The McGill Tribune Vol. 31 Issue 17

ribune

Published by the Tribune Publication Society Volume No. 31 Issue No. 17

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Asbestos G A e d ito ria l US elections M o n tre a l m icrobrew s A rm y ants P in h o le pho to g rap h y R edm en hockey

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N E W B U R G H & STEV EN V. T A C O M A (l & 3 )

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Sparse attendance marks SSMU GA (see p. ) 3

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Motion regarding student-run cafe passes with overwhelming support. (Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune)

J-Board hears case regarding referendum N e w b u r g h & S t e v e n v . T a c o m a r e s u l t s w ill b e r e l e a s e d w it h in 3 0 d a y s

Erica Friesen & Carolina Millân Ronchetti News Editors

Last night, the SSMU Judicial Board (J-Board) heard a case sub­ mitted by former SSMU President Zach Newburgh and co-founder of the Prince Arthur Herald Brendan Steven, against respondent Rebecca Tacoma in her function as Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Elections SSMU. (Full disclosure: Newburgh sits on the Tribune Publication So­ ciety’s Board of Directors.) The pe­ titioners requested that the results of the fall referendum question regard­ ing QPIRG’s existence be invali­ dated, citing violations during the campaign period, the CEO’s alleged inability to fulfill her functions and

the unconstitutionality of the ques­ tion posed by QPIRG. The case had been originally scheduled for Jan. 31 but was post­ poned for a week due to concerns that the structure of the J-Board con­ flicted with provincial laws. In the SSMU’s interpretation of provincial law, the Board of Directors will have to ratify the J-Board’s decision for it to be effective. The hearing opened with in­ troductory statements by Newburgh and Steven’s advocate, Carmen Barbu, and Tacoma’s advocate, Ga­ briel Joshee-Amal. The case then proceeded with the examination of witnesses by both parties. Barbu first examined former SSMU VP Finance Nicho­

las Drew, who analyzed a pie chart illustrating QPIRG’s finances. The chart showed that 11.74 per cent of QPIRG’s expenses are formed by opt-outs. When asked by Barbu if such an amount would constitute a threat to an organization’s existence, he said that, from his experience, over 50 per cent constituted a threat. Barbu also called Eliana Schwartz to the witness stand, who was on CKUT’s mailing list and re­ ceived an email regarding QPIRG’s referendum question. “It struck me as inappropri­ ate to use the listserv to [endorse QPIRG],” Schwartz said. Barbu then cross examined Newburgh, who said that he had sent emails to Tacoma which noted that

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there had been over 70 campaign infractions. The grievances includ­ ed the conflict of interest of SSMU Council members who participated in ‘yes’ campaigns, the unsanctioned support of external organizations, and the unsanctioned publication of endorsement letters by both the Tri­ bune and the McGill Daily. “I expected that they would be considered, that each of the matters would be dealt with appropriately,” Newburgh said, referring to lengthy emails he sent to Tacoma that were not answered. During cross examination, Joshee-Amal questioned why, if he had complaints during the referen­ dum period, Newburgh had not ap­ pealed to the J-Board until after the

referendum results were released. “At no point did I ever consider [going to J-Board] until after the re­ sults,” Newburgh said. “There was no doubt in my mind [that the infrac­ tions would be addressed.]” After Newburgh’s testimony, Joshee-Amal called the respondent’s first witness, Tacoma. She testified that Steven had initially contacted her about forming a ‘no’ committee for the fall referendum questions. Tacoma also explained the reason for not replying to Newburgh’s emails. “[This was a] very contentious referendum, I was receiving a lot of emails [and] couldn’t reply to all of them,” she said. “It would have

See “J-Board” on page 3

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SSMU GA loses quorum after passing two motions M o tio n to e s ta b lis h

a s tu d e n t-ru n

Anand Bery Science & Technology Editor

SSMU’s Winter General As­ sembly struggled to maintain quo­ rum on Feb. 1, barely reaching the 100 undergraduates needed to ren­ der votes binding. Two motions were voted on as a binding assem­ bly, while the remaining were voted on as a consultative body. A motion from the floor submit­ ted by former SSMU President Zach Newburgh and U2 political science student Brendan Steven sought to amend the agenda to include a vote to reinstate SSMU’s Judicial Board. Despite a second vote and discus­ sion from the floor, the motion was defeated and was not added to the agenda. At the time of the GA, SSMU had suspended the Judicial Board’s activities, which included hearing Newburgh and Steven’s case regarding the fall referenda. The Judicial Board was reinstated at a SSMU council meeting the follow­ ing day. After a report from each SSMU executive on developments in their portfolio, the assembly proceeded to vote on the selection of SSMU’s financial auditor, which passed with quorum. The next motion looked to

c a f e p a s s e s w ith o v e r w h e lm in g s u p p o r t fr o m

gain student support behind the es­ tablishment of a student-run café in the Shatner Building, an endeavour which has been a cornerstone of Shyam Patel’s tenure as VP Finance and Operations of SSMU. When asked about the release of a business plan for the project, Patel promised that one would be re­ leased by the end of his term. Molly Swain, a U1 women’s studies student, spoke in favour of the student-run café. “I think the time is not only nigh, but also extremely right for this to happen,” Swain said. “We’re seeing a general rollback in terms of student-run spaces on campus with­ out being consulted about it, so I think this is really a great initiative and this is the time we should be put­ ting this together.” The motion passed overwhelm­ ingly. A motion moved by Clubs and Services representative Adam Winer aimed to have SSMU work to limit how extensively corporations are involved in McGill’s governance, teaching, and research, particularly with regards to companies known to have committed ethical and environ­ mental injustices. “This motion does not attempt to lay out an overall systematic theory for what constitutes corpo­

rate influence and what does not,” Winer said in response to a question on how the motion would evaluate inappropriate pressure from industry on McGill research. “I think that we can see certain very egregious cases of inappropriate corporate influence over the research process at McGill and it’s those cases which this mo­ tion seeks to cover.” The assembly was divided on the implications of the motion, with some speakers highlighting the ben­ efits of corporate involvement at McGill in terms of academic fund­ ing and job prospects, while others denounced associations between McGill and corporations known to have committed social injustices. “Given [that] SSMU’s already [opposed to] tuition increases and this resolution would seek to in some way lessen corporate invest­ ments, I ’m just curious, where is the money going to come from?” Steven asked. “Most students come to univer­ sity to get a good education ... and ultimately graduate and hopefully get a job. Don’t you find that this resolution will have a major impact on McGill University to have part­ nerships with outside corporations so that we can allow graduates to ac­ tually get jobs, especially in the cur­ rent economic climate?” Alexandre

stu d e n t b o d y

Meterissian, a U3 political science student, asked. Although it will not be consid­ ered binding due to the loss of quo­ rum, the motion was passed by the assembly. “We always draw the line where people are being hurt, where the environment is being destroyed, and where there are unfair corporate

practices,” a gallery member, who didn’t identify himself before speak­ ing, said. “It doesn’t matter how many jobs they’re going to give, how much money they’re going to give your department. We can­ not allow corporations that commit acts like that against the communi­ ties that they affect without drawing lines.”

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Asbestos exporter takes leave from Board of Governors A n t i - a s b e s t o s a c t iv i s t s a s k M c G ill t o t a k e s t r o n g e r s t e p s a g a i n s t in f l u e n c e f r o m

Erica Friesen News Editor Asbestos exporter and member of the McGill Board of Governors (BoG) Roshi Chadha announced last Wednesday that she will take a leave of absence from her positions on McGill’s BoG and that of St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, in a move that follows calls for her resignation by anti-asbestos activists. Chadha is a director of Seja Trade Ltd., a company that exported asbestos from the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Quebec, until the mine’s activities were suspended last fall. Seja is a branch of Balcorp Ltd., a company owned by Chadha’s hus­ band that is currently involved in negotiations with the Quebec Gov­ ernment to facilitate the reopening of the mine. Chadha’s announcement was followed by a letter submitted to McGill on Feb. 2, in which over 70 medical doctors and health research­

ers call for her resignation, citing the fact that she is “seeking to re-launch the deadly asbestos trade, and denies the clearly established scientific evi­ dence that all asbestos is harmful to health.” Kathleen Ruff, an anti-asbestos activist who has been petitioning for Chadha’s resignation since De­ cember, condemned the way that the Canadian government allows companies like Chadha’s to export asbestos to countries where people are unaware of its universally ac­ knowledged health risks. While Ruff acknowledged that Chadha has made important contributions to protecting people’s health, she said that McGill implicitly endorses as­ bestos exports by having Chadha as a member of the BoG. “If you are appointing someone to a leading position on a board of governors you should ensure that that person supports the mission of that institution,” Ruff said. “You want to acknowledge someone who

sets an example to the students and to the world.” McGill administration has re­ mained quiet on the subject, apart from a public statement issued by Stuart Cobbett, Chair of the BoG. “Mrs. Chadha is a distinguished senior volunteer in the McGill com­ munity, and has given years of sustained service to the university through a range of important roles and contributions,” Cobbett wrote in the statement. “We respect her wishes, though reluctantly, and look forward to her return.” McGill’s reluctance to remove Chadha from the BoG is only one of many criticisms recently directed against the university for its connec­ tions with the asbestos industry. In a CBC documentary that aired last Thursday, Professor David Egilman of Brock University accused McGill of allowing the asbestos in­ dustry to sponsor scientific studies that misrepresented the health ef­ fects of asbestos. Egilman said that

t h e a s b e s t o s in d u s tr y

the government is using these same studies to justify the reopening of the Jeffrey Mine, which is “against the public interest and will lead to asbestos-related deaths,” according to the letter to McGill. The authors of the letter also wrote that they were appalled by the discovery that the university has plans to use asbestos-cement storm pipes in the construction of the Mc­ Gill University Health Centre. “It is particularly cynical that McGill is using asbestos-containing materials in a hospital building,” the letter states. “As well as being willing to endanger its own work­ ers and public maintenance work­ ers, McGill will serve as a priceless “poster child” for the asbestos in­ dustry, whose marketing in develop­ ing countries will likely feature Mc­ Gill’s new state-of-the-art hospital.” Fernand Turcotte, professor at Laval University and lead signer of the letter to McGill, said that he is unimpressed with McGill’s response

to these issues. “I have both a professional ob­ ligation and an obligation as a scien­ tist to oppose any kind of avoidable threat to human health, of which as­ bestos is a good example,” he said. “We need an institution like McGill [to make] a much clearer form of commitment.” Ruff urged the McGill adminis­ tration to reconsider its connections with the asbestos industry. “I think it will seriously harm McGill’s image,” Ruff said. “McGill knows that asbestos is killing people around the world ... These are un­ necessary deaths and we know how to stop them. Instead, McGill is blocking efforts to try and stop these deaths ... How can an institute that deals with facts and knowledge re­ fuse to examine very serious eth; al issues that have been put before it?”

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Student dem onstration disrupts Public Services Job Fair P r o t e s t o r s a g a i n s t in c r e a s in g tu it io n f e e s a c t a g a i n s t r e c r u itin g o r g a n i z a t i o n s w ith p o o r h u m a n

Bea Britneff Contributor Last Thursday afternoon, a crowd of approximately 100 demon­ strators protesting against Quebec’s proposed tuition hikes entered the McGill campus. The demonstration, organized by an autonomous committee of students from four different cam­ puses—Cégep du Vieux-Montréal, TUniversité du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Concordia University, and McGill University—began walking at 11:00 a.m. at Concordia and then moved towards McGill. Professor Jim Nicell, Associate Vice-Principal (University Servic­ es), sent out an email around noon informing McGill staff and students that protestors were approaching campus, and that the march was peaceful. “We felt it was appropriate for the entire community to know that this group was passing through campus so that they wouldn’t be surprised if they were to see or hear them,” Nicell said. Upon arriving at McGill, the protestors walked up McTavish

Street and marched through McLen­ nan Library, shouting through mega­ phones and chanting slogans in both English and French. They then en­ tered the SSMU building and made their way up the staircases. “They were very loud and ob­ noxious,” Darrell de Lara, U2 an­ thropology, said. “It seemed like they were trying to gather more people for the protest.” A group of protestors remained on the second floor and proceeded towards room 202 where Career Planning Service (CaPS) was host­ ing a Public Service Jobs Fair. CaPS Administrative Assistant Jean Hepworth was taking registration at the door and was confronted by the demonstrators. “I stood in the doorway and told them [that] this is a fair ... you can’t come in here and disrupt,” Hepworth said. “They basically pushed me aside and marched in.” “Two girls wearing masks came in first, carrying bins full of garbage and compost,” a U4 geog­ raphy and history student attending the CaPS fair, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “They passed by each display, looking to see who was

r ig h ts r e c o r d s

present at each table.” The girls approached the table facilitated by Correctional Services of Canada. One of the girls report­ edly swept everything off the table, and together they emptied the con­ tents of their garbage bins. The crowd of demonstrators left shortly after. “[The disruption] was obvious­ ly not spontaneous ... they came in with determination,” the anonymous U4 student said. “This was very shocking behaviour, especially at a [CaPs] Fair where students are hop­ ing to meet potential employers.” Other reactions to the intrusion at the fair included expressions of shock, disappointment, and confu­ sion. “I want to know why this hap­ pened ... I don’t get the relation [between the fair and the demonstra­ tion] at all,” Hepworth said. “I think this was incredibly unfortunate,” Nicell said. “Despite what they may feel about this par­ ticular event, I can’t see what right they have to unilaterally decide on what events can or can’t happen at McGill.” SSMU VP External Joël Ped-

neault offered a plausible explana­ tion for why the demonstrators tar­ geted the CaPS fair. “Organizations like Correction­ al Services and Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) have poor track records for human rights abroad,” Pedneault said. “Some of the demonstrators might have decid­ ed to disrupt the event because they don’t agree with what these organi­ zations do ... and denounce the idea of them recruiting at McGill.” Hepworth will be filing a com­ plaint about the incident with the Office of the Dean of Students Jane Everett and the Office of Executive Director, Services for Students. “The fact that there was no se­ curity for me and the employers ... is unacceptable,” Hepworth said. “SSMU security should have been informed that [the demonstration] was heading into the building.” After leaving the McGill cam­ pus, the demonstration moved to Cégep du Vieux-Montréal and spon­ taneously disrupted a conference on mining development in the north of Québec. The demonstration ended at the UQAM campus.

“An interesting aspect of Thursday’s demonstration is that it revealed the horizons of what stu­ dent activism might be,” Pedneault said. “People are organizing across the lines ... this is unprecedented activism between anglophone and francophone students.” The ongoing, growing student movement against tuition hikes has several future demonstrations planned, the next of which is sched­ uled for Feb. 16. “A coalition of unions, com­ munity groups, and student associa­ tions are organizing a mass blockade of the Montreal Commerce Centre,” Pedneault said. “They will be pro­ testing not just the [tuition] increas­ es but other austerity measures that the [provincial] government has an­ nounced.” Warning emails will not neces­ sarily be sent out to the McGill com­ munity for all future protests. “It will always depend on the circumstances at the time,” Nicell said. A province-wide student strike could be declared as early as Feb. 20.

other duties,” Knight said. When asked if she was con­ tacted during the fall referendum regarding the CEO’s role, Knight said that she was addressed by the QPIRG ‘yes’ committee. “I received some complaints from the ‘yes’ committee who were concerned that the respondent was exhibiting bias [against] them.” Following the cross-examina­ tion of the witnesses, the justices heard additional witnesses who had been called by three interveners, third parties who have entered the suit for their own interests. The first intervener for the QPIRG representative, Faiz Lalani, emphasized the need to ensure the referendum’s adherence to the con­ stitution. “This appeal is about student democracy and how we conceive of it,” Lalani said. We want to ensure that students have the right to par­ ticipate ... and when they meet the constitutional safeguards that are in the constitution [such as the number of signatories], their democratic will ought to be respected.” Lalani called on SSMU VP Fi­ nance Shyam Patel to confirm that the loss of opt-out-able fees would

have severe negative implications for a student body such as QPIRG. He also questioned Anna Malla, a member of QPIRG, who said that many alternative avenues had been explored to maintain the organiza­ tion without switching to non-optoutable student fees. “We didn’t come to this ques­ tion easily,” Malla said. “It took us years to get to this understanding that we actually cannot continue to exist under the current circumstanc­ es.” Adam Wheeler, a co-chair of the QPIRG Yes Committee, said that although they consulted Tacoma fre­ quently to ensure that they were in compliance with the bylaws, QPIRG never considered her to be biased in their favour. “At various times through­ out the campaign we were actually concerned that she could be biased against us, because ... the sanctions that we received ... were quite sig­ nificant ... especially in comparison with previous years’ [referenda],” Wheeler said. CKUT intervener, Vladi Iva­ nov, emphasized the fact that or­ ganizations like CKUT are hurt by “blanket opt outs” that “do not re­

fleet any kind of democratic will re­ garding the actual value of services by CKUT.” Because students sim­ ply choose to opt out of all possible services online, they do not take the time to learn about the work done by the organization. The financial harm that this kind of a system means to an orga­ nization, Ivanov said, shows that the issue of opt-out fees is instrumentally linked to the issue of the orga­ nization’s survival. If the two issues in the question were inseparable, she claimed, the referendum was consti­ tutional, unlike Newburgh and Ste­ vens’ allegations. The hearing was concluded by Barbu asking the board to invali­ date the referendum. Joshee-Amal concluded by asking the board to consider why Newburgh and Steven did not raise the issue over the ref­ erendum question until after it took place. He also restated the concern of why the petitioners only sought to target QPIRG and not CKUT when both referendum questions were the same. The J-Board will release its rul­ ing of the case within 30 days.

