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Art, Arts & Entertainment

Marketing overshadows innovation at New York Fashion Week

by Saif Cheval on

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New York Fashion Week (NYFW) came to a close last night, relieving its captive audience of Snapchat users from the endless onslaught of coverage. NYFW features mostly American designers and is considered one of the Big 4 Fashion Weeks—the others being held in London, Paris, and Milan. 

Though there was much buzz about the week-long event, the actual fashion on display was disappointing. The added confusion of the experimental ‘see-now-buy-now’ system, wherein spectators could purchase a look they saw via cellphone app, had some designers displaying Fall/Winter clothing during what should be a Spring/Summer event (typically NYFW showcases Spring/Summer collections, named for the season in which clothes will comes to retail). 

There were some achievements for diversity in fashion, as well as surprisingly humouros moments. Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen of /Portlandia/ hosted retailer Opening Ceremony’s “Pageant of the People” show, turning it into a running commentary on a variety of current issues: Feminism, immigration, and the upcoming American presidential election. An Indonesian designer, Anniesa Hasibuan, presented the first collection in Western fashion to feature a hijab in every outfit. Rapper Young Thug/Jeffery, anointed style mentor at the V-FILES show, stopped a model in the middle of the runway to fix up his outfit, causing a social media firestorm. Opening Ceremony and the non-traditional fashion collective V-FILES showcased some of the better looks of NYFW, despite not being fully recognized as labels. DKNY, with their ode to New York fashion, managed to have the best show of the big American names.

Kanye West’s now infamous fashion line, YEEZY, was one of the first shows of the week. YEEZY’s first season served as a blatant love letter to West’s influences—(Lang, Margiela, Nakamura, Ackermann)—and could be played off as a first-time designer finding their place in the industry. However, now in its fourth season, with very little commercial success to show for itself, YEEZY is more of a spectacle than an innovative clothing line. Besides a slight tweaking in fabric colour, the line has not evolved past being a reflection of high fashion, and hasn’t earned the seriousness that West believes it should be treated with.

Controversy bookended the week: West’s show called for “Multiracial Women Only,” which sparked social media debate surrounding the scrutiny of black features in fashion. Despite that, he managed to once again display the most diverse set of models in the week. Marc Jacobs came under fire for creating dreadlock wigs for his models to wear. He defended (and later apologized for) this choice by asking why no one complains about black women straightening their hair—an incredibly weak defense for the highly controversial gimmick.

Raf Simons’ buzzed-about appointment as chief creative officer at Calvin Klein unfortunately had no effect on this NYFW, with the brand choosing to wait until next season to show Simons’ first collection. Tom Ford displayed his clothes in New York for the first time in six years to a bunch of celebrities that were probably dressed more interestingly than the models. Tommy Hilfiger unveiled a wholly uninspired collaboration with Gigi Hadid, Alexander Wang combined lingerie with beachwear, and Ralph Lauren presented clothes on the sidewalk.

NYFW was, on the whole, disappointing, and the changing purchasing system might have something to do with that. Instead of showcasing future looks, brands are attempting to use the week as an instantaneous marketing campaign. Unfortunately, that makes for a dull series of shows. With Berlin Fashion Week on the rise as a force in the industry, and a growing interest in fashion beyond household American names, NYFW is due for an overhaul. 

Science & Technology

Girls rule, boys sleep more soundly: McGill professor finds hormonal differences affect sleep quality

by Izze Siemann on

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Men and women are constantly compared—whether in sports, academics, or income levels. A new study by Diane Boivin, McGill Medicine and Assistant Professor in Psychiatry, highlights how sex can also impact quality of sleep.

Many scientists have researched the discrepancy of sleep disorders between men and women. An article by CBS News stated that while twice as many women experience insomnia than men, women are less likely than men to have sleeping disorders that involve breathing, such as sleep apnea. Anatomical and hormonal differences between the two sexes are responsible for this disparity. As a result of higher estrogen levels, women can often experience restless sleep during certain intervals of menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause. These intervals are known to shift women's internal clocks, causing them to wake up and feel tired earlier than men. On the other hand, men are more prone to experience shortness or lack of break during sleep as a result of sex-specific fat deposits surrounding the neck. However, does someone’s sex impact his or her quality of sleep if they do not have a sleeping disorder?

Dr. Boivin, Director of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute’s Centre for Study and Treatment of Circadian Rhythms, has delved more deeply into this issue. In a recent study, published in the Proceedings in the National Academy of Science, Dr. Boivin highlights a clear connection between biological sex and the biological sleep clock. The study consisted of 26 participants—15 men and 11 women with natural menstrual cycles. Due to the drastic impact of menstruation on biological rhythms of body temperature and sleep, women in two different stages of their cycle were studied. Core body temperature, saliva hormones, alertness, and polysomnographically recorded sleep—a type of sleep test that records biophysiological changes—were measured throughout the experiment. The variation of these measures throughout experimentation suggests that a woman’s vulnerability to sleep disturbances is greater than a man’s. Core body temperature and melatonin levels are both relative to regular sleep patterns, which fluctuated during experimentation. Higher levels of estrogen causes women to have earlier waking and sleeping times than men.

A study using the Horne and Östberg Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire showed that women who have gone through menopause cease to have a different biological clock than men. Estrogen levels increase when women go through menopause causing sleep disturbances;  but once menopause ends, hormone levels drop, making women’s body clocks more similar to men’s. This research reaffirms that hormones have a powerful impact on sleep patterns and quality of sleep.

