A study published in the journal Neural Computation in 2002 examined geometric visual hallucinations, attributing these to a number of causes: “taking hallucinogens such as LSD, cannabis, mescaline, or psilocybin;…viewing bright flickering lights; on waking up or falling asleep;…‘near death’ experiences; and… many other syndromes.”

The study goes on to categorize the types of hallucinations into four groups called “form constants: tunnels and funnels, spirals, lattices (which include honeycombs and funnels), and cobwebs.”  Essentially, these are different geometric patterns.

Physicist Nigel Goldenfeld extended this examination in a similar study last year that engaged with the mechanisms that take place in a brain as it hallucinates. His lab analyzed hallucinations with reference to the Turing mechanism, which plays a part in pattern creation in many biological and ecological systems.

Turing patterns work through a reaction-diffusion system that contain “activators” and “inhibitors.” Through a feedback mechanism, the activating chemical amplifies its own quantity, while an inhibitor keeps it in check by slowing down its production and diffusing it.

“In principle, the behaviour is generic. The trick is that you have to have the right rates for the chemical reactions, the right diffusion rates of reacting species,” Irving Epstein, a Brandeis University chemist who studies pattern formation, told Wired Science. Within the human brain, the visual cortex controls the process of image creation; as light perceived by the eye stimulates certain parts of the visual cortex, a pattern of neural connections form, resulting in an image. Yet these patterns can also arise spontaneously causing geometric hallucinations.

Goldenfeld and his research team posit that the topological structure of the visual cortex inhibits Turing patterns from working over long distances, and from producing spontaneous neural connections consistently.

This means that while certain changes in the ‘normal’ workings of the visual cortex may cause geometric hallucinations, the patterns caused by external stimuli will still be those most predominantly seen – at least in the average human brain.

Yet individuals who have no cognitive or psychological illnesses often report encountering minimal hallucinations within the course of their daily lives, without determining the “form constants” that are responsible for these. Often, the triggers are attributed to altered levels of stress, sleep patterns, or changes in alcohol and/or drug use.

I talked to Michael D’Alimonte, a student at McGill who falls within this subgroup, about his experiences with such hallucinatory occurrences. “The mildest form [of these] would be in terms of set patterns, especially pavement and brick patterns,” he said, “Often, images will swirl, set lines will become fluid. This could stem from staring at something for too long, or being in an environment with many patterns… I can easily stare at a set of lines or a brick wall for it to morph and start moving.” Often he finds that staring at concrete causes it to move.

For D’Alimonte, the hallucinations accord with the categories found in the aforementioned study. “It may be more of a honeycomb kind of thing, it’s so spread out and varied that it eventually just becomes one big kind of mesh. I guess the speckles in the concrete stop being confined in place and just become everywhere.”

A variation that also accords with the study, and may be linked to sleep paralysis, is found with hallucinations that occur upon waking up or falling asleep.

“There’s a strange kind of state between sleeping and consciousness where my mind will be awake, but my body isn’t fully awake yet,” said D’alimonte. “My eyes will be open, my mind will be at work but my body won’t be able to move. The most recent case was when I was napping on my couch and my mind woke up but my body wasn’t awake yet, and on the chair next to me was a fully formed person… just chilling on my couch watching TV with me, which at the time freaked me out. Once I calmed my mind down enough to fully wake up, this person was not there anymore. That’s one of the key instances which I don’t know if you can classify as dreaming… you know when you’re dreaming because your body will respond to you… I knew I was awake, my body wasn’t working and I saw things I didn’t see when I was actually conscious.”

Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks has engaged with yet another aspect of hallucinations among psychologically healthy individuals with visual impairments, called Charles Bonnett syndrome, in a TEDTalk.

His studies have determined that over the course of a person’s life, there are subtle changes that can occur within the structural set up of the visual cortex, causing one to hallucinate. “There is a special form of hallucinations that could go along with deteriorating vision or blindness… As the visual parts of the brain are no longer getting any input, they become hyperactive…they begin to fire spontaneously and you start to see things,” said Sacks in his TEDTalk.

Speaking about one of his patients who experienced these, Sacks states that “she was perfectly sane, she had no medical problems, she wasn’t on any medications that could produce hallucinations… The hallucinations were unrelated to anything she was thinking, feeling or doing. They seemed to come on by themselves or disappear. She had no control over them…they all seemed oblivious to her.”

It appears, then, that subtle variations within the visual cortex are capable of inciting perceptual changes within the largely healthy human brain. With the human tendency for nuanced individual differences, perhaps it is not so easy to compartmentalize variations from the ‘average’ visual perception.

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The team who conducted the research reported that the sensitivity of their visual sensor technology is tenfold that of the current methods for measuring biomarkers. In tests, the sensors have been able to detect even very low viral loads in samples, detection that has previously been impossible.  The test uses nanotechnology that works by turning a sample solution a distinctive red or blue color, easily detectable by the naked eye.

The greatest impact of this research is expected to impact HIV diagnoses, especially in developing countries, which have fewer economic resources per capita and a greater rate of infection relative to the rest of the world. However, it is hoped that the test can be adapted to detect other diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, sepsis and leishmaniasis.

“Unfortunately, the existing gold standard detection methods can be too expensive to be implemented in parts of the world where resources are scarce. Our approach affords for improved sensitivity, does not require sophisticated instrumentation, and it is ten times cheaper, which could allow more tests to be performed for better screening of many diseases,” Professor Molly Stevens of the Departments of Materials and Bioengineering at Imperial College London told Medical News Today.

The OraSure HIV test, approved by the FDA this summer for use in the United States allows people to test for HIV in their own homes, detecting the virus within twenty minutes through a simple mouth swab. The test costs about $40 and, as of September, is available in American stores.

A trial for OraSure showed that the home test only detected HIV 92 per cent of the time for people carrying the virus, leading some to conclude that although the test is convenient, it may be lack degree efficacy.

Prior to saliva HIV tests, at home HIV test kits required blood samples, which had to be sent to a laboratory to be tested–taking longer and reducing the privacy of at-home testing.

Researchers for the new HIV diagnostic test intend to collaborate with global NGOs to help manufacture and distribute the new diagnostic technology in developing countries, helping to decrease the spread of the disease

Undoubtedly, the manufacture and distribution of this diagnostic test will make an impact globally. While the impact on underdeveloped countries – where medical resources relative to the population are low – may be the most noticeable, there is still a need for diagnostic tools like these in Canada.

While the OraSure test was passed by the FDA this summer, it has yet to be approved by Health Canada.

Sarah O’Dacre of Health Canada confirmed in an email that “the OraSure Rapid Test (HIV test kit) is not approved for sale in Canada.”

When The Daily spoke with Dr. Nikita Pant Pai, a clinical epidemiologist at the McGill University Health Centre who has been involved in evaluating Point of Care HIV tests, she emphasized the increasing role that diagnostic kits like these might play. “I am aware that there is a lot of interest in proactive communities to get them into Canada…Approval of [the] HIV self test will pave the way for several other self tests (other key infectious and chronic diseases)….it is a concept whose time has come.”

