The McGill Tribune Vol. 40 Issue 7

The McGill Tribune TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020 | VOL. #40 | ISSUE #7

Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University

McGILLTRIBUNE.COM | @McGILLTRIBUNE

KNOW YOUR ATHLETE

EDITORIAL

FEATURE

McGill must address a growing mental health crisis

A man about town

Nick Kleban

PGs. 8-9

PG. 15

PG. 5

(Caroline Shelton / The McGill Tribune)

Queer History Month highlights BIPOC advocacy

PG. 13

MUHC to begin trial of ciclesonide for alleviating COVID-19 symptoms

The anti-inflammatory drug is repurposed as a potential therapy for COVID-19 Margaret Wdowiak Staff Writer While the race for a COVID-19 vaccine continues, scientists around the world are exploring the possibility of repurposing existing drugs to effectively treat COVID-19 patients. Recently, researchers have seen a number of breakthroughs. One of these

successes is dexamethasone, a corticosteroid hormone with antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive properties.

The conclusions of one research group, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, suggested that orally or intravenously administered dexamethasone was effective in treating severe cases of COVID-19, particularly improving

survival in very ill patients requiring supplemental oxygen.

Following the success of dexamethasone, in mid September, a team of researchers from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) began to examine whether other drugs within the corticosteroid family could treat milder cases of COVID-19.

PG. 12

Players’ Theatre proves that the show must go on

SSMU advocates for affordable textbooks and Open Education Resources

Erika MacKenzie Staff Writer

Anthony Schokalsky Contributor

Public health restrictions forces McGill theatre SSMU hopes to offer 75 per cent of coursepacks for free by 2021 troupe to adapt Theatre-lovers everywhere are mourning the days of live performances with soldout venues, elaborate production designs, and most importantly, a sense of collective belonging.

COVID-19 has caused

major disruptions for McGill’s theatre community, especially since Montreal moved into its Red Zone earlier this month.

Understandably, theatre clubs at McGill have struggled to adapt to the new restrictions. The Arts Undergraduate Theatre Society (AUTS) announced on Facebook on Sept. 22

that this year’s intended production of A Chorus Line would be cancelled. While many clubs initially planned to rehearse and perform in person, these plans have since been derailed.

Despite the setbacks, some clubs at McGill are taking innovative approaches to reimaging theatre during a pandemic.

PG. 10

Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) began promoting Open Education Resources (OER), which makes textbooks more accessible by providing them free of charge.

Despite rising tuition and textbook costs since the 1970s, the digitization of academia due to the pandemic has not appeared to slow price hikes of education material. In an email exchange with The McGill Tribune, SSMU Vice-President (VP) Student Affairs Brooklyn Frizzle wrote about the student union’s

continued efforts to advocate for OERs. “Open Educational Resources are basically open-source, free-foruse material (think Khan Academy or OpenStax) that can supplement or even replace traditional course materials like textbooks,” Frizzle wrote.

PG. 2

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020

NEWS

SSMU advocates for affordable textbooks and Open Education Resources SSMU hopes to offer 75 per cent of coursepacks for free by 2021

Anthony Schokalsky Contributor Continued from page 1.

“My predecessor, Madeline Wilson, actually kickstarted SSMU’s OER project and we’ve seen the project grow tremendously in the past few months.”

Frizzle noted that several McGill classes already have complete OERs: CHEM 110 and 120, MATH 140 and 141, PHYS 101, and ECON 208.

“At this point, there are six courses where we’ve compiled OERs that can completely replace the textbooks, and we’re adding new courses to that list every semester,” Frizzle wrote.

The last report on Open Educational Resources (OERs) at McGill was published in 2017. SSMU’s OER coordinators have launched a new students’ textbook experience survey on Sept. 26 to gather information on the cost of mandatory course materials and the current use of OERs. The OER team behind the survey plans to prepare a report for SSMU later this academic year with the information gathered in the survey.

Frizzle added that SSMU has collaborated with university administrators on possible methods to reduce the dependency of McGill courses on textbooks.

“SSMU has also been working with McGill to encourage professors to reconsider their current dependence on physical course materials or paywalled digital textbooks,” Frizzle wrote. “In the meantime, SSMU is continuing our #textbookbroke campaign to advocate for a shift from expensive textbooks to opensource material.”

McGill librarian Katherine Hanz is optimistic about

the future of textbook accessibility, stating that the decision to join the HathiTrust Emergency Temporary Access Service (ETAS) has expanded the library’s capacity for digital resources and boosted their ability to digitize items that were previously less accessible.

“Joining ETAS [allowed] us to provide over

Over the last decade textbook prices have increased by 88 per cent—four times the inflation rate, and markedly higher than the 63 per cent increase in tuition, a 2017 SSMU study found.

(Sequoia Kim / The McGill Tribune) two million books from the library’s print collection (including in-copyright materials) online for all McGill students,” Hanz wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “[Including ETAS], the library now has over 3.5 million books available electronically.”

Frizzle highlights how the McGill library has

committed to making course materials more affordable to students by providing more free coursepacks.

“We’ve actually made some solid progress lately,” Frizzle said. “Starting in Winter 2021, the library has committed to offering upwards of 75 per cent of all coursepacks free of charge through myCourses.

The McGill library’s Rare Books and Special Collections section now offers a Digitization on Demand service of their collections, print materials via the Library Pickup Service, digitization of physical course reserves, and has plans to allow students to receive physical items in the mail.

The library’s move to make textbooks more affordable and accessible online comes at a time where the university has had to rapidly transition to online learning.

Jeff Noh, Ph.D candidate and lecturer in the English Department, explained that people interact with physical and digital versions of texts differently.

“It’s possible to engage with a digital edition in ways that you can’t with a physical copy, from being able to do a ‘control-F’ of a text to track word usage to the kind of computational methods employed by researchers in the digital humanities,” Noh said. “But the opposite is true too: There are literary analysis techniques that are encoded to the printed book [like] annotating a page while performing a close reading and, flipping backwards in a novel to verify our intuitions about its narrative structure.”

The SSMU and the library’s efforts to curb McGill’s dependence on physical course material and make textbooks more affordable are underway. Whether there will be any long-term change when McGill eventually transitions back to in-person learning remains to be seen.

McGill COVID-19 case tracker counts positive cases present on campus McGill is using contact tracing to prevent additional cases Jack Zimakas Contributor Recent outbreaks in McGill’s residences and in Quebec have called into question the functionality of McGill’s COVID-19 case tracker for students and employees. Since Oct. 4, the tracker has reported eight positive cases of COVID-19 on campus, an increase since mid-September.

Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Fabrice Labeau explained how the Regional Director of Public Health (DRSP) has helped the university enact safe and sensible policies. “[The numbers] we report in that case tracker are really the [McGill students and employees] who have [self-reported] having a confirmed COVID-19 positive test and have been present on campus [in] the seven days prior,” Labeau said.

Labeau explained that McGill contacts all individuals who self-report a positive test result to find out their whereabouts on campus in the last seven days.

“The idea is really to do contact tracing [....] The [DRSP] will also warn us when they know about a case on campus,” Labeau said. “What we do is try to determine [...] who their contacts were, so we can actually trace back [and find individuals] who are low, medium, and high-risk [...] and tell them what [they]

have to do.”

Labeau outlined the DRSP’s assessment of infection risk as follows: High-risk contacts are those who have been living with a person who tested

get tested and continue isolating until you get the result.”

The tracker is intended to help students evaluate the risk of being present on campus each week. Some students

Some students criticized the administration for their delayed response in alerting students about several positive cases in residences. (Jasmine Acharya / The McGill Tribune) positive, moderate-risk contacts have been less than two metres from a positive case for more than 15 minutes without a mask, and low-risk contacts are everybody else who has likely been in contact with a positive case.

“If you’re a low-risk contact, you’re told [to] watch your symptoms like you do every day,” Labeau said. “When you’re [at a] moderate or high-risk level, you’re [going to] be told to self-isolate,

living near campus criticized the tracker’s narrow scope, claiming that the university downplays local severity by not reporting cases in the densely student-populated areas surrounding the campus.

Christopher Buddle, Associate Provost (Teaching & Academic Programs), explained why the tracker does not account for off-campus cases.

“We can’t really gather data from outside of what we actually know,”

Buddle said. “That’s why there’s always a lot to talk about [involving] the MiltonParc area, and other [areas] where lots of students are living, but the risks of publishing information that’s not of the right quality is really high.”

As social distancing restrictions in residence have tightened since Montreal entered the red zone, stricter enforcement by residence staff has followed suit.

Carrefour Sherbrooke resident Pryor Sohn, U0 Arts, believes that the intervention of residence authorities when they suspect a violation of rules is invasive of students’ privacy.

“While I do understand you don’t want [...] students going from room to room, and while [...] [prohibited activity] should be punished [...], there is something [invasive about] purposely listening in to see if [students are] having a conversation or demanding to be let into a room to double-check even when there’s not really any proof of rule-breaking,” Sohn said. “It very much has the vibe of ‘guilty until proven innocent,’ which is not great.”

Quebec registered more than 5,000 new COVID-19 cases last week, breaking a new record on Saturday, Oct. 17 with 1,279 new cases in 24 hours. Despite the increase in cases, Labeau believes in the continuity of campus life, explaining McGill’s tentative contingency plans for residences.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020

NEWS

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Robin Beech announced as new Dean of Students

Beech is set to replace interim Dean Glen Zabowski Dante Ventulieri Contributor McGill’s Board of Governors has appointed Robin Beech as Dean of Students, though his five-year term is not set to begin until Nov. 1 2020. Beech will be replacing the current interim Dean of Students Glenn Zabowski, who has held the position since the departure of the former Dean of Students, Christopher Buddle, in January 2020. Zabowski will resume his role as Associate Dean of Students upon Beech’s appointment.

Christopher Buddle, who left the Dean of Students position after being appointed to Associate Provost (Teaching & Academic Programs) at the end of 2019, worked on revising the Charter of Students’ Rights and the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures during his term.

Notably, he broadened the definition of the “university context” and removed intent as a requirement for accusations of harassment.

Following in Buddle’s footsteps, Robin Beech received his Joint Honours BSc in Genetics and Biochemistry from the University

After a hiring process spanning several months, the Advisory Committee has selected Robin Beech as the new Dean of Students. (Alex Tran / mcgill.ca) of Nottingham and a Ph.D in Molecular Population Genetics from the University of Edinburgh.

He joined the McGill Institute of Parasitology in 1992 and assumed the position of Associate Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in 2015.

In a statement to the McGill community, Provost and VicePrincipal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi expressed that Beech’s previous role as an associate dean is a key factor for his selection.

“In addition to [Beech’s]

extensive experience in student advising, supervision, discipline and policy, he is skilled in conflict resolution, mediation and creative problem solving,” Manfredi wrote.

“Following interviews and deliberation, the Committee unanimously agreed to recommend the appointment of Prof. Beech.”

Beech was then appointed

by McGill’s Board of Governors on Oct. 1, a decision supported by Zabowski.

“Prof. Beech [...] brings the graduate student perspective along

with a wealth of experience as an Associate Dean and Disciplinary Officer in Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies,” Zabowski said.

Beech agrees with Zabowski on this point and believes that his previous work as an associate dean has given him the necessary tools to succeed in this new position. In an interview with the Tribune, Beech explained what he learned in his former role.

“I found many problems could be solved by paying attention to what people say, and listening,” Beech said. “I believe this experience can be a great asset.”

The Office of the Dean of Students (ODoS) plays a vital role in student life: It oversees issues concerning student rights, academic advising, academic integrity, the student disciplinary process, and crisis management. The ODoS has been behind many McGill initiatives such as the Sexual Violence Education program, the Indigenous Affairs Work Group, and the Mary H. Brown Fund. In addition, the office acts as a referral service for students who need mental health support, financial assistance, and academic accommodations.

Beech is entering this position during an unprecedented era in global history as the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent transition to online learning has presented new challenges for the ODoS. While Zabowski has laid the groundwork in shifting ODoS services to remote delivery, some of the biggest challenges for Beech, such as the looming mental health crisis, financial problems facing students, and changes to the disciplinary procedures, still are yet to be addressed.

“I will certainly need some time to learn how [to] best serve the McGill community,” Beech said. “We are learning together how to make the most of these [circumstances], and some of our most talented people with creative ideas are students.”

In a statement to the Tribune, Manfredi made clear that despite the switch to remote learning, the mission of ODoS remains intact.

“They will address all issues brought to their attention—big or small.”

To get in contact with ODoS or to learn more, visit their website.

