Vol103iss15

Volume 103, Issue 15 Monday, January 13, 2014

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News

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

Student-run café kicks off its first week

03 NEWS The Nest kicks off its first week $6 million surplus in Student Services

3

The Nest opens after three years of lobbying

Will divestment help stop climate change?

Administrative restructuring faces debate McGill student faces U.S. Homeland Security

08 COMMENTARY Against the “hubbing” of Arts support staff An open letter to CeCe McDonald on role models and hope

10

FEATURES

Fiction: Walmart through the generations

12

SCI+TECH

Anti-aging and radical life extension Hacktivists and the surveillance state

14

HEALTH&ED

Tinder and Grindr and the way we look at each other

15

SPORTS

Redmen Hockey mid-season report

16

CULTURE

24 hours to TNC Casablanca Chandigarh

18

COMPENDIUM!

Tips for skin care Biology major confused in arts class

19

EDITORIAL

The student-run café is only the first step

The new student-run café Sarina Gupta The McGill Daily

L

ast Monday, after three years of lobbying from student groups, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) opened up a new student-run cafe (SRC) called The Nest. Tucked into the second floor cafeteria in the Shatner building, replacing the vacated Lola Rosa Xpress.

The new café, which features gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan menu choices, is student-run, with former SSMU President Josh Redel at the helm as manager.

In an interview with The Daily, Kathleen Bradley, head chef, noted that, “The general reaction to the café this first week has been overwhelmingly positive. [Students] love the prices, the size has been good, it’s a great bang for their buck, and [the menu] rotates daily but there’s something you can come to expect everyday like the burritos.”

Despite the successful first impressions, there have been hurdles with implementing the new SRC. According to Redel, the biggest challenge has been trying

William Mazurek | The McGill Daily to “piece all the vendors together, get them talking, get stuff ordered, get the right prices and [... find] the right suppliers who can deliver on time.”

Redel added that it has been challenging “getting the recipes down pat, and [hiring and training] the staff,” but that so far it has worked out well.

“The initiative is a learning experience for all of us. I want to know where people think we can improve and do better since part of our mandate is a comprehensive customer feedback mechanism,” Bradley said. “We’re continuing to work on customer and student engagement.”

For Bradley, the most meaningful feedback has been from students who appreciate the ability of the SRC to accommodate dietary restrictions. “Being able to provide something vegan everyday, lots of vegetarian food, lots of gluten-free food, is really important and people have really responded to that.”

Students who talked to The Daily generally had positive things to say about the new café, although not all of them knew about it. A

U2 Management student said, “I’ll definitely check it out [but] they should publicize it more in emails and posters throughout campus.”

A U1 Engineering student standing in line to purchase a vegetarian burrito at The Nest mentioned, “I’m so happy there are vegetarian options for a low price.

I’m always broke or low on money so finding a good burrito for cheap, and at such a convenient location, is awesome.”

Currently, the student-run café is limited to breakfast and lunch. Prices are set around $7 to $8 for a sandwich and soup combo, and $5 for a burrito, along with $1.40 for a coffee. Prices are adjusted for students who bring reusable plates or mugs.

“For me, [as] the manager, the most exciting thing is that we haven’t hit any big hiccups in the first week. This means we can start next week on the engagement pieces, the events we’re planning,” Redel said. “We’ve already had student groups talk to us about getting involved, so that’s the best part about this start-up: it’s been pretty seamless.”

“The initiative is a learning experience for all of us.

I want to know where people think we can improve and do better since part of our mandate is a comprehensive customer feedback mechanism.”

Kathleen Bradley

4

News

January 13, 2014 The McGill Daily | www.mcgilldaily.com

Student Services accrues $6 million surplus Confusion over proper allocation of the money Dana Wray The McGill Daily

A

fter three to four years of a combination of conservative enrolment estimates, unfilled positions and employee turnover, changes in the fiscal year, and the 2011 MUNACA strike, Student Services has accumulated a surplus of almost $6 million.

A document obtained by The Daily that was presented at a Committee on Student Services

(CSS) meeting in late November indicates several proposed uses for the money. This includes providing extra security to open up the libraries later during the exam period, increasing the number of mental health advisors, hiring a part-time fundraising employee for the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office, maintenance on the Brown building, emergency funds, and enrolment services.

Other proposals included graduate supervision, teaching assistants, and an innovation fund.

The surplus was surrounded by

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Brown Student Services building confusion when first presented at the CSS. According to Post-graduate Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Society (PGSS) Member Services Officer Elizabeth Cawley, the student representatives on the CSS were taken by surprise when they were handed â&#x20AC;&#x201C; without the usual prior notice â&#x20AC;&#x201C; documents pertaining to the allocation of this money.

To Cawley, even though the students had been given details of the proposals, this was not a transparent move on the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s behalf. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The fact that this proposal was not circulated to the members beforehand for discussion and we were effectively taken by surprise, in my opinion, is inappropriate. [...] I would never be comfortable making a decision about $6 [million] of student money without consulting with PGSS members [...]

We were expected to make a decision in favour of this on the spot,â&#x20AC;? Cawley wrote in an email in November.

Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) (DPSLL) Ollivier Dyens told The Daily in an interview that the surprise was a mistake. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My mistake was I should have told CSS [...] â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;this is the beginning of a conversation.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; It was never meant to be a topdown process, and that was why I brought it to CSS.â&#x20AC;?

Student representatives were equally upset with some of the suggestions made for the surplus, many of which â&#x20AC;&#x201C; such as hiring TAs or providing extra security for the libraries â&#x20AC;&#x201C; are usually paid for from the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operating budget.

Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Society of McGill University (SSMU) VP University Affairs Joey Shea told The Daily in November that the shifting of funds

Robert Smith | The McGill Daily

could â&#x20AC;&#x153;set a dangerous precedentâ&#x20AC;? for other restricted funds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[The proposed initiatives are great] but if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Student Services fee, it needs to be kept within Student Services. [...]

Beyond the legality of it, it is still not very financially transparent.â&#x20AC;?

Cawley echoed this sentiment, calling it a potentially â&#x20AC;&#x153;serious detriment to the credibility of Student Services.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;How could they possibly come to the students and ask us for a fee increase during the next referendum period,â&#x20AC;? she said in November, â&#x20AC;&#x153;if we know that this money can be taken away and used for other projects around the university at will?â&#x20AC;?

Since December, the administration has been quick to assure students that the money would not be spent outside of the purview of Student Services. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[SSMU President Katie Larson] and I had a meeting with both [Provost Anthony Masi and Dyens] before Christmas. They assured us that the money would be spent inside Student Services and kept in it,â&#x20AC;? Shea explained to The Daily in a follow-up interview.

At the December meeting of Senate, Shea and PGSS SecretaryGeneral Jonathan Mooney submitted a question on the surplus to Dyens, asking why the money was being considered for purposes of the Student Services portfolio. Dyens responded that the proposal would be open to future consultation.

However, Shea said in a followup interview, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good to monitor [the situation] and make sure that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kept within Student Services.â&#x20AC;?

Projects such as deferred main-

tenance on the Brown building, and discrepancies between salary increases for staff and the budget, are necessary, according to Dyens.

Both of these projects are normally funded under the purview of Student Services. However, the CSS will meet again this semester to advise Dyens and Executive Director of Student Services Jana Luker on where the rest of the money should go.

According to both Shea and Crawley, $6 million wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be enough to make big, permanent changes, such as adding mental health professionals to lighten the load on McGillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mental Health Services. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We need to make sure that we have the resources available so that the initiatives we fund are sustainable and will continue to improve the delivery of Student Services beyond one influx of cash,â&#x20AC;? Cawley wrote to The Daily in November.

Both Cawley and Shea agreed that the â&#x20AC;&#x153;innovation fund,â&#x20AC;? shelved under â&#x20AC;&#x153;other projects to consider,â&#x20AC;? is a viable destination for the money. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Every unit within Student Services should be allowed to present a proposal for how they could use this money to improve their service,â&#x20AC;?

Cawley explained in November. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the ideas should be innovative, collaborative, and then be voted on by a committee like CSS where student members have parity.â&#x20AC;?

Shea echoed a similar sentiment in an interview with The Daily in November. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of need for that money within Student Services, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a question of how you allocate it, what that process is like, and ensuring that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fair.â&#x20AC;?

News

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

5

The growing pressure to divest Student-led initiatives pave promising path for change The estimated carbon reserves of the top five fossil fuel companies McGill invests in (in gigatonnes of CO2) 41.03

21.22 16.75

Data from Divest McGill

18.09

Data from Divest McGill

34.60

Exxon Mobil Emma Noradounkian The McGill Daily

W

hile McGill continues to maintain its investments in various fossil fuel and tar sands companies, growing pressure from student advocates and organizations has been building to spur the divestment movement among students.

Divest McGill and its efforts to urge the University to divest from tar sands and fossil fuel companies have gained support from the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), the Macdonald Campus Students’ Society, and the Post-Graduate Students’ Society – which together represent over 32,000 students at McGill.

