Mcgill Daily Vol. 107 Issue 2

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CONTENTS

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

2

3 editorial 4 International news 5 ssmu and qpirg face budget crisis 6-7 What’s ssmu up to?

8 rally against fossil fuels 9 the rise of hindu fundamentalism

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10 THe MERITS OF MARXISM

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14 The new sports section

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15 Montreal’s olympic landmarks

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editorial

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Volume 107 Issue 2

editorial board

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The McGill Daily is located on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory. coordinating editor

Inori Roy

McGill cannot ignore the fentanyl crisis

coordinating@mcgilldaily.com managing editor

Marina Cupido coordinating news editor

Rayleigh Lee

news editor

Nora McCready

commentary & compendium! editor

Jude Khashman culture editor

Caroline Macari

features editor

Vita Azaro

science + technology editor

Tony Feng

sports editor

Louis Sanger multimedia editor

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Nathan Drezner

web & social media editor

vacant le délit

Mahaut Engerant

Content Warning: drug use and overdose

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ast week, public health officials in Montreal warned of an imminent fentanyl crisis that poses a serious risk to the city’s drug users. Fentanyl is an opioid prescribed to relieve chronic pain, but its intensity is 40 times that of heroin, and its toxicity 100 times that of morphine. Fentanyl can be found in opiates, as well as party drugs such as cocaine, PCP, and MDMA. Because it’s often present without the consumer’s knowledge, it can easily cause a fatal overdose. In British Columbia, 706 overdose deaths from January to July 2017 involved fentanyl. In Montreal, there have been 24 confirmed drug overdose cases since the beginning of August 2017.

Faced with this growing public health crisis, the McGill community must waste no time in supplying the tools and information necessary to keep students safe.

A key step in this direction would be for the University to provide access to naloxone, a chemical compound that stabilizes someone experiencing an overdose for 30-90 minutes until further medical attention is available. Naloxone can be administered by anyone who has received a requisite training, which Montreal Public Health recommends for the general public. Indeed, while city officials work on an action plan to tackle the fentanyl crisis, community organisations like Méta d’ me have been training people to administer naloxone safely. Meanwhile, some local events and venues have begun keeping a naloxone-trained person on site to maximize safe(r) partying. These initiatives are rooted in a philosophy of harm reduction that ensures the rights of drug users to health and safety, and it is vital for McGill to embrace this same mindset.

Many students use party drugs, meaning the fentanyl crisis necessarily affects the McGill community—yet there seems to be little preparation happening on campus. The McGill Student Emergency Response Team (MSERT), who already receive limited information on responding to drug overdoses, has neither been provided with naloxone nor taught to administer it. Floor fellows who are aware of the crisis have communicated the dangers to their students, but they too have no access to naloxone. McGill Health Services, meanwhile, haven’t communicated with the student population about the fentanyl crisis at all. This lack of information and training around fentanyl is deeply irresponsible. Given the extent to which McGill fosters party culture, the administration must take responsibility for keeping students informed of that culture’s inherent risks.

Individual students, however, should not wait for institutional support before taking action. No matter the setting, from campus parties to one’s own living room, it’s essential that bystanders be equipped to prevent a fatality.

At the very least, they must be trained to spot the signs of a fentanyl overdose in time to call for help. These signs include: severe sleepiness, shallow breathing, lips and nails turning blue, unresponsiveness, gurgling sounds or snoring, cold or clammy skin, and abnormally small pupils. In order to address the fentanyl crisis, Canada passed a law in May 2017 that promises immunity from drug possession charges for anyone calling 911 to report an overdose; while this represents important progress, it should be noted that racialized and non-status students will likely still face harassment from law enforcement. In addition to learning the signs and seeking naloxone training, students must demand that McGill take concrete and immediate action to fight the fentanyl crisis.

—The McGill Daily editorial board

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international News SEPT. 11 - 15 Student Centre Shatner Ballroom

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September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Ethnic cleansing continues in Myanmar

oughly 150,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar over the past two weeks, as state security forces continue to carry out ethnic cleansing operations in the country’s Rakhine province.

This wave of violence began August 25 after an attack by Rohingya militants against government forces, and is nominally aimed at stamping out terrorist activity in the region. However, it appears that civilians are being targeted on a massive scale. The international press has largely been barred from the region, but the refugees who continue to pour into neighbouring Bangladesh have reported massacres and the destruction of entire villages. While Myanmar’s government has claimed that only 400 people have been killed in Rakhine province so far, the U.N. estimates the actual death toll to be at least 1000.

For decades, the Rohingya have faced intense systemic discrimination in the Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship and access to many basic amenities. They are widely known as “the world’s most persecuted minority.” The current ethnic cleansing campaign is not without precedent; a year ago, over 80,000 Rohingya fled the country after nine police officers were killed by alleged Muslim militants, prompting another violent crackdown in the Rakhine province.

While not unprecedented, this latest outbreak of violence seems to be drawing significantly more criticism from the international community than previous conflicts. In particular, Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de facto leader, has been sharply criticized for her refusal to condemn the violence and take steps to end the persecution of the Rohingya. In recent weeks, many around the world have argued that her Nobel Peace Prize, awarded in 1991 for upholding non-violence and human rights, should be revoked.

Bangladesh, the biggest country of origin for refugees seeking safety in Europe, has struggled with the recent wave of refugees from Myanmar. In some regions, border controls have been tightened, leaving many Rohingya stranded with nowhere to run, while those who make it into the country face desperately overcrowded refugee camps. On September 6, the Bangladeshi government accused Myanmar of laying landmines along the border between the two countries, further exacerbating the plight of the Rohingya. Officials from Myanmar have denied these allegations, though several injuries from landmines have been reported in recent days.

9-8 9-5

With material from The Guardian and Al Jazeera.

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New data shows human cost of war in Yemen

U.N. report released on September 6 suggests that the war that has engulfed Yemen since March 2015 is even more devastating than international observers previously believed. The latest figures suggest that at least 3,200 civilians have been killed in airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition; out of these, at least 1,100 have reportedly been children. The report notes, however, that these figures are probably conservative estimates of the death toll.

In essence, the war in the Yemen conflict consists of two main belligerents: the Houthi movement, which overthrew the Yemeni government in 2015, and the Saudi-led coalition, which is trying to reinstall that government. The Houthis, a predominantly Shi’a group, are backed by Iran; the coalition, which includes Egypt, Qatar, and Jordan, receives US support, often in the form of covert drone strikes against alleged “terrorists.”

Despite the vast military arsenals at their disposal, the coalition has achieved little strategic success so far, as the Houthis remain in control of the capital and much of the western half of the country.

Now, roughly two and a half years into the conflict, Yemen is home to the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Roughly 17 million people - one in five Yemenis - face food insecurity, and seven million are at the brink of famine. Infrastructure has broken down in many areas, and a lack of functioning hospitals, medical personnel, and clean water is having a catastrophic impact on the health of the population. In recent months, a deadly cholera epidemic has struck the country, spreading through polluted water. Between April and August, the U.N. reports, at least 2000 people have died from the disease.

Additionally, Yemenis have suffered direct violence over the course of the war. The targeting of civilians by coalition forces is well documented, with the U.N., activists and eyewitnesses on the ground reporting that houses, hospitals, and schools have been destroyed in addition to more conventional military targets. Houthi forces have harmed civilians as well, albeit on a lesser scale than the coalition.

This kind of violence constitutes a breach of international law, and as the conflict has intensified in recent months, international condemnation of the coalition’s tactics has become more and more widespread.

On August 30, 62 NGOs called on the U.N.’s Human Rights Council to launch an enquiry into human rights abuses committed by both sides in Yemen. Earlier this year, the Trudeau government faced criticism when it emerged that Canada too had lent its support to the Saudi-led coalition, albeit indirectly, by selling arms to Saudi Arabia that have been turned against Yemeni civilians. Trudeau’s administration approved the sale of $15 billion worth of armoured vehicles, making Canada the second-largest supplier of arms to the Middle East.

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QPIRG and SSMU at odds over potential cuts to programming Anti-racist initiatives at risk due to SSMU budget changes Nora McCready and Inori Roy The McGill Daily

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n August 16, McGill’s Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE) published an open letter to the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), criticizing SSMU for their use of “austerity logic and language” in connection with the potential defunding of anti-racist programmes. The open letter, which was cosigned by The Daily and other student groups, referenced two specific initiatives: Culture Shock and Social Justice Days. While the letter alleges that SSMU has definitively decided to defund these programmes, SSMU’s executive team released a statement claiming that “no decision has been made [...] to defund Culture Shock and Social Justice Days.”

Crucial anti-racist programming Culture Shock and Social Justice Days are event series run by the McGill chapter of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG), and co-funded by SSMU. While both have taken place annually on campus for the past 12 years, early versions of Culture Shock, originally run by SSMU alone, were described as misrepresentative of racial justice. In 2006, QPIRG offered to jointly run the program, with a mandate to focus on social justice issues. In recent years the event series has featured anti-racism workshops, as well as keynote speakers like Octavia’s Blood editor Walidah Imarisha, and spoken word artist Joshua Allen, a prison abolitionist and activist.

“Culture Shock and Social Justice Days are all about centering the stories and experiences of marginalized folks,” says Delali Egyima, who has attended and volunteered at the events in the past. “At the end of each event series, I was always left with the feeling that there’s so much more learning to be done. What I love most about these event series is knowing that the folks facilitating or giving talks are being paid for sharing knowledge that they are usually forced to share for free. Knowing an organization like SSMU sees the importance of creating different avenues for the continuous support of marginalized folks at McGill and in Montreal speaks volumes about their commitment to equity.”

