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Legal Information Column, Student Life

Legal Information Column: What does plagiarism actually mean at McGill?

by Legal Information Clinic at McGill on

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It’s a scary time of year here on campus, and not just because many are feeling the effects of Halloween libations this past weekend. Students are also on edge because the season of midterms and final papers has arrived. Whether cramming for morning midterms or brewing a pot of midnight coffee while rushing to finish–or start–a paper that’s due the next day, it’s worth reviewing the following quick points on what McGill considers to be plagiarism.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is passing off someone else’s words or ideas as one’s own. Whether another’s work is published or unpublished, a student risks being accused of plagiarism if they use another’s work without properly attributing it to the source where they found it.

What if a student accidentally plagiarized?

At McGill, plagiarism does not need to be intentional to be a disciplinary offence. The simple fact of using someone else’s work without proper attribution counts as plagiarism under article 16(a) of the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures. This is true even if the student didn’t realize they plagiarized..

What about sharing papers with friends?

 Helping one’s friends is admirable. That said, lending assistance can be risky. Under article 16(b) of the Code of Student Conduct, it is a disciplinary offence for a student to share their work with another student if they know that the other student could use parts of that work within their own assignment. Pay close attention to the course syllabus and assignment instructions. In some cases, collaboration is explicitly prohibited—as is the case with many take-home exams, for example—while in other cases, collaboration with other students is encouraged, as long as the work each student submits is their own.

Are students allowed to reuse parts of an assignment they wrote for a previous course?

Not without the permission of the instructor to whom the present assignment will be submitted. According to article 17(c) of the Code of Student Conduct, it is a disciplinary offence to submit work for a current course if that work has already been submitted or given credit elsewhere—even if that wasn’t at McGill. The only exception to this rule is if the instructor has explicitly given a student permission to use something that was submitted in a previous course.

What happens if a student is accused of plagiarism?

Under article 37 of the Code of Student Conduct, instructors are not permitted to impose their own penalties on students for plagiarism; instead, all allegations of plagiarism are required to go through McGill’s formal disciplinary process. Most likely, a student would first learn that their assignment was being reviewed for plagiarism upon receiving a formal letter by email from a Disciplinary Officer—often the Associate Dean of the Faculty—inviting them to an interview. This letter would typically also indicate which article of the Code of Student Conduct the student has been accused of violating and would inform the student that they have a right to an advisor (e.g., from Student Advocacy at the Legal Information Clinic at McGill). Prior to the interview, the student can view the evidence in support of the allegation that they plagiarized. The interview is an opportunity for the student to explain the situation and for the Disciplinary Officer to then decide whether or not they committed plagiarism, and, if so, what the appropriate sanction should be.

If a student is accused of plagiarism, there is no need to panic. Students can seek help from Student Advocacy, a service provided by the Legal Information Clinic at McGill. Within the university context, Student Advocacy can advise students on their rights and how to navigate McGill’s network of policies and procedures, facilitate negotiation and discussion with university officials to informally resolve disputes, and represent students in formal university hearings.

How does a student avoid plagiarism?

Avoiding plagiarism starts with good study habits. When doing research for a paper or lab report, students should keep track in their notes of where they found each piece of information. Additionally, they should develop a system for recording when they have quoted directly from a source, as well as when they have paraphrased. Keeping such notes helps avoid the risk of later including something in the final product that was an unattributed direct quotation from another source.

Good writing habits are also key to avoiding plagiarism. When using someone else’s words, these words should always have quotation marks at their start and end. Bear in mind that changing a couple words of someone else’s sentence often isn’t enough to make it one’s own. Even small strings of words may need to be in quotation marks if a student read it somewhere else. If, instead, a student chooses to paraphrase what they read, they should make sure that they are expressing the idea completely in their own words. Regardless of whether a student is quoting or paraphrasing, every idea they find elsewhere must be attributed using the appropriate citation method for their assignment.

 

Student Advocacy is a service offered to McGill students by the Legal Information Clinic at McGill. Student Advocacy advises and represents students in their internal disputes with the university and its policies. If you need help from a Student Advocate, contact Student Advocacy with the directions found here. To learn more about your rights as a student more generally, visit McGill’s Student Rights and Responsibilities webpage or SSMU’s Know Your Student Rights resource.

Science & Technology

DDoS cyberattack brings down popular sites like Netflix and Spotify

by Charlotte Hings on

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On the morning of Oct. 21, many of the world’s most trafficked websites—including Twitter, Netflix, Reddit, Paypal, and Spotify—were unreachable for users on the East Coast of the U.S. due to a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) cyberattack on the domain name system (DNS) provider Dyn DNS. DDoS attacks are among the most common types of cyberattacks, but last week’s was one of the largest attempts ever.

DDoS attacks work similarly to overwhelming a waiter at a restaurant with orders. If there are many people flooding a restaurant simultaneously, then many will have to wait a long time before their order is taken. In cyberspace, a server can become overloaded with connection requests to the point where it reacts with a total denial of all connection requests and the websites can no longer be accessed. Servers are designed to handle a very large amount of requests; therefore, an attack of this scale would have to be thoroughly organized and involve a large number of devices.

