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a, Student Life

An optimistic outlook for the future of McGill student services

by Emma Whitehall on

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On March 11, a group of approximately 30 McGill students and staff gathered together for the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)’s Mental Health Forum in the SSMU Ballroom. A panel of staff representatives, from the various service departments under the umbrella of mental health care, was present, including from Counselling Services, the Mental Health Office, and the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD). After the panellists gave short introductions, the entire event consisted of an open-mic period. 

The first question was informational, inquiring how the massive increase in students seeking their services in the last few years has changed or affected the services themselves. 

“The positive piece is that [with] progressive destigmatization of mental health issues […] students feel more comfortable and more at ease asking for help,” Martha Chamodraka from McGill Counselling Services pointed out. 

Marianne Elmer, a former McGill student who graduated last year, commented on the long wait times that many students experiences with mental health services.

"I had to reach out to the counselling service to be able to withdraw from a course and I was appalled at how stressful and difficult it [was] to get a drop in appointment,” Elmer said. “[I rushed there to] there [to] queue up, only to see all the available slots be allocated within the first few mins of the day's intake."

A far greater demand on mental health services results in significant budgetary challenges, which forces the departments to develop creative solutions in order to maintain high levels of care provision.

OSD Director, Teri Phillips, pointed out that in order to accommodate the far greater numbers of students now registered for their services, they have initiated a model of flexibility in how they meet with students. 

“Students have options around meeting with an advisor in person, through a booked appointment, or we meet with students via Skype as well,” Phillips said. “Engaging with students through those multiple means has been well-received by the students who are accessing our services.”

Phillips also mentioned the OSD’s focus on promoting other student services when appropriate. This sort of focus was common among the representatives from all the other departments as well. 

Another interesting strain on resources that was brought up in the discussion was the university’s policy on the requirement of medical notes when a student is physically ill or their mental health issues have been triggered, preventing them from completing an assignment or writing an exam. It was suggested to be an institutional-level policy issue to address, but not one presenting any opportunities for imminent reform within the mental health offices. The general consensus of the student services representatives present at the forum was that health notes are a waste of valuable resources.

“When we look at a lot of the discussion today around policy and the stressors that are present in the university system, some of the policies that we have in place also act detrimentally on our ability to provide services,” Senior Director of Student Services, Robin Wiltshire, commented, “[…] If we can make the medical notes not required, that would serve the system very well.”

Phoebe Warren, U3 Arts, has used mental health servies to see a psychologist, and also raised concerns about the medical note policy.

“I was […] required to provide proof that I have been seen by a psychiatrist/psychologist in the past [in order to] use both services in my case,” Warren said. “For people who have not been officially diagnosed with learning disabilities or [who have] a history of mental health problems, I imagine this can be extremely frustrating.” 

One of the primary takeaways from the forum was an emphasis on the need to integrate and streamline the various mental health services on campus. During the discussion, Wiltshire noted that there was a need to restructure the entire system to establish a common triage process between services and more importantly, to include a step-care method in treatment. 

“New ideas around service delivery are very important to us to be able to meet the demand, and being more imaginative about the types of offerings that are made to students,” Wiltshire said. “More automation around appointment-making and better collaboration between the units are things we are working on improving.”

In terms of how concrete the plans for change were, Wiltshire said that there is a general deadline to launch the new integrated system for Fall 2016.

According to Jimmy Tan, U2 Neuroscience, the forum was a step forward in ameliorating McGill’s mental health services.

“If we want to transform the landscape of mental health at McGill, we need to start working together as a team,” Tan said. “It can no longer be a phenomenon where clinicians work in one office, students work in another, and faculty works in the other office down the street, and then we meet once every year to catch-up. It needs to be an ongoing collaborative process—and I think the forum was doing just that.”

Sun Astronauts performed at Thursdays (A)Live.
a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

From The Viewpoint: CKUT presents Thursdays (A)Live

by Natasha Michealoff on

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It’s Thursday night, and Gerts is buzzing with the low, steady hum of chatter and laughter. It’s not packed with bar-goers, but the crowd that has congregated this evening is laid back and relaxed, made up of a dozen or so small groups of friends huddled over beers. As host to the last Thursdays (A)Live show of the school year—the monthly music showcase organized by McGill’s radio station CKUT—Gerts is the ideal setting for the night’s batch of musicians, all of whom are Montreal-based solo-artists.

