McGill Tribune Vol. 38 Issue 18

The McGill Tribune TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2019 | VOL. 38 | ISSUE 18

Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University

McGILLTRIBUNE.COM | @McGILLTRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

FEATURE

SCI-TECH

Learning from the successes and failures of AVEQ

Breaking bread

McHacks 6 attracts diverse content from across Canada

PG. 5

PGs. 8-9

PG. 13

(Cherry Wu / The McGill Tribune)

The McGill Tribune

JOURNALISM(S):

A PLURAL DISCIPLINE

A MEDIA AND JOURNALISM CONFERENCE Hosted by The McGill Tribune

Cafés conductive to studying: Downtown edition

PG. 7

McGill reveals its Master Plan for future campus renovations McEan Taylor Contributor With McGill’s infrastructure and buildings aging, both the Downtown and MacDonald Campuses are set to undergo extensive renovations. In pursuit of this, the Campus Planning and Development Office

(CPDO) is in the process of developing an overarching guide to infrastructural development at the university for the next 20 years.

Yves Beauchamp, viceprincipal (Administration and Finance), attested to the importance of the Master Plan.

“The Master Plan is a vi-

sion that will guide the development of McGill’s campuses in support of the University’s mission and priorities,” Beauchamp said. “It will be a living document that will set a common way forward for our decisions relating to space, infrastructure, landscape, and related matters.”

PG. 2

Cinema Politica features indigenousmade cinema

ALAN FREEMAN REPORTER FOR THE CANADIAN PRESS

APHRODITE SALAS

PROFESSOR IN JOURNALISM AT CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY

All funds from night raised for Unist’ot’en Camp Legal Fund Kevin Vogel Staff Writer

SARAH NAFISA SHAHID STAFF WRITER AT THE DAILY STAR

THOMSON HOUSE

FEBRUARY 19-21

On Feb. 4, Cinema Politica presented a series of documentaries by indigenous filmmakers, including a short animation, as part of Concordia University’s First Voices Week.

With Flat Rocks and Lil Hard Knox filmmakers Courtney Montour and

Karonhiarokwas Roxann Whitebean present to answer questions after the screening, illuminating the processes and intentions behind their works.

Lil Hard Knox (Roxann Whitebean) Lil Hard Knox affectionately documents the training routine of Shatekaienthokwen ‘Tugar’

VanDommelen, a 10-year-old Mohawk boxer from Kahnawake.

VanDommelen practices twice a week at the Hard Knox gym in Saint-Henri, proving that, despite his young age and small size, he has the dedication and commitment it takes to become a true champion.

PG. 11

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news

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2019

McGill reveals its Master Plan for future campus renovations

Plans for the next decade of construction are coming together McEan Taylor Contributor Continued from page 1.

The CPDO began its plans for the infrastructural changes by forming working groups to discuss guiding principles for the Master Plan. The CPDO also collected community input through a series of events from Jan. 16 to Feb. 6, including a mobile display presented at buildings around campus by members of the planning team, two community briefings, and an online survey. According to the display boards, the most common themes mentioned by community members were governance, green space, connectivity, heritage protection, sustainability, communal space, and learning space.

Director of Stakeholder Relations Dicki Chhoyang affirmed the CPDO’s desire for student input in an interview with The McGill Tribune.

“All the stakeholders’ opinions, but mainly the students, are important to us,” Chhoyang said.

“We wanted to create a platform to hear [their opinions....] We see this as our responsibility to hear from the McGill community[about] how we can make this planning process better.”

According to Manager of Campus and Master Planning Anna Bendix, the updated Master Plan will include clearer sustainability goals based on the CPDO’s surveys and focus group findings. She hopes that sustainability will be elevated to a higher priority than usual.

“After money is spent covering structural

In just its two-year lifespan, CPDO is planning to transform McGill’s campuses. (shepleybulfinch.com) needs, [sustainability] is often left out of the budget,” Bendix said.

At the downtown campus, the CPDO will focus on six projects over the next decade. The Powell building is projected to become a new research lab, while the Fiat Lux project will transform the McLennan-Redpath library into a dynamic workspace. Wilson Hall’s renovations will include the installation of new classrooms and research labs while maintaining its iconic architecture, and the Montreal Neurological Institute will receive new cutting-edge technology and equipment. Additionally, the Royal Victoria Hospital is currently undergoing feasibility studies to determine what use the building, acquired by McGill in 2018, could serve.

Proposals include outfitting it with state-of-the-art laboratories or transforming it into affordable student housing, with the latter idea being presented to the Student Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council on Jan. 24.

The relocation of internal resources poses a recurring challenge to construction projects on campus. When a building is shut down, the offices, furniture, supplies, and files must be moved out of the construction zone. The Schulich Library renovation, for example, will displace 20 staff members, 160,000 print volumes, and at least 675 seats.

Bendix acknowledged that the Master Plan is no exception, and she sees relocating the contents of the six large buildings it targets as a sizeable logisti-

cal challenge.

According to CPDO Executive Director Cameron Charlebois, the cultural designations of many of McGill’s buildings provide further obstacles.

“Almost all of [McGill’s] buildings are classified [as] heritage sites,” Charlebois said. “All of our buildings are protected automatically, so, whatever we do, we have to justify the intervention in the building. We can’t transform many of our buildings, and, as you are seeing, many of them are unsuited for academic purposes.”

The CPDO will present the completed Master Plan to the Board of Governors for their approval this spring.

SSMU hosts its first annual National Eating Disorder Awareness Week Week of programming promotes eating disorder awareness on campus Elizabeth Strong Contributor The McGill community observed National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, which runs Feb. 1-7, for the first time with the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) programming. Each day saw a different session related to eating disorders, including a workshop titled “Unboxing Fatphobia,” a discussion panel, and a mental wellness poetry reading put on in collaboration with McSWAY’s Poetry Collective.

Howard Steiger, the Eating Disorders program head at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and a professor in the McGill Department of Psychiatry, believes that the week-long event is important for bringing awareness to a pervasive yet often misunderstood issue.

“In general, eating disorders are not very well understood by people but affect everyone either indirectly or directly,” Steiger said. “I think it’s a very admirable idea to have a specific moment to sensitize people to the suffering that eating disorders can cause. People have a lot of misunderstandings about what eating disorders represent, and the people that suffer them are sometimes misunderstood and stigmatized.”

SSMU Vice-President (VP)

Student Life Sophia Esterle echoed Steiger’s sentiments about raising awareness. Her personal experiences motivated her to take a direct interest in the week of programming.

“Raising awareness is also incredibly important to me because, in my personal experience suffering from an eating disorder, I know how incredibly isolating and alienating this mental illness can be,” Esterle wrote in an email to the The McGill Tribune. “The lack of awareness made it both personally hard to understand what I was going through and how to recover from it, but also how my peers reacted isolated me even more. Comments, behaviours, and attempted support showed [a clear] misunderstanding of what I was going through.”

Esterle is an advocate for eating disorder awareness and is responsible for creating the SSMU webpage on eating disorders, which lists various institutes, support groups, and other resources for those who are struggling. Esterle believes there is both a severe lack of resources at McGill and information about off-campus services, which she feels was exacerbated when McGill cancelled its eating disorder program in 2017.

McGill justified its decision as one of financial necessity and argued that the program’s components had been reintegrated with other mental health

services.

“Through the existence of this program, McGill did not only act as a resource, but also showed that this university and campus cared for its students, and specifically students going through eating disorders,” Esterle wrote. “Through this, [McGill] created more spaces and conversations around eating disorders. When it shut down, it seems that it did not only defund the program, but it shut down the conversation.”

Esterle hopes that SSMU’s recognition of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week will help spark further conversations about the condition.

“My general goal for this week is creating spaces for folks to talk about their experiences, spreading the resources that are available, addressing and highlighting the social [and] or cultural issues around body image, gym culture, attitude and portrayals of mental illnesses, [and] misunderstanding of what an eating disorder is, and showing people that they aren’t alone, that there is recovery, that there are others who have gone through it,” Esterle wrote.

Claire Schnurr, U1 psychology, attended some of SSMU’s programming, including Tuesday’s Discussion Panel on Eating Disorders/ Disordered Eating. She expressed a similar conviction that McGill needs

Two years after McGill cancelled its eating disorder program, SSMU hopes to restart the conversation through its recognition of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. (Jessie Ye / The McGill Tribune) to do more to support eating disorder awareness year-round.

“I believe that McGill needs to improve [on] eating disorder awareness, but also upon mental health

awareness in general,” Schnurr wrote in an email to the Tribune. “Instead of just one week per year that raises awareness, it needs to be a constant conversation.”

news

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Media experts consider anti-elite sentiments in rising populism

Black History Month highlights racism in Canada

Journalists and pollster address full house

Panellists explain contemporary prominence of racism

Keating Reid Opinion Editor McGill’s new Max Bell School of Public Policy hosted a panel discussion on Feb. 5 titled “Does Rising Populism Threaten Good Public Policy?” According to its panellists, the answer is yes.

The sold-out event took place in the Faculty Club ballroom with Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Executive Editor and Pulitzer-Prize-winner David Shribman moderating. The panellists offered a range of perspectives from Canada and the U.S.: Veteran journalist Chantal Hébert and Abacus Data Chairman Bruce Anderson analyzed the Canadian political landscape while Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. and Politico reporter Eliana Johnson answered questions about Capitol Hill.

The event began with an introduction from McGill Department of Economics Associate Professor and Max Bell Director Christopher Ragan, who offered a definition of populism.

“The subject of this evening is populism, what it is, where it comes from, and why it matters,” Ragan said. “[Populism is defined as] a political approach that is focused on ordinary citizens and [their] concerns, especially when there is a perception that the elites aren’t taking them seriously.”

Anderson, the first panellist to speak, was skeptical about populism being a major force in Canadian politics, citing non-committed voters as a more significant part of Doug Ford’s 2018 Ontario election victory.

“If we’re doing populism, I think we’re doing it badly,” Anderson said. “Every once in a while, we do see situations where a politician who kind of challenges the man is victorious, but, for most of those situations, you can see another possible outcome [….The 2018 Ontario election] could have gone to the [New Democratic Party].”

Hébert offered a contrasting view on populism in Canada, arguing that political influencers have lost touch with the average citizens’ priorities.

“Populism runs high when something is broken, and I think [it] is a symptom of a broken political conversation,” Hébert said. “And

one that we are, those of us who are the so-called ‘chattering class,’ responsible for.”

Hébert described how this disconnect has shifted public perceptions of expert opinions.

“It used to be that when politicians were […] handling crises, what they would do to [seem] on top of things would be to call what I call ‘whitecoats’ to the rescue, people who were experts in their fields,” Hébert said. “Today, [...politicians] make their point by proving that they are against whitecoats: ‘Those experts want to tell you this, but we know better.’ ” According to Anderson, poll results give conflicting evidence for this phenomenon, which he dubs the “reversal of the white coat advantage.:” “77 per cent [of respondents] say elites have too much power in Canada, but 69 per cent say ‘I like to listen to experts before I make up my mind,’” Anderson said.

According to Anderson, the best explanation for the success of politicians like Doug Ford and Alberta United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney is not anti-elitism but anger and a lack of political knowledge.

“It’s shocking how many times I ask people in polls […] about contemporary policy discussions […and receive] reflexive and emotional responses, rather than considered, rational, thoughtful ones,” Anderson said.

While he conceded that economic anxieties make populist movements more appealing, Anderson argued that voters still have a responsibility to be informed.

“What are people doing with their anxiety?”

Anderson said. “Are they learning more about the issues? Are they studying what the choices are? Or are they hearing somebody say, ‘I think we should put tariffs on everything because tariff wars are easy to win?’ It’s not very sensible policy, but people are gravitating toward [protectionist policy] because it sounds simple, it is reflexive, [and] it is emotional.”

