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Science & Technology, Science Rewind

A sad tail: The marine biology of whale strandings in BIOL 335

by Niamh Stafford on

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In late September 2022, a pod of 230 pilot whales washed up onto the shores of Ocean Beach in Tasmania, Australia. Only half of those stranded were still alive when the response team arrived on the scene, and only 32 whales made it back into the water safely. The grim picture is sadly not uncommon: Mass whale strandings occur fairly regularly all over the world and have only increased due to human interference in marine systems. 

So, what can McGill students do to raise awareness about whale strandings? Well, like any other topic, there’s a class for that. It’s called BIOL 335: Marine Mammals and if you’re curious about whales, seals, or dolphins and don’t suffer from too much seasickness, this is the class to take. 

BIOL 335 is offered by McGill’s Department of Biology, but you don’t need to be a biology student to partake—having the necessary prerequisites and an interest in marine biology is sufficient. The class was most recently delivered over the course of two weeks at the Huntsman Institute in St. Andrews, New Brunswick in August 2022—its first offering since the COVID-19 pandemic. Amanda Babin, an environmental analyst at the Whale Sanctuary Project who received her PhD in biology from the University of New Brunswick, pulled from her experience with marine mammals and whale stranding response procedures to tell students about marine mammal physiology, behaviour, and current conservation efforts.

Over the course of two weeks, students learn about mass whale strandings and their causes, in addition to other topics such as evolution and marine species identification. A mass whale stranding occurs when any two beings that are not a mother and her calf become stranded on land. Both natural phenomena and human-caused disturbances can trigger strandings. It is not currently understood what happened in the case of the 230 pilot whales, but there is some speculation from experts.

“Pilot whales are very social animals,” Babin wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “They follow the leader, which is often an elder female that can sometimes go senile or be suffering from an illness. Once the leader strands, it is common for others to follow as they hear the distress calls and attempt to help [….] The pod could [also] have been disturbed in an area that is difficult to navigate.”

Disturbed areas can include fishing regions where whales become entangled in commercial fishing nets. This leads to injury, disorientation, and even drownings. Shipping also disturbs marine life because the noise pollution from massive ships can drown out marine mammals’ communication calls. As a result, whales can accidentally make errors while navigating and end up on land. These types of disturbances are avoidable when the appropriate measures are put in place.

“We often protect habitat that is used for feeding or breeding, but pay less attention to the migratory routes,” Babin wrote. “Migration is impacted by shipping, both direct[ly] through ship strikes and indirect[ly] through noise pollution.”

Some disturbances are more deadly than others: Many whales are hit and injured or killed by ships. This is called a ship strike and is a direct consequence of human activity in whale habitats. That being said, not all human intervention is necessarily bad for whales. Marine life responders are a vital asset to marine life conservation. In BIOL 335, students are taught about how to  approach a beached whale. 

“Response activities include triage, making the animals comfortable by digging out sand so their flippers can be in natural positions and keeping them wet, then attempting to re-float the animals,” Babin detailed. “The decision of which whales to try to rescue and in what order is important so that they don’t re-strand.”

If you come across a beached whale anytime soon, always call the appropriate marine response team, and don’t approach the animal yourself. In Quebec, you can call the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network. 

News, SSMU

 SSMU event explores McGill’s investment ties to Uyghur genocide

by Adeline Fisher on

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The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) hosted an advocacy event in support of Uyghur rights on Oct. 18. Uyghurs are a Muslim minority group mostly residing in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. For years, Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims have been the victims of human rights violations and forced labour by the Chinese government. 

There are currently an estimated 380 forced labour camps in the Xinjiang region.

The event, led by the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP), featured a panel discussion about McGill’s endowment fund―specifically, investments into companies complicit in the Uyghur genocide―as well as Motion M-62 which aims to expedite the entry of 10,000 Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims into Canada over a two-year period beginning in 2024. 

