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Off the Board, Opinion

Retracing my steps

by Leyla Moy on

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If you have been online in January, you have probably seen a Spotify Wrapped against your will. Candy-coloured and set to a nondescript background beat, the Wrapped roundup satisfies our collective desire for life stats while spawning countless imitations. One of these, as I discovered recently while knee-deep in my inbox, is from the unsettling Google Maps Timeline, which has been faithfully tracing my every move since 2015. As the daughter of an internet security devotee, I was initially horrified to realize that I had failed to safeguard my location data for the better part of a decade. Then, I was fascinated. 

Holed up in my apartment over a grim, drizzly winter, I ached for escapism and found it in hour-by-hour logs of my own pre-pandemic life. Through birdseye maps of my daily travels, I watched high school me move in a circuit between home, school, and the public library—still my sixth most visited place, the timeline tells me. After moving to Montreal for university, I watched myself explore the city before falling into a rhythm. Every mishap is chronicled, from mediocre dates to only lasting an hour into what was meant to be a marathon library session. As my past converged on my present, my map stretched across the ocean as I settled myself in a new city for exchange, and then within months I found myself back in my hometown, motionless. 

Reliving the past, whether by watching yourself grow up via Google Maps surveillance, paging through old diaries, or revisiting text threads, invites both regret and nostalgia. Amid a stagnant year, I yearned for the freedom found in my old maps. Every night spent in a dimly lit crowd and afternoon in a busy coffee shop took on an outsized emotional weight. The places you go, as Google Maps shows in its slick commercials, are of profound importance.

Despite the lessons within, seeing my everyday movements broken down by hours felt like an encroachment by the digital lurker in my pocket. The timeline falls somewhere between the gamified personal data favoured by fans of the quantified self and a startlingly transparent view of what information we as internet citizens willingly exchange for convenient, personalized services. Gen-Z is notoriously lax about online privacy: Among digital natives, it’s taken almost for granted that personal data is being used to inform the algorithms that deliver our content. Tacit acceptance of compromised privacy is often considered necessary to benefit from new technology. 

On the data-driven web, presentations of user data like the timeline obscure the very real security concessions that users make as they traverse the internet. In 2019, I went to a talk by theorist Neema Githere on data healing as a response to data trauma, the compounded weight of being counted and sorted by impersonal yet prying technologies. This concept raises a difficult question: As digital natives who recognize the flaws in our internet immersion, from algorithmic racism to political data mining, how might we break free—especially when there’s a sleekly designed reason to stay?  

New counter-mapping projects like Montreal’s own Queering the Map both disrupt the mapping status quo and satisfy my fascination with narrative location data. The community-generated map invites users to drop pins on their own experiences, capturing the spatiality of 2SLGBTQIA+ life. Inherent in counter-mapping projects is an optimistic view of data as powerfully personal and integral to the stories of our lives, reinforced by the invitation for users to contribute to a collective geography.  

Obeying the luddite voice of reason my mother embedded in my brain, I finally switched off location tracking and put an end to the everchanging map that was six years in the making. My old map remains, though—partially because I cannot figure out how to scrub it from the web and partially because I like to return to it. Perhaps the Google powers that be have me figured out, but the chance to retrace my steps is difficult to pass up.

Commentary, Opinion

Don’t worry about your weight during a pandemic

by Rory Daly on

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At the start of last year, I decided to better myself. I resolved to study more, interact more with student organizations, and most importantly, lose weight. After all, during the first year of university, I had gained a significant amount of weight, as many students do. But while I have succeeded in my first two goals, weight loss has admittedly been a failure. Between the social isolation caused by COVID-19 and my bad habit of stress-eating, I think I have come to understand how Sisyphus felt, struggling to push the boulder up the mountain. In retrospect, the task I gave myself looks somewhat absurd now, as COVID-19 is simultaneously a stressor and a cap on outdoor exercise. Still, from WebMD to The New York Times, multiple sites are strangely focussed on tackling weight loss during this pandemic. This emphasis on weight during an unprecedented point in global history is fundamentally misguided and shows how much society overemphasizes weight as an aspect of health. 

