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Student Life

Finding the humour in embarrassing moments: Students share their most uncomfortable confessions

by Mary Keith on

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We’ve all been there: Wiping out in the middle of the Y-intersection, spilling Premiere Moisson coffee all over a new shirt, or running out of a class mid-lecture to vomit after a rough night out. These are the stories we tend to hide from the rest of the world. But this week, The McGill Tribune brings you some of its readers’ most uncomfortable and unfortunate tales of embarrassment.

Responses have been edited for style and length.

 

John M., Art History

“I was […] at a random house party in the [Milton-Parc neighbourhood] and I was flirting with [a girl] when I suddenly puked on her. I quickly left the apartment as I was embarrassed. The following morning I realized that I left with the wrong coat so I had to go back to the place. And guess who opens the door? The girl that received my vomit. Obviously, my reaction was to run away without saying a thing. I never went back and I still wear another man’s coat.”

Sanchi B., Management:

“I got pushed into a snowbank in front of the Frank Dawson Adams auditorium by 8-year-olds.”

Liam K., Economics:

“In my first year, I went to Gerts to watch the first 2016 presidential debate and got so drunk that within 10 minutes I was on the floor of the bar on my back chanting for Hillary Clinton while my best friend dragged me out of the bar by the back of my shirt. I’ll never go back to Gerts again.”

Alexa R., Engineering:

“I farted really loudly in Leacock 132.”

Gaby M., International Development Studies and Political Science:

“I was walking in late [to my 300-level Poli class] because I had stopped to get a burrito for lunch on the way, and had ended up being in line longer than expected. As I’m scrambling through the door and looking around for a seat […] my burrito, that I had already unraveled since I had started eating, begun toppling over [….] In between my lack of coordination and my mouth completely missing the burrito, all the condiments ended up inside my shirt amidst a sea of curious onlookers. The class is an hour and a half long [and] I didn’t have the nerve to go to the bathroom. I had guacamole-covered chicken touching my breasts. For 90 minutes.”

Elijah S., Arts, Sociology:

“One time during finals, I was walking through Redpath and saw someone in front of me waving and going in for a high five. I didn’t know him and was a little caught off guard but I thought he was just being motivational to try to get me through exams so I enthusiastically returned the coming high five only to realize a split second before our hands met that he was saying hi to the person behind me. I was so physically close to both of them at this point that it was too late to be able to just casually walk away, so I had to awkwardly say ‘my bad’ before turning red and sprint walking away.”

Fact or Fiction, Science & Technology

Can vitamin C really cure the common cold?

by Ronny Litvack-Katzman on

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It’s that time of the year again. Flu season is upon us, and everyone seems to be getting sick.

Most people resort to their personal catalogue of remedies and preventive strategies to avoid the winter plague—among them, reaching for a bottle of ascorbic acid, or vitamin C.

The theory that vitamin C could prevent the common cold first received public interest when Linus Pauling, a famous American chemist and winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, put the idea to the test. In 1970, Pauling published Vitamin C and the Common Cold, a book outlining his belief that vitamin C could provide a cure for this everyday ailment.

Pauling was met with harsh criticism from his peers after the book’s publication. Today, there remains little backing for his claims in scientific literature, with the majority of evidence showing that vitamin C neither prevents nor cures one’s cold symptoms.

While the vitamin may not prevent colds, it serves a number of other purposes. Joe Schwarcz, director of the Office for Science and Society and a professor in the Department of Chemistry, discussed the role of vitamins in maintaining overall health with The McGill Tribune.

“[Vitamins are] any substance that the body cannot manufacture and therefore must be provided by the diet to prevent certain diseases,” Schwarcz said.

For over 200 years, vitamin C has been used as a treatment for scurvy, a disease resulting from a lack of the vitamin that causes gum disease, weakness, and skin hemorrhaging. While vitamin C deficiencies are obviously detrimental to human health, controversy has arisen around whether or not the vitamin is beneficial in excess. Vitamin C’s primary purpose in the body is in the growth and repair of connective tissues, and is required for the functioning of a number of enzymes. More generally, it works as an antioxidant, a property that has given it plenty of attention as a potential cold remedy.

