As a recent graduate of McGill, I’ve been reflecting on the time I’ve spent over the past five years trying to organize for social change in a university context. I have heard people say that universities are fertile ground for this kind of activity, and it’s not hard to see why: thousands of young people in close social proximity to each other, many of them in a new place, encountering new ways of thinking about the world.
Author: Cleve Higgins
RIGHT MINDED: Defending prorogation
Contrary to what some of you may believe, proroguing parliament is not the “democratic travesty” that many are making it out to be. Canada is supposedly stirring with “grassroots fury,” according to the Toronto Star. More than 100,000 people have now joined a Facebook group in opposition to Stephen Harper’s decision to prorogue Parliament, united by their hatred of our prime minister.
AMUSE vote leaves some students in the dark
The Association of McGill University Support Employees is now the official union of McGill’s non-academic casual workers, receiving accreditation from the Quebec Labour Board last month. An October mail-in vote of eligible employees resulted in an overwhelming 85 per cent of casual workers voting in favour of the union.
Earth & Planetary Sciences Department receives $4.1m donation
The McGill Earth and Planetary Sciences Department recently received a $4.1 million donation from McGill graduate Robert Wares and his mining company, the Osisko Mining Corporation. According to geology Professor Anthony Williams-Jones, between 1995 and 2000, McGill was forced to institute a 25 per cent cut in spending due to the national deficit.
FRESH HELL: Die “Hipster” die
Dear Diary, Over the winter break, I was called a hipster for wearing a high-waisted skirt and glasses and then found out that Joey Jeremiah only asked me out as a joke and I totally fell for it. I was so embarrassed!! I just wanted to DIE. My life is so sucky.
MY POINT … AND I DO HAVE ONE: Bring it on, 2010
2009 was a wretched year. On a personal level, it was full of injury, emotional rollercoasters of human interaction, far too much time spent on academics, and the deaths of some very special people to me. And for the world, 2009 saw the entrenchment of superficially humanized global American military domination with the coronation of Emperor Obama.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: PGSS Council sounds fun
Re: “Letter to the editor: Can we go too?” by Matthew Hodgetts (24.11.09) Regarding whether the PGSS Executive has a firm foundation upon which to base reforms to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), here are a few examples illustrating that the PGSS does, in fact, practice the democratic basics on our home turf.
New campus for University of Sherbrooke in Longueuil
Montreal Metro stations located near the city’s universities generally have names to reflect this fact: McGill, Guy-Concordia, and Berri-UQAM. However, Six years after being renamed, the Longueuil – Université-de-Sherbrooke metro station remained something of a misnomer – that is, until now.
McGill students awarded green project funding
Two McGill undergraduate students received a total of $8,500 in funding for sustainability projects last week after applying for the funds at a sustainability conference in September. Amélie Marsolais-Ricard and Jonathan Glencross were among 180 Canadian university students who attended Impact!: The Co-operators Youth Conference for Sustainability Leadership in Guelph, Ont.
Eight candidates vie for two spots in SSMU C&S Rep election
Two Students’ Society clubs and services representatives vacated their positions last semester, necessitating an election, to be held this Wednesday, to fill the positions. One representative from each full-status club, service, or publication can cast a ballot on Wednesday, though anyone can ask questions or participate in the debate to be held before the vote.
