The Plumber's Ledger Volume 6, Issue 2 by The Plumbers' Ledger

The Plumberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ledger

Volume 6, Issue 2

From The Editor When I was applying to McGill, I remember feeling slightly unsettled by the fact that the application process only consisted of academics. When I visited, they explained that it was because they “wanted the best students, and nothing but the best.”

Team Editor-In-Chief

Jude Habib Staff Writers Arman Izadi Kelly Ma Illustrators

Adam Melnyk Erica de Petrillo

Contributors

Christos Cunning Bryan Gingras Jude Habib Arman Izadi Kelly Ma Many Others

I found this odd because in the US, most schools are looking for the “well-balanced student” with extracurriculars and volunteer work, alongside the straight-As. Plus, I was nervous applying to engineering, one, because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, and two, because of the stigma of engineers being less social and more hard working. Honestly, I couldn’t be more proud to be in McGill Engineering, because it is nothing like I thought it would be. Last week I was sitting at the Engineering Involvement Fair, amazed at the number of clubs and committees available to students, plus the students walking by curious enough to chat with a tabler and sign up to learn more. Not to mention the numerous stories I heard of more involvement beyond EUS, meeting engineering students in improv groups and theater troupes. There’s something special about the McGill Engineer, and this issue encapsulates a lot of what I value about us future engineers. You can find articles about the national engineering student congress, CFES, how you can make ends meet at school, a first year’s E-Week, an interesting and involved engineering student with a great nickname, and some healthy discourse on engineering drinking culture. To come full circle, I had to decide between paying McGill’s international tuition, or attending a local, and more affordable school. Now I understand that the value in paying to come here doesn’t lay in the classes, but rather in the opportunity to join any of the plethora of groups available (like this one) and meet so many amazing people. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy the issue. Jude, Editor-in-Chief

Join The Team Our team is constantly growing and changing because we at the Ledger are always looking for new talent to add to the team. We are open for new ideas and skill sets to enrich every issue we put out. There are always open positions to be had. We are currently looking for: artists, writers, and editors. Contact Us:

ledger@mcgilleus.ca

Volume 6, Issue 2

This Issue 3

First yEar-Week

How to Make Money (That You’ll End Up Spending on Tuition

Christos Cunning

Kelly Ma

You are the key to healthy on-campus politics

What Happens when Canadian engineering students come together

Bryan Gingras

Arman Izadi

Paying for Grades Kelly Ma

Alcohol in Engineering

Profiles in Engineering: Tre Mansdoerfer

Jude Habib (and others) Arman Izadi

Visit our website at ledger.mcgilleus.ca and view this issue and previous ones in glorious technicolor at issuu.com/theplumbersledger

Information

Published by THE ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE SOCIETY a student society of McGill University. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of THE ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE SOCIETY and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University For questions, comments, and complaints, as well as more information on the policies of The Plumber’s Ledger, please use the contact information to the right. Use this contact information also if you have an interest in contributing to the The Plumber’s Ledger on a one-time or regular basis.

The Plumber’s Ledger

The Plumber’s Ledger ledger@mcgilleus.ca Volume 6, Issue 2 November 2017 ISSN 2291-3319(Print) ISSN 2291-3397(Online).

The View from Upper Res Featuring

First yEar-Week by Christos Cunning Especially for a first year, E-Week is one of the many EUS events cloaked in mystery, starting from hearing stories during Frosh, leading to the “theme of fake themes” and, of course, the cryptic pre-preschedule. There is a massive mess of information out there, and when I tried asking some involved people questions, all I got in reply was vague non-answers. As I distracted myself from my first finals season by imagining the beer bath that was Century Club and the mysterious can’t-miss event called 3-Man, and attempting to decode what Cumberland Falls and Snakes Eyes could possibly mean, I knew the only solution was that I was just going to have to (try to) attend every event to find out. The week began tame, as I attended the ECSESS Captains and Team Meet and Greet. It turns out the pre-party was also department Time Trials (which I figured was a bit out of my league first year) and Beer Olympics team tryouts (which I was much more interested in). When asked, upon the advice of many experienced E-Weekers, I had checked off “all of the above” on our E-Week Interest Form, so, I partook in all of the above. Still, that night was mostly relaxed, and

I now realize it was the calm before the coming storm. Thus began E-Week, on Tuesday I entered the tundra of Blues Pub, which included opening ceremonies and the first rookie challenge. As I had been picked as one of the ECSESS rookies, I was looking forward to the position. As for the opening ceremonies, I’m still not sure if that ended up ever happening, but I was having a good time at Blues Pub anyways so I didn’t let it bother me. After Blues and a quick pit stop at Gert’s, we all began boarding buses to the unknown location that would host the night’s events: Beer Olympics. Then came Wednesday morning. My first experience, of many, waking up early after a long night of E-Week events, and it was definitely not easy. Try as I might, I could not find the energy to go to any events before 4PM. Nevertheless, it may have turned out to be a positive that I saved my energy. Apparently, on Monday night at the meet and greet, I had somehow been talked into joining the ECSESS running team for the Pub Crawl. Considering my MERTW marathon team got lapped, it may have not been the brightest idea to join a running team, but I did end

