The McGill Tribune Vol. 41 Issue 13

Recovery The McGill Tribune Vol 41 Issue 13 / Dec 7, 2021 Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University mcgilltribune.com / @mcgilltribune

Table of Contents

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EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Sequoia Kim editor@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Ruobing Chen rchen@mcgilltribune.com

News Executive Midterm Reviews

3-5

6-7

News Editors Lily Cason, Ella Fitzhugh & Madison Edward-Wright news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editors Jonah Fried, Matthew Molinaro & Sepideh Afshar opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editors Shafaq Nami & Youssef Wahba scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Life Editors Holly Wethey & Wendy Zhao studentlife@mcgilltribune.com

Opinion

Features Editor Tasmin Chu features@mcgilltribune.com

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Feature 10-11

Photography 12-13

Arts & Entertainment Editors Lowell Wolfe & Michelle Siegel arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Adam Burton & Sarah Farnand sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Jinny Moon & Xiaotian Wang design@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editor Kate Addison photo@mcgilltribune.com

Arts & Entertainment 14-15

Student Life 16-18

Multimedia Editors Farah Jay & Noah Vaton multimedia@mcgilltribune.com Web Developers Abby de Gala & Marwan Shiraz Khan webdev@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Jackie Lee copy@mcgilltribune.com Social Media Editor Taneeshaa Pradhan socialmedia@mcgilltribune.com

Cartoons Science & Technology

Managing Editors Kennedy McKee-Braide kmckee-braide@mcgilltribune.com Madison Mclauchlan mmclauchlan@mcgilltribune.com Maya Abuali mabuali@mcgilltribune.com

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Business Manager Joseph Abounohra business@mcgilltribune.com

TPS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sequoia Kim, Reem Abdul Majid, Matthew Molinaro, Shafaq Nami, Joseph Abounohra, Namrata Rana, Shreya Rastogi

STAFF Léa Bourget, Elissa Dresdner, Saumya Gogte, Suzanna Graham, Bronte Grimmer, Arian Kamel, Louis Lussier-Piette, Adam Matthews-Kott, Abby McCormick, Adam Menikefs, Zoe Mineret, Juliet Morrison, Anoushka Oke, Catherine Plawutsky, Juwel Rana, Mikaela Shadick, Corey Zhu

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CONTRIBUTORS

Sports 22-23

Shireen Aamir, Anna Berglas, Yiwei Bian, Eric Birzneck, Sophia Flaim, Sébastien Géroli, Joy Mao, Isabelle Métivier, Ananya Mohanty, Atticus O’Rourke Rusin, Olivia Shan, Dante Ventulieri, Trevor Probst

TRIBUNE OFFICE Shatner University Centre, 3480 McTavish, Suite 110 Montreal, QC H3A 0E7 - T: 519.546.8263 The McGill Tribune is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Société de Publication de la Tribune, a student society of McGill University. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of The McGill Tribune and the Société de Publication de la Tribune, and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University. Letters to the editor may be sent to editor@mcgilltribune.com and must include the contributor’s name, program and year and contact information. Letters should be kept under 300 words and submitted only to the Tribune. Submissions judged by the Tribune Publication Society to be libellous, sexist, racist, homophobic or solely promotional in nature will not be published. The Tribune reserves the right to edit all contributions. Editorials are decided upon and written by the editorial board. All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the McGill Tribune,

news@mcgilltribune.com | NEWS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

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Divest McGill delivers petition to administration urging immediate divestment from TC Energy

Students rallied outside the James Administration building in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Anoushka Oke Staff Writer

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ivest McGill and other campus groups gathered outside the James Administration Building on Dec. 1 to show solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defenders. Student activists assembled to listen to speakers and gather signatures for a petition that urges McGill to divest from TC Energy—the fossil fuel company building the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline through Wet’suwet’en territory without proper consent.

During the event, Divest members walked around with QR codes that linked to the petition and offered attendees free hot chocolate.

The group then gathered around a tent to listen to the lineup of speakers that included Marlene Hale, a Wet’suwet’en elder, Atreyu Rivers Lewis, events coordinator for the Indigenous Student Alliance (ISA), Andreas Iakovos Koch from the Divest for Human Rights campaign and Students in Solidarity for

Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill, Elijah Aedo-Castillo from the Black Student Network (BSN) McGill, Daniel Tamblyn-Watts from the McGill Corporate Accountability Project, Shelly Bahng from the

been brutally opposing land defenders, invading resistance camps, and arresting anyone they deem to be in the way of the pipeline’s construction. “[It is] not only [that] the Indigenous people of the

Speaker Atreyu Rivers Lewis emphasized the importance of listening to Indigenous elders and knowledge-keepers, describing them as the most honest sources in the fight for racial and climate justice.

(Anoushka Oke / The McGill Tribune)

Pan-Asian Collective, and Mireya Bayancela, an Indigenous storyteller, artist, and activist.

Hale was the first to speak, condemning the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), who have

Wet’suwet’en nation are being tortured, [...] but now it’s also the journalists, and that’s where it really hits hard and hits home for us,” said Hale. “Without the word getting out [about] what’s going on in this world,

without having journalists writing for us [and] taking down everything that the RCMP [and] CGL [are] doing in our nation [...] the world will never know. The world would never know what is going on with us in our traditional land.”

Other Indigenous speakers touched on their experiences as McGill students. Lewis, a U1 Arts student from the Anishinaabe Nation in Ontario, described facing racism— including blatant denials of history— throughout their time at university.

“I am disgusted to be among professors and even some students who are so uneducated and so ignorant towards Indigenous struggles,” said Lewis. “They use words like ‘post-colonialism’ as an insult to our struggles. They use words to try to justify and normalize violence and genocide, forced sterilization, and assimilation policies [....] They do it every day so casually. I’ve had white professors tell me horrible things, [like] that the Cree or the Inuit had it easier because they lived up north. I’ve had professors tell me that we’re never

going to live in a society that’s without colonialism. I’ve had professors tell me that it’s a dark past and a dark history and that our lived experiences are based on just the past.”

Stefan Christoff, radio host of Free City Radio on CKUT 90.3 FM, helped write the petition. Christoff spoke to The McGill Tribune ahead of the protest, explaining the implications of McGill’s roughly $4.7-million investment in TC Energy.

“McGill has talked a lot about sustainability, and [has] talked a lot about the environmental crisis we all face,” Christoff said. “[McGill’s investments are] obviously a direct contradiction with that rhetoric, and beyond [the fact that] these investments directly are constructing an oil and gas pipeline, they’re constructing that pipeline on Indigenous lands [....] Many, many members of the Wet’suwet’en Nation are against this pipeline.”

Divest sent the petition to the McGill administration on Dec. 2, with 748 signatures.

$13 million donation set to fund new Institute for Indigenous Research and Knowledge The IIRK aims to establish major, honours, and graduate Indigenous studies Dante Ventulieri Contributor

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cGill announced on Nov. 27 that Gerald Rimer, BCom ’56, and his three sons, Daniel, David, and Neil Rimer, made a $13-million donation to the university that will go toward renovating the Leacock building and creating a new Institute for Indigenous Research and Knowledge (IIRK). This is not the family’s first donation to the university; in 2012, Gerald Rimer established the Judie Rimer Entrance Scholarship and, in 2017, he contributed to the renovations of the Armstrong Building.

The Stephen Leacock building was built in 1965, and while there are ongoing structural renovations for improved water drainage and facade improvements, little else has changed since its original construction. Ten million dollars of the most recent donation will be dedicated to Leacock’s renovations, including the addition of central

The three million dollars dedicated to the IIRK was a lastminute addition to the donation by the Rimer sons, David, Daniel, and Neil. (Lea Bourget / The McGill Tribune)

areas with more natural light and improved building accessibility. This portion of the donation does not cover all the costs of the renovations, so McGill will continue to seek additional funds for completing the project. According to Frédérique Mazerolle, a McGill media relations officer, the building’s planned upgrades will be completed by 2027.

“The building renovation project will entail a variety of improvements,” Mazerolle wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “[These] include more natural light in the central areas of the building, improved acoustics, greater accessibility for students with diverse needs, a more congenial and crowd-friendly lobby, flexible spaces, modern ventilation systems and student spaces for collaborative work.”

Avi Friedman, a professor in the School of Architecture at McGill, believes that the renovations are a much-needed change.

“The building was designed and built with the education methods of the 1960s and 1970s in mind. It does not correspond to the educational needs and environmental challenges of today,” Avi explained. “This work is overdue. It is going to bring the building to today’s standards.”

In 2017, the Provost’s Task Force on Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education released a report that contained 52 calls to action for improving McGill’s Indigenization and decolonization efforts—one of which included the creation of an institute for Indigenous studies and community engagement.

In an interview with the Tribune, Noelani Arista, member of the Kanaka Maoli people of Hawaii, director of the Indigenous Studies Program, and chief proponent of the IIRK, said that the Institute will have three main focusses: Language, land, and governance. The IIRK will include an Indigenous language lab, an on-site knowledge centre,

and a physical location that will serve as the centre for the Indigenous Studies Program.

“Our institute proposal sees itself as filling many of the calls to action of the provost report,” Arista said. “We felt strongly that it was very important to create an academic and disciplinary unit that was dedicated to Indigenous research proper.”

Arista explained that initially, the Rimer family was set to sign off on a $10-million donation. However, in the last hour of the meeting, the family’s sons were introduced to the IIRK team and were so enthusiastic about the organization’s prospects that they added on an additional three-million dollars to support the project.

“When they saw our proposal and listened to our dreams to build this at McGill, they said they wanted the institute and the [language] lab housed in the new Rimer building,” Arista explained.

“Because of the funders being a part of the conversation, we got a space, a [language] lab, and a yearly renewed commitment [from McGill].”

Arista explained that while this is a flagship project in Canadian academia, there is still more work to be done on behalf of the university, including providing better communications support for Indigenous professors and students across campus, hiring more senior-level Indigenous professors, and improving Indigenous student recruitment.

The building was named after Stephen Leacock, a former McGill professor and popular humorist of the early 20th century.

Leacock is also known for his discriminatory views and opinions, such as his opposition to equal rights for women, his disapproval of Asian and Black immigration, and his disparaging of Indigenous cultures.

The building’s name will be renamed as the Rimer Building.

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NEWS | news@mcgilltribune.com

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

Recovery amid the silence about sexual violence at McGill Legal constraints limit the possibility of a campus safe from sexual violence Juliet Morrison Staff Writer

TW: Sexual violence

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n paper, the McGill administration’s response to sexual violence is framed around supporting survivors and creating a safe campus space. These objectives are outlined in the university’s Policy Against Sexual Violence, in addition to their prevention resources and procedures for reporting and investigating. The policy also states that it values both “trauma-informed investigations” and “procedural fairness.”

In December 2020, a petition that garnered upwards of 50,000 signatures called on McGill to acknowledge and enact safety measures to protect students after multiple assault allegations surfaced against a student in McGill’s New Residence.

Despite significant media attention and calls from the wider community to address the allegations, McGill’s only communication with the student body was a series of tweets and a single email stating that they were aware of the situation and were examining the allegations. A year after the alleged incidents occurred, the case is assumed to have been resolved—McGill policy states investigations must be conducted and concluded within 90 days of its initiation.

The lack of transparency around sexual violence cases can be attributed to Quebec legislation on privacy, specifically the province’s Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information. In a statement to The McGill Tribune Tribune, Frédérique Mazerolle, a McGill media relations officer, addressed this legal constraint, speaking to how it affects McGill’s response to sexual

violence reports and investigations.

“McGill may not share information on any particular case, ongoing investigation, or on investigation outcomes since—like all universities in the

actions [....] There was nothing.”

Taylor*, a U1 student and survivor of sexual assault at McGill, argued that the legal framework in Quebec on sexual violence hinders campus safety and community

the services and accommodations offered at McGill have their limits.

“Once the investigation process is over, [since OSVRSE’s] counselors or social workers are not technically therapists, [...] they

McGill’s Sexual Violence Policy is scheduled for review Mar. 2022. (mcgill.ca)

province—the university is bound

by Quebec privacy law,” Mazerolle wrote.

The act prohibits institutions from disclosing any disciplinary measures imposed on the accused, including to the survivor. The nature of this policy has resulted in it being dubbed Quebec’s “Code of Silence.” Students across Quebec have called for the act to be amended to allow universities to inform survivors of any sanctions imposed on the offender. A group at UQAM composed of researchers and survivors of sexual violence convened in June to investigate how the province’s privacy laws affect disclosures of sexual assault in university settings.

The Quebec government has adopted legislation revamping the privacy laws the UQAM group is interested in. The new legislation, once rolled-out, will allow educational institutions like McGill to share the disciplinary procedures taken against the accused with survivors confidentially. The sharing of the outcomes will not extend to the wider public, however.

The lack of transparency surrounding investigations has made some students feel unsafe on campus. Andi Bloom, U1 Arts and a student involved in publicizing last year’s petition on the allegations of sexual assault in New Residence, where she lived at the time, said she noticed that students living in residence were constantly on edge.

“I know being in [residence] last year, students really did feel very anxious all the time, especially when we didn’t even know if the perpetrator was in the building or not,” Bloom said. “We did not know whether we were going to bump into him in the hall [....] It was a very triggering thing for many people. We did not know if there would be consequences for his

support due to the lack of public accountability.

“There are a lot of things that would make me and a lot of other students feel a lot safer,” Taylor said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “But it’s not feasible without completely readjusting the legal framework. I guess number one, people want to know if someone’s been held accountable.

McGill is sworn to confidentiality, which is understandable, but also pretty terrible [that McGill’s] hands are tied. There are so many policies in place that they have to put legalities before their students.”

McGill provides various resources offering support for survivors on campus, such as the Office of Sexual Violence for Response, Support and Education (OSVRSE), and the Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS). These organizations support survivors and provide education on sexual violence.

In an interview with the Tribune, OSVRSE’s sexual violence education advisor, Maha Cherid, discussed OSVRSE’s efforts in supporting survivors and working to foster a campus free from sexual violence.

“We are really working on trying to make sure that everyone feels like they can be here, that their place is considered just as worthy as anybody else’s,” Cherid said. “We emphasize the survivor-centric, trauma-informed approach, [and] acknowledging the trauma not only on the person, but on the community [....] Everything that we do in our work is to provide a sense that [survivors] can reach out to us anytime and we will do our best to provide as much support as we can.”

