McGill Tribune Vol. 33 Issue 19

Volume No. 33 Issue No. 19

TRIBUNE THE mcgill Px

Published by the Tribune Publication Society

CURIOSITY DELIVERS

IT ISN'T EASY BEING GREEN A LOOK AT SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES ON CAMPUS P 10

House of Cards Season 2 Spoiler-Free review of netflix's political thriller p 15

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

@mcgilltribune ­ • www.mcgilltribune.com ­

Savoy Society turns 50 Celebrates golden anniversary by reprising its original performance: The Mikado Evie Kaczmarek Contributor

Beautiful Japanese backdrop comes to Moyse Hall. (Adrien Hu / McGill Tribune)

Fifty years ago this month, the Savoy Society was born as it graced the stage at McGill with its debut performance: Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. Today’s Savoy Society is honouring its golden anniversary by presenting the same whimsical, timeless operetta with which it first premiered so many years ago.

Any Gilbert and Sullivan piece is bound to keep you on your toes and craning your neck to see every inch of the stage, and this riveting rendition is no exception. Set in rural Japan, the operetta follows the chaotic story of Nanki-Poo (John Cook), who is the son of the emperor known as the Mikado. He has disguised himself as a travelling musician to escape an arranged marriage to a cruel older woman. On his journey, Nanki-Poo falls in love with Yum-Yum (Dallas Chorley), a village schoolgirl, who is inconveniently betrothed to the town’s appointed High Executioner, Ko-Ko (Nathaniel Hanula-James). After two love triangles and almost five attempted executions, Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum try their best to dance

around the Mikado’s system of justice while keeping their love—and themselves—alive.

The eclectic cast of characters provides constant enjoyment.

One such figure is Poobar (Jonah Spungin), the bumbling, jack-of-alltrades assistant to the Executioner whose perfectly delivered one-liners provide comic relief during any emotionally charged scene. Claire Rollan’s portrayal of Katisha, the estranged fiancée of Nanki-Poo, is both bone chilling and hilarious.

The original show, meant to satirize Victorian-era England’s fascination with Japan, incorporates Gilbert and Sullivan’s usual pokes at British politics. This production, however, adds some unexpected relevance by appropriately taking a few stabs at Montreal government and other current events; Nanki-Poo even threatens to leave Japan and “transfer to McGill!”

The Savoy Society’s vocals are noteworthy as well.

See “Mikado” on p. 14

AUS to launch laptop lending program in March $120,000 initiative aims to replace former McGill library loaning system terminated due to budget cuts Jessica Fu News Editor The Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) will unveil a new laptop lending program this March.

The new initiative comes in response to the termination of a similar program run by the university in the beginning of the academic year due to budget cuts.

“Given that some funds had accumulated since Winter 2010, we had the opportunity to make a large impact by creating a laptop lending program,” said AUS President Justin Fletcher Funding for the program—a total of $120,000—will derive from the Arts Computer Lab Fund, created in Winter 2010, to which all Arts stu-

dents pay an opt-outable $9.80 fee per semester.

Funding was ratified at last Wednesday’s AUS Council meeting, following approval of the program’s budget by the fund’s committee earlier the same day. The committee is comprised of the AUS president, the AUS vice president finance, the dean of Arts, and the associate dean (academic administration and oversight) of Arts, and two student representatives.

After months of consultation by the committee, the program’s budget will be allocated towards the purchase of 20 Apple laptops, 20 Lenovo laptops, anti-theft software, and assorted computer programs.

According to Erin Sobat, a student representative of the committee,

development of the program began when the university library system ended its laptop lending program in September.

“Once it was established that the library would not be able to reintroduce a sustainable lending program […] it was decided that the best course of action was to move to a faculty-specific model—such as those that already exist for Education and Management,” he said.

According to Fletcher, who also serves as Chair of the committee, the development of the program underwent extensive research before approval.

“We’ve worked closely to build this budget to make sure that we have a solid program,” he said. “We did research by talking to [representatives

at] the Sandiford Lab in the Bronfman Building, and we spoke to [representatives] at the Education Building on their laptop lending program, and we also spoke with the […] people at the library who worked on the laptop lending program, so that way, we could have a program that had the best features of all three to best support the needs of our students.”

Fletcher said that the project proposal did not face criticism.

“There were concerns about lost or stolen laptops, [but] we have a really good warranty to protect the laptops in case there’s any damage,” he said. “There have been concerns about liability, but knowing how well others have worked, that’s given us a good model on how to construct this program.”

Fletcher emphasized the usefulness of the program for students.

“Having access to laptops is an urgent need for students,” Fletcher said. “I’ve been in a situation where my laptop stops working and I need something, or I want to use a laptop for a presentation. So I’m really glad that we’re able to provide a service through the Faculty of Arts.”

Some students, such as Mary Guay, U2 Arts, also expressed support for the announcement of the new program.

“I think it’s great that a faculty is stepping in for it,” Guay said. “I think most people don’t realize it’s utilized, but for the select few, it is very useful.”

NEWS student government

PGSS Council approves four questions on fees for March referendum Fee questions for Rutherford Park, Midnight Kitchen, and health plan; changes to graduate applications approved Cece Zhang Staff Writer

Fees regarding graduate applications, the restructuring of Rutherford Park, the Midnight Kitchen, and the Health and Dental Plan will be voted on by graduate students during the upcoming Winter Referendum period for the Post-Graduate Students Society of McGill University (PGSS).

The four referendum questions were approved in PGSS Council last Wednesday. Students will be able to vote on them between March 13 and 21.

Midnight Kitchen fee The first referendum question approved by Council regards the introduction of an opt-outable $0.50 Midnight Kitchen fee for PGSS members.

The Midnight Kitchen is a non-profit organization that provides by-donation lunches to students during the week. It is currently listed as a Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) student service and runs off donations and fees from SSMU members only.

“Undergraduates pay a fee every semester— which is currently $3.25— which goes to support this service,” Lorenzo Daieff, political science councillor and the mover of the motion, said. “Graduates do occasionally enjoy the service, but we don’t contribute in any way.”

the fees stipulated in the MoA do not actually go towards Midnight Kitchen.

“It seems to me there is confusion as to the fees everyone pays towards SSMU, and that is an important question that should be looked into,” she said.

“But that seems to be a separate question to this referendum question.”

The motion ultimately passed.

Changes to graduate applications McGill’s graduate applications process faces reforms, including updates to the uApply system and a potential application fee increase.

Graduate students will vote on an increased graduate application fee during referendum period. The proposed increase, which will raise the application fee from $102.60 to $120.00, would be implemented gradually over the course of five years beginning June 2014.

“The increase in the application fee payable by all new applicants to graduate studies is necessary to allow the University to properly maintain and support the system,” the motion reads.

CU RR

Jonathan Mooney criticizes Midnight Kitchen referendum fee. (Remi Lu / McGill Tribune) electronic document submission, and a general streamlining of the process.

“We revamped the entire system, not only for the graduate applicants, but also for the back office who are doing admissions,” Mark Quinsey, a member of the project management team, told Council. “We weren’t being very competitive at McGill with some of our peers. Not only do we want to help the applicants with a better experience, but it also allows us to actually get better students.”

According to Martin Kreiswirth, Associate Provost (Graduate Education), a survey of applicants who declined Mc-

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ICAT T h e He argued that the current MemION orandum of Agreement (MoA) graduate uApply FEE between PGSS and SSMU pro- application procedure vides PGSS members access to the SSMU Building and its services for $4,152 per year.

“I’m reluctant to go forward with this given we’re already paying SSMU for access to its services and it’s not clear that there’s a pressing need amongst graduate students,” Mooney said.

According to Urooj Nizami, Finance & Administrative Coordinator at the Midnight Kitchen,

will also undergo technical changes for the Fall 2014 application period. Updates for the system include increased avenues for communication with the applicants such as a built-in chat system, more updates to guide applicants through the process,

other offers.

Kreiswirth said the new system would also provide economic benefits to applicants who now only have to fill out one form.

“One financial advantage is applicants now don’t have to pay two application fees to apply to two separate programs,” he said.

Restructuring Rutherford Park A non-opt-outable fee of $3 per semester for the Athletics Building Improve-

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Renewing the Health and Dental Plan The renewal of the current PGSS Health and Dental Insurance Plan was the final referen-

MAX $233.33, $168.12 dum question approved by Council.

If passed in the referendum, the plan will be renewed for a period of three years—a change from previous one-year renewal referendum questions. According to PGSS Member Services Officer Elizabeth Cawley, having a three-year term gives ASEQ (Alliance pour la santé étudiante au Québec) more time to collect claims information and therefore provide a better estimate of the insurance price.

“This gives us more negotiating power in terms of setting a better premium, because we have a better understanding of the claims that are being made in the current year,” she said.

$120.00

ment Fund was the subject of another referendum question that passed in Council.

The fee would affect every full- and part-time PGSS member from Fall 2014 to the Winter 2019 semester, going towards the development of Rutherford Park, currently an undesignated grassy area north of campus.

“For the past two and a half years, McGill Athletics has been working with Ville Marie

PGSS Referendum Fees offer in 2008-2009 showed that one of the main reasons was the long enrollment process, during which many applicants accepted

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and Montreal, negotiating about what they can do to restructure that space [in the park],” PGSS Academic Affairs Officer Adam Bouchard said. “What they’ve proposed is an artificial turf, with a soccer and softball setup.”

In the event that the project on the Rutherford Park does not go through due to citizen concerns about the lighting on the mountain, the fund would go towards improving buildings on the recreation side of McGill Athletics, as a greater proportion of PGSS members utilize those services compared to their participation in varsity sports.

Curiosity delivers. | campus

NEWS

| Tuesday, February 18, 2014

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QPIRG workshop critiques mainstream concepts of self-care, forgiveness Eighth annual Social Justice Days series seeks to foster community-wide conversations on social justice issues Shrinkhala Dawadi Contributor The accessibility of mainstream methods of self-care was the topic of a workshop during last week’s Social Justice Days series.

Hosted by the McGill-Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) and the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), the event was called “Self Care: Critical Perspectives on Oprah, Capitalism, and Happiness.”

The workshop began with a presentation that showcased suggestions for taking care of oneself commonly shared on the popular social-media blogging platform Tumblr. Self-care suggestions included buying new clothes and taking time off work.

Participants then discussed the accessibility of the self-care solutions proposed in popular discourse.

Andrea Figueroa, a manager of the workshop, stressed the importance of critiquing the idea of selfcare on community-wide level.

“Self-care seems to be put on a pedestal in a way that cannot be criticized,” she said. “[Improvement] requires larger conversations within our communities and spaces.”

According to Simone Page, a participant in the workshop, certain groups within society, such as those looking after children or elderly family members, are often excluded from this discussion of self-care.

“There are certain people in the community that take a way bigger burden than the rest of us,” Simone said. “These are the people that need self-care the most and they are also the people that are left out of a lot of self-care discussion.”

Simone highlighted the example of unpaid caregivers in unstable economic situations.

“It could be any mother or any father […] they might find themselves not economically stable, or they could be working full-time jobs and then coming home to take care of their children or take care of their parents,” Simone said. “Treat yourself; do nice things to yourself; go to group sessions, and exercise more—those things aren’t realities for people [who] are caregivers. The discourse of self-care needs to be more inclusive.”

Also critiqued during the workshop was the idea that inadequate self-care leads to the persistence of mental health issues. One student,

Students discuss accessibility of conventional self-care techniques. (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune) who asked to remain anonymous, mentioned the case of abuse or trauma survivors. She challenged the idea that forgiveness of the perpetrator should always be the end goal for survivors of trauma.

“When we talk about forgiveness, we need to make sure we’re not talking about erasing—that the thing you’re forgiving is not a part of you anymore,” the student said. “For people who have survived trauma and violence, to be told to forgive is not always possible. It takes many, many years and it depends on the context of the relationships you have with the people who have made you

feel traumatized or violated. The ability to forgive isn’t always necessarily what’s best for a person.”

Kira Page, QPIRG programming and outreach coordinator, said the event represented a positive step towards future avenues of improvement.

“I think it was a really good event to be a starting point for the conversation,” Kira said. “It’s really important to be learning from the people who are directly affected [by social justice issues], to be engaging with that honestly and with trust and openness.”

This year’s Social Justice Days

were the 8th annual series of events.

The week of events aimed to increase awareness and foster discussion about social justice issues that impact both local and global communities.

Kira stressed the importance of community-wide conversations on all social justice issues.

“It comes down to thinking that these issues are important,” she said.

“Our work with social justice days and QPIRG in general is with the belief that a lot of people are suffering, and it’s very important to think about those on a systemic level.”

campus

Potential SSMU mental health policy will fund coordinator, create student resource website Policy to seek approval at Council this week, proposes potential student fee for Winter 2015 referendum period Natalie Wong Staff Writer A new mental health website and hiring a Mental Health Coordinator are top priorities for the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), according to a new mental health policy to be approved at the Feb. 20 SSMU Council.

Other goals of the policy are to be implemented in the next five years, and include the implementation of a Mental Health Fee, the coordination of various events such as Mental Health Awareness Week, and the organization of space and support for mental health groups.

In addition, the policy plans to establish a permanent space in the SSMU building, for student inquiries and events related to mental health.

The new mental health policy is the result of an ad-hoc committee SSMU created at the beginning of the academic year.

Joey Shea, SSMU Vice-President University Affairs, cited SSMU’s lack of a current policy promoting student mental wellness as the reason for the committee’s

work.

“We realized that SSMU doesn’t have any institutionalized mental health policy to help mental health groups and facilitate their interaction,” she said.

According to Shea, the policy aims to provide a network of resources and increase awareness for the improvement of both mental health services and the overall mental wellness of students on campus.

“It’s a comprehensive, diverse mental health network that is aimed at getting services together to work collaboratively to meet the diversity of mental health needs that students have on campus in a respectful way,” said David Benrimoh, SSMU Medicine representative and member of the Mental Health Committee.

Much of the policy will be supported through a fee, which SSMU will seek to implement through a question in the Winter 2015 referendum. In the meantime, tasks will include creating the website, as well as hiring a coordinator, creating a listserv, planning events, and continuing research.

