McGill Tribune Vol. 33 Issue 21

Volume No. 33 Issue No. 21

TRIBUNE THE mcgill PX

CURIOSITY DELIVERS

Published by the Tribune Publication Society

The curious case of busty and the bass P 10

THIS MONTH IN STUDENT RESEARCH FINDING THE ART IN DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY p 12

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Redmen win second straight RSEQ title; finish seventh at Nationals

SSMU lease signed following three-year negotiation Shrinkhala Dawadi and Cece Zhang Contributor, News Editor

See inside for...

Story P 17

Dele Ogundokun was named RSEQ rookie-of-the-year. (Laurie-Anne Benoit / McGill Tribune)

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) has signed the lease for the SSMU Building, following nearly three years of negotiations with the administration.

The Board of Governors (BoG) approved the decision at their Feb. 27 meeting. SSMU had previously been operating in the building without a legal agreement since its previous lease expired on May 31, 2011.

According to Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) (DPSLL) Ollivier Dyens, the new lease is for 10 years, covering the two previous years, the current year, and seven more years until May 2021. The new lease stipulates that SSMU share utility costs of the building with McGill, as they previously were not paying the energy costs.

The current lease is $126,900 per year for 2011-2013 and increases by $5,000 every year to a maximum of $165,000 in 2020-2021. SSMU will also contribute $100,000 to the energy costs of the building every year, allowing for adjustment for inflation.

Dyens said SSMU owes outstanding payments to the university for the previous three years. “[It is the] same as with collective action with unions—you work with the previous agreement until a new one is reached, and then work out retroaction that needs to be done,” he said.

Dyens added that the long term of the new lease could have positive results for the society.

“SSMU can focus energies less on legal issues and more on student services,” he said. “It will also allow SSMU to plan forward for a long time, with their budget [and] fees.”

However, students will face a potential fee increase to account for the lease in the upcoming Winter Ref-

erendum, according to SSMU VicePresident Finance and Operations Tyler Hofmeister. The fee would be $6.08 for full-time students and $3.04 for part-time students, and would be indexed to increase at a rate of 5.6 per cent each year.

SSMU President Katie Larson said the negotiations were improved this year due to SSMU’s requirement that the DPSLL be present at the negotiations, rather than a proxy.

“Having a more clear line of communication definitely made it easier to come to agreements,” Larson said. “It is clear to me that being able to talk to the DPSLL directly made it easier to get SSMU’s concerns and points across, since they were not going through a third party.”

Hofmeister commended the ability of the SSMU executives to conclude the negotiations. “[This is the result of] the diligent work of the SSMU executives—not just from this year but from the previous years as well,” he said. “We have built on the work of the previous executives to complete this agreement.”

FEDERAL BUDGET The meeting also included a discussion of the 2014 federal budget, which was announced on Feb. 11 by Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

Principle Suzanne Fortier praised the budget. “[It is a] very good budget for the university sector,” she said.

The budget created the Canadian First Research Excellence Fund, which would invest $50 million in university research in 2015-2016, an amount which will eventually increase to $200 million during its 20 year schedule.

Additionally, the budget allocates $15 million for the Natural Sciences Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and $15 million for the See “Lease” on p. 4

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NEWS

PGSS disputes fee creation for Rutherford Park, Midnight Kitchen Referendum questions could increase fees for membership, Grants Program, and uApply; decrease Needs-Based Bursary

Graduate students will be able to vote on seven questions in the PostGraduate Students’ Society (PGSS) Winter referendum period from March 13 to 21.

FUND FOR RUTHERFORD PARK One question seeks to levy a nonopt-outable fee of $3 per semester for PGSS members, up to and including the Winter 2019 semester. The fund would raise a total of $230,000 to $250,000 and will go towards updating Rutherford Park (Reservoir Field).

PGSS members have not previously paid such a fee, according to PGSS Academic Affairs Officer Adam Bouchard, as they traditionally use the athletics facilities less than undergraduate students.

Rutherford Park renovations, which would be coordinated by McGill Athletics, would include an artificial turf, a full sized soccer pitch, and lighting for evening events, which could be used by PGSS members.

“PGSS and its members will benefit greatly from this improvement in infrastructure right next to our building,” Bouchard said.

“Recently PGSS has been working with Drew Love, the director of athletics, to adjust the user fees and propose this project,” said Bouchard, who is also the chair of the “Yes” campaign for the question.

Elizabeth Cawley, PGSS members services officer and chair of the “No” campaign against the question, cited the $116.42 fee PGSS members already pay to McGill Athletics.

“Graduate students pay this high fee every semester and yet almost every service within athletics is pay-per-use— you have to pay an additional fee to take classes, for intramural sports, for access to the fitness centre etc,” she said. “I think that this fee should be voted down and athletics should be forced to reevaluate their use of student money before asking us for a fee increase again.”

—Cece Zhang

MIDNIGHT KITCHEN FEE This question proposes an optoutable $0.50 per semester fee to fund Midnight Kitchen (MK), an organization that provides by-donation lunches to students throughout the week. It is currently financed solely by members of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU).

Lorenzo Daieff, PGSS councillor and chair of the “Yes” campaign for the question, said Midnight Kitchen provides a valuable service to the entire student body.

“It seems fair and desirable for graduates, who currently do not support the MK in such a way, to make a similar—if not equal—contribution to a service that is, has, and always will be accessible to graduates,” Daieff said.

However, Jonathan Mooney, PGSS secretary-general and chair of the “No” committee, said the PGSS currently already pays over $4,000 annually to SSMU for access to its services, and the proposed fee would be an overlap.

“When you pay a personal fee to a service—rather than just through PGSS—you should be guaranteed the legal right to oversee how it is spent,” Mooney said. “Since Midnight Kitchen is a service of the SSMU, PGSS members would gain no legal right to determine how Midnight Kitchen is operated by paying this fee [….] We would simply be giving away money with no added accountability in return.”

Daieff noted that MK does not receive any funding from SSMU, so the new fee would not constitute a “doublepay.” “[We] stress that grads are not “buying their way in” into the MK via the levy; they’ve always had access to the MK, and will continue to, even if the referendum fails,” Daieff said.

—Cece Zhang

uAPPLY FEE Another question addresses the uApply application service fee charged to all graduate students. Currently $102.60, the question would increase the fee to $120.00 gradually over five years, starting this June. Mooney explained that the fee increase would benefit future graduate students.

“McGill made a big investment in the UApply system; graduate students can […] pay one fee for two graduate programs in two different departments, [whereas] before you would have to pay two fees for two applications to different programs,” he said. “[Changes have] made it a simpler process.”

According to Mooney, McGill spent more money than originally budgeted to create these changes, so the application fee increase is a way to balance out the costs.

There is no “No” campaign against this question.

—Chelsey Ju

(Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune)

NEEDS-BASED BURSARY FEE Another referendum question deals with a decrease in the Needs Based Bursary Fee from the current amount of $4.01 to $1.01.

The Needs-Based Bursary fee was originally increased to $4.01 with the purpose of providing financial aid to students who demonstrated need. Priority for receiving this fund was given to students who were caring for dependents, or experienced specific hardships.

PGSS Financial Affairs Officer Erik Larson explained that the purpose of modifying this fee originally was to generate more revenue than would be required during a fiscal year. Now, the target amount of $150,000 has been reached for the fund.

“This additional revenue was to be used to create an endowment fund, which would be matched by the university,” Larson said. “At this point, we have the money ready to be endowed, and are negotiating the terms of endowment with the University.”

After creating this endowment, the idea is to use interest generated by the fund itself to meet the financial needs of the program.

“The new levy will be used to grow the endowment fund annually, which will allow the program to expand while reducing the current financial burden on students,” Larson said.

There is no “No” campaign against this question.

—Chelsey Ju

INCREASE TO THE PGSS MEMBERSHIP FEE This question seeks to increase the

PGSS regular membership fee from its current amount of $31.82 per semester to $33.33 starting in Fall 2014.

According to Larson, the additional money will go toward an increase in rent for Thomson House and the Coach House following ongoing negotiations with McGill.

“At this point just in our preliminary negotiations we realized that their increase in our rent is going to jack-up our rent prices a significant amount,” he said.

The increase has been calculated based on the expected worst-case scenario for the rent increase. Larson said any surplus would go toward new PGSS initiatives such as a free daycare service for members’.

There is no “No” campaign against this question.

—Sam Pinto

INCREASE IN FEE FOR PGSS GRANTS PROGRAM This question seeks to increase the PGSS Grants Program fee from $1.26 per semester to $2.07 as of Fall 2014.

The program allows student groups to apply for grants in order to host either social or academic events.

Initially, the Grants Program was partially funded by PGSS, with the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) matching contributions. However, last year the GPS withdrew their pledge due to financial issues, according to Larson.

Larson said the Grants Program has received more applications so far this school year than it has ever received before.

“What we’re hoping to do is to be able to get back to somewhat of the level that we were last year with this,” Larson said. “Unfortunately, it’s not going to cover nearly as much as the program needs, so in conjunction with [the fee increase], we’re also looking to revamp how the grants are being allocated.”

There is no “No” campaign against this question.

—Sam Pinto

PGSS HEALTH AND DENTAL PLAN QUESTION The question seeks to renew the current PGSS Health and Dental Plan fee for three years, from September 2014 to August 2017. The proposed opt-outablefee would be at an annually adjusted rate not exceeding $242.04 for health insurance, and not exceeding $176.74 for dental insurance.

Callan Davey, a project manager for PGSS from the Alliance pour la santé étudiant de Québéc (ASEQ), said the plan is well-used by graduate students.

“It’s a very robust and well-used service, and currently we have over 7,000 PGSS members involved in the plan,” Davey explained. “Prescription drugs take up the most proportion of healthcare claims, and drives up the cost a lot. We want to make sure the financial side of the plan is balanced with the benefits, and make sure it’s meeting the need of students.”

There is no “No” campaign against this question.

—Cece Zhang

Curiosity delivers. | campus

NEWS

| Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Students propose new sexual assault policy at Forum on Consent

3

Collaborative proposal outlines portfolio for coordinator position Eman Jeddy Staff Writer

Student groups proposed plans to introducese a new sexual assault policy at McGill’s Forum on Consent on Feb. 26.

Attended by students, faculty, staff, and other members of the McGill community, the forum included speakers from groups such as the Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS), Queer McGill, and the Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE).

During a panel discussion, SACOMSS announced a plan to bring forward a clearly defined policy regarding sexual assault for university-wide implementation. The document was created in collaboration with Queer McGill, UGE, and other student groups.

“We will be putting forward a list of recommendations regarding a new administrative position [...] as well demands for the creation for an official and clear university sexual assault policy,” SACOMSS Representative Kelly Schieder said.

“We feel that this is long overdue at McGill.’’

McGill currently does not have a policy regarding sexual assault. Instead, measures dealing

with sexual assault are located in the Student Code of Conduct.

Kai O’Doherty, one of the copresenters of the policy and a representative of UGE, explained that the policy would include the hiring of a sexual assault coordinator who would be the main reference point for all matters regarding sexual assault at the university. Additionally, the policy would be tailored towards the needs of survivors of sexual assault.

While McGill is already in the process of hiring a coordinator for programming on the topic of sexual assault, O’Doherty said the policy aims to outline the position portfolio. “[We need] someone who is well trained in matters ranging from sexual assault to anti-racism to antihomophobia, but also [...] someone who is trained in the immediate process of guiding a supporter through the process,” O’Doherty said. “[It should be] someone who would also be in charge of helping awareness campaigns on rape culture and victim blaming, and someone who is aware of the safety measure for survivors and the policy itself.”

The policy also outlines plans to introduce mandatory training in matters regarding sexual assault for all new professors, incoming stu-

Forum on Consent opens discussion on sexual assault on campus. (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune) dents, and student groups that have been identified as high risk such as frosh groups. It would also encourage training among current students and professors.

According to Dean of Students André Costopoulos, the focus on creating a new policy is positive because it would bring greater visibility to the already existing, but disorganized, sexual assualt measures and unite the policies under one general banner.

“Almost everything that they proposed in their policy is already in place somewhere in the university, so let’s get them all together and

let’s give better visibility and let’s get them known,” he said. “Once we’ve done that, we can see where the holes are and what we can do [to] fill them.”

Vice-President University Affairs of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Joey Shea has been working in collaboration with the student groups to draft the new policy. She said the proposal requires endorsement by all student groups involved before it can be presented to SSMU Council on March 12.

After SSMU Council, the policy would have to go through a num-

ber of channels including Senate to become official university policy.

Shea, one of the forum’s hosts, said she was hopeful about the event’s impact on campus dialogue on consent.

“The point of the forum was to start a conversation about sexual assault on campus,” Shea said. “To start a conversation about what is consent [...] what is rape culture and to define that is really important and for [This was] a launching point for McGill doing its due diligence in terms of where we are with this issue.’’

city

Initiative seeks to create city-wide policy on affordable and accessible student housing SSMU helps gather data on current state of student housing in Montreal Jenny Shen Features Editor A new initiative to study and develop affordable student housing in Montreal is gaining support from universities around the city.

After being approached by independent research organization L’Unité de travail pour l’implantation de logement étudiant (UTILE), the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) has begun to take part in UTILE’s citywide initiative.

UTILE is a non-profit organization created in Jan. 2013 by students from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Université de Montréal (UdeM), and other Montreal universities. The organization is currently working on a project called Prospection des habitudes et aspirations résidentielles étudiantes (PHARE).

The purpose of the project is to collect data about student housing from a variety of universities in Montreal, with the intention of creating options for

affordable student housing in the city.

“We created this non-profit because we realized that there’s absolutely no one that’s working on affordable student housing in Quebec,” Laurent Levesque, UTILE executive director, said.

“One of the things we want to push forward is to record and have data on [the] Quebec student housing situation.”

According to SSMU VicePresident External Samuel Harris, UTILE initially approached SSMU and other student associations in the city in hopes of collaborating in data collection.

“There’s a lot of [data] about affordable housing, social housing—and those are very important—but [with] affordable student housing [....] a lot of advocacy and research has not been done,” Harris said. “There’s a lack of hard data, as opposed to anecdotal stories about the experiences of students.”

