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Science & Technology

CogSURF connects minds, empowering the next generation of cognitive scientists

by Michelle Yankovsky on

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The Cognitive Science Undergraduate Research Forum (CogSURF), Montreal’s first undergraduate-led conference of its kind, will host its inaugural event on Feb. 27 at the University Centre. This event aims to showcase undergraduate talent and break down the barriers to open science for undergraduate students across Montreal. With over 340 registrations, CogSURF will offer a day filled with presentations, networking opportunities, and showcases of research disciplines across the cognitive sciences.

Le Thuy Duong Nguyen, a U3 student in McGill’s Honours in Cognitive Science program and executive chair of CogSURF, began developing the conference in July 2024, where she assembled an executive board of undergraduate students from McGill.

“I personally found my passion for science and research through going to open conferences,” Nguyen said in an interview with The Tribune. “This was really a big mission of mine—to create something that would be accessible to all levels, universities, and disciplines to converge at one big event.”

Maria Lagakos, CogSURF’s executive co-director of partnerships and fellow U3 Honours in Cognitive Science student, explained some of the difficulties in the early stages of developing CogSURF.

“We really did this from the ground up,” Lagakos said in an interview with The Tribune. “As undergraduate students, we’ve had limited experience with conferences [….] It’s a little bit harder usually for undergrads to get involved in these large-scale conferences.”

Nguyen also discussed the development of CogSURF’s slogan: Connecting Minds, Making Waves.

“It’s been a really fun experience coming up with our slogan, which is really integral to our mission,” Nguyen said. “The logo itself has been a long process in the making. We went through so many iterations, and converged on this one where different waves represent different disciplines that are converging at this one conference.”

The event will open with a speech by Nguyen, followed by a presentation from keynote speaker Nancy Kanwisher, a professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT.

“[Kanwisher] is my absolute role model and scientific hero,” Nguyen expressed, reflecting on how Kanwisher presented at one of the very first conferences Nguyen attended, sparking her interest in cognitive science research.

Afterward, there will be a flash talk session, where undergraduate students showcase their research in three-minute thesis-style presentations. Following lunch, CogSURF will hold a poster presentation session where 30 committee-selected undergraduate students will present their innovations, after which another flash talk session will take place. The day will also include a panel discussion featuring experts from a wide range of disciplines and institutions, including Ian Gold, Karim Jerbi, Doina Precup, Stevan Harnad, and Charles Reiss.

“I think we have top-notch speakers. This is my ideal panel scenario, and I’m really excited for it,” Nguyen said.

The closing ceremony will then announce the award recipients, and to commemorate the evening, CogSURF will host a ‘5 à 7’ networking event at the McGill Faculty Club.

Benjamin Lévesque-Kinder, a third-year undergraduate student in McGill’s Neuroscience program and executive co-director of partnerships at CogSURF, spoke about the future of the organization.

“Right now we’re hosting [CogSURF] at McGill, but we would really love to see it hosted by UdeM, Concordia, and UQÀM, in a way that most conferences do, where they jump around [locations],” Levesque-Kinder said in an interview with The Tribune. “The host institution brings their own perspective and intellectual background into it.”

The executives emphasized the importance of inter-university collaborations, which they believe is essential for CogSURF to become an annual conference attracting students from across Canada and beyond. CogSURF serves as an important step for undergraduate students to get involved in open science research, increasing accessibility and transparency in the cognitive sciences field.

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Fairies square off against lords in ‘Iolanthe’

by Ella Paulin on

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From Feb. 14-22, the McGill Savoy Society brought Gilbert and Sullivan’s 1882 comic opera, Iolanthe, to life at Theatre Plaza. The show follows young shepherd Strephon (Matthew Erskine, BA 2022), and his beloved Phyllis (Aniela Stanek, U0 Arts). After he joyfully announces their engagement, a few wrinkles become apparent: She is a ward of the state, and he is just a lowly shepherd (even if he is secretly a fairy). When the engagement is rejected by parliament, he does what any half-fey suitor would do, and calls in his mother’s company of fairies. The company—that apparently is the collective noun for fairies—in turn does what any company of fairies would do, and infiltrates the British House of Peers.

“What makes Iolanthe special is its magic,” Erskine told The Tribune. “It’s a show about fairies, half-fairy, half-mortal shepherds, and sneering peers. It’s just imbued with such magic and wonders.”

The story unravels from there, by turns tragic and comic, chronicling the rising and falling fortunes of our star-crossed lovers. 

“Iolanthe is a really amazing operetta because it threads that line between a really great comedy and also some dark and tragic bits that you don’t see in a lot of comic operas,” Michael Quinsey, BA 2022 and Stage Director of the production, commented. “You have some nice dark music that’s a lot of fun to work with, and on top of that, there’s some huge energetic ensembles that are just so much fun to put together on stage.”

Unfortunately for Strephon, while he is scheming how to gain permission for the engagement, Phyllis spots him with his fairy mother—who looks much younger than she really is—and assumes that he is flirting with her. 

