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a, Features

Check the ballot

by Ben Carter-Whitney on

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From a quiet office tucked away on the fourth floor of the Shatner building, Elections SSMU takes on a huge task. It is the branch of student government responsible for enabling the political participation of all 25,000 members of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU). Amidst the chaos of the upcoming Fall referendum period, Ben Fung, SSMU’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), reflects on his organization’s core mandate.

“You have student democracy happening on SSMU Council, but that’s representative democracy,” Fung explains. “If you want every single person participating, there are only two ways of doing it; General Assemblies (GAs), or elections and referenda. The role for Elections SSMU is to be the impartial body that manages [both], and allows […] student democracy at large to happen.”

As with most modern democratic systems, SSMU typically operates on this representative basis—executives, councillors, and senators who have been elected by the student body are responsible for the day-to-day operation of SSMU. Even within this framework, however, students can participate directly through biannual referenda, in which issues are voted on by the entire membership. The end of the academic year brings the opportunity for students to reflect on the quality of the representation they have received and elect those who will steer the ship for the year to come.

These moments, when the student body engages directly with the political process, are when Elections SSMU comes in. It is responsible for conducting all of SSMU’s elections and referenda; this includes overseeing technical and administrative aspects of the campaign periods, acting as a resource to the campaigns, and reaching out to students to encourage participation. All the while, it must also act as an arbiter and a watchdog, ensuring that everything from campaigning practices to referendum wording is up to code.

Fung (U2 Science) leads the Elections SSMU team, which also consists of Deputy Electoral Officer David Koots (L2 Law), and Elections Coordinator Hannah Rackow (U4 Arts). Even once the second elections coordinator position—for which hiring is currently underway—is filled, it is a small team with a daunting mission.

 

David Koots - Deputy Electoral Officer (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune)
David Koots – Deputy Electoral Officer (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune)

The importance of adaptation and interpretation

Just like the rest of SSMU, the Elections team is governed by the constitution and bylaws of the society. These lay out all of the guidelines and regulations by which Elections SSMU operates; some of these are the rules that must be enforced during campaign, while others detail internal processes—such as the official procedure for counting ballots.

With every advance in electoral procedures or technology, the bylaws must also change to accommodate such advances. For example, in 2003 SSMU voted in favour of implementing an online voting system. While this innovation facilitates student participation and greatly increases accessibility to the political process, it also brought with it logistical complications and a plethora of new regulations to ensure that the online voting met the same quality and privacy standards as physical polling. These changes can now all be found in the bylaws.

The tweaking of the bylaws is a perpetually ongoing project. Hubie Yu, last year’s CEO, left behind a list of bylaws which she feels need to be added, many of which stem from ambiguities in the rules that she encountered during her tenure.

“This is something I told [Fung] about, as it happened several times last year. Many candidates try to take advantage of bylaws that are up for interpretation, and would try to argue and convince me to see it their way,” Yu explained. “This is a tough situation as some bylaws don’t specifically say that they can’t do [certain things], but also don’t clearly state that they can.”

Fung recounts such a situation from this year’s First Year Council (FYC) elections in September.

“I had a student come up to me the other day, and she’s running for FYC. There’s a limit on the [size of posters], and she asked me how close [together] the posters could be; she wanted to paste them to make a bigger poster,” he laughed. “When students get really creative and we learn about things that we haven’t encountered before, then there becomes a need to introduce new bylaws—and there’s always a need to introduce new bylaws.”

In the meantime, Fung explained, even having found a need for revision, the CEO must make a ruling interpreting the bylaws as they stand. “My authority and my interpretation just comes from the constitution and by-laws, and I do my best to represent the spirit of the constitution and by-laws. And try not to get ‘J-Boarded.’”

 

 

The J-Board

The sole body that can overturn an Elections SSMU decision is the SSMU Judicial Board (J-Board), a panel of five full-time students from the McGill Faculty of Law. Any member of the society can bring a case to the J-Board, and after review they can chose to conduct a full investigation.

Elections SSMU (then referred to as Elections McGill) was involved in a high-profile case after the Fall 2011 referendum, when then-CEO Rebecca Tacoma was brought before the J-Board for allegedly failing to fulfill the duties of her position.

