Latest News

a, Features

Questioning Coding: The rise of coding raises as many questions as it answers

by Zikomo Smith on

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The 21st Century is the age of nerds. It might be an overplayed think-piece trope, but smart people are a huge part of popular culture—no longer stuffy personalities stuck in an ivory tower. This phenomenon is happening concurrently with the infiltration of data, analytics, and technology in life, as well as the code that underpins it. Film heroes reflect this change—John McClane is no more, and Iron Man reigns supreme. If the 2004 superhero film The Incredibles were made today, perhaps the physically powerless yet tech-savvy antagonist, Syndrome, would be the winner in the fight against the physically superhuman Parr family. Along with the proliferation of coding in popular culture, coding is evolving as an important skill in the job market and life in general.

a, Science & Technology

Understanding El Niño

by Lydia Kaprelian on

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El Niño has been the latest buzzword explanation for  Montreal’s—and the world’s—unseasonably warm weather. 

Normally, the prevailing wind patterns in the Pacific Ocean, known as trade winds, blow east to west. When these winds are weaker than usual, a buildup of warm and wet weather along the West Coast of the Americas and drier conditions in Indonesia and Australia occurs, known as El Niño. Conversely, when the cycle enters a cooler phase, marked by stronger winds, it is known as La Niña.

Part of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, the two terms are used by weather scientists to describe specific temperature and atmosphere conditions in the Pacific. Because El Niño is connected to many other wind currents, any changes in the system can dramatically alter global weather patterns. For example, the ‘super El Niño’ of 1998 resulted in frequent and severe ice storms that devastated parts of southern Quebec. 

Predicting the effects of an El Niño, however, is difficult. While El Niño is not caused by climate change as it is a naturally occurring phenomena, a changed climate means that the impact of an El Niño is becoming greater and increasingly unpredictable. 

For example, an ENSO cycle generally takes place every two to seven years, although a 2014 paper published in Nature suggests that climate change will likely bring about an increased frequency of extreme El Niño events.

Recently published data collected by Environment Canada reports that the average temperature in December 2015 was 1.65 degrees Celsius. The average temperature in December 2014 was -3.45 degrees Celsius—a difference of over 5 degrees. 

While these differences are dramatic, it’s important to note that they cannot be directly correlated with the El Niño. Rather, the weather system is likely a contributing factor to the latest of Montreal’s abnormally pleasant winter temperatures.

On Jan. 7, United Nations (UN) officials warned of the effects of the anticipated intensified 2016 El Niño. Stephen O’Brien, the UN under-secretary-general for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, urged the international community to prepare for the changed weather. O’Brien cautioned that combined with the impacts of climate change, the 2016 El Niño phenomenon is pushing into “uncharted territory.”

While El Niño may have favourable effects on some areas, such as a potential amelioration to the endemic drought in southern California, in many other areas of the world dramatic weather events are expected to cause humanitarian emergencies. Already, there have been intensified drought conditions throughout Eastern Africa, notably affecting Ethiopia. Projections for 2016 predict that food insecurity will affect 22 million people across the region, and at this moment, 10.2 million people are in need of emergency food assistance. Additionally, El Niño increases the possibility of typhoons and cyclones occurring, which will affect countries throughout the Pacific. 

ENSO cycles rarely last longer than one year, but their impact has no end-point. And because El Niño events are often associated with droughts, O’Brien anticipates high levels of food insecurity throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. 

“The impacts, especially on food security, may last as long as two years,” he explained. 

Montreal’s latest mild temperatures are expected to persist throughout February. Long-term forecasts predict mild winter conditions across Canada with less persistent and less intense cold spells compared to those that have dominated the past two winters. The unseasonal rain that has replaced Montreal’s usual winter precipitation is likely an effect of this year’s particularly powerful El Niño event. While precipitation patterns are expected to remain relatively normal, it is difficult to predict what form the precipitation will take; this will likely result in less-than-ideal ski conditions.

“Every El Niño event is unique unto itself,” explained Chris St. Clair, a weather broadcaster for The Weather Network. “This El Niño will weaken in the coming months.”