This kind of coordinated attack is usually done with the help of automated bots. Bots have many legitimate uses, but for cyberattacks, they are particularly powerful because they have the capacity to send out multiple connection requests at a time. Cyberattacks can become even more powerful when bots send these connection requests from many devices at once. Typically, bots are distributed by viruses that can function in the background of a running computer without the user even being aware of their presence.

Last Friday’s attack did not target the websites themselves; instead, it attacked the DNS. The DNS is what a computer uses to match a website name to an actual IP address—its precise location in cyberspace. Dyn DNS became overwhelmed with requests impeding its ability to perform and handle requests. The Dyn DNS malfunction stopped users from connecting to the proper IP addresses even though the websites themselves were fully functional.

DDoS attacks are becoming more and more common and powerful, causing a great deal of concern for the future—given that there is ever increasing reliance on online sources for everyday activities. Molly Sauter, a PhD candidate in communication studies at McGill with a focus on hacker culture, stated that protection from this type of attack is most important for Business-to-Business (B2B) connection websites. These sites pull together information scattered around the world into one spot, such as Twitter, SoundCloud, and many of the sites that were affected by last week’s attack.

Many sites—especially those with confidential or financial information—are equipped with safety features such as two-step login verification, asking the user to type in a special code or check off a box to prove that they are not a robot. Steps like these are being added more frequently to websites as an added security measure against cyberattack bots.

Sauter mentioned that the best—and possibly the only—way to control cyberattacks of this nature is to support politicians and political parties who promise to bolster internet regulation, as cyberattacks are currently illegal. Even with website safety features in place, it is impossible to completely control DDoS and other types of cyberattacks by technological means, meaning that political power over the internet will become increasingly important for the future. If illegal internet activity is not regulated by some governing body, then DDoS and other types of cyberattacks have the potential to become more frequent and powerful.

Editorial, Opinion

Unacceptable and urgent: McGill must reach agreement with AMUSE

by McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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After a meeting with the McGill administration on Oct. 28, the Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE) called a five day strike, which began on Oct. 29. AMUSE is a labour union representing approximately 1,500 casual and temporary employees in both part-time and full-time positions. It has been negotiating with McGill for a new collective agreement since April 2015, when the previous one expired. It is unacceptable that negotiations have taken this long and that AMUSE members have been forced to operate under an expired agreement during this time. McGill must recognize these demands and find a way to incorporate them into the new collective agreement as soon as possible. 

On a flyer handed out after members of the union voted in favour of strike actions in a special assembly on Oct. 20,  AMUSE highlights five priorities: Equal treatment of casual workers, accurate job descriptions and pay, seniority and benefits for casual workers, a living wage, and improvements to the Work Study job posting system. AMUSE has also asked for McGill identification cards to be administered to its non-student members, to allow them access to McGill buildings and services. In a press release, the McGill administration stated that a consensus was reached on Oct. 24 regarding “the content of a possible agreement on this matter.”

Given the fact that casual employees are relied on to fill full-time positions, it is imperative that casual workers are respected and given as much job security as possible. Rights such as recognition of seniority and priority for re-hire are not egregious requests. If casual employees are fulfilling the tasks of long-term, full-time employees, as stated in AMUSE’s bylaws, they deserve “access to the same benefits, in a manner proportionate to their work hours, as regular full-time employees at McGill.” This is especially important for the non-student workers that the union represents, who aren’t covered by student health plans at McGill. 

Furthermore, part-time positions on campus are important sources of employment for those unable to secure jobs in the city of Montreal, whether because of visa or language constraints. As such, it is imperative that these workers are treated with respect and that opportunities for these students to find stable employment with fair wages on campus are as available as possible.

 

 

 

A lack of accessibility to Work Study jobs and insufficient wages, benefits, and respect for casual workers are issues that negatively impact present workers—especially those with financial need—and must be a priority for McGill.

AMUSE supports the Fifteen and Fair movement in calling for a $15 minimum wage, but this demand is about more than just a number. It is about advocating for equal treatment of workers, respect, and paying people fairly for the work they do. Although it is likely infeasible for the administration to implement such a change overnight, McGill should take leadership by committing to raising the wages of its casual workers with a strict plan and deadlines. Presently, these are between $10.85 and $12.24 per hour, with the lowest class only ten cents higher than Quebec’s minimum wage of $10.75 per hour. Regardless of whether it accepts the $15 demand, McGill has an opportunity to take a leadership role in this movement by increasing the minimum wage of its workers—something that is increasingly becoming a nation-wide trend. 

According to AMUSE’s negotiations update, its main aim in meeting with the administration on Oct. 28 was “to secure a commitment from the employer that the Work Study job system will be renovated according to [its] members urgent needs.” Students are only at university for a short period of time, and the university’s inaction and refusal to meet this demand has negative consequences for students on the Work Study program. In the current system, these students are not guaranteed a job on campus, despite qualifying for financial aid. Specifically, AMUSE is asking for Work Study jobs to “be posted in a transparent and standardized manner” and for the creation of a feedback system in order to “empower students to have a say in how the Work Study program affects the students as workers.” Although there is a database for job postings, it is not mandatory for Work Study jobs to be posted, making it difficult for students to find positions on campus.

