Latest News

a, Letters to the Editor, Opinion

Letter to the editor: Women-only gym hours not a final solution

by Nick Uhlig on

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After reading the Tuesday, Feb. 24 issue of the McGill Tribune, specifically the commentary “Exercising Justice at the McGill Fitness Centre”, I feel it’s important to point a few things out.

I believe that with regard to women who are insecure using the gym due to the presence of men, women-only gym hours should be viewed as a stopgap measure or band-aid solution at best. Men will not vanish simply because women use the gym at a different time, nor will the sexual aggression or harassment that is at the root of this problem.

Being afraid of working out simply because men are there—and condoning this fear with women-only gym hours—is a tacit accusation that all men are boorish and judgmental, and cannot be trusted in a co-ed environment. I would never deny that women disproportionately face harassment and aggression from men in many aspects of their daily lives, but simply separating those two genders is not a final solution; it is a temporary one that addresses a symptom instead of the actual issue, and disenfranchises the majority of well-mannered men who frequent the gym in the process. The actual issue is enforcing proper conduct and a respectful, safe environment for all patrons of the McGill Fitness Centre, regardless of gender or fitness level, which requires effort and coordination from the staff at the fitness centre and the clients as well.

In addition, the notion of paying for a service that you do not use seems to only bother people when it’s their money on the line. Childless couples pay taxes so we can enjoy free primary and secondary education and cheaper tuition; people without cars pay taxes so our roads are maintained; people with jobs pay taxes so that people without jobs can have access to a better safety net. The idea that paying for access to the Athletics Centre as part of our tuition is unfair simply because one chooses not to use it absolutely boggles the mind. Not to mention that the extra cost of the fitness centre is completely optional. Nobody is being forced to pay for that at all.

The assertion that a lack of women-only hours is denying people their rights is also incorrect. Everyone who pays still has the right to use the fitness centre. Whether or not they exercise their right to use that facility is up to them, and any of their own personal preferences (excluding religious considerations, which I believe are a separate but related issue that requires more consideration) are just that—preferences. There is no such thing as a right to never be self-conscious, and as such, co-ed hours are not denying anyone rights, but they do present a conflict with some people’s preferences. Forbidding a portion of the clientele from using the gym at certain times would actually be directly curtailing their right to use the facility. 

People getting fit and having fun are of course the top priorities of the McGill Fitness Centre. Women-only hours at a gym may help some women transition into using the gym during co-ed times as well, which is a positive thing. But the ultimate solution to people’s pervasive insecurity is not to sequester them. I would argue that this actually prevents lasting change. The solution is to make all visitors to the McGill gym unavoidably aware that menacing, intimidating, or lecherous behaviour is grounds for punishment, or ejection from the gym. Creating a welcoming environment, encouraging a cultural change in gyms, and helping people to overcome their insecurities would benefit not just women, but all clients.

It is everyone’s responsibility to make co-ed spaces inherently safe spaces.  No judgment, no intimidation, from anyone. This cannot be achieved in the long-term with ham-fisted solutions like single-gender hours. 

a, Opinion

QPIRG 2015 referendum question

by McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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The Tribune endorses a “Yes” vote for the QPIRG-McGill referendum question. QPIRG is a student-run organization focused on social and environmental justice, and in this referendum, it is asking for a fee levy that would increase its opt-outable fee from $3.75 to $5.00 per semester for undergraduate and graduate students. This increase, which QPIRG has stated is approximately equal to its 1988 fee indexed to inflation, would enable the organization to sustain its current efforts as well as expand on its research, outreach, and education programs. However, it is imperative that the organization continues to be accessible across campus and to promote its benefits and services to the student body.

a, McGill, News

MUS referendum passes new student space fee

by Arden Li on

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Students of the Desautels Faculty of Management’s Undergraduate Society (MUS) voted on Feb. 5 to implement a $40 per semester non-opt-outable student fee for the next three years in a faculty-wide student referendum. The fee will go towards a new Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) Student Space Improvement fund.  The fund is expected to accrue $500,000 by 2018 as a result of students’ contributions. 

