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Presentation of new nursing program.
McGill, News

McGill announces creation of online Bachelor of Nursing degree

by Tasmin Chu on

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McGill announced that it will be launching Quebec’s first online Bachelor of Nursing degree in on Oct. 24. The program, which aims to address a lack of baccalaureate-holding nurses in the province, will be offered in both English and French starting in 2021.

Quebec’s nurses are less educated than their peers across Canada. While 63-73 per cent of nurses hold a bachelor’s degree in other provinces, the number drops to only 46 per cent in Quebec. The difference can be attributed to Quebec’s unique requirements: Nurses only need to hold a nursing Diplôme d’études collégiales (DEC) from a CEGEP to practice, while in the rest of Canada, a bachelor’s degree in nursing is required.

Annie Chevrier, the Program Director for McGill’s Bachelor of Nursing Integrated and Online Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) Initiatives, explained the serious consequences of this education disparity.

“An increase in bachelor-prepared nurses has positive outcomes on Quebec’s healthcare system, specifically in improved patient outcomes,” Chevrier wrote in an email to ///The McGill Tribune./// “A 10 [per cent] increase in bachelor-educated nurses has shown to result in a [four to seven per cent] decrease in patient death [….] The Quebec population is aging. Care has been restructured such that patients in hospitals are more acutely ill and are discharged sooner. [So] critical care and community health nursing—competencies gained during a Bachelor of Nursing—are increasingly important.”

A donation from the Doggone Foundation made launching the program possible, explained James Clement, the Communications Manager of the Faculty of Medicine.

“[The Doggone Foundation’s] gift towards the BNI Online Program was for $1 million,” James Clement wrote in an email to the //Tribune//. 

Chevrier explained that an online program will allow nurses to further their education while still continuing to practice. 

“Amazingly, there are no online bachelor-level nursing programs for licensed nurses in Quebec,” Chevrier wrote. “A Quebec nurse’s only online options are in other provinces […] An online program offers increased flexibility for work and family life, while removing geographic barriers to access. Another part of improving accessibility is making the program bilingual […] A number of nurses who attend McGill are Francophone and are completing their first English program with us.”

Education professor Caroline Riches emphasized that online courses grant versatility that traditional courses do not offer.

“I think that the main benefits of online courses and programs are access and flexibility,” Riches wrote in an email to the Tribune. “[They offer] access to student[s] who do not live close enough to the university to attend on-campus, face-to-face classes, [and] flexibility for those who may be working full-time or on shifts.”

Riches believes that the online degree is a step in the right direction for McGill’s nursing program. 

“The main disadvantages or challenges for any online course or program [are a] lack of student engagement, lack of community, and motivation,” Riches wrote. “Nevertheless, there are ways to address this and increase online presence and build online community—which I am sure nursing is aware of [….] I am a big supporter of online courses and do think [that] McGill should expand its online offerings.”

Chevrier explained that concerns about online courses offering lower quality education were unwarranted, as the Online Design Team from McGill’s Teaching and Learning Services (TLS) would work to create comprehensive online materials.

“There is extensive research to support that online learning is an effective method of instruction for students in many disciplines, including nursing,” Chevrier wrote. “We are confident that this program will provide the same high-quality education that students expect from McGill [….] The vision behind the online design is student engagement, interactivity, and the creation of a vibrant community of learners.” 

Riches observed that offering the online program was a wise choice in improving Quebec healthcare.

“I think [that] it is important to offer courses and programs that meet the needs of the market – and nursing [h]as done this,” Riches wrote.

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Mapping nature’s contributions to people

by Alex Arkilanian on

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Currently, the United Nations (UN) estimates that there are approximately 7.7 billion people in the world, a number that is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. Moreover, human populations are becoming more dense: 68 per cent of people are expected to live in urban centres by 2050. As these cities become more populated, their reliance on the local environment is expected to increase as well. In addition, climate change is projected to further reduce ecosystems’ ability to meet humanity’s growing demands.

