CAMSR denies Divest McGill’s request

BoG Chair Stuart “Kip” Cobbett reported on CAMSR’s deliberations on Divest McGill’s demand for a freeze on fossil fuel investments, and informed the BoG that CAMSR would not be able to recommend fulfilling this demand.

Nevertheless, Cobbett said that he “would like to congratulate Divest McGill for their respectful attitude.”

Members of Divest McGill were present at the meeting, and responded to Cobbett’s report by offering the BoG a large fake check worth $43 million. According to an analysis of McGill’s investments by environmental groups Corporate Knights, 350.org, and South Pole Group, this is approximately the amount that the university could have saved by divesting from the fossil fuel industry.

Marius Karolinksi, a member of Divest McGill, said that he was hoping the donation of the fake check would help the BoG to “think more clearly” in the future.

Alleged Bill 100 violation

Cobbett also reported on behalf of the Human Resources Committee, addressing press reports that McGill was violating provincial Bill 100, which states, “no bonus, allowance, premium, compensation or other additional remuneration based on performance for either of the fiscal years beginning in 2010 and 2011, may be granted to […] a senior executive or the management personnel in the education network or a university.”

The allegation of a violation was made on July 27 by Quebec’s Ministry of Education.

“Our view is that we are certainly in the spirit of the law,” Cobbett said, emphasizing the University’s “sensible, logical approach” to merit-based raises.

Olivier Marcil, Vice-Principal (External Relations), was said to be discussing the subject with the provincial government.

Key Performance Indicators

The BoG also discussed the university’s annual Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which have now been reformatted.

Among other data, McGill’s KPIs include student-faculty ratio, undergraduate class size, graduation rate after six years at the undergraduate level, faculty salary, and philanthropy donations received.

“Our view is that we are certainly in the spirit of the law.”

In a presentation made to the members of the BoG, McGill’s KPIs were compared to those of other universities, particularly to the other members of the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities.

While McGill did well in most KPIs (such as the undergraduate student-faculty ratio), it was the last of the U15 institutions in terms of its industrial relations, as determined by the Times Higher Education industry income score. This point was of particular concern to the members of the BoG.

Collaborating with industry is “important primarily for students,” Principal Suzanne Fortier claimed, as “the vast majority [of them] will work in the private sector.” Fortier cited this example as an incentive for pursuing a higher ranking.

Fortier also mentioned that the university was seeking to create variety in class sizes, with work being done to offer larger online-based courses in order to also provide smaller in-class courses.

Report on philanthropy

Marc Weinstein, Vice-Principal (University Advancement), presented the Annual Report on Philanthropy for 2014-15. Weinstein noted a decrease in alumni donations. Weinstein specified that most of current donations were by donors who had graduated in the sixties and seventies.

Over the course of the past five years, the number of annual fund donors has decreased from 30,141 in 2011 to 26,776 in 2015. Nevertheless, in the 2014-15 fiscal year, philanthropic donations brought in $86,269,199.

“We are doing everything we can to build that momentum on connectivity,” said Weinstein. “We want to engage with our alumni.”

“The biggest thing for younger cohorts is to be involved,” Danielle Toccalino, Secretary-General of the Post-Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS), told The Daily after the meeting, citing the limited financial resources of recent alumni and pointing to other, non-monetary ways in which they can show support.

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Marco Battaglia, a professor of psychiatry at Université Laval who specializes in developmental psychology, has some answers to this question. “I find separation anxiety in children to be a fascinating subject,” Battaglia told The Daily. “Separation anxiety is a great origination of evolution [that] has come to all mammals with parenting, the process of taking care of one’s offspring.”

While it is considered natural to experience some level of anxiety when facing separation from an attachment figure, such as a child’s parents, in preschool years, separation anxiety disorder (SAD) arises when a child’s response to this separation become excessive and uncharacteristic of the child’s age. Symptoms of SAD include persistent stress and worry related to such separation. In a study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry in April 2015, Battaglia and colleagues from several universities, most of which are in Quebec, looked at 1,933 families with children ages 1.5 to six years and attempted to identify patterns in the development of SAD, including risk factors. While the vast majority of the subjects showed greatly reduced symptoms by the time they were six years old, 6.9 per cent were identified as having “high-increasing” symptoms.

“What is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the high-increasing group is that it was the closest to having purely internalized behaviours,” Battaglia pointed out. In contrast with external behaviours, such as physical aggressiveness toward others, internalized behaviours include withdrawing from social interactions and repressing feelings.

Battaglia suggests that teachers could be very helpful in spotting and assessing SAD in children. His recent study looks at kindergarten teachers’ ratings of separation anxiety. When asked if he thought teachers were properly equipped to deal with cases of SAD, Battaglia said, “I found teachers in [the] different Western cultures in which I have conducted research to be, on average, really good sources who are fairly well-equipped with basic psychology.” The different angle they offer on a child’s behaviour also turns out to be an insightful perspective, as a child may act differently in the presence of parents versus in the presence of friends at school. This is why speaking to sources external to the family can be valuable, especially since children usually spend most of their time with other children. “If both the parents and the teachers notice the same thing, then it is more likely something true,” Battaglia noted.

