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a, News

Montreal mayoral candidates face off in debate at McGill

by Harry McAlevey on

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On Oct. 22, the four main candidates of the upcoming Montreal mayoral election participated in an English-language debate co-sponsored by McGill University and CBC Montreal. Hosted at McGill’s Tanna Schulich Hall, the debate was attended by over 150 members of both the McGill and Montreal community.

The event featured Marcel Côté, Richard Bergeron, Denis Coderre, and Mélanie Joly, who sought to clarify their platforms for the Nov. 3 election. Topics of debate included their plans to address corruption, revitalize the economy, and improve the transit system.

All four candidates stressed in their opening statements that their administration would be free from corruption—an issue that has caused two mayors to resign in the past year. Joly, who won 24 per cent of votes in an Oct. 15 online CROP poll of 1,001 people, said that her recent entrance into politics would aid her ability to restore integrity and bring accountability to city hall.

“All the information the city has [will] become public, and not only that, within the first hundred days of my administration I’ll make sure to name a Chief Digital Officer that will provide all the information to citizens,” she said.

Côté focused on his experience in management to show that he has solid plans to restructure the city’s political system.

“We need checks and balances in the executive committee which we don’t have now,” Côté said. “We need open government.”

Coderre, who is considered the front-runner of the race with 41 per cent support in the poll, said he and his allies would change the management of city hall. However, Coderre faced questions from the other candidates about ties to the corruption of the past administration.

Bergeron alluded to the fact that Coderre’s team includes 25 individuals from Union Montréal—the governing party of the city from 2001 until November 2012, when it collapsed after extensive corruption charges.

(Emma Windfeld / McGill Tribune)
(Emma Windfeld / McGill Tribune)

“Can you hope that you will change the situation with the same people that created the real mess we are in right now?” Bergeron asked.

Coderre defended his team, saying that their past associations do not affect their performance now.

“The reality right now is that I refuse to have a society defined by guilt by association,” Coderre said. “Those people are honest; those people are people of integrity.”

Joly also took aim at Coderre by expressing doubt that his proposed creation of an Inspector General position would be sufficient to root out corruption. Citing the example of former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration as a model, Joly argued that ensuring every Montrealer easy access to city information and discussions would result in greater accountability.

Coderre said his proposed appointment of an inspector general, who would oversee the investigation of and punishment of public officials involved in corruption, would entail more than just one person monitoring the city.

“It’s not just one person, it’s a department,” Coderre said. “It’s a change of culture, where you have that individual who has the power and who will depoliticize all the process of procurement.”

Each candidate also outlined different goals they would pursue to spur economic growth. Coderre cited his experience with the federal government—as a member of parliament, then as a cabinet minister—as critical to Montreal’s economic hopes, saying that as mayor he could bring in the necessary people to make the city more efficient and to take care of lingering problems, such as demolishing abandoned silos.

While Côté criticized taxes as unnecessarily high, he also said he will not lower them, which drew criticism from other candidates.

“It’s great you’ve made the analysis that taxes are too high but we need solutions, not analysis,” Joly said.

Côté repeatedly emphasized his management experience and what he could do to spur economic development. Naming Montreal the “orange cone capital of the world,” he declared that as mayor he would ensure construction sites would not be left vacant over weekends.

The candidates unanimously expressed dislike of Montreal’s transit system and traffic congestion, but had different visions for potential solutions.

Bergeron argued that the transit system needs to be rapidly improved and expanded before congestion could be reduced. When asked whether a metro to the West Island was a possibility, Joly said a rapid bus system could solve the problem quickly and far more cheaply.

“We came up with a vision of a surface metro, like they do in Bogota and Mexico and Cleveland, which is eight times less [expensive] than a tramway […], forty times less than a Metro, and it has the same impact,” Joly said.

The Charter of Values proposed by the current Parti Québécois government was also a key part of the debate. While every candidate openly opposed the bill, they fell short of challenging it aggressively.

“This is a very divisive fight, Côté said. “I will fight. People know where I stand. But let’s not stoke the fire.”

The other candidates said they will wait to see what the final bill includes and whether or not it would be passed, before taking action.

The next mayor of Montreal will be announced following the election on Sunday, Nov. 3.

a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Adam Devine’s prime time

by James Chapman on

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If you’re into raucous laughter and slacking off when you should be doing something productive, you’re probably familiar with a little show called Workaholics. The crew of lazy, hilarious telemarketers (played by Blake Anderson, Anders Holm, and last—but definitely not least­—Adam Devine) have been making waves with their uniquely ridiculous antics on Comedy Central since 2011.

As of Thursday last week, a new program has emerged as a contender for the title of ‘funniest go-to party show.’ Adam Devine is its creator, writer, and star, and he has some help from Workaholics alumnus Kyle Newachek, in the director’s chair Adam Devine’s House Party is in some ways exactly what it sounds like—the world’s craziest party, hosted by Adam Devine in his extravagant LA Mansion.  In other ways, it delivers a lot of unexpected laughs; the show’s primary purpose is to showcase up-and-coming stand-up comics.

Between bouts of Devine and his friends getting into mischief at his multi-million dollar frat party, three comics perform stand-up sets. The first episode showcases Ahmed Bharoocha, Andrew Santino, and Barry Rothbart, who talk about topics ranging from baby God to gay skydiving. In addition to performing live, each of the comics also appear in a scripted scene involving them at the titular house party—Santino, for example, shows up with Devine’s ‘ex-girlfriend’ on his arm, and Rothbart discusses defecating on Devine’s floor over a large glass of wine.

