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Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Phantom Thread finds hilarity in toxicity

by Brandon Kaufman on

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Don’t be deceived by its trailers: Phantom Thread, the new Paul Thomas Anderson (Inherent Vice, Boogie Nights) film, is possibly the funniest thing he’s made yet. It’s also one of the most impeccably-crafted movies of 2017.

Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Reynolds Woodcock in what he claims will be his last role before retirement. Woodcock is an eminent fashion designer in 1950s London, a Balenciaga-like figure who appears to care more about his art than his personal life. Early in the film, we watch as Woodcock has breakfast with his domineering sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) and his girlfriend Johanna (Camilla Rutherford), whose innocent attempts at small talk are icily shut down by both siblings. It seems that Woodcock has extracted all the creativity he can from this former muse; she is now useless to him.

He later lunches at an upscale hotel restaurant, where he meets Alma (Vicky Krieps), a warm, bubbly waitress. Woodcock hilariously orders an excessive amount of food to keep her attention. They shoot looks at each other, and he asks her to dinner. After their meal, the two go to Reynolds’ country house, where Alma is asked to try on a few of Woodcock’s dresses. After Woodcock spends hours measuring every inch of Alma’s body, she tells him she “can’t stand forever.” He snaps. Anderson’s blocking (Alma always stands up straight and never looks up at Reynolds) and Krieps’ stoic delivery, however, indicate that unlike his previous girlfriend, Alma is no pushover. Woodcock’s attempt to mould her into a docile mannequin fails the first time, but he tries again throughout the film. In turn, Alma attempts to humble him, to tear down the facade of a Serious Artist he has erected.

The film is centered on Alma and Reynolds’ attempts to construct their ideal versions of one another, creating a noticeably ominous mood. The sense of dread and humour do not contradict one another. We laugh at Woodcock’s anger over Alma’s impossibly loud chewing, but also feel a sense of dread over the toxicity of the relationship. This is intensified by Anderson’s relatively sparse dialogue—the silence between lines forces the audience to think about every word uttered, building a foreboding tension that lingers over most of the film and crescendos into one of the best final acts in all of Anderson’s films.

Day-Lewis, as expected, is fantastic, but the film wouldn’t soar to the heights it does without the surly Manville and absolutely intoxicating Krieps, who utilizes every inch of her face in a manner similar to Meryl Streep.

Anderson’s direction is noticeably mature when compared to his earlier films. Magnolia (1999) follows over a dozen characters and takes place across Los Angeles, and Punch Drunk Love (2002) is a formal flex, with virtually every shot in motion. Conversely, Phantom Thread is claustrophobic and formally restrained. Anderson has become so confident in his ability to tell a compelling story that he only needs three main characters, a steady camera, and one primary location. The film has been described as a gothic romance due to the nature of its story and characters. The movie’s claustrophobia brings to mind Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940), considered by many to be the best of all dark romance films. Underpinning the film is Johnny Greenwood’s score, an enthralling and disturbing triumph, one that adds to the film’s “quiet air of death,” but refrains from telling the audience how to feel.

Anderson has said that he first got the idea for Phantom Thread when his partner Maya Rudolph looked at him tenderly while he was ill.

“I remember seeing how much my wife was enjoying having me relatively helpless,” Anderson said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. “Then I started thinking, wouldn’t it kind of… suit her to keep me this way?”

This is what the movie is about: The universal desire to fit and alter those closest to us, just as Woodcock would alter a dress. In the end, Woodcock does not succeed in this attempt. Alma does. She slowly chips away at his ego, and makes Woodcock desperate for her attention. Anderson, it seems, is acknowledging to Rudolph his tendency to be an asshole, and thanking her for offering levity to an ultra-serious perfectionist like himself.

Science & Technology

Five fun science electives that will satisfy your curiosity

by Sam Min on

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Each semester, McGill students spend hours searching for courses that are both interesting and manageable. For those who are not enrolled in a Science major and are feeling particularly adventurous this semester, The McGill Tribune has compiled a list of five fascinating electives that are sure to pique your interest.

