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Album Reviews, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Album Review: Gucci Mane – ‘Mr Davis’

by Leina Gabra on

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Gucci Mane has been busy since his release from prison in May 2016. On top of his autobiography, clothing line, and marriage to Keyshia Ka’oir, Mane released five full–length musical projects in the last year and a half. The most recent of these is the long-awaited Mr. Davis, a star-studded album that delivers both Mane’s usual slew of instant party anthems, and a commentary on the good and bad sides of stardom.

This 17-track project is carried by the dark, entrancing beats crafted by star producers including Metro Boomin, Southside, and Nav, allowing listeners to enjoy a combination of powerful drum kicks and catchy hooks by Gucci and his notable slew of features. At times, the supporting hooks and verses from industry favorites like Migos, The Weeknd, Big Sean, and Nicki Minaj outshine Gucci Mane lyrically, especially in instant hits such as “I Get The Bag,” “Lil Story,” and “Make Love.”

Despite this, all of the songs on Mr. Davis feature amusing metaphors and beats that are sure to be party favorites for months to come. Standout single “I Get The Bag” includes a catchy hook and a danceable beat that come together to create a musical gem perfect for Gucci Mane and Migos fans alike.

Not veering far from his usual content, much of Gucci Mane’s lyrics in Mr. Davis concern money, parties, and self-congratulation. However, Gucci Mane also reflects on the struggles he experienced prior to stardom, including his incarceration and drug abuse in “Work in Progress (Intro)” and “Made It (Outro).” He also looks into his future, conveying his loyalty and love for his wife in “We Ride.”

Mr. Davis shows two sides to Gucci Mane: A rich rapper living lavish, but also a changed man who established his own business and is settling down with his wife. Supported by a talented group of producers and other artists, Mr. Davis signifies a triumphant Woptober for Gucci Mane.

 

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Rap loses its rockstar

by Domenic Casciato on

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On the night of Nov. 15, Gustav Åhr, known by his stage name Lil Peep, was found dead inside his tour bus outside of a venue in Tucson, Arizona. He was set to perform in the second to last stop on his Come Over When You’re Sober tour, a 68-day tour spanning Europe and North America. First responders reported he appeared to have been killed by a Xanax overdose, but online forums quickly ignited with the rumour that Peep had been sold drugs laced with fentanyl, a powerful–and often deadly–opioid. Anyone familiar with Peep’s music was aware of his struggles with drug dependency, but the too-early death of the 21-year-old rapper was nonetheless disturbing and shocking for his fans across the world.

In the few years since Peep rose to prominence, he cultivated a deeply loyal, passionate fan base, and left a lasting impression on rap music. Largely credited by critics and fans alike as the pioneer of emo-influenced rap, Lil Peep was able to achieve a seemingly contradictory blend of modern trap machismo and early-90s alt-rock sappiness in hits like “Star Shopping” and “Crybaby.” Peep’s signature sound—angsty guitar strumming, rumbling 808 bass, trap-style drums, and remarkably catchy hooks—has been emulated by a long list of mainstream artists, including Drake, Post Malone, and Lil Uzi Vert. Peep’s influence was international; his following in Russia rivaled his American fanbase, and he even moved to London in June to deepen his connection with European fans.

Peep was on the come up, having gained the attention of a number of rap superstars, made appearances for labels at Paris Fashion Week, and hinted at plans to launch his own clothing line. Peep had only released his debut album, Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt. 1, in August, and its most popular song, “Awful Things,” neared 20 million views on YouTube in the days before his death.

 

Although his cultural innovations are not to be discounted, Peep will also be remembered as a warm and accessible presence in rap. In a genre typified by emotional detachment and toughness, Peep wrote songs about his emotional vulnerability and troubled relationships, while still hosting mosh pits at every show. His emotional subject matter balanced his braggadocio in such a way that, when he spit bars about expensive cars and drugs, it came across as playful rather than tasteless. His music was a home for many, and as alt-rock and emo faded into obscurity, Peep carved out a space where his fanbase—mostly composed of teens undergoing the sombre and occasionally depressing trials of adolescence—could feel welcome and understood.

