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McGill, News

Open Letter highlights gaps in pay for women and racialized research employees

by Audrey Carleton on

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As part of the Association of McGill University Research Employees’ (AMURE) ongoing negotiations with the university, President Sean Cory published an Open Letter to Principal Suzanne Fortier on Oct. 25. The letter lays out four injustices that research employees at McGill face, which AMURE—a union of research associates and assistants at McGill—hopes to come to a collective agreement upon at some point in the future: Payment discrepancies, inequitable hiring, precarious employment for those on leave, and professor abuses of power.

 

Payment Discrepancies

According to the letter, McGill retroactively increased pay for research assistants by 30 per cent last year, but this has only been applied to new hires thus far. Just two days after the Open Letter was published, McGill’s Human Resources department released a pay equity update confirming this gap and laying out plans to address it. In an email to the The McGill Tribune, Fortier reiterated the administration’s desire to fix payment discrepancies soon.

“In spring 2017 McGill entered into a conciliation process with three unions overseen by a provincially appointed conciliator,” Fortier wrote. “That process continues today, and the goal is to reach mutual agreement on the terms of our 2010 pay equity maintenance evaluation. Once this is achieved, we will move as quickly as possible to implement all pay adjustments, including retroactive payments, for those who are owed them.”

Fortier declined to comment publicly on the other three topics mentioned in the letter, citing confidentiality agreements in the bargaining processes.

 

Unequitable Hiring

AMURE also claimed that the majority of casual employees—who work fewer hours on a shorter-term basis and are not given the same benefits as regular employees—are women or people from racialized groups. Cory attributes this homogeneity to professors having too much individual freedom when hiring research employees.

“There’s not a single way that McGill is trying to increase diversity,” Cory said. “In research groups, professors can hire who they want […] and unfortunately because not all jobs are posted, it tends to be that they hire from their own social network, which tends to be white people.”

Cory interpreted McGill’s unequitable hiring as a violation of the Canadian Employment Equity Act, which says that employers have the duty to ensure representative hiring of marginalized groups. Cory promoted tactics such as providing incentives for diverse hires, training professors in equitable hiring practices, and requiring that professors post job openings in varied locations that reach a range of demographics.

 

Employability on Leave

The AMURE letter also highlighted the precarious positions of McGill employees on maternity or disability leave. Given that those on leave lack time and resources to search for new employment, many companies of McGill’s size take extra measures to ensure their employees’ job security. McGill, however, does not, and Cory reported that some employees return only to find that their jobs have been filled.

“You’re not offered any [protection] at McGill,” Cory said. “Other companies will offer the person a comparable job to what they had before, or at least guarantee their salary if they find them a different job. For research employees, [McGill] does zip. A person can come back from a depression, an accident, cancer, maternity leave, and McGill is like, ‘Well, find your own job yourself.’”

Cory hopes to negotiate a policy for internal hiring with the university to ensure that former workers are prioritized when re-applying for a job.

 

Abuses of Power

The letter also called for a ban of student-professor relationships, citing a repeated issue with professors abusing their hiring powers to take advantage of student employees.

“Professors can exploit their power over people, their hiring ability,” Cory said. “We’ve seen [cases where] professors approach people, they ask the students to work for them, then the work that’s being provided for these people is almost, like, made up work. It’s not a research project, it’s almost like busy work, photocopying […] arranging for the person to come to [their] office late in the evening.”

When reporting equity cases to the university, McGill’s Human Resources office bridges the gap between administration and employees. In an email to the Tribune, Diana Dutton, Interim Associate Vice-Principal of the office, noted that the claims in AMURE’s letter are unsubstantiated.

“It is difficult to assess these claims as no supporting data is included,” Dutton said. “I am not sure I am in a position to speak to other employees’ experiences, but I can certainly speak to my own. I know McGill to be a fair and equitable employer, highly committed to respecting employees’ rights and upholding all collective agreements and applicable labour standards. We are committed as well to equitable hiring and employment practices, not only for research employees, but for all employees. And if an employee feels they have been treated unfairly, we have grievance and dispute resolution processes in place to help ensure a fair outcome.”

 

Emerging Trends, Private, Student Life

Hot yoga: Bridging the gap between the mind and body

by Ana Mayne on

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Syncing breath with physical movement in a 40-degree room can do wonders for the brain. In a room full of strangers, hot yoga offers the chance for practitioners to calm their day-to-day thoughts and engage in reflective thinking; it forms the ultimate connection between the mind, body, and spirit.

