McGill Tribune Vol. 38 Issue 8 by The Tribune

The McGill Tribune TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018 | VOL. 38 | ISSUE 8

Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University

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EDITORIAL

FEATURE

SPORTS

#ChangeTheName, and change the norms, too

(Cult)ivating understanding

Know your athlete: Tomas Jirousek

PG. 5

PGs. 8-9

PG. 15 (Sophia White / The McGill Tribune)

MAPP MTL dazzles the quartier des spectacles

PG. 10

Open letter calls for immediate renaming of men’s varsity teams Laura Oprescu & Isabella Lyons News Editor, Contributor The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council overwhelmingly passed the Motion Regarding Renaming of McGill’s Men’s Varsity Teams at their Oct. 11

session, approving the question “Do you endorse the immediate renaming of the ‘Redmen’ name and mandate the SSMU to work toward immediate renaming of the Varsity Men’s Team?” for the Fall 2018 referendum period. This motion follows the 2015 final report of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which, among other recommendations, calls for

Drawn & Quarterly applauds two of its groundbreaking writers Celebrating an art form ahead of its time Leo Stillinger Contributor On Oct. 26, a crowd packed into La Petite Librairie Drawn & Quarterly for the launch of two world-class comic books: Julie Doucet’s Dirty Plotte and Jason Lutes’ Berlin. Beyond its title as the Mile End’s hippest bookstore,

Drawn & Quarterly is one of North America’s most influential publishing houses for comic books and graphic novels. Doucet and Lutes are two of Drawn & Quarterly’s earliest authors, and the size and enthusiasm of the audience at the launch was evidence of the success of their collaboration. A native Montrealer, Doucet was the first cartoonist

Drawn & Quarterly ever published; her first comic was released 28 years ago this month. While she has long been retired from cartooning to pursue different artistic mediums, such as silk-screen prints, the publication of the retrospective collection Dirty Plotte: The Complete Julie Doucet is a celebration of both Doucet’s work and her influence. PG. 11

increased support for indigenous students from post-secondary institutions and antiracism awareness in sports. High schools in Arnprior, Saskatoon, Saint Catherine’s, and the Greater Toronto Area, among other institutions, have already changed their team names. The TRC’s final report led to the formation of the McGill Provost’s Task

Force on Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education, which called for consultation on the renaming of university teams, buildings, and scholarships. McGill’s Working Group on Principles of Commemoration and Renaming released their draft report in August and continues to engage in community consultations in preparation for the release of their final report on Dec. 6. PG. 2

United Nations stresses climate conundrum

Recent UN report sheds light on Canada’s envionmental future Ronny Litvack-Katzman Staff Writer

It was a mild morning in London, England when the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its groundbreaking report in May 1990. By proclaiming that the

Earth’s gradual warming is unquestionably man-made, it became the first international body to state so. The report was concise: “Unless emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases [are] immediately cut by more than 60 per cent, global temperatures [will] rise sharply over the next

century, with unforeseeable consequences for humanity.” Despite these dire warnings, the world has remained relatively indifferent, continuing to back competitive oil markets, build more factories, and ignore the pleas of the overwhelmingly unified scientific community. PG. 14

news

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018

Divest McGill’s efforts spurred by United Nations report Activists rally outside CAMSR meeting Abeer Almahdi Opinion Editor Divest McGill held a rally outside the James Administration Building on Oct. 22 during a meeting of the Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR), protesting McGill’s ongoing investment in companies involved with the fossil fuel industry. The demonstration comes after the McGill Senate approved a motion endorsing divestment from fossil fuels on Sept. 12, an institutional response several years in the making. “This campaign has been going on for six years, and every year there are new faces, new interest,” Morgan Bertheussen, U3 Arts, said. “The campaign isn’t dying down, so it’s nice to see that every new school year there’s a lot of new [...] people that are excited about change and the divestment campaign as a whole.” However, Divest’s campaign isn’t over yet. McGill’s Board of Governors (BoG), the university’s highest authority, decided not to implement the Senate’s endorsement and to leave the divestment decision to CAMSR instead. “We’re having [the protest] because CAMSR is meeting,” Annabelle Couture-Guillet, U3 Arts & Science, said. “We’re here today to remind them that, despite the bureaucratic barriers that they’re using, we

still care, and we are not going away,” Ehab Lotayef, a member of the BoG, also attended the rally. He stressed the importance of divestment. “We don’t have time to debate and discuss,” Lotayef said. “The environmental situation is really critical, and I think that McGill should take a leading position in practical steps.” McGill has aimed to promote sustainability through its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2040 and numerous other initiatives on campus such as the Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF). Nonetheless, Jacqueline Lee-Tam, U1 Arts, explained to the protesters how McGill’s investments in the fossil fuel industry negate these initiatives. “All of McGill’s [sustainability] initiatives are nullified by the fact that [the university has] over $15 billion dollars invested in the fossil fuel industry,” Lee-Tam said. “If McGill really wants to be a sustainable and carbon-neutral campus then [we must] divest.” Christina Lau, U1 Sustainability, referenced the growing support for divestment on campus. Besides the Senate, the Student’s Society of McGill University (SSMU) endorsed divestment in 2012, the Faculty of Arts’ endorsed divestment in 2015, and, on Nov. 8 2017, the McGill Association of University Teachers (MAUT) Council voted to divest from fossil fuels. MAUT council reorganized

The IPCC repor t states that 12 years remain to prevent irreversible climate change. (Abeer Almahdi / The McGill Tribune) $500,000 of its investment portfolios, which included fossil fuel companies. “A lot of people support the divestment movement so I don’t understand why we haven’t gotten to it yet,” Lau said. “The MAUT council [and] the Senate ruled in favor of [divestment]. There’s a lot of reasons to [divest], and there aren’t a lot of reasons not to.” Lau explained that the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report motivated her to attend the Divest McGill rally. The IPCC’s report states that only 12 years

remain to prevent irreversible, devastating climate change and it recommends staying below a 1.5°C increase from pre-industrial temperature levels. It also outlines several solutions, including cutting fossil fuel use in half in less than 15 years. Currently, a total of 985 countries, associations, universities, foundations, and religious organizations have committed to divestment from fossil fuels. “The IPCC report that came out on Oct. 8 outlined a future that is more dire than any of us are prepared for,” Lee-Tam said. “We are

going to see small island nations sink. We are going to see increases in climate catastrophes such as hurricanes, typhoons, and floods [....] We need to act. We need to be bold and fearless in the face of climate change.” Lee-Tam called on CAMSR to consider the findings of the IPCC report. “We invite CAMSR to think about all these things,” Lee-Tam said. “We invite CAMSR to consider that we are living in a day and age where fossil fuels are no longer going to be sustaining us.”

Open letter calls for immediate renaming of men’s varsity teams Renaming protest to be held on Oct. 31 Laura Oprescu & Isabella Lyons News Editor, Contributor (continued from page 1) Ultimately, the decision to rename McGill’s varsity teams rests on the Board of Governors (BoG). SSMU Indigenous Affairs Commissioner Tomas Jirousek, member of the Kainai First Nation in southern Alberta and varsity rowing team athlete, has been vocal about the need to change the name of the varsity teams. In addition to starting a Change.org petition and writing an open letter to the McGill administration, Jirousek will lead a demonstration against the continued use of the name on Oct. 31. For him, the name is associated with prejudice against the indigenous community, and its continued usage is harmful. “There is a painful history of colonialism in the history,” Jirousek said. “When thinking of the name, stereotypical images come to mind. We have been known as the McGill Squaws and Indians in the past. There [have] been stereotypical representations on helmets and jerseys in the past, representative of a hurtful connection between indigenous people and the University.” For other McGill athletes, and according to Montreal Gazette columnist Martin

While many believe that the Redmen name is rooted in negative stereotypes of Indigenous peoples, others argue that it represents the teams’ colours. (Leanne Young / The McGill Tribune) Patriquin, the name Redmen is associated with the school colours. Varsity soccer player Médéric Gervais does not believe the name is related to negative stereotypes and so should not be changed. “Without outside influence, I would

not think that the ‘Redmen’ name means anything racial,” Gervais said. “Université Laval’s team is named the ‘Rouge et Or’ [red and gold], and with that logic it would make sense for us to be named the Redmen. The team is named after its colours and

should therefore keep its name.” Robert Hu, First Year Council representative for SSMU Council, voted against the Oct. 11 motion, although not out of disagreement about whether the name should be changed. Hu argued that the motion is only prefixed with evidence of the racist connotations of the name’s origins, problematically presenting only one side of the debate. “I would like to say that I, personally, do not really like the name either,” Hu said. “The reason I voted against the motion is […] because the motion was one sided. There should just be the questions ‘yes or no’-- let the rest of the debate decide the outcome.” Hu believes that voters should consider the different voices and perspectives in the debate before casting their votes. “Before such a decision is taken, you have to consider if it is inherently used to oppress indigenous people, or [if it is] a misunderstanding,” Hu said. “[The name] affects the whole McGill community. Because the varsity players are ambassadors to McGill, everyone should have a say in it. It has huge implications.” A demonstration against the continued use of the Redmen name will take place outside the James Administration building on Oct. 31 at 2 p.m.

news

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018

McGill best university in Canada for 14th year in a row

SUS hosts by-elections for vacant executive position

Andras Nemeth & Lucia Winter News Editor, Contributor

Jacqueline Yao Staff Writer

McGill ranked 44th worldwide in Times Higher Education ranking

SUS President pushes for new study spaces during finals

Councillors discussed Hype Night and synchronizing executive selections between science depar tments. (Hannah Taylor / The McGill Tribune)

McGill’s fall in international ranking s likely due to the rise of many Asian universities . (mcgill.ca) worth noting that McGill’s overall score was McGill University retained the top actually higher this year compared with last spot in Maclean’s magazine’s annual ranking year, so increased competition in the table of Canadian universities. The report, pubplayed a big part. Other universities simply lished on Oct. 11, evaluated 15 Canadian uniimproved at a faster rate.” versities in the ‘medical-doctoral’ category, At the McGill Board of Governors meeta comprehensive classification for researching on Oct. 4, McGill Principal Suzanne Forfocused universities with a wide range of tier attributed the drop in McGill’s ranking to graduate programs. This is the 14th consecushifts in the global education market. In partictive year that McGill has been listed in first ular, Fortier believes many Asian universities place, which it shares with the University of are receiving significantly more government Toronto in the most recent report. funding, pushing them upward in the rankings. An Oct. 11 article published in Maclean’s “[Analysts] are predicting that we will describing the results cited several factors to see the Western universities lose their spots explain McGill’s continued dominance in the as Asian universities enter the ranks,” Fortier ranking: The important contributions of Mcsaid. Gill researchers to a range of medical fields, The THE ranking is based on 13 perforMcGill’s highly international student body, mance indicators that evaluate the university’s and the number of McGill alumni—144, the global standing in terms of research and edumost in Canada—to be attributed the prestication. The most important factor, ‘citation gious Rhodes Scholarship. impact,’ a measure of the university’s research In a statement to the Montreal Gazette, contributions, constitutes 30 per cent of the McGill Principal Suzanne Fortier expressed overall ranking and is usually the deciding pride in the report. factor of a university’s rank. “We are delighted to see McGill recogMetrics assessing teaching quality and nized once again as Canada’s leading univerresearch reputation are also heavily weighted, sity according to the Maclean’s yardstick,” composing 15 and 18 per cent of the ranking, Fortier said. “All members of our McGill respectively. Other performance indicators incommunity can take pride in this accomplishclude numbers of grants and doctorates awardment. I salute our alumni for the solid foundaed, international outlook, and innovation. The tion of excellence they have built in our great ranking system is applied to over 1,200 uniuniversity and congratulate all the students, versities annually and uses a cumulative probprofessors and staff for their commitment to ability function to calculate an overall score. the values of McGill.” In an emailed statement to the McGill This report follows the Times Higher Tribune, McGill Provost Christopher ManEducation’s (THE) World University Rankfredi wrote that, while he was pleased by Mcing in September, which placed McGill 44th Gill’s performance in the rankings, the THE in the world. Though this is a drop from last report is unlikely to have any major impacts year’s ranking, which placed McGill at 42nd, on McGill’s decision-making. the lower rank may not necessarily be indica“McGill’s overall standing in the THE tive of a decline in McGill’s performance as a rankings remains world class, and our scores university. According to THE Global Ranking in virtually all areas increased over last year,” Editor Ellie Bothwell, the drop does not reflect Manfredi wrote. “We do not calibrate policy a negative evaluation of McGill; rather, the or practice to address the assessments of exterdecline is a result of other universities grownal rankings agencies. We remain a researching faster. intensive, student-centred university where “McGill’s performance dropped in three faculty members are world leaders in their areas over the past year, research income, refields and offer an exceptional education to search reputation, and doctorates awarded per their students.” academic staff,” Bothwell said. “However, it is

Following the resignation of its VicePresident (VP) External Michelle Guo, the Science Undergraduate Society (SUS) went over the details for its upcoming by-election. Councillors also discussed future events, the possibility of new study spaces during the final exam period, and equitable selections of executives between student departmental associations.

the Arts Undergraduate Society already does. Wong will assess the costs of accounting services before finalizing his proposal. “For an organization of [SUS’s] size, it is very important to do financial accounting,” Wong said. “[Proper accounting] is something that a science student without official CPA [Chartered Professional Accountant] training can’t really do.”

