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Joke

Student crashes Minerva by accidently completing course evaluation

by Sir Aldous Washington III on

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Like every other student, I thought Minerva was supposedly going to be unavailable from Friday April 1 to Tuesday April 5 because of a technical upgrade; however, I was still a bit skeptical about this official reason. Yesterday confirmed my thoughts.

I had received a call in the early afternoon from a blocked number. Since I thought it was my friend prank-calling me, I decided to answer. But from the moment I heard this voice, I knew this was no prank call. I had never heard someone who  seemed as frightened as this.. The caller, who claimed to be a current McGill student and shall be called Mr. X for reasons pertaining to anonymity, asked me with a shaky voice if I could print the truth on Minerva’s system crash. Since he was not willing to speak on the phone as he thought our phones might be tapped, I asked him where we could meet. He told me to meet him at his flat in the ghetto. I checked the weather, not knowing whether the last day of March was going to be snowy, rainy, sunny, hot or cold. Unfortunately, the weather had me put my coat and my winter boots.

After steering clear of vomit puddles and shattered beer bottles, I finally arrived to his door and rang. I waited a long time, and finally heard some footsteps. He opened the door wide enough for me too see one eye and asked me if someone had followed me. I told him that I had taken precaution.

Hesitating for a couple seconds, Mr. X invited me inside. He immediately blurted everything out.

 “I accidentally completed a course evaluation,” he said. “I got drunk last night and I remember that I was texting my ex to try to get her back. I blacked out after and I woke up with my phone showing Minerva’s message to thank me for completing my course evaluation!”

He explained to me that completing this one evaluation probably overflowed Minerva’s system, which was not prepared to get so much information.

Understanding the gravity of the situation, I asked Mr. X if he could remember additional information. He took some time to think, and he got a panic attack. 

“I think I even left some additional written comments,” he said.

 At this moment, I knew his time at McGill was over. If people were to identify him, he would become the butt of everyone’s jokes.

I called up McGill’s witness protection program (McWitSec) and asked them if they were willing to cooperate with Mr. X’s transfer to Concordia under a new identity. McWitSec told me they could only help under one condition: Mr. X had to complete his four other evaluations, this time on paper, so that McGill’s administration could finally work with student reviews.

Mr. X did not want to relive this traumatic experience. I tried to convince him but ultimately failed. He slowly breathed in and out, and told me he was going to leave for the Bahamas to finally be at peace with himself. I wished him good luck, and left the apartment. I walked up a bit and heard my name.

“Wait,”he said. “I’m going to take the deal.”

Mr. X completed his course evaluations and arranged his transfer to Concordia. He moved out from the ghetto and now turns off his router every time he goes out to drink.

Minerva is now on maintenance until April 5, and from a trustworthy source, the administration is upgrading the system to allow up to 10 course evaluations.

*This article is a work of satire and a part of our joke issue*

Hockey, Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

Blast from the Past: Hockey at McGill

by Jenna Stanwood on

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Hockey, like most modern sports, evolved over time as players combined various sports, including field hockey, lacrosse, and games from the British Isles such as shinty and shinny, and adapted them for the long Canadian winter. McGill students played a pivotal role in creating the game we know and love today, according to McGill Athletics Sports Information Officer Earl Zukerman.

“The game evolved, it wasn’t invented overnight, so […] when you’re making a statement about the beginning of a game or the origins of the game, we all have to be talking about the same thing,” Zukerman  explained. “I like to call it organized hockey. Once you have organized hockey, you have rules that are specific to that sport and differentiate it from another sport. Also, organized hockey implies that you have a referee to enforce the rules and that [… all players] agree on the same rules.”

In 1875, the first game of organized hockey was played at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, a structure which has since become the parking garage in front of the current Bell Centre.

“The first indoor game that we know of that involved rules and referees and a type of puck was the 1875 game played in Montreal […]” Zukerman said. “Not all the players were McGill students, but a number of them were. There was one fellow in particular, [James Creighton], who came to Montreal from Dalhousie, and he is considered by most historians to be the father of hockey.”

Moving hockey inside sparked major changes in gameplay, and the dimensions of Victoria Rink would even become the basis for today’s standard rink measurements.

