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Science & Technology

Minister of Environment and Climate Change hosts panel at McGill

by Laura Oprescu on

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On Sept. 15, McGill University hosted a panel at Chancellor Day Hall on the future of clean energy as a means of growing the economy. The Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change and McGill law graduate, Catherine McKenna, hosted the event marking the beginning of a series of panels. McKenna previously worked on UN peacekeeping missions and co-founded her charity, Level, to promote equality.

McKenna is touring Canadian universities, aiming to engage students in discussions about the future of clean energy and its impacts on the economy. The panel also featured Tim Moore, a Professor of Geography at McGill and Director of the Trottier Institute for Science and Public Policy, Steven Guilbeault, Cofounder and Senior Director of environmental consulting company Équiterre, Robert Leckey, Dean of the Faculty of Law at McGill, and Jose Mauricio Gaona, Faculty of Law doctoral student at McGill.

Together, the participants deliberated actions that Canadians can take to contribute to the growth of the economy in a sustainable fashion.

“I’m doing a college climate tour because people don’t think climate change is real, or they think it’s too hard and too expensive a problem to tackle,” McKenna said.

McKenna aims to reach out to students, who she believes are the future of policy-making. To her, open dialogue among youth regarding Canada’s future in clean energy is crucial to addressing the problem of climate change. Moore praised McKenna’s engaging approach.

“We should be engaging people in dialogue, rather than having a battle between monologues,” Moore said.

McKenna asked students for questions and suggestions regarding strategies to tackle international policy issues. Citing the example of the United States prematurely pulling out of the Paris Agreement, McKenna called for a thorough, rational approach to international cooperation on climate change.

“In diplomacy, it’s easy to yell and scream,” McKenna said. “We just have to be smart about things, to give [the United States] space to work things out.”

McKenna predicted that the United States will eventually realize that clean energy will be cost-efficient in the long run. She suggested making the economic argument to anyone who dismisses climate change as a serious issue.

“We can’t detach the environment from the economy,” McKenna said. “If we destroy our environment, we destroy our economy.”

McKenna argued that focusing on the economic impacts of switching to clean energy will draw a wider interest. She believes the two are inseparable issues.

Additionally, McKenna criticized the responses of activists who oppose pipeline developments, arguing that the pipeline itself is not the problem.

“Pipelines are just a vehicle,” McKenna said. “As long as there’s a market for oil, it’s going to happen.”

Instead, McKenna took issue with Canada’s infrastructure for offering poor protection against extreme weather. She questioned why Canada imports building materials instead of manufacturing locally, which would reduce emissions and create jobs for Canadians. Guilbeault agreed.

“Most Canadian buildings wouldn’t pass basic energy tests in other countries, such as Germany,” Guilbeault said. “This is a problem, because Germany isn’t nearly as cold as Canada.”

However, Guilbeault is optimistic about the changes being made toward clean energy in Canada.

“Since 2013, Canada has been investing more in clean energy than in fossil fuels,” Guilbeault said. “Three years ago in Quebec, there were 15 charging stations for electric cars. By 2020, there will be 1800.”

McKenna closed the panel with a rallying cry.

“We need to make policy decisions that are going to benefit most people, not the one per cent,” McKenna said. “You guys need to get out there and engage. We don’t have time to fight, we just have to get on.”

 
A previous version of this article stated that Minister Catherine McKenna co-hosted the event with Member of Parliament for LaSalle-Émard-Verdun, David Lametti. In fact, MP Lametti was scheduled to appear but did not in the end. The Tribune regrets this error.
ABCs of Science, Science & Technology

When is the best time to get sick?

by Selen Ercan on

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Catching a cold in the morning or at night can make a big difference. A new study from the McGill University and the Douglas Department of Health Institute suggests that the severity of an infection might vary significantly depending on the time of day we contract a pathogen—an agent causing disease or illness to its host.

For the very first time, McGill researchers showed that the body’s circadian clock dictates the magnitude of the parasitic infection, Leishmaniasis.

According to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, circadian clock refers to “[…] physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow a roughly 24-hour cycle, responding primarily to light and darkness in an organism's environment.”

The tropical parasite, Leishmania, is transmitted by the female sandfly and kills 20,000 to 30,000 people per year, leaving painful scars on those who survive. When untreated, Leishmania is lethal.

