money issue 2

Volume 101, Issue 26

January 23, 2012 mcgilldaily.com

McGill THE

DAILY

Dregs of society for 100 years

Published by The Daily Publications Society, a student society of McGill University.

McGill Health Centre threw farewell parties worth over $15,000 Annie Shiel

The McGill Daily

F

ollowing Arthur Porter’s resignation from his position as CEO of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) last December, the hospital hosted two benefits in his honor. The combined budget for these events was between $15,000 and $20,000.

Porter has been the subject of controversy since early November, when the National Post reported that he wired $200,000 from a personal account to a Montreal-based international lobbyist and alleged arms dealer for an infrastructure project in his native Sierra Leone. He resigned from his position as Chairman of Canada’s Security Intelligence Review Committee – the country’s “spy watchdog” – shortly thereafter, and from his position at MUHC on December 5.

The first farewell party, which took place last Tuesday at the Mount Royal Club, was an invitation-only reception, whose guest

list included government officials, McGill representatives, and donors. Wendy Thomson, director of McGill’s School of Social Work and one of two McGilldesignated members of the MUHC Board of Directors also attended the reception.

The second event, which took place the next afternoon at the Montreal General Hospital, was a staff reception. It included a live acoustic band, speeches from Porter’s co-workers, and a slide show. None of the guests or speakers commented on the controversy that led to Porter’s resignation.

According to Ian Popple, communications coordinator at MUHC, these types of receptions are not uncommon, and provide the opportunity for staff to meet and talk. “They help with team building,” he said.

Judy Pasiolan, vice-president of the 5,000-member Confédération des syndicates nationaux local

at the MUHC, told the Montreal Gazette she didn’t recall the Centre holding such parties when Porter’s predecessor, Hugh Scott, retired.

Popple stated that the events’ large budget was “not an unreasonable amount of money” given the number of guests and MUHC staff who were present. He estimated that at least 400 people were in attendance, but that this number “could be double that because the events were several hours long, and guests came and went over time.”

Popple also emphasized that the funds for these events did not come from the hospital’s own budget or donations, but rather from guests who wanted to ensure that Porter was properly seen off after his nearly ten years of service.

Popple declined to comment on the controversy, saying only that Porter’s decision to resign was his own and that “he will be missed.”

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The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

NEWS MONEY ISSUE

An inside look at SSMU and PGSS finances McGill student societies pursue financial reform Vanessa Pagé News Writer

J

ust what exactly do SSMU and PGSS do with all of your money? “Have a look” is the answer that this year’s VP Finances are likely to tell you.

In his first six months in office, Adrian Kaats, VP Finance for the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) and former Daily columnist has revamped and streamlined the society’s budget. He separated all revenues and expenses into categories that matched those of a third party auditor’s, so that students are able to see the specific amounts PGSS has spent on a certain item, with the numbers backed up by an independent assessment of the finances.

In previous years, when comparing the year-end audit reports to the final, year-end budget, the average student would have difficulties verifying the accuracy of the budget, said Kaats. Money that was allocated to sections of the budget might appear in different sections in the auditor’s report or be lumped together with different categories of funds.

Of the new budget, Kaats said, “There’s

so much transparency that it is nearly impossible for people to mistake what we are doing if they are interested in discovering [it].”

“It’s very difficult for the PGSS to perform in a way that’s not indicating [what] it’s doing,” he continued.

The revamped PGSS budget is projecting a cash deficit of $65,281 for this year. SSMU, on the other hand, came out of last year with a $515,556 surplus. The most recent SSMU budget, approved by legislative council in November, is projecting to break even.

Transparency of society finances is also a priority for Shyam Patel, VP Finance of SSMU. “I do have students who come to me sometimes and ask to see the finances of SSMU,” Patel said. “It’s more than encouraged. Students can come in and ask, ‘Where did you spend money?’ and it is my responsibility to show [them].”

Long-term financial plans are priorities for PGSS and SSMU. PGSS is working on a daycare space for the dependents of

graduate students, and is hoping to combine miscellaneous bursaries into a single fund to cut administration costs, and also to achieve better returns on McGill’s investment portfolio.

Having a singular fund will also improve accessibility for the various bursaries since, under the current scheme, students may get rejected because of a lack of money in the specific fund to which they are applying.

“In one year you might see a great deal of need in one of the areas and not in the other, so the money accumulates in a pool here while another bunch of people are rejected,” said Kaats. “It isn’t fair that somebody apply to the fund at time X and then, five months later, because we spent all the money on that, at time Y, somebody with the exact same need gets rejected because we were spending too quickly.”

SSMU’s long term financial plans include the creation of a student-run cafe in 2013.

Patel said a financial plan, which requires the approval of legislative council, would allow

for continuity from year to year between the successive SSMU VP Finances, and “so that the teams coming in have an idea of what the projects are.”

Both Kaats and Patel bemoaned the lack of training they received for their positions.

Kaats – who was elected interim VP Finance last winter – said much of his training came from the math work he did as part of his engineering degree.

“There is no training at PGSS,” he said. “It’s a very, very serious problem.”

“The mathematics of [the job] is pretty simple, and if you’re attuned to system design in general,” he continued. “The difficulty lies in the political aspect of making appropriate judgement calls.”

Patel, as SSMU Funding Coordinator in 2010-2011, worked closely with his predecessor Nick Drew and said he still felt less than prepared for his role as VP Finance.

“For my successor, I’m going to be a little bit different. For my successor, training will be very, very rigid,” he said.

Course lecturers approve initial demands Union to sit down with administration this winter Michael Lee-Murphy The McGill Daily

M

cGill’s newly unionized course lecturers have approved a preliminary list of demands for their first collective bargaining session with the administration.

The demands were approved at a December 6 unit assembly, but have not been formally presented to the administration.

Course lecturers are paid to teach courses on a contract basis, and currently earn $7,200 a course.

AGSEM, the union which also represents teaching assistants and invigilators, was accredited to represent course lecturers in August, following a nearly 18 month long unionization effort. During the union drive, McGill announced a $2,200 per course raise, which the union claimed as a victory.

During the union drive, Provost Anthony Masi ordered building directors on campus to tear down posters encouraging course lecturers to join the union. The administration said the use of posters by the union violated Quebec labour laws.

Despite the raise, the union says that McGill’s course lecturers are among the lowest paid in Quebec.

The union is demanding what it describes as equity with other Quebec universities, which would mean a pension and retirement plan, wage increases, and paid sick leave.

The union is also seeking to implement a seniority-based hiring system.

Rick Hink, the chair of the course lecturers’ bargaining committee, estimates that there are between 1,300 and 1,500 course lecturers, though the numbers are constantly in flux.

Hink explained that some course lecturers are graduate students who teach to pay the bills, while others have been teaching full time for as long as 25 years.

According to Hink, course lecturers have no protections and can be fired at any time, owing to the course-by-course nature of their contracts.

In addition to salary and benefit demands, the union is also demanding protections for courses that are traditionally taught by course lecturers, as in much of the School of Continuing Studies.

“We don’t want to see a situation where all of a sudden you can throw hundreds and hundreds of people out of their jobs,” Hink said.

Describing the findings of the union’s bargaining survery, Hink said that some course lecturers have no experience, while others have forty years on the job.

“To talk to some of these people who have been unceremoniously dumped at the end of 25 years of service? It’s inconceivable,” he said.

Quebec course lecturer salaries L’université du Québec en $8749 Abitibi-Témiscaminque Concordia $7770 UQAM $7563 L’université du Québec à Laval $7737 L’université du Québec Chicoutimi $8257 L’université de Montréal

$7790

McGill

$5000

After AGSEM’s unionization drive: $7200 Source: Elections McGill Alyssa Favreau | The McGill Daily The union is hoping to sit down at the bargaining table by the end of February, when they will formally present their demands to the administration.

Masi wrote in an email to The Daily that, “the University is committed to doing everything within its power to minimize the probability of another strike occurring during this academic year or in the foreseeable future for that matter.”

AGSEM’s course lecturers are one of three bargaining units currently negotiating a contract with McGill, including invigilators and support workers organized under AMUSE – the labour union for casual employees at McGill.

Concordia’s course lecturers are paid $7,770 dollars per course, while course lecturers at l’Université du Québec en AbitibiTémiscaminque earn $8,748.99 per course.

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

NEWS - MONEY ISSUE 4

How McGill uses philanthropy to stay on top Donors contribute millions to McGill’s budget every year Lucile Smith News Writer

M

cGill runs on $1.04 billion a year.

It is the only Canadian university to place in the top 25 of the QS World University Rankings eight years in a row, competing against privately-funded universities in North America.

Like many other schools, McGill places considerable effort into obtaining donations to support its competitive status – between 2008 and 2011, McGill received $78.5 million from 32,051 donors.

Derek Cassoff, director of communications of Development and Alumni Relations, explained that “about 75 per cent of our gifts come from individuals, the majority of whom are alumni.”

“Every donation shows not only a big financial investment, but the personal engagement speaks volumes to the rest of the community both in Montreal and Canada,” he said.

Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi pointed out that McGill “was founded as a result of a philanthropic gift – James McGill’s bequest

– so our origins are in philanthropy, and like most universities, [McGill] has depended on philanthropy for a portion of its revenue.”

Ayesha Mayan, associate director of the Annual Fund – McGill’s yearly appeal to alumni, parents, faculty and staff, and friends to help support the University – pointed to a long history of alumni support. The Annual Fund has existed since 1948.

Lesley Preston, a U2 Chemistry and Political Science student, worked at the Phonathon, a program that solicits donations from alumni and parents. It hires 60 to 75 students a year, each of whom spend a minimum of eight hours a week calling potential donors.

Preston spoke to being subject to aggressive responses from some – one person she called “went on for many minutes about how he would never donate to McGill because they support Israeli apartheid.”

During the MUNACA strike, some alumni and parents expressed similar sentiments

about their donations.

Still, Cassoff estimated that about 25 per cent of alumni donate.

According to Mayan, “45 per cent of our donations from the Annual Fund are under $100, which totals about half a million dollars.”

Service Point, which has existed for two years, was supported by the Annual Fund in order to create an “accessible way for students to get information they need,” said Mayan.

Alumni and parents can donate to any organization on campus. “You could donate to the Red Cross through McGill, so you’re not necessarily supporting McGill administration and stances, but the students that are trying to get involved even outside the University,” Preston said.

Mayan agreed: “The overwhelming majority of dollars we bring in go to specific programs, not the overall budget of the University.”

She explained that the Annual Fund has recently begun soliciting donations from parents of students.

“The culture of philanthropy in the States has been longer standing than in Canada,” said Mayan.

Cassoff agreed. “In Canada, there is a certain culture that education is considered as part of service that government provides,” he said.

“In the US there is a long history of private education, separate from government service,” Cassoff said. “Here, it’s equated with healthcare and other social service deliveries.”

Manfredi explained that “certainly, philanthropy is not our main revenue; McGill is largely a publically funded University.”

“I’d say philanthropy contributes in total maybe 10 to 15 per cent of the overall revenue available to the University,” he said.