The case centred around QPIRG’s existence referendum, for which it claimed the wording of the question was unclear. It also alleged campaign violations from the ‘Yes’ committee, and claimed that Tacoma had failed to demonstrate diligence and impartiality while carrying out her duties. Although the personal charges against Tacoma were not upheld, the result of the referendum was invalidated and it was held again in the spring.

For Yu, who took office the following year, this case was a reminder of the level of scrutiny aimed at Elections SSMU.

“During my time as CEO, it definitely made me very careful. When I made decisions, I sometimes would think about whether it could be justified if it [got] to J-Board,” Yu wrote. “CEO’s get J-Boarded pretty often. We only hear about the [cases] that get accepted by J-Board, but I was told that petitions [get] submitted—sometimes they’re just not accepted.”

While a review by the J-Board is a concern for all members of Elections SSMU, the CEO is both the final decision-maker and the front line of accountability.

“In the constitution, the office of the CEO is synonymous with Elections SSMU, which is just another way of saying that the CEO is held responsible for all the decisions Elections SSMU makes,” Fung said. “It’s a way of holding us accountable for the decisions we’re making, and making sure we are following the constitution and bylaws.”

 

Confronting student apathy

Hannah Rackow - Elections Coordinator (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune)
Hannah Rackow – Elections Coordinator (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune)

While some students do seek to hold the organization accountable, others seem not to care at all. Elections SSMU continues to have extremely low visibility and awareness amongst students. This is a serious problem for an organization plagued with chronically low voter turnout. Last year’s Winter election was considered a success with 29.1 per cent of students showing up to the polls; Fall referendum periods generally experience even lower turnout.

Student apathy is a significant challenge faced by SSMU as a whole, but  there are few opportunities to quantify it the way that an election can. As such, it is very easy for the issue of apathy to fall to Elections SSMU. According to former SSMU President Josh Redel, the Elections team has a role to play in this issue, but the burden of responsibility has to be shared.

“You’d call the Elections SSMU [team] apolitical and purely logistics, and [yet] voter apathy is a political problem, [so it’s] something that would fall within [the SSMU] executive’s role,” Redel said. “It’s [Elections SSMU’s] role to get people out to vote, but not to get them interested in SSMU [itself].”

Current VP University Affairs Joey Shea expressed a similar sentiment.

“It’s up to the students, once they’ve heard the speeches and seen the chalkboards, whether they’re going to click on that email,” she said. “That’s not Elections SSMU’s responsibility.”

At times, however, apathy has morphed into negativity and hostility. Yu received angry—and at times vulgar—emails and tweets in response to her outreach efforts during last year’s election period.

“Most of the negative emails I received last year acknowledge the importance of elections, but they just don’t care,” Yu said. “I think people are sick of getting listservs, and sick of constantly getting information forced onto them, via class announcements or when candidates are handing out flyers,” Yu wrote.

Fung says he learned from Yu’s approach.

“Hubie’s philosophy was ‘Don’t let the haters get you down,’” he recalled. “She had no problems powering through it, and it was quite impressive.”

 

Benjamin Fung - Chief Electoral Officer (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune)
Benjamin Fung – Chief Electoral Officer (Wendy Chen / McGill Tribune)

The pains of being apolitical

While there are always ideas and initiatives within Elections SSMU to engage its membership and increase accessibility, its status as an arms-length agency of SSMU provides a logistical obstacle to any major institutional change.

While it technically falls under the President’s portfolio, none of its actions or initiatives can reflect the politics of the sitting president. Redel expressed the frustration that came with this semi-independent status.

“How do we find that balance where I’m not interfering or influencing Elections SSMU, but still putting into place some new projects—like the new elections software [and] videos in the ballots,” he said. “I think that’s why we always see, year to year, in the end, the same stuff put forward, because there’s so many of these nuances in the politics of things and the boundary between SSMU and Elections SSMU that don’t let us work to find those creative solutions in the middle.”

While some initiatives were successfully brought to fruition, such as video pensketches for elections candidates, and increased web presence, there were also roadblocks put up by this division. There was an idea to put hyperlinks to external resources and background information into the text of referendum questions, though it was brought to a halt when the concern arose of how to choose an unbiased range of sources.

