McGill Tribune Volume 35 Issue No. 2

T curiosity delivers

TUEsday, SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 Volume No. 35 Issue No. 02

Editorial: On Sexual Assualt, unacceptable gaps remain in M c gill’s redress procedures pg. 5

feature: Unearthing Montreal’s Urban Landscape By will Burgess pg. 8-9

POP RHETORIC: Revisionist STonewall nothing more than a whitewashing of queer history

If you die in real life, do you die on facebook?

Pg. 14

Maya Reid Contributor

(Hayley Mortin / McGill Tribune)

SSMU weighing involvement in developing student federations New federations seek to replace FEUQ, improve voting equality Jin Lee Contributor

I

n March, the Fédération des Associations Étudiantes du Campus de l’Université de Montreal (FAÉCUM), a student union at the Université de Montreal, chose to disaffiliate from the Fédération Etudiante Universitaire du Quebec (FEUQ), a provincial student federation. Con-

mcgilltribune.com @mcgilltribune

sequently, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and other student associations entered into congresses about forming a new provincial federation.

SSMU Vice-President (VP) External, Emily Boytinck, stated that two new provincial student federations, the Union des Etudiants à Quebec (UEQ) and the Association for the Voice of Educa-

tion in Quebec (AVEQ), had been formed as a result of these summer congresses.

“I’ve been going to [...] congresses [for both] all summer,” she said. “Things that we decided were [...] the voting method, the structures-- what are the portfolios, what are the committees-that sort of thing.”

SSMU is a currently a nonvoting observer at the UEQ, and

a voting participant at the AVEQ roundtable. SSMU has not contributed financially to either federation.

“In April, [the UEQ] wanted everyone to sign this contract, to provide resources for the association,” Boytinck stated. “No financial commitment was technically required. We didn’t sign the contract [because] we didn’t want to.”

Continued on pg. 4

The trailer for Roland Emmerich’s film, Stonewall , was released earlier this summer to a flurry of criticism over the blonde-haired, blue-eyed cisgender boy it revolves around.

Although the film attempts to authentically portray a dramatized version of one of the most significant events in LGBT history, it largely omits queer people of colour and transgender women, who in reality began and led the Stonewall Riots.

The trailer opens with flashy clips and audio from U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2013 inauguration speech mentioning “Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall,” as defining moments in the fight for equal rights. Set in 1960s New York City, the plot revolves around Danny Winter (Jeremy Irvine), a fictional young gay man fleeing his homophobic Midwestern small-town life to follow his dreams in Manhattan.

Continued on pg. 14

The Tribune Publications Society's

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

is looking for undergraduate & graduate student representatives.

If interested, please submit a letter of intent (300 words) to chair@mcgilltribune.com by Sunday, September 21, 2015.

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NEWS

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Meet the 2015-2016 SSMU executives

by Shrinkhala Dawadi, Laura Hanrahan, Aislinn Kalob, Jenna Stanwood

President Kareem Ibrahim

VP Clubs and Services Kimber Bialik

VP Finance and Operations Zacheriah Houston

What are some upcoming projects you’re working on?

What are some upcoming projects you’re working on?

What have you been working on this summer?

I’m hoping to start up an opt-in consultation listserv so that people can feel that their opinions are being accounted for when we make different choices. This is because political disengagement is something that a lot of students have voiced to us. We are [also] launching a “Know Your SSMU” campaign [...] for people to know who we are, what we do, and how we can better serve their needs.

What other aspects of your portfolio are you working on?

We are trying to push the territorial acknowledgment on the McGill level, as well as a lot of other really cool indigenous solidarity initiatives.

On top of that, we want to collect demographic information on students and their contact information, depending on whether they’re a student-parent, they have a disability, they’re indigenous, we will have that on file and we can let services get in contact with them, rather than people having to be proactive.

I also want to implement an employment equity policy within SSMU; I’m responsible for human resources, so that’s definitely my domain, and I’ll be working with Chloe [Rourke Vice-President Universit Affairs...] to push McGill to act more on an employment equity policy.

What challenges do you foresee?

One that we’ve already been facing is the fact that our general manager is leaving, unfortunately. Ideally, this is the person who holds the greatest amount of institutional memory, who stays for at least seven years so that each year the executives don’t do massive overhauls of the organization or cause instability. Both of the past two general managers stayed for over a decade, but this last one stayed for only six months, so there’s been some instability in the office, and a lot of reshuffling of tasks and roles [....] This is heavily affecting our activities as an organization.

Much of the work that I do during the year is general support for student groups, so the projects and problem solving I’m doing ends up being entirely directed by the needs of different clubs and services.

Some of the projects that I’ll be working on this year are resource development for student groups, [and] facilitating outreach for student groups[....]

I’ve also been [...] very busy working one-onone with different student groups on resolutions to different issues that arose over the summer [....]

What other aspects of your portfolio will you be working on?

This year I will be spearheading a service review process, which intends to reflect on both how students define a service and ensure that SSMU services are meeting that definition, and also to review all of SSMU’s 20 services to ensure that they are meeting the needs of SSMU members. In the coming weeks I will be working with the Services Review Committee on designing a methodology and getting started on reviewing SSMU’s services.

Another major project that I’m undertaking is a review of our long term vision for the SSMU Building. SSMU developed a 10-year plan for the building back in 2010, and now that we’re at the halfway point of that 10-year time, frame I’ll be looking at the progress we’ve made in the past five years and be engaging students in consultation about the direction they would like to see the building take in the next five years.

[I’ve been working on] improving the way we do Frosh [....]

As we know, there have been deficits in the past few years. But, we took a totally different approach this year. I was attending [Internal Organizing Committee] meetings for Frosh as much as I could. We were really, really hands on this year in terms of the money, and we were making an effort to be a lot more transparent with the faculties.

I’ve been working a lot with Kimber, the VP Clubs and Services, revising the financial reports for services [and] writing a financial guide that outlines how to work within SSMU’s financial procedures.

In addition, this summer I worked on the audit. We’ll be presenting audited financial statements to Council on [Sept.] 17.

What are some upcoming projects you’ve been working on?

The October budget revision [...] and a short-term financial plan for CERF, the Capital Expenditure Reserve Fund, because we have a lot of big projects going on in the building, like the Lev Bukhman renovations, and we just finished the renovation of the second floor café.

Another big [project] [...] is improving the financial transparency of [SSMU]. We’re revising the VP Finance and Operations portfolio bylaws right now to turn them into internal regulations.

What other aspects of your portfolio are you working on?

A lot of my time this summer was taken up with just preparing for the operations [of the student-run cafés]- everything from choosing suppliers to setting prices, [and] a menu. Now, the focus is turning to how we can be most receptive to student feedback.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

VP External Affairs Emily Boytinck

VP University Affairs Chloe Rourke

What have you done this summer?

What are some projects you’ve been working on?

[In April,] the Fédération Etudiante Universitaire du Québec (FEUQ) had just collapsed. [All the] student federations [met] at the One Table [meeting where] they split into two groups: [...The] Union des Etudiants à Québec (UEQ), and Association for the Voice of Education in Québec (AVEQ). Basically, I’ve been going to congresses [for both groups] all summer. [At the congresses, we decided] things like the voting method, the structures, what are the portfolios [and] what are the committees.

I was [also] involved a lot with Frosh and trying to minimize any sort of disturbances. I delivered a letter to every house in the Milton-Parc area with my number, [and] we worked with street teams again.

[I have been] working with the university and student groups to plan the second annual Mental Health Awareness Week in October, and also working with them to rethink how we can provide services to students and ensure that we’re making [these services] more accessible. I’m hoping that the office of university affairs will be a place of advocacy for students. I’m reinstating a committee called the Policy Advocacy Resource Committee that will be a working group of the University Affairs Committee [which] will hopefully grow into a resource that will allow students to advocate on behalf of themselves.

What are some upcoming projects you’ve been working on?

Anti-Austerity Week [is] a huge component of my portfolio. Working with [the Concordia Student Union], we’re doing a joint information campaign and also [keeping] in touch with the other student groups in Quebec. Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSÉ) is doing the One Movement, Ten Billion Solutions campaign, which a lot of folks are taking on, and we’re hoping to incorporate some of that in our narrative.

We [also] launched a website called McGillvotes. com. We’re going to be doing a vote mob, which is like a flash mob meets youth engagement, [on] Sept. 29. [On Sept.] 30, we’re having a federal election debate with CKUT. [We’re] doing a second debate with CKUT on Oct. 13 regarding inter-sectional perspectives on democracy. We’re also promoting voting on campus, so from Oct. 5 to 8, there’s going to be voting on campus.

What challenges do you foresee?

I think that austerity is not always a colloquial language, and it’s sometimes a difficult concept. It’s really really important that our students know what that means and why people are campaigning, and how it has affected Montreal, McGill, and Quebec [....] I hope to see a lot of solidarity in between students and workers; I think that’s a hugely important goal.

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NEWS

What challenges do you foresee?

I guess the two main challenges I see are [first,] the lack of communication between the student body as a whole and SSMU on a variety of issues. The average student doesn’t know what we do, so it can be hard to be involved or understand.

The other challenge is that [SSMU is] very underresourced and we have very high workloads and it’s difficult to manage multiple projects at once.

What other aspects of your portfolio are you working on?

One of my primary roles is [managing] relations between the university, the [administration], and the student body. Anything in terms of working with the university to create change on campus falls under my portfolio. Equity is another part of the portfolio that I’m very passionate about. I think that there is often a lot of polarization and conflict about equity issues on campus. I really want to try to find a way to make equity accessible and less polarized by having events that reach people in different kinds of ways, whether that be through humour, or art or more creative ways, as well as the more traditional methods like workshops or panels.

The Employment Equity Policy is something that was quite heavily criticized in terms of its ineffective implementation at Senate last year. So I’m hoping that will be under review, and that policies and practices can be changed within the university.

VP Internal Affairs Lola Baraldi

What have you done this summer?

I spent the majority of the summer working on Orientation Week [....] I chaired weekly meetings with all faculty association VPs in charge of their Faculty Frosh, and we ran a number of collaborative task-forces over the summer to come together over topics such as community relations, harm reduction, and programming.

I consistently liaised with all the main stakeholders of Orientation Week, such as the Milton-Parc Citizens’ Committee, [The McGill] residences and floor fellows, the [Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal] SPVM, [and] the McGill administration [....]

What are some projects you’ve been working on?

One important project is moving towards a better integration of Orientation Week. Events such as residence move-in, academic orientation, Discover McGill, and Frosh all take place in the same time frame. They should not be considered isolated and separated happenings, but rather all the events which contribute to a first-year’s initial experience [at] McGill. I worked with the SSMU Communications & Publications manager to launch a campus-wide categorized events calendar which is now available.

What challenges do you foresee?

[There is] the challenge of a student body who does not, in majority, know what their student association does for them. It’s our job to address that and spread information on as many platforms as possible.

Adding more events to my portfolio will also be a challenge, as the large-scale events that we already run such as Faculty Olympics or Red & White Week take up an incredible amount of time; and ultimately, this effort will lie in delegating more responsibilities to [Students’ Society Network Program] (SSPN) and being a source of support for the new initiatives of people on this committee.

Other challenges will include solving the financial feasibility of the yearbook, bettering student satisfaction with SSMU events, and starting to work on logistically heavy projects such as an on-campus crash site for off-campus students during Frosh.

What other aspects of your portfolio are you working on?

For francophone affairs, this year we’ve been really lucky to obtain a space on McTavish Street. One of my first projects will be working with our francophone commissioners to establish a plan of action and timeline for what we want to do with this space and how we can maximize its potential.

