McGill Tribune Vol. 38 Issue 9

The McGill Tribune TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2018 | VOL. 38 | ISSUE 9

Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University

McGILLTRIBUNE.COM | @McGILLTRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

FEATURE

OPINION

The Anti-Violence Fee Levy requires immediate support

Through a glass, darkly

Referendum endorsements

PG. 5

PGs. 8-9

PG. 5

(Gabriel Helfant / The McGill Tribune)

McGill students protest the use of the Redmen name

PG. 3

McGill community mourns in wake of synagogue shooting Lucas Bird Contributor A crowd of over one hundred McGill community members gathered at the Y-intersection on Oct. 30 to hold a vigil in memoriam of the victims of a recent shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The shooting,

in which 11 members of the Tree of Life Synagogue were killed, took place on Oct. 27. The shooter, Robert Bowers, has been indicted on 44 federal charges, 32 of which are punishable by death. After a swath of his anti-semitic posts on the social-media website Gab were publicized, it became clear that he’d targeted the synagogue purposely.

Station 16 fuses live performance and satirical graphics Local Montreal street artists make a bold transition into the gallery Keira Seidenberg Contributor In Station 16’s current exhibition, Near Mint, Montreal-based artists Jason Wasserman and Eric Clement showcase a range of prints, drawings, and hanging

sculptures that touch on themes of nostalgia and commercialism. The show falls somewhere between browsing through Pinterest for tattoo inspiration— displayed works include floral patterns and seminaked women painted on the walls—and flipping

through a ‘60s home decor magazine. In addition to the static artwork on display, the exhibition’s vernissage, held on Oct. 25, featured live tattooing from Jeremy Shantz—a detail that lent the event an almost oversaturated Plateauhipster vibe.

PG. 10

The vigil was hosted by a coalition of 19 Jewish community and religious groups including Am McGill, JQueer, Ghetto Shul, and the McGill Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. During the gathering, the group recited traditional Jewish prayers and sang commemorative songs. Executives of Jewish student groups spoke to the crowd, condemning the shooting, remem-

bering the victims, and exploring how the McGill community could best respond. Finally, 11 candles were ceremoniously lit in remembrance of the victims. Dean of Students Chris Buddle, Vice-Principal Communications and External Relations Louis Arseneault, and Principal Suzanne Fortier were present at the event. Buddle and Arsenault lit the first candle.

PG. 2

A conversation on the repercussions of cultural appropriation “Understanding Cultural Appropriation” tackles issues of representation Nicholas Raffoul Staff Writer Within the contexts of Halloween—when people sometimes don costumes that cross a line—and the #ChangeTheName protest,

the McGill Indigenous Studies Program and SSMU Indigenous Affairs organized a Nov. 1 panel titled “Understanding Cultural Appropriation” to inform students about the phenomenon and the groups

it harms.The panel featured Jennifer Guiliano, a history professor at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, whose research focuses on Native American mascotry and university sports.

PG. 12

2

news

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2018

McGill community mourns in wake of synagogue shooting Speakers stress the importance of unity

Kaye said. “He was really receptive and warm to patients, so I think it was also a loss in that way for the LGBTQ community.”

Kaye also commented on the importance of including intersectional identities in the Jewish community and how the vigil was an excellent example of that.

“We all suffer together, we’re all here together, we’re all mourn-

Lucas Bird Contributor Continued from page 1.

Noah Lew, president of the Hillel Montreal Leadership Council and co-organizer of the vigil, condemned the violent, anti-semitic events in Pittsburgh and violence against religion in general.

In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Lew stated that the vigil was an important exhibition of resilience.

“Things like anti-semitism and other hatreds often start with words and progress into actions,” Lew said. “We felt this was a poignant reminder to stand up against hatred worldwide.”

Lew also remarked that it was especially encouraging to have members of the administration come in support of the event.

“I think having [Fortier, Arseneault, and Buddle] there with us and participating in the ceremony was a good reminder to our community and McGill students that they are standing with us,” Lew said.

The speakers emphasized the importance of unity in religious and student communities throughout the vigil. Ariana Kaye, president of JQueer and executive

11 members of the Tree of Life Synagogue lost their lives in the shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Oct. 27.

(Gabriel Helfant / The McGill Tribune) member of Hillel McGill, evoked the broader consequences of the shooting.

“One of the people who was murdered was an AIDS doctor,”

ing together,” Kaye said. “It makes me feel so great that the McGill community can all be here together no matter your race, sex, gender, class, anything.”

Rabbi Shmuly Weiss, co-director of the Chabad Student Centre of downtown Montreal, closed out the vigil by reciting “El Malei Rachamim”—a prayer for the victims. Weiss emphasized how crucial it is to avoid divisiveness in light of this event.

“Human beings are allowed to have differences,” Weiss said. “[But at synagogue], you leave it at the door, you try to connect and focus on the similarities we share.”

Weiss further stressed the importance of a collective response.

“For someone to come in and try and take that [connection through unity] away, it’s the same thing with the shooting at the mosque last year, it’s the same idea,” Weiss said. “[Perpetrators of violence] are trying to terrorize every type of thing that offers sanctuary. We have to respond by saying that we will not stop showing up, that we will not be deterred.”

The Tree of Life Synagogue is accepting donations to aid the families of victims on their website.

Children of the Corn orphaned

Buses get spooked, leaving $10,000 in transport fees Helen Wu Staff Writer Children of the Corn, a Halloween event hosted by the Student’s Society of McGill University (SSMU) on Oct. 25 at Macdonald Campus, ended with over one hundred students scrambling to find transportation home after a chartered bus company cancelled its returning rides. SSMU Vice President (VP) Internal Matthew McLaughlin received notice of the cancellation during the event and informed students that they would need to find alternative transportation back downtown.

“One of these companies, [after taking students] to Mac Campus, said students threw up, were smoking on the bus, and it was just a mess,” McLaughlin said. “That company refused to send buses back to take home students. So we had six buses that weren’t returning to Mac.” The buses were booked by SSMU through bus.com, a service which orders buses for their clients from licensed charter bus companies. According to McLaughlin, SSMU has used bus.com for past events without any problems occurring.

“We’ve always worked with them knowing that they will find suppliers who understand [that] these are students who are going to a party,” McLaughlin said. “When we were first booking these buses, I explicitly stated that we have worked with [them] many times before and as always, we want to make sure the bus drivers are more accommodating with this type of behaviour.”

Upon learning about the bus cancellations, McLaughlin called bus.com immediately and tried to negotiate a way to secure return transportation.

“I offered to pay more or have myself and committee members

clean the buses for them,” McLaughlin said. “We offered everything we could to persuade this company to come back through bus.com, but they weren’t amenable to that.

McLaughlin insisted that he exhausted all transportation options before announcing the problem to attendees. As the party’s $25 ticket included transportation, he promised a full reimbursement for students taking a taxi or Uber home. He then talked to students individually to ensure that everyone had a safe ride home.

“I made calls to a dozen other bus companies [...and even] talked to the McGill administration to see if they could come up with ideas,” McLaughlin said. “I thought we [could] get the Mac shuttle to come for some emergency trips but I couldn’t reach anyone [....]

I also reached out to McGill Security at [the Macdonald campus] and discussed with them various options [....]

None of [which] ended up working at all.”

SSMU is still in negotiations with bus.com over prices and potential refunding. In its Terms of Service (ToS), bus.com states that it reserves the right to cancel a booking at any time. While the ToS also state that cancellations must be refunded, they points out that passengers may be refused service if they are smoking, drinking, or intoxicated.

“In general, we do refuse the right to provided services in instances where the safety of our riders and bus drivers is in jeopardy,” bus.com Chief Administrative Officer Art Elizarov wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune.

Marianne Gilbert, U3 Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, does not believe that event organizers made sufficient efforts to handle the situation.

“No one announced that the buses were cancelled, so, [shortly] before 2 a.m., my friends and I went outside and we waited for 10-15

SSMU has not yet decided to take legal action against the bus company. (Kaylina Kodlick / The McGill Tribune) minutes,” Gilbert wrote in a message to the Tribune. “Then, the Macdonald Campus Student’s Society (MCSS) told us to cab downtown and that we would get reimbursed.We called the taxi company but they told us that we would have to wait at least 30 minutes because everyone was ordering cabs to Mac. I was very pissed.”

79 students have applied for a reimbursement of their ride, totalling almost $10,000 payable by SSMU. However, McLaughlin does not believe that this financial loss will affect SSMU operations.

“It’s not a problem, we can carry deficits,” McLaughlin said. “It won’t impact any operations at SSMU. At the end of the year, we need to decide if we want to liquidate a small portion of the capital expenditures fund, create more revenue-generating events [or] carry the deficit over to next year.”

news

TUESDAY, NOVEMEBER 6, 2018

Anti-Violence Fee Levy allegedly unconstitutional

J-Board petition filed against SSMU President and VP Finance Kyle Dewsnap Staff Writer On Oct. 14, Student Society of McGill University (SSMU) Senator Bryan Buraga petitioned the SSMU Judicial Board (J-Board), which oversees disputes over SSMU laws, to hold a hearing on the constitutionality of the Anti-Violence Fee Levy (AVFL). The AVFL will be voted on in the upcoming Fall Referendum and, if it passes, an opt-outable fee of $0.45 per student, per term, will be charged to fund the new Gendered and Sexual Violence Policy (GSVP). The policy, approved on Oct. 18 by the Legislative Council, formalizes a response to sexual violence involving SSMU members. It originated in response to two SSMU executives resigning in 2017 as a result of allegations of sexual violence.

The petition charges SSMU President Tre Mansdoerfer with failing to follow SSMU’s Internal Regulations. Buraga argues that the AVFL motion was presented to the SSMU Legislative Council with an insufficient number of movers.

“The president had a habit of submitting motions to the steering committee that did not have the proper number of movers, then asking for movers from the steering committee,” Buraga said.

Mansdoerfer believes Buraga’s understanding of SSMU policy is erroneous.

“The biggest misinterpretation comes from [Buraga] not understanding how the Internal Regulations function and how different regulations take precedence over others,” Mansdoerfer said. “The standing rules, which are in the Internal Regulations of Governance, state that we need three movers for a motion.

This rule takes precedence over the rules in the Internal Regulations of Elections.”

The petition also argues that Vice President (VP) Finance Jun Wang has an obligation to fund the GSVP without charging a fee levy or cutting other parts of the budget. Instead, Buraga believes that the money should come from SSMU’s $3.6 million emergency fund.

He argues that, morally and ethically, students should not have to pay additional costs for the GSVP and that it needs a reliable source of funding.

“There shouldn’t be a separate fee,”

Buraga said. “It should be included within the operating budget. By separating it into the Anti-Violence Fee Levy (AFVL) [...] in every five years there’s a risk that it’s not going to pass.”

During a meeting of the Legislative Council on Oct. 11, Buraga presented amendments to both the GSVP and the AFVL that would require that VP Finance to fund the policy without a fee levy. In reply, Wang noted that similar policies were funded with levies, and that, without the AFVL, he would be forced to cut other parts of the budget to fund the GSVP. Both amendments failed. Wang did not reply to the The McGill Tribune’s request for comment.

Mansdoerfer believes that Buraga is inappropriately using the J-Board to further his own political agenda. “[Buraga] did not interact with me at all before filing the petition,” Mansdoerfer said.

“I don’t feel that the petition is about the constitutionality [of the referendum]. It’s about the fee [….] It’s very important to recognize that, in my opinion, [Buraga] very minimally cares about the constitutionality of the quetion.”

