Opinion

Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.

THE SITUATION: Ready to make nice

I know a lot of things. Not that I’m trying to be immodest. I mean, I am immodest: I spend most of my Facebook hours stalking myself and am the star of most of my favourite conversations. But in this case, I’m really not being self-indulgent. After two and a half years of university education and campus media, not to mention a lifetime of reading the news, I know a ton of facts.

BLACK & WHITE: Be honest, then be right

I woke up, uncertain and lost, to a staccato burst of screams. I lay in bed for a few more seconds, staring into the darkness, and my heartbeat picked up as the screams rose in pitch. I didn’t want to move. I wanted to go back to sleep and pretend I hadn’t heard anything.

EDITORIAL: Cuts to Level II athletics are a sign of things to come

Next year’s projected budget for McGill Athletics (see cover story), which includes a 67 per cent funding cut for Level II varsity sports, is a sign that the first round of funding cuts have begun at McGill, as the university attempts to reduce a projected $14-million deficit within the next year.

Common sense lacking in feud over MBA tuition hike

The latest round in the McGill administration’s ongoing feud with the Quebec government is much the same as the last. Predictable cries of “accessibility” are again pitted against claims of underfunding, as the sides face-off over a proposed tuition increase for McGill Master of Business Administration students.

A small step towards reducing doctor shortages

In a province with a severe physician shortage, it is somewhat surprising that only 35 per cent of foreign-trained doctors who pass the exams required to practice medicine in Quebec are granted residency positions. Last week, however, Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc took an important step in addressing this issue when he announced that the province will reserve 65 residency spots per year for foreign-trained doctors.

MY POINT … AND I DO HAVE ONE: A disingenuous debate

The American health care “debate” has been doomed from the beginning. Rooting their campaign in blatant lies, the American Right came out swinging the moment the massive profits of certain special interests – namely the Medical Insurance/Pharmaceutical Industrial Complex – were put into question.

FRESH HELL: I still hate the situation

I love Jersey Shore as much as the next well-educated Midwesterner – and with as much guilt. I also get a thrill seeing people get thinner on The Biggest Loser, and cackle with delight at every shot of Mary Murphy’s super-Botoxed facehole on So You Think You Can Dance.

RIGHT MINDED: Opting out of QPIRG

I refuse to hand over a penny of my money to the Quebec Public Interest Research Group. The McGill chapter of QPIRG collects a student fee of $3.75 per semester from all McGill undergraduate students. They use those funds to support working groups who advocate for “social and environmental justice.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Oh Ricky you’re so fine

Re: “That evaluation you requested” by Ricky Kreitner (19.01.10) Yes, Ricky, the world is that simple. Professors are desperately hanging on to the words of students so that they can “cater to [your] petty whims.” There’s no way that they might take some advice – “integrate the lectures more with the readings” or “spend more time on the anatomy section of the course and less on the functional part” – while disregarding that kid who never showed up’s advice to “like, slow way down in lecture.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Gaza Remembrance Week

Our history books are filled with stained pages that compel us to criticize our predecessors for their inaction and failure to implement changes, in the hope that we will not repeat our errors and allow for the recurrence of human rights violations. From Apartheid South Africa to the massacres of Rwanda, we have time and again failed to learn from history.

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