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a, McGill, News, SSMU

The SSMU that students don’t know

by Jenna Stanwood on

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A lot of the day-to-day work of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executives goes largely unnoticed.  After many rounds of recent elections, a lot of students are left wondering what that work actually entails. The Tribune reached out to the execs, and they explained, in their own words, the more  ‘under the radar’ aspects of their portfolios.

VP External

Emily Boytinck

A lot of my work is pretty public [but] I think that a lot of what I do, it’s not clear that SSMU has a hand in it maybe because I do a lot of coordination work, so I do a lot of liasoning with for example the Divest McGill campaign or the Anti-austerity campaign [….] I do a lot of those sort of work for other people’s events, and it’s very much more of a support role [….] I do a lot of work with student associations across the province [….]

I would like students to know that the VP External position, contrary to popular belief, is not a position that aims to shove my own personal political views on the student body. Every political campaign that’s been taken on has been voted on by the society often by overwhelming majorities [….] As the VP External, these are mandates that I’ve been given, many of them have been voted through referendum or General Assembly [GA] ratification.

Some of the work I do, especially on community relations, is a lot of […] listening and being there for the community–and that’s not something that’s reflected in an actual initiative, but it’s important that the community feels like their issues are being heard and are being addressed, and that’s something that’s definitely less public [that I do].

I spend four hours a week in executive committee, and like a couple of extra hours doing [things] like, reading […] bylaws or doing General Manager (GM) recruitments or doing ssmu restructuring or all those sort of administrative tasks that we do as a team [and] are not really reflected in what we do individually.

When I came into the position, one aspect of the portfolio which I significantly underestimated was the external affairs [section]. I was looking at how many times I’ve gone away for the weekend, and it’s over a dozen weekends since my term started [that there] have been times where I’ve gone away […]  or been in Montreal and had a congress all weekend [….] Those external affairs weekends were quite a bit more [work] than I was anticipating, and largely because even when I was running for this position that was not something that I knew a whole lot about. I come from a background of doing political campaigns and community outreach through [the Science Undergraduate Society] so I don’t have a strong background in external affairs, and I don’t think anyone who comes into this role has that background, because this is the only position in the school that does that kind of work [….] That sort of surprised me–how much time that takes and also how much I’ve started to care about it– because I’ve realized how important it is, but it is largely invisible because [that’s] only one person doing it .

People don’t realize that, for example, I supervise 11 staff [….] I sit on a bunch of committees, I spend hours of my week in executives meetings, I spend hours of my week at legislative council [….] There’s just so many different things.

VP Finance and Operations

Zacheriah Houston

The [SSMU] constitution is quite vague regarding the responsibilities of the VP Finance and Operations. Included in my constitutional responsibilities are […] overseeing the Society’s business operations, ensuring the financial stability of the Society, and reporting regularly on the financial status of the Society. 

In addition to the [aforementioned] responsibilities, this year I have several […] that typically would not fall under the VP Finance and Operations, due to the absence of the [GM] and several other positions [….] The amount of hours required just to keep the portfolio running leaves very little time for the [VP Finance] to do any long-term visioning or to take on any additional projects.

There are certainly tasks that take up significantly more time than I had expected. One example of a task that I had never anticipated would take up so much is the approval of expenses. Because […] SSMU issues more than 100 cheques per week, I spend around an hour each day–at times, more–reviewing various types of payment requests. 

I am now responsible for supervising the accounting department [….] Another responsibility that was delegated to me as a result of the numerous vacancies is the negotiations for the renewal of the Society’s Memorandum of Agreement with McGill [the MoA]. The MoA has traditionally been negotiated by the President and the [VP] University Affairs. However, due to the large number of tasks that the President has taken on this year, the VP University Affairs and I are now representing the Society in the MoA negotiations. 

I would be in favour of changing the job description of the Vice-President (Finance and Operations) to explicitly include dealing with legal matters and contract negotiations. Both of these responsibilities are already included in the portfolio to a certain degree, as the VP Finance and Operations must sign off on all expenses and contracts; however, these responsibilities are currently not well articulated in our governance documents, and I think that the VP Finance and Operations must be involved in the negotiation of contracts and in dealing with legal issues, due to the significant financial implications of both and due to the overlap of the skillset of a typical VP Finance [as well as] the skillset required for legal matters and the maintenance and negotiation of contracts.

The removal of certain responsibilities, such as the management of the Society’s business operations, would allow for more responsibilities to be added to the portfolio. This is something we have discussed at length during various consultative efforts regarding proposal for the addition of a seventh executive position. 

Probably one of the most unexpected aspects of my portfolio is simply the amount of my time that is spent solving crises as they occur. Around half of my work day [is] spent solving problems as they are brought to my desk (or inbox) by student groups, staff, and other executives. 

In terms of hours, the Finance and Operations portfolio involves around 80 hours of behind the scenes work each week. However, this measurement does not even include the student staff within my portfolio, some of whom work up to 20 hours per week to ensure that their respective areas of the Finance and Operations portfolio are functioning smoothly, nor does it include the many overtime hours put in by the SSMU full-time staff who work to manage the Society’s finances and business operations. 

One thing that I feel students do not really know is the number of issues that the SSMU executives have to deal with. While we always try to complete tasks as quickly as possible, the sheer volume of work, much of which pops up at the last minute, that SSMU executives have to complete in a given week often renders it impossible to do everything within our ideal timeframes. As such, I try my best to prioritize tasks accordingly, but things often take more time than I would like, and more time than one might expect, simply due to the sheer volume of responsibilities [….]

VP Clubs and Services

Kimber Bialik

The job description and constitutional duties of the Vice-President [VP] Clubs and Services are very vague [….] While the duties that fall under this portfolio are managing relations between the Society and its clubs and managing the building, [the job description] fails to specify what that actually means.  Because both those aspects of the portfolio are so large and all-encompassing, nearly nothing that I actually do day-to-day is named in my job description but all falls within the broad goals that are outlined in the constitution for the portfolio.

I think the most important thing I would like students to keep in mind about the Clubs and Services portfolio in particular is the sheer volume of things that fall under the portfolio’s jurisdiction.  The work that goes on in the portfolio on a daily basis involves supporting roughly 270 groups–240 Clubs, 20 Services, and 10 Independent Student Groups–to say nothing of the building.  

While that would be true of a typical year, there definitely are tasks I am now responsible for that [which] falls outside of what is traditionally within the portfolio.  These are all a function of the delegation plans established due to the vacancies of SSMU staff, namely the [GM], building director, VP  (Internal), and events manager.  All of the tasks that I outlined above are primarily maintenance of the portfolio.  The investment of hours for simply keeping the portfolio running to its full capacity–which is a task split between myself and nine student staff who work directly within my portfolio–excludes the completion of any projects that I want to take on in this role.  The administration and maintenance is so time consuming that it isn’t realistic for the VP Clubs and Services to develop and follow through on new projects or to participate in general visioning on how to improve the portfolio or the SSMU as a whole without other areas of the portfolio suffering as a result.

