The McGill Tribune Vol. 40 Issue 14

The McGill Tribune TUESDAY, JANUARY 19 2021 | VOL. #40 | ISSUE #14

Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University

McGILLTRIBUNE.COM | @McGILLTRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

FEATURE

STUDENT LIFE

Pandemic-era activism calls for sustained support

Making the ‘right’ choices

UpLift Canada renews old clothes

PGs. 8-9

PG. 12

PG. 5

(Jasmine Acharya / The McGill Tribune)

Addressing the reactionary fight for the unsheltered

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Floor fellows cite lack of support during Fall 2020 semester 85 per cent of floor fellows expressed fear of catching COVID-19 Nina Russell Managing Editor In interviews with The McGill Tribune, six floor fellows across residences reported that

lack of support and communication from McGill’s administration had impaired them from doing their jobs and upholding safety standards in residences during the Fall 2020 semester.

All residences have been operating at a lowered capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions, with the exception of the Upper Residences, which closed their doors to students entirely in August.

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A long road ahead: The obstacles facing COVID-19 vaccine distribution

Despite high rates of effectiveness, vaccine distribution presents many challenges Karim Wadjih & Salma Hakim Contributors As the second wave of COVID-19 intensifies and countries around the world enter another lockdown, scientists and pharmaceutical companies

have raced to produce the most effective vaccine. Moderna and Pfizer have emerged as clear winners, with many countries already beginning to administer their products.

With the successful development of these vaccines

comes many political and logistical challenges, such as deciding which citizens and locations to prioritize. In particular, government officials must ensure vaccines are distributed fairly and in a timely manner to all citizens.

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 19 2021

NEWS

Floor fellows cite lack of support, instability during Fall 2020 semester 85 per cent of floor fellows expressed fear of catching COVID-19

Nina Russell Managing Editor Continued from page 1.

Floor fellows described the year as off to a rocky start when on July 13, 22 floor fellows’ offers were withdrawn following McGill’s decision not to open the Upper Residences.

“The number of floor fellows who were hired this year reflects the decreased residence occupancy,” McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “This information was communicated to all potential floor fellows in the summer months.

Floor fellows who were not offered contracts were offered temporary accommodation at no charge to allow them the needed time to secure alternative accommodations.”

Despite this, floor fellows expressed concern that those whose contracts were terminated were suddenly faced with the loss of anticipated income and scrambling to find housing for the school year. The Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) has filed grievances against McGill on behalf of the former employees, but a resolution has yet to be reached.

McGill initially decided to close the Upper Residences and the Royal Victoria College (RVC) residence because of their shared bathrooms, but Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) successively backtracked on their initial plans, deeming RVC safe for 30, then 80, and then 180 students. Throughout this time, floor fellows were not notified by SHHS of the reasons for the closures, reopenings, and increases in capacity in RVC. More miscommunication arose when one of the Residence Life Managers (RLM) resigned shortly following the completion of their training. The resignation left a single RLM in charge of all residence buildings, despite the fact that there had been an RLM for every two buildings in previous years. RLMs are responsible for supervising floor fellows, crisis management, and collaborating with SHHS. Although a replacement RLM was soon hired, they resigned days later, leaving one RLM to manage all residences.

The lack of supervision forced floor fellows to take on additional responsibilities, such as compiling lists of students on their floors, without access to resources such as printers. Although a few floor fellows were granted additional compensation for some of these extra duties, the absence of an authority figure resulted in confusion in residences.

One floor fellow described the uncertainty that floor fellows faced upon move-in.

“I really want to make it clear that, in my opinion, [SHHS] walked into an unprepared system,” Julie* said in an interview with the Tribune. “It was a complete free-

SHHS withdrew 22 floor fellows’ contracts the summer before classes began. (Aurie-Anne Benoit / The McGill Tribune)

This photo from Sept. 26 shows students violating social distancing restrictions on McGill property. (Anonymous / The McGill Tribune) for-all [....] We had to put in a lot of extra time [to meet] and divide up the students amongst ourselves, and [decide] what the community would look like, which usually does not happen, [because we] usually have a manager.”

In a survey conducted by AMUSE, 80 per cent of floor fellows attested to the difficulties posed by a lack of an

Noa Crébassa, U2 Arts, moved into Solin Hall after struggling to find accommodations due to COVID-19. According to Crébassa, who witnessed other students on her floor violating safety restrictions, stewards often failed to issue official written warnings—which meant such violations went unaddressed.

Meanwhile, as restrictions tightened, students living in residences reported declining mental health and an increasing sense of isolation. Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President (VP) Student Life Maheen Akter described receiving several emails from parents of students in residences which expressed concern about their child’s well-being and called on both SSMU and the administration to do more to create a sense of community in residences.

On Nov. 2, SHHS sent an email to all floor fellows announcing that every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, floor fellows would be assigned to walk through their residences to interact with students to build a greater sense of community and ensure that everyone is following the rules. The new duties sparked confusion among many floor fellows given that the resumption of in-person work contradicted Quebec’s recent implementation of increased red zone restrictions. Floor fellows were also not provided with any additional personal protective equipment, beyond the two reusable masks, a face shield, and antiseptic wipes, that they had received in August.

One floor fellow expressed concern that residence cafeterias were not adequately set up to maintain social distancing between students.

(Alexandra Allaire / The McGill Tribune) authority figure. With many floor fellows forced to assume the responsibilities of an RLM themselves, several expressed that doing so strained their relationships with the students on their floors, for whom they are supposed to act as a support system.

“When we didn’t have an RLM, we had to take up more [of a] policing role of having to discipline students and give out warnings and send emails on behalf of whoever’s running the building to the whole sort of the whole residence community, which [has never] happened before,” another floor fellow, Amy,* said.

As COVID-19 cases in Montreal rose throughout the semester, McGill implemented a “three strikes” policy in residences in October, which mandated that students receive up to three strikes for violating safety policies before facing more severe consequences, such as expulsion from residence. In an email to the Tribune, Sarah Graham, vicepresident floor fellow, expressed that the lack of coordination during the policy’s implementation posed safety concerns for those working in residences.

“Staff have reported that there are some first years who have [received written warnings] over eight times and still remain in residences,” Graham wrote. “Not to mention that this whole strike policy puts [floor fellows] in a position where they have to essentially police the people they are intended to support.”

“I had a duty round [earlier in the year] and I had to walk around the building with the night steward, and we broke up [more than five parties] in the span of 9 p.m. to 12 a.m.,” Catharina*, a floor fellow, said in an interview with the Tribune. “There were interactions where I was less than six feet away from folks without masks.”

According to Graham, however, SHHS has failed to acknowledge the possibility of residence workers contracting COVID-19 while on duty, and has not provided alternatives for immunocompromised or at-risk floor fellows.

On Jan. 13, SHHS abolished the three strikes policy, and in its place, implemented a system in which one violation would result in a disciplinary meeting, with further violations resulting in more severe consequences.

Floor fellows and Akter have called on SHHS and Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Fabrice Labeau to increase consultations with floor fellows before implementing new policies.

“There’s a real [...] disconnect between what [Labeau] thinks is the best way to move forward and what [is actually] the best thing to do,” Atker said. “The administration doesn’t realize what’s actually happening in residences [and they] don’t have first-hand knowledge. They aren’t seeing [...] the reality of these decisions they’re making.” *All floor fellows’ names have been changed to preserve anonymity.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 19 2021

NEWS

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SSMU hosts presentation on tenant rights and gentrification

Speakers spreaded awareness of how to identify unlawful landlord practices in Montreal Ella Fitzhugh Staff Writer The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Affordable Student Housing Committee hosted a presentation on Jan. 12 called “How to not get screwed over by your landlord.” Student speakers Julianna Duholke, 3L Law, Alex Apostolidis, U3 BFA, and Andrew Faber, second-year M.U.P., called on their peers to know their rights as tenants and to combat gentrification in student-dense areas in Montreal.

Julianna Duholke, director of community services at the Legal Information Clinic at McGill, brought attention to the common practice of landlords hiking rent prices and explained that such increases are only lawful under specific circumstances.

“Demand [due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for example] is not really a legitimate reason [to raise the rent],” Duholke said. “It has to be based on things like actual increase in expenses, like property taxes or huge renovation costs.”

Duholke noted that while

On average, McGill students pay more for their rent than other students in Quebec.

(Noah Sutton / The McGill Tribune) landlords often frame the notice of a rent increase as a non-negotiable issue for their tenants, students still have a right to negotiate their rent.

“A lot of people think that they automatically have to accept a rent increase, but you absolutely don’t,” Duholke said.

“So, if your landlord is trying to increase your rent, you can reject that, in which case the landlord can either accept your rejection, or then they themselves would be the one who would have to

go to the administrative tribunal to get them to fix the rent [....]

Then it’ll be for the tribunal to decide whether the increase was legitimate or not.”

Apostolidis, Housing and Job Legal Information Assistant at the Concordia Student Union, urged that the refusal to accept a landlord’s rent increase is a crucial part of student engagement in anti-gentrification.

“I think it’s important to recognize that a lot of people need affordable housing, not

just students,” Apostolidis said.

“Although it’s not our responsibility as students to control the whole housing market, there are certain things that we can do to lessen the impact of gentrification on certain neighborhoods.”

One of the ways students can reduce their effect on gentrification, Apostolidis suggested, is to choose student housing.

“A benefit of student housing in gentrification terms is you are not going to be displacing families or other non-students that need affordable housing, because you are going to live in housing that’s dedicated for [students],” Apostolidis said.

“The downside about student housing is frankly [that] a lot of the time [it] is way overpriced and can be very loud or other things that you don’t want to have to deal with as a student.”

To help remedy unaffordable student housing, Faber, a member of the SSMU Affordable Student Housing Committee, explained that the committee has a plan underway to provide housing close to campus managed by students, for students, in the coming years.

In collaboration with UTILE,

a non-profit organization that will aid in building design and fundraising, the project could be finished construction as soon as 2023. “[The rent is] going to be 15-30 per cent below market value,” Faber said. “It’s not a for-profit model [....] It’s a cooperative model, so it only goes up with inflation and repairs and things of that nature.”

All of the speakers at the event found a common hope in students’ ability to generate change within their communities. Apostolidis urged students especially to make informed decisions when moving into a new apartment to combat gentrification and inflation.

“Get informed about the city you live in and the history of your borough,” Apostolidis said. “Deny your rental increase [....] Transfer your lease whenever possible. Live in student housing if possible [and] if not, a student neighbourhood. [Be] cautious of where you’re going to be moving into and who your neighbours are [....] Always inform people around you about your rights, because why wouldn’t you do that?”

McGill’s new Climate and Sustainability Strategy receives mixed reactions Divest McGill claims strategy is an act of greenwashing

Respina Rostamifar Staff Writer After months of consultation spanning from January 2020 to September 2020, McGill’s new Climate and Sustainability Strategy (2020-2025) was endorsed by the McGill Board of Governors during their meeting on Dec. 10. The strategy addresses the three long-term goals of achieving a platinum sustainability rating by 2030, becoming zero-waste by 2035, and reaching carbon neutrality by 2040.

The new strategy was developed to carry out the goals of the prior Vision 2020 sustainability strategy while also tackling environmental issues through a new perspective. This new approach considers eight areas of importance through individualized flagship actions. The eight areas considered include research and education, buildings and utilities, waste management, travel, waste systems, procurement, landscapes and ecosystems, and community building.

Francois Miller, executive director of Sustainability at McGill, described McGill’s new sustainability strategy as ambitious, yet realistic in its aims.

“These are lofty goals that require the effort of all McGillians but, when attained, will transform our campuses for the better,” Miller said. “[The strategy] is also realistic as there are clear pathways to reach these high-end goals embedded within the strategy [....] In order to become zero-waste, we know that first and foremost we must expand reuse, recycling, and composting efforts across McGill campuses to give our staff, students and faculty members the tools they need to reduce what we send to landfill.”

Miller further emphasized the importance of reducing McGill’s environmental impact and the collective effort needed from members of the McGill

Citing little evidence of coronavirus transmission on campus since March, McGill looks to more in-person offerings. (mcgill.ca) community to pursue the strategy successfully.

