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a, Opinion

Ensuring the quality of our own education

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A topic that weighs heavily on the minds of all students, professors, staff and administrators is the $38 million budget cut imposed by the Quebec government over the next two years. As student leaders, we have witnessed the tireless, albeit lonely, efforts made by Principal Heather Munroe-Blum and her team in lobbying the government to change its position. The Faculty of Engineering, which is already running on a tight budget, has cut teaching assistants’ (TA) hours, labs, and course sections, and is also in jeopardy of losing funding for its Student Centre. At the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS), we cannot help but feel concerned for the quality of our students’ education, and have decided to take action.

In our recent referendum, undergraduate engineering students voted with a clear majority to approve an emergency fund, called the Engineering Undergraduate Support Fund (EUSF). The EUSF will amount to approximately $200,000 per year, scheduled to terminate after two years. This fund will be raised through a new non opt-outable student fee, effective September 2013, and managed by a committee. This committee will be chaired by the President of the EUS ,and will have a majority student representation, but will also include faculty members from each of our seven departments, as well as the dean of engineering.

Both the fee and the governing committee of the EUSF have been modeled after an existing student fund, the Engineering Equipment Fund, which has proven to be highly successful in supplementing lab equipment, computers, and even furniture for engineering students since 1987. The vision of the EUSF is similar: to allow professors from all departments to apply for funding, whether for additional TA hours that were cut from their course, for more support in terms of lab TAs, or even for the Student Centre to apply for funding to ensure that no staff or advisor has to be let go. Once all of the proposals have been collected, members of the EUSF committee will deliberate and eventually vote on each.

“At the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS), we cannot help but feel concerned for the quality of our students’ education, and have decided to take action.”

To date, the EUS executives, along with the presidents from each departmental student association, have been spreading the word about this new fund to our students. We will continue to work closely with the faculty in finalizing details regarding the EUSF, such as evaluation criteria and timeline for funding.

While this is an imperfect solution for a problem that should not be the students’ responsibility to bear, we firmly believe that the EUSF is a step in the right direction. It is actionable, realistic, and it will yield direct benefits for engineering students, from engineering students. We hope this fund will inspire other student associations to take an active role in preserving the quality of their students’ education.

 

Respectfully yours,

EUS Executive Team,

2012-2013

 

Contact [email protected] for questions

Meghan Sauer
a, Opinion

New pope brings no guarantee of progress

by Meghan Sauer on

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White smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Mar. 13, declaring to the world that the papal conclave had chosen a pope to succeed Benedict XVI, who resigned after declaring his inability to govern in old age.  Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, represents many firsts for the Catholic Church’s papal legacy: he is the first to take the name Francis (after Saint Francis of Assisi), the first pope of the Jesuit order, and the first coming to the Vatican from the Americas—specifically, Latin America.

From one perspective, Pope Francis is representative of significant changes within an essentially static 2,000 year-old institution. The majority of practicing Catholics live the southern hemisphere, as more and more Catholics leave the church in Europe and North America, where secular society increasingly defines politics.  Demographic shifts characterize today’s Church, and with the appointment of Pope Francis, its political motives are increasingly evident.  While the Church has indicated its acknowledgement of its most ardent followers—South American Catholics account for 80.66 per cent of South America’s population, and 27.87 per cent of the world’s Catholics—the appointment is, nonetheless, indicative that the Church’s motives aren’t so much geared toward reform as they are toward policy.

Though some cite “laziness” or “youthful rebellion” as the reasons for which increasing numbers of young people are leaving the Church, this can be linked to shortcomings on the part of the institution itself.  Social issues like gay marriage are important to younger demographics today, but the inability for women and married men to become priests also limit the Church’s accessibility, as well as its potential for growth.  While going to church is not exactly every college student’s ideal Sunday morning, their lack of incentive is enhanced by outdated Church doctrine. According to CNN’s Belief Blog, one in 10 Americans is an ex-Catholic.  2001 census data shows that more than 80 per cent of Quebecers still declare themselves Catholic, but only about 6 per cent of these declared Catholics attend mass weekly, demonstrating the increasingly popular ‘pick and choose’ approach to modern faith. The child sex abuse scandals which the Church has been slow to address have certainly not encouraged “fallen-away” Catholics to return either.

Even as it trends away from institutionalized belief, the Western world celebrated the newly chosen bishop of Rome.  Church bells rang out mid-afternoon in Montreal, the press was abuzz worldwide, and even Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement welcoming the new pope.