up enjoying the exhilarating feeling of sprinting through the slippery streets of downtown Montreal. Again, Thursday I was stuck in bed until the sun started to set, this time with sore legs from my first physical activity in six months: at least I was getting good exercise. In order to prepare my feeble first year body for the onslaught of drinking that was Century Club, I only attended Blues Pub. After learning ECSESS had beat Mech and Old Patrol to win boat races, I wished I had gathered up the energy to attend, as that was something I had to see to believe. Then came Friday: the climax of my time in the jungle of Planet Earth. It is rightfully the pinnacle of E-Week, namely thanks to two events: 3-Man and, of course, Century Club. Both were extremely fun in their own ways, but 3-Man was specifically special for me as a first year. It opened my eyes to how much energy and spirit engineers can bring to an event that, if you break it down, is just an elaborate excuse to drink and have others drink (who also want an excuse to drink). Century Club was slightly different in the sense that nobody even attempted to come up with a reason for the drinking, but I think

Volume 6, Issue 2 the less said about that night the better. I will only say that I now understand why it was given the nickname Monsoon Season. And finally, Saturday. Like the rest of the week, I unfortunately was unable to make it to a single day event, and though I did end up going to Ultimate Pre and Closing Ceremonies, I didn’t have enough energy left in me to keep going, and as much as I hate to admit it, I was ready to leave that wild week behind. Closing ceremonies did end up being pretty cool thanks in part to the live band (shout-out to that Civil girl with the awesome Hamilton rap cover). The speeches and awards were a great way to wrap up the week and, although I was bummed that ECSESS lost to Mech yet again, I know there will be plenty more E-Weeks to make up for it. Looking back as I write this, though I did still immensely enjoy my time exploring the McGillian Wilds of Planet E-Week, there were some lessons I learned. First, is the advice that was given to me many times prior and I still failed to heed, is that E-Week is a marathon, not a sprint. If I had properly followed those wise words I would have likely made it to many more day events, which brings me to the second thing I learned. After hearing about all the fun that I missed while I was sleeping in, I definitely want to manage my time better next year to make all the many different events E-Week has to offer aside from the mass consumption of beverages. As someone who just finished their inaugural E-Week at McGill, it is now clear to me why this is such a hyped and loved event. It brings together so much of engineering in a week of non-stop action and really exemplifies the great community of engineers that has been built here at McGill. †

The Plumber’s Ledger

How to Make Money (That You’ll End Up Spending on Tuition) by Kelly Ma

“When I was in University, I worked summers and part-time during school, and paid for all of my undergraduate degree.” The days when this was universally true are no longer. With the rising rate of tuition at North American universities, there, unfortunately, has been no parallel rise in student wages. We are left in this seemingly unwinnable fight to graduate without, or with minimal, debt. Even if that part-time job can’t make a big enough dent in your tuition, it can at least get you some pocket change to spend at Blues. The beautiful list of jobs available to those who qualify for Work Study is a prized possession. Postings are varied, though some jobs are more desirable than others, so there is an adequate selection of employment opportunities on campus. However, the ostensibly abundant pool of jobs is nowhere near enough to satisfy the pool of Work Study students and applicants. And what about those who do not qualify for Work Study? I have tried to apply twice in my time at McGill, outlining extenuating circumstances, without success. I started at McGill less than two years ago, in Fall 2016, as a U0 student. I was fairly inexperienced upon arriving at university: my work history consisted of part-time work at a fast food chain and sales associate duties at a thrift store. Still, I frequented the CV and cover letter workshops offered by my

faculty’s career centre (MESC in FDA for any engineering folks), as well as CaPS workshops. I learned how to market the skills I gained through student organizations and my own hobbies. That is the true first step in acquiring a part-time job: get your own shit together. Blindly applying for jobs might get you somewhere, but it is more effective to first carefully craft your CV and learn what McGill, and other employers, are looking for in an employee, then begin your search for a job. Here’s a list of work opportunities I have curated through my own experiences and advice from friends, so that you don’t have to go through the same effort that I, and most students applying for jobs, had to endure. 1. Build a relationship with your professors, regardless of class size. Even just saying hi at the start of every lecture makes a difference. If your professor knows who you are and recognizes you by name, they are more likely to think of you when work opportunities arise. For example, math professors may email you to become a class grader or an undergraduate TA. For large freshmen classes, you can become a TEAM mentor and receive a stipend of $300 per course at the end of the semester (deposited into your bank account) for volunteering weekly at FrezCa.

