McGill Tribune Vol. 33 Issue 20

Volume No. 33 Issue No. 20

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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Players’ Theatre reimagines Neverland Senate debates fairness of exams weighted over 75% Remi Lu Sports Editor

See inside for...

Story P 14 Rebecca Pearl shines as Peter Pan in Players’ last production of season. (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune)

Rules regarding professor adherence to exam weight may stay the same, despite student concerns raised at the Feb. 19 Senate meeting.

Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens responded to questions raised by student senators as a result of a motion passed at the Winter General Assembly of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU).

The question demanded improved adherence and visibility to requirements in the university’s Student Assessment Policy. For example, it cited the rule that a final examination cannot comprise more than 75 per cent of a student’s grade, and that any examinations constituting more than 50 per cent of a course grade must take place during the final examination period.

Dyens acknowledged that professors’ compliance with the policy may have depended on varied interpretations of the rules. He also stated that justifiable exceptions to the policy already exist, and that any other exceptions could be

brought to the administration.

“Justifiable exceptions are already built into the policy,” the response reads. “As long as students have been informed well ahead of time, usually prior to the end of the add/drop period, a final exam worth more than 75 per cent of the final grade is permitted and can be scheduled.”

Cameron Butler, Macdonald Campus Students’ Association representative, said that despite such justifications for exceptions, students continued to feel that greater adherence to the policy was necessary.

“I took linear algebra— MATH 133—which is a required course for science and engineering students, and that course’s final was 85 per cent,” Butler said. “It’s a required course for freshman students in first semester where they have a final that is virtually their entire course [....] There isn’t the choice to drop that course because you think the evaluation is unreasonable.”

Although the question from

See “Senate” on p. 4

Indigenous studies minor approved for Fall 2014 Long-awaited program passed by Senate seeks to provide interdisciplinary study of Indigenous issues Natalie Wong Staff Writer Students will be able to enroll in a new Indigenous Studies minor in the Faculty of Arts starting in Fall 2014, following the program’s approval by Senate last Wednesday.

The program, which has been the goal of ongoing initiatives by students and faculty for approximately 10 years, will be administered by the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC).

According to MISC Director William Straw, groups such as KANATA and First Peoples’ House researched existing programs in other universities and courses in Indigenous studies already available at McGill. MISC then began to put together a proposal over the Summer and Fall of 2013.

“We were able to base our pro-

posal on the incredible research the various student groups had done,” Straw said. “The dean of arts indicated that he supported the actual proposal coming from MISC.” According to Arts Senator and KANATA Vice-President External Claire Stewart-Kanigan, McGill’s previous lack of an Indigenous Studies program set it behind most Canadian universities.

“It is a bit of a trend in Quebec that Indigenous issues don’t have as much currency as they do in the west,” she said. “I think this is a really important step in making sure that people from Quebec can study this.”

The minor concentration seeks to provide students with a diverse, interdisciplinary outlook on the social, cultural, and historical elements of Indigenous life in Canada, according to Senate documents.

“Core courses offered within the program will provide interdisciplinary treatments of Indigenous life,” the documents read. “The program of the course will focus on the history of Indigenous populations in Canada, Aboriginal art and culture, and legacies of Indigenous resistance to the Canadian state.”

According to Straw, the minor will consist of two new courses— an introductory course and an upper level seminar in Indigenous studies. Students fulfill the remaining 12 credits for the program through course options cross-listed from other programs such as English, history, anthropology, and sociology.

The university will hire two new professors for the core courses, with recruitment beginning in March or April.

The proposal required ap-

proval from the Subcommittee on Courses and Teaching Programs and the Academic Policy Committee, prior to Senate approval.

However, the new minor could still face challenges such as financial difficulties, according to Stewart-Kanigan.

“There were a lot of problems getting faculty support [and] finding a faculty that would house this new minor,” she said. “For the program to really flourish and become its own autonomous unit, you will need a department chair and that takes funding.”

Stewart-Kanigan said costs could be as high as $2-3 million.

Straw added that soliciting greater involvement with the community is an additional goal for those involved in creating the program.

“Another challenge will be

finding ways to involve […] the community of students invested in Indigenous studies and local Indigenous communities themselves,” he said. “We want to set up an advisory structure that conforms to McGill’s governance structure while acknowledging that an Indigenous Studies program needs to involve communities in a way that other programs may not.”

Jacob Greenspon, vice-president academic of the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS), said many arts students have shown enthusiasm for the new minor.

“Students have been really excited about this,” he said. “A lot of them did seem to think we had a program like this but now they’re finding out it’s offered […] I think a lot of people are really excited to go into this topic.”

NEWS student government

EUS VP Communications sanctioned for mocking Farnan apology Executive cites PPO initiation as reason for mistake, loses listserv responsibilities Jessica Fu News Editor An executive in the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) has apologized to the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) for mocking an apology issued earlier this month by SSMU Vice-President Internal Brian Farnan.

On Feb. 9, Vice-President Communications Luis Pombo sent a satirical apology through the EUS listserv, which mimicked the format and nature of Farnan’s Jan. 27 apology for racial insensitivity.

Pombo’s joke triggered an EUS equity complaint. In response, the EUS executive team, in consultation with the EUS equity commissioner, imposed a number of sanctions on Pombo. In addition to Pombo’s apology to SSMU, these include equity sensitivity training and the revocation of EUS listserv and publications responsibilities, which will now fall under the president’s portfolio.

EUS President Carlos Marin said the problem stemmed from Pombo conveying personal opinions from his position as an executive. “[He] as an individual may disagree with SSMU’s Equity Policy […] but [he] cannot, as a representative of the EUS, make a joke out

of that; that’s completely unacceptable,” Marin said. “[He] cannot send an official e-mail from an official communication channel of the EUS making fun of the concept of equity.”

Pombo accepted full responsibility, noting that his mock apology was part of his initiation into the Plumbers’ Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), an Engineering student group.

“As part of my PPO initiation I was given a set of tasks,” Pombo told SSMU Council on Thursday. “One of these tasks, however, was to send out a fake apology to all engineering students. In what can only be described as a lazy attempt at comedy, I decided to satirize Brian Farnan’s apology.”

Without the listserv and work on publications, Pombo will continue to manage the EUS web developing team and the yearbook, among other tasks.

Some students, such as Alex Grant, U2 Engineering, said the response was appropriate.

“I think [the sanctions] are probably a good middle between taking him out totally and leaving him how he is,” Grant said. “There’s absolutely no way that he could just be let off the hook for that.”

Other students such as Mor-

The EUS VP Communications faces sanctions for his use of the Engineering listserv. (Cassandra Rogers / McGill Tribune) gan Grobin, U3 Engineering and a chief of the PPO, said the response to Pombo’s mock apology was too harsh.

“I think anyone who is mildly intelligent realizes that [the e-mail is] mocking the SSMU equity process itself, and not mocking equity or Brian Farnan personally,” Grobin said. “What Luis did was a mistake [… but] I don’t think he should be stripped of all of his powers [….]

Maybe something that would have been more productive would have been an open forum with Engineering students to talk about equity.”

Grobin also criticized the pro-

cess by which the sanctions were decided.

“The [executive team] is only eight people; they’re elected representatives, but they only represent the interests of the EUS executive, and there wasn’t consultation from year representatives who represent all the students in the Engineering body,” Grobin said. “That’s why Council exists—so that no decision gets pushed through that’s inappropriate or unfair.”

However, Marin argued that the executives abided by EUS Equity Policy.

“That’s how our process of the

Equity Policy works […] and the fact that [the complaint was about] someone from our team made it more appropriate,” he said.

Marin also said that despite negative reaction surrounding the incident, increased discussion about equity among students was a positive outcome.

“There’s this stereotype that in Engineering we don’t care about these things,” he said. “As leaders of the [Engineering students’] community, [we] have to make sure that this discussion happens. And I think it’s happening.”

city

Demolition of historic Montreal mansion halted by QC culture minister 128-year-old building to undergo re-assessment; debate continues on preservation of building’s historical value Cece Zhang News Editor The scheduled demolition of the historic Redpath Mansion has been suspended, following the intervention of Quebec Culture Minister Maka Kotto on Feb. 17.

Built in 1886, Redpath Mansion is a 128-year-old building located west of campus. A four-storey student residence was scheduled to replace it.

To stop the construction, Kotto invoked the Law on Cultural Heritage.

“If the minister is of the opinion that there is a perceived or real threat of significant degradation of a property that may have heritage value, the Minister may make an order […] directing that work or an activity be terminated,” the law reads.

The suspension can last for no more than a 30-day period. In the interim, the ministry will conduct an assessment of the mansion’s condition, which will determine its fate.

According to Heritage Montreal, Redpath Mansion is one of the rare remaining examples of Queen

Anne architecture in the city. Located at 3457 Avenue du Musée, the building is one of the structures listed on a “threatened emblematic sites” list by Heritage Montreal.

Heritage Montreal has expressed support for Kotto’s intervention.

“This exceptional gesture will allow us to reflect on this long—neglected case,” their press release reads. “Heritage Montreal celebrates this action and is pleased to offer its collaboration with the minister and with the Mayor of Montreal in order to encourage a quality project, uniting heritage and new architecture.”

Owner Amos Sochaczevski and his son, Michael, have tried to develop the site for several decades. A seven-storey condominium project had been proposed before the Ville Marie borough council ruled against it for exceeding the area’s height limit.

Michael Sochaczevski, who planned to demolish the building, obtained a construction permit from Ville Marie borough on Dec. 19, 2013.

Anik de Repentigny, communications officer of Ville Marie, said

the borough had no power to stop construction once the permit was issued. She also noted that the Redpath Mansion had never been declared a provincial heritage site, nor included in an area of protection for historical monuments.

“There are urban planning bylaws that both the borough and the City conform to; the project that was presented was consistent with them [and] there were no grounds upon which to refuse,” de Repentigny said. “The consultative committee for urban planning at [the] borough, looked at it [...] and were in favour of [the plan].”

Mario Polèse, research professor at the National Institute of Scientific Research Urbanization Culture Society, said the dilapidated state of the building would make it difficult to preserve.

“The owner basically let it deteriorate, but part of the blame also goes to current government policy, which doesn’t in any way discourage owners from doing so,” said Polèse. “It’s probably too late to save the building at this point. The best outcome given

Redpath Mansion set to become a student residence. (Jack Neal / McGill Tribune) the situation is for whatever new [building] to keep the essential architectural in place, so at least we don’t lose the heritage.”

Polèse cited the Saint-Jacques Cathedral at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and many skyscrapers downtown as examples where the old facade is integrated into the new structure.

“It is more costly to integrate

the old building with the new one, but on the other hand, if it comes out considered as a success, you will get your money back in the end, as the resale price on the building will also be greater,” he said. “It really depends on the imagination of the architect who is going to redo it. Old structures are not contradictory with modernization.”

Curiosity delivers. | student government

NEWS

| Tuesday, February 25, 2014

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SSMU research suggests Equity Policy compares favourably with other schools’ Council approves new Mental Health Policy to promote wellness on campus Catherine-Laure Juste Contributor SSMU’s Equity Policy measures favourably against other universities, according to a report presented at the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Council meeting on Feb. 20.

Equity researcher Chelsea Barnett presented on the SSMU equity research study. Structure, finance, and complaints were the factors observed in the study, which compared data from SSMU to that of the University of Toronto, the University of Virginia, the University of British Columbia, Concordia University, and Cornell University at both administration and student-union levels.

According to Barnett, SSMU was the only student organization among the universities that had its own equity policy, independent from university policy.

She also mentioned that the policy is more progressive in terms of its coverage of issues.

“It includes things not mentioned in other university policies such as fatphobia [and] sizeism,” Barnett said. “However, on the flipside of that, the jurisdiction of SS-

SSMU voted unanimously to approve the new Mental Health Policy. (Laurie-Anne Benoit / McGill Tribune) MU’s policy is much smaller. If we didn’t have our own policy, we could be putting pressure on the university policy to include [these] things.”

Barnett noted the low number of discrimination complaints on campus.

“There are three possible hypotheses: students overlook the SSMU policy because they don’t think it applies to them [or] they want to [go] to McGill for bigger consequences; they don’t feel SSMU’s jurisdiction would even include them; [or] students don’t know the policy exists,” she said.

Arts Representative Ben Reedijk offered an alternative possibility.

“If you look on the website when it talks about how people make an equity complaint, the first thing

it says is to read the Equity Policy,” he said. “But if you read the Equity Policy, it’s filled with typos and grammatical errors, which I don’t think inspire confidence.”

Barnett responded that while a copy-edit of errors could be beneficial, her research did not address syntactical details.

“A project to professionalize the Equity Policy—I think that would be a useful way to spend some time and energy around equity as well,” Barnett said.

In terms of suggestions for the future, Barnett said SSMU would benefit from having an executive in charge of overseeing equity affairs on campus. While equity is currently under the portfolio of the vice-president university affairs, Barnett said

TaCEQ executive resigns citing “degrading situation“ The resignation of an executive from the Quebec Student Roundtable (TaCEQ) last Friday marks the continued disintegration of the student federation.

Guillaume Fortin, vice-general secretary of communications and internal affairs, announced his departure from the organization, which currently represents the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and two associations from Université Laval.

Fortin cited several problems within the organization as reasons for his resignation, including the failure to organize a congress to reform TaCEQ and difficulties in translating the organization’s documents into English.

“A severe lack of communication between the student associations […] made coordination worse,” Fortin wrote in his letter of resignation. “I thought I could still work in this degrading situation but I can’t anymore. It’s putting too much stress on me.”

Fortin’s resignation comes after Université de Sherbrooke’s graduate association (REMDUS) voted to leave TaCEQ in a January referendum. TaCEQ has two remaining executives—Secretary General Paul-Antoine Cardin and Deputy Secretary General for Administrative and Financial Affairs Xavier Laberge.

According to SSMU Vice-President External Sam Harris, the resignation will

have little effect on SSMU’s representation in TaCEQ, since SSMU is already running a referendum question to leave the association.

“At this point, it looks like everyone has given up and is ready to move on,” Harris said. “[But] we’re mandated to continue with TaCEQ until our electorate says otherwise.”

The SSMU referendum question points to similar concerns to those Fortin expressed.

“SSMU members and elected representatives have raised many concerns in regards to the inaccessibility of TaCEQ documents, the cancellation of a congress for reform, and the lack of return on cost of membership dues,” the referendum question reads.

This year, SSMU contributed $17,000 to TaCEQ in membership fees.

In addition to SSMU’s referendum, Harris said Université Laval’s postgraduate student association (AELIÉS) will also discuss the possibility of leaving the association during a general assembly on Tuesday.

SSMU’s referendum to leave TaCEQ will take place March 14 to 21.

— Erica Friesen, additional reporting by Sam Pinto

equity deserves an executive position.

“For U of T, the notable feature is their executive position [VP Human Resources and Equity],” Barnett said. “ I’m advocating for [also having] an executive commissioner who would be in charge of overseeing equity. It’s becoming a large issue [….] Equity is in the forefront.”

