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Stephen Colbert and George Clooney
a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

The extended reign of Stephen Colbert

by Christopher Lutes on

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SInce the days of Johnny Carson, the format of late night talk shows hasn’t changed much. Working with some variation of the ‘opening monologue, guest one, guest two, pre-recorded bit, musical guest, goodnight’ formula has proven to be ironically versatile. A revolving door of new hosts has also helped prevent this formula from going stale. In its first week, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the newest addition to the late night roster, has followed the precedent his forebearers have set, though not necessarily to a fault.

This switch from Comedy Central newsroom to late night standard is an odd change for fans of the right-wing blowhard that Colbert played on The Colbert Report for nine years. In fact, he’s gone from a persona that was an exercise in winking irony to one that seems much more earnest and probably closer to his own personality. It’s clearly a big adjustment to make, and the transition comes with a few hiccups. Some of the jokes seem toothless and geared towards a more family-friendly audience, as if he’s trying to reign himself in and prevent saying something that could potentially alienate some of CBS’ older viewer base. Still, it’s reassuring to see that his monologues are mostly geared towards the political humour that he’s known for.

It’s no surprise, then, that his political interviews are the segment of his show with the most promise. He takes an interview strategy of trying to find the human being behind the political façade, something that most other talk shows would steer away from. Admittedly, he had trouble finding a way to make Jeb Bush seem interesting or human throughout a flat and choppy interview. In contrast his interview with Vice-President of the United States Joe Biden revealed a sense of emotional vulnerability and empathy that is rare in politicians as the two shared stories of the loved ones that they’ve lost. Biden telling anecdotes about the inherent goodness of his recently-deceased son was simultaneously heartbreaking and life-affirming, as well as something that wouldn’t seem possible on any other current late night show.

On the other hand, the celebrity interviews are the most inconsistent part of the show. Part of this comes with the territory; for whatever reason the charm that some actors give off in films doesn’t extend to the relatively more spontaneous late night format. An interview with Scarlett Johansson, for instance, ended up becoming a conversation between two people who seem nice, but have absolutely nothing interesting to say to each other.

Interviews with other people tend not to hinge on how interesting the subject is, but the quality of the questions Colbert asks, which is an essential part of being a good host. An interview with Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick, is successful entirely because Colbert peppers him with a series of incisive questions about the ethics of Uber’s business practices. Another chat with comedian Amy Schumer is successful partially because Colbert is able to play the straight man in her hilarious anecdotes. Segments like these show that Colbert is already playing in a different league than the more effusive pandering of his late night counterparts, Jimmy Fallon or Jimmy Kimmel. Part of this is the extensive experience he has from his previous show, and part is the commitment to showmanship that he clearly takes very seriously.

Most of the flaws that seem inherent to this show are due to the fact that new late night hosts are works in progress. Studios are used to buying such long contracts with them under the assurance that hosts will get better with more time. Even a seasoned veteran like Colbert has to take some time getting used to an expanded and altered format on another network. Despite first-week creaks here and there, Colbert presents the platonic ideal of what a traditional late-night show can be.

Lachine Canal
a, Features

Unearthing Montreal’s urban landscapes

by Will Burgess on

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For some students, venturing beyond the McGill bubble means going bar-hopping on Saint- Laurent or adventurously moving to the Plateau after moving out of residence. But truly understanding the city—especially without being a native citizen—is hard to do on one’s own. There’s usually a specific identity and character behind each region, and Montreal is a city that resounds in its uniqueness.

Sharing an unexplored side of Montreal with the public is one of the goals of Héritage Montreal, an independent non-governmental organization. The institute’s main mission is to advocate for sustainable urban development by balancing environmental, historical, geographical, architectural, and cultural considerations within the Greater Montreal Area.

With the development and growth of new architecture and landscape, Héritage Montreal focuses mainly on mappable geography. These landscapes might include fixed properties or be covered by urban planning instruments. The organization aims to raise awareness and awaken the curiosity of Montrealers about both the visible aspects of their city’s heritage and the hidden contexts behind it.

According to Dinu Bumbaru, the policy director of Héritage Montreal, many Montrealers are curious about the history behind the city’s landscape. To cater to this demand, Héritage Montreal created Architectours, a program that offers walking tours around the city to the public. The tours are offered as part of the organization’s efforts to inform citizens about the neighbourhoods they live in, and experience their historical and cultural significance through understanding the landscape’s origins.

Besides offering walking tours, Héritage Montreal advocates for the preservation of heritage cities and consults with the city on urban affairs. According to Bumbaru, the concern is not just with individual sites, but generally with the way the city handles its urban development.

“You could let it go—and we could burn Montreal in a couple of years—and ruin everything, without a Montreal spirit behind it,” he said. “For instance, we push for public hearings [with] l’Office du consultation publique. [We] push for a Heritage Council to be established in the city. The city is such a complex machine. It gives a chance to have a heritage clock inside that can give some hope for consistency.”