The best part? The hours are super flexible. 2. Visit the bookstore, Service Point, McGill residences, and other hubs in person. Usually, the hiring season is right before the start of the semester (in August or January), as well as April, because many students go home in the summer. If you walk in with your CV ready, along with two references and a list of available hours, you’ll probably get an interview. While Work Study is preferred, they really just want students with high availability who can commit to a semester’s work. I received an interview and a job offer on the same day that I handed in my credentials, sans Work Study. 3. Check your listservs and hang out in the EUS Mall. The Pipeline highlights opportunities to work at Frostbite, EPTS, Copi-EUS and the G-Store amongst others. The giant listserv from SSMU can even be helpful; they always announce the start of hiring season at SSMU (with jobs ranging from coat check at Gerts to clerical duties) in the winter semester.

because most McGill services will hire the most qualified applicant, not the one on Work Study. Being bilingual is especially important for jobs pertaining to customer assistance, much more so than Work Study. If you manage to snag one of these positions, you are basically set until graduation because McGill hires many students internally. I found a summer job at Campus Life & Engagement, which ended at the start of the school year and I still receive emails notifying me of upcoming opportunities to work with CL&E again. I recently accepted a position as an intern to coordinate next year’s Orientation Week. 6. Check out the Phonathon. Few have heard of the phonathon, yet we all reap the benefits of Phonathon sponsors. The Phonathon employs students on a part-time basis and these students call alumni and other McGill-affiliated organizations to secure donations for funding. Most people are not on Work Study and it’s an easy-going, rewarding job. You help the

school keep in touch with alumni and sponsors and work two shifts a week, receiving bonuses for meeting targets and such. They hire a lot of students, so contact them before the start of the semester. They usually post a hiring notice on myFuture as well as on McGill’s own Facebook group: Jobs & Internships. 7. Watch out for Rez Life and Floor Fellow applications. If you are motivated to work with incoming students and contribute to the residence community, these applications begin in the winter semester. These jobs are unbiased towards those without Work Study status and seek qualified individuals who will foster a positive environment in residence. And finally, never stop networking. Talk to your advisors, read your emails, and don’t be afraid to ask directly about available openings. You might find a job at MESC, Student Housing & Hospitality Services, or wherever. And if you don’t, maybe it’s time to look into mining Bitcoin. †

4. Advertise yourself online or in-person if you did well in a course. Hand out your card outside giant freshman classes or post about your tutoring services on Facebook; there are even apps, like Nimbus Tutoring, that connect you with tutees. You can set your own rates and choose flexible hours. 5. Check MyFuture and McGill websites (such as https:// www.mcgill.ca/cle/team/jobs). While many on-campus jobs are snatched before the posting even surfaces, it’s always worth a shot. Don’t worry about “Work Study preferred”

adam.melnyk

You are the key to healthy on-campus politics

Volume 6, Issue 2

by Bryan Gingras

Bryan Gingras is a McGill Engineering graduate who is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at the École de technologie supérieure. He is a member of the EUS Board of Governors and is a member of his student union’s Board of Directors. At this point in the academic year, virtually the entire McGill community has heard of last semester’s controversial SSMU General Assembly, where a group of voters allegedly blocked the ratification of a member of SSMU’s Board of Directors due to his religion and/ or his stance on the state of Israel. This move was perceived as anti-Semitic by many members of the McGill community. To the chagrin of many, especially SSMU and the McGill administration, the affair even made national news. In the aftermath of the whole controversy, many were quick to point out that due to the fact that all McGill undergraduates have the right to vote at SSMU’s General Assemblies, and due to their historically abysmal turnout, it is possible for a sufficiently large group of like-minded individuals to seize control of the assembly and effectively dictate the outcome of any motion presented at the GA. While may be true, it is symptomatic of a much more dire issue, an issue that I call generalized disengagement. I should make it clear that this article isn’t intended to be solely about SSMU, nor is it an attempt to rehash last semester’s controversies. Past this paragraph, you could replace SSMU with any other student union and it would likely be just as accurate. My intention

The Plumber’s Ledger

with this article is to present my take on the current political climate at McGill, and to propose solutions for future generations of student leaders at McGill and across the Western world. Simply put, the average student needs to recognize that they are part of SSMU, for better or for worse. They need to realize that they pay dues to SSMU that are not opt-outable (nor can they be, according to Quebec law), that they have voting rights at SSMU’s GA’s, or more generally, that SSMU’s executive committee works for them. If every McGill undergraduate was intimately aware of this, then the political climate surrounding SSMU would be much healthier. How do we accomplish this? From my perspective, work needs to be done on both ends. First, and here’s the hard part, the student body needs to realize that democracy is a continuous process: there’s a lot more to it than simply voting in an election once a year. Additionally, and here’s the other hard part, we need a new breed of student leaders who are able to motivate a larger section of the undergraduate population to take ownership of their student union. Students are right to feel disaffected by SSMU’s leadership, because so many past execs have not done enough to engage them. Let’s focus for now on the first half of the solution: the main stakeholders in this conundrum, the students. These are the people who put SSMU execs in power, these are the people who benefit from SSMU’s many services, so why are

