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a, Editorial, Opinion

Fall 2014 Referendum: Endorsements

by McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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The Tribune gives its endorsements for the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Fall 2014 Referendum.

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a, Opinion

Commentary: To be heard, or not to be heard

by Daan Rozenbroek on

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“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum….”  – Noam Chomsky

(more…)

a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Pop Rhetoric: A missed opportunity for The Newsroom

by Abraham Moussako on

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For those convinced of the self-absorption of the American “media elite,” the hoopla that surrounded the debut of Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom in 2012 was an excellent case-in-point.  (more…)

a, Science & Technology

Uber simple, Uber convenient, Uber ruthless

by Wilder Walker-Stewart on

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Uber taxi service has recently blown away its previous valuation in a $1.2 billion financing round—making the taxi company worth a staggering $18.2 billion. According to Business Insider, the company is rumored to have made $2 billion of total profit, and Travis Kalanick, the CEO of Uber, claims that profits are doubling at least every six months. However, profits being realized in only five out of the 130 cities in which the company operates, according to Insider.

“Uber is revolutionizing the way taxis work,” stated William Nairi, an Uber spokesperson.

Uber is a transportation service that, according to its website, offers a “one-tap” alternative to a taxi. The entire process, including paying for the ride, happens within the app, much of it automatically through algorithms. The sleek user interface is easy to use, making getting a taxi simple and accessible. The company promises a ride within minutes, with five levels of service, including everything from fast and cheap transportation—UberX—to limousine-style travelling—UberLux. With 4.4 stars on the iTunes App Store and four out of five stars on Google Play, the app is gaining considerable traction even here at McGill, Uber has many fans.

“Uber has completely replaced taxis in my life,” says Maddie Dean, U3 Arts.

“It is way faster than a normal taxicab,” added Evan Thomas, U0 Arts.

And that’s the appeal. The company provides cheap, convenient, and fast transportation for the masses. It goes further than that, explained Nairi.

“Uber has a dual purpose: Providing a new way for consumers to travel, and providing the app economy’s first job market,” Nairi said.

If Kalanick’s claims that Uber hires 50,000 new drivers every month are true, it will be one of the first examples of an app mass-producing jobs.

Despite all of this success, however, Uber has many detractors. Many accuse Uber of undermining taxi company livelihoods. In Europe, particularly in France and Germany, taxi unions have staged multiple protests against the company, some of which have even turned violent.

Allegations about the company’s questionable practices are also increasing. The company has been accused of decreasing drivers’ fare revenues at will—in one case lowering fares from $2.10 to $1.10 per mile over a year—causing protests in several cities.

Furthermore, according to The Verge, there are allegations of Ubers anti-competitive behavior against rivals, such as Hailo—which uses established taxi companies in offering Uber-like services, and Lyft—a ridesharing service similar to Uber, whose drivers sport pink polyester mustaches on their cars. This summer, as Lyft was launching in New York City, Uber launched an office known as SLOG (Supplying Long-term Operations Growth), where employees ordered Lyft rides and tried to convince drivers to join Uber, in a story broken by The Verge,  or if not, cancel rides—causing slower times for Lyft customers.

Uber is spearheading a revolution by replacing a service consumers use daily with an app. But whether or not one should use Uber over other competing solutions is another matter. Lyft and Hailo are companies who claim to provide the same convenience, offer compelling alternatives, and are not surrounded in a cloud of scandal.

However, the company still remains one of the most reliable ways to get cheap and fast transportation in Montreal. It has the best location-tracking algorithms, the most drivers, and the shortest waiting times. Despite the allegations and the ruthlessly competitive nature of the market, Uber may still be the wisest choice. Only when more ethical counterparts catch up to Uber in accessibility and ease should users consider switching to a different service. For now, at least, Uber remains king.

a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Sloan turns it up to album 11

by Eric Noble-Marks on

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There are few bands that posses both the longevity and commitment to collective songwriting that Sloan does. Each member of the Halifax four-piece—consisting of rhythm guitarist/vocalist Jay Ferguson, bassist/vocalist Chris Murphy, lead guitarist/vocalist Patrick Pentland, and drummer Andrew Scott—has contributed significant material since the band’s debut in 1992. However, according to Ferguson, this process hasn’t always sat well with everyone.