To contribute to the organization’s knowledge of preservation and to educate them, Héritage Montreal takes on summer interns. Catherine Lennartz, a World Heritage Studies master’s student at the Brandenburg University of Technology, said that the Architectours help the organization’s mission by including more Montrealers in the process of preservation and education. It’s essential to honour the historical figures whose stories took place within this culturally-rich landscape. For example, if you’re observing a building, it is not just about who built it, and what the architecture is, but also who has used it, and who it remains important for.

“For me, [the Architectours] are a question of getting Montrealers to know their city better,” said Lennartz. “Not everyone has the opportunity to learn that much about the history and the architecture of the city; and because the tours are so specific, I find it’s great for people who have maybe lived here their whole lives but never really looked at the heritage around them.”

Bumbaru himself has worked at Héritage Montreal for over 30 years, and occasionally leads tours in addition to executing the organization’s other endeavours. Born in Vancouver, Bumbaru graduated in Architecture from the Université de Montréal, and moved on to study Architectural Conservation at the University of York in the U.K. and at the International Center for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) in Rome.

“I started in 1982 […] I was hired here as part of a job creation program for graduates,” Bumbaru said. “The Quebec government had this program to support 20 weeks of work for new graduates, so they could start gaining work experience.”

After working for a few years in the organization, he took a break fin 1988 to study in Rome. Bumbaru subsequently returned to Héritage Montreal, eventually becoming executive director. But suddenly, in 1992, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recruited him overnight to assess the urgent condition of the war-torn area in the besieged city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Bumbaru was replaced as executive director during his time in Croatia, but upon returning safely, he was re-hired as policy director, his position ever since. As policy director, Bumbaru focuses the action of Héritage Montreal towards his passions: Education and advocacy.

For Bumbaru, the landscape of a city defines its heritage. It’s something each citizen must protect by being aware of the landmarks which they’re meant to preserve. Although the tours are usually accompanied by historical lessons, Bumbaru started an August tour of the Lachine Canal and surrounding areas by emphasizing that he wasn’t a historian, and that the tours naturally integrate several facets of urban landscapes.

Bumbaru highlighted the importance of allowing individuals to truly experience the tangible reality of the geography upon which they embarked.

“We’re not visiting history, we’re strolling through geography,” he said.

While leading a small group of participants, Bumbaru touched on architecture, urban planning, and geography. He also discussed the often contentious integration of industrial, recreational, and residential development alongside the many heritage locations that line historic sites like the Lachine Canal. As opposed to a lecture hall, where textbook history is inceptive, walking tours use a physical location as the literal point of departure.

“In the past, we used to say ‘The parentage of heritage was history,’” said Bumbaru. “When thinking about it a bit further, there are three dimensions to this: First, geography; second, society; and third, history.”

The tours also help to advocate for an accessible, human-friendly Montreal. While regional planners talk of “walkable cities,” Héritage Montreal has different ambitions—tours that transcend walking as a simple mode of transportation and cross over into exploring.

The Architectours are celebrating Héritage Montreal’s 40th anniversary this year by presenting “Greatest Hits,” retrospective of their most popular walking tours. Over August and September, these have included the dynamic neighbourhoods of Griffintown, Mile End, Golden Square Mile, and Côte-des-Neiges.

Despite conducting a survey of ‘greatest hits,’ this year’s Architectours failed to include perhaps one of Héritage Montreal’s most popular excursions: A tour of the infamous Silo No. 5, an abandoned grain elevator dating back to 1903, at the base of Old Port. The original idea of visiting Silo No. 5, the largest abandoned building in the city, came about during Héritage Montreal’s 35th anniversary in 2010, as a gift to the Montrealers who supported them.

Incidentally, 15 years prior, Héritage Montreal fought with the port authority over the proposed demolition of Silo No. 5.

“For [the port authority], Silo No. 5 is the equivalent of a redundant filing cabinet […] the equivalent of an office desk that is unused,” Bumbaru said. “They just want to throw it away—it’s just that it’s 800 metres long.”

Thus, bringing individuals to Silo No.5—a location with a history intertwined with that of Héritage Montreal’s—had a special significance in line with the organization’s mission.

To Bumbaru’s pleasant surprise, the tour was a massive hit with Montrealers.

“We just thought, well, this is going to interest only a few people because we were told nobody likes the Silos you know?” he said. “Nobody cares. And it took us three years to go through the waiting list [for the tour]. There was a clear demonstration that people were curious about it.”

Nonetheless, whether intentional or simply symptomatic of Montreal’s contemporary urban landscape, many of the tours are of neighbourhoods “in transformation,” including the aforementioned Lachine Canal.