While the 2016 El Niño has so far led to many atypical weather events across the globe, there is reason to believe that the weather patterns will return to normal in the later half of the Canadian winter. There is preliminary evidence that the Pacific Ocean temperatures are already beginning to cool, leading many meteorologists to believe that the wackiest of El Niño weather-related events are behind us.

Sopranos
a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Pop Rhetoric: How TV can improve in 2016

by Christopher Lutes on

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2015 was arguably the best year for television in the history of the medium, both in terms of quality and quantity. Last summer, John Landgraf, president of FX network and de facto ‘mayor of television,’ stated that people have reached an age of “peak TV in America,” pointing out that over 400 scripted television series have aired in the last year. Part of this was an expression of concern over the instability of having so much airing in such a short amount of time, but it also symbolized just how far the medium has come since The Sopranos showed the world what TV was capable of.

Despite this, TV is a medium that is very much still in its infancy, and there are a lot of hurdles it needs to overcome in order for it to unlock its true potential. Here are four ways that TV can get to the next level of artistic achievement. 

1. Figure out what an episode is

Perhaps the most important mark The Sopranos left was that it popularized the idea of heavy serialization to drama. Shows no longer had to tell self-contained stories that intermittent viewers could easily pick up and instead started to tell complex 13-hour stories in which characters are capable of change. However, the scales have probably tipped too far towards serialization, where many quality shows, especially ones released on the full-season binge model, suffer from an unwillingness to fully use an inherent part of the medium to their advantage. At their best, episodes can be used to explore a facet of a show in great detail, and tell a full, satisfying story that still fits into the serialization of the show. HBO’s The Leftovers is especially good at this. 

2. Know when to end 

Unlike other art forms, TV is a medium where its pieces of art can and often do end abruptly and unfinished. This is not only a problem because great shows are cancelled too early (see Deadwood, Enlightened, Hannibal), but also because it means that creators spend most of their shows’ runs not knowing how many seasons they will get before they end. This hinders their ability to make a fully cohesive series across multiple seasons. For instance, Lost became an unfocused mess midway through its third season, but quickly regained its sense of structure after its creators were given an established end date. In a world where ratings are becoming a less and less important factor in whether or not a show is cancelled, it seems like established end dates will soon become the norm. 

3. Break format

Experimentation is key to the artistic development of any medium, even if most of it fails. The fact that many shows exhibit a lack of imagination, or an unwillingness to innovate on a storytelling level (this is doubly true of comedies), is understandable. Relying on what has worked with viewers in the past has the best chance of working in the present, but it also leads to creative stagnation. Thankfully, some shows are willing to break new ground. For instance, Fargo’s second season was especially good at this, moving from a traditionally-shot, straightforward first season to the split-screens and visual metaphors of its 1970’s-set second season. 

4. Become more of a visual medium

TV has always been a writer’s medium, with the unofficial title of ‘showrunner’ usually given to the head writer of a series. This is markedly different from film, where the director—whose job is more about how a movie is shot—is the chief authority on set. This means that even great series can feature tight, well-plotted scripts, but feature limp, unimaginative visuals. Thankfully, this is beginning to change. Shows like Louie and Breaking Bad have seen their showrunners recognize the importance of cinematography and camera placement, whereas shows like Master of None and Transparent have brought in film directors as collaborators to establish their visual palates.

After The Sopranos ended, there was a lot of critical worrying about the best days of TV now being in the past. The near-decade since then has thankfully proven them wrong, but there’s still a lot that can be improved across the medium. The next great television series, if it hasn’t premiered alreadly, will think differently, escew the limitations of the form, and add another layer to what television is capable of. 

a, Science & Technology

Tips on making and achieving a New Year’s resolution

by Clare Lyle on

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Historically, a new year was marked by an astronomical event. For example, ancient Babylonians began the new year with the first new moon after the spring equinox. Today, however, the new year is simply marked with a date: January 1. While there’s nothing particularly special about New Year’s Day, it continues to inspire roughly 50 per cent of the population to be more fit, more efficient, and simply overall better versions of themselves. 

Why do we set new year’s resolutions?

