McGill Tribune Volume 35 Issue No. 7

The McGill Tribune TUesday, October 20, 2015 curiosity delivers

Volume No. 35 Issue No. 07

Editorial: M c Gill disregards Floor Fellows’ requests pg. 5

feature: investigating mcgill’s student political CLUBS

m c gilltribune.com @m c gilltribune

pg. 8 - 9

PG. 7

Great Scott!

The sci-fi world of Back to the Future daniel Galef Contributor

Players’ Theatre makes a killing with Dial M for Murder Sheila (Eleonore Lamothe) and her lover Max (Jordan Pollock) share a reminiscent moment. (Margaux Delalex / McGill Tribune)

No say for students in Student Services appointment Ollivier Dyens apologizes for lack of student consultation Shrinkhala dawadi Managing Editor

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cGill community over last month’s appointment of Robyn Wiltshire as the interim senior director of student services, Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning), Ollivier Dyens, has apologized, admitting student consultation should have been a

part of Wiltshire’s hiring process. Wiltshire succeeds Richard Zereik, who served as interim director of Student Services from November 2013 to May 2015.

In September, the executive bodies of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), the Post-Graduate Students’ Society, the Macdonald Campus Students’ Society (MCSS),

and the Macdonald Campus Graduate Students’ Society (MCGS) published a statement denouncing the lack of student consultation in Wiltshire’s appointment. According to the statement, an advisory committee for the selection of the senior director of student services was created in May, but the search was halted after the summer.

The committee’s work was post-

poned as of Sept. 15, 2015, when members were informed that the search for a new senior director was being placed on hold while Student Services underwent substantial changes over the coming year,” the open letter reads.

“Neither the committee, students, faculty, nor staff were consulted or previously informed of the appointment of a new interim senior director.”

Back to the Future , the 1985 sci-fi classic, is in the news this week for a special anniversary.

The protagonist of the movie, Marty McFly, time-travels from 1985 to 1955 and back again. In the process, he saves his mentor, mad scientist Doc Brown, and assures his own existence by setting up his parents as high school seniors. At the end of the movie, Marty arrives home again only to be whisked off an another adventure—this time, to the future. When Marty and his companions fly off in Doc’s DeLorean-sedan-cum time-machine, they’re headed to October 21, 2015: This Wednesday. Director Robert Zemeckis and screenwriter Bob Gale’s vision of the future— shown four years later in Back to the Future Part II — doesn’t disappoint. Featuring hoverboards, flying cars, and robotic dogwalkers, the movie’s version of 2015 offers a number of technological marvels. But how close were their predictions?

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Redmen blow out Voyageaurs in home opener, fall against Lakers McGill splits weekend’s games despite scoring nine goals NICK JASINSKI Staff Writer The Redmen hockey team (31-0) outscored their opponents by a combined score of 9-5 across the six periods played last weekend. The Redmen went into their first home game of the season on Friday with a perfect 2-0 record, and outplayed the Laurentian Voyageurs (1-2-0) to remain undefeated. McGill qui-

etly dominated the first two periods, leading 2-0 on the scoreboard and holding a 31-13 advantage in shots on goal, before exploding in a prolific last period, putting 22 shots on goal and scoring on five of them.

The Voyageurs also managed to net twice in the period. Freshman leftwinger Daniel Milne of Unionville, ON scored twice while five other Redmen forwards also found the back of the net once a piece.

“We had a really solid game against Laurentian,” Head Coach Kelly Nobes said. “We were moving our feet really well, chipping pucks, clearing pucks, running our routes, and our execution was really good.”

The Redmen finished the match with a 52-22 margin on shots, but went just one for eight on the power play. Overall, McGill dominated the game in front of an excited home crowd with superior teamwork, pos-

session, and skating.

Saturday’s match against the Nipissing Lakers (2-0-2) was another story entirely.

“Tonight was essentially the opposite of [Friday’s game],” Nobes said after the loss. “We stopped moving our feet, we stopped running our routes, and our execution wasn’t what it needed to be.”

Despite a fast-paced and exciting first period, the teams remained

scoreless after the first 20 minutes of play. The climax of the game came in the 10th minute of the second period, when a solid shot from secondyear defenceman Samuel Labrecque broke the tie. It seemed like the breakthrough that would seal the outcome of the match, but the Lakers weren’t ready to give up yet.

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NEWS

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

The future of RVH McGill administration consults students on space allocation Josh Dimakakos Contributor In September, Principal Suzanne Fortier announced the creation of the principal’s task force on the academic vision and mission of the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) site. According to the task force’s website, it is an initiative to involve community members at McGill in determining the details of the potential purchase of and usages for the former hospital building and grounds.

Since the RVH moved its operations to the McGill University Health Centre’s (MUHC) Glen site and vacated its former location at Rue University and Avenue des Pins, McGill has been exploring if the site is suitable for purchase, and how to potentially make use of the space.

Vice-Principal (Administration and Finance) Michael di Grappa explained the current study goes beyond determining feasibility.

“There [are] many other reports in there [...] to do with the condition of the building, but also to do with [...] issues of the specific site,” di Grappa said. “[These include] green space, environmental issues, how one would access the site, [and] how one would move material during the period of construction.”

Student involvement in the project so far has been limited, explained Arts Senator Erin Sobat, undergraduate representative to the principal’s task force.

“What we’d like to see is [...] a framework for a way for students to be as involved as possible,” said Sobat.

Discussion of what the site could be used for is one of the task force’s largest concerns. “[McGill has] done space audits, so they know in terms of square footage which departments, which faculties, [and]which units need or have the most space,” Sobat said. “A large portion of the site is heritage buildings, that can’t just be demolished — nor would we want [them to be ….]

The goal is [...] to really look ahead at what kind of spaces McGill will need in terms of academics, admissions, research, interdisciplinary research, and how that’s really changing over the next 20 to 50 years.”

Sobat also spoke of the idea of using the buildings for potential student spaces, with other complexes on campus as a model for development.

“A good example [...] is that the Engineering [Undergraduate] Student Society has quite a lot of student spaces in the McConnell Building that are used not just for lounge spaces, but for research, for development, for design

teams, [things] that that are pretty much tied to the academic role of that faculty,” Sobat said. “And a lot of other faculties could use those spaces.”

As of now, there is little underway in terms of a concrete plan to involve student consultation in the acquisition process, according to Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President (VP) University Affairs, Chloe Rourke.

“My understanding is that the task force will be undertaking expansive consultation efforts over the coming year” Rourke said. “SSMU will certainly be promoting these avenues for consultation and feedback to our members in order to ensure a vision is developed that respects the needs and interests of undergraduate students.”

According to Rourke, acquiring the RVH could provide the university with more space than needed.

“McGill is looking for potential partnerships to share and develop the

McGill continues to explore the purchase of Royal Victoria Hospital. (Jack Neal / McGill Tribune) site,” she said. “McGill only requires about two-thirds of the site to meet current and future space needs.”

The financing of the initial feasibility study will be split between the Quebec government and McGill, and according to di Grappa, the purchase of the site itself will come at no cost to McGill.

“What we have said to the government all along is that this will be a very expensive project, and we would like to discuss what financing will look like,” said Di Grappa. “Anything the government would charge us for pur-

chasing the building, that would be much less money than would be involved in the renovation and construction on the site. So we have asked that the site effectively be turned over to us for a dollar, and that McGill spend whatever it’s prepared to invest in the actual transformation of the property.”

At this time, the RVH property is still not a definite acquisition.

“It’s not a done deal, not a for sure thing,” Sobat said. “McGill has been very clear that they have requirements that they have to see fulfilled by the government in order to take on the project.”

SSMU’s new climate change policy causes tension Mining Engineering students concerned about occupational implications Laura Hanrahan News Editor In the wake of an 11-month period of discussions, consultations, and revisions, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) has adopted a new climate change policy.

The policy, which passed through Legislative Council on Oct. 15, outlines SSMU’s framework for climate justice. New legislations include avoiding investments in the fossil fuel industry, encouraging the purchase of products from companies that display a strong commitment to sustainability, and lobbying the university for increased research funding and internship opportunities in fields such as renewable energy.

According to SSMU Vice-President (VP) External Emily Boytinck, the initial idea for a climate change pol-

Infographic by Hayley Lim

icy arose during the previous academic year, and was met with overwhelming support from students.

“SSMU was mandated to bring forward a climate change policy at the Fall 2014 General Assembly through [a] motion regarding action on climate change,” Boytinck said. “This motion, which also specified support for antipipeline activism, passed by nearly 80 per cent in an online referendum.”

A preliminary policy was brought forward by the 2014-2015 VP External, Amina Moustaqim-Barrette, during the final council meeting of the year. The policy was tabled until this fall to allow for for further edits and consultation with students.

“At that time, this policy had general support amongst the majority of the student body, but showed opposition from the Faculty of Engineering,” Boytinck said. “The most controversial

section, [which] specified opposition to the presence of fossil fuel companies on campus, [was] removed and various clauses that display support for jobs and research opportunities in renewable energies were added.”

President of the Co-op Mining Engineering Undergraduate Society (CMEUS), Michael Andrew, was involved in this revision process. During the Oct. 15 SSMU Council meeting where the final draft of the policy was presented, however, he stated that the concessions SSMU made were not enough to illicit a positive response from all engineering students.

“I would like to express my thanks to Emily for being very open to changing a lot of things that were in [the policy],” he said. “[For example] instead of saying ‘against the oil sands,’ [it was changed to] ‘promoting sustainable energy.’ That’s great, but when

[a policy] directly impacts our careers and our line of work, that’s where we need to draw the line. Having this political movement [...] is not in the best interest of my constituents, [….] I’ve brought this up to my fellow students and did not receive a single comment of support on this motion.”

Andrew acknowledged issues of sustainability, while emphasizing the fact that oil sands extraction will continue to occur, despite the implementation of such a policy.

“I know there are a few [engineering students] involved with Divest McGill on the sustainability side, and I’m not against the sustainability side of the argument,” he said. “I understand that carbon is a limited resource; what I’m saying is that it’s no question these [resources] will [continue to] be extracted.”

Despite this resistance, Boytinck

expressed confidence in the policy’s ability to meet the needs of the McGill community as a whole.

“Overall, I feel confident that the policy has a strong scientific basis, an important focus on climate justice, and widespread appeal for the student body at large,” she said.

Arts Representative to SSMU, Adam Templer, noted that overall reactions from the student body have been positive following the passage of the policy.

“The feedback I have received since the motion passed has so far been very supportive,” he said. “I think that is a testament to how open Council was to collaborate with concerned parties [....] I know that students were particularly happy to see the scope of the policy clearly defined where it was originally very much open to interpretation.”

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NEWS

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

No say for students in Student Services appointment Ollivier Dyens apologizes for lack of student consultation Shrinkhala Dawadi Managing Editor Continued from page one In response to the statement, Dyens apologized to the members of the advisory committee.

“I understand the students didn’t like the fact that I didn’t consult with them, and you know what, they probably have a point,” Dyens said. “I should [...] have consulted with them. I think they’ve made a good point, and I’ve told them so. And I’ve [...] apologized to the [advisory] committee.”

Dyens continued to explain that Wiltshire was hired to allow the McGill administration to prioritize its review of the Students Services framework before hiring a permanent director of student services. According to Dyens, this review is intended to explore how Student Services can be more proactive in terms of providing resources to students.

“Right now we’re a downstream service [...] students come to see us and we try to help them,” he said. “We have great challenges right now—mental health is an issue [....] We believe that thinking of a more proactive approach is the best way to provide services to our students. We tried to [find a candidate] during the summer and were not successful at it. One of the reasons [...] was that we were saying to the people we want to rethink student services, but it was more of a general notion. And then I thought, why don’t we rethink the best way to [...] have more upstream types of services [...] and then go after the [candidate] we’d like to have.”

Arts Senator, Erin Sobat, who sits

on the Committee on Student Services (CSS), disagreed with Dyens’ viewpoint.

“There’s a concern that if you’re totally changing up the system, it’s not the best time to bring someone [new] in,” Sobat said. “I’m a bit skeptical of that because I think that the best people to lead the kinds of changes that we want to see in Student Services are student services professionals [...] with professional associations in research and literature. I think they’ll very much understand this context [....] What McGill’s looking at is not very groundbreaking in terms of [...] building linkages and collaborations between units.”

Sobat also has concerns over the competencies required in the job description for the position of director of Student Services. This includes the possession of a master’s degree in a field relevant to student affairs.

