the cultural pendulum swinging left to right. Us at SaintWoods, we’re always looking. ‘Oh, it’s really left right now?

It’s time to go right.’”

While Macklovitch loves Montreal, he never planned for his career to take off in his home city.

“I told everyone I was moving to New York and next thing you know we got the deal for SuWu, [known as Cafeteria at the time],” Macklovitch said. “[...] It just clicked. Then, [the owners of Cafeteria] had this other property, Ballroom, that was kind of hurting that they wanted us to flip.”

Ballroom soon became Apartment 200, a concept lounge based on the

apartment loft parties and Brooklyn barcades that Macklovitch and Gannage visited in their trips to New York. They then opened Apartment 200 in Toronto, followed by École Privée in Montreal last year.

While looking to New York nightlife as inspiration for his work, Macklovitch admits that there is nowhere in the world like Montreal when it comes to having a good time.

This is due largely to the nature of Montreal’s creative scene.

“It’s not cool in Montreal to be rich,” Macklovitch said. “It’s cool to be cool, it’s cool to be artistic. It’s cool to create your own fashion and to be able to do that without having a lot of money. It’s this super organic scene that’s also super inviting. We always laugh when people come from Toronto, who say to us, ‘Yo, Montreal’s so much fun.’ We’re like, yeah it’s a great time because people actually say, ‘What’s up?’ to you at the bar.”

Macklovitch admits that though he does want to get out of Montreal eventually, he is consistently inspired by what he calls Montreal’s “democratic cool.” This concept is identifiable in the way creative, successful people in the city are still friendly and welcoming.

“Every time I come home and there’s a proper turn up at Apartment [200] or some of those after parties, when you go to those you’re like, ‘Yo, there’s nothing like this in the entire world.’ There’s nothing this democratic.

Nothing like where everyone you look at you’re like, ‘You’re cool as shit.’

Whereas you go to these other parties and not only are the people outside

Zach Macklovitch founded SaintWoods upon principles of a “democratic cool.” (L-A Benoit / The McGill Tribune) Montreal not as cool as the kids I know in Montreal, they aren’t as friendly! It’s like, ‘Yo! This is wack!’”

Macklovitch explains that this kind of cool in Montreal is diffuse, and is based more on character than on social status. Those who have a friendly attitude are his target demographic for SaintWoods’ three supposedly exclusive clubs.

“I’m down if that cool person goes to McGill, I’m down if that cool person is 35 and works at some insurance company,” Macklovitch said. “If you’re cool, I want you inside.But if you’re rude and you start fights, or you’re rude to girls, or you and your friends are being racist, then don’t come to my party! I don’t care if you’re 25, if you’re 35, no matter how much money you have.

If you’re friendly and you have a good vibe it’s rare that you won’t get in.”

The most important thing Macklovitch has learned from being in the industry is to hold himself to the same moral standard in a nightclub

that he would in any other professional environment.

“I don’t think those rules [of the nightlife world] absolve you of a general sense of morality,” Macklovitch said.

“Just because you work in nightlife, it does not mean it’s okay to be a shitty boyfriend, or that it’s okay to do drugs at work, or to be rude to people. You may be less likely to be judged in those situations, but myself and my team hold ourselves to higher standards than most other industries would. [Nightlife] may have it’s own set of rules, but then you just have to go by your own playbook.”

In any case, Macklovitch looks beyond the nightlife world and its rules to inspire his work. Among his inspirations he lists the Montreal Mural Festival organizers, with whom Saint Woods shares its office, and Virgil Abloh, the creative director responsible for designing Kanye West’s innovative floating concert stage. Macklovitch believes that looking at figures who are innovating in a variety of fields is

essential for anyone who wants to find real success.

“The best advice I can give young people is, ‘Don’t look at the people who are doing what you want to do,’” Macklovitch said. “Look at the people you are amazed by that are doing something completely different. You’ll find more inspiration in that than in the people who are necessarily in your direct [field]. Don’t [necessarily] look to be inspired in your own city. Nathan and myself, we get inspired by going to Paris, New York, Berlin, my cousin’s country house, whatever!”

When asked to reflect on his favourite historical nightclubs, Macklovitch pauses. He admitted that he doesn’t think too much about those.

“I’m inspired by the future more than I’m inspired by the past,” Macklovitch said.

As a leading figure of the democratic cool of Montreal, Macklovitch and SaintWoods are evolving with the future in mind.

Secrets hidden in Mount Royal Park

Little-known spots and historical gems from the mountain

Mount Royal park is full of hidden historical facts. (Christopher Li / The McGill Tribune)

Selin Altuntur Arts & Entertainment Editor

Few students are lucky enough to go to class next door to a sprawling patch of urban green space.

Despite being one of Montreal’s most interesting landmarks, Mount Royal often fades into the background for many McGill students, serving as

nothing more than a backdrop of pretty scenery. It’s easy to take Mount Royal’s proximity for granted during the bustle of our daily lives—it’s only a large bump in the landscape, after all. Yet, the mountain is deeply embroiled in Montreal’s history, and one doesn’t need to look too far into the park to see physical evidence of this connection.

For those seeking relief from a stressful midterm season, or even just looking to get to know the city on a deeper level, a couple hours of exploration in Mount Royal Park should be atop one’s list of priorities. There are secrets of great interest buried within the mountain— hidden in graveyards, hiking trails, and even in the trees themselves—that are definitely worth investigating.

Unmarked paths, hidden lookouts

Chemin Olmstead is the main path that circles up the mountain to its summit. Often overrun with joggers and tourists, it isn’t the most ideal route if one is looking for a peaceful scenic hike. Luckily, many unmarked small and winding paths lead out from Olmstead into more isolated hiking trails. One route leads east from the

Mont Royal Chalet at the summit and circles the perimeter of Mount Royal, offering a unique and secluded vantage point from which to view the city. Some spots along the trail open up into rocky cliffs that serve as organically formed lookouts. The views from these hidden gems are more interesting than the curated cityscapes seen at the chalet— particularly because they’re completely isolated from crowds. Along with being a photographer’s paradise, these hidden nooks are an ideal place to explore on a first date or with an old friend.

Century-old cemetery

Opened in 1852, Montreal's largest cemetery is located right next to Mount Royal Park, past Côte-desNeiges, near the summit of the hill.

The natural landscape of the cemetery is possibly the most beautiful on the island, with near 360-degree views of the city and its surroundings at the summit of the hill. Some may find exploring a graveyard to be unsettling, yet there is definitely something unique and autumnal about the image of old stone monuments set against orange foliage. Many graves in this

cemetery date back over 100 years and contain former Canadian prime ministers, soldiers, and members of the Molson family—Canada's beerbrewing dynasty. More interestingly, however, is that the cemetery is also home to the grave of McGill student Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead, who was famously responsible for the death of Harry Houdini via sucker punch in 1926. The cemetary, easily accessible

by Chemin Olmstead, is an ideal place to escape from the fast-paced downtown environment and interact with Montreal’s history.

Time capsule

A giant cross monument on top of Mount Royal was erected by the city's founder, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, in 1643, and was later replaced by an illuminated replica in 1924. Next to it is a plaque marking the burial spot of a time capsule from the year 1992. Back at the time of its burial, around 12,000 Montreal school children wrote messages and drawings of their visions of what the city would look like in 150 years—as the capsule is scheduled to be opened in 2142, when

the city will celebrate its 500th birthday.

The historical significance of this site is eye-opening for students both native to Montreal and from elsewhere, providing them with the opportunity to learn more about the history of the city.

Morality Cuts

The majority of the trees planted in Mount Royal Park are actually not very old. In fact, many of them date back no further than 50 years. This is largely due to the mass decimation of the mountain's vegetation during Mayor Jean Drapeau's term in the 1950s. At this time, the lush foliage we've come to be familiar with was nowhere to be seen, and the large hill looming over the city was covered in stumps, rather than healthy trees. Drapeau was convinced that the thick, dense foliage covering the mountain made it a breeding ground for “un-holy” sexual behaviour. In order to curb the “abuse” of the mountain's forest cover, he ordered Mount Royal to be stripped clean of its trees. The decision was controversial, and the trees were soon replaced with young saplings— many of which have grown into those we see in Montreal's landscape today.

