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McGill, News

Student advocates call for reform of McGill’s harassment and discrimination policy

by Jasjot Grewal on

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Content Warning: Mention of sexual violence and racism

McGill’s Policy on Harassment and Discrimination allows members of the university community to take action when they feel they have been harassed or discriminated against. The policy and its accompanying procedures outline how to file complaints and prompt investigations into both individuals at McGill and the university’s systemic practices. While it is intended to provide support to students navigating the official complaint process, many—including Black and 2SLGBTQIA+ students, and members of student advocacy groups—are dissatisfied with the policy’s framework and implementation. In interviews with The McGill Tribune, student advocates familiar with the policy explained that they have found several issues with it, such as inefficient procedural practices and a lack of legitimate third-party intervention. 

Complaints about harassment or discrimination are brought to McGill’s Office for Mediation and Reporting (OMR), which was created after the policy’s revision in 2021. McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle explained it as “an office dedicated to the independent and impartial oversight of the resolution of reports of harassment, discrimination, and sexual violence” in an email to the Tribune.

Once a complaint is filed with the OMR, assessors—typically members of the university’s staff—begin the investigation process. According to section 6.2 of the policy, reports may be handed to an external third-party assessor if one of the investigators has a conflict of interest, if one of the parties is a member of the OMR, or if one of the parties is a member of McGill’s senior administration. Regardless of whether the assessor is an independent party or not, the Provost is responsible for making a final decision that concludes the investigative process. 

“If the assessor’s report determines that the evidence is sufficient to find that harassment and/or discrimination has occurred, then the Provost will inform the parties in writing of the decision to refer the matter to the appropriate University disciplinary authority to determine disciplinary and/or administrative measures,” Mazerolle wrote. 

A case’s appropriate disciplinary authority depends on the role of the accused, according to section 6.16. The appropriate authority in the case of a student is outlined in the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures. In the case of a staff member, it will be the dean of their faculty or the dean’s delegate, whereas in the case of a Vice-Principal, it would go to the Principal. The Chair of the Board of Governors presides over cases involving the Principal. 

Queer McGill administrative coordinator Brooklyn Frizzle is concerned about what they believe is the Provost’s outsized role in managing harassment and discrimination complaints. Frizzle stressed that a Provost’s individual biases can have an impact on how cases are handled. They pointed to previous comments that the former Provost and current Interim Principal Christopher Manfredi made in Senate meetings. 

For example, Frizzle took issue with Manfredi’s indication—during a Nov. 18, 2020 Senate Meeting—that there is no inherent concern with McGill professors signing a petition to support a professor using racial slurs in their teaching.

In an interview with the Tribune, Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) vice-president (VP) University Affairs Kerry Yang explained that the OMR might not be completely detached from the university given it fits within the Equity department under the Office of the Provost and remains under the administration’s jurisdiction. 

“Although they say it’s all to remain impartial, based on how the structure is, it doesn’t seem that way,” Yang said. “There’s no recourse if [McGill does] conduct something in bad faith because it’s all centralized. How can we ensure that what [McGill] is saying is impartial is truly impartial?”  

Frizzle also takes issue with how the Policy serves 2SLGBTQIA+ students. They explained that many queer students who tried to file a complaint under the policy were advised by the OMR that their complaint would not be successful in an “investigative setting,” which ultimately discouraged them from seeking justice. 

“Most of those cases are not investigated. They’re not formally documented and there’s no assessment made, typically, because they’re kind of pre-screened,” Frizzle said. “They advise a student that now this doesn’t meet the definition, so it probably wouldn’t go anywhere.” 

The most recent annual report on the Policy on Harassment and Discrimination noted that only eight per cent of inquiries with the OMR led to formal reports in 2020-2021. However, 47 per cent of all inquiries met the definitional requirements to launch a report. 

Alex*, a student advocate, believes there are purposeful factual errors and omittances in McGill’s records. 

“Many other Black students had filed harassment and discrimination complaints under McGill’s policy, and […] it wasn’t conducted properly in the sense that [McGill] literally lied,” Alex explained in an interview with the Tribune.  “There were factual mistakes in the [reports]. They failed to include key elements, so it was intentionally not done properly.” 

Alex compared the Policy on Harassment and Discrimination to the university’s Policy against Sexual Violence (PSV), which they believe is much more robust due to continued momentum from the #MeToo movement. 

“Oftentimes when there’s a movement and there’s this kind of shift, like social pressure on a particular issue, sometimes it’s […] tied to a specific momentum and then it fades,” Alex said. “In [the case of sexual violence policies], we see this continuous legislative improvement and oversight. But when it comes to harassment and discrimination, it’s not the same.”

