Latest News

a, McGill, News

Food for thought: exploring the limitations of your meal plan

by Natalie Wong on

More in a:

Many McGill students are all too familiar with having their meal plan cards turned down at certain vendors on campus.

While accepting meal plans may seem like an obvious choice to the student, the system behind the service is much more complicated. This week, the McGill Tribune takes a look at the meal plan program and the factors that determine where you can use it on campus.

The meal plan program is managed by McGill Food and Dining Services (MFDS)—a subunit of Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS). Students can use the meal plan to purchase food at both in-residence dining halls, as well as various other food vendors on campus, including Subway, Sinfully Asian, and Presse Café on the downtown campus, as well as Faberge Café and Vihn’s Café on Macdonald campus.

The main food service provider for McGill is Aramark, which manages numerous food service locations on campus on the behalf of MFDS, including two residential dining halls—Carrefour Sherbrooke and New Residence Hall, McConnell Engineering Caf, and Redpath Caf.

Monique Lauzon, MFDS marketing and nutritional advisor, said different providers enter into different contractual agreements with the meal plan program.

“Aramark was selected as McGill’s main food service provider following a public bid process four years ago […] against major companies like Compass and Sodexo,” Lauzon said.

The process is different for third-party vendors, such as Subway, Second Cup, and Sinfully Asian.

“[The companies] approach us and we look at how we could incorporate them into the meal plan, so that is more on a one-to-one basis,” Lauzon said. “[Then] a contractual agreement is negotiated [….] Costs are based on different criteria—[such as] your location and what you’re offering.”

Although vendors accepting the meal plan can be found around campus, some students express frustration with the lack of such vendors in the SSMU Building.

“I’ve worked in SSMU before as an executive and it’s one of the top comments that vendors get,” Josh Redel, manager of the Student-Run Café Le Nest in SSMU, said. “It’s the number one thing people ask for.”

Jonathan Taylor, a Liquid Nutrition franchisee and a tenant of the SSMU Building, said accepting meal plan at his business is “not feasible” because it is too expensive.

“The meal plan costs $10,000 to have a new point-of-sales device, so we had to run two separate inventories, two separate cash systems, two separate everything for the people who don’t use meal plans,” he said. “McGill also holds your funds for a month before giving back to you and as a small business, they can’t withhold a month worth of my sales.”

SHHS Senior Director Mathieu Laperle said that, since MFDS is a self-funded unit, the university does not subsidize its costs, which makes the meal plan costly to implement.

“We do have to generate a revenue to pay all the different costs,” he said.

According to Lauzon, these costs arise from a variety of factors.

“We pay our employees, facility fees, rent, we have to be able to self-finance our operations,” Lauzon said. “If we didn’t charge vendors to accept the meal plan, we would have to assume the costs of operating [at] the location, which includes IT support and administrative support that we provide to run the [meal plan].”

Laperle said the choice to join the meal plan is ultimately the decision of the tenants.

“Being a part of the meal plan is not mandatory, but of course, we believe it’s a potential of revenue—there are over 8,000 students on the meal plan,” Laperle said. “Should a vendor approach us and express interest in joining the meal plan, we certainly welcome that. However, it is a contractual agreement and has to work for both parties.”

a, Martlets, Sports

Hockey: Martlets stand up to aggressive Gee-Gees

by Zikomo Smith on

More in a:

With nine minutes left in the second period, McGill forward Pamela Psihogios lost her balance with the puck at hand. Undeterred, she passed to an open teammate and then sprung to her feet to support her fellow Martlets as the aggressive Ottawa Gee-Gees initiated a small scuffle. Despite the combative nature of their opponents, the Martlets managed to win against Ottawa 2-0 on Friday evening, maintaining their composure in the face of the Gee-Gees’ aggressive play.

“At Ottawa it’s always a tough game; they play a very physical kind of game,” Head Coach Peter Smith said. “I wouldn’t say that we are the most physical team but they play a physical game, and I thought we did a really good job.”