“It [will be] used to fund

a Mental Health Coordinator and possibly the mental health website and the administrator,” Benrimoh said. “Remaining funds will be allocated by the SSMU funding committee to the student-run mental health initiatives.”

According to Shea, the website aspect of the project has already received funding through a grant from Bell Canada.

According to Benrimoh, the website will list available mental health services in one central location.

“On the website, you ideally would have mental health ‘service of the week,’ categories of services, like education, peer support, mental health services, etc.,” he said. “Once we have our policy implemented, we need a way for it to be accessible to people, so this website is our way to do it.”

Shea emphasized that the policy would be open to revision if passed at Council. “[The SSMU mental health policy] is meant to be a living document, updated year to year,” she said. “Our statement of values is meant to be a framework, to be built on and added to

SSMU to consider mental health policy. (Courtney Strouthos / McGill Tribune) through the years.”

Charlotte Cailliarec, U0 Arts, praised the policy, saying that it responded to a definite need for McGill.

“It’s great that there will be a developed mental health network at McGill to coordinate all the different student-run mental health initiatives and provide a network that stands in solidarity,” she said. “As there’s still a present stigma against mental health, it’s important that […] there’s a network to raise awareness and provide support for anyone who needs it.”

If approved at the Feb. 20 Council, the policy will be im-

plemented and the five-year plan will begin.

“Our main emphasis was on the fact that a healthy campus isn’t a campus that doesn’t have mental health issues […] but [one that] has a focus on wellness and a holistic approach to these issues,” Shea said.

Benrimoh expressed similar sentiments, noting its positive effects of it for students.

“We all bring something new to the table,” Benrimoh said “I truly believe that we are going to help individuals, groups, and the whole community.”

Curiosity delivers. |

NEWS

| Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Campus

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SEDE facing financial woes, unable to secure adequate funding

Programs and services for equity, diversity, anti-discrimination could face reductions due to budget cuts Aislinn Kalob Contributor

McGill’s Social Equity and Diversity Education (SEDE) office may experience reduced programming in the future due to provincial budget cuts announced last winter.

“Like other departments and units on campus, we have been affected by a reduction in resources and staffing provoked by a number of factors,” SEDE Administrative Coordinator Juhi Sujan said.

Since its establishment in 2006, the SEDE office has provided training in equity, diversity, and anti-discrimination education, as well as school mentorship programs and opportunities for community engagement.

The office has also expanded to offer an Indigenous education program, a tutoring program for children in underrepresented neighbourhoods, and an annual Community Engagement Day, which attracted hundreds of McGill students to 20 different community service projects around Montreal this past October.

“We are extremely proud of how far the office has come since its beginnings,” Sujan said. “We are a small office, and have done the best we could

with the available funds.”

Lack of funding, as a result of the provincial budget cuts that took place last winter, currently jeopardizes SEDE’s ability to staff and to carry out the many functions that fall under its mission. According to SSMU Councillors and Sujan, the fate of SEDE is uncertain if alternative funding is not found, or if McGill cannot support the office financially.

“I don’t think the whole office would fold,” Joey Shea, VicePresident University Affairs of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), said. “The SEDE office would exist, but their capacity to put on programming and the types of programming would be really limited.”

Among those who will be affected are those who work for SEDE, and those within McGill and the Montreal community who participate in and benefit from SEDE’s programs.

“Cuts are going to result in less services, less programs, and reductions to their already extremely stretched staff,” SSMU Clubs and Services Representative Zachary Rosentzveig said. “There is no fat to be cut at SEDE. Any cuts that come in would cut into meat and bone.”

Although SEDE is an office

SEDE may be forced to cut programming due to financial issues. (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune) under the McGill administration’s jurisdiction, a motion passed at the SSMU Winter 2013 General Assembly mandates SSMU to support SEDE in gaining adequate financial support.

According to Shea, SSMU is currently undecided about the method through which they will fulfill that mandate. However, SSMU has specifically chosen not to create student fees to support SEDE. “As much as we love SEDE and

think that it’s so incredibly important to the university, it just wasn’t appropriate for us to ask students to pay for something that the university should be paying for out of its operating budget,” Shea said.

Currently, there are no alternative solutions to the funding problem, either within SSMU or on the administrative end. Meanwhile, Rosentzveig said there have been ongoing conversations between SSMU and the McGill administration to try to ad-

dress the funding problems.

In her most recent SSMU Council report, Shea expressed that she would be holding a campaign in support of increased funding for SEDE. “I don’t really know what form the campaign will take,” she said. “I imagine a letter-writing campaign to the [campus media outlets] from students in support, or directly to the provost of the university who sets the budget.”

speaker on campus

NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair criticizes rising cost of education

McGill alumnus proposes the abolition of Senate, condemns conditions of Indigenous communities Daniel Kang Contributor

New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader Thomas Mulcair tackled issues facing the younger generation and the country during an event hosted by NDP McGill on Feb. 13.

Mulcair, who received his law degree from McGill in 1977, expressed enthusiasm for returning to his alma mater.

“I’m thrilled to be back here at McGill and in this room—I know how hokey it sounds, but it’s true,” he said.

“My studies at McGill started in this room, just over 40 years ago.”

For the younger generation, Mulcair said education can pose unprecedented financial difficulties—in particular, rising tuition costs for university students.

“Twenty-five years ago, 82 per cent of the budget of Canada’s universities and colleges was provided by the government,” he said. “Today, it’s not rare to see students borrowing $50,000 to finish their degree.”

Although Mulcair did not give any specific policy measures, he said he would work to increase federal funding to post-secondary education.

According to Mulcair, problems

with education are also prevalent in Canada’s Indigenous communities.

While he denounced the Aboriginal residential school system of the past and the abhorrent conditions many Indigenous children experienced there, Mulcair also condemned the state of reservations today.

“First Nations kids receive 35 per cent less funding for per capita than other Canadian kids,” he said. “Conditions on reserves are perpetuating things like tuberculosis that should be diseases of the past [….] Those are problems that are easy to identify and they are also easy to fix if you make them a priority. Governing is about making priorities.”

Mulcair also spoke out against Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s health care plans, specifically criticizing his planned cuts of up to $36 billion in health care funding.

“The NDP introduced free universal health care in Canada, and that’s now generalized across the country,” he said. “We should fight to maintain it.”

He encouraged younger voters to more actively participate in the political sphere and emphasized the danger of not voting.

“What has been there in the past

Mulcair addressed a crowd of approximately 60 members of the McGill community. (www.puzzledcat.blogspot.ca) for your parents is now at risk for you,” he said. “Yet, 65 per cent percent of young people aged 18 to 25 didn’t vote in the last election.”

Attended by approximately 60 members of the McGill community, the event gave members of the McGill community the opportunity to ask Mulcair questions. When asked about potential Senate reform, he proposed the idea of elimination of the Senate as a whole.

“The abolition of the Senate is the simplest solution,” he said. “Unicameral parliament—the same thing in all of the Scandinavian countries—

works.”

One U2 political science student, who asked to remain anonymous, disagreed with Mulcair about the Senate.

“Not even trying to reform a house that has accomplished numerous important tasks in Canadian politics is a disservice,” the student said. “Simply removing the Senate won’t stop the partisan bickering in parliament, which Mulcair is just as much a part of.”

Caleb Holden, president of the NDP club at McGill, said he was happy with the content of the discussion.

“I’m happy to see how much [Mulcair] touched on Indigenous is-

sues in Canada,” Holden said. “I’m also happy to see him talk about things that are pertinent to students, such as student internships and some donothing elements of the budget that came out earlier this week. We need to have more policies geared towards our younger voters.”

Viviane Cheng, U1 Management, said she was surprised at Mulcair’s level of candour.

“After what he said, I’m sort of changing my views [about him],” Cheng said. “I think he is genuine and really does want the best for Canadians.”

Personal Credits Notice

If you received a Common Experience Payment, you could get $3,000 in Personal Credits for educational programs and services.

The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.

The healing continues.

Since 2007, almost 80,000 former students have received a Common Experience Payment (“CEP”) as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. CEP recipients are now eligible to receive non-cash Personal Credits of up to $3,000, for either themselves or certain family members, for educational programs and services.

Personal Credits of multiple CEP recipients can be combined to support a group learning activity.

How can I get Personal Credits? Each CEP recipient will be mailed an Acknowledgement Form. If you do not receive an Acknowledgement Form by the end of January 2014, please call 1-866-343-1858. Completed Acknowledgement Forms should be returned as soon as possible and must be postmarked no later than October 31, 2014.

What are Personal Credits? Personal Credits may be used for a wide range of educational programs and services, including those provided by universities, colleges, trade or training schools, Indigenous Institutions of Higher Learning, How do I redeem my Personal Credits? Once approved, or which relate to literacy or trades, as well as programs and you will be sent a personalized Redemption Form for each services related to Aboriginal identities, histories, cultures individual using Personal Credits at each educational entity or languages. or group. Once the Form is received, CEP recipients have the option of provide it to the educational entity or How much are Personal Credits? sharing their Personal Credits with group listed. The educational entity or Adequate funds are available for each certain family members, such as: group must then complete and mail back CEP recipient to receive up to $3,000 • Children • Spouses in Personal Credits, depending on your the Redemption Form postmarked no • Grandchildren • Siblings approved educational expenses. later than December 1, 2014.

Which educational entities and groups What happens to unused Personal Credits? The value of are included? A list of approved educational entities and unused Personal Credits will be transferred to the National groups has been jointly developed by Canada, the Assembly Indian Brotherhood Trust Fund and Inuvialuit Education of First Nations and Inuit representatives. If an educational Foundation for educational programs. entity or group is not on the list, please consult the website for more information.

For more information, including how Personal Credits can be Will I receive a cheque? No. Cheques will be issued directly redeemed by certain family members of CEP recipients that are deceased, visit www.residentialschoolsettlement.ca or call to the educational entity or group providing the service.

1-866-343-1858.

Who can use Personal Credits? CEP recipients can use the full amount themselves or give part or all of their Personal The IRS Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419) provides immediate Credits to certain family members such as a spouse, child, and culturally appropriate counselling support to former grandchild or sibling, as defined in the terms and conditions. students who are experiencing distress.

1-866-343-1858 • www.residentialschoolsettlement.ca

opinion editorial

THE Mcgill

Editor-in-Chief Carolina Millán Ronchetti editor@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Ben Carter-Whitney bcarterwhitney@mcgilltribune.com Erica Friesen efriesen@mcgilltribune.com Jacqueline Galbraith jgalbraith@mcgilltribune.com

The incredible shrinking university Last week, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) announced the introduction of a laptop lending program (LLP), similar to the program phased out by McGill’s library system at the beginning of this academic year due to budget cuts. The AUS’ part in this is commendable; they saw a service eliminated by the university yet desired by students, and stepped in to provide it. That is not our concern here. Rather, it goes towards the broader troubling—and seemingly inevitable—trend: the gradual shift in the burden of services and costs from the university to students, either through direct fees or student association fee increases.

This transfer of responsibility is not isolated to the LLP. Last year, the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) voted to enact its own fee­ —the Engineering Undergraduate Support Fund (EUSF)—in an attempt to soften the blow of thenanticipated cuts to the university.

The fee—$80 per year for full-time engineering students—was designed to be available to professors to pay for teaching assistants, support staff, and tutorial sessions based on the votes of a student committee. Similarly, last term, the Dental Students’ Society instituted a $2,500 per semester fee on incoming students to fund $800,000 of a $16 million

faculty relocation. Another example came this Fall term, when McGill instituted a one-time $20 fee for students who accessed the university’s Mental Health Services. While this fee was rescinded after public outcry, the fact that it was considered and implemented in the first place is just another example of budget cuts trickling down to students.

“[Budget cuts] force a choice between further reductions in services and a shift of these service costs from the university to student associations.

The question is in the implementation.”

The sweeping budget retrenchment holding its grip on McGill for the past year and a half is the main culprit behind the shift in costs. The unresponsiveness of the provincial government to the effects of these cuts signals that they are the reality for the foreseeable future. This forces a choice between further reductions in services and a shift of these service costs from the university to student associations. The question is in the implementation.

For one, student associations,

Commentary

especially those below the level of the largest, cross-faculty groups like the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), and the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS), suffer from a lack of professionalization. The AUS executives, for example, are not paid, and essentially perform their duties on a volunteer basis. While they carry out their duties to the best of their abilities, any greater administration and institutional memory needed to carry out more services at the faculty level would likely also necessitate a compensated executive, as well as a permanent bureaucratic apparatus.

Several faculty associations, including AUS and EUS, have a permanent office assistant or manager, but the responsibilities of this role will grow as student organizations continue expanding their services.

Furthermore, as evidenced by the infamous theft of $12,000 from the AUS after frosh several years ago, there are real concerns of accountability if student associations provide more services to students.

High turnover at most student associations may also pose issues with the long-term sustainability of services, as opposed to university administration professionals.

With those caveats noted, there are also benefits to these services

Why McGill needs ECOLE

Ilana Khin ECOLE Student Working Group Speaking to students beyond McGill’s tight-knit environmental community, there is one question I encounter often: “Whatever happened to sustainability at McGill?” Awareness around campus of environmental initiatives comes down to three things: space, community outreach, and education— and particularly, the lack of all three.

What can be done to improve this situation? Enter the Educational Community Living Environment (ECOLE)— the perfect blend of collective student living, learning, and community building—something like “the Real World: Montreal (Green Edition).”

Set in a soon-to-be converted MORE house residence that will open its doors in September, ECOLE seeks to revitalize the concept of sustainability at McGill. The house, as a studentrun space, will not only provide a hub for the sustainability enthusiasts, but

also be a model for sustainable change in the eyes of the greater McGill and Milton-Parc communities. It will house up to 12 residents—or “facilitators”— who will experiment with materially and socially responsible living, and undertake individual applied research projects based around their collective living experience. Facilitators will come from a diversity of academic, cultural, and social backgrounds to promote the awareness of sustainability as a universal concept applicable to all aspects of life—not merely environmentally-based ones.

