The McGill Tribune Vol. 42 Issue 6

The McGill Tribune

What we liked this fall

Construction begins on New Vic site without consent from Mohawk Mothers

Arkéos breaks ground two weeks prior to the Mothers’ Oct. 26 court date

Jasjot Grewal Staff Writer

Arkéos, an archeological firm hired by McGill, began excavating the Royal Victoria Hospital site, slated

to become McGill’s ‘New Vic’, on Oct. 12. The firm is investigating claims that there may be unmarked graves of Indigenous children on or near the property. This work commenced without the consent of the Kanien’kehà:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) who raised concerns about unmarked graves in October 2021. The Mothers

Loving my Black hair back

Matthew Molinaro Managing Editor

Last April, I at tended a birthday party for a friend. Rather than looking back at the shared laughter and happiness of this gath ering, I remember this night for a white person who, after complain ing at length about their “difficult” straight hair, gestured toward me and my “easy” curls. With out my consent, they

touched my hair. After two years of COVID19 measures that kept us all physically apart, this interaction almost seems funny. Veering into old stereotypes, this encounter relies on direct, imposing, and racializing contact. More seriously, it re minds me of my child hood, where countless non-Black people would touch my hair––invad ing my space and reduc ing my humanity to that of a spectacle. I don’t

share stories like these often. I’m too culpable of forgetting, of giving second chances, of roll ing my eyes (later). That said, this is the brief his tory of my relationship with my hair.

I was born in To ronto in the early 2000s with curly hair budding off my head. I have stark hair-related memories of kindergarten and elemen tary school, especially those that involved a car pet, a shared and “open” space for learning.

are also embroiled in an ongoing lawsuit against McGill over the potential burial site. The next hearing is sched uled for Oct. 26. Following the most recent hearing for the lawsuit, the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI) postponed archeological work until an informa tion session was held with Arkéos.

‘Scenes from the Underground’ centres queer rave culture around the world

McGill alum Gabriel Cholette shines light on rave dark rooms in new memoir

Suzanna Graham Staff Writer

McGill alumnus Ga briel Cholette (MA ‘17) started his writing career by publishing true vi gnette-style stories about queer sex and party cul ture on an anonymous In stagram account for his

friends. The vignettes range in length from a single sentence to a threepage whirlwind, with set tings from Montreal to Berlin, but all take place in the queer underground rave scene. Cholette wrote about these experiences from 2017 to 2018, as he was going to various clubs and parties. Since then,

Cholette has taken owner ship of his zesty prose and intriguing stories through the composure of his 2021 memoir Les Carnets de l’Underground . On Oct. 4, local Montreal publisher House of Anansi released an English edition—trans lated by Elina Taillon— titled Scenes from the Un derground

Construction begins on New Vic site without consent from Mohawk Mothers Arkéos breaks ground two weeks prior to the Mothers’ Oct. 26 court date

Jasjot Grewal Staff Writer

Continued from page 1.

The session took place on Oct. 6.

According to the Mothers, the meeting was unusual from the moment they were belatedly invited. Karennatha, one of the Mothers, explained that there was misinformation given about the location and timing of the meeting, as well as who would be attending.

“The [information session] we went to, it was all lies,” Karennatha said. “First of all, they reported that they had the meeting at the Long House, and it was actually in the [Elder’s Lodge]. Then, they said that there were [30 to 40 Indigenous] people there who went to that meeting, and [all the Indigenous people] were in favour of [beginning construction]. There were four people there.”

At the information session, Karennatha and Kahentinetha, another Mohawk Elder, posed two questions, after which they were escorted out of the meeting by police officers.

“They were showing pictures of the grounds […] and [Karennatha] says, ‘Why don’t you show people the building where you murdered all our children? Show it to them.’ And I said, ‘We wanna know what you did with our children. Where are they? What did you do them? We know you have them, and you know you have them.’ And then they called the police,” Kahentinetha recounted in an interview with The McGill Tribune

In the Mothers’ opinion, McGill commenced archeological work because the university believed it had consent from the Indigenous community, which the Mothers did not provide.

“After this meeting, McGill claimed that they got [all Indigenous peoples’] permission, but [they got] only four Indigenous people’s,” Kahentinetha said. “And those four people work for the government, they are not on our side.”

In a statement to the Tribune, McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle stated that the decision to begin work was made after consulting “all relevant groups.” In addition to claiming that McGill is adhering to all regulations regarding archeological work, Mazerolle asserted that Indigenous observers will be present on the construction site.

“The Indigenous communities concerned were invited to information sessions about the methods used to identify and preserve any potential vestiges present on the site of the former hospital,” Mazerolle wrote. “[McGill] intends to follow the industry standard practice of seeking input from the Indigenous community and we have no intention of proceeding in a manner that would endanger Indigenous artifacts or vestiges.”

The Mothers, however, claim that McGill’s behaviour towards them has been cold and uncooperative. Henry*, an associate of the Kahnistensera, explained that security guards were hired for the

construction site after the Mothers declared that they would be monitoring the work from the sidewalk.

An occupation in support of the Kahnistensera was organized on the New Vic construction site on Oct. 11 to protest the announcement that archeological work would begin soon. Police evacuated protestors by 3:30 p.m. the same day. Barricades and fencing were erected around the area soon after.

When the Mothers and their team revisited the site on Oct. 12, the land was completely blocked off; there were active construction crews on site and the Mothers reported being interrogated by security guards and discouraged from taking pictures. Furthermore, the Mothers’ attempts to file an official police report regarding the crime of desecration of graves were unsuccessful, and their phone calls and visits to local police stations were met with hostile responses. During a phone call that the Tribune was included on, one police officer told the Mothers that workers would not have begun work without implicit legal approval.

“A graveyard is a private property and if there’s trucks working on the property, it is because the [property owners] asked them to,” one police officer told the Mothers. “For digging, you need to have a permit, and you need to go through the city for a permit. The things you are talking about were probably all done

before they started digging there. They are not just digging.”

The Mothers also publicly questioned why construction began, as they noted that McGill and Arkéos are not complying with the Canadian Archaeological Association’s (CAA) guidelines for ethically conducting professional archeological work on unmarked graves. These guidelines include a framework for conducting remote sensing, as well as highlighting the importance of area mapping and bringing on Indigenous investigators.

The Mothers believe that construction is being rushed in an effort to quickly destroy evidence of Indigenous bodies. Henry explained that this rapid start to construction has resulted in a complete defiance of archaeological guidelines.

“They have not used a single ground checking technique that they’re supposed to, according to CAA,” Henry said. “They are just rushing the work manually.”

While the guidelines are not legally binding, Henry explained that for McGill to break ground, the university must have received a mandatory signature from Quebec’s Minister of Culture, as required by law.

The Mothers filed an official complaint with the CAA on Oct. 13 outlining why they see McGill and Arkéos’ conduct as unethical and illegal. The letter called out McGill’s lack of adherence to their previous agreement with both the court and the Mothers to halt archeological work until their next official court date.

On Oct. 14, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executives issued a public statement in an effort to stimulate discussion about the dispute. In their email, the executives emphasized McGill’s failure to properly consult Indigenous communities about the archeological process, and expressed their belief that the university’s actions are driven by greed.

The Mothers released a statement on Oct. 16 explaining that they are being falsely accused of organizing certain solidarity actions, such as an instance of vandalism of Arkéos property that the SQI reported to the judge appointed to their case. While the Mothers are appreciative of support, they urged demonstrators to consider the legal repercussions their actions may have on the Mothers—even if they are intended to support their cause—and emphasized their value of “peace and respect”.

The Mothers’ next steps are tentative. They told the Tribune that they will continue fighting for justice, but that there is uncertainty over the Oct. 26 court date, where the Mothers had originally hoped to receive an interlocutory injunction to effectively halt renovation on the site until court proceedings had elapsed. As archeological work has already begun, the Mothers fear that the judge will claim that the need for an interlocutory injunction has been eliminated.

Arkéos did not respond to the Tribune’s request for comment.

*Henry’s name has been changed to preserve their anonymity.

On Oct. 11, Mother Kahentinetha called three police numbers and visited two police stations in an effort to file a police report for the crime of desecration of graves. (Madison Edward-Wright / The McGill Tribune)

Rising prices are making on-campus eateries too expensive for students

meal plans

Adeline Fisher Staff Writer

CW: Mention of disordered eating

Thanks

in part to the rising costs of consumer goods driven by inflation, the price of McGill’s mandatory meal plan has increased by 35.5 per cent over the last five years.* Many students are feeling the financial squeeze when it comes time to purchase meals at on-campus dining locales

and find McGill’s meal plan—which costs almost 90 per cent more than eight months’ worth of groceries—to be unaffordable. For some who spoke with The McGill Tribune, the lack of affordable options is manifesting as disordered eating, skipping meals, and a generally unhealthy diet.

McGill’s meal plan, which amounts to $6,200 per year including administration fees and $500 on oneCard, is compulsory for all first-year students living in residences, with the exception of those in Solin Hall. The

fund is a declining balance plan that can be accessed for in-residence dining, flex dollars, and oneCard money at select locations. In 2017, this total was $4,575.

In an email to the //Tribune//, McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle noted that in order to keep up with the effects of rapid inflation, McGill’s food and dining services must operate the same way as any “retail operation.”

“McGill Food and Dining Services is a self-financing unit with the mandate to break even at the end of the fiscal year,” Mazerolle wrote. “In addition, it is a mixed model, which means that they run self-operated units as well as units managed by a food provider and as well, some of the retail locations are run by tenants.”

Although Mazerolle describes the meal plan as “budget-friendly,” not all students agree. In an interview with the Tribune, Grace Pacette, U1 Arts and current meal-plan user, expressed her dismay at the prices in McGill cafeterias.

“I am honestly so far very disappointed with the pricing,” Pacette said. “I have run the numbers with my friends a couple of times, and to eat three proper meals a day would put you between 30 to 45 dollars per day.”

She also expressed concern that, because the costs of nutritious foods are so high, students are forced to eat unhealthily in order to properly budget their meal-plan money.

“If I am looking at fresh fruit or something like that, I see a lot of the more nutrient-dense

Downtown students report difficulty securing seats on inter-campus shuttle

Clio Bailey Contributor

have forced her to miss shuttles and delay her journey until 10:45 a.m.

foods are more expensive,” Pacette said.

In an interview with the Tribune, Lily Silverman, U1 Science, explained that she would simply rather skip lunch than pay the campus cafeteria fees.

“Since I kind of live far away [...] it is nice to have the cafeteria option, but it is rather expensive,” Silverman said. “A lot of times, I will just eat breakfast, and then I will not eat lunch and I will just go home and cook dinner.”

Pacette, too, has witnessed students skipping meals in order to stretch their mealplan money to the end of the school year.

“I will hear a lot of people within a day talking about which meal they have skipped,” Pacette said. “It is creating a lot of disordered and problematic eating habits for people because they are trying to be frugal and ration their money. That is very concerning to me, personally.”

Pacette believes McGill ought to take action by cancelling the mandatory meal plan and lowering prices to help its students navigate the rising cost of living.

“I don’t think [the meal plan] should be mandatory,” Pacette said. “But I also definitely [...] would hope that the university would try to take action to bring those prices down to make food a little bit more accessible to everyone.”

*This figure was calculated by The McGill Tribune using data collected from McGill’s Food and Dining Services’ website

Overcrowding

on the inter-campus shuttle bus to McGill’s Macdonald campus has left commuter students feeling frustrated and underserved. Many students depend on the free service to attend classes at the Sainte-Annede-Bellevue campus—the commute without the shuttle would cost at least $7 both ways and take a minimum of one hour in each direction. As midterms loom near, downtown students are questioning whether they can rely on the service to attend their exams at Mac campus.

Students in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences use the buses for a direct, 45-minute commute to Macdonald campus. Each bus can transport a maximum of 60 passengers per journey. But since McGill’s transition to full in-person learning this fall, the shuttle has become an unreliable travel option. Those taking the bus at peak times face a long line outside of 688 Sherbrooke, where the Macdonald-bound bus departs. Most have no choice but to join the queue—public transit fails to offer a competitive alternative, as it seldom runs during off-peak hours and requires multiple bus and metro transfers.

