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Science & Technology

A future vision of STEM education

by Caroline Lou on

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Nanotechnology is revolutionizing healthcare systems. Self-driving cars are changing how we navigate our roads. The world has entered an unprecedented era of technological innovation, and scientists are making novel discoveries that will extend and improve the quality of our everyday lives.

Ainissa Ramirez, a world-renowned materials scientist and science evangelist, drew in her audience with these scientific anecdotes during her keynote presentation on Feb. 1, the culmination of SUS Academia Week 2019: To Science and Beyond.

A Google search will yield an extensive list of Ramirez’s accomplishments: She has directed the award-winning children’s lecture series Science Saturdays, hosted two popular-science video series entitled Material Marvels and Science Xplained, and was an assistant and associate professor of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science at Yale University. She has also been profiled in many publications ranging from the New York Times to Scientific American, was named one of the world’s 100 Top Innovators by MIT’s Technology Review, and holds six patents.

Her many accolades have not made Ramirez inaccessible: She provided a candid picture of her nonlinear journey to becoming a scientist. She also highlighted the importance of finding a community in university and beyond, and the influential role that mentors can play in students’ lives. Although she primarily focused on the value of STEM education, Ramirez also mentioned the benefits of a holistic education that incorporates the arts as well. Furthermore, she stressed how policy makers need to take systemic barriers, of class, gender, and race, for instance, into account to make high-quality education accessible for everyone.

When asked how to make science interesting to the general public, Ramirez referred to the value of communicating facts and stories that people will be curious about.

“A couple of years ago, I wrote a book about the science behind football [and concussions],” Ramirez said. “Now, I could say, ‘I’m going to talk about biology and neuroscience.’ But, I don’t do that. I talk about why woodpeckers don’t get concussions. That’s the hook, and people get excited by that, and then you can draw them in.”

She also explained that inspiring people to become creative problem-solvers is key to enabling novel scientific solutions. This teaching method implies an increased focus on learning, rather than just test scores.

“We’re so focused on testing that we’ve forgotten about the learning,” Ramirez said. “People are afraid to make mistakes. They want to get a right answer, and they’re always looking for reassurance. That’s the antithesis of what you need for creativity. I talk about making friends with failure [.…] It’s not really about hitting milestones. It’s really about […] developing into the person you want to be.”

As her presentation drew to a close, audience members were left inspired to find ways to use science as a tool for positive change.

“There was definitely this sense of ‘we can change the world’ at the end,” Nadia Bichri, U2 Science and co-director of Academia Week, said. “People were asking very big questions and very specific questions, and she was still like, ‘Yeah! Get on social media, or go to this page, or go to this.’ She was very knowledgeable on where to start all of these changes.”

Janani Ramamurthy, U2 Science and co-director of Academia Week, was delighted at the impact that Ramirez had on attendants.

“It’s really beautiful when you see people who are just there to learn, and they’re taking notes, and it’s not even for a class,” Ramamurthy said. “I think that’s related to the message I want people to take away from the keynote. Just keep pushing yourself and putting yourself out there and don’t be afraid of the possibilities.”

Out on the Town, Student Life

The best dishes at the seventh annual La Poutine Week

by Gabe Nisker on

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In the same New York Times article that suggested that french fries should come in blasphemously-small six-fry servings alongside salads, corporate dietician Elaine Magee added further caution about poutine, which she ranked the least healthy of the many French fry variations.

“This is an example of taking something with fat and salt (french fries), topping it with something that adds more fat and saturated fat (cheese curds), and topping that with something that contributes potentially more fat, saturated fat, and salt (gravy),” Magee said.

With that in mind, I promptly threw caution to the wind, diving head-first into the seventh annual La Poutine Week, held Feb. 1-7. The festival is a celebration of poutine and invites restaurants from across the city to introduce special variations of the dish to their menus. Customers could visit the event website to vote on their favourites, and the team behind the festival also enlisted a group of professional chefs to help identify the best poutine in Montreal.

