On Sept. 17, the McGill women’s hockey team (0–2) played their first game of the semester. Matched up against the Queen’s University Golden Gaels (2–0), the game was marked with aggressive plays on both sides that left viewers wishing they could watch them on replay. After a long fight, the[Read More…]
Articles by Sophia Gorbounov
It’s a lot, and it’s honest work
I don’t remember when I first learned about the existence of sex work. Certainly, I learned about sex at some point in a middle-school classroom, probably among a group of snickering teens. Yet the idea of sex as a job did not exist in my mind until cinematic depictions introduced[Read More…]
Varsity highlights of the 2021-2022 season
Stephanie Desjardins (Martlets hockey, fifth-year) “The season was challenging with the pandemic coming back at full swing right after the Christmas break. We fought adversity throughout the entire season with restrictions, practicing, and playing with masks. The girls fought hard physically and mentally for the last eight months and showed[Read More…]
Know Your Athlete: Varsity ghosts of McGill
After the Athletics department brutally murdered a slew of varsity sports last fall, many athletes on these fallen teams lost their minds, some of them literally. The scores of ghostly figures haunting the entrance of Love Competition Hall, the corridors of McConnell Arena, and the bleachers at Percival Molson Stadium[Read More…]
The feminine urge to be a bit of an asshole
My mother is an assertive woman. When I was younger, I was often baffled by her abilities to command the attention she deserved whenever she walked in a room. Maybe it was because she spent years working as a manager at an engineering firm, or maybe it was because she[Read More…]
Know Your Athlete: Clément Secchi
Clément Secchi, U4 Management, has spent much of his life in the pool. The fourth-year swimmer was named both McGill and RSEQ Athlete of the Week multiple times this year, and recently won six gold medals at the RSEQ Championships, including ones for the 4x50m relay, the 200m butterfly, and[Read More…]
Stymied by Concordia Stingers, Martlets hockey falls short of RSEQ title
Delayed by a week due to COVID-19 protocols, game one for the Martlets hockey team (12-3-0) versus the Concordia Stingers (11-3-1) best-of-three playoff series took place on March 17. Throughout the season, McGill worked hard to earn their spot in the RSEQ finals. Though the team fought tooth and nail,[Read More…]
It’s high time for change: Athletics organizations must relax marijuana testing rules
On Feb. 25, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced that it would be relaxing the rules surrounding positive marijuana tests for its athletes. Effective immediately and extending retroactively to drug tests conducted as early as fall 2021, the threshold levels for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of marijuana, are[Read More…]
Martlets hockey returns with a bang, winning first game back against Carleton Ravens
On a chilly evening at McConnell Arena, the McGill Martlets hockey team (10–3–0) played their first game of the semester after over two months of hiatus due to recurring pandemic restrictions. The McGill team returned on Feb. 18 with style and determination, beating out the Carleton Ravens 3-0 (4–9–0). From[Read More…]
McGill Senate presents COVID-19 reports, discusses accommodations and long-term planning
During a remote meeting on Feb. 16, the McGill Senate discussed a report on pandemic-associated accommodations for students. Other presentation points included the annual report of the Ombudsperson for Students, and the annual report on Enrolment and Strategic Enrolment Management. Principal and vice-chancellor Suzanne Fortier presented the opening remarks, noting[Read More…]
Tribune Tries: Watching the Super Bowl LVI
The 2022 Super Bowl was a memorable affair, especially for The McGill Tribune sports section. The evening was hectic right from the start; accessing the biggest game in American football as Canadian university students and finding a good stream proved to be a challenge. As students without cable, armed with[Read More…]
Know Your Olympic Athletes
Liam Gill Among the many talented athletes at the 2022 Olympics is 18-year-old snowboarder Liam Gill. Gill represents the Dehcho Dene as a member of the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation and is the only First Nations athlete on the Canadian Olympic team. Gill, who was originally an alternate for the[Read More…]
2022 X Games bring extreme spirit to the slopes
The weekend of Jan. 21 to 23 marked the historic 25th edition of the Winter X Games. Remembered for new tricks and creative moves, the X Games are every extreme sport enthusiast’s favourite event of the year, and this year was no exception. Held at the Buttermilk ski resort in[Read More…]
Business and pleasure: The intertwined world of sports management
Despite what grandpa might say at the dinner table, professional sports have been and continue to be a business, with management roles that span from athlete representation to brand marketing. Founded in 2018, the McGill Sports Management Club (MSMC) aims to bridge the gap between business skills learned in the[Read More…]
Fall 2021 McGill varsity report cards
MEN’S RUGBY: A, until the final Men’s rugby had a strong season all around, boasting a 5-1 regular season record and leading the RSEQ rankings with bonus points, awarded when a team scores more than four tries in a game. Unfortunately, the impressive season culminated in a soul-crushing finale, with[Read More…]
Martlet hockey snags a narrow win over UdeM, remaining undefeated
On Nov. 14, the McGill women’s hockey team (6–0) played the Université de Montréal Carabins (1–2–1) in a suspenseful game of twists, turns, and occasional tussles. With a team composed of both rookies and veterans, the Martlets persevered into overtime despite an early goal by their opponents, ultimately emerging victorious[Read More…]