“Leishmania tricks the body by manipulating what the macrophage, white blood cell, does using the host’s immune system against it,” said Associate Professor Nicolas Cermakian from McGill’s Department of Psychiatry and researcher at the Douglas Institute. “By understanding how this process is linked to the circadian rhythm, we might be able to play tricks on it in return.”

Cermakian’s team found that when the disease was transmitted at night, the infection affected the subjects more than when it was contracted during the day.

“There was more inflammatory cell recruitment, [or] more immune cells coming to the site, in the animals’ bodies at night, which is what the parasite wanted,” said Professor Martin Olivier in the McGill Department of Medicine, Microbiology, and Immunology and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center. “It could [therefore] invade more cells at that time.”

Thus, the parasite took advantage of the body’s circadian rhythm in order to acquire the maximum number of host cells.  

“Circadian rhythms affect pretty much everything in physiology,” Cermakian said. “[Many] parts of our body [vary] between […] day and night [as] generated by our intrinsic clocks.”

The team successfully established that these internal clocks regulate the body’s immune response against pathogens.  This observation can lead to better prevention strategies against many illnesses—including malaria, zika, and lyme disease—and other insect borne diseases.

In light of this news, there could also be a significant difference between the effectiveness of vaccinations done in the evening or during the day. Continued research in this area could hinder widespread diseases from doing more damage.

“We now want to know how we can better treat people with drugs and vaccinations, and at which moment we can vaccinate people in order to give better protection,” Olivier said. “Indeed, the variation in immune response due to the circadian rhythm could be true for many infections.”  

Furthermore, Cermakian’s research on the health of shift workers shows that people with disturbed circadian rhythms have a higher likelihood of contracting many diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular, and metabolic problems. Prolonged exposure to artificial light from electronics, disorganized eating, and irregular sleeping schedules all qualify as disturbances.

Although keeping track of intrinsic clocks won’t protect everyone from contracting diseases such as Leishmania, respecting the natural body cycle can attribute to a healthy lifestyle overall.

Editorial, Opinion

Separating criticism from cynicism when evaluating McGill’s student leaders

by McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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Often, students at McGill regard the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) as an inefficient, incompetent, and divisive organization. Some of these perceptions are reasonably grounded in SSMU executives’ past mistakes. Last February, campus was rocked by Vice-President (VP) External David Aird’s resignation, following a statement released by the Community Disclosure Network (CDN) alleging that Aird had committed acts of sexual violence against members of the McGill community.

Since then, among other SSMU and faculty counsellor resignations, two more SSMU executives resigned: Last year’s President Ben Ger left his post in March 2017, and VP Operations and Sustainability Anuradha Mallik resigned this past August, leaving the SSMU executive team with a vacancy at the start of the academic year. SSMU executives’ recent history of resigning mid-term is a valid cause for student distrust of their government. Still, as McGill enters a new school year, it is critical that McGill students examine the source of their skepticism toward SSMU, and recognize the value of the work being done by student leaders. Further, students must be cautious not to hold grudges from past institutional and personal failures against the new set of SSMU executives. Unfounded aversion to SSMU threatens the well-being of the organization by creating an atmosphere where overburdened leaders do not feel supported by their constituents.

A properly functioning SSMU is essential to the McGill community. It is an independent body completely separate from the McGill administration that operates as a critical advocate and provider for students’ needs and interests. While the relevant personal dramas of SSMU executives tend to dominate campus dialogues, the day-to-day responsibilities of leaders and the index of services provided by the society are much less discussed, and even taken for granted.

Without SSMU and its elected executives, students would lose many services fundamental to the well-being of their community. SSMU has ownership over students’ health and dental insurance plans, and runs a daycare for students and faculty in need of childcare. SSMU also provides employment for hundreds of students in a variety of positions throughout the organization. Further, it organizes a diverse range of MiniCourses—ranging from yoga, to languages, to creative writing—for students to inexpensively cultivate hobbies and learn skills that aren’t taught at McGill. SSMU also sponsors, supports, and provides space and services for hundreds of clubs and student organizations at McGill. Finally, it fully funds and administers 15 services—such as McGill Students’ Emergency Response Team (MSERT), McGill Nightline, the Peer Support Centre, Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Student’s Society (SACOMSS), Walksafe, and the Black Students’ Network—to name a few.

