Latest News

Student Life

Midnight Kitchen: Students discuss social justice issues over vegan breakfast

by Ananya Nair on

More in Student Life:

Midnight Kitchen (MK), a non-profit, worker and volunteer-run collective, hosted a pancake breakfast on Jan. 12 to raise funds for Solidarity Across Borders, a Montreal-based activist organization. As a migrant justice network, Solidarity Across Borders aims to establish a community which supports individuals and families facing issues with Canada’s immigration and refugee system. In supporting Solidarity Across Borders’ cause, all proceeds from MK’s fundraiser went to the organization’s Mutual Aid Fund.

As students lined up in the Madeleine Parent Room in the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) building for pancakes and coffee, volunteers grooved to uplifting music and the room buzzed  with a strong sense of community. But the event was more than just a way for students to get together and enjoy warm vegan food. To Nat Alexander, an MK event coordinator, the fundraiser had much greater significance for Montreal.

“[Solidarity Across Borders] mostly works with people who don’t have […] employment, [a Social Insurance] number, [or] healthcare,” Alexander said. “They face extra barriers and as part of the McGill Community, a community which has so many resources to offer […] if we can help people who are in that in-between stage and who are not getting government support then it’s really a great thing. If everybody contributes a quarter or a dollar […] every little bit counts […] then we can help somebody get healthcare support for their child.”

MK frequently hosts events that encourage student engagement with the Montreal community. According to Alexander, the collective strives to teach students about social issues while building a community based on understanding and support.

“One of [MK’s] regular programs [is] ‘Lunch and Learn’ where we will have people from the [social justice] groups we support come in and spread awareness about the issues they represent,” Alexander said. “There is one related to Prison Abolition coming up in a few weeks with the Termite Collective. We also often host fun events or self-care types of events for students.”

In addition to hosting many community events, MK serves bring-your-own-dish style vegan lunches in the McGill community by donation from Monday to Thursday in the SSMU building. Midnight Kitchen offers anyone interested the chance to volunteer—either on site as a server, in the kitchen during daily servings, or behind the scenes as a member. A regular MK volunteer, Caroline Bruce-Robertson, U0 Science, began working after first hearing about the service during Orientation Week in September 2017.  

“If you want to serve regularly or clean up or cook or anything you can go upstairs and they have a whiteboard where you can sign up if you want to go to the same shift any week,” Bruce-Robertson said. “If you have free time one day you can always pop in and ask if they need help with anything.”

Bruce-Robertson describes MK’s atmosphere as welcoming and inclusive; no matter what prior skills a volunteer has in the food service industry, there is always a place for them at MK.

“I actually serve, help cook, and clean-up […] twice a week usually,” Bruce-Robertson said. “I can’t cook to save my life but you can always go help to cut up vegetables and stuff. The serving is fun because you get to see 300 people who are obviously happy because there is food of course.”

Basketball, Martlets, Sports

McGill Martlet basketball shuts down Concordia Stingers

by Miya Keilin on

More in Basketball:

McGill Martlets
63

Concordia Stingers
51

On Jan. 13, the second-ranked McGill Martlet basketball squad (6-1) tipped off against the no. 6 Concordia Stingers (3-2) in McGill’s sixth annual Shoot for the Cure game. Shoot for the Cure was part of an annual joint fundraising campaign between McGill’s women’s basketball and volleyball teams to support the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation. The Martlets, sporting pink uniforms to support their cause, came out on top 63-51 in their second win in three days over Concordia.

“We just played them on Thursday [Jan. 11], and they didn’t do anything different so we were pretty ready,” fifth-year guard Frédérique Potvin said of the matchup.

McGill jumped ahead early and stayed ahead, outscoring Concordia 20-14 and 18-6 in the first and second quarters, respectively. Strong offensive performances from fellow fifth-years Alex Kiss-Rusk and Potvin contributed to the Martlets’ dominance in the first half.

“We started off [with] really high energy and we were putting a lot of pressure on them, not letting them run a lot of the things that they wanted to run,” Kiss-Rusk said.