The number of newly HIV-infected Canadians in 2008 was between 2,300 and 4,300 people, indicating that, while incidence of the disease is higher in other nations, Canada still has room for improvement, and OraSure tests may help.

Pai also mentioned the importance of creating support systems for those diagnosed with HIV outside of the doctors office. “It is important to set up counselling systems in place before we consider self tests for Canada,” she emphasized. This concern was also raised in the FDA approval process, leading OraSure to add a telephone counseling number on the side of the kits.

While there is great hope for this technology, there is also great concern. There are still roadblocks to its Canadian implementation, which might take some time to resolve. However, a focus on the Global South for the product may provide greater returns through lowered costs and increased accessibility for HIV diagnosis.

–With files from Peter Shyba

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Following over a decade of research by Ronald Duman and George Aghajanian, both psychiatry professors at the Yale School of Medicine, scientists have found that low doses of the compound may reverse signs of depression in patients in over just a few hours.

Ketamine – also known as K, Special K, and Vitamin K – has been classified as a Schedule I narcotic in Canada since 2005, but Schedule III in the United States since 1999. Despite this, it is FDA-approved for use as an injected anesthetic.

Ingested and injected, effects last an hour or two, producing varied levels of dissociation in the user. It manifests in varied levels of pleasant dream-like states, vivid imagery, hallucinations, and emergence delirium.

Besides these hallucinatory side effects, the drug’s real medicinal potential is only fully realized by looking deeper and in evaluating its specific effects on synapses. The paper states that ketamine is able to stimulate synaptic growth and promote their regeneration, to counter the loss of the same – which is symptomatic of depression.

“Depression is a neurodegenerative disease, and people long thought that it was very hard to reverse such a thing,” Aghajanian told the Yale Daily News. “That’s the amazing thing about Ketamine – it reverses the changes within 24 hours.”

“The idea that a drug could produce a rapid improvement, rather than taking several months to feel better is really an important idea and it really challenges the thinking about how anti-depressant medications might work,” Yale Chair of Psychiatry John Krystal told the Yale Daily News. “I think [it provides] a lot of hope for the future for the treatment of depression.”

Comparatively, the SSRIs [Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors] that have been used to treat depression only begin to take effect over seven weeks of daily use, on average.

In treating depression, issues of timing can be crucial; the risk of potential self harm and suicide over the weeks it takes for SSRIs to kick in fosters a stressful environment for not only the person who must continue to operate within the routines and responsibilities of their daily lives, but also stresses their familial and social spheres.

In the United States alone, 14.8 million people are afflicted with major depressive disorders yearly, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) – that’s 6.7 per cent of the population.

Clearly, then, the promise of a (relatively) instantaneous cure brings interest.

While Ketamine therapy offers a tempting picture of a medical revolution, any dialogue following the publication of scientific studies like this necessitates a consideration of the flipside, one that seems vast and troublesome now.

For one, Ketamine has  been associated with psychosis in high doses and prolonged use. With the drug’s widespread presence within the recreational sphere, a question must be asked regarding its off-prescription use. Were Ketamine to gain acceptance as a prescribed medication, would there be an increase in recreational use that would create a larger black market?

Without insinuating that there is a current lack of supply, one can assume that supply would be greatly increased should Ketamine be prescribed. For patients, a black market could be tempting.

While Ketamine prescriptions have not emerged into mainstream medicine just yet, there have been reports of “off label” uses of the drug to treat depression given its FDA approval as an injected anesthetic.

The Yale findings come with another disclaimer that hints at some side potential failings of the drug. Their research shows that patients, taken off the medication, relapse between one and two weeks with all their corresponding improvement reversed.

Would this reversion be avoided with continued use? Perhaps more importantly, if patients relapsed, would they find their depression worse than it was before treatment?

Alongside these queries, there enters yet another factor, that of the addictive potential of Ketamine, as well as its reality-altering side-effects, which include the aforementioned dream-like states, hallucinations, immediate delirium, and irrational behavior. It seems idealistic to assume that advantages could outweigh the destructive potential of the drug.

While this research clearly takes treatments for depression into a markedly different territory, there are many questions and considerations that remain unanswered. There is a need for further research before Ketamine is simplistically promoted as the new miracle cure for depression.

It will be essential to formulate a compound able to impact synapses without the detrimental side effects of Ketamine itself, a safer alternative that researchers are now working on. Rather than being seen as in support for swapping SSRIs with Ketamine, the paper should perhaps be taken as revolutionary for exposing the regenerative capabilities of a compound, and consequently providing a basis for formulating depression remedies that have side effects with less damage potential.

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This pervasiveness is constantly highlighted for people afflicted with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) or electrical sensitivity (ES). For them, technologies are a malevolent phenomenon, causing them to actively restructure their careers, academic life, and social circles in order to avoid certain technologies and maintain their health.

Individuals with MCS develop negative reactions from chemical exposure to everyday substances, such as paints, perfumes, and chemical cleaners, to name a few. There are two stages to the sensitivity: induction and triggering. Induction occurs when a person’s contact with a chemical leads to the development of a (sometimes permanent) sensitivity. Triggering follows: the person develops certain symptoms when in the vicinity of the aforementioned chemical.

MCS symptoms are said to manifest in various organs, including the respiratory, digestive, neurological, endocrine, urinary, cardiovascular and immune systems. These symptoms vary among people, and can lead to health problems that range from mild and manageable to life-threatening. So while some individuals may only experience mild symptoms like headaches and nausea, a recent study has linked such serious effects as blood clots and cardiac arrest to chemical exposure in cases of MCS.

ES has been identified by many as an illness triggered by exposure to everyday levels of electro magnetic fields from electrical sources in the environment: power lines, computers, wireless networks, et cetera. ES symptoms are extensive and somewhat similar to those found in MCS. They include skin irritation, memory loss, fatigue, and heart problems.

Yet, despite the tangible symptoms of ES, doctors and scientists have been dismissive of the illness, with speculations of its psychosomatic nature retaining prevalence. MCS was defined by Allergy UK as the “21st Century Disease”, confirming its status to many as a “proven” illness. However, the American Medical Association does not recognize MCS as an illness with a known pathology. The AMA verdict is the same for ES.

“We don’t contest that some people get some disabling symptoms that are very real,” Doctor Michael Clark, the UK’s Health Protection Agency scientific spokesman told the BBC in 2005.  “Over the last thirty years and all over the world, no links have been found between these symptoms and any form of exposure … For people with MCS, it’s a different matter. There is evidence that some people are sensitive to some chemicals.”

Seven years later, electrical sensitivity remains an under-researched health problem, leaving those afflicted to devise their own means of coping with it – without being granted disability, as MCS continues to be unacknowledged by the American Medical Association as qualifying for disability.

Living in a major city becomes impossible for many with ES, necessitating relocation to less technologically-reliant regions. They must revert back to a more manual time: the continual communication enabled by cell phones and laptops, as well as the normalcy of cars, microwaves and televisions must be given up.