Next time they take a dig at SSMU, McGill students should question whether their disenchantment with SSMU is based on legitimate constructive criticism or whether it reflects cynicism of the institution itself.

These roles, diverse in character and makeup, are essential to our community: They make students feel safe, understood, and included, and more often than not, they fulfill needs and provide opportunities that the McGill administration does not.

This is as enormous of a task as it sounds. An hour log released by Kimber Bialik, VP Clubs and Services (now renamed VP Student Life) in 2015-2016, revealed that she often worked up to (and over) 100 hours per week to fulfill the requirements of her portfolio. While SSMU executives are paid a salary, it does not come close to adequate hourly compensation for the job. Furthermore, SSMU acts as an important advocate for student interests to the administration, with members sitting on the Senate, Board of Governors, and working groups in order to establish university policies for students’ benefits. One recent example is SSMU executives’ involvement in the creation of McGill’s Sexual Violence Policy in Fall 2016.

The historically low numbers of candidates for SSMU executive positions are unsurprising when considering the volume of the commitment coupled with the McGill community’s ingrained distaste toward the organization. In the 2017-2018 SSMU executive election, only two out of the seven available positions were contested. A diverse election process is key to effective leadership, and a climate of apathy and disillusionment discourages influential, capable leaders from stepping up. Putting one’s name on a ballot isn’t easy to begin with; faced with a perpetually disapproving constituency, this task becomes even more daunting. Normalizing minimal contestation of executive positions followed by mid-year resignations only further erodes the authenticity and legitimacy of the organization.

One glance at the extensive list of services that SSMU provides is enough for students to realize the necessity of student leaders. SSMU executives champion the interests of McGill students to the McGill administration. While it is essential for McGill students, media, campus groups, and other prominent actors to hold student representatives accountable and maintain reasonable expectations of them, it is equally important for the McGill community to recognize that SSMU executives are students, not seasoned politicians. Next time they take a dig at SSMU, McGill students should question whether their disenchantment with SSMU is based on legitimate constructive criticism or whether it reflects cynicism of the institution itself, cultivated by the missteps of former leaders. Yes, SSMU has high standards to achieve and a responsibility to students, but students also have a responsibility to SSMU: They must actively engage with student politics, afford leaders a clean slate when they are elected, and promote a positive political culture out of which they can begin their tenure.

 

@mcgilltribop | [email protected]

 

 

 

McGill, News

AUS Council Plans to Celebrate 25th Anniversary Despite Resignation of Executive

by Luca Brown on

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The resignation of Vice-President (VP) External Catherine Jeffrey was at the top of the agenda during the first Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) Council meeting of the year on Sept. 13. Council also discussed plans for upcoming speaker series and the possibility of organizing a celebration for the 25th anniversary of the AUS.

Resignation of the VP External

The AUS released a statement on Sept. 12 announcing Jeffrey’s resignation and identifying mental health, the workload AUS requires, and other conflicting academic and extracurricular activities as their reasons for departing. Following the resignations of former AUS VP Finance Deepak Punjabi and VP Internal elect Ashton Mathias last year, Jeffrey’s choice to resign is a continuation of a trend that is worrying to some.

“We've had unusually high executive turnover,” AUS President Erik Partridge said. “And when I say ‘unusually high,’ it's about 50 per cent higher than you'd expect for a two-year time period.”

The AUS council voted to hold a by-election to fill the role of VP External in early October. Council also decided not to hold an election for the position of VP Internal and instead voted to reappoint incumbent VP Internal Rebecca Scarra. Scarra was initially appointed to the position last winter after the resignation of then-VP Internal elect Ashton Mathias.

Executives give updates on potential speaker series

AUS VP Communications Maria Thomas announced that she is in the process of organizing a speaker series featuring influential public figures. Thomas’ primary goal is to secure the presence of McGill alumnus and current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, though she admits to having her work cut out for her in achieving this.

Thomas hopes to grab Trudeau’s attention via social media, using the hashtag “#TrudeauTakesMcGillPt2,” given the Prime Minister’s responsiveness on social media.