A striking feature of SAD in children is that it is not limited to separation from parents or their principal caregiver, as humans have the ability to form multiple figures of attachment. A 1988 study published in Developmental Psychology and conducted in kibbutz communities, communal settlements in Israel, investigated this capacity. “While kibbutz children know who their mothers or their fathers are, they can be raised by several figures. A few studies suggest that, on average, they may have less of a capacity to deal with separation and build autonomous attachment,” the study notes. For instance, separation from grandparents and siblings can also result in anxiety for a child. As for how many figures constitute the upper threshold for strong attachments, Battaglia estimates that humans are capable of building “more than two, but certainly less than ten.” This study sheds light on the impact of caregiving figures in a child’s life beyond their principal guardians.

Although how SAD affects children is fairly well-established, the extent to which it can evolve into adulthood is controversial. “Some of my colleagues support the presence of separation anxiety in adults. I am personally more reserved,” Battaglia said. According to the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the guideline for diagnosing SAD in children under 18 is to observe persistent symptoms over at least four weeks, while a period of six months is recommended for adults. “The rationale for the DSM rules is data. I feel [there is a] need for more data on SAD in adulthood,” said Battaglia. “Besides, there is still so much to learn from separation anxiety in childhood.”

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McGill alumnus Curtis Murphy, a founding member of Divest McGill, expressed pride in the growth of the organization. Recalling how there were originally about six people involved when initiating their first petition to be presented to the Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility (CAMSR), Murphy explained how the group had stood the test of time.

“The administration miscalculated in thinking [Divest McGill] was going to be just another student organization, and people are going to graduate and it’s going to fizzle out, but it hasn’t happened – the opposite happened. There’s even more energy,” Murphy said. “Their inaction just looks worse and worse. And sooner or later, they’re going to have to do something.”

Murphy also mentioned how he joined other alumni in pledging to return his degrees if McGill doesn’t take divestment action by March. “I was really excited to be able to join in the pledge […] as a statement of how we feel about McGill’s inaction on this really important issue.”

In addition to the speeches, the rally included a performance of two songs, one in French and one in English, by three members of the Raging Grannies, (a group of activist elder women who attend and sing songs at protests) who came to support the organization’s cause.

“We’re very concerned about the climate,” one of them told The Daily. “And we’re very concerned about all the shenanigans that the oil companies are going through to continue using fossil fuels.”

The event concluded with the participants forming a symbolic circle around the square, joining hands to chant their slogans one last time.

“I think the closing rally today was very powerful,” commented Laura Cameron, a Divest McGill member. “We were able to sum up the whole power of the week and […] have the principal notice us outside her window.”

As for the week’s impact and the response received, Cameron said, “We’ve achieved our goal in educating the McGill community at large. In terms of the administration’s response, we’ve definitely had victories there as well.”

“Although [Stuart] “Kip” Cobbett, the Chair of [CAMSR and the Board of Governors] is away, we’ve interacted with a few of the other members of the committee and […] they definitely felt the pressure,” noted Cameron.

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The Daily spoke with Julianna Duholke, an organizer with Divest McGill, shortly before the rally began. “We’re seeing this huge gap between policy and climate science at both the McGill level and at the federal level,” explained Duholke. “If McGill steps up to be a climate leader, that could put pressure on our political leaders, but right now, there’s no pressure coming from the bottom, and we’re taking that upon ourselves.”

Laura Cameron, another organizer with Divest McGill, commented “We had a very pretty embarrassing reaction from [Principal Suzanne] Fortier today, where she […] pretty much tried to walk away from us when we confronted her, without talking to us. And she said that she […] could not commit to supporting a freeze on fossil fuel investments.”

Amongst the groups present at the protest was 350.org, represented by Cree activist Clayton Thomas-Muller, the organization’s Indigenous Extreme Energy Campaigner. Thomas-Muller was vocal about his hope for a grassroots change beginning in Quebec.

Speaking to The Daily, Thomas-Muller said, “Our message as 350[.org] is to support social movements in Quebec that have mobilized to disrupt tar sands infrastructure.”

Thomas-Muller continued, “We need divestment from dirty fossil fuels, we need a reinvestment of these resources into a zero energy footprint economy that doesn’t force Canadians and First Nations to sacrifice certain communities at the altar of irresponsible economic policies.”

Many other groups expressed their concerns with the legacy of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government with regards to other issues. Marie-Hélène Arruda, coordinator of the Mouvement autonome et solidaire des sans-emploi (MASSE), an organization dedicated to supporting the unemployed, was critical of the government’s direction in the matter of employment. “We have to pay attention to the Conservatives’ [actions] over the past few years,” Arruda told The Daily in French. “It is time for this to stop.”