“When the game was moved indoors, now you had to place a limit on how many players could play,” Zukerman said. “Once you moved the game indoors, there had to be a time limit to the games because when you go to any rink, you can’t just take over the ice for the entire day [….] By having the game in that [particular] rink it basically set the size. Any rinks built after that were basically approximately the same size [….] So that first game in 1875 that involved a couple of mcGill students changed hockey forever.”

Creighton, who would eventually earn his law degree from McGill in the 1880s, was deeply involved in the early shaping of the sport. In 1873, according to a letter written a few decades later, he sat down with other McGill students to draft the original rules of hockey. These original rules, which were essentially field hockey rules with the word ‘ice’ added, according to Zukerman, would not be published and available for the public until 1877, the same week that the new McGill Hockey Club played their first game.

“Their first game was on January 31st, 1877 […] so that week the rules also happened to be published in the [Montreal Gazette],” Zukerman said. “We believe that the writer of the rules, because there’s no name on the Gazette article […] was James Creighton because he was writing for the Gazette at the time and he was the one involved with the organization of the rules in 1873.”

The McGill Hockey Club of 1877 became an official school club, and would eventually be the McGill varsity hockey team that students know today. Though there is heavy debate about hockey’s true origins, it is safe to consider McGill greatly influential in its history.

“In my research, I’m comfortable saying that McGill students were involved in drafting the first organized rules to the game […] and McGill students were involved in the first organized hockey team […] in 1877 and probably published the first rules in 1877 as well,” Zuckerman said.

The legacy of that first indoor game in Victoria Rink can be seen every time the Redmen take the ice. Currently, they are in their 139th season, and have not stopped making history. A dozen members of the team have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and 15 players are inscribed on the Stanley Cup.

CKUT
Arts & Entertainment, Music

Video didn’t necessarily kill the radio star: how CKUT is revitalizing the airwaves

by Eric Noble-Marks on

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The Casbah Coffee Club, like countless other dive bars  in Liverpool, has staked its claim in music history. The supposed “launchpad of the Beatles” now features a commemorative plaque, signed memorabilia, and a £15 entry fee. Yet, the Casbah Club’s most impressive piece of history is also its most modest. Positioned under a series of commemorative photographs and t-shirts is a beat-up brown console whose function is difficult to discern at first. However, upon closer examination, its purpose becomes clear: This is the radio where the Beatles first heard their music broadcast. In a room full of historical treasures, the radio stands head-and-shoulders above the rest. You can almost imagine the fab four huddled around it thinking to themselves, “Hey, this ‘music’ thing might work out all right for us.” 

Radio used to be the major way that people accessed and discovered music. As virtually the only way for up-and-coming artists to get their music heard, it became a crucial entry point into the industry. Radio was essential to the rise of Rock ‘N’ Roll in the 1950s, with DJs such as Alan Freed and Wolfman Jack gaining celebrity status themselves. In those days, anyone who was anyone was on the radio and everybody was listening. 

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By the 1980s however, new and exciting ways of listening to music were beginning to weaken radio’s stranglehold. The introduction of in-car tape decks and CD players provided alternatives to drive-time radio shows. Later, the Internet and the rise of the blogosphere gave listeners exciting new ways to discover music. Today, streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora have provided perhaps the most robust challenge yet. Now, instead of combing the airwaves, more and more listeners are relying on these services to discover new music, some of which feature built-in algorithms that suggest songs based on previous listening habits.

The million dollar question then, is ‘What should radio be in 2016?’ No longer the only source for new and exciting music and facing steep competition, radio stations are finding ways to adjust.

“The biggest change for radio is that twenty years ago, radio stations were just that,” Mark Bergman, program director and Afternoon Drive announcer for Montreal’s Virgin Radio 96 said. “Today a station like Virgin is no longer just a radio station, we are an entertainment brand.” 

It’s an outlook that’s common in radio today. In order to compete, stations are looking beyond the music and toward a more holistic entertainment package, complete with an active social media presence. 

“I think we’re changing by the second,” Bergman said. “Music radio will become more and more about the great personalities in the mix with the music. That’s the only way we’re going to compete with digital.” 

