The McGill Tribune Vol. 40 Issue 1

The McGill Tribune WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2020 | VOL. #40 | ISSUE #1

Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University

McGILLTRIBUNE.COM | @McGILLTRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

FEATURE

SPORTS

Reconciliation must go beyond a toppled statue

Creating sustainable peace for a sustainable future

Know your athlete: Jorden Savoury

PGs. 8-9

PG. 5

PG. 15

(Pascal Hogue / The McGill Tribune)

Hundreds of protestors demand the defunding of Montreal police

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Venice VR Expanded Satellite program brings the universe to Old Port International film festival melds cinema with virtual reality Julian Miller Contributor For a limited time, the price of admission to Old Port’s Centre Phi will land you front and centre in your very own

episode of Black Mirror. Courtesy of the globally renowned Venice Biennale, Montreal is currently home to the VR Expanded satellite program, the virtual reality component of the Venice International Film Festival. This year’s event features 44 cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) films and games

hosted in art institutions from Copenhagen to Beijing, with Montreal boasting the only satellite location in Canada.

Guests are invited to delight themselves in two-hour intervals, sampling state-of-the-art VR experiences which organizers claim are a glimpse of the future of digital entertainment.

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Reinventing leisure in Montreal

Baking with bacteria: The science of sourdough

How microbes help at-home bakers make better bread Claire Latendresse Contributor While the world was in quarantine, many people picked up new hobbies. For some, it was working out; for others, it was watching movie marathons; and for many, baking became a new favourite pastime.

On social media, people shared their experiences trying their hand at making bread and pastries in their free time.

Baking became so popular that many grocery stores around the world experienced yeast shortages. With yeast unavailable, many home bakers got inventive

and turned to sourdough starters instead.

Sourdough starters are an alternative to yeast that help produce an airy, tangy bread with a crunchy crust.

It’s delicious, yes, and it’s also alive.

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Montreal’s tourism industry adapts to changing conditions Ella Milloy Contributor Since the Quebec government declared a public health emergency in March 2020, Montreal, the province’s largest city, has lost hundreds of millions in tourism revenue. Many of Montreal’s major cultural events, such as the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Just for Laughs Comedy

Festival, and Osheaga, which altogether bring in an estimated $374 million to the local economy, have been postponed or cancelled until 2021.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Montreal has focused on new ways of bringing people to the city in order to make up some of the approximately $4.5 billion that tourism generates for

the local economy annually.

According to the City of Montreal, $400,000 is being invested into stimulating the downtown core’s economy. Events and activities, such as apple tasting at the Botanical Gardens and the reopening of the Montreal Biodome, were offered throughout the summer and will continue into the fall.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2020

NEWS

Anonymous Instagram pages highlight discrimination at McGill Campus organizations reassess their biased policies and practices Kate Addison, Pascal Hogue News Editors As recent Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests against police brutality have ignited a global reckoning with racism, new McGillrelated Instagram pages are platforming anonymous Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) students’ experiences with discrimination at the university. Untold McGill and Black At McGill have highlighted disturbing instances of racism at the hands of fellow students, professors, advisors, and student organizations within the McGill community. The creation of these McGill-related Instagram accounts to amplify marginalized voices follows

(Getty Images / TIME.com) a surge of similar pages connected to university campuses across North America.

The McGill Tribune spoke to the administrators of both the Untold McGill and Black At McGill accounts about the inspiration behind their work and what they hope to accomplish.

“We were inspired [to create Untold McGill] by a lot of the conversations surrounding [Black Lives Matter], but also conversations surrounding anonymous pages from other Universities [such as] Stolen by Smith, Black at Harvard Law, [and] Black at Cornell,” an Untold McGill administrator said. “[BIPOC students] have, in one way or another, experienced marginalization at McGill, so we really thought it would be important to create a safe and comfortable environment within our own community where people like us and people unlike us can feel safe to share their stories [that would] otherwise [...] go untold.”

Another administrator from Untold McGill explained the importance of addressing discrimination within Canadian universities, as institutional racism is often only discussed in an American context.

“As Canadians, we always want to compare ourselves to the United States,” the administrator said. “[But] Canada is not innocent in systemic racism, and it’s really important for us to acknowledge that. In higher education, a lot of us [think that], we are [educated] and [believe that] education often comes with more progressive ideologies. Except, there’s an inherent elitism and classism [that intersects] race and sex. I just think that’s built into universities.”

While Untold McGill shares stu-

dents’ experiences of race, gender, and sexual orientation-based discrimination, the Black Student Network (BSN)-affiliated account, Black At McGill, serves to share the experiences of Black students.

“We wanted to amplify the voices of Black students who are victims of systemic racism on this campus,” an administrator from the Black At McGill account said. “This Instagram page also serves as a way of proving that the demands Black students are calling for, through initiatives such as ‘Take James Down’, are not unwarranted. The reception and execution of these demands is highly necessary.”

Alongside individual instances of discrimination at McGill, many of the posts highlight racism and discrimination at the institutional level: Student organizations, such as Greek life and The McGill Tribune, as well as various faculties, have been denounced for perpetuating systemic racism.

Untold McGill has already successfully held various McGill organizations accountable. Among several organizations that were mentioned on the page, the Management Undergraduate Society (MUS) was prompted to make a statement reiterating its commitment to supporting students of colour.

“The MUS Board of Directors and Executive Council is committed to enhancing equity within our student society, and has set a few action items aside with the intention of making the MUS a more inclusive place,” MUS President Jonathan Gurvey wrote in an email to the Tribune. “There’s never a bad time

to have an inward look at our organization’s procedures and practices to see how we can do better. We at the MUS are committed to perpetual improvement.”

VC Renaud, Queer McGill’s (QM) administrative coordinator, explained how Untold McGill impacted the organization.

“We at Queer McGill understand that QM has historically been a space dominated by white people [and] has definitely lifted up white voices over other voices, which has made our events and offices and resources inaccessible to QTBIPOC students,” VC Renaud said. “[However], we are, as an organization, actively working to change this, as our mandate states that we work from an anti-oppressive, intersectional, and feminist orientation.”

While organizations like the BSN and the Indigenous Student Alliance (ISA) have long been working to advocate for the rights of BIPOC students on campus, Untold McGill and Black At McGill hope that their platforms will empower individual students affected by both institutional and individual discrimination.

“If the comments on certain posts are any indication, it’s clear that a lot of students have encountered some form of discrimination, and a lot of students are aware of what is happening within the university,” an Untold McGill administrator said. “I think that this page has [...] shed more light on these issues, and it’s definitely given a wake-up call to some people who may have stayed quiet or were too scared to speak up.”

McGill Governance 101 Nina Russell Managing Editor STUDENTS’ SOCIETY OF MCGILL UNIVERSITY (SSMU) What it does: SSMU is McGill’s highest level of student government responsible for supervising undergraduate clubs and extracurricular activities, managing and ensuring the sustainability of long-term operations such as the student bar Gerts’, advocating for student interests in the McGill Senate, and planning social events for the student body. SSMU is led by seven student executives who are elected by the student body at the end of each academic year. Legislative Council, which is composed of the SSMU executives and 30 other councillors that represent faculties and clubs, determines policy directions. Undergraduate students can directly influence SSMU by attending its virtual General Assemblies and voting in online referenda, both of which are held once every semester.

Recent Events: The 2019-2020 school year was an important year for SSMU: In addition to finally securing a long sought-after reading week for 2021, it is also working with UTILE, a housing organization, to organize affordable housing for McGill students. This year, SSMU executives are advocating for racial justice at McGill; they have supported several faculty statements addressing raciasm and are recruiting a Black Affairs Commissioner to better address Black students’ needs.

POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS’SOCIETY (PGSS) What it does: Elected by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, PGSS representatives meet once a month to discuss and vote on new policies.

The PGSS executives plan social events and workshops, many of (Daria Kiseleva / The McGill Tribune) which take place in their headquar-

ters at Thomson House. Their mandate is to provide accessible networking opportunities for postgraduate students. Additionally, the society advocates for the interests of graduate students by liaising with other governing bodies at McGill and beyond.

Recent Events: At a meeting in February 2020, PGSS members outlined their plans to create an area specifically for the use of graduate students in the McLennan-Redpath Library complex, which will be undergoing renovations as part of the Fiat Lux Building Project over the next several years. In addition, PGSS is debating joining the Quebec Student Union, which advocates for student interests at the provincial level. Currently, PGSS sits as an observer, as opposed to acting within the capacity of a full member.

BOARD OF GOVERNORS (BoG) What it does: The McGill BoG acts as the final authority over all of the university’s academic and financial affairs. Two student representatives sit on the 25-person board, with the rest of the seats belonging to other stakeholders. Composed of nine standing committees, including the Finance Committee and the Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR), the BoG governs the daily operations at McGill.

Recent Events: The Board of Governors disappointed many last winter when, on the advice of CAMSR, it advocated for a lower-impact “decarbonization” plan instead of deciding to divest from fossil fuels. Despite Philosophy Professor Gregory Mikkelson’s resignation from his tenured position to protest the decision, Principal Suzanne Fortier and the rest of the BoG showed no interest in reassessing the matter.

MCGILL SENATE What it does: The Senate governs academic policies, such as the development of curricula and academic requirements for McGill’s degrees and diplomas. It also takes on a broader role at McGill by managing the university’s libraries and administering Student Services. The Senate is composed of 111 members and nine standing committees, which include the Senate Steering Committee and the Committee on Libraries. The Senate meets on a monthly basis, during which standing committees deliver reports and senators vote on policies and nominations.

Recent Events: The Senate has devoted its past several meetings to discussing how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect learning this year and has adjusted its priorities in accordance with new requirements. In addition, it endorsed the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion plan which aims to address hiring biases and retention rates

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2020

NEWS

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Hundreds of protestors demand the defunding of Montreal police

Riot police disperse crowd after protestors toppled Sir John A. Macdonald statue Pascal Hogue News Editor Over 200 people marched through the streets of Montreal on Aug. 29, calling for the defunding of the Service de police de la Ville de Montreal (SPVM) in a protest organized by the Montreal wing of the BIPOC Liberation Collective .

The recent police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sparked renewed efforts in Montreal to protest racialized police brutality. Speakers at the protest highlighted the SPVM’s murders of unarmed Black and Indigenous civilians, including the 2008 killing of Fredy Villanueva.

The energetic crowd was undeterred by weather that wavered between a light drizzle and heavier downpours.

Ahead of protestors, police cars and neon-clad police officers on bikes patrolled the area, clearing the streets of traffic.

Masked protestors chanted “Black Lives Matter,” “defund the police,” and “abolish the police,” and were often met with honking cars and cheers from passersby.

For over two hours, the crowd marched peacefully along Rue Sherbrooke and west on Rue Sainte Catherine, where officers in riot gear blocked the street near the Montreal Police Neighborhood Station #20. Protestors continued west on Boulevard René Levesque before gathering in Dorchester Square, where organizers gave speeches pushing for the reallocation of police funding. As the crowd reached Dorchester Square, a group of protestors toppled and spray-painted the statue of Canada’s first Prime Minister John A. Macdonald.

There were no reported injuries or arrests.

During the march, one activist with the BIPOC Liberation Collective spoke about the importance of reinvesting in communities as a means to reduce crime. He lauded the crowd’s activism and pushed participants to support the

Participants began at Place des Arts and marched for two hours before gathering in Dorchester Square.

(Pascal Hogue / The McGill Tribune) BIPOC members of their own communities.

“I’m not going to sit around and watch more lives be lost and more lives be destroyed, because just one is too many,” he said. “And as a community we should understand that, and not be desensitized to peoples’ struggles and not dehumanize groups of people. Because when people become disenfranchised from our communities, [they] resort to the things that we don’t want in our society. And when we hold ourselves accountable for that and we realize that we are all part of the process [.…] We realize that it’s all our jobs.”

Another activist bluntly assessed SPVM funding.

“Why is education not funded as much as the police?” he asked. “Why does education keep getting defunded [and] public schools beg for subventions [while] the police are there with almost tanks in protests. Why the fuck is this hap-

pening?”

Jessica Quijano, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Coordinator at the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, expressed frustration over her interactions with the SPVM during her work. She explained that she often needs to push for police to open investigations into missing and murdered Indigenous women.

