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Student Life

Make new friends and keep the old: How students stay in touch despite distance

by Gabriela McGuinty on

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University is an opportune time to make new friends—but sometimes, this comes at the expense of staying in touch with the old. Friendships naturally change over time, as distance and extracurriculars lead to new, and sometimes divergent, paths. It is already challenging for students to find time to catch up with local friends they don’t see on a daily basis—much less their friends in different cities, countries, or time zones.

As a result, many students tend to stay in touch with only their closest friends from years past, including Nicolas Roy, U2 Science.

“It’s hard when you don’t see [old friends] every day,” Roy said. “[Since coming to McGill] I’ve kept in touch really only with my best friends [and] will talk with them through text and on the phone once in awhile. That’s about it, I can count them on one hand.”

For many students in their third or fourth year, friendships they make at McGill also go through their ups and downs. Friends students made in first year are not necessarily the same ones they hang out with down the road, and sometimes they, too, fall into the category of long lost friends.

“I was in engineering when I came in as a U0, so I made friends within that community, but then I moved to physics and kind of moved away from a lot of those friends,” Roy said. “I still have some that I talk to once in awhile, but it’s more like ‘hello,’ and we catch up when we cross on the street, because we don’t share any classes anymore.”

Many students find themselves able to communicate with old friends through social media. With the click of a button or the opening of an app, like Skype, Instagram, and Snapchat, students have access to platforms that make staying up to date with old friends much easier.

“One hundred per cent, social media plays a huge part in how I stay in touch with my friends,” Amina Magnin, U1 Arts, said. “If I see something cool or a post that reminds me of one of them, then I’ll definitely either tag or send it to them.”

For Hailey Evelyn, U0 Education, texting and Snapchat in particular play huge roles in staying up-to-date with her friends who are now scattered across the country.

“There’s five of us in a group chat, and then my best friend and I text every single day,” Evelyn said. “Some friends, I keep in touch with over Snapchat, because I love my Snapchat streaks, so I kept a streak with them throughout the summer and then into university.”

Additionally, as visiting distant friends is not always possible for the busy student, pencilling in time to reach out to friends can ensure an enduring friendship. Whether it’s by setting an occasional alarm to shoot them a text, or adding a FaceTime or phone date to your calendar, setting aside time each week can go a long way.

Any distance, small or large, can test friendships in completely new ways. Still, students have found, and continue to find, ways to keep in touch.

“As a U0 [student], getting used to juggling schoolwork and friends you have here and at home is hard, but if I’ve had a good friendship while in high school, I’ve continued it [in university]”  Evelyn said. “Just because we don’t go to the same school doesn't mean we’ll stop being friends altogether.”

Commentary, Opinion

Campus conversation: Increasing representation among McGill faculty

by Tynan Jarrett & Isabelle Oke & Susan Gaskin on

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The McGill Tribune Opinion section asked staff and student members of the McGill community to answer the question, “Where is McGill heading when it comes to faculty diversity and representation, and where should it be heading?” Read on for their responses.

 

Tynan Jarrett | Isabelle Oke | Susan Gaskin | Sydney Sheedy

 

Tynan Jarrett

McGill Employment Equity Advisor

McGill is in action when it comes to faculty diversity and representation. At an institutional level, we have acknowledged that McGill’s Employment Equity Policy, passed in 2007, provides an important framework for the university, but did not lead to meaningful progress toward closing important gaps in representation among McGill’s professoriate. Racialized and Indigenous scholars, scholars with disabilities, and women scholars all remain underrepresented in our faculty, and although our data is incomplete, LGBTTQ2 scholars are also likely underrepresented.

Over the past two years, McGill has taken a number of important steps toward positive change; these include the integration of specific employment equity targets into the Provost and Vice Principal (Academic)’s Strategic Academic Plan, the initiation of priority hires emerging from the Provost’s Task Force on Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education, and, in Summer 2017, the creation of the Employment Equity Advisor position in the Office of the Provost—the first time such a position has existed at McGill—which is my current role. In addition to efforts made centrally, a number of faculties have implemented their own successful Employment Equity strategies: The Faculty of Engineering, for example, has made strides in the past couple of years through a 2015 initiative that includes a series of checks and balances throughout the hiring search process.

The challenge for McGill moving forward is twofold: Firstly, we need to move the numbers. To do this, we need to have robust conversations about equity and hiring across the University. As an administration, we must increase the McGill community’s capacity to think critically about how we measure excellence, about what informs our institutional priorities for research and teaching, and about what role bias has in our evaluation of candidates for hiring and promotion. Moreover, we need to consciously build up underrepresented scholars in terminal degree programs and post-doctoral positions.

Secondly, we need to look beyond the numbers. We must also create space for scholars from underrepresented groups to inform the existing practices of the institution, including in research and teaching. Moreover, we need to take steps to address the service overload that negatively affects the careers of members of underrepresented groups. Finally, we need to strengthen measures to address structural discrimination, and acknowledge that we can do better than we are currently.

McGill needs to approach the challenge of achieving equity and diversity within the professoriate in a manner that befits an institution of higher learning. We are facing a complex, real-world problem, a solution for which requires sustained effort, resources, curiosity, and determination, and that must be grounded in research, and in the spirit of innovation and experimentation.

 

Isabelle Oke

SSMU Vice-President University Affairs

McGill’s Strategic Academic Plan sets expanding diversity as an institutional goal of the University. In the past six months working at the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) as Vice-President (VP) University Affairs, I’ve seen open discussions about the diversity of the composition of committees, initiatives from the Social Equity and Diversity Education (SEDE) office to change the way we talk about equity (such as café collabs), and a 2017 Senate report on data collected to evaluate employment equity on campus. In terms of where McGill should be headed in terms of faculty diversity, the Senate employment equity report shows a gradual increase in representation of women in academic faculty positions. However, the job isn’t done as soon as more women and minority professors are employed. A diverse campus is a campus where traditionally underrepresented members are also able to thrive and accomplish great things, without having to face disrespect, lack of recognition, and lack of support.