Out of the 645 publicly-traded companies in which McGill invests, 35 are involved with fossil fuels and 14 extract crude oil from tar sands. McGill’s endowment is valued at over $1 billion, and the stocks and bonds from these companies comprise about

BP

2.5 per cent.

As early as February 2010, SSMU voted at a General Assembly to divest from tar sands and financial companies with stakes in fossil fuels. In January 2011, it passed a Five Year Ethical Investment Plan which, among other things, set a clear path for this divestment.

Although SSMU has been quietly divesting its holdings in fossil fuel and tar sands companies since then, in May 2013, the University’s Board of Governors (BoG) voted against divestment, and the University refused to divest its holdings.

The rejection was in large part due to the BoG’s Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR), the committee charged with maintaining the University’s ‘ethical’ investments.

CAMSR’s definition of “social injury” – essentially, the terms of reference guiding an ethical investment – prevented the possibility of climate change being considered a social injury. Advo-

Chevron cates have since been working toward a new attempt to change the terms of reference.

“We are actually working on a response to CAMSR, and stating all of the different reasons for rejecting divestment,” said Perry. “We’re also just working on building relationships on campus, not just with students but also with alumni.”

The divestment campaign at McGill follows a larger movement of divestment strategies across universities, cities, and other organizations in the U.S. and Canada.

As a strategy, divestment is one that has a long past at McGill – in the 1980s, the University divested from the South African apartheid government after pressure from students, and has since divested from tobacco and Burma.

“Divestment is a tactic which is supporting work being done in a climate justice movement,” Divest McGill member Kristen Perry told The Daily. “Divestment is just one part of a larger campaign to just

BHP Billiton

Anglo American

shift the weight from fossil fuel extraction and burning,” she added.

“A major motivator for us is making sure that we can reduce climate change as much as possible and the effects of it […] and to [keep the world] at a climate that we can live in,” Perry said.

Perry added that although “climate change affects everyone,” Indigenous people are the ones who are most touched by it in Canada.

“Extraction projects in particular really affect the Indigenous populations where the tar sands and pipelines are basically on their lands.

They are most affected [by climate change]. They are in the area where they’re extracting fossil fuels.”

“A large goal of our campaign is to create a dialogue, so even if the University doesn’t divest, we have succeeded in already creating a dialogue,” said Perry.

“Contrary to what the Board said, fossil fuel companies do not promote or encourage alternative energy outside of a strictly [public relations] agenda. There are court

findings of social injury against fossil fuel companies; […] there are significant environmental and health impacts associated with the tar sands and climate change.”

Robin Reid-Fraser, past SSMU VP External and current Divest McGill member, noted that students’ relationships to their universities give them a voice in these kinds of decisions. “[Divestment campaigns] call attention to the financial dealings of the University, which otherwise are not often examined or questioned, and then [create] a space for students to demand a say in those financial decisions which are usually left up to more removed bodies like McGill’s Board of Governors.”

“I think that this also creates an interesting situation in which students who may not yet have their own financial investment decisions to make, or involvement in other institutions that do, can use their relationship to their universities to have a voice in these kinds of decisions.”

6

News

January 13, 2014 The McGill Daily | www.mcgilldaily.com

McGill student sees civil liberties lawsuit dismissed by district judge Ruling upholds U.S. government electronic device searches at border Molly Korab The McGill Daily

L

ate in December, a McGill student involved in a yearslong constitutional battle with the U.S. government saw the dismissal of his lawsuit challenging the government’s right to search electronic devices at its borders. The decision dismissed the case on both standing and merit, while raising debate about post-9/11 homeland security policies and the extent of reasonable suspicion when conducting searches at the border.

Pascal Abidor, a doctoral student in Islamic Studies at McGill, was riding an Amtrak train from Montreal to New York in May 2010 when border agents removed him from the train, handcuffed and questioned him in a holding facility, and confiscated his laptop for 11 days. A dual

French-American citizen, Abidor found himself singled out by border agents due to his earlier travels to Jordan and Lebanon recorded in his French passport, which culminated in a preliminary search of his laptop on the train and its later confiscation.

Soon after the incident, Abidor worked with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to file a complaint, and later a lawsuit, against the Department of Homeland Security. The plaintiffs, which included Abidor, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the National Press Photographers Association, sought to challenge the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) suspicionless search policy, which allows for the search and seizure of travellers’ personal belongings, including laptops and other electronic devices.

The ACLU argued that such

searches were illegal under the first and fourth amendments.

“This is part of a broader pattern of aggressive government surveillance to collect information on too many innocent people under lax standards, and without adequate oversight,” said Brian Hauss, a legal fellow at ACLU who spoke with The Daily regarding the case.

The judge, Edward R. Korman of the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York, dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that the plaintiffs did not have standing for the lawsuit – due to the lack of “substantial risk that their electronic devices will be subject to a search or seizure without reasonable suspicion.”

According to DHS data, device searches, at present, stand at about 15 searches a day.

“My immediate reaction was [… ] New York just had the lowest crime rate in 50 years, so are they going

to just stop prosecuting murders, because they don’t happen often?”

Abidor told The Daily, referencing the judge’s grounds for dismissal.

“In terms of our rights, quantity and quality are equal,” he continued. “When someone’s rights are violated, all of our rights are violated.”

As the government did not break any laws, the plaintiffs’ standing in the case was very unlikely to be decided upon.

“If the government looks at your stuff and decides that it doesn’t want to prosecute you, and it just invades your privacy and has not found any evidence of wrongdoing, there’s basically nothing you can do, under this judge’s interpretation,” said Hauss. “It’s like, ‘tough luck.’”

Aside from the plaintiffs’ standing in the case, the primary reason behind the case’s dismissal, the judge also questioned the case’s merits, writing that reasonable

suspicion need not be required for routine electronic device searches at borders, as it would be within the U.S. interior.

“Effectively, we think that the judge’s ruling, in this case, makes the border a constitution-free zone,” said Hauss.

Aside from the other grounds on which the judge dismissed the lawsuit, the judge also questioned the necessity of bringing a laptop when travelling.

“As a human being today, it is not plausible [to travel without a laptop],” Abidor said. “He said I don’t have to travel with a laptop, which by extension is… I don’t have to be in school? […] I made a choice to study outside of my country, so that choice makes me susceptible to having my rights violated?”

After the recent decision, the ACLU is still waiting on its decision to appeal the case, which would go to the Court of Appeals.

People, Processes & Partnerships plan under scrutiny Students claim lack of consultation, administration says talks ongoing Cem Ertekin The McGill Daily

T

hroughout the last year, multiple student associations have raised concerns about the Faculty of Arts’ People, Processes & Partnerships (PPP) initiative, especially regarding the extent of student consultation done by the administration.

The PPP dates back to 2010, when Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi’s Working Group on Administrative Services started working on an anticipated problem related to an upcoming turnover of administrative and support staff. A number of staff were approaching the normal age of retirement, and an emerging government policy limited the Faculty’s re-hiring policy to a one-for-two basis, according to Manfredi.

“The question became, how can we organize the administrative and support staff to best provide services

to faculty and students,” Manfredi said in an interview with The Daily.

However, the urgency of the situation changed with provincial budget cuts.

According to the McGill Association of University Teachers (MAUT) President Ken Hastings, the Faculty of Arts is not the only faculty undergoing similar constraints.

“All faculties across the university are affected, and in a similar way – the total number of support staff will be reduced. The decisions about how to function optimally with those reduced numbers are not being made by the central administration, but are being made at the faculty level. Each faculty is taking its own approach,” Hastings explained in an email to The Daily.

In an interview with The Daily, Associate Dean (Academic Administration and Oversight) Gillian LaneMercier pointed out that the situation quickly became a crisis.

As such, in November 2012 the faculty decided to launch a “much more extensive, more public, and participatory process to address the situation.”

“I individually [...] have tried to make students aware, be it through [the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS)], be it through their associations, be it through Facebook [...] to try to get as many students not only aware of the various aspects of this PPP initiative but to become actively involved,” Lane-Mercier later said.

However, McGill Industrial Relations Association (MIRA) representative Matthew Crawford-Appignanesi believes that there has not been enough student involvement by the Faculty of Arts students in planning out the PPP. “We had this presentation by one of the admin on PPP, they had the whole plan laid out for us. But we weren’t really involved with the

process apart from AUS President Justin Fletcher, so we did feel a bit out of the loop,” Crawford-Appignanesi explained in an interview with The Daily.

“I don’t think enough has been done, and it seems that much of the outreach has been a reactive response to criticism rather than a proactive effort to build support,” Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) Secretary General Jonathan Mooney said in an email to The Daily.

“For example, given the absence of a formal Faculty of Arts graduate association at McGill, PGSS [...] should have been involved in selecting representatives to PPP and probably should have been consulted in the very early stages of this process,” he explained.

According to Manfredi, students have been actively involved in the process.

“For example, the working group

on Graduate Affairs has six graduate students on the working group itself.

