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a, McGill, News, SSMU

Senate discusses consent, mental health policies

by Remi Lu on

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Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens stated that two new sections would be added to the McGill University Athletics and Recreation Guide to Varsity Sports for Student Athletes to further define varsity student-athlete context and varsity sport guiding principles and policies, in response to a question raised by SSMU Senator Kareem Ibrahim and VP University Affairs Claire Stewart-Kanigan.

McGill Athletics had also agreed to become the first department in the university to train staff and coaches in a bystander intervention program. Dyens added that the varsity document will be available to the public after legal review.

The discussion was held in light of McGill’s controversial responses to an ongoing sexual assault case last year involving three Redmen football players. In a follow-up question, Stewart-Kanigan inquired about the possibility of institutionalizing consent training for athletes.

According to Dyens, varsity athletes should not be treated differently from other students.

“My position is that we’re not going to target one group of students for these kinds of things,” he said. “We want to promote this to all McGill students [….] This being said […] we have asked the varsity council to meet with our harm reduction councillor to develop policies with [athletes] and develop training with them.”

Stewart-Kanigan also brought up the topic of suspension of position for individuals in ongoing sexual assault cases.

“If [disciplinary officers] feel that it is necessary, they can use Article 21 [of the Student Code of Conduct] to exclude students from either part or the entirety of campus or McGill activities while the investigation is ongoing,” said Andre Costopoulos, dean of students. “If [Article 21] is used twice with the same student, it requires intervention [….] So it is a measure that we can use to address situations in which we have concerns about a specific individual on campus.”

Mental health

Senate also saw discussion of questions regarding McGill’s commitment to implementing pre-arrival mental health advising for students in transitional periods of their academic life.

As a result of the Joint Board-Senate meeting on mental health last year and the recommendations of a report by the Mental Health Working Group, McGill is anticipating the appointment of a two-year contract for a mental health consultant in January 2015, with the goal of working with stakeholders across the university.

“We’re developing a plan for trying to involve all stakeholders in our community, so it’s going to take some time,” said Executive Director of Student Services Jana Luker.

According to Costopoulos, McGill has also been increasing mental health resources for students, including McGill 101 videos that provided incoming students with information about counselling.

“[Campus Life Engagement] has been doing a lot of work [for] outreach [to] incoming students about pre-arrival tools,” Costopoulos said. “There are a number of [resources] that are new this year—McGill 101 being one of them.”

Provincial budget and impact

Another topic of discussion involved McGill’s release of information regarding changes to the university’s operating budget as a result of cuts to government funding. McGill stated that a projected operating grant in April 2014 of $360 million had dropped to $345 million after an update from Quebec on Sept. 3, 2014.

Principal Suzanne Fortier stated that the $15 million drop in budget would not result in any fiscal disasters.

“We had anticipated at McGill that the [2015] budget would not have the kind of resources talked about [in April],” Fortier said. “Although the figures are not what we would like to see, we were prepared for them. We’re not in a crisis situation at this university, because we had anticipated these lower levels of investments.”

a, Opinion

Commentary: On the Members of Parliament as ‘trained seals’

by Nina Morena on

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Members of Parliament (MP) have recently released statements expressing frustration with being treated like ‘trained seals’ and having little to no power within political parties. (more…)

a, Sports

10 things you didn’t know about Equitation

by Yahong Chi on

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  1. Equitation is split into two main styles: English and Western. With markedly divergent historical origins, these two styles have distinct gaits, tack (equipment), attire, competitive events, and overall philosophies.

  2. English riding evolved from fox hunting, and encompasses the most well-known competitive events including show jumping, dressage, and horse racing. Smaller saddles allow for close contact between the horse and rider, and also allow the horse to move more freely, while bridles are designed to give the rider’s hands direct contact with the horse’s mouth.

  3. Western riding originated on cattle ranches in the American west, where endurance and power were priorities. Consequently, Western riding features much larger, more stable saddles, and uses one-handed neck-reining (directing the horse with light pressure on the neck with the reins) to allow the rider to work cattle with a lasso in the other hand.