These individuals, who find themselves stigmatized in a techno-fetishist society and unable to immerse themselves in a virtual web, are perhaps good spokespeople for a return to more insulated, individual living that is arguably healthier. Daily life where mobility is reliant on bicycles, where cooking is possible without microwave nuking, and where there is an understanding that it is okay for someone not to get ahold of you for a week or so seems like an idyll for many, but is necessary for those with ES.

In the most simplistic summation, then, environmentally-imposed health concerns hold the potential to necessitate for these individuals a healthier lifestyle outside this environment –one they would not have worked toward achieving before.

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Speakers accused Harper and the conservative government of only supporting scientific evidence favourable for their causes.

The policies that inspired this rally include budget reductions to research programs at Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, decisions to close major national and social science research institutions such as the world-renowned Experimental Lakes Area, and the closing of The Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Eureka, Nunavut.

Scientists believe that the budget cuts reflect the Harper government’s attempts to suppress key sources of scientific data that would refute certain pro-industry and anti-environmental policies.

The importance of this event was not only in its direct message to the government, but also in its influence on the public. “The turnout was way higher than I was expecting and the media coverage was incredible,” Gibbs told The Daily in an interview. “The main goal was to make sure the public knew what was going on. Previously, people had reported on single instances, but I don’t think anybody had really put all of the pieces together to show the … general attack on science and evidence.”

The government has defended its cost-reducing measures; it has stated that the budget cuts are in the name of deficit reduction and efficiency. Furthermore, a $1.1 billion investment in research, development, and innovation is to be made over the next five years.

“Budget 2012 enhanced federal government support for leading edge research including $500 million – over five years – for the Canada Foundation for Innovation,” Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear said in an email to the CBC.

Yet the protesters’ argument lies in the diversion of funds from scientific areas that benefit the environment to those that further the Harper government’s economic agenda.

“[The government] didn’t respond directly to [the rally],” Gibbs said. “They put out a press release on the day of the rally, talking about their funding to science, but not actually discussing the points of the rally at all. They mostly focused on what the dollar amount to funding and technology has been, but a lot of that money…[has] shifted a lot. It’s moved away from basic funding into commercializing products for the market.”

The government has also refrained from commenting on the rally’s argument that federal budget cuts have been directed strategically, with a bias against certain research programs.

“It was mostly programs that do environmental monitoring … that they cut,” said Gibbs. She also stated that the the government failed to address “the muzzling issue, [where] they didn’t let government scientists speak to the public about their research.”

If environment-monitoring organizations are left ill-equipped to continue their operations after funding cuts, it could translate into a global lack of readiness to deal with potential environmental degradation and resulting environmental disasters.

“These were really important monitoring programs that were cut, things that monitor air quality and water quality, climate change,” said Gibbs. “Its even more worrisome that we’re not even going to have the data to know if there is an environmental problem. Forget dealing with the problem, we won’t even know about the problem because we don’t have the data anymore.”

Considering the large scale of these research programs, it doesn’t seem feasible for them to attempt to secure funding elsewhere.

“A few of them have been trying to get funding from universities, but it’s not looking very good right now,” said Gibbs. “Most universities are cash strapped themselves right now, so they don’t have the extra money to take on these huge monitoring tasks.” Gibbs stressed that since non-governmental funding bodies are not able to commit to a consistent level of funding, this could hinder the institutions’ abilities to maintain ongoing research.

On some level, these budget cuts will determine the opportunities available to university graduates entering the job market as well.

“Most of the cuts we were focusing [on don’t really] affect the undergraduate level,” stated Gibbs. “But they affect the job prospects for being a scientist in Canada, so I think young people might be thinking twice about whether it makes sense about going into a science field.”

Gibbs added, “I know a lot of the grad students …. that were part of this [rally] … are thinking about jobs outside of Canada, simply because there are no prospects to getting a job within their field in Canada.” If  defunding science – especially specific areas of science – continues, these consequences will only worsen.

Some organizing members of the Death of Evidence rally, along with Katie Gibbs, are currently working on forming an organization to promote these issues full time in the coming months, and hope to launch this venture by mid-October this year. For further information on the government policies that inspired this rally, visit www.deathofevidence.ca

The post Political science appeared first on The McGill Daily.

In the current agreement, which was established at the end of the 2005 NHL lockout, the players’ share began at 54 per cent of the NHL’s overall revenues in 2005 and climbed to nearly 57 per cent in the 2010-11 season.

Relative to other sports, NHL owners find this cut to be steep. The NFL recently reduced its players’ share to 46-48 per cent of  overall revenues, and the NBA splits its revenue nearly equally between players and owners.

Dividing up the NHL’s $3.3 billion in annual revenues remains the central point in driving negotiations.

Despite the fact that the NHL’s owners are signing a growing number of players to huge contracts, the NHL is firmly committed to lowering player salaries.

Following talks between the NHL and its player’s union on August 31, NHLPA executive Director Donald Fehr told the media that the NHL would not respond to proposals that don’t include salary cuts. “At this point, all talks are recessed,” he said.

The union’s initial deal proposed a lower share of revenue for players over the first three years of the offer, reverting back to the current level of 57 per cent in the fourth.

“We proposed several concepts for the fourth year that would allow the fourth year to be something less than 57 per cent of revenues,” Fehr said to the media, “The suggestion was that if we could get over the fourth year and their objection to the 57 per cent snap back, that would give us an opportunity to move forward… Unfortunately, so far at least, that proposal we made today did not bear fruit.”

Bettman responded to the media, saying that “in the final analysis, the emphasis was on returning back to 57 per cent in the fourth year, which obviously isn’t acceptable.”

The NHL has also claimed that it needs a bigger share of the revenue due to the fact that it has lost $240 million over the last two seasons. However, the NHLPA and most media outlets are skeptical. The NHL reportedly makes $3.3 billion in revenue per year and spends $1.9 billion of that on player costs. That leaves about $1.4 billion left over to spend on non-player costs. An estimate of those costs by the Levitt Report  in 2003 was $770 million. Many are doubtful that non-player costs have doubled within that time frame.

In part, NHL owners have been able to take a hard line against the NHLPA because of the income the former derives from NBC television network–$200 million earned regardless of the labour situation.

Concurrently, NHL players miss out on paychecks.

“The lockout is not something anyone wants,” NHL player Erik Karlsson told Slam! Sports (slam.canoe.ca) earlier this week, “What’s most important is that we get a deal done that is good for everyone. We’re not going to give up anything just because we want to get it over with. We want to make it right. Everybody wants that as well: [to] Make a deal that’s going to make everyone happy and last for a long time.”

Just as other NHL players are considering their options in case a lockout is imposed, Karlsson plans to seek out an alternate place to play, despite his limited options.

“Sweden closed their league, and that was probably going to be my number one option if that was available,” he said. “It isn’t, so I guess I’m going to have to wait to see what’s going to happen here … it depends on how long it drags on. We don’t have that many options anymore. Russia is one. I don’t know if you want to go there anymore. We’ll see about that. Switzerland is going to be hard because they only have so many imports on each team … maybe the Swedish Elite League changes its mind once (the lockout) gets closer.”