“The observed difference between the sexes is essential for understanding why women are more prone to disturbed sleep than men,” Boivin said in a McGill press release.

This difference has significant repercussions, as men and women usually go to bed and wake up fairly simultaneously—even though men’s biological clocks are better suited to fit this schedule.

Waking up and still feeling tired after a long night’s sleep? Thank your inner body clock, ladies, because it wants you to establish a rhythm of going to bed early and getting up early—until menopause, of course. This research suggests that women are perhaps not as suited for late night jobs and might fair better at the early-bird specials. Furthermore, Dr. Boivin’s study may allow for more in-depth research of serious sleeping disorders. In the future, doctors may be able to prescribe sex-specific medications in response to sleeping disorders.

            Although common mentalities towards sleep in college include “YOLO,” “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” or “Let’s go out tonight,” it is important to remember how significantly sleep impacts mental health, learning ability, heart and blood vessel health, and obesity. No matter when your biological clock activates, a recommended seven to nine hours of sleep is required to stay healthy and bright.

Science & Technology

Fighting to end AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria: A discussion of global health professionals

by Kate Lord on

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A third of the world is currently infected with tuberculosis (TB). Last year, over a million people died as a result of AIDS-related illnesses and half a million from malaria. Mortalities from these epidemics are staggering, despite improved knowledge of effective prevention and treatment methods.

The solutions for eradicating the world’s most devastating epidemics are by no means neat or clearly defined. This was made clear on Sept. 15th, when McGill hosted a panel of global health professionals, including Canada’s Minister of Health Dr. Jane Philpott, who addressed Canada’s role in ending AIDS, TB, and malaria. On the eve of The Global Fund’s Fifth Replenishment Conference to fight AIDS, TB, and malaria, the panel of speakers discussed the pervasive and devastating effect that these diseases continue to have in both the developing and developed worlds.

“[What] we haven’t quite figured out how to do [is how] to make Canadians, to make our neighbors, to make people around the world realize that the pandemics of AIDS, the reality of malaria […], and tuberculosis in our world [are] outrageous; but, more than outrageous, [they are] solvable,” Philpott said.

The panel emphasized the need for Canada to focus its efforts on targeting populations disproportionately affected by these diseases: Indigenous peoples, homosexual men, sex workers, prisoners, and drug users. In Canada, TB rates for indigenous peoples are 35 times higher, while in Inuit communities they are 375 times higher than the rest of the Canadian population.

“We need to become better human beings, and […] face the fact that until each and every person is treated with dignity and respect we won’t be able to treat the diseases,” Philpott said.

“[We] have to become a more inclusive human family,” said Mark Dybul, Executive Director of The Global Fund.

A key question at the conference was posed by Philippe Gros, Vice-Dean of Life Sciences in McGill’s Faculty of Medicine.

“How do you take […] this enormous amount of scientific data and actually translate it into outcomes for the populations that are affected?” asked Gros.

“[The answer is] to stop looking at things as global or even national, and […] actually to go community by community, use the data that we have, use [it] to drive decision-making,” said Dybul.

Throughout the panel discussion, focus was on the importance of keeping a human perspective.

“People are not numbers, infections are not simply statistics, [and] death is much more than just data,” said Philpott.

This candid lens particularly struck Sophie Huddart, a McGill PhD candidate in the Department of Epidemiology.

“Even [these] people, who are at the highest levels of organizing global health, still have a focus on the individuals who are affected,” Huddart said.

For a more individualistic approach to find effective solutions for these epidemics, Peter Singer, Chief Executive Officer for Grand Challenges Canada, stressed the importance of further innovation. Singer went on to give examples of innovations in patient self-management including the use of text messaging to increase the frequency of HIV testing among Kenyan school-girls. In addition, HIVSmart, a mobile-based app developed at McGill and the McGill University Health Centre, aims to improve rates of testing and treatment for HIV.

Perhaps the strongest and most frequently repeated messages from the speakers were their expressions of excitement towards the large number of students they saw sitting in the audience, surrounded by other members of the academic community.

“Current students are the generation that will or will not end these epidemics,” Dybul said.

“It will be [up to] you to make the difference,” Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director for the Stop TB Partnership said.

McGill, News

McGill hosts 15th annual Pow Wow

by Julia Metraux on

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On Sept. 16, members of the McGill community and public gathered to watch the 15th Annual Pow Wow, an event on Lower Field celebrating indigenous traditions and cultures.

According to Paige Isaac, Coordinator of the McGill First People’s House (FPH), the purpose of the Pow Wow is to engage members of the McGill community with various indigenous communities. Events like these have also started to increase the visibility of indigenous peoples on campus.

“It’s [a] welcoming event,” Isaac said. “These Pow Wows also serve as an introduction to those who do not know a lot about indigenous culture.”

Isaac noted that the FPH, which has funded the Pow Wow since its inception in 2002, organized this event by inviting community members to perform and artisans to sell their ware. 

“Ellen Gabriel [former coordinator of the FPH] invited members of the Mohawk nation to perform to raise awareness. It wasn’t a full Pow Wow that year,” Isaac said. “[Today] we are happy to have representation of Inuit, Métis, and First Nation performers.”