“When you look at where McGill ranks internationally, we are operating with a much lower budget, and we are still having the same output on a research level,” said Mayan. “[Donations] can have a huge impact, and an impact right away,” Mayan said.

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The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

NEWS - MONEY ISSUE 5

Money where your mouth is How student cafes make ends meet

Labour

Andreanne Stewart News Writer

Bulk food orders

Taxes

SNAX

Discretionary fund

Rent, util ities

AUS

Grants

Other expenses

Midnight Kitchen Student donations

Food donations

Frostbite

ry ive l e dd

foo k l Bu

90

Organic Campus

Rent, utilities

SSMU

Farmer

Sales

od

s fo plu Sur

Fee levy

Daily revenue ($50-400)

SNAX buys 26 lo aves a we ek

Rent, utilities

Labour

Yearly revenue ($38,000)

Supplies

Supplies

Events (10% of profits)

Labour

its rof p f %o

EUS All numbers supplied by service managers or employees Amina Batyreva and Alyssa Favreau | The McGill Daily

A

fter the closing of the Architecture Café last year, the finances of student-run food services came under fire. Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Morton Mendelson described the Arch Café as being “run like a lemonade stand.” The Daily investigates how remaining student-run food services are operating on campus this year.

AUS SNAX Located in a nook within Leacock, SNAX is a non-profit managed and run by Arts students, and operates under the purview of the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS). This year SNAX received $2,000 from the Arts Undergraduate Improvement Fund.

An average transaction at SNAX amounts to $2, and with about 500 customers a day, the outfit turns daily revenue of $1,000. All profits go towards the operating start-up cost at the beginning of each academic year, which includes $8,000 worth of product.

Manager Jennifer Cox said spacing presents a challenge for SNAX, as a lack of storage space means buying products in bulk is not possible.

SNAX is taking steps to improve sustainability

with a price-incentive campaign to encourage re-usable mugs.

“I think we’re going to continually raise our coffee prices little by little as an incentive. The cost of that cup is something we would like to take out of our expenses all together,” she said.

Midnight Kitchen (MK) Another food service on campus, MK, is one of the last still offering full meals. Run by a collective of students, MK’s success in the spring 2011 referendum won the service a one dollar fee levy, raising fees to $2.25 per student per semester.

The collective spends between $1,000 and $1,500 on bulk food orders each month.

Approximately 150 students attend each serving and donations vary from $15 to $50 each day.

Lisa Miatello, volunteer coordinator of the collective, noted that MK sustains a loss from opt-outs. “About 12 to 14 per cent of undergraduates opt-out, so we take a substantially big hit from that,” she said.

Despite opt-outs, the increased fee levy allowed MK to hire four paid staff members.

Three coordinators earn an annual $9,216 sti-

pend, and one driver earns a $3,072 stipend.

The coordinators work between 15 to 18 hours a week and the driver works 6 hours.

The four stipends amount to 38 per cent of the collective’s annual budget.

MK also created a $500 discretionary fund that will be awarded on a monthly basis to sponsor like-minded social and political projects. The fund sets $250 as the maximum amount that can be allocated per project.

Organic Campus The farmers’ market at McGill sells the products of one farmer, Berhanu, who grows, bakes, and delivers all foodstuffs for Organic Campus at no cost. Organic Campus sells Berhanu’s goods, and writes him a cheque for 90 per cent of the revenue. If Organic Campus has no plans to use the remaining 10 per cent, it also goes to Berhanu.

Julien Dinerstein, treasurer of Organic Campus, said that “sales near the beginning of the semester and towards the end are a bit lower. When we’re outside, we tend to sell a lot more – it can range from $500 to $1,000 a week.”

Products usually sell-out by week’s end –

if not, leftovers are donated to MK. Organic Campus also has ties with SNAX, selling them bread weekly, at cost, for an additional $104 of revenue.

Organic Campus is volunteer-run. “[Barhanu] tried to pay us once, but we couldn’t accept it,” said Dinerstein.

Frostbite The finances of the ice cream operation are an annex of the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS). Between 20 and 300 customers come by a day – depending on the season – which amounts to anywhere from $50 to $400 in profits each day.

Frostbite tries to keep its prices as low as possible, despite financial obstacles. Manager Juan Giha said, “We’re scratching our heads as to how to keep our profit margins low while competing with rising costs, taxes, and minimum wage.”

Frostbite increased prices by 25 cents last month.

Other obstacles included construction in the Engineering complex over the past two years that caused frequent power outages, twice melting all ice cream. In correspondence, Giha said McGill reimbursed the costs.

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

NEWS - MONEY ISSUE 6

What’s the HAPS? Consultation fair on safety and security on campus Tuesday, January 24 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

SSMU Ballroom, 3rd Floor, Shatner With the overarching theme of Safety and Security on Campus, McGill students, staff, faculty, and administration will have the opportunity to discuss campus safety, the role of dissent, personal safety, classrooms as safe spaces, and more as part of the second McGill Consultation Fair this year. The Consultation Fair – one of the recommendations made by the Student Consultation and Communication Work Group – is hosted by the Office of the Deputy Provost, SSMU, Post-Graduate Students’ Society and the Macdonald Campus Students’ Society. Register online at mcgill.ca/deputyprovost/consultation/ consultation-fair.

So you want to be a SSMU exec?

Thursday, January 26 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Lev Bukhman Room, 2nd Floor, Shatner Elections for SSMU executive positions happen in March, and nominations open on February 1. Here’s your chance to come and find out more about each position and how you could be part of the 2012-2013 SSMU Executive. Questions? Email SSMU President Maggie Knight at president@ssmu.mcgill.ca Speak Up! Campaign Friday January 27 Shatner Lobby Québec Solidaire MNA Amir Khadir, NDP MP and former McGill student Charmaine Borg, and NDP MP François Choquette are some of the prominent figures that have already expressed their indignation towards the policies of the

Harper government, amalgamating nearly 800 hundred Canadian citizens taking part in the Speak Up! Campaign, launched by Alternatives. McGill will also be a part of the campaign as Alternatives will be in the Shatner Lobby this week. Be sure to drop by and record a video or write a few words – it’s your chance to Speak Up! The live petition will be presented to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the federal MPs by the beginning of March.

Journalism workshop with The McGill Daily and Le Délit Sunday, January 29 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

SSMU Breakout Room, 2nd Floor, Shatner Haven’t found the McGill Journalism School yet? Hi! It’s us. Come enjoy a late lunch, and take part in some of the workshops offered by your favourite Dailyites and Déliteurs/

euses. Workshops will include Investigative Journalism, Writing and Editing, and a Radio Journalism Workshop. No registration necessary. Email news@mcgilldaily.com or campus@delitfrancais.com for more information.

Eating Disorder Awareness week February 6 to 10 There will be information booths in the Arts building on Monday and Wednesday, and bake sales in Sherbrooke 688 and McConnell Engineering on Tuesday and Thursday. There will also be various presentations discussing specific, current issues relating to eating disorders. Visit the website at mcgill.ca/mentalhealth/edp or the McGill EDP Facebook page, and check us out on YouTube. Eating Disorder Awareness Week is organized and hosted by the McGill Eating Disorder Prevention Program.

McGill Daily & Le Délit Journalism Workshop

Sunday Jan. 29 2-4pm

In the Breakout Room

(Shatner Building)

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

COMMENTARY MONEY ISSUE

Acting like a black girl The classed Other and the university as an economic power structure Christiana Collison Columnist

women, but of classed Othering. For, the evident racialization, not just of myself, but more importantly of my behavior implicit within this phrase, “…acting like a black girl” denotes its classed nature.

How so? This phrase, firstly, invokes a certain undesirability. That is, to be a black girl is not a good thing. Secondly, it particularizes black women. In other words, it makes the assumption that there is a certain type of black woman – a type of black woman one should not want to be, let alone be. And thirdly, it rests its particularization of black women on a classist premise. That is, to be a black girl is to be the quintessential black girl – the “hoodrat,” the “cyattie” or my favorite, one of the many “gyal dem.”

For those of you who aren’t aware of those terms, it refers to an essentialized grouping of black women who are, almost always, of lower or lower-middle class backgrounds.

That occurrence, that statement, reflects exactly this notion of classed Othering; for, in that immediate moment, I was made to be the Other on the basis of my demeanor as understood in a classed context. A context which, I argue, is both perpetuated by and helps maintain the elitist economic power structure known as university.

University, an institution that prides itself on its exclusivity and knowledgeacquiring superiority, is also a space of hierarchy. It both hierarchizes and is hierarchized.

It hierarchizes in many ways; one that most significant is economically.

Students in these spaces are expected to maintain a certain level of economic status; a status that can be projected in many ways. If not monetarily, it must be reflected socially.

This elitest socialization of students is fundamental to the maintenance of the university’s status – a status of superiority, of exclusivity, and of preeminence.

For, it is through this perpetuation of elitism by not simply the university, but also my fellow black

peers (of all socio-economic backgrounds mind you) that I came to understand how classed Othering occurs in university spaces and how that further maintains the status of the university.

For, through this classed Othering occurs a racialized, classist social policing of sorts in which my behavior, demeanor, and lifestyle is monitored and then scrutinized if not fitting into the desired realm of university’s elitism. In other words, for the particular Other – the classed Other – the university space becomes a classist space of Othering, of policing, of enforced conformity and of social, and, further, self-regulation. And it is this self-regulation that, once adopted by the classed Other, effectively aids

in the perpetuations of the university’s status as the elitist economic power structure.

Ultimately, and most importantly, rendering the classed Other helpless in the very space that helped create it.

Damn university, you are truly something special!

Tyrone Speaks is a column written

by Christiana Collison on the subject of black feminism. It appears every other Wednesday in commentary. You can email her at tyronespeaks@mcgilldaily.com.

Amina Batyreva | The McGill Daily

T

he existence and experience of Othering by oppressed bodies is often thought of and discussed in the realm of the standard interracial relational Othering occurrence. For this piece, however, I want to explore the nuances of the Other and Othering from a different lens. A form of Othering that, although seldom spoken about, is just as significant to understanding oppressed bodies and oppression in its totality. An Othering that exists in intra-racial relational spaces that is constructed on the basis of one’s socio-economic class. A classed Othering, if you will.

A classed Othering? Yes! A classed Othering. To understand this concept, I want to first look at how black women are essentialized according to their class location. Then, I want to place this classed Othering within racialized black spaces in the university and evaluate the university’s role in this, as an elitest economic structural power. And, further evaluate how the impact of this role has a specific effect on certain racialized bodies.

Although not extensively, I have, in previous articles, spoken about the various ways black women are stereotyped.

However, these problematic characterizations, when looked at intra-racially, take on a whole problematic other form. A form that would be best expressed if I provided a little anecdote, to help contextualize it.

I remember during my first year at McGill, I had become a lot more comfortable on campus. And, by comfortable, I mean loud.

I could always be found scouring the campus yelling about something. Whether it was my hatred for McGill or issues pertaining to racialized or gendered bodies, I was always found forcefully asserting my opinion, as I like to call it, about something. However, at that particular time, it seemed as though my comfort at McGill seemed to instead reflect my racialized and classed location.