Anderson emphasized the importance of compromise in a healthy political culture.

“We’ve lost the belief in the value of compromise [...as a way to] settle our differences,” Anderson said. “I’d like to see politicians champion that idea a little more.”

Doug Ford’s 2018 victory and Maxime Bernier’s new People’s Party of Canada have sparked discussions about the rise of populism in Canada. (facebook.com/MaxBellPublicPolicy)

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Panellists discussed McGill’s lack of diversity and minorities’ struggle within the institution. (Helen Wu / The McGill Tribune)

Helen Wu Staff Writer As part of McGill’s Black History Month 2019, the Black Students’ Network of McGill (BSN) and Black Law Students’ Association of McGill (BLSAM) hosted a panel titled “Racism and Systemic Discrimination: The Canadian Context” on Feb. 4 to shed light on the realities of black lives in Canada. Moderated by McGill law students Balarama Holness and Alida Kamaliza, the panellists included Philip S. S. Howard, assistant professor in McGill’s Department of Integrated Studies in Education; Julius Haag, PhD candidate at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies; Fabrice Vil, former lawyer at Langlois Kronström Desjardins; and Shanice Yarde, equity educational advisor at the McGill Social Equity and Diversity Education Office.

The panellists began by addressing Canada’s neglected history of oppression against its black population. Although slavery was legal in Canada until 1834, Howard claims that this shameful past is often excluded from mainstream historical accounts.

“In Canada, we don’t get to find out that there actually was slavery,” Howard said. “There’s an active process by which the historical record was twisted and sponged in order to create that story. What is allowed is the story that we hear more commonly, which is that enslaved people in the U.S.A. escaped here.”

Howard referenced the concept of ‘anti-blackness,’ a different and starker form of discrimination that places black people below the considerations afforded to nonblack people. He gave examples of how antiblack attitudes are still prevalent in Canada today.

“Whenever we get situations where we see types of behaviour perpetrated toward black people that you just can’t imagine happening to someone who is non-black, we are talking about anti-blackness,” Howard said. “One example is Robin Maynard, who writes in her book [‘Policing Black Lives:

State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present’] about the incident in which a 6-year-old girl in her school in Toronto gets bound by hands and feet by police because she’s dangerous. What does it remind us of?”

Hagg drew attention to the police system to illustrate that systemic racism is still present in many primary social institutions of Canada today.

“When we talk about systemic racism, we talk about racism that is really fully embedded in systems,” Hagg said. “The police institution itself is an institution that is founded on the basis of racist principles. It was meant to maintain the difference between white people and other racialized people in society. We have moved from a system of formal discrimination to discrimination that is embedded in seemingly-neutral laws that don’t specifically mention race by word, but negatively impact people from racialized backgrounds.”

Holness asked panellists to consider how the McGill Faculty of Law could construct a more representative student and staff body. Yarde suggested that the answer does not lie in simply opening the doors to nonwhite candidates.

“There’s this emphasis on getting these people who are not white, not straight, not cis, not men in so we can increase our numbers, diversify, and be inclusive and equitable,” Yarde said. “But, then we don’t actually do any work or invest any resources to ensure that those people who are coming into these incredibly white, colonial institutions are going to be supported.”

The discussion ended with a question period, during which Howard expressed exasperation over the struggle for the recognition of black lives in Canada.

“I have come to the position in my life where that’s no longer where I want to put my energy,” Howard said. “If there are white folks who want to come along and recognize my value, recognize me as a human being, and want to engage, then let’s go. But I am not spending my energy trying to convince you that I am human. That’s ridiculous.”

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2019

SUS General Council debates raising fees

Smaller departments to receive more funding Juliette Naeveke Contributor The Science Undergraduate Society (SUS) met on Feb. 6 to add two questions to the ballot for the upcoming SUS referendum. The Council also discussed changing how departments receive funding, an increase in the SUS membership fee, and the renewal of the Lab Improvement Fund.

Increase in SUS membership fees Vice-President (VP) Finance Dylan Wong moved to include a question about increasing SUS membership fees on the upcoming ballot, which was previously discussed at General Council on Jan. 23. Currently, the SUS membership fee is $12.50 per semester for fulltime students, whereas the proposed increase would boost it to $15.50.

SUS last raised its membership fees in 2015, and, even with the proposed increase, they would remain well below several other faculties’ membership fees: The Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) charges $27 while the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) charges $16.50.

Wong predicts that the fee increase will ideally be sufficient for the next four to five years.

SUS President Reem Mandil

emphasized the importance of the fee increase, particularly its use to pay the accountant SUS is planning to hire.

“This is really important for SUS because it allows us to remain a credible organization,” Mandil said. “In the past, we had to shuffle the budget around a lot to adjust increasing prices. This fee increase will help to make sure we stay accountable.”

The motion passed with 21 votes in favour and one abstaining.

Renewal of the Lab Improvement Fund Another motion, put forth by Mandil, proposed that the renewal of the Undergraduate Society Lab Improvement Fund be featured in the upcoming SUS referendum. At $25 per semester, it is one of the largest fees that science students pay and yet has never been voted on for its 30 years of existence. The money is distributed based on need and goes toward maintaining McGill’s labs.

The Faculty of Science matches the fund, dollar for dollar. The referendum question will ask students to approve the fee’s continued existence.

Departmental representatives emphasized the importance of the fee and worried about the potential consequences of terminating it.

SUS General Council met to debate the addition of questions concerning membership fees, the renewal of the lab improvement fund to the referendum, and changes to the equalization fund. (Leanne Young / The McGill Tribune) “It would actually be quite a large hit on our labs,” Mandil said.

“It is a large sum of money, but the labs get a lot more funding to be able to run.”

Despite the concerns, the motion passed with 23 votes in favour, and the question will appear on the referendum for students to vote on.

Changes to the Equalization Fund Wong also introduced the final motion, which addressed changes to the equalization fund in the finance by-laws. The equalization fund de-

termines how much funding each department in the Faculty of Science gets per semester based on a projected budget that each department submits to the faculty. However, Wong argued that this system is ineffective, as projected budgets are rarely accurate and tend to change significantly.

The proposed system will divide funding according to department size, with the smallest departments receiving the most funding.

Some departments may gain funding while others may lose some, but

the changes would not amount to more than a hundred dollars for any department.

“It’s not really going to change how much money departments get,” Wong said. “It really just makes it a more dependable system for distribution of money.”

The motion was postponed to give departmental representatives time to examine the exact changes in allocated funds before voting.

SUS Council will meet next on Feb. 20 at 7pm in Leacock 232.

Consultations on Sexual Violence Policy aim to promote student engagement Revised policy to be voted on two months after the provincial deadline.

Nina Russell Staff Writer As part of the revisions to McGill’s Sexual Violence Policy, students will be able to attend consultation sessions to provide feedback on McGill’s Policy Against Sexual Violence from Feb. 6-13. Hosted by the Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS) and the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), the results of these consultations will be compiled into a report and presented to the administration to assist the Sexual Violence Policy Working Group in its ongoing revisions.

The policy will be put forward for discussion at Senate this month and will be voted on in March.

In 2017, McGill’s previous Sexual Violence Policy received a C- grade from Our Turn, a student-led initiative to end sexual violence on Canadian university campuses. The low grade reflected the fact that McGill’s sexual violence policy is not self-contained, instead deferring to the Student Code of Conduct for disciplinary measures. Now, the revised policy includes specific rules regarding providing survivor-friendly disclosures, clear procedures for investigating incidents, and updated staff and faculty training policies on sexual violence. Despite protest in favour of an outright ban on professor-student relationships at the December Senate meeting, Associate Provost (Equity and Academic Policy) Angela Campbell cited Concordia University’s findings that such a ban would be unconstitutional.

“If a member of the teaching staff enters into a romantic or sexual relationship with a student [whom they do not have direct authority over], but where the student

Despite protests at the December Senate meeting, the revised policy does not include a blanket ban on student-professor relationships. (Albert Park / The McGill Tribune) is nevertheless enrolled in the teaching staff member’s faculty, the teaching staff member must disclose the relationship immediately in writing following the process prescribed by the Regulation on Conflict of Interest,” the revised policy reads. “In such cases, administrative measures will be implemented to ensure that the teaching staff member has no academic authority or influence over the student concerned. “ Robyn Lee, SSMU equity commissioner and a SSMU representative from SACOMSS, appealed to the importance of student engagement with the policy.

“It’s important because [the policy] will affect stu-

dents,” Lee said. “If someone were to say ‘I read this policy, [...and] these things aren’t made clear to me,’ then that’s important information that we’ll take into consideration when writing the report. Then, when it’s presented to administration, we hope that they will take this feedback and then revise the wording to make it more clear and more accessible.”

Although Lee acknowledged that attendance at student consultations is often minimal, she hopes to boost interest by making these Sexual Violence Policy consultations as accessible as possible.

“We have set [the consultations at] different times in different rooms around campus,” Lee said. “I think by trying to spread those out, we’re trying to get more students. The thing with town halls is that they’ll be one evening [...], so we’ve tried our best to structure [the consultations] so that more students can come.”

Besides attending consultations, students can advocate for sexual violence legislation in a number of ways.

Connor Spencer, former vice-president (VP) external for the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and chair of Students for Consent Culture Canada, discussed the importance of engagement on a departmental level.

“The one concrete thing that I think, specifically, students can do on the McGill campus that is really useful right now is students need to be working within their departments,” Spencer said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “There are students who are working at the university level and trying to get change at the provincial level, but one of the places that we’re seeing the most effective mobilization is within departments. Students at McGill have always been protecting each other and will continue to when our university does not.”

opinion

TUESDAY, FEBRuARY 12, 2019

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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

Learning from the successes and failures of AVEQ Following years of apathy and disengagement, the announcement that the Association for the Voice for Education in Quebec (AVEQ), a provincial student union, had dissolved generated little attention on McGill’s campus. While students are passionate advocates for causes like greater access to mental health services at McGill and the upcoming changes to McGill’s sexual violence policy, they often fail to recognize that provincial unions like AVEQ are responsible for generating such change. Now that AVEQ is dissolving, it is uncertain what new federation might take its place, leaving a void in student representation at the provincial level.

AVEQ and the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) had a complicated relationship: SSMU executives and Legislative Council members have debated whether to affiliate with the group for years, and it was even put to an unsuccessful referendum in Winter 2016. While some students will remember AVEQ for its alleged financial misconduct and general disorganization, it would be a mistake to dismiss the idea of SSMU affiliating with a provincial student federation. Coordinating with other student associations to advocate for our mutual interests is essential to effecting positive change at the provincial level.

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

Nina Russell, Kevin Vogel

staff Peter Ball, Hannibal de Pencier, Taja De Silva, Kyle Dewsnap, Owen Gibbs, Emma Gillies, Sabrina GirardLamas, Mary Keith, Sunny Kim, Sydney King, Winne Lin, Ronny, Litvack-Katzman, 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 Makena Anderson, Adam Burton, Adam Burton, Erin Dwyer, Théo Farineau, Burcu Konuralp, Caroline Lou, Juliette Naeveke, Stephen Slav, Elizabeth Strong, McEan Taylor, Chiso Ufondu, Sarah Usman, Cherry Wu

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Please recycle this newspaper.

Andras Nemeth Love Guru It seems that, every year, the public outcry against Valentine’s Day threatens to overwhelm the holiday itself.

Browsing through the opinion sections of online publications, it is impossible to escape the feeling that a war is unfolding against the holiday. According to recent trends, the percentage of the population celebrating Valentine’s Day has been declining in recent years, with only 54 per cent of Canadians observing the holiday in 2018. This trend should be deeply concerning as Valentine’s Day is a boost to economic growth.