So that’s not just consultation, that’s actually getting them rolling up their sleeves and helping us solve the problem,” he explained later in an interview with The Daily.

According to Fletcher, the students were indeed involved in these changes and the committees of the PPP initiative.

Pointing out the backlash by the student body to a proposal to restructure Leacock building’s third floor into a central advising hub, “I think a lot of what we, as a society, have done has changed the direction the production is coming in. […] And I think our concerns were heard on that, and the new proposal is a lot different,” said Fletcher in an interview with The Daily.

The debate around the PPP is still ongoing, and a Town Hall organized by the AUS will take place on January 22.

On Tuesday, January 28

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Commentary

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

8

Get informed, take action!

Stop the displacement and overwork of our academic support staff Support Our Staff at McGill Commentary Writer

A

s of January 1, 2014, support staff from the departments of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (LLC) and East Asian Studies (EAS) are working from a new administrative service centre located at 688 Sherbrooke.

While the move was deemed necessary because of building concerns on McTavish, the ‘hubbing’ of the support staff for LLC and EAS is part of a bigger plan set to affect 13 departments in the Faculty of Arts. For nearly a year, students, faculty and departmental support staff have voiced their concerns regarding this plan, dubbed by the McGill Administration as “People, Processes, and Partnerships” (PPP). On Tuesday, January 14, Support Our Staff at McGill is calling for a town hall meeting to plan to stop the PPP. We are told by Dean of Arts Christopher Manfredi that this plan is an unavoidable response to provincial budget cuts. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the numbers don’t add up and that the PPP will result in the overwork of crucial department members.

While McGill proclaims a narrative of financial desperation, those with a more critical view of McGill’s budget, like Justin Marleau (former Vice-President of AGSEM: McGill’s Teaching Union), suggest that changes in accounting practices over the years have produced skewed bud-

getary reports. These are then used to justify cuts to courses, teaching support budgets, libraries, and jobs across campus.

In the wake of these austerity measures, our education is suffering. Indeed, last semester the McGill Administration closed two libraries and we lost 27 library assistants. Now Dean Manfredi is set to impose the PPP, despite the considerable negative feedback raised by students, faculty, and staff during several town halls held by the administration in March, April, and September; in pieces published in The Daily; in a petition circulated by students; and a vote conducted by the Arts Faculty meeting last April. In the meantime, little evidence has been presented of any changes to the PPP on the basis of this feedback, neither has it been demonstrated that the PPP even stands to be an effective or viable form of organizing administrative labour.

During the December 4 council meeting of the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS), members supported a motion opposing the PPP after discussing its negative effects on departmental integrity and on the well-being of the affected support staff. Before the vote, Manfredi assured PGSS councillors that their departments would maintain their autonomous functioning. However, the physical proximity of staff, collegial environments, and reasonable workloads are key parts of any department’s internal culture and autonomy. As students, we also rely on our support staff for expert

Tanbin Rafee | The McGill Daily knowledge and timely assistance.

How could autonomy or efficiency survive this restructuring? Moreover, where is the autonomy in effectively forcing departments to comply with the PPP? By suggesting that the PPP is the only solution, Manfredi is reorganizing the Faculty of Arts without due consideration to evidence-based best practices or the input of the affected departments and students. For example, does it make sense to hub Political Science and Economics together? These are the two largest departments in the Faculty of Arts and they will be merged along with Philosophy into a single hub serving nearly 3,000 students. The PPP in its current

form might resolve staffing gaps for Manfredi, but it risks creating considerable problems in terms of access and workload in the wake of its restructuring.

We implore Dean Manfredi to look beyond floor plans and staffing charts to see the wave of opposition growing against the PPP. The Arts Undergraduate Society council also adopted motions concerning the plan and the Students’ Society of McGill University council is preparing to debate a motion against the PPP later this month. An open letter published in The Daily last semester, with nearly 200 signatories, including several student associations, is still collecting signatures.

On January 14 from 5:35 p.m. to 7:35 p.m. in Arts W-215, please join us for an action-oriented discussion between all the stakeholders of this issue. We hope to hear from staff, faculty, and students in order to promote awareness and build solidarity in our efforts to stop the forced relocation of our departmental staff.

Support Our Staff at McGill is a student-led group of concerned members of the McGill community who are opposed to the displacement and overwork of academic support staff. Find them online at supportourstaffmcgill.wordpress. com and follow SOS-McGill on Facebook and Twitter.

The Daily is looking for a Reader’s Advocate The RA will write a twice-monthly column weighing student concerns against the RA’s assessment of the paper’s performance. Any Daily staff member (with six Daily “points”) can apply.

The ideal candidate will be passionate about The Daily and reader response, having an understanding of and/or willingness to learn about The Daily and its Statement of Principles (SoP). Possible tasks include reader surveys and interviews, thematic columns, critiques of how The Daily lives up to its principles, and judging the relevance of the SoP and The Daily to the student body.

Submit applications or questions to commentary@mcgilldaily.com

Commentary

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

9

The other side of freedom An open letter to CeCe McDonald

Alice Shen | The McGill Daily Kai Cheng Thom From Gaysia With Love To: CeCe McDonald OID#238072 Minnesota Correctional Facility St. Cloud 2305 Minnesota Boulevard S.E. St. Cloud, MN 56304 United States of America The Other Side of Freedom

–

Re: The Making of Heroes “How many of my brothers and my sisters will they kill before I teach myself retaliation?

Shall we pick a number? […]

And if I if I ever let love go because the hatred and the whisperings become a phantom dictate I obey in lieu of impulse and realities (the blossoming flamingos of my wild mimosa trees) then let love freeze me out.

I must become I must become a menace to my enemies” June Jordan, “I Must Become a Menace to My Enemies” Dear CeCe, Hi, I’m Kai Cheng, a transfemme Asian writer and student living in Montreal, Canada. I’ve wanted to write to you for a long time now. It’s

hard to put the feelings I have into the appropriate words, when we’ve never met and we’re so far apart.

How do you write to a political icon and personal hero without sounding presumptuous or ridiculous?

How do you say something meaningful to someone like you, who has lived through so much with such grace? When I read about you in the news, or think about your story, I am inspired to be brave, to be real, to speak and act in solidarity with my sisters in community. So I’m writing you this open letter to thank you for that, and to try and spread the gift of your story a little farther in the world.

For over a year and a half, the trans* community has waited for this day: the day you are released from a prison that you never should have been placed in, that should never have existed in the first place.

Although I wish that there were no need to celebrate moments like this, that transphobia and racism and the prison industrial complex did not conspire to contain, incarcerate, and murder people for the ‘crimes’ of difference and fighting for survival, I can’t say that I’m not thrilled you’re getting out. It’s a complicated feeling, I suppose. Maybe you have complicated feelings of your own.

Perhaps it is more appropriate to say that on this day, as on all days, I honour your strength, your courage, and your will to live and love. I honour the words and the wisdom you have given to queer and trans*

communities through your blog and public statements. I honour your – I honour you.

I started this letter with an excerpt from June Jordan’s “I Must Become a Menace to My Enemies” because I always appreciate the power and beauty of the poems you include in your blog posts. You remind me that poetry – poetry that tells it like it is, that makes space for our voices, that dreams for us a less vicious world than the one in which we currently live – is as much a part of fighting for life and revolution as other kinds of struggle. That poetry is, as Audre Lorde says, “not a luxury,” but a bridge between us. Jordan’s poem always makes me think of you.

I think about how three years ago, on a dark night, you were harassed and attacked by white, cisgendered men and women for no reason other than that you were there, and different; how you did what you had to in order to survive.

How, for once, it was the white man who did not live, and how the judicial system – the institutional systems supposed to uphold justice in America – reacted to this outrage, this audacity of yours to live when statistics say you should have died.

Just by living, you became a ‘menace’ to the state, to cisgender and white supremacy.

And I think about Islan Nettles, who was beaten to death in the streets of Harlem on another dark night this year. I think about all the

unnamed trans women of colour who have been harassed and violated and attacked. I think about my own dark nights. It’s a strange, dark fairy tale of transformation, transition, and violence that we live and die in, CeCe. And yet, still, you find the light and wisdom inside yourself to talk of love, to write and tell us that love is unending.

When I was growing up in Vancouver, I thought that I was totally unlovable – or at least, parts of me.

All the part that walked ‘funny,’ that lisped and liked to put on makeup and dresses. The part that dreamed of kissing boys. The narrow eyes, the tan skin. Who was going to care about a queer freaky cross-dressing kid from the immigrant neighbourhood? Straight people love straight people. White gay men love white gay men. I thought I had to choose between loving myself – my gender, my sexual preferences – and freedom. I thought that freedom meant trying to carve out a place in the middle class. I thought that freedom was keeping my head down, not rocking the boat, blending in as much as possible. I thought that you were free as long as you were quiet and followed the rules. I wish we had known each other then.