After the break, the Martlets couldn’t replicate their explosive energy from the first half, allowing Concordia to cut McGill’s lead from 18 to six.

“Third quarter is always tough, [coming back from halftime,] so you have to get back into it and that’s something we need to work on,” Potvin said.

Despite Concordia’s best comeback efforts, McGill’s defence held off the Stingers to earn their third win over their rivals this season. First-year point-guard Kiana Scantlebury pitched in a critical effort throughout the game, and Head Coach Ryan Thorne pointed to her as the “star of the game.”

“We plugged in Kiana Scantlebury and she just brought that level up another notch,” Thorne said. “She played great defence and she didn’t score but she just brought a little something else that gave us opportunities to score. She just got her hands on the ball, created deflections which gave us easy points in transition, so I thought she was amazing.”

With this win, the Martlets have extended their winning streak to seven as they head into the back half of their season, still sitting atop the RSEQ standings. Their next game is on Jan. 26 is at Bishop’s University.

 

Moment of the Game

After a trying third quarter, third-year point guard Gladys Hakizimana scored a buzzer-beater, giving new energy to the team and the crowd.

 

Quotable

“Right now the plan is to make sure we get better every time out. We don’t look all the way down the road. It’s next game, next practice, let’s make sure we’re trying to get better.” – Head Coach Ryan Thorne on how the Martlets will approach the back half of the season

 

Stat Corner

With 22 points and 10 boards, fifth-year centre Alex Kiss-Rusk earned her eighth consecutive double-double.

Soccer, Sports

Implications of John Herdman’s departure

by Selwynne Hawkins on

More in Soccer:

On Jan. 8, via a hurried Twitter announcement, the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) announced a major reorganization at the top of its coaching hierarchy: John Herdman, who spent seven years at the helm of the women’s national team, suddenly fled to the men’s side. Herdman will replace Octavio Zambrano as the head coach of the men’s national team—currently ranked 94th in the world—with the goal of replicating his previous success with the women’s team. He will also head up the men’s EXCEL program, which drives development by funneling talented young players into high-performance environments. The CSA also announced that the women’s national team has been left in the hands of Kenneth Heiner-Møller, who served as an assistant coach under Herdman.

Heiner-Møller is a capable coach, with experience as the head coach of the Danish women’s side, but with the the looming 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the timing of the swap could still prove disastrous for the Canadian women: With the qualifiers for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup slated for fall 2018, the Canadian women can’t afford a misstep. The move places the men’s and women’s sides in an unnecessary zero-sum situation and fails to properly prioritize the latter.

For Herdman, the swap was inevitable. Though his success and off-field demeanor cemented him as a key member of the beloved Canadian women’s team, long-term involvement was never his plan. Immediately after his 2013 contract extension, Herdman expressed his desire to eventually step away from the team. His reasoning centred around the importance of female leadership in the women’s game. His plan, as recently as June 2017, was to hand the reins over to a capable female replacement after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The spectacle currently unfolding within the CSA, however, is a far cry from the carefully-formulated succession plan Herdman once promised.

The immediate reactions from long-time national team players Stephanie Labbé and Christine Sinclair indicated disappointment and confusion. Herdman’s coaching philosophy was built on team cohesion and mental strength, and the turbulence and uncertainty of a coaching change at this time could threaten the progress they’ve made in recent years.

After their calamitous last-place finish at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Canadian women were on the rise: Two back-to-back bronze medal finishes at the Olympics and, at one point, a best-ever fourth spot on FIFA’s rankings. In 2015, Canada played host to the FIFA Women’s World Cup; though the Canadian women were eliminated in the quarterfinal round, the outpouring of support from young female fans across the country sowed seeds of hope for the future. Their recent momentum may have created the illusion of stability; however, as they fight to push past—or even remain even with—the German, English, and Australian women for the top spot behind the dominant Americans, they’ll need to maintain steady upward velocity.

