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TRIBUNETHE mcgill Published by the Tribune Publication Society
CURIOSITY DELIVERS
The Vagina Monologues Continuing an inComplete Dialogue
P 20
tuesday, march 18, 2014@mcgilltribune • www.mcgilltribune.com
MarTleTs win naTional ChaMpionshipFouraCres sCores winner in 2otP 24
Volume No. 33 Issue No. 22
UP TO
OFF70%
MARCH 10th - 29th
SSMU Council has rescind-ed its decision to mandate Vice-President Internal Brian Farnan to issue a public apology for an Obama .GIF included in a list-serv.
The previous decision, which the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Council made in a confidential session on Dec. 5, was revoked by Council last Thursday. Far-nan’s apology provoked wide-spread debate about equity and the decision-making process in SSMU.
Élie Lubendo, Services Rep-resentative and mover of the mo-tion explained the background to the motion.
“I feel that we need to real-ize that we made a mistake, then move on from there,” Lubendo said. “Then we need to start edu-cating students [....] and start re-building with equity.”
David Benrimoh, medicine representative, voiced concern that rescinding the apology would negatively affect those who brought about the com-plaint.
“[We] are going to be send-ing a message to those who did feel marginalized and oppressed by the .GIF that […] public opin-ion rules the equity process and that there is no real protection
for them,” he said.Lubendo said the issue lay
in the form of a public apology and not in the microaggression itself. He said that Farnan’s apol-ogy was a poor example for the undergraduate student body and created more negative public backlash than the initial use of the Obama .GIF.
Delane Efua Boakye, an ex-ecutive of the Black Students’ Network (BSN) spoke in favour of the motion and related the student backlash to the public opinion of the SSMU-funded BSN. Although the BSN did not take part in the complaint filed against Farnan, some students wrongly blamed the BSN for the controversy.
“We often deal with the tension of ‘Why does the BSN exist?, ‘Why do we need a BSN?’”she said. “When we have issues like this, it further delegit-imizes our organization because people feel that we’re looking for something to do, [that] we’re raising complaints for the sake of doing it.”
Boakye said the motion would attempt to counter the is-sues created by the apology.
“[There is a] line between offering an apology to an indi-vidual who was hurt and offering a public apology,” Boakye said. “[The public apology] decreased
ContributorSara Cullen
ssmu rescinds decision mandating Farnan apology
See “SSMU Council” on p. 3(Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune)
NEWS
The Osler Library’s rare and circulating collections will be un-available for six months beginning in April, due to a major renovation project for the McIntyre Medical Building.
According to Marilena Cafaro, building director of the Faculty of Medicine, the renovation program consists of two projects—the up-dating of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems on floors one to six of the McIntyre Building, as well as construction to the roof on the McIntyre terrace—both of which affect the Osler li-brary.
Christopher Lyons, Head Li-brarian of the Osler Library, said
plans for the renovations began just over a year ago. He emphasized the need for the renovations.
“Roofs are always an issue with rare books and special collec-tions,” Lyons said. “[Our roofs] are over 20 years old [….] There are drainage pipes under the roofs, so you need to drain the water oth-erwise you end up with bad leaks [….] The pipes themselves are al-most 50 years old. They haven’t leaked yet, but you never know.”
According to Lyons, the drain-age pipes will be replaced and up-graded to stainless steel.
Between April and October 2014, the Osler Library’s collec-tions will be mostly inaccessible, although circulating materials loaned before April 1 can be held throughout the duration of the ren-
ovations.Additionally, rare materials
requiring special conditions for storage can be accessed through the Rare Collections Library in McLennan if requested before renovations begin. Otherwise, they will be transported to a secure stor-age area.
Lyons said that despite the inaccessibility of the collection, library staff would be available to assist with supplementing materi-als throughout the months.
“All McGill users can get books through interlibrary loans for free, so we should be able to get anything that is in the Osler circu-lating collection (and more) from other libraries,” he said. “There is also a great deal of material that is available online, including
the medical journals and histori-cal ones […] as well as a growing number of scholarly eBooks.”
David Benrimoh, Medicine representative at the Students’ Soci-ety of McGill University (SSMU), noted that the repairs would have minimal effect on students.
“The move is a necessity for the HVAC repairs,” Benrimoh said. “The average student might make more use of the general Osler col-lection, but I don’t think the rare books will really affect the [medi-cal] students […] They’re not di-rectly in use in the curriculum ev-eryday.”
Lyons said he is optimistic that the changes would pose few prob-lems for students.
“For the few students who may be doing in depth medical projects
who need those books, maybe it’ll affect them, but since they will be able to request the books ahead of time, I don’t think it will affect the average student at all,” he said.
Tessa Battistin, U1 Arts stu-dent and frequent user of Osler, agreed with Lyons, saying that she was open to the changes facing the library in upcoming months.
“Although it’s inconvenient, I appreciate everything McGill is doing to make the material avail-able if we need [it],” she said. “I don’t really see any potential prob-lems based on the services McGill and Osler is offering.”
The Life Sciences Library on the third floor of the McIntyre Building will remain accessible.
Osler library to close for six months due to renovationsScheduled HVAC and roof work to make rare and circulating collections inaccessible
cAMPUS
Staff WriterNatalie Wong
Last Wednesday, the Post-Grad-uate Students’ Society of McGill University (PGSS) Council voted changing the titles of two executive positions.
A motion presented at Council proposed changing “secretary gen-eral” to “president” and “financial affairs officer” to “chancellor of the exchequer.”
Councillor Juan Camilo Pinto, mover of the motion, explained that the changes would more accurately reflect their corresponding roles.
“[For] financial affairs officers […] there are a lot of people asking [about] the responsibility of the title,” Pinto said. “After researching a bit, we found that Chancellor of the Ex-chequer fits quite well with the title and the responsibilities.”
Member Services Officer [MSO] Elizabeth Cawley questioned the efficiency of the name change, citing the decision to change the sec-retary position to secretary-general two years ago.
“I have personally witnessed all the emails and information that have been missed in our previous name change from secretary to secretary- general or [in] the creation of MSO,” she said.
According to Cawley, a name change is very time consuming be-cause it takes time for the university to adapt to the change. For instance, there would be difficulties from the need to adjust the executives’ emails, which reflect their current titles.
“We have finally figured things
out,” Cawley said. “Let’s leave things the same for efficiency’s sake.”
LaNGuaGe of GoverNiNG doCuMeNTS
PGSS Also held its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday. One motion passed at the meeting requires that all governing documents of the PGSS except contracts be made available in English and French.
In case of future conflict, the original language document will take precedence, while in the case of bilingually drafted documents, the English language document will take precedence.
Regarding the financial impact of the motion, Secretary-General Jonathan Mooney explained that PGSS currently has a translator who has been working on existing gov-erning documents and will soon be available to work on any new docu-ments that may require translation.
“It is really a matter of switch-ing what he is spending his time on to things that are permanent from things that come up periodically,” Mooney said. “I don’t think it will affect our budget.”
MoTioN To expaNd The pur-poSe of The CorporaTioN iS
TabLedPGSS members at the gen-
eral meeting also tabled a motion to amend bylaws to expand the purpose of the PGSS to support students’ right to freedom of association in light of the ongoing Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) court case.
Mooney argued in favour of the
motion.“It is our purpose as a corpora-
tion to promote freedom of associa-tion, and we want to work with all the student associations across Canada to make sure that they have the right to choose whom they want to affiliate with,” he said.
Economics Graduate Student Association (EGSA) Representa-tive Guillaume Lord expressed his concern about mandating freedom of association as one of PGSS’s purpos-es. Lord said this is a goal for a politi-cal organization rather than a student association.
“If you look at the purposes of the corporation as they are now, they are all about the members—advoca-cy for the members, promoting colle-giality among members,” Lord said.
“This is much broader [....It] sounds like the goal of a purely political as-sociation or a lobby group.”
The motion was tabled for fu-ture discussion at a date that has yet to be determined.
aNNuaL reporT prediCTS Sur-pLuS for 2013-2014 yearAs Chair of the PGSS Board of
Directors, Mooney presented a report on the financial state of Thomson House.
“A couple years ago, we were making about break-even, maybe a small surplus, but we got a lot of complaints from the people about the quality of services they were receiv-ing,” he said.
According to Mooney, PGSS faced a deficit as a result of measures
taken to improve the quality of PGSS services. However, after improve-ments were finished, the deficit de-creased as more students frequented Thomson House, thereby increasing revenue.
“We upgraded the kitchen equipment and we made some changes to ensure that people would actually enjoy the experience here and like to come to Thomson House to eat,” Mooney said. “The revenues went up, so people are making more use of Thomson House. We changed the way we do service standards and the way we do service staffing. We have much more revenue than be-fore, and we are on the road to make a surplus.”
PGSS predicts surplus for academic year, votes to retain exec titlesSTUDENT GOVERNMENT
Councillors postpone vote on mandating support for freedom of association
ContributorCatherine-Laure Juste
Jonathan Mooney spoke in favour of expanding the PGSS purpose. (Laurie-Anne Benoit / McGill Tribune)
3Curiosity delivers. | NeWS | Tuesday, March 18, 2014
This year’s Winter referen-dum period for the Students’ Soci-ety of McGill University (SSMU) includes 11 referendum questions. The voting period runs until 3 p.m. on March 21.
orGaNiC CaMpuS feeThis question asks students to
approve an opt-outable $0.22 fee per semester that would create a yearly stipend for Organic Campus, a service that provides low-cost organic goods for the McGill com-munity.
The referendum question comes as the result of the collec-tive’s current volunteer-only staff structure, which violates provincial labour laws. According to Quebec’s Act respecting labour standards, the tasks performed by Organic Cam-pus volunteers constitute work and must be remunerated.
According to Ariela Lavana, a member of Organic Campus, the revenue that the service receives from sales is not enough to cover the cost of remuneration.
“We can’t run without the fee,” Lavanna said. “If there’s any pos-sibility [that] we could extend our services, that would be the best case scenario; but as it is [the fee] is just to allow us to continue running as a service.”
The fee levy would not change the logistical structure or services of the collective.
TaCeQSSMU’s disaffiliation from the
Quebec Student Roundtable (Table de Concertation Étudiante du Qué-bec, or TaCEQ) is the subject of an-other referendum question.
TaCEQ is a provincial stu-
dent association that SSMU helped found in 2009. This year, SSMU paid $17,000 in membership fees to TaCEQ. The organization has recently been criticized for its inef-ficiency, and one of its four student associations already left the federa-tion in February.
SSMU members and elected representatives have criticized TaCEQ for the inaccessibility of its documents due to language barri-ers, as well as a lack of interest on the part of member associations in reforming the organization.
A “Yes” vote would make SSMU an association that is unaf-filiated with any student lobbying group.
“We could choose what we want to do [and] focus on a few im-portant [issues],” SSMU Vice-Pres-ident External Samuel Harris said. “A lot of work can be done outside of a formal organization, on a [per] issue basis.”
Harris noted that SSMU would
face additional challenges as an un-affiliated association.
“Assuming we stay indepen-dent, then we have to take the ini-tiative and find people who support us,” he said. “We have to build re-lationships with associations we’ve never built relationships with be-fore.”
uNiverSiTy CeNTre buiLdiNG fee
This question seeks to create a non-opt-outable, per-semester fee of $6.08 for full-time students and $3.04 for part-time students to cover the cost of rent and utili-ties for the SSMU Building under the new rental agreement between SSMU and McGill. It also asks for a fee increase of 5.6 per cent per year to keep up with rent increases until the current agreement with the university ends.
According to the question, a “No” vote could lead to reductions to services that SSMU is able to offer.
According to Tyler Hofmeis-ter, Vice-President Finance and Op-erations, this would include fewer events held in the building and the elimination of non-essential ser-vices such as the yearbook. A hiring freeze would also likely come into effect, which would prevent any new positions from being created.
“In the case of the no vote of this question, obviously this would impact the long-term financial sus-tainability of SSMU [and] greatly reduce SSMU’s ability to be a rep-resentative body,” Hofmeister said.
The fee is set to expire in 2021, when the lease agreement will end.
firST-year CouNCiL feeIf approved, this question
would create an opt-outable fee of $0.50 per semester for SSMU’s First-Year Council.
The First Year Fund would go toward initiatives such as stu-dent forums, community outreach, and greater collaboration between groups that represent first years of different faculties.
Élie Lubendo, Services Rep-resentative to SSMU and one of the movers of the motion, said the question has faced some criticism for creating a fee that will affect all students, and yet, only benefits first years.
“We’ve had a lot of questions regarding why we’re having fees [that] don’t actually reflect the en-tire community,” he said. “[While] most services are not used by all students, we pay [them] because we feel it is a need within the commu-nity.”
LeGaL iNforMaTioN CLiNiC exiSTeNCe aNd fee iNCreaSe
Two questions regarding the Legal Information Clinic at McGill (LICM) will also be put to student
vote this week.The first question asks stu-
dents to support LICM’s continued existence of the service, which the McGill administration requires all services that receive a student levy to run every five years. The second question asks for an increase of LICM’s non-optoutable student fee from $3.25 to $4.50 per semester.
The current fee has not been increased since 2001, despite in-creased costs such as rent and soft-ware.
According to LICM Director of Communications John Hutch-ings, LICM needs the fee increase in order to continue operating at its current capacity.
“If we were to go ahead with our fee at the 2001 level, we would have to review everything and look at how we could cut corners,” Hutchings said. “We would have to reduce the amount of activity in the office because we didn’t have the equipment to do it. It could also mean that we might no longer be able to continue paying the rent for a private meeting room.”
LICM is a free legal informa-tion service for all members of the community. Its Student Advocacy Program offers legal advice and ad-vocacy to students for disciplinary proceedings under McGill’s Code of Student Conduct. Its free com-missioner of oaths service serves 750 students every year.oTher refereNduM QueSTioNS
The remaining referendum questions ask students to renew ex-isting fees—the Athletics and Rec-reation Facilities Fee, the SSMU Access Bursary Fund, the SSMU Ambassador Fund, the SSMU Campus Life Fund, and the SSMU Library Improvement Fund.
Referendum period sees questions on TaCEQ, SSMU building feecAMPUS
Additional questions involve fees for Organic Campus, Legal Information Clinic, First-Year Council
Contributorhatty Liu
SSMU CouncilContinued from cover
An Organic Campus question proposes a $0.22 fee. (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune)
our credibility […] and we are a part of SSMU.”
The motion to rescind the apology passed.
Council also voted in favour of a motion that will require the Equity Complaints Investigation Committee (ECIC) to prepare a written explanation of their rec-ommendation that mandated Far-nan to publicly apologize.
Lubendo, one of the movers of the motion, gave an overview of the motion and highlighted its importance.
“[They] should be able to know what the background is and how [the ECIC has] come to the conclusion that they have,” he said.
SSMU President Katie Lar-
son also spoke in favour of the motion.
“I think any way that we can encourage governance transpar-ency, especially when we de-mand it so often in university, is a good example to set among ourselves
of asking for explanations when we are not clear,” Larson said.
The motion also mandates that explanations of such nature become a part of the equity procedure in the future.
SSMU voted to rescind Dec. 5 apology. (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune)
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Natalie Wong
opinionCommentary
Eric TweelCommentary
Relativism is one of the biggest threats to academic rigour in the hu-manities.
Institutions such as the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and the McGill Daily, with their com-mitment to this dangerous brand of relativism—the concept that truth and morality are not absolute—validate the deep worries about educational trends professor Allan Bloom expressed in his seminal work, The Closing of the Amer-ican Mind. Bloom’s arguments were originally presented within an American context, but today, they apply to McGill as much as any university in the U.S.