As far as timing goes, studies show that the new year is an especially promising period for setting goals, with New Year’s resolutioners experiencing a success rate over 10 times higher than people who make resolutions at other times of the year. The researchers found that those who stated that they would like to change a behaviour “some day” versus having a set deadline showed lower rates of success. The high rate of New Year’s resolutions can also be attributed to an interesting psychological phenomenon associated with over-optimistic goal-setting called ‘false hope syndrome.’ Essentially, this term refers to the fact that people tend to overestimate their ability to make changes in their lives. 

Psychologists generally support the concept of “SMART” goals—that is, goals which are: 

Specific: Reading ‘more’ books vs.  Reading 10 books

Measurable: Run faster vs. Run 10K in under an hour

Achievable: Get to the Olympics vs. Go to the gym twice a week

Results-focused: Get straight As vs. Study 30-hours per week

Time-bound: “Learn how to count to 100 in French by Jan. 21”

What makes a bad new year’s resolution?

1. Individuals are not likely to achieve goals that are set for them by others. For example, parents may want their children to improve their GPA, but the student would prefer to volunteer on Saturdays rather than spend weekends at the library. Consequently, the student isn’t very likely to achieve a higher GPA, because it isn’t something he or she wants.

2. A goal that is very far in the future. Achieving goals is satisfying—studies show that it is more difficult to sustain motivation for long-term goals compared to short-term goals. Without a deadline, it is difficult to be motivated.

3. A goal that is too easy. In a paper published in the American Educational Research Journal, psychologists found that students who were randomly assigned a more challenging goal (in this case, answering more questions right on a quiz) on average performed better than those who were assigned an easier goal. 

 

How to keep a new year’s resolution

1. Start small, and take resolutions one at a time. Psychologists have developed a model for those looking to attain their goals, called the “self-concordance theory.” This essentially describes the phenomenon whereby students who consider themselves to be more capable of achieving goals are more likely to achieve them. This generates a feedback loop—students who achieved goals saw themselves as more capable, which then made them more likely to achieve their next goal. Breaking goals down into milestones has been shown to help goal-setters take advantage of this.

2. Communicate and find support. A study done by the University of California, San Diego on individuals who were trying to lose weight found a correlation between the level of social support the subjects experienced and their diet and exercise habits. Participants who felt that they had a more supportive social network tended to improve their diet and exercise habits more effectively and were more likely to lose weight.

3. Stay positive. A 2005 paper from Utrecht University in the Netherlands in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showed that attitude was incredibly important to success. Essentially, an individual’s motivation is intimately related to his or her emotions; and those who thought positively were more likely to succeed than those who approached a situation negatively.

a, Basketball, Sports

Point Counterpoint: 1995-1996 Bulls vs 2015-2016 Warriors

by Mayaz Alam and Élie Lubendo on

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This year’s Golden State Warriors have been dominating whatever futile opposition their competition throws at them all season long and have lost only two games this season. Michael Jordan’s 72-win 1995-96 Bulls have long been recognized as the best team ever. Is it time to crown a new king? The Tribune weighs in.

1995-1996 Chicago Bulls

The 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors are not better than the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls. Despite the Warriors’ formidable winning stretch, the debate is clearly in favour of Michael Jordan’s Bulls. When we take into account the team’s win parity, the chemistry issues they overcame to win their fourth championship, and the hard knock defence that occupied the league in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the 1995-1996 Bulls are clearly the better team.

The win gap between the 1996 Bulls champion team and that of other teams in the 1995-1996 NBA season is the epitome of dominance. In the entire league there were only three teams that achieved 60 or more wins: The Chicago Bulls (72), the Seattle Supersonics (64), and the Orlando Magic (60). FiveThirtyEight, predicted with their CARMELO algorithm at the start of the season that the Warriors would finish with 67 wins—five wins short of the 1996 Bulls team. With the San Antonio Spurs trailing right behind the Golden State Warriors and the Eastern Conference appearing more competitive than it has been in years, it’s not likely that the Warriors can top the 1996 Bulls’ win dominance.