VP External by-election Guo reportedly left her position for personal reasons, with her resignation taking effect on Sept. 26. The SUS approved dates for a by-election to fill her position and SUS President Reem Mandil has delegated the VP External’s responsibilities to other councillors in the meantime. Mandil encouraged students to run for the vacant VP External position and participate in the democratic process. “[Running for VP External] is a great opportunity for students who are looking to get involved in SUS,” Mandil said. “If there is only one or fewer candidates running [for VP External] by the Oct. 29 nomination deadline, the whole election process has to be extended.”

Constitutional changes proposed At the most recent SUS Constitutional Affairs Committee (CAC) meeting, SUS VP Communications Ianna Folkes assigned two committee members to meet with each of the 19 SUS departmental associations, including the McGill Environment Students’ Society (MESS) and the Freshman Undergraduate Students’ Society (FUSS). The CAC, which reviews constitutional changes for departmental councils, hopes to synchronize which executive roles are paid, elected, and appointed between departments to ensure equitable council member selections. “I know that it’s uncomfortable to make changes [to departmental constitutions] but the changes [have been] suggested for a good reason,” Folkes said. “We are trying to get departments as [to be as equally-represented] as possible.”

Plans to increase available space for studying Mandil will be meeting with the Dean of Science, Bruce Lennox, on Nov. 1 and hopes to discuss study space and scholarships. She is currently looking into opening additional study spaces on campus during final exams and encouraged departmental representatives to poll their constituents on the subject. Mandil also plans to convince the Faculty of Science to offer financial support for the SUS Scholarship Fund. The scholarship recognizes McGill Science and Arts & Science students who demonstrate leadership in their community. “Everyone has had the experience of not finding seats [in the library...] so I’ll be compiling a small report [for Lennox] so that we can have more study spaces,” Mandil said. “[And], when [the SUS Scholarship Fund] is implemented, we can hopefully draft a formal application.” Evaluation of SUS finances proposed SUS VP Finance Dylan Wong suggested hiring an accountant to evaluate the society’s financial status and account information, like

Science Games to implement increased regulations Council deliberated regulations for Hype Night, a social event held in anticipation of Science Games with historically minimal registration restrictions. This year, SUS VP Internal Zlata Plotnikova informed Council that registration for Hype Night is limited to only McGill students for increased safety and accountability. Plotnikova also oversees Science Games itself, a four-day social event that features drinking competitions between Science Departments. She held a meeting on Oct. 22 for the 119 students interested in being Science Games captains and finalized the 16 Science Games teams on Oct 26. To ensure a safer Science Games, the Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support, and Education (OSVRSE) will train Science Games captains on how to respond to disclosures of sexual harassment. The next SUS Council meeting will take place on Nov. 1.

news

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018

Quebec elections reveal fractures among electorate

Youth, urbanites, and minorities underrepresented in majority government

Diamond Yao Contributor Quebecers headed to the polls for the provincial election in October, which resulted in the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) forming a majority government. The election sparked noticeable resistance on McGill’s campus, prompting the former vice-president external of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), Marina Cupido, to condemn the party as ‘racist’ and ‘xenophobic.’ Clayton Ma, a Master’s student at Concordia University who researches voting preferences among visible minorities in Canada, is concerned about several platform promises made by the CAQ. A law proposed by the CAQ during its campaign would bar public servants from wearing religious symbols, while another hopes to expel immigrants who fail a government-administered ‘values test.’ “If I had to implore them to not do certain things, I would implore them to not touch the religious items for public servants and to not implement that really ridiculous values test that they are suggesting,” Ma said. “It shapes the narrative [regarding immigrants] in a very poor way. Minorities are continuously stigmatized because of who they are and are continuously viewed as a possible threat.”

Following a result the polls were not predicting, Quebecers reflect on the reasons behind the outcome and how to best move forward. (Keating Reid / The McGill Tribune)

Research suggests that younger voters, including university students, are less inclined to vote. SSMU Deputy Electoral Officer Isaac Levy, who implemented a mock poll to gauge students’ political preferences, is inclined to agree. “In general, the younger cohort of voters are typically on the lower end of the turnout,” Levy said. “In particular, students are very busy. There’s a lot on their minds, so there is a dip of engagement with respect to that, and a lot of students just don’t become engaged. And if some students do

[become involved in politics], they are probably specializing in that.” According to Levy, the poll demonstrated that McGill students are generally left-leaning in their politics. “Quebec Solidaire got about a quarter of the votes in our poll, but, at the same time, the riding that we are in is extremely liberal, so the Liberals came [out] on top,” Levy said. This phenomenon of left-leaning engaged youth is not unique for urban places like Montreal.

Éric Bélanger, a professor of political science at McGill who specializes in Quebec politics, thinks that the relatively-liberal mindset of the youth electorate has to do with the disparity between students’ progressive politics and a perennial conservative nationalist constituency in the province. He characterizes the CAQ as the party of a generation ago, built on constitutional disputes that no longer exist. “To understand what happened, I think the national question [of Quebec sovereignty] is still quite useful,” Bélanger said. “Environment and diversity are the concerns of the new generation. In a changing context where issues of diversity and immigrant integration are fertile ground, I think there’s still this conservative, nationalist constituency that [has] finally found itself a new vehicle to get the sovereignty debate [on the table].” Bélanger believes that overcoming apathy among young voters may be possible by reframing the national project in terms that are more in line with young people’s values. “If you start showing that Quebec can be sovereign [while still addressing modern problems], that Quebec can leave this oil producing country that Canada has become, then you start offering a different way to see sovereignty and to see the relevance of the sovereignty project that may be more appealing to younger voters,” Bélanger said.

Fortier looks to the future at the World Economic Forum

McGill Principal emphasizes importance of interdisciplinary learning in 21st century Ender McDuff Staff Writer McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier spoke at the 2018 World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Meeting of the New Champions in September in Tianjin, China. This year’s meeting brought together over 1,000 participants from 111 countries to discuss issues of “innovation, science and technology, [and the] promoting [of] entrepreneurship in the global public interest.” Fortier was invited to serve as co-Chair of the event, which was themed “Shaping Innovative Societies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Fortier also discussed education in the 21st century at a panel titled “Educating Innovative Societies.” Joined by moderator John Kao and fellow speakers Amy Ogan and Asheesh Advani, she addressed the changing nature of employment in her opening remarks. “People entering our universities right now will do jobs we don’t even know about,” Fortier said. “This is the future, and we have to prepare for it. [Students should] make sure [they] do something [they] really like because [they] might have to do it for a very long time.” Fortier was enthused by the pioneering attitude that students are adopting when preparing for their time at university and beyond. “We are talking about an innovative society, students are doing just that on their own.” Fortier said. “[Students] create innovative communities on [McGill’s] campus and globally [....] The serial entrepreneurs are there in our universities.” Fortier proceeded to explain that innovation can occur not only from personal entrepreneurial spirit, but also from creative collisions between individuals from different disciplines. She fondly referenced the large grassy areas of McGill’s campus where students from different programs can discuss problems and collaborate. Reiterating her remarks from the World Economic Forum meeting in January 2017, Fortier also emphasized the importance of extending the university experience beyond campus. “Education must not remain inside [the] brick walls of institutions but instead come through a much richer set of offerings […] with many different kinds of learning opportunities,” Fortier said. Fellow panelist Amy Ogan agreed that developing external relationships is critical for the success of students. “We really need to integrate with other members of the [outside] community to make sure [...] learning actually happens,” Ogan said.

The WEF Meeting of the New Champions is an annual forum on the topics of innovation, education and technology. (www.weforum.org) Panelist Asheesh Advani agreed but expressed concern over university students having increasingly less time to explore their interests due to academic and extracurricular pressures. “I’m actually somewhat pessimistic [about modern universities],” Advani said. ”[University students today] do more before they go to university, and there’s a tradeoff to that, and we should be really honest about the tradeoff [....] I do believe one of the tradeoffs is on the creative side of the mental balance sheet.” Fortier sees the ideal group of students as a collection of unique individuals. In her concluding remarks, she underlined the importance of universities fostering independent learning. “Learning is probably the most exciting, rewarding human activity,” Fortier said. “If we can graduate students from universities with […] leadership in shaping their own learning and career path

and confidence in their learning, I think we’ll be okay.” In an email to The McGill Tribune, Fortier reflected on her time at the conference. “The Forum is an extraordinarily powerful telescope to look into the future,” Fortier wrote. “[McGill] need[s] to keep abreast of the profound changes in [the] world in order to give students the education and skills [needed] for the future.” According to Fortier, interconnectedness is crucial for universities in the 21st century. “Increasingly, we also need to think of our role […] at a global level,” Fortier wrote. “Achieving the goal of social inclusion requires the commitment and participation of actors from many sectors [...] or universities [...], taking us out of the academic ‘echo chamber’ is crucial as we reimagine our role in the 21st century.”

opinion

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018

editorial board Editor-in-Chief Marie Labrosse editor@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Elli Slavitch eslavitch@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Ariella Garmaise agarmaise@mcgilltribune.com Stephen Gill sgill@mcgilltribune.com Calvin Trottier-Chi ctrottier-chi@mcgilltribune.com

News Editors Andras Nemeth, Caitlin Kindig & Laura Oprescu news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editors Keating K. Reid & Abeer Almahdi opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editor Katherine Lord scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Living Editor Emma Carr studentliving@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Dylan Adamson features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Katia Innes & Sophie Brzozowski arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Gabe Nisker & Miya Keilin sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Arshaaq Jiffry & Erica Stefano design@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editor Gabriel Helfant photo@mcgilltribune.com Multimedia Editor Tristan Surman multimedia@mcgilltribune.com Web Developers Luya Ding webdev@mcgilltribune.com Tristan Sparks online@mcgilltribune.com

#ChangeTheName, and change the norms, too Thousands of students, allies, and Montrealers have been calling on McGill to change the name of their varsity men’s sports teams. A petition on Change.org has garnered over 8,000 signatures as of press time, and a demonstration is taking place on Oct. 31, due in large part to the work of Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Indigenous Affairs Commissioner Tomas Jirousek. With coverage from CBC News and the Montreal Gazette, all of Montreal is watching McGill’s next steps. It’s time that McGill acknowledges that holding on to a racist team name disenfranchises its indigenous students. Changing it is only one step of many that the University must take in order to create a more inclusive campus. McGill claims that the name originated in reference to the red jerseys worn by athletes, and in honour of McGill’s Scottish heritage due to the Celts’ reputation for having red hair. Regardless of its supposed origins, the name has been used throughout the university’s history in association with stereotypes about indigenous peoples. For example, the word ‘Indians’ historically referred to the men’s sports teams, while women’s teams were referred to as the ‘Squaws.’ From 1982 to 1992, the team’s logo was a silhouette of an indigenous person wearing a headdress. Other schools that once used the