That being said, there definitely are tasks I am now responsible for that I didn’t anticipate having to take on as a result of the vacancies of a number of staff positions [….] This includes things like liaising with SSMU’s insurance provider and managing our insurance renewal process, the supervision of [nine] new staff members, the (arms-length) supervision of Elections SSMU and Judicial Board, coordination of the Student Engagement Committee, compiling the SSMU’s weekly listserv, and most recently, the approval of room bookings in the building.  While I was well aware of the day-to-day responsibilities of my role as per the constitution and my job description, these tasks are all taken on in addition to that.

The current issue with the Clubs and Services portfolio is that it’s far too big for one person to operate.  Maintenance for student groups is an incredibly significant time commitment, as is the management of the building, and one of the reasons why the VP Clubs and Services has such a high count of in-office hours year after year is a function of the fact that the portfolio itself has grown significantly over the years and has never been adjusted to accommodate for this fact.  At this point, I would not be in favour of adding any additional responsibilities to the position, as any additions would need to be made with the knowledge that other areas of the portfolio which are already significantly under resourced would suffer.

Nearly the entirety of the Clubs and Services portfolio, as is the case with the other more administrative executive portfolios, goes on behind-the-scenes.  Aside from the roughly four hours a week I spend in open office hours, the vast majority of what I do is work from behind a desk to assist in the facilitation of operations for student groups and the building. I can comfortably say that within the Clubs and Services portfolio in particular, at least 90 hours a week go into this behind the scenes work that students [as] a whole rarely see.  Students certainly feel the effect of this work each time they attend an event run by one of our student groups or every time they spend time in the SSMU Building, but much of this work is relatively invisible to the student body.  In these cases, the spotlight is on the individual student groups who are supported by the work we do–as it should be!

Because each of these groups is so different and requires individualized support, there are not nearly enough hours in the day to provide each group with the support that [it] deserves, and as a result , we often hear from student groups that they don’t feel like SSMU is able to provide them with enough support.  This is a recurring problem that the portfolio will encounter until the responsibilities of the position are reassessed.

President

Kareem Ibrahim

With the many […] resignations [this year], many of the tasks I am now responsible for are not in the presidential portfolio. With regards to the absence of the GM, I supervise two additional student staff and four additional permanent staff, and am responsible for the supervision of all processes related to human resources.

Traditionally, my involvement in human resources is limited to staying in the loop regarding the work of the GM, but this year it includes much of their work, [which entails] conflict resolution, staff supervision, the Social Committee, […] and demonstrating leadership in ensuring that all of the staff, part-time and full-time, are well-supported in their work

In addition, one of the permanent staff members supervised by the GM is the daycare director, who has also been absent as of May 2015 [….] As a result, I have taken on many of their responsibilities, namely getting the finances in order, liaising with the Daycare Parent Committee, conflict resolution for daycare staff, upcoming lease negotiations with McGill and correspondence with the government regarding our subsidy.

Lastly, the absence of the VP Internal resulted in me taking on the entirety of organizing events for the Centraide Campaign and the General Assembly, traditionally the president oversees the political aspects of said events, while the VP Internal takes on the logistics for the events.

On average, these tasks take up 60 per cent of my time, which is roughly 51 hours [out of] 85 hour work weeks. This means that […] I have less attention to dedicate to my regular duties, but I [also] do not have as much room to dedicate to improving the processes we currently have in place. The ideal situation would entail prompt email replies, no missed deadlines and full attention given to important things like the work of my staff, our governance document review, legal and financial issues and more, but with the workload this year, much of this cannot be done to the fullest extent.

I would not be in favour of changing my portfolio to include [more] things due to how unmanageable this workload has proven to be. The ideal situation involves all of our staff positions being filled [….] We want to provide great service to students, not ‘good’ service, or even service of questionable value.

The most unexpected thing I’ve done in office would have to be buying earplugs for the babies in the Nursery when there was construction being done outside – definitely didn’t see that one coming for all sorts of reasons.

I would say the vast majority of our work goes on behind the scenes, [particularly] my own [….] A lot of the work of the executives is very administrative and repetitive […] and therefore is easy and quick to report, but requires a lot of work behind the scenes. The sheer volume of emails we receive takes up a substantial amount of our time, although this, too, doesn’t add up to much in terms of reporting content.

a, Men's Varsity, Sports

Unlisted: The secret weapon behind Redmen lacrosse

by Elie Waitzer on

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Sean Steinwald looks forward to his lunch hour. He works full time as a project manager at a steel company in Montreal and has a family to take care of, so he uses any free time he can carve out of his busy schedule to work on his scouting reports. It’s either lunch, or at night after his kids go to bed. 

Steinwald served seven seasons as an assistant coach under Head Coach Tim Murdoch for the Redmen lacrosse team; but in recent years he has had to limit his involvement due to work commitments. After coaching for six consecutive seasons, he scaled back his involvement following the 2012 season; but while he didn’t have an official role on the team in 2015, Steinwald was hard at work behind the scenes as the team’s ‘head scout.’

“I couldn’t take myself completely out of the picture,” Steinwald said. “I love lacrosse too much.” 

Steinwald’s love affair with lacrosse began in the backyard with his dad. He was raised on box-lacrosse, an indoor version of the game that is played on a hockey rink without ice. After graduating high school, Steinwald decided to follow his passion and accepted an offer to play Division I lacrosse as an attackman at Cornell. In his five year collegiate career, Steinwald was a two-time All-American, named Cornell’s Athlete-of-the-Year, and played for Team Canada. 

Steinwald met Murdoch towards the end of his own playing career. He was in his early 30s, playing for a Montreal club team in an exhibition game against the Redmen. After the match, Murdoch approached Steinwald and asked him if he’d be interested in coaching at McGill. At the time, Steinwald’s only previous coaching experience was in his kids’ youth leagues, but with his days on the field numbered, Steinwald jumped at the chance to stay connected to the sport he loved. 

He brought invaluable experience to the team, and his six-year run as an assistant coach culminated in the Redmen winning the National Championship in 2012. So the next year when Steinwald told Murdoch that he wouldn’t be able to fit coaching into his busy schedule, the two sat down and landed on a solution: Scouting. 

“I don’t know why but I just enjoy scouting,” Steinwald laughed. “It can give us a real competitive advantage. There’s a need for scouting […] so that players know who they’re guarding and we can match up certain skillsets and know which players to watch.”

While lacrosse is Canada’s national summer sport, hockey rules supreme in Quebec. Bishop’s and Concordia are the only other universities from the province in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA), and the Concordia Stingers have yet to win a single game since joining the league in 2012. With a .947 win percentage since 2011, Redmen lacrosse is technically the most successful varsity team on campus, but the program doesn’t get the funding or attention that sports like hockey and football do. If this bothers Murdoch, he doesn’t show it. Regardless of the sport’s lack of prestige in Quebec, Murdoch is committed to providing a professional environment for his athletes, and that means investing in all the bells and whistles like meticulous recruiting and scouting that Division I schools in the U.S. have. 