Frizzle explained that another reason McGill may prioritize updates to the PSV could be its provincial legal obligations. Bill 151 mandates universities to establish strong policies addressing sexual violence, whereas there are no specific laws mandating universities to institute policies against harassment and discrimination. 

“McGill is a very big fan of the bare minimum, legally,” Frizzle said. “So, of course, they are going to take it more seriously because if it’s found that they’re not investigating sexual violence, then that has a much bigger […]  legal implication than […] failing to address harassment and defending professors that use racial slurs in our classroom and uplifting the voices of people who perpetuate injustice.”

The additional staff members who are employed to assist in anti-discrimination policy-making often occupy roles with limited abilities. Alex explained that the Black Students Liaison Officer, who is responsible for supporting Black students, is not allowed to engage in any advocacy or directly aid students who have filed complaints. They also noted that McGill has recently eliminated the position of Assistant Dean (Inclusion – Black and Indigenous Flourishing), who was tasked specifically with supporting and recruiting Black and Indigenous law students. This position has been replaced with the Assistant Dean (Students), who carries out several student affairs duties in addition to being the dean’s lead on Black and Indigenous flourishing.

Both Yang and Alex believe that McGill’s Policy on Harassment and Discrimination must be revised to make it a more effective support mechanism. The most efficient way to conduct investigations, they say, would be entirely through an independent third party. Alex also suggested increased levels of academic accommodations for students during the complaint process and a provision to encourage advocacy throughout McGill’s governance channels.

“Every time I go to [governance] meetings, white administrators always say that ‘we don’t do any advocacy,’” Alex said. “But if we’re talking about equity issues and we’re trying to improve a structure, the whole point is to demand that these structures be more equitable, and that requires advocacy.”

*Alex’s name has been changed to preserve their anonymity.

Commentary, Opinion

McGill needs to boycott Sabra—for real this time

by Adam Benzaari, Kareem Abuali, Sepideh Afshar on

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After a stickering campaign by  Students for Palestinian Human Rights McGill (SPHR) at the end of the winter 2022 semester, McGill’s Food and Dining Services removed Sabra products from the shelves of McGill’s dining halls and cafés. However, in recent weeks, they’ve returned. Instead of toying with their merchandising to temporarily appease student groups, McGill must permanently remove Sabra products from their selection. 

The Strauss Group, the parent company of Sabra which is co-owned by Pepsi-Co, is one of the largest food production corporations based in Israel. The group financially supports the Golani Brigade, a brutal and inhumane division of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). In addition to financial support, Ofra Strauss, the company’s chairwoman, has admitted to providing food and care packages to the Brigade during training and missions. The IDF is responsible for the continued ethnic cleansing and settler colonialism of Palestine through horrific violations of international law and crimes against humanity. The Golani Brigade in particular has carried out arbitrary murder campaigns, participated in the demolition of Palestinian homes, and helped incarcerate children. The brigade played a significant role in the egregious assault on Gaza in 2008, killing around 1,400 Palestinians and wounding many more. In addition to the alienation that McGill’s hundreds of Palestinian students face from an administration that systemically ignores Israel’s war crimes, supplying blood-stained products such as those of Sabra serves as a constant reminder of McGill’s complicity. 

Calls to remove such products are part of a larger Boycott Divest Sanction (BDS) movement, that aims to hold Israel economically accountable for its occupation of Palestine and subsequent apartheid and colonialism. With Sabra as one among many corporations, the global movement makes calls to boycott consumer brands like Puma, L’OREAL, and Pillsbury, supported by five members of the Pillsbury family themselves. The calls for BDS were successful. Earlier this year, Pillsbury’s parent company, General Mills, divested from apartheid Israel. We are seeing worldwide that BDS works; the University of Manchester removed Sabra from its campus after a boycott campaign.

The appropriation of hummus by an Israeli-backed group serves as another example of Israel’s obsession with co-opting and appropriating Palestinian culture. The Israeli promotion of falafel, hummus, and labneh without recognition of their Palestinian origins represents the overarching project to erase Palestinian culture and history. These historical and cultural deprivations complement the Israeli government’s systemic dispossession of Palestinian land,  restriction of access to water in occupied Palestine, and continual uprooting of farmland through military and settler violence. 

But why does the appropriation of hummus specifically matter? In Israel’s genocidal framework, the persistence of historical Palestinian culture threatens the state’s legitimacy and independence. Therefore, cultural appropriation is just one of many tactics to suppress traces of Palestinian validity and resistance. 

While settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza blockade illustrate instances of direct subjugation towards Palestinians, cultural appropriation, notably through corporate action, is far more cynical: The objective is to psychologically dominate and humiliate a people and nation by denying them not only their basic human rights but also the right to own their history and culture. 


McGill has a longstanding history of profiting from Israeli apartheid in Palestine and has shown time and time again that they do not value human rights, especially when it concerns people of colour. Students, however, have begun to show up and make their positions clear. Even though it was not adopted, the Palestine Solidarity Policy was approved with a  71.1 per cent majority, a policy that held a promise to boycott all corporations complicit in settler-colonial apartheid against Palestinians, including Sabra. It is imperative that students remain active in fights against McGill’s profiteering from Israel’s violent occupation in Palestine. Complicity is violent and until Sabra is off the shelf, we’re all guilty.

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

McGill’s Department of English Drama & Theatre gears up for ‘Pomona’

by Dana Prather on

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For the first time in two years, McGill’s Department of English Drama & Theatre will be welcoming a full house back into Moyse Hall when its production of Pomona by Alistair McDowall opens on Nov. 23. Originally commissioned for The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2014, the play follows a young woman named Ollie as she desperately searches for her missing sister. A thrilling, surreal quest unfolds as she makes her way into a dark criminal underworld where nothing is as it appears. 

Director Sean Carney, an associate professor in the English Department’s Drama & Theatre and Cultural Studies streams, was drawn to the play for its intriguing plot and contemporary appeal. Notably, this is not the first time that McGill has produced Pomona. In March of 2020, Carney and Moyse Hall’s production team were amidst rehearsals for the play when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, shuttering theatres around the world. While memories of that lost production are bittersweet, Carney insisted on making this year’s Pomona a fresh start.

“I felt that it was important not to just revive that production,” Carney said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “So it was all working pretty much from scratch.” 

This iteration of Pomona took on a whole new cast, crew, production concept, and design. Rehearsals began in September 2022 with a cast of seven undergraduate students, whose majors range from physics and mathematics to economics and theatre. 

In rehearsing the show, Carney was excited by the learning opportunities that Pomona presents to its student cast. The majority of the play’s scenes include only two or three characters of its small ensemble, allowing the actors to focus on detailed character work and the complex dynamics between them and their scene partners. Given the play’s dark subject matter, Carney also felt strongly about equipping the cast with methods to preserve both their physical and psychological safety while performing. 

“I don’t ascribe to the idea that you have to put yourself at risk when you’re acting in a play,” Carney said.

 Instead, he encourages the actors to pursue a more distanced approach: Each performer is instructed to look for an “as if” experience that is emotionally close to a real experience they may have, allowing them to access the intended emotions without feeling overwhelmed or unsafe during a difficult scene.

Outside the rehearsal hall, students from ENGL 368: Stage Scenery and Lighting were tasked with developing the world of Pomona through its design elements. Students expressed which areas of technical theatre interested them at the class’ outset. Led by Corinne Deeley and Keith Roche, Moyse Hall’s Production Manager and Technical Director, respectively, students were assigned specific roles and duties. This included everything from creating sound effects for the show’s final production to designing graffiti, painted across the show’s set. For U3 Arts student Magalie Goyette, this meant learning a whole new set of skills to become the production’s stage manager.

“I really wanted to get involved in the backstage [elements], so I knew I wanted to be a stage manager,” Goyette professed. “But I didn’t realize just how much there was to keep track of!”

As the stage manager, Goyette is responsible for attending rehearsals with the other assistant stage managers and taking note of the entrances, exits, and movements of actors and props onstage. During performances, she will call the show’s cues, signalling to the lighting and sound board operators when they should trigger the production’s spectacular effects. Despite the weighty responsibility that comes with this role, Goyette has been thrilled with her experience working on the show so far. 

“It’s so much fun. Seeing everything come together—cast, sound going up, everything—it’s such a great environment [….] It’s so impressive to see the evolution of the work throughout the semester. I can’t wait for people to see it.”

Pomona runs Nov. 23-25 and Nov. 30-Dec. 2 at 7:30pm. Tickets can be purchased in advance at https://moysehall.tuxedobillet.com/main/pomona

Montreal, News

Bill 21 hearings conclude, reinvigorate outrage from members of McGill community

by Adeline Fisher on

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Nov. 16 marked the final day of hearings against Bill 21 at the Court of Appeal of Quebec in Montreal. The legislation has faced controversy because it prohibits people employed in the public sector from wearing visible religious symbols at work and preemptively invoked the notwithstanding clause. Over five non-consecutive days, civil liberties groups, including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) and the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), argued against an April 2021 decision by the Superior Court of Quebec that upheld most aspects of the Bill. 