Virgin is one of the most popular radio stations in Montreal, with over two million listeners each week; however, it is not just the big boys who are finding new ways to make radio relevant. McGill’s own CKUT is going beyond the music as well, albeit in a different way. For one, CKUT has always prominently featured news coverage in addition to music, focusing on stories that may have been overlooked by more mainstream outlets. 

Aishwarya Singh is a student who has worked extensively in CKUT’s news department, contributing to the station’s two major news programs: Off the Hour and All Things McGill. 

“We speak to the people who are working for change within a specific context,” said Singh. “If we’re going to a demonstration, we wouldn’t speak to the police but to the protesters or event organizers.”

This approach is reflected in everything CKUT puts on the air, from its news and culture, to even its music. 

“We try to get a perspective that’s less covered by mainstream radio,” Rudy Quinn, who has hosted multiple programs on the station said. “Personally, I tend to focus on smaller labels and bands out of Montreal.”

They’re not the only ones who benefit. University radio stations such as CKUT also provide a valuable creative outlet for students on campus. 

“In the classroom, we are passive receptors of knowledge,” Singh said. “Of course you can engage with that knowledge critically, but […] I feel like [working in radio] gives you a type of knowledge you wouldn’t get in the classroom. 

This knowledge is then passed to listeners through the station’s multifaceted programming. 

“If you’re the radio you have access to many different groups involved in Montreal,” said Quinn. “We have programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I can’t paint CKUT with one broad brush. There’s just so much going on.” 

While streaming services offer tailor-made playlists based on past listening habits, radio can push listeners outside of their comfort zones.

“On Facebook and other social networks you only get a small glimpse what your friends are posting […but radio] broadens your horizons,” Quinn said. “I play stuff that I like, but also stuff that my audience might not like or not know yet. I hope that they’ll enjoy it and that it’ll get them talking.” 

Perhaps more than anything, radio provides the opportunity to establish a connection between the listener and the larger community. 

“I think it’s about giving McGill a voice into the broader community, but also giving the community a voice into McGill,” Quinn said. 

In a telecommunications industry that has become increasingly automated, radio has remained a distinctly human industry. The radio is a conversation of sorts between DJ and audience and an invitation into a larger world. 

Bergman puts it succinctly: “All the streaming services offer is music, nowhere else can you listen to a station and feel, and know, and breathe Montreal,” he explained.

McGill, News, SSMU

Panel addresses what it means to be an indigenous ally

by Zoé Rochat on

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On March 22, members of the McGill community attended a panel on indigenous allyship as part of the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Indigeneity and Allyship 2016 event series.  

The panel, co-hosted by SSMU Indigenous Affairs and the Education Undergraduate Society (EdUS), aimed to define what it means to be an ally and how students can become involved in the issues affecting indigenous communities. It answered questions on how to best support members of Indigenous communities and how to collaborate successfully with them. Three speakers shared their views on the topic: Paige Isaac, a member of the Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nations and the coordinator of the First People’s House at McGill; Tayla Lalonde, president of the Aboriginal Peoples Commission for the Liberal Party of Canada-Quebec and board member for Indigenous Access McGill; and Patrick Brennan, executive director of McGill’s Institute for the Study of International Development. 

The panel opened with the question, “What is the most important part of being an ally?” Isaac began by stating that being an ally is a process rather than a label.

 “It’s something that you’re constantly striving to be or do,” Isaac said. “Your actions are speaking more than words, you’re standing with whoever you’re being an ally with, not speaking for them [….] It’s learning, educating yourself on different issues, hearing from diverse perspectives, listening to the news, [and] talking to resource people at universities [and] businesses.” 

 Lalonde stressed the importance of mutual collaboration, through the acts of both listening and understanding rather than always asking questions.

 “A lot of times, people think that they are being an ally when they are constantly asking the marginalized person to tell them their story,” Lalonde said. “[This] approach is a little misguided because it’s exhausting to be that person who always has to answer those questions over and over again [….] By asking those questions you are also triggering deep-seated issues for people because a lot of people [… have] been marginalized.”

For Brennan, being an ally is about supporting people, not forcing your own viewpoint on marginalized groups.