“The issue with that is inherently it’s going to be political,” Redel pointed out. “So it’s that never-ending circle of how to inform people. No matter what you do, even if you list articles from all sides, you’re going to be missing something, or someone’s going to think you’re missing something.”

 

Moving forward

An unavoidable reality of Elections SSMU is that regularly scheduled events will always take precedence over all other potential plans. Already this year it has conducted the FYC elections, and the student nomination period for the Fall referendum is open until Oct. 11.

Nevertheless, there are also bigger-picture projects and initiatives for the year already underway. Fung has ambitions to establish mobile polling stations by equipping elections officers with iPads rented from the library, and is already contemplating his outreach strategy for the Winter election and referendum period—easily the biggest event of the year for Elections SSMU.

“Exactly how that’s going to turn out we’re not sure yet, because it could be something like sharks and gorillas fighting each other, or it could be more like awareness campaigns you see everywhere else,” Fung said, gesturing to last year’s SSMU Executive candidate debate posters, which featured various animals engaged in combat.

For Fung, however, the most important legacy that he can leave behind will be found in the constitution and bylaws.

“It’s the institutional memory—it’s what stays through generation after generation,” Fung said. “That’s why the [constitutional reform] process works so well, because the avenues for change are there.”

a, Recipes, Student Life

Pumpkin spice and everything nice

by Alycia Noë & Marlee Vinegar on

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Apple Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Ingredients

12/3 cups all-purpose flour

11/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 eggs

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp canola oil

1/2 cup grated apple

 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 oF and line a muffin tin with muffin liners

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves

3. In another bowl, combine pumpkin puree, applesauce, eggs, brown sugar, milk, and canola oil

4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until smooth

5. Fold grated apple into muffin batter

6. Fill muffin liners three-quarters full with batter

7. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until tester (toothpick or fork) comes out clean

8. Let muffins sit in pan for about five minutes and then remove to finish cooling

— Alycia Noë

 

 

Photos courtesy of inspiredtaste.net and inthepinkandgreen.blogspot.ca
Photos courtesy of inspiredtaste.net and inthepinkandgreen.blogspot.ca

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Ingredients

I cup milk or non-dairy milk beverage

2 tbsp canned pumpkin

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/3 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup extra strong coffee or 2 shots espresso

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

Pinch of nutmeg

 

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients (except coffee) in a bowl and microwave for 1-2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds

2. Brew coffee or espresso

3. If desired, strain milk mixture through a fine-meshed sieve to remove any small bits

4. Pour coffee into milk and stir

5. Optional: garnish with whipped cream and cinnamon or nutmeg

– Marlee Vinegar

a, News

PGSS Council discusses supervision, upcoming referendum

by Emma Windfeld on

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Review of supervision

Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) Secretary-General Jonathan Mooney announced two major projects that PGSS is currently working on. The first is the improvement of the quality of supervision for students in all departments by clarifying students’ and supervisors’ rights and responsibilities. The second project focuses on ensuring that international students receive tuition waivers—a type of financial aid that reduces or eliminates tuition fees for students who qualify.

“We plan to work with departments and faculties to promote the use of funding that is sent by the central administration to the faculties to support and retain international students on tuition waivers for these students,” Mooney said. “Some of this money, which is tied to the number of international students in a faculty, seems not to be reaching these students.”

 

Fortier addresses funding, student space

Principal Suzanne Fortier fielded questions from graduate students at Council and outlined future projects. These include reviewing supervision and funding for graduate students. Questions mainly concerned the university’s financial situation and the lack of workspace for graduate students.

PGSS Financial Affairs Officer Erik Larson asked Fortier to explain the financial state of McGill. Fortier said that she places importance on putting money towards attracting talent to the university.

“If we agree that it’s largely about [investing in] people, maybe we’ll have to see other things that aren’t as good as we’d like them to be because while important, they’re not a top priority,” she said.

Economics Councillor, Guillaume Lord. expressed concern about the allotment of workspace for graduate students.

“Space is very uneven across departments,” he said. “A lot of people in our department do not have office space, and it was heartbreaking for me to see this at the beginning of the year. […] Office space is not only a workspace; it’s also a community space.”

