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a, Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

Spotlight on: McGill Alpine Skiing Team

by Aaron Rose on

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They’re McGill’s version of the Crazy Canucks–and frankly, they just don’t get enough attention around here. Quebec is home to some of the best ski hills in the country, and while you and your friends are getting drunk on the slopes with the SSMU Ski and Snowboard Club on the weekend, the McGill Alpine Ski team is putting in work in the gym and on the mountain. 

The team trains twice a week at Mount St. Sauveur. After classes, the team boards the bus and head out for the hill at around 4:30 p.m. The skiiers then spend five hours doing exhausting on-hill training and usually don’t get back home until 11:30 p.m. Race day mornings are even more gruelling. Wake-up is before sunrise, and the skiers have to be dressed and on the hill by 7:30 a.m. for warm-up runs and course inspection.

“Each racer will slide through the course and attempt to memorize the technical sections or areas that have reduced visibility,” second-year racer Robert Cohen said. “Inspection is usually about 45 minutes, and then the race starts shortly after.”

The races are either slalom–where the gates are spaced tightly together forcing racers to wiggle through the course–or giant slalom–where the gates are further apart for faster speeds. After two races, times are tallied and the medals are given out. Every bit of strength, technique, and speed counts in these events, as the top of the pack is usually neck and neck. 

“It’s common to have 10 [racers] within a second of each other,” Cohen said.

This season has been a transition year for the squad after losing seven racers from last season.

“We weren’t as competitive this year as we were last year,” Cohen said. “We lost quite a few older skiers and we were unable to replace […] them.”

That being said, the impressive rookies on the team have done their best to make up for the veteran losses. Freshman Cole Rosenberg has been a major addition to the squad this year, finishing as the Redmen’s top racer on most days.

“[I] really try to focus on maximizing the small amounts of time we are actually on the hill,” Rosenberg said when asked about his successes.

At Mount Tremblant on Friday, Rosenberg finished second for the Redmen, just a second behind fellow freshman William Stone. While Rosenberg struggled in Saturday’s event, senior Physics major William Laver stepped up for McGill, finishing 24th overall against tough competition. Overall, the Redmen team finished third in the competition, falling shy of Université de Montréal and Laval, a recurring narrative for this McGill team.

For the Martlets, third-year captain Allene Kennedy has been phenomenal all season. Her season highlight was a podium finish in February, when she took home a bronze medal at the Owl’s Head ski meet. This past weekend, Kennedy finished 16th and 12th in her races for the Martlets, just barely getting edged out of the top 15 on Friday by fellow Martlet, Jacqueline Baudinet. Just like the men’s team, the Martlets finished third, just behind the same two teams that edged out the Redmen racers.

McGill took home the 2010 Quebec University Alpine Ski Championship, but they’ve struggled since as the competition level has increased significantly over the past five years.

“In the last few years, the entire ski circuit has become a lot more competitive,” Cohen said. “Université de Montréal and Laval both have multiple former national team members racing for them.”

Fortunately, the team isn’t expected to lose many racers next year, as only captain Brandon McCool and Daniel Cohen are presumed to be leaving. While this season was not as successful as the team would have liked, the alpine ski team has a bright future ahead of it.

a, Arts & Entertainment

Album Review: Sufjan Stevens – Carrie and Lowell

by Max Berger on

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Asthmatic Kitty Records recently gave us an initial glimpse of Sufjan Stevens’ seventh studio album, Carrie and Lowell, by releasing YouTube videos for his new tracks “Should Have Known Better” and “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross.” The former is a montage of extended still camera shots that depict a rocky beach shore, a long bridge with minimal traffic, a pier, and a car driving through a prairie; the latter spends its entire 2:39 runtime fixated on a heavy tide rolling in under a lush mountain. The minimalist, steady approach in both videos speaks perfectly to one of Stevens’ greatest artistic strengths: Crafting deceptively simple music and emphasizing repetition in a way that is anything but tedious.   

