McGill Tribune Vol. 35, Issue 15

The McGill Tribune TUesday, January 20, 2016 curiosity delivers

Volume No. 35 Issue No. 15

Editorial: Mcgill advising does not provide sufficient tools to carve own path pg. 05

feature: m c gilltribune.com Boy, Interrupted: SIlent crisis @m c gilltribune of Men’s Mental health issues on campus pg. 08 - 09

obituary

The rise and fall of david bowie from mars Eric Noble-Marks Staff Writer

Mental health affects students regardless of gender. (Natalie Vineberg / McGill Tribune)

Boy, Interrupted: Silent Crisis of Men’s Mental Health Issues On Campus

PG. 08

In the spring of 1962, a 15-year-old boy named David Jones was admitted to a London hospital with an injured left eye. The young Jones had apparently been involved in a scrap with a close friend over a girl. The fight left the boy’s pupil permanently dilated, a condition that would last for the rest of his life. It was not the first time that David Bowie was different. It certainly would not be the last.

Bowie died this past Sunday, Jan. 10 following an 18-month battle with cancer. Like countless others, David Bowie coloured my life. I can remember playing “Life on Mars?” on repeat until I fell asleep, or speeding through the Florida everglades to “Young Americans” on family vacations.

PG. 13

SSMU presents a new student lounge Decision to replace furniture, carpeting followed student proposals Chloe Forgie-Williams Contributor Renovations of the Student Lounge on the first floor of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Building are underway, with a proposed completion by mid-semester.

The last time the student lounge had been renovated was in the summer of 2010. According to Vice-President (VP) Clubs and Services Kimber Bi-

alik, students can expect new couches and bean bag chairs, as well as more tables for those who like to use it as a study space.

“The student lounge will remain fundamentally a lounge space, so students can certainly expect more in the way of couches,” Bialik said. “Designs that have been reviewed have included more table and work space.”

From November to December 2015, the status of the student lounge was unclear. Joni Williams, U2 Eco-

nomics, noted that she had wanted to use the lounge, but discovered the room had been locked, then unlocked.

“I really enjoyed [spending] time in the lounge after a long class,” Williams said. “And I was a bit confused when in November and December I tried to go in, but it was closed, and then [later] reopened again.”

In November 2015, the lounge briefly closed due to a potential bed bug infestation, but was reopened when no evidence was found to back up that

claim.

“In late November, a student came to the SSMU Office and said that they believed there were bed bugs in the student lounge,” Bialik said. “SSMU immediately closed [the room] and brought in a pest control company to inspect the space for bed bugs, and after professional inspection, there were no traces of bed bugs found.”

The SSMU lounge closed permanently for the semester after another student brought a bed bug claim to Bialik’s

attention.

“Although we already had a confirmation that there were no bedbugs following the [previous] inspection, the lounge was closed again for the duration of the exam period, simply due to the sheer number of students who were concerned that there could potentially be pests in the lounge,” Bialik said.

PG. 04

The (happy) light at the end of the tunnel Program shines therapeutic lamps on Seasonal Affective Disorder Hailey MacKinnon Student Living Editor Dark winter days may be illuminated with a new program offered by the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Mental Health Committee and McGill Mental Health Services (MMHS) called “Happy Lights.”

The program seeks to treat a mood disorder that many students experience during the winter semester when the days are colder and shorter with less exposure to sunlight. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), the lack of sunlight will lead approximately two to three per cent of the Canadian population to experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a

form of depression which mainly appears during the fall and winter seasons. Symptoms can include feelings of hopelessness and irritability, weight gain, oversleeping, and change in appetite.While only a small percent of the population will experience SAD, the CMHA notes that 15 percent of the population will experience a milder form of the disease (called subsyndromal SAD)

which manifests in less severe depressive symptoms that don’t completely interrupt one’s daily life, but still pose noticeable effects.

McGill students are among the social groups most vulnerable to SAD. The disease is most prominent among those under the age of 50, females (who are four times more likely to experience the disease), and those in northern re-

gions that are farther from the equator.

“We enter the library as the sun begins to rise, only to leave once the sun has set and so we fail to acknowledge how much the simplest things can affect our mood,” said Anna Pearson, a member of the Mental Health Outreach Committee for SSMU.

PG. 12

Fall 2015 2

NEWS

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

SSMU Executive midterm reviews Reflecting on a semester in office Illustrations by Elli Slavitch

Kareem Ibrahim SSMU President

Due to the resignation both the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) general manager (GM) and the Daycare director, President Kareem Ibrahim was forced to assume many of both positions’ responsibilities. In acting as a caretaker, he has performed impressively in ensuring that SSMU as a whole has continued to function and provide services to students; however, as a result of the resignations, many of Ibrahim’s original plans and ideas have been derailed. Initiatives such as the completion of a human resources equity policy and the establishment of a consultation list-

serv, which was a campaign promise to better consult students, have fallen by the wayside. Additionally, efforts to increase outreach and be more visible to students were inadequate in comparison to the primacy they received in his election platform—the Fall General Assembly (GA) failed to reach quorum.

Although he wasn’t visible externally, he was constantly present within SSMU—much of his portfolio includes acting as a support member to other executives or other permanent and part-time staff. He was responsible for student-staff orientation in September, a task normally under the portfolio of the GM, and has also overhauled many internal regulations of the president’s portfolio while also improving the operations of Council.

With the introduction of a new Daycare director, GM, and a vice-president (VP) Internal this semester, a period of relative calm has presented itself in an otherwise tumultuous tenure. Moving forward, Ibrahim will need to return to the tenets of his platform that have been neglected in order to ensure that the somewhat frayed relationship that students have with SSMU is repaired and strengthened.

Emily Boytinck VP External Affairs Since the dissolution of the Fédération Étudiante Universitaire du Québec (FÉUQ), Vice-President (VP) External Affairs Emily Boytinck has actively participated in the formation of two new student associations: The Union Étudiants du Quebec (UÉQ) and the Association pour la Voix Étudiante au Québec (AVÉQ). She has reached out to faculty associations to present information on both organizations, appropriate consultation given the early

stages of both organizations.

Most of Boytinck’s political focus last semester concentrated on the Divest McGill and McGill Against Austerity campaigns. Boytinck was active in event planning for both campaigns as well as meeting with administration.

She also coordinated with Elections Canada to launch the vote campaign during the federal election.

Boytinck additionally completed extensive work on community affairs, including delivering letters to every house in the Milton Parc neighbourhood during Frosh. Boytinck has put forward new initiatives to improve community relations, including a garbage survey to lobby for new trash cans.

With no VP Internal, Boytinck was delegated the planning of 4Floors, which failed to sell out. Though she was handed the event on short notice, she and the committee should have concentrated more on advertisement of the event, and less on organizing ticket-sales online, which will hopefully be taken into consideration next year.

A consistent problem throughout the semester was low attendance at the events Boytinck organized. This problem may have been exacerbated by a lack of effort to reach out to groups on campus that vocally opposed these causes. In the coming semester, we would like to see more consultation with such groups from Boytinck, which will hopefully increase interest in her educational events.

3

NEWS

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

ZACHERIAH HOUSTON VP FINANCE AND OPERATIONS The absence of a GM has greatly affected the position of VP Finance and Operations, with tasks such as the budget revision being completed weeks later than has been typical in the past. However, it is a testament to Zacheriah Houston’s ability that despite this, he has been able to implement significant changes within SSMU. Houston worked to create an online form and streamlining system for club audits, simplifying the process and making it much more easily understood and accessible for SSMU clubs. Additionally, Houston has laid the groundwork for a basefee increase referendum question, which will be voted on later this month, and has worked towards creating a purchasing database of ethical suppliers for SSMU.

The Student Run Cafe (SRC) is one area that Houston will need to pay more attention to in the upcoming semester. The SRC opened at the beginning of this academic year on the second floor of SSMU, in the space across from The Nest—another student-run initiative. While the idea of renting space to student-run cafés as opposed to commercial tenants is a nice one, neither the SRC nor The Nest, which has been operational for over two years, have yet to break even, let alone turn a profit.

The fact is that many students are unaware that the SRC and The Nest even exist, therefore focus needs to shift to outreach, advertising, and communication with all students if the SRC hopes to be a profitable venture for SSMU.

CHLOE ROURKE VP UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS Compared to the roles of the other executives, the role of the VP University Affairs has been the least affected by the vacancies at SSMU. Rourke has continued to working to implement initiatives geared at improving students’ mental health and well-being, including planning the second Mental Health and Awareness Week at McGill, as well as instating Happy Lights, a program which allows students to rent lamps used to treat seasonal affective disorder from SSMU. Rourke has also worked on broader academic initiatives, such as liaising with McGill administration and faculty regarding a proposed Fall Reading Week. Along with the VP Finance and Operations, Rourke has begun dis-

cussing SSMU’s Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with McGill.

Rourke has continued her efforts to bring a new sexual assault policy to the McGill Senate. While drafts of the new policy existed before her term in office, it is commendable that Rourke is working on supplementary initiatives, such as a protocol outlining support measures for persons who have experienced sexual assault. Creating university-wide policies is a bureaucratic process, and while Rourke’s efforts are admirable, the consequences of the bureaucratic gridlock mean that initiatives that were started before Rourke’s term, and that Rourke herself worked on, may not be enacted until after her term.

KIMBER BIALIK VP CLUBS AND SERVICES Kimber Bialik’s focus on institutional reorganization in areas of her portfolio over the past semester has brought an increased efficiency to the way both SSMU Clubs and Services are run. Additionally, her ongoing efforts to increase general promotion of both clubs and services, and improving general resources for each, have brought about visible changes.

Moving Fall Activities Night outdoors to reduce the wait time in line, allowing clubs to sell event tickets at the front desk of SSMU, and ramping up social media presence were small initiatives that allowed for students to have more access to information about clubs and involvement.

Bialik additionally completed an overhaul of club space by getting rid of club offices on the fourth floor of the SSMU Building, creating common areas, bookable rooms for meetings, and installing lockers.

Bialik has not only been working to maintain the four committees under her purview—Services Review Committee, Club Committee, Space Commit-

tee, Building Committee—but she has also facilitated the creation of a new club consultative committee.

The Building Committee, responsible for allocating funds to improve the SSMU Building, received little to no student consultation in the past, because it is comprised primarily of permanent staff members; this past semester, Bialik froze part of these funds and allowed students to come forward with proposals on how to spend $20,000, ultimately resulting in the purchase of new carpet and furniture for the SSMU Student Lounge.

Her biggest undertaking was completion of SSMU’s service reviews, a behind-the-scenes, administrative effort. Although service reviews are supposed to be completed each year, they have been neglected since 2011, with some services having no record of ever being reviewed. On average, past SSMU Clubs and Services executives have completed five service reviews per semester; Bialik ensured that all 20 were reviewed and brought up-to-date last semester alone.

4

NEWS

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

SSMU presents a new student lounge Decision to replace furniture, carpeting followed student proposals Chloe Forgie-Williams Contributor Continued from Page 1.

The renovations were inspired by students’ proposals to the SSMU Building Committee, which historically develops a project list and sets the priorities for SSMU without student consultation.

“The Building Committee has a budget of roughly $40,000 annually that is restricted for space improvements within the SSMU Building,” Bialik said.

This year, she placed a hold on half of the total funds set aside for space improvements and solicited student proposals on where those funds should go— ultimately towards new furniture and carpet for the lounge.

The new furniture in-

cludes couches, tables, and chairs, and is estimated to cost about $20,000, which is covered by the hold Bialik placed on the Building Committee’s budget for space improvements. The carpet was replaced over the winter break at a cost of $10,000.

“The [replacement of the carpeting] is being funded by SSMU’s Capital Expenditure Reserve Fund (CERF),” Bialik said. “[This] is a restricted fund that SSMU uses for building maintenance and renovation projects to the building.”