While the organizations provide critical support to survivors throughout formal investigations,

kind of let go of you more or less,” Taylor said. “You can still check in but your routine appointments aren’t there anymore. It is just kind of jarring because who you are working closely with for a long time throughout an investigation process, you just pretty much lose that contact and you lose that consistency, the minute the process is done. You get your debrief and you are kind of left on your own.”

As Taylor noted, this weak support network can leave survivors to deal with the lasting repercussions of their trauma mostly on their own. It can also be difficult for survivors to adapt to a learning setting whilst dealing with trauma, given the inflexibility of McGill’s academic accommodations.

“The repercussions of being a survivor of sexual assault last long-term,” Taylor said. “It is psychological trauma, you’re still dealing with that long after you’re in your window of extenuating circumstances. So it is a challenge for McGill students to readjust.”

The lack of clarity surrounding McGill’s reporting procedures is another element many students believe prevents survivors from coming forward.

Jessica Macknofsky, U2 Arts, stressed that transparency is crucial in encouraging survivors to come forward.

“I think it is really important to have transparency on how [McGill] handles certain reports,” Macknofsky said in an interview with the Tribune. “When they are transparent in their proceedings, other [people] who are going through the same thing will be more inclined to go toward them when something occurs. Right now I don’t see [people] being inclined to report whatsoever.”

In an effort to increase awareness of the various reporting

avenues and campus supports for sexual violence, McGill launched the Office for Mediation and Reporting (OMR) last spring.

The OMR centralizes information about sexual violence reporting and support services at McGill. The university also promotes its various reporting channels through the “Supporting Survivors” module in the mandatory sexual violence education program It Takes All of Us. Bloom felt that although the administration is willing to support survivors, they still fall short in the face of certain policy technicalities.

“I really do believe that they try to [be survivor-centric],” Bloom said. “I don’t think in practice it has been carried out effectively. The way that I was interacting with the administration [last year] really felt very pessimistic.”

Bloom also acknowledged that while the administration’s technical stance on last year’s case may have been necessary considering the legal constraints, a little more “humanity” from the administration might have been beneficial for survivors.

“We sort of felt from the get go that there were much more social movements than there were administrative movements.

The students really seemed to want to care about this, they wanted to feel safe, they wanted to feel protected, they wanted some semblance of justice to happen,” Bloom said. “Through McGill it felt very bureaucratic, very logistical, very technical, which I get sometimes is what it has to be, but oftentimes that is not what people need.” *Taylor’s name has been changed to preserve their anonymity.

For any member of the McGill community in need of support regarding sexual violence OSVRSE can be reached at 514 398 3954 or osvrse@mcgill.ca.

news@mcgilltribune.com | NEWS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

SSMU Board of Directors postpones motion demanding president’s resignation Members voted on motions regarding SPHR McGill v. SSMU Isabelle Métivier Contributor

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he Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Board of Directors (BoD) convened on Dec. 2 for their penultimate meeting of the semester to address several motions. One included the reintroduction of the motion to ratify the SSMU Judicial Board’s (J-Board) final judgment on Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill (SPHR) v. SSMU. The other up for ratification was the motion calling for the resignation of the SSMU president.

SPHR initially requested that the SSMU Legislative Council issue a joint statement

All Board Members opted to postpone the motion’s ratification demanding the president’s resignation. (Lea Bourget / The McGill Tribune)

acknowledging Nakba Day on May 15, 2021. The request, approved in a confidential session at the Legislative Council on May 13, was ultimately denied by the BoD in a confidential discussion on May 27. SPHR submitted a petition to the J-Board to challenge the validity of this vote. The J-Board ruling called on the BoD to provide a written summary of the discussion that led them to deny SPHR’s request.

In an updated ruling by the J-Board, it was declared that the BoD adhered to the SSMU constitution in voting against the Nakba Day motion during a confidential session. The ratification of J-Board’s final judgment between the two organizations passed with unanimous approval from the Board. “It seems, as a final judgement [...] that our position was correct,” Éric Sader, SSMU vice-president (VP) Finance said. “Not passing the previous motion in the way that it was done was completely constitutional, and as such [it] stands that there was no mistake on behalf of the Board of Directors.”

Discussions then shifted to the motion approved by the SSMU Legislative council on Nov. 25 that called for the resignation of SSMU president Darshan Daryanani amid his continued absence from Legislative Council

sessions and Executive Committee meetings.

The BoD unanimously rejected the motion.

Had it been approved, the motion would have required Daryanani to submit a letter of resignation within 48 hours of the motion’s ratification, with a failure to do so resulting in the Council calling on the BoD to initiate a special General Assembly at the outset of the Winter 2022 semester.

During the debate session that followed, VP External Sacha Delouvrier urged the BoD not to ratify the resignation motion, arguing that it makes assumptions about the reasons for the president’s absence, which remain confidential.

Delouvrier suggested that Daryanani’s case constitutes an HR issue, which should not be discussed in a public forum.

“If the board wishes to, at a separate time, move a motion to present to a special general assembly member of the executive, that’s a different story,” Delouvrier said. “I sincerely don’t believe we should go around HR matters in such a way which is why I would urge every voting director present to take a stand opposing [the motion].”

Legislative Council representative Nathaniel Saad argued Sader and Delouvrier

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could have raised their concerns regarding the motion at the Nov. 25 Legislative Council meeting, a meeting that they both attended.

“As I remember, clearly they did abstain instead of bringing forward [...] potential amendments or a discussion that could have been had then, so I’m [...] a little confused as to why they would rather just shoot it down here.”

Sader stated he did not participate in the discussion as his responsibility as an executive on Legislative Council differs from his role as a director on the BoD. Following a confidential discussion period, the BoD unanimously voted to postpone the motion indefinitely.

MOMENT OF THE MEETING

Legislative Council representative Yara Coussa argued there is no need for SSMU to hire a VP Operations at this time, despite the position being vacant since 2017.

SOUNDBITE

“Ratifying this motion wouldn’t necessarily say that the board thinks the president has been delinquent in his duties, but rather that the Legislative Council does. [It would acknowledge] the actions that they have done in passing this motion, and by extension the will of the student body.”

—Council representative Nathaniel Saad on why he believes the BoD should ratify the motion regarding the absence of the SSMU president.

Tribune Explains: COVID-19 protocols for final exams and the Winter 2022 semester

No changes have been made to in-person exam plans amidst rise of Omicron variant Eric Birzneck Contributor

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ith the final exam period taking place from Dec. 7 to Dec. 21 and the Winter semester rapidly approaching, the McGill administration has been sending emails to students and faculty outlining ongoing and changing COVID-19 safety procedures. The administration plans to host in-person exams and allow approximately 90 per cent of classes to be delivered inperson next term. Many, however, have become more concerned since the recent discovery of the Omicron variant in Canada on Nov. 29. The McGill Tribune looked into what students can expect for the upcoming exam season and semester.

Academic accommodations for COVID-19-related issues will continue to be offered throughout the exam period.

Considerations to compensate for missed exams will be made for any students who test positive for COVID-19 or are required to isolate due to a public health directive, potential exposure, or the instruction of a healthcare professional. The form can be found under the ‘personal’ tab on Minerva.

How has the university responded to the emergence of the Omicron variant?

According to McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle, the COVID-19 situation is being monitored closely, and What COVID-19 safety measures are in place so far there have been no changes in procedure for either the exam for students taking in-person exams? season or Winter semester.

“The university has contingency plans and will put in place Each exam room will be set up to allow for adequate air additional measures if warranted, based on public health guidelines circulation. McGill has measured the CO2 levels in its and factual information,” Mazerolle wrote in an email buildings and implemented measures to maximize fresh to The McGill Tribune. “Unless epidemiological air circulation accordingly. Procedural face masks will conditions change very significantly in continue to be mandated, and fresh masks and Montreal, final exams will continue hand sanitizer will be available at the entrance to be delivered in the format as of each exam room. The administration described in the course outline.” recommends that students change their By means of a universityprocedural mask every four hours. In the wide email, the administration event of an exposure, those wearing the also asked students to reconsider same mask for more than four hours international travel to avoid being are considered medium- to high-risk stranded in light of changing contacts, and will be required to get a The university is urging students to get their flu shots. travel restrictions in Canada and (Osman Warsi / The McGill Tribune) COVID-19 test. abroad.

How will classes look during the Winter 2022 semester?

Courses with less than 200 students enrolled— which account for approximately 90 per cent of all classes—are expected to take place in person next semester, though some of these courses may still have a hybrid component. Just like the Fall 2021 term, if a course is being delivered remotely, it will have no room assignment on Minerva. The 200-person limit does not apply to research laboratories, which will be back to full operation.

The Academic Accommodation Policy offered throughout the Fall 2021 term will continue to be offered in Winter 2022 to accommodate students that miss classes, deadlines, and/or assignments for COVID-19-related reasons. For the upcoming term, instructors have been encouraged to include modes of remote participation for in-person classes, and to offer leniency for assignment due dates.

Will the rapid tests for asymptomatic students at Trottier continue to be offered next semester?

According to a Dec. 2 email sent out by Associate Provost Chris Buddle and Deputy Provost Fabrice Labreau, the rapid testing centre in the Trottier building for asymptomatic individuals will continue into the winter semester. Having found 64 positive asymptomatic cases out of 1,350 tests administered, the university considers the testing initiative a useful tool in preventing outbreaks on campus. There are plans to expand the testing options offered, with further information to come.

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2021-2022 EXECUTIVE MIDTERM REVIEWS

SSMU

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

Students’ Society of McGill University

Darshan Daryanani President

Claire Downie Vice-President University Affairs

Sarah Paulin Vice-President Internal

Darshan Daryanani’s time as president is difficult to evaluate due to his absence from every SSMU Legislative Council meeting of the Fall 2021 term and from all Board of Directors meetings since Oct. 7. Daryanani did continue to play minor roles on other committees, including McGill’s Centraide Campaign committee, but his attendance at these committees does not excuse his absence from SSMU. Before his absence, Daryanani claims to have accomplished several things, including supporting advocacy for the Every Child Matters march, reopening of the SSMU University Centre and Gerts Campus Bar, and advocating for student interests at McGill’s Board of Governors and Senate. Many of these accomplishments, however, can be attributed to the work of other executives and activists. Moreover, Daryanani has been absent from every Senate meeting since the Sept. 22 meeting.

Students have been left in the dark about Daryanani’s absence, and his leave has meant that the five other executives have been burdened with taking on the extra work under his portfolio.

Claire Downie’s priority throughout her campaign last spring was pushing the McGill administration to ensure safety and accessibility in its return to campus. In line with that goal, Downie organized a protest on campus on the first day of classes, alongside VP External Sacha Delouvrier. While symbolically powerful, the demonstration drew in very few students and came across as somewhat poorly executed. However, she did help secure better academic accommodations for students through her work with the Senate Ad-Hoc committee for COVID-19 Academic Planning. Given the potential risk that the Omicron variant poses, she plans to remain vigilant over the coming months in ensuring the university is held accountable.

Beyond COVID-19 concerns, Downie has worked to expand SSMU’s menstrual product service by allowing students to anonymously request packages of pads and tampons, and has also collaborated with students protesting Bill 2 and Bill 21. Despite a successful first half of her ongoing term, Downie should devote more time to collaborating with portfolios like Black Affairs and Indigenous Affairs going forward.

Sarah Paulin’s term has been a mixed bag. To her credit, Paulin has done an admirable job reforming many of SSMU’s committees; in particular, she has changed the mandate of the Francophone Affairs Committee to focus more on advocacy, rather than just event planning. She also successfully pulled off the Halloween Bar Crawl during COVID-19, implementing appropriate safety measures.

However, Paulin has made several crucial mistakes that have undermined her credibility. In particular, her vague, lackluster email in response to The McGill Daily’s Sept. 22 “Sexism and Silence in SSMU” article was a disappointment. She also wrote unprofessional emails to journalists at the Daily, telling them to desist from contacting employees. Overall, Paulin’s poorly communicated effort to enforce SSMU’s confidentiality policy has drawn concern from both SSMU employees and campus media. Going forward, she would benefit from consulting more closely with the staff under her portfolio if she wants to fulfill her campaign promise of making SSMU a more transparent organization.

(ssmu.ca)

(ssmu.ca)

Karla Heisele Cubilla Vice-President Student Life

Sacha Delouvrier Vice-President External

Éric Sader Vice-President Finance

With this semester’s return to campus, the Student Life portfolio was set to see a revival. However, Karla Heisele Cubilla navigated her first term somewhat unsuccessfully. Unfortunately, Heisele Cubilla’s Fall 2021 Virtual Activities Night was not well executed. Hosted on the virtual platform Gather.town, the event crashed shortly after launching.

Though Heisele Cubilla successfully pulled off the Activities Night “after hours” party at Muzique, the failure of the previous event left many student clubs and organizations with a sour taste in their mouth.

Heisele Cubilla’s decision to host a second hybrid Activities Night was welcomed, though the virtual component still experienced technical difficulties for the first 45 minutes. Although she demonstrated great enthusiasm toward in-person events, she prioritized them to the detriment of the two other major pillars of the Student Life mandate: Mental health and family care. Heisele Cubilla did complete a handful of projects this term, such as creating Microsoft Teams portals for student engagement, facilitating workshops, and conducting an analysis on the current mental health framework, but her progress on some of the more substantive action items remains unclear.

Sacha Delouvrier ran his campaign on three main points: Governance and political affairs, advocacy, and community engagement. As mentioned earlier, Delouvrier’s execution of the Protest for a Safe and Accessible McGill Campus in conjunction with Downie was unengaging. Delouvrier’s efforts in advocacy and community engagement have centred on the Royal Victoria Hospital site, where he oversaw the creation of a public consultation memoir and participated in a public hearing supporting the nonprivatization of the location. Ultimately, much of Delouvrier’s student-facing work has been limited to very specific projects, and he has not been particularly successful in engaging students or building community networks. Delouvrier should consider taking a more balanced and transparent approach when it comes to campus engagement to achieve more for the McGill community.