The Internet Vernacular: Discussing meme culture Evelyn Goessling Arts and Entertainment editor

Memes, which were once concealed in the fringes of the Internet, have broken into public consciousness. The Internet phenomenon has found life outside of image boards, and is often presented in mainstream news outlets, television shows, and even university lectures.

The word “meme” was first formally defined by Richard Dawkins as a “self replicating unit of culture.” In the context of the Internet, a meme is vernacular, colloquial, and a form of jargon. It references and is contextualized within the growing phenomena of online communication and non-traditional media. The meme is subversive yet universal; niche yet entirely accessible; democratic, but at times unsophisticated; and material and ephemeral.

Illustrations by Cordelia Cho

The success of a meme can be associated to its relatability— which is one of the key aspects of comedy. Comedians like Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, and Amy Schumer, to name a few—incorporate strategies to gain their audience’s trust and sympathy with phrases like, “You know what I mean?” and “Does this ever happen to you?” One of the easiest ways to connect with someone is to relate a shared experience. When performers bring those experiences to the stage, popular comedy is born.

While memes come from a similar comedic root, they have transcended the genre of comedy. Meme formats have evolved over time, sometimes making it difficult to distinguish between what is a meme and what is not. Notable early memes were comics, recognizable emotional caricatures, and combinations of images and text.

Lolcats—images of cats in quirky situations superimposed with intentionally grammatically incorrect text—is an example of image macro, a type of meme. An image macro is a picture superimposed with a text, meant to convey a funny message. Simple and easily digestible humour forms the basis for Internet memes.

Today, memes often take the form of image macros, which are widely shared on social media such as Instagram and Facebook.

Like live comedy, memes emphasize relatability, focusing on modern issues and trends of all kinds.They often source images and tropes from media, such as television shows, movies and celebrity gossip.

Allusions have historically been used to make works more accessible and engaging; even Shakespeare used pop culture references to draw in his audience hundreds of years ago. Ruby Lewis, a visual artist living in Vancouver, reflected on how future generations might look back on memes, as we now look back on Twelfth Night and Hamlet, trying to discover its possible hidden meanings and allusions.

“People are trying to figure out what [some of Shakespeare’s references] mean [even today],” she said. “The thing about memes is that you don’t see the actual original thing that it came from, but we still understand what it means [from the context]. That’s really interesting that [memes alone don’t exist as] anything solid—it’s a collective knowledge.”

The idea that memes are a form of collective knowledge is illustrated by their production process: With ubiquitous accessibility to the Internet, like-minded communities are crowd-sourcing memes as their own unique comedic genre. People use memes to express their ideas, beliefs, experiences and perceptions around stereotypes, complaints, and failures. Though the use of personal computers is a solitary and perhaps isolating task, meme culture has introduced another level of social connection through the online experience. To this end, memes are a part of the internet’s vernacular, as it connects people and contributes to the formation of memespecific communities.

In an email to The McGill Tribune, Casey McCormick, a McGill PhD candidate in Cultural Studies, wrote that the growing popularity of memes is based on the technological advancements of the modern era.

“The prevalence of memes is, of course, dependent on Internet technology and our ability to share content quickly and easily across multiple platforms,” she wrote. “Memes are vehicles through which culture spreads, virally. Because culture is constantly shifting, certain memes will lose impact and dissipate, while new memes are created everyday.”

Yet, for all of the openness and communal creativity it allows, it is clear that the Internet often lacks an atmosphere of equity. As a consequence, some groups are unable to accurately and safely present their cultures. Difficulties in adequately and respectfully representing women, people of colour, and LGBTQ+ are reiterated and even exacerbated on online platforms such as Instagram. Just as mainstream entertainment marginalizes certain experiences, some meme sharing platforms have hierarchies that limit the visibility and accessibility of memes. Dre, known by her Instagram handle @ gothshakira, is combating this trend with subversive memes.

Dre makes intersectional feminist memes for herself and her friends’ lived experiences, often speaking to the experience of dating in Montreal. One of @gothshakira’s most recent memes is a downloadable invoice to bill your almost-man for your emotional labour, with itemized subsections such as “endless advice about that girl you were in love with” and “spiritual guidance through a period of troubling dependency on psychoactive substances.” Another meme describes the frustration of removing and reinserting a DivaCup while trying to keep your cool, “As if u didn’t just have uterine

lining all over urself mere moments ago.” Dre said that her memes are an integral aspect of her work towards encouraging inclusivity and visibility for women on the Internet. “[I’m] really carving out my own space on the Internet, a space where people can talk about things that aren’t usually talked about,” she said. “[I want to present] a space where people who aren’t usually included feel they can relate to the ideas that are being expressed there.”

In the context of feminism, sharing microaggressions and everyday instances of misogyny are part of exposing and validating the spectrum of gender-based violence. Memes do this with a touch of humour and cynicism, creating a therapeutic form of entertainment.

“Sharing experiences is almost a way to expand your feminism, by listening [...] you can learn a lot without having to judge anyone’s experience as worse or better,” said Lewis.

That’s not to say that every woman will benefit from feminist memes, but only that they are an avenue for group conversation and advocacy. Emma Chambers, U1 Gender, Sexuality, Feminist, and Social Justice Studies student explained that memes don’t necessarily speak for all members of a related group.

“We don’t all have shared experiences just because we’re women,” said Chambers. “Specific memes for specific groups, though, are really powerful for people who also relate [to the subject matter being presented].”

The nature of some of the topics explored by memes can lead to polarized reactions. With over 35,000 followers on her Instagram account, and content that deals with feminism, Dre has experience with online harassment. Dre compares her experience to that of the abuse faced by women in the Gamergate controversy, one of the most prominent incidences of Internet harassment in which females in the video game industry were threatened with rape, murder, and cyber attacks. Gamergate exposed some of the extreme misogyny that occurs both behind and on screen. “[The Internet] parallels real life in almost an exaggerated degree to how women are unfairly treated or excluded from certain spaces, and how intimidation and making them feel unsafe is a tactic that is still used in order to drive them out of [those] spaces,” Dre said.

Dre’s memes are unique in that they are immediately recognizable as her own creations, but this isn’t usually the case. A meme is essentially a symbol of an experience. Variations of that symbol develop and branch off organically, receiving embellishments and additions based on the ideas of the people they reach. This informal network of content development is made possible by the lack of formal authorship.

“In most cases, it is nearly impossible to determine the “author” of a meme, and this is essential to how memes move through a cultural landscape,” wrote McCormick. “In a way, memes are collectively authored through the process of viral sharing—meaning arises and morphs as a meme is deployed in different contexts.”

The fact that anyone can freely alter or repost an image sometimes results in corruption of its message. As an example, Dre referenced the burgeoning genre of memes that capitalize on AfricanAmerican stereotypes.

“It’s really hard to determine ownership of things that are made anonymously and are able to be disseminated so quickly, and rapidly, and easily,” Dre said. “That calls in questions of appropriation, like, ‘Is it ok if I, a white kid on his computer, makes a meme in African-American vernacular English, or use a black person in a reaction image?’”

In late September, one of the most recognizable memes, Pepe the Frog, was labelled a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). In the statement published on Sept. 27, the ADL said Pepe the Frog originally did not have anti-Semitic connotations, but, “As the meme proliferated in online venues such as 4chan, 8chan and Reddit, a subset of memes came into existence promoting anti-Jewish, bigoted, and offensive ideas.”

The issue of racially charged memes underlines the wide spreading impact of Internet culture. While memes mainly thrive and spread on the Internet, they interact with real-world commentary that ranges from dating experiences to political satire. For example, Ken Bone, an undecided American voter who asked a question during the second U.S. Presidential debate, quickly gained popularity on social media and was featured in numerous memes. Bone captured the hearts of politically frustrated people across America, becoming a harmless symbol for the everyman.