This week, the Building Committee will be reviewing the proposals for furniture design. After the designs and proposed expenses are approved the plans will be presented for ratification at SSMU Legislative Council.

The SSMU Student Lounge will remain closed for rennovations until mid-semester. (Natalie Vineberg / McGill Tribune)

SSMU to bring question of seventh executive, membership fee increases to special referendum Proposed $5.50 fee increase is not a precondition for restructuring, according to executives Ashley Kong Contributor The Students’ Society of McGill (SSMU) Council voted to hold a special referendum at the end of the month in which students will be able to vote on a proposed base fee increase, as well a the creation of a seventh SSMU executive position, the vicepresident (VP) Operations. As discussed in the Jan. 14 Council meeting, the membership fee would see a $5.50 increase. The two questions will be asked independently in the referendum.

Motion to hold special referendum for a $5.50 membership fee increase A SSMU referendum is scheduled at the end of this month regarding a $5.50 membership fee increase. The fee is collected once every term and is non-opt-outable.

According to VP Finance and Operations Zachariah Houston, a portion of the extra revenue will be spent on improving student clubs and services.

“Basically, [a] $5.50 [increase] will haul in $242,000 roughly in revenue per year,”

he explained. “We want to increase the club fund allocation by $25,000 [.…] We want to cut [independent] student group leases in this building a little bit, so that we’re not using that as a primary source of profit.”

The extra revenue will also be invested in other priority areas such as mental health programs and student space maintenance.

According to the Base Fee Estimations document released on SSMU website on Jan. 15, about $5,000 will go to mental health services. The increased space fees will cost $10,000, and the price of SSMU Building maintenance and related services will cost another $10,000.

Additionally, independent student group leases will be cut by 15 per cent, costing yet another $10,000.

The campaigning period for the referendum question will begin on Jan. 18 and end on Jan. 29, with polling taking place between Jan. 27 and 29.

Motion to hold referendum on restructuring of executive portfolios Council passed a motion to

pose a second referendum question regarding the restructuring of executive portfolios. If this referendum question is passed, it will create a new executive position: VP Operations. The position of VP Clubs & Services will then be renamed VP Student Life.

According to the proposal, some responsibilities currently undertaken by the VP Finance & Operations will be transferred to the new VP Operations, such as the management of the SSMU building, Gerts, and MiniCourses. Meanwhile, the VP Finance will take up new responsibilities including human resources—currently within the the president’s portfolio—as well as overseeing SSMU Daycare, while continuing to be in charge of SSMU funding, student fees, and the budget.

It is estimated that an additional executive will cost approximately $35,000 a year, including stipends, benefits, and taxes.

“What an executive makes after tax is roughly $25,000 [per year],” Houston explained. “But before taxes, […] it’s roughly $30,000. On top of that, SSMU has approximately 16 per cent of different benefits it has to pay,

for example, Quebec pension plans, [Quebec Parental Insurance Plan], et cetera.”

Houston clarified that the membership fee increase is not a precondition to the expansion of the executive team.

“We don’t require an additional $35,000 to pay a new executive,” he said. “The SSMU [annual] revenue is around $4 million,” Houston said. “We can find that money if we need to.

We can adjust other staff salaries, reduce some of our student staff research positions, […] or start cutting executive portfolios [and] service areas to the society—but I would love to not do that.”

Houston expects that the initial costs of restructuring will be covered by the long-term advantages it brings.

“I believe that in the long run, through a very intentional restructuring of the staff positions, you could afford a seventh executive without a significant increase in salaries,” Houston said.

In order to avoid conflict of interests, SSMU executives will not campaign for this referendum during their working hours, or use any SSMU resources for this campaign.

“This is not a Council-initiated ‘Yes’ [campaign] committee,” said President Kareem Ibrahim. “No SSMU emails or resources [will be used] for this campaign whatsoever.”

The campaigning period will begin Jan. 18. and polling will be open Jan. 27 through 29.

Proposed fee increase Full-Time

From $44.75

$50.25 $27.94 Part-Time

From $22.44

Medicine, Dentistry, Law

From $16.83

$22.33 Infographic by Domitille Biehlmann

5

OPINION

Tuesday, January 19, 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 Editors Christopher Lutes and April Barrett 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

McGill advising does not provide sufficient tools to carve own path With add/drop coming to a close, students’ laments of academic advising at McGill are likely to abate. But at the moment, undergraduate students bemoan the bureaucratic advising system. The fundamental flaw with the McGill mindset is that students are expected to be independent without necessarily having been provided the tools to do so. First-years often do not already possess the independence that is required to understand the McGill process. The solution is not to promote hand-holding; university is the time to acquire autonomy. Yet there must be more of a balance between adequate advising services and self-sufficiency.

In March 2015, the McGill Univeristy Senate discussed the discrepancies in the ratio of students to advisors between the different faculties. At that time, the ratio of students per advisor in Arts was 843 to one; for Management, 198.33 to one; and for Law, 88 students per advisor. These disparities are large and will take time to address. In the meantime, the university must provide students with the tools and skills required to navigate the advising system so that these imbalances do not feel as drastic as they are.

Too much pressure is placed on individual students. This pressure, compounded with the ratio disparities, challenges the ability of students to cope with all the other stresses of post-

Publisher Chad Ronalds

TPS Board of Directors

Sam Pinto, Mayaz Alam, Maryse Thomas, Nicolas Tuech, Luka Ciklovan, Adrien Hu, Chloe Nevitt, Mingye Chen

Staff Writers, Photographers, & Illustrators

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Tribune Office Shatner University Centre Suite 110, 3480 McTavish Montreal, QC H3A 0E7 T: 514.398.6789 The McGill Tribune is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Société de Publication de la Tribune, a student society of McGill University. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of The McGill Tribune and the Société de Publication de la Tribune, and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University.

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

Despite the creation of Ask an Advisor—an online service that guarantees an answer or referral within 48 hours for any academic advising inquiry—students are still finding themselves entrenched in a bureaucratic loop. Developing and implementing advising initiatives is one thing, but ensuring that students are properly equipped to use them is another.

to use the advising system must be presented more clearly. If adopting the attitude that “Getting Informed is Your Responsibility,” the structure must be in place to do so.

Unlike in high school, the expectation at McGill is that students will see an advisor after having exhausted all the online resources. An added benefit of improving the usability of the website and encouraging students to become familiar with the interface would be to increase the availability of in-person advising appointments.

An online scheduling service—which is already in place at Service Point— would also reduce wait times and improve the efficiency of advising appointments.

McGill promotes the self-sufficiency of its students by emphasizing their responsibility for their own education. While this is an important skill to learn for later in life, there is an irony to reinforcing this independence in advising.

The service that is normatively intended to assist students is currently instead a site of stress and confusion. To the extent that the intensity of this dismay correlates to the disparity of advisors per student between faculties, it is necessary that students are provided with the proper tools to use advising resources to their advantage.

New bookstore name should stand

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Contributors

“

Developing and implementing these initiatives is one thing, but ensuring that students are properly equipped to use them is another.

A first step may be to include optoutable advising sessions in all firstyear programs. Rather than depending on students to wait in line to see someone in an inundated advising office, students would become familiarized with the advising process upon arrival at McGill so that they may continue to use the services throughout their university careers. Students would then hopefully understand the wider scope of their university education and be more proactive in using advising resources. An added benefit would be that it would protect students from deferring graduation in order to correct mistakes made early on.

To form, other facets of the McGill community must work to minimize the risk of students falling through the cracks of the McGill system. To supplement this initiative, faculty and departmental associations should expand peer mentorship programs, such as by offering program-specific advising during add/drop. Facilitating students to help other students will reduce the stresses on the advising system while providing students with the benefit of their experience. While the advising experience differs between faculties and departments, a common thread prevails: The websites are not up to snuff, and must be improved drastically. Program details, advising resources and tips, and a guide for how

off the board

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Lauren Benson-Armer, Audrey Carleton, Cordelia Cho Margaux Delalex, Zachary Carson, Luka Ciklovan, Sara Cullen, Evelyn Goessling, Emma Hameau, Clare Lyle, Eric-Noble Marks, Albert Park, Elli Slavitch, Nicole Spadotto, Elizabeth Willcock, Alissa Zilberchteine

secondary education. This is particularly overwhelming for students new to McGill, who must dive into the entire McGill context headfirst. To make sure that they do not crack their skulls, further advising initiatives must prioritize the usability of the online interfaces while also providing clear information.

Natalie Vineberg Photo Editor The decision to rename the McGill bookstore’s new iteration “Le James” raises the question of the value in using the names of past figures who were known to be racists, misogynists, or bigots on campus. While these questions began to be asked at universities in the United States, such conversations have yet to move from the fringes at McGill. While McGill is distinct from Princeton in terms of its own history, members of the McGill community must still consider the value in judging historical figures based on current standards. James McGill was a slave owner, and it is important that the community is aware of this. But students cannot condemn his entire role at McGill based on this part of his legacy.

Though celebrated by some, Woodrow Wilson was an adamant rac-

ist who glorified the Ku Klux Klan— information that had not been sufficiently acknowledged on Princeton’s campus before the recent demonstrations. He also made Princeton into the elite Ivy League university that it is today. James McGill owned slaves, and was dedicated to the advancement of education (for white men), donating the funds to establish McGill, Dawson College, and the University of British Columbia.

These two men were not standalone figures amidst progressive change. Wilson doubtlessly hindered progress by advocating for further segregation, but it was a position supported and enforced by many other politicians. His actions represented the prevailing feeling amongst the majority of the population at the time. It was not only legal to own slaves in Quebec while James McGill was alive, it was also considered a sign of wealth and prestige. Even The Montreal Gazette, an institution with the journalistic responsibility to hold those in power accountable for their transgressions, had slaves working for it and publicized ways to buy them.

While the debate surrounding such figures is undeniably important, it’s hypocritical to judge based on our current society’s standards and act like

(May Lim / McGill Tribune) ’we know better.’ There is no way to know what will define the scale of social standards 100 years from now. It is likely that in 2116, society’s environmentally destructive habits will be seen as appalling, but humans do not either aggressively condemn or ostracize our politicians for failing to curb those tendencies.

Shedding the names of people like Stephen Leacock and James McGill from university buildings wouldn’t be more than a symbolic gesture. In schools, of all places, students should

be able to learn from past mistakes instead of becoming mired in them.

Removing their names would efface history, and the lesson along with it.

Just because a lot of time has passed doesn’t make it a faceless crime, and it’s important to not remove these people from their contexts. Acknowledgment, even to the extent of the names of buildings, doesn’t equal endorsement. Often, buildings are named after the benefactor—or after someone who played a crucial part in the school’s history—and not necessarily someone who is a normatively ‘good’ person.

There’s a conception that being actively involved in promoting segregation is so much worse than passively letting it happen, or as if being an apologetic racist is radically different from being an unapologetic one. It’s crucial to acknowledge the past, and recognize those who have contributed to our current position. Thus, changing a name will not right past wrongs. The deepseated issues brought forward by these discussions cannot be fixed by a superficial solution—more conversation is the way forward, and the bookstore should bear the name of James McGill.

6

Opinion C o m m e nt a r y

Justin Hatherly Contributor As the holiday season becomes more distant, reflecting on the value of a particular Christmas trope is no less valuable. If Christmas is the season of selflessness, then surely one of the great symbols of Christmas is Ebenezer Scrooge.

Contrary to common belief, however, he should be known for his original characteristics, not his reformed self. It’s our interpretation of Charles Dickens’ classic, not misers like Scrooge that needs to change. Prior to his encounters with three ghosts, the iconic Dicken’s character seems to have had no redeeming

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

In defence of Ebenezer Scrooge virtues. Indeed, Ebenezer Scrooge is one of literature’s best known misanthropes, who many would consider a miserly, sociopathic bully. Conventional wisdom has come to view A Christmas Carol as a story of redemption in which the irredeemably cruel Scrooge makes amends on Christmas Day; however, one could argue that this characterization is highly questionable. Despite being outwardly unsympathetic, Scrooge, inadvertently, would have been an important public benefactor.

