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2016-2017 NBA Season Preview

by Arman Bery, Wasif Hussain, Weiyu Dang, Gabriel Rincon & Zikomo Smith on

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Eastern Conference

Southeast Division

Atlanta Hawks

Replacing Al Horford with Dwight Howard is a downgrade both on and off the court. Howard is no longer a top-tier centre and has been nothing but a headache for his coaches and teammates in recent seasons. With the transition to the flashy and mercurial Dennis Schroder as point guard, growing pains will be inevitable. The Hawks will struggle at times, endure a handful of Dwight-mares, but ultimately still have the pieces in place to sneak into the playoffs in a top-heavy Eastern Conference.

Charlotte Hornets

Despite last season’s optimism—when the team almost won fifty games and point-guard Kemba Walker evolved into a stud—the Hornets now lack depth following the departures of quality backup Jeremy Lin and the gritty Courtney Lee. Adding Roy Hibbert and Ramon Sessions would have helped the team in 2012, but it is not 2012, and the Hornets will regress. Michael Jordan will again be disappointed as Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will trample his team if they manage to make the playoffs.

Washington Wizards

Aiming for backcourt stability, the Wizards gave Bradley Beal an undeservedly monster-sized contract–underappreciated point-guard John Wall says he’s not jealous. The two guards make up the Wizards’ backcourt, but with Beal’s streaky shooting, this duo might have a strenuous relationship. Without adding any legitimate starters, Washington is stalling and shouldn’t improve from last year’s .500 record, falling short of the playoffs and wasting another year with Wall’s affordable contract on the books.

 Orlando Magic

The Magic are trying to rebuild like it’s 2009 with two starting centres. Trading for forward Serge Ibaka in exchange for Victor Oladipo was a smart move. Adding Bismack Biyombo, however, was redundant and ignored the fact that no one on the Magic can shoot. Besides these two seven-footers, the Magic hope that Elfrid Payton and Evan Fournier will improve and that Aaron Gordon will learn the basketball skills to match his athleticism. The paint defense will be impenetrable, but useless if the team can’t make a three pointer.

Miami Heat

Dwyane Wade fled, Joe Johnson left, and Chris Bosh appears to be done. Yet, things aren’t so bad in Miami. Hassan Whiteside is locked in as the new franchise superstar, Justise Winslow resembles a young Ron Artest, and Dion Waiters is out of Russell Westbrook’s shadow. Erik Spoelstra is still a solid coach and his team will most likely rebuild effectively. Still, the Heat are probably a few years away from contention and will be in the lottery this season.

 

Atlantic Division

Boston Celtics

With a bevy of young talent, the Celtics have finally left obscurity and returned to form as NBA Finals contenders. Under the tutelage of Head Coach Brad Stevens, Boston has become an attractive place for marquee free agents. In a top-heavy Eastern Conference, the addition of Al Horford will probably help them eclipse Toronto for the top spot in the Atlantic and the second seed in the Eastern Conference come playoff time.

Toronto Raptors

The Raptors have the tough task of trying to top the Celtics for their fourth straight Atlantic Division championship. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan have shown that they can carry a team to the playoffs, but they still lack that last piece to bring them to the NBA finals. If they can trade for another superstar, they might be able to break the Cleveland Cavaliers’ two-year streak as Eastern Conference champions. 

New York Knicks

If we could turn back the clock by six years, the Knicks’ current roster would challenge this season’s Golden State Warriors on superstar-power alone. Unfortunately, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Carmelo Anthony are all well past their NBA primes. Although  Rose and Noah could see their roles reduced this year, they should help the development of sophmore big Kristaps Porzingis as he transitions into a bonafide star. However, expect the Knicks to once again be a middling team this year.

Philadelphia 76ers

The eternal rebuild continues in Philadelphia. There was a time when the City of Brotherly Love believed in “The Process,” but that time has long passed. The multi-year tanking project that acquired Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, Dario Saric, and Jahlil Okafor has yielded nothing. 2016 pick Ben Simmons will not fix this trend. Another lost season and high lottery pick is on the cards for the 76ers.

Brooklyn Nets

Brooklyn might be the only team worse than Philadelphia this year. Expectations are so low, a 15-win season would be seen as a success. Frankly, if the NBA had relegation the Nets might not even win the D-League. This team is totally unwatchable; it won’t even get to use their inevitably high draft pick because they traded it to Boston three years ago. Nets fans, we pray for you.

 

Central Division

Cleveland Cavaliers

Winning back-to-back championships is one of the greatest achievements in sports. However, the Cavaliers shouldn’t have any issues with the pressure. They didn’t make any flashy moves like Golden State, but they remain the class of the Eastern Conference by a considerable margin. Barring injuries, look for Cleveland to be right back in the NBA Finals this year–LeBron James’ seventh in a row.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers had a busy off-season acquiring veteran players and found a potential franchise pillar in sophomore centre Myles Turner. Forward Paul George is one of the league’s five best players, and will push the high calibre attack offence. Head Coach Nate McMillan has the depth to rotate nine or ten players on a nightly basis. A second or third playoff seed would keep the Pacers out of Cleveland’s way till the Conference Finals.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls made big splashes in the off-season, shipping away former-MVP Derrick Rose, then signing point-guard Rajon Rondo and hometown superstar Dwyane Wade. The days of trying to get past LeBron James in the playoffs seem long gone, as Chicago shifts their focus to just trying to make the postseason. Their inability to shoot will relegate the Bulls to a fringe playoff team.

