Student LivingA MAnicure for McGill StudentS

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newSquebec educAtion SuMMitp 2-3TRIBUNE

THE mcgill Published by the Tribune Publication Society

curioSiTy deliverS

Volume No. 32 Issue No. 22

@mcgill_tribune • www. mcgilltribune.com Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Suzanne Fortier appointed as McGill’s next Principal

Redmen impress at first Final 8 since 1979

On Mar. 5, Stuart H. (Kip) Cobbett, chair of McGill’s Board of Governors (BoG), announced that Dr. Suzanne Fortier had been ap-pointed as McGill’s 17th principal. She will begin her five-year term in September, at which point she will officially replace McGill’s first female principal, Heather Munroe-Blum.

The BoG appointed Fortier after receiving a recommendation from the Board’s Advisory Commit-tee for Nomination of the Principal, which began meeting in the spring of 2012.

The Committee was comprised of two representatives respectively, from the student body, the faculty, support staff, Senate, and the BoG. The Committee was chaired by Cob-bett, who noted that the Committee

began its search by first holding 30 consulting sessions with the McGill community in April and May of last year.

“Once we got a sense from the community as to what [it] saw as the challenges facing McGill over the next five to 10 years, we then went back to the drawing board and worked up what we call a ‘candidate profile’ or a ‘position profile,’” Cob-bett told the Tribune.

The Committee then drafted a list comprised of 85 people who had expressed interest in the position. This list included both Canadian and international applicants, and was gradually narrowed down to approx-imately 25 candidates, then, seven.

Finally, the seven candidates on the list were interviewed in No-vember and December 2012, after which, the Committee chose Fortier.

“It’s always a difficult decision when you are choosing somebody

for a position of this significance and this profile, and … we had a num-ber of very, very good candidates,” Cobbett said. “We were fortunate that the search brought forward a lot of very, very impressive individuals. But ultimately, we decided that Dr. Fortier is the best for McGill at this time.”

Cobbett emphasized that For-tier’s experience made her stand out among the rest.

Fortier has served in a number of senior administrative positions at Queen’s University, including asso-ciate dean of graduate studies and research, vice-principal (research), and vice-principal (academic). Cur-rently, she is the President of the Natural Sciences and Engineer-ing Research Council of Canada (NSERC), a position she has held for seven years, and will have to leave in order to join McGill.

“At NSERC … she was run-

ning one of the principal granting agencies – and not only running it, she restructured it, re-organized it, so she has whole a lot of proven ad-ministrative and managerial skills in addition, of course, to being a top-flight academic, and a very empathetic person, somebody who appears to have a collegial manage-ment style,” Cobbett said.

The Students’ Society of Mc-Gill University (SSMU) Presi-dent Josh Redel, who also sits on the BoG, expressed that he is very pleased with Fortier’s appointment.

“I think she is an excellent choice, and her passion for McGill will go a long way,” he said. “In ad-dition, her unwavering commitment to become the next principal despite the incredible challenges that Mc-Gill is facing, or is about to face, will do this school well.”

Fortier will be joining McGill at a time when the tuition debate has

reignited, and the university’s bud-get is facing major cutbacks from the provincial government.

“The principal has to be some-body who understands the impor-tance of public policy, and under-stands the importance of relation-ships with the government, both provincial and federal because they are our principle funding sources,” Cobbett said. “You need somebody, obviously, who is very sensitive to both financial requirements and limitations, and Dr. Fortier has all of that.”

Fortier said she believes she is up for the job, despite these impend-ing challenges.

“I have certainly, both when I was at Queen’s and in my current job … had to deal with cuts in bud-gets, and the exercise that one must

News editorAndra Cernavskis

Munroe-Blum’s successor chosen after months-long search; Fortier says she is prepared to face McGill’s challenges

See “Principal” on p. 4

Vincent Dufort (23) was named player of the game in McGill’s quarterfinal loss to Ottawa. (Simon Poitrimolt / McGill Tribune)

OTTAWA — 33 years after their last appearance at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championship tournament, the Mc-Gill Redmen were less concerned with bringing home the school’s first McGee Trophy, than with prov-ing that they deserved a spot at the table. Of course, every team enters the tournament with sights set on the big prize, but it’s not always so simple. A look at the McGill bench in the waning seconds of their con-solation final victory over the Vic-toria Vikes to secure fifth place told the story: this program is on the rise and has earned the respect of a na-tion.

Managing editorAdam Sadinsky

See “Redmen” on p. 19

NEWSEducationBy anDra cernaVSkiSsummit

on feb. 25 and 26, the parti québécois (pq) hosted 61 organizations and groups at its long-anticipated Summit on Higher education. over the course of two days, the now-familiar sound of student protests continued in the streets of downtown Montreal, as thousands publicly expressed their disappointment with the actions of the provincial government and the results of the Summit.

nounced that it would enact a three per cent annual increase on tuition, which would begin next September, and is supposed to correspond to the predicted in-dexation rate of Quebec families’ disposable income. This would mean a $70 increase on tuition for Quebec students. Out-of-province and international students will also pay three per cent more on their tuition.

According to The Gazette, Martine Desjardins, president of the Fédération étudiante univer-sitaire de Québec (FEUQ), re-sponded immediately to the gov-

photos by Anna Katycheva

ernment’s decision at the Summit.“We are extremely disappoint-

ed,” she told those in attendance. “We hoped the government would do their homework, and not make decisions based on polls.”

Prior to the Summit, the FEUQ told its constituents that it was strongly opposed to any type of tu-ition indexation.

A co-leader of the Québec Sol-idaire party, Françoise David also spoke out against tuition indexation at the Summit, according to The Gazette. He called indexation “in-admissible.”

Québec Solidaire was founded in 2006. It currently holds two seats in the National Assembly.

Robin Reid-Fraser, vice-presi-dent external of the Students’ Soci-ety of McGill University (SSMU), attended the Summit as a represen-tative of the Table de concertation étudiante du Québec (TaCEQ), of which SSMU is a member associa-tion. She was also disappointed by what transpired over the course of the two days.

“I suppose I knew going into it with the information I had, and hav-ing participated in the themed meet-ings, that it wouldn’t be nearly what I’d like it to be, but my idealistic nature was still let down,” she said.

The SuMMiT

In September, shortly after it was elected into power, the PQ announced that it would hold an Educa-tion Summit. The government initially proposed the Sum-

mit as a follow-up to the pro-tests against the former Liberal government’s proposed tuition increases of $325 a year for five years, which occurred during the spring and summer of 2012.

At the end of the first day of the Summit, the government an-

At the Feb. 26 protest

3curiosity delivers. | NEWS | Wednesday, March 13, 2013

McGill joins online learning platform without Senate approvalcampus

Senators criticize senior administration for failing to communicate its decision to join edX consortium

News editorBea Britneff

The McGill administration has come under scrutiny following its announcement on Feb. 20 that Mc-Gill is now a member of the edX consortium—a not-for-profit enter-prise specializing in online interac-tive learning. Several members of the McGill Senate have criticized the senior administration for failing to communicate with Senate about the initiative.

McGill will use edX to design, develop, and offer “Massive Online Open Courses” (MOOCs), which will be ready in 2014. Provost An-thony Masi said that that the op-portunity for McGill to partner with edX will benefit the university in several ways.

“Membership in edX will posi-tion McGill at the forefront of what many are calling a ‘revolution’ in teaching and learning,” he told the Tribune. “Further, edX provides us with the opportunity for improving blended, and other technology-as-sisted courses offered on our cam-

puses.”The idea of offering MOOCs

was brought forward in a discus-sion facilitated in part by Masi at the Senate meeting on Jan. 23. MOOCs were not discussed at the following Senate meeting on Feb. 19. Accord-ing to Masi, the executive commit-tee of the Board of Governors (BoG) approved the partnership between McGill and edX on Feb. 15.

During an interview with the Tribune, Senator Catherine Lu—who is also an associate professor of political science—suggested that the decision to join edX should have been brought to a vote at Senate.

“By having this open discus-sion [at the Jan. 23 Senate meeting] … the Provost created the expecta-tion that recommendations from the working groups regarding MOOCs —including joining a consortium— would be brought to Senate for ap-proval,” she said. “This is why I and many other Senators were surprised to receive the Provost’s email an-nouncement that McGill had joined the edX consortium.”

Masi said that Senators gave

their approval for MOOCs by en-dorsing the Achieving Strategic Academic Priorities (ASAP 2012), an academic policy paper detailing a five-year plan for McGill.

“McGill’s interest in harnessing technology to transform teaching and learning is outlined in [ASAP 2012],” he said.

Lu said that Masi’s explanation has prompted her to further question the process through which McGill joined edX.

“If the senior administration wants to argue, that by endorsing ASAP 2012, Senate actually did endorse MOOCs … then I don’t see the point of having a Senate at all,” she said. “By endorsing ASAP, Senate would have forfeited all of its decision-making authority with respect to all academic activities of the university.”

“In my view, this cannot be the correct interpretation of Senate’s en-dorsement of ASAP,” Lu continued. “Senate may have to reconsider what this endorsement really means.”

Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) President Josh

Redel and SSMU Vice-President University Affairs Haley Dinel, both of whom are student senators, said they do not believe that the deci-sion to join edX necessarily required Senate approval.

“edX is a platform, and things like that don’t need to go through Senate, because they are not inher-ently academic—though the content of them is, which should, and will go through Senate,” Redel said. “For example, we did not approve my-Courses2 … nor Minerva … at Sen-ate, because they are only platforms for academic programs.”

At the same time, both Redel and Dinel share Lu’s concern about the lack of communication in the decision-making process to join the MOOC consortium.

“I think our discussion at Sen-ate [on Jan. 23] could have been more transparent,” Dinel said. “It should have been made much clear-er … that a lot of work had already gone into looking at these options. There … should have been more public discourse as to which consor-tium to pick.”

According to Masi, McGill’s MOOCs will be designed and devel-oped by McGill faculty members. Masi confirmed that Senate will be involved in important decisions re-lated to content and design as the project advances.

Masi also emphasized that no funds from the university’s operat-ing budget will be used towards the initiative, and that McGill’s MOOCs will be funded purely through phil-anthropic support.

Despite the concerns they voiced about transparency, there is general agreement among Redel, Dinel, and Lu that McGill’s plan to offer MOOCs is an innovative and beneficial initiative.

“My complaint here is not that the BoG and senior administration approved joining the edX consor-tium per se,” Lu explained. “The basic problem here is a massive disconnect in the university’s gov-ernance process of approving this important development for McGill’s academic mission.”

continued from page 2Reid-Fraser noted that she

was most disappointed by the small amount of time student groups were given to prepare for the govern-ment’s proposals during the Summit itself.

“We only actually saw what the PQ was proposing as we entered the meal or break session before that particular period of discussion – giving us about 30-90 minutes to actually put together a response,” she said.

According to The Gazette, Quebec Premier Pauline Marois said during the Summit that she believes tuition indexation to be the fairest option, and that the amount of the increase is reasonable, considering the current value of a university de-gree.

Olivier Marcil, McGill vice-principal (external relations), stat-ed that he and Principal Heather Munroe-Blum were pleased with the conversations around univer-sity governance but not the $19.1 million budget cuts that the PQ has recently imposed on Quebec univer-sities. While Munroe-Blum attended thesummit, Marcil watched it on the live feed provided by the govern-ment.

“On governance, we were pleased to see a less aggressive tone and fewer allegations of misman-agement at Quebec’s universities, and we agree with the government

in its call for streamlined strategic accountability reports,” Marcil said.

“Unfortunately, the govern-ment did not consider its program of severe cuts to universities, de-spite evidence that these cuts will be harmful, and will inflict damage on our communities from which it will take years to recover,” he continued.

Marcil concluded that the gov-ernment pre-determined the results of the Summit.

The PrOTeSTS

Demonstrators held protests on both days of the Summit, and dem-onstrations have continued for many nights since. The protests that took place on Feb. 25 and 26 were each declared illegal, and were dispersed by the Montreal Police (SPVM).

While roughly 1,500 people participated in the Feb. 25 demon-stration against the Summit, about 10,000 people slowly gathered in Victoria Square on Feb. 26, and took to the streets in a protest organized by L’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ).

ASSÉ is the only student group to officially boycott the Summit, be-cause the PQ announced in advance that it would not consider the topic of free education at the two-day event. ASSÉ holds free education as its main goal.

During the Feb. 26 protest, there were people present in the crowd with red vests that read

“ASSÉ.” Those wearing vests de-clined to comment on what they were doing, saying only that they were “security.”

Approximately two hours after the protest left Victoria Square, the police declared it illegal. The SPVM then proceeded to pepper-spray, ket-tle, and arrest 13 students.

A handful of McGill students attended the protest, many of whom are members of the Art History and Communication Studies Gradu-ate Students’ Association (AHCS-GSA), which is the only student association at McGill to have joined ASSÉ to date.

AHCS-GSA voted to join ASSÉ at a General Assembly (GA) on Feb. 12. On Feb. 19, they voted to go on strike for the duration of the Summit.

Gretchen King, a communica-tion studies councillor on AHCS-GSA who brought forth the motion to join ASSÉ at the GA, attended the protest and held a sign that read “McGill on strike” as the protest passed McGill on Sherbrooke. Fol-lowing the protest, King said that she was not surprised by the Sum-mit’s results.

“The Summit was a public re-lations stunt that failed in the eyes of students,” she said. “No genuine dialogue on education was held, as the outcomes were predetermined and free tuition was barred from even being discussed. This is not why Quebec students sustained a

six-month long student strike last year.”

Many of the other people in attendance also held Québec Soli-daire posters to show support for the party they now believe rep-resents student inter-ests.

Jacques Cham-berland, a teacher of philosophy at the Collège de Maisonneuve, and a McGill alum-nus, marched with other teachers and professors on Feb. 26, in support of the movement for free education. He, too, was un-surprised by the Summit’s out-comes.

“From a militant point of view, I am disappointed because I [sup-port] free edu-cation,” he said. “But on the political level, their strategy was pretty good. We have to acknowledge that.”

Protests continued into the fol-lowing week, while McGill students were away on reading break. For

more informa- tion, see What Happened Last Week in Canada on page 5.