The second episode highlights comedians Liza Treyger, Josh Rabinowitz, and Sean Donnelly, all of whom deliver fantastic sets—the only downside that starts to emerge as you watch is that each comic looks like they could do with more time on stage.  Devine himself, on the phone with  The Tribune, comments that “We had to cut each of their sets a little shorter than we’d have liked,” due largely to the format and length of each episode.

The reason for the show’s format stems from Devine’s love of stand-up, and a dissatisfaction with seeing so many new comedians get passed on by audiences due to a lack of time to express their personalities.

“When a comic’s doing a set, and it’s only, you know, 15-20 minutes, the audience doesn’t really get a chance to know them the way they might if they got, like, an hour on stage,” he says.

Devine approaches the show with the mentality that the sketches interspersed with the stand-up are meant to give the audience a good look at each comic’s personality off-stage in a way that other shows really can’t.  This concept really works in practice; by the end of each episode, I went from “Who the hell is this guy” to “Wow, I think I might actually have to see some more of this dude.”

It’s certainly an uncommon format, but Devine hopes that the show “is the tightest of buttholes, but I don’t know; it might be a weird butthole.”

What really ties the whole thing together, however, is Devine’s talent as a host.  He plays a similar character to his Workaholics counterpart, acting as a narcissistic, overly emotional frat boy, upon whom the words “turn it down” have no bearing whatsoever. In his own words, the three adjectives which best describe him are “bodacious, radical, and gnar.” I struggle to think of someone more perfectly suited to the show than the ridiculous character Devine plays so well.

“It’s just sort of who I am,” he says. “I’ve got a weird, big dumb face, I can move in all sorts of different directions, so that helps me out.”

Adam Devine’s House Party is a really funny show, simple as that, and even if you don’t enjoy it­—as some undoubtedly won’t—you’d be doing yourself a disservice by not checking out at least the premiere. In all likelihood, you’ll soon be waiting eagerly for more. To end with some parting wisdom from Devine himself: “Spread the gospel and don’t do meth.”

Adam Devine’s House Party is airing every Friday morning at 12:30 a.m. on Comedy Central.

a, News

Post-doctoral fellows to vote on mandatory services fee

by Sam Pinto on

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Post-doctoral fellows will vote on the creation of a $136.44 per semester student services fee during the upcoming referendum period for the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS), which runs from Nov. 8 to Nov. 14.

If passed, the question mandates a non-optoutable fee for all post-doctoral fellows, which would allow them to access a full range of student services, including Mental Health Services, Chaplaincy Services, Career Planning Service (CaPS), and others. Currently, post-doctoral fellows have the option of paying a $136.44 fee if they wish to use the services.

Post-doctoral fellows are individuals who have completed their doctoral studies and are continuing to work in their field of interest by conducting research under a supervisor or principal investigator prior to applying for job as a faculty member. While the Quebec Government classifies post-doctoral fellows as students, the university considers them to be staff.

“We’re in this limbo between staff and students where we don’t actually get the benefits of either, which is a problem because you don’t get things like access to health care, counselling, mental health, [and the office for students with] disabilities,” explained Emma Vincent, president of the Association of Post-doctoral Fellows of McGill University.

The need to access student services can be vital for many postdoctoral fellows, whose salaries range from $30,000-$40,000, according to Dr. Min Liu, a post-doctoral fellow currently working at the Montreal Neurological Institute. As individuals who do not currently pay a student services fee, postdoctoral fellows must often spend more on a variety of services.

“To have access to the gym [….] we are actually treated as staff,” Liu said. “So in order for me to enroll in the gym for a year, it’s about $525. A student per semester only pays $37.”

Despite the current option for post-doctoral fellows to opt-in on the fee, Vincent said very few post-doctoral fellows actually know that access to student services is available to them for this price, and that the Association of Post-doctoral Fellows only found out about it recently. Furthermore, for those who do choose to opt-in, many of the services are not tailored to suit their requirements because many of the student service staff are not familiar with postdoctoral fellows’ needs.

“The advantage of having everyone opt-in would be improved services for post-docs because they would be tailored and specific to us, whereas right now those that opt in just get what’s sawed off for grad students,” Vincent said.

Vincent also said she hopes that having all postdoctoral fellows obligated to pay the student services fee will help increase the sense of community among them in order to use it as a tool for lobbying the McGill administration.

“Right now […] we’re just a community adrift with no bargaining power,” she said. “If we paid an amount of money, we could sit down with the people that run the services and say ‘we’d really like this for the post-docs,’ and actually work on achieving that.”

Full disclosure: the Tribune Publication Society (TPS) is also running a fee levy question in this referendum period. Adrien Hu, Steven Lampert, and Carolina Millán Ronchetti are on the TPS ‘Yes’ committee. 

a, Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Great vengeance and furious anger

by Max Bledstein on

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The history of racial relations in North America has certainly been a topic of interest among filmmakers and playwrights in recent years—one  which audiences have been happy to engage in. One need look no further than the recent successes of Django Unchained, Fruitvale Station, or the buzz around 12 Years a Slave to see the fascination the issue has provoked. It’s no small feat then that Omari Newton’s play Sal Capone: The Lamentable Tragedy of showcases a powerful new perspective on the subject, giving consideration to multiple viewpoints without concealing the vehement anger underneath.