Valentine’s Day can,

Financial mismanagement played a key role in AVEQ’s dissolution. According to former AVEQ employee Sophia Sahrane, in the organization’s final months, its board paid her $1,000 to drop legal claims of late pay and harassment; she has also alleged that AVEQ executives used the organization’s credit cards for personal expenses.

The mouvement des associations générales étudiantes of l’université du Québec à Chicoutimi (MAGEUQÀC), an association representing the university’s undergraduate students, withdrew from AVEQ in Oct. 2018 when the organization failed to pass a balanced budget.

AVEQ’s 2017–18 budget ultimately ran an approximate $66,700 deficit.

AVEQ’s voting system also contributed to discontent among some of its member organizations.

The association operated on a ‘one-member, one-vote’ principle, meaning that the Concordia Student Union (CSU), which represents over 35,000 students, had no more influence in AVEQ’s decisionmaking than the organization’s two other members, MAGE-UQÀC and the Association générale des étudiants du campus à Rimouski (AGECAR), despite representing more students than both associations combined.

Nonetheless, AVEQ had its share of successes in lobbying for students’

interests. The higher profile that comes with being a student federation meant it could participate in the ministerial consultations regarding Bill 151, a Quebec law regulating post-secondary institutions’ sexual harassment policies. The federation also met with then Minister of Higher Education Hélène David in Sept.

2017 to discuss the health insurance issues that international students face, a topic on which AVEQ has produced excellent research.

This kind of high-level activity is the goal of student federations. By pooling their resources, universitylevel student associations can gain more recognition than they could alone. SSMU is currently without a vice-president (VP) External, leaving students with less influence over the issues that matter to them. Just this year, a provincial organization, les Comités unitaires sur le travail étudiant, organized protests against unpaid internships that attracted widespread media attention and a response from Quebec Minister of Education and Higher Education Jean-François Roberge.

With AVEQ gone, SSMU and the CSU are both without provincial affiliation. SSMU has a unique opportunity to fill this gap in representation and take a proactive role in organizing a new, more functional student federation that

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EDITORIAL aligns with McGill students’ interests.

This would involve learning from the examples set by groups past and current. Issue-specific campaigns, like the Our Turn National Action Plan, have succeeded in bringing about change by combining a narrow focus and high media visibility; the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) has full-time staff who regularly engage with groups in the federal government.

With the proper strategies, effective student advocacy is achievable and worthwhile.

University campuses have long been sites for social change where student associations are especially influential: In Quebec, the 2012 Maple Spring student protests resulted in the government rescinding plans to increase tuition. Letting this influence wane due to AVEQ’s mismanagement would be self-defeating. Government decisions influence nearly all student issues, from the cost of education to mental health. With SSMU elections approaching next month, the incoming executive board, especially the VP External, has the opportunity to help build such an organization from the ground up and make sure it represents McGill’s needs. McGill students deserve to have a voice in governmental decisions—and affiliating with other students is the best way to get there.

The war on Valentine’s Day admittedly, be a source of significant stress. Expectations that the day be spent in the company of a romantic partner can be equally suffocating for those with a valentine as for those without. More than anything else, however, consumers bemoan the significant financial stress that holidays can impose; the average Canadian spends $164 on Valentine’s Day per year.

However, it is for this very reason that the benefits of commercialized holidays like Valentine’s Day, when viewed from an economic point of view, are important for encouraging consumer spending. According to the United States National Retail Federation, Valentine’s Day spending contributed $19.6 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018. Valentine’s Day encourages consumer spending and provides an important portion of the baseline of the retail sector.

A population that has become disillusioned with Valentine’s Day will be less willing to spend money on the holiday, with potentiallygrave economic consequences.

Saving an entire holiday is not an easy task, and economists will have to employ unconventional methods. We must use our

platforms as intellectuals to convince the consumers of the importance of Valentine’s Day by appealing to emotion. Where politicians, journalists, authors, poets, philosophers, and teachers have let us down, we must not fail.

We have to make people believe in love again.

But we cannot stop there.

The compulsion to spend money on commercial holidays should be viewed as an unparalleled opportunity to induce economic growth. Until now, the commercial world’s primary concern with respect to holidays has been to boost consumer spending on existing holidays. However, once we’ve saved Valentine’s Day, we should shift our focus to the invention of new ones. As consumers, romantic partners, and family members, we ask ourselves: “Why do we have a holiday during which we celebrate our loved ones through seeminglyarbitrary acts of consumption?”

But as economists, we should ask: “Why do we have so few?” Why not Cousins’ Day, a statutory-holiday to celebrate distant relatives over a box of chocolates?

There is only one way to address this chronic under provision

of empty, commercialized holidays: Governmental intervention. The private sector is unlikely to be of much use to us, since holidays are, for the most part, a public good, and their invention is unlikely to lead to enough direct profit for firms to research and develop them.

As economists, then, we must encourage their provision through various government policies.

These policies need not see use only in times of prosperity.

If packaged properly, the development of new, consumptiondriven holidays could serve as an effective fiscal stimulus in times of economic stagnation. Indeed, one wonders if the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis could have been at least partially alleviated had governments worldwide imposed hosts of state-mandated observances.

As for Valentine’s Day, perhaps we must reach some compromise to save spending.

Perhaps, the focus on romantic love has proved excessive, in which case, alternatives like Galentine’s and Palentine’s day show potential.

Love, as a phenomenon, may have other economic implications and should be the subject of further research.

6

opinion

commentary

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2019

The lasting hangover of McGill’s drinking events

days to raise money for cancer research. While many students participate in races, auctions, and keggers under the premise of funding cancer research, hundreds of them inadvertently harm their own bodies through binge-drinking and substance abuse. In the hope of sharing an unforgettable week with their peers, students reinforce each others’ inclinations to drink, resulting in a conditioned association between social acceptance and overMakena Anderson consumption. Although drinking Contributor feels like a routine part of McGill’s With midterms right around student culture, participants should the corner and classes proceeding familiarize themselves with the at full pace, events like Carnival, long-term effects of alcohol abuse, E-week, and Science Games seem including liver and heart damage, and, ironically, distant. While your onesie might malnutrition, be neatly stored away and the given Carnival’s charitable cause lingering smell of beer washed of choice, an increased risk of off of your clothes, the impacts of developing cancer.

The coughs and sniffles heard these events on participants’ health can linger. Following periods of in libraries and lecture halls serve as intense drinking, young adults ominous reminders of how McGill’s mentality have been known to experience work-hard-play-hard anxiety, have trouble performing continues to plague students. academically, and face an increased Despite the first couple of weeks risk of developing a dependency of the semester bearing witness to on alcohol. McGill drinking events some of the McGill clinic’s longest may feel like a rite of passage to lines, students continue to sign up many; however, their existence for events that often end in their fosters an environment that pushes contracting the flu, STIs, and lasting students into depending on alcohol health impacts. With illness being a corequisite for these events, it’s for enjoyment.

The organizers of competitions curious that their popularity does among faculties and departments not falter.

While drinking events are often promote these events by supporting charitable causes: more prevalent in the first weeks of For example, the Management the semester, they are not limited to Undergraduate Society hosts January. There is seldom a Thursday Carnival over the course of seven night in Montreal when students

commentary

Johanna Cline Columnist Whether by feigning confidence in an interview or embellishing responsibilities on a resumé, people often present an enhanced version of themselves to prospective employers. Many industries, like law and finance, maintain conservative hiring practices that pressure prospective employees to craft an

CARTOON

McGill Valentine’s cards Sabrina Girard-Lamas Staff Illustrator

aren’t lined up on St. Laurent— drunk, cold, and dreading the next morning’s hangover. Beyond the façade of good times, the pressure to drink in university can fuel a dependence on alcohol that can endure well after graduation and take a toll on their mental and physical health.

By now, students are aware of the short and long-term consequences of binge-drinking.

Yet, in an intense academic environment, they still choose to forget their stress for a few hours and feel the confidence and ease that is only found at the bottom of a bottle. With an endless stream of Snapchats and Instagram stories documenting the night, the fear of missing out encourages students to say yes to the next drink. Although it’s easy to blame the lasting hangovers on youth, it is time to realize that being a university student doesn’t preclude alcoholism. Students shouldn’t feel embarrassed or ashamed in seeking help to curb their drinking habits.

The university offers services through the McGill Counselling Services to students struggling with substance abuse.

As Fac-O approaches, students should consider whether bingedrinking for five days is something that they want to do or whether it’s something that they feel they can’t say no to. Alcohol isn’t what makes you fun, and no one will remember the time you skipped a Thursday night— or even whole week—of drinking.

“I love you more than samosas!”

To: From:

“You make this dorm feel like a home.”

To: From:

“Like Tim Hortons, I’m there for you 24/7.”

To: From:

Employable, inkless personas inauthentic personal presentation by covering tattoos or piercings and keeping hair dyed a traditional colour. Conservative hiring practices not only discriminate on irrelevant grounds, but they also compel people with non-conforming styles into obscuring aspects of their identity, alienating them from their genuine selves.

Companies hire candidates who they believe will be most capable of executing a job, and this includes assessing someone’s character for traits like respect and a sense of responsibility. Being impolite or reckless, for example, can show that someone lacks the moral character of a good employee. However, choices like enjoying expressive fashion or body art do not relate to moral character or employability.

Nevertheless, a 2018 survey of hiring managers shows that applicants with tattoos were offered lower starting salaries than those without body art, and applicants with obvious and eye-

catching tattoos were less likely to be hired at all. A 2017 study published in the journal Human Resources Management found that respondents rated images of tattooed people as eight per cent less employable than those without.

The bias against tattoos stems from antiquated stereotypes about people with body art. When tattoos first popped up in contemporary North American culture in the late 19th century, they were common among criminals and sailors, and, therefore, became associated with ostracized people. While tattoos have entered the mainstream in recent decades, some employers still view applicants with body art as uneducated, unintelligent or promiscuous, and setting a bad example. These same antiquated stereotypes extend to other forms of expression like non-traditionally coloured hair and piercings.

Moreover, even if employers themselves are unfazed by these

forms of expression, they may argue that they need to hire employees with a clean-cut style to appeal to clients. If employers continue to let a prejudiced clientele shape their standards, hiring practices will remain in a rut. When the workforce tells people that their piercings or sleeve of tattoos makes them unworthy of a pay cheque, it enforces the idea that only people who fit into a traditional mould are respectable members of society, thus advancing the authority of outdated ethical standards.

In addition to holding no moral ground, conservative hiring practices separate people from their authentic selves. The more someone conceals their persona in the workplace, the harder it is for them to feel in touch with their identity during the day.

Having to hide forms of personal expression urges an unnecessary suppression of individuality and can lead people to feel ashamed of who they are. This shame can easily trickle into one’s personal

life, making them resent or discredit the forms of expression they would otherwise appreciate.

In recent decades, industries have made steps toward creating spaces for authentic self-expression in the workplace. For example, many workplaces have begun relaxing their dress codes and letting employees wear jeans instead of suits and pencil skirts, while more progressive fields like media and tech have also begun accepting tattoos and piercings.

These changes allow people more freedom in expressing themselves.

However, the work force still needs to improve its acceptance of all identities. Denying someone a job based on anachronistic conceptions of morality is unacceptable. Employers have the influence to redefine which identities are worthy of income; industries must move away from only hiring candidates that fit into a traditional framework and start accepting more lifestyles and forms of expression as employable.

student living

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2019

7

The best dishes at the seventh annual La Poutine Week A quest for the best poutine in Montreal Gabe Nisker Sports Editor

In the same New York Times article that suggested that french fries should come in blasphemously-small six-fry servings alongside salads, corporate dietician Elaine Magee added further caution about poutine, which she ranked the least healthy of the many French fry variations.