Kamryn McCallum, U2 Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, believes buses departing early is one reason for overcrowding. With class ending at 10:25 a.m. in the Maass Chemistry building, McCallum is just able to make the 10:30 shuttle, but early bus departures

“Usually I am crossing Sherbrooke, right out front of [Roddick] Gates at 10:27, and I watch it leave,” McCallum said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “I think that is another reason why the next one gets crowded, because I know I am not the only one running for that 10:30.”

Shayla Santucci, U1 Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, believes that overcrowding is a consequence of buses not showing up at their scheduled times. At certain times of the day when fewer buses are circulating—such as between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m.—there can be a backlog of students who spill over into later time slots.

While Santucci has been able to adjust her journey by taking earlier buses to make it to her classes on time, she notes that not everyone has this flexibility. Students with interdisciplinary concentrations, for example, have classes on both campuses, and there is often only one shuttle they can take which will get them to class on time.

When Santucci contacted McGill to express these concerns, she was told by the inter-campus shuttle service that the bus is intended for those with inter-campus obligations, implying that those with Macdonald campus concentrations should not reside downtown. The email, which was shared with the Tribune, stated that the shuttle operates on a first-come first-serve basis, and that not every student can expect to be accommodated. Santucci found this response

unsatisfactory and believes that McGill intends to wait out the complaints instead of finding a more permanent solution.

In an email to the Tribune, McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle reiterated that shuttles come on a first-come, first-serve basis. She also explained that ridership is influenced by the return to in-person classes and students choosing to live downtown whilst being enrolled at Macdonald Campus.

“To ensure rider safety, most buses carry a maximum of 48 seated passengers—though some buses allow for standing room, bringing the total to 60 passengers,” Mazerolle wrote.

“Additionally, we must be respectful of drivers’ mandatory rest periods.”

Santucci’s professors have helped her catch up when she was unable to get to class, but she believes that the difficulty securing a spot on the shuttle disincentivizes students from attending their in-person classes.

“I would say that students now see the shuttle as an obstacle and decide whether they have to go to class based on it,” Santucci said.

For Santucci and McCallum alike, this sows a deeper anxiety as to what will happen come exam-time, when all students will be forced to attend class.

Julie Jacques Contributor

Ifyou are an undergraduate student at McGill from Quebec or another province in Canada, you are eligible for health insurance provided through the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU). The McGill Tribune looked into SSMU’s health and dental plan, what it includes, how students can submit claims, and whether it can be combined with other private insurance plans.

What is the SSMU Health and Dental Plan?

SSMU offers health and dental insurance for all Canadian students. This plan is administered by StudentCare, a health insurance broker for students in Canada, and provided by Desjardins Insurance— which also reimburses students for claims made. Even if a student is covered by a primary insurance plan under an employer or family member, SSMU’s insurance can be used as a secondary plan for more extensive coverage.

The SSMU plan for Quebec and other domestic students is optional, but students are enrolled by default for the academic year if they are

health and dental insurance

registered in the fall semester. Should a student decide they want to opt out of the plan, they can withdraw through StudentCare during the change-of-coverage and opt-out period, typically from late August to late September.

Students entering McGill in the winter semester, however, are not enrolled for the plan by default and must opt-in for their winter semester before being automatically enrolled the next fall. Any student who wishes to add a dependent, such as a child or spouse, to their plan can do so during this period for an extra annual fee of $345 per person.

Although international students are primarily covered by the McGill International Health Insurance Plan, a mandatory plan administered by McGill, they are automatically registered for SSMU’s dental plan. This is because the McGill plan does not cover dental care.

What does the plan cover?

SSMU’s health insurance plan covers a vast scope of medical needs outside of those covered by the basic provincial healthcare provided in Canada. The plan covers most dental procedures and vision care and includes travel insurance, which covers physicians, hospitals, and

other emergency services abroad for up to 120 days per trip. Other benefits include partial reimbursement for the cost of mental health services and access to virtual healthcare through Dialogue, a telemedicine app.

How does SSMU decide what is included in the plan?

While SSMU collaborates with StudentCare, the SSMU Health and Dental Plan Committee determines what is included or excluded from the health care plan. In a statement to the //Tribune//, SSMU vice-president (VP) Student Life Hassanatou Koulibaly explained that through

StudentCare, SSMU can consult trends in insurance usage, which allows them to see what coverage would best serve the student population.

“Working with StudentCare, we are able to see where most needs are,” Koulibaly wrote. “Over the past year or two, we have seen an increase in mental health consultations and usage of mental health services, and with these trend recommendations [we] are able to address these needs within the plan.”

How does one file a claim?

Starting in Fall 2022, all mobile

Week

Madison Edward-Wright Managing Editor

McGill: Students can register their gender as “X” with McGill’s Student Information System

McGill students no longer have to list their gender as male or female on their official McGill records. Instead, they can mark it as “X”, a new category recognized by the Quebec government as of June 2022. Thanks in part to the recent passing of Bill 2 by the National Assembly of Quebec, “X” is now accepted as a legal sex designation in the province. The change in provincial law made it possible for McGill to update its student records to better reflect the gender spectrum—even though Bill 2 uses the term sex and not gender.

Any incoming student will have the option to mark “X” when filling in their personal information on Minerva. Students currently enrolled at the university can also change their gender marker, but must complete some paperwork to do so.

Local: Pilot project now allows dogs on metro, some conditions apply

As of Oct. 15, dogs of all sizes and breeds will be allowed onto Montreal’s metro network. Owners can now bring their dogs with them into metro cars thanks to a pilot project launched by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) that will run for the next nine months. After the trial period, the STM will evaluate whether dogs will permanently be allowed on the metro.

There are a few caveats to the project. All dogs must be kept on leash and must be wearing a muzzle while on the metro. Pets will also not be allowed on any benches and owners are responsible for cleaning any messes their dog may make. These pups are only allowed on the metro between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. and after 7:00 p.m.— so not during peak hours.

National: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will testify before Emergencies Act commission

The Public Order Commission, which has been tasked with investigating the federal government’s implementation of the Emergencies Act in early 2022, began hearings on Oct. 13. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be testifying in front of the committee, as well as the federal minister of defence, the federal minister of public safety, and many more. A hearing schedule has yet to be released.

Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act in response to the Freedom Convoy’s occupation of downtown Ottawa. The Freedom Convoy was a group of people who protested federal vaccine mandates that required truckers to be vaccinated to cross any land border into Canada. Though the movement was sparked by truckers, it was later joined by many who opposed any COVID-19 restrictions.

claims should be made through Omni, an app powered directly by Desjardins Insurance. Claims can also be done on the Desjardins web portal or by mail.

Previously, students had to submit a copy of their medical receipts and purchases to the StudentCare app. StudentCare, acting as an intermediary, then sent claims to Desjardins Insurance, which would reimburse students.

Jordan Marcus, U2 Science, is hopeful about this change. He found the previous process to be unnecessarily bureaucratic.

“The claim process is selfexplanatory from the app,” Marcus said in an interview with the Tribune “[Before], sometimes I wouldn’t receive the money, and it was very hard to contact someone who can help [due to] multiple layers of obstruction.”

Marcus explains that after making a claim through the discontinued StudentCare app and not receiving a reimbursement, he had to contact StudentCare, who then had to contact Desjardins so that Desjardins could send the reimbursement to StudentCare, who would later forward it to him. Marcus hopes that by cutting out the middleman, Omni will make claim processing quicker.

International: Dutch man sentenced to 13 years in prison for cyber-stalking and harassing Amanda Todd

CW: mention of suicide

In 2012, a video went viral on the internet in which 15-year-old Amanda Todd revealed that she had been tormented and harassed online by an older man who resided in the Netherlands at the time. That man was Aydin Coban and his sexual extortion pushed Todd to take her own life in 2012. Todd’s death sparked a national conversation about the impacts of cyberbullying and what should be done to protect youth from online dangers.

On Oct. 14, a British Columbia court sentenced Coban to 13 years in a Canadian prison. Coban was previously sentenced to 11 years in prison by a Dutch court in 2017 for multiple counts of cyber-harassment, not including what he did to Todd. His 13-year sentence will only commence in 2028, after he has served his full sentence in the Netherlands.

The SSMU plan can be combined with other health insurance plans for more exten sive coverage. (Corey Zhu / The McGill Tribune)

Editor-in-Chief

Madison McLauchlan editor@mcgilltribune.com

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Matthew Molinaro mmolinaro@mcgilltribune.com

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News Editors

Lily Cason, Juliet Morrison & Ghazal Azizi news@mcgilltribune.com

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Kareem Abuali, Leo Larman Brown & Valentina de la Borbolla opinion@mcgilltribune.com

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Abby McCormick & Mahnoor Chaudhry studentlife@mcgilltribune.com

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Wendy Zhao features@mcgilltribune.com

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Hockey culture must be dismantled from the bottom up

Content warning: Mentions of sexual violence, hazing, and sexism.

On Oct. 11, Hockey Canada CEO Scott Smith and the entire board of directors resigned from their positions after weeks of scrutiny over the organization’s handling of sexual assault allegations. Several major sponsors like Tim Hortons and the Bank of Nova Scotia have suspended their endorsements, while other companies like Canadian Tire have permanently ended their relationship with the governing body. Some of these sponsors welcomed the group resignation as a first step in amending the culture of sexual violence and silencing of survivors, but this occurrence is no more than an exodus of shame. To truly address the violence that takes place under Hockey Canada’s purview, the organization, as well as hockey fans, must reckon with their role in encouraging, excusing, and covering up toxic male behaviour. Rebuilding hockey culture must be an effort from the bottom up.

Despite pleas from fans to keep sports separate from politics,

it is impossible to insulate hockey from the outside world for the simple reason that players are real people and do not live in a vacuum.

Canadian identity is deeply entwined with the culture of ice hockey. This culture, however, has long served as a determinant of insiders and outsiders within Canadian society— it excludes racialized minorities and women and, ultimately, promotes a code of silence between white cisgender men.

It is no surprise that a sport that prides itself on its exclusivity functions like a boys’ club. The narrative of the hometown hero thrusts young players into local stardom, and often protects them from the consequences of their actions. In hockey, the most praised players are often those who play aggressively, and it is apparent that this attitude travels far beyond matches. Championing players as commodities— characters who exist purely to play the game and entertain— further contributes to this illusion of untouchability that enables their behaviour. But the culture of sexual violence in hockey is not only perpetrated by players. In fact, players themselves are often survivors of hazing, sexual assault, abusive coaches, and a permissive

institution. The cycle of violence is self-fulfilling, and its effects echo beyond the ice rink.

Active efforts to cover up sexual violence plague the leagues under Hockey Canada’s jurisdiction. The organization used player fees to set up a previously unknown multi-million dollar fund to settle sexual assault cases. For Hockey Canada, money has the ultimate power to absolve players and coaches of their crimes. Ironically, money is what is propelling the downfall of the organization. The loss of major sponsors is a significant move that reflects companies’ interests in protecting consumer support by distancing their brand from this scandal. It seems that good corporate citizenship, or companies’ efforts to align themselves with ethical standards, is one of the only ways to induce institutional progress or, at minimum, dialogue. An exclusive focus on the power of companies, however, disregards the fact that hockey’s demoralizing culture of hazing, misogyny, and rape starts as soon as kids lace up their first pair of skates. The future of hockey in Canada must prioritize bottom-up initiatives and should be wary of corporations’ fronts of allyship.

Loving my Black hair back

Matthew Molinaro Managing Editor

designed for Black people would always be challenging, soul-destroying. The mental and physical toll of racism takes up time that should be devoted to self-love and broader transformation. I’m in recovery.

now starting to move away from their outdated dress codes that included, for example, bans on durags––or as they used to call them, “gang-related” attire that “incites violence.”