“She’s a girl’s girl. I feel like she’s very in love with both herself and Strephon,” Stanek said about her character. “She’s in her own little world, […] but by the end of the show, she’s become a lot more accepting of other people.”

A particularly energetic turning point comes towards the end of the first act, as Strephon is inducted into the House of Peers, as part of the fairies’ master plan. In an eerily current turn of events, our hero is suddenly vested with complete control to both make and approve laws. But fear not! Rather than slashing foreign aid budgets, he directs his unbridled executive power towards the noble aims of more lenient sentencing for criminals and support for the poor. 

Unfortunately, even the satisfaction of a well-implemented social welfare policy is not enough to fill the woman-sized hole in Strephon’s heart, and he pines after Phyllis hopelessly.

As it turns out, Strephon is not the only one pining away—the Lord Chancellor (Samuel Valentim-Gervais) also has eyes for Phyllis. When she rejects him (and all of her other suitors, for that matter), the Chancellor spirals into despair, delivering a truly impressive patter song on a timeless theme: Bedrot. Reassuringly, it seems that even the Victorians couldn’t get out of bed, as he bemoans his unrequited love with his faithful teddy bear. 

The second act culminates with an aria from Strephon’s fairy mother, Iolanthe, strikingly moving after the comedic first act, in which she sacrifices her own life in a selfless plea for her son’s marriage rights. Luckily for the characters, her tragic sacrifice is brief, and the Fairy Queen (Ashley Bissonnette) collaborates with the House of Peers to revise all necessary rules in order to save Iolanthe’s life, approve the marriage between Strephon and Phyllis, and pair up all the rest of the fairies with parliamentarian partners. 

With all of the conflicts simultaneously resolved by the Fairy Queen, whose bouncy incompetence is a perfect equal and opposite to the pomp and circumstance of the Lords, they all dance off stage in a fittingly whimsical finale for a thoroughly whimsical production. 

Iolanthe was onstage at Theatre Plaza from Feb. 14-22.

News, SSMU

SSMU Executive candidates talk transparency between students and admin at debate

by Amelia H. Clark on

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The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)’s candidates’ debate for the Winter 2025 election took place on Feb. 18, with eight of 10 listed candidates for the Executive Committee in attendance. The virtual event comes ahead of the election, which will take place from Feb. 21 to March 7. Each applicant independently answered questions submitted by current executives, student unions on campus, and undergraduate attendees before engaging in debate with their opponent. 

The Vice-President (VP) Finance candidates were the first slotted to debate, but as neither Dylan Seiler nor John Vogel was present, the debate moved on to the role of VP University Affairs.

As Susan Aloudat is running for the position unopposed, the debate portion of her presentation was skipped. Aloudat explained she intends to mediate issues between the student body and McGill administration by encouraging student participation in SSMU elections and referendums. The result of these votes, she said, creates empirical evidence of what undergraduates want, which she believes is the best tool to compel the administration to support student initiatives. 

The current VP Internal Zeena Zahidah is running for re-election unopposed. She explained that she intends to navigate moments of turmoil for SSMU by prioritizing transparency between students and the Board of Directors. Zahidah remarked that turmoil arises when student newspapers write what she claimed to be misleading headlines and articles about the student union. She cited that this could be a result of issues in SSMU’s transparency regarding their internal proceedings. 

The night then turned to candidate debates as VP External hopefuls, Seraphina Crema Black and Jaanashee Punjabi, began their introductions. 

Black stated that as a student senator and a Legislative Council member, she has experience advocating for students to university administration. If elected, she intends to strengthen McGill’s relationship with other universities across Canada and Quebec to form a united front against tuition hikes. She also intends to advocate for all student activist groups across campus equally, disregarding any personal preferences or biases she herself may hold. 

Punjabi said her experience as a Sustainability Commissioner and a member of the Legislative Council has given her insight into SSMU’s potential to create change on campus. As VP External, she claimed she would promote collaboration between governing bodies and advocacy groups so that SSMU may better represent students’ voices on campus and beyond.

A student submitted a question online asking how both plan to represent activist and community groups on campus to McGill administration. 

“I’m very dedicated to remaining impartial, leaving my own positionality behind, and really listening to the student body,” Black said. “Whatever I believe has nothing to do with that. It is my duty to represent their opinions and their needs best.”

“I believe that communication and transparency is the most important,” Punjabi said. “Furthermore, making sure to take note of what needs to be represented at different organizational levels […] and making sure everyone is equally heard and demands and expectations are met. It’s part of my platform, and one of the main reasons, the biggest reason, I’m running.” 

Next, the two candidates for VP Student Life, Hamza Abu Alkhair and Raihaana Adira, introduced their platforms. 