Peep touched many with his music and presence. Vigils were held in many cities; artists including Post Malone, Diplo, and Pete Wentz offered their condolences following Peep’s death; and actress Bella Thorne, Peep’s ex-girlfriend, posted videos to her Instagram story mourning him. Although not noted as a champion of LGBT+ rights, Peep came out as bisexual amid a culture not known for its social tolerance, and his close relationship with fellow rapper iLoveMakonnen defied rap’s rigid social norms—much like Peep’s music.

Peep’s death has triggered an important culture-wide conversation about the glorification of drug abuse in rap music. Lil Uzi Vert, who is often credited alongside Peep with the creation of emo-trap, announced, in the wake of Peep’s death, that he has chosen to become sober.

Peep’s grapple with depression was heavily reflected in his lyrics. Although it is important to acknowledge the real and serious consequences that drug use can carry, the framing of this conversation around Peep’s death perpetuates victim blaming. Drug abuse in rap, Peep’s notwithstanding, is symptomatic of a larger struggle with mental health within the culture, and excluding it as a topic in these discussions following Peep’s death puts the culture at risk of losing more of its artists.

 

Editorial, Opinion

When educators are undervalued, everyone loses

by McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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On Tuesday, Nov. 21, hundreds of thousands of Ontario college students returned to class as the province’s five-week college faculty strike finally came to an end. The 12,000 college faculty—including professors, instructors, counsellors, and librarians—had been on strike since Oct. 16. After all that, it’s hard to say who won. The striking faculty and College Employer Council never reached a deal, and it was provincial back-to-work legislation that ultimately put an end to the strike.

The immediate losers of the strike are clear: The some 500,000 students who lost a month’s worth of class. That meant losing a month of paid tuition, and of class time that could potentially result in delayed graduation. Students had no seat at the bargaining table, and virtually no power over the outcome, yet they were the most directly affected by the strike. It’s not hard to see why some students wanted to assign blame. While some called for solidarity between students and their striking professors, others criticized the faculty members who walked out of classrooms in the first place.

This apparent rift between student and faculty interests, and the events that produced the strike, point to a deeper problem for post-secondary institutions and students alike: Although education is seen as an essential service, and teachers in it as service providers, educators do not receive the correspondingly essential respect and benefits for their work. Moving forward, it is essential that post-secondary institutions have the necessary channels to address faculty grievances before reaching breaking points. This will help improve working conditions for educators and, correspondingly, the quality of education their students receive. Moreover, students and administrators must critically revisit the value they currently assign their teachers.

The striking faculty members’ key demands—increased job security through more full-time jobs, as well as control over course content and teaching methods—are absolutely valid. Prior to the strike, part-time contract instructors—who, in addition to being paid less, don’t enjoy the job stability of full-time or tenured professors—made up 70 per cent of the Ontario college workforce. The faculty union’s core demand to get that proportion down to 50 per cent was a response to the majority of Ontario college teachers currently being in precarious, low-paying job situations. That is something worth striking over, for both teachers and their future students.

 

Although education is seen as an essential service, and teachers in it as service providers, educators do not receive the correspondingly essential respect and benefits for their work.

However, whatever future classes have to gain from more full-time professors and teaching assistants makes little difference to the students who were out of class for a full month. Of course, the point of any strike is to highlight the value of a service, by taking that service away. This necessitates negative consequences for users of the service in question—in this case, students. The irony is that in reality, student and faculty interests ought to align, not conflict, because the demands that faculty were striking over stand to benefit students in the long-run.

The more fundamental and ingrained issue underpinning the strike is the way that students and schools currently view teachers’ work. Frequently, faculty put in extra and often unpaid time and energy to help students succeed. Discounting after-hours help or a Saturday-morning email response as merely part of the job description undercuts all of the professional and, often, emotional labour that come with being an educator. When that unfairness becomes institutionalized in the form of short-shrift contracts or inadequate pay, and reaches a point at which educators feel they have no other option, they respond through the only effective means of negotiation left to them—they go on strike.

