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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.”

a, News

New $2,500 Dentistry student fee to help fund faculty relocation

by Emma Windfeld & Sam Pinto on

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Incoming Dentistry students for Fall 2014 will pay a new mandatory $2,500 fee per semester to contribute to the Faculty of Dentistry’s $18 million relocation project.

The fee is the result of a student-initiated referendum question run  through the Dental Students’ Society (DSS), and will not affect current students.

Announced on Oct. 18, the relocation project will move the faculty’s facilities to a new location on the corner of McGill College Avenue and Rue Sherbrooke by June 2014.

The project includes the modernization of most of the faculty’s activities, including research, clinical teaching, and its undergraduate teaching clinic.

The faculty has raised $6 million to date to fund the $18 million move, mainly through donations from faculty supporters. The remainder will be funded through a loan.

The referendum question, which was proposed by DSS President Sina Hashemi, was approved by 87 per cent of current students, although the fee will only affect new students.

According to Hashemi, the decision to exempt current students from the contribution is due to two reasons.

“First, current students were not aware of this contribution prior to applying and therefore would not have been able to budget accordingly,” Hashemi said. “Second, this contribution may have affected their decision to attend McGill’s Faculty of Dentistry.”

The fee will amount to $800,000 per year and will help cover repayment of the faculty’s loan. Total student fees paid by first-year dentistry undergraduates from Quebec are currently $7,134, while out of province Canadians pay $15,556.

Hashimi said that DSS’s decision to impose the fee was voluntary.

“The faculty suggested the students consider contributing to the faculty,” Hashemi said. “The DSS felt it necessary to help fund the move because we will be contributing and investing in our careers.”

Austin Chang, a grade 12 student from British Columbia and prospective McGill Dentistry applicant, said the fee may influence his intention to attend the university.

“This new fee greatly affects my desire to apply for McGill Dentistry, as the extra expense will take a significant toll on my student budget,” Chang said. “Since it is all students [who] would be using the new facilities, then it is all students that should help in compensation for the move. Perhaps a lessened fee for current students would be better than none at all.”

Yuxin Mei, U3 Dentistry, voted ‘yes’ in the referendum to impose the fee and said he would still choose to come to McGill even if he had to pay the fee.

“McGill has always been my top choice and I’d even pay another $10,000 to go to this school because as a Quebec resident, it’s still cheaper than [Dentistry programs in] the rest of Canada.”

The relocation comes as the result of the closure of the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) in 18 months. As a result, the RVH dental department will need to move into the space currently occupied by the faculty in the Montreal General Hospital (MGH).

According to Paul Allison, dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, the relocation is also intended to consolidate the faculty’s activities and address its outdated equipment and lack of space.

“The clinic itself is probably 20 years old, so the equipment needs to be replaced,” Allison said. “There’s a considerable lack of space [and] the lab hasn’t seen any major renovations since the 1980s.”

Allison added that the move will benefit students and the greater community by bringing everyone together in one space. Currently, the Faculty of Dentistry has teaching and research activities in a number of locations. By June 2014, the faculty plans to have completely vacated MGH and to have mostly vacated the other buildings, aside from some offices and research activities that will remain in their current locations.

“[It] will provide the public with easier access to our clinic by public transportation,” Allison said. “The new space will bring research, clinical teaching, graduate, and dental services together, and become the hub of the Faculty’s community outreach activities, all in a state-of-the-art facility.”

a, Science & Technology

Montreal’s maple trees: where monoculture meets bigotry

by Caity Hui on

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If you take a walk up Mount Royal, you may notice that about a third of all the yellow leaves have peculiar black spots. These spots are caused by Rhytisma, a black tar fungus which lives parasitically in the leaves of deciduous forest species, and is killing Montreal’s maple trees. Surprisingly, the Mont Royal maples were not always at risk of Rhytisma.  In fact, this situation arose by a misguided attempt to ‘clean up’ the city of Montreal.

During the 1950s, there was a general consensus in Montreal that the city needed to be turned around. During prohibition, Montreal had become a place where Americans travelled for drinking, gambling, and prostitution—earning it the nickname ‘sin city.’

Jean Drapeau, Montreal’s mayor at the time, was particularly concerned with ‘immoral behavior,’ including displays of homosexuality and intoxication, which were occurring in the underbrush of Mont Royal. In response, he ordered that the bottom two-thirds of the maple trees on the mountain were clear-cut in an effort to expose the area. Unfortunately, Drapeau’s plan had a major unforseen consequence. Clearcutting resulted in mass erosion and landslides, as there were no longer any trees to hold the dirt in place. This forced the mayor to plant more trees in the area he had just cleared. Keeping it simple, he selected one species, the Norway maple, which is what gives Mount Royal its yellow colouring in the fall.

However, the Norway maple was a foreign, imported species that grew much faster than the red maples already populating the mountain. Since the Norway maple reproduced more efficiently than their relative—they yielded more seedpods and grew much faster—consequently displacing the native population of trees. Mount Royal’s diversity had been replaced by a single species.

Nature was not meant to support monocultures. According to Donald Sheppard, associate professor of molecular mycology at McGill University, without diversity or variation within an ecosystem, species have no chance of evolving strategies or acquiring traits to avoid pathogens. If one tree is susceptible to the pathogen, all trees are at risk since they are genetically identical.

Mount Royal was nicknamed “Mont Chauve.” (spacing.ca/montreal)
Mount Royal was nicknamed “Mont Chauve.” (spacing.ca/montreal)

This problem has reproduced itself throughout history. The Irish potato famine is a classic example. During the 1800s the Irish solved their problem of feeding a growing population by planting the Lumper potato variety. By only planting one species, the potato crop lacked genetic diversity. When the environment changed and an airborne potato fungus swept through the country in the 1840s, the entire crop of potatoes was devastated.