“This is an example of taking something with fat and salt (french fries), topping it with something that adds more fat and saturated fat (cheese curds), and topping that with something that contributes potentially more fat, saturated fat, and salt (gravy),” Magee said.

With that in

mind, I promptly threw caution to the wind, diving head-first into the seventh annual La Poutine Week, held Feb. 1-7. The festival is a celebration of poutine and invites restaurants from across the city to introduce special variations of the dish to their menus. Customers could visit the event website to vote on their favourites, and the team behind the festival also enlisted a group of professional chefs to help identify the best poutine in Montreal.

When I informed friends of my plans to celebrate the week, they told me that I’d be taking years off of my life, and, although I may have actually done so, I still don’t want to hear it. I had to try the latest in gastronomic overkill.

To make my own ‘best poutine’ choice, I settled on a four-point system. The perfect Montreal french fry is brown and crispy on the outside with some fluff on the inside. It must act as a sturdy base for the poutine’s other ingredients. I’m not particularly picky about gravy as long as it’s hot and has a sharp flavour, but the real key to the poutine—the part that holds it all together—is the cheese curd. There should be no other cheese on a poutine: I’ve seen shredded cheese on various poutines, which should be avoided at all costs. The squeakier the cheese curds, the better. Lastly, the unique additions should not take away from the core ingredients; they should complement them.

I started at Dirty Dogs. This St. Laurent restaurant has already mastered gluttony, and their Waffle MacChicken poutine only raised the bar. A ‘small’ is no ordinary small: It is their classic poutine, topped with a waffle, macaroni and cheese, a fried chicken strip, onions, and a drizzle of maple syrup. While the macaroni and cheese is excellent, there was too much salt in the whole dish, and, surprisingly, the sweetness of the maple syrup did not come through enough.

Two days later, on Super Bowl Sunday, I ordered a poutine in a mistake that I can’t decide whether I regret or not. The Burger Bar buffalo chicken poutine had strong potential, but a delivery delay ensured that it wouldn’t meet the mark. Unfortunately, whether it was thirty minutes or sixty, however long it spent in the delivery car was too long. Furthermore, the buffalo chicken was perfectly spicy, but the other core ingredients paled in comparison to offerings elsewhere.

Then came the El Cabron poutine at Taboo Cuisine Rebelle. This dish was a twofor-one special, serving up nachos on top of a poutine base. It delivered on both fronts. The french fry was perfect, the gravy flavourful, and the nacho toppings—once there were no chips left—made for a fun variation on the chili cheese fry. The cheese curds left a little to be desired, however: They were not quite fresh

La Poutine Week allowed Montrealers to sample inventive dishes from the city’s best restaurants.

(Amanda Fiore / The McGill Tribune) enough for my liking.

Fried chicken made another appearance at Mon Petit Poulet, which is no surprise given the restaurant’s name. Delivered quickly, thanks to a lack of Super Bowl business, their classic poutine topped with crispy popcorn chicken bites was delicious. The fries were firm and well-done, the cheese curds perfectly squeaky, and there was even spice to the gravy, which I would have liked to see more of throughout the week.

On Feb. 7, the final day of the festival, I concluded that though there were many strong contenders, the poutine from Taboo was the clear winner. It brought the calorie count up to a number that I just don’t want to compute. I need to work out more.

Cafés conducive to studying: Downtown edition Spots downtown for studying and relaxing Burcu Konuralp Contributor

Café Leaves serves vegan food and beverages in a modest setting.

This eatery only uses plant-based milk and offers a variety of specialties, such as végé lattés that are prepared from special powders and do not contain any coffee. In addition, they offer amazing pastries, salads, and snacks. Café Leaves is a perfect spot to take Instagram pictures because its decor is aesthetically-pleasing: The walls are painted with colourful flower designs while potted cactuses add a unique flavour to the space.

It is not a loud environment, so it is a good studying spot; however, it is quite small, so try to avoid mid-day hours for the best chance to find space.

Kréma

Address: 900 René-Lévesque Blvd W Hours: 6:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday, 6.30 a.m. 4 p.m. Saturday - Sunday Price: $$ Kréma’s elegant decor sets it apart from most typical coffee shops.

Situated inside the Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth hotel, it feels like a common area rather than a closed space. And, with its contemporary interior design, the atmosphere feels more formal than a regular coffee shop. Thanks to its experienced baristas, Kréma’s aesthetically-pleasing lattes taste as good as they look. There is also a variety of food and snack choices, including vegan options. The only downside is that the space is not quiet: Working people from the surrounding area come to the café to chat over a beverage, so the space gets too loud to be productive. However, for students who do not need silence to work, Kréma’s atmosphere and coffee are worth checking out.

Café Leaves

Address: 2051 Rue de la Montagne Hours: 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Saturday - Sunday Price: $$

not huge, but there are private meeting rooms which patrons can book for group studying.

Ambrose Cafe

Address: 3422 Stanley St Hours: open from 7:30 a.m. Monday - Sunday Price: $$ Situated in the lounge of Hotel Ambrose, Ambrose Cafe is one of the downtown area’s most comfortable spots for studying. The interior design is a mix of modern and mid-century aesthetics, and the space is both elegant and trendy. With a relaxing atmosphere and light music playing in the background, students can easily feel detached from the daily rush. Sometimes, the lighting can be a bit dim, making it difficult to read; however, it does not affect those who study on their computers.

This place is ideal for both solitary and group study, as there is a couch for those who want to read their books and relax, and there are shared tables for collaborative work. The café also offers a tasty menu: At breakfast, they serve eggs and waffles, and vegan soup at lunchtime.

La Finca Café & Bureau

Address: 1067 Rue de Bleury Hours: 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday - Sunday Price: $$ This cute café is the ideal spot for students who want to enjoy the food and ambiance as they study. La Finca Café has a warm and welcoming environment with pastel-coloured decorations. It offers a diverse selection of drinks from coffees to smoothies. The food is comforting, with a menu that includes a variety of pastries as well as healthier options such as salads, sandwiches, and soups. The space is

Several downtown cafés offer students peaceful work environments.

(Cherry Wu / The McGill Tribune)

Breaking bread A love letter to the casse-croûte Gabe Nisker Sports Editor

Time slows down when I enter a Montreal diner.

It slows down because the menu is so long, and it takes forever to read through and decide, for certain, what to order. It slows down because the plates are so big that it takes forever to eat a meal. And it slows down because conversations with friends, family, or simply the same waiters as last time are so enjoyable, and the jukebox soundtrack even more so.

Mister Steer is one such diner. It opened in 1958, with nine seats on the corner of Ste Catherine and Bleury. Working-class and immigrant populations flocked to it for the popular Steerburger, a kosher hockey-puck patty with lettuce, tomato, and onion.

“I would say 90 per cent of our customers were Jewish,” James Gaspar, owner of the Mister Steer restaurant, told me. “That is, until the French Canadians [...] figured out we had a pretty good burger, and that they should give it a shot.”

Gaspar took the restaurant over from his parents about 30 years ago, noting how natural the transition was.

“When my dad needed someone to wash dishes, I was a high school student, and he would call me at recess to come in and wash dishes,” Gaspar said.

“You kind of grow into the business that way, don’t you?”

The restaurant is now located at 1198 Ste. Catherine W., near Drummond Street. Despite a renovation that took out its counter seats—which Gaspar claims was a big mistake, since older customers have a certain reverence for them—Mister Steer aims to maintain the same unique charm that the original place had over 60 years ago. An old telephone sits at the entrance, and “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire booms out of the jukebox.

Even now, Gaspar notes that Mister Steer’s success is still mostly driven by the same simple burger that launched the business years ago.

“It is almost generational in the sense that father brings his son, father dies, son gets married, brings his children,” Gaspar said. “You have no idea how

many people, even when they leave Montreal to other cities, other countries, when they come back to Montreal, one of the first places they visit to eat is Mister Steer. They want to revisit their past, their nostalgia, their times they used to live here, how they love the Suzie Qs [curly fries], and that has not changed. It’s generation-to-generation.”

Mister Steer is but one institution in a myriad of Quebec diners. The restaurants’ popularity is made obvious by the number of terms that refer to them, such as diners and greasy spoons. The Québécois diner even has its own name: Casse-croûte.

On the menu at a casse-croûte, owners put together a list of guilty-pleasure basics. Regional casse-croûtes add their own flair.

“You’ve got your homemade hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, and poutines,” David McMillan, chef at Joe Beef, writes in The Art of Living According to Joe Beef: A Cookbook of Sorts. “And [there are also] some specialties like hot gravysoaked hamburgers and all-dressed hot dogs (with the works) dipped in batter and fried. I’ve had a Ti-Gus burger, which is an all-dressed burger on a plate, with a ladle of Kraft Thousand Island dressing poured over the top.”

As the world around these restaurants changes— and as rent where these low-cost restaurants dwell rises—Québécois food remains a mash-up of its European influences.

“I would have a hard time [finding] a francophone in Quebec who doesn’t enjoy spaghetti or a diner [that] doesn’t serve spaghetti,” said Caroline Durand, an associate professor at Trent University. “And something like spaghetti with an Italian kind of sauce, with smoked meat on top, might be described as authentically Québécois. So, yeah, there are some mixed dishes [...] that I think could only emerge in Montreal that have this veneer of authenticity.”

Durand, who researches nutritional discourse in Quebec history, spent 11 years in Montreal completing her undergraduate and master’s degrees

at Université du Québec à Montréal and her PhD at McGill. The invocation of these restaurants sparked powerful memories of her time in the city.

“Going out to this type of restaurant is the type of choice that’s pretty much always made in connection to another activity,” Durand said. “To me, these restaurant experiences are pretty much always connected to going out with some friends and having a full night out, going to a place to watch the hockey game or going to a bar.”

“There

are

some

people

who might even argue that authenticity

doesn’t

really

exist because every culinary culture is in a constant state of transformation,” Durand said.

The comfort these diners continue to supply, even in their advanced age, comes from upholding their original look. A diner’s warm and inviting atmosphere typically began with tiled wallpaper and leather-bound seats. Today, they often remain stuck in that past, merely refreshing the seats or switching the tiled wallpaper for actual tiles.

“All design is a choice,” Gwendolyn Owens, director of curatorial affairs for McGill’s Visual Arts Collection, wrote to The McGill Tribune in an email.

“Montreal has restaurants that look like French bistros [...] as well as diners [...], and what [customers] want is an experience that to the eater feels [...] authentic.”

In the search for authenticity, however,

Montrealers might end up running in circles. Given that ‘Montrealized’ spaghetti and poutine originated from a combination of standalone dishes, it can be tough to track down a single origin story. Frédéric Giuliano, an archivist at McGill University Rare Books, has found difficulty in tracing the history of the beloved items on casse-croûte menus.

“There’s more of an oral tradition to the history of poutine,” Giuliano said. “Where did it start?

Drummondville, or, where?”

Durand pointed out that culinary authenticity is tricky to pin down, since it is always shifting.

Nonetheless, some insist on specific eating conditions, much in the way that some insist on seeing a movie in the theatre.

“There are some people who might even argue that authenticity doesn’t really exist because every culinary culture is in a constant state of transformation,” Durand said. “So, there are people who would claim that authenticity is always a construction. But, that might not be the definition that would satisfy everyone. There are some people, for instance, who claim that to have authentic poutine, you absolutely have to have it in Quebec with a specific kind of cheese and in a specific kind of establishment.”

Durand adds that Québécois food—the kind served in these establishments—is currently undergoing a re-evaluation as part of a larger project to re-examine the roots of Québécois culture.