As part of the Ontario government’s intervention, colleges have been directed to refund the most financially-affected students, using savings from the striking faculty’s unpaid wages. This is a necessity, but it is also a retroactive band-aid solution to a deeper problem. To prevent future students from becoming collateral damage in another long-winded strike, it is essential that post-secondary institutions—whether it is an Ontario college, or a university like McGill—have adequate complaint and response mechanisms for over-burdened or dissatisfied faculty. More fundamentally, it is essential that post-secondary institutions, governments, and students alike demonstrably value their educators, in order to proactively reduce the likelihood that their faculty feel the need to resort to a strike in the future.

 

Arts & Entertainment, Private, Theatre

‘Fables’ teaches us about the beauty in life’s relationships

by Samantha Ling on

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One of the most beautiful aspects of life is our ability to form relationships with the people around us. Whether they be platonic, professional, or romantic, these relationships shape who we are and determine who we will become.

Players’ Theatre’s production of Fables explores interpersonal dynamics. Canadian playwright Jackie Torrens depicts the story of a doctor and the relationships that he holds with various individuals in his life. Running from Nov. 15-18 and 22-25, the play follows the life of the doctor, his wife, and two of his patients as they deal with difficult times. The audience peers into the personal lives of these characters—the events that have haunted them, the thoughts they hold towards others, and their aspirations for the future. From overcoming self-hatred to dealing with hypochondria, Fables presents the struggles of each character as it sheds light upon struggles with mental health.

Directed by Filip Rakic, Fables is presented in two acts and uses the stage to portray three distinct settings: A doctor's office, a family home, and a local park. Characters move between these scenes as their relationships with each other face conflicts, grow stronger, and become more complex. We see the connection between the doctor (Thomas Fix) and his wife (Sarah Tiplady) shift as they re-evaluate factors that threaten their marriage via living room dialogue. The doctor’s relationship with his patient, Sid (Alexander Sitaras-Grasic), evolves through fear and ambition for the future. As action plays out in one of the three settings, characters not in the scene can be seen in character in the other two settings participating in day-to-day activities such as writing, drinking, or texting—the audience feels like a part of an ongoing conversation.

From the variety of liquor bottles on the living room table to the classic park bench upon which Lisa (Emily Sheeran) delivers a series of monologues regarding her traumatic past, the production’s set employs detail and adds to the life-like experience that the story tells. Furthermore, all four members of the cast excellently craft its characters by taking on specific mannerisms and maintaining them throughout the show. As Lisa, Sheeran adeptly speaks with uncertainty to display her regret about her past.

Rakic’s decision to largely focus the play on the characters’ monologues allows for the audience to see not only the relationships each character is involved in, but also the inner feelings that these characters hold toward each other and themselves. Fables’ strength is in its intimacy; watching the play is like listening to four new friends who will tell you about their lives, their fears, and their desires.

Rakic, the cast, and the crew have come together to put on a performance that reminds us how the people in our lives accompany us through even the worst of times. Though the play deals with several dark themes, it also uses humour to show the optimistic side of its unhappy characters. Beyond trauma, fear, and regret, Lisa manages to work in hilarious jabs at the doctor’s old age, and Sid constantly mentions his aspirations to make a career out of being a sperm donor. This combination of heavy and light-hearted moments make for a play that provides audience members with a glimpse into their lives and all the ups and downs that are involved.

Science & Technology

Project pollution: McGill professor highlights the risk

by Jade Prévost-Manuel on

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On Oct. 19, the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health released a report identifying pollution as the cause of nine million deaths across the world in 2015. The report addressed the costs of water, soil, and air pollution to the global economy and public health, stressing pollution as an underreported and terribly severe contributor to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD).

The GBD is an epidemiological study of global health trends since 1990. It aims to understand global health by examining measures like mortality and life expectancy to see how external factors contribute to declines in the overall health of a population.

The staggering figures produced by the GBD’s rigorous research deem pollution a significant health risk. The commission states that 92 per cent of all pollution-related mortality occurs in low-income and middle-income countries—and particularly those experiencing rapid industrialization. Air pollution accounted for 6.5 million deaths in 2015, followed by deaths caused by water pollution, which came in at 1.8 million.

According to the commission, the impacts of pollution on health are unevenly distributed, with pollution disproportionately affecting the marginalized and the vulnerable.