The first act, Desert Bloom, is the solo project of Rachel Nam, the bassist of the band MagicPerm. As the first musician to kick off the night, nervousness was to be expected—but if she was nervou, it didn’t show. Her music was soft and pleasant, a tad unremarkable, and steeped in synthesizers. Impressively, she inspired some audience members sitting closer to the stage to stand up and sway along. At the end of the set, she received a chorus of cheers; clearly, she was among friends and fans.

Next up was Joy Scouts. Her voice, like her predecessor’s, was light and gentle and her performance was decidedly stripped down in comparison to some of her mixed tracks on SoundCloud, the likes of which feature sounds that seem lifted from an 8-bit video game. She kept it simple: Just a girl and a guitar. It was a choice that proved to be effective. Her dressed-down, slightly awkward stage persona was both disarming and endearing alongside her sharp, self-aware lyrics. At the moment, she only has two tracks on her SoundCloud, which is a shame. At this point in the evening, more bar patrons appeared to be warming up to the music, as three pulled up chairs to get closer.      

Third on the list was “bedroom pop” electro-folk act Lonely Boa, made up of fourth-year McGill student Parker Benley and, bizarrely, his “bandmate,” a decapitated mannequin head named Jess. Armed with a laptop, a microphone, and a bass guitar, he kept in the soft-core vein of both previous acts, using pulsing beats and electronic organs to undercut semi-melodic, somber crooning. All the while, Jess gazed out at the crowd atop a speaker, echoing Parker constructed nonchalance. Although his music lacked definitive shape and direction, it was undeniably creative, though upon leaving the stage he did momentarily forget Jess (so much for band camaraderie).

The final act of the evening was Sun Astronauts, a last-minute addition to the lineup, headed by Janice Ngiam (or “Janice Oglandia St Horsington the Third” on her SoundCloud). The history of Janice and Sun Astronauts goes back a few years, with the release of her three-song EP A Little Little in 2011. The titular single of that EP, as it would happen, was a hit in Hong Kong and since then, she has opened for Australian band The Jezabels and Spanish singer-songwriter Russian Red. More recently, she joined The Bollands on tour in China in 2014 and the US last year. With all that under her belt, it comes as no surprise that she was the most confident and self-assured performer, singing with a kind of roughness that translated into soulfulness. Janice used loops to mask the absence of a backup band, and it worked: She filled up the whole space with her sound, and by her last song, a handful of her more attentive listeners were full-on dancing unselfconsciously.

Indeed, Thursday was alive and well at Gerts. Unfortunately, the music will rest until next semester, when local artists will once again return to grace Gerts with their (much appreciated) presence. 

a, Opinion

Ontario must strengthen education systems to equalize opportunity

by Alexandra Harvey on

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The Ontario government is launching a new initiative to make higher education accessible and affordable for all students. In its budget, the provincial government unveiled the Ontario Student Grant—a project aimed at giving all Ontarians equal opportunity to obtain a university degree. Beginning in 2017, students from low-income families (households that earn $50,000 or less per year) will be able to go to university for free. The government’s message here is clear: The right to education should be available to all, regardless of socioeconomic status.

Well, it’s about time. Undergraduate students in Ontario pay the highest average tuition fees in Canada—a whopping $8,691—that is nearly three times the average cost of tuition in Quebec. The financial stress on families can be so burdensome that students are dissuaded from attending university.

The Ontario Student Grant will undoubtedly improve the equality of educational opportunities. Yet the correlation between income and quality of education begins much sooner than post-secondary schooling. Studies have shown that underprivileged students are at an educational disadvantage from as early on as primary school. To truly impact the lives and potential of future students, the government must look to reduce inequalities in primary and secondary levels of education.

In Toronto, the epicentre of income inequality in Ontario, there is a relationship between wealth and test scores in schools.