U1 Arts student Kevin Telford Jutrus, who attended the Pow Wow, said events like these make him feel more in touch with his own heritage.

“My favourite part of the Pow Wow [was] the dances,” Jutrus said. “I love seeing people dance tribal style. It brings back the side of my family who’s Abenaki. And it’s always cool to feel cool about part of your ancestry.”

Jessie Bellanger, a political science major from Bishop’s University, said that it was her first time at a Pow Wow.

“I came to Montreal because this event looked very interesting [….] I am taking a class on First Nations culture at my school, so I wanted to see a First Nations cultural event,” said Bellanger.

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Allan Vicaire, the Indigenous Education Advisor for the Social Equity and Diversity Education (SEDE) Office, who is a member of the Mi’gmaq nation, said this event provided an educational opportunity for students who attended.

“There [was] a moment when they invited the spectators [to] join the performance and dance,” Vicaire said. “The most important aspect of going to a Pow Wow is respecting and learning.”

Artisans and organizations supporting indigenous causes also set up booths around the event. When asked about cultural appropriation of non-indigenous people buying traditional clothing, Vicaire said that this is an important issue that he discusses in presentations.

“We talk about when it is okay to wear a motif, like moccasins,” Vicaire said. “If you like the fashion, go to indigenous artisans and buy it from them. Buying from indigenous artisans supports First Nation communities, going to H&M doesn’t.”

One of the organizations present was the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project from Kahnawake, an indigenous community located across the St Lawrence river just outside of Montreal. Dr. Alex McComber, a member of the Mohawk nation who works for the project, said the organization aims to promote healthy lifestyles for children.

“We work to fight diabetes, so we also promote exercise and healthy living. We’ve helped create paths for walking,” McComber said. “Our organization also works with schools to create a strong health curriculum.”

Vicaire said that in his 15 years attending the event, he hasn’t seen any negative interactions between students and dancers.

“The students who go to these events want to engage in the indigenous culture,” Vicaire said. “They are spectating, soaking up, and seeing all the culture.”

 

Basketball, Know Your Athlete, Men's Varsity, Sports

Where are they now? In conversation with Simon Bibeau Redmen Basketball 2011-2015

by Arman Bery on

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In his sophomore year at McGill, everything changed for Simon Bibeau.

“I tore my ACL in a practice and so I redshirted my second year at McGill,” Bibeau, 2015 McGill commerce graduate and four-year point guard on the McGill Redmen basketball team, said. “That was a complete shock because I had been playing basketball from age six to age twenty basically non-stop [….] That kind of shifted my mindset and I started to think, ‘Listen okay, basketball will only take me so far. I want to develop in more than one way [….] What should I do, what could I do?'”

He has certainly figured it out. Bibeau now holds a position as an investment banking analyst with Goldman Sachs; however, he was not initially drawn to the world of finance.

“I knew nothing about finance before university,” Bibeau said. “I was all ball, that’s all I thought about. I thought McGill offered the best balance of athletics and academics, but I’d say, […] I was really focused on the basketball part of it.” 

His path to Wall Street was neither easy nor straightforward. It took hard work and some luck as well as leveraging his connections. After working as a teller at the Bank of Montreal (BMO) during the summer between his freshman and sophomore season, Bibeau landed consecutive internships at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto and Montreal, respectively.  

“After these internships and getting some work under my belt and some traction, I realized working in a big metropolis like New York was not out of reach,” Bibeau explained.

Through the McGill alumni network, he secured an internship at Goldman Sachs.

“It was a bit of a luck […] but it required a lot of hard work,” Bibeau said. “I got a ten-week internship–it was basically a ten-week interview at the bank–and was [I] fortunate enough to put myself into a position which led to my full time job here.”

Bibeau knows what it’s like to perform under pressure. He was the captain of Redmen Basketball, a two-time RSEQ Champion, and an All-Star. His current analyst job requires the same strong interpersonal skills, problem solving skills, and flexibility that characterized his role as a successful point guard.

“Essentially, each analyst is assigned a set of clients, and you handle that specific group,” Bibeau explained. “However, if you are really close to a transaction with a certain [client], then sometimes your other teams will know that you are busy, and that they might have to accommodate [you]. So there’s a lot of live management going on. Also, some clients are more demanding in their requirements in terms of time-commitment, and so we may be more active with some clients.”  

Sometimes the parallels between the pressures of shooting a basketball and his current employment are more stark.

“As analysts we are there to execute and expectations are binary, you either get it right or you get it wrong,” Bibeau said. “It’s very similar to making a jump shot—it either goes in or not. You can set your form and your arc to how you want it to be, but the ball either goes in the hoop or it doesn’t.”

For Bibeau, coming up big when the odds are against him has always been part of life. After tearing his ACL the season prior, he returned in 2013 to help lead the Redmen to their first RSEQ title in over two decades. Even when the championship game looked out of hand, Bibeau came off the bench to sink twelve points on four of six shots to clinch the title over the Bishop’s Gaiters.

“We were losing by 20 and ended up winning by 18,” Bibeau said. “We really just reversed our own fate [….] It was even more special because men’s basketball at McGill hadn’t won anything in Quebec for the last 25 years.”

The following year, Redmen Head Coach David DeAveiro named Bibeau the team’s captain. The skills he learned as a leader that season, both on and off the court, have helped him immensely in his daily activities.