SSMU VP University Affairs proposes motion to pay SSMU Councillors

The motion is likely to go into vote in Winter 2021 to allow more time for consultation Maya Abuali Staff Writer Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President (VP) University Affairs Brooklyn Frizzle submitted a motion to pay Legislative Council members for their work to the SSMU Steering Committee for the Oct. 8 Legislative Council meeting. While councillors and senators are expected to attend Council meetings, hold office hours, and work on motions for submission, which often require up to four hours per week, executives work full-time, and are already paid.

The Steering Committee, which sets the agenda for Legislative Council meetings, determined that more consultation was necessary and subsequently delayed it to Winter 2021.

As the VP University Affairs, Frizzle is responsible for overseeing equity initiatives and complaints.

Frizzle attributes their focus on employment equity to their experience doing unpaid workfor Queer McGill.

“One of the biggest problems we faced [working at Queer McGill] was a lack of contract hours,” Frizzle said. “[We often had to] work unpaid just to keep the organization running. At the end of the day,

SSMU wouldn’t exist without [...] student labour, and that’s equally true for councillors and senators.”

Frizzle plans to put forward this motion to the Winter 2021 referendum that, if ratified, would salary SSMU councillors and senators. The fee amount would be determined using SSMU’s pay equity scale, a system based on job responsibilities outlined in the organization’s governing documents. The exact budget for the new “Representative Fees” has not yet been confirmed.

Frizzle worked with SSMU VP Finance Gifford Marpole to determine the financial feasibility of the motion. Marpole stressed the need to compensate councillors and senators, especially given SSMU’s stance against unpaid labour as articulated in its governing policies.

“I believe that not paying councillors and senators makes those positions somewhat inaccessible, especially for individuals who have to work throughout their undergrad,” Marpole said. “Providing pay will hopefully open the door for more students to run for these positions.”

According to Frizzle, this is not the first time that a motion to compensate Legislative Council representatives has been introduced.

Although many individuals

within SSMU have proposed ways to compensate senators and councillors, Frizzle noted that the recurring issue of needing a supervisor to prevent conflicts of interest has prevented each attempt from being successful.

Arts Senator Darshan Daryanani, who served as the Arts Undergraduate Society’s (AUS) VP of External Affairs last year, explained why he supports the

motion.

“With meetings that can go up to nine hours long, [being in this position] comes at the expense of academics, physical and mental health, as well as foregoing other paid opportunities like research positions and working part-time,” Daryanani said.

Daryanani emphasized the advantages that implementing the motion would have for SSMU.

The ‘Against Unpaid Internships Policy,’ states that reference letters and CV-building do not constitute imbursement for any labor done by legislative council members.

(Jasmine Acharya / The McGill Tribune)

“Not only will the Representative Fee alleviate the financial barriers for those who wish to be involved in student government, but it also will serve as an added incentive for us to prioritize their roles in serving our constituents and have a healthier lifestyle,” Daryanani said.

The motion would have to be approved by the Council to be included in a referendum. Although the current councillors would not benefit from the funding as it would be implemented after their terms end, Frizzle, like the steering committee worried that the policy might be considered a conflict of self-interest.

“I think input and approval from regular members are especially important for a project like this, so I decided to pursue a student-initiated question by petition, instead,” Frizzle said.

“Unfortunately, that means the question has to be delayed until I’m able to put together a petition and collect enough signatures, which I might not be able to accomplish before the Fall referendum deadline.”

Frizzle hopes to present the fee for a referendum in the Winter semester in order to be available for the next set of councillors and senators in Fall 2021.

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020

NEWS

Tribune Explains: SSMU’s Judicial Board The J-Board is comprised of seven student justices Kate Addison & Sequoia Kim News Editors What is the Judicial Board?

The Judicial Board (J-Board) is the official dispute resolution body and legal counsel of the Student Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Board of Directors (BOD), the body responsible for the supervision of the management of SSMU. The committee is made up of seven student representatives, the majority of whom are students in McGill’s Faculty of Law. These seven justices are appointed by the Nominating Committee and serve for a one year term or until their successors are appointed.

What falls under the J-Board’s jurisdiction?

All members of SSMU have the right to petition the J-Board on matters falling within its jurisdiction. The J-Board’s duties include interpreting the SSMU Constitution and its Internal Regulations and policies.

The board also has authority over the SSMU Legislative Council’s motions and resolutions, procedures, questions and results of all elections and referenda, the constitutions of clubs and services of the Society, the interpretation of any other governance documents of clubs and services of the SSMU as requested, and any equity

complaints.

As the J-Board is a committee of SSMU’s Board of Directors (BOD), it does not have the authority to bind the Board of Directors through its decisions. After the J-Board makes a ruling and communicates the results through a motion at a BOD meeting, the BOD must ratify the J-Board’s decision before it can come into effect.

For instance, although the J-Board ruled that the SSMU constitution students voted on in Winter 2020 was invalid, the SSMU BOD ultimately decided not to ratify this ruling.

Appellate Committee’.

However, with only 12.8 per cent of SSMU members—3,117 out of 24,278— casting a vote, the election did not reach the required quorum of 15 per cent. Therefore, the results do not stand and the changes to the constitution were not ratified.

Filing a Petition

Governance Appellate Committee

The bureaucratic structure of J-board can make the process of filing a petition inaccessible for students. While the board does not entertain what it determines to be petitions of a frivolous nature, the process is

The current version of the SSMU Constitution, ratified in Winter 2020, refers to the J-Board and the Bylaw Appellate Committee interchangeably.

The Comprehensive Governance Review Committee (CGRC) submitted the initial report to the SSMU legislative council, outlining the proposed amendments to the constitution. As justification, CGRC cited that changing the name to Governance Appellate Committee would better recognize the J-board’s non-binding power and be more truthful to its function as a legal counselling body.

On Oct. 16, ballots closed for the 2020 SSMU special referendum. One of the three amendments proposed to officially change the name of the Judicial Board to the ‘Governance

The J-Board has existed as a part of SSMU since the 1970s. (Sabrina-Girard-Lamas / The McGill Tribune)

still available to all members of the McGill community who may wish to voice their concern about the operations of SSMU or its subsidiaries.

When filing a petition to the board, the petitioner must agree to submit the petition only to the J-Board and to abide by its ultimate ruling on the matter. A petitioner can change their mind at any point before the hearing and withdraw their petition by written notice to the J-Board.

Recent Rulings

On Jun. 6, the J-Board made its final ruling in a case concerning the Education Undergraduate Society (EdUS). In this case, the petitioners asked the J-Board to review EdUS’s decision to disqualify their candidacy for Vice-Presidents (Academic) of the EdUS, a disqualification made on the grounds of alleged violations of the society’s bylaws by the petitioners. The J-Board sided with the petitioners on this matter.

On May 19, a petitioner argued that improper procedure was taken following the resignation of Moses Milchberg from his position as Science Undergraduate Society (SUS) representative to SSMU. The J-Board ruled that sending proxies to fill Milchberg’s vacancy was invalid and that the SUS should have appointed a new representative or held elections.

MISC talk describes Marshall McLuhan’s role in the Quiet Revolution The lecture occurred on the 50th anniversary of the October Crisis Chloe Merritt Contributor The McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC) invited Jonathan Slater, a professor of public relations at State University of New York Plattsburgh (SUNY) on Oct. 14 to give a lecture exploring the influence of Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan on the role of mass media in Quebec’s Quiet Revolution and the October Crisis. The webinar was part of a formal partnership between McGill University, Bridgewater State

University, and SUNY Plattsburgh.

Slater’s talk drew on research for his upcoming book on the role of mass media in Quebec’s Quiet Revolution, a period of sociocultural change in the province.

The October Crisis culminated in the Front de libération du Quebec’s (FLQ) kidnappings and attacks of two diplomats in the fall of 1970.

Slater lectured about Canadian philosopher and professor of literature Marshall McLuhan (19111980), who is often heralded as the father of communication and media studies. During the Quiet

BMP Rotating Lecture Program in Canadian Studies presents ‘Marshall McLuhan, the man behind Québec’s October Crisis?’ (Estate of Marshall McLuhan)

Revolution and October Crisis in Quebec, McLuhan observed and commented on the cultural changes in Quebec from his home in Toronto, where he was director of the Centre for Culture and Technology. In her introduction of Slater, Blair Elliot, MISC Communications and Events Associate, highlighted how some of McLuhan’s contemporaries saw his role in the crisis.

“Two of McLuhan’s contemporaries, his Toronto colleague Northrop Frye and Montreal author Hugh MacLennan, accused McLuhan of stirring up trouble in Quebec,” Elliot said.

“McLuhan’s open friendship with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau ostensibly was behind Frye’s assertion that McLuhan was interfering in Quebec’s affairs.

MacLennan believed McLuhan’s contentions about mediated environments were abetting French nationalist sentiment in the province.”

Following World War II, Quebec rapidly industrialized and many rural francophones migrated towards Montreal’s urban center.

Despite a growing intellectual class, Quebec francophones were prevented from seeing the full benefits of economic development

due to English language requirements while at work.

“The Quiet Revolution of 1960 reversed years of stagnation,” Slater said. “French Canadians, by and large tolerated their subordinate relationship [to anglophones] and accommodated their own oppression. The chasm separating French and English in Quebec, therefore, emerges as a drama of colonization and defeat.”

Slater described how McLuhan was in tune with the political climate and the impact of new media.

Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson launched the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in 1963 to address growing tensions between French Canada and English Canadians.

“In that same year, Marshall McLuhan sent [a paper] to the Royal Commission drawing attention to the extent to which [English and French Canadians] already appeared to be polarized,” Slater said. “He also reflected on the way the fairly new electronic medium of television would further abet the deterioration of relations between them.”

McLuhan’s observations on the role of media proved to be popular in the aftermath of the Quiet Revolution. Slater describes how

McLuhan’s translator, Jean Paré, reflected on McLuhan in hindsight.

“There was a commonly held belief in the decade following the Quiet Revolution that television permitted Quebec francophones to take stock of their majority standing in their own province and appreciate their role as a distinct people within Canada as a whole,” Slater said. “[They were] not merely an ethnic minority stuck in a one-down position in greater English speaking Canada.”

McLuhan’s insights into the period were not only related to media studies. Daniel Béland, Director of MISC and host of the event’s Q&A session, discussed the relevance of Marshall McLuhan’s observations to wider discussions about nationalism.

“McLuhan influenced the study of nationalism in a big way,” Béland said. “Benedict Anderson [an influential Irish political scientist], for example, who wrote Imagined Communities, based his work largely on McLuhan’s insight.”

For those interested were unable to attend, lecture and Q&A will be on the MISC McGill channel next week.

and who the full available Youtube

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 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 Lo 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 Editors Sophia Gorbounov & Ronny Litvack-Katzman scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Life Editors Alaana Kumar & Leyla Moy studentlife@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Kevin Vogel features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Vanessa Barron & Jonathan Giammaria arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Adam Burton & Sarah Farnand sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Ruobing Chen & Chloe Rodriguez design@mcgilltribune.com

OPINION

McGill must address a growing mental health crisis Since the pandemic struck Montreal seven months ago, McGill students’ lives have changed drastically. Classes are now online, many students are studying from home, and those residing in Montreal are once again subject to strict restrictions on social gatherings to curb the second wave of COVID-19. 2020 has been a year of nearly unimaginable stress, leading to a mental health crisis across all age groups, but particularly young people. Now, students are experiencing the added pressure of an academic workload that is just as heavy, if not heavier, than a semester under normal circumstances. All the while, McGill has failed to adapt to the pandemic in a way that prioritizes student well-being. The university must make mental health a top priority by investing in adequate virtual services and rethinking its expectations of students as well.

Being a student is difficult at the best of times. McGill is known for being an academically rigorous university with high standards for its students; many jeopardize

their mental or physical health to succeed in their classes. Usually, though, students have mechanisms to cope with stress and manage their responsibilities. They can study with friends, look forward to a weekend of socializing, or go to the library or a café for a change of scenery.

However, the pandemic has made these activities impossible, with students confined to their homes all day. Poor internet service, differing time zones, or difficult home environments make the semester all the more stressful. Further, many McGill students have reported an increased workload as some instructors fail to address ongoing concerns from students regarding remote learning, with many unwilling to accommodate students needing extra help or time to complete assignments. First-year students face the particularly daunting task of adjusting to university life with very little help or support.

The effects of COVID-19 on mental health go beyond academics.

Many students live in unhealthy home environments and have reported

increased feelings of loneliness.

