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U Sports basketball national championship recap

by Selwynne Hawkins on

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Martlets

After capturing the program’s first Bronze Baby—the national championship trophy—last season, the Martlets showed up from March 8-11 in Regina to defend their title. In their opening game at the U Sports national championships, McGill faced off against the McMaster University Marauders. The Martlets ended the first half down five points, but regained their footing in the second, spurred on by 10 points from fifth-year guard Frédérique Potvin. With a comfortable 55-39 final score, the Martlets booked themselves a spot in the semifinals against the first-seed Carleton Ravens.

McGill dominated the start of their matchup with Carleton, maintaining a steady lead through the first quarter. In the second period, the Ravens showed signs of life, but the Martlets were able to contain the outburst and rode into the halftime break ahead by six. After an even third quarter, McGill sat atop a 42-35 lead, but the final period proved disastrous for the Martlets: The Ravens effectively kept them off the scoreboard, with McGill’s only two points coming from a pair of free throws. Carleton tied the game with 86 seconds remaining, then snatched up their first—and only—lead of the game with two seconds left to play. Unable to retaliate in the dying seconds, the Martlets were eliminated from title contention.

In the bronze medal game, the Martlets faced the second-seed University of Regina Cougars. McGill managed a three-point lead after the first period but were shaken by Regina’s 23-point second period. The Martlets lost further ground in the third, and entered the final period of play down 43-55. Facing a 10-point deficit with 83 seconds remaining, McGill rallied behind third-year wing Stéphanie Guinois-Côté, who sank two three-pointers to help her team land within two points of Regina. However, despite their best comeback efforts, the Martlets were unable to beat the clock, and the Cougars took the bronze medal game 66-63.

 

Redmen

Entering the U Sports Final 8 tournament as the third seed, the McGill Redmen put up a decisive 88-57 win in their first-round matchup against the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds. The Redmen jumped ahead with an early 6-0 lead, but the Varsity Reds clawed their way back in, and the first quarter ended at a 16-16 deadlock. The second quarter proved pivotal for the McGill squad, as they put 29 points on the board—including a combined 22 from veterans Alex Paquin, Dele Ogundokun, and Sebastian Beckett. The Redmen maintained steady control for the rest of the game, earning themselves a spot in the semifinal.

In the second round, McGill tipped off against the University of Calgary Dinos. After suffering a 20-point defeat against Calgary in an October 2017 pre-season tournament, the Redmen were again unable to break down the strong Dinos defence in their nationals semi-final meeting. Calgary shot 39 per cent from the field and held the McGill hoopsters to four three-pointers on 32 attempts, handing the Redmen a 43-65 loss.  

The bronze medal match saw McGill face off against the Carleton Ravens—a Canadian basketball dynasty coming off their seventh consecutive national title. A monster 25-point second period put the Redmen ahead by 10, but the Ravens responded with 24 points in the third. A back-and-forth final quarter ended with the Ravens on top, 76-71. With their fourth-place finish, the 2017-18 Redmen tied the 2016-17 and 1976-77 squads for the program’s best-ever finishes.

Science & Technology

Reefer Madness: Understanding the schizophrenia risk associated with cannabis

by Karl Neumann on

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Cannabis, or what the 1937 film Reefer Madness coined the “burning weed with its roots in hell,” is slated to become federally legal in Canada by the end of 2018. The potential risks and benefits of its use are still being disentangled from antiquated disinformation, individual studies, and hearsay.

While cannabis research is still in its infancy, the difference in perception of risk between the medical community and the public is substantial. Concerns regarding the increased likelihood of developing schizophrenia due to cannabis usage in healthy adults steers potential medical and recreational users away from the drug, but these worries are unjustified.

In an op-ed for The Independent, Ian Hamilton, a Lecturer in Mental Health in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York, wrote that individuals who do not have a family history of schizophrenia and whose brains are fully developed—people aged 18 or more—have little to fear. A 2017 study in Psychol Med showed that the true potential risk concerning cannabis use and schizophrenia is limited to those who start young or those consume frequently in large doses. Furthermore, the effects of early and consistent cannabis usage are similar to that of other substances such as alcohol, and warrant similar regulation.