It seems like it was just yesterday, in fact, that I was eating lunch with a couple of my black friends in Redpath and talking about the possibility of discussing homosexuality in the black community. A friend of mine, who vehemently opposed having the the discussion, argued against its happening. I, however, totally wanted it – and when I totally want something, I tend to get a little intense…and loud. So, I got loud; so much so that I imagine the entire cafeteria probably heard me.

A couple weeks later, another friend of mine, who wasn’t in the cafeteria at the time, had told me that he heard I was yelling in the cafeteria. He said, “Yeah, my friend said they saw you. They said you were acting like a black girl.”

What? Huh? Wait! A what?

This phenomenon of “acting” like a black girl is a precise example of, not only an essentialist characterization of black

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

COMMENTARY - MONEY ISSUE 8

Capitalism is alive

The need to preserve capitalist structure Murtaza Shambhoora Hyde Park

“F

uck Capitalism,” proclaimed a sign held by a man in his late twenties who was protesting in the Occupy Wall Street movement. His sign did not seem entirely out of place considering the context of its use.

In 2011, the world witnessed a revolution rallying against the excessive corruption and economic exploitation found within our society due to certain flaws in our capitalist system.

Thus, sentiments such as the one expressed above have become commonplace. Browsing through other pictures of the Occupy Wall Street protests, I noticed signs and T-Shirts with similar messages printed on them. Some held placards stating that “capitalism is an organized crime” and “the whole system has got to go”.

The image of individuals making such strong statement and rallying against an economic system in which I so vehemently believe was shocking to me. How did we come to a stage where individuals readily disregard an entire economic system that has given rise to innovation, democracy, and a wealthier way of living?

The answer to the question posed above is simple. The economic crisis of 2008, the current European crisis, and growing income inequality in the developed world make it easy to lose faith in our system. It is easy now to disregard capitalism as being the root cause of society’s malaise and to make bold statements calling for a return to socialist or communist economic systems.

Arguments labeling free market capitalism as the devil itself are ubiquitous on our own campus too. In fact, our own politically progressive peers in the Arts faculty proposed hanging a portrait of Karl Marx in the Arts lounge. Given the way

in which big corporations and businesses are destroying our environment and reaping profits at the expense of labourers, student sentiments have an important place in our discourse.

But, there is a difference between informed criticism of the capitalist system and a wholesale disregard of it. As university students, our objective is to study and eliminate the flaws of the current economic system instead of camping out in our banker’s or government official’s backyard and rejecting their authority. We must have healthy debates between proponents of a purer form of capitalism and ones who prefer government to play a larger role. We must not look at Wall Street and the banking system as evil, but as institutions that need a few changes and give in easily to excess and greed. We live in a society where inefficient government plays an ever-larger role, while a combination of greed & irresponsibility has tainted the reputation of politicians who are supposed to change the world.

So how do you save capitalism? Stop blaming greedy bankers, futile regulators, underpaid workers, or overpaid executives. Stop using apocalyptic words to prescribe the end of capitalism. The truth is that a viable alternative to our system is nonexistent; I believe the Occupy protesters definitely haven’t come up with one. Capitalism has remained a success due to its ability to never be static. Through booms and busts, the system goes through complete reforms where it comes out stronger.

The Great Depression led to increased involvement by the government and a rejection of the gold standard. The Reagan and Thatcher revo-

Ian Murphy | The McGill Daily lutions introduced an era of deregulation that so, the self-regulating nature of capitalism is lost. Corporate boardrooms must be led to global booms.

And how will we reform capitalism after reformed to reflect capitalism’s ideals of merthe current bust? By pushing models of inno- itocracy and long-term profits. Finally, taxes vative and sustainable capitalism, embodied in must not be increased, since they only make part by companies such as Apple. By appreci- our inefficient governments larger and more ating the philanthropic power of big business bureaucratized. In short, we must return to a tycoons such as Bill Gates, who established purer form of capitalism. the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. And most importantly, by reinforcing capitalism Murtaza Shambhoora is a U2 Political and making it freer.

Science & Economics student. He can be Governments need to stop coddling big reached at Murtaza.Shambhoora@mail. banks and offering them bailouts. By doing mcgill.ca.

Harper’s social justice hit list How the federal government has chopped away at NGO funding Tamkinat Mirza Hyde Park

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here is no lack of complaints about the Harper government’s policies, and Canadian NGOs are one of many of those who take issue with them.

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is responsible for government funding allocated to non-governmental organizations, and the past two years have featured unexplained defunding for a significant proportion of these groups.

Many NGOs have been waiting for months to receive funds without communication from CIDA, while others have faced drastic cuts.

When taking stock of the list of organizations within this group, one common aspect stands out: organizations’ support for Palestine and overt recognition of Israel’s consistent crimes against human rights.

A number of the affected NGOs have been targeted and criticized by NGO

Monitor (NGOM), a highly partisan organization that attempts to expose the “antiIsrael agendas” of other NGOs, and that undermines global human rights by shielding Israel from accountability.

Consider two Canadian NGOs that are on this hitlist: Alternatives and KAIROS. Alternatives is a Montreal based left-leaning NGO, while KAIROS is a church based NGO promoting social justice. Over the last year, both groups have seen their respective CIDA funding denied or reduced.

While Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda has claimed that the organizations do not meet CIDA’s new priorities. (Note that these are priorities that have not been fully delineated). Immigration Minister Jason Kenney explained the defunding as a new government policy to combat anti-Semitism.

Apparently, following the Harper government’s pro-Israel stance, pulling funding until acquiescence is bred seems a desirable strategy.

This is where I find a breach of basic democratic principles. While the targeted NGOs are definitely against Israel’s policies and work in part to expose its human rights violations, this is just one aspect of the work they do. These groups are not anti-Semitic; they are targeting and creating awareness of crimes against humanity by any group, undistinguished by race or region.

Being unable to continue operations based on a refusal to single out and ignore Israel would be unethical, and would go against their very mandates by creating a hierarchical lens of exclusion.

To continue operations, many NGOs are are now realizing that the private sector may

be a better funding source than the government and are following existing groups such as World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) that tapped into this sphere years ago.

Yet, here’s what strikes me as odd, unsettling, and thought provoking: corporations now seem more sympathetic to human rights-based causes than the state.

But aren’t these the very causes that the government should be focused on in a capitalist democracy in order to promote the welfare and dignity of its population?

Government policies need some definite reevaluation, and NGO defunding based on political stance is only one symptom of this need.

Tamkinat Mirza is a U3 Humanistics Studies Student. She can be reached at Tamkinat.Mirza@mail.mcgill.ca.

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

COMMENTARY - MONEY ISSUE 9

Kim Jong Eun, capitalism, and the future of North Korea The rise of market activity Noteh Krauss Soap Box

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fter the death of Kim Jong Il, pundits debated the role that Kim Jong Eun would play in the future of North Korea. This discussion made little mention of the role that the North Korean people would play in determining the future of their country. Pundit’s underlying assumption is that the people are merely robots or puppets of the regime, and are passive players in the direction their country takes. This is untrue.

Kim Jong Eun does not matter as much to North Korean citizens as most seem to assume. This is because, although the North Korean people may not be politically free, they are, to a surprising degree, economically free.

For the past 15 years, the North Korean people have been part of one of the fundamental institutions of capitalism: the market. Yes, marketplaces do exist within North Korea. And even more surprisingly, they are plentiful and often huge.

Several recent studies show that it is not just a small minority who are active in this playground of capitalism, but that nearly everyone is.

This involvement includes everyone from collective farmers (who are now engaged in illegal private farming) to party officials who are using their power to become some of the wealthiest merchants in society. The current level of marketization in North Korea is far more developed than it was in the USSR and the Eastern Bloc. So many Koreans are trading in the markets that it is hard to find people who are not involved, except perhaps Kim Jong Eun and his immediate network of cronies.

Furthermore, these markets do much more than supplement state handouts and salaries; they are the primary source of income for most North Koreans, providing almost all income, according to the findings that North Korean economy experts Stephen Haggard and Marcus Noland published in January 2011. Markets have completely undermined the peoples’ dependence on the state.

This cuts strait to the heart of the assertion that Kim Jong Eun is less important than most have assumed.

North Korea was unique among communist states in that it fed, clothed, and housed its people through a Public Distribution System (PDS). The PDS was successful in pro-

viding everyone in the country with enough food and other goods to keep citizens satisfied and working productively.

This happened because of an implicit bargain implied by the PDS; the state would ensure that citizens had enough to eat and be happy, and, in turn, citizens owed their labour and loyalty to the state.

This compact broke down, however, with the outbreak of the famine in the 1990s, which coincided with Kim Il-Sung’s death in 1994.

Kim Il-Sung successfully rebuilt the Northern half of Korea after the Korean war, to the extent that development in the North was more extensive than that in the South until as recently as 1975. It was precisely because Kim Il-Sung was seen as having single-handedly built the country from the ground up, and had provided for everyone in the North, that North Korean citizens expressed such sorrow at the announcement that he had died at age 82.

The death of Kim Il-Sung and the outbreak of famine had two important consequences, respectively: Kim Jong-Il took power, and people began trading in markets to survive.

After the famine, Kim Jong Il’s greatest failure was that the PDS was never successfully reinstated. Approximately 70 per cent of North Korean defectors in China and South Korea agreed or strongly agreed that the food situation had not improved over the last decade and a half under Kim Jong-Il. In the face of Kim Jong Il’s failure to quash market activity, marketplaces have continued to grow and expand. They are so prolific today that 75 per cent of defectors view marketplace trade as the easiest way of making a living. It seems that the people of North Korea today, like many people elsewhere in the world, simply care more about making a living than politics and state ideology.

Although the people have loosened themselves from the noose of state rule, Kim Jong Eun still holds enormous power and influence. Kim Jong Eun has been knighted the “supreme commander” of North Korea’s million-strong army and now controls the nuclear weapons that his father developed. Furthermore, he also is at the head of a strong, coercive state apparatus, and it is only Kim Jong Eun who can decide if the North Korean state will

Noteh Krauss for The McGill Daily

Individuals selling produce on the street in North Korea. reform. But precisely because of the proliferation of the markets and their influence, the state leadership will almost certainly not take this path.

Marketization in North Korea has already developed significantly from below, meaning that any opening of the borders will further erode the structure of the regime.

This is precisely because market-traders and merchants pose the biggest threat to the regime at this time. They have considerable access to information through their contacts in China and have become a new pseudomiddle class who have gained their wealth outside of the state structure.

By loosening the restrictions on private trade through reform, the North Korean government will allow this class to become even wealthier; this group already controls the trade networks and will best be able to capitalize on those reforms. For the Kim Jong Eun administration to enact some sort of economic liberalization from above, it must first regulate the marketization that

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has occurred from below.

This is not to say that the leadership hasn’t tried. Pyongyang has attempted to control markets – with mixed results. In July 2002 North Korea enacted reforms that effectively legalized some marketplaces and forms of trade, aiming to regulate them. In contrast, the 2009 currency reform, which created shockwaves in the economy, was seen as an attempt to undercut the merchants and to transfer power back to the state; this was seen as a failure, even by the leadership.

