McGill Tribune Vol. 35, Issue 14

The McGill Tribune TUesday, January 12, 2016 curiosity delivers

Volume No. 35 Issue No. 14

Editorial: For 21st century education, mcgill must focus on the present pg. 5

feature: questioning coding: the rise of coding raises as many questions as it answers pg. 10 - 11

m c gilltribune.com @m c gilltribune

off the board

Evaluating Practices when students grade profs julie vandeperre Managing Editor

Unlike previous seasons, McGill has had to battle much harder for a top spot in the RSEQ. (Noah Sutton / McGill Tribune)

no. 3 ranked marlets split weekend games against cross-town rivals

PG. 19

“Very helpful and really hot!”

“Great lectures that keep students engaged.” “He is a bumbling fool.”

These are common comments that one might come across while browsing instructors’ profiles on RateMyProfessors.com. The site is widely used by university students, and is regarded by many as an indispensable tool for selecting courses. It can be a source of insightful information, influencing students’ decisions to take a course, or to stay far, far away from a certain professor. The propensity for biased, emotionally charged, and nonconstructive reviews, however, undermines the effectiveness of the site.

Both students and professors should have the right to accurate, appropri6 ate, and informative coursePG.evaluations that provide helpful information about what a course is like and how it can be improved.

PG. 06

SSMU appoints new general manager Executives used hiring firm to help review candidates at cost of $18,000 Jenna Stanwood News Editor On Jan. 10 the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) announced that Ryan Hughes had been appointed the new general manager (GM). The announcement was released in a written statement from Vice-President (VP) Clubs and Services Kimber Bialik. The GM position had been vacant since August, when the previous manager resigned citing personal reasons after only six months. Hughes’ predecessor had been hired in a rushed process, without the standard consultation of an outside hiring firm. According to Bialik, the GM is an important part of SSMU and is a source of institutional memory.

“The General Manager role is integral to the smooth operations of the SSMU, working closely with both the permanent staff and the Executive team,” wrote Bialik in the press release. “The General Manager is responsible for ensuring the financial stability of the SSMU in collaboration with the Vice-President (Finance and Operations), managing the Society’s human resources in collaboration with the President, and managing the University Centre in collaboration with the Vice-President (Clubs and Services), while acting as the hub for institutional memory within the Society and facilitating the governance of the Society.”

Hughes previously served as SSMU’s building director until

going on parental leave in October.

“Prior to his hiring for the General Manager position, Ryan Hughes held a variety of positions at the SSMU, including the Archivist and Communications and IT Director roles,” wrote Bialik. “As the building director of the SSMU, [Hughes handled] building administration and the implementation of projects.”

Hughes was selected through an extensive process that involved the hiring of an outside firm to aid in the selection of a capable candidate.

“We placed extra emphasis this year on ensuring that the process was thorough and involved as many stakeholders as possible because the last process

was not successful,” said Kareem Ibrahim, SSMU president.

“We therefore hired an external recruitment firm [....] It cost $18,000 overall which is very expensive for us obviously [...] but we really [thought] that this was not something that we were willing to risk whatsoever [....]

The failed recruitments can have very drastic impacts on the society financially [...that] severely outweigh the money we [paid] them so we were definitely not hesitant to [...] invest a lot of money into ensuring this process was thorough.”

The GM’s contract began on Dec. 21, although the appointment was not announced until Jan. 9. Hughes plans stay in the position for a significant time

in order to ensure the quality of SSMU’s services.

“I’ve enjoyed my time at the SSMU thus far and I am rather excited for the challenges and opportunities ahead,” Hughes wrote in an email to the Tribune.

“I have no desire to leave anytime soon [....] My first priority is to engage with the executives and staff members, to listen and to take their information, ideas and insight and create a stronger organization.”

Bialik had assumed the responsibilities of the building manager while Hughes was on paternity leave. SSMU will now move forward with seeking new candidates after revising the job description for the position.

2

NEWS

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

SSMU 2015-2016 budget review Revised November budget updates numbers from June Aislinn Kalob & Sara Cullen News Editor & Staff Writer The November 2015 revision to the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Global budget, approved on Nov. 30, 2015, reflected changes from SSMU’s earlier financial plan approved this past June.

The largest changes were seen in the Student Fees and University Centre Operations sections of the revision.

A difference of over $55,000 between the June and November budgets can be seen in the Student Fees department, with SSMU noting that revenue from fees was initially estimated conservatively and ended up generating more funds than predicted. The updated budget projects approximately $1.77 million in revenue from total student fees in the 2015-2016 academic year.

Administrative fees also saw a significant drop from the June budget, from $1.36 million to $1.35 million. This is due to a decrease in salary expenses following the resignation of the building director, the general manager (GM), and the SSMU Vice-President (VP) Internal.

This change is only around $7,000 because of an increase in paid student staff to offset the effects of the permanent staff resignations.SSMU also spent $17,000 in GM recruitment and $5,000 in legal fees.

University Centre Operations is budgeted at $371,644, more than 60,000 more than SSMU projected in June. This is due in part to increased expenditures of materials and sup-

plies, as well as maintenance costs, such as the repairs on the ramp to the main entrance of the SSMU Building. Under this portfolio, increases in both Gerts’ profits and security costs are stated to be the result of the accounting change. Due to the fact that security costs are no longer charged to Gerts, the bar saw an increase in profits while security showed an increase in expenses.

Additionally, the president’s portfolio is budgeted at $3,576 more than in the previous budget, following the establishment of the Family Care department at McGill. This sum of money will be used in the planning of orientation events for student parents, and undergraduate membership in the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) Study Sundays program, a monthly event for student parents to study and receive free childcare.

SSMU reported a negative $22,000 change in the Food and Beverage Operations Department, mostly due to budgeting of the Student-Run Cafe (SRC).

Prior to the revision, the Cafe was budgeted as if it had reached full sales potential right after its opening. The SRC reported a decrease in food sales revenue by approximately $90,000 net of food cost and salaries.

The VP Internal’s portion of the budget review states that the 2015-2016 Old McGill Yearbook is not predicted to run a deficit. This is attributed to a plan for the Yearbook to be covered by a separate fund or be published online.

Surplus

Deficit

-450

VP Internal

-1,016

Non-Fee-Funded Services

-3,596

VP Clubs and Services

-5,800 -9,019

Student Run Cafe VP University Affairs

-14,652

Programming Activities

-16,090

VP External

-17,974

President

-129,331

Security

-285,463

Shatner Building VP Finance and Operations Gerts

20,753 67,000 (Domitille Biehlmann / McGill Tribune)

(Sara Cullen / McGill Tribune)

3

NEWS

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Semester in review The most important headlines of Fall 2015 Laura Hanrahan & Jenna Stanwood News Editors

SSMU VP Internal resignation In October 2015, the acting vice-president (VP) Internal of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Lola Baraldi resigned, citing personal reasons. Following two elections for Baraldi’s replacement, Omar ElSharaway took office as the new VP Internal on Jan. 1. In the wake of these events, SSMU executives held a forum to discuss the potential restructuring of executive positions and the electoral process.

The possibility of adding a seventh executive position, called VP Operations, was the main focus of the forum.

In order for the new position to be created, the idea must be presented to the student body in a referendum at the beginning of this semester.

“Over the next two months or so, we would do more [consultation…] and then run a referendum to amend the constitution in January if that’s what students […] wanted,” Kimber Bialik, VP Clubs and Services said.

General Assembly Last semester also saw a General Assembly (GA) that failed to meet quorum, meaning no motions were brought to a vote. The historically low attendance at GAs prompted a discussion regarding abolishing the GA altogether.

“People think that this forum is defunct; they don’t really think it serves its purpose and that the only time people actually show up is for specific issues,” said Kareem Ibrahim, SSMU president.

“In terms of my thoughts, I think it’s on the table to have one annual GA per year.”

Climate change policy On Oct. 15, SSMU Council passed the climate change policy, which contains guidelines for relationships between SSMU and companies that contribute to manmade climate change.

“SSMU will avoid purchasing products from companies that violate environmental laws or actively fund the spread of false science,” reads the new policy. “SSMU will continue to avoid all investments in the fossil fuel industry and other sustainability screens outlined in the five-year ethical investment plan.”

SSMU GA fails to meet quorum (Sara Cullen /McGill Tribune) The new policy was subject to heated debate during the Council meeting, with representatives from the Faculty of Engineering raising concerns over the lack of support for the policy within their constituents, many of whom are likely to pursue careers within industries that the new policy pledges not to support. Despite this, the new policy was passed with amendments.

Support of Fall reading week On Nov. 5, SSMU Council approved a motion in support of a Fall reading week. The motion allowed SSMU to use its resources to help ensure that a Fall reading week is voted on by the Senate in a timely fashion, which will help facilitate the proposed implemen-

tation of the plan by the 2017-2018 school year.

“Be it resolved, that the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) endorses the proposal for a Fall Reading Break,” the motion reads. “Be it further resolved, that the SSMU mandate the VP University Affairs and Senate Caucus to pursue the approval of this proposal by Senate before the end of the academic year.”

PGSS Divest motion At its General Meeting on Oct. 24, the Post-Graduate Student’s Society (PGSS) passed a motion of divestment that calls upon the university to remove its investments from fossil fuel industries. The vote was preceded by a presentation by Divest McGill and Victor Frankel, PGSS environmental commissioner. “[The motion starts] from the things that are the least contentious,” Frankel said. “Like [recognizing] that climate change is real, to things that are fairly reasonable like freezing or having a moratorium on any new investments in fossil fuels […] to the more contentious issues […] which says that PGSS strongly endorses divestment from fossil fuel companies and also supports efforts of its senators and members at the board of governors to strongly support divestment.”

Traditional territory acknowledgement On Sept. 16, PGSS Council approved a motion to include a Traditional Territory Acknowledgement Statement at the beginning of PGSS events and on the

tal pre-approval process before students become involved with a company, with clear criteria to protect student intellectual property and rights, [and] the implementation of a university process to protect student rights, notably involving periodic audits of partnerships between professors, companies, and students.”

society’s website to recognize indigenous land claims to the McGill campus.

“McGill University is located on land which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst Indigenous peoples, including the Haudenosaunee and Anishinabeg nations,” the statement reads. “McGill University honours and respects the diverse Indigenous peoples connected to this territory on which we gather today.”

Motion in support of students working for private corporations In November, a private corporation sued a masters student for the destruction of his published work, including his master’s thesis, due to his use of confidential data. The student had completed research with the

Internal Affairs Officer resignation

PGSS and SSMU elect new VP Internals (Elli Slavich /McGill Tribune) corporation, which was affiliated with the professor overseeing his research. The case caused the PGSS to pass a motion during its council meeting on Nov. 26 to protect students working with private corporations.

“Be it resolved that Council approves the drafting of a proposed policy regarding the involvement of private corpora-

tions in which a supervisor has a financial interest, with the goal of having the policy become an official McGill policy approved by the McGill Senate,” reads the motion. “The policy would be based on the following: the obligation of professors to disclose affiliation with private companies to the university and their students, the requirement of a departmen-

On Nov. 11, Sahil Kumar, the sitting Internal Affairs Officer (AIO) of PGSS announced his resignation. He cited academic obligations as the reason behind his resignation.

“My trajectory through graduate studies has taken a new turn, and now requires a greater time commitment,” Kumar said. “I did not want to see the portfolio suffer and have decided that this would be the best option to move forward. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with [all] of the PGSS executives and commissioners over these last seven months.”

Mina Anadolu was elected as Kumar’s replacement, and took office shortly after his term officially ended on Dec. 3.

4

NEWS

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Semester in review (continued) MUS presidential byelection The Management Undergraduate Society (MUS) announced the resignation of its president, Élie Lubendo, this past October.

A letter released by MUS cited personal reasons from Lubendo’s resignation.

“Due to personal reasons, Élie, elected as the President and Chairman for a oneyear term in February of 2015, tendered his resignation from this role on October 20th, 2015.”

The letter described the contributions Lubendo had made to the MUS throughout his time as president.

“During Élie’s tenure, he laid the groundwork for substantial positive change and significantly contributed to the Society as a whole,” the MUS letter read. “Élie will be greatly missed as a member of the team and the MUS greatly thanks him for his ser-

vice to the Society.”

A nomination period for new presidential candidates opened on Oct. 28, with all the responsibilities of the former president being taken on in the interim by VP Academic Affairs, Aarushi Kumar.

“Fortunately, the Academic portfolio has a considerable amount of overlap with the presidential role already,” said Aarushi.

“Our constitution states that the VP Academic will take over should the president ever resign, and thus the role was designed to be able to make the transition with very minimal difficulty.”

At the end of the nomination period, three candidates were named: Michael Fishman, Aarushi Kumar and Alan Liu. Following a six-day voting period, Fishman, a U2 Honours Investment Management student, won the election. Fishman has held the position since Nov. 16 and will end his term on April 30, 2016.