The threat of funding cuts Until recently, Culture Shock and Social Justice Days have been the only available anti-racist programming on campus funded

by SSMU. This social role has been threatened over the last several years due to funding cuts. Until now, SSMU has supported the programming on three fronts: providing monetary funding, co-hiring staff, and offering free space in which to hold events.

The letter published by the UGE stated that as of 2015, monetary funding had been reduced from its initial $10,000 to $2,040. In a subsequent interview with The Daily, a

QPIRG representative stated that “the ability for QPIRG to book rooms in SSMU for the event series might be taken away as well as the funding.”

In essence, several QPIRG board members expressed concern to The Daily that the withdrawal of part of SSMU’s support could severely reduce the scale and potential of Culture Shock and Social Justice Days. They feared that to lose all three elements of that support - funding, staff, and space - would effectively end the programming.

SSMU’s side of the story In response to the UGE’s open letter, SSMU’s executive team issued a statement to The Daily. In it, the executives argued that, all things considered, SSMU currently provides QPIRG with an exceptional level of financial and logistical support.

“In the 2016/2017 school year,” explained the statement, “QPIRG was given $2040 from the SSMU Operating Budget, [...] $1500 in additional funding for Culture Shock, $1182 and additional HR supports for the hiring and support of a Popular Education Coordinator for Culture Shock and Social Justice Days.”

The executives’ statement also mentioned the funding SSMU provides for QPIRG’s Rad Frosh, and claimed that overall they offer “more supports than provided to any other student group on campus and with a system that is outside the norm of that we offer other groups on campus, making our relationship with QPIRG an outlier in our standard operating procedures.”

“What I love most about these event series is knowing that the folks facilitating or giving talks are being paid for sharing knowledge that they’re usually forced to share for free.”

—Delali Egyima Programme Volunteer

Where should funding come from?

QPIRG currently receives funding both from SSMU’s operating budget and from the SSMU Funding Programme, the latter of which is financed through nine different student fees. It seems that SSMU is urging QPIRG to, instead, apply for all their funding for these event series through the Funding Programme.

QPIRG, however, doesn’t feel that this is an adequate solution to budgetary constraints.

Laura brennan | The McGill Daily “Applying through the Funding Programme is a very unstable model of funding,” a QPIRG representative told The Daily, “as QPIRG would have to incur expenses with no guarantee of what amount of funding we would receive. All of these concerns were expressed by QPIRG in our meetings with SSMU.” The SSMU executives’ statement continues as follows: “We have also highly recommended that [QPIRG] increase their student fee if they do not feel it is sufficient to cover their operations and programming, and the SSMU would be happy to help support this campaign.”

In reponse, QPIRG staff members told The Daily that to raise their student fee would go against the mandates of both Culture Shock and Social Justice Days, which are intended to be collaborations with SSMU. Crucially, they argued, it would also represent an aquiescence to the very same austerity logic that QPIRG, as an organization dedicated to equity and accessibility, firmly opposes.

Seeking common ground The future of Culture Shock and Social Justice Days is tenuous and it’s unclear when a final decision will be made. For their part, SSMU’s executive team has declined to comment further on this issue since releasing their initial statement.

Despite the tension between SSMU and QPIRG, however, both have expressed hope for upcoming discussions, and reaffirmed their commitment to anti-oppressive and anti-austerity ideals.

“We have to find solutions to ‘keep the lights on’ within these [budgetary] constraints,

especially when efforts to increase our resource pool (such as the SSMU Base fee) are unsuccessful,” said the SSMU executive team in their statement. “While we would like to work towards finding the best possible solution, we need to be able to reach an agreement that works with the actual capacities of all parties involved. As marginalized people on this campus who are dedicated to the same issues, [...] we must work together to find solutions to assist one another.”

“We have also highly recommended that [QPIRG] increase their student fee if they do not feel it is sufficient to cover their operations and programming.”

—Statement from SSMU executives The QPIRG board and staff expressed similar sentiments, writing in a statement to The Daily, “We know that these SSMU [executives] care about social justice programming and making changes at McGill. So it’s really sad that this is happening and we really don’t want to be fighting them! [...] We’d love to work with them on [these programmes].”

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September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

NEws

What has SSMU been up to?

Muna Tojiboeva - President

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he president coordinates the activities of SSMU and determines the long-term vision of the society. Tojiboeva, elected in the 20162017 school year, describes the long-term vision of SSMU as one that will provide“services that enrich the student’s experience […] at McGill, making sure that their voice is heard not only within the administration [...] [and] bodies like the Board of Governors, but within their own undergraduate community.”

Tojiboeva is currently working on implementing the Sexual Violence Policy, which she describes as “the most important […] priority for the entire team.” The SVP first draft is currently being distributed to different stakeholders for consultation, after which it will be opened to various clubs at McGill. The SVP was a crucial part of Tojiboeva’s campaign platform, along with reforming the Judicial Board. She served as a chief justice on the Board for the past two years. Tojiboeva noted that the international regulations of the Judicial Board have not been updated since 2012, and stressed the need for reform regarding “internal clauses in the constitution.”

When asked about the resignation of Vice president (VP) Operations Anuradha Mallik this summer, as well as the recurring pattern of exec turnover at SSMU, Tojiboeva stressed the importance of mental health. Tojiboeva described the 2017 executives’ teamwork as “more cohesive” than previous years. “We are slowly trying to change the culture of SSMU by all working together, complementing our skills, […] and interests, and portfolios. […] I think we preach a lot of things about mental health so we need to exemplify good working conditions.”

Tojiboeva aims to address the lack of accountability seen in SSMU with regards to the incidents last year by promoting transparency.

“We are trying to publicize more about what our operations are. […] The executives are working on different campaigns to make sure that […] all students are more integrated into SSMU. Since especially the events of last year, it’s important to […] rebuild trust in SSMU and ensure that students understand that it’s in good qualified hands, and that we actually take […] not only their choices but their trust seriously.”

Arisha Khan - VP Finance

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he VP finance administers the investment funding group and is responsible for the overall financial stability of SSMU. Prior to being elected, Arisha Khan was the previous SSMU Funding Commissioner and Finance and Operations Assistant at the VP finance office. Khan has advocated for social responsibility and effective resource allocation during her campaign, and received a ‘yes’ endorsement from the daily.

Khan’s priority has been to establish a financial portfolio for Socially Responsible Investing (SRI). Upon ratification, the funds will be moved to Desautels capital management, a university owned, student run investment management firm. Khan explained that the advantage of working with Desautels capital management is having regular financial analysis reports from students. All SSMU funds are currently managed by Lester, a professor at McGill running Lester Asset Management, who is also involved in Desautels capital management. Khan hopes to start a trial pod of 1-2 million dollars in the SRI. However, this will have to be ratified by the legislative council and Board of Directors. According to Khan, SSMU would be the first student union in Canada to invest in a mandate specifically dedicated to SRI. In conjunction with the dental and health plan, a new program for mental health will be introduced this fall. “Empower Me is like the equivalent of an employee assistance plan. […] This gives students unlimited access to counselling […] be it for emotional support, financial, nutrition counselling […] and life coaching. Counsellors are available 24/7 either on the phone in person or in webchat”, said Khan. Piloted last year at McMaster University, Empower Me provides free mental health resources to plan members. Khan also sees Empower Me as an interim program where students may potentially have faster referrals to McGill services based on their records with Empower Me. “We need to do more than rely on McGill [...] Mental health and counselling, even with their extended hours, they are hard to reach, so hopefully this will be able to bridge the gap between those programs. […] We are hoping that by introducing this service [..] they will be able to use this service as an interim,” added Khan.

Khan noted the changes above may involve an increased student fee, which is currently estimated to be around $350,000. SSMU is to hold a referendum regarding the amendment later in the year. She advised students to visit the Where is my Money Going brochure available on the McGill website to track SSMU spending on student money.

Maya Koparker - VP Internal

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he VP internal is responsible for facilitating communication with the student body and fostering community engagement. Maya Koparkar was the previous SSMU Internal Logistics Coordinating and Molson Hall VP internal before running for SSMU in March 2017.

Koparker stressed the importance of accessibility in first-year engagement at the start of the semester. “We’ve […] focused on flagship events that involved the same sort of elements such as drinking […] and party culture […] which is one aspect, but there is room to integrate […] aspects more inclusive to the student body,” said Koparker, referring to the Frosh events from 28 August to September 3.

Koparker mentioned the implementation of the Crashpad program, which provided students with a place to sleep in on campus. Students living off-campus who are potentially discouraged from participating in Frosh due to the long commute were encouraged to take part in orientation sessions and to sleep in the SSMU ballroom.

Maya also sees the first-year engagement program as a crucial element in “rebuilding trust in SSMU and the student body”. The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) is currently working with SSMU and other committees to develop a passport program for the First Year Council (FYC). The passport program is a four-part training workshop which would focus on creating inclusive and diverse spaces at events. According to Koparker, the training will “foster […] a sense of accessibility and inclusivity from the very beginning, […] making sure that the portfolio is diverse enough so that it [...] can appeal to a variety of different people instead of the same people that are being engaged with SSMU events.” The FYC council will be chosen by Koparker in early September, and the workshop will be available to the general public once it is developed and implemented.

When asked about the significance of her role, Koparker referred to the trust between students and SSMU. “It’s about creating those events and spaces and that line of communication where students are able to feel included, […] engaged and ultimately establish that trust […] While the VP internal can still participate in a lot of the governances, […] it also offers a portfolio that is able to humanize SSMU […] and take away […] from the bureaucratic elements,” said Koparker.