This was the motivation behind a study published in Science this past October that examined the global mismatches between what nature can provide—termed nature’s contributions to people—today and in 2050.

Elena Bennett, a professor in the Department of Natural Resources at McGill and a co-author on the article, further explained the motivation for the study and the way that researchers modelled nature’s contributions to people across the world.

“In this paper, what we really wanted to highlight was when you get a service, […] what slice of that is nature providing, and how important is that?” Bennett said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “The way the model is built has two components. [First], where is nature that can provide a service? For example, for pollination, where are there pollinators [and habitats] that can support pollinators? [The second part] looks at where that is needed.”

Using three different projections, the two-part modelling approach revealed areas where nature is not meeting the needs of people and is unlikely to meet them in the future. This is especially true in regions in Africa and South Asia. 

The different projections did lead to some unexpected results. A projection labelled ‘fossil-fueled,’ a situation in which human use of fossil fuels has greatly expanded, leads to better overall outcomes for the global human population. In contrast, the ‘regional rivalry’ projection, detailing a world where resources are very scarce, would lead to an overall worse global outcome. Although surprising given the notoriety of the fossil fuel industry, Bennett explained that the outcome would arise due to a closing-off of borders and a reduction in global cooperation in the regional rivalry projection.

“Where Africa and South Asia have issues, it gets worse [under the regional rivalry projection] because there is no ability to use trade to mitigate or ameliorate the situation,” Bennett said. “In the fossil-fueled development, it’s […] development […] with the intention of preserving green space. It’s business-as-usual but with a little intensification.”

This points to the importance of global trade networks in facing environmental change: For example, global food trade is already identified as an important contribution to food security facing a changing climate. Still, trade does not work equally well for all of nature’s contributions to people.

“With other things like flood control, it doesn’t work unless you can move all the people from Bangladesh, [for example],” Bennett said. “But you can’t put more mangroves in Malaysia and hope that it’s going to help.” 

Bennett mentioned that technology can be an important proxy for nature where trade is not able to keep up with human populations.

“In [North America], we don’t rely on wetlands to provide water quality,” Bennett said. “We build water treatment plants. That’s a technological solution to something that, in the right place with a less dense population, nature would have done for us.”

In the study, the best-performing future scenario was labelled ‘sustainability.’ Bennet further elucidated what sustainability might need to look like to improve our global forecast.

“That’s the million dollar question: We don’t know,” Bennett said. “What this paper shows is [that] some combination of [conservation, technology, and trade] is what we really need, but we also really don’t know the implications of these.”

Sports

NCAA puts right foot forward

by Adam Menikefs on

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The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Board of Governors voted unanimously on Oct. 29 to soon allow student-athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness. The vote was in light of a bill recently passed in California that also allows NCAA athletes in the state to be similarly compensated. NCAA President Mark Emmert stated that California’s legislation, as well as calls for change from athletes such as LeBron James, were influential in the NCAA’s decision, as the organization has recently faced fierce criticism for not paying its athletes. 

The NCAA needs to work through many issues before athletes can receive any form of monetary compensation. Setting rules and regulations for how compensation is distributed is key to laying the groundwork for the payment of collegiate athletes.

First off, there is a large gap between the monetary value of collegiate athletes across conferences, sports, and genders. Division I football games regularly bring in millions of viewers. A star quarterback in a well-known Division I program, such as the University of Alabama, could receive much more profitable sponsorship deals because the wider reach of his sport allows for higher potential profits from advertising. In contrast, an Olympic-level female fencer may only be able to receive pay from an advertisement for a local business. This is because not all NCAA sports are televised live and some require a subscription to ESPN+ to watch in the United States, limiting the advertisements’ reach and the potential profits for sponsors. Thus, the NCAA must regulate these sponsorships from companies to keep financial balance among student-athletes who all fall under the same governing body.

