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Education professors apply to become McGill’s second faculty union

by Ghazal Azizi on

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In November 2022, Quebec’s Tribunal administratif du travail (TAT) certified the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL) as the bargaining unit representing the Faculty of Law’s tenured and tenure-track professors, a first in McGill’s history. Less than a year later, the Faculty of Education, almost double the size, has followed suit.  

The Association of McGill Professors of Education (AMPE) was created on July 4, 2023, and applied to the TAT for certification on Sept. 21, 2023. Dennis Wendt, Interim President of AMPE, says the demand for a union grew stronger within the faculty as dissatisfaction accumulated. 

“There are different concerns that different faculty [members] have. If there is a grand narrative, it’s dissatisfaction. And, if there’s one thing that stands out more than anything, I think, is workload,” Wendt told The Tribune. “Any one thing is not a problem, but it’s like death by a thousand paper cuts, and so we have one thing after another after another laid on us, but nothing’s ever taken away.”

Helena Silen, U2 Education, is the vice-president of Academic Affairs at the Education Undergraduate Society of McGill (EdUS). She expressed solidarity with the Education professors on behalf of the EdUS and stressed the importance of fairly compensated faculty for students’ learning conditions. 

“As students, I think the bottom line is […] that a happy teacher and a teacher who has the bandwidth and support to be present in the classroom will lead to a better class,” Silen said. “So, it makes me happy to think that they could be more fairly compensated.”

According to Wendt, teaching is only 40 per cent of a professor’s duties. Research occupies another 40 per cent of their workload, and the remaining 20 per cent is dedicated to service and community contributions. 

Wendt argues that the expected workload exceeds the time and effort professors are compensated for. In part, he attributes this issue to changes in course-relief policies, which temporarily release professors of certain teaching duties following awards, research grants, or major administrative roles. Wendt told The Tribune that the administration has “cracked down” on granting course releases in the recent past, to the professors’ dismay.

AMPL President Evan Fox-Decent has found that since unionizing, the faculty has more equal footing against McGill. The union is currently in negotiations with the university over their first collective agreement.

“AMPL is thrilled that another faculty at McGill has decided to take better control of its own governance, and is confident that our colleagues in the Faculty of Education are going to find, as we have, that the opportunities available to professors, once they organize into a certified Faculty Association, are unlike opportunities that are otherwise ever available to them,” Fox-Decent said in an interview with The Tribune.

The path to faculty-level certification was laborious for AMPL, with the university contesting the certification in a year-long legal battle and appealing to the Superior Court of Quebec for judicial review of TAT’s certification decision. Given the administration’s litigious approach to AMPL’s certification, Fox-Decent anticipates a similar attitude towards AMPE. However, he remains hopeful that the precedent law professors set will relieve the need for long litigation. 

“It’s regrettable because it’s a distraction. It costs money […] so it deprives us of a certain amount of resources and time and it expresses a regrettable attitude on the part of McGill toward some of their colleagues,” Fox-Decent said. “But it is what it is. It’s going to run its course, McGill is going to lose. And eventually, they’re going to have to just come to grips with the fact that two of their faculties now are organized, and it’s possible that others will be in the future.”

On Oct. 11, McGill informed AMPE of their decision to contest the union’s certification. In a statement to The Tribune, McGill’s media relations office reiterated the university’s commitment to Quebec’s Labour Code, but refrained from disclosing more.

“We, as an employer, are limited in what we can communicate during a unionization drive, in order to not be perceived or construed as interfering with the employee’s freedom of association,” McGill Media Relations Officer Frédérique Mazerolle wrote. 

The hearings regarding AMPE’s certification will commence on Nov. 9 before the TAT.

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Unlocking the brain’s potential through neuroplasticity and amblyopia treatment

by Ann Derham on

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The term ‘neuroplasticity’ never fails to incite intrigue. It involves structural and functional transformations within the brain as a way to adapt, often in response to interactions with the environment. Over the past decades, the concept of neuroplasticity has gained substantial traction in neuroscience, offering novel insights and opening up new possibilities. 

Professor Robert Hess, Director of Research in McGill’s Department of Ophthalmology, recently published a paper in the Journal of Physiology investigating how the potential of exposure to darkness could impact neuroplasticity in adults.