“The meme is subversive yet universal; niche yet entirely accessible; democratic, but at times unsophisticated; and material and ephemeral.”

It is not rare to see stories about memes and their influence make headlines on news networks. Chambers mused about the political impact of memes like Ken Bone and Pepe.

“Memes have entered the political arena,” she said. “Even beyond Ken Bone, like the Pepe meme [...] a meme was put into the position of having major political sway, having influence that we never thought would have happened with ‘I haz cheezburger!’”

Ultimately, memes can be personal as well as an expression of a collective experience. Memes can be formatted to fit various perspectives and interests. Because they are based on free online platforms, memes may be interpreted as ‘low culture,’ a derogatory conception of popular culture that has mass appeal. In her memes Dre approaches complex social concepts with humour, which dispels some of the classism of academia that comes with complicated feminist ideas such as emotional labour, the lingering effects of colonialism, and eugenics.

“It is the lowest common denominator-type thing,” Dre said.

“I think that a lot of ideas regarding accessibility are very classist, and that’s what I try to combat with my memes. Low culture is a really important and powerful thing that’s not given enough attention.”

While memes are sequestered online, they also respond to physical communities. Dre commented specifically on why she enjoys making memes about life in Montreal.

“You have this mishmash of culture,” she said. “It’s such a transient city, such a young city—so many students—so I think that it attracts a lot of like-minded young people, who have developed their own patterns of relating to each other and figuring out what they want from each other emotionally and spiritually, which can be comical in certain ways.”

McCormick believes that memes are an important tool that encourages critique and engagement with the world around us.

“I think the most important aspect [of memes] is the way that they invite collective authorship and encourage creative making,” she wrote. “The digital literacy bar for meme making is pretty low, and I think user-friendly platforms that encourage digital creativity are an essential element of participatory culture.”

As an engaging visual genre, memes transcend traditional boundaries of art and communication. Technology-specific subsets of language, like memes, will continue to push the boundaries of interpersonal connection—memes will always exist, though not as we know them today.

10 STUDENT LIVING

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Campus food initiatives find solutions to reduce their waste Lowering waste on a large scale

Grace Hebert Contributor Wasting food is often unavoidable, whether producing extra scraps from cooking or throwing out moldy and expired food. For many student-led foodbased initiatives on campus, food waste is an ever-present issue that requires large-scale efforts to combat it.

Reducing food waste can begin with the early stages of production.

According to Students’ Society of McGill University Vice-President (VP) Operations Sacha Magder, the Student Run Cafeteria (SRC) has been very successful at limiting food waste by cutting out food loss in their supply chain. “[The SRC] started using a local producer who pre-chops the vegetables. [Normally,] we would have thrown out the ends, [but now] they can reuse the ends for fertilizer or for animals,” Magder said.

“We’ve seen it make a difference on our bottom line. We’re wasting less food since the sales are higher.

Everything is being used and sold, and the portion sizes are accurate for students.”

However, prioritizing environmental sustainability can often entail financial sacrifice, as ecofriendly food production strategies like pre-chopping vegetables tend to come with higher costs. It has been

harder to improve revenue at the SRC for this reason; however, even so, the cafeteria strives to serve cheap food despite using potentially more expensive locally-sourced produce, all the while maintaining sustainable projects and paying fair wages.

“Margins are lower, so there is a higher cost of food,” Magder explained. “We are willing to sacrifice profit in order to run our operation in a sustainable and fair way. The SRC is working towards breaking even as it currently runs on a deficit.”

While the SRC is working to reduce food waste in the early stages of food production, other initiatives on campus still struggle with this. According to Monica Allaby, U2 Arts and a coordinator for the McGill Farmer’s Market, food waste is still a problem in their Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA), which works with Macdonald Student-run Ecological Gardens (MSEG). In the studentled CSA program, students pay for produce in advance from local farmers to fund their start-up costs during the winter, and, in exchange, they receive weekly baskets of produce during the summer harvest season. Over this past summer, however, many baskets were not picked up by those who had ordered them. As an alternative to throwing out these baskets, the Farmer’s Market donated this produce to a

local restaurant. In addition, MSEG is looking to work with a local nonprofit this fall to help reduce food waste.

“There were enough leftovers [from produce baskets] that they couldn’t be distributed among the

Student-led initiatives at McGill take significant steps to reduce their food waste. (Alessandra Morales / The McGill Tribune) volunteers,” Allaby said. “Luckily, the extra food was given to Robin des Bois, a non-profit restaurant in the Plateau. During the fall, McGill Farmer’s Market hopes to pair up with the Yellow Door, [located] in

the [Milton-Parc Community], to help donate to their student food bank during the school year. Students can also contribute [to the Yellow Door] and donate their leftover food items.”

While eliminating the amount of food wasted in the pre- and post- stages of food production has proven effective for many campus groups, some find putting food waste back into the earth to be an equally feasible option. The Midnight Kitchen (MK)—a non-profit, student volunteer-run collective dedicated to providing accessible, affordable, and healthy meals outside of the mainstream capitalist food system— has also faced their fair share of issues with excess food after their daily soup kitchen. To assuage this, MK composts their leftover food through an external service, according to Anastasia Dudley, U3 Arts and staff member at MK .

“Given that most of our food comes to us at or past its expiry date, we throw a ton of food out for being moldy and inedible. We often fill a compost bin a day,” Dudley said.

“We use Compost Montreal. We pay for the service out of our fee and have a relationship with them independent of McGill.”

While many on-campus initiatives work to reduce their food waste on a larger scale, the members of the student population may also address their own levels of food waste in order to contribute to a

culture of sustainability on campus.

According to Magder, food waste should be addressed through larger societal changes.

“Food waste needs to be tackled through an educational and [cultural] change,” Magder said. “But it’s hard in a community where the number of people are changing every year to instill [food waste] standards across campus. Each year, we lose 25 per cent of students and we have to reeducate 25 per cent again.”

While it is clear that many groups at McGill work to reduce food waste, students’ roles in lowering their personal food waste doesn’t need to start on campus. For Magder, reducing food waste in his personal life was a matter of learning to plan his grocery shopping.

“After my first year at McGill, I learned that planning was key as well as the importance of portioning correctly, buying the right amount of groceries, planning meals carefully, and composting,” Magder said.

What campus initiatives such as the SRC, MK, and MSEG all have in common are students with values like Magder’s. Limiting one’s carbon footprint more often than not entails partaking in largerscale campus food systems. The environmental principles upon which students operate in their everyday lives are just as important for making change in public settings, like school or at work.

Ask Ainsley: How do I cope with my best friend and my ex dating?

Ainsley gives advice on dealing with a messy breakup Dear LILT,

Breakups are messy—especially when friends are involved.

(Alissa Zilber / The McGill Tribune) Dear Ainsley, A friend of mine from back home recently told me she’s been dating my ex for four months and lying about it. I’m not so much mad that they’re dating, more so that they lied for four months. Also, when she told me, she was incredibly insensitive and condescending and invalidated my feelings about it. Is it worth trying to save the friendship if she’s going to treat me like this? If not, how do I deal with losing two of my closest friends?

Sincerely, Lost in a Love Triangle (LILT)

I can imagine what a difficult situation this must be for you. Maneuvering around a relationship with an ex can be incredibly difficult, and it becomes even harder when friends are involved. First off, kudos to you for being accepting of their relationship.

There are plenty of people who wouldn’t be able to fathom a friend dating an ex.

Second, you should know that your feelings are completely valid. Don’t let someone tell you that you’re overreacting when they’ve seriously hurt your feelings.

I think a variety of factors are at play in this situation, one of which is the quality of your relationship with your friend. If this incident is part of a pattern in your friendship, you may consider letting her go. Just because you get along with someone some of the time doesn’t mean they’re a great friend to you. In a conflict, some people will try to turn the blame on the other person when they know they’ve done something wrong. It can be hard to let go of a friend, especially one you’ve known for a long time, but someone who tears you down more than they build you up is not worth your time in the long run.