New mental health policy adopted unanimously Councillors voted in favour of adopting a new Mental Health Policy, which will aim to promote mental health support on campus. Joey Shea, SSMU vice-president university affairs, worked closely on the policy’s development. “[The Mental Health Policy Committee] started by just discussing

what we thought SSMU’s approach to mental health should be, and then from those very broad objectives, we narrowed it down to a very tangible five-year-plan which is reflected in the policy,” Shea said.

David Benrimoh, medicine representative, presented an overview of the policy.

“This is going to be a network of services, of listservs, websites, and events that are going to together improve access for students for mental health care and promote mental health wellness,” he said.

Benrimoh also emphasized the renewability of the new policy.

“This is a living document,” he said. “This document is going to keep changing, keep improving over the years, and it will serve as a foundation for a new mental health network.”

Sue Jeong, Arts representative, asked what set the new Mental Health Policy apart compared to other mental health services available at McGill.

“We want to encourage overall wellness,” Shea said. “A large part of our approach [is to] facilitate the growth of these other groups to perpetuate a culture of wellness and overall well-being at the university.”

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Curiosity delivers. |

NEWS

Photo courtesy of flickr.com Graphic by Alessandra Hechanova campus

Senate projects $27.1 million reinvestment in budget for 2015 fiscal year Continued from cover SSMU proposed the mandatory inclusion of relevant sections of the assessment policy on course outlines, Dyens said he was hesitant about taking this course of action or making promises.

“We’re going to wait before we inquire on whether that is the best policy or not,” Dyens said.

“The course outline is already long enough. We don’t want a course outline that goes on for 20 to 28 pages, because it defeats the purpose—people don’t read it.”

Discussion on Interdisciplinary Research Interdisciplinary research collaborations were the topic of another discussion at Senate. Two main focuses included obstacles and barriers to interdisciplinary learning, teaching, and research, as well as practical steps for McGill to promote interdisciplinary collaborations.

Numerous senators touched on their personal experiences and offered a range of proposed resolutions.

“The biggest obstacle in my experience is a lack of awareness

of what other people are doing in the topic that you’re interested in,” Sean Ferguson, dean of Schulich School of Music, said.

Political Science professor Catherine Lu proposed ideas for removing such obstacles.

“Interdisciplinary research is actually very difficult to do,” Lu said. “I trained in a specific field, and I feel like I need a whole lifetime plus another lifetime to get to know [another….] I have a suggestion about incentivizing people for pursuing for obviously intellectual reasons, but also for the institution to provide support [….] One thing to be done may be team-teaching, and giving rewards or at least not creating barriers to [interdisciplinary research].”

Budget Provost Anthony Masi presented further developments to the 2015-2019 projected budget.

He unveiled an estimated value of $27.1 million—the provincial government’s forecasted reinvestment in the university for the 2015 fiscal year. The new number is McGill’s share of the total

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$1.8 billion to be invested into provincial universities in the next five years.

“The Quebec Government has announced a reinvestment for universities over the next five years,” Masi said in his presentation. “In theory, that should provide $27 million in our budget next year.

Now, [there was] an ongoing $19 million cut in our budget, so this looks like progress.”

Masi also presented an updated deficit value, which had dropped to $10 million, compared to the $10.4 million proposed last Fall.

“One thing to be done may be team-teaching, and giving rewards or at least not creating barriers to [interdisciplinary research].”

PPP Protest Outside of senate, several members of the McGill community held a demonstration demanding increased transparency on the

People, Processes, and Partnerships plan (PPP).

Set to come into effect on May 1, the PPP aims to centralize 13 departments in the Faculty of Arts into four administrative service centres.

Protesters distributed copies of a letter addressed to Principal Suzanne Fortier to attendees of Senate, which stated that Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi had ignored the community’s objections to the PPP. “We believe Dean Manfredi is steamrolling the PPP over the concerns raised by faculty, students, and staff,” the letter reads. “In addition, he has disregarded evidence that the PPP is harmful rather than helpful. Dean Manfredi’s actions have eroded our confidence that he is acting in the best interest of the faculty.”

Gretchen King, a graduate student in art history and communication studies, said Manfredi’s lack of transparency throughout the process has created a tough situation for academic support staff.

“The PPP creates new positions—new managerial posi-

tions—but we don’t know what those job descriptions are,” she said. “We only anticipate absolute failure in a situation in which staff are being overworked, and we staunchly oppose that.”

In addition, King said Manfredi had not consulted unions of affected workers.

“We ask you to support our request that the Dean create a democratic process and respond to the following demands: [to] release the details—including budgets, job descriptions, alternative plans, and process mapping—on the PPP website [and to] respect and act in accordance with the collective agreements of affected workers,” the letter reads.

Another protestor, Cayley Sarochan, a graduate student in art history and communications studies, said the protest was also held to point out larger issues in the decision-making process of the university.

“One of the main reasons this is important is because it’s also an issue of democratic governance in the university,” Sarochan said.

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Curiosity delivers. |

NEWS

| Tuesday, February 25, 2014

campus

Management plagiarism and admissions policies under discussion

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Options include reimplementation of “Turnitin,“ use of qualitative assessment for applicants Eman Jeddy Staff Writer Qualitative assessments for admissions and a new plagiarism policy are currently under discussion between the Management Undergraduate Society (MUS) and the faculty’s administration.

Admission’s Policy The MUS is discussing adding more qualitative measures to the current admission requirements for prospective BCom students.

Currently the Faculty of Management only considers incoming students’ transcripts. MUS VicePresident Academic Affairs Ross McDonach said proposed changes were being researched by a working group— including six professors, the associate dean of student affairs, the admissions policy secretary, and himself, due to the increasingly widespread use of qualitative assessment methods in schools across Canada.

“We’re one of the only schools in Canada with a purely quantitative admissions policy; we only look at transcripts and numbers,’’ McDonach said. “Hopefully we’ll

have some small additional [qualitative measures] to [the proposal].”

Hussam Maqbool, U3 Management, said the use of qualitative measures would be beneficial in revealing a student’s capabilities to both the university and future employers.

“They should put more emphasis on extracurricular [activities] when it comes to admissions because grades don’t always reflect someone’s potential,” Maqbool said. “Employers are now demanding well-rounded students, so it doesn’t make sense to take on students just based on academic prowess.”

Methods that other universities use that could potentially be implemented by the Faculty of Managment include admissions essays and interviews.

While no details have been confirmed as to when these changes could take place, McDonach said he hopes to present a proposal to the Faculty Council by next year.

Plagiarism Policy A new plagiarism policy under discussion could reintroduce the use of “Turnitun”—a software pro-

gram designed to detect plagiarism.

The program was previously used by the faculty, but was cancelled for this year due to budget cuts.

McDonach also expressed interest in mandating that students submit a statement of originality with all assignments.

“A statement of originality […] basically wants [students] to put [their] name on it and say that […they] did not use any unacknowledged sources,” McDonach said. “[It is] taking the student code of conduct, condensing the points relevant to essays and assignments, and putting it on a paper so students understand what they’re responsible for.’’

Jamie Kawkabani, U3 Management, said both measures would act as disincentives for plagiarism.

“Provided it’s effective, I see no reason not to adopt [the software],” Kawkabani said. “As for the signed document, I feel that it would not be taken seriously unless there were serious legal ramifications of failing to abide by it; but ultimately it would be more of a deterrent rather than a detector, of plagiarism.”

The plagiarism policy is cur-

Management policies may be modified (Courtney Strouthos / McGill Tribune) rently in its discussion phase. McDonach said he intends to create student surveys on the ideas prior to presenting them to Faculty Council sometime next year, though this has not yet been confirmed.

“The plagiarism policy has

already been to Council for discussion purposes only,” Donach said.

“We’re just taking advice [….] I do want to see what students think and then next year, I think it will be ready for presentation.”

CAMPUS

i-Week panel examines relationship between migrants and Indigenous communities SEDE event aims to increase student involvement in Montreal communities Jenny Shen Features Editor Building relationships between international students, migrants, and Indigenous peoples was the focus of a panel discussion hosted by the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office (SEDE) on Thursday.

According to Juhi Sujan, administrative coordinator at SEDE, the event was coordinated to address an unique subject matter.

“In envisioning the event, we considered how we could best incorporate voices from the community and how we could prioritize the perspectives of Indigenous people and migrants who have lived the experience of building relationships between these two groups,” Sujan said.

The event began with the screening of Mohawk Girls, a short film on the cultural challenges faced by three Mohawk teenagers during their critical transition between high school and university.

Following the film, two speakers—Tiffany Harrington a member of the Indigenous Student Alliance, and Radney JeanClaude, a member the Rapproche-

ment des Spiritualités IndigènesHaïtiens collective—led a panel discussion on relations between migrants and indigenous groups.

Harrington, who spent the past semester on an exchange in Argentina, spoke about her experience abroad and the treatment of Indigenous peoples there. “[In] the community I was living in, the colonial name they were given was ‘Toba,’ and ‘Toba’ is a derogatory term which means the ‘front of your head,’” Harrington said. “A lot of the names that the Indigenous people have here are also not the names of the people themselves, but names that were given to them by the enemies when there was first contact.”

Harrington noted that her experience abroad reflected the importance of engaging with Indigenous communities.

“That’s definitely a unique opportunity when you move to a new place, or you’re visiting a new area—you have available resources to take advantage of and [should] always [be] respectful,” she said.

Jean-Claude, a former McGill student, emphasized the importance of migrants engaging with the Indigenous community

Radney Jean-Claude and Tiffany Harrington speak on their experiences with Indigenous communities. (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune) in the Montreal area.

“I think it’s really important to have [these events], because when you come to a new environment, it’s good to know their history,” Jean-Claude said. “It helps create a certain sense of belonging in the long run [….] As a newcomer, it’s important to bridge and to create bonds with people from Indigenous communities.”

The event ended with a session where audience members asked the panelists questions about the relationship between immigrants and Indigenous peoples, such as how to become more involved in the community.

“A great way on campus is

the First Peoples’ House, right here on Peel,” Harrington said.

“And also off-campus, there are a lot of opportunities—lots of things [for which] you can volunteer.”

Reception of the event was positive, with attendees like Emily Boytinck, U2 Science, praising its original content.

“It’s a topic that isn’t usually covered,” she said. “It’s wonderful to see that immigrants are taking interest in Indigenous communities [….] And I think that’s just really inspiring.”

The panel was part of International Student Services’ (ISS) first i-Week—a series of events

coordinated by individual organizations such as student clubs, McGill’s Career Planning Service (CaPS), and advising services.

Caroline Guay, International Student Advisor at ISS, explained that i-Week was established to promote a sense of community within McGill.

“We were looking for ways to create a campus-wide inclusive event that would bring everyone together,” Guay said. “ It’s more than just a display of international culture. It’s a chance to […] have a dialogue that is communitywide and inclusive and that gets everyone involved.”

opinion editorial

THE Mcgill

Editor-in-Chief Carolina Millán Ronchetti editor@mcgilltribune.com

Concordia opt-out controversy carries lessons for McGill

The issue of student group fee opt-outs has returned to a university campus, but this time not McGill’s.

On Feb. 12, a representative from Concordia’s John Molson School of Business (JMSB) presented two completed petitions to hold referendum questions on student group fees.

One of the questions, as reported in the Link, seeks to automatically opt-out JMSB students from fees for a number of student organizations, including the Concordia arm of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG), Concordia’s Cinema Politica, and Concordia University Television (CUTV), the university’s video media outfit. The other question, meanwhile, would force student groups that are not fully managed by the Concordia Student Union (CSU)­to seek fees on a faculty-byfaculty basis rather than simply winning a single referendum of students across the faculties. Both of these provisions, were they to go into effect, represent a fundamental and ultimately negative shift in the relationship student organizations have with the student association.

While the issue of student group opt-outs hasn’t loomed large at McGill in the past year, it was once a reliable annual showcase of polar-

ized rhetoric. The majority of these controversies focused on the McGill chapter of QPIRG. Opponents of the group, which receives an opt-out able fee, ran “opt-out” campaigns highlighting QPIRG’s political stances on issues like the Israel-Palestine conflict and the legitimacy of the Canadian state. QPIRG generally countered by noting the valuable programs the group supports, and accusing the “opt-out” campaigns of misinformation. Even though the QPIRG controversies have been dormant for the past two years, as existence referenda run on five-year cycles, these issues will likely return to our campus.

While student group fees like the one mentioned in the CSU petition should remain accessibly optoutable, both referendum questions have serious problems. First, forcing requests for funding from groups not under the direct umbrella of the CSU to go through a faculty–specific process could create additional administrative costs without necessarily increasing groups’ responsiveness to particular faculties or issues.

Even though groups would have to expend the resources to tailor campaigns to the specific faculties, dayto-day oversight would not be at the faculty level, thus preventing any real

exercise of accountability outside of election periods. Rather, forcing a student group campaign to disparate faculties would obviate the point of the group even operating under the administrative framework of the CSU as opposed to a faculty-specific organization.

“While the right—if one has moral or political objections—to not pay for a student group does and should exist under the status quo, the burden of effort ought to fall to the one opting out.”

The second provision—the one that would have students in the JMSB automatically not pay for these student groups—is not only worse because it represents a significant cut to the budgets of these groups, but also because it eliminates choices for future students. Even if the referendum was a 90-10 vote in favor of severing the fees, the result would leave new students at a disadvantage, as they would be automatically opted out of

paying for groups that could provide services they deemed useful. Furthermore, these students could easily contribute to a “free-rider” problem of using services to which they are not contributing resources, in cases of student groups that lack the resources to check if students have paid the fee.

Passage of the referendum question would, at its core, remove the inertia that allows for groups to collect critical funds from students who don’t necessarily care to take any action. While the right—if one has moral or political objections—to not pay for a student group does and should exist under the status quo, the burden of effort ought to fall to the one opting out.

Given an accessible and publicized opt-out system, student organizations that don’t serve the interests of the student body would be given more than enough of an incentive to change their ways by way of students voting with their dollars. To demand anything beyond the opt-out option would not only be unworkable, it would be to the broader detriment of student life at the university, choking off worthy entities of funding.

Managing Editors Ben Carter-Whitney bcarterwhitney@mcgilltribune.com Erica Friesen efriesen@mcgilltribune.com Jacqueline Galbraith jgalbraith@mcgilltribune.com Production Manager Steven Lampert slampert@mcgilltribune.com News Editors Jessica Fu, Sam Pinto, and Cece Zhang 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, and Natalie Wong

Commentary

Contributors

A nuanced approach to equity

Daniel Braden

Commentary

Having spent much of my life growing up in the American South, I have experienced a number of events that have made me question my faith in human decency. In middle school, I was called a faggot, a fairy, and a queer—all in the derogatory sense. My classmates had parents and grandparents who were involved with the Ku Klux Klan. My synagogue had no windows facing the street to deter bombings, and we had to hire police officers to guard our Yom Kippur services due to threats from neoNazis.

Two years ago, I stood in front of my polling place urging my fellow North Carolinians to vote against a constitutional amendment that would ban samesex marriage, depriving me of the right to

marry the person I love. The amendment passed with over 60 per cent of the vote.

