Vol 102 Issue 01 by McGill Daily

Volume 102, Issue 1

August 30, 2012 mcgilldaily.com

McGill THE

DAILY Dazed and Confused since 1911

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

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Approximately 1,600 students remain on strike at Université de Montréal.

Photo Hera Chan | The McGill Daily

Tensions flare at UdeM Strike continues though numbers dwindle Laurent Bastien Corbeil The McGill Daily

he student strike once again became the center of attention on Tuesday as police confronted students at the Université de Montréal (UdeM). The clash triggered renewed tensions between the government and students as more CEGEPs and universities voted to end their strikes. According to the Fédération des Associations Étudiantes du Campus de l’Université de Montréal (FAÉCUM), the police department deployed 20 patrol vehicles, several public transportation buses, and anti-riot vehicles to deal with the roughly 50 students who were protesting inside the university. Mathieu Filion, a spokesperson for the university, told La

Presse that the decision to call police had been “a difficult one.” “We had to do it to ensure the safety of our students,” he said in French. “It’s difficult to tell whether or not the intervention has brought calm back to the university, but what we want is to see the students back in class.” After riot police entered the campus, the executive committee of FAÉCUM worked with the university administration to reach a compromise. The university then suspended classes that are subject to the strike until provincial elections take place. FAÉCUM General Secretary Mireille Mercier-Roy said that there had been threats of cancelling the entire semester. “We’re asking the administration to suspend classes until after the General Assemblies are concluded before acting,” she told

The Daily in French. Police told The Daily that 11 people were arrested on Tuesday for assault against police officers and security guards. The general assemblies for striking departments at UdeM are scheduled for the fifth and sixth of September. Approximately 1,628 student students in Art History, Anthropology, Film Studies, East Asian Studies, and Comparative Literature are still on strike. UQAM At l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), students within the Association facultaire étudiante des sciences humaines (AFESH) voted on Wednesday during a special General Assembly to end the strike. According to the AFESH website, 51.9 per cent of those in attendance – nearly half of the association’s members – voted against the

continuation of the strike. Students voted in favour of the strike last week, but a petition of around 70 individuals led to another General Assembly. Around 4,552 students in three different student associations remain on strike at UQAM. Administrators filed an official complaint earlier this week to the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) after striking students disrupted classes. The SPVM confirmed with The Daily that an investigation was underway. A member of the executive committee of AFESH told The Daily that the university should act in an “intelligent manner” and “recognize the right to strike.” “UQAM should take position and come out against the tuition hikes. If UQAM calls the police, the social chaos will be worse than at UdeM,” he said referring to the events of Tuesday

at the Université de Montréal. McGill According to SSMU VP External Robin Reid-Fraser, some departments at McGill are still “technically” on strike. Reid-Fraser explained that the Gender, Sexual Diversity, and Feminist Studies Student Association (GSDFSSA) is still on strike because “in the last couple of weeks of classes, they weren’t able to meet quorum in the General Assemblies and weren’t able to come to a decision as to what to do over the summer.” However, with McGill’s largest undergraduate student associations – such as Arts and Science – excluded from the student strike, the University has thus far remained relatively unaffected. —with files from Juan Camilo Velásquez and Nicolas Quiazua

University avoids overbooking with new residence Most expensive residence to date opens its doors Lola Duffort The McGill Daily

or the fourth time in eight years, McGill has opened the doors to a new residence for incoming first years. The introduction of La Citadelle, formerly a Courtyard Marriott Hotel that will accommodate 286 new students,

has allowed McGill to avoid the problem of residence overflow, which has plagued incoming students in years past. McGill has seen a roughly 12 per cent increase in undergraduate enrolment since 2006. Last year, 74 students and two floor fellows lived on two floors of the Quality Hotel at Parc and Sherbrooke when numbers of

incoming first-years exceeded the capacity of the campus housing system. In 2008, an estimated 100 students were sent to 515 Ste. Catherine, a privately-administered apartment building. Executive Director of Residences and Student Housing Michael Porritt told The Daily in an email that not having overflow is “not necessarily a good thing – I’d rath-

er be slightly overbooked because some students, for a variety of reasons, do not show up. In past years, we were too overbooked, hence the need for new residence spaces.” Some student residents have complained about ongoing construction, which Porritt said is wrapping up with “some finishing touches to go.” Rent at La Citadelle will be

McGill’s most expensive: a double room will cost students $1,059 per month, and a single room will cost $1,194.25 per month. With the residence also comes the launch of the Food LivingLearning Community (FLLC), a group of first-year students who come together to get involved with food politics, cooking, and other food-related activities.

The McGill Daily | Thursday, August 30, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

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CONTRIBUTE TO ILLUSTRATIONS illustrations@mcgilldaily.com

SSMU to pay for Shatner’s utilities costs Lease negotiations still underway Juan Camilo Velásquez The McGill Daily

he financial situation of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) has become more complicated after the McGill administration announced that they would stop paying the entirety of the utility charges for the Shatner building. After two years of negotiations and two terms of SSMU executives, McGill and SSMU have not yet reached an agreement on the lease for the Shatner building. The students’ society has been the building’s tenant for the last 47 years, but negotiations concerning the lease’s renewal have stalled since it expired a year ago. During negotiations, the administration expressed that it will no longer continue to pay for one hundred per cent of the building’s utilities. Although SSMU would begin to pay for utilities according to a sliding scale, SSMU President Josh Redel emphasized that this was a “huge, huge hit to [SSMU’s] budget.” “Frankly, what it means is that we’ll have to increase our student fees,” he said. Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Morton Mendelson commented on the administration’s decision in an email to The Daily, stating that “the utility charges of hundreds of thousands of dollars is an amount the University can no longer afford to subsidize.” “SSMU executives understood this and have been willing to take on their share of the costs with the understanding that this will help promote energy conservation,”

said Mendelson. SSMU will start sharing the cost of utilities this financial year, although an agreement has not yet been reached as to the percentage amount each party will pay. Utility charges for the building amounted to roughly half a million dollars last year. The executive committee does not yet know by how much student fees will have to increase, and any fee increase would have to be approved by the student body in a referendum. According to Redel, such a referendum may take place in the winter semester, after SSMU can conduct research and determine final costs once the lease is signed. He also stated that SSMU is looking into other “creative solutions” to the problem but could not yet disclose what these might entail. McGill and past SSMU executives reached an agreement on the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) in November 2011. However, the lease was not among the terms of the agreement. Mendelson said that the lack of agreement on a lease came as a surprise to the University, although he is “optimistic that we will conclude a new lease with the current SSMU leadership in a short time.” Redel also told The Daily that the student union used to pay one dollar for rent as a symbolic agreement between the student society and the University. One dollar “symbolic leases” are common to universities across Canada. SSMU paid $127,000 in rent to McGill last year, a number which is expected to increase this year.

Gerts to reopen after renovations Juan Camilo Velásquez The McGill Daily

erts, the SSMU-run campus bar, was under renovation this summer in order to update the physical bar space and introduce food services as well as a new selection of beers. The food services will be entirely run by SSMU staff, with a student staff member acting as food services manager. “We’re going to have full lunch

menu specials on different days and wait staff so you can sit at a table and get served food,” said SSMU President Josh Redel. The funding for the project came from SSMU’s working budget and its capital expenditure reserve fund. The building’s second floor will also have new concessions tenants this year, following the departure of the MTY group and its franchises. The new tenants are Lola Rosa Xpress, Bocadillo, and Bamboo Bowl.

NEWS

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Photo

Photo Hera Chan | The McGill Daily

Students participate in Street Fest, an Orientation Week event.

University groups present reformed Frosh New orientation includes à la carte events and revamped leader training Annie Shiel The McGill Daily

ince late September 2011, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), faculty student associations, the First-Year Office, and Student Services have been planning a reformed version of the University’s annual orientation week for new students, commonly known as Frosh week. According to SSMU President Josh Redel, reforms were ultimately aimed at “changing the culture of Frosh as a whole to make it less of a binge-drinking festival and more of a welcome week, and truly an orientation week.” Seeking to improve the orientation week, working groups looked at students’ past experiences during Frosh week in order to learn from past mistakes – asking, for example, whether it was “just turning into Frosh leaders making a party for themselves and having froshies alongside,”

Redel explained. Insufficient programming for students not yet old enough to drink was another one of the major issues identified in last year’s orientation week, according to AUS VP Events Josh Greenberg. To correct this, several working groups redesigned Frosh programming over the course of the summer to ensure that a non-drinking event would be available every night of the week. “This year we identified early on that there were two key values we wanted to emphasize: inclusivity and building community,” said Greenberg. “I genuinely think we have done so much more for the under-eighteen -year-olds than ever before.”

Improved leader training Redel said that SSMU has been working closely with faculties to provide better leader training. According to Greenberg, feedback from last year’s orientation week reported that leader training

– given mainly by student facilitators on subjects such as first aid and sexual assault – “apparently wasn’t very effective.” As a result, this year’s leader training was broken down into big group sessions with content experts – such as McGill’s Social Equity and Diversity Committee (SEDE), which ran a session on inclusivity – as well as smaller group sessions for situational role-playing on conflict resolution and safe space, run by student facilitators. SSMU has also been meeting with members of the Milton-Parc community hoping to curb the “bad PR,” according to Redel, created by Frosh in the neighbourhoods surrounding campus. This year, “street teams” of community members and students will go out during the week’s big party nights to provide food and water, remind students to keep quiet in the neighborhood, and make sure they get home safely.

Coordination between groups This year also marks the first time that the different groups involved in planning Frosh have come together to create programming, a marked change from previous years, when, as Redel explained, there was “almost no communication” between organizers. “We used to operate in independent silos and never really communicated with each other,” he said. “Now we have almost every unit at McGill and SSMU and the different faculty associations involved in orientation week working together at the same table.”

À la carte events After students’ move-in to residences over the weekend, orientation events began with “Rez Fest” on Monday, followed by a SSMU-hosted concert on Tuesday, and a series of university-run events on Wednesday to introduce students to McGill and

its services. Beginning Thursday, the traditional faculty froshes are joined by a burgeoning number of non-faculty options, including Outdoors Frosh, Rad Frosh, Fish Frosh, Muslim Students Association Frosh, and the new Gefilte Frosh. In addition, the week features a number of à la carte events, which students can register for individually. According to the orientation week website, these include over 100 events, run by over 70 different McGill services and clubs. Events include a nutritious cooking workshop hosted by Fit@McGill, a bike tour of Montreal’s green spaces hosted by the Outdoors Club, and a sex workshop by the Shag Shop and McGill Health, among others. As Redel explained, the new events “provide a really awesome opportunity for new students to get involved in something more than street fest, where it’s just a five-minute interaction.”

NEWS

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The Daily’s guide to the provincial election’s main contenders ILLUSTRATIONS BY AMINA BATYREVA

Coalition Avenir Québec

Parti Libéral du Québec

The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) is the most conservative political party in the National Assembly. Mainly centered around François Legault, a former member of the Parti Québecois, CAQ was formed in 2011. The party later merged with the Action Democratique du Québec, a slightly older political party that was generally seen as centre-right. CAQ sees the Quebec government as inefficient, bloated, and highly indebted. Its main campaign promise is to increase efficiency in the public sector by slashing thousands of government jobs, fighting corruption, and cutting wasteful spending. It plans to simultaneously reduce taxes on businesses and most individuals while reducing the debt. On the student strike, CAQ believes that the Liberal government of Jean Charest has proven to be incapable of solving the crisis. Legault has said that he would implement a hike, albeit a slightly lower one than that proposed by the current government. The party remains ambivalent to its separatist roots, claiming to be neither for nor against the independence of Quebec, and says that the province should solve its economic problems before considering separatism. However, it still portrays itself as a nationalist party that will continue to defend Quebec’s language bills. —Laurent Bastien Corbeil

The Quebec Liberal Party’s (PLQ) 2003 defeat of the incumbent Parti Québécois (PQ) signaled a marked change in Quebec policy priority. The PLQ, self-described as “the party of the economy”, has consistently sought to raise revenue in order to address Quebec’s massive debt, which currently stands at $183.8 billion, or 55 per cent of GDP. While these initiatives have remained the party’s proudest talking points, they have also catalyzed massive social unrest in the province, earning Jean Charest the lowest approval rating of any Canadian premier. The Charest administration’s proposal to raise university tuition by 75 per cent in seven years has sparked some of largest protest marches in North American history. In an attempt to quell protests, the administration passed emergency legislation. Bill 78 has been publicly denounced by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the head of the Quebec Bar Association, among others. The administration’s project to develop northern Quebec would, according to the Liberal government’s calculations, eventually bring in $14 billion for the province and create 20,000 new jobs a year. The plan has been heavily criticized on environmental grounds, however, and has been accused of neglecting to properly tax the foreign companies involved in the project. Charest is one of the longest-serving Quebec premiers in recent history. —Lola Duffort

Fringe parties The four parties profiled to the left are not the only ones duking it out: here are the other thirteen officially registered provincial parties running candidates in this election.