Bloom’s specific concern, the ab-sence of the seminal texts of the West-ern canon in university reading lists, does not apply to McGill—the ‘Great Books’ are studied here. Yet, Bloom’s perceptive understanding of the pro-cess by which the ‘openness’ espoused by relativism leads to the ‘closing’ of
meaningless discourse strikes at the core of what is wrong with the debate of ideas at McGill: Opinions are sacred, and knowledge is arrogance. Seeking to promote tolerance, students avoid chal-lenging the views of others completely. Thus, the cultivation of fruitful dialogue, which comprises the real value of diver-sity, is lost. People’s ideas about the world are all considered equal, and de-rive their sole worth from having been chosen by their holder. If it’s my idea, it’s alright for me.
There is a widespread failure to distinguish between showing sympathy towards the ideas of others and blindly accepting them as equally valid as one’s own. The possibility of another person’s ideas being less valid, or, importantly, more valid, is absent in the conscious-ness of students today, and this absence of a belief in objective truth ruins cam-pus politics and academic discourse. Its effect is particularly striking in the humanities, which are perceived as less capable of achieving objectivity.
This issue runs throughout con-temporary society. Carlos Fraenkel, an associate professor of philosophy and Jewish studies at McGill, spoke to the importance of intellectual engagement in his Sept. 2, 2012 New York Times op-ed, “In Praise of the Clash of Cultures.” Fraenkel noted that “the privatization of moral, religious, and philosophical
views in liberal democracies and the cultural relativism that often underlies Western multicultural agendas” pose se-rious threats to the culture of debate we ought to promote. Although the problem of extreme relativism is widespread, it is particularly pronounced here at McGill.
“Objectivity is dead,” or so the front cover of the Feb. 24 edition of the McGill Daily would have you be-lieve. Any student who would deny the dominance of thoughtless relativism on campus need only refer to that edition’s feature article, “Unmasking Objectiv-ity,” a disgusting progression of unjusti-fied claims and an unsurprisingly selec-tive collection of quotations. The self-referential article was prompted by a complaint about the Daily’s journalistic standards. In the Daily’s defence, the au-thor presents a rambling and paradoxi-cal assertion that objectivity is somehow bias towards those in power, because, as the piece assumes without substantia-tion, everything is ultimately subjective. Indeed, even the professions of those quoted were taken to be subjective as-pects of reality; a Mr. Stefan Christoff is introduced as someone who “identifies as both a community activist and jour-nalist” (emphasis mine). In some sense, their insistence on relativism is fair; Ob-jectivity is dead, but only at the Daily.
Moreover, the prevalent hostility to epistemic certainty creates a moral
vacuum into which specific and often unsavoury moral agendas can enter. Hence SSMU has claimed for itself the institutional authority to force VP Inter-nal Brian Farnan to make a public apol-ogy for emailing a harmless and funny GIF image to his fellow students, and hence, feminism and gender issues are given an exclusive spotlight in the moral program pushed by McGill Residences, Rez Project. It is not enough to attri-bute these cases to the general political apathy of university students, as is often done. Those who are involved in student politics have always been in the minor-ity—the question is what accounts for the character of those in power now.
Only once we start taking each other seriously can we make any prog-ress. Rather than being contrary to the liberal spirit, a recognition that not all ideas or values are created equal is con-ducive to productive debate. The basic acknowledgement that some ideas are true and some are false is a requirement for genuine intellectual activity. This is especially important for the functioning of the humanities, which lose their es-sential value when they degenerate into an undifferentiated chaos of opinion. To aspire to anything less is to succumb to intellectual laziness.
Some of us are wrong: why we need a culture of debate
Enrolment in Engineering has risen by over 50 per cent in the last decade, meaning that the EUS is repre-senting and providing services to almost 1,000 more students than before. With-out the SSF, the EUS will not be ca-pable of sustaining services at a rate that matches the current student enrolment.
For instance, initial income generated from the SSF could go towards the En-gineering Design Teams. Their workspace is being renovated to bring it up to critical fire code and safety requirements, an initiative that has already depleted all of the existing EUS funds available for long-term proj-ects. By implementing new revenue resources, students will no longer need to depend on unpredictable surpluses of the EUS operating budget to fund large improvements to student space.
Furthermore, the fee will allow the initiation of other important five-year projects, which we—as current U0 and
U1—students will see come to fruition. In particular, engineering students des-perately require more room as our space is among the smallest of Engineering societies in Canada. Blues Pub on Fri-days is over capacity, and departmen-tal lounges are too small to fit Council meetings; the SSF could be the solution
to these issues.This fund is a concerted effort
to look out for the long-term interests of the society. Not only
do groups such as Engineers Without Bor-
ders, design teams, and departmental councils stand to gain from the fund, in-dividual students will get more of what is probably the most undervalued thing on campus: space.
—Alexander Dow, member of the “Yes” committee and EUS Junior
Council VP Communications, U0 Gen-eral Engineering
EUS Student Space Fund debate
There are many fundamental is-sues with this referendum question. First, the proposed bylaws are far too vague, leaving this fund open to be used for practically anything. This in-cludes (as per Article 5.1): “Capital im-provements to [...] student space, […] emergency funding, and new initiatives […].” For a fund that exists to “improve, maintain, and create engineering undergraduate student space,” there is no apparent require-ment that the money actually be spent on space at all; it may be spent on unde-fined ‘emergencies’ or even ‘new ini-tiatives.’ It’s possible this fund will be depleted before a penny of it is used to fund student space.
Second, students are being asked to pay a fee that will not solve the un-derlying problem. The scarcity of us-able student space at McGill is an im-portant issue, but unfortunately, we are hemmed in by the constrained geogra-phy of downtown Montreal. Throwing
money at a problem that is inherent to all McGill faculties and student societ-ies will not fix it, as there is no way to purchase space that doesn’t exist in the first place.
Finally, we don’t need this fee. Money for space renovation has been coming out of the EUS operating bud-
get for years, such as funding the recent renovations to both
the Nook and the Common Room, with no impact on the services provided
by the EUS. As funding for EUS projects comes from multiple
sources, including OAP, Copi-EUS and major sponsorship deals, it seems reasonable that the executive commit-tee just plan more intelligently to take money out of future operating budgets for renovation projects.
—Morgan Grobin, Chair of the “No” committee U2 Electrical Engineering
During the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) referendum period, which runs from March 24 to 28, Engineering students will be asked to vote on a referendum question that seeks to create a $15 per semester ($7.50 for part-time students) opt-outable fee for a Student Space Fund (SSF). The SSF would exist to improve, maintain, and create EUS space through capital expenditures, and to ensure that students who pay into the fund have a say in the use,
maintenance, and future of space improved by the fund. The proposed bylaws can be viewed online on the EUS’ website.
referendum endorsements 5
“Since Midnight Kitchen [MK] is a service of
SSMU, PGSS members would not gain any legal rights to determine how MK functions by paying
this fee.”
uApply fee: YesThe uApply system was re-
cently revamped by McGill, resulting in changes that surpassed previous budget projections. The referendum question aims to increase the uApply application service fee from its cur-rent number of $102.60 to $120.00 over the course of five years, begin-ning this June. uApply is a key ser-vice for graduate students, and the recent improvements have allowed graduate students to save money when applying to multiple programs. The increase in service cost will help balance out McGill’s budget after overspending on the changes to the system. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote.
Needs-Based Bursary Fee: YesThe Needs-Based Bursary Fee
was originally increased to a value of $4.01 with the intent to create an endowment fund for students who demonstrated financial need. This year, PGSS reached its target goal of $150,000—a number that McGill
stated it would match. Consequently, the referendum question proposes a decrease from the current annual fee of $4.01 to $1.01. The reduced fee will allow the fund to continue to grow annually, while easing the finan-cial burden on students. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote.
Fund for Rutherford Park: NoThe referendum issue in ques-
tion proposes a non-opt-out-able fee of $3 per semester for PGSS mem-bers, which would go towards up-dating Rutherford Park (Reservoir Field). The fund would extend to the Winter 2019 semester, and would be overseen by McGill Athletics. Although the renovations would in-troduce a bevy of services for PGSS members—including an artificial turf, a full sized soccer pitch, and lighting in the evening—the infrequent usage of Athletics’ services by the overall PGSS student body deems this an unnecessary fee. Furthermore, PGSS members already pay a full Athletics fee of $116.42 per semester. As such,
the Tribune endorses a “No” vote.
Midnight Kitchen Fee: NoMidnight Kitchen (MK) is an
organization that provides lunches to undergraduate and graduate students. At the moment, it is financed by do-nation and by members of the Stu-dents’ Society of McGill University (SSMU). This question proposes an opt-outable $0.50 per semester fee to support the MK. However, the PGSS already pays over $4,000 annually to SSMU for access to its services, and since MK is a service of SSMU, PGSS members would not gain any representation within MK by paying this fee. While graduate student sup-
port for MK could be valuable to the organization, it is unclear what PGSS members stand to gain by passing this fee. The Tribune endorses a “No” vote, and recommends that MK de-sign a proposal for how it would use this additional funding in a way that specifically benefit graduate students.
Increase in fee for PGSS Grants Pro-gram: Yes
The PGSS Grants Program en-ables students to apply for grants to host either social or academic events. Last year, the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) withdrew its pledge due to financial issues, yet the Program still received its greatest number of applications this year than ever before. As such, the Tribune en-dorses a “Yes” vote to increasing the PGSS Grants Program fee from $1.26 per semester to $2.07 to help supple-ment the financial support that GPS was previously providing.
PGSS Health and Dental Plan: YesThe PGSS Health and Dental
plan is a well-used service by the PGSS, which currently has over 7,000 members. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to renewing the current PGSS Health and Dental plan fee for three years. This proposed opt-out-able fee would be adjusted annually at a rate that would not exceed $252.04 for health insurance and $176.74 for dental insurance.
Increase to the PGSS Membership Fee: Yes
This proposed question will increase the PGSS regular member-ship fee by $1.51 to total $33.33 per semester starting in Fall 2014. The additional fee is in anticipation of an increase in rent for Thomson House and the Coach House given ongo-ing negotiations with McGill. It has been calculated based on the expected worst-case scenario for the rent in-crease, and any surplus will support new PGSS initiatives. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote.
Disaffiliation from TaCEQ: YesThis motion seeks to disaffili-
ate the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) from the Table de concertation étudiante du Québec (TaCEQ), a group intended to advo-cate for student interests at the pro-vincial level. The issue of SSMU’s affiliation with the organization has been re-examined this year, largely in the wake of reporting earlier this year in this newspaper. Several years with few to no major policy or advo-cacy achievements, in addition to the substantial $17,000 fee SSMU paid TaCEQ this year, already made the organization a dubious proposition. Following the exit of the graduate student union at the University of Sherbrooke—the Regroupement des étudiants de maîtrise, diplôme et doc-torat (REMDUS) from TaCEQ, one of the more cooperative associations in TaCEQ towards SSMU, the case for exiting the organization has be-come even stronger. The Tribune en-dorses a “Yes” vote on this question.
Legal Information Clinic at McGill Existence Referendum Question
&Legal Information Clinic at McGill
Fee Increase: Yes to both questions
Both of these motions pertain to the Legal Information Clinic at McGill (LICM), a service which pro-vides information on McGill codes of conduct, Quebec and federal law to students at McGill and members of the general public, free of charge. The service also provides representa-tion to students going through Mc-Gill disciplinary proceedings. The first of these two questions is simply an existence question, meaning the
clinic would cease to receive under-graduate funding if it does not pass. As the clinic is a valuable service to students on campus, the Tribune en-dorses a “yes” to this question.
The second question seeks to increase the non-opt-outable fee for the LICM from $3.25 to $4.50. The last increase in the LICM’s fee was to the current $3.25 in the Winter 2001 term—more than a decade ago, and this amount is now worth $4.15 in current dollars, when adjusted for in-flation. As the increase is really only $0.35 after adjusting for inflation, and the LICM has recently faced an increase in rent for their office space—with another expected within the next two years—the Tribune en-dorses a “Yes” to this question.
Implementation of the University Centre Building Fee: Yes, with res-
ervationsThis motion seeks to simultane-
ously create a new fee of $6.08 per semester to go towards paying the SSMU’s increased rent for the use of the University Centre (SSMU) build-ing, as well as index this new fee to a 5.6 per cent annual increase for the term of the fee, which is from Fall 2014 to Fall 2021. This request stems directly from the successful renego-tiation of SSMU’s lease from McGill for use of the SSMU building. As SSMU will now be contributing to the utility costs of the building—which were previously gratis—as well as agreeing to an increase in rent from $126,900 to $165,000 over the course of the new agreement (cover-ing the previous three years and last-ing until May 2021) the fee is neces-sary to avoid SSMU running a deficit each year.
While the Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote, we express reservations as to the lack of concrete or even semi-tangible context as to how SSMU will re-allocate funds in the event of a “No” vote. As the mo-tion is currently constructed, SSMU is asking for extra funding directly from students with the implication of catastrophic financial ruin in the event of a “No” vote, but no context as to what sorts of choices the SSMU would have to make in such a fund-ing environment, which presents an incomplete picture of information to the voter.
SSMU First-Year Council Fee: NoThis question intends to cre-
ate an opt-outable $0.50 fee to the SSMU First-Year Council (FYC), a group which provides services to first-year students, such as represen-tation on SSMU Council. The “First Year Fund” created from this fee would be used to further the FYC’s mission. As the FYC has an unclear mandate as to providing services for students who live outside of resi-dence, already has a budget, and this fee is being charges all students—including upper year students, the Tribune endorses a “No” vote on this question.
Athletics and Recreation Facilities: Yes
This question seeks to renew the existing, non-opt-outable $15 athlet-ics and recreation facilities fee, which goes to improving and renovating athletics facilities on campus. As the fee is applied in a largely transparent manner and has been utilized to bring significant improvements to the Ath-letic complex—with further changes
on the way—the Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote on this question.
Motion Regarding Renewal of the SSMU Access Bursary Fund: Yes
This question seeks to renew the existing, opt-out-able fee of $8.50 per semester to the SSMU Access Bursa-ry Fund, which is matched dollar-for-dollar by McGill Alumni donors and is accessible to all McGill students on the basis of need. Since the Fund exists as a source of financial support for students in need and has served a positive purpose on our campus in its existence, the Tribune supports a “Yes” vote on this question.
Renewal of the SSMU Ambassador Fund: Yes
This question seeks to renew the existing, opt-out-able fee of $2.00 to the SSMU Ambassador Fund, which supports travel by McGill groups to extracurricular and academic com-petitions. As this fund helps support often cash-strapped clubs in provid-ing a fulfilling experience to their members, and because increasing McGill’s exposure in such venues benefits students, the Tribune sup-ports a “Yes” vote on this question.
Renewal of the SSMU Campus Life Fund: Yes
This question seeks to renew the existing, opt-out-able fee of $2.00 to the SSMU Campus Life Fund, which can be applied to by any group on campus that can lay claim to be im-proving campus life, including those that are not SSMU-managed clubs. As this fund provides a widely-ac-cessible and judiciously-distributed source of funding to many positive on-campus actors, the Tribune sup-
ports a “Yes” vote on this question. Full disclosure: This year, the
Tribune was awarded a grant of $777 through this fund towards the pur-chase of a new office printer.
Renewal of the SSMU Library Im-provement Fund: Yes
This motion seeks to renew the existing, opt-out-able fee of $8.50 per semester to the SSMU Library Improvement Fund, which goes to-wards the management of the uni-versity libraries in cooperation with the university. In the past, these funds were, in part, used to bring 24-hour service to the libraries. As this fund supports an invaluable campus resource, and stands as a bulwark against the possibility of further bud-get cuts and decline in service, the Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote on this question.
Approval for Organic Campus Fee Creation Question for Winter 2014
Referendum: Yes This motion seeks to create an
opt-outable fee of $0.22 per semester to fund the activities of the Organic Campus service. This fee is largely in response to labour regulations which require Organic Campus to remuner-ate its volunteers for their work—ac-cording to the group, without this fee they would have to raise prices, mak-ing their food less accessible to the community. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote on this question.
Full disclosure: Sports Editor Remi Lu is a volunteer at Organic Campus. He was not involved in the discussion that resulted in this en-dorsement.