Among those protesting outside the courthouse on Nov. 7, when the hearings began, was the McGill Coalition Against Bill 21, which is composed of students, staff, faculty, and other McGill community members who oppose the law. 

The 17 groups challenging the Bill argued that the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ)’s use of the notwithstanding clause―section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms―was invalid. The notwithstanding clause allows Parliament and provincial legislatures to shield legislation from any provisions in sections 2 (fundamental freedoms) and 7 through 15 (legal rights and equality rights) of the Charter. Plaintiffs opposed Bill 21 on the grounds that the notwithstanding clause does not protect the Bill against section 28 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees equality between the sexes.

Elizabeth Elbourne, a professor in the department of History and Classical Studies at McGill, is “deeply troubled” by the invocation of the notwithstanding clause, and hopes to see the court acknowledge the effects the Bill has on women, in particular.

“It would be good to hear a ruling on gender grounds, that it had a disproportionate impact on women, and that there is, therefore, a ground which would exempt [the Bill] from the purview of the notwithstanding clause,” Elbourne said in an interview with The McGill Tribune.

She added that she has witnessed the ramifications of Bill 21 herself at McGill.

“I had a student who was going to do a [master’s degree] with me, and who withdrew and left Quebec as a result of the law,” Elbourne said. “I met a student last month who used to wear [a] hijab and had to stop because of the law, but found it a very difficult and upsetting decision.”

Ehab Lotayef, a systems manager at McGill’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a member of the McGill Coalition, believes that the language used in Bill 21 inordinately targets Muslim women.

“The word symbol is very misleading [….] A Muslim man, for example, can wear certain necklaces or chains with a certain symbol. That is very optional, that’s what a symbol is,” Lotayef said in an interview with the Tribune. “But when a Muslim woman is covering her hair, she does not consider that […] an option, or consider that a symbol.”

A study conducted under the leadership of Maryse Potvin from L’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) surveyed the effects of Bill 21 on education faculties. Bronwen Low, a McGill associate professor of integrated studies in education and a member of Potvin’s team, shared some of their findings with the Tribune.

“Although the [Bill] is not to affect student teachers, findings from among the 972 survey respondents associate [Bill] 21 with negative and discriminatory treatment of student teachers, more polarized and conflictual interactions in university classrooms, and negative effects on the well-being and academic and professional achievement of students,” Low wrote.

The ramifications of the Bill extend beyond unpleasant classroom environments. Ghania Javed, U3 Arts and Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) president, recalled conversations with students who fear Bill 21’s potential detriment to their future careers in Quebec. 

“I heard from one student that she’s considering going to Ontario after graduating from McGill Law because she’s not sure if by the time she will be practicing law, the Bill will [still] be here,” Javed told the Tribune. “Obviously if you want to work for the government, you have to choose between your career and wearing a religious symbol.”

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Penguin feathers and the ice cube tray effect

by Atticus O’Rourke Rusin on

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One thing that is always on the mind during a Montreal winter is the cold and, more specifically, the ice. Living in Montreal makes slipping on ice inevitable. A painful landing on your behind, however, is not the only inconvenience associated with this crystalline structure. The buildup of ice on power lines, utility poles, and other structures can often spell disaster for those dependent on this infrastructure, putting out the lights and preventing heating systems from functioning during the winter months.

The Great Ice Storm of 1998 is a prime example of the damage this weather and ice can cause. Nearly 30,000 utility poles were felled, leaving millions of people in Quebec without power. Another instance of dangerous inclement weather occurred in China in 2008, when  winter storms left millions without power and damaged 80 per cent of power supply stations in the Guizhou province alone.

Even the successful removal and prevention of ice buildup often comes with unintended side effects. The chemicals used in some de-icers can seep into the environment during their use, transport, and storage, getting into the water supply and damaging the ecosystem. Other methods of de-icing may not involve chemicals, but any active method that relies on machinery requires consistent upkeep.  

A team of McGill researchers led by Anne Kietzig, associate professor in McGill’s Department of Chemical Engineering, looked to nature for inspiration in designing a new de-icing technique that avoids these pitfalls. The researchers found that penguin feathers possess an unique structure that allows them to shed ice more easily. When they copied the structure of the penguins’ feathers and applied it to a steel mesh, they found that the mesh was 95 per cent more effective at de-icing than an unenveloped sheet of polished stainless steel. 