Detroit Pistons

Last year, Detroit laid the foundation to become a perennial playoff team. They still have a way to go before becoming big-time contenders—they need to improve their physical skills and gain more playing experience. The Pistons will continue to mimic the style Head Coach Stan Van Gundy used during his tenure with the Orlando Magic–one in, four out–to climb up the ladder in the East.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks will struggle in the 2016-17 season—they didn’t do enough in free agency to improve their team, said goodbye to Michael Carter-Williams in a trade, and lost Kris Middleton to injury. Milwaukee continued their unorthodox, size-oriented style of play and surprisingly drafted 7’1” forward Thon Maker with the 10th pick. The East is too deep for the Bucks to succeed and they will fail to gain much ground on last season’s 33-win finish.

 

Western Conference

Southwest Division

San Antonio Spurs

It’s hard to bet against San Antonio’s coaching staff, but the departures of the legendary Tim Duncan and versatile Boris Diaw have weakened the Spurs’ standing in the Western conference. They will still be a high-seeded contender, but their defence will regress with an ancient roster and reportedly unhappy LaMarcus Aldridge. Expect Kawhi Leonard to be in the MVP discussion and the Spurs to lose in the second round of the playoffs. 

Memphis Grizzlies

Memphis is in basketball purgatory. They are good enough to scrape into the playoffs behind the excellent Mike Conley and the dynamic Chandler Parsons; however, their thin squad is only an injury away from catastrophe and they rely too heavily on ground-and-pound, unathletic big men. Until Memphis commits to better three point shooting, they will never go deep into the playoffs.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks are one of the most intriguing teams in the NBA. If Harrison Barnes overcomes his stage fright, Wes Matthews returns to his gunslinging best, and Andrew Bogut provides the best rim-protection since the Tyson Chandler days, Dallas could go deep in the playoffs. However, those are big ifs. The Mavericks should be content with a mid-seed finish and a second round playoff performance in the twilight of Dirk Nowitzki’s career.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets are still reeling from the dysfunction of last season—they have a poor defence and lack a solid rim protector outside of centre Clint Capela. They hired Head Coach Mike D’Antoni this off-season, but his track record was devalued by his disastrous tenure with the Laker. No doubt Houston’s offence will explode under D’Antoni and the excellent James Harden, but they have not improved enough to aim for anything more than the eighth seed.

New Orleans Pelicans

The Pelicans are too banged up to make serious headway this year. The prodigious Anthony Davis might be healthy, but key players Qunicy Pontdexter, Jrue Holiday, and Tyreke Evans are out to start the season. All eyes are now on exciting rookie Buddy Hield—perhaps the most NBA ready player in this year’s draft. If the Pelicans can get healthy, Davis might drag them to the playoffs; however, that will be a big stretch.

 

Pacific Division

Golden State Warriors

Last year, the Warriors’ four perimeter all-stars had shooting percentages of 38.7, 38.8, 42.5, and 45.4. Anybody who questions their ability to win based on a lack of size or rim protection should refer to those aforementioned percentages. Furthermore, adding Kevin Durant to a team that’s already a perennial championship contender is a scary thought. Pencil in the Warriors atop the Pacific Division, the Western Conference, and the NBA. 

Los Angeles Clippers

Blake Griffin punching a team assistant was symbolic of the frustration of the Clippers’ 2015-2016 season. The same core group returns this year with the addition of Mo Speights and Brandon Bass on the bench, but once again this team will only go as far as their big three can take them. Griffin should have a major bounceback year and guide the Clippers to a top three finish in the Western Conference. 

Sacramento Kings

Rudy Gay described the Kings succinctly: “Basketball hell.” Owner Vivek Ranadive and General Manager Vlade Divac are the most puzzling and groan-inducing front office duo in sports. One bright spot is that Sacramento hired a competent–albeit bristly–Head Coach in Dave Joerger and added some solid veteran players. However, the likely result is another disappointing, playoff-less season—something one should expect when Darren Collison is a starting point guard. 

Phoenix Suns

Every time Phoenix is down 20 or more heading into the fourth quarter, find hope in the fact that they have Devin Booker. The team will have massive growing pains as they try and develop rookies Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender, but the backcourt duo of Eric Bledsoe and Booker will be explosive. The Suns will demonstrate a lot of promise—they have a solid foundation to build from after all—until owner Robert Sarver inevitably finds a way to destroy it. 

