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McGill Recommendations, Student Life

Tips to survive the impending Montreal winter

by Naomi Gupta on

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With the temperatures steadily dropping and the leaves quickly disappearing, it’s time we accept the inevitable: Winter is coming. If it’s your first winter here, you’re in for quite the treat. If it isn’t, then great—I hope you remembered your jacket. 

After some 12 years of living in Montreal and experiencing these gruelling winters, I’ve grown accustomed to the bitter winds that slap me in the face on a brisk winter morning, the feeling of snow melting into my “waterproof” boots, and the sun setting before I’ve even had a chance to grab a second coffee. Not only is it the most brutal season of the year, but it’s also the longest. So, it’s important to know what to expect and how to deal with winter when it arrives. “Attache ta tuque,” as the Quebecois say. 

Punctuality is overrated; dressing appropriately is not

The key to preventing a “winter burn-out” is merely this: Staying warm. So let’s not beat around the bush—if you want to be fully functioning by the end of the season, first things first: Wear a coat! A winter one. I know it can be hard to make the distinction between what is considered a “fall coat” and a “winter coat,” so let me help you out. If your coat looks like one of those light, skinny ones middle-aged people buy when they’re having a midlife crisis, then that’s probably not what you should be wearing when it’s -15 degrees Celsius outside. Get yourself a proper coat—the thick, padded, warm, insulated-to-the-teeth kind that shields you from the cold.

Along with coats, hats, too, are a must. It’s one thing not to wear gloves and shove your fingers in your pockets, but there really is no equivalent for your head, nose, and ears—let’s stop pretending that pulling your hood over your head does the job. While you’re at it, maybe consider investing in a scarf or even a pair of earmuffs. The bottom line is: Don’t rush out the door in minimal winter clothing. Take time to bundle up—even if it might cost you a few extra minutes of your day.

Getting around town in the wintertime

To the students who plan on boycotting public transport, thinking they can walk instead… well…good luck. Walking is certainly doable when you live within a five-block radius of campus, but if you’re located anywhere beyond that, you might want to consider investing in an OPUS card. With over 215 bus lines and 68 metro stops across the island, the public transport network saves Montrealers a lot of trouble when it comes to getting around. And here’s a not-so-secret-secret for you: McGill students get access to an OPUS card with discounted student fares, which you can order through Minerva! 

Resisting the urge to hibernate

Let’s face it: Joining the squirrels in hibernation has never looked more appealing. Now, however tempting this may be, it’s essential to get outside and spend time with friends. The city has many outdoor activities to keep you occupied, which are often free and accessible. If you’re steady on your feet, there’s skating at parks such as La Fontaine and Maisonneuve—they offer skate rentals. Or perhaps if you’d rather hurtle 100 miles an hour down a hill—then maybe sledding is for you. If you need a break from your studies, you could enjoy a scenic walk up Mount Royal or attend events hosted by the city’s annual “Montréal en Lumière.”

Winters in Montreal are certainly not for the faint of heart, especially when they last until late April, but you will quickly get used to them. Just remember to wrap up and get outside when the sun’s out. Reserve the Netflix days for blizzards and freezing rain storms—did I mention those? Oh, right… anyway, don’t worry, you’ll survive. And before you know it, the warm weather will return, and you will be back on campus, in the sun, waiting in line for a hot dog again.

Art, Arts & Entertainment

Oh, the tattoos we’ve inked

by Ella Buckingham on

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An ornate stone house with a plaque reading “Fais-Moi L’Art Gallery” sits on the corner of Rue Cherrier and Saint André, spilling light onto a quiet, dark street. It is the opening night of Poline Harbali’s exhibit They wrote the countries borders on my skin, and all the commotion is inside. People huddle around curated displays featuring photos and journal entries, chronicling the tattoo journeys of 10 women and non-binary people. Working with Poline Harbali, these individuals each designed a tattoo invoking the spirit and personal importance of their Canadian immigration story. Taking four years to complete, her exhibit highlights the immigration journey and its diverse challenges.

“The first three years were about meeting all the participants and researching all the materials,”  Harbali explained in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do visually. It was more about […] creating a link with them and working on the tattoo.” 