“I feel that learning about leadership through sports is very transferable to any walk of life,” Bibeau said. “Being able to communicate […] and motivate people becomes natural for good leaders.”

Aside from leadership, McGill taught Bibeau how to balance his life–a tough task for those breaking into the investment banking world, who have to deal with long and fluctuating hours.

“I usually arrive at work between 9 and 10 a.m., and on a good day I leave between 6 and 9 p.m.,” Bibeau said. “On a bad day it’s between midnight and 3 a.m., and on a really bad day, which has happened a few times, it’s [between] 3 and 6 a.m. […] So, it’s usually 12 [to] 15 hours a day.”

Although Bibeau only occasionally plays basketball in New York playgrounds nowadays, basketball has been a constant throughout his life. His father, a former CIS basketball player, was the one who first introduced him to the sport. In typical fashion, his father put up a Fisher-Price basketball net at the top of his door and told him to try to get the ball in the hoop. The simplicity of the game coupled with the difficulty of the task drew him in. From that moment on, he’s never been one to shy away from the toughest challenges. 

 

Favorite Club: “It might just be Tokyo. Tokyo is where it happens! I mean after our championship, the whole team went to Tokyo.”

Favorite Professor: “Ken Lester, who was a professor of finance. I mean he was not a typical professor by any means. He brought a very liberal arts approach to investment [….] He was truly a really good mentor.”

Favorite NBA Player: “Steph Curry. He is one of a kind, new form of player. I think he’s so popular because looking at him, he’s so much easier to relate to for the average person than a physical talent like Lebron.”

Raptors or Knicks: “Spurs. I was able to see them once against the Nets and once against the Knicks. It was awesome”

Montreal or New York Deli: “Montreal. When thinking about really good food, [I] still think back to Montreal. Montreal is very special in terms of food culture. Schwartz’s over Katz’s!”

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Comedians stand up for feminism

by Ariella Garmaise on

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Successful comedy comes from a place of heartbreak, and from the ability to make what seems devoid of humour funny. The stereotype is that feminists aren’t funny, but by that token, feminism should be a breeding ground for good comedy. Comedy greats like Louis C.K. and Chris Rock base their routines around obstacle, heartache, and depression—but where are these themes more apparent than in a woman’s struggle to exist amongst her male counterparts? At the Concordia Centre for Gender Advocacy’s “Feminist Stand-Up Comedy Night,” headliner Ify Chiwetelu proved that nothing is funnier than a poignant and witty take on systemic oppression. 

The event was hosted in Concordia’s student bar, Reggie’s. With its open floor plan, dimmed orange lighting, and geometric wire seating, both the space and its inhabitants were uniformly trendy. While atypical for a comedy show, the location was actually fitting for the evening. Despite the help from talented performers and a unique venue, the Centre for Gender Advocacy was ill-prepared for a comedy show. The event featured five amateur performers for its open mic portion, followed by an experienced stand-up comedian to conclude the show. The Centre’s Action Coordinator, Stacey Gomez, acted as MC, and was proficient in carrying out her duties as an equality advocate and in creating a safe space for both performers and audience alike. However, she was not a comedian. Often overlooked, a host plays a crucial role in interacting with the audience in between acts, and the absence of a comedian as host set an uneasy tone for the evening. Similar structural flaws followed; one comedian even showed up late and performed after the headliner. The show was a learning experience for the five amateur comics performing, and the Centre for Gender Advocacy. 

Headliner Ify Chiwetelu, who Bad Dog Theatre named their Breakout Performer in 2015, expertly navigated the show back into more comfortable comedic territory. Chiwetelu, who described growing up black in a predominantly white Calgary neighborhood, recalling the microaggressions that crowded her childhood in a way that was both heartbreaking and hysterical. 

“My friends always asked me to bring them to black events,” she remembered. “I wanted to call them and bring them to the bank to talk about RSPs. Every event I do is a black event!” 

She explored more personal terrain, explaining her reluctance to reveal her sexual orientation with self—deprecating wit: “I still haven’t figured out where on the spectrum being dead inside is.” 

Chiwetelu’s retelling of her experience with blackness, womanhood, and sexuality fit the evening’s activist tone without pandering to the audience. She did not limit herself to being a token “black woman comedian.” Her act was populated with random day-to-day observations, ranging from what it is like to have large breasts (“I’m talking mid alphabet”), to being single (“PDA feels like a personal attack”). Many of her colleagues spent their time on stage describing the hardships women face. Yet unlike her counterparts, Chiwetelu did not need to explain to her audience why 'women aren’t funny'  is a ridiculously outdated sentiment—her routine was proof in and of itself. 

Even if the show was logistically somewhat amateur, it was still successful. As Chiwetelu explained after her performance, “I feel like some comedy audiences self-select themselves out of comedy clubs and things like that because they think they might be made fun of or attacked. By saying this is a feminist show, you’re speaking to those audiences and bringing them a comedy that aligns with their politics and their viewpoint.” The Centre for Gender Advocacy will only improve by continuing to host similar events, showcasing performances that are so important to fans of alternative comedy. 

Student Life

McGill goes green at weekly student farmer’s market

by Ella Benedetti on

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It is 9 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15, and the walkway at the Roddick Gates is crammed with fresh fruit and vegetables. Monica Allaby, U3 Geography, is busy stacking boxes of squash, tomatoes, kale, eggplant, and other seasonal produce. Allaby isn’t worried about the early hour, however, because she loves working at McGill’s Farmer’s Market as a coordinator.