Connor Spencer, SSMU’s VP External for 2017-18 and a key player in the creation of the GSVP, believes that the use of a fee levy is justified in ensuring that students have mechanisms in place to respond to acts of sexual violence.

“SSMU keeps growing, but the fee levy has not,” Spencer said. “Yes, I do think a student fee is justified, [as] we need to be able to fund [the GSVP]. Currently, SSMU does not have the ability to fund it internally. They already have a decently-tight budget compared to other student unions.”

Spencer also stated that students should be more critical of SSMU spending.

“There’s another question here about how money is [allocated] within SSMU, and this is something that members should care about,” Spencer said. “[Students] should call out their student association to be more transparent about the budget.”

The Fall Referendum polling period will take place Nov 9-12. The J-Board, which has accepted Buraga’s petition, will be seeking intervenors before it begins a hearing.

Buraga accuses SSMU President and VP Financial of improperly implementing the Gendered and Sexual Violence Policy. (The McGill Tribune)

3

McGill students protest the use of the Redmen name Male varsity athletics title accused of upholding racist stereotypes

Students assembled Oct. 31 to protest the Redmen name. (Gabriel Helfant / The McGill Tribune) Maggie Roberts Contributor McGill students gathered outside the James Administration Building on Oct. 31 to demonstrate against the continued use of the ‘Redmen’ name, which is currently used by all 28 of McGill’s mens’ varsity teams. Organized

by Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)’s Indigenous Affairs Committee, the peaceful protesters chanted “Not your Redmen” and stressed the name’s racist invocation of indigeneity.

Speakers from the McGill and Montreal communities took part in the demonstration, including representatives from McGill Indigenous Affairs, McGill Black Students Network (BSN), and the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal. Abdel Dicko, the BSN’s vice-president (VP) political coordinator, spoke about his organization’s solidarity with indigenous students and expressed the organization’s support for the name change.

“We, the BSN, firmly believe that the Redmen name and the very significant weight it carries does not have its place at this university,” Dicko said. “The idea that language and symbols can ever be isolated from historical, political, or racial implications is not only naive, but it is also highly dangerous.”

Other organizations have also voiced their support outside the protest. On Oct. 29, the McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association, a labour union which represents the university’s non-academic support staff, sent a letter to Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier, urging the administration to change the name and criticizing their lack of action thus far.

While the controversial name has been debated among the McGill community for decades, the push to change it has gained traction in the past few years. In 2016, McGill’s Task Force on Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education found that, in the past, McGill media and yearbooks have used racial slurs against indigenous communities in reference to McGill athletic teams, including uses of the terms ‘indians,’ ‘squaws’ and the phrase ‘redmen scalped.’

Tomas Jirousek, SSMU Indigenous Af-

fairs commissioner and a McGill varsity athlete, organized the protest and is a driving force behind the initiative to change the Redmen name.

“The demonstration is meant to express that indigenous students are hurting,” Jirousek said. “The name is offensive and creates a series of psychological and sociological effects which are quite negative and have repercussions for indigenous students on campus.”

McGill Athletics, however, claims that the name has no connection with offensive stereotyping of indigenous peoples. According to their website, the Redmen name solely refers to the school and uniform colours as well as the university’s Celtic history.

Even if the original intentions were not racist, this claim does not sit well with many students.

“I don’t believe them,” Aneeka Anderson, an Inuk U1 Arts student who attended the protest, said. “There are so many articles—I see new ones everyday—that present our perspective and the evidence that we have, proving that these names, despite the original intentions, were really warped and used in a very harmful way.”

McGill Athletics declined to comment on the demonstration and its call to change the name, instead forwarding an email sent out to the McGill community on Oct. 23. The email had informed students that the future of the name will be guided by the final report from the Working Group on Principles of Commemoration and Renaming, which is due to released in December. Ultimately, McGill’s Board of Governors has the final say in the decision.

Despite the uncertainty, the demonstration carried a message of optimism for the future and a belief that the name will be changed.

“I believe it will happen,” Anderson said.

“Last year, in my first year, I said, ‘I want to do something to make this change,’ and at the time I didn’t know that other people were already doing those things and planning those things, so all I had to do was join them.”

The question “Do you endorse the immediate renaming of the ‘Redmen’ name and mandate the SSMU to work towards immediate renaming of the Varsity Men’s Team?” will appear on SSMU’s Fall referendum ballot.

4

news

TUESDAY, november 6, 2018

Journalists discuss hyper-polarization in the media Panel debates the roles of trust and bias in modern journalism

Clara Champagne Contributor On Oct. 30, McGill’s Max Bell School of Public Policy and Media@McGill hosted a panel titled Responsible Journalism in the Age of Hyper-Polarization on partisan division in the media. The talk, moderated by Andrew Potter, assistant professor at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, brought together Policy Options Editorin-Chief Jennifer Ditchburn, Mark Lloyd, professor at the University of Southern California-Annenberg School of Communication, and VICE Quebec Editor-in-Chief Phil Gohier.

The panelists first discussed how jour-

nalists should responsibly report on groups with extreme political stances, explaining that, historically, journalists have avoided covering groups until they are firmly in the public eye. They agreed that social media has made it harder for media outlets to ignore radical groups gaining traction online, complicating the question of whether journalists do more harm than good by providing far-right groups with a platform.

“I think it’s a very fine line,” Ditchburn said. “It’s tricky when journalists sort of appoint themselves as the arbiters of who’s worth covering and who’s not. Each case gets decided in each newsroom in a different way [.…] I don’t think we can have in any story or any issue a kind of rule that

Out of a fear of hyper-polarization, some journalists engage in ‘both-side-ism,’ covering all angles of a story at the expense of truth. (Laura Oprescu / The McGill Tribune)

applies because it’s just always moving.”

The panelists also reflected on whether modern journalists are engaging in ‘bothside-ism journalism,’ an excessive commitment to balanced coverage of all sides of a story at the expense of truth. Using the left-leaning coverage of the most recent American presidential election as a recent example, Ditchburn pointed out that equality and fairness are what give people confidence in journalism.

Lloyd, who has worked as a journalist for CNN and served as associate general counsel at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, believes that objectivity in journalism is a valuable and useful modern goal but that readers should never assume that the content they are consuming is impartial.

“The check is other media, and the people that consume the journalism,” Lloyd said.

Ditchburn expressed her frustration with attempts to cover catchy yet shallow news stories, citing what she sees as excessive media coverage of President Trump’s Twitter account as an example.

“Journalism outlets have a choice,” Ditchburn said. “We don’t have to go to [every] photo-op [….] We can do something else, and we can spend our time and our money, which is in short supply, covering something deep and profound.”

The panel discussed New York University professor Jay Rosen’s idea that journal-

ists should recognize their biases outright.

Ditchburn and Lloyd argued that Rosen’s proposition was naive, as most journalists are not aware of the structural biases at play in their reporting. “[I don’t think] Canadians journalists have done a big reflection on colonialism in journalism, [or on] overarching views about the economy, what we accept as a truism,” Ditchburn said. “When Jay [Rosen] talks about declaring your biases, I think politicians think of the biases being about liberal, conservative, or, in the States, Republican or Democratic, but the biases run way deeper than that.”

To conclude, Potter asked speakers to comment on the place of trust in journalism, and whether it should be integral to the practice.

“Journalists should aspire to be trusted,” Lloyd said. “You can earn your audience’s trust if you do good work consistently [....] Should the audience just automatically, blindly, trust journalists? Absolutely not.”

Gohier dissented in part, arguing that relevance is a more fundamental metric.

“I look at trust as a double-edged sword,” Gohier said. “Trust is conflated with likeability [....] I think relevance is a better thing to aim for.”

The Max Bell School of Public Policy will host another event on Nov. 20, which will centre on the major public policy issues surrounding monetary policy frameworks.

SSMU Legislative Council discusses quorum and grades

Motion regarding General Assembly quorum postponed Katia Innes Arts & Entertainment Editor

the expense, but we’ve launched a portal [….]

So far we’ve had 79 requests total.”

The Student’s Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council convened on Nov. 1 to discuss the upcoming referendum and the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) grading option. The Council also approved the May 31, 2018 fiscal year end report by Fuller-Landau, the accounting firm that audits SSMU’s finances, and called for a more concerted effort to livestream the Council meetings. In regard to the upcoming referendum, which will take place Nov. 9-12, the Council approved the motion on discretionary funding for the Sexual Assault Center of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS) and changes made to the Environment and Anti-Violence Fees.

Council also discussed last month’s Children of the Corn party, for which SSMU had to spend an additional $10,000 to cover the cost of transportation when six of the seven buses they chartered failed to provide return trips downtown. The buses claimed that students had violated their policies by drinking, smoking, and vomiting on board. Currently, Vice-President (VP) Internal Matthew McLaughlin is looking into reimbursing students for their personal transportation costs.

“The last possible option for transportation was to have students order taxis or take Ubers to get back home and have SSMU members pay for that,” McLaughlin said. “So, that’s what ended up happening [….] It’s tragic because of

Late motion regarding reduction of GA quorum postponed SSMU President Tre Mansdoefer submitted a motion to reduce quorum of the General Assembly (GA) from 350 to 150 after the Fall 2018 GA on Oct. 29 had only 49 students in attendance.

“I do not like it being 150, I want to figure out other ways to do this,” Mansdoefer said. “[But] I do not feel like we have another choice.”

Arts Representative Andrew Figueiredo critiqued the motion as unjust and pointed out that Mansdoefer had submitted it late, not giving students enough time to contemplate it.

Council also discussed the unforeseen $10,000 expense incurred by SSMU’s ‘Children of the “0.75 per cent of the student body, less Corn’ party last month. (Katia Innes / The McGill Tribune) than that, actually, shouldn’t be able to dictate the direction of [SSMU],” Figueiredo said. “I for S/U Grading Option. In the motion, Shapiro Lametti disagreed with Shapiro’s reasoning.

“For me, I believe that motivation to get an think that is fundamentally undemocratic. This asks that SSMU approve his mandate to lobby is an abomination to bring something up with for students to be given the option to switch to A is not the only motivation to take a course,” this much gravity and to try and rush it onto the a letter grade in their S/U courses. Shapiro rea- Lametti said. “If you have the option to change November ballot doesn’t give people the chance soned that the S/U system would continue to en- an S/U option into an A […], the motivation to to organize ‘No’ campaigns or ‘Yes’ campaigns courage students to venture out of their comfort get the grade might still exist. I enjoyed taking zones, with the possibility of a letter grade also courses with the S/U option, and I think that reon this.” moving the [pre-existing] S/U option removes The motion was postponed indefinitely by incentivizing them to do well.

“It kind of gives people a fail-safe,” Sha- this and is bad for educational standards, and Arts Councillor Ana Paula Sanchez. piro said. “If more are taking classes pass-fail, goes against [the] VP University Affairs ManVP University Affairs (UA) motion advocates more people can deprioritize the course if they’re date.”

Ultimately, the motion passed with 17 in [having] a rough or rocky semester, and I think for S/U grading option Upholding his platform promise, VP Uni- a lot of students would appreciate the value of favour, four opposed, and four abstentions.

Council will reconvene on Nov. 15 in Mcversity Affairs Jacob Shapiro proposed the Mo- taking a class pass-fail.”