Shortly after the scuffle, senior forward Katia Clement-Heydra converted Chelsea Saunder’s assist to finally break the deadlock. The Martlets were clearly the dominant team thanks to a disciplined defence and an excellent shutout performance from netminder Andrea Weckman. Third-year chemical engineering major Stefanie Pohlod topped off the Martlets’ play in the third period with McGill’s second goal of the night.

The Martlets’ ability to dictate the pace and generate pressure against a physically larger opponent is a true testament to their adaptability and excellence over the course of the season. The lopsided shot count of 35-22 was further indicative of their control of the rink. Smith voiced his pleasure with his team’s execution over the course of the season and the game.

“I think that we’ve done a good job,” Smith said. “We spend a lot of time doing what we do, practicing hard and a big part of what we do is focusing on our game and not worrying about our opponent.”

Clement-Heydra, who had three of her shots hit the post, echoed this sentiment.

“We did well; we had a good shooting mentality; we were opportunistic,” she said. “You know, sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t, and today it didn’t want to go in as much as we wanted it to, but we managed to get the win.”

This victory showed the confidence the Martlets had in their game plans and their ability to execute.

“I think our fitness is a high point of our team,” Clement-Heydra explained. “Our practices are high tempo, and we work a lot on cardio so we are able to have a good forecheck and then back check.”

There are now six games remaining before the playoffs and the Martlets are both physically and mentally prepared for the challenges ahead. They have enjoyed their position at the top of the RSEQ standings, and will be looking to take this momentum into the post-season.

“We are confident, but after last year and losing in the finals, we are really hungry and looking for redemption,” Clement-Heydra said. “[We] are looking to go all the way, but we don’t want to be too confident.”

The Martlets will face off against Ottawa once more this Sunday, Feb. 2 at McConnell Arena at 3:00 p.m., where they will play the Gee-Gees for the fifth time this season.

a, Features

A lesson from the students

by Wendy Chen on

More in a:

In the bleakest days of Montreal’s winter, it’s easy to feel weighed down with the stress of school, the grey skies, and the cold that keeps us indoors. This winter, I tried to forget the seasonal gloominess and instead remembered my experience this past summer—one that reminded me about finding a sense of joy in even the dreariest of days.

On my first day in Cambodia, I was greeted with an airport about the size of a typical campus building, 40 degree weather that made it tremendously hard to breathe, and a driver who didn’t speak a word of English.

From day one, the students I taught did not cease to amaze me with their clever games, their spontaneous gifts of flowers and pebbles, their yearning for knowledge, and their laughter. With each day that I spent with them, I couldn’t help but notice how they were so determined to look past any challenges in their day. Now back in Montreal, I realize that as university students, we lead such busy lives that we often ignore the possibility of taking a deep breath and slowing down a little. When they were playing ‘tag,’ I noticed that two little girls were playing it by a different rule: whenever one person became ‘it,’ the other would run remarkably slowly, even turning around and giggling, until she was finally tagged. As they caught up to each other, they would laugh with delight. I think they simply liked playing with each other more than they cared about winning.

After I taught the kids how to play ‘duck, duck, goose,’ it quickly became one of their favourites. I always thought that being able to successfully tag the target was one of the most important parts of this game, but the kids seemed to enjoy the chase in itself so much more. Delight gleamed in their eyes as they got up and raced around the circle. Witnessing those moments showed me how easy it is for us, as college students with big plans for the future, to focus so much on the goal and lose the joy of the process. Running, climbing, falling, stumbling, and reaching are all important stages of a journey that will bring us to our final destination. The children showed me that happiness is about the chase just as much as the ultimate goal.

During one particular recess, I asked the kids what their favourite game to play was. They pulled out a long rope made of rubber bands, and set it up in one corner of the room to play. Thirty minutes later, this game showed no signs of ending.  With so many tasks on my to-do list here at McGill, I often give excuses for not doing certain things because I don’t have the ‘proper resources’, or that the timing is not right, but I know that I might ultimately lose out if I am not willing to grasp those opportunities. These kids could have complained that they didn’t have a real jump rope, or that it hurt when the rubber bands slapped against their bare feet—but they didn’t.