OFF THE BOARD

Copy Editor Melissa Langley copy@mcgilltribune.com Business Manager Falah Rajput business@mcgilltribune.com Advertising Executives Declan Embury, Maharshee Karia, Sara Al Sharif ads@mcgilltribune.com Publisher Chad Ronalds

TPS Board of Directors Abeer Almahdi, Becca Hoff, Jeeventh Kaur, Marie Labrosse, Katherine Milazzo, Daniel Minuk, Falah Rajput. Nina Russel, Kevin Vogel

staff Hannibal de Pencier, Taja De Silva, Kyle Dewsnap, Owen Gibbs, Emma Gillies, Sabrina Girard-Lamas, Mary Keith, Sunny Kim, Sydney King, Winne Lin, Ronny, LitvackKatzman, Ender McDuff, Gabriela McGuinty, Sofia Mikton, Nicholas Raffoul,, Nina Russell, Julia Spicer, Leo Stillinger, Bilal Virji, Kevin Vogel, Tony Wang, Helen Wu, Jacqueline Yao, Leanne Young

Contributors Sanchi Bhalla, Lucas Bird, Taja De Silva, Lucy Keller, Athena Ko, Kaylina Kodlick, Karan Kumar, Kellyane Levac, Claudine Loop, Isabella Lyons, Mo Rajji, Christina Stackpole, Kaja Surborg, Alden Tabac, Eva Julia van Dam, Sophia White, Diamond Yao

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Katia Innes Arts & Entertainment Editor There are many things in my life that I’ve accepted as inevitable: Breaking a bone, teenage heartbreak, and failing a final exam, for example. I have a strange sense that those events are predetermined. This may be symptomatic of a childhood spent in front of a television—each event in my life seems to fit an episodic narrative. When my parents announced that they were getting divorced, my first thought as a six-year-old was that I was going to be like Buster in Arthur. Growing up, I’ve always had a preoccupation with how the narrative arc of my own life will end. I have an unsettling feeling, clearer each day, that it might end like those of my other family members: With a chronic, hereditary neurological disease called Alzheimer’s.

same name, such as Denis Morris and Arnprior high schools in Ontario, have adopted other team names, in 2016 and 2017 respectively. In 2017, then Ontario education minister Mitzie Hunter asked Toronto school boards to review their sports teams’ logos and names, and consider changing any that could be considered derogatory. Despite this momentum, McGill has been hesitant to change the name due to claims of tradition and athletic pride. These concerns, however, do not outweigh the arguments to rebrand. Changing the name will only benefit McGill, creating an identity that the entire student body can be proud of. In an email to the McGill student body on Oct. 23, Provost and Vice-Principal Academic Christopher Manfredi announced that the administration would not make a decision regarding the name change until the Working Group on Principles of Commemoration and Renaming submits their final report. However, none of the members or chairs of the working group are indigenous, although they did consult with an indigenous professor when constructing their draft report. Regardless of the working group’s stated intentions, it is important that indigenous students be better represented in institutional decisions like these, especially when those decisions ultimately influence their future on this campus.

A racist team name is only one of countless barriers that indigenous students face at McGill. For example, there are only two courses under the Indigenous Studies course code; the minor’s other course requirements are in other fields. McGill does not currently offer any undergraduate major programs in Indigenous Studies, or any indigenous language, except in the Faculty of Education. McGill is situated on Haudenosaunee and Anishinabeg territory, and the university’s educational programs should reflect and honour the history of this land and the traditions of these nations. Beyond diversifying academia, McGill must continue diversifying its student services. The First People’s House, which offers housing, events, student support, and other services for indigenous students, is an example of such a resource. McGill should continue and expand on services like the First People’s House, and offer more funding and educational opportunities for indigenous and lowincome students. Moreover, creating inclusive spaces is not a mandate reserved for the upper echelons of administration. All student groups on campus should seek to increase indigenous representation, and our own editorial board shares these disappointing gaps. It is crucial that student groups, clubs, and services take active steps in

EDITORIAL involving indigenous voices beyond just land acknowledgements. The most important role students can play is that of an ally. The #ChangeTheName campaign and its positive reception are a result of student-led activism, including that of Jirousek and the Indigenous Student Alliance, and SSMU Indigenous Affairs. To ensure the campaign’s success, it is imperative that students demonstrate their support and allyship by signing the open letter, signing the Change.org petition, and most importantly, physically showing up to the demonstration on Oct. 31. Moreover, student involvement should not be limited to a single protest: Indigenous exclusion persists far beyond the name of the men’s varsity teams. Students must continue holding McGill accountable after the protest—whether that’s by attending working group meetings, or getting involved with SSMU’s Indigenous Affairs Committee—to ensure that McGill takes substantive steps toward fostering a more representative institution. Changing the name should be the first of many developments regarding McGill’s indigenous community, and the first step toward a more inclusive campus. The # C h a n g e T h e N a m e demonstration will take place on Oct. 31 in front of the Milton Gates from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Unlucky inheritance Alzheimer’s has always been a part of my life: A sinister, underlying antagonist. The first funeral I attended was my great-grandmother’s at the age of seven; she passed away from dementia. I have no memories of interacting with her where I didn’t have to be reintroduced as ‘Wendy’s daughter.’ While she always greeted me with her trademark elderlyChinese-woman enthusiasm, we never established an especially meaningful relationship. Alzheimer’s followed me into my adolescence with the death of my paternal grandfather when I was 10, and then my paternal grandmother this past spring. While my great-grandmother had lived blocks away from me as a child, I had not seen my paternal grandparents since the age of eight. They remain murky, greying figures in my imagination: I can recall my grandfather’s pipe and their foyer filled with my grandmother’s paintings. One of the reasons I had not seen them in so long is that my father simply did not want to go through the motions that accompany visiting a loved one with Alzheimer’s: The reintroductions, lapses of memory, and inability to complete simple tasks. There’s a haunting aspect to caring for a relative with a hereditary disease that you too might someday contract. I rarely thought of my paternal grandparents, who were peripheral characters in my

Me and my brother after an episode of ‘Arthur.’ (Abeer Almahdi / The McGill Tribune) life—besides, we lived in different provinces. The loss was softened by distance. What I do know is that, upon seeing a photograph of me shortly before she passed, my grandmother made a stomach-dropping remark: “Wendy looks so lovely here.” Besides being mistaken for my own mother, this comment has always perturbed me: I wondered what else I might inherit from my mother, if not her eyes and cheekbones. I have relatives on both sides with the diagnosis. The disease is still in its early stages, so I have allowed myself to keep a comfortable distance from the reality of the diagnosis and the outcome itself. Alzheimer’s seems like an invention of a Shonda Rhimes medical procedural drama until you are looking at its face in a hospital bed. Through all of this, I have become acutely aware of any symptoms my parents might display, such as minor

lapses of memory. While this might be entirely paranoid, there’s always something that irks me every time my father forgets where he put his phone, or when my mother trips up on the names of one of my cousins. It could be nothing, but there’s an underlying fear that these small mishaps are indicative of something much more sinister. Darkly, my mother will often joke that it’s “the early onset Alzheimer’s kicking in.” Premature though these comments may be, denying the fact that my parents, and by extension myself, have a high likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s would be to deny medical fact. To fool myself into thinking that I am an anomaly, exempt from a hereditary disease, would be laughably self-aggrandizing. Ultimately, there isn’t much I can do to prevent or predict my future besides a humble acceptance of whatever final moment lies ahead.

opinion

commentary

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018

Bhalla vs. Bird: Are ghosts real?

It’s time to rehash a classic Halloween controversy: Are ghosts real? Contributors Sanchi Bhalla and Lucas Bird duke it out.

The case for ghosts Sanchi Bhalla History is littered with tales of ghosts, spirits, and spooky happenings. McGill itself is home to one of the most haunted streets in Montreal, Rue McTavish, second only to Rue Notre Dame in Old Port. With eyewitness accounts of lithe socialites’ ghosts reliving their youth in the Faculty Club, why are we hesitant to consider their existence, when they’re literally knocking down campus buildings’ front doors? Everyone has experienced those moments: You feel like someone’s looking at you, or you see movement from the corner of your eye, or you have the gut feeling that that brush against your leg wasn’t just the wind. We discount these feelings too easily, and refuse to acknowledge the fact that if these moments are a communal experience, there might be something more to them. The largely North American insistence that ghosts cannot be real reveals that humans are far more conceited than they have the right to be. It is impossible to understand all that surrounds us, and that mystery is what keeps us exploring and innovating. Images of the supernatural permeate cultures around the world. From the Pagans of the Roman Empire to the Wiccans of the modern day, societies have different ideas of what an all-knowing being is or if one even exists, but the concept of ghosts is universal. Every early civilization has a story about spirits, whether malignant or benign. We say that we don’t believe in ghosts, but I think that it’s because we don’t want to believe. We’re terrified of what ghosts’ existence would mean for ourselves and our own personal interpretations of the meaning of life.

commentary

Mo Rajji Columnist I almost dropped out of high school in my sophomore year. I was failing three classes, and my already unstable mental health was suffering under the weight of academic pressure. However, I knew that these academic shortcomings, as awful as they felt, would not define my whole life. My boss at the comic book store where I used to work had dropped out of high school, gotten a GED, and gone to New York University. My own father had dropped out of high school and never gotten an equivalent diploma, but I watched him walk across the stage to receive his master’s degree when I was eight. Other students at my school were transferring to other institutions, repeating grades, and considering alternatives to post-secondary education. I wasn’t alone. Thinking back to the lowest points

The skeptic’s take Lucas Bird

Do you believe? (Casper White / The McGill Tribune)

Recognizing the successes that come from failure I had in high school makes me feel like more of an outsider at McGill. This isn’t the kind of institution that’s supposed to accept students like me—students who didn’t see an academic future for themselves—but I got in anyway. This is a university that emphasizes its rankings and proudly touts its successful alumni. Despite McGill’s reputation for academic success, a school-wide email two weeks ago included a note from the Dean of Students, Christopher Buddle, titled “Learning to Fail,” encouraging students to learn from their failures and pursue counselling services if needed. 150 words did not suddenly fix McGill’s high-stakes environment or make support resources more accessible, but at least someone finally said the word ‘failure’ out loud. The summer after my second year of high school, my mental health reached an all-time low. I didn’t have a stable home, and my self-destructive tendencies were reaching dangerous levels. I was completing an intensive allfemale computer science program that I loved, but that was incredibly taxing. This wasn’t an environment in which I felt like I could fail. Being in a program for women and femme-aligned people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) came with a pressure to succeed against all odds. I was not just representing myself: The program was meant to motivate young girls and femme-aligned people to

go into computer science and related fields, defeat the patriarchy, and become inspiring figures for future generations. I applied to McGill thinking I wouldn’t make it through a process that looked only at the numbers on my transcript, but I did. I entered university with a computer science major in the Faculty of Arts. Two weeks into my first semester, I changed my major to political science and turned computer science into a minor. By the end of the semester, I had withdrawn from a math class, nearly failed a computer science class, and dropped computer science from my degree. I had not defeated the patriarchy; instead, I felt like I had succumbed to it. I’m still in a field dominated by men, but if the 2015 intensive program taught me anything, it was that academic successes and failures, whatever form they may take, do not define one’s worth. Success can simply mean getting up in the morning or handing in an assignment, and these acts should be recognized for the victories that they are. McGill takes a lot of pride in numbers and grades, but the classes that you fail can be just as valuable learning experiences as a perfect GPA. As Buddle emphasized, it is important to know how to fail and learn from failure, but, more importantly, it is essential to recognize personal successes, even when it seems like no one else will. I hope that’s something that McGill starts to promote, beyond their emails.