Herdman’s comments after the announcement show that he believes his work with the women’s side is done. The CSA’s official statement focuses almost entirely on Herdman’s skills and the need for growth in the men’s program, giving little coverage to the challenges facing Heiner-Møller and the women’s side. The decision, from the perspectives of both Herdman and the CSA, seems to suggest that the women’s fifth-place international ranking is good enough or that the Canadian women will continue their rise without much consideration. But, while Christine Sinclair, Canada’s lynchpin since the early 2000s, is rapidly approaching retirement, international women’s soccer is undergoing explosive growth. It’s naïve to think that the Canadian women’s national team will continue to improve if they aren’t treated like a priority.

Herdman’s critics are quick to note that he has no high-level experience coaching men, which makes the move risky at best. The CSA’s gamble places the men’s and women’s squads in false opposition, suggesting that the women’s team must take a back seat for the men to improve. In truth, what fans want—and what the CSA should be working toward—is simultaneous success on both sides.

Science & Technology

Microbead ban exposes the dangers of plastic pollution

by Gwenyth Wren on

More in Science & Technology:

The Canadian government has heard the cry of environmental activists and scientists. On Jan. 1, 2018, Health Canada enacted an official ban on the manufacturing and importation of products containing microbeads, following a written proposal for the regulation on June 2, 2017. A ban on the sales of these products is scheduled to take effect July 1, 2018. Environment Canada defines microbeads as synthetic polymer particles that range between 0.1 micrometres and 5 millimetres, varying in composition, shape, and density. Microbeads are manufactured for specific purposes, primarily for use in personal care items such as scrubs, bath products, facial cleaners, and toothpastes. Microbeads are also ubiquitous in household cleaning products, despite being listed as a toxic substance in 2016 under the Canadian environmental protection act.

The ban on microbeads addresses environmental concerns, and is the result of lobbying by scientists, environmental activists, and politicians. The plastic polymers are too small to be filtered by water waste treatments, and ultimately end up in aquatic ecosystems where filtered waste is deposited, like the St. Lawrence River. They are subsequently ingested by the organisms that live there, which has a dire effect on aquatic life.

Studies have shown that zooplankton—heterotrophic plankton at the base of the food webs—are eating microbeads. When microbeads are ingested by lower trophic levels, they can spread like wildfire throughout entire food webs.

Rowshyra Castañeda, a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto, has been involved in researching microbead pollution at McGill. Castañeda stated that the extent to which these beads affect aquatic environments is not yet fully understood.

“Marine and freshwater organisms have been found with microplastics in their guts and even tissues, but we still don’t exactly know what the impacts of consuming the pollutants are,” Castañeda told The McGill Tribune. “I'd hypothesize that it’s not great.”

Microbeads have also been proven to reduce the reproductive rate of Daphnia, another staple species in food webs. The toxins from these particles risk being transferred to the organisms that ingest them, which can alter their physiology and behaviour. There is a possibility that they can be passed on to humans. This means that the plastic in the facial cleaners we use on a daily basis could be making its way into the sushi we’re eating.

Plastic production has increased twentyfold in the last 50 years. Even with new programs and policies, microbeads keep falling through the cracks. The resulting effects of the vast amount of plastic polymers that end up in lakes and oceans has yet to be properly understood by scientists. The microbead crisis is one that hits close to home, with some areas of the St. Lawrence River harbouring over 1,000 microbeads per litre of sediment.

Microplastics are a part of any consumer’s daily routine. Castañeda explained that more needs to be done to combat the consequences of microbead disposal.

“This ban is a great first step to reducing the number of microplastics in our freshwater system,” Castañeda said, “But we still have a long way to go to eliminate or reduce microplastics. Other big sources of microplastics are from synthetic clothing fibres and [the] degradation of larger plastics from single-use items [such as plastic cutlery and non-reusable water bottles], which also needs to be addressed if we want to reduce this pollutant even more.”

Check any one of the personal care products in your household—if one of the ingredients is polyethylene, polypropylene or polystyrene, then microbeads are a part of your daily routine. The microbead case is a fantastic example of policy responding to science, but there is still a long road ahead and more must be done to mitigate the effects that these plastics have on crucial ecosystems.