"I really fell in love with it as a place—a place for people to meet and discuss food,” Allaby said.

The farmer’s market team—accompanied by approximately a dozen other vendors—line McGill’s Y-intersection, illuminating the usually mundane path with the abundance of fresh produce. For the volunteers at the market, selling food is a way to mingle with community members and build important connections in the network of local food advocates.

The farmer’s market is a student-founded and student-run effort that began in 2008. Every Thursday between Sept. 8 and Oct. 27, from 12 to 5 p.m., the market brings fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, homemade preservatives, fair trade coffees and teas, honeys, maple syrups, and some of the best baked goods in the city to campus.

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Allaby became a part of the market team two years ago, joining other coordinators who are all passionate about making local food more accessible.

One integral member of this team is Amelia Peres, U4 Geography. Peres believes that farmer’s markets like McGill’s are a good first step toward making sustainable community-based food affordable for everyone, not just those in high-income brackets.

“My ideal future for the food industry would be a system that would be able to marry sustainably community-based food with food that is affordable and productive for a community, and not just relegated to the upper echelons of society,” Peres said.

The market works to make that dream a reality through their affordable weekly produce Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) baskets. CSA is a food partnership created to support local farmers and to provide seasonal, organic, and local produce to the McGill student body in  weekly produce baskets. Over the course of eight weeks, the CSA provides baskets of three different sizes sourced from three local farms in the greater Montreal area: Les Jardins Carya, MacDonald Student-run Ecological Gardens (MSEG), and Les Jardins de la Résistance. These baskets, which cost between $15 and $30 per week, give students the chance to eat organic and ecologically friendly food, fairly inexpensively.

However, for the market organizers, it isn’t just about providing sustainable produce; it’s about sharing that produce and cultivating a sense of community.

"I realized all the different facets that food has,” Peres said. “How many different ways it manifests and how many different ways it matters to people—in terms of either community, or sustainability, or social justice, all those different things.”

Erlend Bjorklund, U4 International Development Studies student and manager at MSEG—which is the MacDonald campus garden—echoed Peres’ sentiments. After a year-long, full-time apprenticeship with MSEG, growing and selling local produce across the city, Bjorklund believes that initiatives like the student market are a great first step in the process of reuniting people with their food.

"I think [buying local produce] is important to everybody. The whole notion of a food system is that with modernity, we have become more and more disassociated with that,” Bjorklund said. “We don’t know where our produce comes from, we have no relationship to the people who grow it, and we also don’t pay the people who grow it very well [….Buying locally] is way more intimate because you get to see the people who made this happen.”

Despite all of its clear benefits, running the student market and other local food initiatives does not come without challenges. Establishing a consumer network is difficult for small farms like MSEG when the agriculture industry is dominated by large companies.

"With mega-producing agricultural systems—formally known as mono-cropping—massive corporations have virtually monopolized the industry,” Bjorklund explained. “This makes affordable and accessible local planting, growing, and selling extremely difficult to sustain.”

Despite the unfortunate reality of mega-agribusiness, many grassroots initiatives are working to bring attention back to local farming. International movements such as Seed Sovereignty, and community-run initiatives like McGill’s MSEG and Organic Campus are helping local communities reclaim their food.

For Bjorklund, efforts such as MSEG are both more ethical and more community-oriented. Having access to food that is grown in an ecologically sound way, and charged for a fair price, is a privilege. Because many members of McGill’s student body have been given this privilege, Bjorklund notes that they have an even greater role to play.

“Food used to be seen as a bare necessity,” Bjorklund said. “Yes, it is a bare necessity, but it is something that we should treat with respect. It’s a privilege, not a right. We do have a right to food, but we also are privileged to have good food [….] Being a very largely privileged student body, we have this small responsibility to support our local food systems.”

Small efforts like the farmers market contribute to an even larger fight against the corporate aspect of food systems. Where large agricultural corporations may have 100 acres of one crop, MSEG has over 60 crops stretched across two and a half acres of land.

By Thursday afternoon, the McGill Farmer’s Market is crowded with students buying locally-grown produce. The market as a whole has sold a plethora of goods and distributed over 120 food baskets.

For Bjorkland, initiatives like the McGill Farmer’s Market and MSEG help to both diversify the farming industry and put farming back into the community’s backyard.

"With the right policies to help this small movement, we can level the playing field so that those big corporations aren’t so dominating and oppressive and depressive,” Bjorklund said. “You can’t colour your food with monoculture, but you can with diversity.”

To read more about the McGill Farmer’s Market, visit their website. To learn more about MacDonald Student-run Ecological Gardens, visit their website.

McGill, News

McGill University releases active shooter training video

by Holly Cabrera on

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On Sept. 8, McGill University’s Campus Public Safety Department notified faculty members of the official release of a new training video intended to inform members of the McGill community of safety procedures in the event of a campus shooting. According to Pierre Barbarie, director of Campus Public Safety, the short was made to replace the US Department of Homeland Security video previously featured on McGill University’s website, which ran over an hour in length. The 12-minute film has been adapted from footage produced by the University of Alberta. The goal is to present a more condensed film, containing the same information that would also resonate with a Canadian audience. 