CHEM 181 – World of Chemistry: Food

Chemistry courses can often leave students fearful for their GPAs, but CHEM 181 is the exception. This course covers topics like the history of food, the relationship between diet and cancer, and cheese production. The course instructors—Chemistry department members David Harpp, Joe Schwarcz, and Ariel Fenster—fill their lectures with food facts and entertaining anecdotes that make each class exciting. Some highlights of the curriculum include lectures about cheese, chocolate, and wine. CHEM 181 is one of the few online courses taught at McGill and the bulk of the material emphasizes memorization. MyCourses provides full transcripts of the lectures, and the course’s exams are non-cumulative. This course is suited to students with a keen interest in healthy living and, of course, healthy eating.

COMP 202 – Foundations of Programming

In today’s world, programming experience is valued across the job market. This course may appear daunting to students with no prior experience, but COMP 202 is designed to allow novice programmers to get hooked on coding. There are multiple sections of this course taught every semester and students have access to all the lecture recordings for each section. For those interested in joining a research lab at McGill, a background in programming often sets candidates apart. While many students have the required knowledge to perform research, few can code and perform statistical analyses. Though programming can be difficult, it often leads to eureka moments when a solution is found.

PHIL 221 – Introduction to History and Philosophy of Science 2

This course is designed for students with little to no philosophy background. Science students at McGill are often trained to memorize facts. Later, they may find themselves avoiding humanities courses ranging from literature to philosophy in an effort to salvage their GPAs. If you find yourself in this position, you should consider this course. It covers the basics of science philosophy, as well as the development of modern science since the 18th Century. Topics include how the scientific method has been adopted by scientists and the influence of philosophy on scientific research and data collection. This course may also be rewarding for humanities students who want to explore how serendipitous a scientific discovery can be and how science and philosophy heavily influence one another.  

ATOC 184 – Science of Storms

In this course, students learn how extreme weather phenomena such as blizzards, hurricanes, and floods are formed. This course also explores these phenomena in the context of Montreal, a city with feverishly fickle weather. There is no final exam for this course—instead, students must complete a group project that requires a short presentation about an assigned weather topic. All the lectures are recorded and there are two midterm exams, both of which are non-cumulative. This is a great elective for students from all backgrounds who want to understand the weather systems we live with.

MATH 180 — The Art of Mathematics

The Art of Mathematics allows students to gain exposure to mathematics concepts that they wouldn’t otherwise encounter, such as code breaking and logic. The purpose of this course is to give students with any background an appreciation for the beauty of mathematical concepts. Sidney Trudeau, the course instructor, discusses high school math concepts and more abstract topics like chaos in a way that is accessible to a wide range of students. This course is highly recommended for students who would like to explore math from a new perspective.

McGill, News

OSD-Athletics pilot project promotes inclusivity in the gym

by Dorothy Yip on

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The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) is collaborating with McGill Athletics to launch Fitness Access McGill, a project that will help students with physical disabilities maintain an active lifestyle. It offers students who self-identify as disabled two sessions of personal training to help learn exercise routines that they can carry into their daily lives to overcome acquired or innate barriers to doing physical activity. The pilot project will begin this semester with 10 students.

Fitness Access McGill was inspired by comments sent to the OSD that students with physical disabilities at the university were having difficulty establishing exercise routines. The idea came together over summer 2017, and the OSD began recruiting participants that November. OSD-registered students were invited to apply through a form that asked about the physical barriers they encountered during exercise. The initiative received an enthusiastic response and there were three times as many applicants as there was room for participants.

Participants will create personalized training programs with adaptive-fitness personal trainer Aaron Fellows and familiarize themselves with adaptive equipment on campus.  Student volunteers in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education will also assist participants in their weekly training sessions.