When I informed friends of my plans to celebrate the week, they told me that I’d be taking years off of my life, and, although I may have actually done so, I still don’t want to hear it. I had to try the latest in gastronomic overkill.

To make my own ‘best poutine’ choice, I settled on a four-point system. The perfect Montreal french fry is brown and crispy on the outside with some fluff on the inside. It must act as a sturdy base for the poutine’s other ingredients. I’m not particularly picky about gravy as long as it’s hot and has a sharp flavour, but the real key to the poutine—the part that holds it all together—is the cheese curd. There should be no other cheese on a poutine: I’ve seen shredded cheese on various poutines, which should be avoided at all costs. The squeakier the cheese curds, the better. Lastly, the unique additions should not take away from the core ingredients; they should complement them.

I started at Dirty Dogs. This St. Laurent restaurant has already mastered gluttony, and their Waffle MacChicken poutine only raised the bar. A ‘small’ is no ordinary small: It is their classic poutine, topped with a waffle, macaroni and cheese, a fried chicken strip, onions, and a drizzle of maple syrup. While the macaroni and cheese is excellent, there was too much salt in the whole dish, and, surprisingly, the sweetness of the maple syrup did not come through enough.

Two days later, on Super Bowl Sunday, I ordered a poutine in a mistake that I can’t decide whether I regret or not. The Burger Bar buffalo chicken poutine had strong potential, but a delivery delay ensured that it wouldn’t meet the mark. Unfortunately, whether it was thirty minutes or sixty, however long it spent in the delivery car was too long. Furthermore, the buffalo chicken was perfectly spicy, but the other core ingredients paled in comparison to offerings elsewhere.

Then came the El Cabron poutine at Taboo Cuisine Rebelle. This dish was a two-for-one special, serving up nachos on top of a poutine base. It delivered on both fronts. The french fry was perfect, the gravy flavourful, and the nacho toppings—once there were no chips left—made for a fun variation on the chili cheese fry. The cheese curds left a little to be desired, however: They were not quite fresh enough for my liking.  

Fried chicken made another appearance at Mon Petit Poulet, which is no surprise given the restaurant’s name. Delivered quickly, thanks to a lack of Super Bowl business, their classic poutine topped with crispy popcorn chicken bites was delicious. The fries were firm and well-done, the cheese curds perfectly squeaky, and there was even spice to the gravy, which I would have liked to see more of throughout the week.

On Feb. 7, the final day of the festival, I concluded that though there were many strong contenders, the poutine from Taboo was the clear winner. It brought the calorie count up to a number that I just don’t want to compute. I need to work out more.

McGill, News

SSMU hosts its first annual National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

by Elizabeth Strong on

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The McGill community observed National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, which runs Feb. 1-7, for the first time with the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) programming. Each day saw a different session related to eating disorders, including a workshop titled “Unboxing Fatphobia,” a discussion panel, and a mental wellness poetry reading put on in collaboration with McSWAY’s Poetry Collective.

Howard Steiger, the Eating Disorders program head at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and a professor in the McGill Department of Psychiatry, believes that the week-long event is important for bringing awareness to a pervasive yet often misunderstood issue.

“In general, eating disorders are not very well understood by people but affect everyone either indirectly or directly,” Steiger said. “I think it’s a very admirable idea to have a specific moment to sensitize people to the suffering that eating disorders can cause. People have a lot of misunderstandings about what eating disorders represent, and the people that suffer them are sometimes misunderstood and stigmatized.”

SSMU Vice-President (VP) Student Life Cody Esterle echoed Steiger’s sentiments about raising awareness. Their personal experiences motivated her to take a direct interest in the week of programming.