Parti unité nationale 12 candidates

Formerly the Parti democratie chrétienne du Québec, this party was founded in 2000 by radical social conservative Gilles Noël with fellow Centre d’information nationale Robert Rumilly members. How radically conservative? One of the information centre’s members, Robert Dufour, argued in front of the Quebec National Assembly in 2002 that legalizing homosexual adoption would make adopted children more vulnerable to molestation.

Parti marxiste-léniniste du Québec 25 candidates

Parti Québécois

Québec Solidaire

The Parti Québécois (PQ) was born in 1968 with the merger of René Lévesque’s Mouvement souverainetéassociation (MSA) and the Ralliement national (RN). The PQ’s primary goal was Quebec sovereignty. Pauline Marois became leader of the PQ in 2007. While the PQ allegedly remains dedicated to sovereignty, Marois has been unable to provide a precise timetable or course of action regarding a potential referendum, and a recent poll has reported that only one in five Quebecers believe that a PQ government would mean sovereignty. Regarding the student conflict, the party has promised to restore the tuition freeze until the end of 2012 and hold a summit on the matter. The PQ recruited former Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec president Léo Bureau-Blouin, and has vowed to repeal the controversial Bill 78. Economically, the PQ intends to reach a zero deficit by raising taxes on the rich and halving exemptions on capital gains, using the resulting revenue to reduce debt. According to the Montreal Gazette, Marois has claimed that she would continue with the current Liberal government’s Plan Nord project to develop the resources sector in northern Quebec, but would establish a minimum royalty of five per cent, pointing out that minerals are a non-renewable resource. —Annie Shiel

By far the most progressive political party in the National Assembly, Québec Solidaire (QS) is a separatist party that first came into the media spotlight after Amir Khadir was elected in the Mercier riding during the 2008 elections. Since then, QS has advocated for free education, a reduction in the size of the private sector in healthcare, and stronger social programs. The party is unique in the sense that its leadership is shared by two spokespersons, Amir Khadir and Françoise David. In the 2012 elections, QS has promised to raise pension benefits for retirees in Quebec, increase taxes on the extraction of mineral resources, and invest significantly in public transport. During the student strike, the party aligned itself strongly with the student movement. QS candidates could often be seen wearing the symbolic red square in opposition to the tuition hikes. Regarding the environment, QS has promised to launch “Le Plan Vert” – a reference to the Liberal Party’s Plan Nord – to stimulate the economy and reduce Quebec’s carbon footprint. Under the program, more than $400 million would be invested in public transport. The party is quick to differentiate itself from the Parti Québecois – Quebec’s most popular separatist party – often portraying itself as more friendly toward immigrants and more accommodating of languages other than French. —Laurent Bastien Corbeil

This communist party has run candidates in Quebec sporadically since the 1970s under several names – this particular incarnation was officially registered in 1989.

Parti de la classe moyenne du Québec 7 candidates

Founded in July, this provincial party aims to empower the middle class by – most notably – limiting political donations to $100 per donor (the cap currently stands at $1000), increasing the minimum wage and putting a tenyear moratorium on all public administration bonuses in order to better finance postsecondary education. (continued on page 7)

Who has the endorsement of McGill’s head honchos? According to Elections Quebec, at least $35,300 was donated to the PLQ by members of the current Board of Governors of McGill University. $5,935 was donated to the same party by members of the senior administration.

35,300 +5,935 41,235

BOARD OF GOVERNORS SENIOR ADMINISTRATION

NEWS

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(continued from page 6)

Bloc pot

Équipe autonomiste

Parti nul

Founded in 1998, the Bloc pot’s political platform is primarily focused on the legalization of marijuana, although their website insists that their promotion of hemp derivatives as an alternative to fossil fuels, as well as their electoral reform advocacy, make them much more than a “single-issue party.”

This party was formed earlier this year by Action Démocratique Québec (ADQ) former riding association president Éric Barnabé in response to the ADQ’s merger with Francois Legault’s CAQ, which many former ADQ supporters and leaders reportedly found to not be right-wing enough.

Formed in 2009, this party subscribes to no ideology, and their platform consists entirely of giving voters a way to voice their dissatisfaction. Their website states in French that voting for Parti Nul is better than simply not voting or destroying one’s ballot since “no media attention is granted to destroyed votes.”

Coalition pour la constituante

Option nationale

Parti vert du Québec

Formed in June 2012 on the heels of the student strike and worldwide social justice movements, this party’s name means “coalition for the constituency,” and they seek to give voters an avenue by which to voice their dissatisfaction with the current political establishment. Elected candidates would be mandated to create a constituent assembly charged with writing a new constitution for Quebec with redefined political institutions.

Founded in 2011 by former Parti Québécois (PQ) MNA Jean-Martin Aussant, the ON’s first mandate would be to declare Quebec independent before a referendum. Although currently polling at about two per cent, the party has recently received former PQ premier Jacques Parizeau’s endorsement, which could split the leftist sovereignty vote currently carried by Pauline Marois’ PQ.

2 candidates

17 candidates

120 candidates

10 candidates

7 candidates

Québec - Révolution Parti conservateur du démocratique Québec 1 candidate

27 candidates

This party has no website, but it does have a Facebook page with 448 friends, and refuses to publish its platform until a sufficient number of militants are recruited. According to Elections Quebec, they were registered in May of 2011, and had $1,192 in net assets in 2011.

Over 100 years ago, the conservative party commanded nearly fifty per cent of the vote in Quebec. The party hasn’t held a seat in the national assembly since 1935, when it was replaced by the autonomist Union Nationale party, which held power sporadically from the 1930s to the 1960s. Its leader, Luc Harvey, reregistered the party in 2009.

Parti indépendantiste

Union citoyenne Québec

10 candidates

29 candidates

20 candidates

According to a rabble.ca interview with party leader Claude Sabourin, the Greens’ three main priorities are the environment, education, and health. Despite their anti-tuition-hike stance, they accidentally ran a pro-hike candidate in Outremont; admitting to the gaffe, Sabourin told rabble.ca that “Obviously we should have researched her better, done a Google search on her name, and we didn’t do that.” She was taken off the ballot.

This party, led by long-time sovereigntist Michel Lepage, promises to separate the province from the rest of Canada as soon as it assumes power. It courted Jean-Martin Aussant in 2011, who instead decided to form his own party. Lepage has said that immigration and multiculturalism threaten Quebec identity. Aussant, on the other hand, is pro-immigration and has explicitly reached out to Anglo voters.

This party has been billed as the provincial version of the NDP – several of its members hail from the ranks of the national NDP, and it shares a platform similarly centered on environmental controls, a reformed health system, proimmigrant policies, and a diversified economy. It has no official ties to the federal NDP, however, and very few funds, according to their spokesperson Maxine Guérin. —compiled by Lola Duffort

MONDAY. TUESDAY. WEDNESDAY. Start the week with 10% off your grocery bill when you buy $50 or more.* Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays only upon presentation of your student card.

OUR SUPERMARKETS ARE IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD:

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commentary

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Elections are not a solution Out of the voting booths, into the streets Kevin Paul Hyde Park

n mid-summer, almost four months after the Quebec student strike of 2012 had entered uncharted territory as the longest in the province’s history, Premier Jean Charest played his final card. With CEGEP students prepared to renew strike mandates despite threats of a lost semester, and the Special Law lying in shreds under the feet of a hundred thousand illegal demonstrators, Charest called a provincial election, over a year before his term was set to expire. On September 4, Quebec residents will enter voting booths. The election has had a profound effect on the strike movement. The unlimited strike has been stopped or suspended in every CEGEP, with a high enough number of CEGEP students (newly eligible voters) having placed their hopes in the election. Beyond the ambient calls from the state, family, mainstream media, and ‘leaders’ in the student federations for students to get off the streets and ‘go vote,’ the mid-August general assemblies took place under tremendous coercion: administrators threatened not only the cancellation of the semester, but also to fail students in all winter courses. Added to these factors was the threat of violent police intervention to break picket lines, and the prospect of their associations being fined out of existence under provisions of Law 12. (Meanwhile, at McGill, the SSMU celebrates the re-opening of a campus bar refurbished with over half a million dollars of students’ money). While the student strike is far from dead – numerous university associations are voting against a return to class – the election call indisputably took a toll. For the first time, students’ rapport de force (power relation) against the state was significantly compromised. However, polls indicate that the Liberal Party will fail to win a fourth mandate. Will Charest’s wager ultimately fail? Alas, once he retreats to the relative quiet of private soirées with the Desmarais family and a few multinational corporate directorships, the rest of the ruling class may look upon him as a true and lasting victor, for he effectively persuaded students engaged in an anti-systemic struggle to shuffle into polling stations, line up to dispassionately cast their ballots, gather in front of television screens in election-night appre-

hension, and ultimately respect the ‘people’s verdict.’ If this collective self-immolation comes to pass, Charest’s triumph will far outlive his successor’s term in office, because with the streets cleansed of the most threatening social movement North America has seen in a generation, the managerial classes will enjoy renewed peace, their mechanisms of control reaffirmed, rid of the multiplying challenges, both ideological and material, which the strike has posed to the ongoing expansion of the logic of capital into all sectors of life. Our only option is to defy this prescribed electoral death. First, if the September 4 election indeed leads to major concessions on student demands by the newly elected party, it is the rapport de force that we have created with the state, and not our engagement in the electoral process, that will be responsible for our gains. The Parti Québecois (PQ), which leads in the polls, has promised a temporary tuition freeze, but not out of any genuine commitment to accessible education: in 1996, then-Education Minister, now-PQ leader, Pauline Marois presided over an attempt to raise fees by 30 per cent (a strike put an end to the plan). It was the crisis generated this past spring, not the lobbying of political parties or scripted appeals to the electorate, that made it politically opportune for the PQ to oppose the Liberals’ plan to raise tuition at all costs. It was massive student mobilization that ultimately forced the election call and made the tuition hike an election issue. And it was sustained economic disruption that triggered the more visibly repressive measures that have cost Charest support from the segment of his base that favors a veneer of social peace above the machinations of accelerating neoliberal exploitation. Finally, it will be continued mobilization, through strikes, mass demonstrations, and economic disruption, that will force a PQ government to keep its promises. We can do away now with the pretension that the student strike is only about a tuition hike or accessibility to education. Regardless of how many grèvistes remain ready to return to the classroom once the National Assembly enacts a tuition freeze, an anti-systemic current has underlain the strike from the beginning. With many strike mandates requiring the abolition of the 75 per cent hike as well as the reversal of a smaller 2007 increase, we sought to overturn

the decisions of a democratically elected and re-elected government, decisions aligned with the Liberal Party’s stated agenda and enacted legally. Even in its limited demands, the movement implicitly challenged the legitimacy of a government, and thereby the legitimacy of the process that granted it power. The strike was also always a vehicle for contesting an economic system in its entirety. Free education, our ultimate demand, would be unsustainable under capitalism in its present stage, where in order to survive it must constantly seek out new markets, invent new kinds of production and consumption, and continually extend the rule of capital into territory once regulated by the welfare state. In this context, the solution we await from an elected government within the existent system can only be insufficient – not inadequate in scale, but of the wrong order. Elections are not a solution because they cannot give us anything worth fighting for. Insofar as we participate in liberal representative democracy, we offer ourselves up to recuperation by the forms we need to abolish, and we accept surrender in a struggle against capital and its managers, and against alienated activity, that has barely begun. For the social movement that has erupted around the student strike, placing our hopes in the voting booth would represent the ultimate abdication. We can repeat the fact that no party with a chance of winning would fully meet students’ demands. That those who would be most affected by the tuition hike are under the age of 18, and as such, cannot vote. That Charest has instrumentalized the electoral process to suppress a social movement. But much more elementally, the search for an electoral solution is a betrayal of the grève générale illimitée, because the last six months have shown more than anything that real political contestation takes place in the streets, where relationships of undelegated power are truly at play. The streets are precisely the space that this election – any election – seeks to close off to politics. In the spring, the streets were radically open: to moments marked by the freedom to find new ways of relating, to passionate activity, to the sensation of breaking away. Behind the curtains of voting booths, we don’t yet know what it is that we will lose. A movement founded on direct

Illustration Jacqueline Brandon | The McGill Daily

democracy, where people linked by shared conditions chose to come together to make decisions about the next day, the next week, decisions that they themselves would apply, must not succumb to the liberal order it has always challenged, in which once every five years we have the right to express our opinion about which politician should be handed power over our lives. A right that we are fervently exhorted to exercise, as though in a series of diversions from the exact terms of a contract, in which we renounce our freedom to engage in anything other than peaceful displays of dissent should we become dissatisfied with the government. The prevailing logic of representation is carefully crafted to exclude activity

other than the playing of varied parts in a well-rehearsed spectacle. The strike has given life to something different, something dangerous yet fragile which surpasses the fleeting experiences of the streets. An election – its plain question, its clear choices – promises nothing if not an answer, a solution, an end. No promise could so starkly reveal the need for refusal and for resistance. There are too many questions unasked, too much brutality unanswered, and too many battles yet to begin.