“There has been a lot of discussion about [vitamin C] being an antioxidant,” Schwarcz said. “In that way reducing the risk of various diseases in which free radicals are implicated.”

Free radicals are molecules in the body that are produced as byproducts of oxygen metabolism. These unpaired molecules can cause significant damage to living cells, increasing a person’s vulnerability to viral infections like colds. Antioxidants like vitamin C safely interact with free radicals, preventing them from damaging vital cells. This argument has become the basis of how antioxidant supplements like vitamin C can treat a variety of diseases, among them the common cold.

Although these assumptions seem reasonable, Schwarcz explained that current research does not sustain these claims.

In clinical trials, vitamin C has never been able to stop the cold virus from entering the body. This medical application has rarely been successful, save for some modern vaccinations.

“Taking a supplemental dose of vitamin C will in no way prevent you from coming into contact with a virus that can lead to a cold,” Laura Plante, a McGill instructor and Registered Dietician, wrote in an email to the Tribune.

While vitamin C may not prevent or cure the common cold, some studies have shown that large doses at the onset of symptoms could reduce their severity. However, Schwarcz expressed that even this finding remains contentious in the scientific community.

Deficiencies of any vitamin can lead to serious health complications. The best strategy for remaining healthy during the year is to get your daily intake of vitamin C through fruits and vegetables.

“Citruses are generally thought to be the best sources [of vitamin C], [although] red bell peppers supply us with up to double the vitamin C in [a portion of the same size],” Plante said.

While eating foods rich in vitamin C may reduce your chance of scurvy, there is no consensus supporting the idea that vitamin C is an effective cold remedy.

“There is no magic cure,” Plante said. “Science holds no proof that chicken soup helps cure the common cold either! Still, that has yet to stop us from having a bowl and presumably [feeling] its benefits.”

Student Life

Having a night in: Hosting dinner parties on a budget

by Eloise Haliburton on

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As the semester goes on, it becomes harder and harder to find time for socializing with friends, meaning you need to put a little more effort into getting together. When keeping up friendships, nothing says “I care about you” like a homemade meal. But as much fun as a dinner party is, serving up a quality meal is often unrealistic on a student budget. In order to help students with their dinner party plans, The McGill Tribune has created a student budget-friendly menu for hosting the perfect night in.

Setting up your space

In small student apartments, there’s rarely room for a grand dining table, but that shouldn’t stop you from getting your friends together for a meal. In fact, you may find that eating in an intimate non-traditional setting might even bring you closer together. Throw down a spare sheet or a blanket and use some couch cushions as floor pillows. For decoration, consider placing tealight candles in clean glasses and putting them in the middle of the blanket for some cozy mood lighting. If you’ve set up your space and realize you don’t have quite enough cutlery and tableware for everyone, there’s no shame in asking people to bring their own. This way, you don’t end up with someone eating soup with chopsticks, and you cut back on the number of dishes you have to wash later.

Start with drinks

What’s a dinner party without a fun cocktail? If you want to be fancy, there are ways to do this on a budget. The SAQ’s “petits prix” (low prices) section is the best place to grab a cheap and fruity bottle of red wine to use for some homemade sangria. Depending which sangria recipe you decide on, the only additional ingredients you’ll need are citrus fruits, berries, and juice, which you may already have in your fridge.

Easy traditional red sangria

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cored apple, chopped
  • 1/2 orange, rind on, sliced into small pieces, large seeds removed
  • 3-4 tablespoons organic brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup orange juice, plus more to taste
  • 1/3 cup brandy, plus more to taste
  • 1 (750ml) bottle of red wine
  • 1 cup ice

Instructions:

  1. Add apple, orange, and brown sugar to a large pitcher
  2. Stir with a wooden spoon for 45 seconds
  3. Add orange juice and brandy and stir for 30 more seconds
  4. Add red wine and stir until well mixed
  5. Taste and adjust flavour with juice or brandy, as needed
  6. Add ice to chill and stir once
  7. Serve as is, or garnish with additional orange

(Adapted from minimalistbaker.com)

Serve up dinner

Often, the most expensive part of any meal is the meat—so consider skipping this element altogether! There are tons of easy vegetarian recipes such as stir-frys and chilis that will not only taste delicious, but greatly reduce the cost of groceries for your dinner party. In addition, if you have leftovers, these dishes are easily freezable and can be used for a meal later in the week. To save money, plan ahead and make a list of ingredients in order to avoid buying unnecessary items. If you’re unsure of what to make, buy ingredients that could work for multiple dishes.