The project is divided between two rooms, each with its own focus. In the first, transcripts of interviews with the participants and working designs of the tattoos are displayed on the walls. A true chronicle of the process, this space shows the ups and downs of the journey. The second room, using multimedia, immerses the audience into a tattoo session with the participants. It can be jarring; a tattoo table covered in sheets and imitation blood placed in the centre captures the eye. There are, however, more subtle aspects as well: 10 screens lining the wall show the participants’ eyes, and by donning headphones, one can listen to the tattoo gun’s whirl, the light breathing of participants, and ambient music which all together give the impression of being inside the tattoo parlour.  

The women and non-binary people Harbali covers in the exhibit have immigrated from countries such as Lebanon, Senegal, and Guatemala. Originally, she had interviewed people of all genders, but in seeing common themes amongst these two groups, Harbali decided to narrow her search.

“[A]fter many interviews, I realized we, like women and non-binary people, have the same relationship to our body in public spaces, like our body is not really our body,” said Harbali. “It’s always something people command and see and discuss so something in common between all of them came out. [Tattooing is an] act of reintegrating our own bodies and not having to ask for permission.”

Harbali’s own journey with tattooing started in concurrence with this project. She remarked that during the immigration process, feeling passive and alone, she wanted to get tattooed to have power over her own body and feel stronger. She learned how to tattoo for the project because she felt it created a more intimate link between herself and the participants. Harbali worked with each person to fashion a design reflecting their immigration journeys. She emphasizes, however, that the design itself is not what’s important.

“It’s not really about the design of the tattoos because it’s very personal, and this is their own story,” said Harbali. “It’s more about the relationship between the body as immigrants and the tattooed body, like why do you want to get tattooed as part of your immigration journey?”

“[Tattooing is an] act of reintegrating our own bodies and not having to ask for permission.”

Harbali said she hasn’t seen any common themes emerge among the many immigration processes and hopes the project reflects that diversity.

“This is […] 10 stories amongst thousands…but all of those stories are very different. Some of them have very difficult times during the immigration processes, others [did not],” Harbali concluded. “[There’s] not just one [story] about immigration, there are many.”

They wrote the countries borders on my skin by Poline Harbali will be displayed at the Fais-Moi L’Art Gallery until Dec. 30. 

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

What’s in your water? This revolutionary AI technology breaks it down

by Dashiell Rich on

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Across the planet, corporations and municipalities account for over 30 per cent of accessible and renewable freshwater usage. They generate colossal amounts of wastewater containing various concentrations of elements such as copper, zinc, titanium, and mercury, which unfortunately make their way into our drinking water. 

Now, instead of worrying about what’s in your next glass of tap water, imagine you could point your phone’s camera at it and know exactly what substances lie within. It sounds like complete science fiction, right? As crazy as it may seem, a team of McGill researchers recently published a ground-breaking paper documenting a new technique that may be able to detect these substances in waterways in real-time. It involves combining artificial intelligence (AI) with the company’s digital in-line holographic microscopes, also called nano-DIHM technology. 

This amalgamated AI-nano-DIHM technology is made up of two essential parts: Hologram recording and reconstruction. With hologram recording, the nano-DIHM shoots out a beam of light through a pinhole that hits a water sample. From there, the object produces a magnified diffraction pattern that is recorded by a computer. The hologram is then reconstructed and processed by two aptly-named aquatic AI software programs—Octopus and Stingray. 

Hundreds of previously recorded holograms were used to train Octopus and Stingray; by the end of the process, each program could accurately determine the composition of whatever sample was placed in front of them. The AIs registered an accuracy of over 99 per cent when tested on their ability to identify oil droplets in mixtures of metal oxides. 

The software does not just define a sample’s composition but also assists researchers in describing the water’s characteristics. 

“For the contaminants […] the things you do not know exist, [the software] would be able to identify it,” said Parisa Ariya, a professor in McGill’s Department of Chemistry and Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences and one of the lead researchers of the study, in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “By classifying the things you know […] the things you do not know can be identified physically, so it has a lot of potential.”

However, the water composition identification goes beyond describing physical characteristics such as size and shape.

“We are working at doing chemical composition as well [as] it allows, for example, [for the further study of fields] from medicine and pharmaceutics to aerosol and climate change, to pollution in air and water,” Ariya explained.

