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Recipes, Student Life

Recipe: Fall treats made with leftover parts of any pumpkin

by Eloise Haliburton on

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One glance at the trees on Mount Royal is enough to know that fall is here. The most cozy season of the year has arrived, signaling students to unpack their sweaters, pull out their toques, and enjoy the beautiful colours of fall before winter sets in. One key autumnal staple in both diet and home décor is the pumpkin. Whether used for pies or jack-o’-lanterns, there always seems to be some part of the pumpkin carelessly tossed into the compost. However, what may have otherwise been thoughtlessly thrown away can actually be saved and used to make a delicious snack. To solve your pumpkin waste problems, The Tribune has compiled three new recipes to make the most out of all of your next pumpkin. Carve the top off like you would with a jack-o’-lantern, then separate the seeds, flesh, and skin into three bowls. Make sure the seeds are clean of pumpkin innards.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

(undressedskeleton.tumblr.com)
(undressedskeleton.tumblr.com)

 

Like sunflower seeds, but better. This is a tasty, easy recipe that you can really make your own. Any kind of spices work to season the pumpkin seeds, so get creative!

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F/177° C.

2. Take your cleaned seeds and spread them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

3. Generously sprinkle the seeds with garlic salt, or any other spice mix you like, then bake for 30-45 minutes, shaking occasionally. By the end, the seeds should be dried and crunchy. Let cool, or enjoy right away!

Recipe from Allrecipes.com.

Pumpkin Crisps

(tumblr.com)
(tumblr.com)

 

For this recipe, it’s important to thoroughly wash your pumpkin. You’re going to be eating the skin, so try to remove any dirt and blemishes.

1. Preheat your oven to 400° F/205° C.

2. Cut the pumpkin skins into long thin slices. The thinner the slice the better, since they will curl up when you cook them.

3. Put the skins in a bowl and liberally sprinkle with salt. Toss the strips, then let them sit for 10 minutes.

4. Add a small amount (1 tablespoon, give or take) of olive oil, and toss the skins again. Bake them on a baking pan lined with parchment paper for 25-30 minutes, then serve with soup or your dip of choice.

Recipe from homegrownfun.com. 

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

(life-in-the-lofthouse.com)
(life-in-the-lofthouse.com)

 

These are the best pumpkin cookies you will ever taste. Though this recipe is a bit more complicated than the former recipes, it is still quite easy to make. The texture of these cookies is simultaneously chewy and melt-in-your-mouth, and goes perfectly with a cup of tea on a rainy fall day.

Here’s what you need:

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ cups white sugar
  • 1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon groud nutmeg
  • 2 cups icing sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  • ½ cup butter, softened

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F/191° C.

2. Cut the skinned pumpkin in half and place face down on a lined baking tray.

3. Cook for 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until tender.

4. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and mash the flesh in a bowl. If you’re finding it’s a bit stringy, run it through a sieve for smooth pumpkin puree.

5. Once you have that out of the way, get started on the cookies.

6. First, preheat your oven to 350° F/177° C.

7. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream the ½ cup of butter and white sugar. Add the pumpkin, egg, one teaspoon of vanilla extract to the butter, and beat until smooth.

8. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until they are thoroughly combined.

9. Drop spoonfuls on a lined cookie sheet. Flatten slightly and bake for 15-20 minutes.

10. While the cookies are cooling, make the glaze. Combine the icing sugar, milk, melted butter, and the remaining vanilla. If the mixture is too thick, add milk as needed. Once the cookies have cooled, drizzle the icing over each one with a fork and enjoy!

Recipe from Allrecipes.com.