MUS elects a new president. (L-A Benoit / McGill Tribune)

SUS Burnside basement renovation

SUS moves to improve Burnside Basement .(L-A Benoit / McGill Tribune)

AUS makes progress on SNAX and election reform Election Reform

On Nov. 27, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) referendum question regarding constitutional amendments to modify the AUS vice-president (VP) Finance screening process passed with 91.3 per cent of the vote. The changes to the process, which were first discussed at the AUS General Assembly (GA) in February 2013, now require a selection committee to screen and approve candidates before they can run for the position of VP Finance.

“Eligibility to stand for election to the position of AUS Vice-President Finance shall be on the basis of candidates being sufficiently qualified for the duties and responsibilities required of the AUS Vice-President Finance, as determined by a two-thirds majority vote of a committee struck for these purposes,” the question read.

According to AUS President Jacob Greenspon, the changes came in response to issues AUS had in the past from delayed tax filing and audits.

“AUS did not file taxes from 2008 to 2012,

Over the past semester, the Science Undergraduate Society (SUS) has continued to develop its plans for the renovation of the Burnside Basement. SUS hopes to transform the current study space into a more student-friendly area. The renovations were originally set to take place during the summer months, however they have yet to be completed due to the prioritization of other consruction projects.

In March, 2015 the SUS launched a crowdfunding campaign on McGill’s Seeds of Change fundraising platform, with the goal of raising $6,000. The campaign closed on June 18, after having raised $2,282.

According to the project’s Seeds of Change page, the renovation is intended to transform the dimly-lit basement into a welcoming, all-access space for students.

“Investing in efficient lighting, group study areas, and the installation of whiteboards to promote collaboration and progress group work will offer small but impactful changes to this student space,” the website reads.

The plan additionally cites the mental health benefits that the new space will offer.

“For students, having a comfortable place to go and unwind, study, or simply interact with peers can have a huge impact on the quality of daily life and mental health,” the page reads. “The study space in Burnside Basement is currently limited to a handful of built-in desks and dated sofas purchased back in 2001.”

During the Oct. 28 General Council meeting, VP Finance Sibat Anam spoke to President Jeremy Goh’s efforts to move the project forward. “[Goh is] currently working on the Burnside [Hall] Renovation Committee, [but] they’re just working through a lot of hoops and it’s backed up [behind other construction projects on campus],” Anam said. “He met with McGill Spaces and Campus Planning to […] draft a proposal as soon as possible.”

At the Nov. 25 SUS Council meeting, Anam announced that the final designs for the renovation were nearing completion. “[The president] is scheduling a meeting with the dean of Science to talk about the final designs,” Anam said. “Of the three initial designs, two of them are ready to go and they’ll probably make the deadline for the final design plans.”

resulting in the government freezing $120,000 from the AUS bank account,” said Greenspon. “AUS also [failed] to send McGill its audited financial statements in that time period [….] As a result, McGill withheld our student fees.”

SNAX MoA

In January 2015, SNAX was mandated to discontinue the sale of sandwiches due to issues of food safety, as outlined in their Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with McGill. This decision received noticeable backlash from students, resulting in a sit-in at SNAX in March to raise awareness of the issue.

SNAX’s previous MoA with McGill, came to an end in 2015, opening up the floor to negotiate changes in the new MoA. According to Greenspon, McGill agreed in November to allow SNAX to resume sandwich sales in the new MoA. “McGill has recognized the arguments behind most of our positions, and fortunately, has moved to cooperate on many issues, notably SNAX selling sandwiches,” he said. “We are not yet at an agreement, but I believe we are closer [...] to signing the MoA and again selling sandwiches at SNAX.”

SNAX still searches for sandwiches. (Natalie Vineberg / McGill Tribune)

5

OPINION

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

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

For a 21st Century education, McGill must focus on the present The plans for the new McLennan-Redpath library, referred to as Fiat Lux, are ambitious. Although the university hopes that this impressive crystalline addition will epitomize the 21st century, propelling the university into modernity will take more than a shiny design.

The most wide-ranging consultation with students took place on whiteboards across the campus, showing an administration out of touch with the needs of current students. Since releasing the renovation plans, little has been done to educate students further about what disruptions may be expected, and how the changes will be beneficial.

The obvious question for students, professors, and researchers alike, then, is: What are the renovations meant to achieve? Believing that a new building will modernize the campus cannot feel like anything other than a band-aid solution to the more pressing but typically ignored maintenance problems. The university would do well to recall that the 21st century is here, with or without Fiat Lux. Of course, Fiat Lux has not come entirely out of the blue. It is surely intended to improve the financial prospects of McGill, as well as its academic rank as more modern infrastructure may attract higher calibre students. But the fact that students can only speculate as to why this is the next big thing on McGill’s horizon is indicative of a

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“

The administration must therefore balance the needs of the present with the objectives for the future

current and incoming generations of students. The risk: Alienating the immediate pool of alumni already bruised by years of austerity and tuition increases, to whom this plan feels like a grand irony.

The solution: Compromise.

Advertising, and extending the hours of, other study spaces would go a long way to helping the current accessibility and space problems.

These solutions are minor, and would alleviate the micro inconveniences without limiting the school

from sustaining and improving its reputation in the long term.

It is up to the administration to envision the future of the university, and ensure that it remains a competitive institution. Attending a university with a strong reputation is a perk of being a McGill student; however, the small daily grievances should not be overlooked when attempting to reimagine McGill as a 21st Century school. If the Class of 2016 or 2017 were instead the Class of 2026 or 2027, students would most certainly appreciate a modern, functional library with big windows to the current decrepit infrastructure. The standpoint from which students launch critique should not, however, be a point of discredit. Instead, it should be a basis for compromise so that future alumni and contributors to the community are not alienated by disconnected ambition.

If McGill is going to convince students that it can afford Fiat Lux, it must do more than ask us to trust it. It must show that it can provide more than the minimal amount of maintenance, end cuts to courses, and restore optimism within the McGill community. Fiat Lux appears to be the result of idealistic tunnel vision rather than a pragmatic course to 21st Century education, leading one to question who matters the most in creating McGill’s priorities. This is a question that the administration must address urgently.

Media needs to increase pressure on Liberals to deliver on national policy

Publisher Chad Ronalds

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

creating a centralized mega structure will suck the resources otherwise spread across libraries, and will reduce access to the smaller libraries even more. Flexibility, however, must be incorporated into the process in order to accommodate the needs and concerns of both the

C o m m e nt a r y

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Clark Bray, Keara Campos, Kyle Dolph, Ty Fox, Daniel Galef, Lydia Kaprelian, Joe Khammar, Jin Lee, Elie Lubendo, Josh Shapiro, Nicole Spadotto, Nico Wada

lack of consultation. The university does not have a good record when it comes to construction and renovations; current students know only too well how long it took to complete the past renovations in a myriad of locations on campus. A new library is not an issue in itself—in fact, it is exactly what universities should provide—but it is an issue when placed in the context of the other infrastructure problems on campus.

The façade of the Arts Building, a quintessential image of campus, has been under construction for a month longer than anticipated, and the construction was put off for years. Library spaces, which are actually numerous, are being reduced as hours are restricted and access limited to members of certain faculties, or, in the case of McLennan, to certain floors past midnight. This is certainly an issue for night owls.

While these concerns are individually small, together they create a bigger picture of an administration that has adopted a macro perspective at the expense of current students who will not necessarily be around to see the benefit.

The administration must therefore balance the needs of the present with the objectives for the future. This can be done by working on creative solutions to current problems and downsizing the scale of the McLennan renovation plan.

The plans cause some to worry that

Zachary Carson Columnist In the early days of 2016, refugees have dominated the news cycle in much of the world. While in the United States, most Republican politicians seem to be arguing over the best plan to keep refugees out, up North the discussion is the opposite. Canadians are wondering why only 6,000 of the 10,000 refugees promised by Trudeau—a number already lowered from the previous 25,000 refugee target—have made it into our country.

This has largely been seen as a failure on the part of the Liberal government, either because it fell short of its pledge or because it made a prom-

ise that it knew they could not keep; however, while criticism is being levelled against the only policy of the new government that has already achieved concrete results no one seems to be talking about how the government is going to fulfill the other promises the Liberals have made: Marijuana legalization, electoral reform, and the inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women. The Canadian public and media must light a fire beneath the government when it fails to deliver on domestic policy in addition to any perceived shortcomings in humanitarian responses.

An earlier article for the Tribune discussed the limitations of political pledges, with specific focus on Trudeau’s pledge to admit 25,000 refugees by the end of 2015. One of the main points was that the fixation on a certain target overshadows long-term policy, policy that would perhaps be more beneficial to the cause. This same logic can be used to debunk the argument that falling short of the 10,000 refugee goal is a political breakdown

that requires a response from the government. Though this is a setback, in no way should it be seen as a failure.

Of all the promises that the prime minister and the Liberal Party made during the campaign, accepting refugees is the only one that has actually had concrete results so far. Over 6,000 refugees have been accepted, and, although the timeframe for admittance has been revised, there is no sign that the government is planning on altering the substance of its refugee policy. The campaign to legalize marijuana is only in its infancy, with the two secretaries to the Minister of Justice who will handle the case only being named last month.

On top of that, both election reform and an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women have only been discussed vaguely. Despite this, it is the failure to meet the 10,000 refugee target that has received the most attention.

This is not to completely excuse the government from breaking its promise. The Liberal party pledged to bring 25,000 refugees by the end of 2015. Although the pledge was unre-

alistic, the policy has yielded results.

Refugees are coming to Canada and will continue to do so in 2016. It is time to move on from the fact that not quite as many refugees got to Canada by the end of 2015 as we would have hoped. Trudeau and the Liberals made that promise as outsiders without a full understanding of the political and logistical realities that they would encounter once actually faced with bringing 25,000 refugees to Canada.

Yes, it is now 2016. No, there have not been 10,000—let alone 25,000—refugees admitted into Canada. Trudeau deserves some flak for that.

But there are over 6,000 refugees of the Syrian crisis who have been brought to Canada since the new government formed, and more are on the way.

Meanwhile, none of the other promises that the government made seem any closer to reality than the day they were announced. Let’s stop nitpicking the time and numbers on which the promises that the Liberals are actually starting to deliver, and begin to question them about the ones that they are not.

6

Opinion off the board

Julie Vanderperre Managing Editor Continued from page 1 In a sample of McGill students questioned for this article, nearly all stated that they have used the popular website to research information about professors. Very few, in comparison, reported referring to McGill’s publicly available Mercury Online Course Evaluations. Students are generally familiar with the course evaluations, which they are pestered to fill out near the end of each semester. A much smaller number of students, however, are aware that responses to the course evaluations are made public to all McGill students (as long as the professor consents).

This disconnect, combined with the lack of information provided by the Mercury Course Evaluations, has led students to using alternative sources, such as RateMyProfessors.com, as

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Evaluating practices when students grade their professors their demands for information are not being met by the university.

The Mercury course evaluations are a selection of numeric responses that gauge student satisfaction with a course and the instructors’ performance. Respondents are prompted to leave written comments as well, but these are not made public to students. It makes sense that students don’t commonly refer to the Mercury Course Evaluations. They are not highly publicized, and, compared to some of the biting, humorous, and entertaining comments left on RateMyProfessors.com, McGill’s course evaluations are, simply put, boring.

Since written comments are not visible on the Mercury Course Evaluations, the reviews are dull and lack specificity. Each page shows graphical representations of how many students agreed and disagreed with statements such as, “Overall, I learned a great deal from this course.”

While such methods of evaluation avoid the risk of devolving into cheap

bad—about a course.

Student feedback is necessary for instructors to adapt and improve their courses, and students can often provide valuable observations from a perspective that professors and administrators lack. If equipped with the right channel, students would be capable of contributing thoughtful and cogent insights.

The Mercury Course Evaluations should be changed to include more specific and relevant questions with more focus on a written response format. A regulated system with clear guidelines for the tone and content of the comments would likely produce positive results, and avoid inappropriate statements similar to those occasionally found on RateWhen students provide feedback, everyone wins. (Alissa Zilberchteine / McGill Tribune) MyProfessors.com. Answers could The Mercury Course Evalu- be reviewed and then made public to personal attacks, the vague questions and multiple choice answers don’t re- ations do have some definite ad- students, as the numerical responses ally give students a good idea of what vantages. They make use of profes- currently are. Such changes, coma course is like, or help a professor sional and objective questions to rate bined with increased publicity of the to improve the course later on. The courses, decreasing the chance that Mercury Course Evaluation answers, format of the course evaluations is students will rate instructors purely could lead to a shift among McGill mostly suited for the administration’s on likeability or charisma. The on- students away from RateMyProfesreview of professors. Administrators line course evaluations also usually sors.com towards a more reliable and can quickly go through and notice receive responses from roughly one- fair system of evaluation. Surely, proany red flags that may need further third of students, ensuring a large fessors would appreciate decreased investigation. For student use, how- enough sample size that the data is use of the website which allows crass ever, the ambiguous questions and varied and accurate. RateMyProfes- comments and even condones objecmultiple-choice format of the Mer- sors.com, on the other hand, has a tification with a chili pepper button cury Course Evaluations don’t pro- much smaller number of reviews, to indicate ‘hotness.’ Students, too, vide the needed insight into courses and the website generally only at- would benefit from an informative or the quality of the instructors who tracts comments from students who and organized database of course have very strong feelings—good or evaluations. Everyone stands to win. teach them.