Abu Alkhair stated that his three goals as the VP Student Life would be to increase visibility and collaboration among clubs on campus, as well as simplify their logistics. He also noted that as the current Director of Clubs and Services—a role which took on the bulk of the VP Student Life portfolio amidst the position’s ongoing vacancy—he is already familiar with the responsibilities of the position.

“I’m ensuring that I’m interacting a lot with the constituents, the clubs themselves, and the people who want to apply for those clubs,” Abu Alkhair said. “I created a rubric as well that assesses the finances [and] alignment with campus policies and a few other things which do make the [club status approval] process faster for both me and the club.”

Adira’s platform is focused on improving undergraduates’ mental health by supporting student groups and grassroots organizations which provide resources and assistance on campus. 

“I want to really focus on mental health supports and advertising resources like the Peer Support Center, because if students are struggling with their mental health, they can’t engage in other SSMU-related activities,” Adira said. 

Kareem El-Hosini, who is running unopposed for VP Sustainability and Operations, then presented his platform, drawing attention to wasted spaces in university buildings and unaffordable food options on campus. This is El-Hosini’s second bid for the role as the results of his first run in the November by-election were nullified due to a lack of voter engagement.

The debate concluded with a presentation from current SSMU President Dymetri Taylor, who is currently running for re-election unopposed. His former opponent, Sarah Abdulkarim, was disqualified from the race due to a lack of administrative approval allowing her to extend her degree beyond 120 academic credits. Taylor stated that he has three main goals for next year, should he be elected: Improving governance by working with a consultant, increasing student solidarity, and creating more efficient processes for conducting business between the society and its clubs and services.

Throughout the debate, 10 students were in the audience. Taylor acknowledged this low attendance, and the low voter turn-out of past SSMU elections, in a written statement to The Tribune. 

“I think students who vote will already participate. The issue is that there is more general student disinterest in the electoral process,” Taylor wrote. “For example, 1,000 students have unsubscribed from receiving the simply voting emails, which is equivalent to signing away one’s right to have their voice heard. It’s, frankly, quite worrisome.”

Hockey, Sports

The Tribune’s sports highlights of the week

by Zain Ahmed on

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International: Canada clinches the 4 Nations Trophy 

In a finish that perfectly encapsulated the spirit of international hockey, Team Canada secured a pulsating 3-2 overtime victory over Team USA on the back of a show-stopping finish from number 97, centre Connor McDavid. In the stands and across the country, the crowd went wild. 

Carving their route to the final, Canada defeated Finland 5-3 and Sweden 4-3 in two back-and-forth showstopping games, but fell short 3-1 to Team USA in their last preliminary fixture. Within nine seconds of the opening buzzer, both Brady and Matthew Tkachuk—brothers from the U.S.—as well as Brandon Hagel of Canada saw the sin bin for dropping their gloves and letting the fireworks rip. Canada could not come away with victory—that is, until the final. 

Canada centre Nathan MacKinnon kicked off the scoring in the first period with a nifty wrist shot that nestled into the back of the net. Shortly after, though, USA enforcer Brady Tkachuk tapped in the puck to level the score. The back-and-forth affair saw momentum swings that kept fans on the edge of their seats, with neither team able to establish more than a one-goal advantage throughout regulation time. Midway through the second period, defenseman Jake Sanderson hurled the puck at goal, and it flew in off a slight deflection for a 2-1 lead for the USA. Every shot and every save seemed to echo with championship implications. And that is exactly how it went, with USA centre Sam Bennett shelving an assist from right winger Mitchell Marner to tie the game up in the latter stage of period two. 

In the end, it took sudden death overtime to separate the evenly matched sides, with Canada finding that extra gear when it mattered most. With the clock creeping down, at the eight-minute mark of overtime, Team Canada found a moment of brilliance. Fans had their hearts in their mouths as McDavid screamed up the ice to get in position in front of the net. Marner’s hard work in the left corner of the USA defensive area culminated in a smooth flick pass back into the middle of the ice to McDavid, who controlled the puck, pulled back, and released his shot. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The puck crashed into the net, and Canadians all around the world unleashed a collective cheer. 

After a tumultuous month for Canadians in the political sphere following threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, this win was momentous, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remarking to the U.S.: “You can’t take our country—and you can’t take our game.”

McGill: Redbirds hockey wrestle a win in the quarter-finals 

In a tense quarter-final matchup, the fourth-place McGill Redbirds Hockey secured a crucial 2-1 victory over the fifth-ranked Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Patriotes in Laval on Wednesday night. Right winger Charles-Antoine Dumont emerged as the hero, netting the game-winning shot with just over three minutes remaining in regulation. 

The game, which started 40 minutes late due to a shattered glass pane during warm-ups, showcased McGill’s defensive prowess as they nullified the UQTR attack through each period. Although neither team scored within the first period, forward Alexandre Gagnon opened the scoring midway through the second period, asserting his dominance and swinging momentum in McGill’s favour. 