So believe me when I say that I fully understand the need for equity, both on university campuses and larger society.

However, the recent controversy over Brian Farnan’s much ridiculed apology underscores a problem of alienation with the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) approach to social justice. While fostering an environment free of discrimination and violence is certainly a worthwhile endeavour, our penchant for nitpicking and righteous indignation serves as an obstacle in addressing the systemic problems that impede the progress of historically marginalized groups.

In a previous article that I wrote in these pages, I mentioned how policies such as policing costumes at 4Floors fail to rectify the lack of visible minorities on McGill’s faculty and within the student body.

Quick fixes such as these, whereby we avoid offence at the expense of combatting persistent forms of oppression, encourage criticism and contribute to an image of micromanaging and oversen-

sitivity on the part of “the PC police.”

The same holds true for Farnangate. By insisting on a belated apology for what many perceive as a minor, or even nonexistent, offence, SSMU’s Equity Commissioners elicited an enormous degree of pushback which delegitimized their original intent. This insistence on publicly shaming every occurrence of even the most remotely offensive or inappropriate conduct can alienate supporters of initiatives that actually affect positive change.

But through inclusive consultation and action, genuine success can be achieved.

Take, for example the student led initiative to establish a minor in Indigenous Studies. Proponents of this measure didn’t focus on abstract symbols of discrimination or divisive rhetoric.

Instead, they chose to work closely with Indigenous leaders and to emulate successful programs at other universities in order to create a viable academic program. As a result of their diligent and well researched advocacy, students at McGill will be further educated and empowered to tackle the challenges facing aboriginal

Morgan Alexander, Helin Azizoglu, Laurie-Anne Benoit, Daniel Braden, Rachel Burk, Laura Hanrahan, Catherine-Laure Juste, Tim Logan, Jack Neal, and Maral Saghaei

communities, such as unequal access to healthcare and the exploitation of native land for tar sands development.

In applying this principle to SSMU’s well-intentioned but overbearing equity policy, we can create a more transparent and inclusive process that protects the confidentiality of claimants and promotes equity while engaging students in dialogue. Right now, there are four Equity Officers, leading to a diffusion in accountablity; and participants in a complaint are forbidden to speak about the proceedings, even to those who are already involved. This prevents individuals and groups with a vested interest in a case from contributing relevant information that could lead to a more just and better informed outcome for all parties, in the same way that amicus briefs help Canadian courts render decisions on any number of divisive issues. By opening up the conversation and abandoning exclusive ideological purity, we can make McGill a more equitable environment and avoid future national embarrassments.

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.

opinion Mockery trivializes North Korean misery

Daniel Kang

Commentary

I have never met my grandparents. This isn’t because of family division or irreconcilable differences, but due to an act of terrorism.

On Nov. 29, 1987, Korean Airlines flight 858—en route to Seoul from Baghdad—exploded over the Andaman Sea. Two North Korean agents, acting on personal orders from Kim Jong-Il, had planted explosive devices in the cabin that detonated during the flight. My grandparents and all 113 passengers and crew were killed.

However, today the media and the audience views North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-Un as nothing more than comic relief, dismissing him as a pudgy-faced joke.

On the Internet, blogs like “Kim Jong-Un Looking at Things” and “Kim Jong-Un is Hungry” play up the comical side of the regime.

Numerous photos of Kim Jong-Il and his son Kim Jong-Un have been utilized for a multitude of Internet memes. The Economist has printed a pseudo-satirical cover of Kim JongIl with the title “Greetings, earthlings,” ridiculing the leader’s sense of self-importance. Even Hollywood has gotten in on the fun, with films such as Team America showcasing the Great Leader’s vocal talents, where he croons about his own loneliness.

It’s hard to deny that the North Korean regime is ridiculous enough that it can be considered comical.

Our society here is so far removed from the antics of someone like Kim Jong-Un that he may as well be a character from a work of fiction. But that same joked-about leader is also the head of a state responsible for numerous human rights abuses. On Feb. 17, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) released a 400-page report after interviewing over 320 defectors from North Korea. The report contained detailed accounts of mass starvation, political executions, and labour camps reminiscent of Soviet-era gulags.

The Korean War (1950-1953) changed the lives of my family in irrevocable ways, both during and after the conflict. My grand-uncle

defected to North Korea in the early stages of the Korean War as a young communist sympathizer. It wasn’t until the North Korean government allowed for family reunions in 2000, that we discovered he was still alive and had spent 50 years living in the North. And of course, my grandparents were casualties of a decades-old geopolitical conflict, directly caused by a ruler whose oppressive regime quashes the right to a legitimate political process for millions of people.

It’s difficult for me to see the humour in blogs, videos, and films that ridicule North Korea. It’s even more difficult for me to see why the common reaction to such material isn’t disgust and anger, but laughter.

Nonetheless, I do accept that humour can be a tool to shed light on unexamined issues. For example,

Disenfranchisement under dubious justification

Helin Azizoglu

Commentary

On February 4, the Harper government unveiled its proposed Fair Elections Act, which, among other things, claims to simplify regulations, give law enforcement more autonomy, and increase the donation limit to campaigns. One of the more notable provisions would significantly strengthen voter identification requirements and dispose of the previous provision that allowed for voters to take an oath and present a witness in lieu of a government-issued document. These events have attracted controversy, with a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Witold Walczak, warning that the reforms could pose a serious threat to the civil rights of many

Canadians. Last month, Walczak helped to overturn a similar law in Pennsylvania, where a judge declared the reforms unconstitutional.

Walczak’s comments are best understood in context of America’s long history of conflicts over voting rights. In the U.S..suffrage was not effectively realized until 1965, with the implementation of the Voting Rights Act. In the months leading up to the November 2012 presidential election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, several states enacted new, more restrictive voter ID laws allegedly aimed at combating voter fraud.

However, many observers, especially those on the left, interpreted these measures as a thinly veiled attempt by Republican lawmakers to depress turnout among certain demographic groups; after all, those most greatly impacted by the laws were students, recently naturalized citizens, and those in poverty—all of whom are crucial elements of the Democratic voter base.

Now, similar accusations are being

made against the Conservative Party in Canada. It’s important to note, however, that the proposed changes in Canada are far less restrictive than those of their American counterparts. Under the Canadian version, voters will still be allowed to present 39 different forms of official identification, including phone bills or bank statements. By comparison, the Pennsylvania law required a document issued by the State Department of Transportation, making obtaining acceptable proof of identity significantly more difficult.

In assessing the necessity and appropriateness of these measures, it is crucial to consider the prevalence of voter fraud in both countries. In the United States, the question of whether voter fraud is a real issue is widely disputed, but most sources claim that there is little evidence of significant deception by voters themselves.

In fact, one study even claims that from 2000 to 2012, there were only 10 documented cases of voter impersonation, a microscopic number in a country with

7 Jon Stewart criticizing American policy towards military veterans in a humorous way still recognizes the incompetence of the policy behind the veil of comedy. However, memes and songs about Kim JongUn fail to address the suffering of human beings on an informative level, but simply dismiss him as a kooky dictator. If we cannot bridge the cognitive disconnect between the satire and the reality that is being satirized, we lessen our understanding and awareness of the atrocities being committed daily.

As I read the UNHRC report, I grimace to think of what those living in the camps would think of our memes, videos, and films about their leader who condemned them. Would they be laugh along with us?

average voter turnout of more than 100 million. In Canada, there has been at least one documented event involving voter impersonation; during the 2011 Canadian federal election, a polling division officer and clerk in Ontario knowingly vouched for several voters illegally.

While reforms like the Fair Elections Act have the potential to bring about marginally cleaner elections, they also may yield damaging effects that must not be brushed aside or discarded. These include a likely decline in turnout, as indicated in an analysis published in the Harvard Law and Policy Review, and a general sense of alienation among targeted minority groups.

One of the groups most directly impacted by these reforms in Canada is Aboriginal Peoples—particularly those who live on reserves and lack governmentissued documents proving their place of residence—as well as seniors who reside in nursing homes and students, who often relocate seasonally. For these groups, the changes will be significant, and may

cause logistical problems for interested voters, as well as loss of interest in political participation for many others.

Despite the fact that Canada’s reforms are milder than those passed in the United States, it is always better to err on the side of caution than run the risk of denying hundreds of thousands of people a basic right, enshrined in Section 3 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Strengthening electoral laws will not increase the integrity of elections if it disenfranchises specific groups of people.

Because of the relative lack of conclusive evidence that voter fraud is a major problem, pursuing this cause so forcefully is a misguided step for the Harper administration. Ultimately, any democracy that celebrates its commitment to the protection of civil rights should recognize that nationwide voter suppression is a far greater threat to liberty than voter fraud has ever been.

of caution and experiences none of the consequences by clunkily tip-toeing around the rules.

This idea, call it moral hazard or whatever else you will, explains why there are always a few that work against the interests of the whole in group settings. Whether it’s leaving an insured car unlocked in a sketchy parking garage, taking up smoking after taking out health insurance, or selling bundles of worthless loans to elderly pensioners, moral hazard is everywhere. It is enabled by global commerce and perpetuated by self-interested hunter-gatherer brains mismatched with collectivelyminded societies—though to be fair to capitalism, it also makes communism unworkable.

To solve moral hazard, we need to catch transgressors, whether red-handed

or red-booted, and punish them to dissuade further offences. Monitoring can be tricky; thankfully, punishment is quite easy. Legal measures may spring to mind first, but public shaming is sometimes even more effective—hence historical combinations like stockades and tomatoes. Modern forms of shaming exist as well, though usually in more whimsical forms. For example, the aptly-named Antanas Mockus, former mayor of Bogota, hired mimes to ridicule jaywalkers and litterers. His program was a massive success, dramatically improving traffic flows and tidiness in the city.

Once we have that sorted out, maybe we could take off our boots without fear once again.

The moral hazard of Birks

Tim Logan

Columnist

I was sitting in a conference in the basement of the Birks building, staring through the floor as the TA mumbled something about critical thinking… and I suddenly noticed that one of my classmates was still wearing his boots.

As a rule-following person in general, I’ve followed the Birks rule of removing my shoes upon entrance since hearing about it in first year. I had assumed it was to protect what look to me like nice marble floors in a beautiful building, but it wasn’t until earlier this year that I noticed the posters about

the risk of slipping on wet stone floors and the ambulance ride that might follow. “Ah,” I thought to myself, “how sensible! If all of us wear our boots inside, the floors will be slippery from the snowmelt, and someone could break their neck while coming down the stairs.

What smart staff we have.”

The risk of slipping and the clearlydisplayed posters about it make the decision to remove my boots obvious, to me.

So, why hadn’t my classmate? There, in my political science conference, the economics side of my brain switched on and delivered the answer: moral hazard.

After the 2008 financial collapse, everyone was talking about moral hazard. Technically speaking, moral hazard is the “lack of incentive to guard against risk where one is protected from its consequences.” In other words, if I’m gam-

bling with someone else’s money, I will care less about the risk of losing it than I would if it was my own.

This is especially true where there is a cost to caution. Taking off your boots takes effort and time, two things not easily parted with for a harried student late to conference. There are also the risks of theft and of stepping in someone else’s icy snowmelt while protected by nothing but soft, absorbent cotton.

At the same time, my still-shod classmate is guarded against the consequences of leaving his boots on. Because few people do so, there isn’t much snowmelt for him to slip on, and slipping on his own wet footprints would require a walk of Monty Python-esque silliness.

The discomfort of squelching through cold water in socks is also avoided, as is the risk of theft. So, he saves the ‘costs’

Student living

McGIll Tribune: Describe yourself in three words: Clovis Rigout: Energetic, happy, multicultural.

Student of the Week

by Steven Lampert

Clovis Rigout U1 MATHEMATICS (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune)

Does spinach, oyster mushrooms, and feta raviolis with a red pepper coulis sound better than your normal frozen pizza with a side of Kraft Dinner? Of course it does—but those types of dinners only exist for most students in the realm of parent visits and graduation dinners. For Clovis Rigout, however, these meals are much more common.

Rigout—along with two other McGill students, Priscilla Wang and Taegu Frank Kim—finished in second place at the inaugral interuniversity Iron Chef competition on Feb. 8. Teams from the University of Massachusetts, the University of Toronto, and the University of Ottawa gathered at McGill to show off their culinary expertise.

Born just outside of Paris, France, where he lived until he was 10 years old, Rigout cites his French background and his childhood experiences there as major influences on his culinary preferences.

“I grew up in a family where we always cooked nicely,” he said. “Cooking just reminded me of some childhood memories— watching my mom cook food, or trying to finish off the chocolate batter when we made brownies.”

After living in the United

States for six years, Rigout moved to Montreal and finished high school in Outremont. Rigout said Montreal is where he really started to enjoy cooking for himself.

“Living in my studio, that’s where I really picked it up,” he said. “You’re forced to do it every day, and that’s where I really appreciated it.”

Rigout has been able to sharpen his skills in the kitchen this year while living in Varcity515, where students cook for themselves rather than relying on meal plans. He enjoys the residence experience because it has allowed him to meet others in the McGill community and share his experience with people of different backgrounds. The cooking competition, which started as an inter-residence competition, combined both of these aspects of residence life.

“What I liked about the Iron Chef [was that] I was able to get involved with the school, represent McGill, and do something I really enjoy,” Rigout said.

Fans of Iron Chef and Chopped know these competitions are not for your average chef. The teams were given five “secret ingredients”—all either organic or fair trade—which had to be incorporated into their dishes.

“They gave us tons of ingredients to choose from and then said you have to use [other] secret ingredients,” he said. “Then it was just a quick brainstorm about what to do.”

The McGill team earned their second-place finish with the above mentioned raviolis and a pork dish.

Rigout noted that the team’s diverse culinary expertise—his preference for French cuisine and his teammate’s interest in Asian-style cooking—played a role in their success.

“What was interesting about our team […] was we had prepared different textures for the judges,” he explained. “We had the fried, the cold, [and] the crunchy. It was quite versatile and it worked out well.”

Though the competition is quite demanding, Rigout noted that there is a certain gratification attached to thinking on the spot to make a meal.

“The cooking itself can be quite stressful,” he said. “Once you actually make it, and it’s on the plate dressed nicely for the judges [... there’s] a certain satisfaction. You really create things from scratch and you see the final product right away [....] It was an amazing experience I won’t forget.”

MT: Favourite mathematician or theorem?

CR: Other than my professors— no, not really.

MT: If you had the opportunity to do anything you wanted what would it be?

CR: Understand my math courses better[....] Probably travel quite a lot more, go to Asia and go backpacking for six months.

MT: If you could make your own cake, what would it be?

CR: A cake with raspberries and chocolate would suit me well. Any cake really, even a cheesecake, as long as it had raspberries and chocolate.

MT: What was the last book you read?

CR: Dances with Wolves [by Michael Blake] MT: What is your favourite article of clothing?

CR: A big sweater that keeps me warm in the winter that my brother bought me over winter vacation. It’s a big warm sweater that just feels good when its -20oC.

nominate a student of the week!