Deliberate, thoughtful movements in sync with the breath are at the heart of yoga. Yoga is ultimately designed to use and stretch one’s muscles, and by the end of a session, the body is often so relaxed—or exhausted—that the mind surrenders, too. Not just during exam season, but year-round, yoga provides practitioners with invaluable benefits.

Hot yoga offers even greater potential for reaching this connected state; the temperature increases mobility in the muscles, thus providing greater capacity to stretch. There are, however, some risks to the practice; working out in extreme heat can lead to dehydration, fainting, and a higher potential for pulling muscles.

Yet, while sweating profusely and trying to conform into pretzel poses may sounds anything but relaxing, many people find great comfort in the practice.  

Carly Ayukawa, U2 Management, has been practicing yoga for six years, and keeps up her practice to de-stress during exams. Often, leaving behind the stresses of daily life for an hour can help students be more productive when returning to their studies.

“I think yoga is really important, because you spend an hour being focused on what you’re doing and your breathing,” Ayukawa said. “It slows down your life for that time and when you leave you have a sense of calmness.”

For Ayukawa, each yoga session comes with a reminder to step back from the stress of university life.

“Mindfulness is really important, especially for students and our generation, because we’re always bombarded with all this information, and distracted by social media and everything going on,” Ayukawa said. “A big part of yoga is being able to listen to yourself and making sure you are respecting your body.”

Alex Munro, an exchange student in the Faculty of Law, tried hot yoga for the first time earlier this term, and was excited to experience its positive effects.

“I think it's impossible to go, and then come out more stressed,” Munro said. “It is probably beneficial to your studying in the long run, because it does relax you and you don’t think about the stresses of [university] when you’re in that environment.”

By making a restless brain calm, and allowing for natural intuition and creativity to flourish, hot yoga benefits practitioners in more than one way. The discipline of stretching, twisting, and breathing deeply connect the mind and body, and students should be quick to take advantage of this.

Sports

Sleep, science, and sports

by Miya Keilin on

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One of the biggest factors contributing to a professional athlete’s performance is their sleep—or lack thereof. The intensity of constant training and competition wears players down, and considering the frequent travel across time zones in North American leagues, it’s evident that the other team isn’t their only adversary.  

Take teams like the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks, who regularly travel longer distances than most of the other NHL teams. They will likely have to play in at least two different time zones on every road trip; on top of battling less-than-ideal sleep schedules, they must also constantly adjust to new time zones. As a result, sleep-centric habits have become common practice in elite leagues.

The circadian rhythm describes our internal clock that determines roughly when we’re energized and when we’re sleepy within a 24-hour period. When people travel across time zones, it typically takes them about one day per hour of difference to re-synchronize their circadian rhythm. Circadian advantage is a concept used to compare two opponents’ acclimations to the current time zone. For example, if the Anaheim Ducks, in the last match of a five-game homestand, are facing the Bruins, who have just arrived from Boston, the Ducks would have a three-hour circadian advantage.

When players travel, their circadian rhythms are offset from their new time zone. As a result, their peak performance hours often don’t align with game times. A 2009 study of the MLB found that teams with a three hour circadian advantage won more than 60 per cent of the time. A similar study from 1993 of the NFL found that West Coast teams travelling to the East Coast won 16 per cent less than when they travelled within the Pacific time zone.

In response to the overwhelming scientific support for the importance of sleep in high-performance sport, teams have started to bring in sleep specialists. These specialists advise coaches and players alike to maximize performance. Many coaches have begun designing training and travelling schedules to ensure that their players get enough sleep. Players are given instruction on how to control their sleep environment and use sleep as a recovery mechanism from training.

For example, the Seattle Seahawks provide sleep-tracking wristbands for their players. The Chicago Bulls recently renewed their partnership with Rise Science, the same company that provides under-mattress sensors for the Clemson University football team. The Boston Red Sox have a designated sleep room in their clubhouse gym, furnished with two bunk beds and a custom-fit pillow for each player, and the ageless Tom Brady lives by an 8:30 p.m. bedtime. Though implementation varies between leagues, teams, and individual players, sleep science has taken on a central role in high-performance sports.