Miri Teich, Policy and Advocacy Director at URAP, said that a //Tribune// investigation during the Winter 2022 semester—which revealed that McGill has millions of dollars invested in companies complicit in the genocide—inspired URAP’s most recent project. URAP began its advocacy work in May 2020 and since then, have conducted extensive research and data analysis into the university’s portfolio holdings. 

Eli Offman, a volunteer data analyst at URAP, explained in an interview with the //Tribune// that the algorithm he created helps URAP determine which of McGill’s stock holdings are placed in companies implicated in forced labour.

“I take publicly available data and I compare it with the McGill portfolio,” Offman said. “I essentially created a relatively basic search function that [determines if] any of the companies listed in these stock holdings match with any of the companies implicated [in forced Uyghur labour].” 

Teich added that the organization has found many connections between McGill’s stock portfolio and companies using forced labour.

“We found 437 entities [that] matched directly, amounting to $67,630,181 in market value (around four per cent of McGill’s holdings),” Teich wrote in a statement to the Tribune. “This is a low estimate; if you include Chinese companies, the number goes up to 660 companies amounting to $139,770,302 in market value (nine per cent of their holdings).”

According to Teich, most of the worst offenders are China-based companies that supply both raw materials and software to bigger-name brands, many of which are based in North America. Occasionally, these companies supply security and surveillance technology to the Chinese government directly. 

“Some of the biggest offenders are Zijin Mining Group, which digs in Xinjiang using forced labour ($1,036,347.65 invested), Alibaba, which sold cloud computing tech to the Xinjiang government for surveillance ($3,079,684.66 invested) and Tencent Holdings, which helps operate ‘smart prisons’ in Xinjiang ($4,987,171.21 invested),” Teich wrote.

Although the Uyghur genocide is occurring over 9,000 kilometres away, panellists at the endowment fund discussion stressed that many Canadians are personally affected. Sameer Zuberi, Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party of Canada and Chair of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights, encouraged McGill students to take action against the exploitation of the Uyghur people by the Chinese Communist Party.

“Bottom-up activism is critical. There are different ways of having impact, but definitely people on the ground are part of it,” said Zuberi. “Legislatures respond because people want things to happen. There is a lot of power in people gathering together [and] having their voices heard, be it in the form of protest, be it in the form of letter writing, or engaging with one’s elected official.”

On Oct. 26, Zuberi’s motion M-62 will undergo its first hour of debate in the Canadian House of Commons. Zuberi warned, however, that passing the motion is easy compared to implementing it, which will require broader public support.

In a statement to the Tribune, McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle wrote that McGill is working towards building a more socially conscious investment portfolio, but did not comment on the endowment fund’s ties to the Uyghur genocide. 

“The Board of Governors has approved in June 2020 changes to the Statement of Investment Policy of the Endowment Fund to include [Environmental, Social, and Governance] considerations and a Socially responsible investment concrete action plan.”

Montreal, News

Thousands in Montreal join solidarity rallies for anti-government protests in Iran

by Shani Laskin on

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Content warning: Mentions of violence and misogyny 

Montrealers gathered in solidarity with Iranians on Oct. 22 to protest Iran’s oppressive regime and detainment and  killing of Jina (Mahsa) Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police for improperly wearing a hijab. The rally was one in a series of similar events in Montreal and across the globe to support the women-led movement.Recent reports estimate that 244 Iranian protesters have been killed and another 12,500 have been detained since the uprising began.

The march began in the afternoon outside the Berri-UQAM metro station with “Baraye” by Shervin Hajipour blasting from speakers. The song, which has become an anthem for protestors, elicited heavy emotion as many in attendance sang along through tears. As the march continued, Persian, Kurdish, English, and French iterations of the chant “woman, life, freedom,” the slogan of the movement, echoed through the streets of downtown Montreal. Other chants included “silence is violence,” “revolution,” and “down with dictators.” 

As Reza Azarpoor marched, he held a Persian sweet lemon sapling with fake blood dripping down his hand. In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Azarpoor explained that this representation mourns the youth who have been and are being killed and detained by Iranian authorities, while also celebrating their resilience.