“In order to achieve carbon neutrality, it’s important that we continue to improve the environmental performance of our buildings, which is [specified in] the Flagship Action for Buildings & Utilities category,” Miller said. “The objectives and actions described in the strategy will guide our steps over the next five years, moving us closer to reaching our targets, with the support of our entire community.

Divest McGill, a student-led organization that advocates for McGill’s divestment from the top 200 fossil fuel companies, has a less optimistic outlook on the new strategy. Alexia Wildhaber-Riley, U2 Science, and Julius Geist, U2 Arts, outlined Divest McGill’s doubts in an email to the Tribune.

“With a few commendable exceptions, McGill’s sustainability strategy is an exercise in greenwashing and creative accounting,” Wildhaber-Riley and Geist wrote. “McGill’s Strategy deliberately ignores emissions from its $50-million-dollar investments in the fossil fuel industry, so any target of ‘carbon neutrality’ is meaningless [and] self-aggrandizing. In addition, a tenth of their proposed reductions rely on carbon offsets and sequestration of questionable efficacy” Natasha Edmonds, U2 Arts and president of Liberal McGill, affirmed the organization’s support for the Climate and Sustainability Strategy. Edmonds highlighted how the university’s new strategy aligns with the Liberal government’s climate action plan: Canada’s Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. “Liberal McGill applauds this announcement by McGill University,” Edmonds said. “The goal of zero waste by 2035 and carbon neutrality by 2040 is, as the university affirms, ambitious yet realistic. This commitment complements the Liberal government’s own bold climate action plan. Thanks to the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, Canada will become a net-zero economy by 2050.”

Nathan Devereaux, U1 Arts and social coordinator at NDP McGill shared Liberal McGill’s enthusiasm but questioned whether this plan was truly enough action from McGill.

“The NDP Club is happy to see McGill taking steps in the right direction,” Devereaux wrote in a message to the Tribune. “As an institution, McGill has the opportunity to be a leader in the fight against the climate crisis and has not always lived up to its potential. McGill’s Board of Governors voted against divesting from oil and gas stocks as recently as Dec. 5. So, while the NDP club is happy to see progress, we believe McGill could be doing more.”

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NEWS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 19 2021

Interdisciplinary panel discusses personal privacy and public health during COVID-19 Panellists examined the pros and cons of limiting privacy in favour of greater data

Lily Cason Contributor The McGill Research Group on Health and Law (RGHL) held an interdisciplinary panel on Jan. 13 titled “New or normal? Privacy, Public Health and the Pandemic.” Moderated by Faculty of Law associate professor Lara Khoury, the three panellists, Dr. Anne Andermann, Ignacio Cofone, and Dr. Khaled El Emam, discussed the balance between protecting individuals’ privacy and battling the pandemic through data collection.

The collection of personal data by the Canadian government has increased during the pandemic with the roll out of smartphone applications like Canada’s COVID Alert to trace COVID-19 transmission. Of concern to the personal freedoms side of public health measures are individuals being handed hefty fines for disobeying Quebec’s new 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. curfew.

Dr. Andermann, a family and public health physician and associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill, believes that the medical field can better support under-served populations—such as racial minorities, the economically disadvantaged, and the elderly—by continuing to collect data and restrict movement in order to slow the spread of the virus. New findings have shown that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Black Canadians and other

Both the Canadian Charter of Rights and Quebec Civil Code protect individuals’ rights to privacy.

(HBR Staff / Getty Images) marginalized groups.

“These freedoms have [...] consequences,” Dr. Andermann said. “One of the things about COVID that was clear very early on was that it’s not just a pandemic [....] It’s also a syndemic, meaning that it’s not affecting equally all populations in society.”

Ignacio Cofone, an associate professor in McGill’s Faculty of Law with a background in privacy law, detailed the vast amounts of personal information that COVID-19 contact tracing applications collect. Cofone believes that Canada’s COVID Alert application is among the best for

protecting privacy.

“COVID Alert is really the most privacysensitive option that the Candian government had available that can still be functional,” Cofone said. “[The app] is Bluetooth and [...] stores the data locally.”

Khaled El Emam, a professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine and senior investigator at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, believes that collecting individuals’ health data is necessary, albeit with caution. Dr. El Emam argued that Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) are good mea-

sures to protect sensitive personal information while still providing scientists and analysts with strong banks of data to sift through. PETs are what they sound like: A wide range of technologies used to hide or protect individuals’ personal information. Some PETs render data non-identifiable, stripping the requirement of consent which, Dr. El Emam noted, brings with it consent bias.

The use of PETs can also speed up the ethics review process, making data available quicker. According to Dr. El Eman, the risk-based de-identification and data synthesis are two of the most common and effective PETs used for making real-world health data available to public health experts. Despite his faith in these processes, he cautioned that no method is perfect, and that there is always a risk of data being reidentifiable. “[These PETs] illustrate that we do know how to make real-world data available in a privacy-protecting way,” Dr. El Emam said. “Examples of this are happening in different regions of the world like [...] the U.S. and Korea [....] The problem is that the ability to put these data-sharing mechanisms into operation has been quite heterogeneous.”

Dr. El Emam hopes that building a strong infrastructure for health data, with high privacy standards and greater efficiency, would better prepare Canadians for the next public health crisis.

PGSS Legislative Council votes to restructure Health and Wellness Committee Councillors discussed graduate student participation in departmental faculty hiring Leyla Moy Student Life Editor During the Post-Graduate Students’ Society’s (PGSS) virtual Council meeting on Jan. 13, councillors approved the proposed restructuring of the PGSS Health and Wellness Committee and discussed the inclusion of graduate students on departmental faculty hiring committees.

At the beginning of the meeting, former PGSS Secretary-General Maria Tippler spoke on her resignation to pursue a professional opportunity and fellow councillors exchanged virtual goodbyes. Councillors then passed a motion to accept the resignation and delegate the secretary-general’s portfolio amongst the remaining councillors.

Next, councillors debated a motion to restructure the PGSS Health and Wellness Committee to better reflect the structure of the Student Wellness Hub. PGSS Health Commissioner Jess Chen explained that the motion would unify the Health Services Advisory Board, Mental Health Advisory Board, and Counselling Services Advisory Board to create the Student Wellness Hub Advisory Board, as well as create positions for two additional PGSS members.

“From my experience, the Health and Wellness Committee gets quite a few applications from members who want to join and [...] I do believe [by] increasing the number [of regular members on the committee], we will be able to fill that number [while allowing] for more engagement from PGSS members,” Chen said.

The motion to restructure the committee was unanimously approved.

As the meeting’s agenda progressed to announcements, Internal Affairs Officer Tina Giordano highlighted a packed calendar of virtual events planned for post-graduate students this month. For upcoming social soirées, starting on Jan. 15, PGSS will be using Gather, a virtual meeting application that allows participants’ avatars to move around a digital room and enter into smaller rooms based on proximity to one another. Giordano hopes that this technology will mimic the physical spaces these events used to take place in.

“It feels like you’re actually at Thomson House, or at a party,” Giordano said.

After the announcements, councillors moved to approve the reports. The scheduled question and discussion periods yielded no questions and no proposed discussion topics.

MOMENT OF THE MEETING

The Council meeting concluded with a presentation on graduate student involvement in faculty hiring decisions.

(Leanne Young / The McGill Tribune) At the close of the meeting, Charles Brunette, PhD student supervisor in the School of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences (AOS), presented the progress of including graduate students in the faculty hiring process. Brunette highlighted the benefits and drawbacks of graduate student participation in this process: Namely, that diversifying the voices on hiring committees is important, but that students’ labour will be unpaid.

A survey of AOS students between Nov. 30 and Dec. 4, 2020 found that while most students agree that graduate students should serve on faculty hiring search committees, few can see themselves actually serving on these committees.

Brunette reported strong support for graduate student inclusion in this process within AOS. “We get some very good support from profs,” Brunette said.

“Some are a bit hesitant about making it formal [since when] it was difficult to find a student we didn’t want to delay the process [....] But otherwise, profs are generally in favour and some are pushing hard for it [....] I sit on the hiring committee and the help from the students was very much appreciated.”

Councillors then discussed graduate student participation in faculty hiring in their respective Post-Graduate Students’ Associations (PGSAs). The meeting concluded with a reminder of the Feb. 3 deadline for PGSS general election nominations.

The meeting was peppered with minor technical difficulties that reminded the vir tual room of the inherent, and often comedic, limitations of vir tual communication. Council Speaker Adrienne Tessier reminded attendees to reser ve the Zoom chat for business, quipping, “I always say that if we could have a separate memes and snarky comments thread, that would be great.”

SOUNDBITE

“The CMA [Committee on Monetar y Affairs] decided to add a lot more funding periods to the PGSS Travel Awards [....]

Just to be clear, we’re funding only virtual travel [...] that is helping cover fees that are associated with attending vir tual workshops, vir tual conferences, things of that nature [....] We won’t be accepting applications for in-person events because we don’t want to be encouraging travel in that way [....] And we’ve [had] ver y few applications thus far and therefore, a 100 per cent funding rate.”

—Connie Shen, Financial Affairs Officer, on the addition of new funding periods for the PGSS Travel Awards

TUESDAY, JANUARY 19 2021

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EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Helen Wu editor@mcgilltribune.com Creative Director Aidan Martin amartin@mcgilltribune.com Managing Editors Katia Lo Innes kinnes@mcgilltribune.com Nina Russell nrussell@mcgilltribune.com Sophia Gorbounov sgorbounov@mcgilltribune.com

News Editors Maya Abuali, Kate Addison & Sequoia Kim news@mcgilltribune.com Opinion Editors Jonah Fried & Kennedy McKee-Braide opinion@mcgilltribune.com Science & Technology Editors Madison Mclauchlan & Shafaq Nami scitech@mcgilltribune.com Student Life Editors Alaana Kumar & Leyla Moy studentlife@mcgilltribune.com Features Editor Kevin Vogel features@mcgilltribune.com Arts & Entertainment Editors Vanessa Barron & Jonathan Giammaria arts@mcgilltribune.com Sports Editors Adam Burton & Sarah Farnand sports@mcgilltribune.com Design Editors Ruobing Chen & Chloe Rodriguez design@mcgilltribune.com Photo Editor Jasmine Acharya photo@mcgilltribune.com Multimedia Editors Sarah Ford & Alexandre Hinton multimedia@mcgilltribune.com Web Developers Benjamin Alexandor webdev@mcgilltribune.com Copy Editor Jackie Lee copy@mcgilltribune.com Social Media Editor Marie Saadeh socialmedia@mcgilltribune.com

OPINION

Pandemic-era activism calls for sustained support To most McGill students, the annual return to campus after the winter break usually conjures images of the university’s vibrant activist community. From flyers passed out during the Change The Name campaign to Divest McGill’s weekly demonstrations outside of the Arts building, it was hard to miss the advocacy taking place at McGill. Like with most things students are familiar with, the pandemic has thrown a wrench in these organizations’ ability to raise awareness and promote change in the ways they once would.

But this does not mean that their work has stopped—from #TakeJamesMcGillDown, to newer initiatives like Meals for Milton-Parc and Divest McGill’s Metro boycott, students continue to mobilize for a range of causes in spite of the circumstances.

Students should make an effort to remain aware of advocacy work in the community and get involved where they can.