C o m m e nt a r y

Does intersectionality benefit activist movements?

Kyle Dolph Contributor Campus organizations frequently work together on political and social justice issues. Last Fall, Divest McGill worked with Aboriginal groups on campus during the simultaneous Fossil Free and Aboriginal Awareness Weeks, and Divest McGill and Demilitarize McGill oftentimes collaborate. While the methods of each of these organizations have been criticized and praised in kind, less has been said on the intersection of these groups.

At the start of a new semester, with many opportunities for collaboration on the horizon, it is important to consider whether such ties are effective or deleterious for these movements.

While intersectionality focuses

on where social categories and social issues overlap and interrelate, pure inclusivity runs the risk of blurring the important distinctions between these categories and causes.

A discussion that works to ensure a balance of these forces must take place on this campus, especially within and between activist movements.

It’s easy to frame the discussion into the classic dichotomy of breadth and depth. On one hand, attempts to link seemingly distinct causes is one way of building a broad coalition.

For example, in an article published by the McGill Daily, one member of McGill Against Austerity stated that provincial cuts to social welfare programs disproportionately affect women. The argument is that such connections between the groups affected by austerity­—such as women, students, and public sector employees—is essential to mobilization against the provincial policy. Divest McGill has collaborated with Aboriginal rights groups, citing the negative effects that the industrial activities of fossil fuel companies and the provincial government’s Plan Nord have had upon Aboriginal communities. Intersectionality is therefore effective in bringing both

more breadth of support and depth of policy to a movement.

In order to succeed, a social movement must have broad support, as well as an informed and comprehensive agenda. Intersectionality broadens support by connecting advocates from distinct groups.

Thus, those inclined to activism benefit from sharing their causes with one another as they gain lobbying and staying powers. Not all activist movements are large, but people power can be the difference.

And this power is easier to accumulate when the issues are more clear cut, such as with tuition hikes. For students, increasing the tuition is clearly a negative proposal; thus, mass protests ensue. For issues of austerity, divestment, demilitarization, Aboriginal awareness, etc., the causes and consequences are far less clear-cut. Intersectionality thus provides thoroughfares between these issues, and connects groups who share similar perspectives and objectives.

However, intersections may be taken too far, and so limit the benefit of such connections. An organization’s message of inclusivity can sometimes reach too far beyond the beliefs of the majority of its sup-

porters, and the resulting linking of two causes has the potential to alienate would-be supporters. Such is certainly the case where main-

“

While intersectionality focuses on where social categories [...] overlap [...] inclusivity runs the risk of blurring the important distinctions between these categories

stream movements work in tandem with more radical ones, such as when McGill Against Austerity marched alongside communists and

anarchists shouting “1-2-3, fuck the bourgeoisie [and...] class war” as part of a collective strike in early November. In such situations, an association can easily blemish the movement as a whole in the eyes of a less-informed, more moderate observer.

Campus activists are thus in a quandary. Isolate themselves, and they lose the power of collective voice. Expand their message too much, and it may well appeal to a substantially smaller proportion of people. The solution is a pragmatic one. Theory, in activism, much as anywhere else, should only be applied to the degree that it obtains results. This means that groups should make careful decisions based on Realpolitik—decisions based on real circumstances rather than on ideological precepts—before lending support to any movement. The calculation of such considerations may fly in the face of the idealism that serves as a foundation for many of these movements, and as such, may be difficult to reckon for those with many strong sympathies; however, leaders of such movements must be both passionate and strategic, and wager small victories against grand defeats.

POP RHETORIC Christopher Lutes Arts & Entertainment Editor 2015 was arguably the best year for television in the history of the medium, both in terms of quality and quantity. Last summer, John Landgraf, president of FX network and de facto ‘mayor of television,’ stated that people have reached an age of “peak TV in America,” pointing out that over 400 scripted television series have aired in the last year. Part of this was an expression of concern over the instability of having so much airing in such a short amount of time, but it also symbolized just how far the medium has come since The Sopranos showed the world what TV was capable of.

Despite this, TV is a medium that is very much still in its infancy, and there are a lot of hurdles it needs to overcome in order for it to unlock its true potential. Here are four ways that TV can get to the next level of artistic achievement.

Figure out what an episode is Perhaps the most important mark The Sopranos left was that it popularized the idea of heavy serialization to drama. Shows no longer had to tell self-contained stories that intermittent viewers could easily pick up and instead started to tell complex 13-hour stories in which characters are capable

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Approaching the monolith of change. However, the scales have probably tipped too far towards serialization, where many quality shows, especially ones released on the full-season binge model, suffer from an unwillingness to fully use an inherent part of the medium to their advantage. At their best, episodes can be used to explore a facet of a show in great detail, and tell a full, satisfying story that still fits into the serialization of the show. HBO’s The Leftovers is especially good at this.

Know when to end Unlike other art forms, TV is a medium where its pieces of art can and often do end abruptly and unfinished. This is not only a problem because great shows are cancelled too early (see Deadwood, Enlightened, Hannibal), but also because it means that creators spend most of their shows’ runs not knowing how many seasons they will get before they end.

This hinders their ability to make a fully cohesive series across multiple seasons. For instance, Lost became an unfocused mess midway through its third season, but quickly regained its sense of structure after its creators were given an established end date. In a world where ratings are becoming a less and less important factor in whether or not a show is cancelled, it seems like established end dates will soon become the norm.

The Sopranos showed viewers television’s potential in a modern age. (theredlist.com)

Break format Experimentation is key to the artistic development of any medium, even if most of it fails. The fact that many shows exhibit a lack of imagination, or an unwillingness to innovate on a storytelling level (this is doubly true of comedies), is understandable. Relying on what has worked with viewers in the past has the best chance of working in the present, but it also leads to creative stagnation. Thankfully, some shows are willing to break new ground. For instance, Fargo’s second season was especially good at this, moving from a traditionally-shot, straightforward first season to the split-screens and

visual metaphors of its 1970’s-set second season.

Become more of a visual medium TV has always been a writer’s medium, with the unofficial title of ‘showrunner’ usually given to the head writer of a series. This is markedly different from film, where the director—whose job is more about how a movie is shot—is the chief authority on set. This means that even great series can feature tight, well-plotted scripts, but feature limp, unimaginative visuals. Thankfully, this is beginning to change. Shows like Louie and Breaking Bad have

seen their showrunners recognize the importance of cinematography and camera placement, whereas shows like Master of None and Transparent have brought in film directors as collaborators to establish their visual palates.

After The Sopranos ended, there was a lot of critical worrying about the best days of TV now being in the past. The near-decade since then has thankfully proven them wrong, but there’s still a lot that can be improved across the medium.

The next great television series, if it hasn’t premiered alreadly, will think differently, escew the limitations of the form, and add another layer to what television is capable of.

TV REVIEW

Sherlock leaves fans hungry for more Morgan Alexander Managing Editor Warning: This review contains spoilers Sherlock, by its very nature, is designed to keep fans feeling constantly under-satisfied and begging for more. In the six years since its first season came out, Creators and Executive Producers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have blessed viewers with just nine actual series episodes, each hovering around 88 minutes. Each is so intricately complex and captivating that binging each series in full is almost an insult to the art, prohibiting viewers from obsessing over every twist and turn that makes the show so entrancing. After a nearly two-year hiatus—each new season premieres a minimum of a year after the former—Moffat and friends committed the greatest affront to viewers’ decency: They released a special episode into British cinemas on New Year’s Day and then to U.S. theatres on Jan. 5 and 6. Only afterwards, on Jan.

10, would the show be available for worldwide online streaming on BBC’s website, illegal streaming notwithstanding. The obvious question that arose from all of this gaudy cinematic flair and taxing delayed release dates is: Was the special episode worth it?

Of course, the answer is yes.

For the first time, Sherlock opened in Victorian-era London, where the original stories were set. Incidentally, The Abominable Bride is not based on any actual Holmes story. Along with the other episodes in the series, it is inspired

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works and specific passages from his many books. In this case, the title and the idea come from Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual,” in which there is a line speaking of “Ricoletti of the clubfoot and his abominable wife.” The episode itself begins simply enough; it’s another case in another era, presented in such a way that viewers would think the special episode was just that—a fun foray away from the actual plot— an amusing one-off to

satisfy fans while the cast filmed the real show. The revelation about two-thirds through the episode is that the period setting was in fact a delusional projection of a drug-addled Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch)—still seated in the plane seat where viewers last left him at the end of season three— made it that much more exciting.

As could be expected, the script was incredible, the cinematography divine, and the score the perfect mix of time-appropriate and heartpoundingly scary when necessary.

The bits of humour that are always scattered throughout this show were equally wonderful, as viewers got a glimpse at a grossly obese Mycroft (Series Creator Gatiss) gorging himself as a result of a bet with his little brother as to how long it will take him to die, and an eager Watson (Martin Freeman) poorly signing to a front deskman about a potato. What really made this special so ‘special’ was its cleverness in tricking the audience into distancing themselves from the main plot before being thrust back into centre stage, just as confused

The Abominable Bride takes her prey. (scifiempire.com) as Watson, and as desperate for answers as Mycroft.

The Abominable Bride perfectly whet the appetites of every fan without unduly releasing the full course. Sherlock could have done itself in by releasing a major plot point and leaving fans on a cliff-hanger, considering that Series 4 isn’t expected to air until 2017 (Moffat has said that filming wouldn’t even begin until this spring). Instead, the producers released an episode that was equal

parts creepy, intriguing, and banal in the long-term, making it the perfect placeholder to keep people interested without making them antsy, or worse, irritated. In a way, the show did answer one climatic question that eclipsed the end of Series 3, but it did so in such a way that felt natural and exciting, not forcefully explosive. It didn’t give viewers much to ponder over, but it will certainly make them want to rewatch the previous seasons to get excited for what’s to come.

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Album Reviews Institution Kodak Black In his self-proclaimed 2015 summertime jam “Ran Up a Check,” Kodak Black playfully commands his listener to call him “butthead,” “cause his mind’s on your ass.” Observed in a vacuum, the lyric is juvenile and silly, yet paired with the track’s ebullient, DJ Mustard-evoking production, the lyric feels authentic—a snapshot of Kodak’s sillier side. On Institution, Kodak is no less puerile, as he best displays in “Shit on Me:” “In science class high as hell / I’m floatin’ off that loud I feel like Tinkerbell.”

Institution’s significance is its versatile display of Kodak’s lyrical charm. Throughout its 24 tracks, the rapper demonstrates his ability to be funny, assertive, and vulnerable. Across the mixtape’s near 75 minute duration, the listener learns that Kodak was kicked out of elementary school as a child, dealt drugs in the projects of Florida’s Pompano Beach, suffered both fraternal and romantic betrayals, and served time behind bars. The latter theme is the focal point of the album, and is best showcased in the mixtape’s title track—the album’s highlight. Its production has the same beat of Tink’s 2014 single

“Treat Me Like Somebody,” which initially comes across as hokey; however, Kodak’s sincere display of sensitivity redeems him for the near plagiaristic act, as his words of endearment demonstrate to the listener that Kodak is not merely a fucboi with booty on his mind.

Institution is bulky and many of its tracks, notably in its second half, are redundant; however, it serves the function of a mixtape, giving exposure to a rapper and hyping anticipation of an impending album, the latter of which occurs in “Sticky 1” and “Real Nigga Files.” In “Sticky 1,” Kodak reveals that he is about to sign to Atlantic. In “Real Nigga Files,” he reveals that Project Baby 2 is coming out soon, which presumably will be released on the aforementioned label. Most importantly though, the album illustrates that Kodak is a versatile performer—who also shows a lot of prowess in one specific area. He can confidently and genuinely display vulnerability, which listeners only hope to see more of in the ostensible Project Baby 2.

- Clark Bray

(spinrilla.com)

STANDOUT TRACK

BEST LYRICS

“Institution”

“I won’t change on you even if I get a record deal / Ima rip my heart out my chest put it in this envelope”

SOUNDS LIKE Migos with a less staccato delivery

“Without my momma and my brothers you all I got / Can you send me some pictures ‘cause that would mean a lot.”

Flashback T h e S wimmer ( 1 9 6 8 )

Neddy Merrill swims through the backyards of suburbia, finding distraction and losing himself. (the-toast.net)

Nico Wada Contributor The Swimmer opens by tracking Neddy Merrill (Burt Lancaster) in his tight swim trunks as he cuts through the wilderness into his neighbours’ yard and gracefully takes a dive into their pool. Slicing through the water with powerful breaststrokes, Merrill surfaces to receive a glass of gin. A midsummer sun beams, Ned’s neighbours greet him with warmth, and he sips his drink. As the film progresses, however, the sky

darkens, the air chills, and Neddy loses strength. The film spans one day of pool-hopping, but allegorically it traces Neddy swimming through his past. What at first seems a glorious adventure reveals itself to be quite the opposite.

