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Student Life

SILHOUETTE: Career hook-ups

by Alison Withers on

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There is a demand for McGill grads from companies in financial market hotspots overseas, and the McGill Financial Ambassadors have answered the call. Clovis Couasnon, U3 finance and mathematics, and Amine Larhrib, U3 finance and accounting, co-founded the club as a way for students to make contacts and ensure future job opportunities. Students are recognizing the importance of such a forum-the club is new this year and already boasts 65 paying members. Non-management students take note: the club membership is open to students in all faculties.

After traveling internationally, both founders discovered an abundance of overseas postings and alumni eager to open doors for students. Unfortunately, while overseas postings may seem alluring, the challenges of working in a foreign country can be overwhelming, resulting in a high turn-over rate in international job posts. However, the MFA believes if students prepare themselves adequately, they’ll have a much better chance at success.

“McGill students should take full advantage of the network of their alumni,” explains Larhib.

The MFA aims to increase student knowledge of topics related to financial markets and the workplace. Through a variety of events, members have the opportunity to meet with working professionals. They are also the first student club to offer week-long international company tours. With 13 students traveling to Hong Kong this January and another group heading for Dubai in March, the value of these tours is about to be proven.

“We want to allow students to opt for an international career without any economic barriers by building a base abroad and by encouraging teamwork to fundraise for trips,” says Couasnon. “Travelling itself is an advantage for students, and a great thing for anyone. Professionally, careers go faster when you enter into emerging markets. It’s not as limited as it would be if you were in a mature market, like New York. As long as you take advantage of it, you can evolve rapidly.”

The MFA is also committed to environmental initiatives. This November, they’re holding “Green Finance Day” to discuss carbon trading and socially responsible investments, while trying to show that people in the finance sector aren’t all sharks after the bottom line.

Despite overseas support and financial savvy, operating costs at home have been almost too much for them to handle. For example, their on-campus events cost nearly as much as it would to rent a hotel.

Not surprisingly, these high costs hinder the club’s ability to run career development services for McGill students on campus. However, it is not an entirely lost cause among McGill’s higher order­. Management Dean Peter Todd and the Management Undergraduate Society are giving a guarantee of full support to the MFA. “We have to do the work and prove we’re relevant, and then we’ll get financial help,” says Couasnon. Both recognize the value of the Association, both in expanding student horizons and in augmenting McGill’s global identity in the professional world.

“The value of our degree never drops,” asserts Larhib. Especially not with the MFA presenting students with a large scope of possibilities to pursue a post-undergrad degree.

For more information, visit their website at www.financeambassadors.ca

Student Life

Tribune Dating Xtravaganza

by Marie-Hélène Savard & Rhea Wong on

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With all the lonely hearts grumbling about the impending onslaught of sickly sweet Valentine’s schmaltz, ponder this: is romance dead? Before the Valentine’s Grinch that dwells in the recesses of your soul comes out and grabs the nearest bottle of liquor, rest assured that you’re not alone; the dating situation at McGill is more dire than delicious for many.

It seems that the average student does not date in the formal, pick-me-up-at-the-door kind of way. In fact, many students find that dating altogether is a rare occurrence often blamed on members of the opposite sex.

“The only real dates that I have are with people that I’m already seeing. I’m such a goof that I don’t think people are approaching me for real. I assume it’s pretend even though they might really like me, and I’m such flirt that I’ll flirt and think it doesn’t really mean anything,” says Sarah Schroeter, U2 political science and english literature. “I find guys at McGill are either too forward or too scared. If I’m smiling at you and making eye contact, that means I want you to ask me out.”

Laura Hamilton, a U1 education student agrees with the decline of the dating situation.

“I’ve dated one person before, but not here at McGill. I don’t know why, but I’ve noticed in Montreal a severe lack [of dating]. There is less formal dating, and more informal dating where you go out with a large group,” Hamilton comments.

If all of you are so fabulous…

Commonsense would dictate that raging hormones and cold weather is a recipe for romance even under the most crippling courseload. It would seem that the math of it would be simple: one single person plus another single person equals one couple. Yet, the prevalent singledom at McGill is mind-boggling and inquiring minds want to know why.