Despite growing tension between the spiritual individual and the institution, and general indifference toward religion in Europe and North America, we appear to celebrate, and in fact, amplify an event that will not affect many of us at all—Catholic, non-Catholic, or non-religious.

Given the decision to elect a pope only nine years younger than Pope Benedict, it doesn’t appear that the Vatican is interested in making any major differences to the papal post.  Though we can only speculate right now, it is likely that the views of the man leading the Church will not align with North America’s 173 million Catholics.

If this gap widens, and the Church fails to address issues facing Catholics in North America and Europe, only more followers will lose touch with their faith.  While perhaps a decisive geo-political move, the accumulating ignorance toward Western social changes will inevitably hinder the Vatican’s political and religious power in these locations should Pope Francis follow in Benedict’s, and others’, footsteps.

Ailisha Macharia (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune)
a, Opinion

Taking steps to reach our full potential

by Ailisha Macharia on

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It has long been said that the social structure of the job industry must grow to better represent minorities. However, this institutional change has come too slowly, and notable improvements in female-to-male ratios in the workforce have failed to manifest. Nonetheless, according to Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, there is real change that women can realize in their own lives.

Sandberg recently made the cover of Time Magazine for her new perspective on why fewer women are attaining high-level positions in the workforce. Sandberg invites women to take an introspective approach by calling attention to three points.

“Sit at the table”: women tend to attribute their success to external factors, underestimating their capabilities, and thus do not negotiate for themselves in the workforce.

“Make your partner a real partner”: in society, men are pushed more to succeed, whereas women tend to take responsibility over house and childcare. This engenders imbalanced relationships, and yields women who are not as invested in their work in contrast to their male counterparts.

“Don’t leave before you leave”: when women start to think about having children, they lean back, Sandberg says. They start making room for their child at work when they may not even be pregnant yet. Thus, they do not take on new challenging projects, or accept promotions with more responsibility. As a result, says Sandberg, women find themselves disengaged in their job and have less incentive to return once they become mothers.

Reflecting upon my own life, I have been accountable for my own unrealized potential because of behavioural humility. After working as a lifeguard for my municipal district for a year, my boss called me into his office to offer me a promotion to the position of supervisor. To my own surprise, I rescinded the offer because I lacked confidence in my lifeguarding skills, and the failed to realize I was in the ranks of my superiors. In retrospect, I realized that the reason he was offering that position was due to his confidence in my abilities, and belief that I was an asset to the staff. Whether I exhibited the same symptoms that Sandberg diagnosed is debatable. The fact is I don’t have a legitimate reason as to why I turned down that promotion. A few weeks later, a less experienced male took the position instead.

There is much-needed institutional and social change, so that an employee’s ability is not negated by complacent behaviour. However, these changes will not occur as immediately as it is needed. Sandberg’s points offer us suggestions to remedy these partial constructs. She gives us a quick-fix in which we can change our approaches and attitudes. Sandberg asks us to be aware of ourselves—not just girls and women, but everybody whose behaviour is shaped by society—and calls for more self-vigilance. This is what is needed for more successful careers, more deserved recognition and a more representative demographic in every job industry.

Women are, without question, the most oppressed group in the world. In any society, women have had to overcome disadvantage, prejudice and underestimation. Sandberg’s points address something that is unjust, yet real: certain socially manifested tendencies are constraints to women’s advancement in the workplace, and these preferences are deeply embedded in the employment industry. Thus, one interprets Sandberg’s advice as a change from the inside-out. Once those disadvantaged come into a position of power in which they can change the institutions that oppressed them, social progress can happen.

This is very important. Top-tier jobs are an undoubtedly influential factor in the future of invention, innovation, and development. If we continue to dismiss the misrepresentation of minorities, and fail to address the social issues so deeply sanctioned in society, much needed potential progress will be lost in negligence. This is progress we can no longer afford to lose.

Dr. Robyn Tamblyn will propose a monitoring system for regulating drug prescriptions to Health Canada later this month. (mcgill.ca)
a, Science & Technology

Prescription addiction: Canada’s growing drug problem

by Marlee Vinegar on

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There’s a drug problem in Canada. Part of it involves the recreational misuse of drugs, but another large aspect stems from drugs that doctors prescribe as treatment. Utilizing drugs for their unintended purposes cause deaths and health consequences throughout the country. Termed “off-label” prescriptions, a study from McGill released last April found that 11 per cent of prescriptions are used to treat illnesses for which they haven’t been approved by Health Canada.