“Raising awareness is also incredibly important to me because, in my personal experience suffering from an eating disorder, I know how incredibly isolating and alienating this mental illness can be,” Esterle wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “The lack of awareness made it both personally hard to understand what I was going through and how to recover from it, but also how my peers reacted isolated me even more. Comments, behaviours, and attempted support showed [a clear] misunderstanding of what I was going through.”

Esterle is an advocate for eating disorder awareness and is responsible for creating the SSMU webpage on eating disorders, which lists various institutes, support groups, and other resources for those who are struggling. Esterle believes there is both a severe lack of resources at McGill and information about off-campus services, which she feels was exacerbated when McGill cancelled its eating disorder program in 2017. McGill justified its decision as one of financial necessity and argued that the program’s components had been reintegrated with other mental health services.

“Through the existence of this program, McGill did not only act as a resource, but also showed that this university and campus cared for its students, and specifically students going through eating disorders,” Esterle wrote. “Through this, [McGill] created more spaces and conversations around eating disorders. When it shut down, it seems that it did not only defund the program, but it shut down the conversation.”

Esterle hopes that SSMU’s recognition of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week will help spark further conversations about the condition.

“My general goal for this week is creating spaces for folks to talk about their experiences, spreading the resources that are available, addressing and highlighting the social [and] or cultural issues around body image, gym culture, attitude and portrayals of mental illnesses, [and] misunderstanding of what an eating disorder is, and showing people that they aren’t alone, that there is recovery, that there are others who have gone through it,” Esterle wrote.

Claire Schnurr, U1 psychology, attended some of SSMU’s programming, including Tuesday’s Discussion Panel on Eating Disorders/Disordered Eating. She expressed a similar conviction that McGill needs to do more to support eating disorder awareness year-round.

“I believe that McGill needs to improve [on] eating disorder awareness, but also upon mental health awareness in general,” Schnurr wrote in an email to the Tribune. “Instead of just one week per year that raises awareness, it needs to be a constant conversation.”

McGill, News

Black History Month highlights racism in Canada

by Helen Wu on

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As part of McGill’s Black History Month 2019, the Black Students’ Network of McGill (BSN) and Black Law Students’ Association of McGill (BLSAM) hosted a panel titled “Racism and Systemic Discrimination: The Canadian Context” on Feb. 4 to shed light on the realities of black lives in Canada. Moderated by McGill law students Balarama Holness and Alida Kamaliza, the panellists included Philip S. S. Howard, assistant professor McGill’s Department of Integrated Studies in Education; Julius Haag, PhD candidate at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies; Fabrice Vil, former lawyer at Langlois Kronström Desjardins; and Shanice Yarde, equity educational advisor at the McGill Social Equity and Diversity Education Office.

The panellists began by addressing Canada’s neglected history of oppression against its black population. Although slavery was legal in Canada until 1834, Howard claims that this shameful past is often excluded from mainstream historical accounts.

“In Canada, we don’t get to find out that there actually was slavery,” Howard said. “There’s an active process by which the historical record was twisted and sponged in order to create that story. What is allowed is the story that we hear more commonly, which is that enslaved people in the U.S.A. escaped here.”

Howard referenced the concept of ‘anti-blackness,’ a different and starker form of discrimination that places black people below the considerations afforded to non-black people. He gave examples of how anti-black attitudes are still prevalent in Canada today.

“Whenever we get situations where we see types of behaviour perpetrated toward black people that you just can’t imagine happening to someone who is non-black, we are talking about anti-blackness,” Howard said. “One example is Robin Maynard, who writes in her book [‘Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present’] about the incident in which a 6-year-old girl in her school in Toronto gets bound by hands and feet by police because she’s dangerous. What does it remind us of?”

Hagg drew attention to the police system to illustrate that systemic racism is still present in many primary social institutions of Canada today.

“When we talk about systemic racism, we talk about racism that is really fully embedded in systems,” Hagg said. “The police institution itself is an institution that is founded on the basis of racist principles. It was meant to maintain the difference between white people and other racialized people in society. We have moved from a system of formal discrimination to discrimination that is embedded in seemingly-neutral laws that don’t specifically mention race by word, but negatively impact people from racialized backgrounds.”