Email us at studentliving@ mcgilltribune.com

around Town

Montréal en Lumière lights up the world like no city else Winter festival converts Quartier des Spectacles into urban playground of food, art, and music Alessandra Hechanova Creative Director Cop lights, flash lights, spot lights, strobe lights, street lights: as if straight out of a Kanye West song, all save for one of these lights illuminated my experience at Montréal en Lumière. The annual winter festival converts the city’s Quartier des Spectacles into a free urban playground featuring a gigantic ice slide, a digitally-lit Ferris wheel, gourmet gastronomy, outdoor games, and live performances.

Fireworks crackled in the February sky and quite literally started my night off with a bang as dazzling pyrotechnics left the festival grounds singing with energy and excitement in celebration of Montréal en Lumière’s 15th anniversary.

Feeling like a guest at one of Jay Gatsby’s parties, I watched French-Canadian rock musician Xavier Cafeïne take centre stage at Place des Arts and inaugurate his set with an aptly titled ballad called ‘Electric.’ The remainder of the concert pulsed with neo-New Wave vigour as I bobbed my head

alongside my coat-clad comrades while admiring the projection art that illuminated the sides of edifices around the district. Several other artists are scheduled to perform free shows throughout the festival, among them Juno award nominee Poirier.

Montréal en Lumière is as much a pleasure for the taste buds as it is for the eyes and ears. Its outdoor site brims with food kiosks serving everything from buttery Belgian waffles to massive Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. As I departed from the concert crowd, I gratefully accepted a skewered marshmallow from festival personnel, slightly burning the gelatinous confection’s edges with uneven contours of bruléed sugar, before grabbing real food at the wooden kiosk of Old-Montreal hotspot l’Atelier d’Argentine.

Confronted with a smorgasbord of affordable Argentinian cuisine, I settled on a smoky beef empanada that heated my taste buds with a spot of warmth from Buenos Aires. For my second dessert, I savoured the Quebec staple tire sur la neige—a taffy lollipop made by pouring hot maple syrup onto a bed of

ice. Besides Place des Arts, Montréal en Lumière showcases the talents of over 450 chefs in tasting events and workshops held in various locations around the city.

The festival is never short of sensory stimulation, featuring art, rides, and after-dark performances captivating enough to make both residents and tourists temporarily nocturnal. Buzzing with a sugar high, I flitted toward what looked like a game of Dance Dance Revolution in front of a stunning outdoor public art installation called the Nucléus.

A new addition to Montréal en Lumière, the cubic apparatus operates only when visitors co-ordinate their movements to control and sustain its spectacular display of lasers, lights, and music.

Not far from the Nucléus is the festival’s popular ice slide, which boasts a 110-metre track that propels passengers through Montreal’s sharp winter air on an exhilarating journey with sound effects and colourful lights.

Slightly eclipsed by the veneer of the festival’s more ostentatious attractions are activities that provide understated pleasure. After disembarking the

A ferris wheel for your day off. (Alessandra Hechanova / McGill Tribune). ice slide, I spotted three people wearing rectangular goggles that made them look like Cyclops from X-Men. Always inclined to try the gimmicky gadgets eulogized by Canada’s resident tech expert Marc Saltzman, I discovered that the goggles were Oculus Rifts—virtual reality headsets developed for immersive gaming. The device allows viewers to experience one of five digital scenarios and had me spellbound and startled by a rollercoaster simulation. My night culminated in a short match of Snakes

and Ladders, one of several giant parlour games at the festival’s Espace des Familles.

As one of world’s largest winter festivals, Montréal en Lumière gives good reason for the city to glimmer under the international spotlight.

Montréal en Lumière’s outdoor site is open to the public at Place des Arts every evening between Feb. 20 and March 2.

Curiosity delivers. |

STUDENT LIVING

| Tuesday, February 25, 2014

9

Mind-blowing baking with Betty, Duncan, and Mr. Christie How to use cake mix and Oreos to make delicious desserts

recipes

Marlee Vinegar Student Living Editor We’ve all been there, it’s 10:45 on Sunday night and you’re feeling a rare combination of pride and responsibility because you finished the reading for Wednesday’s class already, when you realize you completely forgot about the Monday morning bake sale you agreed to help out with.

Or maybe it’s Thursday night, and there’s only an hour until you’re supposed to be at your friend’s birthday potluck. You lack the ingredients and culinary know-how to whip up anything edible, but are too embarrassed to show up with two-for-one powdered doughnuts on sale at Metro.

Luckily, Betty, Duncan, and Mr. Christie can help—there are plenty of ways baking mix and a box of Oreos can get you out of a tight fix.

Triple threat brownies Cookies and cream cake

Oreo fudge

A classic dessert combining Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, and brownies to make a glutinous trifecta.

Ingredients: 1 box brownie mix 1 roll cookie dough 1 box Oreos 2 eggs ¼ cup water ¾ cup oil 1 handful chocolate chips Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 375 oF. 2. Grease a baking dish and line bottom with cookie dough.

3. Press a layer of Oreos on top of cookie dough.

4. In a bowl, mix together brownie mix, eggs, water, chocolate chips, and oil.

5. Pour mixture on top of cookies.

6. Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until cooked through.

Because no one has time for stoves and candy thermometers.

Ingredients: 1 box vanilla cake mix 3 eggs 1 pint melted vanilla ice cream 2 12 oz tubs vanilla frosting 1 box Oreos, crushed Directions 1. Mix together cake mix and sugar in microwave safe bowl.

2. Add butter and milk, but do not stir.

3. Microwave for 2 minutes on high.

4. Immediately add crushed Oreos and stir.

5. Spread mixture into pan.

6. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

It’s like cookies and cream ice cream, but in a super moist cake.

Ingredients: 1 cup vanilla cake mix 1 cup icing sugar ¼ cup butter ¼ cup milk 1/2 box Oreos, crushed Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350oF, and blend together cake mix, eggs, and ice cream together until thoroughly mixed.

2. Split cake mix between three greased 8 x 8 inch baking dishes.

3. Bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through, then place in refrigerator until cakes are cooled.

4. Remove cakes from pans.

5. Frost top of one cake and sprinkle with Oreo crumbs.

6. Stack second cake on top and repeat previous step.

7. Repeat with third cake.

8. Frost sides of cake. Cover with remaining Oreo crumbs.

(Photos courtesy of static.spoonful.com / babble.com / www.deviantart.net)

Pro Tips

Five last-minute things to do this Reading Week You can still enjoy the week of freedom even if you’re not lounging on the beach Laura Hanrahan Contributor Just because it’s called “Reading Week” doesn’t mean you should be spending seven days straight sitting in the library or finishing your term paper. If you weren’t able to make plans for the week and are looking for some entertaining ways to pass the time, look no further— here are five last-minute ideas for how to spend your week of freedom.

1

Delve into the Montreal music scene There is never a shortage of musicians and concerts in Montreal.

Reading Week is the perfect time to make the rounds and check them out. For those into alternative music, Under the Snow Music Festival runs from March 4-9 and showcases emerging Quebec musicians and bands. Alternatively, Imagine Dragons are performing at the Bell Centre on March 3, in addition to various musical performances that take place throughout the week for Montréal en Lumière. For all other Montreal concert listings, check out blueskiesturnblack.com.

Embrace Canadian stereotypes March is Maple Month in Que-

bec, which means there will be no shortage of tire d’erable, maple syrup, and other maple-based foods. Sugar shacks are the perfect places to not only try these maple treats, but also to see how they’re made.

Cap Saint Jaques, on the west side of the island, offers the traditional sugar shack experience. Located in one of Montreal’s largest nature parks, it will actually make you feel as if you are in the middle of a forest. If the rustic charm of a sugar shack doesn’t appeal to you, many local Montreal restaurants are offering maple-themed menus. For instance, Les 400 Coups, located in Old Port, offers maple menus every Tuesday and Wednesday of March.

Visit another university The upside to having reading week two weeks later than almost every other Canadian university is that during our break, you can visit your friends from home at their own schools. Getting to experience how different—or similar—student life is at another school is always interesting and can be a welcome change from routine Montreal living. Megabus and Via Rail both offer reasonably priced tickets to most major university cities in Ontario.

Plan a Mount Tremblant ski trip Despite everyone’s hopes and wishes, the weather on our ‘spring break’ usually isn’t all that springlike. While that leaves a nice bike ride in the park out of the question, it means that we can continue enjoying our winter sports. Mount Tremblant is currently offering 50 per cent off five-day ski passes until March 16, which is ideal for those on a student budget. Located only an hour and a half out of the city, it is the perfect place for a last minute getaway.

Explore Old Montreal Old Montreal, located a fairly short walk away from campus, is one of the most interesting parts of the city, with buildings dating back to the age of New France. Reading week is the perfect opportunity to explore this historical area and see all that it has to offer. The NotreDame Basilica puts on a light show, Tuesdays to Saturdays, that highlights the Basilica’s cultural and archeological history. If history presentations aren’t your thing, the Montreal Science Center in Old Port is featuring the “Truth or Lie?” exhibit until March 9, which delves into the world of magic, illusions, and pseudoscience.

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FINAL FRONTIER:

BY SAM PINTO

The Arctic is a place of unfound possibilities and potential opportunities, to the point that five countries have laid claim to much of the region. In fact, these disputes are serious enough that politicians have advocated for increased military presence to enforce their sovereignty in the Arctic.

Whether or not this military advocacy is legitimate or just political rhetoric is debatable, but the wealth of the Arctic and the ambitious intentions of these countries are far from fictional.

In December 2013, Canada made preliminary plans to redefine its borders in the Arctic region. However, the drive toward making claims in the Arctic has not always been at the forefront of Canada’s initiatives.

Canada’s Arctic represents 40 per cent of all the nation’s landmass, an area of 3,921,739 square kilometres—large enough for France to fit inside it six times. It is a vast region comprised of tundra, large mountains, and very little vegetation.

Across all this land, however, there are just slightly more than 100,000 inhabitants. To the unobservant eye, the Arctic is a cold, barren place with minimal potential.

Other nations, on the other hand, have been relatively successful in using the Arctic to their advantage.

Russia and Norway, for example, produce 20 per cent of their respective GDPs from their Arctic regions.

While opportunities in the Arctic exist, the Canadian government has so far failed to capitalize on them.

Michael Byers, a professor of political science at University of British Columbia and a McGill alum, noted the difference in development in the Arctic by various countries.

“Relatively speaking, the Canadian Arctic is the least developed of all the Arctic regions,” Byers said.

In recent years, the arctic has become a hot topic for politicians and the media. Prior to his election as prime minister in 2006, Stephen Harper made the Arctic one of his top campaign priorities—considering specifically the issue of Canada’s arctic sovereignty.

“The single most important duty of the federal government is to protect and defend our national sov-

ereignty,” Harper said in a speech in 2005.

Harper argued for the need for increased military presence to uphold Canada’s claim—meaning more troops and a larger navy. While the idea appears favourable and patriotic, few Canadians actually know about arctic sovereignty, what the government is doing in the North, or why it even matters. In fact, arctic sovereignty stretches far beyond the idea of security, delving into even more controversial issues of economic development, the environment, and Indigenous matters. Upon closer inspection, the opportunities and challenges within these areas are massive, and has the potential to be highly rewarding.

What is Arctic sovereignty?

The term Arctic sovereignty describes claims made by Arctic states on waters beyond the state’s land borders as being their own. The Arctic region contains seven countries—Canada, Russia, Denmark (Greenland), Sweden, Iceland, Norway, and the United States. While no country has sole possession over the North Pole or the Arctic Ocean, each one—except for Iceland and Sweden—asserts that parts of the waters and islands are within their borders.

In order to lay claim to an extended continental shelf, which ranges past a country’s exclusive economic zone 200 nautical miles beyond the country’s land borders, a country must ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world’s oceans. In addition, the law also establishes guidelines for scientific research in the ocean, the environment and the management of natural resources. Once ratified, a nation has 10 years to file its submission.

In 2003, Canada ratified UNCLOS, and on Dec. 9, 2013, Canada

submitted its preliminary information that defined where the continental shelf lies. However, Canada must continue extensive scientific research to accurately determine where these boundaries extend. Once this has been settled, the UN will review the analysis further to make the final call, and country-to-country negotiations will be required. This could take several decades.

Sovereignty realities Within its claim, Canada estimates that its extended shelf area spans 1.2 million square kilometres in the Northern Atlantic Ocean—a survey of the Arctic Ocean has not yet been completed. The fact that not all of Canada’s scientific data has been completed could create problems for its extended shelf claims by potentially conflicting with those made by the United States and Denmark.

These situations are resolved primarily through diplomatic negotiations between foreign affairs ministries. For instance, in 2012 Canada settled an agreement with Denmark regarding a dispute north of Ellesmere Island and Greenland.

However, according to Byers, who has written extensively on arctic sovereignty, the reality is that Canada’s sovereignty disputes are minimal.

“Canada only has three arctic sovereignty disputes,” Byers explained. “One over a tiny island that is only 1.3 square kilometres; one over an area of seabed over the Beaufort Sea; and a third over the extent of Canada’s regulatory powers in the Northwest Passage—waters that [almost] every other country accepts [to be] Canadian.”

The only other country to dispute Canada’s control over the Northwest Passage is the United States, which claims that the body is an international strait. This disagreement will continue until either a diplomatic agreement is made, or an international court settles the matter.

So far, neither has taken place.

In addition, politicians and the media often predict an essential arms race taking place between the Arctic states in order to enforce their military presence. According to Byers, Canada has done almost nothing to increase its Arctic security.

“There are only 200 Canadian forces personnel based in the Arctic on ongoing basis at Yellowknife,” Byers said. “The prime minister has promised to build Arctic patrol ships for the navy, but no construction contract has been signed seven years after the promise was made. He also, seven years ago, promised a naval port in the Arctic, but again, nothing has happened there.”

However, Byers noted that military presence does not equate to being involved with the challenges and opportunities of the Arctic.

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nance, sovereignty, [and] economic development.”

The Northern Strategy, which is designed to meet the challenges and opportunities of the north, according to the program’s website, has led to the development of two mines in Nunavut alone since 2007.

Aglukkaq also explained how sustainable economic policies have been developed through the Arctic Council—an intergovernmental organization with members from each of the Arctic states with the intention of addressing issues facing the Arctic through shared knowledge.

In one example, Norway shared information with Canada on how to construct windmills that could sustain cold temperatures of the Arctic climate. Canada is the current chair of the council. During its chairmanship, Canada implemented the Arctic Economic Council, which seeks to promote sustainable business development in the Arctic and encourage cooperation with the people living there.

Environmental issues While the economic potential may be tempting, increased development of the Arctic could possibly lead to future environmental issues. Currently, the Arctic is affected by climate change more than almost any other region on the planet. The Arctic Ocean, for example, once completely frozen solid, now sees ice-free summers.

“I think that in the late summer, an ice-free Arctic Ocean is now inevitable, just because of the momentum that climate change has in terms of emissions that have already occurred,” Byers said.