If he chose to save his money conventionally—say, through a bank—Scrooge would have added to the supply of funds available to be loaned out and helped push down the interest rate that borrowers pay. Suddenly, at this new lower interest rate, someone may have finally been able to purchase that house they had longed for. Credit may have become affordable for an entrepreneur or a student may have been able to finance higher education. While it is true that in Scrooge’s time few would have purchased such

goods and services, the principle still holds. People then may have used the credit to pay for medical bills, coal to heat their homes, or a myriad of other goods or services they could not afford without personal borrowing. Despite the self-interested motives that would have driven his savings, Scrooge, by opting to save rather than consume, would have provided more resources to society as a whole that could finance and fund the desires of others.

If Scrooge chose to sit on his money and do nothing—or perhaps bathe in it—he still would have done society a service. By reducing the total stock of money in the economy, he would have contributed to a contraction in the money supply. The fall in the money supply reduces total spending in the economy and puts downward pressure on the price level. This fall in prices opens up numerous possibilities to the range of actors that participate in an economy. Consumers might now be able to afford a little more meat or coffee. Businesspeople might be able to pur-

chase more inputs to expand production. Here again, Scrooge’s seemingly cold-hearted stinginess has unintentionally contributed to socially desirable outcomes.

In this whole world, there is nobody more generous than the miser: This is the person who could deplete the world’s resources but chooses not to. When saving, his or her resources are directly transfered to someone else. If he or she merely consumes less than he or she might otherwise, more is left for others to enjoy. The only difference between miserliness and philanthropy is that the philanthropist serves a favoured few who directly receive their money while misers spread their largess far and wide.

Far from being a vice, the fact that Scrooge eschewed mass consumption should be celebrated. By consuming very little, Scrooge left more for others to consume at lower prices. For example, Dickens described the old miser as only using insufficient amounts of coal to heat his manor over Christmas. By de-

manding only minimal amounts of coal, Scrooge leaves more for others to use and reduces upward pressure on its price. In effect, far from being a negative trait, this frugality allows others to benefit from more and cheaper coal. Who is a more benevolent neighbour than the person who uses very little and thus allows others to use more?

As a man of means who consumed very little, and who was also contemptuous of philanthropy, Scrooge did one of two things with his vast fortune. He either saved it conventionally by loaning it out and seeking a profit, or he may have simply chosen to stuff his money under the proverbial mattress and literally do nothing with it. Both of these behaviours add to social utility and well-being.

On an individual basis, Scrooge’s thriftiness probably would only have a very marginal impact and not lead to enhanced social utility; however, the combined efforts of those millions of Scrooges out there do undoubtedly contribute to societal welfare gains.

On the emptiness of ‘post-national’ values

Luke Devine Contributor Being Canadian has never been so confusing. According to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada has transcended the nationstate paradigm to become the first ‘post-national’ state, where ‘openness,’ ‘respect,’ ‘compassion,’ and ‘willingness to work hard’ are the country’s only distinguishing values. Trudeau’s presumable aim is to counteract bigotry and divisiveness by ushering in a new era of universality. It seems intuitively difficult, however, to build a sense of purpose among Canadians on such loose terms. The attack on Syrian refugees in Vancouver demonstrates how far these principles are from being shared, despite Trudeau’s multinational vision. Simply trumpeting openness, evidently, does little to actually instill it.

If Trudeau’s ideals are to mean anything to Canadians, they need to be framed within Canada’s own national story, so that Canadians feel connected to an identifiable, tried-and-true value system. A real

answer to bigotry, then, does not lie in dissolving Canada’s national identity, but rather in reinvigorating and diversifying how Canadian history is understood and taught.

Of course, advocating for a reinvigorated national identity might stir some Canadian stomachs, conjuring images of flag-waving jingoism, or, worse still, Donald Trump’s “Freedom Girls.” Canada’s fear of this sort of behaviour has propelled it in the opposite direction. Now, instead of excessive pride, Canada should be wary something equally troubling; no unifying national identity whatsoever. This is a concern because national identity generates stability and cohesion. In Canada’s case, a simply post-national identity would contribute to the watering down of national values until they disappear entirely. A celebration of our diverse history would include the stories of the Aboriginal, French, and English peoples. Ideally, this history would instil greater tolerance while anchoring a common and tangible political, social, and value system.

Trudeau is right to say that we are an extremely diverse country. But contrary to Trudeau’s idea of a post-national state, Canada is still in fact a nation, with a population shaped by a common history. Moreover, Canada’s nationhood should never be viewed as an obstacle to overcome for the sake of total equality. Instead, Canada’s long tradition of balancing diverse and competing interests—whether

inherent in the country or brought on by immigration—should be emphasized more in order to foster a generation of more tolerant and aware Canadians.

E s s e n t i a l l y, the theme of Canada’s founding—a union of diverse backgrounds— should appear more often when recounting Canada’s history, especially as this theme is very relevant today. Such a revamped version would highlight minority groups who are often overlooked in Canadian history. It may pay attention to, for instance, the Coloured Hockey League in Nova Scotia, or the Syrian newcomers of the early 20th century who settled, among other places, in the Canadian Arctic. A crucial part of this would also involve recounting the instances in which Canadian decision-makers, and the country as a whole, failed to live up to its supposed values of openness and compassion. For examples, consider Canada’s treatment of Jewish refugees in 1939, Japanese internment in the 1940s, and Komogata Maru.

Of course, restructuring the national history lesson is easier said

History contributes to national identity. (Alissa Zilberchteine / McGill Tribune) than done. First, it is a simple historical fact that adequately representing every group and sub-group of Canadian society is an impossible task. Certain groups are bound to be misrepresented, or left out entirely. Second, every province constitutionally retains its right to teach their own version of Canadian history, and the federal government can at best exercise soft power in this domain. Lastly, Canadian history, in virtually every province, remains a low priority.

Canadians require principles that are more explicitly a part of, and integrated in, their national story. ‘Openness,’ for example, is better understood by actually

learning about Canada’s history of immigration, or the policy of multiculturalism in 1971. Likewise, ‘willingness to work hard’ is better ingrained by showcasing a day in the life of a 20th century Italian-Canadian factory worker, or the indentured labour of Chinese labourers on the Canadian Pacific Railway. Diversity forms a crucial part of, and should remain under, Canada’s national history. Trudeau’s values are worth pursuing, but they do not belong in his postnational vacuum. If the federal government does not reconsider the merits of a national identity, Canada will lose its sense of self.

7

Science & technology

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

The anti-tutoring: Helpr is a unique way for peers to connect New app aims to break down barriers and offer affordable and last-minute help Chloe Nevitt Science & Technology Editor Many students looking for a hot date on a Friday night use Tinder.

For those looking to boost their GPA, however, the match-making app Helpr will soon be available. Developed by three Montreal natives, Helpr is trying to change the tutoring game.

“We kind of describe it as the anti-tutoring,” Michael Hasenfratz, one of the co-founders, explained. “[There’s] no booking, no scheduling, no requesting the same helpr once or twice, and any student can become a helpr.”

The Helpr concept is similar to Uber. Once students become helprs, they can then list their availabilities and the classes they’re able to help with on the app. This is then accessed by students who are looking for immediate help nearby; all matches are done based on distance. This type of tool works best for students who do most of their work on campus—which is why the team decided to launch their app here at McGill.

“We surveyed Concordia and McGill students, and McGill students [...] were much more likely to stay on campus to study,” explained Julien Nolin, another co-founder.

To become a helpr, a student who was successful in a class must take a photo of their transcript as proof, upload it to the app, and enroll to be a helpr.

Their application is then reviewed by one of the three founders and if they obtained at least an A- in the course, they’ll be interviewed. If the person meets all of the Helpr standards and requirements, they are approved to start helping others as an official helpr.

“We add them as helprs only in the courses they got As in,” said Hasenfratz. “Even if someone is a [student] and a helpr in business at McGill, they can’t be a helpr in every single course in business unless they’ve [received] an A in those courses.”

This adds to the ‘antitutoring’ sentiment that the team is looking to provide with Helpr.

For example, a helpr can be used in a situation when, three hours before an assignment may be due, students are stuck on a problem. In a frenzied panic, they can search for the class they need and when they need it (within the next three hours) and the app will show their location on the map. The closest helpr nearby will be notified, and can choose to accept or reject the request.

Tutors are generally for long-term learning, whereas helprs aim to be the quick-fix. This is why helprs also come at a much lower cost.

Helpr offers rates that are lower than normal tutoring services, with a $2.50 base charge and then $0.35 a minute, which averages to about $24

Helpr aims to give students a way to get the help they need. (Photos courtesy of Julien Nolin) an hour. Today, some tutors offer services at about $60 an hour, making the Helpr price-tag very attractive.

“When I was tutoring, I felt like handling money was always awkward,” Emmanuel Cohen, the third co-founder, explained. “Someone would book you for an hour, and after 35 minutes you realize that ‘that was it’ and then do you ask for change? Do you not ask for change? What’s the

rate? We solved that issue by billing by the minute.”

To begin a session, and begin charging fees, both the helpr and the student must agree to start the feetimer, which prevents Helprs from abusing the system to make money when they’re not actually working.

The app also features the ability to chat with helprs and find specific locations to meet. Following a

session, both the helpr and student are prompted to rate their experience with the other person. For helprs, this rating is vital, as a low rating can lead to them no longer being able to be a helpr.

“There’s definitely a negative stigma associated with tutoring,” explained Nolin. “A helpr is a classmate who’s done the work and [is] just here to help you through it.”

Tackling the TSA Airport security uses state-of-the-art technologies to keep travelers safe Natasha Michaeloff Contributor Over the course of the last 15 years, airport-goers have seen huge changes in the processes required before boarding a plane, particularly the stringent security measures to which all passengers are subjected.

Little is known, however, about not only how these machines work, but if they do make a difference in the safety of travellers.

One relatively new addition to airport security is the full-body scanner. There are two types of scanners: Millimetre wave and backscatter. Backscatter scanners employ low-energy X-rays, whereas millimetre wave scanners transmit radio waves over the person being scanned and measure the amount of energy reflected back. With these techniques, body scanners are able to detect metal and non-metal weapons and explosives, including those made of plastic. While full body scanners may appear to be an invasive procedure, the agents working at security are not privy to the full results.

The security officer who views the

scanner image does not actually see the passenger in question, the scanners either blur the faces or display the passenger’s body as a chalk outline in the depiction. Furthermore, the results are not stored and cannot be printed.

According to the TSA, the millimetre wave scanners generate less energy than a cell phone, and backscatter scanners produce radiation equivalent to what a person would receive after sitting for two minutes in an airplane.

The question of whether machines, like the full-body scanner, do more harm than good, shadowing any annoyance that they might pose to passengers, has been up for debate for some time. In the United States, a report released in May 2015 by the Department of Homeland Security claimed that the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) had not been adequately maintaining its airport screening equipment, partly by not issuing any policies requiring airports to designate maintenance-related responsibilities to their employees.

Without proper maintenance, screening machines are more likely to break down without warning, and if the machines are not operational

The use of full body scanners in airports has been controversial due to privacy concerns. (media.npr.org) or defective, it could potentially put more than a handful of the 1.8 million passengers screened daily by the TSAat risk, along with their aircraft.

Meanwhile, here in Canada, the Canadian Border Services Agency announced last week that they are planning on implementing facialrecognition technology to compare the images of passengers arriving in Canada with photographs of suspected

terrorists and other criminals on watch lists; however, according to Canadian Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien, these machines could yield “false positives” in the faces of people who bear an unfortunate resemblance to those on the watch lists and cause them to undergo an unnecessary secondary screening.

