Tribune The McGill
Published by the Tribune Publication Society Volume No. 31 Issue No. 14
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Jutras report findings Zach Paikin Editorial How to save money Gadgets of 2012 Igloofest Martlets hockey
3 5 7 9 13 14 17
a mcgill grad on capitol hill? pages 10-11
Redmen defeat Bishop’s for first victory Admin invalidates fall
referendum results
By Carolina Millán Ronchetti News Editor
Aleksandar Mitrovic battles a Bishop’s defender inside the paint. (Sam Reynolds / McGill Tribune)
Campus organizations QPIRG McGill and CKUT Radio face an uncertain future following the McGill administration’s announcement that it will not accept the results of the fall referendum. Last November, the fall referendum featured two questions on whether QPIRG and CKUT should exist and if their student fees should cease to be opt-outable via the Minerva online system and instead be refundable directly though each organization. Each organization’s question received a majority “yes” vote, with 72.3 per cent and 65.6 per cent for CKUT and QPIRG respectively. Voter turnout was 24.7 per cent of the undergraduate student body, up 9.5 per cent from the previous year. “The referendum results were unclear. By including several issues in the same question, the student body was not able to unequivocally indicate support for CKUT or QPIRG,” Morton Mendelson, Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning), wrote in an email to the Tribune. Kira Page, member of the QPIRG Board of Directors and McGill alumni, questioned the administration’s motives. “They’ve offered a bunch of reasons and usually come back to
the unclarity [sic] of the question but I think most of it is coming from a real unwillingness to let student groups control their own finances,” she said. “We sort of expected this sort of response from the administration … just because of the way the administration has been dealing with these organizations and has generally responded to our frustrations as opt-outable groups.” Because the referenda are run by Elections SSMU, a student-run organization, the administration does not have established guidelines on how referendum questions should be worded. However, Mendelson said that the administration encourages consultation to ensure the clarity of results. “I learned about the QPIRG and CKUT referendum questions after they were published. Although I indicated to the two organizations that the questions were problematic, it was apparently too late for them to be changed or withdrawn,” he said. “It is a shame that we weren’t consulted about the questions before they were proposed.” The administration is advising QPIRG and CKUT to enter the winter referendum and to separate the two clauses of their fall referendum question into two questions. If they do not pose two questions, there remains the possibility that McGill administration will not renegotiate See “RESULTS” on page 3
AUS discloses theft of $12,000 during Orientation Week
Frosh registration money is taken from safe in AUS office; semester-long investigation inconclusive By Carolina Millán Ronchetti News Editor On Nov. 30, executives from the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) reported to the AUS Council the theft of approximately $12,000 of Orientation Week funds. The theft was discovered Sept.
1 by AUS VP Finance Marlene Benavides, who realized that an envelope with $12,000 in cash from Orientation Week registrations was missing. According to Benavides, once she discovered the theft she alerted AUS President Jade Calver. Calver called McGill Security, who
advised Calver to call the police. McGill Security subsequently conducted an investigation. AUS VP Finance Marlene Benavides said that the decision to withhold the information of the theft from the rest of the AUS council and from arts students was advised by the investigator of the theft.
“Once it was clear that the investigation was inconclusive, we released the information to our students immediately,” she said. Despite the theft, the AUS budget was not affected because the $12,000 that was stolen was part of the profit produced by Orientation Week, and would have been allocat-
ed towards the VP Events’ portfolio. Orientation Week produced a profit of approximately $6,000 in addition to the stolen $12,000. AUS insurance policy requires that executives don’t keep over $40,000 in the office, Benavides said. However, AUS executives See “AUS” on page 4