Opening sponsorship opportunities for athletes also creates an entirely new problem within recruiting. The alumni and boosters who make large donations to university athletic programs could significantly affect the decisions of high school athletes, potentially creating an imbalance within collegiate sports. This is especially relevant in sports with high viewership and high monetary value for the NCAA, such as Division I men’s basketball. 

In 2018, Zion Williamson decided to attend Duke University to help him reach his ultimate goal of playing in the NBA. However, with monetary incentives open to recruits, that decision could have been altered. For example, Michael Jordan could have offered Williamson a Jordan brand sponsorship worth millions of dollars, were he to attend Duke’s chief rival and Jordan’s alma mater, the University of North Carolina. This would have likely factored heavily into Williamson’s decision. With this type of hypothetical becoming a possible reality in the future, the legislation outlining the monetization of athletes’ images and likeness must address this possible issue and ensure that recruitment stays fair across all sports and colleges. 

Although similar scenarios have arisen in collegiate athletics before, they will likely increase as the new regulations are instituted and punishments must be steep in order to deter programs from cheating the system. In 2010, the NCAA investigated University of Southern California (USC) football star and Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush and found that his family was given luxury gifts and hundreds of thousands of dollars from aspiring sports marketer Lloyd Lake. As a result, the USC football program and Bush were both given heavy sanctions including postseason bans, removal of thirty scholarships, and the forfeiture of both the 2004 National Championship and the 2005 Heisman trophy. Although many regarded the sanctions as harsh, similar consequences must be the norm if programs and players begin to abuse the new rules regarding monetization. 

The NCAA is heading in the right direction toward fairly compensating their athletes, but the plan remains in its early stages with many potential problems to address to ensure the success of this new proposal. The NCAA’s committee is set to issue a report in January 2020 at their annual meeting, and they have stated that a plan will be in place by January 2021. In doing so, athletes and fans alike may hope that the NCAA will appropriately consider these concerns to ensure that the only benefits of monetization are realized once the new policy is enacted.

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

‘Mythic’ will leave audiences enchanted

by Matthew Hawkins on

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Broadway has no shortage of Classics-inspired musicals this season. Hadestown, an adaptation of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice won two Tonys, including best musical. For fans of Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief opened on Broadway in October. The creators of Mythic now playing at the Segal Centre, hope for the same kind of success. The show is a fresh take on the well-known and oft-adapted story of Persephone (Julia McLellan), whose title character disappears into the underworld and is subsequently reunited with her mother, Demeter (Heather McGuigan). Breathing fresh life into a story that is thousands of years old requires substantial effort and imagination. Mythic appeals to modern viewers by linking the ancient Greek deities to a modern cultural equivalent: Pop music gods. Zeus (Aadin Church), wearing at least three different sparkly jackets and oversized shades while wailing on an equally bedazzled piano evokes Elton John; Aphrodite (Jessica Gallant) brings a Beyoncé-inspired flair with a Greek chorus of backup dancers, and Hades (James Daly) has an edgy-yet-approachable Brendan Urie look. 

Persephone, on the other hand, is a down-to-earth teenage girl struggling to define herself in the shadow of her mother. Demeter is a Donna Sheridan–esque bohemian mother who, after becoming disenchanted with life as a god, left Olympus to raise Persephone on earth. After sneaking into a party at the Acropolis, Persephone meets Aphrodite and becomes entangled with bad boy Hades. The encounter leads to an unfortunate hookup that results in her becoming stranded in the underworld. 

The play is full of tropes, as one might expect from an archetypal story used to explain the origin of seasons, but what makes Mythic lovable is that it recognizes and leans into them. Hades’s long coat , skinny jeans, and combat boots—all black—might seem like a costume version of the brooding and often sinister Montreal softboy. It is this self-awareness that makes Mythic fun. What better way to make a clichéd story relevant than by including our very own modern clichés. Zeus himself proclaims his arrival as a “deus ex machina” (a Latin phrase used to describe the unlikely and very convenient appearance of a god to solve problems in Greek theatre). The set and lighting reflect the pop-rock spirit of the show as well—flashing lights and scaffolding set pieces make each song feel as much like seeing a concert as seeing a musical. 