“This is a symbol of the kids, youth, and young people that are dying. But honestly, they’re not dying. Every day, every moment, there is another tree coming out of [Iran], and it’s not gonna stop. This is a revolution, there is no going back.”

Reza Azarpoor

When the march reached Place du Canada, organizers made speeches and announced the demands of ralliers: That Canada sever ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, sanction and try people connected to the regime in Iran, and designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. Marchers also asked the Canadian government to address PS752—a Ukrainian International Airline flight which was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, killing all 176 people on board including 57 Canadian citizens and permanent residents—with a criminal proceeding. 

One of the organizers of the rally, Darya Almasi, noted that, compared with previous events held in Montreal, there was a larger presence of non-Iranian supporters and attendees overall on Oct. 22.

“The world is ready to hear what people demand in Iran,” Almasi said. “At this point in history, there’s a revolution happening in Iran. It has escalated from a movement or a riot or a protest. It’s a revolution and seeing non-Iranians’ support little by little, it’s growing, it’s ever-expanding, and seeing their support is really heartwarming.”

Another organizer and President of the Iranian Student Association of Concordia University (ISACU), Shayan Asgharian, believes that students, as political entities, ought to get involved.

“Our institutions are political, therefore, it is important for us to have a presence in the political scene,” Asgharian said in an interview with the Tribune. “[At] institutions of higher education, where freedom of expression is a core pillar, we believe it is our duty as students to be the voice of the voiceless.”

Amidst the Iranian regime’s deadly crackdown on protests and imposed internet outages, members of the Iranian diaspora in Montreal and other parts of the world have been using rallies such as the one on Oct. 22 to show their solidarity and support. 

“It’s a big shout-out to Iranian people that we heard you, we are watching you, we are standing behind you, holding your back,” Almasi said. “We are here for you and the world is watching your courage and your bravery. You’re not alone.”McGill announced in a university-wide email on Sept. 22 that the university is offering academic accommodations and priority counselling appointments at the Student Wellness Hub to community members affected by the situation in Iran. The McGill Iranian Student Association (MISA) has also encouraged those who could benefit from support at this time to reach out to Keep.meSafe, a 24/7 mental health service that provides access to licensed counsellors through telephone and mobile chat for free.

McGill Recommendations, Student Life

On finding references, letters, and research connections

by Matthew Molinaro on

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You’re thinking of going to graduate school or professional school. You’ve lined up the universities where you wish to apply––research-intensive Canadian universities, British universities with specialized masters, our Southern neighbour’s Ivies, and high-performing public institutions all make the list. You stumble not on the personal and research statement, not on the potential standardized test, and not on the resumé. It is the recommendation letter(s) that have yet to be written, faculty members who have yet to be emailed, and you are at a loss for where to begin. 

For those of us who started, finished, and continued our education through the COVID-19 pandemic, with its severe impacts on inequality and mental health, the letters prove to be a challenge that asks us to salvage or even create personal and intimate connections with professors that the public health measures inhibited. But there’s still hope, and possibility, and most importantly, time. To assist students working through applications, The McGill Tribune has compiled a guide to reference letters.

Go through the archives of your education 

If you’re applying to graduate school, you have already taken a few years’ worth of courses. Go through your MyCourses page, back to the years of your youth. What courses stick out? What patterns slowly reveal themselves? Where did you succeed, and how does that tie in to your research interests? For example, you’re working on a portfolio for an MA in English with a specialization in creative writing. The classes where you exhibited innovation and artistry, both in your creative and critical writing, should be your first stop.

You might be trying to head to a specialized graduate program after a degree in one of McGill’s larger undergraduate programs: Engineering, biology, economics, political science, psychology, to name just a few. You are not a number, a black screen in a Zoom meeting, or just a face in a lecture of 600 people. Take it one step at a time, and put it in perspective. Why did your labour economics course make you more interested in a pathway in environmental policy? What about a research course on evolution pushed you toward critical museum studies? Start collecting assignments where you did well. Once again, returning to the past, something central to crafting a personal statement and CV, will prove useful to this process.