  4. An English riding outfit reflects the sport’s affluent origins: breeches, a fitted jacket, gloves, and tall boots are standard. Traditional Western riding attire features a cowboy hat, jeans, and Western-style boots. Many English riding disciplines place emphasis on the presentation of the horse, whereas Western styles do not.

  5. International equestrian sports are dominated by English disciplines. The three Olympic equestrian sports consist of dressage, eventing, and show jumping. These events happen to be the only Olympic events that involve animals, and are also not segregated by gender, age, or any defining factor other than nationality.

  6. Equitation is one of the few sports where age and gender have no impact whatsoever. The youngest ever winner at Spruce Meadows, an annual international tournament held in Calgary, was American Caitlin Ziegler, who won the Grand Prix event in 2011 at the age of 16.

  7. At the other end of the spectrum, Canada’s own Ian Millar, age 67, took home his third championship this year at the 2014 Spruce Meadows Master’s. Millar, who has earned the nickname ‘Captain Canada’ during his illustrious international equestrian career, holds the world record for most Olympic games attended at 10.

  8. While age and gender may be irrelevant in riding, socioeconomic class is not. Equitation is historically a privileged sport, feasible only for upper-class families. The costs of lessons and leasing one’s own horse, as well as the limited availability of facilities, make equitation a prohibitively expensive and exclusionary sport.

  9. The Paralympics feature para-equestrian dressage as a discipline, where conventional dressage rules apply but competitors are divided into classifications based on their disabilities.

  10. The art of horse-riding is still prevalent in fields other than equitation today: mounted police have the advantage of height, mobility, and increased visibility, which help deter crime. Equine therapy is used to help those suffering from emotional or physical problems to heal in an environment designed to create connections between horse and patient.

a, Science & Technology

McGill Robotics prepares for a new year

by Genevieve Fried on

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McGill Robotics is an interdisciplinary engineering design team at McGill University that has a strong, albeit short, history of success. (more…)

a, Montreal, News, PGSS

First PGSS Council of academic year debated proposed charter of students rights

by Shrinkhala Dawadi on

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Rassemblement des associations étudiantes (RAE)

On Sept. 5, the Quebec Superior Court found that the RAE, an organization that was formerly known as the Canadian Federation of Students Quebec (CFS-Q), was entitled to one-sixth of the membership fees collected by the Canadian Federation of Students National (CFS-N). The court also ruled that the RAE was entitled to membership fees that they collected between 2007 and 2010.

First-year Law student Jonathan Mooney, director of the RAE and former secretary general of PGSS, updated the Council on the case.

“The judge [ruled that] the money should go to the RAE, and that since PGSS is a member of RAE, that means that […] we will be getting some money back,” he said. “It’s also good for our colleagues at Concordia and Dawson, because they stand to gain some money from that judgement too.”

CFS vs. PGSS Case update

Ge Sa, PGSS’s internal affairs officer, spoke to the Council about a court case between himself and the CFS regarding dates for a referendum question proposing PGSS’s disaffiliation from CFS.

“The [Superior Court of Quebec’s] ruling is that the CFS will be mandated by court […] to give [PGSS] a referendum as soon as they can,” he said. “We will have a referendum hopefully this semester, and if this referendum passes, and we [agree to disaffiliate], we will no longer be a part of CFS.”

Sa highlighted his role as a graduate student at McGill, rather than as a member of the PGSS Executive committee, as the main plaintiff of the case.

“This sets a precedent for all student unions across Canada that have legal proceedings with the CFS: That individual students, such as myself, can ask the CFS to give us a referendum to disaffiliate from the CFS […] if students feel that their rights have been violated,” Sa said.

Charter of rights of students

PGSS External Affairs Officer Julien Ouellet spoke to Council about a proposed charter of rights of students at the provincial level that is being developed in conjunction with students at the University of Laval. The six major provisions of the charter would include general provisions regarding intellectual property, role and duties of research supervisors, role and duties of student researchers, role of the home institution, and role of the government.

“This goes pretty much hand in hand with the philosophy [of collaboration] that we’ve been nurturing at PGSS for the past couple of years,” Ouellet said. “We’ve tried to implement it [at McGill], but this is a good opportunity to collaborate with another student association and to have a broad legal framework that would support us in our campaign.”