For organizations like Divest McGill, which pressures the McGill administration to divest from fossil fuels, remote

OFF THE BOARD Kevin Vogel Features Editor

Business Manager Marilie Pilon business@mcgilltribune.com

TPS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Helen Wu, Caitlin Kindig, McEan Taylor,Tara Alami, Yara Shaheen-Abuelreish, Deana Korsunsky, Sequoia Kim, Kennedy McKee-Braide, Shreya Rastogi, Marilie Pilon, Heela Achakzai

STAFF Maya Abuali, Sepideh Afshar, Reza Ali, Margaret Askey, Zoe Babad-Palmer, Eve Cable, Rory Daly, Ella Fitzhugh, Defne Gurcay, Signy Harnad, Lucy Keller, Deana Korsunsky, Erika MacKenzie, Maya Mau, Adam Menikefs, Ella Milloy, Naomi Mirny, Matthew Molinaro, Respina Rostamifar, Brian Schatteman, Noah Vaton, Josephine Wang, Xiaotian Wang, Margaret Wdowiak, Lowell Wolfe, Wendy Zhao

CONTRIBUTORS Adam Amsel, Lilian Cason, Tasmin Chu, Anna Chudakov, Shelby Deegan, Elissa Dresdner, Antoine Guimbal, Karan Kumar, Lilly Lecanu-Fayet, Michelle Marcus, Jinny Moon, Joseph Pappas, Charlotte Power, Ana Vitorino, Karim Wadjih, Shirley Xu

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After finishing a B.A. in history last year, I made the terrible life choice of staying at McGill for graduate school. Tuition hikes and dismal job prospects for prospective historians give me plenty reason to regret my decision for years to come, and the continual weaponization of academic history—be it in the service of whitewashed musicals or of reactionary politics—only adds to my doubts. Despite the pretensions associated with this field, I still find hope that history

learning could have meant that there were seemingly fewer ways to hold the university accountable. In this context, the organization’s Metro boycott is a somewhat innovative tactic. The vice-chair of McGill’s Board of Governors, Maryse Bertrand, also sits on the Metro grocery store chain’s Board of Directors and, according to Divest, holds a $120,000 annual retainer. The idea is to “follow the money,” threatening Bertrand’s financial interests and pushing her to change her position on divesting from fossil fuels. According to Divest McGill, the continued lack of action on the administration’s part means that it is past time for using moral arguments to make their case. It is once again telling of McGill’s priorities that a movement as popular as Divest McGill must resort to an indirect boycott in the face of the administration’s continued negligence.

The tactic may not be perfect—boycotts can be limited in their effectiveness and fail to take into consideration that their demands can only be fulfilled

by those who are privileged enough to be able to grocery shop elsewhere. Additionally, adapting individual lifestyle habits in order to participate in a boycott during a pandemic is not always an accessible option.

However, students who have the option to visit local—and often more affordable—grocers like Segal’s can do so to send a message. The initiative signals a creative shift away from usual tactics like protests and instead harnesses students’ buying power. Many can easily participate on their own time without physically gathering with others and risking their safety to demonstrate.

However, student initiatives cannot work without sustained engagement and support. A key part of ensuring the success of pandemic-era organizing is raising awareness, which is often done through social media. Student organizers can look to Meals for MiltonParc, an initiative launched

by McGill students that aims to provide meals and care packages for local unhoused

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EDITORIAL populations, for inspiration.

Their social media presence has increased student awareness, funding, and volunteer support.

Similarly, the #TakeJamesDown movement had a strong online presence that helped engage people with the cause. Social media is a complicated tool, as relying on awareness alone can risk being performative and inhibit substantive change.

But, if wielded correctly, social media can amplify a movement, especially during the pandemic.

Just as organizations must diversify their tactics, student supporters must make an effort to seek out ongoing initiatives to get involved with and share with their communities. While student movements, and even certain issues themselves, can seem less pressing amidst a universally difficult and emotionally taxing period of our lives, these campaigns need sustained support and resources. McGill and government administrations should not use the current crisis as an excuse to sweep the needs of their students and citizens under the rug.

Looking to history for the future can help agitate for positive changes in the world. Writing in the months prior to his flight from the Wehrmacht in 1940, German Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin explained that invoking the past means seizing the ephemeral memory of history as it is needed in times of danger.

With socioeconomic inequities only worsening throughout the pandemic and the far-right mobilizing throughout North America, the present moment certainly appears to be a dangerous one. To use Benjamin’s reasoning, searching for guidance in history entails sparking contemporary hope in the ambitions of past struggles to imagine a better future.

Many historians, professional or otherwise, have attempted to do just this. To find solutions to the chronic health issues that plague many Southern communities, Michael Twitty uses his work on the history of African American foodways to revive interest in sustainable agricultural practices. Robert Lee and Tristan Ahtone dug through millions of records to accurately illustrate how the modern American university system developed, and continues

to profit from, speculation on stolen Indigenous lands. There are too many other examples to give. Studying the past in each of these cases is not a matter of simply collecting trivia facts for the sake of nostalgia, but rather a reflection upon the historical struggles that continue to persist in the present day.

As McGill enters its bicentennial year, it has the power to reflect on its own blemished history in a similarly meaningful way. The university could interrogate its links to transatlantic slavery, tear down the statue memorializing James McGill, repatriate stolen artifacts housed in the Redpath Museum, and bring about meaningful action on its own prior commitments to truth and reconciliation. But even if the bicentennial commemorations turn into little more than a fundraising gimmick, history will always be a contested field.

McGill students have found ways to cut through the obtuseness of the university’s PR stunts in creative ways before. This coming year should not be any different.

Indeed, the past summer shows that grassroots movements

can take the interpretation of history into their own hands.

While governments and public institutions continually failed to address their roles in historical oppression—and the contemporary memorialization of those wrongdoings—activists took it upon themselves to topple and provide context to racist commemorations. The decapitated, spray-painted statue of Sir John A. Macdonald on the streets of downtown Montreal is as much a history lesson as any plaque or government platitude.

Looking back to Benjamin’s thesis, it is also prudent to think of the futureoriented nature of historical thinking. By taking control of historical “memories,” we can then examine and interrogate them to advocate for positive change in the world. As many of us think critically about McGill’s bicentennial in the coming months, let this also be a time where we can imagine a future beyond the constraints of academic bureaucracy—a future in which we can work towards a truly inclusive and equitable society. Regardless of what shape it takes, the fact remains that a better world is possible.

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OPINION

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The true meaning of building back better

Michelle Marcus Contributor 2020 will go down in the history books as the epitome of a bad year, characterized by a pandemic that has exposed the cracks in our healthcare system and other public institutions.

In just 12 months, the lives, livelihoods, and well-being of people worldwide were drastically altered by the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving plans and resolutions unexecuted, and creating an overarching eagerness to label everything associated with 2020 a complete write-off. While the transition to a new year provides a muchneeded sense of optimism to those who faced unexpected difficulties and traumas in 2020, it would be a mistake to disregard all of the racial and socioeconomic problems in Quebec exposed by the pandemic over the past 365 days as mere byproducts of a difficult year.

It is important for students to cut themselves slack when it comes to their personal and academic shortcomings of 2020. Still, lumping Quebec’s broader societal issues underlying the pandemic’s disproportionate effects across the province’s minority populations together with a “worst year ever” mindset, undermines both the progress that was made to address these issues in 2020 and the ongoing need to establish longterm, systemic solutions to avoid similar health and social crises in the future. Students should embrace the new year as a chance to leave behind personal challenges from 2020, but they must not abandon the progressive societal momentum that the year generated.

The onset of the pandemic presented

COMMENTARY

everyone with numerous challenges. From abiding by social distancing and lockdown measures to transitioning to daily Zoom-meeting sweatpants and suit jackets, 2020 forced us to adjust not only how we interact with one another but also where we allocate our time and energy. For students, this task was particularly daunting: Shifting to a remote learning environment while dealing with stressful

health and well-being even as the pandemic led to significant changes during the 2020 school year.

That students were left to demand extensions to the S/U option and the 2020 winter break, however, reveals the McGill administration’s reluctance to recognize and address students’ stress and exhaustion the pandemic has induced.

With the emergence of vaccines suggesting

Quebec’s new lockdown measures have been condemned by some human rights organizations because they may disproportionately affect unhoused individuals. (Corey Sipkin / AFP Getty Images)

matters like renewing student visas, living in isolation, and losing loved ones left many feeling unmotivated and unsupported both personally and academically. McGill claimed to prioritize student

an eventual return to normal life and learning environments, it is no surprise that many are adopting an optimistic outlook heading into 2021.

This new year mindset, however, which justifiably

encourages students to attribute their disappointing academic performances and worsening mental health to the environmental factors that made 2020 so challenging, should not extend to the systemic issues that the pandemic exposed. High mortality rates among BIPOC communities, unequal access to healthcare services and outdoor spaces in low-income neighbourhoods, and the lack of supportive, affordable child and senior care which seemed to characterize 2020, are attributable to longstanding flaws in our government and public institutions. In the same way, the fight to implement institutional changes that address these issues must persist even as the 2020 calendars are replaced. Although 2020 forced students to finally acknowledge the calls for systemic change that some have allowed themselves to ignore, we must recognize that these issues were prevalent long before 2020. This recognition should fuel a continuous drive to address them even as we enter the year in hopes of returning to some semblance of normality.

The 2020 pandemic did not cause the systemic injustices it exposed, and narrowing our focus to the 2021 Times Square ball drop does a disservice to those who finally brought these issues to the attention of a world that is too distracted to care under normal circumstances. While embracing the concept of “Building Back Better” on a personal level can mean trying to leave the academic and emotional struggles of 2020 behind for some, it must also come with an active commitment to ensuring that social, political, and institutional spotlights and advocacy efforts remain fixed on Quebec’s gaping inequalities, even if it takes years to see true change.

Addressing the reactionary fight for the unsheltered

Adam Gwiazda-Amsel Contributor On Jan. 6, Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced that an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew would be in effect from Jan. 9 until at least Feb. 8.

When asked about exemptions for unsheltered Quebecers, Legault falsely claimed that there is enough room for the unhoused in Montreal’s shelter infrastructure, leaving community organizations to fill in the gaps. While the response to Legault’s statement has rightfully been critical, it is disheartening to see many wellintentioned volunteers wondering how to help, and coming up blank.

This paralysis speaks to a troubling trend in citizen engagement on the question of supporting unhoused populations: That of always being in emergency aid mode. Certainly, the spike in the number of unsheltered people due to the pandemic has introduced a new need to put out fires, but as citizens focus on issues ranging from food insecurity, to the lack of public toilets, to the need for larger shelters, creative solutions to relieve pressure on the shelter system are not receiving the attention they deserve. As the valuable time and financial resources of volunteers flood in, immediate suffering is addressed. At a certain point, however, the short-sighted distribution of these resources can frustrate efforts instead of helping them. When new emergencies come up, such as COVID-19 outbreaks or curfew measures, shelters need to focus on expanding their basic offerings to accommodate new unhoused populations.

Volunteers, however, have the luxury of pausing

to consider where they are best suited to help, and would do well to use this time responsibly.

Our inability to move past reactionary campaigning leads to an increasingly fragile service infrastructure. As the unsheltered population continues to grow, offering immediateaid solutions alone will continue to create a rabbit hole demanding further marshalling of resources. Instead of pouring everything we have into meal handouts, volunteers should support a diversity of tactics that have been long promoted by perennially active advocates. Shelters and other community organizations do sometimes find themselves not in emergency mode, which is surprising given chronic underfunding from Quebec’s Ministry of Health and Social Services.

In these situations, leaders have focussed on ambitious housing solutions, funding envelopes, and decolonizing the field to address the fragile state of intervention for the unsheltered.

During the pandemic, students and other Montrealers have come out in impressive numbers to fill in crucial gaps, notably through the provision of food on the weekends. Some have started to ask important questions about the role of shelters, showing up to support the Notre Dame campers who refused shelter solutions they critiqued as paternalistic and unsafe even as they were evicted by a demonstrably racist police force.

A McGill original, Meals for Milton-Parc, has undertaken an ambitious program of distributing resources such as food, clothing, and menstrual hygiene products to the Inuit community on Milton and Parc as well as the First Nations individuals on the corner of Saint-Urbain and Sherbrooke. However, students newly looking to

Quebec’s new lockdown measures have been condemned by some human rights organizations because they may disproportionately affect unhoused individuals. (John Mahoney / montrealgazette.com)

get involved may be much more effective agents of change by pressuring Quebec’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ministry of Health and Social Services—neither of which have acted quickly enough to set up supported social housing. Emphatically, having every wellintentioned citizen handing out meals alone is not an effective way to show up for the unsheltered.