Senate Caucus Representative Andre Connell Engineering 603. tion Regarding VP UA Mandate to Advocate

opinion

TUESDAY, november 6, 2018

T

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

News Editors Andras Nemeth, Caitlin Kindig & Laura Oprescu news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editors Keating K. Reid & Abeer Almahdi opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editor Katherine Lord scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Living Editor Emma Carr studentliving@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Dylan Adamson features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Katia Innes & Sophie Brzozowski arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Gabe Nisker & Miya Keilin sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Arshaaq Jiffry & Erica Stefano design@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editor Gabriel Helfant photo@mcgilltribune.com Multimedia Editor Tristan Surman multimedia@mcgilltribune.com Web Developers Luya Ding webdev@mcgilltribune.com Tristan Sparks online@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Melissa Langley copy@mcgilltribune.com Business Manager Falah Rajput business@mcgilltribune.com Advertising Executives Declan Embury, Maharshee Karia, Sara Al Sharif ads@mcgilltribune.com Publisher Chad Ronalds

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

Nina Russel, Kevin Vogel

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

Contributors Mitch Bannon, Lucas Bird, Clara Champagne, Cordelia Cho, Keli Geers, Sabrina Girard-Lamas, Sophia Gorbounov, Kimberly Johnston, Lucy Keller, Daria Kiseleva, Athena Ko, Kaylina Kodlick, Maggie Roberts, Keira Seidenberg, Noah Simon, Elizabeth Strong, Kaja Surborg, Morgan Sweeney, Alden Tabac, Margaret Wdowiak, Sophia White, Kaitlin Wong

Tribune Office 2075 Boulevard Robert Bourassa, Suite 505 Montreal, QC H3A 2L1 - T: 514.999.8953

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

All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the McGillTribune, its editors or its staff. Please recycle this newspaper.

The Anti-Violence Fee Levy requires immediate support While the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) is notorious for inaction, SSMU broke ground on Oct. 11 when it became the first student union in Canada to pass a Gendered and Sexual Violence Policy (GSVP). However, the decision was contentious, and the Legislative Council saw lengthy debate about the policy’s proposed source of funding: The AntiViolence Fee Levy (AVFL). During the Fall referendum period, taking place Nov. 9–12, it is essential that students vote in favour of the AVFL so that the GSVP can be implemented immediately and substantively.

The GSVP, a student-directed initiative over a year in the making, is an incredible accomplishment for our campus. Written by Caitlin Salvino—Carleton alumna and national chair of campus–sexualviolence advocacy group Our Turn—Priya Dube (BA ‘18), and Bee Khaleeli (U3 Arts), the GSVP is

a substantial stand-alone document that maintains a survivor-centric approach and clearly outlines the procedure for filing a complaint against a SSMU member.

To properly implement the policy, the GSVP report recommends the introduction of the AVFL, a $0.45 per term opt-outable fee. If the AFVL is not approved, the GSVP will be without allocated funding. SSMU Vice-President (VP) Finance Jun Wang maintains that SSMU’s current budget is unable to adequately fund the GSVP. As a result of Wang’s statements and an alleged breach of procedure, on Oct. 14, Bryan Buraga, a member of SSMU’s Board of Directors (BoD), filed a petition against SSMU President Tre Mansdoerfer and VP Finance Jun Wang to the Judicial Board (J-Board). The petition questions whether the VP Finance has an obligation to provide funding for the GSVP in the case that its

accompanying fee is voted down in the upcoming Fall referendum.

Buraga’s petition identifies a legitimate flaw in SSMU’s financial management: Students should not have to pay for services that keep them safe. However, SSMU’s financial issues run deeper than the uncertainty over the GSVP’s funding and reflect its lack of experienced leadership.

Executives’ short tenures hamper their ability to see projects through to completion; in the absence of long-term planning, SSMU tends to react to unexpected issues instead of anticipating them.

For example, it became apparent in Jul. 2018 that former VP Finance Esteban Herpin miscommunicated the size of SSMU’s financial reserves by over $1 million, which resulted in the reduction of student dental coverage from $750 to $500. The absence of available expertise must be addressed if SSMU’s budgeting issues are to be fixed.

5

EDITORIAL In the interim, it is crucial that students vote to support the AVFL. Although the creation of a fee levy is not ideal, students’ imminent safety is contingent on the implementation of the GSVP. SSMU’s mandate is to advocate for student interests, and the creation of avenues to disclose and report sexual violence is clearly needed.

For now, it is important that the AFVL pass, but, going forward, fundamental issues shouldn’t be split into individual, opt-outable agenda items. The VP Finance is correct that funding for sexual violence should not come at the expense of other portfolios such as Indigenous Affairs and Sustainability, and adequately funding each initiative is necessary for SSMU to fulfill its mandate.

However, the debate over the AVFL speaks to a need for SSMU to fundamentally reform the way it raises funds so that these trade-offs need not be considered.

Fall 2018 Referendum Endorsements Motion regarding changing the Redmen name:

Yes Since 1929, the McGill men’s varsity sports teams have been known as the ‘Redmen.’ The name represents centuries of systemic oppression of indigenous peoples, and its negative impacts on indigenous students supercede its debated intent. With repeated calls for a name change by McGill’s Indigenous Task Force, current and prospective indigenous students, and allies, The McGill Tribune stands in solidarity with indigenous voices and believes that this is a simple yet meaningful step toward truth and reconciliation.

Motion regarding the Arab Student Network fee:

Yes, with reservations The Arab Student Network (ASN) is a Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) service that provides opportunities for all McGill students to engage with Arab culture through programs including internships, workshops, and SSMU mini-courses. The ASN was at the centre of an extensive social media dispute with McGill Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) after hosting a Q&A

with Nas Daily, a vlogger whose portrayal of the Israel-Palestine conflict SPHR contest. For the vital opportunities and services the ASN provides to students, the Tribune endorses the creation of a $0.50 optoutable fee to support its operations.

However, in light of their mishandling of a public conflict with another student group, the Tribune hopes to see the ASN better engage with its constituents moving forward.

of improving their environmental practices. Following the adoption of the SSMU Sustainability Policy in 2013, the Environment Fund falls within SSMU’s mandate to foster sustainable practices on campus, as it supports initiatives such as the Flat Bike Collective, the Union for Gender Empowerment, and Midnight Kitchen. The Tribune endorses the optoutable $1.25 fee to allow SSMU to continue to support student groups in implementing sustainability initiatives.

Motion regarding the SSMU Charity Motion regarding Fee renewal: the Plate Club fee:

Yes

Formerly the Community Engagement Fund, the Charity Fund is critical to building community in the Milton-Parc neighbourhood between students and permanent residents.

The Charity Fee funds initiatives like the biannual Photofund gallery, which donates its yearly proceeds to a local charity. The Tribune endorses the $0.52 opt-outable fee to support the Charity Fee, but would like to see more available information about how its funds are distributed.

Motion regarding the Environment fee renewal:

Yes The Environment Fund (Green Fund) is designed to provide financial assistance for sustainable initiatives on campus. It is available to all student organizations to assist with the cost

Yes The Plate Club is a campus service that loans out reusable dishware to community groups in order to curb students’ use of disposable paper or styrofoam items. The Plate Club supports student groups, such as Midnight Kitchen, by providing reusable dish-ware and cutlery. This motion seeks to add a $0.12 optoutable fee to provide the Plate Club, which currently receives no funding, with a reliable source of income.

While they are displaced from the University Centre during the closure, it is important to support the Plate Club, and this motion is an easy way to do so.

Motion regarding SACOMMS Discretionary funding:

Yes The Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Student Society’s (SACOMSS) motion requests that the organization be allowed to spend 10 per cent of their budget on external affairs. This fund will aid their mandate of supporting and advocating on the behalf of survivors of sexual assault across the city and will fund services that SACOMMS itself cannot administer, like lodging an official complaint. The Tribune endorses SACOMMS’s request to support external causes in recognition of their financial transparency and excellent work providing integral services to the McGill community.

Motion regarding the Anti-Violence Fee Levy:

Yes The Tribune supports the approval of the SSMU Gendered and Sexual Violence Policy (GSVP), as the implementation guide is thorough, specific, and concrete. While the notion that students’ money would be used to fund survivors’ protection poses ethical questions, it is essential that the policy be provided with funding as soon as possible. Because SSMU is a student organization, whether the GSVP’s is funded by a fee levy or from SSMU’s general budget, students will be paying for its implementation regardless. The Tribune endorses the $0.45 levy as a necessary step toward the GSVP’s implementation.

6

opinion

OFF THE BOARD

Abeer Almahdi Opinion Editor

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2018

Learning to love my big nose style my frizzy hair before school in a futile attempt to try and get it to match hers. Throughout elementary school, I would draw myself with long, straight, blonde hair and green eyes—I also remember my teachers’ confused looks when I handed in my questionable portraits. I remember when kids in my high school class would try to hide pencils in my thick hair to see if I’d notice, or ask to touch it and see if it was real. I remember pinching at my stretch marks in front of the mirror, using heaping amounts of SunIn with no effect, and learning how to use Photoshop just so I could see what my nose would look like after surgery. As soon as I was old enough to take care of myself, I stopped. I suffered from an eating disorder throughout high school, I bleached and destroyed my once fluffy curls, and I wore Spanx every time I left the house—my mom bought me my first pair.

My insecurity was not just

a product of vanity, but also a safety concern. Visibly Egyptian, I was never able to escape long security checks at airports, racist cat-calls, and targeted bullying. Fellow students would call me an ‘ugly Egyptian,’ amongst other local slurs. Even during my time at McGill, I am constantly racially fetishized. In my first year, I was followed home at night by a man who was yelling slurs at me. This wasn’t the first, nor the last time, but, now, every time I walk on St. Catherine street, I hold my breath.

No matter where I went in the world, my appearance was a point of contention. Even in Egypt, Eurocentric colonial standards of beauty persist, as British rule only ended in 1956—only two years before my dad was born. The streets are littered with billboards for Fair & Lovely, a skin lightener, and hair relaxers that my cousins would recommend to me.

Eventually, I became frustrated with constant physical self-awareness. I looked for strong Egyptian role models who looked like me, such as Mona

I love my big, crooked nose, but that hasn’t always been the case.

The first time I was made aware of its size was when my aunt asked me if I had broken it. Her sentiment made me feel sick. I pushed aside my childhood ambitions of becoming a writer or journalist, and instead set my sights on the ultimate achievement: A nose job. As I grew older, I fell into a chasm of selfloathing. My white-passing, thin, green-eyed mother was always my model of a perfect person, and I was her opposite. My dad and I share the same big noses, big lips, brown eyes, and thick, dark hair. My mom was always reflected in mainstream media, while my father and I were sidelined.

I remember early mornings sitting at the breakfast table, my Growing up mixed-race comes with a unique set of challenges. mother struggling to comb and (Abeer Almahdi / The McGill Tribune)

commentary

Sydney King Columnist Once again, the world stops to mourn American mass shooting victims. On Oct. 24, a white supremacist killed a black couple in a supermarket in Louisville, Kentucky. On Oct. 27, a white supremacist killed 11 people in a synagogue during a Shabbat service because they were Jewish. On Nov. 3, a man killed two women in a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida.

Words cannot describe the heartbreak I feel every time this happens, and it happens too often. These murders do not exist in isolation, but instead belong to a long tradition of gun violence, radicalization, and bigotry in American history and politics. As an American

Eltahawy and Nawal El-Saadawi: Two intersectional-feminist writers.

I learned about my heritage, albeit sometimes through Wikipedia.

Therapy also helped. As I began to discover more about my rich ancestry, I began to decolonize my beauty standards, and I started to love myself.