Rates of substance abuse have also climbed. As winter approaches, it will become more difficult to go outside, leaving students even more isolated should the second wave persist. Yet, the ongoing stress of university can lead one to put these concerns aside for fear of falling behind. Even during an unprecedented global crisis, the competitive, capitalist nature of academia continues to make students feel as though they must operate at their full capacity at all times. Although this is indicative of a larger issue within academic culture, McGill and its professors must nevertheless be more understanding of how difficult it is for students to perform as normal.

To make matters worse, McGill’s mental health services remain inadequate at best. Right now, investing in better services and hiring more mental health professionals should be the university’s primary focus. While some one-on-one Wellness Hub services are available online, its website pushes students to join group workshops or access

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EDITORIAL online resources to be used on their own time. These services create the illusion of support, but in many cases do next to nothing to tangibly help. Amid a crisis, it can be nearly impossible to work on one’s own mental health without professional aid. This is especially true when under immense academic pressure.

While some student-run services like the Peer Support Centre do valuable work, they cannot be expected to fill the role of licensed professionals.

McGill expects students to work as though nothing is wrong, yet provides them with few tools to adequately address their needs when it comes to mental health.

Despite a supposed commitment to its students’ mental health, McGill’s approach continues to fall flat. Rather than insisting that its services are sufficient, the university must be conducive to change and use its resources and capacity to properly adapt to this crisis. Should it fail to do so, McGill will once again have proven its total lack of regard for the well-being of its student body.

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CONTRIBUTORS Maya Abuali, Sepideh Afshar, Cassia Attard, Michael Dickinson, Ella Fitzhugh, Emma Gordon, Ibani Kapur, Lucy Keller, Deana Korsunsky, Karan Kumar, Maya Mau, Madison Mclauchlan, Pia Mikhael, Naomi Mirny, Respina Rostamifar, Brian Schatteman, Michelle Siegel, Lowell Wolfe, Mallory Yeates,Wendy Zhao

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Kaja Surborg Managing Editor I love Shrek 2. It is one of my favourite movies of all time.

Most people who have met me know this about me because I manage to work it into every conversation that lasts five minutes or longer.

Shrek 2 follows Shrek and Fiona, two ogres fresh from their honeymoon, as they visit Fiona’s still-human parents and negotiate a myriad of obstacles in their marriage. The film is classic Shrek: It has fairytale characters,

I love ‘Shrek 2,’ hear me out family drama, sensational rescue scenes, and amidst all of that, a layer of social commentary. But, the beauty of Shrek 2 lies in the fact that the audience can take in as much or as little of that social commentary as they like.

Most digital media today is divided into two categories: Serious and obviously trying to address a current and pervasive societal ill, or completely and absurdly detached from anything serious at all. Teen dramas and reality television offer escape to worlds where systemic injustice does not exist and 16-year-olds do not have acne, while gritty documentaries, biopics, and political dramas try to shed light on the reality of current affairs.

Not only is there no middle ground in the movies and shows being produced, but there is also no nuance in popular perception of these categories. Reality TV and teen dramas are trashy, while biopics and documentaries are high-brow and intellectual.

I thoroughly enjoy movies and shows that fall into the “trashy” category. They may

not be intellectually stimulating or well-made, but they are entertaining. In my mind, if a show or movie succeeds in entertaining the audience, it holds value. Of course, this comes with the caveat that if it perpetuates or encourages bigotry or systemic inequity, it is no longer acceptable as a piece of entertainment. Despite my firm belief in the inherent value of the media I consume, I find myself feeling the need to justify my choices to watch low-brow content. I tell people that I like it as a joke or think the incredibly low-quality scripts and acting are actually funny. While these are not always outright lies, I do also just genuinely enjoy what I am watching, and that is fine.

Shrek 2 bridges the gap between cheap laughs and social commentary almost perfectly.

Corruption at the highest level of politics, individual self-esteem issues, and police brutality are all present, but anyone watching could also ignore these points quite easily. How someone chooses to perceive and watch Shrek 2 is

entirely up to the viewer and their own level of social awareness.

There is no right or wrong way to enjoy Shrek 2, though. If someone wants to watch it and unpack the discussion of toxic masculinity and men’s self-esteem issues, they can do that and find value in doing so. If someone just wants to watch a giant, sentient gingerbread man have hot milk dumped on him as he dissolves into a moat, that is equally valid.

The pressure to explain or justify enjoying preferences to appear smarter or more ‘woke’ can be deeply ingrained, especially for young women. For decades, products and media marketed to women have been dismissed as frivolous and low-quality. Now, more than ever, it is important to let people enjoy things that make them happy. Shrek 2 does lend itself brilliantly to more in-depth analysis, but I should not have to explain that every time I tell someone that it is my favourite movie because my love of the dumb jokes is just as justifiable and rational a reason as any other for me to love it.

6

OPINION

COMMENTARY

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020

The City of Montreal is letting down its most vulnerable this makes it obvious that the recommendations set out to protect Indigenous women are not being taken seriously.

Johnathon Cruickshank Contributor Ask the average McGill student to point you in the direction of Cabot Square, and not many can. You may have better luck with a Concordia student considering its proximity to their campus. To many Indigenous people in Montreal, however, the urban square holds a special significance. A long-established informal meeting place of the Inuit and First Nations Peoples who have travelled to Montreal seeking medical care, today Cabot Square comprises a diverse community that includes people experiencing homelessness and the city’s most at-risk populations. Ironically, its monument and namesake hails from an Italian colonizer who serves as a reminder of the far reach of settler colonialism—a system that has placed so many structural barriers upon Indigenous Peoples living in urban centres. This paradox, as well as the neglected state of Cabot Square itself, serves as a reminder that Montreal has failed to meet the numerous calls for justice set out by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).

Released almost a year and a half ago, the report stresses the need to combat the disproportionate levels of violence directed at Indigenous women and girls.

The calls to action propose mandatory anti-racism and cultural safety training for public servants in policing, justice, education, health care, and social work. Despite this, just last month the country witnessed an egregious and glaring example of systemic racism in Quebec’s healthcare system with the death of Joyce Echaquan. This certainly is not an isolated incident in the province. A 2019 independent report on law enforcement found that Indigenous women were particularly overrepresented in street checks carried out by Montreal police. Data like

COMMENTARY

The statue of Italian navigator John Cabot is just one reminder of Montreal’s colonial legacy. (Brian Schatteman / The McGill Tribune) Shelters like Resilience Montreal, located at Cabot Square and run by the Native Women’s Shelter, have begun working towards these calls to justice. Having had the opportunity to volunteer there since its opening last year, I have witnessed the shelter’s integral work

in reaching out to and supporting the Inuit community in particular. The shelter provides everything from housing, mental health services, and traditional Inuk food in an authentic effort to create a safe space for at-risk Indigenous women. While these services have had a tremendous positive impact on the area, it is not enough to turn the tide of systemic racism and sexism citywide. The municipal and provincial governments must step up and implement change in all administrative sectors–though this goal seems remote considering the Quebec Premier’s refusal to even acknowledge systemic racism exists. Unfortunately, the future of projects like Resilience remains uncertain, with the funding and lease location currently up in the air. The COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated this uncertainty, requiring costly sanitary measures and reducing capacity, making action by the city all the more crucial.

Here at McGill, non-Indigenous students can begin to help by simply taking the time to learn about these issues. Take account of nationally significant days of reflection like Orange Shirt Day, which is held on Sept.

30 every year to raise awareness of Canada’s historic residential schooling system. After all, being aware of the bystander effect is the first step in overcoming it. The next step is speaking out and getting involved. Students can help Resilience and the Native Women’s Shelter through volunteering time and by making physical donations of anything from homemade sandwiches to clothing items.

As the next class of progressive voices, it is up to young people and students to change the paradigm we live in and hold our institutions accountable. It is no longer acceptable to live in a city where your gender and culture determines your access to a tolerant living environment, the type of healthcare you receive, and your safety. The future of Indigenous women starts today, not tomorrow.

Online discussion forums are the future of conferences

Michael Dickinson Contributor In light of McGill’s announcement that instruction will continue primarily online during the Winter 2021 semester, students in the Faculty of Arts must prepare for the possibility that most of their conferences will remain remote. This new reality will disappoint those who miss direct face-toface interaction with their peers. However, students should not dismiss the strengths of discussion forums, which make them a viable alternative to the flawed in-person conference system. Discussion posts are more inclusive and easier to grade, and they create more well-thought-out discourse than in-person meetings. Arts students would benefit from their continued use alongside traditional conferences.

Even in a casual setting like a weekly conference, public speaking can be daunting for many students.

Those who have social anxiety may feel too intimidated to openly voice their thoughts, especially when meetings delve into controversial topics that sometimes provoke strong responses from fellow students. Discussions on myCourses reduce fears of public speaking, making the virtual conference a more inclusive place to share one’s ideas.

MyCourses discussions also give students more time to think about their answers than they would have in a standard conference. Although some professors and teaching assistants release questions in advance, meetings can become highly spontaneous when discussion leaders pose new questions and when classmates react to each other’s perspectives.

This format benefits students who can think quickly and improvise answers, but a textual forum enables more thorough consideration of different arguments.

Thus, discussion posts produce higher-quality conversations than face-to-face conferences can.

Online discussion boards also solve one of the most significant problems with in-person conferences: They are challenging to grade fairly.

When conferences are evaluated by participation, some students try to speak as much as they can to obtain the highest possible mark. This comes at the expense of those who are not called upon, since they are afforded less speaking time and therefore receive lower participation grades. Some conferences are assessed by attendance alone, with no incentive for students to speak. In this format, students are not motivated to prepare in advance, leading to periods of awkward silence broken only by a small number of individuals who have done the necessary work beforehand and feel obliged to contribute. On the other hand, discussion forums require a minimum level of participation from each group member, such as making one original post and commenting on a classmate’s post. They also allow those who are more interested in the conversation to continue it without preventing their classmates from contributing and earning a good grade. While in-person conferences can cause students to speak either too much or too little, an online platform provides a more equitable grading scheme that suits more students’ learning styles.

Detractors would argue that discussion boards are a poor replacement for conferences because they inhibit the natural flow of intellectual debate. Many feel that interpersonal communication is integral to the university experience and that discussion posts amount to little more than additional essays.

Although instructors should work to carry the relaxed atmosphere of a conference into a virtual format,

In many classes, conferences are being facilitated online through the ‘Discussions’ function on MyCourses.

(Arshaq Jiffry / The McGill Tribune) creating a truly equivalent experience would be impossible. Those who miss the organic connections fostered by conferences should feel welcome to return to them once the public health situation permits doing so, and video calls can continue to be used as a substitute in the meantime. However, professors should adapt syllabi going forward to allow discussion posts as an alternative for those who find conferences more challenging.

Although online discussion boards may not be the best choice for everyone, they can mitigate many problems that currently exist with conferences. They help students who find public speaking challenging, foster more intelligent discourse, and level the playing field by providing equal opportunities to contribute. McGill should allow students who prefer myCourses threads to continue using them, even after in-person conferences resume.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 7

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020

Meme analysis: Christian Girl Autumn Rejecting bigotry, embracing pumpkin spice Kaja Surborg Managing Editor In August 2019, Twitter user @ bimbofication, real name Natasha, tweeted a now-iconic photo that garnered nearly 50,000 likes and a combined 20,000 retweets and quote tweets. The photo features two young white women wearing coordinated blue skinny jeans, brown ankle boots, and leather handbags. It is the kind of photo that immediately makes viewers assume that the two subjects just left their weekly brunch and are on their way to get pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks.

“Hot Girl Summer is coming to an end, get ready for Christan Girl Autumn,” Natasha wrote in the caption.

As far as viral tweets go, Natasha’s is not particularly noteworthy; its engagement numbers are on the lower end of the viral tweet spectrum and there are plenty of similar jokes poking fun at harmless stereotypes on Twitter.

However, Natasha’s tweet presents a fascinating snapshot of an online cultural moment wherein social discourse, pervasive misogyny, and meme culture all intersect.

The women in Natasha’s tweet are Caitlin Covington and Emily

From Twilight to One Direction to Starbucks, media enjoyed primarily by young women are immediately derided as lowbrow fads. (Eve Cable / The McGill Tribune) Gemma, two lifestyle bloggers from North Carolina and Oklahoma, respectively. While the viral tweet did boost engagement on Covington and Gemma’s social media accounts, it also triggered a landslide of replies on Twitter in which users expressed their assumptions about the bloggers’ stances on a variety of social issues, particularly 2SLGBTQIA+ rights.