Hess has dedicated his academic career to neuroplasticity, driven by his interest in amblyopia, a condition where the brain’s inability to adequately process input from one eye causes it to favour the other. The main cause of amblyopia does not lie within the eye itself but instead resides in the brain’s visual cortex. 

“[W]e can recover [visual] function because the hardware hasn’t been lost; it’s just that the software needs to be changed,” Hess said in an interview with The Tribune.

This notion of ‘software’ change is at the heart of neuroplasticity: An idea that Hess and his colleagues pursued in 2011 in their efforts to treat amblyopia in young children. They created innovative therapies, including movie and video game interventions developed in collaboration with the gaming giant Ubisoft to remarkably improve eye coordination and vision. 

In his new study, Hess investigated the impact of a 60-minute period of complete darkness on neuron activity and visual plasticity in the adult human cortex in both normal-sighted and amblyopic adults. In the brain, the transmission of information occurs through the firing of neurons as they communicate with one another. To successfully fire, the cell must be depolarized by excitatory stimuli, while the cell becomes hyperpolarized from inhibitory stimuli, leading to decreased activity of communication.

“Previously, people had shown that this works only in juvenile animals [like] kittens, and mountain primates too, but to my knowledge, not in adults,” Hess said.

He explained that past research, which demonstrated improvement of visual function in kittens following ten days of complete darkness, partially inspired his recent study. However, it is believed that neuroplasticity is most effective during critical periods—developmental periods that end when an organism reaches adulthood.

“So this is where this sort of metaplasticity comes in: There is a degree of plasticity that is over, and you can’t reactivate it, but you can modulate it. You can extend it a bit,” Hess said.

Following the 60-minute dark exposure, the researchers measured the excitatory and inhibitory balance in the primary visual cortex using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). They found that this period of dark exposure strengthened the local excitability in the primary visual cortex and boosted visual plasticity in normal-sighted adults only, while in amblyopic adults, plasticity remained unaffected.

Interestingly, the researchers concluded that the amount of brain chemicals called ‘excitatory neurotransmitters’ did not have a strong correlation with enhanced plasticity. Instead of chemical quantity, what mattered was how much these chemicals changed, suggesting that the physiological basis of plasticity in humans is more complex than the relationship of cortical excitation and inhibition.

“This is a first attempt in an area that is developing and that we know so little about, but could be important,” Hess said. 

Hess encourages everyone to have the “confidence to ask the questions that you might think shouldn’t be asked,” firmly believing that “there is no such thing as a stupid question.” 

His lab is always seeking participants for ongoing research experiments. With unwavering enthusiasm, he anticipates that this involvement will shed more light on the adaptability of the human brain at any age and contribute to the discovery of more effective treatments for disorders such as amblyopia.

Behind the Bench, Private, Sports

Let’s reel in the disappointment surrounding Kim Ng’s departure from the Marlins

by Marco Zeppilli on

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On Oct. 16, Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins announced that they would be parting ways with Kim Ng, the first woman to hold the position of general manager (GM) in any of North America’s four major men’s sports. In a statement, Marlins’ chairman and principal owner Bruce Sherman announced that while the club had exercised its team option on Ng’s contract for the 2024 season, Ng had opted to decline her mutual option. It has since been reported that the organization was seeking to hire a President of Baseball Operations––an intermediary between ownership and the GM––to whom Ng would have reported directly. The tone of coverage surrounding Ng’s departure has been largely critical of the Marlins, suggesting that Ng deserved better treatment from the club. However, this sequence of events is neither outlandish nor does it undo any of the progress achieved by Ng and other women currently occupying or pursuing front office roles in professional sports.

Ng was originally hired as the Marlins’ GM in 2020, a significant development for women and people of colour in professional sports as the first person of East Asian descent to take on the role. Following former President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill’s departure from the club, Ng worked alongside former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who officially held the position of CEO and oversaw day-to-day baseball and business operations. When Jeter left Miami before the 2022 season, his position remained vacant for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, leaving the club without a CEO or a President of Baseball Operations. 