As the audience enters the theatre to the sound of gunshots, sirens, and Pusha T’s “Numbers on the Boards,” it’s easy to miss the title character (played by Tristan D. Lalla) sitting with his head enveloped by a hoodie on one of the benches that compose most of the sparse set. It’s a powerful decision by director Diane Roberts that indicts the audience of ignoring black youth without feeling didactic.

Once the lights go down and the play actually begins, Lalla is far from inconspicuous. He brings a righteous fury to Sal—also referred to by his birth name, Freddy—that matches the ire in Newton’s script.  He’s particularly strong in the slam poetry-esque soliloquies which serve the multiple functions of developing his character, promoting a political agenda, and comprising a good deal of the play’s diegetic music. It’s a credit to Newton’s versatility that the musical numbers are compelling enough to not feel like mere plot devices.

This isn’t to imply that the music is all that’s interesting about Sal Capone. The story, narrated by First Nations drag queen Shaneney (played by Billy Merasty) concerns Freddy and the hip-hop group he has with his two friends Jewel and Chase (played by Kim Villigante and Jordan Waunch). When their DJ and friend Sam is shot nine times by the police, they find themselves in a quandary—do they go through with their album release party or put it off in Sam’s honor?

At this point, the play splinters off into conversations between various groupings of the characters, which shed light on different reactions by minorities to oppression.  Freddy responds to the violence by isolating himself in his room and composing reactionary lyrics which shock and offend his sister Naomi (played by Letitia Brooks).  With her character, however, Newton’s writing falls short of the depth which he affords the rest of the cast—his portrayal of Naomi verges on caricature throughout the play.  Though Naomi’s resistance to protest forms an interesting contrast with Freddie’s rebelliousness, her plucky obstinance doesn’t quite yield a fully believable character.

However, Naomi’s one-dimensional nature is more than made up for by Jewel’s multivalent vibrancy. Villagante herself is an up-and-coming rapper, and her skill and energy could easily make her a future star. She brings an exuberance to Jewel, who subsequently steals many of the scenes she’s in.

Sal Capone is an angry play, though Newton’s rage—for the most part—doesn’t get in the way of his intelligence. It’s hard to gauge how large of an audience will be drawn to a play that reaches conclusions as grim as this one does about North American racial relations. Though there has been a vogue for works on race recently, most of them either don’t come from a black perspective or don’t have the fury lurking beneath them that Sal Capone does. However, Spike Lee proved with Do the Right Thing that a black artist can turn his indignation into something that will resonate with a large audience, so hopefully Sal Capone can find similar success.

Sal Capone: The Lamentable Tragedy of is being shown until Nov. 10 at MAI (3680 Jeanne-Mance). Performances will be held at 8 p.m. Wed.-Sat. and at 3 p.m. on Sunday matinees. Student tickets are $20.

a, News, SSMU

Is TaCEQ right for SSMU?

by Sam Pinto on

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This year, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) will be spending $17,000 on its membership to the Table de Concertation Étudiante du Québec (TaCEQ). Better known as the Quebec Student Roundtable, the organization is a student federation that seeks to represent its members on issues regarding student affairs by lobbying the Quebec government.

While $17,000 may seem insignificant in comparison with the SSMU’s $1 million budget, the budget cuts that McGill continues to face have led students to question the allocation of money across the university, including in governing bodies like SSMU. In March 2013, for example, a SSMU Council discussion on TaCEQ turned into a heated debate of the organization’s relevance, transparency, and usefulness to SSMU members.

Consideration of similar factors has led other member associations to contemplate leaving TaCEQ—the graduate student assocation of the Université de Sherbrooke (REMDUS) will be holding a referendum on Dec. 3-5 where they will decide whether or not stay in the association.

This week, the Tribune takes an in-depth look at TaCEQ to examine how the organization is making use of student dollars, and whether SSMU members benefit from being part of the organization.

 

 What is TaCEQ?

According to its website, TaCEQ is “a national group of university student associations whose main objective is to promote and defend the rights and interests of students.” TaCEQ represents approximately 70,000 students, including members of SSMU, the Université Laval’s post-graduate student association (AELIÉS), the Université Laval’s undergraduate student association (CADEUL), and REMDUS. TaCEQ is headed by a secretary general and two deputy secretary-generals—one for administrative and financial affairs, and another for internal affairs and communications.

As part of the job profile, SSMU’s Vice-President External acts as SSMU’s liaison to TaCEQ. Last year, SSMU also created the position of TaCEQ delegates, who accompany the Vice-President External to TaCEQ meetings to advise the VP in decision-making.

“The idea was that these people would be any SSMU member, councillor or not, who would be elected or appointed by council to go to TaCEQ meetings with the VP External,” explained former VP External Robin Reid-Fraser, who was involved in the creation of the position.

TaCEQ meetings are hosted monthly, most often in Quebec City, where the University of Laval is located. Votes are allocated proportionally based on the number of students per member association, with SSMU currently holding four votes out of 13.

 

Why is TaCEQ not nationally recognized?

In order to be nationally recognized, a union must have a minimum of four student associations on four separate campuses. Since two of TaCEQ’s four members come from the Université Laval, the organization does not qualify as such.

The primary issue with not being nationally recognized is that TaCEQ does not receive government bursaries, meaning that students of the member associations are required to pay additional fees to keep TaCEQ running.

Additionally, TaCEQ does not have the same influence in campaigning the provincial government that other nationally organized student unions, such as La Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ) and La  Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec (FECQ), would have.