The finance portfolio is arguably concerned mostly with administrative day-to-day tasks, though previous finance executives took on additional initiatives. As it is, Éric Sader seems to be on top of his duties and has made an effort at increasing transparency in his portfolio. Much of his platform revolved around his fee consolidation plan, a project spearheaded by his predecessor, which is now beginning consultations. One notable highlight was Sader’s decision to transfer the Awards of Distinction into more profitable investments, which will at least double the bursaries offered this year. However, it does not appear that he has followed through on his campaign promise to translate financial statements and budgets into French. Sader’s performance is most lacking when it comes to clubs. His communication with clubs and organizations has been subpar at best, even when they faced delays obtaining access to their bank accounts. In addition, he has yet to give most clubs their allotted credit cards. In the coming months, he should remember that transparency is not only about making financial documents accessible, but about being accessible to students.

2021-2022 EXECUTIVE MIDTERM REVIEWS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

Post-Graduate Students’ Society of McGill University

7

PGSS

Kristi Kouchakji Secretary-General

Kristi Kouchakji inherited a fraught portfolio––the Secretary-General position was vacant for a period of transition for the better part of last academic year, leaving Kouchakji with lots to catch up on. One of her objectives was to change the workplace culture within the Society by hiring more contractors, encouraging a healthy work-life balance for executives and commissioners, and asking executives to track their hours worked in order to evaluate whether the workload is sustainable. While ongoing, this project appears to be successful thus far. This term, she has also been supporting the BIPOC Grad Network Coordinator and working to increase Society engagement. Recently, she released the PGSS statement on academic freedom––though the full extent of her current undertakings are too lengthy to discuss in full here. Overall, Kouchakji shows a clear desire to reinvigorate her portfolio, and her work so far has been very promising.

Babatunde Ali External Affairs Officer

Babatunde Ali, who also served in his position last year, aimed to establish stronger ties with other student associations in Montreal and across Canada. This year’s initiatives included communicating closely with the Quebec Student Union (QSU)—attending the QSU caucus and organized one-on-one meetings with the QSU officers to discuss PGSS interests. Ali also worked with other Montreal student associations to reaffirm and add to the demands of the Coalition régionale étudiante de Montréal (CREM) municipal election platform. The platform calls for affordable non-profit student housing, reduced BIXI fares for students, and more. Although PGSS joined CREM in 2017, there has yet to be any progress with Montreal fulfilling their demands. He plans to continue following up with the municipal council to push those demands forward. Ali has also been working to start a federal coalition of Canadian graduate student associations, with their first drafted Memorandum of Understanding being considered at the PGSS executive level.

Dakota Rogers Member Services Officer

Dakota Rogers was responsible for ensuring the successful rollout of the projects such as Keep. meSAFE, a mental health service at McGill accessible to all students, established as a collaboration between the student societies, and Dialogue, a virtual healthcare platform introduced to address the challenges of accessing health care in Montreal and Canada. The Legal Protection Plan was also put into action to facilitate easier access to lawyers and legal advice for PGSS members.

Rogers has also been involved in a handful of other initiatives, including establishing a SSMU daycare fee, ensuring the needs of students are being met after recent changes to the PGSS Health and Dental Insurance Plan, reopening Thomson House according to COVID-19 protocols, and continuing the ongoing Thomson House wheelchair accessibility renovations that are now in McGill’s renovation queue. This year, Rogers successfully achieved his goal of ensuring the rollout of the projects he was involved in and made significant progress on other important initiatives.

Adel Ahmadihosseini Internal Affairs Officer

In his first term as Internal Affairs Officer, Adel Ahmadihosseini’s main goal was to make the transition from virtual to in-person events safe, accessible, and inclusive. PGSS Orientation week offered students a mix of information and social events, and throughout the semester, Ahmadihosseini has successfully coordinated multiple events with hybrid formats, most of which saw high attendance numbers. He has facilitated several initiatives including weekly international language café meetings, various day-trips to national parks, and academic-related workshops.

While Ahmadihosseini has delivered many successful social events, he can improve on facilitating events that address pertinent issues graduate students face, such as mental health. Ahmadihosseini is currently working on Winter orientation, Thomson Cup, and events that build community among the different post-graduate departmental student associations.

Sophie Osiecki Financial Affairs Officer

Sophie Osiecki’s main focus this semester has been supporting the PGSS needs-based bursary.

In collaboration with the Member Services Officer, Osiecki also put a stop to the fee collection for the legal support fund—a fund which has been collecting $1 per student per term—but that according to Osiecki, is rarely if ever used.

The fee will stop being collected as of September 2022. Although the question of how to redistribute the fund’s accrued $125,000 is ultimately up to the vote of the PGSS Council, Osiecki hopes to push for part of it to be injected into the needsbased bursary endowment. Osiecki will also spearhead the Seeds of Change initiative next term, a fundraising event that supports the bursary fund. Another project that Osiecki hopes to wrap up before March is passing a motion through the council that would put part of Travel Awards money toward carbon offsets. Sophie Osiecki has made good progress as the Financial Affairs Officer this year, and hopefully all of her projects slated for next semester come to fruition.

Hossein Poorhemati University Affairs Officer

The role of the University Affairs (UA) Officer is to represent the interests of graduate students to the McGill administration. This semester, Hossein Poorhemati prioritized a smooth transition back to in-person learning by keeping an open line of communication with graduate students through weekly Zoom office hours and regular meetings with the administration.

Another aspect of the UA portfolio is recruitment within PGSS, which Poorhemati has helped improve this semester by ensuring adequate volunteer recruitment and holding monthly meetings to keep track of unfilled positions. Additionally, Poorhemati has had a strong commitment to equity initiatives, notably advocating for international students facing financial barriers to research. He also hopes to develop an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion 101 course that would be mandatory for all students and staff. Poorhemati chaired the PGSS Library Improvement Fund Committee and helped develop a list of recommendations to address the needs of graduate students. Next semester, Poorhemati hopes to continue increasing student involvement in PGSS and to work on improving the work-life balance for his constituents.

8

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

OPINION | opinion@mcgilltribune.com

EDITORIAL The McGill Tribune Editorial Board

Content warning: police violence, racism

O

n Nov. 26, bystander video footage surfaced documenting two cases of police brutality against Black youth in Quebec. Pacifique Niyokwizera, an 18-year-old Black man, was waiting outside of a nightclub when five police officers brutalized him. In the same video, the same officers are seen committing a violent act against a young Black woman.

Neither of the two teenagers were given a reason for their arrest or detention.

Despite the 461 fatal police encounters in Canada between 2000 and 2017, police brutality is usually seen as a distinctly American problem. In reality, this violent culture transcends borders as it is inherent to the roots of policing––and is therefore institutionally reinforced. When a system is erected to surveil and brutalize racialized people, the only way to fix it is by abolishing it altogether.

As of Dec. 7, the instigators of the violent, racist abuse against the two youth have been suspended with pay. But even this outcome was a contested one. Marine Fortier, the president of the

OFF THE BOARD Abby de Gala Web Editor

U

pon entering my go-to cafe last week, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. Christmas music was playing and a familiar thought crept back into my mind: Christmas has not felt like Christmas to me for a while now. When

Abolish the SPVM Quebec City Police Brotherhood (QCPB), expressed her surprise at the suspensions and said she hoped that the decision was not politically motivated or influenced by external opinions. However, the QCPB itself is far from a neutral party: The use of the word “brotherhood” suggests an environment of insular protection between officers as opposed to accountability.

To make this atmosphere of shielded camaraderie even more disturbing, consider that it is usually past officers who are tasked with investigating incidents of police misconduct. That Fortier politicized such a negligible disciplinary action as paid leave reveals that the institution of policing—and the culture that protects it—is irredeemable.

Quebec cities show no signs of changing their policing systems, except by funnelling in more money without any increased accountability. Regardless of Valerie Plante’s carefully curated image as a progressive candidate and politician, her platform in the recent municipal election involved no real intention to address Montreal’s rampant policing problem. In fact, it was almost exactly the same as that of her opponent Denis Coderre, who sits to the political right of her: Both favoured expanding the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM)’s already exorbitant budget. That said, even if Plante were to

come out in favour of police reforms, such as the implementation of body cameras, they would not be able to fix the issues inherent to policing. Instead, such policies would provide a more inflated budget to the SPVM. Despite its surface-level appeal, reform is not enough.

Colonial governments established the police with the explicit intent of suppressing rebellions amongst enslaved people and violently displacing Indigenous people from their land. Contemporary policing still reflects this legacy as it continues to control racialized bodies.

Headlines detailing BIPOC individuals being brutalized or killed by police officers continue to dominate news cycles, and Canadian police continue to suppress Indigenous communities defending their land and sovereignty—recently exemplified by the RCMP’s invasion of Wet’suwet’en territory. Making small tweaks to a fundamentally flawed institution will not result in long-term change—there needs to be a complete overhaul of policing as we know it in Canada.

Mobilization for police abolition has tempered since the summer of 2020, when the police murder of George Floyd sparked widespread global protests as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. A Black person should not have to be violently

murdered and then martyred to spur calls for change.

Especially considering resistance from politicians, there must be sustained demands for abolition for meaningful change to occur.

But reposting graphics on one’s Instagram story only to call the police on unhoused Indigenous individuals is not productive. In fact, it is violent. In addition to political mobilization, the abolitionist project must be internalized; individuals must change the way they think and act in their everyday lives and interactions with others. Abolition must be multifaceted and also involves abolishing one’s “inner police.”

Beyond this, demands for change must coexist with a real effort to reduce the demand for police intervention. Student organizations that deal with mental health and safety should make efforts to move away from calling the police for crisis intervention; instead, they should liaise with social workers—though that is also a profession that needs to be decolonized.

In conjunction with mutual aid and community-based coalition building, supporting local activists and initiatives is crucial. No more BIPOC “martyrs,” police abolition now.

When Christmas isn’t how it used to be familiar tunes about reindeers and Santa Claus chime from every corner, along with the incessant flashing of red, white, and green lights, I cannot help but feel nostalgic. Before I can push the thought away, I am always left wondering why the so-called Christmas “magic” is lost on me.

What was it that made Christmas “feel like Christmas” in the first place?

Before the age of nine, my Christmas had religious affiliations. My parents always explained that it was Jesus’ birthday and somehow that meant we gave gifts to each other. The religious customs never stuck with me and although I observed them out of respect, they were no longer part of my Christmas experience as I grew older.

What my adolescent self did latch onto was the loud, wild affair of family and relatives piling into our house to eat, drink, play games, and throw money at each other.

After I turned nine, my family moved away and though our Christmas gatherings were smaller, they were no less enjoyable.

I attributed a lot of my excitement to the build-up to Christmas. There was something about scrolling through TV channels and only seeing Home Alone or Christmas specials that just made the time

of year so comfortable and thrilling. Unlike Halloween, where you would not want to be any of the characters stuck in their timeline of horror, the holiday films were full of joy. I would have loved to be Danny Devito attempting to deck my house in lights so that it can be seen from space.

Now, in my 20s, I do not have the same kind of enthralled attachment to Christmas. I do not feel the same sense of anticipation. Honestly, I struggle to find what Christmas means to me now; I do not go to church, I do not have the same family traditions, and this year I will not even make it home for Christmas. I would not exactly say I have “outgrown” it––I simply do not enjoy it the way my nine-year-old self did. Maybe I never will again. But this does not have to be a bad thing, and I feel comforted that after many conversations with my friends, I know I am not the only one feeling this way.

It goes without saying, Christmas is a largely observed holiday and is practiced differently by many different people. I see it as a clear marker of time passing—like a second birthday. As we get older, we become more nostalgic each passing year and for some of us, this is amplified during

the holiday season. Nostalgia is odd in the way that it can either be good or bad. Great memories make you thankful that you had them, but there is also sadness in knowing you will not have them again. The feelings that you had in that moment can never be recreated in the exact same way, and although it can be bittersweet, nostalgia is something that will always come and go— it cannot be avoided. As long as time keeps moving forward, Christmas will always come around to remind me of a time I cannot go back to.

So, even if I cannot replicate the Christmas celebrations of my childhood, nostalgia ensures that my experiences were fulfilling enough that I both remember and miss them. I do not exactly aspire to “make something out of Christmas again.” Simply knowing that I did love it at a time in my life is enough for me.

ERRATUM

The article published in the Nov. 30 issue titled “SSMU Legislative Council approves motion calling for resignation of President Daryanani” incorrectly stated the normal SSMU voting procedure keeps the voters anonymous. In fact, a voting record is posted on the SSMU website after every meeting.

The Tribune regrets this error.

opinion@mcgilltribune.com | OPINION

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

Campus conversations: Recovery Making peace with grey Ella Fitzhugh, News Editor

Content warning: Mentions of mental illness, eating disorders

(Cameron Chan / The Lowell)

COVID-19 recovery requires proper institutional support

Kennedy McKee-Braide, Managing Editor As early as a few weeks into the pandemic back in 2020, commentators began to talk about how this universally traumatic experience may bring positive change and progress to the post-COVID-19 world. Some pointed to the natural world, noticing that nature seemed to be healing with fewer people out and about to damage the planet. Others hoped the pandemic would lead to lasting political changes, from a permanent universal basic income (UBI) to better support for unhoused people.

Of course, the pandemic is not yet over––new variants, ongoing vaccine inequity, and vaccine hesitancy suggest it may be quite some time before the world makes it out the other side. But nearly two years and several waves later, it is worth asking ourselves—and our governments—whether we have really learned anything from this seemingly neverending nightmare.

One thing the pandemic has made clear is the power of mutual aid and solidarity. Across North America, activists and community members have come together to support those experiencing financial hardship as a result of the pandemic.

One Montreal-based Facebook group, Montréal - Tio’tia:ke - Entraide - Mutual Aid, was first launched in March 2020.

With over 16,500 members still going strong today, the group is just one example of the fact that mutual aid will remain a major part of many’s lives.

Where communities have grown stronger and even more supportive than before, most governments have failed to show meaningful political will to account for the many cracks in the system that the pandemic both revealed and exacerbated. For example, despite moving quickly to roll out the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), a needed financial support program offering lump sum payment for those living in Canada experiencing financial hardship, the Canadian Revenue Agency clawed back money from ordinary working-class people who made mistakes on their applications due to vague instructions. Additionally, despite the fact that the Liberal Party of Canada adopted UBI as a policy objective in their platform, the federal government has shown little intention to pursue the plan in the near future. The pandemic plunged unhoused people into further precarity—now subject to increased police hostility and inadequate shelter in this time of crisis—and Valerie Plante’s administration did not learn from the experience. Take, for example, their decision to cease funding for the Raphaël André memorial tent after December.