“You can be there to support, or what I like to say ‘lead from the side,’ but you need to be careful not to confuse the destiny of a marginalized people with a solution that you have come up with,” Brennan said. 

Lalonde went on to explain the benefits that can arise from an ally’s privileged social position—particularly among university students.

 “If you have access to student government or decision-makers because of your place of privilege […using] that to push issues for [the] indigenous community, [is] a really effective way of being an ally,” said Lalonde.

Lalonde also shared her personal experience as an indigenous student at McGill and how she felt the lack of indigenous content from the moment she arrived.

 “When I think back to when I started [at] McGill in 2008, what I always remember is how invisible I felt,” Lalonde said. “I was sometimes one of the only indigenous people in my classes [….] I didn’t see myself reflected in the course content anywhere [….] There wasn’t any dedicated time in discussing the indigenous viewpoint.”

Lalonde specifically described an instance when she felt erased as a member of her Cree society.

“I remember sitting in an anthropology class and I remember learning about Indigenous people from this white male professor,” she said. “No insult to white male professors, but it was strange to hear this person talking about our people, Cree, from his anthropological perspective, which kind of made it feel like we didn’t still exist.”

 Going forward, Isaac emphasized the necessity of having more indigenous faculty members and offering more indigenous-focused classes. 

“[Provide] more opportunities for people to engage in Indigenous pedagogies,” Isaac said. “I’m hoping if your voices are loud enough to say ‘we want this,’ [the school] would listen.”

This article has been corrected. The panel is a part of SSMU's Indigeneity and Allyship 2016 event and not as part of SSMU  and EdUS' Indigenous Awareness week, as previously reported. The Tribune regrets this error. 

Science & Technology

Islamic art inspires metamaterial

by Andy Wang on

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On March 21, McGill University’s Facebook page shared a video that demonstrated a unique type of material called an auxetic, expanding while being stretched. The metamaterial, designed Dr. Ahmad Rafsanjani, a member of the Pasini lab in McGill University’s Faculty of Engineering, is unique because when it is stretched, it becomes wider and longer. Conventional materials such as metals or plastics, on the other hand, contract in the direction lateral to the force exerted upon them. That is, they get longer in the direction they are pulled in, and shorter in the opposite direction—longer and thinner.

Due to this unique property—defined in mathematics as exhibiting a negative Poisson’s ratio—engineers categorize auxetics as a class of metamaterials that possess mechanical properties above and beyond that of conventional objects.

Bistable auxetics are desirable in any industry that requires smaller packaging. They may have applications in medical stents, which are used to treat narrow or weak arteries. Traditionally, a metal or plastic tube inserted into a blood vessel is used keep open previously blocked passages. Having a flexible material will enable smaller arteries to be treated with greater precision. Additional applications include satellite panels, where smaller packaging is essential in delivering the payload into space.

Scientists and mechanical engineers have studied auxetics extensively. As a result, the conventional square auxetic, a ‘base’ model for this class of metamaterials, has been very well described. In order to stay in an expanded form, conventional auxetics require a constant and continuous force to be exerted upon it, and this unfortunately makes the material difficult to commercialize.

DesignDaily: Material that can grow when stretched is inspired…

Inspired by Islamic art; a group of researchers at Canada’s McGill university have engineered a new kind of stretchable material that can grow when stretched.A ‘metamaterial’ that when pulled in one direction, expands also in a lateral direction. In other words, when stretched, the material becomes wider, rather than just longer and thinner.Video via: New Scientist Credits: A Rafsanjani/McGill University

Posted by DesignDaily on Monday, March 21, 2016

On the other hand, the auxetics designed by the McGill team is bistable. Bistable auxetics require no such additional force to stay in an expanded conformation, and consequently possess myriad of applications ranging from aerospace to biomedicine.

“Before [my design], the only bistable auxetic that has been described were complex origami patterns,” Rafsanjani said. “They were hard to make. Graduate students sometimes spent days just folding the patterns.”

Researchers first discovered the bistability of origami structures in a paper published in Advanced Materials in March 2015. And the design developed by Rafsanjani can be created using a laser cutter in less than an hour.