The charter was critiqued at Council for being too broad in some of its provisions. Victor Frankel Vilches, a member of the Biology Graduate Student Association asked for a clearer definition of intellectual property.

“Oftentimes, what people say merits authorship on papers must be an intellectual contribution rather than simply just doing the [work],” Vilches said. “So [the charter] should mention some actual detail on [intellectual] contribution that merits authorship versus something that may be lab work or tech work that was assigned to [a student] as a per basis for pay or volunteership.”

In response to Council questions regarding possible discrepancies between the charter’s intellectual property policies and McGill’s own policies, Ouellet explained that the charter would supercede McGill’s policy.

“Since it’s a charter that would be ratified by the National Assembly [of Quebec], it would have more weight than the local university regulation,” Ouellet said, adding that the courts will not have the power to ultimately settle conflicts between the student and the supervisor.

The charter was amended to state that PGSS supported the spirit of the charter without necessarily signing on to all that the charter stipulated. The revised motion passed in council.

PGSS Bylaw reform

PGSS Secretary-General Juan Pinto spoke to Council about proposed bylaw changes. One aim of the changes is to consolidate a procedural structure so that decisions made by the Judicial Board will not contradict each other.

Pinto also proposed a restructuring of the judicial board.

“The secretary-general is the only sitting judge of the Judicial Board,” he said. “In any other system, this would not be allowed.”

Pinto continued to propose a system through which the Chief Justice would have the power to name two judges to a case on a case-by-case basis.

“The Chief Justice [would have] the power to name two judges, only to solve the one particular matter,” he said.

After a period of debate, the Council motioned to commit the issue to PGSS’s Policy and Structural Advisory Committee, which was passed.

The executive committee work plan, which outlines the responsibilities and projects of each executive member, was also approved by Council.

Premiere Moisson Bakery and Coffee Shop
a, McGill, News

New dining venues on campus recieve mixed reception

by Jessica Fu on

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Première Moisson, the new dining option in the basement of Redpath Library, has drawn mixed reactions from students since opening earlier this month. The space, formerly occupied by Tim Hortons and Pizza Pizza, has been praised for its fair trade options, but criticized for its higher costs and for the lack of student input sought out prior to its implementation.

“There are definitely some students who do like Première Moisson,” Arts Senator Jacob Greenspon said. “There’s a whole spectrum of opinions here, but I think the important thing to emphasize is that this is such a huge decision that was [made] with basically no student consultation.”

According to Mathieu Laperle, senior director of Student Housing and Hospitality Services (SHHS), the unit under which dining services falls, student input was gathered through various indirect means.

“Over the years, we did some student surveys that gave us a lot of details and information about what people would like to see on campus,” Laperle said. “Many consultations have been done in residences.”

Greenspon said that the surveys conducted did not pose explicit questions regarding changes to the Redpath library space.

“It’s much more of a general cafeteria, food services on campus survey,” Greenspon said. “There wasn’t any sort of question that asked, ‘What kind of coffee space do you want in the Redpath library?’ It was all very general.”

Library Improvement Fund Coordinator Erin Sobat agreed, noting that the survey results were more general and not concrete suggestions.

“[SHHS’s] primary metric of student consultation was their annual [food and dining services] surveys,” said Sobat. “[SHHS suggested that there was] some sort of indications in the past that students wanted quality over cost and needs to renovate the space.”

According to Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) VP University Affairs Claire Stewart-Kanigan, incidents that indicate a lack of consultation with students on university matters could lead to feelings of hostility between students and the university administration.

“A decision [that] comes through that students don’t like, but at least know they’ve had the chance to be consulted [on] is going to be a lot less [damaging] in terms of the admin-student relationship, than if a decision comes through and students didn’t know where it comes from,” Stewart-Kanigan said.

Other concerns expressed by student representatives pertain to the the financial accessibility of the new café.

According to Oliver DeVolpi, executive chef of SHHS’s dining services, brewed coffee at Première Moisson costs approximately 40 to 50 cents more than it did at Tim Hortons, due to the quality and ethical sourcing of the product.

