The beginnings are the hardest to write. It’s always about looking for a witty way to say what has been said before (basically: welcome back), and staring at a white screen with a slowly blinking cursor is no way to get inspired. Consulting the archives for advice from former editors doesn’t really work either-it makes you feel unoriginal.
Editorial
EDITORIAL: The error of SSMU’s handbook ways
Every year, the Students’ Society produces a handbook, largely for freshmen students. The handbook contains all sorts of useful information about university life, including, among other things, tips on surviving frosh, good places to eat and details on the SSMU health plan.
EDITORIAL: The 4Floors conundrum
When an issue is too divisive for our editorial board to reach a consensus on it, we feel that our readers are better served by two competing editorials that look at all sides of the debate. With that in mind, we tackle the party everyone loves to hate: 4Floors-should it stay or should it go? UNLEASH THE POTENTIAL McGill students are spoiled.
EDITORIAL: The CRTC shouldn’t tangle with the Web
Back in 1999, in a rare and uncharacteristic display of good sense, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission announced: “Our message is clear. We are not regulating any portion of the Internet.” Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.
EDITORIAL: A dollar for the DPS: a worthwhile investment
No matter how you feel about the Daily Publications Society’s editorial politics, a “yes” vote is the sensible choice on their proposed fee increase. Newspaper advertising is in the toilet – the Tribune’s advertising revenue has been cut in half in the last two years – and printing costs are steadily increasing.
EDITORIAL: Jean (Charest) and Kate plus 8: Quebec funds in-vitro
Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc announced last week that the Quebec government will fully fund up to three cycles of in-vitro treatment for infertile couples. This announcement, which fulfills a pre-election promise made by Jean Charest in 2008, makes Quebec the first province to adopt such a policy.
EDITORIAL: Let us do our jobs; Mr. Neilson tear down this bylaw!
Last week, 10 McGill Tribune editors were forced to take leaves of absence in order to campaign for the creation of a $3 fee to support an independent Tribune. And while we’re ecstatic that students voted “yes” to the fee, the bylaw that required half of our editorial board to resign needs to be changed.
EDITORIAL: A double standard for Olympic women’s hockey
One of the best things about the Olympic Games is its commitment to gender equality. Eschewing the common male-dominated athletic hierarchy, almost every event in both the Summer and Winter Games awards medals to both genders as equals. And after some of the great female athletic performances we’ve witnessed during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics – by Joannie Rochette, Petra Majdic, and Clara Hughes, to name just a few – it has been refreshing to see people who normally ignore women’s sports sit up and take notice.
EDITORIAL: Buying Haven Books was a costly, irresponsible mistake
Haven Books was doomed from the start. In March 2007, the Students’ Society paid approximately $40,000 for a consignment bookstore in a poor location, with an unmemorable name and a bad business model. They did so despite a Memorandum of Agreement with McGill that prevented SSMU from advertising the bookstore on campus, and a report from their auditing firm that showed Haven had lost about $95,000 in the previous year.
EDITORIAL: Be it resolved: that SSMU abolish the General Assembly
If there’s one thing the Students’ Society’s biannual General Assembly does a good job of, it’s helping to discredit – on both an intellectual and a practical level – direct democracy, or at least the twisted, substandard version we will once again be exposed to tomorrow afternoon.