The importance of sleep isn’t a revolutionary idea at all, but as professional teams are increasingly turning to science for everything from sports analytics to diets, they are realizing the importance of sleep. Science is debunking the old professional sports mentality of ‘toughing it out’ through a late flight followed by an early training, instead popularizing the idea of ‘let your body rest’ for an ultimately better performance.

News, SSMU

J-Board declines BoD case for lack of jurisdiction

by Laura Oprescu on

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On Nov. 19, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Judicial Board (J-Board) declined to hear a case challenging the Board of Directors (BoD) adding a question to the Fall Referendum. Several SSMU members initially criticized the additional question since its submission did not follow standard procedure. Ultimately the J-Board concluded that it has no jurisdiction over any BoD motion in general.

Following the events of the Fall 2017 General Assembly (GA), a number of SSMU members filed a petition calling to raise the GA quorum substantially. Although the petition received over 450 signatories, it was submitted too late to become a question in the online Fall Referendum. However, the BoD disregarded the Oct. 25 deadline and added a question to raise the quorum anyway, appealing to the Quebec Companies Act to classify online voting as a “general meeting.” Historically, this term has only applied to GAs, enabling motions passed there to be put up for online referendum; if the online referendum itself also counts as the general meeting, then GAs are effectively bypassed.

Shortly thereafter, Meara Kirwin, U2 Arts, and Gregoire Beaune, U3 Arts, filed a petition with the J-Board arguing that the BoD’s decision to move the motion was unconstitutional. On Nov. 8, the J-Board accepted jurisdiction to issue a ruling, but it later released a decision on Nov. 19 unanimously rejecting its jurisdiction over the BoD, reaffirming its inability to check the BoD’s power.

“[The J-Board] finds that the SSMU Constitution compels it to decline jurisdiction,” the J-Board wrote in its Nov. 19 decision.  “Section 1.1(b) specifies that the jurisdiction includes ‘the interpretation of all motions and resolutions passed by the Legislative Council, including the authority to declare invalid any act of the Legislative Council or the Executive Committee which violates the Constitution or Internal Regulations’ […] A glaring omission from this enumeration is the [BoD].”

In the absence of the J-Board’s jurisdiction, there are no channels within SSMU through which to contest the constitutionality of the Board’s motions. Further, no branch of SSMU has oversight over the BoD, which is itself currently composed mostly of unelected members-at-large. The membership of its Directors is also currently in a transitionary status because, although their incumbencies were set to end on Nov. 15, the J-Board has extended their terms indefinitely while it considers the constitutionality of the Fall GA BoD ratification vote. To amend this, Kirwin and Beaune are calling for constitutional reform and restructuring of SSMU governance.

“There is currently no body within SSMU that can check the BoD,” Kirwin said. “We would like to see extensive governance reform within SSMU to return the powers of the BoD to the Legislative Council, and to limit the authority of the BoD to formal approval of Council decisions.”

In an opinion piece published in The McGill Tribune, former Vice-President finance and director Arisha Khan cited the BoD’s disregard for due process and student consultation as one of her reasons for resigning. In an email to the Tribune, Khan explained that she believes the lack of checks and balances within SSMU has allowed the BoD to abuse its power.

“SSMU executives really cannot do anything themselves to change [the BoD], as only four execs sit on the board,” Khan wrote. At other student associations […] the Boards of Directors [is] comprised of the executive team [and] other elected representatives.”

Khan is advocating for a third party to advise SSMU on potential reforms, an idea that was previously discussed at SSMU Council last month. She believes that a complete overhaul of governance structures is necessary to ensure that SSMU is kept democratic.

“I feel that SSMU needs to have a complete governance review done by an external third party to figure out how we can most efficiently organize our governance structures so they are legally compliant,” Khan wrote. “While also being cognizant of SSMU’s role as a student association and therefore prioritizing democratic participation in governance and decision-making.”

SSMU President and BoD Chair Muna Tojiboeva did not provide a comment by press time.

Science & Technology

Brain circuit connectivity directly affects how much we like music

by Paloma Jacquet on

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Humans are on the lookout for rewarding stimuli all the time. Our ability to experience pleasure from some of these stimuli is an evolutionary mechanism to ensure the pursuit of basic biological needs, such as eating, known as primary rewards.

However, humans also have the capacity to experience pleasure from types of stimuli that have no clear biological benefit—known as secondary rewards—including the pleasure of listening to music.