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Connor Spencer - VP External

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he VP External’s portfolio can be broken down into six umbrellas of responsibility: lobbying on behalf of the student body to the municipal, provincial and federal governments, focusing on francophone affairs, indigenous affairs, and affairs in the Milton Parc community, supporting campaigns such as Divest McGill and Demilitarize McGill, and providing support for the labour and student unions on campus.

Spencer is hoping to focus on Francophone, Indigenous, and community affairs this year because she feels that these issues have been “bulldozed by the campaigns” in the past. In emphasizing this, she stressed that she is neither Francophone, Indigenous, nor a member of the Milton Parc community. “In saying that i’m going to focus on [these things] it’s really important to know that I don’t have the answers for them and I shouldn’t pretend to.” Instead, Spencer is forming committees on these issues and hiring specialized professionals who will determine SSMU’s path forward.

With regards to Indigenous affairs, the Indigenous Students’ Alliance (ISA) is heavily overburdened, and SSMU hopes to ease that pressure. “Everyone reaches out to [the ISA] being like ‘can you like make sure we’re allies’ and ‘can you speak here, and it’s tomorrow’, [...] the ISA is like, ‘that’s kind of not the labour we wanted to be doing, we’re supposed to be a resource for indigenous students, not for white settler students.”

Spencer is working with community leaders of the Milton Parc Community to explore the possibility of establishing student coops, which would move students out of Milton Parc and be less “extortionately expensive” and “reduce the gentrification in the Milton Parc community.” The Committee on Francophone Affairs at SSMU is also starting up again this year after two years of inactivity.

Other projects Spencer is focusing on include affiliation with the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ) to gain provincial representation. “SSMU is not a member of any Quebec provincial level student association so therefore it’s really hard for us to make our voices heard at a provincial level.”

Finally, Spencer is working to develop a Sexual Violence Policy at SSMU. She believes that it should be a stand-alone policy so that incidents are handled by people with proper training. “When there isn’t a system in place [...] there are fumbles and people fuck up and it gets put in the wrong hands, [...] so [we’re] trying to avoid that ever happening again and also hopefully using it as a way to pressure changes in the larger McGill policy.”

Jemark Earle - VP Student Life

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he VP Student Life is the liaison between SSMU, student services, clubs, and independent groups. They are also responsible for the promotion of SSMU Mental Health and Counselling services. They are the executive that deals most directly with the student body.

When asked about recent changes in SSMU affecting students, Earle referred to last year’s moratorium on the approval of new clubs put in place due to resource constraints. “The moratorium on starting new clubs was lifted and we’re working hard to get the application up and running so that should be available within the next two weeks approximately,” said Earle, encouraging students to apply for interim club status.

Earle stressed that the true value of his role comes from the relationship he has with the student body. “If the other six [Execs] were to operate on their own I think it could still work, but it would be a lot harder to communicate with the student body just because their positions don’t necessarily deal with direct student engagement.” On this note, Earle is working on revitalizing the club workshop at the Services Summit at the end of September. He also wants to make SSMU more accessible by being more approachable and being physically available to answer questions.

With regards to Mental Health, Earle plans to rework SSMU’s Mental Health Awareness Week, as a result of the organization of too many workshops in the past, most of which were poorly attended . “We’re going to hopefully move away from the workshop heavy thing and have more movie screenings about Mental health and/or panels where students can talk to professors or alumni who think mental health is important.”

Isabelle Oke - VP University Affairs

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he VP University Affairs advocates on behalf of the students to the administration by communicating with various student representatives, like the Senate. They are also responsible for equity initiatives within SSMU, as well as the Library Improvement Fund.

Oke’s main focus within the equity portfolio is to increase McGill’s accessibility to students from the child welfare system. “A research report … came out [last year] about students who are coming from the child welfare system and the institutional barriers that are set in place in post-secondary institutions.” She continued, “that set the knowledge base for us to [...] move forward […] and see where in the university there’s space for tailored supports.”

According to Oke, there are already programs in place at McGill trying to broaden the pathways for those in the child welfare system pursuing a post-secondary education. The programs are mostly workshop style events meant to familiarize participants with the university setting. “if people feel comfortable in the space, if people see what the space looks like and see themselves in the space, then they will like be more likely to set goals to get here eventually.”

However, Oke has struggled in creating a more dynamic structure of support for this population. Students from the child welfare system are poorly represented at McGill. It would require an unbalanced allocation of resources to set up a “sweeping program of supports” for a small portion of the university population. “Numbers shouldn’t matter, but it seems like in this context they kind of do,” said Oke. Oke is still exploring other ways that SSMU can provide services for this community. “We have this new office that’s supposed to [...] act on the recommendations of the provost task force on Indigenous education and Indigenous studies. There’s a big portion of Indigenous children who are over-represented in the [...] child welfare system. Is that another avenue that we can use to get resources to support students that are trying to make it to post-secondary from that system?” She continued, “There’s also a bursary program that has been started with scholarships and student aid. That fund is specifically reserved for students [...] who came from the child welfare system.”

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September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Rally takes on “climate crime”

Investing in fossil fuels unethical and unsustainable, say protesters Rayleigh Lee The McGill Daily

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n Friday September 8, around 300 students, activists, and community members gathered at Place Jean-Paul Riopelle, in front of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) building to rally against CDPQ’s investment in fossil fuels. The event was a collaboration between various NGOs, grassroots organizations, and student associations like the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ), Sortons la Caisse du Carbone, Climate Justice Montreal, Climate Reality Canada, Mobilisation environment AhunsticCartierville, Greenpeace Quebec, and the David Suzuki Foundation.

The protest was scheduled to coincide with the forty-sixth session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) taking place in Montreal from September 3-9.

The IPCC is a panel where scientists discuss the most recent climate change assessment report.

The event was also part of a petition effort to divest CDPQ’s funds. CDPQ is a crown corporation that manages public pension plans and insurance programs in Quebec, which are estimated to amount up to more than $270 billion CAD. The petition by Climate Justice Montreal, “Get Off My Caisse,” explains that “$16.2 billion of this was invested in the oil and gas industry” last year alone, which contravenes the Paris Climate Agreement Canada signed in April 2017. The petition calls for the withdrawal of all fossil fuel investments in the next three years, as fossil fuels are “in the process of becoming strongly devalued,” both environmentally and financially.

Protesters held banners, flags, and black balloons representing carbon in the atmosphere, which were popped at the end of the rally, symbolizing the rupturing of carbon bubble.

The Quebec Pension Plan and the fossil fuel industry The Quebec Pension Plan is currently the largest pension fund in Canada, reaching an estimate of $16.7 billion CAD and coming second only to Ontario’s Canadian Pension Plan (CPP). The contributions to the plan are collected through an autonomic payroll deduction or through taxes on a customer’s bill, meaning consumers are unable to divest unless the Quebec Pension Plan as a whole does so. According to Diego Creier, Communications Director of the David Suzuki Foundation, the lack of sustainable practices in CDPQ is not only “betting against our future, and the future of our children,” but also implicates those indirectly contributing to the fund as “accomplices to a climate crime.”

“Citizen groups, students, unions, and religious groups have decided to come to this rally today to show that

there is no future in fossil fuels, that our collective money is at risk, and that by investing in fossil fuels, our pension funds are betting against the Paris Agreement,” said Creier in an interview with The Daily.

“We are [...] here today to ask our public administrator of pension funds to please bring our money out of fossil fuels,” he continued. “The urgency of the climate crisis does not need to be explained anymore.

Hurricanes are basically becoming highly destructive because they are fueled by climate change, so the urgency is there, the science is there, now they have to present a plan to quickly divest.”

Fossil fuels: environmentally and financially unsustainable Creier also noted the financial instability of fossil fuel investments in the long run: “they need to have a plan to get out of fossil fuels in the short term, not only environmentally but financially as well. [...] We are putting our money at risk because the [...] transition Rally at Place Jean-Paul Riopelle.

Rayleigh Lee | The McGill Daily to clean and new technology is inevitable, and fossil fuel assets are The Tsleil-Waututh Nation ‘we don’t want our money going going to abruptly lose their value.” towards investing in something launched a campaign against the that’s going to be destroying planned expansion of the Kinder our future.’ We want to invest in Morgan and Trans Mountain solutions—things that are going to pipeline in May 2017. The Nation support us and the environment, circulated a report regarding supporting Indigenous peoples, the risks of the investments in and fossil fuels do not do any of partnership with West Coast that. [...] We’re calling for McGill Environmental Law. University to divest from fossil fuels, and likewise, we are calling for Caisse to divest from fossil fuels,” said Perry.

“There is no future in fossil fuels, that our collective money is at risk, and by investing in fossil fuels, our pension funds are bettling against the Paris Agreement.”

—Diego Creier Communications Director of the David Suzuki Foundation “We’re investing more and more money into an industry that’s going to pop,” agreed Kristen Perry, the Coordinator of Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ). “We need to be moving those investments away into something that’s not only better ethically but also better for our finances.”

Perry stressed the role of student engagement and putting pressure on the administration to move toward socially responsible investment.

“For AVEQ, it’s really important that we are working on climate change. [...] Students [...] know that it’s time for us to use our position in our institutions like McGill, like Concordia, to Caisse, to say that

Impact of pipeline projects on Indigenous communities While the Paris Agreement commits the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030, the Canadian government has simultaneously expanded oil production through the pipeline projects. This has not only caused environmental damage, but has also resulted in social consequences that have disproportionately affected the Indigenous population.

