THE MC GILL T R IB U N E
Volum e 5, N u m b er 8
Published by the Students' Society of M cGill University
Tuesday 5 Novem ber 1985
Fees To Rise Six Dollars
Photo - Peter D u v a l
Two Referenda Pass With Large Majority by Glenn Pierce
said Marsland, but he and Manon Lamontagne, No-committee co-chair, may approach StudSoc with the sugges tion that they act as a watchdog com mittee to maintain the provisions of the motion. According to Marsland, there is $50,000 already alloted in this year's StudSoc budget for partial repayment of the debt. An additional $45,000, he ad ded, would be free next year after Stud Soc completes payments to CVC, its cafeteria managers, for renovations in the Alley. Marsland was curious to know whether these funds would be put, with the fee hike proceeds, toward liquidation of the debt. StudSoc President James Green responded that the $50,000 sum would be set aside in case of future deficit pro blems. One provision that the referen dum enacted is that StudSoc will no longer engage in deficit spending, so this money would be for unforeseen problems. As of now, the promise not to deficitfinance is not binding upon future Students' Councils, but it is expected to be entrenched in next year's constitu tion. It has been suggested that other
The results of the referenda held last Wednesday and Thursday showed stu dent approval, by a large majority in both cases, of both issues at hand. Radio M cGill will be given the funds they need to make the transition to FM broadcasting (1309 yes/719 no), and a student fee hike of $8 per year was ap proved for the liquidation of the Student Society's $800,000 debt (1242 yes/771 no). The debt repayment "yes” pro ponents were pleased with the outcome of their referendum. Said Marie Davis, StudSoc VP Finance, "w e're very pleased with the results. I'm glad the students realized the seriousness of the situation." Approval of the motion means that for six and a half years, student fees will be raised eight dollars. These funds will go directly to repayment of the debt, and after that period, fees will drop by the same eight dollars. Rob Marsland of the debt repayment NO committee said that he was surpris ed not only at the large numer of yes votes, but also at the large voter tur nout. There will be no action of appeal,
possible uses for this money could in clude a capital improvement fund for renovations to the Union building. The $45,000 repayment funds, when freed next year, will be reallocated by next year's Council, said Marie Davis. C F R M m a n a g er M a rth a -M a rie Kleinhans' reaction to the FM referen dum was as would be expected. ' We're ecstatic," she said, as CFRM staff pop ped open champagne bottles Friday afternoon. Kleinhans will apply in January to the CRTC for license to operate a 10,000 watt FM broadcast, as opposed to their present FM cable system. "M cG ill students will have an FM station in a year and a half," she predicted. C la u d e S a v o ie , the o p po sin g committee-of-one on the FM issue, con gratulated Kleinhans and said that there would be no further action on his part. Savoie had opposed the motion because he felt that since the station was not itself capable of raising funds for the switch, it would have problems financing itself as an FM station. Savoie will continue his activities as a DJ at CFRM.
K le in h a n s and S avo ie c e le b ra te R ad io R e fe re n d u m v ic to ry
A x w o r t h y S h o o ts D o w n S D I by Tribune News Staff
A x w o rth y la u n c h e s attack o n S D I
P hoto - Ezra G re e n b e rg
A r t V s . A rc h ite c tu re by Ting Chang
Businesses on Crescent and Bishop streets fear that plans for the expansion of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts might mean dmeolition of all buildings on the two streets. The plans have faced constant oposition since they were made public recently. Protest' follows expropriation of the downtown block bounded by Sher brooke, Crescent, de Maisonneuve, and Bishop streets by the Museum under p ro vin cial legislation passed last December When the plan was announced, the implication seemed to be the demoli tion of all the popular stores, clubs, restaurants, as well as a building be longing to Concordia University in the area. Three new structures, the Museum extension, the Museum library, and a building belonging to Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) would then be built on the land. The prospect of demolition of the block led to the formation of "A l'Ac tion Montréal", a citizen's group which aims to gather public Support to stop the project.
