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Editorial, Opinion, Private

Editorial: SSMU’s lack of transparency and lagging support leave new ISGs in limbo

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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On April 7, 2016, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Services Review Committee changed the status of Organic Campus, the Players Theatre and other student services within SSMU’s structure. In a similar restructuring move on May 24, 2016, SSMU revoked the club status of the McGill Outdoors Club (MOC). These changes—ratified nine months ago—have had profound implications for the functioning of the affected groups, specifically for those given Independent Student Group (ISG) status. Yet it was not until January 2017 that VP Student Life Elaine Patterson’s addressed the transition process for new ISGs. SSMU’s silence on the matter has left these groups stranded in managing their new responsibilities. SSMU’s detached—or, in the case of the MOC, seemingly unilateral—decision-making process that yielded these changes, as well as the lack of guidance through their immediate aftermath, fail the society’s mandate to support its student groups.

While the distinction may seem innocuous, there are important differences between a club or service and an ISG vis-à-vis the group’s relationship to SSMU. Clubs and services fall under the legal and financial oversight of SSMU, whereas ISGs exist independently from the society. Unsurprisingly, independence increases a group’s responsibilities. In addition to obtaining legal status as a non-profit organization in the province of Quebec, ISGs must acquire their own insurance, and file their own taxes.

 

 

 

Part of SSMU’s mandate is to offer services to improve the McGill student experience—this means ensuring that the student groups that provide these services are viable and functioning.

These are substantial and often expensive requirements, which unprepared student groups may not be able to accommodate. The Services Review Committee, which was reinstated in 2015 for the first time since 2011, has a legitimate mandate in evaluating the existing services’ structure and compliance with the internal regulations of student groups. However, while the April 7 report concluded that Organic Campus and the Players Theatre did not meet these criteria, it offered little as to why or how these groups would operate better with the ISG status that they were given. Part of SSMU’s mandate is to offer services to improve the McGill student experience—this means ensuring that the student groups that provide these services are viable and functioning. When the Committee enacts changes to student groups in the future, it must consider whether they are sustainable for the group in question. 

The MOC’s transition from club to ISG had a more concrete rationale. Former VP Clubs and Services Kimber Bialik argued that operating as an ISG makes sense for the group, given its external bank account and independent insurance. SSMU has been negotiating the switch with the MOC for the past two years.

However, this does not justify the way the decision was finally made. The Board of Directors and last year’s SSMU Council not only changed the MOC’s status without the group’s knowledge or consent, but waited until the last meeting of the 2016 school year to do so. Minutes from the the May 24 meeting suggest that concern over how MOC’s finances would appear to new auditors motivated the last-minute decision, rather than the best course of action for the club. Moreover, General Manager Ryan Hughes raised the question of possible ‘media flak’ in response to the decision. The minutes of the meeting are, notably, not accessible on the SSMU website—an unacceptable breach of accountability and transparency. 

With the exception of former SSMU president Kareem Ibrahim and director Kahli Douglas, who abstained from voting on the decision, the lack of transparency and hastiness of the MOC decision falls on last year’s SSMU executives. However, it is equally unacceptable that this year’s team has been so slow to extend support to the student groups forced to change their structure. The Players Theatre remains in transition to its new status, while Organic Campus no longer exists as of January 2017. The MOC, meanwhile, is actively appealing the decision to revoke its club status. Patterson plans to aid transitioning groups, with the goal of having all ISGs stable by the end of the Winter 2017 term. Specifically, she intends to assist new ISGs with their application for legal status in Quebec. This is a positive yet retroactive step. 

SSMU is itself a student-operated body. Like the clubs and services that it supports, it faces the challenge of finite resources and manpower. Overburdened executive portfolios and the stringent 2016-2017 budget necessitate strategic and sometimes unpopular decisions for the society’s student groups, as has already been demonstrated by the moratorium on new clubs. When these decisions are made, however, they must be made transparently—in consultation with affected parties, and with regard for their consequences. 

The McGill Tribune has been an ISG since 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@mcgilltribop | [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

Private, Student Life, Word on the Y

Word on the ‘Y’: What did you take away from the Women’s March on Washington?

by Audrey Carleton on

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On Saturday, Jan. 21, the day after the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, activists flocked to cities across and beyond the U.S. to advocate for the rights of those now threatened by this drastic political change. Of the millions of marchers across the world were a handful of McGill students. The McGill Tribune spoke to several students about what they learned from the Women’s March on Washington.

 

Question: What did you take away from the Women’s March on Washington?

Answer:

Washington, D.C. 