“It’s a safety message,” Barbarie said. “The more people see it, the better. Our goal is to give tools for dealing with this kind of crisis. We’re creatures of habit. We’ll leave from the same door or escalator, so knowing your surroundings is key.”

While screening the video in class is not mandatory, professors were urged to promote the film to students and stress the importance of knowing emergency protocol. The recording was initially uploaded to McGill’s YouTube channel in July, but has yet to be uploaded to the McGill website.
 
The video emphasizes knowing one’s environment, staying out of the shooter’s line of fire, and attacking as a last resort.

“The ideal situation isn’t to fight,” Barbarie said. “If you can’t hide out and the shooter, unfortunately, confronts you […] it might come to that. Now, do you accept that he’s in front of you? Do you react? That’s really your decision to make. We just want people to realize their options.”

Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens acknowledged that the video’s realistic portrayal of a school shooting may disturb viewers. Dyens explains that although informing the McGill community of security measures is a priority, students are often swamped with messages at the beginning of the school year and are therefore less attentive to the content of emails. 

“It’s a difficult thing to watch and we take it seriously,” Dyens said. “We can’t send out too many emails on that subject. Once the students were back on campus, we sent it to the Deans, who then forwarded it to the chairs to ensure that faculty members would actually read it. If something happens, we believe students will turn to [them] to know what to do.”

In an email to The Tribune, Erin Sobat, Vice-President University Affairs for the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), explains that it was not involved with the creation or circulation of the video. 

"SSMU doesn't have a formal position on the video and we were not consulted on the creation or communications plan," Sobat wrote.

Regarding the resources and time devoted to the new film, Sobat voiced concern over the way that university funds are distributed. 

"We do wonder if this is really the biggest priority in terms of resource allocation,” Sobat wrote. “Statistically, more students will have to deal with anxiety issues or depression at McGill than an active shooter situation, yet we have not seen the same level of communications on how students and professors can address those pressing concerns." 

Currently, McGill offers free 30-minute active shooter training workshops, where students and staff members get answers to case-by-case questions. Despite the fact that presentations have taken place since 2009, the turnout has been underwhelming.

“It’s always difficult to get people to the workshops,” Barbarie said.

Alexandre Beaubien, U1 Science, was unaware of the sessions, but expressed that it is in students’ best interest to attend, even after watching the training video.      

“I did not know such workshops existed!” Beaubien said. “I think it would be important for people to participate in those activities mainly because the knowledge you gain from the security team isn't only about what to do in an active shooter scenario, but how to react in any emergency scenario [in real life]. Knowing how to react could not only help you, but also help others in certain circumstances.”
 

McGill, News

Indoor and secure bike parking on McGill’s campus

by Julie Guichard on

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With construction currently taking place on the downtown McGill campus, there have been an increase in competition for bike parking. According to Paul Guenther, senior campus planner, internal surveys conducted by the Campus and Space Planning Department have shown that cyclists are not only discontented with the lack of bike parking spaces, but are also fearful of theft and the obligation to dismount their bicycles on campus. With these issues in mind, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) passed a motion on the creation of an on-campus bicycle facility.

“The proposed bike centre would house secure bike parking facilities, shower and locker facilities, and The Flat, the community-run bike collective,” Guenther said.

The project aims to increase ridership to campus, as well as to reallocate a space that is currently underused. Space under the SSMU Building currently only accommodates car parking.

“This garage was made inaccessible to cars when McTavish was made pedestrianized,” Guenther said.

At an estimated cost of $1.2 million, the project will be funded by multiple sources.

“We envision this project being funded jointly through SSMU, [McGill University, and through private sponsorship,” Guenther said.

The remaining costs will be covered by a per-semester membership fee.

The creation of a new bike facility demands funding and a paid membership, which has angered some students. Ines Wittke, U2 Arts, who often bikes to and from campus, she voiced concern over a biking facility that requires a paid membership.

“The [current] bike parking [situation] is definitely an issue [but with] a little bit of creativity, there is always a way you can attach your bike to something,” Wittke said. “I will probably not use [the new bicycle parking] accommodation [due to the cost].”

According to Guenther, the creation of a new bike parking facility does not mean the removal of existing outdoor bike spots.

“This proposed bike centre is intended to provide additional bike parking options in the community and won’t result in any reduction of existing spaces,” Guenther explained. “The intention is to increase the number of riders on-campus.”

Kevin Manaugh, assistant professor in the Department of Urban Planning, has also played an important role in creating this space. He has spoken out about the proximity of McTavish to other buildings.

“Yes, [the location of McTavish in relation to other buildings] is a real concern, though it’s worth pointing out that cyclists will be able to ride directly into the facility using the access ramp,” Manaugh said. “Students will have to decide if any additional walking distances to their final destination [are] worth the added safety and convenience of secured parking and shower facilities.”  

Manaugh commented on additional positive externalities that could arise from this project.

“[The bike parking facility] is a welcome addition to increase efforts to reduce vehicle use on and to campus,” Manaugh said. “It represents a growing trend towards prioritizing cyclists and pedestrians [….] I think that the fact that the space was previously used as a [car] parking garage and will take on the role of providing for cyclists is also a positive sign.”

Students, however, should not expect for the new bicycle parking facility to be completed for at least a few years.

“This project, if funded, would likely not proceed before 2018, at which point the construction along McTavish will be over,” Manaugh said. “Furthermore, as the space is not being used aside from storage, there should be minimal disruption to the lives of students during its construction.”