Fortier said she had not known this was an issue, but that a solution would not be easy. She mentioned that she would add the issue to future discussions on issues of space at McGill.

“Physical infrastructure is an issue at this university,” Fortier said. “We’re pretty tight on space and we […] don’t have much extension room, and of course there’s the matter of funding.”

 

Tribune fee referendum

Council approved a PGSS referendum question regarding funding for the McGill Tribune. If the question passes during the November referendum period, graduate students will pay a non-optoutable fee of $0.75 to the Tribune for both the Winter 2014 and Fall 2014 semesters, with a vote on renewal in 2015.

“Right now, our mandate as a newspaper is only towards undergraduate students,” said Carolina Millán Ronchetti, editor-in-chief of the McGill Tribune, at the meeting. “However, we recognize that post-graduate students face unique challenges [ …. ] Membership will help bring more coverage [of] issues that pertain to post-graduates such as supervision and office space.”

Mooney explained that the Tribune ran a similar question last May, which asked graduate students for $1.00 per semester, but that the question did not pass by a small margin.

 

McGill Writing Centre

Another question Council approved to run in the referendum period is for a fee of $1.50 per term to support graduate use of McGill’s Writing Centre.

However, Council voted against a motion for PGSS to contribute a one-time sum of $3,000 from PGSS’s Special Projects Fund. Without the fund transfer, the Writing Centre will no longer offer tutoring services to graduate students.

 

Letter opposing Charter of Values

Mooney asked Council for feedback regarding a letter to Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Pauline Marois that he wrote on behalf of the PGSS, which expresses their opposition to the section of the proposed Charter of Values that bans public workers from wearing conspicuous religious symbols.

“Some of our members are technically state personnel [ …. ] and so [the charter] implicates us directly,” Mooney said. “Freedom of expression is particularly important in a university setting.”

Council was supportive of the letter, though upon the suggestion of  Lord, a section of the letter stating that PGSS does not oppose other sections of the Charter was removed.

a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Tony Dekker – Prayer of the Woods

by Evie Kaczmarek on

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Tony Dekker, lead singer and songwriter of Great Lake Swimmers, is set to release his first solo album, Prayer of the Woods, this week.  For someone who has been so integral to the production of such a popular and successful Canadian indie-band, his solo act—although decent—is a bit of a let down in comparison to what the band has done as a cohesive group.

There isn’t anything inherently unappealing about the album. Its overall sound is certainly enjoyable: calm, introspective, and meditating. It’s meant to evoke images of nature and to celebrate a human retreat into simplicity. But its wispy feel at times begs for a little more substance.

The indie world has seen a lot of soft, alternative rock as of late: Bon Iver, William Fitzsimmons, Sufjan Stevens—the list goes on and on. It takes a certain nuance to stand out among the overcrowded population of confessional warblers, and it’s safe to say that this album is lacking whatever that special something might be.

Nevertheless, there is some serious musicality infused into the tracks.  Most notable among Dekker’s work is standout piece “Talking in Your Sleep,” a dreamlike, faster-paced tune. It contrasts from others with bright, waltzing rhythms, and well-crafted harmonies. The beautiful harmonica solo has a nostalgic feel, reminiscent of American folk band Beirut.

For all fans of Great Lake Swimmers, this album is definitely worth a look. Prayer of the Woods is successful in transporting listeners to a more peaceful place and natural state of mind. Just don’t expect anything too unique.

 

a, News

Walrus Magazine brings discussion on energy to McGill

by Eman Jeddy on

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Last Tuesday, McGill hosted “The Walrus Talks Energy,” an event intended to raise awareness about energy use and sustainable practices in Canada. The event was sponsored by Suncor, Canada’s largest energy producer and provider, and organized by The Walrus Magazine. It featured eight speakers of varying backgrounds and professions.

The Walrus Magazine is a general interest magazine that focuses on Canadian affairs as well as their relation to the rest of the world. According to Shelley Ambrose, co-publisher of The Walrus Magazine, the purpose of the event was to provide a platform for increasing knowledge about energy and driving the conversation on the future of energy in Canada.