Minority students at McGill need to see themselves represented among faculty in order to feel welcome on campus—to know that at least someone else has moved through the campus similarly embodied, and found a way to make sense of their surroundings and succeed. Furthermore, the few existing faculty members who have underrepresented identities are often in high demand and relied on to support minority students in a way that is often undervalued. As such, McGill needs to recognize that supporting students beyond the content of a course—such as through the institution, through academic careers, and through the challenges that come with being a student—is work that systematically demands more of some faculty members than others. We must continue to do better in supporting faculty members who provide this invisible, additional, unpaid labour. 

There are other types of harassment and discrimination that, little by little, make both faculty members and students on campus feel unwelcome, which will ultimately lead them to look for greener pastures elsewhere. The insidious nature of this harassment and discrimination is something that policy cannot systematically manage on its own. The way members of the McGill community relate to one another, and how we define success at this university, will have to change if we want to invite and maintain diversity in our faculty ranks. This isn’t achievable until we’re ready to let go of certain traditions and self-perceptions that dictate who we mark as the 'average McGillian,' and what constitute reasonable needs and aspirations.

 

Susan Gaskin, Brace Associate Professor, Civil Engineering

Chair of Senate Sub-committee on Women

The question of McGill’s faculty diversity is raised in the context of a university community with a significant international student body—30 per cent, from 150 different countries—located in a multicultural city, in a country which immigrants and their descendants share with  First Nations groups. It can be explored by considering the opposite question: Should we aim for a homogeneous faculty, in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, or ability? The answer to this is clearly no. In a diverse community, homogeneity implies exclusion or suppression of those not in the privileged group. History provides us with ample evidence that enforced homogeneity is motivated by the maintenance of a privilege that would be insecure in an equitable environment.

A university’s faculty needs to be representative of its community, and, in McGill’s case, this is a very diverse community. It is a university’s role to extend the limits of knowledge and understanding in culture and science by challenging assumptions and unsettling complacency with questions. It should provide fertile ground for the exchange of ideas to drive a dynamic process of intellectual stimulus, enhanced by differences in experience, expertise, interpretation, and priorities. As research has shown, productivity and creativity improve with increased diversity.

To achieve faculty diversity and representativeness, action is needed to attract, hire, and then retain a diverse and intersectional faculty representative of our community. Currently, 32 per cent of McGill faculty are women, which represents an increase from 23 per cent in 2000. Continuing at this rate, faculty gender parity will only be achieved by 2065.

To attract diverse faculty members, McGill administration needs to show that we provide a supportive environment for academic pursuits that challenges the status quo, both in knowledge and social hierarchy. There is a wealth of excellent candidates who the university could hire, yet in hiring decisions, confirmation bias can still occur. Thus, we need to be proactive, through transparent hiring processes that involve decision-making participation from an intersectional representation of all ranks of faculty and from students.


Beyond the hiring process, retaining a diverse faculty further requires both support of their scholarly pursuits and diversity of opinion, and provision of a work environment accommodating their varied needs. A good approach can be found in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s 1997 Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel. At McGill, we need to actively pursue greater faculty diversity.

 

 

Sydney Sheedy

Social Equity and Diversity Education Office (SEDE) Communications Director

McGill has been explicit about its commitment to making the university a space that is inclusive and diverse for all, recognizing that the different historical and ongoing barriers individuals face require different support systems. However, sometimes intention can preclude the actual day-to-day work of implementing equity at all institutional levels. Everyone who is a part of the McGill community must understand what responsibilities they have to this collective project, and that requires extensive infrastructure on the part of McGill to make sure that there is attention to the specific needs of all its members.

At SEDE, education is central to our mission of building an equitable campus. This can take many forms, from unlearning harmful beliefs and practices related to race, gender, sexuality, ability, and class, to providing students, staff, and faculty with the skills and tools they need to be able to navigate and have an impact in their environments.

Having a more equitable representation of diverse perspectives and people in McGill faculties is not only important for the people who work here, but for the associated students who are learning how to formulate critical thinking that challenges the narratives we are over-served in our society. This means actually hiring and consulting with faculty and staff from historically marginalized groups—which is why the Employment Equity plan was implemented in 2007—as well as making sure there are strategies in place that promote retention and success of these individuals. For example, the 2017 Provost’s Task Force on Indigenous Studies and Education made recommendations to increase Indigenous capacity-building not only by recruiting Indigenous staff, faculty, and students, but also in making sure that they will feel as though they are a part of a space that celebrates the initiatives and accomplishments of Indigenous peoples.

Few would deny the importance of respect, inclusion, and diversity at McGill, but it is also easy to resort to superficial practices that don’t always address the deep-seated and enduring causes of inequality that play out in university settings. Diversity is needed at all levels to maintain a richness of ideas and an understanding of how we can learn from our differences. McGill should continue to support and promote practices that identify and address barriers to such diversity, and be adaptive to the evolving needs of this ever-changing process.

 

Science & Technology

Distinguishing science from sci-fi in the search for extraterrestrials

by April Barrett on

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Astrobiology, the scientific study of life beyond Earth, was born in 1959 and pioneered by NASA’s Ames Research Center. Along with scientific research, public imagination of extraterrestrial life was broadening. In 1969, when Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins successfully landed on the moon, it reached new heights.

Since 1947, when in Roswell, New Mexico, witnesses reported sighting a UFO, the world was captivated by the possibility of aliens landing on Earth. During the 1950s, the science fiction genre exploded in comics, television series, and films. Given the tense political climate of the Cold War-era, it is no wonder that the alien was a poignant monster; it represented foreignness, hostility, and the threat of technological superiority as the crux of its horror.

On Oct. 19 2017, for the first time ever, astronomers identified a rock from another solar system flying past Earth. It seems today, humans are more excited about an unknown visitor than fearful.

At McGill, Lyle Whyte, a professor in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences and a member of the McGill Space Institute, is at the forefront of the search for extraterrestrial life. However, the potential extraterrestrials Whyte researches are a little humbler than those of retro sci-fi.

