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New Rez catches fire

by Sean Wood on

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Students who live in McGill residences are all too familiar with fire drills. Last Tuesday, however, New Residence Hall experienced the real thing.

In the late morning, a small fire on the 14th floor set off the sprinklers, causing major water damage to 12 rooms, which has dislocated a number of students to a hotel for the rest of the semester.

After pulling an all-nighter for a chemistry midterm, Aleksandra, a student who wishes only to be identified by her first name, lit a scented candle on her windowsill to help herself fall asleep at 9:45 a.m.  Bothered by the sunlight coming through the window, she got up, shut the curtains, and went back to bed.

Her roommate returned from class around 10:10 and two minutes later the curtains were ablaze.

“I turned around and saw the fire a half a metre away from my head,” Aleksandra said.

The girls tried to smother the flames to no avail. They got a fire extinguisher from the hallway, but couldn’t get back into the room because the door had locked behind them. They went to pull the hallway fire alarms, but couldn’t get any to work. Frantically, they rushed down the building, stopping at each floor trying to find one that would sound. The alarms, in fact, were working, but the alert sounds had been disabled because of maintenance.

“The crazy coincidence, which had about the same odds as winning the lottery, was that we were doing some maintenance on the sprinkler system at that exact time, so we shut off the actual bell, not the alarm system, so that we wouldn’t accidentally have to evacuate 700 people,” said Michael Porritt, McGill director of residences.

Building employees used the building intercom to inform students, and the alarms, functioning silently, still notified the Montreal Fire Department. According to a Montreal Fire Department representative firefighters, received notice at 10:23 a.m. and had taken care of the fire by 11:20.  All 700 students in the residence were evacuated safely and efficiently.

“It was one of the fastest evacuations we’ve ever had,” said Porritt.

The fire did not spread beyond Aleksandra’s room, and only damaged the curtains, the window, the wall, and a pillow.  The real costs of the fire are a result of water damage. Sprinklers damaged four rooms on the 14th floor, four rooms on the 12th, and four rooms on the 11th badly enough that they will not be usable for the rest of the year. 20 students have had to move, 18 to the Delta Hotel at the intersection of President Kennedy and City Councillors Avenues, and two to other rooms in New Rez.  

According to an email sent from Porritt to all New Residence residents, construction on the damaged rooms will begin in May. Given that it will take six weeks, there is no incentive for McGill Residences to rush to complete it before the end of the school year as there is no chance that students will be able to move back into them. Meanwhile, Residences will be replacing wet drywall and insulation in the near future.

The estimated costs of the damage would not be available for several weeks, Porritt said. Also, at this point it is unclear whether Aleksandra will be held liable. Open flames are forbidden in McGill Residences, which might put her at risk. A disciplinary hearing is tentatively planned.

“It was a total accident,” said Aleksandra, “It could have happened to anyone.”

“I want to apologize to all the people who had to get relocated,” she added.

News

10 students arrested at tuition hikes rally on Saturday

by Kyla Mandel on

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     On Saturday, March 12, Montreal saw a protest by thousands of people against austerity measures in the provincial budget, including a flat health tax and tuition hikes. Many students gathered in the rally organized by labour unions and student unions. However, 10 students were arrested before the protest even began.

     According to Students’ Society vice president external, Myriam Zaidi, these students were all dressed in black and were “not at all” representative of the protesters. Describing the arrests, Zaidi said it appeared that the police did not “want them to be marching in this family-friendly protest.”

     In addition, Zaidi said that because “they were all dressed in black … a lot of people couldn’t recognize them.” It is unknown whether any of these students were from McGill.

    Some McGill students did participate in the protest. They met in front of the SSMU building and proceeded to Place du Canada, where the demonstration began.

Private

Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

by Mira S. Sharma on

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collider.com

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the theatres, screaming teenagers have come back for the latest supernatural romance thriller. While Catherine Hardwicke’s Red Riding Hood is innovative in that it’s a far cry from the bedtime story you remember from your childhood, the film still falls drastically short of its concept.  

It’s hard to reconcile Hardwicke’s first critically acclaimed film, Thirteen, with her take on Red Riding Hood: it’s Twilight with a better standing cast. This red-hooded protagonist, Valerie, played by the doe-eyed Amanda Seyfried, is romantic and rebellious. She is torn between two hunks, Henry (Max Irons) and Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), one of whom may be a werewolf. Does this sound vaguely familiar? It should; Hardwick was, after all, the first to direct the Twilight films.  