Society has not always prioritized weight as a determination of health. The body mass index (BMI), a common measurement that determines obesity using a table of height and weight, is a relatively modern concept. The creator of said index, Belgian mathematician and statistician Adolphe Quetelet, developed it in the mid-1800s simply as a formula to link weight and height. Moreover, it was not popularized until the early 1970s, when it was proposed as the best formula relating those two values.

There are a plethora of issues associated with BMI. Because BMI as a model came from data taken from Belgians, it does not apply to all people equally and is Eurocentric in nature. The original index misrepresents most ethnicities. Furthermore, it is most useful when studying populations as opposed to individuals, as it does not distinguish between fat and muscle. Despite this, many doctors still use BMI as a measure of individual obesity. More disturbingly, the vast majority of funding for obesity research goes towards genetic studies, which echo eugenics instead of focussing efforts on human behaviour.

Society overemphasizes weight’s role in health culturally as well. The fat acceptance and body positivity movement has some reasonable arguments regarding how weight is viewed in the West. Advocates believe that the perception that overweight people are laughingstocks or even pitiable has led to a social stigma against them, one that can lead to psychological problems such as eating disorders (EDs) as a result of self-loathing. A markedly feminist critique also calls out diet culture’s role on Western women, which idealizes a Eurocentric, perfect body that is not attainable for most. Though not without its critics, who view it as promoting a dangerous lifestyle choice, the movement brings to light several problems with how Western society regards weight and weight loss. 

For example, while ED rates have increased in non-Western, developed countries in recent years, Western countries still have higher rates overall. Likewise, a comparison of EDs along gendered lines shows that EDs are far more prevalent in women, indicating that the cultural link is quite possibly present. Thus, while it is fair to criticize a small niche of the body positivity movement if they seek to normalize obesity due to the health problems that can accompany it, it is unfair to dismiss all of the points they wish to make.

While focussing on weight loss, as in my case, is nothing to be ashamed of, there is also nothing wrong or shameful about your body changing during what is sure to be an extremely trying period in the lives of many. In a time of great stress, there is something to be said for taking a step back and being more lenient on oneself. I, for one, am happy to stop rolling the boulder for now in order to wait for the burden to shrink to a more manageable size. 

Editorial, Opinion

Residence exclusions highlight McGill’s negligence

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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On Jan. 25, between 15 and 20 students were temporarily excluded from McGill residences due to alleged violations of COVID-19 residence safety protocols. They were given less than 24 hours notice and were stripped of their meal plans and student IDs, leaving them without access to McGill buildings, including cafeterias. The administration justified its actions by referencing a change in the residence handbook which eliminated the three-strike policy that had previously been in effect until Jan. 13. In excluding its student tenants, the university sent a message to the McGill community: First-year students are nothing more than a source of income to be managed as efficiently as possible. 

The past several months have seen the worst of the pandemic thus far in Quebec. Although red zone restrictions have been in place since Sept. 28, several new measures were implemented in December and January, including the closure of non-essential businesses and, most notably, a curfew between the hours of 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. To exclude students now, without allowing them time to find alternative living arrangements, is morally reprehensible. Merely being outside in the evening can lead to police intervention and severe fines—not to mention that January is one of the coldest months of the year in Montreal. Rather than taking concrete actions to curb the spread of COVID-19, this approach only allows McGill to disregard the systemic problems within their residences and leave students to fend for themselves. 

Students have been criticizing the Residence Life guidelines since the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic year. McGill Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS) initially instituted a three-strike system to limit unsafe social gatherings to curb the spread of COVID-19 in residences. However, many floor fellows have alleged that beyond mask mandates in common areas, rules were few and far between and, above all, poorly enforced. Gatherings and small parties in residences continued with minimal consequences and have now resulted in over 40 cases of COVID-19 in Royal Victoria College residence alone. 

To an extent, these violations are to be expected. Students often elect to live in residence in their first year to make friends and experience the social aspects of university. Once there, immediately surrounded by other people and subject to peer pressure, it was inevitable that some would ignore guidelines. Thus, in opening residences—a move almost surely driven by financial incentives—McGill chose to enable risky behaviour. This decision should have only been made with sufficient planning and resources. For example, McGill could improve its system to allow students to isolate should they have symptoms and more clearly define the consequences for violating public health measures. 