Kevin Paul is a first-year Law student. He can be reached at kevin. paul@mail.mcgill.ca.

commentary

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No news is good news Breaking down the myth of objectivity Joan Moses The McGill Daily

t was widely reported that, on August 22, many people marched on the streets of Montreal. Most media sources also agreed that these people were demonstrating against Quebec’s proposed tuition hikes, and part of a loosely defined “Quebec Student Movement.” Beyond that, though, media outlets’ reports did not seem to converge on many details of the march. For example, the Link, Concordia’s student newspaper, stated in an article entitled “The Last Day of Action” that “this protest was specifically focused on what Quebec’s new government should be,” while rabble. ca, an alternative news website, implied the marchers had a broader motivation, titling their article,

ous articles. A single reality of the march remains undiscovered by journalists in anglophone Quebec media (whose coverage of the Quebec student movement, it should be noted, has been notoriously bad). The differences between these accounts of the march illustrate a larger point about journalism. While journalists speak of attempting to attain a kind of ‘objectivity’ or ‘neutrality’ in their reporting (for example, news editors last year at The Daily refrained from wearing red squares in order to not appear biased), objective truth often isn’t attainable in reporting. Sometimes, it can be literally impossible to find. In the case of the march, for example, it wouldn’t be possible to speak to every protester in order to discover what their ‘real’ motivations are. Further, in the case of almost

“Tens of thousands march for social justice in Montreal.” And while the Montreal Gazette, in “Thousands of students and supporters stage peaceful demonstration,” drew focus to the fact that “numbers were far short of those seen last spring,” rabble.ca announced that this demo was yet another “monster, monthly [march].” Even reports of the number of people marching – a fact that would seem to be objective – varied widely. A counting firm hired by Radio-Canada reported that 12,250 people had protested; a journalist writing for rabble.ca said that it “exceeded 50,000.” La Coalition large de l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (CLASSE), a coalition that took part in organazing the march, said that 100,000 people attended. The facts of the march, then, remain unclear, despite numer-

every story, facts are contextualized by journalists in a subjective way. Journalists choose what background to flesh out a story with, what sources to quote, and where to put these quotes in the story. In short, they narrativize the facts they find, framing them to make sense of them and to explain them to the reader. Even the hardest of news stories contain a subjective, interpretive element. This subjective element is crucial to the practice of journalism, and it shouldn’t be glossed over. When journalists claim to be objective, they risk offering one interpretation of reality as the only interpretation, and thus erase the voices and experiences of those who weren’t included in the account. Further, a publication’s positionality and political leanings affect its interpretation: the mainstream Gazette covered the August

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22 march in a more negative light than the progressive and independent rabble.ca. Many alternative publications, including The Daily, recognize that journalism can’t be a neutral pursuit. This recognition needs to become more widespread. Journalists shouldn’t despair, but they should disclose their biases and understand that their social position affects how, what, and why they report. We need to give up the fallacy of objectivity and start practicing a journalism that recognizes the incompleteness of its own truths.

Joan Moses is a U3 Honours Political Science student, and a former Daily Coordinating and Design & Production Editor. She thinks most journalism is macho bullshit, but still harbours a secret love for All the President’s Men.

Reader’s advocate (RA) A twice-monthly column that weighs students’ concerns against the RA’s own assessment of The Daily’s performance. Possible tasks include reader surveys and interviews, thematic columns on events covered in the paper, critiques of how The Daily lives up to its principles, and judging of the relevance of the SoP and The Daily to the student body.

health&ed

The McGill Daily Thursday, August 30, 2012 mcgilldaily.com

Shutting it down Alternative explanations of female reproduction

Photo Associated Press

Graphic Peter Shyba | The McGill Daily

Warning: This article contains graphic and potentially upsetting subject matter and descriptions. It may be triggering. Peter Shyba The McGill Daily

serious gaffe by Republican Representative Todd Akin has raised questions about the extent of some Republican pro-life activists’ knowledge about human reproduction. On August 9, while being interviewed on Missouri’s KTVI-TV, an interviewer asked whether abortion should be acceptable in cases of rape. Akin responded: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.” Numerous Republican politicians have begun to distance themselves from Akin. Republican presi-

dential candidate Mitt Romney said Akin’s comments were “inexcusable, insulting, and frankly, wrong” and called for his withdrawal from the race. Even the indefatigable Ann Coulter called Akin a “selfish swine” and suggested a write-in campaign in Missouri to salvage Republican chances in the state. While Akin subsequently apologized for his comments, saying he “used the wrong words in the wrong way,” the fact remains that reproduction knowledge amongst some pro-lifers is obscured by scientific arguments that give no credence to fact. Akin’s fundamental argument appears to be that a woman’s body requires orgasm – or at least pleasure – for a pregnancy to be viable. If sex is coerced, and not pleasurable, pregnancy would be impossible and the female body would “shut down” the gestational pro-

cess. By way of lampooning Akin, some have argued that his beliefs were medically correct – as long as your point of medical reference lies with medieval medical theorists like Galen of Pergamon. Yet while many medieval Galenic doctors did hold that pregnancy required female pleasure and orgasm, they would be loath to agree wholly with Akin. Galenic doctors never argued that a woman’s body could “shut down” pregnancy after intercouse, and medieval courts never overturned a rape conviction when the victim became pregnant. Interestingly, Akin is not the first Republican politician to declare that in the case of rape, a woman’s body can spontaneously prevent a pregnancy, and he will likely not be the last. In 1980, Arkansas attorney John Leon Holmes published a letter concerning his pro-life

politics reading, “Concern for rape victims is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami.” In 2003, Holmes was nominated to the United States District Court by George Bush, where, during confirmation hearings, he apologized for the remarks, calling their rhetoric “strident and harsh.” In 1988, a Republican state representative from Pennsylvania, Stephen Freind, stated in a radio interview that the chances of pregnancy from rape were “one in millions and millions,” and that “[after being raped] a woman secretes a certain secretion, which has the tendency to kill sperm.” Freind apologized for the comments, saying they were “hyperbole,” but maintained that the pregnancy rate for female rape

survivors was lower than for those who engaged in consensual sex. Lastly, in 1995, Henry Aldridge, a Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives (and a dentist!) ignited controversy during a hearing as to whether or not to eliminate abortion funding for low-income women. Aldridge remarked that, “The facts show that people who are raped — who are truly raped — the juices don’t flow, the body functions don’t work and they don’t get pregnant. Medical authorities agree that this is a rarity, if ever.” So, while the Republican party of 2012 might be distancing itself from claims that rape cannot lead to pregnancy, it is clear that, at least to some pro-lifers, the science behind female reproduction is beholden to something other than scientific objectivity.

DISORIENTATION GUIDE

2012/ 2013

Disorientation Guide

FREE FOOD

“We all have to eat but ideally, we won't have to pay.”

Hochelaga Rock As hard as it is to believe, the imposing architecture of the downtown McGill campus has not always existed in time immemorial. As with most institutions, cities, and landscapes in Canada, there is an original history to the land on which our campus sits. Every day, thousands of students unknowingly visit a historical site as they walk across campus, suntan on Lower Field, and spill beer at OAP. McGill campus resides on an

Iroquois settlement, the village of Hochelaga. Though the history of the village extends much further back, the first mention of Hochelaga in the problematic written history of North America was in 1535, when Jacques Cartier stumbled upon the community. Hochelaga disappeared from written history again after the dubious honour of Cartier’s “discovery,” until it appeared again in 1860 during the construction of a new

Labour at McGill

Organized labour at McGill came to the forefront of public attention last year when MUNACA, a union representing 1,700 non-academic staff at McGill, went on strike. Despite injunctions and cold weather, union employees picketed around the perimeter of campus for over three months until they reached a collective agreement with the McGill administration through an arbitration process. The stifling of MUNACA’s ability

building on McGill campus, when workers discovered relics, revealing that the university-occupied land was Hochelaga. The Iroquois settlement was memorialized on the Hochelaga rock. Never seen such a rock? The monument is conveniently tucked away in an obscure spot, as a weak acknowledgement that barely informs passers-by. The stone can be found at the end of Lower Field, close to the Roddick Gates.

to protest points to a larger tension between organized labour and the corporate-style cost-cutting among the senior administration. While MUNACA is only one of the university’s labour unions and associations, its strike highlighted many of the issues invariably faced when employees collectively stand up for better wages and conditions. Other unions within the McGill community include the sup-

Thanks to the combined efforts of the “Move the Rock” campaign – orchestrated by KANATA, McGill’s Indigenous Studies community – and the First Peoples’ House, the Hochelaga rock will be revamped with a new plaque to include more historical information, which will be translated into several languages, including Mohawk. The rock will be moved to a more prominent location in the spring with an accompanying ceremony.

port employees’ union AMUSE, the teaching assistants, invigilators, and course lecturers’ union AGSEM, the research employees’ union AMURE, and the national union, SEIU, which represents service workers at McGill. McGill’s professors and certain administrative staff are not unionized, but belong to “associations.” The McGill Association of University Teachers (MAUT) and

Food on McGill campus is, for the most part, over-priced and under-flavoured. Here’s a heads up on how to avoid the snare of Tim Horton’s bagels and Pizza Pizza, and save a few dollars while at it. Happy eating! Your first stop for free food is the incomparable Midnight Kitchen, which operates out of the Shatner building. Every weekday, MK opens its doors to serve up a vegan lunch, usually complete with salad and dessert. Arrive early and bring your own receptacle to eat from (or borrow one from the McGill Plate Club, located in the Shatner cafeteria). They also take donations, so if you’re a regular be sure to toss in a few bucks every once and a while. Another important source of nutrition is University-sponsored wine and cheeses, hosted by different departments throughout the year. Keep your ears and eyes peeled for these, where free wine, crackers, and cubes of cheese await you. Check faculty websites to get a heads up. Dumpster diving is also an excellent way to save money and eat well. Chains like Pharmaprix, Intermarche, and Metro throw away enormous amounts of food in the dumpsters behind their stores, and most bakeries toss huge bags of day-old bread. Wash produce well and avoid taking anything too perishable – but otherwise, feast on. If samples are your thing, head down to the Jean-Talon or Atwater markets. Jean-Talon is more produceoriented, while Atwater is more of a meat/cheese/fancy jam kind of scene. Both have samples galore. To stay informed about free food events that descend upon campus throughout the year, consider following @Freefoodmcgill on Twitter – this feed rarely misses a Red Bull giveaway at Roddick Gates or free coffee and cookies in the library.

McGill University Non-Academic Staff Association (MUNASA) serve as resources to their members but do not have the right to go on strike. Lacking union status and the accompanying ability to collectively bargain, these associations are unable to pressure the McGill administration for better working conditions and salaries, making it easy for the university to take advantage of them.

Disorientation Guide

“When the condoms and dental dams in those frosh bags run out...”

Contraceptives When the condoms and dental dams in those frosh bags run out, stock up at The Shag Shop (next to the Student Health Clinic in the Brown Building), a non-profit store run by McGill Health that sells not only individual condoms, but also alternative contraception and menstruation products, vibrators, lube, and pregnancy tests. Condoms are 12 for $3 – which is a heckuva lot cheaper than Pharmaprix – and the Shop will provide free condoms for groups and events. Prefer vegan and nonlatex condoms? Swing by the Union for Gender Empowerment, tucked away in room 413 of the Shatner building. Be sure to hang out and browse through their zine library too, and while you’re on that floor, check out the folks at Queer McGill (room 432), who often give away free condoms and other safer sex products. In between the shopping trips, STI tests are available at Health Services with a doctor’s appointment – just call 514-398-6017 to schedule. You can also get a prescription for birth control with a doctor’s appointment, and SSMU health coverage pays for most of the cost. Another option is to go to Head and Hands (514-481-0277, 5833 Sherbrooke O.), a clinic aimed towards youth. Abortion services are usually available up to 20 weeks into a pregnancy. The Morgentaler Clinic (514-844-4844, 30 St. Joseph E.) and Centre de santé des femmes de Montréal (514-2706110, 3401 Delorimier) are two of the many clinics that offer abortion services.