(Photo courtesy of Natalie Jacobson)
(Photo courtesy of Natalie Jacobson)

Rebecca Jacobson, U3 Classical Music Studies

(Photo courtesy of Natalie Jacobson)
(Photo courtesy of Natalie Jacobson)

“I guess that there are a lot more people behind me than I thought, which gave me a bit of hope. The number of people there was pretty motivating.”

 

 

Paris

(Photo courtesy of Emily Stimpson)
(Photo courtesy of Emily Stimpson)

Emily Stimpson, U2 Women's Studies, studying abroad at Sciences Po

(Photo courtesy of Natalie Jacobson)
(Photo courtesy of Emily Stimpson)

“I was deeply impacted by [the] overwhelming whiteness of the march here. I took from that the fact that we as white women are complicit in the election of Trump and the racist policies to come. The march showed me we need to uphold [intersectional feminism] and take greater action in support and solidarity with women of colour.”

 

London

(Photo courtesy of Phoebe Warren)
(Photo courtesy of Phoebe Warren)

Phoebe Warren, U3 Political Science and History studying abroad at Durham University 

(Photo courtesy of Phoebe Warren) (Photo courtesy of Phoebe Warren)

“I took away that no matter how scary things might seem back home, there are people all around the world who will help us fight back against oppression, against apathy, and against the fear that has entered the hearts of so many of us.”

 

 

Montreal

(Alex Gardiner / The McGill Tribune)
(Alex Gardiner / The McGill Tribune)

Xheni Qamo, U3 Political Science and Art History

(Photo courtesy of Xheni Qamo) (Photo courtesy of Xheni Qamo)

“I think the biggest thing I took away from the sister march in Montreal [Manif des femmes] was just comfort from the sense of unity. I don’t mean to sound overly sentimental, but, like a lot [of] people, I’ve felt anxious about Trump’s positions on literally every issue, and it was incredible to be in a space with so many other people who were there to show their dissent [….] It just felt like thousands of people were ready to organize and work against misogyny and systemic discrimination, and it was inspiring. It gave me a sense of hope and comfort that I hadn’t felt since November 9th, and I know a lot of work now needs to be done, but if all the people who took the time to demonstrate continue to work against his rhetoric and policies, I think we’ll be able to keep the world from ending.”

 

New York City 

(Photo courtesy of Eliana Zimmerman)
(Photo courtesy of Eliana Zimmerman)

Eliana Zimmerman, U1 Music Performance

(Photo courtesy of Eliana Zimmerman) (Photo courtesy of Eliana Zimmerman)

“My biggest takeaway from the Women’s March on NYC was the overwhelming sense of unity and optimism that it created. Even before the march began, as my friends and I were walking around, gathering supplies on the Upper West Side, nowhere near the march, total strangers would stop and ask us what the posters under our arms said, and wish us luck for later—they'd see us there! It was a camaraderie that felt very hopeful in the face of these alarming, uncertain times. Especially because New York is a city so near and dear to Mr. Trump, and he has clearly been attempting to retain power over it, it felt like an important act of defiance in his personal territory.”

 

News, SSMU

SSMU launches new Executive Shadowing Program

by Cherry Wu on

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The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executive team is made up of seven enrolled students who oversee aspects of student life on campus. Each executive has been elected by the student body to manage a specific portfolio; positions include Vice-President (VP) Operations, VP University Affairs, VP Student Life, VP External Affairs, VP Internal Affairs, VP Finance, and President.

Beginning on Jan. 24, SSMU launched an Executive Shadowing Program that allows students to sign up to shadow a SSMU executive by filling out a short online form. The application puts students in contact with a SSMU executive through email and, once connected, the student and the executive schedule a time to meet.

An objective of the Shadowing Program is to demonstrate the responsibilities of the executives, thus preparing potential future candidates.  VP Student Life  Elaine Patterson said that understanding SSMU executive positions can be difficult without first-hand experience.

“A year ago, I had never really done student staff work personally,” Patterson said. “So, I understand that it could be very intimidating to run for a position. I think the shadowing program will show interested students that this is really a welcoming environment. You can read all on paper about what the position is like, but until you actually sit behind this table, you cannot really understand what the job really entails.”

Before the restructuring of positions at the end of last school year, executives regularly worked over 100 hours. Ger and VP Internal Daniel Lawrie both stated that, despite the long hours and stress, being a part of the SSMU executive is a valuable experience.

“Honestly, it is in a sense an internship to life, getting a sense of how to work a job, and having a team around you to get the job done,” Lawrie said.