Similarly, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) also saw value in participating in this type

of data collection.

“We’re very aware of the fact that housing is often a very serious concern for many students,” said Gene Marrow, CSU vicepresident academic and representative for CSU in the PHARE initiative. “Through our Housing and Job Bank, which also acts as a sort of legal information clinic, we have the chance to learn about a lot of the individual situations facing students. However, without solid representative data, it is hard to dress a portrait of the average student at Concordia.”

On March 7, SSMU sent out a survey via email to a sample of SSMU members. It asked questions focused on the student’s current housing situations, factors considered when deciding on a new lease, and price ranges that are within the student’s budget.

“In April, we’ll have the data [and] what’s really exciting about this project is that the firm will produce the market […] for affordable student housing,” Levesque said.

After the data has been collected, UTILE and the student associations hope to use that information in order to develop student-housing policy. While a concrete policy has not been determined, the goal would be to ask the city to develop student housing policies that would make housing more affordable.

“We hope to publish this to make a case for the need for affordable student housing for Montreal , especially at a time where the need is recognized by private developers who are making luxury student housing in very high numbers,” Levesque said.

Levesque noted that the city has already expressed interest in the research.

“The city wanted to have more information on the student housing situation before going forward on the policy,” he said.

Alongside the current research initiative, UTILE is also looking for a location to build its first co-ops for student housing.

Levesque said it will have 100 to

200 rooms, and construction will hopefully be completed by 2016.

“It’s already almost entirely funded […] from the government of Quebec, which created a pilot program [from] the Societé d’Habitation du Quebec (SHQ), which is funding our first building,” Levesque said. “Our project will be the first inside that program.”

Levesque explained that the co-op is just one example of the direction that UTILE hopes to take with this new concept of student housing. UTILE wants to create a more communal style of student living, with students from different universities living together.

“We don’t want to only build student housing as we’ve been building [it] for 40 years,” said Levesque. “We think that it’s a great opportunity to rethink student housing and adapt it to the needs of students of the 21st century [….] The model we’re developing […] is based [on] communal living.”

4

Curiosity delivers. |

NEWS

| Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Campus

Canadian Studies seminar connects undergraduates across the country McGill and University of Calgary share virtual classroom in course on Canadian issues Aislinn Kalob Contributor Ken Dryden is taking technology in the classroom to a new level this semester, with a Canadian Studies course that uses technology to connect classes at McGill and the University of Calgary.

As a former Montréal Canadiens goalie, lawyer, and Liberal member of parliament, Dryden has been a university lecturer for the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada since 2012.

His seminar “Making the Future” challenges students to engage with current Canadian issues and their future.

Topics include health and healthcare, Canada and the world, diversity, and public engagement. While Dryden has taught this course at McGill for three years, this is the first year he is teaching the course between two universities.

“The idea was that if it can be done in one place, then it can be done in more than one,” Dryden said. “Let’s see if the premise of the course works, and that it’s engaging and useful, and then let’s see if we can do it in two places.”

Dryden proposed the idea to uni-

versities across Canada, and Calgary was the first to respond with interest.

“Originally, I thought that I would just travel to the different places and deliver [the course] twice,” he said. “It was actually [the University of Calgary’s] idea to do it electronically.”

Dryden travels back and forth between the two campuses, teaching nine classes at McGill and five at Calgary.

There are multiple screens in both the McGill and Calgary classrooms, where audio and video of the classrooms are live streamed to each other.

The typical structure of the class includes a guest lecturer, a question and answer period, and time for discussion of the issues.

“The format of it is actually entertaining,” Patrycja Nowakowska, an McGill L3 law student in the class, said.

“Seeing Calgary being teleported to us is really neat.”

Video streaming is only one part of how the students interact with one another. Their first assignment was a paper completed in groups of two or three McGill students and one Calgary student, which required interaction over the Inter-

net outside of class time.

Dryden said technology and technological capability is a lesson on the future in itself, and that it’s necessary to use it to prepare students for their work later on in life.

“A lot of your work in the future will be dealing with people at a distance, people you don’t know, people who may not have the same work styles, who may not have the same capacities in their space,” he said.

Students found that the group assignments were fairly simple to organize with minimal complications.

“The time difference is really the only challenge, finding a time when everyone can be on Google Docs or on Skype,” Lawrence Angel, U2, arts, said. “We form connections with these people.”

Dryden said he hopes the discussion of the issues reaches into the future and affects how students might deal with them 40 years from now. Since the students will be the ones working in the future, he wants them to engage with these issues now.

“If you were going to be working

NEWS ANALYSIS

Qualitative vs. quantitative: A look at McGill’s admissions policy Samiha Sharif Staff Writer

While academic grades were once seen as the only standard for analyzing a student’s ability for admissions, this stance is changing for many in today’s society.

McGill is sometimes criticized for being too “grade-centric” with their admissions process, as many programs at McGill only consider transcripts for admission.

Other universities in Canada, such as Queen’s University and the University of British Columbia, have adopted a more qualitative admission system that considers factors such as essays, recommendations, and extracurricular engagement.

“Grades have become a measure of what you’ve memorized, not what you’ve learned,” Arielle VanInderstine, U0 Arts and Science, said. “McGill should adopt a more qualitative system of admissions to encourage bright young learners and thinkers, not testtakers.”

Kim Bartlett, one of several directors of admission, is responsible for undergraduate admissions in several faculties, including Arts, Engineering, and Management. She emphasized that admissions policies at McGill are different depending on faculty; for ex-

ample, Medicine and Dentistry require an interview process.

Bartlett said the university’s values drive its admission policies.

“The central concepts are the idea[s] that admission is competitive and based on proven academic performance,” Bartlett said. “Competitive means that there is no prior decision about who gets in; we want the best candidates for the spaces. The [latter means] grades or test scores on the transcript, not about what your potential could be but what you have done.”

However, some students question this rationale.

“It’s important for a university to choose people who are not only good at testing and writing exams but who also have intellectual depth,” Sarah Nafisa Shahid, U1 Arts, said. “You don’t want to admit student[s] who are just good at writing exams [….] You want the next Bill Gates or Zuckerberg to be in your alumnus.”

While grades do not capture the whole story, Bartlett said qualitative admissions can also be problematic.

When admissions require students to have community engagement, they have to be really careful that they do facilitate the exclusion of some groups.

“In many cases, we have students of lower socio-economic levels who are not able to participate in extracurricular activities because they are working, and they need to work to sup-

port their families,” she said. “In some cultures volunteerism is just not part of the mainstream, [while] in places like the U.S. it is really prevalent.”

Mila Ghorayeb, U1 Arts and Science, said admissions based on grades are the most fair to everyone.

“Grades are more objective whereas qualitative measures such as how much one volunteers comes down to a matter of opinion,” Ghorayeb said.

Student opinion on the topic appears to be divided.

“I strongly dislike writing application essays and talking about myself; I’m not very good at it,” Ilias Hurley, U0 Engineering, said. “I would really dislike having my getting into McGill depend on an essay. Judging by the people I’ve met. At McGill the admissions system is at a good level.”

Others have argued that qualitative measures would contribute towards a more cohesive and active community on campus.

“Some people are more orientated towards academics while others focus on extracurricular,” Céline Garandeau, U1 Science, said. “Allowing a qualitative system will hopefully result in a more well-rounded student body.”

Bartlett emphasized that changes are not currently under consideration by the Senate. Change in admissions policies are made at the faculty level.

Dryden uses technology to connect his classes. (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune) for another 40 years, how would you see healthcare? How would you approach it differently?”

Students have reacted positively to Dryden’s class and his technology-based teaching style.

“He’s an excellent facilitator; he knows the right words to pick to really engage the students to think deeper beyond the first level of thinking,” Zack Barsky, U3 Management, said. “He really makes you think about what you’re saying, why you’re saying it, [and] how it’s important.”

Dryden hopes to expand the course to more universities over the next few years.

“We’re always working towards 2017—the 150th anniversary of the country, where there is a natural instinct to stop, look around, see where we’ve been, [and] ask ourselves where we want to go,” he said. “[The year 2017] can carry that kind of larger national conversation, if, in fact, we have the structured way of having that happen. So part of all of this is to connect [the students] to that.”

Campus

SSMU Lease negotiations Continued from cover

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Fortier said the allocation of funds to increase the number of opportunities for student and postdoc internships was “greatly appreciated.”

International and Out-of-Province student tuition Fortier also explained the federal government’s proposal to reduce its investment for grants for out-of-province student tuition, although the details of the proposal have not yet been revealed.

As plans are in preliminary stages, board members only briefly discussed possible responses to proposed changes.

Jonathan Mooney, Secretary-General of McGill’s Post-Graduate Student’s Society (PGSS), highlighted the legal challenges involved in modifying the tuition for international students.

“Changing the tuition that students from francophone countries pay would involve changing the bilateral agreement Quebec has with these countries,” he said.

McGill Vice-Principal (Communications and External Relations) Olivier Marcil, said the Quebec government’s response to the issue had not been finalised.

“It’s not clear under which ministry this reflection will take part, [but] I suspect it will be under the authority of [the ministries of] finance, international relations and higher education,” he said.

“McGill has already said that [it] wants to be a part of this discussion because we have a lot of expertise on [this issue].”

Building and Property Committee approval policy Peter Coughlin, the new chair of the Building and Property Committee, presented the committee’s new method of approving building projects to the BoG. “Before, we approved projects on a one-on-one basis [.…] projects often came in too early, in the stage before appropriate planning was done and adequate funds were calculated,” Coughlin said. “We want to ensure that the projects are done as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. We’ve provided admin the seed money to hire consultants for projects so we have a firm number on what they’ll cost.”

The new schedule for project approval includes the implementation of high priority projects that had undergone prior consultation, most of which involve deferred maintenance work. Coughlin said $120 million would be allocated for 10-12 projects, which would be carried out over 18 months.

One such project is the renovation of a service tunnel that runs under the Montreal Neurological Institute, the Duff Medical Building, residence buildings, and the athletic complex.

“The tunnels are really old and would not be serviceable if we had a steam leak,” Coughlin said. “Replacing the tunnels is a high priority.”

The BoG passed the Building and Property Committee’s proposal to carry out the deferred maintenance projects.

THE Mcgill

Editor-in-Chief Carolina Millán Ronchetti editor@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Ben Carter-Whitney bcarterwhitney@mcgilltribune.com Erica Friesen efriesen@mcgilltribune.com Jacqueline Galbraith jgalbraith@mcgilltribune.com Production Manager Steven Lampert slampert@mcgilltribune.com News Editors Jessica Fu, Sam Pinto, and Cece Zhang news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editor Abraham Moussako opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editor Caity Hui scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Living Editor Marlee Vinegar studentliving@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Jenny Shen features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editor Max Berger arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Mayaz Alam and Remi Lu sports@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editors Alexandra Allaire and Wendy Chen photo@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Alessandra Hechanova ahechanova@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Hayley Lim and Maryse Thomas design@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Adrien Hu copy@mcgilltribune.com Advertising Executives Spoon Jung and Daniel Kang ads@mcgilltribune.com Publisher Chad Ronalds

TPS Board of Directors

Jonathan Fielding (Chair), Anand Bery, Abhishek Gupta, Adrien Hu, Steven Lampert, Chris Liu, Carolina Millán Ronchetti, and Simon Poitrimolt

Staff Writers

Prativa Baral, Max Bledstein, Wyatt Fine-Gagné, Osama Haque, Eman Jeddy, Chelsey Ju, Paniz Khosroshahy, Alycia Noë, Kia Pouliot, Aaron Rose, Samiha Sharif, Julie Vanderperre, Elie Waitzer, and Natalie Wong

opinion editorial

Recent rhetoric highlights need for linguistic tolerance

The issue of the flight of anglophones from Quebec returned to the forefront following the release of a study that found that over half of Quebec’s anglophone and allophone (those with a mother tongue that is neither English nor French) population has considered leaving Quebec in the past year. The study, commissioned by the CBC and released Feb. 25, found that political uncertainty was the major reason for the doubts, citing the language divide as one of the main sources of contention. In thinking about language issues this election, we must ensure that policies encourage the vitality of the French language without exercising vindictively punitive measures on the use of English.

With about 50 per cent of McGill’s population declaring English as their first language and 32 per cent declaring a language other than English or French as their mother tongue, this issue certainly touches McGill students. For those approaching graduation, the consideration of whether to leave or stay in Quebec after McGill is not a new one, especially considering that 47 per cent of McGill students officially declare residency as outside of Quebec, according to statistics from

Commentary

Morgan Alexander, Laurie-Anne Benoit, Shrinkhala Dawadi, Abhishek Gupta, Zoe Hoskin, Evie Kaczmarek, Aislinn Kalob, Élie Lubendo, Kris Manokaran, Jack Neal, Zikomo Smith, and Esther Vinarov

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a larger trend, particularly with the current Parti Québécois (PQ) government, and one that has the potential of continuing to push away people who would otherwise be strongly inclined to stay and contribute to the province.

“Current French language policies stem from longstanding tensions and historical concerns for the survival of francophone culture in the province, but English cannot be dissociated from the province’s cultural wealth.”

One of the issues that De Courcy’s statement highlights is the rising animosity in the way language issues in the province are addressed. This polarizing rhetoric often spreads to students’ interactions in the city, for example, with vendors downtown refusing to speak in French to students with an accent, thus limiting their opportunities to practice the language.

There appears to be a disconnect between the idea that newcomers should learn French and the supports pro-

An & in the wilderness

Contributors

Shatner University Centre

Fall 2013. After three or four years of growing to love the vibrant Montreal city life, with its multitude of cultural offerings and opportunities, many of us would like to stay in the city past the conclusion of our McGill degree.

However, the dire job outlook for anglophones poses a major challenge for those hoping to stay, as the law requires that French be the official workplace language of businesses with more than 50 people, a number that the provincial government has expressed interest in further lowering.