Additionally, Serge Cadieux, secretary-general of the Fédération des travailleurs du Québec (FTQ), denounced the government’s “attack toward the union movement,” mentioning Bill C-377, which modifies tax law to impose heavy reporting obligations on unions, as an example of such policy.

In addition to the organized groups present, many non-affiliated protesters came to stand in solidarity with the various social movements voicing their requests. One supporter, when asked about his expectations for the night’s debate, expressed his desire to “see the words ‘climate change’ get mentioned.” Others were specifically offering their encouragement to the political parties involved.

Daniel Pelletier, a Green Party supporter from Ville-Marie, deplored the silencing of Green Party leader Elizabeth May in two previous debates, one organized by the Globe and Mail and Google Canada, and another by the Munk Debates. Speaking to the importance of climate change, Pelletier told The Daily, “We need to vote for the future of the planet.”

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In the first tutorial, held on January 14, the attendees were shown how to create a tip calculator, which displays the desired tip based on the bill and waiter performance typed in by the user. The goal was to teach how to set up and use Android Studio, Android’s integrated development environment (IDE). The Android Studio simulator allows the developer to visualize the final result on a computer or laptop, without needing to buy an Android device.

Upcoming lessons will cover subjects ranging from simple activities to web development. Learning these skills can ultimately help developers to create more complex apps, and even potentially offer them on markets like Google Play.

Amiel Kollek, a U2 Mathematics and Computer Science student and a member of HackMcGill, leads the tutorials, guiding the developers-to-be through the code line by line, and answering questions when issues are encountered. Completing his own code along with the audience, Kollek presented the process of creating a basic app.

“People are often unduly intimidated by applications and programming, even though it’s actually quite simple,” says Kollek. “Our goal is to get those intimidated interested in these technologies.”

Kollek mentioned that some background knowledge in the matter could be helpful. “A basic knowledge of Java programming is expected. COMP 202 [Foundations of Programming 1] might do you good.” Nonetheless, many unfamiliar coding statements are clarified at the tutorials. There are also several online resources available for free, to get you started at your own pace.

Born of a desire to attract a new crowd, Hack101 covers one topic per semester, with all lessons and codes uploaded on Github, allowing programmers to catch up on the material from the comfort of their homes. The contents from the previous instalment of Hack101 from the last semester are still available online, including lessons on the basics of HTML, deployment, and more.

While some may think trying to involve beginners in this endeavour is an idealistic goal, the tutorial proceeded in a friendly manner, and struggling coders were invited to come up with and inquire about solutions to their glitches at the end. This goes on to show that the successful development of a program comes down to one thing: motivation.

The first lesson drew a large crowd, filling every corner of the Trottier 3120 computer lab. “Last semester, we did an introduction to web development. If the tutorials remain very popular, we’ll keep them going,” adds Kollek.

The application development sector has been receiving a lot of attention in the past few years. It was announced last week that all three major app stores – the Apple iOS store, Google Play, and the Amazon store – have grown by more than 50 per cent in 2014. Google Play boasts the most impressive numbers, with a total of 388,000 developers and the highest number of new apps overall throughout the year. It also offers the largest library, with a total of 1.43 million apps. This ever-growing community of app developers can be inspiring to many people eager to learn development-related skills, in the hopes of one day joining the crowd. However, publishing on Google Play requires a one-time registration fee of only $25, while becoming an individual iOS developer requires one to pay $99 per year.

HackMcGill offers other opportunities to learn and perfect computer skills for students, namely hackathon’s and HackNights. As the name suggests, Hackathons are timed events where coders race to code a certain program, while HackNights are occasions for McGill hackers to meet and work on both personal projects and school assignments.

Although developing an app definitely relies on a certain amount of work and dedication, Hack101 represents an interesting learning opportunity for both the logical and creative minds. Whether you want finally to dive into the programming world or just to add another string to your bow, it is an event worth trying.

For more information on upcoming Hack101 tutorials and HackMcGill events, interested students should consult the HackMcGill Facebook group and hackmcgill.com.

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The Harper government has been accused in recent years of “scientific muzzling,” where scientists are prevented from sharing their findings and conclusions. It is also a term used by the non-profit organization Democracy Watch Canada in its campaign to advocate for the right for publicly-funded researchers to freely address the media and share their findings without censorship. The situation has also attracted the attention of comedian Rick Mercer, who spoke out about it on his CBC show, the Rick Mercer Report, last year.

“For a long time, there were very active scientists advising the government,” says Catherine Potvin, a professor in McGill’s Biology department who specializes in neotropical ecology. “We now feel there is this vacuum of scientific advice.”

Some notorious cases of alleged muzzling include Kristi Miller, who was prevented for months from discussing her sockeye salmon research with journalists, and David Tarasick, who had to wait two weeks before addressing his work on ozone loss in the Arctic. Miller’s case generated considerable controversy. Her findings brought significant insight into the crash of salmon populations on the West Coast, and were significant enough to be published in the peer-reviewed research journal Science in 2011. However, Ottawa officials denied her the permission to speak on the subject for an extended period of time, resulting in the government being heavily criticized by the scientific community.