SSMU elections have historically had low voter turnout, with only 17.5 per cent of the undergraduate student body participating in the most recent election. The Executive Shadowing Program was developed in Summer 2016 to increase the transparency of SSMU governance and promote engagement with the campus community. It is expected to extend to SSMU councillors and upper administrative members of McGill staff in the future.

Planned to start early this week, the program will have no end date. The length and the content of the shadowing will be left to the discretion of the student and his or her assigned executive. With the candidates for the previous SSMU election consisting mainly of Caucasian males and the recent SSMU-sponsored report on equitable governance, President Ben Ger hopes that the program will play a role in further reform.

“In the past year, we have really been focusing on providing equal access to governance for all identities on campus,” Ger said. “Elections definitely favour a specific population and I believe the makeup of our executives team could definitely be better. The shadowing program will make elections more accessible to everyone.”

The SSMU election nomination period for next year’s executives will begin Jan. 30 and end Feb. 10, with voting from March 13 to 16. After the election results are announced on March 16, the incoming executives will go through a month-long transition period in May and start their official term on June 1.

“When you step into a position like this, you are stepping in to become the heads of a multimillion-dollar company that is only here to help,” Ger said. “It is not here for profit. It is here to specifically make people happier. It is so hard yet so overwhelmingly rewarding. The people who I went into this with has become the family I’m going to be walking out with.”

Science & Technology

MNI researchers create data model to isolate causes of Alzheimer’s disease

by Uzair Khan on

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Alzheimer’s disease, first described by Alois Alzheimer in 1906, is a progressive brain disorder that causes debilitating cognitive impairments. Today, it is the most common cause of dementia, responsible for 60 to 70 per cent of 47.5 million cases worldwide. Due to its high prevalence, Alzheimer’s disease poses a significant economic burden for affected families and the Canadian health system at large. With Alzheimer’s disease increasingly becoming one of society’s major public health concerns, targeted research has become a priority.

Researchers have identified various biological abnormalities at the microscopic level that manifest themselves in the classical symptoms of Alzheimer’s. These abnormalities include plaques, composed of specific peptides called amyloid-beta, that form outside neurons—the fundamental units of the nervous system. Furthermore, specific biological structures called neurofibrillary tangles, which are stabilized with tau proteins, accumulate inside neurons. Inflammation and damage to synapses, which are avenues of communication between neurons, also occur. The eventual result of these and many other flaws is brain degeneration with noticeable changes in structure and widespread death of neurons. The combination of these defects lead to the symptomatic behaviours of Alzheimer’s disease.

The presence of Alzheimer’s disease is accompanied by many pathological indicators; however, scientists have not identified the exact cause of the disease. Currently, they surmise that Alzheimer’s results from dynamic interactions between multiple factors rather than any one significant trigger. One of the scientists holding this view is Dr. Yasser Iturria Medina, a post-doctoral fellow at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI).

“Alzheimer’s disease is not causally associated with any unique neuropathological mechanism, but rather with multiple concomitant factors,” Medina said.

His own research is focused on elucidating the causes and progression of Alzheimer’s disease, specifically through the development of an “integrative multifactorial causal model.” The model, when optimally developed, will evaluate all possible pathological factors, as well as their interactions, to determine the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. The end goal of this model would be to enable the development of personally tailored and efficient therapeutic interventions for Alzheimer’s disease.

In pursuing the development of this model, Medina investigated the early signs present in the development of Alzheimer’s in one of his recent studies. The study, published in Nature Communications last June, examined how certain brain processes change over time as Alzheimer’s disease progresses. The processes considered were: The deposition of amyloid-beta proteins, metabolism, vascular function, functional activity at rest, structural properties, cognitive integrity, and the levels of peripheral proteins. As part of the study, Medina looked at 7,700 images from 1,171 subjects. Utilizing sophisticated algorithms, his study established an order of disease progress and identified one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s disease development called “intra-brain vascular dysregulation”—that is, impairment of the blood supply in the brain. The results of this study mark an important step towards understanding the underlying causes of the disease—crucial to eventually finding a cure.

But even with such important advances, a lack of full knowledge regarding Alzheimer’s limits available treatment options. At present, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Treatments available today are only designed to treat its symptoms, with five FDA-approved drugs currently available to do so. However, present consensus states Alzheimer’s disease can not be stopped or reversed once it begins.

Undoubtedly, finding the cure for Alzheimer’s is a daunting task. It will only, and eventually, be accomplished through the unrelenting and collaborative efforts of researchers around the world.

Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

57th Woodsmen Games brings thrills to Mac campus

by Joe Khammar on

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The 57th Annual Intercollegiate Woodsmen Competition brought fast-paced action, roaring crowds, and the scent of freshly chopped wood to McGill’s Macdonald Campus on Saturday, Jan. 28. The suspense was palpable from the 9 a.m. ceremonial first cut to the dangerous water boil finale.
For those unacquainted with the tradition of the Woodsmen Games, the event is a series of high-octane lumberjack-inspired competitions. There are both single competitor and team-based events with results translated into cumulative sores for the Canadian and American universities present. McGill’s lumberjill’s placed first, while the lumberjacks finished fourth. The day’s action was broken up into morning and afternoon sessions.
“The morning events are more sign-in events, […] you sign in and you [compete],” McGill Woodsmen captain Dominic Mercier-Provencher said. “But for the afternoon, it will be more concurrent. Every school competes at the same time doing the same events.”
The first session was filled with enthralling action in events like the pole climb, axe throw, and—the Mac campus special—the snowshoe race. In the race, athletes compete in a 1.5km race while wearing snowshoes, tremendously increasing the difficulty of sprinting tremendously.
After the excitement of the morning events, both athletes and spectators alike retreated from the heavy snow into the Ceilidh Bar for beer, chili, and coffee. Despite the weather, the crowd seemingly doubled in size when the competition resumed for the afternoon.
“For me, I like [the afternoon] better,” Mercier-Provencher said. “It gives you an idea of how well you did against the other teams. We’ll have the underhand chop, swede saw, and crosscut saw.”
 While the morning was great fun, the afternoon took the intensity to an entirely new level. The first events of the session- swede and crosscut saws-were phenomenal displays of pure power and timing on the saw exchanges. Each event consisted of teams making cuts through blocks of wood with athletes rotating positions throughout the competition. At times, the entire structure holding the block would shake despite the other four members of the team weighing it down. While McGill’s lumberjacks were impressive, the lumberjills showed a tenacity and level of skill well above the competition.
The underhand chop soon followed and brought a heightened sense of danger to the proceedings. Each team of two athletes stood on top of a block and slashed down, with the first member chopping towards the middle on both sides of the stick. As soon as they finished, the second began in earnest. The chop is so dangerous that athletes wore chainmail on their legs and feet to prevent severe injuries. Multiple times, the competitors were centimetres away from severing their own foot. The whole spectacle was equal parts petrifying and exhilarating with each successive heat bringing more danger.
After the life-threatening nature of the underhand, the quarter split was needed to bring both comedy and brevity to the afternoon. Consisting of teams of two, the event centred around each member attempting to first chop a log in half, then break it into quarters. While this may seem straightforward, the logs went flying after the first cut, causing the lumberjacks to sprint after the chunks of wood trying to split the remaining timber.
The day ended with the pièce de résistance—the water boil. The day’s most dangerous event featured innovation, fire, and engineering prowess all rolled into one quick-fire competition.
“The water boil consists of a can and a little bit of water and soap,” Mercier-Provencher said. “You have to build a fire and make the water boil as fast as you can. It’s really fun.”
Like the rest of the day’s events, this too was exceedingly dangerous. When trying to get the perfect thickness of wood to start the fire, the woodsmen repeatedly attempted to make precise cuts downwards on the log, often coming within inches of losing a thumb. After starting the fire, the athletes then built a miniature pyre to allow the flames to encompass the can. By this point, each of the competitors lay down beside the fire, acting as a human billow for the flames. As soon as the first hint of the soapy water boiled over the can, the crowd exploded.
While these events may seem like nothing more than jazzed-up menial tasks, the competitive environment and skill all added to the day, making it greater than the sum of its parts. Anyone with the opportunity should check out the event next year.
“It’s a very nice day, everyone should come to see us,” Mercier-Provencher said. “We practice hard, about four mornings per week. It’s very funny and it’s fun for everyone if people come see and cheer us.”
The experience itself is worth the hour and a half bus and metro trip to Macdonald Campus. It is likely you will never see anything like this again in your life. The whole day is unique and more entertaining than any other free event imaginable on a Saturday.

Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

Team Challenge showcases McGill track and field

by Selwynne Hawkins on

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On Jan. 28 and 29, the Tomlinson Fieldhouse hosted the 22nd annual McGill Team Challenge. Nineteen schools from across Eastern Canada competed in the largest indoor track meet in the country.