The referendum passed with 50.2 per cent voting “yes”, 49.8 per cent voting “no”. The voter turnout to the referendum was 629, representing 30.1 per cent of the total number of electors, surpassing its quorum of 20 per cent.

According to MUS President Sean Finnell, the motion was proposed by the MUS after a semester-long discussion and student survey on how Desautels could improve the spaces in which students work. 

“After presenting a report to Desautels administration on potential improvements, the MUS realized how quickly and effectively they could be put in place if a vehicle was created where students were able to fund some improvements directly,” Finnell explained.

The new fund will be jointly managed by MUS and the Desautels Faculty of Management, and will not be related to the renovation of the bookstore space, where the faculty’s MBA program will be relocating in 2017.

Interim Dean Morty Yalovsky expressed that the establishment of the student fund would set a strong example for alumni to follow regarding raising funds for the renovation of the bookstore in the near future.

“This most recent student-led initiative will serve as a major catalyst for a new multi-million dollar alumni fundraising campaign, which will support BCom students’ infrastructure needs in Bronfman as well as planned renovations to the new building,” Yalovsky said.

Although no plans have been decided regarding the use of the fund, Finnell cited possible areas of improvement that would be made possible by the fund.

“An example would be completely overhauling our current fourth floor student space to increase the number of quiet individual study carrels in the building and substantially upgrading the group study area furniture—both are improvements widely demanded in our recent Student Space survey,” Finnell said.

The fee levy was met with mixed reactions. Some students felt that the fee was unnecessary and overly expensive.

“It’s good that they want to improve our life in Bronfman, but $80 per year is a lot,” said Marie-Valentine Pinton, U1 Management. “We may not even get to see the results of this fund, especially for those of us who only have two years left and will go on exchange. I just don’t think there’s a need for it.”

Others welcomed the fee, viewing it as an investment in their undergraduate education.

“The fund certainly presents a significant cost to individuals, but the success of the faculty ultimately reflects on us,” said Rosy Teed, U1 Management. “If this money is put towards improving our and future Desautels students’ learning, I think it’s worth it.”

According to Finnell, MUS launched a “Yes MUS!” campaign in support of the referendum question, which sought to inform students about the motion through social media in the Bronfman Building. Some Management students felt, however, that there was inadequate advertising for the new fee.

“I didn’t see the referendum question until I logged in to vote. I never saw any promotion about it,” Pinton said. 

Although Teed supported the fee, she offered the same criticism. 

“I had no idea about it until after the fact,” Teed said. “I feel like MUS could have been a bit more proactive in advertising as this is not the regular $2.50 fee increase.” 

While Finnell acknowledged the points of contention regarding the fee, he maintained that the benefits outweigh the costs.

“Any new fee will meet resistance from certain individuals,” he said. “But I don’t think anyone can ignore the immense value Management students receive through current student-levied fees that help support our Career Centre and some of the specialized business technology and software exclusively available to B.Comms.”

a, Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Round Dance: The circle of sex

by Chris Lutes on

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If there’s a single universal truth to social interaction, it’s that people will say anything if they think it will convince the person they like to sleep with them. It was true in 1920 when Arthur Schnitzler’s play La Ronde debuted in Berlin to a shocked and offended crowd, and it’s true now in Players’ Theatre’s production of the same play—now redubbed Round Dance to avoid confusion with the amusement park. This production will also likely astonish crowds like it did in the ’20s, but for a different reason: It’s fantastic. 

Round Dance follows five actors playing ten roles across ten interconnected vignettes. It begins with a chance encounter between a prostitute and a soldier, as she offers him her services and he eventually relents. Each subsequent scene contains a character from the previous one, engaging in the same pattern of pre and post-coital push-and-pull that the first scene established. The circle is closed when the prostitute from the first scene reappears in the final scene. What’s interesting about the play is the radically different reactions the same characters have in what’s more or less the same scenario—characters may be subservient in one scene and domineering in the next; tender or excited; coercing or coerced. The difference is how they decide to act based on who they’re with at that moment.  