Niladri Basu, an associate professor in the faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and a Canada Research Chair in Environmental Health Sciences, calls this an unacceptable truth and an issue of human rights.

“We all have a right to a safe workplace,” Basu wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “We take this for granted in Canada but millions around the world can not say the same.”

Basu contributed to the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health’s report, and said that the report will raise awareness about the link between pollution and health. He further commented on how pollution’s severity is underrepresented in the media.

“Many of our donor agencies and foundations are rightfully committed to global health, though few of them have realized the immense burden that pollution plays,” Basu wrote. “Our report shows that pollution causes three times more premature deaths than AIDS, TB, and malaria combined.”

Pollution harms health, but it’s also harmful to economies. Welfare losses due to pollution are estimated to cost more than US $4.6 trillion each year, about 6.2 per cent of global economic output. In middle-income countries that are heavily polluted and rapidly developing, up to seven per cent of annual health spending is allocated to cover the costs of pollution-related disease.

However, it’s not all bad news. The mission of the Lancet Commission is to inform economic and health policy makers worldwide about the burdens of pollution and to suggest affordable control solutions that focus on pollution prevention.

Pollution can be eliminated and the measures taken to do so can be cost-effective. In the past, high-income countries have been largely successful in managing pollution, and in the last 50 years air quality in Canada and the United States has improved immensely. Similar strategies at the level of policy can be applied to countries of all levels of income.

The report outlines six recommendations based on its findings, such as making pollution a high international priority and increasing the funding and technical support of pollution control.

As a professor, Basu is certain that education, empowerment, and the communication of scientific knowledge are long-term solutions to the pollution problem.

“The solution to pollution resides in transdisciplinary sciences,” Basu said.  “We need social scientists to link with natural scientists to link with engineers, public health officials, regulators, and so on. Multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary partnerships are the only way forward [….] Pollution is preventable, and it can be done in a cost-effective and win-win manner.”

Martlets, Sports

McGill cheerleading goes beyond the sidelines

by April Barrett on

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From teen movies to major league sports, cheerleaders often attract a specific kind of attention, and it isn’t always based on their athleticism. The figure of the cheerleader, in these popular representations, seems to overshadow the actual sport of cheerleading. In reality, McGill cheerleading, a self-funded competitive club, is one of many competitive cheerleading teams where respect for the sport comes above all else.

“Our practices are completely dedicated for us to train for competitions,” three-year McGill cheerleading veteran Gabrielle Cloutier said. “That’s the one thing about cheer; people just see us at football games and they think that’s what cheer is all about, but really it’s way more intense.”

The team practices two to three times per week, with additional practices near competitions, which occur a few times a semester. If you’ve seen McGill cheerleading at basketball or football games, you’ve only seen their warm-up. This semester, the team is training for a competition in Montreal on Nov. 19 and then Power Cheerleading Association Nationals in Brampton, Ontario on Nov. 25.

“[Cheering at a game] reinstates the basics we have,” third-year cheerleader Courtney Macdonald said. “We never do anything super difficult at the games because of the conditions [of the venue].”

Beyond games and practices, being a part of McGill cheerleading also means taking on the responsibility of fundraising for the team. The cheerleaders do everything from weekly samosa sales, to odd jobs, to performance gigs in the St. Patrick’s day parade in order to cover the team’s costs. These costs include renting practice space in a suitable gymnastics gym, coaches’ salaries, and travelling to competitions. The amount of fundraising required can be a lot for those new to the team.

“People don’t realize [the commitment], going into cheerleading […] they think that it’s going to be a side thing,” Cloutier said.

Because of these extra requirements, being a McGill cheerleader demands a high level of mental involvement. Aside from fitness and athleticism, spirit is also an important concept in cheering. The team members apply this idea to the way they approach their dedication to cheer and perseverance through challenges.

“I remember [the old team captain] telling me that there’s nothing that’s as much of a team sport than cheer is,” Cloutier said. “You have to be 100 per cent all of the time, because if you’re not there, someone’s going to get hurt. That’s where spirit comes in. If you’re on the mat and your stunt just fell and you have to keep going to your other stunt, having those voices telling you to keep going is crucial.”