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NEWS

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

SSMU weighing involvement in developing student federations New federations seek to replace FEUQ, improve voting equality Jin Lee Contributor Continued from Page 1 Boytinck explained that student associations will decide on their affiliations once the administrative structures of each federation have been finalized. The student associations that have signed contracts with the UEQ are still not officially affiliated with the UEQ because the contracts pertained to the developmental stages of the federation.

“In late September there will be the last [congress] for the AVEQ, that’s where a lot of the final decisions will be made,” Boytinck said. “I think a lot of people are starting to look into affiliations very soon.”

She added that the UEQ had already hired their executives, while AVEQ will be hiring parttime staff.

“Right now [AVEQ is] in the process of hiring two staff members instead of executives,” she said. “[They will] be hired by any student organizations that are participating [in AVEQ’s

roundtable]. [SSMU] didn’t put any money in, but we’re still going to be involved in the decision.”

Both federations are also finalizing their fee structures. “[The UEQ’s] fee levy per student per semester is $4.50,” Boytinck said. “The AVEQ’s is most likely going to be $2.50.

Our finance committee meetings [with AVEQ are] ongoing, so that will be more confirmed later.”

According to Boytinck, UEQ and AVEQ were created as a result of disagreements over the original FEUQ’s proportional voting system.

“SSMU was one of the founding members of the FEUQ, and we’ve joined and left three times,” she said. “In recent years [the FEUQ’s] proportional voting system has caused tensions due to the back door politics that this type of voting method creates.”

The proportional vote, Boytinck explained, required a double majority in order for a motion to be passed. First, every member association at the table received one vote. This is known

as the one association, one vote method. Each vote was then weighted based on the size and membership of each association: The larger the association, the more weight their vote carried. “[SSMU is] the fourth-largest student association in Quebec,” Boytinck said. “With the double majority system [...] large associations [...] can stop things that pass by the one association, one vote [.... SSMU is] still subject to a lot of risk for that.”

VP External of Regroupement des étudiants de maîtrise, de diplôme et de doctorat de l’Université de Sherbrooke’ (REMDUS), the graduate students’ society at l’Université Sherbrooke, Guillaume Raymond, commented on the financial and contractual obligations UEQ required from student associations during its developmental stage.

“Some associations didn’t want to [have a] formal organization [...or] have a contract signed because that would involve putting money [in the project],” Raymond stated. “But we did want this.”

The Université de Quebec à Montreal’s (UQÀM) Association des étudiantes et étudiants de la Faculté des sciences de l’Éducation de l’UQAM (ADEESE) left the UEQ roundtable over such contractual obligations. “[ADEESE] wanted to [avoid spending the] resources and money of members in a process they wouldn’t join later; this didn’t fit the consensus around the table,” the executive council explained in French on its website. “We feel [this] urgency isn’t justified, given the importance of taking time to establish the foundations of [the] association.”

Raymond expressed confidence in UEQ’s progress, however.

“We’re currently still working on it in the hopes that it will be finalized within the months to come,” he said. “It helps with the resources we’ve put on the project [...] so I’m confident that in the coming months, we will have something to present to the students.”

SSMU, the Concordia Students’ Union (CSU), and Mc-

Gill’s Post-Grad Student Society (PGSS) released a letter of support for AVEQ this summer. Boytinck highlighted that the roundtable discussions with AVEQ had been productive with regards to establishing core values.

“As anglophone student associations, we’re in a very different place compared to other student associations,” she said.

“There’s been a lot [in terms] of accommodation, so we’ve been really impressed by that.”

Going forward, Boytinck stated that she will present information about both federations to SSMU’s Legislative Council. SSMU will have the option to join one federation or remain disaffiliated, and this decision would be ratified through a referendum question that will be presented to all students.

“Personally, I’m in no rush,” she explained. “I think that in order for students to know really what’s going on, there needs to be a ton of consultation.”

Additional reporting done by Shrinkhala Dawadi

AUS Council discusses errors in financing, $20,000 in additional audit costs By-elections for a new Arts representative to SSMU to be held in late September Calvin Trottier-Chi Contributor The Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) held its first Council meeting of the semester on Wednesday, addressing errors in its financial record, its Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with McGill, and the election of a new Arts representative to the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU).

Vice-President (VP) Finance, Mirza Ali Shakir, presented a review of the previous year’s finances. According to Shakir’s executive report, AUS had underestimated its 2014 Frosh deficit by over $20,000. Another mistake resulting from misclassification was a double entry in their Quickbooks accounting software of the $106,000 AUS received in student fees. Shakir attributed these errors to the absence of a VP Finance throughout the 2014-2015 school year.

“We started [last] year with no VP Finance, and we ended the year with no VP finance,” Shakir said “This meant that there were poor accounting practices in place, which led to our accounts being

messed up.”

The mistakes in AUS’ financial record also led to an increase in projected audit costs.

“The audit, which cost $11,000 last year, is projected to be around $20,000 to $30,000 [this year],” Shakir said. “So an effect of poor accounting practices [is] costing $20,000 more.”

In an e-mail to the Tribune, Shakir clarified the reasons behind last year’s miscalculations. “[The errors were] mostly caused by high turnover in the VP Finance portfolio, inadequate training for our bookkeeping staff, and minor accounting entry errors,” he wrote.

AUS President Jacob Greenspon is optimistic about AUS’s financial status for this year.

“Our current VP Finance is very [capable],” he said. ”I’m positive we have moved forward from this actually very well, and hopefully we’re not going to get into that sort of issue again.”

Despite these challenges, VP Social, Christine Koppenaal, praised the success of this year’s Arts Frosh. She underscored that additional services for students were provided through the Frosh

bursary and the Sober Buddy Program.

“We are very, very close to breaking even [on the 2015 Frosh budget],” Koppenaal said. “In the future we’re going to recommend [that] there is a larger buffer going into Frosh to prevent [it] from running a deficit at all. But in an ideal world, since this is student service, we would be as close to breaking even as possible.”

Council also addressed its ongoing MoA negotiations with McGill. The MoA outlines the legal responsibilities of AUS and its subsidiaries, including SNAX, a student-run food-retail outlet. In November 2014, McGill’s decision to prevent SNAX from selling sandwiches due to concerns that it was competing with other food retail outlets on campus drew controversy.

“Sandwiches were a major issue [last year], and they’re pretty much the biggest sticking point with SNAX in these [MoA] negotiations,” Greenspon said. “The negotiations are ongoing, we’re looking to have them wrapped up by the end of this year.”

Discussions between the AUS and McGill on aspects of the MoA,

such as competition and good faith, are still ongoing. According to Greenspon, a focal point of negotiations is SNAX’s willingness to operate at cost, thus enabling it to charge lower prices for food than other vendors on campus.

“SNAX does run at cost and does employ students,” he said.

“They are concerned about that and want to have some sort of barrier control of the pricing that SNAX charges for its products.”

The possibility of sandwiches returning to the menu remains uncertain, according to Greenspon.

“Recently we did get an offer from McGill to allow SNAX to sell sandwiches; however, there are some more concessions from the AUS,” he said. “We’re still waiting to meet with [McGill] again to come up with a formal response to this offer. ” AUS is also seeking a replacement for the position of Arts representative to SSMU. Samiha Sharif resigned for personal reasons, effective Sept. 3. VP Internal of the McGill Religious Studies Undergraduate Society (RSUS), Kat Svikhnushin, was elected in a unanimous vote to serve as interim Arts representative.

Council announced nomination procedures for the by-election via an email announcement on Sept. 10, and stated that online polling will take place from Sept.

30 to Oct. 2.

THE Mcgill

Editor-in-Chief Mayaz Alam editor@mcgilltribune.com Business Manager Sam Pinto spinto@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Hayley Lim hlim@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Shrinkhala Dawadi sdawadi@mcgilltribune.com Morgan Alexander malexander@mcgilltribune.com Julie Vanderperre jvanderperre@mcgilltribune.com News Editors Jenna Stanwood, Laura Hanrahan, Aislinn Kalob news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editor Julia Dick opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editor Chloe Nevitt scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Living Editor Hailey MacKinnon studentliving@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Natalie Wong features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Jack Neal and Christopher Lutes arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Elie Waitzer and Zikomo Smith sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editor Cassie Lee design@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editors Natalie Vineberg and Hayley Mortin photo@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Adrien Hu copy@mcgilltribune.com Advertising Executives Mingye Chen and L-A Benoit ads@mcgilltribune.com Publisher Chad Ronalds

TPS Board of Directors

editorial

On sexual assault, unacceptable gaps remain in McGill’s redress procedures

A

s McGill works on drafting a new sexual assault policy, one survivor’s experience demonstrated that our administration and faculty associations are failing in their responsibility to provide adequate redress to students who have been sexually assaulted. After an incident at an undergraduate departmental event where the survivor was allegedly sexually assaulted, the survivor did benefit from McGill’s support measures—which will be formalized in the new policy— but was unable to have her accusations investigated by McGill due to the fact that the incident happened outside of a “McGill context.” The incident is also demonstrative of a wider failing on McGill’s campus: Namely, the failure of the McGill administration and of faculty associations to address a policy that does not adequately protect survivors.

Under McGill’s current system, faculty associations are technically separate corporate entities from McGill, only connected through a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA). MoAs permit faculty associations to use McGill’s name, among other technicalities, but do not make McGill liable for any misconduct that falls within the perview of those associations but outside of the McGill context. A “McGill context” refers to an activity that is on campus or hosted by the university.

Therefore, it does not apply to events hosted off-campus by faculty associations or clubs. For example, if a student is sexually assaulted at a Frosh event that is held off-campus, McGill can

Meghan van Aardt, Karina Alibhai, Laura BensonArmer, Kiara Benard, Keara Campos, Zachary Carson, Cordelia Cho, Luka Ciklovan, Steffan Engling, Nick Jasinski, Adrian Knowler, Zach Lanys, Jin Lee, May Lim, Stephanie Ngo, Maya Reid, Sason Ross, Saloni Singh, Elli Slavitch, Rachel Summers, Calvin TrottierChi, Bridget Walsh, Andy Wang, Eyal Wilk

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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.

The survivor who spoke to the Tribune showed great bravery to approach the administration and faculty

“

McGill’s sexual assault policy has not accounted for the shortcomings created by the McGill context.

It still lacks procedures for redress

association for assistance. The survivor met with the Dean of Students and spoke with the student representatives within their faculty; ultimately, the system failed them. Although the alleged perpetrator was banned from study spaces on campus so that the survivor could study in peace, that is not enough by itself. These steps at the administrative level must be replicated at the faculty level, which should also develop pro-survivor, synthesized, and codified

procedures so that survivors do not have to jump through hoops to receive basic rights.

The McGill administration provides support measures to any student who is a survivor of sexual assault, but more still needs to be done to expand preventative measures. Students who live in residence are expected to grapple with issues of sexuality, equity, and consent during the mandatory Rez Project program. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent for approximately half of McGill students who never live in residence. Holding mandatory workshops throughout the year for all incoming McGill students who don’t go through Rez Project, or creating a mandatory online exam about sexual assault for new students will raise awareness and strengthen preventative measures by ensuring a more educated campus population.

For survivors, the current process is opaque. McGill already has a commendable support system in place, but its method of recourse is neither clearly advertised nor explained. The parameters within which McGill can legally enact sanctions and provide recourse measures for survivors who are assaulted beyond the scope of the McGill context is unclear. In order to address the gaps in sexual assault policy on campus in both the short and long term, entrenchment of pro-survivor procedures must be accompanied by higher standards of accountability within all organizations that bear McGill’s name.

Student-Run Cafeteria is risky business

Contributors

Montreal, QC H3A 0E7

only provide support measures and not redress procedures. The university would be unable to launch an investigation against the accused due to the parameters of the McGill context. This is a fact that most students at McGill are not aware of, and that Dean of Students Andre Costopoulos acknowledged as a “perception issue” in an interview with the Tribune.