Charlene Aleck, a spokesperson from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, told the audience, “We are greatly affected by the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion [...] which these folks have invested their money in. [...] From day one, our whole nation has 100 per cent opposed this pipeline expansion and the effects it brings to our community.”

“The drill bit that would become a pipeline would contaminate our backyard, and our kitchen sink, [...] the waters our territory has given us [...] and sustained us. [...] All our traditional foods [...] are greatly affected by the industry that we have opposed,” continued Aleck.

“We’re calling for McGill University to divest from fossil fuels, and likewise, we are calling for Caisse to divest.”

Join The Daily’s News section!

no experience necessary

—Kristen Perry Coordinator of the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec “With this [we] ask that these investors take a look at the [...] point we are at today, to change away from fossil fuels to green energy,” concluded Aleck.

Eugene Kung, an environmental lawyer working on the prevention of the expansion of tar sands infrastructure told the audience, “There have never been more forest fires. [...] When we left Vancouver yesterday, you could see the mountains, the sun, the clouds completely clouded by smoke. [...]

Our public institutions need to stop, [...] not just because it’s a financial decision, but it’s a moral decision now. [...] This is about the future.”

Find us at: Shatner-B24 news@mcgilldaily.com

COMMENTARY

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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The rise of Hindu fundamentalism Why hashtags are not enough Yasir Piracha Commentary Writer

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n June 28, thousands of people gathered in cities across India to protest a catastrophic wave of attacks on Muslims by mobs of upper-caste Hindus. Holding signs with the tagline #NotInMyName, the demonstrations stood in stark contrast to the government’s telling silence. At the cente of the protests in New Delhi, hundreds gathered around a stage to hear poetry, speeches, and discourse. Stories of the now astonishingly common shooting and lynching of Muslims and lower-caste Hindus were shared by families of victims. By demonstrating their anger, protesters hoped to send a message to the government and the world that this religious and caste-based violence would not be tolerated.

Since then, the movement has been relaunched internationally, prompting more hashtags, music videos, performance art, and more. In India, however, protests and hashtags alone are likely futile.

The current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, has been hailed by some as an economic reformer, credited with converting India into a global financial destination. However, this disguise is weak and transparent. Modi is less of an economist and more of a chauvinist, building himself from a groundwork of nationalist zeal.

This foundation upon which Modi’s state has been erected is steadfast. Modi is the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), home to the religious right and political subset of the Hindu fundamentalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The RSS is a categorically Hindu nationalist organization, and has involved Modi since he was just eight years old. Historically, the RSS idolized fascists such as Hitler and Mussolini, and admired the way Nazism quickly built an economically stable state under the banner of patriotism. With this philosophy, the RSS covertly began stirring up hatred toward non-Hindus by blaming them for train wrecks and violence, arguing that religious and caste differences were the root of the problem. They have since created over 150,000 programmess covering health, education, and development to help struggling lower-class Hindu communities while simultaneously indoctrinating ethnic and religious majoritarian beliefs. Through these operations, the RSS has become the vanguard of Hindu nationalism, and has infiltrated almost every institution in India – including education, the judiciary, democratic ministries, and more. They are rewriting history textbooks and creating propagandist training camps to inculcate children with their cause. With astounding success, the RSS is purging Indian society of all leftist influences.

Since the beginning of his career, Modi has employed the RSS and its philosophy as a political tool. He was the chief minister of Gujarat during the riots of 2002, which accu-

mulated over 1000 fatalities, most of them Muslims. Conveniently, the Gujarat violence happened close to election time and polarized the vote, propelling Modi into victory. Many reports accuse Modi’s police of deliberately inciting violence against Muslims and often leading the mobs of Hindus during these riots. By refusing to condemn the attacks and doing arguably nothing to stop the massacres, Modi has built his career on a culture of hostility, cruelty, and nationalism – a culture that has since been injected by the RSS into the institutional body of India. When asked later if he regretted what had happened to Muslims during the Gujarat riots, Modi responded that even if “a puppy comes under the wheel of a car, one feels sad.” Following the violence, the BJP was able to capitalize on the religious tensions created in Gujarat for years, allowing them to claim the majority Hindu vote in the general election of 2014. By using communal killing as a form of electioneering, Modi manufactured a climate in which his election was inevitable.

Modi is less of an economist and more of a chauvinist, building himself from a groundwork of nationalist zeal.

The other major party in Indian politics, the Congress Party, didn’t stand a chance. They quickly lost their sheen when compared to the reform proposed by the BJP. Their corrupt, high-society members were distasteful when compared to Modi, the supposed everyman. The Congress Party was forced into the background, and became virtually nonexistent in many parts of India.

The election of the BJP allowed aggression to grow exponentially. The Islamophobic violence occurring in India now is a new degree of terror. Muslims live in fear as hostility continues to grow – the recent murder of a 15-year-old Muslim boy has brought to light the severity of the problem: on June 22, Hafiz Junaid was stabbed to death at a railway station in Asoti, India over a seating dispute. The assailants flung his body onto the railway platform, as a crowd of 200 assembled near the attack. Junaid’s companions were also critically injured in the assault, resulting in an ambulance being called. However, the subsequent police investigation was almost immediately stopped in its tracks; of the 200 people on the platform, not one claims to see what happened. The police cannot find a single person who says they witnessed the murder or the aftermath. The cornvendor whose shift coincides with the time of the attack says he wasn’t there. Neither the station-master nor the two staffers who went to investigate saw the event at which they were present. The post-master managed to be in two places at once: in his office from which he called the ambulance,

while at the same time at home “relaxing”. Collectively, the entire crowd of Hindus at the train station chose to not see the event.

Analyses of this incident have discussed how Muslims are effectively being pushed out of the social body and denied access to basic humanity, as their murders and lynchings have been rendered a non-event. Through the exposé of Junaid’s stabbing, we can begin to understand that the days of the Gujarat massacres are long gone. In 2002, Muslims begged for their lives at the feet of Hindu mobs. In 2017, there is nothing to see. It is a terrifying revelation that crowds of Hindus can make the agentive decision to see and un-see the savaging of a Muslim boy. The vigilante Hindus across North India hunting Muslims for sport do not need to worry about witnesses: there will never be any. India has entered an era where ordinary Hindus do not feel any obligation to even acknowledge the presence of a Muslim boy. And Modi continues to look the other way, tacitly endorsing the attacks, while his silence is reproduced in the silence of right-wing Hindu citizens.

Reports of violence against non-Hindus are continuing to emerge, from the mob attack on a Muslim woman to the murder of a Muslim student leader. However, these reports barely scratch the surface; many assaults are simply not reported by any mainstream source. The lack of coverage is leading to a blanket of ignorance surrounding the violence, obscuring the severity of the issue.

Something needs to be done to halt the current trajectory of fundamentalism in India. Fear grips the political left, resulting in passivism instead of resistance. The protests taking place are commendable, but aren’t enough to face the silent, prevailing government. The fundamentalist philosophy directed by the RSS and the BJP has slowly saturated India, making resistance more difficult than ever. Battling and petitioning the government isn’t easy when the government controls most institutions.

With astounding success, the RSS is purging Indian society of all leftist influences.

Drastic steps need to be taken, and we need to be doing all we can to help and support Muslims and left-wing Hindus in their fight against Hindu fundamentalism. While more safe protests need to be orchestrated, resistance groups and left-wing media sources also need to be supported to ensure that the RSS’s influence and control is countered. Focusing on the violence is not enough – we must dismantle the system that cultivates it.

Support local left-wing organizations/news sources working against fundamentalism: The Wire, Scroll.in, Tehelka, Caravan Magazine, NDTV, Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party (India). Help spread the word.

Have a lot of thoughts and feelings about the world around you?

Contribute to the Commentary section at The McGill Daily!

Email commentary@mcgilldaily.com for more information.

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commentary

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Why we need Marxism

A student’s perspective on the “immortal science” Kian Kenyon-Dean Commentary writer

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ven the most distant observer can see that the world is becoming increasingly unstable, and instability usually comes hand in hand with social, economic, and political crisis. Our generation has been particularly impacted by this unpredictability. In the US, federal reserve data states that we make 20 per cent less money than the baby boomers did when they were our age. This is coupled with devastating student loan debt: in Canada, student loan debt averages at $15,000 a person while in the US it can go up to over $37,000 a person. We all need jobs to pay back these debts, yet it is becoming more and more difficult to find employment; the youth unemployment rate is at 11.1 per cent in Canada (compared to the overall unemployment rate of 6.3 per cent).

These obstacles have emerged in a period of relative growth after the 2008-2009 financial crisis: economists claim that the economy has been in a period of expansion (a “boom” phase) since about 2011. Yet in August, three of the largest financial institutions in the world (HSBC, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley) claimed there is evidence that suggests the end of this growth cycle; another recession could be on the horizon. Times may be bad now, in a period of supposed growth, but once the next recession hits, circumstances could get considerably worse.

A stream of recent events suggests a link between economic crisis and social upheavals; following the 2008 financial crisis, we observed the 2011 Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street movement, the 2012 student strikes here in Quebec, and numerous other reactionary mass movements. Exactly 150 years ago, Karl Marx, in his magnum opus Das Kapital, developed a systematic analysis of the capitalist system and concluded that capitalism inevitably tends toward economic crisis. Following the revolutionary movements of his time, such as the 1848 revolutions in Europe and the formation of the Paris Commune in 1871, he also understood that economic crisis tends

to be coupled with social and political disruption.