 

Laughing Matters, Off the Board, Opinion

Wipe that smile off your face

by Selwynne Hawkins on

More in Laughing Matters:

Like the iconic little black dress, denim, and sliced bread, some things never go out of style. Others, like the big hair of the ‘70s or assless chaps, are less enduring. Looking back at photographs over the ages, we’re often horrified by past trends. For our generation to avoid such embarrassment in the future, we must make a conscious effort to distinguish classic, long-lasting styles from peculiar, transient fads. One such recent craze—which we must work tirelessly to eradicate—is our obsession with smiling in photographs. Smiling has had its moment in the sun. It’s time for straight-facing (otherwise known as mean mugging) to reclaim its rightful place as the default photo facial expression.

Smiling is considered the custom, but it’s a relative newcomer to the scene. Mean mugging, however, has been a mainstay since the days when portraiture was done with a paint brush. Kings and queens of old were portrayed as stoic and expressionless, or with—at most—their best attempt at a royal smize. Even with the advent of photography, early in the 19th century, straight-faced portraiture remained the norm. It wasn’t until a deliberate push by Kodak’s advertising department at the turn of the century that smiling entered the picture. Through their attempts to bring photography to the masses, Kodak found that people were anxious about having their picture taken, and focused their ad campaigns on smiling models, thereby showcasing how easy and fun it was to be photographed.

Since then, the fake smile has wormed its way into popular culture. Instagram is littered with post-hike or pre-brunch smiles, but it’s unlikely that anyone is particularly cheerful while their amateur paparazzo struggles to find the perfect lighting and their meal grows increasingly tepid. Smiling in pictures has lost its purpose as an expression of genuine happiness; instead, posed smiles are used to dupe acquaintances—particularly on social media—into believing that we are radiant, ethereal beings with no struggles or stressors. It’s all too common for people to crawl out of soul-crushing spin-bike sessions only to prop themselves against a wall, plaster on an ear-to-ear grin, and snap a disingenuous pic to share with their social media following. Those smiles are lies.

Smiling has had its moment in the sun. It’s time for straight-facing (otherwise known as mean mugging) to reclaim its rightful place as the default photo facial expression.

Most people are adept swindlers, and their fraudulent fake smiles can be difficult to identify. Some people, however, never learn to smile for the camera. For these unfortunate few, the enduring childhood class-photo grimace-smile—with the mouth stretched to display all 32 teeth and the eyes open as wide as possible—remains their best attempt at a toothy ‘smile,’ and they must resort to an awkward closed-mouth grin. Smiling is heralded as the most attractive arrangement of our facial muscles, but it excludes those who are unable to produce a dazzling smile at the drop of a hat.

Mean mugging is the most natural—and accessible—pose. While not everyone can smile on cue, everyone is born with the ability to produce a masterful blank stare.

Even the biggest social media influencers—many of whom were blessed with an impeccable set of teeth and have countless reasons to smile—have turned their backs on the smiling fad. According to their Instagram pages, the Jenner sisters haven’t open-mouth smiled since November 2017. Similarly, it’s been months since Taylor Swift posted a smiling pic, and Beyoncé has only posted three since mid-September.

The tastemakers have spoken: Smiling is finally out. It’s time for us to return to the stony faces of days past.

Selwynne Hawkins is the McGill Tribune Sports section editor, and a U3 Physiology and Physics student who likes Grumpy Cat and mashed potatoes.

 

@selwynnehawkins | [email protected]

 

 
Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Phantom Thread finds hilarity in toxicity

by Brandon Kaufman on

More in Arts & Entertainment:

Don’t be deceived by its trailers: Phantom Thread, the new Paul Thomas Anderson (Inherent Vice, Boogie Nights) film, is possibly the funniest thing he’s made yet. It’s also one of the most impeccably-crafted movies of 2017.

Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Reynolds Woodcock in what he claims will be his last role before retirement. Woodcock is an eminent fashion designer in 1950s London, a Balenciaga-like figure who appears to care more about his art than his personal life. Early in the film, we watch as Woodcock has breakfast with his domineering sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) and his girlfriend Johanna (Camilla Rutherford), whose innocent attempts at small talk are icily shut down by both siblings. It seems that Woodcock has extracted all the creativity he can from this former muse; she is now useless to him.

He later lunches at an upscale hotel restaurant, where he meets Alma (Vicky Krieps), a warm, bubbly waitress. Woodcock hilariously orders an excessive amount of food to keep her attention. They shoot looks at each other, and he asks her to dinner. After their meal, the two go to Reynolds’ country house, where Alma is asked to try on a few of Woodcock’s dresses. After Woodcock spends hours measuring every inch of Alma’s body, she tells him she “can’t stand forever.” He snaps. Anderson’s blocking (Alma always stands up straight and never looks up at Reynolds) and Krieps’ stoic delivery, however, indicate that unlike his previous girlfriend, Alma is no pushover. Woodcock’s attempt to mould her into a docile mannequin fails the first time, but he tries again throughout the film. In turn, Alma attempts to humble him, to tear down the facade of a Serious Artist he has erected.

The film is centered on Alma and Reynolds’ attempts to construct their ideal versions of one another, creating a noticeably ominous mood. The sense of dread and humour do not contradict one another. We laugh at Woodcock’s anger over Alma’s impossibly loud chewing, but also feel a sense of dread over the toxicity of the relationship. This is intensified by Anderson’s relatively sparse dialogue—the silence between lines forces the audience to think about every word uttered, building a foreboding tension that lingers over most of the film and crescendos into one of the best final acts in all of Anderson’s films.

Day-Lewis, as expected, is fantastic, but the film wouldn’t soar to the heights it does without the surly Manville and absolutely intoxicating Krieps, who utilizes every inch of her face in a manner similar to Meryl Streep.

Anderson’s direction is noticeably mature when compared to his earlier films. Magnolia (1999) follows over a dozen characters and takes place across Los Angeles, and Punch Drunk Love (2002) is a formal flex, with virtually every shot in motion. Conversely, Phantom Thread is claustrophobic and formally restrained. Anderson has become so confident in his ability to tell a compelling story that he only needs three main characters, a steady camera, and one primary location. The film has been described as a gothic romance due to the nature of its story and characters. The movie’s claustrophobia brings to mind Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940), considered by many to be the best of all dark romance films. Underpinning the film is Johnny Greenwood’s score, an enthralling and disturbing triumph, one that adds to the film’s “quiet air of death,” but refrains from telling the audience how to feel.

Anderson has said that he first got the idea for Phantom Thread when his partner Maya Rudolph looked at him tenderly while he was ill.

“I remember seeing how much my wife was enjoying having me relatively helpless,” Anderson said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. “Then I started thinking, wouldn’t it kind of… suit her to keep me this way?”

This is what the movie is about: The universal desire to fit and alter those closest to us, just as Woodcock would alter a dress. In the end, Woodcock does not succeed in this attempt. Alma does. She slowly chips away at his ego, and makes Woodcock desperate for her attention. Anderson, it seems, is acknowledging to Rudolph his tendency to be an asshole, and thanking her for offering levity to an ultra-serious perfectionist like himself.

Science & Technology

Five fun science electives that will satisfy your curiosity

by Sam Min on

More in Science & Technology:

Each semester, McGill students spend hours searching for courses that are both interesting and manageable. For those who are not enrolled in a Science major and are feeling particularly adventurous this semester, The McGill Tribune has compiled a list of five fascinating electives that are sure to pique your interest.