“We would have loved to see someone with that [Student Services] background in the position to be leading that change, and it’s unfortunate that that’s not happening.” he said. “[Somebody] who meets the basic requirements of the committee that were in the position profile that was sent out [....] the current interim senior director does not have a master’s degree, or a degree in the area of student affairs.”

The hiring process for senior administrative positions at McGill, such as the provost, the deans, and the principal are outlined in McGill’s Statutes, which describe the procedures for government of all university affairs. Article 3.4.1 of the Statutes stipulates the creation and membership of an advisory committee

The lack of consultation by the Deputy Provost has prompted students’ criticism (Lauren Benson-Armer / McGill Tribune) for the hiring of such employees.

“Before recommending an appointment for the office of provost, deputy provost, or vice-principal, the Principal shall have consulted an advisory committee consisting of four representatives of the Board of Governors, four representatives of the Senate and two students,” article 3.4.1 reads.

Dyens explained that advisory committees suggest high-level candidates for the position.

“What the committee does, is that it brings forward recommendations on a number of candidates that the search committee believes are above the bar,” Dyens said. “Then we start negotiating with [the candidates].”

According to Sobat, the selection process for positions like the interim director of Student Services is much less

structured. Following the CSS’s request to increase student representation on the advisory committee to select the senior director of Student Services, the student membership on that committee was raised from two to three individuals.

“The actual composition of the [advisory] committee in the end, we were very happy about. It was a good balance of students [...] and administrators,” Sobat said.

Nevertheless, Sobat continued to underscore the challenges of student involvement within selection committees.

“There’s a very strong emphasis [on] the advisory role of pretty much all of these selection committees,” he said. “We had, in fact, asked if [McGill] would consider making [the advisory committee for the selection of a director of Student Services] a formal selection

committee instead of just an advisory committee, and that request was denied.”

Going forward, Sobat stressed the importance of student consultation in the hiring process. “[Students] are the minority in the [committee…] in a way, that’s not reflected by the actual composition of McGill,” Sobat said. “You do need to work a bit harder just to have your voice heard in a more convincing, effective way. When the McGill administration really works as hard as they can to incorporate student feedback into the process, then it tends to be better in the long run for the success of the individual in the position.”

support for the reduction of harmful military technology on campus, while stating that SSMU does not support vandalism or illegal acts.

Science Representative to SSMU Sean Taylor spoke in favour of this motion, explaining that despite the fact the online posting may have been intended to be satire—as argued by Vice-President (VP) External Emily Boytinck— SSMU cannot condone acts of vandalism.

“Even if [the post] was satire, it could motivate students, especially [those] that are with the group, to carry out actions like this,” Taylor said. “We’re condemning these actions being done. We’re not saying that what these actions are supposed to illicit are not important.”

VP University Affairs Chloe Rourke urged members of the Council to consider the posting in its entirety, rather than solely the call to action.

“I think we’re focusing on [...] the call to action for vandalism on campus, but we’re completely ignoring the en-

tire preface of it, in which it describes the alternative narratives of history [...] something that SSMU is very much in support of,” Rourke said. “What they’re saying is actually quite valid [.…] Their arguments are actually not really that relevant to harmful military technology research which we have a policy in support of. They’re actually quite fundamentally equity issues.”

Boytinck asked councillors to consider further research and consultation before releasing a statement. “[The motion is] being so hastily passed through, when I don’t think this is within our role as a student society at all,” Boytinck said. “I would be so embarrassed if this was something we passed through SSMU. I don’t think we gain any student support by shaming another group of students.”

After further discussion, and an amendment to reference SSMU’s support of alternative narratives of history on campus, the motion was passed with 14 in favour, 10 against, and two abstentions.

SSMU Council adopts climate change policy Releases statement concerning call for campus alteration Laura Hanrahan News Editor Following lengthy discussions, a global climate change policy and a motion regarding Demilitarize McGill’s proposal for campus alterations were adopted by the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Council this past Thursday.

Adoption of climate change policy Council, following extensive debate, passed a climate change policy.

Engineering Representative to SSMU, Malcolm McClintock, spoke against adopting the policy, citing the occupational investments that many of McGill’s engineering students have in the oil and gas industries.

“It is part of the mandate of the Engineering Undergraduate Society [...] to support the environmentally responsible and ethical development

of oil sand industry,” McClintock said. “This motion inherently opposes that [….] When a large portion of our constituents benefit and have invested both educationally and occupationally [...] in this industry, it’s not in the best interest to support this.”

Joey Broda, U4 Chemical Engineering student and member of Divest McGill, disagreed with McClintock’s claims.

“I want to make it clear that not all [engineering students] are in support of the ethical development of the oil sands, as frankly, I don’t believe that’s possible,” he said. “It is understood currently that a lot of engineering students do get employed by oil sands development […] however, we understand, as people who are scientifically literate, that climate change is an important issue [….] We need to understand that we can’t support a dying industry.”

The motion for adoption of the policy was put to a vote and passed with 21 in favour, two against, and four abstentions.

Demilitarize McGill motion Arts and Science Representative to SSMU Matthew Satterthwaite proposed a motion regarding the SSMU response to “#RememberThis: A Call For Campus Alteration.” The motion was brought forward in response to a statement put out by Demilitarize McGill on the group’s website on the morning of Oct. 15, asking members to the McGill community to physically alter campus in the lead up to Remembrance Day. Satterthwaite explained his desire to avoid SSMU being negatively implicated in any harmful actions taken as a result of this posting.

“A lot of students in the general population [...] they directly associate [Demilitarize McGill] with SSMU, and if these actions are taken by members of [Demilitarize] McGill, the students at large would directly blame SSMU,” Satterthwaite said.

The statement, as proposed by Satterthwaite, would reaffirm SSMU’s

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NEWS

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

The changing face of family care at McGill SEDE hires family resources coordinator, centralizes services for student parents Aislinn Kalob News Editor McGill’s Social Equity and Diversity Education Office (SEDE) hired Tanya Lalonde in August as McGill’s first family resource coordinator, marking a consolidation in services for students and staff with children. Lalonde will serve as a bridge between the two student unions and the McGill administration on matters of family care, as well as conduct research on a way forward for McGill in terms of establishing a permanent family care program.

“There are a lot of people that are doing a lot of different things on campus related to family care, so part of my position is to centralize that,” Lalonde said. “I work with [the Students’ Society of McGill University] SSMU, I work with [the Post-Graduate Students Society] PGSS, I’m on the Senate subcommittee on family care, and I’m in touch with the daycare. So I’m just trying to bring together all of the different resources.”

Lalonde’s job will involve best practices research of established

family care programs found at other universities, conducting one-on-one meetings with student and staff parents at McGill to answer questions or provide assistance, and planning events. “[One] way we’re supporting student and staff parents is by doing workshops, events, and activities,” Lalonde said. “The [Student Parent Orientation] event took place in September. We’re putting together a workshop series and a discussion group. [There is] also opportunities for parents to come together and talk about what it’s like and to meet each other. That social support is going to be a really big part of this.”

Lalonde explained that the idea for a family resource coordinator position, which is on track to becoming a fully institutionalized position leading towards a permanent family care program, came from research conducted by the McGill Senate subcommittee on women, which showed that the waiting list for acceptance into SSMU and McGill daycare is so long­—700 children as of 2014— that many applicants will not get spaces for their children.

“[The daycare] has been a really big issue for people who want to go to school here or want to work here,” Lalonde said. “In that research, it was identified that it would be helpful to have someone who could [...] navigate that system and who could help support parents on campus.”

The recent hire of Lalonde, herself a McGill graduate and student parent at the time of her studies, has already proven to be helpful to the PGSS. “We’re very happy that the family resource coordinator was hired; [...] we were in the works of putting together resource material, resources for parents to let them know what they have on campus or even outside of McGill and Montreal,” said Brighita Lungu, member services officer of PGSS. “It’s really relieving for us because it’s a lot of work to do just that.”

PGSS is in the process of renewing and updating its Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with SSMU Daycare Services, as there still exists no daycare specifically for graduate student parents. Lungu cited a massive deficit in the fund

for special projects within PGSS— alongside continued rejection by the Quebec government towards the request for their own daycare service—as reasons why graduate students with children must seek childcare through SSMU. “We submitted [applications] for subsidized daycare, but the government refused us twice,” Lungu said. “The other option would be private daycare like SSMU has, which is also very hard to get because it’s downtown—[it’s] not a priority area, it’s not a residence area as the government sees it.”

Currently, SSMU President Kareem Ibrahim has been acting as the director of the SSMU Daycare Centre, following the resignation of the daycare’s former director.

“As we are currently without a daycare director and [SSMU] general manager, I am taking on the entirety of the administration of the daycare, with the help of a very reliable educator in the daycare,” Ibrahim wrote in a statement to the Tribune. “This is a massive undertaking.”

To help reduce some of the ad-

ministrative responsibilities Ibrahim will face, SSMU will be hiring a family care commissioner. Ibrahim also hopes to create a student committee to help in the creation of new family care initiatives on campus, and to further existing initiatives.

“We have many students, both with and without dependents, who are eager to get involved in family care at the SSMU,” Ibrahim said. “[This] is incredibly exciting.”

Beginning at the end of October and running through December, Lalonde will be conducting focus groups among student and staff parents, administrators, and with non-student parents who are interested in the issue, to determine a path forward for family care and daycare services at McGill.

“We’re really going to be looking at what people think are the issues around family care,” Lalonde said. “We’re hoping to reach as many people as possible on what they think are the issues, how being supported has impacted them, and how they think having more support will impact them in the future.”

PGSS unanimously passes divestment motion Reports on status of new student federations Hailey M ac Kinnon Student Living Editor The Post-Graduate Students’ Society of McGill (PGSS) hosted its first General Meeting (GM) on Wednesday, Oct.14, passing a motion to divest holdings in companies within fossil fuel industries, updating members on the new Quebec student federations, and reviewing the Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF).

Divest McGill A motion calling upon McGill to remove investment from oil and gas industries was unanimously passed.

The vote followed a presentation by Victor Frankel, PGSS environment commissioner and member of Divest McGill—a group that aims to encourage McGill to divest from its holdings in fossil fuel industries.

“This isn’t about bankrupting the fossil fuel companies, this is about taking away their social license to operate,” Frankel said.

McGill currently has roughly eight per cent of its endowments invested in fossil fuels, which is equivalent $70 million invested in petroleum companies, including Chevron, Suncor, and Enbridge. Divest McGill has asked the administration to divest from companies within the next three to five years. “[The motion starts] from the things that are the least contentious,” Frankel said. “Like [recognizing] that climate change is real, to things that are fairly reasonable like freezing or having a moratorium on any new investments in fossil fuels […] to the more

contentious issues […] which says that PGSS strongly endorses divestment from fossil fuel companies and also supports efforts of its senators and members at the board of governors to strongly support divestment.”

According to Frankel, through this motion, Divest McGill hopes to follow the example of schools such as the University of Glasgow and Syracuse University, which have successfully divested. Full divestment has yet to be achieved by any Canadian university.

Report on new Quebec student federations PGSS External Affairs Officer, Bradley Por, reported on the status of the PGSS in relation to the two new student federations forming in Quebec.

Both PGSS and the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) have participated in the formation of both federations, the Union étudiante du Quebec (UÉQ) and the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ). PGSS has signed a document to commit to the formation of the UÉQ, but has not yet become an affiliated member of either.

“Over the course of that new federation being created, there was a rift [...] and the regional unions left to start creating [another federation] what is now called the UÉQ,” Por said. “So now, PGSS is sitting at both tables, despite that initial signing.”

According to Por, PGSS is looking into the most effective way of joining a federation, while participating in working groups to form the association until a democratic decision is made to

PGSS ‘ first Council meeting included a discussion of the sustainability projects fund (L-A Benoit / McGill Tribune) affiliate with one.

“At the moment, I have Conor [Farrell], our PGSS researcher, working on how affiliations [have] been done in the past so we can put together a referendum question that lets the student body decide on which one to [join],” said Por. Both federations will be coming to campus to talk to students, and prior to the upcoming referendum, PGSS will host a closed session with representatives from the federations.

Sustainability projects fund’s fiscal year 2015 annual report SPF Officer Kim McGrath presented

an update to the PGSS on the fund’s performance over the past year.

The fund entails a 50 cent contribution by students in SSMU and PGSS, per credit, which is matched dollar for dollar by the McGill administration. This culminates in an $850,000 fund per year.

