I thought I had it all figured out coming into university. Despite life constantly changing, I thought my career choices wouldn’t. However, two years into my bachelor’s degree, I realized that my career plans weren’t exactly what I wanted or could achieve. I originally had two paths: Becoming a published[Read More…]
Off the Board
Montreal pit bulls victims of impulsive decision-making
Last week, the Montreal City council passed a bylaw that will prevent the city’s residents from adopting any new pit bulls and introduce a set of rules governing existing pit bull owners. This decision has garnered much attention, mainly in the form of outrage and criticism: Montreal residents have set[Read More…]
The hidden harm of voluntourism
While the idea of going abroad to help impoverished communities is commendable, volunteering abroad has several negative consequences that directly oppose the humanitarian intentions behind these trips. Many agencies that offer volunteer opportunities abroad sell the idea of ‘contributing to a community,’ whether by helping to build wells, schools, or[Read More…]
Where are you from? In defence of seeing race
“Where are you from?” is a loaded question. At McGill, depending on who is asking and who is being asked, the meaning of ‘where are you from?’ can range from an ambivalent, ‘where did you grow up?’ to a watered down, ‘why aren’t you white?’ As a person of colour[Read More…]
Take a knee: Why Colin Kaepernick’s protest is not in vain
Want to start a fight? Just follow Colin Kaepernick’s lead and kneel in protest of police brutality during the American national anthem at an NFL “Military Appreciation Night.” Since the Aug. 26 incident, Kaepernick has been derided for disrespecting the troops, desecrating the flag, and hating America. The least-inflamed of[Read More…]
Life in the slow lane: Construction at McGill, again
In Montreal, construction has long since become the rule, rather than the exception. As such, it is fitting that Montreal’s 375th birthday next year is being brought to us by more orange cones, roadblocks, and detours for the construction of the Promenade Urbaine Fleuve-Montagne project. Perhaps it really is time[Read More…]
Shutting down campus speakers at McGill won’t help divestment
With this spring’s campaign for divestment behind us and more activism likely to come in the fall, a brief window for critical reflection on the movement is upon us. This past semester’s sit-ins and rallies, spearheaded by groups such as Divest McGill, have largely been respectful and positive displays of[Read More…]
Off the board: Still trapped in the ‘comfort women’ issue
Last November, I wrote a feature about the “Comfort Women”—the euphemistic term for women captured during the Second World War by the Japanese Imperial Army as sex slaves. A month later, Japan and South Korea reached a settlement to their longstanding dispute over the comfort women. The settlement includes an[Read More…]
Greek life at McGill: More than just a toga
Popular perceptions of Greek life will forever be caught under the shadow of the 1978 comedy Animal House, in which a youthful John Belushi and his gang of misfit fraternity brothers engage in debauchery and hilarity as they struggle to keep their organization legitimate at the fictional Faber College. These[Read More…]
Beyond the red cup: On McGill’s drinking culture
In a weird, grown-up way, getting drunk can make us feel like little kids again, with not a care in the world and a lower capacity of physical functioning. The term ‘binge drinking culture’ is thrown around a lot at in a university setting. The definition of binge drinking is[Read More…]