“When I was at Cornell, each week we’d have a 10-page scouting report on our opponents […] so I was used to preparing that way at the university level, and it was something I felt I could bring to McGill,” Steinwald said. “I would say that I’m one of the few people [in Quebec] who does a proper scouting report.” 

In Murdoch’s ideal world, McGill lacrosse would compete in the NCAA; and that’s part of why Steinwald is so valuable to the team. Besides his pedigree, Steinwald’s scouting work is an overlooked X-factor behind the team’s success over the past four years. Given McGill’s regular season dominance, having a head scout may seem like overkill, but in the playoffs, any edge you can get is crucial. This is a fact the Redmen know all too well after losing in the Baggataway Cup Finals to Guelph in consecutive seasons.

“When you go into an important game, you need to know your opponent […] because if you have the wrong matchup, you could have their best player tear us apart before we realize that our best defenceman is being wasted,” Steinwald explained. “It allows you to focus less on figuring out who you’re dealing with, and more on […] playing the game.”

Steinwald isn’t a scout in the traditional sense. The majority of CUFLA teams are located in Southern Ontario, and he doesn’t have the ability to pack up the car and take off time from work to watch a game in Guelph or Toronto. Most of his information is painstakingly gathered from home games, online statistics, and recruiting videos that star players will put up on YouTube. 

“It gets interesting in the playoffs where you play someone you’ve never faced and you have no regular season information to look back on,” Steinwald said. “That’s where the challenge is, and where other [teams] don’t put as much work into it, because it is difficult.”

According to Steinwald, the lack of parity in the league gives McGill a key advantage when it comes to filling in the blanks on unfamiliar opponents. This season, the Redmen had a pretty good idea that they’d be facing Ottawa and Brock in the first two rounds of the playoffs, which allowed Steinwald to start preparing files on those teams a week and a half before the end of the season. 

The morning before each playoff game, the team has a 45-minute meeting in the hotel conference room where Steinwald hands out a report to every player and briefs them on the other team’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s an uncommon scene in Quebec, but for Steinwald, it’s business as usual.

In the afterglow of McGill’s Baggataway Cup victory, Murdoch made sure to give credit to the three names under his on the team’s roster page: Assistant Coaches Simon Hudson, Nick Soubry, and Scott Bailey. The name Sean Steinwald is not listed on the roster, but Murdoch reserved special praise for his work. 

“The scouting reports that he put together for us—the only word I can think of is brilliant,” Murdoch said. “He sacrificed hours to put together [information] that was essential to the team’s success.”

With 12 seniors expected to graduate, including all four co-captains, the team will need Steinwald more than ever next season. For now, the role of head scout fits his life perfectly, but you get the sense that if he could, Steinwald would drop everything to coach lacrosse on a full-time basis.

“[I’ll] wait till there’s a little more money involved in coaching […] but right now I don’t think I can quit my day job,” Steinwald said.

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a, Opinion

An exchange student’s perspective on McGill Students

by David Patterson on

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There are many things that you are told before going on exchange to McGill: “Watch out for ice rain in winter,” “try poutine,” and “be prepared for endless midterms” are just a few. Yet what they don’t tell you is what an average McGill student is like.

Before I left Scotland for Montreal no one mentioned that I should “watch out for samosa sales” or how nearly every student carries a MacBook. Is there some sort of Apple 2-for-1 deal that I don’t know about? McGill students are a baffling species to those on exchange, but perhaps not to those who have spent their entire university life in one place. So, as you dribble hot samosa chutney over the keys of an Apple Mac, please note the following things that set McGill students apart from other universities.

First up, the three things you notice sitting in any class are Macs, jars, and slim people. Why choose a Mac over a PC anyway? Not only are Macs less bang for your buck compared to your non-Mac options, but you get royally screwed whenever you want any halfway-decent Mac machine. PCs are the ramshackle computers of the people. You can build your own from scratch, then customize it into oblivion. In all the places I have been to, I have never seen such a large concentration of Mac-converts.

Every day I receive a new Facebook notification for a samosa sale. It is a well-known fact that when strolling around campus you are always 100 metres away from a hot, spicy Indian snack.

But I guess this is forgivable, and not nearly as strange as drinking hot beverages from a glass jar. What possesses students to put something that is hot in something with negative insulation? Not only is it illogical, but makes me wonder if people are trying to send an ironic message of “Hey, don’t be so wasteful with your recyclable coffee cups.” While many reading this may be thinking “Nah, Macs aren’t for me and Tim Hortons don’t give out jars,” the majority will most likely fit the slim-trim bracket of McGill student. Seriously, why does everyone here wear blanket scarves and jogging leggings?! Whilst in a city with winters colder than former prime minister Stephen Harper’s soul, a huge sheet may be practical, what is so undesirable about a normal scarf? As for the jogging leggings I can only imagine they’re worn in a readiness to get to the nearest samosa sale. As someone who studied in a Scottish city where you can genuinely go into any fast-food place with any food and they’ll stick it in the deep-fat-fryer, this is both unsettling and unnatural.

I will admit, there are less annoying things about the average McGill student. One is the out-of-season Sangria Wednesdays. I love the fact that even though it may be 20 below freezing, people still enjoy a drink invented by Spaniards because red wine didn’t cut it when you can fry an egg on the road. Or the irrational love of samosas which someone has yet to provide a reasonable explanation for. Every day I receive a new Facebook notification for a samosa sale. It is a well-known fact that when strolling around campus you are always 100 metres away from a hot, spicy Indian snack. Personally, I think this is brilliant. While discussing why samosas are such a big deal, the best theories I’ve heard are: “It’s the only thing propping up on-campus charities,” “all the proceeds are stemming the current education cuts to departments,” and easily my favourite: “The Hells Angels are diversifying before weed becomes legal.”

These are just a few of the reasons that place McGill students as unique to the global student population. And after several months here, these initial peculiarities are starting to look like the norm. I can only hope that by the end of my time on exchange here, I do not come back totally assimilated. Otherwise, I may receive strange looks if I were to walk into my local fish & chip shop in Glasgow, carrying a steaming jar of espresso and asking for my samosa to be deep-fried.

David is an exchange student hailing from Glasgow university and struggling with the never-ending workload of McGill. He also claims to have seen the Loch Ness monster.

@McGillTribOp | [email protected]

a, Student Life

Up-and-coming fashion trends for students

by Emma Whitehall on

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Suits for all

Make a statement this year by playing around with the simplicity of a suit. For so long, the options for men attending a black-tie event were simple: A sleek jacket and a loyal pair of pants that can be worn time and again. Now it’s the ladies’ turn to give this look a go. Try black-on-black like Victoria Beckham, or recreate your own version of the timeless menswear look of a white shirt and black suit. Another recent trend that has been popular among the top models is combining two trends—the deep V cut and the suit—by simply omitting an undershirt and buttoning up the blazer. This is definitely a more daring option, but if the confidence is there, fashion followers everywhere will applaud your boldness.