The challenge for many researchers now is not only to deliver results, but also to be heard and to bring attention to the information they provide. Government-funded scientists are left attempting to connect with the taxpaying citizens, who have provided the money used to conduct their research. Potvin emphasizes the importance of such an exchange: “Scholars should share information with the public. People have invested in me and my colleagues, and I consider it is the time I give back by sharing my information.”

“It is often assumed that only federal action matters to fight climate change, which is not the case. Environment needs to be addressed by all levels of government – municipal, provincial, and federal.”

— Catherine Potvin, professor of Biology at McGill

The situation does not only concern Canadians, as it has also attracted the attention of the international scientific community. Last October, 815 scientists from 32 different countries signed a letter addressed to Stephen Harper, bearing the headline, “Earth to Canada: Science Needs You,” in an effort to advocate for more freedom for scientists receiving funding from the government. This highlights the need for a worldwide mobilization of scientists to solve modern problems faced by the planet: a spirit of collaboration that can be hindered by political intentions.

At the forefront of the science in politics debate is the topic of environmental protection, since Canada’s actions against climate change have been less-than-stellar from an international perspective, following its withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol and its continued development of the Albertan tar sands. As the next meeting of the United Nations (UN) Framework on Climate Change Convention conferences in December approaches, Canadian environmental policies over the next year will be crucial in defining the image the country projects in the international fight against global warming. Climate change activists hope to see a change of approach in Canada’s position on the environment following the elections, before the meeting takes place. In an interview with CBC last month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon himself encouraged Canada to take a more proactive role, citing the need to seek an economy relying on cleaner energy resources.
“We are currently very far from the leadership position,” said Potvin. “In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, Canada has been a leader, notably around the Rio Convention, with Canadian Maurice Strong being a most important player. Now, we are left to catch up with the middle group.”

Strong, a businessman from Canada, took on numerous UN appointments at that time, including a position as the Secretary-General of the Earth Summit in 1992. Thanks to his work, the environment was put on the international agenda at the UN.

When asked if there are any Canadian climate change policies on the right track, Potvin makes a distinction: “It is often assumed that only federal action matters to fight climate change, which is not the case. Environment needs to be addressed by all levels of government – municipal, provincial, and federal. Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, Canada’s major cities, have several good policies in place, and the Quebec and British Columbia governments are also making progress. As for the federal government, changing regulations for fuels used by cars and trucks was a step in the right direction, although small. The most needed change in the future is to put a price on carbon.”

Voters may be left to wonder how to consider issues like environment when election time comes. The first move is to consult the appropriate resources. “The Conservatives currently have no climate change policy. The [New Democratic Party] does have one, elaborated by Jack Layton, and the Liberals are in the process of developing it.

“Voters should read policies by all parties,” Potvin says.To make sense of those, comparing them with the opinions of experts may be a good approach. “My colleagues and I will propose a climate change action plan in March, to the best of our knowledge, which can become a tool to use as a benchmark comparison before people make up their minds.”

Beyond the struggles over current federal policies, the media coverage received by science issues during electoral campaigns can be vital for the information to be shared properly. “There is currently a large interest from the media in climate change,” says Potvin. The 2015 race is therefore an opportunity to put the spotlight on why science ultimately matters by engaging everyone in the conversation.

Time will tell if science gets its shining moment in the electoral race, but once the polls are closed, one challenge will remain: can political ambitions be put aside to truly pay attention to what our experts have to say?

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For most of the twentieth century, the terms “greenhouse gases” and “global warming” were not nearly as popular and widely-used as they are today. However, in the last few decades, a pattern analogous to fossil fuel consumption emerged: it was observed that the earth’s average temperature was also on the rise. A cause/effect relationship slowly began to emerge. It became apparent to the scientific community that fossil fuels, when burned, release gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. These accumulate, trapping the rays of the sun. This mechanism, termed the “greenhouse effect,” is necessary for climate regulation in a certain measure, with a natural concentration in greenhouse gases. However, scientists only recently realized it was happening in excess.

The observations of rising global temperatures sparked a worldwide debate on how to prevent this pattern from progressing. In the scientific community, it is widely considered that even a slight change in the earth’s temperature, as ‘small’ as 1°C, would have a major impact on the planet’s ecosystem. Bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, formed in 1988) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, formed in 1994) have since been created, both by the UN, in order to analyze the scientific evidence relating climate change to human activity.

This also led to the Kyoto Protocol, created by the UNFCCC, which urged industrialized nations to decrease the amount of greenhouse gases they released into the atmosphere, and to the popularization of the work on renewable sources of energy, such as hydroelectric, wind, and nuclear power. New policies surrounding greenhouse gas emission in certain countries aim at preventing the global temperature from rising by more than 2°C with respect to what it was before industrialization, the current rise being at 0.8°C . There is now a wide scientific consensus that global warming and human activity are directly related. However, not everyone is ready to accept that conclusion.