I have the crooked nose of my

ancestors; I carry my history in every one of my facial features. I am now glad to be my father’s lookalike. I have come to recognize that I am like my mom in a lot of ways, too—we both have the same deafening laugh, fiery courage, and ability to bulldoze every barrier in our way. My nose is huge, as are my lips and brown eyes— and I love them.

cartoons

One of us

Kaitlin E. Wong Contributor

Milton Flood Aftermath Sabrina Girard-Lamas Staff Illustrator

Cross-border sympathy living in Canada, I feel some level of separation from this trauma. In a time when a horrendous amount of horrific news comes out the U.S., I am torn between burying my head in the sand and facing reality.

It’s a little easier to avoid American news in Canada. However, crossing the border is a privilege that few enjoy. I’m lucky to be at McGill and to be a white, middle-class student who doesn’t live under the threat of violence, deportation, or bigotry. It would be much simpler for me to keep my head down, do my schoolwork, and pretend that I don’t care about what happens in the United States. I know people who don’t follow the news and choose to ignore what’s happening at home. But, when I try and push the American news cycle aside, it feels like I’m abandoning my family and friends back home who are constantly inundated with stories of mass shootings, imprisoned children, voter suppression, or any number of grim reports churned out every day.

Ignoring current events—no matter how disheartening—would be shirking my responsibility as a citizen and a member of the electorate. So, when my mom asks me, every time she calls, if I’m keeping up with the news, I tell her that I have to. I’m privileged to be a citizen, to be able to vote, to study and learn about the world around me, and I refuse to squander that opportunity.

Still, it’s hard to pay attention to current events due to the very real possibility that someone I love could be a victim of gun violence. This December will mark the 26th anniversary of the mass shooting at Bard College in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, only 25 kilometres away from where I grew up. My niece just started preschool, and sometimes I can’t help but think about Santa Fe, Sandy Hook, and Parkland. I don’t know how fast I could get home if something happened.

There’s nothing for me to do but wade through gut-wrenching news. The American student group Democrats Abroad is helpful in providing a forum where fellow progressives can talk about current events. Somehow, it toes the line between commiserating and deliberating. It’s a comfort to have other people who are equally interested in what is happening at home and who share similar frustration and despair about U.S. news. In a similar way, the March for Our Lives protest on Mar. 24 was an incredibly cathartic show of support and sympathy for the people who live under the threat of violence every day. The best way to cope is to stay engaged and fight from afar through organizations like Democrats Abroad. If I can’t be physically present with my friends and family amidst the chaos back home, at least I can be there in spirit.

Midterms? Midterms.

Kaitlin E. Wong Contributor

7

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Tuesday, NOVEMBER 6, 2018

‘Mid90s’ tugs at familiar heartstrings

Jonah Hill’s directorial debut is charming and evocative

Sophie Brzozowski Arts & Entertainment Editor “I think it’s really dope that times are changing,” a grinning Jonah Hill said in an interview with the hosts of New York City-based radio show The Breakfast Club. In lieu of introducing himself, the 34-year-old actor-turned-director launched into a monologue about how exciting it is that counter-culture-centred media outlets are finally featuring mainstream celebrities.

After becoming a household name through now-iconic films such as Superbad (2007), 21 Jump Street (2012), and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), it is hard to imagine that Hill was ever a rough and tumble skaterat like the kind depicted in his directorial debut Mid90s. The film follows Stevie (Sunny Suljic), a 13-year-old boy from an unstable home in Los Angeles who finds solace and brotherhood in a band of teenagers at the local skate shop. As Stevie slowly becomes integrated into their tight-knit circle, he falls in love with skateboarding and the subculture’s debauchery.

As any skate film must, Mid90s makes doing drugs and breaking the law look cool. The more poignant scenes of mischief, however, manage to evoke both nostalgia and concern, in large part due to Stevie’s young age.

Suljic, born in 2005, looks comically small next to the teenage boys he admires. The scenes in which he is pictured holding a forty of liquor that is almost as large as his skinny torso are at once funny and heartbreaking.

Though the film deals with themes of domestic abuse, race, and poverty, it falls short of providing any sort of impactful commentary on these issues. At times, it seems like Hill have fallen into the trap of equating actual marginalization with the feeling of being an outcast. One of the more touching scenes in the film finds the groups leader, Ray (NaKel Smith) consoling Stevie after he has a violent altercation with his older brother (Lucas Hedges). To make him feel less alone, Ray reveals to Stevie the troubled home lives of the rest of the characters, as if to imply that their shared struggles brought them together.

Although perhaps lacking in imagination, and, at times, tact, Mid90s still manages to be captivating in a sentimental sort of way. Underscored by an original soundtrack written in part by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, the film meets its gnarly skate footage quota, adding to its authenticity.

Hill cast pro skateboarders Olan Prenatt, Ryder McLaughlin, Na-Kel Smith and Gio Galicia to play the group of friends who take Stevie under

their wing, and the entire ensemble delivers compelling performances on and off their boards. Suljic, easily one of the more charming child actors of our time, delivered an endearing and emotional performance well beyond his years.

Along with 2017’s Lady Bird, Mid90s provides compelling evidence that, contrary to popular belief, the sub-genre of movies about teenagers doing nothing of substance has yet to be exhausted. The dayto-day misadventures of boys coming-of-age are plentiful, but remain, for whatever reason, unexpectedly moving. Pehaps, it’s because there were so few female characters of significance, but, unlike with Lady Bird, or even 2013’s Palo Alto, the bittersweet depictions of adolescence didn’t make me reminisce about my own teenage escapades. Instead, they reminded me of my younger brother. He’s a few years older than Stevie and has never, to my knowledge, stepped foot on a skateboard. However, I’ve watched him from a distance as he’s navigated young adulthood in similarly calamitous and idiotic ways. At times, I wanted to strangle Stevie, but mostly I just wanted to look after him.

Mid90s was, by no means, a groundbreaking film. At its core, the moral of the story is simply that adolescence always has and always will be fun and painful and confusing. It’s a shallow message, but, for what it’s worth, a true one.

Jonah Hill’s directorial debut pays homage to ‘90s skate culture. (Ariella Garmaise / The McGill Tribune)

Re: Reclamation and Reconciliation Through Art

A host of artists and scholars discuss the power of art to heal and cultivate empathy.

The Yellow Door, Nov. 6, 6-8 p.m.

Juxtaposition: TNC Artifact TNC’s very own open mic!

Tuesday Night Cafe Theatre, Morrice Hall, Nov. 6, 6-8 p.m.

Effusion presents: ‘Til Dawn

Contrary to the title, this event only goes until 10 p.m., Le Balcon Cabaret Music-Hall, Nov. 11, 7-10 p.m.

Birthmark A play written by a McGill alumnus about Jewish identity in the face of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Dollar Cinema screens cult classic ‘Hausu’

The campy joys of cult cinema Noah Simon Contributor On Oct. 31, Dollar Cinema hosted a special Halloween screening of Hausu, a 1977 Japanese cult horror film directed

by Nobuhiko Obayashi. The film follows a schoolgirl named Gorgeous who, upon discovering her father’s impending remarriage, travels with six friends to vacation at her aunt’s haunted country house. Although the trope of the haunted house is typical of the horror genre, Hausu is anything but conventional. From the beginning, Hausu is, quite frankly, insane. Some of the more notable examples of its lunacy include people shapeshifting into bananas, an evil, carnivorous piano, and cats metamorphosing into people.

Hausu is full of cinematic magic, complete with trippy special effects and cheap, B-movie thrills.

It combines upbeat music, corny humour, gratuitous, over-the-top violence, and sharp self-awareness.

These elements contribute to Hausu’s own particular brand of charm.

The film’s biggest trick, however, might be convincing the audience that it is not scary. Though

it seems innocent and even childish at first, underneath Hausu’s campy veneer lies an extremely sinister film. When Gorgeous, Melody, Kung-Fu, Prof, and Fantasy finally decide to call the police after losing their other friends, the camera’s over-exposure gives the image a ghostly quality. Gorgeous—now possessed—picks up the phone, and, from the other side of the line, come the gruelling, horrid screams of her friends. These kinds of eerie moments are rare, but they suggest a much darker film below the superficial playfulness. The darker scenes are haunting within a movie where, for the most part, its characters implausibly ignore the horrors going on around them, and in which scares are often played off as jokes. The film toes the line between comedic and horrifying: In a running gag, characters yell “An illusion!” whenever they encounter the supernatural. Hausu doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it’s no less scary for it.

Like many horror films, Hausu is best experienced with a group.

Through laughs, grimaces, or bewilderment, the film’s spectacle is only complete when sharing these moments. This may be why it is perfect for Dollar Cinema, a

Cult films like ‘Hausu’ are best enjoyed in good company. (Christopher Li / The McGill Tribune) theatre known for showing movies months after their initial release at incredibly cheap prices. Dollar Cinema’s familiar atmosphere and underground reputation make it the ideal place for a film like Hausu and its ardent fans.

Bernie Gurberg, Dollar Cinema’s eccentric owner, recently

ran for Montreal mayor on one simple campaign promise: Cut the poverty line. While he lost the election, Dollar Cinema is proof of his ability to provide a space for people to enjoy themselves without breaking the bank. The theatre was packed for Hausu, and according to the event organizer, was one

of its most successful screenings, other than Rocky Horror Picture Show, another iconic cult film.

Films like Hausu, with its colourful personality and meta-cinematic nature, will always attract cult followings, and Dollar Cinema is the perfect spot for movie nerds to convene at an affordable price.

THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY

INTERNALIZED RACISM AND ME I was only 15 years old. Kicking off my Converse, my heart raced. The long-anticipated package was finally in my hands. The Arctic Monkeys blaring in my headphones tried to restrain the voices in my head. I analyzed the stranger in the mirror one last time. It was for the best. No it wasn’t. Yes it was. No it wasn’t. Tears fell on top of my hands as I pulled the bottle of skin-whitening cream from the box. I wanted to be white.

Arshaaq Jiffry

Design Editor

In The Psychology of Racism, Robin Nicole Johnson offers a definition of internalized racism. “[Internalized racism is the] conscious and unconscious acceptance of a racial hierarchy in which whites are consistently ranked above people of colour," Johnson writes.

This concept can be understood in the context of a history of white supremacist colonialism, and the lingering effects it continues to inflict today. Internalized racism is the poisoning of cultural roots with Western ideals, stripping away a piece of one’s identity at a subconscious level.

I knew who I was—a first-generation Sri Lankan Muslim who ate rice and curry for dinner almost everyday and would occasionally attend weekly Friday prayers at the local mosque—but I never wanted this part to define me.

Growing up, I first attended elementary school with a relatively even mix of white and non-white students. When I transferred to a different school as part of the Ontario Education System’s ‘gifted’ program, my blanket of ignorant bliss was stripped away. The peers in my new classes were predominantly white, and the abstract term ‘minority’ became an increasingly resonant experience. The ‘popular’ group of students were mostly white, and I received more and more comments about how my lunches were different or smelly. I began to realize how truly different I was, and not in an accepting way.

I started thinking more and more about how my identity, the decisions I made, the way I presented, were all influenced by race.

Internalized racism is never something you're born with, it’s something you’re taught.

I hid my sixth grade student photo from my parents because I wholeheartedly believed that I was too ugly to look at. I never admitted to it, and I never rationally understood why I did it. The act was second nature.

Too often, these sorts of uncomfortable life experiences inform the backbone of racial preference for minorities across the globe.

Alec Regino, U3 Arts, grew up in the Philippines but was exposed to Western ideals at a young age.