McGill, Montreal, News

New trends in United Nations Peacekeeping: Canadian and Global Perspectives Conference at McGill

by Calvin Trottier-Chi on

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On Oct. 21, the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies (CIPSS), a joint academic body of McGill and the Université de Montreal, hosted a conference titled, “New trends in United Nations Peacekeeping: Canadian and Global Perspectives” to discuss the future of Canadian peacekeeping. The talks primarily focused on how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to re-engage in peacekeeping can be realized. Trudeau’s promise comes almost a decade since Canada last committed troops to a major peacekeeping mission. The speakers included academics, government officials, and representatives of various political organizations.

Canada’s Return to UN Peace Operations

The keynote speaker of the series was Roland Paris, a professor at the University of Ottawa and former senior advisor on Global Affairs and Defence to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Paris discussed why peacekeeping is resurfacing as a Canadian national interest and how it should be further developed.

According to Paris, Canadian peacekeeping operations decreased after several failures in the late 20th century–and Stephen Harper’s opposition–but the idea has remained in the public mind. He drew attention to a CTV poll last month in which 70 per cent of respondents were in favour of peacekeeping, even in combat situations.

“It’s stunning, the degree to which Canadians are attached to the idea of peacekeeping,” Paris said. “It appears to be integral to the ideas that Canadians have about their country’s role in the world.”

In addition to deploying peacekeepers, Paris stressed the importance of non-military aspects of peacekeeping.

“Canada is really in a position to promote the kinds of techniques and governance arrangements that can be used to manage diversity peacefully,” Paris said. “We are a bi-linguistic, multicultural federation that has and continues to manage internal conflict through these institutional structures.”

Paris emphasized that actors should identify in which areas they have comparative advantages in assistance. Canada excels at training local police forces and city planning.

“Canadian cities could be providing practices and expertise to municipal authorities in at-risk developing countries across a whole range of demands,” Paris said. “Cities, not national governments, are the principal service providers to most people. They’re where integration takes place.”

International Peacekeeping and Canada’s Role

Walter Dorn is a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada and at the Canadian Forces College. He argued for the necessity of peacekeepers in providing impartial resolutions to conflicts.

“Neighbours don’t make good peacekeepers, they make good war fighters and interveners,” Dorn said. “Even [Boutros Boutros-Ghali], when he was secretary-general, was not viewed in Somalia as the UN Secretary-General, but as the former minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt and therefore […] as being partisan to the conflict.”

Dorn called upon the Canadian government to rapidly re-engage in peacekeeping operations for moral reasons in addition to tangible worries that foreign conflicts can breed internationally impactful diseases, terrorist groups, and refugee crises.

“Peacekeeping is actually part of prevention because you can prevent the areas where [peacekeepers are] deployed from becoming future Syrias,” Dorn said. “There is a humanitarian imperative that we respond to these conflicts. We can’t just live cozily in Canada and think that these problems won’t come to our own shores.”

There was general concern among the audience about Canada’s slow progress in peacekeeping. Stephane Bekhor, a conference attendee, expressed thoughts on the lack of incentive to participate in peacekeeping. Bekhor also criticized Canadian intervention in Colombia, stating that there are more dire crises overseas.

“As long as the image of Canada as a peacekeeper remains, there will be no pressure,” Bekhor said. “The other thing is economic interests. Canada certainly benefits from its relationship with U.S. trade connections, and by intervening in Colombia and disrupting the narcotics trade, they’re actually promoting their economic status directly across the border.”

McGill, News

SSMU continues to sit in at AVEQ despite failure of affiliation referendum

by Alexia Martel-Desjardins on

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From Oct. 21 to 23, the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ), a new provincial student federation, held its first mobilization camp at Camp Val Notre Dame in Hérouxville, a town two hours northeast of Montreal. Students from various universities in Quebec, including representatives from the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), attended the event.

According to Kristen Perry, AVEQ coordinator of mobilization and associative development and 2016 McGill Environmental Sciences graduate, the camp is open to all. 

“Any Quebec student is essentially invited to come […],” Perry said. “One of the most important things is building networks, so it’s important for us that it is opened.”

The camp was mostly financed by the AVEQ budget in order to keep prices low and accessible. 