Any attempts to fill these gaps in the policy in recent years have not led to concrete changes. Two years since the revelations regarding the former players on the McGill Redmen football team who were arrested on charges of sexual assault, McGill’s sexual assault policy has not accounted for the shortcomings created by the McGill context. It still lacks procedures for redress when a case falls outside the stipulated McGill context, which has prevented survivors from receiving the recourse they have asked for. The draft policy as it currently exists will not change this.

Short of a major reform of the way that McGill defines the univeristy context, which would be a lengthy and not necessarily fruitful process, more must be done to inform all students about how to navigate the procedures for handling sexual assault at McGill.

Students must be made aware of the current limitations of the sexual assault policy. There also needs to be an improvement in the support measures and procedures for handling sexual assault allegations within faculty associations to ameliorate the university’s current limitations in supporting and providing recourse to survivors.

COMMENTARY

Sam Pinto, Mayaz Alam, Maryse Thomas, Nicolas Tuech

Suite 110, 3480 McTavish

5

OPINION

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Zachary carson Contributor In addition to the Nest, a new, yetto-be-named food provider has opened in the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) cafeteria this Fall.

Both are student-run operations and together make up the Student-Run Café (SRC). This new addition is part of a larger plan by SSMU to move away from commercial tenants in the SSMU Building and towards student-run food providers.

The focus of a student-run food provider should be to offer affordable, healthy food that accommodates a wide variety of dietary needs and preferences. But given SSMU’s cur-

rent financial state, the new SRC must make money. SSMU Vice-President (Finance and Operations) Zacheriah Houston told the Tribune that SSMU was giving up a guaranteed revenue of rent paid by commercial tenants for revenue that hinges on the new SRC’s profitability. He stated that he doesn’t foresee the SRC running a deficit similar to the $20,000 one that it experienced in Winter 2014, its first semester of operation, saying that SSMU has budgeted the new operation to run on a surplus, and that running a deficit is not an option. This is an alarming statement, as there is ample reason to be skeptical of the new SRC’s ability to generate revenue.

The SRC and the larger move towards student-run food providers present a tradeoff. On one hand, the change benefits students by ensuring that food providers on campus are open to student consultation and mandated with providing local and diet-sensitive options. On the other, such improvements are at the cost of lost guaranteed revenue to SSMU through rent, which

could mean a potential loss of services for students. SSMU has already had to correct accounting errors, entailing a budget revision. SSMU is currently not in a position to lose any revenue, making the opening of another studentrun operation a well-intentioned, but poorly-timed endeavour.

In its current form, the SRC will face stiff competition on campus. In terms of potential to generate rent, the food operations’ location is highly valuable to SSMU. But it has low visibility to students, who may prefer other options closer to their classes and activities. Simply put, students don’t know it’s there. SNAX, by contrast, resides in a campus thoroughfare and as a result enjoys a steady stream of caffeinehungry students. The new portion of the SRC is offering selections available at most large McGill Food and Dining Service (MFDS) locations, but does not accept the McGill meal plan. At the moment, it is a less convenient, less original option.

As long as The Nest retains its mandate as a sustainability hub, it will

likely either run another deficit or, at best, break even. If this is the case, any revenue generated from the SRC will have to come from its new portion.

And even if the SRC does generate revenue, if it is less than the rent previously paid to SSMU commercial tenants, then SSMU will have lost money.

While student consultation may help to balance out the costs of visiting the SRC by offering products not found elsewhere on campus, it is unlikely to be a total remedy. While the SRC currently intends to offer less expensive options, only time will tell whether students want to purchase items they can get more easily elsewhere.

Student consultation will ensure that the SRC provides a product that is demanded on campus. The caveat is that SSMU will rely on it to generate a sufficient revenue stream, otherwise other services may suffer. These two goals are not necessarily irreconcilable; however, in the case of the new SRC seem highly unlikely.

Opinion

6

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

COMMENTARY

Desautels’ new female dean a testament to women in leadership

MEGHAN VAN AARDT Contributor McGill has achieved a new milestone—appointing the first female Dean of McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management, Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou. Despite the overwhelming majority of male business executives, a Fall 2014 statistic shows that 48.3 per cent of the students enrolled in the Faculty were women, and little has changed since 2005.

Bajeux-Besnainou’s presence in Desautels thus feels like it’s been a long time coming. The faculty has a vibrant female presence, greatly contributed to by the Management Undergraduate Society and Desautels National Women in Business Conference.

Bajeux-Besnainou’s appointment should not come as a surprise; instead, it should be seen as a manifestation of women increasingly occupying positions at the top tier of leadership within the faculty.

Highly qualified, passionate about student interests, and ready to “listen and learn”, Professor Bajeux-Besnainou has the opportunity to become an icon of female presence and empowerment in the management community. But from an outside perspective, the Faculty appears to be dominated by men. While part of this misperception of male dominance in the faculty of management may be due to growing awareness of a gendered wagegap with degrees in management, stereotypes associated with gender inequality in business are not necessarily representative of gender dynamics within the Faculty itself. As the first female dean, Bajeux-Besnainou stands as testament to the improving circumstances for women to take on leadership roles at the highest level within Desautels.

Women have already been bringing as much to the table as men in student associations, such as executives for the Desautels Leadership Management Seminar (DMLS), Fashion Business Uncovered (FBU), and the Entertainment Management Conference (EMC). In comparison, in the corporate world, the percentage of women who are executives in Fortune 500 companies is increasing at a snail’s pace.

The appointment of Bajeux demonstrates that the gap in executive leadership is less troubling within the Faculty of Management than in the industries for which it is preparing its students.

In order to catch what may be a positive wave of female leadership, the Faculty should supplement the work done to promote the female community within the faculty. Women as mentors in positions of power and decision-making can inspire, motivate, and provide mentorship to other women—a process that is already underway in the Faculty, as now women enjoy executive leadership positions

Stereotypes associated with gender inequality in business are not necessarily representative of gender dynamics within the Faculty itself.

at all levels. Perhaps this very public crystallization of female leadership will help Desautels to maintain and improve its enrolment of women, especially in light of the declining recruitment of women into Canadian management programs. Leadership has already come from female students to ameliorate the gender gap at the student level, such as in the organization of functions such as the Desautels National Women in Business Conference.

The creation of support networks and communities of women is crucial, and will help to increase the presence of females in the faculty.

While McGill has had a history of strong female academics, this trend is not commonly associated with the Faculty of Management.

Bajeux-Besnainou’s presence in Desautels is a promising step forward for the faculty, both in terms of demonstrating the capabilities of female leaders and that, despite appearances, the Faculty of Management is leading the way towards greater inclusion of women in business.

Off the board 21st Century Fox/National Geographic partnership signals decline in accessible education

Chloe nevitt Science & Technology Editor On Sept. 9, 21st Century Fox struck a 725 million-dollar deal with National Geographic , thus ending the 127-year-old magazine’s era of non-profit existence.

Under this deal, Fox will own 73 per cent of the new joint media venture— National Geographic Partners —making Fox the majority stakeholders. Only 27 per cent will remain under the control of The National Geographic Society .

While the news seems surprising, a 21st Century Fox and National Geographic partnership has existed since 2001. The National Geographic Channel — National Geographic’s foray into television —was launched for the first time in the U.S. on Jan. 12, 2001 as a joint project between

National Geographic Television & Film and Fox Cable Networks .

At the time, it was met with great excitement and praise; however, after 14 years, the tides have turned in favour of mass media reality TV. This partnership puts the future of National Geographic as we consume it today at risk.

It echoes steps taken by many channels in the past (such as The History Channel , the Discovery Channel , and TLC ) that led to a sharp decline in diverse, educational, and reliable content. And when the U.S. education system—which relies on standardized testing—is clearly in dire need of a reboot, the reduction in outlets that produce, and thus provide access to, educational content is gut-wrenching.

Declining standards of of educational media sacrifice the intellectual prospects of future generations for short-term fiscal gains. While the decision may have partially been a response to a lack of demand for educational content on TV, the solution should not be to reduce its supply.

National Geographic set-

“

Declining standards of educational media sacrifices the intellectual prospects of future generations for short-term fiscal gains.

tled this deal mainly due to fiscal struggles, but its decision to choose Fox as the partner for this undertaking is an unfortunate one. Fox is controlled by News Corp., one of a few large corporations responsible for controlling 90 per cent of the media consumed by Americans. National Geographic will likely become just another media puppet for Fox to control, thereby reinforcing and likely accelerating the rate at which education-oriented media declines.

Companies are clearly prioritizing a target-for-profit strategy over education. In the U.S., only 13 per cent of programs were deemed “highly educational,” by a 2008 Children Now report.

Arguing about the morality of such a decision is fruitless—this is a world where money speaks.

Such a shortage of educational content carries heavy long-term repercussions, especially in light of shortcomings in public sector education. In a 2012 Council on Foreign Relations report, the U.S. Task Force warned, “Educational failure puts the United States’ future economic prosperity, global position, and physical

safety at risk.” Therefore, this investment in mass media is the wrong one.

The deal is ominously similar to The Learning Channel’s (TLC) buyout by Discovery Communications . In the years following its purchase, TLC began phasing out educational material opted to use TLC for all marketing purposes—no longer “a place for learning minds.” On The National Geographic Channel , we could watch Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks, Dead Zone, and Diggers .

On TLC: 19 Kids and Counting, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, and My 600-lb Life. These shows are thrilling, entertaining, and not educational.

This partnership adds to ever-increasing media consolidation. National Geographic will ultimately begin to forgo unique, educational, and in-depth stories for the sake of pleasing their new corporate overlords and the public that is growing increasingly averse to using TV as an educational outlet. As media integrates and seeks revenues, the editorial process is lost and create homogenized opinions. In times like this, we turn to you PBS .

7

Science & technology Getting into the app game

Tuesday, September 15, 2015 chloe nevitt Science & Technology Editor

Entering the app world is equal parts intimidating and exciting.

McGill alumnus Nathaniel Blumer (BSc. Computer Science 2013) has developed several apps since graduating from McGill. He’s worked for private contractors in Canada and the U.S., and has even received offers for his apps from companies like Lulu lemon. His most recent venture, an app called StudyBuddy, is fine-tuned to the needs of students. The path to success, he explains, is most definitely not an easy one.

McGill Tribune (MT): You developed this app StudyBuddy; can you tell me exactly what it’s used for?

Nathaniel Blumer (NB): It was an idea I had while at McGill, and really just didn’t know how to do it. I didn’t know how to make apps and I didn’t have the time because a degree at McGill, as everyone here knows, is tiresome and takes up a lot of your time [laughs]. So the StudyBuddy app—very simple principle—you put in what you’re studying and it shows you people nearby studying similar things or, ideally, your course.

And then you can message them and say “Hey, are you working on the assignment?” Or, if it’s a class you don’t know anyone in, like [those in] Leacock 132, this can be a way for people to reach out and find someone working on the same thing.

FACT OR FICTION Shrinkhala Dawadi Managing Editor News of 12-year-old Lydia Sebastian scoring 162—the top score— on a Mensa IQ test made headlines last week. People were astounded that a child had scored higher than both Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.

While there’s actually no evidence that Einstein or Hawking ever took the Mensa IQ test, Sebastian’s score is still impressive—but not for the reason people think it is.

Without having had taken IQ tests, Hawking and Einstein were both considered to be brilliant. But if they had, would their scores have been just as high, or higher, than Sebastian’s?

Probably not.

IQ tests aren’t a measure of someone’s intelligence; rather, they’re a measure of someone’s cognitive ability, like reading comprehension or vocabulary size. Ultimately, these scores aren’t an empirical, scientific fact; they’re as much influenced by society and culture—as are fashion trends. Someone like Sebastian has trained herself to think like the test.