Mythic is as much a story about parenthood as it is about romance or the origin of winter. All the main characters have strained relationships with their parents or children: Persephone struggles in Demeter’s shadow, and Aphrodite yearns for Zeus’s approval before realizing that she has greater worth as her own person. Not to mention that Zeus and his siblings murdered their own parents, the Titans. The Gods, though immortal, find themselves growing up and swearing that they will be better than their parents, only to slowly realize that they are no better.  However, each one of them remembers that their parents were doing their best, a theme that weaves its way through the dialogue and songs, so that no one character comes out as the villain.

Mythic takes an aeons old story and continues the tradition of remix and adaptation of Greek mythology so that it continues to be a living story that is interesting and relevant. With fun characters, music that is both catchy and emotionally charged, and a talented cast, Mythic will please romance, theatre, and Classics aficionados alike.

Mythic will run until Nov. 24 at the Segal Theatre.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Montreal does the Time Warp again

by Deana Korsunsky on

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One rarely has the opportunity to throw toasted bread or toilet–paper across an elegant theatre venue—rarely, but not never. From Oct. 31—Nov. 2, Cinéma Impérial hosted its annual Rocky Horror Picture Show Halloween Ball, inviting audiences to partake in said toast and toilet–paper throwing mischief. The decades-old Halloween tradition drew thousands of costume-clad Rocky enthusiasts who waited in a line that stretched around the block.

The 1975 cult musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show follows engaged couple Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) and Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick), who are forced to seek refuge in a mysterious castle after their car breaks down during a rainstorm. They meet Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry), along with his entourage of eccentric guests and servants, who invite them to the unveiling of his creation, a muscular and supposedly flawless blond man named Rocky. 

Every Halloween since the release of the film, cities across the world have joined in the tradition of celebrating the campy classic by screening the film while a cast re-enacts it out on stage. The show is always an interactive experience, with the audience participating in call-backs, throwing props in the air, and cheering on the performers’ provocative antics.

The show was hosted by Tranna Wintour, local comedian, singer, and entertainer who has brought charm and wit to the Rocky stage for three years. Before the performance, Wintour hosted a traditional costume contest, calling preselected showgoers up on stage to be judged according to audience applause. 

Just before announcing the start of the show, Wintour spoke on a more serious note. She acknowledged the cultural significance and importance of a film like Rocky Horror to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, but pointed out a caveat to celebrating the show: While the community praises the show for its representation, language has evolved, and it is “no longer acceptable to use words like transvestite or transexual to describe transgendered people,” she explained. 

The show itself was well executed on all fronts. Every performer, whether a main character or a groupie, exuded incredible amounts of energy, feeding the audience’s enthusiasm. There was never a scene during which the audience did not cheer for the comically hypersexual antics of the supporting cast members. At the start of the show, for example, Brad and Janet are driving through the rain. The car’s windshield wipers, however, were coyly portrayed by the suggestively opening and closing legs of a cast member lying on their back.

Heidi Rubin’s performance of Dr. Frank N. Furter was engaging and theatrical. Rubin was consistently synchronized with her character’s actions onscreen, nailing every strut, spin, and facial expression. The Voice, voiced by the show’s director Erin Fagen, drew many of the laughs from the audience. While Fagen paid homage to traditional callbacks, she also included contemporary jokes. “Uh oh, it’s Donald Trump,” Fagen quipped at the moment when Janet began to have sex with Frank N. Furter (believing that it is Brad), and accidentally took off his wig. 

True to Rocky Horror tradition, , the audience also joined the actors in performing: During one of the show’s big musical numbers, “Time Warp,” everyone rose from their seats to dance and bellow the lyrics along with the members on stage, creating a deafening atmosphere of excitement.