“I don't know the likelihood of [Trudeau] replying […] but I believe in us,” Thomas said. “We have 8,000 constituents and we can get this hashtag trending.”  

Charitable Affairs Committee

AUS Council passed a motion to create a Charitable Affairs Committee, which will manage fundraisers for charities the Committee chooses. Thomas, who presented the motion, explained that she found inspiration from past AUS initiatives to help with the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

“A lot of [the idea for this committee] came out of Hurricane Irma,” Thomas said. “We were wondering if we could raise money for [the victims] […] Just by our equity bylaws, we want to create a positive impact on the world.”

AUS’ 25th anniversary

2017 marks the 25th anniversary of the AUS. VP Social Nathan Greene and VP Finance Noah Lew proposed the exploration of a celebration to commemorate the occasion.

Lew expressed his views that a celebration would be an appropriate way to commemorate this big milestone for the AUS, while bring Arts students together.

“This [is] not just a celebration, but also something to make our students proud of the AUS, to belong to [the Faculty of] Arts, and to have a big event we can all share and be proud of,” Lew said.

Department of English Association (DESA) representative Thomas MacDonald, (U3),  raised concerns that prospective celebrations could be distracting from long-term projects with greater meaning for the student body as a whole.

Council held a straw poll unanimously expressing its interest in the idea. The celebration, which is still in early planning stages, would take place during the inter 2018 semester.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that AUS VP Internal Kira Smith resigned last year. In fact, VP Internal elect Ashton Mathias resigned from AUS. The Tribune regrets this error.
News, SSMU

SSMU Council passes motion to open SSPN to Members-at-large

by Mei Nathan on

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On Sept. 14, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council held its first meeting of the Fall 2017 semester. Over the course of the meeting, executives and councillors considered amending the rules for membership in the Students' Society Programming Network (SSPN) and discussed budget proposals for McGill organizations—specifically, the Sustainability Project Funds (SPF) and Desautels Capital Management (DCM).

SSMU Council amends SSPN requirements

At the start of the meeting, SSMU Council passed a motion to change the circumstances of sitting on SSPN, the primary event-planning department within SSMU responsible for organizing student events such as 4Floors and Faculty Olympics.

As outlined in their mandates, all 30 Legislative Council members are required to participate in one of SSMU’s 17 committees. Although SSPN is one of these committees, SSMU Council decided that it no longers fulfills this membership requirement. SSPN previously also had seats reserved for Legislative Council members so that they could fulfill their commitment of being on a committee, but SSMU did away with this in the same motion.

"The 2016-2017 executive agreed on this change internally, but a motion was never brought to Council," SSMU Vice-President (VP) Internal Maya Koparkar said. "Because SSPN offers its members more [opportunities to participate in campus events and socials] than other committees of Legislative Council, there is usually a rush to join, which often leaves [fewer] people to sign up for other committees."

The motion passed unanimously. Now that seats on SSPN are open to all students, Koparkar believes that members will be driven to participate more productively.

"The selection [in the past] did not follow the Committee Terms of Reference, so I figured it was probably best to have that change moved through Council officially," Koparkar said. "The people who are valuable to SSPN, in terms of experience and enthusiasm, usually don't come from the Council community."

DCM Proposes Partnership with SSMU

Vadim di Pietro, Chief Investment Officer of DCM and assistant professor of finance, also spoke at the meeting. DCM is the entirely student-run investment firm in the Desautels Faculty of Management, whose purpose is to manage $3.5 million in funds on behalf of companies and provide students with immersive work experience in the field.

DCM intends to create a ‘Socially Responsible Investment’ (SRI) fund that will be used to invest in firms recognized to be sustainable and ethical. Di Pietro requested $1 million from SSMU to invested in the SRI fund.

“[People who work in finance] often are seen as the bad guys, but if we could do something good with the money, that’s really exciting,” Sarah-Anne Brault, a finance master’s student and  analyst at DCM, said. “It would be the first SRI fund for DCM.”

SSMU VP Finance Arisha Khan voiced her support for the initiative, which former VP Finance and Operations Zacheriah Houston first proposed in 2015-2016. If the project moves forward, Khan and DCM members estimate that the fund would begin in January 2018.