“Most of the time, I’m very busy. I don’t get to go out that much, just once in a while. I will generally approach [a] person if the person looks attractive or friendly,” says Robert Ratemo U2 engineering. “Most of the time, I approach people to make friends. I make a lot of friends and if it works out, then OK, but if not, you can just be friends.

“You’ll find that a lot of the girls have boyfriends, but outside of McGill. Most of my friends don’t really date. For me, it’s because I’m older. You can’t really go through mind games, but that’s just me,” says Ratemo.

For some, the circumstances are much more straightforward.

“I don’t have much time [for dating]. I just get to the naughty good shit,” grins Dave Castagner, U2 music.

Of course, personal quirks and tastes cannot be underestimated for the dampening of the proverbial mojo. For Chris G, MBA student, dating seems to be in a deep freeze.

“I date about twice a year. I never approach people. Every time I do it, it never works. I never send signals, I don’t dance very well. The atmosphere [for dating] is too cold,” he says.

All is not lost

Before declaring dating at McGill DOA, a blessed handful of students reaffirmed our faith in the existence of dating and love. There are people out there who date and have active love lives—they just may not be you.

“I think there’s a lot of dating which isn’t necessarily the football player dating the cheerleader. At university, there’s more freedom in relationships,” says Sean O’Connor, U1 arts.

For one student, dating is more than just a pastime- it is a philosophy. Despite her now-steady boyfriend, she seems to have cornered the dating market and shares some of her sage advice.

“I used to date every other weekend. People would set me up with different people or it would be people that I would meet,” remarks Shannon Cohen, U1 anthropology and history.

“Signals? Sometimes, mutual eye contact. I’ve had the ‘Don’t I know you from somewhere’ and it just snowballs from there.

“I think people tend to get into long term relationships. Just because they’ve dated someone once, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should be chained to them for life. People should just see each other and date other people before having a relationship. There should be the freedom to say, ‘I’ve gotten to know this person, we’ve gone on a few dates, and I really don’t want to go on anymore’,” advises Cohen.

The international perspective

The McGill International Students’ Network highlights the cultural differences between the amorous playing field of our fair winter hinterland compared with the spicier climes of France, Australia and Brazil.

“I’ll date once in a while, not more than four times a year. I usually take time to get to know the person before I date because God knows what can happen,” comments U2 english student Roberto Rocha of her Latin American home.

“Compared to Brazil, people here are more mature. In Brazil, you can date a girl one night and the next day pretend that you’ve never met her.”

Despite the North American perception of the sensual French, it seems that the average Parisian is much more hands off than Canadians.

“[I date] not too often. I never found the right person, I’m really picky. Canadian guys want more faster. In France, you talk and talk but here they want to kiss you right away,” says Melanie Albiger, grad student at the Genie Industriel Polytechnique.

Australian exchange student Bill Skinner, U2 anthropology, points out that despite cultural differences, we might all be on the same page about what makes a date great.

“Dating, for me, is going out with someone that you like and doing something special like dinner or a movie or something out of the ordinary. Usually, I get approached or it’s a mutual thing and we’ll be thinking the same thing.” opines Skinner.

The last hurrah

The final verdict on dating remains murky, but for some, the key is to take the initiative from your friendly neighborhood cheerleaders and be aggressive.

“We have to go to an auction to get guys! There aren’t enough guys at McGill, the number of men are very few. The boys aren’t really forward enough,” complains Huda Shashaa, a U2 arts student.

This Valentine’s, don’t stay at home twiddling your thumbs. Get on the phone, get on the dance floor, get out your pen and get some numbers. The revival of McGill dating won’t happen on its own.

“I think there’s a lot of casual dating [generally in Montreal] much more than there are actual relationships. [But] university is not conducive to dating,” explains student Maggie Schwalbach, U1 political science. “Usually, the guys that I date are not from McGill. It’s more of a shock than anything if they are from McGill.”

 

Do you sometimes wonder if you’re the only one despairing over the dating situation at McGill? Well, we did, and we asked 162 McGill students to fill out our ‘Trib date 2001’ survey. Here are some of the most interesting results.

 

 

 

Of those surveyed:

• 58% were single

• 50% of those in a relationship have been in said relationship for over a year

• 31% of those single have been single for over a year while 22% have been single for less than a month.

• 78% have been on an “official date” at least once.

• Men are definitely braver than women: 66% of men said they usually approach the other party, while only 11% of women did the same.