Holness asked panellists to consider how the McGill Faculty of Law could construct a more representative student and staff body. Yarde suggested that the answer does not lie in simply opening the doors to non-white candidates.

“There’s this emphasis on getting these people who are not white, not straight, not cis, not men in so we can increase our numbers, diversify, and be inclusive and equitable,” Yarde said. “But, then we don’t actually do any work or invest any resources to ensure that those people who are coming into these incredibly white, colonial institutions are going to be supported.”

The discussion ended with a question period, during which Howard expressed exasperation over the struggle for the recognition of black lives in Canada.

“I have come to the position in my life where that’s no longer where I want to put my energy,” Howard said. “If there are white folks who want to come along and recognize my value, recognize me as a human being, and want to engage, then let’s go. But I am not spending my energy trying to convince you that I am human. That’s ridiculous.”

Science & Technology

Coding in the deep

by Sarah Usman on

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“Programming a computer to be clever is harder than programming it to learn to be clever,” Hugo Larochelle, a researcher at Google Brain and adjunct professor at Université de Sherbooke, said during his “Beyond Artificial Intelligence: Deep Learning” presentation at SUS Academia Week on Jan. 31.

Deep learning is a subset of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that attempts to mimic the human brain’s ability to comprehend abstract notions. For example, when a human sees a dog, even if it is an unfamiliar breed, they are often still able to recognize the creature as a dog. This is likely because they have seen many dogs before, and their brain has developed a complex algorithm that runs through a series of checklist questions: Does it walk on four legs? Does it have a snout? Does it have a tail it can wag? If it only has one eye, is it a dog with a missing eye or a different creature altogether?

As part of his presentation, Larochelle explained the science behind deep learning where artificial networks of ‘neurons’ are grouped into various layers, each dedicated to processing a particular piece of information. In the case of recognizing a dog, each of the initial questions could be a layer, with one layer considering whether the creature walks on four legs and another considering whether it has a snout. Larochelle’s team aims to provide a deep learning machine with a rich diversity of similar problems in the hopes of training the system to learn a new recognition task faster.

While researchers have studied neural networks and deep learning for over 50 years, the recent buzz around the topics is attributable to the improvement in technology infrastructure and the ability to give machines mass amounts of high-quality training data. Canada, in particular, has led the way in the recent AI advancements. Industry pioneers, such as McGill alumnus Yoshua Bengio under whom Larochelle was a student, are responsible for many of novel AI innovations. Bengio developed a revolutionary language translation system that now forms the basis of Google Translate.

Despite these breakthroughs, Larochelle believes that we still have a long way to improve the efficiency of AI and deep learning.

“A computer is essentially like a really, really dedicated student that will do lots of exercises but is sort of dumb and not learning particularly fast,” Larochelle said.

Deep learning technology has the potential to be applicable in a variety of industries. Larochelle described a particular case in the agricultural industry wherein an engineer trained a neural network system to recognize the shape and size of cucumbers, so that they could be run through an automated process instead of sorted manually. Applications for deep learning can even be found in art, including in musical composition and in tools such as the website deepart.io, where users can upload photographs to transform them into paintings of various styles.

The powerful potential of deep learning also comes with great responsibility.

“We have to be mindful about biases the systems might have that often will come from badly collected data,” Larochelle said.  

To illustrate his point, Larochelle described cases where facial recognition software was better at detecting white males than women or people of colour, due to the unrepresentative data sets which the system received while in training.

The opportunity to learn about the rapidly-growing and increasingly-influential industry of deep learning was exciting for students in attendance.

“We’re really lucky to get to see such people speak at McGill and to get an idea of what we can do with our degrees,” Lily Carson, Arts student, said.