J-Board cont. continued from COVER taken a lot of my time to adequately respond to [the emails], I didn’t feel it was part of my duties to provide a written response, though I was open to other forms of discussion.” Tacoma added that Newburgh did not visit her office hours to ad­ dress his concerns. Barbu then cross examined Tacoma, questioning her fulfiment of her duties. Tacoma tes­ tified to interpreting the by-laws dif­ ferently from the previous CEO, by not monitoring Facebook pictures and statuses, claiming she could not realistically monitor such campaign­ ing. Tacoma further explained that there was much illegal ‘no’ cam­ paigning, including three Facebook groups. Barbu asked why there were no comments on the violations by the ‘yes’ committee on the ballot, and Tacoma stated that those sanc­ tions were communicated via email. She noted that the illegal ‘no’ cam­ paigning was on the ballot because even though she closed down some Facebook groups, others could reap­ pear. Barbu then questioned Tacoma about her working relationship with SSMU president Maggie Knight,

and Tacoma testified that as CEO of Elections SSMU, she works under Knight’s portfolio but makes deci­ sions independently. In their factum, Newburgh and Steven questioned the fact that Tacoma consulted with Knight at some points during the fall referendum period because, ac­ cording to SSMU elections by-law article 2 .2 ,Tacoma should have con­ sulted VP University Affairs. Joshee-Amal concluded Taco­ ma’s examination by confirming that there is no mention of Facebook in the by-laws and that Tacoma is not bound by the decision of past CEOs. Joshee-Amal then called Knight to the stand for examination, asking her if Tacoma was bound by any ad­ vice Knight gave. “It is very clear in the by-laws that the CEO has ultimate author­ ity,” Knight said. “I was very clear that, ultimately, we hired her so that the SSMU president doesn’t run elections.” Knight further testified that she had recommended that Tacoma was physically present across campus to enforce election by-laws. “It wasn’t necessary for her to provide written reasoning for every email she received because of her

mi

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Strike com m ittee creation sparks debate at AUS GA S t u d e n t s q u e s t io n a s s e m b ly p r o c e d u r e t h r o u g h o u t t h e n ig h t a n d c a ll fo r r e m o v a l o f s p e a k e r

McKenzie Kibler Contributor

The Arts Undergraduate Soci­ ety held its second General Assem­ bly last Tuesday in the Stewart Bi­ ology Building. While the first mo­ tion, regarding the recognization of an AUS Strike Committee, was the subject of much debate, the GA lost quorum only minutes before calling the first question. The motion calling to create an AUS Strike Committee was de­ signed for the purposes of dissemi­ nating information to students about the Quebec government’s proposed tuition increases, in consideration of a possible strike vote by the AUS later this term. The committee would have conditional use of the AUS listserv and the ability to call another GA for an unlimited strike vote, while operating “according to a basis of unity.” “Voting yes to form a strike committee does not mean voting yes to a student strike,” Jaime Maclean, one of the movers of the motion as well as president of AMUSE and U3 arts, said. She added that the inten­ tion of the committee was to pro­ mote dialogue. However, the motion drew op­ position from several members, who cited the term “basis of unity” as bi­ asing the committee to be pro-strike and therefore incapable of objective­ ly distributing information. “It’s very unfair to suggest that we should create a basis for unity on this strike committee that marginal­ izes voices that don’t agree with the

nature of the strike,” Brendan Ste­ ven, U2 arts and a member of Con­ servative McGill, said. “We have to respect those voices, otherwise we as 150 people are taking on a man­ date we don’t deserve.” Those in support of the motion suggested that members who want­ ed to advocate their own anti-strike positions and distribute information about opposing views should form their own committee. This suggestion was followed by the proposal of an unfriendly amendment for the creation of an equally powerful anti-strike com­ mittee. However, the amendment failed to pass, with the original mov­ ers of the motion labelling it unfair. Around this time, members shouted that quorum had.been lost. The assembly began with 131 mem­ bers, and eventually grew to 169, surpassing the quorum of 150. When the final vote on the critical motion was called and passed, however, there were only 143 voters, making the result a recommendation to the AUS Council rather than a binding resolution. O ther Business o f the GA

Following the contentious mo­ tion for the recognition of an AUS strike committee, the G A failed to regain quorum. Any motions that passed thereafter were to be dis­ cussed at AUS Council. The assembly tabled the motion regarding accessible education until the next GA. A motion on Frosh reform passed as a recommendation to AUS

Council after it was amended to in­ clude the creation of workshops on anti-oppression and to make Arts Frosh events more accessible to un­ derage participants. A motion on moving the Hochelaga rock that commemorates the original settlers of what is now Mc­ Gill campus to a more visible place also passed as a recommendation, following an amendment which re­ quires the contact of related indig­ enous peoples. On Feb. 1, at AUS Council, both the motion to move the Hochelaga rock and the motion to reform Frosh passed. However, quorum was lost after that. Students were vocal at the latest AUS GA. (Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune) Procedural concerns m ark GA

Some students questioned pro­ cedure throughout the night. The speaker referenced the Robert’s Rules of Order manual, accepted by arts council, which allowed him to prevent a vote if it would stifle new debate. The speaker asserted order in the GA’s proceedings, even threatening to censure members who were using expletive language and personal insults. A later motion to replace the speaker with the President of AUS Council required a 2/3 majority but failed. Supporters of the motion re­ garding the recognition of an AUS strike committee were frustrated and angered by the way the GA was run. In an email to McGill campus media, Kevin Paul, member of the Mob Squad, wrote that the motion “faced what amounted to a cam­

paign of obstruction and sabotage on the part of the AUS officials manag­ ing the GA.” Paul also criticized the conduct of AUS Speaker Ben Lerer, stat­ ing that “Lerer liberally interpreted Roberts’ Rules ... refusing] a mo­ tion to call the question (to choose to vote on the original motion) after a period of debate, because doing so would ‘stifle’ further debate.” Other complaints included the choice of location for the GA and claiming that members were allowed to leave during voting procedure. In response, Lerer explained that his aim going into the GA was to improve upon the previous one held last fall. “At the previous GA, in the in­ terest of time I [decided I] was going to allow motions to call the ques­ tion ... And what I felt after the end

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BoG adjourned due to student disruptions S t u d e n t s d r e s s e d a s p ir a te s in te r r u p t B o a r d o f G o v e r n o r s m e e tin g

Carolina Millan Ronchetti

News Editor

Last Tuesday, an open session Board of Governors (BoG) meeting scheduled to discuss the Jutras report was adjourned after five minutes due to disruptions from students. The meeting was rescheduled for Feb. 6 and held in a closed session. Following the chair’s opening address, a group of about 20 stu­ dents dressed as pirates interrupted with a song. Members of the board started leaving a few minutes into the song, and soon after, the meeting was adjourned. “Guys, you just silenced 35,000 members,” Roland Nassim, PGSS

president, said as he walked out of the room. One of the student protestors, who declined to identify herself, ex­ plained the reason for the actions. “We wanted to mutiny against the BoG. We recognize that as cap­ tains of our ship, they’re at best in­ effectual and unrepresentative, and at worst, figureheads for a bunch of companies that are committing atrocities worldwide,” she said. “We don’t want them or need them representing us. We can represent ourselves, we can take care of our interests.” SSMU President Maggie Knight said that she was disappoint­ ed that there was no discussion, and

that other students expressed similar sentiments. “I’ve spoken with a lot of stu­ dents about [the protest], and the overwhelming majority didn’t un­ derstand why the disruption oc­ curred, or felt that it was an ineffec­ tive way of critiquing decision-mak­ ing at McGill,” Knight said. “Such protests can also alienate fellow students and cause backlash against all those advocating for changes in governance at McGill.” Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning), Morton Mendelson, expressed his disappointment at the situation. “I think it’s a shame that a dis­ cussion with a governing body about

a very important topic that is of in­ terest to the entire community ... was disrupted by a small group of students,” he said. “I don’t see what kind of point this protest has, except to close down open discussion in this university.” Mendelson added that the ad­ ministration will remain open to dia­ logue with students. "The administration is open for civil conversation with students who want to have a conversation,” he said. “What we saw today was not a conversatior and was not stu­ dents who are even willing to listen to what others have to say about something as important as the Jutras report.”

of last GA was that allowing this to happen the way it did, really stifled debate and prevents some people who wanted to express their opinion, who were often in the 1/3 minority, simply couldn’t because people in the 2/3 majority ramrodded through bills,” Lerer explained. “My opinion is that I followed Robert’s Rules to the letter, which explicitly say that calling the ques­ tion cannot go through if it is placed to stifle debate. And it is my opin­ ion that it was stifling debate,” Lerer said. Addressing the issue of the room selection, Lerer stated that it was simply a matter of finding a room closest to the desired time that AUS wanted to hold the general as­ sembly. —Additional reporting by Kyla Mande l

Curiosity delivers.

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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

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Summit focuses on student space S p a c e a v a ila b ility d is c u s s e d a t la t e s t S S M U

S t r a t e g ic S u m m it

Jonny Newburgh Contributor

Last Friday, approximately 20 students gathered in the Shatner Breakout Room to discuss the future of student space on campus. The summit aimed to determine the meaning of student space and to brainstorm ways for students and staff to improve the quality of under­ used space on campus. “[T]he goal is to create infor­ mal, productive conversations about what students would like to see at SSMU and on campus. This recog­ nizes that the formalized processes (committees, Council, Senate, etc.) are not always accessible or inter­ esting to most students,” Maggie Knight, SSMU President, wrote in an email to the Tribune. One point of discussion raised by many students was the lack of space on campus, whether for aca­ demic or extracurricular purposes. Paul Guenther, a physical planner with McGill’s Campus Space Plan­ ning, responded by pointing out the different types of student spaces. ‘‘There are formal student spaces, but there are also a lot of informal student spaces,” Guenther said. “Most of your interactions with other students probably happen in these [informal] spaces—lower campus, for example, is the largest of these spaces.” Formal spaces, however, be­ came the target of student concern.

Maggie Knight among those discussing student space during Strategic Summit. (Duncan Hood / McGill Tribune) Josh Redel, President of the En­ gineering Undergraduate Society (EUS), spoke about his experience with the newly renovated basement in McConnell Engineering Building. “The hardest thing we found ... is that as we decrease work space and increase informal student space, we lose storage space,” Redel said. Katie Larson, President of the Music Undergraduate Students’ As­ sociation (MUSA), explained the chronic lack of space that music stu­

dents experience. “The amount of space we oc­ cupy is pretty ridiculous ... [yet] everything in our building is booked from nine to five every day. It is nearly impossible to get in there [even] if you are a music student,” she said. Larson added that the the needs of various campus a cappella groups make the chronic shortage even more pressing. Carol Fraser, Vice President

Clubs and Services of SSMU, ex­ plained that the perceived lack of space is frequently cited by students as a major problem on campus. In the recent SSMU survey pertain­ ing to space on campus, the highest ranked response was for increased space for clubs. “The importance of multi­ use space is something that people have been trying to preserve in the [SSMU] building, such as [the Breakout Room],” Fraser said.

Another topic of discussion was an initiative by the McGill ad­ ministration called “Campus Green­ ing,” a project that aims to improve the general conditions on campus. Over the last few years, a num­ ber of projects have reached fruition on campus: the McTavish Street pe­ destrian zone, the University Street bike path, the no-car policy on cam­ pus, and the various building terrac­ es, and James Square renovations. Guenther explained that these projects are only some of many in the works. “We try to make sure that what­ ever actions are happening meet the needs of the university in the long­ term vision,” he said. “One thing that is very challenging is that a lot of students do not get to see the changes. By the time [students] are finished [their degrees], the projects might not be finished yet.” While taking into account all differing perspectives on how to improve the use of space on campus has been difficult, executives are striving to move forward. “We have a lot of things going on at once,” Fraser said. “Several students expressed how happy they were [about being] able to hear directly what is hap­ pening with space in libraries and on McTavish St.,” Knight wrote. “The discussions were very produc­ tive and [participants] came up with some great ideas that we’re going to follow up on.”

CAMPUS

CKUT to hold two questions on w inter referendum Q P I R G c o n t i n u e s n e g o t i a t i o n s w it h t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , c o u ld s u b m i t q u e s t i o n s until F e b .

Carolina Millân Ronchetti News Editor Following the administration’s refusal to recognize the results of the fall referenda, Radio CKUT will hold two questions in the winter ref­ erendum, one on the organization’s existence and a separate one on changing the fee to be a non opt-outable fee. QPIRG has not yet taken a final position on the issue, but has until Feb. 17 to submit questions. Myriam Zaidi, undergraduate representative to CKUT’s Board of Directors, explained that CKUT submit the questions to the adminis­ tration for approval. The radio chose to do so because, after the refusal of the fall referenda, Morton Mendel­ son, the Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning), recommended that the campus groups run their

questions through the administra­ tion. At the time of press, the admin­ istration had not confirmed whether it approved the questions. Last fall, a majority of student voters responded ‘yes’ on referen­ dum questions submitted by QPIRG and CKUT, which called for the or­ ganizations’ existence and for optouts to be offline. The administration announced that it will not recognize the referendum results, calling the questions “unclear.” Every five years, the two orga­ nizations hold referenda in which the student body votes on the organiza­ tions’ existence. A ‘yes’ vote allows the two organizations to renew their Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the administration, a document that establishes the groups’ relation­ ship with the university, enabling them to negotiate their leases and re­

ceive student fees. Both MoAs will expire in June 2012. “Our MoA is ending and the administration seems really adamant on not accepting our results from last semester,” Zaidi said. “It’s not a battle we think we can pick.” Zaidi explained that the second question, which would no longer allow students to opt out of CKUT’s fee, will allow the campus radio to sustain itself in the future. Other campus media organizations that are currently non opt-outable include the McGill Daily and the McGill Tribune. “We’re a public good, recog­ nized by the Canadian Radio-tele­ vision Telecommunications Com­ mission (CRTC). We have constant fees to pay as a radio, and we need to maintain certain standards and ser­ vices [as members of] the CRTC,”

17

Zaidi said. “We’re accessible to ev­ eryone ... and we have 24/7 media coverage.” Achieving quorum was a major concern during the fall referendum, but Zaidi noted that this semester, quorum is not a concern. “Last semester we were more worried about quorum, because it was only our questions that were being put forward, whereas this se­ mester it’s going to be on the same ballot as voting for SSMU elections and other questions,” she said. Kira Page, member of the QPIRG Board of Directors and Mc­ Gill alumni, said that QPIRG is cur­ rently in talks with the administra­ tion to determine if the vote could be considered valid. “We are looking for other ways to work with the administration to find a way that they can recognize

the vote as valid. There’s still a pos­ sibility that we’ll run another refer­ endum, but it’s not a possibility that we’re excited about,” she said. Page said she was unable to reveal the nature of the negotiations with the administration. “I can’t really talk about what’s happening in the negotiations, but we are working [on] finding a so­ lution that works best for both of us, and respects the [wishes of the] administration but also the fall ref­ erendum,” Page said. “We’re very much still trying to figure out if the compromises that we would be mak­ ing with the administration would be better or worse than running another referendum.”