If Hockey Canada truly wants to address the misogynistic culture it has allowed to fester, it must allocate significant resources to consent training starting with young players. As soon as a new board of directors is formed, the organization must also implement a policy to handle sexual assault allegations—a key element to holding perpetrators and enablers accountable. This reckoning should also extend into other parts of Canadian society, notably college campuses. McGill’s recent revision to its sexual violence policy is a step forward in centering survivors and is cause for optimism. But, just as in professional leagues, true change will only be reflected when rape culture is dismantled. From allowing professors with sexual misconduct allegations to teach and the men’s varsity hockey team to receive no formal consent training, McGill needs to actively participate in the change and require the Athletics department to take a hands-on approach to tackling rape culture. The “boys will be boys” culture is pervasive in both Hockey Canada and on campus. Men at McGill and in Canadian society must reject the infantilization that absolves them and embody non-violent manhood.

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

Continued from page 1.

I’d sit, ever the keener, closer to the front. Had I learned about economics, I would have charged people for touching my hair, like a zookeeper would do for pesky tourists who itch to pet goats or play with monkeys. What I intuited, but didn’t have the words for as a child, was that embodying Blackness in spaces not

Comments about my “easy” hair pile up, they recycle in mutant forms. Classmates begged me: “Straighten your hair!” Upon hearing that I played tennis, a teacher oddly remarked, “Aren’t you wearing a wig?” I don’t ignore the offthe-cuff adjectives either: Messy, exotic, ethnic, unprofessional, distracting, crazy, clown-like. I must be glad that these people are actually just jealous. That’s why they get perms, right?! That’s why they––you know who you are––appropriate Black women’s hairstyles! If I read Scottish and Irish history more closely, maybe I’d realize that dreads are common across cultures.

This will not be the first reflection on hair discrimination. School boards in Ontario are only

Black women worldwide specifically face misogynoir for their hair, with dangerous economic implications in the workplace. In 2014, Lettia McNickle’s boss sent her home from her job at a Montreal steakhouse because of her cornrows: Only in 2018 did she receive justice from the Quebec Human Rights Commission. Canadian politicians are still considering bills like Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament Jill Andrew’s “Protecting Our Crowns”, seeking to mandate “culturally-responsive” training for Black, Indigenous, and racialized hair, in hairstyling programs.

Both sides of my family have natural curls. My grandfather often speaks of how back in 1950s Italy, barber shops didn’t have running water so he would

have to douse his hair with ice-cold fountain water to care for it. Today, the most valuable currency between me and my siblings is compliments on each other’s hair. My sister has tried variations on her classics: Her fantastic locks are now dyed so brightly that they light up the streets of Kingston, Ontario. My brother uses infinite amounts of Black hair products that can only be found at our suburb’s one Walmart on the other side of town. He takes forever to do his hair that is fully grown out––adding a few inches to his height. In full-day endeavours punctuated by patties and oxtail, we drove 30 minutes to Brampton to get our hair done. I’ve flirted with continuing to grow my hair––I loved my Afro days––and with keeping a consistent fade. What I would prefer is to make this decision in a world that wasn’t anti-Black, and in everyday spaces that don’t tinge every comment with racial pretension, prestige, and power.

The McGill Tribune Editorial Board

Joseph Abounohra, Kareem Abuali, Ella Gomes, Sequoia Kim, Shani Laskin, Kennedy McKee-Braide, Madison McLauchlan, Michelle Siegal, Sophie Smith Clio Bailey, Margo Berthier, Isobel Bray, Gillian Cam eron, Kowin Chen, Kellie Elrick, Ella Gomes, Julie Jacques, Jasmine Jing, Harper Ladd, Yana Lazkani, Amalia Mairet, Zoé Mineret, Simi Ogunsola, Henry Olsen, Maddie

Maeve Reilly, Renée Rochefort, Millie Roberts, Sofia Stankovic

STAFF

Margo Berthier, Ella Buckingham, Melissa Carter, Ade line Fisher, Suzanna Graham, Jasjot Grewal, Charlotte Hayes, Monique Kasonga, Chloé Kichenane, Shani Laskin, Zoé Mineret, Harry North, Ella Paulin, Dana Prather, Athina Sitou, Yash Zodgekar

Lecture recordings: A necessary post-pandemic learning tool

Yana Lazkani Contributor

Thefull resumption of in-person academic activities and classes this fall is something many students have been looking forward to after two years of online classes which, in all probability, were attended from one’s childhood bedroom. There is, however, absolutely nothing more painful to a student than hearing their professor utter the words, No, lectures will not be recorded and posted. Perhaps as a means of “returning to normal” (a phrase I have heard one too many times), many professors see no point in recording

their lectures anymore, despite lecture recordings being a widespread practice even before the pandemic. Dreadful as it might be for professors to figure out the technical logistics of pressing a record button, it is certainly more horrifying to zone out of a non-recorded class for a few minutes and suddenly miss an entire lesson with no way of revisiting the material (I am definitely not speaking from personal experience). The bottom line is that lecture recordings are a crucial feature of academic life that should be retained, one that should act as a supplemental resource for students alongside live lectures.

One cannot dismiss the benefits recorded lectures beget to students who

simply are not able to attend class. Whether it is work, an emergency, or something more chronic, like for students with disabilities who find it difficult to take adequate notes during in-person classes, lecture recordings are useful. McGill is constantly striving to maintain a solid academic support system, whether that be through note sharing provided by Student Accessibility and Achievement, advisors’ and faculty-members’ quality academic advising, or a more tailored learning environment through tutoring services. Recording lectures are merely another service that brings the university a step closer to cultivating a more inclusive and welcoming academic atmosphere for its students. And unlike other academic resources, recording a lecture is facile, demanding little to no effort—all the more reason to make them available.

Moreover, universities should consider that lecture recordings are quite valuable to students whose first language is not English. McGill, for instance, is recognized as Canada’s most international university with a remarkably diverse student body hailing from over 150 countries. Having the opportunity to revisit difficult lectures undeniably allows students to capture a better understanding of the material and alleviates confusion about challenging concepts.

The burning question remains, however, as to whether uploading these recordings discourages students from attending class and if that might impact their academic performance. Naturally, this is a

valid concern lecturers have, considering that educational institutions are designed around students actually showing up. Many studies show that lecture recordings do not significantly influence the number of class attendees; attendance patterns generally mirrored those from previous semesters when lectures were not recorded. Another research experiment conducted in 2020 revealed that neither attending lectures nor accessing lecture recordings are critical factors in determining a student’s performance—what is of importance, rather, is the student’s ability to focus. The students who performed remarkably well in a class were the ones who viewed lecture recordings in conjunction with attending class. So, as it turns out, it is the dedicated students who make the most of lecture recordings, not the other way around.

Needless to say, there will be some students who might exploit this tool and not attend class at all. Accessible online lectures, however, are not a main determinant in whether or not students skip class. Ultimately, the systemic integration of lecture recordings into academic institutions brings more advantages than drawbacks. Whether it be to revisit difficult lectures, aid those in need of additional academic assistance, or simply provide a sense of flexibility, lecture recordings are not a tool to be discarded. Many students are not ready to give up such an inextricable component of their learning process just yet. Especially not after the overwhelming academic challenges the past few years have presented.

The T on Campus

The McGill Tribune Opinion Team

“No amount of finance bro money will save you from the amount of therapy you will need.” - Izabella Tyc, U4 Management

“We should be able to smoke in front of McLennan library.” - Patrick Zoghbi, U1 Engineering

“Redpath cafe poke bowls are garbage. Down to their every component. The rice is incredibly unseasoned. Every single vegetable tastes like tap water. The protein portion size is fit for a 7.8-month old baby.” - Megan Ng, U3 Science

“Put a walkway from the main gates to the library.”Asha Trotz-Motayne, U3 History and Cultural Studies

“You can definitely trust the person next to you to watch your stuff.” - Finn Kleckner, U3 Computer Science

“Wearing a backpack is so embarassing, please invest in a different kind of bag.” - Sepideh Afshar, Managing Editor

MyCourses offers a live transcription feature to accompany lecture recordings. (Tubik Blog)

‘Scenes from the Underground’ centres queer rave culture around the world

Suzanna Graham Staff Writer

Continued from page 1.

The vignettes are paired with illustrator Jacob Pyne’s risqué draw ings, depicting nudity, intimacy, sexy Furby costumes, to name a few. Cho lette and Pyne’s creative partnership began where every good relation ship starts—on Grindr. Together, the two perfected a beautifully chaotic method of storytelling: Pyne’s image sets the tone for Cholette’s vignette, showing the reader whether the story features anonymous sex, the calm of next-day hangovers, or friendships formed in the ecstasy of a rave.

Cholette’s Instagram bio re quests, “[d]on’t send this to my mother,” which has since become a joke—Cholette’s mom is one of his biggest fans. While originally in secure about publicly releasing his work under his name, Cholette let go of these fears after noticing a sepa ration between his underground life and above-ground life as a creative writing professor at l’Université de Montréal.

“At first I [wrote] anonymous[ly]

because it was kind of a big step for me to come up with those stories publicly,” Cholette said in an in terview with The McGill Tribune “[What changed was that] I received a lot of messages from people who are really excited with the way I talk about [these topics].”

Cholette’s storytelling is re freshingly frank. Despite the hazy imagery of young people enjoying shadowy, sweaty clubs with pump ing bass music, Cholette doesn’t shy away from the dark side of this world. Many of the final stories de scribe hangovers and the effects of bad trips, like vertigo, from drug mixing. Nonetheless, Cholette’s in tentions are neither to demonize nor praise the raving community.

“For this book, I was really try ing to give this positive approach to [rave culture] because in the media, the only thing we talk about is the abuse, and I think it’s important to give [it] another life,” Cholette ex plained. “I think we can criticize [raving] and [its] capitalized culture and for sure it adds another layer of [demonization] in a community that’s already marginalized [....] But for me, it was finally my way of having

a community and making links with others.”

At the core of each vignette is Cholette’s message of appre ciating the people he’s found in the rave world.

Amidst the clubs, drugs, and multilin gual friends, he nails his por trayal of strong 2SLGBTQIA+ community bonds that connect queer people all over the world. No matter how demonized these raving communities are, there is solace in those spaces where cishet people do not dare to go.

Between sexting and alcoholinduced escapades, there are—as Cholette affectionately calls them— his “goblins” who flit in and out of each story, showing up the next morning and always offering a safe

couch to crash on. As with all com munities, there are bad experiences and bad people. But for Cholette, the ultimate goal is to destroy the shame associated with this culture and show the community found in the under ground.

“If you don’t talk about [the culture] necessarily positively with people, they [...] start having these two lives, one that they can talk about in public and one that they cannot talk about in public,” Cholette

McGill alum Gabriel Cholette shines light on rave dark rooms in new memoir ‘Seeing Loud’ showcases Basquiat like never before

Harper Ladd Contributor

After his untimely death in 1988, Jean-Michel Basquiat rose above his hard-earned fame to become one of the most celebrated neo-expressionist art ists of the 20th century. His works grew in popularity, and now, Basquiat’s designs can be found around the world, from sneakers to album covers.

His fame has also meant the simplistic reduction of his image to that of primarily a visual artist, when in fact, he was also a musician and performance artist. Yet, See ing Loud: Basquiat and Music, a new exhi bition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA), synthesizes the many creative as pects of Basquiat into an unprecedented por trait of the artist himself.

Seeing Loud is a collage of drawings, paintings, performances, music, and more that tracks Basquiat’s artistic career in seven sections. There is special emphasis on Bas quiat’s involvement in the experimental, multi-genre band Gray, which he co-founded with filmmaker Michael Hoffman in 1979.

The exhibition focuses mainly on the essential connection between Basquiat’s fine arts and music, highlighting both the music he created and that which inspired him. Many of his pieces include written words and ono matopoeia; the forms depicted capture and mirror elements of his musical aspirations.

As guest curator Dieter Buchhart said in a press release, “Basquiat’s works appear like a ‘language of rupture,’ a concrete po etry of hip-hop created in a copy-and-paste

technique and jazz improvisation. Music thus forms the decisive link in his art.”