Today, in a period of relative economic prosperity we observe some of the worst social crises in history. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNHCR) states that, as of June 2017, 65.6 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes as a result of conflict or persecution in their countries; this is the largest number of displaced people in history, surpassing even World War 2. This refugee crisis will be further aggravated by climate change; even if we manage to maintain temperatures below the target set at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, which advises for a maximum increase of two degrees Fahrenheit, experts anticipate that there will be tens of millions of new refugees.

However, this target is optimistic and extremely unlikely: four or five degrees of warming by 2100 is what we are on track for based on current emission rates. This will cause unprecedented disaster; New York Magazine writer David Wallace-Wells explains that a five-degree increase in global temperature will be accompanied with a roughly 50 per cent decrease in global food production, and, according to a NASA study, the worst droughts in over a thousand years.

As the economy comes closer to the end of this growth-cycle, the refugee crisis worsens, and climate change develops into an unprecedented threat, a billionaire reality TV show star sits in the oval office. Of all the things on the agenda for the future, stability is not one of them. We have to ask ourselves, will a few bold reforms be enough to combat these crises? Are well-intended politicians and corporate charity initiatives the answers to these horrors? Regardless, we can be certain that, if drastic change is not implemented, the rich will still have food on their tables and the world’s poor will pay the ultimate price for a crisis that they did not create.

The question of ending the inequalities of the international capitalist system is not a new one.

Marxism advocates for a socialist organization of society - that is, a planned economic system in which the higher levels of econo-

my are democratically owned and controlled by the working class as a whole instead of by private individuals. Marxists believe that the only way to consolidate socialism is through revolution, and thus the forced expropriation of the economy into a non-hierarchical system. This does not seem to be that farfetched. Can we really expect Exxon-Mobil to willingly participate in the struggle against climate change when its entire basis of profit is its oil sales?

Can we anticipate that military companies such as LockheedMartin will support peacekeeping efforts when their business is based on selling weapons to belligerent nations? Not to mention, we certainly cannot expect private health insurance companies to support the struggle for free universal healthcare. In fact, a single-payer healthcare bill in California was recently shelved by the Democratic Party leadership despite the support it received by a majority of Californians.

Of all the things on the agenda for the future, stability is not one of them.

The necessity of preparing for this crucial transition has been thought out by past revolutionaries. Marx had recognized that a revolution is a mass movement, and that, if the movement is to win, it must be guided by a political organization with a reasonable understanding of how it can progress; this particular political organization is called the revolutionary party. His first attempt at constructing such an organization was in 1848, when he and Engels drafted the “Manifesto of the Communist Party,” better known as the “Communist Manifesto.”

Less than a century later, Vladimir Lenin’s conception of how to organize this revolutionary party would become one of his most valuable contributions to Marxist theory and practice. He focused on the need for Marxists to fight against all forms of oppression and unite all layers of

the oppressed, not just workers.

In his 1902 pamphlet, What is to be Done?, Lenin states: “Working class consciousness cannot be genuinely political consciousness unless the workers are trained to respond to all cases of tyranny, oppression, violence and abuse, no matter what class is affected.”

Can we really expect ExxonMobil to willingly participate in the struggle against climate changewhen its entire basis of profit is its oil sales?

This is the task that the revolutionary party must pursue fervently; it is not enough to just fight for “higher wages.”

All forms of resistance against systematic subjugation, whether it occurs through the fight for basic rights for the queer community or racialized people’s struggle against police brutality must be resolutely supported. Throughout each of these movements, Marxists emphasize that only with unity and solidarity across all oppressed layers of society will we achieve victory against that class which profits off of injustice: the capitalists, the ruling class, what Marx calls the bourgeoisie.

Lenin eventually attempted to put Marxist theory into practice. He extended Marx’s analysis to its logical conclusion: a generalized crisis creates an ample opportunity for a revolutionary situation. Once combined with determined leadership, an international revolution against the capitalist system can then be waged to end this exploitative system once and for all. Exactly 100 years ago, this opportunity arose as a direct consequence of World War 1; it was seized by Lenin and the Bolshevik Party in the 1917 October Revolution.

This led to the establishment of

the Soviet Union, which consequently changed the entire course of world history. Unfortunately, the opportunity was not effectively seized by the Marxists in Germany at the same time. There were multiple failed revolutions (in 1918 and 1923), and the people of Germany and Europe paid dearly for these failures with the ensuing rise of Hitler and fascism.

Our world is coming to a similar junction, where a similar opportunity for ending oppression has arose, and those of us who seek to change the world are not at all sufficiently prepared.

Unfortunately, the legacy of Stalin’s rule in the Soviet Union and the bureaucratic degeneration of the revolutionary democracy that had characterized the Russian Revolution has naturally affected people’s conception of Marxism. It is crucial to emphasize that Stalin’s rule in the Soviet Union (and the rule of his successors) had nothing in common with the conception of socialism held by Marx and Lenin. The fundamental difference is that Lenin never envisioned Stalin’s ideal of “Socialism in one Country” as possible. Marx and Lenin understood that the only way for Socialism to succeed would be with international socialist revolution throughout the advanced capitalist world. Not only did the international revolution fail (more specifically those that had started in Germany, Hungary, and Finland), but the Russian economy was only loosely based on a capitalist structure when the socialist revolution occurred. In fact, Russia was a largely feudal country with over 85 per cent of the population being peasants.

It is therefore not surprising that socialism failed in Russia socialism is all about “seizing the means of production,” yet there were barely any means of production to seize in the first place!

I believe that the only way to end oppression is to end the system of capitalism that perpetuates it. At the same time, we cannot neglect any movements against specific forms of injustice.

Simply, the task of Marxists is to generalize the fight by widening the scope of the movement into that which addresses all forms of injustice.

FEATURES

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

In pursuit of free water

Biking across Canada in solidarity with water protectors Alison Gu Features Writer

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he expedition: a journey from Ottawa to Vancouver by bike with many goals. First and foremost, solidarity with the Tsleil-Waututh, Coldwater, and Squamish First Nations. To uplift their voices and hold space (and raise money) so they don’t just survive, but thrive. Secondly, to advocate for the environment, through photos, experiences, stories. To share the beauty of nature while demonstrating its fragility.

And thirdly, sustainability of self: to actively pursue that which is so easily lost and forgotten: joy (how ephemeral it is), discovery (how unique it is), and human kindness (how beautiful it is). To spread awareness through my photography and story the undeniable links between mental and physical health and nature, and of how absolutely crucial it is to preserve our environment – even if, at worst, it’s for our own selfish selves.

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September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

FEATURES

FEATURES

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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“To share the beauty of nature while demonstrating its fragility. [...] To spread awareness through my photography and story the undeniable links between mental and physical health and nature, and of how absolutely crucial it is to preserve our environment—even if, at worst, it’s for our own selfish selves.”

Alison Gu travelled from Ottawa to British Columbia by bicycle to raise money, awareness, and in solidarity with Indigenous environmental resistance and sustainability. To find out how you can help, go to cyclistsinsolidarity. com or pull-together.ca.

SPORTS

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Welcome to the McGill Daily Sports section Louis Sanger The McGill Daily

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What to expect from the (somewhat) new section

t seems to be a beloved phrase of many sports commentators: politics has no place in sports. The phrase is pulled out repeatedly when athletes take stands on relevant issues, like when Colin Kaepernick knelt for the U.S. national anthem during the NFL’s lastest season. Politics and sports are, however, irreversibly linked. In fact, to say that sports are apolitical is to sell sports short. They have much more at play than

simply kicking a ball, throwing a disc, or running around a track. Sports has always been, and always will be, deeply linked with political, social, and cultural climates.

Sports can be a way to perform politics or diplomacy, as was seen with the 1972 Summit Series played between Canada and the Soviet Union, or the 1984 L.A. Olympics boycott. In both cases, sport created a platform for nations to make peaceful political statements. Sports can be vehicle for social issues. Last year, the US Women’s National Soccer Team went on strike to demand pay

equality. Their strike was widely publicized and added to the national discussion over this important issue. In Brazil in the 1950s, the inclusion of Black men on the national soccer team gradually led to greater understanding between the country’s ethnic communities, and a sense of shared patriotism.

Sports, then, is far from the apolitical zone that many claim. Its position is much more complex, and warrants deeper analysis than it is regularly afforded. Sports are more than scores, injuries, transfers, and trades. They are often a microcosm of the

world at large, serving as an analogy of what is going on outside the stadium. They are as full of problems and issues as the real world.

As previously reported in The Daily, there is plenty of racism, sexism, transphobia, and inaccessibility in the world of sports. This is the side of sport that the Sports Section will capture: their political, social, and cultural implications of sport.

Here at McGill, and in the world at large, the Sports Section will fight for a fairer and more equal world, according to The Daily’s Statement of Principles.

Making competition fun Not a hard-core athlete? Not a problem!

Louis Sanger Sports Editor

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or most people, playing sports is a way of meeting others, getting exercise, and having fun. So what does McGill offer that meets these criteria?

Besides varsity, there are many other options available for students to choose from.

Intramurals Intramurals are offered to all full-time students in a wide range of sports: badminton, ball hockey, basketball, dodgeball, flag football, ice hockey, innertube waterpolo, soccer (outdoor and indoor), spikeball, ultimate disc, and volleyball. Students can sign up individually and be assigned a team, or register as a team. When registering, one can pick a preferred skill level (beginner, intermediate, or competitive) to find others ranked similarly. Participants do have to pay an occassionally expensive registration fee that varies based on the sport; luckily this can be split up amongst team members.

Recreation: For those who are not willing to commit themselves to a team, playing recreational sports is a great option. They are usually organized by the specific venue for each sport and must be inquired about on a sport-by-sport basis. A rec card is required, sometimes along with a Sports Complex Membership, which permits access to the gym, arena, or field. A rec card can be purchased from the Redbird Sport Shop or the Client Services Office at the Currie Gymnasium.