“We need to have the conversation on energy in terms we can all understand,” said Ambrose. “To do that we need to achieve some energy literacy because creating a vision for the future is very challenging and complicated [.…] All of these amazing people doing these amazing things feed our brains and help us cope with these big decisions that we have to make.”

The speeches touched on a variety of issues, from the political climate surrounding energy and the pricing of energy to more specific topics such as the use of LED light- bulbs and the role of Indigenous peoples in a sustainable Canadian future.

Peter Calamai, fellow of the Institute of Science, Society, and Policy and one of the speakers at the event, talked on the importance of independent research in the energy sector and the need to change people’s perception of energy use in Canada.

“Canada’s use of energy is profligate, [it is] way above everyone else’s in the world, but most people don’t realize it,” Calamai said. “A lot of what’s going to help this problem are technical advances, but it’s also going to be major scientific discovery.”

According to Ambrose, the decision to hold “The Walrus Talks Energy” at an academic institution such as McGill was made as a way for promoting student awareness and involvement in the energy discussion. Kali Taylor, co-founder of Student Energy, a global movement of students focused on building a sustainable energy future, emphasized  the necessity of educating students on the issues in the energy sector.

“I think the way we think about energy is broken,” Taylor said. “Student Energy is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the next generation of energy leaders and empowering them […] so our whole meaning for being is that we want students to be more educated, inspired and united to take on [….]energy in the future.’’

The event attracted over 200 students and members of the McGill community. Remi Kahwaja, U4 mechanical engineering, said he attended the talk because his career could be related to the topics that were addressed.

“You rarely hear about specific Canadian energy issues so I thought it might be interesting.” Kahwaja said. “I would like to work in the energy sector later in Canada, so it’s about getting involved.”

Mariana Smailes, U1 Arts and Science, said the talks were informative in relation to techniques on energy saving that can be applied across McGill.

“I’m actually working with the McGill Energy Project right now and so, as a student group on campus, we’re really interested with how energy is being efficiently used on campus,” she said. “It was very interesting to see some of the things they said that would be [applicable] at McGill that would change maybe the student perspective on energy.”

a, Arts & Entertainment, Music

RJD2 – More Is Than Isn’t

by Haaris Aziz on

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RJD2  has earned his reputation as one of instrumental hip-hop’s best composers and producers—and one of the genre’s most consistent, with triennial releases since 2004. After listening to his highly anticipated album More Is Than Isn’t, it’s fair to say he’s lived up to his name.

Blending musical styles that rarely go together is one of RJD2’s fortes. More Is Than Isn’t offers an array of styles that will satisfy any mood: “Behold, Numbers!” is a calm but funky tune; “Milk Tooth” is all over the place, switching constantly from dark sections to happier ones; and the end of “Suite 3” changes so much it’s hard to tell what’s going on.

Nevertheless, RJD2 sticks to his hip-hop roots and collaborates with rappers like P. Blackk, STS, Khari Mateen, Phonte Coleman, and Blueprint. In particular, the mix of laid-back rap with funky beats, in the background of “See You Leave (feat. STS And Khari Mateen),” makes it my personal favourite on the album.

The trilogy of the “Suite” songs is also an album highlight. RJD2’s jazz-oriented, melodic, and slow-tempo beats in “Suite 1” and “Suite 2,” juxtaposed with the inconsistency of “Suite 3,” imply a build-up of atmosphere. While this album may not receive the same hype that much-lauded debut Deadringer did, RJD2 has delivered an album that surpasses expectations.

 

a, Student Life

Branching out: exploring McGill’s libraries

by Marlee Vinegar on

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McGill’s downtown campus is home to no fewer than 13 libraries, but students commonly limit their study space to one or two—often simply out of habit or convenience. In honour of the abundance of midterms and papers this week, this is the first in a series of spotlights on McGill libraries to help you branch out and learn to appreciate each library for its individual character.

 

McLennan-Redpath Library Complex

Consisting of Redpath Hall, Cybertheque, Blackader, and McLennan, this library complex is the largest, oldest, and possibly the most notorious library on campus. Particularly during exams, the building tends to be over-run by stressed-out, sleep-deprived, caffeine-fueled zombies. The seven-story building houses the Humanities and Social Science library collections, which include books for the faculty of Arts, Management, Religious Studies, Social Work, and Education. Furthermore, the library holds a collection of government, government agency, and intergovernmental organization publications; the Blackader-Lauterman collection of architecture and art; and McGill’s collection of rare books.