The burden of post-COVID recovery must not be placed squarely on the shoulders of average citizens. Going forward, governments have a responsibility to respond to citizen pressure and calls for more comprehensive social support, for the good of us all.

I’ve never been secretive about my love for psychotherapy. Admittedly, I have weeks where I dread the session—fears about my perceived lack of progress in treatment flood my mind. Other times, however, I desperately await my hour-long, uninhibited ramble.

Even after several years in therapy, I am still unlearning the fallacy that progress with mental health is linear.

Clearly, the pandemic has exacerbated mental illnesses, especially among university students. Indeed, the remote landscape hit me hard. A sneaky eating disorder crept up, devoured me, and kept me suffering in isolated silence. Those who have endured the painstaking, yet beautiful wonders of eating disorder treatment, will know that the word “recovery” is tossed around so much that you start to forget it can be used in other contexts too. Throughout my outpatient treatment, I longed for a perfect recovery from mental illness, which I envisioned as beautiful rolling hills where no struggle could ever reach me again. But therapists are not just supportive, they are also there to feed you life’s truths: Recovery is nonlinear. A healthy mind does not entirely evade every semblance of sadness nor eating disorderedthinking; instead, a healthy mind learns which internal voices to amplify. Through treatment, I have learned to distinguish my “healthy” voice, which knows the truths about recovery, from my “eating disordered” voice, which sees recovery as a far away utopia, the one I think I can reach by simply checking the boxes in a methodical step-by-step process.

I think we can all benefit from knowing that a healthy, recovered mind is not a perfect one. To me, recovery means accepting ambiguity. There will always be a negative internal narrative dwelling in a corner of your mind, I realized I was capable of turning down the volume to make space for my louder, and more honest, voice. Therapists are always telling me to simply observe the world around me, and I urge you to do so as well.

Know that things are not black-and-white, and see that, although the thoughts of hopelessness appear loud now, recovery has been a voice within you all along. It just starts with listening.

(Jon Stich / Politico)

COVID-19 state of mind

Madison Edward-Wright, News Editor Mental health was something I struggled with before the COVID-19 pandemic. My depression and anxiety would play tricks on my mind, convincing me that social isolation would spare me from the judgement of others and that obsessive exercising would rid me of all my pentup stress. I was lucky, however, to be surrounded by friends and family who supported me. The daily routine of waking up and going to school was an escape that gave me a reason to get out of bed and made me feel like the work I did throughout the day had purpose.

After putting in the work with my therapist and leaning on the people around me, I was able to pull myself out of my funk and live like the young, dumb, goofy adult that I learned I am. While the hangovers hurt my head, the time spent with friends did wonders for my mental wellbeing. When the pandemic hit, however, I was sent right back to the place I was in three years ago. I know I was not the only one to experience this. Many of my friends,

(Jackie Ferrentino / Politico)

work colleagues, and fellow students I met on Zoom told me they were struggling to stay motivated to accomplish simple, daily tasks that we used to do without a second thought.

Many of us struggled with the long stretches of isolation last year––what was once self-induced became forced. I retreated into my room where I let my loneliness engulf me. I will not lie, it was a tough time. What helped me through the past 20 months of the pandemic, though, was knowing that while I might have been alone physically, mentally, I knew so many people were going through the same thing.

The return to in-person life has been a much needed reprieve from the dreariness of COVID-19. Walking alongside the hundreds of students on campus, running into old friends, meeting new ones, and participating in student life has helped me get back to a healthy mental space. I laugh and smile a lot more in class than I did when attending online school, because interacting with other students, face to face, who are my age, reminds me how much fun life can be. While my mental health has not fully recovered from COVID-19, I feel like I am on the right path; reconnecting with the world has made all the difference.

9

It’s the friends you make along the way Gearheads, weekend warriors, and everything in between Adam Burton, Sports Editor Everybody has something they’re overly attached to. Whether it’s that old stuffed tiger you had as a kid, or the ever-growing jungle of houseplants taking up your entire living room, we often develop emotional attachments to the inanimate objects that colour our lives. A select few, however, take this a step further. For a certain class of Mile End fuckboys, dads going through a midlife crisis, and general gearheads, bikes are more than possessions. It’s hard to explain what makes cycling so attractive; some do it for the aesthetic, some for the health benefits, and others just like turning an old piece of junk into something new.

For Elias Andraos, U3 Science, part of the appeal is being able to roll up his sleeves and get his hands greasy. In his spare time, he runs a bike salvage shop out of his backyard and kitchen.

Elias Andraos built his own “frankenbike” so he could ride comfortably during winter with a friend behind him.

Andraos’ love affair with grease and gears began when he started commuting to school on an old beater because of his chronic knee pain.

One fateful morning, his rear axle snapped, and he was left bikeless and stranded. Devoid of

options, he entered McGill’s bike co-op, the Flat Bike Collective, and found just what he needed.

Nicknamed “the Flat,” the Flat Bike Collective is a hub at McGill for all things bike. It offers concrete education, inviting students to come to learn how to fix their bikes with their own tools, and it also offers workshops on bike maintenance. But the Flat also makes bikes accessible to more students by selling them for cheap.

“This one guy Tommy helped me take a look at it,” Andraos recalled. “He kind of just showed me how easy it was to fix these things.

Of course, you do need some tools, but the tools are fairly minimal. It just kind of blew my mind that you could just fix bikes that easily. So then I started tinkering more on that bike.”

Andraos’ fascination quickly grew, and after messing around with a few trashed bikes given to him by friends, he decided to make fixing up old bikes a mainstay in his life. He has made a practice out of finding scrap bikes for almost nothing and fixing them up for free and gifting them to his friends.

“I started just browsing Kijiji for broken bicycles, and it’s amazing,” Andraos explained.

“You can find someone’s broken stuff there and fix them up. After a while, I didn’t have any friends without bikes anymore, so I started selling them on the listserv of the outdoor club.”

During the many lockdowns last year, repairing beat-up bikes was a great way for Andraos to occupy his hands and mind.

“I just really needed that kind of aspect of working with my hands and seeing the progress,” Andraos said. “You have some unreadable piece of junk, and you work on it, and it becomes better.” Since the re-opening of in-person activities at McGill, Andraos has started volunteering at the Flat.

The Flat is able to sell bikes so cheaply

because of their access to the stash of bikes that have been abandoned on campus. Buried in the deep recesses of the SSMU building, sad, lonely bikes with no home are stored for six months, anxiously awaiting their riding partner to come retrieve them. Unfortunately, most never get to go home. After six months of waiting in the parking garage, the Flat is free to do whatever they like with the bikes.

While most of the leftover bikes are rusted and derelict from months of exposure to the cruel Montreal winter, there are always parts to salvage. Every Friday night, the volunteers at the Flat congregate in their workshop, and work on bikes to eventually sell at cost on their website. In Andraos’ eyes, accessibility is everything when it comes to cycling—making bikes more affordable builds a sustainable, pedestrian-friendly city.

“Compared to what I know from Germany, cycling here is still very much seen as a sport,” Andraos said. “For people that are into biking as a sport, that’s fine. But as a method of transportation, it still can be expensive.”

Andraos himself has a veritable zoo of bikes in his backyard, from old road bikes, hybrid commuter bikes, to his self-dubbed

“frankenbike” that he uses for commuting during wintertime. The frankenbike features a rear rack like no other. He attached a mounted rear fork from another bike to his seatpost with a sturdy line of paracord and added a stainless steel kitchen rack to top it off. With these modifications, he can bring his friends, comfortably seated behind him, along for his various escapades.

Andraos’ “frankenbike” was inspired by durable German engineering. In cities where biking is the transit status quo, bikes are built to last, and they don’t skimp on durability or comfort. got his first road bike and began competing “I told my German family how you can’t in road races around Montreal. He eventually leave bikes out in the rain, and they wouldn’t joined a junior cycling team, and through his believe me. Like, ‘What do you mean coach, got his first job at a bike shop called a bike that you can’t leave out in the Rossi, a high end Orbea dealer in Lachine. rain? That’s ridiculous.’”

Fixing things is second nature for There are those for whom Knobovitch. He’s always had a fascination biking is more serious than a gentle with how things work, from playing with summer breeze running through legos to building his own computer. Working their hair; it’s a way of life. For Craig as a mechanic came naturally to him.

Knobovitch, a U3 political science “I’ve always been a technical kind student and Montreal native, biking of person,” Knobovitch said. “Over the is a sport, hobby, and a living. summer, my tower fan broke. So instead Knobovitch started getting of [...] buying a new one, I opened it up serious about cycling at 14 and saw it wasn’t actually broken. A wire pipe came loose, and something was just out of place. So I fixed it, cleaned it, closed it back up, and it works like brand new.”

Knobovitch isn’t just a gearhead, however; he also loves to bring his bike out for expeditiously long rides, and still races occasionally. The feeling of open road and his Orbea Orca beneath him is like no other for Knobovitch.

“There’s nothing like the agility that you have on a bike,” Knobovitch said. “It’s like running on your feet, but at the same time, you’re going faster and you’re more akin to a motorcycle or car [....] You can explore more because you’re not confined to just being on paved roads. You could go off road, you can go on little paths and cool little places that you might not otherwise have known about.”

For other bike enthusiasts, it isn’t so much about the destination or distance, but about the journey.

Sophia Gorbounov, U3 Engineering, has been biking for a while, but has grown to love it even more since coming to McGill.

Like a lot of people, Gorbounov donned her first helmet young. Ever since, she has adopted the two-wheeled way of life and hasn’t looked back.

“My dad got me a bike with training wheels, and then took them off when I wasn’t looking,” Gorbounov said. “[He] said ‘Go, I’ll Designed by, Xiaotian Wang when he stand behind you’ and then didn’t. So that’s

how I learned to ride a bike.”

Gorbounov describes herself as a casual rider, mainly using her bike for commuting and biking with friends. In her home town just outside of Toronto, biking was the only way to get around, so getting used to pedaling places was a necessity.

“I grew up in the suburbs, where things aren’t necessarily very walkable, except if you’re trying to get to more suburbs,” Gorbounov explained.

“All my friends biked. Everybody biked.”

Now that she’s at McGill, biking has become an integral part of Gorbounov’s commute to school. Even though walking or bussing are viable modes of transport, they just don’t do it for her.

“I get bored very easily and I need stimulation wherever I go,” she said. “Because you have to look around and stay alert, I find that [biking] gives you something to do. It brings fun to something that’s not always fun.”

Gorbounov’s morning commute even serves the dual function of commute and hair blowdrying.

“In the summer, when I had to go somewhere, I would take a shower right before I left,” Gorbounov said. “I would bike pretty fast, blow drying my hair kind of. And it really helped with the hair volume. I say this with full seriousness. I have employed the strategy, it works quite well.”

On top of the extreme practicality of biking, Gorbounov has found biking to be a great way to bond with friends. Ever since moving to Montreal, Gorbounov has spent a lot of her summers mounted on her bike, surrounded by friends, going wherever she pleases.

“It’s so easy to socialize through biking. It builds a really good foundation for friendship,” she said. “I like to do activities, and now I have friends that are similar to me in that they also like activities, and it’s always really hard for us to find things to do.”

Picking up some friends who are deep down the bike rabbit hole has allowed her to appreciate the “gearhead” stereotype attached.

She mentioned a friend whose passion was researching different models of bikes and their specifications.

“It’s so fun for people whose bikes are a hobby,” Gorbounov said. “It gives you something new to observe that you wouldn’t have previously. They’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, look at this thing over here. I love this bike because of this and this.’ See, I never would have thought of that. But now I’m looking at it. And I’m like, he’s right.”

“It’s fun to know about things, because I feel like it expands what you observe in your everyday life. It makes your everyday life a little better.”

14

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY | photo@mcgilltribune.com

Best of Fall 2021 Photos

Brian Schatteman

Elissa Dresdner

Noah Vaton

Elissa Dresdner

Anoushka Oke

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

photo@mcgilltribune.com | PHOTOGRAPHY

Path to Recovery

Brian Schatteman

Kate Addison

Léa Bourget

Brian Schatteman

Ruobing Chen

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | arts@mcgilltribune.com

The Best and Worst of 2021

Lowell Wolfe, Michelle Siegel, Suzanna Graham, Arian Kamel, Louis Lussier-Piette Arts & Entertainment Editors, Staff Writers

Albums

Singles

Films

TV Shows

(pitchfork.com)

(youtube.com)

(radio-canada.ca)

(netflixlife.com)

Red (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift

Montero (Call me by your name) by Lil Nas X

Dune

Sex Education

2012 was a simpler time: As conspiracy-theorists announced the approach of the world’s end, Taylor Swift was easing into pop music with catchy breakup songs. Nine years later, she has re-recorded her charttopping album Red, adding 10 new songs (from the vault) that blend with the original album’s mix of colorful bops and somber songs. Featuring Phoebe Bridgers, Chris Stapleton, and more, Red (Taylor’s Version) confidently navigates toxic relationships, heartbreak, and the joys of getting older.

Since his debut in the mainstream scene in 2019, the internet can’t get enough of Lil Nas X. The release of “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” came at the perfect moment: During a time of universal misery amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Lil Nas X’s catchy beats were what we didn’t know we needed. The song took the world by storm, becoming certified platinum in the U.S. just a couple weeks after its release. For the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, the song was like a breath of fresh air—it was truly refreshing to see the rapper embrace his queer identity so authentically and unapologetically.

This film proved that a runtime of 155 minutes can still feel like a tease. Adapted from Frank Herbert’s iconic novel, Dune was a massive highlight of cinema this year. Dune follows the noble House Atreides as they assume control of the planet Arrakis and its production of spice, a precious resource. While the family deals with threats to their acquired power, teenage heir Paul (Timothee Chalamet) grapples with visions of a complicated future. With powerful performances, gorgeous cinematography, and an intense score, Dune is a must-see for those patient enough to sit through it.