Socioeconomic inequality impacts education from early childhood. Low-income students are at an inherent disadvantage, and lack many resources for learning. Students that comes from a family in Canada’s top 10 per cent (households with an annual income of $200,000 or more) are likely to have highly educated parents with the ability (and time) to support and encourage them academically. In contrast, a student in Canada’s bottom 10 per cent (households with an annual income of below $30,000) is more likely to have less educated parents that are either unemployed or making minimum wage ($11.25 per hour in Ontario). This student will not experience many of the privileges of the more affluent student.

In theory, under Ontario’s public school system, a wealthy child and a poor child should have equal opportunities to receive an education. Practically, this is not the case. As the income gap widens, neighbourhoods are increasingly defined in terms of socioeconomic status. In Toronto, the epicentre of income inequality in Ontario, there is a relationship between wealth and test scores in schools. High-scoring elementary schools are generally concentrated in wealthier areas, while in low-income neighbourhoods, a larger percentage of students struggle with reading, writing, and math. Sixty per cent of students in the gifted programme come from the three highest income deciles, while a mere 11 per cent come from the three lowest deciles.

Inequitable fundraising also plays a large role in perpetuating discrimination in the education system. In Ontario, public schools in the top 10 per cent fundraise as much money as those in the bottom 81 per cent combined. These schools are able to offer enriched experiences and learning materials, increasing the overall quality of education for students. Students reap the benefits of their parents’ affluence in the form of new iPads for the classroom or expensive overnight field trips, putting those who cannot afford these extra perks at a severe disadvantage. Due to the lack of adequate resources and support, a higher percentage of children in low-income schools take applied courses in high school, limiting their chances of admission into university. The inequality only grows over time.

Students that produce lower test scores or struggle in school as a result of this socioeconomic disadvantage may lack the self-confidence and drive necessary to achieve a university degree. The exceptional students that are able to retain a zest for learning will face limited potential for success. Whether or not tuition is subsidized, students that have not received appropriate teaching will be less likely to be admitted to a prestigious university programme, or have the skills to succeed there if they do get in. Subsidizing tuition provides a bandaid solution to the self-perpetuating issue of inequality that is deeply entrenched in the education system.

With the Ontario Student Grant, the government will uplift the futures of many students. Still, in order to truly equalize the playing field, the government must work to strengthen the education system from the bottom up by ensuring that educational quality is not dependent on the income of children’s parents.

 

 

Alexandra is a U1 student studying Political Science and International Development. She is a proud Torontonian, passionate traveler, and knows all the lyrics to "Bohemian Rhapsody."

 

@McGillTribOp | [email protected]

 

 
a, Student Life

Picture Perfect: Crafting your best LinkedIn photo

by Hailey MacKinnon on

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LinkedIn has become a platform on which thousands of users are able to browse for jobs, apply for employment, and connect with work-related contacts. In addition to beefing up one’s profile with relevant skills and experiences, an important element to consider is that which draws the eye immediately: The profile picture.  

So how important is this photo? According to research published by LinkedIn, profiles with photos are reviewed seven times more often than those without. A profile with a photo can seem like a more complete and polished profile in comparison to seemingly bare profiles without them.  

Additionally, numerous studies, such as one out of Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, have concluded that facial recognition is one of our most developed perceptual skills; it can affect how we judge each other to be trustworthy, aggressive, or competent—all important qualities considered when scouting out potential employees. Bottom line: Your photo is a crucial element of the profile that informs how employers will judge your candidacy.

At the same time, certain photos may actually do a disservice to the user if not chosen appropriately. There are certain LinkedIn photo faux-pas: Photos of users partying, group shots where the user can’t be identified (your face should generally take up to 60 per cent of the photo), ‘selfies,’ and low-quality or outdated pictures. Once these traps have been cleared, there may be more nuance in the types of photos recommended to each individual. 

Like any form of social media, LinkedIn is a powerful tool for job-seekers to brand themselves. In order to strategically market yourself, it is important to figure out what kind of audience you are appealing to, and from there, to define the message you want your profile to send. 

“Obviously [the photo is] going to be relevant to the field you’re applying to,” Catherine Stace, career advisor at McGill Career Planning Service (CaPS), said. “But for a standard, regular job—or corporate environment—it’s a typical headshot with a collared shirt [and] not with a busy background.”  