The Fish could have filled Jeter’s position by hiring an external candidate or promoting from within the organization. In the latter case, Ng, as the highest-ranking baseball operations executive outside of ownership, would have been a logical choice. However, Sherman and the Marlins opted for the former, exercising their club option that would have kept Ng as GM for 2024. While some pundits have criticized the Marlins for looking for a new President of Baseball Operations and making Ng second-in-command, the decision is unsurprising considering the club’s previous organizational structure and the current industry standard. While the Marlins decision not to promote Ng merits criticism given Sherman’s praise of her work as GM, the club is within their right to search externally for a President of Baseball Operations. 

The desire to keep Ng in her role as GM should be viewed as a recognition of her success. In 2023, the Marlins reached the postseason for the first time in a 162-game campaign since their 2003 World Series triumph. Ng bolstered the club’s roster by acquiring batting champion Luis Arráez and oversaw a successful 2023 trade deadline, bringing in Josh Bell and Jake Burger, who both provided a much-needed boost to the team’s offense and played a pivotal role in the team’s quest for the postseason.

Ng’s reasoning for declining her mutual option remains unclear. In a statement, Ng said she and Sherman were unaligned in their views on the future of the team’s baseball operations, however, this ambiguity does not clarify to outsiders why the ties severed. A source close to Ng has stated the decision was related to the Marlins’ budget constraints, with the club’s payroll ranking in the bottom third of the league for the entirety of Ng’s tenure. Ng, who had previously worked in the New York Yankees’ front office, might have been dissatisfied with the Marlins’ inability to lessen the gap in payroll with high revenue clubs, making it more difficult to extend player contracts after arbitration or lure big ticket free agents. 

In any case, Ng is a highly capable baseball executive with a proven track record at the sport’s highest level. Whether she finds employment with another Major League club or in the league office, her presence as a front-facing figure with the Marlins represented a refreshing change of pace in a historically white male-dominated field. The Marlins did what they believed to be in the best interest of their organization. While the end of this chapter may be disappointing for some, Ng’s time in Miami remains significant for women and people of colour pursuing careers in professional sports.

Science & Technology

Exploring the groundbreaking architecture at the “Design for the Global Majority” exhibition

by Eliza Wang on

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As the global housing crisis worsens, a revolutionary project spearheaded by the Minimum Cost Housing Group (MCHG) at McGill’s Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture promises to reverse the narrative. “Design for the Global Majority,” an exhibition happening on campus from Oct. 2 to 27, showcases affordable and sustainable housing designs tailored to the needs of low-resource communities across the developing world and beyond. 

The Tribune attended the opening keynote lecture on Oct. 19, 2023, Thousand Million Clients, by Vikram Bhatt, Professor Emeritus at McGill and former Director of the MCHG, in conversation with Ipek Türeli, Associate Professor at McGill and Canada Research Chair in Architectures of Spatial Justice, and Robert Mellin, retired Professor in McGill’s School of Architecture. 

“According to the United Nations sustainable development goals observatory statistics, between 2014 and 2018, the population of the urban poor grew from 23 per cent to almost 25 per cent […] the number is bigger than 100 million, ” Bhatt said during the lecture. “And by 2030, it’s assumed that [the global urban population] will be six billion, and six out of 10 people will be living in the cities. It’s critical, I think, that architects, urban designers, and planners engage in this.”

Türeli acknowledged the rising issues in urban settlements and drew connections to the group’s “Design for the Global Majority” project across five thematic areas: Upcycle, Harness, Plan, Leverage, and Hack.

The MCHG has concentrated on experiments with low-cost building materials and repurposing waste, aiming to develop ecological autonomous housing for under-resourced populations, which are sustainable because of their independent energy and water supplies. The extensive research on upcycling materials such as sulfur concrete eventually led the group to a new goal: Reducing the operational and environmental costs of buildings while also resolving household challenges of sanitation. To this end, the MCHG built and tested eight solar still variations, devices that harness solar energy to purify water through evaporation and condensation. 

Moreover, in building the ECOL House, one of MCHG’s first major operations, the group harnessed natural resources to resolve water and power issues in a decentralized, small-scale, and low-cost approach. They collected rainwater for showering and hand-washing, and converted the used, dirty water back into drinking water using the rooftop solar stills they designed. As for electricity, they harnessed wind energy by installing a wind machine next to the house, which provides electricity for radios, pumps, motors, and lights.