Rocky Horror is not just about the jokes or musical numbers; it is about the shared experience between audience and performers, and its playfully poignant theme of togetherness and acceptance.

While the Rocky Horror Picture Show tradition is celebrated across the world, only Cinéma Impérial’s production can boast the title of largest Rocky Horror Picture Show event in North America. Montreal’s production has traditionally drawn a large crowd of voguish and welcoming fans. It was this crowd that made this year’s performances so memorable.

Science & Technology, Student Research

Racialized people receive lower quality mental health services

by Margaret Wdowiak on

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Over the last few years, campaigns such as Bell Let’s Talk and a greater representation of mental health have increased awareness of and reduced stigma associated with accessing mental health services. Despite these steps forward, many people of colour still have trouble accessing quality services. Sommer Knight, a graduate student in the Department of Psychiatry, attempts to answer this issue in her research. Knight examines pathways to mental health service among minorities and the clinical challenges of involuntary admission for first episode psychosis (FEP) patients. 

To observe how differences in involuntary admissions influence help-seeking behaviours, which consist of actively seeking help from health care services, Knight asked FEP patients about their experiences to see how their background affected their attitude toward health care. She also reviewed patient charts to identify which risk factors place people at a greater risk for coercive treatment. These treatments include a wide range of procedures such as forced medication, seclusion, and involuntary admissions. 

Involuntary hospitalization is a legal procedure that forces an individual to receive inpatient treatment, where the patient resides in a 24-hour live-in care facility such as a psychiatric hospital, involuntarily. Involuntary admission can produce certain short-term benefits, such as  greater treatment adherence, fewer days in the hospital, and fewer violent incidents. However, coercive treatment can also have many negative effects on patients and can create important clinical challenges. 

“[Patients] felt that they lost their sense of value,” Knight said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “[Involuntary admission] also affected whether they felt cared for by their team.” 

The long-term detrimental effects of coercive treatments may eclipse their short-term benefits. The method can be traumatic for patients, who lose their agency and control. In the last 10 years, research has shown that individuals who received coercive treatment have a poorer quality of life and lower self-esteem in the long run. 

In Canada, minorities seem to be disproportionately targeted by this policy. 

“Minorities, specifically those of African and Caribbean backgrounds, are more likely to receive police referrals or maintenance referrals instead of going voluntarily,” Knight said. 

High rates of involuntary commitment mean that racialized people often underutilize services. 

People of colour also face hurdles that disincentivize the use of mental health services. Language barriers, as well as imbalances of power and authority, impact the care that patients receive. In addition, Knight found that minorities experience abnormally long wait times for initial assessments, and mental health providers often fail to properly recognize and respond to these patients’ needs. As a result, mental health stigma and the belief that mental health treatment is ineffective are widespread within these communities.

Coercive treatment’s negative effects largely stem from the fact that the method is based on the assumption that mentally ill patients are usually dangerous, which is a common misconception. Psychiatrists, however, understand most mental disorders better than ever before and have thousands of available treatments that have much fewer negative effects than coercive treatment. Given that coercive treatment also disproportionately affects minorities, it is more important than ever for Canadians to deal with the problems of involuntary admission and discrimination in the provision of mental health services. 

As Knight points out, confronting the issue of discrimination in areas such as health care access is often overlooked, but as Canada becomes increasingly diverse, the issue can no longer be ignored.

“If the goal of medicine is to promote patient welfare, then […] it’s important that we […] ensure that everyone gets the care that they need,” Knight said.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

‘Parasite’ is a brilliant class-conscious thriller

by Noah Simon on

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Parasite, the new film from South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, examines human performances of gender, class, and identity. The film seeks to explore the illusion of a fixed social reality and, with the deft touch of one of the premiere filmmakers of the century, creates a meta-commentary on the illusion of narrative film itself. As a result, the film’s central questions—what happens when things don’t go according to plan and when the script takes a turn out of your control—provide the framework for one of the most compelling and unpredictable films of the year. 

