McGill Tribune Published by the Students’ Society of McGill University, Montreal, Quebec Volume 3, Issue 5
Tuesday October 4, 1983
M cG ill Advancement Program Aims for $61 M illion by Brian Todd
In a bold move designed to counter deteriorating equipment and service and declining public funding, it was announced last Wednesday that McGill University was launching a 61 milliondollar fund-raising campaign, the McGill Advancement Program. This program, the largest such drive in the history of a Canadian university, is headed by some of the biggest names on the Canadian corporate scene. Ex ecutives connected with the drive in clude the cream of the Canadian finan cial and business community. The na
tional campaign chairman is Frederick S. Burbidge, Chairman and Chief Ex ecutive Officer of Canadian Pacific Limited and a McGill Governor. The funds raised by this campaign will not finance operational deficits and will not affect operating grants that the University receives from the provincial government. Instead, these funds will be applied towards projects ear-marked by the Academic Planning and Priorities Sub-Committee of Senate as category A projects. Once these projects have been covered ef
forts will be made to cover category B projects. Category A projects come under seven broad areas: research and developm ent; equipm ent; staff; fellowships; the library system; com puterization and buildings. Funds for research and development will support indirect costs of research, research publications, endowed lec tureships and the strengthening of audio-vidual materials. In order to maintain a first-class research program, first-class equip-
Dispute Over Name Continues by Brian Todd
The dispute over the title of McGill’s latest publication has not yet been settl ed. The Editor of the McGill Universi ty Magazine, Linda Frum, in a meeting on the 30th of September, discussed the disputed name with Principal Johnston, the University objects to the title McGill University Magazine on the grounds that it might give the .reader the impression that it was an of ficial publication of the Unversity and therefore expressed the viewpoint of the University and/or its Board of Governors. While nothing was decided in the Friday meeting, the Board of Gover nors has suggested to Miss Frum that she accept the name McGill Magazine. When contacted on the weekend Miss Frum said that she “ would pro bably accept the name change.” The Board is to meet with Frum later this week to try to come to some amicable solution. The next issue of the magazine, which Miss Frumm expects to be out on the streets on the last week of Oc tober, will have the title as its only ma jor change. Miss Frum has tentatively agreed to the name change because as she sees it, “ it’s a waste of energy debating the title of the magazine.” Rather the magazine was “ put forward for the discussion of the ideas inside.” Next month’s issue will focus on the third principle of the McGill University Magazine’s General Principles as outlined in the first issue. The third principle says, inpart, that, “ McGill is a private anglophone university.” It continues that, “ because the McGill University Magazine believes that a
great university must be free of state control, it rejects the principle of public funding of higher education.” According to Frum, her magazine has received tremendous response from people wishing to help out with it. Frum feels that people are happy to see a journal on campus willing to accept and discuss unpopular ideas.
There are still copies available of the McGill University Magazine’s first
issue. People wishing to receive a copy should leave a message with their name and address attached, addressed to Linda Frum, at the front desk of the Students’ Society General Office in the Union Building. A copy will be for warded to them by Miss Frum.
T he M c G ill B lo o d D riv e c o n c lu d e d F rid a y fa llin g s h o r t o f th eir g o a l o f 3 0 0 0 p in ts o f th e re d s tu ff. A h , to sa v e a life ...
ment is needed. At present four million dollars is needed to replace out-dated equipment not provided for under research contracts or government grants. Thirteen million dollars is being sought to provide for new faculty posi tions, including endowed chairs and visiting professorships. This would alleviate the virtual hiring freeze caus ed by the current operating budget con strictions. To continue to draw outstanding students from not only Canada but also from around the world, four million dollars will be set aside for bur saries, fellowships and scholarships. The poverty-stricken library system would receive five million dollars to in crease the holdings in the Arts libraries to the tune of one million dollars, to fund further computerization and to support and strengthen traditionally strong areas of the system. The seven million dollars assigned to computerization would help to keep McGill at the forefront of computer research as well as creating an efficient computer network badly needed at this time. The buildings of the lower campus are the target of the three million dollars tagged for modernization and renovation. Existing space and equip ment will be modernized and expanded in the MacDonald and McConnell Engineering Buildings and the Frank Dawson Adams Building. While continually changing its struc ture to meet the changing needs of society, McGill hopes to continue its program of academic excellence which these projects will have as their main product. The campaign has already had an “ extraordinary beginning” , national campaign chairman Burbidge reports, “ with gifts and pledges already in hand in the amount of $24.9 million — almost as much as the goal of our last campaign.” Speaking on behalf of the leadership team, Charles Perreault (Chairman, Foundation Gifts, for the McGill Capital Campaign) said, “ Our objec tive in the largest sense, is to strengthen McGill not for its own sake but for what it can contribute to individuals who teach and study here, and to serve society. It has its roots in Montréal, Québec, but it has contributed to growth and development in many ways throughout Canada and beyond.”