Easy vegetarian chili recipe

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
  • 1-3 tablespoons chili powder (more will be spicier)
  • 2 tablespoons of cumin
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/4-2 teaspoons of chili flakes
  • 2 peppers, diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 3 stalks of celery, diced
  • 2 (28 oz) cans of whole tomatoes and their juice
  • 2 can of kidney or white beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups of frozen corn
  • Salt and pepper
  • Optional toppings: sour cream, cheddar cheese, cilantro, diced avocados, or green onion.

Instructions:

  1. With your hands, crush the canned tomatoes until they are smooth
  2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat
  3. Add onion and sauté for about three minutes
  4. Add garlic and sauté for around one minute
  5. Add spices and stir for about 30 seconds
  6. Add peppers, carrots, and celery and cook for about five minutes, or until they just start to soften
  7. Add tomatoes and their juice to the pan
  8. Bring all the ingredients to a simmer
  9. Once the chili begins to simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low
  10. Continue to stir occasionally for about 20 minutes
  11. Add beans and corn then cook until the chili returns to a simmer
  12. Salt to taste
  13. Serve on its own or topped with additional toppings

(Adapted from theendlessmeal.com)

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

TNC’s FUSE finds meaning in confusion

by Kevin Reynolds on

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Tuesday Night Cafe Theatre’s (TNC) FUSE is a confusing play. It includes little in terms of conventional plot structure or character development, and several days after seeing it, I am still having a hard time knowing what to make of it. If you like linear narratives and happy endings, this play might not be for you. However, for those looking for something different, or at least to leave Morrice Hall with more questions than answers, this play gives much to enjoy.

FUSE begins with a debate between prologues. Three characters, each personifying a prologue, argue over how a play should begin. The three prologues put forth theories dealing with the nature of art, theatre, and life itself. One character memorably laments that playwrights, unlike other artists, give their audience all the answers in their work. Although the line was delivered with some irony, it is nevertheless clear that FUSE avoids neat answers.

The play continues in a similar fashion as it began. Each act elaborates on a different theme by using unconventional devices like spoken word poetry and borrowed news headlines. Several motifs run consistent throughout the work, including femininity, existential anxiety, and expression of the body. These little scenes and the palpable emotion they imparted on the crowd come to form a plot of their own. FUSE does not move toward something so much as it digs deeper into the initial themes with which it began.

However, the casts’ performances are what really make the play. The emotion conveyed by each actor serves to translate some of the play’s more cerebral or esoteric moments into something immediately understandable. In addition to playing the role of prologues, some of the actors played audience members. These planted spectators left the crowd to take their place on stage on cue, making the transition from observer to actor seem natural, although still unexpected. By blurring the distinction between audience member and cast member, one begins to wonder what the role as an observer really is, and how a play can be shaped by interpretation and the environment in which it is viewed.

With scenes dealing with global violence and personal drama, FUSE asks audiences whether they play the parts of observers or actors in their own lives. In many ways, these questions are the hallmarks of great art. Not only does it make one question the nature of the piece, but life itself is viewed and inspected in relation to what is unfolding on stage.  

Although FUSE relishes its abundance of unanswered questions, it is unquestionably worth seeing. Despite some confusion, FUSE is filled with good writing, moving performances, a healthy dose of continental philosophy, and a nearly glutinous serving of skepticism. I find it very hard to believe the play’s slogan, “Everything is Meaningless.” It might take several viewings to grasp, but there is a lot to take to heart here. 

TNC’s FUSE is playing from  January 31 – February 3 at 8 p.m. in Morrice Hall in the Islamic Studies Building, 3485 Rue McTavish. Tickets are $6 for students and $10 general admission.

Sports

Chopping, chanting, and chainsaws at MacDonald Campus

by Miya Keilin on

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On Jan. 27, the McGill Woodsmen team hosted the 58th annual Mac Woodsmen competition at MacDonald Campus. More than 130 competitors from seven schools competed in 14 events throughout the day. A decently-sized crowd milled about the area, moving from event to event to cheer on their friends and family members while classic rock hits from the 1980s blared from nearby speakers, completing the atmosphere of friendly lumberjack competition.