Make your winter coat pop

If it’s time to invest in a new winter coat, take a risk and go for a bold colour—don’t let the fear of wearability stop you! How often are your winter outfits going to include a bright colour that would clash, anyway? Embrace the wow-factor, move away from neutrals, and make a striking coat your primary winter look. This will add some life to the gloomy, frostbitten streets of winter, and maybe even perk up someone else’s day with your radiant choice. If you’re not sure which colour to try, take a note from legendary New York Times street-style Reporter, Bill Cunningham, whose most recent vlog identified cobalt or sapphire blue as the colour that stylish New Yorkers are flocking towards. 

Up your style points with a side of sensibility

No one ever said a good-looking high-heeled boot had to be uncomfortable, but for so many years it felt like an accepted part of the fashion industry. Classic brands like UGG, Sorel, and Hunter are often typified in our minds to forever be associated with their one comfy look. Yet all three of these brands have recently branched out, releasing a selection of more fashion-forward styles. UGG has moved towards exploring lace-up booties, while Sorel has gone for a classic, sleek black leather boot with a splash of colour. Hunter, on the other hand, has developed both the aforementioned styles, and now offers a wide selection of heeled boots. There is finally the option to have a stylish night out in heels while keeping your feet warm, dry, and comfortable. The future of these brands is diversifying, and those boots known for style over comfort have some serious competition coming their way.

Oversized denim

Gone are the days of finding the perfect fit for jeans that hug your body in all the right places. Oversized denim is popping up everywhere, with Rihanna as the trend’s fearless leader. A style icon in her own right, Rihanna has continually acted as the queen of ‘anything goes’ in fashion, and she has boldly taken oversized denim where few others have dared. One could argue this started with fashion’s move towards the boyfriend jean, but the options are ever growing; jeans are getting wider, higher, looser, and longer. Denim jackets have also followed the move towards an oversized look. With winter coming, these options luckily leave a fortunate amount of space for adding a thin layer under your jeans or a sweater under your jacket to survive Montreal’s fast approaching frigid temperatures.

Kanye takes sweats to the runway

Many students are guilty of overusing their go-to pair of comfy black leggings, especially when they are too tired and overworked to put together a nice outfit. Thanks to the self-titled Yeezus himself, leggings and a massive sweatshirt are now an acceptable look to wear out of the house. This year, Kanye West’s clothing line, Yeezy Season 2, closed out New York Fashion Week with an A-list audience and a wide range of reviews. Certain commentators failed to see any fashion behind it, while others praised the undeniable simplicity and simultaneous versatility of Yeezy’s pieces. The collection had a clear focus on neutrals mixed with an emphasis on layering. On par with oversized denim, baggy sweatshirts, and jackets were common threads—usually styled overtop a comfortable spandex bodysuit or leggings of a similar shade or colour. Slowly, Kanye West might just be making high fashion easier and more adaptable to everyday life.

a, Opinion

Yoga is not cultural appropriation

by Zachary Carson on

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The discussion around the recent cancellation of a yoga class at the University of Ottawa has been focused on whether or not practicing yoga is cultural appropriation. Claiming that practicing a form of exercise that originated in a different culture is cultural appropriation is far fetched; one could just as easily say that people who play lacrosse are appropriating indigenous culture, or that those who Nordic ski are appropriating Scandinavian culture. Not only that, but the teacher of the class later told CBC that her focus was on the physical benefits of yoga, and did not even get into the spiritual aspects.

Most of the responses have been geared toward arguing that yoga is more of a spiritual than religious exercise or that by its nature it is meant to be accessible to everyone. These are important points, but they miss a more central issue: Denying people the ability to engage in foreign cultural experiences. In a globalized world, cultures constantly bleed into one another; calling this cultural appropriation is simply incorrect. People should be able to engage in cultural practices that are not theirs, as long as they do so out of honest interest, and do so respectfully.

Genuine cultural dialogue is the best way to increase understanding and cooperation between people with different cultures. Denying someone who is interested in another culture this opportunity hinders greater respect and understanding. Imagine that a student takes this class and becomes genuinely interested in Indian culture as a result. There is a point where individuals have to, and should, engage in a culture that is not theirs for the first time; likely they will not have a complete knowledge and understanding, but that comes with time. The important thing is that people have a genuine interest, and approach other cultures with respect.

This not always so obvious, which makes distinguishing between genuine attempts to engage and cultural appropriation difficult, especially with those who do not have a lot of experience with the new culture—nevertheless, it is an important distinction to make.

This is not to say that cultural appropriation—when one culture is seen as stealing elements of another culture—is not an important issue. Donning a headdress and moccasins as a costume is wholly different from genuine attempts to learn more about another culture. Going to McGill’s annual pow-wow (which is always open to everyone) to learn more about indigenous culture in Canada cannot be equated with dressing up in a headdress for Halloween. The difference is in the sentiment that each individual has, and the reaction of the people who are supposedly being disrespected. This not always so obvious, which makes distinguishing between genuine attempts to engage and cultural appropriation difficult, especially with those who do not have a lot of experience with the new culture—nevertheless it is an important distinction to make.

The issue it ultimately one of intention. The central question is whether people who are practicing yoga, or playing lacrosse, or going to a pow-wow are honestly interested in the culture. In the case of the first two examples, they may just want to exercise; if individuals are genuinely interested in engaging with new cultures that are not necessarily theirs, they should have the opportunity to do so. The amount of people who would benefit is far greater, on both sides of the cultural exchange, than the small number who might abuse these opportunities.

Zachary Carson is a fourth year joint honours political science and international development student. He enjoys listening to Canadaland podcasts, watching Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and dogs.

 

@McGillTribOp | [email protected]

 
a, Science & Technology

Biochemist Nahum Sonenberg favours the prepared mind

by Chloe Nevitt on

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McGill Biochemistry Professor Nahum Sonenberg likes asking simple questions. He believes that every problem can be broken down into pieces and put together like a puzzle to answer a bigger issue.

“Always ask a simple question to get a simple answer,” Sonenberg said. “If you […] want to look at the mechanism by which cancer kills cells, well, that’s too vague.”

Sonenberg speaks deliberately, and at first, slowly. As his thoughts come together, however, they seem to bubble with excitement and come quickly tumbling forward, like the crest of a wave crashing ashore. His desk reflects this excitement. It is cluttered with papers, letters from Universities around the world, and piles of books. His office is lined with bookcases, filled with binders of information about the topic he knows best: Protein translation regulation.

 

“Always ask a simple question to get a simple answer,” Soneberg said. “If you […] want to look at the mechanism by which cancer kills cells, well, that’s too vague.”