A lack of accessibility to Work Study jobs and insufficient wages, benefits, and respect for casual workers negatively impact present workers—especially those with financial need—and must be a priority for McGill. The time for foot-dragging in the process of negotiations has long passed.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that McGill currently has a freeze on hiring.

 

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

American Honey is a dizzying roadtrip through the southern U.S.

by Dylan Adamson on

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Following in the tradition of ambitious “American ________” titled films (i.e. Psycho, Graffiti, Beauty, Sniper, Hustle), American Honey seeks to encapsulate its moment in history. Thankfully, director Andrea Arnold’s vision of a romantic road trip delivers everything it promises in one of the grandest statements of the fall movie season. 

Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, American Honey is a hazy bus tour of America’s capitalist social ladder. The film follows 18-year-old Star (Sasha Lane) on her journey from dumpster-diving in Muskogee, Alabama, to selling magazines door-to-door across America’s Bible Belt. 

The film begins in small-town Alabama, where she provides for her deadbeat boyfriend’s two young children. It’s not until she encounters Jake (Shia LaBeouf), Krystal (Riley Keough), and several other friends—dancing to Rihanna’s “We Found Love” atop a K-Mart checkout counter—that the film’s premise takes off. Star promptly casts aside her figurative shackles and quickly finds herself in a packed van, drinking Smirnoff and rapping to Kevin Gates with her new surrogate family. 

American Honey’s music embodies the wild trans-American journey of its characters. It includes tracks from across the spectrum of American music, juxtaposing exuberant Atlanta trap with sentimental country, and some surprising alt-rock gems. Arnold’s choice to play Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s delicate “Careless Love” during Star’s tearful experiment with prostitution makes the scene all the more heartrending.

Star’s road trip probes the complexities of modern American society. From all-white cowboys in an all-white Cadillac, to condescending encounters with middle class mothers, to meth houses and malnourished children, the film’s door-to-door format is an ideal vehicle for Arnold’s comprehensive and personal tour of the South. As Star’s understanding of American wealth disparity broadens with each sales pitch, the experience of drunkenly rapping along to E-40 in a crowded van begins to feel more suffocating than liberating.

As Star’s disillusionment grows, one never feels as if Arnold is critiquing from an outsider’s perspective, largely due to Robbie Ryan’s brilliant cinematography. His style is shaky, but never obvious. Frequent shots of the passing landscape create a sense of realism removed from the trivialities of modern class distinctions that Star and her cohorts confront every day. The wandering gaze of Ryan’s camera is comparable to director Terrence Malick’s work, but the gritty realism of Star’s journey keeps this film tethered to Earth. The film’s brutal honesty is softened by its affinity for the South’s natural beauty. Expansive shots of oil fields, lens flares as the sunlight pokes through trees, and a fascination with wildlife offers respite from the heavy subject matter.

American Honey is rounded out with outstanding performances from its three leads. Sasha Lane’s magnetic debut will undoubtedly draw Oscar attention. Opposite her, Shia LaBeouf embodies the role he was born to play. Braided rat-tail trailing behind, Jake bounces across the screen, charming customers, stealing jewelry from homes, and tumbling across lawns making out with Star. Completing the love triangle, Riley Keough delivers an understated, authoritative performance as Krystal, ruling the sales crew with an iron fist.

One of the film’s flaws is its neglectful treatment of the crew’s other members. The rest of this tightknit band of individuals are acknowledged only as traits—one plays guitar, one is obsessed with Darth Vader, and another always whips his penis out—and serve as little more than the constantly partying background in shots of Star staring out the van window.

Through to its devastatingly ambiguous conclusion, American Honey is a dizzying tour through modern class divisions. The three-hour run time feels pleasantly spacious, allowing for thought-provoking contemplation. A film that will leave you reeling for days, American Honey is a grandiose statement that feels essential from start to finish.

Out on the Town, Student Life

SaintWoods develops Montreal nightlife with “democratic cool”

by April Barrett on

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Apartment 200, SuWu, and École Privée are clubs known for their unconventional conceptual design, hip-hop friendly atmosphere, and lines of young people stretching around the block. These venues are familiar to any Montrealer who frequents St-Laurent for a night out and they have begun to attract international attention from customers like Rihanna, Nas, Skepta, Mac Miller, and PARTYNEXTDOOR. These clubs are among the most prominent in the Montreal nightlife scene, and the common thread between them is SaintWoods. SaintWoods is a multipurpose project; what began as an artist booking and event promotions company has evolved into a club owner/fashion brand. The company is headed by Concordia alumnus Zach Macklovitch and McGill graduate Nathan Gannage. Under the pair’s tutelage, SaintWoods partnered in A5 Hospitality, who owned the three venues. Starting with SuWu in 2013, SaintWoods flipped the venues into the clubs they run today.

Macklovitch, who grew up on Montreal’s West Island, started when he was 16 years old as a club promoter. By 22, he was working as an artist booker for Time Supper Club, at which point he met Gannage and became a partner at SaintWoods. Macklovitch and Gannage’s business model as artist bookers was to always track present cultural trends, and then look past them for a new direction. For example, SaintWoods booked Avicii before his international popularity, aiming to introduce EDM to the college demographic. 