“Stop the Five Gallon Flush!” is one way that the MCHG has tackled household sanitation challenges with an ethic of environmental conservation. In 1973, when Bhatt was a McGill student, the MCHG was already engaged in investigating alternatives to the unsustainable standard flush toilet model.

“Do we want to send one litre of solid waste with 20 litres of water every time we flush? Should we not be looking at alternate systems? And there was tremendous interest in this,” Bhatt recounted. “Suddenly, these ideas which were there [became] very successful.”

The MCHG designed a minimal freestanding sanitary unit, reducing water waste by combining the toilet and the washbasin. The publication, “Stop the Five Gallon Flush!”, catalogued the group’s various designs of alternative waste disposal systems, selling 5,000 copies and becoming an exemplar within the field of water conservation. Additionally, the MCHG’s various designs in the early 1970s had caught the eye of international organizations such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank, seeking out the group as they looked for low-cost infrastructure and sanitation solutions.

Indeed, the MCHG’s work is not merely limited to regions perceived as the developing world. “Design for the Global Majority” is not simply a project about housing, agriculture, and urban sanitation, but a sustainable housing solution to the ever-increasing urban population problem in Canada and around the globe. With continued research, development, and support, the designs and methodologies pioneered by the MCHG team have the potential to redefine the landscape of affordable housing worldwide.

Science & Technology

Micronutrients: Friend or foe?

by K. Coco Zhang on

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McGill’s Department of Global and Public Health hosted a seminar on Oct. 18 with Dr. Brian Ward, former director of the J.D. MacLean Centre for Tropical Diseases and professor in McGill’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dr. Ward gave an eye-opening talk titled “Micronutrients and microbes: Some things we know and many things we don’t.” 

Micronutrients often refer to vitamins—including vitamins A through E and K—or minerals such as iron, zinc, and iodine. Although humans need them in very small amounts, they are critical to overall health and disease prevention in the body.

Diet is the primary source of most micronutrients, but other sources include sunlight, which enables the production of vitamin D in our skin.

“The gut microbiome contributes significantly to our access of several micronutrients, particularly the B vitamins, via the metabolism of the bacteria,” Dr. Ward explained.

Because micronutrients play essential roles in various bodily processes, including immune and bone functions, micronutrient deficiencies can lead to health problems.

For example, Joseph Bramhall Ellison established the association between vitamin A deficiency and measles. “In 1937, [he] found that if you give cod liver oil, a dietary supplement that is extraordinarily high in vitamin A, to babies, you could reduce mortality from measles by 80 per cent,” Dr. Ward noted. 

50 years later, scientists repeated this experiment in South Africa and demonstrated a 50-per-cent reduction in mortality rate for children with severe measles.

Unfortunately, micronutrient deficiencies can pose notable dangers for people in certain occupations that necessitate strong visual acuity at night.

“Our eyes contain rods responsible for vision at low light levels. These rods are particularly sensitive to low vitamin A levels, so one of the first signs of vitamin A deficiency is night blindness,” Dr. Ward explained. “This is why pilots in World War I and later have been routinely tested for vitamin A deficiency.”

Dr. Ward also highlighted that a surplus of micronutrients can be just as dangerous as a deficit.

“If you don’t have enough iron, you’ll have anemia and neurodegeneration. If you have too much iron, you’ll have arthritis, liver disease, and overwhelming infections,” Dr. Ward noted. “Similarly, if you don’t have enough zinc, you’ll have mental lethargy. If you have too much zinc, you’ll have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and an increased risk of prostate cancer.”

Having established the critical role that micronutrients play in our health, Dr. Ward gave an overview of the history of nutritional science, concluding by looking ahead to his hopes for the future of the discipline. 

From around 1850 to 1960, the field was just beginning to come into its own. “In this era, research scientists were discovering new micronutrients and figuring out how to prevent individual nutritional deficiencies,” Dr. Ward said.

Between 1960 to 1990, public health messaging emphasized the qualities of individual nutrients, but in the present era—1990 onward—the focus has shifted to overall dietary patterns. More positive messaging around diet, such as the Mediterranean diet—a primarily plant-based diet featuring the consumption of whole grains, olive oil, fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts—has emerged.