CHEM 181 – World of Chemistry: Food

Chemistry courses can often leave students fearful for their GPAs, but CHEM 181 is the exception. This course covers topics like the history of food, the relationship between diet and cancer, and cheese production. The course instructors—Chemistry department members David Harpp, Joe Schwarcz, and Ariel Fenster—fill their lectures with food facts and entertaining anecdotes that make each class exciting. Some highlights of the curriculum include lectures about cheese, chocolate, and wine. CHEM 181 is one of the few online courses taught at McGill and the bulk of the material emphasizes memorization. MyCourses provides full transcripts of the lectures, and the course’s exams are non-cumulative. This course is suited to students with a keen interest in healthy living and, of course, healthy eating.

COMP 202 – Foundations of Programming

In today’s world, programming experience is valued across the job market. This course may appear daunting to students with no prior experience, but COMP 202 is designed to allow novice programmers to get hooked on coding. There are multiple sections of this course taught every semester and students have access to all the lecture recordings for each section. For those interested in joining a research lab at McGill, a background in programming often sets candidates apart. While many students have the required knowledge to perform research, few can code and perform statistical analyses. Though programming can be difficult, it often leads to eureka moments when a solution is found.

PHIL 221 – Introduction to History and Philosophy of Science 2

This course is designed for students with little to no philosophy background. Science students at McGill are often trained to memorize facts. Later, they may find themselves avoiding humanities courses ranging from literature to philosophy in an effort to salvage their GPAs. If you find yourself in this position, you should consider this course. It covers the basics of science philosophy, as well as the development of modern science since the 18th Century. Topics include how the scientific method has been adopted by scientists and the influence of philosophy on scientific research and data collection. This course may also be rewarding for humanities students who want to explore how serendipitous a scientific discovery can be and how science and philosophy heavily influence one another.  

ATOC 184 – Science of Storms

In this course, students learn how extreme weather phenomena such as blizzards, hurricanes, and floods are formed. This course also explores these phenomena in the context of Montreal, a city with feverishly fickle weather. There is no final exam for this course—instead, students must complete a group project that requires a short presentation about an assigned weather topic. All the lectures are recorded and there are two midterm exams, both of which are non-cumulative. This is a great elective for students from all backgrounds who want to understand the weather systems we live with.

MATH 180 — The Art of Mathematics

The Art of Mathematics allows students to gain exposure to mathematics concepts that they wouldn’t otherwise encounter, such as code breaking and logic. The purpose of this course is to give students with any background an appreciation for the beauty of mathematical concepts. Sidney Trudeau, the course instructor, discusses high school math concepts and more abstract topics like chaos in a way that is accessible to a wide range of students. This course is highly recommended for students who would like to explore math from a new perspective.

McGill, News

OSD-Athletics pilot project promotes inclusivity in the gym

by Dorothy Yip on

More in McGill:

The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) is collaborating with McGill Athletics to launch Fitness Access McGill, a project that will help students with physical disabilities maintain an active lifestyle. It offers students who self-identify as disabled two sessions of personal training to help learn exercise routines that they can carry into their daily lives to overcome acquired or innate barriers to doing physical activity. The pilot project will begin this semester with 10 students.

Fitness Access McGill was inspired by comments sent to the OSD that students with physical disabilities at the university were having difficulty establishing exercise routines. The idea came together over summer 2017, and the OSD began recruiting participants that November. OSD-registered students were invited to apply through a form that asked about the physical barriers they encountered during exercise. The initiative received an enthusiastic response and there were three times as many applicants as there was room for participants.

Participants will create personalized training programs with adaptive-fitness personal trainer Aaron Fellows and familiarize themselves with adaptive equipment on campus.  Student volunteers in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education will also assist participants in their weekly training sessions.

“There are two main goals to this program,” Fellows said. “The first is to set participants up so that they feel confident and comfortable in exercising in the gym. The second is for them to keep working out and staying physically active even after they finish the program.”

To OSD Access Advisor Rachel Desjourdy, Fitness Access McGill is a valuable opportunity to extend the dialogue about accessibility from the academic sphere to less conspicuous, more personal spheres of student life, such as achieving and maintaining an active lifestyle.

“Traditionally, we think a lot about the academic environment, not necessarily about barriers in other aspects of university life, like social life and being active, which are really big parts of mental and physical health,” Desjourdy said. “Our theme for this year is promoting accessibility in non-traditional and unconventional ways.”