Not many shows can claim to be as representative and authentic as Netflix’s Sex Education, which has gotten better and better with each passing season. The third season centres on Moordale Secondary School’s new principal and her more conservative approach to education. With the new addition of gendered uniforms and abstinence-heavy sex education classes, Otis (Asa Butterfield) and his friends are faced with new challenges in exploring their sexuality and gender identity. This season does a focussed job exploring the dangers of oppressive mindsets on teenagers without straying from its humorous tone.

An Evening with Silk Sonic by Anderson .Paak, Bruno Mars, and Silk Sonic An Evening with Silk Sonic is as smooth as liquid gold. Easy to listen to for even the most unfamiliar listener, every second of this 30-minute record is jampacked with funky guitar glissandos and ever-present R&B vocals. An Evening with Silk Sonic doesn’t hold any grand aspirations. It’s not trying to change music as we know it forever; it’s simply a good time.

30 by Adele November 2021 was the official month for “sad girl autumn,” established in major part by Adele’s new album, 30. The highly anticipated work was the singer’s first release since 2016’s 25—and her signature powerhouse vocals and wistful lyricisms undeniably surpass all expectations. With standout songs like “I Drink Wine” and “Can I Get It,” 30 is an intense emotional collage that bridges themes of heartbreak, motherhood, and reinvention. Whether you’re 30 or 13, the album is an unforgettable insight into Adele’s creative ingenuity.

Solar Power by Lorde After a four-year hiatus, Lorde’s third studio album does not disappoint. Solar Power combines the artist’s brilliant lyricism with innovative acoustic sounds inspired by early-2000s soft rock. The resulting album is a candid ode to the power of nature, filled with Y2K references that add a slight dose of melancholia.

Released in early August of this year, Solar Power was the perfect conclusion to the summer. But its appeal has extended beyond sunny weather, and its joyful beats will definitely be played during the dull winter days to come.

Worst:

= by Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran’s transformation from soft acoustic country boy to possessive synth pop star is complete in his newest album, simply titled =. Sheeran’s lack of creativity in sticking to math symbols is emblematic of this creative endeavor in entirety. As this album is titled after a finalizing symbol, hopefully it is Sheeran’s final album.

“Driver’s Rodrigo

License”

by

Olivia

Taking a page out of Taylor Swift’s book, Rodrigo began her career with a song about heartbreak. But what sets “Driver’s License” apart is its brutal honesty. Rodrigo paints a vivid image of how her driver’s license, a sign of flourishing adulthood and widening horizons, became the vehicle for a metaphor about mourning a failed relationship. Rodrigo’s candor is why “Driver’s License” is the hit of the season. Well, that and its killer melody.

“All Too Well (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” by Taylor Swift Taylor Swift’s 10-minute re-recording of a nearly 10-year-old song is a perfect example of her lyrical and musical genius. In this emotional ballad, Swift reflects on her naivety in past relationships, notably alluding to her former relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal. Melodically swelling as she begins to recognize the red flags, “All Too Well” is a cathartic break-up anthem that is the ultimate musical remedy for your toxic breakup blues.

“Off the Grid” by Kanye West Kanye West, Playboi Carti, and Fivio Foreign team up for a hard-hitting assertion of pride about how far they’ve come while still giving their thanks to higher powers. Over a drum-heavy drill beat, Carti’s adlibs, Fivio’s verse, and Ye’s chorus collide for one of 2021’s best songs of the year. If Playboi Carti’s Whole Lotta Red wasn’t a hard enough collaboration between Playboi Carti and Kanye West, “Off the Grid” fills in for whatever was missing.

Worst:

“Obsessed” by Addison Rae The debut single by TikToker and internet personality Addison Rae is just as perplexing and disappointing as her entire career. While Rae most likely intended to release a dance-pop anthem about self-love and empowerment, the actual song sounds vacuous and conceited. Given her rising stardom, it’s okay for Rae to obsess over herself. But don’t expect general audiences to obsess over this painful waste of 134 seconds.

Spencer Christmas with the British royals isn’t all fun hats and extravagant dishes. Directed by Pablo Larraín, Spencer is a fictitious retelling of the tenuous marriage between Diana, Princess of Wales (Kristen Stewart) and the infidelious Charles, Prince of Wales (Jack Farthing). As she navigates intrusive journalists, rude in-laws, and dinner-party politics, Diana struggles to find her footing. Lush scenery and a powerful performance by Stewart make the viewer forget they’re watching a made-up flick about a family of imperialist one-percenters.

Squid Game

The Suicide Squad

Marvel Studios kicked off its television endeavours on Disney+ with one of its most unique and innovative story arcs. Starring Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), WandaVision follows the married couple through a progression of sitcom styles and stories as they try to piece together their past, present, and future. With striking new theme songs, cinematography, and costuming in each passing episode, WandaVision is a must-see for Marvel fans.

The fact that The Suicide Squad has an actually coherent storyline already places it a cut above its predecessor—but it doesn’t stop there. The newest James Gunn flick has visuallyscrumptious special effects, a soundtrack you’ll be humming for days, and an ensemble that would make Tarantino drool.

There is the upbeat yet unpredictable Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), the brooding Bloodspot (Idris Elba), and John Cena as…well, John Cena. But it’s really King Shark (voiced

by Sylvester Stallone) who steals the show.

No Time to Die Daniel Craig is back for his fifth and final performance as James Bond in No Time to Die. The film has all of the exciting explosions and fight scenes that we expect in a 007 film, yet it also manages to tie up the loose ends in Craig’s collection of the Bond franchise. One standout new character is Paloma (Ana de Armas), a girlboss CIA agent who matches Bond in charm and intelligence. And for the first time ever, rejecting this hero’s previous standards of toxic masculinity, James Bond shows emotions and vulnerability.

Worst:

Space Jam: A New Legacy Playing on nostalgia for an easy cash-grab has been a recurring trend in Hollywood for a few years now. If you grew up in the late ‘90s, you most likely remember the iconic movie Space Jam, in which basketball superstar Michael Jordan befriends beloved Looney Tunes characters. The 2021 sequel, unfortunately, is nothing like the original.

It’s not much more than two hours replete with tactless product placements, flat jokes, and unnecessary social media references.

What is there to say about the biggest show of the year except that it’s utterly enthralling? Squid Game takes place in a world where people in severe debt are invited to participate in deadly children’s games for a chance to win a large fortune—and a second chance at a better life. The heart of the show are the characters, each so compelling yet pitiable, and in some cases detestable; their humanness is why it’s so easy to connect with them.

WandaVision

The White Lotus HBO’s The White Lotus, written and directed by Mike White, is a blueprint of how not to act on vacation. Two entitled families and a hysterical Jennifer Coolidge manage to antagonize every staff member working at the White Lotus, a luxury Hawaiian resort. The staff, in return, have fun taking revenge by stealing the guests’ drugs and sabotaging romantic date nights, creating a satirical comedy meant to make the viewers uncomfortable.

Worst:

Pretty Smart Pretty Smart, the latest Netflix sitcom, is about as appealing as the leftover grey slush at the bottom of an Ice Capp. From the title alone, it’s clear that the producers at least have a firm grasp of irony. The series follows Chelsea (Emily Osment), a self-proclaimed brainiac, as she’s forced to live with her sister and her “eccentric” friends. Little to say, the premise is not very inspiring— but don’t worry, nothing else about the show is either. If this gets picked up for a second season, I’m selling all my lively possessions and abandoning human society to live among the Cloudberries.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

arts@mcgilltribune.com | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

‘The French Dispatch’ is a shallow, inconsequential vanity project

Could be good

Wes Anderson’s rose-tinted romanticization of journalism brings little to the table Olivia Shan Contributor

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new Wes Anderson film is an event in and of itself. How could it not be? In the last decade, the American filmmaker has become an international sensation, having produced iconic films like the delightful Moonlight Kingdom (2012), and the Oscar-winning The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Love him or hate him, it’s clear from his countless and insufferable appearances on film class syllabi that trademark features of the Wes Anderson cinematic style— recurring casts, symmetrical camera work, meticulously curated soundtracks—have left a deep imprint in our cultural consciousness.

Although The French Dispatch loyally upholds the director’s famed aesthetics, it attempts little else, making for a bland and unsubstantial film despite its rich subject matter.

In this latest project, Anderson sets his movie

The director’s tenth feature reveals him at his most insular. (deadline.com)

in the fictional confines of mid-century Ennui-surBlasé—the small, quirky French town of any filmbro’s dreams. The French Dispatch cinematically reenacts the titular publication’s final issue in a series of somewhat-connected vignettes, told from the perspectives of the journalist behind each feature.

Because of the film’s portmanteau structure, watching The French Dispatch inevitably feels like watching three or four Anderson films in quick succession, making for a very uneven viewing experience. Other than the film’s exasperating pacing, it raises some additional questions: Why must every Anderson female love interest be foreign—and preferably French? Why is the agonizingly kitschy middle portion of the film where a student protest is reduced to a silly game of chess—in the movie at all?

As a general rule, Anderson’s films don’t care for politics or messages. He is much more concerned with aesthetics, hijinks, and wit— which is fair, but can sometimes feel jarring, depending on the film. He has an annoying tendency to tease at the idea of profundity in his stories without properly exploring their more nuanced themes and subject matters. In the case of The French Dispatch, the figure of the journalist is reduced to yet another object under Anderson’s romanticizing gaze. In the end credits, he gives special mention to the literary greats who inspired him, like Mavis Gallant and James Baldwin. But if this film is indeed intended to be “a love letter to journalists,” he should have given a bit more gravitas to the serious socio-political events and issues which real-life mid-century era journalists reckoned with in their writings, rather than

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Thundercat at MTELUS

trivializing them to the point of absurdity or even outright ignoring them.

What the director wants is for you to indulge him while he geeks out for an hour and a half, as the caricatures of his heroes act out trifling pastiches on top of his elaborate set pieces, and for you to be oh-so endeared.

One of the only instances where the film feels a bit more substantial is in its last and most poignant segment. Critic Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright) is assigned to write about a dinner prepared by legendary officer chef Nescaffier (Steve Park) and instead becomes embroiled in a high-stakes kidnapping plot. The two have a conversation about the alienation they feel as a result of their mutually marginalized identities within French society; Wright is a Black, gay journalist, and Nescaffier is a police officer of East Asian descent.

Other than a few short scenes such as this one, the film is allergic to emotional sincerity of any kind. A mantra repeated by multiple characters throughout the film is “No crying.”

The self-conscientious artifice of Anderson’s films is part of what makes them so endearing to audiences, but in The French Dispatch, one comes to realize that this only serves to distract from the film’s fundamentally hollow core. Despite its visual beauty, Anderson’s latest effort ultimately feels regressive and dull. At this point in his career, blessed with star-studded casts and free to do whatever he wants, the director seems almost adverse to evolving artistically. As an old saying goes, a little bit of Wes Anderson goes a long way.

Perhaps The French Dispatch is a true show of the limits of his auteurial abilities—or maybe I’m just finally growing out of my Wes Anderson phase.

Legendary bass guitarist makes a stop in Montreal.

Dec. 9, doors open at 6:30 p.m. and show starts at 8 p.m.

Tickets available online MTELUS, 59 Rue Sainte-Catherine E

Poetry in the Ballroom

Join McSWAY in the SSMU ballroom for poetry, with guest Alana Dunlop.

Dec. 7, 7.00 p.m.

Free SSMU Ballroom

ABBA and Friends ∞ Disco & New Wave Dance Party Come dance to ABBA hits, fan favorites and disco & new wave classics at Bar Le Ritz.

December 10, 11:00 p.m. $13 Bar Le Ritz

Author Talk: Julia Kelly discussing her latest novel

A Conversation with Bestselling Historical Fiction Author Julia Kelly on her most recently published novel, “The Last Dance of the Debutante”.

December 8, 2:00 p.m.

Free Streaming online

Comedy group enchants full house at Moyse Hall Bring Your Own Juice delivers original sketches Anna Berglas Staff Writer

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he McGill comedy troupe Bring Your Own Juice performed to a full house on the evenings of Dec. 1–3. The studentwritten show, divided into over a dozen one-shot narratives, featured all 10 members of the group. It was produced by Anika Hundal, U4 arts, alongside head writer Luc Langille, U3 Arts, and social media coordinator Maya Dagher, U3 Science.

With a run time of a little under two hours, the cast delivered 17 delightfully facetious sketches about the ridiculous moments that occur in media and in real life. The ensemble adjusted costumes and props in the short moments between scenes, constantly re-emerging as entirely new characters. The merry-go-round of roles and locations crossed genre boundaries, dipping its toes into film noir, family dramas, and even commercials. Each scene was unpredictable, with some interwoven narratives in the second act.

The Bring Your Own Juice crew deployed several enthralling theatrical tools to nail their punchlines. In the second sketch, the character played by actor Jonah Border, U3 Arts, denies his sexual interest in rats while caressing a photo of one on the notice board.

The character’s career as a rat exterminator makes his preference all

the better. Daniel Korsunsky, U4 Arts and Science, plays a doctor who travels into the Alice-in-wonderland-esque realm of his patients’ rectum—a world where, interestingly enough, he discovers gerbils and a dying prostate.

Another highlight was the show’s experimentation with sound as a device for humour. One sketch assigns an inner voice, coming from an offstage source, to a toothbrush that is being used and abused by actor Emilia Fowler. Later, two children, played by actors Christal Ouyang, U3 Arts, and Korsunsky, hear an increasingly sensual, chaotic, and eventually outright absurd mix of sounds coming from the offstage living room where their parents are engaging in, presumably, R-rated activities.

All of the actors are incredibly dynamic in their movements.

This effect is best exemplified in the hilarious gag of a choreographed bank robbery dance scene, which brought roars of laughter from the audience. Witnessing the robbery unfold on stage while the characters danced through their emotions of fright and distress was comically startling.

The grand finale was a tale of knightly adventure, delivered in Shakespearean-like phrases with modern lingo tossed in. Actors Mason Persaud and Charles Sterling Atkinson, U1 and U3 Arts respectively, play soldiers in search of attractive women who eventually turn to each

The delight and playfulness was evident in all 10 performers as they leaned on each other to produce unique moments of humour. (Bring Your Own Juice) other for love; a wholesome conclusion that was the epitome of an already joyful performance.