As an accessible space, ECOLE will also be open to all members of the greater McGill student community, as well as for the residents of Milton-Parc.

It will be an alternative meeting ground for various student clubs and local organizations, as well as a place to hold joint recreational activities such as film screenings or potluck dinners. Of course, all food served will be locally sourced and subsequently composted.

It will also actively engage in collaborative projects with the Milton-Parc community, and attempt to mitigate the

existing tension between the citizens and students who inhabit the area.

In addition to broadening community interaction, ECOLE will enlarge the academic scope of sustainability through an interdisciplinary approach. The project will foster handson learning that cannot be experienced in the classroom; through meetings and workshops led by the facilitators, any interested students will have the chance to experience sustainability from all different perspectives, and relate these concepts to their own lives.

Equity will also play a significant role in the education process—as not only material but also social change is vital for building a sustainable future.

Facilitators will lead anti-oppression workshops in their attempt to improve the climate of social justice among the inhabitants of the McGill student environment.

From an operational viewpoint, ECOLE will be run in adherence with a concrete governance structure and an “ECOnstitution,” which will lay down the guidelines designed to enforce transparency and consensus-based

shifting to the student association level, such as more detailed awareness of student need and—theoretically—more opportunity for student input in funding decisions than the McGill bureaucracy provides. The increased importance of student executive positions, through their increased funding and greater mandate for service provision, may also lead to the oft-hoped-for increase in student political engagement.

In the long term, with the combined reduction in university funding and the increase in the student association role, there should be a change in the ranks of bureaucratic structures at both levels. Students should not be funding McGill’s bureaucratic infrastructure for services the university is no longer offering.

Redirecting these funds to help student associations manage their increased burden will eventually be a necessary step if this trend continues.

The shift in fees and provision of services from the university to students will likely continue apace as McGill continues to deal with budget cuts. However, with the right changes to student associations, the positive aspects to this trend can be maximized.

Production Manager Steven Lampert slampert@mcgilltribune.com News Editors Jessica Fu and Samuel Pinto news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editor Abraham Moussako opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editor Caity Hui scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Living Editor Marlee Vinegar studentliving@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Jenny Shen features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editor Max Berger arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Mayaz Alam and Remi Lu sports@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editors Alexandra Allaire and Wendy Chen photo@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Alessandra Hechanova ahechanova@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Hayley Lim and Maryse Thomas design@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Adrien Hu copy@mcgilltribune.com Advertising Executives Spoon Jung and Daniel Kang ads@mcgilltribune.com Publisher Chad Ronalds

TPS Board of Directors

Jonathan Fielding (Chair), Shadi Afana, Anand Bery, Abhishek Gupta, Adrien Hu, Steven Lampert, Chris Liu, Carolina Millán Ronchetti, and Simon Poitrimolt

Staff Writers

Prativa Baral, Max Bledstein, Wyatt Fine-Gagné, Osama Haque, Eman Jeddy, Chelsey Ju, Paniz Khosroshahy, Alycia Noë, Kia Pouliot, Aaron Rose, Samiha Sharif, Julie Vanderperre, Elie Waitzer, Natalie Wong, and Cece Zhang

Contributors

decision making. While there will be other actors involved in the political processes that surround ECOLE, it will have a mandate to maintain student sovereignty in all functional matters.

Given the realities of a McGill student’s everyday life, it can be difficult to live sustainably and responsibly.

Despite all good intentions, the need for efficiency often trumps environmental duties. With the introduction of ECOLE, we believe that we can work to construct a healthy alternative culminating in a material effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle, and a social structure that is both non-oppressive and vibrant.

As the project grows, we hope to see the ideal take shape more clearly: a diverse range of students from different academic faculties living ecologically and equitably sound lives in a community that truly serves as an example of positive human action within the ‘natural environment’ of downtown Montreal.

Evan Coulter, Shrinkhala Dawadi, Victoria Dillman, Laura Hanrahan, Evie Kaczmarek, Aislim Kalob, Ari Lesniak, Jack Neal, Cassandra Rogers, Maral Saghaei, Zikomo Smith, Hilary Storm, Courtney Strouthos, Christine Tam, Esther Vinarov

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.

7

opinion Sochi problems: our laughs, their expense Julie Vanderperre

Columnist

Recent images of unfinished hotel rooms, broken plumbing, and other flaws noticed at the Sochi Games have been the source of much online amusement. However, these @Sochiproblems, a Twitter account started by Canadian journalist Alex Broad, might be more than just silly flaws to poke fun at. In mocking these issues, we ignore that they are the result of widespread corruption. The Sochi Games cost over $50 billion, making them the most expensive Olympic games ever held. Yet, organizers can’t even build stalls

to separate toilets. And while the pictures on Twitter of skiiers taking side-by-side bathroom breaks are admittedly funny, Russian taxpayers probably aren’t laughing.

The mis-allocation of funds in the construction industry is not a new phenomenon, especially in Russia, which continues to have a reputation of corruption in business dealings. The Sochi Olympics, which required many massive building projects, provided a perfect opportunity for Russian construction tycoons to capitalize off of the government’s need for new infrastructure. When such corruption is present, accountability is eliminated, working conditions deteriorate, and construction work becomes erratic. Thus, the games end up with

poorly built ski-jumps, broken sewage pipes, and exorbitantlypriced stadiums.

“While the pictures on Twitter of skiiers taking side-by-side bathroom breaks are admittedly funny, Russian taxpayers probably aren’t laughing.”

While such descriptions of construction procedures at Sochi may seem like classic “only in Russia” absurdities, the truth is that corruption in the construction industry is a much broader issue. As New Yorker financial columnist James Surowiecki recently wrote, “Transparency International has long cited the

construction industry as the world’s most corrupt, pointing to the prevalence of bribery, bid rigging, and bill padding.” Whenever large-scale infrastructure is built—even in liberal democracies with relatively transparent business practices, such as Canada—the risk for corruption and backdoor dealings is high.

Indeed, residents of Montreal are keenly aware of the crooked nature of the construction industry, which has been implicated in dealings with criminal elements, and is renowned for cronyism and corruption. Delays in construction, inflated prices, bribes, and kickbacks are all commonplace.

This city’s own preparations for the 1976 Winter Olympics were riddled with corruption. The Olympic Stadium was unfinished

at the time of the Olympics, and its roof subsequently caved in twice over the years. A piece of the tower also fell onto the field during a Montreal Expos game in 1986. To top it all off, the City of Montreal only finished paying off all of the debt from the stadium’s costs in 2006.

So the next time you come across a picture of a Sochi hotel lobby looking like a war zone, remember that the only people you’re sharing a laugh with are the Russian construction magnates who are om their way to the bank. Maybe then we will be able to sympathize with the Russian taxpayers who are the ones shouldering the costs of our amusement.

cordingly.

For the most part, the matter boils down to the value of authenticity in news and entertainment. If the opening ceremonies are considered entertainment, it should be fine to alter the showing for a more pleasurable viewing, and to better convey the artistic intent. If it is news, however, altering it is dishonest and unethical.

It is a slippery slope to make such modifications, however, as the opening ceremonies are presented as a factual event. Altering the presentation in the way that the Russian television station did

is perpetrating a falsehood on the audience. Even though the opening ceremony is largely for entertainment, it is also reality; not treating it as such allows for other parts of reality to be altered. Even though the Olympic rings don’t seem like a big deal unto themselves, the willingness of a broadcaster to make such an editorial decision calls into question the integrity of any live coverage. Blurring the lines between reality and fiction may be a good narrative technique, but it does not constitute any sort of ethical journalism.

Ringed with doubt

Victoria Dillman Commentary The Olympic opening ceremony is a moment of global attention and high expectations. This pressure came to a head during the ceremony for this year’s Sochi Winter Games with the event’s centrepiece—five flowers which blossomed into the Olympics’ iconic interlocking rings. However, the

ERRATA:

fifth ring failed to expand with the others. Viewers around the world witnessed the malfunction, but on Russian television, footage from a taped rehearsal was spliced in, creating the appearance of a flawless performance. This ‘fix’ spawned debate as to whether such an alteration was ethical, and highlighted the difficulty of distinguishing between entertainment and news.

Russia has had numerous issues with its hosting, with shocking charges of corruption and lack of preparation. It makes sense to want to avoid further embarrassment and disprove the claims of

poor planning. But even if that is the case, is it really ethical to present a falsity as truth? While there is some value to this kind of symbolism, pure deception for the sake of appearances is something else.

Officials at the Russian network defended the splicing, claiming they were preserving the integrity of the Olympic rings and what they symbolized. In the network’s eyes, what they were doing was permissible since the opening ceremony is a performance for the world. They consider it to be entertainment, not news, and have no problem adjusting the content ac-

A story in the Feb. 10 issue (“Ethical Economics: assessing the effectiveness of university divestment campaigns”) included an infographic that was incorrectly labeled as “McGill investments in various sectors of the Toronto Stock Exchange as of Dec. 31, 2013.” In fact, the data represented the breakdown of the S&P/TSX as of Dec. 31, 2013, not the McGill Investment Pool. In addition, the table below the infographic stated that 71.8 per cent of McGill’s investments were in sectors that had connections to fossil fuels. This is incorrect. The sectors in question comprised 71.8 per cent of the Canadian market, not the McGill investment portfolio.

A story in the Feb. 10 issue (“Conference on fossil fuels interrupted by occupation protesting lack of representation”) implied that Petrocultures 2014 was an annual event hosted by the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC). In fact, the MISC hosts an annual conference, whose subject changes every year.

Our Feb. 10 editorial (“Equity policy needs more clarity, transparency “) made reference to a previous (March 2012) version of the SSMU Equity Policy. The Section 11.5 to which we had referred exists in the latest document as Section 9.4, and has been updated to address the concerns we had raised regarding abstentions. It is also worth clarifying that the Equity Policy itself is 11 and a half pages long; the editorial’s previous quote of 22 pages includes appendices and represented the total document length of the previous policy. See online for a statement on these errors.

A story in the Feb. 10 issue (“The Bibeau Years”) stated that Hélène Bibeau is four years older than Simon Bibeau, and that the latter had arrived at McGill three years ago. In fact, Hélène is two and a half years older than her brother, and Simon is in his fourth year.

The Tribune regrets these errors.

Student living Student of the Week

by Mayaz Alam

Rachel Simmons First year Masters Family Medicine (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune)

You’d be hard pressed to find anyone at McGill who knows more about the inner workings of student politics than Rachel Simmons.

As parliamentarian for the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), chief returning officer (CRO) for the Science Undergraduate Society (SUS), replacement speaker for the Post-Graduate Students’ Society of McGill University (PGSS), and speaker and CRO for the Education Undergraduate Society of McGill (EDUS) Council, Simmons certainly has her hands full.

In addition to these positions, Simmons is currently a first-year masters student in the research division of the Department of Family Medicine.

The Montreal native is always busy, but for her, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“I love [being] busy; if I don’t have a crazy amount on my plate I start looking for more,” Simmons says. “It’s a balancing act for sure [….] You get by every week, and you just try to get to Sunday [and] take it as it comes.”

It was during her undergraduate experience at McGill that Simmons’ passion for civic engagement started to burn. Despite playing an integral role in student government, Simmons has never wanted to take a representative position. She is more than satis-

fied in ensuring that the system runs smoothly.

“I actually have very little interest in politics,” she says. “I think student government is valuable and it’s excellent in doing what it does, but […] being a representative was not something I enjoyed as much as facilitating it. I’m more interested in making sure things happen [and] enabling people to do these positions and do these things.”

Simmons’ different roles all have a common thread – it is her duty to keep above the political fray and remain neutral even in the most ardent of debates. As speaker and parliamentarian, she ensures that proceedings are civil and motions are appropriate.

As CRO, Simmons must both encourage candidates and make sure that they follow the election period rules.

Given the personal nature of her positions, she is constantly tiptoeing on a tightrope that can be difficult to navigate.

“The hardest part is keeping yourself impartial [because] you get to know the people you work with as friends; [but when] you’re speaking or being parliamentarian […] it’s hard to make the distinction,” Simmons explains. “When you step into this room, you assume this position and you need to draw that line.”

Her responsibilities are that much

greater due to her non-representative role. Being a neutral arbiter is tough for anyone who is engaged in politics or opinionated. However, Simmons realizes that her obligation is to the elected representatives.

“I am vocal. I do like to share my opinions, [but] I am not there to have an opinion,” she explains. “I am there to make sure everybody else is heard.”

Looking forward, Simmons hopes to combine her academic and extracurricular pursuits.

“We are starting a student government for family medicine […] so I’m working with the future student society of family medicine,” she says.

“With SSMU, I’d really like to see the projects we started this year [to] be followed through [with].”

For the individuals who will step into the myriad of positions she currently occupies, Simmons urges that they persevere throughout the entire endeavor.

“Keep an open mind and keep on learning about it,” Simmons says.

“You never stop learning about how to work with different people […] and patience—you must have patience.”

nominate a student of the week!

Email us at studentliving@ mcgilltribune.com

McGill Tribune: Robert’s Rules, a guide to parliamentary conduct, are an integral part of your job.

Who is your favourite Robert?

Rachel Simmons: Robert(o) Luongo.

That’s my favourite Robert right now.

MT: What was your dream job as a child?

RS: When I was three I wanted to be a palaeontologist; after that I started to be more realistic with my goals and wanted to be an astronaut. Only reasons I gave that up was [that] I was horribly motion sick and also physics was not my thing.

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

RS: This is [something] I’ve thought about and come to terms with—different varieties of pasta, with different cheeses. No sauce, no tomatoes, just pasta and cheese together in different forms.

MT: What are your three most visited websites?

RS: I’m on Buzzfeed all the time, I’m on Facebook all the time, and currently I’m on olympics.cbc.ca all the time, all day, every day.

MT: Favourite song to sing to or dance to when nobody is watching?

RS: I am a sucker for Disney movies so I know the soundtracks for most of them off by heart. I will turn them on full blast while making dinner; Tangled, Frozen is a big one right now, Lion King classics if you’re in an old school mood.