Climate change, as well as increased economic development, has had dramatic effects on biodiversity within the Arctic—including damage to fish, vegetation, and mammals.

This could have a dramatic effect on the Indigenous peoples in the Arctic, many of whom rely on the wildlife in their livelihoods.

Finally, as the mining of natural resources increases, the threat of potential toxic chemical spills becomes more pertinent. These spills could have negative impacts on the health of both wildlife and people.

According to Aglukkaq, the Arctic Council recently implemented policy to address the threat of chemical spills. The Agreement on Cooperation on Maritime Oil Polution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic—which was adopted in 2013—seeks to increase cooperation and coordination of the Arctic states on oil pollution preparedness and response in the Arctic in order to

Economic Potentials Part of why claiming vast amounts of cold, barren land has become a major priority is because of the huge economic potentials that exist within the north. According to the United States Geological Survey, the Arctic contains over 20 per cent of the world’s undiscovered petroleum resources, including oil, natural gas, and natural gas resources.

84 per cent of these resources are offshore, and potentially in disputed regions.

According to Byers, investing in large infrastructure projects, such as ports, roads, and alternative energy are other significant ways to extract the economic potential of the Arctic.

“We need to recognize that there are economic opportunities that don’t simply involve digging things out of the ground,” Byers said. “There are vast opportuni-

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protect the marine environment from oil pollution.

However, critics have questioned the effectiveness of the proposal. According to Christy Ferguson, Arctic project leader for Greenpeace Canada, the agreement is far too vague, and would do little to prevent an oil disaster.

“The agreement does nothing to protect the Arctic environment and nothing to protect the peoples of the Arctic … It is effectively useless,” Ferguson told the Globe and Mail.

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UNDERSTANDING ARCTIC SOVEREIGNTY

ties in terms of alternative energy.

Most people don’t realize this, but the highest [cliffs] in the world are on Baffin Island, [Nunavut. There is] enormous potential for tidal power, for wind power in Canada’s north.”

According to Leona Aglukkaq, minister of the environment, minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and minister for the Arctic Council, the current federal government has taken drastic steps to increase economic activity in the North.

“Our government introduced in 2006 a Northern Strategy,” Aglukkaq said. “For the very first time, there [are] policy initiatives of the federal government focused on developing the North in four pillars, and that is around responsible resource development, devolving gover-

Indigenous relations

Various Indigenous peoples of Canada’s North, primarily the Inuit, comprise over 50 per cent of Canada’s Arctic region’s population. Therefore, cooperation between the Indigenous peoples and the federal government is vital to endorse Arctic sovereignty and regional development.

In 2008, the Inuit living in four of the Arctic states signed a Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Sovereignty in the Arctic, which defines the parameters of sovereignty and its potential effects on the Inuit.

“The actions of Arctic peoples and states, the interactions between them, and the conduct of international relations must give primary respect to the need for global environmental security, the need for peaceful resolution of disputes, and the inextricable linkages between issues of sovereignty and sovereign rights in the Arctic and issues of self-determination,” the declaration reads.

According to Chester Reimer, a senior policy analyst for the Inuit Circumpolar Council, the Inuit are supportive of the sovereignty claims put forward by the Arctic states. However, they want to ensure that they receive benefits of their exploits of the Arctic, since it is their home and has been so for centuries.

The Inuit live in four different regions within Canada, called land-claim settlement regions. Within each region, the Inuit have laid out their own

interests in sovereignty and economic development. “[For example,] The Nunavut [Land Claims] Agreement gives Inuit [peoples] a certain amount of control over offshore resources, offshore matters,” Reimer explained. “So Inuit [peoples] would argue to the extent that Canada is extending its boundaries, then the Inuit of that area should also claim their rights and responsibilities as stipulated in their land claim settlement agreements.”

However, the Inuit have yet to experience many of the benefits that the Arctic could bring. According to Byers, the government has failed to give the Inuit an opportunity to thrive.

“The Inuit have been let down badly by successive federal governments in terms of health and education and housing,” Byers said. “The blame for that rests with successive federal governments. It will cost many billions of dollars to turn that situation around. I think that’s necessary and important, but I don’t see the political will.”

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FEATURES |10

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Canada's Arctic future According to Byers, it seems impossible for any future Canadian government to avoid addressing Canada’s claims in the Arctic due to the potential economic and environmental issues that have so far been left unacknowledged.

“Whether a different future government would do more, I think [the answer] is yes, only because the very rapid changes in the Arctic caused by climate change—the melting of the sea ice, the melting of the permafrost, the increase in shipping—all demand more action by government,” Byers said. “So I don’t think future governments will really have a choice. I think that the Harper government may be the last government that can get away with doing almost nothing.”

According to Aglukkaq, the Arctic is ready to meet its full potential and increase its economic activity.

All the region needs is the interest and curiosity of Canadians in the south.

“The Arctic is the last frontier of Canada,” Aglukkaq said. “It is a region that has been ignored for far too long, and up here, we want development; we want development on our terms and conditions, [and] we have the processes in place [to do so.]”

Design by Hayley Lim

=Disputed Area

Science & technology

Profile

Defining a new pathway to the study of mucosal immunity Professor Irah King encourages his students to expose themselves to research outside the sciences Maral Saghaei Contributor At first sight, Irah King looks like your average yoga teacher: long hair, cool bracelets, and a warm smile.

However, you’d be surprised at the story behind this new member of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

King has a diverse background— a bachelor in psychology, a master’s in physical therapy and a PhD in neurology.

“I always knew what I wanted to do, but it kept changing,” he said. “[Today], I’ve found what I [really] love to do, [which] is immunology.”

King explains that it was only through exploring multiple fields that he discovered his passion for his research.

“I [initially] wanted to become a

physical therapist, but a class in clinical neuroscience opened my eyes to the field of basic research,” King added.

“I pursued graduate studies in the department of neuroscience, [where my supervisor] was a classical immunologist.”

Now, 12 publications later and a laboratory later, King hopes to foster his students’ success.

“My father was an attorney, and he sat behind a desk, [so] I always thought I wanted to do something very active because I was into sports,” King said. “[Today], I get a lot of enjoyment from doing research, but it’s also very exciting to witness my students’ excitement when they generate their own data.”

In mentoring his students, King keeps his own experiences of exploring science close to heart. He advises students to have a well-rounded edu-

King finds fulfillment not only in his own research, but in fostering his students’ success. (Cassandra Rogers / McGill Tribune) cation and not to be afraid to browse around until they settle on a discipline they enjoy. “[Don’t] take life too seriously too early on, because your priorities and interests are going to change,” King said. “Try to do your best to expose yourself to a number of different areas—not only sciences, but arts as well. [This] can inform your decision about what you really want to do as

you get older, and you may end up using that information in whatever career you chose to pursue; [but] you do need to work hard to play hard.”

With 10 to 12 hours of his day spent in his lab, King is definitely passionate about his work. Located in the Duff Medical Building, King’s laboratory focuses on how individuals make antibodies that protect them from infection. The team is also looking

to understand how the gut microenvironment can impact our susceptibility to diseases, such as allergy or autoimmunity.

In the few hours he has to himself, King finds his escape with his wife and two daughters.

“You find yourself doing things as an adult that you didn’t think [you’d be] interested in doing,” King explained. “[I find myself] figuring out the best princess tutu to put on my daughter—not myself—but it’s really enjoyable.”

Through all of his experience in multiple fields, King has developed a clear direction of where he wants to go with his work.

“I want to be thought of as somebody who does very good science— science that’s reproducible and has an impact beyond our laboratory.”

SCIENCE

Sloths hold untapped resource for novel antibodies

Fungi found in sloth hair shows promising properties that could be used to target various diseases tem; camouflaging green alga grows on this coat among a host of other microand macro-organisms.

Researchers have identified 84 Hanging from the canopy of trees in Soberania National Park, Panama, fungal species from samples collected the coat of the world’s slowest mammal from nine sloths, including three new may become the medical community’s ones. All samples were of the phylum newest “bioprospect.” Fungi isolated ascomycota, the same phylum of the from the hair of the Bradypus variega- mold that produces the antibiotic penitus Three-toed sloths have been found to cillin and the fungus that secretes the have anti-parasitic, anti-cancer, and anti- immunosuppressor Ciclosporin—an bacterial activity by a study published important drug in organ transplantation as well as rheumatoid arthritis and psothis past January in PloS one Journal.

Amid the matted-grime of the riasis.

The fungi were cultured on agar three-toed sloth lies a richly biodiverse environment. While the inner layer of plates and tested for their bioactivity in the two-tiered coat consists of fine, soft vitro by the team of researchers from the hair, the outer layer is made up of cours- Smithsonian Tropical Research Instier, cracked hair. These fractured hairs tute, UC Santa Cruz, and the University HR_ULaval_McGill tribune_10x3,6_NBc.pdf 1 2014-01-29 13:45 serve as the home for an entire ecosys- of Arizona.

Marlee Vinegar Student Living Editor

The relationship between the fungi and sloths has yet to be explored, but the potential benefits to humans are promising. Using a BioMAP (antibiotic mode of action profile) antibiotic profile screen, out of 50 or so fungal extracts, 20 were active against at least one of 15 human bacterial strains. Furthermore, 15 fungi also showed bioactivity against the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line.

The anti-parasitic applications include parasites Plasmodium falciparum that causes malaria and the parasite responsible for Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi. New therapeutic solutions are needed to counter T. cruzi, since the side effects of current agents, nitrofurane and benznidazole, are fairly strong.

Also of significance is the action of the Lasiodplodia fungal species,

which showed “potent and specific activity against Gram-negative bacteria.”

Gram-negative bacteria contribute to the growing problem of drug resistance that is largely attributed to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics.

Although the results of the study are preliminary and may not amount to any substantive results during in vivo animal studies or in humans, it sheds a glimmer of hope for an untapped resource for tackling some of today’s most demanding clinical challenges.

“The pressing need for new medications continues to represent one of humanity’s greatest challenges,” the study reads.

“The high abundance and diversity of fungi associated with sloth hair, coupled with their bioactivity, may speak to

a biological importance to sloths that is yet unexplored.”

With five other extant species across the neotropics, who knows what other medical applications might exist from this adorable beacon of laziness, as well as the vast diversity of Panama that is currently threatened by deforestation.

Ensuring the viability of ecosystems is a worthy goal, not only for the sake of the environment in itself, but for their broader social benefits, as Executive Director of the UN Environment Program Achim Steiner has expressed.

“We must help society understand how much we already depend on diversity of life to run our economies, our lives; but more importantly, what we are losing in terms of future potential,” he said in an interview with the CBC.

À L’ÉTÉ 2014, PAS DE VACANCES POUR LES PASSIONNÉS! Plus de 60 écoles d’été / 1 300 cours réguliers / 150 cours à distance

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Curiosity delivers. |

science & technology

| Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The intricate patterns of waves on the surface of seashells serve more than a decorative purpose. These tiny cracks are actually the secret behind the incredible strength of the shell.

Thanks to a technique developed by Francois Barthelat­ —a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McGill—and his team, the researchers modeled a type of glass similar to the structure of seashell and is 200 times more durable than normal.

The team derived its concept from nature. By looking at the mechanism of natural structures, such as seashells, the researchers came up with hypotheses to significantly increase the toughness of glass.

“Narcre, or mother-of-pearl, which coats the inner shells, is made up of microscopic tablets that are a bit like miniature LEGO building blocks, [and] is known to be extremely tough and strong, which is why people have been studying its structure for the past 20 years,” Barthelat said in an interview with the university.

Unlike the flu, you can’t catch diabetes from someone coughing next to you. However, a research team from the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) has shown through combined analyses of several studies that you may be more susceptible to developing diabetes from living with someone with the disorder.

The findings were published in the journal BMC Medicine this February and were based on six selected studies conducted in different parts of the world. According to the McGill Reporter, the studies assessed outcomes such as age, socioeconomic status, and the way in which diabetes was diagnosed in a total of 75,498 couples.

“We found a 26 per cent increase in the risk of developing type II diabetes if your spouse also has type II diabetes,” Kaberi Dasgupta, senior author of the study and researcher at the Research Institute of the MUHC told the McGill Reporter.

One reason for this increase is that many of the risky behaviours that lead to diabetes are often shared within the household. These include poor eating habits and low physical activity.

Future studies will hopefully indicate how closely interwined the relationship is between living with someone with diabetes and developing the disorder yourself.

Purchasing products of large-scale agriculture may save you a couple dollars; however, Timothy Johns, professor of Human Nutrition at McGill University in Montreal, cautions that these products have a cost in terms of nutritional health.

In his presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advance of Science in Chicago, Johns demonstrated how diets are becoming increasingly limited in biological and nutritional diversity as a result of large-scale farming.

“Products of biodiversity within culturally-based diets provide essential micronutrients and lower prevalence of diet-related chronic disease,” Johns said to the McGill Reporter. He

Looking at a display screen, participants changed a coloured disk from dark red to bright yellow or white all by simply manipulating their own brain activity thanks to a non-invasive imaging technology magnetoencephalography (MEG).

The study, which was recently published in the journal NeuroImage, strongly suggests MEG can be used as a therapeutic tool to control and train targeted brain regions. While patients of epilepsy show the most promise, scientists suspect it could also be used to treat stroke, dementia, and chronic depression, among other neurological disorders.

MEG is a technology that measures magnetic fields generated by neuronal activity in the brain. These measurements

13

T h e team studied the ‘weak’ edges found in natural, flexible materials, such as narcre. The researchers then used lasers to engrave three-dimensional networks of micro-cracks into the glass slides.

“What we know now is that we can toughen glass, or other materials, by using patterns of micro-cracks to guide larger cracks, and in the process, absorb the energy from an impact,” Barthelat said.

In the future, his team hopes to scale up this technique to any size of glass sheet, working towards the production of shatterproof glassware.

is worried about the health consequences of single-crop farming, since it lacks the agrobiodiversity of smaller farms.

While large-scale farming efforts are directed towards feeding the globe’s increasing population, Johns explained how carbohydrates produced by such efforts, like cereal, sugars, and potatoes often result in malnutrition due to overconsumption of calories—a contributing factor to obesity and chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disorders.

Johns proposes that food-policy decisions should be directed towards supporting smaller scale agriculture. Brazil’s National School Feeding Law and Program is one example of such an approach. Since 2009, the law has required at least 30 per cent of food in the program come from family agriculture. By embracing smaller scale agriculture, this program is working towards better nutrition for the overall community.

allow scientists to localize the sources of activity and record these images.

This helps people view their brain activity in real time—a millisecond time scale across the entire organ—and allows them to control and adjust a function of their brain in pre-determined regions.

MEG’s therapeutic advantages include its potential to reveal the dynamics of brain activity involved in perception, cognition, and behaviour. It could also provide unique insight on neural dysfunction, such as movement disorders and chronic pain.

arts & entertainment Players’ production of Peter Pan forces audiences to grow up The final show of The Players’ Theatre season defies expectations for a classic childhood tale with Peter a paternal feel. Often voicing what the audience is thinking, Weissfelner as Barrie connects the dream of eternal youth in Neverland to reality, where wanting only to have fun is our greatest fantasy.