According to Reid-Fraser, the lack of national recognition is a fundamental problem for TaCEQ.

“[National recognition] allows [unions] to have more full time staff, provide more research, and do more outreach work,” she said. “TaCEQ would like to increase its capacity and have people who are working for it who are paid and aren’t expected to be volunteering a lot of their time.”

Current VP External Sam Harris said TaCEQ has made an effort to become nationally recognized even without reaching the required number of member associations.

“TaCEQ has written a letter to the current government asking it to re-consider the arbitrary decision of the previous government,” Harris said.

Additionally, if REMDUS chooses to leave TaCEQ this December, TaCEQ’s legitimacy could be further weakened because the union would only represent two universities.

 

TaCEQ vs. FEUQ

SSMU has a long history as a member of FEUQ, and only joined TaCEQ when it came into existence in 2009.

As a much larger student union, FEUQ represents over 125,000 Quebec students, has a larger budget—$620,000 per year from student fees, not including government bursaries. FEUQ therefore has more money to spend on its campaigns and research. This nationally recognized student union is also invited to more government-organized events and summits than TaCEQ.

SSMU withdrew from FEUQ following a dispute with the student federation in 1995, when SSMU was listed in a FEUQ resolution supporting the Quebec secession referendum even though SSMU had asked to abstain.

In order to avoid future issues such as these, SSMU, along with the three other student associations, collaborated to form their own student association.

Unlike FEUQ or L’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ), which have a centralized governing structure, TaCEQ has a decentralized body, which means that decisions are controlled by its member associations rather than by an autonomous governing body.

According to Harris, this means that members have more say in political decisions, official positions, and campaigns. In addition, member associations can choose to opt-out of their involvement in TaCEQ decisions if they do not support the motions.

“A decentralized association […] is one which has far fewer execs, staff, and resources, and whose decisions and direction are based on the collaboration of the execs or representatives from each member association,” Harris said.

Member associations of TaCEQ can leave the federation by submitting a question for their student association’s referendum period. This referendum would have to pass with a majority vote.

In contrast, one advantage of centralized student associations is that there may be a more fluid decision-making process because of their larger executive committee.

Because of its larger size and government, FEUQ is also able to branch to address the needs of specific student unions. Jonathan Mooney, Secretary General of the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS), said one reason for PGSS’s membership in FEUQ is its council on post-graduate student unions.

“PGSS undertook a comprehensive review of its external affiliations in 2009 and choose to affiliate with FEUQ,” he said. “FEUQ includes an autonomous council of Postgraduate student associations dedicated to postgraduate issues, le Conseil national des cycles supérieurs (CNCS), and dedicates 20 per cent of its budget to CNCS.”

 

The cost of TaCEQ

While there are no per-member fees for TaCEQ members, member associations are required to provide funds for a percentage of TaCEQ’s annual budget in order to keep the organization running.

Each member association pays a proportion of the budget in relation to how many members the student association has. SSMU, which has 26,000 members and makes up 33.5 per cent of TaCEQ’s membership, pays 31.5 per cent of TaCEQ’s $53,500 budget, totaling $17,002.50 this year. According to Reid-Fraser, the vice secretary general of administrative and financial affairs compiles the initial budget, which member associations vote on.

At $0.65 per student for this year, this is less than the cost of being a member of FEUQ, which requires $2.50 per student per semester. This means that being part of FEUQ would cost SSMU members over $130,000 per year.

However, SSMU has also contributed more than its required amount toward TaCEQ-related activities this year. For example, this year SSMU committed to contributing up to $10,000 towards TaCEQ’s role as an intervener in a court case challenging the law that all Quebec students are required to be a member of an accredited student association.

“All the TaCEQ associations agreed that this was an area of common interest,” Harris said. “We would be helping to defend the validity of all student associations in Quebec—including SSMU—and setting a precedent against any future challenge of that nature.”

SSMU’s contribution does not come out of their TaCEQ budget, but rather from SSMU’s legal fees budget. The decision to contribute was made by the current SSMU executives this summer.

Additionally, SSMU has had to help pay fines after TaCEQ failed to properly pay its taxes in time in 2012, totalling $975, with SSMU having to pay for $326.63 of the fine.

“That was an issue of having some confusion in terms of getting paperwork filed and paying taxes to Revenu Québec,” Reid-Fraser explained. “There were some fines that were associated with that and those were shared by all the member associations.”

 

Achievements

The main question that councillors brought up about TaCEQ in Council last March was about what the roundtable has achieved for students during its brief existence.

Both Reid-Fraser and TaCEQ Secretary General Paul-Antoine Cardin said they believe that TaCEQ’s involvement in the 2012 student movement has improved their reputation as a student federation.

“TaCEQ was quite involved in the 2012 student movement,” Cardin said. “We were and are still against the tuition hike and demanded that tuition be freezed with the prospect of instating free education in CEGEPs and universities [….] We were at the negotiations and we had good relationship with the other national associations.”

Harris also cited TaCEQ’s invitation to the provincial government’s Higher Education Summit in February. However, Allison Cooper, former SSMU Vice-President Clubs and Services who attended several TaCEQ meetings last year, questioned the purpose of attending the summit.

“The education summit was pointless [and] not very participatory at all,” Cooper said. “It was completely unclear what a supposedly non-representational body [like TaCEQ] was representing at a political representative meeting. This wasn’t a victory in any way.”