“There are two main goals to this program,” Fellows said. “The first is to set participants up so that they feel confident and comfortable in exercising in the gym. The second is for them to keep working out and staying physically active even after they finish the program.”

To OSD Access Advisor Rachel Desjourdy, Fitness Access McGill is a valuable opportunity to extend the dialogue about accessibility from the academic sphere to less conspicuous, more personal spheres of student life, such as achieving and maintaining an active lifestyle.

“Traditionally, we think a lot about the academic environment, not necessarily about barriers in other aspects of university life, like social life and being active, which are really big parts of mental and physical health,” Desjourdy said. “Our theme for this year is promoting accessibility in non-traditional and unconventional ways.”

Desjourdy hopes that the project will spark wider discussions of inclusivity in physical fitness on campus.

“From a universal design perspective, there needs to be multiple entry points for a variety of users,” Desjourdy said. “If there’s only ever one way to access an active lifestyle on campus, then that serves a very small slice of people. That’s one of the cool things of universal design, [it] challenges you to think about what are the barriers for people, and what can we change in the environment to make their experience different.”

The program also aims to challenge normative views of ‘active’ living.

“Healthy looks different for different people,” Desjourdy said. “You can have a disability, or a chronic illness, and are traditionally viewed as unhealthy, but you can still be active and maximize what you can do.”

Sarah Canzer, Social Media and Community and Fan Engagement administrator at McGill Athletics, believes that existing fitness facilities have room to accommodate specific needs that students might have.

“We have all these facilities, but if people aren’t able to access them, or they aren’t even aware that they can access it, they all go to waste,” Canzer said. “Whatever their interests are, or whatever their abilities are, or whatever they have fun doing, there’s something for everybody—which is actually our slogan, and it’s true.”

Editorial, Opinion

In search of better leadership for Student Life and Learning

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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At the end of the Fall 2017 semester, McGill students learned that Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens will not pursue a second term once his current mandate concludes at the end of July 2018. While there will be an interim deputy provost after he departs, the formal appointment process for his successor begins in Fall 2018. In its search for new leadership, McGill has the chance to revitalize and renew student faith in the Office of the Student Life and Learning (OSLL), after several widely-criticized missteps during Dyens’ tenure.

Accordingly, before a candidate is named, Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi is to review the “scope and orientation” of the OSLL. However, the office’s mandate is already fairly clear, if broadly defined. It’s in its very name—to support McGill student life and learning by providing essential services, raising student concerns to administration, and supporting and communicating with student leadership and student groups. Its units include Student Housing Services, the Office for Students with Disabilities, and Scholarships and Student Aid, to name a few. The deputy provost oversees all of the office’s functions, and acts as the main contact point between students and the administration.

Reviewing the OSLL’s structure and goals is important, but the more relevant and pressing challenge for the administration is to ensure that the next Deputy Provost of Student Life and Learning is what Dyens has largely failed to be: An accessible, visible, and responsive advocate for student interests at the administrative level.

If the deputy provost is meant to improve the quality of student life and learning, then step one of their job should be to consult students on what quality of life and learning at university actually means to them.

The concerns raised throughout Dyens’ term are not new—the OSLL has faced criticism for shoddy communication and consultation, and unresponsiveness to student voices as far back as 2011. Dyens’ tenure in the role, since 2013, deserves the same criticism. Between sidestepping administration responsibility for responding to incidents of sexual and gendered violence between McGill students; overseeing Counselling and Psychiatric Services’ switch to the “Stepped Care” model without adequate staff and student consultations; and, most recently, some stunningly tone-deaf advice on student mental health that launched a thousand memes, the exiting deputy provost has done little to inspire student trust or interest in the OSLL’s Services.

Dyens’ track record doesn’t have to be the norm for the OSLL and its relationship to McGill students, nor should it be. The OSLL exists because it is essential to have an administrative body dedicated to student needs and interests. While the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) provides student leadership and representation independent from the university, as an administrative body, the OSLL has the power and resources to offer ongoing, essential student services.