D ebatin g

U nion s u c c e e d s a t

N orth A m e ric a n C h a m p io n s h ip The McGill Debate Union spent the last weekend of January in Toronto competing in the North American Debate Championship alongside teams from Yale, MIT, and Princeton. Bringing six teams and two judges with them, the union enjoyed immense success—with two teams in the main break, or elimination round, two teams in the novice break, and a team competing in the grand finals. After winning the semi-finals against Princeton University, the team of Joe McGrade and Cal Rosemund reached the finals, and were pitted against debaters from Carleton University on the topic of fam­ ily law with the motion ‘This house would give preference to fathers in custody battles.’ McGill final­ ists lost narrowly, with votes from three judges against four voting for Carleton. Rosemund said that they “could not have lost to a more de­ serving team.” Other McGill teams also expe­

rienced great advances. Two novice teams participating in their very first university-level debate cham­ pionship earned spots in the novice semi-finals debating against each other. Caroline Mei and Erza Cohen proceeded to the novice final, facing a team from Queen’s University. Lewis Fainer and the union’s president, Lauren Shadley, over­ came great odds and reached the tournament’s octo-finals. They ul­ timately lost against one of Yale University’s top teams on the topic of Iranian nuclear technology. How­ ever, this result did nothing to lower the group’s morale. “I can honestly say hearing that they advanced got me more excited than hearing that my own team did,” Rosemund said. “It was also really nice to see the support from other members of our club.” Having hosted the tournament in 1991-1992 and taken home the championship win in 2003, achiev­ ing success in the North American

Debate Championship has come naturally to McGill participants. Ca­ nadian universities uphold a tradi­ tion of success, with an impressive record of five championship wins in the last ten years in face of fierce competition from top American uni­ versities. This is an astonishing feat considering that Canadian debaters are often grossly outnumbered by their American counterparts. “We were fortunate to have a fellow Canadian team in the final with us, in a tournament with as many teams from Yale alone than from all the Canadian universities combined,” Rosemund said. Overall, the McGill Debate Union returned to Montreal with significant additions to their long list of achievements. “We are all very pleased with our performance,” Shadley said.

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—Julia Chu

CAMPUS

Judicial Board reinstated despite legal concerns H earin g results s u b je c t to B o D

Erica Friesen News Editor

Last Thursday, the SSMU Board of Directors (BoD) voted to immediately reinstate the Judicial Board (J-Board) in order to conclude the J-Board’s upcoming hearing as soon as possible. SSMU will also draft a student referendum question that will bring the J-Board into com­ pliance with Quebec Law. The meeting followed the Jan. 26 SSMU Council meeting where the J-Board was suspended due to legal concerns regarding SSMU’s structure. The J-Board, as SSMU’s highest authority, was operating against Quebec law, which mandates that the highest level of authority must reside with the BoD. The J-Board was scheduled to hear a case last week submitted by former SSMU President Zach New­ burgh and co-founder of the Prince Arthur Herald Brendan Steven, who are questioning the constitutional­ ity of the fall referenda. The SSMU Bylaw Committee met Jan. 30 to discuss possible courses of action to maintain fairness to both Quebec law and to the petitioners.

ratification to k e e p b o a rd

VP University Affairs Emily Yee Clare said that the J-Board hearing will resume as previously planned, but that the J-Board’s deci­ sion will need to be ratified by the BoD. “If we feel like there was un­ reasonableness due to the decision­ making process, if 4/5 of us vote against this, then the decision can be overturned,” Clare said. “But the 4/5 is so high in order to ensure that there [is] a check, to make sure that people would have to have a very strong reason to vote against the rec­ ommendation of the J-Board.” The decision to immediately reinstate the J-Board was largely de­ termined by the semester’s timeline. While J-Board could present their rulings on the case so far, giving the BoD the opportunity to ratify or not to ratify the proceedings in compli­ ance with Quebec law, this course of action would be complicated by the upcoming winter Referendum Peri­ od and would cause confusion over the BoD’s future role. “[The Bylaw Committee has] concerns that this would set an un­ duly involved procedural precedent regarding the BoD with the J-Board, and it would take a very long time if

in c o m p l i a n c e w i t h Q u e b e c l a w

the board had to meet to ratify every procedural decision of the Judicial Board,” SSMU President Maggie Knight said. Conversely, waiting to reinstate the J-Board until after the winter elections period would mean that the J-Board’s findings on the case would be released as late as April, at which point there would be little time for the student body to discuss the outcome. Members of the BoD are aware that the J-Board’s reinstatement only temporarily fixes their problems, which include the need to balance legality with SSMU’s need for an unbiased body. “It must be very clear under what circumstances the board could decide not to ratify a ruling of the J-Board, because obviously the point of having the J-Board is to objectively and unbiasedly evaluate concerns, including potentially con­ cerns about the conduct of members of the council or members of the ex­ ecutive,” Knight said. For these reasons, the motion also called for the creation of a work­ ing group to investigate alternative democratic avenues for resolving is­ sues currently under the jurisdiction

of the J-Board. For example, Knight said that expanding the J-Board to include two students outside the fac­ ulty of law could expand the board’s perspective. The motion passed with eight votes in favour, one vote opposed, and three abstentions. Knight, who abstained from the vote, has attempted to distance her­ self from the proceedings due to po­

tential conflicts of interest with the case, but said that she is pleased with the way that council has dealt with the matter. “I [am] glad that the board was able to meet between meetings of council to address this issue in a timely fashion,” she said. Petitioners Zach Newburgh and Brendan Steven declined to com­ ment on the case.

SPEAKER ON CAMPUS

UN Special Rapporteur discusses rights of migrants F r a n ç o i s C r é p e a u s t r e s s e d t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e m e d i a a n d p o l i t i c i a n s in c r e a t i n g a d i a l o g u e

Laura Douglas Contributor

François Crépeau, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, gave a talk on Feb. 1, hosted by the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. The talk, entitled “Inception of a Global Migration Management Re­ gime,” focused on some of the prob­ lems facing international migrants, and on what is being done to change the systems that create these issues. Crépeau is the Hans & Tamar Oppenheimer professor in public international law at McGill’s faculty of law. His role at the UN involves investigating migrants’ rights and situations in various countries, draft­ ing reports to the UN Human Rights Council, and recommending actions to resolve migrants’ rights issues. “I’m less interested in per­

manent residents, in migrants who come with money or skills or who will become citizens very quickly. I’m more interested in vulnerable, irregular migrants,” Crépeau said. Global migrants, particularly temporary migrant workers, are fre­ quently denied basic human rights, but most governments are unwilling to discuss the issue on an interna­ tional level. “The hidden discourse is that migrants in irregular situations do not have rights,” Crépeau said. According to Crépeau, there is less public awareness of the chal­ lenges faced by migrants than there is of many other current human rights issues. This is in part a result of politicians’ reluctance to discuss the issue. “On the subject of immigration, politicians can say whatever they want, without consequence, because

S tu d e n ts sk ep tical o f n e w

On Jan. 30, the McGill admin­ istration and Emergency Measures Office sent an email notifying all students of their new emergency an­ nouncement system, Alertus. Citing the Jutras Report and its recommen­ dation to enhance administration-to student-body communication, Aler­ tus provides the administration with an additional tool if events such as Nov. 10 were to happen again. This system, when installed on a desktop or laptop, can be used by the admin­ istration to notify students of any emergency with the use of a pop-up announcement. When asked if this system was worth installing, SSMU President Maggie Knight outlined a balanced perspective of its merits and a rec­ ognition that although she hasn’t downloaded it personally, some may find it useful. However, she also had doubts as to whether this system would be actually effective. “I think this decision is up to each student, based on their own schedules and circumstances,” she said. “For instance, not every stu­ dent has a laptop that they use to do work on campus. I would imagine that it makes sense for most students to sign up for at least one of the two systems (Alertus or the mass texting system).” “A message making students aware of what was happening dur­ ing the events of Nov. 10 could have been helpful, but presumably McGill might have had the same

A lertu s Sy stem concerns that led to the decision not to use the mass texting system,” she added. The Jutras report stated that one of the failings of Nov: 10 was the fact that administrators did not inform students of events because of the risk that more students would join, rather than avoid, the protest. Although the Tribune asked a mem­ ber of the administration how this new system addresses this scenario, there was no reply at time of print. Students shared similar scepti­ cism about the Alertus system, espe­ cially in regards to its utility, conve­ nience, and purpose. “I don’t think I care enough to install it. But doesn’t it need In­ ternet? Then what is the difference between sending us an email? Isn’t sending a text better?” Michelle Ma, a U1 cognitive science student, said. Other students suggested a rethinking of the mass announce­ ment system altogether, suggesting instead that students take charge of their own security. “There needs to be participa­ tion from the student body for it to be effective. We don’t need the ad­ ministration telling us this. As much as this ‘vertical’ component of secu­ rity is essential, ‘horizontal’ partici­ pation by the student body, such as through student body twitter feeds are as essentially if not more so dur­ ing events such as Nov. 10,” Keegan Chang, U2 political science, said. —K yle Ng

vulnerable, temporary, and irregular immigrants cannot vote ... they are politically insignificant,” Crépeau said. “Because [migrants] are afraid of being deported, they do not com­ plain either.” Another factor contributing to the lack of awareness about these is­ sues is their portrayal in the media. “The media seeks short phras­ es, and on the subject of immigra­ tion that generally means [some­ thing like] ‘there are too many im­ migrants.’ That is a short phrase,” Crépeau said. “The role of the Special Rapporteur is to change the discourse, to change the vocabulary; to introduce complexity into the dis­ cussion of migrants, and to get away from a simplistic discourse.” Crépeau noted that for more effective dialogue, people need to change the way they think about mi­ gration.

“I think the conceptual change that we have to do, like we did for women, for aboriginals, for detain­ ees, and for gays and lesbians, is to go from an “us and them” discourse to an “I and we” discourse. That is what the human rights movement does,” Crépeau said. A small group attended Crépeau’s talk, including students, fel­ low professors, and a representative from the Philippine Embassy in Ot­ tawa, all of whom stayed past the of­ ficial conclusion of the speech to ask further questions, and to continue the discussion. Students expressed their ap­ preciation for Crépeau’s extensive knowledge on the subject of mi­ grants’ rights. “I wanted to see the talk to learn a little bit more about the no­ tion of a global migration manage­ ment regime,” Bethany Hastie, a

doctoral student in the faculty of law with the Centre foç Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, said. “There are many events [like this one] within the law faculty that have the potential to interest people who are not in law,” Ludovic Langlois-Thérien, U4 law, said. “1 think there should be a way for people who are not within this faculty to know about these events.” Throughout his talk, Crépeau emphasized the humanity of mi­ grants around the world. “We are all migrants,” he said. “The human condition involves mo­ bility, and it is not migration that is the exception, it is sedentariness. That is an important thing we seem to have forgotten.”

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The SSMU General Assembly needs a serious facelift Last week’s SSMU General Assembly (GA) once again failed to reach quorum for the majority of its motions. As the SSMU executives are only compelled to act on those that did—sadly consisting of just the distinctly tepid duo of motions concerning the selection of the Fi­ nancial Auditor, and one in support of the student café—the G A was ef­ fectively relegated to a consultative body, endowed with little power to effect any actual change. This was not an unexpected result. The Tribune has been consis­ tently calling for the GA to undergo substantial reforms. Without it, the GAs will continue to be unproduc­ tive. Last week’s Winter meeting is just another reason why the GA in its current form is a total embarrass­ ment to everyone involved, and a source of exasperation to those who are not. Firstly, the GA as an institution suffers chronically from a fatal para­ dox: it is supposedly the democratic representation of the student body in SSMU’s affairs, and yet only a fraction of students are present, and even fewer are able to get their voice heard, let alone listened to. The re­ sult is an unrepresentative represen­ tative body. This is partly due to the limits of space, and partly due to the limited student desire to attend. A

maximum of 500 people can fit in the hall, a number that is rarely even reached and is only a small fraction of 22,000 SSMU members. Consid­ ering the quorum for most proposals lies at only 100, there is the possiblity that an even smaller fraction of 0.6 per cent of the student body can shape SSMU legislation on be­ half of the rest. This is plainly not fair for those whose opinions are not represented because they are unable to attend, possibly for reasons of health, part-time jobs, researching, and homework. It is understandable that students have other uses for their evening apart from debating whether Karl Marx deserves a por­ trait in the student lounge. The GA lends itself to a tyranny of a vocal and radical minority, one that can often be at loggerheads with the general opinion on campus. We question the legitimacy of those who dictate policy simply by virtue of showing up. No one elected them to vote on behalf of their absent fellow students. Therefore G A votes are not representative. The absurdity of the GA is further compounded by the disin­ genuous and cynical attitude it en­ courages: the best way to exercise your right to vote at the GA is to sit through the meeting, fool your op­ ponents into thinking quorum has

been reached, and then obstinately leave just as the vote is being count­ ed for motions you don’t agree with, to deprive the GA of its power. Last week’s GA also conformed to a recurring theme of recent GAs: the motions themselves were prob­ lematic. Some focussed on exter­ nal issues that lay beyond SSMU’s purview (like the Federal govern­ ment’s crime bill, C-10), while oth­ ers concentrating on internal issues were either about divisive-yet-vague complaints, or concerned with the tediously practical issues which were coming into effect regardless of the GA’s endorsement. The question is, what can be done to improve it? We offer three paths for how to resolve the GA: the path of expansion, the path of con­ traction, or the path of abolition. The path of expansion would entail moving the G A online. As James Gilman, one of our in-house columnists, pointed out last week, a system of online voting would allow more people to be able to vote, and would create a more transparent GA. This expansion of the electorate can only be done well if coupled with better publicity. The GAs could be live-streamed online, accompanied by a live-stream of the minutes so that people around the university can not only get a grasp of what is

being said, but so that they can also comment on the minutes online. That way, people who are unable to be there in person can still have their say in some form. The path of contraction would involve the GA ceding any preten­ sion to being a representative body, allowing the GA to focus on being a centre for dialogue, active debate, and a consultative assembly for SSMU. If people still feel strong­ ly about any particular issue that should be enacted by SSMU, they should launch a referendum for this purpose. If it genuinely is a good idea, a resounding referendum man­ date is a much more credible litmus test for student opinion. Finally, there always remains the path of abolition. We respect the value of having a vibrant forum for debates over campus issues, but when most of these descend into a crudely partisan means for extreme groups of both sides of the political spectrum to push their own agenda against the interest of the majority of the student body, then it is may be time to call a halt to proceedings and look for other ways to create a more legitimate, egalitarian, and represen­ tative form of debate.

News Editors Erica Friesen andCarolina Millân Ronchetti news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editor Richard Martyn-Hemphill opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editor Anand Bery scitech@mcgilltribune.com Arts& Entertainment Editor Nick Petrillo arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Steven Lampert andChristopher Nardi sports@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editor SamReynolds photo@mcgilltribune.com Senior Design Editor Kathleen Jolly kjolly@mcgilltribune.com Design Editor Susanne Wang design@mcgilltribune.com Online Editor Victor Temprano online@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Marri Lynn Knadle copy@mcgilltribune.com Advertising Manager Corina Sferdenschi cpm@ssmu.mcgill.ca Publisher Chad Ronalds T P S B oard of D irecto rs Ja m e s G ilm a n (C h a ir): c h a ir @ m c g illtr ib u n e .c o m J o h a n u B o th a , K a th le e n J o lly , S h a n n o n K im b a ll, Ia in M a c d o n a ld , A le x M id d le to n , Z a c h N e w b u rg h

C ontribu tors A le x a n d r a A lla ir e , H ra n t B a r d a k jia n , I lia B lin d e rm a n . J o h a n u B o th a , B e a B r it n e f f , N o a h C a ld w e ll-R a ffe rty , J u lia C h u , L a ra D o u g la s , T re v o r D ru m m o n d , A lis s a F e in g o ld , G ra c e G ro s v e n o r, E m m a

H a m b ly , A n n a

K a ty c h e v a , M c K e n z ie K ib le r , A le x K n o ll, K a th le e n M a s a k i, A b ra h a m M o u s s a k o , J o n n y N e w b u rg h . K y la N g , S im o n P o itr im o lt , J o sh u a P riz a n t, R y a n R e ise M a d e lin e R ic h a rd s , V anessa S a lv o , F a ra h H a n a n i S a n '. L in d a S a r v i, L u c a s T o p h a m , C h lo e T u rn e r -B lo o m

T ribu ne O ffices Editorial

Nick Petrillo I

W hat's a |jfl Gram m y w o rth ?