Pro Tips

Excelling in the search for employment Advice to help you land your next job Alycia Noë Staff Writer Graduating university is scary enough and the need to find a job can be ,daunting. This difficult process can be made less troublesome by remaining positive, realistic, and most importantly, proactive. By following some simple tricks and tips, you’ll be well on your way to your first paycheque.

Do your research Before beginning to submit applications and interview, narrow down what jobs you might be interested in and research opportunities. Use all available resources for this process.

McGill’s Career Planning Service’s (CaPS) myFuture is a userfriendly McGill University website that can aid in your inquiries. The website provides students with an extensive list of currently available jobs categorized by position type and projected growth. The

website also provides articles that guide students on how to properly format supporting documents and information on other relevant tasks that go along with job searching.

In addition, consider attending job fairs and take advantage of networking opportunities. Developing contacts in your field of interest is extremely important in establishing your credentials.

Similarly, consider talking to a recruiter who works with companies in your field.

Get your foot in the door When applying for jobs right out of university, it’s important to remain realistic. You may not get your dream job immediately, but you have to start somewhere. It’s about putting in your time and paying your dues. Even if a position seems below your skill set, it may serve as a starting point to work your way up.

If possible, you may want to consider internships both during

your schooling and immediately after graduation. Having experience is a fundamental first step to getting your dream job.

Companies do their research too Making sure you are the most appealing candidate possible also includes how you conduct yourself in your personal life. While it may seem invasive, potential employers perform background checks that include Internet searches. You should consider cleaning up your social media profiles and think twice before you post a neknomination video.

Additionally, a respectable credit history may help show employers that you are trustworthy and responsible. Employers can access this information through a background check, although they have to give you notice of it. Even drug tests are standard for corporate jobs.

Pay close attention to your CV and résumé There is a difference between a CV and a résumé. Your CV includes the publications that your name is attached to when you have done significant research, whereas a résumé is used to highlight your skills, work experience, and education history.

Your résumé should be tailored to the specific job you’re applying for, and your cover letter should be customized for each job. Ensure that there aren’t any silly spelling errors by always editing and revising your documents.

Remove superfluous information such as your birthday and martial status, as it is irrelevant to your job application. In addition, make sure your email address is appropriate and professional.

The interview is key First impressions can make or break a job application. Interviews give employers an idea of your

decision-making ability and character. Every little thing matters; be early, but not too early, as this can make you look desperate. Always be honest (lying can come back to haunt you), make sure to keep eye contact, shake hands firmly, and speak with confidence.

Appearance is more important than you might think. For example, visible tattoos may be a deterrent to some employers. Also sit up straight and do not fidget, as it can make you appear nervous. If it is hot outside, arrive a little earlier to give yourself time to cool off and prevent sweating through your shirt.

You can demonstrate interest by preparing questions to ask your prospective employer, although it’s best to avoid talking about salary. Finally, remember to thank the interviewer for their time both during the interview and in an email afterwards to further emphasize your gratitude.

Curiosity delivers. |

STUDENT LIVING

| Tuesday, February 18, 2014

9

Campus Life

Forging a friendlier future in the Milton-Parc community Closer ties between students and residents may help resolve neighbourly tension Laura Hanrahan Contributor At the end of each year, dozens of houses and apartments spanning University to St. Famille change hands from one groups of students to the next in a long-standing, customary sort of way.

What students tend to forget is that the Milton-Parc area has a long history that precedes the current state of studentheavy housing. Hélène Brisson, a representative of the Milton-Parc Citizens’ Committee, describes the area as, first and foremost, a residential one that was not initially intended for student use. “[Milton-Parc] was built for people who worked at the university or downtown or at Royal Victoria [Hospital]; it was built for people who had families,” she said. “It was never meant as a transient area, but now [many students liver there] because of proximity. All of those older houses were turned into rooming houses.”

When merging two very different demographics into one neighbourhood, many issues can make for a tenuous relationship between the two.

“What makes it difficult is the fact

that young people living in the neighbourhood tend to forget that it’s not their area, but an area that they share with long-term residents,” Brisson noted.

Resentment from long-term residents of the use of the word “ghetto” is one of the most fundamental strains on this relationship.

“Nobody likes that it’s called ‘the McGill ghetto,’” Brisson, said. “To this day, although there is that strong contingent of student population, it’s still a majority of long-term Montreal residents.”

As can be expected, the number of neighbourhood complaints increases exponentially during events like frosh week, Management Carnival, and St. Patrick’s Day. Noise complaints seem to be the most common issue that the Citizens’ Committee comes across on a day-to-day basis.

“It’s a clash of lifestyles,” Brisson said. “Unfortunately, when it’s fuelled by alcohol, it makes problems for all.

We remind everyone about [keeping noise levels down], but it hasn’t quite sunk in yet.”

Even with reminders, some students feel that the line of communication isn’t completely open, which can result in a misunderstanding between the two

UNLEASH YOUR

Quiche Marlee Vinegar Student Living Editor

This classic French dish is savoury and sophisticated, but also simple and student-friendly. Not only is it acceptable to eat for any meal; it’s also a great way to use up whatever is left in your fridge. Baking a flaky pastry crust has never been so easy.

Ingredients: Crust: 1 cup flour 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup oil (olive oil gives a distinct flavour, although any oil should work) 1/4 cup ice water Filling: 4 eggs 1 & 1/2 cups milk (can substitute 1/2 cup with cream) 1 cup cheese (shredded or crumbled) 1 cup chopped filling ingredients (onion, tomato, pepper, broccoli, spinach, bacon, mushrooms)

Instructions 1. Preheat oven to 400oF. 2. Combine salt and flour in a large bowl.

3. In another bowl, whisk water and oil until thick.

4. Pour oil and water mixture into dry ingredients and stir until completely mixed.

5. Press dough into 9” pie dish.

6. Put filling ingredients and cheese into dish.

7. Whisk together egg and milk in a bowl and add to dish.

8. Sprinkle extra cheese on top if desired.

9. Bake for roughly 40 minutes or until cooked through.

groups.

“We became a scapegoat for the noise problem, and would get complaints from the landlord even when we weren’t having parties,” U3 Arts student Jeremy Schipper said. “What was especially frustrating for us was that we never received complaints from any of the neightbours directly, and would only ever hear from the cops or the landlords.”

The hostility only begand to subside when Schipper and his housemates spoke directly with their landlord.

While the majority of complaints are for mild offenses like noise levels and even garbage pick-up issues, there have also been extreme incidents where people’s possessions—and even their lives—have been put in danger. Dalia Goldberg, a representative of McGill’s Community Ambassadors program and U3 geography student, recalled one incident that stuck out in her mind.

“There was a student who had a party and had a lot of people over,” she said. “Somebody lit a bag of garbage on fire and threw it out the window onto a neighbor’s roof and it set her house on fire. Luckily it wasn’t major and just scared her more than anything.”

Room for everyone in Milton-Parc. (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune) Both the Milton-Parc Citizens’ Committee and the McGill Community Ambassadors actively work together to bring the students and long-term residents closer, in the hopes of creating a more unified community.

“Volunteers from the community sit down with students in [McGill] residence that want to practice their French for an hour once a week,” Brisson explained. “It works well, is interesting, and is really appreciated by the volunteers. They really enjoy doing it.”

The Community Ambassadors or-

ganize community potlucks and neighbourhood cleanups—not only to allow students and long-term residents to meet each other, but also to show that the student population really does care about the neighbourhood.

Both Goldberg and Brisson agreed that, overall, the long-term residents enjoy having the students around.

“Nobody ever says ‘Let’s get rid of them, they shouldn’t be here,’” Brisson said. “It’s a fact; we live with it, and it’s a stimulating environment living with young people.”

(flickr.com)

FEATURES |10 After finishing the last bite of an apple, it’s almost second nature to toss it into the trash can before heading off to class. But what happens then? Few people know the fate of their food waste. But for many McGill students, the matter wasn’t just a concern—it was the beginnings of a significant undertaking.

Composting on campus: a big project in the works Under the right conditions, organic matter— such as landscaping clippings and food—decompose into nutrient rich soil that can be used as fertilizer to sustain new life. Under the wrong conditions, like in a landfill, the rotting waste contributes to critical urban environmental problems. Landfills cause groundwater pollution by leaching toxic liquid into the soil and water table. Furthermore, the oxygen-free environment within the garbage heaps leads to the production and release of the greenhouse gas methane, which ultimately lead to negative changes in climate.

For policy makers, the decrease in available landfill space is a pressing problem. Consequently, Quebec is taking action to divert this waste from landfills into a composting system. The provincial government dictates that McGill must divert 60 per cent of all organic waste away from either landfill or incineration by 2015. The long-term vision is to have a 100 per cent diversion rate.

The city of Montreal is also working to expand their compost capacity by establishing organic material treatment facilities across the city and is piloting an organic waste pick-up project where compost from residences will be collected by the city. However, McGill is not under Montreal’s jurisdiction for waste management. The university is required to comply with the policies and legislation set provincially and municipally, but must manage their waste independently otherwise.

For many students, the campus’ composting system—or lack thereof—was not something they planned on ignoring.

Kendra Pomerantz, U3 Environmental Economics and internal manager of the McGill Food Systems Project, is one of those students.

“I think it’s time to get on the bandwagon [with composting],” Pomerantz said. “At one point recycling was super controversial, and now everyone recycles. I think it’s kind of the next big thing and it seems like in 10 years, it’s going to be everywhere.”

It started with students Nearly nine years ago, a student organization on campus named Gorilla Composting was established with the intention of creating a waste management plan that utilized composting. Initially, when their pilot project began, food waste was not able to be composted on campus and had to be brought to Quinn Farm in IlePerrot instead.

But five years after its modest beginnings, Gorilla Composting purchased an industrial bioreactor— dubbed “Big Hanna”—in order to make composting more of a reality on campus.

Big Hanna—a large, stainless steel composter with a capacity of 91.25 tonnes per year—was installed in 2010 below M.H. Wong Building. It was originally thought to be a silver bullet for sustainability.

The more research you have, the more you’re able to quantify what you want to do, [and] the easier it is to get [the project] done Oliver de Volpi, the executive chef at McGill, explained that the McGill Food and Dining Services (MFDS) has been heavily involved with Big Hanna from the start. “[MFDS—and] now Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS)—had been the main partner [for Big Hanna ever] since [it] arrived on campus,” de Volpi said. “We are the biggest producer of compostable material and we set up and paid for the daily pickup service. For us, it was one more step in our sustainability initiatives, so we started [composting] pre-consumer waste from all of our residences.”

For many, such enthusiasm has turned into frustration. Over the last four years, a laundry list of problems has accumulated from issues with cold weather to a lower than expected capacity that the machine can process. As someone deeply involved with food waste in the residences, de Volpi observed these problems firsthand.

“Big Hanna has been the biggest challenge for sure,” de Volpi said. “[Everything from] temperature, volume, [to] quality of the compostable material going in. It has had at least eight weeks every year when it was “down”

and that is out of a 36-week year.”

After a flood during the Winter of 2013 rendered the machines temporarily non-functional, de Volpi sought out the assistance of Compost Montreal.

Compost Montreal is a compost transport company which brought waste from McGill to a commercial composting facility run by the Montreal Department of Parks and Horticulture in St. Henri. Once Big Hanna was repaired, the pre-consumer compost from the residences was split between Big Hanna and Compost Montreal, and the limited post-consumer waste went to Compost Montreal.

Taking concrete actions In 2013, MFDS—with the help of then Project Coordinator and Supervisor Lou-Anne DaoustFiliatrault and a handful of other interested students— conducted a “Greenhouse Gas Audit.”

“From [the] numbers [generated from the audit], we set up a series of recommendations as to how we could improve [our carbon emissions],” Daoust-Filiatrault said. “One of the recommendations was to create a 401 project—[an environmental course for student research]— that was going to deal specifically with compost.”

Though the audit’s conclusions reflected a need for change, Daoust-Filiatrault explained that such change can come with challenges. Like most matters of sustainability, funding is a major impediment to the implementation of a new compost scheme. “[With] energy and water [changes], usually you’re reducing costs, whereas [with] waste, you’re paying more to be ‘better,’ which is always the [concern…] with budgets,” Daoust-Filiatrault said.

But funding—though a formidable obstacle—is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Storage and pick up is [also] an issue,” DaoustFiliatrault said. “Do you have a place to store it? Is there a freezer you can store it in? Who picks it up? Is there parking? How many pickups in a week?”

The 401 course sought to tackle some of these logistical challenges. Under the supervision of Environment professor George McCourt, its goal was to evaluate the current system and set up proposals for a new system.

The project’s final report, written by nine students— including Pomerantz—consists of 66 pages of research.

It covers everything from current waste management legislation, to internal and external case studies, to potential solutions and proposed recommendations.

Other initiatives and resources for interested students The ongoing composting initiative on campus is just one fraction of the efforts to make McGill more sustainable by students on campus.

Amelia Brinkerhoff, U2 Environmental Science and Student Sustainability Coordinator for SHHS, has had ample experience with students interested in making a difference with sustainability on campus.

“Students interested and curious about environmental issues at McGill are really fortunate, because not only do you have a wonderful set of pathways within the academics [where] you can explore your interests, [but] you [can] take a project and invest your time in your campus,” Brinkerhoff said. “If you kind of research it on your own, it’s not as strong and fruitful as if you worked with a professor in a class.”

Beyond academic courses, Brinkerhoff pointed out that McGill itself has countless options for students looking to make a change. For example, the McGill Office of Sustability (MOOS) oversees research, community engagement, and even funding through its Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF), which anyone in the McGill community can apply for to fund their sustainability initiatives.

“It [can feel] like there [are] a lot of hoops to jump through sometimes,” Brinkerhoff said. “MOOS really shortens that and they make it easier for students to access issues of sustainability. It’s a good office to have. You have faculty that push[es] you to explore.

Motivated students can get funding for projects they care about. It’s a good standard for the quality of work they’re doing. The SPF fund allows students to act on their passions and to be rewarded for that, and they make really considerable conclusions.”

With these resources at hand and projects like the ongoing initiative for campus composting finding success after careful research and planning, students should feel confident with taking on sustainability challenges on campus.