The visitor’s experience begins in a room displaying many of his paintings, drawings, and a film of various underground music per formances in New York City, where Basquiat grew up and cultivated his artistic career. The raw, rebellious sounds of punk shows work in perfect dialogue with his pieces that chal lenge the status quo, making the connection between Basquiat’s vision and music imme diately evident. As the exhibition continues, it becomes clear that music and the themes of Basquiat’s works, many of which speak on various aspects of the Black experience, are not only connected but inseparable.

After a trip to the Ivory Coast in 1986, Basquiat acquired many traditional instru ments, such as water drums, castanets, and rattles, which greatly inspired his work. The legacy of the African diaspora and its con nections to the “American” forms of Creole and jazz music are central to many pieces in section six of this exhibit, Basquiat and the Music of the Black Atlantic. Basquiat un derstood jazz music in its greater historical context, demonstrated by the motifs he em ployed. He often painted African-American jazz musicians who faced racism in the in dustry to reflect the racial, social pressures he faced after becoming a public figure.

The last section of the exhibit is dedicat ed to just two of Basquiat’s paintings: Eroica I and Eroica II, created in the last year of his life. They stand out as the perfect example of theme and music converging in Basquiat’s work. They are based on Beethoven’s Sym phony No. 3, which shares the same title,

Eroica, meaning “heroic” in Italian. With Basquiat’s choice of words and design, the paintings are a poignant monument to the perils and complexity of Black celebrity and commodification.

A great deal of thought was put into this exhibition’s curation, down to the smallest detail. It has a uniquely immersive atmo sphere thanks to the constant presence of music, whether it be punk, jazz, hip-hop, or opera. The MMFA collaborated with a Mon treal-based studio to create an interactive app that allows the user to experience Basquiat’s art in concert with augmented-reality stage

said. “What I was trying to destroy with my book is [that] you can talk about [this culture] with your mom, you can talk about it at school and it won’t make a difference—it doesn’t make you a bad person.”

“For gay people, it’s like you do your coming out and you go out of the closet but then it’s easy for us to go back in the closet.”

Scenes from the Underground is available in bookstores and online.

reconstructions and specialized musical se lections. In addition, there is extensive asso ciated programming, with events such as film screenings, themed evenings, and concerts being offered throughout the exhibition’s stay.

It is amazing to witness Basquiat’s lega cy being remembered in its full scope. This is truly an exhibition whose ingenuity matches that of the artist himself.

Seeing Loud: Basquiat and Music is on display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts until Feb. 19.

MMFA’s

uniquely immersive vision of Jean-Michel Basquiat

The book of vignettes is illustrated by Jacob Pyne and translated from French by Elina Taillon. (ellgeebe.com)

Eroica

Leaving the starving student behind

Food insecurity and the toxic culture that surrounds eating at McGill

Sarah Farnand, Sports Editor

Design by Mika Drygas, Design Editor

Every McGill student has likely trekked to the library for a study session, and emerged five hours later, stomach grumbling, head aching, needing food close and quick. But not every McGill student can afford a $13.56 salad from Redpath or a $6.37 cup of fruit from RVC. Food options for stu dents on campus are largely limited and inaccessible. McGill residence mandatory meal plans are $6,200 and only provide access to a limited array of pricey options that quickly eat up this budget. With such high costs of food piled onto the high costs of living, as well as the cost of tuition, many students struggle with finances and find themselves undergoing mal nourishment in order to save money.

Food insecurity is when someone does not have adequate resources to properly feed themselves nutritiously or at all. While, according to a study by the Hungry for Knowledge, Quebec reportedly has the lowest rate of household food insecurity of any province, nearly 40 per cent of Canadian university students report facing some degree of food insecuri ty. The study also found that the cost of food, tuition fees, and housing costs were the most common con tributors to food insecurity. Food insecurity dispropor tionately impacts Black, Latinx, and 2SLGTBQIA+ individuals that are already underserved on university campuses and creates barriers to student success and general wellness. McGill has done little to support stu dents after their tuition spike for certain programs in 2020 and a rise in inflation. Food prices at McGill are only increasing and McGill Dining Services has no real options for students who may not be able to shoulder these hefty costs. And McGill’s completely student-run food bank, the Midnight Kitchen Collective (MK), no longer serves daily lunches after just returning from a two-year shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

MK is a nonprofit collective that serves to combat food insecurity among students and in the broader Montreal community. They offer biweekly free pre packaged meal pickups and free catering for events that align with their political mandate of anticapital ism. But the program only has enough resources to provide 50 meals for each meal service, which is not enough to meet their community’s high demand.

At Concordia, Le Frigo Vert is a collective that offers healthy, fresh, culturally diverse, and affordable food, as well as a safe space to relax, work on com munity projects, or host events. One of their main goals is to combat the stigma associated with using food services on campus.

“I see people struggle to feel okay accessing [Frigo Vert], so we try to reassure people and remind people that everyone goes through different times of need. We are an antipoverty organization so we think a lot about that kind of thing,” Hunter Cubitt-Cooke, a Frigo Vert employee and organizer, said. “I person ally grew up poor, and there is definitely class shame.”

Cubitt-Cooke spoke about Aramark, a green washing food company contracted by Concordia and McGill dining services to provide food for students.

The quality of their meals is notoriously poor: They service multiple prisons in the U.S. who have report ed rotten meals and food crawling with maggots, or partially eaten by rodents. Hunter emphasized the importance of putting pressure on both universities to provide high-quality, affordable food to students.

McGill media relations officer Frédérique Maze rolle summarized the options open to students strug gling financially in an email statement to The McGill Tribune

“For those looking for budget-friendly meals, many options prepared in-house are available, in cluding the healthy and well-balanced hot meal of the day,” Mazerolle wrote. “Additionally, various meal plans are available, including the Saver Meal Plan, a tax-exempt meal plan best suited for those who plan to eat often on-campus.”

In reality, though, students have few choices if they want to save money on food. Mazerolle’s response ignores the high cost of food on campus, as well as the outrageous $6,200 cost of the meal plan enforced on first-year students in residences. Even if these students wanted to cook their own meals, resources are sparse. In New Residence Hall, for instance, there are only communal kitchens on two floors out of 12.

The mandatory meal plan is not only financially costly, but can also be harmful to students who strug gle or have struggled with disordered eating habits. U0 Science student Alexandria Taylor experienced this firsthand at New Residence’s dining hall.

“My biggest complaint about New Rez’s dining hall specifically is that they seem to serve people based on their looks,” Taylor said. “I often see tall, muscular guys with mountains of food on their plates—my roommate even heard one of the staff ask a guy which cut of meat he wanted—while I’m usually given the smallest portion automatically. This is upsetting not only because I’m paying the same price for my food, but because I also suffered from anorexia in the past and I’m familiar with unhealthy portion sizes.”

Outside residence cafete rias, students have to feed themselves, often for the first time. When compounded with the significant financial and academic stresses of university, this responsibility makes them especially vulnerable to disor dered eating habits.

“It is easier to engage in restrictive eating or binge eating if you have these tendencies when you have the freedom of cooking for yourself, or you don’t have structured meals with family,” Ege Biçaker, a PhD student in psychology, explained in an interview with the Tribune . “Structured meals, having three meals in a day, dispersed within four or five parts so that you won’t feel extremely hungry is the first plan of action in eating disorder treatment.”

Structure is difficult or impossible for many food-insecure individuals. They are often thrust into a cycle of “feast-or-famine” in which food intake oscil lates in correspondence with food availability. When one attempts to restrict food, whether voluntarily or not, it can cause various cognitive, emotional, and behavioural changes, such as preoccupation with food-related thoughts, increased emotional reactivity, and a tendency to binge once restrictions are lifted. Food insecurity among adults has repeatedly been associated with a greater likelihood of binge eating as well as other specific eating disorder diagnoses.

In the university setting, financial and academic pressures intersect to contribute to disordered eating. Students working more than 20 hours a week to pay the costs of living and tuition were found to struggle more with academics than students who worked less than 20 hours or not at all. Equipped with a new found freedom over their diets, students might forgo the time-consuming practice of cooking nutritious meals to prioritize studies, work, or social activities over health.

“When people are going off to university, making ends meet is a huge stressor in general.This might be the first time that you’ve had to pay your rent and pay your bills and buy your own food,” Alison Mac Neil, a PhD student in clinical psychology at McGill, told the Tribune.

“A lot of food insecure youth who are in undergrad have said that […] if they had enough time, they could go buy low er cost things at the grocery store and pre pare a meal and that would maybe

stretch their money further [....] But they just don’t have the time to, and time is money in a way, right?”

The starving university student who just eats ramen or other cheap, instant meals every day is a trope that should not be normalized. Instead, we need to look at the reasons why universities foster an environment where mental health disorders run rampant. In 2019, the National College Health As sessment found that almost 70 per cent of students at Canadian postsecondary institutions felt “overwhelm ing anxiety” in the previous 12 months. Similarly, a survey in the United States found that 73 per cent of university students experience some sort of mental health crisis during university. Rates of eating disorders, in particular, rose significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among university-aged wom en, the rates rose from just over 30 per cent to 51.8 per cent in 2021. For men, the prevalence rose from 13 to 31 per cent. Biçaker explained that the high volume of stressors on campuses can lead to disor dered eating, which in itself is a stressor, causing a vicious cycle.

“Eating itself reduces the activity of the system that is responsible for managing stress in our body [....] So it is natural that we turn to food when we are distressed,” Biçaker explained. “When one [has] strict rules about what to eat or not to eat, it is inevitable that they will break them. And once they break them they might feel especially stressed and especially guilty.”

Dr. Salah El Mestikawy, a professor in psychia try at McGill, explained that the pathology of eating disorders also makes them more prevalent in environ ments with high-achieving cultures like McGill.

“What I know from this pathology is that it ampli fies your ability to learn. So that's why very often an orexic patients are what we call overachievers. They learn very quickly, and they can learn anything [....] So my guess is that not only McGill but everywhere in this society where you have difficult challenges, you must have a lot of people with this genetic vulnerabil ity.”

Actual diagnoses for eating disorders are often rare cases compared to the prevalence and promo tion of disordered eating habits commonly on display at McGill. I hear classmates and friends bragging daily about not eating. Remarks like “Wow, it’s 5 p.m. and all I’ve eaten today is a banana” are familiar refrains.

“Diet culture is prevalent in all settings, but it's especially pertinent in universities,”

Liam Fowler from Safely Connected, McGill’s Eating Disorder Resource Centre, said in an interview with the Tribune . “Not only is it in an environment that perpetuates a lot of that toxic culture that is harmful to both our mental and physical wellbe ing, it's also an age where we're very susceptible to societal influences. And so the combination of those two factors creates this space that's super fostering of disordered habits and disordered eating.”

For me, after moving to Montreal, finding the balance of eating healthy and eating enough, all while dealing with the stresses of university and living alone for the first time, was extremely difficult. While I am in the privileged position of food security, seeing food as an ally rather than an enemy has been challenging. Battling feelings of internalized fatphobia and fear of weight gain poisoned my relationship with food and exercise for much of my university experience.

In terms of next steps for McGill, MacNeil believes it is imperative to recognize the multiple societal and systemic contributors to this issue.

“There's a lot of elitism at McGill, and that it might not be sort of socially acceptable for someone to access a resource like [a food bank],” MacNeil said. “I think broadly, subsidizing or lowering the cost of foods on campus would make a huge difference.

There's issues with housing [as well], food doesn't exist on its own [in a vacuum]. So if someone has to pay double what they would have paid in rent five years ago to live near school and go to school, that's cutting into their food budget.”

Because of the intersections of food insecurity with other systemic failures like the housing crisis, we must shatter the common misconception that eating disorders predominantly affect young, white upper-class women, so that solutions for food insecu rity do not leave marginalized groups behind. White individuals, in fact, have the lowest rates of food in security compared to other racial groups. Indigenous peoples in Canada are most greatly affected, with al most 31 per cent living in food insecure households, just among those surveyed. (Indigenous peoples are historically underrepresented in national surveys, meaning this number is likely much higher.)