That was the case with vintage Stevens hits like “Chicago” and “Casimir Pulaski Day,” where he forgoes choruses and bridges in favour of homostrophic brilliance, and it still stands on Carrie and Lowell. It’s his most stripped-down album in years, and tracks like “Death With Dignity” and “Eugene” consist almost entirely of Stevens singing in a hushed voice over a soft, continuous chord progression. When he adds new layers of instrumentation, they’re precisely measured and don’t detract from the hymn-like quality of his music.

 Continuity is the norm, but on the rare occasions where Stevens does shake things up, it’s to the album’s benefit. Carrie and Lowell is largely about the complicated relationship Stevens had with his now deceased mother (Carrie), and—to a lesser extent—his stepfather (Lowell), and he directly addresses these themes on “Carrie and Lowell” and “Should Have Known Better.” Both tracks start of with downcast melodies that eventually give way to beautiful, uplifting finales, which we can only hope is an indication of healing on their songwriter’s part. 

Depending on how you feel about Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, Carrie and Lowell is the frontrunner for best album of 2015. Regardless, Sufjan Stevens is back, and we’re lucky to have him.

a, Basketball, Sports

Point counterpoint: Kentucky vs. The field

by Wyatt Fine-Gagné, Elie Waitzer on

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Over 40 per cent of college hoops fans penciled in Kentucky to win it all in their brackets this year. The experts say it would be foolish to do otherwise, but this is March Madness, and there are still 15 other teams left in the field. Nobody doubts that the Wildcats have the potential and talent to go undefeated, but they’ll have to get past some tough competition to pull it off. 

Click each perspective to read more

Kentucky

Elie Waitzer

The experience of watching this year’s Wildcat juggernaut is a lot like what it must have felt like to watch Kentucky back in the 1996 NCAA tournament. The similarities between the two teams are striking: The mercurial head coach, the trove of future NBA lottery picks, and the unmistakable swagger and hype. One could make the argument that current Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari is a better coach than Rick Pitino; and although success in the NBA is never a sure thing, even for a lottery pick (see: Bennett, Anthony), four Kentucky players are expected to be selected in the first 15 picks of this year’s draft. The main difference on paper is that the 1996 Wildcats—widely regarded as one of the greatest teams in NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball history—lost twice that season. The 2015 Wildcats are undefeated. The 1996 Kentucky Wildcats won the Championship with ease, and there’s no reason to doubt that this year’s squad will do the same.  

It’s easy to hate this team if you’re an NCAA purist against ‘one-and-done’ players, but once again, Calipari’s relentless recruitment system has paid off big time. The thing that jumps out about Kentucky is its size advantage. It’s unfair in every sense of the word, and there’s simply no other team in the tournament that can match-up against the front-court trio of 6’10” Trey Lyles, 6’11” Karl-Anthony Towns, and 7’0” Willie Cauley-Stein. Add in 7’0” centre Dakari Johnson—who comes in off the bench—and you’ve got a recipe for mismatches all over the court on both offence and defence.

Towns—projected to be one of the first picks in the 2015 NBA Draft—has been analyzed ad nauseum, but he remains the key to the title for Kentucky. He’s drawn comparisons to Andrew Bogut with his size and rim protection, and his potential as an NBA player is unlimited. His season stats aren’t dazzling—he averaged 10 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks a game—but his feel for the game is undeniable. His field goal percentage currently sits at 57 per cent, and should improve as he unleashes his inner Blake Griffin on the poor, undersized teams slated to take on Kentucky in the first few rounds. 

The size advantage continues into the backcourt and the bench. The Harrison twins are both listed at 6’6”, giving Kentucky a pair of NBA small forward-sized guards. Andrew Harrison has a solid handle and a deadly shot, and both are lockdown perimeter defenders that will squeeze opposing offences into the paint, where Towns and Cauley-Stein will be lying in wait. But maybe the scariest part of this team is its depth. Shooting guard Devin Booker, a projected top-20 lottery pick with one of the purest shots in the tournament, is coming off the bench for this team. He is hitting more than 40 per cent of his three pointers this season, including 47 per cent from the right of the key, and is finishing at a 65 per cent clip around the rim. He’s Kentucky’s Lou Williams, only more efficient. 