so many of them so dissatisfied or ambivalent towards SSMU? If you ask me, it’s because of the belief that “democracy” means nothing more than being able to cast a vote. Democracy isn’t a once-ayear thing. Yes, the cornerstone of democracy is the right to vote, but democracy also is defined by being informed of what your government (whether it’s student government or actual government) is doing, and including yourself in the process by which bills or motions are adopted. While it is extremely important for you to participate in elections, treating democracy as a continuous process is the best way to hold your elected leaders accountable. In a student organization, the most direct way to go about this is by participating in General Assemblies. A common complaint I hear about GA’s is that their quorum is too low, even with the recent increase, to ensure proper representation of the entire constituency. To put it bluntly, participants at General Assemblies should not be expected to vote on behalf of their peers who are not present at the GA. It’s an unfair burden to put on someone, especially if it’s their first time at a GA and they’re intimidated by the idea of giving their opinion in front of hundreds of strangers. The real value of a GA isn’t in the percentage of the student body who attends the GA, but in the fact that no matter what preconceived ideas you have about a motion on the agenda, those ideas will likely be challenged and debated for as long as necessary before calling the motion to a vote. You might even change your mind. This is simply

not possible with online referenda, which have no debate whatsoever. Worse, people (myself included) will often look to social media to build their opinion on the question, which will more likely than not simply reinforce their preconceived notions on the subject, because Facebook and Twitter are the world’s biggest echo chambers. Let’s touch back briefly on the aforementioned Fall SSMU GA. The assembly being seized by special interest groups could have been avoided if they had been outnumbered by regular students who simply wished to exercise their democratic rights without pushing an agenda.

change SSMU into what I wanted it to be without me ever having to raise a finger. It was only after I graduated that I realized how wrong I was. As involved as I was with the EUS, I was still contributing to this sentiment of generalized disengagement towards my student union. Don’t look to your elected leaders to fix SSMU for you. Don’t let on-campus activists or reactionaries speak for you.

You are a part of SSMU, and most importantly you are a part of its future, so if you want to see change, then step up to the plate and have your voice heard, because maybe your voice is what SSMU’s been missing for all these years. †

If someone decides to run for a SSMU executive position, and the only people rejoicing at their candidacy are their friends, classmates and people who already go to GA’s, then they’re probably not going to improve the political climate in any meaningful way. Why not? Because they’re not a candidate who is able to bridge the gap with the large majority of the student body who does not feel compelled to participate in SSMU in any way whatsoever. What we need is a new kind of leader who can motivate the average Joe and make him feel like he’s an important part of SSMU. Obviously, this is not an easy thing to do. If it was, it would have been done a long time ago. Nonetheless, a new kind of leadership that brings the population together is necessary if we’re going to improve the atmosphere surrounding SSMU.

To most people reading this article, the acronym CFES will mean absolutely nothing. While, in engineering, there is an inhumane amount of acronyms, pay attention to this one: the Canadian Federation for Engineering Students. In simpler terms, the CFES allows unity and solidarity between the majority of engineering undergraduate student societies across Canada.

Also, with a common platform, our engineering voice is louder and more powerful, and can help lobby provincial and federal governments, or corporate sponsors and policy makers that could affect the students they represent. Additionally, the CFES aids in fostering leadership, professional qualities, engineering identity, and communication.

At SSMU and elsewhere, I’ve seen a lot of candidates for a lot of positions in a lot of organizations where people said “this is the one! After so many years, this is the one who’s going to make it all better!” Yet it was never the case. During my undergrad, I made the mistake of believing in messiahs who would

There are many benefits to having a national engineering society. To begin with, congregating engineering student leaders allows them to pool their experience and knowledge, sharing their struggles and successes with other students from universities across the nation that inevitably face the same problems.

The responsibilities of the CFES lay, heavily, in organizing the annual Congress, the Canadian Engineering competition, and the Conference in Diversity in Engineering. They choose “host schools” nationwide and support each university with the process. They also host the President’s Meeting and the ple-

What happens when Canadian engineering students come together by Arman Izadi

Volume 6, Issue 2 nary sessions — sessions attended by the entire conference — which allow a variety of important issues to be advocated. The CFES and its events are one of the only ways for many people to interact with other engineers at other schools. This means making partnerships and connections that may be invaluable in the future and learning and understanding how others operate and maybe even teaching each other a few things about our engineering cultures. Recently, I attended the annual CFES congress as one of the representatives for the McGill Engineering Undergraduate Society. As a member of the society, I have been involved in various committees and positions such as Orientation Week Coordinator 2015/2016 and ECSESS representative, so going into Congress, I expected to learn little and pass on more information than I would bring home. I have never been so wrong. It felt like I had a veil lifted from my ignorant view of our society. I realized that every problem we face, such as our crushing workload and its adverse effects on our mental health, is a national problem. All engineering students face longer graduation times, difficulty passing classes and finding internships, and so on. However, after comparing McGill’s curricula to that of other competitive schools I realized that McGill has a certain flexibility that other schools don’t. McGill’s Engineering Student Centre does present students with a template of about 18 credits per semester that one hypothetically could adhere to if they want to graduate in 4 years, but 18 credits a semester requires great sacrifice and hard work and most of peers decidedly take 12-15 credits. The luxury of being able to choose