“There are very few legitimate scientists who deny climate change.”

On September 27, the IPCC published a new report on the current scientific understanding in order to assess global warming. Its harsh conclusions targeted the role of human activity in climate change and deemed it “extremely likely” of being the its main cause of global warming, while releasing more troubling statistics about the current and previously predicted environmental impact of the perturbations. The overbearing evidence provided by the report generated a range of reactions.

For years, climate change denial been perpetuated by the fossil fuel industry. Common claims are that the IPCC tends to exaggerate, and that its reports become unrepresentative of reality. Bjørn Lomborg and Judith Curry are two notable examples of public figures who have attempted to minimize the significance of the last IPCC report.

Lomborg, author of the polarizing The Skeptical Environmentalist, although acknowledging that there is a certain climate change, has emphasized that he views global warming claims as alarmist. His book made headlines in 2001, as it was attacked by a large portion of the scientific community for a lack of scientific honesty.

As for Curry, a climatologist from the Georgia Institute of Technology, she views the field of research in climate change as an area of many blurred lines, and encourages discussions between skeptics and non-skeptics. Both have made comments following the publication of the report, suggesting that its findings fail to portray the bigger picture of climate change.

A similar attitude is also taken by several conservative American media outlets, such as Fox News, which have instead chosen to focus on non-peer-reviewed studies contradicting the IPCC’s conclusions. The prevalence of climate change denial is mostly found in the media, considering there is barely any disagreement within scientific rings.

As for Canada, the picture is different: the Canadian government dropped any link with the Protocol, with no direct measures taken towards reaching its goals.

Professor James Ford, leader of the Climate Change Adaptation Research Group at McGill, echoes this idea. “There are very few legitimate scientists who deny climate change,” he explains. “Richard Lindzen, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, comes to mind, but he was mainly vocal in the early 2000s, when there was more of a legitimate debate about the unknowns in the climate change picture. As points of contention were settled, there was no room left to deny, and the only real unknowns left now are the wide projections as to how fast the change will occur.”

Ford mentions that one long-standing point of contention over time has been the ‘Hockey Stick curve’, a graphical representation of how temperature has drastically increased from its once constant value since the 1800s. While some have claimed it to be a “statistical fallacy,” they have been repeatedly proven wrong.

The reaction of political figures also takes a considerable importance, given their influence over national global warming policies. The UNFCCC has, of course, no binding power to force countries to adopt policies, and it is therefore up to governments to take the measures necessary in order to meet its recommendations. Many countries, especially in Europe, not only ratified the Kyoto Protocol, but also took binding measures to reduce their emissions in line with the treaty’s goals.

The U.S. is only a signatory on the Kyoto Protocol, meaning that while they are interested in seeing its topics discussed, they do not actively pursue its objectives. As for Canada, the picture is different: the Canadian government dropped any link with the Protocol, with no direct measures taken towards reaching its goals. In that limelight, Canada’s environment minister, Leona Aglukkaq, is frequently questioned about her views on climate change. Her recent comments on the warming of the Arctic have notably attracted attention. Deeming this warming “debatable” in an interview on CTV’s Power Play, she mentioned the general cold summers in the North as an example of why it was ambiguous.

Ford emphasizes that the IPCC reports are very credible. “This is perhaps the most peer-reviewed document there is,” he told The Daily. “The version that most people read is a condensed summary of the actual document, which is very long. The IPCC doesn’t conduct its own research – it collects extensive studies into the document. Since it is a UN body, governments go over the summary word-by-word and spend days talking about how to frame certain key things, so the presentation of the findings can be quite conservative, but they can’t change the numbers. It is still a very rigorous thing that goes through a scientific process.”

While there is indeed a wide range of predictions when it comes to speculating about the rate of climate change, the scientific consensus about its existence and its main cause is nearly unanimous. The face of its contemporary denial is shaped by the way the information is reported, which opens up another debate: the facts against the wording.

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The expression ‘digital citizenship’ has been of growing importance over the past few years. With quickly developing technologies and faster ways to interact, a digital citizen is expected to make the most out of the positive aspects of new media while understanding the legal implications of this budding power. Shaheen Shariff, an associate professor in McGill’s Faculty of Education, has devoted herself to promoting this concept.

“Ten years ago, as I was completing my doctoral studies, we only had e-mails,” she recalled. “Technology has advanced rapidly since then, and I built on my research concerning bullying to include the legal responsibilities that came with such progress.”

Indeed, the proliferation of social networks within the last ten years has caused considerable changes to the way individuals use the internet. The list of social networking websites has grown exponentially, and social exchanges have become closely entangled with the evolution of technology. All forms of human behaviour are now reflected on the internet. This includes both the positive impacts of these interactions, like linking people across the world, and the less-than-stellar aspects, like harassment. The new generation is now so closely associated with the digital world that it is sometimes referred to as a generation of ‘digital natives,’ a term originated by American writer Marc Prensky.