Something else that struck me as I spent more and more time with the kids was how openly and freely they showed their love to one another. They would shower each other with affectionate hugs and kisses, and they did not hesitate to help each other when others were in need. The older kids would carry their younger siblings on their backs to school, or the girls would come to us bearing beautiful flower wreaths. I don’t tend to see these outward expressions of affection too often on campus, but the children I taught made me realize how valuable they can be.

On my last day, the kids pleaded to end class early so they could take us around the old stone ruins of a former temple. They manoeuvred up and over the stones nimbly and laughed as I stumbled before managing to catch up. “Teacher, teacher,” they called, beckoning for me to follow. I could only climb a few levels above the ground, while they were way up high on top of the rocks. The older kids carried the younger ones, the stronger kids pulled the smaller ones along, and they were all able to reach the top. They all wanted to climb to the peak and by holding on to and supporting each other; they arrived at that goal. And that was one of the most prominent observations I made during my time in Cambodia—that even though we each have our own individual aspirations here at McGill, happiness will often come when we help others reach their happiness, too.

My time in Cambodia made me think about the way we perceive happiness in our lives and how we could find it in certain forgotten places. Now that I am back on campus, I make an effort to remember the little lessons I had learned from my experience with these children. After all, they always seemed to know exactly how to unearth happiness wherever they went.

a, Football, Sports

Point counterpoint: Denver vs. Seattle

by Mayaz Alam and Steven Lampert on

More in a:

The Super Bowl XLVIII is set to take place this coming Sunday, Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m., with the Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos facing off against the dominant defence of the Seattle Seahawks. In a preview of the championship game, a current sports editor writes against a past sports editor in defence of their respective picks for the Super Bowl.

Denver

Offence —Greatest of all time. When future Hall-of-Famer Peyton Manning steps onto the field in the Meadowlands he will be leading the highest-scoring offensive unit to ever play in the NFL. Manning has a plethora of receivers that will pose a myriad of problems for the Seahawks’ vaunted secondary. The “legion of boom” will have to pick their poison as Demaryius Thomas and crew can win with speed deep or in the short passing game. The passing attack may get all the headlines, but the Broncos have had success running the ball behind an offensive line doing yeoman’s work as a unit. Running back Knowshon Moreno had 10 touchdowns and upwards of 1000 yards during the regular season, and rookie Montee Ball offers a change of pace and has played well in limited action so far. One statistic sums up just how unstoppable this offence is: the Broncos have punted just once in the playoffs so far.

Defence —The less hyped matchup is when the Broncos defence comes into the game to face quarterback Russell Wilson and the Seahawks. The key to stopping Seattle’s offence will be to shut down its running game. Defensive tackle Terrence ‘Pot Roast’ Knighton has been a revelation in the post-season for a patchwork defensive line and completely neutralized the Patriots’ run game in their matchup. If Knighton is able to anchor the defence and mitigate Marshawn Lynch’s impact, Seattle’s ability to use the play-action pass will be severely diminished. The linebacking corps will miss Von Miller’s ability to generate pressure, but Shaun Phillips has had a renaissance this season. On the back end, Denver’s corners will have no trouble shutting down Seattle’s mediocre receivers. No pass-catcher projects as a game-changer—with the exception of recently medically cleared Percy Harvin, but he has only caught four passes in the regular season and post-season combined.

Coaching —John Fox mans the helm for the Broncos’ coaching staff and has helped guide the team to 26 regular season wins in the past two seasons. Fox has played a crucial role in creating a culture of winning, and has guided the team with a steady hand. On the offensive side, Coordinator Adam Gase has taken the league by storm in his first season on the job. Gase’s ability to cultivate a strong relationship with Manning and his creative play-calling have played a key role in the record breaking success. On the other side of the ball, Jack Del Rio has taken a roster riddled with injuries and created a lineup that ranks second in both scoring defence and defence by total yards in the post-season.