More remarkable is nano-DIHM’s processing speed—its limits are based solely on the computational power provided. 

“This technology allows us to do two things—one of them is form a sensor that will be detecting contaminants [using] AI […] in the blink of an eye, 32 milliseconds, and we can do better than that,” Ariya said. 

Like many recent technological advances, Ariya’s research began because of COVID-19. The research took inspiration from another of the researchers’ papers that focused on using nano-DIHM on aerosolized particles. 

“COVID served as a catalyst,” Ariya said. “We wanted to serve humanity better, and we […] also […] got our alarms up. We knew that a […] major part […] was airborne, and we wanted to provide solutions.”

Nano-DIHM is not without competitors. The image resolution of nano-DIHM is worse than that of the previous method of choice—scanning transmission electron microscopy (S/TEM). But S/TEM microscopes are not portable and are far more expensive. They can weigh up to 80 kilograms, be half a metre tall, and cost anywhere from $60,000 to $250,000 USD. 

Since nano-DIHM is physically much smaller than S/TEM and can work with live and moving samples—such as rushing water—scientists can bring nano-DIHM on-site and perform the technique there, hopefully decreasing the timeline for data collection and analysis. The possibilities do not end there.

“Oil spills happen around the world very, very often, [so hopefully] we can look into [spills] for forecasting as well as […] how we can actually sustainably remove it, and how much […] less energy […] we can use,” Ariya said.

News, SSMU

SSMU’s VP Operations and Sustainability executive position remains vacant despite attempts to fill it 

by Shani Laskin on

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Since the resignation of Anuradha Mallik in 2017, the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) vice-president (VP) Operations and Sustainability position has been vacant. The SSMU Legislative Council approved a motion in January 2022 to remove the position from the SSMU Constitution. The motion, however, was never ratified through a referendum, despite it being the required procedure for amending the SSMU Constitution per section 20 of the governing document.

In an email to The McGill Tribune on behalf of the entire executive team, SSMU President Risann Wright explained the position’s origins and why SSMU has since phased it out.

“The role was established in 2016, following the reorganization of the vice-president (Finance and Operations) role,” Wright wrote. “In 2017, the former VP Operations and Sustainability resigned from the position in the summer, and the Executives and the Board opted to not re-elect the position for that year. Following this, the subsequent cohorts of executives have approved motions to not elect a VP Operations and Sustainability role via the Legislative Council and Board of Directors (BoD), and the responsibilities have been absorbed by the executive committee.”

Ahead of the 2022 SSMU executive election, Alice Clauss, U3 Arts and Science, submitted her nomination packet to Elections SSMU with the intent of running for VP Operations and Sustainability. She was informed, however, that the position would not be included in the election, despite it being mandated by the SSMU constitution to hold a seat on the BoD.

According to Sarah Paulin, 2021-2022 SSMU VP Internal, the VP Operations and Sustainability portfolio needed to be more substantial to warrant a full-time executive role. Paulin explained that the responsibilities of the position were redistributed amongst other executives and full-time SSMU staff to compensate for its removal. 

“After […] COVID started, we found […] ways through hiring more full-time staff and redistributing the positions within the executives, that having a VP Operations would just be a financial strain on the company,” Paulin said in an interview with the Tribune. “So we figured, why pay another salary when we’ve already found a way to manage without a [seventh] executive?” 

Clauss believes this decision violates SSMU’s constitutional mandate to fill all executive positions or otherwise ratify any motions to amend the constitution through a student referendum. She brought the issue to the SSMU Judicial Board at a hearing on April 5 to determine whether SSMU’s decision not to run the election was unconstitutional and if the role should be reinstated. Six weeks after the hearing, the Judicial Board released their ratified decision, determining that the role would not be reinstated and that SSMU’s decision to not run the position was constitutional. The decision stated, “the Board of Directors’ decision supersedes what is written in the SSMU Constitution.” 

In an interview with the Tribune, Clauss said she finds SSMU’s internal structure to be overly bureaucratic and believes that SSMU’s actions demonstrate a lack of accountability.

“It’s really important that our students’ Society is accountable to us; it’s a student society,” Clauss said. “The reason I went through this process is I thought it was important to try to find that accountability there. And then in an ideal outcome, it would have ended up with that role being returned and then having that more focused attention on the environment and sustainability at SSMU.”