Los Angeles Lakers

Luke Walton’s surfer boy demeanor and D’Angelo Russell’s brimming confidence has Lakers fans more optimistic than they have been in the last few years. However, do not mistake this positive sentiment as anything more than hot air. This is a team trying to transition from the oppressive and demoralizing coaching tenure of Byron Scott with a slew of young, undeveloped players. The Lakers will finish as bottom feeders in the Western Conference. 

 

Northwest Division

Portland Trail Blazers

With one of the league’s best starting backcourts, Portland could make a splash this season. Point guard Damian Lillard doesn’t receive enough appreciation around the league and will be on a tear this year trying to establish himself as one of the game’s best. The Blazers didn’t make many moves in the off-season aside from overpaying for Evan Turner and Allen Crabbe, but they didn’t lose anyone either. Don’t be surprised if they win the division. 

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves will be one of the most exciting teams to watch this season. Karl Anthony-Towns and Andrew Wiggins are two of the league’s best young players, and Zach Lavine is an athletic freak. Don’t forget that new Head Coach Tom Thibodeau was Derrick Rose’s coach when he won an MVP at just 22 years old. He might be the perfect coach to lead this young, athletic team to a dark horse playoff run.

 Oklahoma City Thunder

Oklahoma will take the biggest step back of any team this season due to the exit of their former MVP Kevin Durant. When they lost Durant to injury two years ago, Russell Westbrook was unstoppable on the court, but he couldn’t will his team into the playoffs–the likely outcome this season. Look for Westbrook to compete for MVP, but don’t bet on much more from the Thunder.

Utah Jazz

With a premier young core in Derrick Favours, Rudy Gobert, and Gordon Hayward, the Jazz may jump a few of the aging Western Conference teams and make the playoffs this year. They’ve improved their depth with the addition of Joe Johnson and George Hill without losing any key pieces. These signings may be the boost needed to make the playoffs; however, don’t expect them to make it out of the first round.

Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets are a very young team with incredible front court depth and not much else. Along with their youth movement, there are some valuable aging pieces—namely, Kenneth Faried and Danilo Gallinari—that could be moved for draft some picks this year. They have some exciting pieces in Emmanuel Mudiay, Nikola Jokic, and rookie Juancho Hernangomez, but unless they take a spectacular leap forward in their development, the Nuggets will once again be under .500.

 

Hear Raptors Analyst Paul Jones' take on this upcoming season in the latest McGill Tribune Sports podcast. 

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Features

Discussing Academic Freedom At McGill

by David Watson on

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“Something strange is happening at America's colleges and universities.” So began the provocative cover story of The Atlantic's September 2015 issue. The piece, “The Coddling of the American Mind,” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, dove head-on into a relatively recent, yet highly contentious, debate gripping American campuses—that of campus free speech.

What strange phenomenon had Lukianoff and Haidt identified? “A movement is arising,” they claimed, “undirected and driven largely by students, to scrub campuses clean of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause discomfort or give offense.”

According to the duo—a constitutional lawyer and a social psychologist—students at campuses across the United States were increasingly calling for censorship surrounding topics that are likely to cause offence, and therefore emotional distress, to some students.

In the year since The Atlantic story ran, the debate over controversial speech on campuses has only intensified. At Yale, students called on two faculty members to resign after one sent an email to students questioning the need for a warning about culturally insensitive Halloween costumes. Emory University was divided in the spring after pro-Trump messages were chalked on campus. This September, students at the University of Chicago expressed outrage after their Dean of Students wrote in a welcome letter that his institution's commitment to academic freedom meant it opposed safe spaces and trigger warnings.

In each case, the debate is seemingly polarized between two camps. On one side are those arguing that universities need to prioritize the feelings and experiences of students, and rid campuses of offensive expression that could threaten students' emotional well-being. Opposing them are those who claim that freedom of expression is essential to preserve the university's role as an intellectual space of discussion and open debate.

Off the Board, Opinion

Marijuana legalization poses significant risks for youth

by Natalie Vineberg on

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One of Justin Trudeau’s flashiest policies has been his promise to legalize marijuana. Taking advantage of 4/20 this past April, his government announced that it will be instated in the spring of 2017—only one year later. We’re halfway through that time, and his policy remains vague and shallow.

Trudeau is waiting on results from the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation, but the lack of information this close to its proposed implementation is unsettling. One of the most glaring gaps is that the Liberal government’s website doesn’t explain how it plans to keep the drug out of the hands of youth—it offers no details, and only asks for a signature in support. When discussing how legalization should be accomplished, Trudeau must clarify how he intends to protect youth from excessive marijuana use and be committed to educating them on the adverse health effects and safety risks.

Marijuana has been condemned since the days of Reefer Madness and Harry J. Anslinger, the first commissioner of the US Federal Bureau of Narcotics, who claimed that marijuana was “a short cut to the insane asylum” in the 1930s. These tactics were undoubtedly excessive and uninformed, and may have led to the general distrust of anti-drug data. However, there is increasingly concerning evidence of the negative effects marijuana can have on young people, and Trudeau’s motion thus far seems to do nothing to help prevent these negative effects.