The Plumber’s Ledger

workload with the consequence of potentially extending graduation is not one that co-op programs or rigid-scheduled schools like Waterloo or Western have. Simon Frasier boasts a higher failing rate and stricter professors than McGill, as their university has rigid cutoffs, in contrast to McGill’s yearly increasing acceptance rate. I went on to learn that our EUS is, actually, one of the most well organized societies, while handling one of the largest budgets. Also, many things we take for granted — like a student-run pub every week, free peer tutoring services, or departmental lounges — are luxuries some smaller schools can only dream of. On the other hand, some schools, such as Waterloo, excel at corporate relations and internship opportunities, where we might lack, even with our powerful research opportunities. Furthermore, engineering schools outside of Quebec are typically the most spirited of their respective university’s faculties. Spirit is not just how loud the students are but the sense of unity and belonging and identity that each student feels towards their program and their university. An article was published in the Tribune a while ago about school spirit at McGill and how it exists in pockets of smaller involvement and is not faculty-wide or university-wide. This is also felt in our engineering faculty. In many Ontarian schools for example, engineering spirit starts from the earliest days of their orientation and is encouraged through

heavily attended events focused around engineering culture and school identity. Here at McGill, the engineering spirit is often felt in the pride of a certain design team, or a department, or those involved in core EUS positions. Even then, the spirit may be more catered towards the people and those in similar individual circumstances compared to the blanket of the engineering community. These are just some of the examples of the heaps of information I collected by attending this year’s Congress. I cannot stress how important it is to not allow yourselves to graduate from McGill without having taken part in at least one event like this, or at least learning about it. The CFES and its events are just one path out of the many that one could take to get involved. We, as engineers, are up and coming leaders; we, as McGill engineers, have a plethora of opportunities to be in the forefront of our fellow leaders. It is up to us to hone the skills that will help us shape our futures and the futures of others. †

Paying for Grades by Kelly Ma “I probably failed 141,” exclaim multiple downtrodden, hunchbacked engineering students as they exit the Fieldhouse. Poor grades and sketchy transcripts are not unheard of in the faculty; in fact, Frostbite has got you covered if you receive less than 30% on a midterm worth 15% of your final grade. And better yet, there are several (costly) third-party services available to engineering students that guarantee to boost grades. But what are the implications of these crash courses? And how do their impacts ripple through engineering classism? Something that separates many engineering students from their arts or science counterparts is the lack of necessity to pursue grad school. Challenging courses are common and GPA-killers do not wreak havoc the same way they do on the transcript of a med-school hopeful. Typically, the goal is to simply pass a course, not to ace the course. I’ve seen a med-school hopeful wallow in despair after receiving a B+, while celebrating my own C+. As you weave your way towards eventual graduation, the U0 motivation to plaster MyCourses with good grades fades quickly. And, if an engineering student is unlucky enough to have a non-engineering parent, then there is a time when the student must have the “talk” with their parent: explaining that their 2.5 GPA is “normal,” and that they really are trying and not just messing around at university. The hardest hit is freshman year. Incoming students are often at the top of their graduating class (shoutout to Bioengineering for an entering average of 95.5) and expect to do fairly well at McGill. Even with

somewhat regular class attendance and decent studying skills, incoming students may still find themselves struggling to succeed. The sheer size of prerequisite courses is overwhelming, in addition to the style of delivery from professors. I myself have experienced the raucous Leacock auditorium too many times to keep showing up to 8:30 chemistry lectures. Some students, luckily, find effective studying strategies and resources to prevail without external support. Unfortunately, their peers are sucked into an industry that preys on student vulnerability. For $50, $100, or more, students can attend a prep session that vaguely simulates a high school learning environment. With smaller class sizes, e-mail support, and exam solutions, these instructors will do anything to help their students pass. A semester-long course is immediately broken down into the essential techniques required to pass an exam. Obviously, there is nothing intrinsically wrong about hosting or attending prep sessions. It is a booming business that numerous tutoring startups are attempting to replicate. However, the expenses incurred by attending these sessions makes them a privilege. Not all students, or their parents, are financially capable of purchasing prep sessions before each exam. Usually, those able to access greater learning resources, understandably, perform better on the exam. When a significant portion of students in a course attends a session, they may drive the average up; those lacking access are negatively impacted by the curve and find themselves struggling to keep up. Furthermore, these discrepancies produce a false sense of student improvement. If the grades seem to indicate that all

students are grasping the material in a course, why should the department allocate more money towards learning resources? Granted, there are a number of free resources available to all eng students: FrezCa, EPTS, SciCrams, 911 Burnside, and TA-led review sessions. Still, the prep sessions of choice belong to third-party venues that prey on the anxious (and financially-capable) students that can afford them. Having won one of the free sessions in my first year, I can honestly contest that these external sessions are more useful than anything I have encountered at McGill. In the meantime, how could we initiate change in the way courses are administered? I believe that we should have continuous teaching workshops for professors to help them communicate their ideas effectively. Many professors are researchers as well, and these workshops could help standardize expectations for the way classes are run, as well as fostering beneficial professor-student relations. Rather than running to these “pay-to-succeed” sessions, students should feel comfortable to approach professors when they are in need, as they are already paying for that service. With improved course organisation, fewer students will be at a loss during finals season. The same goes for the hiring of TAs; teaching skills, rather than pure academic merit or relationships with professors, should be admissible criteria during the hiring process. Additionally, there are many capable undergrad TAs that currently work as prep instructors for third-party venues. Instead of losing this talent, EUS should harness their capabilities and produce their own “prep sessions” complete with the standard booklet that could be bounded by CopiEUS. †