The Chicago Bulls’ record is even more impressive in light of the raw talent that occupied their roster and how Phil Jackson masterfully got the team to work together to clinch their fourth championship in six years. After a year and a half of coping without the Chicago messiah—who was busy playing baseball during his first retirement—the Bulls had to figure out how to reinstate and find a fit for the second coming of Michael Jordan. Furthermore, Jordan’s comeback from his short baseball career would have to happen without one of the key pieces of the first 1991-1993 Chicago Bulls three-peat: Horace Grant. After an unsuccessful two-year stint with the San Antonio Spurs from 1993-1995, league trouble-maker Dennis Rodman was traded in the 1995 off-season to the Chicago Bulls as a replacement for Grant. Jackson had to convince Rodman to get along with the hard-headed Jordan despite the fact that Rodman had once played for the “Bad Boys” Pistons, who invented the Jordan Rules and nearly injured Jordan on several occasions. Back then, just about anything was fair game: Running under people’s feet after a three-pointer, hand-checking and light holding while guarding, and elbowing in the paint were all common, albeit dangerous practices in the NBA.

In the face of such odds—the difficulty of creating team chemistry and the physicality of ’80s and ’90s NBA defense—the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls are a testament to how far teamwork and determination can go. This year’s Warriors may be stretching the imagination of sports analysts, but with no considerable roster changes from their 2015 championship team and aided by softer defensive rules, the 1996 Bulls emerge superior. They did not have the luxury of stability and referees’ whistles to protect their championship ambitions—ambitions that were fulfilled by winning an improbable 72 games.

—Élie Lubendo

2015-2016 Golden State Warrior

Through 38 games, or 46.3 per cent of the NBA season so far, the Golden State Warriors have put together the best record in league history. That’s right, even better than the 1994-1996 Chicago Bulls who ended up going 72-10. In today’s NBA, the Warriors would be a better team because of their elite depth and versatility.

The Bulls faced little resistance in the Eastern Conference during their historic season—only two other teams finished with more than 50 wins. Last season, seven teams finished with 50 or more wins in the Western Conference and two years ago the worst playoff team in the conference had 49 wins. Arguably the level of quality in the NBA has increased in the last 20 years: Players are bigger, stronger, and more athletic, and the influx of international players has also increased the talent pool. It’s harder to do what the Warriors are doing this season than what the Bulls did in their dominant year.

From a pure matchup standpoint the Warriors would have a slim advantage. Although the Bulls were good at defending the three-point line, good doesn’t suffice against the best three-point shooting team of all time. For a team as deep and versatile as Golden State, the barrage of three-pointers doesn’t have to come from Steph Curry or Klay Thompson; rather, secondary scorers would feed off of the extra attention given to the “Splash Brothers,” and attack weaker defenders and rotating defences like they have much of this season. The Warriors are dominating the league not only because of Curry’s individual brilliance but because opposing second units are being overwhelmed.

The Bulls’ best big man defender, Dennis Rodman, wasn’t tasked with defending in space when he was a mainstay on the All-NBA defensive team. In the pace and space era, his defensive strengths would be mitigated and he would be drawn away from the rim, negating some of his prodigious rebounding abilities as well. The Bulls’ other rotation big men were career journeymen who were hardly rim protectors and would run into the same issues defending the spread pick and roll—the staple of every good NBA offence in 2016.

By comparison, the Warriors big men are either elite rim protectors, such as Festus Ezeli and Bogut, or arguably the most versatile defender in the league, in Draymond Green. On the perimeter, the Warriors are aptly built to match up well with any team, including the Bulls. Stopping  Michael Jordan would have been impossible, but no other team in the salary cap era has as many athletic and rangy 6’6” or taller defenders to throw at wing scorers.

The Warriors’ X-factor, as it has been throughout the season, is its ‘lineup of death’ where they bring out Curry, Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala, and Green. All five players can pass, beat their man off the dribble, and shoot effectively from the perimeter. On defence everyone except for Curry can switch who they’re guarding. There hasn’t been a lineup like this in the NBA that can beat opposing teams in as many ways.

The Bulls are a historically great team and they were rightly the best team in league history, up until now. But when the Warriors lift their second championship in a row at the end of this season, the Bulls will be nudged out of their top spot by a team that was deeper and more versatile.