Marijuana use can have severely damaging effects on brain development beyond teenage years. Researchers from the University of Missouri and the University of Kansas Medical Centre found that marijuana users overall are more likely to be hospitalized for stroke than non-users. Significantly, the risk of stroke increases by 126 per cent for users aged 25-34—the greatest for any age group. Strokes are usually only a risk for those over 55—not those under age 34. This threat more than doubles the risk within a population that should otherwise be relatively unaffected. Furthermore, according to a study published in The Schizophrenia Bulletin, early marijuana usage can be damaging to the quality of life of those predisposed to psychosis. Cannabis use before the age of 15, the frequency of use, and the potency of the drug can cause the first symptoms of psychosis to appear up to six years earlier than they would have in non-users, setting in as early as mid-20s. These are crucial years in which those predisposed to psychosis can develop strong support systems or career skills to be better prepared for this onset. Ensuring that youth at risk don’t smoke marijuana is essential to preserving those years.

When discussing how legalization should be accomplished, Trudeau must clarify how he intends to protect youth from excessive marijuana use and be committed to educating them on the adverse health effects and safety risks.

The potential legalization of marijuana also poses significant risks for youth in terms of car accidents. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that motor vehicle fatalities were the highest cause of accident deaths among teenagers between 1999 and 2006, making it vital to account for any increased risk to do with marijuana use. While the risks associated with driving under the influence of marijuana don’t seem to be as great as with alcohol, those who drive while high have trouble staying in their lane and exhibit slower reaction times than sober drivers. In the year after marijuana was legalized in Washington, fatal car crashes among drivers who had marijuana in their system were reported to have doubled. Although this link does not necessarily imply causation, the fact remains that drivers testing positive for THC in their system did increase in that year. It is imperative to better understand these effects before legalizing marijuana and to develop an efficient method of testing for it.

If able-minded, healthy adults want to smoke safely in their own homes, that’s a choice they should be able to make for themselves. But, this is not the population that matters when it comes to the risks marijuana poses. Considering that the Liberal government claims that our current prohibition does not help youth, its lack of a clear plan to deal with this problem is disturbing. One of the biggest perceived advantages of legalization is that it will provide safer access to marijuana for those that want it, but young users below the legal age will still be left to find it in unsafe ways. Even if it’s not a deciding factor, the significant health and safety risks facing youth need to be a greater part of the conversation before the policy’s implementation. Trudeau’s policy, from the little information provided, seems to be hopping on the bandwagon without any plan to deal with the biggest problems the country currently faces.

 

 

Natalie Vineberg is the Creative Director at the McGill Tribune. She is a Capricorn and a U3 Cultural Studies and Psychology student. She cried for the whole two hours of the One Tree Hill series finale.

 

@ | [email protected]

 

 

Science & Technology

McGill researcher finds lying becomes more complex with age

by Erin Dwyer on

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Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology Professor Dr. Victoria Talwar remembers that when she was a child, her mother mistakenly replaced salt with sugar in a blueberry pie. Her friend, who had stayed for dinner, was the first to eat the pie. She ate the entire slice, bite by bite, without spitting it out in disgust. She didn’t say a word and waited for others to try the disaster themselves.

Talwar’s friend told a lie. Was this wrong and should she have been punished? It depends on the age of who you ask.

As the lead author, Talwar recently published a study in the International Review of Pragmatics which found that as children’s cognitive abilities progress with age, so does their ability to think critically about the lies they tell and the consequences.

Talwar and her team showed children, aged six to twelve years old, short vignettes depicting a protagonist puppet telling a lie or truth about their own behaviour or another character’s. The puppet either lied to cause harm to another character, lied to protect another character, or told a truth to report another character’s behaviour—commonly known by children as “tattling.”

“We were interested in not only whether they thought different statements were lies or truths, but how they would evaluate them and if these lies should be punished or rewarded,” Talwar said.

The study found that children understand from a young age that lying is wrong and telling the truth is right. This binary notion often continues until approximately age nine, when things begin to get more complex. Although they still believe lying is wrong, older children don’t solely take the lie at face value, but also consider the intentions behind the lie.

In addition to assessing children’s lying behaviour, her research team collected information on the role parents play in the development of lying versus truth-telling.

“Research with adults tells us that they are telling a couple of lies a day, and some of these are to their kids,” Talwar said. “It’s the classic case of wanting to leave the grocery store, but your kids want potato chips. You tell them that the store has none left as an easy way to get them to leave.”

Children hear and see their parents acting in a hypocritical fashion all the time. For example, telling a telemarketer you’re just a house guest or lying about your children’s age to get into a museum for free.

The notion of conditional lying can be confusing to children. Although Talwar realizes most children were found to have a clear understanding of what is a punishable lie—to harm others—and what is an admissible one—to protect others—many situations are ambiguous.

In the case of tattling, this ambiguity can have significant implications.