If you do end up deciding that you don’t want to be friends with this person anymore, you don’t have to cut them off all at once.

You can gradually phase them out, while

putting more energy and focus into your other friends and schoolwork at McGill.

If it makes it easier for you, unfollow your friend on social media. It can be hard to get someone off your mind when you’re constantly seeing them on your newsfeeds.

As upsetting as it can be, sometimes losing friends is a natural part of life.

However, if this is a friend that you want to keep, you need to have a discussion with them about the situation. Explain to them why your feelings are hurt. As hard as it can be to not get aggressive when someone has wronged you, aim for a higher ground.

Calmly tell her what your feelings are about the situation. Your emotional reactions are inherently valid and not up for debate. Once you express exactly how her words and actions made you feel, if she really cares, she won’t tell you that you’re being too sensitive.

After your chat, allow her to reach out to you, so you know that she is truly apologetic and wants to maintain your friendship.

In a perfect world, people would be able to stay friends with their exes after a break up. Not that it’s impossible, but in your situation it gets even harder. I understand that you probably feel betrayed—not only by your friend, but also by your ex, someone who you may have loved at one point. Even though it might be painful, you need to have a conversation with your ex and get his side

of the story. If he treats you the same way your friend did, it may be better for you to try to move on without him. If you do want to keep both of them in your life, as your friends they should be able to acknowledge how difficult the situation must be for you, and make an effort to earn back your trust.

While your first instinct may be to seek out social contact, having been hurt by two people close to you, it’s important to take some time for yourself. Focus on your personal health—exercise, eat well, get enough sleep—and your mental health— meditate, journal your thoughts and feelings, give yourself daily affirmations, or talk to a counsellor—whatever it is that will make you feel the best. In an emotional time like this, it’s not selfish to put your own personal needs above someone else’s. You seem to be focusing deeply on the social repercussions of this situation, but it is equally, if not more, important to look inward and focus on healing. No matter how your relationships with your friend and ex turn out, remember that your worth is not measured by those who do not treat you well. In caring for yourself, you will be reminded of your inherent worth, regularly.

All the best, Ainsley

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 11

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

La Biennale de Montréal explores global issues

Phillipe Pirotte’s exhibition The Grand Balcony refuses to talk down to its audience Ariella Garmaise Staff Writer

Since its launch in 1998, La Biennale de Montréal (BNLMTL) has been a touchstone for contemporary art.

Founded by the Centre International D’Art Contemporain de Montréal, BNLMTL, a festival that showcases both local and international artists, situates itself at the centre of a broader conversation about the role of art today.

On Oct. 19, the festival premiered The Grand Balcony exhibition at the Musée D’art Contemporain.

“Through its initiatives, BNLMTL also strives [...] to examine [...] the particular experience it provides in probing the burning questions of the world today,” explained the exhibition materials. The exhibition epitomizes BNLMTL’s quest for intellectual stimulation. A divergence from the flashiness of popular events like Nuit Blanche, The Grand Balcony encourages its audience to take time walking through. “Luckily the Biennale de Montréal has some duration,” curator Phillipe Pirotte explained in an interview with Canadian Art. “We’ve somehow forgotten that visual art can create time.”

Pirotte creates an exhibition filled with contradiction and juxtaposing nationalities, mediums, and concepts. “[Pirotte’s] golden rule: never

Celia Perrin’s Notte Coralli has a trendy aesthetic without much substance. (art-agenda.com) use art to illustrate an issue,” wrote Isa Tousignant in Canadian Art. Yet, much of the work he presents is politically driven.

The exhibition’s video art was particularly intent on representing current global issues. Israeli filmmaker Michael Blum’s The Swap investigates the 2008 financial crisis, creating a biting commentary on the capitalist system that failed, yet didn’t fall.

French filmmaker David Gheron Tretiakoff’s A God Passing explores Egyptian citizens’ newfound sense of power in the 2007 Arab Spring. New Zealand/UK-based artist Luke Willis Thompson tackles a lack of diverse representation within mainstream art.

His Cemetery of Uniforms and Liveries

recreates Warhol’s 1964-66 Screen Tests, a film project that famously included virtually no faces of colour.

Thompson’s interpretation features a black descendant of police brutality as its protagonist. Visually and aurally compelling, these films used varying aesthetic styles and strategies to create strong political stances.

However, these works, each expressing distinct thematic and aesthetic visions, get lost among pieces that lack similarly clear points of view.

Take Celia Perrin Sidarous’ Notte Coralli—a series of photographs that use different textures and shapes to create a layered sense of temporality, or Valerie Blass’ vibrant abstract sculptures. Each of these works is

visually stunning—Sidarous’ pastel photos are calming, Blass’s sculptures are intricately textured—yet they both follow a trend that favors aesthetics over substance, which Pirotte claims to abhor. Even the artists’ descriptions make use of the vague jargon often mocked by contemporary art critics such as Jerry Saltz.

“The works selected for Le Grand Balcon betray a preference for ‘images’ of deep historical resonance that materially and sensorially bind us to the here and now,” the curatorial statement explained. Yet the contradiction between pieces that are either meaningful or aesthetically pleasing makes it unclear exactly what Pirotte wants to say about the current

state of contemporary art.

If these mixed messages make for an exhibition that is ideologically confusing, then it also creates an experience that is temporally enriching.

While many modern exhibitions are fast-paced and attention grabbing, The Grand Balcony does not talk down to its audience. The diversity of work within The Grand Balcony is intentionally difficult to digest. A self-proclaimed traditionalist, Pirotte is skeptical of fanfare. “I don’t see art as benefitting from festivals,” he explained.

The Grand Balcony is a captivating experience. Representing artists from across the globe and art forms from a variety of disciplines, the exhibition accomplishes its mission of encouraging its audience to think. Yet, The Grand Balcony would be more compelling if it were more decisive and clear on its takeaway points. Still, with video art tucked in obscure corners and sharp visuals at every turn, The Grand Balcony is a seemingly endless experience, and is worth exploring at least once, if not more.

The Grand Balcony runs until Jan. 15, 2017 at the Musee d’Art Contemporain. La Biennale de Montréal is a festival with exhibitions at locations across Montreal. Visit bnlmtl2016.org for more information.

American Honey is a dizzying roadtrip through the southern U.S. Dylan Adamson Contributor Following in the tradition of ambitious “American ________” titled films (i.e. Psycho, Graffiti, Beauty, Sniper, Hustle), American Honey seeks to encapsulate its moment in history. Thankfully, director Andrea Arnold’s vision of a romantic road trip delivers everything it promises in one of the grandest statements of the fall movie season.

Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, American Honey is a hazy bus tour of America’s capitalist social ladder.

The film follows 18-year-old Star (Sasha Lane) on her journey from dumpster-diving in Muskogee, Alabama, to selling magazines doorto-door across America’s Bible Belt.

The film begins in small-town Alabama, where she provides for her deadbeat boyfriend’s two young children. It’s not until she encounters Jake (Shia LaBeouf), Krystal (Riley Keough), and several other friends— dancing to Rihanna’s “We Found Love” atop a K-Mart checkout counter—that the film’s premise takes off. Star promptly casts aside her figurative shackles and quickly finds herself in a packed van, drinking Smirnoff and rapping to Kevin Gates with her new surrogate family.

American Honey’s music

embodies the wild transAmerican journey of its characters. It includes tracks from across the spectrum of American music, juxtaposing exuberant Atlanta trap with sentimental country, and some surprising alt-rock gems.

Arnold’s choice to play Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s delicate “Careless Love” during Star’s tearful experiment with prostitution makes the scene all the more heartrending.

Star’s road trip probes the complexities of modern American society. From all-white cowboys in an all-white Cadillac, to condescending encounters with middle class mothers, to meth houses and malnourished children, the film’s door-to-door format is an ideal vehicle for Arnold’s comprehensive and personal tour of the South. As Star’s understanding of American wealth disparity broadens with each sales pitch, the experience of drunkenly rapping along to E-40 in a crowded van begins to feel more suffocating than liberating.