Both US and Canadian screening policies and equipment have faced

criticisms. Airlines force travelers to surrender their privacy and convenience without guaranteeing their safety. Nevertheless, the security screening process does not look like it will be changing any time soon. No matter what reservations passengers have about the nature of airport security, it is and will remain an unavoidable part of flying.

Boy, Interrupted.

Silent crisis of men’s mental health issues on campus

Natalie Wong

T

here’s something you should know about Josh*. He never experienced depression, anxiety, or other mental health concerns before 2013. Until then, he firmly believed he was in control of everything in his life.

Josh is a well-rounded person— he’s working on his PhD at McGill, loves to travel, listens to The Velvet Underground, runs yearly marathons, and is a wine connoisseur. Despite the stressful environments and transi-

tional periods of academia, he did not have any serious struggles with mental health. That changed in his second year of PhD. He started his thesis around this time, becoming isolated from his colleagues and professors. Anxiety emerged with his studies; questions such as, What am I going to do later? and Am I going to have a good job? plagued him. In the same year, he had a sudden death in the family and broke up with his girlfriend.

That was when the panic at-

Photos by Natalie Vineberg

tacks started.

“When I was doing nothing specific, and was just working at home, I would get a panic attack,” Josh said.

“One time, I called the ambulance because I was sure I was gonna die. I was at home and I couldn’t breathe [....]

I was sure I’d had a heart attack [....]

That’s really when I started to look for help.”

Mental health requires more attention on Canadian campuses, as stressors of post-secondary educational environments may breed mental illnesses. Over the past five years, national and international organizations—such as the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and Healthy Minds—released publications, which emphasized that academic institutions have a responsibility to enhance students’ psychological health.

McGill has expanded initiatives in response to the growing demand of its mental health services. To accommodate the reported demand, McGill’s Mental Health Service (MMHS) increased low-intensity interventions, using peer and group support to address students’ needs as soon as possible instead of having them be placed

on wait-lists that result in long delays before treatment.

MMHS partnered with campus groups such as the Peer Support Centre and McGill Students’ Nightline to expand this support network. Having received $500,000 from Bell Let’s Talk, a national program designed to promote conversation on mental health in Canada, MMHS also created an online mental health hub to use technology to expand it’s services and support.

But there is a large gender gap among those seeking mental health assistance, both at McGill, and across Canadian and American post-secondary institutions.

Despite the higher demand for campus counseling services, a report from the Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors estimate that only 34 per cent of clients at centres are male, although men represented around 44 per cent of the student population.

In 2013, MMHS saw a 60:40 ratio of females to males seeking its service.

McGill’s enrollment figures were 56 per cent female and 44 per cent male students, indicating that while the gender gap is relatively small, it exists.

A study from the U.S. National

Library of Medicine found less stigma associated with mental health services for females versus males—a possible reason for this gender gap. Researchers suggest that stigma largely stems from traditional gender roles and social norms, which stress male characteristics of strength, and therefore, place less emphasis on emotional expression.

According to Josiah Ahn, U2 Management, the assumption that gender influences a person’s ability to cope with difficult times is presumptuous, as nothing is black and white when it comes to the way our minds work.

However, he recognizes that there is societal pressure stigmatizing men’s mental health.

“Have you ever seen a picture of He-Man?” Ahn asked. “He’s built like [Arnold Schwarzenegger] and somehow always comes out on top, and his name represents the epitome of what being masculine should mean. As children, boys are taught that the winner of a competition or a fight of some sort is the distinction between boys and men.

However, the truth is that there is no single human on this Earth that isn’t flawed, and at one point or another, we all need some help.”

Anxiety and depression were the

two most significant mental disorders observed in students, both in the national and McGill results for the National College Health Assessment (NCHA 2013). Since women, on average, are more likely to experience anxiety and depression than men, these issues are often overlooked for males. But in Canada, one in six men will experience at least one anxiety disorder in the course of their life, and one in ten will experience major depression.

Aidan Carroll, U3 Arts, struggled with depression in his second year at McGill. He identified stressors coming from areas such as relationships and school.

“I didn’t tell anyone about this— I would just kind of go about my life and see my friends, and my roommates would think it was normal and that was it,” Carroll said. “[Dealing with this issue] was more in terms of blaming myself, like, ‘You just need to get out of this funk; you need to be able to just pick it up—you’re in university.’”

It got to a point where Carroll realized that he needed to talk to someone and take the initiative to seek help.

“I was in bed all day and still just felt like I couldn’t find anything that I wanted to do or be happy about,” he said. “I know a few people at McGill that have been like that and are like that, and some have gone to seek help and some haven’t; and some have gotten out of it, and some are still experiencing it.”

According to the CMHA, around

“‘[...] at one point or another, we all need some help.’” six million American men have depression—half the estimated figure for women. This gender gap is in question around the world: Men might not show symptoms of mental illness in ways that are easily identifiable for mental health service providers.

“Our understanding has expanded, and now we see that certain groups of men have been conditioned in different ways than other groups, meaning they exhibit signs of depression in different ways,” Evan Berry, U3 Geography and also a member of McGill Students’ Nightline, said. “Not everyone might have a loss of interest in once pleasurable activities or low energy, for example. Instead, people might be hyper productive or have outbursts of anger. Other signs can point to someone being depressed, but they’re exhibited in different individuals in different circumstances, especially because of gender.”

Another concern is that men are

not aware of varying symptoms of depression. In focus groups assessing depression awareness conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), “men described their own symptoms of depression without realizing they were depressed.” They did not know that physical symptoms, such as chronic pain, headaches, or digestive problems, could be linked to depression.

Studies show that men experiencing transitional stressors associated with post-secondary education are vulnerable to substance misuse in order to alleviate anxiety, depression, or stress. This may increase likelihood of further development of mental health problems, substance abuse disorders, or even suicide.

In March 2010, a first-year Queen’s University student, Jack Windeler, committed suicide. Maclean’s reported that he was struggling with depression and isolation from friends. In the months following Windeler’s death, three male students at the university also committed suicide.

“One of the predictors of suicides is life transitions, especially when they don’t go very well,” said Robert Whitley, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry. “Entering university is a big life transition.”

A strong indicator of male vulnerability to mental health is in suicide statistics.

While females attempt suicide at higher rates, males die by suicide more because they are more likely to use lethal means.

Following the deaths of students in 2010, Queen’s University released a report in 2012 titled, “Towards a Mental Health Strategy for Queen’s: A Discussion Paper,” which found that between the ages of 15 to 19, 12 out of 100,000 males commit suicide, and 5 out of 100,000 females commit suicide.

The suicide rate increases for Canadian males between the ages of 20 to 24, rising to 19 out of 100,000, staying stagnant for women.

Windeler’s family created The Jack Project in 2012, partnering with Kids Help Phone, to open up about Jack’s mental health issues and encourage students to seek mental health support before it’s too late. The Jack Project became Jack.org in 2014, as a Canadian network of young leaders transforming the way society thinks about mental health.

“With suicide being the leading cause of death after motor vehicle accidents for youth, it’s clear that this age group is particularly vulnerable to mental health issues, and it is particularly concerning that this number is so much higher for males,” said Laura Herbert, U3 Psychology and lead of the McGill Students’ Chapter of Jack.org.

Whether it’s a result of stigma or perceived barriers, university mental health services and support networks should expand to include prevention and intervention methods that target male university students.

At McGill, the standard protocol

for assessing a student who tries to access MMHS is scheduling an appointment to meet one-on-one with a clinician for 60 minutes to talk. From there, clinicians at MMHS will work with students to decide what is best in terms of treatment, peer support, and outside resources.

But according to Whitley, for men, the idea of talking to a stranger about their problems for 60 minutes once a week might not be an appealing way to respond to their psychological distress.

“Traditionally, if you look at human history of cultures, the way men go through psychological problems or through transitions [is] they often respond by playing sports, conducting traditional rituals, [or] starting a new project in life […] these are more practical oriented solutions to problems,” he said.

Ohio State University changed its group therapy recently to cater to more male students. Where it used to begin with intense conversations, the group now starts with around 15 minutes of casual talk before moving towards a group therapy session, finished by a group game like cards. Male clients to the center increased 16 per cent in the 2013 to 2014 academic year.

Mental health services must reach out to male students in places that they are comfortable in, such as clubs, sports teams, and fraternities. For example, juggling commitment to a sports team and academics can bring added stress to students.

“The more consumed you are about sports, the less time you have to yourself,” said Matthew Tse, U2 Sociology and member of the varsity men’s lacrosse team at McGill. “Personally, I find my time on the field as a leisure—it actually destresses me. But there definitely are people who are very stressed out because of their lack of time, because of how consumed they are.”

According to Tse, every McGill sports team goes through a general health session before each season— mental health is included.

“It’s definitely something that’s brought up and people know how to talk to you and listen,” Tse said. “[The session] mentions that you have your trainer, or you have your big brothers on the team. I know some teams—not all teams—do have sports psychologists designated so they can talk to them as well.”

Despite these sessions and support systems in McGill athletics, Tse agrees that stigmatization of men’s mental health still exists.

“Men are more socialized [towards] this notion of ‘macho man,’” he said. “You can definitely see that distinction in sports. I wouldn’t say it’s restricted to sports, but it’s there [...] the way [mental health is] handled with, especially with guys, is a lot more discreet.”

The value of discretion in mental health issues also extends to fraternities at McGill.

“I know that culturally-wise, we could go tell each other anything, but [mental health] doesn’t really come up, you know what I mean?” said Carroll.

“That’s not the type of thing that you would go talk about. If you brought it

up, people would take you seriously […] but it’s just not something that comes into the mindset of university students.”

But at what cost? Mental health should be discussed as often as physical health. Flu-and-cold seasons arise often on campus—after a quick drop in temperature, during midterms or finals, or in the aftermath of binge-drinking campus events. The symptoms are evident: Wheezing coughs echo in auditoriums and sniffles are perpetual. Students freely talk about how awful they feel from their sickness—it is normal, and okay, to have caught the flu.

But during seasons of high academic stress, such as finals or midterms, there’s silence around symptoms of anxiety or depression. One way to normalize men’s mental health issues might be to speak freely about them, in everyday conversation and in casual environments, like sports teams or fraternities.

In 2014, the counseling centre at the University of Missouri in Columbia extended its reach to the school’s fraternities. By working with the university’s Office of Greek Life, the centre held a course on masculinity, covering topics such as respect for women, how to talk about emotions, and substance abuse.

For students who want to anonymously speak about their mental health, or anything else, McGill Nightline is another source of support. It provides confidentiality, along with non-judgemental active listening, information, crisis management, and referral service.

“Because seeking support in regards to mental health is highly stigmatized and unfortunately gendered, an advantage of our service is that people can access support in discreet ways,” Berry said.

Students, regardless of gender, don’t have to be in the middle of a crisis or suffering from serious mental health issues in order to seek support. For Alex Levesque, U3 Science, the issue at hand is reshaping how students see mental health services, and normalizing access.

“Sometimes just going into counseling to talk to someone every three weeks, using peer support, or calling Nightline can really improve your longterm mental health,” he said. “These services are great for dire circumstances but can also be preventative measures.”

Yet whether we like to admit it or not, gender roles largely affect mental health issues, and universities should factor this into their mental health support systems.

“I regret that I didn’t seek out help sooner, and that’s why I continue to use McGill Counseling even though my mental health is much better now,” he continued. “We need to normalize it, and get to the point where everyone, regardless of gender identity, feels comfortable seeking the help they need, whenever they need it.” *Josh’s real name was changed on the request for anonymity.