The screenplay for The Swimmer is a faithful rendition of John Cheever’s short story of the same name. Known as “the Chekhov of the suburbs,” Cheever wrote about the soporific, sybaritic confines of suburbia with playful humor and extended metaphors.

Neddy Merrill is the tragic hero of the film. He’s an entitled, charismatic lothario accustomed to deferential respect and getting his way, be it through money or his name alone.

One summer afternoon, Neddy announces that he will swim his way home by hopping into a string of his neighbours’ pools that serve as a river guiding him toward his destination.

Cheever writes: “In his mind he saw a string of swimming pools, a quasisubterranean stream that curved the county, and he knew that he would find friends along the way.” Neddy

names the string of pools the Lucinda River after his wife, Lucinda Merrill, and considers himself an explorer as he embarks on his journey home to his two daughters, who he claims are playing tennis.

As Neddy swims through pools and crosses backyards, highways, and gardens, it becomes increasingly clear that he is not the larger-thanlife, carefree spirit he thinks he is, but a huge failure. In this way, The Swimmer is stylistically fascinating.

It starts off plausible and realistic, then somewhere along the way blurs into surreal waters. The viewer gradually learns not to trust Neddy, who at first seemed so reliable.

Beginning his voyage, Neddy manages to convince a beautiful young girl (Janet Landgard), his daughter’s babysitter, to join him on his mission. A slow-motion sequence shows the two playing like children, laughing and holding hands. When Neddy unintentionally scares her off, it is clear that he is attempting to grasp onto a youth that is no longer there. Later, Neddy reaches a drained pool where a lonely boy sits playing the recorder. He takes the boy’s hand and tells him: “If you make believe hard enough that something is true, then it is true for you.” This seems to be Neddy’s main issue: Self-deception. Not only does Neddy wrongly believe everything to be fine, he also relentlessly holds

onto the belief that his wealth makes him a supremely entitled being.

As he crosses a highway to reach his final pool, a public one, Neddy tries to enter without paying the necessary fifty cent charge. Forced to pay and use the public shower, he finally enters the overcrowded pool and swims through murky waters, elbowed and shoved. When he steps out at the other side, he is not handed a glass of gin. His eyes sting from chlorine and he is shivering.

The use of water in The Swimmer is reminiscent of scenes from Mike Nichols’ groundbreaking classic The Graduate (1967), which was released one year prior. Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) faces the familiar pressures that accompany being a recent college graduate. To escape the stresses of deciding on a career and future life plans, Benjamin’s favourite pastime is to lie on a raft drifting in his pool. It is with the same carefree nonchalance that Neddy dives into pool after pool, ignoring an unpleasant reality.

While many critics believe Lancaster was miscast as Neddy Merrill, the film manages to be an melancholy exploration of time passing and youth fading. It is a memorable, tragic character study of a suburbanite with a distorted sense of grandiosity and a blithe tendency to reject reality.

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POP D I A L E C T I C

Star Wars The fans awaken

The latest film in the franchise has proven to be an unparalled success, at the box office, but is it the stand-alone movie really that good, or is the nostalgia and commercialism that’s stronger?

(Warning: This piece contains spoilers)

Old and new worlds collide in yet another battle for the fate of the galaxy. (Cordelia Cho / McGill Tribune)

The force is strong with this one

$tar Wars: Nostalgia at a price

Anna St. Clair

Luka Ciklovan

Ten minutes into The Force Awakens, viewers witness a stormtrooper’s moral struggle between right and wrong, and it’s here where the question on everyone’s mind is answered: The Force Awakens works.

Showing how stormtroopers deal with morality just as much as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo is totally new ground for the Star Wars saga, and yet it fits perfectly with the themes of the franchise and all that it stands for. The Force Awakens embodies the spirit of the original Star Wars trilogy, but also manages to go deeper, show us what we have never seen before, and create a strong setup for the next two films.

The latest film in the franchise takes place about 35 years after Return of the Jedi (1983). While the Empire has been defeated, a new authoritarian regime called the First Order has taken root. It’s led by the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke (played by Andy Serkis through motion capture) whose paleness and snake-like face suggests a Lord Voldemort-type villain. Under his command is Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who is more angsty teen with anger issues than ‘terrifying villain.’ Ren’s character is particularly well done. He’s obsessed with carrying out the legacy of Darth Vader, yet is clearly trying too hard. Where Vader wears his suit and mask for survival, Ren dons it merely to look badass. The scene where Ren lifts his mask, revealing a perfectly normal face definitely results in a few snickers from the audience.

With new villains come new heroes.

Rey (Daisy Ridley) is an orphaned scavenger on the desert planet Jakku, where she lives a desperately lonely existence. Ridley plays Rey as quick thinking, tough, and a bit emotionally distant, making her a compelling hero for the new trilogy. Finn (John Boyega) is a rogue stormtrooper who chooses not to be a pawn to the First Order and reluctantly joins up with the Resistance. Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) is the dashing Resistance Xwing pilot. He’s a political fighter and passionate about the Resistance cause to the last.

Much has been said about the main heroes being female and black, respectively, and the

diverse cast is overdue. The Star Wars saga has always been about how anyone can be a hero, yet the rebels of the original trilogy were overwhelmingly white and male.

Along the way, the new heroes receive help from the old ones. Harrison Ford returns as Han Solo to guide Rey and Finn, functioning as a much cooler Obi-Wan Kenobi. The decision to make Han Solo a major character in the film shows that Director J.J. Abrams can please fans without sacrificing quality. Solo has always been a favourite character and it’s Ford that gives both the new and old films their reckless and adventurous spirit, juxtaposed to the pious journey of the hero. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) also returns and now leads the Resistance against the First Order, dropping the ‘princess’ title for ‘general.’

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) has become a mythical hero throughout the galaxy but has since gone MIA. Abrams also shows that he can bring the humour and light heart along with the deeper themes. The Force Awakens is fast paced and doesn’t shy away from visual comedy, especially in regards to the new lovable droid, BB-8. Where the prequel trilogy often went overboard with CGI and effects, The Force Awakens uses them skillfully to create beautiful, colourful, and emotional images. Shots of Rey scavenging through a ruined imperial starship, half sunken in sand are hauntingly beautiful and sad.

Probably the biggest criticism of The Force Awakens is that it is nothing more than a remake of the original 1977 Star Wars Episode VI: A New Hope. The plotline of The Force Awakens clearly and deliberately echoes the plotline of Star Wars, yet the similarity only shows off Abrams and screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Ardnt’s skill. The characters, the emotions and the motives couldn’t be more different from A New Hope and where the original film could often feel campy, The Force Awakens brings a darker and serious tone.

Given the sheer force surrounding Star Wars (cultural, not midi-chlorian) the notion that J.J. Abrams’ latest entry into the saga did not live up to the hype is dangerous ground to tread on; however, the heavy-handed nostalgia, the pervasiveness of one-dimensional, flat characters and settings, and a fear of expanding upon what little novelty is presented, arguably posits Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens as a film fuelled by a thirst for profit rather than the imagination and wonder that drove Creator George Lucas’ works. Before the ‘bantha poodoo’ hits the fan, it is important to acknowledge that Star Wars, despite whatever childhood or nostalgia might be tangled up with it, can and must be critically examined like any piece of art in order to better understand the work itself and the medium it belongs to.

One of the most notable features of the newest entry into the Star Wars canon is how much it borrows from the pre-existing films. At best, Abrams’ appropriations come off as necessary tools to ease the audience into the reboot of an old classic; however, in actuality, the film’s borrowing extends far, far beyond merely preparing the audience for new material, as it simply revamps the exact plot of Lucas’ Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, albeit with some name changes and flashier special effects. This time around, the Death Star is bigger, shoots multiples lasers at a time, and looks a hell of a lot more high definition. As the film progresses, it increasingly seems to take on the form of a ‘hype man,’ in a sense, presenting familiar faces and places to pump up the audience instead of trying to explore a new dimension of the vast Star Wars universe. There certainly is a magic to seeing Han Solo and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) aboard the Millennium Falcon again, yet that in itself does not a good movie make.

This over-reliance on nostalgia found in Episode VII is intimately tied to its very surfacelevel settings and characters. The film’s portrayal of desert planet Jakku, a conscious callback to Lucas’ Tatooine, stands as perhaps the best example of the vacuous settings that pervade the film. Tatooine, in Lucas’ films, comes across as a living place where we can truly empathize with the plights of either Anakin, under the yoke

of his master Watto, or Han Solo, in his deliberations with the greedy gangster Jabba the Hut. Lucas gives us a tangible, emotive face to the alien world of Tatooine, and thus allows us to better connect with the protagonists as they confront dynamic characters who oppress them.

Abrams’ version of Jakku provides the necessary template for such a conflict, but with no dynamic characters for the audience to form meaningful relationships with. Pinning Abrams’ characters on a planet that, only in the background, has slavery and sand simply cannot inspire the same amount of character intrigue and attachment that Lucas’ Tatooine did.

This phenomenon pervades the entire film: Poe Dameran is simply an awesome badass good guy, not because we witness some strength in his character or moral growth in the face of adversity, but simply because. The destruction of the Republic by Starkiller base is emotionally trivial when compared to the destruction of Alderan in Episode IV, as the Empire’s torture of Leia and the relationship we develop for her throughout the movie gives us a reason to care about Alderan. Abrams’ work goes through the motions of Star Wars, but isn’t really a Star Wars his film makes viewers care about, aside from the fact that it’s Star Wars of course.

The movie does however, provide a glimpse of some very interesting and promising stories. Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Finn (John Boyega), aside from delivering some of the strongest acting in the movie, offer interesting and never-before explored sides of the Star Wars universe. Watching a stormtrooper defect from his platoon, musing on Rey’s origins, and watching the dynamic between Han and villain Kylo Ren were truly fascinating moments, but the film ultimately only scratches the surface on these tales and instead chooses, in the all too literal words of Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o), to make them a ‘story for another time’ and another $13 movie ticket, presumably.

Ultimately Episode VII seems to be preoccupied with finding widespread commercial success, comforting audiences with familiar faces and cashing in on the success of prior films, rather than standing truly on its own as the first episodes of the prior trilogies do.

Questioning coding The rise of coding RAISES as many questions as it answers

T

he 21st Century is the age of nerds. It might be an overplayed think-piece trope, but smart people are a huge part of popular culture—no longer stuffy personalities stuck in an ivory tower. This phenomenon is happening concurrently with the infiltration of data, analytics, and technology in life, as well as the code that underpins it. Film heroes reflect this change— John McClane is no more, and Iron Man reigns supreme. If the 2004 superhero film The Incredibles were made today, perhaps the physically powerless yet tech-savvy antagonist, Syndrome, would be the winner in the fight against the physically superhuman Parr family. Along with the proliferation of coding in popular culture, coding is evolving as an im-

portant skill in the job market and life in general.

Coding in schools The United Kingdom government embraced coding in 2014, where it was introduced into the primary school national curriculum, backed by sizeable donations from Google and Microsoft.

“We need an education system which [...] can use technology creatively to advance learning and which is structured flexibly to adapt to change,’ then Education secretary Michael Gove said. “Children will learn [...] from 11 [...] to design, use, and evaluate computational abstractions that model the state and behaviour of real-world problems and physical systems.”

If successful—and year end reports are positive about the addition— coding could become a powerful form of self-expression and learning for a generation of Brits; however, according to CBC, Canada might lag behind the U.K. because it was not aggressive enough in pushing coding amongst students.

Still, several provincial initiatives showed that Canada is expanding programs to educate youth in coding. Founded in Montreal, Kids Code Jeunesse is a national not-for-profit program empowering educators and parents to teach kids to read, write, and create codes. Volunteers from McGill and Concordia’s computer science programs have taught many young students to code.

While Canada does not have a

provincial or territorial curriculum for programming yet, this initiative raises awareness on the importance of coding in elementary school. Perhaps Canada will follow suit and introduce coding into the provincial and territorial elementary school curriculums. If so, it may follow in the footsteps of initiatives like New York Mayor Bill De Blasio’s 10-year deadline to introduce computer science into every classroom.

But what about those who did not have the luxury of taking coding in elementary or high school in Canada? Job prospects increasingly rely and expand largely upon one’s ability to integrate skills in digital communications, and coding is an asset to anyone’s CV. Online bootcamps, independent courses, and university introductory courses offer a chance for students

By Zikomo Smith

with no coding experience to catch up on these integral skills. HackerYou, an organization based in Toronto, offers full-time and part-time courses in coding in downtown Toronto. Intensive coding bootcamps are also available, like Decode MTL, located in La Commune in Montreal’s Old Port. Online coding tutorials also exist—New Yorkbased Codeacademy is a web-based interactive platform that provides coding courses for individuals to access anywhere, anytime.