Although Valerie is in love with Peter, a poor woodsman, her parents have arranged for her to be married to the wealthier blacksmith, Henry. When Valerie’s sister is killed by a wolf, however, her plan to run away with Peter has to be put on hold, After the men of the town fail to find the murderous wolf, they call on the town priest, Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), to help solve the furry problem. He reveals that the town is haunted not by a mere wolf, but by a werewolf, who takes human shape in the absence of the full moon and lives among them. But who is the big, bad wolf?  

Despite the grown-up makeover of this children fairytale, the film fails to enable the audience to invest in the characters. Seyfried’s Valerie seems more like a Goldilocks who stole Little Red Riding Hood’s cape. As Peter, Fernandez is supposed to be the brooding, reclusive rebel, but acts more like one of Robin Hood’s merry men in tights strolling around town. Acting giants Gary Oldman and Julie Christie are unable to execute their trademark performances, which fizzle underneath their over- the-top-characters as Father Solomon and Grandmother, respectively.  

The romance itself is a superficial plotline that barely scratches the surface, as the seemingly tension-filled love triangle quickly dissolves and transforms into a whodunit mystery.  

The problem with the film is that Hardwicke tries to do too much at once, setting up the film as the stage for a fairytale orgy. For example, during the town’s celebration, the villagers act out a scene from the story of The Three Little Pigs. There’s even a reference to the rabbit’s fur being “snow white.” At one point, Hardwicke starts to mix fairytale elements with religious zeal, at point going as far as to mimic the Salem Witch trials.

Regardless of the wannabe-Twilight characters and narrative, the cinematography was quite beautiful at times. And to be fair, Hardwicke was right to develop Red Riding Hood as a film about sexual awakening rather than simply a girl who tries to visit her ailing grandmother. But she unsuccessfully executes her ideas and in the end, all we got was a mess.

Sports

March Madness

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EAST

Preview: Ohio State is, as Kanye would say, a monster. The Buckeyes, led by freshman centre Jared Sullinger, should be able to drop step their way over and through the Big Dance. Combined with the outside shooting of Jon Diebler, OSU has the inside-outside combination that so many other teams covet. UNC has the two-seed and Harrison Barnes, but both are inconsistent. UNC also has a tough matchup in the Round of 32 against Isaiah Thomas and the Washington Huskies, but should overcome them to make the Sweet 16. The other top four seeds, Syracuse and Kentucky, should also stick to the script by making it to the regional semis. From there, it’s anybody’s guess. Kentucky and Ohio State are the two best teams in the region and our best guess is Sullinger over phenom Kentucky point guard Brandon Knight. UNC­—Syracuse is a major crapshoot, but if Barnes gets hot he can lead his team all the way to the Elite Eight.

Final Four Bound: The Buckeyes are the best of the top four seeds, but all of them have a legitimate chance of making it to the Final Four. Still, we’ll take the dominant big man and OSU to bull their way through the field.

Potential Bracket Buster: If you’re looking for a region with lots of upset potential, look elsewhere. Still, there’s a legitimate chance of 11-seed Marquette beating six-seed Xavier. Washington also seems underseeded, but UNC will be a tough out.

 

WEST

Preview: Duke, the top seed and defending national champs, enter the tournament on a roll after ACC player of the year Nolan Smith led the Blue Devils to an ACC championship by demolishing UNC in the title game. While they’re always a threat to win, star Kyle Singler has been in a shooting slump for the last month. They will need him to heat up if they hope to repeat as champs. The Connecticut Huskies enter the tournament as the nation’s hottest team. They rolled to the Big East championship by winning five straight games behind Kemba Walker’s spectacular play. San Diego State is a great team but they lack big game experience and could be overwhelmed by the NCAA tourney experience. Finally, there are the Texas Longhorns. Smooth scorer Jordan Hamilton and Canadian freshmen Corey Joseph and Tristan Thompson lead the Longhorns. While they have been a little shaky the past month, if they play their best they could win the whole thing.

Final Four Bound: Go with the hot hand. No one is playing better than Walker and Connecticut right now. Winning the tourney is all about getting on a roll at the right time and the Huskies seem to have timed it perfectly.

Potential Bracket Buster: This is a region with strong top seeds and weaker low seeds. While Texas is a great team they got a tough break in drawing Oakland in the first round. If Texas’ struggles from the last month continue, look for Oakland to shock the world with an upset and challenge the winner of the Arizona/Memphis matchup for a spot in the Sweet 16.