Childcare There are two daycare facilities that operate through McGill. The McGill Daycare Centre, known officially as the Centre de la Petite Enfance de McGill (CPE McGill), is located in an austere stone building at 3491 Peel, on the west side of campus. The Centre serves 106 children of McGill students, staff, and faculty, ranging in age from four months to five years. The SSMU Daycare is located in the Brown Building at 3600 McTavish. It currently serves thirty-two children from 18 months to five years old, as well as eight infants under the age of 18 months. The pro: these daycare centres are government-subsidized, which means

they cost just $7 a day. The con: good luck getting a spot. CPE McGill has a waiting list of over 700 children – about a threeyear wait – while the SSMU Daycare has over 300 on its waiting list. At the SSMU facility, priority is given to undergraduates, then graduate students, then staff and faculty. Undergraduates can usually get a spot within a year of applying. Can’t wait that long? Shocker. You can try looking for spots in Montreal daycares, but beware: private daycares, which are not government-subsidized like McGill’s, can cost from around $45 per day to upwards of $60. In addition, many downtown daycares are reserved for

employees of specific companies like Hydro-Quebec or Desjardins, and you may be forced to trek as far as forty-five minutes by car to find a spot elsewhere in the city. The bottom line is this: the resources for student parents at McGill are severely lacking (in fact, they really suck) and you’ve got to take it upon yourself to get the info and support you need. You can sign up for McGill’s daycare centre waiting lists on their websites (see you in three years…). In the meantime, if you opt to find a daycare outside of McGill’s system, check out godaycare.com, an internet database of Canadian daycares with reviews from other parents.

MontrealRHOO

} DS

U O B H

G I E N { Mile

End

Outremont With quiet tree-lined streets and ritzy restaurants along Laurier and Bernard, Outremont is the crème de la crème of fancy Francophone living. Hasidic children ride their scooters side by side with UdeM literati and members of Montreal’s political peeps. But Johnny better be good, as Outremont neighbours are known to call the fuzz if the noise gets too loud. For a change from weekend bagels, class it up at La Croissanterie on Fairmount and Hutchinson. Take the 80 or 129 bus up Parc, or go to the Outremont metro station on the blue line.

If you’re in the mood for Greek or Indian food, Parc Ex is cookin’. Jean-Talon is lined with a dozen or more cheap curry places, but the most popular is Curry House. Get there from the Acadie metro station. Take the 80 all the way to Jarry for some authentic Pakistani cuisine at Sana, or stay on Jean-Talon for shots of metaxa at popular old-Greekguy hangout Sparta, just east of the Athena statue.

The

Plateau

Burst your McGill Ghetto bubble and head to the Plateau, where life begins after school ends. With cool cafes, jazz boxes, jitterbugs, and secondhand zoot suits, the Plateau offers something for everyone. Take five during your school day and head there for cheap eats along Duluth. For Leonard Cohen wannabes, take your hangover to Bagel Etc., or spend less at Chez José. St. Laurent, or “The Main” as we like to call it, has some smokin’ smoked meat, and bars where you can even smoke inside, if you know where to go. Once the booze is a flowin’, keep your knuckle sandwiches at home.

The

McGill

Somewhere over the rainbow (or over the Rosemont overpass) will bring you to this quaint residential neighbourhood, and gee willickers is it big! Go smooch in Jarry Parc, or Bixi around for the day. For spares and strikes, check out Bar Notre Dame Des Quilles, and bowl the night away.

Little

Montreal’s cool cats linger here in the neighbourhood’s Italian coffee houses and bagel joints. Like Outremont, Mile End has a vibrant Hasidic community as well as a large student population. Needless to say, it’s a place to see and to be seen. Only a short bus (#80) ride away from McGill, Mile End offers an authentic lunch-counter at Wilensky’s and great groceries on Parc. If you’re into music, live shows at Casa del Popolo or La Sala Rossa are cloud nine.

Parc

Rosemont

Ghetto

Nestled just west of campus, the McGill Ghetto (properly the MiltonParc neighbourhood) is the University’s self-proclaimed pad. Despite the many deps, and greasy vegan spoon Lola Rosa, the neighbourhood offers very little. After first and second years pass, hit the road Jack, and don’t you come back no more no more no more no more.

Italy

A little further down from Mile End on St. Laurent is Montreal’s Little Italy. If you’re looking to nosh, you’ve come to the right place: the Marche Jean Talon offers a wide variety of local fruit and veg, while the groceries surrounding it bring in delicacies from across the globe. And for the cool cats (not the fat cats), check out Depanneur Le Pick Up on Waverly and Mozart. They have a wide selection of local zines and a delicious, innovative, and inexpensive menu. The 55 bus up St. Laurent is your best bet.

Chinatown Home of noodles, rice, and everything nice. Head down here for cheaper grub, but don’t flip your lid if they only offer chopsticks! For a different type of bubbly, try a bubble tea. If you live close by, Chinatown offers some of the most unique and cheap groceries around. Walk a few blocks south from the St. Laurent metro stop.

Cote

des

Neiges

The north end of the city core, CDN, is home to l’Université de Montréal, good Thai food, and groceries selling food from around the globe. If you’re looking for thrills ‘n’ chills, go wander the subtly segregated English, French, and Jewish cemeteries. To get here, take the blue line to anywhere between Côte-Ste-Catherine and Édouard-Montpetit, or the northbound bus on Guy downtown.

N.D.G. N.D.G. is the home of the anglophone middle in Montreal. Activities for locals include smoking reefer at the eponymous park and chasing girls from Westmount. Monkland is Montreal’s premier anglo-yuppie destination, while Sherbrooke in this area is home to many Korean, Iranian, and Caribbean businesses. Worth at least one visit, you should come for breakfast at Cosmo’s on Sherbrooke, grab dinner at a Korean restaurant, and stay for a pint at one of the strip’s two shady bars. To get there, take the orange line to Vendôme and hop on the 105 bus.

The

Latin

Quarter

Too cool for the sock hop? Head south on St. Denis to the Latin Quarter. The area is home to Shisha bars, punk venues, and Montreal’s own La Capoterie, where you can find all your “rubber” ducky needs. Is international cinema more your thing? Go catch a flick at the Cinémathèque Québécoise.

The

Old

Port

Go take a long walk on Old Port’s pier. With its cobblestone streets and European architecture, Old Port is the Montreal original. The atmosphere is a real gas, but you’ll need some moolah, so bring your old folks to this piece of New France. During the summer months, the tourists take over, so make like a banana and split.

St.

Henri

Concordia

The former cradle of industrial Montreal, St. Henri, has seen some rough times ever since North American manufacturing gave up the ghost. St. Henri is the buckle of Montreal’s Franco-Irish rust belt that stretches through Verdun, Côte-St-Paul, Ville-Émard, Pointe-St-Charles and Griffintown. For a decade it’s been on the up, though, and students from McGill and Concordia are moving in. The bar scene hasn’t improved much, but if you live here and you’re a jivin’ individual, get yourself invited to one of the area’s rave-like underground parties. Or, try your luck at exploring one of the area’s spectacular abandoned 100-year-old factories. Or, drink 40 oz. bottles with the crust punks at their hive, Fattal Lofts. Or, have a bike ride and picnic on the Lachine Canal, if you’re square. Just kidding. For St. Henri, get off the metro at Place-St-Henri or Lionel-Groulx.

Pte.

St.

Charles

The Point is one of Montreal’s most steadfast neighbourhoods, and some say that’s a good thing. Here, they build Catholic churches in twos: one for the Irish, and one for the French. Working-class families have lived here since the Potato Famine. “Friperie” here means a place to buy cheap and durable clothing, not vintage leather jackets. The area may not have much to offer in the way of venues, but the classic Montreal rowhouses make it a nice bike ride. By metro, get off at Charlevoix.

The

Gay

Village

Stereo, on Ste. Catherine, is a popular after-hours destination, not only for queer folk, but for all House fans, as well as the dilated-pupil crowd. Occasionally it makes it on lists of the world’s top ten clubs, so check it out when you’re feeling adventurous and need a drastic change of scene at 5 a.m. L’Escalier, also on Ste. Cath’s, is a rambling vegetarian restaurant and bar with nightly local shows and readings, and variable cutlery and furniture. It makes for a quirky date. For the Gay Village, alight at the rainbow-themed Beaubien station, or walk east on Ste. Cath’s from Berri-UQAM.

Ghetto

McGill has the financial district and our own, rather sedate “ghetto”; Concordia has a neighbourhood full of dirt-cheap restaurants and bars, good Asian food, and the Pepsi Forum, the city’s biggest cinema, which always plays a few foreign or art-house flicks in addition to Hollywood fare. Amenities for the modern student abound. Try Montreal’s best coffee at Myriade on Mackay near Ste. Catherine. Check what the art students have made in the FOFA Gallery and vitrines, located on the same street. Eat a delicious two-dollar meal with the starving philosophy students at Nilufar on Ste. Cath’s, or wait in line to eat at Japanese hotspot Kazu nearby – you won’t regret it.

Westmount Westmount is the home of Quebec’s big players, including Jean Charest and the Mulroneys, and was the birthplace of Leonard Cohen and Conrad Black. Come here for expensive ice cream and behold the size of the strollers pushed by nannies. Westmount Park is nice for a romantic walk, but don’t get too cozy, or the private security will politely ask you to leave. Westmount writes its stop signs in English, because it’s Westmount. The best thing you could ever do here is get invited to a party at a house above the Boulevard, where the Rich Kids of Instagram throw lavish shindigs. There’s no metro in Westmount, but the 24 bus runs through it. Alternatively, you can walk west from Atwater or east from Vendôme.

Griffintown Griffintown gets a lot of buzz for a place that until recently had only a few hundred residents. Today, the hood is being taken over by condo developers. If you need a new ride, walk down Murray to Vélo Makak, a bike shop that charges a fair price. Grab a pulled pork sandwich and listen to the live blues at the Café Griffin on Notre-Dame, and check out the latest installation at the postindustrial-chic Darling Foundry (at Queen & Ottawa).

Disorientation Guide

Student politics Politics are big at McGill, whether in the massively overpopulated first year poli-sci courses or the pages of student media. There are four student unions: MCSS for the Mac Campus, SSMU for downtown undergraduates, PGSS for downtown graduates, and MACES for continuing education students. SSMU runs the Shatner building – and the campus bar, Gerts – on McTavish, lobbies the university on behalf of students, and represents students’ political opinions to external organizations and causes. SSMU also supports a number of clubs and services that students can get involved with; however, last year over 100 groups had to change their name – by eliminating the name McGill or disassociating the club from McGill – serving to save McGill from liability, and protect the McGill name and logo trademark. This move separated the university from its students and escalated frustration with the administration last year. SSMU is simultaneously a notfor-profit corporation and a student union, which means they have to deal with the double task of being a “business” and a democratic body. The board of directors, an executive committee, a legislative council and a judicial board govern the SSMU. The executive committee is comprised of six elected students

My favourite show on CKUT

who take care of day-to-day affairs. The VP Internal (Michael Szpedja) is in charge of running events and sending out a weekly newsletter. VP External (Robin Reid-Fraser) acts as liaison between SSMU and groups outside of McGill, like student unions and government officials. VP Clubs and Services (Allison Cooper) administers the Shatner Building and helps the different clubs and services associated with SSMU. VP Finance (JP Briggs) takes care of the budget and funding allocations for different SSMU clubs, and manages Gerts and SSMU’s minicourses. VP University Affairs (Haley Dinel) acts as liaison between SSMU and the McGill administration. SSMU President (Josh Redel) oversees the operations of SSMU and represents students in the Board of Governors. The legislative council is made up of student representatives, including faculty representatives, members of Senate Caucus, SSMU executives and representatives from Clubs and Services, Athletics, Residences, and FirstYear Students. Apart from making decisions that affect student life, SSMU Council also take political stances to represent students’ views on important issues. Last year, for example, the legislative council decided to sponsor MUNACA during its labour strike and stood against Bill C-10, introduced by

the federal government. Students can easily get involved in campus politics through General Assemblies (GAs) that are held once per semester. GAs are important because they allow for direct democratic participation by students, in which students can submit binding motions to be discussed and voted on by other students present at the GA, if quorum is met. The types of decisions made in GA are similar to those made in Council, with the exception that the Constitution cannot be changed in a GA. This year, for the first time, an online voting system will be implemented for GAs. The fall GA will be held on October 1, 2012 and the winter GA will be held on February 4, 2013. Nonetheless, students can call for a special GA any time of the year. Faculty associations represent students at the faculty level (e.g. Arts, Science, Engineering), each with an executive committee, council, and their own GAs. Most notable from last year was the widely attended Arts GA in winter 2012, where a motion to strike failed. McGill students are often criticized for their apathy towards student and provincial politics. However, for those who came to McGill with hopes of becoming the next prime minister, there