4 Wednesday, March 13, 2013 | NEWS | Curiosity delivers.

On Feb. 19, William Hender-shot, associate dean (academic) of the faculty of agriculture and envi-ronmental sciences, housed at the Macdonald Campus, issued an inter-nal memorandum to program direc-tors and specialization coordinators regarding impending cuts to courses offered at McGill’s satellite campus.

“In light of the severe financial situation of the University, it is quite possible that we will be faced with the need to decrease the number of courses we teach,” Hendershot said in the memorandum.

Hendershot also wrote that he had examined all courses taught at Macdonald Campus, and identified those that did not seem to be cru-cial aspect of any program. These courses, according to Hendershot, were mostly ones that do not exist as a prerequisite for other courses.

Hendershot asked that program directors also examine their courses

to determine which ones they be-lieve to be of lowest importance and to pay attention to classes with low enrollment.

“We need to be ready to man-age any cuts in a less damaging fash-ion,” the memorandum continues. “Remember, that cutting the number of courses doesn’t necessarily mean that we will lose students—most of them will choose their courses from those we do teach.”

However, since the memoran-dum was released, contradictory statements have been made regard-ing the correlation between budget cuts and course cuts.

“The discussion [of course cuts] has nothing to do with the current budget situation,” Chandra Madramootoo, dean of the faculty of agriculture and environmental sciences, and associate vice-prin-cipal of McGill, said. “It is part of a university-wide process started

many years ago to eliminate or re-duce low enrollment courses. So it is unfortunate that this is being pre-sented in light of the current budget situation.”

The memorandum included a list of over 60 courses that Hender-shot believes could be dropped with the least amount of impact. Fifteen of those courses are in the depart-ment of bio-resource engineering.

The discussion regarding course cuts will continue throughout March.

“This has nothing to do with the popularity of the various courses, but rather how critical they are to the education of the students in your program,” Hendershot told program directors in the memorandum.

The date of the official an-nouncement of next year’s course offerings has not yet been decided.

—Jessica Fu

NEWS in brief

macdonald campus prepares to cut courses of “lowest importance”

McGill Tribune: What was Pope Benedict’s contribution to the papacy?

Tracey Rowland: I think he’s [made] a number of contributions. The ones that stand out, I suppose, [include] his work for Christian unity. He was all the time sending messages to the Orthodox leaders that he was trying to include them … as part of the great patrimony of Christianity. And he did [an] enor-mous amount of diplomatic work with the leaders of the Russian Or-thodox Church and the Greek Ortho-dox Church. He established the An-glican Ordinariate, and I think that in the future that will be seen as a watershed moment in the history of the return of Anglicans to full com-munion with the Catholic Church…. He has also worked on bringing the Lefebvrists back—the people who went into schism in 1988 over in-

terpretations of the Second Vatican Council.... I think in the future, one of his major legacies will be his writ-ing, both as Pope and as Cardinal Ratzinger. He has published over 60 books, and I don’t know how many articles, and how many homilies. I think people will be reading him for a very long time.

MT: What does the resigna-tion mean to the Catholic Church?

TR: I think it could be some-thing very providential. Imagine if the young Pope finds himself in a position, where he can go and talk to Pope Benedict like a son to a father. And to have the consolation that while he’s dealing with all the things he has to deal with, that there’s an-other man who has shouldered these responsibilities, who is living in the same precinct, praying, to whom he can go and share what is ever

troubling him. I think that could be something really wonderful, that for 600 years, no pope has had.

MT: What are the main chal-lenges facing the next pope?

TR: It’s an extraordinary job description, but I think ideally we would like to have someone who has the theological gifts of Pope Benedict, the personal charisma of blessed John Paul II, and quite a strong skill for administration. Be-cause we know that in the final years of the papacy of John Paul II, he was so unwell that the administra-tion was starting to break down and become chaotic—and that doesn’t seem to have been fixed under the papacy of Benedict. So we’ve had pretty much a decade of poor eccle-sial governance. The next pope will need to be able to get on top of the administration.

on Benedict’s resignation

Tracey rowland,

Pope biographer,

As the conclave to elect the next leader of the Catholic Church begins this week, and fol-lowing Pope Benedict XVI’s retirement on Feb. 28, the Tribune sat down with leading theologian Professor Tracey Rowland. Rowland is the dean of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne, Australia, and author of the 2008 biography of Benedict XVI, “ Ratzinger’s Faith: The Theology of Pope Benedict XVI.” In this interview, The Tribune sits with Rowland to discuss Benedict’s legacy, the challenges facing the next pope, and candidates for the position, including Quebec’s own Cardinal Marc Ouellet.

MT: Would you comment on the candidates for the papacy?

TR: Well, one of the most inter-esting things in terms of the front-runner is that, a lot of people think that the number one front-runner is Cardinal Marc Ouellet. Cardinal Ouellet has had experience work-ing in Latin America, he’s highly regarded by North Americans; he’s also had experience working in Rome in the Curia, so he has some understanding of how the bureau-cracy operates. He [knows] a num-ber of languages.... He’s seen to be someone who has had a very broad range of experiences in a number of different areas of the world. He’s also a very strong theologian.

MT: You wrote two books on Benedict. What did you learn in the process?

TR: One of the things people say about Ratzinger is that he is so easy to understand – when he writes about theological topics, one doesn’t need to have a degree in theology in order to follow what he’s saying. I think that has made him immensely popular with a lot of people. One also discovers that he has an incredible knowledge of Church history and the writings of the early Church fathers.... Another thing I like about him – which is of no great theological significance – is he likes cats. I think that’s lovely. One of the stories about him is that when he was a cardinal, at lunch time he would often go to one of the parks in Rome. He liked to go for a stroll in the park near his office, and he always would take scraps to give the stray cats. I think that shows something of the emotional side of him.

engage in defining … the values, the principles, and the goals that will drive the exercise, [while] making sure that you protect the core, the essential part of your organization,” she said.

Jonathan Mooney, secretary-general of the Post-Graduate Stu-dents’ Society (PGSS) and a BoG member, hopes that Fortier will strengthen the relationship between Quebec society and McGill, some-thing he said was very important to the BoG in the selection of the new principal.

“McGill is often perceived as an enclave that is really distinct from the rest of the Quebec,” he said. “Madame Fortier will serve as an embodiment of the link between McGill and Quebec in her role, and will also bring a vision for how Mc-Gill and Quebec society have a lot to gain from each other.”

Fortier is a McGill graduate, having received both her Bachelor’s of Science and PhD at the university. She is also a Quebec native, and at-tended school in Saint-Timothée, a small rural village in the province. She expressed excitement about re-turning to her home province and to McGill.

“There is a real sense for me of a strong link with McGill, with

Montreal, with Quebec,” she told The Tribune. “It’s a place that has given me so many opportunities [and has been] a launching pad in my career, so I am profoundly at-tached to these places.”

SSMU Vice-President Univer-sity Affairs Haley Dinel, who was a student representative on the Ad-visory Committee for Nomination of the Principal, pointed to Fortier’s personable attitude towards students as something which stood out in her candidacy.

“Dr. Fortier is a very approach-able person,” Dinel said. “Whether it’s students or student leaders, she has a willingness to understand and communicate with us.”

Mooney agreed, calling For-tier’s references impressive.

“The references and stories presented to the [BoG] indicated that Madame Fortier frequently spent time with students at Queen’s and was at ease with them,” Mooney said. “She also seems [to] value the importance of student leadership.”

Munroe-Blum will end her term as principal on June 30, 2013. An acting principal will fill the post in July and August, and Fortier will begin her duties in September.

new principalcontinued from cover

By carolina millÁn roncHettifor an extended version of

the interview, visit www.mcgilltribune.com

5Curiosity delivers. | NEWS | Wednesday, March 13, 2013

student protests continue in montreal

Violence broke out in the streets of Montreal on the night of Mar. 5, as students protested the tuition fee increase recently announced by the Parti Québécois (PQ). Police declared the march illegal, as the protestors did not provide a route as required by municipal law. Some protestors smashed the windows of a bank and hotel, and police claimed students defaced patrol cars with cans of spray paint. Fifty students were arrested, and at least one stu-dent and one officer were injured near Montreal’s Chinatown district.

A new wave of protests has taken place since late February, fol-lowing the PQ’s declaration at the Summit on Higher Education—which occurred on Feb. 25 and 26—that it would index tuition at three per cent per year starting next Fall. Many students were expecting the provincial government to freeze tuition, after the PQ cancelled the former Liberal government’s tuition increase in September 2012.

B.c. liBerals scandal over ‘etHnic outreacH’ document

On Mar. 7, leaders of several First Nations and cultural groups—including the Union of B.C. Chiefs, the Progressive Inter-Cultural Ser-vices Society, and the Head Tax Families Society of Canada—called on the B.C. Liberal Party to stop using restorative justice as an elec-tion campaign strategy.

This action follows the unveil-ing of the B.C. Liberals’ Multicul-tural Strategic Outreach Plan, which the NDP leaked. This document includes several proposals, one of which included using official apolo-gies for historical injuries to entice First Nations and Chinese citizens to vote for the Liberals in the upcom-ing May 14 provincial elections.

“It represents a deep sense of betrayal and we find it highly of-fensive,” Grand Chief Stewart Phil-lip, president of the Union of B.C. Chiefs, told the CBC.

Since the disclosure of the ‘eth-nic outreach’ document, Liberal Pre-mier Christy Clark has issued three apologies. Liberal Deputy Chief of Staff Kim Haakstad, who helped draft the plan, resigned on Mar. 1.

canada creates tHousands of new joBs in feBruary

Statistics Canada reported last week that 51,000 jobs were created in Canada in February—a figure that is six times bigger than the amount predicted by economists.

The increase in employment was spread between both part-time and full-time work, and across most industries, and it occurred primar-ily in Ontario and B.C. Most of the people who filled the new positions were aged 55 or above. However, the unemployment rate remained relatively stable in February, as the number of new jobs matched the number of new Canadians seeking employment.

Both politicians and econo-mists are optimistic about these strong results; however, Scotia Eco-nomics Vice-President Derek Holt pointed to areas where improvement can still be made.

“If there is a fly in the oint-ment, it lies in the fact that a big job gain, nonetheless, coincided with no growth in paycheques for all work-ers combined during the month, as evidenced by flat wages and flat hours worked,” Holt told the CBC.

Canada?what happened last week in CoMpiled by CaTherine gao , bea briTneff, andra Cernavskis

visit www.mcgilltribune.com for exclusive online content,

including coverage of the ssmu winter Ga and a full interview with mcGill’s principal-designate, suzanne fortier.

CoMpiled by CaTherine gao , bea briTneff, andra Cernavskis

pq cancels mandatory enGlisH immersion

Marie Malavoy, Quebec’s Edu-cation Minister, announced on Mar. 7 that English immersion classes in French schools will no longer be mandatory. This decision effectively cancels a program set up by the pre-vious Liberal government in 2011 that required grade 6 students to en-roll in intensive English immersion classes for half of the school year.

According to The Montreal Ga-zette, Malavoy said that it would be unrealistic to have every single grade 6 student in Quebec attend these classes, and that school boards were having trouble hiring qualified teach-ers to instruct in these programs.

However, Malavoy also said that the Parti Québécois (PQ) will not ban the immersion program, and that schools may continue to imple-ment it if they wish. As of this school year, only 12 per cent of grade 6 classrooms had successfully inte-grated the program.

A representative from the Coali-tion Avenir Québec (CAQ), Natalie Roy, criticized Malavoy for pro-moting confusion by giving school boards more flexibility while also implying that the PQ wants to slow down further implementation of im-mersion programs, according to The Gazette.

supreme court makes decision on mB land claims case

On Mar. 8, the Supreme Court of Canada delivered its judgment on a historic Manitoba land claims dis-pute, where a majority of the justices ruled that the federal government’s distribution of land to children of the region’s Métis population in the late 19th century was unconstitutional.

The legal dispute’s roots can be traced back to 1870, the year that Manitoba became a Canadian province. The federal government promised that 5,565 square km of land would be reserved for Métis children. However, it did not fol-low through with its agreement, and turned a blind eye as new settlers in the province bought much of the land that was promised at very low prices.

The Supreme Court’s judgment means that the current Conservative government potentially faces exten-sive negotiations with the province’s Métis. According to CTV News, Métis spokespeople have said that they do not intend to demand their land back, which includes all of pres-ent-day Winnipeg. However, they will seek financial compensation for the historic wrongdoing.

The Philosophy Student’s As-sociation (PSA) will vote for ac-creditation—which would grant the association organizational indepen-dence from the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS)—between Mar. 11 and 15. Although both the PSA and AUS want to maintain a strong re-lationship, it is unclear as to what this relationship will look like in the event of accreditation.

PSA President Jonathan Wald explained that the primary moti-vation for seeking accreditation is financial. Currently, the PSA does not have autonomy over its finances, which is what it hopes to achieve with accreditation.

“[We want] to make sure that we have the freedom to continue to perform our activities, and run our activities at a maximum efficiency,” Wald said. “We see accreditation and incorporation as one of the ways to

cut red tape, maximize transparency of the PSA, and grant us maximum autonomy, while being financially responsible.”

The PSA has been working to-wards incorporation and accredita-tion since the start of the Fall 2012 semester. On Feb. 19, the PSA be-came the first academic department association at McGill to be incor-porated under the Régie des Entre-prises, which gained the association status as a non-profit organization.

The accreditation process is being carried out solely between the PSA and the government of Quebec, who has assigned an accreditation agent to the PSA. This agent will have the final say on the decision following the PSA’s vote. Neither McGill, nor the AUS, nor the Stu-dents’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) are involved in the accredi-tation process.

Wald said that the PSA wants to continue to maintain a relation-ship with the AUS. In the event of

accreditation, he predicts that the PSA’s current practices with the AUS and SSMU would be written into agreements with both organiza-tions.

“We’d like to remain involved in [the] AUS, and I think it’s in the interest of the AUS to keep us in-volved [in AUS Council],” Wald said.