Recreational sports offered this fall are badminton, basketball, diving, jogging, shinny (hockey), skating, soccer, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, and waterpolo. Classes are also offered in most of these sports. To find out more, inquire at the Currie Gymnasium or check out their websites.

Outside McGill: Playing sports at McGill almost always costs you money, but you can always find free options offcampus. Jeanne Mance park, just up Parc, has many sports fields, such as a turf football/soccer field that is lit up at night, a baseball diamond nearby, and several tennis courts currently under renovation. Towards the the beginning of December (weather permitting) the hockey rink will also become available. As with most outdoor rinks in Montreal, it is natural ice only frozen by the outside temperature. If the ice is slightly slushy playing is not encouraged, as it can cause lasting damage to the surface. At the southern end of Jeanne Mance Park across Duluth street, there are Beach Volleyball courts that are sometimes open to the public. You can also find many other Tennis courts, Soccer fields, Baseball diamonds, and Hockey rinks at other parks across Montreal. Bring some friends and start your own game, or ask to join one that has already begun.

Varsity sports are not your only option! There are plenty of other people out there who just want to have a good time playing with friends. Decide what’s best for you and get out there to play.

Claire Grenier

Write for Sports!

The Sports Section is looking for writers. If you are interested in covering sporting events and news from McGill and around the world, contact us at: sports@mcgilldaily.com.

Illustrator

Sports

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Montreal’s sporting geography Examining the legacy of Montreal’s 1976 Summer Olympics

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ontreal often seems to be a city in decline. A city of worn-down buildings, large empty spaces, and endless construction. A city, perhaps, that was once more grand and picturesque than it is now, past its heyday. The 1960s and 1970s, also known as the Jean Drapeau Era, may have been that heyday.

Mayor Jean Drapeau focussed his tenure on making Montreal a global city through cultural and sporting events that were designed to elevate Montreal’s status on the world stage. Expo 67 and the 1976 Summer Olympics both came with grandiose buildings and then-futuristic infrastructure. The Olympics in particular have made lasting impacts on the city, both infrastructural and psychological. Seen by many as a waste of money, or a failure of Drapeau’s plan, the 1976 Games never seemed to please locals. Countless venues and structures built for them are now sprinkled across the city. Some of them are empty, some are slowly crumbling, and still others have found new purpose.

Over the coming weeks, The Daily will visit some of these venues to examine their impact on Montreal, and the lives of its residents.

The Olympic Stadium is Canada’s largest stadium. During the 1976 Oympics, it hosted opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the athletic, equestrian, and soccer competitions. The covered stadium is nicknamed the “Big O” due to its donut shape. The inclined tower rising from the eatern side has become symbolic of Montreal, despite its continuing problems requiring almost constant restoration. Once the games were over, several tenants occupied the space: the Montreal Alouettes CFL team played there from 1976-1998, while the Montreal Expos MLB team played there from 1977-2004. Now, the stadium hosts only the occasional event, such as a monster truck derby, and Alouettes or Impact games requiring a larger stadium than the team’s own. The tower is visible from most points in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.

The Daily was denied access to the stadium, as it is currently hosting refugees fleeing the U.S.. Outside, there are deserted plateaus that are frequented by skateboarders and scooter riders.

The locked doors are made of tinted glass, reflecting the large empty areas around the stadium.

Underneath the tower is a swimming complex, including a diving tower and a small gym. Here, several families in the audience support the swimmers at practice.

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SCI+TECH

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September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

AI and access to justice

Artificial intelligence can make legal services more affordable Sami Ellaia Sci+Tech Writer

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ccess to justice is the ability for individuals to seek and obtain remedies for their legal grievances through formal and informal judicial institutions.

This includes adequate access to legal information and advice, mediation services, and representation by a lawyer. Section 10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights grants all citizens the right to legal counsel upon arrest or detention.

However, such legal protection does not apply to cases of bankruptcy or divorce, which can be just as pressing. Access to legal services in all circumstances is not a constitutionally protected right.

In Canada, many individuals have difficulty accessing justice through the legal system due to its financial cost. Legal services are expensive, and many people are forced to use their life savings to pay for them. The social effects of high legal costs may undermine the justice system by exacerbating existing financial inequalities. High legal fees mean that representation in the courtroom is a privilege only few can afford. Such inaccessibility risks the legal system becoming not only an expensive process, but an instrument to favour the richest while marginalizing the economically disadvantaged. This undermines the rule of law, a basic pillar of society holding all citizens equally accountable, the general population and lawmakers alike.

Fortunately, Artificial Intelligence powered platforms

could help decrease legal costs and make legal services more accessible. Major tech firms in Silicon Valley and Shenzhen, China have been developing artificial intelligence systems to overtake an increasing array of tasks and functions. Human-like forms of artificial intelligence are commonly referred to as “Strong AI” or Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). These newest forms of artificial intelligence could allow machines to take on “whitecollar jobs,” such as accounting, research analysis, financial planning, and practicing law. Such powerful machines, in theory, could reframe how we approach a broad range of social issues such as access to justice.

AI in the legal sector Recent developments in technology show a greater use of artificial intelligence platforms to emulate a lawyer’s work.

Modern AI platforms can review and create legal contracts, review documents to find evidence to be used in litigations, inspect balance sheets to deter potential frauds, and even perform due diligence before a corporate merger. These technological developments have been used in practice; Lawgeex, a startup company specializing in legal software, has developed a platform that allows firms to review legal contracts. According to the company’s website, the software can complete a review 80% faster than a lawyer, while reducing the cost to 90%. Further development in AI capacity and wider

Nelly Wat | Illustrator use of modern software among the legal sector can potentially lower the financial burden of legal service.

Adopting AI in law firms Major law firms have already started to adopt AI to maximize efficiency. Dentons, one of the world’s biggest law firm, has recently started using a legal research software powered by IBM’s supercomputer Watson, called ROSS. Because the software understands natural language, lawyers can ask ROSS for their research questions in English as they would ask an assistant. In

response, ROSS searches through the jurisprudence and law, draws inferences, and provides the lawyer an answer based on facts.

ROSS’s speed and convenience translates into less time spent on research. According to ROSS Intelligence, AI softwares may contribute to an increase of $8000 to $13,000 of revenue per lawyer based on the number of unbillable hours saved. Aside from the potential to improve accessibility, developments in AI also serve the practice purpose of reducing the time and labour spent in research.

Still, using AI to make legal services more affordable has a

long way to go. Despite the numerous benefits of an AI software, recent surveys of Canadian law firms show that they are reluctant to be early adopters of AI. Jordan Furlong, an analyst of the global legal market with Law21 explained that, “When lawyers turn their minds to AI, one of the first questions they are essentially asking is ‘will it replace me.’ That is the wrong question. It’s not about the lawyer. It’s about the client. The question a client will ask is whether using AI will help me get what I need faster, more affordably or more effectively, with a better outcome.”

The unstable (adult) brain

MRI reveals changes in early to mid-adulthood brains Sam Min Sci+Tech Writer

C

ells in our body usually operate in an orderly fashion: they divide and undergo apoptosis as the body needs them. However, cancerous cells grow and divide uncontrollably; they don’t undergo their programmed deaths when they are damaged. Cancer often appears in the form of a mass of cancerous cells, known as a tumor. Some cancers are malignant, meaning they can break off from their source of origin and invade other healthy tissues, creating havoc and breaking things one by one. One month a patient might see a mass on their chest, the next the patient might have a hard time breathing. The cancer has spread from one place to another, and this is called metastasis.

Cancers can start anywhere in the body: blood, bones, or internal organs.

The primary cancer treatments are chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery.

However, depending on the type of cancer,

one treatment may work and another may not. Through chemotherapy, an oncologist applies several drugs to reduce and remove a tumor. During radiotherapy a doctor beams radiation to trim down the tumor size. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are employed first, followed by surgery. In surgery, a surgeon cuts a chunk of the targeted organ where the tumour lies.

Medulloblastoma is a cancer that originates in the cerebellum, a part of the brain that coordinates movement and balance.

75% of the affected patients are under ten years old. Following primary cancer treatments, severe side-effects occur including neurocognitive deficits, endocrine problems, meningioma and sterility. Many healthy organs are subject to toxic damage from sessions of chemotherapy. This damage is even more severe in children because their cells divide more quickly, meaning the spread of toxins is faster. Surgery also carries high risks as the cerebellum is located just above the spinal cord.

To look for alternative treatments, a

research group in Tennessee suggested a new strategy to treat medulloblastoma.

The Tennessee group used a novel molecule named HHAntag691 that blocks a pathway named Sonic Hedgehog (SHH).

When the SHH pathway is active, the cells in the cerebellum called granule cell precursors multiply uncontrollably, and medulloblastoma appears. Through the action of HHAntag691, the rampant proliferation stops.

This method was later tested in clinical trials. In 2008, a patient was treated with a similar but not identical molecule to HHAntag691 during clinical trial phase I - this is the phase when scientists apply drugs of interest that they had used on animals to humans. Before the treatment, the cancer had already spread. After the treatment, the cancer disappeared completely in 2 months. Sadly, the patient died 3 months after the treatment when the tumor relapsed. This was because a mutation had occurred, altering the SHH pathway and rendering the drug ineffective. Although

unfortunately the patient did not survive, this was the first successful case of targeted-therapy, where only one type of cancer is tackled.

Passing the four phases of a clinical trial is required to get a drug approved.