Gettin’ Lucky 1. Redpath - McClennan Library Sub-Basement If your fantasy requires a library setting, with stacks of books tumbling from shelves in the wake of your passion, this easily accessed floor is for you. It resembles every other floor of the library, but is full of old and rarely referenced books, and therefore virtually uninhabited. Watch out for the occasional visit from the security guard, though. are groups that cater to most political inclinations. The major federal parties (Conservative, Liberal, NDP) have student chapters at McGill. It is groups like the Quebec Public Interest Group (QPIRG), Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), ModPAC, Mobsquad, and Hillel Montreal that have been at the forefront of political discussion and controversy. After announcements of provincial tuition hikes and accusations about the McGill administration’s strained relationship with students, the political debate on campus became intensely heated. On November 10, 2011, following the occupation of administrative offices by students, members of the community were violently forced off campus by the Montreal police, leading to backlash from students and the creation of movements to unite the community. Political discussion also peaked during the second semester with another occupation of the sixth floor of the James Administration building – known as #6party – and monthly demonstrations against tuition hikes in Montreal on the 22nd of every month. Although only a small number of students at McGill went on strike last year, the tuition debate was prominent throughout the year, and promises to continue to be so this year.

2. Gert’s Coat Room This is strictly after hours – avoid fornicating while people are in the coat check room taking coats. But, if Cupid’s arrow strikes after a long night of drinking at Gert’s, this is the most convenient and, if leftover coats are used correctly, comfortable place to make it happen. 3. Bishop Mountain Hall Roof Upper rez residents, take noteif you can figure out how to get up there (we hear from an insider that it’s not that hard), a barely-hidden rendezvous spot awaits. With the windows of Gardner, Molson, McConnell as your audience, feel free to get creative – you never know who’s watching. Not great in cold weather. 4. Handicap Bathrooms, all If you prefer a low-risk tryst, these bathrooms lock and feature romantic fluorescent lights. Keep it down, and you’ll be able to infiltrate the quietest of McGill’s study enclaves. 5. The Daily Office If you need inspiration to get involved with the paper, let this be it – our office has tucked away nooks (with futons!!), and a journalistic flavour that will leave you quoting Walter Cronkite in your partner’s ear.

CKUT 90.3 is our campus radio station, and if you’re not already listening, you should start. Their 24 hour a day schedule is packed with amazing programming that takes you from news, to storytelling, to music, and back. A few campus heavy-hitters share their personal favourites.

New Shit, Mondays, 3-5 p.m. As the music department’s official show and with a dirty word in it to boot, it’s always full of weird and sometimes shocking shit. Indeed, the first time i was in the studio learning to produce radio, the programmer put on a track that was the sounds of someone masturbating - to my 18-year-old ears, new to all things montreal and CKUT, this was an awkward yet awesome moment. Could this be music? The range of content and freedom of expression at CKUT has challenged my preconceived notions of art, radio, culture, and more. This kind of education is so valuable to this campus,

and the city it is part of. —Carol Ellen Fraser, SSMU Elected Rep, Chair of the Board of Directors at CKUT.

on gender topics and radio skills for listeners to attend. Amazing show! —Hannah Besseau, Producer at Dragonroot Radio.

Dragonroot Radio, Tuesdays, 8:309:00 a.m. My favourite show on CKUT is Dragonroot Radio. It’s a feminist radio show that collaborates with Concordia’s Centre 2110 and does episodes on gender based issues with interviews and live musical guests. It has really interesting and relevant content relating to feminism and the show also offers bi-weekly workshops

Audio Smut, first Wednesday of every month, 6 p.m. Audio Smut is an incredibly rad show about sex. The only sex-positive show I need – these ladies are queer, feminist, and slutty (their words) in all the right ways. I look forward to listening to it all month – not to be missed! —Queen Arsem-O’Malley, Co-ordinating editor at The Daily.

The Montreal Sessions, one Tuesday a month, 3-5 p.m. This is such a difficult decision to make, but one of my favourite shows is The Montreal Sessions, a really rad artists in residency program that highlights what’s so special about Montreal’s artistic community. Festivals such as Suoni Per Il Popolo and Pop Montreal take over the program during their respective months and bring in artists for one-of-a-kind on-air performances, interviews, and DJ sets. In the same spirit of Montreal’s incredibly diverse scene, the show

also provides a platform for more experimental artists to have their way with the airwaves. —Tim Beeler, Campus Events and Outreach Co-ordinator at CKUT. Soca Sessions, Fridays, 2 a.m. These sessions got me through many late nights at work – it’s super upbeat and allowed me to perfect my dutty wine while washing dishes. I really like its aggressive rhythm. —Kaj Huddart, Culture editor at The Daily.

Disorientation Guide

Qu’est-cé?

Student strike highlights

A (very) short intro to Quebec French You’ve probably noticed it by now, but the French that’s spoken in Quebec isn’t the same as the French heard in France. Besides the obvious difference in accent, Quebec French – or Québécois – has its own slang and idioms. For example, most of its profanity is related to Catholicism. “Calisse” and “tabarnac” – the Quebec equivalent of “fuck” – refer to Christian articles used during religious ceremonies. Interestingly, nearly every Quebec swear word can be used as a verb, a noun, and an adjective. They’re also often heard in groups, as in the

typical swear, “esti de calisse de tabarnac.” Besides profanity, a substantial number of English words have made it into Quebec vocabulary. Instead of calling a bicycle a “vélo,” as it is in France, Quebecers will usually say “bicyclette.” By the same logic, a peanut is typically called a “pinotte” instead of the European French “cacahuète.” This doesn’t hold true for every word, but there’s a tendency to slightly modify English words in everyday speech. In general, Quebecers are extremely protective of their lan-

guage. The Parti Québécois – the main separatist party in Quebec – codified that attitude for the first time in 1977, with the passage of Bill 101. The law, which alienated a large part of the province’s English minority, made French the official language of business and government. Since then, language continues to be a major issue in Quebec politics. All of the major political parties see Bill 101 as a landmark piece of legislation in the history of Quebec, and its relevance goes virtually unchallenged in mainstream politics.

Context behind the strikes Though the student groups that are at the forefront of the current movement against tuition hikes – FECQ, FEUQ, and CLASSE – were created relatively recently, the historical background of the fight for accessible education reaches much further back. Widely accessible education in Quebec was little more than a pipe dream fifty years ago. Prior to the Quiet Revolution in the late 1960s, only the wealthy could afford higher education. When the government’s secularization of society brought social structures – including the educational system – under

its control, education was opened to the masses for the first time. Between 1968 and 2012, student activism based upon the ideals of accessible education has been consistently enthusiastic. There have been eight other student strikes in Quebec’s history since the reformation of the education system. From general strikes at CEGEPs in 1968 and 1974 to the involvement of more university students from 1978 onward, Quebec students have a rich history of fighting for accessible education. The organizations that represent college and university students

– FECQ and FEUQ, respectively – were both created after the tuition fee freeze was lifted in 1989, but have accomplished much in their short histories. FEUQ, for instance, has successfully worked with decision-making bodies to improve the reinvestment of money into universities and to establish campus work programs for international students. Today’s student movement has grown out of the Quebec context of a constant struggle to maintain open access to higher education, an ideal that is prized as much as its loss is feared.

26 March 2007: Jean Charest’s Liberal Party is elected for a second mandate, promising to unfreeze tuition fees. A $500 hike is implemented over five years.

27 April 2012: The government offers to spread the hike over a long period of time and to increase investment in bursaries and loans.

6 December 2010: A meeting is held in Quebec City between the Ministry of Education and partners in the education sector over the impending rise in tuition fees.

4 May 2012: The most violent protest to date takes place outside of the Liberal Party Convention in Victoriaville. Several people are gravely injured. Students associations agree to put the government’s new offer to a vote. The deal is later voted down.

12 March 2011: Thousands of people march in Montreal to protest the adoption of the 2011 budget, which calls for a tuition hike of $1625 over five years. 10 November 2011: The strike gains momentum as more than 200,000 students hold a twoday strike throughout Quebec. 3 December 2011: The Coalition large de l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (CLASSE) is born, creating a temporary alliance between different student associations across Quebec. 22 March 2012: The number of students on strike reaches more than 300,000 as the largest student demonstration in North American history is held in Montreal. The date is seen as a watershed moment for the student strike. More protests are held on the 22nd of every subsequent month. 20 April 2012: Students try to disrupt a job fair for the Plan Nord, an economic project aiming to develop northern Quebec. Police clash with students across downtown Montreal.

18 May 2012: The government passes Bill 78, giving the police broader powers to restrict protests and threatening to impose heavy fines on student associations for organizing demonstrations. The law is challenged in court. 24 May 2012: 518 people are arrested during a protest. Several of them face criminal charges. 1 August 2012: The Charest government calls for elections for September 4, 2012. Québec Solidaire and the Parti Québécois take a more pro-student approach, while the Coalition Avenir Québec plans to implement a less significant hike. 20 August 2012: CEGEP du Vieux Montreal, one of the most militant CEGEPs in Quebec, votes to end its strike. 9,000 students from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and 2,800 from the Université de Montréal (UdeM) remain on strike, according to the CBC.

Disorientation Guide

Board of Governors The Board of Governors of McGill University is a group of members at large, student and faculty representatives, and the Principal and Chancellor, all of whom make up the highest decision-making body in the University. These are major players who sit on a variety of boards - so what other factors are at play when they vote on issues at McGill? This is just a sampling of the boards, groups, and corporations whose interests are intertwined with ours. Heather Munroe-Blum Principal

Member of the Boards of: RBC; Canada Pension Plan Investment Board; Yellow Media Inc.; Board of Advisors, UC-Davis Chancellor Linda B. Katehi; Canadian Credit Management Foundation

Arnold Steinberg Chancellor

Member of the Board of: Provigo, Inc.

Samuel Minzberg Member of the Boards of: HSBC North America Holdings Inc. and HSBC Finance Corporation (Director); Quebecor Media Inc. (Director); Richmont Mines Inc. (Director); USA Networks Inc (Director); iNovia Capital (Director)

Stuart ‘Kip’ Cobbett Member of the Board of: Citibank Canada (Director)

Daniel Gagnier Works in the office of: Quebec Premier Jean Charest (Chief of Staff as of May 2012)

Roshi Chadha Director of Seja Trade Ltd. Took a leave of absence from both the McGill BoG and her position on the Board of St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation – and resigned from her position on the Board of the Canadian Red Cross – in February 2012 after local media highlighted her position as Director of Seja Trade Ltd., which exported asbestos from the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Quebec until the mine suspended operations in Fall 2011. Seja Trade Ltd. is a subsidiary of Balcorp Ltd., which is owned by Chadha’s husband, Baljit Chadha. He sat on Concordia University’s Board of Governors last year.