Kim Jong Eun’s greatest challenge will be to take control of the prolific capitalism that is present in his country. Until he does, the people will go on with their lives, making a living on their own through trade and, by so doing, further eroding the structure and authority of the State.

Noteh Krauss is a U1 Political Science student who conducted an independent study on North Korea. He can be reached at noteh.krauss@mail.mcgill.ca.

The McGill Daily | Monday, Jan

FEATU 10

MONEY

THE CONDO CURE?

HOW GLITZY LOFTS, FRENCH RESTAURANTS, AND A MCGILL RESIDENCE LEFT ST. HENRI BEHIND

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY LAURENT BASTIEN CORBEIL

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he blue house of Gabrielle Roy’s Bonheur d’occassion still stands near the train tracks, in the southern part of Montreal’s St. Henri neighborhood. In Quebec, the book is a literary classic, and its depiction of poverty in St. Henri in the 1940s still resonates with many Quebecers. But the steel mills that once surrounded the blue house – it’s surreal-looking, toothpick thin and the colour of a robin’s egg – are long gone.

Condominiums have taken over, and its proximity to the Lachine Canal now makes it prime real estate. In this new and gentrified St. Henri, the Lacasse family of Bonheur d’occasion has no place. They wouldn’t be able to afford the rent.

In the 1960s, the closing of the Lachine Canal and the decline of the manufacturing and industrial sectors had a profound impact on the neighborhood. By the early 1980’s, the area’s industrial base had been hollowed out. In 1951, manufacturing jobs in St. Henri peaked at 29,000. Today, that figure is 4,795, or about one sixth of the number of

jobs during neighbourhood’s manufacturing heyday. Desperate for additional revenue, the city began to convert the old industrial structures into condominiums. In 1980, the city launched “Opération 20,000 logements” to attract newcomers.

So while about 43 per cent of the population lives in low-income households, parts of St. Henri have been moving steadily upscale for years. It’s now home to Solin Hall – the McGill residence – and the McGill University Health Centre is being built in nearby Westmount, which will certainly prompt hospital employees to move to St. Henri.

Virtually all of the red brick buildings that once housed Montreal’s biggest factories have been turned into expensive condos. The iconic names are still etched on their walls: “Steel Company of Canada”, “Bowater Paper Company Limited,” “Williams Sewing Machines.”

The Château St-Ambroise, a new loft development, once housed the Merchant Cotton Company. The building, which takes up a city block and is

four stories high, sits right next to some of the poorest sections of St. Henri.

Now the Chateau contains units that rent at $1,375 per month, about twice what an average St. Henri resident pays.

The contrast in lifestyles this produces can be shocking. Next to a row of parked BMWs, I spoke to residents who struggle to pay their bills.

Chantale, a local, earns $9.65 per hour, the minimum wage. Her rent has soared ever since the old Merchant Cotton Company building was refurbished into the St-Ambroise. “I know people here who used to pay around $400 a month,” she told me. “Now they’re paying $700.” Those who can’t afford to pay move out. Needless to say, this has bred some resentment.

On the side of a free health clinic on Notre-Dame someone has scrawled “Fight Gentrification!”

Whole swaths of the neighborhood are now slowly being emptied out. According to Solidarité St-Henri, an anti-poverty coalition, the neighborhood has only in the last decade started seeing a small bump in population, after a decades-long exodus.

But higher rents aren’t the only issue.

In St. Henri, gentrification also erodes locals’ sense of community. It almost goes without saying that those who live at the St-Ambroise don’t frequent the same establishments as the locals.

One fancy French restaurant next to the Lachine Canal had an imposingly pricey menu: $25 for an Espadon Grillé, $28 for a Carré d’agneau, $26 for a Bavette au fromage.

The bistro’s polar opposite, The Greenspot, is the most famous restaurant in the neighborhood, and it has a near-legendary reputation among locals. It’s been serving greasy foods since the 1940s. For $7 I had a large plate of poutine and a Coke, which they served in a commemorative glass from the Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics. Down the street from the Greenspot, there’s now an eco fashion boutique.

The lifestyle disparity extends to where people shop. By and large, those who buy condos in the area – les gens des condos as the residents call them – do their shopping at the Atwater Market, an upscale farmer’s

nuary 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

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market. Meanwhile, the people in the apartments, or the poor, buy their groceries in convenience stores. But these stores aren’t just places to shop.

It’s also there that a great deal of socializing takes place.

In St. Henri, there’s a convenience store on virtually every corner, and many have been open for decades.

The Dépanneur Rose De Lima, barely a block from the Atwater Market, is wellknown among residents. The owner, Mr. Lasenne (he refused to tell me the spelling of his name, but that’s how it sounded), knows all of his clients by name. He isn’t like most residents. He and his wife both attended university, and they used to travel frequently. He doesn’t see the changes occurring in St. Henri in such a grim light. “The neighbourhood is becoming nicer,” he told me. “St. Henri is the next Plateau.”

Lasenne claimed that condos in the area now go for as much as $300,000.

(Most of them seem to cost closer to $200,000). This was unthinkable 12 years ago, when Lasenne first moved to St. Henri. His convenience store sits right next to the Lachine Canal, and the land there is some of the most valuable in the neighbourhood.

While that hurts renters, it’s great news for landowners like Lasenne, not all of whom are rich developers.

And gentrification has brought other side effects, which few in St. Henri complain about. Incomes have slowly risen in recent years, and community organizations are confident that the newcomers will bring jobs with them.

Even locals concerned over rising costs aren’t outright opposed to gentrification. The phenomenon is largely seen as inevitable.

Good or bad, it’s clearly visible, and it can be easily mapped. The area to the south, next to the Canal, is completely gentrified. Almost the entirety of the waterway is lined with expensive condominiums.

Atwater, which cuts through St-Henri roughly from north to south, divides the neighborhood into two halves.

Residents told me that if I crossed the street, I wouldn’t be able to eat a meal for under $10. This was certainly true on Notre-Dame, the main

commercial avenue.

I spoke to Shannon Franssen of Solidarité St-Henri about these changes. The condominiums aren’t the only issue in the neighbourhood, she says. She’s also concerned about the construction of the new McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).

It’s isn’t finished yet, but her group suspects that it will further affect the housing market. “The people who work at the hospital will have a higher income than the residents,” she said, “they’ll probably want to move in the neighbourhood as well, so it will likely result in more gentrification.” Still, the group isn’t opposed to its construction. It hopes that the new centre will bring in more employment. “We just want to maximize the positive outcomes,” she explained.

The MUHC isn’t the only way McGill is involved in the gentrification of St. Henri. Solin Hall, the residence near the Lionel Groulx metro station, was an abandoned chocolate factory before being renovated for students. When the University purchased the building in 1990, the change was met with strong resistance from local community groups. One of them, the Comité pour la Relance de l’Économie et de l’emploi du SudOuest (CREESOM), predicted that the purchase would “destabilize” the local francophone population.

By opposing the closing of new factories and by encouraging new economic opportunities, the goal of CREESOM was to preserve the industrial character of the neighborhood.

The change in zoning law in 1989 that allowed McGill to convert the industrial building into a residence dashed their hopes of attracting new businesses and revitalizing the neighborhood.

A last ditch effort by the group to convert the building into affordable residential units for the entire community was subsequently ignored by the city.

Initially, locals reacted with hostility to the new, privileged arrivals from McGill. In 1995 someone wrote “go home anglo asshole” on one of Solin’s walls. Three years ago, a freshly graffitied message read “Fuck you McGill rich bitches.”

MANUFACTURING JOBS IN ST. HENRI Alyssa Favreau | The McGill Daily

Y ISSUE

1951: 29,000

2006: 4795

Source: “McGill’s Solin Hall: Impact assessment of a student residence,” Rima KoleilatBarrage, McGill School of Urban Studies; “L’emploi locale dans la région métropolitaine de Montréal,” Consortium de la communauté métropolitaine de Montréal.

But whatever resentment may have existed in the community seems to have largely evaporated.

A report published by the McGill School of Urban Studies in 1998 shows that eight years after the construction of Solin Hall, any fear over the “destabilization” of the neighborhood had already dissipated. At the time, a majority of residents weren’t even sure if the impact of the students was positive or negative. One local thought that students “lived in their own glass bubble” and that it was as if the residence “did not exist.”

The residents I spoke to were mostly indifferent to Solin Hall.

They were more interested in talking about the economic effects of the condominiums than those of McGill and its students.

McGill’s anglophone character hardly bothers anyone in St. Henri.

The neighbourhood is largely bereft of the bitter language politics that fester in other parts of the city. The owner of the Dépanneur Rose De Lima told me that his anglophone clients preferred to be spoken to in French. At the Greenspot, I spoke to the cashier in English, and the waitress, a local, did the same.

On Notre-Dame, there’s a restaurant for every culture: Japanese, Indian, Caribbean, Italian et cetera. At St. Henri, there is no shortage of diversity. After all, this is the neighborhood of Oscar Peterson and Oliver Jones.

It isn’t pro-independence either. A majority of residents voted “no” in the 1995 referendum, and the Liberal Party has been in power for nearly a decade. Now, anglo Solin residents and St. Henri francophones play hockey together at a local rink.

But not everyone subscribes to this vision. QPRIG-McGill is one of several groups that oppose gentrification in Montreal. A few years ago, it hosted an education series on housing rights in Milton-Parc, Mile End, and St. Henri.

I spoke to Holly Nazar, a member of the Right to the City working group of QPRIG-McGill, by email. “One of the biggest causes of gentrification is the downloading of financial responsibilities from provinces and the federal government onto cities,” she explained. “Now cities must raise much more of their own revenue. The only way they have to do this is property tax. This means that they encourage the building of condos and expensive properties because it will bring in more money.”

This has certainly been the case for St. Henri. Gentrification seems inevitable, and the neighborhood will most likely be emptied out of its old residents. In ten years, property value have risen by nearly 200 per cent, and there’s no sign of any slowdown. As Lasenne told me, “in a decade or so, if I’m still alive, this whole place will be unrecognizable.” So far, there isn’t any reason to doubt him.

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

SCIENCE+TECHNOLOGY MONEY ISSUE

Drugs and money David Ou examines the cost – monetary and otherwise – of four drugs that most of us think we’re familiar with

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llicit drugs and money often go hand in hand. Indeed, the pairing of the two is like a more sinister version of peanut butter and jelly. Although they are often mentioned in popular culture – like music and other media outlets – offhandedly, drugs and money affect almost all of us. Despite this, drug usage is, in many cases, still a taboo subject; it is one that we rarely discuss outside of high school lectures given by monotonous members of the local police department: “Don’t do drugs. Don’t have sex. Stay in school. Eat your veggies.”