• Still, 65% of those single said they did not “acti
vely date”. Why not? A staggering 60% answered that it just didn’t happen because “nobody asks, I don’t ask”. The “I’m too busy” excuse went out the window, with only 7% answering they didn’t have time to date.

• The “I don’t ask” mentality was confirmed by the 71% who said they would not approach an attractive person in a café. When asked why not, 37% gave “shyness” as the main reason, and only 7% answered that they didn’t want to judge a person by their looks.

• Of the 29% who answered that they would approach an attractive stranger, “curiosity” was the #1 explanation, followed by “why not?”

• Even though an overwhelming majority would not approach a stranger, only 10% said they would not be likely to go out with a fellow student who randomly asked them out, while most contended it depended on the situation.

• Just because we won’t ask anyone out point-blank doesn’t mean we don’t try to indicate our interest more subtly: 85% said that they sent out signals, eye contact being the most popular one. The other 15% don’t send out signals mostly because they’re “too shy”, or they “don’t know how”.

• The signals must not work that well, because only 22% answered that most of their relationships started after being picked up at a party or social event, compared to 75% who said that they were already friends or acquaintances.

• 50% of men thought it was easier for women to pick up, while 55% of women thought it was easier for men.

• 0% answered that most of their relationships started off as blind dates. Blind dates are a strange phenomenon: 60% of those who have never been set up on one said they would be willing to go, but only 28% of those who have been set up on one actually followed through and went.

• 45% of respondents wouldn’t date more than one person at a time (take that, Sex and the City!)

• Finally, the eternal question: how long should you wait before calling? While 45% answered “2 days”, some didn’t hesitate to show their exasperation with comments like “I hate this game bullshit!”

 

News

University of Toronto seeks tuition hike to reach balanced budget

by Matt Essert on

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The University of Toronto’s Business Board has proposed a tuition fee schedule that will include an average fee increase of 4.31 per cent for domestic students and 6 per cent increase for international students. The fee increases are part of the Business Board’s plan to balance the budget for the upcoming years.

After missing out on a large endowment of $62 million last year, the Business Board is taking major steps to plan out projects for the next several years including updating certain student services and strengthening research infrastructure.

Although many are happy about the plans to balance the budget and recuperate from the previous losses, others are opposed to the proposed solution of tuition fee hikes. Adam Awad, the incoming president of the University of Toronto Students’ Union, has been a vocal opponent of the imminent tuition hikes.

“High tuition fees are absolutely a roadblock for students, particularly in Ontario where we have the highest, on average, fees in the country,” he said. “Tuition fee increases make education less accessible for people. There seems to be a disconnect between the perspectives of decision-makers, both in universities and in government, and the realities of students that leads to a deep misunderstanding of the challenges that we face.”

Julius Grey, a well-known Montreal lawyer and former McGill law professor, also commented on the situation during a panel discussion last week on alternatives to tuition fee hikes. He expressed concern with the developments at the University of Toronto and urged Quebec students to stand up for themselves.

“I think it’s a very serious and terrible thing that’s happening in Toronto,” Grey said. “It’s a shocking development, and everyone at McGill should be protesting against [this] program, which is going [to create] a new class system.”

Sebastian Ronderos-Morgan, the Students’ Society vice-president external, pointed out that tuition laws and policies differ between provinces, though he called rising tuition a trend that is “already very obvious throughout Canada.” He also criticized the administration and government for their stances on tuition increases.

“There’s so much rhetoric that goes on coming from the McGill administration and the Quebec government,” Ronderos-Morgan said. “According to them, so long as there is an allocation of the fee hike that goes toward student aid, it’s actually not affecting accessibility.”

Ronderos-Morgan cited a study conducted by the Ministry of Education in 2007, which found that tuition hikes would lead to lower enrolment in universities, especially among lower and lower-middle class students.

Awad also commented on the policy makers and their role in these discussions.

“I sometimes wonder if decision-makers recognize that the times have changed quite substantially since many of them were in school,” Awad said. “Last year, when the university was voting to increase tuition fees, the provost said that the increase was only $250 and that it really wasn’t unmanageable for students. For many, $250 represents the amount of money they spend on food in a month.”