Science & Technology

Event spotlight: McGill’s 22nd edition of Soup and Science

by Julia Briand, Seara Chen, Eli Gumnit, Miguel Principe, and Rebecca Zhuang on

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At the 22nd edition of Soup and Science, hosted by the Office for Undergraduate Research, professors took the stage to explain their research. The event, held last week at the Redpath Museum, offered students a chance to hear about professors’ research and meet with them to find out how to get involved—all while enjoying free lunch.

The final two days of Soup and Science covered disciplines ranging from psychiatry to pharmacology to bioinformatics. Though professors’ short presentations do not offer enough time to fully explain their complex research, Soup and Science is designed to give undergraduates a taste of science research at McGill. To find out more about each professor's area of interests and opportunities to get involved, check out the Tribune’s coverage below.

Tuesday

PETER DOUGLAS

Tuesday’s presentations started off with Assistant Professor Peter Douglas, the newest member of the Department of Earth and Planetary Science. He explained how he uses various isotopes—versions of an element that have a different number of neutrons—to better understand how carbon is cycled through the environment as well as how Earth’s climate has changed in the past. After his presentation, he discussed how he analyzed lake sediment samples for hydrogen isotopes present in plant wax in order to build evidence that a significant drought occurred during the collapse of the Mayan civilization.

IRENE GREGORY-EAVES

It seems that Soup and Science not only helped build connections between students and professors, but also between the professors themselves.  Associate Professor of Biology Irene Gregory-Eaves, who studies freshwater ecosystems, started her presentation by saying that she intends to work with Douglas by sharing techniques for analyzing lake sediment. Gregory-Eaves also explained the importance of understanding freshwater systems, noting that they are hotspots for biodiversity while providing an estimated $6.5 trillion USD worth of ecosystem services—benefits people obtain from their environment—worldwide.

ERIN STRUMPF

Associate Professor Erin Strumpf, from the Department of Economics as well as the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, spoke about how the classic “No Free Lunch” economic concept can apply to health care systems. She explained this idea using the literal free soup lunch the audience received as an example. The soup, she contended, was not actually free because everyone there paid for it by giving up their time.

“[My goal is to] find ways to generate the most health with as few resources as possible,” Strumpf said.

PAUL FRANCOIS

Associate Professor of Physics Paul François began his presentation describing how new properties emerge in a physical system when it becomes more complicated or has more parts.

He demonstrated this concept by explaining that a volume of gas has different properties than an individual gas particle. He has used this concept as well some advanced mathematics to describe the complex network of how human immune cells recognize invaders and each other.

-Eli Gumnit

Wednesday

PAUL KRY

Associate Computer Science Professor Paul Kry kicked off Wednesday’s Soup and Science by introducing his research using computer graphics to simulate physical movement. He gave multiple examples during his talk, including of a human rock-climbing and gripping motion, which require multiple types of forces to produce movement. The key to computer graphics, Kry explained, is the composition of details; however, when trying to collect as many details as possible, he also must consider the trade-off between speed and accuracy of attaining results.

THOMAS BRUNNER

Department of Physics Assistant Professor Thomas Brunner’s research project revolves around what might be the smallest particle in the universe–the neutrino.

“It’s one of the most abundant particles that we know [of],” Brunner explained.

There are millions passing through just the tip of a thumb alone, yet, it is still considered a relatively new and mysterious subject to physicists. Neutrinos can only be detected through complex neutrino detectors. Scientists involved in this worldwide research project are hopeful that they will soon be able to physically observe neutrinos.

ELIN GRUNDBERG

Elin Grundberg, Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Genetics, and her lab are studying the relationship between genetic and environmental risk factors of diseases such as obesity and type two diabetes. Her work is specifically centered around epigenetics–the study of how an individual’s genes can be modified through environmental influence. Grundberg highlighted some of the discoveries from her lab’s research.

“We can detect a smoker by only looking at the epigenetic signatures in that specific cell,” she said.

They are now working towards how to effectively screen certain genetic risks associated with diseases.

ROSS OTTO

Assistant Professor of Psychology Ross Otto presented his research on how people make decisions and how certain individuals are more prone to risk-taking. They have successfully demonstrated a positive correlation between an individual’s level of happiness and the likelihood of risk-taking by comparing the amount of money spent on lottery tickets and gambling with factors such as the weather, time of the year, and the performance of sports teams in New York City. Yet this doesn’t mean that the good fortune of someone’s favourite sports team will cause them to go out and buy more lottery tickets than usual.

“We can’t say anything about the cause of the relationship, it’s purely a correlational type of data”, Otto emphasized.

BRIAN ROBINSON

            Instead of focusing on a narrow area, Assistant Professor of Geography Brian Robinson’s sustainability research takes on a much more interdisciplinary perspective. His research explores the way in which populations are supported by natural landscapes by taking soil composition, organismal biology, and economy policy analysis into consideration.

Robinson’s research interests are largely based in Mongolia and northern China. For example, he examines the effectiveness of local farming government policy on economization of water usage in these regions. When asked about his geographic research interest, Robinson explained that it is due to a mixture of factors. He enjoyed his time living in China, and at the same time found China to be a perfect laboratory for environmental study because of its accelerating industrial development.