A woodsmen team is composed of six members. McGill had four teams competing Saturday, two men’s and two women’s. Each competed in four team events, and each team member did a singles and a doubles event.

The singles events include the pole climb, super swede, single buck, chainsaw, axe throw, and water boil, plus a Mac Campus specialty—the snowshoe race. The doubles events all revolve around chopping: The standing block chop, quarter split, and underhand chop are differentiated only by the orientation of the block that is being chopped. The team events are pulp toss, log roll, swede, and cross cut. And, yes, all the events are as awesome as their names suggest.   

In the morning, 10 events took place in designated areas across the field. In the five corrals, marked off by red “danger” tape, competitors held the standing block chop, quarter split, super swede, chainsaw, and single buck. In the adjacent snow-covered rugby field, the snowshoe race (two laps around the field in snowshoes) was contested. Axe throw, pole climb, log roll, and pulp toss were all on the outer boundary of the main area.

All the morning events happened simultaneously—running continuously from 9 a.m. until the lunch break at noon—but the competitors still found plenty of time to cheer each other on and socialize with family and friends. When their competition times drew near, however, the athletes lost their easy-going manner and psyched themselves up to perform.

“We do a chant, like a cheer, before [the event],” second-year woodsmen Victoria Tseng Paepcke said, referring to a loud, intense huddle every team did before their team events.

The chants are specific to each team and work to create a bond between members.

“The team spirit just keeps us going,” fourth-year woodsmen Alice Viala added.

McGill had one of the largest teams at the competition and found much success in the morning. One of the men’s teams had to deal with a fallen log during its log roll run, but quickly recovered and still managed a decent time. McGill axe thrower Thierry Philippot had an excellent go in his singles event, hitting the target on all three tries.

After the break, the competition was partitioned into five corrales, with each school completing the remaining events in their respective sections. Fans crowded around the corral where their school competed and cheered on the teams.

The first two events were team sawing competitions. The events were set up like relays, where each player or double would saw off a cookie (a biscuit-shaped piece of wood) and then hand off the saw to the next. The underhand chop went third. This event had a similar relay nature but both teammates started in a chopping position, standing atop their blocks, and then chopped one after the other.

The final event of the day was the water boil. Competitors chopped up a log, used matches to start a fire, and heated up water in a tin can until it boiled over. Though this was the longest event, it was far from dull. Teammates shouted advice from the sides, and competitors got down on the ground, blowing furiously into their fires—all while the crowd watched with anxious anticipation.

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Soup and Science casts McGill researchers in the spotlight

by Emma Gillies, Claudia Leung & Jade Prévost-Manuel on

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From Jan. 15 to 19, the annual Soup and Science lecture series featured professors eager to present their research to students and spectators. The McGill Tribune reports:

Assistant Professor Thomas Preston

Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

Emma Gillies

Contributor

On Jan. 16, Assistant Professor Thomas Preston from the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences presented his research on atmospheric aerosols. These tiny suspended particles play an important role in maintaining a comfortable climate on Earth by scattering sunlight and creating a cooling effect.

“An aerosol […] is just a dispersion of liquid or solid particles inside a gas,” Preston explained. “These are typically around micrometre-size [or nanometre-size] dimensions.”

Preston’s lab is interested in developing techniques that accurately measure fundamental aerosol processes. He and his associates want to learn more about how aerosols interact with water and which types of particles readily condense to form cloud droplets.

The particles Preston studies are extraordinarily small. To account for their size, his lab uses ‘optical tweezers,’ instruments that use a highly focused laser beam to trap non-absorbing particles.

Once a particle has been successfully trapped, light-scattering tools allow the researchers to observe changes on a smaller scale. One of the main tools that Preston’s lab uses is a Whispering Gallery Mode (WGM), a standing electromagnetic wave confined within a smooth-edged resonator. These smooth edges cause waves to be reflected in a process called total internal reflection, resulting in very precise measurements.

“What’s really great about these [WGMs] is that they’re very sensitive to tiny changes in particle size and composition,” Preston said.