One particular statistic that’s commonly used popular media to steer youth away from cannabis use states that young cannabis-users are about twice as likely to develop schizophrenia than those who abstain from use. However, this is somewhat misleading. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the baseline rate of developing schizophrenia is a little less than one in 100 in the general population. A study in World Psychiatry found that it’s about two in 100 in those who use cannabis regularly before they’re 18. Additionally, when potential confounds such as IQ, childhood behaviour, cigarette smoking, and others were included in the analyses, the risk was only 50 per cent higher than the controls, or 1.5 cases per 100 people.

If there was a substantial causal effect of cannabis usage on schizophrenia, one would expect countries with higher youth cannabis usage to have higher rates of schizophrenia. But Dr. David Bloom, medical director of the psychotic disorders program at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and assistant professor of psychiatry at McGill, told The McGill Tribune that this does not appear to be the case.

“In Canada, where there is the some of the highest youth cannabis usage in the world […] the statistics are similar to other developed nations,” Bloom said.

Bloom clarified which groups should worry about the potential for developing schizophrenia from cannabis use.

“In general, the only group at real risk are those who have a penchant for early and heavy use,” Bloom said. “That’s what the epidemiology says. The big harm is [inhaling smoke]. If anything, use a vaporizer or edibles to avoid lung damage.”

Medical professionals such as psychiatrists, general physicians, and pain specialists have a particular interest in understanding this drug in both its medical and non-medical contexts. Like all drugs, the costs and benefits must be weighed against one another, and no drug can be used without consequences.

In the near future, when cannabis will be widely available around the corner at a dispensary, there won’t be a schizophrenia epidemic. Cannabis’  reputation as the “burning weed with its roots in hell,” is fiction.

“If we think about [cannabis] in terms of legalization, we have to think about it like alcohol.” Bloom said. “[With legalization], we have greater control of dosage and control of age of consumption,”

Editorial, Opinion

Toward a weed-friendly campus: Let’s set the bar high

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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It’s no secret that many university students smoke weed, including at McGill. With marijuana set to be legal in Canada by the end of the summer, schools no longer need to turn a blind eye. In preparation for the new industry, McGill’s Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has already scheduled two workshops on medical cannabis for May, and plans to roll out a diploma on cannabis production in 2019.

Whatever the benefit of these workshops or of the burgeoning cannabis industry, these measures open a much-needed explicit, institutional-level conversation about recreational weed use. While weed will be included in the upcoming campus smoking-ban alongside tobacco, physical campus is not the only space in student life. And, federal deadlines providing, next year’s first-year students will be the first to enter university when recreational weed is legal. The McGill community should take this opportunity to frankly discuss best practices for education, including harm and stigma-reduction, and to decide the kind of weed culture that it wants to promote and maintain.

Rather than looking the other way—or encouraging others to do so—McGill and its students must actively shape the norms and culture around cannabis.

Cannabis use is as common in the McGill community as alcohol consumption. Yet, it hasn’t been matched by the same extensive educational and harm-reduction measures that McGill’s drinking culture has. Safe partying initiatives and resources like Rez Project, Frosh goodie bags, and Healthy McGill fliers focus primarily on alcohol consumption, sometimes with allusions to general safe drug use. Yet, there are no dedicated conversations about the most prevalent drug at McGill, apart from when smoky residence bathrooms set off fire alarms. However safe or culturally acceptable, most drugs on campus are still technically illegal, discouraging the University or student groups from explicitly condoning use of them.

That will no longer be the case for weed. Rather than looking the other way—or encouraging others to do so—McGill and its students must actively shape the norms and culture around cannabis.

As with any substance, the key to both harm and stigma-reduction is access to information. For some young people, especially those coming to McGill from outside of Canada, post-secondary school is their first exposure to recreational substance use. In this case, education is important not because weed is insanely dangerous—generally, it isn’t—but because society lacks an understanding of its potential benefits and harms. Weed has long been used for medicinal and curative purposes. It can act as a vital aid for chronic pain, and can relieve stress and anxiety. It does not present the same—sometimes fatal—harms that alcohol does. At the same time, weed has its own unique, highly-varied side effects, many of which experts don’t fully understand yet: It can affect cognitive functioning, produce user-dependency, and, for some, cause or exacerbate anxiety. Furthermore, impaired driving is a risk regardless of the substance involved.