Initially, the penguins’ feathers seemed like those of any other bird. But upon closer inspection under the microscope, Kietzig and her team discovered that the primary structures, or central beam of the feathers, had a superimposed nanostructure that formed a “groovy texture.” This is in addition to the microstructure—barbs and barbules—that are also part of the feather. Since Kietzig’s lab specializes in laser micromachining, the structure of penguin feathers was easy enough to replicate.

These feathers work, in a way, like an ice cube tray: The structure of the feather has pore-like areas where the water is left to freeze, and when it does, it expands, breaking the ice that formed around it and allowing that ice to slide off. The research team realized that the mesh’s pores could function in the same way as the barbs and barbules of a feather. Using a laser, researchers copied the feather’s groove-like texture in their mesh prototype. The final product—the overlap of microstructure and nanostructure—is what makes this mesh so efficient at preventing ice buildup and formation.

Although the uses for this technology seem obvious, like coating utility poles and airplane wings, putting it into practice isn’t so simple. It is still unknown if the mesh could be properly and stably attached to surfaces.

“I am not sure that metallic woven mesh will be suitable to attach to other surfaces,” Kietzig said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “You have to imagine it’s like your kitchen tinfoil in thickness and rigidity. I can’t glue, I can’t solder.”

In addition to the lack of structural integrity in practice, the process of applying this coating could be prohibitively expensive for many industries. The project, therefore, is a starting point for future testing of this sort of structure.

“This is why I think [in the] very long run, what we want to do is use the mesh as a template to learn more about the relevant parameters in that mechanism, and then extract to structural surfaces out of which things are made,” Kietzig added.

Though more practical research is in order, it seems that the flightless, ice-sliding birds featured in countless kids’ books could just be the key to preventing future ice-related power outages.

Editorial, Opinion

First, eliminate random traffic stops. Then, abolish the police.

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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The federal government has until Nov. 25 to appeal a Quebec Superior Court ruling that ended random traffic stops in Quebec—which the court argued is an iteration of racial profiling that disproportionately affects Black people. The case was brought to the court by Joseph-Christopher Luamba, a 22-year-old Black resident from Montreal, whom the police stopped 12 times in 18 months without cause. An appeal would threaten this vital ruling that marks a significant step forward in protecting Black people from the systemic racism and the consistent violence that is entrenched within policing. 

The Superior Court’s acknowledgement of racial profiling is crucial to ensure dignity for overpoliced communities. Premier François Legault and the Quebec government have continuously denied the existence of systemic racism in the province, and the court’s ruling is a snub to these politicians. Beyond this, the ruling is in opposition to the traditional relationship between the courts and the police. In Quebec and elsewhere, police tend to lean on the law for support and justification of their actions, and the ruling calls this practice into question. Further, the decision can be used as a precedent for similar rulings in other provinces regarding traffic stops, which remain prevalent across Canada.

Beyond the policy and legal implications of the decision, the move to end random traffic stops improves the day-to-day quality of life for Black people in Quebec. It is important to emphasize the increased comfort this will bring; Black people will be able to do everyday tasks such as going shopping or driving their kids to school without as intense a fear of being legally harassed by police officers. 

Despite this being an essential step forward, the ruling remains limited in its scope as it operates within the flawed framework inherent to policing. Justice Michel Yergeau, who delivered the ruling, underlined that it applies specifically to traffic stops and that it is not an indictment of systemic racism within the entire police force. This is contradicted by the facts of policing on the ground: Black and Indigenous people are subjected to significantly more violence and harassment by the police compared to white people, they are stripped of dignity and humiliated in police reports and media coverage, and there remains little accountability or oversight over the police. In Canada, contrary to the U.S., racial data is not collected in any province other than Ontario when police violence occurs, so it is almost impossible to accurately hold the police to account for their disproportionate targeting of people of colour. With these continued abuses by the police, we must contextualize that although ending traffic stops is a small victory, it cannot end there.

The judge’s denial of the existence of systemic racism also goes against the very nature of policing—within which systemic racism is unshakeably ingrained. Systemic racism means that even if the members of the system are not racist, outcomes will be racist because of its structure. Policing is a clear example of this. The origins of policing go back to the colonization of Indigenous peoples and the enslavement of Black people. These structures of violence were meant to fulfill objectives of oppression, and the same structures remain to this day. As long as policing exists, it will continue to oppress marginalized people. For this reason, abolishing the police is the only road forward.


Similar to the rest of Quebec, McGill fosters an environment of systemic racism. Black and Indigenous professors remain underrepresented, while Black and Indigenous students bear the burden of educating those around them. The administration litigated aggressively against the Mohawk Mothers in an attempt to continue construction on a site potentially holding unmarked Indigenous graves. Systemic racism also is an issue among student groups. The Black Student Network (BSN) and Students for Palestinian Human Rights McGill (SPHR) are constantly mistreated by the Students’ Society of McGill University, and campus media continues to publish harmful and racist content. Systemic racism goes beyond traffic stops, and, hopefully, this ruling is the first step towards a broader recognition of the systemic racism permeating all our institutions.