“Transformation doesn’t need to be banal,” Bumbaru said. “There can be a lot of invention in that. Perhaps, in Montreal, we’ve done it in a less spectacular [way] than others. In Montreal over time, we don’t have time to do things à la Dubai, but we try to consider ourselves more avant garde. Looking at the city more in a new way, one of our slogans is élever le regard—to raise the eye.”

Stonewall cast rioting
a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Pop Rhetoric: Revisionist Stonewall nothing more than a whitewashing of queer history

by Maya Reid on

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The trailer for Roland Emmerich’s film, Stonewall, was released earlier this summer to a flurry of criticism over the blonde-haired, blue-eyed cis-gender boy it revolves around. Although the film attempts to authentically portray a dramatized version of one of the most significant events in LGBT history, it largely omits queer people of colour and transgender women, who in reality began and led the Stonewall Riots.

The trailer opens with flashy clips and audio from U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2013 inauguration speech mentioning “Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall,” as defining moments in the fight for equal rights. Set in 1960s New York City, the plot revolves around Danny Winter (Jeremy Irvine), a fictional young gay man fleeing his homophobic Midwestern small-town life to follow his dreams in Manhattan.

The actual events of Stonewall and the subsequent protests follow a strikingly different path. It was, in fact, women such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera—black and latina transgender activists, respectively—who first endured the police brutality and dehumanization that ignited the riots. At the time, the patrons of The Stonewall Inn—a gay tavern and recreational bar in New York City—were drag queens, butch lesbians, sex workers, and homeless youth—the vast majority of whom were people of colour. Because of the lack of legal protection for members of the LGBT community, the club was often subjected to police raids—but when one such raid became particularly violent, the community fought back, launching what is now considered the catalyst for the LGBT civil rights movement.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy—a transgender woman of colour and influential activist who was clubbed by police before getting arrested during the first night of riots—said in a recent interview with Autostraddle that Stonewall’s storyline was “so disappointing.”

“How dare they attempt to do this again?” Griffin Gracy said during the interview. “A few years ago they did another Stonewall movie, and I swear if I saw a black person, it had to be a shadow running against the face of somebody who was white!” 

Hollywood has a tendency to create films using this technique. Too often, stories about the struggles that minorities face are told through the manufactured lens of a white hero surrounded by white background characters. In the case of Stonewall, it is not just a matter of including more black and brown bodies in background roles to create a politically correct ratio, it is about an entire movement’s narrative being erased. Queer, and particularly transgender people of colour were not just fellow participants in the riots and protests, they were the catalyst for change, and their refusal to bend to forces of oppression sparked the organized fight for LGBT rights.

Various members of the LGBT community have spoken out in opposition to the film and an online petition to boycott the film has reached almost 25,000 signatures. The campaign website encourages people to speak out against the film because “it is time that black and brown transwomen and drag queens are recognized for their efforts in the riots throughout the nation.” 

It is important to remember that movies and media influence society as well as erasing parts of history has consequences. Movies made for entertainment—even if made with the best intentions—are still created with bias. All this being said, only the trailer of Stonewall has been released.

“I understand that following the release of our trailer there have been initial concerns about how this character’s involvement is portrayed,” Director Roland Emmerich wrote in a public post on his Facebook page. “But when this film finally comes to theaters, audiences will see that it deeply honours the real-life activists who were there.” 

It will ultimately be up to audiences to determine if that truly is the case.

Stonewall is scheduled to premiere on September 25.

a, News, SSMU

Meet the 2015-2016 SSMU executives

by Shrinkhala Dawadi, Laura Hanrahan, Aislinn Kalob, Jenna Stanwood on

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  • Kareem Ibrahim

  • Emily Boytinck

  • Lola Baraldi

  • Kimber Bialik

  • Chloe Rourke

  • Zacheriah Houston

 

a, Student Life

Reimagining Frosh

by Saloni Singh on

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During the first week of September, Montreal’s air was saturated with the enthusiasm, anticipation, and cheer that accompanied McGill’s Orientation Week for incoming first-years. In previous years, McGill’s Frosh has been criticized for its alcohol-centric activities and lack of respect for its surroundings. Building on efforts from past Frosh teams, there were concerted efforts made by Frosh coordinators this year to continue creating an enjoyable atmosphere for both participants and the local community by implementing several new initiatives, activities, and policies.

The gradual shift towards a more inclusive Frosh entailed adding more diverse and non-drinking events to the program. Both Arts and Management Frosh gave students the chance to watch Montreal’s CFL team, the Alouettes, play a game in Molson Stadium. Management students were also invited to cheer during Redbull’s soap box races, an event where local amateur racers build and race their own non-electric vehicles, while Engineering Frosh hosted a dry block party. All Frosh participants had the option to attend a throwback-themed night event with a live band on the same night as the EDM concert at New City Gas, in response to requests for more diverse night events and music selection. Lastly, the beer tent on Lower Field was drastically reduced to lesson the focus on alcohol.