 

“The beauty of purely mechanical systems is that they are scale-free,” Rafsanjani explained. “Essentially, a model developed in a lab can be changed into any size for any practical application.”

Born and raised in Iran, Rafsanjani attributed his geometric designs to Islamic art, specifically the patterns found on panels of a 1,000-year-old Iranian tomb; however, Rafsanjani cites all forms of art as sources of scientific inspiration.

Similar patterns inspired Rafsanjani in his bistable auxetic design. (Elli Slavitch / McGill Tribune)
Similar patterns inspired Rafsanjani in his bistable auxetic design. (The McGill Tribune)

“Throughout my life I attempt to find elements that inspire me” he explained. “Artists are not bound by [the same] practical and physical constraints as scientists.”

It appears that art, as an element of inspiration, is a recurring motif in Rafsanjani’s works. In a paper about metamaterials published in 2015, Rafsanjani cited artist Ron Resch in his introduction.

However, Rafsanjani’s description of his materials as being inspired from Islamic art has been met with criticism. Some have argued that Islamic art is not an all-encompassing term and that science and art should not be mixed.

“I could very well have said ‘Persian Art,’ or ‘Iranian Art,’” Rafsanjani said. “Of course this would have been a lot less controversial. But the geometric patterns that I used are part of an artistic theme synonymous with Islam. To use another name would simply be not true.”

Regardless of where he draws his inspiration from, Rafsanjani plans to continue his scientific work.

“I am dedicating my life to the pursuit of scientific achievement,” he said.

Joke

Varsity LARP team wins regional championship

by Jack Mackland on

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Spirits were high this past weekend at Parc Mont-Royal, where the McGill Redmasters claimed victory at the Provincial Varsity Live Action Roleplay Championship (the PLARP). In a riveting final battle against reigning LARP champions the Concordia Orcs, Redmaster co-captain Dave Stipinski and his high elven broadsword, Deathslayer, dealt the winning blow to the last of the Orc forces.

“We’re really just thrilled to be here,” said an exhilarated Stipinski at the trophy ceremony, which was unfortunately cut short by scheduled park maintenance.  “It’s an honour to compete against the Orcs, and league heavyweights like Frollo Boulderspine and Khan the Nightbringer.”

It’s been a long journey for Stipinsk—or the “Roddick Assassin,” as he is known around the league—and his teammates. Although familiar to many students as an endearing if odd staple of Tam Tams, competitive LARPing has received far less public attention. The Redmasters were only given varsity status this Fall, after co-captain Erica Cowell placed a curse of eternal damnation upon McGill Athletics and Recreation. 

“Throw demonic runes into the mix, and suddenly the admin’s not so keen to play hardball,” Cowell, level 12 druid and potions major, joked.

Per the stipulations of the curse, funds were reallocated from the McGill Quidditch team, and the Redmasters made their debut into the varsity community. 

The team faced an uphill road to the championship, however. Scheduling field time at Molson Stadium between Redmen and Martlets practices proved difficult – training sessions are held primarily in Stipinski’s basement. The team also struggled to gain adequate storage space for its equipment in the McGill Sports Complex. 

“Standard issue lockers just aren’t built for full-body 12th century armor and chainmail,” Cowell explained. “And a decent longsword? Forget it.”

 Logistical difficulties were only the beginning. Disaster struck halfway through the regular season, when star player Harry Presley was suspended after pummeling a 10-year-old recreational LARPer with his fire mace. The victim, now recovered, reportedly “thought they were just playing a game” when he unknowingly wandered into a cutthroat team practice at Parc Mont-Royal. Presley allegedly mistook the minor for a particularly well-costumed dwarf, but was nonetheless suspended from the league for unsportsmanlike conduct. 

The players have also struggled with marginalization in the McGill sports community. 

“It’s not always obvious, you know, but it’s the little things,” Stipinski said somberly while sharpening his broadsword. “We didn’t get a table at the Varsity Gala, our gameshave pretty low turnout, professors still won’t accept battles as reason for assignment extensions. People don’t take us seriously as athletes. But I think our win today is really going to change the conversation.”