For other professions, however, there may be more leeway.

“If you’re going to be a researcher in Antarctica, probably the headshot-with-the-suit won’t be appealing—it would be more of a field shot,” Stace said. “Always think of what’s the most appropriate thing.”  

Many users may want to brand themselves in a more unique way than with a simple head shot. Nat Carson, U3 Management, is a photographer who runs his own photography business. He noted that some clients opt for photos that are more personalized: A friend of his who is a wood-worker, for example, took his photo in his woodshop holding props he would traditionally use in his craft. Carson himself has a portrait in the outdoors, because this is a big part of his identity that he wants employers to recognize immediately. 

“I think [a good LinkedIn headshot is] all about trying to make the person’s personality shine through in a photo,” said Carson. “Trying to give someone some character [….] And, of course, it has to be a representative likeness to the person as well, so the employer will recognize you and can start putting a face to your qualities.” 

Ultimately, the mantra ‘Dress for the job you want, not the job you have’ is a guiding principle when choosing a LinkedIn photo.

“This is your professional networking site; it’s not Facebook or any of those other spaces where you’re trying to make friends with people or be part of a social group,” Stace said. “You’re trying to fit into the work atmosphere of the field you’re [pursuing]. So who looks like the person who belongs in the office or in the field […] that’s what you’re looking for.” 

For students looking to spiff up their LinkedIn profiles, there are many resources available on and around the McGill campus. A quick browse of Facebook groups for McGill students, such as Free & For Sale or Jobs & Internships, reveals many student photographers who will lend their photography services at a more affordable rate than other professional businesses. Another option is PhotoFund, a student-run, non-profit organization founded by a McGill student, Derek Liu. One hundred per cent of the organization’s proceeds go to the Herbie Fund, a branch of the SickKid’s foundation in Toronto. Many of these services will edit photos after they have been taken, so users can be sure to put their best face forward when presenting themselves to employers. 

a, McGill, News

McGill conference discusses Truth and Reconciliation

by Calvin Trottier-Chi on

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As a large part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) spent six years documenting the suffering caused by the residential school experience. The TRC published its final report in 2015, but consideration of the ongoing legacy of reconciliation continued with the McGill organized conference on March 9. 

Panellists discussed the TRC and the potential for future resolutions with keynote speaker Phil Fontaine. 

Reconciliatory practices

Fontaine is a member of the Order of Canada, a former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, and a residential school survivor. For Fontaine, reconciliation needs to be considered beyond its basic definition.

“The word reconciliation is thrown around, in my opinion, a bit too easily,” Fontaine said. “For both the victim and the perpetrator, reconciliation must generate a positive feeling of satisfaction that the burden of experiencing the wrong has been recognized.”

Fontaine was one of the indigenous leaders present during prime minister Stephen Harper’s 2008 official apology for the government’s role in the residential school system.

“In my view, Canada, at that moment, came of age,” Fontaine said. “It was up to each survivor to say Yes I accept that the apology given that day was sincere, and with those words I’ll be able to move on with my life, to a point which I can actually feel that I’ve healed from this experience.”

While Fontaine was optimistic about the future, he recognized that poverty is a debilitating challenge for many indigenous people.

“The biggest challenge facing Canada is First Nations poverty,” Fontaine said. “It’s a stain on Canada’s reputation internationally. [It’s] poverty that paralyzes communities and families and individuals. It is all over this beautiful, wonderful country.”

Hopes for the future

Douglas White, the director of the Centre for Pre-Confederation Treaties and Reconciliation at Vancouver Island, spoke of his beliefs about securing a better future for indigenous people.

“Knowledge of the way my mother was treated in that school […] creates unbelievable, insurmountable personal obstacles for me to even contemplate the idea of reconciliation,” White said. “[But] is it justice that we need, or is it reconciliation that we want to build for future generations?”

In closing the conference, White expanded upon how reconciliation can benefit Canada as a whole.

“I think about what I want for my children and grandchildren,” White said. “What I want for them is to be loved and love other people in this country. Not to tolerate them, not to go to our respective corners and stop hurting each other, but to be wrapped up and engaged in each other’s lives.”