Away days always come with a bit more than what meets the eye, and this game was no smooth skating. UQTR’s forward, Felix Lafrance, evened the score on a power play late in the second, and after a serious battle in the UQTR defensive end, Dumont’s clutch goal off a rebound from centre Xavier Fortin sealed the win for the Redbirds. Goaltender Alexis Shank stood strong with 21 saves, giving McGill their fifth win in six meetings with UQTR this season.The Redbirds proceeded to capitalize on their lead with a dominant 5-2 victory away at Trois-Rivières, sweeping the series and skating proudly into a league semi-final series against Concordia Stingers starting on Feb. 26. Earlier this season, the Redbirds lost to the Stingers 1-3 in a regular season faceoff and 3-7 in the Corey Cup. A high-stakes week lies ahead as the team hopes for redemption and a shot at the final. Fly Birds!

Science & Technology

How simulation learning is shaping inclusive healthcare

by Sarah McDonald on

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Simulations are becoming a more and more common training method for medical students. In a typical simulation, students resolve a medical case presented by an actor, and then participate in debriefing sessions led by a supervisor to analyze and critically review their experience and performance. This process commonly follows the “Promoting Excellence And Reflective Learning in Simulation” (PEARLS) framework, developed by Adam Cheng and Walter Eppich in 2015. While this protocol has been effective in safely preparing medical students for interactions with real patients, work remains to be done on incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion into the trainings. 

In a recent paper published in the journal Advances in Simulation, Niki Soilis, a doctoral student at McGill’s Institute of Health Sciences Education, presents an altered version of the PEARLS protocol which examines the impact of social structures on healthcare and explores ways to mitigate systemic inequalities.

Soilis, now completing her doctoral studies, previously worked as the education manager at McGill’s Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences for eight years. During that time, she noticed a significant underrepresentation of marginalized communities in medical training—an issue she is now tackling through her research.

“That became kind of the driver of, ‘How do we, as a program, start to integrate more inclusive and diverse perspectives in our curriculum?’ I started to look at the ways we can go more mainstream and make it into the culture of our programs,” Soilis said in an interview with The Tribune.

To address this gap, Soilis collaborated with other professionals to incorporate the Community Links Evidence to Action Research (CLEAR) toolkit into medical simulations. Developed at McGill, the CLEAR toolkit helps healthcare practitioners integrate advocacy and awareness of social determinants of health into their daily practice. 

Initially tested by frontline healthcare workers who attested to its efficacy, the toolkit was subsequently integrated into the PEARLS approach to debriefing, ultimately leading to the creation of the PEARLS Debriefing for Social Justice and Equity (DSJE) tool. Implementing the PEARLS DSJE tool is more cost-effective as compared to creating separate simulations programs specifically for diversity and inclusion.

“So we kind of merged two worlds, hoping that they would be more accessible,” Soilis said. “It was a way of allowing people to really have dialogue on a consistent basis, rather than making programs that are just dedicated to that. Simulation is one of the most expensive educational modalities—it’s known as highly effective, but it’s much more expensive than classroom-based teaching—so this became a way of making [diversity, equity, and inclusion] more incorporated.”

The PEARLS protocol underwent further refinement after consultations with Cheng and Eppich, its original creators. One of the key additions was an “Activism” phase, which encourages discussions on how systemic inequalities affect patient care and how practitioners can address these barriers.

This phase prompts medical trainees to consider how follow-up care should be handled while recognizing the complex intersectional realities of medical treatment.

“My research is specifically in [houselessness], and one of the interventions that we’ve discussed in groups is, when a person comes in, doing an analysis of their psychosocial profile and understanding their context,” Soilis said. “Where do they get to sleep? Are they on a substance? So sometimes it’s not these grand changes: It’s just having an awareness of a bigger picture, not just the person.” 

Another key update to the PEARLS DSJE framework is its emphasis on community engagement. In practice, this means incorporating discussions about systemic inequalities within healthcare, the marginalization of certain communities, and strategies for fostering a more supportive and inclusive medical environment.

Soilis and her team hope that by implementing this new version of the framework, healthcare professionals can actively work towards reducing harmful biases in medical practice.

“It shouldn’t be the only way. It should still [be part of] a better-integrated curriculum, but this is one way, and we’re hoping that through our experience in implementing it, others will see its value,” Soilis said.

Soilis offered some advice for current and future medical students at McGill. “Just stay open, in practice, to reflecting on [yourself] continuously,” Soilis said. “Look at why we are the way we are, with a nonjudgmental stance, and reflect on how it affects how we deliver care.”

Editorial

Winter 2025 SSMU Referendum Endorsements

by Tribune Editorial Board on

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The Tribune’s Editorial Board presents its endorsements for the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Winter 2025 referendum questions. Editors researched and discussed the questions before voting on each endorsement. These endorsements reflect a majority vote of the editorial board, with editors who have conflicts of interest abstaining from pertinent questions. 