According to AUS Vice-Pres-ident Internal Justin Fletcher, the AUS has a similar vision, but has yet to make a final decision about its co-operation with the PSA in the event of PSA accreditation.

“[The relationship between the AUS and the PSA] will be de-termined based on the results on the vote,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher also added that it was important to remember that all phi-losophy students are still considered arts students.

“There is a multi-track system in the Faculty of Arts where you need to be in at least two different

academic programs, meaning that all philosophy students will still be members of the AUS,” he said.

He did not specify what may happen with students in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, who may study philosophy as their arts component.

In order to attain approval from the government for accreditation, the PSA must secure 25 per cent support from undergraduate phi-losophy students. Wald believes that gaining ‘yes’ votes from philosophy students will not be an issue.

“The only people who have been critical were people [who] were confused about what accredi-tation meant,” Wald said. “When I cleared it up, they were actually supportive of it. So as long as peo-ple are informed about this, I think our main challenge will be getting people to vote, not getting people to vote ‘yes.’”

Eliyahu Freedman, U3 philoso-phy, said that he and many of his peers are supportive of the PSA’s

move, claiming that the association should disassociate itself from the AUS.

“A lot of people spite the AUS – fairly or unfairly – for its misman-agement of funds, and poor han-dling of the student strike last year,” Freedman said. “Accreditation will enable the PSA to set its own poli-cies—from financial policies to strike policies.”

While the PSA’s pursuit of ac-creditation and recent incorporation has received support from many of the department’s constituents thus far, Fletcher and Wald do not believe that departments smaller than PSA will follow in their footsteps.

“It is a lot of work,” Wald said. “[And] for the smaller student asso-ciations, it doesn’t make much sense … [it] isn’t necessarily worth it.”

philosophy students seek independence from aus student government

Quebec will ultimately decide if the psa can have its own accreditation after philosophy students vote this week

ContributorSamuel Pinto

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TRIBUNETHE Mcgill

editorial

editorial Last week, the Board of Gover-nors’ (BoG) announcement that Dr. Suzanne Fortier has been selected as the next Principal and Vice-Chancel-lor of McGill was accompanied by a flurry of press releases, interviews, and profiles introducing her to the McGill community. There were a few points about her that stood out in particular, but aside from these details, we know very little about our new principal-designate. None-theless, what we do know about her—and what the university has chosen to emphasize—highlights what this selection says about Mc-Gill’s priorities as an institution, and the direction in which it seeks to go in the next five years under Fortier’s guidance.

An analysist of recent press coverage of Fortier shows the same information coming up again and again. She is a Quebec native, hail-ing from St-Timothée—a mere 45-minute drive from Montreal; Fortier is McGill’s first francophone Principal (although she is perfectly bilingual), and is the second woman to hold the position. She completed her undergraduate studies at McGill, and also obtained a PhD in crystal-lography here. Professionally, she served two terms as a senior admin-istrator at Queen’s University, and

is currently president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). She is also well connected, as she sits on the boards of numerous institutes and organizations. By all accounts, Fortier is extremely qualified for the job.

Possibly the most heralded item on this list is Fortier’s status as a French-speaking Quebecer, a stark contrast with outgoing Princi-pal Heather Munroe-Blum, whose French was passable at best. The university’s emphasis on this point makes perfect sense in the context of McGill’s recent strained relations with the Parti Québécois (PQ), as well as its lacklustre public relations with the francophone community as a whole. While a francophone principal could undoubtedly benefit the university, there is no guarantee that she will relate any better to the

government or to the public based solely on her linguistic aptitudes. Ultimately, this is an opportunity to improve McGill’s image—but it is by no means a certainty.

Fortier’s background in the natural sciences, and the visible emphasis on research throughout her career are surely no mere hap-penstance. This is part of the uni-versity’s continued and concerted efforts to establish itself as a premier research institution, building upon its already strong reputation in the sciences. This, unto itself, should not come as a surprise. Hopefully an emphasis on research in the sci-entific fields will result in the kind of success that could also translate to ongoing academic excellence in other areas of study.

Among the greatest assets that Fortier brings with her to the job is her impressive scope of affiliations and connections outside of the uni-versity. A good portion of the prin-cipal’s job is to represent the uni-versity’s interests to the government and to potential investors. Given McGill’s current financial situation, we feel that the school hopes to have found a leader who can find new ways to bring in revenue.

One point notably absent from the university’s press release is

Fortier’s previous relationship with students. Both by reputation and her own account, she was well-liked among Queen’s students, however, a search into her time at Queen’s as vice-principal (research, then academic) brings to light only an investigation into systemic racism at the school that she commissioned in 2001—with no insight as to her openness and accessibility to stu-dents or to the media. While there is an argument to be made that the principal’s job concerns higher-level matters than student interaction, we feel that an increasing source of ten-sion in the past ten years has been the divide between students and the administration, with much of it fall-ing on the principal, and the example that she sets for other administrators.

It is clear that the BoG has chosen a principal according to the values which it feels will propel this school moving forward—and we don’t necessarily disagree with these values. Rather, we hope that Fortier will not confine herself to the pa-rameters of these institutional priori-ties, but will approach her job with a broad view of what’s important, and a willingness to reach out and com-municate openly and honestly with the McGill community.

“It is clear that the Board of Governors

has chosen a principal according to the values which it feels will propel

this school moving forward”

Fortier’s appointment a reflection of McGill’s values

off the board

There is no doubt that Justin Trudeau is a leader. His charisma, his popularity, and his passion are hallmark characteristics of his speeches and image, and these traits have contributed to his success. In a recent National Post article by Mike de Souza, Trudeau is praised for his decisive lead and strong base of sup-porters in the Liberal Party leader-ship election. However, there is on-going speculation as to how success-fully these attributes will play out in the multi-party arena.

During his visit to McGill in February, Trudeau discussed some of his political strategy and ideolo-gy. Notably, he condemned the poli-

cies of the past decade for unequally representing Canadians, placing most of the blame on politicians for focusing their efforts on certain groups of people in order to maxi-mize individual popularity. He spe-cifically singled out Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and his political attachments to the West and big corporations as the main cul-prit. His solution was to implement new policies that would help all Ca-nadians, rather than target specific, non-partisan groups.

Trudeau may be too quick to criticize. Politicians have success-fully learned the ways in which peo-ple vote—not necessarily favouring what is best for the country, but for themselves—in order to maximize popularity. Whether that is ethically right or wrong is another issue; but should he choose to pursue his ide-als when forming election strategy, Trudeau will lose many votes if his opponents opt to target specific vot-ers and ‘play the political game’ as it is understood today.

The situation can be seen in terms of game theory: if Trudeau chooses a plan that is moderately agreeable across the spectrum and his opponents create policies that will maximize benefits for swing voters, Trudeau will certainly lose. Politicians aren’t really to blame, as they are reacting to the voters in order to do what they need to—win. Even if all of Trudeau’s competitors were to accept his ideals and engage in a new kind of electoral campaign, it would only take one defector, un-dercutting the others, to bring the whole thing down. This stand-off boils down to what is known as a prisoner’s dilemma.

If Trudeau hopes to realize his vision, it will not be an easy path. If he wants to win with a policy that will benefit all of Canada, he needs to first achieve a consensus amongst his political opponents to abandon their political games, and let ideas shine through. Theoretically, this can be implemented in part by moni-toring and regulating advertisement

investment in certain provinces. Secondly, Trudeau must convince voters to support what’s best for Canada, regardless of their political stance. To do this, he needs to initi-ate a movement encouraging voters to be vigilant and informed about is-sues across Canada, and the ethical implications of voting.

At the end of the day, change is very hard to come by, especially on this scale. Both voters and politi-cians are far more likely to pursue what they are familiar and com-fortable with, and Trudeau will be forced to follow suit or risk being left behind. But however unlikely such systemic reform is in the near future, we know at least one politi-cian hopes for more. If he were to overcome the obstacles, Trudeau’s vision could be not only success-ful, but could drastically change the nature of campaigns, and voters’ ap-proach to Canadian elections.

Trudeau’s vision for politics

Ailisha MachariaCommentary

columnists

December’s announcement of the drastic budget cuts facing Mc-Gill shocked the administration and the entire student body. While the cuts affect all of Quebec, there has been an emerging opinion among some Quebecers that McGill and other English-speaking universities should bear the brunt of these cuts. The argument is that McGill is not culturally part of the Quebec tradi-tion, and is—as students often call it—a ‘bubble,’ set apart from the rest of the city and province. Nearly half of McGill’s student body is made up of out-of-province or international students, leading to a sense of dilu-tion of the city’s French heritage, and consequently, lack of prioritiza-tion for provincial funding.

In addition to the recent bud-get cuts, there have been propos-

als from the Parti Québécois (PQ) which would specifically target McGill, such as a plan to provide in-creased funding to universities that attract more first-generation post-

secondary students. As Lisa-Marie Gervais points out in an article in Le Devoir entitled “Sommet sur l’enseignement supérieur - Pour une gouvernance «efficace»,” McGill is typically attended by students from more educated families. Such target-ing, however indirect, reflects the belief that francophone universities deserve more funding.

What these policies will do is put at risk the great benefits McGill offers to Montreal and Quebec as a whole. Far from being a threat to the culture of Montreal, McGill is one of the city’s biggest assets. The in-stitution’s name recognition alone is

something to nurture and take pride in; despite its recent fall in one rank-ing, McGill is a world-renowned university—placing 18th in 2012 according to the QS annual global rankings—which attracts a lot of positive attention. As a result, bril-liant young minds move here, ready both to partake in the province’s tra-dition of knowledge and academia. Students explore the Montreal area and gain an understanding of Que-bec’s deep culture, and indeed, its language. Another factor is the gen-eral tourist industry McGill gener-ates. As a renowned university full of history on its own, the campus is an essential Montreal attraction.

Even more important are the es-tablished innovators McGill attracts. Among the most historically notable was Wilder Penfield, who founded the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (MNI), which contin-ues to be a valuable resource to the city as a whole. In the future, there is no telling who will come to Montreal attracted by the prospect of McGill, and further contribute to the city’s amazing history of creation and cul-ture. Despite its financial troubles, McGill has continued to commit

to innovation with programs such as the recently announced collab-orative aerospace projects with the francophone L’école de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), and the planned Quartier de l’innovation, which hopes to revitalize an old industrial section of downtown Montreal by providing space for joint endeavours between McGill, ÉTS, and private-sector companies.

McGill has a great deal to offer to Montreal, and has already done so

much. Like any other asset, it must be nurtured and valued in order to thrive and provide maximum re-turns. Rather than being written off as a poor investment, McGill should be understood in terms of its potential benefits. While it may not contribute to the francophone legacy that the government is bound to protect, its benefits shine through in other areas. Given the opportunity and support, they will continue to do so for years to come.

Two weekends ago, both my roommate and I lost our phones within the same span of 24 hours—hers an iPhone, mine a Blackberry. I found her bedridden the next day, practically in withdrawal. I, on the other hand, felt strangely contented. There was something very liberat-ing about the 10 days of phoneless-ness that followed. I didn’t lose any friends, I didn’t get terribly lost any-where, and although some were per-plexed by my virtual disappearance, they figured it out. For 10 days, I was subject to nobody’s pleas, calls, or check-ins—it was beautiful.

Although my experiment was involuntary, a brave few of our generation are making conscious decisions to uproot from the tech-nological sphere of communication which appears to sustain daily life. While giving up one’s cell phone is particularly radical, there also is the occasional youth who decides to de-

part from Facebook, Twitter, Tum-blr, or other social media platforms. Whether these ‘technological ex-pats’ seek privacy, relief from bor-derline addiction, or just a step back into reality, it is worth wondering if they are truly doing themselves a favour. While cutting yourself off might be an alternative way to focus on schoolwork or gain some peace of mind, could this technological abandonment inhibit one from pro-gressing with the rest of society? Disconnecting could, theoretically, set you off-pace with personal as well as public news, and limit com-munication with friends and family. But perhaps one alternative out-weighs the other.

U0 Arts student Michael Law was given a choice in his grade 12 English class: write a book report or suspend his Facebook for a month and keep a journal instead. This English assignment-turned-social-experiment gave him the opportu-nity to experience life in a vastly different way. Claiming that at first, he felt “isolated and bored,” Law’s initial reaction gave way to a new sense of freedom.

“I learned to appreciate face-to-face interactions, and started to enjoy real solitude when I’m alone—no longer having to constantly talk to

people,” he says.Disconnection may thus be

beneficial in that it could improve, and increase your appreciation for

‘real world’ social interactions. But as new forms of social media catch on like wildfire, how can we even be sure of the divide between the ‘real world’ and the unprecedented ex-pansion of the internet world? With phenomena like cyberbullying, dat-ing and matchmaking websites, and live stream news updates, activities and occurrences in one world easily cross over into the other. The line separating the realms is rapidly dis-integrating.

In this way, deleting a Facebook account or giving up your smart-phone could suggest self-exclusion from a modern world that you, in order to stay up to date, should ac-

tively participate in. But this is all speculation.I think we can all agree that

bullying or judging others online is not something we should seek to incorporate into the modern world. Although I am, thankfully, not at such a point of ill-confidence or desperation, I don’t believe eHar-mony, Christian Mingle, etc., are terribly effective media for finding “the one”—tampered photos and false personality profiles undeni-ably make up significant portions of these websites. Much of the “news” disseminated on the internet can be loaded with unverified information, which is only perpetuated by social media, and would never have made it to syndicated television broadcast or newsprint in the first place—Kony 2013, anyone?

If the line between the ‘real world’ and the internet has blurred to a point of non-recogni-tion, it should be re-established. If disconnecting means losing a lot of friends or becoming out of touch with news events, maybe the friends one has and the information one hears should be re-evaluated. In my case, as I suspect it would be for most, this was not a problem.

Ideally, complete connected-ness, especially that of social media,

is not necessary. In a casually de-feated manner, Law explained he relapsed back to Facebook after his one month stint—“It was just too addictive.” He emphasizes that the world isn’t as small as it used to be.

“Facebook has become the re-ality of communication.”

But is it a necessary reality? Try disconnecting, and find out for yourself.

