In an attempt to replace the Architecture Café, Room 302 of the Shatner Building is set to become the newest university lounge. The space, which is currently used during mealtime by Midnight Kitchen, will add to the number of student-friendly spots on campus and serve as a space for student dining.

The initiative began over the summer, after Management student Ari Jaffe, a Green Building researcher and former environment commissioner, presented a report that aimed to include sustainability on campus and create more student-run initiatives and food programs.

“We already have Midnight Kitchen, which is great because it provides sustainable vegan food, [but] the closure of the Architecture Café put things more into perspective because we would like to increase places to eat which are student friendly,” said Vice-President Clubs and Services Anushay Khan. “This is a way to increase student-friendly space, but also to fulfill the gap that the Architecture Café created.”  

According to Khan, the lack of space to eat is a problem for students. When they get Midnight Kitchen they either go to the cafeteria or down to Gert’s.   

“The advantage to having this in Room 302 is that Midnight Kitchen already serves there during the weekdays, so one of the things we try to do is to expand their service, and at the same time allow people to come and have a place to eat,” she said.

By modifying the space, she said, Room 302 will fulfill the needs that are arising as Midnight Kitchen expands.

“[Midnight Kitchen] is continually growing, they are very popular, they provide tons and tons of services for student, they are very involved in food politics, and they do serve vegan meals which is not an option that you find very frequently on campus,” said Khan.

The Student’s Society has allocated $1,000 of its space budget for the lounge’s renovation, which Khan hopes to have finished by February. Because other clubs will continue to have access to the room, furniture will be easily removable and flexible to serve other purposes.

“We are not looking to spend a lot of money on the lounge because first of all we are going to try it out, and the hopefully we’ll take it from there. To accommodate as many groups as possible we are not going to buy any material that is fixable into the room,” Khan said.

The lounge will be furnished with couches, tables, and paintings. Details regarding opening hours are still being worked out.

“It’s looking like it will probably be open and free for students to come in and out of from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then after that it would be open for meetings, etc,” said Alex Briggs, U2 mechanical engineering, who works for Midnight Kitchen. “Although it’s much further and not at all in a central location, it will be kind of a replacement for the Architecture Café.”

Additional plans for the space are to run a food co-op and sell products from Organic Campus to allow students to buy food a cheaper prices.

“I strongly believe that it sets a model for what the university should be doing,” Khan said. “I think that is something that SSMU should definitely do, not only to support its service but also to provide alternative space for dining.”

Adam Scotti

Due to calendar changes made by the university administration, Frosh is likely to change dramatically next year, with a variety of social and orientation events packed into a shorter time frame.

The details of the proposed changes are still being discussed, but a key factor driving them is a later date for first-year students to move into McGill residences.  

In previous years, the university generally scheduled at least a week between the two days allotted for first-year students to move in—usually a weekend, to avoid disrupting downtown during business hours—and the start of class. Last fall, for example, students moved in on August 21 and 22, a full 10 days before classes began on September 1.

Next year, however, the amount of time between the move-in date and the start of classes is set to be greatly compressed. First-year students are tentatively set to move in on August 27 and 28, according to Michael Porritt, McGill’s director of residences, with the possibility for some move-ins to begin Friday afternoon. Classes are scheduled to begin three days later, on Thursday, September 1.

This greatly compressed schedule–the reasons for which remain somewhat unclear–has forced the students who plan Frosh to re-imagine what the event will look like.

Students’ Society Vice-President Internal Tom Fabian, who planned this year’s SSMU Frosh, first learned of the calendar changes shortly after the end of this year’s Frosh. “It’s unfortunate the university did it that way,” Fabian said, referring to the calendar change, “But we can’t do anything to change it now.”

Instead, Fabian and a number of other student leaders, as well as university employees including First Year Coordinator Leslie Copeland and Dean of Students Jane Everett, formed the Integrated Orientation Working Group, which has met regularly to discuss ways to reinvent Frosh.

Though the working group has yet to make any firm decisions, Fabian said, a number of proposals are currently under consideration. Frosh and other orientation activities will most likely be divided in two, he said, with three days of events before the start of classes and an additional two days the following weekend. In addition, orientation activities—such as Discover McGill, an event typically held before Frosh kicks off—will probably be more closely integrated with Frosh.

To fit both Frosh and orientation activities into fewer days, Fabian said, he is considering tying SSMU Frosh and the various faculty Froshes more closely together. Students may buy just one Frosh ticket next year, he said, rather than two separate ones, and SSMU Frosh may be compressed into one day.

Arts Undergraduate Society President Dave Marshall, one of the working group members, said that he is optimistic about the changes, he said, but hopes that the faculty Froshes retain their individual character.

“It would be a shame if the faculty orientations didn’t happen, because a lot of the stuff the AUS runs during Frosh is for students to understand what their role is, what the Faculty of Arts is,” he said. “There’s something very different about the way Science Frosh runs and Arts Frosh runs.”

Fabian is also considering several other changes to Frosh, such as recruiting upperclassmen to volunteer as leaders for the entire orientation week instead of simply selecting Frosh leaders.

“One thing I’m thinking about is having drink tickets,” he said, which could replace the bracelets that have allowed students to receive unlimited rounds of beer in previous years. The tickets might also be valid for food items, Fabian said.

Each of these proposals remains tentative, Fabian said, but he hopes to present a preliminary Frosh schedule to the Integrated Orientation Working Group by the end of next week. He also plans to bring his proposals before SSMU Council.

“The finalized schedule is going to take some people aback,” he said, “but everyone will have to adapt.”