The Toronto Sun talked to NHL players and reported some of their plans in case of a lockout: Taylor Hall says he will consider Europe, Sam Gagner, Switzerland and Nail Yakupov, Russia, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ plans remain more open-ended. These vague, far-off plans are all the players can do until an agreement is reached by both sides – and considering the NHL’s determination to take as much as possible from the players, it could be a long time till we see one.

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This Canadian expansion is part of an ongoing effort to develop the LFL, a new sports phenomenon. The new league is an all women’s football league in which athletes wear lingerie. The first Canadian franchise was awarded to Toronto. The league started in the United States and gained a significant following, spurring its recent expansion into Canada.

“In the US there are twelve [teams], in Canada right now, there are four,” LFL Chairman Mitchell Mortaza said.

The US franchises in the LFL are Baltimore Charm, Cleveland Crush, Chicago Bliss, Green Bay Chill, Las Vegas Sin, Los Angeles Temptation, Minnesota Valkyrie, Orlando Fantasy, Tampa Breeze, and Seattle Mist.

“To say that [the LFL is] in its infancy would be putting it lightly,” Mortaza said, adding, “The team in Toronto did incredibly well. It exceeded our expectations, and the media attention and fanfare in advance to actually playing is phenomenal. The Saskatchewan province…and also the Vancouver market [have] reacted very strongly to it. We like our chances and we look forward to introducing more and more franchises.”

The LFL is looking to expand further into Canada, coveting franchises in Montreal, Quebec City, Calgary, and Edmonton. It further hopes to expand into Australia in 2013 and Europe in 2014.

The LFL has made attempts to market itself based on more than its sex appeal and has gained a reputation for intense competition.

“Certainly there is sex appeal, and that’s part of it, but our awareness has always been that the sex appeal will draw in media coverage and fanfare, but unless you have a credible football product, it’s not going to sustain because people can get more sexual content [elsewhere],” said Mortaza.

“It has to have a level of credibility to it, and the women have to be true athletes… We have to take it seriously, and that’s why it’s grown so well in the States. We’re going to follow the exact same recipe in Canada,” he continued

Following this mandate has been a challenge for the LFL, as it aims to acquire athletes who are both talented and marketable.

“Initially we were attracting a lot of models who wanted to be athletes. Now it’s the opposite,” said Mortaza.

Mortaza describes his athletes as “the Gabriel Reese’s of volleyball, or the Danica Patrick’s of racing… Women that are marketable, but also very athletic.”

By amplifying its emphasis on athletics, the LFL seeks to market to a wide range of demographics.

“A lot of folks just assume [our demographic] is just men, young men. But it’s actually not only hardcore and casual football fans, it’s a lot of people who otherwise could care less about football,” said Mortaza.

“We’re finding that a lot of women are coming to the games, and watching the games [on TV]. It’s not strictly football, it’s not so testosterone-driven, so it tends to appeal to the wider audience.”

Yet according to reports by the Toronto Star, the audience for the Toronto Triumph’s opening game in September last year comprised of “at least four bachelor parties,” with a fan stating that his “favourite part was the tackling.”

Beyond the sex appeal of female athletes in lingerie, their attire is not as practical as it is visually appealing. Liz Gorman of the Tampa Breeze told CBC that she believes the league will eventually evolve to a point that the more revealing outfits will not be worn.

She told the CBC, “I mean I don’t like it… You’d rather wear full clothing. I have a bunch of scrapes on me.”

LFL games are currently broadcast on MTV networks in the U.S., and, according to Mortaza, “there’s two networks – one an entertainment-based network and the other, a national sports network – that are interested in the rights in Canada.”

Next season begins August 25.

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Following the very first injection, skin starts to discolour, turning a scaly gray and green; it becomes scabrous and rots with continued use.  Emulating the skin of the reptile the drug is named after – and also the result of its bite – Krokodil leaves its user’s bone and muscle tissue exposed, rotting, and awaiting the onset of gangrene. Pictures of addicts are a vision akin to the body horror found in Cronenberg films.

Russia is home to the world’s highest ratio of heroin users – up to two and a half million, according to unofficial estimates. Krokodil, a synthetic opiate alternative to heroin seems to have first appeared in parts of Russia around 2002. Its rapid spread throughout the country is largely tied to the  2009 crackdown on Afghani heroin. Faced with limited supplies of the opiate and the resulting higher street prices, there has been a mass shift to Krokodil as a heroin-substitute.

The growth of narcotic drug use in Russia has occurred alongside the growth of a demographic known as “the Lost Generation.”  This cohort, which faces high levels of unemployment, violence, and drug addition, is made up of those whose developmental years coincided with the fall of the Soviet Union and the ensuing economic turmoil.

A 2010 report by the World Health Organization (WHO) quantifies the challenges faced by this group. “In the Russian Federation, in the period [between] 1985-1994, rates [of youth homicide] in the 10 to 24-year-old age bracket increased by over 150 per cent.” Contemporary data supports the notion that the lost generation faces increasing strife. In 2010, the Russian International News Agency (RIA Novosti) reported that, of the two and a half million Russian drug addicts, 20 per cent were school-aged children, 60 per cent were young people (aged 16 to 30) and 20 per cent are older people. Ria Novosti also reported that the number of users between the ages of six and 13 were increasing “dramatically.”

Krokodil delivers roughly the same high as heroin, but is three times cheaper: a single dose costs 5 euros, compared to 50 for heroin. Made from iodine, lighter fluid, gasoline, industrial cleaning oil and codeine, it can be cooked in 30 minutes in a users kitchen.

As simple as its creation process appears, Krokodil addicts spend their lives in a cycle of cooking and injecting, in continued attempts to avoid withdrawal. Compared to the four to eight hour-long high heroin promises, Krokodil delivers only about ninety minutes of euphoria, with intense withdrawal symptoms following soon after.

Another fact distinguishing opiates from synthetic-opiates: a Krokodil user’s death comes maximally two to three years from the first dose, and even a single dose may be lethal.

The chemical associated with Krokodil, desomorphine, was used as a morphine-substitute in the 1930s, and is eight to ten times more potent than morphine. Codeine can be turned into desomorphine in a series of chemical reactions, which – although easily achieved through a three-step synthesis in a legitimate lab holding all the relevant materials – is often impure when cooked in a dirty, ill-equipped kitchen. The resultant impurity has been determined as the cause of skin decay around injection time.

Why has Krokodil use become so widespread in Russia? The most significant reason seems to be the ease of accessing codeine-based analgesics – they’re sold over the counter nationwide.

According to a report by the Medical University of Silesia in Poland, there are currently an estimated 100 to 250 thousand confirmed Russian Krokodil addicts, and about 30 thousand deaths per year associated with the drug.

Its presence in Germany, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, France, Belgium, Sweden, and Norway was confirmed earlier this year, although an estimate of the numbers of users is not yet available for these regions.

As codeine is not as freely available in some of these countries, such as Germany, it is believed that Krokodil is currently cooked in Russia and transported along drug routes to Germany, often being sold as heroin. Because of the similar euphoria induced, users may often not realize that what they have consumed is anything but the more natural opiate – at least not till discoloration, scabs, and rotting set in.