Come legalization, McGill ought to ensure students have the information necessary to make educated decisions if they want to use substances, and support if they find themselves struggling with dependent use. That doesn’t mean war-on-drugs fear-mongering, nor does it mean passive ignorance of all use—it means an evidence-based, judgment-free approach to providing information, through a range of educational and support channels that are accessible to students. Frosh and residence programming seem like the most obvious places to start, but as not all students participate in Frosh or live in residence; broader-reaching online resources are necessary to ensure that all students are included—during first year and after. Ultimately, it comes down to students to engage with the information available, and act accordingly.

Apart from educating students on cannabis, initiatives like the workshops in May also serve to deflate stigma around its use. Legalization will further validate marijuana as an acceptable drug, but undoing entrenched judgmental attitudes is an ongoing process. A campus with a healthier, more comprehensive discussion around cannabis culture starts with McGill ensuring that relevant information—and safety measures—are available to students. For their part, students ought to do what they always should: Educate themselves and respect each other. Students aren’t merely part of the school’s weed culture; they are its entirety—and it is up to them to create a physically and emotionally safe space around it.

Commentary, Opinion

Condemned to be free: Social sciences and humanities graduates on the job market

by Keating Reid on

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As the tired idiom goes, “freedom ain’t free.” The cost of freedom is total responsibility. It’s a cost many social sciences and humanities (SSH) students are familiar with, finding that their degree’s broad applicability is, in fact, paradoxically limiting.

A February 2018 report by The Conference Board of Canada found that SSH students have a tougher time transitioning to the job market than STEM or business students. But McGill’s Arts students shouldn’t necessarily rush to transfer faculties. The report also found that in the long run, counter to the “barista” stereotype, SSH students do just fine: The report states that  “SSH graduates have job satisfaction levels similar to graduates from other disciplines” and even “greater long-term income stability” than graduates with STEM and business degrees. Their trouble transitioning to employment isn’t because their degrees aren’t valuable—it’s because they don’t know what they know, much less how to sell it. The data show that the earlier they learn this skill, the better. At the same time, employers can take easy steps to bridge the gap between their needs and students’ degrees.

[Social sciences and humanities students’] trouble transitioning to employment isn’t because their degrees aren’t valuable—it’s because they don’t know what they know, much less how to sell it.

Arts students learn plenty of marketable skills, including written and verbal communication, critical thinking, problem solving, research—the list goes on. Moreover, these skills are applicable to a much wider range of careers than those learned in STEM degrees, which is exactly what gives SSH students trouble—they have too many options. The report explains that these students often don’t realize how many in-demand skills they have. Essay writing doesn’t just build literacy skills: Developing a unique argument takes creativity.

Fortunately, resume-writing is a teachable skill. Services like McGill’s Career and Planning Services (CaPS) and the Carrefour Jeunesse-Emploi in Montreal provide free and effective career counselling. SSH students are great at communicating in English—less so in corporate doublespeak.

Here, employers can help, by clarifying exactly what skills they want from candidates. The language of the job market is awash with murky euphemisms: Postings seek “results-oriented, dynamic self-starters,” sometimes with “leadership skills”—a paradoxically ubiquitous requirement. Corporate jargon is more than just tiresome—it’s alienating. A March 2017 report by the British charity Business in the Community found that gaudy sentences in job postings—such as “query responses in adherence to SLAs and archiving conducted in accordance to file protocols”—turn off young people from applying, since applicants don’t believe that they have the right skills for the job. This is unfortunate, especially given that the linguistic monstruosity above roughly translates to “reply to emails and put them in files.” As job vacancies rise, employers need candidates as much students need jobs; companies can’t afford to lose out on qualified employees who underestimate their own skills. It is in both parties’ best interests to advertise opportunities in an accessible way.

A lack of self-marketing savvy might explain why, according to the report, faculty estimate their students’ marketable skills more favourably than the students themselves. Instructors have learned over their long careers of teaching that course content is only part of what their students gain from their degrees.