X-Factor — The environment will have an enormous impact on the outcome of this game for two reasons: cold weather and the absence of a 12th man. Forecasts are projecting near freezing temperatures with a chance of precipitation, two factors that have hampered Manning’s ability to be successful in the past. However, in his past eight games played in similar conditions, he had a 72.8 per cent completion rating, 2129 yards, and 17 touchdowns—not in line with his career averages but still very good, and likely enough to make the difference. As for the crowd: the team is no longer in Seattle, so the Seahawks won’t be able to recreate the tremendous home field advantage that they have enjoyed in the friendly confines of Century Link Stadium. With this much at stake, all the small factors that result from a raucous crowd could be the difference for which team hoists the Lombardi Trophy.

Score — Denver 31, Seattle 24

—Mayaz Alam

Seattle

Offence — The Seahawks’ offence is often overlooked because of their dominant defensive unit—but it shouldn’t be. Second-year quarterback Russell Wilson has proven to be one of the most dynamic talents in football in just two short seasons. He is incredibly proficient outside of the pocket, making use of his speed to evade the rush and extend plays to find receivers down the field. Though the Seahawks don’t possess many game-breakers on the outside, Wilson undoubtedly elevates their level of play. However, Seattle’s offensive success starts and ends with running back Marshawn Lynch. Expect ‘the Beast’ to receive close to 25 carries to wear down the Denver front line and help set up the play-action passing game.

Defence — Where do you want to start? The defensive line does a great job stopping the run and has a wealth of speed rushers on the edge like Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, and Chris Clemons that pressure opposing quarterbacks. The linebacker core—led by Bobby Wagner—is a bit more unheralded, but they are all solid tacklers and can close quickly on ball carriers. But the backbone of the Seahawks’ top-ranked defence is their secondary or self-nicknamed “legion of boom.” Richard Sherman is one of the league’s top shutdown corners—a fact he will make sure to let you know—and all-pro safety Earl Thomas is a top-flight ball-hawk. For all they have accomplished this season, however, they have yet to face a passing attack like the one the Broncos boast. There is no doubt that Peyton Manning and his wealth of talented wideouts pose a difficult task, but if there’s one team that can stop them, it’s this Seattle defence.

Coaching — There were a few question marks surrounding the Seattle Seahawks when they named Pete Carroll their new head coach three years ago. Could Carroll—who led the University of Southern California to two national championships—translate his coaching strategy and style back to the NFL? Well, he’s been pretty successful so far. Carroll has reinvigorated a Seattle franchise that was battling mediocrity after reaching the Super Bowl in 2006. The Seahawks have adopted the mantra of their energetic and cocky head coach, and it seems to translate well to the field. Carroll might be the best in the league at getting the most out his players and elevating their play. His staff—led by Offensive Coordinator Darrell bevel and Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn—also did a great job this season devising game plans to exploit mismatches. Expect them to carry that momentum into the Super Bowl.

X-Factor — We couldn’t have asked for a better matchup. The best offence against the best defence. Most pundits will point to the battle between Denver’s wide receivers and Seattle’s secondary as the key to the game. But the Seahawks’ defensive success will depend on their play up-front, and whether they can generate a pass rush against Manning. We’ve seen the future Hall-of-Famer struggle when his line collapses and is forced to move outside the pocket. If Seattle can frustrate Manning’s timing, they will hoist the Lombardi Trophy when the clock runs out.

