I arrived in Montreal in Fall 2008 eager to begin my graduate career at McGill as a master’s student in political science. I knew McGill had a reputation for academic excellence and talented, open-minded, and intellectually stimulating students and faculty members.
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: The democratic hacky sack
Last Thursday, as I sat through Students’ Society Legislative Council, I felt like my nails were being pulled out of my fingers. I heard the word “democracy” being thrown around like a hacky sack as councillors took turns accusing others of infringing on their ‘democratic right’ to speak and then carefully stroking their own and, indeed, everyone’s ego with a passionate appeal to the ‘democratic process.
EDITORIAL: The wrong McMann for the job
After what can only be called an absolute debacle in 2005, 2006 was supposed to be different for the McGill football program. With their off-field issues supposedly behind them and a strong nucleus of veterans on offence, Head Coach Chuck McMann set the second round of the playoffs as the team’s goal.
THE HELPLESS ROMANTIC: Cogs of the Big Red Machine
I agreed to stand as a delegate to attend the Liberal leadership conference, so I found myself in church last Sunday. The service was well under way and so was the delegate selection meeting. Delegates get to pick the next Liberal leader and possibly the next Prime Minister of Canada.
SIMPLY SPOKEN: Canadian defence indefensible
I was lying in bed last week, spaced out from migraine meds and depressed from feeling out of sorts and useless, when I finally found something that made me laugh: “Guards walk off job at four B.C. border crossings.” As you may already know-and as I quickly found out-Canadian border guards have the right to walk off the job if things get dangerous.
EDITORIAL: Our assemblies are dysfunctional
The Tribune found itself in a difficult position last year when deciding whether or not to support the constitutional amendment on general assemblies. Essentially, we supported the idea of having regular assemblies but believed it would be damaging, democratically speaking, to lower the quorum from 200 to 100 students.
Money makes the world go ’round
Private donations constitute a bulk source of income for most post-secondary institutions. McGill is no different. In 2004-2005, total private funding for McGill was just over $55-million dollars. This may seem like a large number, but keep in mind that it’s just under $1,700 per student and with tuition covering a minor portion of total university costs, gifts are a very necessary part of the income.
WET PAINT: ‘Talking is just masturbating without the mess’
I’ve recently noticed a change in the way people are talking. From the street to the metro and from the library to the grocery store, people everywhere are talking to themselves. While I encountered this widespread habit upon first moving to Montreal and tried to think of it as one of our city’s endearing little quirks, the trend seems to have increased of late.
OFF THE BOARD: Mac for President
Those stupid Apple commercials are everywhere. If you haven’t seen the black and white Warhol-esque ads of people dancing in a faux-minimalist frenzy, the towers of cds exploding into pretentious, post-modern music mayhem or even the latest iPod glow-in-the-dark graffiti kick, you are missing out on one wild ride of counter-culture appropriation.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Butt out I’m so happy that McGill is enforcing the new anti-smoking legislation by implementing new policies. It’s about time that non-smokers had some rights around here. Non-smokers are sick of breathing in second-hand smoke everywhere we go. If people want to smoke, they should do it in places where they are not affecting anyone else’s health.