For the OSLL to fulfill its role as such, and as a reliable source of student support, not frustration, a competent deputy provost is crucial. Competence means visibility and interaction with the student body beyond periodic appearances at SSMU Council meetings or press releases through the McGill Reporter. It means having clear, open channels for communication with students, and using those channels consistently and proactively. Fundamentally, it means understanding that the deputy provost’s role requires actively seeking out student input and genuinely listening to their own needs and interests with regards to the OSLL. If the deputy provost is meant to improve the quality of student life and learning, then step one of their job should be to consult students on what quality of life and learning at university actually means to them.

It is in McGill’s best interests to have a capable student life and learning deputy provost as much as it is in students’. Practically speaking, if current students aren’t being heard when it comes to improving their own McGill experiences, prospective incoming students may go elsewhere. Happy alumni are also generally more generous than bitter and jaded ones. From a principled standpoint, of course, McGill’s interests should align with student interests: A university should care that its students are receiving essential support and services. With capable leadership, the OSLL is the body to make that happen. Students have expressed what they want—and don’t want—in a head of Student Life and Learning. When looking for the next candidate for the job, the administration should listen to them.

 

 

 

@mcgilltribop | [email protected]

 

 
News, SSMU

SSMU launches food discount app

by Nina Russell on

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The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) launched its first ever app on Dec. 8, with the release of SSMU Eats, a program designed to provide students with discounts from restaurants throughout Montreal. It is available on both iOS and Android, offering deals of up to 70 per cent off at a variety of venues around the city including Subway, Liquid Nutrition, Vua, and Le MajesThé. To access the discount, students have to select a coupon and show it to the cashier.

The app was developed in coordination with Spinyt Technologies, a company that has also worked with eight universities and 74 restaurants across North America to create apps promoting discounts for local businesses. Spinyt Technologies’ first app, CASA Deals, was released in partnership with the Commerce and Administration Students’ Association at Concordia University in August 2016. Since then, Spinyt Technologies has continued to collect user feedback and update the app accordingly.  

“We figured out that students want discounts around campus and we started with Concordia,” Emile Chouha, one of the founders of Spinyt Technologies, said. “We partner up with the student association [of the university] and we get the restaurants from our side, and the student association is able to pass the information on to the students.”

Spinyt’s discount apps help vendors boost business during slow periods by giving them a platform to provide discounts coinciding with those periods.  

“We allow restaurants to update their deals in real time,” Chouha said. “When they have empty seats in their restaurant, [owners] can upload a 50 per cent deal and students will go to the restaurant, fill up the empty seats, and take advantage of the discount.”

The app also helps eateries to reduce food waste by providing discounts toward the end of the day so they can sell leftover food that would otherwise be thrown out.

“[Restaurant owners] are engaging more and more with the platform,” Chouha said. “When we are able to get a lot of students on a campus, we have less food waste because there [are more interactions] going through the restaurants. Our goal for the next six months is to eliminate food waste downtown as a whole [instead of just around specific campuses].”

Partnered businesses have taken innovative approaches to promoting SSMU Eats. Le MajesThé, for example, offered students who had the app downloaded free bubble tea on Jan. 12.

“I think [SSMU Eats] attracts [quite a few] customers [when] I post the deals,” Vincent Ma, owner of Le MajesThé, said. “We had a good 450 people today download the app and quite a bit of new customers. We haven’t actually tried out too [many] features of the app, but it’s a really interesting idea and I think it will work out.”

SSMU Eats offers its own exclusive deals such as a ‘spin’ feature, on which users spin a wheel to win a randomly selected coupon for a restaurant close to them. In December, it also held a lottery offering free Vua sandwiches for a year to one lucky winner.

“I am extremely excited that I won the free sandwiches,” David Naftulin, U1 Arts and winner of the Vua sandwiches lottery, said. “I think the SSMU Eats app is awesome and I am really pleased with the selection of restaurants on the app. I am also really pleased to see SSMU taking steps in bringing forward initiatives that benefit the day-to-day lives of McGill students, and I hope to see more positive projects like this one from SSMU in the future.”