Activists would do well to heed trans activist, writer, and law professor Dean Spade’s warning in his 2020 essay, “Solidarity Not Charity,” in which he argues that activists must

avoid self-congratulation and paternalism. Social justice can only be achieved by recognizing people’s dignity to direct their own path to improvement, and offering resources as a hand up, not a hand out. We should not assume people will be staying on the street forever and simply give them the socks, shelter beds, and granola bars they need to get through the day. Non-profits and engaged citizens alike must ask themselves where the line is between actually helping and simply using resources to pay salaries and feel good.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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New research on ketamine may lead to novel treatments for depression Group of neural proteins found to affect ketamine’s antidepressant function Shelby Deegan Contributor Ketamine, a schedule III drug, is often used recreationally for its hallucinogenic effects. Its approved purpose, however, is as an anesthetic in medical settings for animals and humans. Recently, it has also been approved by the FDA to treat major depressive disorder in patients who are resistant to other treatments.

Published in Nature, a Dec. 2020 study conducted by three Canadian universities found that the presence of a group of proteins called 4E-BPs, which are found in the brain and play a role in memory formation, enable ketamine to produce its antidepressant effect.

This knowledge could be crucial in the search for alternative treatments for depression.

More than 30 per cent of patients with depression are resistant to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, more commonly known as SSRIs, which are the most frequently prescribed class of antidepressants.

In these cases, alternative treatments for major depressive disorder are needed.

In the study, researchers removed 4E-BP proteins from

specific brain cells in mice treated with ketamine and observed that protein synthesis was inhibited. Within the cells of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, these proteins typically regulate ketamine’s metabolites to produce an antidepressant effect. In addition, they are essential for several biological processes, including memory formation.

The elimination of 4E-BPs blocked the antidepressant effects of ketamine in both inhibitory as well as excitatory neurons. When researchers evaluated the depressive behaviour of mice with a commonly used forced swim test, they found that mice that were bred without 4E-BPs did not show improvements, suggesting the persistence of depressive behaviour.

However, mice with active versions of 4E-BPs performed significantly better in these behavioural tests when treated with ketamine.

Gabriella Gobbi, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill, says that ketamine-based drugs are a last resort for patients who are resistant to common treatments.

“The first line for people suffering from depression is the SSRIs or other class of antidepressants [such as] SNRI [and] alpha-2 antagonists,” Gobbi wrote in

an email to The McGill Tribune. “If the patient does not respond, there is the second line, by potentiating with antipsychotics [like] quetiapine [and] aripiprazole. Finally, the third line, in case of non-response, is ketamine or TMS.” The use of ketamine as a treatment is somewhat controversial, mainly due to its addictive properties.

However, this risk can be mitigated when supervised by health professionals. Additional clinical

studies are needed to provide more information on appropriate dosages.

“In a medical setting, ketamine is used at very low doses and in a limited number of infusions [...], thus the risk of addiction is minimal,” Gobbi said. “But of course, in the black market, the addiction to ketamine is an important health problem.”

Even at low doses, ketamine may not be an accessible treatment to all patients who can potentially

Research conducted by three Canadian universities into the medical use of ketamine yields promising results for the psychiatric treatment of depression.

(Elissa Dresdner / The McGill Tribune)

benefit from it. According to Gobbi, the treatment must be administered under very specific conditions in specialized clinics at a hospital.

Gobbi also pointed out that the price of the treatment is very high and not covered by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ).

A personalized approach to medicine is especially important in psychiatry for several reasons.

Major depression is an umbrella term that includes many subtypes of depression like bipolar, unipolar, and depression caused by medical diseases.

“This [classification] requires a very meticulous evaluation, assessment and, of course, personalized treatment, including not only antidepressants but also psychotherapy and psychoeducation,” Gobbi said.

The study’s insights into the molecular mechanisms of ketamine, such that 4E-BP proteins play a major role in its antidepressant effects, is crucial for designing new alternative depression treatments.

“Today, the studies of molecular biology, physiology, and pharmacology are helping us to better understand mental diseases and their treatment,” Gobbi said.

A long road ahead: The obstacles facing COVID-19 vaccine distribution Despite high rates of effectiveness, vaccine distribution presents many challenges Karim Wadjih & Salma Hakim Contributors Continued from page 1.

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, both of which are currently being rolled out in Quebec, are 92 per cent efficient two weeks after the initial dose. Both vaccines require a second shot within 90 days of the first, which increases the efficiency to between 94 and 95 per cent. Otherwise, a single shot does not provide complete, long-lasting immunity.

In Canada, each province is developing its own regulations regarding vaccine distribution. However, the Quebec government decided to delay the second shot of the vaccine to maximize the number of people who can be protected by an initial dose between now and April 2021. This strategy was met with backlash and provincial leaders suggested that Pfizer could withdraw their supply if the two-dose vaccination schedule is not followed.

Both Moderna and Pfizer have created mRNA vaccines which contain genetic material that codes for only a small portion of the virus: The spike protein, which allows viral particles to replicate. The vaccine equips the body’s immune system with antibodies against this spike protein, the lack of which renders the whole virus impotent.

Given the vast spread of misinformation online regarding vaccines, government officials must also gain citizens’ trust that the inoculation is safe. Despite promising results, some are concerned with the fast-tracked process of vaccine development and clinical testing.

Jasmin Chahal, a faculty lecturer in McGill’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, explains the importance of effective communication between scientists and policymakers about the vaccines. “[We need to keep] trying to spread accurate informa-

Moderna’s co-founder Noubar Afeyan graduated from McGill as a Chemical Engineering major in 1983. (Eve Cable / McGill Tribune)

tion that comes from the clinical trials,” Chahal wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “That’s the most that we can do [....] There are podcasts, blogs, and interviews that scientists are doing to explain the virus and vaccines without scientific jargon.”

Another challenge is the tranportation of the doses, particularly Pfizer’s vaccine, as it requires storage at a temperature of -70 degrees Celsius. Such a requirement can be met only with powerful freezers, which are not feasible for storage in pharmacies due to limited space and high cost.

Only large medical centres, universities, and some public health departments currently have access to these freezers.

“RNA is very unstable,” Chahal wrote. “For instance, DNA is still stable and intact at room temperature after a few days. RNA, however, must be kept cold. If it’s not kept at the proper temperature, it does not remain intact and thus,

would be ineffective.”

Pfizer has managed to circumvent this issue by developing a reusable, suitcase-sized shipping container where doses of the vaccine are kept on dry ice and can remain stable for 10 to 15 days. However, dry ice is an extremely dangerous material and cannot be shipped by air or sea, resulting in time-consuming, ground-only transport.

Nevertheless, Pfizer is working on a powdered version of the vaccine in hope of avoiding the cold storage requirements. In contrast, the Moderna vaccine requires a temperature between two to eight degrees Celsius, making it much easier to transport.

Quebec received a delivery of 34,000 doses of Moderna and 46,800 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines on Jan. 17, with shipments from Pfizer scheduled to arrive weekly for the rest of the month.

Making the ‘right’ choices Navigating the fraught landscape of making decisions in young adulthood Jonathan Giammara, Arts & Entertainment Editor

Ten years ago, Robin Marantz Henig published an article in The New York Times Magazine whose opening header read, “Why are so many people in their 20s taking so long to grow up?” The question referred to those who had entered adulthood in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis and failed to meet the societal milestones of a generation prior. In 2010, the question echoed the vocal concerns of a nation of worried parents inasmuch as it commented on and empathized with the realities of a new cohort of emerging adults—informally called the boomerang generation.

While this moniker may have fallen out of fashion in the decade since Marantz Henig’s article (and with it, its implicit air of contempt), the harsh realities of adulthood that plague millennials and older Gen Zers have nevertheless persisted. In Canada, fewer young people are getting married than baby boomers did in the 1980s, with Quebec’s rates being the lowest in the country. Likewise, there is a widening agerange for those completing university degrees and more students are extending their studies with graduate work rather than launching into careers straightaway. It is clear that millennials are intensely reluctant to commit to lifelong jobs as their parents and grandparents once did.

Although they help to capture current trends, a statistics-based focus privileges those normative milestones as the constants against which such young people are “deviating.” In the public-private divide, the expectations of the whole are the default; they override the desires of the individual and take for granted such reasons behind developmental difference as a rebellion against or disillusionment with “the system.”

But the blind spot in that logic lies in its holistic top-down rhetoric—if the actions of millenials are automatically tied to their context and judged by it, then an investigation into the crucially personal nature of goals and choice-making falls to the wayside.

The question, then, shouldn’t be, “Why are so many people in their 20s taking so long to grow up?” but rather, “What is it about choice-making in early life that makes it so profoundly difficult to do?”

Not all choices are created equal. What they entail in commitment or effort influences how we make a decision. According to McGill psychology professor Richard Koestner, who studies motivation and goal-setting, the timeframes of choices we’ve turned into goals weigh heavier on our minds the longer it takes to complete them.

“We have long-term goals, we have short-term goals [...] and I think it is true that the long-term goals are the ones that will be most difficult to reach,” Koestner said. “The problem with a long-term faraway goal is that it’s too abstract, and it’s too distant [...] and the only way to really get there is by having sub-goals or proximal goals [....] The problem is, it usually takes several different attempts [...] before someone succeeds.”

For something like New Year’s resolutions, Koestner argues, this advice is sound.

Their yearly recurrence appeals to the idea of reattempting those goals which remain important across someone’s life, and abandoning those that don’t. But for a 20-year-old reckoning with a single choice that may impact their life over a number of years—such as choosing their post-secondary education—Koestner understands the advice to be somewhat frivolous. For many university students, the choice of a major is a gamble of commitment predicated on their sustained passion or confidence for its subject matter—even more so if its purpose is to lead to relevant graduate studies or work.

University can feel like a bottleneck, an inflection point where the potential for failure or misdirection is a dire one; even if it’s not necessarily the case, starting over feels like lost and wasted time. Such doubts over the course of one’s commitments are what Koestner calls action crises, and their potential to occur only increases with the amount of time it takes to realize a goal.

Design: Chloe Rodriguez / The McGill Tribune

In my conversations with Ella Martin, M2 Science, who majored in Environmental Biology at McGill before starting their M.Sc. in Biology, they explained that such action crises came about as a factor of imposter syndrome, an issue that many university students experience during their studies.

“There is definitely a lot of [...] self-doubt where it’s like, ‘Am I even good enough for grad school or for academia?’ And it’s mixed with, ‘Is that the environment that I want to be in?’” Martin said.“Throughout the last year of my undergrad, I was going back and forth a lot about whether I wanted to do grad school. I had started working on some applications [...] and then got too overwhelmed and had to stop.”

Though Kayla O’Sullivan-Steben, M2 Science, felt more assured in her decision to pursue medical physics for her master’s, she nevertheless experienced similar feelings of hesitation when entertaining the possibility of particle physics as an alternative for her graduate studies. “[I’d] wanted to do medical physics since CEGEP, when I discovered it,” O’SullivanSteben said.“But [making a decision] was a constant stress in my mind [...] because it was like, ‘Okay, I’ll do a two-year master’s, and then a four-year Ph.D, and then a two-year residicency before [getting] a job [....] If I had done particle physics instead, I could have stopped in my master’s [...] and [gotten] a job right after.”

The need to move forward along a pre-established path and the desire to step back and consider other options appear as incompatible actions, especially if our expectations of personal growth are strictly linear. When commitment takes hold of one’s decision-making at the cost of exploration, the result is what Koestner calls a problem of disengagement— where the healthiest choice is to stop what you’re doing rather than force yourself to keep pushing forward.

“A lot of us, if we have really important goals that we can’t let go of, it’s because we may feel controlled, so that we put our self-esteem and our self-worth into these goals, or important people in our lives have pushed us to value them,” Koestner said. “That all-or-nothing thinking, that, ‘It’s either this goal, or it’s all been a waste,’ [...] really makes people feel bad and limits their freedom to switch to something that they would like [...] and could progress with in the future.”