“The reality is that the folks who are often really struggling are from different cultural communities or marginalized groups where mental health is [not] discussed as much,” MacNeil said.

Fowler believes that having conversations about the harms of disordered eating and normalizing such dialogue on campus is an important step in ensuring that solutions are inclusive.

“Not taking away from the severity of the ex perience, but I think accepting the degree to which [disordered eating] is occurring, is one way that will open up the space,” said Fowler. “And within that, ensuring that the space is representative of everyone and inclusive and inviting to everyone, as the ones that are most susceptible are oftentimes the ones that are at least represented.”

Dr. El Mestikawy also noted that learning the

biology behind eating disorders may help patients feel less responsibility and shame, as they cannot help their pathology.

“If people know this mechanism, it will not cure them, but will probably help them. Knowing that it's your putamen, and your habits that are pushing you to [restrict food] because anorexic [people] are not stupid. They know that something is really wrong and they know what's going on in their brain [....] Be better with yourself, know that you're not guilty. This is something beyond your control.”

It is important to recognize the numerous fi nancial and academic stressors that we, as students, endure. McGill's failure to provide accessible and healthy food wreaks a devastating impact on our mental and physical wellbeings. Just like how learn ing about pathology can help students rid feelings of guilt, critiquing the roots of food insecurity and disordered eating on campus can be a way forward to bringing in nutritious, more affordable dining options in our campus buildings and fostering a healthier culture amongst students surrounding food.

Collective groups like Midnight Kitchen and Frigo Vert have proven that high-quality, nutritious foods do not have to be out of reach. With environmen tal conditions that foster mental health disorders such as disordered eating, McGill needs to prior itize student health over profit to make sure food insecurity doesn’t exacerbate already critical issues.

For those looking for support, Safely Con nected offers several resources for students struggling with disordered eating, including a peer to peer support forum, as well as virtual support groups on the weekends.

What we liked this fall reading break

best

and series to help you survive midterm season

Amalia Mairet, Millie Roberts, Ella Gomes, Isobel Bray, Kellie Elrick Contributors

As the second official Fall Reading Week comes to a close and McGill students are thrust back into the throes of midterm season, downtime can feel like a fleeting dream. For students who have time to read nonacademic books or for those looking for a new study soundtrack, here are some highlights from members of the Arts & Entertainment team.

Pre Pleasure by Julia Jacklin

Amalia Mairet

Although Julia Jacklin’s new album was released in late August, October is the ideal season for Pre Pleasure. Her third record is an inti mate, confessional experience with a dreamy but drum-heavy sound that Pitchfork classified as “understated rock.” The vocals are soft but deliber ate, compelling you to listen carefully—whether it’s in an airport board ing line or on a walk to class. Autumn is a season of change and patience,

the perfect time to listen to Jacklin meticulously unravel relationships with her younger self, mother, unnamed lovers, and friends, with a flaw less instrumental backdrop throughout. If nothing else, tune into “Ignore Tenderness” for the uncomfortably honest first verse about reconnecting with her sexuality, and stay for the vocal swell that lifts masterfully into the chorus.

“The Midnight Club” Millie Roberts

An ominous Victorian manor deep in the woods, ghosts, cultish rituals, and a group of teenagers looking to solve an ancient mystery: All of these classic horror tropes are embraced in The Midnight Club The Netflix series takes place in an eerie youth hospice for those diag nosed with a terminal illness, where eight teenagers meet every night and share ghost stories to reconcile their pasts with whatever future they have left. The newest addition, Ilonka (Iman Benson), hopes to find a paranormal cure by uncovering the history of the hospice’s dark secrets. The Midnight Club is a valuable addition to Mike Flanagan’s horror universe, yet it doesn’t reach the evocative heights of its predecessors, such as The Haunting of Hill House. Despite this, it remains a worthy Halloween season watch for those looking for a moderate scare.

Derry Girls, Season 3 Ella Gomes

coming-of-age sitcom. The series’ final bow leaves viewers with both a warm heart and a burst lung as they watch Erin and her friends grow into their own while Northern Ireland undergoes significant political reformation.

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Isobel Bray

The Inheritance Games book trilogy follows the seemingly ordinary Avery Grambs, a teenager who inherits the entire estate of Tobias Hawthorne—a billionaire she’s never met. The catch? To re ceive her inheritance, Avery must move into the enormous, secretpassage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room showcases To bias’ love of puzzles and riddles. Unfortunately, Tobias Hawthorne’s family, including his four young grandsons, also live in Hawthorne House. With both help and hindrance from the Hawthorne family, Avery starts to piece together her role in the dead billionaire’s games. I found Barnes’ writing style to be easy to read and engage with; her narrative structure lets the audience in on just enough to feel like they are solving the mystery along with Avery. A twisty, entertaining, and fast-paced plot with well-developed characters make these books great escapist reads for a fall day.

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

Kellie Elrick

Fall reading break was scheduled from Oct. 8, 2022 to Oct. 12, 2022. Somehow, it’s already over. (farmersalmanac.com)

Released on Netflix on Oct. 7, the third and final season of Derry Girls serves as a hilarious, heartwarming conclusion to the beloved Chan nel 4 series. The show follows teenager Erin and her group of friends in Northern Ireland as they navigate Catholic school, eccentric family mem bers, and outrageous predicaments, all while liv ing through the Troubles. Despite taking place in a period plagued by sadness and loss, the show maintains a light-hearted tone—the protagonists are mischievous and spirited, experiencing the same milestones and shenanigans seen in any other

Alvvays embrace expansive shoegaze in a bold development of their sound

Yash Zodgekar Staff Writer

This acclaimed novel follows the titular Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer and NDN glitter princess as he tries to find his way home. Poignant and retrospective, the story moves fluidly through time to explore sex, lost love, colonialism, family, and identity. At the novel’s beginning, Jonny has left his childhood on the reserve for city life in Winnipeg, making ends meet as a cybersex worker to fund his ticket home. In the seven days leading up to his stepfather’s funeral, the reader is launched into an achingly raw journey into the past. The stream-ofconsciousness narrative is steeped in nostalgia, flowing melodically before intermittently shocking the reader back into the present with stark one-liners. Jonny’s story is highly timely but also intrinsically timeless, as Whitehead articulates first love, desire, guilt, and evolving identity in a way so deeply personal the reader can’t help but feel a part of the story.

indie-pop band return with dreamy third record ‘Blue Rev’

Though it took Alvvays five years to produce the follow-up to 2017’s An tisocialites , their third record Blue Rev proves to be worth the wait. The band grappled with several setbacks in the al bum’s production, including the theft of their early demo tapes, the destruction of their equip ment in a basement flood, and the replacement of their rhythm section. Yet this hardly stopped them from producing a record that boldly innovates by build ing on their indie-pop founda tions.

Blue Rev sees the band take their catchy musical formula and throw it through a hazy, dreampop-inspired filter: Soundscapes drip with fuzzy and distorted guitars, vintage synthesizers provide sparkly counterpoints, and drums with heavy reverb deepen out the sonic palette. The result is a richer, more allencompassing sound than that of their previous material.

Yet amongst this expan sion, Alvvays maintain a clini cal songwriting approach. Songs rarely exceed three min utes, wasting no time in quickly presenting a memorable hook. Blue Rev is also as emotion ally cathartic as ever, with themes of suburban, often un requited, love, afforded greater poignance and warmth by lead singer Molly Rankin’s increas ingly bold vocal delivery.

Opener ‘Phar macist’ concentrates an inordinate amount of pop goodness across its two-min ute runtime. ‘After the Earthquake’ be gins with jangly, Johnny Marr-esque guitar riffs, which then make way for a breakneck, pop-punk inspired second half. Meanwhile, ‘Very Online Guy’ is an exercise in 80s synth pop and influencer satire which works against all odds.

Blue Rev’s only weakness is that some of its material is more compelling than others. Mo ments like the alternative rock homage on ‘Lottery Noises’, or the semi-cliched refrain of al ways waiting on ‘Bored in Bris tol’ see the album tire towards its tail end. Nevertheless, this is a more than fair price to pay in exchange for a strong 14-song tracklist by a band willing to traverse new territory, making

Blue Rev a wholly satisfying pop expe rience.

Blue Rev is available to stream on all streaming platforms, and Al vvays are touring North America from October to Decem ber.

As Water Falls

A new exhibition is making noise in Montreal, As Water Falls is a large-scale virtual interactive waterfall. An immersive display that bends light through mirrors, vibrating motors, and actual water, making for a surely unforgettable experience!

September 15, 2022 - January 5, 2023 (Thursday to Friday: from 4 pm to 8 pm, Saturday and Sunday: from 12 pm to 8 pm)

Place des Arts, Montreal, QC Admission: Free

Annual McGill Book Fair

Hankering for a new book to devour? Look no further than the Annual McGill Book Fair! Tens of thousands of donated books, all in good condition, are available, with all proceeds going towards McGill scholarships & bursaries!

October 18: 1 pm - 9 pm October 19: 10 am - 8pm, October 20: 10 am - 6pm

Redpath Hall (east side of McTavish Street, one block north of Sherbrooke)

Admission: Free

Sandy and Nora Talk Politics LIVE

A live episode of Sandy and Nora Talk Politics - one of Canada’s premier political analysis podcasts.

October 20: 7:00 PM-9:00 PM

Ausgang Plaza, 6524 rue St-Hubert, Montreal, QC

Admission: $7.83, 18+

Ann Lambert Book Launch

Author Ann Lambert signs and discusses Whale Fall, the 3rd book in the Russell and Leduc series.

October 23: 2:00 PM-4:00 PM

Librarie Paragraphe Bookstore

Admission: Free

Blue Rev

with song titles

Tom Verlaine and The Go-Go’s singer Belinda Carl

The band

The Tribune’s declassified midterm survival guide How to take care of yourself during exam season

Abby McCormick & Mahnoor Chaudhry Student Life Editors

As the days get shorter and the leaves change into varying shades of auburn and crimson, fall midterm season has snuck up on us. This time of year can feel like an all-encompassing mass of anxiety for McGill students as they work away at McLennan until the wee hours of the morning. Midterm season’s heavy workload sometimes leads students to neglect personal care in favour of spending a few more hours hitting the books. There are tons of ways, however, to incorporate self-care into your fall midterm routine without sacrificing your GPA.

Spend time outside

Going out for a walk in nature is one of the best ways to clear your mind and take time for yourself during exam season. Luckily, Montreal is home to many parks and hiking trails that will help you get lost in nature without veering too far from the library. The

quintessential Mount Royal is a mere five minutes from McGill’s downtown campus and offers a variety of trails to suit your specific hiking abilities. The stunning backdrop of the city amid the colours of the trees is sure to make you forget about that calculus exam for a few hours. If you are looking to get away from the McGill bubble, try a walk along the Lachine Canal or a stroll through Parc La Fontaine.

Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness is a regulation and meditation technique that has exploded in popularity in recent years—and for good reason. This method involves using breath and meditating techniques like body scan meditation to allow yourself to be fully focused on the present moment instead of stressing about what lies ahead. Particularly during midterm season, mindfulness is a great way to help you remain grounded and calm your nerves.

Study shorter and smarter

Instead of spending countless hours at your desk and

Mindfulness is a great way to remain grounded during your fall midterms. (every dayhealth.com)

burning yourself out, study in shorter bursts and increase your productivity by attempting to accomplish one task at a time. Break down each big task— studying for a midterm, for example—into a step-by-step process and tackle an individual, small step on its own. You can do this by dividing a midterm syllabus into equal parts, splitting the word count for an essay due, or distributing practice problems of certain chapters, and work through

each chunk independently and sequentially.