But aside from acknowledging the fact that drugs do not carry very many physiological benefits, how much do we really know about some common street drugs? An American study conducted in 2008 by The Core Alcohol and Drug Survey from a sample of 77,481 students at over fifty colleges showed that more than 80 per cent of students consumed alcohol in the past year and over 30 per cent of students consumed illegal substances. In Canada, the numbers are slightly lower; The Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey showed that, in 2004, 11.3 per cent of youth from age 15 to 24 had used illicit drugs.

Alcohol (Alcoholic Beverages) Alcohol is indeed classified as a drug, although most people do not consider it one. The psychoactive ingredient in alcohol is ethanol, or C2H6O. Interestingly, ethanol is also used in hand sanitizers as an antiseptic, engine fuel, and even as a treatment for poisoning by other, more harmful alcohols such as methanol and ethylene glycol (commonly used as car antifreeze). Ethanol competes for the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme thus, avoiding the toxic side effects of methanol and ethylene glycol. Alcohol is by far the most commonly consumed drug in universities throughout North America. Information regarding how alcohol consumption can lead to addiction, dementia, cancer, and even strokes is widespread. But, what isn’t quite as widely publicized is how often and how much alcohol must be consumed to cause those maladies. For example, to be at a greater risk of developing cancer, one must drink at least four units of alcohol (two glasses of wine) every single day. However, studies have also shown that men who drink over three times a week were over 35 per cent less likely to have a heart attack than those who do not drink. It is crucial to find the right balance with frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption in order to still have fun and, at the same time, not harm your body.

How it works

Legislation

What it feels like

Contrary to popular belief alcohol actually acts as a depressant, not a stimulant. Alcohol acts on the central nervous system (CNS) resulting in reduced attention span and reaction speed. Ethanol affects gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors, which are the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors in the mammalian CNS. The result is a depressing effect comparable to those produced by benzodiazepines and barbiturates.

Unlike many the other drugs in this list, alcohol is legal, at least to those above the drinking age. In Canada, the legal age for consumption is 18 in Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec and 19 in all the other provinces and territories.

Overconsumption of alcohol, or getting drunk, is almost always associated with the loss of inhibitions and self-control. Usually, there is also a decrease in selfconsciousness and thus an increase in self-confidence.

However, since alcohol is a depressant, it can cause loss or fragmentation of memories. Getting drunk can also result in the infamous hangover, which is caused by dilated blood vessels in the brain, a decrease in blood sugar to the brain, and also the production of the more active and toxic metabolite of alcohol, acetaldehyde.

Cost

Given the huge range of choices one has when craving a drink, the cost can range from a mere $1 to anywhere upwards of $100.

Ecstasy Ecstasy is also known as E, X, or M in its street pill form, and Molly or Mandy in its crystalline or powdered form. The active ingredient is called 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and its molecule formula is C11H5NO2. Interestingly enough, there are over 100 chemicals with the same molecular formula, butamben (a local anesthetic) and MDPH (a psychedelic drug), just to name a few. In its purest form, MDMA exists as clear, ice-like crystals. However, in most street forms, the drug is cut with adulterants, such as methamphetamine, ephedrine, and caffeine. The manufacturing of MDMA almost always involves the use of safrole, which is extracted from the sassafras plant. The leaves of sassafras leaves are used in some types of gumbo, while the roots were traditionally used to flavour root beer. Sassafras leaves can commonly be found in health food stores as a supplement and a spice. However, after its use in the clandestine manufacturing of MDMA came to light, the distribution and transport of sassafras plants has become extremely guarded and monitored.

How it works

MDMA causes a rapid release of the three main “feel good” neurotransmitters: serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. The increase in concentration of all three neurotransmitters produces the same effect as some antidepressants. The suddenly magnified availability of these neurotransmitters also cause the release of oxytocin, which is a hormone released after events such as orgasms. Collectively, these chemicals give you the high.

Legislation

What it feels like

MDMA was patented in 1913 and was most notably used to supplement psychotherapy in the 1970s. In 1976, Canada passed legislature that made it illegal to possess, traffic, produce, or import MDMA. Currently, MDMA is regulated under Schedule III of the Canadian Controlled Drugs and Substances Act of 1996, meaning possession can be sentenced with a maximum of three years imprisonment, while trafficking, exportation, and production can result in a sentence of 18 years maximum.

MDMA can have very different effects on people because each person has a different way of feeling “happiness”, which is what the serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine overload essentially causes. But generally speaking, there are some common feelings that almost all users experience: a boost of energy, self-confidence, and self-acceptance. Users feel friendlier with a strong sense of inner peace and euphoria. Like alcohol, MDMA removes a lot of self-consciousness and makes you more outgoing. However, unlike alcohol, MDMA does not take away your judgment abilities. You remain comparatively alert and well aware of your surroundings.

Cost A typical ecstasy tablet contains many other chemicals and only about 70 to 85 milligrams of MDMA. Costs range from $10 to $15 in America, to $20 to $50 in places like Australia.

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

SCIENCE+TECHNOLOGY - MONEY ISSUE 13

Cocaine Cocaine has a variety of other names, although it’s most commonly known as coke. Others include: snow, blow, crack, tardust, and so on. The active ingredient is a chemical called benzoylmethylecgonine, with the molecular formula C17H21NO4. Cocaine is obtained from the leaves of the Erythroxylum (coca) plant – not to be confused with cacao or cocoa trees – and this plant is the root (literally) of its name. The plant is native to South America and was traditionally used as a treatment for altitude sickness and as an anaesthetic before stronger substitutes were available. Originally, the leaves are also chewed and steeped to make tea, releasing the active ingredient from the leaves.

Benzoylmethylecgonine is a base and is usually extracted using hydrochloric acid, resulting in a white and pearly salt consisting of hydrochloric acid and the cocaine base.

This kind of cocaine is known as “crack cocaine” (also known as rock, hard, or cavvy). However, cocaine can be further purified by “freebasing it”. “Freebase” cocaine refers to cocaine that has had the proton freed from the cocaine base. While this cocaine is generally purer than crack cocaine, the production method often involves more toxic chemicals, increasing the risk of injury to those who attempt to isolate cocaine without proper equipment or knowledge. Cocaine can be taken orally (“numbies”), chewed in its coca leaf form, insufflated (snorting, blown, or sniffed), injected, or smoked.

How it works

Legislation

What it feels like

Cocaine acts on the CNS and is arguably one of the most powerful stimulant known to humans. Cocaine not only causes a strong release of the “feel good” neurotransmitter dopamine, it also blocks the reuptake of dopamine in the post-synaptic neuron. This means that dopamine will stay in contact with its receptors longer and produce the high that you feel.

When cocaine was first discovered, it was seen as a panacea for many of the world’s ailments. Even Sigmund Freud wrote many scientific papers extolling the numerous benefits of the drug. Cocaine was widely available in a wide variety of products, from medicines to soft drinks, It was even used for toothache relief for children in the 1880’s. As the negative health effects became more well known, use declined, and in 1911 Canada passed laws restriction the production, importation, sale, and possession of cocaine. It is currently listed under Schedule I of the Canadian Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, meaning that possession can result in a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, while trafficking, exportation, and production can yield life imprisonment.

Cocaine is a stimulant, so it will provide increased alertness, ability to concentrate, and wakefulness. The elevation of mood is also partnered with an increase in self-confidence and worth, thus achieving the euphoric high. A surge of great physical strength is usually felt. A loss of appetite is also very common.

Cost Again, the cost of cocaine varies with your location. Here in Canada’s east coast, a single gram of cocaine ranges from $20 to as high as $100. This means that the sale of a single kilogram of cocaine can cost anywhere from $12000 to $35000 – that’s almost an entire year’s salary for many.

Heroin Like many other drugs, heroin has a wide assortment of what are mostly benign sounding names: black tar, China white, dust, H, horse, junk, and smack to name a few.

The active chemical in heroin is known as diacetylmorphine and has the molecular formula: C21H23NO5. Heroin was initially created in an attempt to make a less addictive version of morphine. Like morphine, it is synthesized from the seeds of the Papaver somniferum (opium poppy). The opium poppy is also used to make other drugs such as codeine, thebaine, and papaverine – most of which are used as analgesics to relieve pain without losing consciousness. Similar to cocaine, pure heroin usually comes in the form of a hydrochloride salt, which takes the shape of a white crystal. However, the heroin purchased on the streets is almost always adulterated with bases and other chemicals, which results in a matte white powder. It is estimated that about 90 per cent of the world’s supply of opiates originate from Afghanistan. Like other opiates, heroin can be prescribed legally as a painkiller. Heroin can be administered in the same ways as cocaine.

How it works

Legislation

What it feels like

Opioids function by attaching to specific receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and the gastrointestinal tract. When the drug attaches to these receptors, they act as depressants on the CNS and block the transmission of pain messengers. In addition to blocking the feeling of pain, heroin also causes a large release of the opioid neurotransmitter endorphin. As you might already know, endorphins are released naturally after strenuous exercise or if we hear ourselves. This is our own body’s way of responding to pain by dulling it. Heroin causes you to feel that high 1000 times over, even without the presence of real pain. Heroin tolerance is easily developed, and, thus, it is considered one of the most addictive drugs.

From 1898 to 1910, heroin was actually sold legally as a nonaddictive morphine substitute for cough depressant. When the dangers of heroin came to be realized in the early 20th century Canada passed laws that made the production, distribution, and use of heroin. It is currently under the same control in Canada as cocaine.

Because heroin is more of a depressant than a stimulant, it does not give you the burst of energy or self-confidence stimulants like cocaine or MDMA do. Instead, it settles you down and you feel a warm rush, as if slipping into a hot bath. It allows your mind to drift off without your body being physically active. A common result of depressants is that the extremities become heavy and numbed. The use of heroin can result in dry mouth and extreme thirst. The euphoria experienced from heroin is not the same as the euphoria derived from MDMA or cocaine. The effects of heroin can last anywhere from two to six hours depending on the dosage.

Cost The prices of heroin vary from region to region but the standard prices range are about $10 for one bag, or book. However, each bag is meant to contain only one tenth of a gram, and in many cases this amount is much less. This means that some addicts must pay hundreds of dollars a day to support their addiction.

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

SPORTS MONEY ISSUE

Racial tensions in lockouts Evan Dent Columnist

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s we approach the end of the NFL season, and sink further into an already captivating NBA season, it’s easy to forget that both leagues were entrenched in ugly labor disputes for most of 2011. These lockouts were a fundamental battle between the owners and the players of each league – a battle over who would get a bigger piece of the ever growing revenue pie (for the NFL), and over how the money would and could be spent (for the NBA). Professional sports have become so lucrative that these conflicts are basically inevitable.

With so much money at stake, there will always be arguments over who should have more of it: the players, the owners, or the suppliers. All of this suggests that money is at the root of the issue of all these lockouts (and watch out, because there’s rumblings of another NHL lockout occurring).

But there’s another aspect of these lockouts that’s even more troubling, which lies in the subtext beneath talks of revenue streams, percentages, and salary caps. These lockouts were about control, about a group of owners trying to curb a group of players in order to make sure they knew who was more powerful. Since the players, many who are of colour, have become more powerful and upwardly mobile, this battle has dredged up some uncomfortable racial tensions. Money was a big part of the lockout, but control of the league was the ugly undertones behind every negotiation.