On Nov. 20, Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital of McGill University published a study on Nov. 20 that examines the neurological pathways associated with listening to music. Previous studies emphasized the role of fronto-striatal circuits in primary and secondary rewards. Fronto-striatal circuits are neural pathways that connect frontal lobe regions with the striatum, which mediates motor, cognitive, and behavioural functions within the brain. Although research using brain imaging has shown a correlation between listening to music and a rise in dopamine release in striatal areas, none had established causality.

The new study was spearheaded by McGill researcher and postdoctoral fellow Ernest Mas-Herrero and Professor Robert Zatorre of the Department of Psychology. Mas-Herrero and Zatorre established a direct causal relationship between the engagement of fronto-striatal circuits and different aspects of music reward sensitivity. They used theta burst stimulation (TBS) to modulate human brain activity. TBS is a non-invasive technique that involves placing a magnetic field generator on the scalp that sends pulses of electricity through the generator, creating a tiny magnetic field that promotes a response in the brain’s neurons.

Seventeen participants were asked to come for a total of three sessions. At the start of each, participants received one type of TBS stimulation. In one session, they received intermittent stimulation (iTBS), in another they received continuous stimulation (cTBS), and in yet another, they received a fake stimulation (the control). Intermittent stimulation and continuous stimulation send the same number of pulses to the brain with the same intensity. However, iTBS sends these pulses in intervals, so the total stimulatory time is three minutes, while cTBS sends the pulses continuously. After receiving the stimulation, participants listened to excerpts from their top five favorite songs during each session. They also listened to 10 more excerpts from songs that the researchers chose, which were different for every session. While listening to each excerpt, participants rated the degree of pleasure they experienced as low, neutral, high, or chills. They were also asked for the amount of money they were willing to pay for each song.

Relative to the control, participants liked the music more and offered more money after excitatory iTBS. They liked the music less and offered less money after inhibitory cTBS. By altering activity in the prefrontal-striatal area of the brain with TBS, the study provides evidence of the causal role of brain circuitry in musical pleasure.

An important issue in using TBS is that the physiological consequences of the stimulation are difficult to establish. Although many TBS studies make the implicit assumption that the area targeted by the generator is the area affected, this need not be the case. For complex cognitive functions, interactions take place in many brain regions, as is the case for music. To solve this problem, Mas-Herrero and his team are currently working on a new study, where they combine TBS with functional Magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs). Their goal is to identify which exact regions of the brain are responsible for modulating the reward center when listening to music.

Mas-Herrero and Zatorre’s study opens avenues for research to explore how other processes in the brain may be altered by stimulation of fronto-striatal circuits, and help to further understand the neural mechanisms underlying pleasure in humans. The fact that TBS can affect our pleasure response to music has potential clinical applications. It could be used to treat psychological disorders in which a patient’s reward circuitry is poor, such as depression or addiction.

Science & Technology

Fact or fiction: What is clinical hypnosis?

by Myriam Driss on

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When one thinks of hypnosis, images of volunteers on stage responding to different names or stimuli come to mind. However, stage hypnosis is often actually the result of someone “faking it.”

Dasha Sandra, a U3 Honors student in the Department of Psychology studying hypnosis and hypnotizability at McGill’s psychological research Raz Lab, explained the difference between stage hypnosis and clinical hypnosis.

“Stage hypnosis is usually done for entertainment and happens in front of an audience,” Sandra said.“[So, participants have] social pressure on them, [leading them to follow the] hypnotist’s commands and pretend they are in a trance, even if they are not.”  

However, clinical hypnosis can be used therapeutically to reduce symptoms of stress and anxiety, and to study the human mind and mental health.

“Clinical hypnosis is done in a private setting,” Sandra said. “The hypnotherapist does not give ‘commands,’ [but rather] gives suggestions and invites the patient to experience [them].”

The hypnotic experience is purely internal; despite feelings of deep relaxation, the mind and body remain alert. The hypnotherapist cannot control an individual’s actions.

“If a person doesn’t want to do something in real life, [they] will not do it under hypnosis,” Sandra said. “There is no element of pressure in clinical hypnosis, unlike in stage hypnosis.”

Although being under hypnosis may offer similar feelings of relaxation as taking a nap, you never lose consciousness under hypnosis—making it a safe practice.