“How is it that a community has to hire someone like myself so that the police are supposed to do what they are paid to do,” Quijano said. “This is all intentional. The genocide of Indigenous people is intentional [in] Canada, [which] actually does not act. We know what needs to be done. We had an inquiry with 233 recommendations and the government has done none of them.”

Quijano denounced systemic racism in Canada’s criminal justice system.

“The Indigenous population here in Canada is less than five percent, [but in our prisons], 25 percent of men [incarcerated] are Indigenous and 40 percent of women [incarcerated are Indigenous],” Quijano said. “That is a travesty. If you want to think about the U.S., how they have an issue with the prison industrial complex, we have the same thing here. We are no different than the United States.”

Following the speeches, a handful of protestors, dressed entirely in black, climbed the John A. Macdonald statue, covering it with banners detailing Macdonald’s brutal past.

While John A. Macdonald was one of Canada’s founding fathers, he established the residential school system, which forcibly separated over 150,000 First Nation, Inuit, and Métis children from their families between 1880 and 1996. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, published in 2015, called the residential school system a “cultural genocide.

SSMU responds to Judicial Board ruling of invalid SSMU Constitution

The Judicial Board has declared the 2020 SSMU Winter Constitution to be invalid.

Signy Harnad Contributor In a unanimous decision made on Aug. 17, the SSMU Judicial Board (J-Board) rendered the 2020 SSMU Winter Constitution, which was put to vote without a French translation, invalid. During a Board of Directors (BoD) meeting on Aug. 20, SSMU voted not to ratify the J-Board’s decision, sending the judgment back to appeal.

The J-Board’s decision came after a spring petition that demanded the suspension of the new constitution, citing the absence of a French version that was included during the 2020 SSMU Winter Referendum. The petitioner, Daniel Benjamin Miller, U3 Arts, noticed that the new constitution adopted after the referendum was illegitimate because it neglected a SSMU regulation that states that all SSMU constitutional amendments must be provided in both French and English.

“At the time, I wrote to Chief Electoral Officer, Pooja Patel,” Miller said. “I asked for a copy of the French version, and she told me it didn’t exist, which raised a red flag to me.

I think that rules need to mean something. Every member of McGill has the right to see that constitution in French.”

The J-Board ruled with the petitioner, appealing to the right of French constituents to a fair vote and asserting that doing otherwise would imply a refusal to make meaningful change. The J-Board also noted that not providing a French translation violated French-language rights protections, as stipulated in the Board’s own constitution and in SSMU’s Internal Regulations.

During the Sept. 3 BoD meeting, two members voted not to ratify the decision, one voted against, and seven, including SSMU President Jemark Earle, abstained from the vote. Explaining his choice to abstain, Earle said that while

he recognizes that the lack of a French translation during the referendum was a mistake, he also wanted to highlight one of the consequences of the constitution’s reversal: The removal of councillors that were elected under the new constitution to represent marginalized voices, as their contracts needed to be renewed under the new document. “[This omission] shouldn’t have happened last year,” Earle said. “No one disputes that fact. I abstained because [although] I understand the Judicial Board’s rationale, I [also] believe more weight should have been given to the fact that we would have to remove four legislative councillors [elected under the 2020 SSMU Winter Constitution], most notably, the SSMU Equity, Francophone Affairs, and Indigenous Affairs councillors.”

In addition to addressing the petition, the J-Board’s decision also recalled broader sociolinguistic issues, such as SSMU’s promise to serve its sizeable French student body, and the treatment of Francophones as minority constituents on campus.

These larger principles advanced in the J-Board’s decision were noted by Marco-Antonio Hauwert Rueda, U2 Arts, who believes that there must be improvements in the way McGill treats its Francophone community, as he feels victories such as this are few and far between.

“Francophone students’ concerns at SSMU have always been dismissed as inconvenient,” Rueda wrote in an email to the //Tribune//. “[SSMU does not] deliver in practice, whether it is regarding translations, student services, or funding.

This is not only the case at SSMU, but also among the wider McGill community. Students at McGill absolutely love diversity in principle, but shy away when they have to make the slightest concession to favour that diversity in practice.”

The J-Board is allowed 21 days to decide whether to uphold or change its decision before delivering its final judg-

In response to the J-Board’s invalidation of the new constitution, SSMU has sent back an appeal, asking the J-Board to reconsider its decision. (Caroline Shelton / The McGill Tribune) ment. Should the J-Board choose to maintain its initial decision, Earle stated that SSMU will move forward with the ruling.

Earle explained that SSMU is working on passing new measures that will prevent the issuing of any constitutional amendments that are not available in both English and French.

“Something that we are [working on] is bringing forth a motion that automatically strikes down changes to the constitution that [are not also] made in French,” Earle said. “I know we, our new executives, have learned [and] we are committed to ensuring that this doesn’t happen again.”

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2020

NEWS

Online learning forces professors to reconsider virtual teaching platforms Instructors and students navigate the evolving ways of education and remote learning

Ella Fitzhugh Contributor The past six months have brought unprecedented change to McGill as institutions worldwide transition to online learning platforms. Given the changes brought by online learning, teachers are being forced to develop new ways of delivering lectures, promoting discussion, and creating assessments.

The COVID-19 pandemic shut schools down in March 2020, and caused an abrupt shift from in-person classes to online learning.

This transition to virtual platforms has persisted as McGill ramps up its Fall 2020 activities.

Associate Provost (Teaching & Academic Programs) Christopher Buddle explained McGill’s approach to adapting to an online format. A strategy that emphasizes support for each instructor’s particular approach to teaching.

“What [the McGill administration] decided to do was invest a lot of [...] time, money, and resources over the summer to really [support] instructors on thinking about teaching remotely in a different way,” Buddle said. “[We wanted instructors to] understand from a pedagogical standpoint [that] an individual professor [can] take the tools available and create a rich and robust [...] quality learning experience for students.”

Buddle noted the challenges with recreating a quality learning experience online, most notably with how instructors will administer assessments in a new online format.

As closed-book, time-restricted, in-person assessments are no longer possible, the new online exams will have to take into account students’ different time zones and professors’ inability to supervise students writing exams.

“I think actually, the biggest, most revolutionary changes we’ve seen as an institution is rethinking how we look at assessments,” Buddle said. “[The assessments are] much less about facts and much more about integrated thinking, synthetic thinking, and actually assessing in a way that gets to the heart of a class itself.”

Kanella Basilion, U2 Arts, found the online assessment formats to be better suited to her learning style, but experienced difficulties engaging with online lectures.

“Adapting to different circumstances is something that will always be helpful, but conversely with remote learning, there are less organic opportunities to build connections [with professors and peers],” Basilion said.

Once the country has moved past the pandemic, Buddle believes that McGill will return to the traditional model, where a proctor’s oversight is involved with assessments and examinations. Buddle views the changing nature of assessments, due to the loss of the traditional exam period, as a benefit.

“I would like to see [this situation] as the end of a traditional final exam,” Buddle said.

“We can’t just proceed in saying we’re going to continue certain parts of online [education] without also thinking about how we make sure access and equity are part of the conversation.

That is why we’ve been pretty clear as an institution in talking about student support as being critical because it’s not a one-size-fitsall [solution].”

Professor Aziz Choudry of the Department of Integrated Studies in Education argues for a more nuanced perspective regarding the accessibility of remote education.

“Many McGill students have had real struggles to continue with their education and to survive, pay rent, eat, complete their program online, and deal with a whole range of crises [...] exacerbated by travel [bans and] job losses,” Choudry wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “While there are fine educators and instructors who work hard to critically engage students, [...] the university models itself more and more like a corporation.

The quality of learning suffers through the managerial models that dominate university governance and runs McGill like a business, rather than a public university.”

The shift to a greater reliance on technology for education is leaving behind students who do not have access to high speed internet or personal computers that are essential for an online learning.

(Caroline Shelton / The McGill Tribune) Professor Choudry commented on these potential setbacks, which could impact the skills of professors and students alike.

“There are real concerns that [making] course delivery remote on [a] more permanent basis by automating instruction leads to the deskilling and displacing of professors,” Choudry wrote. “The discussions, networks and social aspects of being on campus [...] are really important spaces and places to learn skills—including student activism that has often held the university’s feet to the fire over important issues.”

McGill faculties host first ever virtual frosh

Incoming students commend efforts to recreate the frosh spirit Maya Abuali Contributor McGill’s Campus Life and Engagement hosted its first virtual Frosh the week of Aug. 27–30 2020. With public health restrictions imposed on every facet of student life this year, the usually boisterous Frosh festivities were replaced by online events. Hosted over Zoom, each faculty’s Frosh included a range of activities from escape rooms to restaurant tours around the university to welcome the new class.

Led by two to three Frosh leaders per group, incoming students participated in events in groups of 13, though attendance fluctuated throughout the week. Frosh leaders organized activities such as trivia via Kahoot, academic seminars, virtual yoga, interfaculty concerts, talent-optional showcases, and other group bonding exercises.

Several faculties filmed virtual ‘field-trips’ of popular areas on campus, and Science Frosh leaders organized a digital iteration of the university’s Frosh tradition: The ‘McGill Crawl.’ Frosh participants were shown prerecorded YouTube video tours of various eateries and student hotspots near McGill, such as McGill Pizza and Freshii. The videos included interviews conducted by the organizers with the owners of the establishments.

Alexander Achcar, U1 Engineering, participated in Science Frosh, where he claimed to have had an enjoyable experience despite the virtual format.

“[The tour included] places that people would normally visit during Frosh, which was a little bit dead because obviously we were not going to these places,” Achcar said. “So it was kind of weird, people getting hyped around Chef on Call while we were all sitting [on Zoom] in the morning, drinking coffee.”

Discounts were offered by the restaurants as re-

wards for the winners of the various Zoom challenges.

Among the challenges was a virtual escape room experience, where Frosh participants co-operated with their team members to solve puzzles and locate clues in competition with other Frosh groups. Achcar believes that the escape room experience provided a great way for the students to bond with one another.

Events included a digital escape room, restaurant crawl, and concert (L-A Benoit / McGill Tribune)

“[The escape room activity] was really sick,” Achar said. “Everyone thought it was going to be the dumbest thing in the world, but [Frosh leaders] sourced it from an outside company, and it was really well put together. I think it was a really good way for the group to bond initially, because the challenges weren’t super dif-

ficult, but you had to think a little bit, so we were all talking and discussing things.”

Logan Pecht, U0 Arts, who attended Arts Frosh, commended his Frosh leaders for their efforts in maintaining the spirit of Frosh week.

“With the expectation that it wasn’t going to be the same experience, Frosh allowed me to grow comfortable meeting friends and socializing in a virtual setting with the aid of my enthusiastic leaders,” Pecht said.

Olivia Mendelson, chair of the Arts & Science Frosh committee, spoke about the initial uncertainty and challenge of organizing the events.

“At the beginning of our planning, it was difficult to envision what the events would be like, but we came up with ideas along the way and figured out how to make them happen,” Mendelson said. “We saw our hard work pay off when our events unfolded smoothly, and we got positive feedback from participants saying they were having fun and thanking us for organizing something for them.”

Mendelson appreciated the unique nature of this experience, and how the limitations of a virtual semester did not prevent the participants from engaging with their peers.

“There was something special about having people participate from different places around the world,” Mendelson said “It really made it feel like we were all coming together despite the difficult and non-ideal circumstances. Overall, virtual Frosh was a success, and I hope it helped set a precedent for future online events at McGill.”

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2020

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EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Helen Wu editor@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Aidan Martin amartin@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Katia Innes kinnes@mcgilltribune.com Nina Russell nrussell@mcgilltribune.com Kaja Surborg ksurborg@mcgilltribune.com

News Editors Kate Addison, Pascal Hogue & Sequoia Kim news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editors Jonah Fried & Kennedy McKee-Braide opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editor Sophia Gorbounov & Ronny Litvack-Katzman scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Life Editor Alaana Kumar & Leyla Moy studentlife@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Kevin Vogel features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editor Vanessa Barron & Jonathan Giammaria arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Adam Burton sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Ruobing Chen & Chloe Rodriguez design@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editor Caroline Shelton photo@mcgilltribune.com Multimedia Editors Sarah Ford & Alexandre Hinton multimedia@mcgilltribune.com Web Developer Benjamin Alexandor webdev@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Jackie Lee copy@mcgilltribune.com

OPINION

Reconciliation must go beyond a toppled statue The police murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 sparked global protests against police brutality and anti-Black racism, giving renewed momentum to the Black Lives Matter movement. In light of these events, McGill, an institution whose history is rooted in violence and enslavement, expressed its intention to put forward a ‘Plan for Addressing Anti-Black Racism’ by Sept. 30.