Business, engineering, and computer science degrees prepare students for specific career paths. Sure, there’s plenty of variety within these fields, but they all teach students explicitly defined “hard” skills, from C++ to making autoregressive forecasting models. This is perhaps most true of engineering, a licensed profession: Engineers Canada ensures complete and nationally standard curricula across the country. While this hyper-concentrated education can narrow graduates’ options, it can also be an advantage, as students are streamed into specific professions with broadly similar responsibilities across employers. No computer-science major has ever wondered what to plug into a job search engine—not so for McGill’s lone Italian Studies major, I’d imagine. (Seriously, there’s only one. Go you!)

The Conference Board’s report should come as a relief to SSH students concerned about their future employability: They do have marketable skills, even if they don’t realize it. In any case, SSH students can be confident in their degrees’ value; as the Conference Board put it, “[in] today’s increasingly complex world, we need the skills of SSH graduates more than ever.”  

Sports

Point-Counterpoint: Elizabeth Swaney

by Gabe Nisker & Ariella Garmaise on

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Among the hordes of world-class athletes at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games, one name seemed a little out of place: Elizabeth Swaney, the 33-year old Hungarian halfpipe skier who completed her Olympic runs with a handful of simple alley-oops. Swaney has come under immense criticism for her lacklustre performance, but she has also garnered praise for following her dreams. The McGill Tribune remains divided on the polarizing park rat.

Elizabeth Swaney is good

Gabe Nisker

All Elizabeth Swaney wanted was to be an Olympian. In a run intentionally devoid of many of the difficult tricks her competitors completed, her dreams came true, as she slowly-but-surely made her way down the halfpipe. Swaney qualified fair and square—and therefore had every right to be in PyeongChang as an Olympic athlete and should be treated and appreciated as such.

Beyond rightfully earning her spot, Swaney’s competition accepted her with open arms–their tricks look better with her around. The other Olympians in her event didn’t care that she was there.

“If you are going to put in the time and effort to be here, then you deserve to be here as much as I do,” Canadian gold medallist Cassie Sharpe said of Swaney.

She has a point. Swaney’s work ethic is exceeded only by her fellow Olympians. Even if she cannot perform ridiculous stunts like Sharpe, it still took dedication to do what Swaney has done. It wasn’t easy to consistently travel the world, work with coaches, compete in qualifying tournaments—and not fall down, which was critical to her success—over the past two years. If it didn’t take Olympic-level talent to get to PyeongChang, it still took Olympic-level dedication.

Furthermore, Swaney was a welcome addition because she helped bring Olympic athletic brilliance to full display: Her amateur runs provided a point of comparison to those of the other Olympians. At the peak of competition, the slightest misstep can keep an athlete off the podium. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell what separates great athletes from one another when everyone is so consistently amazing. Swaney’s presence provided viewers with the ultimate frame of reference—that of a merely decent skier. Some Olympic spectators like to say they can replicate the athletes’ works without much difficulty, but having Swaney around showed those people they’re wrong.

Swaney can ski, and she can ski well. Her spot in PyeongChang was the result of hard work and dedication. Even if she’s not on the same level as her fellow Olympians skills-wise, she deserves respect—and perhaps even appreciation—for the frame of reference she provided for couch potatoes around the world.

 

I hate Elizabeth Swaney

Ariella Garmaise

Elizabeth Swaney has pulled off the world’s most expensive prank. Exploiting loose Olympic qualifying guidelines, and taking advantage of loopholes like her grandparents’ Hungarian citizenships, the 33-year-old American-born Harvard graduate competed in the freestyle skiing women’s halfpipe. Her qualification strategy was simple: More skilled skiers sometimes fall while executing complex tricks, but by avoiding stunts altogether, Swaney maintained a mediocre score high enough to beat those silly enough to try. Her predictably weak Olympic performance has garnered internet acclaim—Swaney is a skier who is “just like us,” the most relatable athlete among a field of superhuman competitors. However, the Olympics aren’t an episode of Seinfeld. They don’t need to be relatable—their inspiration comes not from the idea that anyone can simply do it, but the hope that anyone can do it if they try hard enough.