SSMU Winter Referendum Endorsements
PGSS Winter Referendum Endorsements
Student livingThe last documentary Karen Chow
watched was on Soong May-ling, “Chi-na’s eternal first lady,” the wife of mid-early twentieth century Chinese political and military leader Chiang Kai-shek.
“At the time it was rare for women to be that powerful or that confident,” Chow explained. “She had a lot of influence on politics in China. It was really inspiring.”
As a leader of her own kind on campus, Chow effortlessly balances her schoolwork and extracurricular engage-ments as the Chair of the National Integra-tive Research Conference (NIRC) and co-president of the McGill Chinese Students’ Society (MCSS).
Chow has been involved with NIRC since 2011, when her role was to seek sponsorship for the conference. Run by McGill’s Bachelor of Arts and Sciences Integrative Council (BASiC), the purpose of the conference is to provide a platform for undergraduate students from across Canada to showcase their research in in-terdisciplinary fields.
“It’s really interesting to see what other students are doing if they’re inter-ested in research,” Chow said. “In my first year […] I got involved with the confer-ence, just seeing what students are doing and what I might be interested in [….] I think it’s a really good forum for sharing ideas, especially for Arts and Science.”
As the NIRC committee’s Chair, she has assumed a larger role in this year’s up-coming conference, which will take place on March 28.
“This year we had over 30 to 40 ap-plicants,” Chow said. “The research topics were really interesting. We’ve got areas from biotech and environment [to] cogni-tive science and psycholinguistics.”
As co-president of MCSS, Chow runs one of the oldest, and largest student societies in Canada, with 25 people on its executive alone.
MCSS hosts events throughout the year, including their dating game “Meet me Halfway,” and their upcoming semi-formal “#Hashtag.” The events were what first drew Chow to the society.
“I was really impressed with all the events that they hold,” she recalled. “They run really smoothly and the audience of the events, they’re all team players [….] It’s work, but it’s [also] play, and every-one’s like a family.”
Chow has been part of MCSS since her first year at McGill and attributes it as her most influential experience at univer-sity.
“I learn a lot of things about how I work, [and] about how I think, or about how I work with other people each year, [through] every project and event that I’m involved in,” she said.
One way that her involvement has shaped her is by helping her become more assertive.
“I’m not a really good public speak-er and I’ve always been kind of scared of public speaking,” she said. “In MCSS when you have to get your point across to 25 people, you have to shout and be more assertive [….] This year, especially being co-president, I’ve learned to find that bal-ance.”
Working with MCSS has also re-vealed Chow’s strengths. She said both MCSS and NIRC require her to establish trust and open communication with her peers.
“I always tell someone, ‘If you see something wrong or see something that could be improved, speak up,’” she said. “It goes back to why I like working in a team—I really like that back and forth, bouncing around ideas. It’s like a snow ball—that’s how good ideas develop and get implemented.”
Ultimately, Chow is proud of the work she has put into her involvement in the McGill community.
“It does take up a lot of your time,” she said. “Sometimes it might be a burden, but in the end, it’s worth it. It makes you happy when people come to your events and like your work and like your results.”
Karen ChowU3 Chemistry & soCiology (Wendy Chen / mcgill tribune)
McGill Tribune: which building on campus would you be?Karen Chow: the redpath museum. it houses a lot of stories and histories.
MT: what’s your favourite food?KC: oh my gosh, i love food. i’m not a very picky eater. i really like bread and spinach dip. like baguette and spinach dip; it’s really simple.
MT: If you could ask a question to anyone in history, what would it be?KC: i would really like to know what [my grandparents] were thinking when they first came to Canada, and maybe ask them, “was it worth it?”
MT: where in the world would you visit?KC: i’ve always wanted to go to singa-pore. it’s very clean, i really admire that.
MT: what are your hobbies?KC: i really like watching documentaries and reading biographies [....] [the au-thors are writing about things they’ve learned and the mistakes that they’ve overcome [....] maybe, i can benefit from them, too.
noMInaTe a sTudenT of The weeK!
email us at [email protected]
sUBtitle
Bread PuddInG.
Student of the Weekby marlee Vinegar
By Jenny Shen
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip
CookieS
Yields 24 cookiesIngredients:1 cup unsalted butter, sliced in to pieces2½ cups all-purpose flour2 tsp corn starch1 tsp baking powder½ tsp baking soda1 tsp salt1 cup brown sugar½ cup granulated sugar1½ tsp vanilla extract2 eggs1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chipsLarge flake salt, rock salt, or sea salt
directions:1. In a saucepan, brown butter by heating over medium heat. The butter will melt, then bubble, and slowly begin to brown. Whisk occasionally to prevent butter from burning. Allow it to cool in the refrigerator.2. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking pow-der, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. 3. Take browned butter out of the refrigerator and pour into a separate large bowl. Add in brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla.4. Add in one egg at a time, allowing each egg to combine with mixture before adding the next. Add in half the dry mix-ture, and, once mixed, add the remaining half. Use a large spatula to mix the batter until uniform.5. Refrigerate dough for one to two hours.6. Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out balls of cookie dough at about two inches in diameter and place on a parchment paper lined cookie tray.7. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle coarse salt on top after cooled.
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.com
secret phrase: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Unscramble these jumbles, one letter to each square, to form three ordinary words
Check @mcgilltribsl for answers!
VP Clubs & ServicesVP ExternalVP FinanceVP InternalVP University AffairsPresident
8910101112
In seeking a second term in office, Fong may be presented with an opportunity not often seen in SSMU—to begin his term with no transition period. Being able to forgo the training and learning curve that incoming executives experience is a huge advantage at any level, and the brevity of SSMU’s one-year term only compounds this.
Considering this, a candidate attempting to unseat an incumbent must put forward a viable platform of concrete, positive change; this is something that Sabapathy has failed to do. While giving clubs and services greater agency is a valuable pursuit, it is unclear how her plan for a clubs council will provide that agency as opposed to an additional layer of bureaucracy. Beyond this point, Sabapathy’s plans reflect little deviation from the norm.
As for Fong himself, he has assembled a very concrete, objective-based platform that features realistic deliverables and stands to tangibly improve the delivery of resources to the SSMU’s clubs and services. Online platforms such as Fong’s suggested clubs portal and an improved rooms booking
system will both simplify regular activities and hopefully reduce the number of issues that he has to deal with directly, making him more accessible when issues do arise.
Although reviews of Fong’s first term from the clubs and services themselves have been mixed, he is quick to acknowledge
his own shortcomings, and has expressed frustration with the difficulties of change within a very entrenched
SSMU bureaucracy. He will be entering office for the second time with a pragmatic view of the extent to which change is possible, and how best to enact them within the system’s existing constraints.
A good deal of Fong’s platform—such as his desire to pair up clubs with similar mandates and
structural needs—focuses on making life easier for the clubs and services members. While this is a
valuable objective, he should also be examining ways to reform the VP C&S position itself, specifically taking
into account the criticisms directed at his performance this year, and demonstrate a concerted effort to address these concerns.
The Tribune’s endorsement: Stefan Fong
8 | ssmu elections
Stefan FongAs the incumbent VP Clubs &
Services, U3 Psychology student Stefan Fong brings experience to his re-election platform. During the campaign period, Fong emphasized that he has learned a great deal about the realities of the position in his first year as VP C&S.
“When you’re in a club or service and you interact with SSMU from the outside, you get one perspective of what’s going on,” Fong says. “But when you’re actually inside doing the administration, you learn a lot about how concretized a lot of the current systems are.”
With the groundwork laid out, Fong intends to actualize many of the programs he began this year. One particular initiative is ClubHub, the online club management portal which is intended to improve club administration by providing an accessible space for a club’s governing documents and forms.
“Right now, the focus is to look at other universities’ bylaws and see how they do their club administration,” Fong says. “The next step would be to analyze our own structure and break-in the information that we collected and translate that into a software design template [.…] The design will hopefully happen this summer. Then we can test and implement [the portal].”
Fong is also working to provide better financial support to clubs, particularly by adjusting the funding timeline so clubs can plan their finances more efficiently and effectively.
He plans to continue working with the administration to sort through some of the legal issues attached to the C o - C u r r i c u l a r Record—a pilot program aiming
to recognize extra-curricular activities on official McGill transcripts.
“Because McGill and SSMU are two separate legal corporate bodies, the university should not have jurisdiction over student involvement in clubs,” says Fong. ”I’m addressing these legal problems, but [currently] I’m working to help beta-test their software with our services. I want to collect data […and] then we can make a proposal and see how it fits with the rest of the clubs and push it through McGill administration.”
Fong also has various plans for SSMU services, primarily to help improve their institutional memory. He intends to continue running the newly-created Services Summit.
“The Services Summit brought two representatives from each service,” he says. “I broke them out of their services so they could talk with other services and figure out common, global issues they could approach me with.”
Fong also hopes to address the concern of many services over the lack of exposure and engagement with the wider McGill community. He intends to create ‘service promo videos and help promote
services during Orientation Week. With the new lease agreement
signed, Fong is also focused on redistributing some of the building space for club and service use, namely by improving the Ballroom’s audiovisual equipment and conceptualizing a vision for room 108.
If you could high-five anyone in history, who
would it be?Joan of Arc
Sandhya SabapathySandhya Sabapathy, U2 Anatomy
and Cell Biology, currently serves as president for three clubs and envisions a number of changes to the portfolio to increase accessibility and transparency. To achieve this, she proposes the creation of a clubs council.
“For 300-plus clubs and 21 services, two clubs and one service representative is not enough,” Sabapathy says. “Since there are different types of clubs, I would like to take one representative from each type […] and this representative would come and sit with me and the club reps and the Interest Group Coordinator (IGC), and together we would be able to come up with better solutions.”
She cites an idea by former VP Clubs and Services (C&S) Allison Cooper called ‘Clubpedia’ as a way to increase accessibility of information for students.
“Clubpedia would be [like] Wikipedia for clubs, that would list [clubs’] events, what they’ve done in the past; what they’ll do in the future; what it means to be an executive in a club; what it means to be a member in a club,” she says.
She also suggests the idea of more face-to-face interaction between SSMU and club executives in order to combat the bureaucracy that SSMU faces in dealing with clubs and services.
“ B u r e a u c r a c y comes when you have to have a lot of e-mails sending back and forth
and people are not clear about what they need to do,” she says.
Sabapathy brings up issues that clubs and services have faced during her opponent’s current term.
“The problem right now is [that] clubs complain that they aren’t able to access the [VP C&S],” Sabapathy says. “E-mails are not answered properly, communication is a big issue, which is important.”
She acknowledges the challenges of the position currently held by current VP C&S Stefan Fong, but notes that greater organization within the VP C&S team would create better visibility.
“I understand that this is hard, because [VP C&S has] so many clubs under [the position], but I think getting an efficient system in place first is the most important thing,” she says.
Sabapathy also has suggestions on possible improvements to Activities Night.
“[Activities Night] can be very overwhelming for first-years,” she says. “I think I would put out an online
pamphlet […] maybe linking with the Clubpedia, and making it an
interactive blueprint of where clubs are located—because the crowd comes in and they really don’t know where to go.”
If you could high-five anyone in history, who would it be? Charles Darwin
Although both candidates have demonstrated impressive qualifications and genuine enthusiasm for the position, neither has managed to present a complete platform. Each has their own clear strengths; Singer’s plans to continue her work with the Milton-Parc community and make improvements for off-campus first-year students are promising, while Moustaqim-Barrette would be very well-suited to fulfill the more political aspects of the position.
However, neither candidate appears to have a clear vision for—nor understanding of—the external portion of the portfolio. Nobody has brought forward a tangible and realistic course of action for advocating and representing SSMU’s interests with the government and other outside bodies following SSMU’s expected exit from TaCEQ.
Singer’s hope to consult with the VP Externals of faculty associations, while something to be explored, does not give any insight as to her views or priorities on SSMU’s representation in the province.
Conversely, Moustaqim-Barrette’s plan to create
an informal federation with other local institutions is not only unrealistic—UQAM and UdeM are already members of FEUQ—but also ineffective. Putting SSMU in another non-accredited federation would replicate many of TaCEQ’s fundamental flaws, creating another group with no officially recognized voice and little chance of reaching the criteria for accreditation.
External relations are a huge part of the VP External’s portfolio and—as both candidates have acknowledged—could become even more crucial in the event of a PQ majority emerging from the upcoming provincial election. Having seen so little thought into this aspect of SSMU’s future, the Tribune is unable to endorse either candidate for this position.
Ultimately, Singer and Moustaqim-Barrette present two different approaches to the portfolio — it is up to individual students to vote with their priorities.
Full disclosure: Creative Director Alessandra Hechanova is a member of Singer’s “Yes” committee. She was not involved in the discussion that resulted in this decision.
The Tribune’s endorsement: No endorsement
ssmu elections | 9
Enbal SingerSince her first year at McGill, U3
Political Science student Enbal Singer has been involved in campus politics. Singer currently serves as VP Internal for the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) and as the SSMU Community Affairs Coordinator, where she is engaged in fostering more positive relationships between SSMU and the Milton-Parc community.
From her experience as an off-campus fellow and having lived out of residence herself in first year, Singer recognizes the unmet needs of incoming students who live off-campus, which is reflected in her platform.
Singer says she would like support from SSMU to provide assistance to the off-campus fellow program and off-campus council.
“I think it sends the message that we do care about students—not just those that live really close to us,” she says.
Singer also wishes to expand the interests of off-campus first year students in the VP External portfolio by promoting student education on their rights as tenants. Furthermore, she seeks to open up executive SSMU positions to international students.
While in past years the VP External portfolio has included relations with the student union TaCEQ, Singer says she is still unsure of the best approach
if SSMU leaves the organization, but she intends on holding open forum discussions to gather student input.
“I think it has to […] be coming from students on campus [who] are interested in these issues,” Singer says. “I want to have a VP External round table because each organization is its own legal entity apart from SSMU, and they also have a lot of power. When it’s one person from SSMU claiming to speak on behalf of the 22,000 students, it might not project the message as strongly.”
Although she has reservations toward joining a new union, she would still like to strengthen relationships with other schools in Montreal.
“I am very open to uniting with other universities,” she says. “I don’t know if necessarily the current confederations that exist are the best route for SSMU, largely because they’re expensive and we get a lot of backlash from students when we do spend a lot of money.”
If you could high-five anyone in history, who would it be?
Oscar Wilde
Amina Moustaqim-BarretteAmina Moustaqim-Barrette is a
U3 Cognitive Science student. She cites her experience as a current Campaigns Coordinator for SSMU as the source of her understanding of the External portfolio.
Moustaqim-Barette’s platform encompasses three different areas: community affairs, external affairs, and political campaigns. She proposes to lobby alongside other Montreal universities in an “unofficial coalition” to represent student interests at the provincial level in light of SSMU’s potential disaffiliation from TaCEQ, to work with the administration to uphold its commitment to divesting from fossil fuels, and to implement a campus bike path.
“My priority is going to be on creating relationships with other universities,” Moustaqim-Barette says. “The elections are coming up next month, and it’s projected to be a [Parti Québécois] (PQ) majority. It will be a year of much political change, and it’s going to be important to have a student representative that will speak for students’ interests and priorities.”
Moustaqim-Barette emphasizes the importance of bringing forth student opinions.
“If we don’t [voice student concerns], we will get left behind in budget allocations […] and [in] values and principles that students care about, like [the] Charter of Values,” she notes.
F u r t h e r m o r e , Moustaqim-Barrette says she has already spoken to representatives
from other universities in downtown Montreal about cooperation in lobbying the provincial government.
“Lobbying the government, coming from TaCEQ or FEUQ or ASSE, is kind of the same thing,” says Moustaqim-Barette. “It would be the same ideas; we will just sign by universities rather than associations. So when lobbying the government, it’ll be McGill, Concordia, UdeM, UQAM, etc.”