—Mayaz Alam

Editors’ Pick: 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors

The Warriors’ superior combination of balance and depth allows the team to maximize their efficiency in an unprecedented manner and play with nearly unstoppable teamwork. It seems that no matter what combination of talent the Warriors put on the court at a time, they’ll outclass whatever futile opposition their competition throws at them.

a, Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

Winter Team Previews: McGill Woodsmen and Woodswomen

by Morgan Alexander on

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Located on the Macdonald Campus, the Woodsmen have been part of McGill’s varsity tradition since 1954, when the Macdonald Aggies entered and won the McGill University Outing Club’s second annual Woodsmen competition. Women first entered the competition in 1971, and over the past 40 years, McGill’s teams have won over 100 competitions, giving them the greatest winning record of all McGill varsity teams.

The Woodsmen and Woodswomen compete within the Canadian Intercollegiate Lumberjacking Association (CILA). CILA was formed in 1997 and includes five other teams from Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. A typical Woodsmen competition involves multiple events based on showing personal prowess in lumberjacking. Schools compete in teams of six, with McGill and other universities sending two teams for both the Woodsmen and the Woodswomen competitions. Of the 24 people making up the McGill Woodsmen and Woodswomen, 18 are from Quebec, and the rest are Ontario natives. Every team member has their own specialty event in which they compete. Events include anything from axe throwing, to timed chainsawing, to woodchopping–of which there are multiple different types. There are four competitions held in Canada each season hosted by four of the six registered CILA schools. The first two happened at the University of New Brunswick and Sir Sandford Fleming College. The third is at Mac Campus and the fourth and final competition at Dalhousie University.

Last year, under the leadership of Head Coach Kyle Bray, the McGill Women’s 1 team came in first and the Men’s 1 team came in third during the CILA Championships. McGill’s Woodswomen have stayed strong so far this year, coming in third overall at UNB and earning a perfect score in three events: The Horizontal Chop, the Team Crosscut, and the Accuracy Chop. The Woodsmen regained their first-place overall finish most recently at Fleming College, getting perfect scores in the Cross Cut, Swede Saw, the Underhand Chop, and the Choker Race. The McGill Woodsmen have maintained third and fourth place this season, earning a perfect score in the Vertical Chop and the Team Crosscut at UNB and in the Quarter Split at Flemming. 

McGill will be hosting their third competition of the season, the 56th Annual Woodsmen Competition, at the Macdonald Campus on Jan. 23. Quebec natives Philip Gautier and Michael Breault will lead McGill’s Woodsmen, hoping to break into second place this competition while Captains Stephanie Bélanger-Naud and Ingrid Laplante, also of Quebec, will work to lead the Woodswomen to another first-place finish.

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a, Chill Thrills, Student Life

Montreal’s Igloofest Turns 10

by Audrey Carleton on

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For most of North America, the arrival of low temperatures brings endless nights in and inspires excuses to avoid leaving the house. In Montreal, however, many face winter head on by embracing the cold and celebrating the harshest months of the year at winter-themed festivals. One of the most popular festivals in the city designed for this purpose is Igloofest, the annual outdoor electronic music festival held in Old Port. For its 10th year running, Igloofest will be uniting electronic music fans across Montreal and beyond. Over the course of four weekends—Thursday night to Saturday night from Jan. 14 to Feb. 6—Igloofest offers light shows, ice sculptures, traditional Canadian foods, and most importantly, electronic and house music. Here is a guide for Igloofest newbies on what to expect at this noteworthy Montreal festival.

What you’ll hear

Igloofest prides itself on collecting a strong mix of local and international talent each year. With over half of this year’s lineup made up of local DJs and VJs from Quebec, Igloofest provides a platform to celebrate local culture and allow underground talent the opportunity to garner publicity and support. From the local talent pool, festival-goers can expect to hear trap mixes from DJ Lunice on the first night, classic upbeat house music from Shaydakiss on the second weekend, and minimalist techno from Stefny Winter on the final evening. On the other hand, nearly as many international artists will be welcomed from 10 different countries outside of Canada, including Germany, France, and Italy. While Spanish duo Odd Parents will be playing their darker deep house mixes on the second weekend, Mr. Oizo, a DJ from France who has previously collaborated with names like Marilyn Manson, will be playing his eerie techno mixes on the third weekend, and British DJ Swindle will put an electronic spin on bass-heavy jazz tunes on the last night. Also, among this year’s international talent is the festival opener, Bonobo, a fusionist DJ from the United Kingdom who combines styles of music from across cultures and genres in low-key electronic mixes. 