If Swaney’s run is supposed to be some sort of societal commentary on the stock we put into arbitrary athletic prowess, then she lacks the self-awareness to effectively pull off that critique. Instead, Swaney’s Olympic journey was wrought with earnestness and indignation. She was consistently offended in interviews by the implication that she is any less talented than her competition.

“I have all the skills that I need to be a great competitor at the World Cup level,” Swaney said in an interview with Squawk on the Street. “I just haven’t been comfortable enough yet to land those tricks on snow.”

I, too, am smart enough to get a 4.0. I just haven’t chosen to study yet.

Swaney’s Olympic journey is performance-art-gone-wrong, some sort of meta-commentary on a society so high on entitlement and undeserved self-esteem that they believe anyone can, and should, do anything: A reality TV star can be President, a software engineer recruiter can be an Olympian. Or maybe the takeaway is that talent doesn’t matter, so long as you have the cash to buy unsponsored ski equipment and a flight to South Korea. Neither interpretation is particularly worthwhile. In her time in PyeongChang, Swaney’s presence made a mockery of athletes who spend their lives training.

More importantly, she was boring. Just as she glided down the mountain without even attempting a jump or flip, Swaney’s journey to the Olympics was without tumult or perseverance. Nothing is less interesting than watching someone do nothing on TV simply because she can.

 

Editor’s pick: We hate Elizabeth Swaney

Swaney’s Olympic runs were unremarkable, and she’s been attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. Fans should turn their eyes to someone more deserving and let Swaney’s alley-oops fade into the background.

Commentary, Opinion

Why students don’t care about SSMU

by Kyle Dewsnap on

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It’s that time of year again: Your friends from rez and frosh are inviting you to Facebook events and announcing their candidacy for various Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) positions. But, despite their well-lit headshots and carefully-worded bios and platforms, voter turnout in recent SSMU elections suggests that most students will not bother to vote: In 2017, voter turnout was slightly over 21 per cent. Low voter participation illustrates the extent of students’ apathy toward SSMU. This recurring pattern of voter indifference stems from a fundamental fact of democratic systems: If the government seems broken, then no one will bother participating in it.

Political scientists use the term “political efficacy” to explain a government’s ability to convince its electorate that participating in the democratic process is worth their time. In a democratic system, political efficacy involves voters believing in two things: That the government is capable of governing, and that their ballot has an impact. If voters don’t believe that the government is functioning properly, or if they don’t think that their vote will influence the outcome, many voters simply won’t bother casting their ballot.

SSMU’s lack of political efficacy is why most people won’t care about the elections: A large majority of the undergraduate population is unconvinced that their choice will contribute to making SSMU better. Many people treat SSMU as nothing more than a source of memes; Reddit threads are devoted to tearing apart the Society for its struggle to even find candidates willing to run. Student politics consistently drum up drama, but McGill students seem to take pride in their government’s bad press.

SSMU’s lack of political efficacy is why most people won’t care about the elections: A large majority of the undergraduate population is unconvinced that their choice will contribute to making SSMU better.

It’s hard to blame students for thinking this way. SSMU has a history of repeatedly  screwing up, and these scandals consistently make it to the front pages of every McGill student newspaper. Consider how the Society handled its building closure. In October 2017, SSMU publicly revealed to students that the University Centre, home to over 50 clubs and services, will close down from March to December 2018. SSMU decided that the best way to announce the building closure was to post a Facebook event inviting people to an information session about it. This was widely criticised, with many groups concerned that SSMU’s handling of the closure could force them to shut down.

While it is possible to find humour in such slip-ups, they ultimately desensitize students from caring about SSMU. And when an electorate is disinterested in their political system, it can no longer hold its government accountable.

Meanwhile, SSMU representatives continue to get away with rampant unprofessionalism. In November 2017, this prompted former vice-president finance Arisha Khan to resign. Her account revealed a Society that has become completely polarized by the selfish attitudes of its elected representatives; SSMU’s current climate allows a small political elite to pad their resumes with illustrious titles and positions, while neglecting to listen to student voices.