Science & Technology

Love on the brain

by Morgan Sweeney on

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Everyone knows the story: Boy meets girl, boy encounters obstacle; they fight to overcome it, but something goes wrong and someone runs away crying. Ultimately, love prevails, they share a passionate kiss, get married, and live happily ever after. This, Hollywood claims, is love.

Valentine’s Day is marketed as a celebration of love but, for many people, it can also be a source of stress. If they are in a relationship, they might feel pressured to visibly display their affection, or else risk disappointing their partner. If they are single, the day might be a lonely reminder that they don’t have someone to spend their time with. Clearly, love is a lot more complicated than Hallmark makes it out to be.

The Western notion of romantic love, the one that glorifies gender roles and promises hedonic fulfillment after meeting the perfect person, may have originated in the Middle Ages; however, this is somewhat disputed. The Ancient Greeks held a septenary theory of love, which encompassed love for friends, family, the universe, and oneself. Modern scientists look at love as both a biological and socio-cultural phenomenon, that is divisible into three distinct categories: Lust, attraction, and attachment.

The system of love is one of reproduction. Sexual attraction leads to sex, which leads to offspring, which allows the genome, and the species, to continue into the future. Testosterone and estrogen, the two basic sex hormones, initiate feelings of lust and subsequent physical intimacy.

But, with humans, sex is rarely ‘just sex.’ The social and cultural aspects embedded in the act of reproduction usually create complications. Sex often leads to attraction, the second, scientific category of love, stimulated by the reward pathway in the brain. The release of neurotransmitters, including dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, are what lead to the addictive tendencies young lovers might develop in the beginning of relationships.

“The passionate love we initially fall into is like an obsession: It is characterized by the intense channeling of our attention, affection, and desire toward specific people[….] at the expense of just about everything else,” Samuel Veissiere, assistant professor in McGill’s Department of Psychiatry, wrote in //Psychology Today//.

Evolutionary psychologists posit that the rationale behind attraction has less to do with the needs of the adult and more to do with the needs of human offspring. Unlike many other animals, human children aren’t born ready to go out into the world—they need time and care to mature properly. Having two parents around to raise them is very beneficial for development and this will only happen if the parents stay together after sex.

Attachment, the third, and arguably most important, category of love, is the force that allows for long-term relationships. Attachment is what binds families, friends, and communities together, largely thanks to the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin. It is difficult to overstate the importance of attachment, with studies showing that the production of oxytocin can even help heal fractured interpersonal relationships.

At the end of the day, the infatuation of romantic love is fleeting. Only love built on a foundation of trust and respect will endure over time. For many, love is the best part of life, and it’s worth celebrating, but it doesn’t have to be a rom-com to be meaningful.

 

Out on the Town, Student Life

Cafés condusive to studying: Downtown edition

by Burcu Konuralp on

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Café Leaves

Address: 2051 Rue de la Montagne

Hours: 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Saturday – Sunday

Price: $$

Café Leaves serves vegan food and beverages in a modest setting. This eatery only uses plant-based milk and offers a variety of specialties, such as végé lattés that are prepared from special powders and do not contain any coffee. In addition, they offer amazing pastries, salads, and snacks. Café Leaves is a perfect spot to take Instagram pictures because its decor is aesthetically-pleasing: The walls are painted with colourful flower designs while potted cactuses add a unique flavour to the space. It is not a loud environment, so it is a good studying spot; however, it is quite small, so try to avoid mid-day hours for the best chance to find space.