“[I like Bonobo because he’s] like downtempo electronic,” Matthew Poole, U1 Arts, said. “It’s electronic, but not super aggressive.”

Bonobo is scheduled to DJ on the first night of Igloofest, Thursday, Jan. 14th. Having performed at venues across Montreal in the past, he is one of this year’s highly anticipated performers.

When to go

The length of Igloofest, spanning over 12 nights, allows attendees the freedom to choose which nights to attend based on the schedule of their favourite performers; however, many attendees also select their dates of attendance based on the weather. As a completely outdoor festival, much of Igloofest’s appeal lies in the unique experience it brings to a classic EDM concert. While dancing in crowds to fast-paced music often ensures that festival attendees stay relatively warm, there is still a certain level of discomfort cold January temperatures may present that retract from the experience. 

“Pick your nights [carefully],” Clementine Pouille, U2 Arts and past Igloofest attendee, recalled. “[My friends and I] wanted to go one weekend, but we were really happy we skipped it because I heard some people were miserable in the cold.” 

What to wear

In addition to strategic selection of night of attendance, festival-goers are strongly advised to dress warmly, and strategically.

“Dress in layers,” Pouille advised. “You get warm while dancing, so you can take some off, and maybe bring a small bag to carry those in.” 

As an Igloofest tradition, many attendees make their warm winter wear more festive with brightly coloured and neon one-piece snowsuits, in a friendly competition (known as “Iglooswag”) for the gaudiest outfit. You can check out local thrift shops if you’re looking to participate.

What else to expect

As many attendees inevitably get tired of dancing, Igloofest offers a variety of other social activities. In addition to their main stages, the festival grounds also hold an ice bar, a photo booth, a fire pit, and a garden of colourfully-lit ice sculptures, including an ice slide. While the music is the main element of the Igloofest experience, these alternative aspects prove to be just as enjoyable for attendees.

Igloofest also offers the opportunity for celebration of culture with traditional Quebecois treats. For Julia Askew, U1 Arts and past attendee, this was most memorable element of the festival.

“I didn’t love the music […] but, they had a lot of cool Quebecois food,” Askew said. “I liked the maple syrup on snow, and the warm wine [called Caribou].”  

After nine years of successful runs, this year’s Igloofest will celebrate it’s 10th anniversary by rearranging and revamping the festival grounds. According to a statement issued by Igloofest, “everything is changing places for the 10th anniversary,” including the two stages and all other social elements of the festival. With past yearly attendance rates in the tens of thousands, Igloofest is a Montreal favourite that provides a unique way to break up the monotony of winter that cannot be found anywhere else. 

“[I would] recommend it,” Pouille said. “I would definitely go again.” 

For more information and to purchase tickets to Igloofest, see: http://igloofest.ca/en/ 

 

a, Off the Board, Opinion

Evaluating practices when students grade their professors

by Julie Vanderperre on

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“Very helpful and really hot!” “Great lectures that keep students engaged.” “He is a bumbling fool.” These are common comments that one might come across while browsing instructors’ profiles on RateMyProfessors.com. The site is widely used by university students, and is regarded by many as an indispensable tool for selecting courses. It can be a source of insightful information, influencing students’ decisions to take a course, or to stay far, far away from a certain professor. The propensity for biased, emotionally charged, and non-constructive reviews, however, undermines the effectiveness of the site. Both students and professors should have the right to accurate, appropriate, and informative course evaluations that provide helpful information about what a course is like and how it can be improved.  

In a sample of McGill students questioned for this article, nearly all stated that they have used the popular website to research information about professors. Very few, in comparison, reported referring to McGill’s publicly available Mercury Online Course Evaluations. Students are generally familiar with the course evaluations, which they are pestered to fill out near the end of each semester. A much smaller number of students, however, are aware that responses to the course evaluations are made public to all McGill students (as long as the professor consents). This disconnect, combined with the lack of information provided by the Mercury Course Evaluations, has led students to using alternative sources, such as RateMyProfessors.com, as their demands for information are not being met by the university.