ATI requests The Access to Information Act provides a way for Canadian citizens to ask for information from most government institutions. ATI requests can be submitted to the institution specifying a document or a topic on which documents can be provided. Since McGill is a public university, ATIs may be filed for certain information (though the University can withhold some information that it deems to be confidential or that would compromise security). For an ATI request form, visit tbssct.gc.ca, the website of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. You can also stop by B-24 Shatner (home of the lovely McGill Daily) and ask one of our News editor-cum-ATI experts for help in filing a request. At McGill, ATI requests should be addressed to the office of the Secretary-General, Stephen Strople.

sports

The McGill Daily Thursday, August 30, 2012 mcgilldaily.com

Hockey’s ‘Other’ Problem Russian players face prejudice within NHL

Illustration Amina Batyreva | The McGill Daily Evan Dent The McGill Daily

s the Nashville Predators struggled through their 2012 playoff series with the Phoenix Coyotes, NBC Sports commentator Keith Jones unleashed a two-minute tirade during an intermission in Game 2 against the ‘enigmatic’ and ‘lazy’ (as described by some media members) Russian forward, Alexander Radulov. Showing clip after clip from the game, Jones ripped into Radulov’s effort, seemingly taking pleasure in his own criticism. While some was valid, there was a problem with his footage – the clips were taken out of context and served to deliberately crtiticize Radulov. This extra attention and extra criticism came because Radulov was a highly sought after Russian player, and this rant is just one part of what has been the most disturbing trend of the post-lockout NHL: the general distrust of Russian players, the ‘outsiders’ in the NHL. The treatment of Russian players within the NHL landscape by

media, scouts, and personnel has become extremely prejudiced. When someone needs a scapegoat for a team’s performance, or a reason not to sign or draft a player, a Russian (or any Eastern European) player is most often the target. For example, A lexander Semin, a Russian forward who has averaged nearly 32 goals per season since he entered the league, struggled to find a contract during this year’s free agency period as teams shied away from a player whose passion for the game has constantly been questioned. The NHL free agency period began on July 1; the Carolina Hurricanes finally signed Semin on July 26. He was only given a one-year deal, indicative of the hesitance the team had in a long-term commitment with Semin. This assumed lack of emotion and interest from Russian players is not, however, indicative of a lack of excitement towards the game, explains Sergei Federov, one of the first players to defect from the USSR to the NHL. It is a product of Russian societal norms, where outright displays of passion and

excitement are not encouraged. Bias abounds for other, more varied reasons. Mikhail Grigorenko, initially rated the third-best prospect in the 2012 NHL Draft, dropped to the 12th overall pick as anonymous scouts and media sources floated rumors that Grigorenko would sign with the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League, Russia’s major national hockey franchise), as well as concerns over his work ethic and reported age. The evidence that these scouts pointed to was Grigorenko’s performance in the second round of the QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) playoffs, where he produced only 2 points and -5 plus/minus rating in his last four games while his team, the Quebec Ramparts, blew a 3-0 series lead. While this led scouts to question his toughness and resolve, the truth was far more innocent: he came down with mononucleosis during the series and decided to play through the ilness. His gutsy decision to do so was written off by many scouts as merely an excuse for poor play. This fear of Russian play-

ers has become comical. Alex Galchenyuk, drafted third overall by the Montreal Canadiens, was cited as having “Russian connections” in a Montreal Gazette article – despite the fact that Galchenyuk was born in Milwaukee, considers himself an American, and is ethnically Belarussian, not Russia. While Galchenyuk did live in Russia for a couple of years, the idea of insidious Russian connections preventing him from NHL success is laughable. Russian players often do have trouble adjusting to the NHL. Imagine moving to a new country, learning a new language, and leaving your friends and family – and then having to compete at the NHL level, something Federov has called the “saddest and most lonely thing you can ever imagine.” On top of this, their non-Canadian or non-American demeanor is often misunderstood as indifference. Unfortunately, these problems have been used as an easy way to blame Russian players for an entire team’s woes. While hockey is a team game, the new media landscape always looks for one person in particular to blame –

and the Russian players in the NHL have become that subject. This prejudice has a historical context: Canada ruled the hockey world until the 1950s, when Russian teams began to dominate international competition. The idea that Canada wasn’t always the pre-eminent hockey nation in the world threatens many Canadians’ sense of national identity, and helps explain the current atmosphere of Russian distrust. Many Canadians and Americans in the hockey world would rather see Canadians and Americans succeed, and when they need someone to blame, the easy way out is to blame the Russian players, the Other. Thankfully, there are some members of the media who have begun to attack this xenophobic mindset, and some scouts and general managers who continue to evaluate Russian players based on talent alone. Still, it may take many years before there is complete acceptance. Until then, there will be extra criticism heaped onto players who want exactly the same as every player, no matter what nationality: to succeed.

! s t r o p S o t e t u b i r t Con sports@mcgilldaily.com

writers . columnists . photographers

The McGill Daily | Thursday, August 30, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

Kids#will#be#kidds , too) s t n e r d pa Dominique Glassman

Illustration by Amina Batyreva

Quick, reader, rattle off some camp imagery. Canoes? Untied shoes? The belting out of “repeat after me songs” and cheers about alligators? These bits of nostalgia were hardly the reality of my experience working at an upscale day-camp in Montreal. Instead, it was OPUS cards, Starbucks runs, and bitter frustration. Like any middle-class kid with two working parents, I attended a series of day camps and then graduated to those hardcore, month-long stints at overnight camps. One of the latter was cut tragically short by a regrettable tumble, resulting in a broken tibia and thigh-high purple cast. With exceptions such as these, I relatively enjoyed my time at camp. However, I wish to tell you about the unwritten narrative of camp: the trials and tribulations of being a 20-something camp counsellor in

Montreal. A day-camp counsellor, at a very expensive day-camp. In a sudden fit of independence, I opted to stay in the city and try to get a summer job instead of returning to the comforts of home and scooping ice cream in Toronto. Trolling through the McGill career planning website yielded few results beyond postings for teaching English in Korea or agricultural surveying in nowheresville, Quebec. One day, however, I stumbled across a posting for a counsellor position at a day camp in Cote-des-Neiges, a neighborhood I knew very little about. But I didn’t care – the thought of spending eight weeks sunning myself and flirting with male counselors was incredibly appealing. Within weeks, I was called for an interview. After carefully assembling what I deemed to be both a child-appropriate and professional

(an

outfit, and lying about my bilingualism, the director offered me the job. His final question: “What age group would you like to work with?” Considering that my athletic skill level is equivalent to that of a fiveyear-old, I answered accordingly. Finals come and go. I buy a new pair of running shoes. Day One at Camp. After a brief and insufficient rundown of the camp’s policy from the diva-esque manager of the toddler section, it was time to meet the campers. The poorly executed themed days and the overly-sexed staff nights are hardly interesting compared to the antics of the campers I came to know this summer, and more importantly, their parents. It is hard to remember exactly what it was like to be five years old. What motivated you to do the things you did? In my “bunk,” there

were the usual suspects, those rambunctious, energetic boys who don’t respond well to purely female authority. But there were a few kids in particular who really brought something unique to the table. One boy, let’s call him The Aggressor, actually got kicked out of camp because he displayed such a sense of ferocity and – let’s just call a spade a spade – gross misconduct. You might be wondering, what could a fiveyear-old do that was that bad? Firstly, he performed what we could only call a non-sexual, non-consensual golden shower. He relieved himself in a YOP bottle during lunch hour then proceeded to sprinkle it over his peers. How would someone even think of this? It was so deliberate, so much more premeditated than simply peeing on the kids he didn’t like. This incident was paired with The Aggressor breaking another kid’s nose

features

with a well-aimed roundhouse kick. Events like these were interspersed with the usual volley of uncontrollable bowel movements. Needless to say, I learned the phrase “Il y a du brun dans mes pantalons” the hard way. No story is ever really good without at least one reference to fecal matter, but let’s get back to the kids. One day, I sat The Aggressor down after a particularly violent display of martial arts and asked him why he hit the other kids so much. From what I could piece together from my dicey French, I came to understand that this five-year-old boy was claiming that his father encouraged him to always retaliate, to never let anyone have the last punch (or roundhouse kick, for that matter). I have no idea if this was true, but honesty from children reads as clearly and faithfully as the dictionary. I learned I would have to watch the parents as closely as their kids. In every group, classroom or bunk, there is always THAT kid. You know, the one who is always the center of attention, the proverbial Bart Simpson. The kids love ’em and the adults hate ’em. My Bart Simpson was always picked up by a nanny, leaving me to wonder about his life once Mary Poppins had gone home. One Friday, Bart was getting picked up early for a weekend vacay in the Berkshires, so we got to meet the folks. Enter Dad: purple shirt, overly tan skin, and overly oiled hair. In terms of stature

and demeanor, he was very Danny DeVito meets Napoleon. He strutted over through the sea of parents, eyes never leaving his Blackberry, and waved away my attempts to get his signature on the mandatory sign out sheet; “Don’t worry, they know me here.” Suddenly, it all made sense. The iPhone little Bart “accidentally” brought to camp, the sense of entitlement this kid displayed, came directly from Daddy. This epiphany however, did nothing to lessen my hatred for the little Bart (or was it Brat)? Here, another poignant example of the childishness of parents: This kid arrived late on the first day, flanked by a bickering Mom and Dad. The mother took me aside to explain how her son had gone through a traumatic experience in the pool and that I should, under no circumstances, force him to swim. Moments later, his father took me aside to explain that I should force his son to swim in order to help him conquer his phobia. His mother then called a second sidebar to press her previous point and whisper confidentially, “As you have probably noticed, my husband and I are divorced.” Duh, thanks lady. The kid in question was as disinterested, uninvolved, and as apathetic as a five-year-old could be. When his mother came to pick him up, she would wax poetic about what a good little tennis player her son was, then flip the switch and berate me about how her husband had

signed their kid up for five weeks of camp instead of spending time with him. When his father picked him up, he would tell me how much fun his son was having, then grill me like porterhouse steak about his progress in swim and “ockey.” The father registered his son at the camp with one surname and when the mother would call in to leave a memo, he suddenly had two. In the weeks that passed, there were countless other instances where parents unconsciously, yet aggressively, inserted themselves into the lives of their children. One little girl came running up to me in tears sobbing about how another boy had told her his dad would put her dad in jail. Another boy revealed that he much preferred to stay at his father’s house because he had a bigger TV and more movies. It soon became a game for my co-counsellor and I to guess which mothers had boob jobs. (The trick, in case you were wondering, was to observe whether they perked to attention without the help of a bra.) After days spent searching for lost underwear, and nights spent complaining to my friends, I had to ask myself: why do I even care about this? Every morning, my co-counsellor and I would sit on the metro, trying to convince ourselves that this was just a job, and that we shouldn’t let it infringe on our personal lives. It was a futile fight. Why did I find it necessary to tell and re-tell to anyone

who would listen about the antics of these kids and their parents? Because, whether I liked it or not, I was invested. I ridiculed the parents so much because I was horrified at the way that these kids, at only five years of age, had started to turn into their spandex-clad, peroxided mothers, or their suit-wearing, Blackberry-wielding fathers. By observing the direct correlations between child and parent, I became acutely aware about how much power figures of authority exercise over children, and it bothered me. There is an immutable difference between those who work at day camps and those who work at sleepaway camps. The latter can brag about wilderness fare, firemaking, taxidermy, or whatever you do out there, but day camp counsellor have an even harder job. I was privy to some of the most intimate and difficult relationships in children’s lives: the ones they share with their parents. It was a tricky balance of power for us, who had the kids all day, and the parents, who have them in the seemingly fleeting hours in between. Perhaps those repeat offender day camp counsellor are actually the truest counsellors of them all. After all was said and done, the dodgeballs deflated and placed on the shelf, one of my superiors asked if I would return to work at camp next summer. I could only smile sheepishly. “I think I’ll head back to Toronto. I really miss my mom.”

science+tech.