Over the next two decades, Dr. Ward anticipates that the gut microbiome will become a focus in the world of nutritional science.

“The gut microbiome has vital impacts on the activities of the brain, heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, bone, muscle, skin, kidneys, and bladder, but very little is known about the micronutrients supplied through the gut microbiome,” he said.

Dr. Ward ignited the audience’s thinking by posing a few crucial questions to guide future research on human health.

“How does the gut microbiome react to micronutrients? Do micronutrients interact with other micronutrients? If you have the wrong gut microbiome, does it reduce the absorption of micronutrients?” he asked.

In his closing remarks, Dr. Ward pointed to the need for more research to investigate how micronutrients act alone, in concert with one another, and in concert with the gut microbiome. 

Student Life

Is Columbus Café & Co Montreal’s newest go-to study café?

by Katherine Weaver on

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Montreal’s café scene welcomes a newcomer—or rather, seven of them. Many may recognize the Columbus Café & Co yellow grizzly bear logo that seems to have suddenly popped up on street corners across downtown and the Plateau within the past year. 

The brand launched in France in 1994, becoming a pioneer in the French Coffee shop business. Since then, it has expanded to hold over 200 locations in France, Belgium, and now, North America. 

After opening their first North American location on Mont-Royal Avenue, the brand has been rapidly expanding across Montreal, and now has seven franchises along the city’s busiest commercial centres. With so many locations, I figured that there must be something special about this French coffee chain, so I popped into a few to try some food and drink, and to check out the overall vibes.

Menu

The overall food and drink selection is solid enough to fuel a study session or a quick snack break, but not impressive enough to seek out on its own.

On my first visit to the Robert Bourassa location, I ordered a “maxi” sized latte and a Cajun chicken sandwich before sitting down with a friend to study. The latte was a great deal for its size at around six dollars, and it was probably the largest latte I’d ever seen. The espresso was smooth and slightly bitter, with hints of citrus. Plenty of milk and milk alternative options were available upon demand.

The Cajun sandwich, on the other hand, was not as impressive. Despite looking and smelling amazing, with spiced chicken breast, sun dried tomatoes, and aioli, the sandwich was quite dry, likely because it was pre-made and reheated upon ordering.

At the St. Catherine’s location, I ordered a passionfruit and ginger iced tea and a heart cookie. The tea was amazingly refreshing, an exciting combination of both sugar and spice. The chocolate and peanut butter cookie was a nice balance to the tea, though it didn’t last long on my plate.

Next time I go, I’ll definitely try their cheesecake—it looked so decadent on display!

One of the Café’s specialties are its pastries and muffins, which are baked daily behind the bar, distinguishing it from other cafés that outsource their pastry making. Columbus also boasts a decent variety of pre-made sandwiches and wraps. The overall selection is very similar to the wide assortment at Milton B and the prices are pretty much on par with the famous Milton-Parc study spot.

Environment

The Columbus Café & Co locations are very much work-oriented cafés. The high-ceilinged, spacious interiors are lined with many tables, booths, and high-tops. The music is soft and inobtrusive, and the overall noise level is pretty low for a café.

I was pleased to find outlets near most tables, as computer charging is often the limiting factor in long café work sessions. Against the grain of cafés that only remain open until the late afternoon, the hours are generous, open at the Robert-Bourassa location from 7-9 p.m. on weekdays and 9-7 p.m. on weekends.

Expansion

The brand has lofty goals to expand within its Canadian markets. On Oct. 17, the company’s Canadian sector announced a partnership with Indigo Books & Music Inc. Customers can expect to see the coffee chain in the beloved Canadian bookstore within this year.

The New Go-To?

At less than a five-minute walk from the downtown campus, the Robert-Bourassa location is often full of McGill students studying or collaborating on group projects. This comes as no surprise; Columbus’ vibes are very conducive to schoolwork and will prove to be a trusty change of scene from the library, especially as we near finals season.