Not since the 2008 crash have our expectations for the future been so shaken up as they have by the pandemic. In the current COVID-19 crisis, no one has been able to maintain a sense of self as established by the choices they made in a pre-pandemic world. And, much like in 2008, the reasons behind such shifts in our lives have been out of our control. For most, the avenues by which we could realize our decisions—be it academic, social, or careerwise—have been completely negated by the widespread reach of the pandemic. Over the last year, Jan Bottomer, a career advisor who has been working for McGill’s Career Planning Service (CaPS) since 2008, has seen students reevaluate their paths in two broad ways. For students whose academic or professional outlets have been completely shut down—such as in music and the arts—the instinct has been to become less explorative, to mediate their stress by finding jobs that are secure—relative to the uncertainty of the pandemic. For others, with economic and personal conditions permitting, the break in routine the pandemic has forced upon them has engendered a sense of creativity or curiosity for paths previously unexplored.

“At CaPS we have seen a positive increase in demand for our services over the last year and lots of mixed reactions and emotions from students,” Bottomer said.“There is definitely stress, anxiety, and concern, but we are also seeing a lot of resilience, creativity, adaptation, and engagement.”

Both of these reactions, Bottomer contends, aren’t exactly new; though it may be more pronounced at the moment, the state of affairs in our lives are those of constant uncertainty and change.

But the pandemic notwithstanding, Bottomer identified a second factor that has always affected young people’s decision-making about their futures—namely, the number of choices available.

“One thing that’s really important to consider with regards to career planning and decisions is that there is now so much more choice around job possibilities and in many ways, so much more accessibility,” Bottomer said. “That’s a great thing overall, but this abundance of choice also makes decision making more challenging.

When there are hundreds of options, it takes more time to reflect on possible paths, which can increase that feeling of, ‘I don’t want to get this wrong.’”

Across all my conversations, the most commonly endorsed source of anxiety was exactly this: The need to go down the right path. The suggestion hidden in this concern is that the sum of our choices is a narrowing of our selfhoods. Either because the proliferation of available choices sensitizes us to the weight of a single path, or because the framework of linear thinking depends on a single commitment to the exclusion of all others, the anxiety of making a choice becomes the fear of stripped potential, of missed opportunity. Making the “right” choice becomes a comfort not only because it promises a path we believe to be the most fulfilling, but because it absolves us of having to consider the alternatives, and the uncertainties therein. It’s a kind of future nostalgia, where we believe that the bliss to come is the product of an unerring choice, a moment in time that marks the before and after of our lives.

When the number of choices expands and the pressures of finding the “right” path intensifies, making a decision becomes all the more anxiety-provoking. That isn’t to say that we should completely dismiss the weight of our choices, but that our unchecked fixations on them may in fact encourage the stagnation they are meant to prevent. It is the business of most anxieties to make us avoid the problems that are most pressing—the anxiety of making a choice is no different.

But choices don’t measure our lives because they set us down the “right” path. They cannot predict nor control the uncertainties that life throws our way; their guarantee of success is as likely as their guarantee of failure. They cannot always move us forward, nor should we think of moving backwards as a failure. Because they court the unknown, they cannot always be easily made— and this applies to millennials just as it does to anyone else, of any age group, of any generation. Choices measure our lives because the meaning of a life unlived is a life lived without them.

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Methods of quantitative modeling revolutionize drug development Mathematical and computational tools improve efficiency of drug trials

Ana Vitorino Contributor Mathematics and computer science are revolutionizing the way new drugs and treatments are tested and implemented. A new paper published in Chaos and written

by U4 McGill Physiology and Math major Sofia Alfonso, postdoctoral researcher Adrianne L. Jenner, and Dr. Morgan Craig from the University of Montreal’s department of Math and Statistics, explores new alternatives to the challenges of using quantitative tools.

In the pharmaceutical industry, pre-clinical and clinical trials are challenging, time-consuming, and costly.

Virtual drug trials allow researchers to better understand and treat complex diseases such as cancer, diabetes and depression. Conducted faster than conventional clinical trials, virtual drug trials also allow more efficient and affordable distribution of treatments to the public due to high recruitment rates, better compliance, and lower dropout rates. The paper presents multiple case studies that test experimental medications using mathematical modelling.

Such studies are considered in silico, as they are conducted by a computer program and do not involve live patients, as an in vivo trial would. These simulations can predict the effect of a medication on virtual patients, leading to important insights about a drug’s efficacy before investing time and money into human subject testing.

Alfonso and Craig say that the pharmaceutical industry is already using in silico models for research and em-

IIn silico studies show that long-acting drugs are as efficient in treating HIV as standard, daily-dose drugs. (Bits Feed)

phasize the need for collaboration between experimentalists and clinicians in order to develop more accurate and effective models.

“In drug development, for example, study of a novel drug delivery device for anti-HIV therapy contributed to its continued development and ongoing clinical trials of similar devices,” Craig wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune.

One case study explored the potential of mathematical modeling in the development of treatments for infectious

diseases, such as the Herpes Simplex virus (HSV) or the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Based on data of viral shedding collected from real patients, an experimental drug was administered to a virtual patient infected with HSV. Researchers then optimized the drug’s dose for clinical trials, paving the way for future studies of similar drugs for the antiviral treatment of HIV and HSV. “A big challenge is finding adequate parameters in the literature such that the model can be accurately calibrated,” Alfonso wrote in an email to the Tribune, referring to the need for data from clinicians to construct accurate models. “Thus, collaborative efforts that bridge quantitative approaches with experimental work can be integral to developing useful models.”

The researchers are optimistic about the potential of virtual trials in the development of treatments more quickly and less invasively during public health crises such as COVID-19. Transitioning to remote trials could limit the risks of in-person contact, especially in medical settings.

“Currently, we have been working with an interdisciplinary team on modelling COVID-19 in virtual patients, allowing us to simulate the mechanisms resulting in severe SARS-CoV-2 infection,” Alfonso wrote. “I am hopeful that as we gain more data, our model will provide further clinically relevant findings.”

Given the importance of quantitative methods in physiology, Alfonso emphasizes the opportunities for future physiology students willing to delve into mathematics, physics, and computer science.

2020 Rewind: SciTech discoveries of the year

Quantum computing and CRISPR-Cas9 among 2020’s greatest achievements many development efforts to use CRISPRCas9 technology to treat different diseases.

Shirley Xu Contributor

Anti-aging drugs: Senolytics

2020 was a year characterized by uncertainty, despair, and drastic change.

However, several scientific and technological achievements provide hope for the future.

Google stakes its claim on quantum supremacy Google’s quantum computer, Sycamore, is the first instance of such a device outcompeting a classical computer. While a classical computer reads information as “bits” valued at 0 or 1, a quantum computer’s “qubits” can exist as both 0 and 1 at the same time, allowing for more data processing.

Google announced that Sycamore performed a calculation in three minutes and 20 seconds that would otherwise have taken the most advanced classical computer 10,000 years.

The applications of quantum computing are limitless, ranging from drug development to accurate weather forecasts to identifying which exoplanets likely harbour life. Although we may be five to 10 years away from having quantum computers that are useful for applications like these, Google’s achievement is proof that such a future is possible.

Cave excavations push back colonization of the Americas by 15,000 years New research published in Nature shows that humans may have arrived in the Americas as early as 30,000 years ago—15,000 years earlier than current estimates. After painstaking excavations of the Chiquihuite Cave in Mexico, archaeologists uncovered

Contributor Shirley Xu takes us through five remarkable scientific and technological discoveries of 2020, including quantum computing and virtual-reality surgery. (Christian Gralingen / IEEE Magazine)

nearly 2,000 stone tools and charcoal bits dating back 30,000 years. Further DNA analysis of the cave sediment, composed of plant and animal remains, corroborates these findings. The discovery challenges the commonly held theory that the Clovis people were the first inhabitants of the Americas 15,000 years ago. However, identifying factors of these mysterious early inhabitants, such as human DNA, were not found, suggesting they did not stay in the cave for long.

CRISPR-Cas9 edits genes in the human body Doctors performed the first gene editing project in the human body using CRISPR-

Cas9, a genome editing tool that can remove, add, or change parts of an organism’s DNA sequence. The CRISPR method is based on a natural mechanism bacteria use to protect themselves from viral infections. Previous methods involved editing the genome after extracting DNA from the body. The treatment was administered to a patient with Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, an inherited form of blindness caused by a genetic mutation.

Scientists deleted the harmful mutation by making two cuts on either side of the gene and allowing the ends of the DNA to reconnect.

Although the patient’s vision showed some improvement, scientists are hopeful that further research into gene editing technologies will allow a permanent fix. This is one of

Aging is a process that many of us fight to resist, but cannot succeed. Anti-aging drugs called senolytics could potentially delay aging and treat a number of associated diseases, although they do not prolong one’s life. In the body, cells that are damaged beyond repair enter a senescence phase in which they stop dividing and begin programmed death.

However, sometimes senescent cells resist their fate, build up in our bodies as we age, and harm surrounding cells. Scientists believe that they are linked to diseases caused by aging and that targeting these cells using senolytics could be the solution. Anti-aging drugs entered human trials in 2020 and are predicted to become available in less than five years.

Virti: Helping surgeons and front-line workers using virtual reality Virti is an immersive video platform that allows users to visualize a high-stress situation in virtual reality in order to train one’s decision-making skills under pressure and access real-time feedback. As part of efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and help train clinicians while reducing in-person contact, Vitri designed an AIpowered “virtual patient” that can role play life-like scenarios.

Their COVID-19 modules also teach frontline workers how to put on personal protective equipment, administer treatments, and ventilate patients.

A company study by Virti found that their approaches increase knowledge retention by 230 per cent compared to training in person.

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Shooting your shot on Zoom

Making new friends while learning remotely Maya Mau Staff Writer Remote classes are not an ideal learning method for anyone, but this does not mean you cannot have some fun with it. Beyond adjusting academically, adapting socially to remote learning is a whole other ballpark. Reaching out to strangers online is a challenge to be conquered.

One of my classmates recently told me that they were asked on a date through a Zoom private message during a lecture. Another told me that someone reached out to them by guessing their university email address. While some students clearly have no qualms about messaging someone they saw in a Zoom lecture—or even shooting their shot—most of us find making friends with people in their online classes intimidating.

Under normal circumstances, students could easily turn to the person next to them in a lecture and bond over common ground, such as the course material, fashion, or a shared interest. However, Zoom classes make it more difficult for such melees to occur, especially with pre-recorded lectures, seas of blank screens, and no opportunity to chat before or after class. Attending small group conference sessions can provide some much needed social interaction, but there are still usually over a dozen people in the room. The randomized breakout rooms have potential to foster natural conversations, but generally descend into a painful, awkward silence. Still, when the breakout rooms close, there is no way to simply turn around and get the contact information of the person you were just talking to. Thus, it can be hard to go from in-class to outof-class friends.

With that said, for some students who are either unable to come to Montreal this year or confined by restrictions,

Amidst the pandemic, students are increasingly reaching out to people that they have never met. (utep.edu.jpg) meeting people through lectures is one of the only ways to make friends. Personally, I am doubly disadvantaged by being both a first year student and someone living at home. Luckily, connecting with peers over shared academic interests online has lessened the feelings of isolation.

The most important thing to me has been overcoming the fear of being perceived as creepy. Before remote learning, it may not have been as common to receive a Facebook or Instagram direct message out of the blue from an unknown user without the preamble of an actual introduction. Though it is understandable to feel uncomfortable contacting someone unfamiliar on social media, most of us have both sent and received more of these messages amid the pandemic than ever before. It is important to realize that, especially in quarantine, many students have not lost their love of meeting new people.

If you have a great conversation with someone in a breakout room, it is completely normal to look someone up on Facebook and reach out.

Amélie Guillemette, U0 Arts, is in a similar situation to mine.

“The only way I was able to start talking to some people is through the live Zoom classes, so if teachers don’t have any of those throughout the semester, it’s pretty much impossible to start interacting with people and to have something substantial to talk about,” Guillemette said. “I was lucky that in the first semester I had three classes with live Zooms and with people that had a lot of the same classes [....] But it’s still much harder than if we were in person.”

By paying attention to the people in your classes, you can build relationships. Although it can be uncomfortable at first, most students that you reach out to are more than happy to make a new connection.