While inclusivity among Frosh participants was important, there was another group of people who were considered thoroughly in the process: The Milton-Parc community. In the past, the area’s residents have had to bear loud cheers, unruly behaviour, and party music at all hours of the day during Frosh Week. This year, policies were implemented to foster a respectful relationship between Frosh and its surrounding environment. Letters were mailed to the members of the Milton-Parc community outling SSMU’s commitment to minimizing disruptions, and offering contact information should disrespectful behaviour arise. Loud and offensive chants were banned from being taught and used, a policy that had been implemented in the past years.  Additionally, a better relationship with the community was cultivated through social events. 

“We organized our first ever potluck barbecue for the Milton-Parc community citizens,” Executive Director of Management Frosh Joshua Schulman, explained. “With regards to the [Service de la Police de la Ville de Montreal], we met with [SPVM] beforehand to explain our schedules to make sure all our participants were safe.”

Having classes start on Friday also meant that major changes to the week’s programming needed to be made. In response, there was an extra day of Frosh that made activities more spaced out and with more downtime in the mornings to rest.

“We obviously did not want to incentivize students to not go to class, so we kept all Thursday night events low-key and on the day of class, the only event on Friday was a games and inflatable day on lower field,” Lola Baraldi, Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President Internal, said. “It was planned so students could trickle in and out between classes […] and faculty-specific events picked up once classes finished […] It led to a lot more alternative and inclusive programming.”

A final addition to Frosh this year was the introduction of Red Frogs at an event. Red Frogs is a peer support network for young people who stay fully sober at events and act as a harm reduction service. They offered  support at social events and educated students on safe partying behaviour. Red Frogs appeared at the majority of Frosh events where they gave out water, granola bars and sunscreen, and provided a safe space to take breaks from the madness of Frosh.

As Frosh continues on its transition from its drinking-centered past to a more inclusive present, organizers and staff hope to keep pushing forward changes that assure Orientation Week remains a positive memory in the minds of future McGill students. 

 

a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

2015 Emmy Predictions

by Morgan Alexander, Christopher Lutes, and Steffen Engling on

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The 2015 Emmy nominees are so full of familiar faces to the degree that the newcomers are negligible. When picking winners, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) tends to keep awarding old favourites or layers accolades on one standout newbie. To acknowledge both Emmy traditions and hopes-against-hope, the Tribune has made its predictions for this years big winners, and added in arguments for the unlikely favourite.

Best Comedy Series

Will win: Veep

This year, the real question is: Who can prevent Modern Family from winning an unprecedented sixth consecutive Emmy? Veep seems to be an obvious candidate. The show, which has been poking fun at Washington’s often messy political business since 2012, seems to get better with each new season. Having been nominated every year since its debut, the time might be just about right to pick up an award.

Should win: Parks and Recreation

It seems hard to believe that Parks and Recreation has not won a single Emmy. After all, the show has been a staple of primetime comedy since 2008 and has enjoyed critical acclaim as well. The ATAS tends to snub everything that is in any way related to Amy Poehler, so this will probably be another year without recognition for this great show.

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Will win: Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent

Giving a performance that displays a level of depth and melancholy that didn’t seem possible from this usually-comedic actor, Tambor shines in his role playing a man who decides to transition to become a woman late in life. Although it won’t be a flashy enough performance for some voters, the importance and impact of a role like this will not be lost on the committee at large

Should win: Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent

Sometimes a performance is so good that even the Emmys can’t mess it up. This is one of those perception-altering performances that will be talked about for years to come.

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Will win: Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep

The embodiment of the expression “old habits die hard,” Louis-Dreyus is slated to have a four-peat win for her role in Veep. At this point giving the award to Louis-Dreyfus feels more like paying a yearly rent check, but if Bryan Cranston can win this often, so can she.

Should win: Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation

Now that Parks and Recreation has finished, this is Poehler’s last chance to snag the award. We expect the show to act towards Poehler the same way it did towards Steve Carrell at the end of The Office, leaving her high and dry in spite of seven hilarious seasons.

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Will win: Tituss Burgess – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

The musical stylings of Burgess as the effeminate, fame-hungry Titus Andromendon in Peeno Noir, an ode to black penis, should be enough to earn him an Emmy. It is Burgess’ ability to add seriousness and stability to a character designed to be outlandish and untamable that proves this breakout actor is deserving of the award.

Should win: Tituss Burgess – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

The Titus Andromendon character was met with overwhelming adoration online. An entire cult following committed to Burgess’ memorable conviction and fresh relatability can’t be wrong.

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Will win: Allison Janney – Mom

Inertia is the key factor here: When somebody gets awarded for a show relatively early in its run, they tend to stay a winner until the show falls out of favour. Combined with the fact that Allsion Janney is a great actress—as well as  a perennial Emmy favorite (if she wins, it’ll be her seventh acting Emmy)—this award is hers to lose.