The university’s administration has a history of stalling on equityrelated issues. It took months of courageous activism by student leaders such as Tomas Jirousek for Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier to come to a decision regarding the renaming of the men’s varsity team. Now, McGill must act quickly to implement its Black students’ demands, or else continue to actively contribute to the perpetuation of racism on campus. These demands start, but do not end, with taking down the statue of James McGill that stands by the Roddick Gates.

The #TakeJamesMcGillDown movement was started over the summer by Black students at McGill. Its three core demands call for the removal of the James McGill statue, the creation of a Black or Africana Studies department, and the establishment of a resource-based office for social

OFF THE BOARD

Social Media Editor Marie Saadeh socialmedia@mcgilltribune.com Business Manager Marilie Pilon business@mcgilltribune.com

TPS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Helen Wu, Caitlin Kindig, McEan Taylor,Tara Alami,Yara Shaheen-Abuelreish, Deana Korsunsky, Sequoia Kim, Kennedy McKee-Braide, Shreya Rastogi, Marilie Pilon, Heela Achakzai

CONTRIBUTORS Maya Abuali, Juliette Barlier, Will Brothers, Eve Cable, Sarah Farnand, Ella Fitzhugh, Signy Harnad, Deana Korsunsky, Karan Kumar, Claire Latendresse, Erika Mackenzie, Mariel Yacolca Maguiña, Maya Mau, Madison Mclauchlan, Julian Miller, Ella Milloy, Namrata Rana, Marco-Antonio Hauwert Rueda, Angelica Voutsinas, Polly Wynn

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The McGill Tribune is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Société de Publication de la Tribune, a student society of McGill University. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of The McGill Tribune and the Société de Publication de la Tribune, and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University. Letters to the editor may be sent to editor@mcgilltribune.com and must include the contributor’s name, program and year and contact information. Letters should be kept under 300 words and submitted only to the Tribune. Submissions judged by the Tribune Publication Society to be libellous, sexist, racist, homophobic or solely promotional in nature will not be published.The Tribune reserves the right to edit all contributions. Editorials are decided upon and written by the editorial board. All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the McGill Tribune, its editors or its staff.

Nina Russell Managing Editor When news reports came out on Aug. 26 about yet another incident of sexist harassment outside the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Catherine McKenna’s office, I felt a familiar sinking feeling in my stomach. Since I began engaging with politics in my early teen years, my awareness of gendered attacks has taken an increasingly sinister toll on my desire to pursue a career in politics. Though I know the very point of identitybased harassment is to discourage marginalized groups from pursuing politics, it is difficult not to internalize the message that you do not belong when stories of such behaviour are plastered all

equity that prioritizes funding for Black students. Other demands include, but are not limited to, providing additional funding for events like Black Grad and Black History Month, and amending the Harassment and Discrimination Policy. Failure to comply with these necessary and attainable demands, especially as McGill seeks to raise $2 billion through the Made by McGill campaign, would indicate a conscious commitment to upholding the racism that has plagued the school since its founding.

James McGill enslaved two Black women, one Black man, and two Indigenous children.

We know this to be true, yet the McGill administration continues to publicly glorify its founder. Last year, the university announced the creation of two research positions to investigate McGill’s ties to slavery and colonialism, though the administration has not yet announced whether any action will be taken using this information beyond a self-clongratulatory media campaign. While this paid work is crucial, it largely ignores the labour of Black members of the McGill community who have already started to uncover and communicate this history, such as former Art History professor Dr. Charmaine Nelson’s

Bicentenary Recommendations.

Of course, the creation of research positions does not mean McGill will actually do anything substantial. During a roundtable with the student media, Associate Provost (Equity and Academic Policies) Angela Campbell did not indicate that any action would be taken following the conclusion of the researchers’ contracts, instead stating that the purpose of the new positions is to recruit and support postdoctoral students. Understanding our history means nothing if it is not paired with meaningful actions that seek to fulfill Black students’ longstanding demands for the respect and equitable treatment that they deserve.

Black students’ efforts in advocating for more equitable practices and creating safer environments for their communities are not new at McGill. The Black Students’ Network (BSN) has been working since last October to put forward a Black Student’s Bill of Rights. Other Black student groups, like the McGill African Students’ Society, Caribbean Students’ Society, and Black Law Students’ Association, hold and support events for Black community members, whereas the creation of two research positions are the best the university has offered so

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EDITORIAL far. BIPOC students at McGill have and continue to be at the heart of some of the most crucial movements on and around campus.

Black students should not have to take on this challenging work themselves. All students, clubs, and associations must take action to mitigate the barriers that have harmed and unwelcomed Black students.

Non-Black individuals must make space for Black voices, join them in confronting the administration, call out and correct the people that use racist language, and dismantle their own internalized biases. Students should support the #TakeJamesMcGillDown campaign by signing their open letter and showing up to future demonstrations. This must come with a determination to hold themselves and others accountable to ensure that this movement does not lose momentum, which would make it easier for the administration to ignore.a McGill cannot simply take back two centuries of complicity in upholding anti-Black racism on campus and beyond. But it can and must begin to make amends for its past by listening to Black community members and implementing longoverdue changes without delay.

Studying politics in a society that is rigged against you over every newspaper. Although there are valid critiques to be made of every politician, the line between expressing different political opinions and ad hominem attacks based on the person’s gender, race, or sexuality is often crossed, particularly as politics grow increasingly polarized.

Women are three times more likely than men to be attacked online for their politics, in part due to the legal and social impunity that social media provides. While women and non-binary people in politics are less likely to be attacked physically than men in the same positions, verbal attacks are common and tend to employ gendered language. When I read articles about such attacks, like a man scrawling the word “cunt” on McKenna’s office last October, or Ted Yoho calling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a “fucking bitch,” I am reminded that it was not that long ago that women were excluded from politics.

Perpetrators of verbal violence, intentionally or not, reinforce the conception that women do not belong in positions of power.

Women of colour and 2SLGBTQIA+ women often face hatred and vitriol far more intense

than white women. These attacks are not unique to Canada: One only has to look across the border, at politicians such as Rashida Talib, Ilhan Omar, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to see the frequency and force behind such attacks. Racialized politicians in Canada are similarly no stranger to race-based violence. Former Attorney-General Jody WilsonRaybould was targeted with Indigenous stereotypes meant to disparage her work ethic after she resigned during the SNC-Lavalin scandal.

Politics tend to reward stereotypically masculine behaviours, such as aggressiveness, reason, and strength. When women attempt to conform to these standards, they are in violation of perceived feminine norms, and are more likely to be ridiculed by the public. On the other hand, when women are perceived as too feminine, this still inhibits their electoral success and opens them up to other lines of attack. When it comes to the way women present themselves to the public, we can’t win. Yet, our speaking styles, clothing, and mannerisms are still constantly dissected.

To young women and nonbinary studying political science, like myself, the routine harassment of politicians due to their gender sends a stark message: We are not welcome in politics. Attacks based on race, gender, and sexuality are something that no one should have to bear, and their consequences are grave. Fewer women in politics, in many cases, contributes to a lack of important policies, such as access to safe abortion, childcare, and parental leave.

Criticizing politicians is fine, and an integral part of our democracy. But when civil disagreements devolve into identity-based abuse, we are actively eroding the civic ethics that are necessary for effective political discourse.

While gendered comments are often seen as part of the job, especially since social media has enabled harassment of all sorts, there are no excuses for inappropriate behaviour. As the next generation of politicians, leaders, and activists, we need to take a stand against identity-based attacks and focus on what matters: The issues affecting human lives.

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OPINION

COMMENTARY

Marco-Antonio Hauwert Rueda Contributor In March, during its Winter 2020 referendum, the Student’s Society of McGill University (SSMU) voted on a new constitution, but a French version of the proposed document was not provided on the ballot. It was not even written until three months later — even though SSMU is officially a bilingual organization. What is more, according to the very constitution that was put to the vote, the French version would have primacy over the English version in the case of minor linguistic differences.

Yet it was not available at referendum, which effectively means students were asked to vote on a document they had no access to.

In light of this, SSMU’s Judicial Board unanimously declared the 2020 Constitution illegitimate. Despite SSMU President Jemark Earle’s request that the English 2020 Constitution remain valid until a French version is approved, the justices called for a new referendum in the Fall, where voters would be provided with both versions. They argued that it would be unfair to force Francophones to vote on a constitution many expected them to approve because it would be “impractical” not to do so. Students voting on

COMMENTARY Mariel Yacolca Maguiña Contributor Lately, I have spent time reading the essays and papers listed in the Fall 2019 POLI 231: Introduction to Political Theory syllabus. At some point, I came to the realization that most of the authors—with the exception of Martin Luther King Jr. and Hannah Arendt—are men of European heritage. I did not realize that at the time. Later on, I also checked the Winter 2020 syllabus for the same class; once again, I found that most authors were white males of European heritage, with the exceptions of Franz Fanon, Mahatma Gandhi,

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2020

SSMU cannot ignore Francophone students’ concerns the English version did not need to consider such logistical factors when they voted during the Winter 2020 Referendum.

Despite this, SSMU’s Board of Directors (BoD) challenged the Judicial Board’s decision, effectively ignoring Francophone students’ concerns and disregarding the fact that one of the new constitution’s objectives was precisely to amplify Francophone voices. But the rationale behind this decision is actually simple: The BoD has only chosen to ignore the concerns of Francophone students in this instance because these concerns turned out to be untimely. If the BoD truly thought SSMU’s bylaws were illdesigned, then the solution would have been to change the rules, not to break them. But the rules were not the problem here. The real problem is that SSMU behaves as if it can neglect its Francophone student body whenever that body becomes inconvenient.

It only takes a glance at SSMU’s recent history to observe this pattern. The 2017 Constitution’s French version, for example, has never even been available on SSMU’s website, and when Le Délit managed to access the document, they discovered numerous spelling and syntactic mistakes.

SSMU’s history of publishing poor translations does not stop there. During the 2019–2020 aca-

(Pascal Hogue / The McGill Tribune) demic year, Francophone Affairs Commissioner Juliette Chesnel had to spend several hours per week overseeing the translations of all SSMU documents—even though it was not her official job—because they were full of mistakes.

SSMU’s negligence towards Francophone students is merely a testament to a wider indifference the McGill community shows vis-à-vis the Francophonie. This indifference explains why the Francisation Fee—which would have financed the translation of all SSMU documents and the establishment of a new budget for the Francophone Affairs Commission—was the only fee that was rejected during the 2020 Winter Referendum.

Non-Francophone students

seem to be disconnected from the experiences of Francophone students at McGill. Despite being at home, many French Quebeckers feel like they have to make more of an effort to fit in at McGill than English-speaking foreigners. True, McGill is an Englishspeaking university—although this deserves nuance since many classes at McGill are taught in French, students can take exams in French, and the Faculty of Law and SSMU are bilingual— but sweeping away Francophone students’ concerns is not good for anyone. Borrowing The Tribune’s own words, students at McGill can actually benefit from “embracing” Montreal’s multicultural reality.

The McGill community needs to understand that if the

French language is not actively protected and encouraged, it will simply disappear because the English-speaking majority will prefer English and the Frenchspeaking minority will have no choice but to adapt to the majority. This is already happening at McGill, as French-taught courses are in decline. Defending the Francophonie is a matter of defending the rich cultural heritage of a historical minority at McGill.

The McGill community usually prides itself on the celebration of diversity and the inclusion of minority voices. That is, apparently, until these minorities become inconvenient. But progress often is, and sometimes should be, inconvenient. Francophones at McGill deserve to be heard and deserve to participate on equal standing in the larger conversation at McGill. Whether we like it or not, there is no McGill without the inclusion of Francophone voices.

On cultural imperialism within McGill courses and Angela Davis.