As Star’s disillusionment grows, one never feels as if Arnold is critiquing from an outsider’s perspective, largely due to Robbie Ryan’s brilliant cinematography. His style is shaky, but never obvious.

American Honey is rounded out by outstanding performances. (onionstatic.com) Frequent shots of the passing landscape create a sense of realism removed from the trivialities of modern class distinctions that Star and her cohorts confront every day. The wandering gaze of Ryan’s camera is comparable to director Terrence Malick’s work, but the gritty realism of Star’s journey keeps this film tethered to Earth. The film’s brutal honesty is softened by its affinity for the South’s natural beauty. Expansive shots of oil fields, lens flares as the sunlight pokes through trees, and a fascination with wildlife offers respite from the heavy subject matter.

American Honey is rounded out

with outstanding performances from its three leads. Sasha Lane’s magnetic debut will undoubtedly draw Oscar attention. Opposite her, Shia LaBeouf embodies the role he was born to play. Braided rat-tail trailing behind, Jake bounces across the screen, charming customers, stealing jewelry from homes, and tumbling across lawns making out with Star.

Completing the love triangle, Riley Keough delivers an understated, authoritative performance as Krystal, ruling the sales crew with an iron fist.

One of the film’s flaws is its neglectful treatment of the crew’s other members. The rest of this tightknit band of individuals are

acknowledged only as traits—one plays guitar, one is obsessed with Darth Vader, and another always whips his penis out—and serve as little more than the constantly partying background in shots of Star staring out the van window.

Through to its devastatingly ambiguous conclusion, American Honey is a dizzying tour through modern class divisions. The threehour run time feels pleasantly spacious, allowing for thoughtprovoking contemplation. A film that will leave you reeling for days, American Honey is a grandiose statement that feels essential from start to finish.

12 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT P o p R h et o ri c

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

I s it o k a y t o la u g h at Kim K ?

Tara Allen-Flanagan Contributor A woman was physically restrained and robbed at gunpoint by five men in Paris. Does the horror of this statement change when considering that said woman is Kim Kardashian West, celebrity and reality show star? According to thousands of people online, the woman’s identity renders the situation laughable.

Several million Euros worth of property was stolen from the luxury rental apartment that Kardashian West was staying in with her family during Paris Fashion Week. The robbers threatened the building concierge, who led them to Kardashian West’s residence.

They tied her up in the bathroom and escaped on bicycle with their loot.

A quick internet search about the incident will result in endless links claiming to have the latest updates from online tabloids—such as PerezHilton.com, The Hollywood Gossip, and TMZ.com. Moments after news of the robbery broke, people took to Twitter to criticize Kardashian West for everything from her blatant displays of wealth on social media, her intelligence, her sexuality, to the credibility of her claims. Critics were immediately doubtful of the validity of her

account, bringing up her reality show dramatics as proof of her lust for attention.

Perhaps the public’s lingering skepticism can be traced back to Ryan Lochte’s false claims of an armed robbery at the Rio Olympics earlier this year. Privilege and fame aside, a woman was left tied up, alone, in the bathroom of a rental apartment after being robbed by five men. Kim Kardashian West is a victim of crime, but the general public is trying to argue otherwise.

These critics overlook the severity of the situation. When someone comes forth as a victim of a robbery or home invasion, they should be given the benefit of the doubt unless further evidence is found to prove otherwise.

Dismissing Kardashian West’s experience based on her reputation and fame creates a harmful precedent that could keep other victims from sharing their stories of assault for fear of being persecuted. It should not matter that Kardashian West is famous because of her theatrics, social media personality or her body.

This situation made clear that, in the eyes of the public, Kardashian West is not person—she is an object. She is a character on a television show, whose life is of little value when the screen is turned off.

This incident provides frightening insight into the public’s opinion and treatment of famous women, especially those who are “famous for being famous.” A classic example of the media’s strange objectification of female celebrities would be the case of Britney Spears, whose personal struggles with mental illness were ruthlessly documented by the same media sources which praised her recent comeback.

Spears’ case demonstrates the habit of idolizing and objectifying female celebrities. When these women experience any human problems they are condemned—until they become glorified once again. As Kardashian West’s close friend and fellow celebrity Chrissy Teigen’s tweeted fans about the situation: “Fame is interesting. Celebs are supposed to love you guys while also knowing you’d make a meme of our dead bodies to get retweets.” Kardashian West was mocked on social media, where people joked that she should not show off her body or her wealth if she does not want it taken, or that the robbery was all a media ploy to invoke pity.

It is critical to remember that an individual’s career should not determine their worth as a human being. During the robbery, there were no camera crews present to

Kardashian steps out at Paris Fasion Week. (etonline.com) capture each dramatic moment.

Celebrities may earn their living from public exposure, but they are entitled to privacy. If their private life is invaded, or if their personal wellbeing is at risk, the matter should be taken seriously.

Kardashian West’s private life is treated like a reality show, as if things are scripted and there are no real consequences for

dramatic actions. Kardashian West’s experience in Paris is a harrowing reminder that being famous does not guarantee protection. Instead, the robbery served as another opportunity to make fun of a celebrity for the qualities that make up her public persona. Victims are victims nonetheless, and deserve to be taken seriously regardless of their wealth and celebrity status.

ALBUM REVIEW

Yes Lawd!’s production is the real showpiece of the project. (stonesthrow.com)

Yes Lawd!

N x W o rries Gibran Haque Contributor

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West-coast duo NxWorries’ second collaborative project, Yes Lawd!, feels very much like a jazzy and soulful spiritual successor to Stones Throw Records’ past collaborations, such as Madvillainy and Champion Sound.

The album follows a momentous year by singer-songwriter and multi faceted vocalist, Anderson .Paak. In 2016, he released his sophomore album, Malibu, to critical acclaim and collaborated with production juggernauts such as Kaytranada and Dr. Dre. Yes Lawd! marries .Paak’s raspy, passionate vocals with producer Knxwledge’s textured and jazzy production to create a 19-track album filled with raunchy vocals and rhythmic rapport. .Paak’s strengths lie in his sultry and intimate vocal delivery and lyricism. His last album Malibu, combined funk, soul, and R&B to create one of the best albums of the year. This new project features much of the same from .Paak as he glides through the instrumentals, singing about topics ranging from love and sex to his rise in through the music industry ranks. Tracks such as “Lyk Dis” and “Link Up” feature silky vocal harmonies and funky drum loops, creating short sensuous vignettes.

Although .Paak’s vocals are impeccable on their own, the production throughout the album is the real showpiece of this project.

Knxwledge’s production complements .Paak with dusty soul samples on songs like “Suede” to visceral string orchestration in “What More Can I Say.” His use of vocal snippets and jazz samples throughout is reminiscent of former Stones Throw alums Madlib and J Dilla. As sweet and pretty as the album feels sounds, lyrically Yes Lawd! is at times bitter and direct—for example, .Paak tells his girl

to “get her shit together” in “Can’t Stop,” through the inclusion of a vocal sample from the animated comedy Rick and Morty.

However, the album’s tracks lack cohesiveness, as they sometimes feel disjointed from one another sonically. In an EP, this loose structure of different sounds and experiments may be acceptable, but is less polished for a full length album. Nonetheless, NxWorries managed to put out a more than worthy successor to their debut project.

If anything, Yes Lawd! is perhaps the most aptly named album of 2016. The album features a duo working at the peak of their powers with strong chemistry. Listeners in search of smooth, jazzy beats with a feel-good vibe will be pleasantly surprised, and those looking for soulful lead vocals can find solace in .Paak’s performances throughout. If .Paak in Malibu was like a superhero still new to his powers, Yes Lawd! feels very much like he has full control of his abilities and strengths, ready to fight crime with Knxwledge, his newfound side-kick.