“What we do is research into microbial ecosystems that live on the coldest places on this planet [and] try to understand how they survive in these extreme environments,” Whyte explained. “[We] try to develop […] methods [that] could potentially be used [to detect signs of life] on future robotic expeditions to Mars, Europa, and Enceladus [moons of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively].”  

Whyte has participated in several astrobiological projects. Most recently, he has been involved with the ExoMars 2020 mission, a robotic exploration mission led by the European Space Agency.

“The one thing that is very special about ExoMars is [that we] can drill a metre or two […] into the subsurface [of Mars],” Whyte explained. “[The robot can] take a sample from the depth and pull it out and look for biosignatures of ancient or extant life. I’m on a group called the Landing Site Selection Working Group, which has about 15 scientists that basically are saying ‘We should land here.’”

Whyte supervised a recent study spearheaded by PhD candidate Jacqueline Goordial, which suggested the temperature limits of bugs that live in permafrost at the poles of the Earth. Although Whyte is personally doubtful about the viability of life on Mars, based on this research, he is still excited to look. He is also especially curious about Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn.

“Cassini [Spacecraft] went to Saturn [from 1997-2017] and discovered these geysers [from Enceladus] shooting out into space,” Whyte said. “The spacecraft […] was able to collect some of the molecules in that water, and what we know in 2017 is that that water is salty, it contains organic carbon, it contains nitrogen and methane. If I had some of that water put in a flask in my lab and I took some soil from the Arctic, I could get things to grow in it.”

Whyte values sci-fi depictions of aliens, mainly as thought exercises for a future where human-alien contact is possible. Whyte believes that a good story inspires the imagination.

“I find sci-fi films like [The Martian and Arrival] to be very creative and inspiring,” Whyte said. “Imagination has to play a big role. The bottom line is we’re looking at these things for the first time, mostly the first time ever, and you have to keep your mind very open to what you’re actually seeing.”

When asked what advice he would give to those who are deeply curious about extraterrestrial life, Whyte emphasized the importance of expressing interest through the appropriate channels.

“Go with your passion,” Whyte said. “If you’re really interested in planetary exploration or exoplanets, you’re going to have to become an engineer or a scientist. [… I’m] good at studying polar microbiology, and that becomes useful to understand life on Mars.”

The current scientific stance toward extraterrestrial life is limited, but discoveries of extraterrestrial objects like the rock found earlier this year allow us to stretch the bounds of what we even thought to be possible. While we may not find little green martians, on the hunt for life beyond our planet, or even beyond our solar system, all we can do is flex our imagination and keep an open mind.

Commentary, Opinion

A year after Hillary Clinton’s defeat: Becoming ‘that’ woman

by Allegra Mendelson on

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The result of the 2016 American presidential election was, and still is, personal. Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump shook me to my core. Even now, over a year later, time has failed to heal the wound. Americans were given the chance to prove that sexism warranted no place in the political sphere. Yet they elected a man who has actively championed the degradation of women, showing the world that sexism remains rampant in the United States, even in the highest office.

When initial analyses of the election began trickling in, many were quick to argue that voters did not reject Clinton because she was a woman, but because she was that woman. What many people failed, and still fail, to understand is how a lifetime of battling systemic sexism has turned her into that woman. Even more concerning for young women is the realization that we are all vulnerable to circumstances in which we, too, could become that woman. Our generation needs to change the ways in which women are viewed and treated, so that sexism no longer sways future elections like it did in 2016.

Throughout Clinton’s career, superficialities—like her outfit and the tone of her voice—have consistently made headlines, ultimately overshadowing the rest of her platform. During the 2016 election, Trump did not shy away from abusing the sexist representations of his opponent, and used these gendered accusations to shape the election’s overall narrative. This was an easy task: Studies conducted by the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University indicate that Trump received, on average, 15 per cent more media coverage than Clinton.

Women working in the public sphere are stuck in a “double bind:” They are forced to adapt to a “man’s world,” but, in doing so, defy their pre-ascribed gender roles, thereby making them unappealing to many voters. Women are labelled as being unapologetically ambitious, a word that is—when used to describe women—laced with an accusatory undertone. In contrast, male presence and ambition in the political sphere are accepted as norms. Over time, these sexist labels build up social capital, leaving voters questioning the credibility and competence of women like Clinton who dare to fight against the status quo.

Many were quick to argue that voters did not reject Clinton because she was a woman, but because she was that woman. What many people failed […] to understand is how a lifetime of battling systemic sexism has turned her into that woman.

If a woman as accomplished and as capable as Clinton could lose an election simply because she lives and works within a system predisposed to rejecting women, I can’t help but question if my own hard work—and every other woman’s hard work—might be just as futile as hers. For young women and students who are preparing to enter the workforce, the sexism shown during the election is, at best, emblematic of the barriers that they will have to face in gaining respect and authority, and at worst, extremely discouraging.

While I am still struggling to come to terms with the results of the election, I have learned that, even in the face of defeat, there are millions of strong women, and men, around the world, who continue to believe in a future where a woman like Clinton could become president. In the last year, the country has already seen many promising examples of change, from the awareness raised by the Women’s Marches on Inauguration Day to the unprecedented number of women who have since stepped forward to run for office in the United States. But, there is still progress to be made. As Hillary Clinton herself has said, “the only way to get sexism out of politics is to get more women into politics.”

 

Allegra Mendelson is a U1 student at McGill pursuing a double majoring in Economics and Religious Studies. She loves bagels and is passionately averse to anything orange.

 

@mcgilltribop | [email protected]

 

 

Arts & Entertainment, Music

McGill graduate Polina Grace releases first EP

by Ryan Canon on

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McGill students are no strangers to talented individuals emerging from their ranks. Recently, another hidden gem revealed herself in the form of Polina Grace, a 2016 graduate. Boasting a beautiful voice and a commanding stage presence, she has proven herself to be one of the more impressive up-and-coming artists in Montreal.