Reach out, reach out, reach out 

With a welcome return to the present––seemingly never-ending midterms and your obligations to caring for yourself––start reaching out. You’ve seen the past, and gotten a sense of the professors to contact. If you’ve done research courses, research assistantships, or independent projects, courses, or theses, pat yourself on the back. For those who missed these opportunities––it’s not only difficult overall to break through, but systemic barriers still in place at institutions prevent women, people of colour, queer and trans people, people with disabilities, and lower-income people from entering––look to what’s in your toolkit. Graduate school should not be reserved for the loudest, the richest, the most privileged, or the closest to the professor. 

That course on postcolonial political theory or anthropology of modern Africa or the history of human rights changed the course of your studies in international development, for instance. The professor will have an email listed in that syllabus. Reach out with grace and gratitude, and detail who you are, your interests, and why you wish to ask them. Remember that professors, especially on the tenure-track, untenured, and contract faculty are neither immune to institutional exhaustion, nor to their commitments to the profession, their families, and themselves. Make steps easier for them. Your email should be compelling and respectful, highlighting your performance in their class or asking for a brief meeting or interview.

Keep on keeping on

If your professor(s) agree, remember that letters take care and effort to write. Give your referee time and space to think and craft. If your professor(s) do not agree, remember to reach out to multiple faculty members or check if you’re allowed to use professional references if you do not have connections.

Have courage, remember why you made this choice, and know that there are people who want to help you and who want to make space in institutions for bright and dynamic younger scholars.

McGill, Montreal, News, SSMU

Students call for greater cross-university collaboration on sexual violence policies

by Eric Birzneck on

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Three Concordia University student organizations announced on Oct. 5 that they would not participate in, nor nominate representatives to, the university’s Standing Committee on Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence (SMSV). Their statement of non-participation claimed that the SMSV committee undermined student participation and was “hostile” toward students’ attempts to change Concordia’s policy. The McGill Tribune looked into the role student participation plays in McGill’s Policy against Sexual Violence (PSV) and whether similar criticisms apply to McGill when considering student input during its revision process.

McGill’s PSV is reviewed triennially and was last approved by the Senate and the Board of Governors in September and October of this year respectively. An implementation committee—including four student representatives, one member of the university’s academic staff, and representatives of various campus services, among other campus stakeholders—meets four times annually to oversee the PSV and to issue recommendations for revision. These recommendations are taken to the PSV’s working group, which then revises the PSV. The working group is composed of 19 members, one from each student association and union at McGill, as well as a representative from the Office of Dean of Students, Human Resources, Sexual Violence Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS), and more. 

Although they hold seats on the PSV’s working group, student associations at McGill do not hold seats on the implementation committee. This is because student associations are legally separate entities from McGill and the PSV does not apply to them. As a result, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) has its own policy: The SSMU Gendered and Sexualized Violence Policy, to combat sexual violence and support survivors. 

In a statement to the Tribune, McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle emphasized the importance of student voices in the implementation of the PSV. Mazerolle also noted that the recent revisions to the PSV resulted from significant student advocacy. 

“One of the key changes to the PSV is a process that allows survivors of sexual violence who have filed formal reports to access information about the outcome of a disciplinary process where sexual violence was found to have occurred,” Mazerolle wrote. “This policy change was the result of a legislative amendment that stemmed from strong survivor and student advocacy.”

At Concordia, students have led the charge in advocating for better university-level policies. Saskia Kowalchuk, a Teaching and Research Assistants at Concordia (TRAC) Feminist Workplace Committee member, emphasized the importance of student participation in an email to the //Tribune//.

“Students are the experts on our own rights, needs, and experience,”  Kowalchuk wrote. “Concordia University must begin treating us as such, but until they do we cannot continue to participate in their unjust and illegitimate processes at the SMSV.” 

Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) Senator Sam Baron raised concerns about the McGill PSV’s missing framework for collaboration with student organizations in the policy’s implementation. 