While we recognize that as outsiders, much of the burden falls on English-speaking students to learn French and educate ourselves more deeply about the province, the reality is that the provincial government is increasingly and worryingly encroaching on the English language.

The same week that the CBC study was released, the Quebec minister responsible for the charter of the French language, Diane De Courcy, spoke strongly against institutional bilingualism in Quebec, using the common bilingual greeting “Bonjour-hi” as an example of the “unacceptable slide” towards bilingualism in commercial spaces and across the province. This statement is indicative of

Esther Vinarov

Commentary

Last year, I transferred from the Faculty of Arts into Arts & Science after falling in love with the Cognitive Science program. Having entered McGill from the U.S., I had actually expected Arts & Science to be the default––at most universities in the United States, it is the largest faculty, not one of the smallest. My fellow ArtSci peers have deemed this degree to be the best option for us, but we still worry a lot about our post-graduation plans—perhaps more so than most other students.

The McGill Bachelor of Arts & Science (BA&Sc) website cautions, “The breadth that is characteristic of the BA&Sc programs necessarily comes at the expense of depth in the Arts and the Science components viewed separately.” That’s all. Thanks for the warning, but McGill should do more to help assuage our fears. In an increasingly competitive job market,

why are BA&Sc students content with spreading ourselves so thin? As one of many students unsure of the future, I am both comforted and terrified in my decision to choose an interdisciplinary academic program. I’m excited to be graduating with credits in philosophy, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, and psychology, but I won’t be trained enough in any of these fields to stand out to a prospective employer in any specialized area. All I can hope for is that knowing the fundamentals in all of these disciplines will give me a unique edge, enough to propel me in my yet-to-be-declared future.

Recently, I came across a quote by science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, which captured the BA&Sc mentality: “A human being should be able to […] design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem […] cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, [and] die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

All ArtSci students will have to struggle with the benefits and drawbacks of our broad academic program.

On the one hand, we are limiting

ourselves from several higher-level courses and highly-specialized career opportunities, but on the other, we are striving for well-roundedness, holding on to the faith that a degree in Arts & Science will open more doors than it closes. We all have a conviction that dabbling in various fields is a better fit for us––personally, academically, or professionally.

Still, we need more exposure to interdisciplinary career opportunities, and we need encouragement to be creative and entrepreneurial. We need mentors and role models, and we need more integrative courses. The ampersand symbol is a source of anxiety as well as inspiration––it represents our rewarding multidisciplinary curriculum, but it also reminds us that we are caught between two faculties, without a real home. More often than not, we are swallowed up by the umbrella that is the Faculty of Science for issues related to advising and exchanges.

The ampersand thus serves as the perfect emblem for the Bachelor of Arts & Science Integrative Council (BASiC), which does what it can to relieve the anxiety and harness the creativity of Arts & Science students.

vided to them. While the onus remains on the students to learn the language, the provincial government should play a role in promoting integration by working towards removing the obstacles—legal or social—that often prevent them from truly integrating with Quebec.

While Quebec has only French as its official language, English has certainly shaped important aspects of the province, including Montreal itself, well-regarded as one of the largest bilingual cities in the world.

Current French language policies stem from longstanding tensions and historical concerns for the survival of francophone culture in the province, but English cannot be dissociated from the province’s cultural wealth.

As Quebecers head to the polls on April 7, the tensions that accompany the language divide are bound to continue at the forefront of provincial discussion. With this in mind, it will be important to remember the value of mutual respect in these debates.

While the university should be doing more to support its students, BASiC provides two initiatives through which students support each other: a conference and a journal, both entitled Ampersand, that serve as resources and outlets for the Arts & Science community.

This month, the conference will be bringing together students and leaders from all disciplines to network and engage with one another in order to generate dialogue and creativity.

BA&Sc students stand at the intersection of potential cultural, technological, and artistic innovation, but McGill needs to do more to mediate discussion and engagement among its small population of Arts & Science students, and to give us the support we need to finish our degrees and do something useful with them.

Esther Vinarov is involved in organizing Ampersand: the Conference, which will take place on March 21 and 22. To learn more, join the Ampersand McGill Facebook group and follow the link to buy tickets ($7 for two days, $5 for one day).

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opinion

A microlesson in microaggression: clarifying a misinterpretation

Élie Lubendo

Commentary

On Dec. 5, the SSMU Legislative Council met and decided that a listserv sent by the SSMU VP Internal Brian Farnan containing a GIF image of Barack Obama kicking down a door served to reinforce the negative stereotypical image of the hyper-masculine aggressive black man. They decided that the Equity Complaint Investigation Committee’s recommendation of a public apology was both necessary and beneficial to the entirety of the student body. It was not. Instead, this apology has made a farce of McGill and, even worse, trivialized the issue of racism.

The Equity Complaints Investigation Committee’s recommendation was made in response to an equity complaint filed on Oct. 30 in response to the Obama GIF. The complaint was filed, unbeknownst to many, for two reasons and not just one. The first was because the complainant felt that the image of Obama reinforced a negative stereotype. The second reason was because Farnan had not responded to the complainant’s initial email; as a result, the student filed an official equity complaint. Once the recommendation was drafted, it was sent to the SSMU Legislative Council to make the decision of approval or rejection.

When presented at Council, we were given an explanation of the situation by the equity commissioner. After our initial questions were answered, we opened debate on the recommendation. As the lone black voice in the room, I felt the unfair pressure of having to speak

on behalf of our black community.

However, I also hoped that my perspective as a black male could shed valuable insight onto the situation.

I spoke against the approval of the public apology. Although it is true that we should recognize the concerns of the complainant, such response could be best communicated to the student directly. Public apologies to the entirety of the student body should only be sent if there is a breach of trust against all students and the mandates of the society. In this case, a public apology would surely backfire.

Although black masculinity is often portrayed negatively by the media through violent and hypermasculinized representations, the Obama image was not a good example of the reinforcement of this stereotype. Its central feature was not of a black man violently attacking a door, but rather of a public political figure being humorously discomposed. As it was mentioned during Council, this would not have been an issue had it been Stephen Harper or Hillary Clinton instead of Barack Obama.

Despite this, arguments were brought up as to why the recommendation should be approved. A majority of councillors felt that, beyond validating the complainant’s thoughts, the image was indeed reinforcing the violent black male narrative and that by speaking against this, we could educate our student body on racism and microaggressions. They felt that this was a good opportunity to promote a safe space, and that sending out a public apology would be beneficial. To these councillors, my arguments that the apology would politicize a nonpolitical issue and that this politicization would only hurt the genuine concerns of the black community were not valid enough reasons to vote against the apology. One coun-

cillor even told me, the lone black student in the room, to “recognize my privilege” and that my opinion could not represent that of all black students. (He didn’t seem to have a problem with not recognizing his own privilege.) They believed that by approving the recommendation they were promoting equity.

“They were trying to speak for the black community without asking for its opinions.

Ultimately, this apology has misrepresented the struggles that I encounter on a daily basis.”

I was troubled by their comments. These councillors wanted to educate students on an issue that they themselves misunderstood.

We were robbing Barack Obama of his individuality by fitting him into a stereotype. We were taking a notable and respected figure of the black community and reducing him to being a violent black male—all of this in the name of education.

The recommendation was approved: nine for, five against, five abstaining.

As the session ended and a motion to adjourn was made, councillors began gathering their belongings, eager to go home. I had to remind the councillors that we were supposed to take a minute of silence to mourn of the death of Nelson Mandela. Embarrassed, everyone sat back down. I sat there baffled by the irony that these councillors believed they were helping the black community, unaware that they had silenced and ignored a black student on the night that one of humanity’s greatest activists died after a long life of battling for the equality of all

races.

I felt that SSMU Equity was misrepresenting the needs of visible minorities. Throughout the process itself there was minimal consultation with members of the affected group, and the lone black student who spoke—me—was ignored. The recommendation was made by the four members of the Equity Complaints Investigation Committee.

They were trying to speak for the black community without asking for its opinions. Ultimately, this apology has misrepresented the struggles that I encounter on a daily basis. By presenting a poor example of black stereotypes, they have confused, instead of educating, our student body about the issue of racism.

People often think that racism involves malicious actions of ill intent, but this is false. Racism often involves a set of implicit attitudes held even by well-meaning people.

Racism is pervasive and it has been vastly studied in psychology. Columbia professor Derald Sue defines microaggressions as “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of colour.” These are everyday actions that range from racial slurs to cultural appropriation, and collectively they help construct the exclusion that marginalizes minorities. A microaggression is when you censor someone from using the word “black” while not censoring the word “white.” Acts such as telling a black person that they don’t “act black” because they do not appear “ghetto,” saying that a black person is “lucky” to be in university, misappropriating “ratchet” culture, or dismissing allegations of racism as “pulling the black card” are microaggressions.

By being overly politically

correct while misidentifying what microaggressions are, we took away Obama’s character and replaced it with a stereotype. Under the pretense that “education is good,” the nine councillors attempted to teach our community about a topic that they had gotten wrong. In doing so, we drew the attention of our community into making fun of the apology, and consequently trivializing the issue of racism, instead of teaching them about it. Racism is real, microaggressions do exist, and equity plays a large role in minimizing the struggles of visible minorities.

I am for equity, I want equity, I need equity. But I neither want nor need this equity. I don’t need equity that confuses the issue of racism and makes students laugh about microaggressions. I don’t need equity that unfairly scapegoats its own members in the name of education. I don’t need equity that taints the university’s reputation instead of bolstering it. The decision to approve the recommendation not only outlined a poor example of black stereotypes, but also of educational equity. Education is good––but only so as long as we know the subject that we are teaching. Our student body cannot learn about the struggles of our minorities if those attempting to teach are not educated. Élie Lubendo sits on the SSMU Legislative Council as the Services Representative to SSMU. This is his second year as a councillor. This piece was written in collaboration with Christian Service, Political Coordinator at the Black Students’ Network. The Black Students’ Network will be having a discussion on marginalized peoples in academia, and the dynamics of culture and ethnicity in North America on March 20.

Eliminating ethnocentric tuition policies

Julie Vanderperre

Columnist Quebec has always made the preservation of the French language and culture within the province a priority. In many areas of Quebec, speaking French is not only encouraged, but necessary.

This custom of preserving Quebec’s French roots merits praise; however, it should not come at the cost of alienating people of different backgrounds. The bilateral agreement between France and Quebec which allows French students to receive Quebec tuition while studying in the province is one such example of an exclusive policy whose terms

disadvantage other international or outof-province students without French citizenship.

The agreement, signed in 1965, incentivizes native French speakers to come to Quebec to receive their university education. The policy has certainly succeeded in attracting French students, thereby promoting the use of French within the province. It also gives French students the ability to experience university abroad at an even lower price than they would pay in France. Despite the benefits of this agreement, its exclusion of non-French citizens is tinged with the ethnocentric tendencies that Quebec has been known to display in its relations with France.

At a public Canadian university such as McGill, it doesn’t seem entirely right that French students

should have a lower tuition than others, especially when some of those excluded from the tuition agreement also speak French. There are, indeed, other French-speaking countries whose students may receive exemptions on their tuitions. However, the list is brief and restricts the number of students from each country who may receive lowered tuition. If Quebec is truly concerned about promoting the use of French, all francophones should be given equal advantage, regardless of their citizenship.

Such a change would encourage even more French-speaking students to come to Quebec, and it would promote greater equality among students whose tuition rates are widely disparate.

There is no easy way to level tuition prices in order to treat all students equally. One option would be to raise

the tuition for French students in order to decrease the margin of difference.

However, in order to attract enough French students to Quebec, tuition rates in the province must be low enough to compete with the low prices of education in France. If the McGill tuition rate for French citizens were to be raised too high, French students would lose their incentive to come to Quebec to receive their education, which would be detrimental to the preservation of Quebec’s culture and language. There are also, of course, budgetary concerns. One must acknowledge that the province simply cannot afford to lower the tuition equally for all students. Therefore, a more inclusive policy to give advantage to all fluent French speakers, regardless of nationality, would be a good first step.

A language test to determine profi-

ciency for all students claiming French as a first language would allow all francophones to receive the same benefits.

While such a policy would still exclude non-French speakers from the lowered tuition, it would, in theory, be a more equitable policy than the current agreement, which excludes many francophone students from the same tuition exemptions as their French counterparts.

If this change were to be implemented, Quebec’s defensive preservation of French language and culture, historically characterized by its ethnocentric, colonial relationship with France, would be replaced by a more inclusive promotion of French that would include people of all backgrounds, which would be a step in the right direction.

arts & entertainment FILM

Wrong answers are blowing in The Wind Rises

Perplexing politics and weak characterization plague animated film

Max Bledstein Staff Writer How much responsibility does a filmmaker working from non-fictional material have to accurately represent his subject? It’s a complicated question, and one which muddles the The Wind Rises, an animated biopic that writer-director Hayao Miyazaki re-released with an English cast of voices that replace those in the original Japanese version.

The film follows the life of Japanese military airplane designer Jiro Horikoshi (voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), whose planes were incredibly effective killing machines and an asset to the Japanese military efforts during the Second World War, assisting with the slaughter of soldiers around the world. But The Wind Rises is not about the destruction that Horikoshi’s efforts wrought; rather, Miyazaki uses the film to emphasize the

engineer’s identity as a dreamer, a lover, and an artist.

Airplanes fascinate young Jiro (voiced by Zach Callison), and he hopes to one day become a pilot. He looks up to the Italian aeronautical designer Giovanni Caproßni (voiced by Stanley Tucci), who inspires him to turn his aspirations into his life’s work. Though Jiro is discouraged when he realizes his poor eyesight prevents him from ever becoming a pilot, he revives his joie de vivre by learning that he can still design airplanes, even if he can’t fly them.

Jiro’s ambition leads him to study at a university. As he takes a train there, he meets a young girl named Nahoko (voiced by Emily Blunt), who catches his hat as it flies through the air. Jiro quickly repays her kindness when an earthquake hits and her caretaker Kinu (voiced by Mae Whitman) is unable to evacuate due to her broken leg. Jiro cre-

ates a makeshift splint for her and fetches water for both girls. Although, he leaves them abruptly and continues his trip to the university, Miyazaki leaves little room for doubt that Jiro and Nahoko will be reunited somewhere along the designer’s journey.