This presence of mind comes in large part from synergy with teammates.

“I never used to be the most spirit-ful person but since being on the team, it’s so easy to be [spirited],” Macdonald said. “When we take the mat we feed off each other’s energy.”

An added difficulty of cheering is managing people’s misconceptions of the sport, and of cheerleaders in general. These notions range from the idea that cheerleaders are catty and shallow, to the idea that cheering is complementary entertainment, rather than a sport in and of itself.

“We’re not the only [cheer] team dealing with that at all,” Cloutier said. “Even if you’re a complete all-star team that doesn’t even cheer at football games, you’re going to have [to face] that perception.”

Cloutier, a former competitive dancer, and Macdonald, a retired national gymnast, both emphasized that, despite common television portrayals, cheer competitions have less rivalry than other sports they’ve been involved in.

“The sport is respected so much that when the other team sees another team doing a stunt that is brand new or really hard to execute you’re going to cheer them on so much,” Cloutier said. “The drama you see in the movies, […] that’s completely absent.”

(Gabriel Helfant / The McGill Tribune)

 

As for the notion that cheering is sideline entertainment, Macdonald explains that anyone who is familiar with competitive cheerleading understands the extreme dedication, physical strength, and risk-taking it requires.

“We do a lot of conditioning, strength training, so that we can be 100 per cent to catch the girls,” Macdonald said.  

Strength is a requirement while executing such physically demanding maneuvers. Everyone on the team understands the potential for injury if someone falters during a stunt.

“We have this rule that if our flyer [the girl thrown in the air] touches the mat, everyone does 50 push ups,” Cloutier added.

This year, try-outs were opened to male cheerleaders for the first time in a decade. Being coed would put the team in a different league, allow for new stunts to be performed, and help manage some of the stigma of being an all-girl cheer team. The team started the year with two males, but after a few weeks, they dropped off due to the high level of involvement.

“I think the fact that we went from being coed to all girl was our biggest challenge this semester,” Macdonald said. “We had to change the routine that our coaches had already started forming, and I think that for some people it was a hit to their morale.”

However, both Macdonald believes that the challenge has ultimately made the team stronger.

“I think we’re happier as all-girl right now,” Macdonald said. “The obstacle of going from coed to all girl has gotten to us where we are today.”

After months of bonding and overcoming obstacles, teammates can now fully rely on one another.

“Right now, we’re at that point in the season where everybody who’s here is here to stay,” Cloutier said.

With so much physical and mental energy put toward making the team possible, both Macdonald and Cloutier wish the McGill community had a greater awareness of McGill Cheer. Not just for their role in cheering on other McGill teams, but for the level of athleticism the team works toward themselves, and the rigorous competitions they participate in.

“We’re fully competing, throwing very dangerous and cool skills,” Macdonald said.

Furthermore, cheerleading goes far beyond entertainment; as McGill cheerleading demonstrates, the team trains and competes as varsity-level athletes.

“We’re here and we’re a competitive sport,” Cloutier concluded.

McGill, News

New Max Bell School of Public Policy created at McGill

by Caitlin Kindig on

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On Nov. 7, at a panel discussion at the Hotel Omni Mont-Royal, McGill announced its plans to launch the Max Bell School of Public Policy after receiving a $10 million donation from the Max Bell Foundation. This school will be housed under the Faculty of Arts and will offer both a one-year graduate program as well as executive programs—graduate-level programs for business executives—led by professors with experience in the field of policy. The school is on track to begin accepting applications in August 2018 for the Fall 2019 semester.

The four pillars of the new school will be Applied Policy Research, Practical Policy Teaching, Effective Public Outreach, and Credible Policy Engagement, all of which the school hopes will cultivate both a theoretical and practical understanding of the policy creation process. The curriculum at the Max Bell School will include topics like open-ended policy solutions, partisan politics, and structures of government.

Economics Associate Professor Christopher Ragan is the inaugural director of the new school, and is currently in the process of finalizing the details for its programming. He is responsible for designing the curriculum, executive programs, case studies of specific governmental policy issues, public engagement programs, and course plans. Ragan is also overseeing space, instructors, and scheduling for the school, which will likely be situated at 680 Sherbrooke street.