Amendment to the Constitution – Section 1.3: Yes

If passed, this motion would revise the Constitution’s Preamble interpretation clause, shifting from describing the Preamble as an “integral part of the Constitution” to stating that the Preamble is not to be interpreted as obligating SSMU legally or contractually. Given past lawsuits based on petty interpretations of the Preamble’s language, SSMU is seeking to save legal fees and prevent the overuse of the Preamble as a tactic to hold the Society to an unrealistically high standard. While voters should be aware that this amendment reduces the Constitution to a procedural document, effectively removing any binding statement of purpose or intention from the document, The Tribune ultimately endorses a “Yes” vote for this motion due to its potential to free up SSMU’s time and funding for other projects.

Do you agree to the merge of the VP Sustainability and Operations with the VP Internal, saving the SSMU $43,000: Yes

If passed, this motion will remove the position of Vice-President (VP) Sustainability and Operations, saving the SSMU $43,000 CAD. The role’s responsibilities of Sustainability and Operations will be reallocated to the President and the VP internal, respectively. The position entails managing the use of space in the SSMU building. However, the Society found that its duties are redundant, with many of them overlapping with existing positions within the SSMU. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote for this motion as it will relieve pressure on the Executive Committee by reducing the financial resources needed to compensate Executive Officers, ultimately leaving extra funding for other initiatives.

Do you agree to making the VP Finance position into a hired position, focused on experience?: No

This motion aims to designate the VP Finance as a position hired by the Board of Directors instead of being elected through the same process as the other Executive Officers. This risks reducing student voices within the Executive Committee hiring process, opens up the possibility of the position remaining vacant, if membership does not approve of the appointee. Given low voter turnout in recent by-elections, The Tribune is not confident the position would be adequately filled. Furthermore, it would further decrease the number of elected candidates on the Board who are directly accountable to students, further hindering SSMU’s democratic process. The Tribune endorses a “No” vote to this amendment. 

SSMU DriveSafe Fee Increase: Yes

DriveSafe is a student-run SSMU service that provides free rides home for students from Thursday to Saturday. Throughout the years, they have driven thousands of students to their destinations. Another service offered in part by DriveSafe is SafeHome: An accompanying service that drives students from McLennan Library to their homes, typically during exam season. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to increase DriveSafe’s portion of the semesterly, non-opt-outable SSMU Safety Services Fee (SSSN) by $1.00 CAD, from $1.65 CAD to $2.65 CAD. The SSSN, which currently funds MSERT, DriveSafe, WALKSAFE, and the Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students Society, would thereby increase from $7.15 CAD to $8.15 CAD per semester. With a mission to protect students by offering safe and accessible rides home, this increase would help keep the program up with inflation, reduce wait times by renting more cars, offering free services during special events (such as Frosh, Carnival, and Science Games), and ideally transitioning to sustainable electric vehicles for the 2025-2026 academic year. Because of the importance of DriveSafe in helping students get home safely, as well as their goals for accessibility and sustainability,  The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote.

Francophone Affairs Fee Creation: Yes

If passed, the Francophone Affairs Committee (CAF) Fee Creation will introduce an opt-outable $0.50 CAD fee per semester, excluding Summer, to finance the francophone affairs of the SSMU. The CAF advocates for francophone students’ needs by facilitating the francophone community’s integration, promoting the French language and supporting French language-learning initiatives. SSMU currently allocates the CAF budget. The fee would allow the CAF to increase its efforts to support francophone students while providing funding to external groups whose activities are tied to the CAF’s mandates such as Centre d’Enseignement du français de McGill. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to implement this opt-outable fee as it will increase support for Francophone communities, enhancing accessibility for Francophone students and fostering linguistic inclusion. 

ELEVES DES CHAMPS ISG Fee Approval: Yes

If passed, the Élèves des Champs (EDC) ISG fee approval will introduce an opt-outable $1.25 CAD fee to support the student-run farm on the Macdonald campus. The farm grows over 50 types of vegetables with an emphasis on sustainability. EDC aims to partner with student groups like Midnight Kitchen to provide fresh produce for their meal services. The group has run a deficit in past years and relied on one-time donations from the Dean’s Office at Macdonald Campus. This fee would help the group sustainably operate and subsidize hourly wages for their workers. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to introduce this opt-outable fee as it will further promote sustainability on campus, may help with food insecurity, and create stable, educational, and career-helping summer job opportunities for students. 

TVM Fee Renewal: Yes

The TVM Fee Renewal proposal would extend the current opt-outable fee of $1.50 CAD per semester for all full-time and part-time students, beginning in Fall 2025 and ending in Winter 2030. If approved, the fee will remain unchanged. TVM is a student-run television and entertainment service that offers a range of free video production services—such as event coverage, promotional video production, and live streaming—to SSMU student groups and McGill-affiliated undergraduate organizations. It also provides free equipment rental and training for its general members. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to renew this opt-outable fee. TVM provides McGill students with technical film and television production skills that are not covered by university courses, and it helps keep costs low for other student clubs and organizations by providing video production services free of charge. Since the fee is both minimal and opt-outable, the financial impact on students is very low.