Desjourdy hopes that the project will spark wider discussions of inclusivity in physical fitness on campus.

“From a universal design perspective, there needs to be multiple entry points for a variety of users,” Desjourdy said. “If there’s only ever one way to access an active lifestyle on campus, then that serves a very small slice of people. That’s one of the cool things of universal design, [it] challenges you to think about what are the barriers for people, and what can we change in the environment to make their experience different.”

The program also aims to challenge normative views of ‘active’ living.

“Healthy looks different for different people,” Desjourdy said. “You can have a disability, or a chronic illness, and are traditionally viewed as unhealthy, but you can still be active and maximize what you can do.”

Sarah Canzer, Social Media and Community and Fan Engagement administrator at McGill Athletics, believes that existing fitness facilities have room to accommodate specific needs that students might have.

“We have all these facilities, but if people aren’t able to access them, or they aren’t even aware that they can access it, they all go to waste,” Canzer said. “Whatever their interests are, or whatever their abilities are, or whatever they have fun doing, there’s something for everybody—which is actually our slogan, and it’s true.”

Editorial, Opinion

In search of better leadership for Student Life and Learning

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

More in Editorial:

At the end of the Fall 2017 semester, McGill students learned that Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens will not pursue a second term once his current mandate concludes at the end of July 2018. While there will be an interim deputy provost after he departs, the formal appointment process for his successor begins in Fall 2018. In its search for new leadership, McGill has the chance to revitalize and renew student faith in the Office of the Student Life and Learning (OSLL), after several widely-criticized missteps during Dyens’ tenure.

Accordingly, before a candidate is named, Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi is to review the “scope and orientation” of the OSLL. However, the office’s mandate is already fairly clear, if broadly defined. It’s in its very name—to support McGill student life and learning by providing essential services, raising student concerns to administration, and supporting and communicating with student leadership and student groups. Its units include Student Housing Services, the Office for Students with Disabilities, and Scholarships and Student Aid, to name a few. The deputy provost oversees all of the office’s functions, and acts as the main contact point between students and the administration.

Reviewing the OSLL’s structure and goals is important, but the more relevant and pressing challenge for the administration is to ensure that the next Deputy Provost of Student Life and Learning is what Dyens has largely failed to be: An accessible, visible, and responsive advocate for student interests at the administrative level.

If the deputy provost is meant to improve the quality of student life and learning, then step one of their job should be to consult students on what quality of life and learning at university actually means to them.

The concerns raised throughout Dyens’ term are not new—the OSLL has faced criticism for shoddy communication and consultation, and unresponsiveness to student voices as far back as 2011. Dyens’ tenure in the role, since 2013, deserves the same criticism. Between sidestepping administration responsibility for responding to incidents of sexual and gendered violence between McGill students; overseeing Counselling and Psychiatric Services’ switch to the “Stepped Care” model without adequate staff and student consultations; and, most recently, some stunningly tone-deaf advice on student mental health that launched a thousand memes, the exiting deputy provost has done little to inspire student trust or interest in the OSLL’s Services.

Dyens’ track record doesn’t have to be the norm for the OSLL and its relationship to McGill students, nor should it be. The OSLL exists because it is essential to have an administrative body dedicated to student needs and interests. While the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) provides student leadership and representation independent from the university, as an administrative body, the OSLL has the power and resources to offer ongoing, essential student services.

For the OSLL to fulfill its role as such, and as a reliable source of student support, not frustration, a competent deputy provost is crucial. Competence means visibility and interaction with the student body beyond periodic appearances at SSMU Council meetings or press releases through the McGill Reporter. It means having clear, open channels for communication with students, and using those channels consistently and proactively. Fundamentally, it means understanding that the deputy provost’s role requires actively seeking out student input and genuinely listening to their own needs and interests with regards to the OSLL. If the deputy provost is meant to improve the quality of student life and learning, then step one of their job should be to consult students on what quality of life and learning at university actually means to them.