“The first girl[’s] face says ‘conversion therapy[’ and] it scares me,” Twitter user @ NFRnSEXORCISM wrote in a

reply.

This reply is just one of many that encapsulates the cultural crossroads that Natasha’s tweet occupies. Things typically enjoyed by women and femmes, especially young girls, have long been mocked and used as punchlines.

From Twilight to One Direction to Starbucks, trending media enjoyed primarily by young women are often immediately derided as being lowbrow trash. This is not to say that there are no problems with any of

these things; Starbucks is a massive corporation that has been linked to gentrification, and Twilight is a case study in romanticizing unhealthy relationships. Yet, the criticism around them is often instead targeted towards the audience of young girls, rather than the nuanced structural issues of these topics at hand.

The replies to Natasha’s tweet highlight this nuance in criticizing traits that have been coded feminine, especially online. Many of the replies poke fun at Covington and Gemma’s supposed stances on legitimate current social issues as white women, including racism and homophobia.

Recently, the ignorance of many cisgender white women has also become a common joke on the internet, with terms like “Karen” being brought into the mainstream.

The subjects being mocked in these jokes are usually bigotry, ignorance, and unacknowledged privilege, rather than femininity. Being mean to someone because they are racist is obviously not the same as being outwardly misogynistic to women enjoying innocuous things. The replies to Natasha’s tweet, however, have revealed a bizarre conflation between a “basic” aesthetic, and how systems of oppression become

internalized in our everyday interactions. The premise of many jokes in the replies was that racism or homophobia share an aesthetic with the women in the photo, and it is difficult to tell whether the punchline is Covington and Gemma’s ankle boots, or the beliefs that Twitter users assumed they hold.

It can be difficult to dissect all of the cultural subtleties that exist in a 280-character tweet. Covington and Gemma have both responded to Natasha’s tweet with good humour and have since been in contact with her. Covington shared and donated to Natasha’s GoFundMe for her gender affirming surgery and replied to tweets to confirm that she does support 2SLGBTQIA+ rights as well as the Black Lives Matter movement.

Social media platforms simultaneously offer current news and fuel for escapism through humour and memes, so every joke or throwaway comment becomes multi-layered and meta-referential.

In this online era, it has become increasingly important to be conscious of unintentional biases, while also not taking everything too seriously and remembering to appreciate the joy of a fall colour palette.

‘A Harlem Nocturne’ showcases triumphs of Black Canadian art and history The OBORO exhibit examines Black Canadian history through an archival lens Matthew Molinaro Staff Writer On Oct. 15, OBORO art centre hosted a virtual conversation between two esteemed members of the Canadian art community, Deanna Bowen, a GovernorGeneral award-winning artist, and Kimberly Phillips, director of Simon Fraser University Galleries.

The discussion delved into Bowen’s exhibit, A Harlem Nocturne, which focussed on Black Canadian history and its representation in art.

Bowen, a Vancouver-raised, interdisciplinary Black artist, traces Black migration across North America through her work. As a descendant of Black pioneers in Alabama and Kentucky, A Harlem Nocturne is Bowen’s effort to document her own family history.

Bowen noted how conversations about Black settlers and city builders in North America have rarely factored into our contemporary notions of Black history and urban history at large.

Both the exhibit and the history for which it is named are a marvel. A Harlem Nocturne is inspired by the famed Harlem Nocturne, Vancouver’s only Black nightclub during the 1950s and ‘60s. To

this day, the Nocturne’s influence spans generations of performers, from famous trumpeter Charles Ellison, to Eleanor Collins, the first Black North American artist to host a weekly national television series, The Eleanor Show. Bowen’s exhibit is an excavation; her forensic investigation of the histories of Black performers transforms her art pieces into a curated display of archival evidence.

Bowen’s pieces include postcards of the Stratford Hotel in Vancouver’s Eastside, a gathering place for Black Vancouverites, and a poster of a play starring

her great-uncle Herman Risby and dance legend Len Gibson. A striking point of the exhibit is a black print of the title card of the musical episode, “The Promised Land” starring Gibson and his family on the subject of formerly enslaved, Black American settlers in Canada.

The exhibit maps Black presence in Canada, in public and in private, showcasing the tension between the nation’s idealized progressivism and the oppressive anti-Black racism innate to the country.

To find her place in the context of her art, Bowen explained how she needed to listen to the si-

Kimberly Phillips, the curator of A Harlem Nocturne is interested in the visibility and the resistance of women artists, specifically in marginalized communities.

(Oboro.net)

lence of the past.

“It’s difficult for prior generations to articulate their history, especially when they come from viewpoints that other people are seeking to destroy,” Bowen said.

Whether through focussing on her family or the media, Bowen strives to create art that accurately reflects her worldview.

“Being a descendant of a body of people that experienced trauma, one has to be a witness out of necessity,” Bowen said.

Phillips, the curator of A Harlem Nocturne, is interested in the visibility and the perseverance of women artists, particularly those from marginalized communities.

“The complexity and rich histories of Black performers are only visible in shadow ways [...] in the very specific granular elements like teeny editorials,” Phillips said.

Bowen expressed her desire to illuminate the “dark matter,” or the figures, events, and histories that remain largely ignored by the white majority in the midst of systemic racism.

“I’m interested in the lessthan-important documents, [the] messages in shoe boxes […] the documents that are rich, full, outside the white, Western archive,” Bowen said.

Due to the inaccessibility of Black Canadian history, the exhibit required restoring, translating, and magnifying original materials in order to showcase the work of this community. For example, one piece features a series of light boxes with Gibson’s original choreography in dance notation intending to transcribe the movement of Black dancers. In consulting the Canadian Broadcasting Corporations’ (CBC) archives, Bowen further realized the importance of the work she was doing.

CBC’s decision to digitize its archives of Canadian history but to trash original copies of Black content only spurred Bowen’s efforts in A Harlem NocturneThrough her exhibit, Bowen situates Black history into the public consciousness, repositioning and rearranging it for accuracy and access.

“An exhibition is the most publicly accessible way to put forward what people need to know,” Bowen said.

Bowen’s work and the stories—famous and erased—that it depicts take no specific locale. A Harlem Nocturne is a triumphant call to expand the common, oversimplified narratives of Black Canadians and their complex and vibrant stories.

A man about town The tale of one record store owner and his quest to own a village Pascal Hogue News Editor

Most people do not plan on purchasing a town. But Manuel Paul Gabber, owner of the quintessential Plateau record store and event venue, Paul’s Boutique, does. Gabber has been eyeing a property called Canadiana Village for a couple of years now: A ghost town about 50 minutes north of Montreal that has been up for sale for $2.7 million since 2015. What’s more, it used to be a movie set for dozens of Westerns and TV shows. A decently popular 2007 Bob Dylan biopic, I’m Not There, was shot there.

If things go as planned, Gabber should be able to purchase the town within a few years. He’s willing to sell his boutique if necessary. He also hopes to start a radio station at the end of October to promote Montreal’s counterculture scene, as well as inspire people to help him make

Design by Ruobing Chen, Design Editor

the town sustainable and selfsufficient. Developing this town, Gabber contends, is a retaliation to the large businesses that he believes are breaking up Montreal’s organic musical and commercial culture.

Here’s the tale of one record store owner and his quest to combat gentrification, foster Montreal’s alternative music scene, and own an entire village.

The man Paul’s Boutique is a vintage vinyl store on Mont Royal Avenue, located between Avenue Coloniale and Rue de Bullion. For those familiar with

the area, the store is unmissable.

It’s Mont Royal Avenues’s radiant, odd gem—a dainty yellow house with green gables and Gabber’s first name displayed in bright, bold red.

On bright Sunday afternoons, people are probably posing for Instagram pictures in front of the house. It’s also quite literally squeezed between two brick buildings.

Gabber himself is a neighbourhood icon. When Mont Royal Avenue was converted to a pedestrian-only street during the summer, Gabber was often outside managing his street sales or chatting with friends on a nearby bench, always wearing his tricolore cap.

Having owned the store for nearly two decades, Gabber knows the street incredibly well. One Friday in September, he could name just about every other person walking by his store:

Montrealers young and old, students and musicians, and a pedestrian who had once won the Granby International Song Festival.

Gabber started the boutique in 2001 out of his own apartment, which is located next door to his current store. He had worked the five previous years at the family-owned Polish grocery store Warshaw on Avenue Saint Laurent until the store, like many immigrant-run enterprises in the Plateau at the time, closed.

One of his coworkers was future Arcade Fire bassist Tim Kingsbury.

Warshaw was eventually replaced by a Pharmaprix in 2002. Out of a job, Gabber started selling vinyls from his apartment, placing a small sign at street level inviting people to visit his place.

For Gabber, music was nothing new—he had DJ’d events and had helped produce over a dozen albums for local bands in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

He was no stranger to collecting records either.

“By the time I was 20, I already had 52 boxes of discs,”

Gabber said. “At the time, it was easy to gather collections. It wasn’t expensive. You’d find The Smiths vinyls for three-fifty at second-hand stores. Now they are $40.”

His small business thrived, and in 2003, Gabber borrowed $5,000 from his girlfriend at the time to buy the lease for the neighbouring yellow house—and he managed to repay the money with record sales that very summer.

The store The yellow house, which dates back to the 19th century, and according to Gabber, is one of the two oldest surviving buildings on Mont Royal Avenue, the other being the neon green Dollar Plateau Plus at the end of the block. Gabber says a third house, built around the same time, was demolished and converted into a nearby parking lot in 1965. While the house does show its age—the roof, for instance, isn’t particularly straight—this quality adds to the boutique’s quirky and vintage feel.

From top to bottom, the store is chock-full with vinyls new and old, second-hand CDs, cassette tapes, posters, postcards, playing cards, PS2 games, and stacks of vintage 45s. The ceiling is gilded with license plates from across the world and the walls are plastered with more oddities.

Navigating the cramped store can be hard, as customers are bound to bump into a box or two of old comic books on sale for a dollar each.

At the back of the small house, an unassuming door and a narrow hallway lead to a vast white room, replete with hundreds more vinyls and posters— a space he purchased more recently to expand the store.

At the end of the room is a stage and an arcade with a couple dozen retro games, although you’d easily mistake the space for a production set in A Clockwork Orange. For much of the past two decades, Paul’s Boutique has hosted concerts and arcade nights, inviting local bands and budding musicians to play before packed crowds. Owning a music shop has also brought its share of perks over the years, including visits by members of well-known bands, from Sonic Youth to the Beastie Boys.

of Gabber’s

projects, from his boutique to his utopian city. Gabber hopes that his project will inspire others to reject society’s consumerist ideals and look for a more meaningful purpose to their life.

The project In recent years, however, Gabber says that he has become increasingly drawn by an altogether different enterprise: Creating a self-sustaining community that could revive an urban space in decline. Gabber says he became more intrigued by the concept of an alternative community as a response to the gentrification caused by capitalist interests and the political status quo.

A notable example of his vision is Auroville, an alternative town of about 2,800 founded in 1966 in south India. The town professes a philosophy of openness to all cultures, religions, and political affiliations and has received the support of UNESCO multiple times since 1966—in 2017, it recognized Auroville as a successful project that continues to promote world peace.

An endeavour closer to home is Quebec’s Cité Écologique, a rural, self-sustaining community of about 150 operating since 1984. The town farms its own organic food in spite of Quebec’s barren winters and uses local lumber for construction projects.

The addition of solar panels and small wind turbines in recent years has helped the Cité Écologique sustain its energy needs, allowing for a low-carbon lifestyle. The town’s children receive their schooling within the village, and the entire community gathers for daily common meals.

When Gabber noticed that an entire village near Montreal was on sale with a decent existing infrastructure, he saw a golden opportunity to make his vision into a reality.

The Canadiana Village property comprises 60 hectares and 45 buildings, all of which mimic a 19th century town from the Wild West. Among the buildings is a general store, a windmill, a church, a saloon, and 22 houses. The village was founded in 1959

by Earle and Norah Moore, and became a busy movie set and attracted up to 30,000 annual visitors at its peak. The site was closed to tourists in 1996, and has been uninhabited since. The real estate company in charge of the sale, Genest & Marinacci, could not be reached for comment as of print time.

Gabber envisions forming a community that can live by its own means through agriculture and renewable energies while remaining connected to the outside world. He believes that the town can be used as a hub to experiment with new forms of sustainability and would be financed by cowboy-themed tourism on the weekends.

“To pay rent, given it would be a research centre, people would live there for free, so weekends we could have tourists dressed in [cowboy]-era costumes, a mix of retro and stuff for the research centre, which would be up to date,” Gabber said.