It’s clear that the Wildcats are the best all-around team in the tournament, but every juggernaut has its kryptonite—a team that matches up perfectly with all of its weaknesses. For Lebron’s Heat, it was the pass-happy Spurs who were able to tire out Miami’s frantic defence in the 2014 Finals. For Towns’ Wildcats, there’s simply no answer. Of course this is March Madness, and you can’t rule out Duke getting a monster game from Jahlil Okafor, or Gonzaga shooting the lights out, but this tournament is Kentucky’s for the taking. 

 

 

The field

Wyatt Fine-Gagné

Each year, March Madness features a few favourites. Filling out a bracket usually means picking a champion from a group of three or four powerhouse schools that are more or less equals. In ESPN’s 2014 Bracket Challenge, Florida was the most popular choice, with 27.1 per cent of participants picking the Gators to win. Michigan State was next best with 14.6 per cent of brackets picking the Spartans to win the title. This year, roughly half of all brackets have Kentucky winning. No other team reached a double-digit percentage.

Kentucky has been so good this season that picking any other team is seen as going against the tide. While Kentucky has impressed this season, its perfect record has led people to believe that the gap between it and the rest of the teams in the tournament is larger than it is. No one should argue against Kentucky being the favourite, but to say that its  odds are better than the field’s is an overstatement.

Going undefeated is a rarity for a reason–it’s incredibly difficult and extremely unlikely. The tournament’s format lends itself to unlikely outcomes because of its single-game knockout format. Over a seven-game series, Kentucky would undoubtedly beat any team in the tournament, but the Wildcats chances in a single game setting are lower. As impressive as Kentucky has been this season, it is important to keep in mind that they have benefitted from a relatively weak schedule, especially down the stretch, thanks to playing in the SEC. In fact, the Wildcats have yet to face a team that finished the season ranked inside the top nine in the country. You have to beat the best to prove you’re the best, and Kentucky has yet to face a team such as Duke, which boasts elite talent that rivals that of the Wildcats.

The biggest threat to Kentucky lies in the West draw of the tournament. Both the Arizona Wildcats and the Wisconsin Badgers have the size and physicality to compete with Kentucky. Arizona is one of the best defensive teams in the country, and is almost as dominant as Kentucky. They have not lost a game since Feb. 7, and have only three losses all year. Those losses were by two, three, and four points respectively. That is to say, Arizona was five possessions away from being the nation’s other undefeated team. Would we still be having this debate if there were a second undefeated team in college basketball? Probably not.

As impressive as Arizona has been, the Badgers may be a bigger threat to Kentucky. Kentucky beat Wisconsin in the Final Four last year 74-73 and both teams brought back nearly every player. The gap between the two is not as big as headlines would have you believe. Wisconsin is the most efficient offensive team in the country, scoring 1.246 points per possession. This high efficiency stems from Wisconsin’s willingness to play long possessions, using the whole shot clock to create the best look possible. The Badgers simply do not waste chances on offence. This slow tempo makes every mistake its opponents make more significant because its opponents get fewer possessions. Kentucky is good, but not perfect, and against the Badgers, the margin for error shrinks.

Of course, Kentucky should still be seen as the tournament favourite, but it is not the only team with a shot at the title, as some have suggested. The Wildcats may go down as one of the greatest teams of all time. Going undefeated would be a remarkable accomplishment, but doing so would still be beating the odds rather than meeting expectations.

 

 

 

Editor's Pick: Kentucky
The Wildcats are simply too talented to bet against—hope you picked them in your bracket! 

a, McGill, News

Senate discusses funding for Office for Students with Disabilities

by Jack Neal on

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Allocation of government funding for students with disabilities

Arts & Science Senator Chloe Rourke expressed concerns regarding funding for services for students with disabilities, including the Office of Students with Disabilities (OSD), in conjunction with the uncertainty behind McGill’s budget cuts. 

In response, Provost Anthony Masi stated that although it is difficult to balance the needs of each aspect of McGill, every effort is being made to ensure a fair allocation is attained.