A set, a spike, and a win for women’s volleyball
McGill women’s volleyball (3–2) faced the Montreal Carabins (2–3) in their second meeting of the season on Oct. 31. With confidence in their every move, the Martlets won 3-2, marking the third win of their campaign so far. Charlene Robitaille, a fourth-year nutritional science student at McGill and middle blocker[Read More…]
Slow but promising start for McGill women’s basketball
On Oct. 17, the McGill women’s basketball team (0–1) faced off against the Windsor Lancers (1–1), in a high-energy game that resulted in a 67-54 loss for the Martlets. After the pandemic halted games for over a year, the team was eager to be on the court. With a tipoff[Read More…]
Female athletes deserve equal treatment
At the start of the NCAA March Madness tournaments on March 18, Stanford sport performance coach Ali Kerschner released photos comparing the training facilities for the men’s and women’s tournaments. Fans and athletes alike called out the NCAA for the vast differences between the men’s and women’s training facilities and[Read More…]
Outdoor activities to beat the end-of-semester blues
Winter is never an easy time for students in Montreal. With indoor gatherings banned and limited outdoor activities, these past few months have been especially challenging. Yet, the start of daylight savings, the extension of curfew, and the improvement of the weather are excellent reasons to leave the house, be[Read More…]
Know your athlete: Charlene Robitaille
For Charlene Robitaille, U3 Science, athletics are about the spirit of the team and the pure excitement of each game. Robitaille sits near the top of the women’s volleyball team leaderboards, ranking in the top five of every category. However, the esteemed middle blocker did not seriously pursue volleyball until[Read More…]
J-Board discusses SSMU services’ ability to adopt stance on BDS
On Feb. 19, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Judicial Board (J-Board) held a hearing to establish whether SSMU clubs or services would be permitted to adopt a stance on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, apart from the SSMU Executive Committee itself. In a final ruling released[Read More…]
Point-counterpoint: Are eSports really sports?
eSports: Competitive, coordinated, and strategic true sports When video games became popular in the 1970s, games like Pong and Atari swept the nation by storm. Players everywhere gathered at local arcades to compete on consoles the size of refrigerators that could do little more than render a cluster of bouncing[Read More…]
Racism is all too prevalent in professional sports
Content warning: Racial discrimination and hate speech When thinking of sports, many people like to remember the epic highlights and the feel-good comeback stories. What is often overlooked is the systematic oppression that underrepresented groups have faced in sports over the years. Black people in particular have faced significant racial[Read More…]
The McGill Tribune’s comprehensive guide to winter sports in a pandemic
In many cities, winter is a time to stay indoors and wait until the snow begins to melt. In Montreal, however, the colder months offer a slew of activities for everyone. Even in the ongoing pandemic, many outdoor sports remain available with set restrictions, letting anyone take a break from[Read More…]
2021 Winter X Games return to Aspen
On Jan. 31, the 25th edition of the Winter X Games kicked off in Aspen, Colorado. Held at the Buttermilk Ski Resort, the event featured only skiing and snowboarding events and was organized in a fenced-off venue, with no spectators permitted due to the ongoing pandemic. The pandemic also caused[Read More…]
To shred or not to shred
When I reached the ripe age of three, my dad plopped me into my first pair of skis. As I slipped and slid down the bunny hills, there was no way of knowing that skiing, and later snowboarding, would become my only hobby. Growing up in Ontario, winters were an[Read More…]
Building pathways toward a greener future
Nov. 17 marked the end of the “Food for Thought” lecture series’ 21st season. Hosted by the Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, this year’s theme was centred on sustainable use and conservation of resources that are otherwise taken for granted. Michael Jemtrud, an associate professor at McGill’s School of[Read More…]
Growing up with immigrant parents—kind of
Though I was not born in my family’s home country of Russia, having parents who were new to Canadian customs had many influences on me. Because I was born in Canada, my background did not provoke much of an identity crisis, but my parents still brought their traditions into our[Read More…]
At the convergence of art and science, ecology becomes an experience
On Oct. 29, The Convergence Initiative hosted their popular Sci-Art/Art-Sci event, a webinar about the work of scientists, artists, and researchers at the intersection of science, art, and communication. Matthew Halpenny, an interdisciplinary artist and member of the Montreal collective Somme, led the event with his talk titled “Ecologies of Experience:[Read More…]
Science Rewind: How supercomputers became personal computers
In 2017, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) claimed to have built the world’s largest single-memory computing system, boasting a machine that could hold 160 terabytes of memory. In comparison, the iPhone 7 only has two gigabytes of random-access memory—electronic data that can be accessed at the same speed regardless of its location[Read More…]
Nerdy going on thirty: Soup & Science returns for its 30th edition
The first-ever Soup & Science event, held in 2006, was hardly an extravagant affair. Professors and students gathered together in the second-floor lobby of the Trottier building to talk science, pass along research developments, and, of course, share in the event’s eponymous light refreshments. Thirty editions and a venue change[Read More…]