SSMU’s frequent exhibits of incompetence and illegitimacy lead the student body to view the Society as nothing more than a grooming centre for aspiring politicians, which is not what a student government should be for. Student societies are essential for the health of a student body; they are a unified voice that can further student interests in front of larger university administrative bodies. When the administration infringes on students’ rights, the responsibility falls on a strong student government to fight for its members. Student societies also support their populations by organizing programs and initiatives to provide free or low-cost services to their members, from survivor advocacy to childcare.

SSMU is in desperate need of an overhaul: It must shift from being a playground for political-wannabes to a legitimate, necessary, and functioning governing body. Like in any democratic system, this kind of political shift requires cooperation between both the electorate and the elected. First, students need to take the time to use their ballots effectively. Next, SSMU’s elected executives must convince each and every undergraduate that they are worthy of their attention, by governing in their voters’ best interests. Right now, a functional Society seems impossible—and it is, unless students take the time to convince themselves that SSMU isn’t just a politician puppy-mill or a meme-generator, but also a vital authority that brings forward students’ opinions to McGill’s attention.

McGill, News

Players’ Theatre closes indefinitely following safety inspection

by Avleen Mokha on

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Players’ Theatre’s office, located in Room 309 of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) building, was closed indefinitely on Feb. 12 after tests performed in preparation for the upcoming building construction showed high levels of disturbed asbestos in the space. Although SSMU staff retrieved musical instruments from the room on March 5, personal property remains quarantined due to health and safety risks of exposure to disturbed asbestos.

“As standard protocol for a construction project, the areas [to] be affected by the construction are tested to determine if they contain materials like asbestos,” SSMU Vice-President (VP) Student Life Jemark Earle said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “Other areas of the University Centre have materials containing asbestos, but Players’ Theatre was the only area flagged because of the substantial damage to the materials containing asbestos.”

The entire SSMU building will close to the public on March 17. However, the evacuation of Room 309 was sudden and unexpected, and disrupted the theatre’s 30th annual McGill Drama Festival, which was supposed to run from Feb. 7 to 17. The festival, largely organized by Coordinator Gretel Kahn, had already been rescheduled following SSMU’s announcement of the building closure.

“The McGill Drama Festival is an event that is scheduled in March and April,” Kahn said. “But after hearing about the building closure, we decided […] to move the festival to February [….] I have been organizing this for months.”

On Feb. 14, part way through the festival, SSMU relocated the Theatre to the Cafeteria on the second floor of the SSMU building for it to continue its performances. Despite this, all shows were cancelled that day because the Players’ Theatre executives were unable to retrieve their props, costumes, instruments, and equipment from Room 309.

“Music students left their instruments in the theatre space,” Kahn said. “One of the keyboard players asked me if he can get his keyboard back, because he has a show. I wasn’t able to help him.”

Of all the Players’ Theatre productions, the drama festival draws the largest audience and generates the most revenue. Given how disruptive the sudden closure has been for their operations, Players’ Theatre members have expressed frustration over not receiving advanced notice of the original inspection.

“Our biggest concern is [why] this wasn’t made an issue before we had 50 students working months to put on this show,” Cheyenne Cranston, Players’ Theatre events coordinator, said.

However, Earle stressed that SSMU has the right to conduct inspections without notice.

“Players’ Theatre was not informed of the subsequent inspection by SSMU as it was deemed a safety issue and the SSMU may intervene in any area of the University Centre without prior notification if there [is] a safety or security concern,” Earle said.

It is unclear how significant a health risk the level of contamination in the theatre space poses.

“The material tested contained 0.1 per cent up to 5 per cent asbestos,” Earle said. “We can’t really comment on health risks, [you] would have to consult a medical professional.”

Besides the McGill Drama Festival, the group originally had a co-production scheduled with the McGill comedy sketch troupe Bring Your Own Juice (BYOJ) later this semester. Due to the closure of the theatre, Players’ Theatre was unable to offer a space to BYOJ, forcing the comedy team to relocate its three-day annual event to MainLine Theatre, a venue in the Plateau that is not affiliated with McGill.