 

SOUTHWEST

Preview: This should be a top-heavy region with both a very strong one and two seed. The Kansas Jayhawks are the top seed and team to beat. Led by 6’9″ twins Marcus and Markieff Morris, Kansas only lost two games all year while winning the Big 12 regular season and tournament championships. However, the two-seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish are an offensive powerhouse led by sharpshooters Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromatis. The Fighting Irish have the shooting and defence to make some serious noise in the tournament. The three- and four-seeds, Purdue and Louisville, are solid teams but have too many question marks and inconsistent performances to be considered Final Four threats.

Final Four Bound: The Morris twins and the rest of the Jayhawks should have the Fighting Irish seeing quadruple in an epic Elite Eight matchup. Ultimately the balance of the Morris twins and great three-point shooting from guards Josh Shelby and Tyrel Reed should give the Jayhawks a Final Four berth.

Potential Bracket Buster: The 5-12 matchups always produce upsets and this year should prove no different as a very strong Richmond Spiders squad goes up against Vanderbilt. Richmond won the A-10 tourney and have a great guard big man combo in Kevin Anderson and D.J. Harper. If the Spiders get hot, look for them to knock off Vandy and threaten for a spot in the Sweet 16 and perhaps beyond.

 

SOUTHEAST

Preview: If you’re searching for some classic madness, look no further than the Southeast. This region will be full of upsets and unpredictability as each high seed is riddled with question marks. The number one seed Pittsburgh Panthers are a great team but have a tendency to choke in big games, and have never made a Final Four. Second seeded Florida got killed in the SEC championship by Kentucky and looks overseeded. Finally, BYU lost leading rebounder Brandon Davies, which will create serious problems for them despite having an all-world scorer and the best player in the nation in Jimmer Fredette. With such weakness at the top of this bracket, look for a wild ride in the Southeast

Final Four Bound: Look for Kansas State to emerge from the Southeast. Kansas State has beaten three ranked teams (Kansas, Missouri, and Texas) in the last month. They are extremely physical and are led by Jacob Pullen, one of the best scorers in the country. Kansas State is very streaky and unpredictable, but if they get on a roll, watch out, they’ll be Final Four bound.

Potential Bracket Buster: Where to start? Gonzaga, Belmont, Utah State, Michigan State, and Old Dominion are all very strong teams and each one has a chance to reach the Elite Eight or even Final Four. Ultimately, look for Gonzaga to take advantage of a favourable draw and upset Florida on the way to the Elite Eight.

 

For UConn to make the NCAA Final Kemba Walker will have to be the best player in the tournament. However, teams not players win championships and Kansas is the better all around team. Their depth and balanced scoring will be too much for the Huskies or anyone else to handle. Look for the Jayhawks to emerge from the madness with their second championship in four years.

News

Student investigated for hateful tweets

by Theo Meyer on

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The McGill administration is currently investigating Haaris Khan, a McGill student who, using Twitter, threatened to shoot a roomful of other students last week at a campus film screening.

Khan made the threats at a screening of “Indoctrinate U,” a documentary, on March 8 hosted by Conservative McGill and Libertarian McGill. “I want to shoot everyone in this room,” he tweeted at one point during the film, adding, “I should have brought an M16.”

None of the 20 or so students at the screening knew about the threats at the time, the event’s organizers said. Khan sat in the back of the room and tweeted quietly using his BlackBerry.

The event’s organizers found out about the tweets on Thursday, said Kevin Pidgeon, a Conservative McGill member who attended the event. A friend of Brendan Steven, another Conservative McGill member, contacted Steven about the posts, Pidgeon said. After reviewing them, Steven and the event’s other organizers decided to call McGill Security.

Though Khan has since deactivated his Twitter account, Conservative McGill members, at the suggestion of the Montreal Police Department, took screenshots of his tweets for evidence. Over the span of about an hour and half, during the screening Khan railed against Jews and Zionists in 10 separate tweets.

“I’ve infiltrated a Zionist meeting,” Khan wrote in his first tweet, at 6:04 p.m., shortly after the event began. “I feel like I’m at a Satanist ritual.”

“Oh man, a Muslim girl just appeared,” he wrote in his next post. “I thought, like me, she’s a freedom fighter. Unfortunately, she’s a co-conspirator. Traitor.”

About half an hour into the screening, Khan’s tweets turned violent.

“My blood is boiling,” he wrote at 6:38 p.m. “I want to shoot everyone in this room. I’m frightened, alarmed, and downright pissed. Never been this angry.”

