Latest News

a, Science & Technology

This month in science @ McGill

by Caity Hui on

More in a:

Seashells inspire shatterproof glass:

The intricate patterns of waves on the surface of seashells serve more than a decorative purpose. These tiny cracks are actually the secret behind the incredible strength of the shell.

Thanks to a technique developed by Francois Barthelat­—a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McGill—and his team, the researchers modeled a type of glass similar to the structure of seashell and is 200 times more durable than normal.

The team derived its concept from nature. By looking at the mechanism of natural structures, such as seashells, the researchers came up with hypotheses to significantly increase the toughness of glass.

“Narcre, or mother-of-pearl, which coats the inner shells, is made up of microscopic tablets that are a bit like miniature LEGO building blocks, [and] is known to be extremely tough and strong, which is why people have been studying its structure for the past 20 years,” Barthelat said in an interview with the university.

The team studied the ‘weak’ edges found in natural, flexible materials, such as narcre. The researchers then used lasers to engrave three-dimensional networks of micro-cracks into the glass slides.

“What we know now is that we can toughen glass, or other materials, by using patterns of micro-cracks to guide larger cracks, and in the process, absorb the energy from an impact,” Barthelat said.

In the future, his team hopes to scale up this technique to any size of glass sheet, working towards the production of shatterproof glassware.

Nutritional costs of food-secure future:

Purchasing products of large-scale agriculture may save you a couple dollars; however, Timothy Johns, professor of Human Nutrition at McGill University in Montreal, cautions that these products have a cost in terms of nutritional health.

In his presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advance of Science in Chicago, Johns demonstrated how diets are becoming increasingly limited in biological and nutritional diversity as a result of large-scale farming.

“Products of biodiversity within culturally-based diets provide essential micronutrients and lower prevalence of diet-related chronic disease,” Johns said to the McGill Reporter. He is worried about the health consequences of single-crop farming, since it lacks the agrobiodiversity of smaller farms.

While large-scale farming efforts are directed towards feeding the globe’s increasing population, Johns explained how carbohydrates produced by such efforts, like cereal, sugars, and potatoes often result in malnutrition due to overconsumption of calories—a contributing factor to obesity and chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disorders.

Johns proposes that food-policy decisions should be directed towards supporting smaller scale agriculture. Brazil’s National School Feeding Law and Program is one example of such an approach. Since 2009, the law has required at least 30 per cent of food in the program come from family agriculture. By embracing smaller scale agriculture, this program is working towards better nutrition for the overall community.

Training  your brain:

Looking at a display screen, participants changed a coloured disk from dark red to bright yellow or white all by simply manipulating their own brain activity thanks to a non-invasive imaging technology magnetoencephalography (MEG).

The study, which was recently published in the journal NeuroImage, strongly suggests MEG can be used as a therapeutic tool to control and train targeted brain regions. While patients of epilepsy show the most promise, scientists suspect it could also be used to treat stroke, dementia, and chronic depression, among other neurological disorders.

MEG is a technology that measures magnetic fields generated by neuronal activity in the brain. These measurements allow scientists to localize the sources of activity and record these images. This helps people view their brain activity in real time—a millisecond time scale across the entire organ—and allows them to control and adjust a function of their brain in pre-determined regions.

MEG’s therapeutic advantages include its potential to reveal the dynamics of brain activity involved in perception, cognition, and behaviour. It could also provide unique insight on neural dysfunction, such as movement disorders and chronic pain.

Sharing is caring—even when it comes to diabetes:

Unlike the flu, you can’t catch diabetes from someone coughing next to you. However, a research team from the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) has shown through combined analyses of several studies that you may be more susceptible to developing diabetes from living with someone with the disorder.

The findings were published in the journal BMC Medicine this February and were based on six selected studies conducted in different parts of the world. According to the McGill Reporter, the studies assessed outcomes such as age, socioeconomic status, and the way in which diabetes was diagnosed in a total of 75,498 couples.

“We found a 26 per cent increase in the risk of developing type II diabetes if your spouse also has type II diabetes,” Kaberi Dasgupta, senior author of the study and researcher at the Research Institute of the MUHC told the McGill Reporter.