Science & Technology

The many colours of bio-imaging

by Ella Paulin on

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From Oct. 15 to 19, the Art of Imaging exhibition showcased a remarkable collection of medical imagery created by scientists across Quebec, peeking out between the pink concrete towers of the Montreal Convention Centre’s Lipstick Forest. The exhibition by the Quebec Bio-Imaging Network (QBIN) was held during Amazing Brain Week and the World Congress of Neurology. While the exhibit’s images are no longer accessible in person, anyone can view them, along with insightful commentary in both English and French, on the QBIN website.

Captured with a wide array of techniques including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), microscopy, tomography, and ultrasounds, the images provide a glimpse of the intricate and beautiful images that many scientists work with daily. 

According to Estrid Jakobsen, Communications and Student Engagement Manager for QBIN, appreciating the aesthetic value of these medical images is one of the primary purposes of the exhibition. 

“A lot of science produces these really cool images, but I think a lot of scientists, because they’re so used to seeing them every day, they don’t realize just how cool they are,” Jakobsen said in an interview with The Tribune. 

Jakobsen, with the support of several PhD students on QBIN’s communications committee, has been guiding the project since its inception several years ago, with various images displayed alongside a fundraiser at The Neuro. Since then, the collection of images has grown and the organizers have started using professional printing techniques, displaying them properly as artistic creations. 

“What is key in the exhibit, is that they’re scientific images, but they’re really displayed and appreciated as if they were art, because of their artistic value,” Jakobsen explained. “Just by taking a scientific image and putting it in a frame, you kind of see it in a different way.”

This shift in perspective, Jakobsen argued, is crucial both for scientists and for public outreach. 

“It’s good practice to take a step back from your scientific images and be like, ‘Hey, actually, these are really cool. Like, these look great,’” Jakobsen said. “When we’re stuck in our scientific viewpoints, we often lose track of the bigger picture of our research.”

For the public, highlighting the artistic value of scientific images provides a new and important way to engage with science that might otherwise be inaccessible. 

“That’s part of what I do in my communications committee [is] show people why is it important that we’re doing this research, and I think art for me is a gateway into that, because so many people [that] appreciate art may not think that they appreciate science,” Jakobsen said.

In the exhibit, visitors can see everything from a stunning 3D rendering of structural connections in the human brain, created using diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (dMRI), to an incredibly high-resolution scan of a mouse’s brain, created using a technique that combines ultrasound technology with the injection of millions of tiny bubbles into the mouse’s bloodstream. Each image in the collection is sure to spark wonder and curiosity.

The beauty of the exhibit’s art prints helps hook viewers in, driving them to learn more about the images and the scientific tools used to create them. This is part of the broader Open Science movement, which emphasizes tearing down barriers in science and engaging with the public, something especially critical for medicine. 

“Everyone, at some point in their lives, is probably going to have an MRI scan, or an X-ray of a broken bone or something like that. And I think it’s not just important, but also cool to understand why is that happening? And what is happening?” Jakobsen said. 

To further these public outreach goals, the QBIN plans to continue developing their Art of Imaging collection, in addition to their blog and their annual Scientific Day, which occurs each summer and features lectures from some of the top experts in bio-imaging from across Quebec. 

News, The Tribune Explains

The Tribune Explains: Quebec tuition increases

by Shani Laskin on

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On Oct. 13, the Quebec government announced its plan to increase tuition for out-of-province Canadian university students. The policy will nearly double out-of-province tuition at McGill from the current $8,992 to $17,000 annually for Arts students. With concerns swirling around the McGill community about how this will affect students and the institution, The Tribune explains what these changes will mean.

Who will the policy affect?

The tuition increase comes into effect in Fall 2024 and has provisions that affect not just out-of-province students, but also international students.

All out-of-province students will be impacted by the tuition hikes, including non-Quebec students who are francophones. However, individuals covered by student mobility agreements, which allow French and francophone Belgian students to study in Quebec at the same price as in-province students, will not see increases in the tuition.  The changes will also not affect people pursuing doctorates or master’s students provided that their program includes a thesis.

Starting next fall, the minimum tuition for international students at Quebec universities will be $20,000. McGill has yet to announce whether this will increase international tuition for incoming classes. 