Wifi?   ✓ Laptops
allowed?   ✓		 Accessible
outlets? ✓		 Quiet?  ✓

Kréma

Address: 900 René-Lévesque Blvd W

Hours: 6:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday – Friday, 6.30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Saturday – Sunday

Price: $$

Kréma’s elegant decor sets it apart from most typical coffee shops. Situated inside the Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth hotel, it feels like a common area rather than a closed space. And, with its contemporary interior design, the atmosphere feels more formal than a regular coffee shop. Thanks to its experienced baristas, Kréma’s aesthetically-pleasing lattes taste as good as they look. There is also a variety of food and snack choices, including vegan options. The only downside is that the space is not quiet: Working people from the surrounding area come to the café to chat over a beverage, so the space gets too loud to be productive. However, for students who do not need silence to work, Kréma’s atmosphere and coffee are worth checking out.

Wifi?   ✓ Laptops
allowed?   ✓		 Accessible
outlets? ✓		 Quiet?  x

 

 

La Finca Café & Bureau

Address: 1067 Rue de Bleury

Hours: 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday – Sunday

Price: $$

This cute café is the ideal spot for students who want to enjoy the food and ambiance as they study. La Finca Café has a warm and welcoming environment with pastel-coloured decorations. It offers a diverse selection of drinks from  coffees to smoothies. The food is comforting, with a menu that includes a variety of pastries as well as healthier options such as salads, sandwiches, and soups. The space is not huge, but there are private meeting rooms which patrons can book for group studying.

Wifi?   ✓ Laptops
allowed?   ✓		 Accessible
outlets?  ✓		 Quiet?  ✓

 

Ambrose Cafe

Address: 3422 Stanley St

Hours: open from 7:30 a.m. Monday – Sunday

Price: $$

Situated in the lounge of Hotel Ambrose, Ambrose Cafe is one of the downtown area’s most comfortable spots for studying. The interior design is a mix of modern and mid-century aesthetics, and the space is both elegant and trendy. With a relaxing atmosphere and light music playing in the background, students can easily feel detached from the daily rush. Sometimes, the lighting can be a bit dim, making it difficult to read; however, it does not affect those who study on their computers. This place is ideal for both solitary and group study, as there is a couch for those who want to read their books and relax, and there are shared tables for collaborative work. The café also offers a tasty menu: At breakfast, they serve eggs and waffles, and vegan soup at lunchtime.

 

Wifi?   ✓ Laptops
allowed?   ✓		 Accessible
outlets?  ✓		 Quiet?  ✓

 

McGill, News

McGill hosts guest lecturer and author to discuss the complexities of freedom of speech on campus

by Ezra-Jean Taylor on

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Over the past few years, a number of high-profile universities in North America have experienced brawls, protests, and fires from students objecting certain guest speakers invited to their campuses. Sigal Ben-Porath, author of Free Speech on Campus and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke to the issues surrounding free speech on university campuses at an event hosted by the Institute of Liberal Studies (ILS) and the Research Group for Constitutional Studies (RGCS) on Feb. 7.

According to Ben-Porath, universities require different norms and interpretations of free speech than the general public does.

“Within the legal framework in which we operate, we need separate rules [on campuses] because the role of speech on a college campus is different than in a public sphere in a democracy,” Ben-Porath said.

She argued that laws in the public sphere need to remain neutral to differing opinions because, in a democracy, the ability to express one’s opinion is a fundamental right that preserves citizens’ equality. Universities are still subject to those legal norms, but their academic and research goals alter the meaning of free speech within their walls.

“Historically, [the mission of universities] relates to the search for knowledge, pushing the boundaries of what is known, trying to understand more about the world and self, and disseminating this information publicly and for students,” Ben-Porath said. “Today, the university’s mission has expanded, including educating more diverse students.”

Ben-Porath noted that balancing their roles as educational institutions and proponents of diversity is a modern challenge for universities. Her solution for reconciling the two identities involved a framework she called ‘inclusive freedom.’

“My general effort is to create an inclusive climate,” Ben-Porath said. “One which protects and defends open expression while addressing the tensions, concerns, and burdens it creates.”

Ben-Porath suggested that universities should use a hands-off approach when managing student discourse about free speech on campus. At the same time, the administration has a responsibility to address any tensions that emerge out of controversial speech by ensuring that students feel dignitary safety, meaning they feel recognized as equal members of the university community.