The university’s negligence has also put floor fellows at risk. Some have reported a lack of proper training, personal protective equipment, and adequate support from their employers. Because their jobs require them to interact with students face-to-face, it is crucial that SHHS properly equip them to simultaneously enforce safety measures and protect themselves. Students must support the work of the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE), which has been working to defend the labour rights of its floor fellows.  

All of this said, McGill’s poor decisions do not justify or excuse some students’ unsafe behaviour. Ignoring COVID-19 safety protocols exemplifies a clear lack of respect for one’s peers and the broader Montreal community. There should undoubtedly be punishments for those who place their own enjoyment over others’ safety, which may include fines issued by law enforcement. But excluding students on short notice during a pandemic does nothing to remedy the situation and ultimately puts students at even greater risk.

The pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges that even large institutions such as McGill were unprepared to overcome. But 10 months since the onset of the pandemic, there is no longer any excuse for such irresponsible management of the situation. 

Science & Technology

How precision medicine and artificial intelligence can reshape cancer care

by Cyril Kazan on

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Cancer treatment is one of the most intricate challenges of contemporary medicine. One complication that often arises is the trial and error prescription of drugs that are often ineffective against a given type of tumour or for a particular patient. Moreover, these treatments often produce exhausting side effects. 

The ability to identify the type of tumour and develop targeted treatment unique to each patient can dramatically increase both their survival rate and quality of life. This approach to treating patients based on individual characteristics is called precision medicine. 

A recent initiative by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and MEDTEQ, a major Canadian medical technology organization, aims to integrate current treatment methods like immunotherapy and chemotherapy, precision medicine principles, and artificial intelligence to achieve a personalized approach to cancer treatment. 

“Cancers of all types are heterogeneous,” Dr. Peter Metrakos, head of the Cancer Research Program at the RI-MUHC, said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “Every tumour [has] a unique set of mutations and a unique set of drivers. If we want to be successful, we are going to have to be able to stratify them and uniquely target them.” 

To achieve this, researchers are looking for biomarkers in patients’ blood that are linked to specific types of tumours. Cancer cells release extracellular vesicles into the bloodstream that contain proteins and genetic material such as DNA and RNA. Examining the content of these vesicles can indicate tumour identity and help doctors develop targeted treatment plans. 

However, once the components of these vesicles are extracted from the blood sample and their protein and genetic content is sequenced, a significant challenge arises. Protein, DNA, and RNA sequences, in addition to a patient’s medical history, constitute a tremendous amount of data to be analyzed. No scientist presented with this amount of information could detect patterns, but a computer can. This is where developments in artificial intelligence come into play. 

“The algorithm sees trends and is able to call them out,” Dr. Anthoula Lazaris, a scientist at the RI-MUHC who co-leads the project, said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. 

My Intelligent Machines (MIMs), a Montreal-based leader in artificial intelligence, plans to use machine learning algorithms to perform a high-level analysis of protein and genetic sequences combined with clinical information. This method may uncover links between specific tumour types and biochemical signatures in the blood. Then, CellCarta, a company specializing in biomarker development, will develop tools to identify the presence of these signatures from a simple liquid biopsy taken from the patient. 

This collaborative research initiative could transform cancer care by reducing precious diagnostic time and ensuring more targeted treatment.

“The patient walks into the clinic [where] we take a blood sample, run an assay, find a signature and identify the unique features of the tumour,” said Lazaris. “Combined with the patient’s clinical profile, [we use this information to] tailor the treatment accordingly,” Lazaris said. 

It would seem the current process of trying different drugs and readjusting prescriptions based on the outcomes will soon become obsolete. Doctors will be able to better identify the most effective treatments based on signatures identified in the patient’s blood, increasing the chance of successful treatment and making cancer care less debilitating for the patient.

Metrakos explained that the findings of their study represent an important milestone towards a major shift in cancer treatment strategy. 

“What we should go towards is a tumour-agnostic approach, which means that you don’t care where the tumour comes from,” Metrakos said. “You look at its mutations, you look at its drivers, you look at its protein makeup, and you target that, rather than where it comes from.”

Art, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Caroline Monnet welcomed as McGill’s first Indigenous Artist in Residence

by Deana Korsunsky on

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On Jan. 28, artist Caroline Monnet presented a virtual Artist Talk as McGill’s first Artist in Residence. Co-organized by the department of Art History and Communications Studies (AHCS) and the Indigenous Studies and Community Engagement Initiative (ISCEI), the event marked not only the beginning of Monnet’s residency, but also a momentous step towards including Indigenous voices in the university’s academic context and community. 