Vismodegib, the commercial name of the drug that has completed the first case of targeted therapy, is at phase II. In 2015, the drug worked better in Medulloblastoma patients who had a mutated SHH pathway than the ones with no mutation in the SHH pathway.

Medulloblastoma shows how powerful a cancer can be. Scientists have painstakingly developed new strategies to provide target-specific treatments against cancer, but it only takes one mutation from a cancer cell for a patient to become drug-resistant.

Perhaps one obvious reason that cancer is like a death sentence to us is that it morphs our fundamental biological processes to favor itself. So despite advancements, it seems cancer research still has a long way to go.

SCI+TECH

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

17

Circadian rhythms and treatments

Synchronizing treatments with circadian rhythms may be more effective Tony Feng The McGill Daily

I

n 1972, a group of researchers at Stanford University discovered that the enzymes that regulate cholesterol synthesis in rats were most active at night. In 1999, cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as simvastatin, were found to be most effective when taken at bedtime.

In the following years, scientists attempted to uncover the reasons for these observations. They found that the suparchiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a region in the brain consisting of around 20, 000 neurons, is responsible for this phenomenon.

The SCN acts as an internal clock that keeps track of time and drives our circadian rhythms– changes in hormone levels, behaviour, and so on in a 24-hour cycle.

Many antibodies and hormones are produced rhythmically in our body. For example, melatonin is produced at night to help people sleep. The concentration of cortisol, a hormone produced in response to stress, peaks in the morning and decreases as the day goes on. These rhythmical changes can have many implications on clinical treatments.

This April, Jyoti Madhusoodanan, a writer for The Scientist, spoke to various researchers on this issue.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham discovered that among people who received the seasonal influenza vaccination, those who received the treatment in the morning had higher antiflu antibodies than those who received it in the afternoon. This suggests that the varying levels of hormones and antibodies at different times of the day altered the effectiveness of the vaccine.

The lead researcher of the study, Anna Phillips Whittaker, noted that if the timing factor was considered in clinical treatments, it would have a significant impact on health. “It’s such a simple, low-risk intervention that’s free to do, and could have massive implications for health,” said Whittaker.

Besides vaccinations, epidemiological data have shown that clinical treatments for illnesses such as arthritis, cancer, and allergies can be more effective if they are administered at certain times of the day. This idea of timed treatments is known as chronotherapy; it has existed for more than five decades, but has not been very popular among physicians. In recent years, research in molecular biology has further supported this concept. In a 2014 study done in the University of Pennsylvania, John Hogenesch

and his colleagues discovered that 56 of the top 100 best-selling drugs in the U.S., such as esomeprazole, aripiprazole, and duloxetine, can cause periodic expressions in certain genes in mice. Hogenesch was positive about the future of chronotherapy because “now we have the groundwork to precisely understand a person’s clock and leverage that information for better health.” he claimed, “because of the molecular work, we’ve opened new doors here. This [idea] is not coming from left field anymore.”

Nevertheless, integrating chronotherapy into clinical treatments has a long way to go. Scientists who work on chronotherapy still face skepticism from the scientific community. In addition, putting chronotherapy into practice poses a lot of challenges because each person’s circadian rhythms are different. Also, obtaining approval from the FDA to implement time-of-the-day indications for drugs has many obstacles. “Many of these observations are in the scientific literature but not on drug labels,” said Hogenesch. His team is currently trying to change this situation by investigating exactly how the time of the day impacts the effectiveness of treatments, and by how much.

Laura Brennan | The McGill Daily Reflecting back on the past research on chronotherapy, Stanford psychiatrist David Spiegel noted, “We’ve learned enough now to know that there are relatively easy-to-do, low-risk things that may have an effect on disease outcomes… I’d be surprised if there were any disease that didn’t have

some circadian component.” To many chronobiologists, time is often neglected when doctors consider the right treatment and the right dosage for patients, and physicians should pay more attention to this important factor because “time offers another way to be precise,” said Hogenesch.

The unstable (adult) brain

MRI reveals changes in early to mid-adulthood brains Tai (Ritchie) Vinh Truong searchers Lixia Tian and Lin Ma challenged this notion by demonstrating Sci+Tech Writer

T

he brain is unmistakably the most complex human organ. Despite having beginning in the 18th century, efforts to understand the human brain through neuroscience have been impeded due to many technical limitations. The intricacy and delicacy of the central nervous system renders numerous invasive methods implausible, forcing researchers and doctors to rely on restricted non-invasive procedures to study this structure. Recent advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a non-invasive method, have allowed scientists to evaluate microstructural changes during brain development and aging. However, the majority of the MRI studies focus on the early and late phases of brain maturation, leaving the period between early to mid-adulthood relatively unexplored.

This period of brain development is thought to be unfluctuating; the brain structures do not undergo noticeable changes. However, neuroscience re-

age-related remodeling of various brain areas.

In a newly published article in the journal Frontiers in Human Neurosciences, researchers from Beijing Jiaotong University employed data from Diffusion Tension Imaging (DTI) to investigate brain structures of 111 adults aged 18-55 years. DTI is a specific type of MRI that measures the diffusion process of water molecules in particular, and thus maps out the white matter in different brain regions. The DTI methods produce multiple outputs such as Fractional Anisotropy (FA), Axial and Radial Diffusion (AD & RD), and Mean Diffusion (MD). Fluctuations in these measurements can indicate changes in various brain structures.

Tian and Ma observed an overall reduction in FA with age, including the period between early to midadulthood, which suggests that the integrity of the white matter is diminishing in regions such as the bilateral corticospinal tract (CST), the

corpus callosum (CC), the fornix, the left superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF). Additionally, significant age-related lessening of AD and increasing RD, implying axonal degeneration and demyelination respectively, were detected in the CC and the CST. Based on these findings, Tian and Ma were able to devise models to accurately predict an individual’s age based on any one of the DTI outputs. The accuracy of the age prediction models corroborates that microstructural changes in the brain between early to mid-adulthood are in fact substantial.

Although it is unequivocal that there are significant changes in brain structures in the early and late stages of life, “the changes in brain structures and functions from early to midadulthood were largely unknown,” noted Tian. Based on the potentially mistaken assumption that brain structure is stable between early to mid-adulthood, many relevant studies might have neglected the age effect, which could lead to flawed re-

sults. Tian and Ma’s findings alarmed scientists at the brain’s measurable microstructural changes over this previously untested developmental period. They also provided the possibility of valuable insight into how different structures are involved in cognitive decline and when that decline happens. The structures which were found to undergo the earliest changes, such as fornix, CC, and ILF, are crucial to memory, learning capacity, and reaction time. “When does cognitive decline begin?” is still a considerably contentious question in the field of brain development. Many researchers argue that cognitive decline surfaces as early as 20 years of age, while others claim that the impairment is not possible until after the age of 60.

Tian and Ma’s results might even be useful for determining the emergence of senility, which could help design both preventative and interventional treatments for patients. In addition, Tian and Ma’s data suggests the previously mentioned structures potentially play a role in cognition decline and the onset of the Alzheimer’s disease.

Despite the implications of this study in the field of brain development, the methods employed have several limitations. The results were obtained from a cross-sectional study, which examined people of varying ages. Cross-sectional studies only provide one measurement per subject. These studies are not ideal because they “could not rule out the possibility that the current results may, to some degree, be influenced by factors such as cohort effects, which are inevitable in studies based on cross-sectional data,” admitted Tian.

McGill professor David Rudko shared his views with the Daily on the direction of future research. He noted that, “[Tian and Ma’s] results should be supplemented with future studies using longitudinal imaging.” The technology of DTI is still at its infant stage; hence, estimation errors are not negligible. Rudko suggested that the statistically significant correlations between age and microstructures should be further evaluated using more advanced microstructural techniques to ensure their validities.

CULTURE

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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La Vérité of Pariah

An intimate glimpse into Alike’s dynamic world

Jenna Yanke | Illustrator Jude Khashman The McGill Daily

O

n Wednesday night, a group of thirty people gathered at the LGBTQ Community Centre of Montreal for a screening of the critically acclaimed film Pariah (2011). The film, which was directed by Dee Rees and produced

by Nekisa Cooper, first premiered at Sundance Film Festival and was awarded for its cinematography, storyline and acting. Aside from its status amongst independent film circles, the film occupies an iconic standing among Black and queer communities. The audience, comprised primarily of Black queer women, expressed enthusiasm that paralleled its initial success with critics.

The organizers of the screening could not hold back their excitement as they introduced Pariah as one of the most significant films to address queerness within the Black community. Initially, Amandine, an organizer from the Arc en Ciel d’Afrique Committee for Women, mistakenly introduced the film as a 90s release; she later revealed that she had watched the movie so many times it seemed as though it had always existed in her memory. Another organizer confessed that they had watched it over twenty times already, demonstrating the film’s profound resonance with its audiences.

Pariah is a difficult film to introduce. It primarily follows Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), who is Black, as she embraces her queerness while still adapting to her community’s conventional expectations.

Her identity is slowly built upon all of the roles she plays, whether that occurs as daughter, sister, friend, or partner. Instead of only fixating on Alike’s development in relation to her parents and younger sister, Rees chose to construct around Alike a network of storylines that intersect and deviate from her own while never distracting. The storylines delve into the tension inside Alike’s house as her parents navigate both their parental limits and the cracks in their relationship, as well as into the life of her friend Laura, who acts as both support and foil to Alike’s identity. Additionally, Rees weaves other characters into Alike’s story to either guide her towards success, like her English teacher, or further unravel layers of her identity, as her friend Bina does.