The scene on the train indicates one of the film’s major flaws: Miyazaki’s awkward attempt to merge straightforward realism with fantastical elements that feel lifted from the bizarre universes of his earlier films. As Nahoko attempts to catch the hat, it flies just out of her reach for a while before conveniently hanging in the air right in the range of her grasp. Touches of magical realism like these—which permeate The Wind Rises—are cute and add a touch of whimsicality to the mostly somber tone which Miyazaki strikes throughout the film, but they undermine our ability to take the narrative seriously. It’s hard

to treat the film as a sober depiction of Jiro’s life when these elements continuously reappear to remind us that it takes place in a world fundamentally different from our own.

Miyazaki further undermines the gravity of the story through the simplistic depictions of his characters and the banal platitudes with which they speak.

The short temper and rash judgements of Jiro’s boss Kurokawa (voiced by Martin Short) make for brief moments of comic relief, but they fail to lay the foundation for a substantive or believable character.

Likewise, the German Castorp (voiced

by Werner Herzog) comes off as little more than a bland manifestation of the “wise old man” archetype frequently found in Hollywood films. While the generic advice he provides Jiro helps to solidify his status as a father figure to the confused youngster, it also makes him seem more like a fortune cookie than a

fully-realized human being.

This all would be less of a problem if Miyazaki wasn’t depicting real events, but he’s dealing with someone whose actions had an undeniably violent impact on the course of history. The portrayal of someone who created formidably destructive machinery deserves more gravitas than Miyazaki’s fanciful touches and paper-thin characters allow for. His focus on Jiro’s genius and artistry rather than the death it caused provides too narrow of a historical view to be taken seriously. I can’t help but wonder how audiences would have reacted if a filmmaker had used this approach to tell the story of the makers of Zyklon B or the atomic bomb. I don’t imagine viewers would have too much patience for such a film, and The Wind Rises is no more deserving of their attentions.

nominee aims high but can’t hit all targets LITERATURE Giller The Son of a Certain Woman doesn’t quite meet author’s Ulysses standard dancy. He creates an interesting premise filled with tensions and the potential for a myriad of wild events, yet he releases “Most of the people who knew my the pressure in a slow and predictable mother either slept with her or wished way. Johnston is successful in capturing the essence of St. John’s in the 1960s, they had, including me.”

Thus, Wayne Johnston opens but he does so at the cost of narrative his ninth novel, The Son of a Certain creativity.

The story is told through the perWoman, long listed for the 2013 Giller Prize. With this tale, Newfoundland- spective of Percy Joyce, a boy born born Johnston attempts his long-held with unfavourable—at least in the eyes goal to “one day do for St. John’s, New- of his community—characteristics. He foundland, what Joyce had done for has dark red birthmarks all over his face Dublin,” as he states in an essay pub- and a condition wherein his hands, feet, lished in the Random House Canada and lower lip are oversized. All this, the townspeople think, is because Percy was online magazine, Hazlitt.

Johnston indeed makes the setting sinfully conceived out of wedlock to a a fictional force in itself, yet his desire whorish mother and a father who didn’t to paint a detailed portrait of St. John’s stick around.

From the chapter, Percy’s Newfoundland leads him towards such HR_ULaval_McGill tribune_10x3,6_NBc.pdf 1 first 2014-01-29 13:45 exconsistency that it bordered on redun- periences are filtered through his mother Zoe Hoskin Contributor

Penelope’s protection and reasoning.

As the most open-minded, autodidactic and secular of the town, she shelters Percy from the area’s Catholic oppression and tendency to sort and assimilate people. As he grows, Percy begins to independently organize his world with a questioning disposition and lips as loose as his mother’s mind is open. Approaching his age of reason and sexual development, Percy begins to cultivate his world as a series of binaries that provoke an ever-building tension in his perception between religion and secularity; judgement and tolerance; public affairs and secrets; intelligence and ignorance.

Meanwhile, he becomes aware of his mother’s place in the town as the wanted, beautiful woman to strive for, a body and face to be admired by all. Out of all of Penelope’s suitors, her son Percy falls

the hardest for her.

Johnston retains unity within his setting, characters, theme, and style throughout this long work. Thus, he creates an immersive experience in the bigoted town of St. John’s circa 1960, and in the troubled mind of a mother-lusting protagonist. However, the novel lacks dynamics, as Johnston tells the predictable path of Percy’s ever-intensifying sexual desire for his mother.

Nevertheless, Johnston’s style is a form of inventiveness in itself. He manages to portray intimate human relations by focusing on the rawness of their words while rarely using indicators such as “she said.” The resulting prose is translucent and tinted, like the beach glass of Newfoundland. Johnston also uses a unique listing technique, often through Penelope’s educated, allusive,

spontaneous, and dramatic speech.

In Penelope’s eyes, for example, St. John’s is “The City of the Sane, the Half Cracked, and the Unmistakably Demented. The City of the Open-Hearted, the Broken-Hearted, the Half-Hearted.”

Johnston’s verbal creativity is fitting as words hold great importance in the novel’s town. Johnston describes the small-town, closed-minded nature of his conception of St. John’s in the 1960s.

The characters’ interactions centre on gossip, nosy speculation, teasing, and spilling secrets.

All in all, Wayne Johnston’s story starts with an exciting opening and closes off nicely; however, it sags significantly between these points. Johnston knows how to introduce and excuse his realistic, if static, painting of a unique boy born in a close-minded community.

À L’ÉTÉ 2014, PAS DE VACANCES POUR LES PASSIONNÉS! Plus de 60 écoles d’été / 1 300 cours réguliers / 150 cours à distance

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Tuesday, March 11, 2014 |

arts & entertainment

ALBUM REVIEWS DEEP CUTS

Songs to cure your insomnia Unearthing the hidden gems in today’s music Compiled by Jacqueline Galbraith Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey Artist: John Mayer Album: Born and Raised Released: May 22, 2012

This peaceful track off of John Mayer’s fifth studio album stands out as a thoughtful lament, ornamented with simple harmonica and sparing guitar. Mayer’s soulful vocals create a comfortingly repetitive effect, evoking feelings of both melancholy and contentment in the listener. The barebones chorus manages to be both sad and beautiful in its minimalism.

SPRïNG - CELEBRATIONS

| Curiosity delivers.

independent

In listening to Celebrations by Sprïng, a band that self-identifies as a “psychedelic rock band,” it’s hard to determine whether the multifarious tracks are true exemplifications of intelligent prog-rock, or if they’re too distracted and overdone to make a serious impression.

Although the latter may be true for the average, one-time listener, those with a keen ear and taste for a more unorthodox, experimental style might notice that the band’s credentials do impress. The Vancouver- based bunch more or less morphed from the band SSRIs—a highly acclaimed, prog-punk group, which made waves in the scene for more than five years.

Sprïng features a handful of talented musicians and composers. Many of the group’s sonic experiments do contain praiseworthy elements: expert finger picking, complex, perpetually changing time signatures, and incredible layering of major and minor harmonies.

However, these virtues somehow fall short of coalescing into an enjoyable, meaningful listening experience.

When SSRIs rebirthed as Sprïng, they certainly matured; the over-processed electronics and keyboard use in SSRIs’s album Effeminate Godzilla Sized Windchimes, has been replaced with softer vocal harmonies and intricate acoustic instrumentals in Celebrations. It’s reminiscent of a college kid coming back home for Christmas break and wondering why he or she was ever so rebellious in high school. However, this kid still gets mad when mom and dad impose a curfew on Friday night—the sporadic, head-banging, electric guitar riffs are more annoying than pensive.

Too ‘angst-y’ to really settle on a concrete sound, Sprïng flits back and forth between a palatable, more traditional indie groove (similar to Fleet Foxes or Belle and Sebastian), a pop ‘60s British psychedelic feel (like Magical Mystery Tour at some points), and a good amount of cumbersome, ambient babbling.

Interesting in its own right, I wish Sprïng the best in honing its diverse abilities into a more clear-cut niche.

— Evie Kaczmarek

Kiss Me Artist: Ed Sheeran Album: + Released: September 9, 2011

Singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran penned this ballad for his godparents, who got engaged after years of friendship. The couple asked him to sing at their wedding, but none of the covers he tried felt quite right, so he decided to write them their own love song. Sheeran dips into the lower end of his register for this one, and a guitar riff that can only be described as heartfelt make this number the musical equivalent of a warm hug.

A Cold Night Close to the End Artist: Said the Whale Album: Islands Disappear Released: October 13, 2009

Vancouver-based indie rock band Said the Whale has a bevy of up-tempo tunes, but “A Cold Night Close to the End” slows things down, giving it a calming effect despite the slight rockabilly feel provided by the lead guitar. The band is known for incorporating natural imagery into their songs, and this tale about a nighttime hike in winter is no exception. This track will have you drifting off to its steady beat and gentle vocals in no time.

The Temptation of Adam Artist: Josh Ritter Album: The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter Released: August 21, 2007

Ritter’s expert guitar skills set the perfect backdrop for this Cold War love story. Relaxing you into the rhythm, this number offers one lyrically intricate verse after another. The soothing instrumental breaks keep the track from feeling too busy and Ritter’s folksy vocals create a cozy atmosphere despite the final stanza, in which he raises the troubling question of temptation alluded to in the title.

run river north - run river north Nettwerk California based indie-pop group Run River North’s self-titled debut album exudes youthful passion and creativity that flows over kempt beats and calming lyrics. The six-member ensemble hailing from the San Fernando Valley area has perfected their unique brand of orchestral pop, trotting out one whimsical ballad after the another.

The opening track “Monsters Calling Home” introduces the band’s vocal harmonies, which are infused into every track and make for an interesting acoustic choral sound. Looking to “Growing Up” and “Banner,” the band’s true talent is evident in these ethereal group choruses. Beyond these lyrical nuances lies the band’s knack for exuding West Coast calm, even in their more ominous, soul-searching tracks.

the fray - helios

The band faltered slightly in its unwillingness to take any musical risks. While they’ve solidified their skills in graceful folk beats and expansive lyrical themes, they remained reserved in their more rockfueled tracks, such as “Fight to Keep” and “Somewhere.” Understandably, this is only their first full album; but if the band wants to establish itself in the music world, it needs to be willing to leap out of its narrow musical box.

Undeniably cool, calm, and collected, Run River North is precisely as it presents itself to be: a folky collective enhanced by waves of electric hooks and chamber pop vocal backings, and creators of a very promising debut.

— Morgan Alexander

EPIc

The Fray is back! Just over a year since releasing the commercially-successful Scars & Stories, the alternative rock band from Colorado have returned with their fourth—and ultimately, fairly predictable—studio album, Helios.

The first 10 seconds of the opening track “Hold My Hand” are as brilliant as anything they’ve previously released, highlighted by their signature irresistible piano-based sound. But at the 20-second mark, it changes. In comes an electronic undertone, pulsing and very much present—perhaps a new musical direction for this band? A pounding drumbeat follows, succeeded with an intricately designed guitar riff before the song climaxes with a massive choir-backed final chorus.

But nothing else on the album comes across as particularly different. From there on, Helios is a mix of up-tempo stadium fillers and subtler yet still catchy piano ballads. The Fray has delivered strong

performances on each song: vocally, musically, and even lyrically. It’s clear that the songs are well produced, and Isaac Slade’s lead vocals are as brilliant as ever—but maybe that’s the downfall.

Songs like “Wherever This Goes” are good songs—easy to listen to, with a clear beat, and pleasing vocals. However, once it’s over, it’s over.

There is no lasting impact. It’s the kind of song one hears, enjoys it, and then moves on, and it’s unfortunately the same with the album as a whole. Helios has its noteworthy moments; “Our Last Days” is truly a great song, but it suffers in the sense that realistically, it isn’t that far from anything The Fray have done before. While the faint electronic influence is present, and the band have clearly developed their sound into Five For Fighting territory, it is very much a typical Fray record.

— Jack Neal

Curiosity delivers. |

MUSIC

arts & entertainment

| Tuesday, March 11, 2014

9

Dale Boyle finds musical success by sticking to his roots McGill lecturer records roots albums and garners songwriting acclaim without leaving campus

Max Berger Arts & Entertainment Editor After enough predictable PowerPoint slides and monotonous notetaking, it’s easy to find yourself wishing for a teacher like Jack Black in School of Rock to come and shake up your lecture with an unconventional musical component. If that’s the case, then you should try taking a class with McGill’s homegrown version: Faculty of Education lecturer—and professional roots musician—Dale Boyle.

“It’s a little less blatant than that,” laughs Boyle when I ask how his classes compare to Black’s. “A little more naturally integrated than he does it [….] But I always get to perform in my classes.”

Boyle lectures specifically in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education (DISE), leading courses based in educational research and theory.

“In a theory course—at least for a class or two—I’ll look at arts-based research, a big part of that being music,” explains Boyle. “It’s just kind of questioning what constitutes academic knowledge.”

“In Research Methods, we actually explore something I created called ‘musical memo-ing,’ which is turning data into musical form.”

Essentially, the memos represent a means of transforming key phrases that emerge from analysis of qualitative data into succinct lyrical and musical form.

Unlike Black, Boyle’s teaching methods are very structured. After completing undergraduate and master’s de-

grees at McGill—the former of which he began in 1998—Boyle stuck around campus to pursue a PhD in Education that studied the use of music as a classroom tool, which he completed in 2011.

“The official title [of the thesis], which I sadly have memorized,” says Boyle, “is ‘Exploring a University Teacher’s Approach to Incorporating Music in a Cognition Psychology Course.’”

For many students, working towards a PhD would be enough of a time strain, but Boyle kept himself constantly busy with other musical side projects throughout the doctorate.

“I recorded at least two [albums] while doing my PhD,” says Boyle.

“And recording an album means strapping yourself in for a serious ride.”