Clauss argues that SSMU must dedicate a full-time executive position to adequately address environmental concerns.

“Sustainability is a very important concept right now,” Clauss said. “Imagine all the different sustainability initiatives that could have been happening if it had been […] someone’s sole duty.”

The Tribune reached out to all current SSMU executives to learn more about how the Society has reallocated the VP Operations and Sustainability’s salary and responsibilities, but none responded.

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Innovative algorithm develops theories on rules of human language

by Ella Paulin on

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Over the last several years, artificial intelligence (AI) has made huge strides forward in the areas of language modelling and translation. Recent improvements are exemplified by the accuracy of machine translation services such as Google Translate, the ability of devices like Amazon’s Alexa to interpret and respond to instructions given in conversational speech, and the automated production of summaries based on a source text. 

However, traditional language-modelling AIs still require exposure to massive amounts of examples, often in the millions, to learn how to understand or produce language. Additionally, while these AIs do develop an understanding of language rules, exactly how this understanding works remains unclear. 

“There’s been this huge and quite breathtaking improvement in the performance of things like language models […] but what they do internally, the kinds of implicit theoretical representations that they learn, are just not available for humans to read,” explained Timothy O’Donnell, assistant professor in McGill’s Department of Linguistics, in an interview with The McGill Tribune.

O’Donnell recently co-authored a research article published in Nature Communications describing an innovative approach to training AI to understand the rules of human language. O’Donnell and his team of researchers from McGill and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology focused on an area of linguistics problems in morphology—a branch of the discipline that seeks to understand the internal structure of words. The team looked more specifically at patterns of sound change within languages and they took morphology problem sets from standard introductory textbooks as their testing grounds for the AI. 

To solve these simple linguistics problems, the researchers developed an AI that could turn them into complex logical expressions, which could then be understood and solved by a computer.

“We took a problem that we can read, we transformed it to an extremely complicated logic problem, which we can’t,” O’Donnell said. “If you looked at it, you would have no idea what was going on. But there’s specialized software that’s really good at solving these kinds of logic problems.” 

By transforming linguistics problems into logic problems, O’Donnell and the researchers could train their model to develop morphological rules and patterns using significantly fewer examples than traditional AI techniques would usually require. 

Another advancement is that its output is completely human-interpretable. In other words, the system creates rules that can be read and understood by a human researcher. Taken as a whole, the process is remarkably similar to the way that human linguists develop theories about language. 

“We are very inspired by the way in which […] professional linguists proposed theories,” O’Donnell said. “If you go and you’re studying a new language somewhere, you collect some data, and then people immediately, even when the datasets are relatively small, start proposing theories of phonology and the morphology of these new languages.” 

This software could even be considered a “theory builder,” or an AI that analyzes a set of data and is able to develop its own scientific theories to explain the data. Models like this, which are also being worked on in other scientific fields, have the potential to drastically change the way that researchers develop theories. 

“One of my collaborators called it thinking prosthetics, so, a way to extend the ability of researchers to think by using automated tools to help them search for good theoretical proposals,” O’Donnell explained.

This particular model is still functioning at a fairly basic level and being tested mostly on pre-determined examples. However, given the speed of development in AI right now, one can imagine a near future where researchers are assisted by, or even surpassed by, this type of theory-building AI.

Emerging Trends, Student Life

Tote bags: Tote-ally cute or tote-ally cringe?

by Mahnoor Chaudhry on

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From my daily commute, to literature classes, to my close friend group—everywhere I go, tote bags follow me. I have always dismissed this as an aesthetic trend, making fun of my friends carrying a tote to campus compared to the practical, and may I say classy, backpack. However, I recently bought one as a birthday gift for a friend and, as hypocritical as I feel in admitting this, am now considering buying one for my own daily use. Why this change in opinion, one may ask? Simply, because I have been convinced that, in some cases, they may be even more practical and convenient than the age-old backpack itself. There, I said it. Phew. 

The tote bag market has seen a boom because of the multi-faceted nature of this versatile bag. Going grocery shopping? In go your (expensive) fruits, vegetables, bread, milk, and that extra thing you don’t really need but bought anyways. Headed to the gym? You’ll only need one bag for your towels, water bottles, shoes, and headphones. Heck, you can even take it to work or university, with all your books and chargers thrown in with your laptop—as long as that expensive MacBook you bought last semester is covered for accidental damage.