One reason for this increase is that many of the risky behaviours that lead to diabetes are often shared within the household. These include poor eating habits and low physical activity.

Future studies will hopefully indicate how closely interwined the relationship is between living with someone with diabetes and developing the disorder yourself.

a, McGill, News

i-Week panel examines relationship between migrants and Indigenous communities

by Jenny Shen on

More in a:

Building relationships between international students, migrants, and Indigenous peoples was the focus of a panel discussion hosted by the Social Equity and Diversity Education Office (SEDE) on Thursday.

According to Juhi Sujan, administrative coordinator at SEDE, the event was coordinated to address an unique subject matter.

“In envisioning the event, we considered how we could best incorporate voices from the community and how we could prioritize the perspectives of Indigenous people and migrants who have lived the experience of building relationships between these two groups,” Sujan said.

The event began with the screening of Mohawk Girls, a short film on the cultural challenges faced by three Mohawk teenagers during their critical transition between high school and university.

Following the film, two speakers—Tiffany Harrington a member of the Indigenous Student Alliance, and Radney Jean-Claude, a member the Rapprochement des Spiritualités Indigènes-Haïtiens collective—led a panel discussion on relations between migrants and indigenous groups.

Harrington, who spent the past semester on an exchange in Argentina, spoke about her experience abroad and the treatment of Indigenous peoples there.

“[In] the community I was living in, the colonial name they were given was ‘Toba,’ and ‘Toba’ is a derogatory term which means the ‘front of your head,’” Harrington said. “A lot of the names that the Indigenous people have here are also not the names of the people themselves, but names that were given to them by the enemies when there was first contact.”

Harrington noted that her experience abroad reflected the importance of engaging with Indigenous communities.

“That’s definitely a unique opportunity when you move to a new place, or you’re visiting a new area—you have available resources to take advantage of and [should] always [be] respectful,” she said.

Jean-Claude, a former McGill student, emphasized the importance of migrants engaging with the Indigenous community in the Montreal area.

“I think it’s really important to have [these events], because when you come to a new environment, it’s good to know their history,” Jean-Claude said. “It helps create a certain sense of belonging in the long run [….] As a newcomer, it’s important to bridge and to create bonds with people from Indigenous communities.”

The event ended with a session where audience members asked the panelists questions about the relationship between immigrants and Indigenous peoples, such as how to become more involved in the community.

“A great way on campus is the First Peoples’ House, right here on Peel,” Harrington said. “And also off-campus, there are a lot of opportunities—lots of things [for which] you can volunteer.”

Reception of the event was positive, with attendees like Emily Boytinck, U2 Science, praising its original content.

“It’s a topic that isn’t usually covered,” she said. “It’s wonderful to see that immigrants are taking interest in Indigenous communities [….] And I think that’s just really inspiring.”

The panel was part of International Student Services’ (ISS) first i-Week—a series of events coordinated by individual organizations such as student clubs, McGill’s Career Planning Service (CaPS), and advising services.

Caroline Guay, International Student Advisor at ISS, explained that i-Week was established to promote a sense of community within McGill.

“We were looking for ways to create a campus-wide inclusive event that would bring everyone together,” Guay said. “  It’s more than just a display of international culture. It’s a chance to […] have a dialogue that is community-wide and inclusive and that gets everyone involved.”

a, Baseball, Football, Sports

Around the water cooler – Feb. 25

by Mayaz Alam on

More in a:

In case you were too busy voting for democracy over anarchy as you watched Twitch play Pokemon, here’s what you missed in the 2014 Winter Olympics…