“I started [my PhD] on something that I’m still working on,” said Sonenberg. “Ribosomes.”

Ribosomes are the very large and very complex molecular machines that make proteins. In the body, proteins are responsible for a variety of tasks, like transporting molecules, breaking chemical bonds, and building new compounds. To make proteins, ribosomes rely on a molecule known as mRNA for information. mRNA is a macromolecule synthesized using DNA as a template. This ‘reading’ of mRNA to make proteins is known as translation. The process of DNA to mRNA to protein is so fundamental to the study of molecular biology, it is called the “Central Dogma.”

The basis for understanding much of human disease, and in particular, cancer, relies on understanding defects in this process; however, in order to spot the anomalies, a person must first know what is normally there. Consequently, for years, researchers have been examining every step of this process in the hopes of understanding it fully to treat human diseases.

The bits and parts of these reactions were just beginning to be discovered when Sonenberg was born in 1946. His parents had been Polish textile workers, who, during the second world war, had sought refuge in Russia. After the war, they migrated to Germany to find a temporary home.

“I was born in [Wetzlar, Germany],” Sonenberg said. “My parents [had] come from Russia [to a] displaced persons camp [in Germany]. In ’49, we immigrated to Israel on a ship from Marseille.”

Sonenbergs’ earliest memories are from Israel. He recalls going to the beach in Jaffa with his parents, feeling the sun on his face, and swimming in the Mediterranean. Here is also where he would begin his life as a scientist.

“The one thing that [my parents] always told me was that you have to get an education,” Sonenberg said. “They weren’t educated in Poland, and so, [for them], education was the most important [thing].”

After finishing high school Sonenberg spent two years in the Israeli Armed Forces as part of Israel’s mandatory conscription policy, and throughout his studies, his experience with the army was never forgotten.

“One thing that […] you learn from the army is discipline,” stated Sonenberg. “If you have to study something, you don’t do anything [else].”

Sonenberg then completed a master’s degree in Microbiology and Immunology at Tel Aviv University, and later completed a PhD at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.

“At Tel Aviv, I had a fantastic teacher in Biochemistry that inspired me so much that I went to do my PhD in Biochemistry at the Weizmann Institute [of Science],” Sonenberg explained.

His PhD was focused on the enzymatic activity protein peptidyl transferase, found in the ribosome. Peptidyl transferase is responsible for connecting amino acids—which are the building blocks of a protein—together using a special kind of linkage, known as a peptide bond. When Sonenberg was doing his PhD, however, much of this was unknown.

“My project was to identify the peptidyl transferase—the protein that make the peptide bond,” Sonenberg explained. “I was a little naïve, I thought I can solve this—I can find the protein.”

“Whatever experiment you’re [doing], you have to be persistent,” said Sonenberg. “Rule number one is ‘Do not despair.’”

Ultimately, the structure and mechanism of the ribosome was solved via X-ray crystallography rather than biochemical assays, and in 2009, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz, and Ada Yonath for their discovery of the structure of the ribosome.

“My biggest fear was that I [wouldn’t] be successful,” Sonenberg said. “Experiments don’t always work.”

But Sonenberg overcame this fear by doing what he knew how to do best—persevering.

“Whatever experiment you’re [doing], you have to be persistent,” Sonenberg said. “Rule number one is ‘Do not despair.’”

Over the years, Sonenberg’s habit for giving short, motivational, and practical tips to survive in the lab evolved into a loose set of rules, known as ‘The Wisdom of Nahum for the New Millennium.’ Partially as a joke, a student in his lab wrote up the set of commandments officially.

“Rule number six: Trust no one: You have to see it with our own eyes. Rule number ten: You can’t be ‘first and wrong’ or ‘second and right.’ Always be first and right. Rule number nine: Ask simple questions to obtain simple answers,” some of the ‘commandments’ read.

Rule number nine is what led Sonenberg to discover the eIF4E protein.

“The simple question was: There’s a cap structure on mRNA, what’s the protein that binds to it?” Sonenberg said.

In 1979, Sonenberg answered that question while working at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology. This was the greatest discovery of his life.

“The simple question was: There’s a cap structure on mRNA, what’s the protein that binds to it?” said Sonenberg.

“I discovered the protein called eIF4e—the cap-binding protein,” Sonenberg said. “It turns out that this protein is involved in cancer, so now scientists and companies are devising drugs to fight cancer based on this protein. This protein is [also] involved in autism [….] If it plays a role in a large number of autistic children, [then you] can design a drug. These are all milestones. It’s [really] something [when] other researchers look at [that] and they want to continue and find out all the details and then find drugs that will cure human disease. I am very happy when companies start project based on eIF4E.”

eIF4E plays a critical role in protein translation regulation. It is responsible for directing ribosomes to a part of the mRNA known as the cap structure, and almost all cellular proteins require it for their translation. When problems with eIF4E arise, cells will not translate proteins properly, which can result in many kinds of illnesses, like cancer. Consequently, researchers around the world study eIF4E, and Sonenberg has many collaborators.

“I always look for collaborators because I can’t be an expert in everything,” Sonenberg said.

Ten years ago, the Sonenberg lab began working on brain research, and needed to reach out to those with more expertise in the field. When Sonenberg was initially beginning his studies on eIF4E, his assays were not working and he approached chemistry professor Charles Cantor from Columbia University for help. He has started working on microRNAs, which are heavily being used in the field of genetic engineering, and seeks help from those who understand it best.

This communication between scientists has been vital to the survival of the field. Originally, the study of science was the study of details. To understand singular cellular processes, a scientist would isolate one protein to examine, and then see how it would respond to different stimuli. Today, the approach is very different.

“Everything that we are studying now is system-wide,” Sonenberg said. “We understand a simple problem through the whole system. When we look at things like heart disease, we want to see the effect on every organ in the body.”

Take for example the bacteria in the gut, known as the microbiome. Originally, researchers paid little attention to these bugs; however, over time, scientists began to realize that individuals with different microbiome compositions would respond differently to drugs. In fact, fecal transplants—which would introduce new bacteria and change the stomach bacterial composition—could even induce weight loss. Humans actually have 10 times more bacteria than human cells in their body, and the composition and success of these bacteria can play a crucial role in an individual’s health and well-being. Gut bacteria have even been shown to be linked to autism. Today, there is considerable amount of research being done to understand this field. These types of discoveries take time, luck, and money.

“You have to work very hard and be very passionate in order to succeed in science,” Sonenbeg said. “The message is simple. You have to invest in order to get returns.”

Basic research is the study of natural phenomena in order to simply better understand processes. Unfortunately, this type of research does not always have an immediately obvious profitable end product. Investors and government agencies are reluctant to give money to this type of research because there might not be a return.

“The message is simple. You have to invest in order to get returns.”

“We have to do much more to educate the public and politicians and other decision makers about the enormous value of investing in basic research,” Sonenberg said. “In the end, this will change everything.”