Soup & Science goes digital for “Sun & Science”
On May 22, the Faculty of Science offered students and community members their widely popular Soup and Science presentation series, where professors from various departments deliver short talks on their research. For the first time in its history, lectures were offered in the spring and online, prompting organizers to aptly[Read More…]
Medicinal cannabis: Past, present, and future
With its legalization in 2018, marijuana, or cannabis, has become more widely accessible to adult Canadians for recreational use. Most people are familiar with marijuana’s usual effects, such as feelings of euphoria and relaxation; increased sensitivity to colour, sound, and taste; clouded thinking; and hunger. Beyond recreational use, however, cannabis[Read More…]
Smoothing the road of glucose highs and lows
Though diabetes was officially discovered in 1899, records of diabetes-like symptoms, such as excessive thirst and urination, go back 3,000 years to ancient Egypt. Diabetes mellitus, or simply diabetes, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by high blood sugar for a prolonged period of time as a result of[Read More…]
The science behind back injuries
Canadian health organizations are increasingly pushing people to become more active. Groups such as the Canadian Paediatric Society are promoting programs like Active Kids, Healthy Kids, while the Canadian government is implementing programs that encourage activities such as dance and running. As sports and fitness become more popular, the risk[Read More…]
Uncovering the mysteries of deep space with CHIME
For the first time ever, the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope detected a repeating fast radio burst (FRB) that follows a regular 16-day cycle. The Feb. 13 discovery comes a month after the CHIME telescope detected the second ever FRB from deep space. It adds a new clue[Read More…]
Making room for data science in the humanities
The Centre for Social and Cultural Data Science (CSCDS) held their first Data Science Expo on Jan. 21. Among the many speakers presenting on the new and exciting roles that data science will play in the modern world was Aengus Bridgman, a political science PhD candidate at McGill. Bridgman’s lecture[Read More…]
Exploring the myth of device radiation
Phones have become an integral part of living in modern society. Used for practically every purpose, technology has consumed the lives of almost everyone with access to it. As human interactions with electronic devices increase, controversial debates over whether cell phones cause cancer have also emerged. The idea behind this[Read More…]
Rat Park and the War on Drugs
This year, VICE Studios released Rat Park, a documentary that dives into the socio-psychological causes of drug addiction. By looking at drug epidemics in three countries—Portugal, the United States, and the Philippines—the documentary focussed on how class, wealth, social status, life struggles, and politics play into the ongoing war on[Read More…]
Energies of the future
With the current climate and energy crisis, many renewable forms of energy have been proposed and implemented, but they have yet to be realized on a scale that challenges the fossil fuel industry. While each source of renewable energy has its respective drawbacks, it remains the future for energy production. [Read More…]
The science of knee injuries
With today’s proliferation of high-intensity sports, the number of knee injuries in North America over the past decade has skyrocketed. Since knee injuries vary depending on a person’s sport, age, and sex, different people may experience different knee injuries in their lives. Shawn Robbins, a professor in the School of[Read More…]
Blending Western and traditional medicine in Colombia
In 2014, Juan Pablo Pimentel, a PhD candidate in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill, created a pilot exercise that has since become the basis for his PhD thesis. Working with Family Medicine professors Dr. Neil Andersson and Dr. Anne Cockcroft, Pimentel devised a way for medical students in[Read More…]
Hippocampus research introduces a new understanding of stress
In Aug. 2019, a team led by McGill professor and researcher Tak Pan Wong published a new study about the hippocampus and its ability to retain memories of stressful experiences. Published in the Journal for Neuroscience, the study detailed new connections to mental disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress[Read More…]
VARS gene a new link to a harrowing group of brain diseases
At only two and a half months old, a baby girl named Mathilde Poliquin passed away at the Montreal Children’s Hospital from an unknown neurodevelopmental pediatric disorder. Her head was much smaller than normal, and her brain had not developed properly. Six years later, a group of doctors from the[Read More…]
The tuberculosis inequities of the Inuit peoples
The See Change Initiative collaborated with the Ilisaqsivik Society to host ‘Tackling TB in Nunavut: A Night of Photos and Stories’, a panel and silent auction on Nov. 8. The event aimed to raise money and awareness for the ongoing problem of tuberculosis (TB) among the Inuit people in northern[Read More…]
Understanding asbestos
Asbestos: Mid-twentieth century American houses were hopeless without it. Malcolm in the Middle made a punchline out of it in an episode. Now, buildings are being forced to remove it, and some countries—including Canada—are introducing legislation to ban it completely. This is a problem that hits close to home, since many[Read More…]
A new smile in the face of defeat
Seven years ago, a hunting accident left Maurice Desjardins severely scarred and unable to eat, drink, speak, or breathe on his own. His former life ruined, Desjardins saw no way for things to return to how they had once been. But, given modern medicine, new hope has arisen. Earlier this[Read More…]