“Under hypnosis, the person is conscious at all times and is able to exit the trance [at any time],” Sandra said. “When a person is hypnotized they are very absorbed in the task, but if something dangerous happens in their surroundings, they will be aware of it and will exit the trance.”

Sandra explained that there are many steps involved in hypnotherapy for anxiety reduction.

“A way to put a person in a hypnotized state [is through] induction, a deeply relaxing [and] beneficial [state] to anyone suffering from anxiety,” Sandra said. “[Next,] the hypnotherapist will use suggestions for relaxation, [such as] feeling restful heaviness in the body or the use of imagination”.

The ability for a patient to become hypnotized depends on “hypnotizability”—which refers to how hypnotized a person can be. Absorption and “belief” in hypnosis are related to the amount of resistance the person may experience, and how beneficial the hypnosis session will be.  

“Some people are naturally more hypnotizable than others,” Sandra said. “Research has found evidence that [the ability to be hypnotized] is linked with different traits and abilities. For example, people who tend to get more absorbed in their thoughts are more likely to be hypnotizable. Other studies have shown that imagination also plays a role.”

Ultimately, Sandra emphasized that  those who are more hypnotizable have more efficient use of cognitive resources.

“Studies [have] shown that [hypnosis] may be related to better concentration and a more efficient use of cognitive resources when dealing with information.”

Scientists have yet to thoroughly investigate the the interactions and relationships between the placebo effect and hypnosis.  

“Both placebo effects and hypnosis involve expectations [and] suggestion,” Sandra said. Hypnosis has been called “placebo without deception.”

However, there are key differences between the hypnosis and placebo.

“When a person is entering a hypnotized state, they are told exactly what is going to happen,” Sandra said. “Whereas when dealing with placebo, we are giving the person false information. While hypnosis [does have] some elements of placebo effects, such as expectations and suggestion, [it] is an honest technique that gives control to the participant.”

Ultimately, hypnosis offers a new gateway to exploring the complex networks of human minds.

Basketball, Sports

Let Lonzo ball: A look at busts in the NBA

by Ender McDuff on

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Entering the NBA as the 2017 draft’s second pick, Lonzo Ball was—whether because of his volatile father, comparisons to NBA greats, or a laughable signature shoe—one of the most talked-about players to ever enter the league. After a stellar Summer League in which he won MVP honours, Los Angeles Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka called him “transcendent.” Fox Sports host Colin Cowherd dubbed him a future Hall of Famer who would do for passing what Stephen Curry had done for the three-point shot, proclaiming Ball was destined to “make passing cool again!” After the first 22 games of his career, however, NBA analysts, including ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, are “petrified” for Ball, the most recent in a line of young players to be considered a bust.

The term ‘bust’ has become ever present in the NBA fan’s vernacular. While it might reasonably describe a player, like Kwame Brown or Darko Milicic, who failed to reach their potential, it is instead applied ever-freely to rookies 20 games into their first season. This premature representation is perpetuated by the often-cited argument that certain NBA greats excelled in their rookie campaigns: Michael Jordan averaged 28 points per game, Wilt Chamberlain won league MVP, and Magic Johnson delivered a Lakers championship.

For every Mike, Wilt, and Magic, however, there is a Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, or Gary Payton. For these legends, once-disappointing early indications have long since faded, as have memories of their horrendous shooting percentages and sub-double-digit point averages. Instead, what remains are their MVP awards, Hall of Fame inductions, and championship rings.

Many of the players who have made an instant impact in the league spent four years in university, developing physically and mentally before entering the NBA. Alternatively, Bryant came straight from high school. His rookie play clearly reflected this. In the modern NBA, players often spend a similarly-brief single year in college before making the jump to the pros, skipping valuable opportunities for growth and maturation beforehand.

Draft picks are now selected with an emphasis on their ceilings—in other words, their best-case career scenarios many seasons down the line—yet the corresponding shift in the mindset of fans and analysts has failed to materialize. This disconnect frustrates fans and reduces their enjoyment of the game, as the idea that entertainment is reflected in the wins column prevents them from appreciating the play of a 20-year-old still-developing rookie.

Moreover, as the term ‘bust’ is used, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the pressure and criticism it causes in the loud social media age can damage a player’s confidence. In this way, fans can force the loss of an exciting up-and-comer while perpetuating the bust cycle.