Raised in Vancouver, Grace shifted her focus to a full-time music career after finishing her studies at McGill. With breathy vocals and a dark-pop sound, Grace is an independent artist who has self-financed her dreams. Now, she has set her sights on making a name for herself in Montreal’s music scene.

Bringing her closer to her lifelong dream of being a recognized artist, Grace officially released her first five-piece EP Down alongside a music video for the titular single, “Down” on Nov. 1.

“I truly started falling in love with singing and performing when I was in kindergarten,” Grace said in an interview with The McGill Tribune.  “I was always the most enthusiastic in choir, and always eager to take on a solo. My first real performance which I can recall was when I was six years old at my kindergarten graduation.”

From that point on, Grace knew that she wanted to be a singer.

“I sang every chance I could as a kid, on and off the stage,” Grace said. “I always recorded little demos and imitated the biggest, most iconic singers in the privacy of my room in my spare time, which is how I taught myself to sing in the first place. Singing along to Whitney Houston tracks at the age of six may not have sounded very pleasing to others’ ears, but little did everyone know I was on the path to developing a bigger, better voice with each rehearsal. Throughout the years, I remained enchanted by big, soulful voices and it was always my aspiration to become as great as my icons, including Whitney, ABBA, MJ, and Steven Tyler.”

“Down” is the culmination of two years of hard work and dedication. Navigating the modern music industry is no simple task, and just like any up-and-coming artist, Grace has faced her fair share of obstacles.

“You would be surprised how many people approach you with false promises,” Grace told the Tribune. “Young artists need to be careful [of] who they get involved with.”

Despite these struggles, Grace never gave up hope, and now her path seems more clear than ever. Having recently signed a distribution deal with Sony and a number of music videos, new content, and live performances planned for the near future, the stage has been set for Grace to make herself known.

“Honestly, my journey so far has already been incredibly exciting and fruitful. Working with great musicians and producers has been part of the dream come true,” Grace said. “Yet there is still so much I want to do. I want to leave my mark on the music world.”

Polina Grace’s EP Down is available on Spotify, and her music videos, “Down” and “Giving Up,” are on YouTube.

Editorial, Opinion

McGill’s sexual violence policy lacking on professor-student relationships

by McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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Quebec’s proposed Bill 151 requires all postsecondary schools to have a campus sexual violence policy by September 2019. Among other things, the bill stipulates that an acceptable policy must provide a clear code of conduct on relationships between faculty members and students.

In Fall 2016, McGill introduced a Policy against Sexual Violence (SVP), which applies to all members of the university community. It also has a blanket Policy on Harassment, Sexual Harassment, or Discrimination Prohibited by Law. When it comes to professor-student relationships specifically, however, both policies offer little on recourse and disciplinary measures. This is chiefly because both the SVP and the sexual harassment policy process complaints against professors differently than those against students, redirecting them to opaque, internal disciplinary procedures. Meanwhile, allegations of sexual harassment or undesired advances from professors often surface on campus—with no apparent recourse.

Quebec’s Bill 151 is a much-needed wake-up call: If it is truly committed to student safety and well-being, the McGill administration must update the SVP and related policies to explicitly restrict any faculty member from pursuing an intimate relationship with a student whom they are evaluating, with clear repercussions otherwise. Further, the SVP must include specific, transparent, and accessible means of disclosure and recourse for students affected by these relationships and power abuses.

Whatever the situation, an intimate relationship between a professor and a student they are evaluating is a conflict of interest. Of more dire ethical concern is the question of consent in these relationships. The power differential between students and professors is enormous—whether acting as an intro-course lecturer or a master’s research supervisor, a professor has substantial control over their students’ success at McGill, and, by extension, their career prospects upon graduation. Given this compromised capacity to object to unwanted sexual advances, it is unethical for a professor to initiate any relationship with a student directly beneath them.

The McGill SVP barely addresses these relationships, and fails to lay out concrete guidelines for students who find themselves involved in them. The SVP includes exactly one line about professor-student relationships specifically. In its definition of consent, it identifies intimate relationships that coincide with “an abuse of a relationship of trust, power or authority, such as the relationship between a professor and their student,” as non-consensual. McGill’s sexual harassment policy reiterates that a professor exploiting sexual activity as a condition of a student’s educational outcomes constitutes sexual harassment. Crucially, the definition fails to specify that every direct relationship between a professor and their student unacceptably compromises consent.

The power differential between students and professors is enormous […] a professor has substantial control over their students’ success at McGill, and, by extension, their career prospects upon graduation. Given this compromised capacity to object to unwanted sexual advances, it is unethical for a professor to initiate any relationship with a student directly beneath them.

At the same time, professors who have allegedly pursued such relationships continue to work at McGill with apparent impunity. Clearly, something is not working. To address these relationships and the unique harm they cause students, McGill must first recognize the gaps in its existing policy framework. Yet, some members of the administration seem chronically reluctant to do so.

In a statement to the National Post published on Nov. 15, Associate Provost (Policies, Procedures, and Equity) Angela Campbell implied that McGill’s SVP and additional policies already cover professor-student relationships. What Campbell failed to mention is an absence of accessible direction and support for students wishing to pursue recourse against an abusive professor. Students can report professors for sexual harassment, coercion, or violence, but what happens next is unclear. While complaints against students are processed under McGill’s Student Code of Conduct, complaints against professors are processed under the Regulations Relating to Employment of Tenure Track and Tenured Academic Staff. The regulations’ disciplinary procedures are confidential, due to Quebec labour laws. With no transparency in the handling of allegations against professors, nor information on the disciplinary outcomes of filing a complaint, it is misleading to say that McGill’s sexual harassment and violence policy framework adequately applies to professor-student situations.

Moreover, nothing in the regulations explicitly restricts professors from pursuing relationships with students. Perhaps this is assumed to be common knowledge. However, when allegations against professors continue to crop up on campus, and avenues for recourse are so unclear that students have mobilized a grassroots campaign against one professor accused of sexual misconduct, stricter guidelines are clearly needed. These should include provisions on acceptable conduct and disclosure of other hierarchical relationships, such as between students and teaching assistants.