Ragan has consulted with research assistants from various universities throughout the world, including at the University of Toronto, Oxford University, and Harvard University, to gather insight and ideas for the School.

“I am simultaneously excited and swamped, but I am delighted to be doing this because McGill is a great place to have such a policy school,” Ragan said. “I have a generous financial gift, a blank piece of paper, and a year to build something wonderful.”

Antonia Maioni, the dean of the Faculty of Arts, is excited for the new project.

“The Faculty of Arts is so very pleased to have the new Max Bell School of Public Policy in the Faculty […] as a new pillar of teaching, research and outreach in public policy that extends to colleagues,” Maioni said. “[The school will encourage] interdisciplinary exchange between faculty and students across the university, as well as practitioners in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.”

Suzanne Fortier, the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill, also expressed gratitude for the Max Bell Foundation’s donation. She foresees the School of Public Policy furthering McGill’s academic diversity.

“To create the new knowledge needed to solve our most pressing social and environmental problems, and to develop and implement the real-world policies that will effectively harness that knowledge, we need to bring together people from diverse backgrounds, cultures and experiences,” Fortier said. “McGill prides itself on the diverse background of its students and faculty. The Max Bell School of Public Policy will build on this strength by attracting an interdisciplinary, global cohort of scholars and students who will educate, and become, the next generation of policy leaders.”

 

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

McGill’s first all black play tackles injustice with poetry without mincing words

by Sophie Brzozowski on

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“I was missin’ something,” begins Munyaradzi Guramatunhu’s note, introducing her rendition of the play for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf in Tuesday Night Cafe Theatre’s (TNC) black and white program. “Something so important, something that ought to exist.”

Though the words were adapted from the play’s final poem, “a laying on of hands,” they rang especially true for the Zimbabwe native and first-time director as she reflected on her time at McGill. Guramatunhu’s show has the distinction of being McGill’s first all-black production, a fact that is more embarrassing than it is shocking.

McGill theatre is notoriously lacking in representation, a glaring weakness that is often defended under the guise of cultural neutrality, or lack of content. With for colored girls, Guramatunhu seeks to correct this inequality.

“A lot of what’s disguised as cultural neutrality is not cultural neutrality at all,” Guramatunhu said. “It’s actually white hegemony in practice.”

The soul-crushing effects of racial homogeneity in the media is one of the many subjects packed into the 90-minute play. Presented by TNC in conjunction with the Black Student’s Network, this adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s 1976 choreopoem explores themes of sex, love, abuse, and culture—demonstrating the ways that these universal subjects function in the worlds of young black women.

Located in the basement of Morrice Hall, just beneath the Islamic studies library, TNC’s theater is small, but the cramped room and shallow stage only serve to make the cast members’ performance even larger and more captivating. The six-person cast radiated energy as they transformed seamlessly from persona to persona, each more heartbreaking and believable than the last. Though Ines Vieux Francoeur is the only McGill-based actress, Guramatunhu promises that there will be many more opportunities for actresses of colour to represent McGill in the future.

The play is performed as a series of poems rather than divided into acts. Some of the stories are told in a linear fashion, while others unfold as a conversation. Several are accompanied by musical numbers, choreographed by Guramatunhu. Each of the poems illustrates a particular vignette or scene from a character’s life, written and performed so viscerally that they seem to have emerged from something more personal than a script. Despite the director’s lack of experience, the show is staged to near perfection—each scene tight and polished.

Although most of the stories revolve around broad themes of systemic injustice, the play narrows the scope of its narrative to focus on the intimate stories of individuals, rather than the politics surrounding the issues. Even the poem entitled “abortion cycle #1,” poignantly delivered by Keren Roberts, refreshingly forgoes the usual discursive tropes. Instead of addressing the issue from a legislative point of view, discussing the female body as though it were the subject of some convoluted bylaw, the play tells a story about what it feels like to get an abortion. The pain, the shame, and the isolation of receiving a medical procedure—too often disguised as a punishment—are all portrayed brilliantly onstage.