Proclaiming that the Grammy Awards aren’t the definitive mea­ sure of musical success isn’t ex­ actly going out on a limb, but why is it that so many music fanatics approach this ceremony with either indifference or downright distain? The winners of the film industry’s Academy Awards might not always coincide with winners in public opinion, yet we continue to hold that ceremony in high esteem in the face of their occasional missteps. But the Grammy Awards are different. Within the yearly discus­ sion of its categories and nominees the question of its legitimacy always comes with it. There is the looming suspicion that the award represents little more than the music industry’s self-righteous celebration of its most

profitable artists, as shown by a trend that loads major award categories— i.e. best album, best song, best new artist—with Top 40 pop stars year after year. While it’s true that the Grammys will have expanded their award categories in the past to rec­ ognize the best in alternative, coun­ try, electronic, and other genres, the artists within these new categories are usually mentioned with minimal pomp and circumstance compared to their pop-star peers. What could salvage the respect­ ability of the Grammy Awards is the Internet, where non-Top 40 bands such as Arcade Fire have dominated Internet music communities and fre­ quently hold strong positions at the top of the iTunes album chart just as often as today’s more publicized en­ tertainment sensations. And indeed, it seems like the music industry is listening to the web - Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs was awarded Album of the Year in 2011, beating out main-

stream superstars Katy Perry, Lady cess has expanded its reach to new Gaga, and Eminem. Seeing Win genres, it continues to entrench itself Butler’s wide-eyed bewilderment too heavily in pop music. Popular during his acceptance speech last music is by no means an inherently year, I wonder if he was humbled talentless art form, but focusing at­ by his band’s latest achievement or tention on it because of its wide ap­ simply astounded that the Academy peal remains the Grammy Awards’ resisted the urge to award just an­ biggest defect. I think Morrissey, lead singer other pop sensation. It certainly wouldn’t make him for The Smiths, summed up per­ the only artist to view the awards fectly how Top 40 has plagued with skepticism. As Justin Vernon music awards: “It’s very easy to be of Bon Iver said last December, controversial in pop music because “We should not be gathering in a big nobody ever is ... pop music seems room and looking at each other and now to be exclusively for children. pretending that this is important.” If an artist is no good, why is it nec­ Even Trent Reznor, who won two essary to have that artist repeatedly Grammys during his tenure with rammed in our face?” It’s going to Nine Inch Nails, admitted that the require honesty from fans, musi­ process feels “rigged and cheap— cians, and the industry itself to bring like a popularity contest that the in­ legitimacy to the Grammy Awards, •otherwise the line that separates crit­ siders club has decided.” Fans and artists agree that the ical acclaim from dresses made out award holds little value in assessing of meat will continue to be blurred. the merit of the recording industry’s talent. And though the selection pro­

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T h e M c G ill T rib u n e is an e d ito ria lly a utonom ous n ew spapn pub lish ed b y the Société de P ub lica tio n de la T rib u n e , a sui­ d a it society o f M c G ill U n ive rsity. T h e conte nt o f this public tio n is the sole re sp o n sib ility o f T h e M c G ill T rib u n e and the Société d e P ub lica tio n d e la T rib u n e , and does n ot necessan > represent the v ie w s o f M c G ill U n ive rsity. L etters to the edit' >r m a y be sent to e d ito r@ m c g illtrib u n e .c o m and m u st include the c o n trib u to r’s nam e, p ro gra m and ye ar and contact in fo r­ m a tio n. Letters sh ou ld be kept u nd er 300 w o rd s and subm i ted o n ly to the T rib u n e . Subm issions ju d g e d b y the Tribu?ie P ub lica tio n S ociety to be lib e llo u s , sexist, racist, h o m op ho b c o r so le ly p ro m o tio n a l in nature w ill n ot be p ublished. The T rib u n e reserves the rig h t to e d it a ll co ntribu tion s. E d ito ria ls are d ecided upon and w ritte n b y the e dito ria l board. A ll other o p in io n s are s tric tly those o f the a uth or and d o n o t necessar­ ily re fle ct the o p in io n s o f the M c G ill T rib u n e , its e dito rs o r its staff. Please re cycle this newspaper.

COLUMNISTS

A re th e U SA an d C anad a ta n g o in g to d i f f e r e n t m u s i c in th e 2 1 st cen tu ry? Canada-U.S. relations have enjoyed an eclectic array of descrip­ tions since the International Bound­ ary that separates the two countries was set up in 1783. Pierre Trudeau famously said that living next to the U.S. was like sleeping with an el­ ephant: “No matter how friendly or temperate the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.” John F. Kennedy just as famously described the relationship when he said that “Geography has made us neigh­ bours, history has made us friends,

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tamoussako@jrncgiiltribune.cpmj,, Stu d en t D em ocracy: The ag en cy of th e few

________

The SSMU General Assembly last week was the latest installment of an institution at McGill showcas­ ing both the theoretical promise of direct democracy and the reality of its own illegitimacy. The theoretical promise comes from the reasonable idea that the student body of a uni­ versity should have a say in how the university is run. This runs head on into the reality of direct democracy at McGill, which is that it is highly unrepresentative of the student body at large. While I had taken a passing interest in watching how our student government works, seeing that the assembly was debating a painting of Karl Marx—satirically or not— was what motivated me to actually attend. What I first found striking about the Assembly was its simi­ larity to a Model UN conference. Same placards, same stilted rules of

hear a Canuck reminding any and all that Jim Carrey, Seth Rogen, the guy who invented basketball, and so many more, are Canadian. As Cana-

economics has made us partners, ne­ cessity has made us allies” (if only he knew that Prime Minister John Diefenbaker would decry him as a “son of a bitch” one year later). As we dig deeper into the 21st century, I wonder what best describes the dy­ namics north and south of the 45th parallel, or better yet, what best de­ scribes what they should be? Some have likened the current relationship to the the continuing saga between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. The former has an inferiority complex, jubilant at any minor victory scored, while the latter sometimes forgets who the Sox. are (no need to point out who’s who in this analogy). This contains a grain of truth. When’s the last time you heard an Ameri­ can exclaim, “Did you know that the premier of New Brunswick was actually bom in the States?” Never. Despite it being true, you have never heard an American say that. On the other hand, you often

“N ot

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d iffer­

ent sp ots on the sp ec tru m .” dian writer Will Ferguson put it: if you are remotely, possibly, and/or hypothetically connected to Canada

pression” rape culture workshops to the resolution. Midway through the debate on frosh reform, the assembly mer­ cifully lost quorum and became a “consultative body,” presumably meaning that the printed minutes of the meeting were now worth slightly less than a roll of sanitary paper. The debate on “negative corporate

debate, and the same generally im­ patient, almost restless buzz among some of the less committed attend­ ees. The resolution under debate at the time was an amazingly dry one regarding the “Selection of the Fi­ nancial Auditor.” There was not a particularly spirited debate on the idea, and it passed. The following resolution, regarding the formation of a student run café, was just as bland and inoffensive. The resolutions then began to hint at the radical agenda at hand. The resolution on frosh reform de­ cried the current iteration as “heteronormative,” but was vague in terms of actual actions. In response to a question I posed, it was noted that the motion would simply act as a form of public approval over talks to reform frosh the SSMU was already having internally. There was a bit of a dust-up as one attendee fought to have included a redundant amend­ ment that would codify that the event would be in accordance with the SSMU’s equity policy. As with some of the more passionate attend­ ees to the Assembly, she spoke as if these words were all that would keep frosh from descending to a nest of homophobic misogyny. On that sub­ ject, someone else suggested adding rather dramatically-termed “anti-op-

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than a ro ll o f s a n ­ itary p a p e r . ” influence on campus” seemed to be tailor-made for the members of the “protest class” in attendance. A spir­ ited back and forth ensued, as some argued that McGill should free itself

in some way, we will claim you. But that is nothing new. Canada has been lauding the Canadian-ness of achievements by its citizens—es­ pecially its citizens that live in the States—in an unapologetically en­ thusiastic way ever since it started reimagining the paltry war of 1812 as The Great And Glorious Cana­ dian (Not British!) Victory That Put Those Arrogant Yankees In Their Place. What is new at the turn of the century, however, is the contrast be­ tween the political philosophies the two countries have elected in their respective leaders. Not since Rea­ gan and Trudeau have the offices of President and Prime Minister viewed each other from such differ­ ent spots on the spectrum. The early 2000s saw Liberal Chretien glare across the border at conservative Bush, and relations were not rosy. They were made even more not-rosy when Canada refused to declare war against Iraq. The political profiles of

the offices have since traded sides with Democrat Obama bristling his country’s right wing, and Conserva­ tive Harper upsetting (in Canada we prefer not to bristle) his country’s left wing. Despite appearing by all accounts to have struck up a warm friendship, the differing pressure from their respective constituencies was clear when Mr. Obama shut down an oil pipeline that Mr. Harper had vigorously fought for. But do these political differ­ ences really mean anything new for the Canada-U.S. relationship? Has anything really changed in the new century to justify searching for new ways to describe the countries’ relations, or what they should be? The same variables Kennedy listed as binding the two states together are still at play. If anything, given a world connected with ever more complexity, they are more even more so.

from the yoke of purportedly cor­ rupting corporate influence, while others pointed out the financial diffi­ culty of reducing corporate partner­ ships. But these are the same voices that call for frozen tuition fees and higher wages for striking faculty. The response, that the university should “reevaluate its administra­ tive priorities,” was the sort of line that drew passionate applause from quarters of the audience—and com­ pletely absolved the speaker from engaging with the argument. Later, an attendee ludicrously suggested the assembly was in vio­ lation of anti-sexism policies be­ cause only men had spoken. The suggestion was that the two women who at the time were in line for the microphone should be moved to the front; presumably the fact that they had stood up later than the others was a sign of an “oppressive power structure.” Debate drifted on to the consid­ eration of a “student strike ‘solidar­ ity’ fund.” The proposed fund, to be paid out of general SSMU funds, was yet another symbol of the appa­ ratus—and in this case, the money— of the majority of students appropri­ ated to support the agenda of the vocal few. The last serious resolu­ tion of the night was a move to con­

demn the federal crime bill, C-10. My own skepticism on the bill aside, the student union of McGill running a public advocacy campaign against it would be just about as effective as anything the government of Mauri­ tius has to say on the U.S. elections. The Harper government does not ex­ actly court—or care about—the ap­ proval of left-wing college students. After a debate on a satirical res­ olution on chess sets for Gerts, the motion on a Karl Marx painting was put forth. Some of the more rational students in attendance half-jokingly attempted to amend the resolution to require an equally-sized painting of Adam Smith. The amendment was declared “not topical,” and the reso­ lution on the whole proceeded to a vote. The painting was eventually rejected by the assembly. A small and symbolic victory in an assembly that had been reduced to a small and symbolic body hours ago, but a vic­ tory for reason nonetheless. What to do to fix the structure of student government is a topic for another column. What I can say here is that any structural reform of campus politics would do well to be accompanied by an attitude adjust­ ment.

H ate ou r co n ten t?

T h in k you can

d o b e tte r?

B r i n g it o n . B r i n g it in .

S u b m i t le tte r s to th e e d ito r a n d

g u e st co m m e n ta ry to o p in io n @ m cg illtrib u n e .co m

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

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| Curiosity delivers.

4

COMMENTARY | A D iffe re n t) A p p ro ach to R elig io n

Around 80 people were shot to death during a political gathering at a summer camp in Norway in 2011. Many have claimed this crime was fueled by religions and that it is exemplary of its faults. There have been mass suicides in the United States led by religious cults, and religion is generally seen as incon­ sistent with many liberal values. It’s repeatedly blamed for its role in ter­ ror, death, inequality and discrimi­ nation. But these ideas are essentially so fictitious that they should be for­ gotten. Such a harsh picture of re­ ligion, besides focusing solely on people’s skewed negative percep­ tions, fails to separate religion and the extenuating circumstances that could lead someone to be preju­ diced, abusive, or even a murderer. It is too easy to blame religion as a whole for all the awful things that happen. We form a picture of it using these extreme acts since that is what we are exposed to the most. Terrorist groups and polygamous colonies that find support through religious texts clearly do not fit the religion prototype. People who are deluded and want to abuse, hurt, and destroy will find a way to do it. Religion should not be blamed for igniting these awful ideas. The ex­ ploitation of religion for manipula­ tive purposes and doing evil is the result of the person and not religion itself. Evil precedes religion and, sadly, cruelty exists everywhere and has for all of time. Atheism is an assertive view, and it includes an incompatibility of religion with all facets of life. For some, religion has many faults and is the root of numerous misguided actions. It brainwashes people and leaves them mindlessly tumbling around through space with no sense of reality. However, this fails to take into consideration all religion has accomplished throughout history. If we can get beyond the seeming foolishness of religion, it becomes apparent that it is a beautiful thing. Throughout history religion has driven society and provided people with a purpose in life. If someone

wants to believe that a loved one who passed away is in heaven and they will see them again, then so be it. As long as religion remains in its own sphere and does not obstruct the practises of science, or the free­ dom of expression and thought we so dearly value, then its existence is justified. Besides, when atheists stand in opposition to religion, they cannot clearly see that their hate is just as

“/ am u n qu es­ tion ably an a t h e ­ ist, a n d I b e lie v e that it is in cred ­ ibly im portan t to esta b lish tain

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r e lig io n ” negative as the exclusivity and dis­ approval they feel religion thrusts at them. Equality does not necessitate that everyone have the same ide­ als and values, but rather that each person’s opinions do not impose themselves in a harmful fashion on another’s. I am unquestionably an athe­ ist, and I believe that it is incredibly important to establish a certain re­ spect for religion. I do not believe that religion should be involved in education or governmental affairs, but rather it is something that can help the mind grow. Even if we completely rid ourselves of religion, conflict will still exist due to the natural instincts of human beings. Moreover, without religion, many people would live significantly less fulfilled lives. I am not implying that a fulfilled life necessitates religious practice; instead, I wish to convey that religion and atheism can co­ exist if there is a mutual respect and they are each seen as valuable in themselves. Even if it is impos­ sible for the whole world to happily agree to be different, I would hope that all of us at McGill could strive for some sense of compatibility and equality.

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Q U I L L O U T ! W r ite a c l a s s i c le tte r to th e e d ito r . E m ail

e d ito r@ m c g illtrib u n e .c o m

A U S a n d S S M U G e n e ra l A s s e m b lie s

UNDERSTANDING

THE u .s . E L E C T I O N S 2

0

1

2

As the R ep u b lica n c a n d id a te d e b a te s contin ue a n d the rh eto ric g ets h ea ted , le t ’s tak e a step b a c k f o r a m om ent to u nderstand w h a t’s actu ally g oin g on in U.S. p o litics. C a n ad ian s kn ow very w ell that w h at h ap p en s a c ro ss the b o rd er can h a v e a co n s id e r a b le im p act on them , an d m any seem to w atch the A m erican electio n s c lo s e r than th eir ow n. S o h e r e ’s a low -dow n on the ele ctio n p r o c e s s an d the key issues to g iv e you a laun ch p a d f o r critic a l u nderstanding w hen w atching the d eb a tes.

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TH E ELECTIO N PROCESS The presidential election will be held on Nov. 6, once each party has nominated its candidate. Delegates from each state vote for the winner of the primary election of caucus within their state at the Republican national convention in August. To win the presidency, a candidate needs to reach the magic number of 270, the mini­ mum number of electors they must win out of a total 538 electors.

Each state is divided into congressional districts based on its population. The greater the state’s population, the more congressio­ nal districts it has. The number of districts is added to the number of senators in the state (always two) to get the number of electors for that state. So, for example, if a state has 10 congressional districts, it has 12 electors. As the public votes, the candidate with the most votes in a state wins that state. In

turn, the candidate wins the total number of electors from that state. The states with the most influence are California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Winning in these states gives a candidate a significant edge in the election due to their high number of electors. Once a candidate has won the ma­ jority of electors, 270 or more, they have won the election.

WHO ARE TH E CANDIDATES

Incumbent U.S. President

BARACK OBAMA

Republican Party Candidate

Republican Party Candidate

Republican Party Candidate

Republican Party Candidate

MITT ROMNEY

NEWT GINGRICH

RON PAUL

RICK SANTORUM

There are currently four republican candidates: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum. So far, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are the two most successful candidates, with Romney gaining a considerable lead over the other three.

TIM ELINE O F MAIN ELECTIO N EVENTS M A R C H 6 : “Super Tuesday.”

A U G U ST

Republi­

O C T O B E R 1 6 : Second presi­

With more than 10 different prima­ ries occurring on this date, including

can national convention in Tampa, Florida

dential debate in Hempstead, New York

SEPTEM BER

O CTO BER

2 7 -3 0 :

primaries in Texas, Massachusetts, and Virginia, it has the potential to determine the Republican nominee. A P R IL

3 - 6 : Demo­

cratic national convention in Char­ lotte, North Carolina

dential debate in Boca Raton, Flor­

O C T O B E R 3 : First presiden­

N O V E M B E R 6 : Presidential and congressional elections

ida

3 : Maryland, Wiscon­

sin, and Washington DC primaries

tial debate in Denver, Colorado A P R IL

2 2 : Final presi­

2 4 : New York and

Pennsylvania primaries

O C T O B E R 1 1 : Vice-presiden­ tial debate in Danville, Kentucky

J U N E 5 : California primary

K E Y IS S U E S

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TH E ECO NO M Y In 2008, the sub-prime mortgage cri­ sis hit when the housing market bubble burst. Thanks to spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, combined with the 2008 economic downturn, the U .S. econ­ omy has been thrown into an unfavourable situation. Moreover, the unemployment rate has been exceptionally high for the past few years. This past Friday, Feb. 3, however, it was announced that 243,000 jobs were created in January, causing the unemployment rate to drop to 8.3 per cent, the lowest rate in three years.