“Younger children saw black and white, while older children saw more conflict because, although they are telling the truth, someone else is landing in hot water,” Talwar explained. “As a result, they were much less likely to reward this form of truth-telling behaviour than younger children [….] We want children to feel like they can tell us about other people’s transgressions, especially if it involves bullying.”

As a result of the study, Talwar contends that parents should have more in-depth discussion with children about lying and the intentions behind lies as early as the age of six. By that time, Talwar argues, children have developed a strong theory of mind and lying behaviour emerges. She predicts that discussing the idea that lying has many shades of grey will help children make better decisions about when to lie and when to tell the truth as adults.

News

SSMU and PGSS respond to McGill Draft Policy against Sexual Violence

by Raseel Ghoul on

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On Oct. 12, the Student’s Society of McGill University (SSMU) and the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) released a collaborative consultation report outlining the results of focus groups conducted to collect comments and recommendations on the university’s Draft Policy against Sexual Violence. The focus groups were conducted between Sept. 23 and Oct. 3 to give students the opportunity to share their thoughts on the draft policy. 

According to Associate Provost (Policies, Procedures and Equity) and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law Angela Campbell, the McGill Administration has been receptive to student recommendations regarding the policy. 

“Student opinions are important to us, this is why the McGill Provost and Vice Principal of McGill University, Christopher Manfredi, decided to fund the focus groups [that the SSMU and PGGS held to collect student recommendations in efforts to improve the policy],” Campbell said. “Many of the recommendations put forth are feasible and in line with the views of the administration. They are helping us build a policy as robust for the university as possible. They are crucial to moving an effective policy forward.”

The focus groups were run by trained members of the Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS), a volunteer-run organization that provides support to sexual assault survivors on campus. Eight sessions were held, with two closed groups for sexual violence survivors and an additional group on the MacDonald Campus; approximately 25 students participated. 

According to PGSS Equity Commissioner Angela Yu, it was important that focus groups were held in order to ensure that the policy would be representative of all students at McGill. 

“The reason behind the recommendations was to stress the fact that broader community feedback in regards to the policy was needed, one that focused specifically on experiences and survivors,” Yu said.“It’s a policy that needs to be both proactive and reactive.”

Making resources readily available for survivors is essential, Yu explained. She stated that the policy should act as a guide for anyone who has experienced sexual violence.

“The policy needs to outline what resources exist on campus, so survivors know and can use what’s available to them,” Yu said. “A huge issue is that most people aren’t clear on where to go or who to speak to.” 

Yu also stressed that the policy needs to consider all forms of sexual violence and be accountable for preventing such violence in the community.

“We want the policy to recognize the nature of sexual violence and that it affects people [differently],” Yu said. “The university needs to understand that and be accountable to everyone, have a centralized recording procedure, and articulate the consequences of sexual violence clearly to the community.”

According to SSMU Vice-President (VP) University Affairs Erin Sobat, the policy needs to be as transparent to students as possible. This will allow the community, to understand the way in which reporting cases should be handled. 

“It’s important to make clear that the intention of the policy is to centralize the process for disclosures and reports, the ability to get support without a filing process,” Sobat said. “There needs to be a strong [outline of] what outcomes are available to those affected.”

Sobat also felt that listening to students and survivors was the only way for the administration to ensure the effectiveness of the new policy. 

“We thought it was really important to hear from students and survivors who have [navigated]  reporting sexual violence issues, so that the report meets the needs of those most affected,” Sobat added. 

The Policy against Sexual Violence will be presented to Senate in November or December.
 

Recipes, Student Life

Recipe: Fall treats made with leftover parts of any pumpkin

by Eloise Haliburton on

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One glance at the trees on Mount Royal is enough to know that fall is here. The most cozy season of the year has arrived, signaling students to unpack their sweaters, pull out their toques, and enjoy the beautiful colours of fall before winter sets in. One key autumnal staple in both diet and home décor is the pumpkin. Whether used for pies or jack-o’-lanterns, there always seems to be some part of the pumpkin carelessly tossed into the compost. However, what may have otherwise been thoughtlessly thrown away can actually be saved and used to make a delicious snack. To solve your pumpkin waste problems, The Tribune has compiled three new recipes to make the most out of all of your next pumpkin. Carve the top off like you would with a jack-o’-lantern, then separate the seeds, flesh, and skin into three bowls. Make sure the seeds are clean of pumpkin innards.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

(undressedskeleton.tumblr.com)
(undressedskeleton.tumblr.com)

 

Like sunflower seeds, but better. This is a tasty, easy recipe that you can really make your own. Any kind of spices work to season the pumpkin seeds, so get creative!

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F/177° C.

2. Take your cleaned seeds and spread them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

3. Generously sprinkle the seeds with garlic salt, or any other spice mix you like, then bake for 30-45 minutes, shaking occasionally. By the end, the seeds should be dried and crunchy. Let cool, or enjoy right away!

Recipe from Allrecipes.com.