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

STUDENT LIFE | studentlife@mcgilltribune.com

Montreal then and now: Documenting the city’s changing urban landscape Scrolling with nostalgia through Montreal’s past

Wendy Zhao Student Life Editor

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very few days, Instagram account Montreal Then and Now posts historical photographs of the city––sometimes recognizable intersections and buildings, other times obscure corners or neighbourhoods. Swipe to the left, and you’ll see a present day snapshot of these settings at the same angle, all taken

by Elijah Herron, creator of the project.

Herron made his first post in 2018, when he was working toward his degree in Urban Planning at Concordia.

Having access to a breadth of historical maps and photos while in school, he was curious to see the changes and preservations made to the urban fabric of the present day.

A series of pictures show the transformation of The Empress Theatre from its heyday in the 1920s, an Egyptian Revival style theatre that has sat empty in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce area for two decades. Another reveals the predecessor to a popular buffet restaurant in Chinatown to have been a cabaret.

Herron’s photo sets sometimes feature historical landmarks, like the site of the 1986 Canadiens Stanley Cup Riot, or the apocalyptic 1884 snapshot of massive ice-jams intruding upon Old Port. Many of his posts reveal the effects of displacement and gentrification in a neighbourhood; lively streets once occupied by independent businesses are transformed to emptier sidewalks and corporate storefronts, and many architectural and cultural heritage sites are lost to larger commercial ventures and infrastructures.

The contrast between images is often drastic. In the comment sections, followers of the account fill Herron’s phone with waves of nostalgia for the city’s past landscape. Under a photo comparison of Théâtre Outremont, one commenter writes, “Wonder how long before some developer turns this into condos.” Another user expresses a sentiment echoed across many posts: “Sometimes you’ve really just got to admit...this city has grown uglier.”

Although Herron relates to his followers, he’s wary of too much pessimism.

“I do feel nostalgia to a certain extent but I am careful not to romanticize

Herron finds historical photographs of the city by searching through public databases, including the Montreal Archives, BANQ and the McCord Museum. (@montreal.thenandnow / Instagram)

the past too much,” Herron wrote to The McGill Tribune. “I like to remember that [the drastic changes] are part of a long process of little changes.”

Despite the sense of extreme and rapid loss triggered by his posts, Herron reminds residents that they have the ability to influence the present and longterm changes of their neighbourhood, or city.

“Being involved in the life of a city is more than just being upset when you see change, and there are varying ways to influence the future,” Herron wrote.

“Voting, petitioning for preservation and heritage status, going to local meetings,

seeing what is happening in your neighbourhood directly!”

In Montreal, local housing committees and tenants’ associations advocate for residents’ rights and community-oriented urban planning.

In the 1970s, The Milton-Park Citizens’ Committee created a non-profit, cooperative housing project to oppose the destruction of their community by a real-estate company. Or, take The Chinatown Working Group, which formed in 2019 to preserve the architectural and cultural heritage of the neighbourhood.

Herron hopes that the Montreal

Then and Now project will make people more aware of the transforming urban terrain around them. As a generally nomadic population, students can be especially disconnected from a neighbourhood’s historical context and the effects of their own presence.

“I like to think people are feeling a connection to the city as a living thing that changes over time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for worse,” Herron wrote. “Being caught up in our lives and becoming used to our surroundings, I think [the project] can give you an opportunity to just stop and reflect on what has been happening around us.”

Even before starting the project, Herron loved to take walks through different neighbourhoods in Montreal.

After spending so much time with the archives of the city’s past geography, the different historical layers of the city feel all the more intimate.

“Before doing a lot of research, cities can seem like a monolith or somewhat inaccessible,” Herron wrote.

“Through the constant work of this page everywhere you start noticing historical consistencies as well as seeing locations having a historical life.”

Making way for handmade gifts

Carefully crafted presents Holly Wethey Student Life Editor

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hen I was in high school, I used to start making my Christmas gifts in the summer. I’d knit stuffed animals, ornaments, socks, mittens, and anything in between.

They were a vivid collection of knit items that didn’t always look like the pattern pictures in the books. But that was part of their charm.

I was deeply invested in the gifts during the weeks leading up to Christmas—I would bring my knitting with me to all my classes.

The metallic reverberation of knitting needles dropping on the floor would send all eyes in my direction, my teachers scowling at me, or laughing if they were a little more sympathetic. Making handmade gifts is a ritual that has always been a part of the holidays for me.

This season was no exception; as we reach the conclusion of another turbulent year, handmade gifts offer a creative outlet for academic-weary students to extend a thoughtful gesture to a friend or

In addition to crafting embroidered items and handpainted cards, OuYang made earrings which she sent as Christmas gifts across the country, and even the world.

(Christal OuYang / The McGill Tribune)

loved one. The McGill Tribune sat down with a few students to hear about their craft.

Sydney Saleh, U4 Arts, created a collection of quirky objects for her roommates last year.

“I found fuzzy gloves at the dollar store and I made them into little creatures,” Saleh explained. “I pushed the thumb in so it only had four fingers in the bottom, and then I stuffed it with stuffing from an old pillow. [They] definitely looked so asymmetrical, but that was kind of the point.”

In addition to being inherently unique, handmade gifts are also often a cheaper alternative to store-bought presents.

“We usually have a Christmas get together where we all exchange gifts and I was very broke,” Saleh said. “I didn’t have a lot of (Shireen Aamir / The McGill Tribune) money to go and buy them everything that I would have wanted to, so I [decided to] make things from scratch that will have some kind Like Saleh, OuYang agrees that the unique nature of the of unknown value.” handmade gift sets it apart from store-bought alternatives.

Rather than attempting to disguise the fact that the gifts weren’t “I think it’s so much more personalized,” OuYang said. “I feel like store-bought, Saleh decided to take advantage of their unique when you buy a gift it can easily become one of those things where it handmade nature. just sits around.”

“I wrote little individualized notes for each of my friends and I For many others, like OuYang, the pursuit of crafts spiked last put them inside [the gifts] in case they ever came undone,” Saleh said. year during the pandemic.

I couldn’t help but think of my many stuffed animals that had “During COVID, I had a lot more time because I didn’t have a fallen apart—this just became part of the endearment of Saleh’s gifts. social life,” OuYang joked. “When I scroll past all the pictures of people While Saleh gave her friends their gifts in person last year, [on my phone] and I get to the COVID-era, it’s just photos of things.”

Christal OuYang, U3 Arts, who stayed with her parents in Vancouver, As I talked with Saleh and OuYang, I was reminded of how shipped off her handmade presents across the country, and even deeply therapeutic it is to make gifts for others. Once exams are over, across the world. it’s relieving to become invested in a ritual, tactile activity—an activity OuYang made crocheted scrunchies, painted cards, and so different from the endless essays and exams that dominate finals whimsical earrings. She and her girlfriend also sent each other season. packages during their long-distance relationship.

“It is very fun as a stress reliever,” OuYang said. “There’s also a “For Christmas, I embroidered a hoodie for her with one of her goal that I’m reaching and it’s not just benefiting me, but making other favourite kinds of instant ramen,” Ouyang told the Tribune. people happy.”

studentlife@mcgilltribune.com | STUDENT LIFE

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

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Taking the stage at Gerts

The revival of one of McGill’s most popular student performance venues Abby McCormick Staff Writer

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he mere idea of the adrenaline rush of getting up on a brightly illuminated stage and pouring one’s soul out in front of a live audience is enough to make some feel queasy.

However, for student musicians, the excitement and anticipation of a highenergy performance are what makes the hours of tireless practice they put into their craft worth it.

After nearly two years of virtual gigs, McGill’s student musicians are more than eager to make their return to the stage.

Many are excited to perform at none other than Gerts, McGill’s campus bar.

Despite having been closed since 2018—a period long enough that most fourth-year students had never been until this year—Gerts has quickly become a goto spot for McGill students. On a typical weekday evening, students can be seen getting drinks and chatting with friends in this cozy, laid-back environment. As many students know, Gerts truly comes to life in the presence of live music. Student and alumni musicians, especially, have found their place on its stage.

Up and coming artist Ezra-Jean Taylor, U3 Arts, performed at Gerts for the first time two weeks ago. The indie-rock musician dabbled in various instruments growing up, but decided to delve into music composition during the COVID-19 lockdown.

“I began loosely learning [the guitar] and writing before the pandemic,” Taylor told The McGill Tribune. “Then, [during quarantine] I decided to sit down, record, and really add a layer of complexity to create a full song.”

After seeing an advertisement from CKUT, McGill’s campus community radio station, looking for live performers to take the stage at Gerts, Taylor decided this was a prime opportunity to put herself out there.

For Taylor, Gerts’ friendly, studentfocussed ambience made this performance one for the books.

“There was a good mix of people,” Taylor explained. “Some people were heavily focussed on the music, while it was a backdrop for others, but everyone was cheering and having a good time.”

As she is used to playing at smaller venues, performing at Gerts was a big step forward for Taylor’s music career.

“It inspired me to look for more venues with bigger sound systems because it’s a lot of fun […] as a live musician who does a lot of effects,” Taylor said.

Like Taylor, Sarah Krier, Arts ʼ20, was met with an overwhelmingly positive response when she took the stage at Gerts in November. This was her first time

Before Gerts closed in 2018, CKUT hosted a monthly music showcase called Thursdays A(Live) where Montreal-based artists performed.

(Stop, Drop & Groove / Facebook)

entering McGill’s campus bar since its closure in 2018, her first year of university.

Krier felt that the performance was all the more meaningful because she has grown so much on a personal level since her last visit to the bar.

“It felt crazy to be back at Gerts,” Krier said in an interview with the Tribune.

“There was a lot of nostalgia for me there in playing [...] songs that I’ve written since I’ve come into my own musical identity.”

Since graduating from McGill’s psychology program, Krier has worked as a freelance musician in Montreal. Known in particular for her soulful lyrics and soft accompanying instrumentals, Krier aims to connect with her audience and express a wide breadth of feeling.

“I [try] to maintain very emotional, pointed writing and lyrics, with the goal of having this swath of songs where you can [feel] gut-wrenched, but also [...] a crying in the club kind of vibe,” Krier explained.

“Something you can dance to, but still feel a lot of emotions.”

Krier’s familiarity with the space as an alumna made her comeback to the stage particularly memorable.

“The audience was super energetic but seemed down for a calm set, which is what I brought,” Krier said. “[Performing] at this place that I’ve spent so much time at was comforting, and it was a nice reopening to the world of performing.”

Krier often finds writing inspiration in spontaneous day-to-day interactions with

strangers and friends––an experience that was largely lost during quarantine. She can relate to the struggles for invention that many artists experienced during the pandemic.

“When [COVID-19] initially hit, I felt this surge of creativity because I had so much time. I got really into recording and remote collaborations,” Krier explained.

“But as it dragged on, I didn’t feel very motivated because I didn’t get to share my music with people in a live sense.”

For music lovers, too, the loss of the stage for over two years proved difficult.

During her performance at Gerts, Krier noticed the excitement in the crowd pick up when the live music started.

“It was a reminder that we had all been hunkered down for nearly two years,” Krier said. “Having people there felt so special [....] We’ve all been holding it in for so long and now we can somewhat be social again.”

Also part of Gerts’ November 2021 lineup was student funk band Stop, Drop & Groove. Co-founded in the winter of 2019 by Oz McClamrock and Michael Gorlin, both U3 Music, the band is well known throughout the McGill community for their lively renditions of popular funk tunes.

Composed of 13 different musicians playing instruments from guitar to drums to trumpet to voice, Stop, Drop & Groove is well equipped to play a variety of jazz and funk pieces. All of the band’s members

are either current students or alumni of McGill’s Schulich School of Music’s jazz program.

Like Krier, the band mourned the ceasing of live performances, which occurred just a few months after their formation. This hiatus, however, is what made their eventual set at Gerts all the more rewarding. For saxophonist McClamrock, the sensation of a live, inperson gig is like no other.

“I’ve been drawn to music for as long as I can remember,” McClamrock told the Tribune. “I had some doubts in high school about […] a music degree, but when I’m onstage I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Despite the success of recording their first album, Faraway Places, entirely virtually, the band is eager to get back to live performances. They have already played five gigs this semester and intend to continue performing at this pace for the remainder of the year.

Taking to Gerts’ stage for the first time with their new music on November 24, the band felt that student energy was palpable. They hope that students in the crowd and beyond will become new listeners.

“Gerts was great exposure among the McGill student body,” McClamrock said.

“The dance floor was open which [got] the adrenaline going for the audience and performers [….] It felt great to be back performing after 18 months without a gig.”

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STUDENT LIFE | studentlife@mcgilltribune.com

Drinks for pre-and post-finals mirth

Crossword Corner:

McGill edition

How well do you know the campus icons?

Brewing holiday beverages Holly Wethey & Kennedy McKee-Braide Student Life Editor & Managing Editor

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’was the night before finals week, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring—except you, as you attempt to cram your way to an A. Why not find some holiday cheer with a seasonal drink? Whether you need a pick-me-up while studying or a celebratory toast after your exams, The McGill Tribune has you covered with some classic options.

Peppermint mocha As the semester draws to a close, the same old Burnside filter coffee and cold brew from Redpath just does not hit the same. A peppermint mocha is the perfect alternative, combining much-needed caffeine with festive cheer to keep you motivated while studying. Try this homemade version to avoid spending all your grocery money at Starbucks.

Ingredients: • ½ cup milk or other dairy alternative • 1 cup strong coffee • 1 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate • 1 teaspoon peppermint extract • Crushed candy cane (optional) • Whipped cream (optional, but recommended) Steps: 1. In a saucepan, combine the milk, coffee, and chocolate.

2. Stir and bring the ingredients to a gentle simmer. Simmer for two minutes.

3. Take the saucepan off the heat, add the peppermint, and pour into your mug.

4. Add whipped cream and crushed candy canes. Enjoy!

Mulled wine Caffeinated beverages are perfect before finals, but after you’ve completed your exams, you’ll likely want to celebrate with a different kind of drink. This

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

The McGill Tribune Editorial Board In making the famous glühwein, the German tradition is melting a sugar comb over a flaming pot of wine with all the lights off. ( Joy Mao / The McGill Tribune)

festive wine is popular in Germany, where it is known as glühwein, which comes from “glühen,” meaning glowing, and “wein,” meaning wine. Though you likely won’t melt a rum-soaked sugar loaf over a fire with the lights out as is tradition (hence the “glowing”), this mulled wine recipe is sure to be the ultimate crowd-pleaser.