W H A T T H E C A N D ID A T E S A R E S A Y IN G BARACK OBAMA

With regards to reducing the country’s debt, President Obama favours a combination of spending cuts and tax revenues. To help the economy grow, he seeks to provide job-creating investments in infrastructure, health care, energy, and educa­ tion.

MITT ROMNEY

To solve America’s debt problem, Romney wants to cut federal spending, to reform entitlement programs, and

On Mar. 23, 2010 the Obama admin­ istration enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), sometimes referred to as ‘Obamacare.’ Its principal aim was to reform health insurance, and it remains a controversial topic. The reform plan laid out many changes which would gradually take place over a four-year timespan, with most reforms taking place by 2014. Under this reform, each state has a Medicaid program to provide health coverage to those o f lower-income status, families, children, the elderly, and those with disabilities. A person’s eligibility var­ ies by state.

IM M IG R A T IO N The issue of illegal immigration has always been a debated subject in the United States. With the unemployment rate high, many point to illegal immigrants as one of the sources limiting available jobs to Americans. Starting off the New Year,

Gingrich empha­ sizes the need for economic growth to tackle the debt problem through methods such as reforming Medicare and Social Security and ‘freeing job-creators.’ Like Romney, he pro­ poses cutting the capital gains tax as well as cutting corporate income tax rates and offering the American public the choice o f opting into a 15 per cent flat tax.

T H E STRAGGLERS

R ick Santo-

to reduce the size of the federal government. To create jobs and economic growth, he pro­ poses cutting the top corporate income tax, promoting domestic energy production, weak­ ening labour unions, and eliminating capital

rum : He proposes reducing corporate taxes for manufacturers and expanding energy ex­ ploration to tackle the economic problems. Ron Paul: He advocates for eliminating many taxes, reducing the president’s salary,

gains and dividend taxes for some. He argues

and reducing the federal budget by one trillion dollars.

that his superior business skills provide him with an advantage over others for solving the economic situation.

H EALTH CARE

N EW T GINGRICH

W H A T T H E C A N D ID A T E S A R E S A Y IN G BARACK OBAMA

President Obama will continue to defend the PPACA. More spe­ cifically, he aims to make modest adjustments to Medicare and Medicaid to avoid, as he puts it, wasteful subsidies. In addition, he argues for a quicker approval process for generic drugs and higher pay for doctors.

MITT ROMNEY Romney seeks to re­ peal Obama’s healthcare reform. In its place, he proposes market-based reforms which he believes will reduce healthcare costs. He states that on his first day in office he will issue an executive order which would provide waiv­ ers from Obama’s healthcare reform to all 50 states.

N EW T GINGRICH

Gingrich believes that Americans should be allowed to buy in­ surance plans provided in other states than where they live. He proposes tax credits and deductions for premiums. In addition, he ad­ vocates for the creation o f a ‘High Risk Pool’ in each state to provide coverage for those too ill or otherwise unable to qualify for insurance.

T H E STRAGGLERS

R ick Santorum : He seeks to fully repeal Obama’s health care reforms. Ron Paul: Ron Paul also seeks to repeal Obama’s health care reforms and advocates for allowing citizens to purchase health care insurance from states other than their own.

W H A T T H E C A N D ID A T E S A R E S A Y IN G BARACK OBAMA

President Obama advocates for increased border security and penalties for companies hiring undocumented workers. He also seeks to expand immigration

Obama announced a new immigration rule

quotas. His recent change to immigration rules

change which will allow family members of U .S. citizens to seek a hardship waiver from the government. This will allow them to avoid long periods o f separation from

has earned him a leg up with Hispanic and La­ tino groups.

their family in the U.S. while their appli­ cations for legal status are being reviewed.

system ensuring employers hire only legal im­ migrants. In addition, he proposes building a border fence with Mexico.

N EW T GINGRICH

Gingrich asserts that English should be made the official national lan­ guage and promises strict border control. Also, he advocates for a streamlined visa process for legal immigrants.

T H E STRAGGLERS MITT ROMNEY

He seeks to set up a

R ick Santorum :

Santorum proposes the construction o f a fence along the border with Mexico. Ron Paul: To tackle the problem o f illegal immigration he seeks to eliminate welfare and to stop providing amnesty to illegal immigrants.

A R O U N D THE T O W N

Multitudes of m icrobrew eries available in Montreal A rtis in a l b e e rs a n d c re a tiv e fla v o u rs e a rn s M o n t r e a l a w e ll-d e s e r v e d s p o t o n th e m ic r o b r e w e r y m a p N oah C a ld w e ll-R a ffe rty

creative, young population. But our

Talk to any beer purist and you’ll

very year as the Superbowl comes around I am painfully reminded o f the cheap, wa­ tery, tin-flavored, mass-produced beer being consumed endlessly

fair city on the hill, Montreal, has also proven itself as a veritable hot­ bed o f progressive entrepreneurial beer-heads. The better known—and better tasting—downtown speci­ mens around town include Benelux and Dieu du Ciel, but multitudes of

get an earful about the sanctity of the four main ingredients o f beer (barley, hops, water, and yeast) and the blasphemy of adding anything foreign to this holy quartet. But anyone who’s had a Benelux spiced seasonal beer knows this is utter

other scrumptious examples abound. Brasseur de Montreal, which opened its doors in 2008. recently opened a brewpub on Rue Ottawa. Serving an eclectic mix o f Belgian,

foolishness. The distinctiveness of

Contributor

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across the continent. The attraction of this yearly football phenomenon is synonymous with Budweiser and Coors, as countless advertising campaigns and beer sales will attest.

Dieu du Ciel comes from their bold addition of, for example, fair trade cocoa and vanilla to their Aphrodi­ siaque stout. Brasseur de Montreal

But now that the post-game smell of rancid low-grade lagers has settled, I find it all the more comforting to be living in one o f the finest cities in the world for genuine artisanal mi­

Chinese, and Scottish beers, this new

also experiments successfully with

kid on the block doesn’t seem to be afraid of diving into the proverbial deep end. The cleverly named Broue Pub Brouhaha on Lorimier avenue

crobreweries. The current state of microbrew­ eries in North America owes its ori­ gins to trail-blazing British brewers like Bill Urquhart, who in the 1970s rebelled against large faceless cor­ porations with the hope o f creating a

serves an exclusive selection of its own crafts and other local brew­ ers’ fares, showing that Montreal’s brewpub scene can support both camaraderie and competition. Outremont’s up-and-coming brewpub HELM crafts its beers exclusively

non-conventional ingredients such as ginger and various citrus fruits. The bountiful cornucopia of Montreal breweries has proven that deviation from rigid traditional no­

new generation o f beers crafted with an original flair and personality. Al­ though cask ales were originally the main product, in no time the move­ ment incorporated a full palate of lagers, stouts, pilsners, porters—you name it—with no two alike. New terminology invaded the industry

A variety of artisinal beers is available at Dieu du Ciel (amberwavesrally.com) which had previously known only the two extremes of tap houses and large distributors. Among them were

if the product is found elsew h ere around town as well). High concentrations o f arti­

a “craft” brewery, which is small and independent; a “microbrew­ ery,” which is even smaller (15,000

sanal breweries began to define various cities as hubs of the new beer revolution. The obvious North

beer barrels or less per year); and a “brewpub,” which both brews its beer and sells it on the premises (and is only considered a microbrewery

tions o f alcoholic fare brings about products necessary to keep the in­ dustry on its toes. Granted, there is always room for creative renderings o f traditional ingredients, as the Sam Adams brewers proved with the re­

from Quebec grains, and would

lease of Infinium, a specialty beer

American example is Portland, Or­

surely become a McGill student fa­ vorite if any o f us actually bothered to venture to the other side o f Mount Royal for a night out.

made purposely to show the vital­ ity o f the original four elements. So, with this in mind, go forth and enjoy our city’s fine offerings.

egon, which is home to over 40 mi­ crobreweries alone—a testament to the city’s understated ingenuity and

treal artisanal breweries is their nontraditional approach to ingredients.

The defining feature of Mon­

A RE Y O U A L IV IN G S T U D E N T ?

W R IT E F O R S T U D E N T L IV IN G .

EM A IL F E A T U R E S @ M C G IL L T R IB U N E .C O M

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C o m ic

I a i n M a c d o n a ld P r o d u c tio n M anager

W h e n G o d , o r Buddha, o r t h e F o n tm o n s te r, o r w h o ­ e v e r c r e a t e d t h e s ta n d a rd c o m p u te r f o n t s — a c tu a lly , i t w as p r o b a b ly <41 S o r e s ta rte d ty p e s e t t in g fo n t a f t e r f o n t , he (o r s h e — I'm all f o r g e n d e r e q u a lity in t h e ty p e f a c e w o r ld ), c r e ­ a te d m o s t o f th e m e q u a lly . F ro m T im e s to T a h o m a , A r ia l to V e rd a n a , m o s t f o n t s a r e p r e t t y g r e a t . S o m e o f th e m a r e ev e n s e x y ( I'm loo kin g a t yo u , G e o rg ia ). E ven C o u rie r has som e le g itim a te uses (a n d som e n o t so le g itim a te o n es , you ty p e w r it e r - lo v in g s n o b s ). N o t C om ic S a n s. I t ' s c le a r t h a t t h e F o n tM o n s te r had a b it to o m uch to d r in k one n ig h t and th o u g h t i t w ould b e a g r e a t id e a to c r e ­ a t e a f o n t w h ic h w as a l i t t l e b it m o re “fu n " th a n a ll t h e o th e r s . T h e h o lie s t - o f - a ll f o n t - c r e a t o r s th o u g h t, “I ' l l c a ll i t C om ic S a n s to r e f l e c t its c o o l, fu n -lo v in g n a tu re ." W e ll, F o n tm o n s te r, you s c re w e d up. Big tim e . A nd now w e all ha v e to liv e w ith it . C om ic S ans has b e c o m e an u n fo r tu n a te p a r t o f s o c ie ty w ith w h ic h w e m u s t a ll cope. F ro m f i r s t g r a d e p r o j ­ e c ts to b ir t h d a y c a rd s to d io ra m a s e ts , c h ild re n o f t e n

d is c o v e r C om ic S ans an d d e ­ c la r e i t to b e t h e g r e a t e s t f o n t e v e r . H o w e v e r, as kids a g e , (s o m e o f th e m ) m a tu re an d d is c o v e r new th in g s . Soon t h e y r e a liz e w h a t a d ir e m is ta k e t h e y h a v e m ad e in d e c la r in g t h e i r u n w a v e r­ ing lo ve f o r t h e o n e -a n d -o n ly ty p e fa c e . O f a ll t h e s u p p re s s e d m e m o rie s e v e r y p e rs o n has, t h e r e is o nly one t h a t is s h a r e d by a ll o f h u m a n ity ; t h e i r o n e -tim e lo v e a f f a i r w ith C om ic S a n s. W h e t h e r

i t was in K id P ix o r W o r d P e r ­ f e c t , you w r o t e s o m e th in g in C om ic S an s o n c e , and i t f e l t good. B u t lik e p ic k in g y o u r n ose, w h ile you s a t t h e r e g rin n in g , t h e r e s t o f s o c ie ty fr o w n e d upon t h e d e e d . C o m p u te rs w e re m ad e f d r s e rio u s b u s in e s s , and C om ic S ans is a n y th in g b u t s e rio u s . C om ic S ans is lik e t h e guy w ho show s up to a b la c k t i e c o c k ta il p a r ty w e a rin g a b a th in g s u it and a s n o rk e llin g m ask, w ith a big d a b o f s u n s c re e n on his

nose. N o b o d y is s u re w h e r e he cam e fr o m , and w h en he w ill le a v e ; and t h e y 'r e n o t s u re i f t h e y sh o u ld laugh o r c a ll t h e p o lic e . H a v e you e v e r re a d s o m e th in g w r it t e n in C om ic S ans an d th o u g h t “H m m , t h a t w as a r e a lly in s ig h tfu l a rg u m e n t." N o p e . Ig n o r in g e v e r y th in g on t h e p ag e , w h a t you th o u g h t w as, “w hy is th is w r it t e n in Com ic S ans?" I b e t as soon as you o p en ed th is page o f t h e p a p e r, you th o u g h t “w h a t is th is a r t ic le

Sans in C om ic S a n s , and w h y is it in C om ic S an s? " W e ll, I'm w r itin g a b o u t a v e r y s e rio u s to p ic , and you d o n 't re m e m ­ b e r a s in g le w o rd o f i t b e ­ cau se it's in C om ic S a n s. T e ll m e one c o m p le te s e n te n c e I w r o t e a b o v e w ith o u t lo o k ­ ing. I know I c a n 't re m e m ­ b e r a n y th in g , and I'm w r i t ­ ing t h e p ie c e . T h is f o n t is such a jo k e t h a t I c a n 't even b e lie v e m y own a rg u m e n t b e ­ cau se it's p r in te d in it . I f th is a r t ic le w as p u b lis h e d in T im e s N e w R om an, th o u g h , it w ould b e a t o t a lly d i f f e r e n t s to r y . I to o k a c o u rs e in f i r s t y e a r , and t h e p r o fe s s o r used C om ic S a n s on his le c tu r e s lid e s . N a t u r a lly , I th o u g h t t h e e n t ir e c o u rs e was a jo k e . W h e n I to o k t h e fin a l e x a m , w h ic h w as also in C om ic S a n s, I s im p ly w r o t e “lo i, good one p r o f," and l e f t . I t tu r n s o u t he w a s n 't jo k in g , and I had to ta k e t h e c o u rs e a g ia n , all b e c a u s e o f C om ic S an s. I f you a b s o lu te ly m u st h a v e fu n w ith y o u r t y p e ­ fa c e s , p le a s e s tic k to W in g d ing s. A t le a s t th e n p eo p le w ill w o n d e r w h a t y o u 're a c ­ tu a lly t r y in g to s a y , r a t h e r th a n im m e d ia te ly w r itin g you o f f as a fo u r y e a r old. ém .m .Ê e

&

♦□•=0=

O D D S A N D EN D S

Learning the value of an active lifestyle, a lesson for all O n e s t u d e n t g i v e s u p m i n d l e s s T V a n d t h a t e x t r a g l a s s o f w i n e in e x c h a n g e f o r h o t y o g a a n d c a r d i o

Something has happened to my friends this semester, something that

ing. I can no longer avoid exercise for fear o f “not getting my readings done,” by which I obviously mean watching mindless television. My two roommates have both

has managed to make me feel both guilty and inadequate. Everyone, and I mean everyon e is exercising. Whether Pilate-ing, spinning, or zumba-ing, all o f my friends have

chosen to partake in this craze—one in the form of Pilâtes and the other in the form of the devil’s favorite pas­ time, spinning—for which she rous­ es from her slumber at seven o ’clock

morphed into gym-bunny versions

every Tuesday and Thursday. Even my other house-full o f friends do self-titled “roommate yoga” every Saturday afternoon. This week, while the healthy and active youth I call my friends took off to the gym, towels and water bottles a-flailing in

G race G rosveno r

Contributor

o f themselves. Perhaps I am exag­ gerating, but being suddenly sur­ rounded by constant talk of aching thighs, calves, obliques and Kegels (which in my opinion can only really be complained about after birthing a large child) has made me realize that perhaps I can no longer get away with excusing myself from exercis­

their wake, I became wracked with guilt. It was at that point, while wal­ lowing on my window seat cradling

a glass o f cheap Beaujolais wine, that I decided it was time to finally succumb and sign up for some sort o f class. I have never been a particularly athletic person. My family leaves much to be desired in the sports de­ partm ent-m em ories o f my broth­ ers’ and my childhood will forever be riddled with tears and arguments with my dad on rainy Sunday morn­ ings that inevitably ended unfavour­ ably for us. This was followed by public humiliation on the soccer pitch where I, on occasion, would awkwardly swat the ball with my so-called ‘spaghetti arms’ instead of kicking it like the other kids. Except for skiing, a sport which my student MoneyMaster savings account sim­

ply cannot support, and swimming (which, for me, is inconceivable in this weather) there is only one other physical activity that I would say I actually enjoy: Moksha yoga—a hot

I not only enjoyed feeling healthier and better about myself, but I am now a proud complainer of aching muscles. And, the gratification of commiserating with everyone makes

yoga class which I have sporadically enjoyed. Though pricey, it seems far more appealing than the idea o f jo g ­ ging on black ice in Parc Lafontaine. With the studio perched on St. Laurent, a convenient 10-minute

getting up a bit earlier and abstain­ ing from watching M TV while gorging myself on wine and student food more bearable. I would recom­

march from my apartment, I have resolved to go at least three times a week, which, in addition to my 30-minute walk to class and 30-minute walk back should be a reason­ able restorative answer to the week­ ends o f student hedonism we “minds o f the future” so enjoy. After my first couple o f classes

mend giving an ‘active lifestyle’ a go. Forfeiting an episode or two of nonsense TV shows, or even a read­ ing or two (if you're a sensible and diligent student like myself) is defi­ nitely worth it.

