On his blog for the New Republic, the neo-liberal magazine he owns and edits, Marty Peretz recently wrote of American Muslims: “I wonder whether I need honour these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse.” This shocking and seemingly racist line, which he later apologized for, is an example of how the always-difficult debate on the role of Islam in American culture has recently become even more difficult, and more uncomfortable.
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
Hiring tenure-track professors the way to go
The Tribune commends McGill’s commitment to increasing its number of tenure-track staff as part of its academic renewal program. It is a welcome shift from a North American trend of reducing tenure-track professors in favour of course lecturers hired on short-term contracts. Confusion in the campus press, stemming in part from the ambiguous and non-committal language of the McGill budget, had led many to believe that McGill was also reducing its tenure-track hires for the foreseeable future. However, so far as we can tell from the budget, and through clarification by campus administrators, this is not the case.
McGill once too many
I despise the “McGill Once, McGill Twice” cheer. The words are as follows:
McGill once, McGill twice, holy fucking Jesus Christ. Wham, bam, God damn, son of a bitch, shit! Three cheers for McGill: Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Three cheers for fucking: McGill! McGill! McGill!
Why I still ride my bike on campus
“One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
—Martin Luther King Jr.
Open letter from an Architecture student
I would like to begin this letter by thanking you, students of this university, for your outpouring of support regarding the matter of the Architecture Café. It warms our hearts to know that, despite our faculty’s detachment from the rest of the student body, our cause is not lost on you. Thank you. We appreciate you. Moreover, a special thanks for those of you who have taken the time to write articles for the Daily, the Tribune, the McGill Reporter, Le Délit, and even Concordia’s paper, the Link—we needed to get the word out, and you were all quite successful in that respect.
A Letter of Apology to the Ottawa Emergency Services
Last weekend, my boyfriend and I decided to take my family’s newly purchased boat out on the Ottawa River for a romantic sunset cruise. We had wine and a small snack, and I must admit, I thought I might even get a little lucky that night. Instead, we spent at least two extra hours stuck in the middle of the river with a dead engine, at which point I decided to call the Ottawa Emergency Services.
Toronto Loudmouth Needs to Walk the Walk
Dion Phaneuf is a loud guy. You can have endless debates about his abilities, about his paycheque, or about his girlfriend (notorious puck bunny Elisha Cuthbert), but there’s no debating his mouth. And while his brashness may have excited the Toronto Maple Leafs enough for them to name him captain, it has also gotten him into a lot of trouble. I am almost certain that a statement he made last week in particular will come back to haunt him: “It’s definitely a playoff team. Our goal going into the start of this year is to make the playoffs,” he said. “Anything short of that is unacceptable.”
Inaction We Cannot Afford
In 2004, Guardian columnist George Monbiot wrote, “The only higher purpose we could possibly possess is to seek to relieve suffering: our own and that of other people and other animals.” The last six years have not diminished the truth of his statement. If anything, our hurtling towards mass extinction[Read More…]
The Vehicle of Free Speech
In 1987, a photograph by Andres Serrano earned $15,000 and the prestigious Award in Visual Arts from the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Arts. This photo also happened to set in motion a cascade of outcries, because it depicted Jesus Christ on a crucifix, submerged in a glass of the artist’s[Read More…]
Equity and Social Justice on Campus
Emily Clare Lynsey Grosfield As the Students’ Society of McGill University’s Equity Commissioner, I will undertake multiple roles this year in order to fulfill my mandate as a resource person for students on their rights and responsibilities under SSMU’s equity policy. This document aims to “create a safe, discrimination-free environment.”[Read More…]