A longer version of this story appears online at mcgilltribune.com./ boy-interrupted-mens-mentalhealth-mcgill/

10

Science & technology

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

RESEARCH BRIEFS Pictures of proteins, rape culture, and Reddit Chloe Nevit Science & Technology Editor

First ever picture of a protein The study of proteins has always been essential to understanding diseases. Proteins, which are the little worker bees of the human body are responsible for cleaning out debris, transporting vitamins and nutrients, and even fighting off foreign invaders. Because the function of an individual protein is largely dependent on its structure, understanding a malfunction relies on finding mutations in the structure.

Scientists have developed a variety of ways to do this, most notably, crystallizing the protein and then taking photos of the crystal using high-energy X-rays, known as X-ray crystallography. Unfortunately, this technique can be time-consuming, costly, and difficult, as it can take months to crystallize a protein.

Moreover, exposing proteins to highenergy x-rays can cause damage to the structure.

Consequently, researchers have been looking for alternative imaging methods, and a team of scientists from the University of Zurich have

succeeded in finding something that might just work. By using graphene, the carbon allotrope—other allotropes include diamonds and charcoal—the scientists were able to take the first ever photo of a protein without the need of crystals.

“To capture an image of a single protein, the researchers spray a mixture of proteins in solution onto a thin sheet of graphene,” wrote Alexandra Ossola on Popular Science. “They then used a low-energy holography electron microscope, which creates an image by bouncing a beam of electrons off the proteins, then recording how those electrons interact with a pattern of other electrons.”

By using low-energy electrons instead of X-rays, the researchers are able to minimize damage to the protein, and by using graphene as a detector, they are able to obtain a higher level of sensitivity.

The researchers took photos of hemoglobin, the protein responsible for carrying oxygen through the body, bovine serum albumin, commonly used in lab experiments, and cytochrome C, a signalling protein. Using this new technology, structural biologists will be able to better understand misfolded proteins

in neural diseases like Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s in the hopes of finding a cure.

Reddit AMA used to study rape culture In July 2012, a thread on the wellknown website Reddit sparked some controversy. The comment, titled, “Reddit’s had a few threads about sexual assault victims, but are there any redditors from the other side of the story? What were your motivations?

Do you regret it?” was posted on one of their pages—a subreddit—called r/ AskReddit. The page is usually used by the Reddit community to answer questions or share funny anecdotes that are normally avoided in regular conversation.

This particular question, however, incited a bit of controversy from rape survivors.

Due to the anonymity associated with posting on internet forums, many of the posts ended up receiving hateful messages or support; the posts and comments ultimately were all deleted.

Before the comments disappeared however, some researchers from Georgia State University were able to get their hands on them. Their goal was to study first-person narratives of sexual assault perpetration.

A B C Photos (A, B) are compared to CGI models (C) of cytochrome C in varying orientations. (iflscience.com) The work, titled Justifying Sexual Assault: Anoynmous Perpetrators Speak Out Online, took the enormous quantity of comments— over 12,000—from the thread and picked 68 of the first-person accounts to analyze. From their work, they found that many of the perpetrators fell within certain categories: Victim blaming, objectification, biological essentialism, and a hatred of women.

Many of the reasons overlapped, but ultimately, the researchers concluded that any and all reason was a self-defence mechanism. By blaming victims or primal needs, the perpetrators do not need to feel shame nor remorse; if they did, then it would mean something was wrong with them and of course that couldn’t be it.

All for one and one for all

The discovery of a single mutation implicated in the origin of multicellularity in eukaryotes Andy Wang Contributor The origin of life on Earth remains a heavily researched topic in evolutionary biology. Among the myriad of questions yet to be answered is how simple, single-celled organisms evolved to be complex and multicellular.

While the mechanism for this phenomenon has been elucidated in plants and fungi, little is known about the evolution of multicellularity in animals; however, in a recent paper published in eLife, a group of American scientists have discovered a mutation that could explain the evolution of mitotic spindle orientation, a key step in cell division.

Multicellular organisms differ from their unicellular counterparts in that cells differentiate and arrange themselves into functional structures like muscles, bones, and skin. By forming tissues and organs, multicellular organisms not only survive but thrive. To grow, cells undergo what is known as mitosis, where two identical daughter cells are formed from one original parent cell through division. During mitosis, cells in a multicellular organism coordinate with their neighbours to maintain shape and function. To do this, they

Scientists have traced the origin of complex life to a single mutational event. (Claire Wang / McGill Tribune) rely on specialized structures known as mitotic spindles. When the cells split, the mitotic spindles are responsible for ensuring that each new cell acquires the correct number of chromosomes in the right orientation.

The researchers discovered that a single amino acid mutation in an enzyme, which previously had no role in mitotic spindle organization, was suddenly implicated. This allowed for cells to create more complex structures because cell division could now be

more controlled and organized. It is rare for single amino acid substitutions alone to be both necessary and sufficient for a gain of function in evolutionary biology. The results even surprised the scientists.

“If you asked anyone on our team if they thought one mutation was going to be responsible for this, they would have said it doesn’t seem possible,” Ken Prehoda, a co-author of the paper, explained to The Washington Post.

The scientists began the process

by searching publicly available databases for different amino acid sequences that matched the protein across all eukaryotic species which ranged from humans to jellyfish.

They then used massive data analysis computations to extrapolate the ancestral protein sequence. Genetic manipulation of living cells were used to create ancient versions of the proteins. By comparing each successive version, the team ultimately managed to successfully

pinpoint the mutation that conferred multicellularity to eukaryotes.

Another prominent example of a single mutation leading to immediate beneficial consequences is the sickle cell gene. While one copy of the gene confers resistance to malaria, individuals who have two copies of the gene—homozygous recessive— develop sickle cell anemia, a severe form of anemia which can only be cured with a bone marrow transplant.

While it is true that discovery and research in evolutionary biology are ultimately associated with the past, mechanisms involved in multicellularity and mitotic spindle orientation can provide new insight into the pathways involved in cancer.

“Normally, all of the cells in our body cooperate,” Douglas Anderson, the paper’s lead author explained in an interview with The Washington Post. “One way to think of cancer is a reversion from a multicellular state to a point where these cells are behaving as unicellular organisms.”

The discovery of this single mutation opens up further questions about the origin of multicellularity, such as the mechanisms and molecules involved, as well as other evolutionary events in this pathway.

Together, all of these events create the dazzling array of diversity in life.

11

Student Living

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

LeCHOP event combines cooking competition with affordable prices A visit to l’Atelier d’Argentine Kicking off its fourth year in Montreal, LeCHOP features five different restaurants in a six-week challenge lasting from Jan. 4 to Feb. 11. The head chefs from l’Atelier d’Argentine, Decca77, Newtown, and Weinstein & Gavino’s each compete in a weekly challenge where they must create a dish using a surprise ingredient. Voting is also open to the public online, where they can select their favourite challenge dish from each week, and potentially win a free dinner for two at one of the participating restaurants. Each dish is then served as part of a special $25 three-course fixed-price menu in each of the restaurants.

The event seeks to attract customers to the participating restaurants during the winter months when businesses typically see a drop in clientele due to the frigid temperatures and consumer overspending during the holiday season. A dinner from the LeCHOP menu at l’Atelier d’Argentine indeed beats away the winter blues and satisfies taste buds—all without breaking the bank.

Looming tall on a relatively quiet street in the Old Port, l’Atelier d’Argentine Vieux-Port doesn’t look particularly welcoming from the outside. Once inside, however, the atmosphere becomes inviting and cozy, owing in part to a large, modern fireplace and dim lighting. The restaurant’s vibe provides shivering Montrealers with a warm respite from the cold, and a glimpse of what a casual yet convivial

meal out in Buenos Aires might resemble—a welcome escape, especially during this time of year. “[LeCHOP] is a nice way to introduce people to our restaurant and to Argentinian cuisine as a whole […] at an affordable cost to go out to the restaurant in January,” said General Director of l’Atelier d’Argentine, JeanBernard Forgues.

L’Atelier d’Argentine’s LeCHOP menu features a selection of dishes, which seek to represent the Argentinian tastes and traditions while also incorporating seasonal ingredients.

“We wanted to give people an idea not only of what’s seasonal right now, but also of the way Argentinians treat seasonal ingredients in a traditional way,” Natalia Machado, l’Atelier d’Argentine’s head chef, explained.

A creamy seafood chowder, served as an entrée, is hearty and warm—perfect for a cold January night. The addition of chorizo powder and tomato mojo adds pleasant spice to the classic southern Argentinian dish. Empanadas, a staple in many Latin American countries, are also served as an entrée, deliciously combining fontina cheese and caramelized onion to give a new spin on the common Argentinian version.

The special ingredient from the second week’s LeCHOP challenge was scallops. Machado prepared callos del

Chefs Natalia Machado and Jean-Sébastien Giguère compete during LeCHOP. (lechopmtl.com) chubut—pan-seared scallops coated with polenta and served with porcini mushroom cream and potato confit.

This dish won the challenge in the second week, and proved to be delicious as a main course on the LeCHOP menu.

While the scallops will no longer be available, as they will be replaced by the new week’s challenge dish, customers also can’t go wrong ordering the beef short ribs, which will be available on the menu throughout the LeCHOP event.

These are served with smashed potatoes, paprika, rosemary, and garnished with the classic Argentinian chimichurri sauce.

For patrons seeking the quintes-

sential Argentinean experience, l’Atelier d’Argentine allows those ordering from the LeCHOP menu to choose from a variety of different cuts of beef to add to their order, ensuring that carnivorous customers get their fix.

Although adding meat comes at an extra cost, it is worth the splurge.

“We try to stay true to the Argentinian way of grilling [.…]” explained Machado. “In Argentina, we grill [short ribs] and smoke them, and we cook them for long periods of time on the grill, so they have a very different texture,” explained Machado.

This week’s challenge ingredient was maple syrup, which Mach-

ado used as a glaze for trout—a fish commonly eaten in Patagonia, where Machado spent her summers as a child. “It’s embracing a very local and traditional ingredient from Canada […] and it’s very common in Argentina to do sweet-and-sour dishes, so the use of maple syrup instead of sugar or honey is something that I think is great,” said Machado.

The trout with maple syrup glaze will be served from Jan. 18 to 24. It is surely worth the visit to l’Atelier d’Argentine to taste this fusion of traditions, and to experience uniquely Argentine dining right in Montreal.

A wintertime playground in McGill’s backyard What to do in Parc du Mont-Royal during the winter season Hailey MacKinnon Student Living Editor While McGill students often head to outdoor festivals like Igloofest or Montreal en Lumière to celebrate the city’s notoriously chilly winters, there may in fact be a closer site to embrace the cold. Parc du Mont-Royal, located in McGill’s backyard, is an ideal spot for students to get the full Montreal winter experience. Numerous activities on the mountain are facilitated by Les amis de la ontagne (“Friends of the mountain”), a charitable organization founded in 1986, which seeks to preserve and promote Mont-Royal. From December to March, they organize a variety of sportive and cultural activities that students are able to partake in at Mont-Royal. Below is a breakdown of these wintertime activities to get students out of the house and into the snow at one of Montreal’s landmark locations.

Cross-country skiing For students looking to try their hand at cross-country skiing for the first time, or experienced skiers looking to get back into the groove of things,

Mont-Royal is home to 22 kilometres of cross-country ski trails.

Those who would like some instruction as they explore the mountain can utilize the ski services offered

by Les amis de la montagne, who give introductory, beginner, and intermediate-level lessons, either individually or in groups. For those looking to check out the mountain at their own pace, the organization offers an outdoor equipment rental service where cross-country skis can be rented for $12 per hour or $18 for three hours.

Skating For the non-upper rez students, the skating rink on Mont-Royal may be an under-utilized resource.

Located next to Lac aux Castors, the rink is open for unsupervised skating, seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to midnight. Skates can be rented from the rental service on the ground level of the Beaver Lake Pavilion for $9 every two hours. For skating newbies, walkers can also be acquired for $4 every two hours for support on the ice.