The McGill study used the Medical Office of the XXI Century (MOXXI) electronic health records in Quebec to document and link treatment indication to the prescribed drug. The McGill researchers found the underlying causes for off-label prescription to likely be doctors’ lack of knowledge about drugs, and a scarcity of approved or effective medication. It was also found that anticonvulsants (66 per cent), antipsychotics (44 per cent), and antidepressants (33 per cent) are the most commonly used drugs for unregulated purposes. For example, anxiety medication may be prescribed to treat someone with insomnia.

Dr. Robyn Tamblyn, scientific director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and a researcher here at McGill, recognizes that off-label prescriptions are a reality in the health care system, but thinks that there is insufficient research on the topic. Further inquiry is important, she says, because of the drugs’ potentially lethal side effects. The drug tiagabine, for instance, is an anti-convulsive medication, meant to treat seizures; but when used as a treatment for pain, it has the side effect of causing seizures.  Another example is a treatment for acne, which has been linked to nine deaths in Canada since 2000 when used as birth control.

At the Senate committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology earlier this month, Tamblyn proposed the idea of a monitoring system for regulating drug prescriptions. Despite previous rejection for regulation by Health Canada, Tamblyn will propose the idea to the body again later this month. A major impediment to creating a monitoring system is that, in most provinces, save for Quebec, doctors are not required to indicate what a prescription is for. A monitoring system in the works would require doctors and pharmacists to make note of whether a drug is off-label, and the reason for prescribing it. Provinces already keep administrative data of which drugs are dispensed to the population. However, some sort of overarching national-level cooperation is crucial to developing this monitoring system. Allowing the provincial databases to share information would help researchers track the effects of drugs, such as if they have negative side effects, or could potentially treat a different condition.

From a financial perspective, creating a database may be beneficial for the provinces. Sharing information on the side effects of drugs will allow doctors to avoid causing unintended harm through drug prescription, and allow them to make better use of the resources already at their disposal.

“It will give us a very novel way of looking at the safety and effectiveness of drugs,” said a contributing McGill researcher, Dr. Tewodros Equale, in an interview for AlumniOnlineCommunity.

Regulation of off-label prescriptions could lead to the next big medical breakthrough; but the bottom line is that regulating off label prescriptions will help protect the health of Canadians.

a, Science & Technology

How does the internet work?

by Abhishek Gupta on

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The internet, a network of networks, is often thought to have an ethereal existence—an illusive virtual web that somehow enables a message to travel from your McGill email to an account in London, or a tweet to circulate around the globe.

What is surprising, however, is the tangible basis of the internet. Even when a computer is connected to it wirelessly, there is a router sitting somewhere in the vicinity, quietly humming away and sending data back and forth between this virtual web of unimaginable proportions, and the screen in front of you.

One of the defining images helpful for visualizing the internet is a huge web that looks strikingly like the Milky Way. This web shows connections between nodes (computers at the ends of a network) as lines that are colour coded to represent communication protocols (a system of digital messaging formats and rules for exchanging messages between computing systems). This image was conceived by Barrett Lyon in his project called the Opte Project. The plan’s aim was to create an accurate representation of the internet using visual graphics. This iconic image, housed in a permanent collection at the Boston Museum of Science, is in some ways representative of how large the Internet has grown, and its sheer complexity.

The history of the internet can be traced back to the founding of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), which led to the development of protocols for inter-networking, the practice of connecting a computer network with other networks through communication protocols. The first two nodes (computers at the ends of a network) were Leonard Kleinrock’s Network Measurement Centre at UCLA’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and Douglas Engelbart’s NLS System at SRI International in Menlo Park, California.

Today, we have not only computers, but also all sorts of devices that can connect to the internet. Smartphones, home automation systems, and GPS make up only a few of the many wired and wireless devices available to us. The physical infrastructure that drives these internet connections ranges from satellites zooming across the globe in outer space, to deep-sea fibre-optic cables that run through the Atlantic.

