On Oct. 23, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) released the results of the online ratification for its fall General Assembly (GA). The online vote ratified two motions—one to rename SSMU’s Breakout Room, the other to build a rock climbing wall in the SSMU building. Compared to the disappointing[Read More…]
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The faults—and merits—of anonymity in ‘hacktivism’
A hacking group calling itself Team Ghostshell recently unveiled “ProjectWestWind,” a leak of 120,000 files taken from the servers of post-secondary schools globally. The list of 100 institutions whose servers were compromised included the University of British Columbia and McMaster University. The group posted the leaked files alongside a statement[Read More…]
Democracy’s weakest link: uninformed voters
As the presidential election campaign in the United States reaches the home stretch, one thing has become abundantly clear—barring any truly egregious mistakes by either campaign, this election is going to be particularly close. Thanks to the quirks of the Electoral College, the results in what are popularly known as[Read More…]
A viewpoint on language politics in Quebec
Two weeks ago, the Canadian Press reported on the Parti Québécois’ controversial educational reforms. These have centered on plans to extend the provisions of Bill 101, Quebec’s legislative piece regarding its language policy. The PQ’s Education Minister, Marie Malavoy, wants to hold off on the Liberal plan to implement intensive[Read More…]
Global Food Conference opens with price volatility lecture
The fifth McGill Conference on Global Food Security opened on Oct. 16 with Jean Lebel’s keynote speech on price volatility. Lebel, the Vice-President of the Programs and Partnerships Branch of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), spoke about the challenges created by the unpredictability of food prices, and how to[Read More…]
Suzuki and Rubin visit McGill on End of Growth Tour
On Oct. 15, economist Jeff Rubin and environmental activist David Suzuki spoke on the importance of creating a sustainable future. Held in Pollack Concert Hall, the End of Growth Tour lecture was co-sponsored by the McGill Bookstore, the Marcel Desautels Institute for Integrated Management, and McGill’s Institute for Sustainability in[Read More…]
What happened last week in Canada?
Conservatives introduce controversial omnibus Bill C-45 Last Thursday, the Canadian government introduced another massive budget bill, Bill C-45. Critics, including the New Democratic Party (NDP), have denounced the bill as “covering way too much ground.” C-45 proposes significant changes to Member of Parliaments’ pension plans, the Navigable Waters Protection Act,[Read More…]
Team Ghostshell hacks university servers around the globe
On Oct. 1, a hacking group under the moniker Team Ghostshell unleashed “ProjectWestWind,” a venture that has since leaked 120,000 records from 100 universities worldwide. The group targeted major learning institutions like Harvard and Cambridge, as well as two Canadian universities—McMaster University and the University of British Columbia. The group[Read More…]
Investigation finds no misconduct in McGill asbestos study
An internal investigation found no proof of misconduct on the disputed research of former epidemiology professor John Corbett McDonald. McDonald’s research on the health effects of chrysotile asbestos came under scrutiny in early February following a CBC documentary which suggested that McGill had allowed the asbestos industry to sponsor and[Read More…]
SSMU Council tables GA motions
At last Thursday’s Council meeting of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), concerns about ambiguity in the SSMU constitution led councillors to vote to commit all nonbinding motions passed in the Oct. 15 SSMU General Assembly (GA) to the Steering and Policy committees. These committees will investigate SSMU constitutional[Read More…]