“Three areas were our main focus for projects: Connectivity, operations, and education,” said McGrath. “Connectivity was more of a focus for PGSS this year. In operations, the focus was […] on lab waste—preventing it and reducing [it]. And there was also the Thomson House community garden [.... In the faculty of] Education, one significant project […was] outdoor eco-learning.”

This year, the annual report,

which spanned from January 2014 to April 2015, saw 49 applications for funding—26 of which were approved—at a total value of $740,000.

The fund, which grants the money to projects through a system of reimbursement, will try to reduce repayment lag in the coming year.

“We’re almost on track financially,” McGrath said. “There was some overspending before the new team came in, and we’re almost at the same level for allocation and [...]expenditures.”

Other areas of focus for this academic year are outreach, monitoring and reporting, in addition to the creation of more committees and SPF ambassadors.

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OPINION

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

editorial Editor-in-Chief Mayaz Alam editor@mcgilltribune.com Business Manager Sam Pinto spinto@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Hayley Lim hlim@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Shrinkhala Dawadi sdawadi@mcgilltribune.com Morgan Alexander malexander@mcgilltribune.com Julie Vanderperre jvanderperre@mcgilltribune.com News Editors Jenna Stanwood, Laura Hanrahan, Aislinn Kalob news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editor Julia Dick opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editor Chloe Nevitt scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Living Editor Hailey MacKinnon studentliving@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Natalie Wong features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors 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 Web Developers William Burgess webdev@mcgilltribune.com Matt Smith online@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Adrien Hu copy@mcgilltribune.com Advertising Executives Mingye Chen and L-A Benoit ads@mcgilltribune.com

McGill disregards floor fellows’ requests McGill has flexed its bureaucratic muscles once again in its negotiations with floor fellows: It has violated Quebec labour law by not paying floor fellows a wage, and gone so far as to appeal a court ruling in favour of the floor fellows. In negotiating a collective agreement with floor fellows—who, despite being essential to the functioning of residences are not paid in wages and have low job and housing security—McGill has been characteristically unyielding.

Last week, the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) sent an open letter to Principal Suzanne Fortier.

Signed by current and former floor fellows, students in residence, and members of AMUSE, it detailed the grievances leading up to the floor fellows’ unionization, and those that have emerged in the 11 months of bargaining for a collective agreement.

Residences are a space to establish community and be supported while transitioning to university life, and McGill is leaps and bounds ahead of other Canadian universities in terms of the services available. The decision to live in residence is a costly investment for both students and floor fellows.

McGill residences are among the most expensive across Canada, and providing support to first-year students takes dedication, time, and energy. Unlike other residences in Canada, where floor fellows (re-

C O MME N T ARY

Publisher Chad Ronalds

TPS Board of Directors

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

Staff Writers

Audrey Carleton, Zachary Carson, Sara Cullen, Nick Jasinski, Clare Lyle, Albert Park, Aaron Rose, Elizabeth Wilcock

Contributors

Sophie van Bastelaer, Lauren Benson-Armer, Keara Campos, Cordelia Cho, Saif Cheval, Luka Ciklovan, Margaux Delalex, Josh Dimakakos, Miray Eroglu, Daniel Galef, Jessica Goldson, Amin Guidara, Emma Hameau, Joe Khammar, Tiffany Le, Diana Little, Sason Ross, Ellie Solloway, Eli Slavitch, Norman Yallen

Tribune Office Shatner University Centre Suite 110, 3480 McTavish Montreal, QC H3A 0E7 T: 514.398.6789 The McGill Tribune is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Société de Publication de la Tribune, a student society of McGill University. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of The McGill Tribune and the Société de Publication de la Tribune, and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University. Letters to the editor may be sent to editor@mcgilltribune.com and must include the contributor’s name, program and year and contact information. Letters should be kept under 300 words and submitted only to the Tribune.

Submissions judged by the Tribune Publication Society to be libellous, sexist, racist, homophobic or solely promotional in nature will not be published. The Tribune reserves the right to edit all contributions. Editorials are decided upon and written by the editorial board. All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the McGill Tribune, its editors or its staff. Please recycle this newspaper.

norman yallen Contributor As Mental Health Awareness Week commences, students and faculty alike should consider spaces for improvement in the structures available on campus. Providing upstream services, which are preventative support measures, can promote well rounded health care on campus.

Mental Health Services does the utmost it can to help all students with appointments, but financial resources and lack of awareness among the student body limit its capabilities. The mission, therefore, has to be to find alternative methods that will help contribute to the mental

ferred to as RAs elsewhere) behave as disciplinarians, floor fellows at McGill provide support based on harm reduction and anti-oppression. These principles are essential to the functioning of McGill residences. While the residences have successfully provided services up to now, McGill’s failure to concede the inclusion of their value system shows a lack of respect for what makes the experience of residences unique.

Where AMUSE is open about its experience during the bargaining process, McGill is aloof. Floor fellows have explicitly articulated that their collective agreement must entrench their value system, particularly the two pillars of harm reduction and anti-oppression that guide their practice. McGill has so far justified its refusal to include these values in the collective agreement in legal terms. Including normative values in an employment agreement is unconventional, as it is a legal document that defines working conditions. But this justification is indicative of McGill’s failure to consult floor fellows; the result is a process defined more by its power imbalance than constructive bargaining and compromise.

By not offering a clear explanation for why the values cannot be included, McGill demonstrates that is has not heard the floor fellows.

There is a top-down, unilateral exertion of power that, in failing to engage in a productive and fluid in-

teraction, has begun to disassemble the aspects of residence that make it desirable.

Failing to engage with students is bad business. McGill’s current position in the bargaining process is poorly-defined, poorly-supported—at least publicly—and short-

“

McGill’s failure to concede the inclusion of their value system shows a lack of respect for what makes the experience of residences unique

sighted. The unilateral changes to residences, such as encouraging Residence Life Managers (RLM) to take on more duties that were previously the responsibility of floor fellows, such as taking sick or injured students to the hospital, demonstrate a loss of touch with the re-

ality on the ground as well as lack of foresight. For one, floor fellows are essential to maintaining the community and safety of students in residence. Shrinking their duties overburdens RLMs and creates larger cracks through which firstyears can fall. Should such changes become the norm, the reason for students to pay exorbitant amounts to live in residence will evaporate.

The operation of residences should not be based on financial decisions; all changes to residences must be made in the best interest of the students, which requires McGill to engage in a conversation with them.

The value system of floor fellows is clearly not going to be compromised. McGill must pause, take this letter into consideration, and reevaluate its priorities. If it is seeking to limit its legal liabilities in the residences, it must articulate that position to the population who will be affected. In failing to consult floor fellows and RLMs in the changes being made to the residence system, McGill shows its true colours.

Budget cuts have caused a calcified tunnel vision, where lip service to the essential components of floor fellow working conditions is perceived as sufficient.

McGill must decide whether it will have a consistent support system for its employees and students, or if it will continue to play them off each other for the sake of legal and financial interests.

Integration of upstream mental health services necessary at McGill health and well-being of all students on campus. More work can be done on a faculty and individual level to encourage upstream services in all facets of student life.

The Schulich School of Music has the right idea in educating students about mental health and support immediately upon their arrival to campus. The Faculty of Music has made integrating mental health into its program a priority in the past year, with special emphasis on ways of addressing the unique needs of music students. Integrating mental health means making mental health awareness and self-care a core part of what students study and experience on campus. Through new first year programs, such as a music professional development course and a mentorship program with upper-year students, students are taught about mental health and provided with tools to assist them in adjusting to university.

Other faculties should follow Schulich’s example in developing services to ensure that more students receive the individualized care they need and do not fall through the cracks.

Faculty-specific wellness pro-

grams would complement existing initiatives such as the Peer Support Network and McGill Students’ Nightline in providing upstream mental health services. But with more faculty-specific programs come higher costs and difficulties. The Faculty of Arts, for example, is much bigger, making it harder to integrate mental health awareness and well-being into the lives of every student. It may also lead to inequalities between the faculties in terms of services they can allocate to mental health; some faculties simply have more resources than others. Nevertheless, by incorporating these measures at faculty level, students will have improved access to McGill’s mental health resources.

Making mental health an increased focus within each faculty would ultimately benefit the McGill community as a whole and provide needed support to the programs that already exist. In an ideal world, mental health crises are prevented and mitigated before-hand by knowledge in mental self-care and a strong support network. Other student initiatives have taken place to encourage a dialogue about mental health on campus,

such as the Students in Mind Conference, in order to increase awareness and services to students who might be unaware of, or unwilling to take advantage of mental health services on campus. The conference also aimed to empower participants to be more aware of their own mental health, and to destigmatize mental health so that more people can honestly admit when they need help. Such initiatives increase the salience of mental health care in circles on campus while providing students with self-care and peer-support tools.

Mental health issues are not going to vanish if we stop talking about them. By focusing on upstream services, as well as grassroots and faculty-level initiatives, students will integrate mental health awareness and resources into their lives. Integrating upstream services that focus on preventative care is a more efficient and personal way to deal with mental health issues on campus. With a combination of mental health services and upstream care, students will be empowered to help their peers as well as themselves.

6

Opinion C O MME N T ARY

amin guidara Contributor Currently, there is no definitive left-wing political leadership in Canada, unlike in other Western democracies. In the United States, there is growing popular support for Bernie Sanders, who is mobilizing for cheaper education and affordable healthcare. In the United Kingdom, where there is a strong socialist tradition and inequality continues to rise, Jeremy Corbyn has been elected leader of the Labour Party. Although Canadians thankfully do not have to fight for universal healthcare, there is an undeniable rise in inequality here as well; however, Canadians lack a unified progressive alternative that can offer them a socially-focused voice in Parliament. To unify the progressive alternative, there should be a party consisting of the Green Party and the left-leaning wing of the NDP and the Liberals.

C O MME N T ARY

diana little Contributor Throughout the campaign, the media focused on the voter turnout for one particular demographic: Youth. A Nanos vote study of the 2011 election found that if more than 38 per cent of youth had voted in 2011, the Canadian government would have been completely different. Clearly youth have the power to change election results.

In the last few weeks, Canadians between the ages of 18 and 35 experienced a massive push from political leaders, prominent media figures, and McGill professors to vote. But in this campaign, attempts to engage with youth voters were haphazard and

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

No representation without unification This federal election became polarized between keeping or kicking out Stephen Harper. Every opposing party ruled out the possibility of keeping in power a Conservative minority government. There are also a considerable number of websites dedicated to strategic voting, such as strategicvoting.ca or votetogether.ca, or simply anti- or pro-Harper sites, such as Shit Harper Did and Stephen Harper’s Re-Election Party. An election focused on strategic voting distracts voters from the ideologically differences between progressive parties.

The NDP and the Liberals have similar stances on multiple issues such as Bill C-24, eligibility age for receiving elderly benefits, and door-to-door mail delivery. This is ground to cultivate. Yet most of the promises made by both parties are not about new socially progressive measures but bringing Canada back to where it stood before Harper.

Therefore, it is more convenient to consider the Liberals and especially the NDP, known as being the most left-of-centre of the three major parties, as being simply to the center (if generous, center-left) of the political spectrum. The only left-wing federalist party is the Green Party, which only has one MP in the previous government. Were the centre-left parties to unite, they would become a formidable force in Canadian elections.

The political culture in Canada

has so far not contributed to a rise in the left. Excluding the Orange Crush in the 2011 federal election, and sporadic socially-oriented provincial governments, Canadians’ have not yet elected an ideologically socialist government. Canadians would consider Sanders and Corbyn too radical. Canadian political leaders have to be careful in that sense: Mulcair got his nickname “Angry Tom” because of his outbursts, and as a result changed his image to appear more friendly. Justin Trudeau also received the same treatment, although less vehemently. In order to consolidate the vote of NDP, Green, and other left-of-centre parties, they must unite and present a viable, tempered political option to the electorate.

The unification of ideologically-similar parties is not unheard of in Canadian politics. One only has to look back to 2004, when the Progressive Conservatives and Reform Alliance parties merged into today’s Conservative Party of Canada. A similar process may be possible today, should the centre-left parties focus on finding their similarties and compromising their differences.

Such a move would prevent a split vote, and offer Canadians a truly social democratic option. Even without an electoral victory, such a party could impact the political discourse and force shifts towards the left; they do not need to be in power, they just need to be unified with enough seats.