Dominant Guelph, Laval, Sherbrooke, and Dalhousie squads captured the top four spots in both men’s and women’s team rankings. McGill was largely kept off the podium, with second-year pole vaulter Megan Dimler capturing the team’s only bronze medal. Despite the lack of hardware, the McGill team remained upbeat about their performance.


“I threw my season’s best [in shot put], so I was pretty excited about it,” fourth-year Vanisa Ezukuse said of her 11.30m throw at the meet.


Ezukuse currently sits eighth in USports shot put rankings, enough to qualify for the national championships held at the University of Alberta in early March. For now, however, she’s staying focused on meeting her personal standards.


 “Sixteen metres is my ultimate goal [and] I’m slowly getting there,” Ezukuse said.


Many other personal bests were shattered by McGill’s runners. In his first home meet, freshmen Gift (Seph) Marshall-Burghardt was able to cut eight seconds off his 1,500m time to finish in 4:11. Teammate Jeremy Briand also registered a personal record at the same event, finishing in 3:56.


 “Everything seems to be coming together,” Marshall-Burghardt said. “With the home meet, it was great.”


The McGill track team has worked hard to become a cohesive unit and maintain a sense of team spirit.


“If I’m at a meet, I’ll go see a cross-country person run, and cheer them on, or go to the shot put circle and ask how it’s going,” third-year long-sprinter Ariane Lismer said. “Meets [are] where we conglomerate and cheer each other on.”


The team will travel to New York next weekend before returning to host another meet the subsequent weekend. To end the season, the RSEQ championships will be held on Feb. 24 and 25 at Laval University. Sprinting Coach Marie-Eve Dugas is pleased with her athletes so far, and knows exactly where to focus her efforts for the remainder of the season.

“We [have] some technical aspects to [work] on, and a little bit of speed and speed endurance, as well as some exchange practice for the relays,” Dugas said. “But we should be good to go for provincials.”

Stats Corner: The fastest event at the meet, the 60m dash, was completed in just 6.85 seconds by Guelph University’s Kyle Thompson.

Key Moments: Vanisa Ezukuse beat her personal best and broke McGill’s record in the weight throw with a distance of 15.71m.

Quotable: “We work so hard every practice and it’s just awesome to be here with everyone at the track, with everyone cheering everyone on,”—Long-sprinter Ariane Lismer.

A previous version of this article published on Jan. 31, 2017 incorrectly stated Vanisa Ezukuse's record breaking performance in weight throw. The Tribune regrets this error. 

Montreal, News

McGill student bound for Women’s March on Washington denied entry into U.S.

by William Pang on

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Joseph Decunha, U3 Physics, was refused entry into the United States at the St-Bernard-de-Lacolle crossing border crossing on the night of Jan. 19. He was planning to attend the Women’s March on Washington, a day-long protest calling for action on a broad range of issues, such as women’s rights, racial inequality, and environmental justice.  

Decunha, a Canadian citizen, was travelling with two other McGill students when he was stopped and questioned by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). When he informed the officer that he was going to the Women’s March, he was directed to secondary inspection for further questioning.

“The first question he asked was, ‘Are you anti or pro-Trump?’” Decunha wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “Which sounds very malicious now knowing the outcome but was said in a very friendly way. I spoke briefly about the affordable care act and some of the racist remarks made by the [then] President-elect. His responses were friendly and I assumed that he also was not a Trump supporter.”

According to Decunha, the CBP officer also asked whether they were violent or radical protesters. After a series of questions, the officer noted that he would speak to his supervisor.

“He came back and first explained that he classified my behavior in the U.S. as ‘silent disruption,’ a term which he dropped on a number of occasions as though it were a legal term,” Decunha wrote. “After explaining that the events we were attending had official permits, he moved on from using this pseudo-legal jargon and then used a different explanation.”

Decunha believed that he was denied entry into the U.S. solely on political grounds.

“When we posed the question if simply attending the inauguration without going to the Women’s March would constitute tourism and satisfy that requirement, we were told [by the officer] ‘Sure, but now you’ve already told me the truth and to change your story now would be to lie to a federal agent,’” Decunha wrote.

Over 400,000 people cross the U.S.-Canada border each day. Due to a reciprocal arrangement between Canada and the United States, citizens do not need a visa to enter either country on a short-term basis.

Less than 0.1 per cent of travellers are denied entry, for reasons which include national security concerns or participating in prohibited activities. According to Evan Fox-Decent, an associate professor of law at McGill who specializes in immigration and refugee law, he has never heard of the term “silent disruption” as a reason to deny entry into the U.S..