This is a manifestation of cultural imperialism, one of the Five Faces of Oppression, as argued by the renowned feminist theorist Dr. Iris Marison Young in her 1990 work, Justice and the Politics of Difference.

Young defines cultural imperialism as a phenomenon that occurs when the experience of a group is “universalized.” As a consequence, perspectives other than the dominant one become invisible; they are generalized as “the Other,” and the experience of the dominant group is portrayed as representative of humanity as a whole. Another example of this practice can be found in medical research. Vivian W. Pinn, former

(versatile-learning.com)

associate director for research on women’s health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), argues in her book, Gender Bias: An Undesirable Challenge in Health Professions and Health Care, that plenty of medical practices that concern both men and women are based upon research that involves a significantly higher number of men compared to women, or the total absence of women.

The professors who write the syllabi probably do not deliberately choose male, European authors instead of BIPOC or female ones. Nor am I actively perpetuating cultural imperialism because I did not immediately recognize Eurocentrism and androcentrism, which is the habit of viewing males and male experiences as the norm for human behaviour, in the syllabi. In fact, most people probably do not notice cultural imperialism because they are immersed in a world that amplifies Eurocentric and androcentric points of view.

Nevertheless, some may argue that the POLI 231 syllabus focuses on Eurocentric points of views because it is designed to

do so. After all, the first page of the syllabus states: “This course fulfills the prerequisite/corequisite for 300-level courses in political theory. In particular it prepares students to pursue the foursemester sequence in the history of political thought (POLI 333/ 334/ 433/ 434).”

The 300-level courses mentioned above are named Western Political Thought 1 and 2 respectively, so it is unsurprising that the prerequisite course, POLI 231, is also focused on Western political theory. However, I wonder why McGill is deliberately favouring the perspective of one part of the world. Instead, the university should introduce students to a variety of viewpoints that are representative of humanity as whole. Moreover, the Department of Political Science should consider creating a series of courses in the history of political thought that cover different regions’ traditions. Then, political science students will have the chance to study the political thought of the region they are most interested in.

For example, students could

read the works of Latin American authors like José Carlos Mariategui. Mariategui was a Peruvian intellectual, journalist, political philosopher, and founder of the Social Party of Peru. He argued in Seven Interpretive Essays on Peruvian Reality that the Inca Empire was a well-functioning socialist society that was disrupted by the Spanish invasion of South America. His work has become a classic, having been translated to English, French, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, and Hungarian.

None of what has been suggested will solve the problem of cultural imperialism at McGill, let alone the world. It is just a small step towards giving women and non-Westerners the opportunity to contribute to society’s understanding of reality.

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Reinventing leisure in Montreal

Montreal’s tourism industry adapts to changing conditions Ella Milloy Contributor Continued from page 1.

An additional $200,000 has been put toward the “Relancez l’été” campaign, which encourages Montreal and Quebec residents to explore the city’s downtown.

Further, Mayor Valérie Plante has introduced newly pedestrianized streets and cycling lanes. These changes aim to draw Montrealers to the shops and activities while maintaining a safe distance from others along Mont-Royal Avenue, St-Laurent Boulevard, StCatherine St. W., St-Denis St., and de la Commune St., and will persist until the end of October.

Most public spaces, such as parks, public markets, and businesses have been permitted to open by Quebec’s provincial health authorities, allowing for patrons to safely peruse and shop. Visitors are reminded to stay at least two meters apart when possible. Masks and other types of face coverings were made mandatory in all indoor public spaces and public transit as of July 18.

Slowly, museums throughout Montreal have reopened with safety measures put into place. Running at limited capacity, many museums require visitors to book a time slot online to visit in person. Maude Béland, Media Relations Officer for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA), highlighted the importance of patron safety at the museum.

“Safety measures are indeed very important for us. [We have] worked

very hard and put every measure in place to ensure visits are highly enjoyable [...] yet intimate, and, above all, safe,” Béland wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “All of the recommendations of the Government of Quebec and the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) have been implemented so that the public feels at ease and entertained during their museum outing.”

Safety measures implemented at the museum include a one-way exhibition path, free audio guides on the MMFA mobile app, and the suspension of permanent exhibition spaces.

Likewise, Montreal’s historic Old Port has taken steps to accommodate its visitors. One novel addition are the blue “Bienvenue/Entrez” initiative decals, which allow shoppers to identify which businesses are open and are used to show when businesses are at capacity. Signs with up-to-date public health measures and hand sanitizer stations have also been placed throughout Old Port.

More kinetic Old Port attractions remain adaptable and open. Both the MTL Zipline and the Montreal Observation Wheel have been opened to the public with increased sanitation and social distancing. Sam Cadotte, president of the MTL Zipline, is thankful for the ability to provide a safe and fun experience for the attraction’s customers.

“In general, we are very pleased with the way our customers respect our sanitary measures,” Cadotte said. “We consider ourselves lucky to be allowed to operate in these special times and understand that

we have an important role to play in keeping our customers safe.”

As we continue to learn how to live with COVID-19, business owners and event organizers are hoping that the safety measures they have put in place will encourage people to get outside and explore Montreal this fall. With fewer tourists, the next few months may be the perfect opportunity for students, residents of Montreal, and Quebeckers to rediscover the history and charm of Quebec’s metropolis.

(Aidan Martin / The McGill Tribune)

Spotlight on the Canadian Advisory for Women Immigrants

Organization aims to empower and support immigrant women Erika Mackenzie Contributor Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, immigrant women in Canada have experienced considerable negative impacts in areas such as employment, home life, social networks, and health.

In response, Hani Rukh E Qamar, U1 Psychology and Neuroscience, founded the Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants (CAWI) to empower immigrant women with services such as English classes, networking events, and mental health resources.

Qamar was inspired to create CAWI after noticing a clear disparity between immigrant and non-immigrant women in both Montreal and her hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan.

“There is always a divide between immigrants [and non-immigrants], not to mention the divide within the immigrant community as well,” Qamar said. “So, I really wanted to put an emphasis on the importance of diversity and create a network of women immigrants who are willing to offer opportunities to other women, as well

as take [away] some leadership skills from our initiative.”

The pandemic has created additional financial strain for immigrant women, as many have lost their sources of income. In April 2020, Canadians lost nearly 2 million jobs— affecting certain employment sectors that many immigrants occupy. These sectors include accommodation and food services, for which immigrants accounted for 34.7 percent of the employed population in 2017.

While unemployment rates have risen during the pandemic, the issue of securing employment in Canada is not new to immigrant women.

Immigrants faced higher rates of unemployment from 2006 to 2010 than both Canadian-born women and male immigrants, according to the Labour Force Survey.

Historically, immigrant women have struggled to have the education or job experiences obtained in their home countries recognized in Canada.

A 2005 study of 15,400 immigrant women between the ages of 25 and 44 found that 37 per cent of women

surveyed reported an inability to secure employment in Canada because of difficulties in transferring their foreign qualifications. Many also said that they lacked adequate Canadian job experience.

Qamar believes that systemic

racism (Forbes.com) plays a significant role in the employment gap between immigrants and non-immigrants.

“Women immigrants face racism, systemic racism and other inequalities that prohibit them from getting the jobs

they want,” Qamar said. “Although it is hard for women in general to get jobs, it is [especially] harder for women immigrants.”

Qamar also explained that lack of social networking is one of the biggest challenges that immigrant women face in employment security. To help overcome this obstacle, CAWI offers a number of networking programs, including the Sisterhood Project. The Sisterhood Project is designed to bring immigrant women together through activities such as café meet-ups, board game events, and reading nights. The goal is to foster relationships among immigrant women of different backgrounds.

In addition to the financial strain of COVID-19, immigrant women also face a greater risk of domestic violence during the pandemic. In a recent Statistics Canada survey, 12 per cent of immigrants reported concerns about violence in the home during the pandemic compared to seven per cent of non-immigrants. Qamar described this phenomenon as “the shadow pandemic.”

“The ‘shadow pandemic’ is basically how the pandemic is worsening the situations for women facing abuse, as many women are confined to their homes,” Qamar said.

“They cannot go to school nor escape the horror realities that is their home, so COVID-19 has worsened [their] conditions.”

Furthermore, immigrant women have reported greater concern about their health during the pandemic than non-immigrants. In particular, nonstatus women working as frontline workers are at greater risk of poor working conditions, such as low pay, lack of paid sick leave, and a heightened risk of contracting COVID-19.

Organizations like CAWI are spreading awareness about the challenges that immigrant women face and offer invaluable support through their programming. At a time when many people are experiencing turmoil caused by the pandemic, it is important to recognize the ways in which gender, nationality, and legal status intersect to create additional barriers in employment opportunities, safety, and health.

CREATING SUSTAINABLE PEACE FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE RECONCILING MCGILL'S ROLE IN MILITARY RESEARCH Nina Russell Managing Editor

McGill often touts its research credentials as among Canada’s best: According to the latest QS rankings, it boasts the 43rd highest research output and 36th best faculty globally. It is no wonder that students flock to Montreal in hopes of rising up through the ranks of distinguished academics.

After all, McGill was where DNA was identified as the component of genetics, and home to the inventor of the gas mask and the man who wrote Canada’s national anthem, among the many others who succeeded in making significant contributions to their field of research. But although McGill’s researchers have helped to improve our world, they have also invested in and researched technologies that have contributed to war and surveillance, creating devastating consequences for ordinary citizens across the globe.

McGill’s Computational and Fluid Dynamics Lab, for example, has been involved with the research of de-icing strategies and simulations for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are primarily used as drones in military airstrikes and reconnaissance. Documents obtained through an access to information request submitted by campus group Demilitarize McGill detail contracts between McGill professors and the Canadian Department of National Defence. There are also references to aerospace defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin and Quebec-based transportation company Bombardier for researchers involved in the de-icing strategies project.

McGill’s involvement does not stop there: In 2006, McGill’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering received hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding from Lockheed Martin and Defence Research and Development Canada to research missile guidance systems.

But as long as McGill researchers have been involved in military and arms research, student activists have fought back against the administration’s secrecy. In 1984, at the height of the Cold War arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States, The McGill Daily published its disarmament issue, titled “Un-people,” spotlighting Canada’s growing role in military research. Articles describe early activist groups, such as McGill Employees for Nuclear Disarmament (MEND) and the McGill Study Group for Peace and Disarmament, challenging the administration on issues such as allowing military-funded research to proceed.

The Study Group was formed in 1981 with a mandate to generate awareness and involvement of military-funded research at McGill by publishing information pertaining to the field. Through facilitating guest lectures, dispensing information, and campaigning for the creation of courses specifically related to disarmament, the Study Group advocated for education surrounding military research.

MEND, on the other hand, was founded in response to the circulation of a petition against disarmament at the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto, resulting in the creation of a nation-wide organization called ‘Academics for Nuclear Disarmament.’ The McGill branch, formed in October 1982, was then renamed to accommodate both academic and nonacademic staff members. Composed of around 60 workers, MEND worked with student organizations to gather and disseminate information regarding disarmament. It took an openly political mandate, aiming to better regulate potentially harmful military research.

James Tully, a professor of political science and philosophy at McGill from 1977–1996, supported MEND. His lectures about disarmament caught the attention of the Study Group, to which he was later invited to join.

He, along with fellow professor Debbie Higgins, edited the Study Group’s publication.

“I got involved with the Study Group and its newsletter because they were talking about the issues of war, nuclear disarmament, and peace, and sponsoring talks and seminars,” Tully wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “I was lecturing on these issues at the time, [and] as a citizen, I was involved in the broader peace movement at that time.”

Students have also been involved with demilitarization.

Founded in 2012, Demilitarize McGill alienated many with its hardline stance against war commemoration ceremonies and its radical protest strategies.

All this, however, allowed its executives to significantly impact the fight against military research at McGill during its tumultuous time as an active campus organization.

The group’s mandate encompassed campaigning for the elimination of harmful military research at McGill and set higher standards for professors who engage in research that has the potential to hurt others.

As part of their effort to increase transparency surrounding militaryfunded research, in 2012 Demilitarize McGill submitted 172 access to information requests demanding almost 9,000 email correspondences.

McGill’s administration made numerous attempts to block these requests, going insofar as submitting a petition to the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec to ignore all requests pertaining to military research from McGill students or student newspapers. This was ultimately overturned.