The cast refused to censor the ugliness of some of it’s subject matter, often at the expense of the audience’s comfort; performances were often troubling, but always authentic. Likewise, the poem, “latent rapists,” performed with heartbreaking vulnerability by Jamila Joseph, Benita Bailey and Keren Roberts, discusses the humiliation and loneliness felt by survivors, rather than trying to tackle the effects of the epidemic at large. Despite the tragedy and injustice that for colored girls depicts, the play is, above all, a celebration of black women and their strength and resilience.

“This is what it feels like to be at the bottom of the totem pole of so many societies,” Guramatunhi said. “But it’s also an act of therapy.”

Students can forward to more representational content from McGill’s theatre companies in the future.

“This is not a singular event,” Guramatunhi insisted. “This is just the beginning, the next play will be all black students from McGill.”

TNC’s for colored girls will show Wednesday to Saturday Night until November 25th at 7:30 pm in Morrice Hall, 3485 Rue McTavish. Tickets are $6 for students and $10 general admission.

Science & Technology

AstroMcGill talk sheds light on the Big Bang

by Emma Gillies on

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The universe is comprised of billions of galaxies—encompassing all of space, all of time, and all of its contents. It all started with a Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago.

On Nov. 16,  particle physicist and cosmologist Oscar Hernández spoke about the Big Bang at AstroMcGill’s event Where, When & Will It Ever End: a Muggle’s Guide to Our Big Bang, at McGill’s McIntyre Medical Building.

Hernández pointed out a common misconception: The Big Bang was not actually an explosion. It was, in fact, an expansion. According to Hernández, a better name for the theory would be the “Everywhere Stretch Theory.”

Like most discoveries, this one cannot be localized or attributed to one person. In 1842, Christian Doppler proposed the Doppler Effect for light—that the colour of a star’s light changes according to its velocity. Redshift indicates that an object is moving away from the viewer, while blueshift indicates that it is moving closer. Furthermore, in 1912, Vesto Slipher first observed galaxy light and saw that it was redshifted.

Other scientists contributed to the theoretical understanding of expansion. Albert Einstein  published his general relativity field equations in 1915, which he was able to use to derive a history of the universe—despite its inaccuracy.

“Einstein got a solution to his equation but […] he forced that solution to be static,” Hernández said. “Spacetime tells energy and matter how to move, and energy and matter tell spacetime how to curve, and Einstein comes up with his static universe solution that’s not stable.”

Edwin Hubble was given the credit for the discovery of the cosmos. In 1923, Hubble showed that “clouds” that were previously thought to be nebulae were actually other galaxies that were millions of light years away. He then studied the velocities of these galaxies, and in 1929, concluded that they were receding from Earth, and thus that the universe was expanding.

In 1927, Georges Lemaître proposed the Big Bang Theory—which he called the “hypothesis of the primeval atom”—using Einstein’s equations and theories of general relativity. Building upon earlier observations, he said that if the universe was expanding, the galaxies’ light should be redshifted.

Lemaître proposed and Hubble calculated that space was literally expanding and growing between the galaxies. Hernández equated galaxies to raisins in a rising loaf of bread—they’re not moving apart, but rather space is getting bigger.

“The laws of physics are time-symmetric […] so we can run this movie backwards 14 billion years to get this very dense, very hot, very well-ordered, very small cosmic egg of pure energy,” Hernández said.

This relation directly connects the astronomically big to the infinitesimally small. In other words, to study the beginning moments of something as big as the universe, the extremely tiny must also be analyzed.

“[For the first 380,000 years of cosmic time], when the temperature was above 3000 Kelvin, […] light electrons and protons were in a cosmic soup. They were not bound together,” Hernández said.

But as the universe aged and expanded, it cooled. The protons and electrons had less energy to resist one another, thus combining to form hydrogen: The most common element in the universe.

“With fewer free electrons for light to interact with, the universe became transparent,” Hernández said. “When we finally see the light here on Earth, [it] has been stretched so much by the 14 billion-year expansion of space that its frequency and colour have shifted from the original semi-white all the way to cool microwaves.”

This radiation, called the cosmic microwave background, is the heat left over from the Big Bang. Astrophysicists have even been able to map its afterglow.