I bet you didn’t intend or expect to end up becoming the leader and icon for trans* folks and queers of colour that you have – your words are always so full of grace and humility, your writing always remains mindful of the community, those

who didn’t make it, those whom we’ve lost. But you did, you became a kind of hero for me and for others because yours is a story from the other side of freedom. Dear CeCe McDonald, I remember and stand with all imprisoned trans* people and against the prison industrial complex. I am so happy that you are free (or, a little freer). You’ve been teaching me about freedom for three years.

In love and solidarity, Kai Cheng CeCe McDonald will be released tomorrow, January 14. She will write a public statement once she is rested and has spent some time in privacy with people she is close to. Those wishing to send CeCe McDonald messages of support or financial/ material solidarity are advised to watch the “Free CeCe McDonald” Facebook page. Also consider sending a donation to other incarcerated people or abolition movements.

According to her close supporters, “CeCe has one more request: after her release, she’d like to make a scrapbook documenting the worldwide support she’s received. If you’ve organized an event, held a sign at a rally, or created art inspired by CeCe, please send it to mpls4cece@gmail.com.”

From Gaysia With Love is an epistolary exploration of intersectionality by Kai Cheng Thom. They can be reached at fromgaysia@ mcgilldaily.com.

Features

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

10

THE FOUNTAIN Fiction by Matthew Redmond Illustration by Eleanor Milman

D

avid Graves had high hopes for his son’s career at Walmart Kirkland.

By the time he retired last year, the old man was already something of an in-store legend, having not only worked in every possible department, but also transformed the standards of excellence that were applicable to most of them. As a greeter, “Dave the Dynamo” had learned the phrase “Hello! How are you?” in at least 15 (some say 20) languages; in Outdoor Living, he’d more than once sold every grill in the fleet – from the modest “Apex” to the sprawling, cup-holdered “Zenith” – within an eight-hour shift.

He had even personally apprehended dozens of septuagenarian shoplifters over the years, many of them former servicepeople whose field training had made their crimes invisible to lesser employees. And with enough “Customer Service Star” badges to represent the English, French, and Chinese zodiacs simultaneously, Dave knew that it was time to ride off into his own personal sunset, leaving behind these luminous accomplishments for the more ordinary, downcast kids to steer themselves by.

But from his own boy he expected something different, something unique – and was very likely to get it. John Graves never spoke, never stopped sweating, and had never once mistaken himself for the hero of his dad’s old yarns. Without his golden pedigree, anyone would have realized how ill-equipped he was even to shop at Walmart, much less work there. Instead, the mandatory three interviews became no more than an awkward formality – John mumbling his thanks while managers lavished their elaborate praise upon the last generation—and just six days after submitting his cover letter, the younger Graves suddenly found himself stationed in the Food department, with no idea what he was doing.

“What the hell are you doing!” hissed department manager Luke Sargent, having appeared out of nowhere, on the evening of that sixth day. “Are you just going to stand there in one spot? Don’t you remember the ThreeMetre Rule?”

But in the heat of the moment, and de-

spite drilling himself with homemade store policy flashcards for hours the night before, John had no answer. Luke breathed a sigh that seemed to expel the last vapours of his faith in human society, and said: “When a customer comes within three metres of you, look them in the eye – SMILE,” he pulled at the corners of his mouth with two large, beetred index fingers, “and ask if you can help them find anything. That’s the Three-Metre Rule, okay? You ought to know – your dad invented it, right?”

John wouldn’t find this out for some time yet, but it was a sign of the veteran manager’s commitment to professionalism and excellence that he could mention David, almost by name, at this moment without an eye roll, pause, or any other sign of real feeling. Apparently the two men hated each other. Everybody in the store knew why, and nobody really minded that no two definitive explanations were exactly alike. Most followed basically the same premise, anyway: Luke had expected to make Kirkland a footstool on his way to becoming store manager somewhere, and was shocked when, decades later, departments 17, 18, 19, and 20 were still hanging around his neck like four millstones – except they were getting heavier each year. He blamed David – who could have gone anywhere and done anything but chose instead to live out his illustrious career in the sticks – both for stealing his thunder and for wasting it completely.

John, as I said, was still oblivious to store gossip, and finding no significant change in the boy’s sweaty face, Luke decided to change tactics. He smiled. “Look, let’s just take a minute to calm down and regroup, okay?”

And with a vague backward wave he both interrupted and dismissed the customer behind him, who stomped away unseen. “Look.

If I told you that we’re exactly the same, that we both just wanna get to the end of the day with our brains intact and go home and do something else, something worthwhile – would you believe me? I mean, is that so crazy? Some people around here say that I’m the Devil or whatever,” he looked around as if to catch such a person spying on him through

the shelves, “but what do they know, right?

Shouldn’t you of all people not care what they think, when they think at all? So let’s just start over and do the best job we can until closing time, huh? What do you say, kid?”

The boss extended his hand. He could see that John was drenched with sweat, but that was all he could see. Since the little snob refused to say anything, Luke threw up both hands and changed tactics again: “Tu penses que je demande le ciel entier? D’accord. Mais le programme, suis-le, hein?” Then he turned on his heel and walked away briskly, headed for the more promising new blood in Pets. If he said anything more, it was lost under the intercom’s sudden, grainy blare, “ATTENTION WALMART EMPLOYEES. CODE ADAM. NINE-YEAR-OLD BOY. CURLY BROWN HAIR. LAST SEEN IN HARDWARE.” John felt for the missing child.

This first dysfunctional exchange became the mould for dozens more. Under the added strain of a brand new nickname – repeated innocently by some lunchroom com-

mentators and more cruelly by others, “The Fountain” did his best and tried everything, but couldn’t begin to please Luke, who, to his credit, quickly saw this opportunity for what it was. What better chance to test his arsenal than on the worst, most wet-behind-theears-and-everywhere-else worker that minimum wage (plus 30 cents) could buy? Highly rhetorical ‘coachings,’ close supervision from one aisle to the next – these were just a few of the sharp, two-edged motivational tools available to managers at Walmart.

“Two-edged,” I mean, because they had the unfortunate side effect of slashing John’s chances at successful salesmanship. Every customer’s time is precious, and nobody wants to waste it on an employee so feeble that he needs longwinded lectures, personal escorts, or his own security blanket (actually a damp towel) just to survive his shift.

Shoppers therefore took great care to remain well outside John’s three-metre-wide proximity at all times, thereby rejecting him like so much cracked merchandise. For two more

Features

weeks the young man wandered through his appointed aisles, losing more water from his forehead than most people need in a day, and speaking to no one. Then one quiet evening, with only minutes left in an eighthour tour, he felt a tap on his shoulder and whirled around to find an old woman – talking directly at him!

“Pardonnez-moi,” the lady murmured before mistaking John’s terrified grimace for a plea to change languages, “Please excuse me. I need to locate the fresh fruits and vegetables.” She wore a blindingly colourful jacket and matching skirt covered with plenty of both: apples, peaches, pumpkins, lettuce, turnips, onions, cucumbers, pineapples, grapefruit, squash, watermelon, and strawberries, among other natural delicacies, looked even fresher and more beautiful against her small, crooked frame. Everything above her waist was nearly parallel to the floor, the poor woman. John felt a surge of obligation before she’d even finished her question. “If you could tell me what aisle

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

number to try, I’d be very grateful. I know you’re very busy.”

“Certainly, ma’am. If I’m not mistaken, fresh produce can be found in the aisle between Soft Drinks and Frozen Food, and across from Health and Beauty. Let’s go there now. If I’m right, well and good; if not, I’ll ask someone’s help and get you where you want to go.” Surprisingly, while his brain was still gathering the nerve necessary for a queasy smile, John had managed to make all of these hospitable-sounding noises. Mentally he asked himself what had just happened, and was answered from somewhere deep inside with another, much more forceful question: Will you do something with your life, or not?

“No, you won’t,” said the old woman, her voice suddenly much stronger than before, “because, as everybody knows, this store doesn’t sell fresh produce. Hasn’t for decades.” Then, with no idea what was happening, but sure that it was a judgment on him, John watched in horror as her metamorpho-

sis began. He was aware that her gray hair had hit the floor like a dead pigeon, and that her warm eyes were growing steadily colder and more alert, before the telltale sign: her hunched back healing and recoiling itself into the perfect posture that could only belong to one man. “On top of that, my poor son, Walmart aisles have no numbers, which you should have pointed out from the beginning to avoid misunderstandings later. All in all, I am disappointed in how little progress you’ve made after nearly two weeks’ work.

Everyone takes time to adapt, of course, but I’ve been watching you since day one, and have yet to see any real improvement in your approach. You’re not a dull boy, John. It pains me to say this, but if your mother could see how your talents are being wasted, it would break her heart.”

“But what really bothers me,” he continued after a pregnant pause, “is how little it would take for you to improve. If you – look at me now, son, this is important. If you just smiled once in a while…”

11

“It’s him!” said John, louder than he’d ever said anything. His gaze had fallen on something over David’s left shoulder. “It’s who?” said David, turning around.