Spending at least two semesters of university with classmates scattered across the world is certainly disappointing, but it is still possible to build friendships. Most importantly, it is about having an open mind and being kind to yourself and others. Remember that everyone is in the same boat, and do not be afraid to venture outside your comfort zone.

Journaling past present uncertainty

Keeping a diary can help students better understand the workings of history Wendy Zhao Staff Writer With innumerable ways to define the uncertainty of present times, many have started to capture their lives on paper, whether as a tool to record their role as witness to a pivotal historical juncture or to make sense of the chaos through the process of writing.

During the first days of quarantine, Hannah JudelsonKelly, U3 Arts, could not be certain of much beyond the moment’s importance and had an urge to articulate and document the present reality.

“I wrote an entry near the beginning of COVID,” Judelson-

Kelly said. “I just remember thinking very clearly that you should write down that COVID is happening.”

Journals from the past serve as valuable accounts of history, offering access to an individual’s perspective as they live through historical events. Museums and historians are already seeking out artifacts from diverse experiences of the past year to construct narratives for posterity. Janis Whitlock, a research scientist at Cornell University who focusses on young adult mental health, created a global project called “Telling Our Stories in the Age of COVID-19” to collect journal entries from the pandemic.

During extraordinary times, chronicles of life’s banalities provide intimate details that enable future generations to understand our current realities. Diaries from the influenza pandemic of 1918 reveal a doctor’s sense of inadequacy for his patients and— as restrictions lifted—a young girl’s eagerness to see the newest movie in theatres. A record of the first moment one can attend a concert or hug a stranger again post-coronavirus will likely be just as valuable.

Many, however, prefer to journal not for any historical archive but rather as an aid to their more urgent, present lives.

By releasing her emotions in

Manifesting our nonsensical inner worlds in writing can award the clarity needed to persist forth.

(Teodora Putnik / The McGill Tribune)

writing, Judelson-Kelly is able to discover clarity in them.

“For me, solving [problems] comes with talking to people,” Judelson-Kelly said. “In a way, my journal is a person to talk to.

I need space to allow the idea or emotion to breathe and a journal gives me that [….] Solutions sometimes come afterwards or during that.”

Jackie Lee, U1 Arts, documents her life both for personal remembrance and management of anxieties. Lee practices honesty in her writing, but often finds herself still keenly aware of an external reader’s gaze.

“Every single journal I have, the first page is a disclaimer for myself saying I can write however I want,” Lee said. “It’s this weird dual awareness of myself being genuine and totally raw in this space, but [also] of writing for my grandkid in 200 years to look back on and see as an artifact.”

It can be difficult to escape the sense that one’s private thoughts might be exposed or serve to represent something larger than oneself. In journaling, the writer often not only releases their inner feelings but also gains a fraction of control over them. They become conscious of the passage of time, compelled to imagine the foreign empathies and judgements

of a future reader or self.

This detachment from the present moment, however, can also help us endure through it.

When Judelson-Kelly looks back on her past journal entries, she laughs at their intensity. For her, reading them is reassuring.

“There’s times when emotions will come up in my life, and when I flip back, I’ll find that a couple of years ago, I was feeling the same thing,” JudelsonKelly said. “It’s reassuring to me.

There’s evidence right here in your writing where you’re feeling the same exact feeling. Stop feeling sorry for yourself because you’re going to get through it!”

Forcing us to recognize the ephemerality of the moment, journaling can give us greater confidence and perspective in the face of adversity.

Judelson-Kelly admits to being just as emotional and dramatic in her current writing, knowing perhaps that she will one day find comfort in her present uncertainties, as confounding as they may seem now.

While helping us create narratives of historical and personal change, journaling might also reveal instances when history repeats itself in the present, providing guidance and assurance that this moment, too, will pass.

12 STUDENT LIFE

TUESDAY, JANUARY 19 2021

Spending the holidays with chosen family

Amidst uncertain times, students found comfort in friends and roommates

Wendy Zhao Staff Writer For many, this holiday season was spent away from loved ones.

At a time when uniting with family feels especially pertinent, the realities of the pandemic remain stark.

Nonetheless, students adapted, finding comfort in friends, roommates, and themselves.

Ollie F., U3 Arts, spent the holidays with their roommate and boyfriend. It was their first time away from family during this time of year.

In previous years, Christmas has meant visiting Provence, France to unite with their maternal side of the family and participate in regional traditions.

“We have 13 desserts on Christmas day and set up a mini Christmas village,” Ollie said.

“Some years we also sprout wheat and barley starting at the beginning of December.”

The winter break typically offers students a chance to see loved ones from whom they are separated for most of the year.

Homecomings, however, were shadowed by a threat to communal safety. Ollie reflected on the family that they weren’t able to see. “[During the holidays] the most important thing for me is to be with my sister,” Ollie said. “I miss [her] the most. I’m also really going to miss seeing my little cousins [….] They’re the most awesome kids I’ve ever met.”

Since Ollie’s roommate is Jewish, they lit the menorah for every night of Hanukkah, which spanned from Dec. 10 to 18.

Although they might not have enjoyed as many desserts as in Provence, the three still cooked and shared a meal on Christmas.

Ollie expressed their gratitude for these close relationships.

“It [was] strange being away from my family for the first time this Christmas, but I feel so lucky to have this bit of my chosen family surrounding me,” Ollie said. “Our household functions like a family and we all take care of each other, which is something really special.”

Friends and roommates,

isolated from familiarity and tradition—as most have been these past months—can be strengthened by the shared experience of grappling with the pandemic’s strangeness.

Brian Wood, a 2L Law student, hoped to replicate comforts from his home in Barbados. He enjoyed his break with a Barbadian friend

visiting from Toronto and cooked meals together that are unique to their home country.

Barbados’ warm weather was difficult to summon, but food can often be its own form of teleportation. Earlier, Wood shared his traditions and plans.

“I’m going to miss my mom’s cooking,” Wood said. “On

After months of relative isolation, students bonded over mutually grappling with the pandemic’s strangeness. (californiapsychics.com)

Christmas day, most of us have family luncheons. Our parents would cook a huge meal for extended family, cousins, aunts, uncles [....] One main thing we eat is called macaroni pie [….]

It won’t be the same, but we’re going to try.”

Deciding to stay away from family is paradoxically an easy yet difficult decision. Spending the holidays with her roommate, U1 Arts student Laura Clow explained their choice.

“We knew it had to be done to keep our loved ones safe,” Clow said. “But, it was incredibly hard to carry that decision out, especially when it came to telling them that we wouldn’t make it home for Christmas.”

Despite the setbacks, Clow enjoyed creating perhaps the beginnings of their new traditions.

“We [tried] to make this a positive experience for both of us,” Clow said. “I [was] looking forward to doing everything ourselves this year and feeling like full adults. We [had] a super great gift exchange [...] and a delicious Christmas dinner.”

UpLift Canada renews old clothes

Student initiative hopes to minimize environmental damage done by clothing waste Antoine Guimbal Contributor The UpLift Canada Foundation is a newly established, student-led initiative spearheaded by Maggie Larocque, U3 Arts. Perplexed by the 10 million tons of clothing North Americans throw out every single year, UpLift’s founders devised an upcycling process that provides clothing to individuals in housing shelters. In addition, UpLift offers opportunities for volunteers to build relationships with their disadvantaged neighbours while alleviating the environmental damage clothing waste causes. Larocque was stunned and horrified following a visit to a waste management facility in October of last year.

“I kept thinking about the literal piles and piles of clothing that were going to waste in my own backyard,” Larocque said.

“Something had to be done.”

Compelled to act, Larocque began researching and discussing her ideas with close friends. Less than three months later, those peers now make up the executive team of UpLift, launched on New Year’s Day in 2021.

UpLift strives to simplify the donation process for both donors and shelters. Each month, the organization communicates with partnered shelters in a selected city to ensure a redistribution that is equitable and tailored towards their specific needs. This January, UpLift is soliciting donations in Tsawwassen, B.C. During that month, individuals will select a time-slot for the UpLift team to coordinate donation pick-up from the given address.

UpLift partners with local shelters to ensure an equitable distribution of donated clothes. (upliftcanadafoundation.org) Following the donation process, UpLift begins its upcycling process. The on-site team sorts all the donations and separates clothing that is suitable for distribution from damaged pieces that are not. Appropriate clothing is then delivered to predetermined shelters the following day. Larocque’s team also takes inspiration from ethical and sustainable clothing companies, such as Patagonia, and researches the practices of facilities that repurpose old textiles.

Despite founding the organization in the midst of the pandemic, UpLift has achieved what the executive team envisioned.

Though accessibility barriers such as costs of incorporation and the submission of legal documents were initial learning curves, overcoming these obstacles has fuelled the initiative’s focus.

Inspired by the virtual workings of the student-club over which Larocque also presides, McGill Students for UN Women, as well as discussions with Tori Ford, the founder of Medical Herstory, the group has forced itself to adapt to remote-based communication. Larocque points to the unwavering generosity of their partnering communities for allowing UpLift to operate

efficiently. As of Jan. 14, all donation slots for their Tsawwassen clothing drive have been booked—a testament to the organization prevailing through numerous hurdles.

The UpLift Canada Foundation unapologetically presents itself as a youthful organization. Although the phrase “youthlead” is featured prominently across its website, the initiative aims to bring a diverse, inclusive, and intersectional set of voices to the table. The group of young individuals are passionate about using a grassroots approach to improve environmental and living conditions. UpLift’s executive team act as practicing activists, intersectional environmentalists, and role models for the next generation, distinguishing the initiative from other clothing donation services.

UpLift’s expansion process is already in the works, with a Montreal launch scheduled for September 2021. Furthermore, the organization is planning to expand nationwide as its foundation and resources continue to grow.

In a world full of uncertainty, Larocque hopes to bring reassurance to soon-to-be graduates.

“If there is one thing I have learned in my entrance into the NPO sector, it is that there are a lot of wonderfully passionate people doing wonderful things all around the world,” Larocque said. “There is always room for help and that has been an overwhelming fact I have learned throughout this entire experience.”

Students wishing to get involved can visit the UpLift Canada Foundation website and contact the organization directly.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 13

TUESDAY, JANUARY 19 2021

‘Bridgerton’ prioritizes aesthetics over sensitivity to sexual violence Netflix’s lighthearted camp misses the mark on serious issues Deana Korsunsky Staff Writer Content Warning: Sexual violence.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Shonda Rhimes churns out hit TV dramas faster than you can say “Shondaland.” In collaboration with Netflix, Bridgerton is Rhimes’ latest endeavour in cultivating a mass fanbase—already charting as the number one Netflix show in 76 countries.

The hit series is set in Regency-era England, detailing the toil and excitement of courtship in the 1800s. Based on Julia Quinn’s book series, Bridgerton revolves largely around the will-they-won’t-they romantic dynamic of headstrong aristocrat Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and the broody Duke of Hastings, Simon Bassett (RégeJean Page). The characters engage in every courting activity found in a Jane Austen novel; from chaperoned flirting, to balls, to sexuallycharged walks in perfectly manicured gardens. Every scene depicts the utmost dedication to aesthetic and visual detail. In fact, Bridgerton custom-designed every piece of furniture and drapery. Every feathered hairpiece, every cufflink at the end

of a poofy sleeve, every sofa, and every painting is carefully placed and maintained to highlight the show’s intended whimsical tone and the plot’s heightened suspense and romance.

Yet, this dedication to tone and aesthetic veils blatant, unaddressed moments of insensitivity, most notably from the concerning scene in

episode six that glosses over an act of sexual assault. Initially believing the Duke to be impotent, Daphne then finds out that her husband has purposefully been, to put it bluntly, “pulling out,” and in fact, can have children. What follows next is arguably the show’s most subtly horrific scene—one that goes unquestioned for the remainder of the series. The

Bridgerton unwittingly perpetuates a stereotype that only women can be victims of sexual assault. (newsweek.com)

next time Daphne and Simon have sex, rather than allowing Simon to end intercourse, Daphne forces him to continue, despite Simon’s obvious discomfort.