 

History

Although the library collection dates back to 1855, it wasn’t until 1893 that Peter Redpath, a businessman and member of the McGill University Board of Governors at the time, donated the oldest part of the library complex, Redpath Hall. The Hall was the first building constructed to store the main university library collection.

In 1969 the reinforced concrete McLennan Building opened—named after Isabella McLennan, who helped fund the purchase of many of the school’s books. While some describe McLennan’s interior as stale, impersonal, and dull, the repeating concrete pattern was meant to elicit a calm and quiet atmosphere to facilitate focused studying.

Redpath and McLennan merged to form the Humanities and Social Sciences Library in 1988 and throughout the 1990s materials from other departments were incorporated into the collection.

Much to the chagrin of a majority of the student body, the building continues to face ongoing construction. The library grows and changes to fit the student body’s needs, and is now much more focused on serving the demand for study space and digital research tools, and less focused on books.

 

Capacity

With a staggering 2,000-plus seats for quiet study throughout the library complex, it’s shocking that they all manage to fill up around exam time. Included in this number are large group tables, and carrels conducive for efficient individual work. Graduate students and Honours undergraduates can reserve carrels by applying at the service desk on the main floor.

For more collaborative learning, meetings, or presentation practice, there are individual rooms that can be reserved online through the library website, including high-tech glass pods in Cybertheque with computer adaptable large flat-screens. There are also open group study areas in Cybertheque and Redpath where talking is permitted.

 

Food

The basement of Redpath has a cafeteria with staples like Tim Hortons, Pizza Pizza, and Bento Sushi. Snacks, beverages, and coffee can also be purchased from vending machines right outside the cafeteria. Signs indicate that food is not permitted upstairs, although that doesn’t seem to deter most people.

 

Resources

Besides stacks—on stacks, on stacks—of books, the library has much more to offer. They even have their own blog, the McLennan Post, which features posts written by librarians on topics pertinent to students and faculty who use the library. The library also has microform readers and scanners that are connected to the library’s network, allowing for printout retrieval from uPrint machines.  On top of that, the library runs workshops on topics such as research strategies and how to get your research published. Workshop schedules are posted on the McGill Library website.

 

Something special

One of the true treasures of McLennan is its Rare Books and Special Collections section on the fourth floor. The collection was started in the 1850s and contains books, memorabilia, maps, and other artifacts from a wide range of different disciplines. Due to the fragility and value of the collection, there are guidelines for accessing these resources. Visitors must register upon entering and personal belongings like bags, hats, and coats must be stored in special locations. Once this is done, you can carefully browse through the collection at your own will, although you must return all material to the Reading Room staff before you leave.

 

Hours of Operation 

*24-hour access only in the Redpath Library Building and on the main floor of the McLennan Library Building. The upper floors of McLennan (2- 6) are open for study until midnight.

Monday-Thursday: 8 am – Midnight

Friday: 8 am – 10 pm

Saturday: 10 am – 10 pm

Sunday: 10 am – Midnight

a, Science & Technology

Science from science fiction: Star Wars

on

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From the moment it was first ignited in an old hermit’s home in the middle of Tatooine, the lightsaber captured the imagination of moviegoers. The steady humming of a blue blade of plasma bouncing off its scarlet counterpart has made generations of fans all over the world want one of their own. Made popular by the Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the lighsaber has generated quite a legacy for itself.

Lightsabers have remained in the realm of fiction ever since they first appeared on screen. No known physics model could explain the ways the bars of light made contact with each other. However, this past September, recent findings by a team of scientists from Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) showed light behaving in a fashion reminiscent of the blade of the lightsaber.

Harvard Professor of Physics Mikhail Lukin and MIT Physics Professor Vladan Vuletic managed to bind photons—particles of light—together to form molecules. Using weak laser pulses, the scientists shone photons through a special medium—a cloud of rubidium atoms—in a chamber just a few degrees above absolute zero. Normally, photons are described as massless particles that do not interact with each other; when you shine two rays of light together, the beams simply pass through one another. However, when Lukin and Vuletic sent two photons through the special medium, the particles escaped the other end as a single molecule.