RESEA R C H

McGill research sheds light on hidden genetic potential P r o f e s s o r E h a b A b o u h e i f d i s c u s s e s h i s r e s e a r c h a n d its i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r f u t u r e s t u d i e s o f e v o l u t i o n

G

roundbreaking research at McGill is shedding light on the importance o f en­ vironmental stress on evolution. Researchers led by Professor Ehab Abouheif, a Canada Research Chair in Evolutionary Developmental Biology, recently created “super­ soldiers” of the ant genus P h eid ole m orissi in the lab. The “super” ants sport huge, oblong, heads and ultra­ sharp mandibles. They measure about three times the size of a nor­ mal soldier ant. Abouheif’s study, published in S cien ce, is thought to illustrate effects of what is known as dormant genetic potential—dormant qualities that are locked in place for

publish in the top journals, like N a­ ture and S cien ce, it’s very competi­ tive. They only accept about fiveseven per cent of the writings they receive. Then it’s like a lottery. You can be convinced that you’ve found something groundbreaking, but the editors and anonymous reviewers have to be excited about your work as well.

How do you manage to create these "supersoldier" ants in the lab?

why is that? It turns out that theSe other species use a different strategy to defend themselves. They use what is called “nest evacuation,” where they evacuate nests that they occupy. This renders the need for supersol­ diers obsolete. They have the po­ tential to produce supersoldiers, but natural selection has given them an alternative strategy to survive. How­ ever, this doesn’t negate the fact that the potential is still there and is only brought to fruition under specific circumstances that can be created in

You are opening a lot of doors. What does the future hold for this research? Now that we’ve said, look, there’s more to these anomalies—at least in P h eid o le—the question is whether these implications extend beyond these ants. People can look for the same evidence in other spe­ cies too, and that’s a different story. Another reason why we can make this discovery in ants is be­ cause it was easily observable. The traits were distinctive—look at those humungous heads. Imagine if it was a missing limb, then it’s harder to detect. Another reason is the social

it, do it because you are passion­ ate about it and when the opportu­ nity arises, grab it and then follow your heart and your senses. It’s that passion that will keep you floating through the downturns that occur.

Did you encounter failures over the course of the study? All the time. What you see is the success, but this paper took eight years. The amount o f failures var­ ies—either due to some basic chem­ ical that was missing, or having ants

aspect o f ants. Like humans who

die on us because they weren’t fed properly. Once, we brought a colony o f supersoldiers into the lab for ob­ servation. We were very excited, just very eager to see how they behave.

right.

We’ve heard about whales with hind limbs, snakes with arms, birds with teeth, and humans with an extra nipple. These are not weird features—they’re modem domesti­ cated species that still display char­ acteristics o f their ancestors. Whales

take care of their less fortunate, ants will take care of each other no mat­ ter what. If these anomalies pop up in species that are individualistic, they will be wiped out completely due to competition. These anomalies won’t persist and we might have not

Then another nasty species of ants in the incubators got out, formed a trail, went in to the colonies and massacred them all, before we could come and actually see anything. It was frustrating. We had to go back to Long Island, N.Y., find another

at one time lived on land (hence the limbs). Before, people thought that these anomalies popping out were just ‘slips’ in the evolutionary pro­ cess, nothing more. What we are

been able to see them today.

W ithout hormone intervention in the lab, why do ra-e "supersol­ diers" occur in the natural envi­ ronment?

batch, scan the P h eid ole colony for supersoldiers, and ship them in all over again. What you see is the end product, the result of failing with

Congratulations on being pub­ lished in S c ie n c e . How do you choose what to send to the bigname journals?

What we observe is that P h ei­ d o le colonies use supersoldiers to defend their nests when other colo­ nies attack. We also observed anoth­ er ant species that live in the same exact environment with the P h eid ole

showing, for the first time, is that these anomalies are actually species’ hidden potentials that are locked in place for millions o f years. They’re just sitting there all this while, dor­ mant. Given the right environmen­

The most important thing is, first of all, embrace chance because we are all presented with opportuni­ ties that are completely random and we must seize them with passion. You just follow your heart. Don’t do

I only send my best ones. To

but don’t produce supersoldiers. So

tal triggers, they can be unleashed.

anything just for the sake o f doing

millions o f years, but may be in­ voked into existence by natural se­ lection and allow species to realize hidden potential. As a child, Abouheif aspired to be a heart surgeon, but his interest in answering philosophical ques­ tions—like why we have five fin­ gers or why leaves are green and shaped the way they are—led him to the field of evolutionary biology. The Tribune sat down with Prof. Abouheif last week to discuss his re­ search and its possible implications.

On the last stage o f metamor­ phosis, P h eid ole larva release a cer­ tain amount of a hormone, called juvenile hormone. If the hormone level passes a certain threshold, the ant develops into a soldier. We thought that in the lab, if we intro­ duce larvae with more hormones beyond the threshold just before the crucial switch, we might be able to produce supersoldiers. And we were

the lab.

What do you think is the ground­ breaking aspect of your published results?

Any advice for those who want to go in to the field of science? Some words of wisdom?

sparkles o f success. This interview h as b een con ­ d en sed an d ed ited . —C om p iled by F a ra h H anani Sam

R ESEA R C H

St. Lawrence river may hold clues to the ocean's future M c G ill p r o fe s s o r p lu m b s t h e d e p t h s o f t h e l o w e r S t. L a w r e n c e , f in d in g a c id if ic a t io n a n d o x y g e n d e p le t io n Leigh M ille r Contributor___________ A paper that was first drafted in a bar in Mont-Joli has been recog­

ocean by the end o f the century. We’re getting an early glimpse of how the ocean will respond to this acidification,” he said. In 2002, Mucci began to study the oxygen levels in the St. Law­ rence River. He discovered that oxygen concentrations had been decreasing gradually for at least one hundred years. Oxygen concentration is part

so lucky. In the St. Lawrence Estuary, the lower oxygen levels are largely the result o f changing ocean currents. The young, cold, oxygen-rich wa­

Lawrence. Mucci compared historical measurements—specifically dis­ solved oxygen concentrations and pH—with his own data to get a pic­ ture o f how the river has changed over time. His results show that the deeper waters o f the lower St. Law­ rence have become steadily more acidic. Studies like M ucci’s are giving scientists the chance to look at how changing atmospheric conditions and oceanic currents will affect the oceans o f the world and their eco­ systems. “[What is] really neat, but near­ ly catastrophic, is that what we’re seeing in the St. Lawrence now is

“Cod can’t live for more than 90 minutes under those [hypoxic] conditions,” Mucci said. Although fish can swim to bet­ ter waters, shellfish and other bot­

ters from the Labrador Sea that used to wash into the estuary have been replaced by warmer central Atlantic waters that are oxygen depleted. The reason for the shift is hard to pinpoint because o f the complex­ ity o f ocean current systems. But worryingly, a climate change model developed at Princeton University suggests that the Gulf Stream is shifting northward, meaning that the St. Lawrence Estuary may be receiv­ ing more central Atlantic waters in the future. The problem is aggravated by an increasing demand for oxygen in the estuary. Over the last 80 years, the St. Lawrence has become much richer in organic matter, fed by mu­ nicipal and industrial waste. These nutrients feed thriving plankton and bacteria communities that require increasing amounts o f oxygen as their populations grow. The result is a big change in

what’s predicted to happen to the

tom-dwelling sea creatures are not

chemical balance that hits the bot­

nized by Q u ebec S cien ce M agazine as one o f the top 10 discoveries in 2011. The paper, written by McGill earth and planetary science profes­ sor Alfonso Mucci, is the result of a study on water quality in the St.

o f a chemical balance in the water related to CO 2 levels. An important effect o f high CO 2 (and low oxy­ gen) levels is acidification. When CO 2 dissolves in water it becomes an acid; any Coke and Mentos dem­ onstration will show this in action. The Coke is acidic because o f its carbonation, Mentos are basic, and the results o f combining an acid and a base are explosive. Hypoxic (low oxygen) zones under water are deadly to marine life.

tom o f the water column hardest. “You are literally adding acid to the water. So the waters have become acidified about four to six times more rapidly than the surface ocean waters in equilibrium with the atmo­ sphere,” Mucci said. Acidification in the bottom wa­

these minerals are no longer stable, so basically their shells dissolve,” Mucci said. His work has spurred research into the biological impact o f the acidification. Partnering with micro­ biologists from Concordia and bi­ ologists at Laval University, Mucci

ters is bad news for creatures like bi­ valves such as mussels and clams, as well as crab. Bivalve shells are made from calcium carbonate, a basic ma­

is now studying the effects from the bottom up by looking at bacteria and phytoplankton. “We’re looking at how more acidic waters will impact their pro­ ductivity ... and how that impacts

terial. Crab use the same material to patch their battle wounds. “The [water’s] pH is such that

the rest o f the food chain.”

N ATIO N A L

SOPA m igrates north

S c ie n c e & T e c h n o lo g y C a le n d a r

C a n a d a a tte m p ts to re fo rm c o p y rig h t la w Lucas T oph am

Contributor

The fight between the enter­ tainment industry and illegal file sharers has moved north o f the bor­ der, with Bill C - ll set to reach the floor o f Canadian Parliament this

consumers from transferring media from one medium to another if there is a digital lock on the media. This would mean that moving content from a DVD to an iPod would be il­ legal. Currently, it is not prohibited to transfer media from one form to another, thus the digital lock provi­

Week o f February 7th - 10th

EUS A ca d em ic W eek

held on Thursday, will focus on professional degrees like medicine

The Engineering Undergradu­ ate Society (EUS) is holding its an­ nual A-week—a week-long series o f talks by professors, and other

and law. Both events will be held in Frank Dawson Adams Building Room 5 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. On Wednesday at noon, Professir In-Ho Jung from the faculty o f

in engineering, computer science, and the physical sciences, will be held on Wednesday. A joint effort between the E U S, the Engineer­ ing Career Center (ECC), and the Computer Science Student Society (C SU S), the event aims to help un­

week. Bill C - ll is the latest iteration

sion would supersede the current

faculty events aimed at promoting

mining and materials engineering

dergraduates network with employ­

in a series o f proposed amendments to Canada’s Copyright Act which aim to provide more powerful tools in governing copyright violations.

fair use rights o f the consumer. There are also concerns amongst critics that lawmakers are pushing to include many of the elements seen

post-graduate career options for en­ gineers. On Tuesday evening, the EUS will host a wine and cheese network­

will speak on his research, “Recy­ cling o f Rare Earth Elements from NdFeB permanent magnets.” The talk will be held in FDA Room 5,

ers.

Bill C - ll is the fourth attempt to reform Canada’s Copyright Act and is one that, for the most part, is a fair and balanced compromise between the security demanded by the entertainment industry and the

in SOPA, like DNS blacklisting, in Bill C - ll . However, none o f these provisions are in the bill yet. The last three attempts at re­ forming Canada’s Copyright Act have all been blocked by election calls and were never truly consid­

ing event for engineers interested in careers in management. Three speakers with degrees in engineer­ ing who entered the field o f man­ agement will speak on their expe­ riences. A second wine and cheese,

from 12 p.m. - 1 p.m.

rights o f consumers. For example, Bill C - ll would legalize the ability to record TV shows and make back­ ups o f media that people own. In acknowledgement o f recent musical trends, there is also a remix provi­ sion that protects individuals who create mash-ups for their own- non­ commercial use. One point o f contention in the bill, however, is the proposed digital lock provision, that would prohibit

McGill T echfair The McGill Techfair, an annual technology career fair for students

ered before the House o f Commons. The proposed bill underwent many changes over that period, but critics still feel that not enough has been done. Government House Leader Peter Van Loan stated that the gov­ ernment hopes to pass it within the next few months. It seems Bill C - ll won’t go the way of its predeces­ sors.

C o m e to o u r S c ie n c e a n d T e c h n o lo g y m e e tin g s o n T u e s d a y s

a t 5 :3 0

in S h a t n e r

1 1 0

Corporate attendees at the last Techfair in Fall 2010 included: Bombardier Aerospace, Electronic Arts, IB M , Microsoft, and Research in Motion. The fair will be held from 9:30 p.m to 3:30 p.m. in New Residence Hall.

V ISU A L A RT

A beautiful apocalypse G u y G lo r ie u x 's p in h o le c a m e r a p h o to g r a p h y e x h ib itio n m a k e s M o n t r e a l u n c a n n y Emma Hambly

Just as the crade cameras pro­ duce stunning images, Glorieux makes art out o f the city’s bleaker

Guy Glorieux’s pinhole camera photography exhibition at the M c­ Cord Museum presents Montreal from a unique perspective. The exhibition, Im pression s o f a C ity: M ontreal Through a P in h ole,

aspects. Many o f the photos show

Contributor

the ugly sides o f Montreal: a gaping construction pit, the Studio X X X advertisements for a peep show, and La Belle Province and its 95 cent hot dogs. These, however, are some of the best prints, with interesting per­ spectives and stunning contrast. The feature piece of the show displaces viewers even more. The print is a five-metre long view of the Montreal Contemporary Art Mu­

features pinhole photography by French-bom Canadian artist Glo­ rieux. The eighteen prints showcase Montreal transformed from a vibrant metropolis into a disjointed ghost town.

seum, warped beyond recognition.

Pinhole cameras are simple: they feature a small aperture, in this case 1.5 mm, which allows light to filter through onto photosensitive paper or film at the back o f the box. The images are recorded as nega­

It’s an intentional distortion made by placing the photosensitive paper on a diagonal plane, rather than one perpendicular to the pinhole. The re­ sult is anamorphosis: the dismption

tives, with light and dark reversed, and left and right mirrored. Most of the photographs in the exhibition were made with entire hotel rooms turned into makeshift cameras. Glo­ rieux blocked out the windows, left a tiny hole, and covered the back wall in film. The result? Large, looming prints of Montreal, where dark is light, left is right, and black is white. Glorieux photographs the most recognizable parts o f Montreal: the Jacques Cartier bridge, the comer of St. Laurent and St. Catherine, and City Hall, to name a few. But the prints are anything but familiar. The reversal o f light and perspective ren­ ders Montreal uncanny. It is a city

Glorieux's pinhole photos show Montreal in a different light. (Guy Glorieux)

o f perspective used by painters such as da Vinci and Holbein. The mu­ seum appears deformed from almost everywhere, but when you stand on the designated spot, the elongated mass of a building stretches into

of blurry edges, glass landscapes of warped funhouse mirrors, trans­ lucent wisps o f passing cars, and glowing, phantasmal buildings. The absence of life is haunt­ ing. The three-hour exposure time removes any memory o f people— just vast and displaced buildings. “The result is a barren, disquieting, ghostly city. A city draped in a stel­ lar night, its buildings lit up as if for a final celebration. Its dwellers seem

to have fled in great haste leaving everything behind, even their cars. A city is frozen in time,” Glorieux describes. The snow white vistas, ominous black skies, and utter lack of vitality suggests some kind of fallout. The streets are empty, the colours are gone, and everything is backwards. It’s an apocalypse, but a beautiful one. The exhibition treats the photos like star performers. The space is

dim and the photos are illuminated by spotlights, further emphasizing Glorieux’s contrast between light and dark. Glorieux’s collection of different pinhole cameras shows how simple devices can produce beautiful things. One display holds pinhole cameras made out o f a paint can, a handmade wooden box held together with Velcro, and even a cardboard box that housed fresh dates before it held camera film.

place. Glorieux’s work is about mak­ ing the familiar unfamiliar. His unique pinhole prints turn Montreal into an eerie world where very little make sense. The photos are beauti­ ful and fascinating, and all the more so because they are so chilling. Impressions o f a City runs until M ay 27. Visit w w w .m usee-m ccord. q c .c a fo r m ore in form ation .

