Chocolates, flowers, heart-shaped cards, and cheesy compilation movies with too many famous actors and too few lines—all these things signal the rapid approach of Valentine’s Day. But beyond all of these cliches lies an old, sugar-free legacy. The Catholic Church recognizes at least three saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all[Read More…]
Author: Elisa Muyl
University Governance: Students and Stakeholders
McGill University, like all universities, has an administrative superstructure and an academic structure overlaid one on the other. As with many universities, this superstructure is generally ignored by much of the student body. The spate of recent controversies over the administration and student input, from the recent course cuts to[Read More…]
Bringing the issues back to student politics
According to Montreal city councillor Marvin Rotrand, municipal voters show far more interest in local issues—such as bike lanes and urban farming plans—than in selecting their representatives in local government. A recent proposal put forward by Rotrand would follow this logic, and seek to increase voter turnout by putting referendum[Read More…]
Forgetting facts
Perhaps the most important factor in considering a university education is that it equips one with a set of facts and knowledge that would otherwise be hard to come by. Indeed, we enter class expecting to be bombarded by a wealth of ideas, and we expect that the information we[Read More…]
Stand Up to Climate Change, Stand Up for Our Future
400-foot tall sheets of ice falling into the ocean, a glacier taller than skyscrapers and wider than islands collapsing in minutes, spikes pushed 600 feet into the air just as quickly as they fall again: the real-life, real-time calving of a glacier was caught on camera by some act of[Read More…]
The Nature of Things: the quest for a greener campus
Throughout the past academic year, McGill students have certainly shown their green thumb: they cultivated 15,721 kg of food to provide fresh and organic produce to local communities; educated 21,000 people about sustainability through presentations, workshops, exhibits, and fairs; created 100 sustainability-related student jobs; and saved the environment from 26,636[Read More…]
A legendary film dynasty unveils its prince
Charlie Sheen is clutching a bottle of vodka in one hand, and $800 worth of caviar in the other. The two alternate in entering his mouth. These are comfort foods—the taxi driver was unable to supply the “coke” and “grass” that Sheen initially requested. No, this isn’t TMZ’s latest update.[Read More…]
A History of Violence
“Empire does not require love, only loyalty.” With this, the stage is set. Waiting for the Barbarians is decidedly anti-love, presenting instead a steel-cold latticework of power relations and authoritarian abuse. For Empire imprisons all semblance of humanity, then throws away the key. Treading a thin line between provoking masochism[Read More…]
Hosanna: flaunting convention one dress at a time
The ’70s were a time of societal progress; Quebec’s Quiet Revolution irrevocably altered the political and civil landscape, giving members of the LGBTQ community a foothold in metropolitan life which they had previously been denied. It is at this time of great socio-political upheaval that the title character in Michel[Read More…]
Hilotrons: At Least There’s Commotion
Hilotrons come storming back from a five-year album break with a furiously charged, eclectic new release. At Least There’s Commotion’s 11 tracks weave through various genres, tempos, and themes, undergoing a metamorphosis every time listeners think they have the album figured out. While At Least There’s Commotion begins with the[Read More…]