It’s also interesting to note the ways that things don’t change. The play seems most interested in the power dynamics that are the common denominator to most sexual encounters, and how sex can be used to cement people’s sexual roles along the lines of power, class, and gender. This commonality is underlined by Hannah Kirby’s assured direction, making the inspired choice to have each actor play two of the different roles. It allows the shadows of past lovers to flit about on the fringes of a scene as waiters or passersby, implicitly reminding the characters that they’ve been in this situation before and they’ll likely be there again. This idea is also bolstered by a sense of symmetry that pervades every inch of the production, going beyond the circular conceit of the script. The beginning and ending of each scene tend to mirror each other, drawing parallels between the desire and satisfaction—or lack thereof—that bookends sex. 

The doubling of roles also allows each actor to showcase a whole range of emotions that would have been limited by having only one part to play. They are all able to grasp the inherent absurdity and hypocrisy of their characters and still mine humor and pathos from them with a professional level of subtlety—all actors are able to sink their teeth into their part without swallowing it whole. Praise also goes to Kirby for getting such real and naturalistic performances out of the actors, who nail the pauses and tics of intimate conversation, making the audience feel all of the joy and discomfort that comes with private dialogue. 

The set is sparse yet highly versatile, made almost entirely of reconstituted shipping pallets that are reconfigured in a number of ingenious ways to suit the background of each particular scene. Lighting and staging are also fine-tuned to fit the context of scenes, with the lighting in particular doing a lot of the heavy lifting. It’s able to realistically transport the audience from the highlight of an outdoor afternoon to the simulated dimness that comes standard with late-night pillow talk. 

It’s important to consider how  ideas of sex have changed since the play was written in 1897, because that evolution is clearly on the minds of those involved in the production. As a society, we like to think we’re more ‘sex positive’ than the people of the late 19th century, but this play smartly doesn’t let the audience off of the hook so easily. Discourse has changed, and things have gotten much better since then, of course, but this production argues that we’re still the same as our predecessors in a lot of ways—desperately grasping at intimacy and human connection, debasing each other with our desires, and fumbling around in the dark—alone together.

Round Dance runs at the McGill Player’s Theatre on the third floor of the SSMU building from Wednesday, Feb. 18 to Saturday, Feb. 21 and Wednesday, Feb. 25 to Friday, Feb. 27 at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $6 for students and senior citizens, and $10 for non-students.

a, McGill, News, PGSS, SSMU

Policy proposes further integration of research methods into undergraduate coursework

by Lauren Wildgoose on

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Terry Hébert, professor of Pharmacology at McGill raised a question to the McGill Senate last Wednesday regarding the incorporation of research into undergraduate teaching. The question was posed to follow up on a discussion at the November 2014 Senate meeting about the logistical challenges of providing every undergraduate student with a research opportunity. Hébert spoke as a member of the Inquiry Network, a cross-disciplinary group under McGill Teaching and Learning Services dedicated to engaging undergraduate students with the processes of research in coursework.

Since its inception in 2009, the Inquiry Network has been meeting monthly to achieve this goal. It has implemented measures including a faculty workshop on research pedagogy and making recommendations to the 2011 Joint Board-Senate Meeting on how to enhance undergraduate research. 

In response to Hébert’s question at Senate, Provost Anthony Masi and Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens said the university has proposed a four-fold approach to helping students think like researchers as part of their coursework. This included the clarification of university policies and guidelines to emphasize the teaching-research nexus as an integral part of a professor’s academic duties, rather than an additional task, as well as the implementation of a five-year plan for Teaching and Learning Services, McGill’s office dedicated to improving teaching.

McGill currently offers research opportunities through the Office for Undergraduate Research in Science (OURS), Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering (SURE), and the Undergraduate Arts Research Internships Awards (ARIA). 

ARIA recipient Caroline Boreham, U3 Arts, worked with Professor Tabitha Sparks on a proposal for a scholarly edition of a late 19th century novel. 

“I loved the experience of working in a library day in and day out—I especially appreciated having the time to explore all of our resources at McGill,” said Boreham.