“This experience has hardened me into a soldier for freedom and truth,” Khan wrote about an hour later. He posted his last tweet, about bringing an M16, minutes later.

Khan continued tweeting angrily for much of the next day, though not always about Zionism or Conservative McGill. (He called the Boston Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chára a “giant penis” after Chára delivered a brutal hit to Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty that night.)

But at 1:14 p.m. the next day, Khan tweeted, “The jihad begins today.”

McGill Security contacted the Montreal Police Department after Alexandre Meterissian, another Conservative McGill member, reported Khan’s threats on Thursday. The police, Meterissian said, called him later that night and told him they were opening an investigation. Khan did not have any registered weapons, the police told him, and promised to call him if they made an arrest.

According to Khan, however, he has not been contacted by the police at all. He met with the McGill administration on Friday, he said, but refused to give any details about the meeting.

McGill’s administration has not informed the student body about the threats and, citing the province’s privacy legislation, has refused to provide much information to the students who reported Khan’s tweets, either. Dean of Students Jane Everett met with Pidgeon and Meterissian on Monday, but Pidgeon described the meeting as “completely unhelpful.”

The university, Meterissian added shortly before the meeting, was using privacy laws “to not tell us anything, at least not by email or phone.”

In a brief written statement to the Tribune, Everett said the administration had investigated the matter and was taking appropriate disciplinary action.

“It was determined that there was no need to advise the community of the matter because there was no danger posed to the community,” she said.

According to Pidgeon, Conservative McGill’s leadership knew little about Khan before reading his tweets. Khan had published an op-ed piece attacking The Prince Arthur Herald—a student news website founded several months earlier by Steven and Pidgeon and staffed by a number of Conservative McGill members—in The McGill Daily in January, but none of them had paid it much mind.

After reading the tweets, Pidgeon said he had trouble understanding exactly what it was about the event that set Khan off. “Indoctrinate U,” the documentary screened at the event, deals with a perceived liberal bias in American universities and does not touch on religion.

“It had nothing to do with Zionism or Israel or Judaism in general,” Pidgeon said.

In an interview with the Tribune on Monday, Khan, a soft-spoken U2 international development studies and software engineering student from Laval, apologized and said that Conservative McGill’s members had taken his tweets out of context. He uses Twitter, he said, simply to vent his emotions.

“Whatever comes into my mind, I say it on Twitter,” he said. “It’s kind of my outlet.”

Khan doesn’t own any weapons, he said, and doesn’t know anyone who does. He has never fired a gun.

Despite his threats of jihad, Khan said he is not particularly religious and doesn’t have much attachment to Islam. His sister-in-law is Jewish, he added, and he doesn’t consider himself anti-Semitic.

“I don’t have a problem with Jews,” he said.

Though Khan sent an email to Zach Paikin, a Prince Arthur Herald columnist who attended the screening, on Sunday night, Khan said he has not had any contact with Conservative McGill members. But he would like them to realize, he said, “that I’m not a demon.”

Pidgeon and Meterissian, however, said they were concerned for their safety.

“I’m 100 per cent for free speech,” Pidgeon said, “But when it encroaches on my and about 15 other people’s right to life . . . I think right to life wins out over right to free speech.”

Sports

Leaf the attitude at home

by Iain Macdonald on

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Over reading week, I had the pleasure of going to an NHL game. It was my first Maple Leafs game. Living up to their reputation, the Leafs were outplayed by the Pittsburgh Penguins third-stringers. While I didn’t see Crosby, I had the honour of sitting next to one of the best hockey fans I’ve ever met. His greatest strength was his ability to support one of the worst teams in the NHL while remaining upbeat and optimistic, an ability fuelled largely by alcohol. He was the Leafs Fan.

The Leafs Fan loves hockey, but he loves drinking more. By the time the puck drops, he’s had at least four beers. He must be buzzed in order to cheer for a team that just traded Kaberle and labelled this campaign “a rebuilding year,” yet again. The Leafs Fan is preparing for a night of celebrating the win, or more likely, trying to dull the pain of another loss.

The Leafs Fan has done his homework, and has a vague idea of the three major facets of hockey: fighting, hitting the puck, and drinking. His knowledge of the intricacies of rules like offsides and icing are not complete, but these subtleties are superficial to the ultimate purpose of the game: beer. But, that doesn’t stop him from sharing his understanding of the rules with anyone and everyone in sections 110-130.