“A lot of funding [from our mobilization and development commission budget] is going towards making [camp] very accessible and very inclusive,” Perry said. “So, the actual cost is kind of by donation, so from $20 to $40, but a lot of schools […] will be reimbursing those donations.”

According to the schedule published on the AVEQ Mobilization Camp website, the topics of the workshops conducted over the weekend included climate and environmental justice, facilitation and mobilization against austerity, as well as adequately addressing sexual assault on university campuses.

“[The] goal is to be training and providing the students with the knowledge and the skills that they need to organize around issues that have been identified as important on campuses and for the whole province,” Perry said. 

Arts Representative to SSMU Igor Sadikov, U3 Arts, participated in the mobilization camp and was surprised by the similarities student activism shares across universities.

“What I found the most interesting is realizing that […] students mobilized sometimes in different ways, in the regions or in Montreal, or in the francophone milieu and in the anglophone sphere, but also at the same time there’s a lot of issues that we share,” Sadikov said.  

A group of SSMU executives participated in the mobilization camp, among them Vice-President (VP) University Affairs Erin Sobat, and VP External Affairs David Aird. Aird facilitated an anti-austerity workshop.

Following the failure of a referendum question to join AVEQ last year, SSMU currently holds an observer position. As an observer, SSMU still benefits from equal representation at AVEQ, and is involved in the decision-making processes. According to Perry, AVEQ aims to include all student associations as much as possible in decision-making processes in order to enable their first year of activities to run more effectively 

“So, essentially for our opening year, we’re being very open to all associations who want to be involved […],” said Perry. “Every association has a vote, so we have two official members that have already affiliated [….] For this year, there is actually very few differences in practice, but technically the affiliated associations have a final say at assemblies,” Perry said. 

Affiliated members of AVEQ pay a fee, receive more significant support on campus mobilization, and have a final say in the members’ assembly decisions. SSMU is currently a non-affiliated member; therefore, AVEQ does not provide resources to work on issues that SSMU is trying to resolve, such as tuition deregulation.

“We don’t pay a fee and we also don’t get the special attention that members get, so we don’t […] per se have the federation looking at McGill in particular,” Aird said. “[For] instance, ancillary fees [.…] So, that is something we are looking into independently, but it does require a lot of capacity.”

On the future possibility of SSMU affiliating with AVEQ, Aird explained that the decision will be based on the level of student interest.

“It all depends on […] how well AVEQ is doing and how different it is from last year, because we did ask the question last year,” Aird said. “[The referendum question] did not pass, but there were a huge amount of abstentions, indicating that people probably didn’t just know what it was and so we are really hoping to get the word out.” 

 

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that SSMU President Ben Ger was in attendance at the AVEQ mobilization camp. In fact, he was unable to attend.

News

Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship hosts public forum on electoral reform at McGill

by Gabriel Rincon on

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On Oct. 20, the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship (CSDC) held a forum on federal electoral reform at McGill's New Residence Hall with the goal of engaging the public in a discussion on possible alternative electoral systems for Canada. Four distinguished academics, Political Science Associate Professor Sven-Oliver Proksch from McGill, Peter Loewen from the University of Toronto, Marc André Bodet from Université Laval, and Laura Stephenson from the University of Western Ontario were invited to participate in the forum. Each panelist proposed an electoral system they thought was best for Canada and debated its merits. The systems discussed were two iterations of a proportional representation (PR) system, a ranked ballot system, and a defence of the current first-past-the-post (FPTP) system.  

In a recent interview with Le Devoir, however, Prime Minister Trudeau has walked back on electoral reform promises. Although the forum was not run by the government, Canadian Minister for Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef attended to promote the government’s commitment to electoral reform.

“My job as Minister for Democratic Institutions, I believe, is to restore the trust and confidence that Canadians have in their democratic institutions […] and ultimately [increase electoral] participation,” Monsef said.