Score — Seattle 23, Denver 20

—Steven Lampert

Editors’ pick: Denver Broncos

Most football pundits predicted this matchup before the season began: one of the best offences in the NFL against an unparalleled defensive lineup. While the Seahawks’ “legion of boom” will no doubt push the Broncos to the brink, this is Denver’s game to lose. Manning is quarterbacking the best offence in the league, and with the talented coaching staff behind the Broncos orchestrating plays on both sides of the ball, this will be the year Manning wins his second Super Bowl ring.

a, Science & Technology

Researchers discover new way to induce event-specific amnesia

by Prativa Baral on

More in a:

With the simple charm “obliviate,” Gilderoy Lockhart attempted to wipe the memories of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The release of a publication in Nature Neuroscience suggests a similar spell may soon serve as a treatment for disturbing memories.

This September, researchers at the Radboud University Nijmegen (RUN) in the Netherlands discovered the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to provide a type of event-specific amnesia—the loss of memory. ECT is a treatment where seizures are electrically induced in patients. In the past, this therapy has been used to treat psychiatric patients for major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and mania. In this new study, ECT was used to intercept the electrical current in the human brain, leading to ‘erased’ or ‘disrupted’ memories.

Marijn Kores, the lead author of the study, and his team used the idea of memory reconsolidation to fuel the experiment. This theory suggests that memories must be re-written onto the brain’s circuits each time they are accessed. In other words, when we remember an event from the past, our memory is removed from its initial storage place in the brain, and is rewritten somewhere else over time.

Using ECT, the researchers tried to disrupt the reconsolidation process. They targeted the memory when it is at its most vulnerable—the point in time when it is rewritten onto another location in the brain—in order to block the reformation of disturbing or unwanted memories.

To test this process, participants were exposed to two distressing stories via slide shows: one consisting of a car accident and the other an assault. A week later, researchers reminded the participants of only one of the stories by replaying that section of the slide show.

ECT was then immediately administered to a section of the participants as they were revisiting that one memory. Further testing one day later showed that patients who received ECT after revisiting one of the memories recalled less details compared to the other non-revisited story. This provides evidence to support memory reconsolidation in humans.

The potential to erase bad memories raises of series of ethical questions.

“What if we wiped out all of the memories of the Holocaust? That would be terrible.” said Hank Greely, director of the Center for Law and the Biosciences at Stanford University, in an interview with Time. “On the other hand, suffering caused by some memories is really powerful, and I would want to prioritize [relieving] suffering.”

Kores and his team hope to use these results for the benefit of patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, among others.

a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Young the Giant—Mind Over Matter

by Kia Pouliot on

More in a:

Following the very successful release of their self-titled debut album in 2010, southern California quintet Young the Giant has a lot to live up to with their second full-length release, Mind Over Matter. Purveyors of a radio-friendly brand of indie rock, the band has become known for catchy pop hooks, soaring vocals, and skittering percussion fills. Mind Over Matter partially retains these familiar elements, but takes on a slightly darker edge and gets more experimental with instrumental layering and electronic sounds. Unfortunately, the overall product doesn’t surpass its predecessor; and while it’s hardly a flop, the album fails to deliver high-quality songs from start to finish.

“Teachers” perfectly exemplifies the slightly overdone feeling that accompanies many tracks on the album. The song starts off strong with a driving drum beat, upbeat guitar lines, and some very forceful vocals on the part of lead singer Sameer Gadhia as he shouts through the chorus. However, the song occasionally drifts into strange glitchy electronic moments that don’t suit its tone, or frankly, the sound of the band.

On the other hand, “Mind Over Matter,” “Daydreamer,” and “Firelight” are standouts—perhaps because they are most reminiscent of the band’s older work. “Firelight” is by far the record’s most sparsely produced track, but this is what makes it so appealing; it allows you to properly absorb the content instead of being distracted by all the sonic action.

Though Young the Giant has avoided the dreaded sophomore slump with Mind Over Matter, it doesn’t quite live up to their previous work. Most of the tracks stand well on their own; but as a whole, the album feels slightly claustrophobic, with too much layering and synth noise. Growth in a band is always good, but perhaps Young the Giant should stick a little closer to their roots in their next endeavour.