When reached for comment, McGill varsity football quarterback Charlie Laval wasn’t familiar with LARP as a sport, but did know Stipinski personally as “that dude that was always playing Settlers of Catan in residence”. Laval didn’t address Stipinski’s recommendation of traditional goblin battle strategy to improve the Redmen Football team’s performance. 

Up next, the underdog team hopes to continue their winning streak at the National LARP Championships in Kingston, Ontario this May. With increased funding, they’re also looking to get matching letterman chainmail.  

*This article is a work of satire and a part of our joke issue*

McGill Gym
Hockey, Martlets, Men's Varsity, Podcasts, Sports, The Sport Authority

The Sport Authority EP. 5: Life as a club athlete at McGill

by Mayaz Alam and Nicole Spadotto on

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[audiotrack title=”The Sport Authority Ep. 5: Life as a club athlete at McGill” songwriter=”Mayaz Alam and Nicole Spadotto” date=”March 26, 2016″ width=”700″ height=”200″ src=”https://24f2041bb5b609d25f1a97039f71682cc9154421.googledrive.com/host/0B9rQxTeDv2duM0FmSjBSYkZFS1k/mcgill%20athletics.mp3″ autoplay=”on”]

There are many athletes at McGill. Some are varsity athletes that represent the university, others are recreational athletes who play a sport to stay in shape or to keep their mind off of school In the middle are club athletes who play on teams such as Ultimate Frisbee, Equestrian, and Women's Lacrosse. In the fifth epidsode of the Sport Authority, Editor-in-Chief Mayaz Alam talks to staff writer Nicole Spadotto about her experiences as a varsity athlete with the Martlet hockey team and as a club athlete with the Women's Lacrosse team.

McGill, News

McGill Senate reacts to BoG decision to not divest

by Calvin Trottier-Chi on

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Following the McGill University Board of Governors’ (BoG) vote against adopting Divest McGill’s proposed actions, the Mar. 23 Senate meeting had members discussing transparency in McGill’s finances and actions. Maintaining ethical research behaviour was another topic of deliberation, as well as ensuring that no student final evaluations weighted higher than 75 per cent.

Fossil fuel divestment

The BoG announced on Wednesday that McGill will not divest from its holdings in fossil fuel industries.

Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Medicine Representative David Benrimoh raised concerns over the secrecy surrounding the BoG vote, blaming both the abrupt scheduling of the meeting and the increased security presence.

“[Divest McGill] is such a huge issue on this campus, it has raised so many concerns, that to think it was an oversight that led to such an important decision being made public immediately before the [the Senate meeting], where most likely students will come to voice their dissent is very concerning,” Benrimoh said. “I must say that the appearance of this is unfortunately in line with past appearances that led students to criticize with respect to openness and transparency.”

Provincial budget

Following the tabling of provincial budget on Mar. 17, Principal Suzanne Fortier emphasized the increased stability of McGill’s previously uncertain finances.

“This is the first time in quite a number of years that the university sector will not be asked to absorb a cut to reach a balanced budget,” Fortier said. “We are now moving to a different place and a different regime where we will see investments.”

Financial prospects were  increased investments into the university sector. The federal government allocated $2 billion to infrastructure and $95 million to the Granting Council, a government council that assigns grants to university research projects.

“As you can imagine, with the no cuts coupled with investment, it means we’re in a much better situation than we’ve been in previous years,” Fortier said. “It’s now our time and our turn to show that we’re going to be there as a strong research and academic community to be important key players in making good of these great investments.”

Revision to examination policies

Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens spoke of his ongoing intention to revise the student assessment policy, introducing a motion to prohibit  professors from giving final exams weighing over 75 per cent of the grade without providing alternatives.

“This is the first step in a series of revisions we’re going to bring to the student assessment policy,” Dyens said. “The current student assessment policy does not allow for more than seventy-five percent for final exams but there were too many loopholes in that policy and we wanted to close these loopholes.”

The Faculty of Law is exempt from this policy. Dyens’ future revisions are expected to be complete by December 2017.

Ethical research

Vice-Principal (Administration and Finance) Michael Di Grappa reaffirmed Senate’s stance against unethical suppliers of research materials. In particular, the focus was on responsible animal use in health and biomedical research, with Santa Cruz Biotechnology being a recent offender.