“It’s striking to see that teens can launch into competitions about who can post the most insults on a Facebook page.”

One of the main consequences of this is the increasing overlap between the private and public parts of life. Broadcasting oneself has become easier, and while it can be viewed as self-expression, some of it also represents a loss of privacy. This increase in exposure makes one more vulnerable to the dangers of the web, and this can be observed on various platforms. In a 2011 survey conducted by Kids Help Phone, 65 per cent of respondents reported being a target of cyberbullying at least once.

Define the Line, a program at McGill started by Shariff, is dedicated to cyberbullying research. Their research touches on a variety of related subjects, such as sexting (sending sexualized text messages), homophobic cyberbullying, and the place of technology in classrooms. One of the particular topics is the concept of ‘digital bedrooms,’ which corresponds to the trend of private spaces becoming gradually more public. ‘Digital bedrooms’ again raise the challenge of finding a balance between self-expression and over-sharing personal information.

While the internet can be a powerful tool, it can also be used in detrimental ways by those who struggle to ‘define the line’ between what is harmless and what is not. This issue is what led Shariff and her group to work on researching and advocating the legal implications of using the web for bullying purposes.

The website, launched in 2011, exposes the risks undertaken by cyber-bullies depending on the level reached by their acts. Cases of online defamation, for example, can be dealt with both from the perspective of civil law (with the victim having to prove their case for compensation) or by criminal law (in extreme cases). Online threats can also reach the status of criminal harassment, regardless of the intentions behind them. As the cyberbullying phenomenon expands, more and more legislation is created to target it directly. Quebec’s Bill 56, passed in 2012, makes it compulsory for schools to come up with plans to fight both bullying and cyberbullying, leading education into the new reality of social interaction.

When questioned about the most important breakthroughs of her research, Shariff explained that considering the multiple faces of the problem is key: “What I consider a major achievement is to have been able to see things from a unique perspective. We’re not only considering behavioural problems with new technology, we’re looking at it with public policy and education in mind.”

As for youths’ understanding of the problems associated with cyberbullying, Shariff mentioned that new legislation is not a magic solution. “It’s striking to see that teens can launch into competitions about who can post the most insults on a Facebook page,” she elaborated. “Many seem not to understand what terms like defamation mean. What we see here is a lack of ‘legal literacy.’ Laws will make little difference as long as people don’t understand how they are liable,” said Shariff, stressing the importance of including education in the process, “The pressure doesn’t rely entirely on governments; we also want to provide workshops so that people can get a better understanding of the risks they are facing with [the] internet.”

While feelings of invulnerability open the doors to a lack of awareness toward actions performed on the web, another key concept behind Shariff’s program describes solutions to online self-expression issues. Individuals have to balance private and public life, while assuming their responsibilities as good digital citizens to avoid the harmful effects of cyberbullying.

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The bilingual conference opened on September 20 at Montreal’s Centre for Sustainable Development with a press conference in which the leaders elaborated on KWS’ extensive background and its genesis in Cameroon. Biwole – who left her home country during her college years to study numerical communications in France – used her foreign experiences to convey the importance of seizing technological opportunities. “It was only when I left Cameroon that I realized how few opportunities our youth had back there,” she explained.

This led her to the creation of KWS, a project that held conferences across three universities in Central Africa in 2010, reaching approximately 1,000 students eager to learn about how the technological projects they knew nothing about could change their lives. A second edition in early 2013 invited local African entrepreneurs to attend. Biwole repeatedly emphasized her goal to inspire people, and this passion was echoed by Nlemba, who stated that misinformation can inspire fear of technological advancements. “Many people in African communities are afraid of technology, as they don’t know what to make of it,” he added. “We need to change this mentality.”

Alain Douyon, a Senior Director from Conseillers en Gestion et Informatique (CGI), was in charge of giving the introductory talk, and made his message very clear: leaps into the future are not optional, they’re compulsory. He specifically mentioned Smart Grid projects, electrical grids that aim to optimize information about the distribution and use of electricity by leveraging information technology. With these ideas in mind, the conference was off to a start.

On Saturday, talks were given by entrepreneurs, technologists, and researchers working in various sectors but with a common goal – to create positive impact. From advice on creating your own brand to discussion on the importance of access to technology in the developing world, the day was filled with thought-provoking ideas.

Laurent Elder, program leader in information and networks at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), spoke about the positive impact of technology on international science cooperation, describing the importance of tech in bringing people out of poverty. According to Elder, in the lowest socioeconomic status countries, over 90 per cent of its citizens own mobile phones. The popularity of these devices can be attributed to their role in improving the efficiencies of daily activities, maintaining social relations, and providing the ability to earn, save, and act in an emergency.

Though mobile phones are widespread, the internet is largely unaffordable for many. The importance of increasing access to technology in developing countries is multifold – technology impacts everything from agriculture to healthcare. Digitizing the process of updating patient information makes it possible to save lives while saving money for governments. Easy access to pricing information for crops can help local farmers increase profit. In Elder’s words, “The interesting thing to think about is whether it’s because countries are poor that they don’t have access, or they don’t have access because they are poor.”