The McGill Daily Thursday, August 30, 2012 mcgilldaily.com

Summer science in the media

Illustration Amina Batyreva | The McGill Daily Anton Plavski Science+Technology Writer

hile most of us were getting some well-deserved rest this summer, the ever-expanding science world was doing anything but. Some recent scientific breakthroughs have been highly emphasized in the media, but what makes these so important for the science world and our everyday lives? Recent media attention has been focused on the landing of Curiosity, the Mars rover. After a journey of about eight months, the rover made it to Mars’ surface and safely landed in Gale Crater on August 6. The landing set off a storm of enthusiasm back on Earth among aerospace enthusiasts as well as mainstream media. At the NASA headquarters, scientists and engineers – the brains behind the project – closely followed the landing in its last seven minutes, nicknamed the “seven minutes of terror” to emphasize the critical nature of the moment. Indeed, with a sevenminute delay in both incoming and outgoing signals to the rover, it was impossible to track – and thus control – the state of the rover in real time. The online video of the same name, although arguably dramatized, nonetheless does a very good job of conveying how important those last minutes were for the mission. The

cheers and vivid emotional reactions from the team, broadcast around the world, made for a truly inspirational moment, and rightfully so considering how much was at stake. Now that the car-sized Curiosity is up and running, scientists hope to uncover some traces of past life on Mars, which may enlighten us about human origins. Another big discovery of the summer was the observation of a never-before-seen particle, the Higgs boson. The observation was made at the CERN laboratory, using the Large Hadron Collider, and has similarly received a good deal of media coverage. The existence of the Higgs boson was predicted by the Standard Model, which seeks to synthesize our knowledge of the world by explaining every physical phenomenon; the importance of identifying the boson is in that it supports this model. Although this observation is indeed important for the Standard Model, the media are notorious for sensationalizing it by calling Higgs boson “The God Particle,” after the title of a book by physicist Leon Lederman. (Reportedly, Lederman wanted to call it “The Goddamn Particle,” as it is very difficult to observe, but this was censored.) The majority of scientists working on this project, (and even Peter Higgs himself, who theorized the existence of the particle) consider this designation a misnomer, as it goes nowhere near

explaining the nature of God. Rather, the Higgs boson explains why objects have mass, and our understanding of this mechanism may lead to future breakthroughs in engineering. Sadly, this misnomer is one of the main reasons the discovery got so much media attention. Finally, some of you may have heard in the news of two HIVpositive patients who received bone marrow stem cell transplants, which effectively erased all detectable traces of HIV in the immune system cells of these patients. Although occasional news of potential HIV or AIDS treatments, such as new retroviral medications, are not uncommon, the complete obliteration of HIV traces, including within the lymphocytes themselves, is unprecedented. This discovery is made even more interesting when comparing these two cases to that of an earlier patient, nicknamed “the Berlin patient,” who is the only known person to have been ostensibly cured of HIV after – and this is the important part – a stem cell transplant. He has remained HIV-free for five years since. Scientists, however, are cautious about calling all of these cases a “cure,” as it is sometimes referred to in the media, because there is speculation that the virus may lie dormant within certain tissues and could resurface eventually. Even if, hypo-

thetically, the stem cell transplants were decisively proven to work, bone marrow transplant is a very risky and costly procedure, and it is uncertain how realistic it would be for HIVpositive people to undergo it with the sole purpose of being cured. In any case, these are interesting new developments in the field of AIDS research, and every new hope of the sort is worth further investigation. The aforementioned breakthroughs are important developments in the science world, but they are definitely not the only ones. In fact, in taking a trip to the Wikipedia page entitled “2012 in science,” we find two full computer screens of discoveries for every single month of 2012! Why, then, do the mainstream media show such a pronounced interest in Curiosity’s trip to Mars, yet we hardly hear about the newly-identified causes of extinction of woolly mammoths? Certainly, one reason is the relative importance and magnitude of the different discoveries. Dr. David Harpp, a chemistry professor involved with the Office for Science and Society in McGill, said in an email to The Daily that the Higgs boson and the Curiosity landing were undoubtedly important for the science world, and their extensive media coverage is justified. But the events that get media coverage also share the common feature of appeal for the ordinary person because we can relate to them, or find

them barely believable. For instance, space exploration has always seemed like something out of this world to humans, so sending a functional robot 563 million kilometres away from Earth showcases the power of human enterprise. Calling the Higgs boson “The God Particle” – however misguided this may be – has substantially contributed to its appeal as it gives the illusion of uncovering one of the fundamental mysteries of this world, and HIV/ AIDS is one of the major challenges currently facing humanity as a whole, so any news of a cure can be expected to gain attention. Woolly mammoths, on the other hand, are a thing of the past, and so have no such appeal. Unfortunately, our appetite for the novel and extraordinary leads to media coverage leaving out some impressive scientific advances. For instance, researchers recently released part of the first comprehensive map of the mouse brain, which was hailed as a milestone for neuroscience, but the media’s lens was pointed elsewhere. Whatever the case may be, one thing is clear: science is moving forward, and at an astounding pace at that. Judging from the extensive media coverage, science continues to arouse the common mind, but it sometimes does so at the expense of truth. It is up to us to dig deeper.

science+Tech.

The McGill Daily | Thursday, August 30, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

One man’s small step, mankind’s giant leap Why the future of space travel is – and needs to be – robotic Andrew Komar The McGill Daily

he 1969 landing of Apollo 11’s Eagle on the surface of the moon was the defining moment of the 20th century and arguably of all of history, turning the swords forged in the hellhole of industrialized warfare into plows that planted the first seeds of human experience beyond Earth. Long after almost every other person living in the 20th century has passed from living memory, the legend of Neil Armstrong will be remembered. Armstrong’s “small step” is credited as inspiring generations of astronauts, scientists, and engineers to pursue their future careers. Since 1972, no one has again set foot on the moon, and the technology required to bring people there and back safely no longer exists. After this heyday of moon exploration, the emphasis has changed from moonshots to low Earth orbit missions and unmanned probes. In August of this year, NASA landed Curiosity on Mars, the latest and most ambitious in a series of Martian rovers and landers. Curiosity is a sixwheeled, nuclear-powered, laser wielding, car-sized robot that will research geological indicators of water and possibly any life that could have lived on the planet. NASA engineers developed an

entirely new “skycrane” technology for the rover, essentially an automatic jet pack combined with a crane that fires to slow down the rover. Most critically, the rover is carrying hundreds of pounds of scientific equipment representing a virtual laboratory, which will allow scientists to make all the important measurements on site. While the landing of an atomic space robot science tank on Mars is unquestionably awesome, it is unlikely that Curiosity or any other robotic missions will have anywhere near the cultural impact of a manned mission to Mars. We have unprecedented access to the fruits of this exploration, but more people on Twitter were talking about system engineer Bobak Ferdowski (a.k.a. Mohawk Guy) and his star-laden haircut than any of the scientific and engineering achievement of Curiosity. Even President Obama said in his congratulatory message to the team that “you guys are a lot cooler than you used to be.” It was the old school of “white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer[s],” as Neil Armstrong described himself, that brought us the Apollo triumph. Half a billion people – over a fifth of the world population – a tuned in to watch the grainy black-and-white photos of the first lunar steps. It was a moment where all of humanity was united in one humble man’s experience. Coincident with this high water

mark of public admiration was NASA’s virtually unlimited budget required to ‘win’ the space race, and therein lies the paradox of the path that NASA manned and unmanned programs have taken since then. With inflation, the cost of Apollo would have come in at a hefty $109 billion in 2010, and in fact, at the height of the sixties, the program took up 3.45 per cent of the American government’s spending. After Apollo 11, though, the program was drastically scaled back, causing two planned scientifically-minded moon landings to be cut. Furthermore, after Apollo, NASA was tasked with developing the Space Shuttle as well as a longterm program of robotic exploration of our solar system. With an ever-diminishing budget, successive directors were faced with tough choices on the future of the undeniably inspiring manned space program. When President Obama axed the next generation Aries-Constellation spacecraft that would have brought tomorrow’s astronauts back to the moon and perhaps even Mars, Neil Armstrong was blunt in his criticism. At a congressional hearing he stated that “for The United States, … to be without carriage to low Earth orbit and with no human exploration capability to go beyond Earth orbit ... destines our nation to become one of second or even third rate stature.” We should keep in mind that

the primary motivation for Apollo funding was political rather than scientific – indeed, only one of the twelve astronauts who walked on the moon was a scientist. When America won the space race, the public awareness of NASA continuing scientific missions dropped to relative obscurity. Since the days when the only players in the space game were superpowers engaged in proxy warfare, the aims and accessibility of space flight have changed dramatically. In recent years, privatized companies have begun ferrying cargo and passengers into orbit. The company SpaceX recently docked an autonomous spacecraft, Dragon, to deliver supplies to International Space Station, an arrangement which will become increasingly normal as this newly-formed “space economy” begins to grow and thrive. Far from being the only player in the game, NASA now benefits from an industry devoted to making space travel more economical. Indeed, portions of NASA’s budget are earmarked exclusively for investment in these private companies to spur further innovation. The nascent space tourism sector is also democratizing access to space – to a point – with Virgin Galactic beginning to offer trips to low orbit for tiny fractions of the price demanded by former superpowers. Private investors in Interplanetary Resources have signaled their interest in asteroid

mining, which may eventually create the infrastructure necessary for human interplanetary space travel. The de-emphasis on manned space travel rubbed Neil Armstrong the wrong way, and understandably so. In a post-space race context, NASA has shifted its primary focus away from manned missions and towards purer scientific research. While this has minimized the ‘human interest’ aspect of their missions and thus their public support, the post space-race years have also been the most fruitful in terms of scientific output. Curiosity is set to explore a geologically promising section of Mars for the next two years, and is very likely to be exploring for much, much longer. Unfortunately for our pioneering spirit, it is both difficult and expensive to get a fragile human to outer space and keep them safely alive long enough to do interesting science. Consider that some of the earliest space probes launched just after the heady days of the moonshot, Voyager I and Voyager II, have begun to leave our solar system altogether. It is simply more practical to extend a human consciousness to the cosmos through robotic proxies than it is to do so ourselves. The thought of distant probes may not be as romantic as a man standing on the moon, but these robotic sojourners will remain intact long after the sun itself has died, a permanent testament of human ingenuity and audacity forever adrift among the stars.

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The McGill Daily Thursday, August 30, 2012 mcgilldaily.com

Performing Dissent Pussy Riot’s rise to internet fame

Illustration Amina Batyreva | The McGill Daily

Kaj Huddart The McGill Daily

n February 21, five members of Russian feminist protestpunk band Pussy Riot performed a “Punk Prayer” in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. With colourful balaclavas over their faces, they began crossing themselves and bowing to the altar, imploring the Virgin Mary to “drive away Putin” and “become a feminist.” They filmed their protest, later uploading “Punk Prayer” onto Youtube. As the video gained notoriety, the authorities took notice. Three members of Pussy Riot are now in the process of appealing a two-year sentence on a charge of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. Pussy Riot’s goal was to further the protest movement in advance of the March 4 election – which Putin

won – and to embarrass the Russian Orthodox Church’s close ties with the President. The Russian protest movement has long derided Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow for his unbridled support for Vladimir Putin – whom the Patriarch referred to as “a gift from God” – and for dictatorial Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Kirill allegedly worked closely with the KGB during the 1980s. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian media accused him of using the church to make millions from a dutyfree cigarette import scheme. The Orthodox Church under Patriarch Kirill combines the oppressive power of religion, capital, and an authoritarian state, making it an obvious target for Pussy Riot’s punk indignation. “Punk Prayer” is perhaps the most memorable and successful act of political performance art in our time, and has arguably done more to damage the reputation of the Putin

regime outside of Russia than almost any other single act. As a result of their detention and allegations of harsh treatment, Pussy Riot has spread their message through Russia, where, apart from Moscow’s liberals, it has largely been met with religious outrage. In Western countries, where anti-Putin sentiment runs high, Pussy Riot has found sympathy among musicians and politicians. Although some conservatives in the West have questioned the ethics of disrupting a holy space for political purposes, the unsavoury closeness between the Patriarch and the President mitigates this concern. Other than incarceration, several elements seem to have converged to make Pussy Riot’s protest so successful. The lyrics to “Punk Prayer” are bitterly acerbic: “The Church praises the rotten Dictators/The cross-bearing procession of black limousines.” The song itself is simple and rough punk rock, though for the chorus,

Pussy Riot sings in a mock-Gregorian harmony, imploring the Virgin Mary to “drive away Putin.” Both culturally appealing and politically specific, “Punk Prayer” was more effective at arousing a global emotional reaction than the 2012 protest movement’s eloquent public speeches. Of course, the question of gender is also intrinsic to the shock value of Pussy Riot’s performance, especially in the Russian context. As an allfemale feminist punk band, Pussy Riot has positioned themselves against the male-dominated establishment. Many critics argue that women’s rights have regressed in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. The Russian Orthodox Church does not ordain female clergy, and even though women outnumber men in Russia, they make up only 14 per cent of the State Duma, the national parliament. Pussy Riot’s perceived attack on Orthodox Christianity was

rendered more striking because its members were all female; moreover, their bright balaclavas and long clothing both desexualized and playfully militarized their image. Perhaps the most important lesson from Pussy Riot’s protest is that the internet has created a new forum for political performance art with global reach. Subversive Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who has been under house arrest in Beijing since his release from prison in 2011, decided to mock the authorities last April. In recognition of the 15 surveillance cameras pointed at his house, Ai set up a further four webcams in his residence, allowing the public to become voyeurs into his life. Ai attracted 5.2 million views before his project was shut down by Chinese internet censorship. Despite Pussy Riot’s incarceration, the future looks brighter for subversive artists in repressive states, who are able to use the internet to disseminate their work.