M U SIC

Passovah turns four, celebrates with friends A n n i v e r s a r y s h o w a t II M o t o r e f o c u s e s o n c o m m u n i t y

Ryan Taylor

Managing Editor

the night, including members of Sunset Rubdown, Adam and the

II Motore first opened in late 2008, its isolated location on Jean-Talon

Amethysts, and many more.

seemed miles away from Montreal’s

POP Montreal. Working with two

“I love seeing weird musicians from across the music board,” says Bick. “Putting Lisa Gamble in the same room as Caroline Keating, it’s a funny little mixture.”

other big name promotion groups might seem like a conflict of inter­ est, but Bick asserts that he has found Passovah’s niche in drawing attention to young local bands and helping them grow. “I ’m still trying to book really good bands [and] bring in bands that I really like, but there’s this focus on community now ... the purpose of Passovah is going to be

D00*S vrm Aiujtc 9Pm m I Ô L A C T S / pxtE r a p 0', T

still trying to book these cutting

TW

Friday to celebrate. Founded by Noah B ick, a U2 English student, the music promo­ tion and production company began

Bick has put on these types of multi-performer shows before, not

traditional music hubs in the Pla­ teau and Mile End. However, it has quickly become the go-to venue for independent music, and since then, places like Dépanneur Le Pick-Up and Marché Soupson have sprang up and become local fixtures in the

organizing shows in late 2007 at the now-defunct Griffintown venue, the Friendship Cove. What initially began as monthly loft parties has

only to showcase many of the bands he has befriended over the years, but also to break up the monotony that comes with traditional setlists.

burgeoning arts community north o f Van Home. To celebrate this, the latter will be providing free soup for those who show up early.

Passovah is growing up and throwing a party at II Motore this

since expanded into four or five shows each month. Four years later, Bick has put on over 90 perfor­ mances with such notable acts as Braids, Women, and Mamie Stem. Friday’s show features 12 local musicians from a variety o f genres playing 15-minute sets throughout

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TH EATRE

Meant for the stage P la y e rs ' T h e a t r e a d a p t s D e c e m b e r is ts ' T h e H a z a r d s o f L o v e Alex Knoll

Contributor

Oscar Wilde once said, “Life imitates art far more than art imi­ tates life.” Two McGill students have shown how beautifully art can imitate itself. After two full years of writing and planning, what started as an idea has finally become a reality for James Hugh Keenan Campbell and Charles Harries. Together, the two have written and directed The H azards o f L o v e: A F o lk O pera. Does the title ring a bell? The H azards o f L ove is an album and folk opera by American indie-folk band the Decemberists. The band originally wrote The H azards o f L ov e with the intention o f making it a musical, but the idea never mate­ rialized until Campbell and Harries took on the task themselves. “It’s not every day that a re­ ally good band comes out with a really good album that tells a com­ plete story,” Harries says. “There’s always this idea o f concept albums; sometimes they loosely follow a theme which loosely follows a story, but this one actually put down a whole plot. All o f the pieces were

The Decemberists' album takes to the stage. (Anna Katycheva / McGill Tribune)

there. It just took us time to put them

Steve G ates: A Bee In H er Mouth In the search for new music, I somehow always find myself drawn towards those artists that hail from the East Coast. It’s a fertile scene with many talented musicians, and Steve Gates’ debut record, A B ee in H er M outh, is no exception. The album is full o f collaborations with other Halifax-based artists includ­

Foxy Shazam : The Church of R ock and Roll Creating seemingly outdated music may seem like a lost cause in today’s world o f music, but Foxy Shazam are skipping down the per­ fect path with their latest release of authentic and emotional rock music. Their electric fourth studio album, The C hurch o f R ock an d R oll, has

ing Jenn Grant, Dan Ledwell, and Rose Cousins, who each add a spe­ cial touch to the overall feel of the album.

everything a great album should: sharp Freddie Mercury-esque vo­ cals, copious amounts o f intricate and distorted guitar solos, funky ska-influenced horn sections, and

Gates presents his music with a truth that most artists lack, lay­ ing down the album as a collection of stories. Listeners will find them­ selves drawn further into Gates’ beautiful narrative as they listen to each song in sequence. Songs like “Bright Blue Candy Suns” entice the listener to delve into their own emotions, and more upbeat tunes such as “Keepin’ People Out” sim­ ply make you want to get up and

together and write a libretto.” Using the album as their cre­ ative blueprint, the two had to use their imaginations to create a full script. “The album was written with all these dramatic moments, but the storyline itself is quite ambigu­ ous,” Campbell explains. “It took a lot of brainstorming and arguing to make strong decisions, but it was

dance. You might find yourself lis­ tening to this leisurely on a snowy Sunday afternoon, or enjoying it as as a mellow harmony that lulls you to sleep. Those were the two ways I found myself enjoying Gates’ folky melodies and unique vocals.

really cool to work within that struc­ ture and write in a connect-the-dots method.” The story is presented as an “anti-fairytale.” It opens with two

Steve Gates has put together an album that doesn’t disappoint, with each song delivering what’s needed on cue. “Down to the River” pro­ vides the perfect ending to the per­

lovers (William and Margaret) too distracted by their own happiness to have another care in the world. However, this happy beginning starts to fall apart with a pregnancy and the introduction o f several vil­ lainous characters, including Wil­ liam’s jealous fairy queen mother and the evil Rake. This upside-down love story evolves and is o f course interspersed with the music o f The H azards o f L ove. One might think it risky to take on such an ambitious project in tandem, but Harries and Camp­ bell found that collaboration helped make their shared project reach its full potential. Both operated to­ gether to envision scenes during the writing process. “It was very funny considering

(americansongwriter.com) many of the scenes are between two lovers. People would walk past and I ’d be on my knees holding Charles’ hands confessing my love for him. It happened a lot. Professors that once respected me ... I’m not sure about

atre once before, and we didn’t get it, which was fair because the script wasn’t done,” Harries says. Despite this initial rejection, the guys didn’t throw in the towel. “It was an exercise in tenacity.

that now,” Campbell jokes. “We were also able to take more risks with the writing because we knew we had each other. It’s very diffi­

It forced us to sit down and try again. We got together three or four times a week and just sort o f reworked it.” It seem s the “hazards” o f hard work have fin ally paid o ff.

cult to self-criticize, so if something didn’t work out then one o f us would cut it out. It might have been a much more conservative script if either of us had written it alone.” Listening to the duo discuss the play, their passion for the project is evident, even though there were some early setbacks. “We pitched it to Player’s The­

even a gospel-sounding chorus on some tracks. The album is capable of taking you through an entire era with each listen. Their old-soul sound, most re­ cently produced by Justin Hawkins, the flamboyant lead singer of the British band the Darkness, has taken a unique turn here. With a fusion o f new ska, punk, soul, and classic rock, it’s not hard to follow this band like “a flock o f sheep,” as Nally sings in the opening track. Foxy Shazam don’t expect to appeal to the masses, but rather they poke fun at and accept their status as a niche band. The message o f their music is still crystal clear; Foxy Shazam envision themselves as today’s leading preachers in the present-day Church of Rock and Roll, and we are simply believers.

fect story, and one that’s well worth the journey. —K athleen M asaki

Follow us on Tw itter @ m c g ill_ tr ib u n e

The Hazards o f Love: A Folk O pera p e r fo r m s a t P la y ­ e r s ’ T h ea tre F eb r u a ry 8-11 an d 1 5 -1 8 a t 8 p .m . T ick ets a r e $ 6 f o r stu d en ts. E m a il fo h .p la y e r s @ g m a il.c o m to r e s e r v e tic k e ts .

—V anessa S alvo

FILM I n

D

a

r k

n

e s s

sparkles, but fails to shine

D ir e c to r A g n ie s z k a H o lla n d c r e a te s a n a m b it io u s b u t la c k lu s te r t a le o f H o lo c a u s t s u rv iv a l Ilia B linderm an

Contributor

Despite my initial excitement for In D arkn ess, Agnieszka Hol­ land’s Oscar-nominated depiction of a Polish man’s real-life efforts to save a group o f Jewish people dur­ ing World War II, I could not help but feel a tinge o f disappointment when the film ended. Holland knows that a film set

for a price, hiding the exiles from

rope. As children play, and life in the

the Nazis in the city’s labyrinthine

dark sewers drags along, the prayer

drainpipes. Holland starkly chron­ icles their lives over the next 14 months—the Jews, living with the incessant fear o f capture, and Socha, somehow transforming from greedy thief to selfless guardian. The film’s

o f an orthodox man in soiled ritual

events need no maudlin adornments to evoke indignation and despair: a German soldier laughs as he rips off a middle-aged Jew ’s beard on the morbidly grey streets of the ghetto,

uncle, the script hampers the view­ er’s connection with the film. In­ stead of an astute look at a circum­ scribed set o f characters, Holland tries to do too much, and thereby

garb and phylacteries fills the shot. Despite a strong performance by Wieckiewicz, whose corpulent build and expressive demeanor might remind one o f a no-nonsense

inherently

brandishing it like a scalp; the depic­

neglects to address a number of sa­

evokes a sense o f acute, almost sickeningly unbearable injustice in the mind o f the viewer. With this in mind, she presents the story with a

tion of a young woman giving birth in the dark, putrid tunnels below the city’s cathedral, biting down on a filthy rag to swallow her screams, is

blunt, eastern European lack of em­ bellishment. The film’s lynchpin, Leopold Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz), is a part-time burglar who encounters a group o f Jewish ex­ iles fleeing the ghetto. Ever the opportunist, Socha offers his help

even more visceral. Apart from sev­ eral small inconsistencies, the score emphasizes these scenes perfectly. Despite scant mention o f religion in the film, the music can be an eerie

lient questions. How is it that a man who is comfortable scavenging the houses o f the taken and the dead, for example, who happily punches a German boy in the opening se­ quence, grows to repeatedly risk his

during

the

Holocaust

reminder o f the root cause o f Jewish exceptionalism in a changing Eu­

own life to save a handful of Jews who struggle to pay him? This lack o f depth is noticeable through the film, which foregoes the psychological exploration o f indi­

In Darkness tells a devasting, real-life Holocaust story, (metropolefilms.com) viduals and events necessary for us to establish the most direct and im­ mediate connections with the sce­ nario. The pervading sense that we are watching the horrific events of the shamefully recent past has, to a degree, allowed Holland to omit the more subtle aspects o f a poignant picture. This reliance on a sense o f history to provide the necessary

emotional cache is commonplace, but I cannot help but be somewhat reproachful—one comes away with an artificial sense of having truly un­ derstood the lives o f people whose presence on screen was, in actuality, superficial. A story of life during one o f the worst tragedies o f the twentieth cen­ tury surely deserves more than that.

VISUAL ART

Three exhibits open at Museum of Contem porary Art F e m a le a r tis ts a d d r e s s s e x u a l n o r m s a n d s te r e o t y p e s t h r o u g h a b s t r a c t w o r k s visuals, such as her most notable piece, “Revolution 2.0,” a dazzling explosion o f kaleidoscopic colours spiraling from the centre o f a mas­ sive canvas. Her bold use of provoc­

tures. Many o f her works are opti­ cal illusions and their hybrid forms evoke wonderment similar to the imaginary creatures found in fan­ tasy novels. The range o f different aesthetics demonstrates her versatil­ ity as an artist, as her sculptures in­ clude a three-metre high monolithic creation, to two ceramic bottom-half figures intertwined against a mirror. Together these unique and tal­ ented artists break down perpetuated notions o f female stereotypes, sexu­ ality, and artistic traditions through a resonant collection of works.

“Three grand artists, one shock-

sues o f sexuality, femininity, and

o f her exhibition, entitled “Moth Girls,” includes rows o f hundreds of half-insect, half-female ceramic figurines with leather wings and feather antennae attached directly to

wave” was the slogan at the open­ ing o f the new art exposition last Wednesday at the Museum of Con­ temporary Art. The title couldn’t be more fitting, as the works o f Valérie Blass, Ghada Amer, and Wangechi

politics envisioned in an African and Western context. Her works attempt­ ed to establish new conventional

a wall. It evokes a strange and visu­ ally overwhelming beauty, reflect­ ing the sad hierarchy established by

ative imagery and contrast o f mono­ chromatic rendering with brightly coloured and technical embroidery

norms to undermine existing stereo­

human beings. Adjacent to the exhibition was Ghada Amer’s collection. Amer’s works serve to challenge artistic norms and beliefs in the context of sensuality and autoeroticism through the use o f embroidery against ren­ dered female pornographic images

create pieces that are visually chal­ lenging yet beautiful in their ambi­

Linda Sarvi

Contributor

Mutu impose an impressive pre­ sense, showcasing their latest mas­ terpieces in three exhibitions that reflect their unique personas. Their over-the-top and otherworldly visu­ als are crafted works o f the imagina­ tion and a feast for the eyes and soul of art enthusiasts. The museum was abuzz with the sounds o f conversation, music, and the clinking o f wine glasses as dozens gathered to take a first look at the works of these esteemed fe­ male artists. Guests made their way

BRO KE?

through the various areas o f the ex­ hibitions, alternating between differ­ ent artistic worlds. Wagechi Mutu touched on is­

types portrayed in the media and the seemingly biased understanding of the world vis-à-vis a Western-dom­ inated society. The works reflect a strong chemistry between living organisms, human beings, and the power o f nature through a surrealist hybridization o f female figures with animal prints, textures, and stylized bodies. Her repeated use o f mixed media collages and delicate colour palettes illustrate hallucinatory and larger-than-life portraits o f outland­ ish female representations that ju x­ tapose the ideas o f empowerment and femininity. The centerpiece

that range in colour and scale. Her use o f coloured threads sewn on top of repeated pornographic figures on large canvasses create a layered aesthetic and inspire contradictory feelings. Questions o f eroticism and o f cultural norms are striking; her work challenges conventional workmanship through electrifying

W ANT TO SEE FR EE M O V IE S ?

guity. Quebec’s Valérie Blass con­ cludes the exposition by demon­ strating her own revolutionary sculptures. Blass has pioneered a unique artistic approach to sculp­ turing by traversing classical tradi­ tions o f sculpture and incorporating diverse mass-produced materials as part o f her media. Her approach has been termed “anachronic con­ temporary.” Her materials, found

A ll th ree exhibition s run until A pril 22 at the M useum o f C ontem ­ p orary A rt (185 St. C ath erin e). Visit w w w .m acm .org fo r m ore in form a­ tion.

in antique shops, flea markets, and hardware stores, were used to create free-standing human-scale sculp­

CA TCH UP ON THE LA TEST M U S IC ?

W R IT E F O R l A&E! A RTS@ M C G I L L T R I B U N E .C O M

fd f/ rJ H O C K E Y — R ED M EN 2 , C O N C O R D IA 4 (FRI)

R ED M EN 4 , CA R LETO N 3 (SA T )

Redmen split hard fought w eekend M c G i l l s o l i d i f i e s f i r s t o v e r a l l p o s i t i o n in R S E Q w i t h w i n o v e r C a r l e t o n f o l l o w i n g s h o c k i n g l o s s t o C o n c o r d i a C h risto p h er N ardi

profit from the man advantage. Car­ leton struck first in the period, but McGill captain Evan Vossen scored what proved to be the game-winning fourth goal for the Redmen late in the second to end the stanza 4-1. “We had a real good start, I felt like we were really moving our feet in the first 40 minutes,” Nobes ex­

Sports Editor

he Redmen played their last home games o f the regular sea­ son this past weekend, and the re­ sult was a 1-1 split. The team came out flat Friday night and fell to the Concordia Stingers in a stunning 4-2

T

plained. “We were up 3-0 because we were moving our feet, we were driving the middle land and had good net-front presence. We were

upset, but were able to right the ship on Saturday in a closely fought 4-3 win over the Carleton Ravens. This season marks the fourth time in McGill history that the Red­ men reached the 20-win plateau, and the second season in a row the team could finish first in the RSEQ divi­ sion following last year’s 24-win, 50-point performance. The weekend began with M c­ Gill hosting the Concordia Sting­

also strong in the second period.” The Ravens came alive in the third period, suddenly remembering that this game was crucial to their path to the playoffs. McGill also played another undisciplined period o f hockey, racking up eight more penalty minutes, while Carleton fo­

ers (13-10-2), who are fighting to remain in the playoff race. McGill started strong and Marc-Andre Dorion scored the first goal with 39 seconds remaining in the period. Concordia came back to tie it in the second period with a powerplay goal on a slashing penalty from MarcAndre Daneau, his first o f three mi­ nors throughout the game. The third period saw McGill play very undisciplined hockey, and they paid a steep price for their mis­ takes. Thanks to two tripping penal­ ties to Picard-Hooper and Daneau 48 seconds apart, Concordia took the lead with two quick powerplay goals 32 seconds apart midway through the frame, making the score 3-1. M cG ill’s Francis Verreault-

McGill ends their 2011-2012 home season with a great effort against Carleton. (Ryan Reisert / McGill Tribune) Paul, the team’s leading scorer (Tthird in goals scored in the league), tallied with less than five minutes

Nobes said. “After they took the lead, I still felt like we were coming off strong, we had good net-front

two teams all season, as McGill won the rubber match of the three-game series. JVIcGill once again came

left to the game, but the Redmen’s comeback was stifled when Concor­ dia’s Michael Stinziani scored an empty netter, putting the game out

presence, we were getting good scor­ ing opportunities. Overall, I don’t think it was a poor performance, it was just a game where we didn’t get

o f reach for the home team. “Their goaltending was really strong I think, and we weren’t able to solve them,” Head Coach Kelly

the bounces in the right areas.” Saturday’s game against the Carleton Ravens capped what has been an exciting series between the

out strong, this time notching three goals by Jean-Francois Boisvert, Alex Picard-Hooper, and Francis Verreault-Paul to end the first 20 minutes leading 3-0. It was a heated second period as both teams received three minor penalties, but neither team could

cused on getting the puck on the net. The Ravens’ strategy proved much wiser as they scored two powerplay goals in the first five minutes o f the period to cut M cGill’s lead down to one. However, the Redmens’ goaltender Hubert Morin put on a goal­ tending masterclass for the rest of the period in order to keep McGill in the game, stopping 33 of the 36 shots he faced in total and leading the team to their 20th win o f the season. “In the third period we took our foot off the gas a little bit, which we weren’t happy about because we want to play a full 60 minutes,” said Nobes. “Overall though, it was a good effort for us.”