Normally, to combat ghost hysteria, I’d dust off an old classic: The utter absence of any factual documentation supporting their existence. Instead of revisiting well-trodden territory, I’m opting to investigate why people think they see ghosts, and how they can distinguish between the paranormal and the psychological. Psychologists have historically referred to ghost sightings as instances of a ‘sensed presence.’ They can be caused by changes in brain chemistry triggered by stress, lack of oxygen, and other cognitively-impairing circumstances. We sense a presence in situations that we already find disconcerting or stressful. Social alienation also plays a role in how humans materialize anxiety. In the journal article “The Social Psychology of Fear,” social psychologist Kurt Riezler describes fear as a primary response to feelings of social isolation, an anxiety more common among individuals who are grieving the deaths of loved ones. When a person close to us passes away, they leave an abrupt gap in our lives that we try to fill by imaging that their essence is still with us. Riezler describes death as a particularly intense anxiety because it’s so alienating. It is a truly impending terror for some people, and ghosts offer a solution to these existential fears. They suggest an ethereal life force that transcends our earthly existence. It gives us hope. We don’t just happen to see ghosts—we want to see them. I don’t mean to belittle those who believe in ghosts. My partner won’t enter a dark room alone if we’ve recently watched a horror movie, but I still respect her beliefs. However, we should aspire to conquer the unknown, knowing that, if we encounter a spectre along the way, it is not the ghost we should fear, but the deeper anxieties and neuroses that conjure the paranormal.

cartoon

The spookiest monster

Kellyane Levac Contributor

student living

TUESDAY. OCTOBER 30, 2018

Beyond the gates of Montreal’s cemeteries A peek inside Montreal’s spookiest necropolis of that night.

Gabriela McGuinty Staff Writer Montreal’s historic cemeteries inter the area’s most famous figures. This week, The McGill Tribune reviews the historic personas laid to rest around the city.

John Redpath (1796 – Mar. 5, 1869)

edpath was a businessman and philanthropist who helped industrialize Montreal in the early 19th century. He was also involved in major city projects including the the construction of the Lachine Canal in 1825 and the Notre Dame Church in 1829. These contributions made Montreal a central commercial trading hub and popularized Redpath’s success among city dwellers. After his death in 1869, he was buried in Mount Royal Cemetery.

Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead (25 Nov. 1895 - July 1954)

uried in the Hawthorn-Dale Cemetery, Whitehead gained infamy for delivering a sucker-punch that led to magician Harry Houdini’s death. He was a McGill student and an amateur boxer in the early 20th century. According to witnesses, on October 22, 1926, Whitehead visited Houdini in his dressing room before a Montreal performance and asked the magician if it was true that he could withstand punches to the abdomen. He then delivered several blows to the magician’s stomach as he was laying down. Over a week later, Houdini died on October 31, 1926 of severe appendicitis. Whitehead was never charged with a crime, but he did have to sign an affidavit for Houdini’s widow, Bess Houdini, recounting the events

David Ross McCord (18 Mar, 1844 –Apr. 12, 1930)

cCord was not only a Montreal native, but also a McGill law graduate and eventual magistrate. McCord, who is interred in Mount Royal Cemetery, gained national praise and fame by advocating for the rights of indigenous peoples in Canada. He later lobbied for the creation of a national museum dedicated to Canadian history in 1878. On Oct. 13, 1921 he got his wish when the McCord Museum opened its doors with a collection of 15,000 artifacts from McCord’s personal collection.

Sir John Abbott (Mar. 12, 1821 – Oct. 30, 1893)

bbott was the third prime minister of Canada, serving from 1891 to 1892. Another McGill law alumnus buried at Mount Royal Cemetery, Abbott began his career as an attorney, and soon became one of Montreal’s most prominent lawyers to date. He later returned to the university as a professor of law and earned a doctorate in civil law. Before his prime ministership, Abbott rose to national attention for successfully defending the perpetrators of the St. Albans Raid and for advocating for greater language diversity in Quebec by promoting the interests of Anglophone Quebecers.

Charles Meredith (Dec. 17, 1854 – Jan. 7, 1928)

eredith, who is now buried at Mount Royal Cemetery, was a banker and president of both the Montreal Stock

Many notable Montrealers are buried at Mount Royal Cemetery. (Taja de Silva/ The McGill Tribune)

Exchange and the then-prominent Canadian brokerage firm, C. Meredith & Co. In 1910, he became the president of Hillcress Collieries Ltd. and was director of the British & Colonial Press Service while sitting on the Montreal Board of Trade. Additionally, Meredith co-founded the Mount Royal Club and once owned the land on which the Ritz-Carlton Hotel was built. The Charles Meredith House, Meredith’s home located in the Golden Square Mile, is now used by McGill’s Faculty of Medicine, which houses the Departments of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health.

McGill-themed Halloween costumes DIY ideas to show off your school spirit

Mary Keith, Sophia White, Gabriela McGuinty, Lucy Keller, and Emma Carr

Dispatch avocado toast Lucy Keller, Contributor

Warning: Not only will your friends think the idea is cute, but they may find you irresistible, too. To start off, find a large brown shipping box that suits your body size. Next, cut out two square torso-sized pieces from the box to use as a base. Next, attach green construction paper to one of the pieces of toast and draw pepper on with a dark-coloured marker. The final step for the toast section of your costume is to find suspenders, preferably green, and attach them to your two pieces of toast. Lastly, any Instagram picture of the Dispatch toast would be incomplete without its pickled onions; to represent this topping, curl ribbon with scissors and attach it onto a headband. Voila, you look as scrumptious as the fluffy avocado toast at Dispatch.

Poli-sci bro Emma Carr, Student Living Editor

This costume requires minimal crafting and can be replicated using only a few wardrobe pieces: An oxford shirt, a pair of boat shoes, a pair of khakis, and a three-quarter zip sweater. To accessorize, tote around a thick stack of business cards and Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead—if anyone asks, you have definitely read it.

(Kaylina Kodick / The McGill Tribune)

Première Moisson Samosa coffee

OAP beer

Gabriela McGuinty, Staff Writer

For this project, pick up a flexible poster board and white felt, along with brown, red, black, and white paint. Put some newspaper down or go outside, because this is going to be a messy task. Fold the poster board into a circular shape and secure with adhesive. Next, paint the top portion white for foam, use the brown paint to resemble the beer, and, finally, paint the Sleeman and OAP logos onto the cup. Once the paint is dry, place felt around the edge to show foam leaking out, and use the remainder of the felt to create suspenders that hold the cup in place.

Start constructing the outfit with a hula hoop, tape, brown turtleneck, white sheet, and sharpie. Begin by draping the white sheet over the top of the hula hoop, pulling the fabric taut and securing it with tape. This will be be the lid for your coffee cup. To replicate the coffee cup’s cylindrical shape, tape the remaining white fabric to the sides of the hula hoop, and carefully wrap it around the entirety of the hoop. Once finished, cut three slits—one large enough for your head at the top and two others at opposite sides, to accommodate your arms. Lastly, draw the Premiere Moisson logo on the middle of one side of the sheet. To complete the outfit, don a coffeebrown turtleneck.

Sophia White, Contributor

To dress as every McGillian’s favorite snack, use an oversized tan hoodie as a base and construct a triangle hat with brown construction paper or cardstock to emulate samosas’ distinct tetrahedral shape. For another creative touch, print out images of samosa filling ingredients and attach them to your abdomen. Then, tape another piece of solid brown paper on top to act as a flap, which can be lifted up to show off the tasty ‘filling.’ To round off the look, carry around a styrofoam cup of chutney with a plastic spoon and a stack of newspaper sheets.

Mary Keith, Staff Writer

Cultivating understanding What cults can teach us about the need for belonging Along with serial killers and Cold War conspiracy theories, few topics reliably elicit as much morbid fascination as cults. There’s a near compulsive readability to the Wikipedia entries for Jonestown, the Manson Family, and the Branch Davidians that, as far as midterm procrastination is concerned, can’t be substituted for more wholesome online histories. While their stories each combine a measure of conspiracy and murder, part of the allure of researching cults is the process of indoctrination their members undergo. The actions of cult members make headlines, but the motivations behind joining such groups remain obscure. If loneliness constitutes vulnerability to cults, university campuses are by no means safe havens from feelings of isolation. And of course, if one considers the average McGill student obtaining a vague degree en route to a vague future occupation, there’s something undeniably fascinating about the clarity of purpose exhibited by cult members. In spite of these potential draws, cults are surrounded by a remarkablydurable mythos. The popular idea of a cult—a group of mesmerized followers, preyed upon by a preternaturally-persuasive leader—masks an even more uncomfortable reality: It doesn’t require ‘brainwashing’ for people to act in ways that outsiders find unthinkable. Among the most unsettling cult histories bound for cable miniseries fame is that of the Branch Davidians, an apocalyptic Christian group led by David Koresh, whose twomonth standoff with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in 1993 was a flashpoint for cults’ prominent bearing in North American

Keating Reid Opinion Editor

consciousness. The violent affair began with the ATF’s attempted execution of a search warrant at the Mount Carmel Centre ranch on Feb. 28. It remains unknown which side fired the first shot, but on Apr. 19, 50 days after the standoff began, the ATF made their final assault. Seventy-two Branch Davidians died in the chaos that ensued, including Koresh. Though the Branch Davidians are a more recent example, no group has contributed more to the popular imagination of cults than Peoples Temple and its leader, Jim Jones. Jones started Peoples Temple in 1955, preaching an eccentric blend of pentecostal Christianity and Marxism. In 1977, facing allegations of physical abuse and fraud, Jones and several hundred Peoples Temple members fled the United States to establish a community in Guyana. When California Congressman Leo Ryan visited Jonestown in 1978 to investigate allegations of abuse, Jones ordered his security forces to kill Ryan before instructing the Temple’s members to commit mass suicide. Armed guards distributed fruit juice spiked with cyanide. Most members drank it. On Nov. 18, 1978, 909 people died, the highest single-day death toll for Americans until Sept. 11, 2001. Decades before the Branch Davidians, the 909 deaths in Guyana horrified the United States. It was not just the huge death toll that made the Jonestown massacre so chilling; that one man could convince hundreds to commit suicide was unfathomable. The events stoked a prevalent Cold War anxiety: Mind control. In the paranoid Cold War era, the idea of villainous Marxists brainwashing Americans was stewing in pop culture well before Jonestown. Over the course of the Korean War, thousands of American prisoners of war petitioned the government to cease the conflict, and 23 even refused repatriation. The appeal of communism eluded American officials, and a series of outlandish confessions obtained from captured American soldiers spurred

