h
racgill
e
Volume 4, Number 6
W
h a t
D o e s
h a t 's U p
r
z
l
Published by the Students’ Society of McGill University, Montréal, Québec
by Stephen Hum Ed Winn, a New York City transport worker, brought his campaign for the US Presidency to McGill on Thursday October 4th. Winn, the candidate of the US Workers League, was the guest speaker at a meeting of the Young Socialists, a Trotskyist discussion group currently seeking club status from Students’ Society. Winn spoke for 45 minutes to a gathering o f about 25 people, lacing his speech with jibes aimed at Ronald Reagan and Walter . Mondale, the two main presidential contenders. “ Reagan,” Said Winn, “ is the Bonapartist twin o f Margaret That cher” . Reagan, like Thatcher in Bri tain, and now Brian Mulroney in Canada are indicative o f a political polarization that will drive the working classes of the West into revolutionary action, he claimed. Winn, a former Democrat who declared himself a Trot skyist in 1976, assailed Walter Mondale and his part for being “ Rightist” ; their alliance with the AFL-CIO diverts working class Americans from what should be their goal, the building of revolution. On the issue o f arms control he equated the Democrats with the Republicans: “ Mondale is no less warlike than Reagan...We must get the weapons out of the hands o f the Capitilist class. They (weapons) will be used.” When questioned about his own platform, the candidate replied in generalities; he refused to commit himself to specifics or to dicuss costs. Instead Winn called for the na tionalization o f banks, worker self management in industry and a vast public works program reminiscent of the New Deal. The words like the man seemed
W
t
In
T h e
W
in n
W
u _
n
e
Tuesday 16 October 1984
a n t ?
sincere and earnest. But Americans are not likely to be hearing very much from Ed Winn on November 6. The Workers League is on the ballot in only six states, New York, Ohio, Penn sylvania, Minnesota, Michigan and Il linois. As such, Winn seems predestin ed to have all the impact o f a pair of scissors on a rainforest. “ We’re under no illusions. I ’m not out to win.” he said. Though win he won’t, what does Winn want? “ This is not a feeble gesture,” Winn announced. “ Our purpose is to build the base for a true labour party in the United States, a revolutionary leader ship.” In the discussion that followed Winn’s speech, though, both he and Keith Jones, a spokesman for the McGill Young Socialists, avoided deal ing with questions on how thenanalysis o f society and the consequent solutions differed from those o f scores o f other isolated Trotskyist parties that have preceded them. Jones was much more enthusiastic when he answered a question on whether his group feared being confused with the CPC(ML), the McGill Friends o f Albania. “ It’s a matter o f decibel and o f substance. They shout Stalinist slogans, but they offer no solutions” . He was adament that the Workers League Young Socialists not be identified with the an tics o f the “ carnival” left. After the discussion period, a film with exclusive footage o f Lenin, Trot sky and Lenin’s boyhood bedroom was shown to the audience. Meanwhile, Ed Winn left the meeting to participate in a demonstration against military research at McGill before resuming his long trudge toward November 6 and points beyond.
P r o b le m
D e n tis tr y ?
by Sarah Cook Ms. Judith Blasser is, or was, a Den-, tistry student. She is the first to admit she is not o f a pleasant nature, however, her patients to date have never complained of her abrasiveness. The following story consists o f the final stages o f her attempt to obtain a D.D .S. degree from the Faculty of Dentistry, a process which from start to finish is soon to appoach a decade. It is not a pleasant story and it is all the more horrifying when it is realized that it could happen to anyone in any facul ty. On June 7, 1983, the Senate established an Ad Hoc Committee to hear Ms. Judith Blasser’s grievance that she had been expelled from the faculty during her final year in Den tistry. According to Ms. Blasser this decision resulted directly from her refusal to remain silent about the cheating going on in the Dentistry faculty. The grievance committee con
b
sisted o f Dr. Charles Gosselin, Registrar o f the Order o f Dentists of Québec, and Dr. Guy Boyer, Professor o f Dentistry at Univerité de Montréal, both respected in their fields and both accepted by the Faculty o f Dentistry and Ms. Blasser. The Committee was chaired by Professor Greffier Atalon o f the Faculty o f Law. On the recommendation o f the Com mittee, Ms. Blasser was readmitted in to her fourth year, a year which she notes she had “ completed already” . Her readmission was contingent on a strict set o f Terms and Conditions. At the end o f her fourth year, in May 1984, Ms. Blasser did not receive her D.D.S. Again, as a result o f a resolution by Senate, an Ad Hoc Com mittee was set up to “ review the ap plication o f the Terms and Con d ition s concerning the reinstatement o f Ms. Judith Blasser to her fourth year” . The committee was comprised continued on page 3
photo by Jack Berry
t
Principal Johnson opens the annual Students’ Society Blood Drive
In v e s t
in
L if e
by Marie Davis and Alison Fripp Invest in life insurance. Make a deposit in the McGill Blood Bank and help improve our rate o f return. This* year more than ever the Montreal Blood Bank is in desperate need of deposits. The bank’s reserves have been depleted to a critically low level. If this bank account is overdrawn, the debt is measured in human lives. The McGill University Blood Drive is being held October 15 through Oc tober 19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Union Ballroom. This year’s effort has a realistic yet challenging goal o f 3000 units o f whole blood. There are very few people who can not give blood. A blood donation takes about half an hour. However, the nee dle is only inserted for about five minutes, the rest o f the thirty minutes is spent registering, resting, and enjoy ing refreshments. A blood donation is less than half o f a litre — a mere fif teenth of the donor’s blood volume and the blood is replaced in the system within 48 hours. Eighty-five percent of blood collected is fractionated into its various components; red cells, white
r
T h e
In s u r a n c e
cells, plasma, and platlets, each used to treat different illnesses. This year’s Blood Drive includes many incentives. The grand prize is a white water rafting weekend for two by Wilderness Tours. For those donors donating blood for the first time, a weekend trip to Toronto, courtesy o f Via Rail, is being offered. Other prizes include lunches and dinners at Mon treal’s finer restaurants, ski days, and other trips. Like last year, the McGill Blood Drive sponsors are Labatt Brewery and FM96 Radio Station. FM96 per sonalities will be in the Ballroom every day between 11am and 2pm. On Wednesday, the special guest at 1:15 is Marty Bear, sponsored by Program Board. Apathy is our biggest obstacle. McGill University has 29,000 potential donors. Our interest rate in past years has only been 10%. Don’t give in to the recession. Combine consideration and generosity — open a Comination Ac count at the McGill Blood Bank and donate!!
I n s id e S
to n y
H o c o C o a o o i d t b e P R i n c e .............................................................4 R e s i d e n c e P o p u l a r i t y .......................................................................5 B ig S i s t e R s a R e R e o i e c o e d ............................................................ 7 S t a d e n t - A t b le t e a d m is s io n s a R e R e - e x a m in e d . 9
V
J