The Tribune

The McGill Centre for Developing-Area Studies recently hired political activist Joe Clark, who will begin teaching Oct. 1. He will be taking the position of Professor of Practice for Public-Private Sector Partnerships and will be responsible for helping build bridges between academic, public sector, private sector and NGOs to real world issues.

The course evaluation process will move one step closer to transparency and accessibility this fall. After first being explored in the fall of 2003 and pilot tested in the winter of 2004, McGill Online Evaluations will be launched campus-wide in December under the name “Mercury.

The transition from medical textbooks to a clinical setting often leads to mistakes by well-meaning but inexperienced medical students. To try to help them learn in a risk-free setting, McGill has opened a Medical Simulation Centre to offer hands-on training.

A proposed reorganization of the Blackader-Lauterman Library of Architecture and Art is in the works and may end up closing the service desk permanently. Janine Schmidt, the Trenholme Director of Libraries, issued a document in May 2006 to McGill librarians that presented a plan to “close the service point of the library and leave the collection part unattended,” according to Marilyn Berger, the head librarian at Blackader-Lauterman.

The Students’ Society has developed a new service to provide resources for drug and alcohol education as well as activism on drug policy. SSMU’s Harm Reduction Centre aims primarily at ensuring the safe use of drugs and alcohol among McGill students, said Floh Hera-Vega, vice president clubs and services.

As more students choose to bring laptops to campus the opportunities for thieves to take them has increased. Last year over 120 laptops were reported stolen by students and unfortunately for laptop owners, the numbers are increasing. This is one reason why Security Services launched a new laptop tracking program for students in partnership with Connecticut-based Security Tracking of Office Property (STOP).

The McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association’s negotiation committee rejected McGill’s latest contract offer last week, informing the administration that they would not lower their salary demands. MUNACA, a union representing non-academic employees like nurses, librarians, and administrative assistants, wants a 13 per cent salary increase over four years.

On February 17, Daniel Jutras was appointed Dean of the McGill Faculty of Law. Jutras had served as the interim dean since July 1, 2009, after working at the Supreme Court of Canada for several years and then the national law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais.

The McGill University Senate met for the second time this calendar year on Wednesday to address two policies awaiting approval by its members. Acting as the Senate’s chair, Principal Heather Munroe-Blum spoke about her recent trip to India in her opening remarks.

In response to a decreasing number of reported H1N1 cases, McGill is ending pandemic-related activities prompted by H1N1 influenza. The decision followed the announcement from the Quebec Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sports, which stated that pandemic-related activities can now be discontinued.