“I am Filipino, but, [growing up], my mom would also say I was from Spain and China,” Regino said. “My parents’ ultimate goal was to constantly push this narrative that I needed to meet a white girl and marry her so that their grandchildren [would] have lighter skin and bluer eyes [....] I didn’t think about it so much until I got here, but I did have this idea. Since light-skinned people were desirable, darkskinned people wouldn’t be as attractive.”

When racialized children constantly wonder if they are desirable enough for their parents, let alone their peers, the prioritization of a specific race inevitably becomes the norm. A lack of role models, at home and in the media, fosters self-doubt and limits the potential for young minorities to develop a stable identity. In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Egyptian student Abeer Almahdi, U2 Arts, recalled her yearning for a role model who looked like her while growing up in the Middle East.

“I didn’t really have strong Egyptian women to look up to as much, especially living in Kuwait,” Almahdi said. “The media didn’t help either, even [...] Arab media. Arab media was dominated by the same white passing artists, and the same people who never really looked anything like me. Growing up, the Western media was just as bad.

When I was a kid, I used to draw myself with straight blonde hair and my kindergarten teacher was like, ‘that’s not you.’”

A life-long exposure to Western media can skew a person of colour’s self-perception and personal aspirations. Inevitably, as minority groups encounter predominantly light-skinned representation in almost all forms of media, they are taught that Western traits garner success and fortune, promoting an impossible, ambient hunger for acceptance. With unrealistic ideals often come rude awakenings.

After moving from the Philippines to Montreal, Regino experienced this culture shift first-hand.

“When I moved here, this was the first time I realized how Filipino I was,” Regino said. “I grew up surrounded by Filipinos, but, moving to Canada, the whole dynamic shifted. Back in the Philippines, I was at the top of the social hierarchy. I have a white-sounding name, I have a white sounding voice. People treated me nicely. I had no issues. Here, I am nowhere near the top of the social hierarchy, and I assumed it was due to my race.”

Internalized racism is informed by racism’s many manifestations in society, but also by the prejudice that minorities are forced to

assume when existing in Western contexts. When entering a Western society, ignoring the stereotypical implications of your race is more easily said than done. “[In] first year, I tried to not talk about my background as much, because I was so scared [of how people would perceive me] especially as a Muslim, or as an Arab or an Egyptian,” Almahdi said.

In a perfect world, not having intrusive thoughts about one’s skin colour would be a weight off the shoulders of minorities everywhere, but, in our own world of ubiquitous prejudices, it’s unbelievably taxing to maneuver through these thoughts. I faced the exhausting, repressive reality of ‘looking past race’ in my first real relationship.

Imagine your significant other not wanting to be in public with you in case one of their family members saw; imagine your absence from their social media pages for the same reason. Imagine them breaking up with you because their mother found your skin colour and background downright ugly. I understood my relationship was far from the norm, but, subconsciously, I felt as though putting up with this heartbreaking reality was just me paying the Western tax. I knew what I was signing up for, but it’s hard to emotionally and mentally process the words “I love you” from a person who is afraid to be with you.

The thought of being internally racist can be difficult to grasp, and some obscure their prejudice as a matter of personal preference. Selfreflection is key to uncovering the truths underlying your beliefs, but admitting that a problem exists is harder than it seems. Ignorance may seem like the easier choice, but, in addressing internalized racism, we should all strive to be the role models our younger selves needed.

Almahdi and Regino shared similar sentiments toward their younger selves.

“I think about all the suffering that could be prevented,” Almahdi said. “Depression, anxiety, eating disorder, all of these things didn’t have to be there. There is nothing that I could really tell [my younger self] to [send] her down the right path just because of the environment.

But I think [that] if I could do anything, I would give her more representation. I’ll give her a list of things she should look up, a list of movies she should watch, books that she should read.”

Regino acknowledged the emotional rewards of self-acceptance.

"If I could talk to him again, I’d say, ‘don’t avoid the beach because you might think people will see your tan skin as ugly,’” Regino said.

“Question why you think these things instead. If you don’t go about these things with a framework of hate and dislike, then you can usually find the right kind of answers."

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Tuesday, november 6 , 2018

10

Station 16 fuses live performance and satirical graphics Local Montreal street artists make a bold transition into the gallery

Keira Seidenberg Contributor Continued from page 1.

Wasserman’s style is striking for its grayscale imagery and dystopic, dreamscape quality. A Montreal native, Wasserman attributes much of his comic-book-meetsstreet-art style to the graphic novels that he read as a child, a passion that led him to pursue a BFA at Concordia University.

While a portion of Wasserman’s work is on display at the Station 16 gallery, most exists for public-viewing on the streets of Montreal, including sidewalk paintings of elephants and commissioned interior works in restaurants like Foeigwa and Cadence Cycle.

The work of Wasserman’s contemporary Eric Clement is equally engaging, and showcases consumable everyday products. Reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup and Brillo Pad prints, which were revolutionary for their contribution to the Pop Art movement and criticism of consumer culture, Wasserman’s paintings depict commodities such as insect repellent and match boxes with minor changes to their appearance. Clement speaks to the attentive viewer by altering brands’ marketing, inserting satirical phrases like “keep your gram lit Photoflash” and “Hater Raid Spray for Rats, Snakes, and Snitches.”

At first glance, his products appear as though stocked on grocery store shelves, but closer inspection reveals Clement’s satire.

The work on display in Near Mint is both comforting and unsettling. Many of Wasserman’s works evoke stock tattoo imagery, juxtaposing jarring images like a barber shop beside drawings of rats clawing their way out of jars. Against Wasserman’s intricate patterning, Clement’s paintings of single products on simple backgrounds appear preternaturally fixed, a material calm amidst the tumult of Wasserman’s illustrative imagination. While the live tattooing might prompt a slight eye roll upon entrance, it fostered a sense of cohesion between the live action work and the framed pieces on the wall, suggesting a corporeal enactment of the static drawings.

Despite the small space and expected crowd of artsy exhibition-goers rife with tiny bangs and rolled-up hats, the exhibition was refreshing for its engagement with local artists. With a nod to their background as street artists, Wasserman and Clement’s work transformed the small gallery space into a quasi-urban environment, reframing a street art aesthetic within a gallery context.

While the gallery world is notorious for its restrictive definition of art, Station 16 surpasses traditional limitations. Art can be anything: Even the contents of your mother’s spice rack or a grumbling hipster getting tattooed in real time.

Local art with an edge. (Julia Spicer / The McGill Tribune)

No shame, no apologies: Lily Allen sparkles at Corona Theatre English pop artist delivers refreshing commentary

Caitlin Kindig News Editor Following the June 8 release of her electropop record No Shame, English singer-songwriter Lily Allen brought a spirited energy to Corona Theatre on Oct. 27. A few hundred concert-goers, damp and cold from the first snow of the fall, convened near the stage in anticipation of Allen’s performance.

Accompanied by her two-man band, Allen embodied a neon dream, decked from head to toe in a glitzy ensemble.

Citing an ongoing cold, she ingested her medicine and began the show, emphasizing her sickly-sweet demeanor as a pop-star. She opened with the first track off her new record, “Come On Then,” in which she describes the obsessive press coverage of the breakdown of her marriage, and how humiliating it was to be the subject of public scrutiny. Filling the room with vigour, she continued on with standouts from No Shame, such as “What You Waiting For?” and “Everything to Feel Something,” which explores Allen’s past struggles with substance abuse. She also performed hits from earlier albums: “Smile” and “Knock ‘Em Out” from her first record Alright, Still “Not Fair,” and “Who’d Have Known,” from her second album It’s Not Me, It’s You, demonstrating both her growth as an artist and the timeless appeal of her music.

Allen performed an unreleased single titled “Party Line,” recalling life on tour and adventures with her friends and bandmates. Exhilarated from her performance, the crowd received the song warmly in great anticipation of its upcoming release.

The room’s energy shifted from lively to pensive when Allen performed her hit “The Fear,” which is speculated to be about celebrity culture and fame; however, Allen insists that the song is a broader commentary on social media’s influence on day-to-day life. Allen used “The Fear” to

Allen performed a spectacular set for an adoring crowd on Oct. 27 at Theatre Corona. ( Marie-Eve Linck / La Bible Urbaine ) reflect on the tragic shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, which had occurred earlier that day. Allen recounted that when she read about it on her phone, she “just kept scrolling,” citing an overwhelming sense of dread. She reminded her audience to always stay informed

and aware in the face of trivial distractions.

While Allen’s more upbeat songs were energetic enough to goad fans of all ages into a frenzy, she still had a commanding ability to quiet the room. Allen performed her slower and more intimate songs, “Apples,” “Family Man,” and “Three” from No Shame with a beauty and honesty that effectively stunned the crowd into silence.

These songs delve into the more private parts of her life—a contemplation on her romantic relationships, parents, and children.

“Apples” compares Allen’s marital failures to the demise of her parents’ relationship by ruminating on the decisions that led to her divorce.

“Four years and you’ve given me my beautiful babies, but it was all too much for me,” Allen sang. “Now I’m exactly where I didn’t want to be, I’m just like my mummy and my daddy, I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

A silence fell over the venue when Allen began “Three,” a song written from the perspective of one of her young daughters, expressing her sadness and disappointment about Allen always being away on tour.

To wrap up an emotional rollercoaster of a performance, Allen performed “Trigger Bang,” which energized the crowd enough to finish with “Fuck You,” her iconic hit from It’s Not Me, It’s You. “I originally wrote this song after observing George W. Bush’s presidency from across the ocean, but little did I know there would be something much worse coming.

Donald J. Trump, this one’s for you!” Allen quipped.

Allen’s willingness to accept her flaws and turn them into engaging music is part of what makes her such a dynamic artist. No Shame is, fundamentally, a record built on Allen’s vulnerability. The singer-songwriter’s ability to convey emotions live allowed the crowd to experience emotional highs and lows alongside her and dance through them all the same.

student living

TUESDAY. November 6, 2018

11

La Lumière du Mile End opens its doors to the city’s students

Local cafe provides Montrealers with a cozy study space Gabriela McGuinty Staff Writer La Lumière du Mile End, a vegan café located on Rue Bernard Ouest, is nestled deep in the heart of the Mile End. The eatery offers a desirable Tuesday combo for McGill students: A five dollar meal and a tranquil study space. In an effort to attract Montreal’s student population, La Lumière du Mile End created a special study environment for students. In an initiative that began this October, the café remains open from 7 to 10 p.m. on Tuesday nights, catering exclusively to students in search of a tranquil study place.

“We’re open seven days [from] 11 [a.m.] to 8 [p.m.], but we find it’s quieter in the winter months,” Karyn Gabriel, owner of La Lumière du Mile End, said. “So, I had the idea [of opening] the space to students and [letting] them use it to study.”

The neighbourhood spot has been open for 10 years and has become a favourite among locals craving comfort food: It serves everything from dairyfree grilled cheese sandwiches to their signature burritos. Students can order a soup and tea combo for five dollars, and, as of last August, La Lumière du Mile End has become 100 per cent vegan.

The cafè hosts weekly study nights for Montreal’s students. (Dan Aponte / The McGill Tribune)

“I wanted to see how the transition went with all our regulars,” Gabriel said. “Sometimes people don’t even notice the difference [of the vegan cheese]. We’re excited to be able to provide another vegan alternative in Montreal.”

The owner hopes that the unique, student-centric environment at La Lumière du Mile End will become popular among Montreal’s university population. If that were the case, Gabriel could see herself expanding the initiative to include other nights

of the week. To achieve this goal, the café is looking for more locals to help facilitate the volunteer-run gathering.