Communities moving forward

McGill Law Professor Payam Akhavan, who chaired the conference and was previously a United Nations Human Rights official, described the necessity of fully addressing indigenous issues.

“I never imagined that we would have right here in Canada, in our own midst, such deep wounds that need healing,” Akhavan said. “If we want to exercise leadership at the United Nations on human rights issues around the world, first we have to clean up our own backyard.”

Akhavan explained that reconciliation is a grassroots issue that affects all Canadians, and commended McGill’s involvement.

“I think that this issue is very much alive in the minds of the McGill community, right here in the Law Faculty,” Akhavan said. “I think we overestimate the power of political leaders and underestimate the power of ordinary people to bring about change.”

a, Off the Board, Opinion

Women’s opportunities hindered by lack of national childcare policy

by Laura Hanrahan on

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During his 2015 campaign, Justin Trudeau made hundreds of promises to Canadian voters—one was the creation of a framework for a national childcare policy within the first 100 days of a Liberal government; however, more than four months after assuming office, Trudeau has not delivered on this promise. Alleviating the burden of child care will improve women’s ability to access career opportunities. With Canada’s gender wage gap of women to men remaining below 70 cents to the dollar—largely due to women working in part-time, temporary, and lower level jobs due to the demands of family care—the Liberal government needs to take action immediately. Despite the fact that subsidized child care has been offered to a limited extent in Canada with a relative degree of success, the government needs to look elsewhere for the model upon which they will base their national policy.

Currently, Quebec is the only province in Canada to offer a government subsidized child care program. The provincial government has been lauded for its forward-thinking initiative, which was established in fall 1997. Initially costing users a flat-rate of $7 per child, per day, Quebec child care now comes at a cost of $7.55 with an additional sliding-scale system tax for families with an income over $50,545. Since its implementation, employment rate for Quebec women doubled, poverty rates dropped by 14 per cent, while the GDP rose by 1.7 per cent. Due to these successes, it has been promoted as the system which should be used throughout all of Canada. The Quebec system, however, has its fair share of shortcomings that cannot be overlooked. The issues that it has already experienced call into question its long-term viability, making it infeasible to implement, as is, at the national level.

 

 

Rather than using the framework that has been in place in Quebec, Canada needs to look to other countries that have successfully implemented a national childcare policy over an extended period of time as examples of what is possible at the national level.

While many are suggesting that Quebec’s plan be implemented throughout every province, it is worrying to think about the effects that a mismanaged system implemented at the national level could have. A 2005 study of the quality of Quebec childcare facilities reported 61 per cent having an overall quality of “minimal,” with 12 per cent rated as inadequate and 27 per cent as good. Additionally, it is individuals with higher incomes—over $60,000—who reap the greatest benefits of low flat-rade childcare. A 2000 study showed that while these higher earning income families represented a minority of children in Quebec, they accounted for more than 58 per cent of children in subsidized child care centres. This demonstrates an inherent issue in the Quebec system, and an oversight in the quality of the programs that are being offered.

Rather than using the framework that has been in place in Quebec, Canada needs to look to other countries that have successfully implemented a national childcare policy over an extended period of time as examples of what is possible at the national level. Sweden, which established its childcare system more than 40 years ago, operates full-day subsidized child care facilities, with parental fees that are directly proportional to income, and inversely proportional to the number of children in a family. Fees are capped at 1,260 Swedish Krona ($200 CAD) per month. By using a proportional scale, as opposed to Quebec’s fixed-rate base fee, it makes childcare infinitely more accessible to all income levels. Sweden has seen this, with 55 per cent of children under three and 96 per cent of children between three and six enrolled in child care, which is well above the European Union’s target for child care provisions. Consequently, Sweden’s male and female employment rates are nearly equal, at 76.5 percent and 73.5 per cent, respectively, and the gender wage gap is below the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development average of 15 per cent—while Canada’s is double that rate.

Sweden’s method, which has clearly proven to be successful, needs to be the basis off of which Canada builds its framework. With its ability to offer both genders more equal employment opportunities, the implementation of a national child care policy is something that Canada cannot ignore or push back any longer.