SSMU hopes to continue expanding the capacity of SSMU Eats and growing the range and diversity of its dining options.

“SSMU Eats will continue to expand the list of restaurants offering discounts to McGill Students,” SSMU President Muna Tojiboeva wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “We will continue to work with Spinyt to provide giveaways and contests to Undergraduate students all throughout the Winter semester.”

Science & Technology

Bomb cyclone rings in the New Year

by Emma Gillies on

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On Jan. 4, 2018, much of the American and Canadian East Coasts were hit with chilling temperatures, snowy conditions, and hurricane-force winds. Iguanas fell from trees in Florida, Boston’s streets flooded with icy water, and parts of New Brunswick saw more than 50 centimetres of snow.

The culprit was a “bomb cyclone” named Winter Storm Grayson. In 1980, John Gyakum, professor in McGill’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, helped coin the unusual term for this type of storm with former MIT professor Fred Sanders.

A process often referred to as “bombogenesis” by meteorologists, a bomb cyclone is a low-pressure system that intensifies rapidly over a short period of time: more specifically, at a rate of at least 1 millibar per hour for a 24-hour period. At sea level, normal barometric pressure is around 1,000 millibars. When pressure falls rapidly, it is indicative of stormy conditions. This 24 millibar rate was originally employed for the latitude of Bergen, Norway but the pressure required to form a storm of this nature changes depending on latitude.

“If you have a 24 millibar deepening rate for a 24-hour period in lower latitudes, [the storm becomes] a much stronger cyclone,” Gyakum said in an interview with The McGill Tribune.

Last week’s cyclone deepened off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia at a latitude of around 31 degrees North. According to Gyakum, the minimum threshold value necessary to form the bomb cyclone at this latitude is around 16 or 17 millibars, but the real deepening was around 50, making this storm a “superbomb.”

These storms are often accompanied by hurricane-force winds, storm surges—where winds transport ocean water into coastal areas—and heavy precipitation.

Under normal conditions, bombogenesis—a cold-season maritime phenomenon that, in rare circumstances, has been known to appear in warmer weather–occurs offshore with minimal impact to coastal areas and their inhabitants. Yet “bomb cyclone” Grayson affected millions of people, which is why the term took the media by storm.

Cold air mass is important for bombogenesis to occur. When cold air travels over warm waters, it destabilizes the atmosphere and increases the likelihood of thunderstorms. Thermal contrast between cold continents and warm ocean waters can also act as a mechanism for aiding cyclone development.

“One of the issues that comes about when we talk about global warming is that you might […] say that with global warming, we won’t have cold air masses as much,” Gyakum said.

This paradox has led some politicians to believe that global warming could lead to more pleasant temperatures. However, Gyakum advised looking at the big picture. February 2015 was the coldest February on record in Montreal, whereas globally, it was the second warmest.

Gyakum explained that, given the effects of climate change, there is potential for more extreme ocean cyclogenesis in the future. While modelling experiments show that hurricanes and storms in the future might not be more frequent, the ones that do occur may become more extreme.

“It’s very, very hard for us to attribute a particular event to climate change,” Gyakum said. “But, there are a few things that we do know [….] One impact of global warming is that sea levels have risen, and; for that reason alone, even the most ordinary of storms […] will produce more of an impact along coastal areas.”

The spike in sea levels is accompanied by an increase in ocean temperatures. Warmer oceans lead to a greater amount of water vapour in the atmosphere. Once the water vapour condenses, it acts as fuel for the development of these bombs.  

Overall, Gyakum thinks that the term “bomb cyclone” can be beneficial, especially because people along the East Coast tend to give less thought to extreme weather conditions after the end of hurricane season.