Fibre-optic cables form the backbone of the Internet. Even though the material science and computational technology behind this process is incredibly complicated, the physical process is shockingly simple: light goes in on one end of the ocean and comes out on the other. The phenomenon which is known as ‘total internal reflection’ keeps the light from escaping these thin, hair-like strands of glass that serve as conduits for the information which drives our world today. Fibre-optic cables connect through buildings called landing stations that are tucked away inconspicuously in little seaside neighbourhoods. Each of these cables can carry data at astoundingly fast rates, the basic unit being 10 gigabits per second—a thousand times faster than regular home internet connections.  Moreover, the bundles of cables have 50 to 60 such wavelengths, and therefore, carry tens of thousands of video streams in parallel, which is essential to keep pace with the rate at which content is growing online—hours of YouTube videos are uploaded, and thousands of pictures are posted on Facebook every second.

Such enormous undertakings to create the “physical” internet are not limited to remote corners of the globe. There are about a dozen data centres in the world that consume about as much energy as the cities that they sit in. A striking example of such a mammoth centre is located at 60 Hudson Street in lower Manhattan.  This building, in particular, has more networks of the internet that connect to each other than anywhere else in the world.

60 Hudson Street is an example of that physical intimacy of the internet. It is where the wires from the routers of Facebook, for instance, plug into the wires from the routers of, say, Google. It houses more than half a dozen of the world’s most important networks, in particular the ones that service the undersea cables connecting Europe and North America. Though the internet might seem intangible, these connections are an unequivocally physical process.

Science fiction author Neal Stephenson, says that wired people should know something about wires. We, too, should know where the internet—the virtual web that physically connects us all—meets reality.

As a faculty member, Kaspi recognizes the challenges faced by female physics students. (Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune)
a, Science & Technology

Extreme, observable physics

by Tracy Yuen on

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In honour of “Women’s Month,” the Tribune is profiling different female researchers at McGill, and the story behind their work. 

 

Imagine walking into a classroom filled entirely with people of the opposite gender. McGill Physics Professor Dr. Victoria Kaspi remembers her shock at the overwhelmingly male cohort during her undergraduate studies at McGill. While a part of the minority, her gender was never an issue until she started graduate school. During her university orientation, she attended a “Women in Physics” luncheon. At the time, Kaspi was surprised by the need for such an event, but in retrospect, she sees it as a hint of the challenges she would later face in her career.

As a faculty member, Kaspi is more aware of these issues than she was as a student, and she is not alone. The need to address gender inequality in the physics department is also felt by her colleagues. The department started a “Women in Physics” program that aims to mentor and foster the community of women in the field. Through organizing various speaker events, including breakfasts featuring host speakers from other universities, students can learn more about the challenges faced by, and opportunities available to women in physics. What’s more, these events provide students with the chance to hear about the career paths of other female physicists, building a stronger sense of community amongst the women enrolled in the physical sciences at McGill, and their professors.

At the faculty level, the proportion of female professors in the physics department at McGill is higher than average. While the department is always interested in more female applicants, Kaspi stressed that there’s no compromising on quality.

“Ultimately, it comes down to research excellence, and teaching ability,” Kaspi said.

With over 200 publications and numerous scientific awards, Dr. Kaspi embodies both of these qualities. Along with her role as a physics professor, she holds the positions of the Lorne Trottier Chair in Astrophysics and Cosmology, Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a group of scientists, engineers and technologists from the UK and the Commonwealth, all of whom are elected for life on the basis of excellence in science.

Kaspi’s research focuses on neutron stars—highly dense stars that are the close cousins of black holes.

“It’s a way to study something in an extreme environment, and [with] extreme properties: extremely high density, such that it’s higher than the atomic nucleus; extremely high gravity, so that regular gravity as described by Newton doesn’t work—you need Einstein’s theory of relativity, and extreme magnetic fields, highest in the universe and stars,” Kaspi explained. “You get to study a lot of extreme physics, but [neutron stars] are observable, so it’s not like a black hole, which is hard to observe.”

One subject of Kaspi’s research is pulsars, a type of neutron star characterized by the light they emit at precise time intervals. Based on Kaspi’s research, these stars could potentially act as beacons to guide spaceship navigation in the future.

“They rotate really fast and with a beam of light, almost like a lighthouse,” said Kaspi.

On top of her impressive research accomplishments, Kaspi is also the mother of three young children. She commented that while she has now struck a great work-life balance, juggling her children with her career was one of the hardest challenges in her life that she has faced—and one she never anticipated.