Volume 6, Issue 2

Alcohol in Engineering by Jude Habib

The policy also mandates certain EUS executives (Student Life, Internal, and Communications) to help in achieving this cultural shift, by gauging interest, organizing, and promoting non-drinking events, respectively.

Recently, one of the most intensely debated topics in the EUS has been alcohol and its role in the EUS. The Ledger asked a varied group of EUS constituents to provide their opinions on the drinking culture within engineering, and you can find their condensed answers on the following page. To see their full responses, visit our website and read the online version of the article. This conversation has been sparked by the proposal of the EUS Drinking Event Policy to Council in October. The policy has been a working document since Vivian Campbell and Morgan Grobin proposed it, and can be found also on our website linked in the online version of this article. The main intent of the policy is to help foster a safer and more inclusive environment within the EUS. It plans to do so through two avenues: safety and inclusivity, and funding.

The Plumber’s Ledger

The policy’s article regarding safety and inclusivity echoes much of the sentiment that has been increasingly prevalent in recent years’ Froshes, such as always providing water, providing other non-alcoholic beverages at the same price as their alcoholic counterparts, promoting responsible drinking, active harm reduction and active bystanding. The article regarding funding restricts EUS Funds from being used to subsidize alcohol at drinking events, and further encourages EUS funds to be used to subsidize non-alcoholic options, active harm reduction, active bystanding, or to help subsidise events for low-income students.

The policy is less than four pages long, and if you are interested in it and its possible implications, it’s worth reading. There is also currently a survey to collect data regarding alcohol in engineering, so if you wish to have your voice heard, visit bit.ly/alcohol-eus. Also, the next EUS council meeting is scheduled to be on February 7th at 6pm in the Common Room. If the policy is moved, it may be worth attending the meeting to voice your opinion there. †

Kareem Halabi, U3 Computer:

Alcohol in

One sentence that I have found to carry a lot of meaning in the past when trying to communicate my point of view on accommodating non-drinkers is that, a drinking event is a drinking event whether alcohol is served or not. I think that in order to better accommodate those who don’t drink (especially for religious reasons) the EUS should ensure that there are non-drinking activities that are not simply a translation from a drinking activities. Maana Javadi, U4 Computer: Saad Waseem, U3 Electrical: Yes, it’s true, the drinking culture I think the alcohol culture within engineering is aggresat McGill is improving. And sive. However, I honestly believe thankfully so. During my first that it’s improved a lot over the years at McGill, the alcohol years. Non-drinking options at culture was very prevalent, the large-scale events like Frosh and only events held were those E-Week exist and we have a comthat involved drinking. I like to mittee dedicated to organizing think that I was somewhat innon-drinking social events (Enstrumental in changing this by gineering Adventure Committee). being the only, or among few, That being said, the shift towards who did not drink and did all a more inclusive non-drinking these events. I believe I was the culture has a long way to go — first person to get a non-drinkhype the non-drinking events a ing ticket for E-Week, MERTW, little more, or dare I say it, replace etc. Due to this, more and more MERTW with a non-drinking people who do not drink, or event. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t say choose to not drink, are able to the problem is exclusively within feel included and want to try engineering, just look at Carnival these events. So while the culand Faculty Olympics. ture is not perfect and there’s many small things I don’t like about it, as a whole, it is defiMartin Aralov, U5 Mechanical: nitely improving. In McGill Engineering, I found Anonymous U2: people I really clicked with. And I found them through “alcohol” When I was hesitantly signing — to put it very simply. Partying up for Frosh, I could only think helps people to open up, to comof aggressive peer pressure municate, to meet new people. drinking and unimaginable I used to be a shy person and forms of rowdiness (as if that’s partying has helped me overcome still not a thing), but now I can this. I see absolutely no reason say that it’s a lot better than I why there should be steps taken thought it’d be. I actually aptowards the elimination of alcopreciate the alcohol culture in hol in our lives. I feel the overall EUS, and am somewhat thanksetting is respectful enough of ful for it. I’ve made a hefty people that do not want to drink. I amount of friends through it, love EUS drinking and non-drinkand I’m not saying that it’s the ing oriented events that involve best way to do so, but hey, at alcohol (3-Man and Ski Trip). least I found people that I have something in common to start with!