By honing in on smaller tasks, you will feel more focused, avoid being overwhelmed by the large amount of assignments on your plate, and have a more concrete idea of the end goal you are working towards. As an added bonus, accomplishing the small tasks will give you the extra motivation you need, as compared to being daunted by larger assignments. If you still feel swamped, try organizing

Donating clothing, dressing the community

Why you should give your unwanted clothing a second life

Margo Berthier Staff Writer

throw these clothes in the trash, consider the many local thrift stores that accept donations.

your tasks into a to-do list, for which Notion and Microsoft have great digital options, and perhaps inculcate the Pomodoro Technique into your study plan.

Spend time with friends

In the midst of all this midterm season chaos, disconnecting from work and hanging out with the people close to you can be the perfect recharge. Not only will it take some stress away and help relieve some of your mental burden, but studies have found that spending time with friends can be good even for your physical health. Having a trusted circle of friends has been linked to lower risk of heart disease and longer life expectancy.

So grab your closest friends and head to Randolph Pub for a board game night, go for a bike ride on one of Montreal’s most scenic bike trails, or simply order takeout and watch a movie at home. Any of these activities will do wonders in helping manage your stress levels and will give you a much-needed break from the long hours buried deep in academics.

Say

you’ve decided to clean out your closet and you find yourself staring at a pile of clothing, realizing you don’t wear most of it. According to the Pareto principle, you probably wear 20 per cent of your clothing 80 per cent of the time. Maybe some of it is outdated, old, threadbare, or just not your style anymore. Before you

It’s great for the environment

Have you ever thought about what happens to your clothes once you throw them away? In Montreal, clothes that get thrown away end up in landfills. The dyes and fibres from these fabrics pollute groundwater, release high levels of harmful methane as they decompose, and wreak havoc on the air quality when

incinerated. Donating your clothing will not only repurpose these items for someone else, but it will also reduce the harmful impacts of the fast fashion industry.

Many students on campus have already started their journey to help those in need, such as Prune Broudehoux, a member of the Commerce and Administration Student Charity Organization (CASCO) at McGill. Broudehoux recently organized a clothing donation event to collect funds for the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

“Financially, donating clothes can help support vulnerable groups that cannot afford to buy new clothing,” Broudehoux said. “Environmentally, I find it very important to give clothing a second life instead of throwing them away.”

It helps those in need

Many organizations will sell the clothing you donated at a lower price (or even give it out for free) to those who cannot afford them. Lost in a pile of sweaters, shirts, and pants stacked in your bedroom, an old piece of clothing you no longer wear could help unhoused people or lower-income individuals who are in dire need of affordable clothing.

Cassiopée Laugier, a thirdyear political science student at Concordia University, is passionate

about giving back to her community. In an interview with the Tribune, she explained why she started donating clothing.

“Today, I am trapped in a culture that relies on overconsumption,” Laugier said. “Having accumulated many items of clothing over the years, the more I buy, the less I wear each item. I would rather give this clothing to others in greater need than see them lying unworn around my closet.”

It’s easily accessible to give

Some charitable organizations in Montreal collect clothing, sell it to those in need, and use these funds to provide assistance to economically marginalized groups through food donations, housing, and counselling. A great place to drop off your clothes is the Chaînon. Located on St. Laurent, the Chaînon is a thrift store that sells clothing donated from the community at affordable prices.

In an interview with the Tribune , store manager Patrice Mongeau explained the organization’s mission: “Our goal is to welcome women in difficult situations by offering safe housing and assistance to tailor their needs. The funds generated through our clothing sales then

help our association.”

The Chaînon remains an ecologically sound organization every step of the way. If the clothing they receive is too damaged to sell, it gets recycled— so all items are welcome.

“Although the clothing we sell in the store needs to be in good condition—that is, no stains, holes, or broken zippers—we will accept anything handed to us because we recognize that there is always a good intention behind a donation,” Mongeau told the Tribune . “The damaged clothing will go to recycling companies.”

Other great options to donate your clothing are donation centres such as Big Brothers and Sisters, le Support, and Renaissance Quebec which offer a variety of accessible drop-off sites.

Whether you see donating clothing as an opportunity to lend a helping hand to the planet like Broudehoux or wish to fight overconsumption like Laugier, donating clothing is a great way to give back to the community. Try spending an afternoon sorting through the items of clothing in your wardrobe, and fish out the handful of shirts, pants, or sweaters that you never wear to give them to someone who will make better use of them.

Dispensaire Microbrasserie: Brilliant beer by locals for locals

A review of a local microbrewery in the Plateau

Harry North Staff Writer

Microbreweries have exploded in popularity in recent years. Not literally exploded, of course, that’d be horrific—we’d all be covered in yeast. According to the Association des microbreweries du Quebec, there’s been a 50 per cent increase in the number of microbreweries in the last four years. And so it follows: Our new generation is driven by experiences and sustainability. Thrifts

are the new Abercrombie, dirty Docs are the new Air Jordans, healthy is the new sexy, drugs come in doses, not surfeits, and in this new era, microbreweries are pouring the drinks.

I skipped class to go for a midday pint at the Dispensaire Microbrasserie, a microbrewery at the intersection of Prince Arthur and Coloniale. “Beer instead of school, Harry! Is this really the path you want to go down?” Hey, I’m on research, I’m on research! I’m Louis Theroux, I’m Louis Theroux! Who knows, maybe a midday pint stimulates productivity!

It’s all happening on Prince Arthur these days: Vegan and gluten-free restaurants, Japanese and instagrammable cafes, Café Campus and the lesser-known Petit Campus, which hosts gigs from local artists and bands. There’s also the cabaret Vol de Nuit and a restaurant called Onoir that only hires servers who are visually impaired and where you eat completely in the

dark.

Dispensaire Microbrasserie is right in the thick of it, too. It was started by four mates in 2018 and it’s a small operation— but busy work. You can see the ginormous fermenting tanks through the glass from afar. There’s a seating area outside with benches and tables that is very popular during the patio season.

I went inside and sat by the bar. Inside is split into two areas: The serving counter and a small seating area tucked behind. Both have a gastronomic feel, like you’ve just come off MasterChef. The serving area features black brick against whitecontrasting walls and a strip of glass that peers into the fermenting room. The small seating area behind has a couple of high standing tables and metal stools.

They had six beers on tap—all with funky names like “Elephant Velvet” or the “Schmoutz”, and all brewed in their 700-litre in-house tanks. They had the same six in cans to take away, plus an extra four. The cans were designed by local artists as well, which I bring up because it seems that most McGill students these days have an Instagram page dedicated to their doodles. The menu changes frequently, with one or two brews being replaced each week, and they also have a tasting tray with small glasses to sample each of the beers on tap.

I got the “SMaSH #3”, a non-hazy Indian pale ale with a 6.8 per cent alcohol

Day in the life of a McGill student: Outfit edition

Investigating the daily fashion habits of McGill students

Simi Ogunsola Contributor

Walking around campus sometimes feels like walking the catwalk at Paris Fashion Week. And by sometimes, I mean every day McGill’s got a fashion culture––a big one. A 10-minute walk to class can have you passing by people draped in floor-sweeping trench coats, balanced on mile-high platforms, and sporting some looks that you’d only see in Vogue.

But with the hectic student life, how do people do it? What does the process look like? Where is the inspiration coming from? How is everyone turning out show-stopping looks on random Wednesdays? The McGill Tribune sat down with some of McGill’s most fashionable students to find out.

8:30 am - Going to class

Starting bright and early at 8:30, Rebecca Yates, U1 Arts, dons a white button-up shirt, a fuzzy sweater, and a black mini-skirt layered underneath a leather jacket.

Yates usually builds her outfit around one piece that she really wants to wear and finds others to

complement it. If it’s a sunny day, she’ll pick out a cute skirt that she’s feeling and then expand outwards. Her style is all about comfort because of the confidence she gains from that, so just 10 minutes before class, she’ll pick pieces that make her feel her best and boldest.

If all else fails, she tells me, she’ll grab jeans and a baseball cap.

When describing her style, Yates explains that she gravitates towards whatever makes her feel like the coolest version of herself.

“When I look in the mirror and I’m like, ‘OMG I feel so cute right now’ [...] you feel like the best version of yourself,” Yates said in an interview with the Tribune

4:00 pm - Chilling at home

You can find Leena Demers, U2 Arts, lounging around her house in an oversized t-shirt, yoga pants, a cozy sweater, fuzzy slippers, and maybe even some sunglasses.

From both talking to Demers and observing her style, you get the sense of deep thoughtfulness, analysis, and so much passion. For Demers, all of her outfits revolve around colour and asking herself how she can make something that best represents her.

A seasoned fashion enthusiast,

Demers is inspired by style icons like Vivienne Westwood, Halston, Ralph Lauren, and of course, Ms. Bella Hadid. She describes her style as big and bold and we joked about how, when she’s walking through Redpath and heads are turning, she knows she’s put together something great.

7:00 pm - Gym Time

Lifting, squatting, or running on the treadmill, Ella Peck, U2 Arts, can be spotted in the gym in a periwinkle track jacket and matching Nike gym shorts.

Ella describes her style as comfy and cozy. She likes to be comfortable physically and feel good in whatever she has on.

Timelessness and agelessness are pillars of Peck’s style.

“I love to find combinations of outfits that anyone, anywhere in the world could wear,” Peck said.

10:00pm - Hitting St. Laurent

For a night out, Peck can be seen wearing an all-black ensemble. She sports a silky-black top with black leather pants and black heels, topping the look off with dangling sparkly earrings.

She explains that, when putting her outfits together, she loves to have one piece that her

content. This brings me to beer jargon— it’s an absolute nightmare, like talking to a Desautels kid about Bitcoin. An essential thing to know is the difference between an ale and a lager, the former being fermented at a warmer temperature and the taste being typically fruitier.

Anyway, the SMaSH #3 is made with centennial hops, which gives it a crisp fruity finish. My, it was tasty, and balanced, too, with hints of bitterness that keep you on your toes without stretching a muscle. All the pints are $8.50 and half pints are $6.50, with taxes included. And it’s worth its buck. Each sip was filling but bloody moreish!

Dispensaire Microbrasserie really does offer an object lesson in how to run a sensible establishment. No funny business, just shrewd mother wit. Say, for example, you want to bring a curry to have with your beer—a perfectly sound idea. Well, no problem—you can bring any food you want. Or say you’re tired of your friends nattering on—they have board games to change the conversation. What if you’re outside and getting cold? Don’t fret, they have blankets. And if you don’t know what type of beer you want, they let you have a taste test. This is a business by locals for locals. Oh, and their beer is absolutely hoppingly brilliant too.

Score: 5 / 5 stars

eyes are just drawn to, one thing that really pops.

Speaking to each of these fashionistas was extraordinary; you could tell that their energy, passion, and colourfulness in life are what shape and inspire their daily fashion choices. One thing everyone agreed

on was that choosing pieces that make them the most comfortable, and in which they feel their best, is when they look their best too.

“When you put clothes on that make you feel and look good, you’re going to exude your best self,” Demers said.

Founded in 2018, Dispensaire Microbrasserie brews a wide range of beers in their in-house 700-litre tanks. (dispensaire.beer)

Stylish McGill students offer insight into their design processes and love for fashion. (Simi Ogunsola/ The McGill Tribune)

Leading Canadian neurosurgeon recommends ban on body checking in hockey until age 18

Dr. Charles Tator says delaying the use of body checking

Tillie Burlock Sports Editor

lower rates of concussions

In

light of the revelation about the mishan dling of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion, conversations about the role of concussions in many sports, especially youth hockey, have been reinvigo rated. Dr. Charles Tator, a prominent Cana dian neurosurgeon, Order of Canada recipi ent, and director of the Canadian Concussion Centre (CCC) at Toronto Western Hospital, spoke with The McGill Tribune about the im pacts of brain trauma on youth and called on Hockey Canada to delay its current ban on body checking from age 13 to 18.

Tator’s recent study, which fills the data gap on the long-term effects of concussions in youth athletes, is the first to examine the long-term consequences of brain trauma in young hockey players. The study followed 87 hockey players—66 men and 21 women— between the ages of 10 and 18 that were re ferred to the CCC between 1997 and 2017 after being diagnosed with a concussion.