While Kaspi points out the challenges of being a female in the field of physics, she does not mean it as a deterrent. Her career has allowed her to travel all over the world, and engage in amazing opportunities.

“[I’ve been to] mountain peaks in Chile, and spent months in the outback of Australia,” Kaspi recalled, noting that she has also met amazing colleagues through her work. “I feel totally blessed doing it, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Viruses contain both living and non-living characteristics, making them difficult to classify. (static.ddmcdn)
a, Science & Technology

Viruses develop a life of their own

by Veronica Rozynek on

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Researchers have hotly debated the topic of viral classification for the past several decades. While scientists are still undecided as to whether or not viruses should be considered “living,” it is clear that these organisms do not meet the classical definition of life—maintenance of homeostasis, cellular organization, metabolism, growth, adaptation, response to stimuli, and reproduction. Viruses are complicated assemblies of molecules, including proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids; however, they lack some of the defining characteristics of life, such as the ability to replicate without the assistance of a host cell.

Recently, researchers have encountered convincing evidence that demonstrates that viruses may possess more complex immune systems than previously explored. This discovery adds to the ambiguity surrounding the nature of viruses, and presents the possibility that viruses may be gradually evolving into living organisms.

In an interview with Discovery News, Andrew Camilli, a molecular biology and microbiology professor at the Tufts University School of Medicine, noted that his recent research with cholera bacteria might possibly add to the argument that viruses exist as living entities. Camilli’s research focused on the feasibility of this bacteria’s role as a viral predator. However, while analyzing DNA sequences of phages taken from stool samples of  Bangladeshi cholera patients in the lab, postdoctoral fellow Kimberley Seed was presented with persuasive evidence that could potentially accelerate the virus’s classification as a  living species.

Seed discovered genes in these phages, usually present only in a fully operative immune system of different types of bacteria. In search for further evidence, Seed and her fellow team conducted experiments with viruses that did and did not contain immune related genes to infect another new strain of cholera bacteria. The results demonstrated that only the phages with a fully functional immune system were able to successfully kill the cholera bacteria.

The team also conducted research demonstrating that viruses have the capacity to acquire the immune systems of bacteria during their primary stage of infection. Essentially, the virus acts like a thief that invades the home of another living organism, stealing its efficient immune system, and transforming it, so that it is capable of providing an immunologic function for the virus itself.

In NBC’s interview with Gustavo Caetano-Anollés, a researcher at the University of Illinois, further evidence was presented in favour of the virus as a life form. In Caetano-Anollés’ lab, researchers conducted a census of protein folds, present in over 1,000 organisms. They sampled from the three conventional branches of life: bacteria, eukaryotes, and microbes. Different types of large viruses were also present in the study, in order to compare their genomes with genomes of the different life forms sampled.

The proteins and enzymes found in the viruses rivaled some of those of bacteria. For example, a virus called Crov, which originates in the ocean contains genes that repair themselves. Moreover, the virus may produce sugars that aid in the repair of its genome, and this allows it to gain more control over the equipment in host cells that allow the virus to replicate itself.

The research team also looked at the different characteristic features of life forms, and compared them to the structure of a virus. They found several ancient protein folds—present in different living organisms, also in the viruses examined—which exhibited more proof that a virus contains the origins of life.

While the ongoing debate has caused many scientists to ponder over whether viruses are more than simple genetic material, recent advancements are proof enough that viruses may be gradually, but efficiently moving towards being classified as a form of life. On one hand, they are considered parasites because they require the bodies of host cells to survive. However, viruses meet all of the requirements of life when living within the host cells, so some researchers have gone as far to classify them as the simplest living organisms. As for now, in the midst of controversy, viruses seem to exist in a purgatory between living and non-living, containing characteristics from both classifications.

a, News, SSMU Elections 2013

Larson wins SSMU presidency with 60% of the vote

by Bea Britneff on

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On Friday night, Elections SSMU released the Winter 2013 elections and referendum results to a crowd assembled at Gerts Bar. Katie Larson, Joey Shea, Brian Farnan, Samuel Harris, Tyler Hofmeister, and Stefan Fong will comprise the 2013-2014 Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executive team.

Larson was elected SSMU President with 59.5 per cent of the vote to opponent Chris Bangs’ 40.5 per cent, and Tyler Hofmeister defeated Thomas Kim for the position of Vice-President (VP) Finance and Operations with 71.7 per cent in favour of Hofmeister.