 

a, McGill, News

Senate discusses investment, enrolment

by Aislinn Kalob on

More in a:

Topics covered at McGill Senate’s meeting on Wednesday included increases in government funding for universities, McGill’s most recent enrolment numbers, and the launch of McGill’s first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

Reinvesting in McGill 

Principal Suzanne Fortier announced that Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology Pierre Duchesne has confirmed that the provincial government would be reinvesting $20.3 million in the university for the 2014-2015 school year.

“In order to access these [funds], we have to have agreements made between the university and the ministry,” Fortier said.

Fortier noted that such a value is not an additional investment; rather that it is an increase from McGill’s previously-reduced budget, which faced approximately $38 million in budget cuts in December 2012.

“This is not the additional $20 million from where we were two years ago before the cuts; it’s 20 million after the cuts,” she emphasized. “It is certainly welcome.”

Growing Student Body 

Kathleen Massey, university registrar and executive director of enrolment services, presented data on graduate and undergraduate enrolment, as well as a report that showed a steady increase in the amount of entrance bursaries and awards given to students.

The volume of financial aid awards currently totals $96.3 million—a 68 per cent increase over the past decade.

“We are ensuring academically excellent students remain enrolled,” Massey said on increasing entrance bursary aid.

However, some senators expressed logistical concerns with the report’s projected population growth. The Post Graduate Student Society (PGSS) Secretary-General Jonathan Mooney pointed out the projected growth rate was 0.7 per cent for undergraduates and 1.0 per cent for grads, whereas the actual growth rate was 1.4 per cent for undergraduates and 2.0 per cent for graduates.

“We’ve almost doubled […] our projected enrolment growth targets,” Mooney said. “Now often in the Senate, Board, other places, [the] issues of space, [and] class sizes come up. Can you give us some indication of why we’ve gone so far over what we were projecting?  What’s being done to try to make sure we don’t see continued growth in excess of even what we were planning?”

Massey responded that conservative enrolment estimates allow for more responsible budget planning for the academic year.

“The numbers that are provided to the provost in the development of the budget each year for enrolment are always a conservative planning estimate, so that when revenue is projected for the upcoming year or years, it is fiscally responsible in terms of estimation of potential revenue,” Massey said. “That may account for part of the difference.”

Fortier comments on MOOC launch

The principal also discussed the launch of McGill’s first MOOC, which began in January. She congratulated professors David Harpp, Joe Schwarcz, and Ariel Fenster on what she called a “great achievement.”

“Teaching and Learning Services are planning two additional MOOCs, one in 2014 and one in 2015,” she said. “Congratulations to our colleagues [on] a very successful launch.”

The free online course is named ‘“CHEM181x Food For Thought” and has attracted registration from close to 21,000 students from 115 countries since October 2013. Two upcoming MOOC’s will be additional courses: “Natural Disasters” and “Rebalancing Society: Social Learning for Social Impact.”

a, News

First “Grad Frosh” aims to transition graduates into the real world

by Catherine Laure-Juste on

More in a:

As convocation approaches, organizers of McGill’s first “Red and White Week”—otherwise known as “Grad Frosh”—have begun planning the social and professional events for graduating students, which aims to help graduates transition into their post-McGill life.

Scheduled to take place on the first week of May, Grad Frosh is not intended to replicate the first-year frosh experience, according to Mitchell Miller, student life Coordinator at Campus Life and Engagement Office (CL&E).

“ ‘Frosh’ has more of a [social] connotation,” Miller said. “We wanted to sell the idea that this is the mix of social recognition and professional and postgraduate development events, so the preferred name for the project is ‘Red and White.’ ”

Events for the week include a brunch with notable alumni and a McGill Young Alumni speed networking session, as well as career boot camp sessions and various social celebratory events hosted by the Student Society of McGill University (SSMU).

“We are really looking into tapping into the university network and our colleagues in different departments,” Alumni Services Officer Temi Akinaina said.

The week is the product of collaboration between the SSMU, McGill’s Development and Alumni Relations Office (DAR),  and the CL&E.