“Talk to your staff, talk to your administrators, maintenance people who work there, facilities,”

Daoust-Filiatrault said. “Figure out what’s going on.

The more research you have, the more you’re able to quantify what you want to do, [and] the easier it is to get it done.”

No matter how well planned or how motivated,

a lot of projects won’t succed unless there are people willing to participate. The next challenge is making sustainability matter to the greater McGill community.

2005 Gorilla Composting established

2007 Campus Crops establish garden behind McGill School of Environment building

2008 McGill Farmers’ Market established

2009 Opening of McGill Office of Sustainability

The Flat Bike Collective established

November referendum passed for Sustainability Fund

2010 Big Hanna comes to campus

2011 Greening McTavish Vision 2020-ongoing

2012 First Community Engagement Day

Present Chemical Curriculum Development project

Food and Dining Services Greenhouse Gas Audit

11 | FEATURES

The first stage of the proposals from the 401 course has already been implemented. As of this January, Compost Montreal has increased its involvement with McGill’s compost system, and now runs Big Hanna—a responsibility that used to fall under the department of McGill’s Facilities Operations and Development.

“It’s been good; it’s been a learning curve getting to know the machine […] and how it might be applied to different institutions,” said Cameron Stiff, in charge of development, finance & commercial accounts at Compost Montreal. “We have long been excited about developing our own site and the decomposition process. We are excited about the possibilities and we are actually going to be at Mac [campus] at the end of the month. We’re hoping to use the opportunity to talk to some professors, to develop new partnerships, and [to] expand to McGill.”

Daoust-Filiatrault attributed the composting projects’ achievements thus far to student inquiry and cooperative efforts with staff, faculty, and administration.

“That’s what started it all in the first place— students researching, students talking about it, students asking to do waste audits,” DaoustFiliatrault said. “Students looking for records, talking to companies, talking to Compost Montreal, [and] examining Big Hanna. It was students who really started it, and staff members were interested and onboard. And it was sort of the collaboration between the two that worked well.”

With the 401 course over, Pomerantz and two other students are continuing the composting initiative in an honours project and two independent studies with the McGill Food Systems Project, which uses student research and community involvement to promote food sustainability on campus.

Science & technology

SCIENCE

Researchers uncover metabolic fountain of youth Anti-aging formula soon to start human trials Caity Hui Science & Technology Editor If aging were an orchestra, our youth would be a symphony that eventually starts to play out of tune. First the winds and brass would skip a beat, then the strings would lose their tempo and the percussion would fall behind. As time progresses, the beautiful melody unravels to a musical disaster that not even the conductor can salvage. In our bodies, this is the natural process of aging. However, recent research proposes a new method to keep your body’s orchestra in tune.

While some consider anti-aging as supernatural or even sacrilegious, researcher and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, David Sinclair, begs to differ. He proposes that just as we are researching therapies to halt natural neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, so too should we be investigating compounds that can reverse the effect of aging.

“Not everyone is affected by Alzheimer’s,” said Sinclair in a 2011 TED Talk in Sydney, Australia, “but [...] almost everyone is affected by aging.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a report saying that the effects of aging on society is one of the biggest problems of our generation. Unless we can keep the elderly healthy, the cost of health care for this group of people could pose serious problems for our economic infrastructure.

Sinclair spent years uncovering

Sirtuins detaches chemicals bound to the histones, which keep DNA in a coiled conformation. (cancer.gov) the science behind why cells age. His PhD thesis focused on determining the cellular mechanism behind aging in yeast cells.

“The idea [of aging] is that as we get older, genes are switched on and off in the wrong way,” said Sinclair in his TED talk. “When we are young, there is a beautiful symphony playing, but as we get older, the instruments—the orchestra—starts to play ‘willy nilly’ and we screw things up.”

Every cell has a set number of genes. However, only a certain percentage of these genes are ‘switched on’ during the cell’s life span. This process differentiates the cell into a specific type. For instance, in a liver cell, the ‘heart’ and ‘brain’—specific genes are silenced, so that only ‘liver’ genes are turned on to give the cell a unique

identity.

The problem, as shown by Sinclair’s research, is that once the yeast cells grow old, many rogue genes start to switch on. As a result, you may get a gene telling a cell in the liver to be a ‘brain’ cell, which ultimately compromises the cell’s functionality.

In 1999, Sinclair started a new lab at Harvard to further investigate this theory behind aging. He discovered several longevity genes in our body called sirtuins, which seem to protect our cells against diseases of aging.

When researchers put extra copies of these sirtuins into yeast, flies, and nematode worms, these organisms lived longer and stayed in a healthier state.

Sinclair explains in his TED talk that sirtuins are responsible for shutting down the rogue genes that are turned

on as our cells start to age.

A human cell’s total DNA measures about three meters in length. This length is significant, considering it is over 100,000 times greater than the diameter of a typical human cell. Fortunately, our bodies have developed a trick to efficiently package all of this genetic material.

DNA is wrapped around proteins called histones, which help condense genetic material into tight coils, allowing the DNA to fit elegantly into a cell’s nucleus. Since the DNA is so tightly coiled, it must be unraveled from its tight conformation into a loose state in order for a gene to be turned on. This permits the cell’s genetic machinery space to come in and express the gene.

However, when a person ages, chemicals stick randomly to the his-

tones coiling the DNA and unravel them. This process loosens the DNA, allowing cellular machinery to turn on genes in the cell that would not normally be expressed. According to Sinclair, these changes to the histones—known as epigenetic changes—are responsible for our cell’s decreased functionality as we age.

Fortunately, epigenetic changes are not irreversible, and this is where sirtuin proteins play a role. Sinclair’s research proposes that these proteins clip off the chemical groups that are unraveling the DNA, thereby reversing the effects of aging.

“We need to figure out ways to tweak [the sirtuins] and make them more active [to] delay all of these [aging-related] diseases as we get older,” said Sinclair.

Currently, Sinclair’s lab is investigating different molecules that enhance the activity of sirtuin proteins. They have been successful in discovering several compounds, including the molecule known as resveratrol that is found in red wine, which binds to sirtuin proteins and enhance their activity. Sinclair hopes that one day researchers can get these sirtuin enhancing molecules into a pill, which people could take with their breakfast to ward off diseases of aging and help keep us healthier for longer.

“I am not talking about living for 500 years, but what I am talking about is living until our 90s or our 100s in a healthy way,” said Sinclair. “We need to do something about the root cause of aging.”

SCIENCE

Consumers are the new energy resource

Opower hopes to reduce energy costs by encouraging residential competition Ari Lesniak Contributor In 1946, the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company initiated a new advertising campaign for Camels, one of the most popular cigarette brands in the United States. The slogan on the brightly coloured cases read: “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette.”

Today, Marlboro cigarette cases read: “Smoking causes mouth and throat cancer” with gruesome images of rotting teeth, clogged arteries, and hospitalized children, depending on the case. Over 50 years, a once massively popular and mainstream activity was transformed into a fringe culture viewed as repulsive by many.

Thanks to the development of new technologies and mass media, the

attitude towards energy efficiency may soon undergo the same radical change.

Since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, a conference held by the United Nations to discuss environmental and sustainable development, climate change awareness has been prevalent in the media. Unfortunately, despite this media coverage, social norms surrounding climate change have not drastically improved.

Opower, a utility company founded in San Francisco, hopes that its new technological approach to energy conservation will help shift the current mindsets towards a more active attempt to reduce household energy consumption.

Alex Laskey, the co-founder of Opower, conducted an ex-

periment with his team where he gave people one of three different messages on their doors about why they should try to save energy: “You can save $54.00 this month,” “You can save the planet,” or “You can be a good citizen.” According to the results of the survey, no one message showed a marked difference in generating incentive amongst consumers to change their energy efficiency habits. However, when Laskey added a fourth message, “Your neighoburs are doing better than you,” consumers quickly took action.

According to the results of the experiment, locals who were under the impression that their neighbours were turning down their air conditioning also turned down their air conditioning, re-

sulting in a significant decrease in energy consumption of the area.

“If something is inconvenient, even if we believe it, persuasion won’t work,” said Laskey in a 2013 TED talk titled The Psychology of Saving Energy. “But social pressure? That’s powerful stuff.”

Based on this study in behavioural science, the company has designed a process by which it provides comparisons of energy bills between neighbours.

Essentially, Opower mails their customers an energy bill with a customized energy report. The report includes a comparison of the household’s energy use to that of a similar neighbour’s in the area.

Laskey hopes that this extra incentive will help spur locals to take action to reduce their energy

consumption.

The energy bill also provides conservation and efficiency tips.

A common complaint amongst consumers in the fight against climate change is a lack of direction towards what action they should take. The efficiency tips provide households with concrete solutions to reduce energy that are tailored to that house, creating a specific path toward action.

“By thinking not just about material sciences but about behavioural sciences, we could save two terawatts a year,” said Laskey in his TED talk. “This is more than enough energy to power every home in St. Louis and Salt Lake City for more than a year.”

“We can do so much better, starting by tapping into the power of social behaviour.”

Curiosity delivers. |

science & technology

| Tuesday, February 18, 2014

13

SCIENCE

Scientists create the first customized, genetically engineered monkeys The novel animal model can be used to gain new insights on neurological diseases Christine Tam Contributor Ningning and Mingming are not ordinary monkeys. From the exterior, their pink noses and furry faces make them appear as normal macaques, but at the genomic level, these brothers carry mutated genes.

Researchers at the Model Animal Research Center of Nanjing University in China reported the creation of the first genetically engineered monkeys with customized mutations last month. By inducing such mutations, researchers are one step closer towards acquiring the technology to recreate human diseases in monkeys. This would allow scientists to use primates, rather than mice and other rodents, as more realistic models of human disease. The twin macaques were born with mutations in two genes: Ppar-γ, which is involved in metabolism regulation; and Rag1, a gene required for healthy immune function. These mutations were targeted using a novel gene-editing platform called clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR).

This innovative technology exploits an immune function found in bacteria that allows the researchers to target and destroy foreign and potentially dangerous DNA. Using a

small guiding molecule called CRISPR RNA, the DNA-cutting enzyme Cas9 is targeted to the gene of interest, where it cleaves and modifies the target sequence. This technique is much more efficient than the genetic modification method currently used in rodents, which relies on spontaneous DNA exchanges to introduce mutations. Since primates reproduce much more slowly than mice, this low-efficiency technique is not a viable option in monkeys. And while genetic engineering in monkeys is a technique that has been attempted before, previous experiments used viruses that incorporated genes into random locations that could not be specifically targeted.

The team in China, led by the principal investigator Xingxu Huang, used CRISPR to alter genes in more than 180 monkey embryos before finally achieving success with the twin macaques. While modifications in these two genes do not represent a known disease condition, the monkeys provide a proof-ofprinciple for a technique that could have large effects in biomedical research.

This new animal model is anticipated to be extremely useful in the study of human diseases that cannot be adequately replicated in mice or rats, such as neuropsychiatric disor-

Twin macaques Ningning and Mingming were born with two mutated genes. (nature.com) in an interview with the MIT Technology Review.

The CRISPR technology itself also has broad implications for the future of disease treatment. As a form of human gene therapy, CRISPR could one day be used to precisely swap out defective genes for

their corrected counterparts. While we are likely still years away from seeing this technique being used in a clinic, it is clear that the biomedical research landscape is rapidly changing and bringing forward new technologies.

By Maral Saghaei

Results for malaria vaccine look promising

Last Friday was “Single awareness day” leaving many wondering how to find their soul mate. As it turns out, sea slugs may hold the key. For these saltwater snails, lovemaking is far from gentle and sweet: sea slugs stab their partners to procreate.

The slugs used a hypodermic device—like a hollow needle— to introduce chemicals into their partners which make them more willing to engage in sexual activity. The ‘love darts’ are coated with a substance that is suspected to play a critical role in the slugs’ procreation.

Rolanda Lange, an evolutionary biologist from Monash University in Victoria, Australia, explained to National Geographic that the sex drug may act to prevent the recipient from digesting “the donor’s sperm and, instead, use it to fertilize the cur-

Researchers believe that a novel, effective malaria vaccine might potentially be available by the end of 2014.

The pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has released promising results from the phase III clinical trial of the RTS,S malaria vaccine candidate. Fifteen thousand infants and young children were followed up over 18 months, and these latest results suggest that with RTS,S, the percentage of malaria cases dropped by almost half in young children and by about a quarter in infants. This vaccine has been in the works for more than three decades, but it has encountered many challenges. The problem with malaria is that it is not caused by a virus, but rather, by a complex

evolving parasite that includes many different species.

The RTS,S vaccine, however, specifically targets Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly species that causes malaria by integrating the parasite’s protein in the existing hepatitis B vaccine. Although not 100 per cent effective—this vaccine has the potential to be very useful when applied in combination with other anti-malaria incentives such as bed nets and insecticides.

Seeing as malaria is one of the hardest-hitting diseases in the world and affects millions of children per year, RTS,S brings renewed hope for the introduction of a significant preventative measure.

ders.

“Although mice are giving us tremendous insight into basic brain biology and the biology of the disease, there’s still a big gap in between the mouse brain and the monkey brain,” said MIT’s Brain Institute Director, Robert Desimone,

Research briefs Sea slugs and sex drugs

By Prativa Baral

Sea slugs shoot their love dart (centre of image) at the eye. (ecuavisa.com) rent egg batch.” Other functions include aiding in the slug’s postmating recovery.

Lange added that sea slugs are not the only species to shoot sex drugs into their mates. A large number of snail species use similar strategies to promote mating with their partners. One example is the garden snail, which shoots a dart covered in mucus to stimulate the female’s reproductive system

to contract, thus increasing fertility.

While this Cupid’s arrow system might seem random, its evolutionary purpose is quite directed, as sea slugs aim for the eye. According to Lange, in aiming for the head, sea slugs target the central nervous system sitting right behind the forehead. It seems these slugs are quite literally brainwashing their mates.

arts & entertainment THEATRE

Ancient conflicts still pertinent in TNC’s Antigone Philosophical problems take centre stage in Anouilh adaptation Esther Vinarov Contributor

Visceral and thoughtful, Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone exposes us to elemental human choices without asking us to provide an answer. Starting last weekend, McGill’s student-run theatre company Tuesday Night Café (TNC) is performing Jean Anouilh’s adaptation of the classic in a philosophically stimulating production.