In conversation, Monnet is friendly and humble. In the art industry, she is an incredible, almost intimidating force to be reckoned with, boasting numerous accolades, residencies, and exhibitions—both local and international. Part Algonquin and part French, the visual artist and filmmaker largely focusses on the Indigenous experience in her artwork: Monnet edifies audiences on historical and contemporary Indigenous issues and reflects on her own lived experiences with biculturalism. One of her goals as an artist, Monnet suggests, is to examine society, and highlight what she sees.

“I see artists a little bit like sociologists, because our role is to respond to the world around us,” Monnet said.

With nearly 100 people in attendance, Monnet discussed her inspiration and motivation for her work, and walked the Zoom attendees through some of her films and visual artwork. She began with a viewing of Ikwé (2009), her first officially released film. Translating to “woman” in Cree, Ikwé is a personal reflection on the importance of connection to one’s past, showing interspersed images of Monnet and of a moon, representative of Monnet’s eldest grandmother. Monnet explained her interest in the moon’s control over the tides of bodies of water, and how it affects environments and migration patterns. 

“I was interested in how we physically shape and impact our environment and how [it] influences the people that we are,” Monnet said, referencing the motif of both physicality and metaphor that is so often present in her work.

A skilled multidisciplinary artist, Monnet’s work extends beyond film. “Like ships in the night”—her art installation that features video, concrete, copper, and a triptych of photographs—details a 22-day journey across the Atlantic that Monnet took in 2012, in which she left a Dutch port on a steel-carrying cargo ship and traveled to Montreal. Monnet documented her journey with a video camera, examining the emotions of fear and serenity as she traveled, while also noting the Atlantic Ocean as a medium for colonial trade.

“I wanted to challenge colonial organization of land, body, and time by exploring how communication and the cycle of the moon and tide can actually bridge physical and psychological divides,” Monnet said.

In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Monnet spoke on her new position as Indigenous Artist in Residence, noting the importance of artists and Indigenous voices in academia.

“I think institutions like McGill are starting to see the role they can play in giving more space to Indigenous students and Indigenous representation within their institution,” Monnet said. “ I believe this type of initiative can be a transformative experience, expanding knowledge, nurturing critical thinking and inspiring new ideas, creativity and innovation. It is surprising that it took this long, until 2021, to have such initiatives, but it’s better late than never.” 

Despite the virtual nature of her position at the moment, Monnet hopes to actively engage with the McGill community. 

“I’m hoping to exchange as much as possible with faculty and students [and] to be able to share as much as possible, to be available for students or anyone that wants to talk to me or learn more about my practice,” Monnet said. “I’m starting to see a few people reaching out and wanting to chat about art or Indigenous issues and I just think that’s what’s important right now, [to] have conversations.” 

While also working on her first feature film, Monnet has an upcoming exhibition that will be presented at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in April 2021. Office hours can be found here.

Commentary, Opinion

Finding fulfillment beyond the podium

by Michelle Marcus on

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The show makeup plastered on the faces of figure skaters often hides more than just cosmetic imperfections. While figure skating is frequently associated with elegance and agility, the world of competitive skating can be just as harmful as movies like I, Tonya make it out to be. Over the course of my nine years as a skater, the ongoing pressure to work harder, look better, and finish stronger turned my love for the sport into a complicated “love-hate” relationship. It was not until this past week, however, when I laced up my skates for the first time in over a year in Montreal’s iconic Parc La Fontaine, that I realized just how many of these negative feelings were towards the environment in which I skated rather than the sport itself. Although the world of competitive figure skating must reduce the pressure it places on its athletes, prioritizing recreation and enjoyment requires a greater cultural shift beyond the realm of sports, and starts at an individual level. 

Despite my love for skating, the constant pressure and intense commitment pushed me to retire from the sport fairly early. I had hoped that hanging up my skates would also eliminate my propensity for pushing aside other interests to match my achievements and physique to those of the athletes around me, but this was not the case. My final curtsy on the ice did not signal a farewell to the “no pain, no gain” mindset. After coming to McGill, I quickly realized that the self-induced pressure was not a product of the figure skating environment alone: The figure skating culture, which led me to believe that pressure and intensity were necessary to achieve success and fulfillment, dominates academia as well.