“These three groups are essential to student life and engagement both at McGill and beyond McGill,” SSMU President Katie Larson said. “We have a student team that will be working on some of the programming, as well as reaching out to many McGill groups to participate in different events.”

According to Akinaina, DAR’s involvement will help connect recent McGill graduates to the alumni community.

“Our focus will be on […] partnering with CaPS (Careers and Planning Service) because we want to bring alumni back to work on specific events during and basically just showcasing the alumni community,” she said.

DAR will run registration through an online system, while SSMU will promote the week to students online and through e-mail.

According to Miller, while the it’s important to engage students in the events, the success of Red and White week is not dependent on how many graduating students participate.

“I don’t want to say […] if we didn’t have student participation, the event wouldn’t work,” Miller said. “If [students who attend] find it excellent, we can scale it up in future years. Engaged student participation would be the must-have.”

Although graduating U3 Arts student Emily Neufeld said it could be difficult to encourage students to attend due to its timing in May, she said the event could be an effective way to help students plan past graduation.

“As new graduates, we are transitioning from being students to being alumni,” she said. “I think it’s important for McGill to support its new graduates by providing opportunities like this for networking and to give us a taste of what is yet to come.”

a, Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

Track and field: Setting the silver standard

by Wyatt Fine-Gagné on

More in a:

This weekend, McGill played host to the 19th annual McGill Team Challenge—a two-day track and field meet. With around 900 athletes taking part, it was advertised as the largest competition of its kind in Canada. The meet saw a number of records fall and featured eight Olympians.Although the event was a success, both the Redmen and the Martlets had been hoping for more on their home turf.

It was the York Lions and the Guelph Gryphons who took home the men’s and women’s titles respectively. York also placed second in the women’s division, as did Guelph on the men’s side of things. McGill, however, finished 11th in the men’s and 12th in the women’s, and earned just two podium finishes—both of which were silver medals.

“It wasn’t our greatest performance collectively at the team challenge,” McGill Head Coach Dennis Barrett remarked. “We want to at least be in the top 10 with our team talent. That would be the goal going forward.”

The first of the two medals came from sophomore Caroline Tanguay. Tanguay earned a silver medal in the high jump, leaping 1.72m. This came a week after she tallied a gold in the same event at the Laval Rouge et Or Invitational. Though first place was surely her aim again this weekend, Tanguay’s silver medal jump is actually an improvement on the one that brought her the first place finish in Laval—a jump that measured 1.68m.

The drop on the podium despite an improved score was a common theme for McGill athletes, as the large field provided stiff competition. Luguelin Santos, a silver medalist in the 2012 London Olympics—who competed as an independent athlete with Club Puma—won both the men’s 300m and 600m races, and broke a Tomlinson Fieldhouse record for the latter. Injuries were also partially to blame for the difficulties McGill ran into during the competition.

“We had a lot of athletes on the sidelines and some that competed [who] weren’t 100 per cent,” Barrett said. “We were kind of bitten by the injury bug there.”

McGill’s other silver medal came in the Pentathalon, where third-year neuroscience student Dylan Golow scored 3495 points—206 points behind the winner. The silver medal marks a seven spot jump from last year’s team challenge, where Golow placed ninth in the Pentathalon. Although Tanguay and Golow were the only medalists on the team, Barrett saw other strong performances by McGill athletes at the event.

“I thought our 4x200m men and our 4x400m men also performed very well,” Barrett said. “Those were some pretty standout performances in terms of McGill’s [standards].”

Although the 4x200m team of El-Hadj N’Doye, Eric Ellemo, Alexander Steinbrenner, and Benjamin Wyman finished sixth, their time of 1:30.33 was barely two seconds away from medal territory. The 4x400m group also finished sixth, about six seconds behind third place.

Though McGill may have wished for a better outcome, the end result still marked a solid weekend for the team. As exciting as it must be for athletes to compete at home, the meet is ultimately just another day with limited national championship implications.