For students who want to learn coding and get university credits for it, McGill’s School of Computer Science also offers a popular course in the matter. Foundations of Programming, COMP 202, introduces computer programming to students with little or no background in the subject.

“[Comp 202] gave me an introduction to the foundations of one of the most important skills a person in our generation can know,” Angad Singh, U2 Urban Systems, said.

Hack McGill is a university collective that brings students together to learn about coding and develop more skills. They host events like HACK101, which are tutorials where student coders teach other students how to create codes. The group will also host McHacks, a 24-hour hackathon where coders come together to program, later this semester.

“You are in a room full of people with the same basic goal,” Lucas Stinchcombe, U2 Computer Science and a previous hackathon participant, explained. “They are all driven to make something. And when you have a good team of people who are able to collaborate with each other [...] there is a lot of give and take between the people in the group [...] striving for the best product […] that’s when we can get the best thing out.”

With the growing tech scene and platforms available, more people will learn to code; however, as coding grows in popularity and is used for in-

creasingly varied and complex purposes, they will have to grapple with certain tensions and issues that come with it—like balancing the collaborative and personal aspects of coding.

Coding in a personal and public arena Programmers recently pushed the idea of coding as an art akin to writing.

There are code poetry competitions where winners submit the most elegant code; however, Zain Virani, U2 Computer Science, said that while coding can be a labour of love, it’s also tedious and oftentimes mind-numbing. It is important for coders to embrace the struggles and challenges, like they would for any other task or challenge.

“A lot of the work I’ve done over the past three years [was] for school, but there are definitely some opportunities for me to work on projects for my own pleasure, and it’s projects like those that really allow programmers to show their passion for their work,” said Virani. “The key [to coding], like in most fields, is to realize that what might be tedious [...] now is very important

for future endeavours which you will be more passionate about.”

Still, new coders do not have to reinvent the wheel each time they use coding language to build a website. It’s okay to borrow ideas from other coders’ work as long as credit is given where credit is due. According to Virani, it’s even helpful to use someone else’s code as a guide.

“For the most part during your undergrad you’re going to end up looking at other people’s code for ideas and help,” Virani said. “If the [professor] says you can collaborate, then feel free, but most of the time they don’t [....] instead of copying and pasting [someone else’s] code, you should extract ideas and basic algorithms to implement yourself in your own work [...] In the case of professional work, you can copy other people’s code as long as you cite them, and there are no open patents or copyrights on their work.”

Coders and programmers can expect to work collaboratively, and there are tried and tested methods to aid this process. U2 Computer Science student Othniel Cundangan is a student in COMP 361, Software Engineering Project, where he’s learning techniques for effective collaboration.

“The idea is to break the tasks down,” Cundangan said. “If I am making a game [we will delegate the work]. We divide the work into sprints, which can range from four days to 20 days, and then you will come back and reallocate resources [to the different sprints] where necessary.”

Coders will often develop a personal trademark style of coding. Two coders may approach a coding problem—like encryption—in different, yet equally effective ways. The individual coder will benefit from developing a successful style, and must also be willing to learn from others, while taking responsibility for their own programming. Coders often seek to create ‘the perfect code,’ which raises some questions.

According to Othniel, while a perfect code may work for one situation, the code’s pattern may not be the same for another problem that the coder encounters.

“You want to code efficiently, so that the programs will run fast on the [central processing unit],” he said. “[Sometimes] to achieve that you will have to do some really weird things with code that [...] make it hard for someone else or for developers to keep up [and interact and improve the program], even though it is efficient for the [central processing unit]. You have to find a balance.”

Coders have to work individually and as part of a team. Therefore, a big concern is who ultimately benefits from their projects.

Who should you code for?

Many vested interests in coding tend to centre around data privacy.

Google and Microsoft may have played a part in establishing the British curriculum, but these companies have vested economic interests and philosophies that may not align with every person, let alone every coder. Google mines personal data to improve its search engines. Companies like Facebook have access to masses of personal information. These same companies are driving forward coding in a significant fashion.

“Hacker culture came from just people wanting to collaborate with each other, and lately there is a corporate interest in hacker culture,” said Stinchcombe. “In some ways it’s a good thing, there are more resources available to these young kids who want to learn. But at the same time, you also have to have the freedom to decide not to participate in the corporate life, and take those experiences and do something on your own. It’s up to you, but the freedom should be there.”

Learning to code will benefit students, yet it will also benefit big companies like Facebook, as well as governments—they will be able to choose from a bigger pool of coders who can optimize their products. Coders do have a choice of who they work for and should exercise that considering that an individual coder’s vision of the world might be markedly different to that of a Facebook employee. At some point, coders must question their own vision of the world and how they expect to employ their skills. Indeed, the Globe and Mail reported that a Canadian high school teacher turned down the chance to work for Google in order to pursue his passion to teach coding instead.

While working for big companies may be rewarding, there are always personal considerations. “[You want companies to give] you an offer you can’t refuse, moneywise, or offering you an internship, a job position, or the opportunity to continue work on your project,” Stinchcombe said. “It’s more of a mutual thing because you want what [companies] are offering. Its also the seduction of material things. You want it, but now your project [might be] out of your hands. I think it is up to the person [doing] the project [to] decide.”

Programmers serve a multitude of industries and platforms. There are a number of places that need code. It is important that coders recognize that they can develop skills and work for companies or initiatives that align with their values. A number of companies need programmers’ help—for example, The Globe and Mail reported a worrying number of cyber security breaches in Canada in 2014. Coders have a choice, and should exercise it diligently.

Academic exercise or real world implications?

As a coder or programmer, you are trying to solve specific computing problems. Coding is obviously very conceptual, and has a diverse range of applications. It is impossible to have an one-size-fits-all view of coding, or programming. The way an enthusiast coder approaches his work will be very different from a professional coder.

“[Whether it’s better to view programming as an academic exercise, or as having real world implications] would depend on the context in which coding is done and the definition of “better”, said Martin Robillard, associate professor at McGill’s School of Computer Science. “There would be a different answer for a university assignment, an ACM Programming Competition, a hackathon, or various types of professional software development.”

Many initiatives are expanding the world of coding. One key aspect for new coders is developing a solid coding ethic so they can learn to navigate the myriad ethical questions that surround computer science and its applications.

“In the professional context, programmers and other software developers have numerous duties to numerous stakeholders, including to their customers and users,” Robillard said.

“The ACM Code of Ethics provides a good overview of the expectations placed on computing professionals.”

One of the most compelling debates in coding concerns encryption and privacy. Philip Rogaway, a professor of computer science at University of California, Davis argues that algorithm writers have astonishing power and are not politically neutral.

“Most academic cryptographers seem to think that our field is a fun, deep, and politically neutral game—a set of puzzles involving communicating parties and notional adversaries,” Rogaway wrote. “This vision [...] animates a field whose work is intellectually impressive and rapidly produced, but also quite inbred and divorced from real-world concerns. Is this what cryptography should be like?”

A coder may not always have the macro-level qualms of developing algorithms for the NSA. Coding may be as simple as helping a friend build a website or helping parents set up a computer page. Coders will have to figure out their own ethical approach to their work.

There are also debates on whether coding constitutes free speech, and if codes with damaging implications should be censored. For instance, Facebook can impact voter turnout in the United States. The company did an experiment to see if Facebook could encourage U.S citizens to vote, and the result was positive. On the opposite end of the spectrum, terrorists can do a lot of damage with algorithms by encrypting messages in order to hide plans of attack. These issues may not immediately confront new coders, but it is important to understand the debate as it will have eventual impacts the digital world.

With coding comes enjoyment, challenge, a new way of engaging with the world, and, to some degree, power. Coders can heavily impact society through the digital world and innovate in ways that can have a global impact.

The world is becoming increasingly digital, and a generation of coders, largely pushed through education, is set to emerge. As this happens, new coders will have to grapple with hard questions surrounding coding and ethics.

12

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

A healthy smoothie to keep your New Year’s resolution Liz Willcock (Liz Willcock / McGill Tribune)

Green Smoothie Ingredients 1 cup of almond milk or other non-dairy milk 1 cup of spinach 1 large ripe frozen banana, chopped into chunks 1 tablespoon of almond butter or peanut butter 1 tablespoon of chia seeds A pinch of ground cinnamon

Directions Place all of the ingredients in a blender, with spinach on the bottom. Blend for 30 seconds or until smooth.

Getting back into the swing of things in the Winter term can be hard after a relaxing holiday break, but it’s even harder if you’ve resolved to be healthy this year. Around New Year’s, after a holiday season of sugary desserts and multiple course meals, a common resolution students make is to get their health back on track. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.

When school starts to get busy again, it’s easy to let those resolutions fall by the wayside. Breakfast can quickly transition from a healthy balanced meal, to a greasy breakfast sandwich from whatever café is closest to the first class of the morning. The key to

keeping resolutions past the first week of school is making them sustainable.

This green smoothie is simple, takes less than three minutes, and can be carried on the go. It’s not laden with insanely healthy ingredients like spirulina or kale, but it is straightforward and easy to keep making when things get hectic. Although a smoothie might seem meagre for breakfast, the peanut butter and chia seeds make this ‘green monster’ filling and will keep hunger at bay until lunchtime. With two servings of fruits and vegetables, this smoothie checks all of the health boxes, and will make keeping New Year’s resolutions a little bit easier.

Montreal’s Igloofest turns 10 What to expect when dancing off the winter blues Audrey Carleton Staff Writer For most of North America, the arrival of low temperatures brings endless nights in and inspires excuses to avoid leaving the house. In Montreal, however, many face winter head on by embracing the cold and celebrating the harshest months of the year at winterthemed festivals. One of the most popular festivals in the city designed for this purpose is Igloofest, the annual outdoor electronic music festival held in Old Port. For its 10th year running, Igloofest will be uniting electronic music fans across Montreal and beyond. Over the course of four weekends—Thursday night to Saturday night from Jan. 14 to Feb. 6—Igloofest offers light shows, ice sculptures, traditional Canadian foods, and most importantly, electronic and house music. Here is a guide for Igloofest newbies on what to expect at this noteworthy Montreal festival.

What you’ll hear Igloofest prides itself on collecting a strong mix of local and international talent each year. With over half of this year’s lineup made up of local DJs and VJs from Quebec, Igloofest provides a platform to celebrate local culture and allow underground talent the opportunity to garner publicity and support. From the local talent pool, festival-goers can expect to hear trap mixes from DJ Lu-

nice on the first night, classic upbeat house music from Shaydakiss on the second weekend, and minimalist techno from Stefny Winter on the final evening.

On the other hand, nearly as many international artists will be welcomed from 10 different countries outside of Canada, including Germany, France, and Italy. While Spanish duo Odd Parents will be playing their darker deep house mixes on the second weekend, Mr. Oizo, a DJ from France who has previously collaborated with names like Marilyn Manson, will be playing his eerie techno mixes on the third weekend, and British DJ Swindle will put an electronic spin on bass-heavy jazz tunes on the last night. Also, among this year’s international talent is the festival opener, Bonobo, a fusionist DJ from the United Kingdom who combines styles of music from across cultures and genres in low-key electronic mixes. “[I like Bonobo because he’s] like downtempo electronic,” Matthew Poole, U1 Arts, said. “It’s electronic, but not super aggressive.”

Bonobo is scheduled to DJ on the first night of Igloofest, Thursday, Jan. 14th. Having performed at venues across Montreal in the past, he is one of this year’s highly anticipated performers.

When to go The length of Igloofest, spanning over 12 nights, allows attendees the freedom to choose which nights to

attend based on the schedule of their favourite performers; however, many attendees also select their dates of attendance based on the weather. As a completely outdoor festival, much of Igloofest’s appeal lies in the unique experience it brings to a classic EDM concert. While dancing in crowds to fastpaced music often ensures that festival attendees stay relatively warm, there is still a certain level of discomfort cold January temperatures may present that retract from the experience.

“Pick your nights [carefully],” Clementine Pouille, U2 Arts and past Igloofest attendee, recalled. “[My friends and I] wanted to go one weekend, but we were really happy we skipped it because I heard some people were miserable in the cold.”

What to wear In addition to strategic selection of night of attendance, festival-goers are strongly advised to dress warmly, and strategically.

“Dress in layers,” Pouille advised.

“You get warm while dancing, so you can take some off, and maybe bring a small bag to carry those in.”

As an Igloofest tradition, many attendees make their warm winter wear more festive with brightly coloured and neon one-piece snowsuits, in a friendly competition (known as “Iglooswag”) for the gaudiest outfit. You can check out local thrift shops if you’re looking to participate.

Igloofest continues to illuminate the winter sky. (Jack Neal / McGill Tribune)

What else to expect As many attendees inevitably get tired of dancing, Igloofest offers a variety of other social activities. In addition to their main stages, the festival grounds also hold an ice bar, a photo booth, a fire pit, and a garden of colourfully-lit ice sculptures, including an ice slide. While the music is the main element of the Igloofest experience, these alternative aspects prove to be just as enjoyable for attendees.