“Our goal was to throw cutting edge events to people who weren’t maybe originally interested,” Macklovitch said. “It was always kind of what me and [Gannage] like to call ‘social experiments.’ That’s kind of the basis of the company [….] We liked giving people what they weren’t expecting.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight's the night! SW:002 available at OTH and online at 7:30pm www.saintwoods.com

A photo posted by @saintwoods on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Macklovitch sticks by this experimental, culture-based model. He is passionate about SaintWoods being an arbiter of cool—keeping on top of trends is an art in itself. He explained that the SaintWoods model of ‘cool’ is based on what their team feels people are missing in their lives.

“[A cultural trend] comes from a want or a need of more,” Macklovitch explained. “A$AP Rocky popped off and streetwear popped off because there was a lack of that kind of music and that kind of fashion at the time [….] It’s always interconnected based on the cultural pendulum swinging left to right. Us at SaintWoods, we’re always looking. ‘Oh, it’s really left right now? It’s time to go right.’” 

While Macklovitch loves Montreal, he never planned for his career to take off in his home city.

“I told everyone I was moving to New York and next thing you know we got the deal for SuWu, [known as Cafeteria at the time],” Macklovitch said. “[…] It just clicked. Then, [the owners of Cafeteria] had this other property, Ballroom, that was kind of hurting that they wanted us to flip.”  

Ballroom soon became Apartment 200, a concept lounge based on the apartment loft parties and Brooklyn barcades that Macklovitch and Gannage visited in their trips to New York. They then opened Apartment 200 in Toronto, followed by École Privée in Montreal last year. 

While looking to New York nightlife as inspiration for his work, Macklovitch admits that there is nowhere in the world like Montreal when it comes to having a good time. This is due largely to the nature of Montreal’s creative scene.

“It’s not cool in Montreal to be rich,” Macklovitch said. “It’s cool to be cool, it’s cool to be artistic. It’s cool to create your own fashion and to be able to do that without having a lot of money. It’s this super organic scene that’s also super inviting. We always laugh when people come from Toronto, who say to us, ‘Yo, Montreal’s so much fun.’ We’re like, yeah it’s a great time because people actually say, ‘What’s up?’ to you at the bar.” 

Macklovitch admits that though he does want to get out of Montreal eventually, he is consistently inspired by what he calls Montreal’s “democratic cool.” This concept is identifiable in the way creative, successful people in the city are still friendly and welcoming.

“Every time I come home and there’s a proper turn up at Apartment [200] or some of those after parties, when you go to those you’re like, ‘Yo, there’s nothing like this in the entire world.’ There’s nothing this democratic. Nothing like where everyone you look at you’re like, ‘You’re cool as shit.’ Whereas you go to these other parties and not only are the people outside Montreal not as cool as the kids I know in Montreal, they aren’t as friendly! It’s like, ‘Yo! This is wack!’” 

Macklovitch explains that this kind of cool in Montreal is diffuse, and is based more on character than on social status. Those who have a friendly attitude are his target demographic for SaintWoods’ three supposedly exclusive clubs. 

“I’m down if that cool person goes to McGill, I’m down if that cool person is 35 and works at some insurance company,” Macklovitch said. “If you’re cool, I want you inside. But if you’re rude and you start fights, or you’re rude to girls, or you and your friends are being racist, then don’t come to my party! I don’t care if you’re 25, if you’re 35, no matter how much money you have. If you’re friendly and you have a good vibe it’s rare that you won’t get in.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we're open tonight for a very special event ~ #absolutnights rsvp in bio

A photo posted by école privée (@ecoleprivee) on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most important thing Macklovitch has learned from being in the industry is to hold himself to the same moral standard in a nightclub that he would in any other professional environment. 

“I don’t think those rules [of the nightlife world] absolve you of a general sense of morality,” Macklovitch said. “Just because you work in nightlife, it does not mean it’s okay to be a shitty boyfriend, or that it’s okay to do drugs at work, or to be rude to people. You may be less likely to be judged in those situations, but myself and my team hold ourselves to higher standards than most other industries would. [Nightlife] may have it’s own set of rules, but then you just have to go by your own playbook.”

In any case, Macklovitch looks beyond the nightlife world and its rules to inspire his work. Among his inspirations he lists the Montreal Mural Festival organizers, with whom SaintWoods shares its office, and Virgil Abloh, the creative director responsible for designing Kanye West’s floating concert stage. Macklovitch believes that looking at figures who are innovating in a variety of fields is essential for anyone who wants to find real success. 

“The best advice I can give young people is, ‘Don’t look at the people who are doing what you want to do,’” Macklovitch said. “Look at the people you are amazed by that are doing something completely different. You’ll find more inspiration in that than in the people who are necessarily in your direct [field]. Don’t [necessarily] look to be inspired in your own city. Nathan and myself, we get inspired by going to Paris, New York, Berlin, my cousin’s country house, whatever!” 

When asked to reflect on his favourite historical nightclubs, Macklovitch pauses. He admitted that he doesn’t think too much about those. 

“I’m inspired by the future more than I’m inspired by the past,” Macklovitch said. 

As a leading figure of the democratic cool of Montreal, Macklovitch and SaintWoods are evolving with the future in mind.

 

 

 

A previous version of this piece stated that SaintWoods bought the empty venues of SuWu, Apartment 200 and École Privée. SaintWoods in fact partnered in A5 Hospitality, who own the three venues. 