“This is a fair trade cup of coffee; it’s in a compostable cup,” he said.

Laperle said that a major factor in choosing Première Moisson was that it fell in line with the university’s goals to use locally-sourced food suppliers.

“We’re more and more sustainable, we buy more and more from local suppliers,” Laperle said. “So [Première Moisson] was the perfect fit for us.”

On the other hand, Stewart-Kanigan stressed the importance of finding a balance between fairly-sourced food and fair pricing.

“Environmental sustainability does not need to be at the expense of financial sustainability,” Stewart-Kanigan said. “I feel that students could feel that that element of sustainability was not centred in this discussion. Those two things do not have to be mutually exclusive.”

Nonetheless, Laperle said that Première Moisson, in its early stages, was open to adapting to student needs in terms of menu offerings, especially due to its unfamiliarity with the university market environment.

“Depending on the company, there is some flexibility,” he said. “Première Moisson, they are very open [….] The coffee we have for the Première Moisson here is not the same as what they’re offering in other [locations] in Montreal. This is an example of their flexibility.”

Nonetheless, Stewart-Kanigan suggested that a greater effort to consult students be made before changes are set for future decisions involving student space.

“It’s beneficial for everyone if student associations are kept in the loop earlier so that we can be involved in the consultation process,” Stewart-Kanigan said. “Consultation should be an expectation, not an afterthought.”

a, Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Great venegance, furious anger, and Shakesperian dialogue

by Elizabeth McLellan on

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Spectators arriving to see Bard Fiction are immediately greeted by the warmth and intimacy of the Plateau’s Mainline Theatre. In anticipation of the show, audience members mingled in a small, dimly lit room filled with couches and the buzz of conversation. Eventually, a flute coaxed the audience into their seats with a Renaissance-style melody, setting the tone for this Shakespearian Pulp Fiction rendition.

The production is well done, even if it’s somewhat inaccessible to those who haven’t seen the iconic Quentin Tarantino film—though it’s hard to imagine why anyone wouldn’t have. Despite this potential flaw, the acting, set design, and script unite to form an extremely successful adaptation.

For the most part, the fast-paced Shakespearian dialect was perfectly executed, with the exception of a few slips of the tongue by contracted killer Jules Winnfield—in this production renamed Julius (Kareem Tristan Alleyne)—making some of his lines incomprehensible. Fake accents, dramatic fight scenes, and impassioned speeches were executed with precision and energy, bringing the script, staging, and storyline to life.

The simple set was expertly repurposed in each scene for a new and distinct use. It consisted of an antique looking table and benches, with various accessorizing objects: Cups in the restaurant, weapons in the weapons shop—effortless, yet effective. The characters’ interactions with such simple objects smoothly naturalized their transformations—the table metamorphosed into a wagon and the benches became their foot rests.

Effective lighting completes the play’s immersive visual world, harmonizing the various parts of the production. A unique lighting technique was put to good use when a treasure box was opened and the gold seemingly reflected onto Vincent’s (Timothy Diamond) face. Small details like this complete the production.

Music, however, is a weak point. The score is underwhelming, provided entirely by just a single, average flautist. Although those light touches of Renaissance-style melodies add a comic touch, working in juxtaposition with the modern concept the audience holds in their heads, it feels incomplete and shoddy at times. This is a minor detail, but one which could elevate the production significantly if executed well.

The wittily adapted script translates the vulgar silver-tongued lines of the main characters, Vincent and Julius, into hilarious Shakespearian dialogue. This amalgamation is spotlighted at critical moments, such as when the famous cheeseburger dialogue from Tarantino’s film is adapted to refer to a “cottage pie” instead—prompting a roar of laughter from the audience. The script adaption was a highlight of the production, in both quality and comic effect.

In many ways, the overall success of the production can be gauged by both the high attendance and postive reception. Few seats were left empty, and the sound of laughter more than filled the hollow spaces. Any flaws in the production are overshadowed by the successes in acting, set design, and lighting. The intimacy of the theatre played a pivotal role in the production, making each pained expression, each drop of sweat, and each small mistake visible. Bard Fiction is an authentic, gritty, and very real spectacle—and that may be its true success.