This phenomenon—where the photons clumped together as if they had mass and formed molecules—can be explained through the Rydberg Blockade concept. As the photons travel through the cloud, their energy excites the rubidium atoms in the medium along their path. This excitation causes the photons to interact in such a way that they slow down tremendously. The photons regain their normal behaviour once they leave the special medium, exactly like when light passes through water or a prism.

While Star Wars fans would love their own lightsabers, the motivation behind this particular research was instead its potential applications in quantum computing—a field introduced in the ’80s by mathematician Yuri Manin and theoretical physicist Richard Feynman.

Quantum computers are similar to current computers on the market, except that instead of using bits as a storage basis, they use qubits. A bit represents a 1 or 0 in classical computers, and is simply an electrical switch, which can be either on or off. A qubit, on the other hand, relies on the quantum mechanical notion that something can exist in all its states at once.

As computers progress, the size of their processors continue to get smaller. There is a limit to this, however, and manufacturers are rapidly approaching the smallest sizes possible. Theoretically, quantum computing would help increase computers’ processing power.

Lukin and Vuletic’s findings provide a clue in the direction of the storage of quantum information and on the process of inducing photon interaction—two important concepts for designing a quantum computer.

With the discovery of a new state of matter comes a veritable flurry of new applications. In an interview with the Harvard Gazette, Lukin suggested that by utilizing this phenomenon crystal structures could one day be made entirely out of light. The day we all own our own lightsabers might not be so far off.

Despite the fact that these “blades of light” do not radiate heat, generate energy, nor can they be contained in a single hilt at the moment, these findings just go to show that science will go to the greatest of lengths to realize the impossible.

a, News

McGill community addresses gentrification in QI project

by Meghan Collie on

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The potential gentrification of a Montreal neighbourhood as a result of the Quartier de L’Innovation (QI) development project was the topic of a discussion group held by McGill’s Social Equity and Diversity Education (SEDE) Office last Friday. The event was part of SEDE’s second annual Community Engagement Day (CED)—a day of discussions, speaker events, and activities aiming to bridge the gap between the university and the surrounding community.

The QI is a neighbourhood development project by McGill and l’École de technologie supérieure (ETS) that aims to foster research and innovation in the neighborhoods of Griffintown, Petite Bourgnone, Saint-Henri, and Pointe Sainte-Charles. The development project consists of various tasks and sub-projects led by professors and students organized into the four ‘pillars’ of innovation—industrial, education, urban, and social and cultural.

Attendees of Friday’s discussion included Vincent Perez, the representative of the community of Petite Bourgnone in the QI, as well as McGill professors and students.

“The main focus of the Quartier de l’Innovation is knitting together the fabrics of the neighbourhood,” said Professor William Straw, director of McGill’s Institute for the Study of Canada.

Due to the extensive changes to the district projected by QI, there have been concerns regarding potential gentrification of the area.

Nik Luka, a professor of architecture and urban planning at McGill who sits on the board of the Montreal Urban Ecology Centre, questioned the way that the initiative is going to proceed regarding the relationship between local residents and those involved in the development of the area.

“How can planners and architects in particular work with local residents and other stakeholders on projects that we always have to work on, in ways that are productive, generative, [and] positive? How can we tap into what people know about their area?” he asked. “How [do] you make the connections when something new comes into a certain area? It’s a very important theme that we haven’t done enough work on.”

According to Perez, McGill’s influence in the area will prevent commercial overtaking, as an educational institution would uphold an emphasis on the arts, sciences, and culture in the area.

“University existence within the city prevents the commercial overtaking that many fear when they hear about approaching gentrification,” he said.

Dan Moczula, Communications Coordinator for CED, described the event as a way to create dialogue among members of both the McGill and the Montreal communities.

“The way we try and do this is to use CED to put people in contact with organizations and with people who they normally wouldn’t meet in all the time they spend around the McGill downtown campus,” Moczule said. “This fosters the discourse that breaks down a lot of walls and a lot of preconceptions that students may have about these communities.”

Louisa Bielig, U2 Arts, said these efforts to connect the McGill community to Montreal made CED worth attending.