 

 

a, Opinion

Unpaid internships offer hard choices for undergrads

by Diana Little on

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With the end of the semester looming, many students are weighing the merits of a prestigious but profitless internship against the benefits of a summer income. Luckily, McGill provides many essential services such as the Arts Internship Office (AIO) and Career Planning Service (CaPS) that can make the search easier. That said, McGill is unfortunately ill-equipped to help students who are unable to justify working for free, as the internships it offers are largely unpaid and jobs on campus are competitive. There are also a lack of internship opportunities within McGill itself. To fill this gap on campus, programs like the AIO funnel students into external organizations, whereby students in certain departments have to pick and choose between internships that may be only partially relevant to their field of study. While these organizations are integral to student life and experience, McGill nevertheless needs to foster opportunities within the campus by providing relevant, research-based internships or more student jobs.

Although many students have resigned themselves to the fact that ‘internship’ is almost always synonymous with ‘free labour,’ internships nonetheless remain luxury goods—ones that most students simply can’t afford. While measures like the Arts Internship Awards attempt to mitigate the financial strain, the provision of internships is particularly at risk after a recent series of provincial budget cuts. As a result, many students instead choose to find summer employment at camps, restaurants, and cafes, which, though offering a wage and a certain degree of experience, are oftentimes not standouts on a CV and don’t offer the same type of professional growth.

Given the sheer number of departments and unique fields that are included under the ‘Arts’ heading, it’s understandably difficult to find internships that meet everyone’s individual needs.

While it’s not necessarily within McGill’s jurisdiction to subsidize students’ internships, it could increase student employment opportunities so that students can work on their CVs and improve their financial stability both in the summer and during the school year. For students who require a summer income but are also looking to embellish their resumes, affiliations with the university can provide a middle ground between the financial pragmatism of a job and the prestige of an internship. Jobs offered by the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) or the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) particularly help merge this gap, as the positions largely deal with organizational and administrative tasks commonly found in office-based internships. Moreover, campus jobs provide employment for many international or anglophone students who don’t meet Quebec’s bilingual requirement.

For students who do pursue internships, there is the added issue of finding an internship that suits one’s interests and is relevant to his or her field of study. While the AIO offers a wide variety of internships, some departmental headings seem to offer more opportunities than others. On the other hand, the AIO Awards program is available for students who find their own internships as well. That said, given the sheer number of departments and unique fields that are included under the ‘Arts’ heading, it’s understandably difficult to find internships that meet everyone’s individual needs. As an alternative, McGill could support more research-based internships within its own departments. Although certain departments and faculties offer such opportunities, such as the Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering (SURE) program and the Arts Undergraduate Research Internship Award (ARIA) program, these positions are only available to a select number of students. Likewise, these positions are not necessarily regulated by McGill itself, but subject to the department or individual professor’s varying resources. Given their lack of uniformity, these opportunities are often even less accessible than external internships. If McGill were to invest in making these kinds of research internships permanent, and regulated fixtures within departments, students would have an opportunity to work directly in their fields (which would not only embellish their resumes but also allow them to employ and enhance the skills needed for their studies).

Although an internship might look great on a resume or CV, they disadvantage those students who simply cannot afford to work for free, but could nonetheless benefit greatly from the work experience later in life. In order to combat the selectivity and inequality of summer internships, McGill should foster more student employment and internship opportunities within the university itself.

 

 

Embrace of the serpent
a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Movie Review: Embrace of the Serpent

by Eric Noble-Marks on

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After an Oscar season that was packed to the brim with survivalist epics, viewers could be forgiven for not wanting to see yet another “man vs. nature,” movie. However, if there’s one film that weary audiences should make room for, it is Embrace of the Serpent. Sure, it doesn’t boast flame-throwing murder guitarists or Leonardo Dicaprio, but this splendid little film out of Colombia may just be awards season’s best kept secret. Ciro Guerra’s spellbinding film tells the story of two explorers separated by thirty years who sperlunk through the treacherous Amazon in search of the sacred and mysterious yakuruna plant. Blocking their path are disease, infighting, and the spectre of a jungle where everything seems alive and deadly. Connecting the two narratives is Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman who is tasked with guiding each explorer to the sacred plant. He is played to near perfection by Nibio Torres and Antonío Bolivar, first as a stoic but angry young man, then a world-weary old crone. Both incarnations exude the desolation of life in endless expanse of the Amazon and the loneliness of being the last of one’s tribe.