“Maybe in the early days it was a bit of a detriment to us,” he said. “When we were signed to Geffen [Records], I think they were maybe pushing more for Chris to sing all the songs just so there was a frontman and it was easier to market, even though some of the the biggest bands in the world had multiple singers and songwriters.”

After 22 years and 11 albums, the formula has proven to be a winning one. Sloan has garnered both critical and commercial acclaim for its quintessential brand of power pop.

“Even before Sloan started we were all in bands where we were songwriters,” Ferguson explained. “So it kind of made sense for us, and especially for Andrew who’s a great drummer but also a great guitar player and a great singer. After a few albums […] it sort of became our identity. Everybody has an outlet, no one’s frustrated.”

Despite its experience, Sloan is intent on continuing to find new ways to provide this outlet. Ferguson suggests that this is the key to keeping the band honest and fun after so long.

“Challenging yourself always sounds so cheesy,” he said. “What could we do with our eleventh album? I mean, we could have just made a record where everyone sings and writes three or four songs and it’s sort of staggered. We decided on this record to just sort of carve it up and make it a real double record. Everybody kind of gets their own side to do what they want. I think that’s a new template for a new band like us. It’s a way to keep things fun and engaging.”

That 11th album, Commonwealth, marks yet another chapter in Sloan’s extensive history. Divided into four sides—Ferguson’s “Diamond”, Murphy’s “Heart”, Pentland’s “Shamrock,” and Scott’s “Spade”—the album gives each member a chance to express his individual ideas for a longer amount of time than the two to four minutes of a typical Sloan song. The band took different approaches to this challenge.

“Not all of us rose to the challenge of necessarily having to stream all our songs together on our particular side,” Ferguson explained. “Andrew took it to the extreme and made one giant song that is essentially six to seven mini-songs strung together. Patrick didn’t really stream his songs together at all—which isn’t a bad thing, it’s just what he chose to do. It’s about having your own side to do what you want. The actual recording of the songs wasn’t that different from a typical Sloan record. It was up to us to make our sides as interesting as we wanted.”

With Commonwealth, Sloan is a band looking to the future, but the group has also been looking to the past. Following this past year’s reissue and tour celebrating the twentieth anniversary of its 1994 classic Twice Removed, Ferguson hinted that Twice Removed won’t be the last Sloan album to be revisited.

“I think the next big thing we would do is plan another reissue box-set,” he said. “We might do it for our third album, One Chord to Another (1996). That will probably come out early 2016, ballpark anyhow.”

Between new albums, reissues, and constant touring, it’s a wonder how the band ever catches its breath. Maybe after 22 years, they don’t need to.

Sloan performs at La Sala Rosa (4848 Saint-Laurent) on Thursday, Nov. 27 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $22.50.

a, McGill, News, SSMU

Conference discusses historical, cultural impact of French Quebec bilateral agreement

by Shrinkhala Dawadi on

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Last Monday, the McGill Commission on Francophone Affairs hosted a conference discussing the effects of the bilateral agreement between France and Quebec on education. The event was also co-hosted by the Department of French Language and Literatures, Le Délit, the Department of Political Science at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM), and Standpoints, a Montreal-based student-run think tank. Samy Mesli, a professor at the Department of Political Science at UQÀM, spoke to the history of the bilateral agreement, which was signed in 1965 and allowed for cooperation between Quebec and France for issues, such as education, under provincial jurisdiction.

“It was a founding act […] in the domain of international law,” Mesli said.  “This agreement of Feb. 27, 1965 also marked the beginning of Quebec’s foreign policy [….] The 1965 agreement opened the door to bilateral cooperation, first in education and then in culture. Now, it touches almost every aspect of economics sectors—health, social, economics, and more.”

Melsi also highlighted the opportunities that the agreement provided for Quebecois students going to France.