As Mira Cantor, U3 Arts, explained, the tote bag is helpful in more than one way.

“I prefer to carry a tote bag because it gives me something to do with my hands. I can grab the handles while walking, which is something I’m unable to get with a backpack,” Cantor told The McGill Tribune. 

Aarthy Thiruthanikan, U3 Arts, further highlighted the versatility of a tote. 

“It allows me to focus on the essentials, easier on my shoulder[s], and it’s stylish,” Thiruthanikan said. 

There are many factors that go into deciding what your perfect tote bag would be . However, the aesthetics of its design and the quality of the material often take precedence. So, when you head over to buy your first tote bag, make sure the art on it speaks to your soul and that it’s built strong enough to last through those heavy grocery runs and your two-kilogram laptop. 

“[The key to a successful tote bag purchase is] getting one with long enough handles that don’t slip off your shoulders and having one with a unique design,”  Cantor said. 

So, where did this trend emerge from? The Tribune tried to get to the bottom of this new and popular fashion statement, only to find out that it largely arose out of peer pressure.

“I saw all my roommates get one to go grocery shopping and I thought, ‘why do I not have one?’ and that’s the story of why I bought my first tote,” Cantor admitted. 

Thiruthanikan was also driven to this trend by a thoughtful friend.

“When I got my first tote bag as a gift, I decided to see if I would actually use it in my everyday life. I found it to be extremely practical and decided that I wanted many more in different designs,” Thiruthanikan said.

Now, you may be wondering—after this wonderful, albeit unpaid, promo of tote bags—where can you get one? Thiruthanikan recommends Society6 or Amazon and Cantor swears by Citizen Vintage. However, both of them also claimed that most of the tote bags they currently own are gifts from friends—so, perhaps the best way to obtain some totes is to invest in generous friends whose love language is gift-giving. 

Or, for those of you who are lucky enough to have been blessed with the art of graphic design (yes, I’m envious), you could also consider options that allow you to customize your own totes, such as Custom Ink, Vista Print, and Zazzle.

Whichever option you choose, this purchase is guaranteed to be a life-changing experience for those who have shunned this trend until now. While backpacks and crossbodies will always have a special place in my heart, the versatility of the tote will make it tote-ally worth it, I promise. 

Out on the Town, Student Life

Patati Patata is the charming, local diner we all love

by Harry North on

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Oh, I’m exhausted. Now there’s an opening sentence to remember. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to yawn in your face. It’s 6:30 p.m. on a Saturday and St. Laurent is subdued. It’s not deserted—the street’s just napping before the partying commences. Normally I’m able to find some time to write, but it seems this Saturday got away from me.

This week I’m reviewing Patati Patata. Heard of it? Thought so. But for those who haven’t been confined to their houses, Patati Patata is a petit diner on the corner of St. Laurent and Rue Rachel.  

The exterior is plastered with jagged blue and purple on one side and yellow and red on the other, along with a dash of illegible graffiti, and a ginormous ‘Patati Patata’ billboard that lights up at night. Also, before I forget: It’s not Pa-ta-ti Par-ta-ta. It’s Pa-tar-tee Pa-tar-tarrr—roll those Rs. Hermione Granger would be all over this. 

By the way, if you are still here, I’m now on overtime, and I most certainly do accept cash as payment—none of that fiddly crypto stuff. Call me old-school, but it has to have Queen Liz’s smutty smile on it.

The line for Patati Patata normally comes outside and snakes around the block. Most go for takeout here, which is fair enough if you prefer eating hot food cold. I try to dine in for this reason. So, I wait in line and eventually grab a stool at the far end of the serving counter. 

It’s a compact, chaotic room, but the chaos adds to the design. Students flock here like excited cattle, but families, with children under 10 years old, as well as local workers, come for a bite, too. The walls are a modest yellow with light-brown wooden beams and are covered in Quebecois posters and local music fliers. The cooking area takes up the biggest chunk of the room, leaving an L-shaped area for customers. There are only about 12 stools, so it’s cramped—but cozy, like an inner-city Quebecois cabin. There’s also a sign that says, “To go or for here? Think about it please do not change your mind,” just in case you forget you’re in Quebec.