Parasite follows the Kims, a struggling, working-class family of four living in a Seoul basement apartment. The son, Kim Ki-woo (Woo Sik-Choi), finds a job as an English teacher for the daughter of an extremely wealthy family, the Parks. Soon enough, Ki-woo begins the process of replacing all the domestic employees of the Park family with his own relatives. Tensions then flare through countless twists and turns.

Parasite clearly has something to say about economic disparity in South Korea and the way powerful elites perceive the working class. It may even have something to say about the potential dissipation of cultural identity in the face of an increasingly globalized world. But the film is not that blunt; its final messages go beyond simple “rich people are bad” narratives. Bong and fellow screenwriter Han Jin-won, with the help of all around excellent performances—particularly from Song Kang-ho as the Kim patriarch and Jo Yeo-jeon as the mother of the Park family—have crafted complex characters and situations that defy easy categorization. Good and bad often blur together within expertly constructed scenes of suspense. When the narrative turns in an unexpected direction, it asks the audience to challenge the initial deception while rooting for it at the same time.

Bong seamlessly mixes genres: Parasite is essentially a home invasion thriller and political satire within the context of class warfare. Throughout his filmography, Bong has effortlessly blended political commentary with tragedy and comedy while still managing to tell original, captivating stories of family drama. He tends to intertwine undertones of comedy with very dark subject matter, and Parasite might be his funniest film to date. Everything runs smoothly in this film, not just the mixture of genres: The performers’ movements and cadences glide, and the camera drifts and cuts with such crispness that the film flows with incredible smoothness. There are entire scenes whose tension unfolds just through body gestures and camera tilts. Bong is not trying to obfuscate the plot by doing this—each cinematographic choice in Parasite is very deliberate. The performances are meant to be interpreted literally—as heightened and theatrical—to emphasize the performative facade of social distinctions. The film’s self-reflexivity acts as a mechanism to gesture towards real cultural problems. 

When a film has such a confident grasp on contemporary social issues and articulates them with grace, precision, and aesthetic and narrative singularity, it is not surprising to see it receive so many accolades. Parasite was the first Korean film to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It is a pleasurable watch and can be enjoyed by casual viewers and film buffs alike.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

First Impressions: Is ‘The Lighthouse’ worth the hype?

by Jonathan Giammaria, Katia Innes, Patrick Gilroy, Vanessa Barron on

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On a rainy Sunday evening, The McGill Tribune Arts & Entertainment team convened for one purpose and one purpose only: To watch the much-hyped Robert Eggers film The Lighthouse. Starring ex–Twilight cast member Robert Pattison and ex–Mr Bean’s Holiday villain Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse has captivated audiences since its release. Whether or not the film lives up to the hype, however, is up to the Arts and Entertainment team to decide. 

 

Patrick Gilroy: Unconventional and bold

When it comes to movies, I find that the crazier they are, the better. In this regard, The Lighthouse did not disappoint. 

Eggers does a good job of setting up a somber character study through the first third of the film. But, it isn’t long before he pulls the rug out from under the audience, dialing up the surrealist imagery and forcing the audience to question everything they thought to be true about the characters. The result is a beautiful film that toys with conventional narrative structure and deftly wields its symbolism. It remains a character study through and through, and Pattinson and Defoe nail their roles as the hysterical lighthouse keepers. By the end of the film, I could not tell if the characters were crazy, or if I was—it might have been a bit of both. 

 

Vanessa Barron: Baffling but beautiful

I went into The Lighthouse with high expectations, and it certainly lived up in terms of filmmaking quality, particularly in its surreal sound design. A blaring foghorn becomes a ticking doomsday clock, screams distort into grating static, and a silly line like, ‘Why’d ye spill yer beans?’ echoes throughout the space of the theatre, becoming a memorable, haunting omen of insanity and death. While the film was strikingly and grotesquely beautiful, I couldn’t tell you what this movie is about to be honest. There were clear mythological metaphors and phallic imagery at every corner, but even with that knowledge, I couldn’t tell you what kind of message Eggers was constructing. Perhaps this thematic ambiguity was intentional, and perhaps The Lighthouse deserves a rewatch on my part. Regardless, this film is hypnotically atmospheric, and downright disgusting at times, yet in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible. 