Einstein or Hawking, on the other hand, thought like a physicist.

We can attribute this disparity to

MT: Did you find that there was a need for [an app like this one] when you were in university? And [did that] push you to create this app?

NB: That was mostly it. There was a lot of times when I was working on an assignment in a busy library and I saw people that looked familiar but I wasn’t sure if they were actually in my class [….] So when I thought of StudyBuddy, I thought it’d be great if I could type in, you know, ‘computer science,’ and find people nearby who were also studying computer science or had taken the class and then reach out to them.

MT: While you were at McGill, did you ever do any internships?

Did you start this process during university?

NB: I wish I had. I actually [recently] did a project with one of my old professors who needed an app made and I volunteered. There wasn’t much at McGill back in the day. I know they just started a web design course—McGill has finally [gotten] with the times and has a course to give you the basics and get you on your way.

MT: Where did you go to find other tools, if you were to give references to a first-time app-maker?

NB: There’s this great resource that helped me a lot called the Internet [laughs] and YouTube. That’s where I really had to start. For me, the best way was to think—I want

to make an app, I want it to have this feature, how do I do this for iPhone—[and then I’d look it up online.]

MT: What language did you use?

Did you start with one and switch to another, or have you been using the same coding skills the whole time?

NB: A lot of programming when it comes to web and mobile development has a lot of languages. I decided to specialize in Apple. I use their language, called Objective C. MT: Traditionally apps were created either on a web-based design [and] had a web-interface, similar to Facebook, versus an exclusive ‘app-esque’ format. Do you have a preference for either of these? Do you think one is better than another?

NB: Before there was an app store and people could make their own apps, Apple had started with these mobile apps that were basically websites.

Once the App Store came out, you could have an app that worked on a specific phone. [Web-designed apps] could be the future, but I’ve always found that an app always works better when it was designed for the phone it’s on. It’s one size fits all versus [having] more of a custom fit.

MT: What kind of hurdles can you anticipate meeting as an app developer?

NB: A developer will always hit a roadblock that takes hours or days to

Nathaniel Blumer is paving his way through the app world. (Natalie Vineberg / McGill Tribune) solve. Thankfully, these days [appmaking is] quite welcoming of an industry. [There are] lots of services that are free. I love this one service [called] Parse. It’s basically a server that stores all your data [and] it’s totally free—until you reach x amount of users or x amount of traffic and then you have to pay.

MT: How and why do you think certain apps become through-the-roof successful?

NB: Sheer luck combined with a need.

Instagram, Uber, Airbnb—if we think about Angry Birds, all these [apps] had competitors, [because] when a need exists, everyone jumps on it. [Then,] you get one guy that stands out, either they have a great marketing campaign or slogan. Uber, back in the day, spent a month giving free rides. [And] then you’re the guy. [On the other hand,] if you’re lucky enough to find a real need

before everyone else, [it’s] a matter of figuring out how you’re going to get your idea out there.

MT: Finally, if you had words of wisdom to impart on an interested student about app development, what would you tell them?

NB: It’s a lot of fun and it’s very easy to be passionate about it. Some of the things you have to worry about [is] ‘How long are you willing to go before making any money.’ There is a bit of a learning curve to get into new industry and a new way of making things. Overall, I’ve loved it. I’ve had setbacks; I’ve had apps that go nowhere [or] people that don’t pay. You just have to be ready to put in a lot of hours. It’s a lot of fun overall; I’ve always wanted to do it, and when I was here, I didn’t have the time, and I was scared to make the leap and just do it. Once I did it [though,] no regrets.

Does having a high IQ mean you’re smart?

Evaluating the merits of Mensa

the fact that intelligence is a nebulous concept. According to Joel Schneider, a psychologist at Illinois State University, intelligence really depends on what traits society values in a person.

“We use [intelligence] to describe people who are able to acquire useful knowledge, and who can solve consequential problems using some combination of logic, intuition, creativity, experience, and wisdom,” Schneider said during an interview for Scientific American. “[Do you] see what I just did there? I [just] tried to define intelligence with a bunch of terms that are just as vague as the thing I am trying to define [....] Terms like useful knowledge and consequential problems are abstractions that take on specific meanings only in specific cultural contexts.”

Intelligence might constitute different qualities for an engineer than for an athlete. An engineer would need to have an in-depth knowledge of math and physics. An athlete would have to have great kinesthetic sense—that is, have an acute knowledge of how certain parts of their body are moving in relation to other parts. In both cases, these skills can be honed over time, with practice.

People have to access the resources required to practice a skill

before they can get better at it. However, consider a child who was brought up in a middle-class family and went to a good school. This environment is more likely to value strong cognitive abilities, and foster this kind of development through the societal normalization of going to school and then university.

Conversely, children who are raised in poorer, more violent neighbourhoods aren’t going to have the same societal pressures—or the same kinds of opportunities—to do well in school or university. Intelligence for these kids won’t necessarily translate into better reading comprehension scores.

Knowing how to do calculus probably won’t be a priority for a teenager who needs to work a part-time job in order to supplement their parents’ income.

In fact, research has shown that a person’s socioeconomic status has a huge impact on their IQ score. Eric Turkheimer, a psychologist at the University of Virginia, studied the tests scores of twins who came from a range of families. He measured both genetic variability between the twins and socioeconomic variability between families. Turkheimer’s results showed that for poorer families, environmental conditions had a greater impact on test scores than genetics did. For richer families, genes played a larger part in

IQ tests are a measure of cognitive ability, but not necessarily intelligence.

(May Lim / McGill Tribune) determining their test scores than the environment.

“IQ scores reflect some varying combination of differences in native ability and differences in opportunities,” Brink Lindsey explained in The Atlantic.

“Among rich kids, good opportunities for developing the relevant cognitive skills are plentiful, so IQ differences are driven primarily by genetic factors. For less advantaged kids, though, test scores say more about the environmental deficits they face than they do about native ability.”

A 12-year-old getting the

highest score on the Mensa IQ test is impressive. But it doesn’t mean that Lydia Sebastian is inherently a genius; rather, it’s a testament to the hard work and dedication she’s put in over her short life to hone her cognitive abilities.

Consider the popular apocryphal quote: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

This quote, which is often incorrectly attributed to Einstein, perfectly encapsulates that intelligence is as subjective as today’s society.

UNearthing MOntreal’s urban landscapes

By Will Burgess Ogilvie Flour Mills on the Lachine Canal 1948. (Conrad Poirier/Wikimedia Commons) Dinu Bumbaru (Will Burgess / McGill Tribune)

F

or some students, venturing beyond the McGill bubble means going bar-hopping on Saint- Laurent or adventurously moving to the Plateau after moving out of residence.

But truly understanding the city—especially without being a native citizen—is hard to do on one’s own. There’s usually a specific identity and character behind each region, and Montreal is a city that resounds in its uniqueness.

Sharing an unexplored side of Montreal with the public is one of the goals of Héritage Montreal, an independent nongovernmental organization. The institute’s main mission is to advocate for sustainable urban development by balancing environmental, historical, geographical, architectural, and cultural considerations within the Greater Montreal Area.

With the development and growth of new architecture and landscape, Héritage Montreal focuses mainly on mappable geography. These landscapes might include fixed properties or be covered by urban planning instruments. The organization aims to raise awareness and awaken the curiosity of Montrealers about both the visible aspects of their city’s heritage and the hidden contexts behind it.

According to Dinu Bumba-

ru, the policy director of Héritage Montreal, many Montrealers are curious about the history behind the city’s landscape. To cater to this demand, Héritage Montreal created Architectours, a program that offers walking tours around the city to the public. The tours are offered as part of the organization’s efforts to inform citizens about the neighbourhoods they live in, and experience their historical and cultural significance through understanding the landscape’s origins.

Besides offering walking tours, Héritage Montreal advocates for the preservation of heritage cities and consults with the city on urban affairs. According to Bumbaru, the concern is not just with individual sites, but generally with the way the city handles its urban development.

“You could let it go—and we could burn Montreal in a couple of years—and ruin everything, without a Montreal spirit behind it,” he said. “For instance, we push for public hearings [with] l’Office du consultation publique. [We] push for a Heritage Council to be established in the city. The city is such a complex machine. It gives a chance to have a heritage clock inside that can give some hope for consistency.”

To contribute to the organization’s knowledge of preserva-

tion and to educate them, Héritage Montreal takes on summer interns. Catherine Lennartz, a World Heritage Studies master’s student at the Brandenburg University of Technology, said that the Architectours help the organization’s mission by including more Montrealers in the process of preservation and education. It’s essential to honour the historical figures whose stories took place within this culturallyrich landscape. For example, if you’re observing a building, it is not just about who built it, and what the architecture is, but also who has used it, and who it remains important for.

“For me, [the Architectours] are a question of getting Montrealers to know their city better,” said Lennartz. “Not everyone has the opportunity to learn that much about the history and the architecture of the city; and because the tours are so specific, I find it’s great for people who have maybe lived here their whole lives but never really looked at the heritage around them.”

Bumbaru himself has worked at Héritage Montreal for over 30 years, and occasionally leads tours in addition to executing the organization’s other endeavours. Born in Vancouver, Bumbaru graduated in Architecture from the Université

de Montréal, and moved on to study Architectural Conservation at the University of York in the U.K. and at the International Center for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) in Rome.

“I started in 1982 […] I was hired here as part of a job creation program for graduates,” Bumbaru said. “The Quebec government had this program to support 20 weeks of work for new graduates, so they could start gaining work experience.”

After working for a few years in the organization, he took a break fin 1988 to study in Rome. Bumbaru subsequently returned to Héritage Montreal, eventually becoming executive director. But suddenly, in 1992, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recruited him overnight to assess the urgent condition of the war-torn area in the besieged city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Bumbaru was replaced as executive director during his time in Croatia, but upon returning safely, he was re-hired as policy director, his position ever since. As policy director, Bumbaru focuses the action of Héritage Montreal towards his passions: Education and advocacy.

For Bumbaru, the landscape of a city defines its heritage. It’s something each citizen must pro-

Dinu Bumbaru Policy Director for Heritage Montreal Dinu Bumbaru, graduate in architecture at Université de Montréal and architectural conservation at University of York in the United Kingdom, is the current policy director of Heritage Montreal, an organization he has worked for for over 30 years. Bumbaru also works with the International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an organization that advises the United Nations’ UNESCO. He was the recipient of a Prix du Quebec award from the Quebec government in 2012 in the cultural category.

“For [the port authority], Silo 5 is the equivalent of a redundant filing cabinet, the equivalent of an office desk that is unused. They want to throw it away, it’s just that it’s 800 metres long,”

The abandoned Silo No. 5 looms lonely. (Naquib Houssain / Flickr CC) tect by being aware of the landmarks which they’re meant to preserve. Although the tours are usually accompanied by historical lessons, Bumbaru started an August tour of the Lachine Canal and surrounding areas by emphasizing that he wasn’t a historian, and that the tours naturally integrate several facets of urban landscapes.

Bumbaru highlighted the importance of allowing individuals to truly experience the tangible reality of the geography upon which they embarked.

“We’re not visiting history, we’re strolling through geography,” he said.

While leading a small group of participants, Bumbaru touched on architecture, urban planning, and geography. He also discussed the often contentious integration of industrial, recreational, and

residential development alongside the many heritage locations that line historic sites like the Lachine Canal. As opposed to a lecture hall, where textbook history is inceptive, walking tours use a physical location as the literal point of departure.

“In the past, we used to say ‘The parentage of heritage was history,’” said Bumbaru. “When thinking about it a bit further, there are three dimensions to this: First, geography; second, society; and third, history.”