The study revealed that post-concussion syndrome (PCS)—when concussions symp toms last beyond the expected recovery pe riod of seven to 10 days following the initial injury—occurred in 80.4 per cent of players. Of the 34 patients that sustained concussions from body checking, 70.6 per cent of them suffered from PCS.

Concussions are typically caused when one’s head or body is hit with enough force to stretch, damage, and even break the brain’s neurons. This can lead to chemical and meta bolic changes within these brain cells, mak ing it difficult for them to function and com municate. In addition to the immediate pain following concussions, PCS symptoms can include fatigue, irritability, difficulty concen trating, memory problems, and sometimes depression. Other behaviours such as impul siveness, poor social judgment, and dramatic personality changes may also develop.

Tator’s study indicates that if leagues banned body checking until age 18, there would be a lower overall incidence of con cussions in hockey players.

“Because treatment for neurological injuries is not effective for everybody, we should spend more time trying to prevent the injuries from happening in the first place,” Tator said. “Our data indicated that by 18, you’re much more agile […] you can skate better […] and your brain is more developed [....] We didn’t have too many 18-year-olds with concussions from body checking.”

Despite the rigour Tator employed throughout his research process, his work has been met with criticism from some, like Mc Gill men’s hockey coach David Urquhart.

“Contact and concussions are preva lent in female hockey despite rules against body checking,” Urquhart told the Tribune

“Teaching proper angling, checking, and contact prevention techniques coupled with properly enforced rule changes could be valu able methods for concussion prevention.”

Tator takes criticism like Urquhart’s in stride, pointing to the benefits that waiting until the age of 18 to introduce body check ing would have for high-level sports teams.

“If [professional and university teams] wait until age 18 to recruit, there’ll be a much larger pool of players because all of those who were [saved from] damage by early con cussions will be available,” said Tator.

There is a large body of evidence linking con cussions to long-term brain dam age and cases of chronic traumatic en cephalopathy (CTE)—a pro gressive neu rodegenerative disease caused by repeated blows to the head—in for mer NHLers such as Steve

Montador and Derek Boogaard. The National Hockey League (NHL) and its commissioner, Gary Bettman, however, continue to deny the connection between concussions and CTE.

To many, the debate over body checking bans in hockey is a battle between medical exper tise and profits.

“Gary Bettman sells violence,” Tator concluded. “He makes money for [NHL team] owners, and they love him and won’t dislodge him. It’s a problem that has been created, but I think it’s a problem that can be solved.”

in a pill for those with rare movement disorders

Maddie Perry Contributor

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6), a rare neurodegenerative disor der, is characterized by severe, progressive movement and bal ance issues. It is associated with low levels of a neural mol ecule called brain-derived neu rotrophic factor (BDNF), which guides the growth and mainte nance of brain cells and overall

plasticity. SCA6 affects one in 100,000 people worldwide. Re search has shown that exercise can significantly restore BDNF levels in SCA6 patients, but some SCA6 patients have such limited movement that they cannot exercise.

Along with her lab, Alanna Watt, a professor in McGill’s Department of Biology, has identified a new drug that mim ics the effects of exercise on BDNF levels, opening the door to more accessible treatment

for patients with SCA6. The team’s findings were published in Science

In an email to The McGill Tribune , Anna Cook, a PhD candidate in Watt’s lab and first author of the paper, explained that finding new ways to ex ercise was the main driver for SCA6-related therapy research.

“Exercise is a low-cost in tervention that is accessible to SCA6 patients all over the world, even to those without ac cess to healthcare,” Cook said.

“However, exercise as a treatment has its own problems, particularly in people with move ment dis orders who might find it difficult to exercise. That’s why we wanted to build on finding drugs that work in the

same way.”

Low

levels of BDNF are also seen in patients with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Cook’s research began with her finding that the expression of BDNF and its receptor TrkB, the struc ture that BDNF binds to, was significantly reduced in mice with SCA6 disorders, leading to motor problems.

Cook mimicked the effects of exercise on a chemical level using a TrkB booster, 7,8-di hydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF), that activates the BDNF recep tor and promotes the growth of brain cells. After receiving this booster, the mice who suffered from SCA6 saw similar increas es in BDNF levels as they did after exercise. This indicated to Cook that 7,8-DHF may offer similar benefits in humans, al lowing for a more accessible form of treatment for patients with severe movement disor ders.

In the future, Watt and her team hope to show how differ ent types of exercise can el evate BDNF levels in the brain.

“We showed that the mice that ran further showed better improvement,” Watt said in an interview with the Tribune

“We’re looking at movement

disorders from many points of view—we don’t think that there’s going to be one perfect solution.”

Not only does this high light the importance of early di agnostics for those with SCA6 and similar movement disor ders, but it suggests that future research should be conducted at later disease stages.

“Some of our next steps will be to identify other treat ments that mimic exercise, and other drugs that are more effec tive in later stages of the dis ease,” Cook said. “So far we have only been able to rescue ataxia in early disease stages, but to really help patients we need to understand what goes wrong later in disease and find new treatments that target those later changes.”

Cook added that with fur ther investigation, more areas of research are opening up.

“SCA6 currently has very limited treatment options and no cure, so this is very prom ising research,” Cook said. “I really believe that it’s just as important to identify treatments for rare diseases as it is for the more common ones.”

Body checking was banned in women’s hockey in 1990, resulting in fewer concussions. (Canadian Press, / Andrew Vaughan)

Teaching an old enzyme new tricks

McGill researchers identify new enzyme function found in blue-green algae

Gillian Cameron Contributor

Blue-green algae are a common sight at summer swimming holes and lakes.

Also known as cyanobacteria, bluegreen algae are a class of bacteria capable of using sunlight as an energy source through photosynthesis. Despite being well-known and well-studied, a group of McGill research ers uncovered an unexpected and surprising

activity in an enzyme made by these microbes in a recent study: The enzyme can make its own primers, and therefore self-produce bio polymers.

Cyanophycin synthetase (CphA1) is an enzyme used by cyanobacteria to make an amino acid polymer—a chain of amino acids, the same molecules that make up proteins— called cyanophycin. The cell uses this polymer to store energy, amino acids, and nitrogen that can be later accessed when nutrients become

scarce. CphA1 has been harnessed by scien tists for the industrial production of cyanophy cin, which can be used to make plastics found in acrylic nails and paints—polyaspartic acid, a biodegradable alternative to polyacrylate.

In an email to The McGill Tribune, Itai Sharon, McGill PhD student and lead author of the paper published in Nature, detailed the complex relationship between cyanophycin and CphA1.

“CphA1 needs a primer, ideally a short cyanophycin chain, to be active, and this cre ates a bit of a chicken and egg problem,” Sha ron wrote. “The enzyme needs cyanophycin to make cyanophycin.”

Sharon works with peptidases, enzymes that cut up proteins. Upon comparing enzyme structures, Sharon noticed that CphA1 had an active site, a region on an enzyme that inter acts with other proteins, with a similar struc ture to the peptidases—suggesting that CphA1 may also have the ability to cut up proteins, like molecular scissors. Sharon also discov ered that this active site in CphA1 had binding sites for cyanophycin—an unexpected finding for a well–studied enzyme like CphA1.

“Even though at the time we did not know where those results would lead us, we decided to perform more experiments to de termine whether this peptidase-looking part of CphA1 really does have this kind of [cutting] activity,” Sharon wrote. “To our surprise, we found that it did.”

CphA1’s ability to make its own prim ers allows the enzyme to use cyanophycin al

ready present in the cell to make new polymer chains. This means the amount of cyanophycin CphA1 can make isn’t limited by the available quantity.

This finding has important considerations for CphA1’s use in industrial production of cy anophycin as a water softener or in plastics. As cyanophycin production is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than trying to chemi cally synthesize polyaspartic acid or polyac rylate plastics, scientists have been working to improve the biological production of the polymer. In order to optimize production, cyanophycin synthetase is often expressed in bacterial or fungal hosts that grow rapidly and are easy to work with. But these hosts don’t naturally produce cyanophycin, and thus don’t have suitable primers for CphA1, limiting the amount of polymer that can be made.

“That is why it’s important that CphA1 can create its own primers, to ensure that prim er availability does not limit the amount of cy anophycin that can be produced,” Sharon said.

CphA1’s ability to make its own primers was an unexpected discovery that could reduce the cost and environmental impact of cyano phycin production. Scaling up cyanophycin production would allow for widespread use of the environmentally-friendly polymer in nail polish and paint, as well as its use as an ecofriendly water softener. No matter how much research has been done on an enzyme or how many labs have worked on it, enzymes like CphA1 will always have surprises in store.

McGill researchers use drones to collect volcanic samples

Volcanic gas analyses can help predict future eruptions

Ella Paulin Staff Writer

Gasses

emitted from volca noes can provide crucial in sight into their activity and eruptions, but gas samples are diffi cult, and often dangerous, to collect by hand. McGill scientists are among the first to overcome this issue by employing drones to collect samples remotely by piloting them into the crater of a volcano and filling con tainers with volcanic gasses.

Using commercially avail able drones at the Poás volcano in Costa Rica, a team of researchers led by McGill PhD candidate Fiona D’Arcy collected gas samples and analyzed them for carbon isotopic content—the ratio between two ver sions of carbon, 12 and 13, found in the sample.

The researchers determined that fluctuations in isotopic concentra tions were a good indicator of erup tion patterns at Poás.

During dormant periods, car bon-13 built up inside the Poás volcano, increasing the ratio that D’Arcy’s team measured in the gas.

But during periods where Poás was erupting, they observed a shift to wards more carbon-12, resulting in a lower isotopic ratio.

“When we start to see [the ratio]

dropping, it’s a bit of a warning sig nal, like, maybe there’s a break in the seal, maybe something is gearing up to [...] explode through,” D’Arcy said in an interview with The McGill Tribune

If this pattern holds true across volcanoes with different characteris tics in different regions, it could be a powerful tool for predicting erup tions. D’Arcy has already done work applying this method to the island volcano of Stromboli in Italy and found similar results that she hopes to publish later this year.

“On the one hand [...] we defi nitely need to keep confirming this and go elsewhere,” D’Arcy said. “But on the other hand, you’re just like, wow, this is amazing. We have to publish this and get this out.”

The subtle fluctuations in car bon isotopes that D’Arcy monitors would have been extremely difficult to measure as recently as 10 years ago, but have been made possible by several technological innova tions. Using drones to collect mea surements was a key improvement, but, as John Stix, who worked with D’Arcy to collect and analyze this data, explained, advances in portable lab equipment were equally crucial.

“The study was beautiful for two reasons: A, the drones, and B, the fact that we had this instrument

with us in the field, and we were making these same-day measurements, almost real time,” Stix, a professor in the Department of Earth and Plan etary Sciences, said in an inter view with the Tribune.

Innova tions like these are currently revolutionizing the world of volcanology, especially the use of drones to collect measure ments where it would be dangerous to send humans.

“If everything’s going well, you fly it in, you make your measure ments, and you come out. And that’s really the beauty of it,” Stix said.

While incorporating these new technologies is a huge asset to researchers, it also entails a lot of trial and error. D’Arcy constructed the instrument package used by the drone herself, and had to figure out the process as she went along.

“I spent a lot of time on forums online and on YouTube picking out how the batteries plug in and what are the best ways to use this one sen sor, and going to hobby shops and ordering parts from all over and fig uring out how the wires fit,” D’Arcy said.

Ironing out these wrinkles and determining best practices is a key part of using new drone technology, and others are already looking to build on D’Arcy’s work. In Febru ary, she will participate in a work

shop at IACVEI 2023, an interna tional conference with the goal of de veloping the most effective practices and standard protocols for the use of drones to study volcanic activity. Observatories monitoring local vol canoes for prediction and evacuation purposes are also interested in using this technology.

As more volcanologists incor porate the use of drones for remote controlled sample collection, we can expect to see more exciting discover ies like this one.