WGMs are used for studying droplet growth or shrinkage—as seen during evaporation and condensation—and chemical changes. The characteristics of aerosol particles are important when looking at climate forcings, external factors influencing Earth’s climate.

“In climate forcing, the largest uncertainty is the aerosol particle,” Preston said. “How it scatters light, [how] it cools the atmosphere or warms the atmosphere, there’s a huge uncertainty in that. So with our system, we can actually trap single particles and measure optical cross-sections of single individual particles with very low uncertainty.”

Assistant Professor Nii Addy

Desautels Faculty of Management

Claudia Leung

Contributor

On Jan. 17, Assistant Professor Nii Addy from the Desautels Faculty of Management presented his research on convergent innovation—the roles of government, businesses, and civil society in solving complex societal problems. Addy looks at ways of implementing sustainable change through multi-stakeholder partnerships across various sectors.

In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Addy elaborated on his model of convergent innovation with a provincial example.

“Quebec has the lowest obesity rates for kids,” Addy said. “There are policies in Quebec that ban fast food [advertisements] for children—but at the same time, kids in Quebec live very sedentary lifestyles. To understand the factors behind this, we need to review policy interventions to see what makes Quebec so different, but what’s missing from this is the ability to engage the business sector in coming up with obesity solutions. There are ways of making money without causing problems, and we have to come up with solutions that are more sustainable.”

Addy explained that keeping businesses engaged in the long term isn’t easy.

“[Businesses] like quick results. While civil society realises that some problems take longer […], what results can you provide to business leaders for ongoing commitment? How can you make them realise that there are profits in the long run? We [have] to influence stakeholder commitment and mindsets.”

Addy’s research has benefited from collaboration with colleagues in other fields, and he emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration.

“Every field has its own set of paradigms,” Addy said. “Cross-sector research is never boring because it leads to innovation, [allowing you to] see different opportunities.”

Addy offered similar advice to students seeking research opportunities.

“Learn about [professors] in other fields,” Addy said. “When you’re a Management student trying to get research in Management, everyone’s competing with the same skills. But you stand out when you talk to a [professor] from another field.”

Associate Professor Outi Mantere

Department of Psychiatry

Claudia Leung

Contributor

On Jan. 16, Associate Professor Outi Mantere from the Department of Psychiatry discussed her research on the relationship between disrupted circadian rhythms and severe mental illness. Circadian rhythms determine the sleeping and feeding patterns of organisms. Mantere’s research shows that these patterns are severely disrupted in individuals suffering from bipolar disorder or eating disorders.

From a sample of participants over the age of 40—all of whom were suffering from severe mental illnesses—Mantere found that they had a later onset of sleep at around 2 a.m.
 “[Their sleep pattern shows they] are not corresponding to daylight, which causes problems with health,” Mantere told the Tribune. “These patients have a decreased quality of sleep; the duration of their sleep is short, fragmented, and restless, [which is also reflected] in unhealthy eating.”

Mantere’s research—a combination of human and animal data—also shows that a disrupted circadian rhythm is positively correlated with eating disorders. In her research with humans, Mantere uses an activity monitor to detect patterns in resting activity, generating data that is then complemented by surveys and interviews. In animals, a camera is placed directly into the brain to record how the rhythms are controlled at the molecular level.


“From animal data, we can see that there is a specific brain area controlling the circadian rhythm and another rhythm, where the latter controls eating rhythms in animals,” Mantere said. “The regulation of these two rhythms cause problems food disorders, and the mood of bipolar patients.”


 For students interested in pursuing psychiatry, Mantere stressed that being able to handle trauma is an important skill to have within the field.


“Many students struggle in handling the pain and trauma they see their patients go through,” Mantere said. “It is rewarding to see them recover through the use of medication, [but in order to take on a research opportunity in this field,] you will have to become desensitised to these reactions.”

Professor Wayne Pollard

Department of Geography

Jade Prévost-Manuel

Science and Technology Editor

Cold and desolate but buzzing with scientific activity, the Arctic is a living paradox; both one of the harshest environments on the planet, and one of the most vulnerable. On Jan. 19, Professor Wayne Pollard of the Department of Geography spoke to Soup and Science attendees about his long-term research on ground ice in the Canadian High Arctic. Pollard has always been fascinated by the North.