“I was at CED last year, and that’s how I got into volunteering,” Bielig said. “I met my organization [Entraide Bénévole Montréal at CED] and I’m still doing it now. You see issues through the eyes of other people […] and CED provides the starting point for this exposure.”

Emily Boytinck, the project coordinator from SEDE, pointed to this year’s continuation of CED as a promising sign for the event’s continued success in the future.

“The success of this year’s event is very exciting, and the momentum is steadily building,” Boytinck said. “Preparations for next year will be underway before the end of this year.”

Boytinck encouraged students who are interested in becoming involved to ask for more information at the SEDE office, located on McTavish Street.

a, Science & Technology

Ask Scitech: Can we rust to death?

by Caity Hui on

More in a:

Clad in a red iron power suit, this American superhero is known for defending the world with the Avengers. However, Iron Man’s plates of armor proved more than just a military weapon; they also saved his life and allowed him to escape captivity to become the superhero he is today.

What distinguishes this character from his super counterparts is that unlike Spiderman and Superman, one in every 200 people in North America faces a similar condition; and they, too, can attribute their survival to these suits of iron.

Hemochromatosis is a hereditary genetic disorder that disrupts how the body metabolizes iron. A mutation in the gene HFE, which controls the amount of iron absorbed from the bloodstream, is responsible for this disease. Though rare, the condition can lead to life-threatening conditions such as cancer, heart arrhythmias, and cirrhosis. So, why would such a deadly disease be bred into the genetic code? According to Sharon Moalem, author of Survival of the Sickest, hemochromatosis is still prevalent within the population because it could have conferred a selective advantage to those suffering from the bubonic plague in the 1300s.

Normally, the body regulates the amount of iron it absorbs from food. Through releasing the peptide hormone hepcidin, it can control how much iron is absorbed by the intestines, used in body processes, and stored in various organs. Hence, when the body detects sufficient iron levels in the bloodstream, it reduces the amount of iron absorbed by the intestines, allowing any excess iron to simply pass through. In this case, if one were to stock up on iron supplements, it would still be impossible for the body to overload on iron.

Hemochromatosis disrupts the normal role of hepcidin in a person. The body consistently believes it is in a perpetual state of iron deficiency and absorbs the compound unabated, even once it has surpassed a typical absorption limit. This iron loading has deadly consequences. Over time, the excess iron is deposited throughout the body in various organs and acts as a poison by disrupting their function and causing disease. In a sense, hemochromatosis victims are rusting to death.

So, if hemochromatosis is such a lethal disease, why is it still prevalent in our population? Thanks to a process known as natural selection, everything in our genes happens for a reason.

The link between hemochromatosis and human survival can be explained by the relationship between organisms and iron. Iron plays an important role in almost every organism’s survival. Just as humans require iron for their metabolism, many forms of bacteria also depend on this compound in order to grow and propagate within their host. As a result, the human body has developed several mechanisms to sequester its iron reserves in an effort to make it unavailable to invading pathogens. Starve the pathogens, and it becomes more difficult for an infection to develop.

Curiously, people with hemochromatosis are actually less susceptible to infection than a non-hemochromatic person. Although the disease distributes excess iron throughout the body, it comes with one very beneficial side effect: the excess iron that the body absorbs isn’t distributed everywhere throughout the body. Macrophages—the police cells of the immune system—end up with significantly less iron available to pathogens than normal.

This iron-lock down in macrophages confers a significant advantage to people fighting infection. When a normal person’s macrophages encounter an invading pathogen, the pathogen may often harness the iron and use it to grow, spreading the infection throughout the lymphatic system. For a person with hemochromatosis, the lower iron content available to pathogens  in macrophages means that the cells not only have the ability to kill intruders, they can also starve the infectious agents to death.

“People who have the hemochromatosis mutation are especially resistant to infection because of their iron-starved macrophages,” Moalem explained in his novel. “So, though it will kill them decades later, they are much more likely than people without hemochromatosis to survive the plague, reproduce, and pass the mutation on to their children.”

Moalem adds, “In a population where most people don’t survive until middle age, a genetic trait that will kill you when you get there but increases your chance of arriving is, well, something to ask for.”

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