culture

The McGill Daily | Thursday, August 30, 2012 | mcgilldaily.com

Illustration Amina Batyreva | The McGill Daily

Still reeling

Illustration Amina Batyreva | The McGill Daily

The Montreal World Film Festival struggles on Kaj Huddart The McGill Daily

ontreal’s World Film Festival (WFF), the city’s premiere international cinema event, finishes on Monday, September 3. Far removed from the international glamour of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), one of the most well-attended film festivals in the world, the WFF is a low-key affair that tries to showcase obscure and up-and-coming films and directors. This year, the WFF showcased 432 films from 80 different countries. The festival, however, has struggled to attract the star power of TIFF, which has

become a Hollywood favourite. This was not always the case. In the WFF’s opening year, 1978, the festival attracted Faye Wray, Gloria Swanson, and Ingrid Bergman. Thirty-four years later, the festival has recast itself as an effort to “encourage cultural diversity and understanding among nations.” But TIFF manages to cover a larger range of films, from big Hollywood features such as Sideways and Crash to small indie productions. Indeed, even the most prevalent Quebecois films are now heading to Toronto for the international exposure, rather than languishing in their home province. A dispute with federal cultural agency Telefilm Canada in the mid2000s further hurt the WFF, as they

lost their funding. A rival festival was created in 2005 with the support of government agencies, and lawsuits were launched by WFF. The legal battle was recently dropped, restoring the WFF’s funding, but the episode didn’t help the festival’s fortunes. Despite its relative decline, the WFF is still an international event of note. The official selection includes Karakara, a Japanese-Quebecois road film set in Okinawa; Anfang 80, an Austrian production about falling in love in old age; and Two Jacks, an American film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s The Two Hussars set in modern Hollywood. The festival’s director, Serge Losique, pointed out that the WFF is North America’s only major com-

petitive festival. While Cannes, Berlin, and Venice are all competitive festivals, TIFF is not. Losique insists on the importance of this distinction; however, the Montreal World Film Festival doesn’t exactly live up to the reputations of its European cousins. To be fair, the WFF has great local and international competition. Its festival slot at the end of August often coincides with the Venice Film Festival, which began on August 28, and ends shortly before the beginning of TIFF. Moreover, Montreal has a plethora of other film festivals that are genre- or region-specific. Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal is a worldrenowned documentary festival,

Finding freedom of expression in student-run galleries Victoria Lessard The McGill Daily

or the artistically-inclined, Montreal is a haven teeming with galleries, artist-run spaces, and museums. As a student, whether you’re creating or just appreciating art, the ordinary gallery can sometimes be an alienating, intimidating, or staid place that showcases points of view far from the issues with which the average student grapples. Student-run spaces are an alternative to the gift shops and judgemental gallery assistant gazes of the traditional institution. The unfettered creativity and experimental works found in student spaces create a different atmosphere, one of messy and chaotic imagination, and

often, serious political opinions and ideas. The Fridge Door Gallery is McGill’s own student-run gallery. While the group doesn’t have a permanent space, they show two exhibitions annually, typically in November and March. The Fridge Door provides a creative place on campus for the hidden student artists at our university, and allows those who don’t have the benefit of a fine arts program to express themselves in a public setting. The group also allows for aspiring curators to experience creative collaboration with artists in an open and democratic setting. The VAV Gallery is a student-run exhibition space for undergraduate artists at Concordia University. The space is democratically run; a student gallery director facilitates programming, rather than specifi-

cally curating to their own point of view. The shows are created through a selection process where a group of students organize the applications into thematic groups, ensuring a diverse range of mediums and ideas. The gallery runs programming approximately every two weeks, which guarantees that there’s always a new show to see. Each exhibit at the VAV presents unique ideas, exploring new mediums not often found in traditional institutions, such as media and installation. The FOFA Gallery is also at Concordia. Showcasing the work of graduate students, FOFA displays the work of artists coming into their own, as opposed to the sometimes chaotic experimentation of the students at the VAV. Exhibits are often developed more conceptually, focusing more specifically on individual

artists. The upcoming exhibit opens on September 4, with Pierre Dalpé’s “Personae,” Eliza Griffiths’ “Love, Alienation and Free Association,” and Mariane Bourcheix-Laporte’s “Interstitial Stillness.” The VAV Gallery, FOFA Gallery and the Fridge Door Gallery offer alternative spaces to traditional institutions like the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal or the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Each space offers a unique vision and an artistic megaphone through which different students can shout their ideas, from those just finding their feet artistically and politically, to those with a clear sense of their creative identity. With all three spaces so close by, take the time to peek into the thoughts of your peers, and perhaps see your own thoughts reflected back to you.

Check out the WFF program at www.ffm-montreal.org. There will be free outdoor screenings all week at Place-des-Arts, at 8:30 p.m.

Culture HAPS

Give me some space

Fantasia is devoted to cult horror and Asian pulp, and the Festival du nouveau cinéma is a boutique international festival with an emphasis on new technology. While Montreal’s smaller festivals continue to thrive, the World Film Festival seems unable to regain its former relevance. Perhaps future cooperation with Montreal’s other festivals, an idea suggested by Telefilm Canada, can improve the fortunes of the beleaguered WFF.

Maya Jane Coles Music

Thursday, August 30 10:00 p.m. Société des arts technologiques

24-year-old Coles is a talented up-and-coming member of the global electronic music scene. Coles’ lush style of house is driven by repetitive pop-inflected melodies, and successfully negotiates the space between being catchy and cheesy. Tickets online, at the door, and at Cheap Thrills.

“As Yet”

Exhibition Friday, August 31 8:00 p.m. 4144 St. Laurent

“As Yet” will showcase a wide range of media from Montreal artists, including readings, visual art, and live music. Come here to check out the independent arts scene. Consider this a time to culturally atone for the sins you committed during Frosh while still getting a couple of drinks in.

EDITORIAL

volume 102 number 1

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Welcome to The Daily! Neither beholden to profit, nor to any political or administrative body, The McGill Daily is your independent, student-run, campus-community newspaper. While most other independent publications must pander to the whims of advertisers and circulation, The Daily’s autonomy allows us to maintain editorial independence. Our Statement of Principles (SoP) requires us to cover issues that are ignored by mainstream media and provide space to marginalized voices. All events are inherently political; all voices ought to be heard. Our content strives to be inclusive of subjects pertaining to race, gender, age, social class, sexuality, religion, ability, and cultural identity, and to challenge all forms of oppression. When The Daily was founded in 1911, its pages lacked a strong editorial voice. Since then, we have evolved into a publication that embodies critical discourse on issues relevant to both McGill and the wider Montreal community. In 1977, the Daily Publications Society (DPS) saw the first issue of Le Délit, McGill’s only francophone publication. In 1981, The Daily gained editorial independence from SSMU, giving us more autonomy over our editorial content. From sit-ins in the sixties to the occupations of last year, The Daily has been there, reported on, and photographed it all. The Daily seeks to blur the lines between readers, contributors, and editors. Our editorial board – consisting of undergraduate students who are elected each year – is organized as a collective along nonhierarchical lines and practices consensus-based decision making. Every full-time undergraduate student is a member of the DPS and is encouraged to contribute in a variety of ways: no experience required. Thirteen sections await your writing, photography, illustrations, computer skills, voice, intelligence, and wit, so get involved today!

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STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES 2.1 The fundamental goal of The McGill Daily shall be to serve as a critical and constructive forum for the exchange of ideas and information about McGill University and related communities. 2.2 Within this optic, the staff of The Daily recognizes that all events and issues are inherently political, involving relations of social and economic power. Further, we recognize that at present power is unevenly distributed, especially (but not solely) on the basis of gender, age, social class, race, sexuality, religion, disability, and cultural identity. We also recognize that keeping silent about this situation helps to perpetuate inequality. To help correct these inequities, to the best of its staff ’s abilities, The Daily should depict and analyze power relations accurately in its coverage. 2.3 As an autonomous student newspaper, relatively free from commercial and other controls, The Daily can best serve its purposes by examining issues and events most media ignore. In particular, it should deal with the role post-secondary education plays in constructing and maintaining the current order. It should also assist students and other groups working for change in a critical framework, with the aim of empowering and giving a voice to individuals and communities marginalized on the basis of the criteria mentioned in section 2.2. The Daily’s methods should be both educative and active, and determined democratically by its staff. 2.4 Finally, we recognise that The Daily must remain accessible to the student community it comes from, and should abide by an ethic of fairness while maintaining its autonomy.

compendium!

The McGill Daily Thursday, August 30, 2012 mcgilldaily.com

The Sound and the Fury Fendelson “viscerally sick” at world-record fruit salad Euan EK The Twice-a-Weekly

eputy Provost of Student Purchases and Receipts Mortono Joaquin Fendelson was violently and viscerally sick as he attempted to consume a quantity of fruit hitherto unseen by members of the human race. While staff of the Processed Food and Dining Sector of the Royal Institution attempted to break the Guinness world record for largest fruit salad ever, MJF appeared to be on a one-man mission to sabotage their chances, gulping down organic apple chunks and Spanish orange slices at a rate that observers described as “fantastical,” “repulsive,” and “not unimpressive.” After opening the world record attempt with a brief speech praising “those who pluck the bounty,” MJF, known lapdog of Vice-Baroness Pleathah Mama-Boom, climbed into the giant fruit bowl, already quarterfull with the sweet sweet nectar of passionfruit, pungent mangoes, and juice-filled watermelons, and proceeded to envelop himself within litres of tasty, honeyed fruit-syrup. “I am, but I am not; we must consume” said the Deputy Provost as he knelt at the bottom of the bowl and threw his hands to the sky with the exhortation, “the fruit speaks, listen.” Entering first years, already shocked by the sight of a fully grown member of their species intently rolling around in a bowl of delicious crushed strawberries, fresh blueberries, and delectable pomegranates, turned and ran when MJF’s guttural yells began filling the air like the cries of pagan lovers in warm embrace. “He literally began rubbing banana skins on his eyes,” said U0 History and Culture of Tea Infusion

student Bo Pentergast. “I tried to run, but there was no end; the sound and fruit were in my mind. Existence – the world as we know it – seemed to be at stake. ” While many students tried to rationalize the proceedings, citing ancient rituals, others believed MJF’s retching and gurgling signalled the beginning of the dissolution of the Universe. “It was when he began throwing up that I knew time as we have known it had stopped,” said another, “the juices mixed and curdled: you couldn’t tell where human ended and half-digested fruit pulp began. What do you do when solid and liquid are united? Mass and volume were destroyed. Only being remained. MJF made us all one with the fruit. The fruit salad is and was us. We were it. But who is the salad? It just is. It just is. Fuck.” “The noises! The noises!” said Professori Mattias Ungelfort as he ran from the scene clutching his ears, “vocal chords produce no such sound.” As PFDSRI staff tried desperately to distract MJF with thousands of just-ripe peaches and a barrel of freshly-picked grapes, he paused, looked them each in the eye, and said, “You won’t fucking destroy me. I am the phoenix.” “Holy shit, that’s what I’m fucking talking about,” yelled froshie Brad Brodiston in response. A spokesperson for the human species said an investigation has been opened into the origin of the MJF, who remains sequestered in the Consumerist Church of James, nursing his self-inflicted wounds. When asked by The Twice-aWeekly what the world record attempt was like, Bulldog BudgetBalancer Mantony Assi replied, “It was like a fuckup. A giant, self-consuming fuck up. And it was beautiful.” Illustration J.B. Cool J | The McGill Daily

Public, Private, Pubic, Privates Private parts open debate into role of pubic space Salvadore Daliance Wintourniquet The Twice-a-Weekly

and

Anna

s the school year begins, many students are asking authorities to consider policy changes with regards to the public existence of privates

outside of the private sphere. “There seems to be a concerning trend toward authorities telling youths how they can and cannot act in the public domain. What they don’t understand is that we face very specific problems when it comes to inhabiting space,” said P. Erky Booti, a U3 Twerking major. “For instance, I have a lot of

trouble working at home, ’cause I tend to get distracted by my fridge and/or sex toys. So I like to go work at cafes. But I also like to be naked when I study. I don’t think I should have to compromise that,” they continued. And thus, the issue of pubic nudity has blurred the boundaries of public and private space.

But it’s not limited to study-space conundrums. “I always forget when it’s okay to be nude and when it’s not. This morning I went out to get my laundry, and I was pretty nakey, and when I got outside, I thought, maybe this is a problem, I’m outside, but I’m still on my back porch, so maybe I’m still in private, but maybe

my privates are in pubic, so who knows?” said a confused Mina Eck Mybach. The double entendres and similar spellings of much of the lexicon involved in this issue makes it very difficult to parse the issue, as well as to report on it. For now, both asses and answers remain pretty much at large.