Basic research has led to the discovery things like recombinant DNA technology. Recombinant DNA processes are now used to produce enormous amounts of human insulin, which is indispensable in the treatment of diabetes, and today yields large amounts of profit; however, money and glory do not drive most scientists. It is a careful mixture of altruism, intelligence, and selfishness that pave the path to discovery.

“We don’t do science for awards,” said Sonenberg. “We do science for the sake of science. To find how the body [functions] and how to fight and cure disease and how to better humanity. If you get awards, that’s a bonus.”

There is no doubt that the life of a scientist is as rigorous as the scientific process itself. It requires long days, and even longer nights. But for someone like Sonenberg, the journey has been worth it.

“In the end, when [I] think about this, I would do it all over again,” Sonenberg said. “I had the opportunity to do important things in science. I don’t see it as a sacrifice. It is something I had the privilege to do.”

 

a, Science & Technology

The study drug debate takes a new turn

by Clare Fogarty on

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The use of psychostimulant drugs like Adderall, Ritalin, and Vyvanse has become increasingly routine for some university students striving for success. In fact, some studies report up to 34 per cent of U.S. college-level students use non-medical psychostimulants for increased academic performance. Use also seems to vary by social group. For a cohort of fraternity members, this number was found to be as high as 55 per cent.

Pyschostimulants include a broad class of drugs normally prescribed to treat symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity common in patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Some of the most commonly used stimulants are derivatives of amphetamines. For example, Adderall is a mixture of two mirror-image organic molecules—called enantiomers—dextroamphetamine and levoamphetamine. 

Amphetamines work by binding to trace amine associated receptors (TAARs) in the brain, triggering the release of natural neurotransmitters like epinephrine (adrenaline) and dopamine from specialized neuronal compartments, called synaptic vesicles. These neurotransmitters increase signalling between neurons, and consequently enhance cognitive activity. This results in increased focus and attention.

For patients with ADHD, regular use of stimulants generally shows a low rate of negative side effects. Thus, prescribing stimulants to those with ADHD seems like a clear solution to treating symptoms. The issue of nonprescription use of stimulants, however, is much less black and white.

Interestingly, stimulants are generally found to have very little effect on healthy individuals, with results comparable to other study techniques like physical activity or meditation. A 2013 study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that students merely perceived the drug as strongly enhancing their cognitive ability. Discussing the ethics behind stimulant misuse, consequently, might be a moot point, as they may not actually provide an unfair advantage over other students. Still, others disagree. Biomedical ethicist Dr. Cynthia Forlini from the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical research, explained that while the overall effects of stimulants on students is generally low, the results may vary drastically between individuals.

“There’s a phenomenon [called] the enhancement ceiling,” Forlini said. “You can only be enhanced so far. A higher performing individual will not get a big benefit from these drugs; however, if your baseline performance is lower, these drugs might help you much more. It’s an interesting idea to frame the debate around—an optimizing or normalizing of performance, bringing people to a certain level that cannot be surpassed.”

The issue to be addressed then, is how to frame the debate behind stimulant misuse. 

“If you’re tackling something like prescription abuse, the connotation is very different than if it’s [an] enhancement or a lifestyle choice,” Forlini explained. “You’re not going to talk about fairness—it’s whether or not this is cheating. If you frame it as a lifestyle choice, then maybe—although you’re not supposed to be doing it—this is a choice that you have to help attain your goals.”

Discussing the topic in a neutral light appears to be key to reasonable debate. This avoids the implied connotation behind the different terminologies.

“‘Non-medical prescription use of stimulants’ is a mouthful, but it doesn’t have that ethical connotation of implied benefit, which I think is a problem because the effects just aren’t there for everybody,” explained Forlini. “You’ll find very different effects across individuals, so the idea of enhancement doesn’t always stick. It might not make sense to talk about enhancement if you’re not seeing those effects.”

Ongoing research in bioethics seeks to find the causes behind stimulant misuse in order to resolve this issue. It remains unclear whether it is up to students to seek academic help, physicians to use more caution in prescription, or institutions to consider the question: Why are our students using stimulants in the first place?

The Three Bares
a, Art, Arts & Entertainment

A walk through the wallflowers: Exploring McGill’s visual arts collection

by Chloe Nevitt on

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The art scattered around McGill’s campus is a result of efforts by hundreds of artists over the past two centuries. Though publicly displaying these artworks can result in damage or vandalism, it’s a risk the the Visual Arts Collection is willing to take, according to Visual Arts Collection Assistant Daisy Charles.

“The idea of the collection is for it be public and enjoyed by the community,” Charles said. “What’s the point of artwork you can’t see?”

McGill’s Visual Arts Collection is as old as the university itself; today it includes over 2,300 pieces. Unfortunately, many of McGill’s students don’t realize that such a collection even exists.

“I studied art history [at McGill] and I didn’t even know there was a collection,” Charles said. “I was here for three years writing about art—walking by these pieces—[without knowing] this was a collection that was managed.”
The visual arts collection is actually responsible for decorating the many halls, offices, and spaces on McGill’s campus. The collection isn’t placed in a traditional museum setting, however, where one would anticipate art.

Consequently, a person with a busy schedule and a busy mind won’t notice their surroundings, and as a result, the art on campus often becomes background noise. The rich history of the art and the artists, put on display to ease the eyes of students, deserves attention. McGill, effectively, is the museum.

The Portraits

The Portrait of James McGill

The collection began with the acquisition of the portrait of James McGill in Redpath Hall, which is the oldest piece in McGill’s Visual Arts Collection.

“[This portrait] was done by a really famous Canadian portrait painter [named] Louis Dulongpré,” Charles said. “We [actually] don’t know the exact date of [when] the painting [was completed] but it was donated [to McGill] in the 1830s by one of his friends.”

For the last 200 years, McGill has commissioned artists to paint portraits of people who have worked for the school, like deans, chancellors, and professors—a tradition which is upheld to this day.

“Every principal still, when they leave, has a portrait of them done that is then hung in Redpath Hall,” explained Charles. “Heather Munroe-Blum’s portrait is being finished now [and will be] installed soon.”

The Portrait of Dr. W.H. Drummond

A lot of the older portraits in the Collection have been done by artists who would later play influential roles in the development of the Canadian art scene. In 1907, the landscape artist F.S. Coburn was commissioned to paint a portrait of the late Quebecois poet Dr. William Henry Drummond.

“It’s a really interesting picture [because Coburn] painted Drummond’s wife on one side and then Drummond on the other side,” Charles said. “It’s been flipped [back and forth] over time. For 10 years we’ll do one side, and then [for] 10 years, the other side.”

As a result, past inventories will describe the painting as being of a different person, depending on which side was shown. Today, the painting—with Drummond displayed—hangs in the Faculty Club.

The Sculptures

The Caryatid Fountain

Perhaps most prominent of the sculptures is the large fountain that acts as a chair, meeting spot, and beacon during McGill’s annual Open Air Pub (OAP).