MEN’S HOCKEY —After the gold medal game—a 3-0 dismantling of Sweden—it was clear that Mike Babcock really is better at his job than the 35 million other hockey coaches in this country. Prior to the tournament, the spotlight was on the star power that manned the forward position for Team Canada—11 of the NHL’s top 25 leading scorers were at Sochi wearing the red-and-white. However, Babcock’s plan was to squeeze the life out of opponent after opponent, as the squad also put on a defence and goaltending clinic throughout the tournament. Let’s hope that Gary Bettman lets the pros take the ice in Pyeongchang so that fans can have another shot at questioning every decision that the Hockey Canada brass make.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY—Marie-Philip Poulin played her way into the hearts of Canadians everywhere for the second time in four years, scoring two goals in the gold medal game of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and more recently, in the final of the Sochi Games. The 22-year-old from Boston University was instrumental in the comeback, which was heard around the world and sent daggers into the hearts of our American neighbours. The only thing more shocking than the the American squad choking harder than the Toronto Maple Leafs was the fact that Poulin wasn’t named the first star in the game. That honour was reserved for none other than the right goalpost at the Bolshoy Ice Dome.

WOMEN’S BOBSLEDDING—Canadians really do like saving their best for last. Look no further than bobsledders Heather Moyse and Kaillie Humphries, who put up three straight second-place runs before catapulting past the American squad in their fourth and final run. Moyse, a native of Summerside, Prince Edward Island, is also the brand ambassador for PEI Potatoes. Sadly Humphries, who is from Calgary, Alberta, is not the brand ambassador for Triple A Grade Canada Beef. However, this combination of meat and potatoes has managed to handle the test of time—this gold medal was the second straight for the duo, who became the first Canadian women to win bobsled gold at the Vancouver 2010 Games.

MEN’S CURLING—Russia may have the best chess players in the world, but the 2014 Winter Olympics have made it safe to say that Canada lays claim to the best on-ice chess players. Brad “The Grandmaster” Jacobs skipped the Canadian curling squad to the gold medal in Sochi. Jacobs and crew posted a 7-2 record in the round robin stage and recorded victories over China in the semifinal and Great Britain in the final to clinch Team Canada’s second consecutive gold medal in men’s curling. The team bested the Brits in every single statistical category en route to a dominant 9-3 victory.

a, Editorial, Opinion

Concordia opt-out controversy carries lessons for McGill

by McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

More in a:

The issue of student group fee opt-outs has returned to a university campus, but this time not McGill’s. On Feb. 12, a representative from Concordia’s John Molson School of Business (JMSB) presented two completed petitions to hold referendum questions on student group fees.

One of the questions, as reported in the Link, seeks to automatically opt-out JMSB students from fees for a number of student organizations, including the Concordia arm of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG), Concordia’s Cinema Politica, and Concordia University Television (CUTV), the university’s video media outfit. The other question, meanwhile, would force student groups that are not fully managed by the Concordia Student Union (CSU)­ to seek fees on a faculty-by-faculty basis rather than simply winning a single referendum of students across the faculties. Both of these provisions, were they to go into effect, represent a fundamental and ultimately negative shift in the relationship student organizations have with the student association.

While the issue of student group opt-outs hasn’t loomed large at McGill in the past year, it was once a reliable annual showcase of polarized rhetoric. The majority of these controversies focused on the McGill chapter of QPIRG. Opponents of the group, which receives an opt-out able fee, ran “opt-out” campaigns highlighting QPIRG’s political stances  on issues like the Israel-Palestine conflict and the legitimacy of the Canadian state. QPIRG generally countered by noting the valuable programs the group supports, and accusing the “opt-out” campaigns of misinformation. Even though the QPIRG controversies have been dormant for the past two years, as existence referenda run on five-year cycles, these issues will likely return to our campus.

While student group fees like the one mentioned in the CSU petition should remain accessibly opt-outable, both referendum questions have serious problems. First, forcing requests for funding from groups not under the direct umbrella of the CSU to go through a faculty–specific process could create additional administrative costs without necessarily increasing groups’ responsiveness to particular faculties or issues. Even though groups would have to expend the resources to tailor campaigns to the specific faculties, day-to-day oversight would not be at the faculty level, thus preventing any real exercise of accountability outside of election periods. Rather, forcing a student group campaign to disparate faculties would obviate the point of the group even operating under the administrative framework of the CSU as opposed to a faculty-specific organization.