This is not the first time that sexual assault against men has been depicted on television, but it is arguably one of the rare occasions in which it goes unmentioned and unlabeled for what it is: Assault. Following this scene, Simon’s anger with Daphne lies in her lack of respect for his desire not to have children, and Daphne’s anger lies in Simon’s deception. Neither brings up the subject of consent or rape. String quartet soundtracks keep playing, flirty dance sequences continue, and Simon and Daphne eventually forgive each other two episodes later as they plan how many public dances they will engage in at the next ball.

The drama and whimsy continue, distracting from and belittling a case of blatant sexual assault.

The implications of this scene and its aftermath are disturbing: Bridgerton implies that because Simon lied to Daphne, his assault was justified. Further, the show suggests that this moment of dubious consent did not merit further examination, a decision that surely would have been different had the gender

roles been switched. The scene suggests to viewers that because Daphne was wronged, her actions were excusable. Such a thought process erases the notion of consent, and more horrifically, perpetuates the stigma that male-identifying individuals cannot be victims of sexual assault. Despite criticisms of this precarious scene, Bridgerton remains a popular show.

This incident, while significant in the realm of television narrative, also examines the necessity of accuracy in literature-to-screen adaptations. Book series author Julia Quinn originally wrote a version of this scene in the series’ first book, similarly implicating Daphne as a rapist. Bridgerton’s producers arguably toned the scene down, yet this still does not merit the glossing over that occurred in the episode.

Rhimes’ Bridgerton capitalizes on audiences’ love of Regency-era romance narratives and the sense of escapism brought on by bright colours, exquisite outfits, and choreographed balls. The show chooses to convey the flounce and frills of the book series, yet its loyalty to the storyline rather than ethics sets a disturbing precedent for both past and modern attitudes toward rape culture.

In conversation with Motyka

New York-based act looks to break genre barriers Lilly Lecanu-Fayet Contributor Brian Joseph Schuh of Motyka hopes his new album, By Keeping Spring, will get listeners used to the unexpected. The album, available Jan. 22, fluidly strings together songs ranging from electronic to folk pop in a way that allows listeners to go along without thinking about its eclectic nature.

“I don’t really think of myself as any particular kind of artist. I just follow where I want the vibe to go and pieces organically come together,” Schuh said in an interview with the Tribune. “For me, every album is kind of case-by-case, not so much thinking of myself as any type of artist, where this is gonna be my ‘blank’ album. I just fill in the gaps as I go along.”

Schuh has been making music seriously since high school. He taught himself the ropes of music production on audio workstations where he experimented with samples he found on the internet, and eventually started to produce his own music. While he was at the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam, Schuh worked on projects under several different monikers, eventually settling on Motyka after graduation.

“The name Motyka is actually my mother’s maiden name,” Schuh said. “I come from a pretty musical family, and I wanted to honour them by using that name in association with my music.”

Although Schuh writes and produces

music under the name Motyka, he rarely does it on his own. Since starting the project toward the end of college, he has collaborated with friends and fellow musicians on every step of the production process. Collaboration offers Schuh the ability to incorporate specific styles and instruments he would not otherwise be able to execute himself. Part of the production process for Schuh includes improvising with friends over short tracks he has created. By Keeping Spring is full of improvised sessions featuring a number of musicians, particularly due to the interesting production method Schuh followed.

“I wrote a poem during quarantine and that poem became the track list for the album,” Schuh said. “The seven tracks on the album come from seven lines of the poem.

[To compose the album], I just started at the beginning and I did the first song by finding some samples [....] From there, I just did the next song, and it unfolded pretty linearly.”

Schuh explains that improvisation is one of the ways he makes his music more organic and human, and that those elements also help to make the combination of musical genres cohesive. His philosophy is simple: The hook is the key. Focussing on the hook of the song, the part of the song that resonates with listeners and keeps them coming back for more, is the best way to bridge the gap between dissonant genres on a single album. The eponymous track, “By Keeping Spring,” ends its nebulous electronic run with a brief pause, followed by the unmistakable graininess of a record player. Transitioning into the throw-

Motyka’s album, available Jan. 22, fluidly strings together songs ranging from electronic to folk pop in a way that allows listeners to go along without thinking about its eclectic nature.

(Brian Joseph Schuh of Motyka) back tones of “We Take The Air,” Motyka shifts easily between the sounds of the past and present. The vibe throughout the album is nostalgic, written during the beginning of lockdown when life was full of uncertainty. It is highly emotive, and its unique flow reflects the untamable and often undefinable emotions

we all experienced at that time and continue to feel to this day.

By Keeping Spring will be available on all streaming platforms on January 22.

“Draw,” “What Separates Us,” and “The Water” are available as singles.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2020

14 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Stuff we liked this break

From Taiwanese dramas to Patti Smith’s innermost thoughts Tasmin Chu, Anna Chudakov, Deana Korsunsky, Jackie Lee Contributors, Staff Writer, Copy Editor

and light. Despite its tenor of repression and secrecy, this film bursts with an intimacy that feels startlingly fresh and real.

This holiday season was a weird one. With not much to do and three extra days not to do it, binging a new series on Netflix or getting lost in a good podcast wasn’t so much an option as it was a necessity. As always, the team at A&E took full advantage of the well-deserved downtime to discover some new favourites in TV, music, and books. Here’s the best of what we liked this winter break.

“Driver’s License”, Deana Korsunsky

Your Name Engraved Herein, Tasmin Chu Set in 1980s Taiwan during the lifting of martial law, director Patrick Kuang-Hui Liu’s Your Name Engraved Herein [刻在你心底的名 字] explores themes of shame and desire from the eyes of A-han, a student at an all-boys high school who finds himself falling in love with a new transfer named Birdy. Both A-han and Birdy must decide between staying together or growing apart in an atmosphere dominated by violence, religion, and patriotism. Its moments of physical vulnerability remain firmly grounded in quotidian settings of shower stalls, classrooms, and train cars. It’s also beautiful. The visuals of the film took me right back to attending Catholic school in Taiwan: The omnipresent scooters, the blue-green mountains, the topography of water

I used to think that only throwback masterpieces like “American Idiot” and “Mr. Brightside” could catapult me into angsty teenagehood regression. “Driver’s License,” Olivia Rodrigo’s new single, proved me wrong. The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star released what could only be described as a certifiable banger, a break-up ballad speculated to be about her co-star, Joshua Bassett. The tapestry of background drama details, however, only punctuates the impeccable vocals that Rodrigo brings to the song. From the soft notes of her opening lyrics to her chilling belting in the chorus and bridge, Rodrigo captures bittersweet, unfiltered heartache. A wistful ode to lost love, “Driver’s License” has every right to its triumphant reign on the top of the charts.

Just Kids by Patti Smith, Anna Chudakov Patti Smith’s autobiography Just Kids delivers an immersive experience into the lives of starving artists in New York in the ‘70s. On her journey of artistic self-discovery that progressed in tandem to her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe, Smith shares intimate details of her life from her teen pregnancy to living at the Chelsea Hotel. The story of how Smith and Mapplethorpe’s devotion to art and to one another sustained their strenuous climb to success is embellished by conversations with legends like Jimi Hendrix, and simultaneously marred by the loss of loved ones. Just Kids leaves you feeling warmhearted, inspired, and gives you newfound appreciation for the work of artists in Smith’s era.

Memorial by Bryan Washington, Jackie Lee

The team at A&E took full advantage of the well-deserverved downtime to discover some new favourites. (Aidan Martin / The McGill Tribune)

In his debut novel, Memorial, Bryan Washington writes of families born and made, bonds rekindled and lost, and histories passed down from parents to children. Benson and Mike, a working-class Houston couple, are set to reevaluate their deteriorating relationship when Mike departs to Japan to visit his dying father, leaving his mother, who has only just arrived from Tokyo, and Benson as reluctant roommates.

Washington’s voice is stark but beautiful, depths of meaning rippling underneath lines that blend dialogue and inner voice. A poignant story contoured with intersections of class, sexuality, and race, Memorial ponders how we communicate and care for one another, and what it means to be home.

Luminothérapie Luminous and interactive art installation in Montreal.

Open daily until March 14, 2021 Place des Festivals Free

HSA Winter Trivia Night

Join the McGill History Students Association for a fun night of trivia.

Jan 21, 6:30 p.m.

Online Free (RSVP)

Discussion about bioregionalism: Follow-up to film: Hochelaga, Terres des Âmes McGill Permaculture Club hosts conversations on bioregional governance.

Jan 21, 6:00 p.m.

Online

Among Us with Profs McGill Tech Week challenges you to outwit your professors in Among Us, a game of social deception and survival.

Jan 22, 7:30 p.m.

Online Free

Playboi Carti’s ‘Whole Lotta Red’ is unique, for the best and the worst Carti’s sophomore album shoots for the moon, but misses Lowell Wolfe Staff Writer Nearly two and a half years after the release of his debut studio album Die Lit, Playboi Carti dropped his long-awaited sophomore follow-up, Whole Lotta Red, on Dec. 25, 2020. When I tore into the record like a present under the proverbial Christmas tree, I soon came to realize that Whole Lotta Red is Carti’s most unique corpus of work to date. However, Whole Lotta Red’s originality is simultaneously its most enticing feature and its ultimate failure.

The project’s production is unlike any of Carti’s previous projects. Die Lit and his self-titled mixtape both relied heavily on producer Pierre Bourne’s repetitive, psychedelic beats. With Whole Lotta Red, Carti experiments with new sounds and draws upon a

broader range of producers, including Art Dealer, Richie Souf, F1lthy, and even Kanye West. The album’s new sounds are distorted, abrasive, and aggressive, especially on tracks such as “New Tank” or “Stop Breathing.” This is not to say that Carti has completely turned a new leaf; “Place” and “ILoveUIHateU” feature Borne’s hypnotic, synthheavy production and remain absolute bangers.

Along with the beats, Carti experiments with new vocal styles, ranges, and deliveries—their success, however, is hit-or-miss. For example, “JumpOutTheHouse” features Carti repeating the chorus with a disconcerting frequency; the song sounds like a broken record.

Carti gets lyrical on “Vamp Anthem” with lines like “.223 gon’ hit ‘em up, he done got hypnotized / I done made a mil’ in a white tee but I ain’t Franchize,” and, to Carti’s

Kanye West’s verse on ‘Go2DaMoon’ shows Kanye at his most deranged and egotistical, making for a great feature. (revolt.tv.jpg)

credit, it works.

The project’s features— which are far and few between— are fun and diverse. For the most part, Carti plays them to his own strengths. Kanye West’s verse on “Go2DaMoon” shows Kanye at his most deranged and egotistical, making for an excellent guest appearance, but Carti follows Ye with a short and insubstantial verse that leaves much to be desired. Fortunately, Carti more strongly synchronizes with Kid Cudi and Future’s verses on “M3tamorphosis” and “Teen X.” Whole Lotta Red is an innovative, courageous effort at a new sound, proving that Playboi Carti is not a one-trick pony, nor is his music dependent on the aesthetics of specific producers. The project showcases that Carti has found new strengths, but he hasn’t quite got the hang of them, either.

SPORTS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 19 2021

15

The McGill Tribune’s look into a unique 2021 NBA Season Predictions heading into a tumultuous new season Adam Burton, Adam Menikefs Sports Editor, Staff Writer Coming off the shortest NBA off-season of all time, the opening weeks of the 20202021 NBA season have been anything but predictable. Here are The McGill Tribune’s predictions for the rest of the 2020-2021 season.

The Toronto Raptors Following a valiant playoff run in the bubble, the Toronto Raptors have stumbled to a 5-8 start to begin the 2020-2021 NBA season.

Although COVID-19, a shortened off-season, and relocation to Tampa Bay are significant factors in the team’s lacklustre start, Nick Nurses’ squad’s inability to execute and play sound team basketball is the main reason for the rough beginning. During the off-season, Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol left for Los Angeles; both were instrumental to the team’s ferocious defense, which has consistently ranked among the best in the league over past seasons. Additionally, the duo added strong rebounding, with floor spacing and timely scoring on the offensive end of the floor.