As the puck drops, the Leafs Fan stands and, with complete disregard for the families, children, and real hockey fans on all sides, begins to shout. His cry is louder than a space shuttle launch from 14 feet. But sadly, the herd of fans is about as coordinated as the team itself, and collaborative activities like the wave or encouraging chants are out of the question.

No one is safe from the Leafs Fan’s buffoonery. The Malkins, the Rupps, the referees, the trivia participants, even Carlton the Bear fall victim. Nothing is sacred. Jests such as “OH WHERE’S CROSBY, DOES HE HAVE A LITTLE HEADACHE? DOES HE HAVE A LITTLE BOOBOO?” incite rage in children who have come to see their Canadian idol. Noticeably absent from the Leafs Fan’s criticisms are the Leafs players themselves, who are playing like … well, Maple Leafs. James Reimer hasn’t held on to one shot in the entire game, the power play unit can’t keep the puck in the opposing zone, and Kovalev plays his defenders like a fiddle. Nonetheless, “WHO GOT DRAFTED IN THE SEVENTH ROUND, KOVI?” I’m not sure either.

Following the game, which surprisingly turned out to be an exciting shootout loss for the Leafs, the Leafs Fan shares his vision for the Leafs playoff run. They’re only eight points out, he explains, but the team shouldn’t have any trouble catching up with Carolina.  Then they’ll crush Philly and move to the second round easily, he tells his friends, sloshing beer and peanuts everywhere.

I’d like to make it clear that I’m not specifically anti-Maple Leafs, despite my abhorrence for everything Toronto. This fan exists in arenas, ballparks, and gridirons everywhere, and if you’ve ever been to a game, you’ve probably encountered him or her. Only two summers ago, I went with my lovely girlfriend to a Cubs game and became the subject of ridicule after chuckling at a Cubs-thrown dirtball. I know Leafs fans who love hockey, and who understand it. I’m just concerned about the way the culture of certain sporting events has evolved. The game shouldn’t be a place to get wasted and fight. It should be Stompin’ Tom Connors’ “good ol’ hockey game.” While I understand that people have fun in different ways, there’s a clear line between fun and obnoxious drunkenness, a line too often crossed. Please, Leafs Fan, and sporting fans everywhere, let sports be sports.

Sports

McGill runs the table against CIS opponents in epic year

by Rebecca Babcock, Sam Hunter, & Walker Kitchens on

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Max Sawicki

The McGill Martlets are National Champions once again. The team capped a perfect 33-0 season against CIS opponents with a commanding 5-2 victory over the St. Francis Xavier X-Women on Sunday night at the Waterloo Memorial Recreational Complex. The championship marked the third time in four years that McGill has been crowned CIS champs.

“It was pretty special. We worked hard all year long. We came up a little short last year and to come back and win it this year showed a lot of character by everyone involved,” said McGill Head Coach Peter Smith.

Jordanna Peroff, who had a goal and an assist in the championship game, was named Tournament MVP after she led the tournament with five points. Two teammates, defender Cathy Chartrand and forward Leslie Oles, joined her on the tournament all-star team.

“Those three players were terrific but I also think that they were part of the big picture,” said Smith. “I thought all of our players were great for the whole tournament. I think that’s the beauty—the strength of our team is really our team. We had different players who stepped up at different points over the course of the whole season and I think the National Championship was just another example of that—we had players step up at the opportune times.”

McGill travelled to Waterloo, Ontario as the number one seed. The six-team tournament was split into two groups, with the winner of each group playing for the title. The Martlets were grouped with the defending champion University of Alberta Pandas, and Queen’s University Golden Gaels who were on a 12 game winning streak. The Martlets won both games to advance to the championship against the X-Women.

GAME ONE:

MCGILL vs. ALBERTA

The Martlets opened the tournament against the defending champs Alberta Pandas who defeated McGill in last year’s championship game. The Martlets got revenge on the Pandas as four different players scored in a 4-2 win.

Despite McGill’s history with Alberta, Coach Smith stressed that the team prepared as for any other game.

“We didn’t spend a whole lot of energy thinking about Alberta and about playing them last year,” he said. “They were an opponent and we played them and we played them hard. It didn’t matter who we were playing, we were going to play them hard.”

The Martlets started the first period slow but eventually found their stride. McGill dominated by outshooting Alberta 10-5 in the first period, and the Pandas were often forced to ice the puck to relieve the Martlets’ pressure. With less than two minutes left in the period, McGill went on the power play as the Pandas were called for a roughing penalty. A minute into the power play Caroline Hill put the puck in the back of the net with assists from Ann-Sophie Bettez and Chartrand to score the first goal of the game and give the Martlets a 1-0 lead.