Turning a well-known children’s story into something challenging and thought provoking is no easy feat, but the Players’ production of Peter Pan pulls it off. Richmond and her crew shatter expectations, creating a show with depth that manages to surprise even those who think they are familiar with the tale.

Rachel Burk Contributor A university is the ideal place to stage the story of a boy who never wants to grow up; few understand the sentiment of wanting to be a little kid and have fun forever better than those of us on the cusp of adulthood. As we stress over midterms, job recruitment, and our impending entrance into the “real world,” the Peter Pan way of life becomes the unattainable ideal.

Peter is the ultimate procrastinator, using his particular brand of fantastical avoidance to stay young forever.

Our admiration of Peter’s eternal youth makes it all the more ironic that the Players’ Theatre interpretation of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is not intended for children. Those nostalgically searching for the Disney-esque adventure of their childhoods had best look elsewhere; director Kelly Richmond and her cast have restored Peter Pan to all of its violent, tragic, and somewhat unsettling glory. The characters are darker, the body count is high, and the sexual tension is unexpectedly prominent for a story about youthful innocence. Parental discretion is advised.

The play begins when lights fade in on an ordinary-looking bedroom.

As the familiar-looking members of the Darling family enter the scene, the audience relaxes and settles in for a story they presumably know well.

Once the characters begin to interact, this sense of ease disappears—these

Hide your kids! (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune) are not the characters imagined by Walt Disney. Mr. Darling (Jeff Araujo) is deceitful and childish; Wendy Darling (Charlotte Doucette) is antagonistic; the usually sweet Mrs. Darling (Maka Ngwenya) comes off as harsh. Despite the slow pace of the first scene, these unexpected personalities and the dynamics between the characters stave off any potential dullness.

As the story moves to Neverland, the pace picks up. With an impressive set change facilitated by the cast themselves, the audience is transported to a land of adventure.

More unexpectedly nasty characters appear, from a spiteful Tinkerbell to murderous mermaids. The pirates are loud and fearsome, Tiger Lily and

her braves are quietly unnerving, and fights erupt every few minutes. The use of contrast between the fantasy world and the real one emphasizes the other-worldliness that exemplifies Neverland.

The play’s main character, Peter Pan, is brought to life by Rebecca Pearl. Pearl brings new dimensions to the captain of the Lost Boys, successfully portraying the fear and mania beneath his cocky exterior. Through her impressive performance, Pearl creates a tragic hero: a character to both applaud and pity as he fights against the inevitable passing of time.

Much needed comic relief comes in the form of the Lost Boys.

Jordan Pollock, Shanti Gonzales, James Worsnop and Sophie van

Bastelaer bring a wonderful childishness to Nibs, Slightly, Curly, and Tootles. Their amusing antics and adorable misunderstandings add lightness to this otherwise heavy tale.

You will be hard pressed not to ‘aww’ at Tootles’ pouting and Slightly’s naiveté.

One of Richmond’s most interesting directorial choices is the inclusion of a narrator—a voyeur of sorts—in the form of the author himself: J.M. Barrie (Mark Weissfelner). Barrie sits with the audience, explaining the story and commenting on Peter’s thoughts and actions. Weissfelner perfectly portrays an author’s connection to his characters, giving Barrie’s interactions

Peter Pan runs from Feb. 26th – March 1 at 8 p.m. at Players’ Theatre (SSMU Building).

Student tickets are $6.

The Lego Movie reminds us that it’s good to be a kid Witty gags and simple archetypes make film more than a feature-length toy commercial Max Bledstein Staff Writer “Everything is Awesome,” the song heard at the beginning of The Lego Movie, sets the mood for the film right away: it’s fun, hilarious, and unapologetically zany. Remarkably, writer-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller—known primarily for their work on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street— sustain this tone throughout the film, and their exuberance prevents it from being the drab product placement that the very concept of the film would appear doomed to be.

The story they tell concerns the fate of Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt), a construction worker whose approach to life revolves around conformity. He drinks expensive coffee, enjoys popular music, and roots for the local sports team, all with the same

blasé acceptance and blissful ignorance. His life takes a drastic turn when he meets Wildstyle (Elizabeth Banks), a mysterious woman convinced that he is fated to stop President Business (Will Ferrell) from destroying the world with a powerful weapon known as “the Kragle.” She brings him on an adventure that takes him through numerous LEGO® locales, and introduces him to a myriad of beloved figures, most notably Batman (Will Arnett). Car chases, encounters with villains, and narrow escapes ensue.

If all of this sounds incredibly simplistic and child-like, it’s because it is—and that’s precisely the point.

Like Spike Jonze’s under-appreciated 2009 adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, The Lego Movie beautifully represents the wonder and freespiritedness of a child’s imagination.

Whereas Jonze’s film uses a slow, languid approach to evoke nostalgia

for childhood and symbolize a child’s restlessness, Miller and Lord use their giddy style and frenetic pacing to depict the joy of a child at play. The shallow, archetypal nature of the characters and plot allow the audience to enter the mindset of a child experiencing the thrill of creativity (through a toy—as the film wants us to remember—like LEGO®). Seeing this feeling represented on screen reminds us of why the simple block toys have endured for so long and been a childhood fixture for so many.

The film falters a bit when Lord and Miller make this all a bit too explicit through the film’s final plot twist. They tell us what we, having experienced childhood, already know implicitly without needing to have the point shoved down our throats by the filmmakers. Not only is the twist redundant, but it puts a damper on the spell the film casts. Though their ex-

plicitness broadens the age range to whom the film will appeal by explaining to children exactly what they’re doing, it’s ultimately a futile gesture.

Children don’t need to go to a movie to have the joy of childhood preached to them—they’re often living it.

Despite this misstep, Lord and Miller redeem themselves by injecting the movie with a political message which gives it implications beyond being merely a fun journey inside a child’s mind. They suggest that one must use his strengths and individuality in conjunction with others in order to achieve the best possible results for everyone. Only by cooperating with one another, the movie says, can we truly utilize ourselves to our maximum potential. The movie’s message is a welcome antidote to the fascistic undertones that have plagued Hollywood action movies since Dirty Harry, and have been seen on the big

screen recently in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Lord and Miller’s decision to make Batman an antagonist for Emmet and a frequent target of derision further positions their message as a mockery of the politics of Nolan’s work. Unlike those films, The Lego Movie explores the problems of placing power in one person and extols the virtues of uniting and working together. The movie shows the value of institutional structures to guide individuals and use them in a way that most benefits everyone.

None of this is to suggest that The Lego Movie amounts to a dry political statement. Any socio-political commentary which one can read into the film’s subtext is overshadowed by the overall whimsical tone which it carries on throughout. A child’s mind is a fun place to be, and The Lego Movie gives us the pleasure of spending time back inside of one.

Curiosity delivers. |

arts & entertainment

| Tuesday, February 25, 2014

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B’s Bees cordially invites you to Sunday Night Jazz Party Weekly Mile End jazz event offers a way to extend your weekend fun on a school night Natalie Wong Staff Writer With a dulled night scene in downtown Montreal on Sundays, students are usually directed towards a slow dreary evening, wishing that the exhilaration of their weekend could continue. Luckily, Brandon Goodwin, the drummer of Montreal’s very own six-piece jazz band, B’s Bees, brings us the opportunity to abandon our homework—or Netflix plans—by introducing the Sunday Night Jazz Party.

The Sunday Night Jazz Party brings an atmosphere of swingin’ live jazz and social mingling in the Mile End’s Cabaret Playhouse. Goodwin created the event to fill the social abyss that most Sunday nights bring with live music.

“On Sunday nights, there’s really not much going on,” says Goodwin.

“But there [are] so many people who

POP Rhetoric

live around the Mile-End…because they want to experience the Plateau and everything that the city has to offer.”

The party was in full-swing when I arrived last Sunday night, featuring musical guests as well as local DJs spinning jazz tracks. Goodwin uses this unusual pairing to place emphasis on the event as a party.

“I wanted it to be that anybody could come here for any reason…[The band] is just a part of it… [we’re] just trying to bring in good vibes so when you walk in, you feel comfortable and you can meet people.”

Cabaret Playhouse is the perfect venue for this particular shindig. It features a decent-sized main room and includes space near the back where conversation can occur without being overpowered by the music. The stage effortlessly fits Goodwin’s 6-piece band near the front, and its proximity to the crowd makes it easy to become

fully immersed in the music. Sitting and dancing areas are closely intertwined, accentuating the event’s soiree nature.

Jazz saxophonist Al McLean, a McGill graduate and current instructor in the music program, joined the B’s Bees on stage and laid down some impressive solos. During musical breaks, DJ Father Zinger held things down with some eclectic jazz tracks while members of B’s Bees got off stage to join the audience in conversation and laughter.

To pull this all together, Goodwin looks to the glorious era of jazz in the 1950’s as his inspiration for B’s Bees.

“The group that I originally think about is The Jazz Messengers,” Goodwin recalls, referring to the classic hard-bop group of the 1950’s. “Hardbop featured artists like Charlie Parker and Miles Davis…they brought in more horns and simplified the music so it was more grooving.”

“I mean we can get crazy too,” Goodwin was quick to assure. “But [our music] is more just swinging.”

The band did exactly that—conducting the flow of its set with swinging rhythms that had the audience constantly swaying back and forth.

B’s Bees play a fusion of jazz covers and originals, and their performance last week included a soulful original entitled “Who You Are” by Christopher Vincent, trombone player and U3 McGill music student.

“It’s music that’s not as abrasive as something you’d find on other nights of the week,” explains Vincent.

“So it makes for a great evening experience, especially on a Sunday.”

For students struggling with upcoming midterms or unable to brave the freeze of Montreal winter and venture to the Mile End, the shows are also live-streamed every week.

Future prospects for the Jazz Party includes showcasing guest jazz

ensembles once a month and a possible collaboration with a local swing dancing school—that Goodwin coyly refrained from revealing. “[The school] is really well known. That’s a hint,” Goodwin offers. “We’ll do it probably once a month…it will start in March.”

Sunday Night Jazz Party isn’t your archetypal concert rave that makes meaningful conversation next to impossible and leaves you with a crippling hangover the next day; it’s memorable in its groove, quality beer, and relaxed social environment amid high-quality live jazz.

The party is also free of admission, in the spirit of perpetuating live music.

“If people love live music in any way, they can support it by just coming out and show that they want it to keep going,” Goodwin tells me. “Support local live musicians.”

Kanye can’t touch the sky with his ego weighing him down

By Morgan Alexander, Contributor

“I am the next Walt Disney. I am the next Steve Jobs.”

When you bring up Kanye West in conversation, you’re likely to be greeted with two very distinct opinions. On one hand, we have the adamant defenders, die hard ‘Yeezies’ who can spend hours attesting to West’s creative brilliance; opponents can be seen rolling their eyes, mumbling about the egotistical media junkie who had the audacity to compare himself to Jesus on the cover of Rolling Stone.

All this being said, why is it that Kanye West—a man who has clearly secured his place in hiphop history through his outspoken tirades and lyrical antics—has failed to move past his defined role as fanatic producer/rapper into the business world like his peers Jay-Z and Pharrell Williams? Contrary to what West might have you believe, it all comes down to his ego.

“There are only two types of people in this world: haters and dreamers. The only difference between them is that haters let go of their dreams.”

Just the other week, West performed at the Bell Center, making up for the previously planned November show that was cancelled

due to technical difficulties. West took 22 minutes out of his performance to give what some news outlets have dubbed a “quality of life” speech. He spoke to the crowd on a large array of topics; ranging from his potential, his hopes, his dreams, and most importantly, his legacy. Public opinion, West claimed, is what has been holding him back from reaching his greatest potential. In the speech, he acknowledged his egotistical ways and his borderline manic outbursts in the past year—but he largely dismissed them, calling them the ideals of a genius, not the ravings of a lunatic.

“It ain’t about me. It’s about y’all, and it’s about us.”

Perhaps West is exaggerating how harshly the industry has stifled his potential. His performance was nothing short of mesmerizing, exactly what you’d expect from a man who’s referred to himself as both a “pop enigma” and “this generation’s greatest rapper.” There were explosions, women dressed in what can only be described as nude pantyhose suits, an imitation Jesus, and Yeezus wearing a variety of bejewelled masks.

The bass reverberated with every note and the

crowd was electric. They knew every line, bounced to each individual beat; any minor change that took place on stage was noted and greeted with boisterous cheers and high-pitched squeals. West was a god among his worshippers.

“I’m a celebrity… I am God’s vessel.”

However, Kanye West is not doing himself any favours to counter the stereotypes being thrown at h i m by his

detractors. His view that the media wants to stifle him because he is a black man from a low socioeconomic upbringing is interesting when you consider that his net worth is $100 million, making him one of the most successful college dropouts in the business. West claimed during his monologue that the walls he was hitting in his efforts to produce his own clothing line were a result of corporations’ greed and unwillingness to break away from what was expected of them. Public opinion is holding him and all of the other innovators back. As he described in what was my favorite line of the night: “Someone wants to walk over here [to the Bell Center] without a coat on because they’re naturally hot inside or some shit and they tryna walk over here and public opinion be like ‘motherfucker, put a coat on!’”

“All of y’all gave my voice the power and I never take that for granted. And since you gave my voice the power, I will have the courage to use my voice whenever necessary.”

Is public o p in io n

holding Kanye West back? Does he have a point when he says that racism and class stratification are not only alive in America but also thriving? Well, yes and no. No one can reasonably doubt that things like racism and class discrimination still exist—not just in America but also throughout the world.

Public opinion too does play a large role in how we as consumers perceive people, events, and products, and West’s outbursts have arguably been overplayed to stir up a widespread opinion that he is nothing more than a self-absorbed lunatic. But West is lying if he claims he doesn’t play the media game just as hard as it plays him.

Standing in a crowd full of adoring fans asking them to cheer if they agree with him is not a difficult task.

“Let’s see if they print anything I said tonight. That would be surprising.”

Ultimately, it isn’t the media, big business, or corporations holding West back—it’s his ego. I have been a fan of West for years because of his larger-than-life personality and his steadfast belief that he can do anything; but when you constantly aim for unreachable heights, one day, you have to face that even “god” has his limits.

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Tuesday, February 25, 2014 |

OSCAR Predictions The A&E team takes on four of the prominent categories at next week’s Academy Awards by offering probable predictions and wild card scenarios for each.

arts & entertainment

Best Actor

Best Actress

Bruce Dern — Nebraska Leonardo Di Caprio — The Wolf of Wall Street Chiwetel Ejiofor — 12 Years a Slave Matthew McConaughey — Dallas Buyers Club Christian Bale — American Hustle

Amy Adams — American Hustle Cate Blanchett — Blue Jasmine Sandra Bullock — Gravity Judi Dench — Philomena Meryl Streep — August: Osage County

It seems like this year’s battle for Best Actor is coming down to who brandishes the most compelling story—in real life. Following three high-profile wins at previous awards shows, Matthew McConaughey is coming out with guns blazing. At this point, his pull isn’t necessarily a result of outperforming the other nominees; rather his success at the Oscar forerunners has helped him build momentum. McConaughey’s performance in Dallas Buyers Club commands the screen with a kind of intimacy and nuance we’re not used to seeing from him. With his transformation from rom-com party boy to serious actor over the last couple of years, an Oscar win seems like the appropriate confirmation of his metamorphosis.