“It’s called the Caryatid Fountain, said Charles. “Caryatid is a classical architectural term for a human used as a pillar to hold something up. The [statue figures] are holding up the bowl, which is then being used as a water fountain.”
The sculpture found at the centre of the fountain is known as the The Three Bares, and was designed separately from the rest of the fountain. Its history is as rich as the life of its creator, American sculptor and collector, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.

In the early ‘20s Whitney was commissioned to make the sculpture for the New Arlington Hotel lobby in Washington, D.C. But when the Great Depression hit, and the Hotel was never built. Bares suddenly had no home.

“[Whitney] was very good friends with a woman named Ellen Ballon who was a famous pianist who went to school at McGill,” Charles said. “Ballon moved to New York in the ’20s, and went to [Whitney’s] studio, […] saw this sculpture, and suggested that [Whitney] give it to McGill.”

For many, the gift was seen as a gesture of goodwill between Canada and the U.S., and consequently it picked up nicknames like, ‘The Friendship Fountain,’ and the ‘Goodwill Fountain.’ For others, the gift was seen as being hugely inappropriate for a campus environment.

“I deplore the erection of three naked male figures in prominent position of the Campus and this statue is a menace to our pure-thinking girls and boys,” wrote one critic to McGill.

Despite the critics, McGill continued its plans to build the fountain, but the process continued to be met with delays, as McGill was also being affected by the economic crisis that was plaguing the U.S.

“It was the beginning of the Depression, and the University had no money,” said Charles. “[So the sculpture] sat in a box for years because no one could afford to build a fountain and set it up.”

In the end, Whitney donated the necessary funds for the installation, and on May 31, 1931, the sculpture and the fountain were officially unveiled. Today, to avoid these kinds of delays, the University will not accept gifts if the donor will pay for the installation.

Lantern

East of the Redpath Museum, not 20 feet from Caryatid Fountain, stands Lantern. Donated to McGill in 1968, Lantern was created by Austrian artist Ernestine Tahedl, the wife of a professor at the university.

“[The piece was] called Lantern because it was originally lit up [by] spot lights inside of it,” Charles explained. “So at night, you can imagine how nice it would look all lit up.”

The university had wanted a piece that would be seen during the winter months.

“It was supposed to be lit, and it was lit for two years,” explained Tahedl. “Access to the lamp was difficult [however], so it hasn’t been lit for years.”

Lantern was a controversial piece when it was first introduced.

“[It] wasn’t supposed to be permanent,” said Tahedl. “It was only supposed to be up for six months. [But] they decided they wanted to keep it.”

Tahedl first made a maquette—a scale model—of the piece in clay. It was then cast in concrete, and pieces of thick glass, called dalles, were set into the stone. The final product is striking and intense—typical of the Brutalist movement that had gripped construction methods during the same era.

“There was a lot of disagreement about it and whether or not the University wanted to accept it and so it was kind of a controversial piece,” explained Charles. “Some people didn’t like it.”

The Visual Arts Committee—which is responsible for advising on the acquisition of artworks—ultimately ended up deciding to accept Lantern.

The Bronze Statue of James McGill & Transition Muette

Not all of the sculptures found around McGill have experienced such tumultuous changes. The bronze statue of James McGill, found near the entrance of Roddick Gates, was done as late as 1996 by David Roper-Curzon. The large sculpture found in front of the Wong Building was done by Montreal-based artist Jacek Jarnus Zkiwicz, as part of a Quebec Policy called the “politique d’intégration des arts à l’architecture” (in English: “Percent for Art”). It requires publicly-funded construction budgets to fall above a certain amount need to allocate about one per cent of their funds to commissioning a new piece of art. The government will then choose from a list of ‘Percent for Art’ artists to do the piece.

Thus, in 1997, when the Wong Building was finally constructed, as part of the policy, so was Transition Muette.

“It’s made of the [four] metals that are being tested on [inside] the building—copper, steel, zinc, and stainless steel,” Charles said. “The idea was that [Zkiwicz] was reflecting what goes on inside, outside.”

A number of factors has made tracing the origins and the locations of all of the pieces in the collection difficult. This is due primarily to the nature of the collection; not only is it big in size, but it’s spread over a large amount of space. According to Charltes, this is compounded by the fact that until recently, the University didn’t have a team dedicated specifically to maintaining the Visual Arts Collection.

“At first, it was someone who worked at the McCord [Museum], who’s job-on-the-side was also caring for the Visuals Arts Collection,” Charles explained.

In April 2013, Wendy Owens became the first full-time director of the Visual Arts Collection. Under her direction, multiple surveys of McGill’s art collection have been taken to determine the history, whereabouts, and value of all of McGill’s art. Today, the team oversees the acquisition of artworks, and their subsequent distribution within the university. It is this flow of art to, and then within, the university is where the unique nature of the collection really shines.

“Things move because people borrow our works,” Charles said. “If you work at McGill, you can borrow an artwork to hang in your office.”

Faculty members can choose from pieces that aren’t already claimed for other areas to decorate their spaces, and if someone no longer wants a piece, it can re-enter the circulation. Before this, the art donated to the university must be approved by the acquisition committee, comprised of professors, administrators, art historians, and architects. They decide whether or not artworks received by the university are appropriate for their audience.

“They try to pick things that pertain to Canada, Quebec, Montreal, or are decorative pieces that would […] enhance the campus,” Charles said. “[They] can’t accept things that aren’t appropriate for public display. [For example], a couple of years ago, an artist offered us a gigantic male nude which was not delicate, [so they couldn’t] accept.”

The process of selecting artwork for a campus is very different than the process required for a museum. Pieces often need to be able to withstand vandalism, be inoffensive, and require little or no background in the form of descriptive plaques.

The art scattered around McGill’s campus is a result of the efforts of hundreds of artists over the past two centuries.

Though publicly displaying these artworks can result in damage or vandalism, it’s a risk the the Visual Arts Collection is willing to take.

“The idea of the collection is for it be public and enjoyed by the community,” Charles said. “What’s the point of artwork you can’t see?”

a, Science & Technology

Chill out—sea levels aren’t rising as quickly as predicted

by Daniel Galef on

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Scientists have been warning for years that it may actually be too late to stop climate change despite concerted efforts by the global community. But the world may not be doomed after all. According to a new paper co-authored by McGill Professor Natalya Gomez from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, humanity might just have a bit more time than previously predicted. 

The paper, published in Nature Communications, outlined the effects of factors that had been ignored by earlier computer models used to evaluate global warming. By including these new aspects, the scientists determined that the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) will melt at half the rate previously predicted. This means there will be more time to plan for and prevent sea level rise and coastal flooding. 

Among the new phenomena examined by Gomez are the fluid properties of the earth’s mantle beneath Antarctica. These include viscosity, elasticity, and even the gravity produced by the mass of the ice itself. Previously, these had not been included because scientists believed their effect would not be significant compared to other more obvious factors, such as sunlight, ocean currents, and greenhouse gas retention.