Igloofest also offers the opportunity for celebration of culture with traditional Quebecois treats. For Julia Askew, U1 Arts and past attendee, this was most memorable element of the festival.

“I didn’t love the music [...] but, they had a lot of cool Quebecois food,” Askew said. “I liked the maple syrup on

snow, and the warm wine [called Caribou].”

After nine years of successful runs, this year’s Igloofest will celebrate it’s 10th anniversary by rearranging and revamping the festival grounds.

According to a statement issued by Igloofest, “everything is changing places for the 10th anniversary,” including the two stages and all other social elements of the festival. With past yearly attendance rates in the tens of thousands, Igloofest is a Montreal favourite that provides a unique way to break up the monotony of winter that cannot be found anywhere else. “[I would] recommend it,” Pouille said. “I would definitely go again.”

For more information and to purchase tickets to Igloofest, see: http://igloofest.ca/en/

13

Student Living

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Hello from the other side (of the world) Four McGill students discuss their experiences abroad Keara Campos

Lauren Miller, U3

(Major: English Literature; Minor: Communications and Marketing) University of Melbourne (Australia)

Q: What was an unforgettable/standout experience?

“I think, academically, the biggest difference was less class time. [There were] one-hour lectures and one-hour tutorials/ conferences, and four classes count for five in terms of transfer credits. The workload is also less, so you have a lot more free time. I worked two days a week at a café and picked classes that didn’t have final exams and left a month early to travel more [....] Also if you work (which you should—I got paid $22.50/hour and CAD and AUD were on par), file for a Tax File Number as soon as possible [....] [Lastly,] the university is really well off and the services are far better than McGill’s. Their advising office lets students just text to get a wait time to see an advisor and it’s so

Bria Hiebert, U3

(Major: Political Science; Minor: Sociology and Communications) Leiden University (The Netherlands)

Q: What was an unforgettable/standout experience?

“Koningsdag (King’s Day) which is a Dutch holiday that celebrates the King’s birthday. The streets of Amsterdam turned into a sea of orange and party boats [went] up and down the canals. It’s the biggest state holiday in the Netherlands with concerts happening in Museumplein and people celebrating with picnics in Vondelpark.”

Q: If you could give one piece of advice?

“If you’re heading to Leiden, watch out for bikes when you’re crossing the street, and [go to] Einstein’s on Wednesday nights. If you want a real answer, I would say just stay in the moment and enjoy it. Don’t get distracted by life back at McGill or what your friends are doing—just take full advantage of the opportunity you have. Use this opportunity to go deep and learn more about yourself, your interests or your goals [....] Also, have fun,

convenient.”

Q: What do you wish you knew before you left?

“It’s going to be slightly colder than you think in Melbourne [....] I kinda wish I had something a little thicker. I also wish I brought a fleece because we camped so much [....] Driving a standard car on the other side of the road [was also new, and] make sure you’re standing on the correct side of escalators and walking on the correct side of the street [because] we got called out on this several times.”

Q: Least favourite thing about the culture you experienced?

“The cost of living [....] Everything is generally more expensive. But Queen Victoria Market has cheap food and the Wednesday night markets there are fun!

Alcohol is also more expensive [I survived] off of $10 to $15 boxed wine called ‘a goon.’ Cabs are also more expensive [...] but the trams are great [as] the city centre is a free tram zone.”

do everything you want to do, and see everything you possibly can because it will go by quickly.”

Q: Favourite thing about the culture you experienced?

“I loved Dutch student life. The Netherlands are known as a very relaxed and liberal country. Student life was also very laid back.

I loved seeing the racks filled with bikes in front of classes with the different items stuck on, like baskets and flowers to differentiate your bike from your neighbours’ [....] I felt as though the learning environment was happy and focused on the well-being of students with an emphasis on balance as a key to success.”

Q: Least favourite thing about the culture you experienced?

“Something I had a love-hate relationship with was the ‘Dutch directness.’ Sometimes it was shocking but Dutch people see it as being straightforward. I did, however, respect the way people spoke their minds.

It is something that takes a bit of time to get used to. There is no shortage of discussion on religion, politics, or other hot topics and that made for an open learning environment where healthy debate was encouraged.”

The proclamation “Exchange changed my life!” that many McGill students profess after a semester or two abroad may be clichéd, but it is rooted in genuine and unique experiences. As the upcoming Jan. 15 deadline for McGill’s study abroad program approaches, students will be deciding whether an exchange is right for them. The Tribune interviewed four McGill students who travelled to Australia, South America, Europe, and Asia, to hear about their experiences abroad. If McGill’s FAQ page about exchanges doesn’t have enough information and you’re still hesitant about applying, consider these testimonials so you don’t end up feeling like Justin Bieber wondering if it’s too late now to say sorry.

Alex Norman, U3

(Major Concentrations: Finance, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship) The University of Hong Kong (China)

Q: What was an unforgettable/standout experience?

“I had never been anywhere in Asia before, and Hong Kong was kind of the perfect place of East-meets-West. It was a really easy transition for me [....] I could still get around with English but if I wanted more of the Cantonese side of Hong Kong, it was easy to explore that too. [Plus] meeting people on exchange from other parts of the world—some of my best friends there were from California and Finland [...] so meeting all these other kids that [...] come from totally different backgrounds than you [was unforgettable].”

Q: What do you wish you knew before you left?

“In hindsight I think I would have done a [whole] year away because the one semester went by so quickly. I found that it took me like a month just to explore the city and get adjusted, and to figure out what’s a good part of the city and what’s not a good part of the city.

By that time [though] I only had a few months left and I was travelling so I didn’t actually get to spend a ton of time in Hong Kong—and

Josh Berman, U3

(Major: Honours Thematic Latin American and Caribbean Studies; Minor: Economics) Pontificía Universidad Catolica de Valparaíso in Valparaíso (Chile)

Q: What do you wish you knew before you left?

“I happened to be in a class with some really cool and welcoming Chileans [....] It was difficult to make Chilean friends because they are all used to exchange kids coming and going, especially in Valparaíso, but these kids were just really nice all the same and totally fun to hang out with. [And watch out for] tourist scams [....] In Valparaíso, for example, I was told to watch out for mothers with a baby who stop you and really get in your way [....] There is often a partner who pickpockets you while she is pulling on your heartstrings. It never happened to me, but I’m still glad I knew about it.”

Q: Favourite thing about the culture

it’s such a cool city and such a big city that I would have wanted to explore more.”

Q: Favourite thing about the culture you experienced?

“Seeing how people our age live so differently from us and even just they way they act with each other [....] It was [fun] to live like that for a while but it was just funny to see how different it was from how [I am] with my friends [and] just how bold people are; like, they’re polite and there’s order but they’ll cut you in line and you’ll get cut off in traffic but I just found it hilarious. I think it was my favourite because it was so raw, like you’d be in a Cantonese market in Hong Kong and an old lady would hock a loogie in front of you which you would never see at home.”

Q: Least favourite thing about the culture you experienced?

“Hong Kong is more of a collectivist culture, so sometimes in group-work I got kind of frustrated because nothing was really getting done [...] so just recognize that if you’re gonna do that [...] you’re just going to have to go about gettings things done differently [....] Some places in Asia are all about status [....] There were so many [...] big brand names [...] that kind of got annoying after a while, all the [materialism] [....] Growing up out West especially, I missed being outdoors, and in such a big city it was really tough to get to the beach or go hiking.”

you experienced?

“My favorite thing about the culture was the asados [My host family] had these barbecues with their friends that would last forever, like five to eight hours, called asados. Everyone has [them] down there. It’s basically one massive meal from 3 a.m. until you pass out [....] There’s something so right about getting together with friends and family on a nice day and just having a constant flow of food and drinks for hours on end until you are physically exhausted. It’s so relaxing and so much fun.”

Q: Least favourite thing about the culture you experienced?

“My least favourite thing was that it was just a weird place sometimes [....] I guess I can best explain it more with advice for how to cope with it [....] Don’t expect too much out of school and don’t fret when it gets confusing, just go to classes and learn.

It won’t be as hard as McGill, and it is often a different academic culture [....] The expectations [on] students are not going to be the same, just always try and learn in whatever way is best for you [...] just live the experience and learn from [that].

14

Science & technology

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Why has this winter been so mild?

El Niño is shifting global weather patterns Lydia Kaprelian Contributor El Niño has been the latest buzzword explanation for Montreal’s— and the world’s—unseasonably warm weather.

Normally, the prevailing wind patterns in the Pacific Ocean, known as trade winds, blow east to west. When these winds are weaker than usual, a buildup of warm and wet weather along the West Coast of the Americas and drier conditions in Indonesia and Australia occurs, known as El Niño.

Conversely, when the cycle enters a cooler phase, marked by stronger winds, it is known as La Niña.

Part of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, the two terms are used by weather scientists to describe specific temperature and atmosphere conditions in the Pacific.

Because El Niño is connected to many other wind currents, any changes in the system can dramatically alter global weather patterns. For example, the ‘super El Niño’ of 1998 resulted in frequent and severe ice storms that devastated parts of southern Quebec.

Predicting the effects of an El Niño, however, is difficult. While El Niño is not caused by climate change as it is a naturally occurring phenomena, a changed climate means that the impact of an El Niño is becoming greater and increasingly unpredictable.

For example, an ENSO cycle generally takes place every two to seven

Comparison of weather anomalies in April 1986 and April 2015. (theweathernetwork.com) years, although a 2014 paper published in Nature suggests that climate change will likely bring about an increased frequency of extreme El Niño events.

Recently published data collected

by Environment Canada reports that the average temperature in December 2015 was 1.65 degrees Celsius. The average temperature in December 2014 was -3.45 degrees Celsius—a difference of over 5 degrees.

While these differences are dramatic, it’s important to note that they cannot be directly correlated with the El Niño. Rather, the weather system is likely a contributing factor to the latest of Montreal’s abnormally pleasant winter temperatures.

On Jan. 7, United Nations (UN) officials warned of the effects of the anticipated intensified 2016 El Niño.

Stephen O’Brien, the UN undersecretary-general for the Coordination

of Humanitarian Affairs, urged the international community to prepare for the changed weather. O’Brien cautioned that combined with the impacts of climate change, the 2016 El Niño phenomenon is pushing into “uncharted territory.”

While El Niño may have favourable effects on some areas, such as a potential amelioration to the endemic drought in southern California, in many other areas of the world dramatic weather events are expected to cause humanitarian emergencies. Already, there have been intensified drought conditions throughout Eastern Africa, notably affecting Ethiopia. Projections for 2016 predict that food insecurity will affect 22 million people across the region, and at this moment, 10.2 million people are in need of emergency food assistance. Additionally, El Niño increases the possibility of typhoons and

cyclones occurring, which will affect countries throughout the Pacific.

ENSO cycles rarely last longer than one year, but their impact has no end-point. And because El Niño events are often associated with droughts, O’Brien anticipates high levels of food insecurity throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

“The impacts, especially on food security, may last as long as two years,” he explained.

Montreal’s latest mild temperatures are expected to persist throughout February. Longterm forecasts predict mild winter conditions across Canada with less persistent and less intense cold spells compared to those that have dominated the past two winters. The unseasonal rain that has replaced Montreal’s usual winter precipitation is likely an effect of this year’s

particularly powerful El Niño event.

While precipitation patterns are expected to remain relatively normal, it is difficult to predict what form the precipitation will take; this will likely result in less-than-ideal ski conditions.

“Every El Niño event is unique unto itself,” explained Chris St. Clair, a weather broadcaster for The Weather Network. “This El Niño will weaken in the coming months.”

While the 2016 El Niño has so far led to many atypical weather events across the globe, there is reason to believe that the weather patterns will return to normal in the later half of the Canadian winter.

There is preliminary evidence that the Pacific Ocean temperatures are already beginning to cool, leading many meteorologists to believe that the wackiest of El Niño weatherrelated events are behind us.

Tips on making and achieving a New Year’s resolution Scientists have determined the best methods to reach goals clare lyle Historically, a new year was marked by an astronomical event.

For example, ancient Babylonians began the new year with the first new moon after the spring equinox. Today, however, the new year is simply marked with a date: January 1. While there’s nothing particularly special about New Year’s Day, it continues to inspire roughly 50 per cent of the population to be more fit, more efficient, and simply overall better versions of themselves.

stated that they would like to change a behaviour “some day” versus having a set deadline showed lower rates of success.

The high rate of New Year’s resolutions can also be attributed to an interesting psychological phenomenon associated with overoptimistic goal-setting called ‘false hope syndrome.’ Essentially, this term refers to the fact that people tend to overestimate their ability to make changes in their lives.

Psychologists generally support the concept of “SMART” goals—that is, goals which are:

Why do we set new year’s resolutions?

Specific: Reading ‘more’ books vs. Reading 10 books

As far as timing goes, studies show that the new year is an especially promising period for setting goals, with New Year’s resolutioners experiencing a success rate over 10 times higher than people who make resolutions at other times of the year. The researchers found that those who

Measurable: Run faster vs. Run 10K in under an hour

Staff Writer

Achievable: Get to the Olympics vs. Go to the gym twice a week Results-focused: Get straight As vs. Study 30-hours per week

Time-bound: “Learn how to count to 100 in French by Jan. 21”

What makes a bad new year’s resolution?