Let’s start with the NBA lockout – the one which forced the league to cancel two months of the season and left many arena workers temporarily unemployed. The basis of the owner’s lockout was driven by a desire to change the league’s financial system – one that was leading many teams in the league towards insolvency. The owners decided that the main issue was how much money the players were receiving under the collective bargaining agreement they had signed years earlier, wherein the players were slated to receive 57 per cent of the profits.

In addition to this, the NBA owners sought to keep the power of the major players in check – who angered the owners by forcing themselves onto bigger market teams at the expense of nearly bankrupt small market teams. The 2010-11 season saw LeBron James abandon small market Cleveland for big market Miami, leaving Cleveland arguably bereft of talent. Deron Williams and Carmelo Anthony also forced their teams, the Jazz and Nuggets, respectively, to trade them to bigger markets. Anthony, in particular, forced his trade to the New York Knicks by essentially telling his owners that he would leave in free agency after the season, no matter what contract they offered. He also wouldn’t agree to sign with any team but the Knicks, such that no other team would try and trade for him. By doing so, Anthony leveraged his star power and forced the Nuggets to trade him, engineering his own move to a bigger market. In the ugliest terms, this was a battle between a group of mostly black players who found themselves gaining increasing amounts of power at what the mostly white owners and commissioner saw as at their own expense.

Negotiations became very contentious, and comparisons occasionally came up that com-

pared NBA players to slaves and the team owners to slave owners. Bryant Gumbel, a notable black sports commentator, summed it up by saying that commissioner David Stern’s efforts in negotiations have been “typical of a commissioner who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer, treating NBA men as if they were his boys. It’s part of Stern’s M.O…His moves were intended to do little more than show how he’s the one keeping the hired hands in place.” So, yes, money and a financial restructuring of the system were among the goals of the NBA lockout. The owners wanted more revenue from the league profits for themselves and to curb runaway spending. But, the part that everyone knew was there but was rarely spoken of, was the issue of control.

The NFL lockout didn’t escape comparisons of slave relationships either. Star running back Adrian Peterson came out saying that the lockout and the NFL owner’s efforts to make more money from total league revenue as “modernday slavery,” adding, “People kind of laugh at that, but there are people working at regular jobs who get treated the same way… The owners are trying to…bring in more money. I understand that; these are business-minded people. Of course

Amina Batyreva | The McGill Daily

this is what they are going to want to do… But as players, we have to stand our ground and say, ‘Hey – without us, there’s no football.’”

The NFL lockout was predicated on the idea that the owners deserved a bigger piece of the pie than the players – or at least more than they were getting under the previous collective bargaining agreement. Because the NFL had become the most profitable sports league in United States, and the owners claimed that they needed more money in order to stay solvent; but, of course, they were hesitant to show their own financial documents to the players association. They also sought to institute a new salary cap and restrictions on how much draft picks could receive upon entering the league. One of their early stipulations, as well, was a longer regular season, which would bring in even more revenue to the owners, no matter the health risks to the players.

On the other side of the table, the players wanted to keep their share of the revenue, believing (quite rightly) that they are whom people pay to watch and, therefore, more deserving.

They also asked for some more post-career benefits since the rate of injury is so high in. In the end, as the season approached and there was a real danger of game cancellations, the two sides

came to an agreement, which gave more money to the owners and restricted draft pick payment.

It also offered more healthcare benefits for the players as well as getting rid of the 18 game season. Although less overt than the NBA’s control struggle, this was still a dispute over who has control over the league and who reaped the rewards from it. While money was one main consideration, it was about more than just that.

The owners sought to make the players subservient, just like the owners of the NBA wanted to do with their players.

At their base levels, each lockout is about cold, hard money, and who gets more of it. But inextricably tied to that is the idea of power and the attempt by owners to tamp down the players’ power, many of whom are young, empowered black men. As the NHL inches toward negotiations (the players are currently receiving 57 per cent of league revenue, a figure owners want to lower), we can expect to see this struggle all over again. If you’re looking for the most damaging aspect of money intertwined with sports, well, here it is.

Evan Dent is a Sports columnist at The McGill Daily. He can be reached at afansnotes@mcgilldaily.

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

CULTURE MONEY ISSUE

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The Times they are a-changin’ Anqi Zhang

The McGill Daily

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hen the internet became a household necessity, many newspapers set up online repositories of their print material, making news and quality writing accessible to people regardless of geographic location. Now, following the migration of print journalism to the web, comes the slow but sure migration of its price.

The Wall Street Journal became the first newspaper to implement a paywall in 1997, charging users for use of their website. In June of 2010, the London Times began charging £1 per day or £2 per week for online access to the newspaper. Just last year, the New York Times and Boston Globe followed suit with so-called “soft” paywalls in the form of digital subscriptions. Such paywalls come up after a reader’s article “allowance” is exceeded for the month, and cue the reader to subscribe to one of several options.

Adding a charge to something that was once free is always tricky. Nobody likes to see an increase in price, and an increase from zero seems most outrageous of all. Of course, there is also the very probable circumstance that such an increase will be prohibitive for some readers – includig students.

The effect on news awareness and expediency, however, is deemphasized in student responses to the paywall. Caroline Mei, a U1 Arts and Science student, said: “I never use it for news; if I read something on the New York Times, it’s either a special feature or an opinion article.” The usage of such high-profile papers such as the New York Times seems to have this common theme – readers of these newspapers are not looking for up to date information on the world’s events, but on interpretations and high-quality writing. Jassi Pannu, a U1 Biology student, said, “the New York Times is not the first place you go to get a news flash. It’s like the Economist – people read it to see the opinions and the analyses. Most breaking news comes to us through Facebook and Twitter now.”

It is the recognition that the New York Times

and similar publications’ value lies in the quality of its pieces that allows students, and readers in general, to appreciate the reasons for a paywall, though they may not enjoy its ramifications. “As a reader, I don’t like that the online stuff is no longer free,” said Mei. “But in terms of it being fair, these are corporations with intellectual property copyright laws.” Pannu agreed that it seems reasonable to charge for something that is of such high quality.

And yet, though readers can see the reasons behind the charge, few really want to pay. There is, as Mei called it, “a rift between the nature of the information on the internet and the nature of news making corporations.” The internet is a place of freebies, of open courseware, of TV streaming, of free video chat. Charging to read articles goes against the whole environment.

But it is hard to deny that the articles, at least in print form, are worth money; and the shift of the medium, from newsprint to webpage, does not devalue the quality of those articles. So if a multi-section Sunday paper is worth $3.90, then it follows that a website containing archives upon archives of these editions should be worth just as much, if not more. It is, after all, the intellectual basis of these articles that is worth money, not the medium upon which it is printed.

Newspapers such as the New York Times and the London Times know this, and as Simon Albert-Lebrun, a political science major who transferred to McGill from Carleton’s journalism program, put it, they are “trying to set up their old income strategy on a new form of outlet.” Yet many of us still refuse to pay, and most would rather stop reading the material, than shell out hard-earned dollars. The hesitance is not a reflection of the articles’ worth, but, as AlbertLebrun said, more about readers growing accustomed to their ability to “bypass...the price for news” through the internet.

The effects of the most recently implemented paywalls are already becoming evident, at least on the news conglomerates’ side. Hitwise, a web analytics firm reported daily readership

declines of 5 per cent-15 per cent for the New York Times immediately following the implementation of its paywall. Page view figures declined 20 per cent-30 per cent in the same period of time. However, paywalls can have the capacity to bring in online subscribers and revenue. The Wall Street Journal had amassed more than a million web subscribers by 2007, ten years after they started charging for online readership. But the newspapers seem to have a more hidden – and arguably bigger – goal than simply returns from online subscriptions, or even increasing or retaining online readership.

Take the New York Times, for example. Each reader is allowed twenty articles per month, after which they are prompted to pay, through one of three options: access to the nytimes. com website and smartphone app for a monthly charge of $15; access to the website and tablet app for $20; and all-inclusive digital access for $35. These are US prices, and, while there are promotional offers, at the end of the day, these are the prices of access to digital coverage.

Worth noticing, however, are the comparisons between digital and print subscriptions.

Print subscription comes with free unlimited access to the website, smartphone app, and tablet app – in other words, it is the ultimate digital package, with a hefty heap of newspapers outside your door at least once a week. This free digital access comes with just a Sunday paper subscription, for the price, in New York City, of $3.30 a week, or a weekday subscription for $3.25 a week – a far better deal than the digital subscriptions offered. Even the most comprehensive – and pricey – print option of daily delivery in NYC weighs in at $6.05 a week, or $24.20 a month. Still cheaper than the price of all-inclusive digital access.

So what kind of game is the New York Times playing? Simple math done by a second year undergraduate cannot have gone undetected by its financial department, or by its legions of readers. There is a strategy behind this math, and the strategy appears to be this: make print subscrip-

tions the better deal, to save print newspapers from becoming obsolete. In other words, they do not want readers to climb over the paywall, but instead go around it, through a path that will inevitably lead to the purchase of a thick stack of newsprint.

The reason these news corporations are trying to push print journalism is, as you can easily guess, money. This is not money gained from subscriptions, but from advertisements. Print advertisements can generate up to ten times the revenue of an online advertisement. And presumably, this is beginning to work – while subscriptions are not exactly increasing, the New York Times has, in the past year, managed to staunch the loss of existing subscribers.

Reader loyalty may be enough to account for this short-term return, but is this a sustainable strategy? Students, as a demographic, seem to feel no such loyalty. They begin to adapt their own behaviours: “I start getting strategic, so if it’s not something specific to the New York Times, then I’ll Google it”, said Mei. Albert-Lebrun predicts a more global and widespread shift in news strategy, with the development of “a whole new range of news reporting websites, blogs and perhaps social networking sites with focus on spreading information and news... People will find ways around the price in order to read the news they want to read about.” The popularity of such websites as The Huffington Post and Gawker attest to this fact.

This seems reasonable – in the same way that the internet was used to bypass the limitations of space and time, to allow global access to news, so it will also develop to bypass the limitations of wealth. For a generation that is used to getting anything it needs from the internet, this does not seem an unsurpassable challenge. The problem thus falls back into the hands of the news conglomerates applying this strategy. In the end, by instituting paywalls, they may not only fail to save print newspaper from becoming obsolete, but, rather, may accelerate that very process.

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

CULTURE - MONEY ISSUE 16

Could Canada spare some change?

Angus Sharpe comes face to face with our currency’s faces

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anada’s getting new bank notes, and it’s important. As the great-greatgrand-nephew of impressively mustachioed Brit, Sir Edward Elgar, who was recently and ruthlessly erased from the British £20 note in favor of some Scottish wanker, Adam Smith – the so-called “Father of Modern Economics” – the often-traumatic renewal of currency is very dear to my heart. Luckily for all you progeny of incumbent Canadian money-faces – four Prime Ministers and a Queen – their pensive expressions are one of the few unchanging factors of the Bank of Canada’s brand spanking new “Frontier Series.”

