The McGill Tribune TUESDAY, MARCH 26 2019 | VOL. 38 | ISSUE 23
Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University
McGILLTRIBUNE.COM | @McGILLTRIBUNE
EDITORIAL
FEATURE
ELECTION COVERAGE
Base fee increase: Too much, too fast
Alone in a crowd
Referendum and SSMU candidate endorsements
PG. 5
PGs. 8-9
PGs. 2-3; 7
(Gabe Helfant / The McGill Tribune)
Bursting the McGill Bubble
PG. 11
VARS Gene a new link to a harrowing group of brain diseases Sophia Gorbounov Contributor At only two and a half months old, a baby girl named Mathilde Poliquin passed away at the Montreal Children’s Hospital from an unknown neurodevelopmental pediatric disorder. Her head was much smaller than normal, and her brain had
not developed properly. Six years later, a group of doctors from the McGill University Health Centre have successfully identified the genetic mutation that resulted in Mathilde’s death. A defect in the VARS gene, previously unlinked to any human disease, resulted in a genetic kind of leukoencephalopathy, a group of neurodegenerative diseases caused by abnormalities in nerve cells and myelin,
Decolonizing Redpath Museum
Nicholas Raffoul Staff Writer In the past year, The British Museum and other European institutions have come under scrutiny for continuing to display artifacts that have been acquired through colonial violence and military intervention. In response to this global controversy, French President Emmanuel
their families deserve an answer and deserve that researchers work on these diseases.” The study involved conducting both whole exome and whole genome testing in which the researchers scan an individual’s entire genetic code for any imperfections that could be the source of disease. PG. 14
In conversation with Emma Clarke
Investigating Redpath Museum’s ahistorical World Cultures exhibit Macron commissioned a national report calling for the restitution of the artifacts to their place of origin. According to the report, written by French art historian Bénédicte Savoy and Senegalese academic Felwine Sarr, 90 to 95 per cent of Africa’s material cultural objects are held outside of Africa by major museums, validating Macron’s suggestion that European museums should
the white-matter in the brain. “During my residency, I started being interested in neurodegenerative diseases and realized that families who had a precise diagnosis were, in general, grieving better,” Geneviève Bernard, a coauthor of the study as well as an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, said. “Patients with rare and ultra-rare diseases and
Documenting the rise of women’s soccer
no longer hold control over African heritage. While the restitution of culturally-significant artifacts has become a media flashpoint among larger European museums, it is easy to ignore smaller institutions that perpetuate the same form of colonial appropriation of heritage objects, including McGill University’s own Redpath Museum. PG. 7
Kaja Surborg Contributor This summer, France will host the eighth FIFA Women’s World Cup. Although historical record shows that women formally organized their own soccer games starting in the late 19th century, it took until 1991 for FIFA to establish a Women’s World Cup. To celebrate the trailblazers who have made women’s soccer everything that it is
today, Gemma Clarke wrote Soccerwomen, her debut book, which will release in April. At the beginning of her career as a sports journalist, Clarke covered men’s soccer. When she started reporting on women’s games, she often compared the players to the men that she had been reporting on. Referring to Kelly Smith as the female David Beckham and Karen Carney as the female Wayne Rooney
placed the game in the only frame of reference that most of her readers were familiar with. Over time, Clarke realized that women’s soccer had plenty of stories, characters, and histories that had not yet been shared. “It was always about finding a good story and finding somebody that I wanted to write about,” Clarke said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. PG. 16