Individuals are not likely to achieve goals that are set for them by others. For example, parents may want their children to improve their GPA, but the student would prefer to volunteer on Saturdays rather than spend weekends at the library. Consequently, the student isn’t very likely to achieve a higher GPA, because it isn’t something he or she wants.

A goal that is very far in the future. Achieving goals is satisfying—studies show that it is more difficult to sustain motivation for long-term goals compared to short-term goals.

Without a deadline, it is difficult to be motivated.

A goal that is too easy. In a paper published in the American

Educational Research Journal, psychologists found that students who were randomly assigned a more challenging goal (in this case, answering more questions right on a quiz) on average performed better than those who were assigned an easier goal.

How to keep a new year’s resolution Start small, and take resolutions one at a time. Psychologists have developed a model for those looking to attain their goals, called the “self-concordance theory.”

This essentially describes the phenomenon whereby students who consider themselves to be more capable of achieving goals are more likely to achieve them.

This generates a feedback loop— students who achieved goals saw themselves as more capable, which then made them more likely to achieve their next goal. Breaking goals down into milestones has been shown to help goal-setters

take advantage of this.

Communicate and find support.

A study done by the University of California, San Diego on individuals who were trying to lose weight found a correlation between the level of social support the subjects experienced and their diet and exercise habits.

Participants who felt that they had a more supportive social network tended to improve their diet and exercise habits more effectively and were more likely to lose weight.

Stay positive. A 2005 paper from Utrecht University in the Netherlands in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showed that attitude was incredibly important to success.

Essentially, an individual’s motivation is intimately related to his or her emotions; and those who thought positively were more likely to succeed than those who approached a situation negatively.

15

Science & technology

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Last year was an exciting year in space. In 2015, the Dawn orbiter visited the dwarf planet Ceres, scientists photographed the surface of Pluto in unprecedented detail, and Matt Damon even got stuck in space again. But knowing what’s already happened is easy—it’s predicting the future that’s hard. But that doesn’t stop scientists from trying. Here are the astronomical and astrophysical events scheduled and predicted to occur in 2016.

What the galaxies have in store Astronomical events to look out for in 2016

By Daniel Galef

China builds FAST

Juno meets Jupiter

Transit of Mercury What: A planetary transit occurs when a planet passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, and shows up as a black dot on heliograph plates (like a solar eclipse, it is harmful to observe with the naked eye).

When: May 9, 2016 Where: Visible (with a sun telescope) from any point on Earth except the Far East and Australia.

What: The Juno spacecraft is a NASA research probe which will offer new data on Jupiter’s history and makeup using microwave radiation as a sort of lower-frequency radar.

When: The probe is scheduled to arrive on July 4, 2016. It was launched in August of 2011 and is expected to provide useful information well into 2017.

Where: The orbit around Jupiter

Perseid meteor shower Second partial lunar eclipse When: Sept. 16, 2016 Where: Visible from anywhere except the Americas.

First partial lunar eclipse What: As the moon will pass through the Earth’s penumbra, but not its umbra (i.e., if you were standing on the moon, you would see the Earth block part of the sun, but not all of it), the event is not a total eclipse, but will be striking, and visible from Canada.

When: March 23, 2016 Where: Visible to the naked eye from most of the world except Europe and Africa.

The ExoMars trace gas orbiter What: A probe designed to search for trace amounts of methane and other gases that are signs of organic activity. It will be launched by the European Space Agency and Russia’s Roscosmos.

When: March 14, 2016 The launch was originally planned for Jan. 7, but was delayed due to technical reasons.

Where: Mars

Annular solar eclipse What: Solar eclipses usually come in pairs due to interactions between orbits. About 177 days after an eclipse on the southern intersection of the orbit will be another eclipse on the northern intersection. This will not be a total eclipse, but rather an annular (ring-like) one, as the sun will still be visible as a bright ring around the edges of the moon.

When: Sept. 1, 2016 Where: Visible from almost anywhere in Africa.

Total solar eclipse What: The moon will pass directly between the Earth and the Sun, completely obscuring it and casting a dark shadow.

When: March 9, 2016 Where: The event will be visible from much of the Pacific Ocean, as well as most of Asia and Australia, who will only see a partial eclipse.

What: One of the most striking and visible meteor showers, easily viewable because of its frequency (about a meteor per minute) and brightness. The spectacle occurs when the Earth passes through the debris trail of the Swift-Tuttle comet, which orbits the sun every 133 years, and the meteoroids burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. The meteors have been referred to as “The Tears of Saint Lawrence.”

When: August 12 to 13, 2016 Where: Anywhere, but ideally in a grassy park, at night, far from city light pollution.

3

What: The behemoth 500 metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), when completed, will be the largest and most precise radio telescope in the world. It is similar to the famous Arecibo Observatory in design, but will greatly surpass the South American telescope in ability.

When: Slated to be complete by September 2016 (construction began in 2011).

Where: The Tai Wo Taipa depression, a karst depression—a type of large natural basin—in Guizhou Province, China.

NASA sends probe to collect samples from asteroid What: The OSIRIS-REx craft (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is a part of the New Frontiers Program, and its mission is to collect rock samples from the 495m-long asteroid 101955 Bennu, discovered in 1999. Bennu is cited as one of the most potentially dangerous asteroids likely to strike Earth in the near future.

When: Launch set for September 2016. If on schedule, the craft will return to Earth with the samples in 2023 after reaching Bennu in 2019.

Where: In an irregular orbit, well outside the more populous asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

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Sports

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Listen to this The Sport Authority Aaron Rose Staff Writer

At 35-2 the Golden State Warriors are the best team in the NBA by far. They’re revolutionizing the game in a way never seen before.

For decades bigger was better, but now that’s not necessarily the case.

Basketball fans are seeing a confluence of two phenomena: A heightened value on the three-point shot and taller players becoming more skilled. In 1999, Dirk Nowitzki transformed the game, becoming the first seven-footer to attempt 300 three-point shots. Now, it seems common place for teams to have their big men shooting outside the paint, sometimes from beyond the 3-point arc. 7’3” rookie Kristaps Porzingis has taken the league by storm, shooting a quarter of his shots from 3-point range.

It is interesting to note, however, that while ‘small ball’ has only become popular recently in the NBA, collegiate teams have been trotting out squads with three

or four guards for decades.

Starting in the late 1930s, Princeton basketball Head Coach Franklin “Cappy” Cappon invented the so-called “Princeton Offence.”

Unable to recruit the country’s best big-men, Cappon innovatively predicated his offence on having five players who can all pass, shoot, and dribble at a relatively high level. CIS basketball teams have been finding ways to deal with the same issue for decades. After two seasons as the Redmen’s starting small forward,junior Michael Peterkin has moved to the bench as Head Coach Dave DeAverio has elected to play more ‘small ball.’

This podcast talks with both Peterkin and Coach DeAverio about the recent trend and how it has affected the Redmen.

Listen to the podcast online at mcgilltribune.com/sports/thesport-authority-evolution-smallball-2016.

The Golden State Warriors are crushing the small ball game. (AFP)

The Redmen Basketball team is following in their footsteps. ( Laurie-Anne Benoit / McGill Tribune)

10 things C ROSS - C O U NTR Y S K IING

By Nicole Spadotto

Cross-country skiing has existed for over 22,000 years. (wikimedia.org) Cross-country skiing has a bit of an obscure beginning, but experts agree the sport is quite ancient.

It is believed to have originated in what is now France as a method of hunting over 22,000 years ago. In present-day China, it is used as transportation. By the time cross-country skiing permeated into Scandinavia, it was bequeathed the current vernacular name of “skiing.” Tax collectors in Norway in the 10th century were actually sent out on skis to collect taxes from laypeople, and by the 13th century, cross-country skiing was used by troops in war.

1

Physicists rejoice! Cross-country skiing relies solely on the locomotive ability of the skier to propel themselves using hand-held poles and forward-pushing leg movements, rather than the gravity of downhill skiing and motorized assistance like ski lifts. As a result, cross-country skiing is practiced mainly on flat terrain or small hills.

2

Much like sprints and distance running, cross-country skiing races have varying lengths, ranging from a 1.5-kilometre sprint to a 50-kilometre marathon. Events can be individual races or team-driven relays.

3

Cross-country skiing became an Olympic sport in 1924 at the inagrual Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France. Events in the Olympic repertoire have since expanded to include team relay, separate classical, and freestyle races. Cross-country skiing is the only event present at every single Winter Olympic games.

41,000 athletes identify themselves as cross-country skiers worldwide, lending to the growing popularity of the sport.

4

Different types of cross-country skiing exist, with different types of skis needed for each.

The two most popular categories of cross-country skiing are classical, using poles and skis in a linear fashion within constrained track parameters; and freestyle, employing skating-like techniques with skis used as a type of long blade to gain momentum across terrain.

5

The Globe and Mail reports that the benefits of cross-country skiing outweigh almost every other type of exercise. Skiers have almost twice the cardiovascular and muscular fitness than other athletic individuals, and skiers have the lowest mortality risk of the entire population.

6

Raisa Smetanina, a cross-country skier from the former Soviet Union, is currently tied for the most Olympic medals won by a woman at the Winter Olympics (her last Olympics was in 1992). She was the first woman to win 10 medals, and at the time of her last medal, she was the oldest woman to ever win a Winter Olympic gold at 39 years old. The torch was passed onto Stefania Belmondo of Italy who tied the Russian powerhouse with 10 gold medals won— her medal torrent commencing the same year Smetanina won her last gold.

7

Whilst cross-country skiing is pretty contingent upon snowfall, avid skiers have found a technique to continue dry-land training. Invented in Italy, roller skiing is the tarmac equivalent of cross-country skiing. Wheels are attached to the ends of the skis, allowing for a similar technique to snow skiing. Roller skiing has developed into a sport in its own right, with competitions popular in Northern Europe.

8

The biathlon is built upon cross-country skiing, with the added element of shooting to create a new event. The most decorated Winter Olympian in history, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway, has won 13 medals in the biathlon. Interestingly, Norwegian cross-country skiers Bjorn Daehlie and Marit Bjorgen rank as the second- and third-most decorated men in Winter Olympic history, with 12 and 10 medals respectively.

9

Cross-country skiing was introduced as one of four Special Olympics snow sports in 1977. Canada has a strong Special Olympics cross-country skiing program in place, with offerings ranging in location from Nova Scotia to Alberta, to Yukon.

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Sports

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

t r i b u n e N F L A wa r d s

By Joe Khammar

17

With the 2015-2016 playoffs underway, the NFL’s best individual performances from the regular season will be awarded in a few weeks. The Tribune predicts who will take home the hardware.

Photos courtesy of cnn.com, 101sports.com, Associated Press, USATODAY Sports, and Getty Images.

Coach of the Year

Rookie of the Year

Defensive Player of the Year

Offensive Player of the Year

Most Valuable Player

Bill O’Brien

Todd Gurley

J.J. Watt

Deandre Hopkins

Cam Newton

The 2015 NFL season has seen extraordinary efforts by a multitude of head coaches around the league, with many deserving of the award. Unfortunately for them, Bill O’Brien of the Houston Texans had a masterful season and deserves to be named Coach of the Year. The Texans were not expected to make any rumblings in 2015.

When the pre-season ended, Bleacher Report ranked the Texans 28th on their power rankings, way behind their AFC South rival Indianapolis Colts who were at no. 2. It turns out the predictions were dead wrong. O’Brien was a quarterback whisperer this season and coaxed a career year from starting quarterback Brian Hoyer and won games with backups Ryan Mallett, TJ Yates, and Brandon Weeden. This quartet of journeymen and backup quarterbacks should never have been able to lead a team into the playoffs in today’s NFL—somehow O’Brien managed that monumental feat and wins Coach of the Year because of it.

Forget Jameis Winston as rookie of the year, Todd Gurley ran away with this award. Despite missing the first three games of the season due to a lingering ACL tear, the first year running back finished third in NFL rushing yards with 1,106 yards on the ground. What’s more impressive is that Gurley managed to accomplish this feat playing on possibly the worst offence in the NFL. With the uninspiring tandem of Nick Foles and Case Keenum taking snaps at quarterback, the Rams ranked 32nd in total offence this year.

Gurley undoubtedly deserves rookie of the year for establishing himself as a top-five talent at the running back position on a team seemingly doing everything it could to hinder itself. Gurley has a bright future ahead of him and should continue to run roughshod over opposing defences throughout his career

The only reason to not give this award to Watt every year is to break up the monotony and give someone else a chance. With a league-leading 17.5 sacks, J.J. once again proved he is the best player in the entire NFL. No longer able to fly under the radar, Watt told the Tampa Bay Times that he has been attracting more triple-teams this season than ever before. Think about that for a second; most teams use five linemen and one or two tight ends at any time. In a basic four-man rush, J.J. Watt is attracting up to three of those five linemen, leaving the three other rushers free to attack the quarterback. Despite the triple-team, Watt still led the league in sacks.