Until recently, Russian authorities failed to recognize the drug as a major problem, making no moves to increase state-run rehabilitation facilities or limit over-the-counter sales of codeine-based analgesics.

Failure to do the latter can be ascribed to the huge profits pharmaceuticals have been reaping from over-the-counter codeine sales.

“Over the past five years, sales of codeine-based tablets have grown by dozens of times,” Viktor Ivanov, head of Russia’s Drug Control Agency, told UK’s the Independent last year.  “It’s pretty obvious that it’s not because everyone has suddenly developed headaches.”

“A year ago we said that we need to introduce prescriptions,” said Ivanov, “These tablets don’t cost much, but the profit margins are high. Some pharmacies make up to 25 per cent of their profits from the sale of these tablets.  It’s not in the interests of pharmaceuticals or pharmacies themselves to stop this.”

The country’s authorities have been loosely debating over the need to ban codeine or impose mandatory drug testing in schools, and President Dmitry Medvedev has called for websites detailing the recipe for Krokodil to be shut down. Banning codeine has been a harder measure to introduce, hindered by lobbying pharmaceutical companies in rigid opposition to it. Yet with this downward societal spiral in place, Russian authorities have announced plans to restrict sale of medicines containing codeine starting in June 2012.

The state now also has a working plan to create its first network of rehabilitation clinics over the coming years. Yet, in the short term, the Health Ministry currently runs only a few live-in rehab centers, with their capacity capped at about 2.5 million drug addicts. To fill this void, the majority of operational rehab clinics in the country at the moment are being run by religion-affiliated groups which border on fundamentalism.

The limited rehab facilities are just that: a void, and a pressing one. Withdrawal from Krokodil is a harrowing month-long endeavor, far more painful than the week it takes to overcome heroin withdrawal. Users are aware of this, and are often also aware of the flesh they will lose and the reality of imminent death, yet they return to it for its cheapness and ease of access.

“You can feel how disgusting it is when you’re doing it. You’re dreaming of heroin, of something that feels clean and not like poison,” Zhenzya, a recovered Krokodil addict, toldh Independent, “But you can’t afford it, so you keep doing the Krokodil. Until you die.”

While restricting over-the-counter sales of codeine-based pharmaceuticals is essential in tackling Krokodil use in the region, the need for assisted rehabilitation and more comprehensive social reforms focused on Russian youth is just as pressing. If a heroin habit is thought to be difficult to kick, addiction to and creation and trafficking of  “the drug that eats junkies” must be tackled just as firmly in an attempt to combat the self-imposed death sentence Krokodil junkies in Eastern Europe now face.

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Of these issues, the most pertinent seems to be the increasingly widespread occurrence of heroin addiction in East Jerusalem and throughout Israel, as poverty and vulnerability appear to have made people turn to the opiate in attempts to find stress release.

Drug abuse is often found burgeoning in regions facing political conflict, with rates of addiction rising during times of both physical and structural conflict – it is seen as being a defence strategy to cope with insecurity and violence.

Although Palestine has no explicit historic connection to the drug trade, once heroin was introduced to the area, it became massively popular. Before 1967, the number of Palestinian drug users was reported as being in the mere dozens, and the Global Report on Drugs’ statistics showed no narcotics production or trafficking in the region. After the Six Day War and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza strip, a different scenario emerged.

Life in occupied East Jerusalem is characterized by overcrowding, congestion, and unrelenting social tensions. Here, opiates can provide an escape from daily stresses while filling the void created by a lack of leisure activities.

Al Quds University estimates that there are now 6,000 people addicted to heroin in East Jerusalem alone, compared to 300 in 1986. During the Six-Day war, this region was recaptured by Israel, and the Palestine Authority was no longer allowed to intervene. Consequently, it severed ties with Arab social and legal infrastructure, resulting in a state of chaos.

In Israel-controlled territories, Arab residents specifically face a lack of employment, poor education, high poverty levels, and persistent political instability, all of which have played a part in promoting opiate abuse.

According to a report by Vice Magazine, East Jerusalem’s heroin addicts are concentrated in its Old City, a single square kilometer of land, home to about 35,000 people including Jews and Arabs. In this tight space, acrimonious relations between the two groups have the risk of intensifying quickly.

Al Ram is a town that was locked out by Israel’s Separation Barrier in 2006, disconnecting it from the city and consequently impacting its local economy. One third of the town’s businesses were forced to shut down, 70 per cent of youths under 24 were left unemployed, and the 62, 000 residents were denied required IDs to enter Jerusalem. With restricted mobility, an estimated 5,000 Palestinian children remain unable to attend school. This imposed lack of productive endeavors creates a context ripe for heroin addiction.

“These areas are suffering because we are not allowed to function, and Israel is neglecting them as a policy,” Palestinian Authority spokesperson Ghassan Khatib told Al Jazeera.

As government officials are unable or unwilling to tackle the issue, NGOs like Al Maqdese have stepped in. They promote drug awareness in schools, offer counselling services with trained psychiatrists, and distribute needles, straps, and condoms to addicts. Their harm-reduction policies aim to contain the spread of blood diseases, as a 2010 study by the World Health Organization found that 45 per cent of drug users in the region were infected with Hepatitis C. With thousands of residents living in close quarters in East Jerusalem, careful management of transmittable diseases is essential in preventing high mortality rates.

In 2007, Nihad Rajabi, once a drug user himself, opened a rehab center in Al Ram, the only one of its kind in Palestinian territory. The center receives no funding from the Palestine Authority ministries and is privately funded, limiting its scope and overall impact. “This is one per cent of what I want to do, but there are no resources,” Rajabi told Al Jazeera.

Israel’s coordinator of government activities in the territories made a statement to Haaretz, claiming,  “by dint of agreements there are no routine enforcement activities of the Israel Police…except in cases where Israeli citizens are involved in the crimes.”

According to Ajman Afghani, a doctor involved with Al Maqdese, Israel’s hesitancy to prosecute drug dealers in Al Ram has created a safe haven for the trade: the Middle East Monitor has reported that even when police are aware of dealer and addicts’ drug nests, they do not make attempts to raid them. In addition, Israel has also been accused of framing those addicted to drugs as being “sick and unemployed” and thereby eligible for a monthly allowance, which plays a role in promoting and feeding their addiction.

It is important to realize that Israel is fighting its own battle against heroin addiction. According to Al Jazeera, “the Israeli drug-authority [has] estimated that there are over 300,000 heroin users in the country, including 70,000 teenagers, in a market worth about US$2 billion a year.”

As comprehensive statistics documenting narcotics abuse in Palestinian Territory are not available, it is difficult to monitor whether the trend is still on the rise, has stabilized, or is being mitigated with the help of NGO-run rehabilitation services. Regardless of precise numbers, the issue of drug use in the region alludes to the need for conflict-resolution between Israel and Palestine. Conflict-laden territories have a history of heightened drug use, and it seems that the only significant hope for rehabilitating these individuals remains rooted in finding productive alternatives and a less vulnerable social context. This objective can only be achieved alongside political resolution.

Updated May 10, 2012: Anecdotal evidence removed

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The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) published the study by economist Iglika Ivanova, which updates a 1998 CCPA report by former UBC economist Robert Allen.