Students already enrolled in universities across Quebec will not be affected by this policy—only incoming students will see the tuition increases. Students currently enrolled will have five years to complete their respective degrees before any changes will be seen. 

What is the CAQ’s rationale?

In an article posted to the Quebec government’s website on Oct. 13, the Office of the Minister of Higher Education wrote that this decision was made so that Quebec tax dollars will no longer subsidize “Canadian students who come to study in our English-speaking establishments and who, for the most part, leave Quebec after their graduation.” The Minister of Higher Education of Quebec, Pascale Déry, has announced that the surplus money generated will go toward funding French-language universities in Quebec. The provincial government did not consult Quebec’s three English-speaking universities—Bishop’s University, Concordia University, and McGill University—or the city of Montreal prior to the announcement of these changes.

How has the McGill community responded?

Principal Deep Saini said in an Oct. 16 email to the McGill community that these changes will have “serious consequences” for McGill. The university’s student population is made up of roughly 20 per cent out-of-province students and 30 per cent international students. Saini emphasized the importance of welcoming students from outside Quebec to study in the province. 

In the days after the policy was announced, McGill decided to pause work on a $50 million program aimed at teaching students and staff French, citing changes in the university’s future financial situation due to the tuition changes. 

The Student Society of McGill University (SSMU) and the Concordia Student Union (CSU) released a joint statement on Oct. 19 condemning the tuition increases and calling them “undemocratic and discriminatory.” The student groups expressed concerns that the increase will make education inaccessible and a “luxury item.” 

Both groups will be holding town halls for students to express their questions and concerns. SSMU’s town hall will be on Oct. 25 and CSU’s will be on Oct. 26. Students from McGill and Concordia are planning a strike on Oct. 30 to protest the tuition increases.

Student Life

Boosting your browsing with alternatives to Google Chrome

by Dante Ventulieri on

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Google Chrome has been the most popular browser for nearly a decade. While it was a welcome change during its early years, it has since rested on its laurels, providing a resource-heavy and lacklustre browsing experience that disregards privacy and doesn’t offer useful tools for students. Just as the world moved away from Internet Explorer in the 2010s, it’s time to consider some other browsing options. 

Edge

Microsoft’s default browser has come a long way since the Internet Explorer days. Edge is a powerful browser with a minimalist interface, but is loaded with tools that are handy for students. Edge’s Collections features make compiling sources a breeze—they allow you to save links quickly and then export all the citations with one click. Other handy features include its built-in screenshot tool that lets you to capture entire webpages, an immersive reader to eliminate distractions on webpages, a battery saver mode for laptops, touchscreen writing input, and a PDF viewer that allows notetaking and annotations.

Vivaldi

Vivaldi excels in customization. There are so many ways to modify the browser to your preferences, including its appearance, functionality, privacy, and layout. The personalization features can be a bit overwhelming at first, but putting the time in can prove worthwhile in the long run. The private calendar and email client help limit the number of apps you need open to stay organized and the built-in note taker and reading list keep you on track during assignments.

Opera

Opera is one of the oldest browsers that is still around. It has a few unique tricks up its sleeve that make it a good alternative to Chrome and Safari. The apps in the sidebar are handy for staying on top of social media and messaging apps like WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram and the player tool keeps your music streaming platform only a click away. The workspaces are a great way to separate your browsing for each class and stay organized during the semester. Opera emphasizes AI tools in recent updates. For gamers, try Opera GX, a version of Opera with RBG accents, a CPU and RAM limiter, and other gaming-focused features.

Firefox

Firefox is unique among tech companies as it is the only mainstream browser owned by a non-profit organization: The Mozilla Foundation. Mozilla has been a vocal advocate for ensuring the web is safe, accessible, and secure; the browser embodies these principles as it is open source, built on its own engine (not Google’s Chromium like every other browser on this list), and privacy-focused. It has fewer productivity features than other browsers but for those looking for a simple browser that runs well on both modern and older hardware, Firefox is a great option.  

Brave

From its proprietary search engine to its advanced cookie and ad-blocking, Brave focuses on privacy and security. Beyond this, it can be a bit light on features, leaving a lot to be desired. But if that’s what you value above all else, Brave is an attractive choice. Another notable feature is its opt-in ad system, which rewards you in crypto tokens for allowing acceptable ads.