While SSMU will be arranging a new theatre space for Players’ Theatre during the building closure, the exact location has not yet been determined.

“We’ve been assured that we will have some type of functional space,” Cranston said. “But we don’t know what that would look like at all. We’re still in the process of figuring that out.”

News

McGill Rare Disease Day presents an optimistic future for patients

by Helen Wu on

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The Medical Students’ Society (MSS rareDIG) commemorated Rare Disease Day on Feb. 28 with a cocktail event and speaker series in the McIntyre Medical Building. Rare diseases are defined as those which affect fewer than one in 2,000 people, which often makes finding treatment for them more difficult than it is for common illnesses.

Eight McGill students founded rareDIG in 2017—two of whom have rare diseases themselves—and joined activists in over 80 countries around the world to raise awareness for the millions of individuals affected by rare diseases.

The first speaker was Natalie Cinman, a patient of Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), also known as brittle bone disease. Cinman explained that this disease is associated with a collagen deficiency, which leads to fragile bones and increased risk of fractures. As a result, she was in and out of Montreal’s Shriners Hospital frequently as a child.

“At Shriners, what was great is that not only did [the medical staff] know how to care for me, but it was a support system and they became a family,” Cinman said. “You know everybody, and they know you, and they know how to take care of you.”

However, once she was transferred to an adult hospital, Cinman found that the healthcare services were not as accommodating as at Shriners. Cinman encourages those suffering from rare diseases to express their medical needs to their healthcare specialists.

“I think it is really important for someone with a rare disease to not be shy,” Cinman said. “We need to be the best advocate for our own medical care.”

Joseph Galli–director of the Loeys-Dietz Syndrome (LDS) Foundation of Canada (LDSF Canada)–and his wife Johane gave the second talk. Galli co-founded LDSF Canada in 2011 following his wife and children’s diagnosis with the disease, which affects connective tissues in many parts of the body and causes premature fusion of skull bones, abnormal scarring, and enlargement of blood vessels. LDSF Canada aims to implement a multi-year strategic plan to raise awareness, drive research, and provide support for patients and their families affected by LDS. One of its main goals is to encourage young scientists to take an interest in rare diseases.

“If we were to do a series of grants to young investigators, give them $25,000 for something that was a little outside the box, and then help them with collaborations and getting other grants, eventually, they can make a difference on a global scale,” Galli said. “The idea is to give a whole bunch of young people who have good ideas money and the opportunity to collaborate with other people around the world.”

The series’ third speaker, Adrian Thorogood, a lawyer and academic associate at the Centre of Genomics and Policy at McGill, suggested to clinicians and researchers the promise of using big data to combat rare diseases. Thorogood emphasized that, given the unlikeliness of encountering rare diseases, it is crucial for medical professionals to share what they with each other.

“To establish large enough data sets to better understand the cause of disease, there needs to be collaboration,” Thorogood said.

Eric Shoubridge, a professor and chair of the Department of Human Genetics at McGill, was the final speaker. Shoubridge explained that the peculiarities of rare diseases can provide knowledge about generating a treatment for more common diseases.

“By studying rare diseases, you can figure out how physiology works, how biochemistry works, how the body works,” Shoudbridge said. “Many rare diseases have led to insights into more common forms of disease.”

Science & Technology

Five science documentaries to binge this Reading Week

by Ronny Litvack-Katzman on

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Reading week has finally arrived. For many eager students, this well-deserved break only moves their academic pursuits from the lecture halls and libraries to the comfort of their own homes. While the semesterly grind may leave students feeling bogged-down and stressed-out, kicking back and relaxing with a good documentary, in place of a textbook, is a great way to keep spirits high.

Here are The McGill Tribune’s ‘need to watch’ Netflix documentaries that will keep those neurons firing this Reading Week.

Resistance (2015)
In this multifaceted approach to scientific reporting, Director Michael Graziano uncovers the role of antibiotic resistance in modern medicine. Resistance questions the 80-year-old history of the antibiotic revolution, using the power of hindsight to investigate how the drugs that were designed to save lives are now helping take them by the hundreds of thousands. This documentary features the first-hand accounts of individuals suffering from bacteria that have evolved antibiotic resistance, coupled with expert analysis that provides an in-depth look at the profound challenges that antibiotics have brought into everyday life. The growing prevalence of antibiotic resistance has changed the way hospitals treat patients, and is known to have adverse effects on the food supply. Resistance challenges viewers to weigh the pros and cons of taking antibiotics for a multitude of conditions that can be treated without medication, and the future adverse effects if the industry continues to overmedicate.