Both Awad and Ronderos-Morgan believe that tuition fee hikes are not the only answer to many universities’ yawning budget deficits.

“Research is being done by other student associations and there are a lot of alternative proposals that exist and are around, but they are not being considered by the government,” said Ronderos-Morgan. “And frankly, they’re not being considered by governments around Canada.”

“I don’t think that increases are inevitable if there is adequate funding coming from the province,” added Awad. “There is, of course, the issue of how universities prioritize their spending internally, which is largely a matter of shifting limited resources within a starved institution.”

News, SSMU

A final fireside chat with Students’ Society President Ivan Neilson

by Tom Quail & James Gilman on

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What were your biggest accomplishments this year?I was happy with the style of management that we had this year. The individual vice-presidents started new initiatives and new projects, assisting one another. I’m also thrilled that we were able to reform the committee structure. That’ll be a big improvement next year.

What advice do you have for next year’s SSMU President-elect Zach Newburgh?First, continue to build on the successes that we’ve had this year. Too often, a new executive will come in and reinvent the wheel. In some cases, this is necessary. Obviously I’m biased here, but I believe a lot of the work we’ve done this year can only be improved upon. Beyond that, it’s important to solicit as much input from as many different members as possible – whether that’s advice from the big student groups on campus, or finding different ways to reach out to individual students.

What are some of the challenges that next year’s executives will face?Free speech on campus will be an issue at McGill next year. Right now, as we saw at the University of Ottawa with Ann Coulter, there are two different camps on campuses across Canada. There’s one group that wants to maintain the university as a place of learning where students can come and not feel barraged by other ideas. Then, there’s the opposite groups, who says that universities are the final bastions of free and open expression and dialogue.Next year, we also have several leases coming up in the building. It’s really an opportunity for us to decide what type of services we should be offering. And then, of course, in the face of imminent tuition hikes, it’ll be important to represent a solid and unified front to the university and the provincial government.

Do you have any concerns regarding next year’s SSMU executive?They all have strong backgrounds in their respective portfolios. Individually, they’ll be able to handle certain challenges, but it’s going to depend on how they work together as a team. None of them have worked together before. Their success will depend on whether they can come together. In particular, their success will hinge on Zach’s leadership and the vision that he will promote. But it’s also going to depend on their willingness to work together. Again, once you let egos and personalities get in the way, it’s really hard to maintain that sense of collective vision.

Has the Salman Rushdie lecture become more controversial than you thought it would be?Yes. When we brought this to Council, we were given no indication that this would be an issue. I was surprised by the negative reaction. Of course, this was an executive initiative, though it was by no means a done deal when it was brought in front of Council.

What did you think of Council this year? Is it simply a rubber-stamping body that serves as a check on the executive?Council is the body that runs the Society. The trend has been, in the last couple years, for different reasons, that Council’s quality has declined. The number of initiatives being presented by councillors has decreased, the level of interest at Council is dwindling, and the committee activity and participation have fallen off the map. Perhaps it simply wasn’t a good year for individual councillors. But as it’s set up right now, it’s supposed to be the body that runs the Society.

Do you think this year was just a bad year for Council? Or is reform needed?A lot of it depends on the individual leadership of the executive. This year, [the SSMU executive] has been strong. In past years, if there’s less confidence in the executive, councillors see more of a need to step in and intervene. However, many factors play a role, so it’s hard to justify sweeping reform from one bad year.

What action do you recommend taking on General Assemblies?I recommend that the executive look at it and take it on as a project. They’re going to have to look at it and make some tough decisions. Whether that’s firmly entrenching the GA as an institution and accepting its shortcomings, or, in turn, deciding that GAs have no place in the society – thus getting rid of it altogether.

Editorial, Opinion

EDITORIAL: J-Board should throw out case against Newburgh

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On Friday, the Students’ Society’s Judicial Board will hear Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights’ case against Zach Newburgh, SSMU’s speaker of council and SSMU president-elect.

SPHR claims that by acting as chair of the Winter General Assembly, Newburgh “placed himself in a serious conflict of interest, making it impossible for him to perform his task in an impartial manner” during the debate over the motion “Re: The Defence of Human Rights, Social Justice, and Environmental Protection.” The motion, which passed, expanded the mandate of the Financial Ethics Review Committee, but caused controversy due to preamble clauses that singled out the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories as “unlawful” and “unethical.” SPHR claims that, because Newburgh is also the president of Hillel Montreal, he should not have acted as the GA Speaker.

