I wish I spoke French. I really do. Back home in Ontario, everyone laughs when I tell them I’m studying English and German in Montreal, but yet can’t speak French and I have to be honest-I really don’t have a good reason for my apparent resistance to my country’s second[Read More…]
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
Departmental GAs contravene the AUS constitution
On March 13, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) held a highly-attended General Assembly (GA) in the SSMU building. Over 1,100 students voted on whether arts undergraduates should go on strike in opposition to the Quebec government’s proposed tuition fee increases. The result was close; but the attendees ultimately voted against[Read More…]
Community? Community. Community!
Sitting in on the Department of English Students Association’s General Assembly, where its members debated whether they should continue to strike, I came to a realization: the discussion centred around something far greater than the issues themselves. The debate was really about how to discover and maintain a sense of[Read More…]
An open letter from SSMU
To the AUS Executive Committee: We would like to congratulate you on an extremely well-attended General Assembly last night. We would also like to express our extreme disappointment and frustration concerning the poor communication, organization, and attitude which shaped your response to the unexpected numbers and thus took[Read More…]
When normal experiences become pathological
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)—the primary reference tool for psychologists and psychiatrists—is undergoing a makeover. The DSM-5, set to be released in May 2013, may include a newer, more exclusive definition of autism, and the inclusion of the soon-to-be-defined absexuality and relational disorders. However, one of[Read More…]
The Tribune’s winter referenda endorsements
Composition of SSMU Council: Yes The most significant change in the composition of the SSMU council proposes the removal of the Architecture Councillor seat. This reform represents a fairer representation process as the Architecture Students’ Association is already represented by the Engineering Undergraduate Society. The Architecture Students’ Association has also[Read More…]
In defence of tuition hikes: why frozen tuition is folly
This week, students will decide whether an important fee will be raised, in the words of those who support this increase, to “maintain the current level” of service. The fee increase I refer to, of course, is the SSMU dental plan. Not really. But my point is that, like this[Read More…]
The return of the Jets
Any self-respecting columnist writing on Canada cannot let this year saunter by without spending at least one—I pitched ten, but my editor emphasized one—column on the Winnipeg Jets. This story of prairie power should be trumpeted from the rooftops, but given the country’s current milieu of potential election fraud and[Read More…]
The SPVM should be called to account for Nov. 10
Last Thursday, the Independent Student Inquiry (ISI) released its final report regarding the events of Nov. 10, following the release of a preliminary report on Dec. 1. The chronology of the events of Nov. 10 is similar to that laid out in Dean Jutras’s report, released on Dec. 15. The[Read More…]
Rick Santorum’s views on higher education are a danger to society
Last week, U.S. presidential hopeful Rick Santorum made a sojourn into the land of utter political bewilderment, admonishing Barack Obama for wanting more American youths to go to college. “What a snob,” the former senator proclaimed, going on to say with Biblical tact that university liberals wish to remake students[Read More…]