Quebec’s Bill 151 provides concrete recommendations on developing more comprehensive and accessible policy. These include consolidating all sexual assault policies and procedures into a common and accessible document, and duly educating all students on them from their first year at McGill.

Per the SVP, the McGill administration recognizes the unique problem of consent within student-professor relationships. That means little if the University doesn’t also have the policy mechanisms to prevent such relationships, to take evident transparent disciplinary action against those professors who pursue them, and to provide clear steps for disclosure and support for affected students.

 

The McGill Tribune is gathering student input to inform an investigation into the topic of professor abuses at McGill. If you’d like to participate in our survey or provide a tip or testimonial on the topic, please click here.

 

 

 

 

@mcgilltribop | [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

Evolving the game: Analytics and video analysis on McGill sports teams

by Jordan Foy on

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If you’re a sports fan, you may have have heard the terms “analytics” or “video” thrown around. “Analytics” is usually accompanied by some numbers and acronyms that you might not understand, while “video” sounds like a simple highlight reel. But what exactly are analytics and video analysis?

In a 2015 article on NHL.com, Arik Parnass provided a succinct definition.

“Anything can be a statistic,” Parnass wrote. “Analytics are distinct, the study of statistics to find meaning. Analysts look for reproducible patterns in large samples which illuminate important lessons about the game.”

Video analysis has been used for training and coaching in sports for a long time. In analytics, video recordings of games are often used to help accurately and precisely collect data. Sports analytics combines mathematics and sport, bridging the gap between two seemingly-unrelated fields. In the professional sports world, the collection and analysis of data is extremely beneficial—many professional athletes are faster, stronger, and more skilled today than they have ever been, forcing teams to use creative tactics to gain an edge. Analytics and video are two instruments that management and coaching staffs use to tweak small details and detect underlying trends.

At McGill, many varsity teams also use video and analytics as tools to improve their game. The Martlet hockey team films and analyzes every game, noting certain stats that U Sports does not track, including shot differential, a metric used to better understand puck possession.

Thomas Côté-Miller manages video and analytics for the team, and explained the process to The McGill Tribune.   

“We usually have someone that films the game and we connect it to our computer and I code during the game using some [custom] software,” Côté-Miller said.

This data is stored so that the coaching staff can access it after the games, and use it to analyze the play of the team. The data contributes to coaching decisions in a variety of ways—for example, it can be used to assess different player combinations.

“[Say we] feel like these two defencemen are playing well together,” Côté-Miller explained. “[We can then] see what their stats are when they’re on the ice together […] and we can piece together things [….] We can go behind and go to the roots and see what’s happening.”

This analysis of the team helps reinforce coaching choices. Côté-Miller acknowledged, however, that it is by no means the sole basis for those choices in every situation.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the prime [way] to optimize lines or make lineup decisions,” Côté-Miller said. “But it’s definitely something that we look at with the coaching staff.”

For the Martlet volleyball team, detailed accounts of all possible statistics are kept. During games, several substitutes will keep track of a wide variety of stats for both their teammates and opponents.

“[We count] every touch […] the blocking, the hitting, the setting,” Martlet volleyball Head Coach Rachele Beliveau explained. “And then we have the serve receive. Every touch of every player is recorded somewhere. There’s a lot of things [to keep track of] in volleyball. It’s a very tactical game.”

Similar to many other teams, Martlet volleyball players and coaches use the data they collect to not only examine their own play, but to also understand the tendencies of their opponents. In volleyball, this requires understanding where opposing players are most likely to play the ball. For instance, is a hitter more likely to hit crosscourt, or down the line?

Analytics and video analysis have been used in volleyball for a long time, but Beliveau explained that methods and technologies have changed in recent years.

“The breakdown is better,” Beliveau said. “Before, we used to watch a video and we had to watch a whole game, rallies after rallies. Now, we can take only [one player’s play and analyze it independently]. This has been the evolution of what we’re doing. It’s not the video. It’s how we can analyze it, and how fast we can analyze it.”

Redmen basketball Head Coach David DeAveiro agrees that analytics in basketball have resulted in an evolution of the sport.

“[The introduction of] analytics has changed the game completely,” DeAveiro said. “Some coaches, old-school guys who never used to do it, are getting fired because they’re not taking [the new approach to analytics], especially in the NBA.”

DeAveiro uses film and analytics as valuable tools for coaching, but most of all, he employs them to evaluate other teams and prepare prior to matches. Rebound percentage, plus/minus, and turnover-to-assist ratio are just some of the numbers he and the team analyze. Offensive efficiency is something the team pays extra attention to—particularly for their opponents.

“[We look at what] the other team’s efficiency in certain offensive situations [is], who’s involved in those situations, and [we try to] figure out how we’re going to defend that,” DeAveiro elaborated. “[We want to] know, ‘what are teams’ offensive tendencies based on analytics?’ You know, ‘are they a three-point shooting team?’ [It’s] things like that.”

DeAveiro stressed that although analytics are a useful tool, tracking digits can sometimes be a fruitless endeavour. Numbers are essential, but so is standard video analysis.

“Your eyes don’t lie to you,”  DeAveiro explained. “Sometimes numbers can be manipulated, and not be really important facts, [but] sometimes they’re very important facts. So for us, we use video [as well.…] We say in our profession the tape doesn’t lie, it exposes people.”

The rapid advancement of technology has played a huge role in the growth of  analytics.

“We’re getting ready to start a new system where we’re able to have one of our coaches in the crowd tagging live […] events [and] situations from the game, and sending [them] to us on our bench via tablet,” DeAveiro said. “We can show guys during the heat of the game what’s going on [… by showing guys on the bench] clips during the game of themselves [….] There’s only a couple [of] teams in the country that are doing that now.”