The Mercury Course Evaluations are a selection of numeric responses that gauge student satisfaction with a course and the instructors’ performance.  Respondents are prompted to leave written comments as well, but these are not made public to students. It makes sense that students don’t commonly refer to the Mercury Course Evaluations. They are not highly publicized, and, compared to some of the biting, humorous, and entertaining comments left on RateMyProfessors.com, McGill’s course evaluations are, simply put, boring.

Since written comments are not visible on the Mercury Course Evaluations, the reviews are dull and lack specificity. Each page shows graphical representations of how many students agreed and disagreed with statements such as, “Overall, I learned a great deal from this course.” While such methods of evaluation avoid the risk of devolving into cheap personal attacks, the vague questions and multiple choice answers don’t really give students a good idea of what a course is like, or help a professor to improve the course later on. The format of the course evaluations is mostly suited for the administration’s review of professors. Administrators can quickly go through and notice any red flags that may need further investigation. For student use, however, the ambiguous questions and multiple-choice format of the Mercury Course Evaluations don’t provide the needed insight into courses or the quality of the instructors who teach them.

The Mercury Course Evaluations do have some definite advantages. They make use of professional and objective questions to rate courses, decreasing the chance that students will rate instructors purely on likeability or charisma. The online course evaluations also usually receive responses from roughly one-third of students, ensuring a large enough sample size that the data is varied and accurate. RateMyProfessors.com, on the other hand, has a much smaller number of reviews, and the website generally only attracts comments from students who have very strong feelings—good or bad—about a course.

Student feedback is necessary for instructors to adapt and improve their courses, and students can often provide valuable observations from a perspective that professors and administrators lack.  If equipped with the right channel, students would be capable of contributing thoughtful and cogent insights.  

The Mercury Course Evaluations should be changed to include more specific and relevant questions with more focus on a written response format. A regulated system with clear guidelines for the tone and content of the comments would likely produce positive results, and avoid inappropriate statements similar to those  occasionally found on RateMyProfessors.com. Answers could be reviewed and then made public to students, as the numerical responses currently are. Such changes, combined with increased publicity of the Mercury Course Evaluation answers, could lead to a shift among McGill students away from RateMyProfessor.com towards a more reliable and fair system of evaluation. Surely, professors would appreciate decreased use of the website which allows crass comments and even condones objectification with a chili pepper button to indicate ‘hotness.’  Students, too, would benefit from an informative and organized database of course evaluations. Everyone stands to win.

Julie Vanderperre is a U3 Political Science student and Managing Editor at the McGill Tribune

@McGillTribuneOp | [email protected]

Institution
a, Arts & Entertainment

Album Review: Kodak Black – Institution

by Clark Bray on

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In his self-proclaimed 2015 summertime jam “Ran Up a Check,” Kodak Black playfully commands his listener to call him “butthead,” “cause his mind’s on your ass.” Observed in a vacuum, the lyric is juvenile and silly, yet paired with the track’s ebullient, DJ Mustard-evoking production, the lyric feels authentic—a snapshot of Kodak’s sillier side. On Institution, Kodak is no less puerile, as he best displays in “Shit on Me:” “In science class high as hell / I’m floatin’ off that loud I feel like Tinkerbell.” 

Institution’s significance is its versatile display of Kodak’s lyrical charm. Throughout its 24 tracks, the rapper demonstrates his ability to be funny, assertive, and vulnerable. Across the mixtape’s near 75 minute duration, the listener learns that Kodak was kicked out of elementary school as a child, dealt drugs in the projects of Florida’s Pompano Beach, suffered both fraternal and romantic betrayals, and served time behind bars. The latter theme is the focal point of the album, and is best showcased in the mixtape’s title track—the album’s highlight. Its production has the same beat of Tink’s 2014 single “Treat Me Like Somebody,” which initially comes across as hokey; however, Kodak’s sincere display of sensitivity redeems him for the near plagiaristic act, as his words of endearment demonstrate to the listener that Kodak is not merely a fucboi with booty on his mind. 

Institution is bulky and many of its tracks, notably in its second half, are redundant; however, it serves the function of a mixtape, giving exposure to a rapper and hyping anticipation of an impending album, the latter of which occurs in “Sticky 1” and “Real Nigga Files.” In “Sticky 1,” Kodak reveals that he is about to sign to Atlantic. In “Real Nigga Files,” he reveals that Project Baby 2 is coming out soon, which presumably will be released on the aforementioned label. Most importantly though, the album illustrates that Kodak is a versatile performer—who also shows a lot of prowess in one specific area. He can confidently and genuinely display vulnerability, which listeners only hope to see more of in the ostensible Project Baby 2.