“[Other firms] would not include the immersive student engagement opportunity that exists with DCM,” Khan said. “[SSMU] is a student-run organization and this further provides an opportunity for students to be engaged in decision-making and project management on a level that they would not ordinarily get.”

Sustainability project aims to empower grassroots efforts

Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF) Administrator Krista Houser was another guest speaker at SSMU Council. The SPF was created in 2009 by the McGill administration, SSMU, the Post Graduate Student’s Society, and the Macdonald Campus Student Society, though it is now overseen by the McGill Office of Sustainability. Its mandate is to provide financing and support for student-led projects that make specific areas of campus more socially or environmentally sustainable. The SPF is the largest sustainability fund in North America, with an annual value of $870,000.

One new SPF to be implemented in Fall 2017 is the “Tiny Stream” project, an initiative that provides grants of $250 or less to small sustainability proposals. The organization estimates that the new fund will be available in the upcoming weeks.

“[Tiny Stream] is for smaller projects that are less on an institutional level but more grassroots,” Houser said. “We want to make sure sustainable projects like workshops and events happening are getting funding as well.”

Houser hopes that SSMU will put forward a student referendum on increasing the semesterly fee they pay toward the SPF. The McGill administration has already tentatively agreed to match this funding.

News, SSMU

Missing SSMU 2016-2017 budget report causes difficulties for current executives

by Ozanay Bozkaya on

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At the end of his term in May, Former Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice President (VP) Finance Niall Carolan failed to deliver a budget report for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, as his position mandated him to. Although the SSMU Legislative Council approved a budget for the 2017-18 academic year, the lack of a budget report has posed an ongoing problem for VP Finance Arisha Khan, since the start of her term in May.

The budget report is an evaluation and simplification of the SSMU budget delivered at the end of every fiscal year by the VP Finance. The drafting process includes consultations with the SSMU Accounting Team and General Manager. The budget report provides an overview of the use of funds and explanation of transactions during SSMU’s fiscal year, which begins on June 1 and ends on May 31 of the following year.

“It is vital that a formal budget report is created as this creates transparency vis-a-vis the use of student fees,” Khan said. “Additionally, it is extremely important to highlight any changes to the budget via a report for the incoming VP Finance so they can get an understanding of why items or the structure of the [budget] may have changed from previous years.”

Khan believes that SSMU’s financial successes and failures in any given year depend heavily on the budget report written the previous year. Khan also suggested that the absence of a budget report this year could negatively affect SSMU’s relationship with students, who look to the executive for clear communication and transparency.

“I think the biggest repercussion due to the lack of a budget report is transparency to the general [student] membership,” Khan said. “As VP Finance, my first obligation is to our membership and with that comes the responsibility of not only making decisions that have a financial impact but also being able to explain them to fee-paying students, whether that be through [SSMU Legislative] Council reports or the budget report at the end of my term.”

In addition to neglecting to deliver the budget report, Carolan also failed to complete the required tri-annual budget revision, a process in which the VP Finance updates the budget three times per year with unaccounted finances. Khan expressed further concern that lacking tri-annual budget revisions would contribute to SSMU’s resulting lack of transparency in its finances. Carolan did not respond to multiple attempts by The McGill Tribune to contact him.

A representative of the SSMU Judicial Board–which examines questions regarding SSMU’s constitution and obligations–was unable to indicate whether SSMU would face hearings for the absence of a budget report, citing Section 15.1 of the SSMU Constitution and Internal Procedures, s. 13-14.

“[The] Judicial Board can only examine a matter once a SSMU Member has petitioned the Judicial Board,” Chief Justice James Trougakos wrote in an email to the Tribune. “In order to petition the Judicial Board, various criteria must be met [….It] would [also] be inappropriate for the Judicial Board to pronounce itself on these matters, as the Judicial Board could be petitioned to adjudicate them, although we make no comment on whether such a petition meets the various criteria or would be successful.”

While the missing budget report has not caused any legal or official repercussions as of yet, SSMU President Muna Tojiboeva believes it has caused consternation in SSMU’s activities.

“The repercussions have largely been the additional staff time required to administer our financial operations,” Tojiboeva said. “Additionally, the budget is a way to increase transparency to the SSMU’s finance to the general membership. Through not submitting this vital report, the former VP Finance did not fulfill an essential part of his mandate.”

