The McGill Senate on Dec. 2 rejected a motion to suspend the body’s standing rules, which prevented it from reintroducing a proposal to implement a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) grading option for students this semester. In a controversial move, they referred it back to the Steering Committee, even though it had already[Read More…]
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
Tips to help recreate the dread of seeing your family over winter break, from home!
Content Warning: Sexual harassment Every year when December rolls around and finals season ends, McGill students have only one thing in mind—winter break. Sadly, due to COVID-19 restrictions and safety concerns, we know many of you are unable to head home to see your families this year. Fortunately, we have[Read More…]
The pandemic proves McGill is made by its students
Eight months in from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, McGill students are just weeks away from the end of their first fully remote semester. When the university moved its operations online in March, the shift was jarring: Students had to quickly adapt to a new way of learning, and[Read More…]
My forgotten wonderful world of model trains
Two of my first friends were a pair of retirees with Santa Claus-worthy beards who worked in a small model train shop. From the outside, the store didn’t appear to be much: It was on the second floor of a nondescript suburban building marked by a patched, half-illuminated sign. Yet,[Read More…]
McGill must reckon with the reality of MK Ultra
Between 1957 and 1964, McGill was home to a subproject of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) MK Ultra project. Under Dr. Ewen Cameron’s oversight, researchers conducted studies that subjected unwitting patients to high voltage electroshock therapy, weeks-long drug induced sleep, and large doses of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD). Survivors of[Read More…]
Student vignettes from a pandemic
Valentina de la Borbolla, Contributor Talk about the pandemic has been defined by words like “abnormal,” “unprecedented,” and “challenging.” Admittedly, these last months have been all of those things and more, but in the chaos, I have found a sense of normality that I had never-before experienced. Being alone with[Read More…]
Students’ Society of McGill University Executive Midterm Reviews 2020-2021
Jemark Earle, President Jemark Earle campaigned for the position of SSMU president with two major goals in mind: Pinpointing and improving SSMU’s logistical weaknesses and carving out space for under-represented voices in high-level, decision-making arenas at McGill. Over Summer 2020 and throughout the Fall 2020 semester, Earle has proven to be[Read More…]
The limits of innocent until proven guilty
One in 10 female-identifying students at Canadian post-secondary institutions experienced sexual assault in 2019. According to a survey from 2014, only about five per cent of sexual assaults are reported to police. As sexual assault garnered more attention through the #MeToo movement, many used the phrase “innocent until proven guilty”[Read More…]
Communication through Facebook is no longer ethical
In early 2018, The New York Times reported on a leak of close to 50 million Facebook users’ data—the most significant breach of data privacy at the company ever. According to a cache of documents, Facebook user data had been improperly disclosed to Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting corporation which used[Read More…]
Can we have an extension, please?
Students received an email on Nov. 20 from Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Fabrice Labeau announcing that the start of the Winter 2021 semester will likely be delayed. Extending the holiday break, which would have only been 12 days for students whose finals end the last day of the[Read More…]