While Larson and Hofmeister claimed solid majorities, the battles for VP University Affairs and VP Internal were neck-and-neck. Shea beat Sam Gregory for the position of VP University Affairs by only 184 votes—or 52.1 per cent of the overall vote— for VP University Affairs. Farnan was elected VP Internal after beating Julia Kryluk by only 160 votes—amassing 51.8 per cent.

Students elected VP External candidate Samuel Harris and VP Clubs and Services candidate Stefan Fong—both of whom ran unopposed—to their positions with 89.3 per cent and 88.5 per cent in favour, respectively.

 

The campaign

The winning candidates expressed excitement and relief following the announcement of results. Many of them, despite their extreme post-campaign fatigue, said they enjoyed the campaign period.

“The best part of the entire campaign … [was] the opportunity … to meet with people and go to buildings or classes I hadn’t been into before,” Larson said. “I [was able to] sit and have a conversation with a student for 20 minutes about what they’re up to, what they think the university should be … that was so interesting and so valuable. It was a great experience.”

Some candidates chose to avoid conventional campaign methods, such as posters and classroom announcements, and emphasized the importance of interacting with students face-to-face.

“The main tactic that I used was to go talk to as many clubs as I could,” Fong said. “I thought it was really important for them to get to know me. I didn’t [put up posters], I didn’t do any talking in classrooms… the majority of it was really getting into contact with as many people as I could.”

Like Fong, Hofmeister did not invest in campaign flyers.

“I know that a lot of people swear by [flyers], but I was really, really happy that I didn’t,” he said. “Campaigning didn’t actually cost me all that much because I didn’t flyer … and because I didn’t [post flyers], I just talked to people.”

 

A newly elected Larson takes in her victory at Gerts on Friday night. (Simon Poitrimolt / McGill Tribune).
A newly elected Larson takes in her victory at Gerts on Friday night. (Simon Poitrimolt / McGill Tribune).

Surprising voter turnout

6,040 students, or 29.1 per cent of the student body voted in the Winter 2013 elections and referenda.  Elections SSMU Chief Electoral Officer Hubie Yu and several of the candidates expressed satisfaction with the overall turnout.

“I was pleasantly surprised for sure,” Yu said. “There were not as many candidates [this year] … I was also concerned because two positions were unopposed. [But] we matched last year’s [turnout], so I’m pretty happy overall.”

“I think [the turnout was] great,” Larson said. “The fact that … many people [voted] was a testament to how hard everybody worked.”

However, Yu still hopes for larger turnouts in future SSMU elections, and highlighted several tactics used this year that gave visibility to the referendum periods and the elections, such as Elections SSMU contests and the executive candidates’ meet-and-greet, where attendees were provided with free food and refreshments.

 

Looking forward to next year

Now that the results are out, both Larson and Farnan said they were excited about working with the new SSMU executive team, while Shea and Hofmeister  are anxious
to get started on their portfolios.

“I’m excited to start implementing my platform,” Shea said. “I’m really excited to work on Equity stuff …[and] on wait times for student services. That’s a main priority for me.”

“I’m just thinking of all the cool, little things that happen at McGill, that I wouldn’t normally be privy to, that I can learn about, and be like, ‘Wow, people do that? That’s awesome!’” Hofmeister said. “And obviously, [I’m excited for] helping [to make these projects] happen.”

The new SSMU executive will work with the current executive during a month-long transition period in May, and will begin their term on June 1, 2013.

 

All referendum questions pass

The Elections SSMU referendum results also revealed the new faculty student senators for the 2013-2014 school year. In addition, students voted in favour of the $7.25 increase of the Athletics Ancillary Fee, the $8.50 increase of the Student Services Ancillary Fee, and the adjustment of both fees to inflation.

Students also voted in favour of the creation of a McGill Writing Ancillary Fee, as well as a SSMU Equity Fund. The renewal of the $0.75 Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS) fee passed with an overwhelming majority of 83.4 per cent.

Chris Bangs (Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune)
a, SSMU Elections 2013

Chris Bangs, candidate for President

on

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McGill Tribune: What qualifies you for the position of President?
Chris Bangs: I started my career working with SSMU as the founder of the Independent Student Inquiry. We were a completely autonomous student group; we worked closely with the VP University Affairs, and VP Clubs & Services Alison Cooper was another founder of it, so I had this perspective as an outside student group that worked for SSMU support, and worked for students that way. Now, I’m campaigns coordinator for SSMU, I work with the Equity, Sustainability, Environmental commissioners, et cetera. I’ve worked with all six portfolios to get things done, and I’ve been very lucky to build these strong connections across [the] university. Also I’m on the bylaw review committee, so we are re-writing the constitution right now, getting into what the SSMU governing documents actually are, and that’s a huge portion of the president’s role.