suspicion of the North Koreans’ use of mind control tactics. The growing hysteria provided the fuel for the horrific MKUltra experiments that were conducted at McGill and elsewhere. Deviations from American ideological norms were censored at an unprecedented rate in the 20th century, and the politics of paranoia provided the basis for the attempted development of real psychological warfare. The appeal of explaining subversive behaviour through brainwashing is that it draws a clear line between the ‘afflicted’ and everyday individuals, refuting the implication that we, in our normal mental states, are vulnerable to exploitation. The mind control explanation for cult behaviour risks obscuring the more pressing question of what these groups provide their members, as well as the power of less fantastical mechanisms of behaviour-shifting. According to Mike Kropveld, director of Info-Cult, sensational explanations like mind control underestimate the power of simple social pressure. “Some people like this brainwashing imagery, just because it tends to convey a simplistic formula,” Kropveld said. “At the same time, for some people, it also gives them the sense that ‘I’m not really responsible, I was brainwashed.’ Now what some people [think is] going on are ‘techniques of influence,’ which I lean toward, as well as socialization. I think sometimes [these are] not given credence, just because they don’t have that magical energy.” Founded nearly 40 years ago, Kropveld’s group researches alleged cults—though Kropveld has reservations about the word given the gravity of its connotations and its broad scope of definition—and provides support services to former members. In 1980, students from Hillel McGill founded Cult Project, Info-Cult’s predecessing group, in response to the Jonestown massacre. It set out with the purpose of investigating young people’s specific susceptibility to groups like Jones’. Today, it is the only group of its kind in Canada. Socialization—the process by which new members change their behaviour to conform to the norms of a group—can account for much of how group membership affects individual behaviour. Members adopt new ways of seeing the world by osmosis, and while it’s not the mind control seen in movies like The Manchurian Candidate or Zoolander, it can shape and limit how members make life decisions. “[Socialization] is different,” Kropveld said. “The group doesn’t force you, it leads you […] down a certain path, but they’re only giving you one path to walk down. You’ve got choices, but you don’t have many options.” The Branch Davidian tragedy at Waco points to a failure of the brainwashing theory for addressing the realities of extremist groups. Rick Ross, the self-described ‘cult expert’ and ‘deprogrammer’ consulted by the FBI during the siege, conceived of Koresh’s followers as victims of mental capture, rather than true believers in Koresh’s apocalyptic prophecies. Ross suggested that the FBI aggressively criticize Koresh’s personal shortcomings to break his brainwashing spell over his followers, which would lead the Davidians to surrender. The tactic proved totally ineffective. Ross failed to consider that the group, abusive as it was to many members, for others, fulfilled fundamental emotional needs; or that, even after the supposed end to the Cold War two years prior, his apocalyptic readings of the Bible might be persuasive. Members of the group were not forced or tricked into believing Koresh’s radical, apocalyptic reading of Christianity; they were drawn to it. “The need to believe and the need to belong in something are very important, which can lead some people to get involved in groups that [have…] very closed and very extreme, simplistic views of the world and how people should be treated,” Kropveld said. The needs to believe and belong can also inform an understanding of Peoples Temple. Racial segregation shut Black Americans out of civic life in late-‘50s Indiana. Jones was radically anti-racist for his time, railing against the evils of Jim Crow from the pulpit. He heavily recruited from Indianapolis’ black community and, importantly, he knew how to talk to politicians. “White leaders continued agreeing to meet whenever black ministers asked, and, afterward, nothing changed—except when Jim Jones was involved,” Jeff Guinn wrote in his nonfiction account of the Peoples Temple, The Road to Jonestown. “White officials came to Peoples Temple and followed through on promises made there about minor issues like pothole repair or more up-to-date school textbooks, perhaps, but such things were significant compared to the complete failure of black ministers to get anything at all for their congregants [….] Far from mistrusting [Jones] because of his race, they considered it an advantage. He preached like a black man and got things done like a white one.” Jones wasn’t just a charismatic leader or a con man—he provided meaningful support for people with legitimate needs. This was the key to his success: Jones identified a vulnerability and exploited it to his own ends. Imagining members as brainwashed automatons glosses over the fundamental reasons why groups like Peoples Temple exist. CBC Radio One’s podcast Uncover: Escaping NXIVM

explores the thorny nuances of why people join such groups. The series focuses on Sarah Edmondson, a former member of the self-help group and alleged sex-cult NXIVM. The group made headlines last year when The New York Times published an interview with Edmondson in which she recounted her experiences as a highlevel NXIVM member. She was one of a select few NXIVM members invited to join Dominus Obsequious Sororium (DOS), an all-female subgroup within NXIVM, whose rituals involved being branded with NXIVM founder Keith Raniere’s initials. Uncover follows Edmondson’s process of leaving the group behind, both physically and psychologically. Josh Bloch, the show’s host, spoke to the Tribune about the fraught nature of ascribing blame in NXIVM’s nebulous and unusual world. “It was really frustrating how people would jump to conclusions about people’s intentions or roles in the group,” Bloch said. “As a team, we would certainly debate stuff, change our minds, and learn new information [that] would take us off on a whole other course [….] If everything was too cut-and-dry, it might lack the nuance and the complexity that’s necessary when you’re doing a deep dive and a deep investigation. You should end up in messy places.” Brainwashing explanations lack this nuanced approach. CBC’s podcast looks past the worn stereotype of cult members as glassy-eyed robots: When Edmondson discovered NXIVM, she was a motivated go-getter working as an actress in Vancouver, British Columbia. Uncover dives into what NXIVM provided for Edmondson. NXIVM preached self-improvement as a vehicle to change the world. If their message reached a critical mass of followers, they claimed, it could usher in a new era of enlightened, compassionate thought. “When there’s chaos and you feel like you want to make the world a better place, when somebody offers you that opportunity, it makes sense,” Kathleen Goldhar, one of the show’s producers, said in an interview with the Tribune. “It’s the same reason [why] I give to the women’s shelter in my community, because I want to do something for a cause that I feel like matters. They found people [for whom] that’s a high priority, and they convinced them that trickle-down humanitarianism made sense.” The mixture of noble goals and life-shattering results makes Edmondson’s culpability a knotty issue. She was a high-ranking member, and a true believer in NXIVM. Like Bloch, Goldhar emphasized the importance of avoiding any pretenses to certainty. People and their motivations are too complex to draw any bright lines between victim and perpetrator. “The truth is, we never came to any final decisions about anybody. I never figured

“ I think what I’ve figured out is that

the reason [that] cults exist is the reason that religion exists, that groups exist, that political parties exist. It’s because we want to belong, and it’s just a stronger, more manipulative way of making people feel like they belong.

”

out Sarah fully [and] I never figured out Keith fully,” said Goldhar. “I think what I’ve figured out [is that] the reason [that] cults exist is the reason that religion exists, that groups exist, that political parties exist. It’s because we want to belong, and it’s just a stronger, more manipulative way of making people feel like they belong.” For members, cults seem to fill the gaps of normative membership in society. Leaders prey upon the discontent and the lonely and provide them with a sense of belonging. As the overflowing registry at McGill Mental Health can testify, the typical McGill student is no stranger to feelings of displeasure and alienation. In providing a reassuring sense of community and purpose, cults hold a specific appeal for young adults. There are serious problems in the systems we inhabit, and, though enrolling in a cult is frequently a path to exploitation, examining their appeal can help illuminate these existing problems. In almost every case, however, these groups provide something lacking from conventional societal membership. Othering cult members as ‘brainwashed’ neglects to consider what exactly these groups are providing that society isn’t. As far as membership is concerned, Kropveld holds one hard and fast rule: “Beware of anyone with easy answers.”

student living

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018

MAPP MTL dazzles the Quartier des Spectacles

Local artists in spirit

Sophia White Contributor From Oct. 18 to 20, MAPP MTL hosted its third annual mapping festival in collaboration with Quartier des Spectacles. The yearly festival celebrates video mapping, an art form in which images are projected onto an urban landscape. At this year’s event, three artists showcased a series of original, interactive video projections to the attendees, who were then given the opportunity to vote on their favourites. This lively celebration brought the Montreal community together and highlighted the innovative potential of technologically-driven art. The theme of this year’s mapping competition was ‘parallel realities.’ All three of the interactive installations projected visitors’ realtime movements alongside fantastical animations onto building facades, creating imaginative and futuristic art pieces. Thien Vu Dang, executive and artistic director and co-founder of MAPP MTL, explained how, in this way, the art form obscures the boundary between reality and illusion. “[The theme of parallel realities] comes from the identity of mapping,” Vu Dang said. “What’s interesting

This year’s iteration of the festival feautured several interactive video installations. (Sophia White / The McGill Tribune)

about mapping is this directlyintuitive augmenting of actual reality.” The three competing artists projected their work outside of the Saint-Laurent metro station. The first, “Point de rencontre” by Ensemble Ensemble, generated a virtual clone of viewers dancing nearby. hub studio’s “MurMur” enabled visitors to engage with an endearing animated giant by speaking into a tin can telephone. Thomas Ouellet Fredericks’ surreal piece, “la légèreté de l’être,” captured visitors’ images and animated them to appear as though they were cascading

down the facade of the wall. The public was encouraged to attend the festival during the first two nights and vote for their favourite projection. On the third night, “MurMur” was crowned the winner of the public vote, while “la légèreté de l’être” was selected by a professional panel composed of Vu Dang and other Montreal-based experts on mapping technology. One of the festival’s defining qualities was its direct engagement between the public and the art. Vu Dang emphasized that the festival’s success was dependent upon the

interaction with the audience, and that enlivened the art. “The public plays an important role in the creation,” Vu Dang said. “Without the public, the creation doesn’t exist. So, the creation becomes alive with the audience.” In the weeks leading up to the final contest, MAPP MTL hosted a variety of other interactive events to engage the public, including “Map Your Neighbourhood,” a creative workshop which taught adults and children how to animate their own drawings, orchestrated by Montreal artist VJ Suave. Suave equipped his

bicycle with a projector and invited participants to follow him throughout Rosemont, the Plateau, and Quartier des Spectacles to tour the festival grounds. The bike projected the drawings, which came to life on their neighbourhood’s walls and streets. The final showcase evening was a celebratory event, designed to be an experience unlike anything attendees had seen before. The projections captivated festival-goers and inspired viewers to interact with the exhibition. Vu Dang compared the artwork showcased at the festival to other major artistic breakthroughs in history. “This art form reminds me a bit of the beginning of cinema,” Vu Dang said. “For people who saw [the first films ever], it was like magic. [MAPP MTL has taken this a step further], and, now, the image is transforming the space around people.” MAPP MTL showcased the art of mapping, engaged the Montreal community, and pushed the boundaries of technologicallyprojected art. The festival also embodied Montreal’s unique artistic culture and brought local artists together with art enthusiasts of all ages into a shared space. “A very personal connection with the city, that’s what that project created,” Vu Dang said.

Promoting consent culture at McGill A Q&A with Chloe Garcia from IMPACTS

Mary Keith Staff Writer Over the past year, McGill students have engaged in a necessary conversation about consent on campus: On Oct. 11, 2017, SSMU signed off on the Our Turn Action Plan, an initiative aimed to combat rape culture on campus. The McGill Tribune spoke to Chloe Garcia, Faculty of Education graduate student and volunteer at IMPACTS, a multidisciplinary effort to address sexual violence on university campuses, to discuss the importance of fostering a healthy consent culture on campus. McGill Tribune (MT): What is consent culture? Chloe Garcia (CG): “I view it as a culture where asking for consent is normalized as an essential part of [both] sexual relationships [and] non-romantic relationships. Consent culture [refers to…] everyday media and popular culture [....] Media shapes how we think about sexuality and also impacts how we behave. Media is a great tool to raise awareness about what consent is, why it is important to have a consent culture, and provide steps to improve our current society.” MT: What are barriers to consent culture? CG: “There are many barriers to consent culture caused by harmful perceptions and stereotypes about women and marginalized communities [.... This includes] patriarchal ideologies where women are devalued, but they can also refer to rape myth[s], such as, ‘she was asking for it’ or ‘men don’t get raped’ [....] Another barrier [...] is current misconceptions of feminism.” MT: How can the McGill community work to overcome those barriers? CG: “We need to work together to overcome these barriers through [administrative channels] like [the] McGill

administration, faculty, and student leaders [.... By] opening dialogue, listening to each other, modeling respectful behaviour, [and...] intervening [when we witness abusive behaviour], we can take better [...] responsibility for the wellbeing of our community.” MT: As part of Consent McGill you hosted the “Let’s Talk About Consent Culture! A Vlog-Making workshop.” What do you hope students took away from the workshop? CG: “I do research in the Faculty of Education on teaching about consent and sexual violence with YouTube vlogs, [and I ...] run workshops on vlogging to promote consent culture. This specific workshop featured conversations about what consent and consent culture [are and...] what we perceive to be barriers. We looked at interventions focused on social change, particularly how YouTube vloggers [...] promote dialogue, raise awareness about consent and sexual violence, and show support to survivors. We practiced making our own videos [to...] share our vision of the type of change we would like to see, [which] will eventually [...] be made available to the McGill community within the next few months.” MT: Has McGill done enough to promote consent culture? CG: “McGill has taken great strides to improve the community, such as working with IMPACTS and student organizations [....] There is always room to grow [....] [McGill needs to address] unresolved issues on campus with professors accused of sexual misconduct [....] I always think there is room for improvement, but it will not be that easy to change a culture.” MT: How should students talk with their peers about consent culture? CG: “I think that any language is appropriate when talking about sexual violence, sexual consent, and consent culture. It’s very important that we do not dwell on formal

versus informal terms [....] There have been recent complaints about students using colloquial [...] language to talk about their experiences with sexual violence, [but...] this use of language is not always well-received [....] It’s important not to dismiss allegations on the basis that formal language wasn’t used. Not everyone knows legal terms or can concretely express [their experiences].”