SPHR’s case hinges on three issues: precedent, procedure, and prejudice. All three have little legal merit, and the Tribune encourages the Judicial Board to dismiss SPHR’s case against Newburgh.

Newburgh’s decision to permit a motion that struck all mentions of Israel from the preamble to “Defence of Human Rights…” is the main focus of SPHR’s case. Since it was previously thought that preambles (statements of fact that precede the motion) were unalterable, past SSMU GAs have not entertained motions to amend them. However, Newburgh was correct to break with precedent and allow an opponent of SPHR’s motion to amend the “Israel clauses” in the preamble. Robert’s Rules of Order – which govern GAs – allow for amending preambles, and so an argument of “precedent” holds no water. If the precedent is an incorrect reading of Robert’s Rules as this was, it should be struck down.

SPHR also argues that Newburgh didn’t follow the proper procedure for amending a preamble. They may have a point. In the chaos of the Winter GA, he may not have perfectly followed every nuance of Robert’s Rules. However, voting on the amendment was fair and democratic. Anyone who has been to SSMU Council or a previous GA knows that Robert’s Rules are exceedingly difficult to follow to the letter. Newburgh was almost entirely accurate and – most importantly – fair. That should be enough to satisfy even the harshest critics.

Finally, SPHR claims that Newburgh’s ties to Hillel Montreal and to Hillel McGill President Mookie Kideckel (disclosure: Kideckel is a Tribune columnist) create a bias that prejudiced Newburgh against the motion. The Tribune feels that Newburgh handled himself admirably in a difficult environment at the GA, and that his decisions showed no bias. Furthermore, Newburgh approached SSMU President Ivan Neilson before the GA to discuss his potential conflict of interest. Neilson, and the SSMU Executive Committee, decided that any potential conflict of interest was irrelevant. Newburgh is a SSMU employee; therefore, any onus to remove him from his position was on the executive.

SPHR’s case is nothing more than a personal vendetta against Newburgh. The motion passed – as it should have once the specific mention of Israel was struck from the preamble – so we’re unsure why they have brought this case to judicial board. No one likes a sore winner – we hope the Judicial Board will see through SPHR’s petty politics, so we can finally put the awful Winter GA to rest.

Opinion

THE SITUATION: Turn to the right

by Mookie Kideckel on

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I thought I knew who I was before I came to university.

I thought, for instance, that I wasn't a racist. But when I told two girls tabling against Israel that the State had a right to exist, they cleared that up for me. Which was lucky, because after a year of educating my Jewish youth group on the dangers of Islamophobia, I might have gone my whole life not knowing how much I hated people different from me.

I also thought that I was a big lefty; I was going to be an activist for all kinds of social justice causes. This was corrected quickly. A year of carefully observing university-level protestors taught me that I couldn't be involved with leftist politics without hating capitalism, anybody with a smidgeon of authority, and, of course, Israel. They pointed me to my people: the neo-cons, which surprised nearly everyone with whom I'd ever had a political discussion.

And since Israel seemed to come up in every political interaction I had, I thought that I was pretty liberal when it came to Israeli politics – for example, opposing the settlements and the war in Lebanon. One of my best friends is from Ramallah, and he thought I was moderate. But the enlightened Torontonians informed me that my devotion to the two-state solution placed me squarely in the extremist camp, something reiterated in letters to the editors of both the Tribune and the Daily.

I'm not happy that I found out all these things about myself. Ignorance was bliss.

But my right-wing relatives must be thrilled. The activist left has done what no conservative could ever have accomplished – they pushed me to the centre.

It started with the protests. The ones where demonstrators donned black masks and shouted. Intimidated. Emanated pure negativity. What kind of dream did they have? They were straight out of a nightmare.

Then there was the writing. The people who thought they were radical and critical, but who really just recited the tropes of the sixties leftist movement. Who thought you were crazy for entertaining new ideas after 40 years of stagnation.

There was the anti. Anti-racism. Anti-oppression. Anti-capitalist. What were they for? All they talked about was destruction.