MT: Based on this experience in the last year, what’s the most glaring issue that you think you’ll have to deal with next year?
CB:  The lease. I don’t have any more information than the average student, so I hope that’ll get resolved this year, and they say that it will.
MT: They said that last year too.
CB: Yeah, it’s been three years now, so we’ll see. It could be a glaring issue. But I think the largest one, and the one that’s on students’ minds the most is these budget cuts and this tuition hike. The combination of them, I think, is really disastrous for McGill, for McGill students, and for the university system as a whole.

That’s something I really want to work with: [trying] to stop the hike and the cuts, and then working within McGill to make sure [that] if we have to have the funding cuts, they’re done in an equitable and fair way. I want to make sure that the cuts, if they have to go through, are maybe more confined to expenses like lawyers’ fees and administrators … not contributing to student life or faculty on campus.

 

MT: Do you have any specific plans for how you’d ensure that, or how you’d work toward that?
CB: First of all, making sure that student senators and faculty associations aren’t trying to prioritize their departments over others, and so [I’m thinking of ] having a policy passed that would be like: “if there are cuts to students’ livelihoods, and to the things that matter to us, they need to be distributed equally, and we want those to be as few as possible.” … I think that people in campus and labour unions were really impressed last year when so many students supported MUNACA in the labour dispute. And so, if we have someone elected who has these connections and history with them … we can get everyone on the same page, and find the things that we agree on, so we can have a united front when we go to the university.

 

MT: Last year, you played a big role in the Independent Student Inquiry, so how do you foresee actually working with the administration rather than creating something that’s separate from their own policies?

CB: Clearly, the Independent Student Inquiry was independent of McGill, but it wasn’t independent in the context of opportunities to engage. As we worked with the VP UA, we met with the principal, we met with the Deputy Provost Student Life and Learning [Morton J.] Mendelson, Dean Manfredi—who was conducting a review of the provisional protocol—to talk about it with them. I am working very closely with the Board of Governors right now, with Divest McGill, and I probably, as President, would sit on the Board of Governors, and [I’m am] the student, outside of the students on the Board of Governors right now, who has the most experience actually dealing with the body. And so I think that I have very strong allies there, I’ve worked closely with them, and I think that I’m going to approach it with cautious optimism. Especially in the context of the new principal and the new [Deputy Provost Student Life and Learning].

 

MT: I think one of the issues that always come up is improving the points of contact we have with student government—things like the GA, making them more accessible to students, or encouraging students to actually  participate in them. Where would you see your emphasis on that?

CB: I think that there are two problems. Some of the reasons students don’t participate is because they just don’t know that it’s happening, and so sort of reaching out and giving a sort of basic understanding of what’s going on is definitely necessary, and that’s something we can do much better. We have this huge building, but we don’t really do anything on the outside of it. So I would be interested in seeing large informational material as banners hanging on the outside.

And beyond that I think that the [other] problem this year is that there’s been almost no communication about what’s going on that’s really big in the SSMU world. We need to talk about new channels to engage people, which I think is probably important. I [also] think it’s fundamental to talk about actually [making more SSMU] information public. I think that [not making information easily available is] pretty endemic throughout everything that SSMU does.
MT: What are the most important ways that your platform differs from your opponent’s?
CB: She has a focus on mental and physical health, and I think that’s really great. I think that what I’m most excited about is how to translate these vague ideas into very concrete things. So when I’m talking about mental health, I [have] two very concrete things I want to do:

The first one would be to have a 13 cents per semester, mental health fund, so that would raise $6000 a year, and that could go to fund things that come out of this program but also things like student research and conferences, puppy petting in the library, special support for students with disabilities or disadvantaged students, etc. The other idea is, a motion, or a referendum question [because] student services are paid for entirely by students, McGill doesn’t pay for it at all … they don’t provide any direct funding. And so they charge about 1.5 per cent of the money that students give to student services … and they’re going to try to raise that by a couple of percentage points, and so half the money that we are giving to student services is going straight to James Admin, instead of things that we need. I would want to see, in the future, referendum questions like that come up. So instead of it being McGill giving us the choice of either raising the fees and then having the students pay more and have it go straight to James Admin [or] seeing our services get cut drastically, I’d want to give the choice to support these really great frontline services [without raising the] percentage fee that [the university is] charging.

