Job interviews for entry-level positions in the technology sector are notorious for the use of whiteboard tests: Interviewers ask applicants to solve programming problems on a whiteboard, without access to reference materials or coded-checking tools that programmers would usually have access to when doing real work. Universally reviled by applicants,[Read More…]
Articles by Keating Reid
Wisdom for the youth
Get involved and discover your interests Leanne Young, Photo Editor The first year of university is undoubtedly a busy time for students, but it is not just about getting your degree: It is also the best time to explore new interests and develop life long relationships. While you should not[Read More…]
You aren’t right-brained, you’re just wrong
For much of history, Western theories of what makes people different from each other, such as phrenology, or the pseudoscience linking head shape to mental traits, have been based on the observable, physical differences in our brains. Such theories are unsubstantiated. However, pop culture continues to perpetuate the myth that people[Read More…]
Funding universities is a national security issue
While the Chinese telecommunications manufacturer Huawei may be most famous in Canada for the Vancouver arrest of chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, the company’s influence is much closer to McGill than that event might suggest. Despite security experts’ concerns that the company may be operating as an intelligence asset for[Read More…]
Media experts consider anti-elite sentiments in rising populism
McGill’s new Max Bell School of Public Policy hosted a panel discussion on Feb. 5 titled “Does Rising Populism Threaten Good Public Policy?” According to its panellists, the answer is yes. The sold-out event took place in the Faculty Club ballroom with Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Executive Editor and Pulitzer-Prize-winner David Shribman[Read More…]
Cracking the code
For the first time since 2013, McGill’s Code of Student Conduct is set to be revised. Proposed changes include expanding the formal definition of the ‘university context‘ which sets the code’s jurisdiction, removing intent as a requirement for charges of harassment and unnecessary endangerment, and expanding powers for disciplinary officers[Read More…]
(Cult)ivating Understanding
Along with serial killers and Cold War conspiracy theories, few topics reliably elicit as much morbid fascination as cults. There’s a near compulsive readability to the Wikipedia entries for Jonestown, the Manson Family, and the Branch Davidians that, as far as midterm procrastination is concerned, can’t be substituted for more wholesome online histories. While their stories each combine a measure of conspiracy and murder, part of the allure of researching cults is the processes of indoctrination their members undergo. The actions of cult members make headlines, but the motivations behind joining such groups remain obscure.
Candidates face off at SSMU-organized election debate
Candidates for Westmount–Saint-Louis, the riding encompassing McGill and Milton Park, vied for students’ support in a heated all-party debate in Burnside Hall Sept. 19, discussing issues such as the deregulation of international student tuition, minimum wage, and immigration. Candidates from the four main parties—the governing Parti Libéral du Québec (PLQ),[Read More…]
Université de Montréal kicks off the provincial election
In advance of the upcoming Quebec provincial election, Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Jean-François Lisée spoke about about public transportation, unpaid internships, and the role of science in society at the Université de Montréal’s (UdeM) Ernest-Cormier amphitheatre on Sep. 11. The event was organized by the Fédération des associations étudiantes du[Read More…]
McGill student arrested in Redpath Library
A McGill student was taken into custody by two Montreal police officers and a McGill security guard in the Redpath Library on April 11 for making threats. The 23-year-old woman will not be facing charges, said Veronique Contois, a spokesperson for the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal[Read More…]
Lonely campus
I’m a first-year McGill student, and I’m lonely. I did all the right things. I lived in residence. I participated in Arts Frosh. I joined a few clubs. But nothing seemed to work. None of my relationships could bridge the canyon-sized gap between acquaintance and friend. Everyone else, it appeared,[Read More…]
Condemned to be free: Social sciences and humanities graduates on the job market
As the tired idiom goes, “freedom ain’t free.” The cost of freedom is total responsibility. It’s a cost many social sciences and humanities (SSH) students are familiar with, finding that their degree’s broad applicability is, in fact, paradoxically limiting. A February 2018 report by The Conference Board of Canada found[Read More…]
Winter Hydro-Quebec bills freeze students in shock
McGill student renters living in a Golden Square Mile apartment building managed by the WerkLiv Group, a multi-disciplinary real-estate shop, claim to have been misled by their landlord about the estimated cost of Hydro bills. Rénée, an Arts student at McGill University, and her four roommates’ Hydro-Quebec bill for November[Read More…]
Internet killed the local Torstar
Historians sometimes speak of a “usable past,” a common narrative about the events that brought us here and why we’re a “we” at all. This commonality is seen as essential to creating a sense of community or nationhood. Frankly, Canadians should be more concerned about maintaining a usable present. With[Read More…]
The lesson of Lindsay Shepherd
In a Sept. 26 McGill Tribune article, I worried that Professor Andrew Potter’s hushed “resignation” last year as director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada set an ominous precedent for students’ rights of free expression. Two months later, Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) has made national press for attempting[Read More…]
The problem with “broad-based” scholarships
A fundamental principle of a liberal education is its status as “the great equalizer.” It’s meant to serve as a vehicle for talented individuals to reach their potential, no matter their financial background. It’s a justification for education’s status as a human right. It’s also why The Universal Declaration on[Read More…]
Sorry, Justin, there’s a new kid in town
Oh, the impermanence of young love. Not long ago, Canada’s youth naively fawned over Justin Trudeau. But, as flings meet their bitter ends, so too do they begin anew. Canadians have moved on to a new flame—newly-elected, uber-chic New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh. Compared to Trudeau, his suits[Read More…]
Playing the polite host: How Harbison critics made a statement without saying anything at all
As I sat waiting for George Harbison’s “The Victims of Socialism” talk, hosted by the Conservative Association at McGill University, one thing was clear: Its organizers were hoping for the best, but had prepared for the worst. A uniformed security officer guarded the door, and several more were inside, along[Read More…]
Hushed Potter scandal sets worrying precedent for students
As the academic year ambles on, new students form impressions of McGill’s institutional culture. As one would expect, the upper-ranks of administration try to shape these impressions to their favour. Take Discover McGill, where Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier delivered a rosy speech to a crowd warmed up by student[Read More…]