Basketball, Sports

The sports world cannot forget about Brittney Griner

by Tillie Burlock on

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When you hear the name Brittney Griner, you no longer reminisce on her superstar career in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). You don’t reflect on her remarkable college career with Baylor, or her seven All-Star seasons with the Phoenix Mercury. Griner’s deserved legacy as an outstanding basketball player and outspoken political activist gets thrown to the side when you sit back and remember the reality of her situation: Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia since February. 

According to Russian officials, Griner was detained at the Moscow airport after a luggage search found vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis. Following her initial arrest, her pre-trial detention was extended four separate times until a trial date was ultimately set for July 1. On Aug. 4, Griner was found guilty of drug charges and sentenced to nine years in prison. On Oct. 25, a Russian judge rejected Griner’s appeal after reviewing it for just 30 minutes. Less than a month later, Griner was sent to a remote Russian penal colony to begin serving her sentence. The penal colony in question is IK-2 in Mordovia––a notoriously harsh prison, even by standards of the Russian carceral state. 

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the state of American-Russian relations has severely restricted American efforts to bring Griner home. With Russian President Vladimir Putin’s prolonged escalation of the conflict and the United States’ continued support for Ukraine, it is clear that Griner’s wrongful detainment is partly for political reasons. Not only has Griner been weaponized as a political pawn, but the Russian authorities’ deep-seated hostility towards her identity as a Black and queer woman has placed her in even graver danger.  

The question many have asked is why was Griner in Russia in the first place? Although Griner is one of the highest-paid players in the WNBA, she was able to make almost five times her salary with UMMC Ekaterinburg––a former member of the EuroLeague. Furthermore, playing in Russia is commonplace for WNBA players during the off-season as it presents the opportunity to supplement their salaries. Despite the WNBA’s progress in boosting the league minimum to $57,000 USD with the league average sitting at $102,751 USD, teams are severely restricted by the $1,379,200 USD hard cap, pushing them to carry fewer players and forcing stars to sacrifice the million-dollar salaries they deserve. For perspective, Lebron James alone makes $119,500,000 USD per year. 

Unrestricted by a salary cap, Russia provides players with salaries exceeding $1 million USD––almost quadruple the salary of Jewell Loyd, the highest-paid WNBA player. Players are offered resources and amenities that are simply unavailable to them in the WNBA, as many Russian teams are funded by government municipalities and owned by Russian oligarchs who have the freedom to treat their athletes with the “luxury” their National Basketball Association (NBA) counterparts are used to. 

While activism across women’s basketball continues to be both pervasive and unrelenting, the same cannot be said for the NBA––the league with a dominating societal influence. Additionally, the question of whether or not the U.S. government is doing enough to bring Griner home still hangs in the balance. Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine who was freed from Russian prison via prisoner exchange this past April, believes the White House had the ability to get Griner home “extremely fast” and has elected not to do so. At the end of the day, Griner’s continued detention cannot be blamed on a single institution––it is a systemic failure of all of America.

Griner should be in the news for her feats as a remarkable athlete. Her National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s and women’s record-setting 3,203 points and 736 shots with Baylor. Her NCAA and WNBA championships. Her not one, but two Olympic gold medals. Griner should be in North America, continuing on a trajectory that will enshrine her name as one of the world’s basketball greats. We cannot say unequivocally that if Griner were an NBA player of the same calibre, she would be home by now, but there is one thing we do know for certain––she never would have been in Russia in the first place.

McGill Recommendations, Student Life

Un-bird-ening your winter semester

by Naomi Gupta on

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With nearly half of the academic year over, students are busy rethinking their schedules and re-adjusting their degree plans for the semester ahead. Whether you’ve failed a class, overestimated the demands of your program requirements, or realized that your GPA might not be high enough for the exchange semester of your dreams, you might be looking for a “bird course” to alleviate your workload and boost your GPA.