“We are not cutting full support because it is an important part of education,” Masi said. “For example, we had a $1.4 million grant marked for internships [from the government], which has completely disappeared [….] We cannot increase funding just because it’s an important service, a whole educational system has to be considered here.”  

Engineering Senator Morgan Grobin stated that there had been OSD workshops cut in favour of giving money to internship funding. However, numerous people, including Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens stated that they were unaware of such transactions. 

“I wasn’t made aware of the fact that the [OSD] wasn’t able to function,” Dyens said. “I take issue with this and and I will go back and discuss this with Student Services.”

Principal Suzanne Fortier added that McGill has the largest funding for students with disabilities in the province. 

“When I look at the figures, [the fact that] 40 per cent of students recieve [services] is not because we have more people in need, but because we offer more [services],” she said.

Arts Senator Jacob Greenspon requested increased transparency in all of McGill’s funding. 

“How are we going to ensure that this office is going to be supported at the same level it is now with future emerging needs?” he questioned. “Would it be possible to have all the different breakdowns of where the money is going?” 

Masi denied this request on the grounds that it would be impossible to accomplish.

“We can guarantee only what we can afford to guarantee,” he said. “I cannot guarantee to put more money into [the OSD] because of budget cuts. There are aspects of it that may need to be ‘redimensioned,’ but it is impossible to be [completely transparent].” 

Faculty advisors to student ratios

Greenspon also asked a question regarding the disparities in the ratio of faculty advisors to students, as well as how McGill planned to address them.

In their written response, Masi and Dyens pointed to a number of initiatives McGill has undertaken in previous years to address a shortage of advisors to students, including the online resource ‘Ask an Advisor,’ an interactive database of frequently asked questions; ‘AskMcGill,’ and the Staff-Student mentoring program. 

Dyens stated that were many factors contributing to student dissatifaction.

“There are many things that [students] are not satisfied with,” he said. “It can be an [administrative] thing or the fact that sometimes the wait on the phone is a bit too long [….] That’s why we have a number of initiatives to address these things.” 

Presentation of Royal Victoria Hospital plans

Fortier also discussed plans for the nearby Royal Victoria Hospital, which will become vacant next month. She announced that McGill has paired with the Quebec government in order to conduct a feasibility study on McGill ‘s expansion to the grounds to ensure that there is a clear sense of the problems that may be faced and the costs that would be incurred. 

“It would be a splendid addition to the campus, but we will only do it if we believe we can support it and we will progress with great care,” Fortier said.

a, Recipes, Student Life

Making the Simple Exquisite: Tips to make a classic broth

by Alycia Noë on

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Knowing how to make a good and flavourful broth is a helpful tool to have in one’s repertoire. Broths have so many uses in the kitchen, ranging from making a delicious homemade chicken noodle soup to adding flavour to sauces. The key to an amazing broth is patience—let the broth reduce after straining to concentrate the flavours. Also, don’t hesitate to make a large batch, as broth freezes well and can spice up a dish in minutes. Broths can be either vegetarian or meat based. In this recipe for chicken broth, simply replace the chicken with about 5 cups of mushrooms if you want to make the broth vegetarian. 

Essential ingredients:

2 kg of chicken (whole chickens, legs, thighs, drums—not only breasts)

6 large celery ribs (roughly chopped)

4 large carrots (roughly chopped)

2 large onions (roughly chopped)

2 leeks (roughly chopped, optional)

10 garlic cloves (crushed) 

4 litres cold water

Essential spices:

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs of rosemary

4 sprigs of parsley

4 sprigs of thyme

6 black peppercorns

Instructions:

Step 1

 Add all ingredients and spices to a large pot.

 

Step 2

Put pot over medium heat.

 

Step 3

Bring to a boil and then turn heat to low and allow broth to simmer for at least three hours.

 

Step 4  

Skim any fat from the top of the broth as necessary.

 

Step 5

Pour the broth through a strainer and allow broth to cool.

 

Step 6

Transfer broth to containers and refrigerate.