And, worst of all, there was the narcissism. The self-righteousness, entitlement, and lack of appreciation for history. As if they were marching with King or Ghandi or Mandela. As if law enforcement was equivalent to police brutality. As if calling something injustice made it so, forgetting that oppressors have also invoked the cause of liberty and justice; that segregationists and slaveowners also fought for their "rights."

It's not good enough to only say we have a right to something. We're smart university students – we can dig deeper, ask "why," and make a more convincing case than that.

I have no interest in the activist right, but the unethical behaviour of the activist left – who I agree with on many issues – isn't any better. And if I'm guilty of the type of labelling that pushed me to the centre, if I've made attributions that were insincere or untrue, then I apologize. Because it needs to stop. It's time that we who believe in social justice practice what we preach.

So I guess I know myself better than before I came to McGill. But I wonder what people who spend more time yelling than learning have picked up along the way. They can call me a racist and a neo-con all they want. I'm over it. But one day they're going to run into an actual racist. One day they'll meet a real right-winger. And they won't know what hit them.

Mookie has, however, enjoyed being a Tribune columnist during his time at McGill. The Tribune is looking for students to write a bi-weekly column during the 2010-11 fall and winter semesters. Applicants should send a cover letter and three writing samples to [email protected].

 

Student Life

The Tribune’s guide to a summer in Montreal

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Breakfast

True espresso aficionados should head to Caffe in Gamba in the Plateau. Combined with plush seating and decadent pastries, their freshly brewed espresso drinks are the best in Montreal.

Eggspectation and Chez Cora – both Canadian chains – offer crepes, pancakes, and waffles piled high with fruit for reasonable prices.

Place Milton and Lola Rosa are two breakfast/brunch/lunch restaurants that you’ve probably walked by every morning while rushing to class, but maybe never tried. Place Milton offers traditional breakfast fare at dirt cheap prices (but beware of their pancakes – they either use pancake mix, or their flapjacks are just mediocre). Lola Rosa’s vegetarian and vegan cuisine is both cheap and flavourful, and their brownies will send you into chocolate heaven.

Lunch

Santropol’s legendary sandwiches are a must-eat: nowhere else will you find unique flavor combinations like pesto, cream cheese, and hot sauce in a sandwich, and heaping portions of soup and colorful salads.

M:brgr’s posh atmosphere is toned down a bit during lunch, where you can get a juicy, made-to-order burger, fries, and a soft drink for $12.75.

Dinner

For the best thin crust pizza north of the border, head to Prato on St. Laurent. They’ve redefined pizza by using only the freshest ingredients and cheeses. Make sure to try their Pizza Bianca, with thyme, prosciutto, onions, and a creamy cheese sauce.

Vallarta’s rendition of Mexican food is truly unique to Montreal: it’s real Mexican food. Everything from the chips and guacamole to the mole to the flan is homemade.

Graduation Dinner

Graduating this semester? Montreal has the some of the best fine dining in the world, which you probably haven’t experienced on a student budget. The Plateau’s La Chronique offers impeccable yet unpretentious French food and an enormous wine list. Pied du Cochon is perfect for any carnivore. Their duck-fat fries and foie gras are crowd-pleasers, and their selection of French desserts will make your celebration special.

Located on Bishop Street, Da Vinci offers real Italian food – no pizza, chicken parmesan, or garlic bread. Their selection of homemade pastas and antipasto platters is refreshing after four years of frozen meals.

Miscellaneous

Take advantage of summer produce by taking the metro to Atwater and Jean Talon markets. Their stands offer reasonably priced, freshly picked summer fruits and vegetables and a wide variety of cheese, baked goods, and specialty foods, all of which are perfect for a picnic on Mount Royal.

St. Viateur and Fairmount bagels turn out piping hot Montreal-style bagels 24/7, and at about 70 cents per bagel, they’re economical, too.

Juliette et Chocolat serves up chocolate in every imaginable way: on crepes, with fruit, and with alcohol, just to name a few. With a new location close to campus that’s bigger than previous locales, and a decent lunch menu, this is the place to go for all things chocolate.

Student Life

Wet hot Canadian summer: A guide to Montreal May-August

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Whether you’re a visiting student, taking a May course, or a Montreal native, summer is the best time to tour Montreal. It’s easy to get trapped in the McGill bubble during the school year, but use the warm weather as a chance to explore the city. From festivals to cuisine, we present your summer guide to one of Canada’s most diverse and exciting cities.