Of course, coaches and staff are not the only ones who make use of video analysis and analytics. From a player perspective, both assist in development and improvement. For fourth-year Myriam Robitaille, Martlet volleyball team captain, the stats collected are an important general indicator for quality of play, but don’t tell the whole story.

“[For defence], we just have a number, and sometimes, even if you got a zero on defence, maybe it was an excellent hit, the other team just won the point,” Robitaille said. “It doesn’t mean everything, but [the stats] give a good overview.”

However, video is something that has been much more beneficial for Robitaille as an athlete.

“Individually, [there are] few things you may like to watch [out for] better,” Robitaille said. “For me, it’s seeing the setter cause I need to make good decisions for the block [because] I’m the middle. It helps me a lot, but after that, once you have the information, you just play […] the game.”

The use of analytics in sport is a relatively recent phenomenon, but Côté-Miller believes that its contribution will only continue to increase. With the current speed of technological improvements, it will be fascinating to see how analytics and video further transform the sports we love.

“It’s just going to grow with time,” Côté-Miller said. “People are going to start using it more and more. [Right now,] a lot of the media […] doesn’t necessarily acknowledge its usefulness. People call it analytics, [but] it’s really not rocket science. It’s basic math that most people with an elementary school education can do.”

Art, Arts & Entertainment

Urban art in Montreal: Somewhere between starving and sellout

by Sophie Brzozowski on

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”Integrity” is a word that I have always had trouble defining. It seems to imply something more virtuous than plain old honesty, but equally as earnest. When coupled with the word ”artistic,” it becomes even more ambiguous.

It was an awfully ambitious endeavor, then, to try and define integrity within the contentious and nebulous world of urban art—but it seemed a worthy one nonetheless. As urban artists have begun to transition from the streets to galleries, their work has started to take on a new meaning. Some see this change as a chance to finally legitimize street art and give artists the respect and recognition that they deserve. Others, however, see the popularization of the medium as something akin to betrayal.

Street artist Raymond Pilon, for example, otherwise known under his alias “Zilon,” is what you’d call a purist. In the age of information, self-promotion, and relentless branding, he’s achieved the kind of fame that is becoming increasingly unusual—the underground kind. Although he’s best known for the colorful depanneur he so artfully defaced at the corner of Marie-Anne and St. Dominique in 2015 for the MURAL festival, he’s been around far longer than that.

“People tend to think that life started in the ‘90s,” Pilon said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “I started to do my stuff on the street in ‘75 but people forget […] today, everything is a market, I never worked that way.”

Pilon believes that had he been in New York during that “Keith Haring, Basquiat moment” as he calls it, he’d be world famous. Instead, he was in Laval, running around at night, stealing cans of spray paint from his local hardware store. Still, Pilon hasn’t done badly for himself. In many circles, he’s lauded as an urban legend. The grandfather of street art, Pilon blazed the trail that so many younger, more internet-savvy artists are travelling now.

“All I know is that, urban legend or not, I still have to pay my rent,” Pilon said. “I do murals, exhibitions here and there, little contracts [… ] I’m surviving, that’s about it.”

It’s not that Pilon is a poor businessman, and it’s certainly not for lack of talent that he remains underground. The problem, he says, lies within art galleries.

“Finding a good gallery is like [finding] a relationship—you have to go through a bunch of perfect assholes to find someone you can have a conversation with,” Pilon said. “They treat you like a machine in these galleries […] [your art] is a commodity, it’s an object. You’re like bubblegum that they chew on and then spit out and then they take on a younger, more naïve artist and they sign him!”

At 63, Pilon has been around longer than most artists on the scene, and he has witnessed street art morph into something almost entirely unrecognizable—something his 17-year-old, spray paint-stealing self would not approve of. As a self-made man, he’s frustrated about what it’s become. He described being on welfare in the ‘70s, growing up with parents who didn’t approve of or believe in what he was doing, but forging ahead anyway, only to find his craft co-opted and warped by people who weren’t there in the beginning.

Amanda Brownridge, on the other hand, is a curator and art historian who works for one of the galleries that Pilon so disapproves of. Located on Saint-Laurent, Station 16 brands itself as an urban art gallery, featuring works from a large roster of artists working on and off the street. Brownridge says that urban art is changing; that people from within the community are working to remake it into something more modern, but still accessible.

“I don’t think that bringing street art into the gallery takes away from the integrity of the work, I think it enhances it and is really exciting!” Brownridge wrote in an email to the Tribune. “It gives the artists another venue to promote their artistic careers and often helps to finance some of their more clandestine adventures!”

Galleries play a major role in the distribution of art today: Establishments like Station 16 have enabled street artists to legitimize their work in the safety of a legal venue. Street artists used to work under aliases in order to protect themselves because their work was illegal. Although many modern artists still do (Stikki Peaches, Miss Me, and Whatisadam to name a few), they now have business cards and representation. They’re supporting themselves; they don’t have to steal their spray paint.

But commercialization comes at a cost. My dad tells a story about being in a nightclub in the ‘80s and seeing that someone had written “FREE NELSON MANDELA” on the inside of a bathroom stall. Beneath it, someone else had Sharpie’d “With every six pack of Coors Light!” Although it hardly qualified as art, in many ways this is the illicit quality that street art loses when it is bought by a gallery. It’s no longer ephemeral, interactive, or taboo.

Nicholas Riggle, a street art enthusiast who holds a PhD in philosophy, thinks that the cool thing about street art is that it defies formalist critique. In a 2010 article entitled “Street Art: The Transfiguration of the Commonplaces” in The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, he wrote that, “strictly formalist art criticism cannot handle street art, in spite of its often dazzling aesthetic qualities.” Traditionally, art criticism requires that the critic focus exclusively on the aesthetic elements of the piece. But there’s so much more to consider with street art—the context in which it appears is so integral to the medium that it’s easy to see why the transition into galleries is so difficult for some people.

“When you [draw] on a toilet cubicle in a nightclub, it’s like a ready-made installation!” Pilon said. “You cannot reproduce that in a gallery or whatever. A gallery is a shop. I mean, you take something I do, you put it over your sofa and it’s gonna be a conversation piece for your visitors. It’s not decoration I’m doing […] It says something.”

