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The McGill Tribune Published by the Student’s Society o f McGill University
Vol. 2, N o. 9, Tuesday, November 2, 1982.
An Interview with Riçhard Flint and A1 Nerenberg of the McGill Daily
Free-Thinking, After All These Years FREE-THINKING, AFTER ALL THESE YEA R S . . . A n In terv iew w ith R ich a rd F lin t an d AI N eren b e rg o f th e M cG ill D aily
Marie T. Blanc The follow ing interview is the result o f the dou bts a n d questions which I, as a reader, h ad w an ted to present to the D aily for a long time. A I Nerenberg is a news ed ito r fo r the D aily. Richard Flint is the Daily'.v editor-in-chief. Our names appear here rather than those o f the papers itr work or write for because none o f us fell, in all fairness, that we cou ld represent the whole s ta ff o f either the M cG ill D aily o r the M cG ill T rib u n e.
BLANC: In 1981, the M cG ill S tu den ts’ S ociety condu cted a referendum to ask students whether they were willing to su pport DA IL Y autonom y. What led to it, originally? F L IN T : W ell, th a t goes b ack a long w ay. T h e b asic p rin c ip le th a t led to it is th a t g o v ern m e n t s h o u ld n ’t c o n tro l new s p ap e rs. T h e re w ere a lot o f re su ltin g te n sio n s fro m th e fac t th a t fo r a long tim e, s tu d e n t g o v e rn m e n t d id c o n tro l th e s tu d e n t n ew sp a p er. T h e g o v ern m e n t d id n ’t like th e w ay th e ir n e w sp a p e r covered
th e m . T h ey w o u ld r a th e r have h ad a m o re friendly co v erag e fro m th e p ap e r. T h ey o ften d ecid ed th a t th e e d ito r th a t w as elected by th e Daily s ta ff w as n o t th e right e d ito r. T h e rea so n fo r a u to n o m y w as th a t it p ro v id ed th e Daily w ith fin an c ial in d e p en d e n ce w h en th e S tu d e n ts’ S o ciety h ad been a tte m p tin g to cu t back th e D aily b u d g e t, to cu t back a n u m b e r o f issues, to cu t back th e circ u latio n . N E R E N B E R G : In 1980, it g o t d o w n to a c irc u la tio n o f a b o u t 8,000. F L IN T : J u s t h a lf o f w h at it is now . S ince a u to n o m y , w e’ve been b u ild in g th a t back u p . W e’re p u b lish in g m o re issues th is y e a r th a n we d id last y ear, b u t w e’re still n o t a t th e 110 issues we w ere at nine y ea rs ag o . W e’re still n ot c o m pletely d aily by a few issues. B L A N C : What was the Students’ Socie
t y ’s reaction to the D A I L Y ’S dem ands fo r autonom y? F L IN T : W eil, th e rea so n th e a u to n o m y w as g ra n te d w as b ecau se w e h ad a c o o p era tiv e S tu d e n ts ’ S o ciety th a t year. It w as T o d d D u c h a rm e ’s y ea r. T o d d D u c h a rm e , w h en he sto o d fo r P re sid en t o f th e S tu d e n ts ’ S o ciety , an d a n u m b e r o f o th e r c o u n c illo rs a n d S tu d e n ts’ S ociety peo p le, s to o d o n a p la tfo rm o f s u p p o rt fo r D aily a u to n o m y . T h a t y ear, th ey w ere very frie n d ly to us. B ut th is y ea r
y o u have a d ifferen t g ro u p o f people. B L A N C : In the 1982 S T U D E N T
H A N D B O O K p u t out by the Students’ Society, yo u wrote: "No restrictions prevent us fr o m digging underneath the surface to discover the real m otivations o f those whose decisions affect us all. ” Does that mean that before the achieve m ent o f au tonom y the S tu den ts’ Society tried to control DA IL Y content? F L IN T : O h yes. T h ere w ere co n tin u a l a tte m p ts to c o n tro l c o n te n t. It v aried in th e w ay a n d m a n n e r in w hich it w o u ld h a p p e n , b u t S tu d e n ts ’ S o ciety w o u ld n o t, fo r e x a m p le , a p p ro v e o f th e D aily b reak in g th e S en ate co n fid en ce on so m e th in g b ecau se th a t w o u ld b ac k fire o n th e m . A lso , fro m th e S tu d e n ts’ S o ciety ’s p o in t o f view , th ey h ad th e final libel o b lig a tio n . A n d th a t’s a n im p o rta n t th in g th a t c u ts b o th w ays. N ow if w e end u p in a situ a tio n w h ere w e’re libelling a n y b o d y , we b ite th e bu llet a n d get sued fo r libel. R e sp o n sib ility is u p o n o u r h ead s. In th a t w ay. S tu d e n ts ’ S o ciety sh o u ld be h a p p y n o t to h av e us o n th e ir h an d s. B L A N C : D o yo u know what the student