As an indication of the organization’s engagement in the education summit, Reid-Fraser pointed to a proposal that TaCEQ presented to suggest an alternative funding source for education in Quebec. The proposed model would fund higher education by taxing companies relative to the number of salaries they give out.

Although this proposal was not accepted at the summit, Reid-Fraser said the union’s accomplishments in the last few years signify that it is on the right track.

“Just the fact that TaCEQ was able to do some organizing around the strike and did participate in the education summit and brought some ideas that were different from some of the other associations […] has been a definite positive sign,” she said.

 

 Goals

One of the major difficulties that TaCEQ has faced in the past has been to clearly define its goals moving forward. Because of TaCEQ’s decentralized nature, it can be difficult for the association to unanimously agree on more specific goals.

In order to better organize these goals as well as reform the association as a whole, member associations planned to organize a congress this year on Oct. 5-6;

however, the initiative has been suspended indefinitely.

“The cancellation of a congress has stalled the reform process, which had been asked for to some extent by everybody last year, including SSMU, “ Harris said. “Its main goal was to have a much larger group of members from each association, and for their input to inspire the changes TaCEQ was to make.”

Guillaume Fortin, TaCEQ’s Vice Secretary General of Internal Affairs and Finance, explained that AELIÉS chose to stall the congress, claiming that it had too many accompanying problems. The problems with the congress include its structure as well as the actual subjects for discussion. AELIÉS decided that because these issues couldn’t be resolved before the congress was set to take place, the meeting should be postponed.

“AELIÉS thought it was impossible to fix the problems of the congress in time,” Fortin said. “The decision was more a restart of the preparation process for the congress.”

Cardin outlined several goals that he hoped the association would be able to address and solve this year.

“TaCEQ proposed some ideas about the evolution of the current financial assistance system, the future Universities’ National Council, and the eventual bill on Quebec universities,” he said. “We are still in contact with the government to ensure that our opinions are respected and understood.”

 

Criticisms of TaCEQ

Having a more decentralized approach often requires more negotiation and involvement among the member associations of TaCEQ during the decision making process. While this has its advantages, it can also result in an increased number of disputes and stalemates.

Harris said that while SSMU has a close relationship with REMDUS, this is not the case for the other two student organizations.

“It’s not really a question of disliking them, it’s just that we’ve struggled to find areas of common ground,” Harris said.

SSMU has had ongoing debates regarding reform of TaCEQ’s governing structure.

“I was personally shocked the first time I attended a TaCEQ meeting by how truly disconnected I saw that SSMU was from the organization,” Cooper said. “There appeared to be many translational issues that were taking place, in addition to just really frustrating representatives from other member associations who would, for example, roll their eyes and make inconsiderate and anti-constructive remarks when the idea of producing bilingual materials for our primarily anglophone membership came up.”

TaCEQ’s website and executive documents are currently exclusively in French, although Cardin said the website will be translated by January 2014. According to Cooper, issues such as these point to a more fundamental problem with transparency within TaCEQ.

“It scares me that the only real public information about the TaCEQ-SSMU relationship last year came from SSMU Council and the VP External’s reports,” she said. “[These] say astonishingly little considering the behind-the-scenes conversations and shed zero light on what TaCEQ is actually doing with the thousands of dollars of SSMU members’ money.”

REMDUS has expressed similar frustrations, which will be addressed in its upcoming referendum on leaving TaCEQ. According to Harris, the referendum was prompted by frustration with the lack of progress on projects such as English translation and the congress.

In response, SSMU will assign its political attaché Julien Benoît to conduct research on SSMU’s student association membership history. SSMU aims to use this report to strategize its membership future following REMDUS’ referendum results.

“Our political attaché is preparing some research on what it would mean if they left and on our implication at the provincial level generally, as well as SSMU’s past affiliations and the reason for their demise,” Harris said. “The legitimacy of TaCEQ as a whole would be further questioned if it represents students from only two universities.”

Only having two universities in the association could further affect TaCEQ’s ability to actively promote the interests of its members. According to Cooper, her experience with the other member associations leaves her doubtful that representatives would be willing to cooperate with each other.

“Whether the failure of this relationship was on SSMU or TaCEQ’s end is certainly not 100 per cent clear,” Cooper said. “However, I think there were communication and engagement issues on both ends, and that speaks to the worth of having the affiliation at all.”

 

a, Science & Technology

What’s the science behind werewolves and zombies?

by Caity Hui on

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The legend of a howling man who shape-shifts by the light of the full moon strikes a particular chord come Halloween, as do the sunken eyes of flesh-hungry zombies that populate contemporary horror fiction. Both of these creatures stem from a long line of folklore, but like most myths, these stories are rooted in some degree of truth.

For centuries, civilizations have used legend to provide an explanation for phenomena for which they otherwise have no rational explanation. Today, scientists have tried to provide clinical explanation for these so-called mythological creatures that would have prompted people to develop stories about them. Though we can only speculate, the science behind these monsters provides an interesting take on some of Halloween’s most popular creatures.

 

Werewolves

The werewolf is a mythological creature common in European folklore. Though the legend of werewolves differs between cultures, the main characteristics remain consistent. Usually, the werewolf is associated with a man who is metamorphosed—or shape-shifted—into a wolf-like form. The transformation is attributed to various sources, such as putting on a belt made of wolf skin, full moons, or witchcraft. Recently, the werewolf has seen a return to pop culture through the Harry Potter and Twilight series.