Interested in grammar, punctuation, and spelling?

The McGill Tribune is looking for copy editing contributors! Email editor@mcgilltribune.com and help proofread the paper.

Federal politicians must treat young voters with dignity superficial, which undermined the value of the youth vote.

Political parties have made their stance on the youth vote very clear: If youth don’t care enough to vote, then they will gear their political platforms towards demographics that will. As a result, youth issues have been remarkably underfunded. For example, Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised to increase training to provide more employment opportunities for youth, but ultimately fell short of his promise by $100 million last year.

Youth programs are simply not prioritized at the federal level.

Centering on topics such as student debt and youth unemployment rates, the party leaders came out with formulated plans on how to tackle issues specific to young people. Political parties—particularly the Liberals and NDP—have been scrambling to find something that will appeal to left-leaning youths, who account for a large portion of Canada’s progressive vote.

NDP leader Mulcair recently announced his plan to dedicate $200 million to raise youth employment, and Liberal leader

Trudeau made a counter offer, pledging almost $1.5 billion over four years to youth employment programs. Part of this may

“

It is simply poor politics to underestimate the influence of a population that has the power to determine political outcomes

have been a result of a massive anti-Harper strategic vote push in the election, but it also is indicative of the underlying truth that youth are treated as distinct

from the rest of the population.

While these policies are tailored towards youth, there has been an unwillingness to engage youth in issues of national salience.

Regardless of whether politicians are responding to articulated demands from the youth or seeking to inspire partisan affiliations, these offers are somewhat disingenuous considering the perceived need to secure the youth vote.

Born out of competition between progressive parties, voters are forced to question whether these promises possess any real efficacy, or are simply ploys to boost youth support.

For the first time, Elections Canada literally brought the ballot box to the students by setting up offices on various university campuses. While making voting accessible is a necessary action, placing the booth in front of voters isn’t enough to make them want to cast a ballot, nor does it in any way stop the voter from using the excuse “I’m not informed enough,” or, “I’m still not sure which party I identify with and support yet.” That said, while it is young voter’s responsibility to inform themselves on political matters,

it is ultimately the political parties’ responsibility to give youths a reason to vote in the first place.

In fact, this failure to actually engage and converse with youth voters only fuels the claim that youth are apathetic towards political issues, and that their opinions do not matter.

On one hand, it makes sense for political leaders to focus their energies on other issues, such as immigration laws or balancing the budget, as these appeal to a larger electorate. But politicians should not focus only on those who they believe will win them seats—they should have the best interests of as many sectors of society as possible in mind. National policies should not exclude the interests of the youth. There is therefore a distinction between youth issues and the youth voice. Young people have a stake in the future of the nation, so it is simply poor politics to underestimate their influence. The young population has the power to determine political outcomes, and will comprise the next generation of political actors. The new government must bear this in mind as it begins to deliver on its promises.

7

Arts & Entertainment

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Beyond the lens: Grey Gardens places audience within 1975 documentary First TNC production of the year features poverty, pride, and possums Luka Ciklovan Contributor Tuesday Night Café ’s (TNC) inaugural play of the season, Grey Gardens, concerns a little-known facet of American history. In the aftermath of the assassination of U.S. president John F. Kennedy in 1963, it is easy to forget the role that his wife—first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis—came to play for the American public. Easier yet is forgetting the bizarrely tragic tale of Jacqueline’s aunt Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (Big Edie), and cousin Edith Bouvier Beale (Little Edie) who were both brought to the cultural fore by Albert and David Maysles’ 1975 documentary Grey Gardens. The film highlights the social aftermath of the Beales’ transition from fame to famine, and portrays these once wealthy New York socialites living in the nowdilapidated estate of Grey Gardens, facing conditions of ever increasing squalor and isolation. This central tension is augmented by the direct filming style of the Maysles brothers.

Directed by Grace Jackson, TNC’s version successfully sets out to adapt this directness from the screen to the stage, and doesn’t lose out on any post-aristocratic insanity in

doing so.

Grey Gardens brilliantly puts the audience into the position of the Maysles brothers as the two are brought face to face with the good, bad, and ugly, found of manor.

Jackson uses most of the same lines from the original documentary, mixes in actual scenes from the film via projector, and follows the same general narrative of the documentary.

In this way Jackson draws a clear line from her production to the source material, and cements her work as a theatrical adaptation.

In setting up the same conditions found in the film, however, the audience is more directly in contact with the awkwardness, sadness, and occasional mirth captured in the film. Having the two Edies’ engage in direct eye contact with the audience, actually feeding the audience with what little scraps of food they had, and posing for pictures that audiences are prone to take, successfully blur the line between spectator and performer in a powerful way that the medium of film simply cannot recreate.

Augmenting this solid directing was equally strong acting. Big Edie‘s (Rachel Stone) culturally aloof and determined persona was portrayed effectivelye by Stone—she rarely

acknowledged the audience nor camera, and always shrilly defending her life choices with big vocal crescendos.

Stone is noticeably contrasted by Little Edie (Connor Spencer) who had almost constant energetic interaction with the audience.

Stone and S p e n c e r — although their accents faltered at times—worked off of each other’s opposing energies brilliantly. The result was an unnerving mixture of intense fighting and brief moments of happiness that made the duo appear simultaneously insane and somehow approachable and charismatic. Jerry (Oren Lefkowitz), the handyman of the estate, is portrayed in a monotonous, ogling manner, and this only adds to the eeriness of the scenes.

The Grey Gardens estate itself, which is central to the show, was designed and acted on in a way that

The two Edies reflect on their opposing lifestyles. (Luka Ciklovan / McGill Tribune) conveyed the squalor that defined it.

TNC Stage Managers Holly Hilts and Karlo Trost arranged the stage as a clutter of random objects tossed about, which constantly impeded actors’ movements. As such, the Beales’ poverty is highlighted despite the fact that a large pallet of bright colours sometimes gave off the impression of wealth. When coupled with the long, backstage routes the actors were directed to take to move about the house, it spectacularly demonstrated the inconvenience that the manor itself

posed.

By successfully exploring the tragic story of the Beales while offering a powerful translation of one medium into another, TNC’s production of Grey Gardens proved itself as a strong piece and an excellent opener.

Grey Gardens runs at TNC, (Morrice Hall, 3485 Rue McTavish), Oct. 21-24. Performances begin at 8 p.m., with doors at 7:45. Tickets are $6 for students and seniors and $10 general admission.

Players’ Theatre makes a killing with Dial M for Murder Lust motivates art in first production of year Miray Eroglu Contributor Continued from page one Dial M For Murder, written

by Frederick Knott and directed by Ali Aasim, is a sensational start to the Players’ Theatre’s 2015-2016 season. Filled with moments of suspense and meaningful dialogue, the show keeps the audience guessing right until the final moment.

Set in New York City during the 1950’s, Dial M For Murder opens with Sheila Wendice (Eleonore Lamothe) and her lover, TV screenwriter Max Halliday (Jordan Pollock) discussing the elements that make up a good murder story. According to Max, the most important factor is motive, which usually arises from fear, jealousy, revenge or in order to protect someone you love. This gives the play its thematic framework, and throughout it, the desire for the truth gets wrapped up with discrepancies between fact and fiction.

Pollock’s consistent moments of comic relief balance out the classiness of the Grace Kellyinspired performance of Lamothe,

and when the story is complicated by the arrival of Sheila’s husband, Tony Wendice (Oskar Flemer), the actor shifts between the amiable and sinister sides of Tony with ease.

Each character has a hidden agenda, and spends the duration of the show attempting to cover up something from their past or what they know about the other. Dial M For Murder brings to light the inconsistencies between the face that is shown to the world, and the truth that remains hidden behind the facade.

Throughout the show, these secrets fail to remain hidden, despite their keepers’ best intentions. Tony becomes aware of Sheila’s affair with Max, and, jealous of their illicit relationship and greed for Sheila’s money, plans to murder Sheila.

Tony is a master at manipulating the people around him and regards crime as a hobby. He calls his old friend from university, Captain Lesgate (Alastair Pitts) with the false pretense that he wants to purchase a car. Tony then promises Lesgate $1,000 to carry out the murder, as long as Lesgate will do it exactly according to Tony’s plan.

When things do not go as easily as he hoped they would, Tony finds himself relying on his wit alone as

Romance goes awry in Players’ Theatre’s opening performance (Margaux Delalex / McGill Tribune) his master plan unravels. Ultimately, Tony’s dark side dominates as he tries to fool the law, resorting to blackmail and deception. Inspector Hubbard (Cain Humeniuk) is responsible for piecing together the elaborate puzzle, which he does with a sense of humour. The play culminates with a satisfying reveal of who knows what as the balance of power between criminal and victim is altered. Overall, however, it would have added more depth to the performance to see some variation to Lamothe’s portrayal of Sheila. While at times when she

was reactive to what was happening, there were moments where the audience seemed to be rooting for Sheila; hoping that she would stand up for her version of the truth.

Dial M For Murder observes the relationship between greed, luck, love, and the ultimate price people have to pay in order to get what they want. It is a psychological discourse on individuals and the motives behind their actions.

In essence, Dial M For Murder provides a commentary on how to get away with murder, filled with suspense and ironies framed

by the essential query on how one would write the perfect murder.

The story comes full circle as the coincidences in life allow events to take an unexpected turn, revealing how sometimes the truth is indeed unbelievable.

Dial M For Murder is showing from Oct. 24-28 at 8 p.m. at Players’ Theatre (3600 rue McTavish) located on the third floor of the SSMU Building. Student tickets cost $6.

Beyond Rhetoric:

Investigating McGill’s student political clubs

by Christopher Lutes

T

he federal election is finally over after the longest campaign period in modern Canadian history. Over the past 11 weeks, the three political parties with the strongest chances of forming government— Conservative Party of Canada, Liberal Party of Canada, and the New Democratic Party(NDP)— have been hard at work trying to win the hearts and minds of undecided voters. But by now, the NDP and Conservative leaders have gone home disappointed. Their months of hard work—while not in vain—certainly did not pan out the way they might have hoped.

On campus, the story is similar, but on a smaller scale. Each major political party has a corresponding student group at McGill, run semiautonomously by student leaders. These leaders; Alexei Simakov of the Conservative Association at McGill University (CAMU), Greta Hoaken of Liberal McGill, and Malaya Powers and Jacob Schweda of the McGill University chapter of the NDP, have campaigned tirelessly in and around

the McGill community. These parties had to contend with a demographic that is statistically less likely to vote, and an issue space full of topics that aren’t always directly applicable to young Canadians, such as universal childcare or changes to income tax.

Creating further barriers is a campus discourse that tends to create tension, making it difficult for political moderates and undecided voters to ask questions or have their voices heard without being shouted down by either end of the political spectrum. Political polarization is a real issue on campus, but it’s also one that the parties cannot address without conflicting with the strong notion of party centralization in Canada.

While these student parties are guilty of making the campus conversation more rigid along party lines to a certain extent, the individuals behind the parties share a common goal: the desire to reduce voter apathy and create a meaningful discourse to enhance youth voting in general.

Infographic by Cassie Lee

The student leaders talk about their values and their aspirations

L I B E R A L M CG I L L Unlike Simakov, Hoaken stayed with the Liberal Party, and her first foray into politics was a baptism by fire. After participating in a mock court of the Louis Riel trial in school, she started to become interested in politics and began volunteering with her local member of Parliament (MP), the Liberal Party’s Joe Volpe, in Eglinton-Lawrence during the 2011 election.

“We lost, pretty badly as you remember,” said Hoaken. “But I think that’s a very interesting time to get involved in politics, not when you’re winning and you’re getting to call the shots, but when you really have to step back and say, ‘Why am I in this? What do I believe in?’”

These questions have resonated through the party over the years since the last election reflected the crisis of confidence that the Liberals have experienced over their shifts in leadership since Paul Martin’s

departure. The arrival of Justin Trudeau as an alternative to the older, academictype leaders of the past, seems to have reinvigorated popular youth support.

“I think it’s very much the time of youth now in the Liberal Party,” Hoaken said. “It’s the time of outsiders.”

As far as actual student engagement is concerned, Hoaken’s first objective is just to get people to vote.

“I want them to vote Liberal,” she said. “I would very much like that, but I would rather that everyone on this campus really think about their vote, and vote according to their conscience, their thoughts, and their beliefs.”

Hoaken’s role as the Liberal campus party leader is a strange mixture of partisan and nonpartisan promotion.