Indigenous Equity Fee Renewal: Yes

The Indigenous Equity Fee Renewal would extend the current non-opt-outable fee of $1.50 CAD per student per semester for both full- and part-time students. This fee goes toward three primary purposes: First, it funds the activities of the Students’ Society of McGill University’s Indigenous Affairs Committee. This committee works to increase visibility, representation, and services for Indigenous Students. Second, this fee funds student projects led by Indigenous student groups or Indigenous equity groups, thus investing in the success and expanded platform for McGill’s Indigenous students and affiliated projects. Third, this fee is a source of financial support for Indigenous undergraduate students at McGill to which any Indigenous student can apply for financial assistance for anything from groceries to school tuition. Further, the fee is minimal, making it a minor change to existing student fees. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to renew this non-opt-outable fee in support of McGill’s Indigenous student population. 

Menstrual Health Fee Renewal: YesIf passed, the Menstrual Health Fee would be renewed at a non-optoutable cost of $2.40 CAD per student per semester. The SSMU Menstrual Health Project stocks over 160 washrooms around campus with pads and tampons, distributes reusable products (including period underwear, reusable pads, menstrual cups, and menstrual discs), holds menstrual education events, and employs five students part-time. Last spring, they also began offering menstrual products in residences. The project is funded exclusively by the Menstrual Health Fee; as such, if the fee renewal fails to pass, the project will cease to function. The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote to renew this non-optoutable fee, as the project promotes menstrual health, employs students, engages in sustainability initiatives, and provides an invaluable service to the student community as a whole, as menstrual products are essential items.

McGill, News, Recap

Recap: Alphonso F. Saville, IV reimagines colonial American Christianity in guest lecture

by Toby Izenberg on

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Alphonso F. Saville, IV, assistant professor of American Religious History at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, delivered a talk on Feb. 18 titled “John Marrant’s Gospel: Reimagining Christianity in Colonial America.” Hosted by McGill’s Department of History and Classical Studies, the talk centred around research from Saville’s book, The Gospel of John Marrant: Conjuring Christianity in the Black Atlantic. The book is the first full-length study of Marrant, who was America’s first Black ordained minister. 

During the talk, Saville described Marrant’s life, writings, and missionary work, examining how he engaged with Christianity as both a tool for survival and a means of resistance. Saville also challenged conventional narratives surrounding early African-American religious history. Through literary and historical readings of Marrant’s autobiography, Saville drew connections between Marrant’s life story and its intersection between African and Protestant-European spiritual traditions and mythologies. Central to Saville’s argument was the notion of Conjure, a magico-religious tradition established by enslaved Africans in colonial North America. Saville explained that the pervasiveness of Conjure practices in early African-American religion exemplifies traditional African religions’ influences on early Black Christianity. 

“Early Black Christianity was shaped less by the doctrinal systems of Euro-American Protestantism and more by the rich and cosmological religions of west and central-west Africa,” Saville explained. “This African-rooted foundation is evident in the performative aspects of early Black worship, where prayer, song, and dance sermonizing often carried the cadence and intent of conjure rituals. Through these practices, congregants evoked spiritual powers to heal wounds, resist systemic violence, and enact justice.”

He cautioned against the tendency to approach transatlantic religious history primarily through Eurocentric frameworks. In doing so, he warned, one risks overlooking African American spiritual and social autonomy, as well as the profound African contributions to the religious development of the Americas.

“America’s religious history is not a monolith,” Saville said. “It is a tapestry, woven from many traditions, stories, and perspectives. Including these diverse voices enriches our understanding of the past and equips us to address the challenges with the present.”

As he concluded, Saville reflected on the lessons that can be drawn from Marrant’s gospel.

“[Marrant’s] story is not just a historical artifact,” Saville said. “It is a mirror, reflecting the ongoing struggle for justice and the creative ways people of faith continue to fight for their dignity and humanity.”

Science & Technology

Eating sustainably, one DISH at a time

by Antoine Larocque on

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Given that around 26 per cent of mortality cases in Canada are attributable to dietary choices, and that the global food system is responsible for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, researchers are exploring ways to balance nutritional value with sustainability. McGill scientists have recently developed a consumer-focused approach that could pave the way for improving both individual dietary habits and the sustainability of the broader food system.

Ebenezer M. Kwofie, an assistant professor in McGill’s Bioresource Engineering Department, and his collaborators developed Dashboard for Improving Sustainable Healthy (DISH) food choices—a digital application designed to guide consumers in making informed food purchases.

“The platform’s goal is to provide people with the information on nutrition and the environment, [so] they get to make a choice on what they want to buy,” Kwofie said in an interview with The Tribune. 

He also emphasized the importance of consumer autonomy. 

“We think that that is the first step in making that transition to a sustainable, healthy diet: Having a system that is not intrusive, having a platform that provides the information but still leaves the choice to the consumer is critical,” Kwofie said. 