A chance to disconnect

Meghan SauerCommentary

McGill should not bear brunt of budget

cuts

Victoria DillmanCommentary

“While cutting yourself off might be an alternative way to focus on schoolwork or gain some peace of mind,

could this technological abandonment inhibit one from progressing with the

rest of society?”

“ Far from being a threat to the culture of Montreal,

McGill is one of the city’s biggest

assets.”

setelecom.com

The McGill Tribune is looking for members for its 2013-2014 editorial board! We are now accepting editor applications for the following sections:

News, Opinion, Student Living, Science & Technology, Features, Arts & Entertainment, Sports, Design, Photo, Copy, and Social Media, as well as for Creative Director.

Budget cuts threaten the benefits McGill has to offer. (wikipedia.org)

To apply, send three relevant writing, photo, or design samples, a CV and a cover letter to editor@mcgilltribune.com by Tuesday, March 25 at 5pm.

Please direct any questions to Elisa Muyl at editor@mcgilltribune.com.

8 Wednesday March 13, 2012 | science & technology | Curiosity delivers.

With women lacking in her field, one McGill researcher hopes to inspire next generation

Contributortracy yuen

Zhao recognizes the benefits of a mentorship program to attract more women to mechanical engineering. (wallsave.psd)

Mechanical engineering is one of the oldest engineering disciplines, bur-dened with long-standing traditions. However, many students are deterred by the field’s abstractness. The disci-pline is also characterized by a signifi-cant imbalance in the ratio of males to females involved.

“Focusing on the application, rather than theory, could be a means to draw women into engineering,” proposed Dr. Fiona Zhao, assistant professor in mechanical engineering at McGill University.

For Zhao, the dearth of females in engineering was plainly evident throughout her education and career. At the start of her graduate studies at the University of Auckland, she was the only female among the faculty members and students in her program. As Zhao’s career progressed into in-dustry and academia worldwide, the trend failed to change. She was often the only female, and the youngest member on research teams. Inargu-ably, navigating through this “all-boys club” was intimidating at first, but it also motivated her to strive for more

and hold her ground. “The best part about research is

that you’re judged on your work,” ex-plained Zhao.

Zhao’s own journey into me-chanical engineering was due in part to rebellion and the other part, to co-incidence. Both parents, working as professors in the biological sciences, encouraged her to follow in their foot-steps; but Zhao opposed them. Instead, she chose to study electromechanical engineering at the prestigious Beijing Institute of Technology. Fascinated by the field’s rapid pace, she continued to pursue her PhD at the University of Auckland.

Her current research follows three themes: manufacturing informat-ics, sustainable manufacturing, and additive manufacturing technology. The recent media spotlight on addi-tive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, has led to increased demand. Through optimization and simulation of manufacturing technologies, Zhao’s research aims to design innovative model development methods in both medical and aerospace sectors of the field.

In particular, Zhao is interested in integrating classical computer-aid

design (use of computer programs to create 2 or 3D graphical representa-tions of physical objects) with internet-based manufacturing (e-manufactur-ing). Through developing these novel methods in manufacturing informatics, she aims to make manufacturing more efficient and sustainable. As manufac-turing processes of goods are often subdivided and sent offshore to remote locations—such as parts of a plane that are produced in different parts of the world and assembled at a central location—the ability to efficiently co-ordinate each step is crucial to product development success.

“The production of the Boeing Dreamliner has been delayed multiple times due to inability to streamline manufacturing information,” added Zhao.

With the vehement push from both government and the public for greener and more sustainable produc-tion, companies are putting a more conscious effort into refining their manufacturing process. On this front, Zhao focuses on developing new met-rics and databases, for evaluation and design theories related to products’ sustainability

By emphasizing the utility of en-

gineering, Zhao hopes to inspire the next generation of females to venture into this exciting field, and provide more perspectives in mechanical engi-neering. As a start to solving this prob-lem, Zhao proposed that a mentorship program in which high school and un-dergraduate students meet monthly—an ideal outreach method.

The need to address such gen-der imbalance in engineering is felt not only felt by faculty members, but students as well. Initiatives such as POWE (Promoting Opportunities for Women in Engineering) have at-tempted to raise awareness of the issue

and encourage high school students to explore prospects in engineering. Despite such efforts, the proportion of female undergraduates enrolled in Engineering at McGill University has remained practically unchanged for the past 10 years: it was 27.2 per cent in 2002 and 24.5 per cent in 2012. With more initiatives such as the mentorship program Zhao proposed, we will hope-fully see a rise in this number.

The question of whether eggs are a healthy protein source or a deadly choles-terol bomb is among the most disputed topics in dietary sciences. An online query into the subject proves more confusing than helpful—many studies give contradicting results. Some say that eating eggs is worse than smoking, while others maintain the meal is an athlete’s best friend. However, by sorting through professional opinions, the truth about what’s inside the little white shells becomes evident.

The first step I took towards solv-ing the dietary conundrum of eggs was speaking with Dr. Karine Auclair, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at McGill University.

“A lot of times, the media blows these things out of proportion, kind of starting a fear campaign,” said Auclair in response to a set of articles on a study that suggested egg consumption was nearly as harmful smoking. She suggests consulting only well-trusted sources, such as Health Canada, for these issues.

Looking into Health Canada’s pages—although no articles explicitly dis-

cuss eggs—many papers, such as “Foods with less sodium” and “Cooking and meal planning tips” directly recommend includ-ing eggs in one’s diet.

Further, the Mayo Clinic’s informa-tion on “High Cholesterol: Risk Factors and Causes” do not include eggs on the list of cholesterol risks, which include red meat, smoking, and saturated/trans fats. It seems that eggs may not be as high-choles-terol as they are made out to be.

However, some research suggests otherwise. Dr. John David Spence, profes-sor of neurology and clinical pharmacol-ogy at the University of Western Ontario, published a study that The Vancouver Sun covered in an article entitled, “Egg Yolks Almost as Bad as Smoking, Researcher Says.” In the study, patients at vascular pre-vention clinics at Western University hospi-tal filled out a questionnaire about their diet and smoking habits. Each questionnaire was then compared to the corresponding patients’ cardiovascular health portfolio. Surprisingly, results suggested that heavy egg eaters and smokers had almost equal exponential growth of carotid plaque area (the part of the arteries that are clogged).

Further supporting Spence’s study, the Heart & Stroke Foundation, among

many other organizations, recommends those with high cholesterol levels to “limit [their consumption of] whole eggs to no more than two per week.”

There seems to be steadfast evidence on both sides of the spectrum: the most trusted sources have called eggs benefi-cial, deadly, and harmless for one’s health. However, subtle observations show that all of these studies taken together are actually aligned with the same point of view.

Although the effects of eggs and smoking on carotid health have a very strong correlation (p <0.0001), no experi-ment has been published on the relation-ship between diet and carotid plaque area, the topic of Spence’s study. So while the study shows a relationship between egg consumption and plaque, any factor related to cholesterol increases could have con-founded his result.

For example, what if the subjects’ three strips of bacon they always ate with their three eggs was not accounted for in this study? It is therefore reasonable to take Spence’s study as a suggestion that a rela-tionship exists, but likely at a lesser extent than suggested in his findings.

The idea that both the anti- and pro-egg organizations and researchers share is

the key phrase, “unhealthy if you already have high cholesterol levels.”

The Info-Santé phone line, 8-1-1, answered my egg question by directing me to the University of Montreal’s website extenso.org. Here, too, the phrase, “if you already have high cholesterol levels” came up.

Research shows that although eggs are high in dietary cholesterol, most of it will not be absorbed by the bloodstream. The 8-1-1 line even went so far to say that a five-egg-per-day diet is unlikely to cause

any issues, unless you already have hyper-cholesterolemia, or high cholesterol levels.

The bulk of trusted sources seems to agree that eggs in moderation are a per-fectly healthy breakfast, unless you have high cholesterol. Even those with genetic hypercholesterolemia disease are not re-stricted to avoid eggs altogether. Alhough there are always some limits and restric-tions, eggs are a long way from being as detrimental as cigarettes or high levels of saturated and trans fats.

A healthy breakfast or worse than smoking?SCIENCE

Studies provide contradicting results on the health benefits of eggs

ContributorKieran steer

Conflicting studies on health benefits of eggs agree that they should be avoided with high cholesterol levels. (hautelife.ca)

SpotlIght oN rESEarCh Is MechAnIcAl engIneerIng An “All-boys club?”

9Curiosity delivers. | science & technology | Wednesday, March 13, 2012

Structural study unravels mystery of how IFIT protein binds to RNA

bharat srinivasa

Infectious diseases have been a ter-rible killer in the past, and still are today. With the development of vaccines, the discovery of antibiotics and drastic changes in public health, the human life span has increased over the past century. Yet, the threat of infectious diseases still haunts us. As an HIV epidemic attacks Africa and South East Asia, and a global avian influenza pandemic looms, there is an urgent need to understand, and help the immune system in its battle against pathogens. A study conduced at McGill offers more insight on just that.

One of the most important features of the immune system is its ability to dif-ferentiate between self (i.e., one’s own cells) and non-self (i.e., a pathogen). When a virus enters a cell in our body, a host of immune proteins (such as MDA5, RIG-I) recognize patterns that are com-mon to pathogens, but not present in us—double stranded RNA, for example, which is different from humans’ double stranded DNA. When these patterns are detected, cellular signaling pathways are initiated, resulting in the secretion of a key cytokine—a molecule involved in cell communication in the immune system—called interferon. Interferon, in turn, activates numerous genes to pro-duce defence proteins, including the IFIT family of proteins in the infected and sur-rounding cells, creating an anti-viral en-vironment. Identifying these proteins and the roles they play have been an area of intense research.

The IFIT family of proteins consists of four members (IFIT1, IFIT2, IFIT3 and IFIT5), which are dramatically in-creased in cells upon viral infection or the addition of interferon, suggesting an anti-viral role. “[The IFIT family of proteins] have been discovered for quite a bit of time, but the functional analysis started maybe 10-15 years ago,” says Dr. Bhushan Nagar, associate profes-sor in the department of biochemistry at McGill, and in whose lab this work was done. IFIT proteins have long been known to mediate an anti-viral effect by disrupting the production of new proteins in an infected cell.

In 2011, Dr. Giulio Superti-Furga’s lab at the Austrian Academy of Sciences used a proteomics approach, which in-volved fishing in a soup of laboratory cell extract with triphosphorylated RNA as a bait. To their surprise, they captured the IFIT proteins. Nagar refers to this work as “the seminal finding.” Superti-Fagar con-tacted Nagar, whom he had met during the latter’s post-doctoral study. This start-ed the collaboration that led to the team’s current work, a structural description of the IFIT5 protein and its interaction with triphosphorylated RNA, which was pub-lished earlier this month in Nature.

“The structural biology—tech-nique-wise—is routine,” said Nagar. “We made the protein in bacteria, where serendipitously some portion of the pro-tein was bound to bacterial triphosphory-lated RNA.”

They initially had some difficulty studying this protein, since it bound to RNA of various sizes (heterogenous RNA). To further study the protein’s in-teraction with RNA, they had to make RNA in the test tube. Nagar credits Yazan Abbas, a fourth year PhD student and lead author of the paper, for “doing an excellent job in following up on the lit-erature on how to make [large amounts of less heterogenous] RNA and really figuring things out.”

Both Nagar and Abbas concur, that making the RNA was the hardest part of the project.

The ‘eureka’ moment, says Abbas, smiling, was “seeing the electron den-sity maps which are used to build atomic models of protein. We had this for IFIT5, but we were not sure of where the RNA goes. When we solved [the structure] with the RNA, when we had the elec-tron density map with the triphosphate

RNA—we got it. According to my boss, he just said ‘we’re in.’”

“The definite proof [of function] is when you have a crystal structure”, says Nagar. “Six months before our work, the structure of RIG-I interacting with RNA was published. Just today, the MDA5 structure was published; this is a very hot area of research,” he adds.

The IFIT family of proteins consists of a tetratricopeptide repeat domain (TPR domain) that, due to Nagar’s work in de-termining the structure of these proteins, is now known to interact with both tri-phosphorylated RNA and proteins. What this means in the context of anti-viral im-munity is still unknown, and is where the project is headed. The next stages of this project will look at “drugs or inhibitors based on these RNA molecules, for when the immune response is too strong,” con-cludes Nagar. Other future directions in-volve understanding the role of this pro-

tein in viral infections, such as influenza. “The virus is attacking, these pro-

teins are defending, what you normally get when you see the flu virus is a balance between the two. If we did not have this defence, we’d have much worse symp-toms than what we get.”

Abbas concludes, “I’ve been told that the option to graduate is open, but I agree with my boss. There’s just so much more to explore in the field.”

Errata

A story in the Feb. 27 Issue, “Inside the Dent lab,”

incorrectly identified the subject of Dr. Dent’s research

as ‘neurotransmitters,’ rather than ‘receptors for neurotransmitters.’ The

Tribune regrets the error.

How much is too much caffeine?Coffee is often a welcomed friend

during the semester. According to folklore, the bean’s energizing properties were first discovered by an Ethiopian goat herdsman, who found his flock frolicking after eating coffee berries from nearby bushes. It’s not just goats that enjoy the effects of caffeine, however. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), at least 80 per cent of adults in the U.S. consume various forms of the stimulant every day. But the caffeine addiction does not stop there—some pro-claim their love of the chemical by display-ing its structure on T-shirts, mugs, and laptop cases.

However, the five deaths linked to Monster Energy drinks and 13 linked to 5-Hour Energy shots in the U.S. last year, according to FDA records and an interview with an agency official, suggest caffeine might not be such a nice friend. Bertil B. Fredholm, emeritus professor of pharma-cology at the Karolinksa Institute in Swe-den told Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) that caffeine is a popular stimulant that triggers alertness in the body at low doses. Once absorbed by the bloodstream, the compound is metabolized in the liver, where it is transformed into three different

primary metabolites (molecules produced during metabolism): paraxanthine, the-ophylline, and theobromine. Subsequently, these metabolites bind to two adenosine receptors, A1 and A2a, which are located throughout the body. These are proteins that regulate different physiological func-tions when activated by the neurochemical adenosine.