Despite McGill’s willingness to spend great sums of money in its endeavour not to release this information, Demilitarize McGill was finally given access to the documents in 2016.

One issue that poses a substantial challenge to groups advocating against military research at McGill constitutes defining the field. Almost all military research has civilian uses and vice versa, creating a target that is difficult to identify and even harder to campaign against. Even the most innocuous of inventions, such as biofuels, which are environmentally friendly but can also be used to refuel fighter jets, can have devastating implications when in the wrong hands. In addition, much of the funds allocated to research projects by the Canada’s Department of Defense have gone towards general research, rather than specific projects designed to be used in conflict. The lack of official government guidelines makes the issue even more complex: With no definition, regulation becomes close to impossible.

Demilitarize McGill dissipated in 2016 after many of its founding members graduated. Lia Holla, U1 Arts and Science, who had both been involved with disarmament and anti-imperialism advocacy in the past, attempted to fill the void with a new club, called Students for Peace and Disarmament (SPD). When it came into existence in the winter of 2018, members of the club aimed to spread awareness of the activities taking place in McGill’s labs through educational workshops and to continue to investigate McGill’s role in military research.

“Our two main long-term goals are to promote shutting down harmful military research at McGill, and our second [...] goal is to create a community to discuss disarmament and peace-building [at McGill],” Maya Garfinkel, U2 Arts and SPD’s research coordinator said. “A lot of the times those sorts of conversations are pushed aside or put on the back burner and invalidated, and we feel like being able to create a community where those conversations are real and [lead to action] is really important.”

One of SPD’s main short-term goals has been to consolidate preexisting research into digestible and accessible bites. The documents released in response to Demilitarize McGill’s access to information requests are hundreds of pages long, and range from detailed descriptions of Demilitarize McGill’s activism on campus to emails between McGill professors and representatives of Canada’s Department of Defense.

Most recently, SPD submitted an access to information request for all recent documents associated with the work of Wagdi Habashi, a mechanical engineering professor who runs a research group at the Computational Fluid Dynamics lab. While such access to information requests are only supposed to take one month, given McGill’s track record as well as the challenges posed by COVID-19, it is likely that SPD will be waiting for a while.

While SPD is primarily focused on obtaining and spreading information, members remain unsure of what will come next. Given their long-term goal of eradicating military-funded research altogether, it would make sense that targeting McGill’s research regulations would be a priority. In 2009, McGill’s Senate made changes to its Regulations on Conduct of Research policy. In 1971, seven students worked with political science professor Samuel Noumoff to write a report, titled “How to make a killing,” that detailed McGill’s involvement in military research. The report prompted the creation of a specific regulation that forced professors who are engaged in military-funded research to indicate whether their findings will have direct, harmful consequences, but there are currently no references to military-related research in the policy.

Former Vice-Principal (Research and International Relations) Denis Thérien justified the removal of the policy by stating that no other universities have similar reporting clauses specifically for military research. While this is true, many wondered why McGill, which considers itself a global leader in many respects, would reverse their novel position to conform with other universities.

“I think the people who are making decisions [at McGill] know that we have an active [portion of the] student body [that is] campaigning against military research at McGill, so I think in my opinion, they don’t want us to know what’s going on,” Anika Hundal, U2 Arts and secretary for SPD said.

“So [the removal] of the policy was in the interest of [maintaining] a lack of transparency.”

Vice Principal (Research and Innovation) Martha Crago emphasized that all research undertaken at McGill must be made public, meaning that external organizations that want to keep their

research secret cannot go through McGill.

“In case of any specific connections to [the] military, our office requires the researcher to prepare a summary of the research project overall and any possible harmful applications that could come from this, as well as anticipated benefits,” Crago wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “We require researchers to justify their projects in terms of the potential benefit that can be shared with society. It is through this lens that we review projects.”

There are many avenues for future advocacy. As far back as 1988, MEND drafted a screening process for weapons research, but this stopped short of attempting to ban it outright. Whether SPD will pursue a similar course of action has yet to be seen, and will likely depend on the contents of the access to information request.

Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President University Affairs Brooklyn Frizzle has also committed to renewing interest in the topic, though it is unlikely that an independent researcher who is dedicated solely to research on militarism will be hired.

“I think it's an incredibly important issue to pursue and I would hate to see it fade out of SSMU's collective memory,” Fizzle said.

In an email to The McGill Tribune, Fizzle wrote that they plan to look at updating and reimplementing the Policy on a Campus Free from Harmful Military Research while meeting with McGill’s administration to discuss the issue, which has largely stayed offthe-radar since the dissolution of Demilitarize McGill. The policy, which was ratified in 2015, enabled SSMU to lobby the administration for increased transparency, though it expired in January 2020.

SSMU Campaigns Coordinator Noah Fisher emphasized that the structural nature of the issue means that professors are not entirely to blame for the circumstances which attract them to military research.

“There’s a more complicated question about how research happens,” Fisher said in an interview with the Tribune. “And the answer isn’t that the university is sketchy, but rather that the university is underfunded, and a lot of money is in the military industrial complex. And so it’s not totally up to professor choice, but rather about how research gets funded.”

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Battle of the bandwidths

Ranking online platforms, from Houseparty to Zoom Maya Mau Contributor When the COVID-19 pandemic began this March and governments mandated selfisolation to limit the spread of the virus, smart devices became the primary means for people to stay connected. For students, digital platforms are essential for remaining in touch with loved ones, working, and balancing school responsibilities. Some platforms, such as WhatsApp and FaceTime, were already popular. Others, such as Zoom, saw a boost in popularity following the start of the pandemic.

With so many options to choose from, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But fear not—The Mc-

(Amanda Fiore / The McGill Tribune)

Gill Tribune has ranked these digital platforms based on accessibility, group capacity, and unique features, so that you’ll never be stuck in a dud, glitchy video call again.

7: Houseparty is great for socializing with a small number of friends. However, this app can only accommodate group calls with eight people, and does not offer asynchronous options—like text chats—for communicating with others. Houseparty is great for talking to a few friends, but its limited features make it impractical for larger groups or more formal purposes.

6: Skype is one of the original video calling platforms and remains useful as a means of meeting “face-to-face.” Users create groups by adding Skype contacts to a text chat or call.

Video calls are free for up to 50 members, but different paid subscriptions or pay-as-you-go options allow users to make unlimited calls to landlines or have “Skype numbers” that enable them to pick up phone calls using the Skype app.

5: iMessage and FaceTime are only available to those with Apple products, and allow you to chat with up to 24 other users (though Facetime notoriously glitches with large groups). Any member of a group chat can initiate a FaceTime call that available

members can join. iMessage texts can include voice memos, file sharing using iCloud, and virtual games through GamePigeon, making Apple’s platforms great for one-on-one or small group conversations.

4: WhatsApp is free and includes international texting. Group creator can create a link for people to join so members don’t have to be added directly, making it an extremely popular platform for students to chat about courses. Unlike iMessage, users can reply to a specific message, a useful tool when there are many members contributing to the conversation at different times. When initiating a WhatsApp call, however, a user can only call people who are in their device’s contact app, which could lead to some difficulties.

3: Zoom has recently gained popularity as a means of hosting meetings for work and school, and can be used on almost any smart device. The meeting’s “host” can send a meeting ID or a link to join, with up to a maximum of 100 participants on the free plan. A “waiting room” can be added to assure that only host-approved members are allowed into the meeting. There are a myriad of features available to members: Screen sharing, virtual backgrounds, and a chat feature that expires at the end of the meeting.

2: Google Hangouts combines features similar to iMessage, FaceTime, and Zoom.

Members simply need a free Google account to access the chat feature, which can accommodate 250 people. Users can video chat with up to 25 people from a pre-existing chat group or by sending a link, in which case participants do not need a Google account to join. Under utilized, Google Hangouts is a great option for student groups looking for a simple and reliable way to communicate.

1: Facebook Messenger offers some of the best features: It is free across the world, can be used with almost any device, and offers both asynchronous texting and instant video chats. Further, it allows members to respond or react to specific messages, and can accommodate up to 250 group members. Aside from its practical features, Facebook Messenger has customizable aesthetics and a straightforward interface, making it the ideal platform for many study groups or clubs to connect.

Back-to-school, back to home cooking

Three meals to get you through online classes Juliette Barlier Contributor The chaos of the past summer has made many of us turn to a classic comfort: Food.

Food has been a grounding force for those who find comfort in the sweet smell of cakes baking in the oven, chopping fruit in the kitchen, and kneading a dough to make bread. These simple moments allow us to tap into our senses, into our roots, into who we are. The physicality and mindfulness involved in the process, the memories it channels of sweet smells in your grandmother’s kitchen, the creative outlet it provides, and the joy in devouring the meal with friends and family at the dining table are all quite therapeutic. When my grandfather used to say “We are what we eat,” I would add, “We are what we cook.”

With that being said, here are some of my personal favorites.

For a ready-made breakfast: Overnight Oats Mix two parts rolled oats with one part plain Greek yogurt, one part milk or nut milk, and nut butter and cinnamon to taste in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and. leave it in the fridge overnight. Enjoy it as is in the morning or add whatever your heart desires, be it fruit, granola, nuts, honey, or a beautiful layer of crushed raspberries!

For the a magnificent meal: Yotam Ottolenghi’s (adapted) caramelized garlic tart 375 g all-butter puff pastry 3 separated and peeled heads of garlic cloves 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp balsamic vinegar 1 cup water ¾ tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp chopped rosemary 1 tsp chopped thyme plus a few whole sprigs 120 g creamy goat’s cheese 120 g hard mature goat’s cheese 2 free-range eggs 6 1/2 tbsp double cream 6 1/2 tbsp crème fraîche salt and black pepper Prepare the baking tin: 1. Roll out the puff pastry into a shallow, loose bottomed, 28 cm fluted tart pan. Place a large circle of greaseproof paper on the bottom and fill up with pie weights. Leave to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Blind bake the crust: 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake the tart pan for 20 minutes. Remove the weights and paper, then bake for a further 5-10 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.

Set aside. Leave the oven on.

Prepare the caramelized garlic cloves: 1. While the crust is baking, put the garlic cloves in a small saucepan and cover with plenty of water. Bring to a simmer and blanch for three minutes, then drain well.

2. Dry the saucepan, return the cloves to it and add two tablespoons of oil. Fry the garlic cloves on high heat for two minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and water and bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add sugar, rosemary, chopped thyme and quarter teaspoon salt. Continue simmering for 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the garlic cloves are coated in a dark syrup. Set aside.

Assemble the garlic tart: 1. Break goat’s cheese into pieces and scatter in the pastry case. Spoon over the caramelized garlic cloves and syrup. In a jug, whisk together the eggs, cream,

(Arsh Raziuddin / The Atlantic) 1/2 teaspoon salt and some black pepper. Pour this custard over the tart filling to fill the gaps.

2. Reduce the oven to 170°C and place the tart inside.

Bake for 35-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Serve warm with a few sprigs of thyme on top.

For your sweet tooth -The Ultimate Chocolate Mousse 250 grams dark chocolate 1/2 stick salted butter 2 tbsp vanilla extract 6 eggs Orange zest to taste Separate egg whites from yolk into two large bowls.

Add vanilla to the yolk. Melt chocolate and butter in medium saucepan on low heat. Once chocolate is 75 per cent melted, take it off heat and keep stirring until smooth. Gently add chocolate mixture to the yolk and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Whisk egg whites into a mousse (if you flip the bowl, no mousse should fall out). Gently fold in egg whites to the chocolate mixture with spatula. Divide mixture into six mini-bowls, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let sit for two hours minimum to overnight and enjoy. Serves six.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 11

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2020

Venice VR Expanded Satellite program brings the universe to Old Port International film festival melds cinema with virtual reality Julian Miller Contributor Continued from page 1.

Immediately upon entry, the Centre Phi looks like an exhibit of tomorrow.

The ultra-modern multimedia centre occupies the hollowed-out interior of an Old Port heritage building. VR Expanded is housed in Espace D, a sparse white room encased in one-way glass and illuminated by the calm glow of orange and pink LEDs—somewhere between Mark Zuckerberg’s yoga room and the interior of a kaleidoscope. Once seated at appropriately distanced swivel chairs, guests are instructed to put on the gogglehelmet apparatuses dangling from the ceiling, and the adventure begins.