While the werewolf dominates myth, some scientists have speculated clinical disorders that may have contributed to the development of such folklore. One explanation is the rare condition known as “congenital hypertrichosis universalis.” According to a study conducted by Robert Suskin and Nancy B. Esterly in 1971, patients of this disease are born with excessive body hair that increases with age. By age two, the person’s face, trunk, and limbs are covered with long hair—a state that could have contributed to the development of the werewolf myth. However, while symptoms of the disease seem to resemble the mythological creature, its rarity—fewer than 100 cases are documented worldwide—suggests that this medical condition alone could not have contributed to the widespread myth of the werewolf.

In his novel The Werewolf Delusion Ian Woodward points to rabies as a more likely cause for werewolf myths.

Rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system, ultimately resulting in disease of the brain, and death. It falls into the category of zoonotic diseases, meaning it can be transmitted from other species to humans. Some of the early-stage symptoms of the infection include violent movements and uncontrolled excitement.

According to Woodward, late-stage rabies and its accompanying dementia and aggression may have caused communities to associate victims of rabies infections with becoming “bestial.”

In many cases, the infected animals are exceptionally aggressive and may attack other animals without provocation. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that transmission of the rabies virus is due to the spread of infected saliva of a host to an uninfected animal. This aggressive behaviour ultimately facilitates transmission of the virus to other hosts through bites.

Woodward speculates that if a person contracted rabies from a wolf bite, the people around them could have assumed that the wolf passed some of its animal qualities to the victim of the disease. Although this theory is only speculation, it helps to provide an explanation for how the myth of the werewolf arose in ancient cultures.

 

Zombies 

Zombies made their most recent appearance on screen this year with the release of Warm Bodies and World War Z, but the walking dead have long starred in West African voodoo and Haitian folklore.

Costas J. Efthimiou, a physicist at the University of Central Florida, describes the case of the alleged “zombified” Wilfrid Doricent in the magazine The Skeptical Inquirer. Doricent, an adolescent boy from a small village in Haiti, is known in myth for returning to life as a zombie. According to the story, Doricent experienced dramatic convulsions, swelling of the body, and eight days later appeared to have died. Yet a short period after he was buried, the villagers were shocked to see a person walking through the village in the exact likeness of Doricent. As legend goes, Doricent was incoherent and unable to speak—some might say he had returned from the dead.

Efthimiou speculates that this case of supernatural magic was actually a result of poisoning. Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a highly potent neurotoxin that is found in several organisms, including a species of puffer fish that lives in the waters of Haiti. The toxin blocks sodium channels in nerve cell membranes, preventing normal transmission of signals between the brain and body. Consequently, symptoms of TTX poisoning include paralysis of voluntary muscles and loss of sensation. The liver of the puffer fish can be made into a powder, which Efthimiou concluded could have been used to poison Doricent.

Based on Efthimiou’s explanation, the effects of TTX paralysis mimicked a coma, which would have caused the villagers to assume Doricent’s death. If, however, the symptoms of the poisoning were to subside shortly after his burial, it is possible that his survival instincts kicked in and he was able to dig himself out of the grave. The oxygen deprivation caused by the live burial would have led to brain damage, providing an explanation for Doricent’s subsequent incoherency.

That being said, this theory is just one explanation behind the scientific reasoning of the legend of zombies. Until more scientific evidence can be provided, Efthimiou’s idea will remain, like the werewolf proposition, simply speculation.

 

a, Recipes, Student Life

Tribune Trick-or-Treats

by Alycia Noë on

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Ghost Marshmallows

Makes 32 ghost-shaped marshmallows

Ingredients

3 tbsp unflavoured gelatin powder

½ cup cold water

2 cups granulated sugar

½ cup corn syrup

½ cup cold water

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 egg whites

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Cooking spray

Instructions

1. Spray metal baking pan with a thick layer of cooking spray (or oil).

2. Shake gelatin powder into a bowl of cold water and let stand.

3. In a saucepan over low heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, and cold water. Cook and stir with a wooden spoon until sugar is dissolved.

4. Once sugar is dissolved, increase the heat and bring mixture to a boil—do not stir the mixture during this step!

5. Remove heated sugar mixture from stovetop and pour over gelatin in bowl. Stir vigorously.

6. Using a whisk or hand mixer, beat mixture until thickened and white. The mixture’s volume should appear to increase

7. Add vanilla extract to the gelatin mixture.

8. In another bowl, beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks.

9. Gently fold in egg whites to gelatin mixture until just combined.

10. Pour completed mixture into baking pan and sift about ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar over the top.

11. Put marshmallows in refrigerator and allow mixture to firm for four hours to one day.

12. After chilling mixture, go around the edges of the pan with a knife and gently remove marshmallows onto cutting board.

13. Cut into desired shapes, such as ghosts.

14. Cover marshmallows with remaining confectioners’ sugar.

15. Store marshmallows in a cool and dry location.

 

Homemade Twix Bars

Ingredients

Cookie base:

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cold butter

½ cup dark brown sugar

Caramel filling:

¾ cup butter

½ cup dark brown sugar

3 tbsp corn syrup

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate coating:

1 package chocolate chips

1 tbsp butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350oF.

2. Mix all ingredients for the cookie base together until clumpy.

3. Press mixture onto cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

4. Combine all butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and condensed milk for the caramel in a saucepan.

5. Heat caramel mixture over medium heat until boiling, stirring continuously.

6. Reduce heat to low and allow caramel to simmer for 5-10 minutes—keep stirring!

7. Remove the caramel from the heat and add vanilla extract.

8. Pour caramel over the baked cookie base.

9. Cool in refrigerator until caramel has hardened.

10. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave with butter (to prevent your chocolate from burning).