What he saw was a small boy, ten feet away, squatting on his tiptoes and whining gently: “Eh-ha, eh-haa.” His legs were thin and bruised, his lacerated arms encircling them like red ribbon around a gift box. He kept trying to rest his chin on his knees, but nearly lost his balance every time and was forced to rock back and forth to keep from falling over. His pale, discoloured cheeks showed two dark lines descending from his eyes – paths forged by the constant traffic of tears, though right now they were dry.

With his brow tightly knit, he seemed to be nursing a migraine, or a memory, or both.

T-shirt, sneakers, shorts – all were stained and damaged.

“What is that?” said the father, horrified.

“My God. It’s Adam,” said the son, moving toward the boy with outstretched arms.

“Code Adam. Brown, curly hair. But that was so long ago. My God,” he whispered, forcing the words out, “My God, they never found him, did they?”

John was right. The boy who had disappeared in Hardware two weeks ago had, until then, remained that way. Through a spectacular perversion of parental duty, almost too repulsive and unlikely to be told, Adam (suppose that was really his name) had been abandoned at Walmart on May 25 (the Planting Holiday), found by a concerned customer, and then lost again. This woman had brought his existence to the store’s attention before a prior engagement had forced her to go home, and the “Code Adam” announcement had sounded six times that day when the staff, distracted by a sudden rash of complicated transactions at Customer Service, forgot all about her story and the child himself.

In the 14 days that followed, he likely explored every lost corner of his massive new home, a prisoner with diminishing delusions of unsurpassed freedom. Love confined him to the store; fear kept him quiet and in hiding. Often he had slept between boxes in the long-neglected half of Receiving – and sometimes in the empty trucks themselves. But he was not invisible. As later private confessions would reveal, at least a dozen associates had crossed paths with this increasingly frail and isolated boy during store hours, yet somehow none of them had thought to do anything. One might hope that some severe punishment, if not actual convictions, would follow swiftly on the heels of such failure, but the issue remains in question.

What we know for sure is that after the incident, John was much friendlier and more open with everyone. Even his sweat problem seemed to disappear overnight. Neither Luke nor his father failed to notice the change, and he accepted their praise with a serene mix of gratitude and relief. Still, he could be as quiet as his surname sometimes, and as far beyond reproach. And when anybody mentioned Adam, or attempted to say outright that he, John, had acted heroically that day, the young man would change into a third person, with no resemblance to the other two – shielding his eyes with the back of his hand as he burst softly into tears, asking himself what business we have to speak of heroism; to speak at all.

Sci+Tech

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

12

Searching for the elixir of life The realities of anti-aging and radical life extension

Haidan Dong | The McGill Daily Diana Kwon The McGill Daily

T

hroughout history, humanity has been searching for a supposed ‘elixir of life.’ Today, many believe we are closer to finding it than ever before.

Human lifespans have doubled since the 1800s. In recent years, the possibility of radical life extension has captured the interests of many.

Aubrey de Grey, a researcher in aging, believes that the first person to live to 1,000 has most likely already been born. Ray Kurzweil, a prominent inventor and futurist, believes that humanity will soon be capable of achieving immortality. Google recently announced its investment in Calico, a company that plans to tackle the problems of aging.

Though the promises of youth and longevity are compelling, there are still many unknowns when it comes to the underlying biology in the field of anti-aging.

Changes in environment and lifestyle are the main causes of the increased lifespan of humans. Access to sanitation systems, medicine, and healthy diets led to the drastic increase in life expectancy seen over the last few decades.

Despite the lack of proof that a pharmaceutical or biology-based approach can improve life span directly, these ideas have given rise to treatments, and for some, a lucrative

business scheme. In recent years, the anti-aging industry has made huge profits by selling customers ‘treatments’ through products such as hormone replacement therapies and dietary supplements (dubbed ‘nutraceuticals’). Not only is there a lack of empirical evidence for the effectiveness of these treatments, there is also very little regulation.

“Generally speaking, things in the anti-aging realm are not regulated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) or Health Canada because they are being used by physicians as an off-label treatment, or they are supplements that [aren’t subjected] to the same types of tests as prescription drugs,” Jennifer Fishman, a bioethics professor at McGill, told The Daily.

One of most popularized groups of nutraceuticals is antioxidants.

These arose from the “free radical theory of aging” – the belief that the cellular damage caused from oxidation of free radicals is one of the main mechanisms contributing to aging. The idea is that antioxidants would sweep up these free radicals and prevent their deteriorating effects. Yet, this theory has been the topic of contention as scientific findings are providing evidence that the free radical question is not so black and white. For example, Seigfried Hekimi, biologist and aging researcher at McGill, and his lab are working on debunking this

theory of aging, and have, to date, found that increased levels of free radicals led to increased lifespans in the Caenorhabditis elegans worm, a primary organism used in the study of aging.

Another large contender for anti-aging treatment is hormone replacement therapy, which has largely arisen from the fact that certain hormones such as growth hormone and testosterone decrease with age; however, to date, there is no evidence that this form of therapy has any effect on the rate of aging.

People may be looking for a ‘quick fix’ to aging, but such a solution has yet to exist. “There is no current way to affect the aging process per se, which is of the nature of a pharmacological agent. Nothing, not even the beginning of one,” Hekimi told The Daily.

The anti-aging rhetoric has also gained hold in the technology community, with Google most recently embracing and funding anti-aging solutions. The community includes several proponents of the ‘singularity principle’ – the idea that science has solved so many of our problems to date that given enough time it will eventually be able to solve the problem of aging once and for all.

Though the exact plans that Google-funded venture Calico has to combat aging are not known, they will likely be using big-da-

ta analysis to identify the major causes of age-related diseases in order to shift research focus and funding into these areas.

Though humans have been able to skirt many diseases and ailments that afflicted past generations, others have taken their place.

Maladies that would have meant certain death in the past – such as cholera or pneumonia – are no longer a death sentence. Today, heart disease and cancer – largely agerelated ailments – are taking the top spot as the most deadly diseases in the developed world. The question remains as to whether, once these age-related diseases become curable, humans will be able to have radically extended lifespans.

“One of the major questions in the biology of aging is whether there is a finite lifespan,” said Fishman. Radical life extentionists believe that even if we do have finite lifespan, science and technology will eventually be able to surpass it. Kurzweil likens biology to a software process which, like other forms of information technology, can be modified to reach optimality. And judging by the rate of technological advancement, Kurzweil predicts that humans will be able to achieve immortality by the year 2045.

Though scientists have found potential genetic links to longevity, science is still far from understand-

ing the human aging process to the point of being able to isolate a process whose manipulation may allow us to live longer.

“There is only one element to suggest we’ve reached the maximum potential – [the fact] that there have been people [in the past] who lived as long as we do now. […]

But there have been no historically documented case[s] of people living to 200. This might have to do with the “intrinsic process” that we’d like to touch on,” said Hekimi.

Barring the discussion on the possibilities of anti-aging and radical life extension, there are ethical concerns with these goals. According to Fishman, there are two main ethical questions when it comes to anti-aging research, one being the question of who will be able to afford the treatment. Anti-aging treatments are not cheap, and their high cost may mean the promises of increased longevity and youth are only available to those who can pay for it. The other question is whether this is what we should be spending research money on.

As Fishman put it, “Even if it were available to everyone, is it the right place to be spending our money in light of other issues?”

Will we live to be 1,000? We really don’t know enough yet to be sure. The one thing we can count on is that humans will continue on in search of the answer.

Sci+Tech

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

13

A brave new age The battle between hacktivists and the surveillance state

Diana Kwon | The McGill Daily Haider Riaz Sci+Tech Writer

T

he inception of the internet revolutionized information communication. It also opened up a novel medium to reveal the abuse of power rampant in governments and large corporations.

Over the past two decades, the net has steadily been established as a haven for a plethora of activist groups and counterculture movements, based on the widely spread belief that it provided anonymity. Revelations by a series of whistleblowers, the NSA leaks by Edward Snowden being the most recent, have severely altered this utopian image of the internet.

The leaks have revealed widespread bulk surveillance, mass data collection. These activities are being resisted by a new generation of online activists who realize that the freedom of the internet is vital for the future of an open democracy.

Leakage of information revealing the abuse of the fundamental human right to privacy has become the civil disobedience of this age. The consequences of engaging in this new form of civil disobedience is illustrated by the incarceration of Barrett Brown, Chelsea Manning, and Jeremy Hammond in the last two years.

Hammond is a political activist and computer programmer (hacktivist) who leaked the internal emails of the private intelligence firm Strategic Forecasting (Stratfor). The emails revealed that the firm was spying on various human rights and activist groups at the request of the U.S. government. Hammond was held without trial for 18 months during which he faced periods of solitary confinement and was sentenced to ten years in a federal prison and three years of supervised release.

Brown is a journalist and satirist who is facing up to a maximum of 105 years in prison for creating

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the wiki page ProjectPM, which shared and facilitated the analysis of leaks from private intelli-

“ I want people to see the truth regardless of who they are because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.”