“I’d be very surprised to find a judicial review decision to bar somebody from entering because they looked like they were going to […] be involved in some form of silent disruption,” Fox-Decent said.

Border control officers have the discretion to refuse entry, but officers must offer a legitimate reason in doing so, according to Fox-Decent. In Canada, Fox-Decent said, both citizens and noncitizens cannot generally be barred entry for protesting.

“Typically, the protections of the Charter [of Rights and Freedoms] extend to non-citizens as well as citizens. So if you’re here for a short period of time, you’re entitled to protest as much as […] a citizen,” Fox-Decent said. “The fact that you’re coming to protest, so long [as] there is no evidence you intend to do so unlawfully, or violently, […] that could not be a ground for barring entry.”

Fox-Decent acknowledged that he is not a U.S. constitutional scholar, but remains highly skeptical that protesting is regarded as sufficient grounds for barring entry into the United States.

“I would be very surprised if that [protest] could withstand scrutiny [as a valid reason to deny entry],” Fox-Decent said.  

Rex Brynen, a professor of political science at McGill University, believes that the United States government has every authority to bar Decunha’s entry.

“The U.S. has a perfect legal right to control the admission of foreign nationals and is under no obligation to admit protesters,” Brynen wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “Protest, it could be argued, doesn’t constitute a valid reason for entering the U.S.. In this case, there was likely heightened sensitivity for fear that anti-Trump protests could get out of hand or be targeted.”

Brynen added that it is unlikely for the Trudeau government to act in response to multiple Canadians being denied entry for attending the Women’s March.

“I’m not sure that Americans wanting to enter Canada to attend a protest would be admitted either,” Brynen wrote. “There’s nothing Canada would want to do [in response,] since we certainly would want to retain our own ability to bar Americans entering Canada.”

McGill, News

SSMU to assist clubs, independent student groups in transitions

by Margherita de Castro on

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On April 7, 2016, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Services Review Committee and the Board of Directors (BoD) prompted seven student groups to change their status within the SSMU structure. The Savoy Society, Elections SSMU, First Year Council, and the McGill International Student Network lost their status as independent student groups (ISG) and The Players Theatre, Organic Campus, and McGill Outdoors Club (MOC) gained ISG status.

In 2015, the previous SSMU Vice-President (VP) Clubs and Services Kimber Bialik–which has since been renamed the VP Student Life portfolio following executive restructuring in 2015-2016–reinstated the Services Review Committee for the first time since 2011. The committee evaluates whether listed services comply with the April 2016 modifications to the internal regulations of student groups.

The internal regulations of student groups specify that a service must provide resources and support to members while additionally providing referrals, awareness, education, or advocacy services. The final Services Review Report concluded that for various reasons outlined in the report, the five previously listed services did not meet the new requirements. On April 7, the SSMU Legislative Council ratified the committee’s recommendations to revoke these ISGs’ status.

The McGill International Student Network has since become a SSMU club, the First Year Council now falls under the portfolio of the SSMU VP Internal, and Elections SSMU is overseen by the SSMU General Manager. The Players Theatre and Organic Campus are transitioning into ISGs while SSMU is still considering the Savoy Society’s status, with plans to make it a programming department under the VP Student Life portfolio.

On May 24, the McGill Outdoors Club (MOC) had its club status revoked at a BoD meeting. Members of the Board believed that the size of the club made it better suited as an ISG. They worried that the MOC’s large transactions would look suspicious to auditors. In addition, the Board believed that the club’s activities posed risks to students not covered by SSMU’s liability insurance.

“Our internal regulations say that our clubs need to have bank accounts that are internally managed by SSMU,” Bialik said at the BoD meeting on May 24. “[The MOC has] their own external account that we know nothing about. They have their independent insurance policy. They manage property also. They have a lot going on. So they are already operating like an independent student group and this transition won’t change anything for them.”

According to MOC VP Communications Chris Mills, SSMU and the MOC had previously discussed the possibility of becoming an ISG, with inconclusive results. The BoD decision was made unilaterally and without the knowledge or consent of the MOC.

Mills said that the MOC has been actively appealing the decision, due to a long-term standing agreement with SSMU enabling the MOC to exist as a club while simultaneously owning a separate bank account.

“By their own constitution, ISGs have to be registered nonprofits,” Mills said. “You can’t take a club which doesn’t exist legally and turn it into an [ISG]. The club doesn’t have a legal standing outside of SSMU. [The 2015-2016] generation of executives did not necessarily appreciate all the differences between being a club and an ISG in terms of what it means for administrative and legal overhead.”