Gravity makes the water level higher near the icecaps, due to the enormous mass of ice pulling on the sea in a similar manner to the tidal effect of the moon. As the ice sheet melts into the ocean, it loses mass, and the water level drops. Ice, however, melts more slowly when it is not in contact with water. As the AIS melts and loses its gravitational pull on the surrounding water, the surface area of contact between the ice and water decreases, and consequently, the ice melting slows down.

The other factor taken into account for the first time is the fact that Earth will ‘bounce back’ as weight is taken off of it, known as Earth’s rebound. The Earth beneath the ice sheet possesses a degree of elasticity like any other substance. As the sheet melts, and the enormous weight of the ice is taken off of it, the ground underneath the ice sheet will expand upward, and limit the contact of the remaining ice with the surrounding seawater.

The rise in sea level from melting ice mostly comes from a small handful of ‘outlet’ glaciers fed by snowfall and driven by gravity into the sea. Chief among these, as identified by Gomez in a separate article in Nature News and Views, is the Thwaites Glacier, a small but significant site of ice loss in a sheet of ice known as the Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE). This relatively unpredictable process is cited by the paper as a major cause of the uncertainty related to predicting levels of destruction.

The effects of icemelt do not end with flooding. The ecosystem is complex and every unbalance has a domino chain of consequences, explained McGill Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Professor Bruno Tremblay. 

“It stratifies the ocean,” Tremblay said. “It isolates the surface water from the warmer water beneath. When you melt glacier ice, you decrease the salinity of the surface water. And freshwater is much lighter than salty water. It’s like a lens of oil sitting on top of water. It’s two different densities, and it prevents vertical exchange between the two layers.”

This has additional ecological implications. Ocean stratification prevents the vertical exchange of nutrients as well as salt. When nutrients are trapped below the photic zone where sunlight reaches, phytoplankton and other basic organisms starve, which can have severe continuing repercussions up the food chain.

Estimates over the next few centuries warn of coastal devastation and runaway ecological upheaval—both from heat expansion and the shrinking of polar ice caps. Even with this new information, it’s only a little extra time that should be used wisely to prevent further damage.

“Antarctic ice loss would add meltwater to the oceans and contribute to future sea-level rise, posing a threat to coastal communities and environments around the world,” Gomez said. 

a, News, SSMU

SSMU hosts forum on possible executive restructuring

by Laura Hanrahan on

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Students may soon have a seventh Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executive according to a forum held this past Thursday. VP Finance and Operations Zacheriah Houston, VP Clubs and Services Kimber Bialik, and VP University Affairs Chloe Rourke addressed concerns and answered questions about a potential new structure, as well as the responsibilities of SSMU executives.

 

Proposed ideas

 

Houston presented the proposed ideas for a seventh executive portfolio. The plan involved creating a new VP Operations position and renaming VP Clubs and Services to VP Student Life.

“The VP Student Life would […] basically be the VP Clubs and Services, minus the building aspect of that portfolio,” Houston said. “[The] VP Student Life [could then] take on some of the workload from the VP University Affairs. The VP Finance and Operations portfolio would be split into a VP Finance, doing all the finance-related aspects of my current portfolio, and VP Operations doing the student run operations […] as well as our building operations […] and environmental sustainability.”

Bialik stated that for a seventh executive to be added for the following academic year, a referendum would need to be held early next semester.

“Over the next two months or so, we would do more [consultation…] and then run a referendum to amend the constitution in January if that’s what students […] wanted,” said Bialik.

Houston addressed questions regarding the allocation of funding for the salary of the seventh executive. He stated that a specific source is yet to be determined, given current budget constraints from last year’s addition of a permanent staff position, and the loss of commercial tenants in the SSMU building.

“Right now [there] is not a lot of room in the general administration budget,” he said. “You would have to restructure permanent staff positions and different student staff positions to shift the salaries around, or there is no money [….] I actually don’t think that adding an [executive] would necessarily make [the total amount of the collective salaries] increase above what they are now […] but in the short run I don’t really see an easy way to pay for it.”

Houston additionally addressed the possibility of raising the SSMU base fee to garner extra funding.

“You can always increase the base fee, but that’s not something I would do for an exec,” he said. “But that’s something that needs to happen at some point any way. [The base fee] hasn’t been increased [for] quite a long time.”

 

The need for restructuring

 

According to Rourke, one of the driving factors behind the addition of a seventh executive, as opposed to student or permanent staff, is the lowered salary that executives receive.

“The reason we’re in favour of a seventh exec is that we’re the cheapest way to get an increased amount of work done,” she said. “Every other student staff gets paid minimum wage, permanent staff get benefits, and we work way more than full-time hours. So from that perspective of money for labour, we are the cheapest option.”

Houston explained that the discussion of whether or not to add a seventh executive has been ongoing since the summer.

“We started talking about how working upwards of 70 hours a week is possibly not the most sustainable thing – once school hits, that number goes up to 80 on a good year,” he said. “This year, we have many executives working 90 to 100, or 100 or more hours a week.”

Rourke echoed Houston’s sentiments, citing sustainability and mental health issues as a major problem with the executives’ current workload.

“Eighty hours a week is not accessible, it’s not equitable, and it’s not sustainable,” Rourke said. “It’s not fair to expect that out of someone and not everyone is capable of working 80 hours a week. I know I’m not [….] I get burnt out, my mental health takes a huge toll and I’m less of use to the people around me […]  and the ones that really suffer at the end of the day are students.”

Houston also noted the absence of a general manager (GM) and VP Internal as factors that made this year’s hours worked per week by the executives particularly high. When the floor opened to questions, Alexei Simakov, U4 International Development Studies, asked whether this year’s excessive work hours should be considered an isolated incident due to these absences.

“Concerns from previous years of execs being overworked have never been as prevalent as this, so would it not resolve itself if there were a full-time [General Manager (GM) and] a VP Internal?” Simakov asked.

In response, Rourke stated that past years have also seen serious cases of executives being overworked.

“I’ve raised [concerns] in the past that this is unsustainable, and this is not cool from a mental health perspective,” Rourke said. “This isn’t the only year that executives have been overworked […] and that’s evident from every single exit report that you read. VP Clubs and Services, more than any other position, has reported [things] like alcohol problems as ways to deal with the work load, extreme burnout, [as well as] rage and anger towards club executives because they can’t handle any more people coming to their door.”

Houston noted that while the addition of another executive member will not necessarily fix the problem, it will alleviate some of the work that current executives do.

“We definitely realize that adding a seventh executive isn’t the answer to everything,” Houston said. “However, we are here because we believe that the portfolios are too loaded and one of the things that can happen in order to, in the long run, create a sustainable structure is to add an executive. The last time this was done was about 10 years ago, when they added the VP Clubs and Services and SSMU has grown immensely since then.”

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