The plot begins with the end of a civil war between two brothers vying for the throne of Thebes. With both of them dead, the new ruler–and uncle to the fallen brothers–Creon (Alex Bankier), names Eteocles a hero, and condemns the other, Polynices, to rot. To maintain order in his new regime, Creon issues an edict forbidding anyone from affording the dishonoured brother proper burial rites, on punishment of death.

However, when his niece Antigone (Kay Min) defies him, Creon is put in a desperately difficult position: he must decide what the price of law and order is when his own morality is at stake.

Director Harrison Collett truly takes advantage of the many levels of conflict in Antigone. The stage is split so that the audience can sit on either side; at the beginning of the show, I sat directly across from Creon, and behind Antigone. This

No easy answers in Antigone. (Photo courtesy of Adam Banks) is an ingenious element, reminding us that there are at least two trajectories to every story, and they’re not always reconcilable.

The characters don’t just clash with each other; at times, they seem to exist on completely separate planes. Antigone’s lilting, ephemeral affectation; Creon’s authoritarian, powerful might; and the secondary characters’ simple innocence are all legitimate expressions of the human experience, but separated in unfathomable and often incompatible ways. That is not to say that the characters and cast do not engage meaningfully with one another— rather, as the drama winds down, each realizes that he or she has been

ascribed an unchangeable role that will continue in its course to the tragic end.

Min is well-cast as Antigone; for the most part the role calls for an otherworldly innocence, yet she also projects the necessary control and determination befitting her royal heritage and her moral convictions.

She fuses the free spirit and the philosopher, totally embodying the lead role.

Bankier is truly stunning as Creon, exuding all the authoritarianism, vulnerability, fear, and desperation of a leader placed in an agonizing situation. Since Anouilh had to get the script past censors in Nazioccupied France during the Second

World War, Antigone could not be an overt call for the rejection of authority. Instead, we are surprised to find ourselves considering Creon’s point of view, though it seems inhumane and horrid, and it becomes difficult to unconditionally side with the heroine after sharing in all the thoughts of the quasi-villain. Thomas Vallières as Jonas the guard delivers a particularly fine performance, bringing charm, humour, and relatability to an otherwise heavy drama.

As the performance hurtles towards its tragic end, the meaning of life seems to fall apart. When Creon asks, “What’s the point of it all?” and despairs that, “The whole business is abysmally stupid,” these

statements reflect back on Antigone; she’s made herself very clear as far as her ideals and morals, so what really is the point in continuing to defy her uncle, when the only result is death? Is Antigone life-affirming or not, and how much meaning can be extracted from her tragedy?

It’s difficult enough to answer these questions, especially as Anouilh was not clear enough in setting up the motivation for Antigone’s fateful decision. What began as a rebellious desire to bury her brother—despite the consequences—morphs into a very different stance, manifested as her wish to die rather than live an empty life. It’s hard to tell whether she’s a martyr with morals, or an existentialist with no will to live. In the writing as well as the acting, these two ideals are conflated and entangled. Nevertheless, the cast puts on an excellent show, rich in the genuine complexities of human life.

The production succeeds in that it causes us to question our own ideals. There is no doubt that this play will force you to think, and for that reason alone, it is well worth seeing.

Antigone will be performed from Feb. 14-15 and 19-22 at 8 p.m. at Morrice Hall. Student tickets are $6.

Mikado

Continued from cover

The smooth, swelling tones of the male chorus practically dominate act one and the captivating vibrato of Cook’s tenor perfectly complements Chorley’s stunning, strong soprano during their tender love duets. Finally, the female choir’s bright, succulent harmonies practically soar to the back of the auditorium as the tension builds in this crazy operetta. Musically, The Mikado does much to impress, especially considering that many of the cast and crew are not music or performance majors.

For all those who appreciate the visual aspects of a production, the artistry of the show is fantastic. Award-winning set designer Jean-Claude Olivier is part of the Savoy team—his talent and expertise shines through in the vibrant colours of The Mikado’s stage, hand painted to look like a mystical, oriental garden. The costumes are the pinnacle of Japanese expression in the show, and create a vivacious feast for audience eyes.

Steeped in tradition, Savoy is one of the longest standing and most estab-

lished student groups on campus. They are a well-coalesced team, which is certainly evident in their performance.

“We really came together,” says Stage Director Cameron MacLeod.

“Kind of like a family.”

From the peppy, upbeat orchestra pit to the fine-tuned lighting crew, there seems to be some sort of overall sense that they truly are all friends who love working together, creating a production that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

The Mikado mixes the topsyturvy style of Gilbert and Sullivan with enough intelligent human emotion and sharp wit to keep the audience engaged till the curtain falls. The Savoy Society’s grand, fifty-year legacy brilliantly carries on this classic Anglo-tradition to a modern generation of McGill theatregoers.

The Mikado will be performed at 7:30 p.m. from Feb. 20-22 and at 2 p.m. on Feb. 22 at Moyse Hall. Student tickets are $12.

Eclectic characters, lifelike visuals, and smooth sounds in The Mikado. (Adrien Hu / McGill Tribune)

Curiosity delivers. |

arts & entertainment

| Tuesday, February 18, 2014

15

TELEVISION

House of Cards reshuffles its deck for a slightly inferior second season A spoiler-free taste of what seasoned viewers can expect from act two of Netflix’s political thriller Max Berger Arts & Entertainment Editor The release of House of Cards Season 2 last Friday may have been the closest we’ve come as a species to matching the amount of spoilerinduced anxiety that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows generated when it first became available.

For fans of the show who weren’t able to take in the long anticipated, 13-episode bombshell right after it became viewable on Netflix, every passing conversation or social media outlet doubled as a minefield full of unwanted information that could detonate at any moment. And after the first 60 minutes of Season 2 alone, potential spoiler figures like myself already had plenty of ammunition to work with.

If you’ve seen Season 1 and haven’t yet gotten around to watching the sequel, consider this review a safe haven from any of Season 2’s detrimental plot details: just some gut reactions and extremely broad analysis of what proved to be a mildly disappointing follow-up to a highly acclaimed debut.

With its initial volume of simultaneously released episodes, House of Cards was lauded for being a daring, fast-paced political narrative that takes the notion of corruption in Washington to uncharted territory. Season 2 doesn’t

abandon that formula, but at times, it uses a watered-down version of it—one that leaves various episodes prone to stretches of lulled action.

In some ways, that can be attributed to the general plot arc of the season. When we last left Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey), he had completed his deceptive and improbable rise to vice-presidency, which was fueled after President Walker (Michel Gill) passed him over for Secretary of State. The political snub spurred Underwood and his equally shrewd wife, Claire (Robin Wright), to orchestrate an elaborate revenge plot that centred on Frank seizing power at any cost.

This season, it’s evident that the couple have their sights set on crossing the next frontier—by becoming President and First Lady— but we rarely see them scheme together with the same hunger they displayed in Season 1’s frequent nighttime meetings by the windowsill. Since the steps along the way are less clearly defined, it ends up feeling like more of a leisurely stroll to power than the march it once was.

This isn’t to suggest that Frank has lost his edge—he’s still the same man that’s capable of cold-blooded murder when he has to. As Frank so bluntly puts it in one of his trademark addresses to

the viewer, “There are two types of vice-presidents: doormats and matadors. Which do you think I intend to be?” Frank is unquestionably one of the latter, but his newfound vice-presidential duties tend to have him managing crises instead of actively seeking out obstacles to take down—not to mention all the time he has to spend buttering up his uninspiring presidential boss.

In terms of supporting characters, House of Cards keeps a good portion of the group it started with intact, but also makes some key—and unexpected—changes.

Of all the newcomers, Jackie Sharp (Molly Parker) makes the most consistent impact, taking over Frank’s role as House Majority Whip after he handpicks her. Otherwise, the writers keep us guessing for most of the season with regards to who will step up in any given episode; there’s a willingness to let presumably minor characters suddenly take on bigger roles, and for old faces to unexpectedly resurface.

That approach has mixed results: sometimes it creates intriguing supplementary storylines, and at other times, it leads to dead ends.

However, the caveat with the latter scenario is that those moments may be laying the foundation for something bigger down the road. One of the show’s signature tactics is to bring its characters’ recent pasts

House of Cards fails to meet the hype, but is still worth a binge watch. (digitaltrends.com) into the open—as it does prominently with Claire this season— so it makes sense that its writers would already be thinking ahead to Season 3.

While Season 2 of House of Cards may not have been the dynamic force that its predecessor was, it still delivers a steady stream of absorbing content that justifies a 13-hour binge-watch. It also features a handful of “OH MY GOD, DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?” moments, the most startling of which happens in the season’s first hour

and will—quite literally—leave you frozen in your tracks. By the time it’s all over, the main storyline continues to grow as the show’s title suggests it will, into an intricate structure whose grandeur is matched only by its vulnerability.

For those who have already completed Season 2, check mcgilltribune.com for an in-depth spoiler-filled review.

MUSIC

Back to basics: Intimacies of the MontréaLive approach TVM and CKUT combine to bring you strange new sounds in strange new places Natalie Wong Staff Writer When watching the perfectly engineered music videos of our generation, I can’t help but feel a sense of detachment from the actual music.

To me, music represents an inherent connection to the raw emotion of the musician(s) who create it. MontréaLive serves to bridge the gap that plagues viewers like myself. A collaboration between TVM and CKUT, MontréaLive is an enriching web series of live music sessions that showcases the plethora of talented bands and musicians in the aesthetic city of Montreal.

“MontréaLive grew out of McGill Music, a similar project that I worked on last year with Sarah Leitner,” says Sasha Crawford-Holland, co-founder of MontréaLive. “In launching MontréaLive, we [TVM and CKUT] wanted to create a series

that was a little more curated and less McGill-centric.”

For many people, there is nothing more fulfilling then getting centre seats to a live concert and basking in the adrenaline and passion of the musicians on stage.

“MontréaLive is all about celebrating the power of live performances,” Crawford-Holland says.

“We love to showcase bands in arrangements or contexts in which people may never have seen or heard of before, while also exposing Montreal’s diverse music scene to people who may not be as familiar with it.”

“Excellent music from your local scene, delivered right to your screen,” Dorian Scheidt, sound engineer of MontréaLive, explains. “[It gives you] strange new sounds in strange new places.”

The settings where the live sessions are filmed reflects the band’s music as well as the vibrant artistry

of Montreal. “[The] spaces are always different,” says Schedit. “We often shoot in musician’s rehearsal spaces, which I think gives an added level of intimacy to the performances. Seeing music performed in the place that it was written can be extra exciting.”

Past acts have included the Loose Strife, Archery Guild, Femmaggots, She Divides, and participants in POP Montreal’s Fall festival, Look Vibrant. The live sessions that feature these artists cater to the band’s distinctive musical style. From Look Vibrant’s live session in Citizen Vintage, a bright and colourful vintage clothing store; to Loose Strife’s live session in a dark and enigmatic room; each video is different in its sound and aesthetics, capturing the essence of the band’s music.

Other locations where these live sessions have been shot include Midnight Kitchen, RVC’s cafeteria, Solin

Hall, and a McGill physics lab.

“Generally, we think of what are really cool spaces that look vibrant,” Tatyana Olal, managing editor of MontréaLive, says. “We’re looking into doing an upcoming shoot in a hair salon, Salon Metropolar, which has a really cool aesthetic to it.”

Analogous to the artistic and down-to-earth attitudes of MontréaLive’s crew, the filming process reflects a unique collaboration between the local musicians and MontréaLive.

“We’ll go through a number of takes,” Olal explains. “The band will usually have a vibe for which take they felt was the tightest and we’ll all put in our input [....] the take which we’ve all decided on will be the master take that I’ll edit.”

As the sound-mixing guru, Scheidt describes himself as “the resident audio nerd” of MontréaLive.

“Since January 2013, I’ve been recording and mixing all of the live

performance videos released under the ‘McGill Music’ and now ‘MontreaLive’ labels,” Scheidt explains.

“Going forward, I’ll be training new volunteers in the art and magic of sound recording in uncommon spaces.”

That prompted Scheidt to discuss the future prospects for MontréaLive.

“The project will continue, bringing in more volunteers and working with more excellent artists.

We hope to make it an institution that allows for music discovery, as well as training and collaboration between volunteers, students and community members,” Scheidt says.

Given the zeal and artistry delineated in these live sessions, it’s not hard to understand the desire to showcase the intimacy of live performances.

16

arts & entertainment

ALBUM REVIEWS Tuesday, February 18, 2014 |

DEEP CUTS Songs for lonely hearts Unearthing the hidden gems in today’s music Compiled by Kia Pouliot

Easy Artist: John Newman Album: Tribute Released: October 14, 2013

John Newman reaffirms Britain’s knack for churning out artists with soul. “Easy,” following Tribute’s theme of rollercoaster romance, is a downhill moment on the ride. “Just another song/ Just another tale/ Of a broken heart” is the opening line of this brooding track, and as suggested, the content is not particularly poetic. Despite this, Newman manages to add a profundity to the lyrics with his powerful vocal rendering of the sentiment, starting small and tender, then escalating to a gut-wrenching chorus that makes the endlessly recycled heartbreak theme sound fresh again.

Touch Artist: Daughter Album: If You Leave Released: March 18, 2013

If the music they make is in anyway reflective of their life experience, London trio Daughter are no strangers to misery—particularly when it comes to lost love. “Touch” poignantly captures the sense of disconnect and loneliness that comes with a broken heart. Vocalist Elena Tonra sings “I’m dreaming of strangers/ Kissing me in the night/ Just so I/ Just so I can feel something.” Whether or not you can relate, for a moment you sink into that dark place with her.

Stupid Artist: Kacey Musgraves Album: Same Trailer Different Park Released: March 19, 2013

“Stupid” is a refreshingly unsentimental look at relationships that playfully condemns love in general.