Beyond the bubble, Student Life

Secrets hidden in Mount Royal Park

by Selin Altuntur on

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Few students are lucky enough to go to class next door to a sprawling patch of urban green space. Despite being one of Montreal’s most interesting landmarks, Mount Royal often fades into the background for many McGill students, serving as nothing more than a backdrop of pretty scenery. It’s easy to take Mount Royal’s proximity for granted during the bustle of our daily lives—it’s only a large bump in the landscape, after all. Yet, the mountain is deeply embroiled in Montreal’s history, and one doesn’t need to look too far into the park to see physical evidence of this connection. For those seeking relief from a stressful midterm season, or even just looking to get to know the city on a deeper level, a couple hours of exploration in Mount Royal Park should be atop one’s list of priorities. There are secrets of great interest buried within the mountain—hidden in graveyards, hiking trails, and even in the trees themselves—that are definitely worth investigating.

Unmarked paths, hidden lookouts

Chemin Olmstead is the main path that circles up the mountain to its summit. Often overrun with joggers and tourists, it isn’t the most ideal route if one is looking for a peaceful scenic hike. Luckily, many unmarked small and winding paths lead out from Olmstead into more isolated hiking trails. One route leads east from the Mont Royal Chalet at the summit and circles the perimeter of Mount Royal, offering a unique and secluded vantage point from which to view the city. Some spots along the trail open up into rocky cliffs that serve as organically formed lookouts. The views from these hidden gems are more interesting than the curated cityscapes seen at the chalet—particularly because they’re completely isolated from crowds. Along with being a photographer’s paradise, these hidden nooks are an ideal place to explore on a first date or with an old friend.

Century-old cemetery

Opened in 1852, Montreal's largest cemetery is located right next to Mount Royal Park,  past  Côte-des-Neiges, near the summit of the hill. The natural landscape of the cemetery is possibly the most beautiful on the island, with near 360-degree views of the city and its surroundings at the summit of the hill. Some may find exploring a graveyard to be unsettling, yet there is definitely something unique and autumnal about the image of old stone monuments set against orange foliage. Many graves in this cemetery date back over 100 years and contain former Canadian prime ministers, soldiers, and members of the Molson family—Canada's beer-brewing dynasty. More interestingly, however, is that the cemetery is also home to the grave of McGill student Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead, who was famously responsible for the death of Harry Houdini via sucker punch in 1926. The cemetary, easily accessible by Chemin Olmstead, is an ideal place to escape from the  fast-paced downtown environment and interact with Montreal’s history.

Time capsule

A giant cross monument on top of Mount Royal was erected by the city's founder, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, in 1643, and was later replaced by an illuminated replica in 1924. Next to it is a plaque marking the burial spot of a time capsule from the year 1992. Back at the time of its burial, around 12,000  Montreal school children wrote messages and drawings of their visions of what the city would look like in 150 years—as the capsule is scheduled to be opened in 2142, when the city will celebrate its 500th birthday. The historical significance of this site is eye-opening for students both native to Montreal and from elsewhere, providing them with the opportunity to learn more about the history of the city.

Morality Cuts

The majority of the trees planted in Mount Royal Park are actually not very old. In fact, many of them date back no further than 50 years. This is largely due to the mass decimation of the mountain's vegetation during Mayor Jean Drapeau's term in the 1950s. At this time, the lush foliage we've come to be familiar with was nowhere to be seen, and the large hill looming over the city was covered in stumps, rather than healthy trees. Drapeau was convinced that the thick, dense foliage covering the mountain made it a breeding ground for “un-holy” sexual behaviour. In order to curb the “abuse” of the mountain's forest cover, he ordered Mount Royal to be stripped clean of its trees. The decision was controversial, and the trees were soon replaced with young saplings—many of which have grown into those we see in Montreal's landscape today.

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Commentary, Opinion

Tuition-paying students not complicit in McGill’s investment practices

by Domenic Casciato on

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McGill’s endowment fund is a hot button topic. Since September alone, there has been a disruption of McGill’s Board of Governors by Divest McGill to raise awareness of sustainability, a series of open forums on sustainability, and a presentation about global growth and the environment. Many McGill students are passionately concerned with whether the university is invested in a sustainable future; groups such as Divest are convinced that McGill is not. But, even if McGill is not a proponent of sustainable development and environmental protection, it does not mean that, by paying tuition, its students are complicit in the university’s investment practices.

On July 27, Malcolm Gladwell appeared in a video for Business Insider, in which he asserted that students and their parents should view their tuition payments as an investment in the larger world, not just an investment in their own educational capital. By looking at how their universities spend their money, students can determine whether or not they are complicit in a “moral crime”—in other words, the university’s politically regressive reinvestment of their dollar. A responsible coffee drinker makes sure that their local cafe buys its beans from fair trade sources. Nowadays, fair-trade beans are a necessity for any respectable cafe. Likewise, Gladwell argued that higher education is a marketplace: If students and parents pay tuition or donate to universities that invest money in ways that “do good,” they send a message to all universities about what investment practices are acceptable. However, although students should be concerned with and inform themselves on their university’s investments, they are not responsible for them.