While these projects are a valuable opportunity for enrichment, they are usually limited to a select few students and last only a few months, according to Marcy Slapcoff, educational developer at Teaching and Learning Services. Boreham also cited difficulty in acquiring funding from a professor the first year she applied for the program, saying that one obstacle to conducting research is finding professors who can guarantee funding for a student project before their own grants are confirmed. 

 Slapcoff also explained why the integration of research into curricula is an important complementary measure to projects like ARIA and SURE. 

“The reason we […] have focused our efforts on coursework is that it is the only mechanism for [offering research opportunities to] all students throughout their degrees,” she said. “Undergraduates may not all be able to do original research, but they can all learn to think and act like researchers—to ask questions, to make decisions based on critically examined evidence, to share results, and to take action as engaged citizens.”

Dean of Students André Costopoulos also emphasized the importance of undergraduate research at McGill. 

“It’s part of our teaching mission,” Costopoulos said. “Undergraduates can not only benefit from research, but also contribute to it. We all bring a different perspective to a research problem, whether we’re looking at it for the first time as an undergraduate in a lab, or with a professor in the library, or whether we’ve been thinking about it for 20 years.” 

Hébert said that research can inspire genuine excitement and has benefits beyond those offered by traditional teaching methods.  

“Facts are generally provisional, and they change,” Hébert said. “[It’s] better to learn to evaluate facts critically and to learn to think independently. Our obsession with memorizing facts that are easily forgotten does a disservice to students, even if they don’t see that right away.” 

a, Features

Cracks in the surface

by Caity Hui on

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I remember looking out over the horizon. The sun was just rising and rays of pink were kissing the calm blue of the Alboran Sea. My body ached as we ran down the beach towards our coaches standing at the edge of the lookout-heart pounding, feet digging into the sand with every step. It was day three of training camp.

I began my career in rhythmic gymnastics when I was five years old. During a recreational class at my local church, the head coaches of my former gymnastics club scouted me and brought me to join its provincial team. The training was tough, but nothing unexpected for an athlete. We practiced nine to 12 hours a week, travelled to competitions across Ontario, and, if we competed well, our team returned with medals. However, the definition of 'well' seemed to change over the years. While rhythmic gymnastics is judged based on three categories—difficulty of elements, artistic value, and execution of the performance—the interpretation of these categories is often subjective, leading to judging politics and what seemed like alliances formed by clubs.

This aspect of interpretation made competition difficult. While the sport primarily rewarded athleticism—the girls who had more difficult tricks and executed more challenging elements did tend to receive higher scores—its aestheticism left room for judgment beyond who could run the fastest, or who could jump the highest. Factors such as who captivated the audience, who smiled more, or whose costume was shinier, suddenly had an impact. When judging became arbitrary, looking good on the carpet became important. It was hot, and we were sitting in a circle on the soft carpets of the gymnasium. The ceilings of our high performance training facility stretched for yards, the air holding its breath in anticipation of the whiz of ribbons piercing the open space and the loud clack of clubs. It was unlike any other facility I had ever seen in Canada.

The older girls sat behind the younger ones, pinning their hair up in buns. By now, we were used to the sharp jabs of the bobby pins and mentally preparing for the morning warm up. One of our coaches approached us and took an older girl aside. I couldn't tell what they were talking about—more than half the team also spoke Russian—but Jessica* returned with red eyes and silently started our stretches. It was only several hours later that I found out Jessica had been deemed too large for the group she was competing with; it was her responsibility to shed weight over the next few weeks of camp. What didn't make sense to me was that Jessica and I were practically the same size.