 

Katia Innes: Convoluted hogwash

The Lighthouse is undoubtedly a very scary movie. However, much of the imagery that  makes the movie so terrifying—hysterical mermaids, rotting flesh, and seagulls—ultimately add little to the film. Some symbols, such as the murdered seabird, carry profound meaning until the climax of the film. Others remain entirely unexplained. Perhaps these images were meant to deliberately disorient and confuse; perhaps reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians simply did not prepare me with an adequate knowledge of Greek mythology to understand the film’s frequent allusions to the Promethean fire story. Regardless, Eggers has spun a mythology that The Lighthouse cannot support, and the plot buckles under this weight. 

 

Jonathan Giammaria: A work of cinematographic genius

One could argue that The Lighthouse is nothing but the newest arthouse film of the month. It follows the recent trend of experimental horror in creating a slow-burn plot that withholds much of the gore and jump scares that characterize more mainstream fanfare. What distinguishes Eggers’s newest film, however, are his stylistic choices. Eggers harkens back to the cinematic language of yesteryear—monochrome film cinematography presented in a square aspect ratio—which entices audiences by  mirroring the claustrophobia and volatility that increase over the course of the film’s narrative. Many scenes take place over dimly lit dinners, where the two leads sit in an isolating darkness encroaching on them from the film’s edges. Likewise, some scenes use dark space so heavily that the image only allows for tiny slits of light, just to quickly cut to a scene in broad, stark daylight. In a film whose leads become fixated on light, it’s fitting that Eggers disorients his audience with it.

Commentary, Opinion

Gerts, it hurts: I want you back

by Leina Gabra on

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With vain hope in their hearts, students received an email from the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) on Oct. 28, hoping to read a promising update on the University Centre’s closure. However, students were disappointed by yet another delay: Gert’s, club spaces, and community spaces are still inaccessible. 

Initially, the McGill administration’s renovations to solve the University Centre’s HVAC, electrical, and asbestos issues were scheduled to be finished by winter 2019, with Gerts reopening by the end of fall 2018; obviously, this was delayed. In June 2019, the Deputy Provost announced that the new reopening date of reopening was slated for December 2019. McGill students are used to construction-related promises being broken, however, the continued closure of the University Centre until April 2020 will have a lasting impact on McGill students.

An entire graduating class of McGill students has never set foot in the University Centre since the university closed the building down for renovations in March 2018. Before its closure, the University Centre housed meeting places for a multitude of clubs, associations, and services. It also provided several large event spaces and housed SSMU’s offices. Now, student-led clubs have been relocated to buildings on and off-campus and have had more trouble than ever finding spaces while planning events. Separating the offices of services such as the McGill Student Emergency Response Team (MSERT), the Sexual Assault Center of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS), and the Legal Information Clinic at McGill (LIM)  makes it more difficult for students to access these crucial resources. 

The closure of the University Centre erodes the already weak sense of community at McGill. As a university with an undergraduate population of over 24,000, it can be easy for students to feel like an anonymous face in a sea of thousands. For first-year students, many of whom are living away from their families for the first time, having a centralized location for clubs and services is a valuable and often overlooked way of reducing the anxiety that comes with being newly independent. 

For me, going to the University Centre during my first year feels like a distant memory, but it was definitely a useful resource while it was still around. From grabbing a coffee at La Prep to lounging on the beanbags in the napzone, the University Centre was a one-stop shop that I appreciated as a first-year student who was still trying to find my place in the McGill community. Being able to access club meetings, legal help as an international student, and a beloved student bar all in one building were assets that I took for granted. I believe that my first-year university experience would have been more difficult without the existence of the University Centre, simply due to its convenience. There is a distinct possibility that current first-year students feel the way I would’ve, plagued by the lack of a student center which they’ve never even known. 