Though Musgrave’s vocals are not particularly powerful, her songwriting voice—full of matter-of-fact wit and companionable charm—manages to draw you in. This track, with its twangy acoustic guitar and relatable message will make you want to crank it up and stomp your feet as you revel in all its cynical glory.

Delicate Artist: Damien Rice Album: O Released: February 1, 2002

Sometimes there’s nothing better than shutting off all the lights, curling up with some cozy blankets, and listening to some really depressing music. “Delicate,” a song about an unhealthy relationship, follows Rice’s tendency to seamlessly glide between bareboned acoustic ruminations to grandly orchestrated balladry. Though such dramatic production and heart-on-sleeve lyrics like, “So why do you fill my sorrow/ With the words you've borrowed” can often seem contrived, Rice’s delivery always feels pure and sincere. When the mopey mood strikes, no one is a better guest at your pity party than the king of lonely hearts himself, Damien Rice.

| Curiosity delivers.

John Butler Trio - flesh and Blood vanguard Fans accustomed to John Butler Trio’s (JBT) organic, funky, and sometimes folky sound might find themselves a bit taken aback after listening to the Australian roots band’s newest album, Flesh and Blood. JBT’s previous albums have packed musical variety, ranging from sassy, upbeat songs like “Used to Get High” (Grand National), to instrumental delicacies such as “Ocean” (John Butler), all the way to potently emotional ballads like “Peaches and Cream” (Sunrise Over Sea). The trio, which formed in 1998, have mastered the art of diversity in their sound as they have evolved—however, this journey of steady versatility seems to have been interrupted.

Flesh and Blood, while in no way an ear-sore of an album, lacks the entertaining assortment of sound JBT is known for. The name of the album denotes a sense of raw simplicity; maybe this was what John and the crew were going for when recording, as songs like “Only One” and “Young and Wild” are extremely simple not only instrumentally, but also lyrically. There

the wayo - the wandering

are certain moments while listening where one could simply read the name of the song in order to know the majority of the lyrics and general ‘point’ of the song. A lot of the tracks run into each other and lack the liveliness JBT is known for.

This being said, the album is still packed with John Butler’s buttery voice and simple but skillful instrumental accompaniment—there were only two main guitar solos throughout the 11 tracks. JBT is known for making passionate music, and this isn’t fully lost, as demonstrated through the provocative story lines of “Bullet Girl” and “Wings Are Wide.”

Given that it has taken the group four years to release a new album, the work obviously merits a listen.

However, approach with no sort of high expectation: find the one or two tracks you connect with, and reshelf Flesh and Blood behind JBT’s much more impressive compilations.

— Hilary Storm

independent

Originating in Halifax, The Wayo is a young band charting its path with a mixture of ‘antique’ and modern sounds. Consisting of four songs, their first extended play (EP), titled The Wandering, utilizes eclectic instrumentation in order to hold true to the roots of R&B while also appealing to younger listeners. The Wandering is a breath of fresh air for those who appreciate the fusion of musical genres; this EP allows alto saxophones, groovy basslines, and an electronic drum machine to combine for a wholly unique sound.

Charlotte Day Wilson’s vocals immediately stand out. Her tone is smooth and raw, clearly drawing inspiration from the female Motown singers of the ‘60s. She also doubles as the band’s saxophonist. The third track, “Undone,” features both of her talents, while an exceptional rhythm section backs her up.

One of the band’s specific techniques is guitar-

ist Mike Fong’s use of FX, which provides an intriguing echo to his guitar chords. “Lay It Down” is the best exemplar of this effect, giving this song a funky groove and sexual tone—a recurring theme in the EP. Despite the refreshing sound it brings to a student culture plagued by house and electronic music, The Wandering is still slightly monotonous. But this isn’t uncommon criticism for a band’s debut EP, and it’s one that The Wayo will likely shed as they further develop their musical capabilities.

This also doesn’t change the fact that The Wayo have produced four songs that are easy to dance to and pay excellent tribute to the R&B sounds of the ‘60s and ‘70s. The Wandering is a positive steppingstone in their career and I’m excited to hear whatever—“smooth ass R&B” is the phrasing on their Bandcamp page—they release next.

— Evan Coulter

The Jezabels - The Brink Pay it again sam Every now and again, an artist—or band—crops up out of nowhere and absolutely stuns with one listen of their debut album. Following a string of EP’s released between 2009 and 2010, this alternative rock band from Sydney, Australia, released their first full-length effort, Prisoner, in 2011 to much critical acclaim, cementing their place in both Australian and international music industries. Since then, The Jezabels have performed at countless music festivals around the world and enjoyed international success.

So it was surprising, really, when their second album, The Brink, was released rather quietly, with no major promotion or chart-topper hit that reached the audiences like its predecessors did. It was equally surprising that, upon first listen, the band has somewhat muted their outrageously loud and gushing sound that had critics falling head-over-heels for on their debut, and have made a more tightly-knit album; the band had refined their work.

However, in the case of The Jezabels, who possess Hayley McGlone—a lead singer capable of powering

her way through songs with a vocal range comparable to even Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine— refinement hasn’t translated very well, and has left her with little musical support behind her massive vocals.

Not only are the songs somewhat underwhelming—there is not one track on the record that is an immediate, brilliant slap-in-the-face of genius—lyrically, they are rather… dated. McGlone was quoted as saying this album is more personal, and it is fairly clear as the majority of the songs deal with love and issues closer-to-home than their globally-thematic work of Prisoner.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad album; however, it’s hardly a step in the right direction for the band’s sound—possibly even a step backwards for them. The Brink represents an unquestionable sophomore slump, and although there is not one necessarily ‘bad’ song on the album, there isn’t one that grabs you immediately.

— Jack Neal

SPORTS

Countries from all over the world have sent athletes to compete in 15 events in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. Although there are 88 countries participating in the Olympics, seven of them hold nearly 60 per cent of all total medals awarded so far. This is not new. Historically, specific countries have excelled in niche sports, thus padding their medal counts: Germany, luge; Norway, cross-country skiing; Netherlands, speed skating. Furthermore, there is a clear lack of parity across the sports, with disciplines such as speed skating and cross-country skiing hosting 12 events apiece, compared to sports such as skeleton, ice hockey, and curling represented with a mere two events each at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

With certain countries able to dominate the podium in a specific sport—particularly in disciplines that have multiple events—the medal board at the Olympics has become extremely top-heavy with a drastic drop-off after the first few positions. How can the Winter Olympics be altered for increased parity in the standings?

Introducing a point system South Korea has had a historical vice-grip on the short-track speed skating circuit, having won 37 of their country’s 45 medals—including 19 gold—in the sport.

There are eight short-track speed skating events, with South Korea being the only realistic competitor every time the Winter Olympics roll around.

Although a country’s expertise in a sport should not be penalized, it should also not be disproportionately rewarded. What makes short-track speed skating more valuable than a sport such as skeleton? There are only two medals available for countries that specialize in the latter, compared to the nearly automatic eight awarded to South Korea for short-track speed skating.

I am not advocating for higher-represented sports to be cut down—the more events there are, the more opportunities there are for athletes to compete in the Olympics.

I am also not calling for sports such as curling and ice

hockey to sprout eight new iterations, and thus potentially cheapen the value of their respective competitions.

However, I do think that the system needs to change if parity is to be achieved. Why not award an appropriately ratioed amount of points for medals in sports such as alpine skiing, relative to a sport with fewer available medals such as bobsledding? Or consider establishing a stock system, in which sports below five events are awarded the full point, sports between five and eight events are awarded 0.50 points, and sports with over eight events awarded 0.25 points per medal.

Beyond establishing more parity in the standings, this would provide incentive for countries to train and excel at less popularized sports, and hopefully provide more exposure for the athletes that compete in lesser-known events.

—Remi Lu

If it ain'’t broke, don’'t fix it In an event such as the Winter Olympics, achieving widespread parity across the medal standings is unrealistic for multiple reasons. The concept of a winter competition gives an inherent advantage to countries that experience long winter seasons, making the record-setting 88 nation cohort a misleading statistic.

The fact that different countries are better at different sports highlights the notion of a comparative advantage, and should be considered a good thing. German luging, Dutch speed skating, and Norwegian cross-country skiing are all events that are ingrained in the respective athletic cultures of these nations and are a source of national pride.

It just so happens that these sports are more individualbased, which leads to more medals—not the fault of individual national Olympic Committees who have cultivated

an athletics culture in a certain sport. Athletes should not be punished if they medal in an event in which their nation is dominant because of efforts to artificially induce parity.

We should not be fixing something that isn’t broken.

Country specialization in events should be celebrated as a harbinger of diversity, and should spark more competition, as other nations pour resources into certain events in an effort to try and knock off incumbent powerhouses. The Olympics are supposed to be a venue for the best athletes from countries across the world to showcase their talents. If their efforts are diminished by any sort of table tampering, it would detract from the spirit of the Games.

—Mayaz Alam

The final medal standings are a bit of an oddity in the Olympics. Despite the spirit of competition throughout the event, the ultimate outcome is actually rather ambiguous. No nation is declared the winner of the Olympics; the closing ceremonies are a celebration rather than a declaration of overall victory.

If we seek to make the final standings more representative, we must first determine what they should be representing. Should the winner be the country that is the most dominant overall? In that case, give all sports equal weighting in the final standings, or impose diminishing returns on medals won in a single sport. Is it the country with the most dominant individuals? Factor margins of victory from each event into the final standings.

Trying to give smaller countries a chance? Divide results by the number of events competed in and rank countries based on the resulting coefficient.

Perhaps the answer is to have multiple calculations, declaring a winner in different categories.

Maybe we should award smaller countries a handicap in the standings. Or maybe we should let it be, and let the standings remain an afterthought in these games that are supposedly built around sportsmanship and unity.

With differing climates, budgets, and levels of interest, there will inevitably be disparity between countries. The way we deal with that disparity comes down to how we define an Olympic champion, and ultimately what we feel the Olympics represent.

—Ben Carter-Whitney

18

Tuesday, February 18, 2014 |

sports

| Curiosity delivers.

BASKETBALL— McGill 72, Laval 51

Silver and Sylla lay the smackdown on Laval Martlets extend win streak to six with two games still to play in regular season Osama Haque Staff Writer The McGill Martlets (12-2) cruised to a 72-51 victory over the Laval Rouge et Or at Love Competition Hall Thursday evening.

The team’s penultimate home game was McGill’s sixth straight victory in the RSEQ, and marked the fourth time this year that the Martlets defeated the Rouge et Or. The reigning RSEQ champs stormed the court from the starting tip with their zone defence, going on a 13-2 run in the first three minutes. Laval bounced back by attacking the Martlet zone defence with crisp ball movement, and focused on getting the ball into the paint. In the second half of the game, McGill switched up their game-plan by moving away from the zone and playing a more man-to-man defence, thus forcing Laval into poor passes and even worse shots.

On the offensive side, the Martlets relied on the interior combo of freshman Jennifer Silver and sophomore Mariam Sylla. McGill had shooters spread around the three-point arc to ensure enough spacing for the dynamic duo to operate. Although the home team had just an eight point lead at half, the Martlets ran away with the game in the third quarter by emphasizing defensive

stops coupled with quick outlet passes, ultimately leading to easy transition buckets.

“That was our best four quarters we played all season,” Martlet Head Coach Ryan Thorne said.

“That was the best game we have played so far.”

Silver, a reserve forward, was key for the squad Thursday, as she dominated the paint for easy lay-ups and offensive rebounds. Silver finished with a team-high 15 points. Laval had no answer for the rookie all game, as Silver racked up rebounds and easy jump-shots. Sylla used her athleticism and face-up game throughout the match, chipping in 13 points in the victory. Fifthyear forward Hélène Bibeau, and third-year guard Dianna Ros both played vital roles as well in the McGill win, dropping 10 points apiece.

“We put people in positions to be more successful,” Thorne said. “We tweaked a few things, and the girls benefited from that.

Overall, everyone played well.”

McGill shot an outstanding 42.6 per cent from the field and 87.5 per cent from the charity strike, while Laval recorded a measly 28.4 per cent from the field. With the playoffs on the horizon, Thorne insists that there is still progress to be made.

“We have a couple more

THIRD MAN IN

m) bc.co

SEC Player-of-the-Year, consensus All-American, and controversial draft prospect. No, this isn’t Tim Tebow. This is Michael Sam, a defensive end from the University of Missouri who, last week, announced that he is gay—a momentous milestone for the macho world of the National Football League. Despite the trepidation surrounding being the first openly gay player committing to the NFL draft, Michael Sam and his supporters should be optimistic that come draft time in May, the only thing being assessed will be Sam’s ability on the field—because he is doing everything he can to make that the case.

But first, cue the lazy, tired narratives propagated by the media and others within the NFL. Sports Illustrated (SI)—who in-

things to do better,” Thorne said.

“It’s just about preparation for us. We have to make sure we are better than the other team in the playoffs.”

McGill’s week did not end with Thursday night’s matchup, as they traveled to Lennoxville to

face the Bishop Gaiters on Friday night. The team came out on top with a 52-37 victory that saw Silver and Sylla once again leading the way with 14 and 12 points respectively. Sylla was a force to be reckoned with on the boards once more, as she tallied 11 rebounds

for her ninth double-double of the year. The Martlets’ next game will be against UQAM on Thursday, Feb. 20 at Love Competition Hall. The match will begin at 6:00 p.m. and will be McGill’s final home game of the season before the RSEQ playoffs.

Forget the narrative, focus on football

terviewed eight NFL executives and coaches on the issue—ran reports that focused on his draft stock plummeting. According to a personal player assistant interviewed by SI, “Football is [not] ready for an openly gay player,” because it is a “man’s-man game.”

These views reveal little about the reality of the presentday NFL. Former NFL star Jerome Bettis has said that 90 or 95 per cent of NFL players do not care about Sam’s sexual orientation. A former Missouri teammate mentioned that “98 p e r cent in

(msn

Zikomo Smith Contributor

Forward Gabriela Hebert surveys the passing lane. (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune)

the NFL could care less about someone being gay, and that it’s the two per cent that will make us look bad.” Furthermore, there has been little talk about how NFL commissioner Roger Goodell— who has a gay brother—has handled the issue. The NFL’s most important man has shown support for Michael Sam and promised further training to help the NFL deal with its first openly gay player.