When, however, the game is approached from a mindset of excitement over new, developing players, the outcome is the opposite. A good game shouldn’t be characterized by wins and losses, but by growth—of the team as a whole, but particularly of its individual players. While each extra shot a rookie makes may not rival the joy of winning a championship, appreciating individual improvement allows every good play to truly be exceptionally fun—a promise of successes to come. It is a perspective that makes for better, happier sports fans.

And so, a year on, when—as with Lonzo’s all-too-similar second pick teammate Brandon Ingram—Smith and co. confess that “[they] may have been wrong,” true Lakers fans will enjoy knowing that they have an eye for real upcoming talent, which will make those eventual championships all the sweeter.

PGSS Thomson House
Editorial

PGSS executive midterm reviews

by McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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Financial Affairs Officer: Matthew Satterthwaite 

Following the resignation of former secretary-general Jacob Lavigne in September, Satterthwaite took on a number of responsibilities outside of the portfolio of Financial Affairs Officer (FAO) during the Fall 2017 semester, including chairing both the PGSS Board of Directors (BoD) and the Executive Committee. Despite his increased workload—and a lengthy and costly legal battle between PGSS and the Canadian Federation of Students—Satterthwaite was able to maintain a budgetary surplus in the Fiscal Year 2016-2017.

As Chair of the BoD, Satterthwaite facilitated the hiring of an office administrator and a new Student Life Coordinator. He also created a new staff position within his FAO portfolio, the Library Improvement Fund Coordinator, to administer the more than $400,000 in the PGSS’ underused Library Fund. Satterthwaite intends to follow through with his campaign promise to create a Sponsorship commissioner in the upcoming semester. Although Satterthwaite did not host Financial Roundtables with Post-Gradute Students’ Associations (PGSAs) to give financial updates, PGSS hosted a “PGSS Essential Skills Training" day, during which PGSAs were able to view the PGSS’ finances.

Satterthwaite’s plans for the Winter semester include reviewing and standardizing the contracts of all PGSS employees and making changes to the Society Activities Manual (SAM) and the Corporate Operations Manual (COM). Satterthwaite also hopes to raise student awareness of PGSS’ Grants Program, which has over $30,000 still available to students seeking funding for academic projects.

 

External Affairs Officer: Hocine Slimani 

In the first half of his term as PGSS External Affairs Officer, Slimani completed his predecessor Jacob Lavigne’s work overseeing the dissolution of the Fédération Étudiante Universitaire du Quebec (FÉUQ). This included negotiating for PGSS members to be able to apply to receive a portion of FÉUQ's remaining funds. Since the collapse of the FÉUQ, PGSS no longer has direct representation at provincial government. Slimani is in favour of affiliating with the Quebec Student Union (QSU), and has consulted with other executives, the PGSS External Affairs Committee, and PGSS Council on the matter. In the remainder of his term, he will need to present the benefits and costs of affiliation to his constituents, and conduct further consultations before putting affiliation with one of the students’ associations to a vote.

In collaboration with the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and the Milton-Parc community, Slimani reached an agreement on behalf of PGSS to mandate UTILE–an organization that promotes affordable student housing in Quebec–to conduct a feasibility study on housing for McGill students living near campus. PGSS will soon file for affiliation with ThinkGrad, a think tank for graduate student issues with representatives from several large Canadian research universities.

 

Internal Affairs Officer: Mansha Imtiyaz

As Internal Affairs Officer, much of Imtiyaz’s role is to plan community-building, cultural, and social events for graduate students. This semester, she prioritized planning events that focus on topics outlined in her platform: Innovation, cultural inclusivity, and mental health. This semester, PGSS hosted a startup competition and Mental Illness Awareness Week, and plans to host International Week (iWeek) next semester—all evidence of Imtiyaz’s commitment to fulfilling her election promises.

Imtiyaz has a full calendar of events in the works for next semester. She hopes to host a celebration of Thomson House’s 50th anniversary and is also working on creating an annual PGSS Awards ceremony to recognize the work and achievement of student groups on campus.

Another significant part of Imtiyaz’s portfolio is internal communications with PGSS members through e-mail, Facebook, and other social media platforms. She is currently unable to track reads and click-throughs on her mailing list, but notes that the events that she publicizes through this platform are typically well-attended. Further, her Facebook events have boasted higher numbers of PGSS members listed as “Going” or “Interested” than last year’s.
 