Unlike other applications, DISH presents nutritional and environmental information in a way that is easy to understand. It employs a five-star scale and a red-green colour-coded rating system, ensuring that key information is presented at the time of purchase without requiring significant cognitive effort. 

“If we can provide a tool that people would engage in at the time they are making the decision, maybe we might have a better outcome,” Kwofie said.

Early findings support this idea. To evaluate the platform’s impact, Kwofie and his team recently conducted a study to evaluate how DISH influenced consumers’ choices at a cafeteria at the University of Arkansas. Participants received two meal options: A beef-based burger, rated as slightly healthy and unsustainable, or a plant-based burger, rated as moderately healthy and sustainable.

Among the 90.2 per cent of consumers who initially intended to buy a beef-based burger, 56.9 per cent reported a shift in purchasing intention in favour of the plant-based burger, with 83 per cent citing DISH’s environmental and nutritional information as the key factor influencing their decision. 

The results suggested that presenting clear, accessible information to consumers can effectively encourage healthier and more sustainable food choices.

“While the goal is not to make everybody move from animal to plant [diets], we believe that by providing the data […], if we can get more than half of the people to start thinking about what they are eating and how it influences their health, how it influences the environment, and if we can begin that discussion and make people even question their own choices, that’s a big win,” Kwofie commented. “Just wanting everybody to move is not realistic.”

The researchers hope to expand DISH beyond university cafeterias, ultimately aiming for implementation at provincial, municipal, and even national levels. In the meantime, they are refining the application based on user feedback and testing it with a broader menu and a more diverse range of participants. 

The team is currently testing an upgraded version of DISH at the Café TWIGS and The Ceilidh at McGill’s Macdonald Campus, as well as in off-campus locations such as supermarkets. They are also studying its effectiveness in Montreal across different age groups, including middle schoolers and older adults, and eventually hope to do the same in immigrant communities.

“If we can target even more young people and make [the environmental and nutritional information] in a form that they can understand […], we think that we might get a healthy eating culture in the near future, which is the target of this whole research,” Kwofie said.

Kwofie and his team aim to launch a McGill-wide version of the DISH application by Fall 2025. In the meantime, those interested in making healthier, more sustainable food choices can explore DISH for Research, another platform developed by the team, which is expected to be available later this winter semester.

Science & Technology

The unspoken crisis: How fears of aging are expressed in news reporting

by Samathar Senso on

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With the prevalence of cosmetic procedures, skincare products, and diets aimed at reducing the effects of aging, and with tech entrepreneurs spending millions annually in the hopes of reversing the process, aging is often seen as something to be feared and prevented at all costs. Five years ago, when the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic made its way to Canada, it disproportionately struck older adults, specifically those in long-term care homes: Around 80 per cent of COVID-19 deaths occurred in adults aged 65 and older. Although mainstream media heavily reported on the deaths of older individuals, their portrayal reflects our society’s underlying negative sentiment towards older adults and aging. 

In a recent paper published in Ageing & Society, Oluwagbemiga Oyinlola, medical social worker and doctoral candidate at McGill’s School of Social Work, and his colleagues examined how the media’s portrayal of COVID-19 deaths in long-term care homes often employed a tragedy narrative that elicited a sense of pity for older adults while simultaneously trivializing their deaths. 

Examining news outlets’ portrayals of older adults during the pandemic provides deeper insight into societal attitudes toward this age group. Media coverage often depicted older adults as vulnerable and helpless, reflecting society’s tendency to view older people as a burden. This portrayal not only reinforced pre-existing negative stereotypes regarding older adults but also shaped public perception, in turn influencing the public health response. 

“[Articles] were written within the lens of a humanitarian crisis and tragedy rather than through the lens of action and really supporting older adults to grow and thrive in long-term care,” Oyinlola said in an interview with The Tribune.

To analyze media reporting, Oyinlola and his colleague, postdoctoral researcher Sabrina Lessard, independently reviewed 74 articles on long-term care home residents during the pandemic, with the sample drawing from both Ontario and Quebec. Their analysis, in collaboration with their supervisor Professor Tamara Sussman, helped uncover insights into societal attitudes towards older adults as reflected in the media. 

“The [sources in the] reporting mostly came from government officials and those working in long-term care. Although the main focus was older adults, they were totally excluded when it came to hearing their own experience,” Oyinlola added. 

The fact that reporting on older individuals relied almost completely on the perspectives of workers and family members, rather than the individuals themselves, speaks volumes on how older adults are viewed as an “othered” group that requires pity instead of as integral members of society. 

“Excluding older adults as a separate entity is a tragedy and form of ageism in itself and stigmatizes them as a separate group which needs humanitarian [support],” Oyinlola said. 

Additionally, media coverage primarily focused on those living in long-term care homes, despite only four per cent of older individuals residing in these facilities. This focus, portraying the deaths within these centres as a spectacle and tragedy, overshadowed the broader issues facing older adults during the pandemic. 