It would be wrong to say that figure skating is a toxic sport in its entirety. The hours I spent training both on and off the ice taught me valuable time management and social skills while fostering my ongoing love for fitness and sports. Nevertheless, the constant pressure to maintain a specific weight and skill level, which intensified with each medal I earned, is a product of the sport’s tendency to prioritize skill and athletic ability over mental health. By conditioning skaters to believe that success in the sport can only be achieved at the expense of their other hobbies and overall well-being, figure skating contributes to the notion that pursuing something for the sake of sheer enjoyment is pointless and a hindrance to personal achievement. 

More professional skaters are shedding light on the harmful dynamics of the sport, which have been glossed over by the idea that specific body standards and rigorous training schedules are necessary for maximizing performance. However, prioritizing unattainable standards over personal contentment goes beyond the walls of the rink, and it cannot be combated by the testimonies of celebrity skaters alone. 

Focussing on recreation and enjoyment does not mean throwing away the dedication that characterizes both figure skaters and McGill students alike. Similar to landing a new jump, the process of earning a degree from a prestigious university demands grit and determination. Yet, too often, students think they must push the courses and extracurricular activities that actually spark their interests to the academic backburner for the sake of getting As on their transcripts. Students should realize that not everything worthwhile and fulfilling needs to be accompanied by stress, pressure, and unwavering focus. Sometimes, pursuing something for the sake of pleasure is just as crucial to personal success as coming out on top.

Instigating a widespread cultural shift, both within and beyond the skating community, is unlikely to happen overnight. In the meantime, athletes and students should work to protect their love for various interests and hobbies from environments prone to fostering intense competition. For me, this meant dusting off my skates and stepping onto a frozen pond to rediscover my love for the ice.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

‘Forbidden’ fights for intersectional justice

by Matthew Molinaro on

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On Jan. 27, the Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE) at McGill hosted a virtual screening of the documentary Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America, which follows Moises Serrano, a young, undocumented, gay man. Directed by Tiffany Rhynard, Forbidden’s 88 minutes immerse viewers in Serrano’s life and his grapple with the various socio-political tensions underlying his identity. Released on July 12, 2016 and screened one week after President Joe Biden’s inauguration, the film is a historical marker of the impact of recent discriminatory legislation in the United States.

The film opens with the provoking cries from a familiar face. He rallies the crowd, persuades them, and calls for a solution to a shared “issue.” His audience cheers, enthralled with the seemingly new possibilities. The familiar face was then-candidate and now-former President Donald Trump, uniting his supporters around building a wall at the Mexico-U.S. border. The frame then shifts to a large group of undocumented immigrants, Serrano among them, at a pro-immigration demonstration in Greensboro, North Carolina, where a pastor recalls a main tenet in the Bible: Treat others right. One minute into the movie, the audience witnesses the uneven war where one side wants “their” country “back” while the other side wants freedom and humanity. Rhynard’s opening draws battle lines between politics and reality, and in continuing to mix major political decisions with Serrano’s impassioned speeches and snippets from his life, she situates Serrano and others’ stories into a broader context.

The son of Mexican, undocumented immigrants, Serrano grew up in Yadkinville, North Carolina, a rural farming town an hour outside of Charlotte. Despite its diversification as part of the “New South,” North Carolina has been a bastion of cultural conservatism, recently under scrutiny for the now semi-repealed 2016 Bathroom Bill. At the height of the conservative mid-2000s, Serrano was in high school, hiding the fact that he was gay and undocumented. Yadkinville was especially hostile, with some townspeople connected to the Klu Klux Klan, often staking out white crosses on porches. The camera rolls over the open lands, sprawling and without trees, prompting the question—where can minorities hide? But, as immigration attorneys relay details about legislation, the second question is—why should they have to hide in the first place?

The film follows Serrano’s life up until the 2016 election. He starts a relationship with Brandon, a kind-hearted guy from town. Serrano’s activism extends to sit-ins, speeches at council meetings, and openly embracing his identity. After graduating from high school, he works to apply to university. 