This complete and total domination of the NFL assures Watt this award not only for this year but for many more to come.

2015 was surely the year of the wide receiver. Twenty-seven different receivers posted 1,000-yard seasons and four different receivers went for over 1,500 yards. One of those four stands above the rest: Deandre Hopkins, who played on a team that lacked any credible threat under centre. Receiving passes from four different quarterbacks, most would not expect much from the Texans passing offence. Hopkins’ 111 receptions for 1,521 yards this season was the engine that kept the offence going week in and week out. He dominated on a regular basis regardless of the competition. In a week 11 matchup against the Jets, Hopkins outcompeted Darrelle Revis to the tune of five receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns. No other receiver has Hopkins’ combination of route running, speed and circus catch ability. He combines the best parts of Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown to create the ultimate pass-catcher and is 2015’s Offensive Player of the Year.

Could it be anyone else? While Tom Brady and Carson Palmer might look better on paper, it’s what Newton does on the field that puts him ahead of the pack. Leading a team that finished with a league best 15-1, Newton took a team that features punt returner Ted Ginn Jr. as its number one target and drove it to historic status.

With a grand total of 45 touchdowns in 2015 (35 passing and 10 rushing), he leads the league by a sizeable gap. But Newton doesn’t just put up points, he also inspires his team to be better with his animated personality and leadership skills. Always making the NFL seem fun, Newton encapsulates what it means to be an MVP, combining historic production, a great team, and leadership skills that inspire those around him to play better. Newton might never get another MVP award in his career, but this one is special because he earned it from his ability to win rather than gaudy statistics.

T h e Woodsmen and Woodswomen compete within the Canadian Intercollegiate Lumberjacking Association (CILA). CILA was formed in 1997 and includes five other teams from Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

A (Remi Lu / McGill Tribune) typical Woodsmen competition involves multiple events based on won the McGill University Outing showing personal prowess in Club’s second annual Woodsmen lumberjacking. Schools compete in competition. Women first entered teams of six, with McGill and other the competition in 1971, and over universities sending two teams the past 40 years, McGill’s teams for both the Woodsmen and the have won over 100 competitions, Woodswomen competitions. Of the giving them the greatest winning 24 people making up the McGill record of all McGill varsity teams. Woodsmen and Woodswomen,

18 are from Quebec, and the rest are Ontario natives. Every team member has their own specialty event in which they compete.

Events include anything from axe throwing, to timed chainsawing, to woodchopping--of which there are multiple different types.

There are four competitions held in Canada each season hosted by four of the six registered CILA schools. The first two happened at the University of New Brunswick and Sir Sandford Fleming College.

The third is at Mac Campus and the fourth and final competition at Dalhousie University.

Last year, under the leadership of Head Coach Kyle Bray, the McGill Women’s 1 team came in first and the Men’s 1 team came in third during the CILA Championships. McGill’s Woodswomen have stayed strong so far this year, coming in third overall at UNB and earning a perfect score in three events:

The Horizontal Chop, the Team Crosscut, and the Accuracy Chop.

The Woodsmen regained their first-place overall finish most recently at Fleming College, getting perfect scores in the Cross Cut, Swede Saw, the Underhand Chop, and the Choker Race.

The McGill Woodsmen have maintained third and fourth place this season, earning a perfect score in the Vertical Chop and the Team Crosscut at UNB and in the Quarter Split at Flemming.

McGill will be hosting their third competition of the season, the 56th Annual Woodsmen Competition, at the Macdonald Campus on Jan. 23. Quebec natives Philip Gautier and Michael Breault will lead McGill’s Woodsmen, hoping to break into second place this competition while Captains Stephanie Bélanger-Naud and Ingrid Laplante, also of Quebec, will work to lead the Woodswomen to another first-place finish.

Head Coach Houston Texans

T e am PR e v i e w morgan alexander Managing Editor Based out of McGill’s Macdonald Campus, the Woodsmen have been part of McGill’s varsity tradition since 1954, when the Macdonald Aggies entered and

Running Back St. Louis Rams

Defensive End Houston Texans

Woodsmen and Woodswomen

Wide Receiver Houston Texans

Quarterback Carolina Panthers

18

Sports POINT C O U NTERPOINT

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

1995-1996 Bulls vs. 2015-2016 Warriors

This year’s Golden State Warriors have been dominating whatever futile opposition their competition throws at them all season long and have lost only two games this season. Michael Jordan’s 72-win 1995-96 Bulls have long been recognized as the best team ever. Is it time to crown a new king? The Tribune weighs in. (neogaf.com, USATODAY Sports)

1995 - 1996 Chicago Bulls

2015-2016 Golden STate Warriors

The 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors are not better than the 1995-1996 ChiThrough 38 games, or 46.3 per cent of the NBA season so far, the Golden State Warriors cago Bulls. Despite the Warriors’ formidable winning stretch, the debate is clearly in have put together the best record in league history. That’s right, even better than the 1994-1996 favour of Michael Jordan’s Bulls. When we take into account the team’s win parity, Chicago Bulls who ended up going 72-10. In today’s NBA, the Warriors would be a better the chemistry issues they overcame to win their fourth championship, and the hard team because of their elite depth and versatility. knock defence that occupied the league in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the 1995-1996 Bulls are The Bulls faced little resistance in the Eastern Conference during their historic season— clearly the better team. only two other teams finished with more than 50 wins. Last season, seven teams finished with The win gap between the 1996 Bulls champion team and that of other teams in 50 or more wins in the Western Conference and two years ago the worst playoff team in the the 1995-1996 NBA season is the epitome of dominance. In the entire league there conference had 49 wins. Arguably the level of quality in the NBA has increased in the last 20 were only three teams that achieved 60 or more wins: The Chicago Bulls (72), the years: Players are bigger, stronger, and more athletic, and the influx of international players Seattle Supersonics (64), and the Orlando Magic (60). FiveThirtyEight , prehas also increased the talent pool. It’s harder to do what the Warriors are doing this season than what the Bulls did in their dominant year. dicted with their CARMELO algorithm at the start of the season that From a pure matchup standpoint the Warriors would have a slim adthe Warriors would finish with 67 wins—five wins short of the vantage. Although the Bulls were good at defending the three-point 1996 Bulls team. With the San Antonio Spurs trailing right beline, good doesn’t suffice against the best three-point shooting team hind the Golden State Warriors and the Eastern Conference of all time. For a team as deep and versatile as Golden State, appearing more competitive than it has been in years, it’s the barrage of three-pointers doesn’t have to come from Steph not likely that the Warriors can top the 1996 Bulls’ win Curry or Klay Thompson; rather, secondary scorers would dominance. feed off of the extra attention given to the “Splash Brothers,” The Chicago Bulls’ record is even more impresand attack weaker defenders and rotating defences like they sive in light of the raw talent that occupied their roshave much of this season. The Warriors are dominating the ter and how Phil Jackson masterfully got the team to league not only because of Curry’s individual brilliance but work together to clinch their fourth championship in because opposing second units are being overwhelmed. six years. After a year and a half of coping without The Warriors’ superior combination of balance The Bulls’ best big man defender, Dennis Rodman, the Chicago messiah—who was busy playing baseball wasn’t tasked with defending in space when he was a mainduring his first retirement—the Bulls had to figure out and depth allows the team to maximize their stay on the All-NBA defensive team. In the pace and space how to reinstate and find a fit for the second coming of efficiency in an unprecedented manner and play era, his defensive strengths would be mitigated and he would Michael Jordan. Furthermore, Jordan’s comeback from with nearly unstoppable teamwork. be drawn away from the rim, negating some of his prodigious his short baseball career would have to happen withrebounding abilities as well. The Bulls’ other rotation big men out one of the key pieces of the first 1991-1993 Chicago were career journeymen who were hardly rim protectors and would Bulls three-peat: Horace Grant. After an unsuccessful tworun into the same issues defending the spread pick and roll—the staple year stint with the San Antonio Spurs from 1993-1995, league of every good NBA offence in 2016. trouble-maker Dennis Rodman was traded in the 1995 off-season By comparison, the Warriors big men are either elite rim protectors, such to the Chicago Bulls as a replacement for Grant. Jackson had to conas Festus Ezeli and Bogut, or arguably the most versatile defender in the league, in vince Rodman to get along with the hard-headed Jordan despite the fact Draymond Green. On the perimeter, the Warriors are aptly built to match up well with any that Rodman had once played for the “Bad Boys” Pistons, who invented the Jordan team, including the Bulls. Stopping Michael Jordan would have been impossible, but no other Rules and nearly injured Jordan on several occasions. Back then, just about anything team in the salary cap era has as many athletic and rangy 6’6” or taller defenders to throw at was fair game: Running under people’s feet after a three-pointer, hand-checking and wing scorers. light holding while guarding, and elbowing in the paint were all common, albeit The Warriors’ X-factor, as it has been throughout the season, is its ‘lineup of death’ where dangerous practices in the NBA. they bring out Curry, Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala, and Green. All five players In the face of such odds—the difficulty of creating team chemistry and the physcan pass, beat their man off the dribble, and shoot effectively from the perimeter. On defence icality of ’80s and ’90s NBA defense—the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls are a testament everyone except for Curry can switch who they’re guarding. There hasn’t been a lineup like to how far teamwork and determination can go. This year’s Warriors may be stretchthis in the NBA that can beat opposing teams in as many ways. ing the imagination of sports analysts, but with no considerable roster changes from The Bulls are a historically great team and they were rightly the best team in league histheir 2015 championship team and aided by softer defensive rules, the 1996 Bulls tory, up until now. But when the Warriors lift their second championship in a row at the end emerge superior. They did not have the luxury of stability and referees’ whistles to of this season, the Bulls will be nudged out of their top spot by a team that was deeper and protect their championship ambitions—ambitions that were fulfilled by winning an more versatile. improbable 72 games.

Editors Pick

2015-2016 Golden State Warriors

— Élie Lubendo

— Mayaz Alam

M a r t l e t H o ck e y

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Sports

Tuesday, January 12, 2016 m c g i ll

1-2

M o n t r e al

Montreal out-shoot McGill in thrilling shoot-out Rivals clash in third game decided by one goal Zikomo Smith Sports Editor Is this one of the tightest RSEQ regular season hockey races in recent memory?

“Absolutely,” Head Coach Peter Smith said after McGill’s hard fought 1-2-shootout loss to Montreal on Sunday in McConnell Arena.

The first place Montreal Carabins (8-3-1) are only two points ahead of the third place McGill Martlets (7-3-1)—the two teams are separated by the Ottawa Gee Gee’s.

In a gritty, low-scoring performance, McGill outshot Montreal 38-33, and converted on one of their three power plays.

Montreal opened the scoring in the first period, with McGill sophomore forward Marie Philip-Lavoie retaliating with a score seven minutes into the second period.

“I think it’s two real good teams and I think the game […] was indicative of that,” Smith said. “It was two teams playing hard, and playing fast. It was, all in all, a good game.”

It is a testament to both teams’ excellent defence that neither scored until Montreal won in the shootout. Both teams

were also stuck in a stalemate in the first overtime period.

“As a team we defend very well,” Smith said, “We play well in our own end, we defend the rush well. I think all six players on the ice have a real good focus on that. I would not consider us to be a defensive team, but we are defensively sound.“ McGill could not get it done in the shootout, however. Marion Allemoz of the Carabins was the only player out of four able to score, while the martlets missed all of their shots.

“I think we are disappointed with our performance in the shootout,” Smith said. “But it’s not like we don’t work at it, and we’ll get better at it.”

McGill beat the Concordia Stingers (3-7-2) 5-2 on Friday at McConnell Arena, earlier in the week. Senior centre Melodie Daoust, fresh from captaining Canada to a gold at the Nations Cup tournament in Germany, had two assists and a goal just six hours after returning to Canada.

Senior forward Gabrielle Davidson scored a brace, with the other goals coming from fifth-year forward Joanne Cagianos and sophomore forward Alexandria Serpico.

The 1-1 start to the new 2016

The McGill Martlets iremain frustrated after facing more resistance in the RSEQ this season (Noah Sutton / McGill Tribune) year also proved that McGill had got over its early season power play blues. McGill were 2-4 on the power play against Concordia and 1-3 against Montreal.

McGill will play away against Carleton next weekend.

With the race for the RSEQ regular season title heating up, every game is a must-win game for all teams around the league.

Quotable “We want to be defensively sound so we can get back on offense.

Our team does a good job of playing with structure when we don’t have the puck.”—Smith on the Martlets defensive style.

Moment of the game The Montreal Carabins’ shootout goal was the only one scored in nine combined attempts between the two sides.

Stat corner The Montreal Carabins lead the McGill Martlets 13-11 in their last 24 head-to-head games, a testament to how closely fought these games are.

The Martlets are currently third in the RSEQ. (Noah Sutton / McGill Tribune)

Past vs. Present