Fortunately, the Norway maples seem to be able to tolerate the Rhytisma infection. Though the fungus has spread dramatically, its prevalence depends on the weather conditions of the spring and fall. According to Sheppard, the fungus grows on the leaves, which then die and fall to the ground. Therefore, in order for the fungus to infect neighbouring trees, the spores must be carried up and off the leaves and back up into the trees. This action increases with a long and rainy fall season coupled with strong winds.

The spring also has an impact on the infection. Jennifer Llewellyn, a horticulturalist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, told the Montreal Gazette, explains that the fungus will survive the winter on the leaves infected by spores. “When you have a cold spring, leaves take longer to emerge and develop, so there is a longer period of exposure to the fungi spores.”

How can you get rid of it? Since spores can survive the winter, raking and destroying the leaves is the easiest way that we, as Montrealers, can reduce the chances of the disease reoccurring next spring.

a, Sports

Montreal hosts second annual NBA Canada Series

by Remi Lu on

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The NBA returned to Montreal for another year this past Sunday, Oct. 20 as part of the 2013 NBA Canada Series. The game featured the Boston Celtics and the home team Minnesota Timberwolves playing in the Bell Centre as a part of the league’s pre-season schedule. This is the third time in four years that the NBA has hosted a pre-season game in Montreal. The Timberwolves pulled off the victory, winning the match 104-89 over the Rajon Rondo-less Celtics. Kevin Love starred for Minnesota with 22 points on 6-14 shooting, while pulling down nine rebounds in over 32 minutes of play. Boston’s Gerald Wallace tallied 16 points on 50 per cent shooting in the loss.

The Timberwolves (3-2) have used this pre-season as a project for integrating Love back into the lineup, after the power forward sat out the majority of last season due to hand and knee injuries. The team also acquired shooting guard Kevin Martin this summer in a three-team trade with Oklahoma City and Milwaukee, which sent Luke Ridnour and a 2014 second-round pick from Minnesota to the Bucks. As a result, the roster has had to learn to integrate Martin into the flow of its offence.

“It’s a really, really tough guard when you have a guy like [Martin] who is so fast, can get open, runs the break, and can shoot the ball from distance,” Love noted. “He only needs a split second [….] We have been waiting for a really solid wing scorer like Kevin who at one time was scoring 24 points a game. He’s a 20-point-a-night guy who’s [shown] that throughout this pre-season.”

Martin certainly got off to a quick start against the Celtics (1-6), as he netted three of his game-high five three-pointers in the first-quarter to give Minnesota a quick 11-point lead. Boston struggled to find a flow to its offence in the first half, often settling for contested mid-range shots and sloppy passes. However, the Celtics came on strong to finish the second-quarter, posting a score of 57-51 heading into halftime.

(Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune)
(Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune)

The Timberwolves appeared to gain traction going into the fourth-quarter, with back-up point-guard J.J. Barea replacing Ricky Rubio due to foul trouble late in the third. Barea scored six points within 90 seconds in the fourth to open up the gap between the two teams.

Rubio set the tone for the Timberwolves throughout the match with his aggressive mindset. The 6’4” point-guard out of El Masnou, Spain, attacked the paint looking to either draw fouls or kick the ball out to the team’s perimeter shooters. Rubio finished the game with seven assists, on par with last season’s average of 7.3 assists per game. Beyond his highlight-reel passes, however, Rubio has become a much improved shooter from three-point range. The 180 lb guard shot 2-3 from distance, in stark contrast to his 29.3 per cent three-point shooting from last season.

Although it is still early, it is clear that Rubio has worked hard to add another dimension to his game.

“He’s really been shooting the ball particularly well in practice,” Love said. “So I just told him, ‘Get it out of the way now,’ so when Oct. 30 comes around, we can start knocking them down even more. I know what he’s capable of.”

With Martin added to the roster, Love healthy, and Rubio shooting well, the three-point shooting for Minnesota looks to be a marked improvement over last season’s pedestrian 30.5 per cent figure. The biggest issues for the Timberwolves will be on defence, where the team lacks a legitimate interior defender—a necessity in today’s NBA game. Although Nikola Pekovic and Love can hold their own in one-on-one situations, neither offers a serious shot-blocking presence.

“We have to improve [on] defence,” Rubio said. “On offence we have enough talent to score. But our goal has to be to get some more stops. Because at some point [we’re] going to miss some shots, [so] on defence we have to be solid.”

(Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune)
(Alexandra Allaire / McGill Tribune)

In contrast to Minnesota, Boston’s hopes for the season run in a completely separate direction. After losing Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Head Coach Doc Rivers to the Brooklyn Nets in a blockbuster off-season trade, the Celtics are looking to bottom out in hopes of snagging a top lottery pick in next year’s loaded draft. While the team waits for Rondo to return from an ACL injury, Boston will bank on the development of defensive-specialist Avery Bradley. With his improved shooting, ball-handling, and locker room leadership, Bradley’s development will be key for the Celtics’ future.

Timberwolves fans will look forward to a team that has the potential to return to the playoffs after a nine year post-season drought. However, Head Coach Rick Adelman must work to patch up the porous interior defence before the team can be treated as true contenders.

Minnesota hosts the Orlando Magic for its home opener at the Target Centre on Oct. 30. The Celtics will visit the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre for its first game of the 2013-2014 NBA season.

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