Should win: Anna Chlumsky – Veep

Chlumsky, playing the vice president’s long-suffering chief-of-staff, has been doing some of the most subtly compelling character work on television. Every physical tic and line reading serves to create a fully-realized character who could have easily been played as one-note unlikeable.

Best Drama Series

Will win: Mad Men

Despite its arguable decline in quality in its later seasons, Mad Men saw a late-run return to form as the show sped up Don Draper’s inevitable fall from grace. The fact that Emmy voters are fond of awarding a show in its final year of eligibility (see Breaking Bad last year) means Mad Men is likely to take a final victory lap.

Should win: Orange is the New Black

Mad Men was great, but Orange is the New Black’s second season was one of the best stretches of television in recent memory. The heightened sense of drama and history that Lorraine Toussaint’s Vee brought to the show elevated what was already a series with a fantastic ensemble cast and sense of place.

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Will win: Jon Hamm – Mad Men

This should be the year that Hamm finally wins a long overdue Emmy. While Mad Men as a whole has snatched numerous Emmys, the front man himself actually never won despite being nominated every year since 2008. In his parting year as Don Draper, it seems almost inevitable that the Academy finally acknowledges his performance.

Should win: Jeff Daniels – The Newsroom

Yes, Jeff Daniels already won in 2013 and yes, The Newsroom’s final season might have had its weak points. But awarding Daniels would be a gesture to honour a show that presented an idea how a different version of the media circus could look. Plus, everyone who saw the season finale would be hard-pressed not to wish the whole cast more recognition.

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Will win: Taraji P. Henson – Empire

Typically acting awards go to the performances that feature the most acting—not necessarily the best. Such is the case with Henson’s admittedly fun, broad performance as the conniving matriarch of Empire’s central family. Combined with the zeitgeist appeal of Empire, this award seems close to a sure thing.

Should win: Elisabeth Moss – Mad Men

So far, Mad Men has been nominated for 31 acting Emmys, but has won none of them. This is a particular travesty with Elisabeth Moss, who has had one of the most satisfying character arcs in television playing Peggy Olsen’s transformation from a meek secretary to a prominent copywriter.

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Will win: Jonathan Banks – Better Call Saul

Already nominated for the same role in Breaking Bad, Jonathan Banks is back to take home the award for his reprisal of Mike Ehrmantraut. Unlike the predictions for some other categories, this win isn’t a clear call—newcomer Ben Mendelsohn of Bloodline has already been making waves among expert predictors—but expect Banks to float along with expected love for Better Call Saul.

Should win: Jim Carter – Downton Abbey

On his fourth nomination for the role of Mr. Carson, Carter has been soundly ignored this Emmy season by all but the nominating committee. His brilliant portrayal of a butler being forced to confront changing gender roles within the Abbey provides a dramatic, historically riveting glimpse into the overlooked lives of those affected by the First World War. He is deserving of more than a round of nominations.

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Will win: ?????

It’s a toss-up. This is the year of multiple returning actresses all in the roles of strong supporting female characters. Christine Baranski is back for her role in The Good Wife, along with Joanne Froggett for Downton Abbey and Christina Hendricks in Mad Men. Two Game of Thrones actresses along with Uzo Aduba of Orange is the New Black round out the nominations. It’s anyone’s game, excluding Emilia Clarke, who just isn’t at the same talent level of her competitors.

Should win: Christina Hendricks – Mad Men

Everyone who was nominated for this award clearly has the potential to win, but nobody deserves it like Hendricks does. The six-time nominee often stands in the shadow of her equally winless co-star Jon Hamm; but her portrayal of Joan Harris was mesmerizing and worthy of full recognition.

a, Opinion

Commentary: Student-Run Cafeteria is risky business

by Zachary Carson on

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In additin to The Nest, a new, yet-to-be-named food provider has opened in the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) cafeteria this Fall. Both are student-run operations and together make up the Student-Run Café (SRC). This new addition is part of a larger plan by SSMU to move away from commercial tenants in the SSMU Building and towards student-run food providers.

The focus of a student-run food provider should be to offer affordable, healthy food that accommodates a wide variety of dietary needs and preferences. But given SSMU’s current financial state, the new SRC must make money. SSMU Vice-President (Finance and Operations) Zacheriah Houston told the Tribune that SSMU was giving up a guaranteed revenue of rent paid by commercial tenants for revenue that hinges on the new SRC’s profitability. He stated that he doesn’t foresee the SRC running a deficit similar to the $20,000 one that it experienced in Winter 2014, its first semester of operation, saying that SSMU has budgeted the new operation to run on a surplus, and that running a deficit is not an option. This is an alarming statement, as there is ample reason to be skeptical of the new SRC’s ability to generate revenue.