“My idea is to have a rotation of volunteers [...] oversee [the café] from 7 [p.m.] to 10 [p.m.] [on Tuesdays],” Gabriel said. “[The volunteers] can

study as well [and take advantage of the five dollar deal] we’ll be offering.

If there’s demand for it, we can see about doing it more nights during the week. It’s all about the volunteers we get. ” Though, for many students, studying at the café may require venturing off campus, Gabriel stressed that La Lumière is easily accessible by metro and bus. The proximity of public transport is especially convenient in the winter. Sara Jardak, a volunteer at La Lumière du Mile End and social work student at Université de Montréal, explained that, like, many campus libraries, the café is situated in a convenient location, but its relaxing environment makes it conducive to studying.

“I enjoy cafés for studying as the ambience is less prone to anxiety and stress levels of other students,” Jardak said. “It’s also a good place to meet other students. I think [La Lumière] is a very convivial space. The lighting there, and Karyn’s energy and playlist are inviting and full of warmth.”

For students looking to venture beyond the McGill bubble and connect with greater Montreal, La Lumière du Mile End is a unique study alternative. The accessible location and student friendly meal deal make it a convenient place to study or socialize.

Letters for resistance: Writing to sexual violence survivors

McGill Women’s Health Advocacy Club event combats misconceptions about sexual violence Sophia White Contributor On Oct. 29, the McGill Women’s Health Advocacy Club (MWHAC) hosted an open letter-writing campaign for students to voice solidarity with survivors who have publicly come forward with accusations of sexual violence. The event was prompted by the recent confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. At the event, disheartened students wrote to public figures such as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Anita Hill, and Andrea Constand to express their support.

Attendees were encouraged to express their concerns and engage in a broader dialogue about sexual violence in a supportive environment.

The primary aim of the event was to uplift sexual violence survivors, and the organizers urged attendees to recognize the hardships that survivors face when telling their stories. Iris Kim, U3 Physiology and president of MWHAC, expressed her frustration with the public’s frequent hasty dismissal of survivors’ accusations.

“Any society, and any environment, really, that turns a blind eye to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and sexual violence is an environment that refuses to acknowledge the importance of survivors’ wellbeing, including their mental health,” Kim said.

The organizers also extended a personal invitation to all survivors of sexual violence at the event to write letters to themselves as a part of their healing process.

Listeners from McGill’s Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education (O-SVRSE) were present to help facilitate discussion and provide support for anyone in need.

The gathering was initially politically-motivated and intended to be held earlier this academic year before Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court.

However, the O-SVRSE suggested that it would be better to wait and focus on building support for survivors instead, many of whom are not offered spaces to heal after their assaults. Tori Ford, U3 Arts and Head of Events for O-SVRSE, explained that the focus of the event was modified to celebrate the bravery of survivors who come forward with their accusations.

“I find that, when sexual violence enters the news cycle, survivors can often feel isolated and alone,” Ford said. “I thought it would be a nice event to have people come together where they can really voice their concerns in a safe environment.”

In recent months, many students may have felt frustrated and unsure of how they could speak up and make a difference during the hearing. Though international activism can be intimidating, Kim stressed the need for advocacy.

“Sexual violence is everywhere, and it doesn’t really matter whether it’s in the news cycle for some prominent case,” Kim said. “It’s always happening. So, in that sense, it absolutely makes a difference for us to be advocating for survivors, wherever and whenever.”

Kim and Ford both highlighted the importance of believing survivors, as well as the need for fundamental societal change in how the public responds to survivors’ accusations.

“Despite the progress that has been made in terms of women’s advocacy, we have to acknowledge how difficult it is still for a woman to come forward and all of the different factors at play, such as privilege, race,

At the event, McGill students showed their support for survivors. (McGill Women’s Healthy Advocacy Club)

and education status,” Kim said. “We can’t blame women for not coming forward immediately or ever, but, [when they do come forward], we need to provide support in the ways they want to be supported.”

Survivors of sexual violence seeking support can reach out to O-SVRSE and the Sexual Assault Center of the McGill Students Society (SACOMSS).

12

student living

TUESDAY, November 6, 2018

A conversation on the repercussions of cultural appropriation “Understanding Cultural Appropriation” tackles issues of representation Nicholas Raffoul Staff Writer Continued from page 1.

Guiliano was joined by McGill’s Rachel Zellars, professor at the Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, as well as Stephen Puskas, a local Inuk artist and filmmaker. The three speakers, each from different backgrounds and research fields, had a compelling conversation on the consequences of cultural appropriation for black, indigenous, and other racialized groups.

Throughout the discussion, the speakers pointed to the consequences of cultural appropriation as well as how people can show appreciation for indigenous groups without appropriating their culture. Zellars, who was once a DJ, explained the repercussions of cultural appropriation in music, which is common in EDM and house music production.

“Black folks who were in Chicago and Baltimore were the people who created a particular type of sound and artistry,” Zellers said. “These names are completely erased from these lineages. I’m thinking of folks, like, Masters of Work and Juan Atkins. And it’s often like young white

In a panel discussion, local scholars and artists discussed cultural appropriation. (Drawn &Quarterly)

kids like Calvin Harris who profit from these influences today.”

The panel underscored the importance of remembering the histories and sources of cultural influences and ensuring that their work and contributions are honoured.

When asked how to support Indigenous culture without appropriating it, Stephen Puskas explained that it is

imperative to support indigenous artists and creators.

“There are different forms of material culture,” Puskas said. “There is food, which we are happy to share with other people. Then there’s material culture that is for sale; culture that we make for other people to wear. Then there’s culture that we make for ourselves and culture that is sacred, which we don’t intend for the public to see [....]

You have to understand where your indigenous material culture fits in those categories.”

Puskas’ response shed light on a different way of looking at cultural appropriation and where the line between appreciation and appropriation lies. The panel also stressed that before buying clothing, accessories, or other cultural items, one should ensure that they are made by the racialized group that they are trying to support, so they are able to benefit from the financial profit.

Although cultural appropriation comes up most when discussing Halloween costumes, Zellers, Guiliano, and Puskas all expressed that the repercussions of the practice impact indigenous, black, and other racialized groups of people year-round. People often think of cultural appropriation only in the realm of fashion and clothing, but the panel emphasized that appropriating culture extends to the economic, psychological, and historical contexts of racialized groups.

Art therapy as self care Montreal Museum of Fine Art explores the healing power of art Lucy Keller Contributor Starting Nov. 1, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) will waive entrance fees for visitors with doctor’s prescriptions.

Throughout a one-year trial period, the museum will conduct research on art’s healing capabilities with the goal of promoting the physical and psychological benefits of a cultural outing. The city-wide program is particularly valuable for students as art is effective in decreasing anxiety, stress, and depression.

Art therapy is a form of treatment which promotes self care through artistic expression and viewing. A recent study at Texas State University found that students who partook in art therapy experienced a significant decrease in anxiety compared to another group of students who received standard forms of therapy.

The MMFA’s new program will provide McGill students with an opportunity to experience the effects of art therapy in a world class setting. While there are several McGill support groups on campus, such as the McGill Art Hive Initiative (MAHI), for students to gain relief for a range of health issues, this new alternative offers a more diverse array of facilities. Nathalie Bondil, director general and chief curator of the MMFA, piloted the program in partnership with physicians from Médecins francophones du Canada (MdFC). She hopes that the initiative will popularize creating and viewing artwork as a form of self care.

“Cultural experiences will benefit health and wellness, just as engaging in sports contributes to fitness,” Bondil said.

“Just as doctors now prescribe exercise, they will be able to prescribe a visit to the MMFA.”

Social work graduate student Salima Punjani, an intern in the art therapy sector of the museum, explained that this program serves as a new way for students to augment their current self-care routines.

“I would absolutely recommend that McGill students take time out of their days to come to the MMFA,” Punjani said. “I think it is important to take breaks and to also stimulate your mind in different ways through different textures, colours, and forms. I think listening, reading and writing are great tools for learning but it is important to step out of the box.”

McGill students who wish to take advantage of the pricing discount will need a prescription from a physician who is a member of the MdFC; however, visitors without the proper documentation can partake in the other programs offered by the museum and its community partners.

According to Stephen Legari, art therapist at the MMFA, the museum’s opportunities range from a typical trip to the museum to utilizing their educational and therapeutic services to reap the benefits of art therapy.

Among these facilities is the Art Hive, an open-access space for visitors to create art with the guidance of art therapists.

“I like to think of the museum in terms of its doors,” Legari said. “There are all of these different doors [through which] you can enter the museum. You can enter through the front door as a visitor, tourist, [or] member, or you can enter through the side doors as a student, [...] but how we approach these doors really depends on what the individual is looking for and what are they hoping to achieve.”

Though there are art hives across the world, the MMFA Art Hive is the only one situated inside of an art museum. Legari explained that the MMFA hive’s museum

The MMFA’s new initiative promotes self-care through the arts. (Athena Ko / The McGill Tribune)

setting creates a particularly distinctive experience.

“When art therapy is practiced in a community centre, in a school, or in a clinic, it tends to look a lot like a mental health service, with the important exception that we are always working with art,” Legari said. “The foundation of our practice is [that] we believe in nonverbal communication as a

means of helping people through whatever they are living with.”

Most McGill students have a non-stop schedule and often put their mental health health aside in stressful times. However, art therapy programs, such as those offered at the MMFA, provide a way for students to take control of their mental health through new and creative outlets.

science & technology

TUESDAY, November 6, 2018

13

Understanding asbestos The what, the where, and the how of asbestos Sophia Gorbounov Contributor Asbestos: Mid-twentieth century American houses were hopeless without it.

Malcolm in the Middle made a punchline out of it in an episode. Now, buildings are being forced to remove it, and some countries— including Canada—are introducing legislation to ban it completely. This is a problem that hits close to home, since many of McGill’s historical buildings contain large quantities of the material.

The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) building is currently under construction in part to remove asbestos. As the building is over half a century old, it was constructed when asbestos usage was at its peak. Its closure calls the threat of asbestos in other aging McGill buildings into question. The McGill Asbestos Web Database shows that many buildings on campus—including the Adams Building and Redpath Library—have areas where asbestos material content ranges from 25 to 75 per cent. Moreover, many of the reports have not been updated in nearly a decade.

Asbestos refers not to a single thing, but to a category of materials. The word ‘asbestos’ comes from Greek and means ‘unquenchable.’ By definition, asbestos is a group of naturally occurring, fibrous, silicate materials and acts as a very good insulator.

The most common form of asbestos is chrysotile, or white asbestos. In comparison to other variants, it has softer fibres, meaning that it is less dangerous to inhale

as opposed to sharp fibres, which get caught more easily in the lungs. Other types of asbestos include tremolite and brown asbestos, although they are not frequently used in commercial products. Asbestos is resistant to fire, electricity, and corrosion, making it useful as a heat-resistor and as friction control in brake linings and household insulation. Asbestos can also act in conjunction with materials such as steel or rubber to strengthen them.

The U.S. government recognizes six types of asbestos, which it categorizes into two main groups: Serpentine, which corresponds to white asbestos, and amphibole, which includes all five other recognized types. Research shows that there are more than types of amphibole asbestoses which the U.S. government does not recognize, but that exist in sizeable quantities and that can be just as toxic.

When it first came into use in the mid 20th century, asbestos was primarily used as a construction material. By the 1980s, it was used as the main fireproofing and insulating material for multi-story buildings.

It was incorporated into adhesives, sealants, cement sheets, and was sprayed on walls, ceilings, and girders. Asbestos was truly the ‘miracle material’ of the construction world.

In Canada, asbestos mines constituted a large source of income. By 1966, Canada was producing over 40 per cent of the world’s white asbestos.