“In British Columbia, 30 years ago…government funding used to be 88 per cent of university operating expenditure, and now its 57 per cent,” said Ivanova. “[Universities] used to be funded a lot by taxpayers, and now they’re funded more by tuition and private funding.”

This altered funding was part of the motivation behind the CCPA study. Ivanova said she wanted to see if students then paid the government-subsidized university costs through taxes after they graduate.

Ivanova found that trends similar to those found in the 1998 CCPA study still apply over a decade later. “Students still pay two or three times more than their tuition costs to the public treasury through taxes,” said Ivanova.

“People focus on upfront cost, and, because tuition doesn’t cover the full cost of education, [they believe education is] subsidized,” said Ivanova. “In all of Canada, it’s true that students pay back this subsidy through taxes after graduation.”

Ivanova said the study raises the question of how post-secondary education should be financed.

“Do we want to do it collectively through taxes and then recoup the benefits, or do we want to ask individuals to pay up front through high tuition fees which can create financial barriers and…have an impact on peoples financial situations long after education?” she asked.

SSMU President Maggie Knight said she found the data useful, even though it was exclusive to British Columbia.

“[The data] really makes the case that it just makes more sense to have more public financing of post-secondary education though progressive taxation on university graduates, to prevent the front loading of costs on people who don’t have the same financial security,” she said.

While the study focuses on undergraduate education, the trend applies to graduate studies as well. Professional graduate education is relatively more expensive than undergraduate, a factor that impacts students’ career choices. Ivanova gave the example of law students.

“There is clear evidence that if you charge more upfront…fewer people go into public interest law. More people go into more lucrative forms of law,” said Ivanova. “That’s problematic because it means that we don’t have enough public interest careers.”

Knight pointed out that, despite the study’s focus on British Columbia, there are similar studies regarding Quebec. “This [study shows] that it’s a general trend of tuition increasing. It provides an analysis that does bear out with the ideas that SSMU is mandated to fight for in terms of accessible education and public sector financing,” said Knight.

Ivanova favors the idea of a similar study being conducted to integrate nationwide statistics and to account for provincial differences, despite the difficulties that would involve such an expansive study.

“There’s a lot we don’t know in education, and that’s why it’s difficult to do a nationwide study,” she said.

The post New B.C. study finds students pay full cost of degree appeared first on The McGill Daily.

The administration cited a lack of clarity in both questions as the justification for its decision. In an email to The Daily, Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Morton Mendelson said that, in the past, “some fee referenda have not been implemented, because they also lacked clarity.”

Kira Page, a member of the QPIRG Board of Directors, said QPIRG is still trying to get last semester’s referendum results recognized.

“We’ve just been sitting down with Mendelson and his negotiation team in the last couple of weeks to explore other options,” said Page.

“We’re not currently looking into the possibility of running another referendum,” she continued.

QPIRG’s referendum results have also been challenged by students Zach Newburgh and Brendan Steven in a Judicial Board (J-Board) case. In a press release, Newburgh and Steven said they shared “serious concerns about the integrity of the referendum process.”

SSMU Council suspended the case until further notice last week, however, citing a need to clarify the relationship between the SSMU Board of Directors and the J-Board in the Society’s Constitution.

“[The J-Board] is part of the student democratic process for people who want to challenge the referendum results,” said Page, who added that the administration has “no right” to void the results.

“We had 132 students on our campaign who worked so hard and tirelessly,” continued Page. “We think it’s very disrespectful to the work of those people to do it all again.”

According to Page, QPIRG is committed to its current funding model, and is not looking into other financial sources.

“We’re not interested in turning into an NGO that is always scrambling for funding and applying for grants,” said Page, “especially in the context of the kind of political situation we are in Canada, where funding is being cut anyway.”

CKUT Funding and Outreach Coordinator Caitlin Manicom said the radio station does not currently have the financial capacity to legally contest the University on the case.

Manicom maintained that CKUT’s referendum results were valid, however.

“The administration should recognize the results of that vote,” she said, “especially given the fact that the University…has no legal right to unilaterally interfere with the administration of [our fees].”

According to Manicom, CKUT will be running two questions in the winter referendum period. One question will seek to affirm student support for their continued existence, and the other will ask that their fee become non-opt-outable.

“It is crucial that we become non-opt-outable,” said Manicom. “It is otherwise impossible for us to balance our books, while offering the types of events and opportunities to students that we currently do.”

Differences between the respective organizations’ Memoranda of Agreement (MoA) with McGill underlie their respective strategies.

“We need to maintain a working relationship with the administration because we depend on them to deliver those fees to us, as per our MoA,” said Manicom.

In the station’s last MoA negotiations five years ago, McGill withheld CKUT’s fees until it agreed to drop “McGill” from its name.

McGill has given the two groups have until February 16 to submit student-initiated referendum questions.

The post CKUT will run second referendum; QPIRG won’t appeared first on The McGill Daily.

23 is a pretty significant number, and serves as evidence of the inherent value of academic journals to the student body.  “Symbolically, [these journals] serve as a collection of student work, to broadcast or show the talents and abilities of those who either work on it or are published in it,” said Joseph Henry, The Daily’s former Health and Education editor and current coordinating editor of Vielfalt, the German Studies journal.

“The departmental journal is probably one of the most important things that each discipline manifests, and, to be fair, also looks great on a CV,” said Flora Dunster, The Daily’s former Copy editor and current editor-in-chief of Canvas, the Art History and Communications Studies journal.

Most undergraduate journals tend to be limited by department within the Faculty of Arts, but some have attempted to branch out and involve the wider student body. “[These journals] function to showcase the academic and pedagogical abilities of that department,” said Henry. “Though Vielfalt is certainly meant to be seen as a product of those from German Studies, we’re publishing work from English Literature, Cultural Studies, History, Political Science, Philosophy, German Studies itself – and that’s just the previously written academic purposes. So, we’re not so much for advocating the intellectual prowess of the department, though hopefully that can come across, but rather the academic dynamism of the field of German Studies [as a whole], especially if that’s comprised from multiple sources,” he elaborated.

As valuable as academic journals are for the larger departments within the Arts faculty, their value for individual students lies in the opportunity for them to see their own writing in print and to gain publishing experience. “Especially if you’re planning to go on with academic studies, trying to get your work published will be a huge part of your life, and getting some experience as an undergraduate is great in that sense,” added Dunster.

Seeing your writing published and your name in print is wonderfully satisfying, but working on the editorial boards of these journals is arguably even more rewarding – it’s a tremendous production experience.

“It’s also valuable for undergraduate students to have the opportunity to create a journal. It’s like working for a newspaper, it gives students experience in editing, production, fundraising, et cetera”, said Henry.

Jasmine Lefresne, editor of Fields, the Anthropology Studies journal commented, “It’s a great way to meet people and gain valuable skills: editing, working with authors, and layout design.”

Most importantly, it’s work experience that doesn’t suffocate your schedule. For the editors on the Canvas editorial board, the bulk of production work is limited to a month or two, and can be snugly fit in along with their other extra-curricular and academic responsibilities.