The following debate mainly focused on whether citizens’ votes were well-represented in different formats of elections. Lowen argued that the current FPTP system allows citizens to vote out governments and smooth the transition of power, and, as such, wasn’t in need of an overhaul. On the other hand, Proksch and Stephenson argued that Canadians who vote for smaller parties are not well-represented and are forced to vote strategically for larger parties.

“Canada’s relatively small support for small parties […] is likely muted due to the strategic incentives of the existing system where voters are forced to pick a [large] party in order not to waste a vote in the election,” said Proksch.

Other issues tackled by the panelists included what it meant for a government to be representative and whether a PR system would empower fringe parties, such as the Green Party of Canada. In an electronic poll conducted at the end of the discussion, 50 per cent of the audience favoured the proposed mixed member proportional system presented by Proksch.          

McGill student Priya Dube, U2 Arts, felt the debate was informative on the variety of electoral systems available for Canada.         

“The fact that they're all academics, and the fact that they all went and researched their specific positions beforehand, really led to a more constructive debate,” Dube said. “There was less trying to denounce the other person’s views [and] more of trying to come to a solution.”         

Ben Latour, U3 Arts, praised the panel’s level of expertise. All four panelists hold advanced degrees in political science.

“The overall frame was one of information and defending points of view,” Latour said. “They’re all academics […] they're all very informed about electoral and democratic institutions.”

Alex Smith, U2 Arts, expressed scepticism about the government’s public consultations and whether they would lead to change.

“[The government’s motive is] to look good, generally to look good, [so] we’ll see what happens,” Smith said. “There are pros and cons to every single system, so it’s a hard thing to deal with.”

Dube felt that the government’s commitment is genuine, but that the government would not have time to deliver electoral form by the next election.

“Right now [Trudeau is] doing the grunt work of really learning about what the country needs and wants—there’s clearly a lot of diverging opinions—so it shouldn't be something that’s rushed,” Dube said.

Science & Technology

2016 Lorne Trottier Symposium on Science and the Media discusses the challenge of pseudoscience in reporting

by Cassandra Lee on

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Today it might be bacon, but tomorrow it could be avocados; the public has a macabre obsession with searching for things that may kill us. In the Age of Anxiety, it’s easy to get lost in all the opinions thrown around as fact in the media. The Lorne Trottier Symposium series is held annually by McGill’s Office for Science and Society (OSS). This year, the series focused on Science and the Media: The Challenge of reporting science responsibly. Oct. 17 featured four keynote speakers—all journalists situated right in the heart of the struggle between science and the public’s understanding of it.

Dr. Joe Schwarcz, director of the OSS and moderator of the Trottier Symposium, began the evening by painting a picture of science communication in 2016. With the public facing more media channels than ever before—from Twitter to podcasts, bloggers to Buzzfeed—people have seemingly infinite resources to turn to when in search of answers. As an unfortunate consequence, the consumer is left to decide for themselves if gluten makes them fat or sunscreen gives them cancer. With so many outlets of information, some are bound to be less accurate than others.

One of the more prevalent problems discussed by Schwarcz is how non-experts handle data differently science researchers. Someone may take, for example, the rise of autism and vaccinated children and assume a causal relationship. The rise in autism also correlates with the rise of organic health food consumption, but that does not mean one causes the other.

Julia Belluz, a science writer at Vox, explained the responsibility that the media has for effectively and honestly communicating complicated science. Primary scientific literature is largely inaccessible to the public and therefore scientific journalists must act as the interpreters, relaying true information to patients and policymakers alike.

Belluz’s presentation, “The Dr. Oz problem,” discussed how journalists should handle the “quackery” being sold by media sources, fitness bloggers, and some real medical professionals. Picking out biases in information, finding conflicts of interest, and critically analyzing situational information were all ways in which journalists and informed members of the public could become “BS detectors” in order to bring down those who misinterpret scientific facts.