“You hope that your athletes are more pumped up since it’s a home meet, but the preparation remains the same going towards the national championships,” Barrett said. “It’s one [of] the steps along the way—you know, a testing ground to see where our athletes are at.”

Those on the team who qualified will travel next to the Big Apple for the New York Collegiate Invitational, which begins on Feb. 6.

a, Opinion

You say, we hear—words and why they matter

by Tim Logan on

More in a:

In 1967, economist Milton Friedman gave an address to the members of the American Economic Review. It laid the foundations for the resurgence of monetarism and the rise of neoliberalism, which would eventually replace Keynesianism, revolutionize macroeconomics, and win Friedman a Nobel Prize.

At that time, nearly every macroeconomist in the world was a staunch Keynesian, and Friedman was speaking to a room full of the brightest—yet he changed how they thought about the world, and made them question their most fundamental assumptions. His address, The Role of Monetary Policy, became required reading in universities everywhere and acclaimed by economists all over the political spectrum. What made that speech so brilliant and so successful?

Friedman spoke to them in their own language. Instead of “rational expectations,” he talked about something more familliar, the Phillips Curve—like all substantial changes in group thought, this revolution was driven by language familiar to its audience. Though I disagree with many of Friedman’s conclusions, I respect his rhetorical skill.

The words we choose are important because of the gap between speaker and audience. Listeners are not sponges, indiscriminately sopping up speech; rather, every spoken word triggers rapid chains of association, imagery, and emotion. These chains fundamentally impact how a message is understood. For example, contrast “the right to an abortion” with “the right to choose”: the latter is far friendlier to the ears of voters who positively associate with “choice.”

This is why conservative movements have been so successful in America and Canada; Republicans and Conservatives learned early on that subtle differences in word choice can make or break campaigns—a principle those of us not in politics are finally beginning to understand. Speaking only to the people who agree with us is not enough. Change requires us to speak to many others.

Elections are decided by a relatively small group of people. Moderates, swing-voters, fence-sitters; whatever you choose to call them, recognize their importance. These are the people we must convince. This makes it crucial to step back and hear what you say from the perspective of the audience. What matters is not what you say, but what we hear.

Reasonable arguments can be lamed by verbal slips just as silliness can be panelled with a rational veneer. In the mouth of a skilled speaker, taxes turn to theft and food stamps to waste; and typical voters, with their jobs and families and debts and hobbies, have little time to do more than take what they are given. Arguments made in unfamiliar terms are filtered out and discarded.

In this light, it’s easy to see why social justice movements have such a hard time making inroads into politics. Take, for instance, the usage of the word “oppression.”

To many people, oppression means North Korea, Stalinist Russia, or Chile under Pinochet. So, when they hear, “Group X is oppressed in Canada,” the word “oppression” pulls a lever in their brains and returns “North Korea.” Comparisons between Canada and North Korea are ridiculous, and so our moderate listener marks our speaker down in the “crazy wing-nut” category, right below the Tea Party, and files them away into the dusty drawer of irrelevance.

Substitute whatever group you like and the result will be identical, regardless of whatever truth that statement holds. Using language this way is the ultimate act of self-sabotage – it thwarts both current and future efforts all at once.

Language is a democracy. Just like an independent legislator trying to ram through a bill, trying to change our social dictionary by one’s self will be fruitless. Effective communication relies upon using words in ways the audience understands. Railing against others for not understanding the truth and purity of your lexicon, as righteous as it feels, only makes you a bad communicator.

While I agree with social justice movements on some issues and differ with them on others, it bothers me to see such passionate people dull their skates before they even step onto the ice. “Ideal change on our terms” is not an option: the choices are change with moderate support and no change at all. Getting that moderate support requires using the people’s dictionary. The perfect is often the enemy of the good, and nowhere is this truer than politics.

1 … 957 958 959 960 961 … 1,363

Read the latest issue

Read the latest issue