The SRC and the larger move towards student-run food providers present a tradeoff. On one hand, the change benefits students by ensuring that food providers on campus are open to student consultation and mandated with providing local and diet-sensitive options. On the other, such improvements are at the cost of lost guaranteed revenue to SSMU through rent, which could mean a potential loss of services for students. SSMU has already had to correct accounting errors, entailing a budget revision. SSMU is currently not in a position to lose any revenue, making the opening of another student-run operation a well-intentioned, but poorly-timed endeavour.

The opening of another student-run operation a well-intentioned, but poorly-timed endeavour.

In its current form, the SRC will face stiff competition on campus. In terms of potential to generate rent, the food operations’ location is highly valuable to SSMU. But it has low visibility to students, who may prefer other options closer to their classes and activities. Simply put, students don’t know it’s there. SNAX, by contrast, resides in a campus thoroughfare and as a result enjoys a steady stream of caffeine-hungry students. The new portion of the SRC is offering selections available at most large McGill Food and Dining Service (MFDS) locations, but does not accept the McGill meal plan. At the moment, it is a less convenient, less original option.

As long as The Nest retains its mandate as a sustainability hub, it will likely either run another deficit or, at best, break even. If this is the case, any revenue generated from the SRC will have to come from its new portion. And even if the SRC does generate revenue, if it is less than the rent previously paid to SSMU commercial tenants, then SSMU will have lost money.

While student consultation may help to balance out the costs of visiting the SRC by offering products not found elsewhere on campus, it is unlikely to be a total remedy. While the SRC currently intends to offer less expensive options, only time will tell whether students want to purchase items they can get more easily elsewhere.

Student consultation will ensure that the SRC provides a product that is demanded on campus. The caveat is that SSMU will rely on it to generate a sufficient revenue stream, otherwise other services may suffer. These two goals are not necessarily irreconcilable; however, in the case of the new SRC seem highly unlikely.

a, Art, Arts & Entertainment

If you die in real life, do you die on Facebook?

by Luka Ciklovan on

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From the highly nuanced political arguments that inhabit its comment sections, to the hordes of cuddly critters that distract us from our ever-present deadlines and chores, Facebook is undeniably an important aspect of our modern lives. Regardless of whether you are a casual user, dabbling in the occasional post, or a full-fledged comment crusader, Facebook has forever changed our relationship towards the world we inhabit. Mark Zuckerberg’s brainchild, however, reaches far beyond the realm of the living. “Commemorative” Facebook accounts are the central focus of this fall’s creepy but brilliant exhibit at the McCord Museum, which are accounts of deceased users saved for the purpose of indexing a comprehensive human database. 

Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal, a contemporary photography biennial, and the McCord Museum, an institution that frequently explores the interaction between past and present, join forces this fall to display the eerie consequences of digital immortality in After Faceb00k: In Loving Memory <3. It sets out to explore the ethics of ‘virtual soul-keeping.’ While humans have historically sought to enshrine themselves in other worlds, whether in the form of death masks, effigies, and other sorts of funerary art, the Facebook page too can be seen as a vehicle for remembering the dead and immortalizing them in the confines of cyberspace. 

The exhibit defines itself as reflecting a ‘post-photography’ culture; where the traditional, purely aesthetic mode of appreciating photography has been replaced by prioritizing cultural, social, and political communication. These “commemorative” Facebook pages are rather questionable, but somehow perfect, medium with which to mourn the dead in our hyper-connected society.  

Through a collaborative effort of numerous artists, who scanned hundreds of real Facebook profiles, the McCord Museum now houses perhaps the world’s first digital graveyard, and it is, as the disclaimer at its entrance notes, definitely not for the faint of heart. Upon entering the museum and following seemingly innocent emoticons towards the exhibit, the reality and dread of the espoused ‘post-photographic’ condition truly sets in. Silent, stone tombstones are replaced by droning data machines. Epitaphs are replaced by Facebook photos of the deceased that are shown on digital displays. 

Even the funeral procession itself is replaced—or rather infinitely perpetuated—by hundreds of comments and condolences for the departed. Though on the surface the exhibit may have resembled a weirdly modern graveyard, it ultimately did not succeed in conveying the somber sense of respect that typically accompanies such places. However, this is most likely intentional to reflect the lack of sentiment our society now contends with.

A closer look at each grave’s computer screen, something unavoidable due to the awkward, facedown positioning of each monitor, sheds some light on the true character of these “commemorative” Facebook pages. Each monitor has not one, but numerous Facebook profiles tabbed open at the same time. Every five seconds or so, before fully processing all of the photos, comments, and people involved in the profile, the display changes to an entirely different set of Facebook profiles. Moreover, monitors often randomly flash, blur all the different Facebook pages together in a psychedelic fashion, or even all simultaneously turn off to leave the viewer in near complete darkness. These artistic choices portray the  “commemorative” Facebook page in a questionable light; the fragmented and often confusing assortment of images leads viewers believe that there is no individuality, or uniqueness, to each of the deceased parties. Any form of connection or respect one might have with a set of images is immediately washed away by the hundreds about to pop up or by the random whims of faulty technology. 