She also hopes to work with the administration and Divest McGill to fulfill SSMU’s mandate to lobby the administration to follow through on ethical investments. Moustaqim-Barrette also plans to continue the Milton-Parc Ambassador’s program as well as the street teams.
Helping implement bike lanes on campus is also one of Moustaqim-Barrette’s platform points. The research and proposal of the project were done by a working group at McGill. Moustaqim-Barrette also brought up the possibility of using referendums as modes of consultation.
“Most people who I’ve spoken to on campus have strong opinions about [current issues]—they just don’t have a
good platform to discuss or voice those opinions,” she says. “I think
referendums and social media, where people can tweet or Facebook in their two cents about it is a good way to gauge student interest and opinions.”
If you could high-five anyone in history, who
would it be?Frantz Fanon
In order to present the most informed endorsement decisions possible, our editors were mandated to attend the PGSS and SSMU debates in person. We were the only campus publication to hold interviews individually and in person with every one of the candidates for both PGSS and SSMU executive positions.
The endorsements are the product of an Editorial Board meeting in which we addressed every position and referendum question, debated, and voted. In order to earn the Tribune’s endorsement, a candidate had to
receive a two-thirds majority vote, while a simple majority would result in an endorsement with reservations. Reservations could also be appended to any “Yes” endorsement with the approval of a simple majority.
In the spirit of transparency and as a matter of upholding the Tribune’s credibility, we feel it imperative to make the process behind these decisions public. Should you have questions or concerns about our editorial process—or its outcomes—please send us an email at [email protected].
10 | ssmu elections
Running unopposed, Bradley has nonetheless presented herself as an extremely qualified candidate for the Finance and Operations portfolio. Her previous experiences and perspective on campus life promise to bring some refreshing changes to the position, which has suffered in recent years from a lack of accessibility and accountability due to the insular nature of the VP Finance’s day-to-day tasks.
Bradley brings with her significant experience in financial management, having managed budgets for The Nest and the McGill Farmers’ Market, as well as a firm understanding of the operations side of the job, due to her experience sitting on the Operations Management Committee.
What sets her apart from many of her predecessors, however, is her experience dealing directly with students and addressing their needs. For her role in planning and opening the Nest, Bradley conducted research and gathered input from students regarding all aspects of the café, and has continued seeking regular feedback from students since its opening. If she maintains
this philosophy as VP Finance, consulting with stakeholders and seeking ways to improve, it could give students an unprecedented voice in the financial management of their student society.
Bradley has put forward a set of pragmatic and achievable objectives which will both serve current students well and set a strong foundation for the future. Her realistic approach to SSMU’s divestment mandate also promises to further economic sustainability. Rather than focusing solely on shedding the unethical elements of the portfolio, she plans to increase focus on ethical investments for the society, keeping a much-needed focus on the organization’s ongoing economic sustainability.
Bradley also merits praise for having run a strong, active campaign, even without an opponent. If the enthusiasm she has already shown and her focus on communication are any indication, she can be expected to bring some exciting changes to the position of VP Finance.
Kathleen Bradley J. Daniel Chaim
The Tribune’s endorsement: Yes
Kathleen Bradley is a U3 student studying Philosophy, Economics, and Management, and is this year’s only candidate for VP Finance and Operations. Her most notable experience working with SSMU has been her integral role in launching McGill’s new Student-Run Café (SRC), The Nest. After her team placed second in the 2011-2012 Sustainability Case Competition whose challenge was to design the café, Bradley sat on SSMU’s Operations Management Committee the following year, which was commissioned by Finance and Operations to continue developing the SRC project. Finally, she was hired as The Nest’s head chef last summer and has worked closely with manager Josh Redel in opening the cafe this Winter semester. Other relevant experiences include her role as the finance coordinator for McGill Farmer’s Market and as the executive director of Second Servings, a program that redistributes food waste across Montreal.
Bradley’s platform centres on three main areas: investment strategy, fund allocation, and the continual development of the SRC. Although she supports further efforts towards divestment from unethical ventures in SSMU’s Investment Portfolio, she recognizes that a wholly ethical portfolio may not be feasible.
“If you genuinely wanted to divest from all secondary unethical investments, the portfolio would be empty,” says Bradley. “Honestly, 99.5 per cent have secondary or tertiary involvement in environmental and humanitarian issues.”
Directly within SSMU, Bradley intends to increase and protect the Club Fund, which, as a non-student fee fund, is susceptible to budget cuts. She also hopes to improve the application process for
funds so that student groups can receive the money they need more efficiently and avoid covering costs upfront out of their own pockets. Bradley plans to continue carefully monitoring the second-floor cafeteria space if elected to an executive position by building institutional memory and furthering its original mandate of engaging the McGill community.
“The plan has always been to have a student space; it never was meant to just be a lunch counter,” explains Bradley. “We’re looking into dividing it into three general sections that have sliding walls in them. We plan on having one for modular group study space, one for a student lounge and eating space, and [one for] an event space.”
Though admitting to the insular focus of the position, she cites a desire to take an invested interest in the other executives’ portfolios in order to increase the cohesiveness of the team, while hopefully also better engaging them in her own portfolio. One aspect of the job that Bradley hopes to improve upon is showing a proactive willingness to properly communicate with students and quickly clarify any financial misunderstandings.
“As far as changing [transparency], from a student’s perspective, I think it’s just about more access to better information,” she says. “You have to appreciate that a lot of people in SSMU have an invested
interest in the money aspect, but don’t fully understand the finances. [You need] a willingness to sit down with people and explain how budgets work.”
If you could high-five anyone in history, who would it be?
Simone de Beauvoir
After two years as an Arts Orientation Week coordinator, two years working at Gerts Bar, and one year being on the Winter Carnival Committee, J. Daniel Chaim, a U3 Economics student, is now running for VP Internal. Chaim’s primary goals are to reform the current listserv and create events that will be more inclusive for all students.
According to Chaim, the current listserv system is too long and complicated, resulting in a lack of interest from much of the student population.
“During my four years here, I’ve not really followed the listserv because I found that it’s very convoluted—I don’t really need most information [from it],” Chaim says.
In order to address this issue, Chaim intends to revamp the listserv to make it customizable. Students would be able to select what type of content they want to have appear by selecting which organizations, clubs, and faculties they want to receive information from.
“I’ve seen it done before,” Chaim says. “I know it’s very possible […] and I know that SSMU resources will be very good [for creating] the system.”
Chaim also suggests the implementation of a calendar of events for SSMU.
“[The calendar] can come out once a month [...and] every student organization can basically [...] contact me and I’ll
include their events in a [...] calendar of events that happen at McGill.”
Based on his past event planning experience, Chaim is confident that he will be able to introduce new events to McGill without overloading his portfolio. Specifically, Chaim intends to reach out to a wide portion of McGill students with events that span a variety of interests. These would include activities such as gaming tournaments and fine arts exhibits.
For other SSMU events such as 4Floors, Chaim proposes to expand the budget by increasing ticket prices. By doing so, the event would have more depth and also be more accessible to more students. According to Chaim, equity is important and must be considered in all organized events. Chaim states that he would have addressed the issue differently if he were the current VP Internal.
“I find that Brian [Farnan] tried his best but fell short of his goals,” Chaim says. “If I were in Farnan’s shoes, I would’ve focused on apologizing directly to the person who was hurt.”
Chaim also intends to have the next VP University Affairs read over each of his listservs to prevent any further issues with equity.
If you could high-five anyone in history, who would it be?
Jimi Hendrix
With experience organizing Arts Frosh, Management Carnival, and working at Gerts, Chaim is well-prepared for the event-planning aspect of the portfolio, which includes collaborating with other campus actors to organize events such as Orientation Week, 4Floors, and Faculty Olympics. Some of his more exciting event-planning ideas include non-alcoholic events, including a student fine arts exhibit in the SSMU Ballroom and a gaming tournament involving video game developers located in Montreal.
We were less convinced by his proposed modifications to the communications aspect of the portfolio. Chaim’s suggestion of introducing listservs based on different interests from which people can unsubscribe may backfire and lead to increased student disengagement, while his proposal to have a committee oversee the listserv’s introductory message seems like an unnecessary logistical complication. His proposal of creating a campus calendar may also be prohibitively difficult to compile and maintain.
Chaim states that he believes in its importance
and that he is committed to keeping it in mind, demonstrating an awareness of the visibility of his role as a communicator to students. He expresses interest in working closely with the VP University Affairs, particularly when organizing Orientation week. We hope that Chaim will uphold his commitment towards equity throughout the year.
While we endorse a “Yes” vote for Chaim, we do so with reservations. During his campaign, he has prioritized issues such as the listserv and the events calendar—proposals we found lacking in nuance—and aspects of the portfolio that are less in need of reform. Rather, we hope that as VP Internal, he focus on working to promote equity, diversity, and accessibility in SSMU’s various events and that he will remain critical of previous approaches to the portfolio.
The Tribune’s endorsement: Yes(with reservations)
ssmu elections | 11
Claire Stewart-Kanigan
Claire Stewart-Kanigan, U3 Political Science and Philosophy, brings previous experience on Senate as well as both AUS and SSMU council to her campaign. Stewart-Kanigan has built her platform on acting as a liaison between the students and the administration. Having a working relationship with many university administrators, one of her focuses is to “speak to individual deans of different faculties” and push for students’ voices to be heard at the faculty level. While Stewart-Kanigan participated in SSMU Council and GAs, she was proactive in contributing to new and efficient ideas regarding issues like the mental health and sexual assault.
Stewart-Kanigan plans on continuing with the mental health listserv and sees it as an efficient way to reach students.
“A lot of great relationships [were] built this year through the drafting of the Mental Health Policy, and I would like to see those relationships continue,” she says. She plans to have rotating seats on the mental health committee to make sure these issues are spread to students across McGill. Stewart-Kanigan also notes that she would like to continue with more collaboration on the Mental Health Policy between different levels of the university to bring more tangible results to students.
Stewart-Kanigan also expresses her intention to continue the work on the sexual assault policy, a matter that was at the forefront this past year at McGill.
“One of the proposals that was brought forward was the consolidation and development of a university sexual
assault policy, because right now, we have a lot of policies that are located in different policies,” she says. “Bringing those existing policies together into one document could reduce the time it will take to actually get a hold of the sexual assault policy existing at the university level.”
In light of the upcoming Senate reform, Stewart-Kanigan wants to bring more student groups and services into the Senate, and plans to do so by conducting a survey across different campus groups to make sure their voices are heard as well. She believes that having representatives of services such as SEDE and the First People’s House would add to Senate discussions, and would like to work more closely with SEDE to provide workshops for professors and students.
“I’m a big fan of fully open forums to [discuss] contentious issues on campus,” says Stewart-Kanigan. “It has been done more in past years, and it’s something I would like to revive. If there are any contentious issues that arise regarding [any] thing, I would be in favor of having a open forum as soon as possible to link student conversations with SSMU.”
She says she would have liked to open up an alternative forum—other than
via e-mail—as soon as possible for students to voice their opinions and start conversations both regarding the Farnan apology email and the issues with the sexual assault policy.
If you could high-five anyone in history, who would it be?
Geddy Lee
The Tribune’s endorsement: YesDespite running uncontested, Claire
Stewart-Kanigan is perhaps one of the most qualified candidates in this year’s SSMU elections. With experience as Arts representative to SSMU and Arts Senator, she brings to the portfolio a solid understanding of the challenges of working with upper-level administrators.
Stewart-Kanigan has been a vocal member of Senate, advocating for students’ interests and pushing for projects like increased availability of the Academic Assessments Policy and class syllabi. We’re confident that she will be able to lead next year’s team of student senators, and we look forward to seeing the results of her initiative to focus on project-based initiatives for Senate. Stewart-Kanigan is also committed to holding the administration accountable with its promises regarding measures to prevent sexual assault on campus, including the proposed first annual Safe Space Week to be held in October, and the creation of a consolidated sexual assault policy for the university.
Within SSMU, she has a clear plan of action towards implementing the newly-approved
Mental Health Policy, including working with a mental health coordinator to spearhead a new listserv and create a website with resources. We’re excited by her continued emphasis on working with McGill on improving mental health initiatives, as shown by her proposal of implementing mental health workshops within training for teaching assistants.
In terms of equity, Stewart-Kanigan brings a pragmatic approach after being involved in the work on the AUS Equity Policy, advocating for its continued development. We were impressed by her reflection that an alternative way to have dealt with the aftermath of the Farnan apology email may have been to channel student criticism into the ongoing equity revision process in order to promote a constructive discussion on equity.
Stewart-Kanigan has a busy year ahead, but with her proven track record and her clear vision for the portfolio, we’re confident that she will uphold student interests and make important changes with lasting impact on student life.
J. Daniel Chaim
In a field of candidates with diverse experiences, platforms, and approaches towards the position, Courtney Ayukawa stands out. Although her opponents each bring unique and valuable strengths, the extent of Ayukawa’s political experience and her plans to tackle SSMU’s current challenges head-on make her the best candidate for president.
A number of the issues that have come to the fore on campus this year feature prominently in Ayukawa’s platform. Her emphasis on sustainability and equity—both in terms of awareness and proper institutionalization—come at a time when SSMU has often seemed collectively unprepared to confront these matters. Under Ayukawa’s leadership, especially considering her promise to react to issues in a timely manner, a more responsive and representative voice may be possible.
Ayukawa’s focus on outreach and participation also promises to address fields in which SSMU has been notably lacking of late—her plan to study the lack of engagement in SSMU relative to other comparable institutions holds promise.
The Tribune’s endorsement: Ayukawa (with reservations)
12 | ssmu elections
Aaron FriedlandCourtney AyukawaCourtney Ayukawa brings a variety
of experiences to her candidacy for SSMU president. As a U3 Sustainability, Science, and Society student, she has been involved in a number of groups at McGill, including co-coordinating ECOLE, a $94,000 sustainability project launching in September 2014. She also has experience working with first-year students as a floor fellow at Royal Victoria College (RVC) since 2012.
Ayukawa currently sits on SSMU Legislative Council as the Arts and Science representative, and serves on SSMU’s Environment Committee.
Given her interest and involvement in sustainability on campus, Ayukawa’s platform highlights the need to institutionalize sustainability by redefining policy and projects. Her main goal within this purview is to centralize the current environmentally focused sustainability policy to include mental health and equity work.
“I think equity and mental health are central aspects of social sustainability, which is one of the main pillars of sustainability,” Ayukawa says. “When the equity and mental health aspects of sustainability are separated out and put into the equity portfolio, s u s t a i n a b i l i t y at SSMU turns [solely] into
environmental work.” Ayukawa notes the importance of student
input and consultation in engendering this change and potentially using this information in hopes of creating a new VP Sustainability executive.
“We need student consultation groups and to conduct research about what other universities have, and whether it’s possible within SSMU. Then, we can make a recommendation,” she says.
Ayukawa also intends to improve transparency and accountability of SSMU. She hopes to create more communication between SSMU executives and the general population by holding open discussions on emerging campus issues and providing “This Week at SSMU” updates in each SSMU listserv.
“Even something as simple as making the executives’ attendance [at Legislative Council] public on the website could also help,” Ayukawa says.
To ensure that SSMU moves forward in a sustainable financial position, Ayukawa notes the need to collaborate with other executives and
accounting bodies to combat potential risk. “Working with the VP Finance
and Operations, but also [with] SSMU’s accounting department is really important,” she says. “While I’m not for increasing bureaucracy and reducing liability, I think it is important to mitigate risk and potential deficits. In that sense, we should be conservative in our spending.”
If you could high-five anyone in history, who would it be?
Barack Obama
Aaron Friedland is a U3 International Development Studies student who has experience as a floor fellow as well as with the Student Society Programming Network (SSPN), coordinating events like 4Floors, Frosh, and Faculty Olympics.
“I see, while working with SSPN, that there is a huge disconnect,” he says. “There is so much disengagement, and I think my experience of helping plan 4Floors, or helping reach out to all these different groups, has shown me how I can create community.”