“[There are] 5,000 Quebec [students] in France at the moment,” Mesli said. “[The] majority of Quebec students will return back to Quebec and maintain an intellectual lifestyle [….] Conserve these intellectual lives.”

The Quebec government is planning to change the tuition rates for French citizens who currently pay the same rates as Quebec residents. In response to the Quebec government’s recent announcement that the stipulations of the bilateral agreement are under review, Mesli stressed the importance of approaching the issue with a historical and cultural context in mind.

“In these troubled or uncertain times, the decision made by the Quebec government of increasing the tuition imposed to French students the is a mistake,” he said. “It [considers] a short-term view instead of taking [into] account the entirety of the […] positive impacts for the Quebec universities [with] the French students’ presence.”

With additional reporting by Domitille Biehlmann, Laurie-Anne Benoit

a, McGill, News

Annual joint Board-Senate meeting discusses community engagement

by Chloe Nevitt on

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Last Tuesday, the Board of Governors (BoG) and the Senate held a joint meeting discussing McGill University’s community involvement. Panellists from a variety of research backgrounds addressed the ways through which McGill could strengthen its relationship with the community.

During her opening remarks, Principal Suzanne Fortier explained that the meeting’s topic was chosen to address McGill’s depiction by the community as being a difficult partner to work with in industry and research.

“[Universities] are good at thinking deeply and rigorously about various issues [and] topics, [and] pushing to see beyond the obvious,” Fortier said. “I think it’s extremely important that we engage other partners in these endeavours.”

Also on the panel was Mark Andrews, associate professor from the Department of Chemistry; Cécile Branco-Côté, U3 Arts student; Dr. Gaétan Lantagne, senior director of the Hydro-Québec institute (IREQ); and Steve Maguire, professor and the Desautels Chair in Integrated Management. McGill Associate Vice-Principal (Research and International Relations) Sarah Stroud moderated the event.

Stroud commented on the nature of engagement and innovation within a McGill context.

“I think innovation in its broadest meaning is taking ideas, discoveries, and knowledge that originate at McGill and putting them to work outside the bounds of our two campuses,” Stroud said.

She then asked the panellists to elaborate on their own interpretations of innovation. In response, Andrews explained the relationship between academic learning and the community. 

“[As scientists,] we have a moral commitment to bringing to the public [what] we’re doing,” he said. “[But] I don’t think we [at McGill] do a good job of declaring to the external community how we’re [doing that.]”

The idea that McGill nurtures entrepreneurship but falls short on communication was echoed by the other panellists, and notably by Branco-Côté, the only student present on the panel. Branco-Côté praised the university for its support to creative projects.

“I think McGill does a great job at supporting creative initiatives,” Branco-Côté stated. “It’s […] easy to get resources and generate initiatives to get involved in projects.”

However, Maguire said he felt McGill could improve in relaying its action to the community.

“There’s patchwork in the university’s activities,” explained Maguire. “I don’t think we’re doing a good job of declaring to the external community about what we’re doing, [and] I think that needs to be first of all clarified, and then communicated.”

Lantagne agreed with the sentiment, and spoke to the importance of evolving with community changes, rather than trying to stop them.

“Breaking down […] boundaries to other universities and society facilitates solving some of our internal problems,” Lantagne said. “No one faculty or department in university brings the knowledge to solve that problem.”

After 30 minutes of roundtable discussions, student representatives were asked to present the conclusions drawn from the individuals at their tables about what needs to be addressed to improve community engagement. The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) President Courtney Ayukawa discussed the importance of avoiding a narrow definition of innovation.

“Service to the community is in the McGill mission statement,” she said. “We need to be investigating, evaluating, and answering community needs, questions, and demands.”

Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) Academic Affairs Officer Jennifer Murray provided a clear three-step action plan that could be used to connect the theoretical to the practical: First, avoid bureaucratization; next, promote the break-down of barriers; and finally, create key performance indicators.

“[We need to] just make it easier for people to work across departments, across disciplines, to come up with good ideas,” Murray said.

Most of the discussion centred on capitalizing interdisciplinary relations and encouraging communication. Despite this, the meeting was apprehensive when discussing experimental learning techniques that could question the validity of quantifiable traditional education.