While it may once have been an architectural and financial miracle, asbestos has a toxic legacy. When it breaks down, fibres release into the air. These fibres pose

Once the famous catch-all building material, asbestos is now considered extremely dangerous.

(Cordelia Cho / The McGill Tribune) respiratory and long-term risks not only to residents in the building, but also workers and repairmen. Tearing down an asbestosfilled building only increases the risk of releasing harmful fibres.

One of asbestos’ most lethal effects is mesothelioma, a form of cancer caused almost exclusively by long-term exposure to asbestos. The disease has a poor prognosis rate; most patients die within 21 months of diagnosis. Canada has some of the highest rates of mesothelioma in the world and asbestos is the number one cause of occupational death in the country. Yet, its use is still increasing worldwide.

Despite the existence of safe alternative materials and the health complications it causes, the desire to ban asbestos has been sluggish. In the U.S., asbestos can still be used in most materials, so long as it is in concentrations of less than one per cent. In China and India, asbestos is still regularly used in building materials.

Canada has only recently taken its first step to banning asbestos. Though the Canadian government lists it as a toxic substance, the legislation to ban it was only introduced for the first time in January of this year and still has a long way to go before implementation.

T-cells take the wheel Unleashing the immune system on cancer Margaret Wdowiak Contributor In recent years, modern targeted cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation and surgery have become better at effectively treating the disease. However, these methods continue to be invasive for patients, as they essentially involve racing to kill cancerous cells faster than healthy ones. Fortunately, discoveries in the field of immunotherapy—using the immune system for treatment—are widening the possibilities for successful cancer procedures. This year, the 2018 Nobel Prize for Medicine went to Japanese researcher Tasuku Honjo and American researcher James Allison for their groundbreaking development in immunotherapies, which show promising results in the fight against cancer.

At the root of it, cancer is a disease of cells. The genes inside a cell control its growth, division, and death. However, sometimes cells ignore these signals and divide out of control, potentially resulting in cancerous tumours.

Honjo and Allison’s research largely concerns T-cells, which are white blood cells that play a key role in the immune

system by recognizing and destroying abnormal cells, such as the ones that spread cancer. There are a variety of T-cell types including ‘cytotoxic T-cells,’which kill tumour and virus-infected cells, and ‘helper T-cells,’ which assist other white blood cells in performing their functions.

“Historically, [T-cells] were thought to be CD4 [helper] and CD8 [cytotoxic] in nature, but this simple classification has expanded dramatically in the last decade,” Brian Ward, associate professor in McGill’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune.

In order to trigger an immune response, all T-cells interact with a complex system of proteins that act as accelerators and brakes. This system is similar to that of a car, which can brake to stop or accelerate to go faster. T-cells can be accelerate to destroy cells but also brake before they destroy healthy ones. Deformed cancerous cells spread when the T-cells are either not acting fast enough or braking before destroying them.

The new research is the result of decades of work. In the 1990s, Allison studied the effects of a protein called CTLA-4, which acts like a brake on T-cells.

Allison and Honjo received the 2018 Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work on cancer treatment. (bioinformant.com) He was able to develop an antibody to block remission and some are even cured. While the protein’s function and, with the brakes the anti-PD-1 therapy has been found to be cut, T-cells can go on destroying cancer the more effective of the two, combining them has proven to be the most successful cells beyond what is normally possible.

A few years later, Honjo discovered option. “[The] field [of immunotherapy] has another brake protein known as PD-1.

PD-1 also inhibits T-cells but does so by already radically changed cancer treatment preventing their activation. Honjo then and will, undoubtedly, change the approach developed a treatment for cancer based on to many autoimmune condition[s] as well as some infectious diseases,” Ward wrote.

PD-1 blockage.

In the future, immunotherapy could Studies have demonstrated the potential of these two novel immunotherapies; many develop into a cure for many more illnesses trial patients are experiencing long-term than cancer. Its potential is unlimited.

14

science & technology

tuesday, November 6, 2018

Myers-Briggs’ evolution into the personality gospel Character as a capitalist construct Morgan Sweeney Contributor “Throughout college, I was always someone who thought that who you were was a function of what you accomplished,” Merve Emre, associate professor of English at the University of Oxford and author of the book The Personality Brokers, said.

Emre, a former assistant professor at McGill, is not alone in thinking this. Her new book tells the story of the mother-daughter duo Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers, and how they revolutionized the tendency to quantify a person’s value as a function of their productivity. Personality testing rose in popularity in twentieth-century America as the perfect tool to categorize people in an increasingly-specialized, newly-industrialized society. Defining people’s identities in the context of their work had the additional benefit of motivating them to work harder for the illusion of self-fulfillment. Unaccredited psychological associations manufactured test after test, and people were assessed, measured, and hired or fired based on their results.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), as it was initially titled, stood out from other tests since there were no wrong answers to the assessment; the different results simply indicated different types of people who could use their skills in unique ways. The creation of a user-friendly test that asked everyday questions such as, “Are you generally: (a) a ‘good mixer;’ or (b) rather reserved in company?” transformed the Indicator into a multimillion dollar industry.

“What’s so interesting to me about the language of the Type Indicator is that it doesn’t care about what you’ve accomplished, it tells you ‘here is who you are,’” Emre said. “The Indicator promises people a story about themselves [....It] offers a sort of unthreatening form of self-discovery in which all types are created equal.”

In The Personality Brokers, Emre integrates elements of the personal and political into the captivating story of the two protagonists who created the inventory. As two women with no formal psychological training, Myers and Briggs serve in stark contrast to other psychologists of the early 20th century;

Myers and Briggs had no psychological training when they developed the most influential personality test in the world. (Daria Kiseleva / The McGill Tribune) however, their fierce devotion to the gospel of personality revolutionized psychological assessment.

The book begins with Briggs: An intelligent and scientificallyminded mother whose dedication to homemaking was surpassed only by her obsession with Carl Jung, the Freudian disciple whose theories of analytic psychology would later form the basis of the MBTI. Her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, grew up under her mother’s tutelage and carried her infatuation with analytical psychology into her late 80s, working tirelessly to create a way for the public to use her mother’s Jungian teachings.

Isabel considered each of Jung’s three pairs of personality qualities: Introversion (I) and Extraversion (E), Intuition (N) and Sensing (S), Thinking (T) and Feeling (F), with an additional pair her mother had come up with: Judging (J) and Perceiving (P). The theory goes that each person favoured one trait in each pair, and the four letters would combine to form their personality ‘type,’

which corresponded to a certain way of looking at the world.

Isabel started out surveying people she knew, asking questions, and noting their preferences. The scope of her investigation grew as she drove across the U.S. to survey others, obtaining data from businesses, schools, and hospitals, before finally compiling it all in the MBTI. Isabel had to fight hard to get her Indicator published and distributed, as its unscientific premise was initially rejected by multiple psychometric companies.

Although the MBTI remains controversial in academia, Isabel’s efforts were rewarded; people from Fortune 500 companies, schools, and various workplaces continue to emphatically assert that her indicator has helped them better understand themselves.

For those interested in developing a more comprehensive view of their personality, variations of the Myers-Briggs assessment can be found for free online. Alternatively, it costs $50 to take the actual Myers-Briggs personality assessment.

Fantastic alien microbes and how to find them

Laser sail spaceships can take us to Mars and beyond Kimberly Johnston Contributor The 2015 discovery of water on Mars, an essential for life on Earth, sparked theories of thriving Martian life. Ideas of interstellar travel to find extracellular beings were suddenly within reach. The second Montreal Space Symposium on Oct. 18 to 19, offered a forum for the future of space exploration, where speakers shared their passion for the next frontier.

Surface formations on Mars indicate that water may have swept up sediment and debris, before being flushed underground and sequestered away for billions of years in lava-formed rock passages. These Martian lava tubes now serve as stores for icy water and would provide a protective environment to microbes that may may exist within the rocks. These possible alien microbes would explain the persistent traces of methane in Mars’ atmosphere.

The Martian subsurface matches Earth’s own, where a thin film of water lies in lava tubes between ice and rock. Despite this harsh environment, Earth’s microorganisms thrive in large populations in lava tubes at oxygen concentrations very similar to those on Mars. They have adapted to using iron

or other inorganic compounds as sources of energy.

“What this tends to indicate to us is that there could be a broad range of metabolisms as well as survival strategies,” Brady O’Connor, a Master’s student in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences, said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “From a habitability standpoint and an astrobiology standpoint, this is encouraging.’’

Samples of these Earth-residing microbial communities reveal a diverse variety of organisms, providing an encouraging sign for the existence of similar life on Mars.

Theorizing life via analogy is promising, but scientists at the Space Symposium were eager to discuss how to find real evidence of life on Mars, which would be no easy task.

Such a mission would first require aerial surveillance for laval chutes into which robots could be lowered. After making it underground, there are more challenges.

The uneven and unpredictable terrain of the caves could shred the wheels of the exploration rover in minutes. To circumvent the difficult geography, the mission would need to use robots that hop or rovers better adapted to the terrain.

Mars is only one of many planets to explore, however, and Andrew Higgins, associate professor in mechanical engineering, has set his sights on interstellar flight.

The bulk of stars and exoplanets surrounding Earth is at least 10 lightyears, or 100 trillion kilometres, away. Speed aside, it would be impossible to reach these celestial bodies with rocket fuel because the sheer amount of chemical propellant required would have a greater mass than the entire known universe.

Based on the American physicist Robert L. Forward’s conception of interstellar travel, Higgins suggested leaving enginepowered spaceships aside and instead hitching a ride on a laser sail spaceship.

The laser on the spaceship provides thrust by shining light—made up of photons and carrying momentum—on the sail to apply pressure. The light would shine with the help of photovoltaic mirrors focusing a light beam on a metre-large ultrathin glass sail. It would take a contraption of this type just three minutes to reach 30 per cent of the speed of light, at which it could reach the nearest star, Proximus Centauri, in 10 years.

With only a three minute launch time, it would be possible to send super lightweight

McGill students Brady O’Connor and Christopher Patterson discuss the potentials of life lurking in subsurface Mars at the Montreal Space Symposium. (montrealspace.ca) micro-data-collecting devices to all nearby stars of interest.

Higgins’ research coincides with NASA’s new interest in interstellar missions.

“We are in the interstellar age,’’ Higgins said. “This really is a project for a century.”

Plenty of questions have yet to be answered, such as how a micron thick sail would hold up under laser thrust and what would happen if the sail hit a grain of interstellar dust. However, scientists at the Space Symposium believe interstellar travel is a very real possibility.

sports

TUESDAY, November 6, 2018

15

Know Your Athlete: Alex Paquin

The point guard talks American collegiate sports, McGill basketball, and going pro Ender McDuff Staff Writer Alex Paquin, the McGill men’s team’s fifth-year starting point guard from Candiac, Quebec, began his athletic career in a different sport: Baseball. At age seven, Paquin’s brother— who went on to play baseball in university— introduced him to basketball.

“I was playing [basketball] everywhere [after that], in the park, at home,” Paquin said. “I was just this little kid who was always playing […and] having fun.”

Eventually, Paquin chose to pursue basketball more seriously and set his sights set on playing in university. He made his way to American University, an NCAA Division 1 school in Washington, DC, where he played for three seasons. “[Playing in the United States] was pretty cool,” Paquin said. “It’s a lot different than in Canada. The culture of sports is on another level.”

After graduating three years later, Paquin returned to Montreal to play for McGill while working towards his diploma in applied finance.