Ingredients: • 1 L boxed red wine (the cheapest one you can find—you’ll be spicing it up later so no need to break the bank here!)

• ¼ cup brandy (optional) • 1 orange, sliced into rounds • 2 cinnamon sticks or 1 tsp ground cinnamon (or to taste) • 2 star anise • 1 tsp orange zest • 8 whole cloves • ⅓ cup sugar (or desired sweetener, to taste) Steps: 1. Pour the wine and brandy into a large pot and add the orange slices, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, orange zest, and sugar. Try maple syrup for a Canadian twist.

2. Cook the wine over medium heat until it just reaches a simmer (be careful—if the wine starts to boil, the alcohol will boil off).

3. Reduce to low heat, cover, and let the wine simmer for at least 15 minutes (or up to three hours for a larger diffusion of flavours).

4. Strain the wine to remove any residue or serve it up as-is. We recommend keeping some orange slices in for a presentation.

5. Enjoy the festive flavours of this nostalgic holiday drink dating back to 1420!

Down: 1. Competitors scarfed down this leafy vegetable on the lower field this year 3. Avenue named after a scientist of the mind 4. Peaceful university, chiefly in English?

5. Montreal’s electronica babe 6. Collab of the decade between two Canadian icons 8. One third of McGill’s workaholic motto: Grandescunt Aucta ______ 9. In the winter, many bruise their behinds on this icy slope 11. Division of undergraduate politicians 12. Building named after a chemical congregation?

14. Prominent wearer of tweed flat caps 20. Four-letter course code for politician-wannabes 21. CAPS ONLY on this day of the week 22. After his undergrad at McGill, he published poetry books including Book of Mercy and The Flame 23. Tuesday nights are best spent here 24. Colourful compound word that describes two places on campus 28. McGill’s unintentional swimming champion 29. Sleepy students sprawl on its couches 31. Course code for future employed person lacking a social life 32. Roddick Gates open up onto this main Montreal artery 35. The greek goddess of wisdom, but an unwise interface 40. Students are no longer paid to produce this vital resource Across: 2. Sneaky professors post false answers on this platform 7. Before Grimes became Grimes, she took to the airwaves here 10. Best email sign off 13. A leonine café where the scones are immodestly good 15. Suit-wearing faculty 16. In its basement, math majors eat good soup 17. Acronym for those in linguistics 18. _____ until it hurts!

19. The employees at this spot wear beanies and love oat milk 23. McGill’s often misunderstood unofficial mascot 25. First name of the YouTuber who helped us decide which residence to live in 26. McGill’s favourite snack, wrapped in newspaper 27. Colloquial name for McGill’s 72-year-old captain 28. Squeaky chairs and frustrated sighs will soon be heard here once again 30. r/mcgill moderator named after a certain French political group 31. McGill alumnus who starred in popular YouTube series at Bon Appetit 33. Hop on the _____ line 34. You’ll hear it for exactly one minute, once a year 36. Concrete, geometric, dungeon-like architecture style 37. Brutalist building that houses labs, abbr.

38. 600 students shoulder to shoulder 39. Official stadium beer 41. Stimulant that stimulates gastrointestinal effects

design@mcgilltribune.com | COMICS

19

Ruobing Chen

The impossible Pokémon battle

Ananya Mohanty

Exam Stress

Trevor Probst

Crossword answer key

Comics

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | news@mcgilltribune.com

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

Seeing double: An overview of cloning, past and present

Cloning is more than just the creation of a twin, and its various applications are surprising Mikaela Shadick Staff Writer

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he scientific tool of cloning, which allows humans to duplicate organisms, has soared since the birth of first-ever mammalian clone Dolly the sheep. But how has this now commonplace discipline evolved, and where might it head in the future? Scientists must continue to grapple with the ethics of such a sensitive subject, especially considering cloning’s growing potential as a commercial endeavour.

In essence, to clone an organism, scientists take the desired genomic material from a somatic cell and insert it into an enucleated oocyte—or a female sex cell whose nucleus has been removed—in a process called somatic cell nuclear transferase (SCNT).

“This is the fundamental principle of cloning from somatic cells,” Vilceu Bordignon, an associate professor within McGill’s animal science department, in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “It has to go back to the cytoplasm of the oocyte.”

Despite the variety of highly technical methods available, such as powerful microscopes, stereoscopes, or even “handmade cloning,” Bordignon points out that one of the most complex parts of the cloning process is related to the oocyte itself.

“The protocols for using in vitro [are] not as good in vivo because there is a part of the development that is made in oocytes that we still don’t know what it needs, and what the oocyte stores into the cytoplasm,” Bordignon said.

For this reason, Bordignon mentioned that even if scientists select the best candidate for an oocyte, the cell could still be missing some key components that are essential for controlling development.

“The real factors affecting these reprogramming efficiencies are epigenetic factors,” Bordignon said. Epigenetics is the study of how the environment influences gene expression without altering the DNA sequence.

“For example, one of the experiments we’ve done is produce 25 piglets from the same cell culture, so […] theoretically, they are identical twins, but if you look at them, just at the difference in the size and the difference in the viability, you reasonably understand that just having the same genome sequences is not enough to make an identical animal.”

Though many epigenetic mechanisms are poorly understood, Bordignon remains hopeful about the prospects of applying scientific knowledge to improve the efficiency of cloning.

“The message is simple. The more we understand how the cell differentiates, which pathways [it] controls, and how they restrict the functions to become specialized, the more we can understand how to act on those pathways to bring them back to an embryonic state,” Bordignon explained.

Similar protocols for cloning have been applied in other fields, like plant science.

Though the ancient use of clonal propagation in plants—taking branches or pieces of a plant to regrow the species as its own organism— replaces the direct need for SCNT, the science of cloning and epigenetics can help create transgenic plants, which have a variety of applications.

Jean-Benoit Charron, an associate

time that it is alive. The callus [is] a tissue that has the possibility of transferring the genetic information that you are adding to the next generation. The overall strategy I would say is identical.”

Applications of these laboratory processes are simultaneously expanding, especially in the domain of transgenic crops.

SCNT, or Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer, is the most common method by which to clone an animal. (novohelix.com)

(thoughtco.com)

(whatisbiotechnology.org)

professor in the Department of Plant Science at McGill, explained that, similar to cloning processes conducted in animals, scientists must use undifferentiated cells—grouped in a mass called a callus—to effectively create a plant with an altered genome that can be passed down to future offspring.

“The oocyte is reproductive tissue […] that can allow the genetic information to pass to the next generation,” Charron said in an interview with the Tribune. “With plants, we do exactly the same thing. If you just [alter] a leaf, you will [...] transform that leaf for the

“The first wave of transgenic produce that were put on the market was mostly to [...] help the grower achieve a higher yield at a reduced cost,” Charron said. “So now we’re seeing a wave [...] where we are trying to improve the nutritional value of all of the products and all the produce, or to limit the losses due to pathogens.

And to do this, [...] they take a wild variety that resists well to a virus or pathogen, they identify the gene responsible for that, and they transfer this gene into [another variety].”

While Charron says that transgenic crops would still take a couple of years to

produce, when it comes to improving crop yield and resilience, the applications are endless.

However, such tools can lead to unintended negative consequences when used to attack one specific problem “A transgenic plant producing an insecticide that kills insects reducing the yield of the crop [...] was mostly to reduce the production cost,” Charron said. “This worked so well that it created a lot of monoculture, so people started to depend a lot on this.”

Though transgenic crops have already been integrated into industrial farming, the use of cloning has not been similarly implemented, likely due to the continuing ethical debate surrounding it. Among its prospective uses, though, is the creation of superior livestock for meat and the potential to rescue endangered species.

“Breeding is just a way to reprogram the genome and produce the next generation, and we can achieve that by cloning as well. Should we or should we not clone for production perspectives?” Bordignon asked.

Bordignon went on to say that when the FDA compared the alimentary products of cloned animals to regularly farmed ones, they did not find any significant difference in nutritional value. Charron says that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) present in crops are also unfairly stigmatized despite the DNA alteration being so minuscule.

“Instead of a big chunk of the chromosomes being transferred, here we are transferring only a thousand base pairs,” Charron said. “It’s surgical, almost. At the end [of the day], DNA is DNA.” As cloning technology grows more sophisticated, different industries can apply it towards new commercial endeavours. For a considerable price, many companies now offer cloning to pet owners who wish to create a genetic twin of their cat or dog. One such company is ViaGen Pets, which extends cloning services not only to pet owners, but also to zoos and wildlife conservation groups.

“We have many clients who wish to enjoy a genetic twin to a beloved companion animal. This is an amazing opportunity if you think about it,” a spokesperson for ViaGen Pets said in an email to the Tribune. “A cloned companion animal is not the same animal, but shares many of the same traits [....] We also utilize our resources to help in the world of conservation where we work closely with [...] conservation-minded groups.”

While there are certainly positives to such technology, whether we are capable of handling it responsibly remains to be seen. Evidently, cloning and similar technologies, such as those involved in the creation of transgenic plants, span a large range of practices and are considerably difficult to evaluate ethically. These questions remain unanswerable for now and require additional research and consideration before implementing cloning technologies into new contexts, whether it be in the corn fields or at the pet store.

scitech@mcgilltribune.com | SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

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CRISPR-Cas9, the unwitting revolutionary New research could illuminate the relationship between demethylation and gene expression

Atticus O’Rourke Rusin Contributor

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acteria get a bad rap, and often deservedly so: Different strains cause a range of infections and diseases, including pneumonia, strep throat, and tuberculosis. However, any well-researched health food advocate can list the many benefits of the bacteria present in yogurt, and your local pub would be doomed without the strains integral to crafting their signature brews. What might be even more surprising is that a recent, revolutionary gene-editing technology, once exclusively the subject of science fiction, is based on the bacterial genome.

Bacteria and archaea, the original hosts of the CRISPR-Cas9 system, use CRISPR-Cas9 to defend themselves from viruses.

CRISPRs are DNA sequences that repeat in the genome of a bacterium, interspersed with fragments of genetic code from past viral invaders. When a virus enters a bacterial cell, the remnants of that same virus held in the bacteria’s DNA help identify and eliminate the virus. Once a virus is identified by a bacterium, Cas9 proteins attempt to identify whether the new viral intruder matches any of the genetic information contained in the CRISPRs’ sequences of their DNA. If the virus matches the stored genetic information, the Cas9 protein will cleave it into pieces.

In 2011, researchers, including Nobel laureates Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, discovered that Cas9 proteins can be used to cut genomes that do not contain viral information, inspiring a plethora of research projects that have widened the scope of biotechnological possibility.

One such project is spearheaded by Daniel Sapozhnikov, a PhD candidate in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill, and Moshe Szyf, a professor in the same department. The

project aims to develop a way to remove methyl groups—one carbon atom bonded to three hydrogens—from genes. Many diseases and disorders are dependent on whether specific genes are expressed, or “turned on.” Since varying amounts of methylation are associated with whether or not a gene is active, then being able to remove methyl groups could have important consequences for gene manipulation in scientific studies.

“Since the 1980s, it’s been shown that […] genes with less [methylation] tend to be expressed [more] and genes with more tend to be expressed [less],” Sapozhnikov said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “That’s basically the same conclusion that we have been stuck with in 2020. Without the ability to manipulate the DNA methylation levels at specific genes, there is really not much causational evidence for how DNA methylation and gene expression interact.”

In order to better understand the relationship between methylation and gene expression, Sapozhnikov and Szyf developed a technique to demethylate select regions of a cell’s DNA. CRISPR-Cas9 plays an integral role in the demethylation technique developed by Sapozhnikov and Szyf. By using guide RNA and Cas9 to block the methylation of genes, the effect of DNA demethylation can be evaluated in different cases. The specific system of CRISPR-Cas9 the team used is known as dCas9, which is CRISPRCas9 with a modified protein that prevents the cutting of DNA—a potentially lethal consequence—while retaining the important function of gene targeting. Once the dCas9 protein reaches the desired target of a genome, it binds to the site, preventing methylation of whatever it is attached to by physically blocking the process.

Although other teams have developed techniques for demethylation, Sapozhnikov believes that their method is the most exact.

“There have been other tools that have been made that do similar things, but we argue that our tool is better from a causational perspective because [...] it has fewer other activities,” Sapozhnikov said.

The technique developed by Sapozhnikov and Szyf only works to remove methyl groups. Understanding the correlation between demethylation and gene expression could help the development of therapies to treat the numerous problems that arise from the improper functioning of gene expression.

CRISPR-Cas9 is still a very new technology, and it can often have unforeseen consequences in the cells it is used on—not to mention

Spanish microbiologist Francisco Mojica, noticed peculiar sequences of repeating DNA, resulting in the name CRISPR (clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats). (Labiotech)

the ethical concerns raised by editing someone’s DNA, which is a topic of heavy debate and even outrage amongst the scientific community.

Despite the many unanswered questions, CRISPR-Cas9 represents an incredible step toward revolutionary gene therapy, and with research like that of Sapozhnikov and Szyf, important new uses will continue to be explored.

Household energy efficiency segregated along racial lines in the U.S., study finds

White households emit more carbon despite having more energy efficient homes Yiwei Bian Contributor

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s the climate crisis worsens, reducing carbon emissions has become one of the most pressing priorities to mitigate its effects. In the United States in 2020, the residential sector was responsible for approximately 20 per cent of total carbon emissions from energy consumption. Targeted housing policies that increase residential energy efficiency, such as retrofitting, are therefore an important step to reduce overall carbon emissions.

Researchers had already observed a positive

Lowering emissions in the housing sector requires both systemic efforts to decarbonize the electric grid and piecemeal investments in individual home renovation at the rate of 2 to 3 million homes per year.

(Sophia Flaim / The McGill Tribune)

association between income levels and carbon emissions. However, no study had looked at the relationship between race and carbon emissions in residential energy consumption. To address this knowledge gap, Benjamin Goldstein, an assistant professor in McGill’s Department of Bioresource Engineering, published a study along with Tony Reames and Joshua Newell of the University of Michigan that examined whether energy efficiency leads to low-carbon households in the U.S., and if these carbon emissions vary by race and ethnicity.