While Rees builds the film’s skeleton with intricate storylines, the veracity of Alike’s experiences manifest through the director’s ability to lead the audience into multiple conversations at once. As the film progresses, it slowly unravels questions of sexual identity and femme representation. Alike struggles to reconcile her own feminin-

ity with her mother’s expectations, which Alike adopts in a survival effort to conform to her community’s standards. Rees also challenges the audience with conceptions of sexual identity and how power dynamics come into play; Alike’s timid queerness is placed next to Laura’s need for loud sexual expression, depicted as an uncomfortable Alike tries using a strap-on, as well as Bina’s own ambiguous sexuality, mirroring Alike’s hesitation and fear. Despite covering such dense material, Dee Rees masterfully orchestrated a multidimensional story throughout the entire film.

[An] organizer confessed that they had watched it over twenty times already, demonstrating the film’s profound resonance with audiences.

As this sequence began, the audience’s excitement quieted into an anticipatory hush, and the black screen opened up onto a shock of

colour and sound. A fast sequence of shots hinted at a bustling scene of nightlife bursting with deep purples and yellows complemented by a disorienting sound collage. The quick sequence then faded out and back in with that of a pole dancer’s elegant movement. As the screen alternated between the smooth and sensual dancer and Alike’s face of marvel, a perception tilt carries the audience into a whirlwind, as if Alike is immersing us in her world.

The scene itself features continuous shifts in colour from rich reds and solid blues to pink and violet lights.

The depth of the colours evoked a visual metaphor for Alike’s rich and complex growth.

The discussion that followed affirmed the film’s position as a project associated with realism rather than imagination. One member of the audience was quick to announce: “C’est la vérité!” (“It’s the truth!”) immediately following the credits. Soon after, the majority of the audience agreed by sharing their own anecdotes, many of which showed parallels with Alike’s account. All stories shared were deeply rooted in the struggle of reconciling the complexities of sexuality and gender against the rigid norms and morals of one’s community. The audience came to a consensus that the film told a poignant, powerful story centered on navigating one’s

sexual identity around presupposed ideals and the systematic constructs that one strives to unlearn.

The depth of the colours evoked a visual metaphor for Alike’s rich and complex growth.

In the end, the film’s strongest element was its powerful depiction of transition and resilience. In one sequence, Alike was shown transforming on screen as she changed her clothes and readjusted her earrings on her way home in an effort to avoid tension with her parents.

Meanwhile, viewers also follow Alike through her enjoyment and recitals of poetry. The film begins with the quote “Wherever the bird with no feet flew, she found trees with no limbs,” similar to Alike’s feeling of non-belonging. At the end of the film, Alike recites: “And I am not running / I’m choosing / Running is not a choice from the breaking / Breaking is freeing / Broken is freedom / I am not broken / I’m free.” In these lines, Dee Rees captures the essence of queer resilience.

CULTURE

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

19

Tension between said and unsaid Reflections on MOMENTA’s “Bienniale de l’image”

Christopher Junn Culture Writer

M

O M E N TA p re s e n t s ‘Biennale de l’image,’ a meditation on the art of photography and film curated by Ami Barak. The exhibit aims to support “Canadian artists by bringing to light the relevance, diversity, and quality of their work, and by presenting it within an international context.”

Ultimately, it asks its visitors, “What does the image stand for?”

The exhibit seemed to deconstruct the deceptive preconception many have surrounding the authenticity of an image by questioning its meaning. Perhaps the answer lies in the apparent paradox that floats around the authenticity of a photograph. How will a person apply their knowledge to an image in order to align its meanings to their beliefs? This seems to be the “tension between ‘the said’ and ‘the unsaid’” that the exhibit’s curator, Ami Barak, intimates. The unsaid seems to be the subtleties of an image.

Photographs plainly depict distorted colors and the image itself, but do we hear the sounds in the atmosphere and the thoughts of the people within these images? Barak touched upon this in her introduction to the exhibit, saying, “These artists intercede between the state of things and their possible interpretations.

They are the ‘whistleblowers.”

They prefer to transfigure reality into art rather than simply replicate.

These whistleblowers are determined to produce a tangible differentiation between art and reality by using allegories as intermediaries. Their images speak of the world in different ways, but still manage to sidestep strict depictions of “the real,” thereby creatively communicating their beliefs. A creative element might transfigure and

translate one’s ‘unsaid’ experiences for another while serving as a ‘whistle,’ or a call for attention. Furthermore, these artists, as put by Barak, seem to ‘prefer transfiguration to replication.’ A couple of the exhibit’s key pieces invoked the following motifs: the different sensational and mental experiences of perspective and seeing the past as a ghost.

The exhibit aims to support Canadian artists by bringing to light the relevance, diversity, and quality of their work, and by presenting it in an international context.

Ami Barak Curator One moving image explores different sensations and mental experiences surrounding scope and perspective by stimulating our sense of sound, proportions, and movement. Switching between shots of a shadow and a murmuring sound, film appeared to be rolled in the background, followed by a sped-up view of it that seemed like a blur. The moving image took us between the different perspectives of the piece of film. In doing so, it challenges the viewer to distinguish between proportions by measuring and comparing against the flash of lost memory. The artist seems to ask the viewer to blur

A still from the moving image and MLK. the still images that connect the jumps in time that we cannot physically see, while registering empirical measurements of space.

This mysterious ‘in between’ seems to be explored in ghostlike recollections. One image in particular seems to encapsulate the intense pride and emotion of empowerment. It is a closeup of Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial with his finger pointed forward, making a cogent point. A vignette on the photo’s corners backdrops the image, centering King. The photo is printed in black and white, recalling a time before color saturated images, recalling a less vivid but still painful past. The powerful image stands out as a moment of clarity in a fascinating photo exhibit.

Running from September 7 until October 15, the MOMENTA | Biennale will be featured at the VOX and UQAM campus alongside some independent galleries throughout Montreal.

Christopher Junn | Photographer

compendium

September 11, 2017 mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

20

Lies, half-truths, and ~enemies~.

Activities Night: Tinder for SSMU

J. spanke Blarg Writers There are only three types of people on Tinder. Those hunting for that insta-goals relationship, those who have no idea what they want, and those just tryna fuck.

All of these people attended the SSMU Activities Night. The tablers, clearly, are searching for a connection. They want passion. They want commitment. They want you to pay for their TimBits at meetings. They want to tag you in their photos and have you be cool with it even if all your friends rag on you for being whipped.

Unfortunately, most of what they have to work with are those in the second and third category. We saw the wanderers drifting from table to table, engaging some poor hopeful club for a hot minute before “oh, apologies, my friend wants me to go meet them over there.” I SEE YOU TALKING TO THE OTHER A CAPPELLA GROUPS, CASEY. These people talked to at least twenty clubs, but only gave their email over to one, and unsubscribed from the lists`erv the very next day. Or whenever they had time to get around to hitting unsubscribe.

Crossword

Jay VanPut Official Crossword Wizard

They’re kind of in a weird transition phase right now. Sorry. Last, but not least, we have those looking to hit it and quit it. Really. They’ll shake your hand, snag as many pieces of candy they can fit in their other hand WHILE THEY’RE STILL SHAKING YOUR HAND, and disappear before you even know their name. This was not a mistake on their part. They don’t want you to know their name.

However, there is still hope. Sometimes the heavens part and the circle completes itself and a student looking to pad their grad school resumé / actually genuinely interested in your eccentric esoteric engagements will join your exec board and shamelessly promote your club events on Facebook and go to every single meeting. Until, of course, they meet this really interesting person and picnic dates replace club fundraisers on their calendar. Ah well. There’s always next year.

Across

Down

1. What a heart is considered to be 5. Bistro 9. Poe’s first name 14. Place 15. Spoken 16. Crystal-lined stone 17. The Beatles’ “Back in the ___” 18. Shopping centre 19. Unit of salt 20. Name of the squatting men statue on campus 23. Voice below soprano 24. Downtown McGill student residence 25. Calculation for obesity 27. Humiliated 30. With 57 across, art exhibit currently on Sherbrooke 35. ___ Aviv 36. Backslide 38. Hit on the head 39. Building extension 40. Suffix with Israel 41. On, in binary 42. Chicken ___ king 43. Helps someone make a shot 47. Indefinite french article 48. Name of the wolf statue on campus 50. Main arteries 52. ___ chi (martial art) 53. Neighbor of Wyo. 54. “Ali ___ and the 40 Thieves” 57. See 30 across 64. French school 66. Black-and-white cookie 67. Formal highschool dance 68. Relative of the aphid 69. Orchard item 70. 90° from norte 71. Lines up in time 72. Suckers 73. One in charge at a university

1. Walker from “The Fast and the Furious” 2. ___ Major 3. Ruin, with “up” 4. Divides into grammatical parts 5. Chest with drawer 6. Kuwaiti, e.g.

7. Autumn 8. Fashion magazine 9. Ovum 10. Literally get off track 11. Hockey score 12. Mine entrance 13. Nevada city 21. “... happily ___ after” 22. ___ and flows 26. Fannie ___ 27. Mr. T’s group 28.

Protagonist in “Twilight” 29. To whom a Muslim prays 30. Pig ___ 31. “Planet of the ___” 32. Roughly 33. Prima ___ 34. Fencing swords 37. “Mona ___” 43. “Eureka!”

44. Pass over 45. People who make fitted clothes 46. Fizzy drink 49. Slanted 51. Spit fire?

54. Places a wager 55. Hurting 56. Brought into the world 58. “My bad!”

59. Substance found in organic waste 60. “___ what you sow” 61. Behind slang 62. Small amount 63. Wolverine is one of them 65. Recordings shorter than albums