Erica Johnson from CBS News runs a segment called Go Public in which she and her crew take on modern controversies first hand by visiting holistic health centres and other public science sources in an effort to distinguish truth from non-researched “science” claims.

In her presentation, Johnson discussed the role that the internet plays in awarding false credibility to sources that have not been properly fact-checked. As curious people invest more time into their own health and safety, the internet can be dangerous without a healthy dose of critical thinking. Even then, it’s difficult to weed through what is true and what is not.

Johnson does not come from a science background nor does she believe one is absolutely necessary to be a science journalist. Nevertheless, she agrees that thorough research is vital in order for science writers to act as translators between the jargon-filled world of science and the general public.

At the end of the first evening of presentations, it was clear that both the attendees of the Trottier Symposium and the accomplished speakers are in for a long season of “quack hunting.” In a complicated game of broken telephone from scientific research to the screens of the public, the truth is easily lost along the way.

Commentary, Opinion

The ineffective weekly conference: Getting past 10% participation marks

by Jackie Houston on

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"And be sure to say your name before speaking, so I can put you down for participation marks," a teaching assistant instructs a room of blank-faced undergraduate students. An attendance sheet circulates. A pen taps against a desk. To break the silence, someone offers a summary of the week's course reading. It's been four minutes—of a conference that is meant to last an hour.

Most Arts students are well acquainted with mandatory conferences. In a faculty as large as Arts—which had 8,668 students enrolled in Fall 2015—lectures can feel less like classes and more like stadium events. Smaller weekly meetings facilitate the direct participation in peer discussion that just isn’t possible in Leacock 132. These are generally led by teaching assistants (TAs), who are often graduate students in a related area of study. In theory, conferences serve as a helpful and essential supplement to the one-way information channel of a lecture. However, the wide variation and inconsistency between conferences and TAs mean that this end isn't always achieved in practice. The structure of most mandatory Arts conferences—and the patterns of participation that it produces—precludes the meaningful course engagement that conferences are meant to foster. Minor but mindful changes to this format, as well as standardized TA qualifications, could salvage the conference’s often wasted potential.

While it is necessary to incentivize turnout—nothing puts the “mandatory” in mandatory conference quite like attendance marks—a quantitative grading scheme hampers natural discussion dynamics. Granted, sincere interest in a particular course topic sometimes wins out, but that is a rare exception to the rule that governs most low-risk and low-reward obligations—that of minimal possible effort. When it’s 4 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, the average conference attendee wants to speak for just long enough to ensure a tally next to his or her name on the TA’s attendance sheet. The result is often a quantity-over-quality discussion, usually dominated by two or three students while the rest of the class act as Facebook-scrolling, notebook-doodling spectators.

 

Together, flawed structure and inconsistent mediation produce conferences that often fall short of encouraging involvement with a course, and can be even more disaffecting than the lecture itself.

A facilitator—in the form of a TA—ideally prevents such a disjointed, lopsided dynamic. It’s possible to luck out with a TA that is both knowledgeable and an effective mediator, but much like student participation, it’s not guaranteed. TAs are often graduate students for whom the conference is as much a learning experience as it is for the students. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does lead to variation in effectiveness. New teachers can be great, but, as many students are unfortunately aware, new teachers can also be very bad.

At McGill, application criteria for TA positions vary across departments, with no standard requirement of prior teaching experience. Participation in teaching workshops—such as the McGill Teaching and Learning Services’ SKILLSETS—is encouraged, but not always mandatory. As a result, conference experiences vary drastically, and the quality of learning that students receive hinges on the competence of the TA they happen to be assigned to. Mandating participation in such workshops or including a more substantive, standardized requirement of teaching or equivalent experience would help improve the effectiveness of conferences across the board.

Together, flawed structure and inconsistent mediation produce conferences that often fall short of encouraging involvement with a course, and can be even more disaffecting than the lecture itself. However, this does not mean that professors should eliminate mandatory conferences altogether, as they are potentially exceptional teaching tools. When a conference is successful, the results—genuine engagement with a course material, original dialogue with peers, and sound-bytes of information that you actually want to tell your parents about—are invaluable.