-Seara Chen and Rebecca Zhuang

Thursday

KIM BERLO

Sept. 15th’s first presentation was given by Assistant Professor Kim Berlo from the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences. She discussed her research on the various processes involved in magma degassing—gases that escape from volcanic rock during eruptions—and the samples that quench below the surface. The bubbles and fractures that form from degassing act as evidence in Berlo’s crystallized volcanic samples. By studying the chemical makeup of these gases, she is able to link the gases to an impending volcanic eruption. In addition, the emitted gasses can be used to determine whether the magma below the surface is degassing efficiently.

YAJING LIU

Assistant Professor Yajing Liu, also from the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, spoke about her work on earthquake mechanics and seismicity. Using about 400 seismometers to detect waves created during earthquakes, her group was able to determine the speed of these waves. This wave data provides amplitude, polarity, and travel time differences, which can be used to find the point of origin of the earthquake and the underlying geological structures located there. Liu’s work also demonstrates that increased stress caused by fracking is correlated with an increase in seismic activity.  

“We must consider the amplitude or magnitude of the earthquake triggered; the larger the injection rate [during fracking] the larger the potential earthquake,” Liu said. “In British Columbia, the /Traffic Light Protocol/ may be implemented. A yellow light would be called for a 3.5 [magnitude] earthquake and a red light would be called for a 4.0. The US doesn’t really have such regulations, whereas Canada holds a more collaborative relationship between the fracking industry, the government, and academia.”

ANTHONY MITTERMAIER

Associate Chemistry Professor Anthony Mittermaier began his presentation on the biological activity of proteins with a comparison between steam and molecular turbines: Both obey the laws of thermodynamics. To study proteins and their thermodynamic properties, Mittermaier uses several different methods. For example, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, which measures the magnetic interactions between nuclei, is used to obtain information on the structure and dynamics of these organic molecules. Other methods measure absorbed heat and stability of the molecules. His research can be applied to drug design and the development of new enzymes for use in industrial processing.

YI YANG

Assistant Professor Yi Yang from the Department of Mathematics & Statistics spoke about software he designed.The software predicts expected claim laws based on client data, such as aige and income, which is usually collected by insurance companies.

“[Premiums are] one of the most important problems in the insurance business,” Yang said.

Inaccuracies in these predictions could result in loss of clientele for these companies. He was able to develop a statistical model for insurance businesses to more accurately predict insurance premiums.  

-Julia Briand

Friday

GUILLAME BOURQUE

The final day of Soup and Science presentations started with McGill’s Bioinformatics Director and Human Genetics Associate Professor Guillaume Bourque, who delved deep into the world of the human genome.

“The human genome […] is this very long string of 3.2 billion bases of information and a key component of the human genome are really the genes […which] get copied to RNA and to proteins and to molecules that are active in your cell,” Bourque said. “If you look, the human genome is very, very big [but] these genes turn out to be […] this very small component.”

Bourque and his team are focusing on what the rest of the human genome does. They found that eight per cent of the human genome is made up of viruses. Although the DNA of viruses is still present in the human genome, the viruses are inactive and so cannot make a person sick. Bourque is examining whether or not this DNA has an underlying function. He mentioned that they have learned that both the human placenta and the regulation of stem cells come from parts of virus DNA.

CECILIA FLORES

From human genetics to human psychiatry, Associate Professor Cecilia Flores researches the neurological effects of drug abuse in early adolescence. Flores is especially interested in the prefrontal cortex of the brain and how this region interacts with drugs of abuse. Her research focuses on a protein called Netrin-1, which acts as a guidance cue to neurons as to how their connections will form.

“We [took] adolescent mice and we [treated] them with drugs of abuse or a controlled solution,” Professor Flores said. “Then, when these rodents grew into adulthood, we looked at the prefrontal cortex and we have actually found that the mice that received drugs during adolescence show many changes in connectivity. In fact, they show [fewer] connections.”

With fewer connections, these drugs interfere with neural connectivity, slowing down key messages within the brain.

JEAN-FRANCOIS TREMPE

Assistant Professor of Pharmacology Jean-François Trempe researches Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating neurological disorder. He and his team have found two genes called PARKIN and PINK1 that, when mutated, cause early-onset Parkinson’s disease. He explained their importance in mitochondrial quality control and PARKIN’s dependence on PINK1. Trempe explained how a better understanding of these genes’ function and relationship could help find possible drugs to treat Parkinson’s disease.

STEPHANIE WEBER

Soup and Science concluded with Assistant Biology Professor Stephanie Weber, a recent arrival at McGill. She studies how cells are organized and how they function. She explained that certain cells have their organelles in membranes, which function as physical barriers to allow them to have their own unique chemical composition. However, Weber and her team were surprised with the cells that do not have these membranes.

“In the absence of membranes, molecules are free to just diffuse around and mix […] but advances in fluorescence microscopy have revealed a variety of membrane-less organelles such as germ granules and stress granules,” Weber added. “These granules lack a barrier [to] separate them from the surrounding cytoplasm or nucleoplasm. Instead, they are just local concentrations of protein and nucleic acid.”

Currently, Weber is researching how cells function in such an interesting organization. Her findings could help to discover the cause of many neurodegenerative diseases, as some believe the same soluble molecules could condense to become protein aggregates.

Soup and Science returns to curious minds this January.

-Miguel Principe and Rebecca Zhuang

 

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