Luckily, Boyle was already well versed in recording by the time he was a PhD candidate. In 2004, he released his first full-length album, In My Rearview Mirror: A Story From a Small Gaspé Town. That was also when he realized he wanted to perform and record roots music, which is a stylistic hybrid of folk, Americana, and some blues.

“Despite the fact that I grew up often listening to country and folk music—and at times rejecting it and listening to metal—I just found that when I went to perform, I kind of went back to my roots and played a more traditional country-folk type of sound,” says Boyle.

Boyle released another full-length album of self-composed songs in 2007 and spent the next few years mostly sitting in on other artists’ projects. His

most recent effort, Throwback (2012), has garnered both local and international acclaim.

Although he performs regularly in Montreal and has graced stages elsewhere in Canada and the United States, Boyle admits that his main focus is songwriting. This passion led him to discover the International Songwriting Competition, an open-submission contest that has recently featured wellknown judges such as Tom Waits, Jeff Beck, and Martina McBride; it would also become a crucial stepping-stone for Boyle on his musical journey.

“I’ve applied [to the competition] over the years,” says Boyle. “But there was one particular song [called “You Might Come Around”] that I did believe pretty strongly in, and it turns out that it did win second place in the Americana category.”

The third place finisher? Josh Ritter, a prominent American singer-songwriter whose albums have cracked the top 10 of Billboard charts.

It meant a lot to Boyle to be recognized among so many who share his love of the craft.

“It’s just fairly cool to throw a song out there and just have people select it and appreciate it for what I thought it was,” he says. “I thought it was a pretty good song, and it’s encouraging when others think the same.”

Since Boyle’s second-place finish in 2013, he hasn’t made any definite plans for another full-length album, but he’s excited about the studio time he’s been putting in recently with bassist

Boyle in his element. (Photo courtesy of Janine Metallic) James Blennerhassett—who has worked with Steve Earle and Paul Brady—and drummer Kenny Aronoff—who has worked with John Mellencamp and John Fogerty—musicians that he’s long admired. He’s also content to continue the balance he’s struck between McGill and his music.

“The good thing about teaching a bit, at least to the degree I have been, is

that I’m essentially able to pay the bills,” Boyle says. “Now, I just play when I want to, when it suits me; and I focus a lot of attention on my songwriting, it’s a pretty nice balance right now.”

It’s a system that has served the McGill mainstay well. A couple of years from now, he’ll be teaching an incoming freshman class born in 1998, the same year he arrived on campus.

up with The Americans TELEVISION Keeping Breaking down the opening episodes of the show’s long-awaited second season Mayaz Alam Sports Editor *Spoiler alert!* It is unsurprising that in a time when American politics have reached new levels of dysfunction, Hollywood has capitalized on it by pumping out political dramas left, right, and centre. Hit series such as Scandal and House of Cards focus squarely on the inner workings of Washington politics: the backroom dealings, the power players, and their litany of flaws. The Americans, on the other hand, opts to take a different look into the world of political theatre through the lens of the American Dream.

Using characters who are KGB undercover agents and FBI G-men, The Americans—like most television shows worth watching—chooses to focus on the human condition. Dead

drops, dead ends, and dead spies are only a way to examine relationships between people and consequently, the show allows viewers to empathize with people who are just like them. At times during the first season, it didn’t matter who the incognito Jennings family were or what they actually did.

All that mattered was that they were a married couple struggling to make the most of a life that was planned out for them in the Moscow Politburo.

The second season begins slowly, with Elizabeth (Keri Russell) emerging from her gunshot wound-induced slumber in the middle of the woods.

As she comes home to her family, the viewers realize that two to three months have passed by. Now that Phil and Elizabeth’s marriage has stabilized, the focus shifts to their ability to raise a family. Their teenage children, Paige (Holly Taylor) and Henry

(Keidrich Sellati), are growing up and growing curious. At the end of last season, Paige was seen heading downstairs to see her mother emerging from the laundry room in the middle of the night. The teenager’s naivety wears away as she begins questioning her parents’ guidance, routinely sneaking around to learn more about the secrets her parents keep from her. However, this backfires on Paige as she walks in on her parents rekindling their love, a situation which requires a family meeting to weather the fallout.

Also of note is the brief introduction of another family to the fold, albeit only for one episode. The family, whose parents are spy friends of Phil (Matthew Rhys) offers an interesting parallel to the Jennings’. At an amusement park in old town Alexandria, the two families are seen in a peaceful and tranquil state, simply enjoying a

quiet weekend away from it all. The serenity is ominous as Phil later walks into their hotel room to find that family brutally murdered—a sign that despite how quiet or peaceful things may seem, danger is always lurking.

Thus far, the show hasn’t introduced any major new characters; and even more interestingly, Claudia, (Margo Martindale), who acted as the Jennings’ constant thorn-in-the-side handler, has been nonexistent. It will be interesting to see how she reintroduces herself to their lives as the tension between Moscow and the Directorate S operatives rises.

Also of interest is the development of the relationship between Nina (Annet Mahendru) and Agent Beeman (Noah Emmerich). So far, Nina has fully embraced the role of being a triple agent and it is clear that she has Beeman in the palm of her hands.

If she is able to continue to manipulate her former lover, it will be a great favour to the cause, but I won’t be surprised if Agent Beeman—who so powerfully controlled the narrative of the first season—returns.

The most important plotline to follow coming up will be how each of the characters gains or relinquishes the trust of their fellow characters. In a world where victories are measured by economic resources, scientific progress, and the number of nuclear weapons a given side has, simple characteristics become the most powerful bargaining tool any character in The Americans has. Simply put, trust is scarce, and finding someone to trust is nearly impossible. The sooner everyone begins operating under the philosophy that they can trust no one, the safer—and more paranoid—they will be.

FEATURES |10 The searching notes of a saxophone float over the bar’s quiet murmur, cutting across open bottles and muted conversations.

A drum line slips between the notes, riding the low strums of the bass playing alongside it. Trumpets, trombone, guitar, and the sweet shiver of keys all gradually fold themselves into the music.

It’s the rare sort of mature and cohesive jazz that would be surprising to see out of a group of young musicians, yet here they are—nine young McGill students playing together with ease. U3 Nick Ferraro on alto saxophone; U2 Scott Bevins and U2 Mike McCann on trumpet; U2 Chris Vincent on trombone; U2 Evan Crofton on keys and vocals; U2 Eric Haynes on keyboard; U2 Louis Stein on electric guitar; U2 Milo Johnson on bass; and U2 Julian Trivers on drums.

However, the busy lineup actually reads as one name: Busty and the Bass.

Tonight, the band is at its best, grooving along with every note it plays. The song continues unabashed in its beauty, carving out dips and crescendos on the turn of a note.

As it draws to a close, Ferraro gives one last bold, lurching cry on his saxophone. The ending is grandiose and gorgeous, leaving a courteous pause for the expected applause.

But aside from my cheers, the response is hollow— just a couple detached claps from the few patrons present.

The band’s music is tailor-made for a live audience, meant to be absorbed by a moving crowd. The lack of response is uncomfortable, and the performance feels incomplete.

I am the only McGill student here, and I don’t understand why.

My first experience with Busty and the Bass was at McGill’s Open Air Pub (OAP). As with most OAP introductions, it was loud, happy, and took place over a couple beers. The group played its way through a number of songs, switching from jazz-pop tunes to more funk-inspired music, including a crowd-pleasing rendition of Britney Spears’ “Toxic.”

Created two years ago under the tall ceilings of Solin Hall, the band affectionately known as ‘Busty’ began with a group of musicians who came together one evening during a house party.

“We had never met before and spontaneously started jamming,” said Haynes. “It was sweaty and messy, but somehow it just worked. While recovering the following morning, we realized we’d had too much fun to let it happen just once.”

Dancing with the crowd that day at OAP, it was hard to believe that I had never heard much about McGill music or its student bands. These musicians were miles away from the

earnest high school bands I had naively equated them with.

In my time at McGill, I had not set foot inside the music building— primarily due to my science background and a lack of classes outside of my faculty. As a result, my evening at OAP had introduced me to a whole new side of McGill that I had never experienced. Judging by the reactions of those around me, it seemed like the other students were just as surprised to hear that the musicians on stage were McGill music students.

Founded in 1904, the McGill Schulich School of Music is housed in the Strathcona Music Building and made up of over 850 students and 240 faculty members. Wide stone steps lead to a lobby of oil paintings; just down the hall is the New Music Building, a gleaming glass structure of worldclass studios and audio research labs.

While technically part of the downtown McGill campus, the 10-metre span of University Street acts as a much larger barrier to the rest of campus.

“There’s Carrefour [Sherbrooke], there’s the music building right next to it, and then there’s campus,” said Vincent, the trombone player for Busty and the Bass. “So the music building’s completely off campus, and most of the students never even see [it]. And unfortunately, playing at Gert’s is probably the biggest nightmare of the music school because [Gert’s has] the worst sound system in the whole city. That would be the primary means of interacting with the general student body, and it’s just pathetic because it’s so hard to do.”

For those who aren’t studying music and don’t have any friends in the faculty, the Schulich School of Music can be one of the few unknown spots on campus despite its close proximity to McGill’s core. And for music students, the opposite holds true: it can be tough to break out of the music faculty.

“It’s really easy to get tied into this bubble because you have classes in the [music] building,” said Johnson, the bassist for Busty and the Bass. “When you don’t have classes, you’re practicing in a 10m x 10m white room and only see other

PHOTOS BY ALEX people who are doing the same things you are.

So it’s very easy to get tied up in that world where you’re either in class with people who are doing the same thing as you, or you’re practicing next to people who are doing the same things as you.”

The Schulich School of Music is internationally renowned for its programs and has notoriously tough entrance requirements. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the faculty on campus, despite the hundreds of concerts and events presented by the school every year.

The problem may be that when most students look for music in Montreal—a city known for its artistic temperaments—their first instinct is to look outside of McGill. Of the students I knew, most would keep an eye out for big-name artists playing at the Bell Centre, while others would look for smaller shows played by Montreal musicians in local bars.

“It hadn’t crossed my mind that there would be opportunities for [listening to] music in our own school,” said U2 Arts student Chris Burnett. “[I guess] most students just wouldn’t think to look so close to home for entertainment.”

Nearly everyone I knew had never seen nor heard McGill student music. I hadn’t either—at least not in the Faculty of Music—so I decided to go behind-the-scenes with Busty and the Bass to get a glimpse of their musical process.

The walls of the room were nearly bare. Cables, stands, and headphones lay strewn around the room.

There was one large audio mixer in the centre of the room flanked by a number of stereos. A monitor had been placed

11 | FEATURES

XANDRA ALLAIRE in front of the mixer, the screen showing a mosaic of audio tracks. In the far corner stood a small TV streaming a live feed of the musicians in the other room.

The band was at the Strathcona Music Building late on a Monday night to record two new tracks, “All Me” and “Light It Up.” I was told that the process would likely take the band into the early hours of the morning.

When I arrived, Haynes, Stein, and Crofton were busy setting up their instrument stations.

“This is the second out of three steps this evening,” explained Haynes. “Earlier, [Johnson] and [Trivers] came in and recorded the bed track—the bass and the drums.

Right now, we’ve got the rest of the rhythm section— acoustic piano, synths and pads, and guitar—[and] we’re going to be recording on top of that.”

As the band started recording, I began to appreciate the hard work and dedication Busty and the Bass put into every note of music they produced. The band’s audio engineers, Gintas Norvila, Dave Ison, and Xavier Bourassa, gave the musicians constant feedback in the studio. The consistent repetition between takes pushed the session past the one hour mark; by the time the rhythm section had finished recording, it was obvious that everyone was exhausted. As Haynes, Stein, and Crofton packed up their instruments, I heard the sound of horns warming up—the brass section was about to start their portion of the track.

After the night’s studio session, Norvila, Ison, and Bourassa would spend a few weeks editing and mixing the recordings until they produced a satisfactory track.

The band has so far released a sixtrack album of some of their most popular songs, with more on the way.

Live music has become increasingly more valuable for many as faceless songs have come to dominate the scene. That’s really what Busty and the Bass is all about—the show.

As the months passed from my first experience with Busty and the Bass, I watched as the band’s popularity grew. On Sept. 6, the day after their performance at OAP, the band had just over 400 ‘likes’ on Facebook. Today, Busty and the Bass has nearly 1,500—a number that continues to rise.

I followed the band as they played their way across Montreal, Kingston, Toronto, and back again, taking on smaller events of just a couple dozen fans, to packed venues of over 100 people. I started seeing friends and friends of friends at their shows—everyone I knew seemed to know Busty and the Bass. The band was making a name for itself across campus at a staggering rate.

Today, Busty and the Bass has an unparalleled fan base on campus. The band has grown exponentially since the beginning of the year, and will continue to push to expand their music and audience.

According to Stein, the band’s success has been due to their opportunistic approach.

“This year, we had the attitude of just playing for as many people as possible because not that many people know us,” he said. “So it’s been a combination of us just taking almost every gig offered and broadening our audience very fast.”

Natalie Yergatian, U0 Music, believes that the reason behind Busty and the Bass’s popularity is based off of the way in which they present themselves.

“I think Busty does a great job of marketing themselves,” she said. “They have a product that they’re selling, and people like it.”

On February 22, 2014, Busty and the Bass announced that they were doing an East Coast tour over reading week. The tour would take them through Vermont,

Massachusetts, Connecticut, D.C., and New York.

“Our stance with Busty and the Bass is to reach out to other people on campus,” Haynes said. “[We will always be] loyal to our student groups—that will always be our target audience. But it’s good to be accessible to as many other people as we can and as many different age groups as well [....] We’re hopefully going to do as much as we can over the summer and pick up where we left off next year.”

However, Busty has not been the only McGill music group to have risen in prominence this year. Other bands such as VLVBVMV have increased their presence on campus and in the wider Montreal community.

Independent musicians out of McGill have also started to draw attention among students. Jordan Benjamin, who goes by the stage name Benj., is a rapper and singer who has garnered a large following among students.

This growth may be indicative of the wider McGill student body’s increased appreciation for McGill music.