“There is [...] a sincere attempt to revitalize a kind of cooking that wasn’t always appreciated,” Durand said. “If we go back maybe 20 [or] 30 years ago, there would be a lot of contempt for a dish like poutine. Outsiders would look at that and say ‘this is absolutely disgusting, people could not seriously eat that,’ and people could interpret that dish as a sign that Quebec culture is actually not something prestigious at all.”

Yet, this working-class food culture is present everywhere you go in Montreal.

Traditional restaurants form the backbone of their neighbourhoods so much so that the city’s culinary tradition is founded on an especially-close cousin to the diner—the deli. Montreal has adopted the deli’s signature food—smoked meat—as an iconic city staple.

“Not only was it cheap food, but it was easy to get. It was super accessible,” Nathalie Cooke, associate dean of the McGill Library (Archives and Rare Collections) and founding editor of CuiZines journal, said. “That made it quite a bit more popular as well.”

Schwartz’s opened in 1928 and found its home at 3895 St. Laurent in 1939. It is right across from The Main Deli, which opened its doors in 1974.

The Main takes its name from the anachronistic nickname for St. Laurent—the street that acts as a pseudo linguistic divider for the city. To the west, Montreal is primarily anglophone; to the east live the francophones. But, these diners, delis, and cassecroûtes act both as meeting places and melting pots.

Linguistic barriers be gone; we just want our food.

Every six weeks, my uncle takes me to get a haircut. Either before or after, we go for a meal at one of these classic Montreal restaurants. The last four times, we’ve gone to Greenspot, the diner that sits like a relic from a distant Québécois past in rapidly-gentrifying St. Henri, and ordered the club sandwich. It’s a big plate—the sandwich comes with thick-cut french fries, coleslaw, a pickle, gravy, and mayonnaise on the side—and it has been dynamite every time.

Nostalgia is a powerful force: Diner food, in all of its simplicity, never fails to stand the test of time.

In our conversation, Gaspar told me about a customer who returned to Mister Steer about five years ago.

“A fellow comes in, he’s got this tan, he’s about maybe 70 years old, sits down,” Gaspar said. “And, I’m standing, I don’t know, five feet away from him, and I watch him. He doesn’t look at the menu, [and the] waitress comes up to him, [and he says]

‘Give me a number seven [a hamburger and a hot dog]’ [....] I was intrigued. So I go up to him and say ‘Number seven? When were you here last?’ [He

Nostalgia is a powerful force: Diner food, in all of its simplicity, never fails to stand the test of time. says] ‘40 years ago.’ [I said,] ‘How come forty years ago?’ He said, ‘I live in Florida now.’ A man who’s been away for 40 years remembers the number, sits down, orders it, says it was exactly the same way it was 40 years ago.”

Construction surrounds the Mister Steer location in every direction, tearing up the very foundations of the downtown core. However, in spite of its ever-changing neighbourhood, the diner remains a comfortable sight and a homely familiarity. Most of all, this type of food in this type of place just hits the spot.

“Sometimes, a plain old hot dog can be very good if it is done a certain way,” Durand said. “I certainly would prefer that particular food item to be toasted, not steamed. I think all-dressed has to have cabbage and onions and relish. If there’s no onions, you can’t really say it’s all dressed. But I would say any hot dog you have in Montreal would be superior to a hot dog you would have in New York.”

Giuliano agrees that the mere thought of neighbourhood casse-croûte food is a truly remarkable power.

“There’s a chemical reaction in my brain when I talk about poutine; I instantly get hungry,” Giuliano said. “I’m definitely going to have a poutine tonight because we talked about it.”

10

student living

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Outdated: How TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED ROMANCE

( \ [ -_- ( * ^ _] ) < _ // The influence of social media on modern courtship \\ )> ( [+_% _@ )_

Crafting offers many students an opportunity to relax and bond with their peers. (Emma Paulus / The McGill Tribune)

Mary Keith Staff Writer

In recent years, societal perceptions of dating have changed dramatically.

With the advent of online dating, individuals have more options when it comes to whom to date and how. Despite the increase in prospective partners, dating is complicated, and it has become even more muddled by the ambiguity that online dating can cause. With the emergence of the internet, virtual courtship has overturned the once-rigid rules of traditional romance.

Many young people have found meaningful connections via smartphone applications. According to a 2018 survey, 28 per cent of users between the ages of 18 and 29 have gone on one or more dates with someone they met online.

This is, in part, because the dating pool has broadened: Technology gives users the impression that they are connecting with thousands, or millions, of potential matches. However, online dating has altered the types of relationships people pursue—especially for students. In an age of online dating and an influx of casual meetups, dating has begun to seem antiquated.

With apps like Tinder and Bumble, where upwards of hundreds of matches can accumulate in an hour and one third of the user demographic is between the ages of 18 and 24, it is clear that such dating apps have provided university students with an efficient and timely way to meet new people. Dating apps offer a seemingly quick fix to students’ longing to feel connected. Catherine Carson, U2 Arts, explained that, in her experience, dating apps have appeared to encourage hookup culture and result in primarily casual, short-term relationships as opposed to more serious committal ones.

“While these apps probably help

those who are looking for a relationship find [a partner] to go on dates with, I think the majority of people who use online dating apps are usually looking for hookups,” Carson said.

Carson embraced social media in her dating life, as it helped her connect more deeply to her long-distance partner, whom she met through social media.

Though she and her partner did not share the convenience meeting regularly in-person, being able to talk daily via technology allowed her relationship to flourish at a distance. “[My boyfriend and I] live in different cities, [but we...] decided to go on a date, as we had been talking on social media for a few weeks,” Carson said.

“We ended up talking every day until we eventually decided to be exclusive.”

Carson’s experience exemplifies the way in which social media can facilitate unlikely relationships and strengthen connections via virtual communication.

However, dating apps also allow students to hide behind their phone screens. In Mar. 2018, one man matched with 53 potential mates, but, after suggesting meeting up, only four people accepted the invitation. The “getting to know each other” phase of romantic relationships has transferred from inperson communication to browsing profiles and texting. Chloe Gherardi, BSc’18, found that technology has made dating feel superficial. “[In my experience], people are much more willing to put themselves out there due to dating apps,” Gherardi said.

“But, dating [seems to have changed] toward basing compatibility off of physical appearance rather than actually getting to the know the person.”

As Gherardi observes, dating apps end up encouraging unrealistic expectations, especially about the types of relationships that users pursue.

Students who set out in hopes of finding

a relationship may, instead, be met with an overwhelming amount of casual hookup prospects. Miruna Coca Nica, U1 Arts, has also observed that social media encourages casual interactions, rather than long-term relationships. “[In my experience], online apps seem to set some unspoken expectations of hooking up casually rather than being in a relationship,” Coca Nica said. “Also, [the apps seem to discourage] people from getting to know each other in real life before [deciding if] they want to date.”

This casual attitude toward dating absolves students of the responsibility of adhering to a strict set of social rules.

Gherardi finds that informal methods of getting to know people have replaced this traditional kind of courtship, which involves going on dates and meeting friends and families. This not only has made dating feel obsolete to her, but has also made the process more confusing.

“Dating [appears] more simplified [today] in that there isn’t so much courting but just getting to know a person,” Gherardi said. “I, personally, think dating has become much more complicated due to social media.”

Students more often hesitate to formally define their relationships because there are more types of relationships that daters can now choose to pursue. Frank Kermit, a Montrealbased dating coach, explained that individuals can feel overwhelmed by the numerous potential matches and the relationship styles to choose between.

“People have more choice [in types of relationships] than they have ever had before. They can choose to stay out of [one relationship and] pursue multiple [relationships...], a whole umbrella,” Kermit said. “The power of choice without the skill set to manage all this choice is leading a number of people to being miserable.”

With the advent of alternative dating options, students often elect to keep their relationships undefined, which can blur the perception of what romantic partners want. As evidenced by the emerging terminology for casual hookups such as ‘Netflix and chill’ and ‘cuffing season,’ Kermit has observed that young people are less interested in putting formal labels on their romantic relationships.

“If people use terminology because it makes them more comfortable to find the companionship that they are looking for, then so be it,” Kermit said. “As long as everyone involved is a consenting adult and not lying to each other about expectations.”

Ambiguity makes some people feel comfortable, while others remain frustrated. Students dissatisfied with the uncertainty are often left wondering about the status of their relationships and their exclusivity.

“Yes, it’s a good means of getting comfortable with someone,” Gherardi said. “But, it can make determining the status of a relationship more difficult, since it [tends to] keep things very open.”

Despite these annoyances, young people have ditched formal courtship.

However, this is not a signal of the end of dating altogether. Apps and terminology allow people to pursue their desires more directly. Kermit offered a glimpse of what he expects to come from this new age in the long run, as seen through his clients.

“I anticipate [... that] people who flourish in the hookup culture [... will] learn that fun does not equal fulfillment in the long-term,” Kermit said. “Eventually, fun just becomes novelty, [and] once people reach that point, what they tend to desire is something more meaningful [....] When the day comes [that people] want something more serious, dating will be the category that most people will fall into.”

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Cinema Politica features indigenous-made cinema All funds from night raised for Unist’ot’en Camp Legal Fund

Kevin Vogel Staff Writer Continued from page 1.

Whitebean, who is also from Kahnawake, highlights VanDommelen as a source of community pride. Inspired by his father’s own passion for the sport, VanDommelen began boxing at the age of six and has been in the ring ever since. The film praised VanDommelen’s drive and showcased the support that his parents and the athletic community provided him with. Lil Hard Knox portrays a community coming together to help a young athlete realize his promise.

Heart (Sam Karney)

In its brisk three-minute runtime, Heart takes its viewers into Winnipeg’s North End neighbourhood, where 24.6 per cent of the population is indigenous.

Due to the low socioeconomic status of the area, the North End has taken on an unfavourable perception to outsiders.

Karney challenges the pervasive negative stereotypes that plague the indigenous community, compounded by high crime rates and economic despair. Instead of doom, he finds perseverance; instead of despair, he finds hope. Through Karney’s lens, the North End becomes a place full of warmth and kindness—a place that people proudly call home.

Flat Rocks (Courtney Montour) In

the

1950s,

the

Canadian

government began construction on the Saint Lawrence Seaway, a series of canals and channels connecting Montreal’s harbour to the Great Lakes.

While planners framed the project as a progressive undertaking in pursuit of economic development, the construction of the Seaway had devastating impacts on the Kahnawake Mohawk territory near Montreal.

Montour investigates the story of 79-year-old farmer Louis Diabo’s resistance to the Seaway’s construction.

She begins by showing home videos from before the construction began, replete with wholesome summer activities like family barbecues on the river and children splashing in the water. Montour then juxtaposes this footage with images of Seaway workers digging around Diabo’s farmhouse—the construction that caused his well to dry up and rendered the home uninhabitable.

“The things that dredge right into the community are just never ending,” Montour said after the screening, mentioning the Mercier Bridge and Autoroute 30 expansion. “The seaway severed our connection to the water and [interrupted] our traditional diet, our skills, the fishing, and the way that people gathered.”

Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) (Amanda Strong)

Director Amanda Strong uses stop-motion animation to tell the story of Biidaaban, a non-binary Anishinaabe person, as they try to collect sap from

McSWAY’s Heartbreak Museum Celebrate Valentine’s day with sad poetry and a display of mementos from relationships past.

Feb. 14, 12-4 p.m.; Building 21.

Player’s Presents: The McGill Drama Festival The annual festival is back for a week of entirely studentwritten, directed, produced, and performed shows.

Feb. 13-23, MainLine Theatre (3997 boul.

Saint Laurent).

Cinema Politica showcased a wealth of of indigenous cinema.

(Zoe Rose / The McGill Tribune) maple trees in suburban neighbourhoods with the help of spirits. Through almost surrealist depictions of the dreary houses moving in and attacking Biidaaban, the short presents a poignant critique of settler society urbanizing land traditionally used by indigenous peoples.