Ask a Scientist, Science & Technology

Building sustainable materials inspired by nature

by Kate Lord on

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On Sept. 14 at Soup and Science, students were made privy to the exciting field of Sustainable Materials Chemistry, as presented by Matthew Harrington, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry.

“Since 1950 we’ve accumulated over five billion metric tonnes of plastic in our environment and landfills with a projected increase to 12 billion by 2050,” said Harrington.

Despite this mass of waste and its associated environmental cost, Harrington and his team are investigating a cause for hope. The team aims to create new materials that are both high-performance and environmentally sustainable.

“In my group we want to borrow design principles from nature in order to make better materials in better ways,” Harrington said. “Biological organisms create a huge range of materials which exhibit really impressive material properties and structures, and these are made from very simple building blocks […] mainly comprised of proteins, sugars, and fats.”

Currently, Harrington’s lab focuses on mussels, specifically their byssus, or ‘beard,’ which they use to attach to solid surfaces like rocks and the seabed.

“[The byssus] is a crucial material the mussel makes that allows it to survive […] against crashing waves,” Harrington said. “The material is stiff, it’s tough, it’s self-healing, [and] it has an underwater glue. In my group, we […] take out molecular level design principles […] and then transfer these to engineers in order to make things like surgical adhesives and self-healing materials.”

The lab uses a cross-disciplinary lens combining many scientific fields as a key tool to understand these natural structures.

“Don’t pay too much attention to the typical disciplines of biology, chemistry, and so on,” Harrington suggested. “Explore [them].”  

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

“It: Chapter One” tugs at the heartstrings but fails to terrify

by Christina Stackpole on

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It had been in “development hell” since 2009, cycling through a plethora of directors, writers, and stars. Based on the novel by Stephen King, and originally adapted into a 1990 miniseries, the feature film incarnation was finally released as the sophomore effort of director Andy Muschietti on Sept. 8. It is remarkable, then, that the finished product holds together as well as it does.

Muschietti is undoubtedly a cine-literate director. The bedrooms of the film’s middle schooler protagonists are plastered with posters of Beetlejuice (1988) and Gremlins (1984). Movie posters on local streets advertise A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 (1989). The film’s lengthy 135 minute runtime harkens back to the epic horror films of the 70s and 80s, such as The Exorcist (1973) and The Shining (1980)—films that, like It, were grounded in character and story before scares. Unlike the bold colors of the miniseries, the remake is washed in moody sepia tones, with a colour palette akin to Japanese horror classics such as Ringu or Dark Water. The film experiments with its stunning cinematography, including sweeping wide-shots and expertly-crafted mise-en-scene that would make Stanley Kubrick proud.

It will particularly resonate with fans of Stranger Things. The two projects share young star Finn Wolfhard (who plays protagonist Richie Tozier), and both make use of snappy dialogue from a central band of small-town misfits, coming-of-age angst, and staple images of riding bikes down suburban streets. In its contribution to the trend of 80s nostalgia, It takes on an almost self-aware quality, its world feeling more like a wistful time capsule than an actual period piece.

It’s strength lies in the movie’s young lead cast, particularly newcomers Sophia Lillis and Jack Dylan Grazer, who present some of the best child acting in recent memory. A witty script provides the backbone for lovable characters, and the actors give incredibly convincing portrayals of the genuine bonds within the motley crew of the “Losers Club.” The young cast works remarkably well with the film’s dark material, which ranges from sexual abuse, to racism, to grief.

Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise, the clown terrorizing the children, reimagines one of the most iconic roles in horror—portrayed by Tim Curry in the miniseries. Skarsgard gives a fantastic performance, albeit radically different from his predecessor. While Curry swings between wisecracking and vicious, Skarsgard is demonic. With yellow eyes, a misshapen infant-like head, and a cracking childish lilt of a voice, he ties in nightmare-nursery imagery throughout. He moves and dresses like a feral, decaying marionette. The inspirations for the costume, from Renaissance to Victorian, highlight the idea that Pennywise is from out of space and time.

When It focuses on the deeper implications behind what is terrorizing the children—namely, facing and coping with their respective traumas—it succeeds. In contrast to the classic Hollywood monsters used in the miniseries, Pennywise’s varying manifestations in the remake have a more timeless and psychoanalytical quality.