So, to answer where, when, and will it ever end—the Big Bang occurred everywhere almost 14 billion years ago, and the expansion is not going to end. In fact, scientists have discovered that it is accelerating over time.

There’s still much to learn about the beginning of our universe. By fully understanding its expansion, the mysteries of its origin can be unravelled.

Emerging Trends, Student Life

Making room for meditation: How McGill students find peace

by Mary Keith on

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It’s no secret that attending McGill comes with a slew of academic and social demands. As a result, many students experience anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems during their time here. While there are ways to treat such disorders, including medication and therapy in persistent cases, another method to alleviate their symptoms is meditation. As a practice that has existed for centuries, meditation comes with a range of benefits, including reduced stress, increased productivity, and improved moods overall.

Meditation is the practice of contemplation or focus for a fixed period of time. It typically entails sitting still and often focusing on one thing, whether one’s breath, a mantra, or a guided recording. Many students who meditate opt for a few minutes per day, while others try for 20 minutes in the morning and evening. There is no rigidity to scheduling, because meditation is what one makes of it. Taking the opportunity to meditate, even if it’s just for five minutes, is beneficial nonetheless.

Netanel Schondorf, U2 Arts, sets aside time everyday to just sit and breathe. He has been meditating for three years, and uses the practice as way to alleviate his anxiety.

“If you are an anxious person and tend to get lost in cyclical thought patterns, one thing that meditation will do is remove you from the situation and let you be a passive observer to your thoughts, and not necessarily pursue them and not get stuck in them,” Schondorf said.  

Aside from experiencing the desired long-term benefits for his mental health, Schondorf found that meditation helped him look inward and harness a sense of self-awareness. Over time, meditating aided in regulating his sleep schedule and altered his relationship to stress.

“[Meditation] will make the stress you feel healthier,” Schondorf said. “Stress is just going to happen, and trying to fight stress doesn’t work very well, but coming to terms with it tends to work a lot better.”

In addition to managing stress and anxiety, Schondorf developed productive working habits as a result of his meditation. When presented with the choice of watching Netflix or studying, he has fostered a sense of self-discipline to choose to hit the books. With all of its undeniable benefits and overall positivity, Schondorf recommends pursuing meditation with patience to all.

“Don’t go into it with any expectations,” Schondorf said. “It’s a pretty long-term thing, and the changes are subtle over time. What I will say is that even if you don’t see immediate results, of all the activities I do that have made my life better, this one has the lowest investment with the highest payoff.”

Niketan Valapakam, U3 Management, has been meditating for four months. He began after experiencing sadness and anger following a job rejection.

“When I realized my state of happiness is dependent on such small things around me, I can’t really go far in life,” Valapakam said. “I decided to get more introspective about how I feel about things.”  

Valapakam took lessons through the program Inner Engineering, which includes lessons online, in books, and at retreats. He started seeing small changes in his mindset in the first three to four days, and continues to notice improvements in his mood and outlook.

“I am using this tool to further enhance the things that I don’t know and as I keep using this tool, things are getting more clear,” Valapakam said. “I just have general introspective clarity about things, starting with myself as a person [….] When starting meditation, be skeptical, not cynical, in order to allow something to work, and if it does work, then you are the living experience of the truth that is happening.”

Meditation has stood the test of time and has benefited many at McGill. If students are interested in giving meditation a try, there are plenty of how-to-websites, with free guided meditation and breathing exercises of all sorts of lengths that can fit into any schedule or location: Headspace or Calm are just two of the many free meditation apps available. Furthermore, the McGill Office of Spiritual and Religious Life offers free campus meditation services. With a jump-start on meditation, perhaps the benefits will kick-in just in time for finals–so keep calm, and meditate on.

Meditation is not meant to be a cure-all for depression and anxiety, and should one experience persistent symptoms of these disorders, seeking help through medicine and therapy is the recommended route. McGill offers both psychiatric and counselling services, both of which students can and are encouraged to use. If you find yourself in a crisis, you can call the McGill Nightline at 514-398-6246 or the Quebec National Crisis Line at 1-866-277-3553.

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