It goes without saying that the NFL is an imperfect league.

Michael Sam and his sexual orientation is the least of the NFL’s problems. Just take a look at former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who is currently in prison on murder charges; or recently retired safety, Darren Sharper, who was arrested last week for felony drug and sexual assault charges.

Beyond this, Sam is doing all he can to put himself in the best position to thrive once he makes

it to the NFL. He wisely heeded the advice of Tyrion Lannister: “Never forget who you are; the rest of the world will not. Wear it like armour and it can never be used to hurt you.” Sam’s announcement has given him control over the narrative surrounding the story, giving teams ample time before the draft to address the issue. The NFL hates surprises, and Sam has done his best to control the media firestorm. This will help shift the media focus onto the only thing that matters: his ability to play football. Sam himself has been quiet since his announcement, only breaking the silence to reassert his commitment to training for the 2014 NFL Combine later this month.

The 24-year-old has also highlighted his qualities that appeal to the modern NFL. He is the first member of his family to go to college, and has overcome the death, disappearance, or incarceration of many of his siblings.

He showed the ability to lead a locker room during his senior season at Missouri, where the team posted a 12-2 season while being fully aware of his sexual orientation. Sam is demonstrating that he is a dedicated learner who can overcome challenges, which is what forward-thinking NFL teams look for.

Sam is now a modern-day example of courage in the face of adversity. His announcement has flown in the face of the Richie Incognito-esque locker room culture that demonstrates the shortcomings of the league. Following his announcement, the narrative has changed on Sam’s story, as the media is becoming less concerned about his personal life and more concerned about what matters most: his on-field talents. The scouting report now reads that he is a courageous, high-motor passrusher, and someone who is clear about his intentions to succeed in the NFL.

Curiosity delivers. | Hockey— McGill 7, Nipissing 6

sports

| Tuesday, February 18, 2014

19

Redmen rally from four-goal deficit in thrilling overtime win McKiernan nets five points, including crucial assist on game-winner to close out regular season Wyatt Fine Gagné Staff Writer Although the stands were not quite full Friday night at McConnell Arena, it certainly sounded as though they were by the game’s end. After a rough start, the McGill Redmen pulled out a thrilling 7-6 come-from-behind overtime win over the Nipissing Lakers in their final regular-season game in the OUA. McGill trailed for nearly the entire game, but managed to erase a four-goal deficit with just over 11 minutes to play to send the game into overtime. The extra period saw second-year centre Mathieu Pompei seal the win with his ninth goal of the year. The victory marked the largest comeback effort in Redmen hockey history. The outcome seemed improbable as the outlook appeared grim for the majority of the game “Not a lot went well for us tonight, and it was looking like it was going to be one of those nights,” said Redmen Coach Kelly Nobes. “If you look at almost everything, top to bottom through the first 50 minutes, it was going their way.”

Despite outshooting Nipissing 27-24 through the first two periods, McGill looked out of sync. Things were so dire that a few unlucky fans made their exit early, missing out on the exciting finish.

The late rally was sparked by

Left winger Patrick Delisle-Houde turns on the jets. (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune) a strong individual effort from alternate captain Ryan McKiernan that resulted in a shorthanded goal. The goal was one of five points on the night for McKiernan, a defenceman from White Plains, New York, who will finish the season as the OUA’s leading scorer among defencemen with 13 goals and 37 points overall.

Fellow assistant captain Patrick Delisle-Houde potted McGill’s fifth and sixth goals, bringing his season total to 14.

After tapping in his first goal on the power play at 17:21 of the third period, Delisle-Houde managed to put home his second just 52 seconds later after a heated scramble in front of the Nipissing net. As important as the efforts from McKiernan and DelisleHoude were, however, this was most certainly a team win.

“I just told the guys, credit to your character,” Nobes said. “[They] could have packed it in with eight or nine minutes to go.

It was just a character win.”

Perhaps almost as impressive as the comeback itself was McGill’s ability to stay composed despite being plagued by penalty troubles the whole game.

The two teams combined for 68 penalty minutes, including two 10-minute misconducts­­— one for each side.

The Redmen goaltending— although stellar throughout the season—was less impressive Friday night. McGill starter Jacob

FIGURE SKATING —We may have had ridiculous expectations, but come on, it was Canada’s golden boy—no, not Sidney Crosby. Patrick Chan took the silver medal, missing out on the gold by less than five points in the men’s free program on Saturday. This was a disappointing result for some as Chan is the threetime defending world champion. But let’s be real, 19-year-old Japanese gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu is a magician. He should have to wear hockey skates.

In all seriousness, this might have been Chan’s last chance at an Olympic gold—he will be 27 years old in 2018—which is honestly devastating. No matter what happens, you will always be in our hearts, PChiddy.

W

Around the

ater cooler

STEVEN LAMPERT Production Manager

In case you were too busy bearing down for midterms, here’s what you missed last week at the 2014 Winter Olympics....

SPEED SKATING—We all love our unlikely heroes, and Canada has found one in Sochi. Denny Morrison won his second medal of the Games on Saturday, earning a bronze medal in the 1500m race at Adler Arena. The 28-year-old wasn’t expected to do much damage in Sochi, considering there were questions about whether he would even qualify for the Canadian team at the time trials in January. Having added to his silver medal in the 1000m earlier in the week, Morrison has tied Gaétan Boucher as the most decorated Canadian male long track speed skater in history with four Olympic medals. He will inevitably break Boucher’s record when he participates in the team pursuit beginning on Feb. 21, because Canada’s skater is always open for business and a grand slam is

Gervais-Chouinard was pulled after allowing four goals on 16 shots in the first period. Karel St. Laurent managed to fare better, stopping 17 of 19 shots he faced on the way to his fourth win. Gervais-Chouinard looked uncharacteristically shaky, but will finish the season with a team-best .917 save percentage despite Friday’s effort. When asked about his playoff starter, Nobes declined to comment, but Gervais-Chouinard would seem to be the likely choice.

The win wraps up the regular season for McGill, with the team now looking ahead to the playoffs. The Redmen, who led the OUA East division for the majority of the season, now sit in third despite finishing 9-0-1 in their last 10 games. Next on the docket is a first round match up against the rival Concordia Stingers. If the Redmen hope to replicate their National Championship-winning success of 2012, they will need to show the mental toughness and resilience they did on Friday.

“Nothing was going right for us, and to pull it out like that is certainly exciting for the fans,” Nobes said. “But just to show this kind of character also gives us a bit of momentum going into the playoffs.”

McGill’s three-game series against Concordia will begin Feb. 19 at 7:00 p.m. at McConnell Arena.

within his reach.

ALPINE SKIING—Did you know Canada was in the middle of a 20-year Olympic medal drought in men’s alpine skiing? Not anymore as Jan Hudec snapped the streak on Sunday, tying for bronze in the men’s Super-G event. Hudec’s 1:18.67 time was identical to that of popular American skier Bode Miller. Speaking of unlikely heroes, Hudec’s previous top result at an Olympic event was 21st place in the downhill. What I’m trying to say is that anyone who had money on Hudec should buy a lottery ticket immediately.

Snowboard cross—Every four years the Winter Olympics brings with it a multitude of obscure sports, but snowboard cross is definitely the most intense. Dominique Maltais—who finished 20th in the event at the Vancouver Games—bounced back by claiming a silver medal on Sunday—the second Olympic medal of her career. She beat out American favourite Lindsey Jacobellis in a wild semifinal, after Jacobellis crashed while in the lead. Maltais cruised in the finals, finishing behind Eva Samkova of the Czech Republic. Somehow, Maltais is still tearing up snowboard cross circuits at age 33, adding the silver medal to her three consecutive Crystal Globes as World Cup champion. I hope someone will give me a medal for just being able to stand on a snowboard when I’m 33.

SPORTS BASKETBALL— Redmen 79, Rouge et Or 53

Lacy lights up Laval with career-high 30 points First-place Redmen extend winning streak to six games

teams from scoring. When we do that, we get a chance to go out there and run and play unselfish [….] That’s how we found [Lacy] for open shots.”

With three games remaining before the playoffs, McGill (112) leads the RSEQ and will have a chance to repeat as regular-season champions with a win against second-place Bishop’s (8-4) on Thursday night at Love Competition Hall.

Elie Waitzer Staff Writer The McGill Redmen’s onepoint lead looked fleeting heading into the half. As if on cue, their opponents, the Laval Rouge et Or, opened the third-quarter with two straight field goals, going up 3632. It would be Laval’s last lead of the game.

Scrambling to halt their opponents’ momentum, the Redmen turned to reserve shooting-guard Thomas Lacy. Suddenly, Laval had no answers, as Lacy took control in a 79-53 victory for the Redmen.

Lacy erupted for 22 of his career-high 30 points in the thirdquarter to go along with three rebounds, three steals, and one assist. His six three pointers fell one shy of the team’s single-game record, set by Yannick Chouinard back in 2005.

What began as a 10-0 run quickly turned into a monster 33point quarter for the Redmen, during which the hosts outscored their opponents by 19 points to put the game out of reach.

“My legs felt pretty young tonight,” Lacy said. “I hit one and then I could feel my teammates trying to find me on the court. I could feel the guys on the bench standing up [….] Once those things start happening, the ball just goes in.”

Co-captain Vincent Dufort scored 40 points over the weekend. (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune) With every swish, Thomas Lacy seemed to set his feet further and further from the arc, while the rowdy Redmen bench inched closer and closer to the hardwood.

This was Lacy’s court. This was his time to shine.

McGill would put the game away in the last quarter, coasting to an easy win. Lacy exited midway through the fourth frame to a rousing ovation from the redand-white crowd. Despite Lacy’s 6 of 11 outburst from three-point land, Redmen Head Coach David DeAveiro expressed more excitement about the 6’1” guard’s inside game.

“Although he shot [the ball]

really well, he also had 12 points going to the basket,” DeAveiro said. “He’s had to expand his game [….] Any time you have a chance to go one-on-one you have to be able to score from all over.”

The Redmen dominated the glass throughout the game, outrebounding Laval 49-36 on the strength of freshman forward François Bourque’s 10 boards.

Bourque, the tallest member of McGill’s starting five at 6’5”, battled all night against 6’9” Laval big man Boris Hadzimuratovic.

Bourque’s play was instrumental in the third- quarter, giving his team multiple opportunities to stretch the lead.

While the Redmen shined on the boards they were mired in foul trouble for much of the early going, sending its opponents to the foul line 15 times in the first half.

“We got together at halftime and talked about playing defence without fouling and making adjustments on offence,” DeAveiro said.

Whatever wisdom DeAveiro imparted on his squad in the locker room, it seemed to click instantly, as McGill cut down on their fouls and stifled the Rouge et Or offence over the final two quarters.

“We kept them to 22 points in the second half,” DeAveiro said.

“That’s what we do—we stop

HOCKEY— McGill 1, MONTREAL 2

Martlets drop second straight to Carabins McGill unable to capitalize on chances despite lopsided 33-15 shot advantage Mayaz Alam Sports Editor The McGill Martlets and losing are rarely associated with one another.

In his 14 years at the helm, Head Coach Peter Smith has built a formidable dynasty. The process has been consistent throughout; hard practices result in blowouts that lead to RSEQ championships, which are the stepping stone to medals at the CIS national championships. When the Martlets (18-2) dropped a 2-1 nail-biter to the Montreal Carabins (17-3) on Saturday in McConnell Arena, the aura of invincibility that surrounds the McGill Martlet ice hockey program was ever so slightly deflated.

The Carabins have proven to be a pesky opponent for the Martlets, flipping the script on McGill with wins in their two most recent matchups. In addition, Montreal knocked McGill out of the RSEQ playoffs last season in shocking fashion. The bitterness between the two squads was on full display for the

179 fans in attendance Saturday evening. Bodies were flying at each other in the physical affair; interference calls and body-checking minors combined for six of the 10 penalties handed out.

According to Smith, the physical nature of the affair was fostered by the officiating.

“It was a result of the way that the referee was calling the game,” Smith said. “Our team tries to adjust [to] the way the ref is playing. I thought he let a lot of the physical play go, and both teams played within the guidelines that he set.”

Consequently, there were fewer power play opportunities for McGill to capitalize on. Still, the Martlets managed to outshoot their opponents 3315. Goaltender Andrea Weckman, a fifth-year senior, was outstanding when called upon, but unfortunately was saddled with the loss, the only one of her RSEQ career. Ultimately, the Carabins’ goal opportunities were superior to those of the Martlets; both shots that went past Weckman were from the slot

through heavy traffic.

“I thought [Montreal] did a good job [closing] down the shot lanes,” Smith said. “I thought we could have done a better job at finding seams and getting pucks on net.”

Despite the lack of scoring there were a few bright spots offensively for the Martlets. Leslie Oles, a senior winger and alternate captain, showed a sense of urgency on offence, putting her body on the line time and time again to ensure that her team maintained possession of the puck. Katia Clement-Heydra, a senior centre and alternate captain, was a wizard with the puck and almost had a chance to cut the lead when she danced past two flat-footed defencemen before being denied by Carabins’ goalie Elodie Rousseau-Sirois. The two stalwarts’ persistence paid off with 10 seconds to go in the game when Oles assisted on Clement-Heydra’s goal.

“We just put the puck on the net and crashed the net,” Clement-Heydra said. “We were just so happy. It felt good to finally get a goal because we

Brittney Fouracres leads Martlet defencemen with 15 points. (Jack Neal / McGill Tribune) were trying all night and it wasn’t going undoubtedly be prepared.

“We have to keep going like we our way.”

With the regular season over, the finished today—our last eight minutes Martlets’ sole focus moves to the semi- of the game were amazing,” Clementfinal of the RSEQ playoffs. The team Heydra said. “We just need to go hard will face the Concordia Stingers in a during practice, keep working on the best- of- three series that begins Fri- good habits and details, and it should day, Feb. 21 at 7:00 p.m. in McConnell go our way.”

Arena, a task for which the squad will