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

tuesday, october 30, 2018

Drawn & Quarterly applauds two of its groundbreaking writers Celebrating an art form ahead of its time Leo Stillinger Staff Writer Continued from page 1. “It all goes back to Julie,” Chris Oliveros, Drawn & Quarterly’s founder said. “She set the tone for everything at Drawn & Quarterly.” The Dirty Plotte series, published throughout the ‘90s, was edgy, feminist, and ahead of its time. In an interview at the launch with feminist scholar Martine Delvaux, whose essay “My Secret Julie Doucet” is included in the newly-published collection, Doucet described the joy of re-reading her earliest works. “It was complete freedom,” Doucet said. “It was so fresh and so energetic.” When Doucet first began publishing, she was one of the first women to break into the comic book world’s boys’ club. Her frank and feminist depictions of graphic sexual content only magnified the division between Doucet and her male peers. “I guess it surprised them,” Doucet said, laughing. Her male counterparts may have been surprised at the time, but Doucet paved the way for the next generations of female cartoonists. Jason Lutes’ Berlin strikes a stark contrast in tone and content to Dirty Plotte: It is a 22-chapter historical epic retelling the story of the Weimar Republic. In an engaging presentation, Lutes traced his own personal history, beginning with a childhood spent hunched over comics in the corner of a magazine shop in Missoula, Montana. His early obsession with superheroes and Westerns was augmented by a love for Tintin, encouraged by his father, a French professor at the University of Montana. After attending the Rhode Island School of Design to study ‘real art,’ specifically drawing, he came to realize that comic books, rather

than a childhood triviality, were an equally valid vehicle for expression. Comic books could be relevant to eager children and thoughtful adults alike. “Comics [are] an art form for anyone, no matter what kind of story you want to tell,” said Lutes. After graduating in 1991, Lutes got a job creating a serialized comic strip for the Seattle-based indie magazine The Stranger. Recalling that Tintin had also begun as a serialized strip in Belgium, Lutes turned the job into his own “self-education in comics.” This work was eventually collected into his first book, Jar of Fools. Berlin, Lutes’ most ambitious endeavour, was born from a chance encounter with a collection of Bertolt Brecht’s paintings. Envisioning a historical work, Lutes plunged into the history of the Weimar Republic. Starting when he was just 26, Lutes planned a sixhundred-page work and estimated that he would finish it by the time he turned forty. As it happened, he was fifty by the time he completed Berlin’s 22nd and final chapter this year. “I missed some deadlines,” Lutes quipped. The result of nearly twenty-five years of work, Berlin is a comic magnum opus on an unprecedented scale, tracing the lives of more than a dozen characters during the rise of Nazism. It is one of the fullest expressions yet of the narrative and artistic potential latent in the comic book form. The same can be said for Doucet’s Dirty Plotte, which, in its collected, newly-republished entirety, rivals Berlin in length. Thursday’s book launch was a celebration of the growth of the comic book as an art form, and of two of its greatest and most artful exemplars. It was also a celebration of the seminal role that Drawn & Quarterly has played in this growth of the form, the results of which are already echoing far beyond the island of Montreal.

Comics are an underappreciated art form. (Julie Doucet)

‘Halloween’ is a fresh remake with style and substance Director David Gordon Green contributes much needed updates to the horror genre Christina Stackpole Contributor Halloween (2018), the reboot of John Carpenter’s 1978 horror classic of the same name, combines expert filmmaking and fiery performances. With a sly play on genre tropes and a refreshing dose of social commentary, Halloween is a welcome addition to the horror canon. It offers genuine scares while critiquing modern desensitization to mass violence and challenging the stereotypes of female horror protagonists. In making Halloween, writer and director David Gordon Green, along with co-writer, and frequent collaborator, Danny McBride (Pineapple Express, Eastbound and Down) ignored the original film’s seven sequels. Halloween returns to Haddonfield, Illinois exactly forty years after the masked serial killer Michael Myers’ (Nick Castle) ‘babysitter murders,’ of which then-seventeen-year-old Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) was the sole survivor. Laurie, now a grandmother, has never healed from the trauma of her ordeal; she has isolated herself in a doomsday bunker in the woods, waiting to exact her revenge. Laurie’s daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) struggle with their strained relationships with her, but when Myers escapes from prison, the three generations of Strode women must either hunt together, or be hunted. This year, films like Hereditary and A Quiet Place have proven that artistically-bold and character-driven horror films can lead to box office success. Halloween jumps on the bandwagon, taking a surprising number of stylistic risks for a mainstream slasher, especially in its cinematography. Director of photography Michael Simmonds laces the film with some truly stunning visuals, including suspenseful long takes,

surreal lighting, and optical illusions using shadows. While it would be remiss to call Halloween a horror comedy, Green and McBride tap into their trademark sharp-witted humor for some genuinely funny sequences. Still, the comedy does not overshadow the horror, which remains visceral and grounded in reality. Indeed, Halloween does not shy away from practical gore effects, depicting some stomach-churning deaths. Green and McBride have updated the restrained, understated horror of the original, replacing it with a more gruesome and believable terror. As Alison and her friends point out, in a world where terrorism and gun violence have made death into just another daily headline, it takes a lot more than suburban teenagers’ stab wounds to make an impact. As Myers snaps necks and crushes skulls, against bone-chilling sound effects, Green and McBride intentionally prompt the viewer to reconsider why it takes so much for modern audiences to feel moved by suffering and death. Modern horror remakes have a bad rap of either failing to capture the spirit of the original or producing a lacklustre, identical copy. Green and McBride manage to walk the line between homage and innovation—a dash of ‘70s flair and a handful of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it references to the original garnish an already engaging story. Halloween also relies on a strong supporting cast. While the usual suspects are all present—the hot blonde, the comic relief, the clueless boyfriend—Green and McBride’s writing turns these classic tropes on their heads to create sympathetic protagonists and subvert predictable narrative beats. The amped-up violence is not the only component of the film rife with Green’s social commentary. Arguably, Halloween’s greatest strength is its female leads. Jamie Lee Curtis infuses her iconic role with charisma and raw emotion, sup-

ported by excellent performances from Greer and Matichak. Green and McBride are not interested in fetishizing violence against women—in fact, most of Myers’ victims are men. The combined forces of three generations of Strode women are an inspiring example of the potential that horror, a genre often criticized for misogyny, holds. The women in Halloween are proof that scream queens do not have to be virginal, flawlessly beautiful, barely clothed, or brutally abused to carry a horror film. On the shoulders of its three heroines, Halloween succeeds at hearkening back to the beloved classic, while giving it a grisly yet socially-conscious update for the twenty-first century. Green and McBride prove that as a genre, horror can be both canonical and reflexive.

‘Halloween’ is a subversive twist on a classic. (variety.com)

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

tuesday, october 30, 2018

‘Coven’ showcases growing movement of spooky drag Local queens celebrate the intersection of gore and glamour

IRL/URL by The Fridge Door Gallery

Celebrate the beauty of tech with this gallery’s fall vernissage. Nov. 2, 6-10 p.m., Espace 8.

Open Minds // Open Mic: McSWAY Poetry Open Mic Night Check out some of McGill’s finest performing spoken word poetry— there will be snacks! Nov. 2, 6-8 p.m., Building 21.

In Praise of Nothing - Quebec premiere Iggy Pop narrates the misadventures of a character called Nothing in this documentary parody. Nov. 5, 7-10 p.m., Cinema Politica Concordia.

Yaeji // One More The tour Mellow out to the KoreanAmerican Brooklyn-based electronic music artist. Nov. 2, 8-11 p.m., Corona Theatre.

Claudine Loop Contributor This Halloween weekend, The Diving Bell Social Club was packed for Coven, a monthly show hosted by local drag family House of Laureen. Despite the large crowd, there was a captivating intimacy to the night; queens frequently shared inside jokes with returning audience members. While not everyone was familiar with this rapport, the audience was united by a sense of community and purpose: To celebrate queer performers and bring about change through radical art. Throughout the night, drag and burlesque artists performed lip-syncs to songs that challenged gender norms. The queens defied divisions between femininity and masculinity: Some performed songs with male vocals in stereotypically-feminine attire, while others, such as Anaconda LaSabrosa, who sported both a beard and a heavily-padded female form, chose to visually blur the gender binary. Unconventional, spooky drag is having a moment. With its supernaturally-inspired numbers and gory special effects, Coven celebrated drag aesthetics of horror, filth, and glamour, as popularized by shows like Dragula. Indeed, the television

show, hosted by the Boulet Brothers and now on its third season, was referenced frequently over the course of the night—a nod to the spike in popularity the trend of horror-inspired drag has seen over the past year or so. Other performers frequently compared 18-year-old performer Demone LaSlave to the popular Dragula queen James Majesty, and perhaps most notably, Anaconda LaSabrosa, one of the performers, is rumoured to be a contender for the third season of Dragula. An alternative to the more mainstream aesthetics of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Dragula places more emphasis on creativity and artistic expression, and less on the grotesque displays of emotional trauma that more popular shows like Drag Race have embraced. While mainstream drag often judges queens based on femininity and polish, this subculture values artistry, performance, and shock value differently; its repertoire includes aliens, demonic nuns, and monsters. The emphasis is on creativity rather than gender performance, proving that gender is just as performative as any other product of the imagination. Coven compellingly borrowed from the spooky drag trend. Host of the night Selma Gahd’s debut performance consisted of her pre-

‘Coven’ is an all-seasons treat for lovers of drag. (Julia Spicer / The McGill Tribune) tending to eat a disturbingly-realistic bloody heart. It was a visceral, haunting performance, equal parts revolting and intriguing. Pythia, one of the first performers, was burned at the stake in pure white witch’s attire. Uma Gahd performed a delightfullycampy number where she feigned being stabbed to death in the shower. Despite the graphic gore, House of Laureen kept an eye to the audience’s well-being. Instead of maintaining the edgy aesthetic at all costs, the queens masterfully approached

themes of consent, without bringing the mood down. At the end of the show, the queens invited audience members to privately disclose anything that made them feel uncomfortable or unsafe about any aspect of the show. This fresh and exciting perspective on drag, a monthly event at The Diving Bell, was a joy to experience. House of Laureen’s newest show is, without a doubt, a welcome addition to the Montreal queer scene with this thrilling yet thoughtful production.

Is it People releases first EP ‘Living Inside’ McGill indie rock duo does DIY recording Kevin Vogel Staff Writer On Oct. 5, Is it People, the indie rock duo comprised of vocalist-guitarist-bassist Antoine Gallois, BCom ’18, and drummer Romain Peynichou, U3 Arts, released their first EP, Living Inside. Although it only features four tracks, Living Inside has been an ongoing project for the two musicians since October 2017, when they began casually playing together on the weekends. “When we started jamming, there was no decision that […] we were going to make an EP out of this,” Gallois said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “When we took the Christmas break we were like, ‘These [sessions were] pretty cool. Let’s think about them and see if we can do something with them when we come back.’” And so, Gallois and Peynichou recorded most of the EP over the Winter 2018 reading week, adding the finishing touches over the summer. All the recording took place in Peynichou’s bedroom. “It was very DIY,” Gallois said. “Romain didn’t have that many microphones […] so we just borrowed some mics from McGill [and] from Romain’s friends.” Peynichou attributes the success of this impromptu setup to the resources available at the McGill library as well as support from the tight-knit local music community. Beyond the makeshift recording setup, the two took an experimental approach to producing the project. While artists typically go into recording with some plan of what they hope to create, Is it People improvised

much of Living Inside’s instrumentals. “We had these jams, we recorded them, and it’s after we recorded that we really made these decisions and really tortured ourselves with what we were going to do with them,” Gallois said. “It made it super hard, but fun and a good experiment.” Owing to their lack of musicians, Is it People makes many of their stylistic decisions based on their status as a duo. Whereas a standard four-piece band involves a singer, guitarist, bassist and drummer, Gallois and Peynichou needed to record each of these instrumentals separately, and then layer them on top of each other in the editing process. According to Peynichou, this allowed them to build a fuller sound, and creates a unique aesthetic. “On the record [there are] two guitars playing, a bass, keys, drums, and vocals, so we’d need other people if we want to perform it, so the music kind of lives only on the software,” Gallois said. Much like Living Inside, Is it People had a spontaneous beginning. Gallois and Peynichou met during their first year at McGill and quickly figured out that they shared similar musical tastes. By their second year, they started playing together in Montreal jam crowds and, eventually, tried to form a band with others. While that band never got off the ground, Gallois and Peynichou found that they enjoyed working with each other and decided to continue playing together. The duo drew inspiration for Living Inside from one of their favourite bands, Tame Impala, as well as their own experiences as students. Their lyrics discuss themes of loneliness and longing, and they frequently reference