Chelsea Manning gence firms including, Stratfor.

The threat posed by these private firms to freedom of information, the incipient value of the coming century, is recognized by activists

like Brown, and is the chief driving force that leads them to reveal the abuse of power by governments and allied private corporations.

The battle between hacktivists and the surveillance state is fundamentally a struggle for a genuine democracy as recognized by Manning in one of her chat logs: “I want people to see the truth regardless of who they are because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.” Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the release of classified documents including the Collateral Murder video, Granai massacre video, Iraq war logs, and U.S. diplomatic cables. This was one of the longest sentences ever passed by the U.S. government for the leaking of information, and the Juan Méndez, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, released a report alleging that Manning was held in “cruel, inhuman and degrading” conditions. The sentencing of

Manning acts as a warning to future whistleblowers, rather than a proportionate response to Manning’s actions.

The most common criticism facing whistleblowers and cyber activists is that their activities are illegal. They must proceed knowing that they will likely face legal prosecution and a large portion of the population will label them immoral. However, despite potential consequences, they keep stepping forward to inform the public about government abuse and overreach, as they too have decided to do what is right, irrespective of how their fellow citizens will view them.

If the virtue of leaking certain kinds of secrets still appears dubious, one does not need look any further than the remarks made by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan at an open forum at the Department of State: “If you want a secret respected, see that it’s respectable in the first place.”

Come to half-section meetings on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m.

Email scitech@mcgilldaily.com, healthandeducation@mcgilldaily.com or sports@mcgilldaily.com for more information

Health&Ed

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

14

Don’t take candy from strangers On the beauty (or lack thereof) and sexiness of Grindr and Tinder

Joelle Dahm | The McGill Daily Joelle Dahm and Ralph Haddad The McGill Daily

D

ownloading Grindr or Tinder onto your smartphone can be one of the loudest wake up calls you could ever receive. You might ask yourself: Is this what I’ve been missing these last couple of years? Just a click and you could be in some stranger’s bed. You scroll through page upon page of disembodied muscular torsos, selfies, and bios, and for some reason may not feel the disgust you expected. The excitement of meeting someone new online, with the possibility of ending up in bed with them, has a certain appeal.

Trying out Tinder after Grindr (a similar app that caters to a wider variety of sexual orientations) felt like going to watch Frozen after just having sat through The Wolf of Wall Street. After hours of obsessively scrolling through hundreds of profiles on both apps, you’ll realize that this is the perfect tool for our generation. It is fast, quick, superficial, and easy. And it’s all fun and games until you realize what you’re doing, which is passively judging people from behind the comfort of a smart-

phone screen.

These seem like pretty useful apps, to find “new friends or [meet] someone special,” as CEO of Tinder, Sean Rad states. Of course they can only be useful if you fit into the relatively narrow group the apps are directed at, as Tinder and Grindr reinforce the normative social construct of beauty.

Unlike Tinder, Grindr allows you to message anyone in your area, without the indication of mutual interest. As you can’t just swipe people you’re not interested in to the left, many biographies include the statement of “no *insert any race but white*.” Even though users might argue that their personal attraction is inherent, the biographies display an obvious pattern of white people as desirable, while people of colour exist as fetishes.

This is based on the system of oppression that we can encounter every day in media, advertisements, our school system, and our workplaces, that establish whiteness as superior; however, racism is not the only issue. Fatphobia and fat shaming are still deemed acceptable in many parts of our society, and these new quick fix apps are no exception. Grindr bios are often

littered with “no fatties, seeking athletic men, built,” et cetera.

Most newspaper articles a person would come across in a simple Google search for the keyword “Grindr” are assertions that the app helps spread STIs and HIV faster than if the app never existed. [For example, Grindr has been blamed for a syphilis outbreak in New Zealand and New York City, and spreading HIV]. Grindr’s website has a health page about how and when to get tested, and how to stay safe when partaking in consensual sex. In reality, STIs and HIV could be transmitted in a number of ways, and placing the blame of these apps is somewhat scapegoating and misinformed.

A joint study conducted by professors at University of Southern California and UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs concluded that, out of all respondents, 23.2 per cent of Grindr users had engaged in anal sex without a condom, and 74.4 per cent had engaged in oral sex without a condom. But the same study concluded that most participants had gone to the internet in order to seek safe-sex information. Moreover, a study conducted by Hunter College’s

Center for HIV Educational Studies and Training found that at least 10 per cent of people on Grindr had never gotten tested for HIV. While a seemingly insignificant number, this is actually a staggering number of sexually active respondents. The same respondents claimed that, even though they had never been tested, their HIV status was negative. This, according to Jon Rendina, one of the conductors of the study, “may mean that men are sharing potentially inaccurate HIV status information with their partners on Grindr.”

The fact is some people don’t need Grindr or Tinder (et cetera) to hook up with someone, and if you’re sexually active (regardless of where you met your sexual partner) you are at risk for contracting an STI. But is more transparency about sexual history the only answer? Hula, another dating app, allows people to share their STI results up front for everyone to see. That may be a good solution, but the only way to be completely transparent is to be honest and forthcoming enough with your sexual partner in order to disclose any information that may be compromising to the other person’s

health before engaging in anything.

Nevertheless, Tinder and Grindr offer an easy solution that does not require hours of dressing up and standing around waiting for the right person and the right moment.

Tinder especially empowers individuals who identify as female, as it opens up the possibility of a casual one night stand, without the presence of an environment prone to unwanted approaches and potential groping. You can just comfortably sit on your couch or in the library, swipe the picture of your object of desire to the right, and hope for them to do the same. Then you get a match and can start a conversation.

As neither interest nor dismissal will be known, unless the sympathy is mutual, Tinder offers a medium for people who might have a strong fear of rejection, or experience the latter regularly due to a lack of social skills.

What matters is exercising vigilance. Be careful who you talk to, be suspicious of odd behaviour, and always practice safe, consensual, sex.

Then maybe you’ll make the most of what these apps have to offer and prove all our parents wrong: maybe taking candy from strangers isn’t that bad after all.

Sports

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

15

McGill Redmen hockey mid-season report Men’s hockey looks to continue its hot start

A game against the University of Western Ontario earlier this season.

Sason Ross Sports Writer

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fter a season filled with injuries, a lack of scoring, and a disappointing final upset in the playoffs, the McGill Redmen Men’s hockey team has gotten back on the horse this year, once again becoming one of the staple names in the Ontario University Athletics League (OUA). Led by head coach Kelly Nobes, changes in the off-season have reinvigorated the 2013-14 team. The Redmen currently sit in second place in the Eastern division with a formidable 12-5-1 record. They only trail the 12-0-5 Queens Gaels.

One of the key factors of the Redmen’s success has been their ability to light the lamp at a much higher frequency this year compared to the previous year. So far, the Redmen have potted 73 goals in 18 games, which averages to a remarkable 4.05 goals per game.

They are poised to eclipse the previous year’s mark of 89 goals in 28 games (3.18 goals per game) and are second in the OUA for overall team offence. This increased offence was one of the promises made by Coach Nobes at the beginning of the year that the team has actualized.

Defenceman Ryan McKiernan has led the attack this year from the blue line, accruing 20 points in only 18 games. Getting that type of high powered offence from the defence is a rarity in hockey, and to have that threat from the back end gives the forwards more room to get open, creating more offensive opportunities. Neal Prokop, a newcomer to the team, leads the forward regiment with 16 points in 18 games.

He is followed by Cedric McNicoll, who has 15 points in only 13 games played. Last year’s leading scorer, Patrick Delisle-Houde, has managed only 15 points in 18 games, but has been invaluable to the power

play and penalty-kill units. Look for him to start heating up as the season approaches its climax, and into the team’s playoff run.

One of the most important strategies in hockey is that a great defence makes a great offence.

This is one of the fundamental reasons that the offence has had great success: a good defensive corps.

Other than McKiernan, with his offensive prowess, the defence has been pretty boring – a positive adjective when referring to a team’s defence. The ability to make smart plays in the defensive zone without any flashiness is something that the Redmen’s back end should be proud of. It is rare to see such poise and maturity from the whole blue line, especially with such a young group. The defence has done a great job of extricating the opposing forwards from the front of the net, which has allowed the goalies to do their job: keep the puck out of the net.

Stephanie Butera | Photographer The goaltending tandem of Jacob Gervais-Chouinard and Andrew Flemming has been very solid to say the least. Flemming, the incumbent goalie from last year’s team, has posted a respectable 5-2 record with a 2.67 goals against average and .909 save percentage.

Newcomer Gervais-Chouinard, however, has really stood out with his excellent play, as displayed by his 7-3 record, 1.96 goals against average, and .928 save percentage.

Currently both netminders have played an equal amount of games.

However, it will be interesting to watch what will happen as the games gain more importance toward the end of the season. Nobes will have to decide whether Chouinard will earn more games based on his recent superiority in the net.

Come playoff time, one of the goalies will emerge as the clear starter, and will play the majority of games, and it seems as though Chouinard is well on his way to getting the final

nod in net.