McGill carried their momentum into the second period. Just three minutes in, Oles scored the second goal of the game on another power play to double the lead. However, five minutes later Alberta scored their own  power play goal as Karla Bourque scored to make it a one goal game.

The Martlets kept their composure as Chelsey Saunders, who was named player of the game, answered with a goal of her own 18:53 into the period. That would turn out to be the winning goal as Alberta was only able to score once more on a five on three advantage before McGill’s Kim Ton-That scored on an empty net in the last minute to ice the game.

—Rebecca Babcock

GAME TWO:

MCGILL vs. QUEEN’S

The clock struck midnight on this year’s CIS Cinderella as the big bad Martlets ground the Gaels’ glass slipper into a fine powder in a 3-1 win.

McGill pressured Queen’s relentlessly and the Gaels were unable to maintain discipline in the face of the onslaught. McGill earned seven  power plays compared to Queen’s three.

The tone for the game was set early, as the Gaels got themselves into trouble by taking a hooking call less than a minute in.  McGill’s Katia Clement-Heydra capitalized on the ensuing  power play, driving the net hard and corralling a rebound for a tap-in goal.

The Gaels weren’t ready to say good night just yet and rallied to tie midway through the first.

“We were … apprehensive in the game against Queen’s because I think the players were very anxious on getting into the gold medal game,” said Smith. “That’s where they wanted to be all year long.”

The Martlets regained their composure and controlled long stretches of play, outshooting Queens 35-18 over the course of the game.

Peroff scored McGill’s second  power play goal of the night 5:30 into the second period, on a pass from behind the net that caromed in off the skate of a Queen’s defender, re-establishing the Martlets one-goal lead. Alyssa Cecere provided the final margin by scoring the Martlets’ third goal. Cecere scored off a three-on-two rush with a beautiful feed from Saunders.

—Sam Hunter

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:

MCGILL vs. ST. FRANCIS XAVIER

The championship game was a battle between unbeaten teams, as the Martlets entered the championship game with a perfect 32-0 record against the X-Women who held a 29-0 record of their own. Despite the similar records, it was McGill who came in looking calmer and more confident than their Maritime opponents, and eventually cruised to a dominant 5-2 victory.

“I don’t think we were nervous at all,” said Smith. “Not that we took [the X-Women] lightly by any means but it’s just that we were able to play the game that we wanted to play.”

The Martlets controlled the tempo of the game with their speed and accurate passing. In the first period, McGill star goalie Charline Labonte kept the game scoreless as she shut the door on each and every X-Women chance, including a beautiful save on a breakaway. The Martlets were able to take the lead 16:26 into the first after Martlets leading scorer Bettez scored her first goal of the tournament on the  power play.

McGill was able to extend their lead in the second with a beautiful goal. Oles streaked into the X-Women’s end and found Peroff in the slot with a beautiful pass. Peroff made no mistake as she rocketed a slapshot into the top right corner for her second goal of the tournament.

Just 38 seconds later, Hill buried a loose puck in front past X-Women goalie Kristy Garrow to give McGill a commanding 3-0 lead halfway through the game. McGill extended their lead in the third period as Jasmine Sheehan scored just two minutes into the period to ultimately put the game out of reach.

The X-Women were able to halve the four-goal deficit with two goals in four minutes but couldn’t complete the comeback. Alessandra Lind-Kenny scored the fifth Martlet goal to secure the National Championship for McGill.  

The Martlets have become a Canadian hockey powerhouse. They racked up an incredible 33-0 record against CIS opponents this season and have now won three of the last four National Championships. While they will lose many key contributors to graduation this year, they remain poised to threaten for a fourth CIS Championship next season.

—Walker Kitchens

Sports

Redmen cruise to OUA title

by Adam Sadinsky on

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For the second straight year, the McGill Redmen travelled deep into Ontario and emerged Queen’s Cup champions. The Redmen put an exclamation point on their final OUA match with a 6-2 rout of the Western Conference champion University of Western Ontario Mustangs, the fifth time in eight playoff matches that McGill managed to score five or more goals. The Queen’s Cup victory is McGill’s second in a row and 16th since winning the inaugural competition in 1903.