“We were invited to make edits to the [PSV] during the summer, and while they took some of our comments, the university was either not willing or not capable of incorporating feedback and information-sharing mechanisms for our undergraduate societies into the policy,” Baron wrote in an email to the Tribune. 

Though SSMU has its own policy, SSMU vice-president (VP) University Affairs Kerry Yang believes that there should be more opportunities for collaboration between the university and student representatives for tackling sexual violence on campus. 

“We would like to see much more communication and collaboration on sexual violence from McGill,” Yang wrote in an email to the Tribune. “Although we cannot interact with the policy as SSMU, we would love it if McGill had more open channels of collaboration on this issue.”

Despite these shortcomings, Baron considers the PSV to be a strong, survivor-centric mechanism for combatting sexual violence.

“Regardless of the outcomes, the process is legally sound, provides good opportunities for the support of survivors, and has a lot of flexibility in the measures it can implement upon the completion of a report,” Baron wrote. “If we as students continue holding McGill accountable for when they deviate from their established processes, we can make the [PSV] work for us.”

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Modernizing investing: The rise of fintech in business lending

by Athina Sitou on

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Suppose NeuroConnect, a fictitious company, requested a loan of $300,000 from October, a real financial technology (fintech) lending platform. The loan would be doled out over the course of 36 months to finance the acquisition of lab equipment like an electron microscope and an MRI scanner.  October uses an automatic loan assessment tool to attribute NeuroConnect a credit score of B on a scale of A+ to C- based on the company’s financial history, default probability, and projected profit margin. The annual interest rate, or an investor’s profit gain, is estimated at 6.3 per cent. Now, suppose you want to invest a portion of your savings to make some money. If you were in October’s position, would you consider NeuroConnect worth the risk? 

The scenario above is an example of how fintech platforms, also known as peer-to-peer (P2P) lending businesses, attract multiple individual investors who are willing to invest funds in a given firm. This unconventional way of lending is financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that banks are often unable to assist due to strict requirements on lending, such as evidence of valuable assets and a well-established business credit profile that these new companies often cannot fulfill.

Although banks dominate the global lending market, the innovative P2P business model facilitates the financing of SMEs, which has been a traditionally difficult task for banks to accomplish. In an interview with The McGill Tribune, Paul Beaumont, an associate professor at McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management, discussed fintech’s potential to provide greater access to long-term funding and its unique limitations compared to the customary bank lending model.

“We’ve been lending the same way […] for decades,” Beaumont said. “I think it’s good to have this emergence of new actors in the small business lending markets—actors that are less regulated because [these lending firms] expand the set of products [that other innovative] firms [can now] have access to.”

Compared to banks, which are heavily regulated because they manage the money of millions of clients, fintechs are mainly regulated because of the risk they present for fraud. 

On average, bank interest rates are three per cent lower than those of fintech loans. This significant difference is one of the major challenges fintechs face as they not only have to attract lenders, but also firms that are willing to borrow money at a higher interest rate. Despite this potential roadblock, automation based on artificial intelligence and faster delivery of loan application decisions are selling points that give fintechs a competitive edge over banks. 

In spite of these advantages, fintech is not the primary player in the small business lending market. Beaumont says that the use of algorithms to predict whether a company is worth betting on and its probability of defaulting does not absolve fintech lending from the inherent risk associated with the practice. After all, the fintech market is still very small. 

Beaumont emphasized the importance of small business lending because of SMEs’ vital contributions to both economic and community development. For instance, in 2021, small business employees accounted for a whopping 63.8 per cent of the total Canadian labour force according to Statistics Canada. Medium-sized business employees make up for another 21.1 per cent, while large businesses represent the remaining 15.1 per cent.

Canadian small businesses, therefore, constitute a powerful economic driver that can continue to flourish by receiving funding for their ideas in a more sustainable and accessible fashion than before. 

“Fintech platforms may perhaps not completely change the market, but [they] still bring […] innovation in a market that has not been super innovative,” Beaumont said.