Overall, the coaching staff, led

by Nobes, have backed up their words with actions. They believed in changing the losing culture of last year’s team during the offseason by adding size, depth, and improving the goaltending. This has led to a revitalization of the hockey club, while giving them the added swagger that we last saw in their 2012 championship season.

The Redmen are once again a powerhouse in the OUA, with a high throttle offence and a rock-solid goaltending tandem.

Look for the Redmen to shred through the rest of the regular season with ease, and make a strong run into the playoffs. The Redmen are striving to regain their former glory as champions, which is more than a pipe dream; it’s an expectation. As the famous football coach Vince Lombardi once noted, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

Culture

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Theatrical blitz TNC presents the 24 Hour Playwriting Competition Nathalie O’Neill The McGill Daily

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or this competition, time is of the essence. With only a first and last line to work with, three student playwrights will have 24 hours to come up with a short gem of a play. Once the play is written, it won’t get any easier – participants will have another 24 hours to rehearse with a handful of volunteer actors. Sounds like a recipe for disaster? The results proved quite the opposite, promise Courtney Mitchell and Joseph Burley, ARTifact coordinators for McGill’s Tuesday Night Cafe. In fact, audiences should be prepared for a hectic but highly entertaining theatrical blitz when the resulting three plays are presented.

“It’s an eclectic representation of the playwrights at McGill,” explained Mitchell, “people who are now just getting into it. That’s what we love about TNC, that it’s very intimate for a lot of people who have their first [experience] directing, acting, and stage managing.” For this kind of initial dabbling in the world of drama, 24 hours gives someone an ideal opportunity for free creative expression within the framework of an established theatre collective.

Given this creative freedom, TNC bases its choice of playwrights on enthusiasm and open mindedness, while trying to ensure a stylistic variety. “We’ve received a broad spectrum of stuff so far,” said Burley. “Some absurd plays, some lovely poems.” Some applicants are newcomers while others are reapplying “because they love it,” said Burley.

A lot of applicants do come from the Drama program simply because they’re more likely to be part of McGill’s student-run theatre community, but TNC draws in playwrights from a variety of educational backgrounds – one of this year’s applicants, for instance, studies Biology.

The rules are simple: each selected playwright gets a first and last line for their script, dreamed up by the ARTifact coordinators with the help of McGill Drama professor Myrna Wyatt Selkirk. Every play will feature six to eight characters and be about ten pages long – which roughly adds up to 15 minutes – with

Alice Shen | The McGill Daily only one lighting cue and one sound cue. Other than that, playwrights’ creativity is encouraged to run wild.

The 24 Hour Playwriting Competition is also a good way for actors to get their foot in the door. TNC will include any aspiring actors who volunteer, no audition required, whether they have experience or not. The whole process is centred on the playwrights’ personal vision. Playwrights also direct their own work, drawing on their actors’

input. For many participants, explained Mitchell, this is “their first time writing a play, the first time they experience what it’s like to [interact] with other people who are in it as well, [to see how] the actors and the audience respond to it.”

The 24 Hour Playwriting Competition has been going on for longer than Burley and Mitchell can remember. For a lot of students, especially those who aren’t in the Drama department, this is a pretty

unique opportunity to try their hand at playwriting. “After [the competition] finished last year,” said Mitchell, “everyone was immediately so close. It’s unique to have something like this. A lot of [theatre] at McGill is very audition-based, very classroom-based. Outside of class, [this is] one of the bigger opportunities.”

The ARTifact coordinators would know a thing or two about this. The regular event they organize, the ARTifact evenings, are all

Culture is looking for two COLUMNISTS Applications due January 26 Email culture@mcgilldaily.com for more information

about giving young artists a place to share their work. The ARTifacts usually happen the Tuesday after a show ends – the next one, Heartifact, is coming up in February (yes, it’s named for Valentine’s Day).

“You can look at it like an open mic night,” explained Mitchell. “There are no rules at all. We have improv, we always have art showing, artists usually give an artist statement, lots of musicians, some comedy, really anything you’d like to share with other students.”

ARTifacts usually draw in people from all over McGill. “We had one girl who came to our first ARTifact with some of the most beautiful paintings I’ve ever seen and I ended up actually purchasing one because they were so nice,” said Mitchell.

“She says she’s now considering applying to an art school because she thinks maybe science isn’t for her – [all this after] being able to share it with people [who were] so happy and enthusiastic.”

The competition component of the 24 Hour Playwriting Competition will continue on the night of the show. Each member of the audience will be able to use their ticket as a ballot to vote for their favourite play. “There might be a little treat for the winner,” hinted Burley. “You’ll have to come and see!”

Mitchell teased.

The ARTifact coordinators emphasize the thrill of the competition’s last minute aspect. “It’s going to be stressful, obviously,” said Burley, “but so, so fun. Everyone always wants to see these plays because they’re touching and hilarious. There’s so much interpretation that can happen.”

“We’re going to be really silly about it,” added Mitchell. “We always are.”

TNC is accepting submissions for playwrights at tnc.artifact@ gmail.com until January 14. Actors can email the coordinators to volunteer until January 16. The plays resulting from the 24 Hour Playwright Competition will be presented in Morrice Hall in the Islamic Studies building (3485 McTavish) on January 18 at 7 p.m., but people are advised to show up at 6 p.m. because the tickets, which are free, will disappear quickly.

Culture

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

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Urban planning and decolonization The CCA presents “Casablanca Chandigarh”

Tamim Sujat | The McGill Daily Megan Lindy The McGill Daily

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e take for granted that our neighbourhoods – our parks, our streets, the entire network of our city – are planned.

Perhaps the first cities began as an organic mass that grew with the influx of people and business, but it wasn’t long before cities became structured and regulated, rooted in maps. This all becomes evident when you look at the detailed blueprints that line the walls of the Canadian Centre for Architecture’s exhibit on Casablanca and Chandigarh’s urban development, “How architects, experts, politicians, international agencies and citizens negotiate modern planning: Casablanca Chandigarh.” Everything from the amount of sunlight that would enter a low-income housing project to the distance an average person might walk on a daily basis is measured out. Urban planning is not really about developing buildings, roads, and parks, but about the people who will build their lives within those spaces.

The CCA’s exhibit outlines the urban planning of these two cities in the post-World War II decolonization period. The great empires of western Europe had bled out their funds and their willpower, consequently losing the interest and the capacity required to sustain colonies that were demanding sovereignty. At the same time, industrialization had caused tenement villages to crop up as migrants ar-

rived in droves to work in the factories. Housing needs became a pressing issue for these cities that were industrializing and consequently experiencing urbanization at an exponential rate. The United Nations

Yet the CCA’s exhibit sets out to show how decolonization altered imperialistic attitudes and, for the first time in a long time, local needs were given consideration ahead of the interests of the foreign powers. began campaigns to improve living conditions for colonial countries all over the world as increased exposure showed the crowded, unsanitary, and difficult conditions of these neighbourhoods. International agencies began to produce treatises that denoted the poor living conditions and made proposals for change eventually supported by the U.S., a newly-ascended world power. Jacob L. Crane and Edward

T. Paxton from the United States’ Housing and Home Finance Agency wrote about the housing crisis and the global call to action that the developed world was participating in.

Their article, along with many others, is displayed on the round white table as you first enter the exhibit.

The main room highlights the global trend of such urban planning projects, placing Chandigarh and Casablanca within a context of similar developments. Despite these cities’ development during a similar geopolitical era, their modes of execution were vastly divergent.

Casablanca had already long been a city of great importance in Morocco. From the years 1917 to 1957, the population had risen from 82,500 to over 550,000 people due to rural to urban migration. Chandigarh, however, was a city planned from its very inception. Rather than choosing an existing city as its capital, the northern Indian province of Punjab built Chandigarh from scratch to fulfill this administrative purpose.

In the midst of all this decolonization, it would seem incongruous that Western urban planners and architects became the leaders of third world urban planning. Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, better know as Le Corbusier, the chief of architecture for Chandigarh’s development, was Swiss-French. Michel Écochard, a Frenchman, acted as the director of Morocco’s Service de l’Urbanisme and took charge of the Casablanca project. The effects of imperialism did not end when former colonies became sovereign, so

it is not surprising that the imperial powers still had a finger or two in their colonies. Yet the CCA’s exhibit sets out to show how decolonization altered imperialistic attitudes and, for the first time in a long time, local needs were given consideration ahead of the interests of the foreign powers. Écochard was known for his intensive research into the quantitative and qualitative elements of Moroccan life. He not only looked at the type of land, its unique topographic features, and the amount of people who occupied the space, but used photography to document people going about their daily lives and sent out questionnaires to try and understand how people used the spaces they inhabited. Écochard set out to meet people’s specific needs, not the needs of an assumed ‘universal, rational man’ created by the West. Similarly, Le Corbusier had young Indian professionals on his team, engaging with and influencing Chandigarh’s planning and development. While the West still occupied the leading role, it was clear that the power dynamic between the developed and the developing world was beginning to change.