 

Step 7

Broth will last approximately four days in the fridge and up to six months in the freezer.

a, Student Life

McGill Sikh Students’ Association hosts second annual Turban Tying Event

by Mingye Chen on

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Many McGill students chose to spend the afternoon on March 17 learning about Sikh culture and supporting The McGill Sikh Students’ Association (MSSA) at the second annual Turban Tying Event. Completely free and volunteer-run, over 100 students attended the event, which was held in the Madeleine Parent room in the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) building. The event aimed to educate students on various aspects of Sikh culture and the religious practice of wearing a turban. Attendees learned of the significance of the turban, experienced traditional music, and were exposed to the Gurmukhi language. Traditional food was also served from a local community kitchen.

The event was first held in 2014 as a response to the controversial charter of rights and values proposed in 2014 by the Quebec government—which would have restricted religious symbols in public institutions. It was seen by the MSSA as the perfect incentive for the club to increase student awareness of the purpose behind religious clothing and Sikhism. This year, students joined together once again to learn about and celebrate religious freedom and expression.

"It originally began in response to the outright disgrace that was the Quebec charter of values, which completely went against principles of religious freedom in Quebec, as it didn't allow for [the] public display of religious symbols, including turbans,” said Kareem Ibrahim, who attended the event. “Thankfully this did not pass, and SSMU spoke out against the charter as well. Religious expression is a fundamental right for all and is integral to ensuring that our communities area safe space for all. I was happy to see this event continued this year."

Langar, or communal kitchen, is one of the mainstays of Sikhism. It represents the need for equality and sharing within a community. MSSA sought to embody Langar through its annual turban tying event.

Sukhmeet Singh Sachal, a U2 Anatomy and Cell Biology major and one of the leaders of the MSSA, praised the openness and enthusiasm of the McGill community.

"One of the main reasons I chose McGill was for its diversity—today proved just that,” Sachal said. “Students from various walks of life came together to learn about Sikhism, whether it was [through] learning about the significance of why [individuals] wear a turban and keep a beard to learning about the basic principles of Sikhism.”

Despite the fact that it was held on St. Patrick’s day, the MSSA’s second annual Turban Tying Event was undeniably a success. The celebration of cultural, social, and religious differences continues to draw in the support of the McGill community. The MSSA has big plans for the future to further expand the club and raise awareness and accessibility of the turban tying event. According to Sachal, next year will be seeing a big change in the way the event is held.

“We are planning to possibly have the turban tying event on lower field where more people can see,” Sachal said. “We also plan on having a huge community meal where everyone can join, whether they are a McGill student, a non-McGill student, a businessman, or any local really.”

a, McGill, News

Proposal for women-only gym hours halted by McGill administration

by Shrinkhala Dawadi on

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Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens released a statement on Friday expressing that McGill will no longer be considering the implementation of women-only gym hours at the McGill Fitness Centre.

“McGill is a community where every form of diversity (cultural, linguistic, gender, religion, etc.) is celebrated and encouraged,” Dyens’ statement reads. “We do not believe in the segregation of our services [….] We encourage and will continue to encourage all our patrons to engage respectfully with one another, just as we expect all members of our community to treat each other equitably and respectfully in whatever context. Accordingly, we have determined that separate hours for women will not be established at the fitness centre.”

The proposal was spearheaded by two McGill Law students, Soumia Allalou and Raymond Grafton. Allalou expressed disappointment with Dyens’ statement.

“I’m shocked that the McGill administration [and] the deputy provost would decide to shut down negotiations when some other actors in the university were already willing to accommodate [the proposal],” Allalou said. “We had come up to […] a possible solution that could have been implemented and that I’m sure would be accepted by most of the campus.”

According to Allalou, a compromise was being discussed with Jill Barker, manager of marketing and communications for McGill Athletics and Recreation.

“[Barker’s] idea was [to have] a separate varsity room,” Allalou said. “She was saying that we could open it tentatively for a few hours a week […] and do a trial run.”

Allalou added that the additional varsity workout space would not affect the hours or access of the fitness centre.

Claire Stewart-Kanigan, Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President University Affairs, expressed that she believed that the McGill administration only approached the proposal on religious terms, leaving out the other benefits that having the hours might confer.

“In my reading of the situation, the university is anxious to distance themselves from […] what they’re reading as a question of religious accommodation to Muslim women, which is a hot topic right now,” she said. 