Ben-Porath saw her solution as applicable to a variety of campuses, creating a safe environment without restricting students’ ability to engage with difficult questions. She pointed to several administrations that have effectively built ‘inclusive freedom’ into their policies.

“Classes are essential for intellectual risk-taking and honesty,” Ben-Porath said. “The professor has the responsibility to create the conditions for an open and honest exchange [….] I also think student groups are central to creating an atmosphere where views that are not common on campus can be brought in and discussed.”

However, not all students agree to such a hands-off approach. Caterina Pacifico, U0 Science, attended the guest lecture and thought differently.

“When a known racist or someone promoting truly harmful speech is invited to campuses I feel like administration can take a more proactive role than Ben-Porath suggests,” Pacifico said. “Who is it benefitting [besides] the speaker that gets to spread hate speech?”

The most recent case of student protest at McGill is the #ChangeTheName campaign supporting the removal of a racial slur from the men’s varsity team name. Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Indigenous Affairs Commissioner and leader of the campaign Tomas Jirousek credits the campaign’s headway to his rights for free speech and assembly on campus.

“Freedom of speech laws can have a huge impact on campaigns such as mine,” Jirousek wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “It’s been important to understand that both support and opposition to my campaign to change the name also complies with freedom of speech laws or the spirit in which they were crafted, specifically the right to free speech under reasonable limits [….] I’ve tried to be incredibly respectful of those on the other side of the dialogue, and avoiding any demonization or discussion that could prove hurtful or painful for everyone involved.”

Science & Technology

McHacks 6 attracts diverse talent from across Canada

by Erin Dwyer on

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From Feb. 2 to 3, students from across Canada and the United States hunched over their laptops at McGill’s annual McHacks competition. With cash awards and Nintendo switches at stake, the participating ‘hackers’ had 24 hours to program an original project.

Students have organized and run the competition since 2013, with this year’s committee being staffed by 26 organizers and 60 volunteers.

As Canada’s oldest collegiate hackathon, McHacks sets the scene for the Canadian hackathon community. Many Canadian universities have followed in its footsteps by organizing hackathons of their own, but McHacks continues to differentiate itself.

“We try to make our [hackathon] very beginner-friendly,” Kyle Rubenok, co-director of McHacks 6, said. “It’s a really great way to [get] someone from zero to something tangible in a weekend, and there’s not really many ways you can learn something that quickly.”

The breadth of projects this year ranged from tackling imminent world issues to a computer game that generated a recorded meow every time an attendee clickled an animated cat.

One of this year’s top projects was ‘H2Onow,’ a web application that gives live updates on water supplies to populations that have to walk long distances for their water.

“[We] are looking [for] creativity, completeness, technical difficulty, and originality,” Kayla Branson, the director of McHacks 5 and a judge at this year’s competition, said.

Hackathons help competitors develop a wide range of useful programming and presentation skills. The breadth of experience which the event provides participants with has led them to suggest that the events become mandatory in computer science curriculum.

“McGill is mostly theory,” Kevin Gi, U1 Engineering,  said. “There’s not really a lot of practical things we learn on assignments.”

In a team with three other software engineers, Gi created a 3D-printed catapult while also designing a software program that can throw an object using projection data.

“I already learned more in 24 hours than I did the entire last semester,” Edwin Pan , U1 Engineering, and a teammate of Gi’s, said.

Hackers appreciate hackathons as opportunities to develop their own skills.

“Computer science education around the world has a lot of different forms,” Rubenok said. “McGill takes a very theoretical stance, Waterloo takes a more practical approach, [and] Queens is somewhere in the middle. Hackathons are a chance for students to take something and practically apply it in a short amount of time with no real limitations on resources and plenty of support.”