“There’s a salon, so we could sell a bit of alcohol, and I could move my arcade there. With 15,000 tourists per year at $20, that’s $300,000, which is lots of money to pay rent.”

Gabber spent much of the past summer constructing studio spaces on the second floor of his boutique, with the hopes of starting a radio station by the end of October. His station will operate 24/7 and touch on all things music, with a particular emphasis on his project.

“I want to have programs that have to do with vintage stuff, like vinyls, 8-tracks, pop culture in general, but I also want it to be related to the project of the independent city,” Gabber said.

Gabber’s ideas have already resonated within the student community. A frequent customer of the store, Sarah Robertson, U2 Arts, believes that while the town project could have its set of challenges, the end goal is noble. “[It’s] a little bit unrealistic, honestly,” Robertson said.

“But if I wanted to be a dreamer, then I would love for [this] to happen. You know, nothing’s good going on right now. Moving to a town in the middle of nowhere, living in [something] like a Western movie.”

Saumiyaa Pathmarajah, U3 Engineering, is another frequent customer familiar with the project who says she would be eager to visit the town as a tourist.

“If it was marketed right and if everything he says is going to be [as he says], then one hundred per cent I’d visit and see what it’s about,” Pathmarajah said.

With his radio station, Gabber explained that he wants to highlight how Montreal has seen waves of gentrification causing the closure of small businesses in recent years. Gabber maintains that it is up to citizens to stem this tide, because he has little faith in the political establishment enacting any substantial change.

“We have to send the message that cities aren’t just businesses,” Gabber said. “I know there’s political parties, there’s people who are working on it, but at one point […] if you don’t jump in the pool you’ll never know if the water is cold.”

It’s this belief—that cities aren’t just businesses, and people’s lives should not be reduced to mere commodities—that drives all

“[This project], it’s like a cri du coeur, [because] people want to leave [the city], there’s more of them than we think,” Gabber said. “People want to leave the system, they want to be rich with their time. At one point, we all grow old, and being rich of one’s time, that is a fine value.”

The pandemic has not particularly hindered Gabber’s project. On the contrary, Paul’s Boutique has fared through the summer relatively well, due to the closure of Mont Royal Avenue to cars, which allowed Gabber to attract pedestrians and conduct street sales. Government subsidies for small businesses have also helped him purchase more vinyls and recording equipment for his radio. But with recent public health restrictions now in effect, Gabber worries that the new restrictions could further hamper business going into the winter months, which typically see fewer sales. Restrictions on the maximum number of people at gatherings has forced Paul’s Boutique to halt their popular concerts and arcade nights indefinitely, which has been detrimental for local bands as well.

In spite of recent challenges, Gabber has remained steadfast in his objective to purchase and develop the town. If needed, he plans to sell his shop to a local who can maintain the record store, and hopes to inspire a younger generation to adopt his dream.

“I think students can be interested in [...] projects like this one because […] it’s been a long time since there’s been society projects in Canada, in Quebec,” Gabber said. “Even if it takes me two to three years to get there, that’s where I’m aligning myself.

I want there to be more cities like this one. I think that at one point, governments don’t always have our interests [at heart].

And, you know, at one point we’ll have to send the message that one day we won’t need you guys.” *The interview was conducted in French and translated by the author.

10 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020

Players’ Theatre proves that the show must go on Public health restrictions forces McGill theatre troupe to adapt Erika MacKenzie Staff Writer Continued from page 1.

Understandably, theatre clubs at McGill have struggled to adapt to the new restrictions. The Arts Undergraduate Theatre Society (AUTS) announced on Facebook on Sept.

22 that this year’s intended production of A Chorus Line would be cancelled. While many clubs initially planned to rehearse and perform in person, these plans have since been derailed. Despite the setbacks, some clubs at McGill are taking innovative approaches to reimaging theatre during a pandemic.

Basile Guichard, U2 Arts and production manager at Players’ Theatre McGill, spoke with The McGill Tribune about how the club has altered their plans as restrictions have intensified throughout the semester. “[Originally] we were thinking of having an outdoor show on the McGill campus, because events were allowed before the red zone,” Guichard said. “Then we thought that filming it would be a better idea, but obviously that’s not

Theatre companies at McGill are producing shows in an online format this semester due to COVID-19 restrictions. (Margaux Delalex / The McGill Tribune) possible anymore with the very strict restrictions.”

Guichard explained that despite the various obstacles, the club’s directors and cast members have been willing to adapt to the ever evolving changes in order to put on a show. Even though the executive team prefaced every audition by telling the applicants that there was a chance that the show could be cancelled at any moment, many applicants still wanted to start the production process.

Since the province announced the new restrictions in place for Red Zone, Players’ Theatre has taken a new approach to producing its October shows This is a Play and Life is a Dream. One show will be a live play on Zoom and the other will be a radio play with visual imagery.

Despite the altered formats of their upcoming programming, Guichard said that the resolve of club executives and members is strong and that stu-

dents are still eager to produce shows.

“There’s definitely a drive still present,” Guichard said.

“I know from talking to other execs from other theatre clubs at McGill […] that every single team has some people who are still interested in creating and collaborating and growing together.”

Players’ Theatre hopes to keep the momentum going for next semester as they plan for the annual McGill Drama Festival (MDF) which features student-written, produced, and performed one-act plays.

Though Players’ is uncertain as to what shape MDF will take during the Winter 2021 semester, Guichard feels hopeful that the greater community will still support student theatre on campus.

“People are definitely willing to show up and put in the work despite everything,” Guichard said. “People are still showing a lot of interest [.…]

It’s a good break for living in the pandemic world or going to school online.”

Life is a Dream and This is a Play will be premiering on October 29th, 30th, and 31st.

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Artistic Director Eda Holmes in conversation with guests that include emerging and established theatre creators.

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Online talk and Q&A covering the basics of the movement Oct. 21, 7 PM Online Free

‘Emily In Paris’ is poised off of an idealized Paris New Netflix series relies on stereotypes and generalizations Deana Korsunsky Staff Writer Netflix’s latest release, Emily In Paris, is a plethora of generic tropes, teeming with cultural stereotypes, questionable outfits, and overused plot lines that induce eye-rolls from even the most charitable of viewers. I binged it in two days.

The show revolves around 20-something-years-old American marketing extraordinaire Emily Cooper, played by Lily Collins, who, over the course of 10 episodes, is sent to her company’s Paris branch and becomes enamoured with the city of love. When I started the series, I did not realize that I would embark on a tumultuous journey: One that began with skepticism and second-hand embarrassment of my American citizenship, but ended with my undying devotion to every character and a desperate hunger for season two.

I consulted with Parisian resident and subsequent Paris expert Louise Lienhart, U4 Arts, to learn more about what the show portrays correctly about Paris, and what it misrepresents.

“I think [the show] exaggerates a lot of stereotypes that have been said about Parisians,” Lienhart said in an interview with The McGill Tribune.

“It’s obviously romanticized. It’s always the fancy, polished streets of Paris [that are shown].”

Indeed, while Emily is pictured strutting in front of the Louvre, lounging in cafés, and strolling along the Seine, it appears as though Paris’ more mundane and dilapidated environs, like its metro, simply do not exist. On social media, the show’s beautified city has ignited Parisian viewers’ creativity and meme-making, as they laugh at the absence of Paris staples like manic drivers, overpriced odd jobs, and street pick-pockets.

Although the city itself is hyper-idealized, the show’s Pa-

Emily’s Parisian life is simultaneously romanticized and satirized, combining the beauty of the city with the satirical tropes of romcoms, Parisians, and Americans. (Eve Cable / The McGill Tribune) risians are far from it. Emily In Paris’s French characters are essentially built from oversexualized and heteronormative stereotypes. It appears that Paris’ charm lies in its overabundance of drop-dead gorgeous men and women at every turn, be it in Emily’s apartment building, workplace, or even local cafés.

“You think about ‘Paris, city of love’ and the show is making it this whole hypersexualised affair,” Lienhart said. “[The show’s] Parisians seem to always be ready to choose pleasure over work, and have a hard time separating their private life from their professional one, which is not [true in] my experience.”

Emily’s boss, a Miranda Priestly-like executive named Sylvie, is depicted as a snobbish, stubborn antagonist, con-

stantly attempting to sabotage Emily out of sheer spite. Sylvie flirts with clients, has an affair, and meddles in Emily’s own love life. Although obviously an exaggeration for entertainment purposes, this storyline feels distinctly questionable for Lienhart.

“French people are more subtle than this in terms of their private affairs. I actually think they Americanized her a little bit,” Lienhart said, drawing on the outlandishness and rudeness of Sylvie’s characterization.

Lienhart especially notes that Paris is actually more modest than it appears, as she recalls the juxtaposition between Parisian and Montrealaise cultures.

“I had the contrary effect coming to Montreal, where I felt people were more overt about their appearances and private lives, whereas in Paris, I find myself dressing more modestly,” Lienhart said. (Lienhart has declined all requests to start a @LouiseInMontreal blog.)

Emily In Paris’s cultural ambivalence is not-quite-Parisian, yet not-quite-American. It commits itself to a French aesthetic, yet depicts its French characters through an Americanized lens of exaggeration and drama, resulting in a hybrid Paris with a Sex In The City-esque tone.

Regardless of questionable stereotypes and inaccurate portrayals, Emily In Paris still manages to charm and entertain.

Full of fashion and sex, the show creates an escapist fantasy of an idealized Paris. It makes fun of itself, bringing laughs rather than offense, and reminds viewers not to take life too seriously. Ultimately, it is not the accuracy of American or French culture that viewers will remember, but the endearing fantasy and silliness of Emily, her boss, and the labyrinth of romantic relationships they navigate. According to Emily In Paris, charm and goofiness will always override accuracy— and viewers will adore it.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 11

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020

Going Supernova: The swan song of a dying star

Supernovae play a vital role in understanding the origin of elements on Earth Shafaq Nami Staff Writer For centuries, astronomers have studied space phenomena in an attempt to address the fundamental question of our existence and place in the Universe. One astronomical event that is often considered is known as a supernova. It is a powerful stellar explosion that, for a short time, is often brighter than a whole galaxy of stars.

Scientists divide supernovae into two main types based on their origin. A “type Ia” supernova is believed to occur when a white dwarf star––left over when a star that is not big enough to go supernova exhausts its nuclear fuel––undergoes a runaway nuclear reaction. This reaction results from the star reaching its critical mass due to the accumulation of matter from nearby stars. A “type II” supernova, on the other hand, takes place before the death of a massive star, when it has run out of nuclear fuel.

In the initial 10 seconds of a supernova, the imploding star releases a burst of neutrinos, subatomic particles similar to an electrons but with no electric charge. The neutrinos can be tracked by scientists using an early warning system.

The most commonly used alert system, the SuperNova Early Warning System (SNEWS), is a network of neutrino detectors located around the world.

The remnants of supernovae are often appreciated by scientists for their beauty and are widely studied by astrophysicists like Dr. Victoria Kaspi, Director of the McGill Space Institute.

“A lot of my research has been on what happens after a supernova. For example, a type II supernova can leave behind either a neutron star or a black hole,” Kaspi wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune.

Kaspi has spent the last 25 years studying neutron stars, the collapsed cores of massive stars left after a supernova occurs.

Apart from leaving behind remnants, a supernova explosion emits a significant amount of energy—equivalent to the total amount of energy that the Sun will radiate in its lifetime.

The radiation released is so powerful that if a supernova occurs near the Earth, it would strip the ozone layer, leading to mass destruction. The chance of a supernova engulfing the Earth anytime soon, however, remains unlikely.

“There are very few stars that close by, much less any that will undergo a supernova [explosion] any time soon,” Kaspi wrote.

Stellar nucleosynthesis is a regularly occurring process by which elements are created within stars via the combination of protons and neutrons. However, the creation of heavier elements requires much more heat and energy. Many common elements found on Earth, including carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen—the essential building blocks of life—originate within supernovae. Iron samples found in the ocean are also believed to be remnants of a nearby 2.2 million-year-old supernova.

According to information published by NASA, the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A released an abundance of oxygen at its implosion. This also means that Cassiopeia A, a near-earth remnant, contains all the elements needed to make up DNA. Apart from issuing clues as to the origin of life, the study of supernovae provides insight on other aspects of the universe. Due to their fixed luminosity, astronomers use type Ia supernovae as “standard candles” to measure cosmic distances when mapping the universe. Scientists can also measure the “redshift,” the increase in wavelength of a supernova’s light as it moves away from Earth. Comparing the redshift

The most recent supernova in the Milky Way, Kepler’s Supernova, was observed in 1604 by Johannes Kepler who misidentified it as a new type of star. (Ashley Mackenzie / Quanta Magazine) with the distances of supernovae allows scientists to infer changes in the rate of the universe’s expansion.