Snowshoeing

Getting active in the trails of Parc du Mont-Royal. (Leslie Yao / McGill Tribune)

Parc du Mont-Royal is home to three km of snowshoeing trails—an activity many students would never have the opportunity to experience. Les amis de la montagne organizes Friday and Saturday evening treks that last an hour and a half—complete with a guide and cup of hot chocolate, for $20, with equipment included. Specialty treks are also available for those looking to snowshoe with a romantic twist; on Feb. 12 and 23,

Les amis de la montagne will be offering Valentine’s Day themed treks that come with champagne and chocolate truffles. On the other days of the season, snowshoes can be rented on their own for $9 per hour, and $15 for three hours, as well as trekking poles for $4 per hour with snowshoe rental.

Snow tubing Finally, students can enjoy snow

tubing down Mont-Royal’s toboggan runs, located beside Lac aux Castors.

Passes can be purchased from the equipment rental centre for $9, and slides are open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Not sure where to acquire your snow gear at an affordable price?

Check out a local thrift shop to get suited up.

12

Student Living The (happy) light at the end of the tunnel

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Program shines therapeutic lamps on Seasonal Affective Disorder Hailey MacKinnon Student Living Editor Continued from Page 1.

Recognizing the consequences that SAD and winter blues can have on students’ mental health, SSMU President Kareem Ibrahim and Vice President (VP) University Affairs Chloe Rourke spearheaded a program called Happy Lights, which launched near the end of last semester. The two executives teamed up with the SSMU Mental Health Committee and MMHS to organize and fund the program, the cost of which will be split evenly between the two organizations.

Undergraduate students can now rent out one of 25 light therapy lamps for a two-week period. These lamps simulate outdoor light in order to spur chemical changes in the brain that ease the symptoms of SAD. Two weeks is enough time for students to see if the lamps affect their mood by using them for 30 minutes to one hour each morning, depending on how far they sit from the light box. According to the CHMA, light therapy offers “substantial relief” among 60-80 per cent of those diagnosed with SAD. “There are numerous units within Student Services that allow students to

try using the SAD lamps (MORSL has one in their meditation room and Mental Health Services has a similar lending program),” Rourke said. “The motivation behind our initiative was to raise awareness for winter blues or seasonal affective disorder and light therapy as a form of treatment.”

The initiative is one way that the SSMU Mental Health Committee and MMHS are looking to provide multifaceted support for students with mental health issues.

“SAD lamps provide an alternative form of therapy and can be used [independently] or in addition to other forms of therapy and medication,” Rourke said. “Mental illnesses can not be treated with a ‘one size fits all’ method, and thus providing a diversity of treatment options empowers students to choose the approaches that suit them best.”

The lamps may also be a quicker form of treatment for students experiencing SAD than other resources offered at McGill. “[One] reason for investing in the program is that students often reach out to mental health service for SAD,” said Jiayi Wang, one of the mental health coordinators at SSMU. “However [cognitive behavioural therapy] for SAD

and light therapy are actually comparably effective for SAD during an acute episode as shown by a recent study.

Therefore, students can use the lamps as a treatment option instead of having to wait for a long time to see a psychotherapist at mental health [services].”

When commercially sold, the price of the lamps is a barrier to many students—they go for a hefty price of around $250. Happy Lights seeks to reduce this cost by allowing students to rent them from the Brown Building for free with only a small deposit.

“These lamps are […] expensive, and light therapy is not effective for everyone,” Wang said. “Students wanting to try light therapy would have to buy a very expensive lamp that might not even work for their symptoms. This program gives students the option of trying the lamps first and seeing how they respond to light therapy before buying the lamps themselves.”

Ian Rodgers, U2 Arts, was given a light therapy lamp as a gift. He keeps it in his dining room and uses it every three days.

“I […] don’t know if [the lamp itself] actually does anything, but the idea of taking a moment and pausing in front of a lamp for 30 minutes—if you actually make that an empty space, is

generally going to be pretty beneficial,” Rodgers said.

While the program is still in its infancy, Wang notes that it has been wellreceived by students.

“We have received positive feedback so far,” said Wang. “We are glad that students are using this program to try out SAD lamps and see if light ther-

apy works for them.”

an interdisciplinary stream that covers overlapping topics such as gender studies, race, and power relations.

“Since the degree is so diverse, I get to experience [...] a whole bunch of different streams, departments, and courses,” Motha-Pollock said. “I like this kind of education because it creates the broad foundation that will eventually become the way I see the world.”

While acknowledging that it is a unique stream among his peers, Motha-Pollock points to the classes he has been able to take as a cultural studies major as the feature that has most defined his time at McGill thus far. He finds that people are shocked to hear the highly contemporary and topic-specific courses he is able to explore, such as a course he’s taking this semester on Netflix, and one he took last year on the Kennedy family.

“I have really enjoyed what I have been able to study, and I’m easily able to write papers on topics I’m passionate about, which is weirdly more rare than you would expect when you talk to people about what they’re taking,” said Motha-Pollock. “So, I think that’s lucky.”

When it comes to extra-curricular activities and clubs, Motha-Pollock has enjoyed his time participating in the McGill Debating Union (MDU), as well as working as a tutor for the essay center. Membership within the MDU is an extra-curricular activity that Motha-Pollock has come to value in his last two years at McGill for its

engaging nature and the opportunity to learn and talk about topics ranging from popular culture to global politics.

“Debate is a great way to meet new people and talk about things that [I] wouldn’t necessarily have considered before, or issues that I’m not even certain where I stand on them yet,” Motha-Pollock said.

Having recently added a parttime job to his plate in order to save money for his travel goals upon graduation, Motha-Pollock is enjoying a busy final semester at McGill, but not too busy to brainstorm where he plans to go. Areas around the world that are on his mind at the moment include South America—especially Peru because of rumours that Machu Picchu is going to close to the public, Tanzania to fulfill his desire to go on a safari, as well as various countries in and around Eastern Europe, simply because he has never been there before.

“I like to base myself in and explore an entire country,” he said. “I really enjoy the idea of an extended cultural immersion trip [...] and being able to do everything there is to offer as well as discover things off the beaten track.”

Having two parents who have both completed PhDs, he finds himself inspired by the way they own their passions. Motha-Pollock sees continued education in his future—possibly a Master’s program in film or communications—but for now he’s got travel on his brain. He takes pride in completing goals and being able to look back

and reflect on what he has completed and achieved. As a soon-to-be graduate, he will certainly have plenty of upcoming time to meditate on his time at McGill—most likely somewhere on the other side of the globe.

When asked if there was one thing he wanted people who are meeting him for the first time through this article to know about himself and his character, Motha-Pollock was quick to reply in a light-hearted tone.

“There’s no better feeling in the world than returning from the restaurant bathroom to see that your food has arrived,” he said.

Sitting by a light therapy lamp can be an easy way to ease the winter blues (Sadlightsreview.com)

Students can stop by Suite 1200 of the Brown Building between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. to rent a light therapy lamp for a two-week period. A valid McGill ID must be presented, and a $30 deposit is required, which will be refunded if the lamp is returned on time.

st u d e n t o f t h e w e e k

J ON A T H A N M O T H A - P O L L 0 C K u 3 a r ts

By Emma Whitehall (Natalie Vineberg / McGill Tribune)

A recurring theme in the life of Jonathan Motha-Pollock is exploration of the world with an open mind.

Although originally from Toronto, Ontario, he is looking forward to taking a year to travel following his graduation in April.

When making the decision to come to McGill for his undergraduate education, Montreal stood out because Motha-Pollock wanted to study in a major city outside his hometown. He liked Montreal when he visited, and was pleased to discover that the city has remained charming since living

here.

“I didn’t want to go to a smalltown university and I really liked Montreal as a city,” Motha-Pollock said. “Its just a pretty and cool place to live.”

When applying, Motha-Pollock valued the size of McGill University and the numerous options he saw for himself as he entered a multi-track degree. He eventually settled on majoring in Cultural Studies with minors in French and Communications. He chose his major, which focuses on film theory and analysis, because it is

Q&A McGill Tribune (MT): If you could have a conversation with any person, dead or alive, whom would you choose?

Jonathan Motha-Pollock (JMP): I would say Joan Rivers. I’ve always been a fan of hers and I had hoped to see her live, so it was sad when she died.

I think she was a very quick-witted, talented, and intelligent woman. Her stand-up is a hoot!

MT: If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

JMP: Probably kulfi, an Indian ice cream my mother makes.

MT: Who is your favourite artist?

JMP: Right now…Troye Sivan.

MT: What is your favourite movie of the moment?

JMP: Jongens, a Dutch movie that portrays a really

cute coming of age story about two gay teens.

The rise and fall of David Bowie from MARS

OBITUARY Eric Noble-Marks Staff Writer Continued from Page 1.

For those who grew up on his music, Bowie meant freedom.

He told us that it was okay to change, even if you didn’t always know what you were changing into. He told us to be ourselves, but didn’t place any limitations on what ‘ourselves’ could mean.

For an individual of his scope, cancer almost feels underwhelming.

Bowie felt immortal. He sent his characters to untimely and dramatic deaths, only to emerge like the biblical Lazarus in a new, always interesting persona. His death is so jarring in part because he hardly existed in the traditional sense.

Bowie was a musician, actor, fashion icon, and performance artist; a true colossus of the arts. More than this, he was a concept, an alien from outer space, a mythical figure here to save us from the mundanity of our everyday lives. He was a challenge to contemporary ideas of masculinity and sexuality, as well as a vessel for cultural reflection. To imagine him going to the grocery store, enjoying

13

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

a leisurely stroll, or dying like the rest of us feels preposterous.

After all, he claimed in a Rolling Stone interview to possess “a repulsive need to be something more than human.”

But David Bowie was human. Despite his many fabrications and identities, Bowie was, above all, a romantic.

You can see it on the cover of Ziggy Stardust (1972), where a lonely alien stands on a wet and desolate street corner. Perhaps Young Americans (1975) is an even better illustration; a backlit Bowie sits hunched over behind a lit cigarette, the beginnings of a smile forming on his face.

But above everything, you can hear the romance. You can hear it in the wistful opening chords of “Starman,” the unfiltered snarl of “Rebel Rebel,” the jubilation of “Modern Love,” and the infamous “WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA’AM” of “Suffragette City.” You can hear it louder still in the delirious melodrama of “Life on Mars?” or the catharsis of “Heroes,” his ultimate ballad. His songs were a matter of life and death, at once sweetly melodic and packed to the rafters with political

and emotional dynamite.

At times, it felt like it might fall apart at any moment. The beauty of Bowie, and indeed of rock ‘n’ roll, was that it never did.

B o w i e ’ s c h a r a c t e r s may have been artificial, but the emotion in his songs never felt contrived.

He could pretend to be an alien, a soul singer, or a German K r a u t r o c k musician, but there was always something in his music that sounded decidedly like Bowie and nobody else. He was a performer, and perhaps a fake, but he was never artificial.

Maybe Bowie never felt like one of us, but he could connect to us in a profound, distinctly human way. I think that paradox

Bowie’s legacy is written in the stars. (Alissa Zilberchteine / McGill Tribune) is part of what makes his music, and music in general, great. It’s certainly why the life and work of David Bowie will continue

to be enjoyed for generations to come. It’s written in the stars.

ALBUM REVIEWS

Blackstar David Bowie When Blackstar was originally released in 2016, no one could have recognized the significance of David Bowie’s latest project; however, before anyone had enough time to tear the album apart with cold skepticism, the streets of London and of the world filled with adoring fans mourning the loss of Brixton’s brightest star. The death of an icon such as Bowie, marked by the mass hysteria following the tragedy, not only reminded us of the significance of David Bowie, but also gave a whole new meaning to the Blackstar album.

Irrelevant from the circumstances under which Blackstar was released, the album is terrifically diverse and electrifying.