The second provision—the one that would have students in the JMSB automatically not pay for these student groups—is not only worse because it represents a significant cut to the budgets of these groups, but also because it eliminates choices for future students. Even if the referendum was a 90-10 vote in favor of severing the fees, the result would leave new students at a disadvantage, as they would be automatically opted out of paying for groups that could provide services they deemed useful. Furthermore, these students could easily contribute to a “free-rider” problem of using services to which they are not contributing resources, in cases of student groups that lack the resources to check if students have paid the fee.

Passage of the referendum question would, at its core, remove the inertia that allows for groups to collect critical funds from students who don’t necessarily care to take any action. While the right—if one has moral or political objections—to not pay for a student group does and should exist under the status quo, the burden of effort ought to fall to the one opting out.

Given an accessible and publicized opt-out system, student organizations that don’t serve the interests of the student body would be given more than enough of an incentive to change their ways by way of students voting with their dollars. To demand anything beyond the opt-out option would not only be unworkable, it would be to the broader detriment of student life at the university, choking off worthy entities of funding.

a, Opinion

A nuanced approach to equity

by Daniel Braden on

More in a:

Having spent much of my life growing up in the American South, I have experienced a number of events that have made me question my faith in human decency. In middle school, I was called a faggot, a fairy, and a queer—all in the derogatory sense. My classmates had parents and grandparents who were involved with the Ku Klux Klan. My synagogue had no windows facing the street to deter bombings, and we had to hire police officers to guard our Yom Kippur services due to threats from neo-Nazis.

Two years ago, I stood in front of my polling place urging my fellow North Carolinians to vote against a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, depriving me of the right to marry the person I love. The amendment passed with over 60 per cent of the vote. So believe me when I say that I fully understand the need for equity, both on university campuses and larger society.

However, the recent controversy over Brian Farnan’s much ridiculed apology underscores a problem of alienation with the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) approach to social justice. While fostering an environment free of discrimination and violence is certainly a worthwhile endeavour, our penchant for nitpicking and righteous indignation serves as an obstacle in addressing the systemic problems that impede the progress of historically marginalized groups. In a previous article that I wrote in these pages, I mentioned how policies such as policing costumes at 4Floors fail to rectify the lack of visible minorities on McGill’s faculty and within the student body.

Quick fixes such as these, whereby we avoid offence at the expense of combatting persistent forms of oppression, encourage criticism and contribute to an image of micromanaging and oversensitivity on the part of “the PC police.” The same holds true for Farnangate. By insisting on a belated apology for what many perceive as a minor, or even non-existent, offence, SSMU’s Equity Commissioners elicited an enormous degree of pushback which delegitimized their original intent. This insistence on publicly shaming every occurrence of even the most remotely offensive or inappropriate conduct can alienate supporters of initiatives that actually affect positive change. But through inclusive consultation and action, genuine success can be achieved.

Take, for example the student led initiative to establish a minor in Indigenous Studies. Proponents of this measure didn’t focus on abstract symbols of discrimination or divisive rhetoric. Instead, they chose to work closely with Indigenous leaders and to emulate successful programs at other universities in order to create a viable academic program. As a result of their diligent and well researched advocacy, students at McGill will be further educated and empowered to tackle the challenges facing aboriginal communities, such as unequal access to healthcare and the exploitation of native land for tar sands development.

In applying this principle to SSMU’s well-intentioned but overbearing equity policy, we can create a more transparent and inclusive process that protects the confidentiality of claimants and promotes equity while engaging students in dialogue. Right now, there are four Equity Officers, leading to a diffusion in accountablity; and participants in a complaint are forbidden to speak about the proceedings, even to those who are already involved. This prevents individuals and groups with a vested interest in a case from contributing relevant information that could lead to a more just and better informed outcome for all parties, in the same way that amicus briefs help Canadian courts render decisions on any number of divisive issues. By opening up the conversation and abandoning exclusive ideological purity, we can make McGill a more equitable environment and avoid future national embarrassments.

a, News, SSMU

SSMU research suggests Equity Policy compares favourably with other schools’

by Catherine-Laure Juste on

More in a:

SSMU’s Equity Policy measures favourably against other universities, according to a report presented at the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Council meeting on Feb. 20.