“COVID-19 taught us very explicitly that ageism is a highly embedded and internalized feeling about aging and being old,” Sussman remarked. “The fear is so high for all of us that we are willing to do everything we can to ‘other’ and [exclude] older adults as a way of reassuring ourselves from our own anxiety towards aging.” 

By framing these events as an inevitable tragedy rather than addressing the situation as one that requires protective action from both governments and the general public, older adults were effectively alienated from the wider community. 

The next stage of Oyinlola’s research aims to explore the first-hand experiences of older adults during the pandemic. To properly address the issues facing older adults in Canada moving forward, we must unpack our negative perceptions of aging and reconsider our obsession with youth.

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Players’ Theatre’s ‘Do You Feel Anger?’ is a sardonic satire of human fallibility

by Bianca Sugunasiri on

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It’s easy enough to show empathy to those who deserve it. But how on earth do you feel empathetic when you’re in a crappy little office, with your autocratic boss breathing in your ear that he doesn’t “only love piss charts” but also his niece? 

Do You Feel Anger? by Mara Nelson-Greenberg chronicles an empathy coach’s fruitless attempts to inspire compassion in an office of debt collectors convinced that empathy is a type of bird. The cast of Players’ Theatre’s Winter 2025 production of the piece (dir. Emma Qian), showcased juvenile anger, misogyny, and outright insanity through astonishing control of facial and physical comedy. The show transported audiences back into the aforementioned conference room where Sophia (Ellie Mota, U3 Arts) struggles to be empathetic towards everyone without endorsing the poor behaviour that is perpetuating the misogynistic status quo. Rapidly delivered dialogue rich with impassioned intonation punctuates the scene, revealing to the audience the complex emotions behind the characters’ words.

From lights up to curtain, audiences were immersed into a world so close to reality it was a little discomforting. Seven chairs, two tables, a file cabinet, day-old coffee, and a baseball bat were nearly all that made up the simple set, yet the actors’ interactions with them brought them vividly to life. The prop bird that soared over the office, still mistaken as literally being empathy, showcased the crew’s design creativity. Qian revealed in an interview with The Tribune that the laborious ideation of this effect began with chucking a stuffed bird across the stage. 

Not only did the actors deliver strong performances in the drab office, but—with help from the stage crew—they managed to pull off a seamless quick-change that turned the stage from a crappy office into a crappy bathroom. All aspects displayed clever design, from the functional stall doors to the misogynistic hangman graffiti on the walls. In an interview, Stage Manager Juliette Levy-Gay, U1 Arts,  told The Tribune that this setting bears an alarmingly realistic message in being the only space in the office where the women’s true feelings could be expressed without sexualization. 

Each costume reflected the characters’ essences, from Eva (Gabrielle Germain, U3 Arts)’s puffed-sleeved innocence to Howie (Maya Kanitkar, U4 Science)’s “daddy’s yacht” quarter-zip sweater. Sophia’s costume change from slacks to a hyper-sexualized skirt punctuated her building estrangement from her values. 

The actors built off the setting and costuming groundwork to turn the office into a maelstrom of mid-life crisis and shameless emotional misconduct. Mota navigated a slow decline from patient placation to a break into self-destruction, her soft-spoken voice interrupted by comparatively jarring outbursts of frustration that climaxed with a terrifying wielding of a baseball bat. 

Germain took full advantage of microexpressions to convey her character’s complexity. Although her breathless, frantic way of speaking, nearly never finishing her sentences evoked X,  the highlights of her performance were the silent reactions of her countenance to the misdeeds around her. The tears glimmering but never quite falling from her eyes, the stiff upper lip of someone struggling not to break, and a jittery leg under the table externalized her inner distress beyond the power of words. 

Darcy Blaik, U1 Education, as Jon, mastered the subtle mannerisms of a sleazy boss that are never quite fireable but just enough to make everyone uncomfortable. His ever-present Cheshire grin, tendency to lean into every woman he speaks to, and strange habit of laying himself across the table—very “draw me like one of your French girls”-style—undoubtedly made everyone in the audience feel the anger. 

Kanitkar was a hurricane and an audience favourite. Their commitment to physical comedy sold their performance, from kicking a chair so hard that it 360’d in the air to—what I imagine was improv—biting into a prop apple and ripping it fully in half with such vigour that nearly everyone in the scene broke to join the audience in laughter. 

A special mention to Elias Luz (U0 Arts), as Old Man, who despite only being onstage for five minutes, had the entire audience doubled over with his raspy but somehow screeching monologue about being left on the playground. 

This Players’ Theatre performance had audiences feeling everything but anger. Although unfortunately, Howie never did discover that empathy was in fact not a bird, Do You Feel Anger? implored audiences to question how they exhibit empathy, and the consequences of taking it away. 

Do You Feel Anger? played from February 18 to February 21 at Players’ Theatre.

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