He gained two more years of playing time with the move due to U Sports’ eligibility rules which allow for five years of varsity athletic participation.

Paquin has, thus far, made the most of his return to his home country: He helped the McGill men to a program-best fourth-place finish last year while earning RSEQ and U Sports Championship All-Star honours.

“At first, it was hard to adjust, […] but once

I [did], it was honestly the year I loved [the] most [...and] had the most fun,” Paquin said. “It was just a connection [...with] their culture […of] brotherhood, working hard, and having fun doing it.”

Despite growing up as a Kobe Bryant fan, Paquin models his play most closely to Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard. Paquin sees himself as a smart, tough player who is a strong shooter and a hard worker.

“I feel like I’ve eliminated most of my deficiencies [on] offence,” Paquin said. “Now, it is mostly about getting in shape.”

The biggest change Paquin has seen in his game over the years has been in his approach to the game.

“It used to be hard,” Paquin said. “I used to [think] ‘I need to score, I need to put on a lot of pressure,’ but, now […] I’m really prepared. When I come into a game, it doesn’t matter what’s in front of me. I’ll know what to do.”

Looking ahead to his final university season, Paquin has set himself lofty goals. He hopes to earn All-Canadian honours, and he wants his team to keep winning.

Paquin scored 29 of McGill’s 58 points in their preseason game against Duke. (basketball. qc.ca)

“Most people think that because [five graduating players] left, we’re going to have a down year, but I really want to show everyone that it doesn’t matter,” Paquin said. “They instilled [a winning attitude] at McGill, [and] we’re still going to win.”

Paquin hopes to play professionally in Europe upon graduating from McGill. That process requires finding an agent, showing off his skills in a highlight reel, and, most importantly, having a strong season.

“It’s stressful […] because there’s a lot of

uncertainty,” Paquin said. “I’ve got to show up [to] every game. I can’t take a break [….] I have to perform.”

Paquin’s game has benefitted from that sort of additional pressure thus far. The point guard has averaged 19 points, three assists, and three rebounds through the eight preseason games in which he played—all improvements from his numbers last year. As the regular season tips off on Thursday, Nov. 8, Paquin will look to maintain his team’s pace and lead McGill to yet another record season.

Point-counterpoint: Mets hire Brodie Van Wagenen as GM Former player agent takes reins of Mets front office despite concerns

The New York Mets hired Brodie Van Wagenen, a former agent and co-head of the baseball division at the Creative Artists Agency, to be their new general manager.

Will his lack of front office experience and background as an agent pay off or fail him?

Brodie Van Wagenen will prove his critics wrong Alden Tabac Contributor

The process of hiring a general manager has traditionally focused on front office experience. Most of today’s GMs have worked their way up from lower positions in a professional sporting organization. Brodie Van Wagenen’s experience as an agent brings unique qualities to the job that other GMs who have followed the typical path do not have. His time as a player agent representing Mets stars Yoenis Céspedes, Todd Frazier, and Jacob deGrom gives him a personal connection with three of the team’s leaders. Moreover, Van Wagenen got to understand the general manager position from the other side of the conference table, from his several successful negotiations with current GMs. His well-rounded understanding of player and front office dialogue gives him the advantage of being a more shrewd negotiator than GMs of other teams.

Van Wagenen is a progressive thinker who has used sabermetrics to assist clients in signing lucrative contracts: Before entering negotiations with the Mets to sign Céspedes, Van Wagenen used analytics to find Céspedes’

monetary value based on the revenues he produced on and off the field. With similar methods, the new GM can find players with the best dollar-per-production value and field a team whose performance matches its payroll.

Sports teams that have strayed from traditional methods have reaped the rewards. For example, the current Golden State Warriors dynasty was built by agent-turnedGM Bob Myers, and, without any previous managerial experience, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone just led his team to a 100-win season. Although Van Wagenen cannot get the Mets to a World Series next season, his critics will come around to his hiring.

Mets Strike Out On General Manager Hire Mitch Bannon Contributor

Brodie Van Wagenen’s ‘crossing the aisle’ to become a GM poses obvious dilemmas even though the Mets claim that there are provisions in Van Wagenen’s contract to deal with potential conflicts of interest. As an agent, he worked for several of his new employees, including pitcher Jacob deGrom, outfielder Yoenis Céspedes, and quarterback-turned-baseball-prospect Tim Tebow. Now employing the players he once represented and advocated for, it’s unclear whether he can move past his personal relationships with those players and act in the best interest of the franchise.

Agents are privy to all sorts of information. For example, with critical contract negotiations coming up

for DeGrom, there are worries that Van Wagenen could exploit this information. All corners of the industry have noticed the potential problems Van Wagenen’s appointment may cause. Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark noted the many calls and texts of concern he has received following Van Wagenen’s hiring. Agent Scott Boras underscored the importance of an agent’s commitment to their clients, insinuating that Van Wagenen’s former Mets clients could feel betrayed depending on his actions as GM. Van Wagenen may scout and manage talent well, but previous sports agents’ attempts to hold one of baseball’s most coveted positions have gone poorly. Most recently, the hiring of Dave Stewart—a former player and agent— resulted in some of the worst personnel moves in Arizona Diamondbacks history, and he was fired two years later.

Beyond the controversy surrounding his past profession, Van Wagenen’s incompetencies are already showing. He claimed the lowly 77-win Mets—and their bottom five farm system—can avoid a rebuild. With ample dissention and no sign of competent managerial practice to compensate, the Mets will need a miracle to save themselves from wasting the primes of Jacob DeGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and even Tim Tebow.

Editors’ pick It is a savvy hire. Van Wagenen got to this position by way of his acumen in baseball and business. The salesmanship abilities he developed as agent will be put to good use, and he has a headstart on getting his former clients to buy in to the role change.

16

sports

TUESDAY, november 6, 2018

Martlet volleyball beats UdeM in three sets McGill extends winning streak to five against Carabins

Kaja Surborg Contributor On Nov. 2, the McGill Martlets (5-0) won in three sets against their crosstown rival Université de Montréal (UdeM) Carabins (41) and took their fifth consecutive victory in front of a crowd of nearly 300 fans. With the win, they stayed atop the RSEQ and cemented their number six spot in the U Sports national rankings.

After dropping the first set 25-18 and narrowly winning the second set 25-23, the Martlets dominated the third 25-15.

“We know that the Carabins are a really offensive team,” third-year power hitter Claire Vercheval said. “We knew that we would have to be patient [...] and do our own thing [...], and that worked.”

Defence was vital in the win. Vercheval, fifth-year power hitter Emilie Matte De Grasse, had nine digs and fourth-year libero Lea-Marie Duguay had eight digs for the game. First-year middle blocker Charlene Robitaille led McGill with four blocks throughout the evening.

Matte De Grasse, who scored a Martlethigh 11 points, noted that their teamwork was a deciding factor.

“Today, we showed up as a whole team and worked really well together,” Matte De Grasse said. “We were really ready for it today.”

Vercheval had nine points of her own,

with six kills and two aces. She agreed that team chemistry played a significant part in the win.

“We really worked as a team and really concentrated on trying to bring all of our skills [together],” Vercheval said. “[We didn’t want] to be individuals on the court.”

Beyond teamwork, McGill Head Coach Rachele Beliveau also emphasized the development of many of the Martlets.

“The majority of the group are only thirdyears, and, when they came in, they had a lot of potential,” Beliveau said. “They are getting better and better, and, hopefully, we can keep improving.”

With 14 games left in the season, the Martlets will look to keep improving and extend the winning streak as the season progresses. “[We need to] improve decision making,” Beliveau said. “It’s getting better, and we saw some good digs tonight. Staying sharp on the game plan and knowing when to execute [is also important], and we’re always working on skills.”

Matte De Grasse also emphasized the mental component of their game.

“We’re [working on] our attitude and how we show up on the court,” Matte De Grasse said. “We know we have the skills to win, so we want to build a consistent team that plays well together to be able to go to nationals.”

Martlet right-side hitter Rowan Fletcher serves the ball. (Keli Geers / The McGill Tribune)

MOMENT OF THE Game The Martlets came out firing in the final set, taking the first five points. They went into the technical timeout with a lead of 16-4, and won the set 25-15.

QUOTABLE “We knew there were going to be big plays and that they would be strong, but we had to do our own thing on our own side, and we knew it was going to work.” - Claire Vercheval on how the team’s mentality affected play.

STAT CORNER McGill’s 33 kills dominated the Carabins’ 21.

McGill men’s rugby falls to Bishop’s in heartbreaking loss 2018 season comes to an end after semi-final defeat

Owen Gibbs Staff Writer On Nov. 3 at Percival Molson Stadium, the McGill men’s rugby season came to a close when the team (5-2) fell to the Bishop’s University Gaiters (5-2) by a score of 19-17. With this semi-final loss, McGill was eliminated from the RSEQ playoffs.

Bishop’s was in control of the action throughout the first half.

After opening scoring with a try 15 minutes in, the Gaiters followed up with a successful free kick shortly after to take a 7-0 lead. They then extended the lead to 14 with a second try and free kick. McGill’s only points of the half trimmed Bishop’s lead to nine: Third-year hooker Alex Pantis scored a try, but McGill could not convert for the extra two points, and so the half ended with a score of 14-5 in the Gaiters’ favour.

Bishop’s carried its momentum into the second half, quickly scoring a try. However, the Gaiters were unable to convert for the two additional points. Then, the McGill offence started to take over. Third-year outside-centre Jessen Gibbs scored a try to cut the Bishop’s lead to nine; later, with minutes to go, first-year fullback Benjamin Russell reached the end zone to make it 19-15, and a twopoint kick brought McGill within

McGill puts the ball back into play with a lineout. (Keli Geers / The McGill Tribune)

two. Unfortunately, time ran out, ending both McGill’s comeback bid and its season while Bishop’s booked its ticket to the RSEQ Championship.

“It was all going to come down to who was going to make the most mistakes,” first-year fly-half Owen Cumming said. “We had too many penalties in the first half, and that cost us pretty heavily.”

Ultimately, it was a successful season for the McGill men’s rugby squad. They finished with a regular season record of 5-1, which earned them second place in the RSEQ.

Their only regular season loss came on Oct. 19 against the undefeated Concordia Stingers.

Unfortunately, McGill’s attempt to win their first championship since 2015, and its sixth in the last 10 years, fell short. Though the loss was disappointing, the team held their heads high and appreciated this season’s success.

“From the start, the team was more cohesive than I’ve seen it since I started playing here,” Gibbs said. “The wins we locked down were certainly

a product of our bond, and I am confident that this team will be in the finals next year.”

Gibbs, the team captain, was named an RSEQ first-team all-star.

His faith that the future is bright for his squad extends down the roster: Among this increasingly-cohesive unit were ten rookies, including Cumming and second row Karl Hunger, who agreed with Gibbs’ assessment of the bond that the team shared this season.

“The older players made sure all the younger guys felt included and part of something bigger than just a rugby team,” Hunger said.

“Together, we’ve built a strong bond between all players on and off the field which I believe is a very important part of having a rugby club.”

MOMENT OF THE Game The crowd erupted as Benjamin Russell scored a try in the final 15 minutes of the match to pull McGill within two points, giving the team and the fans hope that they could complete the comeback.

QUOTABLE “Seeing my team stand tall and support each other following such a devastating loss is the greatest success that I could ask for.” – Captain Jessen Gibbs on the teamwork within the McGill locker room.

STAT CORNER McGill had one of the RSEQ’s strongest defences this season, surrendering only 61 points all year, and fewer than 10 points in four of their six regular season outings.