Equity researcher Chelsea Barnett presented on the SSMU equity research study. Structure, finance, and complaints were the factors observed in the study, which compared data from SSMU to that of the University of Toronto, the University of Virginia, the University of British Columbia, Concordia University, and Cornell University at both administration and student-union levels.

According to Barnett, SSMU was the only student organization among the universities that had its own equity policy, independent from university policy.

She also mentioned that the policy is more progressive in terms of its coverage of issues.

“It includes things not mentioned in other university policies such as fatphobia [and] sizeism,” Barnett said. “However, on the flipside of that, the jurisdiction of SSMU’s policy is much smaller. If we didn’t have our own policy, we could be putting pressure on the university policy to include [these] things.”

Barnett noted the low number of discrimination complaints on campus.

“There are three possible hypotheses: students overlook the SSMU policy because they don’t think it applies to them [or] they want to [go] to McGill for bigger consequences; they don’t feel SSMU’s jurisdiction would even include them; [or] students don’t know the policy exists,” she said.

Arts Representative Ben Reedijk offered an alternative possibility.

“If you look on the website when it talks about how people make an equity complaint, the first thing it says is to read the Equity Policy,” he said. “But if you read the Equity Policy, it’s filled with typos and grammatical errors, which I don’t think inspire confidence.”

Barnett responded that while a copy-edit of errors could be beneficial, her research did not address syntactical details.

“A project to professionalize the Equity Policy—I think that would be a useful way to spend some time and energy around equity as well,” Barnett said.

In terms of suggestions for the future, Barnett said SSMU would benefit from having an executive in charge of overseeing equity affairs on campus. While equity is currently under the portfolio of the vice-president university affairs, Barnett said equity deserves an executive position.

“For U of T, the notable feature is their executive position [VP Human Resources and Equity],” Barnett said. “ I’m advocating for [also having] an executive commissioner who would be in charge of overseeing equity. It’s becoming a large issue [….] Equity is in the forefront.”

New mental health policy adopted unanimously

Councillors voted in favour of adopting a new Mental Health Policy, which will aim to promote mental health support on campus. Joey Shea, SSMU vice-president university affairs, worked closely on the policy’s development.

“[The Mental Health Policy Committee] started by just discussing what we thought SSMU’s approach to mental health should be, and then from those very broad objectives, we narrowed it down to a very tangible five-year-plan which is reflected in the policy,” Shea said.

David Benrimoh, medicine representative, presented an overview of the policy.

“This is going to be a network of services, of listservs, websites, and events that are going to together improve access for students for mental health care and promote mental health wellness,” he said.

Benrimoh also emphasized the renewability of the new policy.

“This is a living document,” he said. “This document is going to keep changing, keep improving over the years, and it will serve as a foundation for a new mental health network.”

Sue Jeong, Arts representative, asked what set the new Mental Health Policy apart compared to other mental health services available at McGill.

“We want to encourage overall wellness,” Shea said. “A large part of our approach [is to] facilitate the growth of these other groups to perpetuate a culture of wellness and overall well-being at the university.”

a, Opinion

Mockery trivializes North Korean misery

by Daniel Kang on

More in a:

I have never met my grandparents. This isn’t because of family division or irreconcilable differences, but due to an act of terrorism. On Nov. 29, 1987, Korean Airlines flight 858—en route to Seoul from Baghdad—exploded over the Andaman Sea. Two North Korean agents, acting on personal orders from Kim Jong-Il, had planted explosive devices in the cabin that detonated during the flight. My grandparents and all 113 passengers and crew were killed.

However, today the media and the audience views North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-Un as nothing more than comic relief, dismissing him as a pudgy-faced joke.

On the Internet, blogs like “Kim Jong-Un Looking at Things” and “Kim Jong-Un is Hungry” play up the comical side of the regime. Numerous photos of Kim Jong-Il and his son Kim Jong-Un have been utilized for a multitude of Internet memes. The Economist has printed a pseudo-satirical cover of Kim Jong-Il with the title “Greetings, earthlings,” ridiculing the leader’s sense of self-importance. Even Hollywood has gotten in on the fun, with films such as Team America showcasing the Great Leader’s vocal talents, where he croons about his own loneliness.