The audience grows up with Serrano as he hardens in the face of political injustices and its discontents. In recalling a meeting with Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, Serrano informs the audience of her repeated use of the slur “illegals.”

“She said, ‘I don’t support immigration reform, but I do support you personally,’” Serrano said, questioning whether that would make any difference.

The most gripping moments of the documentary occur when Serrano takes the camera into his own hands: In one powerful scene, he videotapes his reaction upon learning of the legalization of same-sex marriage in the U.S. 

On the way, Serrano and other undocumented immigrants face the 2007 Real ID Act, the threat of mass deportations by the Bush and Obama administrations, and the introduction of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants was—and still is—bleak and lengthy.

As the documentary ends, viewers are left empathizing with Serrano’s and others’ stories while watching the overarching reach of government first-hand. Four years of increased alienation due to Trump’s enabling of xenophobia and bigotry shows how much more progress needs to be made for queer and undocumented immigrants. With a new administration that promised to restore the country’s soul, the film asks its audience to hold its governments accountable, to push for humanity alongside concrete changes, and for inclusivity in the American dream.

McGill, News

SSMU student fee investigation reveals lack of due diligence, financial accountability

by Juliet Morrison on

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The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) released a report titled “Investigation into the SSMU’s Student Fee Policies” on Jan. 21, coming after years of student concerns regarding the levying and administration of ancillary fees. The report revealed a lack of financial due diligence and accountability in current practices and contains recommendations to rectify these issues. 

Spearheaded by the SSMU Finance Committee, the report examines the approval process, levying and accountability of student fees directly under SSMU’s control, primarily the Student Society Fees. Student Society Fees include all fees falling under S.52 of the Act respecting the accreditation and financing of students associations, legislation that governs student societies province-wide and stipulates that new fees, or increasing existing fees, must be approved through a student referendum.

Any student group wishing to start collecting fees must first gain the Legislative Council’s approval by way of submitting an official motion. Aside from including the amount per person that the group wants to levy, whether the fee can be opted out, and the duration of the fee, groups seeking approval are not required to provide any budgetary information to the council. If endorsed by the council, the fees must then be approved by a student referendum before they are automatically applied to students’ bills. SSMU Finance Commissioner Sebastien Duckett explained that the current requirements for submitting a financial motion to the Legislative Council lack due diligence.

“Traditionally, they haven’t done it as the industry standard,” Duckett said. “[What is] problematic is that a lot of groups will make up a number and then spend that money later.” 

The report found that between 2015 and 2020, the Legislative Council approved 95 per cent of fee applications—a number, the report suggests, that demonstrates that the current policies in place hinder the council’s ability to make informed judgements when voting on whether or not to approve fees. The report also found that fee proposals gained “overwhelming support” at referendum, but voter turnout is often below 20 per cent. 

One recommendation contained in the report suggests consolidating SSMU Services Fees, SSMU Funding Committee Fees, and other SSMU Fees into the SSMU Membership Fee, as the SSMU Membership Fee is subject to a rigorous external audit every year, whereas the other fees are not. Consolidating the fees would give the Legislative Council power to freeze, reduce, or transfer surplus funds to different services—subject to council approval. Implementing this recommendation would involve cancelling all of these fees and proportionally increasing the SSMU Membership Fee, and would have to be approved through a referendum.

“It’s easier said than done,” SSMU Vice-President of Finance Gifford Marpole said. “Obviously, the ultimate goal is to consolidate all the fees into the base membership fee [….] It might take a few steps, but it will likely be rolled out throughout this year and next year.”  

The report also recommends adjusting Legislative Council powers to enable action against any student groups underusing fees, and in some cases, improperly using fees and running large surpluses.

According to Marpole, several of these recommendations could be implemented during this year starting in June 2021 when the new SSMU fiscal year starts. 

Through a survey on the student body’s opinions about the levying, administration, and value of ancillary fees, one question showed that 35.2 per cent of respondents felt the transparency, accountability and fairness for fees paid was not adequate.  

“[The confusion around finances] has existed for decades,” SSMU President Jemark Earle said. “We have the ‘where’s my money going’ document which we published […], but I think there can be a lot more […] town halls [and] presentations to the student body that make this language more accessible [….] In the long term planning, SSMU can do more […] than just post a document online that outlines where the money is going, but actually take the time to walk through the document with the student body.”