While unfortunately being a one room exhibit, After Faceb00k: In loving memory <3 is nonetheless a small piece that packs a powerful existential punch. 

The exhibit is on display from Sept 10, 2015, up until January 10, 2016, and is located at the McCord Museum at 690 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC, H3A 1E9. Admission is free.

a, Science & Technology

Can you change your mind?

by Andy Wang on

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Creating Frankenstein’s monster—taking bits and pieces from different people to make a whole—is an idea conceived by fiction, not real-life; however, Dr. Sergio Canavero, Italian neurosurgeon, plans to undertake what he describes as the first human head transplantation with spinal linkage.    

This venture, named The Head Anastomosis Venture (HEAVEN), was published in 2013 in the International Journal of Neurosurgery and Neurosciences. The project was initially met with cynicism from the medical community and failed to garner any significant media coverage. As the project moved forward, however, more and more people, professional and public alike, began to display interest. After acquiring a willing patient—Russian computer programmer Valery Spiridonov, who is currently suffering from Werdnig-Hoffman disease, a type of spinal muscular atrophy—Canavero announced a definitive operation date—December 2017. 

“The only thing I feel is a sense of pleasant impatience,” Spiridonov explained in an interview for Central European News (CEN). “Like I have been preparing for something important all my life and it is starting to happen.”

Indeed, with an imminent death sentence imprinted onto his genome, Canavero is perhaps Spiridonov’s only option. 

Following Canavero’s announcement, Chinese doctor Ren Xiaoping from Harbin Medical University announced his support for the project. Initially a researcher at Chicago’s Loyola University, Ren decided to pursue his career in China due to more government support for his research. Overall, he has performed over 1,000 head transplantations on mice. 

Doing this on humans, however, will be much more difficult admits Canavero.

“The greatest technical hurdle to such endeavour is, of course, the reconnection of the donor’s and recipient’s spinal cords,” wrote Canavero in his HEAVEN outline.

In 1970, Dr. Robert White of Case Western Reserve University performed a head transplant on a monkey. While White’s monkey was able to smell, taste, hear, and see the world around it, and even at times attempted to bite some of the staff, it could not move any body part located below the neck, the Cleveland Scene reported in 1999.

Canavero plans to tackle the problem of reconnection of nerve tissue from the transplanted head to the assigned body in three ways. First, he plans on using some of the most precise medical cutting devices to-date: Either a specially fashioned diamond microtomic snare-blade or a nanoknife made of a thin layer of silicon nitride with a nanometer sharp cutting edge. These tools will decrease the amount of force required in severing the spinal cord to roughly 10 Newtons (N), minimizing the mechanical damage done to the neurons and the surrounding tissue. To put matters into perspective, the average force experienced during a spinal injury is 26000 N. Next he will then apply polyethylene glycol (PEG) immediately following the procedure to facilitate neuronal reattachment. Finally, the patient will be put in a chemically induced coma for roughly one month allowing neural connections to be reestablished.

“The current medical technology is not advanced enough for us to even start thinking about head transplantation,” McGill Biology Professor Joseph Alan Dent explained.

Despite Canavero’s modifications to the procedure, many still doubt his chances of success.

“The current medical technology is not advanced enough for us to even start thinking about head transplantation,” explained McGill Associate Biology Professor Joseph Alan Dent.

Despite Canavero’s modifications to the procedure, many still doubt his chances of success. 

“The current medical technology is not advanced enough for us to even start thinking about head transplantation,” McGill Biology Professor Joseph Alan Dent explained.

Despite the pervasive controversy surrounding the subject, Dent does not feel that there are any significant ethical dilemmas associated with this procedure, seeing as it is–in principle–no different than a heart or a lung transplant.

In light of the ethical considerations surrounding this operation, it is unlikely that the U.S. will volunteer as host country. On the other hand, China is more than willing to invite Canavero and HEAVEN into its borders. 

“China is going to do it. I can already tell you this,” Canavero claimed in an interview with The Daily Mail.

There is still much to be done in the way of scientific research and trials for this procedure to be clinically viable. Even Canavero admitted that the success rate for his procedure would be roughly 10 to 15 per cent. 

a, Science & Technology

Getting into the app game

by Chloe Nevitt on

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Entering the app world is equal parts intimidating and exciting. McGill alumnus Nathaniel Blumer (BSc. Computer Science 2013) has developed several apps since graduating from McGill. He’s worked for private contractors in Canada and the U.S., and has even received offers for his apps from multinational companies. His most recent venture, an app called StudyBuddy, is fine-tuned to the needs of students. The path to success, he explains, is most definitely not an easy one.