The question becomes one of turning this rare experience into the standard. Alterations need not be drastic to yield results: Grading schemes should account for the quality rather than the sheer length of contribution, and the conference should be structured to suit a given course’s content. For example, weekly student presentations—as are current practice in some conferences—work well for clarifying abstract political theory, but might feel dry and repetitive for a fact-heavy history course. Inevitably, half of the battle will always be motivation and discipline on the student’s part. However, steps such as standardized TA training and more course-specific formatting will encourage student engagement with course material and create a conference experience that enriches and involves them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jackie Houston is a U2 Political Science and Psychology student and columnist for The McGill Tribune. She dreams of a world where she can pet any stranger’s dog with no questions asked.

 

@ | [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 
Behind the Bench, Martlets, Private, Sports

From botched fields to gruelling weekends, McGill Martlet Field Hockey endures

by Joe Khammar on

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Being a collegiate athlete at McGill is an enormous commitment. Practices during the week and travelling for games on the weekend takes up a large block of student athletes’ schedules. However, the Martlet Varsity Field Hockey team experiences this reality at an extreme.

According to team captain Julia Rogers, each athlete paid $975 this season to play field hockey for McGill—the highest of any sports team at the university. This was a $325 increase in fees on previous years.

“‘[The] price increase [to our team fee] happened because of a change in the league structure,” Rogers said. “The league has been structured such that the top four teams go to the OUA championship. This year, however, every team gets seeded. This means that we are travelling an extra four days that we weren’t last year.”

The field hockey regular season packs in 12 games from Sept. 24 to Oct. 23. The congested schedule also contained a two-day stretch when the team played four games—a true feat. 

“When you play that many games in a weekend you have to be very mentally tough and to compartmentalize each individual game,” said Rogers. “If you or the team has one bad game, you cannot let that affect the other three games you need to play.”

The Martlets also have to contend with only three substitutes on their team, forcing the upperclassmen to play entire games without rest or rehab. 

“[You have to] be prepared,” Rogers said. “You’re going to be sore and need to push through it.”

The team has so few substitutes available because they face geographical constraints in recruiting new talent. They are the only field hockey team in the entire province of Quebec, and have little to no opportunities to bring in recruits and see them play.

“Field hockey is not that popular in Quebec,” third year Assistant Captain Catherine Friedman said. “Players who are genuinely interested in [playing at] a university level typically aren’t drawn to McGill.”

Most potential recruits are located outside of Quebec. While other varsity teams have the resources to recruit players from across the country, the cost of scouting trips combined with the time commitment for the team’s two unpaid coaches make the task next to impossible for the field hockey team—the only way would be to further increase the cost of the team’s fee.

This year, the team lacks a suitable local practice field. The recent resurfacing of Forbes Field was supposed to include lines and marking for field hockey use. Unfortunately the lines that were made are largely wrong. For example, the 25 yard-lines are painted in the incorrect location.

Despite the error, McGill Athletics haven’t taken any steps to fix the markings or provide the field hockey team with an alternate field for practices and exhibitions.

“This is the first time that [news of the incorrectly marked field] has actually come to my attention,” Associate Director of Athletics and Recreation Philip Quintal said. “I’ll have to look into this.”

The fact that McGill Athletics was unaware of this trouble only compounds the fact that the field hockey team faces unique difficulties. And yet, the Martlet Field Hockey players soldier on, embracing a schedule and adversity beyond the average McGill athlete. 