Warrior Women (Christina King and Elizabeth Castle)

Warrior Women brings female American Indian Movement (AIM) leaders together to reminisce about their activism from the 1960s to the present.

The legacy of Madonna Thunder Hawk’s Survival School, a movement which cultivated a generation of young

indigenous women, plays a key role in the film, looking at how the resistance of the AIM transformed future generations of indigenous American activists.

Each film provided a distinct perspective on indigenous life. At the end of the event, Montour emphasized that the effects of colonialism represented throughout the night are not only historical issues, but, rather, persisting realities across North America.

Although First Voices Week finished on Feb. 8, Cinema Politica screens independent political film and video every Monday evening at Concordia’s H-110.

(Dis)location: Art in a Mobile Age Concordia University’s Deparment of Art History presents their 2019 annual conference centred around technological advancements and its effects on contemporary art.

Feb. 16, 9-9:45 p.m.; Feb. 17, 11-2 p.m.; The Gail & Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art, EV 3.711, 1515 St. Catherine W. Taking Breath - Naishi Wang Join Toronto-based choreographer Naishi Wang to explore concepts of breath and the subconscious.

Feb. 15,16; 8-10 p.m.; MAI (3680 Rue Jeanne-Mance).

The hollow girl bossery of “thank u, next”

Ariana Grane misspells kanji, buys a weave, and raps on her latest album

Ariella Garmaise Managing Editor My interest in Ariana Grande was piqued by 2018’s Sweetener, a critically-acclaimed jazz-infused love letter to then-beau, comedian Pete Davidson. thank u, next is the antidote to Sweetener—a cryptic dissection of the infamous broken engagement that has been met with similar praise. And yet, it is at this juncture that I must admit my brief love affair with Grande has also come to an end.

On Nov. 30, Grande released her music video for the titular “thank u, next,” a short that features Grande as various female protagonists in early 2000s rom-coms, lazily pandering for nostalgia’s sake. The video was good in the way that a perfunctory Saturday Night Live impression is good; director Hannah Lux proficiently recreates Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, Bring It On////, and 13 Going on 30 but offers no artistic intervention. Aside from an empty female-power mantra in which Grande chooses herself, and an overdone reference to Pete Davidson’s penis size for salivating fans, “thank u, next” does little in the way of expression.

With the release of “7 Rings,” Grande set the record for most streams in a single week, but the song faced intense criticism. The video appropriates kanji characters, and Grande has since touted an unfortunately-misspelled tattoo; the design, which is supposed to read ‘7 rings’ in kanji, in fact, says ‘barbecue grill.’ Accusations of cultural appropriation have plagued Grande throughout her career, but her empty use of Japanese language and culture is especially vexing when matched with an equally hollow song about being a rich white wowman shopping. It’s not just Grande’s kanji that reads as inauthentic, but the entire production; she writhes forcedly, chants unconvincingly of buying diamonds for her bitches, and apes the worst of trap music for an exceptionally-long 30 seconds. The video’s pink fur, diamond-crusted, girl boss aesthetic feels manufactured, and six months too late—Grande has missed the boat on millennial pink.

Despite their uninspired videos, “7 Rings” and “thank u, next,” are perhaps the album’s best tracks—or at least its most distinct. The rest of thank u, next features vaguely-catchy, nearly-indistinguishable songs: I know

I enjoyed listening to “imagine,” “bloodline,” and “makeup” but I can’t recall any specifics. “NASA” is another pandering reference to a belated Urban Outfitters trend. On “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored,” Grande croons that “you make me feel some type of way,” a sentiment that wasn’t particularly profound when Rich Homie Quan said it in 2013 and hasn’t appreciated in potency in countless Drake songs since. “needy” is one of the album’s strongest, and her refrain “I can be needy, tell me how good it feels to be needed” is a refreshing break from the album’s vacant girl power-isms a la “God is a Woman.”

References to ex-lovers meant to rouse public interest ultimately hamper the album. “thank u, next” isn’t an ode to empowerment so much as a list of celebrity names; likewise, pithy and transparent nods to famous breakups populate the entire album.

While thank u, next feels like it was produced by a focus group, Grande is not without talent. She just won her first Grammy, and without even attending the awards ceremony where she was set to perform, citing the show’s alleged constraints on her creative

Pete Davidson deserved a better breakup album. (pitchfork.com)

1.5/5 freedom. Still, listening to “one small step for woman…. one giant leap for womankind” on the intro to “NASA,” it’s tough to imagine any

particularly subversive spirit that The Recording Academy should need to censor.

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Tuesday, february 12, 2019

Igloofest chillingly cool in its 13th iteration Dancing away the winter blues at Quai Jacques-Cartier Adam Burton Contributor

with the perfect opportunity to showcase their most creative moves.

Most people spend January and February huddled up indoors trying to avoid any contact with the frigid, brutal elements. Not Montrealers, though—for three weekends every year, hordes of ravers dressed in 90s ski-jackets and spacesuits brave the winter, fill up Quai Jacques-Cartier, and dance the night away. This year was no exception: Despite bitter cold temperatures and icy dance floors, Igloofest unfolded as planned, booking a genre-diverse and well-rounded line-up.

The McGill Tribune took full advantage of the festivities and got the scoop on the 13th iteration of this infamous event.

Nina Las Vegas—Night two: Jan. 18 Opening for the very popular Diplo to a mostly student-populated crowd unfamiliar with her music, Australian producer and DJ Nina Las Vegas had a lot to prove. Laying down one of the most technically-proficient dance sets at the festival and lining up perfectly curated tracks over one another, Nina infused the whole crowd with energy.

Polo & Pan—Night one: Jan. 17 This endearing French DJ duo isn’t typical for Igloofest’s lineup: They produce electro-pop, sampling musical styles across genres and eras.

Their funky, suave, and downright-weird music electrified the audience, leaving the crowd happy, mesmerized, and sore from dancing all night.

Skatebård—Night one: Jan. 17 Straight out of Norway, Skatebård’s stocky frame and gruff beard makes him look like a modern-day Viking, well-equipped for the bleak Montreal winter. Skatebård’s music falls within a sub-genre of house called Italo-disco—the B-movie of the disco genre— making for a surprisingly melodic and funky set. Spontaneous dance circles ensued, providing audience members

Four Tet—Night three: Jan. 19 Igloofest is branded as “the coldest music festival in the world,” but even Montrealers were unprepared for when the temperatures stooped to -24°C. Somehow, the venue filled up for Four Tet with groups huddled together on the dance floor for warmth, taking intermittent breaks at the firepits to defrost frozen toes, fingers, and eyelashes. Maceo Plex, the opener, warmed up the crowd with his signature blend of techno and experimental music, laying down hard bass lines and strange time signatures that made for an off-brand, intense performance.

AC Slater—Night six: Jan. 26 AC Slater, the L.A.-raised DJ pioneering the British genre of Bassline, touts himself as the champion of ‘nightbass’ and has made it his mission to expose North America to UK Bassline.

He appears to have succeeded; his rich basslines

The coldest music festival in the world lives up to its resputation. (Gabriel Helfant / The McGill Tribune) and built-up drops invigorated the crowd, which pumped its fists and ‘gun fingers’ in the air. His act perfectly led into the headlining deep-house demigod: Chris Lake.

Chris Lake—Night six: Jan. 26 Since his debut in 2002, U.K.-native Chris Lake has played at every major music festival venue. His track selection featured a blend of fan favourites like “Lose My Mind” and “Deceiver” and new boundary-pushing lyrical tracks that truly separated him from the ever-growing pack of house DJs.

Maceo Plex—Night nine: Feb. 2 Maceo Plex closed out Igloofest with a strong three-hour set. He brought the music, and Montreal brought the energy and increasingly bizarre antics.

There was a shirtless man dancing his heart out, and one fervent fan made it their prerogative to shout “Maceo Plex is my dad,” repeatedly. Still, Plex’s smooth, groovy techno made for the perfect end to a successful festival. When the lights came on at the end of his set, Igloofest was over. Everybody was smiling, and could not help but look forward to next year’s festivities.

Community art and social justice: A conversation Local artists gather to discuss important intersection

Nicholas Raffoul Staff Writer On Feb. 5, University of the Streets Café hosted an inclusive discussion about visual art as a tool for community building and its contributions to social justice. The talk was broad in scope and touched on subjects such as art’s commodification, subsequent impacts on gentrification, and the limits of art’s accessibility. Panelists also discussed art’s potential as a site of resistance against violence, racism, and other forms of oppression. Local visual artist Emma Harake, the talk’s moderator, raised concerns about the nonprofit artistic sector and the role of established institutions in both viewing and producing art. Guest speakers contributed compelling thoughts to the talk, drawing on their personal and professional experiences with community-organizing and visual art.

Johnny El-Hage, a multidisciplinary artist and founder of Abjad Howse, a creative space that encourages Arabic artists in Canada, discussed building inclusive spaces for marginalized artists to showcase their work outside of traditional gallery spaces. He also discussed his experiences with hosting inclusive events for racialized artists in Montreal. These events can take the form of open mics and celebrations of music, poetry, and talent in

racialized neighbourhoods.

El-Hage analyzed the problematic nature of a homogenized national identity, systemic discrimination, and how art can be used to empower marginalized communities.

“Art and public practices play a significant role in reproducing and reconstructing racial, gender, and class difference in a way that is positive,” ElHage said. “Art is so powerful when it operates outside the state and its dominating power, forming a power of its own. When we talk of meaningful art, it is an art that meets people in their communities and opens democratic spaces that allow experimentation and imagination.”

Similarly, artist and McGill Social Work graduate student Salima Punjani spoke about spreading multiculturalism within Montreal. Punjani explained the themes of her work, such as family storytelling, as emblematized in her photography project, Moms of Montreal. Moms of Montreal offers a glimpse into different family lives through photography to build a sense of community and appreciation for diversity.

Saskatoon-based artist Jane Reväe McWhirter uses art to promote personal growth and community healing in at-risk youth. McWhirter brought up her past struggles with substance abuse and selfworth, describing her work as an artist

at Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming (SCYAP) as pivotal in her journey of self-acceptance. “[Working at SCYAP] was the first time in my life that I really felt a sense of confidence, and [it] sparked me with wanting more in life,” McWhirter said.

“This program really gave me the space to be vulnerable [by] using art as a powerful tool to push us forward. It started with something as small as a painting where

you can start small, see something that you make, feel proud of it, and then continue to build your confidence.”

McWhirter and the other guest speakers did not shy away from discussing the fact visual art has often been commodified and can be publicly inaccessible. Panelists were hopeful, however, that community organizers can still use art as a tool to empower the marginalized by offering an outlet for expression.

Panellists from around Montreal gathered in University of the Streets to discuss the problems and possibilities of art and social justice. (Elli Slavitch / The McGill Tribune)

science & technology

tuesday, FEBRUARY 12, 2019

13

Love on the brain

A biological dissection of Valentine’s Day Morgan Sweeney Staff Writer Everyone knows the story: Boy meets girl, boy encounters obstacle; they fight to overcome it, but something goes wrong and someone runs away crying. Ultimately, love prevails, they share a passionate kiss, get married, and live happily ever after. This, Hollywood claims, is love.

Valentine’s Day is marketed as a celebration of love but, for many people, it can also be a source of stress. If they are in a relationship, they might feel pressured to visibly display their affection, or else risk disappointing their partner. If they are single, the day might be a lonely reminder that they don’t have someone to spend their time with. Clearly, love is a lot more complicated than Hallmark makes it out to be.