Pumpkin Crisps

(tumblr.com)
(tumblr.com)

 

For this recipe, it’s important to thoroughly wash your pumpkin. You’re going to be eating the skin, so try to remove any dirt and blemishes.

1. Preheat your oven to 400° F/205° C.

2. Cut the pumpkin skins into long thin slices. The thinner the slice the better, since they will curl up when you cook them.

3. Put the skins in a bowl and liberally sprinkle with salt. Toss the strips, then let them sit for 10 minutes.

4. Add a small amount (1 tablespoon, give or take) of olive oil, and toss the skins again. Bake them on a baking pan lined with parchment paper for 25-30 minutes, then serve with soup or your dip of choice.

Recipe from homegrownfun.com. 

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

(life-in-the-lofthouse.com)
(life-in-the-lofthouse.com)

 

These are the best pumpkin cookies you will ever taste. Though this recipe is a bit more complicated than the former recipes, it is still quite easy to make. The texture of these cookies is simultaneously chewy and melt-in-your-mouth, and goes perfectly with a cup of tea on a rainy fall day.

Here’s what you need:

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ cups white sugar
  • 1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon groud nutmeg
  • 2 cups icing sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  • ½ cup butter, softened

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F/191° C.

2. Cut the skinned pumpkin in half and place face down on a lined baking tray.

3. Cook for 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until tender.

4. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and mash the flesh in a bowl. If you’re finding it’s a bit stringy, run it through a sieve for smooth pumpkin puree.

5. Once you have that out of the way, get started on the cookies.

6. First, preheat your oven to 350° F/177° C.

7. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream the ½ cup of butter and white sugar. Add the pumpkin, egg, one teaspoon of vanilla extract to the butter, and beat until smooth.

8. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until they are thoroughly combined.

9. Drop spoonfuls on a lined cookie sheet. Flatten slightly and bake for 15-20 minutes.

10. While the cookies are cooling, make the glaze. Combine the icing sugar, milk, melted butter, and the remaining vanilla. If the mixture is too thick, add milk as needed. Once the cookies have cooled, drizzle the icing over each one with a fork and enjoy!

Recipe from Allrecipes.com.

McGill, Montreal, News

New trends in United Nations Peacekeeping: Canadian and Global Perspectives Conference at McGill

by Calvin Trottier-Chi on

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On Oct. 21, the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies (CIPSS), a joint academic body of McGill and the Université de Montreal, hosted a conference titled, “New trends in United Nations Peacekeeping: Canadian and Global Perspectives” to discuss the future of Canadian peacekeeping. The talks primarily focused on how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to re-engage in peacekeeping can be realized. Trudeau’s promise comes almost a decade since Canada last committed troops to a major peacekeeping mission. The speakers included academics, government officials, and representatives of various political organizations.

Canada’s Return to UN Peace Operations

The keynote speaker of the series was Roland Paris, a professor at the University of Ottawa and former senior advisor on Global Affairs and Defence to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Paris discussed why peacekeeping is resurfacing as a Canadian national interest and how it should be further developed.

According to Paris, Canadian peacekeeping operations decreased after several failures in the late 20th century–and Stephen Harper’s opposition–but the idea has remained in the public mind. He drew attention to a CTV poll last month in which 70 per cent of respondents were in favour of peacekeeping, even in combat situations.

“It’s stunning, the degree to which Canadians are attached to the idea of peacekeeping,” Paris said. “It appears to be integral to the ideas that Canadians have about their country’s role in the world.”

In addition to deploying peacekeepers, Paris stressed the importance of non-military aspects of peacekeeping.

“Canada is really in a position to promote the kinds of techniques and governance arrangements that can be used to manage diversity peacefully,” Paris said. “We are a bi-linguistic, multicultural federation that has and continues to manage internal conflict through these institutional structures.”

Paris emphasized that actors should identify in which areas they have comparative advantages in assistance. Canada excels at training local police forces and city planning.

“Canadian cities could be providing practices and expertise to municipal authorities in at-risk developing countries across a whole range of demands,” Paris said. “Cities, not national governments, are the principal service providers to most people. They’re where integration takes place.”

International Peacekeeping and Canada’s Role

Walter Dorn is a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada and at the Canadian Forces College. He argued for the necessity of peacekeepers in providing impartial resolutions to conflicts.

“Neighbours don’t make good peacekeepers, they make good war fighters and interveners,” Dorn said. “Even [Boutros Boutros-Ghali], when he was secretary-general, was not viewed in Somalia as the UN Secretary-General, but as the former minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt and therefore […] as being partisan to the conflict.”

Dorn called upon the Canadian government to rapidly re-engage in peacekeeping operations for moral reasons in addition to tangible worries that foreign conflicts can breed internationally impactful diseases, terrorist groups, and refugee crises.

“Peacekeeping is actually part of prevention because you can prevent the areas where [peacekeepers are] deployed from becoming future Syrias,” Dorn said. “There is a humanitarian imperative that we respond to these conflicts. We can’t just live cozily in Canada and think that these problems won’t come to our own shores.”