News

Women helping women

by Shannon Kimball on

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In 2011, Winnipeg is planning to open Manitoba's first birthing centre, where mothers can give birth in a less clinical atmosphere with the assistance of midwives, nurses, and doulas. While it's a step forward for natural births in the province, midwifery and natural births are still the minority among birthing practices in Canada. Roughly 99 per cent of Canadian women choose to give birth in a hospital, even though most women are at low risk for the labour complications that require physician care. Most women in Montreal who do give birth in hospitals opt for an epidural, a local anesthetic that eases labour pains. However, many women are renouncing the medicalization of childbirth, and looking to other women to ease their labour pain.

A long, local history

In Canada, informal midwifery has its roots in aboriginal birthing practices, which then extended to medical education and care by the 20th century.

"Doctors were taught by midwives at McGill," says Sarah Berry, McGill professor of health sociology. But the teaching wasn't mutual. "Once new technologies were introduced, physicians excluded women and midwives from those educational processes."

Midwifery was outlawed in Canada at the beginning of the 20th century, be it from doubts over women's capabilities, physicians' protectionist instincts, or a colonialist fear of following aboriginal practices. While lay midwives contintued to practice, it was only after intensive lobbying that midwifery was reintegrated into healthcare in the 1990s, making Canada one of the last developed countries to regulate the practice. Even now, this regulation and coverage varies from province to province.

Natural birthing options

Natural birth can take many forms, including home births, births at a birthing centre, and even hospital births. However, all natural births, by definition, exclude the use of prescription painkillers and medical interventions such as cesarean sections unless they are necessary.

Berry says that many hospital births that are initially at low risk of complications result in a cascade of interventions including painkillers like pitocin (also known as oxytocin), epidurals, and ultimately, in some cases, cesarean sections.

"It may start with pitocin to speed up labour because hospitals work on a schedule," explains Berry, "but speeding it up could increase labour pains … then you have an epidural and that slows things down."

While the evidence for unnecessary cesarean sections is mixed, women are more likely to have a cesarean if they begin their birthing process in a hospital. Cesarean sections can cause a variety of complications, especially for future births if a mother has had multiple c-sections.

All of these interventions have led many mothers to opt for some form of a natural birth. Midwives, who help to deliver babies either within the home or at a birthing centre that has a home-like environment, are becoming increasingly well respected by the medical community.

Berry emphasizes that the media often focusses too much on the risky parts of birth, "rather than the majority of births where midwives could provide good care for low risk women." This focus on risk undermines a woman's confidence in giving birth naturally, which is very safe.

Midwives are not the only options for natural births. A doula can act as a midwife's assistant, or provide assistance to the mother and family during hospital births.

"Midwives are generally very respectful of what a woman wants to do during a birth," says Lesley Everest, founder of Mother Wit Doula Care in Montreal. While midwives focus on the actual delivery of the baby, doulas provide much needed assistance to both the midwife and mother.

They take on an even more personal role during hospital care, and provide continuity of care during long labour.

"In a hospital, we're going into a very clinical place," says Everest. "It's very big, it's not personal; most of the time the woman's doctor is not there, and she's being taken care of by people that she does not know." The doula's job is to provide continuous care to the mother, father, and newborn baby in the clinical environment, where shift changes and new personnel are the norm.

With conflicting methods, it is surprising that doulas and physicians work well together.

"We respect the fact that our client is choosing to have a hospital birth and we're just trying to make that as good of an experience for her as possible within the system," says Everest. Doulas will outline a woman's choices, always with deference to her doctor.

Additionally, doulas help to make the birthing experience easier for a woman's partner.

"A lot of partners have never seen a birth before and it can be very tense to see how intensely a woman expresses her pain in labour," says Everest, "and a lot of times the partner might not know that this is okay. We expect way too much from [women’s partners]." Doulas and midwives diffuse the tension and act as communicators between midwife or physician and the family.

"We help the partner be free to really loving to the woman without having to do anything else."

While over 90 per cent of women giving birth in Montreal hospitals receive an epidural, women who are accompanied by a doula typically only receive an epidural 10 per cent of the time. Everest credits the presence and support of another women during birth for this ability to withstand the pain.