As a Quebec team playing in the OUA, McGill had the disadvantage of having to play on the road in the 100th edition of the Queen’s Cup. This turned out not to be much of a hindrance, as the Redmen scored early and often. For the second straight game, six different players lit the lamp for McGill, who will go into the Cavendish University Cup in New Brunswick as one of the favourites.

“I thought we had a real solid game from all 20 guys,” said Head Coach Kelly Nobes. “It was a good effort from the net out, through our six defencemen and four forward lines. You could see that on the scoresheet—we got goals from six different guys in a big game. We wanted to win the Queen’s Cup, which was one of our objectives at the beginning of the season. We’ve got one more big one to win, and that’s our next objective.”

Western fed off a large, purple-clad crowd in the opening minutes, spending most of their time in the Redmen end. This quickly changed, however, when Max Langlier-Parent found Patrick Belzile, who notched his first goal of the playoffs just seven minutes in. Belzile also added an assist to finish plus two on the night. Nobes recognized that his team was able to count on contributions from everyone on the roster.

“It’s tough to point to one guy specifically [who has stood out in the playoffs]. I think we’ve had great contribution from everybody and we’ve won games throughout the playoffs because of many different guys having big games.”

Just 56 seconds later, with McGill on the power play, Andrew Wright deflected a Guillaume Doucet point shot past Western goalie Anthony Grieco for a 2-0 Redmen lead. Only three minutes after Wright’s goal, Doucet recorded his second assist of the period when he slipped the puck to a net-crashing Evan Vossen, who slammed home what would turn out to be the game-winning goal.

The Mustangs capitalized on a Redmen parade to the penalty box in the first half of the second period and got a power play goal on a wrist shot from Jason Swit just as Langlier-Parent was leaving the box. The teams tradeed goals in the second as Alex Picard-Hooper and Simon Marcotte-Légaré tallied for McGill, and Western scored a shorthanded goal off the stick of John Furlong.

In the third period, up 5-2, the Redmen sat back, anticipating a furious rally by Western to get back into the game. The rally never materialized, as the airtight McGill defence only allowed the Mustangs to get six shots through to goaltender Hubert Morin, who stopped 21 out of 23 shots in the game, including going six for six in the closing stanza. On a shorthanded defensive zone faceoff, Marc-André Dorion lobbed the puck 180 feet into an empty net to salt away the victory and signal it was time to warm up the bus for the celebratory trip back to Montreal.

The outburst of goals for the Redmen hasn’t just been a playoff phenomenon. McGill scored 141 goals in the regular season in which they went 24-2-2. Western was the nation’s second highest scoring offence, managing 21 fewer goals than McGill.

“I think we scored a lot of goals all season and we’re right where we were most of the year,” Nobes said. “Guys are peaking at the right time of the year, we’re getting pucks to the net and finding different ways to score. That’s important in order to have success.”

The scoring success will have to continue at nationals in Fredericton, which will feature the top-ranked University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds who led the nation in the regular season by allowing just 43 goals. McGill knows the power of the Varsity Reds, having lost 7-1 in Fredericton on December 30. Despite the sting of that early loss, Nobes is still optimistic.

“Our team has evolved since then, and we’ve grown as a group,” he said. “We’ve improved in all facets of our game. That game [vs. UNB] was a good learning experience for us and it’ll pay dividends moving forward.”

Both the Redmen and the Mustangs will have over a week to prepare for the Cavendish University Cup presented by Home Depot, which gets going on March 24 and runs until March 27. Joining McGill and Western will be the host Varsity Reds, the St. Francis Xavier X-Men, the Alberta Golden Bears, and the Calgary Dinos. Of the top seven ranked teams in Canada, only defending champion St. Mary’s will miss out on the tournament, having lost to St.FX in the AUS semifinals.

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Seventh annual Israeli Apartheid Week comes to McGill

by Eric Mauser on

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Alice Walker

Israeli Apartheid Week­­—a week-long series of events designed to raise awareness of alleged Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians—highlights the ongoing debate around the world concerning the birth of the Israeli state, as it did at McGill this past week.  

Israeli Apartheid Week is praised for its promotion of open-forum dialogue by some and condemned by those who believe it is anti-Semitic. This week’s events in Montreal elicited similar controversy.

Palestinian-American journalist Ali Abunimah delivered the keynote address on Wednesday evening at the Bronfman Building. His talk, which was organized by Israeli Apartheid Week Montreal in conjunction with QPIRG McGill and Concordia, was designed to draw attention to policies Israel has imposed on Palestinians, which he called racist.  