“Bird courses” are the exception to McGill’s reputation of rigorous grading standards and highly demanding coursework. But what exactly constitutes a “bird course”? Lenient grading? Fewer evaluations? Engaging lectures that make those early mornings a tad easier? Most students agree that the ideal bird course is a mix of the three: Interesting, easy, and low-maintenance. I’ve scoured every possible blog post and Reddit thread and, while some courses’ “birdiness” remains heavily debated, here are the ones that were most frequently mentioned:  

1. MUAR211: The Art of Listening (Winter 2023) 

From past musical eras to present ones, The Art of Listening covers a wide range of Western music forms and styles. Even if you feel like your first-grade piano lessons are far behind you, fret not—the ability to read music isn’t a requirement. This course shouldn’t be too demanding because much of the homework consists of listening to music—something students already spend several hours a day doing—and reiterating facts pertaining to it on the test. The trick? Being able to identify the song and composer from a seconds-long excerpt.

2. CHEM181: World of Chemistry: Food (Winter 2023) 

This online, asynchronous chemistry course touches on highly relevant food-related topics through a historical and practical lens. The course covers a lot of ground, and at a fast pace—if you’re a professional procrastinator, consider this a warning. However, its evaluation style is simple and practical: As long as you have taken detailed notes of the lectures, ones you can use in your exam, it should be a breeze.

3. CLAS203: Greek Mythology (Winter 2023) 

Let’s debunk the myth that all literature courses are dense and challenging—this one, in fact, is quite the opposite. If you tend to worry about the fate of your grade lying in the hands of two to three heavily weighted evaluations, don’t worry: You’ll be given multiple opportunities to score that 4.0 with simple quizzes and weekly one-page discussions. The lectures are known to be quite interesting but can quickly turn into the opposite if you have little to no interest in Classics.

4. PHYS 183: The Milky Way Inside and Out (Winter 2023) 

If you consider yourself a science fanatic who is fascinated by all things astronomy, this may be a good pick. This course covers elementary-level material through weekly quizzes and class projects. Although it isn’t heavily math-oriented, many say you are better off taking this course if you have a science background. Otherwise, the “birdiness” of this course might be in question…

5. ATOC185: Natural Disasters (Fall 2022) 

This is, without a doubt, the ultimate bird course. Assessments include two take-home exams, online quizzes, and a term paper whose subject is open-ended: You can research and write about any natural disaster that interests you. It’s so fascinating that it has even prompted students to change their majors to environment-related disciplines. The professors, John Richard Gyakum and John Stix, are kind and go out of their way to connect with their students—always a bonus.

All this to say: Program requirements should be at the forefront of everyone’s priorities, not electives. Don’t burden yourself further by taking courses that unnecessarily contribute to already-high levels of stress. Instead, take a bird course so you can allocate that extra time to arguing with the prof who should’ve given you an A or that 100-page-long reading you’ve been putting off for a week. 

Beware, however, of these courses’ high demand. As such, they might currently be full or have long waitlists. So, if you want that dream schedule, ‘tis the season to enroll. Start queuing up on those wait lists now, or deal with an add-drop period met by stress, uncertainty, -15-degree temperatures, and the frantic refreshings of Minerva.

Behind the Bench, Sports

Off the diving board and into the world

by Sepideh Afshar on

More in Behind the Bench:

My first-ever diving lesson ended with a 20-minute cry on the three-metre springboard and then a tearful drive home where I begged my dad not to make me go back. 

I have three main defences of myself here: I was eight years old, terrified of heights, and there against my will. My older sister wanted to try diving and my dad is a strict believer in “if one of you goes, both of you go,” so that’s how I ended up sobbing in the London, Ontario aquatic centre on a fateful Wednesday night in September. Whether he had my embarrassingly intense fear of being above the fifth floor of a building in mind when he signed us up, I’ll probably never know. What I do know is that in the years that followed, I easily spent hours crying on pool decks. While that might not sound like a positive experience, diving equipped me with a confidence and trust in myself that I carry with me to this day. 

The unique thing about diving is that the longer you’re involved in the sport, the scarier it tends to get.  You are the only person affecting your performance and you pay for every mistake physically. Didn’t lock your elbows on the way in off of 10-metre? I hope your shoulder is still in its socket. Did you lean forward for your knees instead of bringing them to your chest in a reverse 1½? Be sure to ice those welts, but not now because you have to try again so you don’t develop a lifelong fear of this dive. Every painful mistake unlocks a new fear, one that is based on something you know can happen, that has happened. 

At age nine, I watched an older diver get hurt doing a simple inward dive—one of the four foundational dives. The image of this girl smacking the water created a mental block in me that lasted years, and I found myself unable to learn this dive. In diving competitions, at least in my time, to move up from the very first competition level, you needed to perform a minimum of one variation of each of the four foundational dives. This meant that no matter how much I progressed in my front, back, and reverse dives, not having an inward dive meant I could never advance competition-wise. This also meant that I spent hours at practice, standing on the end of the board, willing myself to just jump. The mental battle of standing in one spot, with coaches and teammates cheering you on, but just being unable to convince yourself to go is gruelling. The only thing worse than standing there is having to climb off the board because everyone has given up for the night. 