Numerous student groups and clubs on campus have featured Busty and the Bass this year. For the musicians trying to make a name for themselves, students in the Faculty of Music have also started to recognize the benefits for increased exposure to the general student body.

“I definitely think the music school is starting to realize that you need an audience, and that most of the audience is people who are not in music,” said Stein.

“There are musicians here [who] I believe have something to say, and deserve to be heard,” Yergatian said. “If I had to say something to the rest of the McGill student body, it would be: Make an effort to check out shows, because there are amazing musicians at McGill.”

A short while ago, I went to see Busty and the Bass again. They were playing at La Sala Rosa this time—a joint bar and music venue. It was comforting to hear the band’s familiar sound—the meringues of saxophone, the deep shrug of bass, the light dance of keys, the swing of guitar, the feathery brush of drums, and the rich bellows of brass.

The performance reminded me of that moment months ago, watching Busty and the Bass alone at a local bar. Except this time, there was one noticeable, key difference. Echoing around the room was the sound of dozens of people laughing and dancing to the music—it was the way Busty and the Bass was meant to be enjoyed.

For far too long, McGill music has wanted an audience. And now, students are finally listening.

Science & technology Finding the art in developmental biology Following her passions, U3 student Di Hu takes the natural path to research Caity Hui, Science and Technology Editor

Known for its excellence in research, McGill University is home to a host of professors and scientists whose work contributes to scientific innovation. In tribute to the amazing work conducted within McGill’s walls, each month, Science and Technology features a student researcher who has helped further the cuttingedge science conducted at the laboratories.

Di Hu stands a mere 5’2”, but what she lacks in height she makes up for in passion and her bubbly demeanor. Over the past four years at McGill, the U3 Anatomy and Cell Biology major has worked in six different laboratories, created three different posters, discovered a novel gene, and became involved in four papers—one of which she recently submitted to the Journal of Biomedical Sciences as first author.

Hu’s gateway into scientific research is unique from most undergraduate students at McGill. Hu actually attended an arts middle school, where she explored music and visual arts before pursuing more science-based courses in high school, and ultimately at McGill.

“In that time in my life in middle school, [I realized] how important creativity is, and that I always want to make something new,” Hu said. “I took that to McGill—I don’t want to just learn from a textbook for the rest of my life, I want to make advancements. My favourite aspect of [research] is the creativity.”

Hu was unsure at first as to what type of research she was interested in pursuing—or whether that was even in her future at all—but she knew that she wanted the experience. She recalled her first lab position where she performed data analysis in electron microscopy.

“It was very simple work. I didn’t know much about electron microscopy at the time, but I could delete blurry pictures.”

As Hu progressed in her U1 courses that semester, the picture quickly unfolded as to what she was passionate about.

“I was sitting in BIOL 200, and that was the class that really changed my life,” Hu said. “I realized how much I loved molecular biology, the questions involved, and the implications that fundamental research has in human health and disease.”

From this point forward, Hu’s advancements in the realm of research seemed to flow naturally.

She took inspiration from each lab

she worked in and looked forward to other laboratories that she could explore.

“I learned in Dr. Richard Roy’s lab that I really like development [….] However, I realized that ‘Yes, I like development, but I wanted to work with mammals,’” said Hu. “Dr. Maxine Bouchard was giving us a lecture about kidney development the next semester in BIOC 212. That was when I realized, ‘Wow, understanding the process of kidney development can help us understand congenital disease as well as cancers [....] I asked him if I could join his lab after class and he let me.”

However, it was Hu’s experience as a summer student at SickKids hospital that opened her eyes to the career she is currently pursuing. Unlike her other lab experiences, her work with Dr. Norman Rosenbloom pulled her away from the lab bench and into the clinic. “[Because Rosenbloom] is both a researcher and a physician, I got to see the patient-driven motivation behind [his research] and it was so cool,” Hu explained. “That was when I realized that I want to be a physician scientist. It just made so much sense for me. I want to be at the bedside and I want to talk to patients and help them on a one-onone basis and also use that to inspire questions at the lab.”

Although Hu initially applied to PhD-MD programs, throughout the application process she noticed how much more fluidly she could write the PhD aspect of the application. While Hu traveled to Oxford for the holidays over Christmas break, she decided to apply to the school’s graduate program. Taking a chance, she wrote the application on the plane back to Canada—little did she know she would be accepted into this five-person program.

“I felt like there was just a natural flow in what I did, and I was really just pursuing what I like to do,” said Hu. As a pre-med Science student, Hu never would have imagined that after four years of undergraduate

Di Hu

U3 Anatomy and Cell Biology (Wendy Chen /McGill Tribune)

studies at McGill she would be jetting off to Oxford in the Fall to start her PhD. Yet, it was these unexpected experiences in the lab that have proved invaluable, both in terms of her class work and her own professional development.

“It definitely helps put what I’m doing in class into deeper context,” Hu said. “Memorization, you know, I don’t think I do that anymore at all. I understand it and can picture it. It also makes you realize what is important and what is not.”

“I think one of the most important things I have learned in research is to embrace failure,” Hu said. “It really changed my life to be calmer and say, ‘Yes, I may fail,’ because you are always failing at research. Be open-minded and learn from failure and recognize it and improve. It kind of made my life better.”

McGill Tribune: If you could describe yourself in three words, what would you say?

Di Hu: “Passionate, natural, and creative.”

MT: What is your favourite part of developmental biology?

DH: “I think [one] aspect is that it is so funny and weird that all of the processes in developmental biology do the exact same things in cancer. The only difference is that the embryonic environment is very sterile, but the adult environment is very toxic.

The same processes in different environments lead to very different things. To study development is to study cancer, and I think it is a very powerful tool.”

MT: If you could have one superpower what would it be?

DH: “To know what others are feeling—emotions. I try to be aware, but sometimes, you don’t know.”

MT: Do you have a favourite article of clothing?

DH: “Definitely like a head thing—it is like a hair accessory. I feel like head accessories are the future. I love these, they are so much fun.”

Curiosity delivers. |

science & technology

| Tuesday, March 11, 2014

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Science from

SCIENCE FICTION : G R A V I T Y

Gravity’s flimsy physics drive plot at the expense of accurately portraying space Abhishek Gupta Contributor From invisibility cloaks to light sabres, many recent scientific advancements have made it possible for researchers to get a little bit closer to reproducing some of our favourite technologies portrayed in films. However, while science inches towards science fiction, science fiction can still take a lesson in recreating science. One of this year’s most popular science fiction films Gravity made a concerted attempt to correctly reproduce astronauts’ experience in space, but ultimately faced some bumps in accuracy along the way.

This Academy Award winning film turned out to be a stunning display of the cosmos and the dangers lurking thousands of miles above us on earth. The film’s beautiful graphics and bird’s-eye view of the globe, distracts from the inaccuracies of the film.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York’s American Museum of Natural History, posted a series of tweets highlighting technical errors in Gravity (along with much positive praise) after the film’s release. One of Tyson’s qualms was the plausibility of the physics at work when the characters struggled in the vacuum in

Research briefs Sea turtles’ “lost years” uncovered

When sea turtles hatch, the first few hours of their lives unfold as a desperate obstacle course as they attempt to reach the ocean. Dodging sea gulls, footprints, and crabs, many of these scampering hatchlings—little over an inch in diameter—do not survive the trek from their nest to the water. For the baby sea turtles that do withstand this test of survival, little is known as to what happens to them until they become juvenile turtles— the size of a dish plate—which return to the coastal areas where they forage and continue to mature.

For decades, scientists have tried to discover the whereabouts of these sea turtles during their oceanic stage, also termed their “lost years,” before they return to the coast. This task proved difficult, as researchers lacked an effective method of tracking the creatures—satellite tags proved too bulky and impeded the organisms’ movement.

However, as technology improved, the tags got smaller. This enabled marine scientist and sea turtle biologist Kate Mansfield and her lab at Florida International University to

properly track the turtles and map out their “lost years.”

The team remotely tracked young loggerhead sea turtles in the Atlantic Ocean using solar-powered satellite transmitters the size of smartphones. They collected 17 hatchlings from the beaches and raised them until they were three and a half to nine months old. At this point, the turtles’ shells were up to seven inches long— large enough for the transmitters to be glued on for tracking. Mansfield and colleagues then released the turtles from a boat 11 miles offshore in the Gulf Stream off of Florida.

Based on long-term hypotheses, the team expected that the turtles would head up towards the Azores.

Surprisingly, findings showed that many of the turtles dropped out of the outer currents leading to the Azores and into the center of the North Atlantic Gyre and Sargasso Sea. Interestingly, the tags’ temperature sensors were consistently several degrees higher than the turtle’s local water temperature. Sargassum seaweed accumulates in the centre of the gyre, and researchers believe that this temperature difference indicates that the seaweed mats keep the cold-

space.

According to Tyson, when two people are floating in zero gravity, even a small tug can bring their bodies together. Therefore, when Bullock catches Clooney’s tether as he tumbles past her, this tug would be enough to save him from having to sacrifice himself and drift off into space. Unfortunately, if Clooney’s trajectory were to have obeyed the rules of physics, there would not have been much of a film.

The debris shown to be orbiting the Earth also violates natural physics laws. Nearly all satellites orbit Earth west to east; however, in Gravity, the satellite debris were depicted moving

east to west.

In addition to physics, the astronaut’s outerwear was tailored more to the Hollywood appeal than to an astronaut’s actual gear in space. Bullock should not have been able to strip down so easily to her undergarments after taking off her suit—she should have been equipped with a liquid cooling and ventilation garment beneath the space suit she wore on screen.

Furthermore, the actual fate of the protagonists would likely have been different had they been wearing their Simplified Aid for Extra-Vehicular activity (EVA) Rescue (SAFER).

This small backpack is required for

astronauts working on EVA missions, as it acts as a backup plan in case the tether breaks and the spacewalkers are in danger of drifting away.

Despite its inaccuracies, Gravity has been praised for its representations of space. Former NASA Astronaut Garrett Reisman applauded the film’s depiction of spacewalking, where the actors realistically portray the ease of starting a motion and difficulty of stopping one. For Reisman, director Alfonso Cuaron’s artistic licence and creative vision adds to the excitement of Bullock and Clooney’s journey into space, even if the same can’t be said for its plausibility.

Compiled by Caity Hui and Kris Manokaran blooded turtles warm, thereby helping their growth.

Mansfield’s team is currently trying to expand their techniques to study other types of sea turtles, hopefully providing us with an even clearer picture of the “lost years.”

Giant virus revived from ancient permafrost

Scientists in France have discovered a new type of virus within a 30,000-year-old sample of thawing Siberian permafrost, and have managed to revive it.

The virus, called Pithovirus sibericium, infects amoebas and is not a threat to humans yet, according to Chantal Abergel, a research scientist at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and co-discoverer of the virus.

The Pithovirus, named for its large size, is only the third member of the family of giant viruses discovered by virologists a decade ago. Abergel told the Globe and Mail that this specific strain does not mutate frequently, so there is little risk of “genomic drift” into a more lethal strain.

However, researchers still ex-

The virus poses little harm to human health, as it mutates infrequently . (s-msn.com) press concern about the discovery.

“The thawing of permafrost either from global warming or industrial exploitation of circumpolar regions [may cause] future threats to human or animal health,” the researchers said in their recent paper published in the National Academy of Sciences.

Permafrost is a good storehouse for microorganisms due to its composition. According to Natural Resources Canada, permafrost is soil at or below the freezing point of water (0 °C) for two or more years, and is usually found underneath the “active layer” of soil. Most of the world’s

permafrost is located in high latitudes near the North and South poles. The soil’s cold temperature can be compared to a big freezer that preserves these microorganisms.

While the risk of thawing viruses to human health is still being investigated, the overall message is clear.

“What we’re trying to say is to be careful when you go into layers that haven’t been disturbed in several thousand, or even millions of years.

We risk digging up things we don’t necessarily want to see,” Abergel told the Globe and Mail.

Student living Student of the Week

by Alycia Noë

ALEXANDER LANGER

Arts U2

Photo courtesy of wordpress.com

(Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune)

Always interested in human rights, Alexander Langer worked as an intern last summer at the Roma Community Centre in Toronto, an organization serving the Roma community across Canada. The organization provides assistance including education, settlements, and legal services.

Langer says he appreciates the work that organizations like the centre do to promote human rights.

“Society is judged on how we treat vulnerable people, especially asylum seekers and refugees,” he says. “They crawl out of poverty, they lift themselves out [by] their bootstraps, and I think it is invaluable for society to encourage them to do so.”

He tells the story of a friend from Hungary, who is a refugee in Canada.

As a Roma, he faced persecution in his homeland—he was spit on, fired from jobs for no reason, and threatened—and his family came to Canada to build a better life.

After the friend volunteered at the community centre, the organization helped his family find a sponsor and navigate their way through the refugee system. Now with the help of humanitarian workers, his friend

is able to put his past behind him and start anew.

Langer believes he had a tangible impact at the organization. Witnessing the impact of the organization on individual lives has influenced his outlook on the time he spends in the classroom.

“I felt like I managed to concretely accomplish things [at the community center],” Langer says. “I love the university, but a lot of times it seems like it doesn’t really matter to the actual world.”

As the chair of exhibition debates with the McGill Debating Union, Langer has managed to combine his enthusiasm for advocacy work with his involvement in the McGill community. He organizes events that attempt to foster discourse on critical world issues, including an upcoming debate on March 13 to discuss freedom of speech and hate speech.

Given his political science major and his commitment to human rights, Langer says he has considered a future in politics.

“I think if I were to get involved in politics, […] it would be working policy,” Langer says. “I would strug-

gle to contain my out-there views—I am socially libertarian. I would struggle to make the compromises necessary to be an elected official.”

The main point Langer wishes to impart to McGill students is that to make a difference, you have to take real action.

“The disadvantage of [studying in university is] we aren’t actually doing anything,” he says. “A lot of kids on campus sit around and talk critical theory, but they are scared to get out and get their hands dirty. They are afraid of having to swallow [that] the world isn’t like university.

If you want change, you can’t just sit around; you have to get out there and do something and engage with the world as it is.”