The experience, at first, is immensely disorienting. Immersing oneself in an artificially constructed reality is genuinely novel, and requires some acclimation. Substituting a screen for goggles allows for a serious reduction of distance between media and audience, which profoundly amplifies one’s sensory experiences. What’s more, the physicality of VR entertainment—standing up, spinning around, reaching out—lends a dynamic that cannot be experienced from the depths of a sofa. It would appear the

future of entertainment is both immersive and kinetic, with dizzy spells to spare.

The implications of this novel medium vary across the exhibit’s diverse offerings. In children’s programming— films like Ajax All Powerful and the Canadian animated short In the Land of the Flabby Schnook—the transition is not so jarring, and is more like stepping inside a 360-degree television set than an alternate reality. In the Land of the Flabby Schnook is particularly endearing, as the user glides through an adorably spooky dreamscape while watching two siblings learn to conquer their fear of the dark. In more ominous games, however, such as Vibeke Bryld’s Hush, a Danish installation that slowly submerges the user in the haunted murk of the North Sea, VR raises the stakes. Fear is not exempt from the intensifying effects of VR, and users will quickly find themselves swiveling in their chairs to make sure there is nothing behind them.

The exhibit’s most exciting promises for the future of entertainment lie in the works that test VR’s capacity to augment emotional experiences. In Randall Okita’s oral history project The Book of Distance, interviews and family photographs are woven together with VR animation to tell the story of his grandfather, who immigrated to Canada from Hiroshima,

Typically restricted to select theatres in Venice, this year the Biennale’s film festival will take place at international satellite hosts, like Montreal’s Centre Phi. (phi-centre.com) Japan in 1935. In transforming his grandfather’s life—from departure and integration to forced internment and incalculable loss—into a first-person, interactive experience, Okita alludes to perhaps the greatest virtue of VR: Its power to inspire empathy. Compassion has always demanded that we walk in the shoes of others and look through borrowed eyes at new perspectives; The Book of Distance, like many of the selections at VR Expanded, takes this literally.

Whether or not VR truly is the future of the digital world, works like the ones at the Venice Biennale prove that there

is merit to the experiment. There will always be value in works of art that interrupt our solipsism and pull us outside of ourselves—even if only for a brief moment spent standing on the deck of a virtual steamship, feeling the unexpected urge to wave goodbye to a home you never knew.

The Venice VR Expanded - Satellite Program is running at the PHI Centre until September 12.

What we liked this summer: Pandemic edition A list of favourites from the Tribune’s A&E team With the start of virtual classes, it feels like we’ve been jolted out of a limbo. Still, with Netflix binges about to be replaced by Zoom classes, we can at least say that our five months indoors have given us plenty to watch, listen to, and read. The pandemic aside, here are some favourites that helped us through the summer.

wholly original work from a singular, new voice.

TikTok (App) Deana Korsunsky From viral dances to lifehack tutorials, the video app TikTok became a worldwide phenomenon thanks to the quarantine of Summer 2020. Although the video app started as Musical.ly in 2016, TikTok now hosts communities from tweens to baby boomers, offering content as relatable as pandemic confinement, to those as niche as canned beans fan videos. The TikTok feed is an endless void of passion and creativity. What may start as a simple scroll through one’s feed will undoubtedly evolve into a 40-minute session of chuckling, liking, and commenting. The platform provides a convenient and much-needed source of both amusement and education, allowing those of different walks of life to share their creativity and stories with the world.

You’re Wrong About (Podcast) Erika Mackenzie Summer is the season of podcasts, and this one is definitely worth the listen.

Freelance reporters Sarah Marshall and Michael Hobbes dive into memorable events, people, and random phenomena throughout history, questioning popular preconceived notions. Rather than a simple debunking, You’re Wrong About delves into the social implications of widely held beliefs. Exploring topics from Stockholm syndrome to the O.J. Simpson trial, You’re Wrong About has no boundaries on what it will cover. Marshall and Hobbes are not only informative, but they also have an excellent sense of humour and keep listeners on their toes.

SAWAYAMA (Album) Jonathan Giammaria Rina Sawayama cackles her way into the nu-metal chorus of her pop album’s third track, “STFU!” On paper, this eclectic mix of genre and vocals seems bizarre; however, when

A summer spent indoors means plenty of time to explore new media.

(Eve Cable / The McGill Tribune) listening, it becomes one of the album’s most memorable performances.

SAWAYAMA is full of bold creative choices: “Paradisin’” is set to the beat of a hyper 8-bit video game; “Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys)” pairs a fashion brand roll call with

groovy disco. And with songs covering climate change, family heritage, platonic breakups, and consumerism, SAWAYAMA’s subject matter is as varied as its sound. Though the album isn’t beholden to thematic or sonic cohesion, it nevertheless soars as a

Da 5 Bloods (Film) Julian Miller A mid-June Netflix release brimming with lushness and fury, Da 5 Bloods is both Spike Lee’s latest masterwork and, heartbreakingly, Chadwick Boseman’s last film released before his passing. The film follows five ageing veterans of an all-Black platoon as they journey back into the

Vietnamese jungle in search of a twofold treasure: Buried gold and the remains of a beloved comrade left behind long ago. The men’s foray into the jungle ultimately becomes a volatile yet deeply compassionate exploration of the many faces of trauma, the impossible burden of loyalty, and the irreconcilable paradox of fighting and dying in the name of your oppressor.

Boys State (Film) Angelica Voutsinas

Documenting a week-long leadership camp run by the American Legion, directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss set out to study the deeprooted polarization that is so intrinsically tied to American politics. Boys State follows four out of one thousand participants in the 2018 Texas Boys State, where 16-year-olds play mock government for a week: Electing government officials, enacting laws, and running election campaigns that parallel the dirty politics of real life. The film is a cynical snapshot of the next generation of American politicians, but also shows the growing minority of youth in politics who genuinely want to better the lives of others. Boys State is emotional, captivating, and a mustwatch for anyone casting their ballots on Nov. 3.

12 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2020

Embracing the new without abandoning the old in ‘Imploding the Mirage’

The Killers’ newest album pulls from different genres and styles without losing its uniqueness Erika Mackenzie Contributor Imploding the Mirage sounds distinctly like a Killers album: The upbeat, new wave-meets-modern rock style is recognizable to longtime fans of the Las Vegas band. However, it’s impossible to ignore the album references to other artists, styles, and eras. The busy instrumentalism, coarse-sounding vocals, and reinvented ‘80s synth-pop sound is remarkably similar to Arcade Fire’s 2017 album Everything Now, reflecting a current trend of

retro nostalgia in musical production. Overall, Imploding the Mirage’s cohesive sound reinforces the story arc it aims to convey, edging the line between inspiration and imitation.

Lead singer Brandon Flowers describes the album as a story of two people becoming one through love, using inspiration from his parents’ marriage and his own relationship with his wife.

“Dying Breed” showcases the beauty of a rare love with the lyrics “For the coveted touch of a girl in love / I was taken by the sound of a spirit

in need / Baby we’re a dying breed.”

Many of the album’s tunes sound similar to the ‘80s gospel pop anthems.

“Lightning Fields” has a high-energy choral quality that is reminiscent of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” The song features K.D. Lang, who Flowers explained is meant to emulate his late mother.

Lang’s angelic voice sounds to be coming from above the clouds as she sings, “There’s no end to love” in the bridge.

Along with the album’s more referential material, songs like “Blowback” em-

body the classic Killers’ sound. The B-Bender guitar adds a vintage rock feel that evokes nostalgia for the band’s first album Hot Fuss.

“Caution” and “My Own Soul’s Warning” employs introductory soundscapes, a technique that is very familiar to the group. It’s clear The Killers have not abandoned their signature style but have revamped it in ways that keep listeners on edge.

Brandon Flowers describes the album as a story of two people becoming one through love.

(The Killers)

Stand-up comedy in a stay-at-home world

Montreal’s stand-up comedy scene adapts to the pandemic Deana Korsunsky Contributor The COVID-19 pandemic has halted the regular bustle of Montreal life, and with it, halted its entertainment industry.

Cirque du Soleil was forced to lay off 95 per cent of its staff; music festivals, including Osheaga and Ilesoniq, were postponed; and even the worldfamous comedy festival, Just For Laughs, was delayed and moved online. Montreal’s comedy scene has been equally impacted: In fact, it initially ceased altogether. As the lockdown and public health restrictions led to cancellations of every comedy event, Montreal, for the first time in a while, wasn’t laughing.

In the early days of quarantine, performers and producers of local comedy shows were forced to adapt to new public health regulations. Large audiences could no longer gather in small bars, and those who braved social distancing had to wear masks and allow for venues to be sanitized between performances. Essentially, in-person shows went on a break.

Some attempted to join the ranks of entertainers around the world by performing on Zoom.

While these efforts were commendable, a key aspect of standup comedy remained missing: A visible audience. Comedy show producer Sid Khullar described the connection between performers and their audiences as integral to the success of a show.

“You want comedy that you can enjoy with other people,” Khullar said. “The audience [is] pretty much on mute. So even

if you have 100 people on mute you can’t really see what’s happening [....] There’s a disconnect.”

As public health restrictions gradually lifted, Montreal’s comedy shows only slowly returned. Producers organized outdoor shows in parks and backyards that respected new health guidelines. Khullar even decided to run his new festival, the Montreal Comedy Series, under socially distant conditions. He pointed out that especially with the postponement of Just For Laughs, the city’s comedy shows needed to gain momentum.

“Every year, when JFL does their festival, the rest of the comedy scene gets [...] a little push from them,” Khullar said.

“Comedy is no longer in the back of people’s minds.”

While many producers and comedians adapted their inperson shows to accommodate public health guidelines, others expanded their mediums. Comedian Quinn McMorrow, host of the weekly show Comedy At The Art Loft, was already planning on releasing an Art Loft podcast in the fall, but accelerated his timeline amidst the pandemic.

Rather than attempting to do socially distant shows, McMorrow and his roommates started the comedy podcast Artloft Radio.

Guests include other comedians, as well as Montreal locals with unique stories. The goal of the show, McMorrow explained, is to provide an outlet away from the politically charged reality discussed in many comedic settings.

“We thought, why don’t we have a podcast that’s just light

and fun and not topical,” McMorrow said. “We can get into serious stuff, but in a lighthearted manner.”

In many ways, the pandemic stimulated comedians’ creativity and drive to generate content.

McMorrow pointed out that isolation has taught comedians that a performance can be successful even without typical comedy conventions.

“When summer hit, that’s when you saw people get really innovative and have shows in the park or along the canal,” McMorrow said. “It’s good that we’re all sort of retooling ourselves and seeing what we can do.”

Despite the uncertainty and fear that the pandemic brought, Montreal’s comedy scene has endured. Months of quarantine and logistical challenges may have discouraged comedians and producers at first, but ultimately led to a boom in creative solutions. Zoom shows, outdoor venues, distanced festivals, podcasts, and sketch videos all continue to engage audiences in one way or another, showcasing Montreal creatives’ renewed inspiration for comedy. The city’s community proved that while the coronavirus may persist, so does the resilient spirit of Montreal’s comedy scene.

Sid Khullar’s upcoming comedy events can be found on Mtlcomedyclub.com. Quinn McMorrow’s upcoming series BOMS (Best Of Montreal Sketch) will be released Sep. 20th.

Montreal comedians were forced to resort to pandemic-friendly performing options such as Zoom, distanced shows, and podcasting.

(Chloe Rodriguez / The McGill Tribune)

Caption

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 13

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2020

Baking with bacteria: The science of sourdough How microbes help at-home bakers make better bread Claire Latendresse Contributor Continued from page 1.

“A sourdough starter is a microbial community in a dough [...] that has the potential to turn the starch and sugar from that dough into carbon dioxide and alcohol to make the bread rise,” Dr. Jennifer Ronholm, assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry, said in an interview with The McGill Tribune.

The fermentation mechanism of a sourdough starter closely resembles that of yeast. Yet, it is the wide variety of bacteria in the culture that gives sourdough its irresistible, tangy flavour. When carbon dioxide gas is released during the setting process, it forms little pockets of air that make the bread rise into a delicious, fluffy loaf.