Importantly, the film also largely eschews the typical and problematic tropes of other films that deal with colonization and exploration. The indigenous peoples are neither noble stereotypes nor are they savages. On the other hand, the white characters are neither saviours nor cartoonishly evil caricatures; however, that isn’t to say that the film avoids the disastrous legacy of colonialism. Perhaps the most interesting character in the film (save for the Karamakate) is Manduca, a recently freed slave who struggles to cope with both survivor’s guilt and his continued subservience to colonial interests. The film doesn’t spoon feed these issues to the viewer but it also doesn’t mince words. During an awards season that has been marred by questions of racial diversity, a revisitation of the complex origins of prejudice in the Americas might be just what the doctor ordered.

The film is also gorgeous. Simply put, Embrace of the Serpent is a feast for all the senses. Black-and-white cinematography may seem to be a peculiar choice for a film set in the vibrant Amazon rainforest, but it works on every level here, giving the jungle a texture and depth that you simply can’t find anywhere else. The film also uses little non-diegetic sound, instead immersing the viewer in the sounds of the jungle to mesmerizing effect. Though more understated than say, The Revenant, the film’s visual and auditory achievements are as substantial as anything released this year. Overall, it warranted more than just a nod for Best Foreign Film from the Academy.

Embrace of the Serpent doesn’t make it easy for you. It assumes that viewers will care about a black-and-white retelling of two century-old rainforest expeditions. Subtitles are a must; the film seems to be in a thousand languages, not one of which is English. But give Embrace of the Serpent an inch, and it’ll give you a mile. Get lost in the jungle. Trust me, you might not want to come back.

a, Martlets, Sports

Martlets battle but leave CIS volleyball nationals empty-handed

by Nicholas Jasinski on

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Of the eight teams at last weekend’s 2016 CIS Women’s Volleyball Championship, hosted by Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba, the RSEQ runner-up McGill Martlets were the No. 7 seed. The Martlets last appeared at the tournament in 2012 after the best season in the history of the program, finishing with a bronze medal. This season, the Martlets went 15-7 against RSEQ opponents, losing to rivals Montréal Carabins in the playoffs’ championship match. The Martlets were one of only five teams to be ranked nationally in all 15 weekly coaches’ polls this season. Their overall record of 32-16 tied for the second-highest win total in McGill volleyball history, only three wins short of the school record. The Trinity Western Spartans–last year’s national champions–entered the tournament as the top seed, with the Carabins being the second RSEQ team at the competition.

McGill’s first matchup of the weekend came against the number two seed and eventual 2016 CIS champion Toronto Varsity Blues. Up two games to one, the Martlets looked about to win the quarter-final when they took a 23-19 lead in the fourth game. But the Varsity Blues rallied to score six straight points and force a tiebreaker, which they won 15-13. Despite the heartbreaking defeat, Martlet captain Yasmeen Dawoodjee—the only member of the team to have competed at CIS nationals before—set a new McGill record of 60 assists in the game. Senior power hitter Catherine Amyot was the game’s top scorer, racking up 23 points in the loss. The player of the game for McGill was Sophomore Myriam Robitaille, who registered 22.5 points on 19 kills and five stuff blocks.

“I think overall we played a very good match,” Martlet head coach Rachele Beliveau said. “We fought really hard [….] The players on the court stayed calm and kept playing [through adversity].”

Beliveau, a former Canadian volleyball Olympian, was named this season’s RSEQ Coach-of-the-Year and is in her 25th season as head coach at McGill.

After their loss to the Varsity Blues, the Martlets progressed to a consolation-round game against the Dalhousie Tigers and once again took the match to five sets. Unfortunately, the Martlets were unable to finish their season on a high note, committing eight errors in the final set of the game and losing 3-2 once again. The 5-foot-8, graduating senior Dawoodjee had another dominant performance in her final game for McGill, coming up with 51 assists, while Amyot once again led the team in points with 21.