Academic Affairs Officer: Shufeng Zhou

As Academic Affairs Officer, Zhou has been working on improving graduate student supervision—the only campaign promise on which she has delivered so far. She has organized the “Managing Your Superior” workshop as a way to inform PGSS members about strategies to handle misunderstandings and disputes with their supervisors.

Zhou also ran promising to improve library space, increase ease of adaptation for international students with a “pre-McGill program,” and boost scholarship opportunities. However, in the first half of her term as Academic Affairs Officer, she has not accomplished these goals. Zhou does not appear to have made any progress on her proposed project to convert the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) into a library and student activity centre. Instead, she has tabled work with the Library Improvement Fund coordinator for next semester. Zhou has not demonstrated any visible initiative in bettering international students’ experience or McGill’s scholarship programs either, and does not express any intention to do so in the Winter semester.

Furthermore, issues she claims to have addressed remain insubstantially solved. For instance, Zhou said that she has been focusing on updating PGSS representatives’ contact information, but the PGSS website only displays the executives’ email addresses, which are often insufficient avenues to get in touch with them.

 

Member Services Officer: JennyAnn Pura

In her second term as Member Services Officer, Pura has secured funding for student resources, including the new supplemental counseling service Empower Me. She has consistently demonstrated her commitment to advocating for student parents through her focus on Study Saturdays, a free weekly volunteer-based babysitting service for PGSS members. In addition to continuing projects from last year, she has organized essential skills training for PGSA executives.

While the Member Services Committee she created last semester has yet to increase its membership, Pura’s experience in her role should facilitate efforts to attract members next Winter. Despite external challenges such as a change in the Régie de l’Assurance Maladie du Québec legislation, which discontinued the annual flu shot clinic normally hosted at Thomson House, Pura has scheduled a number of upcoming events. With a focus on health provision, she is currently planning PGSS health screening days for members and hopes to launch a bone donor drive. She has also finalized plans for an Ottawa networking trip for both undergraduates and graduates in January, with a limited number of spots reserved for students sponsored by the First Peoples’ Office. Next semester, Pura will run a study in collaboration with DivaCup to assess whether the company’s sustainable menstrual product can be widely offered to members.

 
Hockey, Men's Varsity, Sports

Redmen hockey vanquishes visiting Voyageurs

by Sam Wendel and Selwynne Hawkins on

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McGill Redmen
6

Laurentian Voyageurs
3

On Dec. 1, McGill Redmen hockey (15-3-0) beat the Laurentian University Voyageurs (2-15-0) in a back-and-forth affair at McConnell Arena. After setting up a 3-0 lead in the first period, McGill briefly relinquished their control, but they still pulled away with a 6-3 final score.

McGill scored first in on a shorthanded goal—a nice backhand by third-year forward Jerome Verrier halfway through the first period. Five minutes later, second-year Redmen forward Samuel Tremblay doubled the lead, closely followed by another goal from third-year defenceman Dominic Talbot-Tassi. After 15 minutes of gameplay, the Redmen sat on a 3-0 lead, forcing the Voyageurs to pull their starting goalie.

Despite McGill’s dominant start, Laurentian stormed back in the second period, cutting the lead to just one point. A McGill power play goal by second-year left winger Guillaume Gauthier put the Redmen back ahead by two, but the Voyageurs managed a third tally, making the score 4-3. This time, McGill was forced to change goalies, putting in second-year Louis-Philip Guindon for the final period.

McGill’s struggles in the second period were uncharacteristic of the style of play that has so far led them to the top of the OUA East conference.

“They started strong,” Tremblay said. “They were good on their forecheck […], and we tried too [many] breakaways and […] fast plays, which is not our game, really. ”

After the waffling momentum changes in the first two periods, the Redmen refocused their strategy in the second intermission and dug deep for the third and final period.

“We talked about our battle level needing to be greater,” Redmen Head Coach Kelly Nobes said. “In the first two periods, we were losing our one-on-one battles, and […] it showed in races, it showed in 50-50 pucks, it showed off face-offs.”

This tactic paid off for the Redmen and their coaches, whose experience and skill were obvious in the third period. The Redmen regained control to handily contain the Voyageurs, slowing down Laurentian’s game and out-shooting them 27-7. Another goal from Gauthier, and one from third-year forward Christophe Lalonde during another powerplay, gave McGill a 6-3 lead. The Voyageurs were clearly rattled, as they became more and more chippy late in the third period. Eventually, two fights broke out in the final seconds of the game, but they were little compensation for the Voyageurs, as the Redmen maintained a three-goal lead to close out the game.