Salted Caramel

Bread Pudding

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

By Alessandra Hechanova

Ingredients ¾ cup granulated sugar 6 tbsp unsalted butter 3 pinches coarse salt 12 ounce loaf challah bread, cut into ½ inch slices 8 large eggs 1 cup 2% milk ¼ cup crème fraiche, plus ¾ cups to serve ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Night before 1. To make caramel, in a small saucepan heat sugar, butter, and salt on medium heat for 8 minutes or until sugar begins to brown.

2. Reduce heat to medium low and stir, mixing sugar and butter together until the caramel is a copper colour.

3. Pour the caramel into a casserole dish and tilt to just coat a bit of the sides of the dish.

4. Place dish in refrigerator for 30 min to allow caramel to solidify.

5. Remove dish once cooled and assemble bread within

dish in an overlapping, circular fashion.

6. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup milk and ¼ cup crème fraiche.

7. In a large bowl whisk together eggs and the milk- crème fraiche mixture. Once smooth, add vanilla extract.

8. Pour mixture over the bread, ensuring all bread is soaked.

9. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator overnight.

Morning 1. Preheat oven to 375°F. 2. Unwrap dish and bake for roughly 30 minutes or until centre is no longer wet, but still moist.

3. Cut around the edges of the dish, place a serving plate on top of dish, and flip pudding onto serving plate.

4. Serve pudding with the crème fraiche that was set aside.

nominate a student of the week!

Email us at studentliving@ mcgilltribune.com

McGill Tribune: What is your biggest pet peeve?

Alexander Langer: People walking slowly on the sidewalk right in the middle so no one can get around them.

MT: Salty or sweet?

AL: Salty—sweet is kind of sickly.

MT: Favourite pizza slice?

AL: Chicken with goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, and mushrooms.

MT: If you were stranded on a desert island, what one item would you bring?

AL: Maybe The Lord of the Rings—I could finally get through it. Practically, there are lots of things I would want, but if I could only bring one, I don’t need to be practical. I am going to die at some point.

MT: What makes you the happiest?

AL: Spending time with my family—especially my niece and nephew.

MT: If you could travel to one country, where would you go and why?

AL: This is difficult, but it would be Spain. Three words of explication—sun, wine, and fish.

The McGill Tribune is looking for members for its 2014-2015 editorial board!

We are now accepting editor applications for the following sections: News Opinion Features Student Living Science & Technology Arts & Entertainment Sports Design Photo Copy ONLINE Creative Director To apply, send three relevant writing, photo, or design samples, a CV, and a cover letter to editor@mcgilltribune.com by March 24, 2014 at 5 p.m.

Please direct any questions to Carolina Millán Ronchetti at editor@mcgilltribune.com.

The McGill Tribune is accepting applications for the following positions:

MANAGING EDITOR PRODUCTION MANAGER To apply, send three relevant samples, a CV, and a cover letter to editor@mcgilltribune.com by March 14, 2014 at 5 p.m.

Please direct any questions to Carolina Millán Ronchetti at editor@mcgilltribune.com.

STUDENT LIVING 15 International Women’s Day Understanding unpaid internships Facts & Figures The importance of knowing your rights before

By Marlee Vinegar Curiosity delivers. |

| Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Insider Info

becoming involved in an internship Erica Friesen Managing Editor Considering working for free this summer? In a grim labour market, unpaid internships seem to be a bizarre trend that has made life after graduation more even difficult. As internships are part of a grey zone often undefined and unregulated by legal frameworks, it’s important for students to be aware of the potential problems they may encounter in their search for an internship this summer.

Although internships have swiftly become the norm for young people entering the labour force, there is surprisingly little research conducted on the topic; for example, neither Statistics Canada nor Human Resources and Skills Development track statistics for interns, according to a recent article in the Toronto Star.

Andrew Langille, labour lawyer and founder of Youth and Work, a website aiming to spread information to young people about workplace law, said unpaid internships are most common in urban centres that have post-secondary institutions, a mature service sector, and an abundance of young people.

“Montreal has a huge problem with unpaid internships; tens of thousands of young workers are working for free every year,” he said. “The government is doing nothing.”

In much of the legal literature, in fact, internships don’t even share a common definition. A company can call a position an internship whether the employee is paid, unpaid, or receives academic credit for their work.

Unpaid internships, however, are usually the most troublesome for students. “[An unpaid internship is] an experiential opportunity integrating knowledge gained in the classroom to an employment setting,” a statement from the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers reads. “The student’s work is supervised by a qualified professional and feedback is shared with the student on a regular or ongoing basis.”

Darlene Hnatchuk, director of McGill’s Career Planning Service (CaPS), said unpaid internships are supposed to provide more opportunities for learning than a typical position.

“Employment law varies by province and by territory, but typically any type of work where you are producing for the benefit of the employer or the organization should be paid work,” she said. “It’s about the amount of time you spend learning versus doing.”

If you’re not receiving adequate training or are stuck doing mindless busywork without pay, your internship may not even be legal. Additionally, you may not gain any valuable experience from the position— we’ve all heard the horror stories about interns stuck buying coffee and running errands for their employers.

According to Langille, many problems

with unpaid internships stem from the failure of laws to address unpaid work.

“These laws were often written 20 to 30 years ago, when intern culture wasn’t a very big part of the labour market,” he said. “It’s an issue of regulatory failure on the part of the government insofar as they’re not properly regulating the youth labour market [….]

This [is a] grey area that isn’t well understood, and the employers have been making full use of it.”

In addition, Langille said the regulatory systems in Canada fail to actively hold employers responsible for their adherence to laws.

“Historically the regulation of employment standards has been voluntary to clients or people having to report their employer, so there hasn’t been a lot of proactive enforcement of employment standards laws across Canada,” Langille said.

Because laws dealing with internships are often unclear, Hnatchuk recommends that students assess potential opportunities before proceeding with the applications. In some fields, such as publishing and advertising, unpaid internships are far more common than in others.

“If you are in a field where it’s critically important to get an internship but they tend to be unpaid, then it’s going to be very important for you to evaluate whether or not the objectives for that internship match your own,” she said. “[You need to] be asking some questions: what kind of training will I be receiving? What type of evaluation supervision will I be receiving? [….] Is there an opportunity later on to be employed?”

If an internship looks like it could be illegal, or you’re unsure whether it matches your career goals, Hnatchuk said students can book an appointment at CaPS to discuss the opportunity.

Langille also emphasized the need for students to educate themselves about their rights before accepting a position.

“If you know your rights going into a situation, you can avoid situations where you’re going to be exploited altogether,” he said. “It’s a way to defend yourself proactively without getting into a big legal fight down the road.”

For improving rights for young workers in the future, Langille said much of the power to create change lies in the hands of the government.

“The federal and provincial governments need to really step up and take a look at this problem, and look at the exclusions that often deny critical protections to young workers,” he said. “Young people really have to put pressure on the government to address the situation of the labour market and to come up with a regulatory model that defends the rights of young people in the workplace.”

This past Saturday marked the 103rd annual International Women’s Day (IWD). On March 8, people across the globe celebrated women and recognized the steps taken on the path toward gender equality.

At McGill, women have come a long way in the last century. The first female students were admitted in 1884, 41 years after the first male students.

Today, women make up 56 per cent of the student body.

47.3%

16%

However, IWD also highlights the challenges that women continue to face. Each year, Canada picks a theme for IWD, included ending violence against women, women’s rights, and women in leadership. This year, the theme for Canada’s IWD was “Canadian Women—Creating Jobs One Business at a Time,” to acknowledge women’s contributions in shaping the Canadian economy.

In 2013, women represented 47.3% of the labour force -statistics Canada

Women make up only 16% of corporate board seats –Globe and Mail

Women earn $0.87 for every $1 earned by a male worker -statistics canada

$0.87 Women-owned businesses currently employ over 1.5 million Canadians.

- BMO Financial Group

Infographic by Hayley Lim

Follow us on Twitter @mcgilltribune and follow Student Living @mcgilltribsl

SPORTS

10 cricket things

you didn’t

know about

by Zikomo Smith

1 2 3 4 5

(Photo courtesy of cricket.com.au) There are three forms of cricket: the 20/20, One Day International (ODI) and the Test match, the last of which can last up to five days. In 20/20 cricket, each side has a maximum of 20 overs to score as many runs as possible. An over is a six-ball period before the bowler is changed. In ODI’s, this total increases to 50 overs a side … … Which is only surpassed by the marathon Test matches, the most traditional form of the game. Each side gets a maximum of two turns at bat without an overs restriction, which in some cases still doesn’t produce a definitive winner or loser! Thus, Test matches require a greater amount of strategy …

… In a game played between two teams, each fielding 11 players. However, there are only 13 athletes combined on the pitch at one time—two for the batting side and 11 for the bowling side. The objective for the batting side is to score as many runs as possible, while the bowling side must collect 10 outs before the inning is complete.

Groucho Marx, an American comedian, went to a cricket game in 1954 and famously said, “[Cricket] is a wonderful cure for insomnia. If you can’t sleep here, you really need an analyst.” In order to combat criticisms of boredom, England introduced 20/20 cricket in 2003 in an effort to ramp up the excitement, creating shorter games, and encouraging players to take more risks.

The ICC (International Cricket Council) is the governing body for international cricket, the most popular form of the sport. There is no single competition to determine the world champions in Test cricket. Teams tour different countries and play series of matches, which eventually produces a world leader in the ICC rankings.

6 7 8 9 10

In the first ever official international cricket match, played in New York in 1844, Canada beat the United States by 23 runs.

Though the North American rivalry has been over for the last 20 years due to funding issues, the inaugural match had nearly 20,000 spectators with $120,000 worth of bets placed.

Cricket was the United States’ national sport until the Civil War. Indeed, the United States’ boasted the best fast bowler in the world, Bart King, in the early 1900s, and the Philadelphian cricket team at the time was good enough to draw against English touring sides. North of the border, Canada’s first Prime Minister, John A.

Historically, teams would include both upperclass amateurs and working-class professionals.

The amateurs generally chose not to bowl because they did not want to exert too much physical effort. Class divides extended for quite some time—as a working-class professional, Sir Len Hutton was not allowed to captain England until 1952.

Even though its early history was mired in classism, cricket was one of the few sports in which apartheid era South Africa was banned from official international matches. In doing so, the cricket community showed its respect for the non-white cricketing nations of the West Indies, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Cricket is the oldest professional team sport in the world. It was at the heart of the British Empire, which spread a sporting culture around its colonies and the world. As a result, the primary cricket playing nations of the world are all former British colonies.

(Photo courtesy of www.allsportsites.net)

WRITE FOR SPORTS

5:30PM WEDNESDAY SHATNER 110

17

Tuesday, March 11, 2014 |

sports

| Curiosity delivers.

BASKETBALL—RSEQ Championships— McGill 73, Bishop’s 47

Redmen repeat as RSEQ champions Dufort named title-game MVP and RSEQ Player-of-the-Year; Ogundokun takes top rookie honours Aaron Rose Staff Writer After taking down the Laval Rouge et Or with a 80-62 victory in Saturday’s RSEQ semifinal game, the McGill Redmen moved on to face the conference pre-season favourite Bishop’s Gaiters in the RSEQ Championship for the second consecutive season.

Contrary to last season, which came down to late game heroics from nowgraduated guard Adrian Hynes-Guery, the Redmen started the game hot and didn’t let up as they trounced the Gaiters 73-47.

Fresh off of winning RSEQ Player-of-the-Year honours, third-year shooting guard Vincent Dufort refused to let an injured ankle slow him down, dropping a game-high 18 points. The 6’4” physical education major nailed four-of-five three-pointers en route to capturing Player-of-the-Game honours. “[When we face] Bishop’s I have the advantage on the perimeter against their big post players,” Dufort said.

“They take chances on leaving me open at the three-point line, and today I was fortunate enough to be able to make [the shots].”

Dufort’s co-captain Simon Bibeau finished his spectacular RSEQ career as a two-time champion. Though

Bibeau’s time is coming to a close, the Redmen program revival that he initiated is in full swing. With an astonishing nine freshmen having played a role in the squad’s great season, the future looks bright.

“Playoff games are [very] different than regular season games in terms of intensity,” Dufort said. “For the freshmen to come in and play the way they did in that type of atmosphere is amazing. We have a very special group of guys. Every single guy stepped up and played a big part this weekend.”

Freshman forward Francois Bourque finished his RSEQ season with his sixth double-double as he registered 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Bourque has dominated all season, often operating as the team’s lone interior threat. However, it was his teammate Dele Ogundokun who took home the RSEQ Rookie-of-the-Year award before the tournament.

“It is an honour to win the award, but none of it could have been possible without my teammates and coaching staff,” Ogundokun said. “As a team, we are always pushing each other to get better and strive for greatness.”

While the Redmen offence showed no mercy against Laval or Bishop’s by scoring 82 and 73 points respectively, it was McGill’s defence

RSEQ Player-of-the-Year Vincent Dufort rises to the rim. (Laurie-Anne Benoit / McGill Tribune) that sealed the team’s championship.

Redmen Head Coach David DeAveiro has emphasized defensive intensity all season, with the game against the Gaiters serving as the culmination of the team’s hard work throughout the year. Bishop’s scored a season-low 47 points, including two quarters in whch the Redmen held their opponents under double-digits.

“We have our defensive principles that we stick to, but what it really came down to was trust, effort, and who wanted it more,” Dufort said. “It

took an entire team effort as opposed to just a couple of guys playing good defence.”

The team now heads out to Ottawa for the CIS National Championship tournament, which the hometown Gee-Gees enter as the no. 1 seed having upset the Carleton Ravens in the OUA Finals. McGill will take on a tough Victoria Vikesteam in the first round, who will be looking to bounce back after a close loss to Alberta in the Canada West Finals.

The Redmen took down the Vi-

kings 80-68 in last season’s CIS tournament to capture fifth place, but are looking to improve upon last year’s finish. Coach DeAveiro lost seven players from that squad—including three starters; but his Redmen have not missed a beat. The team now has its eyes set on bringing home McGill’s first national championship.