“My first field [job] above the tree line convinced me that I wanted [to] work in the Arctic,” Pollard told The McGill Tribune. “Then, during my PhD, I had my first opportunity to work in the High Arctic, a true polar desert. [At that] point I was determined to work in the coldest and driest places on Earth.”

These days, Pollard studies water and ice in polar deserts to understand the processes shaping these environments and how they are capable of harbouring microbial life. He works to understand these extreme conditions by examining the permafrost.

“My research focuses on the different properties of ice [and its response] to changing climates,” Pollard said. “[In] our recent work in Antarctica, in places that rarely if ever experience air temperatures above [0 degrees celsius] (freezing), we have been looking at hyperarid conditions and how ice both forms and disappears by vapor deposition and sublimation.”

Now fueling interplanetary research, Pollard’s work is being used by NASA to understand potential ice conditions on Mars as part of the follow-the-water mantra, the motto driving scientists in the search for alien life.

Pollard’s enthusiasm as an academic is paralleled by his passion as an educator, and as Academic Director of the McGill Arctic Field Studies Semester—a 15-credit program in the Canadian high arctic—Pollard attested to the trip’s value.

“There’s a fully-equipped lab, there [are] dormitories—it’s 5 star accommodation,” Pollard said. “We interact with a broad spectrum of arctic activities, and the whole time the students involved are undertaking coursework as well as developing their own research.”

Commentary, Opinion

New month, new me: Keeping New Year’s resolutions for February and beyond

by Janson Kappen on

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If you’re reading this article, and also happened to make a New Year’s Resolution this year, there’s a good chance—seventy-three per cent to be exact—that you will break your resolution by the end of the year. If the McGill GPA scale makes more sense to you, that means that Canadians get about a B for failing to keep resolutions.

Many people end up breaking their New Year’s resolutions in comedic ways. One of my friends resolved to drink less in 2018, only to get thoroughly intoxicated at a New Year’s Eve party. Another friend texted me late at night on New Year’s Eve promising that in 2018 she wouldn’t use her phone for thirty minutes before bedtime each night.

Given the notoriously low success rates of New Year’s resolutions, many have denounced them as unimportant or trivial. Most of these arguments revolve around one crucial and rather cynical idea: There’s no point in setting goals that you know you are going to break. However, this discouraging reality doesn’t always need to be the case. Instead, aspiring goal-setters should focus on the ideas of incentive and gratification in order to set goals that they will find rewarding and remain motivated in the long run.

The reason most New Year’s resolutions fail is because people use strategies that are designed for keeping short-term promises, rather than achieving long-term goals. Although motivational speakers and proclaimed authors offer fleeting snippets of motivation, many fail to provide a consistent method for keeping resolutions. But there are good strategies out there. Perhaps the best advice I’ve come across comes from the book, //Emotional Success: The Power of Gratitude, Compassion, and Pride// by David DeSteno, a psychology professor at Northeastern University. DeSteno argues that the best way to stick to goals is by cultivating social emotions—gratitude, compassion, and pride—all of which help increase self-control and delay gratification.

Aspiring goal-setters should focus on the ideas of incentive and gratification in order to set goals that they will find rewarding and remain motivated in the long run.

To DeSteno, a key component of being able to stick to goals and be successful is the ability to delay gratification. A famous psychological study from the 1960s, dubbed “The Marshmallow Test,” by Walter Mischel, proves just that. In the study, children were given two choices: They could either take one marshmallow immediately, or wait a couple of minutes for two marshmallows. The marshmallows were always visible to the child during the experiment, and at any point they could ring a bell and ask for their treat; however, if they did so, they would be given only one marshmallow. Mischel found that children who were able to wait longer had higher salaries, better grades, and were less likely to be incarcerated as adults.

There are multiple strategies to delay gratification, and some are much more effective than others. One strategy, instinctively used by many goal-setters, is to use sheer willpower to keep resolutions. This strategy is often ineffective, and can be quite stressful for the person, making it very hard to keep goals. Studies done by Greg Miller, a psychology professor at Northwestern University, show that people who relied on sheer willpower could somewhat stick to their resolutions, but at the cost of a physical toll on their health.