Fans can look forward to new music from Is It People in the future. (Theo Scherer) people they met during their university careers. “The EP actually talks a lot about being inside your own head and dealing with those lonely hours that we can have as McGill students,” Peynichou said. While both Gallois and Peynichou currently have their hands full with their academic careers, they are eager to continue experimenting and producing music as members of Is it People. “I think right when we released [Living Inside...] I was like ‘oh, I can’t wait to make another one,’” Gallois said.

science & technology

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018

The psychology of fear

How horror movies work and why we go back for more Emma Gillies Staff Writer For some, Halloween means curling up on the couch and watching a favourite horror movie. The resulting jump scares, hellish demons, and bloody deaths provoke an emotion we are all too familiar with: Fear. “Fear is an emotional state—the unpleasant feeling of being afraid—that emerges when we perceive an imminent threat to our safety,” Josué Haubrich, a postdoctoral researcher in McGill’s Department of Psychology, wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. The stimulus that invokes a fear response is often a physical threat, such as heights or spiders. However, it can also be psychological, as is the case with a fear of midterms or social rejection. When a person encounters a particularly-frightening stimulus, the brain reacts and sends signals to the rest of their body, which can result in a faster heart rate, shortness of breath, muscle tension, shaking, and feelings of panic and uneasiness. Despite the sweaty palms and occasional screams conjured up by horror movies, many of us intentionally subject ourselves to situations that make us feel scared. Interestingly, this morbid attraction to fear is a product of evolution for humans and other mammals, honed by a long-time association between fear and survival.

“Fear is a natural and beneficial emotion that actually helps to keep us safe,” Haubrich wrote. In fact, research suggests that humans have even evolved to enjoy experiencing fear in safe contexts. Like riding rollercoasters or playing hide and seek, watching horror movies enables us to trigger the instinctual thrill of adrenaline rushes while avoiding the costs of any actual danger. Developing a familiarity with fear even lets us establish coping strategies for dealing with real scares later in life. “For most people, I think this is related [to] an avidity we have in experiencing different emotions,” Haubrich wrote. “Real-life threatening experiences trigger a number of biological responses aimed to prepare our [....bodies] for fight-or-flight responses. Part of these responses are triggered by horror films, and some people enjoy experiencing it in a safe environment.” Humans like to experience emotions, especially the kinds that linger after the fact. This phenomenon is known as the ‘excitation transfer process,’ in which the physical reactions that accompany fear during the movie are later replaced with relief and intense positive feelings. On the other hand, uncontrollable fear—the main cause of many anxietyrelated disorders—is problematic and can even be incapacitating. The continuum of mild to severe fear

Halloween and the horror film industry celebrate fear and the human mind. (medium.com) is a result of the interaction of different factors, including genetic variability— which gives individuals a predisposition to be fearful of something—as well as developmental factors such as childhood neglect or traumatic experiences. These factors influence why some people despise horror movies and why others can’t seem to get enough of them. Another, gentler, factor may also be at work. Horror movies tend to evoke fear because they toy with empathy. They often involve characters that are not so different from us, arousing our ability to share others’ feelings. The fear is much more real when we can relate to the characters, which is why more empathetic viewers, who react very negatively to human suffering, tend to dislike horror movies.

Hollywood understands the psychology behind fear and uses it to enhance the effect of horror movies. These films play into common human fears such as the dark, the unusual, and death. Cinematically, they use techniques such as excessive use of negative space, spooky music, and prolonged scenes to make the audience tense and uncomfortable. Still, our reactions to scary movies are not simply a product of the film industry’s clever techniques; they’re the result of life experience, personality, and human evolution. Similarly, Halloween is not simply a celebration of fear. As a day now known for its consumerism, costumes, and candy, Halloween’s more basic foundation is a celebration of the creativity of the human mind.

A sustainable environment and basic income go hand-in-hand Fees from a carbon tax can be put toward unconditional basic income

Karan Kumar Contributor In recognition of the International day for the Eradication of Poverty on Oct. 17, Asian Women for Equality hosted a panel discussion on the synergy between a guaranteed livable income and an environmentallysustainable future. In the face of the current environmental crisis, there is a need for a massive upheaval of individual and societal behaviours. According to Rob Rainer from the Basic Income Canada Network, the unconditional provision of a regular, reliable basic income could be a crucial component of this larger paradigm shift. “We need time to reflect on issues broader than our own survival,” Rainer said. “A basic income can provide a foundation and springboard for this reflection [.…] It can provide a sense of calm when you wake up in the morning.” Canadian policy already includes some programs that act like basic income, such as the Canada Child Tax Benefit, which

helps eligible families raise their children, and the Old Age Security program which assists Canadian seniors. However, as Rainer pointed out, there is a ‘missing middle’ in these income assistance programs, and the Canadian working class that is sandwiched between the youth and the elderly does not have access to robust welfare systems. Despite setbacks, such as the recent cancelling of the basic income pilot project in Ontario, Rainer believes in the value of basic income to a sustainable economy. “[A basic income] could be an expression of our collective willingness to be there for each other,” Rainer said. The adoption of a Carbon Fee and Dividend Policy, which charges a fee on carbon-based fuels and distributes the gains through dividend cheques, could be the key to financing a proposed basic income transfer. For instance, taxing activities that exacerbate climate change, like burning fossil fuels, can provide the revenue for a basic income. While obtaining a Canadian basic income might be feasible in

Debates surrounding basic income leave refugees out of the equation. (basicincome.ord) the not-too-distant future, there is little, if any, discussion on the position of refugees in the debate. Paul Clarke, executive director of Action Réfugiés Montréal, referenced an increased modern risk of small island populations getting displaced and ending up as ‘climate displaced refugees.’ According to Clarke, policies like a basic income are usually reserved for citizens or permanent residents of a nation, leaving out migrants. Policies that address

basic income for refugees could be crucial in helping environmental refugees adjust to life in a new country. Many believe that achieving a universal basic income is a utopian fantasy. However, success stories from other parts of the world exist. Manitoba implemented MINCOME, a basic income pilot project between 1974 and 1979. More recently, basic income programs have improved social outcomes in

regions in Namibia and India. “[A basic income] is certainly practical, as it has proven to work in many parts of the world,” Toby Davine, communications officer in the McGill Office of Sustainability, said. “It is backed by research and could be feasible in a country as wealthy as Canada. I like the part where a basic income provides the freedom to choose a job that you enjoy. For most of the world, [this] is not the case.”

science & technology

tuesday, october 30, 2018

United Nations stresses climate conundrum Recent UN report sheds light on Canada’s environmental future Ronny Litvack-Katzman Staff Writer Continued from page 1.

An International Dilemma Earlier this month, the IPCC released its special climate change assessment report, reiterating many of the same proposals it had asked world leaders to consider almost three decades ago. Titled “Global Warming of 1.5˚C,” the report states that the earth’s temperature increases must be kept below 1.5˚C of pre-industrial levels, or else risk disastrous consequences to our social and ecological systems. Irreversible changes to world climate are expected as soon as 2030, by which time the world is expected to have exceeded its carbon budget. “A lot of the focus prior to the Paris Agreement had been on 2.0˚C of warming,” Kirsten Zickfeld, a lead author on the IPCC special report, said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “However, many vulnerable nations, such as small island states and nations in the developing world, are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.” Their desperate call for action prompted the IPCC to reevaluate their recommendations, leading to the publication of this most recent report. After over a year of research, the IPCC concluded that 2.0˚C of warming was too generous an estimate for island nations and countries with coastal infrastructure. “Two degrees is something that many of these countries could not adapt to,” Zickfeld said. “The effects would be too serious.” The 1.5˚C threshold is an aggregated measure based on the findings of various studies. It represents the IPCC’s best estimate for the point at which there will be devastating natural phenomena beyond human control. Unfortunately, according to Nigel Roulet, professor of geography and director of the Global Environmental and Climate Change Research Centre at McGill, many places, such as Afghanistan and Kuwait, are either nearing or have already surpassed this threshold. “Even if we completely stopped carbon emissions now, we would expect more warming to occur,” Dáithí Stone, a researcher at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, said. Meanwhile, it takes time for the effects of climate change to play out, meaning that the highest risk areas will likely get worse despite their best efforts.

Canadian Catastrophe Many of the impacts of climate change can already be observed right at Canada’s doorstep. In 2018, British Columbia experienced not only one of the hottest wildfire seasons by average temperature on record, but also saw a massive number of active wildfires burning at a single time, second only to 2017. In an interview with the CBC , Chilliwack fire ecologist Robert Gray stated that the prevalence of wildfires has drastically

UN Panel of climate scientists give further warnings on the effects of climate change. (Athena Ko / The McGill Tribune)

exceeded previous climate models. “What we thought was going to be an average condition in 2050, we’re starting to see those conditions coming a lot sooner,” Gray said. Gray’s concerns are echoed in the IPCC report. The committee warns that changes in climate, which were thought to occur gradually over the next century, are happening at an exceedingly amplified, if not alarming, rate. Increases in the number and ferocity of B.C.’s wildfires are directly related to the climate conditions in the region; as average temperature rises in the summer and spring months, so does the probability of emergent wildfires. In Alberta, some climate models predict a 20 per cent increase in the frequency of extreme river flow events over the next century. These models are a stark reminder of the catastrophic flooding which submerged large parts of the province in 2013. The number of large-scale extreme weather events in the country is on the rise, driven largely by climate change, which is only expected to worsen over the next century. “If we do not do anything, we’ll assume massive costs caused by the damages of sea levels rising, longer and hotter heat waves, and increased flooding,” Zickfield said. The Alberta flooding epidemic was, at one time, the costliest disaster in Canadian history, with insurable damages amounting to $6 billion. This record was only surpassed in the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfires, which displaced almost 100,000 people and cost $9.5 billion in damages.

Keeping the Great North Green Rising water levels pose a particularly significant risk to Canada, which has the longest coastline of any country in the world. With 6.5 million residents living along the ocean as well as the country’s proximity to the Arctic, coastal disturbances caused by melting ice present a looming risk for Canadians. “Sea ice changes affect the energy balance of the Arctic Ocean,” Roulet said. “[Changes in sea ice distribution] have consequences on weather conditions throughout the Northern hemisphere.” Flooding aside, a 2016 report on the marine conditions of Canada’s changing climate found that climate disturbances in the Arctic region could

significantly affect the distributions of key species such as salmon and seals. These changes pose an immediate problem for northern communities that rely on marine wildlife as a primary food source. Indigenous communities, in particular, which disproportionately lie within potentially-affected coastal regions, could see the most substantial consequences emerge from ecological disturbances. The Trudeau government has made significant improvements to Canada’s policy on curbing humaninduced climate change. The guiding document on these changes, “The Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change,” published in 2016, is a broad plan to reduce Canada’s ecological footprint. To help offset the financial burden of shaping the Canadian economy to a more-climate friendly model, the government has allotted $1.4 billion to provinces and territories that have adopted the Framework. However, while comprehensive, the Framework is made obsolete by the most recent climate models and international guidelines, such as those in the IPCC’s October report. “The Liberal government, and all governments we’ve had in Canada, have been very good at talking the talk about greenhouse gas emissions,” Roulet said. “But when it comes to substance in reducing [greenhouse emissions, their response] has been weak.” Roulet believes the Liberal carbon tax, announced on Oct. 23, to be a good baseline for how the country should proceed in addressing our carbon emissions. The carbon tax is a federal policy which, if implemented nationally, would place additional tariffs on the sale of fossil fuels. As of 2018, provinces are responsible for legislating carbon taxation. “The bigger challenge is to not only enact short-term measures like using renewables for new power generation capacity,” Stone said. “The challenge is also to shift longterm measures, like decommissioning existing coal power plants.” While Canadians must face the implications of climate change at home, that also have a responsibility to set an example for the rest of the world. With their notably-high carbon emissions per capita, Canadians have a moral obligation to reduce their ecological footprint and provide relief to the many countries, mostly in the developing world, on the verge of climate disaster.