It’s hard to deny that the North Korean regime is ridiculous enough that it can be considered comical. Our society here is so far removed from the antics of someone like Kim Jong-Un that he may as well be a character from a work of fiction. But that same joked-about leader is also the head of a state responsible for numerous human rights abuses. On Feb. 17, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) released a 400-page report after interviewing over 320 defectors from North Korea. The report contained detailed accounts of mass starvation, political executions, and labour camps reminiscent of Soviet-era gulags.

The Korean War (1950-1953) changed the lives of my family in irrevocable ways, both during and after the conflict. My grand-uncle defected to North Korea in the early stages of the Korean War as a young communist sympathizer. It wasn’t until the North Korean government allowed for family reunions in 2000, that we discovered he was still alive and had spent 50 years living in the North. And of course, my grandparents were casualties of a decades-old geopolitical conflict, directly caused by a ruler whose oppressive regime quashes the right to a legitimate political process for millions of people.

It’s difficult for me to see the humour in blogs, videos, and films that ridicule North Korea. It’s even more difficult for me to see why the common reaction to such material isn’t disgust and anger, but laughter.

Nonetheless, I do accept that humour can be a tool to shed light on unexamined issues. For example, Jon Stewart criticizing American policy towards military veterans in a humorous way still recognizes the incompetence of the policy behind the veil of comedy. However, memes and songs about Kim Jong-Un fail to address the suffering of human beings on an informative level, but simply dismiss him as a kooky dictator. If we cannot bridge the cognitive disconnect between the satire and the reality that is being satirized, we lessen our understanding and awareness of the atrocities being committed daily.

As I read the UNHRC report, I grimace to think of what those living in the camps would think of our memes, videos, and films about their leader who condemned them. Would they be laughing along with us?

a, Behind the Bench, Sports

No end in sight for women’s hockey

by Zikomo Smith on

More in a:

On Thursday, the Canadian Women’ s hockey team won its fourth consecutive gold medal after an exhilarating comeback win over the United States. Although the squad is surely still celebrating, its joy may be dampened by the disconcerting whispers that the female edition of Olympic hockey may be axed in the future due to a lack of parity beyond the two North American powers.

These whispers started in Vancouver 2010, when then International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge ominously stated, “We cannot continue without improvement [of non-established hockey playing nations],” in reaction to Canada’s string of absurd blowouts against the European competition. In reality, women’s hockey has nothing to fear for the foreseeable future despite the Canadian stranglehold on the gold medal; the sport’s Winter Olympic position is secure.

While Rogge might throw around coded threats, he knows that the Winter Olympics cannot afford to lose too many female athletes, especially those in one of its most exciting sports. The number of female events has increased to 38 this year, only seven fewer than the number of male events. Future Games will be looking to further this gender equality, and the IOC, after its efforts to increase the number of female events, cannot justify getting rid of a sport that contributes 168 athletes to the Olympics.

Parity still does not exist, but progress is being made. Those who are still frustrated by the large gap in development should be reminded that in men’s hockey, it took Sweden nearly 60 years to beat Canada; and yet, the two nations just squared off in the men’s final, and are the two most recent countries to have won Olympic Gold. Sochi brought with it the needed green shoots of improvement that Rogge called for, as no team was beaten by more than 10 goals—a drastic contrast to the Vancouver Games where Canada and the U.S. combined for five double-digit blowouts. This visible improvement will no doubt spark more interest in women’s hockey among youth in the competing European nations that already have strong hockey cultures.

In some eyes, the fact that the two best nations are in North America hurts ice hockey’s legitimacy as an Olympic sport. These arguments are unfounded. The Winter Olympics themselves are not global. Only 43 per cent of nations participate in the Games, and of those examples, there are countries such as Ethiopia who send only one athlete—which does not affect the medal tables. The same arguments for hockey being excluded for a lack of genuine competition can also be extended to the legitimacy of other sports that exhibit dominance among a handful of completing nations. For example, the Netherlands won 24 medals in Sochi over the past two weeks, and all 24 were in speed skating. If the IOC is really pondering getting rid of women’s hockey, why not do away with speed skating as well?