The tours also help to advocate for an accessible, humanfriendly Montreal. While regional planners talk of “walkable cities,” Héritage Montreal has different ambitions—tours that transcend walking as a simple mode of transportation and cross over into exploring.

The Architectours are cel-

ebrating Héritage Montreal’s 40th anniversary this year by presenting “Greatest Hits,” retrospective of their most popular walking tours. Over August and September, these have included the dynamic neighbourhoods of Griffintown, Mile End, Golden Square Mile, and Côte-desNeiges.

Despite conducting a survey of ‘greatest hits,’ this year’s Architectours failed to include perhaps one of Héritage Montreal’s most popular excursions: A tour of the infamous Silo No. 5, an abandoned grain elevator dating back to 1903, at the base of Old Port. The original idea of visiting Silo No. 5, the largest abandoned building in the city, came about during Héritage Montreal’s 35th anniversary in 2010, as a gift to the Montrealers who supported them.

Incidentally, 15 years prior, Héritage Montreal fought with the port authority over the proposed demolition of Silo No. 5.

“For [the port authority], Silo No. 5 is the equivalent of a redundant filing cabinet [...] the equivalent of an office desk that is unused,” Bumbaru said. “They just want to throw it away—it’s just that it’s 800 metres long.”

Thus, bringing individuals to Silo No.5—a location with a history intertwined with that of Héritage Montreal’s—had a special significance in line with the organization’s mission.

To Bumbaru’s pleasant surprise, the tour was a massive hit with Montrealers.

“We just thought, well, this is going to interest only a few people because we were told nobody likes the Silos you know?” he said. “Nobody cares. And it

took us three years to go through the waiting list [for the tour].

There was a clear demonstration that people were curious about it.”

Nonetheless, whether intentional or simply symptomatic of Montreal’s contemporary urban landscape, many of the tours are of neighbourhoods “in transformation,” including the aforementioned Lachine Canal.

“Transformation doesn’t need to be banal,” Bumbaru said.

“There can be a lot of invention in that. Perhaps, in Montreal, we’ve done it in a less spectacular [way] than others. In Montreal over time, we don’t have time to do things à la Dubai, but we try to consider ourselves more avant garde. Looking at the city more in a new way, one of our slogans is élever le regard—to raise the eye.”

10

Science & technology

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Cracking the Canadian cell phone code Finding the best phones, plans, and deals can be a daunting task mingye chen Contributor The quest for the best cell phone deal is not unlike finding the Holy Grail. Everyone knows a friend of a friend that somehow secured a $40 six-gigabyte plan, but nobody really knows how they got it. Cell phone salespeople offer cryptic promises and deals, but are they just padding the company’s bottom line?

Understanding and navigating “cellhell” can seem daunting, but it’s not impossible—if you know what to look for.

Phones can be separated into three price ranges. Low-end devices retail for under $250, mid-range devices retail for $250 to $450, and high-end devices retail from $450 to over $900. Choosing between these categories depends on what you’re specifically looking for. Consumers

should opt for high-end devices if they rely heavily on their phones for multimedia and camera functions, and don’t want to sacrifice speed.

Those who are moderate app users would be perfectly happy with a mid range device—if they are willing to sacrifice brand recognition.

Choosing a price plan becomes a lot easier once you’ve chosen a phone.

Price plans are directly related to the price of the phone you pick; a typical iPhone6 plan is on the high-end price scheme (upwards of $60 per month).

This can be explained through the concept of economic inducement— the idea that your chosen service provider will subsidize the cost of your new device knowing that your future monthly service charges will work towards paying off that subsidy.

Pricing schemes for devices and plans will also change depending on the type of service provider you

choose. There are two types of service providers: The premium parent companies, Rogers, Bell and Telus; and their subsidiaries, Fido, Virgin Mobile, and Koodo. Premium service providers offer larger subsidies, up to $500, on high-end devices and better high-usage service plans. Their subsidiaries will offer better BringYour-Own-Device (BYOD) pricing, which allows the consumer to save a minimum of 10 per cent on monthly fees, as well as not being responsible for any economic inducement.

It’s important to consider what sort of network you prioritize before deciding on a service provider.

Don’t be fooled by websites and promotions; all companies generally follow the same pricing scheme.

Take the 2GB Share Everything plan from Rogers. It comes with unlimited nation-wide calling, caller ID, voicemail and two-gigabytes of

data. It costs $75 per month if you want to buy a high end device like the iPhone6. The price will be the same with Bell and Telus. With Virgin and Fido, you can get that same iPhone6 for a minimum of $75 per month that includes unlimited nation-wide calling, caller ID, voicemail and fourgigabytes of data.

Despite all having very similar plans and pricing, Bell and Telus offer the best coverage outside metropolitan areas; however, Rogers offers the best coverage for citydwellers and has considerably faster network speeds in large metropolitan areas. Average download speeds were 32.7Mbps for Rogers, 23Mbps for Bell and 17.2Mbps for TELUS. Indeed, Rogers has heavily biased speed-over-latency across its network; it offers the fastest ISP both on the mobile and cable side. Bell and Telus have a better range and more

reliable coverage on the East and West Coast respectively.

The wireless network quality study, conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, measured how often Canadian customers suffered service interruption. BCE Inc.’s wireless arm Bell and Telus Corp. were graded as the best in Ontario, while Rogers was rated worst in both Western and Eastern Canada.

Before stepping into a cell phone store, always be conscious of what you need your cellphone to do for you. Furthermore, it is important to do your own research before commiting to a phone. While today, smartphones only really last two-orso years, monthly service fees last a minimum of two years. The initial big savings afforded to you by the service provider can often trick consumers into taking too high a monthly fee.

procedure, seeing as it is–in principle– no different than a heart or a lung transplant.

In light of the ethical considerations surrounding this operation, it is unlikely that the U.S. will volunteer as host country. On the other hand, China is more than willing to invite Canavero and HEAVEN into its borders.

“China is going to do it. I can

already tell you this,” Canavero claimed in an interview with The Daily Mail.

There is still much to be done in the way of scientific research and trials for this procedure to be clinically viable. Even Canavero admitted that the success rate for his procedure would be roughly 10 to 15 per cent.

Can you change your mind?

Italian neurosurgeon plans world’s first head transplant andy wang Contributor Creating Frankenstein’s monster—taking bits and pieces from different people to make a whole—is an idea conceived by fiction, not real-life; however, Dr. Sergio Canavero, Italian neurosurgeon, plans to undertake what he describes as the first human head transplantation with spinal linkage.

This venture, named The Head Anastomosis Venture (HEAVEN), was published in 2013 in the International Journal of Neurosurgery and Neurosciences. The project was initially met with cynicism from the medical community and failed to garner any significant media coverage. As the project moved forward, however, more and more people, professional and public alike, began to display interest.

After acquiring a willing patient— Russian computer programmer Valery Spiridonov, who is currently suffering from Werdnig-Hoffman disease, a type of spinal muscular atrophy—Canavero announced a definitive operation date— December 2017.

“The only thing I feel is a sense of pleasant impatience,” Spiridonov explained in an interview for Central European News (CEN). “Like I have been preparing for something important all my life and it is starting to happen.”

Indeed, with an imminent death sentence imprinted onto his genome, Canavero is perhaps Spiridonov’s only option.

Following Canavero’s announcement, Chinese doctor Ren Xiaoping from Harbin Medical University announced his support for the project. Initially a researcher at Chicago’s Loyola University, Ren decided to pursue his career in China due to more government support for

his research. Overall, he has performed over 1,000 head transplantations on mice.

Doing this on humans, however, will be much more difficult admits Canavero.

“The greatest technical hurdle to such endeavour is, of course, the reconnection of the donor’s and recipient’s spinal cords,” wrote Canavero in his HEAVEN outline.

In 1970, Dr. Robert White of Case Western Reserve University performed a head transplant on a monkey. While White’s monkey was able to smell, taste, hear, and see the world around it, and even at times attempted to bite some of the staff, it could not move any body part located below the neck, the Cleveland Scene reported in 1999.

Canavero plans to tackle the problem of reconnection of nerve tissue from the transplanted head to the assigned body in three ways. First, he plans on using some of the most precise medical cutting devices to-date: Either a specially fashioned diamond microtomic snare-blade or a nanoknife made of a thin layer of silicon nitride with a nanometer sharp cutting edge.

These tools will decrease the amount of force required in severing the spinal cord to roughly 10 Newtons (N), minimizing the mechanical damage done to the neurons and the surrounding tissue. To put matters into perspective, the average force experienced during a spinal injury is 26000 N. Next he will then apply polyethylene glycol (PEG) immediately following the procedure to facilitate neuronal reattachment.

Finally, the patient will be put in a chemically induced coma for roughly one month allowing neural connections to be reestablished.

Despite Canavero’s modifications to the procedure, many still doubt his

chances of success.

“The current medical technology is not advanced enough for us to even start thinking about head transplantation,” McGill Biology Professor Joseph Alan Dent explained.

Despite the pervasive controversy surrounding the subject, Dent does not feel that there are any significant ethical dilemmas associated with this

Dr. Sergio Canavero plans to attach the head of one man to the body of another. (Stephanie Ngo / McGill Tribune)

11

Student living Navigating sexual health resources at McGill Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Four services that provide support and supplies for students tiffany le Contributor McGill provides many resources that seek to combat the stigma around sex and gynecological health, as well as provide safe and judgmentfree service. Below is a list of four resources available to McGill students which aid in matters ranging from sexual health and contraception to counselling and education.

Shag Shop While McGill’s safe sex and health store, the Shag Shop, lost its physical space last year, this hasn’t stopped it from providing students with the same merchandise as always. The Shag Shop now has an online store where students can order condoms, lubricants, toys, pregnancy tests, menstrual products, and different contraceptive options from the comfort of their own homes. Simply fill out a form and choose a payment method, and students will be emailed a pick-up location within 72 hours.

The Shag Shop is also a great resource to ask questions about sexual health; a peer health educator is always on hand to answer any concerns

and can be reached by email, Facebook, or at 514-398-2087. Healthy McGill kiosks are also located all over campus with free safer sex supplies that change each month.

Student Health Services Located in room 4508 of the Brown Building, Student Health Services clinic is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Appointment bookings happen on the fifteenth of every month for appointments in the following month through a phone line that opens at 8 a.m. sharp. Students can book general check-ups, STI testing, PAP smears and more. While there is a stigma surrounding health matters related to sexuality, it is important to note that physicians do not judge— they are dedicated to making sure their patients are healthy. If students are suffering from any symptoms, the clinic also offers walk-in services; however, students must arrive early because slots fill up quickly.

McGill ID cards, and either a provincial health care or McGill Blue Cross health insurance card are required at every appointment. For Macdonald Campus students, another option is

the MAC clinic which opens Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in room 124 of the Centennial Centre.

Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE) UGE is a trans*-positive feminist service located in room 413 of the SSMU Building. In addition to being an inclusive and intersectional space with a lending library and gender empowerment items, UGE coordinates a co-op stocking pay-what-you-can ecologically responsible menstrual products. They also offer DIY sex toys and safer-sex supplies. The space is also a great information hub;

UGE houses a resource binder that can point one to abortion services, counselling, and queer and transfriendly health services around Montreal. On their website, they also offer to custom order bras and undergarments to make it more accessible for those who feel uncomfortable or unsafe, or have limited financial capacity. Finally, UGE website also has a list of all gender-neutral washrooms at McGill compiled by the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office (SEDE).

Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’

(sexualhealthliverpool.co.uk)

Society (SACOMSS) A volunteer-run organization committed to supporting survivors of sexual assault and their allies, SACOMSS offers many services through direct support, advocacy, and outreach. Their services include drop-in appointments to their clinic in room B-27 of the SSMU building, a support line, support groups and more. SACOMSS’ hours of operation are posted on their Facebook page. SACOMSS also offers information and referrals as well as sexual assault sensitivity training to groups within McGill and Montreal.

reimagining frosh

Moving towards a more inclusive and respectful Orientation Week

(Photo courtesy of John Kelsey)

saloni Singh Contributor During the first week of September, Montreal’s air was saturated with the enthusiasm, anticipation, and cheer that accompanied McGill’s Orientation Week for incoming first-years. In previous years, McGill’s Frosh has been criticized for its alcohol-centric activities and lack of respect for its surroundings. Building on efforts from past Frosh teams, there were concerted efforts made by Frosh coordinators this year to continue creating an enjoyable atmosphere for both participants and the local community by implementing sev-

eral new initiatives, activities, and policies.

The gradual shift towards a more inclusive Frosh entailed adding more diverse and non-drinking events to the program. Both Arts and Management Frosh gave students the chance to watch Montreal’s CFL team, the Alouettes, play a game in Molson Stadium.

Management students were also invited to cheer during Redbull’s soap box races, an event where local amateur racers build and race their own non-electric vehicles, while Engineering Frosh hosted a dry block party. All Frosh participants had the option to attend

a throwback-themed night event with a live band on the same night as the EDM concert at New City Gas, in response to requests for more diverse night events and music selection. Lastly, the beer tent on Lower Field was drastically reduced to lesson the focus on alcohol.

While inclusivity among Frosh participants was important, there was another group of people who were considered thoroughly in the process: The Milton-Parc community. In the past, the area’s residents have had to bear loud cheers, unruly behaviour, and party music at all hours of the day

during Frosh Week. This year, policies were implemented to foster a respectful relationship between Frosh and its surrounding environment. Letters were mailed to the members of the Milton-Parc community outling SSMU’s commitment to minimizing disruptions, and offering contact information should disrespectful behaviour arise. Loud and offensive chants were banned from being taught and used, a policy that had been implemented in the past years.

Additionally, a better relationship with the community was cultivated through social events.

“We organized our first ever potluck barbecue for the MiltonParc community citizens,” Executive Director of Management Frosh Joshua Schulman, explained.

“With regards to the [Service de la Police de la Ville de Montreal], we met with [SPVM] beforehand to explain our schedules to make sure all our participants were safe.”

Having classes start on Friday also meant that major changes to the week’s programming needed to be made. In response, there was an extra day of Frosh that made activities more spaced out and with more downtime in the mornings to rest.

“We obviously did not want to incentivize students to not go

to class, so we kept all Thursday night events low-key and on the day of class, the only event on Friday was a games and inflatable day on lower field,” Lola Baraldi, Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President Internal, said. “It was planned so students could trickle in and out between classes [...] and facultyspecific events picked up once classes finished [...] It led to a lot more alternative and inclusive programming.”

A final addition to Frosh this year was the introduction of Red Frogs at an event. Red Frogs is a peer support network for young people who stay fully sober at events and act as a harm reduction service. They offered support at social events and educated students on safe partying behaviour.

Red Frogs appeared at the majority of Frosh events where they gave out water, granola bars and sunscreen, and provided a safe space to take breaks from the madness of Frosh.

As Frosh continues on its transition from its drinking-centered past to a more inclusive present, organizers and staff hope to keep pushing forward changes that assure Orientation Week remains a positive memory in the minds of future McGill students.

12

Student Living

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Montreal’s best eggs Benedict: The top three contenders

Out on the town

By Keara Campos The eggs Benedict is a staple of any brunch menu. In its truest form it is a soft-poached egg on top of a savoury bed of ham, laid on an English muffin and covered in the raison d’être, hollandaise sauce.

Hollandaise sauce is a French sauce made primarily of egg yolk and butter, but also often seasoned with lemon, cayenne pepper, and salt. The three following restaurants are the strongest contenders in the battle for the title of Montreal’s best eggs Benedict.

La Société’s high-class eggs Benedict. (Keara Campos / McGill Tribune)

Bistro Tôt ou Tard’s tasty eggs Benedict. (Keara Campos / McGill Tribune)

Restaurant L’Avenue

Bistro Tôt ou Tard

La Société

Located up in the borough of Plateau-Mont Royal, Restaurant L’Avenue has the widest variety of eggs Benedict on the list. The restaurant is easy to spot from the line of brunch-goers spilling out the door. The wait for smaller groups is normally fairly wellpaced, which is a relief to customers since the restaurant does not take reservations. Bright graffiti covers the walls of the bustling dining room with a suspended motorcycle hanging from the ceiling, giving the atmosphere a funky but comfortable feel. For those who are Instagram aficionados, L’Avenue’s bathroom is a popular selfie destination due to its one of a kind glow-in-the-dark graffiti theme.

Eggs Benedict prices range from $12.50 to $15 with plenty of options from classic to the sucré-salé-croustillant. The latter dish distinguishes L’Avenue from other top breakfast locations. It is two poached eggs on top of panko covered French toast, with black forest ham, gruyère cheese, covered in hollandaise and drizzled with maple syrup, and comes with a side of home fries.

The sucré-salé-croustillant is an overwhelming amount of food to consume but is sensational in taste. On a day you are looking for an adventurous twist on eggs Benedict, Restaurant L’Avenue is the place to go—just make sure you have time to wait in line!

In between Centre-Ville Est and The Village, Bistro Tôt ou Tard sits cozily on the corner of Rue Cherrier where Rue Amherst meets Avenue du Parc la Fontaine. Immediately, you will notice the restaurant’s cute but small patio, perfect for enjoying the last few weeks of warm weather while sitting close to the park. The bistro-styled restaurant offers a few different types of benedict with various toppings—goat cheese, brie, spinach, and asparagus—all of which are priced at $13.95.

Bistro Tôt ou Tard takes the Benedict further by adding a plentiful amount of sides including sauteed mushrooms, breakfast potatoes, bacon, ham, sausage, baguette, a fruit bowl, and either coffee or tea. The restaurant’s Benedict with mushrooms and brie is also worth noting. It has a focaccia base with mushrooms, brie, caramelized onions, and hollandaise. Bistro Tôt ou Tard’s sauce has an exceptional consistency—just the right amount of creaminess without becoming too gelatinous. Another bonus is the hours; the restaurant is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m., although unfortunately, allday breakfast isn’t available. Take advantage of a sunny day in the near future and go for the take-out option then enjoy a breakfast picnic in Parc la Fontaine.

La Société, located downtown, is known for its fine dining. Its eggs Benedict is thus the most expensive Benedict on the list; however, it is definitely worth the higher price tag. The upscale French-style bistro, with its delicately tiled floors and stained-glass ceiling, exudes the feeling of luxury and opulence. Its brunch menu includes a few different types of benedicts—the classic, the lobster, and the Montreal, ranging from $16 to $19 depending on toppings.

The restaurant’s classic eggs Benedict—ham, poached eggs, and hollandaise—comes with a hearty dose of breakfast potatoes. The hollandaise sauce itself is creamy and perfectly complements the rest of the ingredients.

La Société’s eggs benedict is available on both their breakfast and brunch menu. On weekdays, breakfast is from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., and from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sundays. Don’t worry if you’re not an early weekend riser though, brunch on the weekend begins at 10 a.m. and finishes at 3 p.m. If you find yourself one morning cruising down Rue de la Montagne, stopping into La Société is a must.

T h e V i e w p o i n t C AF é MEL B OURNE Aussie-themed café brings specialties from Down Under to the Plateau

A flat white and an iced long black from Café Melbourne (Rachel Summers / McGill Tribune)

rachel summers Contributor I’ll be the first to admit that I sometimes embody the ‘annoying-girl-who-won’t-stoptalking-about-her-exchange.’ My semester in Melbourne definitely left some of my peers and family members feeling tired of my frequent references to my time abroad, and I find myself comparing all aspects of life back home to my time in Australia. This is most acute when I pass a Second Cup or Starbucks, and wish that I were back in Melbourne—the coffee capital of

the world. It is hard to find a café that competes with the quality found Down Under, but Café Melbourne, owned by two Melbourne natives, brings Aussie style and expertise to this bright café in the Plateau.

Café Melbourne, situated just north of Boulevard Saint-Laurent and Avenue MontRoyal East, is a little slice of the café culture that is one of the cornerstones of the Melbournian identity. The café’s owners, Xavier Martinelli and Angus Castran, have compiled a food and coffee menu that one would find while walking down the streets of Melbourne, where every café serves craft coffee and almost always has an accompanying mouth-watering food menu.

The café has a relaxed vibe and unique atmosphere, with decorations that incorporate recognizable Australian symbols. Upon entering the café, Australian coins are immediately spotted on the counter, and if you take a look around, you’ll notice that the shelves hold an Aussie Rules football, a stuffed Koala bear, and a book on the flavours of urban Melbourne.

Café Melbourne also pokes fun at its lack of ‘French-ness’ by putting a sign out front that reads in French, “Our French isn’t very good but our coffee is.” They have also jokingly added a “Le” in front of “Melbourne Café” on the window facing the street, a cheeky joke

dripping with Aussie humour.

The city the café is named after is home to a foodie culture that brings a whole new perspective to the term “brunch game” and what it means to serve craft coffee. People in Australia, especially Melbourne, take their coffee seriously and have a great deal of pride in their craft. Filtered coffee is virtually non-existent, and there is a café on almost every corner.

This standard is maintained at Café Melbourne, where all the coffee is espresso-based and the coffee art is amont the best. If you want to try a flat white, an Australian classic, Café Melbourne is your spot. It is served with a beautiful decoration and has a silky texture, a combination that can only be produced when the milk is foamed and then poured in the espresso shot with expertise. While it’s still hot outside, an iced version of any coffee, like the iced Americano pictured (or long black if you want to use the Aussie term) might be the most refreshing.

To accompany the coffee, there are also Australian sandwiches, called jaffles, on the menu. They are different from a toasted sandwich in that a jaffle press seals the bread along the edges, leaving room to stuff the sandwich with things like mac and cheese, or beans in tomato sauce. There are eight jaffles to choose from, including a breakfast jaffle with eggs,

ham and Swiss cheese. If you’re feeling adventurous and want to try something really Australian, the Vegemite jaffle is for you. Vegemite is a food paste made from yeast extract and various vegetable and spice additives, resulting in a salty mixture that is popular among Australians. On the lighter side, there is smashed avocado on toast, another Melbourne staple.

The quality of the food and coffee in addition to the relaxed atmosphere of the café makes it a great place to study. There are plenty of tables inside to work, read, or chat with friends. There is also a small patio— ideal for the summer—in the front and one in the back.

The prices are reasonable, $3.50 for the coffees and $7.50 for the jaffles.

Martinelli is thinking of moving to Toronto soon as he “finds it to be most like Melbourne of the Canadian cities.” Torontonians may therefore find themselves stumbling across some Aussie specialties in the near future. In the meantime, the Montreal café will satisfy those nostalgic for authentic Australian coffee and treats.

This is good news for myself, because when I sought out the Café Melbourne here in the Plateau to see whether or not the name held up to my memories of the quality I found in Melbourne, my pretentious, obnoxious studyabroad self was pleased with what I found.

13

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Emmy Predictions

by Morgan Alexander, Christopher Lutes, and Steffen Engling

BEST COMEDY SERIES

Will win: Veep This year, the real question is: Who can prevent Modern Family from winning an unprecedented sixth consecutive Emmy? Veep seems to be an obvious candidate. The show, which has been poking fun at Washington’s often messy political business since 2012, seems to get better with each new season. Having been nominated every year since its debut, the time might be just about right to pick up an award.