THIRD MAN IN On Jan. 23, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston

oured in the first place for his Conn Smythe-worthy goaltending,

was essential to the Bruins’ victory, and yet he decided not to attend.

Bruins made a commemorative visit to the White House in order to have their accomplishment recog­ nized by the country’s commander-in-chief. This ritual dates back to 1865, when President Andrew Johnson invited baseball teams to

claims he believes the government has “grown out o f control” and is acting “in direct opposition to the Constitution.” However, the goaltender also noted that his decision was “not about politics.” Not about politics? Thomas

the White House to celebrate their victorious seasons. Nowadays, it’s an annual tradition for the champi­ onship team in any North American sport to visit the president in cele­ bration o f their accomplishments. However, in a shocking turn of events, the team visited the White House without their star goaltender and playoff M VP Tim Thomas. Thomas, the primary rea­ son that the team was being hon­

refused to visit the centre o f Ameri­ can politics to meet with the commander-in-chief, citing disagree­ ments with the state o f the gov­ ernment. I honestly don’t see how he could have made his statement more political. Before addressing his reason­ ing, the decision itself must be de­ bated. The trip to the White House is supposed to be a celebration of the team’s success. Tim Thomas

Thomas, one of only two Ameri­ can-born players on the roster—the other being seventh defenceman Steven Kampfer—should have been front and centre to shake hands with Barack Obama. Instead, Finnish-born backup goalie Tuukka Rask, Czech defenseman Tomas Kaberle, and Canadian tough guy Shawn Thornton stood right behind Obama at the reception. I will concede that Thomas has the right “as a free citizen,” as he said, to do exactly as he wants. That said, playing a team sport is about unity o f purpose and the pursuit o f common goals. In decid­ ing not to attend the White House event, Tim Thomas placed himself

above his teammates. He might as well have said, “My personal be­ liefs are more important than team accomplishments.” What frustrates me most about the situation is Thomas’ refusal to address his decision or his politi­ cal beliefs outside o f a post on his Facebook page. If he truly believes that the state of American politics is horrible enough to influence his actions, then he should bring atten­ tion to the problems that exist, rath­ er than hide from his own actions. He should have taken advantage of his position in the public eye to dis­ cuss his beliefs and increase pub­ lic awareness of what he considers problematic. Instead, Tim Thomas hid behind a Facebook post and refused to comment. He simply

clicked “not attending.” As the NHL season enters its playoff stretch, the Tim Thomas story will fade into the past and will cease to be relevant as soon as the Bruins start winning hockey games. And, as I ’m sure most oth­ ers believe, the Bruins may very well defend their Stanley Cup title, which will only lead to another trip to the White House a year from now. As a Montreal Canadiens fan, and consequently a Boston Bruins hater, I hope that never happens. But suppossing it does, what will Tim Thomas do then? “Maybe at­ tending” for now, I guess. — T revor D rum m ond

T u esd ay, F eb ru a ry 7, 2 0 1 2

BA SK E TB A L L — M A R T LE TS 6 9 , LAVAL 6 4

Making it look easy: M artlets win seventh straight M c G i l l w o m e n ' s b a s k e t b a l l t e a m d e f e a t s L a v a l in a n a l l - a r o u n d e f f o r t S teven L am p e rt

the last two minutes of the third. The Martlets entered the final

Sports Editor

quarter with a 14-point lead and maintained their stranglehold on the game, despite a few late but insig­ nificant baskets by Laval. The contest was characterized by strong all-around play by the Martlets, as they received contribu­ tions from their entire team. One standout was freshman Tiye Traore, who contributed to M cG ill’s 40-28 advantage on the glass, grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds. Nine dif­

Winning is becoming routine for the McGill women’s basket­ ball team, as the Martlets defeated the Laval Rouge et Or on Saturday night in a game in which they never trailed. The 69-64 victory was M c­ G ill’s seventh straight to start the new year, and the ninth o f their last 10 dating back to 2011, placing them atop the R SEQ standings. The Martlets were again an­

ferent Martlets scored during the game, and veteran guard Natalie Larocque wasn’t even one of them, a sign that this team has the depth nec­ essary to guide them to the RSEQ championship. The win comes a day after the Martlets dropped Bishop’s by a score of 63-55, marking another suc­ cessful weekend for the women. The two victories leave McGill with 18 points, six more than second-place

chored by senior centre Anneth Him-Lazarenko, who recorded her second double-double in as many nights, with 19 points and a gamehigh 13 rebounds. Him-Lazarenko was particularly effective at the foul line, where she went seven for eight, a good sign for a team that has strug­ gled o f late from the charity stripe. McGill started the game on a quick 11-4 run, helped by five quick points from guard Marie-Eve Mar­ tin, who continued her fine season with 12 points and three rebounds on the night. Laval closed the gap by the end o f the first quarter thanks to their strong perimeter shooting. This outside shooting prow­ ess didn’t stop, as the Rouge et Or were extremely proficient from the outside (9/14 3PT) throughout the game, led by Elyse Jobin and Chanelle St-Amour, who finished

with 18 and 20 points respectively. After McGill extended their lead to 10 with under four minutes to play in the first half, St-Amour and fel­ low teammate Sandrine Ducruc net­ ted two threes to cut the Martlets’ lead to six at halftime. McGill is becoming known around the R SEQ as a team that often falls behind early, but makes

FROM THE C H E A P f

a couple of pushes by the Rouge et Or. Him-Lazarenko scored eight of M cG ill’s first nine points o f the half, extending the Martlets’ lead to nine midway through the quarter. Laval,

late runs in the second half to come back. On Saturday, however, they were faced with a new task—having to defend a lead for an entire half. They opened the third quarter with play that mirrored their first half—solid shooting, precise ball movement, and dominance on the glass. They maintained their com­ posure throughout the frame, despite

led by their aggressiveness to the basket and their hot shooting, less­ ened the lead to just three before third-year forward Helene Bibeau caught fire, scoring seven points in

Concordia. The Martlets need four points to clinch their second-straight divi­ sion title with only four games left in the season, three of which come on the road. The Martlets’ last home game is Feb. 23 against Bishop’s.

SEA TS

c I

As any Ottawa native knows, the 417 is as close as you can get to a parking lot be­ fore Sens games. It’s packed, park­ ing sucks, and only a rookie thinks that taking Terry Fox Drive is a shortcut. However, last week for the NHL All-Star Game, sitting in traf­ fic and the parking lot after the game for an hour felt almost magical as I basked in the festive atmosphere of the once-in-a-lifetime weekend. For as long as I can remember, it has been a childhood dream of mine to see the NHL All-Star Game come to Ottawa. There is just some­ *

defense is a four-letter word, and physical contact is non-existent. So, needless to say, when Ottawa got the All-Star Game this year, I was mainly looking forward to the

were the loudest and most enthu­ siastic, which was to be expected, but expectations were even higher for Daniel Alfredsson’s entry. The fans did not disappoint, and nei­

atmosphere and the nostalgia, not

ther did Alfie. The Ottawa captain

the hockey itself, and definitely not Drake. When I first arrived at the arena, I could already tell it was

got a huge ovation from the crowd, and Alfredsson waved back, salut­ ing those who had been cheering him for so many years. I remem­

thing special about knowing that

going to be a special experience. The parking lot was full o f cars from all over the map, ranging from Florida to Saskatchewan. Once I entered the stadium, I saw mascots from five different teams, dancers from two, and a guy with a Nash­ ville Predators jersey I didn’t even

ber thinking there was no way this ovation could have been surpassed, only to hear the crowd erupt one more time when Alfredsson scored his first goal, splitting the defen­ seman and scoring on Montreal’s own Carey Price. After the goal, the crowd gave Alfredsson another

all these amazing players are in the same city as you at the same time. I used to imagine meeting players

know existed. It really felt like the United Nations o f hockey was hold­ ing its GA in Ottawa and I was in­

long standing ovation and, when it was apparent that it wasn’t going to stop any time soon, the Sedin twins

like Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Steve Yzerman and Paul Kariya skating down the Rideau Canal. The game itself, as I knew even back then, was

vited to participate. Before the game, all the play­ ers were introduced as they skated onto the ice. Undoubtedly, the in­ troductions for the Senators players

skated out o f the face off circle to let Alfie have his moment. This was the highlight o f the game, and in­ deed the weekend for me—seeing a player whom everyone in Ottawa

a joke. The players don’t try hard.

adores get his share o f the spotlight. For a guy who has never won a

nobody left disappointed. The game was great, the atmosphere was fan­

Stanley Cup, a scoring race, or even the game M VP (that went to Marian Gaborik), this was Ottawa’s way of showing Alfie that he was and will

tastic, and even though the hockey itself wasn’t the best, it was certain­ ly an experience that I won’t soon forget.

always be our city’s MVP. In all, it was a fantastic experi­ ence, and even though Team Chara walked away with a 12-9 victory,

—Josh u a P rizant

F O O T B A L L — If you don’t know what happened this past Sun­ day in football, then you must have had one heck o f a weekend. Over

surprises in the league’s standings, there was one in New York this past Saturday, as little-known Harvard graduate Jeremy Lin helped resur­

a hundred million viewers tuned in to watch Super Bowl X LV I, which matched the favoured New Eng­ land Patriots against the resilient New York Giants. The story o f the

rect the Knicks’ season, all the while helping Head Coach Mike D ’Antoni keep his job for another day. Lin, a Golden State Warriors castoff, is the NBA’s only American-born player

week leading up to the big game was how this Super Bowl was a re­ match of the 2008 final, where the Giants prevailed in possibly the big­ gest upset in Super Bowl history.

o f Chinese descent. He tore up the New Jersey Nets defence, finishing with 25 points and seven assists. Undoubtedly, Lin will become a

MARTLET BASKETBALL

fan favourite in New York, and his play earned him a spot atop Twitter’s trending list worldwide. We’re just waiting for him to coin the phrase, “Lin or go home!”

REDMEN HOCKEY

Not much changed on Sunday, as the Pats were unable to avenge their disappointing loss from four years ago, losing again to the Giants 2117. Giants quarterback Eli Manning was his typical clutch self, winning the Super Bowl M VP award for a second time. The Super Bowl is also known for its collection of prop bets and this year’s game was no differ­ ent. Here are some of the results in case you missed them: a rare safety was the first score in the game, Kelly In c a se you w ere too busy leav in g th e G A s, h e r e ’s w hat you m issed this w eek in th e w orld o f sports ... H O C K E Y - The NHL regu­ lar season returned to its normal NHL regular season schedule fol­ lowing the All-Star break, but what happened seems far from normal. To start, Sam Gagner tied Wayne Gretz­ ky and Paul Coffey’s record o f eight points in a game, in what could be known as hockey’s best overall per­ formance ever. He then followed up

Hurricane’s goalie Cam Ward, Coy­ ote’s fourth-liner Paul Bissonnette, horrible defenceman Brett Lebda, severely concussed centre Marc Savard, and ex-Canadiens “superstar” Ryan O ’Byme have in common? They all have more goals than Scott Gomez in the past year. On Feb. 5th, Montrealers celebrated Gomez’ one year anniversary without a goal.

his record performance with a threepoint game the following night. Speaking o f performances worth noting, we ask you this: what do

Congratulations proud o f you!

P

Scott,

we’re

B A S K E T B A L L - The NBA season continues on with few sur­ prises. The Miami Heat, to the cha­ grin o f most, find themselves second just behind the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference, while the Okla­ homa City Thunder, led by Kevin Durant’s 27 points per game, lead the Western Conference with an 18-5 re­ cord. While there haven’t been many

(Scores since Jan. 31)

REDMEN BASKETBALL Won 61 -4 4 @ Bishop’s Won 75 -6 6 vs. Laval

Won 63-55 @ B ishop’s Won 6 9 -6 4 vs. Laval

Won 7-3 @ UQTR Lost 4-2 @ Concordia Won 4-3 vs. Carleton

MARTLET HOCKEY S O C C E R — In more upset­ ting news, tragedy struck Egypt this past Wednesday when a riot ensued after a local soccer match between the country’s top clubs, al-Ahly and al-Masry. Reports claim that 74 people were killed outside of Port Said Stadium, and hundreds were injured. The media is calling it the biggest disaster in the country’s sporting history. The riot comes exactly a year after the Egyptian people began the revolution against former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Many Egyptians gathered for protests on Thursday, as fans and politicians accused the current rul­ ing movement of failing to prevent the riot from occurring. In response to the event, three days o f mourning were declared in the country. Unfor­ tunately, for soccer and its support­ ers in Egypt, the sport looks like just another one of the casualties in the chaos inundating the country.

Won 2-1 @ Montreal

MARTLET INDOOR SOCCER Lost 1-0 @ Concordia

REDMEN INDOOR SOCCER Won 3-1 @ Concordia

MARTLET VOLLEYBALL Lost 3-0 @ Montreal Lost 3-1 @ Sherbrooke

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Jo in

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E-mail: sp orts@ m cg illtribu ne .co m

ow er Rankings NHL

Pittsburgh Penguins 4

Week 1 6 5 - Boston Bruins With the All-Star game behind them, teams know it’s time to get it togeth­ er and make the final push for a play­ off spot. Let’s see where they stand:

f

all

Clarkson’s national anthem lasted 1:34, and Madonna did not experi­ ence any wardrobe malfunctions during her halftime performance (see: Janet Jackson). Until next year, football fans.

SC O R EBO A RD

1 - Detroit Red Wings

2 - Nashville Predators

3 - New York Rangers

6 - Vancouver Canucks 7 - St. Louis Blues 8 - Philadelphia Flyers 9 - New Jersey Devils 10 - San Jose Sharks 11 - Chicago Blackhawks 12 - Toronto Maple Leafs 13 - Ottawa Senators 14 - Florida Panthers 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

- Calgary Flames - Washington Capitals - Tampa Bay Lightning - Los Angeles Kings - Buffalo Sabres - New York Islander - Colorado Avalanche - Minnesota Wild

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

- Dallas Stars - Carolina Hurricanes - Anaheim Ducks - Phoenix Coyotes - Winnipeg Jets - Edmonton Oilers - Montreal Canadiens - Columbus Blue Jackets

NBA

2 - Oklahoma City Thunders

4 - Philadelphia 76ers

Week 8 Is it just me or has the quality o f bas­ ketball games this season been wa­ tered down? There are just too many star-studded teams blowing out the competition on a nightly basis, so bring the playoffs on already. Here’s how the league stands:

1 - Chicago Bulls CHICAGO jBU LLS>

5 - Los Angeles Clippers

6 - Indiana Pacers 7 - San Antonio Spurs 8 - Boston Celtics 9 - Atlanta Hawks 10 - Denver Nuggets 11 - Orlando Magic 12 - Los Angeles Lakers

13 14 15 16 17 18

- Utah Jazz - Dallas Mavericks - Portland Trail Blazers - Minnesota Timberwolves - Houston Rockets - Milwaukee Bucks

19 - Memphis Grizzlies 20 - New York Knicks 21 - Sacramento Kings 22 - Phoenix Suns 23 - Cleveland Cavaliers 24 - Toronto Raptors 25 - Golden State Warriors 26 - Detroit Pistons 27 28 29 30

- New Jersey Nets - Washington Wizards - New Orleans Hornets - Charlotte Bobcats

-B y H rant B ardakjian

N E W Y O R K C IT Y , N Y (A L E X A N D R A A L L A IR E / M C G IL L T R IB U N E

SA N IG N A C IO , M E X IC O (S A M R E Y N O L D S / M C G IL L T R IB U N E )

KUALA L U M P U R , M A L A Y SIA (S I M O N P O IT R IM O L T / M C G IL L T R IB U N E