Stewart-Kanigan also highlighted examples of similar gym policies in place at other Canadian universities. 

“From the start, the students pushing for this have been clear that this is not exclusively an issue of religious accommodation,” she said. “[The University of Toronto and] other schools have adopted women-only hours. Their adoption was not separate to religion, acknowledging many reasons [for] why there are demands for women-only hours.” 

According to Stewart-Kanigan, the administration had not consulted with the student body before deciding to terminate the proposal.

“The statement states that [the] administration met with students and myself on Thursday to gain a better perspective […] before making their decision,” she said. “This is false [….] The decision to halt negotiations on the subject of women-only hours towards finding a compromise solution was already made on Monday.”

Allalou agreed with Stewart-Kanigan on the lack of consultation. 

“On Tuesday, [Stewart-Kanigan] messaged me and she informed me that the deputy provost was going to shut down negotiations,” Allalou explained. “This is even before he ever spoke with me.”

Attention from both the media and individuals on campus has increased since the discussion was introduced by Allalou and Grafton, with many divided on the issue.

U2 Arts student Frances Lash, who opposes women-only hours, expressed disappointment at the administration’s actions on the issue.  

“I do think that the administration’s decision to not continue negotiations was correct,” Lash said. “Although it is laudable that the women who proposed it strongly advocated for their cause, the gym is not covered fully by [student] tuition: It is an optional service which [individuals] pay extra for [….] Beginning to make exemptions in a service that is optional impedes others from benefiting from the service they have paid to receive.”

However, Lash added that she did not agree with how McGill administration had phrased their statement.

 “The words the university used were inflammatory and condescending, and more tact should’ve been used by the administration on such a hot topic of debate,” Lash said. “Gender discrimination and diversity are important discussions to be had and to be taken seriously—and it seemed like the university was too [flippant] in its response. Words like ‘segregation’ and ‘modesty’ are problematic because they have a long history of misuse.”

a, McGill, News

McGill medical students vote to strike against Bill 20

by Ashley Kong on

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On Tuesday, the Medical Students’ Society (MSS) voted at its General Assembly (GA) to strike on March 30 as a form of protest against Bill 20. If passed, the bill would restructure family care in Quebec.

“Every general practitioner […] must, to the extent provided for by government regulation, provide medical care to a minimum caseload of patients, and perform a minimum number of hours of medical activities,” the bill reads.

The strike motion passed with 89 votes for, 19 votes against, and eight abstentions. As a result of the vote, the MSS will participate in a demonstration against Bill 20 on March 30 led by the Fédération Médicale Étudiante du Québec (FMEQ), a union for medical students in Quebec.

“[The] MSS [will] organize a class strike (levée de cours) from mandatory teaching (and clinical) activities for all students (Med 1-4), in order for our students to participate in this strike on March 30,” the motion reads.

According to David Eidelman, McGill University Dean of Medicine, some family physicians are already cancelling their plans to teach because of Bill 20, which will negatively affect training provided at McGill and other medical schools in Quebec.

“The family physicians […] are so unhappy with the bill altogether, they’ve already starting to propose to withdraw from teaching,” Eidelman said. “They are worried that by next year, when this bill passes, there’ll suddenly be an increase in the number of patients they’ll have to see in clinic, and they don’t want to be caught in a cut in pay just because they’ve agreed to do some teaching.”

Nebras Warsi, MSS president, expressed concerns that prospective medical graduates might be less inclined to join family care.

“By getting in the way of allowing a family physician to teach medical students and to conduct independent research […] I think you’re really taking away a lot from what makes that specialty so attractive,” Warsi said. “Especially [at] McGill, we’re particularly research-focused [… so] taking that away is really detrimental in our eyes.”

Physicians who are currently practicing find that Bill 20 falls short in addressing individual complexities, according to Joshua Chin, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) MSS representative.

“What if the physician happens to be pregnant or has young children?” he said. “[They’ll] have to keep up with this patient quota [….] There’re still a lot of unknowns. The bill needs to be properly studied.”