There was general concern among the audience about Canada’s slow progress in peacekeeping. Stephane Bekhor, a conference attendee, expressed thoughts on the lack of incentive to participate in peacekeeping. Bekhor also criticized Canadian intervention in Colombia, stating that there are more dire crises overseas.

“As long as the image of Canada as a peacekeeper remains, there will be no pressure,” Bekhor said. “The other thing is economic interests. Canada certainly benefits from its relationship with U.S. trade connections, and by intervening in Colombia and disrupting the narcotics trade, they’re actually promoting their economic status directly across the border.”

McGill, News

SSMU continues to sit in at AVEQ despite failure of affiliation referendum

by Alexia Martel-Desjardins on

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From Oct. 21 to 23, the Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ), a new provincial student federation, held its first mobilization camp at Camp Val Notre Dame in Hérouxville, a town two hours northeast of Montreal. Students from various universities in Quebec, including representatives from the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), attended the event.

According to Kristen Perry, AVEQ coordinator of mobilization and associative development and 2016 McGill Environmental Sciences graduate, the camp is open to all. 

“Any Quebec student is essentially invited to come […],” Perry said. “One of the most important things is building networks, so it’s important for us that it is opened.”

The camp was mostly financed by the AVEQ budget in order to keep prices low and accessible. 

“A lot of funding [from our mobilization and development commission budget] is going towards making [camp] very accessible and very inclusive,” Perry said. “So, the actual cost is kind of by donation, so from $20 to $40, but a lot of schools […] will be reimbursing those donations.”

According to the schedule published on the AVEQ Mobilization Camp website, the topics of the workshops conducted over the weekend included climate and environmental justice, facilitation and mobilization against austerity, as well as adequately addressing sexual assault on university campuses.

“[The] goal is to be training and providing the students with the knowledge and the skills that they need to organize around issues that have been identified as important on campuses and for the whole province,” Perry said. 

Arts Representative to SSMU Igor Sadikov, U3 Arts, participated in the mobilization camp and was surprised by the similarities student activism shares across universities.

“What I found the most interesting is realizing that […] students mobilized sometimes in different ways, in the regions or in Montreal, or in the francophone milieu and in the anglophone sphere, but also at the same time there’s a lot of issues that we share,” Sadikov said.  

A group of SSMU executives participated in the mobilization camp, among them Vice-President (VP) University Affairs Erin Sobat, and VP External Affairs David Aird. Aird facilitated an anti-austerity workshop.

Following the failure of a referendum question to join AVEQ last year, SSMU currently holds an observer position. As an observer, SSMU still benefits from equal representation at AVEQ, and is involved in the decision-making processes. According to Perry, AVEQ aims to include all student associations as much as possible in decision-making processes in order to enable their first year of activities to run more effectively 

“So, essentially for our opening year, we’re being very open to all associations who want to be involved […],” said Perry. “Every association has a vote, so we have two official members that have already affiliated [….] For this year, there is actually very few differences in practice, but technically the affiliated associations have a final say at assemblies,” Perry said. 

Affiliated members of AVEQ pay a fee, receive more significant support on campus mobilization, and have a final say in the members’ assembly decisions. SSMU is currently a non-affiliated member; therefore, AVEQ does not provide resources to work on issues that SSMU is trying to resolve, such as tuition deregulation.

“We don’t pay a fee and we also don’t get the special attention that members get, so we don’t […] per se have the federation looking at McGill in particular,” Aird said. “[For] instance, ancillary fees [.…] So, that is something we are looking into independently, but it does require a lot of capacity.”

On the future possibility of SSMU affiliating with AVEQ, Aird explained that the decision will be based on the level of student interest.

“It all depends on […] how well AVEQ is doing and how different it is from last year, because we did ask the question last year,” Aird said. “[The referendum question] did not pass, but there were a huge amount of abstentions, indicating that people probably didn’t just know what it was and so we are really hoping to get the word out.” 

 

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that SSMU President Ben Ger was in attendance at the AVEQ mobilization camp. In fact, he was unable to attend.

News

Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship hosts public forum on electoral reform at McGill

by Gabriel Rincon on

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On Oct. 20, the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship (CSDC) held a forum on federal electoral reform at McGill's New Residence Hall with the goal of engaging the public in a discussion on possible alternative electoral systems for Canada. Four distinguished academics, Political Science Associate Professor Sven-Oliver Proksch from McGill, Peter Loewen from the University of Toronto, Marc André Bodet from Université Laval, and Laura Stephenson from the University of Western Ontario were invited to participate in the forum. Each panelist proposed an electoral system they thought was best for Canada and debated its merits. The systems discussed were two iterations of a proportional representation (PR) system, a ranked ballot system, and a defence of the current first-past-the-post (FPTP) system.  

In a recent interview with Le Devoir, however, Prime Minister Trudeau has walked back on electoral reform promises. Although the forum was not run by the government, Canadian Minister for Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef attended to promote the government’s commitment to electoral reform.