The menu offers poutine, the real crowd-pleaser for students at 3 a.m., from $9.50 and beef burgers from $4.50, which are like sliders. There are also ample veggie options, a selection of breakfast sandwiches, and pints of sweet malty beer for $7. 

I order two beef burgers, with fries on the side. The burgers could fit in the palm of my hand, with faintly char-grilled black patties that are thinner than a cigarette. The patty is tucked in between an overflowing pile of lettuce and a soft, lightly toasted bun. Surprisingly, the burgers are neither fatty nor greasy and hit the spot in the same way as a mini muffin. I could munch on these all day. 

The fries suffer from height complications. I don’t want to height-shame them, but they’re on the shorter end of the spectrum. Something I can personally sympathize with. But no, seriously, they can’t ride the roller coasters. Stabbing them with a fork is recommended—but watch out, the inspired might try to abandon ship. Despite this, these crispy wee potatoes please the heart. I left full.  

As you eat, you’re able to watch the 20-something, tank-top-wearing servers hustle strenuously: Chopping, cleaning, frying, grilling, cleaning some more, taking orders, and dishing them out. Time begins to slow down and the world begins to speed up; you’re able to appreciate the simpler moments. This hole-in-the-wall is not your average fast-food diner. It offers something more unique: A taste of the local hustling Plateau. It’s the pulse of St. Laurent, the gem everyone knows, and the one that offers warm, delicious food through the day and well, well into the night.  

Score: 4 / 5 Stars

McGill, News

McGill’s volunteer-based note-sharing service falls short according to users and volunteers

by Allie Harrison on

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Three years ago, Student Accessibility and Achievement (SAA) transformed the note-taking role from a paid to a voluntary position. Note-takers are students who provide their notes to other students registered with the SAA. Since the change, many students registered for the SAA’s note-taking accommodation and note-takers themselves have been disappointed with how the service is run. The McGill Tribune looked into how the service functions and the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM)’s fight to unionize note-takers and secure fair compensation. 

Note-sharing is a service provided by the SAA, formerly known as the Office for Students with Disabilities. Students with disabilities can obtain class notes from other students registered in the same course who sign up with the SAA to provide detailed, high-quality notes. In exchange for their services, note-providers now get volunteer hours added to their Co-Curricular Record and are entered into a raffle to win a $50 gift card to a McGill service, such as Le James Bookstore or the McGill Gym.  

Teri Philips, SAA Director of Communications, believes that the accessibility of the note-sharing program has not been affected by the switch to a volunteer-based service.

“Student Accessibility & Achievement ensures that its resources provide the best possible across-the-board support for students with disabilities, and we have seen from our peer institutions that a non-financially driven volunteer model works for notes,” Philips told the Tribune in a written statement. “The change in monetary recognition was frustrating for some students, but those resources are now being redirected to a wider range of supports for students with disabilities [such as] a new platform [Clockwork] making it easier for students to request and manage their supports and accommodations.”

For some note-providers, the change disincentivized them from continuing to share notes. In an email to the Tribune, former note-taker Natalia Savkovic, BA ‘21, explained that she stopped participating once SAA stopped paying note-takers.

“Personally, I no longer wanted to be a note-taker after they implemented the change. I knew the workload, and it didn’t seem fair for it to be essentially a volunteer position,” Savkovic wrote. “For me [note taking] meant spending an hour or two after every class ensuring that I had all the information and that it was represented well.”

Noor Jetha, U2 Engineering, who relies on the note-sharing service, has not found any note-takers to assist her since she registered with the SAA in Fall 2021. Jetha explained in an interview with the Tribune that she has had to find other ways to access notes, including asking friends and posting requests on various social media platforms.

“It was incredibly difficult to find a note-taker, even when they were paid. And now that they are not paid, it is virtually impossible,” Jetha said.

When she was first accepted to both Concordia and McGill, Jetha was told that the student services at both universities were of the same quality, so she chose McGill. However, after reaching out to her friends at Concordia, she found out that they were all immediately assigned note-takers who were financially compensated. Jetha told the Tribune that she regrets her choice to attend McGill.