For all the information they provide to astronomers, supernovae remain exceptionally delicate and beautifully sublime. According to Kaspi, the death of a star is lamentable, despite the multitude of galactic processes their demise reveals.

“One thing that I find amazing about [...] supernovae is that they destroy what is a lovely onion-layer type structure inside the massive star,” Kaspi wrote. “That star works for millions of years, through nuclear reactions, to build a delicate, symmetric and beautiful inner structure. That is a bit sad.”

In ‘The Invisible Man,’ not seeing is believing Explaining the plausibility of invisibility technology in film Ronny Litvack-Katzman Science & Technology Editor Leigh Whannel’s film The Invisible Man, based on H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel of the same name, tells the story of a young woman, played by Elizabeth Moss, who escapes an abusive relationship with a tech-savvy millionaire. After faking his own death, Adrian, Moss’s on-screen ex-boyfriend, devises a bodysuit using optical technology that allows him to become invisible and continue his reign of psychological torment over her.

In Wells’ day, the notion that science could render a person invisible was absurd. Now, over 100 years and innumerable advancements later, Whannell’s recent adaptation with a feminist spin makes technology-assisted invisibility feel achievable.

Today, scientists have already had some success in making objects appear invisible. In a YouTube video, John Howell, a physics professor at the University of Rochester, explained that achieving “invisibility” requires the precise manipulation of light at different angles. “‘Cloaking’ is essentially just an optical illusion, and people have

been doing that for hundreds of years,” Howell said. “There have been many high-tech approaches to try and achieve cloaking. The basic idea […] is to take light and have it pass around something as if it isn’t there.”

The device they built, aptly named the “Rochester Cloak,” consists of four lenses positioned at just the right angles to make an object placed between them appear invisible. Together, the lenses create a focal point—the point where light rays from a source converge after being reflected from the object. In the case of the Rochester Cloak, the normal movement of light is changed around the object, bending light around whatever object is placed at the focal point.

“The rays focus and diverge out, so it actually bends the light around the object,” Joseph Choi, a then-Ph.D. student at Rochester’s Institute of Optics, said. “We have slightly more complicated designs where an object can be cloaked entirely, but we’ve tried to simplify our design.”

Choi and Howell’s set-up allows an object to appear invisible as the viewer moves several degrees away from the optimal viewing position. The illusion remains

With a 91 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences agreed that Leigh Whannell’s “The Invisible Man” is a film worth seeing, even if its main antagonist can’t be seen. (Universal Pictures) constrained, however, by the ability of angles to mask the object. Move too close, too far away, or look at the object from outside the lens, and it will no longer appear “cloaked.”

More recently, researchers have been able to apply these basic principles to larger subjects, like humans. This further confirms the theory that it is possible to use

cloaks to perfectly hide an object at specific wavelengths. Hiding an object in an area containing different wavelengths of light, however, becomes more challenging as the size of the object increases.

The medium in which the object exists will also have an effect on the ability of cloaking technology to mask it. In The Invisible

Man, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, who plays Adrian, fights Moss while remaining mostly invisible through a climactic shootout in the rain. Light slows down when it travels from air to water, causing it to change direction slightly in a process known as refraction. Soaking wet, it is unlikely that the visual properties of the optical suit used by Adrian to stay invisible would persist.

Scientists have been able to effectively cloak objects from detection by physical waves other than light. Using a skin-like device that looks eerily similar to the one Jackson-Cohen wears in the film, engineers at Iowa State University have created a wearable device that makes objects invisible on radar.

It works through the use of metamaterials, which can absorb radio frequencies rather than reflect them back to sensors.

In the world of science fiction and fantasy, invisibility has become a mainstay—an iconographic symbol of technology currently beyond human means of production.

The Invisible Man joins other famous depictions of cloaking, from The Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter—all but proving that CGI remains the best tool for rendering humans invisible.

12 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020

Exoplanets provide clues to extraterrestrial life and Earth’s history Experts discuss the role of climate in understanding distant Earth-like planets Namrata Rana & Ibani Kapur Contributors Earth-like planets beyond this solar system, also known as exoplanets, are a popular target of research in the search for extraterrestrial life forms. However, the evolutionary processes that give rise to life depend heavily on the physical and chemical characteristics of habitable environments.

The role of climate in shaping the evolution of life on Earth, and potentially on exoplanets with similar environments, was the theme of a live panel discussion hosted

by McGill’s Space Institute (MSI) and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences on Oct. 15. The event, titled “Climate and Habitability of Terrestrial Exoplanets,” included panelists such as Raymond Pierrehumbert, Professor of Physics at Oxford University; Sarah Hörst, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University; Nikole Lewis, Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University; and Michael Way, a researcher at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Science.

A planet’s climate is defined by how the components of its atmosphere––an envelope of gaseous and other small molecules that surround a planet––interact to regulate the light, temperature, and air on the surface.

“Light interactions, temperature, hu-

midity, pressure, and the conversion of gases into different types of particles are all variables that affect how a [planet’s] atmosphere functions,” said Hörst.

Pierrehumbert added that fundamental physics plays a substantial role in shaping the interactions of particulate matter as they transition from solids to liquid and gases.

“Climate physics comes from putting together the basic building blocks [of physics, including] light interactions, thermodynamics, and the Newtonian motion for atmospheric fluid,” Pierrehumbert said.

The atmospheres of exoplanets are also known for hosting biosignature gases at detectable levels, implying the possibility of life. These are gases whose origins require biological agents, such as oxygen gas, which is a byproduct of photosynthesis, a quintessential indication of plant life.

Most of what is known about climate was determined using simulation models based on Earth’s climate.

“We have a good handle on how climate changes over time and the broad range of climates we can expect to see in other places,” said Lewis.

However, while Earth can act as a standard measure against which scientists can compare atmospheric observations from other planets, Lewis warned that relying on Earth-based data can create biases.

Such inherent assumptions can be limiting

for astro-climatologists when attempting to distinguish whether an exoplanetary climate condition is conducive to life.

Canadian study finds that the Milky Way galaxy could be home to as many as six billion Earth-like planets. (Aidan Martin / The McGill Tribune) “We have to use this world that we have around us as a kind of benchmark to decide what to look for in our early stage of astrobiological object hunting,” Way said.

Liquid water, which is considered a requirement for life, is also presumed to be a strong indicator of extraterrestrial life.

Way explained that the presence of water on other planets is likely, but the limitation to life could be a matter of whether the

amount of water is too little or too much.

The latter case poses a potential constraint on evolution.

“Some people think life exists near the sea-floors on Earth [….] Maybe life gets there, but it would be hard for it to evolve into more complex forms later on,” Way said.

The challenges of finding life on exoplanets are multifaceted, even if they have the right atmosphere, moderate climate conditions, and other characteristics of habitability. It is possible that some exoplanets are at different stages of development, eventually evolving to host life.

Tracking climate trajectories and other properties that affect the habitability of exoplanets can not only predict the existence of extraterrestrial life, but also give researchers a chance to preview the past and potential future of Earth.

“There is a lot we can learn from Earth’s sweeping climate history,” Pierrehumbert said. “We can [also] look at exoplanet climates and think about something that could be happening on earth in the next century.”

Way echoed his excitement toward the potential of other planets to answer questions about the early history of Earth.

“We’d really like to know how this planet became habitable, and it’s not clear that we really fully understand that [yet],” Way said.

MUHC to begin trial of ciclesonide for alleviating COVID-19 symptoms The anti-inflammatory drug is repurposed as a potential therapy for COVID-19 Margaret Wdowiak Staff Writer Continued from page 1.

Nicole Ezer, assistant professor in McGill’s Faculty of Medicine and lead investigator of the new MUHC study, drew inspiration from previous dexamethasone trials. She wrote to The McGill Tribune about the promises of ciclesonide in COVID-19 treatment.

“Ciclesonide is a type of inhaled steroid and nasal steroid, and it is currently used for asthma and allergic rhinitis,” Ezer wrote.

Typically, steroids like dexamethasone and ciclesonide are used to treat inflammatory conditions such as allergic disorders, skin conditions, and other illnesses that affect the respiratory tract.

COVID-19 shares some of the adverse effects of other inflammatory diseases, making these steroids a viable option for treating respiratory symptoms that arise from the virus.

There are multiple advantages to using ciclesonide as a treatment for COVID-19. The side effects of ciclesonide are relatively rare and mild: The most common side

Less than one per cent of patients experience a change in the taste of food when taking ciclesonide. (Caroline Shelton / The McGill Tribune) adverse effect is oral thrush, also known as candidiasis, which only occurs in one per cent of patients.

Candidiasis occurs when candida, a mouth fungus, grows and causes white blotches on the tongue and throat as a result of corticosteroid exposure.

Another advantage of ciclesonide is that there is already evidence of its efficacy. Studies have shown that the drug decreases damage to lung tissue by inhibiting the replication of SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Even in moderate cases of COVID-19,

lung damage can cause breathing difficulty and lead to inflammation in the respiratory tract. Inhaled drugs like ciclesonide act directly on the nose, airways, and lungs, the primary sites for the viral replication of SARS-Cov-2.

Ezer and her colleagues are keen to further explore the treatment possibilities of ciclesonide through a randomized trial. So far, the trial has been unusual in that its design is both remote and “touchless.”

“This is a very pragmatic randomized control trial,” Ezer wrote. “[It is pragmatic] in that patients are at home, have medications sent to their home by courier, and answer questions online without visiting the hospital.”

Participants must register on an online platform where doctors can then follow up with them.

Eligible participants are randomly assigned to a control or experimental group. As in any randomized trial, only a select number of participants will receive ciclesonide, while the rest receives a placebo.

The study is currently in the recruitment stage. Participants need to be over the age of 18 and must have been recently diagnosed

with COVID-19. They must also exhibit symptoms such as fever and shortness of breath within five days of enrolment.

For now, the study is geographically limited to Quebec.

However, the team hopes to expand the study.

“We’re working with [officials in] Alberta and British Columbia to offer [ciclesonide] to other provinces as well,” Ezer said in an interview with the Tribune.

The work of Ezer and her colleagues is crucial to treating COVID-19 cases in the immediate future, as widespread vaccines might not be available until mid2021.

“Vaccines will not be the only solution for COVID-19,” Ezer wrote. “Vaccines may not have 100 [per cent] efficacy, so we will still need treatment options for those who do get COVID. At a population level, we need inexpensive treatments for mild patients that are well-tolerated.”

More information regarding the study, eligibility criteria, and registration information can be found on the study’s official website.

STUDENT LIFE

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020

13

Meals for Milton Parc lends a hand to unhoused neighbours

New student meal-share initiative hopes to expand its team and outreach Lucy Keller Staff Writer Meals For Milton-Parc is a newly created meal-share initiative developed by U3 Arts student Sophie Hart that aims to provide unhoused people in the Milton-Parc neighbourhood with food and care packages.

The initiative was started on Oct. 7 upon Hart’s realization that there was no McGill organization which directly sought to support unhoused individuals in the nearby Milton-Parc community. Hart is an Indigenous Studies student and has worked for Native Montreal for the past two years, an organization that aims to contribute to the holistic health and cultural resilience of Indigenous communities in the Montreal area.

Hart has lived in the MiltonParc neighbourhood for three years during her studies and has always felt uneasy about how the McGill community disassociates themselves from unhoused people in the area.

“I have been living in this neighbourhood for four years now

and have always felt like I should be doing more,” Hart said. “I started Meals for Milton-Parc because I felt like I wasn’t doing enough to support the individuals without shelter in my community.”

The Milton-Parc neighbourhood has a high number of unhoused individuals, many of whom are Indigenous. The Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy Network found that while Indigenous people make up only 0.6 per cent of Montreal’s population, these individuals represent 10 per cent of those who are unhoused in the city.

Hart recognizes that this is a systemic problem and hopes that this initiative may serve as a way to connect McGill students with the greater Milton-Parc community.

“I wanted to make sure everyone in my community, [including] those who are experiencing homelessness, to know that there is a network in Milton-Parc to support them that loves and cares about them,” Hart said.

The goal of Meals for MiltonParc is to provide unhoused individuals in the neighbourhood

Sophie Hart started Meals for Milton Parc upon realizing that no McGill organization focused on uplifting unhoused individuals in the Milton Parc area.