Liberal McGill accomplishes the former with pub nights, candidate meet-andgreets, and canvassing in the McGill community—events that are intended to show that the Liberal Party has a place for them.

Underpinning these ideas of inclusiveness is the less tangible concept of fairness, which Hoaken repeatedly brings up. For her, it’s a way of reconciling the left-leaning and right-

leaning branches of the party under the umbrella of equality in the sense that people contribute what they’re able to, and can receive social assistance to lift them up. There’s a genuine desire to

help people underneath her measured, focused demeanour—not quite transcending the rhetoric of her party, but giving it a human face.

C O N S E R V A T I V E M CG I L L The Conservative Party has probably the hardest job changing people’s minds on McGill’s campus, where left-leaning discourse seems to take precedence. Simakov, the leader of CAMU, finds himself out of step with this discourse. A self-professed libertarian, he differs from the popular conversation on campus.

“I believe [...] that we have a government that’s willing to do less because it gives the opportunity for Canadians to do more,” Simakov said.

Simakov espouses a lot of ideology that’s reactionary to certain elements, like his upbringing in interventionist Russia, from where he emigrated at a young age. After arriving in Canada at the age of eight, Simakov began campaigning in the eighth grade. He

N D P M CG I L L In the wake of the second coming of Liberal popularity, the NDP has the most to lose in this election. Beating the Liberals in the 2011 federal election to form the official opposition for the first time ever came as a surprise to many.

Powers and Schweda, co-presidents of NDP McGill, are working to help the NDP not only keep their place as the primary alternative to the Conservative Party, but potentially form government for the first time in history.

Powers’ introduction to politics started in the same place where a lot of political careers are forged—at the dinner table.

“I come from a very political family,” Powers said. “There wasn’t much choice to not get involved, or else I’d miss out on dinnertime conversations. I was going door to door with my parents at a young age.

I went off on my own and started volunteering and campaigning at the

joined the Young Liberals of Canada, but left because he became fed up with their take on human nature.

“I saw a mentality of coddling, of superiority complex of most amongst the Liberals I worked with, and the belief that, yes, the people are great, but they need a bit of our help, and they need a bit of our leadership, and a bit of our support to make sure they can get through their lives’,” Simakov said. “I didn’t believe that.”

While both the Liberals and NDP are able to position themselves as parties that represent youth issues, the federal Conservative party doesn’t give student Conservative groups the same kind of rhetorical ammunition. Basing off of the idea that young people tend to vote for left-leaning parties, encouraging young people to vote is less advantageous to the Conservative Party than others.

While Simakov acknowledges age of 12, and ever since, I’ve been pretty involved in the party.”

Schweda, a law student, had his political awakening when Prime Minister Harper prorogued parliament in 2010, and chose the NDP both because the party closely resembled his values, and also had a chance at forming government.

Throughout this last campaign, the NDP tried to keep the chance to form official opposition alive, and perhaps because of this, they were on the defensive for much of the last leg of the campaign. In many ways, their campus counterpart has followed suit.

For example, NDP McGill’s performance at the Political Science Students Association (PSSA) debate, which Schweda participated in, was full of pithy jabs against both the Conservatives and Liberals, often drawing cheers from the crowd. Their Twitter feed contains criticisms of both parties for transgressions in the past and present, but was noticeably thin on

Members of Conservative McGill on Federal Election Day. (Christopher Lutes / The McGill Tribune) that part of the problem is that young people feel that voting is futile, he says that voting apathy among youth is not entirely a bad thing.

“Part of that is the success of the Canadian political process [is] where young people […] feel comfortable enough that we will have a stable

political future with or without our involvement,” Simakov said.

Still, CAMU engages in standard campaigning: Rallying, knocking on doors, putting up flyers.

“We understand right now that we’re not getting most of these voters, but in 10 to 20 years, we will,” he

explained.

Simakov believes that there’s a silent majority of politically-moderate students on campus whose minds can be changed by presenting an alternative to the people who he sees as imposing their dialogue on everyone else’s.

NDP McGill supporters at the Roddick Gates. (Photo courtesy of NDP McGill) actually promoting what the NDP will do if elected.

Still, both Schweda and Powers managed to articulate the issues that many young people have with the political process.

“It’s kind of a catch-22, right?”

Schweda said. “Young people don’t vote as much, so our priorities aren’t reflected as much in federal politics, so we don’t vote as much. The cycle continues, unfortunately.”

Powers added that the gap between students’ lives and policy is a lack of connection between youth and government.

“There’s a huge disconnect [in] how students see that government policies affect their day-to-day lives, so a goal of ours is to recreate that connection [with] how politics are actually affecting so many aspects of their life,” Powers said.

Both are uncomfortable with

referring to low voter turnout as apathy; or opting instead, for disillusionment.

“Once you start talking to [individuals, they] have really solid ideas about what issues are important to them,” Schweda said.

“They know what’s going wrong in the country, they know what they want to change; so it’s just a question on approaching them and translating that into voting and getting involved in partisan politics.”

federal party will get to govern and have the power that entails, while the losers are left to examine what went wrong, and how they can improve next time around. Each party had their hands tied by the agenda they had to stick to, limiting party debate to private caucus meetings, and thus contributing to the cycle of secrecy and voter disillusionment.

Making the wrong decision of where to focus resources can cost a party the election on a federal level, and can make students lose their interest in a particular party on campus.

But even in the wake of defeat, their journey over the past months were not in vain. While the impact that the parties have made on individual students are not easily measurable, they have undoubtedly raised the amount of political discourse on campus with nuanced policy discussion and debate.

It’s hard to gauge how effective any individual party was—the factors that influence people to vote a certain way are more complicated than that. But even if the sum total of their efforts was encouraging a single person to vote, it would have been worth it.

Each of these student parties

have the aspirational goal of winning people’s hearts and minds by creating a strong ideological connection.

Their altruistic belief that their way of governing is best because they think that they’re capable of helping the greatest number of people. In their efforts to enact positive change, winning the power that would allow them to do that becomes the focus. As a result, party leaders stay careful and steer away from any possible controversy, but end up alienating those looking for the people behind the party.

However, there is still hope. The Reform Act, a private member’s bill that made it through the House of Commons and Senate, might change things. By giving caucus the ability to vote out their leader, the bill limits the ability of parties to make their MPs vote a certain way in parliament, and offers a potential way out of the trap of party discipline.

Maybe the next session of parliament, which will see the Liberal Party take power, could usher in a new era of free expression in politics. This change could flow downward, potentially loosening the grip of that parties have on their members, changing norms on campus and beyond.

Limitations of full discourse on campus While these student party leaders are well aware of their partisan responsibilities, behind the rhetoric of these hot-button issues that dominate the election scene, are individuals more passionate about fundamental ideas.

Their ideals seemed to go beyond media narratives, evoking ideologies that everybody has strong feelings about, such as fairness, freedom, and safety.

Yet, party discipline, the informal requirement of politicians to vote on legislation based on how the party has dictated, is a reality in Canadian politics. On a federal and provincial level, it stifles the freedom of politicians to vote on bills based on how they or their constituents feel about them. On a campus level, it stifles open discussion of issues beyond partisan lines— students, and especially leaders, in these groups are in some ways restricted from openly professing their opinions on political matters because it could make the party look bad.

Behind every party are individuals who must reconcile their personal beliefs with the dictations of the party apparatus that they choose to support.

“That’s part of being in a political party, it’s where you fit best, not where

you fit exactly,” Hoaken said.

Thus, each of the student leaders at McGill already sound like professional politicians at pivoting answers to questions to suit their parties, and making apparent flaws in their platforms seem like assets. Lively debates and policy discussions occur behind closed doors, but the party members emerge from those meetings with a public stance that’s exactly the same as the federal party’s. Nobody wants to sabotage a party through dissent.

When asked to provide a specific policy point of their party that they disagreed with, none of the student leaders had anything to critical to say.

While that is understandable, it also speaks to a broader discussion about how campus parties function in a time where young people’s careers are seemingly decided on earlier and earlier.

This is especially salient in the context of McGill, which saw three members of NDP McGill get elected as MPs during the orange wave of NDP support in the 2011 election. When something like that happens once, the stakes are raised for the parties that continue in their wake, and everything becomes more codified and professional.

This context of rigid professionalism makes moments where spontaneity becomes all the more exciting. For instance, during the PSSA debate, one of the NDP debaters expressed her regret that the Conservatives had to defend something they didn’t believe such as saying that wearing the niqab should be banned during citizenship ceremonies.

Surprisingly, Jessica Lyver, one of the Conservative debaters reacted in a surprising way by thanking one of the NDP debater for her comment. It might not seem like much, but the moment was striking in the genuine humanity that managed to cut through the posturing of the rest of the debate. Still, such a small comment was monumental in that an authentic, unedited feeling was able to penetrate the structure of the debate. The audience responded accordingly with a mixture of applause and incredulity; shocked at the idea that someone would dare to break party discipline and speak their mind.

With the fresh finish of election period, people’s attention start to move away from the rhetoric of campus parties, and the future becomes more clear for everybody. The winning

10

Arts & Entertainment

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Album Reviews space sessions: Songs from a tin can Chris Hadfield Colonel Chris Hadfield, 56, is the first musician ever to release an album recorded in space. Yes, that’s right: Space.

To be fair, it wasn’t entirely made in space. Hadfield had to polish up the production upon his return to Earth, which gave the album a clean and atmospheric final sound; however, much of the music was created by Hadfield whilst aboard the International Space Station (ISS). As commander of his mission, Hadfield had little time to himself, and wasn’t always able to record. Over time, the conditions of space affected both his guitar playing and his singing.

The album itself is not as outerworldly; instead falling into a rather earthy, pop-country sphere of simple melodies and lyrics circling around the motif of departure. “Feet Up,” with its warm riff and laid-back vocals, paints zero gravity as an everyday

experience, which seems like an absurd reality (I do a thousand frontflips / Who’ll ever know?). But most tracks are more forgettable, with only a tinge of space-related jargon to keep the album lyrically cohesive. Some songs, such as “Window of My Mind,” are devoid of even that, unless there are also Greyhounds in space. Hadfield himself stated that he had no interest in becoming a musical sensation: he simply wanted to document his time in space through music.

For the first album recorded in the final frontier, Space Sessions doesn’t burst through the stratosphere of musical ingenuity, but it achieves its purpose. This is a journey through the music of Hadfield’s experience— it’s what kept him close to Earth as he circled around it, looking down on home from outer space. For that, it’s good enough.

(rsvlts.com)

STANDOUT TRACK “Big Smoke”

BEST LYRIC “Big smoke; more fragile than you seem / Big smoke; carry precious cargo / Show us how to live and how to dream.”

- Saif Cheval

Pop Rhetoric

SOUNDS LIKE Neil Young, mid-period Bob Dylan, and Mumford and Sons

Mental Health and the ‘Less Serious’ Celebrity’s Conundrum

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a teen, ex-Disney darling and sugar-pop sensation Demi Lovato has not been shy about sharing her own mental health struggles. Lovato seizes every opportunity she can to encourage her fans not to let the mental health stigma s u r r o u n ding Demi Lovato opens up about her own mental health struggles. (cnn.com) prevent them from is committed by those who are not speaking out and seeking help.

Sophie Van Bastelaer Recently, in front of Congress, mentally ill.

Contributor The video and accompanying Lovato campaigned for mental articles attempt to educate people health reform—she gave an As John Oliver noted in a about the immense and ridiculously emotional and personal testimony segment on gun violence in Last confusing stigma surrounding to the importance of taking Week Tonight, the fact that mental mental health, and if the number action on all levels of society and health is invoked only in a sombre of shares and positive comments government.

Her words, however, fell on context and only with a negative on social media is any indication, connotation is disturbing and Oliver is making waves. While deaf and disdaining ears. While unfounded. Mental illness becomes Oliver’s comments are brilliant and positive comments on Oliver’s the scapegoat for tragedies which sharp, his reputation as a famed video include grateful thank you’s in reality may have had absolutely and beloved comedian has a huge and hearty support, comments on no part to play in the matter. Oliver part to play in affording him the Lovato’s assertions are scathing mentions that the vast majority privilege of respect, which is an and personal.

“Who takes advice from of those who cope with mental advantage other—perhaps less 20-somethings?” illness are not violent at all and recognized or valued—celebrities uneducated one Huffington Post commentor that the majority of gun violence are not granted.

scoffed. Another expressed anger that “just because she is famous, she gets to sit and talk to Congress about something bothering her.”