AGSEM has been trying to unionize note-providers since 2020 and has repeatedly requested a list of all the note-takers at McGill. Yet, AGSEM President Mario Roy told the Tribune that McGill has curtailed its efforts.

“McGill has done everything possible to slow down the process by providing a list of note-takers, which we consider incorrect, and created long delays in their response,” Roy said. “The university is primarily responsible for giving quality education to their students, so they should provide good tools to the workers and people at the university in order to succeed. That includes paying part-time academic workers for all tasks, including note-takers.”

Roy stated that AGSEM will not stop fighting until all academic workers are unionized, and that the union invites people to join the movement and mobilize against the university for fair wages.

Recipes, Student Life

Quick and easy recipes for crunch times

by Lauren Hicken on

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Alas, we have arrived in November, a time when we are plagued by grey skies, the end of daylight savings, and store shelves prematurely filled with holiday decorations.

Although the days are supposed to get shorter, they feel much longer as midterm season comes to an end and exam prep begins. Whether it’s too many late nights at the library, working on assignments up until 11:59 p.m., or just overall exhaustion from trying to save your GPA at the last minute, allocating time to cooking meals becomes more and more of a challenge. I can’t blame you—when you walk out of class at 5 p.m., and it’s already dark outside, all you want to do is get home, be warm, and relax with some hot cocoa. 

However, as we all know (but never actually stick to), the better we eat, the better we feel, and the more energized we will be to get through those assignments. But don’t fret—The McGill Tribune is here to share some easy home-cooked meals and snacks to help get you through those long, exhausting days.

Easy cream of mushroom chicken

Ingredients

  • 4-5 chicken breasts or 5-6 chicken thighs
  • 1 box of white mushrooms (sliced)
  • 1 tsp of olive oil
  • 1 tsp butter
  • 2 cloves of chopped garlic
  • 1/3 cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ½ tsp lemon juice
  • A few pinches of cracked pepper
  • Optional: spinach, pasta

1. Add oil and garlic to a large pan over medium heat.

2. Sauté garlic until fragrant. Add chicken, salt, and pepper if desired.

3. Cook the chicken on each side for five minutes (or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit).

4. Remove chicken from the pan, then add butter, more garlic, and sliced mushrooms.

5. Sauté mushrooms, then remove from the pan.

6. Add chicken broth and lemon juice to the pan and simmer until about one-third reduces.

7. Add in cream, cooked mushrooms, and cooked chicken.

8.   Cook until the sauce begins to thicken, then serve!

Baked salmon with sweet tomato sauce

Pairs well with quinoa

Ingredients

For 1 large filet of salmon

  •  2 tbsp tomato paste
  •  2 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp melted butter
  •  Chopped garlic (as much as you desire)
  •  ½ tsp lemon juice
  • 2 pinches of cracked pepper
  • 2 pinches of thyme
  •  2 pinches of basil 
  •  Parmesan cheese (enough to create a thin layer over the fish)
  • Optional: Cherry tomatoes, sliced white onion

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F (or 200° C).

2. Mix tomato paste, honey, butter, garlic, lemon juice, basil, and thyme in a small bowl.

3. Oil a sheet pan and place the salmon on it.

4. Poke the salmon with a fork and season lightly with salt and pepper.

5. Spread the topping (from step 2) over the salmon and season with more herbs if desired.

6. Optional: Place halved cherry tomatoes and onions on the salmon.

7. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over fish (you can be very generous––if you add more parmesan, it will create a crunchy texture).

8. Place in the oven for 10-14 minutes.

9. Optional: Add more parmesan and broil for one minute for a crisp topping.

10.  Serve! 

Sweet and savoury quinoa bowl:

  • ½ cup of quinoa
  • ½ of a red or orange pepper (sliced)
  • ½  white onions (sliced)
  • 2 inches cucumber (diced)
  • ½ tomato (diced)
  • Handful of mixed greens
  • Feta cheese (as much as desired)
  • ½ cup tomato sauce
  • 1 tsp of honey
  • Handful of dried cranberries
  • Handful of sliced almonds

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions, after rinsing thoroughly.