Poás’

Tribune Tries: Fitness classes at McGill

Discovering the benefits and challenges of spinning and Pilates

After spending the summer reflecting on healthy habits I could take up for the start of the semester, I decided that I should incorporate more physical activity into my new weekly routine.

Upon taking a closer look at the McGill Recreation website, I discovered that, in addition to their regular gym membership, they also offer fitness classes, dance classes, martial arts, and a swimming club. Armed with this newfound knowledge, I signed myself up for a spinning class and a Pilates class. McGill students can buy a 10-class fitness pass for $50 plus tax. At around $5 per class, these fitness classes are some of the cheapest on the Montreal market.

I began my fitness classes midSeptember, starting with a Tuesday evening spinning class. I was not new to spinning—having taken some classes when I was younger—and was super excited to get back into it.

The spin classes at McGill are taught by Huy Duong, a McGill alumnus who developed his passion and love for spinning while he was a student at McGill. He continues to spin as a way to keep active while working as a software developer. Duong explained in an interview with The McGill Tribune how he transitioned from a spinning aficionado into an instructor.

“At some point, I decided that I wanted to give classes myself and pursued a spinning instructor certification,” Duong told me. “At one point, I had heard that McGill Athletics needed a spinning instructor, so I jumped at the chance to give classes at the place where my interest started. I still work full-time as a software developer. Being a spinning instructor is a hobby.”

Duong’s classes are filled with great music and a variety of exercises, including pushups and tapbacks—which really provide a full-body workout. What I

love the most about the spin classes is that the intensity is personalized. Each spin bike has a resistance knob which can be adjusted by the individual based on their preferences. If you enjoy being challenged in a fun and cheerful environment, I highly recommend that you take a spin class at McGill.

After spending the following days discovering soreness in muscles I never knew I had, I attended my Friday evening Pilates class excited to discover what the Pilates hype was about. The class is taught by Emily Halpert-Cole, who has

The biggest flops of the 2022 MLB season (so far)

Season performances left more to be desired from these four teams

Henry Olsen Contributor

OnOct. 5, the 2022 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season came to a close, and the playoffs are now officially underway. Each team had memorable moments, from the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols becoming the fourth member of the 700-home run club, to the Yankees’ Aaron Judge breaking the American League single-season home run record. The past 162 games offer some insight into what each team needs to improve on for the next season. Four of these teams, however, may need some rigorous tutoring with regards to their pitfalls.

4. Oakland Athletics

Oakland went from taking a run at the Houston Astros in the 2020 American League Division Series to becoming a wasteland, both in terms of fan attendance and quality of play. They amassed a mere 60 wins this year, compared to last season’s 86. But the A’s problems run deeper than their pitiful record. For one thing, their stadium is one of the worst in the league, and experienced issues with feral cats

at one point in the season. On top of that, the team itself is looking to abandon Oakland and move to Las Vegas, but has run into innumerable obstacles in the process. Finally, management traded away their best players, including Sean Manaea and Matt Olson. The future of the A’s depends on if they stay in Oakland or not. For now, however, they can only take pride in being the worst team in the American League.

3. Washington Nationals

This Nats season was the culmination of a slow transformation from a decade-long run as a title contender to being the worst team in MLB. The team’s first mistake was re-signing Stephen Strasburg over Anthony Rendon back in 2019. Strasburg made a combined eight starts over the last three injuryladen seasons. Conversely, Rendon finished 10th in MVP voting in 2020, although he has only been partially available for the last two seasons. The second mistake was not developing a serious team to build around Juan Soto. In fact, they traded away another young talent in Trea Turner, and their best pitcher, Max Scherzer, to the Dodgers last season. This supposed reboot culminated most incredulously in

the Nats trading away Josh Bell and the aforementioned Soto at the trade deadline. The proven young core that Nats fans thought their team would build around has disappeared. This Nats’ flop is a protracted three-year fall from their World Series glory in 2019.

2. Toronto Blue Jays

If last season was the “trailer” for what was to come, then the Blue Jays’s movie must have been directed by Tommy Wiseau. The Jays started the season with a decent enough, though disappointing, record, and stayed a lick above .500 for most of the year. With so much hype going into the season after the acquisitions of José Berríos and Kevin Gausman in the offseason, the Blue Jays looked like they would have one of the better starting pitching rotations in baseball. But a disappointing regular season forced the Jays to face off against the Seattle Mariners in a three-game wildcard series.

Despite being the clear favourite over the Mariners who just got back into the playoffs for the first time in 21 years, the Jays were shut out in game one. In game two, after going up 8-1, the Blue Jays proceeded to give up big play after

been teaching Pilates at McGill Athletics since 2015.

Pilates class has easily become the highlight of my Friday. It’s the perfect way to unwind before the weekend. Halpert-Cole focuses a lot on breathing, and teaches us how to be conscious of the movement of our body’s muscles. Pilates focuses on core, stability, and posture while working all of the body’s muscles. The breath work and focus on feeling your muscles allows students to be more mindful of their bodies. Essentially, Pilates provides a kick-ass core workout which is beneficial for any sport you may practice. Despite working pretty much every muscle in my body, I leave the class feeling relaxed enough to go to bed.

Halpert-Cole’s philosophy is that the most important element of a fitness class is to enjoy yourself and have fun while moving your body. The fact that she doesn’t exclusively focus on just building muscle is super refreshing. An added plus is that she uses equipment like gym balls to make the class more lively, and pushes us to do exercises we’ve never done before.

The fitness classes at McGill are the perfect way for me to uphold my fitness resolutions. They are a fun way for me to move my body throughout the week and meet other McGill students who enjoy working out. Despite the body aches I get the following days, I always want to come back for more.

big play and eventually lost 10-9 in one of the worst chokes in MLB playoff history. An inconsistent bullpen and questionable coaching deserve major blame, yet numerous problems remain.

1. New York Mets

The Mets entered the season as contenders to win the World Series. They exited as yet another embarrassment in a long list of shameful Mets teams. After holding the top spot in their division for almost the entire season and being 10.5 games up in early June, the Mets lost their division lead in

the last week of the season after a sweep by Atlanta, their division rival, pushed them into the Wild Card round. But they have Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer, you say—two of the best pitchers in the league, to go with Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil, and Pete Alonso on offence! Surely they could beat the 89-win Padres team. In classic Mets fashion, they lost the series and got shut out at home in game three. Despite having by far the highest payroll in baseball at $235.6 million, with the Mets, there may be no fixing a history of mediocrity.

Fitness classes include spin, bootcamp, barre, yoga, Pilates, and sculpt and strength (McGill Athletics and Recreation)

With star player Juan Soto gone, the Nationals finished off their three-year col lapse. (Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)

Renée Rochefort Contributor

McGill’s

Basketball Classic began on Oct. 14 with both the Martlets (2–4) and the Redbirds (1–6) in action at Love Competition Hall.

McGill Martlets vs. MacEwan Griffins

The Martlets first took the court to face off against the MacEwan Griffins (0–2). McGill got out to a sluggish start and dug themselves into a 13-0 hole by 4:43. Despite the cold shooting and the poor finishing from the Martlets, the team doubled down on their defensive strategy and were able to limit the Griffins to just four points in the remainder of the first quarter.

The momentum shifted after the team began forcing defensive stops, and McGill was rewarded offensively as the Martlets ended the quarter trailing by only five. The second quarter was a more balanced affair, with both teams locking up their defence and moving the ball well. Slowly but surely, the Martlets clawed their way back into the game and eventually tied it up. The team finally took the lead when more collaborative play allowed Emma-Jane Scotten to penetrate the paint and generate a three-point play opportunity right before the halftime buzzer. The strong take from the third-year guard pushed the Martlets into a narrow 33-30 lead at halftime.

The third opened up with a smooth three-pointer from second-year Katie Rathwell, which was quickly countered by a Griffins’ three. The fast pace and hustle on both ends resulted in many lead changes during the quarter. Early fouls by the Martlets hindered their defensive pressure and allowed their opponent to take a 45-43 lead heading into the final period. The last quarter brought nail-biting tension as Montreal’s own Ines Tchoukuiegno hit her rhythm. Coming off the bench, the first-year guard took over the game and scored the team’s first eight points of the quarter. Tchoukuiegno began her run with an old-school three-point play, followed up with a three-ball, and finished with a running layup. The back and forth continued, and the game was a tied contest with 36 seconds remaining. With just seven seconds left, a Griffin foul sent Tchoukuiegno to the line where the first-year nailed both her free throws to seal a 59-57 victory.

In a post-game interview, Tchoukuiegno explained how the team stayed focused.

“We followed the game plan, we played good defence,” the first-year guard told The McGill Tribune. “We really wanted to win this game. We need to stay focused when tired, keep

encouraging each other and communicating well.”

After the game, head coach Rikki Bowles also shared her excitement for the team and noted some future areas for improvements.

“They battled, they fought, and that same effort and energy has gotta continue for the rest of the tournament,” Bowles said. “But one thing to better is our rotations, so when we do get beat on the defensive, they can’t get to the rim.”

McGill Redbirds vs Lethbridge Pronghorns

After the Martlets exited the court, the Redbirds were up next against the Lethbridge Pronghorns (2–0). Just like the Martlets, the team fell behind quickly when their opponents started with hot shooting hands: The Pronghorns jumped out to a 14-2 lead halfway through the first quarter. While the Pronghorns showcased their skills by shooting 58.8 per cent from the field and 42.9 per cent from deep, McGill’s shooting woes continued.

The Redbirds trailed 23-8 after 10 minutes with 14.3 per cent shooting from the field and 28.6 per cent from behind the arc.

The team’s comeback attempt began in the second quarter with fifth-year transfer guard Samuel Chaput showcasing his bag of tricks and major explosiveness off the dribble to score 10 points. With renewed focus, the team worked to chip away at the lead. Fourth-year transfer combo-guard Ibrahim GosselinDiawara provided a spark off the bench with six points to help narrow the lead to within striking distance. At halftime, the Pronghorns were only leading 43-38 over the home team.

A comeback, however, became increasingly unlikely as the Redbirds had another cold shooting outing in the third, going one for eight from three-point land and five for 19 in the paint. Gosselin-Diawara tried to engineer a run with the bench players while the starters struggled to find their shots, but was unsuccessful. The Pronghorns took a 68-49 lead into the final quarter. The visitors kept their foot on the gas even as the Redbirds’ offence began hitting the mark in the fourth. Down by almost two dozen, McGill waved the white flag and emptied their bench in the later stages of the quarter. The game ended 89-72 in favour of the Pronghorns.

In a post-game interview with the Tribune, GosselinDiawara mentioned some key points to keep in mind for future games, as well as the importance of team chemistry.

“We need to have a better start to the game, we need to be consistent and focused on the details, we have to be resilient and bounce back,” said the guard. “I like everyone on the team, [our] chemistry needs to be better, but that will take time.”

The McGill Tribune also caught up with head coach Ryan Thorne afterward to learn about the team’s takeaways.

“We know we can play at a high level. We just gotta learn to do that consistently for 40 minutes,” said Thorne. “This is the first time that the whole group is together. Sometimes people are taking it all on themselves so we got to learn to play as a group and at a high level.”

On Oct. 15, both the Martlets and the Redbirds dropped games to the Laurier Goldenhawks and Saint Mary’s Huskies respectively. Oct. 16 brought victory to both teams with the Martlets taking down the Laurentian Voyageurs 65-62 and the Redbirds narrowly defeating the Ottawa Gee-Gees 61-60 for their first win of the season.

Martlet Basketball returns on Nov. 3 for the regular season home opener against Bishop’s University at Love Competition Hall at 6 p.m. The Redbirds will follow at 8 p.m.

Martlets complete comeback over MacEwan Griffins while strong shooting by Lethbridge sinks Redbirds

Day one of McGill’s Basketball Classic sees Martlets victory but Redbirds defeat

The McGill Basketball Classic featured a combined eight teams and 12 games over the span of three days, and the Martlets won the tourna ment for the first time since 2017 with a 2–1 record on the weekend. (Maeve Reilly / The McGill Tribune)