Over the past few years, “opt-outs” have emerged as one of the most contentious issues in campus politics. For two weeks every semester, students have the option of opting out of certain fees, and, like clockwork, for those two weeks the debate over one opt outable fee in particular starts[Read More…]
Private
Letter to the Editor
On Sept. 14, the Tribune ran the article, well.” For clarification and transparency, SSMU Equity would like to add some commentary: Neither SSMU’s Equity Officers nor the Student Equity Committee has found the event description of Coyote Ugly 2.0 to be at odds with the Equity Policy, nor was there[Read More…]
Hartman’s intent admirable, but misdirected
Professor Michelle Hartman, a member of the McGill Faculty Labour Action Group (MFLAG) has recently come under fire for holding a seminar off campus in the Plateau. The Islamic Studies professor supports the MUNACA strike, and wanted to avoid crossing the picket line—a symbolic gesture of solidarity—by teaching her classes[Read More…]
Think outside the picket lines
The university may indeed make strong practical arguments against Michelle Hartman’s decision to hold classes off campus in order to avoid crossing the picket line, but those practical concerns only thinly veil the underlying normative issue—did Hartman sacrifice the educational merit of her class and her academic duties in order[Read More…]
QPIRG Opt-Out Campaign
Every year, the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) relies on hundreds of thousands of dollars of your money to promote its extreme politics. But fortunately, you have a choice: you can opt out of paying for QPIRG. You can refuse to fund a group which considers Canada an apartheid[Read More…]
QPIRG Board of Directors
The Opt-Out Campaign led by some members of Conservative McGill likes to paint hysterical and misleading pictures of Quebec Public Interest Research Group and its projects. Most recently, the Opt-Out Campaign has targeted the work of the Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble, a QPIRG working group. CIE is a group that raises[Read More…]
In defense of newspapers
Dear Ricky, I felt a strong impulse to respond to your column from last week (“Pay No Attention,” Sept. 20, 2011). I’d also noticed some of the same things you alluded to: writers fill newspapers with stories, regardless of whether newsworthy events have occurred since the issue prior; and a[Read More…]
MUNACA: strike update, week three
Sam Reynolds Sam Reynolds McGill was granted an injunction by Quebec courts Friday to control protesting at campus entrances. Striking MUNACA workers are now forced to stay four metres away from the university gates. The number of protestors will also be capped within the four metre boundary. Additionally, noise makers,[Read More…]
SSMU Strategic Summit
This past Friday, a SSMU meeting designed to foster communication and openness among university groups became the latest display of student-administration tension. The meeting was the first in a series of “Strategic Summits” planned by SSMU president Maggie Knight, which are designed to foster discussion on solving concrete problems related[Read More…]
Fall General Assembly passes three motions before losing quorum
Ryan Reisert Monday marked the first SSMU general assembly of the year. To the disappointment of SSMU executives and students, the number of attendees dropped below a hundred after the first hour, bringing the GA under quorum and limiting the rest of the event to deliberation only. The assembly adjourned[Read More…]