McGill Tribune (MT): You developed this app StudyBuddy; can you tell me exactly what it’s used for?

Nathaniel Blumer (NB): It was an idea I had while at McGill, and really just didn’t know how to do it. I didn’t know how to make apps and I didn’t have the time because a degree at McGill, as everyone here knows, is tiresome and takes up a lot of your time [laughs]. So the StudyBuddy app—very simple principle—you put in what you’re studying and it shows you people nearby studying similar things or, ideally, your course. And then you can message them and say “Hey, are you working on the assignment?” Or, if it’s a class you don’t know anyone in, like [those in] Leacock 132, this can be a way for people to reach out and find someone working on the same thing.

 MT: Did you find that there was a need for [an app like this one] when you were in university? And [did that] push you to create this app?

NB: That was mostly it. There was a lot of times when I was working on an assignment in a busy library and I saw people that looked familiar but I wasn’t sure if they were actually in my class [….] So when I thought of StudyBuddy, I thought it’d be great if I could type in, you know, ‘computer science,’ and find people nearby who were also studying computer science or had taken the class and then reach out to them.

MT: While you were at McGill, did you ever do any internships? Did you start this process during university?

NB: I wish I had. I actually [recently] did a project with one of my old professors who needed an app made and I volunteered. There wasn’t much at McGill back in the day. I know they just started a web design course—McGill has finally [gotten] with the times and has a course to give you the basics and get you on your way.

MT: Where did you go to find other tools, if you were to give references to a first-time app-maker?

NB: There’s this great resource that helped me a lot called the Internet [laughs] and YouTube. That’s where I really had to start. For me, the best way was to think—I want to make an app, I want it to have this feature, how do I do this for iPhone—[and then I’d look it up online.]

MT: What language did you use? Did you start with one and switch to another, or have you been using the same coding skills the whole time?

NB: A lot of programming when it comes to web and mobile development has a lot of languages. I decided to specialize in Apple. I use their language, called Objective C. 

MT: Traditionally apps were created either on a web-based design [and] had a web-interface, similar to Facebook, versus an exclusive ‘app-esque’ format. Do you have a preference for either of these? Do you think one is better than another?

NB: Before there was an app store and people could make their own apps, Apple had started with these mobile apps that were basically websites. Once the App Store came out, you could have an app that worked on a specific phone. [Web-designed apps] could be the future, but I’ve always found that an app always works better when it was designed for the phone it’s on. It’s one size fits all versus [having] more of a custom fit.

MT: What kind of hurdles can you anticipate meeting as an app developer?

NB: A developer will always hit a roadblock that takes hours or days to solve. Thankfully, these days [app-making is] quite welcoming of an industry. [There are] lots of services that are free. I love this one service [called] Parse. It’s basically a server that stores all your data [and] it’s totally free—until you reach x amount of users or x amount of traffic and then you have to pay.

MT: How and why do you think certain apps become through-the-roof successful?

NB: Sheer luck combined with a need. Instagram, Uber, Airbnb—if we think about Angry Birds, all these [apps] had competitors, [because] when a need exists, everyone jumps on it. [Then,] you get one guy that stands out, either they have a great marketing campaign or slogan. Uber, back in the day, spent a month giving free rides. [And] then you’re the guy. [On the other hand,] if you’re lucky enough to find a real need before everyone else, [it’s] a matter of figuring out how you’re going to get your idea out there.

MT: Finally, if you had words of wisdom to impart on an interested student about app development, what would you tell them?

NB: It’s a lot of fun and it’s very easy to be passionate about it. Some of the things you have to worry about [is] ‘How long are you willing to go before making any money.’ There is a bit of a learning curve to get into new industry and a new way of making things. Overall, I’ve loved it. I’ve had setbacks; I’ve had apps that go nowhere [or] people that don’t pay. You just have to be ready to put in a lot of hours. It’s a lot of fun overall; I’ve always wanted to do it, and when I was here, I didn’t have the time, and I was scared to make the leap and just do it. Once I did it [though,] no regrets. 

Blumer’s survival guide for new app developers

RayWenderlich: Go here for amazing tutorials.

GitHub: Commonly used in the industry to backup code, it is also filled with free, helpful, open source code to make everyone’s life easier.

StackOverflow: No developer will be unaware of this community-run Q&A forum that is a real lifesaver.

Parse: Basic services for any project: Push Notifications, server, user sign-up/login, and analytic information.

Helpshift: Customer service.

Branch: Marketing analysis and management.

Fabric: Crash reports.

NSHipster: Weekly blog on subtle iOS topics that are often overlooked.

LaunchKit: Creates and hosts a simple website for your app, creates screenshots for the App Store, and sends notifications when a new app review is given

Notman House: Montreal-based technology hub. Good for meeting other people in the industry.

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