Sadly, it is primarily in its attempts at horror that It stumbles. In his book Danse Macabre, King lists three tactics used in horror: “The gross-out,” “the horror”—monsters, jump-scares—and “the terror,”—the bone-chilling, uncanny, and pervasive dread. It occasionally flirts with the gross-out, but mostly inhabits the horror. Only once does it reach the upper echelon of terror, in the first 15 minutes, during a flawless re-crafting of the classic gutter scene between Pennywise and Georgie. It is unfortunate that a director so ambitious in his filmmaking—and so clearly devoted to the genre—resorts to a seemingly endless conga line of jump-scares and haunted-house effects.

Moreover, while Muschietti manages to craft a darkly gorgeous phantasmagoria, he is overly reliant on CGI—much like in his 2013 debut, Mama. Pennywise’s character depiction is most haunting when he simply inhabits the frame, instead of flailing around in increasingly ridiculous spectacle. The constant barrage of fantastical imagery becomes tiring by the third act.

Perhaps It is a horror film for those who don’t like horror. Similar to Spielbergian horror-adventures like Poltergeist (1982), it has the characters and story to keep audiences emotionally engaged, and enough creepy imagery and textbook scares for the less genre-savvy without making them truly uncomfortable. However, for audiences who want to be haunted by a film long after the credits roll, It is best viewed as a subversive Stand By Me (1986), rather than as nightmare fuel.

 

 

Art, Arts & Entertainment

‘In Search of Expo 67’ offers perspective on Montreal World’s Fair

by Clemence Auzias on

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The Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) has opened up its doors for spectators to explore the world of Montreal’s proudest moment on the international stage (sorry 1976 Olympics).  In Search of Expo 67 takes us back 50 years to a booming Montreal; a city welcoming the world’s fair during a period of progress and tensions, which were thematically addressed in the exhibit. Visitors are invited to dive into the universe of Expo 67 through a combination of movies, interactive pieces, music, and photographs.  The 19 participating artists created unique pieces to commemorate the occasion, exploring themes of peace, acceptance, and tolerance.

“Man and His World” is the main theme of the exhibit. Inspired by the book/Wind, Sand, and Stars by Antoine de St Exupéry, it immediately captures a visitor’s attention upon entering the first room. A wall-sized screen transports spectators along the path of the ancient minirail that brought millions of visitors to the fair in 1967, with the anachronistic landscapes of 2017 unfolding before them. Accompanied by a voice reading the aforementioned book by St Exupéry, dating back to 1939, this is the first of many temporal contrasts the exhibit presents. 

The journey then continues to different rooms showcasing films, each displaying a new perspective on Expo 67. On one side of the hallway, Geronimo Inutig’s Katimakainnarivugut, and Jean Pierre Aubé’s Kaleidoscope II, present different artistic approaches to the Canadian Pavilion and the Kaleidoscope Pavilion, two of the buildings edified for the occasion by the countries present at Expo 67.  On the other side of the corridor, more serious pieces such as Emmanuelle Leonard’s Le Huitième Jour concentrate on the post-war political climate of the time and Cold War tensions persisting between the USSR and the US. This juxtaposition creates yet again an interesting contrast between these tensions and the Expo’s theme: Global unity after a long period of decolonization. Right before the exit, there is a change in the tonal setting—the visitor is transported to a room with flashy colors looking ahead to the Montreal of the 70s. A vinyl player adds to this atmosphere with music from the beginning of the electro era; a genre that is now so characteristic of the Montreal musical scene. 

Although this last piece brings some variety to the overall exhibit, diversity in the art pieces is what lacks the most as the visitor walks through it. The visitors feel lost among the chaotic audio-visual pieces, distracting from the more traditional static mediums. The haphazard inclusion of historical information can prove chaotic and confusing, although perhaps it can be justified in reminiscence of the atmosphere at Expo 67.

While the exhibit does deliver an informative experience about Montreal history, unfortunately, exiting the MAC doors, some may feel like they haven’t really been in a museum of contemporary art, as the variety of artistic items used for the expo was very minimal throughout. In Search of Expo 67  provides an intriguing lens for its historical moment, but not quite an artistically-rich journey through the museum.

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