“This weekend, our goal is to win the national title,” Dufort said. “Anything short of that will be a disappointment.”

BASKETBALL—CIS National Championships—Redmen 7th

McGill disappoints at Nationals Carleton Ravens win 10th title in 12 years Mayaz Alam Sports Editor

After two straight losses in the CIS National Championships at Carleton University on Friday and Saturday—63-54 to the Victoria Vikes, and 75-59 to the Saskatchewan Huskies, respectively—the McGill Redmen finished seventh in the eight-team competition.

The game on Friday was a matchup between two of the toughest defences in the nation. Prior to Nationals, McGill had allowed an average 62.3 points per game—good for third-best in the country—while Victoria set the pace with a mere 60.2 points per game during the regular season. In a battle of defensive wills, it was the Vikes who held to the standard, holding the Redmen to just 27.6 per cent shooting from the field.

McGill did not help itself at the charity stripe, getting to the line a mere seven times compared to the Vikes’ 27 free throw attempts.

“Their philosophy was to pack the paint, making it difficult to drive to the basket,” Redmen Head Coach David DeAveiro explained. “Our inability to make shots from the perimeter and attack the basket led to our inability to

score.”

Freshman forward Francois Bourque led the way for McGill with 14 points and eight rebounds, while cocaptain Simon Bibeau chipped in with 12 points en route to being named McGill’s game MVP. On Saturday, the team’s shooting woes continued. The Redmen were once again held significantly below their season average of 74.1 points per game, finishing with 59 on just 27 per cent from the field. It didn’t help that the Redmen were fighting an uphill battle, after a dismal first quarter in which they dug themselves into a 19-point hole.

“Our team was disappointed in our play against Victoria in the first game,” DeAveiro said. “I felt we might have left our emotion and passion in the game before playing Saskatchewan. We just couldn’t make open shots [and ...] I was little disappointed that we gave up 27 points in the first quarter.

If it weren’t for the emergence of freshman guard Regis Ivaniukas, who exploded off the bench for a career-high 17 points, the score might have been even more lopsided. Friday night’s contest was Bibeau’s last collegiate game.

The senior guard posted 14 points on four-of-10 shooting.

Bibeau is the only player not slated to return to a team that had 10 rookies, three of whom were starters. Although the mood is dour given the expectations for the no. 5 ranked Redmen, the future is bright for the McGill Redmen only four years after DeAveiro has taken control of the program.

During this time, DeAveiro has created a blueprint for success in the RSEQ, one that preaches the importance of a collective team effort both defensively and offensively. This season, the Redmen led the conference in every significant defensive statistical category, except for blocks. The squad had no problem scoring either, leading the league in points, assists, field goal percentage, and three point percentage. However, now that McGill has established its dominance in the RSEQ, the program must take the next step and learn to compete on the national stage.

“I feel we need to continue to recruit the best basketball players in the country,” DeAveiro said. “We have a good nucleus of young players who received an education on what it’s like to play the best at Nationals. It’s a mind set, a focus, a determination that we are not satisfied with being labeled a very good young team.”

Francois Bourque was named to the RSEQ all-rookie team.

(Laurie-Anne Benoit / McGill Tribune)

Curiosity delivers. |

sports

| Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Track and Field—CIS Championships—Martlets 20th, Redmen 12th

18

Men’s 4x400m relay team captures silver at Nationals York, Guelph win men’s and women’s championships, respectively Wyatt Fine-Gagné Staff Writer After a long season, the McGill track and field team made its final trip of the year last weekend to Edmonton to compete in the CIS championships. McGill broke several records at the recently renovated Butterdome as the nation’s best competed in one of the country’s premier track and field facilities. McGill’s lone trip to the podium came from the men’s 4x400m relay, which captured silver on the meet’s final day, breaking a team record in the process.

This silver lining came on the heels of a frustrating weekend for the program. McGill’s women finished near the bottom of the pool, placing 20th of 22 teams. The men, on the other hand, managed a 12th-place finish thanks to the late medal.

“The men’s [4x400m team] winning a silver was definitely [a highlight of the day,]” McGill Head Coach Dennis Barrett said. “[We were] missing one runner who couldn’t make it out for personal reasons, which didn’t help our [4x200m] relay. But the guys who were there did well.”

The weekend was dominated by the York Lions and Guelph Gryphons, who captured the men’s and women’s championships, respec-

tively.

For York—the winners of the McGill Team Challenge in January—this championship is its first in 30 years. The Lions’ score of 103 points was just good enough to top the defending men’s champions from Guelph, who finished with 97 points. The Gryphons’ women’s squad scored a point fewer than its male counterpart, but still came out on top for the second title in their program’s history.

The three-day event capped off what was a difficult year for the squad. The team battled injuries throughout the season and never fully hit its stride. Fortunately for McGill, a number of its key competitors should be returning in the Fall. Of the silver-medal winning group, Vincent Parent-Pinchette and anchor Javier Montaivo will be returning, with Alexander Steinbrenner and Eric Ellemo graduating after this year. The foursome earned a time of 3:17.86—barely a second back of the gold medalwinning group from York.

McGill’s sophomore high jump star Caroline Tanguay put in a solid performance with one of her best jumps of the season measured at 1.73m. The jump, however, left Tanguay short of medal territory as she placed fourth, just 0.03m back of third-place Rachel Machin of Calgary. Still, the fourth-place

McGill broke the school record in the 4x400m relay. (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune) finish was an improvement from the 2013 Championships in which she placed seventh. With plenty of time left in her university career, Tanguay still has room to improve and will have her sights set on a podium finish come next season.

Another of McGill’s rising stars, Dylan Golow, also managed to come within striking distance.

The junior from Barrie, Ontario placed fifth in the Pentathlon, scor-

ing 3637 points, 45 points fewer than the bronze medal-winner.

This is a big step in the right direction for Golow, considering he failed to crack the top 10 last year.

Barring any surprises, Golow— like Tanguay—will be back in the Fall and could be a favourite to medal this time next year.

Barrett has high hopes for next season’s team­­—especially if McGill is able to land the top re-

cruits that it is after.

“We try and recruit as best we can,” he said. “We need a lot of athletes for our track program, unless we get 10 blue-chip athletes for both the men’s and women’s side. Some of the recruits on our list right now [...] first [have] to get into McGill and then we go from there.”

HOCKEY—RSEQ Championships—McGill 3, Montreal 6

Martlets fall short in RSEQ; set sights on Nationals Carabins take best of three series 2-1 to win RSEQ women’s hockey championship Elie Waitzer Staff Writer Led by two goals and an assist from team captain Kim Deschenes, the no. 1 ranked Montreal Carabins toppled McGill 6-3 on Saturday to take home the RSEQ women’s hockey championship. Despite winning the first game of the bestof-three series, the Martlets were unable to seal the deal, as the Carabins escaped two must-win games to capture the Dr. Ed Enos Cup. The Martlet squad looked dominant in the first frame of Saturday’s contest, controlling the puck and out-skating its opponents on both ends of the ice. However, with less than five minutes remaining in the first, freshman forward Jordan McDonnell was called for a bodychecking call that would prove to be costly for McGill.

Slicing through the exhausted Martlet penalty kill, Montreal’s Deschenes needed only a few seconds to get open outside the Mc-

Gill crease and tap in a perfect feed from Carabins teammate Janique Duval. Deschenes would later add what proved to be the winning goal on an assisted play three minutes into the second period.

Trailing by three goals with the minutes winding down in the final period, McDonnell got the home crowd back on its feet with a slapshot that found the back of the Montreal net to make the score 5-3.

With McConnell Arena beginning to rumble for the first time since the second period, Martlet Head Coach Peter Smith pulled the team’s goalie to put McGill a player up. However, the Carabins would put the game away with an empty netter shortly thereafter.

Despite outshooting Montreal 45-24, the Martlets were undone by a sloppy second period in which they failed to convert on three power plays, including a crucial 5-on-3 opportunity. Montreal goaltender Elodie Rousseau-Sirois was spectacular, making 42 saves on the

night to keep her team alive.

“We had a lot of shots on goal and we couldn’t find the back of the net, so you have to give [RousseauSirois] a lot of credit,” Smith said.

Meanwhile, Martlet goalie Andrea Weckman had an uncharacteristically quiet game on Saturday.

Weckman, who was pulled late in the second period after letting in four goals on 23 shots, suffered only her second defeat in what has been an otherwise impressive season.

The four goals—the most allowed

by Weckman in any game this season— pushed her goals against average up to 1.25 on the year, still good for no. 1 in the league.

Sophomore Taylor Hough replaced Weckman to finish the game, limiting Montreal to one goal on nine shots over the remaining 23 minutes.

Leading the way once again for the team was senior forward, Katia Clement-Heydra, the heroine of Game 1 of the series and RSEQ Player-of-the-Year, chipped in a

Senior netminder Andrea Weckman led the RSEQ in GAA (1.25).

(Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune) goal and an assist in McGill’s last game of the season, which proved too little too late as her team fell just short of bringing home the conference championship. “[Clement-Heydra] has grown tremendously,” Smith said. “She’s gotten better every year, but the leap this year was huge [….] She came back in September and worked real hard to get fit and gain confidence, and it’s made a huge difference in her game.”

The season, however, is far from over for the Martlets. Despite

the loss, they will travel to Fredericton to compete in the CIS Championship, which will take place from March 13-16. Though the team qualified for the tournament on a wildcard berth, Smith and the Martlets are undaunted by the challenge they will face in the championships.

“We would have like to go out riding on a win, but we’ve put that aside,” Smith said. “We’re a team that learns from our mistakes, and I think our team has gotten better with every speed bump we’ve hit.”

Curiosity delivers. |

sports

| Tuesday, March 11, 2014

BASKETBALL—OUA East divisional Championships—McGill 2, Carleton 1

19

Redmen win fifth OUA East title in six seasons Defenceman Mathieu scores game-winners in two straight elimination games Remi Lu Sports Editor After sweeping the OUA East quarter-finals and semifinals with ease, the McGill Redmen entered the OUA East Finals riding a seven-game win streak to take on the no. 4 Carleton Ravens. The Ravens began the series with a statement win of 5-2 over the Redmen before dropping the second game to a resilient McGill team, 3-2. The seesaw series set the table for the last match on Sunday at Carleton, in which the Redmen prevailed 2-1 off of a game-winning shot by defenceman Jean-Philippe Mathieu. The win clinched the Redmen’s fifth OUA Eastern Conference Championship in six years.

Characteristic to its starts in the two previous games in the series, the Redmen opened

the match by scoring in the first period. This time the goal came by way of rookie Neal Prokop, who was assisted by 5’10” centre Cedric McNicoll and fellow leftwinger Patrick Deslisle-Houde on the play. A frustrated Ravens team was unable to get on the board before the end of the period.

With its season on the line, Carleton increased its physicality as the match moved into the second frame, posting four penalties after a penalty-free first period.

The Ravens’ scrappy play led to a goal at the 14:48 mark, which evened the score at 1-1. However, Mathieu paid Carleton back in turn, as the second-year defenseman scored on a power play with 2:43 remaining in the second period to clinch the game. The goal was Mathieu’s second of the series, after he netted a simi-

lar game-winner in Saturday’s matchup at McConnell Arena.

The Ravens were unable to get past McGill netminder Jacob Gervais-Chouinard in the third period despite posting an overall shot advantage of 34-27. The match improved the rookie goalie’s overall playoff record to 6-1.

The OUA Eastern Conference victory is the Redmen’s first since the 2011-12 squad, which went on to win the National Championship. Last year McGill finished its season with a disappointing loss to Nipissing University in the OUA semifinals after posting a conference record of 17-11. This year’s roster is relatively young, with 23 first- and second-year players, in contrast to the veteran-laden squad that hoisted the University Cup two seasons ago.

After the weekend’s loss, the

Max Le Sieur finished fourth in Redmen scoring.

(Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune) Ravens will now go on to host the Lakehead Thunderwolves in the OUA bronze medal game. The winner of that game will earn a wildcard berth to the CIS National Championships.

The Redmen’s next task will be to face the Windsor Lancers

in next Saturday’s OUA Queen’s Cup gold medal game. The series win against Carleton also guaranteed a spot for McGill at the CIS National Championships, which will take place in Saskatoon from Mar. 20-23.

SSMU ELECTIONS 2014 PRESENTS

Ben Carter-Whitney Managing Editor

Basketball The Martlets completed a three-peat on March 1, claiming their third consecutive RSEQ title with a 63-50 win over the UQAM Citadins. Leading the way was RSEQ Player-of-the-Year, Mariam Sylla, who recorded a double-double—her 10th of the season—with 22 points and 13 rebounds.

The game featured a strong defensive showing from the Martlets, who held their opponents to a mere 21.2 per cent from the floor and 28.6 per cent from outside the arc. Particularly dominant defensively was co-captain Hélène Bibeau, who earned six of her nine rebounds on her own in what was her final RSEQ game.

The championship win came after a 46-35 takedown of Laval the day before, in which senior guard Françoise Charest led the way with 15 points. Sylla also had a strong night, chipping in seven points and 13 rebounds which, along with her performance against UQAM, earned her RSEQ Athlete-of-the-Week honours.

With the RSEQ title in hand, the Martlets will move to the CIS Championship weekend, to be held in Windsor, Ontario from March 14-16. They enter the tournament having placed seventh and fifth in the past two years respectively, and will be looking to continue their rise by improving on their past results.

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Press Deba e t a b e D s e t a TUES MA te CandidD MARCH 12 RCH 11

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YOU DECIDE THE WINNER BY VOTE

MAR. 14 - MAR. 21 VOTING PERIOD

RESULTS @GERTS MAR. 21ST 5:00PM

ELECTIONS@SSMU.MCGILL.CA SSMU.SIMPLYVOTING.COM | SSMU.MCGILL.CA/ELECTIONS

As if straight out of a Kanye West song, all of the lights illuminated MontrÊal en Lumière.

(Laurie-Anne Benoit, Wendy Chen, and Alessandra Hechanova / McGill Tribune)