Sidekick

Sidekick is a productivity-focused browser with many tools that will help students with their assignments. Sidekick allows you to convert any website into an app that conveniently sits on your sidebar. Sidekick’s tab sessions are one of the most intuitive ways to avoid hoarding tabs, allowing you to collapse entire groups of tabs quickly so you can get back to them later. The search feature parses through your tabs, apps, and documents, helping you to not get lost during research. The focus mode will prove valuable for those late-night sessions at Redpath, when absolute productivity is necessary.  

Arc

Though it’s only available for Mac at the moment—a Windows app is still in development—the Arc browser is a welcome newcomer to the browser space. The split-screen feature is so intuitive that it makes you wonder why it’s not offered on every browser. Like other browsers, it has a way to organize tabs, which, much like the rest of the browser, is very aesthetically pleasing.   

McGill, News, Private, SSMU

Amina Kudrati-Plummer wins SSMU VP Finance special by-election

by Eliza Lee on

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On the afternoon of Friday Oct. 20, polls for the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice President (VP) Finance by-election came to a close with only 12.4 per cent of eligible students voting. Amina Kudrati-Plummer won the election with 60.6 per cent of the votes. The only other candidate, Brishti Guha, earned 31.5 per cent of the votes, the remaining votes being abstentions. The election came as a result of the resignation of former VP Finance Alice Fang on Aug. 7. Since Fang’s resignation, the VP Finance’s duties have been divided between the current SSMU executives.

“I want to thank the McGill community for putting their trust in me, and I recognize my opponent for her good effort in this election,” Kudrati-Plummer wrote in an email to The Tribune. “I look forward to following through with the initiatives I have proposed and ensuring the transparency of SSMU finances.”

Kudrati-Plummer, U3 Arts, emphasized the importance of transparency and accessibility of SSMU financial documents in their platform. In particular, she criticized the student government for failing to post the 2023-2024 budgets on its website and for making the budgets for the previous two academic years only accessible under the “Legislative Council documents,” rather than under the “Budgets” tab. Kudrati-Plummer also highlighted the need for more information to be provided alongside financial documents to make them more accessible for students.

“I would really like to make those budgets more logical, easier for the average person to understand and also just make sure they are available, because that is a huge misstep on SSMU’s part over three years to just have those hidden on the very dense SSMU website,” Kudrati-Plummer said in an interview with The Tribune. 

Similarly to Kudrati-Plummer, transparency was a key issue in Guha’s campaign. One of Guha’s proposals was to create a financial dashboard online to make public-facing SSMU financial documents more easily understandable for students. 

“The dashboard would be a digital platform offering a snapshot of SSMU’s finances [such as] revenues, expenditures, allocations to clubs in a visually appealing and interactive manner,” Guha wrote to The Tribune. “Because every student has a right to easily understand where their fees are going and how their money is being used.”

Sophia Karabatsos—a physiology master’s student and former co-director of the McGill chapter of Scientista—echoed the need for greater transparency from SSMU. In an interview with The Tribune, Karabatsos noted the difficulties that Scientista faced because of unclear information on the SSMU website concerning club financial matters. 

“You want to kind of know where everyone’s money from the tuition is going,” Karabatsos said. “And if there is this money available for clubs, it would be good to be transparent about it, because a lot of clubs could use it.”

To limit any delays regarding funding as a result of the unfilled position, Kudrati-Plummer also plans on holding regular office hours and a workshop—something normally provided by the VP Finance at the beginning of each semester—for clubs in need of assistance with financial procedures.

The VP Finance-elect’s platform also focuses on creating economically sustainable programs for students, including relaunching programs that were discontinued since the COVID-19 pandemic began. One program Kudrati-Plummer proposes reintroducing is a textbook exchange program wherein Le James bookstore buys students’ used books back from them to sell at a reduced price.
“Initiating economically sustainable programs for students is really important, especially bringing back ones that died out over COVID, because a lot of stuff did,” Kudrati-Plummer said. “Especially as things like food insecurity become more pressing topics on campus, and also with these new laws that [the] Quebec [government] is suggesting, it’s really important for SSMU to make student life as affordable as possible.”

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