Should win: Parks and Recreation It seems hard to believe that Parks and Recreation has not won a single Emmy. After all, the show has been a staple of primetime comedy since 2008 and has enjoyed critical acclaim as well. The ATAS tends to snub everything that is in any way related to Amy Poehler, so this will probably be another year without recognition for this great show.

BEST DRAMA SERIES Will win: Mad Men Despite its arguable decline in quality in its later seasons, Mad Men saw a late-run return to form as the show sped up Don Draper’s inevitable fall from grace. The fact that Emmy voters are fond of awarding a show in its final year of eligibility (see Breaking Bad last year) means Mad Men is likely to take a final victory lap.

Should win: Orange is the New Black Mad Men was great, but Orange is the New Black’ s second season was one of the best stretches of television in recent memory. The heightened sense of drama and history that Lorraine Toussaint’s Vee brought to the show elevated what was already a series with a fantastic ensemble cast and sense of place.

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

The 2015 Emmy nominees are so full of familiar faces to the degree that the newcomers are negligible. When picking winners, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) tends to keep awarding old favourites or layers

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

accolades on one standout newbie. To acknowledge both Emmy traditions and hopesagainst-hope, the Tribune has made its predictions for this years big winners, and added in arguments for the unlikely favourite.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Will win: Jeffrey Tambor Transparent

Will win: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Veep

Will win: Tituss Burgess Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Will win: Allison Janney Mom

Giving a performance that displays a level of depth and melancholy that didn’t seem possible from this usually-comedic actor, Tambor shines in his role playing a man who decides to transition to become a woman late in life. Although it won’t be a flashy enough performance for some voters, the importance and impact of a role like this will not be lost on the committee at large

The embodiment of the expression “old habits die hard,” Louis-Dreyus is slated to have a four-peat win for her role in Veep.

At this point giving the award to LouisDreyfus feels more like paying a yearly rent check, but if Bryan Cranston can win this often, so can she.

The musical stylings of Burgess as the effeminate, fame-hungry Titus Andromendon in Peeno Noir, an ode to black penis, should be enough to earn him an Emmy.

It is Burgess’ ability to add seriousness and stability to a character designed to be outlandish and untamable that proves this breakout actor is deserving of the award.

Inertia is the key factor here: When somebody gets awarded for a show relatively early in its run, they tend to stay a winner until the show falls out of favour. Combined with the fact that Allsion Janney is a great actress—as well as a perennial Emmy favorite (if she wins, it’ll be her seventh acting Emmy)—this award is hers to lose.

Should win: Jeffrey Tambor Transparent

Now that Parks and Recreation has finished, this is Poehler’s last chance to snag the award. We expect the show to act towards Poehler the same way it did towards Steve Carrell at the end of The Office, leaving her high and dry in spite of seven hilarious seasons.

Sometimes a performance is so good that even the Emmys can’t mess it up. This is one of those perception-altering performances that will be talked about for years to come.

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Should win: Amy Poehler Parks and Recreation

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Should win: Tituss Burgess Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt The Titus Andromendon character was met with overwhelming adoration online.

An entire cult following committed to Burgess’ memorable conviction and fresh relatability can’t be wrong.

Chlumsky, playing the vice president’s long-suffering chief-of-staff, has been doing some of the most subtly compelling character work on television. Every physical tic and line reading serves to create a fully-realized character who could have easily been played as one-note unlikeable.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Will win: Jon Hamm Mad Men

Will win: Taraji P. Henson Empire

Will win: Jonathan Banks

This should be the year that Hamm finally wins a long overdue Emmy. While Mad Men as a whole has snatched numerous Emmys, the front man himself actually never won despite being nominated every year since 2008. In his parting year as Don Draper, it seems almost inevitable that the Academy finally acknowledges his performance.

Typically acting awards go to the performances that feature the most acting— not necessarily the best. Such is the case with Henson’s admittedly fun, broad performance as the conniving matriarch of Empire’ s central family. Combined with the zeitgeist appeal of Empire, this award seems close to a sure thing.

Already nominated for the same role in Breaking Bad, Jonathan Banks is back to take home the award for his reprisal of Mike Ehrmantraut. Unlike the predictions for some other categories, this win isn’t a clear call— newcomer Ben Mendelsohn of Bloodline has already been making waves among expert predictors—but expect Banks to float along with expected love for Better Call Saul.

Should win: Jeff Daniels The Newsroom Yes, Jeff Daniels already won in 2013 and yes, The Newsroom’s final season might have had its weak points. But awarding Daniels would be a gesture to honour a show that presented an idea how a different version of the media circus could look. Plus, everyone who saw the season finale would be hard-pressed not to wish the whole cast more recognition.

Should win: Elisabeth Moss Mad Men So far, Mad Men has been nominated for 31 acting Emmys, but has won none of them. This is a particular travesty with Elisabeth Moss, who has had one of the most satisfying character arcs in television playing Peggy Olsen’s transformation from a meek secretary to a prominent copywriter.

Should win: Anna Chlumsky Veep

Better Call Saul

Should win: Jim Carter Downton Abbey On his fourth nomination for the role of Mr. Carson, Carter has been soundly ignored this Emmy season by all but the nominating committee. His brilliant portrayal of a butler being forced to confront changing gender roles within the Abbey provides a dramatic, historically riveting glimpse into the overlooked lives of those affected by the First World War. He is deserving of more than a round of nominations.

Will win: ?????

It’s a toss-up. This is the year of multiple returning actresses all in the roles of strong supporting female characters.

Christine Baranski is back for her role in The Good Wife, along with Joanne Froggett for Downton Abbey and Christina Hendricks in Mad Men. Two Game of Thrones actresses along with Uzo Aduba of Orange is the New Black round out the nominations. It’s anyone’s game, excluding Emilia Clarke, who just isn’t at the same talent level of her competitors.

Should win: Christina Hendricks - Mad Men Everyone who was nominated for this award clearly has the potential to win, but nobody deserves it like Hendricks does. The six-time nominee often stands in the shadow of her equally winless co-star Jon Hamm; but her portrayal of Joan Harris was mesmerizing and worthy of full recognition.

14

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

MUSEUM REVIEW If you die in real life, do you die on Facebook?

Luka Ciklovan Contributor From the highly nuanced political arguments that inhabit its comment sections, to the hordes of cuddly critters that distract us from our everpresent deadlines and chores, Facebook is undeniably an important aspect of our modern lives. Regardless of whether you are a casual user, dabbling in the occasional post, or a fullfledged comment crusader, Facebook has forever changed our relationship towards the world we inhabit. Mark Zuckerberg’s brainchild, however, reaches far beyond the realm of the living. “Commemorative” Facebook accounts are the central focus of this fall’s creepy but brilliant exhibit at the McCord Museum, which are accounts of deceased users saved for the purpose of indexing a comprehensive human database.

Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal, a contemporary photography biennial, and the McCord Museum, an institution that frequently explores the interaction between past and present, join forces this fall to display the eerie consequences of digital immortality in

After Faceb00k: In Loving Memory <3. It sets out to explore the ethics of ‘virtual soul-keeping.’ While humans have historically sought to enshrine themselves in other worlds, whether in the form of death masks, effigies, and other sorts of funerary art, the Facebook page too can be seen as a vehicle for remembering the dead and immortalizing them in the confines of cyberspace.

The exhibit defines itself as reflecting a ‘post-photography’ culture; where the traditional, purely aesthetic mode of appreciating photography has been replaced by prioritizing cultural, social, and political communication. These “commemorative” Facebook pages are rather questionable, but somehow perfect, medium with which to mourn the dead in our hyper-connected society.

Through a collaborative effort of numerous artists, who scanned hundreds of real Facebook profiles, the McCord Museum now houses perhaps the world’s first digital graveyard, and it is, as the disclaimer at its entrance notes, definitely not for the faint of heart. Upon entering the museum and following seemingly innocent emoticons towards the exhibit,

Giant gravestones project facebook feeds onto the ceiling. (Hayley Mortin / McGill Tribune) the reality and dread of the espoused ‘post-photographic’ condition truly sets in. Silent, stone tombstones are replaced by droning data machines.

Epitaphs are replaced by Facebook photos of the deceased that are shown on digital displays.

Even the funeral procession itself is replaced—or rather infinitely perpetuated—by hundreds of comments and condolences for the departed. Though on the surface the exhibit may have resembled a weirdly modern graveyard, it ultimately did not succeed in conveying the somber sense of respect that typically accompanies such places. However, this is most likely intentional to reflect the lack of sentiment our society now contends with.

A closer look at each grave’s

computer screen, something unavoidable due to the awkward, facedown positioning of each monitor, sheds some light on the true character of these “commemorative” Facebook pages. Each monitor has not one, but numerous Facebook profiles tabbed open at the same time. Every five seconds or so, before fully processing all of the photos, comments, and people involved in the profile, the display changes to an entirely different set of Facebook profiles. Moreover, monitors often randomly flash, blur all the different Facebook pages together in a psychedelic fashion, or even all simultaneously turn off to leave the viewer in near complete darkness. These artistic choices portray the “commemorative” Facebook page in a questionable light; the fragmented and often

Rhetoric

confusing assortment of images leads viewers believe that there is no individuality, or uniqueness, to each of the deceased parties. Any form of connection or respect one might have with a set of images is immediately washed away by the hundreds about to pop up or by the random whims of faulty technology.

While unfortunately being a one room exhibit, After Faceb00k: In loving memory <3 is nonetheless a small piece that packs a powerful existential punch.

The exhibit is on display from Sept 10, 2015, up until January 10, 2016, and is located at the McCord Museum at 690 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC, H3A 1E9. Admission is free.

Pop Revisionist stonewall nothing more than a whitewashing of queer history Jeremy Irvine stars as Danny Winter in Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall (Photo courtesy of qz.com)

Maya Reid Contributor Continued from page 1 The actual events of Stonewall and the subsequent protests follow a strikingly different path, however. It was, in fact, women such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera—black and latina transgender activists, respectively—who first endured the police brutality and dehumanization that ignited the riots. At the time, the patrons of The Stonewall Inn—a gay tavern and recreational bar in New York City—were drag queens, butch lesbians, sex workers, and homeless youth—the vast

majority of whom were people of colour. Because of the lack of legal protection for members of the LGBT community, the club was often subjected to police raids—but when one such raid became particularly violent, the community fought back, launching what is now considered the catalyst for the LGBT civil rights movement. Miss Major GriffinGracy—a transgender woman of colour and influential activist who was clubbed by police before getting arrested during the first night of riots—said in a recent interview with Autostraddle that Stonewall’s storyline was “so disappointing.”

“How dare they attempt to do this again?” Griffin Gracy said during the interview. “A few years

ago they did another Stonewall movie, and I swear if I saw a black person, it had to be a shadow running against the face of somebody who was white!”

Hollywood has a tendency to create films using this technique.

Too often, stories about the struggles that minorities face are told through the manufactured lens of a white hero surrounded by white background characters. In the case of Stonewall, it is not just a matter of including more black and brown bodies in background roles to create a politically correct ratio, it is about an entire movement’s narrative being erased. Queer, and particularly transgender people of colour were not just fellow participants in the riots and protests, they

were the catalyst for change, and their refusal to bend to forces of oppression sparked the organized fight for LGBT rights.

Various members of the LGBT community have spoken out in opposition to the film and an online petition to boycott the film has reached almost 25,000 signatures. The campaign website encourages people to speak out against the film because “it is time that black and brown transwomyn and drag queens are recognized for their efforts in the riots throughout the nation.”

It is important to remember that movies and media influence society as well as erasing parts of history has consequences. Movies made for entertainment—even if

made with the best intentions— are still created with bias. All this being said, only the trailer of Stonewall has been released.