2. Sauté onions and peppers.

3. Once onions and peppers brown, add quinoa to the bowl and season to taste.

4. Mix in tomato sauce and honey, then mixed greens.

5. Optional: Add in tofu, legumes, or other proteins.

6. Add feta, cranberries, and almonds on top, then serve!

Easy shrimp mac and cheese

Ingredients

  • 1 bag of frozen shrimp
  • 1 clove of chopped garlic
  • 2 tsp of butter
  • 1 tsp of lemon juice
  • A pinch of salt & pepper
  • Boxed mac and cheese (suggested: Annie’s white cheddar)

1. Make mac and cheese according to the package instructions.

2. On medium heat, melt butter in pan. 

3.   Add garlic and lemon juice.

4. After garlic begins to sauté, add in shrimp, cooking each side for three minutes. 

5. Season with salt and pepper, add to macaroni and serve!

Soccer, Sports

The 2022 World Cup and the murky ethics of sports consumption

by Zoé Mineret on

More in Soccer:

On Nov. 20, the long-awaited FIFA World Cup will kick off in Qatar. Despite the excitement of fans worldwide, the 2022 World Cup has been rife with intense controversy. Qatar has been accused of devastating human rights violations against the workers who built the stadiums, and the country’s lack of environmental concern has also been a source of international contempt.

In 2010, FIFA officials granted Qatar the prestigious right to host the World Cup––a right that brings financial and political benefits. This decision was met with immediate backlash after allegations arose that a number of senior FIFA officials had been bribed to vote for Qatar. After a two-year-long investigation, FIFA’s ethics committee concluded that Jack Warner, Mohammed bin Hammam, and Reynald Temarii—the individuals most likely to be implicated—were no longer involved in football and elected to allow Qatar to host the event. 

However, former FIFA president Sepp Blatter revealed in his autobiographical book, Ma Vérité, that the Qatar bid committee cheated to gain the rights to host the World Cup. Blatter explained that the Qatari government bribed and placed intense political pressure on FIFA’s senior officials, and that if the officials had properly reviewed Qatar’s candidacy, they would never have awarded Qatar the rights.

In the decade that it has taken for Qatar to build the necessary accommodations to host the World Cup, sources have reported over 6,500 migrant worker deaths due to the inhumane working conditions at many of the country’s construction sites. Despite reforms put in place, Qatar largely abides by the kafala system, which creates a fixed sponsorship between migrant workers and their employers. Workers are highly dependent on their employers, leading to rampant human rights abuses and exploitation. Amnesty International disclosed that workers’ passports were stolen, that they had been lied to about their salaries, and that their remuneration had been withheld from them. Workers were also prevented from leaving not only the country but the stadium itself, receiving constant threats from their superiors. 

Furthermore, FIFA pledged that the 2022 World Cup would be carbon-neutral and many are now accusing Qatar of green-washing due to the significant amount of carbon emitted during construction. 

These environmental and humanitarian concerns make the 2022 World Cup a highly contentious event, leaving many fans to debate boycotting the event. For Blanche Cartier, BA ‘22, the right choice is clear.  

“I will be boycotting the World Cup because it is an environmental and humanitarian disaster,” Cartier told The McGill Tribune. “I feel absolutely no desire to watch games that were built on the deaths of over 6,500 people. Even though Belgium and Canada are playing, which are my two favourite [teams], I refuse to watch because I do not want to support this.”

With the World Cup only taking place every four years and the Canadian National men’s team qualifying for the first time since 1986, many football fans are choosing to watch simply out of their excitement and love for the sport. For Peter Cocks, a third-year political science and history major, the decision to watch is complicated yet worthwhile. 

“Football has a magical quality; regardless of controversy around a game, once that ball is in play half the world forgets everything other than the game,” Cocks told the Tribune. “We all get hooked in by the spectacle, it’s an escape from the real world and all the troubles it holds. FIFA can’t just pull wool over our eyes. Football can, but only for 90 minutes.”

Regardless of who chooses to boycott the World Cup, the event is undoubtedly tainted by the appalling human rights violations faced by the workers. Ignoring human rights violations sets a precedent that FIFA cares more about money than migrant lives. FIFA’s decision to allow the World Cup to proceed in Qatar—despite their knowledge of the conditions—has upheld the demand for migrant labour, exponentially increasing the number of lives harmed during the construction process. This event has tarnished the legacy of FIFA, and for many fans everywhere, it has marred their respect for the organization.

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