(Defne Gurcay / The McGill Tribune) with weekly meals and bimonthly care packages. They have been communicating directly with the individuals who they serve daily in order to ensure that they are catering to the needs and wants of the community.

So far, the initiative has managed to provide hot meals, including a three sisters’ stew and Bannock, as well as

several snacks, such as fruit, chips, and sweets. Hart hopes to consistently provide three meals per week along with a daily assortment of snacks.

She has been reaching out to local Montreal restaurants for sponsorships.

Fairmount Bagel, a local bagel shop, donated bagels and cream cheese.

“I am happy about this because one of the individuals I talked to last week asked if we could have cream cheese and bagels,” Hart said. “I am glad that we were able to secure something that he really wanted.”

Although Meals for MiltonParc was only recently started, they are growing quickly. With over 600 Instagram followers and 144 members, Hart hopes to expand the initiative beyond her initial personal efforts to ensure the services’ longevity. They are currently organizing logistics and have just finished recruiting an Executive Board. On Oct. 21, they will be hosting their first mandatory volunteer training, with an emphasis on educating its members on Canada’s colonial legacy, as it is intrinsically linked to urban housing problems.

Meals for Milton-Parc is

currently in contact with the Indigenous Street Worker Project, The Open Door, and Solidarité Milton-Parc.

“I want to collaborate with as many people as possible in order to do as much work as we can,” Hart said.

“I am hoping in the long run we can coordinate on different days for meals [...] so the most amount of people can get the most amount of use of all the services that are available.”

Hart recognizes the groundwork that has been laid out by the robust work of community organizations such as The Open Door and the Old Brewery Mission, groups currently aiding unhoused people in Montreal.

Hart hopes that this initiative can meaningfully supplement the resources already available for this neighbourhood.

For ways to help out Meals for Milton Parc, check out their Facebook and Instagram pages, where they have detailed donation lists, e-transfer details, and further information on the mission statement and goals.

Queer History Month highlights BIPOC advocacy Love, celebration, and solidarity in lockdown Magdalena Nitchi Contributor Despite Red Zone restrictions in Montreal, McGill’s Queer History Month is still in full swing. Created in 2018 by the Associate Provost’s Equity and Academics office, this year will mark its third edition, centred around the theme of “Love stories of solidarity and resilience.” For the first time, all of the events are taking place online.

Meryem Benslimane, coordinator for Queer History Month and Equity Education Advisor, has worked to make the best of this year’s limitations.

However, Benslimane believes that going fully online has broadened the impact of Queer History Month’s events. “[Organizing online] had the positive impact of making our events more accessible.

Anyone in the world can actually register and attend our events, [and] we are not limited in space or capacity,” Benslimane said. “We have a maximum of 500 attendees on Zoom. In the past in-person editions, we could only hold events for 100-120 people at a time.”

Events this year include collaborations with McGill’s Black Students Network, McGill’s Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, and the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia on a panel specifically dedicated to Black queer and trans activism, which will take place on Oct. 20. This year, Queer History Month will feature keynote speaker Dr. Chamindra Weerawardhana, a transfeminine scholar and international 2SLGBTQIA+ rights activist from Sri Lanka. Tickets are still available for several events on the Equity McGill Website.

Around 40 people, including volunteers, organizers, and speakers, are involved in planning this year’s Queer History Month.

McGill’s Queer History Month returns this month for its third iteration.

(Chloe Rodriguez / The McGill Tribune) Angela Campbell, Associate Provost (Equity & Academic Policies), looks forward to contributing to this year’s events.

“I am delighted to be part of McGill’s annual Queer History Month celebrations this October,” Campbell said. “While equity work is necessarily forward-looking with a view to ongoing advancement, we cannot lose sight of the importance of knowing our histories. This knowledge of the past will equip us to move forward in our efforts centring on the goals of equity, inclusion, and justice.”

Another emphasis of Queer History Month is intersectional solidarity, or solidarity between individuals with distinct experiences of

oppression, especially when it comes to the specific issues that 2SLGBTQIA+ BIPOC individuals face. Benslimane also reiterated the integral and extraordinary work of Black queer and trans activists in advocating for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights. “[Everyone involved in Queer History Month] wants to create online spaces of connection and community, of support and solidarity, especially in the global context of antiBlack and anti-Indigenous racism,” Benslimane said. “It is very important to remember that Black queer and trans activists, especially Black trans women, have always been and still are at the forefront of advancing 2SLGBTQ+ rights throughout history.”

During her keynote presentation on Oct. 7, Dr. Weerawardhana also emphasized the importance of intersectional activism in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as the role of non-Black members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in addressing anti-Black racism in Canada and across the world.

“In our own lives, many of us have fought or are fighting tougher battles than the ongoing pandemic,” Dr. Weerawardhana stated. “Those of us who are non-Black simply cannot afford to water down our activism as the news cycle moves on. We need a strong focus on intersectional feminist advocacy. In Canada, this means a commitment to challenge all forms of intersecting racial, gender-based, and other injustices, with a special focus on Indigenous Peoples’ struggles for justice and dignity.”

Ultimately, Queer History Month is not only about history, but about the future of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Especially this year, when many people are facing social isolation, it is imperative to maintain and foster connections so that these communities may continue to thrive. Benslimane emphasized the importance of belonging and fundamentally, the freedom to love, that lies at the heart of Queer History Month.

“While we cannot be together in person this year, we hope people do find that sense of belonging, love, and resilience through our events and beyond Queer History Month,” Benslimane said. “The goal of Queer History Month [has always been] to raise awareness, advance education, and increase visibility of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities by recognizing their history and contributions, building bridges, and bringing together McGill students, staff, faculty, and alumni and Montreal community members, and that is what we hope to do this year again.”

14 STUDENT LIFE

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020

COMunity continues to connect commuter students

Online speed-friending event encouraged students to mingle safely Lilly Lecanu-Fayet Contributor COMunity has been working hard to connect off-campus students together through the years, and that goal has only evolved and expanded with McGill’s recent shift to remote learning. The program is part of McGill’s Off-Campus and Commuter Student Support office, and on Oct. 14, they held a speed-friending event to help off-campus students safely meet new people.

This speed-friending event is not the first of its kind for COMunity. In past years, they have hosted a similar event for Valentine’s Day as a way to foster connections during the colder winter months.

Kirsten Vanderlinde, U4 Arts and COMunity program manager, explained the unlikely partnership with some Australian connections that allowed for the transition of this popular event to an online platform.

“I coordinated with some individuals at the University of Queensland because I went online and saw they had hosted

an online speed-friending event,” Vanderlinde said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “They were happy to share the logistics [...] with me.”

Since August 2020, COMunity has facilitated three speed-friending events. The first two were run during orientation week by the Campus Life and Engagement department and the Off-Campus Connects events.

Vanderlinde said she felt fortunate

to be part of such an accessible and adaptable program that was so easily transferred online.

“We quite like hosting events online because it is allowing us to connect with off-campus students who live really far away from campus, like in Chambly or West Island, who we usually have a harder time reaching with our events and programming,” Vanderlinde said.

There were people from all

The switch to online programming has been beneficial in some ways to COMunity’s programming, as it helps them reach students who live further away.

(Speed Dating / Iconscout)

across the island of Montreal in attendance during the Oct. 14 event, which is one of the main benefits of COMunity’s transition to an online format. Around 20 people, ranging from first year to graduate students, joined the Zoom call. As opposed to the one-on-one chats one might be accustomed to in speed events, breakout groups were formed based on attendees’ boroughs.

In successive breakout rooms, people first met peers living in their own neighbourhoods, and then with residents from different neighbourhoods, each time sharing stories and participating in icebreakers. Laurie Chan, U1 Arts, believes that such events are crucial for fostering connections between first year students like herself.

“I wanted to go because it’s been so difficult to meet people and build any kind of meaningful connection [right now],” Chan said. “It’s so important to be connected and inspired by those around us, and that has been [...] lacking. I think [remote learning] makes us all get stuck in our own heads and hinders us from doing our best. So many people feel

this way and so there are so many people who are down to meet others and do things. The hardest part is actually finding them.”

For students like Chan who have just moved to Montreal, COMunity provides a way to meet people who are similarly isolated and seeking connection.

For students who have previously called Montreal home, COMunity’s initiative is still a great way to engage with peers in a new context. In past years, there has been an in-person lounge area for off-campus students to attend events where they can meet fellow commuters.

Now that COMunity’s events are online, those students are able to have more regular programming than they would have had in person. After many successful online events so far this year, COMunity is looking forward to continuing their mission and bringing students together as the semester unfolds.

Every Tuesday from 10-11 a.m., COMunity hosts a drop-in Zoom meeting, COMon Ground, available to all students who want to connect with their peers.

Tribune Tries: Wine Tasting

The McGill Wine Society’s inaugural workshop offered beginners a crash course

E.T. Wu, Leyla Moy, Alaana Kumar, Katia Lo Innes Contributor, Student Life Editors, Managing Editor

experience with the help of former LCBO [Liquor Control Board of Ontario] director and wine expert Michael Fagan.”

The turnout for this virtual event exceeded expectations, and each student had a unique experience with their chosen bottle of wine. Members of The McGill Tribune’s Student Life section share their thoughts from the tasting.

Willm Alsace Riesling 2019, Leyla Moy

Fagan led a popular Zoom “class,” with entire apartments tuning in for the tasting and camaraderie, however distant.

(Sequoia Kim / The McGill Tribune) On Oct.14, the McGill Wine Society held WINE 101: Intro to Wine Studies, a virtual lecture for beginners on the intricacies of wine tasting. After the original McGill wine tasting club dissolved in 2016, Noah Gundermann, U3 Management, and Zachary Goldenberg, U2 Management, founded the McGill Wine Society in February 2020. During the “course,” the Wine Society provided students with supplemental readings and a course materials list for the at-home lab portion, which involved wine tasting.

“I hope the students learned something new about wine and the industry,” Gundermann said in a message to the Tribune. “As most students have very basic to no knowledge on the matter, we wanted to supply them with an introductory and interactive

Noting the course materials section of the Wine 101 event page, I opted for the only riesling at my local Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ). This French wine was remarkably smooth and easy to drink, a far cry from the acidic depanneur wines I’m accustomed to. It was also a relatively safe choice: As Fagan mentioned, many less-experienced wine drinkers start with sweeter white wines. I detected fruity, citrusy notes immediately, and deeper apple and grape flavours with more scrutiny.

Le Réservoir Pinot Noir, Alaana Kumar Though I gravitate toward sweeter white wines, in the interest of higher education, I chose to try a dry red wine—and it was a mistake. During the lecture, Fagan explained how younger red wines are often criticized. His explanation summed up my entire experience perfectly.

“If you’re drinking red wines that are young, they can be really tannic, really sharp, and maybe not all that pleasant,” Fagan said.

In the wine-tasting portion of the afternoon, Fagan demonstrated the correct way to extract the maximum amount of flavour from a bottle of wine with our senses. I knew his techniques were working when my terribly flavoured wine only got worse. I learned a lot from Professor Fagan, particularly how unadventurous my personal wine habits are. I look forward to

using these new skills again—preferably with a fruity, sparkling, and sugary white wine.

Les Artisans du Terroir Prémices d’Automne 2018, Katia Lo Innes Luckily, letting this SAQ steal swish around my tastebuds for an extended period did not—in my case—bring out any unpleasant flavours that the wine might have hidden upon a quicker gulp. I went with this Quebecois white wine, mostly because of the price tag, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed my choice. Based on what I could understand from the presentation, I could detect notes of licorice and some sort of zesty fruit—or maybe this was simply just a really cheap, overly sweet wine.

For the sober/underaged, ET Wu Though the “course” was open to all McGill students, the tasting “lab” component was not. Instead, Fagan suggested drinking tea as a way to transition into the wine tasting hobby.

He compared the transition from smoother to more bitter teas to the transition from off-dry to dry wines. I started with smoother teas such as Jasmine tea or chamomile, and transitioned to more fragrant teas such as chrysanthemum or earl grey. I even developed a liking for Japanese sencha and Iron Buddha (tieguanyin in Chinese). After developing a taste for teas at this level, I moved on to Vietnamese green tea, which is highly potent. I still have trouble with the potency of Vietnamese green tea.

The McGill Wine Society hopes to host more cultural and social events around wine, including in-person events when it is safe to do so. For upcoming events, check out their Facebook.