“I understand that following the release of our trailer there have been initial concerns about how this character’s involvement is portrayed,” Director Roland Emmerich wrote in a public post on his Facebook page. “But when this film finally comes to theaters, audiences will see that it deeply honours the real-life activists who were there.”

It will ultimately be up to audiences to determine if that truly is the case.

Stonewall is scheduled to premiere on September 25 .

15

Sports

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

PO I N T C O U N T E RPO I N T

AL MVP Debate: Josh Donaldson vs. Mike Trout

The AL MVP debate has the Tribune Sports baseball experts charged up. Adrian Knowler thinks Josh Donaldson has the award locked down, but Sason Ross is not ready to count defending MVP Mike Trout out of the conversation.

JOSH DONALDSON

M I K E T RO U T

At this time last year, the American League (AL) MVP debate wasn’t worth Standing at 6’2”, 235 pounds, Mike Trout, outfielder for the Anhaving. Outfielder Mike Trout was surely going home with the award, folgels, is undeniably the best overall position player in the MLB. lowing two years of finishing a close second to Detroit Tigers slugAt the age of 24, Trout is batting just shy of a .300 ger Miguel Cabrera. He mashed 36 home runs and accumulated average (.292), with 76 RBI, 34 HR, and getting on a massive 7.9 wins above replacement (WAR)—a stat that base four out of 10 times (.395 OBP). There are still measures a player’s value in terms of wins for his team— weeks left in this season, and with Trout’s ability in a season that saw him lead his Los Angeles Angels to to catch fire like no other player in baseball, a Major League Baseball (MLB) best 98-64 record. he will close the wrongly perceived gap beSure enough, Trout won the AL MVP by unanitween him and Donaldson. mous decision. This season has unfolded differAs the reigning AL MVP, he has put ently for Trout and the Angels, however. Los together a fantastic stat line for a disapAngeles is staring up in the standings, and the pointing Angels squad, who are in the playoffs seem beyond their reach. hunt for a wildcard spot. The lineup In the East, the Toronto Blue Jays are that was supposed to protect Trout trending in a different direction, looking to has fallen flat, with players such as make the playoffs for the first time since Albert Pujols going through second1993. Leading the charge for the Jays this half swoons. Trout has had to do it year is off-season acquisition Josh Donall by himself. Josh Donaldson, on aldson, brought via trade with the Oakland the other hand, has batted in the twoA’s in November. The deal is looking like a spot for a historic offence all season bargain for the Blue Jays now, with Donaldlong. son as the frontrunner for MVP. Donaldson Some have called Donaldson, leads the majors in both runs scored and RBI, infielder for the Toronto Blue Jays, and is third in home runs; but his success runs a lock to win the AL MVP award this deeper than these traditional stats. year. The reasoning behind this arguIn 2015, Donaldson so far has a wRC+ of ment is because his stats seem to usurp 161. wRC+ is an advanced statistic that demonthose of Trout, and his team is currently in While you can never count Mike Trout out of the strates a player’s offensive value—adjusting for park a position to not only win the pennant, but MVP discussion, Josh Donaldson is having a season dimensions and league disparities—when compared also take a shot at the World Series. Donaldson for the ages and carrying the Blue Jays to their first to league average offensive production. A wRC+ of 100 is a great player on a great team. playoff appearance in 22 years. represents the league average, which means that Donaldson’s Donaldson is surrounded by the batting talents wRC+ of 161 is a full 61 per cent better than the average.

Troy Tulowitzki, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion.

(Elli Slav itch / McGill Tribune) In addition to being one of the AL’s top run creators, DonaldThe foursome makes one of the most dynamic and dangerson saves runs due to his excellent defence. As an above average defensive ous batting orders in the major leagues. The team’s current +203 third baseman, Donaldson makes all the routine plays expected of him, with a .954 run differential is the best mark since the 2011 Yankees finished the fielding percentage. But he also has a flair for the dramatic, regularly making superhuman season +210. Meanwhile, the punchless Angels’ offence recorded the third-worst barehanded plays and diving stops. His best was on June 24: With Blue Jays’ starter Marco wRC+ in the AL, its mark of 95 is better only than the Twins’ and White Sox’.

Estrada’s perfect game on the line in the eighth inning, Donaldson dove into the second row These two players are in completely different situations, and one simple of seats to catch a foul ball with no regard for his safety. His play on the defensive side of the stat proves that. Donaldson is one of 10 Blue Jay hitters who have been better ball has saved a cumulative nine runs above replacement for the Jays this year, according to than league average hitters this season (wRC+ greater than 100). On the Angel’s, Fielding Bible.

Trout stands alone. He is playing great baseball with a poor supporting cast.

While Donaldson may not swipe bases like Trout, he has produced 3.4 base-running Furthermore, Donaldson does not lead in some crucial stats. While Donruns above average in comparison to Trout’s 1.5 according to Fangraphs. He displays excelaldson’s batting stats are generally slightly better than those of Trout, Trout has lent instincts to go first-to-third and make crafty slides. In terms of WAR, Donaldson has committed zero errors in the field compared to 18 by Donaldson. While it is true posted a MLB-leading 8.0 to date. that voters tend to be more forgiving of infielder errors compared to outfielder In the current AL standings, the Blue Jays sit seven games ahead of the Texas Rangers errors, this gap seems indefensible. Furthermore, Trout gets on base at a .395 for the second wildcard spot. Without Josh Donaldson’s almost eight wins worth of producclip compared to Donaldson’s .374. tion, the Blue Jays would likely on the outside looking in with the Twins. He has done what People will continue to argue that the stats are the dominant factor on votan MVP should and put his team in a position to compete for a World Series ers’ minds. That may be true, but Trout still has three weeks left in the season.

Donaldson’s impact is the single largest factor that transforms Toronto from a decent If the Angels are to make the playoffs, Trout is going to need to put the team on team to a truly great team—a team that will his back and blast off. If Trout is able to be a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs. single-handedly bring his team back into Much like last year, this season’s AL MVP dethe playoff picture, he is going to make an cision shouldn’t be a difficult one for voters. extremely strong case for the AL MVP. Donaldson has made the jump from being just This is not a wash by any means. another big bat to being the complete package, Mike Trout is the best pure talent in Major and has been by far the American League’s League Baseball, and should be the MVP. most valuable player.

s Pick: Donaldson r o t i d E

—Adrian Knowler

—Sason Ross

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Sports

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Tuesday, September 15, 2015

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Redmen trounce Stingers in lacrosse home opener Fourteen different players find back of the net against Concordia Elie Waitzer Sports Editor It felt like summer never happened for the Redmen lacrosse team. McGill (2-0) picked up right where they left off last season, defeating a critically undermanned Concordia (01) 23-0 in the home opener on Friday night in Molson Stadium.

The Redmen easily dismantled their opponents and dispelled any thoughts of a hangover from last season’s heartbreaking Bagatteway Cup Final loss against the Guelph Gryphons.

The scoring came early and often, with McGill getting out to a 9-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Senior midfielder Rhys Burnell led the onslaught, notching a hat trick in the first 12 minutes of the contest before resting for the final three quarters. Burnell netted a careerhigh 14 goals in 10 games as a junior last season, and should

easily break that mark as he takes on a greater offensive load this year. “[Burnell] has been developing steadily for four seasons,” Head Coach Tim Murdoch said. “He’s a great finisher, a tough player, and he hustles really well.”

Rookie attackman Max Murdoch had a strong debut, breaking out to score seven points on three goals, and four assists in just three quarters. His ability to whip accurate passes around the net will add a scary new dimension to the already prolific Redmen offence.

McGill led 15-0 at halftime, even with the starting defence and several seniors sitting on the bench after the first quarter. For Concordia, there was no rest for the weary. The Stingers fielded just 13 players in comparison to McGill’s 31; fans who happened to sit close to the Concordia bench could hear their beleaguered

Team Preview

head coach yelling at his players to switch only when absolutely necessary.

Still, Murdoch made sure to give credit Concordia’s goaltender, Philippe Carmant, who faced a nightmarish barrage of shots.

“I was very impressed by [Carmant],” Murdoch said. “I don’t even know how many shots we had and he made a ton of saves. If not the player-of-thegame, [he was] certainly the guy who worked hardest in the game, and he’s only a freshman.”

In a blowout like Friday night’s, Murdoch emphasized that he aimed to involve the whole team in the win to afford opportunities for player development and foster synergy among players who may not get much playing time together.

“We showed a lot of good consistency tonight,” Murdoch said. “It’s about trying to execute regardless of the caliber of your opponent.

Everyone was

By Nick Jasinski who healthy got into the game

and played well.”

On Saturday, the Redmen defeated the Carleton Ravens (01) 17-7 to extend their undefeated streak in the regular season to 28 consecutive games dating back to the 2012-2013 season. Junior attackman Spencer Bromley and senior midfielder Anders Bjella each had hat tricks. McGill will kick off a four-game road-trip with a rematch against Carleton on Wednesday, in Ottawa.

anybody.”

—Head Coach Tim Murdoch

Quick hitters McGill outshot Concordia 515.

Carmant, the Concordia goaltender, saved 28 shots.

Moment of the game Freshman Cyrus Wickersham tallied the first goal of his McGill career at the end of the first half. He would add an assist and another goal in garbage time to finish with three points.

Sound bites On sending a message to the Guelph Gryphons with the win: “Guelph is concentrating on their week and we’re concentrating on ours. The message we want to send to ourselves is that if we’re playing well, we shouldn’t really have too much trouble with

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Photos courtesy of McGill Athletics)

(Lauren Benson-Armer / McGill Tribune)

Redmen Soccer Redmen soccer comes into the 2015-2016 season with a youthful and energetic team, looking to improve on last year’s fourth-place league finish.

“Our team is young but talented,” Head Coach Marc Mounicot commented. “After four weeks of intense preparation, the players are ready for the season.”

The team will feel the loss of scoringmachines Alexander King and Massimo Di Ioia, but incoming rookies Alexander Goldman from Scarsdale, New York; Roberto Bonalumi from Credaro, Italy; and Takeshi Kakudo from Tokyo, Japan will join sophomores Antoine Chauvel and Conor O’Loughlin to keep McGill’s offence clicking.

The midfield will continue to be anchored

by RSEQ All-Stars Alexandre De Santis and

Michael McIntyre, who dazzled crowds last year with their intricate passing and ability to control the pace of the game. Players to watch on defense include goalie and captain Max Leblond from Lille, France, playing out his final season. AllStars Davide Salvoni and Alexander Lamont will be joined by two talented freshmen, Sanchit Gupta and Justin Dragan to complete McGill’s defensive core.

The Redmen started their season on Friday with a low note: A 4-0 loss to local rivals, Concordia but followed up with a 5-0 result against Sherbrooke in their home opener.

For a look at Martlet soccer, Redmen rugby and Martlet field hockey, check out the extended version of this article online.

Caroline Suchorski

Max Murdoch

Centre, Martlet Rugby - Senior, Sciences

Attacker, Redmen Lacrosse - Freshman, Arts

With McGill down 18-10 in the second half, Caroline Suchorski reeled off four unanswered tries in under 30 minutes to propel the Martlets past Sherbroke for their first win of the season. The veteran centre was held in check during McGill’s season-opening loss to Laval, but with her team in need of a jolt, she broke out for a hat trick. The young Martlets will continue to rely heavily on Suchorski’s veteran presence throughout last season.

In his first two games with McGill, Max Murdoch has racked up a team-high 11 points. His offensive explosion was highlighted by a hat trick in his CUFLA debut on Friday night against Concordia. He would finish that game with a whopping seven points on three goals and four assists. The 6’4”, 215 pound Murdoch is a big reason why McGill is currently 2-0 with a league-leading 33-goal differential through just two games.