“My job as Minister for Democratic Institutions, I believe, is to restore the trust and confidence that Canadians have in their democratic institutions […] and ultimately [increase electoral] participation,” Monsef said.

The following debate mainly focused on whether citizens’ votes were well-represented in different formats of elections. Lowen argued that the current FPTP system allows citizens to vote out governments and smooth the transition of power, and, as such, wasn’t in need of an overhaul. On the other hand, Proksch and Stephenson argued that Canadians who vote for smaller parties are not well-represented and are forced to vote strategically for larger parties.

“Canada’s relatively small support for small parties […] is likely muted due to the strategic incentives of the existing system where voters are forced to pick a [large] party in order not to waste a vote in the election,” said Proksch.

Other issues tackled by the panelists included what it meant for a government to be representative and whether a PR system would empower fringe parties, such as the Green Party of Canada. In an electronic poll conducted at the end of the discussion, 50 per cent of the audience favoured the proposed mixed member proportional system presented by Proksch.          

McGill student Priya Dube, U2 Arts, felt the debate was informative on the variety of electoral systems available for Canada.         

“The fact that they're all academics, and the fact that they all went and researched their specific positions beforehand, really led to a more constructive debate,” Dube said. “There was less trying to denounce the other person’s views [and] more of trying to come to a solution.”         

Ben Latour, U3 Arts, praised the panel’s level of expertise. All four panelists hold advanced degrees in political science.

“The overall frame was one of information and defending points of view,” Latour said. “They’re all academics […] they're all very informed about electoral and democratic institutions.”

Alex Smith, U2 Arts, expressed scepticism about the government’s public consultations and whether they would lead to change.

“[The government’s motive is] to look good, generally to look good, [so] we’ll see what happens,” Smith said. “There are pros and cons to every single system, so it’s a hard thing to deal with.”

Dube felt that the government’s commitment is genuine, but that the government would not have time to deliver electoral form by the next election.

“Right now [Trudeau is] doing the grunt work of really learning about what the country needs and wants—there’s clearly a lot of diverging opinions—so it shouldn't be something that’s rushed,” Dube said.

Science & Technology

2016 Lorne Trottier Symposium on Science and the Media discusses the challenge of pseudoscience in reporting

by Cassandra Lee on

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Today it might be bacon, but tomorrow it could be avocados; the public has a macabre obsession with searching for things that may kill us. In the Age of Anxiety, it’s easy to get lost in all the opinions thrown around as fact in the media. The Lorne Trottier Symposium series is held annually by McGill’s Office for Science and Society (OSS). This year, the series focused on Science and the Media: The Challenge of reporting science responsibly. Oct. 17 featured four keynote speakers—all journalists situated right in the heart of the struggle between science and the public’s understanding of it.

Dr. Joe Schwarcz, director of the OSS and moderator of the Trottier Symposium, began the evening by painting a picture of science communication in 2016. With the public facing more media channels than ever before—from Twitter to podcasts, bloggers to Buzzfeed—people have seemingly infinite resources to turn to when in search of answers. As an unfortunate consequence, the consumer is left to decide for themselves if gluten makes them fat or sunscreen gives them cancer. With so many outlets of information, some are bound to be less accurate than others.

One of the more prevalent problems discussed by Schwarcz is how non-experts handle data differently science researchers. Someone may take, for example, the rise of autism and vaccinated children and assume a causal relationship. The rise in autism also correlates with the rise of organic health food consumption, but that does not mean one causes the other.

Julia Belluz, a science writer at Vox, explained the responsibility that the media has for effectively and honestly communicating complicated science. Primary scientific literature is largely inaccessible to the public and therefore scientific journalists must act as the interpreters, relaying true information to patients and policymakers alike.

Belluz’s presentation, “The Dr. Oz problem,” discussed how journalists should handle the “quackery” being sold by media sources, fitness bloggers, and some real medical professionals. Picking out biases in information, finding conflicts of interest, and critically analyzing situational information were all ways in which journalists and informed members of the public could become “BS detectors” in order to bring down those who misinterpret scientific facts.

Erica Johnson from CBS News runs a segment called Go Public in which she and her crew take on modern controversies first hand by visiting holistic health centres and other public science sources in an effort to distinguish truth from non-researched “science” claims.

In her presentation, Johnson discussed the role that the internet plays in awarding false credibility to sources that have not been properly fact-checked. As curious people invest more time into their own health and safety, the internet can be dangerous without a healthy dose of critical thinking. Even then, it’s difficult to weed through what is true and what is not.

Johnson does not come from a science background nor does she believe one is absolutely necessary to be a science journalist. Nevertheless, she agrees that thorough research is vital in order for science writers to act as translators between the jargon-filled world of science and the general public.

At the end of the first evening of presentations, it was clear that both the attendees of the Trottier Symposium and the accomplished speakers are in for a long season of “quack hunting.” In a complicated game of broken telephone from scientific research to the screens of the public, the truth is easily lost along the way.

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