So, in this new frontier, the face is the same, it’s the feel that’s different – these babies are made of plastic. Polymer, to be precise. Biaxially-oriented polypropylene, to be pedantic. Or even “Guardian,” to bloat it with the marketing grandeur intended by its Australian developers. The bills’ official slogan, “Secure. Durable.

Innovative.” has already taken a small hit. Yes, unfortunately the Frontier Series is essentially the same stuff your commonwealth cousins issued as far back as 1988. However, on those first two charges of security and durability the Bank of Canada, seems to have done rather well.

The soulless male voice of the official online trailer for the new $100 bill, out now as the series’ first release, enticed me a little sinisterly to “feel, look at and flick it”, to which I reluctantly complied out of pure journalistic conscience. For features covering the “Secure” qualification, we have the ‘Frosted Maple Leaf Window’ (ooh!), the ‘Metallic Portrait’ (aah!), and the ‘Large Window’ (err…), all of which are designed specifically to reduce counterfeiting. As far as ‘Durable’ goes, advantages of living 2.5 times longer and being 30 per cent greener than current bills are impressive. Thus, the cost, to both the government – ultimately you – and the planet – ultimately your own great-great-grand nephews – is at least somewhat reduced.

These benefits are lovely and all, but admittedly a bit distant, a bit intangible.

So if you’re like me and don’t plan on living six centuries to see polymer banknotes save mother earth, or have had very little exposure to the currency fraud scene, you’re probably more interested in the difference in going about your day with sheets of plastic rather than paper in your wallet, pocket, or purse.

First up is increased structural integrity.

Polymer won’t rip, so bid farewell to that hilarious pretending-to-tear-your-friend’smoney-whilst-making-the-sound-withyour-mouth prank and welcome to the less

Edna Chan | The McGill Daily hilarious, more psychotic cutting-yourpal’s-money-in-half-with-scissors prank.

In the current economic climate, it is very thoughtful for the Bank of Canada to have pushed ahead with their first “antibanker note.” Any fatcat looking to blaze up an even fatter cigar with a new $100 dollar bill will simply see it melt in his hand before being knocked out by blackened fumes.

Though it must be said I have this on the authority of a McGill science student, and not via expensive empirical evidence.

And yet the biggest plus is probably waterproofing. No longer must you be fear butterfingers whilst traversing Milton’s

puddle gauntlet or fret over the unchecked pockets of pants hastily bundled into a communal wash – crippling concerns both!

On the other hand, it will pave a way for underwater transactions, which may be entirely wholesome affairs, but watch out for opportunistic drug dealers, stripped to their trunks at the local pool, seeking the added discretion of the deep end.

Now, let’s go back to the who and what of the new notes’ design. Essentially the “Frontier Series” does what it says on the tin, with images in homage to crucial Canadian contributions in the fields of space exploration, the Great War, travel,

and science – one side of the $100 bill alone covers the discovery of insulin, the invention of the pacemaker, and the mapping of the human genetic code. That’s all great. Canadians are often subjected to jibes about their supposed lack of history, and adorning your money with the argument against is a direct route to enlightening the eyes of an ignorant tourist.

A tad more contentious is this issue of who gets their face on them. Functioning in one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, the dollar is handled

by Canadians with ancestry from all corners of the globe. Despite the diversity of its carriers, it doesn’t take one long to notice a pattern in our currency’s design.

Messieurs Robert Borden, William King, John Macdonald, Wilfrid Laurier, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II are all very white and invariably WASPs, though I suppose Laurier would be a Norman, for all the difference that makes. Queenie is, to her credit, probably the most exotic on the list, being a woman and all, and those royals have all sorts of blood in them but she’s hardly a “Great Canadian.”

Look, as far as the Prime Ministers go, I’m sure they were all cracking legislators, statesmen and the like, but the blanket impression left on that aforementioned tourist by their collective currency domination is roughly, ‘Wow, Canada’s elected the same man over and over again’ – Macdonald genuinely looks like Laurier’s dad. Therefore, I propose an overhaul. If you want to know about Canadian PMs, go on Wikipedia. Let’s save the money for the biggest national names, ones which, as a foreigner, I have chosen to glean from the totally reputable www.canadians.ca.

In terms of inventors, why not Haney & Abbott, the genii behind…trivial pursuit, or Gideon Sundback who masterminded…the zipper? Wait, hang on, Alexander Graham Bell created the telephone – that’s pretty nifty – but he only emigrated from Scotland when he was…twenty three? Oh god. Let’s try something else: most popular Canadians. Who’s number one? Pamela Anderson. For fuck’s sake.

So, maybe these Prime Ministers aren’t so bad after all. This Robert Borden character, who graces the $100 bill, has a really fantastic moustache. No, no, we shall not settle. Here is my proposal, a new nationwide poll directed solely at finding the best faces, on the grounds of both aesthetic and achievement, for Canada’s money.

Though the whole thing will probably have to be rigged to stop some ironic Facebook campaign electing Justin Bieber or Don Cherry. See what I said, traumatic.

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

CULTURE - MONEY ISSUE 17

Left on the cutting room floor Considering arts funding, the CBC, and our “warrior nation” Meagan Potier The McGill Daily

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rts funding has always been a hot button issue for Canadian politicians. As a country that prides itself on the strength of its culture, it should not come as a surprise that many Canadians were in an uproar at Stephen Harper’s proposed cuts to the arts budget during his 2006 election campaign. In fact, some feel that it was so divisive of an issue that it cost him the Conservative majority. There might be some truth to this, but it’s difficult to know whether this is because Canucks are truly lovers of the arts, or simply because the Liberal party continues to use arts funding (or lack thereof) as a way to grab votes. Which leaves us with the question: are Liberals the true crusaders for the arts? They certainly have presented themselves that way.

The Liberal party may have only dedicated one page to the arts in their hundred page plan in the last election, but they pledged to double the Canadian Council of Arts budget.

In December of 2011, Bob Rae (then acting president of the Liberal party) was so perturbed by the proposed funding cutbacks to CBC that he wrote a public letter and

started an online petition aptly titled “Hands off our CBC.” Rae argued that the CBC was ‘vital’ to Canadian culture and way of life, and accused the Conservatives of trying to balance their deficit on the “back of the CBC.” Of course, the Liberals themselves did make sweeping cuts – about $400 million – to CBC in the 90’s, but people change, right?

To be fair, the Liberals aren’t the only ones using the arts to advance political agendas. In 2006 when Harper proposed budget cuts to arts funding, he reasoned that average Canadians didn’t really care much about the arts and so the money was better used elsewhere. In July 2011, Heritage Minister James Moore announced the Canadian government’s intention to focus on the arts in areas outside of direct funding, through the intensification of copyright law and intellectual property protection (the budget outlined by Canadian Council of Arts offers more details), although it is unclear whether or not Moore intends to use this as a justification for budget cutting in the future. This being said, Moore has stated that Canada’s arts fund-

ing for certain programs will be dwindling in 2012, but has not been clear as to which programs this will affect. Moore suggests that those artists who try to match public and private funding are those most likely to weather the storm.

As for the CBC, the Tories recently announced their intentions to move forward with previously announced funding cuts. Exactly how much they’re expected to cut is unclear. They will be expected to draw up proposals for the five to ten per cent budget cuts that all departments are being asked to make, though Bob Rae does insinuate that these cuts might be up to $110 million. Moore explains the conservative government’s plan for CBC is to “down-size and decentralize” and focus less on large city centres such as Montreal and Toronto, and more on smaller regions. In December of 2011 CBC themselves reported that Moore supported CBC’s 2015 goals to digitize, localize, and grow stronger in said smaller regions, and that their budget would allow them to achieve these goals with or without the additional $60 million

they were supposedly promised to receive each year for ten years. Moore also explaind that what he is trying to do is cut budgets to the Canadian art department by cutting down on bureaucracy, leaving more money for the artists themselves.

Recently, Harper has approved some pretty hefty arts expenditures – also in the name of the everyday Canadian, or rather, the everyday Canadian mindset. As part of the 2012 arts pre-budget, heritage minister Moore has allocated 28 million for the bicentennial celebration of the war of 1812, a war that took place between American and British forces. According to Moore, this is part of his plan to focus on Canadian history, an issue he feels is closer to the hearts of Canadians, and a subject too often dismissed in Canadian High school education. Harper, on the other hand, hopes that this celebration will help Canadians move towards seeing themselves as more of a “warrior nation.”

So it seems that Harper feels that, although the everyday Canadian probably doesn’t care too much about the arts, they do – or should – care about the war of 1812.

Amina Batyreva | The McGill Daily

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

CULTURE - MONEY ISSUE 18

Amina Batyreva | The McGill Daily

What’s The Word on books?

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Victoria Lessard looks into supporting local literary business

he course outlines have been passed out, the massive winter boots have been laced and buckled firmly to our feet, and we’ve all managed to go to the bookstore to purchase our texts at the exact same time, despite the extended hours. The winter semester has begun. Lists of textbooks, course packs, novels, and clickers are likely dancing before your eyes as your wallet cowers in fear.

If you experience heart palpitations when the total for your books rings up, and you realize ramen noodles are going to be your staple for a little while, then the question of where to purchase your textbooks becomes a little more complicated.

When searching for textbooks at better prices, oftentimes the first thought is hop online to Amazon – usually, the price is lower than that found in a bookstore. However, the monolith of Amazon is beginning to take its toll on bookstores – especially independent ones. These stores suffer financially when corporations like Amazon undercut them in prices. As students who regularly make large purchases of books, it’s crucial for us to make informed decisions regarding whose business we choose to support. However, with tight student budgets, what seems to be a simple solution becomes a dilemma. How do we make a decision between supporting a cultural institution like a local bookstore, and making smart financial decisions? Is it possible to do both?

As a generation remarkably adept with technology, it can be easy to get caught up in the sweep of Ipads, e-readers, and online shopping.

However, it’s crucial to recognize the importance of the independent bookstore – especially in a city as culturally rich as Montreal. It is precisely places such as The Word bookstore on Milton, between Durocher and Aylmer, that make Montreal such an interesting place, with so many captivating pages. The Word was opened in 1973 by Adrian and Luci King-Edwards, both of them former students in the English depart-

ment at McGill. The store was originally in the couple’s living room, until the store next door became available in 1975, and the bookstore was moved there. The Word has been in the space ever since, offering an intimate space for book lovers to browse in peace, and have indepth conversations with the staff – all of them knowledgeable and unique characters. It is precisely this human connection which makes the store so important to the community. For The Word, the importance is not the bottom line, but rather the experience of helping customers find what they need, introducing them to something new, or simply swapping stories.

For Amazon, the focus is slightly different. The company began in 1994 as an online bookstore, and has since grown by exponential proportions – the website now sells everything from books to pet water fountains, duct tape, and hockey sticks. You name it, they probably sell it – or will in the near future. Amazon is a distribution company, and is able to offer lower prices by cutting out the middleman – while bookstores have to negotiate with distributors, who negotiate with publishers. Amazon simply gets their product directly from publishers, reducing the markup considerably. While everyone enjoys getting a deal, Amazon’s fairly ruthless business tactics have received a lot of flack.