Friedland’s platform consists of five main policies: empowering community, bridging the SSMU-student divide through a mobile app, decreasing exam frequencies, making sustainability more than just a buzzword, and increasing preventative services.
“I’d like to [...] implement a SSMU mini course on motions [and Roberts’ Rules] specifically for first-years,” he says. “I think a lot of first years don’t have the confidence to go to a GA.”
Friedland also suggested a mobile approach to reaching students.
“Another thing that I’d like to bring forward is a SSMU app,” he says. “I think we could have on our mobile phones, pop-up notifications,
just information about […] the GA. And [if] I’m actually getting a notification saying [that] there is a GA [and] I should be there, I think I would go.”
Friedland also says he prioritizes lobbying the administration to ensure no student will have to write three exams within a 36 hour period, as well as supporting the accessibility of course syllabi before the add/drop period.
“A huge part of my platform is increasing preventative measures so we can eliminate the need for treatment,” he says. “As a floor fellow, I see this all the time—I see students not leading sustainable lifestyles in every regard [….] I don’t think three midterms in a 36 hour period is healthy.”
Sustainability is a focus for Friedland both in terms of working with McGill as well as within SSMU.
“I would like to see the administration take a different
stance towards divestment,” he says. “I’d like to empower various student groups to come together and show a united front for the administration.”
If you could high-five anyone in history, who would
it be?Nelson Mandela
As for her opponents in the race, none seems to present as holistic a vision for the position as Ayukawa. Although Johnson brings unparalleled experience in the human resources side of the job, he has demonstrated a poor understanding of the political side of the role, raising serious concerns of accountability and
representation. Khan’s campaign has placed a huge focus on accountability, but offers little in the way of tangible goals, and has consistently been
hampered by credibility issues including campaign sanctions. As for Friedland, though he has promising ideas, he lacks the necessary experience in all aspects of the portfolio.
While the Tribune endorses Ayukawa for the position, we hold reservations regarding her plan to combine sustainability, equity, and
mental health into a new VP portfolio. While all three of these issues merit an increased focus, these are principles that should be interwoven
with all parts of SSMU, not distinct goals that can be isolated into a single portfolio. While we wholeheartedly support the spirit behind this idea, we feel that there are more effective ways to advance these issues.
The Tribune’s endorsement: Ayukawa (with reservations)
ssmu elections | 13
Tariq KhanTariq Khan, U3 Engineering, launched
his campaign following his career as a SSMU councillor, clubs administrator, and member of the Accountability Leadership Commission. Khan also has experience from undergoing two separate internships through his program, during which he developed his leadership skills.
Khan’s platform is based on four core tenets: accountability, sustainability, employment, and outreach. In terms of accountability, he stresses the importance of an independent accountability committee that works in conjunction with campus media to ensure that executives and other SSMU members are held responsible for their actions.
“I think students deserve the right to know where every penny is going, if executives are doing their jobs, and how the decisions are actually made,” his candidacy website reads. “Though we have an Accountability Leadership Commission that I am currently a part of, we need to provide greater independence to the committee.”
Now that the Shatner Building’s lease has been signed, Khan states that his primary priority when dealing with administration through the Board of Governors (BoG) and the Senate will be to lobby on behalf of SSMU to create more employment opportunities for students on campus.
“Employment is a really big
thing for my campaign,” Khan says. “Another thing would be recognition of academic excellence. Our students work very hard, and the scholarship packages that are given to them are not competitive.”
Khan emphasizes that as president, he would not just be the leader for the Legislative Council and SSMU employees, but the student body as a whole, and he highlights the need for greater outreach efforts. One such area where he believes he can achieve tangible outcomes is in the General Assemblies (GAs) that occur each semester. Khan plans to educate students to bridge the disconnect between SSMU and its constituents and increase student engagement.
“Every year, the challenge SSMU faces is that 6,000 new students come in,” says Khan. “SSMU needs to play a role in educating as well. We need to work with faculty associations more for outreach [and…] train councillors to
ensure that it is a two-way street where our representatives
represent the students to SSMU, and SSMU to
the students.”
If you could high-five anyone in history, who would
it be?Gandhi
Austin JohnsonAustin Johnson, U3 Industrial
Relations and Environment, brings ample experience to the campaign. Johnson has worked at SSMU for the past four years as a yearbook editor, graphic designer, and most recently, human resource coordinator, a position which works directly under the SSMU president portfolio.
Johnson is running on a platform of increasing student involvement on campus, restoring McGill’s reputation, and advancing the SSMU human resource portfolio. He emphasizes improving the accessibility of SSMU through executive office hours and the use of social media—in particular, the creation of a microblog.
“It’s so hard to answer general inquiries [...] so I want to shift them from a black hole of an inbox to a microblog,” he says. “This increases accountability, because people can see that I’ve posted it, [and they] can also see what other people’s concerns are.”
In terms of the lack of attendance at GAs, Johnson cites SSMU as a potential solution.
“I don’t think the core reason [they should come] is what happens at the GA,” he says. “We
need reason[s] [so] they still understand that they need to [participate] because we’re giving them value at other times.”
Although Johnson has little experience directly working with the McGill administration, he plans to take a firm stance on holding administration accountable for their promises and actions. Johnson also plans to lobby for student interests advancing McGill academically, maintaining a student-centred focus, and optimizing revenue sources.
“[Strategic priorities] are so broad, and this is something that’s dangerous, because McGill can interpret [them] as [it wishes],” Johnson said. “We need to try to engage students to see what they think about those three overarching
goals […] and then to push forward those ideas in a proactive
manner to the [Board of Governors], and show
them that we’re serious about helping them
achieve those goals.”
If you could high-five anyone in history, who would it be?
Ken Dryden
Aaron Friedland
Brighita LunguBrighita Lungu, a fourth-year
architecture student and current VP Finance and Operations of the Graduate Architecture Students Association, is running unopposed for PGSS Member Services Officer (MSO), a position which involves overseeing and managing services such as the Health and Dental Insurance Plan and the Member Legal Defence Fund.
“[I have] a general concern for student life on campus,” Lungu says. “I’m willing to keep plans on mental health going.”
Lungu hopes to continue her predecessor’s initiatives on mental health services, but also wants to focus on sustainability, an issue she says has not gotten enough attention in recent years. Part of the MSO’s roles includes sitting on several committees, such as the McGill Committee on Student Services of Senate. While Lungu sees this as one of the position’s most important roles—as well as one of her bigger potential challenges—she cites her
previous academic and student government experience as preparation for these tasks.
Other initiatives Lungu wishes to work on include increasing outreach to members through student media and polling, and increasing transparency by making documents more accessible on the PGSS website, especially on mobile platforms.
If you could high-five anyone in the world, who would it be?
Kaki King
The Tribune is reluctant to endorse Brighita Lungu for Member
Services Officer (MSO) due to her lack of concrete goals and plans for the portfolio.
Lungu has cited her lack of familiarity with the PGSS as a potential disadvantage to her candidacy. We are concerned that this lack of familiarity goes beyond the physical space of Thomson House
to include the Member Services portfolio
itself and its
responsibilities. Lungu has been unable to recognize the need to develop her own goals and concrete solutions throughout the campaign period.
The MSO is a diverse portfolio that deals with aspects of graduate student life such as mental health services, financial aid, and career planning services. Lungu’s platform does not reflect the diversity of the portfolio or include any concrete plans to significantly improve the experience of PGSS members in these aspects of student life. While we support her commitment to continue the projects of current MSO Elizabeth Cawley and her stated commitment to sustainability, Lungu has failed to demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the portfolio.
An in-depth awareness of the other aspects of the portfolio and concrete plans to improve them are key for this position, but Lungu’s campaign lacks substance and a willingness to engage in the issues facing the MSO. The Tribune therefore endorses a “No” vote for this position.
The Tribune’s endorsement: No
The Tribune endorses Jennifer Murray for the position of Academic Affairs Officer (AAO). With her previous experience in university affairs during her undergraduate studies, Murray will have a strong understanding of how to connect with the students as well as liaise with the administration. This previous experience will be particularly important as the incoming AAO will be working with several of the projects that the incumbent has been spearheading.
Murray wishes to continue the library space work that the current AAO has been working on, but she also has concrete plans to reach the students with a needs assessment survey, showing her openness toward the student voice as well as her willingness
to bring the student body together. We commend her acknowledgement of the different student needs based
on their faculties and programs, and hope to see her utilizing the results of such a survey in a
way that can benefit more unique needs that different PGSS students might
have. Murray has also put thought into integrating social and academic events, which could further benefit the PGSS community.
We believe that Sharif’s platform is lacking in concrete and focused steps that may need to be taken in order to fulfill the AAO
role. While he raised good points about a more well-rounded academic
experience and the need for PGSS recruitment, Sharif lacks the confident
vision necessary for carrying out the portfolio.
Behrang Sharif
Behrang Sharif, a PhD candidate in the physiology department, is running for the PGSS Academic Affairs Officer (AAO) position. Sharif, who has been closely associated with academic organizations, co-founded a pharmaceutical students’ organization during his studies in Iran, and worked as a councillor for Physiology Graduate Student Association (PGSA).
Sharif’s platform includes representing PGSS as a whole and recruiting other representatives in order to increase “information flow” between graduate students and the university.
“Members should know how they’re represented; and the university should know [about the] members,” says Sharif. “This is a bi-directional information flow that I think should be facilitated more.”
He also wishes to promote graduate students’ overall academic experiences.
“I would try to increase the well-roundedness of the experience of these people at McGill. I’ve been in contact with the
provost about music courses for graduate students,” says Sharif. “[And] there is not a very well-represented percentage of graduate students in athletics [….] Hopefully, there could [also] be some interdisciplinary academic events that could bring different faculties and departments together.”
Sharif believes that his time management, experience in PGSS, and communication skills will be key assets in the AAO position.
Sharif also hopes to play a role in engaging more graduate students with PGSS.
“Recruiting people through e-mails has not worked [...] because they are bombarded with e-mails,” he says. “[I would set some events in different faculties and personally go there and meet them [to talk] about PGSS.”
If you could high-five anyone in the world, who would it be?
Whichever president wants to high-five back.
Jennifer Murray
Jennifer Murray is a candidate for Academic Affairs Officer (AAO) and a first year masters student focusing on public health in the department of epidemiology. After completing her bachelors at Dartmouth University, Murray went on to work at the university for 3 years in university affairs in roles such as presidential fellow and other positions within the administration. Murray cites this experience as part of why she is qualified to become the AAO.
“In terms of work at the university [level], I’ve had both the student experience and then the staff experience, and I think I care a lot about student life,” says Murray, “So it helps me to connect with people and think about ways they can achieve their goals, especially for graduate students across disciplines.”
Murray says that her platform includes carrying on the work that Adam Bouchard, the current AAO, has done with improving library space, listening to graduate students through a needs assessment survey, and making sure the executive committee has a stronger voice and outreach.
“I would like to make sure, that in the first couple of weeks, [we] survey graduate students to give me a good sense of their needs, so I know how to respond,” says Murray. “Graduate students come from a variety of backgrounds, and that means they have a variety of needs […] so listening to those needs will help me be most effective for […maximizing] my own impact as a liaison between students and the administration.”
Murray also says that
more academic social experiences would be effective in bringing together graduate students, with Thomson House as the hub where these events could be hosted.
“I think there’s a lot of emphasis on social activities, and those are separate from the academic activities, but bringing them together in a venue like Thomson house will help students connect in a social and academic manner,” says Murray.
She also says that although it is challenging to reach all pockets of graduate students as they conduct research in wildly varying fields, her social nature can help her bring people together.
“I think I bring a lot of fresh ideas, enthusiasm; my relative inexperience at McGill makes me nicely ambitious,” Murray says. “I’m optimistic about what a graduate experience can be like, and for that reason I think my fresh perspective will be very important for my enthusiasm for the position.”
If you could high-five anyone in the world, who would it be?
Bryan Stevenson
pgss elections | 15
The Tribune’s endorsement: Jennifer Murray
Ge Sa Julien Ouellet
Despite running unopposed, the Tribune endorses Ge Sa for Internal Affairs Office (IAO). Due to his experience with EUS, SSMU Council, and most importantly, the PGSS Internal Committee and McGill Board of Appeals, Sa has the necessary knowledge and insight with regards to administrative and logistical work that the IAO will have to take on.
Sa also prioritizes the CFS case as a part of his platform, and his strong interest and efforts in the case show his investment to both PGSS and the student body. Furthermore, he expresses interest in further involving the graduate student population,
both through social and academic events. He provided creative new ideas such as a frosh equivalent for
graduate students as well as an alumni networking-based event
that would add to graduate student involvement
with professional development.
Sa’s platform focuses on engaging the graduate student body, an essential
responsibility of the IAO, and he proposes a number
of specific ideas and plans he has for the position, which
is why we believe that he will bring a variety of events and programs that the graduate student body will be able to take advantage of.
The Tribune’s endorsement: Yes
Ge Sa is a third year PhD Engineering student running uncontested for PGSS Internal Officer.
Sa has been involved with student government in the past few years. As an undergraduate, Sa was an executive on the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS), and an Engineering councillor for the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU). Currently, Sa sits on the PGSS Internal committee as well as the McGill University Board of Appeals.
If elected, Sa says he sees settling the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) court case as one of his primary goals.
“[My] number one is to settle the CFS case; bring it to an end, free up our money to do more things that come under my portfolio—using that money for more social events for students [and] student life events,” Sa says.
Sa also says he wants to increase the number of inter-university events that the PGSS partakes in.
“Last year, we went on our protest trip to Ottawa with many people from different universities and that was a really interesting experience for me,” Sa says. “I think we should have more camaraderie with different universities from across the city.”
According to Sa, inter-university events would include social events for students to meet new people and learn more about Montreal.
“We are talking
about having a major city-wide frosh for grad students,” Sa says. “I think it would be good to bring them to different parts of the island, and different campuses in advance to know it better and [create] a better experience for all of them.”
Sa is also interested in increasing the number of academic-related events that the PGSS hosts.
“I want more professional development and academic [activities] for our students,” Sa says. “At least in my department I am planning an alumni-networking event, where we invite alumni back to McGill, we have grad students talking to them […] learning about experience, research, and work […] I think more events like that [are needed].”
Sa sees communication with the administration as one of the most important aspects of his portfolio, as well as one of the challenges.
“A large chunk of [the portfolio] is dealing with administration, both in PGSS and in McGill,” Sa says. “There’s a lot of communication with
the administration right now regarding [the Memorandum of Agreement…] so talking with administration can be quite tiring at times.”
If you could high-five anyone in the world, who would
it be?Pope Francis
Julien Ouellet, a master’s student in McGill’s neuroscience program, is currently a PGSS councillor from the Graduate Students’ Association for Neuroscience. His other experience with PGSS includes Chairing last Fall’s successful referendum campaign to introduce a fee for the McGill Writing Centre.
As External Affairs Officer, Ouellet says his priorities would include working to increase the age limit for student discounts on STM passes and working to have medicare coverage extended for international graduate students.
In addition, he says the ongoing court case for PGSS’s disassociation from the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) will be a priority for everyone on the executive next year. He says it will be important to have open dialogue with provincial politicians on this topic.
“What would be interesting would be if we could reopen the act on student association,” he says. “We could maybe make it only a provincial thing so that student associations could only exist within Quebec and cannot be pan-Canadian. This would, in one broad stroke, separate all the other institutions in Quebec which have problems with the CFS.”
Ouellet says that as a member association, the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ) has to work hard to ensure that it remains relevant. This could potentially include
reform—for example, in the way votes are allocated to different student associations.
“We need to find a common ground that would make the FEUQ a more comfortable environment for [everyone],” he says. “You can work very well within the FEUQ and it can be a very powerful megaphone to amplify the positions of the PGSS.”
Another important aspect of the portfolio is to help integrate graduate students into Quebec society, according to Ouellet.
“I want to have free French courses for the members of our organization because it’s something that will help them integrate better into Montreal society and it’s difficult to get a job outside of McGill if you’re not fluent,” he says. “I think there’s a lot of demand for that.”
