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NEWS
THE CAMPUS APRIL 13, 2021
Cassie MacDonell, News Editor » thecampus.news@gmail.com
THE EDITORS 2020-2021 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF HUGH GODMAN
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SENIOR COPY EDITOR CASEY HEBERT
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COPY EDITOR JUSTINE TREMPE thecampus.jce@gmail.com
LAYOUT EDITOR JESS LAPENNA
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BUSINESS MANAGER JUSTIN BRANT
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NEWS EDITOR CASSIE MACDONELL thecampus.news@gmail.com
OPINIONS EDITOR SAFIA HAFID
Police and COVID-19: are they allowed to do that? Regulations have been changing rapidly and often without warning due to the uncertainty of the virus. Last week, Premier François Legault called on police forces across the province to be less lenient on people disregarding social distancing directives. Along with these changing regulations comes increased power given to police. The Quebec police force was recently given the power to skip a step when issuing fines to those in non-compliance with social distancing, meaning that fines no longer have to be processed by the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions in Montreal. In addition, police have the power to obtain “telewarrants,” a power the police have had since fall, which allow them to quickly gain permission to enter homes to enforce lockdown restrictions. Police in Quebec can use a phone or fax machine to get a warrant by a judge to enter a home they believe is acting against public health directives. Typically,
the warrant would take a few days to arrive, which does not make sense for police who want to break up gatherings and parties the same evening. Police have the right to ask for proof of residency, and if refused entry, obtain a telewarrant. While granting police more powers during a public health emergency is necessary to implement certain rules, it could also lead to race-bias discrimination, the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations in Montreal explained. Other advocates are raising the same concern about the telewarrant measure, with Michael Bryant, executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association Citizens, telling Solomon during an interview for the Solomon Show his concerns. “Studies have proven over and over that Black, Indigenous, and people of colour will too often be the targets of these telewarrants, that’s just been in our history in Canada and racial profiling by telewarrant is a real threat,” Bryan said. He
Cassie MacDonell News Editor
does acknowledge that the decision to extend these powers is difficult to make as there is not enough known about COVID-19. One student speaks about a recent time where they didn’t realize a specific regulation was in effect. “Rules are changing so fast. Yesterday I was sitting outside in the quad doing some work with my roommate. I was wondering why the quad was empty since it was such a nice day until campus security asked us to put our masks on, even though we live together and are outdoors. I understand that campus security is just doing its job, but it’s crazy how uncertain all the rules are,” says one student. One day after this incident, on April 9, Bishop’s sent an email explaining that masks are required when doing activities with others outside. From March 30 to April 5, the Sherbrooke Police issued 32 reports for non-compliance with the curfew. For the same period, 16 reports were issued for illegal gatherings.
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FEATURES EDITOR JEREMY AUDET
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ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
Bishop’s professor Jason Rowe: Co-Investigator of NASA’s Pandora mission Cassie MacDonell News Editor
Since 1958, NASA has studied everything from moons to planets and stars, constantly contributing to our modern knowledge of space. thecampus.ac@gmail.com Still, common, burning questions remain, namely about the presence of life beyond Earth. Jason Rowe, PhD, Associate Professor at Bishop’s SPORTS EDITOR University and the Canada Research Chair in Extrasolar Planet DAVID ROSSITER Astrophysics, takes us a step closer to answering this question with thecampus.sports@gmail.com his research in discovering and characterizing exoplanets, which are ECONOMICS & planets that orbit a star outside the solar system. Last week, he was BUSINESS EDITOR named the Co-Investigator and a primary space team member of the proposed NASA Pandora mission to learn more about exoplanets, SAMY CAUVET thecampus.businesseditor@gmail.com which could mean crossing another significant step in the quest to find life. Rowe is receiving the help of Kelsey Hoffman, PhD, Visiting GRAPHICS EDITOR Scholar at Bishop’s, in addition to their students and collaborators from LEEA REBECA RUTA NASA, universities, and research institutes. The principal investigator thecampus.graphics@gmail.com is Elisa Quintana of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre. Pandora is one of four missions selected for further concept SOCIAL MEDIA development under NASA’s new Pioneers program, which strives COORDINATORS to conduct astrophysics science at a lower cost using smaller-scale FIONA DORAN & missions. After additional definition, these four concept studies will be MACKENZIE HOLMES reviewed before being approved for flight. Pandora is a small satellite, or SmallSat, that will study 20 stars and their 39 exoplanets in visible PHOTOGRAPHER and infrared light. An issue that past planet-hunting telescopes faced, THERESA GRAHAM including the Kepler Space Telescope that Rowe previously worked on, are stars that get in the way and give the impression that some THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS transiting exoplanets have atmosphere characteristics that, in reality, belong to these stars. Pandora aims to separate the characteristics that Shayne MacDonald belong to a star versus which belong to a transiting exoplanet, helping Andrew Phillips scientists be certain they see the correct observations. By finding out Rebecca Campbell more about these characteristics, scientists can get an idea of what the Sydney Wilson planet is like and whether it may be habitable. Virginia Rufina MarquezThe Pandora mission is not the first time Rowe collaborated Pacheco with NASA. Rowe was awarded the NASA Exceptional Scientific Manu Bissonnette Achievement medal during his time with the Kepler Space Telescope Pascale Desmarais team, a mission that revealed the presence of more planets than Marlene Canue stars in our galaxy. Rowe later joined the SETI Institute as a research Nathaniele Pelletier scientist and member of the Kepler Science office, where his continued work on exoplanets led to the discovery of an Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of a nearby star, earning him a second NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement medal during his tenure.
BRIDGET BOUCHER
Graphic by Leea Rebeca Ruta