sports

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018

Know Your Athlete: Tomas Jirousek

The varsity rower behind the #ChangeTheName campaign Abeer Almahdi Opinion Editor Tomas Jirousek is an indigenous athlete from the Kainai First Nation, a nation of the Blackfoot Confederacy. He is spearheading the #ChangeTheName campaign and demonstration on Oct. 31 at McGill that call for the university to change the varsity men’s sports teams’ ‘Redmen’ name. When he’s not making waves on campus, Jirousek makes waves on the water as a member of the McGill rowing team. Once an avid hockey player, Jirousek was forced to quit due to knee problems. He knew he wanted to stay active, though, so he picked up rowing when he came to McGill two years ago. “I really did want to be in a sport,” Jirousek said. “My parents were both varsity athletes in university, so I’d always wanted to follow that, so I’m glad I could find [rowing].” Jirousek’s rowing career has enjoyed plenty of highlights so far. “In my first year, I was able to make Team Quebec and represent the province at the Canada Games,” Jirousek said. “We had a fourth place finish in the Mens 8 [....] To also be the stroke seat of the Mens Heavy 8 in my first year was really an honour.” Like any invested athlete, Jirousek has his fair share of pre-game rituals, which start with a song. “A little embarrassingly, I do love “Toxic” by Britney Spears before going on the water,”

Jirousek said. Aside from his athletic endeavours, Jirousek is the chairman of Indigenous Affairs Committee, the indigenous affairs commissioner at the Student’s Society of McGill University and the special advisor on indigenous education to the director at the Social Equity Diversity Education Office. He also works at the First People’s House. Being involved with indigenous projects around campus is important to Jirousek, so he actively seeks them out. “Basically anything indigenous, I typically like to get involved in,” Jirousek said. “I’m quite passionate about supporting the rights of my people.” For Jirousek, the #ChangeTheName campaign is all about opening dialogue. “Part of the reason why we’re launching this campaign and the demonstration is to first show our discontent,” Jirousek said. “[I want to start] an honest discussion where indigenous people can present their views because [...] we’ve been cut out of the debate on the Redmen name [many times]. This is an opportunity for both sides of the debate to come together in a collaborative fashion.” McGill men’s sports teams have used the name since the 1920s. Men’s sports teams picked up the nickname ‘Indians’, while ‘Squaws’ referred to the women’s teams. Up until 1992,

Jirousek is the SSMU indigenous affairs commissioner and a varsity rower. (Larence Niosi / Radio-Canada)

the team logo was a stereotypical silhouette of a native person wearing a headdress. Jirousek is adamant that the name, no matter its origins, is undeniably offensive. “Denying the actual history of the Redmen name, regardless of whether the university is correct in its argument that the Redmen name comes from the school’s red colours or celtic origins, it doesn’t deny the fact that the Redmen name [has] become connected to indigenous people,” Jirousek said. “The fact [is] that we were known as the McGill ‘Indians’ and the McGill ‘Squaws,’ and the university willingly allowed this. That is difficult to reconcile as an

athlete, and it’s difficult to reconcile as a student at

the university.” For many indigenous students like him, the name makes their experience as varsity athletes uncomfortable, and the indifference on campus leaves them feeling isolated and ignored. “The first thing to understand is that indigenous people [...] are the ones who are affected by this name,” Jirousek said. “Unless you are an indigenous student, you can’t really understand the pain and how isolated you feel because of the Redmen name. You can’t understand the pain [and] the history [that] the Redmen name continues to admit.”

McGill swimmers take first and second overall at second meet McGill hosts second RSEQ Cup of the season

Kaja Surborg Contributor On Oct. 27, McGill hosted the second RSEQ swimming meet of the season. The men’s team took home a first place finish, while the women came in second. Since Saturday was the only meet that McGill will host this season, these impressive finishes were that much more special for the swimmers. “It was a lot of fun,” first-year Grace Polkosnik said. “It’s a lot easier to swim when everyone is cheering you on, and there were lots of positive vibes from [the team].” This meet comes just two weeks after the season opener at Université de Sherbrooke where both the men and women’s teams placed second. “[We’ve seen] massive improvement,” Head Coach Peter Carpenter said. “Fitness is taking hold, [...] and it’s looking great.” First-year Claire Shewchuk echoed her coach’s sentiment. “It always gets better later in the season,” she said.“This still isn’t [a meet] we’re resting for, but there’s definitely been improvement.” Eighteen McGill swimmers have already qualified for the USports National Championships in eight events, including first-year

Clement Secchi, who took home three gold medals from Sherbrooke and placed third in the 200m backstroke this weekend. Thirdyear Sam Wang also qualified for nationals at Sherbrooke. He picked up 579 points for McGill on Saturday and is currently second on the RSEQ points table. On the women’s side, first-year Erin Miller qualified for nationals in the 200m butterfly in Sherbrooke. Coach Carpenter doesn’t want to stop there, though. “If we can get ten more qualifiers [in the next three weeks], I will be ecstatic,” Carpenter said. “It might seem a little unrealistic to set the goal that high, but that’s what we’re shooting for.” In the beginning of the season, the swimmers were focused on fitness, but now it’s time for them to start focusing on their individual performances and begin reaching their fastest times of the season. “At this point, we’re able to be more specific with individual swimmers and the events that they’re going to be swimming,” Carpenter said. “Our first peak meet is in three weeks, [...] so we’re excited about that, and that’s what we’re going to be gunning for next.” Polkosnik had a similar, positive outlook on her season so

Swimmers set to start the 100-m butterfly. (Miya Keilin / The McGill Tribune)

far and what it means for her in the coming meets. “I’ve been swimming pretty well recently, so I’m just trying to keep that up,” Polkosnik said. “Honestly I’m just trying to have fun for most of it.” The rest of the season looks promising for McGill, with those 18 swimmers already qualified for nationals and time for more to join them. McGill swimming hopes to stay at the top of the rankings and will continue to work on individual performances throughout the final four RSEQ meets of the season.

MOMENT OF THE Meet During the final relay races, swimmers from each school lined up at the edge of the pool to cheer their teammates on to a strong finish.

QUOTABLE “If you look at the results, there are first-years winning medals, which is really exciting. This is their first year of eligibility and they’re only going to get faster.” - Head Coach Peter Carpenter on the team’s potential

STAT CORNER McGill had five of the ten top individual scores on the men’s side of the competition this weekend.

sports

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018

10 Things: Ranking Spooky mascots the worst of the crowd-hyping creatures Kaja Surborg, Alden Tabac, Owen Gibbs, Miya Keilin, and Gabe Nisker Contributors, Staff Writer, and Sports Editors Sometimes, a lovable mascot does not turn out the way a team’s management had imagined. With Halloween just around the corner, The McGill Tribune ranks the top-10 most terrifying mascots in the world of sports.

Buster Bronco (Western Michigan University)

Western Michigan University introduced Buster Bronco in 1988 but came out with a new look for him last fall. The new Buster is a slim, athletic creature with one the most intimidating glare that a giant, fuzzy horse head can give. The change is a sharp contrast from the old, goofy Buster: His eyes were half open, he had a confused grin, and the colour contrast between his head and his snout was comically unnatural. Many students found him endearing and it took less than two weeks for 1,600 people to sign a petition to bring back the old mascot. Unfortunately, the university kept the updated, scary Buster regardless.

Wenlock and Mandeville (London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games)

The tall, pale cyclopes known as Wenlock and Mandeville look more like what would happen if Kang and Kodos from “The Simpsons” got left out in the sun for too long. Their eyes are the problem: Wenlock appears to have its brow scrunched to look determined and competitive, but it comes across as angry and menacing. Meanwhile, Mandeville’s wide eye gives the impression that it is afraid of the children who come to take photos with it. Whether angry or scared, it doesn’t matter—they are both very,

Mr. Redlegs and Rosie Red (Cincinnati Reds)

At first glance, Cincinnati Reds mascots Mr. Redlegs and Rosie Red look like smaller, knock-off versions of New York Mets mascot Mr. Met. However, upon closer examination, Mr. Redlegs’ strange eyes and creepy stare become obvious while his disingenuous smile is hidden behind an oversized Stalin-esque mustache. Rosie Red, often at Mr. Redlegs’ side, is harder to pin down. If Flo from the Progressive Insurance commercials had her head enlarged to three times its size and then turned into a baseball, Rosie Red would be the end product. Simply put, Mr. Redlegs and Rosie Red are not the familyfriendly couple to watch a ballgame with.

The Stanford Tree (Stanford University)

As the official mascot of the Stanford University marching band, the Stanford Tree goes wherever the band goes. In 1981, the school declared that all sports teams would be represented by the colour of cardinal in place of the Tree, but the band kept the tree due to its popularity, which persisted despite its distinctly off-putting appearance. The misshapen tree is a sight to behold. Its large buck teeth and eyes that look in opposite directions are very weird, and they bring to mind childhood nightmares of monsters under the bed.

WuShock (Wichita State University)

The Wichita State University sports teams are called the Shockers because students used to earn money in the summer ‘shocking’—or harvesting— wheat in the fields of Kansas. Naturally, the school wanted a mascot that both honoured their harvesting history and depicted them as tough competitors. Thus, WuShock was born. WuShock was intended to be a muscular, intimidating bundle of wheat. Unfortunately for the Shockers, there is no way to put a face on a bundle of wheat without it being strange. WuShock’s menacing scowl brings to mind the nightmare in which murderous scarecrows chase you down in a cornfield.

Purdue Pete University)

Friar Don Friars)

(Purdue

Pete is not the official mascot of Purdue University, but he is honoured as such for how he hypes up the crowd at sporting events. His caricatured image dates back to 1940, but the costume has since undergone several major modifications. None of these changes got rid of his creepy features. In 2011, the university considered a makeover to downsize Pete’s head so as not to scare children. The proposition was met with backlash, though, and, so, his bizarre human face and large, ghoulish eyes still haunt sports fans today.

(Providence

It’s incredibly difficult for any team to pull off a successful human mascot. Providence College’s Friar Don is no exception. Given their team name, Providence opted for the obvious mascot choice: A friar. Ultimately, that led to the monstrosity that is Friar Don. He is haunting and ghoulish with his “The Scream”-like face. The proportions of his facial features and costume elements are completely off-base; they definitely don’t match anything approaching reality.

Gritty (Philadelphia Flyers)

Gritty was introduced to Flyers fans in September 2018, but the fuzzy creature claims to have been hiding in the stands at the Wells Fargo Center for much longer. He’s gained many fans from the publicity that came following his introduction, but the reality is that he is a terrible mascot. No one is all that sure what he is supposed to look like; what is sure is that Gritty is absolutely terrifying. His giant googly eyes and wiry, unkempt hair

give him an air of derangement while his orange-and-black colouring scheme gives off a distinct Halloween vibe.

Pierre the Pelican (New Orleans Pelicans)

The Pelicans brought Pierre to life in 2013, and his design was immediately met with criticism for his horrifying non-pelican-like features. His creepy, clownish face and giant, chicken-like body were a better fit for a low-budget horror movie than courtside at a professional basketball game. The Pelicans came out with a new design later that season, citing a broken beak as the reason for his reconstructive surgery. The lack of clown makeup in the new costume did wonders for his appearance, although he still looks more like a chicken than a pelican.

King Cake Baby (New Orleans Pelicans)

Somehow, Pierre wasn’t bad enough for the Pelicans. New Orleans has two spooky off-court talents: Pierre the Pelican ranked number two on our list, and King Cake Baby now takes the number one spot. The inspiration for the team mascot is the traditional king cake, a Mardi Gras custom in which people hide a small baby figurine inside of a ringshaped cake. King Cake Baby is easily the most terrifying child found outside of horror films like The Shining. The team’s main mascot, Pierre the Pelican, was already scary enough, but the terrifying King Cake Baby made him look as friendly as Big Bird from Sesame Street.