He also proposes working with other execs to connect PGSS members with graduate students of other universities in Quebec.
“We want to give a more approachable image to McGill and integrate it better within the Quebec community because
it’s perceived by some Quebecers as a foreign body within Quebec,” he
says.
If you could high-five anyone in the world, who would it be?
Noam Chomsky
Julien Ouellet’s platform for External Affairs Officer is both comprehensive and ambitious, and displays a keen understanding of the various challenges and demands he will face in the position. The Tribune applauds Ouellet’s interest in approaching this diverse portfolio.
With goals ranging from the creation of free French classes for PGSS members to the facilitation of inter-university social events, Ouellet’s plans to engage graduate students in the wider community are important and commendable—especially at a university where students often feel cut-off from city. While the Tribune is skeptical that lobbying the government to include international students in the health care plan will be effective—especially in a one-year term—we commend Ouellet’s determination to bring graduate student concerns to the government.
In addition, Ouellet’s thorough understanding of the representative problems facing the FEUQ will be an important asset for PGSS. With the society’s ongoing court case to disaffiliate from Canadian Federation of
Students (CFS), it’s important that PGSS seeks to maximize the effectiveness
of its representation through FEUQ and provide concrete plans for reforming its structure and engaging PGSS members more directly in the federation’s discussions.
Overall, Ouellet displays a keen awareness
of the External portfolio and responsibilities, as well as
enthusiasm for both pursuing his own individual projects and collaborating
with fellow executives to accomplish goals. The Tribune looks forward to seeing what he is capable of accomplishing in this position.
The Tribune’s endorsement: Yes
16 | pgss elections
Julien Ouellet
pgss elections | 17
Nikki MeadowsNikki Meadows, a fifth-year PhD
candidate studying human genetics, has been active in the PGSS since 2010 and is now running for the position of Financial Affairs Officer (FAO).
“I was a councillor for a few years and then started getting more and more involved in committees,” Meadows explains. “I’ve been on the Board of Directors for the past year. I really know the system; I know how the PGSS works.”
Along with her broader familiarity with the PGSS, Meadows also cites an intimate understanding of the Financial Affairs portfolio and experience in many of the areas for which the Officer is responsible.
“I’ve been involved in all the processes that are going to happen,” Meadows says. “I’ve gotten budgets approved both at the Board level and at Council level. I’ve helped edit the budget [....] I’ve helped with the grants policy […by assigning] and [ranking] grants as they come in.”
Once in the position, Meadows’ primary financial goal would be to bring an end to the dispute with the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) in which the PGSS has been embroiled since 2009. The PGSS’ efforts to decertify from the student lobby have devolved into a costly legal battle.
“It’s a major drain on all of our resources, time, and energy, and—most importantly—the budget that we do have ends up going into legal costs,” Meadows
says. “There is so much money there that could be doing so many good things, and right now it’s tied up in a legal case. It’s doing a disservice to graduate students.”
Beyond this, Meadows says she plans to seek an agreement with the STM which would allow graduate students over the age of 25 to continue accessing student fares. Most of all, she hopes to ensure that the PGSS is funding programs that meets the diverse needs of its membership.
“You can have events for young graduate students who just want to have a good time, but it’s also important to make sure that money goes into things that will also help student parents and older students,” Meadows says. “You need to make sure there’s a balance.”
This year, PGSS faces an unusual situation, involving a change of incumbency in every position of its executive. As such, Meadows believes her experience across the society will be extremely valuable in ensuring continuity.
“I think the biggest contribution I’m going to make to the team next year
is institutional memory,” she says. “With the complete overturn,
they’re going to need somebody who [knows]
how the process works.”
If you could high-five anyone in the world, who would it
be?J.K. Rowling
With several years of PGSS experience under her belt, Nikki Meadows would bring considerable experience and a wealth of institutional knowledge to the Financial Affairs Officer position. Her previous roles in Council, on the Board of Directors, and her involvement with the creation of budgets have given her a familiarity with the PGSS’ financial situation and the processes through which these decisions are made. In a year when the entire current executive is leaving the PGSS, this institutional knowledge will prove invaluable in overcoming transitional difficulties.
The Tribune applauds Meadows’
dedication to benefiting both the finances of the society and its individual members. Her commitment to concluding the PGSS court case with the Canadian Students’
Federation (CFS) is crucial given the situation’s huge financial impact
on the society. Her goal to increase the age limitation
for STM discounts reflects a dedication to improving the financial accessibility of necessary services for PGSS members.
We believe Meadows will be an invaluable asset
to PGSS in her continued commitment to the society.
Her strengths as an individual and executive team member make
her a pragmatic and driven candidate for this position.
The Tribune’s endorsement: Yes
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To apply, send three relevant writing, photo, or design samples, a CV, and a cover letter to [email protected] by March 24, 2014 at 5 p.m.
Please direct any questions to Carolina Millán Ronchetti at [email protected].
NewsOpiNiON
FeaturesstudeNt LiviNg
scieNce & techNOLOgyarts & eNtertaiNmeNt
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ONLiNecreative directOr
18 | pgss elections
The Tribune endorses Juan Camilo Pinto for the position of Secretary General. Due to his background in law, he has an extensive understanding of the legal complications of the CFS case, and his awareness and drive to dissociate from the federation should be advantageous for PGSS. He emphasized the funds that have been frozen due to this case, and a c k n o w l e d g e d the impact that leaving CFS would have on PGSS’s current financial state.
A n o t h e r key component of his platform rests on making the society and executive more available to PGSS students. He brought up working on the current PGSS constitution as well as other student policies in order to make it more accessible, especially for students who are unfamiliar with the legal jargon behind such documents. He also
wishes to pursue the possibility of a more web-oriented PGSS, which will hopefully serve as a stronger link between the PGSS community. We believe that his initiatives to make PGSS more relevant are commendable, and that he has concrete ideas about how to go about making the
appropriate changes.With his
experience on the GLSA and
PGSS Board of Appeals, Pinto comes brings ample experience in both PGSS and
working with a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ,
both of which are key attributes for
an incoming Secretary General. We feel that with
the knowledge he brings from both his professional background as well as the experiences he’s had with PGSS, he will find avenues for making the changes he’s promised in his campaign.
Juan Camilo PintoJuan Camilo Pinto, the sole candidate for the
PGSS Secretary-General, is a PhD candidate in civil law currently undertaking his thesis on the legal construction of a Social Scoring Mechanism. Before completing his master of law at McGill, Pinto received his bachelor of law in Colombia from Universidad de los Andes, and a graduate degree in tax law from Universidad del Rosario. Pinto feels well prepared to step into the Secretary General position, hoping to bring experience as a risk-analysis and strategy consultant, and as the senior advisor for Legal and Legislative Affairs/Deputy Chief of Staff at the Senate of Colombia.
“When I was in my last semester of law, I got hired as a [...] legislative advisor for a senator back in Colombia,” says Pinto. “Of course, it’s a different kind of politics, but it’s the same principle. You need things to get done, and you must know how to do it. You have to work with people.”
He identifies the key points of his platform as solving the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) case to free up funds for expanding the grants program, supporting intramural sports, possibily creating a PGSS daycare, and collaborating between
graduate and undergraduate students.“Because we haven’t solved the [CFS] case we have
around $300,000 that [is] being frozen from the fees that we collect,” elaborated Pinto. “One of the things I would try to do is [...]settle the case or [...] at least revamp the legal strategy with our lawyers,”
Currently serving as the president of the Graduate Law Student Association (GLSA), and member of the PGSS Board of Appeals, Pinto hopes to bring a practiced
but forward-looking perspective to his platform.“I [was a teaching assistant…] for the
chair of the criminal law department of my university, and […] he taught me that […] changing regulation is not enough to produce change,” said Pinto. You have to change
people’s mentality, you have to show them that there [are] different ways of doing things [….]
Because I believe that if we want, if PGSS wants to become relevant, and we want
to actually expand and create new programs, we have to be creative.
We can’t do the same thing that we’ve been doing for the last 20 years, 15 years, even 10 years. We have to change the institution itself, orient it towards a new interest—for example, technology.”
If you could high-five anyone in the world, who would it be?
Dave Chapelle
The Tribune’s endorsement: Yes
The McGill Tribune is looking for undergraduate and graduate student representatives to its 2014-
2015 Board of Directors
Send an email to [email protected] more details
Science & technology
The 14th Annual McGill Biomedical Graduate Conference (AMBGC) took place this past Thursday, March 13 at the Holiday Inn in Montreal. The conference aimed to provide an encouraging and stimulating environment for students to present and discuss their work in biomedical research with other like-minded individuals from around McGill.
This symposium was unique as it was organized in entirety by the Experimental Medicine Grad-uate Student Society (EMGSS), one of the most sizeable graduate programs at McGill.
“It’s the largest student-run conference in Quebec; everything is organized by students, for stu-dents,” said Bharat Srinivasa, president of the EMGSS.
This year’s AMBGC drew in over 100 participants presenting posters and talks spanning numer-ous biomedical topics, including neuroscience, infection and immu-nity, and oncology. The oral and poster presentations were judged by scientists and experts in the field, including former director of
EMGSS, Hugh Bennett.“The oral presentations have
been very high quality—the best I’ve seen yet,” Bennett said. “The posters [were] also very high [in] quality; the students are all so en-thusiastic.”
The judges were not the only ones with high praises for the event. Many students enjoyed the accessibility of the conference, in particular with the presence of the Graduate/Undergraduate Pro-posal category, which welcomed new students who have not yet gathered enough data to present at other conferences but still wanted the opportunity to practice their presentation skills.
“[The AMBGC] is very open and available to students,” ex-plained Yaakov Stern, a second year Masters student at the Good-man Cancer Research Centre. “I find that it’s often very difficult to get your research out, so this [con-ference] is very helpful to break out into the larger community and see what other people are doing.”
The AMBGC also boasted free registration for all attendees, which is rare in professional sci-entific conferences that offer a full day of activities including re-
freshments and lunch. In order to deliver a high-quality event to at-tendees, the EMGSS raised money from academic and corporate sponsors like STEMCELL Tech-nologies and MédiMabs, which had booths set up throughout the day in order to converse with stu-dents about offered research prod-ucts and services.
Even for seasoned student re-searchers, the AMBGC represent-ed a refreshing change to the usual fast pace of larger conferences.
“It’s small enough that you can actually interact with other grad students. Some of the bigger conferences that I’ve been to were kind of intimidating,” said Vicki Leung, a PhD student in the De-partment of Human Genetics.
Leung presented her findings on Vangl2, a planar cell polarity protein that was found to be im-portant in directing optic nerve de-velopment in the retina of the eye. Although this was her first oral presentation, Leung was selected by the judges as the best talk of the event, receiving a $500 dollar cash prize.
PhD student Naomi Li, win-ner of the best poster award in the Oncology category, praised the
structure and broad scope of the conference.
“It’s my first time here, and it’s really well organized,” ex-plained Li. “I like that it covers a wide spectrum of research areas. Most conferences are very narrow [in scope]—they just focus on one thing.”
This year’s AMBGC show-
cased some of the best in student biomedical research in Montreal. It allowed for both new and ex-perienced student researchers to network and learn more about the exciting work that is being done right in their own backyard.
ContributorChristine Tam
Engineering today looks dras-tically different from engineering 100 years ago. In the past, designs were focused on safety, economic development, and durability. While these issues still remain important, advancements in technology and research have opened our eyes to issues that extend well beyond the strength of the physical structure.
It is this shift in thinking that U1 student Mark Chelala, McGill Engineers Without Borders execu-tive member and U2 student Paul Takayesu, McGill Global Engineer-ing Venture lead hope to address in Global Engineering (GE) Week—an event coordinated as part of National Engineering Month, which focuses on educating and exposing engineers to issues outside of the classroom.
“As we learn more about our world, the problems go far beyond what they used to, and our thinking when we design in engineering has to do the same,” said Takayesu.
“Global engineering tries to
expose and educate engineers about problems and issues they will have to face that are not necessarily tech-nical and related to things like cost efficiency, but more about society and ethics and sustainability and so-cial responsibility—all of these main issues we do not hear a lot about,” added Chelala.
The event ranges from speaker luncheons to workshops on systems thinking and sustainability, topped off with a debate competition focus-ing on communications in engineer-ing.
“I am really excited about the student engagement events we will be having,” said Chelala. “We are pushing hard to have students par-ticipate actively in those.”
According to Takayesu, while these topics are brought up in class, current engineering curricula at Mc-Gill does not have the space within which to encourage conversation and discussion surrounding issues like gender equality, ethics, and sustain-ability.
“I don’t think we are filling a hole in the curriculum,” Takeyesu
said. “I think we are supplementing and allowing students who are in-terested in these topics to expand on what they learn in class and really to build on that.”
One of the more salient features of GE Week is the diversity of speak-ers that will be attending.
“The speakers that come to the McGill Engineering Student Centres usually talk about companies but these people are coming about differ-ent issues,” said Julia Wai, VP Com-munications at McGill Engineers Without Borders. “It’s not something that these students hear on a regular basis, or [often] experience.”
Although the events are geared towards engineering topics, Chelala stresses that the talks are not highly technical and definitely accessible to students in other programs. He acknowledges that these issues are critical in all fields of discipline, and hopes other students will consider listening and participating in discus-sion on these topics.
“I think I would want to come to [GE Week] to meet people who are on the same wavelength as me,”
Wai explained. “Everyone coordinat-ing the event shares this passion of non-technical issues that are associ-ated with engineering, and there are definitely other people out there who are maybe thinking the same thing.”
As a part of National Engineer-ing Month, GE Week is contributing to an effort to push engineers’ per-ceptions as to the breadth of possi-bilities that their degree entails.
“I think engineers have a tre-mendous potential to really shape the future and what our world looks like in 100 years,” said Takayesu. “I don’t think everyone realizes how much you can do with a degree in en-gineering—the skills you can get out of it, for instance [....] Engineering is something bigger [than what we learn in class] and I am not getting enough out of it. I think this is some-thing that people can benefit from in the future.”
GE Week runs from March 17 to 20. For more information on the events and to register, check out the full calendar: tinyurl.com/ge-week-mcgill
Week-long event to discuss issues beyond traditional engineering
Science & Technology EditorCaity Hui
SCIENCE
TuesdayGender Paradigms in Engineering12:00-1:30 p.m.Adams Auditorium 5Lunch will be served
WednesdayFilm Screening: Water on the Table7:00-9:00 p.m.Eng. Common RoomFree popcorn
ThursdayStudent Debate Competition5:30-7:30 p.m.MC 11 (McConnell)Prizes for winning team
Website: mcgill.ewb.ca/global-engineering-week
Check out these GE Week events!
AMBGC welcomes students with limited data to present findings.(Photo courtesy of Muhammad Oneeb Mian)
Global Engineering Week offers fresh perspectives on the field
Banner photo from MindofLov on flickr.com
Annual McGill Biomedical Graduate Conference a hit among student researchersSCIENCE
Graduate and undergraduate students from McGill’s research institutes present their thesis projects
I sit peacefully in the depths of a blissfully dark, cavernous Leacock 132, waiting for The Vagina Monologues dress rehearsal to begin—until a blood-curdling scream cuts through the silence and I jump from my seat. The shriek gives way to another and then another; they ring together in a cacophonous but joyous incantation; scaling up and down octaves, the sounds morph from screams to whoops to laughter.
It becomes clear that this is a spe-cial—not to mention slightly unortho-dox—backstage ritual the actresses use to warm-up before the show. Their battle cries are strong, powerful, and harmoni-ous in their own disjointed manner—not unlike the message and spirit of the Va-gina Monologues itself.
The commanding passion fore-shadows the nature of the production, which captivates the audience from start to finish with its brilliant comedic tim-ing and a mighty and incredibly talented cast. The play has power not only as art and entertainment, but also as a political
statement. The Vagina Monologues is a play
written by feminist activist Eve Ensler in 1996. It comprises a series of episodic monologues, each performed by differ-ent fictional women—though Ensler originally acted in the play and per-formed every monologue herself.