Future of natural births

While natural births are less popular, they are also significantly less expensive, something that is appealing to policy makers.

"We see a trend in de-hospitalization because it's so expensive," says Berry. "Midwifery looks appealing because it not only provides good care but the scientific evidence suggests that midwives provide really good care for birthing women and particularly for low-risk birthing women."

Giving birth in a hospital can cost up to $10,000, while midwife costs in Canada range from $800 to $3,000. But midwives also follow wives throughout pregnancy and afterwards.

However, reintegrating midwifery and natural births into the healthcare system won't be easy. Canada and the United States were anomalies in abolishing midwifery, and so reintegration will have to begin from scratch.

"I think generally [doula and midwife care] are a reasonably rare practice," says Everest, "but it is getting more and more well known." Everest, who is overbooked, credits physicians who readily give referrals to natural birthing practices for this increase in popularity.

"The nurses and doctors … are usually really happy that we're there," says Everest. "We help to make their jobs easier too."

Making the decision

Even if natural births don't become the norm, many women are now discovering the empowerment and bonding that comes with labour. An increase in natural births will require a working relationship between midwives, doulas, and doctors, as well as the expectation of the mother to thoroughly examine her choices. However, medical intervention will always have to be an option in the event of complications.

Ultimately, the birthing trends will depend on what women want from their birthing experience, aside from a healthy child.

"I know lots of women who have gone in, they haven't had any thought about the experience and they have an epidural right away and they come out with a baby and they're all very happy," says Everest. However, she also claims that women may not be aware of what they're missing.

"The discomfort that's inherent in labour is there for a reason: it helps to create this beautiful cocktail of hormones that the mother and the baby are bathed in," says Everest. This cocktail of hormones allows the mother and baby to bond, and is noticeably absent in hospital environments.

While hospital births rarely result in long-term health problems for either the mother or the child, it is worth exploring t
he older, less complicated ways of bringing a baby into the world.

"When moms are left to birth in a way that makes them feel very powerful, they tend to forge really happy relationships with their babies."

 

Recipes, Student Life

Make your own meatball sub

by Francesca Ferenczi on

More in Recipes:

Meatball subs are the quintessential Italian-American dish – a pizza, burger, and a pasta hybrid. They have all the flavors you could ask for in a meal, and they are hearty and filling. Making your own is simple, fun, and will certainly leave you satisfied (or wanting more).

This recipe uses ricotta to lighten the meatballs and the simple tomato sauce is worth making in bulk for future meals. To make this sub even more exciting, the rolls are smeared with garlic butter and broiled before adding the huge meatballs, melted cheese and finally dousing it with the tomato sauce. The final result is essentially a garlic bread sandwich. Drooling yet? Making these yourself only once will be enough to keep you from ever making the mistake of buying one.

Meatball Subs

For the meatballs:

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 3 slices of bread soaked in 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons minced parsley
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400º F. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil and spray with baking spray.
  2. In the bowl with the soaking bread, add the ricotta, egg, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir, mashing against the sides of the bowl until it looks like a paste.
  3. Thoroughly mix the paste into the meat with your hands, trying not to over-mix.
  4. Form the mixture into about 12 meatballs and place on the baking sheet.
  5. Bake for 15 minutes. Set aside.

For the tomato sauce:

  • 28 ounces whole peeled tomatoes from a can
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved
  • Salt to taste

Directions

  1. Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon.
  2. Add the meatballs to the sauce, making sure they are coated. Keep at a simmer over low heat.

Note: You can stop here to let the sauce and meatballs cool, and freeze them for future use or reheat them and continue with the following steps within two to three days.

For the subs:

  • 1 portion tomato sauce with meatballs
  • 4 large hoagie rolls, split in half
  • 4 tbsp. butter, softened
  • 2 large cloves minced garlic
  • 8 slices of provolone

Directions

  1. Preheat the broiler. Keep the sauce and meatballs over the heat at a simmer.
  2. Mix the butter and minced garlic and spread onto the rolls, dividing evenly between the four. Broil these until crusty and golden, about two minutes.
  3. Place three meatballs and lay two slices of cheese on the bottom half of the rolls. Place these in the oven for 30 seconds, until the cheese melts.
  4. Divide the remaining sauce over the top of the melted cheese. Cover with the top half of the roll and serve immediately.

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