The intricate planning of these cities and their neighbourhoods revolved around local needs. For example, Écochard noted that pedestrians made up 53 per cent of deaths in Casablanca’s car accidents, a clear sign that the roads needed to be redesigned in such a way as to make walking safer and driving less hazardous. Detailed roadmaps of the city are splayed out along one of the exhibit’s walls, showcasing the differently sized streets, ranging from fast and public thoroughfares such as highways and boulevards to smaller streets intended for residential neighbourhoods. Schools,

hospitals, administrative centres, markets, and other facilities were all carefully conceived to serve the needs of the communities planned around them. Chandigarh’s University of the Punjab and capital buildings are marked out along the walls in as much detail as the satellite towns for specific industry and low-income housing are.

There was just as much care to the common, every-person life as there was to the grand and luxurious buildings that would serve high-ranking civil servants and educated professionals.

The detailed diagrams, blueprints, maps, and photographs give visitors a concrete understanding of the projects undertaken by these teams. The personal notes scribbled in the planners’ and architects’ barely legible handwriting give you an insider’s view into these cities’ transformation. Yet these papers and plans are meaningless without the voices of the people who actually lived in the city. The back wall of one of the rooms projects a video of Chandigarh everyday life. People crossing the street, taking the bus, going to work, to school, home, shopping. All of that banal, normal stuff we are so familiar with in our own city. Unfortunately, none of these people are given a chance to speak in the exhibit, a crucial omission that keeps the scope of information presented far narrower and far more Western than it should be. As much consideration as it seems these European urban planners offered to the residents of these cities, does it matter if we don’t know whether they wanted it in the first place?

“Casablanca Chandigarh” runs until April 20, 2014 at the CCA (1920 Baile). Admission is free for students who present valid student ID.

Tamim Sujat | The McGill Daily

Compendium!

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

18

Lies, half-truths, and incomprehensible beauty

Ask The Weekly Tips for ethereally beautiful skin Dear Weekly, I saw Martha Stewart talking about her terrifyingly complex skin care routine in the New York Times, and now I’m kinda freaking out. How am I ever gonna be as radiantly and ethereally beautiful as Martha Stewart when I’m 72? I only have 50 years to get on her level. Do I need to start wearing toning masks and using serums every day now? Because seriously, dayum.

—Scared of Wrinkles Dear SOW, To help you out, here’s The Weekly’s four easy steps to glowing, firm-but-not-tight, smoothbut-not-like-a-literal-baby, Martha Stewart-tier skin. It’s up to you how seriously and rigorously you want to follow these rules, but let’s just say a certain number of the editorial board here takes their skin care very seriously, and you can tell.

1. Remember your liquids: milk, honey, blood, and brine. It’s important to keep your humours in the right balance when you’re trying to achieve that otherworldy glow.

If you find yourself surrounded by chaos, stress, and unconscionably large amounts of bloodloss (as we all often are), you should try to balance that out with a good, whole-body goat milk soak. Crying

yourself to sleep every night? It’ll draw your skin tight and lead to crow’s feet, so soothe the tension beneath your eyes with a dab or two of honey.

2. Try to use the purest products possible, whenever possible.

Everybody knows that brine concentrated from the tears of recent divorcees just isn’t quite the same when they’ve been drinking too much scotch. Only ravens handfed with the corpses of your enemies are going to provide you with the feathers you need to brush the dust from those little nooks and crannies in your body without leaving any undesirable residues behind too. Of course, it’s possible to cut corners and still get results, but you won’t be the best possible you, unless you use the best possible components.

3. Routine is key: you can’t just apply a goat’s blood mask once every two weeks and expect to get amazing results. You have to commit, whatever the application is. Milk from a cow who gave birth on a night of a new moon is great, but only if you use it four times per lunar cycle, like the instructions on the stone tablets say. Honestly, it’s inconvenient but not hard to read the runes yourself, or find an online translation – it’s just a matter of making yourself stick to it.

E.k. EK | The McGall Weekly 4. Maintain a good diet. Good skin is not something that just magically happens when you slather your skin with a paste of mud and puréed shed snake skins, though obviously that helps. You have to change your intake as well.

Consuming a decent amount of chitin is an often overlooked way

Have some biting satire you want to share with campus?

Drew some comics or made a crossword?

Want to ask The Weekly for advice?

to improve the skin’s firmness.

Try eating whole raw shrimp to start, and if you’re feeling adventurous, there are a myriad of insects available for your consumption. You’d be amazed at how far a couple centipedes go!

Obviously, there are benefits to following these guidelines oth-

er than the breathtaking complexion you’ll have. Balancing your humours will help with digestion, energy levels, and improve the strength of your pheromonal excretions, to list a few. Hopefully these tips set you on the right path though – good luck!

—The Weekly

Get in touch: compendium@mcgilldaily.com

Editorial

volume 103 number 15

editorial board 3480 McTavish St., Rm. B-24 Montreal, QC H3A 1X9

January 13, 2014 www.mcgilldaily.com | The McGill Daily

My kingdom for a decent student-run café

phone 514.398.6784 fax 514.398.8318 mcgilldaily.com coordinating editor

Anqi Zhang

coordinating@mcgilldaily.com coordinating news editor

Hannah Besseau news editors

Molly Korab Jordan Venton-Rublee Dana Wray commentary & compendium! editors

Alice Shen | The McGill Daily

E.k. Chan Emmet Livingstone

culture editors

Nathalie O’Neill Hillary Pasternak features editor

Carla Green

science+technology editor

Diana Kwon

health&education editor

Ralph Haddad sports editor

Evan Dent

multimedia editor

Hera Chan

photo editor

Robert Smith illustrations editor

Alice Shen copy editor

Davide Mastracci design & production editor

Rachel Nam web editor

Chris Mills le délit

Camille Gris Roy

rec@delitfrancais.com cover design Alice Shen contributors Stephanie Butera, Joelle Dahm, Haidan Dong, Cem Ertekin, Sarina Gupta, Megan Lindy, William Mazurek, Eleanor Milman, Emma Noradounkian, Tanbin Rafee, Matthew Redmond, Haider Riaz, Sason Ross, Support our Staff at McGill, Tamim Sujat, Kai Cheng Thom

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fter years of protests, campaigns, and consultation, a student-run café was finally opened on the third floor of the SSMU building, in the space previously occupied by Lola Rosa Xpress.

When the last student-run space on campus, the Architecture Café, was closed by the administration in 2010 due to unsubstantiated claims of “financial instability,” hundreds of students protested. For the next three years, SSMU took sporadic steps toward the opening of a new space. The 2011-12 SSMU executive set aside $200,000 for the café, and in 2012, a case competition was held to design a space.

In 2013, the then-SSMU executive held a “space campaign” to gather feedback on the use of student space. One suggestion was to use the room vacated

by Travel CUTS/Campus Voyages for a student-run cafe. In the end, nothing came of either the case competition or the space campaign. Lease negotiations between SSMU and McGill have also complicated the matter by creating financial uncertainty.

An ideal student-run café would offer a noncorporate venue for student events that could circumvent typically limiting bureaucratic processes, and provide an accessible physical space that promotes community. The current café does not truly serve the purpose of a student space, it amounts to little more than a lunch counter, with seating in the second floor cafeteria shared by

both Bocadillo and Bamboo Bowl.

Ostensibly, another advantage of a student café would be the opportunity for more affordable oncampus food. The food at the new café incorporates vegetarian and vegan entrées, but the prices are similar to other offerings on campus. This, along with its limited operating hours, fails to set the student-run café apart from other similar establishments on campus.

The current student-run café is not a viable alternative to a café with dedicated student space.

Although SSMU executives and employees have promised that steps will be taken to create a real student space in the future, the slow and uncertain progress over the past three years suggests otherwise. This compromised space only kills momentum for the space that students deserve.

Student spaces at McGill are imperative in the midst of encroaching corporate interests. For an institution that claims to exist primarily for the benefit of its students, the University has been strangely dismissive of voices calling for a space that could facilitate conversation and organization in the student body. The current iteration of the student café is a first step, but doesn’t do nearly enough as a space for student expression and collaboration. Students must not be complacent and allow it to be the last step.

—The McGill Daily Editorial Board

Errata

3480 McTavish St., Rm. B-26 Montreal, QC H3A 1X9 phone 514.398.6790 fax 514.398.8318

In the article “SSMU executive midterm reviews” (News, January 9, page 6), The Daily stated that Tyler Hofmeister rearranged the 2013-14 SSMU budget to project a $50,000 surplus. In fact, $50,000 was transferred to the Capital Expenditures Reserve Fund, and the SSMU operating budget broke even.

In the article “SSMU Fall budget projects $50,000 surplus” (News, November 18, page 6), The Daily incorrectly stated that the 2013-14 budget projected a surplus of $50,000. In fact, that money was transferred into the Capital Expenditures Reserve Fund, and the operating budget broke even.

The Daily regrets the errors.

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