Album Reviews, Arts & Entertainment

Album Review: The Altar – Banks

by Audrey Carleton on

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Over the two years after the release of her first album, Goddess (2014) Jillian Banks—better known by her stage name, Banks—has climbed to success, winning awards and touring internationally with The Weeknd. The University of Southern California graduate’s academic background in psychology shines through in the themes she explores in her music. Banks has never feared the raw topics, reflecting on past wrongs and analyzing the emotions of herself and her loved ones. While Goddess depicted the healing wounds of a freshly-ended emotionally abusive relationship, in The Altar Banks shows clear signs of growth and reflection.

Banks begins her second album on a strong note, with fast-tempoed and assertive tracks “Gemini Feed” and “Fuck With Myself.” Arguably one of the most memorable songs on the album, “Fuck With Myself” is a haunting tale that intertwines self-love and self-harm intertwined. Though she echoes affirmations like, “My love is the one,” and “I fuck with myself more than anyone else,” the latter line offers a dual meaning, implying that she loves herself, yet hurts herself more than anyone else. Exploring the kind of feelings that keep people up at night is Banks’ strong suit, and “Fuck With Myself” is a clear example of this. Though the harsh plucking of strings and spooky whispers may require a few listens before becoming more familiar to the ears, the song easily becomes addictive over time.

As is the case with “Fuck With Myself,” much of the album takes on the tone of a scorned lover, just as the previous album does. However, Banks breaks this up with sexy, sweet love songs like “Lovesick” and “Mother Earth,” reminding listeners of her vulnerability. In “Mother Earth,” Banks recalls taking care of a lover over gentle acoustic guitar and violin chords. “I'm not gonna cover up the freckles on my faces,” Banks sighs, undoubtedly alluding to her album cover, which shows her face stripped of makeup. Though she exudes independence in the rest of the album, with “Mother Earth,” Banks reveals her tendency to become weak and forgiving of someone who’s hurt her time and time again.  

Just as she diversifies the tone of her songs throughout the album, Banks is experimental with her vocals. Though sultry, layered tunes are her calling cards, Banks tries out extremes in The Altar, from her ghostly whispered lines in “Fuck With Myself,” to harsh screams of “You won’t call back, you won’t call back […] I waited up, I waited up,” echoing during the bridge  in “Haunt.” To conclude the album, Banks ends with strong, repeated “Oh’s” of a wide octaval range in “27 Hours,” taking a respite from her usual sultry sound to drive home the emotional drain of a tumultuous relationship.

Despite these vocal risks, the album as a whole does not sonically distinguish itself from Goddess. Although The Altar’s instrumentals are awfully reminiscent of the first album, Banks’s latest work exhibits a greater depth of lyrical themes.  Banks has yet again created a sexy slew of tunes in The Altar, remaining vulnerable with her lyricism and showing signs of emotional growth since Goddess.

Standout quote: “But admit it, you just wanted me smaller–If you would've let me grow, you could've kept my love.” (Gemini Feed)

Standout songs: Fuck With Myself, Mother Earth, Judas

Sounds like: Rihanna, FKA Twigs, Wet

Private

2016-2017 NBA Season Preview

by Arman Bery, Wasif Hussain, Weiyu Dang, Gabriel Rincon & Zikomo Smith on

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Private, Student Life

Urban legends of McGill residences

by Janine Xu & Miguel Principe on

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From the Upper Rez residents complaining about the hill to the hotel-style residents’ habit of locking themselves out, each McGill residence has its own atmosphere and annoyances. One of the few things they share in common are the urban legends that any first-year student living in residence has heard. These widely shared myths—be it a cautionary tale told by floor fellows during the first floor meeting of the year, or simply the spread of a good story—keep residents on their toes while also teaching a lesson or two. 

New Rez Fire: Candle in the wind, the curtain, and, well, everything else

One commonly heard story among students who lived in Rez is that of a first year girl who forgets to blow out a candle in her room before leaving. The candle lights her curtains on fire, setting off the sprinklers and flooding three floors, after which she supposedly drops out of McGill, never to be seen again.