Academic journals have the potential to benefit their uninvolved audience just as much as they do their producers and contributors. As a collection of past term papers, the journals can be a handy teaching tool, especially for first year students struggling to figure out university-level academic writing styles. “It wouldn’t surprise me if people had used them in the past to get a sense of how successful papers are formatted, how they integrate citations, quotations… In that sense, it could be a valuable resource, and provide students with an idea of what professors in the department are looking for,” said Dunster.

Alternatively, journal content could also be harvested for paper ideas, but their relatively limited circulation seems the biggest deterrent, at any rate – for both harvesting ideas or teaching yourself how to tackle paper construction. “It’s true that it’s hard to get a copy of [Canvas] – you really have to be at the launch, and the people who go to the launch tend to be the people published in Canvas, or just people from the department in general, which definitely limits its circulation,” commented Dunster. “I think McGill would really benefit from a sort of journal library, a place where each department could file their respective publication each year. As of now, you have to keep on top of the launch date and come to the event if you want to get your hands on a copy, which is unfortunate, but hopefully in the future there will be a better method of distribution.”

This is by no means a problem only Canvas faces, however. “The first copy of Vielfalt seems to be something of a collector’s item,” says Henry, “I think I know of four or five copies left, one of which is my personal copy.”

The reason for this collective lack of circulation? As with most smaller-sized student publications, a lack of funding is to blame. Lefresne described how most of Fields’ funding “comes from AUS and the Anthropology department…We can only print a limited number of hard copies of the journal, based on this funding, although we do have an online version which is accessible through the ASA website (asamcgill.ca)… Having an online version is a good first step in making it more accessible.”

Other journals, such as Vielfalt, have branched out from this limited funding from AUS and also their respective departments, in hopes of securing larger funds from other sources. “We’re looking for funding from AUS – which has a journal fund – the German Studies Student Association, hopefully something from the Fine Arts Council, although we haven’t approached these groups formally yet.” said Henry. Vielfalt also does their own fundraising to pad their budget.

While academic journals at McGill struggle to overcome their financial obstacles, their continued existence alludes to consistent effort on the part of their respective production teams.

Besides issues regarding funding, what undergrad academic journals need most is student interest and contributions. So, the next time you’re dissatisfied with a grade, consider scouting out a copy and reading one cover to cover. When that “A” comes around, consider submitting to your departmental journal. Really, it’s a cycle of mutual benefit – see your name in print and contribute to an important scholastic resource in one move. Getting in touch with relevant on-campus journals for publication and production experience may be just what your term papers have been missing out on.

Tamkinat Mirza is a member of the Canvas editorial board.

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The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is responsible for government funding  allocated to non-governmental organizations, and the past two years have featured unexplained defunding for a significant proportion of these groups.

Many NGOs have been waiting for months to receive funds without communication from CIDA, while others have faced drastic cuts. When taking stock of the list of organizations within this group, one common aspect stands out: organizations’ support for Palestine and overt recognition of Israel’s consistent crimes against human rights.

A number of the affected NGOs have been targeted and criticized by NGO Monitor (NGOM), a highly partisan organization that attempts to expose the “anti-Israel agendas” of other NGOs, and that undermines global human rights by shielding Israel from accountability.

Consider two Canadian NGOs that are on this hitlist: Alternatives and KAIROS. Alternatives is a Montreal based left-leaning NGO, while KAIROS is a church based NGO promoting social justice. Over the last year, both groups have seen their respective CIDA funding denied or reduced.

While Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda has claimed that the organizations do not meet CIDA’s new priorities. (Note that these are priorities that have not been fully delineated). Immigration Minister Jason Kenney explained the defunding as a new government policy to combat anti-Semitism.

Apparently, following the Harper government’s pro-Israel stance, pulling funding until acquiescence is bred seems a desirable strategy.

This is where I find a breach of basic democratic principles. While the targeted NGOs are definitely against Israel’s policies and work in part to expose its human rights violations, this is just one aspect of the work they do. These groups are not anti-Semitic; they are targeting and creating awareness of crimes against humanity by any group, undistinguished by race or region.

Being unable to continue operations based on a refusal to single out and ignore Israel would be unethical, and would go against their very mandates by creating a hierarchical lens of exclusion.

To continue operations, many NGOs are are now realizing that the private sector may be a better funding source than the government and are following existing groups such as World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) that tapped into this sphere years ago.

Yet, here’s what strikes me as odd, unsettling, and thought provoking: corporations now seem more sympathetic to human rights-based causes than the state. But aren’t these the very causes that the government should be focused on in a capitalist democracy in order to promote the welfare and dignity of its population? Government policies need some definite reevaluation, and NGO defunding based on political stance is only one symptom of this need.

Tamkinat Mirza is a U3 Humanistics Studies Student. She can be reached at Tamkinat.Mirza@mail.mcgill.ca.

The post Harper’s social justice hit list appeared first on The McGill Daily.

This February, McGill’s Delta Lambda Phi (DLP) fraternity is leading such a revolution, as it is set to achieve official chapter status as Canada’s first and only fraternity for, according to their website, “gay, bisexual, and progressive men.”

DLP originated in the United States, and was officially started at Washington University in 1982 to address the lack of opportunities for gay men within the largely heteronormative Greek community.

“This alpha chapter became a venue for gay men to grow, to have the same interaction and opportunities, to create fraternal bonds that they are regularly excluded from,” said Michael D’Alimonte, current president of DLP’s McGill colony. “It is a strictly social venue for gay men to converge on, considering that many LGBTQ groups, even at McGill, have a very political background.”

After DLP was founded, chapters of the colony started to emerge in various universities across the United States. Then, in 2009, former DLP president Sam Reisler found the lack of a fraternity for non-heterosexual men at McGill to be a glaring void, and set about filling it.

“Essentially, he googled ‘gay fraternities’ and found DLP. He then contacted a few brothers at the national office, determined the basic requirements, what they do, what they’re about,” says D’Alimonte. “He then sent out a Queer McGill listserv email to determine interest, and that formed the initial basis of the colony.”

But how had this void gone unnoticed for so long at McGill? “I think that says a lot about the University’s environment in itself,” says Inter Greek Letter Council (IGLC) president Ally Gilmartin, “There are so many things to get involved in, and school itself is so consuming…and with so much else going on, it’s easy to understand how fraternity-life would be passed over. [Greek organizations] are [present], there are a bunch of us, but it’s not the first thing you think of when you think of McGill.”

Establishing an officially recognized chapter of a fraternity is a slow and painstaking process requiring constant commitment. “The initial steps to help the colony get started were slow,” said Christopher Newman of the Fraternity Office. “Since they were our first attempt with a chapter outside the United States, these men have made the process a moment of pride for DLP.”

“The process has been an amazing and rewarding one for the Fraternity Office. The McGill Colony possesses an amazing group of men, and it was recognized as the 2011 Colony of the Year at our National Convention in Philadelphia,” Newman added.