MU Montreal is a publicly funded organization that seems to have done the impossible and created a compromise. The project aims to turn the city of Montreal into an “open air art museum” by working with building owners and artists, commissioning those murals you see everywhere. Each mural is project-based—meaning that artists are hired mural by mural.

“The process is as important as the result,” MU’s artistic director, Elizabeth-Ann Doyle, said.

Most are site-specific, meaning that they revolve around the theme of the neighbourhood. Artists and building owners have complete creative control.

Like it or not, art is evolving and Montreal has embraced it. The art world used to be an exclusive and elitist place, only accessible to a select few, but all this is changing along with the meaning of the word “integrity.”

Despite all the caveats, Pilon still very much believes in art, just as he did in the ‘70s.

“Art is living,” Pilon said. “You can have someone doing pastry and it’s art. You can go to a restaurant and it’s so damn good that it’s art! You see a lady dressed in something from a thrift shop or Winners or whatever, and she looks great! That’s art.”

Commentary, Opinion

Internet killed the local Torstar

by Keating Reid on

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Historians sometimes speak of a “usable past,” a common narrative about the events that brought us here and why we’re a “we” at all. This commonality is seen as essential to creating a sense of community or nationhood. Frankly, Canadians should be more concerned about maintaining a usable present. With the ongoing decline of local newspapers, we are also seeing a decline in common sets of facts.

On Nov. 28, Canadian media corporations Postmedia and Torstar announced plans to swap ownership of 37 community newspapers in a game of financial hot potato. Of these, 32 are known to be closing, and the remaining five are hardly home free.

Some have blamed the massacre on Postmedia’s bottom line–focused management style. While it may have been a factor, Canadians cannot ignore the digital elephant in the room. The internet has led to an explosive growth of media outlets, to the point of creating a news glut. The ensuing tight competition among news organizations means that casual readers can get their news fix for free online. This might please consumers in the short term, but there’s truth to the cliché, ‘you get what you pay for.’ The glut that’s shuttering local papers hasn’t yet offered a substitute for one of a newspaper’s key functions—creating a sense of community through common, accurate understanding of events.

The internet’s democratization of media is a double-edged sword: It has created platforms for unjustly marginalized voices by lowering the barriers to entry and access to mass communication, but that same factor has also allowed internet-only, agenda-driven outlets, like far-right The Rebel Media, to exist—never mind the phenomenon of state-sponsored “fake news.”

While an individual local paper is hardly the glue that holds a nation together, the sense of commonality essential to a shared set of facts starts with one’s neighbours.

While ‘old media’ have their biases as well, these are kept in check by the limitations of their format. Unlike strictly internet media—whose consumer base can be defined by political persuasion—markets for print and television are divided geographically. This finite reach means local papers can’t afford to alienate segments of their consumer base with one-sided reporting. Their editorials can and do take political stances, and reporting can even show bias, but they can’t get away with distorting facts. As a gentler version of media theorist Marshall McLuhan might have said, the medium moderates the message.

Online news has no such limitations. Anyone, anywhere with electricity and access to Wi-Fi is a potential consumer. Not only can websites afford to cater to particular audiences, they profit from it: The Rebel’s YouTube channel has over 861,000 subscribers, even after its controversial coverage of the Charlottesville white nationalist rally in August.

That this level of attention paid to tabloidesque, partisan drivel persists in a generally moderate country points to a worrying silo effect: There is a growing group of people who distrust mainstream media, instead consuming all their news from a single chosen source, whether or not it is tied to their locality. This is the beginning of a harmful social gap.

Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams has an apt metaphor to describe what happens to a society that has lost its ability to find common ground: He describes it as “two movies [playing] on one screen,” with half the audience seeing one and the other half another, both thoroughly convinced theirs is the only one playing. While an individual local paper is hardly the glue that holds a nation together, the sense of commonality essential to a shared set of facts starts with one’s neighbours.

Stories, big or small, have power. Communities are held together by their shared experiences. In small communities, local papers have long provided the platform for this sharing to happen. While some have proposed federal funding for print media, trying to turn back the media clock would be like protecting scribes from the printing press. Sites like MTLBlog and Narcity offer local coverage, but without newspapers’ journalistic rigour. The solution, as usual, may be bottom-up. If consumers don’t demand rigour from their news sources, they won’t get it.

 

Keating is a U0 in the Faculty of Arts planning to study political science. He’s often found reading the news and grumbling in his bathrobe.

 

 

@mcgilltribop | [email protected]

 

 

 

 
Editorial, Opinion

SSMU executive mid-term reviews

by McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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President Muna Tojiboeva

Prior to her election as this year’s SSMU President, Muna Tojiboeva campaigned on a platform of increased transparency, accountability, and concrete action on behalf of student interests; however, she has failed to uphold these standards. Instead, her first semester as President has been defined by her inability to maintain a functioning executive team.

At SSMU Council on Oct. 19, five SSMU executives presented a motion of no confidence in the President. Over the course of the semester, Tojiboeva has failed to resolve these conflicts internally, allowing them to impede the productivity of other SSMU projects. Tensions within the executive have made it difficult for the Tojiboeva's collaboration on issues beyond her portfolio, such as mental health As President, the primary responsibility for resolving conflicts in her team falls on Tojiboeva. 

To increase transparency, Tojiboeva released missing 2015, 2016, and 2017 SSMU Board of Directors (BoD) minutes; however, minutes from this year’s meetings are often late or missing. Tojiboeva also neglected to announce the SSMU General Assembly (GA) until the deadline to submit motions had already passed, thereby impeding student involvement and voting power.

Tojiboeva has expanded the number of committees that the President sits on, and created a stand-alone Francophone Affairs Committee, separating it from Community Engagement. However, most of her successes as President have involved building on existing projects, rather than launching her own initiatives.

