Two years ago, McGill cut its Eating Disorder Program. Then, this fall, a change in policy left note-takers working for McGill’s Office for Student Disabilities without proper compensation. McGill has excused these cuts, and other functional problems, as tough decisions forced upon the administration by complex financial difficulties stemming from[Read More…]
Author: Jonah Fried
This ain’t no way to make a living
At an academically rigorous institution like McGill, schoolwork is just one of many intersecting obstacles to success, especially for students in financially precarious situations. According to recent National College Health Assessment (NCHA) surveys, 26 per cent* of McGill students reported that their finances had been traumatic or difficult to handle[Read More…]
Open letter on Indigenous affairs at SSMU
The “Redmen” name was a visible and constant reminder of McGill’s historical discrimination against Indigenous students. It is with great pride that I can say that, after years of Indigenous student activism, we have successfully changed the name. While the #ChangeTheName campaign demonstrated Indigenous resilience and strength, it also rallied[Read More…]
How I watched my country’s revolution from McLennan
I am human. I am distraught, disorganized, and disillusioned. I can barely attenuate how exhausting and disorienting this week was into coherent words. On Friday, it was my birthday. My friends and I hosted a potluck on Sunday. The long weekend ended with a pleasant dinner at my roommate’s family’s[Read More…]
Testing Darwin’s ecological questions
Rarely does the title of a scientific study live up to the aspirations of its authors. The BIG Project, however, is an exception. BIG, which stands for the Biotic Interaction Gradients experiment, is the first endeavour of its kind to explain one of Charles Darwin’s oldest theories: Species interactions play[Read More…]
McGill Swimming takes second at season-opening meet
McGill Swimming excelled in their first meet of the season on Oct. 26. The men’s team came first of the six teams competing, while the women took second. McGill finished second overall, only 37 points behind Université de Montréal (UdeM). The meet is McGill’s only home competition of the season;[Read More…]
Zombie’s night out
Granting computers sight
If computers could tackle the difficult tasks of processing and understanding images, they could revolutionize how people shop, make movies, and drive—or rather not drive—cars. With artificial intelligence (AI), computers can actually ‘understand’ images. Within AI, one of the most promising methods of teaching computers to ‘see’ is deep learning,[Read More…]
Samosa sales banned due to sanitation scandal
Samosa sales provide cheap on-campus food for McGill students every year. While the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) has no record of receiving a fine from Montreal Inspection des Aliments for samosa sales before, inspectors shut down and fined a sale in the basement of Burnside Hall on Oct.[Read More…]
Reflections on racism from the election
The 2019 federal election was my first experience voting. When I was a child, voting seemed like a distant, adult future; growing up outside of Canada also made that future seem more inaccessible, because my participation in Canadian political issues was always online, thousands of kilometres away. But finally, this[Read More…]