Regardless of whether the university itself should reevaluate its own investments, it is hard to argue that students have any complicity in them.

Aside from the subjectivity of the term ‘good,’ Gladwell’s argument relies on a number of assumptions. It makes the idea of the university, its interests, and its investments monolithic. Universities—McGill included—are made up of a number of moving, often conflicting parts, with many different interests involved. McGill, for example, has spent over $5 million on projects for the Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF), but has nearly three times that amount invested in what are, according to the latest report by Alberta Oil Magazine, five of the top ten largest fossil fuel and pipeline companies. Furthermore, according to Divest McGill, these are only five of over 35 major companies in the fossil fuel industry that McGill invests in with its endowment. Although the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) gave McGill a gold star sustainability rating in September, from a perspective that dichotomizes sustainability and the fossil fuel industry, McGill is actually a net opponent of sustainability. Clearly, McGill’s investment of its money is complex, not uni-dimensional.

Gladwell assumes that students, by paying tuition, are complicit in whatever regressive investments their universities make. At McGill, this isn’t true. According to a summary of the budget released by McGill’s Office of the Budget, student tuition is collected as revenue for McGill’s operating fund—the fund that covers the daily costs of McGill—including employee salaries, student services, and various non-salary expenditures. The university is prohibited from using inter-fund transfers to move operational revenues into the endowment fund, so student tuition is never used in the university’s investments. At the same time, a non-opt-outable fee of $0.50 is charged to each student account for the SPF. The revenue that student tuition contributes to McGill is spent in part on sustainability projects, not the university’s fossil fuel investments. Regardless of whether the university itself should reevaluate its own investments, it is hard to argue that students have any complicity in them.

Gladwell has an interesting insight into the power students have on the university market, but goes too far when he implicates students and parents in a “moral crime,” at least when it comes to McGill. If students aren’t directly involved in any of the university’s investments, it is unfair to give these students any moral responsibility over a university’s investment practices. Students should be interested, engaged, and concerned, but they are not responsible. This is not to say that a college market more heavily weighted towards schools with investments in sustainability would not have an effect on McGill’s choice not to divest; however, it does mean that student tuition paid to McGill shouldn’t be considered much more than an investment in one’s own education.

Arts & Entertainment, Pop Rhetoric

Pop Rhetoric: Is it okay to laugh at Kim K?

by Tara Allen-Flanagan on

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A woman was physically restrained and robbed at gunpoint by five men in Paris. Does the horror of this statement change when considering that said woman is Kim Kardashian West, celebrity and reality show star? According to thousands of people online, the woman’s identity renders the situation laughable.

Several million Euros worth of property was stolen from the luxury rental apartment that Kardashian West was staying in with her family during Paris Fashion Week. The robbers threatened the building concierge, who led them to Kardashian West’s residence. They tied her up in the bathroom and escaped on bicycle with their loot.

 A quick internet search about the incident will result in endless links claiming to have the latest updates from online tabloids—such as PerezHilton.com, The Hollywood Gossip, and TMZ.com. Moments after news of the robbery broke, people took to Twitter to criticize Kardashian West for everything from her blatant displays of wealth on social media, her intelligence, her sexuality, to the credibility of her claims. Critics were immediately doubtful of the validity of her account, bringing up her reality show dramatics as proof of her lust for attention. 

Perhaps the public’s lingering skepticism can be traced back to Ryan Lochte’s false claims of an armed robbery at the Rio Olympics earlier this year. Privilege and fame aside, a woman was left tied up, alone, in the bathroom of a rental apartment after being robbed by five men. Kim Kardashian West is a victim of crime, but the general public is trying to argue otherwise. 

These critics overlook the severity of the situation. When someone comes forth as a victim of a robbery or home invasion, they should be given the benefit of the doubt unless further evidence is found to prove otherwise. Dismissing Kardashian West’s experience based on her reputation and fame creates a harmful precedent that could keep other victims from sharing their stories of assault for fear of being persecuted. It should not matter that Kardashian West is famous because of her theatrics, social media personality or her body. This situation made clear that, in the eyes of the public, Kardashian West is not person—she is an object. She is a character on a television show, whose life is of little value when the screen is turned off. 

This incident provides frightening insight into the public’s opinion and treatment of famous women, especially those who are “famous for being famous.” A classic example of the media’s strange objectification of female celebrities would be the case of Britney Spears, whose personal struggles with mental illness were ruthlessly documented by the same media sources which praised her recent comeback. Spears’ case demonstrates the habit of idolizing and objectifying female celebrities. When these women experience any human problems they are condemned—until they become glorified once again. As Kardashian West’s close friend and fellow celebrity Chrissy Teigen’s tweeted fans about the situation: “Fame is interesting. Celebs are supposed to love you guys while also knowing you’d make a meme of our dead bodies to get retweets.” Kardashian West was mocked on social media, where people joked that she should not show off her body or her wealth if she does not want it taken, or that the robbery was all a media ploy to invoke pity. 

(elitestatic.com)
(elitestatic.com)

It is critical to remember that an individual’s career should not determine their worth as a human being. During the robbery, there were no camera crews present to capture each dramatic moment. Celebrities may earn their living from public exposure, but they are entitled to privacy. If their private life is invaded, or if their personal well-being is at risk, the matter should be taken seriously.