“In sourdough bread, the microbial community is composed of some yeasts, but there are [...]100 times more lactic acid bacteria than yeast in a sourdough starter,” Ronholm said. “Yeasts produce alcohol and carbon dioxide whereas the lactic acid bacteria produce carbon dioxide, lactic acid, and acetic acid. It’s those other acids that give the sourdough breads their unique flavours.”

The bacteria found in sourdough starters, often of the genus Lactobacillus, do not need to be intentionally added to the starter mix as yeast does in traditional

breads. Bacterial cultures in sourdough usually originate from the flour and water used to make the starter, and from the baker’s own hands, which, despite their vigorous handwashing, are covered in bacteria.

In an ongoing project from 2017, Dr. Rob Dunn, a professor of applied ecology at North Carolina State University, found that the bacteria introduced to starters from different bakers’ hands gave their sourdoughs unique bacterial profiles and, by extension, one-of-akind flavours.

Dunn and his team instructed 15 bakers from around the world to bake bread using the same ingredients, but with starters that they had nurtured themselves. The results of the project indicated that the variable bacterial profiles of each starter produced notable differences in flavour when taste-tested.

“Each bread had a unique ‘microbe flavour’ influenced by chance and the microbes in the flour, on the bakers’ hands, and in their bakeries,” Dunn said in an article for Technology, Entertainment, Design.

Bakeries and home chefs around the world are quick to boast about the quality and longevity of their sourdough starters, passed down over decades from their own parents and grandparents. Sourdough starters do not age like wine or cheese, however—they are constantly changing and growing.

“I think a lot of people don’t realize that it’s different from day to day,” said Ronholm. “A lot of people have these starter cultures that have been passed around for years or some companies have started cultures that are years old, but from hour to hour, day

Sourdough starters harness the wild bacteria present in our environment to produce delicious fermented dough. This same process is also used to make foods like sauerkraut. (King Arthur Baking Company) to day, these cultures will be continuously changing.

Even though you’re advertising that you have this ultra-old culture, it’s very different from day to day.”

Not only are these microbial cultures fascinating and delicious, they’re also living beings. Those who make their own sourdough starter often get attached to it, treating it like a surrogate pet-in-a-jar and feeding it flour and water regularly. So, perhaps when this is all over, amateur bakers around the world will have made some new friends despite social distancing guidelines—even if those new friends are microscopic.

Facing the back-to-school blues

McGill psychologist provides a perspective on the return to remote learning

The stress levels of university students have peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whether these students return to campus or continue their studies remotely, that stress is unlikely to dissipate. In a recent survey, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 62.9 per cent of individuals aged 18-24 disclosed increased feelings of anxiety or depression in June of 2020, compared to only 49.4 per cent in June of 2019. As the new school year begins, anxiety in students is likely to worsen, with the onset of a phenomenon colloquially referred to as the “back-to-school blues.”

Dr. Kristy Robinson, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at McGill, investigated the underlying emotional experiences that affect academic engagement and student motivation.

“I don’t doubt [back-to-school blues’] existence. It’s about mourning the loss of activities and fun that one gives up to pursue school,” Robinson said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “Back to school anxiety is entirely natural for students of all ages and even affects professors.”

With the added pressure of focusing on schoolwork during the pandemic, students are likely to face unprecedented obstacles while trying to stay motivated throughout the semester.

Namrata Rana Contributor

Demotivation, distracting home environments, and a lack of familiarity with online learning are all factors that can contribute to increased feelings of anxiety.

Motivation is multifaceted and results from the complex interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic influences. Intrinsic motivation comes from finding fulfillment in doing the activity itself, such as enjoying the process

habits early in the semester to support their motivation and reduce anxiety. In situations where students have little control, regularly disconnecting from the source of stress for short periods of time is shown to be a useful coping mechanism.

Courses that are particularly difficult can create an unwelcoming and highly competitive environment with more sources of

The brain is like a muscle: With regular effort it can better resist the impact of fear on other cognitive abilities like learning and motivation (iStock) of learning. In contrast, extrinsic influences lie outside of the individual. The incentive of achieving good grades, for example, would be an instance of external motivation.

One study published in the journal Contemporary Educational Psychology, found that internal motivation declines rapidly as the semester progresses. This makes it crucial for students to acknowledge their external influences and establish mental and physical

stress.

“Our studies have shown that students who aim to outperform others are more likely to feel stressed and become demotivated quickly,” Robinson said.

Ultimately, fear of the unknown is largely what drives the back-to-school blues.

Uncertainties generate complex emotions of frustration and self-doubt, and can become overwhelming. According to self-determination

theory, to become motivated, one must realize that determination relies on three basic needs: Competence, autonomy, and social connections.

For many students, online learning is already a challenging experience due to limited social interactions, fewer opportunities to study outside of their homes, and the expectation to quickly adapt to modified coursework while working equally as hard.

There are several ways students can approach this semester with more structure in order to manage their anxiety and motivation.

To maintain focus while studying at home, students should prioritize building a routine and designating certain tasks to different spaces.

Robinson advises to avoid using Netflix or eating at the same desk used to study.

While the aforementioned techniques build concentration, boosting motivation requires a different approach.

“Write down the reasons you want to do well at the beginning of the semester when you’re most motivated,” Robinson said.

“Periodically checking in on those goals can uplift sinking motivation.”

This semester will require students to proactively develop a support system while respecting public health regulations.

“The best way to stay connected is by sharing our feelings,” Robinson said. “If you’re confused, say it, because it can help normalize the anxiety that many other students may also be experiencing.”

14 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2020

Gene therapy provides a potential breakthrough in brain cancer treatment A gene responsible for tumour growth allows for cell death when suppressed Madison Mclauchlan Contributor In the fight against cancer, scientists have long grappled with the ambiguous nature of stem cells. Glioblastoma tumours, the most aggressive form of brain cancer in adults, consist of these cells, which have the notable ability to self-renew. This makes these tumours notoriously hard to treat with targeted radiation therapy and difficult to permanently remove through surgery.

A McGill-led research group working at the Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital has now put the invincibility of tumour stem cells into question. In a recent paper, the group details a new technique of sensitizing stem cells to radiation therapy, thereby increasing the therapy’s efficacy. A single mitochondrial gene called oncostatin M (OSM) was found to influence the energy levels of stem cells. Using the DNA editing tool CRISPR-Cas9, researchers were able to delete the gene and cause cancerous cells to become less resistant to ionizing radiation, the type used in cancer treatments.

Dr. Arezu Jahani-Asl, assistant professor in the Department of Oncology at McGill, has been overseeing this project since 2015.

“What makes [stem cells] unique is their capacity to undergo self-renewal and spur the growth of new tumours, but at the same time, they can evade ionizing radiation and chemotherapy,” Jahani-Asl said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “They can regenerate a new tumour if there are only a few of these cells left after surgery.”

Considering the tenacity of these cancer cells, researchers

consider the identification of the OSM gene’s role in regulating cell proliferation a promising breakthrough.

Through various molecular techniques, the team tracked the OSM gene product and its interactions within the cell. First, they established OSM’s location in the mitochondria, the part of the cell responsible for producing energy. Its location pointed to OSM’s involvement with the mitochondria’s electron transport chain, a series of protein complexes that produce ATP, the cell’s energy currency.

Researchers noticed that high expression of OSM strengthens cancer cells by promoting ATP production, providing cells with additional energy.

Armed with the knowledge that OSM affects a tumour’s energy stores, the researchers subsequently removed the gene using CRISPR-Cas9.

“When we deleted the gene, there was less oxygen consumption rate, which is a means to measure energy production,” Jahani-Asl said. “There was a decrease of activity in Complexes I, II, III and IV of the [electron transport] chain.”

Without OSM, the researchers noted that radical oxygen species, chemically reactive molecules that can cause cellular damage, accumulated in the mitochondria. This build-up triggered cell death in mice more often than when exposed to radiation alone. An increased sensitivity of these cancer cells to radiation therapy could feasibly prolong the life expectancy of glioblastoma patients undergoing treatment.

Despite the study’s use of mouse models in testing OSM suppression, the scientists also found support for their results in public health data.

“ B a s e d on public datasets, the higher The cells which compose some brain tumours are notoriously hard to eliminate due to their uncontrolled ability to self-renew. (Daria Kiseleva / The McGill Tribune) the expression of OSM, the more resistant [cells] are to ionizing radiation,” Jahani-Asl said. “It is very similar to what we saw in wet experimentation with mice.”

Consistency between public health data and the results of the study suggests that gene deletion techniques may be viable for brain cancer patients. In addition, effective gene editing tools such as CRISPR are becoming more widely used in preclinical research. It will take further inquiry and experimentation, however, before human trials become possible.

For now, the lab is exploring a number of options in their continuing study of the OSM gene, including therapy antibodies and molecular profiling.

“At this point, a drug screening is required to find a drug that specifically inhibits OSM function,” Dr. Ahmad Sharanek, the lead author of the study, wrote in an email to the Tribune.

“Pharmacological targeting of OSM in combination with the current standard of care for glioblastoma therapy will [become] feasible at a large scale.”

New evidence of sticky proteins redefines bacterial cell organization

McGill researchers challenge well-established paradigm in subcellular structure Will Brothers Contributor

A team of biologists at McGill are changing the way scientists think about the subcellular organization of bacteria. The research group, led by Dr. Stephanie Weber, Assistant Professor of Biology at McGill, examines the spatial organization of living systems using E. coli, a species of bacteria commonly used in laboratory research. In a recent study published in the journal PNAS, the group found that bacteria are far more organized at the subcellular level than scientists traditionally thought.

Bacteria are classified as prokaryotes, meaning that they lack a nucleus and other membrane-bound structures collectively referred to as organelles. Unlike animal, plant, or fungal cells, bacteria do not discretely compartmentalize their cells with organelles.

The lead author of the study, Dr. Anne-Marie Ladouceur, a microscopy specialist at the McGill Advanced BioImaging Facility, found that bacteria may contain primitive organellelike structures, contrary to what scientists have believed for decades.

“We still think of [bacteria] as a ‘bag of enzymes,’” Ladouceur said in an interview with The McGill Tribune.

Ladouceur believes that this outdated concept of bacteria vastly understates the degree to which these organisms are organized at the molecular level. To better understand how bacterial cells are organized, Weber’s group took a highly technical approach of tracking single molecules. Rather than using historically ubiquitous methods like light microscopy, Weber’s team instead applied techniques for studying a trendy phenomenon in molecular biology known as liquidliquid phase separation (LLPS).

LLPS is the emergence of organelle-like structures through “sticky” proteins that aggregate together, rather

than being physically contained by a membrane. This phenomenon is similar to the way oil forms distinct droplets in water, rather than mixing evenly throughout.

In recent years, LLPS has become a well-established mechanism for subcellular compartmentalization in animal models. Still, strong evidence for its presence in bacteria has previously been elusive, a detail that Weber attributes to their very small size.

“All of the criteria to define phase separation used to requiare a droplet bigger than [the E. coli] cells,” Weber said in an interview with the Tribune.

In this study, the sticky proteins comprising the bacterial

RNA polymerase clusters are dynamic, moving more quickly than the DNA loci they transcribe into RNA but more slowly than freely diffusing molecules in the cell.

(Getty Images)

proto-organelles were identified as RNA polymerase (RNAP). RNAP is a key enzyme that functions in the early stages of gene expression, responsible for copying DNA into RNA. The group has identified clusters of RNAP molecules as the first instance of LLPS organized structures in bacteria.

Weber noted that this finding provides evidence for an intermediate mobility state between immobile, DNA-bound, and freely diffusing RNAPs. Interestingly, their data also provides a potential explanation for a previously noted discrepancy between the high number of RNAP molecules and a corresponding, lowerthan-expected level of gene expression. The group’s research provides evidence that many of the intermediate state RNAP molecules are not actively transcribing, prompting future studies to account for low levels of gene expression.

The McGill team also proposed that bacteria may use LLPS in order to quickly and acutely control the location, activity, and accessibility of these RNAP molecules in response to both cellular and environmental cues and in order to rapidly regulate growth.

This study is the first to provide evidence for the ubiquitous nature of LLPS as a mechanism of organizing cells. It is even possible that LLPS played a role in organizing macromolecules in the context of the RNA world hypothesis for the origin of life on earth, Weber and Ladouceur commented.