Amara Slaymaker, U4 Chemical: I feel like we’ve made a lot of improvements, but I think that our drinking culture could still be improved by working to further normalize the choices that people within the EUS might make to drink or not drink. Compared to previous years, there are now more non-drinking events, more non-drinking aspects to events with drinking, and more steps taken to provide options for people who don’t want to drink – for example non-drinking tickets for E-Week and non-alcoholic options for events like Pub Crawls and Century Club. I think that continuing to place an emphasis on creating inclusive events that have options for everyone will help bring further improvements to our drinking culture. Xavier Chagnon, U3 Mining: As a fourth-year student in engineering at McGill, I can say that the diversity and the number of both sober and drinking events is staggering. There is a real effort and desire by the EUS to promote and organize inclusive, non-drinking events as proven by the EAC. I am surprised by the recent turmoil amongst students as to why we should question subsidizing drinking events, as these events are often some of the most popular, and we want to make sure that a maximum number of people can afford to attend. It is in the spirit of inclusivity and accessibility that I personally think that both drinking and non-drinking events should continue to be subsidized.

Engineering Alex Scheffel, U2 Mechanical:

Gareth Price, U0 Chemical:

First off, there are definitely good and bad aspects to the drinking culture in engineering at McGill. In my experience, it’s been a great way of helping develop high attendance events which helped me meet so many of the people I’m still friends with now. Because it can be hard to achieve high attendance at events that don’t involve alcohol, I think a good solution to the issues prevalent with this culture is to ensure great non-drinking options at events that do involve alcohol.

I think the EUS’s current conversation around drinking culture is extremely important to a society that continues to grow as the world around it changes. The issue I feel permeates the debate is the lack of knowledge and understanding about different points of view and quantitative data on which we should base this decision. The survey which has been spread to solicit EUS member’s opinions about the issue is a good step forward, and I hope this semester when the issue is discussed again that the debate will be approached with more consideration towards different points of view.

Malcolm McClintock, U3 Materials: Alcohol is fun; it’s used in engineering life as a social lubricant. But it’s not for everyone. MERTW, apartment crawls, even departmental banquets all feel like iterations of the same core principle of getting turnt; there are so many ways to do pretty much the same thing, all catering to the same crowd. The events normally sell out, budgets are fulfilled; the same can’t be said for all non-drinking events. It feels unbalanced. But it’s not just the events run; the EUS office is brimming with beer bottles, the Pipeline always has advertising for a beer die league or a coordinator application for a drinking event and so on. The best thing we can do is keep an open mind about the culture around drinking events. John Karpuk, U4 Mechanical:

Vivian Campbell, U4 Materials: I think the issue with drinking events and drinking culture in the EUS in not that they exist, but that nothing else does. We have no social culture that publicly represents the EUS as a society that isn’t drinking culture. For engineers who don’t drink, or who are not comfortable at a drinking event, this can make it seem like they have no place in the EUS. Until the events and the leaders that most visibly represent McGill Engineering can exhibit the contrary, many of our students will never explore beyond the surface perception of the EUS, and will never find the inclusive, supportive, and positive community that I have.

Volume 6, Issue 2 Fariha Hassan, U3 Mechanical: I don’t drink alcohol and a lot of people warned me about the huge drinking culture in engineering. Although intimidating at first, I didn’t let that stop me from getting involved. In my first semester, I was elected the VP Admin of MAME, and surprisingly to me, nobody cared about my drinking habits. With their encouragement, I’ve participated in numerous events in engineering such as E-Week and MERTW with my friends by drinking water or coke instead. However, it is easy to feel intimidated by the drinking culture and the reputation it has gained within the engineering community. Everyone in university is just here to have a great time, which may or may not involve alcohol, depending on your choice. Morgan Grobin, U3 Electrical: There are two issues that my original motion was trying to address. First, the toxic drinking culture in Engineering. It’s exclusionary, unhealthy, and does nothing to further the academic progress of students. Second, I believe that it’s unfair that student fees from non-drinkers contribute to subsidizing alcohol consumption at binge drinking events. I think that it’s time for the EUS to examine how often it promotes and encourages binge drinking. We know binge drinking can lead to serious consequences for people. The EUS could do better by spending its money on events that allow students to further their academic and professional careers.

What I like about the McGill Engineering’s culture is that we have an environment where we can get together and have fun in a safe and responsible way. Our parties are open and inclusive. Blues and other EUS events are open to anyone and encourage people to have a good time in an appropriate way.

