We are writing this column because we care. The Bob Dylan song from which this column takes its name includes the line: “Their heads are full of big ideas, images and distorted facts.” We’re writing this column because we feel very strongly that these words are relevant today. When Dylan[Read More…]
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
Ãber-Canadians at the World Juniors
McGill Tribune Whoever conceived of the concept of the holiday season satisfied every demographic. Need a new pair of oversized sunglasses and Ugg boots? Boxing Day’s for you! Need a night to consume grandpa’s “cough medicine?” Perhaps New Years can flick your switch! Or maybe you just want to kick[Read More…]
What’s the “right opinion” on Wikileaks?
Third in queue at a Barclays bank in central London during winter break, I read through squinted eyes the BBC’s announcement that Julian Assange, the controversial founder of Wikileaks who was wanted by Interpol for alleged sex crimes in Sweden, had been arrested at a London police station after turning[Read More…]
More face-time with profs not so bad
McGill Tribune At council this week, VP (University Affairs) Josh Abaki discussed his goal of limiting “contact hours”—lectures, conferences, and other face time between professors and students. He hopes to reduce contact hours from the current 39 hours per course per semester to 36, an amount more standard across Canadian[Read More…]
Confront, don’t sanitize the American past
McGill Tribune Issues of censorship, freedom of speech, and political correctness being major concerns of the Tribune, we were alarmed to read that Alan Gribben, a prominent American Mark Twain scholar and Harvard professor, will be re-issuing the classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with two small changes: the[Read More…]
Common courtesy not so common
There are ¬many complaints I can lodge against McGill students. They’re loud in the libraries, they insist on handing out flyers at the Milton gates, and they have a chronic inability to distinguish recyclables from non-recyclables. The list goes on and on, and as many people can attest, I have[Read More…]
Talking terrorism in Times Square
I had an hour to spare this past Sunday while waiting for the bus from New York to Montreal. Pushing through the crowds of 42nd Street, I found my way to the metal chairs and tables in Times Square, which, for better or for worse, is America. I sat watching[Read More…]
Here comes the SunTV
Last Friday, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission approved Category Two certification for SunTV, a 24-hour news/talk television channel. The negative reactions of many Canadians at the prospect of SunTV, which have been evident since Quebecor announced plans to create the channel, are the most recent manifestation of a widespread[Read More…]
Simplify Sexual Harassment Procedure
Last week I wrote a Features article (“Sexual Harassment at McGill,” November 23) about sexual harassment at McGill. I expected it to be a straightforward assignment—resources for this type of thing should be easily accessible. But by the time I sat down to write the article, I was disturbed by[Read More…]
Letter to the Editor
Re: Fighting the anti-free speech Frenzy (editorial, November 23, 2010) November 23rd’s Editorial, “Fighting the anti-free speech frenzy,” is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the legal concept of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is a negative freedom: the government (or university) cannot censor or forbid speech that it[Read More…]