Out on the Town, Student Life

Spooky season socials: Where to go this Halloweekend

by Simi Ogunsola on

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The leaves everywhere are exploding into technicolour, the wind is urging you to pull your coat just a little closer and—let’s be real, it’s spooky season. 

As October comes to a close, one of the greatest weekends of the year’s social calendar approaches: Halloweekend. How many costumes do you need? What parties should you attend? How on earth will one have the energy to party for three days straight before heading into that final midterm? These are all questions that plague students nationwide. But fear not, the Tribune is here with the answer to, possibly, the most important one: What should I do this Halloweekend?

Connect with your community

What’s especially isolating about Halloween is the overrepresentation of white voices, scary stories, and presences in the holiday at large. The following clubs and services, working to combat these problems outside of the context of Halloween year round, can offer you the treat of community.

The Hong Kong Student Network and the McGill Korean Educational and Cultural Association, for example, are pairing up to host their “Boos and Booze” event at Muzique on Oct. 30.

On Oct. 25, Girls for Ghana will host a trivia night and social to support girls’ education and sustainable leadership in partnership with the Create Change foundation.

If you love the outdoors and have more than a pumpkin-spiced dash of competitive spirit, check out the Black Student Network’s (BSN) scavenger hunt. On Oct. 27, clues will be placed all over campus and players will have the chance to figure out the puzzle for a chance to win tickets to amusement park La Ronde’s annual Fright Night.

If you think treasure-hunting should be left to Luffy and his crew, perhaps a little scary movie night is more your speed. On Halloween, Oct. 31, the BSN will be hosting a scary movie night in collaboration with the Black Student Finance Society. The movie promises to be freaky and fantastical—plus, it’s produced by a Black director. 

MASS’s Scary Stories Night

Maybe this round of midterms was a rough ride and you’re looking to kick up your feet and relax this Halloweekend. Hosted in the McGill African Students’ Society (MASS) office, the club will be having an African horror stories night. You can listen in to ghastly stories and then vote for the story you thought was scariest, with prizes available to the winners. This event promises to be cozy, cute, and just the right amount of freaky. 

MASS’s VP Social, Fabie Mbodji, invites you to “come get cozy and scared with MASS!” 

Clubbing Ideas

For anyone who might happen to find themselves on St. Laurent around the scariest weekend of the year, the clubs there will have plenty of options for you.

For the creative party-goers who love to pull out all the stops with a costume, Café Campus is hosting a Tim Burton Creepy Halloween party on Oct. 28 and 29. If the Corpse Bride, Edward Scissorhands or the Mad Hatter are calling your name this Halloween, then this is a party you shouldn’t miss.

For those who have been pushed to the edge of their seats—or thrones—watching HBO’s House of the Dragon, Muzique has the perfect party for you. The dance club is hosting a Muzique x Game of Thrones x House of Dragon-themed party. This is sure to be a memorable bash, so head over on Oct. 27…before winter comes.

For those who want to stretch their Halloweekend into more of a Hallow-I’ll-be-partying-this-whole-week, Bar Blue Dog is having a Midterm Mix party on Oct. 26. While not specifically Halloween-themed, this party is a great way to celebrate the end of this crazy exam season.

Finally, stop by Jet Nightclub on Oct. 28, 29 and 31, or Ecole Privée on Oct. 29 for more Halloween bashes.

Get out there this Halloweekend and do the scariest thing of all—socialize. With these great events, it’s sure to be a wild time.

News, PGSS

PGSS discusses McGill’s lack of accommodations and pay for invigilators

by Sarina Macleod on

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The Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) held their second Council meeting of the 2022-23 academic year on Oct. 19 to amend their budget, update students on sustainability projects and invigilators’ rights, and discuss concerns surrounding accessibility and accommodations for graduate students. There was also a town hall portion of the evening attended by McGill’s Dean of Students Robin Beech.

During the town hall segment, Rine Vieth, a PhD candidate in Anthropology, pointed to their  personal experience accessing accommodations from  Student Accessibility and Achievement (SAA)—formerly the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD)—as a graduate student. Vieth asked Beech about removing some of the SAA’s registration criteria.