The Plumber’s Ledger

Profiles in Engineering: Tre Mansdoerfer

by Arman Izadi

Tre Mansdoerfer is a U3 (third year) Electrical Engineering student hailing from Flemington, New Jersey. He is the current EUS Senator and sits on many councils and committees such as the SSMU Legislative council and the EUS Board of Governors. The Ledger sat down with Tre in Trottier 5105 to talk about his involvement, his goals for the future and advice he might have for future students. The full interview can be found on our website. This will be the first of many interviews with members of the EUS community to give you an idea of our involved student body. Ledger: So, your name is Tre Mansdoerfer… Tre: Well actually, my name is Richard. I’m Richard III, my father is Richard II, if I have a son, he’ll be Richard IV, and he’ll go by Quad. This isn’t a joke, this is very serious. L: (Laughing) So what motivated you to get involved with the EUS, and how did you first get involved? T: I was on IRC [Inter-Rez Council] first year and part of my hall council. I didn’t join EUS Junior Council, but I was motivated by Omar El-Sharawy (the SSMU VP Internal) at the time to run for EUS SSMU Rep. It seemed like the obvious next step. I also ran the Humans of McGill Residences page in first year, coordinating with 15 photographers. L: Did you have a plan going into your first involvement? Did you know what you wanted to do? T: I’ve actually had a plan since October of first year. I wrote it down and I’ve been pretty on point

with the plan. Some things — like McMun — were not necessarily in the plan, but the general idea was there. L: What was one of the biggest challenges you faced as Senator of the EUS? T: I think the answer to that for any position is always time management. I allocate most of my time to the SSMU Legislative Council seat and have sway on that council. Fall Reading Week has also been an uphill battle that I’ve allocated time to. With Ollivier Dyens [Deputy Provost of Student Life and Learning] leaving, I think we can re-spark that conversation.

L: Let’s talk about the type of involvement you’ve had. You’re involved with SSMU a lot which is something we don’t often see in engineering. Did you always want to go down that route? T: I really value interacting with different types of people, I see a lot of value in collaborating with people from different backgrounds and ideas. I love interacting with engineers, and E-Week Coord was really the first time I interacted with solely engineering people, but all my other roles are interacting with a lot of different people.

Volume 6, Issue 2 L: What are your short and long term goals, in terms of involvement? T: The main goal right now is running for SSMU [President]. It’s part of the original plan and I think this is the best year to run for it. In your third year you know a lot of people in your year and years above and below, whereas running in fourth year is really limiting, I think. One short term goal is putting a lot more time back into the Senator role and continuing projects such as my work with the ad-hoc committee for provincial representation. SSMU Presidency is probably the biggest goal for now. It’s the position that aligns the most with what I want to do and the changes I want to see. L: On that note what are the big changes you want to see, specifically in the EUS and then in SSMU? T: Once again, my involvement in solely EUS is relatively minimal compared to other people, since as a Senator I sit on all of these Senate committees and the Legislative council, etc. However, I think the conversation about how we view drinking culture has a lot of value. The approach could’ve been a bit better, but I still think it’s important for us to constantly re-evaluate if we’re okay with these big drinking events we run and how we run them. In addition, I think the Board of Governors of the EUS could be better, but a lot of that improvement will come with time, since it’s only the first year the BoG has been formed. The SSMU Board of Directors structure is just...wrong. Selcom [selection committee] is a good idea since, if it’s an election like the executive positions, you’d see uncontested or empty electoral

The Plumber’s Ledger

slots for executive positions and more people inclined to run for the Board. The problem right now, however, is that the people who pass the selcom are voted on as a group on the Board and I think you [should] split that vote. So that way, the general population has the chance to ratify each member individually, and not as a group, which can help decrease nepotism and skewed results that’s been seen in SSMU a lot. Also, the GA also does not represent the total student body but rather the opinionated few. When you walk into the room you can see the clear divide and you know because it’s the same faces every time. If there was a way to get people engaged who can’t physically be there, maybe through online resources, that could help. We increased the quorum due to this structural issue, which is not a long term solution in the slightest. It’s more of a patchwork solution that needs to be resolved. In terms of executive workload, the SSMU execs have 60-70 hour work weeks and it’s hard to produce something tangible for society when you’re simply overburdened. I’m not saying I’ll run for president and walk in and suddenly has 30 hour work weeks, but we can actually look at what we’re committing our time to and re-evaluate and make cuts. L: What is your best McGill memory so far? T: I think it’s when I ran my first successful party and that feeling of pride at seeing the result and what you can do. It was hard for me to assume leadership roles in high school and for me to come here and just lead off with that was really cool. Le Cinq was the first party during my time on IRC in first year.

L: Last question, tell us about a project you’re working on right now. T: So McMun is the big thing I’ve been working on right now. I manage $40,000 worth of contracts. I am the hotel liaison where I have a 164 page document outlining every room assignment, requirement, timing, etc for the whole event. It’s a 4-5 day conference that’s pretty cool. It’s the least engineering thing I could be a part of, but honestly the culture is amazing. I never would’ve met a lot of these amazing people and future politicians that will eventually make big changes after McGill, had I not gotten involved with this. L: What is your biggest recommendation for people who want to get involved in any of these different avenues that you’ve chosen? T: You just have to apply to everything and drop that sense of fear. For a lot of us it’s hard to run for an elected position or a selcom because of that fear of failure and the challenging idea of it. Nobody wants to fail or feel rejected and lose an election, but you just need to overcome that fear and keep applying. I failed a lot but eventually I succeeded. L: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. Do you have any parting words for the students? T: Gucci gang is a great song, I hope both teams lose the Super Bowl, and follow me on Instagram at tre.mansdoerfer. †