Although it is difficult to assign blame to any one party for the continued delays on the University Centre reopening, the McGill administration must be more transparent and realistic about construction on campus. It must also be more mindful of students’ continued frustration and the difficulties that it causes for student-led clubs and new students as event spaces, services, and important resources are expelled to temporary spaces. The re-opening of the University Centre may not be able to single-handedly restore McGill school spirit, but having Gerts back would definitely help.

McGill Men's Rugby
Men's Varsity, Sports

McGill Men’s Rugby advances to RSEQ final

by Adam Bell on

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The McGill Men’s rugby team (5–1) dismantled the Ottawa Gee-Gees (3–3) in a 37–22 victory on Nov. 2. This victory sends them to the RSEQ championship match against Concordia on Nov. 10. 

The home team was quick off the blocks when first-year fly half and RSEQ rookie of the year Monty Weatherall converted a penalty kick in the first minute, giving McGill a 3–0 lead. A few moments later, third-year inside centre Elliot Esposito went on a blistering run, which set up another penalty conversion from Weatherall, doubling McGill’s lead to 6–0. From there, it was fourth-year Michael Nwabufo’s Show. The 6’4” second row hammered players left and right and seemed to be on every tackle. The RSEQ All-Star was adamant about the win being a team effort. 

“Our coach set it up very well,” Nwabufo said. “We weren’t contesting the ruck, so there were a lot more people involved. We just had to understand where the ball was going to go. It was easy because every time someone gets hit, you can go in and assist. It’s [about] being there for each other.”

The Gee-Gees came back strong, however, applying pressure on the home team’s defence after the 20-minute mark. This led to a penalty conversion that halved the lead, and a yellow card against third-year tight head prop Jeremy OckoMichalak, who would be sidelined for the next 10 minutes. 

With only 14 players on the pitch, it looked like McGill would be on their back foot. However, this turned out not to be the case, as they launched multiple attacks until fourth-year flanker Ryan Robb finally scored the first try of the game. Just before the break, third-year outside centre Maxime Rieuf capped off a dominant first half when he received a handoff that built McGill’s lead to 17 points.

“In the first-half we really wanted it more than them,” Weatherall said. “We beat them earlier this season, so we knew coming out of the changing rooms we needed to [knock] them off balance.”

Coming back from the break, McGill’s dismantling of Ottawa continued when second-year lock Karl Hunger punched in McGill’s third try of the game. Several big runs followed, most notably a mesmerizing scamper through the opposition’s defence by Weatherall that led to another try, this time by second-year 8-man Andreas Dionisopoulos. Weatherall completed his Jonny Wilkinson-esque performance by converting his fifth kick of the match.

The rest of the match was a mere formality: McGill slacked off and became complacent, enabling Ottawa to muster a slight comeback, but it was too little too late.

McGill will head to the provincial finals on Nov. 10 where they will face off against their cross-town rival Concordia (6–0). The McGill men’s rugby team has lost all five of their past matchups against the Stingers, who have not lost an RSEQ game in three years.  

 

Moment of the game

The crowd erupted at the 12-minute mark, when third-year inside centre Elliot Esposito left multiple rivals in the dust on a physical 40 metre run. This would ultimately set up first-year fly half Monty Weatherall for a field goal conversion to put McGill up 6–0 early in the game.

Quotable

“Today we wanted to play at the best of our abilities and send a message to Concordia for the final. Let them know that their three-year unbeaten streak is under threat. We definitely believe we have the capacity to beat them next week.” – First-year fly half Monty Weatherall on next week’s RSEQ final against the Stingers. 

Stat corner

This season, McGill has outscored opponents 170–64 in five home games at Percival Molson Stadium. Prior to the playoffs, they have allowed an average of only 10.5 points against per game. 

1 … 452 453 454 455 456 … 1,363

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