STANDOUT TRACK

“Institution”

SOUNDS LIKE

Migos with a less staccato delivery

BEST LYRICS

“I won’t change on you even if I get a record deal / Ima rip my heart out my chest put it in this envelope” 

“Without my momma and my brothers you all I got / Can you send me some pictures ‘cause that would mean a lot.”

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a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Flashback: The Swimmer (1968)

by Nico Wada on

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The Swimmer opens by tracking Neddy Merrill (Burt Lancaster) in his tight swim trunks as he cuts through the wilderness into his neighbours’ yard and gracefully takes a dive into their pool. Slicing through the water with powerful breaststrokes, Merrill surfaces to receive a glass of gin.  A midsummer sun beams, Ned’s neighbours greet him with warmth, and he sips his drink.  As the film progresses, however, the sky darkens, the air chills, and Neddy loses strength. The film spans one day of pool-hopping, but allegorically it traces Neddy swimming through his past.  What at first seems a glorious adventure reveals itself to be quite the opposite.  

The screenplay for The Swimmer is a faithful rendition of John Cheever’s short story of the same name.  Known as “the Chekhov of the suburbs,” Cheever wrote about the soporific, sybaritic confines of suburbia with playful humor and extended metaphors.  Neddy Merrill is the tragic hero of the film. He’s an entitled, charismatic lothario accustomed to deferential respect and getting his way, be it through money or his name alone. One summer afternoon, Neddy announces that he will swim his way home by hopping into a string of his neighbours’ pools that serve as a river guiding him toward his destination.  Cheever writes: “In his mind he saw a string of swimming pools, a quasi-subterranean stream that curved the county, and he knew that he would find friends along the way.” Neddy names the string of pools the Lucinda River after his wife, Lucinda Merrill, and considers himself an explorer as he embarks on his journey home to his two daughters, who he claims are playing tennis.    

As Neddy swims through pools and crosses backyards, highways, and gardens, it becomes increasingly clear that he is not the larger-than-life, carefree spirit he thinks he is, but a huge failure.  In this way, The Swimmer is stylistically fascinating. It starts off plausible and realistic, then somewhere along the way blurs into surreal waters. The viewer gradually learns not to trust Neddy, who at first seemed so reliable.

Beginning his voyage, Neddy manages to convince a beautiful young girl (Janet Landgard), his daughter’s babysitter, to join him on his mission. A slow-motion sequence shows the two playing like children, laughing and holding hands. When Neddy unintentionally scares her off, it is clear that he is attempting to grasp onto a youth that is no longer there. Later, Neddy reaches a drained pool where a lonely boy sits playing the recorder. He takes the boy’s hand and tells him: “If you make believe hard enough that something is true, then it is true for you.” This seems to be Neddy’s main issue: Self-deception. Not only does Neddy wrongly believe everything to be fine, he also relentlessly holds onto the belief that his wealth makes him a supremely entitled being. As he crosses a highway to reach his final pool, a public one, Neddy tries to enter without paying the necessary fifty cent charge. Forced to pay and use the public shower, he finally enters the overcrowded pool and swims through murky waters, elbowed and shoved. When he steps out at the other side, he is not handed a glass of gin. His eyes sting from chlorine and he is shivering.    

The use of water in The Swimmer is reminiscent of scenes from Mike Nichols’ groundbreaking classic The Graduate (1967), which was released one year prior.  Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) faces the familiar pressures that accompany being a recent college graduate. To escape the stresses of deciding on a career and future life plans, Benjamin’s favourite pastime is to lie on a raft drifting in his pool. It is with the same carefree nonchalance that Neddy dives into pool after pool, ignoring an unpleasant reality.  

While many critics believe Lancaster was miscast as Neddy Merrill, the film manages to be an melancholy exploration of time passing and youth fading. It is a memorable, tragic character study of a suburbanite with a distorted sense of grandiosity and a blithe tendency to reject reality.

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