“We should encourage divergent thinking, we should encourage experimental learning, and we should encourage risk-taking as part of innovation,” Arts and Science Senator Chloe Rourke said. “A lot of the times, the way which students are judged can be very conventional way of thinking […] which can limit the way students can challenge themselves.”

a, Editorial, Opinion

Editorial: PGSS healthcare fee reduction highlights benefits of effective representation

by McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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In recent negotiations with health care provider Blue Cross, the Post Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) was able to secure a significant reduction in health insurance premiums for all international students, including undergraduates. (more…)

a, News, PGSS

Councillors push for transparency in fee approbation reform process

by Philippe Dumais on

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Non-tuition compulsory fee reform

Graduate students will be consulted this Winter on a reform of the non-tuition compulsory student fees approbation mechanism. Non-tuition compulsory fees, or Frais Institutionnel Obligatoires (FIO), are associated with mandatory university services. They are paid by all students to apply, enroll in, or attend university. Currently, they are also collected by student societies recognized by the administration under a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA).

Under the current system, students are consulted upon the introduction of fees categorized as faculty, program, and course-related, explained PGSS External Affairs Officer Julien Ouellet.

“We [currently] have the power to veto the university when they want to implement such fees,” Ouellet said. “The current decision-making process, however, [is] very quick [and] raises concerns of legitimacy and transparency [….] I need more information to make decisions on your behalf.”

Currently, all decisions regarding the FIOs are made by the Fee Advisory Committee (FAC).  This committee is composed of members of the academic staff, SSMU, PGSS, McGill Association of Continuing Education Students (MACES) and the Macdonald Campus Student Society (MCSS).  Each member holds veto power over FIOs that concern its members.  The proposed reform would allow the PGSS External Affairs Officer to consult with students rather than make decisions on his own.

The reform proposes to have all compulsory course-related fees approved through a vote by the executive team of the affected Post-Graduate Student Association (PGSA). All faculty-wide fees would then be approved by a PGSA referendum.

“We would submit a ready-made motion to the PGSA president and financial affairs officer that would contain the FIO’s amount, the course to which it would be applied, and the name of the affected PGSA,” Ouellet explained. “The [PGSA] president would then be required to hold a vote at their next PGSA committee meeting. A simple majority of all committee members in attendance would be required to pass the motion.”

The consultations will examine the possibility of keeping the Fee Advisory Committee (FAC), which is currently the authority that decides which fees will affect PGSS, as well as retaining the PGSS representative to act as a liaison between PGSAs and McGill. They will also consider eliminating the position of the PGSS representative and granting those responsibilities to the executive committee as a whole.

The PGSS will hold consultations during Winter 2015 to obtain feedback from students in order to make the fee reform process transparent.

2014-2015 FEUQ action plan

The President of the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ), Jonathan Bouchard, presented the organization’s action plan for the coming year at the council meeting, expressing that the focal point of the FEUQ’s campaign is to bring the provincial loan and bursaries program up to date.

“The cost of living has evolved by 44 per cent over the last 20 years,” Bouchard said. “Allowable expenses, [however,] have only increased by 23 per cent.  There is a huge discrepancy between the reality and what is actually covered by the program. Our goal is to update the need assessment.”

Bouchard continued to explain that FEUQ’s actions for the coming year will revolve around two axes. 

“We need to participate in the different commissions, meet the different members of the National Assembly and form a broader coalition around this action plan,” he said. “The newly elected government has a very strict economic action plan to eliminate deficit—that involves mobilization on campus and participation of students in different local and national forums.”

The presentation was followed by a question period. In response to student questions regarding the current anti-austerity demonstrations, Bouchard explained that the FEUQ would be protesting austerity measures.

“[The] FEUQ is a part of the organization that has launched the campaign for the demonstration on the 29th of November,” Bouchard said. “The organization involves many groups from civil society and unions […. It’s] an informal collective organizing a demonstration.”

PGSS Council passed a motion supporting the Nov. 29 demonstration and encouraging its members to participate.

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