11. Pour melted chocolate over cookie and caramel, refrigerate to cool.

12. Cut into candy bar sized pieces.

 

Candy Eyeballs

Ingredients

½ cup peanut butter

3 tbsp butter

1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 bag white chocolate chips

M&Ms

Red frosting

Instructions

1. In a bowl, cream peanut butter and softened butter together.

2. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract, mixing together until smooth.

3. Cover a cookie sheet with wax paper, aluminum foil, or saran wrap.

4. Roll peanut butter mixture into balls and place on lined cookie sheet.

5. Refrigerate balls until hardened (approximately half an hour).

6. Melt white chocolate chips in microwave.

7. Dip cooled peanut butter balls into melted chocolate and place on cookie sheet.

8. While the chocolate coating is still warm, add an M&M on the top of the ball.

9. Let eyeballs harden in fridge.

10. Use red frosting to draw on blood vessels.

11. Wait for icing harden.

 

a, Art, Arts & Entertainment

Rallumons le Red Light reclaims Montreal’s Red-Light District

by Lauren Wildgoose on

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Whatever its faults, Montreal’s entertainment district cannot be described as poorly lit. On the evening of Oct. 24, a new artistic illumination joined the gaudy lights at the intersection of St. Laurent and Ste. Catherine. An excited crowd came to witness the unveiling of Rallumons le Red Light, an installation gracing the face of the 2-22 building.

The project’s name is a nod to its situation in Montreal’s former Red Light District. It aims to reclaim the ‘red light’ by re-illuminating the area and paying homage to a somewhat shady chapter of the city’s history—gambling, prostitution, and illicit drinking were activities typical to the area.

The installation, referred to as an “illumination” by its creators, is the product of a collaboration between La Vitrine, the cultural centre that occupies the 2-22 building, and Moment Factory, a Montreal-based studio that creates multimedia installations in public spaces. Moment Factory’s multimedia approach combined several types of performance art at the unveiling in an impressive display of Montreal talent.

As the audience assembled in the middle of the notorious intersection for the unveiling, 2-22 stood dark and quiet, lit only by a few dim red spotlights. The building’s face is made of glass crisscrossed by steel beams and three interior runways on which the red light screens are mounted. Actor Maude Guerin appeared behind glass above the building’s entrance and paid tribute to ‘The Main,’ as St. Laurent is affectionately called, with a dramatic monologue from Chante de Sainte Carmen de la Main. As the final line—“on rallume le red light”—rang out, the red lights sprang to life on the runways around her and began undulating in time to slow ambient music. They then picked up speed, flashing and spinning in time to upbeat electronic music in an impressive display of digital engineering.

(Cassandra Rogers / McGill Tribune)
(Cassandra Rogers / McGill Tribune)

The lights served as backdrop and accompaniment to each of the acts that followed: first a performance by the O’Vertigo dance group, then an opera excerpt performed by singers from l’Atelier lyrique de l’Opera de Montréal, and finally a breathtaking circus act by Les 7 doigts de la main—all of their homegrown talent, and all performing from the precariously high runways. The lights’ infinitely changeable nature complemented the performance, and will ensure that the installation captivates passersby in the months to come.

The event’s only pitfall was the interactive game played via smartphone that the announcers tried desperately to organize, in accordance with Moment Factory’s mission of creating interactive art experiences for the audience. In this case, however, the interactive aspect did not enhance the installation whatsoever. It was fraught with technical difficulties that created a major anticlimax; one audience member remarked that the game had turned them into “a thousand confused people.”

La Vitrine’s decision to mount the Red Light installation in public view on the façade of 2-22 is not a surprising one for an organization that works to make art and performance accessible to all Montrealers. The display can be appreciated by any and all passersby, which reflects La Vitrine’s mission of promoting culture to the public rather than reserving it for the elite, and also celebrates Montreal’s checkered past. All in all, definitely worth a look.

The Rallumons le Red Light installation can be seen on the face of the 2-22 building, 2 Ste. Catherine E.

a, News

UN Special Rapporteur criticizes government’s response to Maple Spring

by Eman Jeddy on

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Last Wednesday, United Nations Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai spoke on the challenges facing Canada and other civil societies in protecting the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Hosted by the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, the lecture was attended by approximately 50 members of the McGill and Montreal community.

In 2012, Kiai and several other specialists publically condemned the Canadian government’s reaction to the 2012 student protests against tuition increases. He pointed specifically to police reaction to the protests, as well as Bill 78—an emergency bill passed in 2012 that required protestors to give police at least eight hours’ notice of demonstrations.

“What surprises me was the reaction of the government of Canada,” he said. “It reacted very much the same way as governments that are generally known as repressive would react. I thought the Canadian [government] would be open to criticisms, open to constructive ideas, and to engage in a dialogue rather than go on the attack.”

Kiai said that, in civil societies—where individuals and non-governmental institutions seek to improve the welfare of citizens—associations and protests should be able to form without registration with, or authorization from, the government.

“You don’t need to get authorization from the government in order to have peaceful protest,” he said. “Notification rather than authorization is what is important.’’

As a Special Rapporteur for the UN, Kiai cannot impose laws upon Canada or any country he inspects. However, Kiai emphasized the importance of countries creating laws that uphold the international sanctions on the rights to freedom of assembly and association that he recommends.

