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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. 

Instagram, Student Life

Monthly Dignity provides hygiene products for women in need

by Emma Carr on

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When Chloé Pronovost-Morgan, and Julia Coste, both U2 Arts, began planning the launch of Monthly Dignity, they didn’t foresee the initiative’s rapid success. Just two weeks after its launch on Nov. 16, the students had raised over $1,500 in donations for the program, which distributes menstrual hygiene products to homeless women in Montreal.

Coste came up with the idea for the initiative while traveling with her family this past year, when she unexpectedly got her period. Though she was in discomfort, she recognized that she had many resources at her disposal to cope with her menstruation symptoms, such as cramps and nausea—a privilege she feels that most women take for granted. This experience led her to reflect upon the challenges of menstruating while homeless, and thus, the idea for Monthly Dignity was born.

Upon returning to McGill, she told fellow student and friend, Pronovost-Morgan, about her idea for a non-profit. Soon after, the two began meeting twice a week to outline the project’s logistics. While in the development stage of the initiative, the two founders secured a distribution-delivery relationship with the Salvation Army’s Montreal women’s shelter, which provides services to over 550 homeless women in the city.

Around the world, menstrual hygiene products are still unaffordable for homeless and disadvantaged women. In Canada, it is estimated that the average menstruating person between ages 12 and 49 will spend $65.82 per year on basic menstrual hygiene products before tax. Though tampons and other menstrual products are still subject to luxury tax in many countries, the two founders viewed these products as a basic right and essential to promoting overall well-being.

“In a nutshell, it really is just a question of physical health and mental health,”  Pronovost-Morgan said. “Women are actually more vulnerable to infections when they are on their period, and so if they are forced to use alternatives that they come up with themselves, and they are already living in insalubrious conditions, that just makes the risk exponential.”

For Pronovost-Morgan and Coste, their mission has a broader purpose: To challenge the stigma surrounding menstruation, and what people who menstruate experience.

“I think that it is uniting two things that are already taboo in society: Homelessness and menstruation,” Pronovost-Morgan said. “The combination of the two leads to this huge avoidance we have just been propagating for forever.”

Coste explained that this stigma stems from how difficult many people find it to think about the realities of public menstruation, especially those who have never experienced a period.

“It is assumed that women are going to deal with [their monthly periods] because it is a woman’s problem, and so it shouldn’t be something that everyone pays for through taxes,” Coste said. “I think that through sensitization and raising awareness, and just talking about what getting your period entails, maybe people’s visions can be changed [….] That’s where the name of [Monthly Dignity] comes from. It really is a question of dignity and how you perceive yourself.”

In the coming months, Coste and Pronovost-Morgan plan to expand Monthly Dignity’s reach. Among their long-term priorities, the founders want to reach out to transmen and non-cis people who are not using women’s shelters. Ultimately, the pair view comfortable, safe menstruation as a right, not a privilege.

“[Menstruation] shouldn’t be something you feel ashamed about ever, it shouldn’t be something makes you feel uncomfortable in your body,” Pronovost-Morgan said. “By providing menstrual hygiene products, we hope to alleviate that burden.”

Off the Board, Opinion

Evaluating gendered bias in course evaluations

by Emma Avery on

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‘Tis the season—for course evaluations. At McGill, the online form asks students to effectively grade their professors, by identifying the degree to which they agree with statements such as, “Overall, this instructor is an excellent teacher.” These data are then made available to all McGill students, but open-ended feedback is reserved for professors. In Fall 2016, McGill implemented a policy for professors and teaching assistants to report hateful and discriminatory comments in course evaluations. This is a positive step, but the University has yet to sufficiently explore whether bias against minority and female faculty members in course evaluations goes beyond just hateful speech.

Course evaluations are extremely important avenues for feedback, particularly for professors to improve their teaching; however, universities also commonly use course evaluations to award tenure, raises, and other awards. If female and minority professors are paid less in part because they receive fewer glowing reviews from students—and as a result, less recognition from a university—administrators must address this.

Recent Statistics Canada data show that in the 2016-2017 academic year, women comprised about 40 per cent of full-time academic teaching staff at Canadian universities—a little over a three per cent increase from 2010-2011. However, after breaking down the category of “full-time academic teaching staff,” another picture emerges: Women represent 48.5 and 43 per cent of assistant and associate professors respectively, but only 27.7 per cent of full professors. At McGill, the salary gap between each of these titles for tenure-track professors is over $10,000 per year.

One positive is that in all professor ranks, the number of women has been increasing since 1970, when only 12.8 per cent of full-time teaching staff were female. Although at McGill women account for just one third of tenure-track faculty, the national trend would suggest that this number will continue to increase. Perhaps it’s just a matter of time.

Yet, other evidence suggests there is more to the story. Search the word “smart” on a database of reviews from ratemyprofessors.com, compiled in 2015 by Northeastern University Professor Benjamin Schmidt, and you’ll find that it is used about 50 to 100 times more per million words of text in reviews of male professors than of female ones. In some departments, “funny” is used over 500 times more to describe men than women. But try “rude,” and, in all departments except engineering, “rude” is more frequently used to describe female professors.

In my three and a half years at McGill, I’ve been taught by 26 different professors. Of those, only six were female, none of whom were visible minorities.

Schmidt’s analysis may not represent a full picture of discrimination against female professors, yet, alarmingly, even seemingly neutral evaluation category responses—comparable to McGill’s scale of “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” in its course evaluation system—are skewed, too. In a 2014 North Carolina State University study, students enrolled in online courses gave lower scores to professors who were presented online to them as female. Even categories like “promptness” drew lower scores if the professor was perceived to be female, despite the fact that the male and female professors being evaluated responded to students at exactly the same speed. In contrast, when all professors were presented to students as male, all of their satisfaction scores increased, regardless of the actual gender of the instructor.

What’s more, a recent study in the Journal of the European Economic Association of student reviews at the School of Business and Economics at Maastricht University found that while male and female students were both harsher in evaluating women, male students were much more so.

One possible solution to this apparent trend of discrimination, taken by McMaster University in July 2015, is to recognize that a discrepancy exists, and then compensate for it accordingly. After finding that its female professors earned on average $3,515 less than their male counterparts, even when controlling for seniority, tenure, faculty, and age, the university raised each female professor’s salary by the same amount. Albeit a band-aid solution to ingrained tendencies to view female professors as less competent, it at least ensures that in the meantime, women don’t suffer the financial consequences of sexism.

Furthermore, if such an entrenched bias exists against women, it’s not unlikely that visible minority professors face similarly—or even more—biased evaluations. An investigation into any university’s course evaluation results should therefore also look at the effects of race.

In my three and a half years at McGill, I’ve been taught by 26 different professors. Of those, only six were female, none of whom were visible minorities. Regardless of whether my experience is an anomaly, as part of its efforts to address systemic discrimination, the University must investigate whether course evaluations are putting its female and minority professors at a disadvantage long after they are hired full-time. Until then, without being aware of it, students may be perpetuating the gender gap among the highest-paid ranks of professors through their course evaluations.

 

Emma Avery is a Managing Editor at The McGill Tribune and a fourth-year Anthropology and Urban Systems student. She is passionate about Liverpool FC, dogs, and St-Viateur bagels.

 

@emmaavery27 | [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

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