In one particularly ballsy move, customers were offered a discount on their next purchase if they went into bookstores and scanned the books they were going to purchase with a price-check app to see how much cheaper the book was on Amazon’s website. This kind of covert corporate espionage further marginalizes places such as The Word. Additionally, the increasing market for e-reading devices, where Amazon also holds a fairly strong customer base as sellers of both an e-reader and e-books, contributes to lower sales in bookstores. This affects both independent stores and chains alike, as the recent closing of Borders, an American chain bookstore, attests. While the independent bookstore is not

about the bottom line, they still had overhead costs to cover, and many cultural landmarks have trouble keeping their doors open when they struggle just to pay the rent. I asked a few students to discuss their opinions on the dilemma between supporting local bookstores and keeping to a student budget.

Madeline Larue, an English Literature and Philosophy student, pointed out that websites like Amazon and independent bookstores offer different strengths: “The nice thing about the independent bookstore around here is that they’re convenient. But it’s also really useful to buy all your books in one place like at the McGill bookstore. Though the buyback policy at The Word definwitely attracts more students, and it’s great that they offer used editions of textbooks.

In terms of novels, The Word is a lot cooler to browse around. That’s something the internet will never have. There are a lot of unique things you’ll find in an independent bookstore – especially one that has older books and isn’t just selling best sellers. They’re really distinctive that way, in terms of textbooks I don’t know if they’re really ever going to compete. I think they’re value lies elsewhere.”

Vera Qi-Lin, a Management student, feels that for buying textbooks, using an independent bookstore is not realistic: “Especially when it comes to Management textbooks, it’s not even really feasible to go to an independent bookstore. You would never read these books for pleasure. This is only for school; people will never use these books again.

You’re not likely to find Option Financing at an independent bookstore.”

Amanda Mostaghimi, also a Management student, agrees: “I feel as though it is important to support independent bookstores, but I definitely just buy the cheapest way I can – either through someone I know who’s taken the course, or the used ones at the bookstore, or even an online version.”

Laura Linden, an English Literature and

Theatre student, noted that many of her professors chose to actively support independent bookstores by ordering in the many novels or plays required in her classes at the Word, but that independent bookstores represented something different to her than searching for textbooks: “When I think of independent bookstores, I think of just going in without anything in mind and finding something for pleasure.”

Chris Hartman, a Management student, also felt that Amazon offered different qualities than smaller bookstores, suggesting ways that places like The Word could compete: “One of the ways independent book stores could do more to attract students is by creating more community around the bookstore. They could host a book club, or have certain days for student discounts and senior discounts, as well as having authors come and speak. That’s one thing that a lot of places could do, if they don’t already. It’s tough to draw people to an independent bookstore, especially if you can’t offer a price advantage. Perhaps they could attract students by using it as a way to form study groups, or reading groups, like if you could find everyone who bought the book from your course by agreeing to sign up on a contact list, for example.”

While Amazon continues its bid for world domination the independent bookstore won’t be disappearing anytime soon, if students have anything to say about the matter.

Textbooks on a budget are always a concern, and students, including yours truly, will always be on the lookout for the best deal. But one thing that can be agreed upon is that independent bookstores, such as The Word, will always offer something that a company like Amazon can’t – personality and cultural integrity. So the next time you’re feeling a little homesick, you’re looking for a good book, or you want to hear an interesting story – head down to The Word and ask Adrian about the store got started. You won’t be disappointed.

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

MONEY ISSUE 19 EDITORIAL

No, really. Tax the rich.

volume 101 number 26

editorial 3480 McTavish St., Rm. B-24 Montreal, QC H3A 1X9 phone 514.398.6784 fax 514.398.8318 mcgilldaily.com coordinating editor

Joan Moses

coordinating@mcgilldaily.com coordinating news editor

Henry Gass news editors

Queen Arsem-O’Malley Erin Hudson Jessica Lukawiecki features editor

Eric Andrew-Gee commentary&compendium! editors

Zachary Lewsen Olivia Messer culture editors

Christina Colizza Fabien Maltais-Bayda

science+technology editor

Jenny Lu

health&education editor

Peter Shyba sports editor

Andra Cernavskis photo editor

Victor Tangermann illustrations editor

Amina Batyreva production&design editors

Alyssa Favreau Rebecca Katzman

The spotlight may currently be on American economic crises, but financial inequality is also rampant here in Canada, where the top 100 wealthiest CEOs’ wages have increased by over 25 per cent in the last three years. The average of these top 100 CEOs’ salaries – approximately eight million dollars a year – is 189 times that of the average citizen.

It is unacceptable that our federal and provincial governments are cutting funds to education, social services, and non-governmental organizations while not taking advantage of other available sources of funding. Funding that could come from the multi-million dollar salaries of these corporate CEOs, whose companies pay an inadequate proportion of federal taxes.

Given that Canada has the lowest corporate tax rates in the G8, it’s clear that the federal government needs to look to raising taxes on corporations before it cuts essential social programs.

Some recent funding cuts include those to the Women’s Innovative Justice Initiative and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, organizations that are imperative to fighting oppression in our society. Canada needs to take a new direction in limiting these vast inequalities through a fairer tax system – one that redirects these financial resources towards projects that combat marginalization and oppression.

Many argue that increases in corporate tax rates decrease a nation’s quality of life by limiting profits and creating economic stagnation. This argument is short sighted.

Sweden, for example, has a progressive taxation system, which allows them to provide free universal daycare and university tuition while having the thirteenth highest GDP per capita in 2011, according to the IMF – Canada has the fourteenth. These kinds of services are not only ethical in the way they create more equal and inclusive communities. They are economically feasible in the way they provide employment. Revenues from progressive taxes can and should be redirected towards social services and the workforce. Furthermore, those who have made huge profits off the back of Canada’s infrastructure and education need to pay for the services they use and support others who are less fortunate.

Currently, the distribution of economic resources in Canada is unjust. It is absurd that some earn multi-million dollar salaries and others are becoming increasingly marginalized by cuts to valuable government programs. Canada has to increase corporate tax rates.

copy editor

Vacant

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Shannon Palus

le délit

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Amina Batyreva Contributors Christiana Collison, Hera Chan, Laurent Bastien Corbeil, Alex Dawson, Evan Dent, Noteh Krauss, Victoria Lessard, Michael Lee-Murphy, Tamkinat Mirza, David Ou, Meagan Potier, Vanessa Pagé, Murtaza Shambhoora, Angus Sharpe, Colleen Stanton, Andreanne Stewart, Annie Shiel, Lucile Smith, Anqi Zhang,

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ISSN 1192-4608.

Errata The illustration accompanying the article “Mockery of the memes” (January 19, Page 12, Culture) was credited to Amina Batyreva. In fact, the illustration was done by Houda Chergui.

The Daily regrets the error.

The McGill Daily | Monday, January 23, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

COMPENDIUM! Money Issue

I know this great little place in Montreal. Have you heard of it?

I know this great little place….

There’s this recently-gentrified chic neighborhood, and it’s only a couple blocks away! They haven’t quite decided on the name for it yet, but its preliminary spelling is the “Platoh,” (pronounced plootoo). Ever heard of smoked meat? Me neither, until I tried the Shvarts’ smoked meat sandwiches last week, and I can say, it’s some of the best chicken I’ve had in a while.

Navigating around the “Platoh” is made super easy; I had no trouble navigating the generously wide roads with my SUV to get from place to place. Or if you feel like roaming the streets on your segway, every Sunday, they even have an event called MATS MATS! Where everyone goes around beating their carpets clean.

After MATS MATS, head on over to “Nah!” where they serve melted ice cream, unfortunately without the toppings. Take your melted ice cream over to Parc Saint Pouis, to dump your dog shit, or talk to the ominous folks, who might offer you some candy for the road.

Your SUV broke down? No problem.

The Platoh car collective will take

2012

Letter of the week!

care of any car troubles, whether you drive a single shift or a mountain car I know this great little bookstore…

The McGill Daily

G

Precipitation horospopce

Located on the quaint corner of Sherbrooke and McTavish, this independent co-op, run by environmentalists, offers an alternative space where you could just spend hours browsing their trigonometry course packs.

The Paraphrase – anything to offer from thrift lab coats to astronomy binoculars. Unlike the Vowel, its anti-corporate mandate vows to only sell history books from the near future.

.. sorta icy, but not really snow, but I dno, you can’t really call it slush either

Top 3! Windings 1.Q

If you would like to sell your used books, throw them in the slot on the side of the building, and if you are lucky, a little light will start blinking.

2.T

3. G

MYSTERY QR CODE!

Make sure to bring your American Express, for they would look at you funny if you pulled out a dollar bill.

Also, no returns. The Vowel is adamant that once a book is with its owner, it must stay with them until death do them part.

-– Compiled by Bikuta Tanaman and

Bikuta Tangerman | The McGill Daily

Out of Context

ACROSSALYPSE NOW The Crossword Fairies

.. is

bell snooks

Across

1. Hen’s noise 6. The ex__tion proves the rule 9. Dis 13. Composer Copland 14. Do damage to 16. Cork’s country 17. Hairy Pierre?

18. ___ Minor 19. Swerve 20. Cliff face 22. Biology lab supply 23. Chop (off) 24. With few words 26. Discipline?

31. To this day 32. Atop 33. Ukraine’s capital 35. Stoli, Absolut, or Ketel One 39. 18-wheeler 40. Acquiesce 42. Fresh-mouthed 43. Dick ___ 45. Black Swan protagonist 46. Hodgepodge 47. It may be tapped 49. Doctrine of salvation by adherence to discipline 51. Enlivens 55. Cabernet, e.g.

56. “___ Brockovich” 57. New moon to new moon 63. “___ and the King” 64. King crustacean 65. Accustom 66. RNA-Induced Silencing Complex

67. Get better 68. Extend, in a way 69. Soup ingredient 70. Toronto-Montreal direction 71. City near Düsseldorf

Down

1. Supergarb 2. Neighbor of Cambodia 3. Acid that forms kidney stones 4. Pepsi, e.g.

5. Diamond patterns cut into metal 6. Urbana-___, Illinois 7. “__ my troubles, that’s what you do” 8. Word processing command 9. Second-largest Ukrainian port 10. Birthplace of Charlemagne 11. “He’s ___ nowhere man” 12. Eat, drink, and be ___ 15. Pirate’s pal 21. Dots or dance 25. Gun, as an engine 26. Failure or figure 27. Copycat 28. Unwakable state 29. Small household ornament 30. Danger 34. The ___ Bede 36. Pastrami purveyor 37. Santa’s first name

38. Bohr’s study 41. Like a beaver 44. 70’s art/progressive/symphonic band 48. Big gully 50. Look up to 51. Girl with a __ Earring 52. “Sesame Street” Muppet 53. Dentist’s direction 54. Thick soup 58. Indian bread 59. Aces, sometimes 60. Women in habits 61. Branch headquarters?

62. Cut from wood or stone

NEW!

YOU GET THE ANSWERS RIGHT AWAY!

OMFG!