Founder Jeremy Searle explained, "A ny Montrealer who does not work for the Museum or BCE would oppose this plan to further deface the city. Given that the Museum wants 175,000 square metres of additional space, they could build a six-storey building on the vacant 30,000 square metre lot across the street from the Museum. They don't have to knock down things." A l'Action Montréal is circulating a petition in the businesses in the area demanding a public inquiry of the mat ter, restriction of the Museum expan sion to the original vacant lot, and repurchase of the land sold to BCE at the original price. Suzanne Brunei, the Director of Com munications ofr the Museum, however, claimed that "it is totally ridiculous to think that the Museum would knock down buildings that exemplify Mon treal's architectural heritage and put up ugly office towers in their place." Brunei pointed out that there is no definite plan yet. "W e are doing a feasibility study of the needs of the Museum, the library, and BCE, given c o n t in u e d o n p a g e 3
Former Liberal cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy warned Candians against the dangers of participating in US President Ronald Reagan's proposed Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) last Wednesday. Sponsored by the Network's Speakers committee, the Winnipeg-area MP ad dressed a crowd of about seventy-five people about his experiences as a member of the House of Common's Special Committee for International Relations. The committee, originally set up to study External Affairs Minister Joe Clark's Gray paper on Canadian Foreign Policy, soon became a special commit tee studying the American SDI, better known as "Star W ars". "It was the most intense, some ways emotional experience I've had in politics," remarked Axworthy, "It was the first time in my life that I have become frightened by this (the arms race)." First discussed in US defense circles as early as 1979, "Star W ars" represents a fundamental shift in American strategic thinking away from deterrence toward defense. In other words, rather than relying on an ability to strike back against an at tacker, the US would use a complex of computers and satellites to eliminate missiles in flight. As Axworthy put it, the "shield" rather than the "sw ord". Axworthy warned that the implemen tation of the "Star W ars" system would place Canada on "the frontlines." Unless the up-coming Geneva summit of the superpowers put a stop to the project, Canada would be faced with unpalatable series of choices, said Ax worthy. "The massive militarization of the High Arctic is in the cards." asserted the Liberal MP. "Either the Americans will do it for us, meaning a loss of in dependence, or we'll do it together, or Canada will have to do it ourselves." Whatever option Canada chooses would involve a huge increase in defense spending Axworthy said. Axworthy criticised the federal Con servatives for not disallowing Canadian companies and individuals from work ing on "Star Wars” even though the government rejected any official role in the program for itself. Axworthy claim ed this left the door open for "covert" participation, while putting a stop to public debate on "Star W ars" at the same time. Said Axworthy, " I think the
government is tuning out from "Star W ars" to "Star Kist". Axworthy went on to question Canada's involvement in NORAD, a surprising shift to the left for a former member of the government which ac cepted cruise-missile testing in Canada. He suggested Canada might withdraw entirely from the treaty to avoid any in volvement in SDI defense. Axworthy stated that the renegotia tion of the NORAD treaty in 1980-81
was the leverage that the U.S. used to bring Canada into the missile-testing program. "N o one told us we would have to take cruise missiles. We were forced to take them," Axworthy claim ed. A x w o rth y b e lie v e d by m any observers to be harbouring leadership ambitions, depicted himself as part of a vanguard within the Trudeau cabinet that wanted to refuse the cruise. c o n t in u e d o n p a g e 3
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r~ StudSoc Forms Committee
Police Investigated by Jenny Henderson
"Police brutality is a problem of our times which should be a concern of the Students' Society," maintains student Ombudsman Dave Rose. And to ad dress that problem, Rose has sponsored the formation of an ad hoc committee to invesigate "the Relationship Between Students' Society of M cGill University and the Montreal Urban Police Depart ment." Shocked by the two recent cases of gross police brutaltiy towards McGill students reported in the D a ily , Rose proposed the formation of this commit tee to "make students aware of their rights, to investigate specific cases and provide support for the victim s." Pointing out that the recent McGill victimsNhad no help on campus with their cases, he raises the question, "H o w do you go about charging a police officer with brutality?" The committee w ill "assess the con tribution by the M UC Police Depart ment to the life of the University Community^ and establish methods and policies to ensure good communica tions and the resolution of problems
between the tw o." Rose sees the committee as a preliminary step to solving what ap pears to be more than a problem of isolated cases. Also on the committee are Chairman Luc Joli-Coeur, the StudSoc VicePresident for External Affairs, CoOmbudsman Patrick Johnson, and an elected member of the External Affairs Committee. All cases reported to the committee will be investigated in dividually to ensure confidentiality. Meetings will be scheduled for discus sion between the four committee members and the witness as the need arises. Joli-Coeur indicated the "need to in vestigate whether the regular pattern of a bad relationship betweeen McGill students and the Montreal Urban Com munity Police Department exists." This being the case, the Committee would have enough evidence to present a good case to city officials. He asked that any student with a complaint contact him or the om budsmen at their offices in the Union Building.