Bard Fiction will be playing at Mainline Theatre (3997 St. Laurent) until Sept. 28. Student tickets are $12.

a, Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Research Briefs

by Andy Wang on

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Fear not:

The Dreadnoughtus

The dreadnought was a type of battleship developed in the 20th century that was known for its size and speed. (more…)

a, Opinion

Commentary: Time-out for Quebec’s universal daycare fee?

by Albert Park on

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Québec is known for its astounding art, delectable poutine, and, for some people, daycare with an affordable standard fee of $7 a day. However, the possibility looms that the province may be giving up one of these things in the near future. Earlier this month, the government’s proposal to scrap the universal rate of daycares in favour of a sliding-scale fee based on parental income caused public outrage. (more…)

a, McGill, News

McGill hosts Indigenous Homecoming for alumni

by Cece Zhang on

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Last Thursday, Dr. Audra Simpson, a Mohawk scholar who received her PhD in Anthropology from McGill, and is currently an associate professor at Columbia University, addressed how McGill shaped her scholarly mind and the problems the university still faces in addressing indigenous issues at McGill’s first Indigenous Homecoming.

Simpson discussed the rigorous standards she faced at McGill during her time as a student, saying that the level of quality required was excessive in hindsight, but taught her how to deal with criticism.

“I’ve often talked to my colleague,” Simpson said. “We remembered how McGill simply taught us how to write, how to revise, how this made us absolutely fearless, so much so that we can literally take any form of critique and sift it for its value, not take anything personally and simply take it as need be.”

Yet for all its academic excellency, Simpson argued, McGill still needed to address the indigenous history that was intertwined with its own. Simpson asserted that her research showed that the university in its early days was kept afloat by money from unauthorized land sales by the Six Nations of the Grand River.

“McGill comes into being in a sea of dispossession,” Simpson said. “By this I mean two things: One, this land belonged to [indigenous peoples].  Second, and more specifically, McGill comes into being at a time when land is being wrested from indigenous peoples in bit-by-bit pieces.”

Simpson asked that McGill take actions to right its historical wrongs.

“What is needed along this to revitalize hidden pasts […] is diversifying this university in lines that do not paper over this history over further, that mark it, that act from it,” she said.

Simpson then questioned the audience on McGill’s current state of diversity.

“And here I want to ask, where are the indigenous scholars at McGill, scholars in tenure track and tenure positions,” she asked. “Part of excellence is diversity, right?”

Paige Issac, coordinator of the First Peoples’ House, said that the first Indigenous Homecoming idea arose out of the traditional alumni honouring ceremony at the Annual Pow Wow.

“This year we had our first ever homecoming event,” Issac said. “We had 20 or so people show up,” “I’ve heard such great feedback already.”

Issac also praised the efforts of Indigenous Education Advisor Allan Vicaire in organizing the Indigenous Awareness week.

According to Vicaire, student response to the week has been very positive.

“Students have personally come up to me to say, ‘Wow I’ve never heard about this before,’ whether it’s about inter-generational violence or just having a discussion about accountability and responsibility within an academy. So it’s been really positive, very constructive.”

However, Vicaire says indigenous students at McGill still face challenges, although steps are being made to improve the situation.

“Microaggressions do happen on campus,” he said. “ We’re often tokenized, or put in the place of being a cultural expert. [We need to] create that environment of inclusion, provide those education opportunities and create a safe space [for indigenous students].”

Issac acknowledged that although McGill still had problems in regards of lack of an indigenous scholar, it was making progress.

“Obviously there is still a lot of work to do but I’m happy in our achievements so far, and I’m happy to work on whatever comes next,” Issac said. “I see a lot of things building here at McGill, in terms of increasing indigenous awareness […] making it a place where indigenous students feel like they belong and they can thrive and have a sense of community here.”

Vicaire echoed the sentiment.

“We’re always striving and working to enhance the question of diversity within the faculties,” he said. “I think it takes a lot of work, not only from the administration but also from faculty, staff, and students. It’s a stepping stone and unfortunately within institutions, it takes a while for change to happen, but [we have] to recognize we’re all a part of this change.”

Additional reporting by Shrinkhala Dawadi.

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