Favorite Song: Lyk Dis

Sounds Like: Kaytranada, Mndsgn, Blu and Exile

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

science & technology 13

The ACL tear: An athlete’s worst nightmare

Females are more susceptible to knee injuries than men

Emma Gillies Contributor When former McGill Martlet Volleyball player Charlotte Clarke went up for a hit during a match, she wasn’t too worried about how she was going to land.

But when she came down on one leg, her teammates heard a crack.

“It was excruciating,” Clarke, U3 Arts, said. “The pain [made me want] to leave the earth for a little bit.”

Clarke had torn the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee. ACL injuries are a serious problem for athletes and the general population, particularly among females. Surgery is usually required to repair the knee, using tissue from other parts of the body—such as the hamstring or patellar tendon—to replace the ruptured ligament.

“Close to a quarter of a million ACL injuries occur each year in Canada and the United States,” The Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine reported in the 2014 issue of the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine . “Female athletes in multidirectional sports have a four to eight times greater risk than male athletes of sustaining a noncontact ACL injury.”

According to the McGill Sport Medicine Clinic, anatomical differences are largely to blame. The ligaments in the knee intersect at a point called the intercondylar notch, which is narrower in women and causes the ligaments to cross at a sharper angle. Head Therapist and Manager Lynn Bookalam explains that the narrow ligament crisscross makes the ACL more susceptible to tears.

A wider pelvis in females also leads to greater stress on knee ligaments.

Additionally, females tend to have stronger quadriceps relative to their hamstrings. Males, by contrast, favor their hamstrings, which protects the ACL. A less researched theory is that female hormones affect the laxity of ligaments. When estrogen levels are high, ligaments are more “stretchy,” increasing the likelihood of an ACL tear.

Finally, females tend to land from a jump with their legs more fully extended and their knees pointed in to a greater degree than males.

The ACL is one of the four main ligaments in the knee. Ligaments connect bone to bone; the ACL connects the tibia (shinbone) to the femur (thighbone).

Bookalam says that ACL injuries occur when the femur goes in one direction and the tibia in the other.

Nicole Spadotto, U3 Arts and former Martlet hockey player, said that she remembers feeling a snap behind her knee when she tore her ACL. She was pushed off the puck, her skate got caught in the ice, and her knee twisted. She remembers her knee collapsing beneath her when she tried to get off the ice.

“My knee began swelling up immediately,” Spadotto said. “It was actually so swollen for a few weeks that the physios weren’t able to diagnose my injury.”

Despite the severity of the injury, sport spectators often don’t even realize

ACL injuries often require extensive physical therapy and surgery with long recovery periods. (Justine Touchon / The McGill Tribune) an athlete is hurt. ACL tears can look quite harmless, as many of them are noncontact.

Assistant Professor Dr. Shawn Robbins of McGill’s School of Physical and Occupational Therapy said that noncontact ACL injuries are much more common than contact ones. Non-contact ACL injuries often occur when athletes are running, cutting, or landing. In fact, research has shown around 70 per cent of all ACL injuries result without direct contact.

ACL injuries are generally associated with sports that involve a lot of cutting and changing direction—such as soccer, basketball, and football. Head Athletic Therapist Alexandra Lafrance has found that most of her patients have been injured playing soccer.

Athletic trainers and physiotherapists at the McGill Sport Medicine Clinic see ACL injuries frequently. In the past year, Lafrance and her colleagues treated approximately 50 patients for ACL rehabilitation.

When the ACL tears or partially tears, the stability of the joint is severely diminished.

“Initially, there is a lot of swelling, the quadriceps muscles tend to not activate properly […] and mobility is greatly reduced,” Lafrance said.

She also stated that patients report instability in the knee following the initial injury. With physical therapy, however, this repercussion can heal within eight

weeks. Athletes often find that, with physical therapy, just a few weeks after a tear, their knee feels significantly better— less swollen, more stable, and stronger.

Left untreated, an ACL injury will cause significant problems down the line. Every time the knee gives out, more damage is done to the bone and cartilage in the joint. Surgery is required to minimize additional injury.

“The decision to have surgery depends on a multitude of factors and will often be made by the orthopedic surgeon,” Lafrance said.

While some patients can resume full activity without surgery, that is not normally an option for serious athletes who want to return to high level competition.

Even without surgery, patients must endure months of physical therapy to strengthen the muscles surrounding the knee and reduce the swelling of the joint. .

Still, according to Dr. Robbins, getting ACL surgery doesn’t affect the risk of joint degeneration and osteoarthritis.

But, the early changes in the knee after an ACL tear–how the cartilage and bone are impacted by the trauma, as well as how the knee will now move differently– cannot be repaired with surgery.

Even after her surgery, Spadotto said that her knee still cracks and gets stiff, and occasionally gives out on her.

“I didn’t want to become another statistic, but I can confidently say that it’s true that ACL injuries restrict athletic capacity,” Spadotto said.

It took Spadotto over 10 months to get her skills back to her pre-injury level.

Clarke went on to tear her left ACL as well as her meniscus playing volleyball roughly two years after her first surgery.

She said that the recovery following the second surgery was a lot worse. “An ACL tear shakes you physically but more mentally because it’s a very traumatic event that puts you out of sports for a while,” Clarke said. “You’re sort of put in a cart-away category for athletes.”

Many athletes find the mental challenge surrounding the injury just as difficult to overcome as the physical one.

“As an athlete, to get the news that you’ve torn your ACL is completely devastating, which is what I would most like people unfamiliar with the injury to know,” Spadotto said.

Dr. Robbins said that making the running and cutting technique of an athlete sounder, as well as improving how they land, will significantly decrease the likelihood of an ACL tear. Strengthening the muscles surrounding the knee— especially the hamstring—is a good start. Sports federations, including FIFA, are focusing on promoting prevention programs to reduce injuries, especially among young or amateur players.

While surgery can often repair the ruptured ligament, Dr. Robbins emphasized the importance of muscle warm-ups and proper technique as the best ways to avoid devastating knee problems.

14 science & technology

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Invasive species are moving in

McGill researchers discover non-native species in Canadian ports Izze Siemann Staff Writer Species in one continent can move to and thrive in another in a matter of days. In McGill’s backyard, mussels that have never been seen in Canada were discovered at the Old Port. With humans as their vessels, invasive species are continenthopping at an alarming rate according to Associate Professor in McGill’s School of Environment, Anthony Ricciardi.

A study published recently in A Journal of Conservation Biogeography led by McGill University biology post-doc Emily Brown has identified non-native species across ports in Canada through sampling and DNA analysis.

A soft-shelled clam never spotted in the arctic was found at Hudson Bay in Churchill and a barnacle that hasn’t been seen north of San Francisco popped up in Nanaimo, British Columbia. However, discovery of these non-native individual organisms does not mean that they are “invasive species.”

“Invasion refers to an organism arriving in a region where it has no evolutionary history, and establishing a self-sustaining, reproducing population,” Ricciardi said.

The species discovered in Canadian ports are in fact non-

native, but not all have established reproducing populations—this means that many can’t be classified as invasive species at this point.

According to Ricciardi, it is unlikely that the non-native mussel species discovered so far away from its natural environment will be able to establish a reproducing population.

This particular mussel is generally found in salty-waters, so Montreal’s freshwater port will most likely not provide the sustainable environment the mollusk needs to thrive.

Regardless, the introduction of this mussel represents only a small drop in the ocean of global invasions since humans evolved. Without humans, this scope of global invasion events would be impossible.

In terms of the scale of damage they cause to the environment, the impact of invasive species has been compared to climate change. “[In Canada] annual costs of invasive plants to the agricultural community are estimated at $2.2 billion,” the Invasive Alien Plants in Canada Summary Report wrote.

“Forty-four speces at risk have been identified for which invasive plants appear to be factors in their at-risk [....] Infectious diseases, such as West Nile virus, affect both human and wildlife health, and invasive plants can provide breeding habitat for mosquitos, which carry the disease.”