While the work itself is only composed of seven tracks, the range of emotions is as vast as his instrumentals are unconventional.

Bowie, famous for his ability to appreciate all forms of music, once again skips into another corner of music typically untouched by mainstream artists. The first half of the album begins with a very clear jazz influence before it progresses into a more traditional rock aesthetic before landing on “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” a track led by posturing harmonica riffs and synths. The instrumentals on this album are wacky and original, yet it is the musical genius of Bowie that structures an interesting and coherent musical progression around these dissenting instruments and melodies.

While the album stands out as a unique work of a fascinating classic rock-jazz fusion, it is the sensitive yet commanding vocals which make this album quintessentially “Bowie.” His tone effortlessly flips like a switch throughout this project, with harrowing results. He begins “Lazarus” by fearfully whimpering “Look up here man, I’m in danger,” possibly alluding to his fragility in the face of mortality. Only three songs later, however, he seems to be at peace, calmly singing on “Dollar Days,” “If I never see the English evergreens I’m running to / it’s nothing to me.” Bowie’s vocal and emotional range paints a colourful and honest picture of facing death, whether it be through defiance, fear, acceptance, or resignation.

Above all else, Blackstar’s legacy cements Bowie as the ultimate showman.

Typically artists see some fall from grace or a disappearance into irrelevance. Even the brightest of stars can quickly burn out or meander into mediocrity. Bowie never grew complacent enough to fall from his gracefully established throne. Even under the crippling burden of cancer, he was strong, even electrifying, until the end. He kept us on the edge of our seats and hanging on his every word, with his artistry in the forefront of our minds, before suddenly the curtain closed and he was gone.

- Alfie Crooks

(wikimedia.org)

STANDOUT TRACK

SOUNDS LIKE

BEST LYRICS

“Dollar Days”

Somewhere between John Coltrane and Animal Collective

“I’m cold to this pig and pug show / I’m sitting in this chestnut tree / Who the fuck’s gonna mess with me?”

14 Exhibit Review

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT P atri c k B ernat c h e z “ G o l dberg E x perien c ed . 0 4 ”

Time distorts a piece of classical music in “Goldberg Experienced.04.” (patrickbernatchez.org)

Greta Rainbow Contributor In one cavernous space, the heads and shoulders of audience members at “Goldberg Experienced.04”—an eight piano rendition of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations”—sway to different rhythms. For every individual, it may be a specific piano that resonates with them, or a single note appearing once in the hour-long piece, or a pattern subtly detected from beginning to end.

Bach’s original “Goldberg Variations” is a compositional labyrinth, and with the interpretation of artist Patrick

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Bernatchez, the walls of the harmonic maze grow taller and the deceptions more cunning. Bernatchez’s concert was just one part of a multimedia examination of temporality in music at the Musée d’Art Contemporain (MAC) museum last Sunday.

The masterstroke of Bach’s 1741 piece, intended for the harpsichord, is in the name: “Variations.” The composition is cyclical, with 30 variations on the same bass line and almost the same harmonic structure.

It is still lauded today for its highly emotional effect within a mathematical structure. Although only an estimated

100 copies of the print music were originally released—sound recording wasn’t invented until over a century later—“Goldberg Variations” has become one of the best-selling pieces of classical music to date.

Bernatchez is someone whose fascination with the deceptively simple composition endures. His continuation of the legacy, however, is more complex than any other performance.

In the MAC basement, eight glittering black-and-gold pianos and their young players are not mimickers playing a tribute show to Bach. If they mimic anything, it is the “Goldberg Variations”

on scratched vinyl.

“Goldberg Experienced.04” is part of a larger piece. Two flights up the stairs of the museum is the temporary exhibition space titled “Patrick Bernatchez: Les temps inachevés.”

The show examines the space-time continuum, time travel, decomposition, and the cycle of seasons and lives.

There is a lot of black and stainless steel.

With hours of looped videos, drawings of distorted women inspired by mold stains, and headphone listening stations, the space becomes a corner of cosmic dark matter. In the piece “Goldberg Experienced.03,” eight altered vinyl recordings of Bach’s composition, as performed by Glenn Gould in 1981, play simultaneously. As the records were altered by natural wear, the product lost some human control.

Their collective sound was transposed by composer Patrice Coulombe into a piece for eight pianos.

So, then, is the performance in the museum basement a new piece? Or is it the fourth version of the original, as Bernatchez indicates in its name? It is the blur of authorship and creative process that fits with “Les temps inachevés.” The ideas of cyclicity are conveyed by Bernatchez visually in the exhibition, and “Goldberg Experienced.04” is a completely immersive audio component. At times ,the high notes drip, accompanying Bernatchez’s video of a leaking ceiling

in the Fashion Plaza industrial building.

The simulation of rapidity by eight pianos, a sound unachievable by one player, connotes the artist’s graphite and ink depictions of decay, like growth on fast-forward. Just as the individual pieces of “Les temps inachevés” require conceptual explanation, “Goldberg Experienced.04” has strength in instrumental numbers. Whether the sound is booming or twinkling, it becomes superlative when the eight pianos are synchronized.

Despite a thick history of connections and inspiration, “Goldberg Experienced.04” feels youthful. This is due to the near total dominance of the joyful G-major in Bach’s composition, and to the curation of Bernatchez and Coulombe. When listeners are drifting 40 minutes into a purposely repetitive and dragging piece, the cacophony comes to a clattering halt and only one player remains, notes light and high.

The realization comes then to listen closely for what is hiding below the sound’s surface.

As the show ends, another layer is complete: This group of listeners on Sunday in the basement of the museum.

The performance of Bach’s piece will never be exactly the same. Although it is another question, of course, if that was recorded.

You can learn more about Patrick Bernatchez’s work on his website: www.patrickbernatchez.org

Anonymous monsters: Players’ Theatre examines the legacy of evil in East of Berlin Christopher Lutes Arts & Entertainment Editor Part of growing up is coming to the realization that your parents aren’t exactly who you thought they were when you were a child. They lived for a relatively long time before your birth, had their own careers, loves, and transgressions. Though that specific version of them is lost forever by virtue of having children, the shadows of the past still play an active role in the psychology of the present. This is the ostensible theme of Players’ Theatre’s first production of the Winter season, East of Berlin, which unfortunately fails to delve much deeper than that.

Written by Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch and directed by McGill’s Anna Fitz, the play follows Rudi (Francesca Scotti-Goetz), the son of one of the infamous ‘Nazi doctors’ of the holocaust who has to come to terms with his father’s evil. Born in Germany at the end of the war, but whisked away to South America to avoid capture, Rudi meets the son of a Polish officer (Guy Ettlin) who informs him of Germany’s actions. After finding out the true nature of his father’s transgressions, Rudi travels back to Germany and meets a daughter of concentration camp survivors (Sophia Metcalf). The play unfolds in an alternating series of monologues given by Rudi and more

traditional dialogues.

While the transitions between the monologues and scenes are fantastic in their fluidity, the script suffers from a lack of subtext or restraint, spending too much of the monologues with exposition that could have been delivered in a less obvious way. The play seems to use its subject matter as an easy shortcut to provoke an emotional response, rather than letting it flow naturally from the characters. The production also seems to be trying its darndest to be edgy, as evidenced by a scene of homosexual fellatio next to a picture of Hitler, or another where one character proposes to another in the parking lot of Auschwitz.

The production seems content to coast on the symbolic weight that such images bring without the specificity needed to warrant their inclusion.

Since the material is so overwrought and intense, all of the emotional heavy lifting of the play falls on the actors. Ultimately, this is too big a burden for the cast to bear, and the acting mostly oscillates between too much and too little. Generally, the performances are delivered in a distractingly mannered cadence, though each actor gets at least one scene where they knock it out of the park. Scotti-Goetz is at her best when she lets small parts of the character’s vulnerability slip through, but largely neglects to believably sell

Rudi (left) comes to terms with her father’s troublesome history in East of Berlin. (Christopher Lutes / McGill Tribune) her character’s inner turmoil or anger at his father. Metcalf is the clear standout of the production—she brings a nervous physicality to the role that makes her character almost instantly sympathetic, and delivers her lines with the gravitas needed to fully express her character’s conflicting feelings.

The stage is surprisingly bare, with an aesthetic that could charitably be called minimalist, perhaps by necessity because it has to serve as the setting for three or four different countries. It serves its purpose for the most part.

The same goes for any sound design– with one notable exception, it’s entirely absent, and when it is does play a role, it

sounds like it was played from a sound effects board.

The lighting is the most consistently impressive element of the production, greatly aiding the transitions from monologue to dialogue.

The monologues are cast in yellow-blue pall, giving Rudi’s confessions a tone of eerie reflection. The dialogues are more versatile, with orange glowing representing the sunniness of Paraguay, and a breathtaking scene later on, where two characters share an intimate moment under a soft yellow light.

Overall, East of Berlin has some cogent points to make about legacy and how it can be corrupted and influenced

by evil; however, those are mostly overshadowed by the play’s attempt to tease a narrative out of what should have been more meditative reflection.

Adapting such poor source material would be difficult for even the most experienced theatre troupe, so it’s understandable that this production wasn’t able to overcome it, despite having a few elements that made it worthwhile.

East of Berlin runs from Jan. 20 to 23, 8 p.m. every night at Players’ Theatre (3480 Rue McTavish). Tickets are $6 for students, $10 general admission. Email events.players@ gmail.com for reservations.

15

Sports

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Rowing: Mind and body unite Nicole Spadotto Staff Writer “Rowing is a very psychologically demanding sport,” McGill rower Kylie Shorter said emphatically, as if she knows that most people have the opposite perception of rowing.

She went on to explain that many members of the McGill rowing team never rowed prior to their McGill experience, and that training is especially intense when individuals are learning the sport while simultaneously learning to work as a team.

“Our coaches spent a lot of time on psychology throughout the season,” Shorter explained. “Especially since [some girls] had to go from never having rowed before to racing within two weeks.”

Rowers need to have an astronomical level of preparedness, but this is part of the appeal of the sport; rowing is an elite physical endeavour that can also be picked up fairly quickly.

McGill operates its rowing team on two levels:—the novice group for relative beginners, and the varsity team for more established rowers. Every year, the best rowers from the novice team usually move up to the varsity level. The

system works well as it ensures that the McGill coaches develop novice rowers, and fosters a sense of reciprocation and familial feelings between both levels of the rowing team.

The tension between psychological strength and physical excellence is apparent from the moment novices start learning the sport, vying for a position on the varsity team, and striving for excellence in races even though they are relatively new to the sport. Essentially, McGill rowers have to learn quickly in order to become good enough to compete at the university level. “[Rowing] takes an immense amount of awareness and adaptability […] to make subtle adjustments,” Amanda MacPherson, one of McGill’s coxswains, explained. “It’s about being able to apply power efficiently and consistently,” something that spectators don’t necessarily see.

Awareness is one aspect that separates team rowing from the sport of indoor rowing, which makes use of a stationary ergometer, instead of a boat on water, to simulate race conditions. The insight is particularly interesting in light of the European Rowing Indoor Championships that took place this past weekend in Gyor,

Hungary. Entry was open to all for the competition, so essentially rowers were self-selecting themselves to compete in specific heats throughout the weekend.

A variety of events and heats were offered, depending on weight class, distance, and gender. Unlike rowing in the water, indoor rowing is an incredibly individual sport, and while personal psychology is still imperative, the individual rower’s performance rests in his or her own hands.

At McGill, athletes do indoor rowing as a method of training as opposed to a sport—two ergometers are permanent fixtures in the varsity gym.

“I’ve done many challenging erg sessions,” MacPherson said. “It’s really about tuning out that part of your brain that tells you to stop, that tells you

Rowing is physically and mentally demanding. (Photo courtesy of The Associated Press) you’re tired and that you’re pushing too of mental fortitude to complete. hard. You have to get in a zone where When asked why rowers would put themselves through such an exercise, each stroke becomes automatic.”