It is not only in the developing world that technology can improve the lives of individuals. Shivani Goyal, a researcher at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation in Toronto, highlighted the importance of developing mobile applications (apps) to help increase the quality of health care. “We’ve found that we can use smartphones to get individuals to better manage their own health,” stated Goyal.

Goyal and colleagues are developing activity monitors on mobile phones to help individuals understand their behaviours and be motivated to change them. For example, breathe is a mobile app developed to help individuals self-manage their asthma by providing easy access to personal health information. The usage of these applications is not limited to those with medical conditions – they can also act as preventative measures by allowing all individuals to keep track of and manage their own health.

Technology can also benefit all nations by increasing communication and exchange of ideas. Jonathan Gosier – a tech entrepreneur, developer, and activist – is one of the players working to connect rural African villages to the internet and make the connections between technology and media in Africa and the rest of the world. In this talk, Gosier introduced the idea of the African diaspora holding much potential for helping the continent in the coming years. According to Gosier, the diaspora consists of the people who are either from Africa, or are connected to Africa in some way. “It’s the people who are connected to the continent both in mind and possibly by body […] it’s the people who are aware and are leveraging their power for the greater good and ultimately the prosperity of the continent,” he expressed.

Through the creation of global initiatives such as Apps 4 Africa (funding projects for Africa, from Africa) and Question Box (a platform designed to provide easy access to areas with literary and technical barriers), Gosier hopes to help build resources between the two worlds. “For me, I think what I’m most optimistic about isn’t necessarily the technology, but about the communities connecting and reconnecting […] I feel like a lot of things have been tried, and that’s one of the things that is most fragmented and disappointing – that someone with a great solution in Haiti doesn’t know about the same solution in Montreal,” Gosier told The Daily.

Building on the premise of bridging global  gaps in technology, the conference sparked discussions for students and entrepreneurs alike. This first venture out of Africa hopes to open doors for those in Montreal to get involved. For Nlemba, this means greater participation from youth in the community: “we want to set up a platform for students to be able to create something or have an impact somewhere else in the world.”

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Indeed, the mysteries of the Arctic and the Antarctic have intrigued many generations of scientists in the making. Wayne Pollard, a professor in the Department of Geography at McGill, is no exception. “As a kid, I always had this fascination with the North, something you could compare at the time with the Gold Rush,” explained Pollard passionately. “However, it wasn’t until graduate school that I got to make my first experiences there.” A PhD centered on ground water research in northern Yukon later, Pollard still had the drive to learn from the poles.

Following a postdoctoral fellowship with the Geological Survey of Canada and some work with Memorial University, he started his work at McGill. This included more research around permafrost, ground that remained under the water freezing point for more than two years. “I was interested in observing how climate change related to the melting of permafrost, and in the changes of arctic coastal landscapes,” the geologist explained. As his work on permafrost dynamics unravelled, Pollard added a new perspective to his scope of action after being approached for an unexpected collaboration.

“I was now the research director of two northern research stations, one of them being the McGill Arctic Research Station (MARS) on Axel Heiberg Island, in Nunavut.” Interestingly enough, this acronym soon took a whole new meaning. “A picture from a nearby lake captured the attention of NASA researchers, who saw an opportunity to study the conditions on Mars, as well as on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.” Titan, a moon of Saturn, and Europa, a moon of Jupiter, are known to have icy surfaces, and it is believed those coatings might conceal oceans. The possible presence of liquid water on other astronomical bodies has long been a focal point of astrobiological research. “While water isn’t an absolute requirement for the development of life, it certainly helps it considerably,” he adds.

As NASA became more interested in Pollard’s research, he took the initiative of sharing even more interesting hydrological features with them. “I showed them what we called perennial springs. The presence of minerals in water depresses its freezing point. Given that the temperature of permafrost can be warmer than that of air, this allows the water under the ice to rush on the surface.” This opened a whole new door on the study of water behaviour in cold climates. Indeed, many sub-zero structures on other planets could be better understood by improving our understanding of our own mystifying hydrological systems. The distribution of ground ice and ground water, which can be analyzed with the help of a ground-penetrating radar, is one of those important elements. The latter is instrumental if we ever want to understand the possible presence of water on Mars, or Europa. The collaboration, which began in 1995 and received the support of the Canadian Space Agency, has lasted ever since. “Using the Arctic as a planetary analogue has become an important part of our research, and we’ve published many papers on the subject in the past few years.”

Comparisons between Earth and Mars have always generated interest. Amidst their contrasting features, general similarities can still be noticed. “Venus, the Earth, and Mars have all evolved along a common geological path. Naturally, their respective positions in the Solar System, among other factors, have shaped their differences, Venus being too warm and Mars too cold for life as we know it. However, they remain very close geologically when compared to gas giants like Jupiter, which has a different structure.”