Ricciardi discussed a 2006 study

by Thomas M. Zaret and R. T. Paine of the University of Washington, who set out to observe the impact on native species after a large, carnivorous fish was introduced to a tropical lake ecosystem near the Panama canal. After the carnivorous fish was introduced, it ate most of the previously dominant, mosquitoeating fish that had never been prey— almost driving the native species to extinction. As a result, the population of mosquitos skyrocketed—as did the number of locals with malaria, when the nearly-extinct smaller fish no longer ate as many mosquitos.

The findings of the 2006 study showed how significantly the introduction of a single invasive organism can produce population changes on a range of trophic levels.

Organisms in an ecosystem are generally linked in many ways and the introduction or extinction of just a single species can disturb the balance of an entire ecosystem.

A more recent example involves Antarctica, where over 200 documented invasive species have been discovered. Antarctica has seen a dramatic rise in human activity as a result of increasing research, eco-tourism, and other travel to the continent. Emperor penguins have been affected by salmonella as a result of humans bringing infected poultry

A never-before seen barnacle and 11 other species were discovered in Canadian waters. (smithsonian.edu) to the continent. This boom in the boots.

The movement of humans has number of invasive species prompted scientists to begin sampling visitors. created an undeniable pattern of The researchers found people were species invasions. Brown’s latest entering the Antarctic with insect study can perhaps be used as a tool eggs and plant seeds in the seams of for the prevention and control of their clothing and the mud in their invasive populations.

DDoS cyberattack brings down popular sites Netflix, Spotify, and Twitter Prevention of future attacks requires increased regulations and security Charlotte Hings Contributor On the morning of Oct. 21, many of the world’s most trafficked websites—including Twitter, Netflix, Reddit, Paypal, and Spotify—were unreachable for users on the East Coast of the U.S. due to a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) cyberattack on the domain name system (DNS) provider Dyn DNS. DDoS attacks are among the most common types of cyberattacks, but last week’s was one of the largest attempts ever.

DDoS attacks work similarly to overwhelming a waiter at a restaurant with orders. If there are many people flooding a restaurant simultaneously, then many will have to wait a long time before their order is taken. In cyberspace, a server can become overloaded with connection requests to the point where it reacts with a total denial of all connection requests and the websites can no longer be accessed. Servers are designed to handle a very large amount of requests; therefore, an attack of this scale would have to be thoroughly organized and involve a large number of devices.

This kind of coordinated attack is usually done with the help of automated bots. Bots have many legitimate uses, but for cyberattacks, they are particularly powerful because they have the capacity to send out multiple connection r e q u e s t s at a time.

Cyberattacks can become even more powerful when bots send these connection requests from many d e v i c e s at once.

Typically, bots are distributed by viruses that can function in the background of a running computer without the user even being aware of their presence.

Last Friday’s attack did not target the websites themselves; instead, it attacked the DNS. The

DNS is what a computer uses to

DDoS is an increasingly common form of cyberattack where bots overload connection servers. (Daria Kiseleva / The McGill Tribune)

match a website name to an actual IP address—its precise location in cyberspace. Dyn DNS became overwhelmed with requests impeding its ability to perform and handle requests.

The Dyn DNS malfunction stopped users from connecting to the proper IP addresses even though the websites themselves were fully functional.

DDoS attacks are becoming more and more common and powerful, causing a great deal of concern for the future— given that there is ever increasing reliance on online sources for everyday activities. Molly Sauter, a PhD candidate in communication studies at McGill with a focus on hacker culture, stated that protection from this type of attack is most important for Business-to-Business (B2B) connection websites. These sites pull together information scattered

around the world into one spot, such as Twitter, SoundCloud, and many of the sites that were affected by last week’s attack.

Many sites—especially those with confidential or financial information—are equipped with safety features such as two-step login verification, asking the user to type in a special code or check off a box to prove that they are not a robot. Steps like these are being added more frequently to websites as an added security measure against cyberattack bots.

Sauter mentioned that the best—and possibly the only—way to control cyberattacks of this nature is to support politicians and political parties who promise to bolster internet regulation, as cyberattacks are currently illegal.

Even with website safety features in place, it is impossible to completely control DDoS and other types of cyberattacks by technological means, meaning that political power over the internet will become increasingly important for the future. If illegal internet activity is not regulated by some governing body, then DDoS and other types of cyberattacks have the potential to become more frequent and powerful.

SPORTS 15

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

In Conversation with NBA Analyst Doris Burke A torn-up knee couldn’t stop Burke’s success

NBA sideline reporter and analyst Doris Burke. (allsportseverything.com)

Joe Khammar Staff Writer Passion has never been in short supply for NCAA and NBA analyst Doris Burke. Her talents and her demeanour have earned her the respect of basketball players, coaches, and fans worldwide.

Burke’s basketball journey began at an early age while growing up in blue-collar Manasquan, New Jersey. Basketball provided her with opporunties that would have been otherwise unavailble.

“I have been playing, coaching, or now covering the game since I was seven-years-old,” Burke said. “It has literally been one of the driving forces of my life. I [would not have completed] a college degree without it. I am the last of eight kids. Financially, with that many kids, I don’t care how much money you are making, it was a little bit of a stretch for my parents. So affording a college tuition would have been hard.”

Recruited by Providence College as a point guard, Burke was an All-Big East selection and graduated from Providence as the all-time leader in assists. Burke seemed like a surefire professional player in the making. Unfortunately, an injury complicated matters.

“The very last game of my career, [in] the final ten minutes of the game, I went to catch an outlet pass around half-court [...] and turned at the same moment and I blew out my knee,” Burke said.

The knee injury changed her life. After tests revealed that she had torn both her ACL and MCL, Burke had two options: Undergo reconstructive knee surgery or give up on basketball. In 1987, surgery would not guarantee a return to pre-injury levels of fitness.

“I decided at that moment that I could move on,” Burke said.

She wouldn’t be away from basketball for long, however. A year after graduating, her former coach, Bob Foley, offered her a position on his staff at Providence. She accepted, but in her second year with the team she got engaged and wanted to start a family.

“There are some who I think could have probably pulled that off easily, being a mom and being a Division One coach,” Burke said.

“But, my days were starting at 7 a.m. with individual workouts, and ending about 9:30 p.m. at night with recruiting calls.”

Thus, Burke decided to hang up coaching. However, Providence wasn’t ready to let her go easily.

“The year I left coaching, they put Providence College women’s basketball on radio,” Burke said. “Because I played and coached at Providence, they asked, ‘can you give this a try?’ That was 1990, and I probably did 10 to 12 games and that was my entry into the field.”

The 1990s were an exciting decade for women’s basketball in the United States as games started to receive regular coverage across the country.

“It was starting to feel the effects of Title IX and providing equal opportunities for women’s basketball to be on TV,” Burke said.

“Then in 1997, when the WNBA was formed, that was [...] the first

Doris Burke interviews NBA all-star Dwyane Wade. (magazine.providence.edu/) time a woman could make a living being a colour analyst.”

Her work as an analyst did not go unnoticed. When Mike Gorman, Big East TV’s colour analyst for men’s basketball, was absent for a Saturday game between Pittsburgh and Providence, Burke was his replacement.

“My first men’s game actually happened by accident,” Burke said. “Through some miscommunication, Mike Gorman did not show up at this game [....] We are now pushing close to an hour before the game, and I get home from the hospital, as my son had fallen off the weight bench [...] and there is a message, ‘Can you come do the game at the Providence Civic Centre?’ [...] After spending from probably 8 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. at the emergency room getting my son stitched up from his fall, [...] I raced to the civic centre.”

Without any preparation, she put on her headset and turned on the mic. For most broadcasters, this would have been a near impossible feat, but as a die-hard Big East fan, Burke was ready.

“I would have been at the game or watching the game on TV, so it wasn’t a stretch for me to cover it,” Burke said.

The following year, Burke began broadcasting men’s games on a regular basis. She was the first American female college basketball analyst, and soon found herself covering Knicks’ games at Madison Square Garden. In 2003, ESPN hired her to be on Dick Vitale’s NBA coverage team as both an analyst and sideline reporter, making her the first woman to be given such a prominent role in NBA coverage.

