The Quebec government recently announced a new round of budget cuts to university funding for the 2016-2017 academic year. As a means of mitigating the blow, however, the government is rumoured to also have given Quebec universities the green light to raise tuition for international students to the tune of up[Read More…]
Editorial
Winter 2016 SSMU General Assembly Endorsements
Editor's note: Ahead of the Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU) Winter General Assembly (GA) the Tribune will be accepting letters on any of the motions being presented If you would like to join the conversation please send a 400-word letter (any letter above the word limit will not be accepted)[Read More…]
Editorial: McGill must address failure in equitable hiring
McGill’s overall failure to fulfill its equity policy is a matter of concern for the university as a whole. In a report commissioned by the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU), entitled “Equity in the Hiring of McGill Academic Staff: An Investigation,” researchers found that although McGill has had an[Read More…]
Editorial: When austerity strikes, McGill turns to crowdfunding
The renovation of the Moyse Hall stage is the most recent in a series of initiatives to crowdfund for university spaces and services. Last year, the Arts Internship Office (AIO) was also crowdfunded following provincial budget cuts. Although many of these campaigns involve reaching out to alumni and philanthropists, in[Read More…]
Accommodations require standardization at McGill University
Following a two-year battle with a student and the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), York University will no longer require students to disclose mental health diagnoses before receiving special treatment for exam writing, assignment extensions, and other accordances. The issue of disclosure is highly contested at McGill, but the more[Read More…]
SSMU Winter 2016 Special Referendum Endorsement
SSMU Membership Fee increase: "Yes" with reservations The Tribune endorses a “Yes” for this quesetion insofar as it will improve the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) financial sustainability and maintain its ability to provide services for students; however, the presentation of the motion is currently too ambiguous. If SSMU[Read More…]
Editorial: McGill advising does not provide sufficient tools for students to carve their own path
With add/drop coming to a close, students’ laments of academic advising at McGill are likely to abate. But at the moment, undergraduate students bemoan the bureaucratic advising system. The fundamental flaw with the McGill mindset is that students are expected to be independent without necessarily having been provided the tools[Read More…]
Editorial: For a 21st Century education, McGill must focus on the present
The plans for the new McLennan-Redpath library, referred to as Fiat Lux, are ambitious. Although the university hopes that this impressive crystalline addition will epitomize the 21st century, propelling the university into modernity will take more than a shiny design. The most wide-ranging consultation with students took place on whiteboards[Read More…]
Editorial: Narrowing the scope of student politics in SSMU
Last Thursday, Nov. 26, the Students' Society of McGill University (SSMU) held a forum on restructuring the SSMU executive positions. It has been 10 years since the portfolios of executives were laid out in their current form; in that time, SSMU has grown such that these roles are no longer[Read More…]
Editorial: Contradictory policy in Quebec will enable hate, not protect from radicalization
Cases of xenophobia and Islamophobia have erupted across Canada. Since the terrorist attacks in Paris, a mosque in Peterborough, ON. was set on fire, two Muslim women were targeted on public transportation in Toronto, and a Quebec man has been arrested for threatening to kill an Arab every week. In[Read More…]