Warsi explained that he felt that consultation of the medical schools in Quebec came in too late. 

“One of the first times there was really proper consultation was two weeks ago, [when] the deans [of all four medical schools in Quebec] actually had a chance to speak at the National Assembly,” Warsi said. “This discussion should have been taking place a year, or two years, or three years before the bill was even put into motion.”

Chin added that the Quebec government is rushing the legislation process.

“The message we’ve been getting from the government is that it will be rushed through,” he said. “The minister wants this bill to be implemented by early this summer.”

Members of the MSS will head to Quebec City on March 30 along with the representation from other three medical schools in Quebec: Université Laval, Université de Montréal, and Université de Sherbrooke. A joint press conference will be held by the four delegations that day. 

Medicine Senator David Benrimoh expressed that he was happy with the GA strike vote.

“I’m very proud that [the MSS] decided to take this stand,” he said. “I’m very proud that we decided to stand up against something that we believe is socially unjust and contributes to negative changes that will hurt the patients we care for.”

a, Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Back to Bukowski’s future

by Luka Ciklovan on

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In an age dominated by tweets and texts, it is quite easy to forget—or at least be distanced from—the chaos and warfare that ravages the world today. Kim Kardashian ‘breaks’ the Internet while Russia breaks international laws. Dresses change from white to blue on Facebook while the situation in Syria stagnates. ‘Tinderites’ incessantly strike out while U.S. drone strikes still affect countless families. Luckily, TNC’s latest production offers a great reality check.

Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame—the lovechild of 1984 and Brave New World—explores the moral, social, and physical complications that plague four war veterans in the year 2045, and is inspired by the work of author Charles Bukowski. By tracing the personal struggles of veterans prior to their military-induced reliance on “ephembrium,” a drug that erases the users’ memories and places them in a state of perpetual present, the play raises much needed awareness for the often-neglected struggles of war veterans, questioning the nature of a contemporary society that can ultimately lead people to surrender choice. Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame, due to an immersive, multi-media set, fantastic acting, and unique writing, ultimately shines and succeeds in generating much needed human empathy in a world that risks losing it.

Upon entering the theatre hall, the play immediately began to break down the gap between audience and actor. A lone actor was onstage to inhabit the veteran care facility while seats were still filling up, the house lights were on, and audience members were free to converse. This allowed director Ali Vanderkuyk to create a sense of inclusiveness with the audience that permeated the entire play. It felt like walking into a real care facility that operates independently of any audience.  

Nicole Coon’s set arrangement also ensured that actors primarily entered and exited through the audience, thus creating a link between the actors—fictional war veterans of the future—and the viewers. Most notably, this immersion was cemented by the incorporation of a large projector screen into the set that often simulated the world beyond the confines of the care facility and even visualized text messages between characters. The set’s immersion, however, is so powerful that it slightly hindered the play by creating moments of awkward uncertainty on whether the acting was actually over. Regardless, the set design forced the audience into having an emotional stake in the play, and by extension, the human problems it tackles.

The production’s great set also houses wonderful actors. The fact that Ali Vanderkuyk wrote the script in conjunction with the cast is evident in how natural each line delivery felt. Ruthie Pytka-Jones’ (Lane) fidgety movements and masterful stuttering are downright hilarious, and, in particular, her close interactions with Jedidah Nabwangu (Haydee), who rarely raises her voice and speaks in closed body language, are impressive acting moments. Nicholas LePage (Marty) and Thoby King (Tate), with their eerie, hollow-eyed addresses to the audience and palpably deteriorating friendship brilliantly conveyed the alienation that permeates the human condition with or without warfare. Ruby Iacobelli (Lola), alongside the more temperate Claire Morse (Chloe), dominated the second act of the play with her assertive line delivery and booming voice.

The highlight of the play lies within the writing. Drawing directly from the works of Bukowski, Vanderkuyk weaves the author’s pervading themes of human isolation, alcoholism, and the frailty of human relationships seamlessly throughout the play. She then makes these themes more accessible to a modern audience through various pop culture references—Rock Band being my personal favorite—and a diverse set of characters that encompass core human archetypes. 