In normal circumstances, adenosine is produced by neurons—brain cells—throughout the day. The adenosine receptors are responsible for regulating nerve cell ac-tivity, and the release of neurotransmitters—brain chemicals that communicate informa-tion between the brain and body—such as dopamine. The interaction of the adenosine molecule with its receptors also promotes drowsiness. As adenosine binds to its recep-tors to activate them, it slows down nerve cell activity, causing sleep.

However, when caffeine enters the bloodstream, the interaction of adenosine with its corresponding receptors is inter-rupted. Caffeine and its metabolites look like adenosine to nerve cells, but do not cause resulting response in receptors. Therefore, these metabolites bind instead to the adenos-ine receptors and prevent adenosine from

doing its job. Consequently, dopamine and other neurotransmitter levels increase, result-ing in a surge of nerve activity in the brain and on the heart. Furthermore, although caffeine looks like adenosine, it is not a neu-rochemical. Therefore, instead of slowing down the nerve cell’s activity, it speeds it up, causing you to feel more awake.

These effects might all seem harm-less, but when taken in excessive quanti-ties, caffeine can cause anxiety, irritation, and general mental discomfort. Impor-tantly, caffeine can also have many negative physiological effects on the body, including increased blood pressure, rapid heart rate—and in extreme cases, death.

Chances are, one cup of coffee is not going to kill you. The toxic level of caffeine in humans, about 10 g, is roughly equivalent to guzzling 75 cups of brewed coffee (in eight ounce mugs), or 120 cans of Red Bull over a few hours. However, this lethal limit is hardly a guideline. The tolerable amount of caffeine varies widely from person to per-son. Factors such as genetics, smoking, and age, all have an influence, although scientists are still unsure what exactly causes death by caffeine before the lethal limit.

Due to the variability in caffeine sensitivity among people, the FDA does not recommend a consumption limit for

the entire popula-tion. However, the

agency states on its website that 600 mg (four to seven cups of coffee) of caffeine is too much. While it is difficult to regulate the caffeine content of food and drink—since beverage manufacturers claim the com-pound is a necessary flavour enhancer for their products—the FDA puts a limit of 0.02 per cent (6 mg per oz) on the amount of the chemical allowed in cola-type beverages.

Unfortunately, beverage limitations do not apply to energy drinks, which are sold as dietary supplements. Drinks like 5-Hour Energy Shots may contain caffeine levels that exceed 6 mg per oz. Furthermore, beverage manufacturers often include caf-feine as part of the “energy blend,” on the label. These contain multiple ingredients, none of which are broken down individu-ally by milligrams. As a result, it is unclear how much of a contribution to the “energy blend” is made by energy-boosting com-pounds.

Despite the dangers of a caffeine over-dose, it seems a caffeine craze has caught on in the marketing industry. Cracker Jack has switched out its caramel corn for Cracker Jack’d—two ounce packages of “power bites” jammed with 70mg of caffeine. It will join a market of many other caffeine-infused products, such as Water Joe—a bottle of

water with the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee—caffeinated pancakes, and marshmallows.

While the marketing industry makes it easy to get caught up in the hype surround-ing caffeinated food and beverages, every-one’s body metabolizes this chemical differ-ently. While it is unlikely that a morning cup of coffee will do you any harm, it serves as an important reminder that there is no fixed threshold for the amount of caffeine your body can tolerate. With finals looming in the future, it might make more sense to swap out that 5-Hour Energy Shot for some sleep.

ASK SCITECHBy Caity Hui

Caffeine sensitivity varies among people, making it difficult to

recommend a consumption limit. (starbucks.com)

International

McGill’s student population is an amalgam of culture and diversity, a mix of ethnic backgrounds making their way across campus every day.

Libraries and lecture halls buzz with snippets of conversation in an eclectic mélange of dialects. With over 20 per cent of the student population holding foreign passports, the university is truly international. Its students hail from regions as distant as Africa and the Asian Pacific, and as close as just south of the border.

As students, we herald this international status and feel proud about how “diverse” and “multicultural” our university is. But can one define what it is really like to be an international student at McGill?

DEFINING THE “INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE”

The truth is that the “international experience” at this university is as diverse as its student body. For reasons that range from country of origin and educational background to previous experience living abroad, international students from across the globe see their student lives through dramatically different lenses.

Director of the International Student Services (ISS) office at McGill, Pauline L’Écuyer said that international student life “is very personal, and depends also on the student’s ability to deal with inter-cultural behaviours. There are students who come from very far abroad, but

because their families have travelled around so much, they adapt better and more quickly to a new environment t h a n someone who may be just a five hour drive from here who has never been exposed to so much multiculturalism.”

Ching-Lang Lin, who also goes by Pierre, his French name, is a Taiwanese exchange student from the prestgious Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris. He decided to come to McGill to improve his knowledge of English and French, which could help him become a judge in Taiwan. Though he faces a challenging language barrier, he appreciates Montreal and values its bilingualism.

To Ching-Lang, Montreal is “a city characteristic of its French and British roots,” similar to the mix of Japanese and Chinese cultures which characterizes his home country. He considers himself extremely lucky to be living and studying in a city like Montreal, which offers many the opportunity to explore different cultural sites outside McGill’s campus, but plans to return to Taiwan upon completion of his degree.

Eline Koopmans, a law student from the Netherlands, has also come to McGill from Europe on exchange. It was both Montreal’s location and McGill’s status in Canada that held special appeal for Koopmans, allowing her to travel and explore other areas of North America during her stay. When asked about her experience as an international student, she said it was the small local cultural nuances that made a big difference, such as the process of getting a phone plan, or the food and eating habits.

Unlike Pierre, who has found his experience most enriched by his

ventures off campus, Eline found her niche by engaging in campus activities, like zumba classes at the McGill gym, a SSMU baking mini-course, and the SSMU Ski and Snowboard Club. She said she found it easiest to maintain social networks with students within her faculty. Though she harbours thoughts about staying in Canada for a couple of years after she finishes her program, she misses what she left behind.

“I feel the Netherlands is really my home. The small things and family, that is very important for me. I think I will always go back home in the end,” she said.

Mostafa I. Youssef, a second-year student in civil engineering, comes from Cairo, Egypt. As a graduate of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, the academic experience at McGill posed no major difficulties. However, the initial decision to leave his home country,

f a m i l y , and friends was the h a r d e s t decision he ever made.

Mostafa finds it difficult to feel truly at ease when stepping outside the “McGill bubble,” and is unsure of whether he has been exposed to “real” Canadian culture. Still, he has adapted well to campus life.

“The fact that the community here is not dictated by a single culture gave me a unique exposure, as well as an opportunity to observe, discover, and learn,” he said. “It took me some time to adapt to the atmosphere in general, but I personally think that people are very similar everywhere around the world, especially people our age.”

Coming from the Middle East, he did notice the distinct college culture present at McGill, one of drinking, partying, drug use, and more liberal sexual tendencies. While religion is not the sole factor in defining the Egyptian identity, Mostafa notes that it is very embedded in the culture, leading to a close, and often inseparable connection between social and religious habits.

“[In Egypt,] you can’t simply pop a can of beer in the middle of the street, or walk around drunk. It’s not something that is culturally acceptable,” he said.

In contrast, the adaptation process described from an American p e r s p e c t i v e presents a radically different face of the international experience from that described by Mostafa. Owen Nelson from

Minneapolis, Minnesota came to McGill because he wanted to be “at least a thousand miles [away] from home.” His initial reaction to Montreal was eye-opening.

“My mind was blown. I got tingles all over my body. I knew it was perfect. It was a great city, the culture

was so diverse, and had a ton of great energy,”

He admitted.Nelson’s work in the music

Mostafa I. Youssef, Egypt

Ching-Lang (Pierre) Lin, Taiwan

Eline Koopmans, Netherlands

the international experience at McGillStepping out of the comfort zone:

By Heather Lee

“The fact that the community here is not dictated by a single culture gave me a unique exposure, as well as an opportunity to

observe, discover, and learn”

industry has enriched his experience at McGill. Having

had the chance to branch out to perform at various venues around Montreal, he learned first-hand about Canadian culture outside of the McGill bubble. Yet, when asked about the main cultural differences between Americans and Canadians, he couldn’t help but find similarities instead.

“I feel like we’re pretty similar…. I didn’t really feel like I was an international student per se, because I was on the same continent, and I spoke English.”

Yet, while universities in the U.S. also boast a high number of international students, Nelson finds McGill “a lot more culturally diverse and open,” touching on the contrasting cultures of accommodation and assimilation that prevail in the two countries.

“Right now, I’m building a network that I might be able to use [for] the rest of my life,” Nelson said. “Once I start my career, I can do business, or communicate with people from all over the world, and that’s what I feel is a really great aspect at McGill, that sense of networking on a global scale.”

WHO IS HERE TO HELP?As Canada’s identity is based in

multiculturalism, it is simultaneously accommodating—allowing students a degree of comfort and belonging—and exciting for those experiencing it for the first time.

However, regardless of where

they come from, or why they came, international students at McGill have one common resource open to them: the ISS office hosts a variety of services, including orientation activities, a social and support network, health insurance guidance, workshops, and international student advising.

Whereas various educational systems worldwide prepare international students for adaptation to McGill’s academic environment, circumstances outside of the classroom can often present some of the toughest obstacles to their time at the university.

“Obviously, they were admitted to the university because we thought they could perform,” L’Écuyer explained. “Very often, academic difficulty is related to homesickness, or problems back home. One parent may be sick, there may be an accident, and the student may not be able to concentrate.”

This challenge is compounded by language barriers. While, according to L’Écuyer, the inability to speak French does not often deter students from wanting to come to McGill, the challenge of finding jobs without an intermediate level of French quickly dawns on them. This problem is shared by many of their Canadian colleagues, but for students from abroad, it can be especially grim.

“Very often, students come with

enough funding for their first couple of

years and they hope that through part-time work or scholarships, they will be able to stay,” said L’Écuyer. However, if funding runs out, international students are sometimes unable to pay the steep international tuition

fees and complete their degrees, especially given

the difficulty of finding jobs off campus without good knowledge of

French.Aware of the adversity that

international students can face due to their temporary status, the ISS offers programs that aim to help students develop social connections and support networks to overcome these challenges. Popular among them is the “Buddy Program,” which matches international students with a “buddy” from McGill,

according to faculty, country of interest, and gender. To Max Thoman, a second-year political science student who volunteered as a buddy, “it’s really about being able to show them the ins-and-outs of McGill in particular, and the things that set it apart from other universities.”

Other student support groups, such as the International Student Network and the many culturally-based student clubs on campus, welcome international students with open arms, catering to specific cultural groups to help students

find a niche in the McGill community through events, gatherings, and student activities.

The international status of well over 8,000 students at McGill carries with it the excitement of constant discovery, the joy of that comes along with adaptation, and the nostalgia of leaving behind what is known and dear. In the end, it is only through mutual support that the shared experiences of these students can lead to their eventual success.

Owen Nelson, USA

Mostafa I. Youssef, Egypt

the international experience at McGillStepping out of the comfort zone:

By Heather Lee

“My mind was blown. I got tingles all over my body. I knew it was perfect. It was a great city, the culture was so diverse, and had a ton of great energy,”

“Once I start my career, I can do business, or communicate with people from all over the world, and that’s what I feel is a really great aspect at McGill, that sense of networking on a global scale.”

Photos by Alexandra Allaire and Simon Poitrimolt

COLOUR COLOUR COLOUR!

Over Reading Week, students voted on the Tri-bune’s website for their favourite Student of the Week out of the 20 students profiled this year. Votes were tallied, and we have compiled a semi-March Madness style bracket to share the results.

Student living

Owen nelsOnJazz performance, U4

Would save his blender from a burning apartment.

Owen nelsOnLists vegans, scarves, and skinny jeans as his pet peeves.

Owen nelsOnWould be a grand piano if he had to be a musical instrument.

geOrgina priceInternatIonal management, U1Interns at local NGO whic seeks to empower female artisans in the developing world.

sean reginiOeconomIcS, U2Watched Mighty Ducks 2 every day when he was in grade 5.

sean reginiOWill confidently high-five any outreached hands.

alex gershanOvengIneerIng, U1Hasn’t read past the 4th Harry Potter book.

student of the year MARCH

MADNESS

ben percifieldCries every time he watches the Truman Show.

ben percifieldartS Undeclared, U0Has two differently-sized hands.

ben percifieldLikes to call his hometown of Wilmette, ‘Thrillmette.’ Runs its Facebook page.

tarun KOshyfInance, U2Javelin thrower.

jOn cOhenhonoUrS hIStory, U3Bruce Springsteen authority.

jOn cOhenGets a lot of flack for using the word ‘primo.’

sOphia dhallaIdS and BIology, U3Exec of the Student Association for Medical Aid, tourguide, and teacher with Making Waves.

jacqui galbraith

33%

27%Of VOTES

Of VOTES

13curiosity delivers. | STUDENT LIVING | Wednesday, march 13, 2013

tim apedaileNo one would go see Titanic in 3D with him.

meghan mcneilWould high five Edward Scissorhands.

jasOn chOiSignature dance move is Tutting.

Owen nelsOnHis guilty pleasure is drinking milk.

meghan mcneilWill never get sick of reading Twilight.

jasOn chOiRecruits and coordinates volunteer for World Vision.

tim apedailefIrSt year laW, 1lHopes Taylor Swift never writes a song about him.

tim apedaileCaptain of the Mo’tion to dismiss Movember team.

pierre-luc bacOnPresident of Ile Sans Fil.

michael Kleinmangeneral engIneerIng, U0Would describe the McTavish flood as ‘What the hell?’

meghan mcneilanthropology, U1Has a flackberry.

bianca pOnzianiWould have saved her cat from a burning apartment, if she hadn’t already run away.

melanie simOnWould trade lives with the Long Island Medium for a day.