“People have found that RNA and small proteins can form these condensates in vitro, and so [LLPS] could be a way to concentrate in the diluted soup of the RNA world,” Weber said.

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2020

15

Know your athlete: Jorden Savoury

McGill student and Olympic hopeful discusses her running journey

Karan Kumar Contributor Jorden Savoury, U2 Arts, is one of McGill’s star track and field athletes. She competes in the 60 metres, 300 metres, 4x200 metre relays, and long jump. Her performance in the 25th McGill Team Challenge in January 2020 was nothing short of impressive. Savoury broke McGill records in both the 60 metre relay and long jump.

“I was very ready for the meet [and] prepared really well,” Savoury said in an interview with //The McGill Tribune//. “I went into that [meet] very confident, knowing that I am able to do really well and that’s exactly what happened. I got two personal bests.”

Competing in multiple track & field events can be a challenge for many athletes, but Savoury considers these different events to be complementary in her preparation.

“60 metres is executing your fast speed.

Three hundred metres is a long sprint [which requires] speed endurance. [In] long jump, you [have] a lot to work on—your takeoff, landing, run-up, [and] approach,” Savoury said. “Each event I do is technical in its own way, but they help each other.”

Savoury, who is one of Canada’s 2021 and 2024 Olympic hopefuls, takes this status as a motivating force rather than a source of stress. “[Being considered an Olympic hopeful] is not an expectation; it’s more of a motivation,” Savoury said. “I [always] have it at the back of

my mind. It is my biggest goal. The motivation keeps me on my toes. If I am having a bad day, I think of my dreams and goals.”

Apart from athletics, Savoury has a keen interest in modeling. She has modeled for the Redbird Sports Shop and her outdoor club, Saint-Laurent Select, whose mission is to promote athletic events among youth. “[I have] two big different dreams: One is the Olympics and the other is modeling,” Savoury said. “Modeling allows me to express my fashion and true colors as a person [....]

Modeling for the McGill clothing line was so fun.”

The pandemic has disrupted Savoury’s training schedule as well as her modeling work, but she has managed to adapt to the social-distancing measures.

“The pandemic has hit us hard,” Savoury said. “In March, I continued training as best as I could. I would do bodyweight exercises in the house, run up and down stairs, [and] sprint on the concrete, which hurt.”

She also values the company of her teammates and coaches, a comfort lost during the pandemic.

“It’s very hard training on your own,” Savoury said. “You are less motivated [and] it is not as fun.”

Due to the social distancing measures, keeping in touch with coaches and colleagues can be challenging. Despite feelings of isolation, Savoury has stayed connected with her peers both at McGill and Saint-Laurent Select.

Jorden Savoury has had to adapt to lack of in-person meets and practices.

(Christian Martin Photographe)

“From March to May, it was very hard [because we were] not in touch that much,” Savoury said. “Everyone was in their own space. We have video calls with Saint-Laurent Select to keep in touch. [It’s] not only about track and field, but [about] how life is going [in general, which] really helped me move forward.”

With the university athletics season indefinitely postponed, Savoury is focusing on the present and taking each day as it comes.

“I have an outdoor season, [so] I am in the zone of what’s going on right now,” Savoury said. “To know that Nationals and RSEQs will be cancelled makes me sad, of course. All the

hard work I have put in will not be proven in [those] big meets.”

Savoury shares some key life lessons she learned throughout her journey as a studentathlete.

“I have learned about being patient,” Savoury said. “Things don’t always go your way. I had surgery [and] could not do my sport for three years. I train five times a week as a full-time student. I need to plan my week, [my] food, [and] when I am going to study [so that] I am not stressed [....] Patience and time management are two key things I have learned from my sport.”

eliminations was Mii outfit A, which felt personal,” Hawkins said. “As of [this message] I’m 72 per cent of the way through the tournament and very tired of Delfino Square. There are some interesting patterns, however.

Unsurprisingly, my average time has been dropping, though, it’s plateaued.”

One of Hawkins’s main concerns has been not letting personal bias in terms of character get in the way.

“For whatever reason I’ve always liked some [characters] and disliked others,” he said. “I know that there wasn’t any tangible difference between them besides Kart classes [....] I’ve come to realize that, above all else, what matters in these time trials is mushroom use. I can play the most technically perfect game, drift in all the right places, aim my jump on the drawbridge perfectly, but if I use the mushrooms in an inefficient place (sharp turns, for example) I’m less likely to win the round with that character, let alone break my all time record.”

After 26 races, Hawkins has also pinpointed small decisions that add up to faster lap. Aiming perfectly off the drawbridge jump is crucial as well as getting as many mini-turbos from drifting as possible on the narrow turn section near the beginning.

“As a general rule, I try not to bet

against myself, but I have predictions about the outcome of the tournament,” Hawkins said. “Despite the fact that no one character should have an inherent advantage, every time I break my overall record I happen to be playing Peach or Diddy Kong.”

Whether this is a significant development or a subconscious bias emerging, Hawkins predicts that the final match will be between Peach and Diddy Kong. All the while, he’ll be trying to outdo himself at every turn, shatter his records, and finally finish his wild quarantine project.

A street-Kart named desire Chasing sanity in quarantine Kaja Surborg Managing Editor “I’ve seen vlogs, read captions, and watched stories of people quarantining and I knew I’d have to find something besides the beginning of class to keep me occupied,” Hawkins wrote in a message to The McGill Tribune.

“During my six month stay at home I unearthed my Wii, and luckily, my favourite (and only remaining) game: Mario Kart Wii.” Hawkins had borrowed a projector from McGill’s Information Technology Centre back in early March of 2020, which he would be unable to return until after his quarantine was over.

When he got back to Montreal he logged some game hours at home on his wall, and decided to hone his skills while stuck inside.

“During my layover in Toronto I’d had an idea: a single person tournament with every character I had unlocked,” Hawkins said. “My friends asked me what that meant and I couldn’t explain it, but I spent my first night in my apartment scheming. What I came up with the next morning was as follows: I put the names of all the playable characters into a bracket—including, after some debate, Mii outfit A—and generated a bracket.”

Hawkins then decided on some

rules. To remove any unpredictable variables, he played each race on time trial—meaning no non-player characters and no items except for the 3 mushrooms that players start with. It was an easy way to time each race accurately. He also raced each

Matthew Hawkins predicts the final matchup will be between Peach and Diddy Kong (nintendolife.com)

character on their Standard Kart to keep performance as consistent as possible. Then, he raced each pairing one character at a time and logged the winners in the bracket. The race was DS Delfino Square.

“To my dismay, one of the first

16

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2020

It will all workout: Exercising in a student apartment How to turn your cramped apartment into a full fledged athletics complex Sarah Farnand, Maya Mau, Adam Burton Contributors, Sports Editor As gyms around the world closed in March to limit the spread of the COVID-19, bodybuilders and casual gym-goers alike were forced to recreate fitness centres in their homes. Though some Montreal gyms reopened in June, many people still do not feel safe returning.

For some, this means adapting their workout routines from an expansive space with professional equipment to a bedroom with a yoga mat. Here’s how some McGill students have continued exercising in their apartments throughout quarantine.

HIIT Workouts Tabata—a form of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) that alternates 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest—provides a balance between rigour and recovery that makes it great for casual fitness enthusiasts and competitive athletes alike. Tabata routines cycle through many different exercises, allowing people to build strength while also working on endurance.

Designed to be accessible to anyone with a yoga mat and water bottle, hundreds of tabata workouts are available for free online.

Dance Workouts Staying fit during quarantine can seem impossible, and for those who do not enjoy exercise, being in quarantine is a great excuse to skip working out. Dance music routines, however, are a fantastic alternative for those who want to work out to good music, but are unmotivated

by traditional exercises. Online personalities like YouTuber MadFit post weekly dance workouts featuring various popular artists. The workouts range from five to 30 minutes, and demonstrate dance moves that can turn a dance party into a full cardio workout. Don’t let quarantine keep you stationary: Get up and get dancing.

Gymnastics Rings Have you ever watched Olympic gymnasts performing their routines on the rings and thought to yourself, “I bet I can do that?” Unfortunately, you probably can’t, but you can buy a set of rings and straps at a fairly reasonable price and start practising. Rings bring versatility and mobility to your workouts; you can set them up on anything from a pullup bar to a tree in the park. According to self-proclaimed fitness gurus on YouTube, ring workouts can leave you feeling drained.

You’ll see quick progress, and best of all: Your friends, family, and random strangers in the park will be in awe of your new-found gymnastic abilities.

Yoga Yoga studios have started to reopen at limited capacity, but many may choose not to return to enclosed spaces they once frequented before the pandemic.

Yoga offers a range of physical and mental exercises that allows one to focus on breathing, flexibility, and strength. Whether you’re practicing yoga as a solitary morning de-stresser, a virtual online session, or outside in a socially-distanced class, yoga is a great way to stay active and grounded during tumultuous times.

Students are getting creative this semester in lieu of the gym. (fitstream.com) closes in, that stops being an option for Montreal cyclists. Fortunately, with a few quick modifications and a stationary stand, you can still get a good spin in.

Previously, this may have been a boring and sweaty endeavor, but apps like Zwift allows you to ride virtually with other users, making the experience much more engaging and competitive. The app lets you ride anywhere in the world through your TV screen, and even with professional cyclists.

Biking Biking is usually an outdoor sport, but as winter

Mewis to Manchester exemplifies the NWSL exodus Pandemic spurs dispersal of women soccer players across England and Europe Kaja Surborg Managing Editor The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the sports world hard, with many leagues initially cancelling their seasons. Some leagues, including the WNBA, the NBA, and the NHL, have since restarted in “bubbles,” and one of the most successful in this restart was the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

The NWSL was in its off-season when the pandemic hit North America, leaving the league scrambling to fit a whole season into a shortened time frame and safe environment. Their solution came in the form of the NWSL Challenge Cup, which took place between June 27 and July 26 in a “bubble” in Utah. The 23-game tournament was successful in several ways, with no positive COVID-19 tests and a first-time NWSL champion in the Houston Dash.

Despite the relative success of the summer’s Challenge Cup, and the announcement of a Fall Series set to run from Sep. 5 to Oct. 17, many players are still choosing to leave the NWSL to play club soccer in European leagues. American midfielders Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle have signed with the FA Women’s Super League’s (FA WSL) Manchester City, while American forwards Christen Press and Tobin Heath have both signed with Manchester United. It’s not only American

Players moving overseas may present problems for the NWSL. (theathletic.com) players who are leaving the NWSL, however.

England’s Rachel Daly and Australia’s Emily van Egmond both signed loan deals with Westham United, leaving behind their American clubs for the time being. Some young North American players are choosing to forego the NWSL altogether, including Canada’s Jessie Fleming who signed her first professional contract with Chelsea FC in June of 2020.

The situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States means that there is no way for NWSL players

to play a full league season this year. The fall series consists of only 18 games, with regional pods that limit each team to playing against only the two other teams in the pod and only playing four games each. Players looking to make their national team rosters ahead of next year’s Olympic Games will need more opportunities for playing time in competitive environments. At the moment, an American league is simply not able to provide this setting. European leagues also present the opportunity to play in multiple competitions, including the UEFA Women’s

Champions League and national cups within each country.

After the failure of two previous women’s professional soccer leagues in the United States, this outflux of top players from the NWSL is a cause for concern. Through a deal with CBS, the 2020 season would have been the first with games aired on network television, increasing the visibility of the league and drawing in more fans and sponsors.

Top players leaving the league does not bode well for future sponsorships or television deals; however, CBS did air games from the Challenge Cup and will continue to show games from the Fall Series. This precarity is just one of the many ways in which women’s sports have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to men’s sports.

Despite the bad news for the NWSL, players signing in Europe are, arguably, a testament to the development and maintenance of women’s professional club soccer across the world. Despite less-thanideal circumstances in the U.S., players still have the opportunity to continue playing club soccer. The majority of FA WSL teams are now fully professional, allowing players to spend more time training with better equipment and facilities, thus raising the level of competition in the league. Hopefully, this professionalization can continue to sustainably provide opportunities for women soccer players, even through unforeseen obstacles like a global pandemic.