Goldstein and his colleagues collected data on housing property attributes such as heating systems and floor area from CoreLogic, a privately owned database that contains property information from across the U.S. They also obtained data on energy use by source from the 2015 U.S. Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), and estimated carbon emissions according to the carbon intensities of different fuel types. They classified each zip code area by the majority race of the residents in that area, and estimated the energy use and carbon emissions of these areas using regression models.

The study found a significant negative association between energy use intensity and housing quality. Poor housing quality, which on average disproportionately affects predominantly Black neighbourhoods due to historically racist

policies like redlining, was associated with higher energy use.

It also found a significant positive association between per capita carbon emissions and per capita floor area. On average, the floor area per capita is 41 per cent lower in majority Latinx and 23 per cent lower in majority Black neighbourhoods than majority white neighbourhoods. Although Black neighbourhoods have more energy inefficient homes than white neighbourhoods, they emit less carbon on average.

Goldstein explained that racist policies like redlining account for part of this discrepancy.

Introduced in the 1930s, the Federal Housing Administration’s redlining policy marked Black, immigrant, and other racialized neighbourhoods as undesirable, making it difficult or nearly impossible for those communities to access mortgage loans for home investments. The effects of this decades-long policy that stretched into the mid-20th century are still reverberating across America.

“The poor energy efficiency [the study identified] in these African-American neighbourhoods can be traced back to the legacy of this discriminatory housing policy,” Goldstein said in an interview with The McGill Tribune.

Due to the historical barriers impeding Black homeownership, renting is more common among Black neighbourhoods. The study found

a significant association between rental status and energy use intensity. Due in part to the little motivation for landlords to install retrofits, neighbourhoods with higher rental rates have more energy inefficient homes, exacerbating the racial wealth gap and raising electricity bills.

The floor area per capita in formerly redlined neighbourhoods is also 19 per cent less than in non-redlined neighbourhoods, outweighing the effect of poor energy efficiency on overall energy consumption.

“Affluent neighborhoods have much higher emissions. This is driven primarily by household size,” Goldstein said. “The square footage of the homes, no matter how efficient your home is, will outpace those savings in energy and still make you a monster emitter.”

Looking to the future, Goldstein wants to recreate the study in a Canadian context, but acknowledges that the methodology would likely have to be drastically different due to a lack of data availability. Canada does not have an equivalent of the American residential energy use survey that was used as a data source for this study, nor is realestate information as easily accessible.

“I would love to do it in Canada, [but] we simply do not have the data,” Goldstein said. “I would like to challenge our government to actually collect useful data for researchers to use.”

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SPORTS | sports@mcgilltribune.com

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

Intramurals and the inefficiency of IMLeagues

Excitement over return to intramurals comes with frustration, technical difficulties Adam Menikefs Staff Writer

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ach semester at McGill, thousands of students and alumni participate in various intramural sports that provide participants with opportunities for competition, fun, and camaraderie.

With countless sports to choose from and different leagues for varying skill levels, intramural athletics are an invaluable experience for so many here in the McGill community and in Montreal.

Unfortunately, for some participants, the process of joining, paying for, or checking information regarding intramurals is unnecessarily difficult.

IMLeagues is currently the central platform coordinating McGill intramurals. Many athletic departments across North America use the website and app to schedule games and record scores, statistics, and rosters in an organized manner. However, in the time that McGill has used IMLeagues, students have found that the website makes intramurals at McGill more confusing and frustrating than they need to be, creating a barrier to entry.

In interviews with The McGill Tribune, members of different intramural teams discussed the benefits of getting back into intramurals this semester, especially after the cancellation of all sports on campus for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Graydon Davidson, U2 Arts, who led the Open Division 7v7 soccer team this past fall, couldn’t have had a better time returning to sports on campus.

“It was an awesome experience for our group of friends as the league was competitive, though not too serious.

Last year I think was difficult for a lot of people, and no activities or sports on campus certainly contributed to that,” said Davidson. “Intramurals at McGill are an important aspect of campus life and my teammates and I were ecstatic to return to play in September.”

Davidson also detailed the technical difficulties associated with IMLeagues, explaining how many elements of the server have presented challenges to his team this semester.

“Using the IMLeagues website was difficult for a variety of reasons,” Davidson said. “Just to load and log in on the website takes a long time, and honestly, it slows down my entire computer. Finding the different leagues and sports is easy, but clicking through the rosters, statistics or scores takes much longer than needed.”

Davidson noted that the overwhelming number of advertisements was the biggest problem on the website.

“The amount of ads and pop-

The registration for Winter 2022 intramurals at McGill closes on Friday, Dec. 10th. (Sebastien Geroli / The McGill Tribune)

up videos on the website is painful,” Davidson said. “Every page has multiple and I am sure it heavily contributes to the long load times and the slow server that frustrates [me] and my teammates.”

Ben Archacki, U2 Arts and captain of the newly formed spikeball league, echoed similar sentiments and voiced additional frustration regarding the speed and quality of the IMLeagues app.

“The advertisements on the IMleagues desktop website make simple tasks to manage an intramural team extremely difficult,” Archacki said. “In fact, this year I just started using the mobile app that is offered by the service due to my personal frustration with the website. Honestly, though, the app still takes lots of time to load, and due to the ads, the app crashes and has completely stopped my phone once or twice.”

In addition to the crashing issues, the mobile app also frustrates users who want to add players or make team changes on the go, impeding the ability to make lastminute modifications that often arise given students’ busy schedules.

“I am not sure if this is just my problem, but I cannot use the app on mobile data. Meaning if I am not [connected to] wifi, I cannot manage anything regarding our team,” Archacki said. “This issue arose when I needed to add players to our roster or check the times of our game. The unfortunate reality is the app is just the lesser of two evils.”

McGill announced that it would start using the service in Fall 2019, citing its reputation and popularity among other schools. Ryne Bondy, Assistant Manager of Intramural Sports at McGill Athletics and former quarterback on McGill’s football team in the 2010s, was part of the team who initially selected IMLeagues.

“One of the most appealing aspects of the service is their scheduling abilities,” said Bondy in an interview with the Tribune. “At the click of a button, an entire league schedule can be created, including the requests and preferences of all teams.”

In Bondy’s view, IMLeagues’s efficiency and convenience in conducting intramurals for thousands of students were among some of the positives of the service.

“For participants, the offer of a mobile app for IMLeagues is an upgrade to the old system, as only a web version existed previously,” Bondy said. “In addition, the communication system on the service allows participants and league administrators to email captains or team members of any league or sport through the message centre, centralizing all possible questions, updates and reminders.”

In response to the issues raised by various captains and participants this past semester, Bondy notes that IMLeagues has improved in other, sometimes overlooked, aspects of intramurals.

“With the use of IMLeagues, McGill

recreation has been able to reinvest funds into a new staffing model, allowing for more on-site supervision during night games and increased hours of training for officials,” Bondy said. “As well, there is no longer a rescheduling fee for players and teams who need to move games, as the service provides easy accommodations.”

When it comes to addressing the biggest criticism—the advertisements— Bondy stated that McGill recreation is actively moving toward the removal of the promotions and pop-ups. If successful, this will be a significant step in improving the service for thousands of students and alumni.

“IMLeagues requires at least two years of user data to determine the charge of removing advertisements,” Bondy said.

“Thankfully, we have just crossed the twoyear mark this past fall, and are actively looking at reducing, if not eliminating all ads by the beginning of the fall in 2022.”

Despite the aforementioned shortcomings of IMLeagues and the frustration felt by McGill students this semester, many have thoroughly enjoyed competing in various intramural sports this semester. The improvements being made to this program are promising and hopefully, a more accessible intramural experience is on the horizon. Currently, however, the barriers to entry have negatively influenced the overall outlook on intercollegiate competition at McGill, and put a damper on the positive feelings intramurals are supposed to invoke.

sports@mcgilltribune.com | SPORTS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 2021

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Fall 2021 McGill varsity report cards

A look back on McGill’s sports teams performance in their first semester back in-person Madison McLauchlan, Sarah Farnand, Adam Burton & Sophia Gorbounov Managing Editor, Sports Editors & Contibutor

MEN’S RUGBY: A, until the final

Laval in the semifinal game. Laval proved a constant challenge for McGill this season, defeating the Martlets twice and tying once. The University of Montreal, ranked first in the RSEQ, and l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) were the other teams that provided difficult competition for McGill. The team has a strong, young

Kevin Li, and Cameron Elliot. None of this would be possible, however, without the excellent coaching of head coach Ryan Thorne. In only his first year as the Redbirds’ coach, he has built a cohesive team that stays hungry and constantly pushes to improve. We’re eagerly waiting for the rest of the season to see what new heights this seemingly fully realized team can do.

there is still much improvement to be made. Whether it is the large number of rookies on the Redbirds squad preventing strong team chemistry or just a lack of discipline in terms of penalties, the Redbirds need to make changes in the new year if they want to see any degree of success.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY: A

the team’s overall performance, honourable mentions must go out to several standout players. Elijah Williams led the team with 359 yards gained, more than double the next best player’s yards. Rookie receiver Darius Simmons and linebacker Benjamin Carre were both named to the All-Canadian Honours second team. With stars like this on next year’s

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: CThe women’s basketball team has had a rough start to the season. In the four games they’ve played since the start of the regular season, they have yet to win once. It isn’t shocking that a team comprised almost entirely of rookies is having growing pains. This losing record, however, doesn’t tell the whole story—the team has had flashes of greatness, and has the potential to be better than they have been on paper in the remaining 12 games of the season.

As the team continues to gel, young stars like first-year guards Iman Ibrahim and Emma-Jane Scotten are certainly poised to light it up as the season progresses.

(McGill Athletics)

Men’s rugby had a strong season all around, boasting a 5-1 regular season record and leading the RSEQ rankings with bonus points, awarded when a team scores more than four tries in a game. Unfortunately, the impressive season culminated in a soul-crushing finale, with Concordia creaming them 33-0 on home turf—but let’s not dwell on that. A fond highlight of the season was the semifinal game against Bishop’s: The boys put everything on the line and emerged with a win in sudden death double overtime, playing with grit and resilience along the way. Hopefully next year they will be able to redeem themselves against Concordia. To do this they will have to work extra hard as they will be losing key players like captain Karl Hunger and fullback Benjamin Russell next year. The Tribune awards the team a few extra points for strong team spirit, and for spreading holiday cheer by going carolling door-to-door in Milton Parc.

WOMEN’S SOCCER: B+ The Martlet’s soccer program had a decent season, with a 7-5-3 record. The team finished the season third in the RSEQ rankings, with a three-game winning streak to end the regular season. Their playoff run was cut short after losing to second-place

group, and if they can find a way to beat the top-ranked teams, they could make it much further in the playoffs of the upcoming seasons.

MEN’S BASKETBALL: A-

MEN’S HOCKEY: D+ The men’s hockey team opened their season strong with a 3-2 shootout win against Concordia, who is now ranked fourth in the OUA Far East

The women’s hockey team had a much stronger start than the men, ranking first in the country in midNovember. The Martlets were also undefeated in the regular season until Nov. 19 when the team suffered a pair of losses to Concordia and then Ottawa.

Although they are no longer the national leaders, the Martlets still hold the top spot in the RSEQ standings with a 9-3-0 record. Like the men’s team, the women’s program has many fresh faces, but their team chemistry and discipline is much higher. Heading into the new year, the Martlets should maintain the momentum they have gained in this first half of the season to continue their stint as queens of the rink.

MEN’S FOOTBALL: D Despite a rocky preseason performance where they lost three out of four games, the men’s basketball team came back exceptionally strong since the start of the RSEQ season. They have won all four of their matchups so far, including a thrilling shootout with Bishop’s University that ended in a 76-74 victory for the Redbirds. A lot of the team’s success can be attributed to standout veteran players Jamal Mayali,

division. However, in their next seven games, the Redbirds failed to win or bring the game into overtime. With a somewhat promising preseason that saw them beat the second-ranked team UQTR, the team has had a disappointing start to the season, especially considering their roster full of NHL prospects. Although they finally broke their losing streak with a win on Dec. 4 against Concordia,

McGill’s football team this year started off with so much promise, but gradually deteriorated as the season went on. Their initial energy and team chemistry was not reflected in their disappointing 1-7 record. Luckily, the Tribune was around to cover the epic highs and lows of McGill football, from the thrilling home opener against Sherbrooke and their only win of the season, down to the heart-wrenching Shaughnessy Cup upset. Despite

squad, the team will hopefully get their bearings and sustain momentum throughout the semester instead of fizzling out.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL: AThe Martlets volleyball team has had an outstanding season so far this fall Standing at an 8-4 record, the semester has seen new highs, consistent skills, and exceptional team spirit. Just last game, powerhitter Victoria Iannotti scored a career-high 22.5 points. Another standout player was middle-blocker Charlene Robitaille: Never sporting a sour face and an incredible team player, Robitaille drove her team to several wins, leading the Martlets in blocks and service aces. Beginning their season with a win against the Montreal Carabins, the Martlets took their first victory as a motif to carry with them throughout the semester, with strong wins and extremely tight losses. This season, the Sherbrooke Vert et Or are proving to be the Martlets’ greatest opponents, with a 3-0 win streak against McGill. Still, the energy is high heading into the next year, with the Martlets set to re-match their Sherbrooke rivals on Jan. 7.

Fall 2021 Highlights NEWS

Queer McGill, SSMU, and UGE form coalition against proposed Bill 2

OPINION

The social politics of municipal retrenchment

Ghazal Azizi

Michelle Marcus

FEATURE

Say my name (right) Sepideh Afshar

STUDENT LIFE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Getting inked in Montreal Abby McCormick

MULTIMEDIA

McGill’s Lettuce Club: The Inaugural Meeting

‘He’s All That’ is a hollow ode to ’90s teen nostalgia

Noah Vaton

Signy Harnad

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Where mother-ofpearl becomes glass

EDITORIAL

Valuing equality over equity stunts science The McGill Tribune Editorial Board

Mikaela Shadick

SPORTS

The NHLPA is leaving player health on the sidelines Erin Smith

Cover by Jinny Moon, Design Editor