Look no further than softball at the Summer Olympics to see where the arguments for removing ice hockey are founded. Softball was voted to be removed for the 2012 games because the same four nations had made the semifinals in four straight Olympics. Ultimately, the IOC will understand that the women’s game must remain in the Olympics. Five-point-six million Canadians tuned into the gold medal game, a TV rating which will serve to bring in sponsorship and revenue through advertising for the Games.

Simply put, getting rid of women’s ice hockey at the Olympics would be financially unwise, and stunt the progress that is being made. No longer would spectators be watching the best in the world competing to see who can go faster, higher, and stronger. Rather, they would be stripped of the chance to see the best rivalry and the best drama of the entire Olympic spectacle.

a, Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Oscar Predictions

on

More in a:

The A&E team takes on four of the prominent categories at next week’s Academy Awards by offering probable predictions and wild card scenarios for each.

Best Actor:

Bruce Dern — Nebraska

Leonardo  Di Caprio — The Wolf of Wall Street

Chiwetel Ejiofor — 12 Years a Slave

Matthew McConaughey — Dallas Buyers Club

Christian Bale — American Hustle

It seems like this year’s battle for Best Actor is coming down to who brandishes the most compelling story—in real life. Following three high-profile wins at previous awards shows, Matthew McConaughey is coming out with guns blazing. At this point, his pull isn’t necessarily a result of outperforming the other nominees; rather his success at the Oscar forerunners has helped him build momentum. McConaughey’s performance in Dallas Buyers Club commands the screen with a kind of intimacy and nuance we’re not used to seeing from him. With his transformation from rom-com party boy to serious actor over the last couple of years, an Oscar win seems like the appropriate confirmation of his metamorphosis.

Wild Card: Christian Bale will win for American  Hustle but no one will notice because Jennifer Lawrence will steal the show with a photo bomb.

— Kia Pouliot

 

Best Actress:

Amy Adams — American Hustle

Cate Blanchett — Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock — Gravity

Judi Dench — Philomena

Meryl Streep — August: Osage County

Look for Cate Blanchett to give a repeat  performance, and take home the hardware for her role in Blue Jasmine, just as she did a few weeks ago at the Golden Globes—only this time, hopefully, with less vodka under her belt. The five-time Oscar nominee won in 2005 for her supporting role in The Aviator, and has once again secured herself in the company of other Hollywood heavyweights like Meryl Streep and Judi Dench. Blanchett’s nuanced portrayal of fallen New York socialite Jasmine French evokes sympathy for a sadly troubled yet nonetheless grating character, adding a depth and vulnerability upon which the entire film hinges.

Wild Card: Judi Dench will win but Meryl Streep will catch the snitch.

— Jacqueline Galbraith

 

Best Picture:

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

Oscar pundits have been predicting a Best Picture victory for 12 Years a Slave since international festivals first screened it, and the film still looks to be in good shape. The stark treatment of its disturbing subject matter has won it a steady stream of plaudits since its premiere, and all signs appear to point towards Oscar voters affirming the praise and awarding the film top prize. However, no film this year aims for as high a degree of difficulty or achieves as much as The Wolf of Wall Street. The scathing satire entertains to a remarkable degree while simultaneously shedding light on the absurdities of modern capitalism. The film won’t win Best Picture, but Martin Scorsese and the rest of the team behind it can go home knowing that they’ve created a masterpiece.

Wild Card: Her wins Best Picture. Technosexual activists around the world claim the victory as a turning point in the fight to broaden the definition of marriage to include “one man and one computer.”

— Max Bledstein

Best Director:

Alfonso Cuarón — Gravity

Steve McQueen —12 Years a Slave

David O. Russell — American Hustle

Alexander Payne — Nebraska

Martin Scorsese — The Wolf of Wall Street

In a category that features three seasoned nominees (Russell, Payne, and Scorsese have 14 Best Director nods between them), it’s the newcomers that have turned it into a two-man race. It’ll be a monumental upset if one of the first-time nominees, Steve McQueen or Alfonso Cuarón, don’t go home with a statue. Cuarón has taken on frontrunner status between the two; with Gravity’s ethereal visuals and seamlessly woven intricacies, Cuarón has leap-frogged his veteran peers to take us to a new cinematic frontier altogether. It’s a testament to McQueen’s agonizingly excellent film that we can even talk ourselves into picking an upset here, but choosing Cuarón should be an easy call for the Academy.