The reason that gratitude, compassion, and pride help increase self-control is quite straightforward. Keeping healthy relationships—the foremost objective for social animals such as humans—involves acting morally; often times, acting morally means placing the interests of others above oneself—a form of self sacrifice. It is easier to sacrifice something, or to delay gratification, when a person feels compassionate or appreciative. Examples of this phenomenon abound; at least for me, I’ve spent more hours and put more effort into projects that benefit my close friends, such as making gifts for birthdays.

Research by DeSteno has confirmed this experimentally: When feeling grateful or proud, people are more willing to sacrifice their time and energy—a trait that is crucial for achieving goals. Grateful individuals are known to be more willing to help others, more likely to make mutually beneficial financial decisions, and so on.

So, the key to keeping your resolutions this year? Feel grateful. Take a minute to appreciate all that you have, and take pride in your work.

And hey, if that fails, here’s to trying again in 2019.

 

Janson is a U0 student in the Faculty of Science. Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, Janson enjoys hiking and sightseeing in Banff National Park.

 

@mcgilltribop | [email protected]
McGill, News

Creation of people of colour committee discussed at AUS Legislative Council

by Nina Russell on

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At its second meeting of the Winter semester on Jan. 24, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) created the Ad-hoc People of Colour Committee and approved AUS budget changes. The motions to amend the Financial By-Laws and call for both departmental elections and a Winter referendum also passed.

Motion for the creation of an Ad-hoc People of Colour Committee

Vice-President (VP) Communications Maria Thomas and Arts Representative Jennifer Chan put forward a motion outlining the creation of an Ad-hoc committee for People of Colour within the AUS. The committee, which has been in the works for the past few months, would be a governance body for people of colour to safely discuss their concerns and ideas to make the AUS a more inclusive space. The motion passed unanimously.

“The idea is to create a […] safe space for people of colour that work in any capacity for AUS,” Thomas said. “The idea of it is that there would be a safe space for people of colour to talk about how they’re feeling and their experiences in AUS, whilst also carrying out events which promote diversity and equity, [such as] conversation circles every month which focus on a certain theme [and] a Multicultural Day.”

Thomas and Chan believe that there is a need for such a committee despite it having similar responsibilities to the existing Equity Committee, formed in 2013 to advise the AUS on policies related to equality and protection of marginalized groups. Whereas the Equity Committee has a broad mandate including addressing problems such as sexual harassment, the Ad-hoc People of Colour Committee will be specifically dedicated to the interests of racial minorities on campus and the promotion of conversations surrounding racial identity.

“People of colour within student government don’t have a platform for them to all have a conversation,” Chan said. “We’re quite segregated in terms of our groups already, so [the committee would provide a place] for creating collaboration and conversation.”

Motion to approve revised AUS budget

As a result of fee increases and amendments to financial by-laws, AUS President Erik Partridge and VP Finance Noah Lew proposed a number of changes to the AUS budget, all of which passed. These included reductions to the Financial Management Council (FMC) budget, which in previous years has not been fully spent, as well as reinstating a reduced Peer Tutoring grant. Lew also discussed plans to create a bursary to subsidize departmental event fees for students with financial need.

“[There are plans to] provide a bursary in which, if a student is in financial need, [and] if it’s a paid event or a departmental event or any AUS event, that [would cover the fee] and provide [the event] free of charge,” Lew said.

Motion regarding FMC decisions

Partridge and VP Academic Madeline Wilson moved to accept the FMC’s financial decisions made on Jan. 17, with an additional allocation of $400 made to the McGill Policy Association.

“My concern was […] that the majority of this allocation is going towards cash prizes for the winners of the case competition,” Partridge said. “Considering that this is student funds going to an outside group for cash prizes, it concerns me because it’s hard for us to track that the expenses are legitimate and not being derailed somewhere.”

The motion passed, with 26 votes in favour and 7 votes against.

The AUS Legislative Council will next meet on Feb. 7.