Stemming from these situations is an ugly side of rhythmic gymnastics. In stark contrast to the elegance of bodies moving in tandem, or the breathless arch of a ribbon tossed into the air, lurks a dangerous pressure to maintain a slim physique and exude a perfect performance. Within my own team, I watched several girls struggle with mental health issues intertwined with the messages we were sent during training camps. Listening to a coach tell another gymnast to slim down can only make you wonder whether you should be doing it, too.

a, McGill, News

McGill Spaces Project holds second workshop on Brown Building redesign

by Laura Hanrahan on

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Participants discussed the planned transformation of the Brown Student Services Building in a workshop on Feb. 18. The workshop was hosted by the McGill Spaces Project (MSP), a student-led initiative seeking to reimagine spaces across McGill’s campus, the Brown Building Redesign Advisory Group (BRAG), a McGill Student Services committee, and the McGill Architecture Community Design Workshop class (ARCH 514), led by Professor Nik Luca. The groups presented the history of the Brown Building and outlined the ongoing plans to change it, which they dubbed “Operation Brown Building”.

According to BRAG Chair Mitchell Miller, the initiative began through a request from McGill Student Services.

 “Student Services started to have conversations about the reception areas, the posters and the signage,” Miller said. “We realized it was way out of the area of what we were able to do and that we need some support.”

The initiative hopes to change the dynamics of the building by making it a more welcoming, usable, and advantageous for students. 

“The main goal stemmed from seeing some underused or misused spaces and wanting to have this building [be] more of a space the students could take advantage of and use,” Miller said. 

  According to Alan Chen, director of the McGill Spaces Project, one of the biggest issues the building faces is poor allocation of its free areas.

“There are large nooks and crannies and transit spaces that are intended to have a variety of uses but have just become these trash spots for unwanted furniture and random tables,” Chen said. “We want to keep it as a transitory building, but at the same time find uses for these nooks and crannies that are awkward and feel out of place.”

Miller explained that the redesign would prioritize revitalizing the clinic space for health services and mental health services.

“The directors of those two units are very keen for [the spaces] to change,” Mitchell said. “It would be more of a redistribution—if there’s two waiting rooms, maybe combine them into one—and taking advantage of spaces and making them more purposeful.”

The coursework for ARCH 514 is entirely based on Operation Brown Building, according to Luca, who explained that the class was acting as consultants for the operation.

“We’ve been hired and been asked to explore some questions, draw conclusions, and make some recommendations, and then BRAG can accept those recommendations and decide whether or not to pursue them, on what time scale, and to what extent,” he said. 

Lindsay Vanstone, a master’s student of Urban Planning and member of ARCH 514, highlighted that the class hoped to reinvent the overall branding of the building. 

“It needs to feel welcoming and so that it’s a student friendly building,” she said. “Somewhere you can informally sit down with somebody, do some work, just sit and read, or think.”

U3 Science student Anina Ratjen, who participated in the workshop, said that she believed that students do not typically use the building in this fashion. 

“The Brown Building is mostly a building I go through to take a little break from the cold when walking to class,” she said. “[I] would never think to come here to sit and do work [….] I think that if they can put these suggestions into action, it will be really beneficial for the students. Personally, I’d like to have more study space—large tables with chairs—because no one really uses the stand-alone armchairs that are here currently.”

There has been no date set yet for the redesign as the plans are still tentative, although some preliminary work is scheduled to be completed before the Fall 2015 semester. 

“If we come up with things that are easier to do in the short term, [like adding and updating signage], hopefully they’ll be done before school starts in the Fall,” Vanstone said. “Things that will take longer and require more investment, a different time will have to be sorted.” 

Right now, MSP, BRAG, and ARCH 514 are in the process of holding information workshops on the project, the next of which will be held on March 16 and 18.

 “It’s very much a ball to be tossed back and forth between the students, the community, and the stakeholders in the building,” Chen said. “It’s definitely a split—hopefully not a compromise, but more of synergy.”

a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Pop Rhetoric: In defence of the Oscars

by Sophie Jewett on

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The Academy Awards took place this Sunday, which means critics have begun complaining about who did and did not go home with the statue of a naked gold man. This criticism will likely build upon the backlash that occurred after the nominations were announced, with the argument being that The Academy’s problem is its lack of diversity. In some ways, this is warranted: The voting committee is made up of 77 per cent male and 94 per cent white members, resulting in a set of nominations that makes it glaringly obvious that there is an underrepresentation of non-white and female artists in Hollywood. 