Arts & Entertainment

Winnie Ho and Charo Foo Tai Wei push the boundaries of dance

by Emilia Chavanne on

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When we think of dance, we often think of grace, rhythm, and elegance. In its most traditional sense, dance is a beautiful artistic expression of the body. However, dance has been challenged to push its boundaries and reach new limits. Indeed, that is the objective of contemporary dance, as realized through Winnie Ho and Charo Foo Tai Wei’s performances. 

The virtual event, CanAsian Dance, was presented by Tangente, a Montreal-based contemporary dance company that encourages dance to be innovative and imaginative. The goal of CanAsian Dance, created by Festival Acces Asie, was to encourage each choreographer to create a piece that challenged them to take a new direction with their work. Through contemporary dance, the dancers experiment onstage, performing without rhythmic melodies, using a mixture of everyday sounds like raindrops for music, or even dancing in complete silence. This experimental genre seems like the most apt to adapt to this virtual context, allowing for dancers to find new ways to perform. Ho and Charo Foo successfully took on the challenge of dancing despite the absence of an in-person audience. 

The first performance was Winnie Ho’s aWokening, in which she attempted to reconnect with her roots from Hong Kong. Ho’s choreography revolved around a wok, a traditional Chinese cooking instrument. The wok is special to Ho as she clutches it close to herself, and it remains attached to her while she performs. Ho’s choreography seems surprising at first, as she dances naked with a wok and with no music. However, as we learn about Ho’s approach and her connection to the Chinese diaspora, her performance becomes a deeply personal, authentic and unmediated expression of her cultural roots. During the intermission, Ho told the audience that her main challenge was to perform inside a theatre, as she has a strong spatial sensitivity and usually dances in open spaces. Ho attempted to create her own environment in the enclosed setting, considering it a new open canvas—effectively using the indoor space to convey her interior world to the viewers. 

The second performance was Charo Foo’s The Golden Stick Ritual. The piece was inspired by her aunt, who practiced healing rituals throughout her childhood. Charo Foo seeks to recreate the intensity and energy her aunt possessed in her rituals, combining the technical precision of classical training with the complete fluidity of contemporary dance. In linking her background in classical Chinese dance to this new style, she defies traditional form and moves in entirely new directions. Charo Foo’s choreography imitates the healing ritual’s force through the strength of her gestures and articulate facial expressions. Her performance is a voyage through herself, a transcendent experience where Charo Foo’s different emotions—resistance, pain—are embodied in her movement. She is able to synthesize these sensations into something beautiful and to share these feelings with the public. 

Through their innovative performances, Ho and Charo Foo examine their pasts and interior selves, merging these concepts of identity to form a new, innovative style. Contemporary dance does not commit to the elegance and structure that this art may provide in its conventional sense, but rather searches for a new path. Eschewing the prescriptions of grace and conventional rhythm, both dancers instead sought out inner experience for all its raw intensity, rendering emotion completely physical. Ho and Charo Foo’s performances pushed dance to transcend across cultures, across genres, and across screens.

Soccer, Sports

The Premier League title is up for the taking

by Karan Kumar, Reza Ali on

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The 2021 Premier League season is halfway finished and has been rather unpredictable. Liverpool, last season’s champions, are currently four points behind current league leaders Manchester City, who have 44 points and an extra game to play compared to the rest of the top four teams. Right behind Manchester City and ahead of Liverpool is Manchester United, who are three points back from first. Rounding out the top four is Leicester City, who lag five points behind the leader. 

Currently in the middle of the standings are traditional powerhouses as well as some unforeseen dark horses. Powerhouses Chelsea and Arsenal both have 30 points after 20 games. Chelsea seems to be trending downwards, while Arsenal is trending up after the loan signing of creative midfielder Martin Odegaard, eliminating 16 points from their last available 18. Joining Arsenal and Chelsea are Aston Villa, Southampton, and Leeds United, who all have a game in hand on the London sides. The McGill Tribune shares its predictions for the rest of the season.