Kelly s.anthropology, U1The Law library is her second bedroom.

pierre-luc bacOncompUter ScIence, 2nd year gradUate StUdIeS

Good at making circuit boards spark fire.

vanessa wattamaniuKpolItIcal ScIence, U3Helped organize the Women in House program this year.

bianca pOnzianiJoInt honoUrS polI ScI/envIronment, U3Will never wear skin-coloured corduroy leggings again.

phi nguyenchemIcal engIneerIng, U3

Cheers for Vietnamese Olympians who share his last name.

melanie simOnBIology, U2Frequently drops ‘biology facts’ on her friends.

liza pOnOmarenKOInternatIonal development, U3Has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

jasOn chOianatomy and cell BIology, U1

Can make balloon animals.

jOy lizette aguilarpolItIcal ScIence/InternatIonal development, U1

Drinks Baileys with milk every night before bed.

student of the year MARCH

MADNESS

wiNNER

9%

12%Of VOTES

Of VOTES

Of VOTES6%

14curiosity delivers. | STUDENT LIVING | Wednesday, march 13, 2013

ask

tribby

Sylvie-Chantale Duquette couldn’t stand much higher than five feet tall, but every inch of those five feet is bursting with energy. Her friendly greeting to every customer entering her spa is something Mc-Gill students have come to associ-ate with the intimate atmosphere of SCC Spa Urbain. Despite catering to patrons from all walks of life, Duquette maintains that students are the core of her business.

A native Quebecer, Duquette always wanted to help people:

“I’ve always been in retail, so for me, opening up a spa was a huge change in my life. I knew that after 50 I would want to make a change, and really care for people. When I was younger, I used to always tell my mother that I wanted to go to Af-rica and help kids; and I think if I’d won [the lottery] that’s what I would have done. I didn’t win, so then I told myself, ‘What could I do that would mean I’m caring for people, but also [has] a bit of beauty and health in it?’ and I decided to open the spa.”

From there, things took off quickly. After a meeting with experi-

enced friends in the beauty industry, Duquette resigned from her job, and set about renovating the space SCC Spa urbain currently occupies. The space, on 385 Sherbrooke, opened in Dec. 2011.

“We wanted to introduce our-selves to the area, and make sure that we were going to [cater spe-cifically] to the customers around here, and a lot of them are students.” Duquette explains. “So we’ve been very mindful of not only choosing products for them, but making sure that this place is [somewhere] you feel comfortable.”

Duquette even gives some of her clients relationship advice.

“[Some of the girls] come in and they bring pictures [of guys] on their iPhones; and I get a vibe, and I tell them, ‘This guy only wants you for this,’ or ‘No, this guy is no good for you,’ and so far, I think I’ve made some good decisions for them.”

Besides offering match-making services, Duquette’s spa features daily student-oriented discounts. The week’s specials are updated on the spa’s Facebook page.

“Every Sunday night, I post promotions for the entire week;

[but] at the end of the day I think it’s word-of-mouth,” Duquette says about the spa’s success. “[If] people come, enjoy it, and feel comfortable, they’ll come back; they’ll talk to a friend [about it]. I’ve noticed that since we’ve been doing that, more people have been coming.”

Another concern is ensuring the products SCC Spa urbain carries are environmentally friendly and af-fordable for students. Every product offered by the spa is either organic or free of animal by-products; such as its Jane Iredale makeup and skin care line, which is endorsed by David Suzuki. Aside from being green, Duquette maintains that they always work.

“I’m so at ease with [the prod-ucts] we’ve chosen, that I tell people “Take it home. [If] you’re not happy, bring it back and [you’ll get your] money back.” And I do that with everyone, and no one has ever come back. But if that day should come, [I’ll] stand by my word.”

The atmosphere at SCC Spa Ur-bain is cozy, as the space consists of a reception/manicure area, and two private rooms. With increased busi-ness, the vibe can get a little hectic,

but Duquette manages to keep up consistent individual attention with her customers.

“We have a lot of internation-al students who just come and cry when they’re lonely, [and] some of them are calling me their mom away from home,” Duquette laughs. “Un-fortunately, I wasn’t able to have children, so for me, a lot of the stu-dents are really the children that I wish I had had. I do care, you know? I want this place to be authentic; it’s not just about beauty, it’s about a healthy lifestyle. So if I can help promote that, and be a good mentor, well great. All of our staff is chosen for the same reason: because they care about people.”

Duquette works with McGill students on other private or chari-table projects to help publicize the spa. One student, an aspiring artist, held an exhibit of her work at 385 Sherbrooke, and managed to sell 34 out of 37 pieces to a full house of 50 people.

“Also,” Duquette adds, “during the month of February, every time someone would book an appoint-

ment, we’d give a dollar to Border-less World Volunteers. Diana [Fa-mintsyna], who’s on the [executive team], is a customer of ours….so I said ‘Whatever we can do at the spa, you let me know.’”

SCC Spa Urbain offers stan-dard spa services, and caters to both men and women. With a welcoming environment, warm and professional staff, and affordable discounts, Du-quette has developed something of a hidden gem in downtown Mon-treal. At the end of our interview, Duqeutte left me with this:

“I finished my bachelor’s so many years ago, but since I’ve opened this place I’ve learned so much from young people. I feel privileged that they share their sto-ries with me. Every day I feel so ex-cited to go to work, like ‘What am I going to learn today?’”

For more information, includ-ing hours of operation, visit www.sccspaurbain.com/ and like their Facebook page for weekly deals on products and services.

Local spa provides rest and relaxation for McGilliansin the city

advice column

offering a friendly break from studies, Scc Spa Urbain caters strongly to students

This week the Tribune is introducing a new advice column answering questions submitted by McGill students. Got problems? E-mail us at studentliving@mcgilltribune.com.

Student living editorJacqui Galbraith

Dear Sick of Psych,

Don’t worry, you are not alone! Many have experienced doubt; about their major or program. My advice for you is to figure out the opportunities you have for your future if

you do stay with this major. Try visiting McGill CaPS (Career Planning Service) online, or in the Brown Student Service Building; they provide services from revising your CV to helping you plan your career after graduation. Also see what else you can find out online, and talk it over with your family. There may be more opportunities with your degree than what you have imagined!

That said, if you can’t stand your major and want to switch, make sure you think it through again before you make this choice. Talk to more advisors, family, and friends about your decision. If you want more information about a specific major or path, don’t hesitate to talk it through with a professor in that department. They can give you first-hand information, and advice on possible career paths with a degree in that particular program. After all, chances are, they went through the same four-year undergraduate degree that you are in right now.

Also do some research on your own before switching programs. In addi-tion to checking out the possible careers associated with a new degree, look at the required courses. Are the courses offered interesting to you in any way? After all, you don’t want to go through the same problem a year into the de-gree. And as you mentioned, there’s nothing bad about staying at McGill for an extra year, as long as it’s feasible for you financially. Looking back 20 years from now, you will probably find that staying an extra year in university to figure out what you really wanted was worth it. My best advice to you is to think through your options before you make a decision, talk to more people, and decide what’s best for you—not for grad schools, future employers, or your peers. Trust yourself, and best of luck to you!

Yours truly,

tribby

Dear Tribby,

I’m in my third year at McGill, going into my last year of undergrad next year, and I absolutely despise my major. I’ve considered switch-ing before, but don’t want to feel like I’ve wasted two years, let alone three. That being said, I am absolute-ly sure that I don’t want to go into psychology. Well, pretty sure. Should I just bite the bullet, finish out my degree, and try to figure out a dif-ferent career path after graduation, or should I switch my major and just stay for another year—or more?

—Sick of Psych

arts & entertainmentLacklustre return to the Emerald Cityfilm

Oz: The Great and Powerful is a disappointing and joyless prequel to a beloved classic

ContributorEmma Hambly

Disney is once again whisking movie-goers away to the Land of Oz, but this time the journey is any-thing but magical.

The opening credits—a topsy-turvy Victorian circus—promise creativity: a quirky take on a bygone era, drama, suspense, and great visu-als. But the best is over before the film begins, and none of the poten-tial is realized in what follows. Oz: The Great and Powerful provides a similar experience to Tim Burton’s recent Alice in Wonderland (2010): another Disney sequel to a classic that is high on budget but low on the

pathos, imagination, and majesty of the original.

Apart from a moving and whimsical score by Danny Elfman, creative costumes, and the odd mo-ment of wit, little else shines in this adaptation. The plot is tired and pre-dictable, the screenplay deadened by two-dimensional characters and dialogue that ranges from wooden to saccharine.

Oz: The Great and Powerful is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz—one might call it the story of the origins for the Wicked Witch, and the wiz-ard himself. The hero, Oz (James Franco), is a small-time magician, a womanizer, and a con man, working crowds at a shabby circus. He ends

up in the Land of Oz after a mishap with a hot-air balloon and a tornado.

In this fantastic realm, Oz meets witches Theodora (Mila Kunis) and Evanora (Rachel Weisz), who expect him to live out a prophecy and save this world from its tyrannical ruler.

Of course, the ‘wizard’ has no magic, only parlour tricks. But in order to claim a kingship and a lion’s share of treasure, he decides to kill the Wicked Witch. Oz sets off on a small string of adventures. His com-panions—a flying monkey and an unnamed china doll—can’t match the vibrancy of the Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, and Tin Man. The climax is a bit of fun, featuring the use of smoke and mirrors to combat real magic; but it is too little, too late.

There is no reason to mince words—the acting is downright bad. James Franco has no charm. Rachel Weisz is over the top. Michelle Wil-liams as Glinda has a few sweet mo-ments, but spends more time doe-eyed, and mugging for the camera. The worst offender is Mila Kunis, who cries and screeches, but fails to convincingly portray either good or evil. By the climax, subtlety is somewhere back in Kansas, and it seems that director Sam Raimi went with a philosophy of ‘the more act-ing, the better.’

One might hope that the vi-sual spectacle might provide some magic, or at least a distraction from this fiasco, but the imagery is unin-spired. Frames are full of bright co-lours—flora of impossible scale, and the odd CGI fantasy creature—but nothing that resounds as memorable or original.

Beyond this, what is inescap-able is an overwhelming feeling of emptiness. In some shots, one is hy-per-aware that the actors are walking in front of a blue screen. Most other scenes lack a mid-ground of props, landscape features, or background characters to convince the audience

of any depth. Without memorable plot, characters, or dialogue, the rest of the film feels shallow as well.

Any film that wants to take on the legacy of the 1939 classic—and L. Frank Baum’s book—has big, sparkly shoes to fill. But very little succeeds in Oz: The Great and Pow-erful. Both its high and low points leave the audience aching for the original.

You’re welcome to take this modern-day trip down the yellow brick road, but before long you’ll be wishing for your own pair of ruby slippers to send you home.The same look viewers may have while watching the film. (www.fanpop.com)

16Curiosity delivers. | arts & EntErtainmEnt | Tuesday, February 19, 2013

16 Wednesday, March 13, 2013 | arts & EntErtainmEnt | Curiosity delivers.

The corner man packs a power punchTheaTre

Tensions fly in the boxing ring in Jim Burkes’ Cornered

Contributornicole rainteau

Cornered, a play by Jim Burke, carefully confines its characters, Vinne (Christopher Moore) and Rex (Howard Rosenstein), within a boxing ring. Despite their restricted space, Moore and Rosenstein keep their witty back-and-forth fresh and captivating.

Vinne and Rex encounter chal-lenges beyond the difficulty of working within a small square box throughout. The duo, along with the characters Doxy and Little T, reveal

their world of boxing through quick entertaining banter, which is nu-anced by thick Manchester accents. Despite their intonation and the ven-ue’s echoing acoustics, Rosenstein and Moore’s quips are crisp.

The plot is not elaborate. The boxers prepare for Little T’s fight, discuss dodgy Doxy and his schemes, and comment on the hier-archy of the tough men behind the boxing ring. Vinne and Rex remain on the edge of a high stakes boxing game where trust is key. Unfortu-nately, they both have their own agenda, which exposes their true

loyalties and leaves both scrambling. The spark that fuels the play, how-ever, is not the outcome of the plot, but the way Moore and Rosenstein execute the nuanced highs and lows in Burke’s fast moving dialogue.

Burke’s clever writing is car-ried by the chemistry between Moore and Rosenstein, who main-tain brilliant comedic timing both vocally and physically. They estab-lish the relationship between their characters early. Rex is the corner man who knows his way around the ropes, and is often frustrated by his apprentice Vinne, the young enthu-

siast. The director, Paul Van Dyck, choreographed the duo to perfection. He creates beautiful and varied stage pictures to illustrate the fluctuating dynamics between Vinne and Rex, never allowing them to appear static on stage.

The staging is particularly ef-fective when Vinne mimics Rex’s pacing across the ring, their foot-work adding to the rhythm of their speech layering the mounting ten-sion. Moore’s erratic physicality, and the range and speed of his voice is incredibly entertaining. He struts exuberantly around the ring, jabbing the air, his fists as sharp as his words, until Rex tethers him. As Rex, Rosenstein limps around, chewing loudly on chocolates while he curtly spits out his lines, his weight slow-ing Vinne down.

Rex’s impatience with Vinne’s apparent lack of understanding cre-ates moments of comedy because of its repetitive nature. Rosenstein harnesses his energy so that it is vis-ibly simmering, ready to erupt when provoked by Vinne’s feigned igno-rance. Rosenstein colours in various ways each time his character loses his temper with Vinne. He takes ad-vantage of dramatic pauses, and has

impeccable timing, leaving the audi-ence hanging in anticipation of his next move.

While there is little to complain about Van Dyck’s superbly direct-ed production, his use of sound to separate the play is distracting. He opens the play by blasting music, as though it is coming from Vinne’s headphones. This effectively grabs attention, but the use of the audio break to inform the audience of the boxing match during a blackout, along with the actors’ exit, lowers the energy significantly. Rosenstein and Moore are able to recapture the former intensity, but the time that it takes for the limping Rex to get back into the ring drags out the transition.

From the script to the risky staging in an unconventional space, this production is polished and high-ly compelling on all fronts. Foul-mouthed and funny, Cornered is a knockout performance.

Cornered is presented by Rab-bit in a Hat Productions in collabora-tion with Infinithéâtre, running until March 17 at Bain St-Michel (5300 St-Dominique). Student tickets $20.

The streets of Port-au-Prince are just around the corner from Mc-Gill—or at least as much of them as anyone can expect to see without traveling to Haiti.