turn-out was on the day o f the referen dum fo r autonom y? F L IN T : It w as a b o u t 20% . T h a t w as th e y ea r o f Liz N o rm a n ’s electio n (to the Presidency o f the S tudents’ Society). It
h ad been o n e o f th e larg est tu rn -o u ts in m a n y y ea rs. I th in k p a r t o f th e reaso n w as Daily a u to n o m y . It w as a very p o p u la r m e asu re. It w on all b u t o n e facu lty o n c a m p u s a n d w as s u p p o rte d by a very large n u m b e r o f stu d en ts. B L A N C : A u ton om y now means fi
nancial independence, which in turn fos ters freedom o f content. Is that accurate? F L IN T : It’s since o u r e d ito ria l in d e p e n d e n ce th a t th e p eo p le w h o b eco m e sta ff m e m b ers o f th e n e w sp a p er have c o n tro l o f th e n ew sp a p er on th e e d ito r ial side. T h e fin an c ial side o f th e p ap e r is n o t ru n by s ta ff m em b ers o n ly , b u t also by th e s tu d e n t elective a n d m em b ers o f th e B oard o f D irec to rs ( o f the Daily Publications Society). O u r a u to n o m y — a n d th a t’s th e p o in t th a t we b o th w an t to stre ss— is n o t ju s t freed o m . L ike an y fre ed o m , it involves resp o n sib ility as well. B L A N C : H ow do y o u finance yo u r
selves now? F L IN T : W e h av e a stu d e n t fee w hich is p aid by stu d e n ts a n d w hich v aries a c c o rd in g to th e ir faculty. It is betw een $2.70 a n d $5.40 a year. It’s really based u p o n th e ir S tu d e n ts’ S o ciety fee. B L A N C : So how much do yo u collect
yearly from student fees? continued on page 4
by S.C. Marshall F o r th e p ast m o n th , C e n tra id e can vasers have been all a ro u n d M o n trea l, a sk in g d o o r -to - d o o r an d by te lep h o n e fo r d o n a tio n s fo r th e ir em p ty coffers. A s a d e p a rtu re fro m th is d o o r-to d o o r th e m e, M cG ill is ru n n in g !! N ot ru n n in g away, b u t ru n n in g fo r m oney. T h e M cG ill R o w in g C lu b , head ed by
Cenbraide
th e ir b u o y a n t W o m en ’s C a p ta in , S u san P ayne, has o rg an iz ed a 10 k m ru n up a n d d o w n a n d all a ro u n d M o u n t R o y al on Saturday, November 6. M o st o f th e m oney raised will go to C e n tra id e , b u t th e rest will go to th e M R C , fo r b ad ly needed ro w in g eq u ip m en t. “ W e’re ro w in g on b o rro w e d e q u ip m ent right n o w ,” says Payne. T h e ru n n in g will last fro m 9 am u n til 2 pm S a tu rd a y . It will s ta rt fro m ju s t s o u th ( th a t’s to w a rd s P ine) o f th e M o n u m e n t— a t th e g azebo. T h e first h a lf will be m a n n ed (w o m an n ed ?) by th e 20 m e m b ers o f th e W o m en ’s C rew , th e second h alf, by th e 20 M en ’s C rew m em bers. P ledge fo rm s, th o u g h n o t c o m p u l so ry , a re p re fe rre d , a n d th ey ca n be picked u p a t th e D o w n to w n Y M C A o r Y W C A , o r th e W e stm o u n t o r P o in te
C laire Y M /Y W C A s. If y o u ca n ’t get h o ld o f a p led g e fo rm , please co m e an d ru n anyw ay — th ey a re a sk in g a $2.00 fee to g o to w a rd s th e C ause. A n y o n e m ay ru n , M cG illite o r n o t, a n d so m e o f th e sta rtin g celeb rities in clu d e P rin c ip a l D avid Jo h n s to n an d his d a u g h te rs; Jo c elin e G a re a u , to p fem ale m a ra th o n ru n n e r in Q u eb ec; ex A lo u e tte a n d M cG ill alu m n u s L arry S m ith ; plus th e D ire c to r o f A d m in is tra tio n at C e n traid e , D avid P ascal. W h en ask ed w hy run fo r C e n tra id e , P ay n e rep lied , “ G iven all th e ru n n e rs o n M o u n t R o y al, th e re is no rea so n w hy th ey s h o u ld n ’t be p u t to w o rk fo r th is G o o d C a u se .”
The M cG ill Rowing C lub’s next race is at Laval, on the back river near Belmont Park, on Sunday, November 7. The race is the annual ‘Ice Breaker’ head race.
inston Yoon
McGill to Run for Centraide
Annual M cG ill Book Fair collected over $26,000 in tw o days. M oney will go to fatten scholarships.