If life was ever to be found on Mars, the odds are it would be in the form of a fossil, as its conditions were closest to that of the Arctic around two to three billion years ago. While these insights from the past fascinate scientists from all fields, the future of Mars remains difficult to predict, as we still have a lot to understand. If the conditions on the ‘Red Planet’ got even further away from those on our own planet with time, exactly how Earth-like could Mars ever be? When questioned on that subject, Pollard opts for a careful approach. “Despite my work on planetary analogues, I’m still not an expert on Mars. It does lack many of the Earth’s vital aspects, such as its tectonic activity and the regulation of its moon.” However, its future is still unpredictable. “I suppose Mars could get slightly more Earth-like at some point under certain conditions. If its rotation axis became more inclined, for instance, some changes could occur.” While Mars still holds many mysteries, some can now be studied from the comfort of our permafrost.

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While EWB was first conceived as a technical program providing opportunities for engineers to help communities in need, unsuccessful projects led to the broadening of the organization’s scope. “Initial projects did not focus on the self-sufficiency of the targeted communities,” explains Chelala, “eventually, participants realized that simply building a well wasn’t enough to make a change.” Thus came a new vision, as it wasn’t about investing in the project anymore – it was about “investing in the people,” a tagline that embodied EWB’s newfound direction and commitment to reaching the roots of the problem. The organization’s actions were then divided into a four-step process: research, pilot, scaling, and exit. The process is simple to implement. After understanding the causes of the problem, it becomes important to come up with new approach strategies and implement them gradually, the goal being to leave knowing the community will be able to sustain itself afterwards. In this spirit, EWB carries out its development work with governments.

“We want to avoid falling into ‘voluntourism’ as much as possible,” explains Julia Wai, Vice-President of Communications. Indeed, many questions have been raised in the past over the administration of charitable organizations, including some sponsored by EWB. The impact of the projects developed, and the use of the funds raised, are among those concerns. “While many [volunteers] choose to go for two-month expeditions, we focus on the long-term, and our projects typically last for at least a year.” How exactly does the McGill chapter contribute to those projects? The answer lies in McGill EWB’s Junior Fellowship Program, whereby one to two students are sent to African countries each year (most recently Uganda and Malawi) to participate in the organization’s longer 12 month endeavours. However, the chapter also offers many other ways to get involved, no matter your field of study.

“One of our main challenges this year is to reach out to a variety of students,” stresses Wai. “It is a very common misconception that EWB is composed entirely of engineers, when in fact our work is being [carried out] by a wide range of people.”

One prime example of EWB’s reaching out beyond its own faculty is Jessica Hoch, a U3 geography student. In charge of developing Fair Trade projects for McGill EWB, Hoch recently reached a major milestone: an official certification from Fair Trade itself. “Finally obtaining our certification felt very fulfilling,” she explains. ”It was a pleasing step in our development. We are committed to offering visibility and accessibility to Fair Trade products, such as chocolate and coffee.” Buying these products ensures that the workers involved in their making benefit from reasonable conditions. McGill Food and Dining Services has played a major role in monitoring that the standards for the products are respected in official McGill stores. EWB also oversees the standards of student-run stores, which include Snax in the Leacock Building, the Engineering Undergraduate Society store in McConnell, and Dave’s Store in Bronfman.

“We’ll also keep offering coffee days on Mondays and Fridays in the Adams building,” adds Hoch. Coffee days act as a fundraising activity for McGill EWB, among other annual events like their Valentine’s Day chocolate sale. These events also give students a chance to meet with members of the chapter.

Other involvement opportunities cover global engineering, youth engagement, and political advocacy. “We have a large body of 22 executives,” explain Adam Hasham, president of the McGill chapter. “A number of them are assigned to every subproject we sponsor to allow coordination. We also try to organize panels on foreign aid and to invite guest lecturers.” Hasham has been particularly proud of the organization’s political achievements, which include passing bills in the House of Commons regarding transparency of Canadian foreign aid. “In 2008, collectively with other chapters, we managed to pass a bill to untie foreign aid spending, which was an important political success for us,” said President Adam Hasham.

The EWB also looks forward to the Run to End Poverty, another way to support the organization, which will take place on October 20. Runners can opt for a distance ranging from 5 to 40 kilometers. While the Montreal edition takes place on Mount Royal, multiple events are organized across Canada. It is possible to sign up online and to upload your team’s information on the website.

Despite the abundance of activities, Wai acknowledges the organization’s struggles to attract volunteers from different backgrounds. “We’re in the process of rebranding to make EWB more accessible.” This feeling appears to be strongly shared within the organization, as the sentence “You don’t have to be an engineer!” can be quoted to all four members interviewed. “The word ‘engineer’ appears off-putting,” Chelala and Wai asserted, “as we saw at the orientation, but we want to create forums with other clubs and to reach out [to more] people.”

Executive members will be available on coffee days and can also be reached at mcgill@ewb.ca

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