“We wrote to [Santa Cruz Biotechnology] some time ago after this issue was brought to our attention in terms of practices with respect to animal welfare,” Di Grappa said. “We are working on a supplier code of conduct that we will include in every contract going further.”

Senate also passed a motion to establish a statement on academic freedom.

“The scholarly members of the university have the freedom to pursue research and artistic creation and to disseminate their results, without being constrained by political or disciplinary orthodoxies, monetary incentives, or punitive measures as a result of their academic pursuits,” the statement reads.

Faculty of Arts Senator John Galaty clarified the reasons for creating this statement.

“Of course [there] is no intention to diminish the importance of accuracy and referral to findings in the field that we would expect any teacher or instructor to follow,” Galaty said. “[But] does this belong as part of an assertion or a statement of academic freedom? I think not.”

Creating a healthy community

The meeting closed with Benrimoh’s presentation on the Quebec Health Professional Students’ Roundtable—a newly formed group that it intends to hold an open public summit discussing Quebec health policies.

“We’re looking to hold the first true consultation on the future of Quebec health policy that this province has seen, to our knowledge,” Benrimoh said. “So if you care about health care, if you’ve ever been a patient yourself, or have families that have, or if it’s something you are peripherally interested in, please come, we’d love to see you there.”

Football, Sports

A Super Bowl cover-up: How Baylor hid its sexual assault scandal

by Joe Khammar on

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It’s official: Baylor University is the master of subterfuge. At a time when sports media is ever more scrutinous of allegations of sexual assault and misconduct by high-profile players, Baylor managed to keep its case of sexual assault away from the headlines. One of the best college football programs in the United States, Baylor managed to bury not only the sexual assault, but also hid the subsequent cover up, despite media inquiries. In October of 2013, a Baylor Bears football player—Sam Ukwuachu—allegedly raped an unnamed female student.

Despite the substantial amount of evidence against him, Ukwuachu was found innocent by the university. The school, according to the New York Times, never asked for the rape kit, which showed evidence of bleeding, redness, and violent friction. Unfortunately for the survivor, the school did not give her any recourse measures or justice. Publicly, Baylor said nothing about the incident. In June 2015, the Baylor defensive coordinator simply said that Ukwuachu had some “issues” but would play the season. It wasn’t until a week before the trial that anyone outside of the affected parties and the University even knew about the sexual assault case. Ukwuachu ultimately lost the case and was sentenced to jail for sexual assault.

Baylor only issued a response to the sentencing in the form of a letter released Feb. 7, 2016, the day of Super Bowl 50. The letter, written by Baylor President Ken Starr, states: “Last fall, Baylor University’s Board of Regents initiated a comprehensive external review of the University’s response to previous reports of sexual violence. Pepper Hamilton, one of the nation’s most experienced law firms with expertise in the institutional response to all aspects of sexual misconduct, is conducting this review.”  Starr, at least on the surface, wanted to show that he rectified the issue by improving the process by which the school handles reports of sexual assault. The problem with the letter was that Starr released it on a day when any news not concerning the Super Bowl fell into a vacuum. Starr almost certainly knew this, given his previous experience with sexual assault cases and the media coverage they receive as an investigator for the Monica Lewinsky case against former US president Bill Clinton. It is entirely plausible that he wanted to keep any acknowledgment of wrongdoing under wraps. Ultimately, it was not the university’s failure to protect its students that Starr attempted to cover up, but his own ineptitude in handling a sexual assault by one of Baylor’s athletes.  

Unfortunately, this problem does not solely exist at Baylor. In April 2012, three McGill athletes—Ian Sheriff, Brenden Carriere, and Guillaume Tremblay—were accused of sexually assaulting a Concordia University student. It is unclear to what extent McGill looked into the case, if at all. It then allowed the students to continue playing in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The university claimed that it did not find out about the allegations until May 2013, and did not take action against the players because the case was under the jurisdiction of the Montreal police as the incident in question occurred off campus.