Others rolled their eyes at Lovato, telling her to “shut up already, we get it…you’ve been through a lot.

So have most people.”

Rather than supporting Lovato’s use of her broad influence and public platform to speak about her own personal roadblocks (and in doing so, connecting herself with other young girls who may be struggling with mental health issues), people instead chose to mock her and berate her. Angry commenters claimed that Demi was not like them, and the fact that she would act like she understood their real mental health issues was insulting.

But celebrities are real people, which is something society relishes in overlooking. Lovato is also a brave, young, vocal spokeswoman who is attempting to use her postion in society to address an issue relevant not only to herself but to a huge chunk of the population.

The discourse of mental health truly represents a dangerously gaping hole in policy, medicine, and general cognizance. Garnering more press, more money, and more fame does not mean what Lovato has to say is less pertinent, and

cynically degrading her only serves to minimize the important issues she’s doing her best to address.

The press and the public have heralded Jennifer Lawrence recently for her strong essay on equal pay in Hollywood, and one can only imagine that positivity is granted to her because of the universal appreciation and respect she enjoys. Hypocrisy born of superficiality and skewed media is evident in the fact that rather than getting pushback like Lovato did, fans and society praise Lawrence for using her celebrity to take a stand.

A critical self-examination is crucial. If society chooses to play favorites in pop culture and decide exactly which public figures are important, and whose messages don’t matter, there is a risk of falling into a vulnerable hegemonic position in which people selectively listen and respond only to those who are arbitrarily determined to have something meaningful to say.

That’s a problem, because if society doesn’t want to listen to all of the people who have personal stories and experiences to share, and those who have the power and the will to speak out to millions of people, then who can they listen to? And are they going to make any kind of a difference?

11

Science & technology

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Leaked documents reveal critical information regarding U.S. drone programs The importance of whistleblowers in maintaining transparent government policies Dylan lamberti Contributor On Oct. 15, The Intercept released a number of articles based on leaked documents about the U.S. drone program. The articles showcased the processes by which objective enemies are tracked, targeted, and then neutralized by a drone strike. This information was acquired by The Intercept via an anonymous source and also included profiles and rankings of potential U.S. targets and accounts of operations in Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan. Considering the fact that two of The Intercept’s editors are Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras—journalists who worked with Edward Snowden in the release of his NSA documents—the impact of these articles could be enormous.

So far, three American citizens have been killed by drone strikes in Yemen. Of the three, only one was an intended target—the radical preacher, Anwar al Awlaki, who released online videos encouraging Muslims to go to war with the U.S.. Samir Khan was killed when Awlaki’s vehicle was hit by a drone. The third was Awlaki’s son, Abdulrahman, who died shortly afterwards in a subsequent drone strike. A senior official within the CIA described this as an outrageous mistake—Abdulrahman was only 16 years old at the time of his death.

The killing of American citizens without due process raises a number of questions about the power of the government and its drone program. This, in turn, raises larger legal, moral, and journalistic questions about the importance of whistleblowers. On one hand, the leaking of classified documents can aid enemies of the state—revealing covert operatives, informants, and military strategies—which can lead to the loss of American life. On the other hand, holding these documents’ classified status as sacred allows the government to act without fear of being held accountable. For example, the U.S. government is not at war with Yemen or Somalia, a fact acknowledged by the leaked documents, yet this has not stopped U.S. military involvement in those areas.

The chain of command for the drone program, as shown on The Intercept, moves through several different levels, ultimately ending up with the president of the United States, who must authorize a strike before it occurs. The president has knowledge of all strikes and their intended targets before they occur, and presumably, the results of each operation. Once authorized, the strike can be made at any time in the next 60 days, provided that there are two separate sources of intelligence

U.S. drone strikes have stirred controversy around the world. (pbs.org) locating the targeted individual, no contradicting sources, and ‘low’ collateral damage estimations— although a definition of what low entails is not made clear in the slides themselves.

The documents further reference a number of problems that the current drone program faces, including the inability to maintain a “persistent stare,”—a 24/7 video feed from a drone—on the area of operation, due to the drone’s refuelling requirements. To address this, one of the leaked documents included a recommendation that more drones be put into orbit. However, it’s doubtful that more drones in the air would lead to more accurate strikes. The success rate of drone strike programs for the period between May 1 and Sept. 15 2012 was over 70 per cent, with 19 out of the 27 intended targets killed; however, 155 bystanders, labelled Enemies Killed In Action (EKIA), were also killed, despite little or no evidence that they were combatants, according to the unnamed whistleblower. Having more drones in the air might increase the frequency of the strikes, but would likely do little to reduce collateral damage incurred in such operations.

This is compounded by the fact that currently, the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), responsible for the U.S. drone program, operates only one venture.

The CIA makes use of air force personnel for its own drone operations in Pakistan that operate under different directives, use different methods, and accomplish different goals than JSOC, all of which are shrouded from the public eye. Leaks to the press have shown that President Obama waived the CIA’s requirement to show that strike targets posed an imminent

threat to the U.S., which suggests that the collateral damage caused by drone strikes is worse than this leak shows.

Whistleblowers are not well protected in the Western world, as evidenced by Snowden’s continued exile in Russia, Julian Assange’s house arrest at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and Chelsea Manning’s conviction under the Espionage Act. In the age of the internet, however, this aggressive persecution of whistleblowers has not stopped leaks—showcased by this current situation.

This new form of whistleblowing generally follows two methods. The first, which Snowden made use of, is more traditional. Confidential documents are released to journalists whom the whistleblower trusts (in Snowden’s case, Greenwald).

The journalists then make use of government contacts and their own experience to vet the documents, eliminating information which could prove harmful to operatives or to national security at a whole. The chosen information is then released to the public. This allows discretion to be used when handling sensitive information, allowing the sanctity of the story to be maintained without damaging the nation’s security.

The other method was popularized by Assange and WikiLeaks. In this case, there is no professional journalist combing through the documents for what’s relevant and what could prove dangerous. Instead, the information is released en masse to the public, allowing for general perusal. Without discretion, this could put the lives of overseas military personnel in danger.

However, WikiLeaks does have some built in discretion in choosing what to release and when to release

(Infographic courtesy of: The Intercept.) it. For example, after acquiring the draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, WikiLeaks chose to only release the chapter on intellectual property law. The scope of the agreement is much larger than that—the TPP aims to universalize legal standards and barriers to trade along the Pacific Rim. The rest of the document is scheduled to be released after the Canadian election on Oct. 19. Additionally, during Manning’s trial for releasing classified documents to Wikileaks, Robert Carr, a counterintelligence officer, stated that there was no specific example of a named operative within the leaked documents losing their life

as a result of the leak.

Despite the differences between these methods, the message is the same. Whistleblowers need to exist and they need to be protected.

They remain one of the only ways to inform the public of their government’s actions. As much as U.S. officials believe they can justify civilian deaths by calling them EKIAs, or undertake public mass surveillance by claiming internal security measures, the general public is concerned—and rightly so.

Their government is killing people overseas, including their own citizens, with no repercussion and no due process.

12

Science & technology Great Scott! The sci-fi world of Back to the Future

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

How does present-day technology measure up to the 2015 of 1989? daniel galef Contributor Continued from page one

Hoverboards and flying cars Flying cars have long been a mainstay of science fiction books, movies, and comics. Despite their absence in the average consumer’s life, flying cars have actually been both theoretically and practically possible for decades—but haven’t caught on for safety and price reasons. In 1917, the first flying car was developed by Glenn Curtiss, a rival of the Wright Brothers.

The Curtiss Autoplane looked like a streamlined sedan with a giant propeller and wings, and was operated like an airplane. Since then, dozens of prototypes and test models have been created by Ford, Hiller Helicopters, and the U.S. Army.

Hoverboards were initially pioneered by Hiller in the ’50s.

Today, boards are being made to fly using the technology found in hovering maglev trains, known as magnetic levitation. A video published on Yahoo Tech shows the article’s author attempting to ride a hoverboard prototype, called the Hendo Hoverboard. Developed

by Arx Pax, a California-based

Oct. 21 marks the day of Marty McFly’s famous trip to the future. (abc.com) company, the board is far from perfect. Balance is precarious, and the vehicle operates only on metallic surfaces; but the invention takes us one step closer to emulating the technology shown in the film.

Smart watches & smart glasses Wearable tech is a major step towards living in the world of science fiction. Today, gadgets like Google Glass and the Apple Watch are probably the most comparable technologies to the ones that Zemeckis predicted. Besides being

featured in Back to the Future, wearable radios and computers have been depicted in other famous science fiction franchises such as Star Trek, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers.

The technology used is called augmented reality, and it’s at the cutting edge of modern entertainment and computer interface design. Augmented reality allows for the incorporation of digital information and simulated graphics into a new perception of the world that is halfway between virtual reality and reality.

Interestingly, the reason Google

Glass and the Apple Watch haven’t caught on is very different from the factors that shot down the flying cars. Whereas this type of technology was perceived as being sleek and alluring by futurists in the 20th century, today these technoaccessories are being viewed as silly and impractical—impeding further development.

Widespread automation In Back to the Future, robots walk dogs, pump gas, and take orders at cafés. This type of widespread automation could be possible today,

but the development of these robots faces the same issues as flying cars: High cost and low interest.; however, progress is being made.

A new type of robot has been created by Rethink Robotics. The general-purpose robot, called Baxter, is unspecialized and able to watch and then learn a variety of simple tasks— making it likelier to replace humans for certain jobs.

However, specialized robots exist, too, and have already begun to be put to work in several industries.

Robot-staffed restaurants are open to the public in Germany, China, and Singapore, and plenty of other automations have become common since the ’80s, such as packagedelivery drones, gas pumps, Siri, and self-driving cars.

The Back to the Future films were hugely influential. They not only marked a milestone in special effects technology and were quoted in the 1986 State of the Union address, but caused an entire generation to mispronounce the word ‘gigawatts.’

At least a few inventions were developed specifically because they existed in Back to the Future—like Nike’s limited edition version of Marty’s Hyperdunks (though they do lack the coveted auto-lacing feature)—because someone saw them in the film and thought, “I could build that.” So, in a way, Doc Brown did take us to the future after all.

2015 Nobel Prize winners in physics, chemistry, and medicine Talented scientists receive prestigious honour clare lyle Staff Writer During the week of Oct. 5, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the winners of the 2015 Nobel Prizes. The laureates’ scientific breakthroughs contributed to humanity’s understanding of DNA, explained fundamental properties of the universe, and provided doctors with means of combating diseases like malaria and parasitic diseases.

Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics was shared between Takaaki Kajita, of the University of Tokyo, and Arthur B. McDonald, a Canadian physicist at Queen’s University.

The award was given in recognition of the two physicists’ work in the field of particle physics; specifically, for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass.

Neutrinos are very tiny particles—even the heaviest of the three types of neutrinos is several orders of magnitude smaller than an

electron, the lightest constituent of an atom. Their mass is so small that for several decades there was much speculation on whether neutrinos had any mass at all.

Neutrinos come in three ‘identities,’ or types, called electron, muon, and tau. These three identities behave differently, allowing physicists to distinguish between them in experiments.

Two major discoveries allowed scientists to determine that neutrinos do have mass. The first discovery, from Kajita’s group at the Super-Kamiokande detector in Japan, found that a higher proportion of muon-neutrinos (the second-largest type of neutrino) were captured coming from the direction of the sky than from the ground. The second discovery, from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory detector in Ontario, observed only one-third of the expected number of electron-neutrinos coming from the sun. However, when the experimenters, led by McDonald, summed up all of the different types of neutrinos, they arrived at a number that was in line with what the sun should be emitting.

These two discoveries led physicists to the conclusion that neutrinos could oscillate between different identities, and according to the laws of physics that govern these microscopic scales, particles are only allowed to do this if they have mass.

Chemistry Three researchers—Tomas Lindahl of the Francis Crick Institue, U.K., Paul Modrich of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, U.S.A, and Aziz Sancar, of the University of North Carolina, U.S.A.—split the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year, awarded for mechanistic studies of DNA repair.

“The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 [was awarded to] three pioneering scientists who have mapped how several [...] repair systems function at a detailed molecular level,” explained the press release from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Sancar’s exploration of nucleotide excision repair, which allows skin cells to repair UV damage, Modrich’s research

on mismatch repair, which reduces errors produced by DNA replication, and Lindahl’s discovery of base excision repair, which prevents DNA from collapsing, all contributed to scientists’ understanding of how cells maintain the structure and function of DNA.

Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to William C. Campbell of Drew University, U.S.A. and Satoshi Omura of Kitasato University, Japan, for their research into therapies against roundworm infections, and Youyou Tu, of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China, for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria.

Omura and Campbell both worked with bacteria that produced compounds with antibacterial properties called Streptomyces.

Omura developed cultures of Streptomyces which were eventually acquired by Campbell, who found that a component of

one of the cultures was especially effective against parasites in animals. This compound was dubbed Ivermectin, and was eventually found to be effective against parasitic infections in humans.

Tu’s breakthrough in antimalarial therapy came from a compound isolated from the plant Artemisia annua, called Artemisinin. The plant has been commonly used in traditional herbal treatments against malaria in animals, and has been shown to be extremely effective at killing the malaria parasite in early stages of development.

The monetary value of the prize this year was eight million Swedish kronor per Nobel Prize. The real value of the award, however, stems from what it represents: Recognition of the impact that the laureates’ scientific breakthroughs have had on the world. As the Nobel Committee summarized in a press release announcing the Prize in Physiology or Medicine, “the global impact of their discoveries and the resulting benefit to mankind are immeasurable.”

13

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

student of the week artin Mei’s path to becoming deeply immersed in campus life stems from his desire to meet people and fully engage in the McGill community. His involvement covers all areas of campus life—from working at the McGill Bookstore and Dave’s Store in the basement of the Bronfman Building, holding the position of VP Engagement for Jeux du Commerce (JDC), an annual case competition, and to being selected as a social media ambassador for the Desautels Faculty of Management.

A second-year marketing major with a minor in world cinema, Mei’s first thrust into the McGill community was catalyzed by not living in residence during his first year.

“I lived off-campus first year so I felt it was really hard for me to make friends,” Mei said. “[I thought] I really [needed] to find something within my faculty to get involved with, so I actually did JDC and a smaller competition called [Happening Market (HM)] and [...] got an award for my leadership position in HM. That’s why I decided to do JDC all over again.”

Mei explained that through JDC, he has cultivated many positive relationships with peers and mentors within his faculty. His ongoing interest in JDC is a product of the school spirit and community that the event unexpectedly fostered. “[My peers are] really helpful with my courses and they can really direct me to the ways I’m supposed to study at

M

martin mei u 1 m a n ag e m e n t

Keara Campos

(Mayaz Alam / McGill Tribune)

Out on the town

McGill ,which is pretty cool,” said Mei. “Since McGill is such a big school, it’s really hard to find school spirit sometimes. [But] during the JDC weekend [...] you’re repping your school, and it’s so much fun.”

Although Mei is only in U1, he has found that his passion for teamwork and leadership has inspired him to take on a mentorship position for others.

“Even though I’m only [...] in second year, there are already a lot of kids asking me questions [and] Facebook messaging me everyday, asking me how I got my jobs,” Mei said. “I feel like I’m already helping others, which is great.

Mei’s wide variety extra-curriculars indicate that he is no stranger to new experiences—a quality that also manifests in his interest in fashion.

“I’m a GQ subscriber,” said Mei. “I’m always trying different things so I don’t mind trying something too crazy—I’m pretty open to different styles.”

In future pursuits, Mei hopes to extend his involvement outside of the Faculty of Management. Mei is currently a member of DriveSafe, TV McGill (TVM), and plays and referees several intramural teams including flag football, soccer, and basketball.

He also hopes to continue cultivating his passion for film studies through his involvement in film production with TVM. “[I’m] just trying to do as much

[production] as possible,” said Mei. “I have a GoPro so I do crazy activities. I go skydiving and try to make a film out of it. [I also do this] whenever I go to the case competitions [.....It’s great to have this] for recruitment and for the future too.”

Q&A McGill Tribune (MT): If you could curate a talent show with anyone alive or dead, who would your top three choices be?

Martin Mei (MM): Well, definitely Michael Jackson. I want to see some of those moves, and also I want to see [Kanye West] right beside Michael Jackson and see what [West] would say—it’d be pretty funny to watch.

And probably Magic Johnson the basketball player.

MT: What type of dog breed would you be if you were a dog?

MM: I would either be a corgi or a lab be-

cause they are my favourites, and because [...] they’re really friendly looking.

MT: Would you rather turn into a car every

time you sneezed or have a different Instagram filter appear over your eyes every time you blinked?

MM: Oh I would like that—the filter effect. I want to see the world in different ways, and I’m a big fan of Instagram.

MTL À Table: Montreal’s restaurant week

Amber hord Contributor McGill foodies will be ravished to hear that MTL à TABLE, Montreal’s annual Restaurant Week, is back in full force. This year’s festival runs from Oct. 29 to Nov. 8, and offers meal and drink deals for discounted prices at over 140 restaurants around Montreal. The fixed price table d’hôte menus offered at participating restaurants include three courses, and vary from $21 to $41, depending on the restaurant.

Some restaurants are also offering late-night bites, or brunch options on the weekends, both for $21. In addition to sit-down meals, there are events like a chocolate and wine tasting offered by Chocolate Academy.

There are also four walking tours led by VDM Global Foodies, which explore cuisine in different areas of the city, including the Mile End and Old Port.

The festival offers a chance to try cuisine at an affordable, fixed price. But with over 140 restaurants to choose from, it can be difficult to narrow down on just a few.

La Champagnerie is a busy and bustling spot for evening outings (nightlife.ca)

La Champagnerie

La Bêtise

Invitation V

La Champagnerie, the urban tavern in Old Port, is offering a $41 table d’hôte menu featuring seasonal, local produce, with a range of meat and seafood dishes that appeal to a wide variety of tastes. The menu features popcorn shrimp tacos to start, pho with a mix of eight different meats and seafood, and for dessert, a bacon pudding chômeur featuring bourbon syrup, and spicy kumquat.

The ambience is unique, with exposed brick walls, leather seating booths, and dim lighting. To add to the trendy atmosphere, there will be a DJ spinning on Thursdays and Saturdays. The restaurant will also be hosting a Halloween party featuring à TABLE deals on Oct. 31.

La Bêtise has created a unique fusion of Asian flavors in a tapas style, intermingled with a Quebecois influence. Located in La Petite-Patrie, it may be a bit of a trek for most, but the $31 table d’hôte menu, which includes shredded duck poutine with foie gras sauce and bacon, makes it all worth it. A crispy and spicy shrimp burger, and a wild mushroom mac ’n’ cheese with truffle oil are also featured on this year’s menu. Chef Phat Hong has offered wine and cocktail pairings with each course to guide you through the full experience.

If you are interested in opting for a healthy, more environmentally conscious option, Invitation V is your spot. Located in the Plateau, the warm, urban space offers vegan cuisine inspired by the chefs’ travels and their commitment to healthy eating and animal rights. This year, their $31 table d’hôte menu includes butternut squash marinated layers in a crispy tempeh crust, and for dessert, a black quinoa pudding with pumpkin cream. The restaurabt blends healthy organic ingredients in internationally inspired dishes that appeal to vegans and omnivores alike.

These are just a few of the great restaurants participating this year, and MTL à TABLE is making it as easy as ever to find a place and a price that suits your taste and your wallet.

To facilitate participants’ dining experiences and accommodate different preferences, MTL à TABLE has introduced a new app in partnership with Yellow Pages called YP Dine.

This app enables users to browse participating restaurants by price, location, type of food, time of day, and more. It will list the best spots for an afternoon pick-me-up or a late-night drink with friends. Users can also filter restaurants by dietary preference (vegan, glutenfree etc.), BYOB, or browse by categories like “Smokin’ Smoked Meat,” “Delicious Dumplings,” and “Cheat Worthy Cheesecake,” to name a few.

For any mood, the app will help find the perfect place to satisfy your craving. Notably, all of the restaurants are rated and reviewed by local foodies, as well as popular reviewing websites like FourSquare and TripAdvisor. Making reservations for à TABLE restaurants is strongly recommended as a lot of the restaurants fill up ahead of time; and even if they aren’t full, the waiting time can be lengthy at popular spots.

Reservations are simple to make as they can be done through the app, and this guarantees participants a pleasant and relaxed dining experience.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

14

Student Living Pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies Makes two dozen

Ingredients:

(Liz Willcock / McGill Tribune)

Pumpkin cookies for cool October nights

By Liz Willcock There comes a point in people’s lives when they realize there is more they can do with a pumpkin than carve a misshapen ghoul into it and leave it on the front step. This coming of age occurs in many shapes and forms—from the first slice of pumpkin pie, to a certain variety of pumpkin beverage from Starbucks. You taste it suspiciously at first, but are quickly won over—it’s warming, it’s sweet, and it smells like heaven filled with fall-scented candles from Bed Bath & Beyond.

This realization usually occurs around October or November when the cold air suddenly justifies putting pumpkin flavour in anything and everything.

These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, while suited for fall, are worthy of becoming a year-long staple. They are moist, tasty, and are a perfect snack to bring to school. They can be made gluten free by using certified gluten free rolled

oats. Adding ground flax seeds is also recommended if you want to add a healthy boost and a little more crunch.

Although it is easy to find canned pumpkin in the grocery stores, an abundance of the real stuff should be taken advantage of during the fall. If you’re so inclined, you can easily make your own purée with a pumpkin from the McGill Farmer’s Market on Thursdays, or your local produce store.

All you need to do is cut the pumpkin in half, scrape the seeds out, bake it for an hour at 325 º F, and then purée the meat.

While it is commendable to go the organic route, you also have the option to buy the chumbo tins of pumpkin purée at Segal’s Market on Boulevard Saint-Laurent. Either way, these cookies won’t disappoint.

Recipe inspired by BLDG25

Fall fashion to stay sleek and stylish

By Tiffany Le

Fingerless gloves are practical and trendy (socialelitelife.com)

Keeping cozy with a turtleneck sweater (fashionmenow.co.uk)

2 cups of almond flour 2 cups of whole rolled oats 1 cup pumpkin purée or one small pumpkin 1 teaspoon of baking powder 1 teaspoon of baking soda 1/2 teaspoon of salt 1/2 cup of olive oil or coconut oil (if using coconut oil, make sure it is melted) 1/2 cup of honey or maple syrup 1 large egg 2 teaspoons of cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 cup of chocolate chips 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed (optional)

Directions: Preheat the oven to 375º F and line two baking trays with parchment paper.

1. Combine the dry ingredients: Almond flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, in a mixing bowl.

2. In a large bowl, first whisk together the oil and honey then add in the egg, pumpkin, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stir to combine well, add chocolate chips, and stir until combined.

4. Spoon dough onto baking sheets in balls and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes.

The leaves are falling, the temperature is dropping, and midterm season has students in its grips. Don’t let the drawbacks of autumn get you down. Here are some staple fall pieces to look adorable, stay warm, and survive the rest of October in style.

Dress down any look with white sneakers (refinery29.com)

Fingerless gloves

Turtlenecks

White sneakers

If you’re not ready to commit to encasing your entire hand in wool just yet, or if you just can’t forsake the ability to use your touch-screen smartphone, fingerless gloves are the alternative way to go this fall.

Generally considered to be popular in ‘scene’ culture, in reality these gloves can be incorporated into a variety of different outfits as they can both toughen up and soften a look. Karl Lagerfeld has been sporting leather studded fingerless gloves since the dawn of time, and consistently pairs them elegantly with a white shirt and black jacket.

This stylish albeit standoffish uniform keeps your body warm and your appearance cool throughout these colder months, and is an infallible fall combo. Another route to take is to slip on a cozy, knitted style. They’re easy to pair with a boxy jean jacket and your favourite black skinny jeans for a relaxed feel, or with a camel wool coat and matching ear-muffs for a more preppy, put-together look. In any case, they’re mostly just fun to wear, and bring back a sense of nostalgia for a time when these were the raddest accessory to sport to school.

Whether the goal is to look like a 1960’s Parisian philosophy student or to prevent the Montreal chill from creeping down your neck, turtlenecks are the perfect solution. They are now available in so many different styles that it’s nearly impossible to settle for just one. There’s the classic fitted turtleneck sweater that tops off any pair of jeans perfectly and luckily comes in almost every colour in the rainbow. Feel free to add a simple pearl choker to this look to dress it up. Next comes the more avant-garde, sleeveless, long turtleneck. This chic new addition to the turtleneck family beautifully complements the straight leg trousers that are in style this year. This look is both minimalist and professional. Finally, the comfiest style is the loose-fitting turtleneck dress. With many silhouettes to choose from, there’s something for everyone. They look amazing with tights, knee socks, and tall boots, so keeping your legs warm won’t mean sacrificing a trendy look.