The extensive criticism of the Academy has raised the question: Why are the Oscars still a popular thing? Art is subjective and it seems bizarre that the judgement about the year’s best films is dictated by a group of old white men. 

However, the Academy Awards have been a vital part of the entertainment industry for  the past 87 years—not simply because it awards the alleged best films of the year, but because the award process itself generates intense and widespread debate about the film industry as a whole. 

One of the most common debates is the seemingly inherent favouritism towards content produced for and by white men in Hollywood—and the subsequent criticism and outrage of this realization—is an instrumental push for change in the industry that would be less prevalent without the Oscars. A notable example of this is the attention given to the representation of Native Americans in the entertainment industry after Marlon Brando declined his 1973 Best Actor Award for The Godfather in a speech read by Sacheen Littlefeather. The Academy and those in attendance responded harshly to this unplanned interruption, but that speech succeeded in bringing heightened attention to the American Indian Movement.

The criticism and the praise that is dispensed in connection with the Oscars is a reflection of the issues that are discussed in society. It is in this constructive atmosphere of open discussion that the Oscars indirectly (and maybe unintentionally) create space for the discussion of social issues and their place in the world of entertainment. The hashtags #AskHerMore and #OscarsSoWhite are just two representations of the many debates the Oscars fuelled on Twitter.

In addition, the Oscars encourage both critics and the general public to engage in questions about quality movies,  filmmaking, and acting. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the choice of nominees and winners, people often feel inclined to take a stand and defend their opinion, consequently leading to greater critical expectations of films and the film industry beyond the best-dressed lists.

If anything, the Oscars should be criticized more for its lack of transparency about its selection process. An explanation for why the winners are chosen would enhance the public’s understanding of the criteria considered. With each winner announced at the ceremony, it would be helpful if there followed a short explanation about why the winner excelled in the category. This might further deepen the public’s knowledge of the process that decides the winners and make the Oscars debates more constructive. 

In spite of its pompous pageantry, the Oscars have come to play an important role in our cinematic culture. The awards process has the instrumental value of initiating debates on the social issues in Hollywood and the very essence of quality filmmaking. 

In a time when many independent and documentary filmmakers are unable to hold their own against increasingly big-budget blockbusters, the Oscars provide a powerful platform for the debate on quality films and their socio-political backdrop. In many cases it is the actors themselves that spark these debates, as Patricia Arquette did when she used her acceptance speech to address gender-based income equality. The criticism and debate surrounding the Academy Awards creates incentives for filmmakers to make bolder pieces targeted towards larger audiences in hope of creating next year’s best picture. 

a, Sports

10 Things: Handball

by Alex Sirois on

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  • 1)

    Handball is played on a cozy 40x20m court. Goals are scored by throwing the ball into the net or by ‘jumping’ in from outside the goalie’s six-foot crease. It is a fast-paced, full-contact sport that typically involves 20-35 goals per team each game.

     

  • 2)

    ‘Expulsim ludere’—expelled play—was a women’s sport in ancient Rome that is thought to be the precursor to modern handball. Handball was codified at the end of the 19th century in Denmark, and gained international recognition after it was played at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

     

  • 3)

    If a tournament game is not decided in regulation, there are a maximum of two overtime periods, clocking in at five minutes each. Should the game still be tied after overtime, the winning team is determined in a penalty shootout, with opposing teams shooting at each others’ nets from the seven-metre mark.

     

  • 4)

    Each team consists of seven players on the court and seven substitute players on the bench. Similar to those in hockey, substitutions can involve any number of players and can come at any time during game play.

     

  • 5)

    Resin is used to provide the players with a better grip on the ball. Though this is not officially allowed in the rules and regulations, players often apply resin to the outsides of their shoes in order to readily access it during game time to put a little extra spin on their trick shots.

     

  • 6)

    The 24th IHF (International Handball Federation) World Championships were held in Qatar. The host nation went on a historic run to the final before losing to the French. The French men’s national team also won an Olympic gold medal in London in 2012. Despite recent French dominance, Sweden holds the most IHF World Championship medals, with a total of 11.