Kardashian West’s private life is treated like a reality show, as if things are scripted and there are no real consequences for dramatic actions. Kardashian West’s experience in Paris is a harrowing reminder that being famous does not guarantee protection. Instead, the robbery served as another opportunity to make fun of a celebrity for the qualities that make up her public persona. Victims are victims nonetheless, and deserve to be taken seriously regardless of their wealth and celebrity status.

Off the Board, Opinion

Down the ballot: Presidential hooplah overshadows Congress

by Jenna Stanwood on

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For citizens of the United States, this has been the most entertaining—and for some, the most nauseating—presidential election in memory. Disgruntled voters are threatening not to cast their vote because they feel neither large-party candidate suits their interests, and the movement to vote third party is gaining steam, especially among millennial voters upset over Bernie Sanders’ loss in the primary. Not to mention there is a new scandal almost every day.

I will not hide the fact that I am a staunch Democrat who loves, supports, and has already voted for Hillary Clinton. However, aside from the two-party system and the public disapproval of both candidates, there is a glaring issue in this debate: Eventful presidential campaigns such as this one, which provide constant fodder for the hungry media, are overshadowing congressional races that are arguably more important for the future of the country. Voters must remember that the presidential candidates will not be the only names on the ballot on Nov. 8.

The current Congress has been dubbed the least effective in recent American history, and polls show it’s also the least popular. Partisanship within the House of Representatives and the Senate—and between the two Republican majority bodies and the Democratic presidency—have stalled legislation, and even forced a shutdown of the federal government in the Fall of 2013 due to a budget dispute.

The American system works best with some balance in Congress, and some willingness from at least one of the chambers to cooperate with presidential initiatives. Pundits from both sides of the aisle recognize that Republicans have made it their mission since the 2008 election to prevent legislation supported by Obama from passing into law. If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, but is faced with a Republican-dominated Congress more conservative than the last, this will mean four more years of inaction. A more frightening scenario is a potential Trump presidency combined with a conservative Republican-dominated Congress, in which there would be no measure to stop him from pushing far-right legislation through both chambers.

There is a toxic trend in U.S. elections of inflating the office of the President far beyond its relative capacity.

This Election Day, all 435 seats in the House and 34 out of the 100 Senate seats will be contested. The House is likely to remain in a Republican majority, but there is a chance that Democrats could take control of the Senate. But even if Democrats manage to sweep the Senate, the 2018 electoral forecast looks especially grim for them. Republican voters tend to show up to midterm polls more reliably than Democrats, putting the latter party at risk of losing whatever majority they may gain. If the Democrats cannot hold the Senate in subsequent midterm elections, the Republicans would have no incentive to cooperate with a Democratic presidency, resulting in more obstructionism.

According to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Centre, some of the most important issues in this election are the economy, health care, gun policy reform, immigration, and social security. These are all topics that the next Congress will be producing legislation on—not the Oval Office. In fact, most of the issues that attract voters to third party candidates will be addressed through legislation. Free or more affordable higher education, changes to Obamacare and social security, and gun control policy cannot come out of an executive order—they must come from legislation drafted and voted on in Congress. The Vice President even has the potential to play a more important role than the president in his capacity as the tie-breaker in the Senate, in the case that the Republican-Democrat margin is a small one.

Furthermore, this upcoming Congress will have an important duty that the last did not: The Senate will have to confirm at least one Supreme Court nominee—and may confirm up to three—potentially changing the balance of the court for the next two decades. There is currently a name before the Senate for the Supreme Court, but Republicans have refused to have a confirmation vote while Obama remains in office. This appointment would determine the political leaning of the court by breaking the current four-four split between conservative and progressive justices. If Trump is elected president with a conservative Congress, the next Supreme Court justice could be a conservative who, among a myriad of other issues, could help the overturn of Roe v. Wade, reversing women’s right to have an abortion in the U.S.

There is a toxic trend in U.S. elections of inflating the office of the President far beyond its relative capacity. The President does not have, and never has had, the power to make laws or determine the national budget. This is not to say that the President does not matter—the next commander-in-chief has their work cut out for them. However, Clinton, Trump, Stein, and Johnson should not be the only names voters know when they go to the polls next Tuesday. This is especially true to those voters who feel alienated by the presidential race. There is more at stake on Election Day than just the Oval Office.

Jenna Stanwood is a News Editor at The McGill Tribune and a U3 Political Science and International Development Joint Honours students. When she grows up she wants to be Leslie Knope.

Science & Technology

The ACL tear: An athlete’s worst nightmare

by Emma Gillies on

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When former McGill Martlet Volleyball player Charlotte Clarke went up for a hit during a match, she wasn’t too worried about how she was going to land. But when she came down on one leg, her teammates heard a crack.

“It was excruciating,” Clarke, U3 Arts, said. “The pain [made me want] to leave the earth for a little bit.”

Clarke had torn the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee. ACL injuries are a serious problem for athletes and the general population, particularly among females. Surgery is usually required to repair the knee, using tissue from other parts of the body—such as the hamstring or patellar tendon—to replace the ruptured ligament.