“Israel is very, very committed to a one-state solution, but the only problem with Israel’s one-state solution is that it is an apartheid state,” Abunimah said.

Abunimah argued that Israel was limiting opportunities and rights to Palestinians based simply on their ethnicity, and covering up these abuses by either denying them or denouncing critics as “anti-Semites.”

“If Israel placed a different arbitrary restriction [on Palestinians] … and said you can’t come back because of your skin colour, then nobody would deny that this is apartheid,” he said.  

Aaron Lakoff, the event coordinator and a Concordia student, said the lecture was in keeping with Israeli Apartheid Week’s goals, which he described as “to foster education and debate on campuses.”

Lakoff added: “The issue [raised by Israeli Apartheid Week] is important for two reasons, the first being the magnitude of the situation. The war in Gaza in 2009 showed that Israel was strong and brutal enough to kill thousands of civilians. The second reason is because Canada is one of the biggest supporters of Israeli apartheid.”

Regarding the charges of some, notably Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, who recently described Israeli Apartheid Week as anti-Semitic. Lakoff responded that he sees a distinction between Judaism as a religion and the state of Israel.

“I myself as a Jew am incensed that Israel claims a right to speak for Jews around the world,” Lakoff said. “There is discord within the Jewish community and there is no consensus around Israel.”

Victoria Shore, a U3 humanistic  sudies major and president of Hillel McGill, a campus Jewish group, called Israeli Apartheid Week “divisive.” Responding to Abunimah’s lecture, she said, “University students are smart; if they do some reading, they will easily find that Israel is a fully functioning democracy, the only one, in fact, in the Middle East.”

“The week does not achieve dialogue about Palestinian human rights,” she added. “It only provides a negative environment for all students on campus. It creates a divisive and hostile atmosphere. University is meant to be a place that provides a positive learning environment, where issues can be discussed in an open forum, meant to provide real solutions to problems; this week is a platform for hate speech and intimidation.”

While McGill students debated, the same argument was echoed at a national level this week. The rector of Queen’s University, Nick Day, wrote an open letter to Ignatieff on news blog Rabble.ca to in favour of Israeli Apartheid Week, citing the Liberal leader’s “deep lack of intellectual integrity.” Day did not claim to be writing on behalf of students, but the letter makes reference to his elected position, and he signed the letter as “Rector.”  

Believing that this was an inappropriate use of his position, 2,200 students petitioned to have the Queen’s Alma Mater Society Assembly consider it at last Thursday’s meeting.  The Assembly voted unanimously to put the question of whether Day should be impeached to referendum. 

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Areas likely to be effected by climate change mapped

by Nathaniel Finestone on

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Jason Samson

Earlier this month, McGill PhD candidate Jason Samson and a number of other researchers released the world’s first map of human vulnerability to climate change.  

Samson, who studies climate change ecology, originally conceived of the idea while studying species adaptation to climate change. With his team, he applied similar techniques to human beings and found parts of Africa and Central America to be at the highest risk. Areas in the extreme global north and south, like Russia, Australia, and Canada, are in less danger.

“I was studying beavers and how they affect their environment,” Samson said. “I was also studying how species are affected by environment changes. We are seeing species move outside their normal range. Now we see species in Quebec we didn’t have before.”

While studying beavers, Samson came across a picture taken by NASA of the earth at night, and thought it would be interesting to see how humans are distributed across the globe and how they are affected by their environments.

“I used census data taken by governments all over, around 400,000 censuses from everywhere,” he said. “What I found is that human distribution is more related to environment than many other species like birds and trees. They tend to live in nicer climates, with very few living in the Arctic, Sahara, or the Amazon … It turns out climate is very important for where people live. “

Interestingly, some of the countries with the lowest emissions were found to be the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Murray Humphries, an associate professor in natural resource sciences at McGill, is Samson’s PhD supervisor and was a co-author of the paper.

“My main role was to encourage Jason in getting and following up on ideas,” Humphries said. “Lots of work has already been done in collecting climate control data, we mostly pulled [climate data and human vulnerability data] together.”

Samson had use of a supercomputer at McGill and was able to crunch the numbers in a matter of months. On a regular computer, the task would have taken years.   

Dominique Berteaux, professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Quebec at Rimouski, was another co-author and co-supervisor of Samson’s research. As an expert on Quebec mammals, Berteaux became involved in Samson’s research early on, when he was mainly studying beavers.

“When he was studying beavers we worked together to study how climate change affected these creatures. Then [we] figured why not get involved in doing it for humans too,” Berteaux said.

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