Into the Inferno (2016)
Ever thought about climbing up a volcano? This daring activity is just part of a day on the job for Clive Oppenheimer, a volcanologist at Cambridge University. In Into the Inferno, acclaimed German filmmaker Werner Herzog follows Oppenheimer, documenting their around-the-world trip to some of the planet’s greatest volcanoes. Herzog takes the audience on a journey of personal, social, and scientific discovery. With inspiring images and sublime footage, Herzog engages with the large community of volcanologists scattered across the globe. The film also includes various indigenous groups such as the Melanesian Ni-Vanuatu, whose religious and spiritual practices are centred around volcanoes. Herzog refers to the volcanoes as “magical”—a sight that must be seen to believe, and one which the director captures exquisitely throughout the film.

Terra (2015)
According to the film’s official website, Terra explores humanity’s existence on Earth. A story told in the first person from the perspective of humanity itself, this documentary searches to define the relationship between modern humans and our ancient ancestors. The film address prevalent social and conservation issues from across the world, including poaching on the African savannah, pollution of heavy metals into the atmosphere, and the rise of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the food supply. Through an optimistic lens, the film’s directors Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Michael Pitiot show audiences that in order to dictate our futures we must first understand the past, including not only the origins of the human race but every other species we share this planet with. By furthering our understanding of the world, from the soil beneath us to cultural phenomena, Terra takes no prisoners in its starkly beautiful depiction of human life on Earth.

The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms (2015)
This tongue-in-cheek BBC documentary special demystifies the hidden world of algorithms hard at work under the noses of the unsuspecting public. Marcus du Sautoy, a professor of Mathematics at Oxford University, takes the viewer on a 2,000-year journey to uncover algorithms used by Euclid, a Greek mathematician of the fourth century B.C., moving forward until the present-day, explaining the inner workings of Google, the world’s most popular search engine.

“Algorithms run everything,” Sautoy narrates in the film. “From search engines on the internet to satellite navigation systems and credit card data security,they even help us travel the world, find love, and save lives.”

Sautory also explores the future of algorithms, using interactive explanatory shorts to show the audience everything from the achievements of algorithms to how they can even self-program. This is a sure-to-thrill film for any aspiring programmer or mathematician.

BBC’s Planet Earth, Episode Four “Caves” (2006)
Having won an Emmy award for Outstanding Nonfiction Series in 2007, BBC’s Planet Earth is a classic nature documentary that refuses to be forgotten. The 11-episode series, which was rebooted on its 10th anniversary in 2017 for a second season, includes everything there is to be admired about filmmaking in the wild. Episode four of the original series takes its audience to new depths, exposing the inner workings of our planet, descending into the biological time machines that are caves. The episode showcases caverns around the world, both remote and well-known. From the 400-metre vertical shaft at the Cave of Swallows in Mexico to the crystal-filled chambers of Lechuguilla in the United States, Caves gazes deep into our planet and the beings, both human and animal, that call it home. Viewers descend with the cameras as they capture underwater caverns, bats in the millions, and diverse, complex ecosystems previously unseen by the human eye. With breathtaking visuals that will leave the audience stunned, Planet Earth maintains its magnificence over a decade after it was filmed.

Arts & Entertainment, Creative

Is the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing bogus?

by Dylan Adamson & Ariella Garmaise on

More in Arts & Entertainment:

In celebration of the 2018 Oscars, Arts & Entertainment editors Dylan and Ariella try their hand at sound editing (or “foley”) to see if the profession really deserves it’s own Academy Award, or if it’s as “dumb, bad and also easy” as Dylan says.

Footage shown from The Secret World of Foley
Featuring Dylan Adamson & Ariella Garmaise
Video by Noah Sutton
Music by Ryan Little

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