The Western notion of romantic love, the one that glorifies gender roles and promises hedonic fulfillment after meeting the per-

Love is made up of the three distinct categories: Lust, attraction, and attachment. (voiceofhealth.in) fect person, may have originated in the Middle Ages; however, this is somewhat disputed. The Ancient Greeks held a septenary theory of love, which encompassed love for friends, family, the universe, and oneself. Modern scientists look at love as both a biological and sociocultural phenomenon, that is divisible into three distinct categories:

Lust, attraction, and attachment.

The system of love is one of reproduction. Sexual attraction leads to sex, which leads to offspring, which allows the genome, and the species, to continue into the future. Testosterone and estrogen, the two basic sex hormones, initiate feelings of lust and subsequent physical intimacy.

But, with humans, sex is rarely ‘just sex.’ The social and cultural aspects embedded in the act of reproduction usually create complications. Sex often leads to attraction, the second, scientific category of love, stimulated by the reward pathway in the brain.

The release of neurotransmitters, including dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, are what lead to the addictive tendencies young lovers might develop in the beginning of relationships.

“The passionate love we initially fall into is like an obsession: It is characterized by the intense channeling of our attention, affection, and desire toward specific people[….] at the expense of just about everything else,” Samuel Veissiere, assistant professor in McGill’s Department of Psychiatry, wrote in Psychology Today.

Evolutionary psychologists posit that the rationale behind attraction has less to do with the needs of the adult and more to do with the needs of human offspring.

Unlike many other animals, human children aren’t born ready to go out into the world—they need time and care to mature properly. Having two parents around to raise them is very beneficial for development and this will only happen if the parents stay together after sex.

Attachment, the third, and arguably most important, category of love, is the force that allows for long-term relationships. Attachment is what binds families, friends, and communities together, largely thanks to the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin. It is difficult to overstate the importance of attachment, with studies showing that the production of oxytocin can even help heal fractured interpersonal relationships.

At the end of the day, the infatuation of romantic love is fleeting. Only love built on a foundation of trust and respect will endure over time. For many, love is the best part of life, and it’s worth celebrating, but it doesn’t have to be a rom-com to be meaningful.

McHacks 6 attracts diverse talent from across Canada Hackathon promotes gender and program diversity

Erin Dwyer Contributor From Feb. 2 to 3, students from across Canada and the United States hunched over their laptops at McGill’s annual McHacks competition. With cash awards and Nintendo switches at stake, the participating ‘hackers’ had 24 hours to program an original project.

Students have organized and run the competition since 2013, with this year’s committee being staffed by 26 organizers and 60 volunteers.

As Canada’s oldest collegiate hackathon, McHacks sets the scene for the Canadian hackathon community. Many Canadian universities have followed in its footsteps by organizing hackathons of their own, but McHacks continues to differentiate itself.

“We try to make our [hackathon] very beginner-friendly,” Kyle Rubenok, co-director of McHacks 6, said. “It’s a really great way to [get] someone from zero to something tangible in a weekend, and there’s not really many ways you can learn something that quickly.”

The breadth of projects this year ranged from tackling imminent world issues to a computer game that generated a recorded meow every time an attendee clickled an animated cat.

One of this year’s top projects was ‘H2Onow,’ a web application that gives live updates on water supplies to populations that have to walk long distances for their water. “[We] are looking [for] creativity, completeness, technical difficulty, and

originality,” Kayla Branson, the director of McHacks 5 and a judge at this year’s competition, said.

Hackathons help competitors develop a wide range of useful programming and presentation skills. The breadth of experience which the event provides participants with has led them to suggest that the events become mandatory in computer science curriculum.

“McGill is mostly theory,” Kevin Gi, U1 Engineering, said. “There’s not really a lot of practical things we learn on assignments.”

In a team with three other software engineers, Gi created a 3D-printed catapult while also designing a software program that can throw an object using projection data.

“I already learned more in 24 hours than I did the entire last semester,” Edwin Pan , U1 Engineering, and a teammate of Gi’s, said.

Hackers appreciate hackathons as opportunities to develop their own skills.

“Computer science education around the world has a lot of different forms,” Rubenok said. “McGill takes a very theoretical stance, Waterloo takes a more practical approach, [and] Queens is somewhere in the middle. Hackathons are a chance for students to take something and practically apply it in a short amount of time with no real limitations on resources and plenty of support.”

Diversity at hackathon events further bolsters their importance to tech education.

The disproportionately low representation of women in STEM is commonly linked to Imposter Syndrome, a psychological pattern

With 36 per cent of its students identifying as female, McGill’s computer science program is one of the most gender-diverse in North America. (Yonatan Morocz) of believing one does not deserve their education or job, one does not belong, and ones’ accomplishments are the result of luck.

“I’m definitely battling [Imposter Syndrome],” Dunja Tomic, a second-year student at the University of Waterloo, said.

“It’s been an uphill battle I’d say, but the more I learn, and the more I get myself out to events like this I find that I belong here.”

McGill’s computer science program is one of the most gender-diverse in North America, with a 36 per cent enrollment rate for female-identifying students. This year’s McHacks committee made gender diversity a priority when selecting applicants.

“We wanted McHacks to represent the excellent diversity McGill Computer

Science has,” Rubenok said. “We worked very hard to promote McHacks to [diverse] groups in computer science.”

While the committee fell short of its goal of a 50-50 gender split of hackers, 31 per cent of the participants were female, compared to 19 per cent in 2018.

For the McHacks of years to come, Rubenok hopes the competition can become a gateway for more non-computer science students to access the tech industry.

“We want to encourage employers to value the diversity of opinions and skill sets,” Rubenok said. “Events like hackathons allow students from non-traditional backgrounds to still interact with these companies and expose their skills and CVs.”

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science & technology

tuesday, FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Coding in the deep

Artificial intelligence learns with neuron-like layers Sarah Usman Contributor “Programming a computer to be clever is harder than programming it to learn to be clever,” Hugo Larochelle, a researcher at Google Brain and adjunct professor at Université de Sherbooke, said during his “Beyond Artificial Intelligence: Deep Learning” presentation at SUS Academia Week on Jan. 31.

Deep learning is a subset of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that attempts to mimic the human brain’s ability to comprehend abstract notions. For example, when a human sees a dog, even if it is an unfamiliar breed, they are often still able to recognize the creature as a dog. This is likely because they have seen many dogs before, and their brain has developed a complex algorithm that runs through a series of checklist questions: Does it walk on four legs? Does it have a snout? Does it have a tail it can wag? If it only has one eye, is it a dog with a missing eye or a different creature altogether?

As part of his presentation, Larochelle explained the science behind deep learning where artificial networks of ‘neurons’ are grouped into various layers, each dedicated to processing a particular piece of information. In the case of recognizing a dog, each of the initial questions could be a layer, with one layer considering whether the creature walks on four legs and another considering whether it has

a snout. Larochelle’s team aims to provide a deep learning machine with a rich diversity of similar problems in the hopes of training the system to learn a new recognition task faster.

While researchers have studied neural networks and deep learning for over 50 years, the recent buzz around the topics is attributable to the improvement in technology infrastructure and the ability to give machines mass amounts of high-quality training data. Canada, in particular, has led the way in the recent AI advancements. Industry pioneers, such as McGill alumnus Yoshua Bengio under whom Larochelle was a student, are responsible for many of novel AI innovations. Bengio developed a revolutionary language translation system that now forms the basis of Google Translate.

Despite these breakthroughs, Larochelle believes that we still have a long way to improve the efficiency of AI and deep learning.

“A computer is essentially like a really, really dedicated student that will do lots of exercises but is sort of dumb and not learning particularly fast,” Larochelle said.

Deep learning technology has the potential to be applicable in a variety of industries. Larochelle described a particular case in the agricultural industry wherein an engineer trained a neural network system to recognize the shape and size of cucumbers, so that they could be run through an automated process instead of sorted manually. Applications for deep learning can even be found in art, including in musical composition and in tools such as

Deep learning mimics the brain’s ability to understand abstract information.

(Steve Slav / The McGill Tribune)

the website deepart.io, where users can upload photographs to transform them into paintings of various styles.

The powerful potential of deep learning also comes with great responsibility.

“We have to be mindful about biases the systems might have that often will come from badly collected data,” Larochelle said.

To illustrate his point, Larochelle described cases where facial recognition software was better at detecting white males than

women or people of colour, due to the unrepresentative data sets which the system received while in training.

The opportunity to learn about the rapidly-growing and increasingly-influential industry of deep learning was exciting for students in attendance.

“We’re really lucky to get to see such people speak at McGill and to get an idea of what we can do with our degrees,” Lily Carson, Arts student, said.

A future vision of STEM education

Why you need science and why science needs you Caroline Lou Contributor Nanotechnology is revolutionizing healthcare systems. Self-driving cars are changing how we navigate our roads. The world has entered an unprecedented era of technological innovation, and scientists are making novel discoveries that will extend and improve the quality of our everyday lives.

Ainissa Ramirez, a world-renowned materials scientist and science evangelist, drew in her audience with these scientific anecdotes during her keynote presentation on Feb. 1, the culmination of SUS Academia Week 2019: To Science and Beyond.

A Google search will yield an extensive list of Ramirez’s accomplishments: She has directed the awardwinning children’s lecture series Science Saturdays , hosted two popular-science video series entitled Material Marvels and Science Xplained , and was an assistant and associate professor of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science at Yale University. She has also been profiled in many publications ranging from the New York Times to Scientific American , was named one of the world’s 100 Top Innovators by MIT’s Technology Review , and holds six patents.

Her many accolades have not made Ramirez inaccessible: She provided a candid picture of her nonlinear journey to becoming a scientist. She also highlighted the importance of finding a community in university and beyond, and the influential role that mentors can play in students’ lives. Although she primarily focused on the value of STEM education, Ramirez also mentioned the benefits of a holistic education that incorporates the arts

Renowned scientist Ainissa Ramirez discusses the importance of accessible and creative STEM education. (Caroline Lou / The McGill Tribune) as well. Furthermore, she stressed how policy makers need to take systemic barriers, of class, gender, and race, for instance, into account to make high-quality education accessible for everyone.

When asked how to make science interesting to the general public, Ramirez referred to the value of communicating facts and stories that people will be curious about.

“A couple of years ago, I wrote a book about the science behind football [and concussions],” Ramirez said. “Now, I could say, ‘I’m going to talk about biology and neuroscience.’ But, I don’t do that. I talk about why woodpeckers don’t get concussions. That’s the hook, and

people get excited by that, and then you can draw them in.”

She also explained that inspiring people to become creative problem-solvers is key to enabling novel scientific solutions. This teaching method implies an increased focus on learning, rather than just test scores.

“We’re so focused on testing that we’ve forgotten about the learning,” Ramirez said. “People are afraid to make mistakes. They want to get a right answer, and they’re always looking for reassurance. That’s the antithesis of what you need for creativity. I talk about making friends with failure [.…] It’s not really about hitting milestones. It’s really about [...] developing into the person you want to be.”

As her presentation drew to a close, audience members were left inspired to find ways to use science as a tool for positive change.

“There was definitely this sense of ‘we can change the world’ at the end,” Nadia Bichri, U2 Science and co-director of Academia Week, said. “People were asking very big questions and very specific questions, and she was still like, ‘Yeah! Get on social media, or go to this page, or go to this.’ She was very knowledgeable on where to start all of these changes.”

Janani Ramamurthy, U2 Science and co-director of Academia Week, was delighted at the impact that Ramirez had on attendants.

“It’s really beautiful when you see people who are just there to learn, and they’re taking notes, and it’s not even for a class,” Ramamurthy said. “I think that’s related to the message I want people to take away from the keynote. Just keep pushing yourself and putting yourself out there and don’t be afraid of the possibilities.”

sports

TUESDAY, february 12, 2019

Point-Counterpoint:

15

The G.O.A.T. in men’s tennis Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal finally face off

Adam Burton, Théo Farineau, Gabe Nisker Contributors, Sports Editor With 52 major titles between the three of them, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal have cemented their places in tennis history while creating one of the most exciting sets of rivalries in sports. But, only one can be the greatest of all time.