As an ISG, the MOC will have to register for legal status, file its own tax returns, and obtain necessary insurance. Mills explained that the added responsibilities associated with operating an ISG are a lot for a volunteer-run organization to undertake.

SSMU VP Finance Niall Carolan said that SSMU is willing to cooperate with the MOC with the possibility of reinstating its status as a SSMU club.

“Throughout this [academic] year we have been meeting with [the] MOC to try to find the best structure that works for them and that also works for SSMU,” Carolan said. “That may very well end up being a club. I am happy to keep them as a club as long as the support structure is there for them to succeed.”

SSMU VP Student Life Elaine Patterson plans to dedicate this year to assisting all transitioning student groups so that they will be more stable next year.
“The end goal would be to make sure that the groups transitioning into independent student groups status do become legally recognized by the province of Quebec as separate from SSMU,” Patterson said. “Then from there my goal is just to make sure that transition is as smooth as possible for these groups.”

Art, Arts & Entertainment

The selfless selfie: “Hypotheses” conference discusses narcissism and post-internet art

by Albert Park on

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Since the boom of social media, selfies have gained widespread popularity. It is an art form that is rarely given credibility, often being touted as evidence of the milennial’s supposed narcissism.

Last week, Hypotheses, an arts symposium, hosted a conferenced called “Posting The Self(i.e.): Performing Bodies and Post-Internet Art” at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. At the event, Marina Merlo, PhD Candidate in Film Studies at Université de Montréal, and Estelle Wathieu, M.A. Candidate in Art History at Concordia University, presented their papers, opening up a discussion about performative aspects in photographic selfies and post-Internet art.

In her paper, titled “Performance and Gesture in Selfies: Excellences and Perfections,” Merlo discusses Amalia Ulman’s 2014 work called Excellences and Perfections. In Ulman’s work, which was referred to by The Telegraph as being the “first Instagram masterpiece,” the artist performed and photographed a changing persona, and documented it through photos uploaded on an Instagram account. First, she presented a character of an aspiring artist, then a sugarbaby undergoing various issues, such as drug abuse and self-harm, and then showcased a phase of rehabilitation to become a character who enjoys fitness and travelling.

Merlo points out that Ulman’s project is a niche case study regarding concepts related to selfies, such female body image, celebrity culture, and authenticity. However, through her paper and her presentation at the conference, Merlo postured that that Ulman’s “selfie” photos, which are mainly taken in front of mirrors, were not traditional selfies.

“To readily identify a basic or traditional selfie, I argue that two things are important,” said Merlo. “Firstly, the photographer looks knowingly into the camera lens, and secondly, the photographic gesture must be very obvious. It must be clear that the photograph was purposely taken by the person in the picture [….] Considering these criteria, ‘Excellences and Perfections’ does not feature any traditional selfies. [For example] a self-portrait taken in the mirror makes the photographic gesture much less obvious, and the bodily interaction with the camera is drastically modified.”

In dissecting these differences, Merlo argues that a selfie is a voluntary and deliberate action. Through exploring the performative nature of selfies, she proposes that the common conception of the narcissistic nature of selfies is complicated. 

Merlo noted the difference between the selfie phenomenon and the myth of Narcissus, in which the Greek hunter falls in love with the image of himself in a reflecting pool. Although Narcissus is seeing his own image, at first he doesn’t recognize himself. 

“Narcissus is, therefore, othered as an image to a point that he believes it is someone else he is seeing [….]” Merlo said. “This form of mythical narcissism does not properly describe what is happening in a selfie, the selfie is always a voluntary action, just like for a performative utterance [….] [A selfie] can’t be an accidental photograph. This is very unlike what Narcissus is doing.”

Wathieu also brought up the topic of selfies in her paper entitled, “From ‘teen-girl tumblr aesthetic' to 'selfie feminism': evolution of the discourse around a complex and ever-evolving network of artists." She postured that the photography of Petra Collins portrays the experiences of racialized women through the lens of white women, thereby reducing the political potential of intersectionality in their project.

In analyzing their work and the political activism behind selfies, Wathieu brought up the topic of selfie feminism. She discussed the 2016 essay Closing the Loop by Aria Dean, where the writer claims that the selfie’s political impact as an act of feminism is limited as the “compounded male, white, and colonialist gazes blur Black women and femmes into oblivion.” Wathieu believes that the act of female self-imaging on the internet is not a cohesive movement that can be analyzed.