Once Baylor learned of the allegations against Ukwuachu, it prevented him from playing. The fact that the charges were ultimately dropped against the McGill athletes does not change the fact that the school did not conduct an investigation, or involve itself in disciplinary actions from the period of April 2012 to November 2013. Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens only began his term two months prior and was not even on the staff when the school found out about the charges, yet he was the only member of the administration to offer comment to the Tribune when the details of the case first broke. Like Baylor, McGill also showed irresponsibility and ineptitude when faced with questions surrounding its athletes.  Hopefully, in the future, issues such as these will be resolved with a greater sense of respect for the survivor and less blatant favouritism for the perpetrator.

Movies filmed at McGill
Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Spotted: McGill in the movies

by Anna St. Clair on

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When you’re trying to make it to your 8:30 a.m. lectures on a freezing cold February morning, it’s hard to imagine that McGill resembles the bowels of the Pentagon or a military base during the zombie apocalypse. Yet in the past, Hollywood has managed to transform locations around campus into exotic locations. Here are a few Hollywood films where you can spot McGill in the background. 

Brooklyn (2015) 

Brooklyn was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay at this year’s Academy Awards. While its plot and action revolve around the New York City borough of its title, the movie was actually filmed in Montreal. Producers chose Montreal because it resembles 1950s Brooklyn more than present-day Brooklyn. The film follows Eilis (Saoirse Ronan), an Irish immigrant, to New York in the 1950s. While working as a cashier, Eilis takes night classes at Brooklyn College, whose classrooms and hallways look suspiciously similar to McGill’s—becuase they are. The scenes at Brooklyn College were actually filmed in the McConnell Engineering Building. When Eilis first arrives in New York she stays at a boarding house for young women run by the cranky Mrs. Keogh (Julie Walters). Keogh enforces a conservative lifestyle on the girls, especially when it comes to bringing boys over. The interior of the boarding house was actually filmed at Alpha Delta Phi fraternity on rue Stanley. 

X Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

The seventh movie in the X-men franchise transformed the Arts Building into the 1970s Pentagon. Professor X (James McAvoy), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Quicksilver (Evan Peters), and Beast (Nicholas Hoult) take a tour of the Pentagon while hatching their plan to break Magneto out from the maximum security prison cell below. 

While Magneto’s actual prison cell is a sci-fi construction of white hallways and glass, the main floors of the Pentagon are recognizable as the Arts Building’s main and basement hallway. A department of defense seal can be seen on the floor, right outside the main entrance and Moyse Hall theatre.  On his way to steal back his helmet, Magneto marches through the Arts Building’s basement hallway, where the row of seats and outlets will be recognizable, yet seems eerie when devoid of students studying and munching on Subway. 

Warm Bodies (2013)

Warm Bodies is a new take on Romeo and Juliet for the zombie-obsessed cultural era. Nicholas Hoult plays R, a zombie who yearns for emotional connection. He finds it in Julie (Teresa Palmer), a human, and daughter of the military commander leading the fight against the zombies. Military vehicles and personnel roam the Y-intersection and the façade and interior of the Redpath Museum have been transformed into a military base and human safe-zone. The scenes take place at night, and the interior of the building has been altered—digitally and physically—so it’s a little difficult to recognize McGill. Warm Bodies does provide us with one piece of useful information: In the event of zombie apocalypse, the Redpath Museum makes for an ideal shelter. 

Get Smart (2008)

Steve Carell plays Max Smart, also known as Agent 86, the bumbling spy of secret agency CONTROL in this 2008 comedy. After being accused of being a double agent for terrorist organization KAOS, Agent 86 is put in a prison cell located in the basement of the Arts Building. The location choices of X-Men and Get Smart raise an important question: Why do movie producers see McGill and immediately think “this would be great as a prison?” After breaking out of his cell, Agent 86 drives a car through the main entrance of CONTROL headquarters, played by the Arts Building’s main entrance. Perhaps this explains the recent construction? He drives them past the Three Bares fountain before his car stalls and he hails a cab at the Y-intersection. As the CONTROL headquarters is supposed to be set in a fictionalized Washington D.C., an American flag flies on the flagpole, and a US mailbox can be spotted on the corner of the Y-intersection. 

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