“McGill does not need to medicalize accommodations. While the McGill line is that this is required or otherwise needed by law, that’s not really the case,” Vieth said. “McGill absolutely could make it a policy to accept accommodations without a particular doctor’s form.” 

In response, Beech stated that there is ongoing discussion between him and Fabrice Labeau, Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning), about extending the range of accommodations for students. Although they are not sure how, the McGill administration hopes to implement a “no questions asked” three-day accommodation for academic evaluations weighted at under 30 per cent once a semester.  

Hayley Krieger, a master’s student at the Max Bell School of Public Policy, added to Vieth’s point about the need for greater accessibility accommodations. After contracting COVID-19 during the second week of classes, Krieger asked to attend classes over Zoom. She was told her program was not hybrid and that she could not join the class synchronously.

“Classes are recorded, but it feels wrong to put the burden on students who have to stay home and make up a week of lectures,” Krieger said. “The university should have policies advocating accommodations for students that get COVID-19 instead of leaving it up to individual programs and professors to decide.”

While explaining the administration’s lack of uniformly applicable policy, Beech asserted that attending through Zoom is not equivalent to being in class and, thus, is not an appropriate accommodation.

Following the town hall, the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) took the floor to update students on their contract negotiations with McGill regarding invigilators’ wages. The union maintains that the wage should be set to $18 per hour, and is waiting for McGill to return with a satisfactory counter-proposal before signing a new collective agreement.

Kiersten van Vliet, mobilizing officer for the Invigilator Bargaining Committee of the AGSEM, noted that McGill invigilators are paid less than any others in Quebec, and significantly lower than those in other provinces. Van Vliet also said that AGSEM believes McGill is exploiting the position of international students who cannot legally be employed outside the University, and hopes to stop this with firm contract negotiations.

“Many, if not most, of the invigilators at McGill are international students, and these students often have visa requirements that restrict their ability to work off campus,” van Vliet said. “They also have to pay international student fees. This is one of the reasons why the union has been firm with our demand.”  

To conclude the meeting, the Council approved motions to amend the PGSS budget, ratify interim conditional appointments, and condemn the New Vic project.

Moment of the Meeting:

The first 45 minutes of the meeting were subject to constant interruptions and disregard for procedural formats. In attempting to improperly add a motion to the agenda, one individual cut off fellow committee members and attempted to overrule the speaker’s decision to deny the motion’s addition.

Soundbite:

“I was told that there are no supports for students not taking coursework,” Vieth said. “[I am] a little taken aback by [the SAA] seeming to imply thesis-writing is not academic.”

— Rine Vieth, a PhD candidate in Anthropology, discussing the need to expand SAA accommodations for graduate students

Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Modelling sea level increases based on planetary warming scenarios

by Noor Randhawa on

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In the past few decades, human-driven  global warming has left many questioning the future of the Earth’s oceanic dynamics and the implications of altering them. The Antarctic ice sheet (AIS), the largest body of ice on the planet, is retreating at an accelerated rate due to increased greenhouse gas emissions causing sea levels to rise. The Western Antarctic ice sheet is of particular concern to scientists as it contributes 25 per cent of total yearly global ice sheet melt.

Ice sheets are formed by snow and oceanic water freezing. They are embedded in bedrock but also have parts that float on the ocean’s surface, known as ice shelves. Ice shelves play an important role in maintaining the stability of ice sheets, and act as buttresses by slowing down ice flow. Thinning, or loss of ice shelves due to warm oceanic currents and atmospheric temperatures, causes marine ice sheet instability—when ice thickness drops below certain values and structural failures occur, leading to breakage or calving of the ice. 

The loss of buttressing ice shelves is a concern for many researchers, as it can lead to ice sheet loss and a subsequent rise in sea levels.