“Close to a quarter of a million ACL injuries occur each year in Canada and the United States,” The Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine reported in the 2014 issue of the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine. “Female athletes in multidirectional sports have a four to eight times greater risk than male athletes of sustaining a noncontact ACL injury.”

According to the McGill Sport Medicine Clinic, anatomical differences are largely to blame. The ligaments in the knee intersect at a point called the intercondylar notch, which is narrower in women and causes the ligaments to cross at a sharper angle. Head Therapist and Manager Lynn Bookalam explains that the narrow ligament crisscross makes the ACL more susceptible to tears. A wider pelvis in females also leads to greater stress on knee ligaments. Additionally, females tend to have stronger quadriceps relative to their hamstrings. Males, by contrast, favor their hamstrings, which protects the ACL. A less researched theory is that female hormones affect the laxity of ligaments. When estrogen levels are high, ligaments are more “stretchy,” increasing the likelihood of an ACL tear. Finally, females tend to land from a jump with their legs more fully extended and their knees pointed in to a greater degree than males.

The ACL is one of the four main ligaments in the knee. Ligaments connect bone to bone; the ACL connects the tibia (shinbone) to the femur (thighbone). Bookalam says that ACL injuries occur when the femur goes in one direction and the tibia in the other.

Nicole Spadotto, U3 Arts and former Martlet hockey player, said that she remembers feeling a snap behind her knee when she tore her ACL. She was pushed off the puck, her skate got caught in the ice, and her knee twisted. She remembers her knee collapsing beneath her when she tried to get off the ice.

“My knee began swelling up immediately,” Spadotto said. “It was actually so swollen for a few weeks that the physios weren’t able to diagnose my injury.”

Despite the severity of the injury, sport spectators often don’t even realize an athlete is hurt. ACL tears can look quite harmless, as many of them are non-contact.

Assistant Professor Dr. Shawn Robbins of McGill’s School of Physical and Occupational Therapy said that non-contact ACL injuries are much more common than contact ones. Non-contact ACL injuries often occur when athletes are running, cutting, or landing. In fact, research has shown around 70 per cent of all ACL injuries result without direct contact. ACL injuries are generally associated with sports that involve a lot of cutting and changing direction—such as soccer, basketball, and football. Alexandra Lafrance, staff phyiotherapist at the McGill Sport Medicine Clinic, has found that most of her patients have been injured playing soccer.

Athletic trainers and physiotherapists at the McGill Sport Medicine Clinic see ACL injuries frequently. In the past year, Lafrance and her colleagues treated approximately 50 patients for ACL rehabilitation.

When the ACL tears or partially tears, the stability of the joint is severely diminished.

“Initially, there is a lot of swelling, the quadriceps muscles tend to not activate properly […] and mobility is greatly reduced,” Lafrance said.

She also stated that patients report instability in the knee following the initial injury. With physical therapy, however, this repercussion can heal within eight weeks. Athletes often find that, with physical therapy, just a few weeks after a tear, their knee feels significantly better—less swollen, more stable, and stronger.

Left untreated, an ACL injury will cause significant problems down the line. Every time the knee gives out, more damage is done to the bone and cartilage in the joint. Surgery is required to minimize additional injury.

“The decision to have surgery depends on a multitude of factors and will often be made by the orthopedic surgeon,” Lafrance said.

While some patients can resume full activity without surgery, that is not normally an option for serious athletes who want to return to high level competition. Even without surgery, patients must endure months of physical therapy to strengthen the muscles surrounding the knee and reduce the swelling of the joint. .

Still, according to Dr. Robbins, getting ACL surgery doesn’t affect the risk of joint degeneration and osteoarthritis. But, the early changes in the knee after an ACL tear–how the cartilage and bone are impacted by the trauma, as well as how the knee will now move differently–cannot be repaired with surgery.  

Even after her surgery, Spadotto said that her knee still cracks and gets stiff, and occasionally gives out on her.

“I didn’t want to become another statistic, but I can confidently say that it’s true that ACL injuries restrict athletic capacity,” Spadotto said.

It took Spadotto over 10 months to get her skills back to her pre-injury level.

Clarke went on to tear her left ACL as well as her meniscus playing volleyball roughly two years after her first surgery. She said that the recovery following the second surgery was a lot worse. “An ACL tear shakes you physically but more mentally because it’s a very traumatic event that puts you out of sports for a while,” Clarke said. “You’re sort of put in a cart-away category for athletes.”

Many athletes find the mental challenge surrounding the injury just as difficult to overcome as the physical one.

“As an athlete, to get the news that you’ve torn your ACL is completely devastating, which is what I would most like people unfamiliar with the injury to know,” Spadotto said.

Dr. Robbins said that making the running and cutting technique of an athlete sounder, as well as improving how they land, will significantly decrease the likelihood of an ACL tear. Strengthening the muscles surrounding the knee—especially the hamstring—is a good start. Sports federations, including FIFA, are focusing on promoting prevention programs to reduce injuries, especially among young or amateur players.

While surgery can often repair the ruptured ligament, Dr. Robbins emphasized the importance of muscle warm-ups  and proper technique as the best ways to avoid devastating knee problems.

 

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Alexandra Lafrance's title as head athletic therapist. In fact, she is a staff physiotherapist at the McGill Sport Medicine Clinic.

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