Look for Cate Blanchett to give a repeat performance, and take home the hardware for her role in Blue Jasmine, just as she did a few weeks ago at the Golden Globes—only this time, hopefully, with less vodka under her belt.

The five-time Oscar nominee won in 2005 for her supporting role in The Aviator, and has once again secured herself in the company of other Hollywood heavyweights like Meryl Streep and Judi Dench. Blanchett’s nuanced portrayal of fallen New York socialite Jasmine French evokes sympathy for a sadly troubled yet nonetheless grating character, adding a depth and vulnerability upon which the entire film hinges.

Wild Card: Judi Dench will win but Meryl Streep will catch the snitch.

— Jacqueline Galbraith

Wild Card: Christian Bale will win for American Hustle but no one will notice because Jennifer Lawrence will steal the show with a photo bomb.

Best picture Best director American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street Oscar pundits have been predicting a Best Picture victory for 12 Years a Slave since international festivals first screened it, and the film still looks to be in good shape. The stark treatment of its disturbing subject matter has won it a steady stream of plaudits since its premiere, and all signs appear to point towards Oscar voters affirming the praise and awarding the film top prize. However, no film this year aims for as high a degree of difficulty or achieves as much as The Wolf of Wall Street. The scathing satire entertains to a remarkable degree while simultaneously shedding light on the absurdities of modern capitalism. The film won’t win Best Picture, but Martin Scorsese and the rest of the team behind it can go home knowing that they’ve created a masterpiece.

Wild Card: Her wins Best Picture.

Technosexual activists around the world claim the victory as a turning point in the fight to broaden the definition of marriage to include “one man and one computer.”

— Kia Pouliot

ALBUM REVIEWS william fitzsimmons - lions

| Curiosity delivers.

Alfonso Cuarón — Gravity Steve McQueen —12 Years a Slave David O. Russell — American Hustle Alexander Payne — Nebraska Martin Scorsese — The Wolf of Wall Street In a category that features three seasoned nominees (Russell, Payne, and Scorsese have 14 Best Director nods between them), it’s the newcomers that have turned it into a two-man race. It’ll be a monumental upset if one of the first-time nominees, Steve McQueen or Alfonso Cuarón, don’t go home with a statue. Cuarón has taken on frontrunner status between the two; with Gravity’s ethereal visuals and seamlessly woven intricacies, Cuarón has leap-frogged his veteran peers to take us to a new cinematic frontier altogether. It’s a testament to McQueen’s agonizingly excellent film that we can even talk ourselves into picking an upset here, but choosing Cuarón should be an easy call for the Academy.

Wild Card: McQueen’s name is in the envelope, but after it’s announced, Steve is beaten to the stage by a speedy and confused attendee: the real-life CGI incarnation of Cars’ Lightning McQueen.

— Max Bledstein — Max Berger

Nettwerk

For the past 10 years or so television has served as a springboard for a number of artists making the leap to wider recognition. It’s been just over seven years since William Fitzsimmons’ “Passion Play” was featured on the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy , and his sound remains largely the same. On Lions , Fitzsimmons has made a conscious effort to return to his folk roots. Practically every song revolves around a picked acoustic guitar and softly sung, personal vocals. Though his style of lyricism allows for some bright moments on the album, it mostly

Sam Roberts Band - Lo-fantasy

falls short of being truly relatable.

This brand of lo-fi folk is Fitzsimmons’ bread and butter, but Lions ’ best moments come on songs such as “Fortune” and “From You,” which add much needed flavour to the album. It is on these songs that the influence of producer Chris Walla—guitarist in Death Cab For Cutie—is most obvious. Simply left acoustic, “Fortune” would be a fine song, but the low drums and backing guitar are what make it stand out. Likewise, the title track helps give the album some much-needed variation.

What Fitzsimmons delivers is a fairly solid, safe album, but one that is a little too even.

Early in his career, Fitzsimmons was often compared to Sam Beam (Iron & Wine), but rather than alter his sound as Beam has, Fitzsimmons has stayed the course. Though Lions should satisfy his existing fans, it is unlikely that it will create many new ones.

— Wyatt Fine-Gagné

universal Music Canada

Having released a relatively successful string of EPs and full-length studio efforts, Quebec-based rocker Sam Roberts recently dropped Lo-Fantasy , his fifth album overall, and second since adopting the moniker Sam Roberts Band in 2011. With catchy hooks, brilliant guitar riffs, and sing-along choruses, this album doesn’t stray far from his previous works; there is certainly plenty to enjoy.

However, as the album progresses, the music does not. The formula for the songs is generic; musically, it is limited, and there is no striking vocal performance on any of the tracks.

While fitting with his artistic and musi-

cal style, this album grows old—and it does so quickly. Opening songs “Shapeshifters” and “We’re All In This Together” put everything on the table right away and essentially preview the entire album: catchy, predicatble, and enjoyable.

It is a well-made album, with the well-refined production on each track; but there is nothing that vies for attention—nothing that stands out.

Think of a muted Edward Sharpe with more guitar and not nearly as many crowd-pleasers.

This album is not a bad one; still, it’s so nondescript and middle-of-the-road that it comes across as more disappointing than it actually is. There is nothing wrong with it…there’s

just nothing great about it—and that’s a shame, because the last song, “Golden Hour,” hints at a more powerful and interesting sound that could have been.

Lo-Fantasy isn’t necessarily worth listening to, nor is it an album to be avoided; it is just so remarkably unremarkable that it really won’t alter anyone’s perception of the artist, the music, or anything else for that matter.

— Jack Neal

SPORTS Moving an mlb team

In 2005, the Montreal Expos packed up their franchise and moved to Washington D.C., changing their name to the Nationals in the process; this is just the latest instance of a professional baseball franchise relocating. In other leagues, the topic of franchise relocation has its usual suitors. For the NBA, the city of Seattle is proposed every summer as a potential destination for a new franchise. The NHL’s possible scenarios include moving a team to Seattle or to Quebec City, while the NFL’s perpetual destination with which to threaten underachieving franchises is Los Angeles. However, the MLB’s answer is not as clear. Pitchers and catchers have already begun to report to their teams, and the annual migration to Arizona and Florida for spring training is only a few weeks away. If a ball club were to express an interest in moving, where should it relocate?

Moneyball in mexico City Despite a metropolitan population exceeding that of New York City, Mexico City is often overlooked as a potential landing spot for an MLB team. It was one of nine cities that placed expansion requests in 1994, with Tampa Bay and Arizona eventually being rewarded teams. Twenty years later, it’s time that America’s national pastime finally move south of the border. With the MLB doing all it can to expand the game internationally, a team in Mexico seems logical. While owners would certainly have concerns about the ability to generate revenue in a market with a lower GDP per capita relative to current MLB markets, a team in Mexico City could potentially capture an entire

Charlottebound and Down

nation, as the Blue Jays do in Canada. Although Mexico is a soccer-crazed country, it still plays host to a 16-team professional baseball league and a few minor leagues.

Mexico City would not be without its problems. A new stadium would need to be built, one that takes into account the home-run-friendly altitude at which it sits—about 2,240 metres above sea level. Even with the risk associated with this move—a failure in Mexico City would significantly hurt the league’s prospects for further international growth—the potential rewards make it well worth it.

—Wyatt Fine-Gagn é

A field of San Jose Dreams Last year, the Oakland Athletics won the AL West for the second year in a row. That’s the kind of dominance you would expect to see rewarded by sold-out stadiums every night of the season, right? Wrong. The A’s came in a hair ahead of the Mariners—losers of 91 games in the very same division—with an average attendance of 22,337, the seventh-worst mark in the league.

If I were Lew Wolff, the owner of the A’s, that disparity would be plenty reason to start looking for a new home.

Luckily, Wolff doesn’t need to look far. A mere 40 miles away, the city of San Jose presents the perfect opportunity

for the A’s to relocate. Situated in the heart of the affluent Silicon Valley, San Jose is the fastest growing city in California, boasting a population of almost a million people compared to Oakland’s 400,000. The mere addition of Santa Clara County to the A’s territory would increase the team’s fan base by up to 70 per cent. Plus, the close proximity of Oakland to San Jose would eliminate the risk of alienating fans in nearby Contra-Costa and Alameda counties.

—Elie Waitzer

During the 2013 MLB season, there were 24 players from the state of North Carolina—the eighth-most in the United States. In addition to this, the Charlotte metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the Southeastern United States, and continues to be the fastest-growing in the whole country—making it a logical choice for the location of the next big-league ball club. North Carolina’s current sports teams are limited to the NBA’s putrid Charlotte Bobcats, the NFL’s resurgent Carolina Panthers, and college basketball’s blue-bloods at Duke and the University of North Carolina. Fans have shown that they are more than willing to support a team if the on-field product is aboveaverage—the Panthers have averaged a near 99 per cent attendance by capacity for home games in the past three years while going 25-23 over the same time span. Furthermore, there would be very little overlap between the regular seasons of the NBA, NFL, the NCAA, and the 162-game schedule of professional baseball. On an economic level, this just makes sense. Owners will have the option of moving to a market that is not saturated with other ball clubs, while tapping into an area that will welcome a new team to support.

—Mayaz Alam

Mayaz Alam, Sports Editor

Swimming Swimming in front of friends and family at the 2014 Speedo CIS Championships, Toronto native Simone Cseplo broke five McGill records. The freshman capped an outstanding rookie season by earning second team All-Canadian status and a silver medal in the 50m backstroke (28.24)—McGill’s only podium finish of the weekend. Cseplo spearheaded the Martlet squad to a seventh-place finish out of 22 teams competing, which was one place higher than what the

Track and Field women achieved last year. On the men’s side, however, the team took a step back as the Redmen dropped from last year’s eighthplace finish to a disappointing 12th in this year’s final standings.

Redmen captain Pierre-Alexandre Renaud, who was named RSEQ Swimmer-of-the-Year, broke a school record in the 200m butterfly (1:59.29), while junior Michael Luck broke the 50m breaststroke record (28.79).

Other standouts included Taryne Landry and Katie Caldwell.

Landry, who will be graduating in the spring, aided Cseplo in breaking 4x100m freestyle (3:47.93) and the 4x100m medley relay (4:13.81), while Caldwell, last year’s CIS rookieof-the-year, was instrumental in the 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley, and the 4x200m freestyle (8:12.04). The McGill swimming program is expected to lose only six graduating seniors, and should be primed to return a bevy of athletes to next year’s national championships.

The Redmen and Martlet track and field teams disappointed in the RSEQ Championships this past weekend in Quebec City, placing third on both the men’s and women’s sides.

This year’s Martlet squad took a significant step back from last year, in which they won their first banner since the 2007 season. The Redmen plateaued compared to last year but saw their point total drop from 84.5 to 82.

There were multiple individual standouts as McGill athletes won five gold medals.

Maxime Beaumont-Corteau, Hao Xu, Caroline Tanguay, and Scott Hancock all continued their strong seasons and all have garnered multiple medals in previous competitions. In addition to this, the Redmen 4x200m relay team (1:30.84) also topped the podium.

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Tuesday, February 25, 2014 |

sports

| Curiosity delivers.

BASKETBALL— McGill 63, UQAM 62

Martlets win nail-biter in final home game

Departing seniors Bibeau, Charest, and L’Ecuyer honoured in last appearance at Love Competition Hall Remi Lu Sports Editor Five years ago, Hélène Bibeau and Françoise Charest walked onto the floor of Love Competition Hall for the first time. One-year later, Valérie L’Ecuyer joined the team.

Now seniors, the three have presided over the transformation of the McGill Martlets into perennial playoff contenders, with the team winning the RSEQ banner three seasons in a row. Thursday’s contest against the UQAM Citadins held a mixed bag of emotions; although McGillpulled off a close 63-62 victory, the evening also marked the last home game in the Martlet careers of Bibeau, Charest, and L’Ecuyer.

McGill started the game with tenacious play and focus—the players’ tight-hustle and crisp ball movement opening up the game for the home team. Despite the tough fullcourt pressure by UQAM, McGill posted an easy 38-27 advantage to end the first half. “[The Citadins] pressured a lot,” Martlet Head Coach Ryan Thorne said. “And they didn’t give us a lot of area to see passes [….]

But I think [we] came out ready.

Twenty-five points in a quarter is the highest scoring quarter we’ve had [this season].”

However, the second half was a different story for McGill as the home team saw its lead gradually

disappear. An inability to end defensive possessions on the glass by the Martlets gave UQAM numerous second-chance opportunities, allowing the Citadins to slowly chip away at McGill’s advantage.

With four minutes left in the game, a three-pointer by UQAM’s Juliette Delaune cut the Martlet lead to just one point. The Citadins’ defence continued to stifle McGill, halting the Martlets’ offence and forcing a number of shot clock violations late in the game. Two freethrows by UQAM’s Valerie Gauvin put the visiting team up by one point with one minute to go. However, Bibeau refused to leave her home court with a loss, nailing a jumper with 53 seconds left in the game to clinch the win.

A teary and emotional celebration took place after the game on the same court where their careers began. Their jersey numbers—Charest’s 8, Bibeau’s 21, and L’Ecuyer’s 22—were honoured of the graduating players as their friends and family looked on.

Charest, one of the first Martlet basketball players out of Quebec City, has been the floor general for the team ever since her arrival. Her trailblazing effort has encouraged other athletes to leave Quebec City for McGill—which has set a precedent for the recruitment of great players.

“Right now, we have a really

THIRD MAN IN Zikomo Smith Contributor On Thursday, the Canadian Women’ s hockey team won its fourth consecutive gold medal after an exhilarating comeback win over the United States.

Although the squad is surely still celebrating, its joy may be dampened by the disconcerting whispers that the female edition of Olympic hockey may be axed in the future due to a lack of parity beyond the two North American powers.

These whispers started in Vancouver 2010, when then International ) com ost. p l a ion (nat

good squad,” Charest said. “People want to come to McGill.”

For L’Ecuyer, joining the Martlets was a tough task as a bench player out of CEGEP. However, in recent years she has been a key figure in the Martlet locker room, helping the other forwards develop their skills and playing a big role off the bench.

“Basketball brings me lots of things that I can carry on in my personal life,” she said. “Just finishing off with those girls—I’ve been playing with them for four years, so it’s a big family.”

Echoing the sentiments of the other graduates, moving on will be tough for Bibeau after the years of memories. “[I’ll miss] the game itself; but when you play five years at the same school, you [also] miss the environment and the friends,” Bibeau said.

“It becomes a family when you spend so much time here.”