The 2016 Paris Agreement aimed to limit global warming by the end of this century to a maximum increase of 1.5℃ to 2℃ above pre-industrial levels. Natalya Gomez, an associate professor at McGill’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, recently co-authored a research article in Nature which modelled possible responses of the Antarctic ice sheet to 1.5, 2, and 3 degree rises in global temperatures. 

Computer models were made using geological records depicting previous Antarctic ice sheet behaviours and their contributions to sea levels. A wide range of parameters, such as hydrofracturing—the disintegration of the bedrock supporting the ice sheet—were integrated into the simulations. Uncertainty within the parameters was accounted for using geological observations and statistical methods.

“There’s a wide range of projections of what the ice sheets may do in the future. We have captured the worst case scenarios,” Gomez said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “Our model includes processes such as marine cliff instability and ice shelf hydrofracturing [….] Previous works have introduced these effects which allow us to consider a more realistic forcing of the ice shelf.”

Gomez’s team found that in the 1.5℃ and 2℃ warming scenarios, models predicted a similar rate of Antarctic ice loss at the end of this century as today, with a median contribution to sea levels of eight and nine centimetres respectively by 2100. The 3℃ simulations, however, predicted accelerated rates of Antarctic ice loss due to thinning and hydrofracturing of ice shelves. In more extreme simulations, ice instabilities became omnipresent across Antarctica, with a median contribution of 34 centimetres to sea levels by 2100. By 2300, average global sea levels in the 3℃ warming simulations are expected to reach 9.6 metres via Antarctic ice contributions, which is 10 times more than the 1.5℃ warming scenario. 

Although imagining the flooding of our home planet is not a comforting thought, climate technologies and renewable energy sources are becoming more prevalent, showing promise for the future. 

“We have the technology and solutions already there,”

– Natalya Gomez

Additionally, more sustainable policies should be adopted, such as green taxes for environmentally harmful activities, increased investments in renewable energy sources, and protection of natural ecosystems.

In light of these findings, governments worldwide must closely adhere to the Paris Agreement since the consequences of exceeding the limits set by the treaty do not paint a bright future for our planet, and all life that inhabits it.

Album Reviews, Arts & Entertainment

The 1975’s new album is a triumph of genre-mixing tracks

by Sofia Stankovic on

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The 1975’s Being Funny in a Foreign Language is an eclectic new album that encapsulates the band’s shift into genre-mixing assortments. Filled with lively synth sounds—courtesy of star producer Jack Antonoff’s production—unlike The 1975’s previous work, the album abandons their alt-rock origins in favour of jazzier, pop notes. 

“The 1975” introduces the album: The eponymous track that appears on every album, but with different formulations on each to show the band’s musical progression. This version is quicker-paced, more beat-driven, and much longer than on previous albums, and features the entire band rather than isolated vocals.

Frontman Matty Healy’s quirky and thought-provoking lyrics are, as always, the highlight of the entry. With lyrics like ‘I like my men like I like my coffee / full of soy milk and so sweet it won’t offend anybody’ in “Part of the Band”, The 1975 retain their culturally relevant lyrics, while poking fun at their younger, socially conscious demographic. 

The 1975’s success has come largely from their bold lyrical prowess, but also from their collective chemistry, which has only improved in recent years. “Looking For Somebody (To Love)” is one of the album’s highlights, with its upbeat 80s rhythm forming a stark contrast to its dark lyrics. This juxtaposition is not only striking, but is quintessentially Matty Healy. One also can’t forget “About You” – the most enjoyable song of the album––featuring guitarist Adam Hann’s longtime partner Carly Holt. The tempo and lyrics are reminiscent of earlier The 1975 songs, such as “Inside Your Mind” (2018) and “Medicine” (2014). 

Some fans consider this album weaker than their earlier work due to its lack of catchy alternative ballads, which were largely the reason the band amassed such popularity. The album, however, is a tribute to the band’s personal rapport, as well as their appreciation towards their fans who have supported them through their musical evolution. The album is a must-listen for longtime fans, as well as new listeners looking to understand The 1975’s ever-changing discography.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Being Funny In a Foreign Language is now streaming on all streaming platforms.

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