Diversity at hackathon events further bolsters their importance to tech education. The disproportionately low representation of women in STEM is commonly linked to Imposter Syndrome, a psychological pattern of believing one does not deserve their education or job, one does not belong, and ones’ accomplishments are the result of luck.

“I’m definitely battling [Imposter Syndrome],” Dunja Tomic, a second-year student at the University of Waterloo, said. “It’s been an uphill battle I’d say, but the more I learn, and the more I get myself out to events like this I find that I belong here.”

McGill’s computer science program is one of the most gender-diverse in North America, with a 36 per cent enrollment rate for female-identifying students. This year’s McHacks committee made gender diversity a priority when selecting applicants.

“We wanted McHacks to represent the excellent diversity McGill Computer Science has,” Rubenok said. “We worked very hard to promote McHacks to [diverse] groups in computer science.”

While the committee fell short of its goal of a 50-50 gender split of hackers, 31 per cent of the participants were female, compared to 19 per cent in 2018.

For the McHacks of years to come, Rubenok hopes the competition can become a gateway for more non-computer science students to access the tech industry.

“We want to encourage employers to value the diversity of opinions and skill sets,” Rubenok said. “Events like hackathons allow students from non-traditional backgrounds to still interact with these companies and expose their skills and CVs.”

Art, Arts & Entertainment

Community art and social justice: A conversation

by Nicholas Raffoul on

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On Feb. 5, University of the Streets Café hosted an inclusive discussion about visual art as a tool for community building and its contributions to social justice. The talk was broad in scope and touched on subjects such as art’s commodification, subsequent impacts on gentrification, and the limits of art’s accessibility. Panelists also discussed art’s potential as a site of resistance against violence, racism, and other forms of oppression. Local visual artist Emma Harake, the talk’s moderator, raised concerns about the nonprofit artistic sector and the role of established institutions in both viewing and producing art. Guest speakers contributed compelling thoughts to the talk, drawing on their personal and professional experiences with community-organizing and visual art.

Johnny El-Hage, a multidisciplinary artist and founder of Abjad Howse, a creative space that encourages Arabic artists in Canada, discussed building inclusive spaces for marginalized artists to showcase their work outside of traditional gallery spaces. He also discussed his experiences with hosting inclusive events for racialized artists in Montreal. These events can take the form of open mics and celebrations of music, poetry, and talent in racialized neighbourhoods.

El-Hage analyzed the problematic nature of a homogenized national identity, systemic discrimination, and how art can be used to empower marginalized communities.

“Art and public practices play a significant role in reproducing and reconstructing racial, gender, and class difference in a way that is positive,” El-Hage said. “Art is so powerful when it operates outside the state and its dominating power, forming a power of its own. When we talk of meaningful art, it is an art that meets people in their communities and opens democratic spaces that allow experimentation and imagination.”

Similarly, artist and McGill Social Work graduate student Salima Punjani spoke about spreading multiculturalism within Montreal. Punjani explained the themes of her work, such as family storytelling, as emblematized in her photography project, Moms of Montreal. Moms of Montreal offers a glimpse into different family lives through photography to build a sense of community and appreciation for diversity.

Saskatoon-based artist Jane Reväe McWhirter uses art to promote personal growth and community healing in at-risk youth. McWhirter brought up her past struggles with substance abuse and self-worth, describing her work as an artist at Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming (SCYAP) as pivotal in her journey of self-acceptance.

“[Working at SCYAP] was the first time in my life that I really felt a sense of confidence, and [it] sparked me with wanting more in life,” McWhirter said. “This program really gave me the space to be vulnerable [by] using art as a powerful tool to push us forward. It started with something as small as a painting where you can start small, see something that you make, feel proud of it, and then continue to build your confidence.”

McWhirter and the other guest speakers did not shy away from discussing the fact visual art has often been commodified and can be publicly inaccessible. Panelists were hopeful, however, that community organizers can still use art as a tool to empower the marginalized by offering an outlet for expression.

 

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