Next up for the Martlets are the RSEQ playoffs, where they will face the Laval Rouge et Or (6-10) in the semifinals. Laval holds the last playoff spot, and while not necessarily impressive in the win-loss column, may prove to be troublesome for the reigning conference champions— particularly on the Rouge et Or’s home court. McGill’s quest for a fourth-straight RSEQ banner begins this Friday, Feb. 28 at 8:00 p.m. at Centre PEPS, Quebec City.

Mariam Sylla has dominated opponents in the paint this season.

(Laurie-Anne Benoit / McGill Tribune)

No end in sight for women’s hockey

Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge ominously stated, “We cannot continue without improvement [of non-established hockey playing nations],” in reaction to Canada’s string of absurd blowouts against the European competition. In reality, women’s hockey has nothing to fear for the foreseeable future despite the Canadian stranglehold on the gold medal; the sport’s Winter Olympic position is secure.

While Rogge might throw around coded threats, he knows that the Winter Olympics cannot afford to lose too many female athletes, especially those in one of its most exciting sports.

The number of female events has increased to 38 this year, only seven fewer than the number of male events. Future Games will be looking to further this gender equality, and the IOC, after

its efforts to increase the number of female events, cannot justify getting rid of a sport that contributes 168 athletes to the Olympics.

Parity still does not exist, but progress is being made.

Those who are still frustrated by the large gap in development should be reminded that in men’s hockey, it took Sweden nearly 60 years to beat Canada; and yet, the two nations just squared off in the men’s final, and are the two most recent countries to have won Olympic Gold. Sochi brought with it the needed green shoots of improvement that Rogge called for, as no team was beaten by more than 10 goals—a drastic contrast to the Vancouver Games where Canada and the U.S. combined for five double-digit blowouts.

This visible improvement will no doubt spark more interest in women’s hockey among youth in the competing European nations that already have strong

hockey cultures.

In some eyes, the fact that the two best nations are in North America hurts ice hockey’s legitimacy as an Olympic sport.

These arguments are unfounded.

The Winter Olympics themselves are not global. Only 43 per cent of nations participate in the Games, and of those examples, there are countries such as Ethiopia who send only one athlete—which does not affect the medal tables. The same arguments for hockey being excluded for a lack of genuine competition can also be extended to the legitimacy of other sports that exhibit dominance among a handful of completing nations. For example, the Netherlands won 24 medals in Sochi over the past two weeks, and all 24 were in speed skating. If the IOC is really pondering getting rid of women’s hockey, why not do away with speed skating as well?

Look no further than soft-

ball at the Summer Olympics to see where the arguments for removing ice hockey are founded. Softball was voted to be removed for the 2012 games because the same four nations had made the semifinals in four straight Olympics. Ultimately, the IOC will understand that the women’s game must remain in the Olympics. Five-point-six million Canadians tuned into the gold medal game, a TV rating which will serve to bring in sponsorship and revenue through advertising for the Games.

Simply put, getting rid of women’s ice hockey at the Olympics would be financially unwise, and stunt the progress that is being made. No longer would spectators be watching the best in the world competing to see who can go faster, higher, and stronger. Rather, they would be stripped of the chance to see the best rivalry and the best drama of the entire Olympic spectacle.

Curiosity delivers. | BASKETBALL— McGill 69, UQAM 67

sports

| Tuesday, February 25, 2014

19

Bibeau bows out in style in narrow Redmen victory McGill finishes regular season 14-2; enters playoffs five games ahead of second seed Remi Lu Sports Editor A winning culture. This is the phrase that motivates athletes to play their hearts out, and the three words that athletic departments live and die for. Simon Bibeau has been the physical manifestation of that culture for the McGill Redmen the last four years, having led the team to three straight playoff appearances—bringing the school back to relevance again in a tough conference. Bibeau’s last home game for McGill took place this past Thursday at Love Competition Hall in a 69-67 victory over the UQAM Citadins, where he led the team in a signature performance with 19 points.

Bibeau wasted no time getting involved, nailing two quick three-pointers and masterfully orchestrating the offence to a 21-13 first-quarter advantage. Rookies Francois Bourque, Thomas Lacy, and Dele Ogundokun played key roles as well, posting six, five, and five points respectively by the end of the first half. McGill looked to be playing at its finest, moving the ball with purpose and penetrating the paint with ease to enter halftime with a 37-31 advantage.

“I thought we did a lot of good things,” Head Coach David DeAveiro said. “We were rebounding well [….] I think we’re the best three-point shooting

Freshman forward Francois Bourque tallied another double-double on Thursday. (Remi Lu / McGill Tribune) team in our conference. So that helps us—when we need a bucket, sometimes we can knock a three down.”

A scrappy third-quarter carried into the last frame, with UQAM fighting back thanks to the play of Richard Addai and Alexandre Bernard. Addai, who finished the game with 24 points, nearly ruined the night’s send-off for Bibeau, as he nailed a threepointer with 4:48 left in the game to help UQAM take the lead at 62-61. With the crowd of over

200 on its feet, Bourque nailed a jumper with 1:48 remaining to give McGill a three point lead.

However, Bernard silenced the stands with a jumper seconds later, trimming the lead to just one point.

With just 13 seconds remaining in the game, Bernard fouled Bibeau, sending the Redmen’s marquee player to the free-throw line. In the last home game of his career, Bibeau sealed his legacy by netting the game-winning free-throw.

“The one thing about [Bibeau] that I’ve learned is that in situations like this, he shows up—he’s at his best,” DeAveiro said. “He loves the stage; he loves the spotlight.”

Four years ago, DeAveiro and Bibeau both joined the Redmen in the hopes of bringing a winning culture to McGill’s basketball program. It is clear that they have succeeded. Bibeau has been the key to that turnaround, with his presence attracting further top-recruits to the program.

MEN’S HOCKEY —After the gold medal game—a 3-0 dismantling of Sweden—it was clear that Mike Babcock really is better at his job than the 35 million other hockey coaches in this country. Prior to the tournament, the spotlight was on the star power that manned the forward position for Team Canada—11 of the NHL’s top 25 leading scorers were at Sochi wearing the red-and-white. However, Babcock’s plan was to squeeze the life out of opponent after opponent, as the squad also put on a defence and goaltending clinic throughout the tournament. Let’s hope that Gary Bettman lets the pros take the ice in Pyeongchang so that fans can have another shot at questioning every decision that the Hockey Canada brass make.

W

Around the

ater cooler

Mayaz Alam Sports Editor

In case you were too busy voting for democracy over anarchy as you watched Twitch play Pokemon, here’s what you missed in the 2014 Winter Olympics...

WOMEN’S HOCKEY—Marie-Philip Poulin played her way into the hearts of Canadians everywhere for the second time in four years, scoring two goals in the gold medal game of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and more recently, in the final of the Sochi Games. The 22-year-old from Boston University was instrumental in the comeback, which was heard around the world and sent daggers into the hearts of our American neighbours. The only thing more shocking than the the American squad choking harder than the Toronto Maple Leafs was the fact that Poulin wasn’t named the first star in the game. That honour was reserved for none other than the right goalpost at the Bolshoy Ice Dome.

“When you come in and you take over a program, you try and find that one guy who’s going to give your program an identity,” DeAveiro said. “Getting [Bibeau] coming out of CEGEP—you were getting the best player in Quebec. And that was a statement, that [said,] ‘Hey, the best players in Quebec want to come play at McGill.’ So getting [Bibeau] was big for us in terms of establishing some credibility in our program and for the rest of the kids in Quebec.”

The senior point guard’s time at McGill has created lifelong memories and unparalleled experiences. “[McGill has] meant a huge development for me as an athlete, as a person, as a student,” Bibeau said. “It’s been beyond what I had expected. A lot of obstacles, roadblocks, challenges, but I could not have asked for a better university experience.”

Next up for the Redmen are the Laval Rouge et Or in the RSEQ semifinals. Despite Laval’s lethargic six wins, McGill will have to be at the top of its game in the sudden death format of the playoffs, as the Rouge et Or have the luxury of hosting the game. McGill begins their quest for back-to-back RSEQ Championships on Mar. 1 at 7:00 p.m. at Centre PEPS in Quebec City.

WOMEN’S BOBSLEDDING—Canadians really do like saving their best for last. Look no further than bobsledders Heather Moyse and Kaillie Humphries, who put up three straight secondplace runs before catapulting past the American squad in their fourth and final run. Moyse, a native of Summerside, Prince Edward Island, is also the brand ambassador for PEI Potatoes. Sadly Humphries, who is from Calgary, Alberta, is not the brand ambassador for Triple A Grade Canada Beef. However, this combination of meat and potatoes has managed to handle the test of time— this gold medal was the second straight for the duo, who became the first Canadian women to win bobsled gold at the Vancouver 2010 Games.

MEN’S CURLING—Russia may have the best chess players in the world, but the 2014 Winter Olympics have made it safe to say that Canada lays claim to the best on-ice chess players. Brad “The Grandmaster” Jacobs skipped the Canadian curling squad to the gold medal in Sochi. Jacobs and crew posted a 7-2 record in the round robin stage and recorded victories over China in the semifinal and Great Britain in the final to clinch Team Canada’s second consecutive gold medal in men’s curling.

The team bested the Brits in every single statistical category en route to a dominant 9-3 victory.

SPORTS HOCKEY— McGill 3, CONCORDIA 1

McNicoll, Rose pile on the goals in sweep of Stingers McGill heads into OUA East semifinals averaging 6.6 goals per game over last five Ben Carter-Whitney Managing Editor The McGill Redmen put their best-of-three OUA East quarterfinal series to an early close last week with back-to-back wins against the Concordia Stingers.

The series ran the gamut both on the scoresheet and on the ice; while the first game was unusually quiet for the two rivals, the second was punctuated with an abundance of goals and frequent trips to the penalty box for both teams.

Wednesday night’s matchup at McConnell Arena got off to a subdued start, and remained that way until sophomore forward David Rose opened the scoring early in the second period. Although Concordia struck back less than a minute later, another goal by Rose and an insurance marker from thirdyear Marc-Olivier Vachon sealed the deal by the end of the period.

Along with Rose’s two-goal effort, the game featured a spectacular playoff debut by freshman goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard, who recorded 30 saves in the 3-1 Redmen victory.

Game 2 on Friday opened to a markedly different atmosphere. In front of a lively home crowd, the Stingers brought the desperation of a team facing elimination. However, Concordia played catch-up

through the first half of the game before the Redmen finally pulled away for good, posting a resounding 8-4 victory. Sophomore centre Cedric McNicoll led the charge with a hat-trick, while winger Neal Prokop tallied two of his own, including the game winner. Both are in their first seasons as Redmen, and have had a profound impact on the team’s success this season.

“Prokop is a 6’4” forward, and he has been able to bring [a] big, physical, rangy presence that we lack,” Redmen Head Coach Kelly Nobes said.” McNicoll played three years of pro hockey [...] in the American Hockey League.

He’s clearly a star in the league.

He has exceptional vision, and he makes guys around him better.”

The McGill offence has been explosive of late, averaging 6.6 goals per game in its last five matchups and registering a hefty 41 shots on the Concordia goal on Friday. Much of the Redmen’s success came courtesy of their special units, which received no shortage of opportunity with both teams combining for a total of 42 penalty minutes. McGill capitalized on their opportunities, burying four goals.

“Special teams are a factor in the playoffs,” Nobes said. “In terms of our power play, it has been real good since Christmas

Trois-Rivieres, where they will face off on Wednesday, Feb. 26 against UQTR in the OUA East semifinals, and will be back at McConnell on Mar. 1. The no. 2 seeded Patriotes are fresh off a series sweep of their own, having faced little resistance from the seventhplace UOIT. They can expect McGill to provide stiffer competition; so far, the two teams have split their season series 1-1.

Mathieu Pompei is averaging nearly a point per game on the season. (Jack Neal / McGill Tribune) [….] It’s good to have a power play that works for you because it keeps the other team honest in terms of taking penalties.”

This dominant showing in the first round is sure to come as a comfort to the Redmen, who suffered a shocking early exit in the first round of last year’s playoffs.

The team fell at the unlikely hands of the Nipissing Lakers, despite having won the University Cup at the CIS National Championships

the year before. Last year’s squad was marred by injuries, an issue that the current team has been able to avoid so far.

“Last year we had 150 man games lost to injury, [and] we had eight regulars sitting in the stands in the playoffs,” Nobes explained.

“When we have had injuries, we’ve had a very deep bench that we’ve been able to use, so we haven’t had to play shorthanded. ” The Redmen now travel to

HOCKEY— McGill 3, CONCORDIA 2

Martlets swarm past Stingers and into RSEQ Finals Clement-Heydra leads the squad with six points in the playoffs Mayaz Alam Sports Editor Like so many times before, senior centre Katia Clement-Heydra stepped up when her team needed it the most.

She tallied two goals and added an assist on rookie forward Jordan McDonnell’s game-winning goal, as the McGill Martlets squeaked by the Concordia Stingers 3-2 on Friday night.

In what has been a recurring theme throughout the season, the Martlets did an excellent job of getting pucks on net and limiting their opponent’s ability to do the same, outshooting the Stingers 42-16. Despite the barrage of shots, McGill was only able to convert on three of its chances, a recurring issue for the team this season. However, with Clement-Heydra generating scoring chances seemingly out of thin air, the squad will be primed for a successful post-season.

“She’s come a long way,” Martlet Head Coach Peter Smith said in regards to Clement-Heydra. “From her first

year to her fourth year, she’s gained a lot of in terms of experience [and] her skills have vastly improved. But the number one thing that has made her a better player this year is how hard she worked this summer on her fitness and conditioning.”

On Sunday, the Martlets opted to avoid the late-game theatrics that characterised their first win of the series by demolishing the Stingers at Ed Meagher Arena with a score of 10-2. ClementHeydra once again added three points to the score sheet, but was not alone in her efforts as 11 different players found their way onto the box score. Gabrielle Davidson, the sophomore standout who tied the CIS regular season record for goals with 28, bounced back with two goals and two assists after being held off the scoresheet in her previous two games.

The win means that McGill has earned a berth in the RSEQ Finals as well as the CIS Championships—the RSEQ claims the wildcard berth following the Carabins’ CIS title last year.

With a national championship bid secured, the squad can take a bit of respite knowing that the shock of last year’s surprise playoff exit will not be repeated. They will get their chance to shine on the brightest stage soon.

In the meantime, there is still work to be done; and standing in their way once again is their bitter rival, the Carabins. McGill won its first three games against Montreal this year before dropping the last two at home, signalling that something different needs to be done to secure an RSEQ banner.

“I think the last couple weeks, not sure why, but we got away from playing the Martlet brand of hockey, [which is] a high-tempo, structured kind of game.” Smith explained. “I thought the game [Sunday] at Concordia—we had flashes of that back. Now it’s just a matter of playing with tempo and structure for a full 60 minutes.”

The entire best-of-three series takes place during McGill’s reading week. The first game will be held in McConnell Arena on Sunday, March

Katia Clement-Heydra jockeys for position during her amazing performance against the Stingers. (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune) 2 at 3:00 p.m., while the return leg is slated for Thursday, March 6 at Arena CEPSUM. If required, the rubber

match will be played at McConnell Arena on March 8.