My time at McGill has been bittersweet. As someone who came to the university right after the 2012 Quebec student protests, dissatisfaction with the administration was at an all-time high. While most current undergraduates have either forgotten or not experienced that era of McGill, that undercurrent of dissatisfaction remains. Oddly,[Read More…]
Commentary
Why McGill should extend its shuttle hours
Home to the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, which offers majors such as Bioresource Engineering, Nutrition, Environmental Biology, and Agronomy, the Macdonald Campus is a small slice of McGillian greenery on the waterfront of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. However idyllic this setting may seem, as a student at the Macdonald campus it[Read More…]
Campus Conversation: How can SSMU regain students’ trust?
Editor's note: This past semester has seen a seemingly unprecedented number of scandals stemming from the Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU), and has left many McGill students feeling disillusioned and disengaged from with their representative body. In light of this, we asked members of the community, including incoming SSMU[Read More…]
In its Charter review, McGill should revise grading policies
On March 6, McGill announced that its Senate would be consulting students on how the McGill Charter of Students’ Rights should be revised. The Charter is a document that outlines the rights and freedoms that each student at McGill is guaranteed, including academic rights. This revision is an apt opportunity[Read More…]
The value of a Liberal Arts degree in a post-truth World
The liberal arts is often portrayed to be a set of dying disciplines, a collection of studies with a long pedigree, but no practical applications in today’s world. Their continued existence is perennially up for debate. According to Statistics Canada, enrollment in Liberal Arts majors decreased by almost 6 per[Read More…]
Good grades, good friends, good money: McGill’s work-life balance only lets you pick one
This winter semester, I have been on exchange at the University of Edinburgh. As a student at McGill, I was heading towards either a breakdown or a new level of being. Two part-time jobs, two extracurricular activities, a volunteering position, and a full-time course load had me sprinting from place[Read More…]
Students should be aware of study drug risks
Over the last several years, the use of unprescribed “study drugs”—stimulants such as Ritalin, Adderall, and Vyvanse—has been steadily rising on university campuses across North America. These drugs are intended to treat individuals with disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). For those students without a prescription, however, these[Read More…]
Why I resigned from the SSMU Board of Directors
The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)—who could have expected that such an innocuous-sounding group could elicit such a divisive reaction? And yet, we the student body, are embroiled in yet another series of scandals involving SSMU. SSMU is a body that supplies many services to students that are rarely[Read More…]
Clarifying the McGill context at Carnival and future events
What is the “McGill context?” When do student activities count as a McGill event? Are events hosted off-campus still considered a McGill context? What about Frosh, or a house party in Milton-Parc? These are difficult, but nonetheless important, questions because some of McGill’s policies only apply to a McGill context.[Read More…]
Trudeau’s carbon tax policies are burden for the Canadian economy
The Liberal Government plans to fight climate change with compulsory provincial carbon pricing schemes. However, these measures are not suitable considering Canada’s current economic predicament. The imposition of carbon tax schemes represents the Liberals’ commitment to burdensome and ineffective ways of combatting climate change. These taxes raise energy prices for[Read More…]