It is in McGill’s best interests to have a capable student life and learning deputy provost as much as it is in students’. Practically speaking, if current students aren’t being heard when it comes to improving their own McGill experiences, prospective incoming students may go elsewhere. Happy alumni are also generally more generous than bitter and jaded ones. From a principled standpoint, of course, McGill’s interests should align with student interests: A university should care that its students are receiving essential support and services. With capable leadership, the OSLL is the body to make that happen. Students have expressed what they want—and don’t want—in a head of Student Life and Learning. When looking for the next candidate for the job, the administration should listen to them.

 

 

 

@mcgilltribop | [email protected]

 

 
News, SSMU

SSMU launches food discount app

by Nina Russell on

More in News:

The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) launched its first ever app on Dec. 8, with the release of SSMU Eats, a program designed to provide students with discounts from restaurants throughout Montreal. It is available on both iOS and Android, offering deals of up to 70 per cent off at a variety of venues around the city including Subway, Liquid Nutrition, Vua, and Le MajesThé. To access the discount, students have to select a coupon and show it to the cashier.

The app was developed in coordination with Spinyt Technologies, a company that has also worked with eight universities and 74 restaurants across North America to create apps promoting discounts for local businesses. Spinyt Technologies’ first app, CASA Deals, was released in partnership with the Commerce and Administration Students’ Association at Concordia University in August 2016. Since then, Spinyt Technologies has continued to collect user feedback and update the app accordingly.  

“We figured out that students want discounts around campus and we started with Concordia,” Emile Chouha, one of the founders of Spinyt Technologies, said. “We partner up with the student association [of the university] and we get the restaurants from our side, and the student association is able to pass the information on to the students.”

Spinyt’s discount apps help vendors boost business during slow periods by giving them a platform to provide discounts coinciding with those periods.  

“We allow restaurants to update their deals in real time,” Chouha said. “When they have empty seats in their restaurant, [owners] can upload a 50 per cent deal and students will go to the restaurant, fill up the empty seats, and take advantage of the discount.”

The app also helps eateries to reduce food waste by providing discounts toward the end of the day so they can sell leftover food that would otherwise be thrown out.

“[Restaurant owners] are engaging more and more with the platform,” Chouha said. “When we are able to get a lot of students on a campus, we have less food waste because there [are more interactions] going through the restaurants. Our goal for the next six months is to eliminate food waste downtown as a whole [instead of just around specific campuses].”

Partnered businesses have taken innovative approaches to promoting SSMU Eats. Le MajesThé, for example, offered students who had the app downloaded free bubble tea on Jan. 12.

“I think [SSMU Eats] attracts [quite a few] customers [when] I post the deals,” Vincent Ma, owner of Le MajesThé, said. “We had a good 450 people today download the app and quite a bit of new customers. We haven’t actually tried out too [many] features of the app, but it’s a really interesting idea and I think it will work out.”

SSMU Eats offers its own exclusive deals such as a ‘spin’ feature, on which users spin a wheel to win a randomly selected coupon for a restaurant close to them. In December, it also held a lottery offering free Vua sandwiches for a year to one lucky winner.

“I am extremely excited that I won the free sandwiches,” David Naftulin, U1 Arts and winner of the Vua sandwiches lottery, said. “I think the SSMU Eats app is awesome and I am really pleased with the selection of restaurants on the app. I am also really pleased to see SSMU taking steps in bringing forward initiatives that benefit the day-to-day lives of McGill students, and I hope to see more positive projects like this one from SSMU in the future.”

SSMU hopes to continue expanding the capacity of SSMU Eats and growing the range and diversity of its dining options.

“SSMU Eats will continue to expand the list of restaurants offering discounts to McGill Students,” SSMU President Muna Tojiboeva wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “We will continue to work with Spinyt to provide giveaways and contests to Undergraduate students all throughout the Winter semester.”

1 … 598 599 600 601 602 … 1,363

Read the latest issue

Read the latest issue