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SPORTS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020

Facing the consequences of the second wave in the Premier League

Cristiano Ronaldo’s diagnosis raises questions for the future of the soccer season Karan Kumar Contributor On Oct. 13, The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) announced that Cristiano Ronaldo had tested positive for COVID-19. Before the test results were released, Ronaldo had been with the Portuguese national team playing in the UEFA Nations League.

He has since returned to his home in Turin, Italy, where he is self-isolating.

“Ronaldo was released from the work of the National Team after a positive test for COVID-19, so he will not face Sweden,” the FPF said in a statement. “The Portuguese international is doing well, without symptoms, and in isolation.”

Although Ronaldo’s diagnosis attracted significant media attention, it is just one event in a series of adverse COVID-19 consequences for professional soccer in Europe. Due to the pandemic, soccer leagues across Europe have had to readjust how the game is played. In addition to having no spectators, these adjustments include rescheduling league matches and mandatory COVID-19 testing for players and staff.

The onset of the second wave

of COVID-19 in Europe means that soccer leagues must take place in empty stadiums. The United Kingdom government’s directive of spectatorfree stadiums has been in place since May to prevent the spread of the virus.

Soccer games without spectators have significantly impacted players’ motivation. Dimitar Berbatov, a retired Manchester United striker, believes that playing in empty stadiums affects player performance. “[Playing behind closed doors] can affect your performance when you

go out there, and there are no fans,” Berbatov said in an interview with Betfair. “[Even though] it’s a serious game, your body and mind can tell you it’s a practice game, which can lead to bad games and performances.”

According to a University of Reading study, matches ending in a home win fell from 43.8 per cent to 41.2 per cent after fans were no longer allowed to attend games. Joshua Kimmich, a defender and midfielder for Bayern Munich, noted these differences.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s positive COVID-19 test brought attention to the consequences of the pandemic on European club soccer. (Talk Sport)

”[When the stadium is full], you [feel] more [excited] when you score a goal,” Kimmich said in an interview with Psychology Today. “It’s more emotional when there are fans.”

The pandemic has also revealed the vulnerabilities of clubs in the lower leagues. Many clubs are struggling to survive, as their primary source of revenue comes from spectators. The Premier League acknowledged clubs’ financial fragility in the lower leagues and has devised an action plan to support those in need.

“League One and League Two clubs rely more heavily on matchday revenue and have fewer resources at their disposal than Championship or Premier League clubs, and are therefore more at risk, especially at a time when fans are excluded from attending matches,” said the Premier League in a statement. “This offer [of financial assistance] will consist of grants and interest-free loans totalling a further $50 million pounds on top of the $27.2 million pounds in solidarity payments already advanced to League One and League Two this year.”

The mental health of athletes, whether in soccer or any other sport, must also be considered during

this unusual season. Managers and clubs need to start paying attention to mental health as leagues across Europe persevere through the ongoing pandemic. Many players are away from their home and playing in foreign countries. Pundits and critics, who remain overly critical of players’ performances, do not always consider that these players are working in an unprecedented situation. The pressure to win should not be an excuse to neglect the mental wellbeing of players.

“Your athletes are more resilient when they know how to manage their emotions,” Dr. John Sullivan, a clinical sports psychologist, noted in an interview with CBS Boston.

As in every other field, officials of the top soccer leagues in Europe need to understand the changes in the game at a deeper level. The impact of this pandemic goes beyond just headlinegrabbing diagnoses of major stars like Ronaldo. The effect of spectatorfree stadiums on players, the financial viability of clubs in lower leagues, and players’ mental health are key areas for management to work on as the restrictions with the pandemic continue for the foreseeable future.

Point-counterpoint: The greatest Formula 1 driver Hamilton and Schumacher face off Adam Burton, Shaun Lalani Sports Editor, Contributor The greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time come in pairs: Schumacher and Ferrari, Hamilton and Mercedes, and Senna and McLaren. To understand the magnitude of their greatness, one has to consider not just the stats but also the context behind each driver’s success.

Looking at all of Formula 1 history, there are two standouts: Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.

Michael Schumacher In Formula 1, the greatest evidence of a driver’s raw pace is often their performance against their teammates in a qualifying environment where cars are pushed to their very limits. Schumacher’s performances in this department were outright dominant compared to Hamilton’s, as Schumacher was rarely out-qualified by any teammate. If this wasn’t a testament enough to his skill behind the wheel, Schumacher is perhaps the best rain driver in F1, accumulating a record 19 victories on the wet tyres.

However, Schumacher’s greatest asset wasn’t his pace or skill, but rather, his ability to transform any team he joined into perennial competitors for the title, something Hamilton has never had to do at McLaren and Mercedes. When Schumacher arrived at Ferrari in 1996, they had not won a title in 17 years.

Arenas are staying empty this season as a second wave of COVID-19 sendshas sent Europe back into lockdown. (F1 Fansite) But by 2000, Schumacher had built the foundations of a team that would go on to win the world title for five consecutive years. In fact, such was their dominance that it required the FIA to introduce rule changes that deliberately sought to pull Ferrari back into contention with the rest of the sport. Finally, Schumacher’s ability to push seemingly average cars to title-contending spots is something Hamilton has failed to accomplish in his career thus far.

Lewis Hamilton When Lewis Hamilton made his Formula 1 debut in 2007, and after a second-place season finish with 12 podiums with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, fans knew that he was something special. Since then, Hamilton has won six world championships with two teams and asserted himself as the most dominant, technical, and consistent driver of the era.

Hamilton’s six titles are second only to Michael Schumacher’s seven, and based on the way things are going this season, it is likely that Hamilton will be tying that record in December.

When comparing the two, it is important to remember that Hamilton’s career is ongoing, and he is likely to maintain his dominant streak for at least three or four more seasons. Hamilton’s consistency is unrivaled, especially in his years with Mercedes. Since Schumacher retired, there have been several shifts in the sport. The technical aspects of driving have changed—cars have become increasingly intricate since the era of Schumacher, and it is more difficult than ever to drive the jet-engines on wheels that F1 cars have become. Hamilton is also the most technical driver of all time, taking each turn to the maximum, only pushing the engine when it needs to, and consistently out-qualifying every other driver on the grid.

Editor’s pick: Despite Hamilton’s dominance in recent years, it is clear that Schumacher had a better racing career. Building a team from the ground up is extremely difficult, and Hamilton, despite all his accolades, has always had the best car on the best team. Schumacher will go down in history as the best driver of all time for fighting the odds and pulling out wins.

SPORTS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 2020

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Know your athlete: Nick Kleban

McGill Cycling president Nick Kleban shares how he came to love cycling and the success that followed Zoe Babad-Palmer Staff Writer Anyone looking for an expert on Montreal’s cycling paths needs to look no further than Nick Kleban, U3 Science and the president of McGill Cycling. Kleban has been making the most of lockdown, riding his bike as frequently as he can while rocking out to 2000s music.

“I’ve been fortunate enough that [with] biking, you can still train outside,” Kleban said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “I pretty much rode my bike all summer.”

As he keeps up with his own training, Kleban is also ensuring that McGill Cycling remains a place for its members to connect, if only digitally. Members keep in touch through the club’s forum, update their activity on Strava, a running and cycling app, and coordinate via Zwift, a virtual running and cycling training program. The opportunity to ride together is one of Kleban’s favourite things about the team, even if they are meeting online for the time being. While many of its members are experienced cyclists, the club is open to all levels.

“There’s always been an amazing sense of community,” Kleban said. “[There are] a lot of the advanced riders on the team [and] they’re not opposed to riding with the beginners. So we do have a lot of big group rides, slow pace [rides], and we stop and just have a good time.”

Kleban’s own cycling journey started when he moved to Squamish, British Columbia,

Nick Kleban recently signed with pro Continental Team Skyline. (Nick Kleban) at five years old.

“The town is basically shaped around mountain biking,” Kleban said. “The locals live, breathe, and sweat it.”

Kleban’s father taught him how to ride a bike when he was five years old, and he began mountain bike lessons soon after. He began racing in his early teens, and is now undoubtedly skilled—but he still had plenty of cycling misadventures as a child.

“I was six years old, [and] it was one of my first times on a black [diamond] run for

mountain bikes,” Kleban said. “I was going down the trail, and the guy who was coaching me was just saying, ‘Okay, come slowly, come slowly.’ But of course, I let go of the brakes and went as fast as I could and flipped like Superman in the air, and he caught me Lion King-style like I was Simba [and] my bike went hurtling down the hill.”

Kleban switched from mountain biking to road riding when he came to McGill, but he still loves the trails in his hometown.

“Here, I’m all about road [biking], and

then I go back home and I want to be on my mountain bike,” Kleban said. “In the city, I favour going on the mountain. Outside of the city, I like to ride down on the South Shore. It’s got an actual climb, which is a rarity around here.”

Kleban has certainly found success with road riding. During the 2019 Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC) Championships, he finished fifth in the Men’s A Mt. Philo Road Race, third in the Milton Circuit Race, and was the runner-up in the series overall.

His consistent results have attracted attention in the cycling world. He recently signed with the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Continental Team Skyline for the 2021 season.

“The hope is that we could go over to Europe and race on a six-week Italian project and then do some of the bigger races in North America,” Kleban said. “Of course, this is all barring [COVID-19]. But best case, that happens.”

His ultimate dream is to represent Canada at the U23 World Championships and eventually the Grand-Prix Montreal World Tour.

“It would be amazing to compete in a race that big on roads I’ve spent so much time training [on], in front of my friends and family,” Kleban said.

Even while looking ahead to those goals for himself, Kleban encourages beginners not to be intimidated by advanced cyclists.

“Have fun,” Kleban said. “We’re all just riding bikes at the end of the day.”

Appreciating the art of artistic swimming The niche, yet demanding sport requires a unique skillset

Maya Mau Staff Writer Artistic swimming—renamed from synchronized swimming in 2017—is often portrayed as a combination of swimming and gymnastics. However, the sport deserves to be considered in its own right. Artistic swimming is affectionately referred to as “synchro,” and individuals who participate in the sport have good reason to love it. Being an artistic swimmer requires a unique combination of strength, endurance, speed, and flexibility— both physical and mental.

Artistic swimming is undeniably niche, which can make it difficult to find local teams. However, McGill has one of Canada’s strongest collegiate artistic swimming programs, consistently medaling at the Canadian University Artistic Swimming League (CUASL) championships.

In February, the Martlets received the CUASL Gerry Dubrule Trophy, which is awarded to the best overall team each year. The artistic swimming team also won McGill’s Harry Griffiths Trophy for non-U SPORTS varsity team of the year.

There are three main events in artistic swimming: Solo, duet, and team, though only duets and teams are featured at the Olympic level. Teams routinely feature eight athletes who often compete in multiple events, each requiring a separate skill set. At the junior and senior levels, there are two types of routines for each of these events: Technical and free.

One example of a stellar routine is Jacqueline Simoneau and Karine Thomas’s 2015 Canadian national technical duet. The

are endless and filled with surprises. There is no other sport where one would see a team lifting an athlete while they spit out pool water, as the

Artistic swimming requires endurance, strength, and discipline. (Dan Robichaud Photograph) program was so creative, one might forget the complexity required. Technical routines must include Fédération internationale de natation (FINA)-regulated sequences or elements and, with few exceptions, all swimmers must perform the movements in unison.

Free routines, on the other hand, have no limits and exude creativity. The possibilities

Canadian national team at the 2012 Olympics in London did. Canada has traditionally been dominant on the Pan American artistic swimming stage and is the only country in the Americas to have already qualified both a team and duet for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Routines in artistic swimming generally range from two-and-a-half minutes to four

minutes. This may not seem like a long time, especially to the audience, but when choreography comes down to the millisecond and requires constant motion, each routine can feel like a lifetime for the athlete. The sport also requires extreme attention to detail in the routine’s movements. To perfect the small details, conditioning, both on land and in the water, is a regular part of athletes’ training programs. Athletes and coaches spend hours working on synchronizing movements in preparation for competition.

Even at the highest level, many artistic swimmers balance these hours of intense practice with other obligations such as academic work. Although artistic swimming may not receive the same spotlight as other sports, artistic swimmers still put in intense hours of training.

Since artistic swimming is such an underappreciated sport, it can be difficult to find coverage even of competitions at the highest level. Inside Synchro and Fishtail Magazine work to fill that void in sports reporting as the two artistic swimming-focused publications currently in print worldwide. Especially during the pandemic, these news sources provide a crucial means of highlighting the artistic swimming community, which is small and dispersed, yet very collaborative. In many ways, the special nature of the community encourages such collaboration. That solidarity, combined with the beauty and diversity of skills required to do the sport, is what makes artistic swimming special.