NBA players and coaches have embraced Burke’s presence on the sideline.

“I have always said this: [...] Have I experienced some skepticism when I sit in the analyst’s chair in the NBA, or even on men’s college basketball? Of course,” Burke said. “I would say it is far less so now than it used to be. And I would tell you that in all honesty, I have never had a bad experience with a player or a coach in terms of my acceptance as a basketball person. They in fact have always been my soft landing spot. It has been their acknowledgement, their recognition, their willingness to open their arms and welcome me into the games I happen to be covering, which has made my job incredibly easy.”

One player Burke particularly enjoys speaking with is fourtime MVP and three-time NBA champion Lebron James. He puts a tremendous amount of effort into his responses to Burke’s questions, and their chemistry during interviews has always been excellent.

“It has to do with the fact that [James] will listen to the questions I ask, take a second to process [them], and try to give me a heartfelt answer or at least an honest answer,” Burke said.

Burke also admires James’ candidness in speaking out about social injustice in America—now many NBA players are following suit: James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Dwyane Wade have all described America as “broken” at the ESPY’s and called for athletes to help fix the system. For Burke, this candidness is one of the

Doris Burke during her college days at Providence. (newsok.com) traits necessary for success as an athlete.

“I think the most important things these athletes can do is to be genuine, to be heartfelt, to really believe in what it is they might be speaking about,” Burke said. “I am thankful that a dialogue has been spurred and that professional athletes recognise that they have a great opportunity to influence young people.”

Authenticity has always characterized Burke’s work—be it as a record-setting or trail-blazing player, coach, colour analyst, or sideline reporter. She has given everything to basketball. This is why she is one of the most respected figures in broadcasting and will continue be one of the best in the business over the coming years.

Favourite Player: LeBron James Who’s going to win the NBA Championship in 2016-17?

Golden State Warriors Do the Raptors have a chance?

[I] think it is probably going to take another piece if they are going to be NBA champions, [but with] Masai Ujiri at the helm, [...] it would not shock me if he was able to pull it off.

16 sports

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Maple Leafs Head Coach Mike Babcock still remembers his Redmen roots Lessons learned at McGill drive Babcock’s success

1986-87 Redmen Ice Hockey Team. Babcock is third from the left in the front row. (McGill Yearbook)

Aaron Rose Sports Editor Continued from page 1.

Then I moved to Lynn Lake, Manitoba, where all the other kids played hockey, so I started playing hockey and it just went from there.”

In Lynn Lake, Babcock fell in love with the sport and dreamt of one day skating around the rink with the Stanley Cup hoisted high above his head.

“I wanted to play in the National Hockey League, but wasn’t good enough and ended up at McGill,” Babcock said.

“I had been to college at the University of Saskatchewan, [then] I went back to Major Junior [Hockey, because] I thought I could

be a pro, but I didn’t get signed that year, [so] I came to McGill.”

It was during Babcock’s time with the Redmen that he discovered a love for academics. He was never a good student growing up, but applied himself at McGill and began to thrive off the ice.

“I thought I was going to stay at McGill forever, get my PhD, and teach here,” Babcock said. “[Then] I took a year off and lost my way.”

In that year, Babcock headed overseas where he became a player-coach for the Whitley Warriors in northeast England.

That job was the beginning of what would become one of the most illustrious coaching careers in modern hockey history.

“That kind of got me involved a little and it just went from there,” Babcock said.

“[When] I got my job at Red Deer College, my first real job, I thought it was the greatest job in the world.”

Babcock has considered every job he’s ever held to be the greatest job in the world and has never taken any position for granted. Now in Toronto, Babcock recognizes the pressure that comes with being the head coach of the Maple Leafs.

“Montreal people aren’t going to want to hear this, but Toronto is the hockey Mecca of the world,” Babcock said. “But the team is an original six team that lost it’s lustre and needs to be restored to its rightful place in the league and that’s our job.”

Bringing Toronto its first Stanley Cup since 1967 will be no easy task for Babcock.

However, there’s nobody better qualified to take on the challenge. He brought a Stanley Cup to Detroit while winning more playoff and regular season games than any other team in the league during his decadelong tenure with the Red Wings. On the world stage, he led the Canadian men’s national hockey team to Olympic gold medals in 2010 and 2014. And, despite his impressive résumé, Babcock is always looking for ways to improve—a mindset he attributes to his time with the Redmen.

“If you want to be the best of the best, you have to evolve,” Babcock said. “If you embrace lifelong learning, which [...] you learn at McGill, [...] you’re going to change every day of your life [....] I plan on getting better every single day until I’m

Babcock hoisting the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings. (pinimg. com) no longer here.”

Favourite Player: Bobby Orr Favourite McGill Class: Nutrition Pre-game rituals: I do the same things over and over again, it keeps me feeling warm and cuddly.

Stanley Cup or Gold Medal: What I suggest is you just win both and you don’t have to decide.

McGill football earns first playoff spot since 2012 despite Homecoming loss Redmen fall 13-0 to no. 1 ranked Montreal in defensive slugfest Selwynne Hawkins Contributor Despite a 13-0 blanking by the league-leading Montreal Carabins (7-1) at Saturday’s homecoming game, the McGill Redmen (4-4) earned their first playoff berth since 2012.

Finding little success in their ground game, the Redmen relied heavily on quarterback Frederic Paquette-Perrault to move the ball through the air. Despite 233 yards passing, the Redmen couldn’t break through and find the endzone. “[The] offence moved the ball well,” second-year linebacker Dane Wagner said. “We’ve just gotta finish when we get in the redzone.”

Early in the second quarter, Paquette-Perrault aired the ball out to freshman receiver Preston Bews for a 39-yard catch that was downed at the one-yard line. Paquette-Perrault tried to punch the ball in on consecutive quarterback sneaks, but the Carabin defence held tight and forced a turnover-on-downs.

“We were in position to make some plays,” Head Coach Ronald Hilaire said. “On the one-yard line there, if we scored there it’s a 7-6 game [....] I think we just have to finish our plays.”

Defensively, the Redmen held relatively tight all game. In the first half, they bent, but did not break, forcing the Carabins to settle for a pair of redzone field goals. Down by 13 at the half, the McGill defence never let Montreal pull away, shutting them out in the second half to keep the game within reach.

“I think we played them play-byplay,” Wagner said. “Defence played really well.”

Laval’s victory over Sherbrooke this weekend lifted McGill to a fourthplace divisional finish and the last spot in the playoffs. For most of the team’s seniors, this will be their first chance to represent McGill in the postseason.

“It feels amazing,” fourth-year offensive lineman Qadr Spooner said.

“We have a good opportunity to take this and go further.”

The team has come a long way in the past few years. In 2014, the Redmen were unable to secure a single win all season long. Since then, they have undergone some major changes and become more cohesive as a team.

“Everyone plays great together,” said Spooner. “We have a great team atmosphere. The whole team together—we’re just meant to be. Coach [Hilaire] has done a great job in leading us this far, and he’s really done a good job in taking us from where we

The Redmen hadn’t made the playoffs since 2012 before this season’s 4-4 record earned them the last spot. (L-A Benoit / The McGill Tribune)

were in my first year to where we are now.”

It’s been a year and a half since Hilaire was appointed head coach.

One of his main goals since then has been ensuring that his players know exactly what they’re capable of.

“All we had to do was find a direction, and really make them believe in what we’re trying to build here,” Hilaire said.

The Redmen realize they face a

daunting rematch next week on Nov. 5 against the first-seed Carabins at Stade CEPSUM. “We need to be sharper on the little things,” Wagner said. “[But] I think we’ll be ready to go when we play them next week.”

Stats Corner:

It took five tie-breaking rules to separate Concordia and McGill (into third and fourth place, respectively).

Quotable:

“We have a great football team, and we want a big upset next week.”—Freshman WR Joel Soussi.

Moment of the Game: Wide receiver Preston Bews caught a 39-yard pass to get his team a first down on Montreal’s 1-yard line.