In an attempt to replace Ibaka and Gasol, the Raptors signed Aron Baynes as a free agent replacement in November. However, he has been poor on both ends of the floor, earning himself a frequent spot on the bench.

The secondary unit, a strong point for Toronto during the past several seasons, has struggled, particularly Norman Powell, who has shot just 37 field goal percentage. 2020 All-Star forward Pascal Siakam has also continued to disappoint following his subpar performance in the Orlando bubble, averaging just 19.9 points per game on 45 field goal percentage, which is not strong enough for a primary scorer on a team expecting to contend for a championship.

By now, the Raptors are at a crossroads regarding the future. The current team cannot compete with Brooklyn, Philadelphia, or Boston. The front office must decide to rebuild or pursue additional help. Rebuilding around a core of Siakam, Van Vleet, and Boucher would be the better option. Despite all he has done for the city and Raptors organization, moving veteran All-Star Kyle Lowry to another team would be an important start in rebuilding another championship roster. With Lowry’s contract set to expire at the end of the season, President Masai Ujiri will be tasked with making these decisions for the franchise, truly holding the future of the team in his hands.

(theguardian.jpg) promising start that led many to believe this squad will challenge the Lakers for the 2021 NBA championship. Assuming a continued successful pairing of former Oklahoma City Thunder teammates Durant and Harden, the front office could decide to trade All-Star guard Kyrie Irving for depth, which the Nets currently lack. The Nets traded Chris Levert and Jarett Allen, among other key secondary players, in order to attain Harden, thinning the team’s bench significantly. Irving has broken league COVID-19 protocols and has only played in half of the games this season, taking time off for “personal reasons”. Irving has been wildly unpredictable since leaving Cleveland in 2017, and the cohesiveness as well as the future of the team could benefit from his departure in an exchange for young, committed role players.

The Golden State Warriors Since the slew of injuries that ended the Golden State Warriors’ chances of winning the NBA championship in 2019, the oncedominant team has been looked over as a serious contender for the following seasons.

The departure of Kevin Durant to the Brooklyn Nets and the injuries suffered by Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry left the

The Brooklyn Nets With a record of 9-6 to begin the season and multiple questions arising surrounding All-Star Kyrie Irving’s off-court behaviour, doubts have started to form regarding the Brooklyn Nets’ chemistry and future success.

However, this skepticism has seemingly been put to rest following the acquisition of former MVP guard James Harden. In a fourteam deal involving multiple players and draft picks, the Nets traded away their future with the hopes of winning immediately, creating a new “big three” led by future Hall-of-Famer Kevin Durant. Harden posted a 30-point triple-double in his Nets debut, an extremely

team without a winning core. As a result, the Warriors finished last in the league last year, managing only 15 wins. While some believed the team could return to playoff contention leading up to the season, Klay Thompson’s Achilles tear quickly snuffed out the hopes and dreams of those anticipating the return of the Splash Brothers.

Although the Warriors had a slow start to the 2020-2021 season, losing miserably to the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, Steph Curry quickly reminded the basketball world that he was a force to be reckoned with, scoring a career-high 62 points against the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 3. This season has seen the advent of a new Steph Curry: Without Kevin Durant or Klay Thompson, Curry has taken on more minutes and become more ball-dominant.

Stephen Curry hasn’t been the only factor in this new Warriors team. Second overall pick James Wiseman has been unexpectedly effective in his first season in the NBA, averaging 11 points and six rebounds per game. His explosiveness as a seven-foot centre combined with his instinctual proficiency in the pick-and-roll has made him a surprising addition to their roster.

Even Andrew Wiggins, a player that has failed to live up to expectations throughout his career, has shown newfound potential with the Golden State Warriors. His proficient threepoint shooting, instinctive savvy on the pickand-roll, and excellent defence have made him a good fit on a team lacking in those three areas.

Despite the upsides, the Warriors are still 6-7 to start the season, meaning the team will have to grow into their new roles to win more games. While many of their new assets look promising, more depth will be needed on the roster if the Warriors have any chance of making it to the playoffs.

The New York Knicks

Stephen Curry has reasserted himself as one of the best shooters in the league, putting up strong performances to start the season. (SB Nation.jpg)

The New York Knicks have been terrible for as long as most can remember, and the last few seasons have been increasingly discouraging for long-suffering fans in the Tri-State Area. Last off-season, the Knicks completely overhauled their front office and replaced their coaching staff. Instead of

focussing on free-agency acquisitions, the team has committed to developing their young players and cultivating a culture of hard work and competition.

The addition of head coach Tom

(postingandtoasting.com) Thibodeau has been instrumental in the team’s improvement. His leadership style screams “never satisfied” and demands a lot from players that, in years past, have played in a losing environment.

Julius Randle has also made a jump, leading his team in points, rebounds, and assists. His performances at the start of the season have put him on track for an All-Star selection. This consistent performance has brought a much needed leader to an otherwise inexperienced team.

Young players RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and Mitchell Robinson have shown promise in the first games of this season, performing at high levels in their respective positions. Most notably, Barrett has shown flashes of greatness in closing tight games and defending at a high level. The former second pick has potential to improve and make himself a serious asset in years to come.

While the Knicks likely will not make a Cinderella run to the top of the league any time soon, the turnaround of a seemingly neverending dumpster fire has been a highlight of this season. Seeing if the Knicks build on this momentum and further excite an already hysterical fanbase will be a compelling storyline.

16

TUESDAY, JANUARY 19 2021

SPORTS

Atlanta Dream activism helps Georgia Senate flip blue

WNBA team supports Raphael Warnock over co-owner Kelly Loeffler in Senate race Reza Ali Staff Writer On Aug. 4, the Atlanta Dream walked onto the court for their first nationally televised WNBA game of the 2020 season.

Their warmup shirts displayed a simple, yet clear, message.

“Vote Warnock.”

Five months later, on Jan. 5, Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) defeated incumbent and co-owner of the Atlanta Dream, Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) in the Georgia Senate runoff election, securing a seat in the United States Senate. Warnock is Georgia’s first Black senator, and his victory was vital in helping the Democratic Party gain control of the Senate.

The path to the Aug. 4 endorsement from the Atlanta Dream began last summer.

“Our team, along with the whole league, had decided to make a statement during the George Floyd protests by wearing Black Lives Matter shirts honoring Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman killed by police this summer in Louisville, and other Black women killed by the police,” Atlanta Dream forward, Elizabeth Williams, wrote in a personal essay for Vox. This initial stand in support of the Black Lives Matter movement drew criticism from team co-owner Loeffler.

“This prompted our co-owner, who was appointed as Georgia senator after the previous senator resigned, to make a statement about us. She said she opposed Black Lives Matter and that we need less, not more, politics in sports,” Williams wrote.

Activism by the Atlanta Dream was influential in the victory of Raphael Warnock over Kelly Loeffler, Atlanta Dream co-owner. (CNN.com) Prior to the start of the season, Williams and the rest of the Atlanta Dream had the chance to speak to Reverend Warnock, who was planning to challenge Kelly Loeffler.

Shortly after, they wore shirts endorsing him at their first nationally televised game.

This trailblazing decision was no surprise to those who follow the WNBA. Players within the organization have been arguably the most vocal on social justice issues compared to other professional sports leagues in the United States.

“WNBA players have been at the forefront of social justice movements in sports in recent years,” Sean Gregory wrote for Time Magazine. “Players were among the first, in 2016, to wear Black Lives Matter warmup shirts before games after several

incidents of police violence.”

These efforts, alongside the rest of the WNBA, were crucial to Warnock’s eventual victory, according to Angele Delevoye, a PhD candidate in political science and quantitative methods at Yale University.

“The WNBA helped generate momentum,” Delevoye said. “The WNBA has a long history of activism [....] The players were ready for this moment.”

The results of the runoff election were the culmination of years of hard work in Georgia—a state that has voted staunchly Republican for over two decades. Stacey Abrams, a prominent Georgia Democrat, and former House Minority Leader for the Georgia General Assembly, was one of the few who believed that her state could flip to

Democrat leadership, despite her eventual loss to Brian Kemp in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race.

Abrams herself met with the Dream in 2018, with hopes of a Democratic future in Georgia.

“Had a great time supporting @ AtlantaDream and meeting voters last night!

Although we fell short, I have a feeling that 2019 will be a new age for the Dream—and for our state,” Abrams tweeted.

Two years later, the work of Abrams, the Dream, and organizers across Georgia led to the historical election of Senator Raphael Warnock and a blue shift in Georgia for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The southern parts of the United States have been a stronghold for Republicans since the so-called “Southern strategy” began in the 1960s. Four years ago, Georgians voted for President Trump, a Republican, by five percentage points.

In 2020, Georgia voted for Democrat Joe Biden for president and Democrat Raphael Warnock to be one of their next senators.

There is something to be said about the effectiveness of the organizing work done in Georgia, whether it be by WNBA players, politicians who lost their races like Stacey Abrams, or people who care about their state.

Kelly Loeffler underestimated her team and the rest of Georgia. Ironically, her purchase of the Atlanta Dream was integral to her dream of remaining a United States senator. However, that dream soon turned into a nightmare.

Never underestimate the power of the people when they work as a collective.

USA hockey defeats Canada to win the World Junior Championship

U.S. Centreman Trevor Zegras awarded tournament MVP Karan Kumar Contributor The World Junior Hockey Championship, an annual global ice hockey tournament organized

by the International Ice Hockey Federation, wrapped up on Jan. 5 after 12 days of fierce competition.

This year, the competition was hosted in Edmonton and Red Deer, welcoming teams from 10 different countries. The tournament was

After tough competition in unusual circumstances the United States defeated Canada to win the 2021 World Junior Championship. (Codie McLachlan / Getty Images)

carried out in a bubble, requiring teams to quarantine before meeting to play and without an audience.

The tournament maintained its “best on best” format, in which countries send their best players under 20 years old to compete for the gold medal. The championship also serves as a platform for drafted NHL players to be evaluated by their teams and undrafted players to gain exposure, giving fans a glimpse of future NHL prospects. Team Canada, the reigning champions, has won 18 gold medals—the most of any country.

Canada opened the tournament by defeating Germany in a whopping 16-2 score. However, the German team could only form a roster of 14 players after eight players testing positive for COVID-19. Canada topped its competition pool after the preliminary round, moving on to defeat the Czech Republic in the quarter finals and Russia, the 2020 silver medalists, in the semi finals to reach the gold medal game for the second consecutive year. While Canada had easier competition for the preliminary rounds, the Americans faced tougher competition in the Czech

Republic, Sweden, and Russia, and won games by significant margins, defeating Czech Republic 7-0, and Sweden 4-0. This gave the United States good practice and a confidence boost before they eventually faced Canada in the gold medal game.

“I honestly don’t think [Canada] ha[s] been tested with a real team yet,” said United States centreman Trevor Zegras in a pregame interview with TSN. “I think we are going on all cylinders right now, and I think we’re going to catch them by surprise.”

Zegras was the star of the final, with a goal and an assist leading the U.S. to a 2-0 victory.

Zegras, a 2019 first round draft pick for the Anaheim Ducks, was named tournament MVP and was the top scorer of the tournament with seven goals and 11 assists.

American goaltender, Spencer Knight, who is considered one of the best goaltending prospects in hockey, blocked 34 shots for his third shutout of the tournament.

The United States’ performance in the final was indeed representative of their dominance throughout the tournament, as well their dominance

as a program in general, winning four gold medals in the past decade.

A large part of the success of the United States junior team can be attributed to its training and scouting program—the National Team Development Program (NTDP). USA Hockey founded the program in 1996 as a way to identify elite ice hockey players under the age of 18 and to centralize their training. This training has helped the United States junior team in working together cohesively.

“My time spent at the NTDP was a big turning point in my career as it helped to achieve my goals,” New York Rangers defenceman Jack Johnson said in a testimonial to the NTDP. “I not only developed on the ice, but off the ice as well.

The training is second to none, and the chance to represent your country is the greatest feeling in all of sports.”

The rivalry between Canada and the U.S. seems like it will only become stronger. With development programs like the NTDP in the United States, the heightening level of competition in Junior Hockey can only lead to an exciting future for international ice hockey.