After one of these particularly frustrating practices, I got into my dad’s car, slammed the door, and announced I was quitting forever. I didn’t know how to deal with the fact that I was standing in my own way, that the block was completely mental. I was steadfast in my decision until my dad pulled away from hugging me and softly said, “I didn’t know you were a quitter.”

While I wish I could write that I went into the next practice and threw the dive, it’s just not true. But I also didn’t quit. I kept going to practice and I kept standing on that board and one day, I had two realizations that propelled me forward through the entirety of my diving career. First, either I do it and it works or I get hurt so badly that I never have to do it again. Secondly, and most importantly, all I needed was one split second of complete, unabashed, almost delusional faith in myself even if it went against all my instincts. So I did, and god, did it feel good. 

I haven’t dove in years. It’s hard when such a huge part of your life becomes reduced to a hobby you had before university. But I know that that part of my life is not constrained to a pool deck. I feel it. When I get really anxious or second-guess myself, whenever I stand in my own way, I’m back on the end of that diving board, I close my eyes, I internalize that delusional self-trust, and I jump. 

McGill Recommendations, Student Life

Help…my fridge is bare: A guide to grocery shopping as a student

by Simi Ogunsola on

More in McGill Recommendations:

Picture this: You open your kitchen fridge to find it empty. This is the third time within an hour that you’ve checked, and still, no food has magically appeared. There is nothing but a Sleeman leftover from your last pub crawl and half an apple. All those times your parents tried to teach you to cook are suddenly starting to make sense. 

Independent living comes with a host of challenges: Keeping up with laundry, regulating sleep schedules, managing the mythical “work-life balance,” and possibly the biggest task of all—feeding yourself. Given the rapidly increasing cost of living and grocery prices inflating, there are many reasons to feel unsettled at the prospect of being responsible for your own eating. This can manifest in sticking to fast food, eating fewer meals than required per day, or even missing out on essential nutrients and vitamins. But fear not, the Tribune has compiled a list of grocery shopping and food tips that’ll send you down the right aisle. 

Meal Prep, Meal Prep, Meal Prep

Planning out a week’s worth of meals before heading to the store can help streamline the shopping process and eliminate some stress when planning meals during the week. Unnecessary items may be tempting when you didn’t come up with a plan––focus on the essentials first and then branch out. When deciding what to purchase, it can be helpful to ask yourself a couple of questions, such as:

  • Can I put this in the fridge and eat it whenever?
  • How many meals can I get out of this ingredient?
  • How long will this last? 

If your purchase fits the bill, then add it to the cart!

Get the Most Bang for Your Buck: Buy Multiple Different Sauces

Instead of breezing by the sauce aisle thinking you’re too amateur to try to whip one up, maybe take a peek at a few of them. Having a variety of sauces to go with the same type of meal can be a game changer. Got a bowl of rice? Try that with butter chicken sauce, teriyaki sauce, or maybe some yellow Thai curry. Is there some leftover pasta you can’t seem to force down? Whip up some red sauce or pesto in a pan. Most sauces are inexpensive and require nothing more than a couple of minutes in a saucepan. Rice and pasta are budget-friendly and filling college staples, but you need not grow bored of them. Using different sauces will spice them up, and, when you’re comfortable, you can throw in different vegetables, and any protein you like. Okay, Gordon Ramsay!

Frozen Veggies are Your Best Friend

Staying healthy while keeping costs low is tough, but it doesn’t have to be impossible. Look no further than large packs of frozen vegetables in the freezer aisle. Based on your tastes, you can opt for a bag of a specific vegetable or an assorted mix. Frozen vegetables don’t contain as much sodium as canned vegetables, and tend to be more affordable and durable than their fresh counterparts. Toss a bag into your cart, and once home, add it to a pot with water, boil for about 15 minutes, and drain. Try air-frying if you’re feeling it. There you have it: A healthy side for any meal!

Don’t Beat Yourself Up

This final tip may be corny, but it’s true. Navigating grocery stores, kitchens, and feeding yourself as a whole, can be a difficult process. Give yourself some grace, and don’t freak out when your hand slips and opens the UberEats app every once in a while. Treat yourself. 

Armed with these healthy and budget-friendly tips, your next trip to the grocery store could look like this: You have a cart filled with meal-prep-able foods, a couple of different sauces, and frozen veggies in every colour of the rainbow. You breathe a sigh of relief, you’ve done it. You’re officially an adult.

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