“The fact is that many of these storms […] can be as devastating, if not more so, than hurricanes,” Gyakum said.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Thirty years of queer art and activism at image+nation

by Kevin Vogel on

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Thirty years ago, Canada’s first LGBTQ film festival held its inaugural screening. Today, the image+nation festival continues to share queer cinema with Montreal’s wider community, supporting the producers and artists who create these spellbinding stories.

Bringing all of this together is no easy task. Programming director Katharine Setzer and her team scour other film festivals both here in Canada and around the world. This year alone, the image+nation organizing staff selected over 120 films to feature during the 10-day event. Her team communicates with the artists themselves to bring it all together.

According to Setzer, there is never a shortage of queer content to share. Every year image+nation receives more and more film submissions.

“[The hardest part is that so much of] the work is really strong and that […] you have to make a choice,” Setzer told The McGill Tribune.

By the end of the process, the festival lineup is filled with a variety of content. Featuring films all the way from a short recounting the story of a young man’s experience growing up gay in the Soviet Union (Little Potato) to a documentary detailing the history of punk rock’s impact on queer activism (Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution), image+nation encompasses an incredibly diverse range of queer stories.

But the work does not stop after the content is selected. According to Setzer, gathering the financial resources to run the festival proves to be one of the most difficult parts of organizing image+nation every year. While image+nation receives a large amount of support through traditional funding methods, such as ticket sales and membership fees, image+nation remains the only queer film festival in Canada that does not receive provincial funding due to legislative complications with the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC).

“One thing that could help is membership and a community coming together and saying yes we support our festival,” Setzer said. “[The problem is that] it really comes down to having the funds to put together the festival, it is never the case that there is not enough brilliant work to show.”

Despite these obstacles, image+nation remains a key member of the international queer film circuit, and an important advocate in the fight for queer rights.

“[This festival and activism] are very intrinsically connected,” Setzer said. “There are a lot of queer artists who are also activists. I think that art in general, and filmmaking in general, is a form of activism.”image+nation has been at the vanguard of Montreal’s queer art and activism scene, and witnessed the changing climate.

“Lots has happened in 30 years,” Charlie Boudreau, image+nation’s Festival director, said. “This year’s preparations have given us valuable moments to think about how our LGBTQ stories have evolved in parallel with our ever-changing society. What is clear is that we have managed to take charge of our own narratives and our stories are the truer for it and more representative of our wonderful diversity.”

image+nation is held annually in theatres across Montreal. While we will have to wait until November for the 2018 edition, in the meantime image+nation’s website provides opportunities to support the event by becoming a Friend of the Festival, or even submitting a film for consideration.

McGill, News

Faculty of Dentistry Professors and Staff accused of harassment, sexual assault

by Audrey Carleton on

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McGill’s Faculty of Dentistry has come under scrutiny following a Dec. 14 CBC report on student allegations of harassment and sexual assault by multiple professors and employees. A former McGill student reported having been sexually assaulted by a dentist at the University in November 2016 and another student filed a case claiming psychological harassment and bullying by seven Dentistry professors in March 2017.

According to the student who accused a McGill dentist of sexual assault—whose identity remains anonymous—the incident occurred during a mouthguard adjustment which the dentist insisted should take place at their off-campus office. The student later reported to McGill and the Ordre des dentistes du Québec (Quebec Order of Dentists) that the dentist groped her during the operation.

Several months later, the student met with Associate Provost (Equity and Academic Policies) Angela Campbell and Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry Paul Allison to discuss the incident, and found the conversation neither supportive nor survivor-focused.

"I felt like they were trying to discredit my story by excusing whatever he did and trying to formulate it into some kind of treatment plan," she told the CBC.

In a statement to The McGill Tribune, however, Campbell claimed that handling sexual assault cases in a careful and empathetic manner is a priority for the University.

“Services and accommodations are provided to any person who discloses an experience of sexual violence, regardless of whether they report the matter to McGill or external authorities,” Campbell wrote. “It is therefore disappointing to learn of any incident where a member of our campus community did not feel fully supported by our processes and resources.”