“The way I heard it was from my floor fellow,” said Alex Levesque, U3 Science and a floor fellow at New Rez. “[As the story goes], she had a single room, and her boyfriend would come over a lot. One time, […] they decided to light a candle to set the mood, and [it lit up] the curtain, which instantly set the sprinklers off.”

It’s a story oft-repeated, and for good measure, too: According to Levesque, first-years frequently tend to set off the sprinklers. With no real fire, sprinkler systems can cause extensive damage to property.

“[Supposedly] it soaked through her room, and probably two or three floors,” Levesque said. “That caused […] $200,000 in [damages], but they said she did drop out […] partially because of the money, but [also] because people were rude to her after that.”

This story is alarming, indeed. The cautionary tale is used by all floor fellows, but actual details differ from residence to residence, raising questions about its validity. Alison Gu, U2 Science student and floor fellow at Douglas Hall, remembers the story quite differently from Levesque. 

“From what I understand, […] she was taking a bath, [so] she lit a candle. [It] was not in her bathroom so she didn’t realize, and it caught everything on fire. [….] She had to pay for the damages, and was in debt for $300,000 [and] had to drop out of McGill,” said Gu.

To residence leadership, the story’s level of merit isn’t important; rather, their goal with this story is to prevent first years from accidentally activating the sprinkler system. It’s also an attempt to discourage students from intentionally setting off the fire alarm, although judging by the amount of times the alarm has gone off in New Rez this past month—five in total, and twice in one night—perhaps a scarier urban legend might just do the trick.

Hell’s Angels: Weeding out the competition

As if the story of Candle Girl wasn’t terrifying enough, another urban legend from Rez involves the Hell’s Angels. The quintessential story that floor fellows tell to dissuade people from selling drugs in residence, is one that has sent shivers down the backs of new students for years. 

“The way my floor fellow [told the story] was there was this drug dealer in Gardner [who] kept coming home to find pictures of himself taped to his door, and then one day he came in [to] find [members] of Hell’s Angels sitting in his room, and his furniture […] slashed with [knives]. They threatened him [to get him] to stop [selling drugs on their turf],” Levesque said. 

The story varies with different degrees of extremity depending on the person telling it. Levesque also recounted another version he heard in which the student was dangled by his feet from the window by Hell’s Angels, although Levesque admitted this version of the tale is probably ridiculous. 

There is another version of the legend in which pictures of the student were taped to his window—a more intrusive detail than his door. Another describes how the Angels posted personal pictures of the student on his Facebook wall. Nevertheless, whatever version of the tale, the moral is to avoid selling drugs in McGill residences. 

Douglas Hall: The haunted house on the hill

Douglas Hall is known to be McGill’s most haunted residence, simply because of its age and architectural style. Built in 1937 during the Great Depression era, Douglas Hall, with its ancient cobblestone structure, resembles that of a Victorian mansion out of a horror film. It comes as no surprise that this residence comes with a few stories—some likely invented by floor fellows to scare first years, while others perhaps containing a grain of truth. 

One such story is the existence of a ghost living within the walls of Douglas Hall. Although its origins are unknown, its presence can be felt throughout.

“My floor fellow in my first year […] fully believed that there was a […] ghost, but it was apparently friendly,” Gu said. “There was somebody who had a plant, and they put the plant outside to get some sunlight and it disappeared. He thought somebody had stolen it and he made a post [on Facebook] about it. [Eight months later] he found it in the basement somewhere, and it was dead. People were like, ‘Oh, the Douglas ghost!’”

While the presence of this ghost in Douglas is up for debate, the story likely originated in the general spooked feeling that residents have while walking through the building’s old halls.

“[The ghost rumours are] probably because [Douglas was] built so long ago and seems to have more character […] than the other residences, and it can be really creepy at night,” Gu explained. “I don’t know what it is, but it is just spooky.” 

If one does believe in the legend of the ghost of Douglas Hall, there’s no reason to worry. It seems to be relatively friendly, despite occasionally stealing students’ plants.

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