Each tells a woman’s story and of her struggles—particularly those relat-ing to her vagina. It’s supposed to, in a sense, destigmatize the taboo subject of female genitalia in order to discuss the deeper issues of feminism. Topics range from pubic hair to tampons to infidelity to sex workers to violence and sexual assault. Director—and third-year Con-cordia Arts student—Grace Jackson’s personal favourite is a piece called “The Flood” which features a 72-year-old woman who has never had an orgasm before in her life.
However dynamic and potent its message, the play starts off with an important, thought-provoking warning message from the director.
“This play is not complete. It does not portray all women in any way shape or form [....] [Three of the monologues]
attempt to encapsulate the experiences of non-white, queer, and trans* women respectively; and in doing so, they do an injustice to these peoples and all women.”
Jackson goes on to highlight these three monologues that the cast and crew found controversial and offensive. Be-cause the play presents itself to repre-sent all women—but clearly cannot and does not do so—the cast and crew note that they want to ensure that all audi-ence members are aware that the play is flawed and that it’s not meant to be taken as gospel, but rather as an exercise in opening up a critical analysis and dia-logue.
Actress and U3 Social Work Maddie Lusk, who shines in the open-ing monologue “Hair”—an unabashed piece about pubic hair—explains how much has changed in the realm of femi-nism since the play was penned in 1996. She explains how today, feminism is much more inclusive of all intersecting minorities.
“The play is very reminiscent of second-wave feminism: white women, white women’s problems, and the era-
sure of anyone that isn’t white, straight, and cissexual,” Lusk says. “Feminism is constantly evolving because we are con-stantly learning how to listen to other people.”
A particularly contentious number called “The Little Coochie Snorcher That Could” is a monologue telling the story of a lesbian woman. Although it puts forth a valid and meaningful story, it perpetuates some harmful stereotypes about lesbian women—one of which being that lesbian women can’t enjoy sexual experiences with other women until they have had a negative experi-ence with a man.
One of the cast members and U0 Arts, Erin Strawbridge, explains some of her frustrations with the play by shar-ing a quote by Nigerian writer Chimam-anda Ngozi Adichie:
“The single story creates stereo-types, and the problem with stereotypes is not that [they] are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”
Strawbridge goes on to describe the cast and crew’s approach to these issues. It involved replacing rehearsal
time with group discussions replete with heated, emotional debates and personal stories as well as suggestions for how to assimilate the play into a modern con-text.
This production does not solely convey Eve Ensler’s original script. It’s layered and compounded by the experi-ences and perspective of a new genera-tion of passionate, burgeoning feminists here at McGill.
Whoever you are—regardless of your gender, sexual orientation, racial, ethnic, or religious background; regard-less of whether or not you conform to gender binaries or whether or not you are cissexual or trans*—this play might just be the most important production you will see all year.
“Everyone is hurt by patriarchy,” Lusk adds.
The sheer clout of the leading la-dies and the poignancy of their intricate, nuanced messages resonate in this Mc-Gill masterpiece.
The Vagina Monologues will be per-formed at 8 p.m. from March 21-22 in Leacock 132. Student tickets are $10.
arts & entertainmentContributor
Evie Kaczmarek
Annual McGill production emphasizes the representation still lacking in renowned feminist playThe Vagina Monologues: continuing an incomplete dialogue
Speaking with MOSAICA Mc-Gill coordinators and dancers Alex-andra Phillips and Nicole Aarssen just before the opening night of their end-of-year show last Thursday, I get a little glimpse into what it’s like to be a part of an entirely student-run dance group. This year’s finale show is called R: Three Decades of Dance, alluding to the company’s 30th anniversary, which makes it one of the oldest arts groups on campus.
Encompassing everything from ballet to hip-hop, Thursday’s perfor-mances certainly don’t disappoint, dis-playing the range of impressive talent that is MOSAICA McGill’s 19 dancers. As Aarssen shares excitedly, the group’s versatility is seen as one of its strengths.
“We really pride ourselves on being diverse,” she says. “Like you’ll see tonight, we have a point ballet dance, a hip-hop dance, a tap dance, a jazz dance, and a lyrical dance all in the same show, so that’s pretty cool.”
It goes as no surprise that these dedicated dancers devote a great many hours to their craft. On a basic week-end, they rehearse between 8-10 hours; though, as Phillips explains, when they are close to a performance MOSAICA pretty much takes over their lives.
“This week was crazy,” Phillips
says. “We were rehearsing all day Sun-day, Monday night, all day Wednesday, and all day today […] It’s definitely a huge time commitment but we all love it.”
Both Aarsen and Phillips explain that the group does many non-MOSA-ICA social activities together, but they also make a point of fostering closeness while they work.
“We start each company rehearsal with a circle, where we sit down and just sort of chat for a bit, tell everyone what’s going on” says Aarssen. “It’s a nice sort of ‘What happened in your week’ moment before we get to work.”
Although the end of year perfor-mance is MOSAICA’s main focus—they begin working on it as soon as school starts in September—they also have a number of smaller performances throughout the year such as the CASCO charity show that raises money for The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Phillips also mentions MOSAICA’s Gert’s nights, the last of which takes place on April 3.
“We do mini dances throughout the night; it gives people the chance to get to know us and it’s pretty casual, a lot more laid back,” she says.
Not only do the members of MOSAICA sport exceptional talent as dancers, they also get to try their hand at choreography.
“Each number you see MOSA-ICA perform is a member’s piece,” ex-plains Phillips. “They get to choose the music, who’s in their dance, what cos-tumes they wear and what kind of style they do. They are completely in charge of it. A lot of us only choreographed for the first time when we came to MOSA-ICA. […] Most of us came from very competitive strict backgrounds where you have very little say, [and] there’s a lot of hierarchy. We’re really all on
equal ground here, so I feel like a lot of people grow when they’re in MOSA-ICA.”
For any dancers at McGill looking to join MOSAICA’s vibrant commu-nity, Phillip’s has some advice.
“We look for someone who may not be the best, but someone who has style and looks like they could grow into [more advanced dancing],” she says. “We’re looking for someone who is very open to trying all sorts of things”
And to anyone whose first audi-tion was not successful, Aarssen has some words of encouragement.
“Keep coming back!” she ex-claims. “It changes from year to year who we can take, and it’s always great to see people come out [....] We’re al-ways looking for fresh faces.
MOSAICA’s Gert’s night is on Thurs-day, April 3. Admission is $3 at the door.
Dance group decorates the stage with diverse routines in celebration of its 30th anniversary Wrapping up MOSAICA McGill’s milestone year
Staff Writer Kia Pouliot
THEATRE
DANCE
No, it’s not The Karate Kid, it’s a MOSAICA McGill dancer. (Courtney Strouthos / McGill Tribune)
21Curiosity delivers. | ArTS & EnTErTAInMEnT | Tuesday, March 18, 2014
*Spoiler Alert* When I first heard of True Detective, I was unsure of what to expect from the show based on its title alone, which hints at yet another generic crime TV show. However, True Detec-tive not only exceeds all expectations, but also entertainingly reinterprets the buddy-cop genre in an unabashed man-ner.
The narrative of the show is di-vided into multiple timelines over 17 years, following detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson) in search of a serial killer that targets children across the state of Louisiana. These two main characters are polar opposites in nearly every respect from the onset of the show. Rust is a chain-smoking, nihilistic, and attentive detective, picking out details and clues from his investigations. Marty on the other hand, is a self-appointed ‘family man’ who patronizes Rust for his eccentricity, bringing a down-to-earth dynamic to their relationship. This contrast between the two characters is the show’s strongest point, as their re-
lationship precariously teeters between spite and loyalty.
This intriguing relationship is only further complicated by the crimes the detectives attempt to solve. True Detec-tive is unapologetically brutal in its de-piction of violence, serving to reinforce one of the show’s many themes: the unforgiving nature of humans and their actions towards others. Its crimes depict a serial killer obsessed with occult sym-bols and imagery, who Rust and Marty track as they piece together clues on the killer’s trail. This, however, does lead to certain problems in the resolution of the show: not every single symbol or clue seemed to be pertinent towards the solv-ing of the crime, but rather are thrown in simply for the sake of illustrating that the show revolves around an occult theme.
The nature of the crimes shifts the primary antagonist from the killer to an unknown force of evil. Rust and Marty fight against something that isn’t simply human, but a supernatural and dark force testing the limits of their own humanity. This case, spanning over 17 years, breaks them: mentally, physically, and emotionally. Marty’s relationship with his family deteriorates as he uses
his affairs as an outlet for his frustra-tions at work and at home. Rust, on the other hand, becomes consumed by the case, spending every waking moment attempting to discern the identity of the killer. Their lives are affected in differ-ent ways, but they eventually realize that relying on each other is the only way to find peace against this pervasive force.
This type of existential horror is explained by Rust when speaking to two fellow detectives in the current day. A personal loss earlier in his life coupled with his brutally nihilistic philosophy have created inner demons inside of him, alluding to another of the show’s major themes: we all have demons within us affecting our daily lives. The demons, he explains, are always on the prowl to take over his life:
“You, yourself, this whole big drama—it was never anything but a jerry-rig of presumption and dumb will; and you could just let go, finally know that you didn’t have to hold on so tight. To realize that all your life, you know, all you love, all you hate, all your memory, all your pain—it was all the same thing. It was all the same dream, a dream you had inside a locked room, a dream about
being a person. And like a lot of dreams . . . there’s a monster at the end of it.”
The technical aspects of the show are top-notch as well. The cinematog-raphy is admirably executed, with the backdrop of Louisiana providing a bleak and harsh setting. Even the co-lour tone of the show is incredibly well done, serving to promote the show’s deliciously creepy theme. Its pacing is meticulous, combining slow drawls of dialogue with moments of frantic ac-tion. The six-minute tracking shot in the fourth episode, following Rust’s incur-sion into a drug den, is so intense that I realized I had curled up into a ball by the time the scene was over.
We live in a world where atrocities are committed against normal and kind-hearted people. True Detective serves as a counter to the escapism that the major-ity of cop shows provide—that the good guys always win in the end. Not only does the show recognize that our world is filled with despair, but it also trails the devastating impact on those who attempt to stem the tide of that despair. Rust and Marty illustrate that, in the end, we fight for each other, for those that we love and want to protect. And if sacrific-ing one’s humanity is necessary in order to protect those we love, it may be worth it in the end.
True Detective is for real, and it’s spectacular
Six lesser-known acts at Montreal’s summer music festival worth staying out in the heat for
ContributorDaniel Kang
TELEVISION HBO series delivers a stellar first season that flips the detective script with a supernatural story
There comes a time each year when it seems as though every other day sees another festival lineup re-leased. As we crawl towards the end of winter, dreaming about weekends in the summer filled with music makes the final stretch a little more bearable. The headliners of these festivals don’t vary all that much. Outkast have got-ten back together and are hitting vir-tually every festival there is. Skrillex, Lorde, Foster the People, and Chance the Rapper are just a few of the names that also seem to appear on every poster—including Osheaga’s—for 2014. What will change far more are the names you see in small print. Here is a look at some of the lesser-known
acts taking the stage at Osheaga this sum-mer.
Around this time last year a friend
of mine sent me a video with a couple thousand views for a song called “Paper Girl” by July Talk. Skip
to the present and that same video now has a couple hundred thousand views. What a difference a year can make. They’re nominated for a 2014 Juno and their two shows at Lee’s Pal-ace in Toronto this coming May sold out almost immediately. Lead vocal-ists Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay are an unusual combination in terms of tone, but they complement each other
perfectly.
This Brook-lyn group is fresh
off of releasing their second full-length
a l b u m , Trouble. The indie-pop trio’s sophomore release is more complex than their first effort, but it doesn’t feel strained at all. They’ve been compared regularly to indie-pop heavyweights like Belle & Sebastian and Vampire Weekend, but manage to put forth a style that is very much their own. Vocalist/guitarist Amber Papini writes charming, clever lyrics that are smart without trying too hard to be.
If you feel like supporting a local group then Le Trou-
ble would be a pretty g o o d pick. The five-piece outfit formed in 2013 and have quickly built up a small following around Montre-al. Their first EP, Reality Strikes came out in early December and is filled with catchy hooks. “Mission Bell,” the opening track, sounds like a pow-er-pop version of a Strokes song and should have you dancing along before
long.
Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight started recording
together as Odesza after graduating from
Western Washington University in 2012. Since then, the Seattle-based producers have made quite a name for themselves in the underground electronic community. In 2013 they released the My Friends Never Die
EP, which you can download for free online. Their brand of dreamy, hip-hop infused music is a perfect fit for a sunny day.
Bas is one of the few smaller rap acts that will take
the stage at Oshea-ga. His latest mixtape,
Quarter Water Raised Me Vol. II (QWRMV2), features collaborations with big names such as J. Cole—who is also playing Osheaga—and Calvin Harris. The production on the album is top notch and pulls from a variety of styles, while still flowing smoothly all the way through. The bearded rapper was born in Paris to Sudanese parents and had a bit of a worldly upbringing, so it’s no sur-
prise that QWRMV2 encompasses a wide range of sounds.
It likely won’t be very long be-
fore Jack Antonoff’s side project, Bleachers, becomes a big name in pop music. Antonoff is the guitarist for the band Fun, and co-wrote the band’s two biggest hits. A full-length album is due out this spring and it’s already garnering a fair bit of buzz. “I Wanna Get Better,” the album’s first single, doesn’t stray far from the formula that made Fun so big. The band impressed with its set at South by Southwest (SXSW), so catch them on the small stage this summer while you still can.
These are just a few of the great names that will be tak-ing the stage in the afternoon in Parc Jean-Drapeau when the Au-gust long-weekend rolls around. Though it’s tempting to skip out on some of these smaller acts, I’d advise against it. You’ll be miss-ing out on some of the very best music Osheaga has to offer.
Wyatt Fine-Gagné, Staff Writer
True Detective is a big part of McConaughey’s recent rise. (craveonline.com)
SPORTS
After capturing the OUA East Championship, the McGill Red-men entered the 103rd Queen’s Cup this past Saturday to take on the Windsor Lancers in Windsor, Ontario. Despite a thrilling third period, the Redmen fell 3-2 to the Lancers, who were kept afloat by their goalie Patrick Van Burskirk.
The game began with an unexpected goal off the opening face-off, which resulted in a 1-0 lead for the Lancers in the first 17 seconds of the game. After the early mishap, McGill picked up its offence by trying to draw out opposing defenders. However, the Lancers held their ground
thanks to Van Burskirk, who re-corded 16 saves in the first pe-riod.
In the second period, the Redmen looked to crowd the Windsor net, and put away a re-bound. However, Van Burskirk faced McGill straight on and continued to turn away shots; by the end of the second period, he had racked up 36 saves. Wind-sor rookie Mac McDonnell was able to increase the Lancers’ lead to 2-0, sneaking a loose puck by McGill netminder Jacob Gervais-Chouinard. Things went from bad to worse for McGill when the Redmen were penalized a minute later for attemptinga check-from-behind. The Lancers quickly took advantange, with
Windsor’s Kenny Bradford net-ting the power play goal off of a feed from Lancers captain Drew Palmer.
Despite being down three goals, McGill mounted a quick run with some lucky breaks and a resilient attitude in the third period. Second-year defenceman Vincent Barnard was able to beat the odds and score on a short-handed play halfway through the third period. Two minutes later, McGill’s second-year right-winger David Rose further reju-venated the team with a goal of his own—narrowing the Redmen deficit to one goal with just over three minutes remaining in the game.
With little time left, Nobes
called a timeout to regroup before McGill’s final rally against Wind-sor. However, Van Buskirk came up big in the end, with a glove save through traffic to close out the game. He withstood a 52-shot onslaught to help Windsor claim its first Queen’s Cup in 16 years. Gervais-Chouinard stopped 35 of 38 shots in the crushing loss for the Redmen.