Rafael Nadal: More than just the ‘King of Clay’ Adam Burton When debating the tennis greatest-of-all-time, many overlook Rafael Nadal. His dominance spans back to 2005, when he won his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open. Since then, Nadal has added 16 additional major titles to his trophy cabinet. It’s obvious why Nadal is so distinguished: His speed, power, and athleticism pair perfectly with his impeccable technique, perhaps most evident in his deadly backhand.

In the G.O.A.T. discussion, many will be quick to point out that Nadal is second to Roger Federer in number of Grand Slam titles. However, using Grand Slams as the sole measure for greatness is a shortsighted argument because it does not consider other important factors.

Nadal trails in the Grand Slam race due to the way that the tournaments are set up: Both the Australian and US Opens are played on hard court, Wimbledon is played on grass, and only the French Open is on clay. Nadal plays best on clay, going 11-0 in French Open championship matches. Federer and Djokovic, on the other hand, dominate the hard court. Eleven of Federer’s 20 Grand Slams are hard court victories, as are 10 of Djokovic’s 15 Grand Slams.

Because Federer and Djokovic get to play twice as many tournaments on their best surface as Nadal, they have an undeniable advantage in the Grand Slam race.

Given the unfair

advantage granted to Federer and Djokovic, tennis fans merely bestow Nadal with the title of ‘King of Clay.’ To adequately measure dominance, one must

ations by Sabrina Gira Illustr rd-L am

as

consider their head-to-head matches: In the 38 times Federer and Nadal have faced each other, the Spaniard has won 23 matches, while Federer has won only 15. In the big picture, it becomes clearer: Nadal is the greatest tennis player of all time.

Roger Federer: 21 years of incredible influence Théo Farineau Roger Federer may only be sixth in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings right now, while Djokovic and Nadal are first and second, respectively; however, the Swiss player’s case for being the greatest tennis player is simple. Federer is a beacon of longevity: In 1998, at just 16 years old, he became a professional tennis player, and now—21 years later—RF has won 99 titles and counting.

Federer holds nearly every possible record in the sport. His 310 total weeks spent at the top of the ATP rankings, 237 of which were consecutive, supersede any other player’s accomplishments. He is also one of just eight men’s tennis players that can boast a Career Grand Slam in his trophy case. He broke Pete Sampras’ record of 14 major titles with his 2009 Wimbledon win, which many fans thought of as unbreakable. With 20 major titles, three more than Nadal and five more than Djokovic, Federer is the most-decorated player in men’s tennis.

Finally, the biggest contrast between Federer and his competition is their playing style. Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal are incredible athletes, and their rivalry has marked men’s tennis forever.

Federer, however, rises above his adversaries. His playing style is stunning to watch: His signature onehanded backhand, one of the most difficult moves to master in tennis, causes as much strife in his opponents as it does admiration from fans. He is a model of class on the court, and his incredibly refined technique inspires young tennis players all around the world.

The rivalry between Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic is one of the greatest in the history of tennis, and the winner will emerge as the greatest player of all time: In terms of both palmares and playing style, it is the Swiss star who edges out the others to claim this honour.

Novak Djokovic: A virtuoso performer Gabe Nisker On the first night of the 2016 US Open, Phil Collins performed the opening concert just before Novak Djokovic’s four-set victory over Jerzy Janowicz.

“It was hard to put up a show after Phil Collins, but he’s a legend,” Novak Djokovic said in a post-game interview.

Djokovic smiled and broke into Collins’ song ‘I Can’t Dance.’ With pure confidence, and, in spite of the name of the song, he added a dance move, too. Two-anda-half years later, Djokovic is a legend, now, too.

As the current world number one, he took just over two hours to defeat Rafael Nadal in straight sets. With this victory, Djokovic extended his head-to-head lead over Nadal to three and claimed a record seventh Australian Open. Now totalling 15 Grand Slam Championships, Djokovic trails Nadal by two, and Federer by five. He also leads in the head-to-head matchup with Federer and is the first tennis player to win all nine ATP 1000 tournaments. He owns the record for most points accrued in a single ATP season and holds the longest winning streak of the trio at 43 consecutive matches. And as the youngest of the three tennis superstars, with a dogged mentality and clean mechanics, Djokovic is nowhere near finished.

‘The Joker’ may not have one signature skill but he also shows no clear weaknesses. Although it was once easy to overlook his all-around talent, it is now time to include him in the greatest-of-all-time conversation.

Tennis fans reopen the greatest-of-all-time debate each time a major championship finishes, boosting the profile of the latest winner. Novak Djokovic may not be able to dance, but his tennis ability more than makes up for it. The Serbian sensation is the artist behind some of tennis’ best matches and has the records to back it up, and it looks like he’s not going to stop anytime soon.

Editor’s Pick: Roger Federer has dominated the tennis circuit for years. Nadal and Djokovic have been worthy competitors, but, in his lengthy career, the Swiss superstar has proved he is the best of the three players. He has earned more trophies than any other player, broken impressive records, and rightfully earned the respect of tennis players and fans around the world for his incredible play and class.

16

sports

TUESDAY, february 12, 2019

Know Your Athlete: Sirah Diarra

Former Clemson Tiger hopes to lead Martlet basketball to RSEQ Championship Chiso Ufondu Contributor Basketball wasn’t always in the cards for Martlet basketball centre Sirah Diarra.

The 6’1” fourth-year transfer tried her hand at a variety of sports, including soccer, tennis, and figure skating, before joining her high school basketball team. She was not solely focused on sports: Diarra also devoted her time to music.

“I used to play the saxophone,” Diarra said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “I played for five years, up until I was 17.”

Ultimately, Diarra put the saxophone aside when she started investing more time in basketball. Despite her late entrance to the sport, Diarra found that she had a natural talent for it and developed a love for the game.

“I remember thinking, ‘I’m tall, and I’m good at it,’” Diarra said. “I would just sit in the paint, turn around and score, and I loved it.”

After high school, Diarra went on to play basketball at College Champlain St. Lambert. In the summer after her first year of CEGEP, she first thought about playing university basketball; by the following summer, she had set her sights on playing basketball at the next level.

“When I entered CEGEP, I never

Martlet centre Sirah Diarra played three years of NCAA Division I basketball at Clemson University before coming to McGill (Derek Drummond / McGill Athletics).

thought, ‘I’m going to play [basketball] in the [United States]’ or ‘I’m going to play university basketball,’” Diarra said. “It was never a dream. Over time, it became something that I wanted.”

Diarra was recruited by several schools in the US and Canada, but, ultimately, she headed to South Carolina to play Division I basketball for the Clemson Tigers after she graduated from CEGEP. Basketball in the United States is extremely competitive, but the challenge was highly influential in Diarra’s decision to play in the NCAA.

“I wanted a new experience and to get out of my comfort zone,” Diarra said.

“More than anything, it was the challenge.”

Diarra graduated after three years at Clemson University with a BA in psychology. She returned home to Quebec to play basketball for McGill while continuing her education.

Playing Division I basketball in the NCAA, she faced some of the top collegiate players in the world, but the RSEQ boasts its own share of fierce competitors and presents new challenges to Diarra.

“There are some aspects here [in

the RSEQ] that are harder,” Diarra said.

“In the States, you play a team once, and you’re done, see you next year. Here, you see a team multiple times a month. Now, everyone knows your flaws and strengths, and you have to find a way to adjust to that.”

Diarra entered her first season as a Martlet after undergoing surgery on both of her knees: She had a lateral tear in her left and medial and lateral tears in her right. Diarra faced the challenge head-on and is adjusting to the RSEQ’s fast-paced playing style, averaging 10.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Given the Martlets seven consecutive RSEQ championship wins, the pressure is on for Diarra to continue to perform well.

“Knowing [that] the team has been successful the past seven years is something that’s always in the back of my head,” Diarra said. “No one wants to be on the team that ends the streak. We’re either going to make it happen, or we’re not. It takes everyone on the team to make it happen, but knowing I have a major role to play is pressure added because of the impact I know I can have on this team.”

The Martlets are currently ranked third in their conference behind Laval and Concordia. With the regular season winding down, Diarra will be put to the test as she leads the Martlets in their journey for an eighth straight RSEQ championship.

Martlets beat Rouge et Or in straight sets in final home game Senior night capped off with another home win Kaja Surborg Staff Writer McGill Martlet volleyball (15-3) took home a win on Feb. 8 in an exciting victory over the Laval Rouge et Or (10-8). The Martlets won in three sets, securing their position as RSEQ pennant winners for the first time in 17 years.

“This is a project of [several] years,” Head Coach Rachèle Béliveau said. “We started this group really young on the court with a lot of potential to grow [....] We have improved a lot, and that’s what I’m pleased with.”

McGill dominated the first two sets, winning 25-16 and 25-15, respectively. Laval led for much of the third set, but the Martlets closed the gap and won the final set 25-23 to claim victory in their final home game of the season.

“Laval is a really good team: A team we have to respect,” Béliveau said. “I thought it would be a difficult game that might go to five sets, so I’m pleased that we won in three.”

McGill was strong on both offence and defence throughout the match. Third-year power hitter Claire Vercheval recorded 13 of McGill’s 37 kills for the game, while fifth-year power hitter Émilie Matte de Grasse delivered six aces. Firstyear middle blocker Charlène Robitaille added another nine kills to the scoresheet for the Martlets.

McGill also displayed solid defence with 60 digs to Laval’s 49 and 11 blocks to Laval’s two.

“We applied the game plan really well and kept the momentum on our side,” Vercheval said.

“Even in the third set, we stuck together, and we knew that we needed to keep the energy on our side.”

The Martlets have now clinched homecourt advantage for the first round of the RSEQ provincial championship semi-finals—the first step to qualifying for nationals in Edmonton.

McGill will host the first round of the semi-finals against the yet-to-be-determined fourth-place team in the RSEQ standings. “[The home-court advantage] helps a lot,” third-year middle blocker Elisabeth Perrault said.

“Big crowds like this are especially good.”

The Martlets have been building toward the playoffs all season and are feeling confident going into the semi-finals.

“The team has never felt so close,” Vercheval said. “This is a great time to feel like this. We’re all feeling competitive, we all want to win, and we’re feeling really driven.”

Béliveau spoke to the Martlets’ improvement over the season.

“I’m pleased to see that we can play more Martlet volleyball honoured seniors Ariane Lavoie-Boutin and Émilie Matte de Grasse after the game. consistently throughout the game,” Beliveau said. (mcgillathletics.ca) “[Even with] a bad moment at the beginning of the third set, we were able to come back and catch MOMENT OF THE Game up.”

With the score tied at 22-22 in a tense third set, third-year power The evening ended with an emotional hitter Claire Vercheval delivered three kills in the last four plays to help ceremony, which recognized graduating seniors McGill pull ahead and claim the last-minute victory. power hitter Ariane Lavoie-Boutin and Matte de Grasse for their contributions to the McGill QUOTABLE women’s volleyball program over the years.

“We’ve improved a lot over the season. We’ve built a lot of chemistry, “I have no clue what I’m doing next year,” and we had first-years on the court.” - Third-year middle blocker Elisabeth Matte De Grasse said in an interview with The Perrault on the team’s progress from the beginning of the season.

McGill Tribune in November 2018. “I’m not sure I’m ready to fully commit to being a grown-up.”

STAT CORNER The Martlets finish the regular season with McGill accumulated 37 kills, while Laval managed just 26. games against Sherbrooke (5-11) on Feb. 15 and Université du Québec à Montréal (9-8) on Feb. 17.