A rare downside was the perhaps intentional gloom and doom of the first act, which dragged on far too long and created a stressful test of mental endurance before the second act. This aside, if you’re looking for an introduction into the lonely world of Bukowski, but with a modern and war-stricken setting that mirrors and addresses many aspects of today’s world, definitely check out /Burning In Water, Drowning In Flame/. 

Burning In Water, Drowning In Flame runs from Wednesday, March 18 to Saturday, March 21 and from Wednesday, March 25 to Saturday, March 28. Performances are at 8 P.M. at Tuesday Night Café Theatre (3485 McTavish). Student/senior tickets are 6$ and adult tickets are 10$.

a, Opinion

Commentary: Reconsidering the legacy of Brian Mulroney

by Justin Hatherly on

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When he left office in 1993, Brian Mulroney had the lowest approval ratings of any Prime Minister since the Second World War. Even today, over 20 years after he stepped down, Mulroney is still regarded negatively by a large majority of Canadians. However, the hostility towards Mulroney is largely unjustified. Far from being one of Canada’s worst Prime Ministers, he was actually one of the better ones. 

When Mulroney was elected in 1984, Canada was in the midst of an economic recession. The previous Trudeau government had bequeathed its successor with the largest peacetime deficit in Canadian history at eight per cent of gross domestic product, inflation and interest rates in double digits, anemic productivity growth, and record levels of unemployment. Rather than merely playing it safe or tinkering around the edges, the new government decided to implement a bold set of reforms to get to the heart of Canada’s economic malaise.  

Industries ranging from oil and gas to finance were opened up to greater competition. Mulroney was able to both improve the efficiency of the tax system and sharply reduce individual and corporate income tax rates by introducing the GST. The centrepiece of this bout of radical change was the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement of 1987, which exposed Canadian industries to greater competitive pressures and gave Canadian exporters unfettered access to the world’s largest economy.

These reforms took time to yield benefits. There is no doubt that the adjustment process was painful for many who lost their jobs or whose businesses went bankrupt. However, these reforms were a necessary remedy for an ailing Canadian economy.  In 1999, the International Monetary Foundation  concluded that almost all of the stellar economic performance Canada enjoyed could be attributed to the restructuring that the Canadian economy had undergone in the 1980s. Despite the fact that the reforms cost him political popularity, Mulroney showed that he had a keen sense of the national interest by staying the course.

Mulroney also succeeded in improving Canada-U.S. relations. Under Trudeau, relations with Americans had deteriorated dramatically. Mulroney, on the other hand, struck up friendships with Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. Because of this, many in Canada accused him of being nothing more than a lackey to the United States. However, this perception is again unfair. Though Canada emphasized areas of close cooperation on many files that ranged from defence to trade, Mulroney was unafraid to diverge from U.S. foreign policy when he felt it was in Canada’s best interest. Under Mulroney, the Canadian government would not try to create false differences or distance itself from the U.S. simply to appease an immature and shortsighted sense of Canadian nationalism. 

In 1991, Mulroney finally reached an agreement with the U.S. in which the U.S. promised to sharply reduce sulphur dioxide emissions in order to curb the acid rain that industrial pollution in the U.S. was causing in Canada. The agreement, which was sought by many of his predecessors, continues to bring environmental benefits to Canadians today. 

Mulroney was far from perfect. His forays into the national unity debate with the Meech Lake constitutional settlement proposals were in many ways foolhardy. The proposals went too far for English Canada but were too timid for many Quebecers and unfortunately stoked further secessionist sentiments in Quebec. After crusading against patronage and other forms of soft corruption as opposition leader, Mulroney happily dispensed favours to many of his fellow Conservatives after taking office. Yet in spite of all this, Mulroney actually had a very respectable record as prime minister. His actions in office, while unpopular, resulted in long-lasting benefits. The economic reforms of the 1980s were pivotal in revitalizing Canada’s stagnating economy and improved relations with the United States allowed Canada enhanced global influence. The greatest testament to Mulroney’s legacy may be the endurance of the policies he brought in. Upon gaining power, his political opponents, who once called for a reversal of his reforms, left them in place.

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