Regardless of the weekend’s results, the Martlets had an excellent year, and will build on their championship experience next season. 

“I’m very proud of what we’ve done this year,” Beliveau said. “We came from being ranked fourth in Quebec for the last three seasons […] so we have to look at the whole, overall picture and not just a weekend, even though I thought we played really well.”

Stat Corner: Both of McGill’s games were marathons, lasting 2:10 and 2:00 against Toronto and Dalhousie, respectively.

Quotable: “Our style may not be as powerful as some teams but we are quick and agile. We compete hard and dig as well as anyone.”—Coach  Beliveau on the  Martlet’s style of play.

Moment of the Tournament: McGill rallied from a seven point deficit to win the third set of Friday’s game against the Toronto Varsity Blues, winning 27-25 in extra points.

 

a, Science & Technology

Montreal’s first Scientista chapter launches at McGill

by Lydia Kaprelian on

More in a:

A chapter of Scientista, a group dedicated to empowering pre-professional women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields has just launched at McGill. After noticing a lack of resources available for women in higher education, Julia and Christina Tartaglia, biology students at Harvard University, founded the Scientista Foundation in 2011. With chapters across the United States and now Canada, the group aims to empower women across the STEM disciplines through creating a strong, cohesive network.

“At the most basic level, this is a way to connect [women] across all the STEM fields,” Mayte Parada, co-director of the McGill Scientista chapter explained. “[To] have people to talk to and hang out with and discuss problems and help get their careers going [and] prevent them from dropping out.” 

There’s a lot to be said about the challenges facing women in science. The ‘leaky pipeline’ model is often used to describe the way women disappear from the STEM fields. As the metaphor goes, at all stages of post-secondary education, from undergraduate to the doctorate and post-doc levels, women are increasingly less likely to emerge at the top professional and principal investigator (PI) career level, effectively ‘leaking’ out of the career pipe.

Consider the gender breakdown at McGill’s own Integrated Program in Neuroscience (IPN). Female participation drops from 62.5 per cent at the masters level to only 26 per cent representation of female tenured professors. The leaky pipeline has proved to be a persistent and pervasive problem for women interested in high-level STEM careers.

“Women start these careers or start grad school and they just don’t have too many role models to go with,” Parada said. “They just have their lab […] and if there aren’t too many people in the lab to go to, they don’t really know where else to go.”

McGill’s Scientista chapter plans to create networks and support systems for the women in STEM on campus, from the undergraduate to the PI level.

“Women start these careers or start grad school and they just don’t have too many role models to go with,” Parada said. “They just have their lab […] and if there aren’t too many people in the lab to go to, they don’t really know where else to go.”

“I feel like there are a lot of women, especially in math and computer science, that are just looking for support,” Jenn Laura Lee, co-director of the Montreal chapter, described. “[For example] if you go to a pub crawl for physics it’s just overwhelmingly male.”

The McGill chapter aims to develop relationships across all levels of the STEM fields. It plans to pair upper level mentors with younger female students to foster personal relationships so that the younger students have someone they can ask questions and get advice from.

“It’s super important to be able to see people who have done it and know that it’s possible,” Lee said.

With the help of their faculty advisor Assistant Professor Alanna Watt from the Department of Biology, the chapter plans to highlight discussions on balancing family with high-level STEM careers.

“A lot of women actually do think about [it]—they may not talk about it, but they do think about it,” Parada said. “[For example] if I go to grad school, how is [working] going to affect me if I get married or if I want to start a family? And I think for a lot of women, this becomes a problem later on.”

Parada and Lee hope to create a space that facilitates the kind of informal positive interactions that both have experienced between females in the McGill science programs.

(linkedin.com)
(linkedin.com)

“It is interesting that the dynamics of post-doc-student, or PI-student relationships when they are both female […] is subtly different in certain ways,” Lee explained. “It can be very, very supportive.”

Creating connections between the different members of the science community at McGill is something both co-directors envision. Ultimately, Scientista endeavours to take action against the leaky pipeline.

“It’s a constructive thing to do, rather than just being upset,” Lee said. 

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