“While I agree on [Dean’s] arguments [….] I believe that [her] vision was biased, as soon as she named her object of study, selfie feminism, reducing it to politics of representation,” she said. “What I would like to propose today is to reposit this discourse […] and to propose a vision of this body of work as an ever-evolving and complex network more than as a fixed canon.”

Wathieu and Merlo presented different ideas about what a selfie is, and the role it plays in representation and feminine identity. It is clear that selfies are much more than a syndrome of millenial narcissism, and a practice that is difficult to define in current social and political contexts.

 

Errata: An earlier version of this article incorrectly named Estelle Wathieu’s paper as "Intersectionality and Post-Internet Art: Petra Collins and Lula Hyers” instead of the correct title, which is “From ‘teen-girl tumblr aesthetic' to 'selfie feminism': evolution of the discourse around a complex and ever-evolving network of artists." Furthermore, the earlier version incorrectly associated a point Wathieu made about the political potential of intersectionality of the works of Petra Collins to the work of Lula Hyers as well. The McGill Tribune regrets these errors.

Science & Technology

4 tips for a better night’s sleep

by Albert Park on

More in Science & Technology:

Ever wake up feeling tired after getting over eight hours of sleep? You’re not alone. For an activity that we have been doing since we were born, sleeping—at least, sleeping effectively—is not always easy. There are a variety of factors and processes that can make it difficult for students to get a good night’s rest. Fortunately, there are numerous steps individuals can take and changes they can make to ensure that they will be more successful falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking up feeling well-rested.

 

Avoid laptops and smartphones before bedtime

Your penchant for watching lecture recordings and looking at memes on Instagram before bedtime is most definitely impeding your ability to get a good night’s sleep.  According to findings by the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the blue and white light emitted by digital screens can disrupt the body’s release of melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that helps people sleep by maintaining their circadian rhythm—which is essentially a 24-hour biological clock programmed in the human body that dictates when one feels tired or awake.

Within an hour or so before bedtime, try doing something that doesn’t involve technology, such as studying with your textbook, flipping through a magazine, or reading the school newspaper.

 

Limit exposure to sound

Residents of crowded cities like Montreal are constantly exposed to a barrage of sounds and noises. While the screeching of cars and the enthusiastic shouting of bar-goers on St-Laurent might seem like minor annoyances initially, they could be seriously affecting students’ ability to sleep properly at night. Noise does not need to fully awaken a person in order to disturb their sleep cycle. According to the World Health Organization’s Night Noise Guidelines, even a sound as low as 30 to 40 decibels—such as quiet whispering—has the potential to cause sleep disturbance.

Make sure that all of your windows and doors are closed to limit the amount of external noises that can seep into your bedroom. For people living in particularly loud neighbourhoods, listening to white noise—steady, unvarying, unobtrusive sound—during sleep might be helpful. A study published in Sleep Medicine revealed that white noise increased sound arousal thresholds in sleeping individuals exposed to recorded sounds. In other words, white noise helps mask the effect of other, more disruptive noises. Check out Spotify’s white noise playlist or one of the many free apps available online.

 

Hands off the snooze button

Although it is a pleasurably cathartic experience to hit the snooze button repeatedly in the morning, (especially while dreading the walk to class through a labyrinth of construction), this is a practice that prevents people from feeling fully awake in the morning. By pressing the snooze button and drifting off into mini-sleep, the brain’s sleep cycle starts all over again.

A typical sleep cycle lasts between 90 to 120 minutes, making it impossible for anyone to complete a cycle in a standard snooze period. Therefore, the body is unable to reach a meaningfully relaxing stage of sleep. Even worse, the circadian rhythm ends up being confused in the process. The result is that after the snooze, people typically wake up feeling even groggier.

Instead, try using a smart alarm clock. There are various smartphone apps in this category, like Azumio’s Sleep Time, that generally work by tracking the user’s sleep cycle with the phone’s accelerometer. The alarm goes off within a period of a few minutes before the set time, specifically when the user is not in a phase of deep sleep, essentially waking the person up when their body is naturally ready.

 

Beds are for sleeping

The bed is a very comfortable piece of furniture—it is tempting to plop into it to enjoy a plethora of non-sleeping activities, such as watching Netflix, reading, or texting. Simple Pavlovian conditioning explains why this habit is not conducive to falling asleep at night. In order to fall asleep faster after getting into bed, people need to associate their bed, a neutral stimulus, with sleep, a biological stimulus. Reinforcing this connection elicits a response of sleepiness when somebody climbs into bed. By mentally linking the bed with another activity, such as watching shows or texting, the person weakens this conditioning.

The simple tip to overcome this: Don’t watch Netflix in bed.

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