Wild Card: McQueen’s name is in the envelope, but after it’s announced, Steve is beaten to the stage by a speedy and confused attendee: the real-life  CGI incarnation of Cars’ Lightning McQueen.

— Max Berger

 

a, Martlets, Sports

Basketball: Martlets win nail-biter in final home game

by Remi Lu on

More in a:

Five years ago, Hélène Bibeau and Françoise Charest walked onto the floor of Love Competition Hall for the first time. One-year later, Valérie L’Ecuyer joined the team. Now seniors, the three have presided over the transformation of the McGill Martlets into perennial playoff contenders, with the team winning the RSEQ banner three seasons in a row. Thursday’s contest against the UQAM Citadins held a mixed bag of emotions; although McGillpulled off a close 63-62 victory, the evening also marked the last home game in the Martlet careers of Bibeau, Charest, and L’Ecuyer.

McGill started the game with tenacious play and focus—the players’ tight-hustle and crisp ball movement opening up the game for the home team. Despite the tough full-court pressure by UQAM, McGill posted an easy 38-27 advantage to end the first half.

“[The Citadins] pressured a lot,” Martlet Head Coach Ryan Thorne said. “And they didn’t give us a lot of area to see passes [….] But I think [we] came out ready. Twenty-five points in a quarter is the highest scoring quarter we’ve had [this season].”

However, the second half was a different story for McGill as the home team saw its lead gradually disappear. An inability to end defensive possessions on the glass by the Martlets gave UQAM numerous second-chance opportunities, allowing the Citadins to slowly chip away at McGill’s advantage.

With four minutes left in the game, a three-pointer by UQAM’s Juliette Delaune cut the Martlet lead to just one point. The Citadins’ defence continued to stifle McGill, halting the Martlets’ offence and forcing a number of shot clock violations late in the game. Two free-throws by UQAM’s Valerie Gauvin put the visiting team up by one point with one minute to go. However, Bibeau refused to leave her home court with a loss, nailing a jumper with 53 seconds left in the game to clinch the win.

A teary and emotional celebration took place after the game on the same court where their careers began. Their jersey numbers—Charest’s 8, Bibeau’s 21, and L’Ecuyer’s 22—were honoured of the graduating players as their friends and family looked on.

Charest, one of the first Martlet basketball players out of Quebec City, has been the floor general for the team ever since her arrival. Her trailblazing effort has encouraged other athletes to leave Quebec City for McGill—which has set a precedent for the recruitment of great players.

“Right now, we have a really good squad,” Charest said. “People want to come to McGill.”

For L’Ecuyer, joining the Martlets was a tough task as a bench player out of CEGEP. However, in recent years she has been a key figure in the Martlet locker room, helping the other forwards develop their skills and playing a big role off the bench.

“Basketball brings me lots of things that I can carry on in my personal life,” she said. “Just finishing off with those girls—I’ve been playing with them for four years, so it’s a big family.”

Echoing the sentiments of the other graduates, moving on will be tough for Bibeau after the years of memories.

“[I’ll miss] the game itself; but when you play five years at the same school, you [also] miss the environment and the friends,” Bibeau said. “It becomes a family when you spend so much time here.”

Next up for the Martlets are the RSEQ playoffs, where they will face the Laval Rouge et Or (6-10) in the semifinals. Laval holds the last playoff spot, and while not necessarily impressive in the win-loss column, may prove to be troublesome for the reigning conference champions—particularly on the Rouge et Or’s home court. McGill’s quest for a fourth-straight RSEQ banner begins this Friday, Feb. 28 at 8:00 p.m. at Centre PEPS, Quebec City.

1 … 943 944 945 946 947 … 1,363

Read the latest issue

Read the latest issue