“All we can do is put [the sanctions] out and hope that people will pick it up in their daily work,” Kiai said. “I can condemn the city of Montreal, but beyond that it is up to you guys [.…] The sanctions need to be done in Canada, by Canadians through Canadian mechanisms; we can only support them.”

Kiai added that government relations within civil societies have to be both transparent and expressive.

“Any state that wants to know how its people are feeling should give them the space to express that,” Kiai said. “A state that really cares for its people should be able to allow as much space for protest and for speaking out as it can.”

Pearl Eliadis, a professor at McGill’s Faculty of Law and co-organizer of the event, said that the purpose of hosting the event was to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of assembly and association, and to enable students to protect themselves through knowledge of their human rights.

According to Eliadis, these topics are particularly important in light of the Maple Spring student protests.

“Freedom of association and assembly are obviously of great issue to Quebec given the Maple Spring, but also we’re starting to see the connection with the international and global issues on the repression on civil societies,” Eliadis said. “Students need to be engaged, but at the same time, they need to be able to protect themselves. [It’s] an issue around making sure they’re safe and that they understand their rights and responsibilities.’’

Eric Moses Gashirabake, a First Year law student who attended the event, praised Kiai’s promotion of awareness of the barriers faced by civil societies around the world. Gashirabake pointed to Kiai’s experience in Kenya, where he worked as the chairman of Kenya’s National Human Rights Commission.

“[Kiai] is in a minority of activists in Kenya doing amazing things to promote democracy,” Gashirabake said. “From someone who is going on the ground not just in Kenya but internationally to look at the similarities and points of convergence [in different civil societies], it’s a nice opportunity for us students—regardless of what we’re studying—to know that this is a civic duty that we can all be engaged in.”

The speech was one of two public lectures preceding Kiai’s presentation of the first full report of his findings from his time assessing freedom of assembly and association in various countries to the UN in New York on Oct. 29.

a, News

McGill Senate discusses need to reform structure and operations

by Emma Windfeld on

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The McGill Senate could face changes to its membership and operation following a discussion about its purpose at its Oct. 16 meeting.

Principal Suzanne Fortier said a working group of senators will be formed to create recommendations about potential changes to Senate’s structure and operations, which will  then be voted on at a future Senate meeting.

Topics under consideration at Wednesday’s meeting included Senate’s purpose and function, as well as time allocation, size, the principal’s role to chair meetings, and Senate’s role in making academic decisions. McGill’s Senate is the main governing body that oversees the academic activities of the university. According to its Rules of Procedure, Senate can revise the conduct of their own meetings.

“The present rules may be amended by a majority vote of those present at any regular or special meeting,” the document reads.

However, approval from the Board of Governors is required in order to revise Senate’s composition.

At Wednesday’s meeting, some senators said they were dissatisfied with the lack of debate motions receive before passing through Senate. Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) Secretary-General Jonathan Mooney pointed to Senate’s format as part of the problem.

“Rather than just getting presentations for information and approving things that have already been decided, there need to be opportunities where the competencies and qualifications of Senate are used in the decision making process,” he said. “There should be times when we disagree. We should get some engagement that way.”

Political Science Professor and Faculty of Arts Representative Catherine Lu used McGill’s decision to offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) last year as an example of an academic decision that passed without much input or debate by Senate.

“When I started [on Senate], I thought I’d be taking part in decision making about academic matters of the university,” she said. “I was astounded by the lack of process with respect to [the decision] last year [.… Senate’s] participatory role was neglected; open discussions failed to allow Senate to contribute.”

Religious Studies Representative Haley Dinel suggested that Senate needs to take steps to encourage debate.

“Senate is the ideal institution to have debates on any given issue,” Dinel said. “Perhaps we should have a 20-minute window in which senators could bring forth issues to debate.”

Another suggestion was to provide more information to senators ahead of the meeting to allow them to consider the information. Arts Representative Lydia White suggested presenting fewer annual reports to make more time for Senate to discuss policy-related issues.

“Our annual reports are quite uncontroversial,” White said. “Making them available to senators to ask questions about them without presenting them […] would free up time for the more policy-related issues that Senate might be discussing.”

However, Faculty of Science Representative Gregory Dudek argued that many issues addressed at Senate require a large amount of time for explanation, and that there is not enough time to both fully explain and debate these topics in meetings.

“It’s hard to imagine engaging in debate on big issues without having meetings every day,” he said.

Other senators questioned the composition of Senate. Law representative Guillaume Blais pointed to his previous experience as a member of the University of Guelph’s senate to suggest reducing the number of senators and doing more work in smaller committees.

“At Guelph, this same discussion resulted in reducing the number of Senate members,” Blais said. “There’s merit to work being done in committees.”

107 voting members currently sit on McGill’s senate. In comparison, Guelph’s Senate has 162 members (reduced from 215 members in 2011), and the University of British Columbia has approximately 100.

Another recommendation was from Faculty of Medicine Representative Gary Pekeles, who advocated for Senate to be led by someone other than the principal.

“This committee [should] not be chaired by a single administrator,” Pekeles said. “We should look for leadership coming from the floor.”

Faculty of Science Representative Graham Bell said the conversation ultimately reveals fundamental concerns about the way that Senate operates.

“The question is whether Senate is necessary at all,” Bell said. “The conclusion of the debate is that we are uncertain about what we are in this room for, and perhaps that’s a point well worth investigating. Apparently, in some respects, the business of Senate is failing to perform its function.”

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