Allison was not able to comment before press time.

According to the CBC, the accused dentist was suspended from work for the duration of the McGill’s investigation into the incident, but was eventually permitted to return to the University under certain conditions and limitations. Campbell said she was unable to divulge the details of these conditions to both the complainant and the Tribune.

“Where the person who is disciplined is a McGill employee, information about the disciplinary process and conclusion is private as a matter of law and the University therefore cannot make the outcomes known,” Campbell wrote. “We understand that our inability to share this type of information may be frustrating for some members of our community, but it is a legal constraint to which we are bound.”

The complainant also reported the case to the police and was told that the Crown prosecutor had authorized charges against the dentist in question, but a month later learned they had missed the deadline for getting the case underway. The Quebec Order of Dentists continues its investigation into the case—now over a year after the alleged incident—but was unable to comment to the Tribune due to confidentiality restrictions.

The case has sparked discourse in a number of McGill’s student societies, including the Dentistry Students’ Society (DSS).

“As of now, the DSS is not aware of the identities of the parties involved,” the DSS wrote in a statement to the Tribune. “This incident in particular did not involve any members represented by the DSS. Nevertheless, the DSS condemns all forms of sexual harassment and violence. There is no place for sexual misconduct in the field of dentistry.”

The reports were also discussed at the Jan. 11 Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council meeting, during which Vice-President (VP) External Connor Spencer announced that the Our Turn Task Force—which will pursue the goals of SSMU’s Our Turn Action Plan—will be investigating attitudes toward consent and sexual assault in each faculty.

“The Our Turn task force has been struck, and I’ve sent emails to every one of the faculties asking for faculty representatives,” Spencer said. “The task force will look at rape culture in each one of the faculties and examine what is being done to counter or address [it].”

Paul Allison, President of the Faculty of Dentistry, was unable to comment by press time.

he McGill Tribune is gathering student input to inform an investigation into the topic of professor abuses at McGill. If you’d like to participate in our survey or provide a tip or testimonial on the topic, please click here.

Ask Ainsley, Student Life

Ask Ainsley: How do I overcome the winter blues?

by Ainsley on

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Dear Ainsley,

I'm an international student at McGill and I come from a country that experiences a hot and dry climate for the majority of the year. I felt like the weather during the fall was fine, but I’m having trouble getting through the Winter semester so far. I'm more depressed now than I was a couple of months ago, for what seems like no reason. I’m worried that I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. What can I do?

Sincerely,

Worried About Winter (WAW)

Dear WAW,

I’m glad you wrote in about this, because this issue affects far more students at McGill than most people realize. An estimated two to three per cent of the general population of Canada is diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but many more grapple with its effects during Montreal’s harsh winters, when sunlight is a rarity. Thankfully, there are productive ways to mitigate weather-induced depression, some of which involve gearing up and embracing the cold.

While it is important to stay warm in the winter, it is also necessary to spend time outdoors. Studies show that soaking in even the slightest bit of sunshine and fresh air can make a big difference in improving your overall mental health. Although it may be hard to motivate yourself to do so, try to set aside some time out of each day to go for a walk or run outside. If you normally take the bus or metro to get to school, consider walking or biking instead—or if you have long gaps between mid day classes, take a few minutes to stroll around campus.

You may also consider taking up a winter hobby. Montreal offers many activities to make the most of the season, such as ice-skating on Mont Royal’s Beaver Lake, snowshoeing to class, or learning how to ski with McGill’s Ski and Snowboard Club. Not only will taking up a winter hobby be beneficial to you in fighting SAD this year, it will also give you something to look forward to for winters to come.