After establishing an interest group on the McGill campus, which was officially recognized by the organization’s headquarters in 2009, the colony has been working to strengthen its structural foundation. “Gaining recognition as a colony – which is a chapter in training – rather than just an interest group, was hugely important,” says D’Alimonte. “After creating this foundation, we became the core group working to fulfill colony requirements.”

Their first rush proved another challenge. “It was a big deal for us because we doubled in size, which was difficult internally,” said D’Alimonte. “Getting involved with the IGLC and building our presence on campus was daunting immediately after having grown so quickly.”

DLP’s integration into IGLC allowed the fraternity to have a newfound opportunity to amplify its presence of campus. “Being part of IGLC facilitates campus involvement, to maximize the potential of Greek organizations,” said Gilmartin. “People had heard about the gay fraternity, but now, we were at events and people saw every one of us and came to know us as individuals,” D’Alimonte added, about DLP’s IGLC membership.

Gaining full chapter status is the last step in a long process. “It’s the culmination of all our work, it increases our legitimacy and reduces our reliance on the Fraternity office,” said D’Alimonte, “It makes us more legitimate in our own ceremonies and gives us a better presence on campus. Now, the fraternity is established enough to not fall apart if a few committed members graduate and leave.”

As McGill’s DLP chapter paves the way for subsequent colonies and chapters at other Canadian universities, the Fraternity office plans on using it as a “stellar example of how new colonies should operate,” Newman elaborated.

The chapter’s members are also focused on having the fraternity recognized for its commitment to promoting social awareness regarding gay, bisexual and progressive men, while providing a social network for the same.

“As a group, we provide awareness of the community in a more social setting,” described DLP pledge Nick Opinsky, “We’re very diverse personalities. Being a part of DLP has shown me that gay men aren’t a stereotype, and it has increased all of our own individual understandings of the extent of our diversity.”

DLP currently helps raise funds for AlterHeroes, a Montreal-based website that serves queer youth by creating a forum for discussion and interaction with other members of the community.

“It’s a support system, which is what DLP provides also, and that’s what I missed out on before I joined the fraternity,” said Opinsky. The idea of a specific core group of values is what binds DLP together, perhaps more so than any other Greek organization. “Other fraternities have an alumni network too, but DLP is different because we have a common principle and outlook that ties us together more strongly than other fraternities and sororities… It’s a strongly bonded network that intensifies the support system itself,” Opinsky elaborated.

These core values may attest to DLP becoming a newly international fraternity despite being established for only 25 years. “Having a chapter in Canada demonstrates the expanse and reach that the message, values and principles of DLP have,” said Newman, “We have never seen our age as a disadvantage, considering our purposes for existing and the timeline of the LGBTQ issues in the US. In fact, we are the first and largest fraternity for gay, bisexual and progressive men on the continent.”

DLP doesn’t see itself slacking off anytime soon, it seems. “As we become a chapter, we have to focus more on ourselves as part of the community,” said D’Alimonte. “We have to shift our focus to campus- and community-based projects, and have the initiative to better the environment for men who aren’t part of the fraternity.

“We have more responsibilities than other established fraternities, because we’re going to be remembered as McGill’s pioneers,” added Opinsky.

Despite DLP being a relatively young fraternity with decades and not centuries of Greek history to its name, the dedication and consistent effort arguably makes up for it. Ryerson University in Toronto has recently shown interest in establishing a chapter, further demonstrating that while Canadian interest in non-heterosexual male fraternities has been dormant, it is on the rise.

In celebration of its official recognition, DLP is hosting the “All Things Canadian” party on Friday, January 20 at Thompson House. Contact Michael D’Alimonte for $8 tickets to the event at 514-441-4102.

The post A fraternity in modernity appeared first on The McGill Daily.

April in Canada is National Poetry Month. Established by the League of Canadian Poets, it aims to promote poetry in its many forms and to increase the publication, distribution, and sales of poetry within Canada.

Helen Guri, part of the event’s line-up, believes that the idea behind National Poetry Month is to foster an engagement with a substantial proportion of society. “Anything that happens in a whole bunch of places at once is kind of exciting…like Earth Hour is kind of exciting and all that is, is just people turning out their lights…in that sense, National Poetry Month fosters a sense of community,” she said.

In Montreal this idea of community building is central, and the poets are a tight-knit group. Events like the Pandemonium bring together poets from different publishing houses, representing diverging stylistic preferences. Local presses often attempt to create diversity within their aesthetics, to allow greater flexibility and flow between different works at collaborative readings. “They’ll try to publish a number of quite different books in a batch, anything that can cross-pollinate between presses and bring people together whose work is [similar]… to allow those people to meet each other, and the audiences to see their work… it creates a sense of community,” Guri said.

However, the longstanding linguistic divide of the city has its limitations for the local poetic scene. The Pandemonium features only writing in English, and so cannot be representative of Montreal’s poetry scene in its entirety.

“There’s a language barrier for both sides…unless people are fluently bilingual, it’s hard for [them] to fully enjoy poetry in a language they can’t understand very well… I have attended a lot of readings that are in French and English, and are collaborative… [where] it is difficult for a lot of the audience, who doesn’t have the language skills, to connect both sides… it is pretty insular,” said Gabe Foreman, another poet who will present his work at the event.

The aim of this event is in keeping with National Poetry Month’s concern with engaging the wider community, as independent presses interact to expose readers to emerging poets within the Anglophone poetic niche. “A lot of poets [at the event] will be known by a few people. The [event] exposes people to what different presses are doing and the aesthetic of different publishing houses,” Foreman said. Foreman’s own book, Encyclopaedia of Different Types of People, which will be launched at the Pandemonium, is a stylistic combination of poetry and prose encountered less often.

Local poetry readings aren’t exclusive in their line-ups, presenting emerging poets with the chance to interact with established writers. “We get people from all walks of life and from all levels of experience with poetry, sharing their material,” Foreman said. This exists as a quality-control mechanism within the community, as critique from experienced poets in response to emerging poets’ work is available as feedback.

Interestingly, the very structure of poetry readings is conducive to fostering a sense of community, as engaging the oral characteristics of a poem involves an audience with a profundity that reading off a page cannot.  “When [people]  come to something like a reading, it is sort of a different exposure for people who are not necessarily poetry readers in general…it’s just quite a different experience to go to a reading and then compare it to reading off the page.  It’s more of a community setting, because a lot of the people are writers themselves, they’re poets themselves. It’s more of a get-together of likeminded types,” Foreman said.

Events like the Pandemonium are essential for the continual growth of Montreal’s relationship with the genre, but linguistic divides remain paramount. While the city’s English and French poetry scenes are substantial in themselves, they remain separated due to the city’s identity leading to the continuing implementation of three local poetic spheres: anglo, francophone and bilingual.

Although National Poetry Month has not yet proved influential in fostering much intermingling between these spheres, the increased exposure to poetry and other writers it affords may well create a platform for cross-pollination.

The Montreal Poetry Pandemonium will take place at Sparrow, 5322 St. Laurent, on April 17 at 7:30 p.m. The event will launch six new titles, and will feature readings by Linda Besner, Asa Boxer, Gabe Foreman, Helen Guri, David Hickey, and Joshua Trotter.

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