In order to make the most of the remaining semester, it is essential that Tojiboeva takes the initiative on both reconciliation within the executive and regaining the trust of students. Tojiboeva is judged by whether she can lead a productive and cohesive executive team that is able to work together to improve student life. Until this is achieved, all executives’ progress in their respective portfolios will continue to suffer the consequences.

 

 

VP Student Life Jemark Earle

The Vice-President Student Life portfolio entails mental health programming, effectively communicating with SSMU clubs and services, and supporting and promoting students’ well-being. Earle has demonstrated enthusiasm and his ongoing efforts in first semester in the position are commendable, especially given his lack of relevant experience for the position prior to starting the role.

In light of the recent announcement to close the SSMU building for renovations starting in the Winter 2018 term, it is Earle’s duty to ensure a smooth transition for essential clubs, services, and independent student groups. Although out of Earle’s control, the building closure has gotten in the way of many of his previous plans. Communication is at the centre of this, and as such, Earle must continue to build on his internal communication with the dozens of groups that currently use the SSMU building.

At the start of Fall 2017, Earle organized a successful Activities Night with a record number of attendees, despite being short on volunteer staff. In Winter 2018, Earle will plan another Activities Night, as well as Mental Health Awareness Week.

After stepping up to become a member of SSMU’s BoD, he is currently working on an open forum to clear the air on tensions within the executive team and its relationship to the membership, as well as address what he describes as systemic deficiencies of the SSMU institution.

Ultimately, Earle has brought enthusiasm to the position, but going forward, the pressure will be high for him to continue to fulfill the responsibilities that fall under his role by communicating effectively with clubs and services, and organizing health-oriented activities to better support McGill students.

 

VP External Connor Spencer

 

The publishing of SSMU’s Our Turn Action Plan was one of VP External Connor Spencer’s greatest successes this semester. The plan compares different Canadian universities’ sexual violence policies, and provides a list of recommendations for what constitutes an effective sexual violence policy. Spencer also worked to publish a survey on the Unité de Travail pour l'Implantation de Logement Étudiant (UTILE), which seeks to provide financially accessible housing for students. In addition, Spencer organized and demonstrated with the McGill contingent at the Nov. 12 Large Demonstration Against Hate and Racism.

Although she failed to implement four student-led questions in the Fall Referendum due to procedural difficulties, she is currently working on addressing the issue of constitutional reform for Winter 2018. Additionally, she had planned for the Indigenous affairs aspect of her portfolio to be more visible on campus this semester, but in the meantime has laid groundwork to improve on this front in the Winter semester.

Spencer has experienced the most tangible successes in her portfolio of any member of the SSMU executive. To keep up the momentum next semester, she should emphasize the need for provincial representation for SSMU, with AVEQ or otherwise. Regardless, students’ concerns must be at the forefront of any affiliation campaign. In  the winter, Spencer plans on bringing SSMU’s Gendered and Sexual Violence policy to fruition, with the support of a full-time position and a task force dedicated to combating rape culture at the faculty level.

 

VP Internal Maya Koparkar

 

VP Internal Maya Koparkar has led several new Students’ Society Programming Network (SSPN) initiatives, including the training of SSPN members in consent, active bystander, conflict resolution, and accessible and inclusive events training. Instead of 4Floors, the previous annual Halloween event under the VP Internal portfolio, Koparker organized a joint Halloween event with the Macdonald Campus Students’ Society (MCSS), hosted at Mac Campus. This event was extremely successful: Tickets sold out, and transportation to and from Mac Campus was efficient and well-organized. Furthermore, feedback from students who attended the event was positive, particularly in terms of students feeling safe.

This is the second year that First Year Council (FYC) has fallen under the VP Internal portfolio, meaning that there is a lack of institutional memory on this front. As VP Internal, Koparkar added sustainability, athletics, and off-campus representatives to the Council, positively increasing its  representation. This fall, FYC elections were delayed until late in the semester, leaving only the Winter semester for members to have an impact. Koparkar is working to establish FYC election timelines, but, especially in light of its recent fee renewal, it is essential that she provides the necessary support for the FYC to take full advantage of its remaining semester, and establish concrete suggestions and institutional memory for following years’ VP Internals.

In terms of communications, the SSMU website redesign was finally launched; however, listserv readership has declined since last year. Finally, Koparkar has gone beyond her own portfolio this year to work with the VP External on projects such as the Our Turn strategy. These extra efforts are positive, as long as they do not distract her from fulfilling the responsibilities specific to the VP Internal portfolio.

 

VP University Affairs Isabelle Oke

 

VP University Affairs Isabelle Oke ran on a platform of campus outreach, student rights, and accessible services. The unavailability of other staff over the summer set her goals back, and she resolved to improve SSMU’s accountability and finish the tasks of her predecessor. Since then, she has gone about achieving both these goals effectively and efficiently. Her biggest accomplishments this year are the successful 2017 Know Your Rights campaign—which did not present more originality than previous campaigns—and her work with former VP finance Arisha Khan to assist foster care students. She intends to submit a plan making campus a more inclusive space for such students to the Sustainability Projects Fund early next semester.

Oke’s primary strategy in tackling her portfolio is to collaborate with others. Next semester, she aims to continue addressing two pressing concerns on campus, sexual violence and a Fall Reading Week, by holding consultations with students. She is also currently working with the VP External to survey students about potential reforms to SSMU. Additionally, she is continuing old projects, such as increasing the number of free course materials available for students, rather than abandoning them. At Senate, she uses her position to advance the projects of other student senators, such as plans to provide first-generation student care and implement the OneCard policy.

While it is difficult to measure Oke’s progress, given the lack of personal projects and slow timelines inherent to liaising with the university, her supportive, conciliatory role in student politics is important for SSMU’s functioning. With her mandate to represent student voices at the McGill Senate, one of Oke’s primary tasks is to encourage student voices to be heard, and she does so admirably.

Illustrations by Winnie Lin.

This article has been updated to better reflect Tojiboeva's relationship to the Student Life portfolio. 

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