This one might not be an obvious fall staple but it deserves mention on this season’s list: Any fall outfit seems to be complemented by a pair of white sneakers, whether they are adidas Stan Smiths, Nike Air Max, or classic Supergas. They are the perfect way to dress down outfits that are otherwise too stuffy or uptight for a regular school day. Skirts look less formal paired with white sneaks, and become more wearable on a day-to-day basis. Trench coats, wool coats, and moto jackets all also become slightly more casual with white sneakers, and make for a foolproof outfit for those days when mornings are insufferable and deciding what to wear is the last thing on your mind. Any pieces in your wardrobe that haven’t seen the light of day because they are deemed just a touch too dressy can now be worn regularly. Sneakers are insulated enough to keep your feet warm (with socks on, of course) and also have a comfortable sole that is ideal for trekking around campus all day.

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Sports

Tuesday, October 20, 2015 S h oot i n g t h e b r e e z e

Most exciting NHL teams to watch

Arizona Coyotes Overshadowed by the Edmonton Oilers youth movement and rumours of relocation, the Arizona Coyotes are a team quietly on the rise. The youth crusade has taken years to develop, but it’s finally coming to fruition. Last season was miserable for the Coyotes, but top defenceman, Oliver Ekman-Larsson showed flashes of brilliance. He thrived last season, leading the team with 43 points, and looked like one of the best power play triggermen in the league. Arizona has also welcomed raw, exciting young talents like forward Max Domi and wingers Anthony Duclair and Tobias Rieder into the fold­— they all registered at least five points in their first five games. With the electric speed and dynamic offensive capabilities of both Domi and Duclair, the Coyotes will have a formidable offence that can compete with the top teams in the NHL. Goaltender Mike Smith has returned as a true No. 1 goalie and will be key to the Coyotes’ success.

Small sample size nonwithstanding, Smith has hit the ground running this season, posting a 2.26 GAA and a .940 save percentage in four games. Overall, the Coyotes are going to be an energetic team to watch, with young rookies who will add passion and velocity to their game.

Sticking to one game of hockey at a time can be difficult and can be quite the unberable choice. Don’t worry, Tribune Sports came up with the three most exciting NHL teams to watch this season.

Chicago Blackhawks

The New York Rangers embody exciting play in today’s NHL. With playmakers all over the ice, this is the team to watch. Thus far, two players have stood out above the rest with fantastic plays and contributions. Forward Oscar Lindberg is tied for first in the league with four goals scored. The Swedish rookie should keep the goals flowing and contribute to the Rangers’ dominant offence. On the other side of the ice, fellow Swede Henrik Lundqvist’s artfully unorthodox butterfly style is a joy to watch. So far, Lundqvist is off to an exceptional start. His .933 save rate is the highest of his career through the first five games of a season. The usually slow-starting goalie has been on fire, holding the opposition to three goals or fewer in all but one game this season thus far. If he can maintain his elite production through the rest of the season, the Rangers should be in a much better position come April when New York makes its inevitable Stanley Cup run.

The teams worth watching are not the ones that are rumoured to win it all, but rather the teams with chemistry that allows offensive prowess to reign, and where the stage is set for exciting goaltending glove denials.

Though the Edmonton Oilers are going to be crazy, and the Montreal Canadiens might have the best goaltender in the league, the most fun team to watch this year is perennial powerhouse Chicago Blackhawks.

At the risk of being predictable, the Blackhawks were Stanley Cup Champions last year for a reason. The key to winning hockey games is good defence, but the key to fun hockey is explosive offence and game-saving goaltending. Chicago has the ability to win and look good doing it; watching a winning team is half the fun of NHL hockey. With forwards like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, along with last year’s breakout netminder Scott Darling, there is much to be excited about in this strong team. The defence, marshalled by veterans Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, have infallible chemistry with forwards that are strong down the depth chart. The transition game manifests in quick breakouts that lead to even quicker goals courtesy of Kane and Toews, who are among the top puckhandlers in the game.

- Joe Khammar

- Nicole Spadotto

New York Rangers

- Sason Ross

T E A M PRE V IE W S

McGill Hockey has a lot of new faces this year

By Ellie Solloway

The Redmen started off their season with a bang, while the Martlets kick things off on Friday. (Lauren Benson-Armer & Jack Neal / McGill Tribune)

Martlet Hockey After a blowout loss to the lower-ranked Western Mustangs in the finals of the 2015 CIS National Championship, the Martlets are setting their sights on another shot at the title this season.

Last year’s loss came after a 16-4-0 regular season record which landed the team the first seed entering the playoffs. The 2015-2016 Martlets have similar expectations for success, propelled by promising beginnings for players both new and old. Rookie forward Olivia Atkinson is poised to make her mark after a standout pre-season in which she scored the game-winning goal against University of Vermont on Sept. 27. Expect another strong season from Canadian Olympic gold medalist and former CIS Rookie-of-the-Year Melodie Daoust,

Redmen Hockey who has amassed six points in six pre-season games in her fourth year playing for McGill.

The team posted a tepid record of 3-7-0 over this span, but should pick up steam as the Martlets get used to playing without the irreplaceable Leslie Oles and Katia Clement-Heydra, who graduated last season. The team enters the regular season ranked fourth in Canada.

The team dipped below the border this weekend for their annual Ivy League circuit, where they visited Dartmouth, Harvard, and Yale. This year’s road trip proved frustrating for the Martlets, who went 1-2 and brought their overall NCAA record to 41-60-7. The Martlets’ regular season begins this Friday with a game at Montréal at 7 p.m., followed by Concordia at home on Saturday.

The Redmen hockey squad hopes to rebound from a mediocre 2014-2015 season that saw them squander a berth in the CIS Final 8 Championship with a loss in the OUA bronze medal game last March. The fresh-faced team enters the regular season, which began last Friday, ranked fourth in the nation.

Though the team had 16 seniors graduate last year, including All-Canadian Cedric McNicoll and team captain Benoit Levesque, this year’s group is far from inexperienced.

Twelve players have experience in professional leagues such as the QMJHL, AHL, and the OHL. The group’s varied playing backgrounds make for a versatile and potent skill set that should serve the Redmen well

in their 2015-2016 campaign.

Few players on this year’s team have been as electrifying thus far as Liam Heelis, a 25-year-old graduate student who won CIS Player-of-the-Year honours last year with Acadia. Heelis has racked up five points on four goals and an assist in his first three games with the Redmen. The star joins offensive powerhouses Patrick Delisle-House and Dominic Talbot-Tassl, as well as dual-threat blueliner Samuel Labrecque in hopes of leading the Redmen into the playoffs and beyond this season.

The Redmen are 3-1-0 to start the regular season, and will play games against UQTR and Concordia at home next weekend.

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Sports M A R T LE T S O C C ER

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Tuesday, October 20, 2015

co n co r d i a

Coughlan comes through in the clutch to sink Concordia Second-year striker scores game-winner for her 10th goal of the season ELIE WAITZER Sports Editor It has become routine, almost inevitable. She slips through defenders like a spectre, haunting the opposing 18-yard-box with her presence. Concordia ties the game up at 1-1 with just 15 minutes to play, but you know that time isn’t an issue. Sure enough, there she is: Audrey-Ann Coughlan, sophomore striker, handling a perfect pass from senior forward Rebecca Green and firing the game-winner into the net at the 85th minute. It’s her second goal of the game.

“She’s a clutch player,” Head Coach Jose-Luis Valdes said of Coughlan. “From the start of this season, she’s been on fire; and right now [...] we know we can count on her to change the game at any point.”

The late goal gave McGill (6-2-2) a thrilling 2-1 victory over Concordia (3-6-1) on Friday night, running the Martlets’ undefeated streak to four straight contests.

Sitting at 3-2-1 in late September, it looked as if the Martlets were headed towards another underwhelming season. Since then, however, the team has hit its stride, going 3-0-1

Redmen HOCKEY

since its last loss. This squad is firing on all cylinders, and it’s out to prove that it belongs with Laval (8-0-0) and Sherbrooke (7-1-2) at the top of the RSEQ. “We have a sense of urgency,” Valdes said. “When we need to get something done, we make it happen.

Last year we would’ve finished this game with a tie, or maybe even a loss. This year we’ve shown that when things are close, we hold on.

The girls are strong mentally. They train hard throughout every practice, and it shows.”

Coughlan’s first strike came on a corner kick in the 33rd minute.

The arcing shot curved over the heads of the players bunched in front of the net and collided directly into Stingers goalie Maria Kaperonis.

The crowd barely had time to let out a sigh of disappointment before they realized that the ball had bounced out of Kaperonis’ hands and was rolling past the goal line.

McGill dominated possession of the ball for the entirety of the game, mounting attack after attack in the Stingers’ territory. Concordia’s only real threats came on corners and free kicks, and all were turned away by junior goalie Sarah Dubois, whose

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record improves to a perfect 4-0 when she starts over veteran keeper Cassandra Fafalios.

V a l d e s attributed the team’s superb defensive effort to the return of captain Zoe Fasoulakis, who had missed several games due to a concussion. “[It was] great to have that maturity in the [backfield],” Valdes said of Fasoulakis. “The girls always refer to her to get information, and she always has an answer. The experience shows on the field. It’s calm in the back, there’s no risk, [and] there’s never really a feeling that we’re in trouble. She keeps things under control.”

The Martlets stretched their undefeated streak to five games on Sunday with a 1-1 draw against second-place Sherbrooke. With a playoff spot all but secured, they

La u r e n t i a n

|

Rookie midfielder Mary Jardin fights for possession of the ball. (Elie Waitzer / McGill Tribune) will get a chance to make up ground next week in the race for homefield advantage against weaker competition in UQÀM (3-6-1) and Bishop’s (0-8-2).

Sound Bites “[Daphnée’s] been out for three weeks now. [She] had a great start to her season, probably her best season in four years, so it’s unfortunate.” — Coach Valdes on the concussion that has kept veteran forward Daphnée

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Morency-Roussin out of the lineup.

Play of the game Coughlan’s game-winner in the 85th minute sealed the deal for the Martlets.

Stat of the game With her second multi-game effort of the season, Coughlan now accounts for 10 of the 18 goals the Martlets have scored all year.

N i p i ss i n g

Redmen blow out Voyageaurs in home opener, fall against Lakers McGill splits weekend’s games despite scoring nine goals NICK JASINSKI Staff Writer The third period started much like the first two: Fast skating, ambitious passing, and a lot of back-and-forth action across the rink.

About halfway into the period, disaster struck for the Redmen. Goaltender interference was called on McGill’s centre, Rock Regimbald, sending the freshman to the penalty box. The Lakers would capitalize a minute into the power play to tie the game at 1-1. Two minutes later, McGill conceded another penalty. Nipissing scored on the subsequent power play to secure a lead.

Much to the exasperation of the home fans, McGill committed yet another penalty three minutes later. The result was a third goal for Nipissing in just five minutes.

Down by two goals, the Redmen snapped back into the game.

Labrecque scored again on a six-on-four power play after Nobes pulled junior netminder Karel St-Laurent. But the late push was not enough to force an overtime and the Lakers celebrated their first win of the season.

“I was happy to see the push in the last three or four minutes, and we almost tied it up, but we were essentially just chasing at that point,” Nobes said. “We need to be better as a group. We need to play 120 minutes in a weekend, and we only really played one period [on Saturday].”

McGill will look for revenge on Jan. 9 when they travel to Nipissing; but for now, the team will focus on preparing for next weekend’s games against UQTR (3-1-0) and Concordia (2-2-0).

Freshman centre Rock Regimbald waits for a feed. (Jessica Goldson / McGill Tribune) Sound Bites

Moment of the Game

Stat of the Game

“We’ve got a lot of stuff to work on—it’s a really young team. Lots of new guys, and guys still trying to figure out their roles, so there’s still lots of room for growth with this group in almost any area of our game.”

—Coach Nobes on the team’s development.

The entire third period was insanity: The Redmen erupted for five goals on 22 shots.

The Redmen outshot their opponents by nearly double over the weekend, 96-54, for a combined score of 10-4.