Top Four Predictions

Fourth, Leicester City 

It will be no surprise if Leicester City replicate their 2015-2016 Cinderella story title run, as the Foxes sit a mere two points behind Manchester City. Leicester may temporarily lead the league with a decent run of fixtures coming up, including Fulham, Wolves, and Leeds. However, the Europa League campaign will pick in February, meaning Leicester will have to travel across Europe midweek. Ending the season with United, Chelsea, and Tottenham means capitulation may be in the cards for the Foxes, leading to a fourth place finish this campaign.

Third, Manchester United

United had the chance to move up to the top of the ranks on Jan. 27, when they played the worst team in the league, Sheffield United. However, they lost 2-1, a result that sums up their campaign: Inconsistency mars this Manchester team. While heroics from the likes of Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernades could win them unexpected points, it is far from sustainable for a title charge. Third would not be a bad finish at all, considering Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s relationship with the hot seat as manager.

Second, Liverpool 

Liverpool were dominant in their last campaign. The reigning champions won their first Premier League title in style, finishing with 99 points, 18 points clear of the next closest side. This year however, long term injuries to center backs Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez have hindered the side, in addition to their attacking woes. Until their 3-1 win against Tottenham on Jan. 28, Liverpool had gone 486 minutes without a Premier League goal and 40 days without a Premier League win. There’s no doubt Klopp’s side is still one of the best, but they need to be perfect to make up for their injury losses—so far, this season has been far from that.

First, Manchester City:

Pep Guardiola is a tactical genius. No one can deny that. However, his recruitment and management prowess tends to fly under the radar. Manchester City boast incredible depth—an integral aspect to a title-winning team normally, but even more so during a pandemic. Although star playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is out injured, that did not stop City from a 5-0 victory against West Brom on Jan. 26. Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has looked revitalized this season, with six goals in his last seven Premier League games. Wide players such as Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez, and Bernardo Silva give Guardiola immense amounts of creativity at his disposal. At the back, Ruben Dias looks to be the signing of the summer and forms a formidable partnership with John Stones. This City side has all the makings for a title run, so only one thing can stop them: Themselves. We have seen Guardiola overcomplicate his tactics before. Regardless, if City keep playing like they have been, this title is theirs.

Trending up, Arsenal

Mikel Arteta was given an almost impossible job last season: He was tasked to take over midseason, in his first head manager role, and bring a “Big 6” club back to its former greatness. While Arsenal finished eighth in the league, they went on to win the FA Cup, securing a trophy and a European qualification. All signs were pointing to a good campaign this season from the Gunners. However, before Boxing Day, Arsenal was sitting in 14th place and had relegation on their mind. A Boxing Day win against Chelsea turned into a fine run of form, bringing the Gunners up to the top half of the table.

Trending down, Chelsea 

The Blues started well with promising performances in the beginning months of the season, even though their new signing, Kai Havertz, did not replicate his form from the Bundesliga. However, the nightmare started in the December-January period, when Chelsea struggled to win. Frank Lampard, club manager until Jan. 25, was let go due to his inability at making a consistent plan to win games. Thomas Tuchel, now in charge, will have a tough task ahead to keep Chelsea in the top four with the upcoming Champions League and FA Cup.

Liverpool FC 2020-2021 squad, worldfootball.net

Relegation predictions

20th: Sheffield United

Sheffield have the worst start to a top flight season in English Football history. The Blades have scored just 12 goals in 21 games so far and are 10 points behind a non-relegation zone team, Brighton, who still have a game in hand. The club has lost 17 games and won only two so far. With this record, they are bound to finish 20th and become relegated from the Premier League.

19th: West Brom

The first half of the season has not been successful for West Brom, who have won only one of their past five games. They have the worst goal differential in the Premier League of -33. Slaven Bilic, West Brom’s previous manager, was let go in December last year, and was succeeded by Sam Allardyce. Allardyce, who has managed successful escapes from the relegation zone in the past with teams like Bolton and Sunderland, will require more than a miracle to get West Brom out of relegation this year.

18th: Fulham

Fulham have won only two out of 20 games so far and have been in the bottom three every season. They have not won a game since November and have 10 draws. It would require many unlikely wins for the team to escape the relegation zone.

Overall, this season is wide open, with about 20 games left for each team to play. With the Champions League round of 16 matches approaching in February, Liverpool and Manchester City face a challenging game schedule ahead, which could eventually narrow the race for the title.

Ilkay Gundogan, www.outlookindia.com
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