MT: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
CB: I want to address one thing. I don’t know if you have all seen the Bull and the Bear article yet. There’s an article published saying that I’m deleting comments on my Facebook page, or whatever, and I just want to address that I’m writing something that I’m going to send over to them. Some of the comments I received were very hateful. Some of them were like ‘I heard Chris Bangs hates black people.’ Stuff like that, and so obviously I’m going to delete those. And other things were comments that I did address the first time they came up, I answered them fully and then people would just keep on posting them and posting them and posting them. I didn’t necessarily want to have to engage with people who aren’t willing to have that actual discussion. And so I’m going to be publishing something about that but I just wanted to clear that up.

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Katie Larson (Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune)
a, SSMU Elections 2013

Katie Larson, candidate for President

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McGill Tribune: How does your experience working with SSMU qualify you for the position of president?

Katie Larson: I have been working with SSMU for a very long time now, around three years. The second year I started as VP External of Music Undergraduate Student Association, and so I sat on SSMU legislative council. And then last year, as president [of MUSA], I worked with Maggie and the other student presidents. This year, I’m back as legislative councillor and [VP] internal again, and I’ve put a lot more time into committee work, doing events, steering committee, external affairs, and funding. So it’s been a really good experience. The first time I did the SSMU thing I was working a lot for clubs & services … and then I worked there this summer as one of the culture/project coordinators. So I have a pretty good grasp on how it works day to day and what really goes on and where it is really going.

 

MT: Based on that experience what would you say the most important role of the president is?

KL: I think the president really needs to not only have a good kind of vision and grounding on what they think SSMU should be doing, but also needs to understand their role and responsibility, not only within SSMU, but also [as a representative of SSMU to the university].  They need to have a good grasp of what’s going on and a good understanding of how to say, “This is the situation,” or “this is what’s going on.

 

MT: What are your vision and grounding and voice for the SSMU president?

KL: Something that I see [not] as a challenge but as an opportunity as well is to really try to get more face time with students, both with SSMU executives as they’re representing so many different students … [I will] try to have as much of an open door as possible.

I also really want to keep the push going towards collaboration between the student associations, [and] the student groups on campus. Since I’ve been here working in them, I’ve seen it really go from the first year I did it … and since that’s where my background is, I’d like to bring that forward and see how we can get services involved in that.

Within the university, I [also] think that the things that the university should be really looking towards are from the student services perspective. Mental and physical health, [are] always an issue here. [There are] ways to improve that, not necessarily from [only] a budget perspective. I think having to commit to better communication about it or just keeping the website updated; just little things to make sure that everybody knows how to help themselves, even possibly asking each other how to partner or work with other things around the community to increase those services would be interesting.

On the academic side, two things that we have discussed at length with Professor Mendelson, have been advising and course evaluations, that is [deciding] when [course] evaluations [should] happen. [And also] making sure professors are following the rules about the syllabi. We’ve discussed different ways that it could be remedied. I think it’s very feasible; it’s just something that needs to be pushed through the channels, especially at Senate and at academic policy committee. I think that could happen next year.

Within SSMU, I’d really like to review the way that we do student staffing executive positions, because as president I’d be in charge of human resources, [I would be] looking for potentially other sources of funding, whether it be government or provincial grants to come in, to have us increase student staff hours or jobs if we can. And for the executive positions, they need to be more clearly defined in the constitution and bylaws so that the mandates can be clear and people can have more of a way to feel that they’re really empowered by legislation for the job to move forward with it.

 

MT: Speaking of consultation and engagement, do you have any plans to bolster GA participation, or do you have any plans for the GA now?

KL: It’s absolutely a necessity to have [a GA] when we need it. So for example, last year there was a 1,000 people at a GA because there was a serious issue, which was going on strike or not. So that’s an example [that if] people really want to make a strong decision, the platform needs to be available for it to happen. However, I don’t think that it’s necessarily productive or helpful if we’re just telling people, “Oh, come to the GA. Make a motion because we have to have a GA motion.” There’s not really any substance behind it. It’s not really helping anybody.

 

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