They are put on display in Haiti: Chaos and Daily Life, an exhibition by Montreal photographer Benoit Aquin now showing at the McCord Museum. Featuring 40 large colour photographs, the exhibit offers a glimpse into the day-to-day lives of Haitians over the past three years, and explores how they continue to cope with the aftershock of a devas-tating earthquake.

Aquin has always been particu-larly interested in the impact of natu-ral disasters on the environment, and the ways in which communities cope with them. He has travelled all over the world to capture these scenes with his camera, from the dustbowl in China (his exploration earned him the prestigious Prix Pictet award in 2008) to the Nile River. But Aquin has forged a special connection with Haiti, an island he first visited when he was four years old. Haiti: Chaos and Daily Life is laid out not

chronologically but rather somewhat thematically, from devastation on the streets, to an exploration of the hurricane’s impact on buildings and their interiors, and ultimately to co-lourful images of a wild carnival in Port-au-Prince.

Excerpts from The World is Moving Around Me, the 2010 mem-oir of Haitian-born Montreal nov-elist Dany Laferriere accompany the artwork, and shed some light on

Aquin’s intentions. One quotation reads, “During the last two weeks of January 2010, Haiti was seen more often than during the previous two centuries. And it wasn’t because of a coup or one of those bloody stories mixing voodoo and cannibalism—it was because of an earthquake, an event over which no one has any control. For once, our misfortune wasn’t exotic. What happened to us could have happened anywhere.”

Many Canadians may find im-ages of women bathing in mud or splattered with blood in a series of photographs titled “Ceremony” to be ‘exotic.’ But such generic titles stress the globally transcendent rather than locally specific nature of these rituals.

Aquin has a penchant for cap-turing motion, especially people in motion. These sights are often hope-ful: relief workers helping the in-

jured and excavating rubble, a man jumping up ‘in flight.’ But amidst these images, there is the occa-sional photograph that stops you in your tracks with its eerie stillness—like the photograph of a dead man sprawled on the street, ironically situated next to a cardboard box with the slogan, “Nice Walk.”

But such images are the excep-tion. Overall, the exhibit does not stress despair, but rather, celebrates resilience. Perhaps such an optimis-tic portrayal of Haiti’s recovery has the potential to create a dangerous sense of false comfort. After all, Haiti is still struggling to get back on its feet—one could argue that more gruesome documentation of the event would garner more dona-tions and political action. Aquin’s exhibit shouldn’t be considered as an all-encompassing rendering of events. It isn’t a call for action, but for precisely this reason, it is also very much a work of art.

Haiti: Chaos and Daily Life is on display until May 12 at the Mc-Cord Museum (690 Sherbrooke West). Student admission $8, free Wednesdays.

ViSUal arT

Spotlight on Haiti emphasizes hope over despairMcCord’s latest photo exhibit mixes haunting imagery with stories of tenacity and survival

Contributorira Halpern

Benoit Aquin—Carnaval VIII (Jacmel, Haiti, 2011). (Courtesy of McCord Museum)

A sharp script and a sharper performance means Cornered is very much light on its feet. (Courtesy of Rabbit in a Hat)

17Curiosity delivers. | arts & EntErtainmEnt | Wednesday, March 13, 2013

rEviEwSAlbum

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Push the Sky AwayBad Seed Ltd.

Australian alternative rock band Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds have been a consistent musical force over the past 30 years. Their newest album, Push the Sky Away, proves that they’re still relevant, using haunting, minimalistic instrumenta-tion to create an eerie atmosphere that holds steady over the album’s nine tracks.

Despite the restrained sound, Push the Sky Away is never dull. From the threatening chorus of album opener “We No Who U R” to the moody existential crisis of “Higgs Boson Blues,” Cave’s bari-tone voice commands but never overwhelms. Melodies ebb and flow well enough to keep the listener intrigued. Even with the reserved sound, the album still has some grandiose moments. “Jubilee Street” ends with a flurry of strings, mim-icking the level of orchestral gran-deur heard on Cave’s iconic cut “O Children” from 2004’s The Lyre of Orpheus.

Alongside Cave’s standard lyri-cal themes of nature, loneliness, and prostitution are mentions of Wikipe-dia and Hannah Montana. With song titles like “We No Who U R” and “We Real Cool,” one might think that 55-year-old Cave is trying to fit in with a younger demographic, but ultimately, this is his way of accept-ing that times have changed. Never-theless, the rationale doesn’t make these elements any less jarring.

Push The Sky Away is a depar-ture from the louder sound of The Lyre of Orpheus and 2008’s Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!. The album proves that the band’s solid musicianship makes for a good—albeit unset-tling—listen.

—Matt Bobkin

MastonShadows

Trouble In Mind

Frank Maston has created a fast-paced, intriguing, and peculiar album with his band Maston’s lat-est release Shadows, one calling to mind The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and 2012’s breakthrough act Tame Impala.

The album is whimsical and dreamy, zipping through to its con-clusion before you know it—only one of the disc’s tracks clocks in at over 3:30. Although this quick pace renders Shadows as an easy, breezy listen, a few of the tracks meld into somewhat of an indiscernible blur. Instrumental tracks like opener “Strange Rituals” and “King Con-rad” lag and drag the album into a bit of a fog—and not an inspiring, drug-induced one either.

The record has a unique and playful sound, experimenting with brass instruments, and inflections of polka music. Standout tracks “(You Were) In Love,” “Young Hearts,” and “Judge Alibaster” keep the album flowing, and contain a more sincere attempt at dynamic and clear vocals. Still, one of Maston’s major downfalls is the lack of vocal con-sistency on the rest of his tracks—his voice is often muddled and lost in the echoes and wall of sound that he has created with unnecessarily layered instruments.

Unfortunately, some of the songs on the LP never reach their full potential, and instead of leaving the listener wanting more, the short lengths come across as confusing and under-developed. Despite this flaw, the album is worth a quick listen, if only to conjure a wistful, sunny California day in the middle of this dreary Canadian winter.

— Diana Wright

Kate NashGirl TalkHave 10p

Kate Nash seems to embody what London is all about. Although she was born in the northwest of the city, her thrift-shop dresses are more East End and Shoreditch, with their small art galleries and open air markets. When she released her first album Foundations, her distinctive cockney accent and poppy melodies provided an ideal contrast to per-fectly polished American tracks

On her third album, Girl Talk, Nash sounds like a woman releas-ing all the tension and stress after a harsh long day of work. The songs seem a lot less polished than on her previous two records, and Nash dis-plays her real musical personality to the listeners. The record heads in a rock ‘n’ roll direction, as great guitar riffs and strong drumming replace the piano ballads of her two previ-ous albums. Although Nash kept the distinctive poppy sound that made her reputation with songs like “Foundations,” she now seems to have moved from the edgy, colour-ful, and funny East End, to the punk rock, Amy Winehouse territory of Camden Town. The album is replete with amusing references the singer makes to her previous song “Mari-ella,” such as on “Are You There Sweetheart,” while her distinctive vibrato and 1960s inspired style re-calls some of her former work. This mix brings a good balance between musical exploration and fidelity to her own style.

Girl Talk embodies the idea of a modern, real-life young woman ,trying to make her way in the world. To assist her, Nash has noth-ing but her cheeky sense of humour and her devil-may-care attitude for what others think.

— Mathilde Milpied

POP Rhetoric

It’s a question that is asked hundreds of times per day: “Are you a real fan?” For ev-erything that can be enjoyed,

there are those who scrutinize their fellow fans, and attempt to create a distinction between ‘true fans’ and those who are merely capitalizing on the act’s popularity in order to seem cool.

This artificial distinction is ev-erywhere, including sports teams, television shows and, especially in my daily life—music. Even when I discovered The Who as a teenager, my newfound fandom was met with old anecdotes from my parents and jeers of not being a “real fan.” This is a scenario that many music lovers find themselves in during at least one point in their lives, especially when dealing with bands that are only a decade or two past their heyday.

In early February, legendary alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine released m b v, their first album in 22 years, and the follow-up to 1991’s Loveless. I had heard of the band before, but the first time I listened to them was after the re-cent surge of publicity sparked by m b v’s release. Even though I chose to listen to Valentine’s albums chrono-logically, and enjoyed what I heard, was that enough to deem me a fan? I read an essay by Pitchfork writer Jayson Greene discussing the mo-ments leading up to his first listen of the new album, condensing 22 years of waiting into 900 words. The emotional impact for Greene was something that I cannot yet fathom, as I have been alive for less than 20 years.

A week after m b v’s release, some friends and I trekked to Port-land, Maine to see reclusive indie-rocker Jeff Mangum, former front-man of Neutral Milk Hotel. At the concert, we noticed the disparity between the adults, who would casu-ally mention that they remembered when his album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was first released in 1998, and the many other college-aged kids, including us, who had only discovered Mangum in recent years. The community of Mangum fans was divided by age and date of discovery, and witnessing this di-vide in person helped to reignite the debate that had been burning in my mind since childhood.

Unlike some of my fellow con-

certgoers in Maine, I hadn’t been waiting for 15 years to see Mangum. The timeline of my first listen of m b v, immediately followed my first listen of Loveless, was unlike the decades traversed by Greene, and many other Valentine fans. But with that understood, can my contempo-raries and I still achieve true fan-dom?

My answer: does it really mat-ter? While I’m sure that not all of the adults who saw Mangum with me that night appreciated the horde of teenagers singing along to every word, or potentially reducing the number of tickets available for their friends, they must also be aware that enjoyment transcends time. While the factors surrounding someone’s appreciation differ from person to person, it is not necessary to create a hierarchy of true fandom. Espe-cially in the aforementioned cases, where chronology is a major factor in separating groups of fans, what’s the point of creating this distinction ,other than to further one’s own so-cial standing? Classifying fandom brings the classifiers down to the level of those who they attempt to belittle.

Rock mainstays, Queens of the Stone Age performed their 1998 self-titled debut record in its entirety during a handful of 2011 tour dates, despite most of the performing band members not being present during the album’s recording 13 years prior. Reviews of the tour were positive, uniting fans old and new, and allow-ing them to ultimately listen to good music together.

Having seen bands such as Arcade Fire, Japandroids, and The Black Keys before, and after their mainstream breakthroughs, I some-what understand the plight of the older fans. The venues are bigger and less personal, and the newer crowds are rowdier and more prone to shouting obscenities in between songs. But few things beat the feel-ing of everyone staring wide-eyed at the artists who have caused such joy in the lives of all the attendees. For just a few moments, it doesn’t matter when and how one discov-ered the artist, all that matters is that everyone is enjoying them together. Pretension makes way for sheer mu-sical enjoyment, and that’s what it’s all about in the first place.

what does it mean to be a fan?

by Matt Bobkin

www.mcgilltribune.com

BASEBALL — The World Baseball Classic got underway this past week, as most of the world’s best are competing for their countries in base-ball’s only international competition. Canada opened the competition with an embarrassing loss to Italy, 14-4, but quickly bounced back by defeating Mexico 10-3. However, the real story from Canada’s second game was the wild brawl that broke out between the teams dur-ing the ninth inning, to which we all thought,

“c’mon guys, let’s be friends for Nafta, ok?” The Canadians were unfortunately elimi-

nated from the tournament after suf-fering a 9-4 loss to the United States. The remaining teams in Pool 1 include Japan, Netherlands, Cuba, and Chi-nese Taipei. Team USA, Italy, Puerto Rico, and Dominican Republic make up the second round Pool 2 partici-pants and will battle for the right to

advance to the Championship round on Mar. 17-19. Also, the MLB regular

season opens in just over two weeks, so get excited.

HOCKEY — We’re more than halfway through the shortened 48-game NHL schedule. To no one’s surprise, the Chicago Blackhawks went their first 24 games without losing in regula-tion, collecting 45 out of a possible 48 points—like, no big deal. They’ve since lost two straight regulation games, so maybe it’s time to panic—or not. Also to no one’s surprise (at this point), the Montreal Canadiens lead the Eastern Con-ference with 38 points, backed by strong scor-ing depth and a hot goaltender, Carey Price. If they keep this up, retailers on Ste. Catherine may want to board up their windows come playoff time. Finally, the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals are stuck outside the playoff picture, while the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, and the defending champion Los Angeles Kings are all struggling to separate themselves from their lottery bound Western conference foes. Maybe we should reconsider; this is all very surprising.

FOOTBALL — The fun has just begun for NFL fans. The draft combine came and went, as teams scouted and interviewed some of the league’s future stars, while free agency opened on Tuesday afternoon. Some of the big names on the open market this year include: Steven Jackson, Reggie Bush, Dwight Freeney, Greg Jennings, and Mike Wallace—although all re-ports suggest that Wallace will sign with Miami. While the destinations of most of these players remains uncertain, two major trades involving star wide receivers occurred on Monday. First, Minnesota traded all-purpose threat Percy Harvin to Seattle for a slew of draft picks. As a result, we’re for putting money on 2012 MVP Adrian Peterson putting up over 3,000 yards next season. Second, the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens traded Anquan Boldin to the team they beat in the big game, the San Fran-cisco 49ers, for a measly sixth round pick. We imagine Boldin is excited to get a chance to play under Coach Harbaugh.

WatercoolerAround

the

In case you were too busy enjoying your reading week or travelling to North Korea with Dennis Rod-man, here’s what you missed this past week in the world of sports …

19SPORTS

Can’t beat us? Join us. sports@mcgilltribune.com

While the city of Montreal is caught up in the excitement

of a dominating start for their Canadiens, I caught up on some Grapefruit League spring training baseball in Florida during reading week. Spring training is a time for seasoned ballplayers to shake off any rust that may have accumulated over the winter; it also represents a chance for young prospects to make a name for themselves.

The first game I attended took place in Jupiter, Florida—home to the St. Louis Cardinals. Located on the grounds of Florida Atlantic Univer-sity—which also boasts a stately golf course—Roger Dean Stadium provided an intimate setting for an interleague matchup between the mighty Cardinals and the lowly Minnesota Twins. While most Cheap Seats writers watch games sitting in the nosebleed sections, spring training tickets provide great seats for dirt-cheap. For the reasonable price of $30, yours truly found himself sitting in the second row, behind home plate.