McGill rower Daniele Bercovici Shorter, MacPherson, and Bercovici concured and jokingly called the all had similar answers: It teaches ergometer the “death machine.” Most them that perceived limits can be rowers, however, understand the broken.

“Rowing really changes your importance of indoor rowing sessions.

“During winter training, the perspective on what you’re capable psychological aspect is even more of,” MacPherson said.

Shorter smiled in agreement. prominent [than summer training “Rowing has taught me that I can on the water],” Shorter said. “No one likes erging, and when you are push myself to obtain anything,” she expected to pull long sessions, it can added.

Bercovici believed that lessons get very boring. In the end, it’s mental preparation and strength that gets you learned from rowing can be applied across both athletics and everyday through the workout.”

Indoor rowing is an exercise that life.

“You are much stronger than requires at least a basic level of fitness to begin and a substantial amount you think,” she concluded.

Blast from the past: James Naismith and the invention of basketball From small-town Ontario boy to the creator of a sport played around the world

Naismith with an early basketball and peach basket. (cuchicheodeportivo.wordpress.com)

Nicholas Jasinski Sports Editor Most of the sports that people follow have developed over the years, growing into the games played with the rules known today, making it very difficult to name a single inventor.

Football evolved from rugby; variations of soccer have existed for centuries; hockey came from shinny, a sport where the only rule is that there are no rules; and baseball has tons of origin tales. The invention of the sport of basketball, however, can

be credited in its entirety to one man; a McGill alum from rural Ontario by the name of James Naismith.

James Naismith was born on November 6, 1861 in Almonte, Ontario, a 2000-person strong lumber town about 50km southwest of Ottawa. His parents—John and Margaret—died of typhoid fever when James was only nine years old, sending him and his two siblings to live with his aunt and uncle on their farm.

From an early age, it was apparent that school did not suit Naismith. He prefered to spend his days outdoors

playing catch, hide and seek, or duck on a rock, a game in which one person guards a large flat stone stood up on end and opposing players try to knock it down by throwing smaller stones at it. Naismith dropped out of high school in 1877 with the full intention of pursuing a career as a lumberjack, a trade at which he excelled. “[But one day] he was in the saloon having a drink of whisky, and somebody turned around and said, ‘You’re Margaret Young’s boy, aren’t you?’” said Naismith’s grandson, Stuart. “‘She’d roll over in her grave if she could see you now, drinking.’

So he put down the whisky and never touched another drop as long as he lived.”

Naismith re-entered Almonte High School soon after, graduating in 1883 at the age of 21 and enrolling at McGill the following Fall. Engrained with a newfound desire to serve his fellow man, Naismith hoped to eventually become a minister. He studied harder than he had ever studied before, putting aside sports to spend time on his schoolwork. Dismayed at how quickly he fell out of shape and encouraged by a few classmates, Naismith joined the McGill gymnastics and rugby programs. His first chance to showcase his athletic ability came in rugby tryouts in his first year. Naismith was watching a match from the bench when the McGill centre left the game with a broken nose.

“The coach looked up and saw him standing on the sideline,” said

Stuart. “So he said, ‘Naismith, you get in here and play centre.’ So he went in and played centre. He played very well, so they made him part of the team.”

Naismith would start at centre for every subsequent McGill rugby game for the next seven years, completing his BA with honours in Physical Education in 1888 and becoming an ordained minister at the Presbyterian College in 1890. Besides participating in rugby and gymnastics and excelling at his schoolwork, Naismith represented McGill in football, lacrosse, and soccer and still somehow found the time to be active in the Literary and Philosophical Society, the Missionary Society and to write for the Presbyterian College Journal while working as a physical education instructor at the McGill gym to finance his studies. Naismith won the Wicksteed Gold Medal in 1887 for being McGill’s top athlete and became director of athletics the following year—while still a student.

Upon graduation, Naismith chose to combine his two worlds: Athletics and theology. He developed a natural interest in the YMCA movement, present in Montreal since 1851. Naismith was intrigued by the ‘Muscular Christianity’ movement, in which the YMCA taught courses that emphasized spiritual and physical development. Naismith left Montreal to attend the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts to become a YMCA leader, capable of opening and

running a YMCA branch.

It was there in 1891, during a particularly harsh New England winter, that Naismith was instructed by one of his superiors to devise an indoor game that would provide an “athletic distraction” to rowdy and confined classes. The game was to not take up too much space, keep its players in shape, and be fair and relatively non-violent. Two weeks later, Naismith returned with an overinflated soccer ball, a repurposed peach basket, and 13 rules for an entirely new sport he called “basket ball.”

Naismith remained with the YMCA until 1898—pausing for long enough to earn a medical degree-and was instrumental in founding the Denver YMCA. Later, he served as physical education director, campus chaplain and basketball coach at the University of Kansas until his retirement in 1938 after serving in WWI in France. The greatest moment of his career, in his own words, came in 1936 when he saw his game—his invention, his gift to humanity— played on the international stage at the Olympics in Berlin.

Naismith passed away in 1939 from heart failure. He is remembered today in the Canadian Basketball, the Canadian Olympic, FIBA and McGill University Sports Halls of Fame.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts—where he is a member of the founding class— was named in Naismith’s honour.

16 Redmen Hockey

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Tuesday, January 19, 2016

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McGill once, McGill twice, McGill wins 14th straight in Carnival game

Record-breaking crowd on hand to watch Redmen win Mayaz Alam Editor-in-Chief It’s hard to keep 1,663 hockey fans silent. It’s even harder at the annual Winter Carnival game held at McConnell Arena, which the McGill Redmen (18-3-1) have won 13 years in a row. But when the hosts, the No. 2 ranked team in the country, fell behind 1-0 to the RMC Paladins, (3-16-3) many in the raucous crowd were shocked. It looked like the streak was going to end in front of a record crowd.

Star defenceman and CIS leader in points Samuel Labrecque, however, came through in the clutch to score McGill’s winner—he cracked a shot from the high slot that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

McGill racked up 26 penalty minutes, the majority of which were in the first period. The Paladins capitalized on McGill’s ill discipline less than 10 minutes into the game, when junior forward John Livingston found the back of the net. Redmen Assistant Coach David Urquhart, who was at the helm while Head Coach Kelly Nobes was out serving a suspension for a game misconduct, acknowledged that the crowd may have had an impact on

the team.

“The penalties at the start of the game, they set us back a bit,” Urquhart said. “The emotions might have played a factor in that with the bigger crowd than what’s normally here, but the guys did a good job of recovering from that and immediately after we killed off those penalties we took control of the game in the first period.”

Senior centre Liam Heelis led the comeback for the Redmen with one goal and one assist and was named the first star, while winger Daniel Milne rounded out the scoring and put the game out of reach with 1:34 left in the third period. Backup goaltender Joe Fleschier was in net while starter Jacob Gervais-Chouinard rested; Fleischer was stout in net, withstanding a barrage of shots early and ended the night as the third star.

“This game is a test for your emotions, so in a game like this arousal levels are high and if you can’t control that it can turn into things like penalties,” Urquhart, who played in several Winter Carnival games as a Redmen in the mid-2000s, explained. “But, if you can channel that energy into positive things offensively then that’s a better a way to look at it and I think we did a good job

The Redmen pulled away late in the third period in front of a packed house. (Lauren Benson-Armer/ McGill Tribune) of that tonight [… by] sticking to the system.”McGill was unable to keep the momentum going from their thrilling victory as they lost 6-3 to the Carleton Ravens (14-5-0) on Saturday. Although McGill has a relatively young team this year, it certainly has the potential to gain experience along the way and could end up hoisting the second national championship in the program’s history.

“Playing such a short schedule […] you really have to learn those lessons because in the playoffs and the CIS tournament things happen really fast and you don’t have time to make

mistakes,” Urquhart said. “As you build throughout the season you look to learn lessons in games tonight and in other games facing tough opponents to build towards that [success].”

Quotable “If you look at our penalty kill tonight it was great aside from the one early in the game. With all those kills, they really shut the door [....] Those guys like [Vincent] Barnard, [Etienne] Boutet, and [Francis] Lambert-Lemay, [...] they don’t get [...] as many accolades but they do the dirty work that allow us

to win that game.”—Urquhart on the team’s well-rounded set of defenceman.

Stat Corner Freshman blueliner Gianluca Curcuruto had a game-high 12 penalty minutes, 10 of which came on check to the head.

Play of the Game With the Redmen patiently probing during a power play fans were anxious and at the edge of their seats. Heelis sprung open and found Labrecque who slotted home the game-winner.

What you need to know about the NWHL And what it means for the future of women’s hockey

The Connecticut Whale take on the Buffalo Beauts. (Kate S. Cimini / www.todaysslapshot.com)

Ellie Solloway Contributor Just five months ago, Manon Rheaume—the only woman to ever appear in an NHL game—dropped the ceremonial first puck for the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL)’s inaugural regular season game between the Boston Beauts and the Buffalo Pride.

Rheaume smiled as she found herself, not in between the pipes as she was 30 years ago, but at centre ice, helping usher in a new era for women’s hockey.

The NWHL, conceived in May 2015, holds the distinction of being the only one of North America’s multiple women’s hockey leagues to

pay its players. Prior to the league’s establishment, women seeking to play hockey after university had limited opportunities; many ended up in the unpaid Canadian Women’s Hockey League. Recently, however, there has been a surge in interest among female hockey players for a regular competitive atmosphere that would provide compensation similar to that available to their male counterparts.

The NWHL provides just that.

The league includes four teams—the Buffalo Beauts, the Boston Pride, the Connecticut Whale, and the New York Riveters—who play against each other every week. Players are compensated a minimum of $10,000 a season and receive 15 percent of their jersey sale

profits. Though this salary is meager in comparison with major professional sports leagues, it is largely par for the course with men’s minor leagues.

The NWHL has amassed considerable support over the course of its inaugural season. An entry-level draft took place on June 20, which featured some big names including Hilary Knight and Amanda Kessel (sister of Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Phil Kessel), shortly after which they signed a major broadcast deal with ESPN. In December, the NWHL landed its first high-profile sponsor, Dunkin Donuts, which helped further establish the league’s legitimacy.

Despite the league’s early successes, start-up businesses with

goals like the NWHL’s are especially prone to obstacles. Commissioner Dani Rylan has conceded that turnouts for the league’s tryout events, despite the players displaying good talent, was lower than expected. Even the NWHL’s involvement in the NHL’s 2016 Winter Classic in Boston ended in partial devastation when Boston Beauts forward Denna Laing suffered severe spinal damage and partial paralysis after a strong collision with the boards.

Despite these setbacks, the league’s success thus far provides reason to be optimistic about not only its future, but about women’s sports in general.

The league’s savvy initiatives to increase its prominence as an exciting and legitimate alternative to mainstream professional sports leagues affords it a respectable position to eye expansion. Gary Bettman and other NHL executives’ willingness to include the NWHL in major events speaks to their enthusiasm to grow the women’s game, and reflects changing public norms towards greater inclusion in sports. As the media moves towards more equal coverage, the NWHL and other women’s leagues will likely gain traction. For now, the NWHL should be proud of its efforts to grow the game and inspire the next Manon Rheaume.

The NWHL All-Star festivities will take place Jan. 23-24 in Buffalo, New York. Standout players Emily Pfalzer and Knight captain two 14-woman rosters that will play two four-on-

four periods, with the winning team receiving an equal split of 20 percent of ticket sales profits. The weekend also includes shooting accuracy, fastest skater, trick shot, and agility contests, as well as a VIP skate for fans.

Though still a league in its infancy and lacking a true fanbase, the NWHL has shown true potential. While it may never be as popular as the NHL or other major North American sports leagues, women’s hockey in the NWHL is here to stay.