Another great trick for combating SAD is to stick to a schedule. While it is easy to allow yourself to stay inside and sleep the day away to avoid the cold, it is essential to maintain a regular sleep schedule and continue embracing what little light the winter does offer. Although waking up daily at, say, 9 a.m. is difficult, especially if your first class doesn’t start until 4 p.m., it becomes easier to motivate yourself to wake up early once you develop habits that will encourage you to get out of the house. If you’re a regular coffee consumer, try going out to buy a warm cup from a café at the same time every morning. Likewise, find activities to do every day after your classes end, such as going to the gym, cooking warm foods, or reading—whatever keeps you awake. A lack of sunlight may lead to vitamin D deficiency, so consider taking a daily supplement or renting a SAD lamp from the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and sitting in front of it every evening. These habits will help you acclimate to a daily schedule of productivity during the day and relaxation at night, improving your mood in the winter.

Finally, remember to continue socializing. Making plans with friends forces you to leave the house, even when you may not feel up to it. It may be beneficial to schedule a weekly date with a friend, or set a regular reminder on your phone to text friends that you haven’t seen in a while in order to make sure you don’t isolate yourself for months on end. Finally, don’t be afraid to reach out to your friends about how you are feeling—chances are some of them may be going through the same things you are. Together, you can hold each other accountable and make a plan to combat SAD—and before you know it, spring will be here.

Warmest wishes this winter season,

Ainsley

Football, Private

For the Cleveland Browns, incompetence is plenty cause for celebration

by Gabe Nisker on

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With a laughable loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ backups in Week 17, the Cleveland Browns joined the 2008 Detroit Lions in an exclusive club: They became only the second NFL team to finish a regular season 0-16 since the league expanded its schedule in 1978. It was an utterly perfect season of utter imperfection and, as Browns fans would have it, cause for celebration.

On Jan. 6, plenty of fans—some clad in paper bags—gathered in the downtown Cleveland core for a parade to memorialize the season that was in Cleveland Browns football.

No jeer was off-limits, as fans’ signs highlighted everything from the team’s poor ownership and management to the dozens of quarterbacks behind centre in the last 20 years. One truck carried a toilet along to equate the Browns to fecal matter.

After a miserable season, fans had gathered to enjoy themselves and mock the laughing-stock reputation that has plagued their beloved franchise for over the past decade. Unfortunately, several Browns players were hurt by the event.

Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah and nose tackle Danny Shelton took to Twitter to voice their disappointment, calling into question the veracity of the Browns fanbase.

“That parade is a joke don’t call yourself a true Browns fan if you go to that thing,” Ogbah wrote.

Shelton added that it’s “funny how these ‘fans’ will be the ones to say ‘i am a die hard browns fan’ but fans don’t disrespect their home team.”

Sure, going 0-16 is a near-torturous experience to the ultra-competitive athletes involved in each loss. They have a right to be annoyed or embarrassed, but fans shouldn’t be reprimanded for having a little fun. When games became miserable to watch, they could have turned off their televisions. But, instead, it’s truly remarkable that Browns supporters continued to tune in game after game, showing their dedication to a franchise that has won only a single game in the past two seasons, and has had only two winning records since 1999.

By parading through the streets, the fans employed their unique ability to turn dreadful misery into entertainment. That’s what professional sport is, after all—entertainment. As Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown told The Guardian on Jan. 9, sports can act as a mechanism of control in society.

“If people didn’t have sports they would be a lot more disappointed with their role in society,” Brown said. “Sports is a way to channel our energy into something positive”.

When the sports on television became less of an escape than they used to be, Browns fans channeled their energy into something positive: A glorious and fun celebration of a difficult season.

The Browns may be a running punchline in the football community, but their fans have developed an endearing sense of humour about the whole thing. Their supporters are great because they embrace their team’s imperfections head on: Because they parade in the Cleveland cold after an 0-16 season. Even better, they’ve already scheduled their Super Bowl parade for 2033—leaving plenty of time to add names to the infamous Browns quarterbacks jersey.

In addition to all the fun media coverage, some good came out of the day, too. Fans raised over $17,000 for a Cleveland food bank and additional non-perishable food items donated will add to a total of over 70,000 meals provided to the community. Maybe Browns fans do have a win to celebrate this season, after all.

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