Both McGill and Windsor will be heading to Saskatoon this weekend for the CIS National Championship. This will be Mc-Gill’s seventh appearance in nine years at the CIS National Cham-pionships; the Redmen are seven-for-seven for podium finishes at Nationals, including a gold medal in 2012 and a silver in 2011.
Lancers stonewall Redmen in Queen’s Cup victoryHOCKEY - MCGill 2, WindsOr 3
McGill seeded 4th for nationals; Windsor 3rd
Staff WriterOsama Haque
LeBronAlthough Kevin Durant is having a
season for the history books, NBA fans should not forget about four-time (and reigning) Most Valuable Player (MVP) LeBron James, whose season has been nothing short of spectacular. The MVP award is often mistaken for an “Of-fensive Player-of-the-Year award,” but the truth is, while fans often value a player’s offensive output more than his defensive skills, the game is played at both ends of the court—stopping your opponent from scoring is just as impor-tant as putting the ball in the net.
LeBron has been named to the NBA All-Defence first team five times; and while past achievements shouldn’t influence future ones, LeBron continues to be considered one of the NBA’s pre-mier defenders. Unlike Durant whose slender frame hinders him against quick guards and tough forwards, LeBron—a 6’ 8”, 250-pound behemoth—has the speed and strength to cover the fast-est point guards and biggest forwards. LeBron is an imposing defender, and although Durant’s defensive game is certainly improving, LeBron is still in a class of his own.
The two superstars are much more closely matched on the offensive side of the ball. With Russell West-brook going down early in the season due to injury, Durant had to shoulder more of the scoring load. The league’s leading scorer has done so successfully by averaging over 30 points per game. While this number is beyond impres-sive, statistics like this have been seen
before—LeBron has reached similar totals in his career. This year, however, LeBron is currently shooting 57 per cent from the field. Rather than score 30 points per game as he has done in the past, Lebron seems to be trying to make the players around him better, while resting his body after three con-secutive NBA Finals appearances.
The most common comparison to LeBron is NBA Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson. Whereas Johnson played point guard in his career, LeBron has been just as impactful as a facilitator despite playing as a forward. He aver-ages 6.5 assists per game—almost a full assist more than Durant, whose team is just as good as the Miami Heat, even without Westbrook. It’s no coin-cidence that after coming to Miami, Michael Beasley has seen his shooting percentage rise from a putrid 40 per cent in 2012-13 to an above average 50 per cent this season playing along-side LeBron. The same can be said for Rashard Lewis, whose shooting per-centage rose 29 per cent after joining the Heat in 2012.
It’s too easy to look at the league’s top scorer and simply assume he’s the MVP. The league’s best and most impactful player took his talents to South Beach four years ago. LeBron is the NBA’s MVP because he is an un-stoppable force on offence, but more importantly, the 250-pound forward is an immoveable object on defence.
— Aaron Rose
To say that Kevin Durant has been on a tear this past season would be an im-mense understatement. A “tear” describes moments when players go on high scor-ing runs or stretches in which they display flashes of brilliance. The perennial All-Star’s performance has not just been a flash in the pan, but rather an exceptional, non-stop, scorching show of excellence since the sea-son’s opening tip.
If one were to ask me who I believe is the best basketball player on the planet today, I’d likely answer LeBron James with-out a second’s hesitation—but that would be a completely different topic than the one at hand. The talking point here deals with who is more deserving of Most Valuable Player (MVP) honours this season, and no one merits that accolade right now more than Durant.
Durant is a model of consistency whose level of greatness seems to elevate exponentially every game, and is currently averaging a stat line of over 30 points, nearly eight rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, while shooting over 50 per cent from the field. It’s safe to say that these aren’t ordinary numbers. Durant is not only scor-ing more, but also rebounding the ball bet-ter than James.
While LeBron does have a significant edge in the battle for highest field goal per-centage, that particular department seems like a frill if you consider the landslide that exists between both players in just about every other measurable statistic. As it stands, Durant is currently shooting over 40 per cent from three-point range and 87.1 per cent from the free throw line. On the
other hand, LeBron is shooting a lower 37.1 per cent from long distance and a rather pedestrian 74.6 per cent from the charity stripe.
Not enough? Allow me to divulge some of the league’s advanced metrics for a second. The Player Impact Estimate (PIE) is an estimate of a player’s overall impact and contributions to games they have played in. Though the discrepancy between him and LeBron is minute, Durant leads LeBron and all players in the NBA with the greatest PIE of 20.6. LeBron’s PIE currently sits at 19.5. The defensive rating (DefRtg) is used to measure how many points a player allows per 100 possessions; Durant’s defensive rat-ing of 101.0 trumps James’ rating of 104.4. Though LeBron has the better offensive rat-ing, Durant owns the net rating category, which combines both measures and accu-rately reflects a player’s ability on both ends of the court. Last but not least, Durant owns the NBA’s highest Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 30.64—which is the all-in-one number that boils down a player’s entire contribution into a single number.
Not only has Durant led his Thunder squad to a better record than the Heat so far, but he has been able to do most of his damage without his partner in crime, Rus-sell Westbrook. All thanks to Durant, the Thunder now own the second seed in a mightily competitive Western Conference after going 22-8 without Westbrook. It could even be argued that Durant is getting the job done with an inferior supporting cast to LeBron’s. At the end of the day, the MVP trophy remains Durant’s award to lose.
Durant
LeBron is clearly on his way to becoming an all-time great, with his two-way play this season elevating his teammates on the Heat. However, Durant has reached a new level of greatness, setting a new precedent for all-around play by leading the Thunder to a battle for the top seed in a tough Western Conference. Furthermore, he has done this without Russell Westbrook for large chunks of the season, and posted scorching stats along the way. Look for Durant to be your 2013-2014 regular season MVP.
VS
POINTCOUNTERPOINT
NBA fans have witnessed great play on a nightly basis this season, with both LeBron James and Kevin Durant playing some of the best basketball of their careers. LeBron has two rings and four Finals appearances under his belt, and looks as hungry as ever for another title; Durant has kept the Oklahoma City Thunder at the top of the West without his All-Star running mate, Russell Westbrook. This week, two writers weigh in on who they think should win the 2013-2014 NBA MVP award.
Editors’ Pick: Durant
Winger Patrick Delisle-Houde had 11 points in eight playoff games. (Wendy Chen / McGill
Tribune
23Curiosity delivers. | spOrts | Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Mercer BearsWe all know that scoring points
leads to winning basketball games, and, dare I say, sudden-death basketball tournaments. If you’re searching for an unknown sleeper even trendier than the fountain pen you’re using to fill out your bracket, look no further than the Mercer Bears, one of seven teams in Division 1 to feature three 1,000-point scorers That’s a lot of points. The headliner is sophomore guard Jibri Bryan, who has the potential to be a deadly weapon for the Bears if his name is pronounced at all like Jabari.
After completing a ritualistic slay-ing of last year’s Cinderella team, Flori-da Gulf Coast University (AKA “Dunk City”) last Sunday, the Bears sacrificed freshman James Bento to the March Madness gods to secure their blessings for the tournament. Watch out for this team to make a push for the Elite Eight.
— Elie Waitzer
Manhattan JaspersManhattan last made the tourna-
ment 10 years ago, upsetting fifth seed Florida before bowing out in the second round. This year’s team is a tough, phys-ical group with plenty of experience, and has drawn comparisons to Woody Allen’s classic film of the same name. Senior George Beamon plays a high-strung, anxious brand of basketball that would be complemented perfectly by Diane Keaton, were she about a foot tall-er. Coach Steve Masiello, taking Allen’s lead, has previously said that having strong characters is the key to the team’s success. Though often overshadowed by fellow New York mid-major Annie Hall University, this team shouldn’t be taken lightly. Don’t be surprised if Rhapsody in Blue is playing in AT&T Stadium as this year’s tournament comes to a close.
—Wyatt Fine-Gagé
Eastern Kentucky ColonelsDon’t sleep on the Eastern Ken-
tucky Colonels, as the least well-known squad from the bluegrass state can make it rain from deep. They enter the tour-nament as the second best three-point shooting team, averaging 9.2 makes per game. The Colonels live and die by the three-ball, so if it is falling, a scoring outburst may just turn into an upset win. They face an ailing Kansas team, which is 2-3 without its star centre Joel Em-biid. Expect senior guard Glenn Cosey to wreak havoc in the tournament. With the right opponents, the Colonels could quickly find themselves becoming the nation’s Cinderella story.
— Aaron Rose
Harvard CrimsonIt’s time for the revenge of the
nerds in this year’s rendition of March Madness. The Harvard Crimson—yes, that Harvard, America’s McGill. After Head Coach Tommy Amaker came to town and began selling potential recruits on the benefits of becoming a student-athlete at Harvard, the fortune of the men’s basketball program has turned around. The Crimson are seeded 12th in the East Region, and face a tough Cin-cinnati squad that won its regular season conference crown. But this isn’t your parents’ Harvard. Well, it is in the class-room; but on the court this is a talented, experienced, and determined team that is no stranger to upsetting higher-seeded opponents—the Crimson knocked out no. 3 seed New Mexico in last year’s big dance.
— Mayaz Alam
St. Joseph’s HawksIt was 2004 when the St. Joseph’s
Hawks earned a no. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. That team was laden with talent, led by future NBA stars—well, also-rans—Jameer Nelson and Delonte West. This year’s squad is certainly lesser-known, but has the makings to do even more damage in March. One part of the program hasn’t changed: Head Coach Phil Martelli, who will draw upon previous tournament experience to motivate his players. Fresh off the At-lantic-10 title and featuring a dominant “Big 3” in seniors Langston Galloway, Ronald Roberts Jr., and Halil Kanacev-ic, don’t be surprised when the Hawks are dancing in the deeper rounds. Make Jameer and Delonte proud, team!
— Steven Lampert
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MARCH MADNESS PREVIEW
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The 2013-14 McGill Martlet hockey program could be defined by a number of factors: Head Coach Peter Smith’s excellent coaching; the team’s continued dominance in the RSEQ; the Martlets’ 43-game RSEQ winning streak that lasted up to this year; Katia Clement-Heydra being awarded the CIS Player-of-the-Year; or the pure aesthetic quality of hockey on display night in and night out.
However, on March 16, 2014, McGill achieved its crowning achievement of the season: the 2013-2014 CIS National Championship at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, NB. The 4-3 victory came only after two overtimes against the Montreal Carabins—the same team that defeat-ed McGill the weekend before for the RSEQ title.
McGill started the game as the more disciplined team over the first two and a half periods. Presented with the opportunity, the Martlets seized their advantage and netted two power play goals. Sophomore for-ward Gabrielle Davidson continued
her excellent play with the first two goals of the game, while defenceman Michelle Daigneault slotted home the third to give McGill a 3-1 lead with 10 minutes left in the third period. The Martlets maintained a strong cycle and moved the puck around with ease, accruing 33 shots to Montreal’s 24. However, in the second half of the third frame, Montreal picked up the pace with a more physical style of play to stun McGill with two goals in five minutes.
The first overtime period did not prove decisive, with an initial Mon-treal surge tempered by an airtight McGill defence. The Martlets moved quickly to start the additional frame, with Clement-Heydra winning the fa-ceoff. Only 23 seconds into the second overtime, Davidson assisted defence-man Brittney Fouracres for the win-ning goal to clinch McGill’s fourth CIS title.
The Martlets displayed a hunger throughout the weekend, but seemed to sacrifice tempo for structure as they took on the Wilfred Laurier University (WLU) Hawks on Thursday in the first round robin match of the tournament. McGill set up from the blue line far
more often than usual and passed the puck with ease, leaving WLU skating haplessly at times. Davidson—who netted nine goals over the course of the tournament—put away two mark-ers in the first period of the game en route to a 4-1 Martlet victory.
The Martlets dealt with Monc-ton in a far more clinical fashion on Saturday to clinch their spot in the
final. After starting a goal down the first, McGill overwhelmed Moncton’s defence by scoring four goals in a fre-netic eight-minute run. The Martlets finished the game with characteristic dominance, winning the match 8-2.
Smith is currently the women’s hockey coach with the most wins in McGill history, with four gold medals, two silvers, and five bronze in 11 ap-
pearances at Nationals. The precedent has been set. Anything short of a po-dium finish at the National Champion-ships has become a disappointment. However, with Olympic gold-medal-ist and former CIS Player-of-the-Year Melodie Daoust slated to return to the roster and only three fifth-year seniors, the Martlets will be reloading for an-other championship run next season.
The no. 4 nationally ranked McGill Martlets had a disappointing weekend at the CIS Final 8 tournament in Windsor, Ontario. Their dream of a medal at the National Championships was squashed in the quarter-finals with a 74-60 loss to the University of Fraser Valley (UFV) Cascades. However, McGill’s week-end did not end there, as they beat the no. 8 seeded Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks (WLU) and the no. 7 University of Alberta Pandas to capture fifth place in the tournament.
In their first game of the tourna-ment against UFV, the Martlets started the game looking sloppy on offence. The team’s poor execution allowed UFV to go on an 8-0 run at the begin-ning of the game, forcing Marlet Head Coach Ryan Thorne to call a timeout at the five minute mark of the first quarter, with a score 13-3 in favour of the Cas-cades. The second quarter was not much better for the Martlets on the offensive end, leading to a 13-point deficit going into half time.
However, McGill looked notice-ably different in the third frame with its strong defensive stops and movements of the ball leading to a resounding 28-13 run, and closed the gap to 59-57 mid-way in the final quarter. Yet the Martlets’
fledgling comeback came too late in the game, and the early deficit was too much to overcome; UFV held on to its 74-60 victory.
Mariam Sylla, the RSEQ Player-of-the-Year, tallied a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds while senior
forward Hélène Bibeau chipped in 16 points. The loss shifted McGill into the running for the consolation prize of fifth place in the tournament.
With minimal time to rest, the Martlets were back on the court to face WLU the next day. McGill was able to
fend off the seventh-ranked team, with a 58-51 victory behind Sylla’s second double-double of the tournament. She scored 18 points and pulled down 14 boards in 34 minutes on the court. Bi-beau also added in 15 points and 4 re-bounds of her own in the contest. How-ever, the Martlets connected on just 32.3 per cent of their shots from the floor, 5 of 19 from outside the arc, and below 50 per cent from the charity strike. The RSEQ champions pulled away from the Golden Hawks in the third frame with a quick run to finish the game with a 58-51 victory. The win set McGill up against the University of Alberta in a game to claim fifth place.
Sunday was the last day of the tournament, with the Martlets posting a dominant 14-point victory against Alberta. Once again, Sylla’s strong of-fensive game led the team, scoring 21 points and pulling down 7 rebounds. The win marked the last game for the Martlets this year, who will need to re-place two fifth-year starters, Bibeau, and point guard Françoise Charest for next season.
“Every team wants to finish the season with a win, so we’re pleased with the result,” Head Coach Ryan Thorne said.
“We would have loved to have this performance in the first round, but I’m very proud the girls kept their heads up
after a tough loss,” Thorne continued. “They showed a lot of character and showed what a proud basketball pro-gram we have at McGill.”
The McGill program has managed to achieve success in the RSEQ for the past couple of years, and must now find a way to reach major success at the na-tional level.
Martlets finish fifth at nationals for second straight yearBAsKETBAll— MCGill 5TH
Sylla spearheads McGill with 19 points and 11 rebounds over the weekend
Staff WriterOsama Haque
McGill hoists fourth CIS National ChampionshipHOCKEY— MArTlETs nATiOnAl CHAMpiOns
Fouracres scores game-winner in 4-3 2OT thriller against archrival Montreal
ContributorZikomo smith
Martlets celebrate moments after the game-winner. (Keith Minchin / St.Thomas University Athletics)
Mariam Sylla won RSEQ Player-of-the-Year honours, averaging 14 points and 9.7 rebounds. per game. (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune)