 

Basketball, Men's Varsity, Sports

Redmen basketball triumphant in big win over Gaiters

by Gabe Nisker on

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McGill Redmen
108

Bishop’s Gaiters
57

Talk about a bounceback victory. On Jan. 26, the McGill Redmen (8-2) fell to the Bishop’s University Gaiters (3-8) in a tough 86-81 away loss. The following night back home at Love Competition Hall, the Redmen showed their true colours as they controlled the game from start to finish in a 108-57 blowout victory over the same Gaiters team—with the Redmen’s largest regular season margin of victory since 1977.

“I was disappointed last night [Jan. 26] with our energy level,” Redmen Head Coach David DeAveiro said. “So, we really wanted to come out here and establish a level of energy and compete.”

McGill shot 49.4 per cent from the field. Five Redmen scored in double figures, led by fourth-year centre Noah Daoust’s 18 points in 17 minutes off the bench. Daoust filled the stat sheet elsewhere, too, adding five rebounds, four steals, and three assists.

Starting sloppy in the first quarter, both teams took some time to settle down, but it quickly became clear which direction the game was headed in. Both sides found themselves in foul trouble, attempting 22 shots from the line in total. At the end of the stop-and-start first frame, the Redmen were up 11.

McGill’s lead grew to 16 by the end of the second quarter. After a half filled with fouls and free throws, DeAveiro kept his side locked in the game with his halftime speech.

“He was just telling us to stay focused and to stop fouling,” fourth-year guard Alex Paquin said. “When we came out in the third quarter, we stopped fouling, we started moving our feet, pressuring. They really had no option.”

Indeed, McGill stopped antagonizing the referees. After fouling the Gaiters 15 times in the first half, the Redmen totalled only three fouls in their dominant third quarter run. They forced eight turnovers in the frame on their way to a 19-0 run, holding the Gaiters without a basket for nearly five minutes as the lead grew to 33 by the end of the quarter.

Paquin scored all six of his points and added two assists in the quarter to pace the Redmen. Fourth-year guard Avery Cadogan added eight, on his way to a total of 12 for the game.

“We love to play fast,” Paquin said. “Coach always tells us ‘push the ball, push the ball, run out.’ We want to make teams turn the ball over, play fast, and then get open threes, and not have to settle for five-on-five offence.”

McGill continued their dominance in the fourth quarter, as stifling defensive pressure held the Gaiters to only eight points in the closing frame while the Redmen scored 26 more of their own.

“When we start running, that’s when teams really struggle to guard us,” Daoust said. “They’re a really good transition team but the way to beat them is to run on them.”

Third-year guard Isaiah Cummins’ dunk with 2:28 left put a nice bow on the Redmen effort that evening. With the team bathing in the loud fan appreciation postgame, DeAveiro highlighted his team’s efforts on the second night of a back-to-back.

“If [the] result [had been the same] tonight as yesterday, but [we had] competed like we did today, I would have lived with it,” DeAveiro said. “I just know when we play like this, when we compete like this, we’re a hard team to beat.”

After one of their most impressive performances of the season, the Redmen look to keep up the energy in their next game on Feb. 1 against the Laval Rouge et Or.

Moment of the game

With 3:43 left in the third quarter, fourth-year guard Alex Paquin dropped a beautiful behind-the-back pass right into the hands of fourth-year centre Noah Daoust for an easy lay-in to extend McGill’s lead to 22.

 

Quotable

“My brother […is] a sophomore at Bishop’s [….] Unfortunately, he’s hurt […but] I’ll be interested to see what he has to say. He was texting me after the game [last night] being really supportive and I hated it, obviously because of how it went [….] We’ll see what kind of mood he’s in, hopefully he’s okay.” – Daoust on the McGill-Bishop’s sibling rivalry.

 

Stat Corner

Pressured by the relentless McGill Redmen defence, the Bishop’s Gaiters turned the ball over 36 times on Saturday night.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Trib Mix: Sounds from elsewhere

by Avleen Mokha on

More in Arts & Entertainment:

As add/drop draws to a close, turn up the heat and let this international and multilingual playlist from The McGill Tribune take you elsewhere. Beginning with some familiar soft French sounds, the playlist eases into playful Italian and pensive Japanese. Fall in pyaar in Hindi and hum in Swahili, and clear your mind with some Filipino prog. Be transported from McLennan to Iran, Cuba, Japan, Germany, and elsewhere with this eclectic collection of the world’s melodies.

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