McGill’s conference-leading squad has high ambitions for the season. As they continue their dominant play this year, pushing their record to 14-3, they’re staying focused on the short term.

“We’re just trying to [take everything] day by day, and we’re building our identity as a team,” Tremblay said.  “We’re focusing on every game, and then after [that] we’re going to look forward to the playoffs. Like every year, we’re trying to go to Nationals.”

On Dec. 2, the Redmen faced off against the Nipissing University Lakers (5-9-3). After topping the Lakers with a 4-3 regulation win, the Redmen are headed into a month-long break. They return to play on Jan. 5 at McConnell Arena against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.


 

Moment of the game

Defenceman Dominic Talbot-Tassi launched a beautiful wrist shot from the point late in the first period. The puck, flying just out of the Voyageurs goaltender’s reach, bounced off the bar and into the net, giving McGill a 3-0 lead.

 

Quotable

“We talked to each other a lot on the bench and [in] the room, […] and we just [got] back to what we [do] best.” Second-year winger Samuel Tremblay on McGill’s composure in the face of Laurentian’s attempted comeback.

 

Stat corner

McGill more than doubled Laurentian’s shot totals, with the final count at 58-25 in favour of the Redmen.

McGill, News

McGill outlines plan to reach Carbon neutrality by 2040

by Andras Nemeth on

More in McGill:

On Dec. 1, McGill University launched its Climate and Sustainability Action Plan. As the product of the Vision 2020 Sustainability Strategy’s consultations with over 500 McGill community members, the Action Plan outlines two long-term goals for the university: Obtaining a Platinum Ranking from the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS)—an organization that assigns institutions sustainability scores based on their environmental performance—by 2030, and achieving carbon-neutrality by 2040. Last year, McGill earned a Gold ranking from STARS for increasing its integration of sustainability in curriculum, research, dining services, and purchasing.

Beyond these primary goals are a multitude of more specific action items, like the promotion of sustainable modes of commuting through the introduction of a new bike centre, upgrading the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and electrical systems in old buildings, and electrifying McGill’s fleet of vehicles. At the launch event, staff from the McGill Office of Sustainability outlined  McGill’s sustainability strategy for the coming years.

When strategizing the Action Plan, McGill Sustainability Director François Miller strove for pragmatism. He intends to provide students, faculty, and administrators with recommendations to inspire community involvement, which is crucial for ensuring the Plan’s success.

“We’re both serious and humble in what we are presenting in this Climate and Sustainability Action Plan,” Miller said. “These are not just dreamy ideals that we are putting there. We have a concrete action plan to achieve those long-term targets, but we are humble in the sense that we know this goes beyond what the Office of Sustainability can do. We need the involvement of the students and staff and faculty members in order to achieve these targets.”

Vision 2020 Coordinator Amelia Brinkerhoff hopes that students will be excited about the proposed changes, and continue acting to mitigate carbon emissions on McGill campuses.

“We’re going to have more green buildings on campus, a better waste system on a campus, a bike centre on campus,” Brinkerhoff said. “These are more immediate, visible things [but] I think the important thing to realize is that it is a long process. 2040 is 23 years away. I think this is about being aware that change takes some time, and that change management can be difficult.”

Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) Environment Commissioner Konstantina Chalastara sees her role in the Action Plan to be promoting small-scale sustainable practices among post-graduate students.

“What I will try to do is to show to graduate students that small things can make a big difference,” Chalastara said. “My goal for Vision 2020 is to promote [these small things]. It could be for your research, or how you travel. I think the main point here is that research and graduate studies have a big environmental impact. If you work in a lab, you have a lot of waste, so I’m trying to prove that you can recycle even in a lab.”

Brinkerhoff further hopes that McGill students will continue putting forth their own sustainability-related initiatives in the coming years.

“[The Action Plan is] for us, but it’s also for [students] as a learning experience,” Brinkerhoff said. “So they should feel some sense of ownership and some sense of implication, and that they are free to get involved and get in touch with [the McGill Office of Sustainability] if they have an idea. We have a lot of tools to help students who have ideas, so I hope that people do feel inspired to act, and to get more involved, and to learn from this system that is McGill.”

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