     

  • 7)

    Canada has made only three appearances at the IHF World Championships, the most recent of which came in 2005. The sport remains unpopular among Canadians and the national team has struggled to improve over the years. Team Canada’s best result came in the 1978 World Championship, when it placed 15th out of the 16 teams that qualified.

     

  • 8)

    Salaries in handball have risen significantly in the past few years, with the top five earners making 11 million euros per year. Hans Lindberg makes the most at 11.1 million playing for HSV Hamburg, while Domagoj Duvnjak holds the record for the most expensive transfer fee when, at the age of 21, he was sent to HSV Hamburg for 2.25 million euros.

     

  • 9)

    According to IHF rules, to gain eligibility for a new national team a player cannot have played for another nation for three years in an official match. A large number of European stars had been naturalized just before the last World Champions, and only four of the 17 players on the squad were Qatari natives.

     

  • 10)

    Slovenian Dragan Gajic holds the IHF World Record for most goals scored in a single tournament with 71 in the 2015 World Championship. The record for the most fouls belongs to Croatia’s Igor Vori, who managed to rack up over 25 penalty minutes in just eight games.

    (Photos courtesy of bbc.co.uk; nmcollegeumang.org; ihf.info)

a, Student Life

How to hunt for housing options

by Audrey Carleton on

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With half a semester left to go, most students have to face the exciting yet daunting task of searching for off-campus housing options.  While the process of apartment hunting is stressful for a person of any age, it can be even more daunting for those with no experience.  Here are some common challenges first-years face when searching for their first apartment, along with some solutions to provide guidance.

  • What should I look for in an apartment?

    Things to look out for online:

    Before exploring apartment hunting websites, it is a good idea to know what you want in an apartment. Students who plan to host a lot of parties or events, for example, may value having a large common space like a living room or a kitchen. Students who dread the idea of moving truckloads of furniture into their apartment should search for fully furnished apartments, but these may generally cost more. These types of details are often listed online. Other key details to look out for in online apartment advertisements include price, square footage, number of bathrooms, location of nearest laundry utilities, nearby amenities such as grocery stores and transit stations—and whether or not utilities such as heating, hot water, or wifi—are included.

     

    Things to look out for in

    person:

    An apartment can look great online but fall short in person. Some landlords hire professional photographers to take pictures for advertisements whom can easily take photos from a flattering angle to make a room seem larger. It is highly recommended to see an apartment in person before signing the lease for this reason. Additionally, there could be minor issues with rooms that are only visible in person, including structural problems like holes and other damages to walls, dirty carpets, or chipped paint. These may not be deal breakers to all groups, but if significant, should be discussed with the landlord to potentially be fixed.

  • Where to find apartment/house listings

    Many landlords will also post signs that say “A Louer” outside of an available apartment. Keep an eye out for signs like these when walking through neighbourhoods; they will often have the apartment size and the landlord’s phone number posted on them as well.

    However, some landlords do not post advertisements for every single space they manage. Upon seeing an apartment with a landlord, it is recommended to consult them about any other spaces they have of comparable size. This could potentially open the door to several more spaces that a group otherwise would not have encountered if limiting their search to the internet.

  • Rent

    Rent will depend mainly on the size of the space and number of tenants it can accommodate. The McGill Off-Campus Housing Survival Guide has a chart with average price depending on size. Prices can also vary according to location and amenities. The standard guideline with location is that the closer an apartment is to campus, the more expensive it will be. Additionally, the nicer the amenities a space has—such as balconies, washer/dryer or nice moulding—the more it will cost.

  • Parental involvement

    It is a good idea to discuss logistics of renting an apartment with parents before starting to look, especially if they are the ones paying for rent. Remember to discuss rent budget with parents and get an idea of monetary limits before looking for a space. Many parents have renting experience under their belts, and may have some knowledge to provide with regards to finding a good deal. It is not a bad idea to seek advice from parents and to keep them in the loop throughout the apartment-hunting process.

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