After a booming rendition of the national anthem, I finally had a chance to look around. The crowd was mostly made up of retirees, thrilled by the opportunity to see an afternoon ball game in 70 degree Fahrenheit weather—characteristic of most spring training contests. Though the Cardinals played most of their starters, while the Twins primarily suited up prospects, Minnesota surprisingly dominated the game 7-0. Nevertheless, the relaxing

environment was the perfect way to take in a pre-season baseball. Plus, it was great to see Cardinals Canadian wunderkind Oscar Tavares look sharp in the outfield.

The next stop on my baseball tour took place in Fort Myers, Florida, where I had the chance to see the Bos-ton Red Sox take on Team Puerto Rico in an exhibition game. Playing in the brand new facility at JetBlue Park, the Red Sox have built a near perfect rep-lica of Fenway Park, complete with an imposing “Green Monster” in left field. As opposed to the quiet afternoon crowd of the previous day, the night-time atmosphere at JetBlue Park was buoyed by a contingent of passion-ate Puerto Rican fans. The game felt a lot livelier, with coordinated cheers and music being played in the crowd. Sporting $15 tickets three rows above the Puerto Rican dugout, the Blue Jays fan in me recoiled at the sight of Alex Rios, but reveled at the sight of one of my childhood heroes, Carlos Delgado. The game itself was a back-and-forth affair, with Boston finally pulling out a 4-3 victory on the backs of Will Middle-brooks and Mike Napoli, who each hit monster home runs over the replica Green Monster.

The next day I was back at Jet-Blue Park, ready for a matinee game between Boston and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The crowd was packed with AARP members, most of whom left at the end of the sixth inning, presumably to score an early bird special on dinner.

Although the game itself was uncom-petitive—and former Jays prospect Tra-vis Snider went 0-2—it was hard not to enjoy myself in such a beautiful set-ting. Another plus of the ballpark was its free SPF 50 sunscreen dispensers, which were just ripe for overuse.

If you’re ever in Florida over read-ing week, definitely try to attend some of the spring training festivities. The games were all very cheap, were free of drunken hecklers, took place in great weather, and featured prospects and reclamation projects that you never get to see during the regular season. I’m hoping to go back to Florida—or even try out Arizona, home of the Cac-tus League—to take in some more pre-season baseball next year.

From theBy Joshua Freedman

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© 2013 H&R Block Canada, Inc. *Average is based on all student returns prepared at H&R Block in Canada for 2010 tax returns. The average refund amount calculated for students was over $1,100, cannot be guaranteed and varies based on each individual tax situation. $29.95 valid for student tax preparation only. To qualify, student must present either (i) a T2202a documenting 4 or more months of full-time attendance at a college or university during the applicable tax year or (ii) a valid high school ID card. Students pay $79.99 for Complex/Premier return. Expires 12/31/2013. Valid only at participating locations. Additional fees apply. SPC cards available at participating locations in Canada only. Offers may vary, restrictions may apply. For full terms see www.spccard.ca.

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19 Wednesday, March 13, 2013 | sports | Curiosity Delivers

(Simon Poitrimolt / McGill Tribune)

“If you come here and go 0-2 it’s going to be the same old story, same old song. ‘Quebec isn’t good enough’ if we don’t win,” Redmen Head Coach Dave DeAveiro said. “It would be easy to play these [consolation] games and have them mean nothing to us. But they’re not. This is a measure of respect.”

McGill qualified for the CIS Final 8 in thrilling fashion, dispatch-ing the Bishop’s Gaiters 77-74 in front of a packed crowd at Love Competition Hall. The conference title was McGill’s first since 1986. With the RSEQ banner in hand, the Redmen were granted Quebec’s only slot in the national tournament and were placed into the number six seed out of eight teams.

Friday’s quarterfinal may have featured the richest of storylines of the entire tournament. Upstart Mc-Gill travelled to the nation’s capital to face the No.3 ranked University of Ottawa Gee-Gees. But this was more than a David vs. Goliath bat-tle; in this case, ‘David’ was literally McGill Head Coach Dave DeAveiro, who left his position as head coach of the Gee-Gees to lead the near-dormant Redmen program. The op-ponent: his former assistant James Derouin, and a team with designs on wresting the big trophy from their cross-town rivals and eight-time champion Carleton Ravens.

Although it took a few minutes to adjust to playing under the Scotia-bank Place lights, McGill settled into a groove in the first half and trailed by just one point at the break. In the second half, however, the older and more experienced Gee-Gees began to take over. A three-pointer late in the game by Ottawa’s Warren Ward was the dagger to the Redmen’s faint title hopes and sent them into the consolation bracket.

“We’ve been resilient the whole year; I’m extremely proud of our kids. We played a very good

team today,” DeAveiro said after the game. “They’re one of the best teams in the nation. … The way they’re playing right now they’re a pretty focused bunch. You don’t want to play that team right now; they have a great chance of winning the whole thing.”

One of the many promising signs for McGill in the first game, however, was the play of second-year point guard Vincent Dufort. He was named “Player of the Game” in front of a large cheering section of friends and family from nearby Smiths Falls, Ontario.

“I actually find it very help-ful to have all that support,” Dufort said. “There’s a lot of people who made the trip up, friends and family. Just to know they’re there makes me feel kind of at home.”

On Saturday, the Redmen tipped off against the No. 2 Cape Breton Capers in “the game no one wants to play in”—the consolation semifinal. No one told the McGill players that, as they were deter-mined to win a game at the national tournament. While they played a deep Ottawa team in the quarters, all they had to do against the Ca-pers was focus on one player: All-Canadian James Dorsey, who posted a dominant 39 points. McGill’s more balanced attack found a way to answer him as the teams fought a back-and-forth battle all the way to the end of the fourth quarter. In front of the orange army Cape Bret-on supporters section and trailing by two points—the school of just 2,800 students bused over 100 students 25 hours from Sydney to Ottawa to sup-port the Capers—Dorsey was fouled with 0.2 seconds left on the clock and made both free throws to send the game to overtime. After Cape Breton jumped out to a six point lead, Dufort and fourth-year point guard Adrian Hynes-Guery caught fire, combining for eight points and putting McGill up two once again in

the final seconds. Fittingly, Dorsey took the last shot, but this time he missed, giving McGill its first win at nationals since 1977.

Redmen captain Winn Clark—who graduates this coming spring—was named “Player of the Game.” He said the victory was one of the biggest of his career.

“That [win] definitely ranks up there. The win against Bishop’s to come here was a pretty big one as well,” Clark said. “The program over the last four years has grown. We’ve been improving every year and it’s kind of a statement win that we’re here at nationals and we can compete. They’ll hopefully be back in the years to follow.”

On Sunday morning, the Red-men took on the Victoria Vikes, one team looking to build on its conso-lation success, and the other with one foot on the plane back to B.C. McGill hit a season-high 12 three-pointers to take down the Vikes 80-68 and secure a fifth-place finish.

The end of the season marks the end of the university careers of two Redmen players: Clark and Alek-sandar Mitrovic. While they will be missed, Coach DeAveiro has a team that has gained experience in the spotlight and looks ready to return to Ottawa next March—not just to fight for respect, but to also chal-lenge the nation’s best.

“If you look at the first time Carleton went to the nationals, they won the consolation games. This will hopefully be a stepping stone, a building block to where you want to be,” he said. “We’re laying the foundation and trying to get to the promised land and the championship game.”

The Carleton Ravens defeated the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Sunday to claim their ninth national title in 11 years. The Martlets take the court in the women’s Final 8 this weekend in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Redmen earn respect for McGill, Quebec at CIS Final 8cis Men’s basketball chaMpionship

RSEQ champions take down Cape Breton, Victoria en route to consolation championship; future looks promising

(Continued from Cover)

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68Cape breton

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The Carabins shut down Darragh Hamilton and the rest of the Martlet attack. (Remi Lu / McGill Tribune)

After a devastating loss in Game 2 of the RSEQ women’s hockey fi-nals, the McGill Martlets were back at McConnell Arena on Mar. 3 to battle the Montreal Carabins in the deciding game of the series. Thanks to hundreds of fans who made it out to support their beloved Carabins, the atmosphere was charged with passion and intensity both on the ice and in the stands. Unfortunately for the Martlets, the Carabins were able to feed off this support en route to a shocking 2-1 victory, clinching a berth for the CIS national champion-ship.

Following a scoreless first pe-riod with few chances and some chippy play between whistles, both teams looked more focused and de-termined to start the second period. Just two minutes in, Carabins for-ward Josianne Legault opened the scoring with a power play marker after the Martlets were able to sur-vive several shorthanded sequences.

McGill answered just over a minute later when Joanne Cagianos deposited her first goal of the play-offs, completing a beautiful three-way passing play spearheaded by Leslie Oles and Mélodie Daoust. However, with less than five min-utes to go in the third period, Legault tallied her second of the game, and

third of the playoffs, to put a stran-glehold on the series.

Despite McGill’s valiant effort to force overtime, Carabins goalten-der Elodie Rousseau-Sirois contin-ued to stand tall, capping off a 37-save performance and ensuring her team’s victory.

With their loss, the Martlets were eliminated from advancing to nationals to compete for a CIS title, a disappointing result after an undefeated regular season. McGill watched as the Carabins skated around with the RSEQ champion-ship banner on McConnell ice—an experience that garnered several

teary eyes on the Martlet bench. When the dust settled, Martlet

Head Coach Peter Smith indicated that his team was fighting nerves during the final two games.

“Well, I thought that we were a very nervous group on Friday night,” he said about the loss. “They had nothing to lose; they threw it all out there, and they played real well,” Smith said, speaking about the Cara-bins’ upset victory. “Today, it was a heck of a hockey game. I thought lots of good things happened, [but] we just didn’t seem to get a bounce going our way. It probably would have been good. ... But I’m really

proud of the team.” Smith also mentioned that he

encouraged his team to stay calm, even when it seemed like the offi-cials missed a few calls.

“I told them to try to keep an even keel, try and stay focused on the things that we can control, and to stay away from getting emotionally involved with the officiating,” he said. “I reminded the team that the officials were doing everything that they were capable of.”

Team captain and fourth-year veteran Darragh Hamilton believes that this experience will benefit the Martlets in the future.

“I think we played great today. We really pushed the puck forward all the time,” Hamilton said. “We got lots of shots on net, [but] just didn’t get the bounces. If we got a couple bounces here and there, it could have been a totally different game. It stings right now, but it will just make us stronger next year.”

Smith noted that he is very proud of his players, despite the crushing result.

“I told them that I’m real proud of them. Not just for this game, but for the whole season. I told them to remember everything about this sea-son. All the good stuff, because there was a lot of good stuff that hap-pened,” he said. “It was a great team. They work hard; they’re young, im-pressionable, and coachable, with great leadership. But I told them to remember everything, including standing on that blue line, watching the other team get that trophy. If that doesn’t inspire them, then nothing will.”

Now that their season is over, the Martlets will have a few months to reflect on the loss and prepare for next year. While there might be some fresh faces in their lineup next season, the core members will return—hungrier than ever to com-plete their mission of winning a na-tional championship.

“As long as our present group continues to strive for excellence, we should be in good shape next year and beyond,” McGill track and field Head Coach Dennis Barrett, said. “It will indeed be exciting with the talent we presently have.”

His comments came in light of the general enthusiasm for the future of his program, as the 2012-2013 campaign ended last weekend at the CIS National Championships in Ed-monton, Alberta.

McGill sent a total of 20 ath-letes to the event, and finished 19th of 21 and 22 competing teams, in both the men’s and women’s divi-sions. Despite the mediocre result, Toronto native Alana Battiston fin-ished an impressive fifth overall in the Pentathlon on the first day of the meet. Her result broke her previous McGill record of 3515 points—

which she set last week at the RSEQ championship, by amassing a total of 3558 points.

“It was a very spirited perfor-mance,” Barrett said. “Alana’s fight and determination surely was moti-vating for the team; she ran a very strong 800m to finish her [pentath-lon].”

The Martlets in particular were searching for more, having been crowned RSEQ champions just two weeks prior. Yet, despite their early success, the team failed to convert Battiston’s spirit into any additional top finishes over the next two days of competition.

On the men’s side, the lone highlight for McGill came in the form of the 4x800 metre relay team, comprised of Benjamin Ray-mond, Nathan Goldstein, Michael Abramson, and Vincent Parent-Pichette. The team clocked in at 7:54.15, good for sixth place.

But, in the end, the day be-

longed to the Guelph Gryphons and the Calgary Dinos, who claimed the male and female divisions, respec-tively. The Gryphons ran clear of the competition, en route to their third title in seven years, while the surprising Dinos reached the top of the podium for the second time in six years. To go along with her team gold medal, Calgary’s Rachel Machin also earned the title of most Outstanding Athlete of the Meet, after turning in a four-medal perfor-mance with two golds and two sil-vers. On the men’s side, Sherbrooke leaper Olivier Huet captured the award, with a gold in the triple jump and a bronze in the long jump.

With the year now finished, McGill must come to grips with losing Battiston and long-distance runner Sarah McCuaig to gradu-ation. The departures of both are a huge loss both on and off the track; but with the cores of the teams still intact, McGill may find themselves

competing more feverishly on the national scale next season.

“The main aspect [to the na-tional scene], beside the number of athletes, is having top end athletes—which at this point, we do have,”

Barrett said. “[We’re still] a very young team, however. With only two graduating ... the opportunity is there,”

Martlet hockey season comes to stunning end in finalRseQ woMen’s hockey final (GaMe 3) — MontReal 2, MaRtlets 1 (caRabins win best-of-thRee seRies 2-1)

Undefeated in previous 29 games, McGill misses out on nationals for first time in 10 years

ContributorDavid stein

Sports EditorJeff Downey

McGill disappoints at national championship meettRack and field cis chaMpionship — RedMen, MaRtlets place 19th

Pentathlete Alana Battiston finishes fifth; Guelph and Calgary take first in male and female divisions, respectively

Battiston impressed at nationals. (Sam Reynolds / McGill Athletics)

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