The McGill Tribune Vol. 06 Issue 19

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T f lf MFGILL TRIBUNE Tuesday, February 24, 1987

Publisfied by the'Students' Society of McGill University

Volume 6, Issue 19

Senate Closes Doors On Returning Residents b y C h r is F l a n a g a n

On Wednesday, February 11, the Senate carried a motion which will significantly reduce the number of se­ cond and third year students in residence. The motion, presented by V ice Principal (Academic) Samuel Freedman, limits the nuber of returning students to 20% per residence hall for next year, 15% for 88/89 and 10% for 89/90. The current, unregulated, rate of return stands at 36%. Prior to the residence limits question, Professor Noumoff presented a motion which would delete the issue of admis­ sion to university residences from the terms of reference of the Senate Commit­ tee on University Residences. He then called for the issue to be added to the mandate of the Senate Committee on Admissions and Scholarships. Senate passed a motion that the matter be refer­ red to the two committees and their fin­ dings reported back to Senate. Senator Leigh Bowie pointed out that any change in the 'ownership' of the issue appears rather redundant since a motion could be brought to Senate without the agreement of the various committees. The Senate Committee on University Residences does not support the residence limiting motion. Vice Principal Freedman's motion passed with little resistance (40-5, with 2 abstentions) although the issue was debated back and forth for nearly three hours. Senator Grace Ann Baker stated that the motion was unfair because it did not make exceptions for those students cur­ rently in residence who would be forced to move out. These students did not

W ELCOM E- 0 ^ 6 TO McGILL R E S I D E N C E

have to consider this option when they first applied to M cGill. She proposed an amendment to the motion that would delay the limits by one year. Vice Principal Freedman argued that although this was an important con­ sideration, the issue of new students should take precedence and that there had already been Three years of consultaiton on the matter. Baker's motion was subsequently defeated. Senator Leigh Bowie proposed an ad­

ditional amendment that would delay the vote until the Admissions and Residence Committees had returned with their reports. Again the Senate said no to further delays. Two additional amendments were put forward which eventually became part of the motion. The first was a clause presented by Professor Herschorn which requires the Director of Residences to present a report on the effects of this

PGSS Proposes Rep By Pop b y J e n n ife r M o r i

Amidst a welter of amendments, points of order, and general procedural confusion, the Post Graduate Students' Society (PGSS) devoted its efforts at it's Feb. 11 meeting to determining the course of action it will take regarding its position within Students' Society. At the Feb. 4 PGSS meeting, a report on the Students Society (SSMU)/PGSS relationship was presented outlining the long term grievances of the PGSS. It pro­ posed two scenarios. The first states that the PGSS w ill continue to remain in StudSoc but with considerable modifica­ tions in its relationship to Students' Society. The second, suggests that the PGSS separate from StudSoc and con­ tinue as a separate organization. The PGSS Reps to Students' Council presented the report and proposals to amend the Students' Society constitution on Feb. 10. The proposals, entitle PGSS to proportional representation on Students' Council, the creation of the post of a Vice-President Graduate Stu­ dent Afairs on the Students' Society ex­ ecutive, the creation of a Joint PGSSSSMU Executive Committee comprising the members of both societies' executive and the reduction of PGSS fees to Students' Society to accurately reflect PGSS use of StudSoc facilities. These fees would be subject to a triennial review. A recent PGSS-SSMU survey has prov­ ed that PGSS now uses StudSoc facilities half as much as undergraduate students. The proposition presented by PGSS executive at the Feb.11 PGSS Council meeting was that if the Students' Coun­ cil rejected the first proposal, then PGSS would move towards autonomy from SSMU. Autonomy would involve a com­ plete termination of direct fee payments to Students' Society with PGSS paying for StudSoc services in a transfer pay­ ment based on actual usage. The PGSS would use the freed funds to implement

its own programs. "The reason we're proceeding from the first plan to the second," explained Genevieve Tanguay, PGSS President, "is that it is politically more acceptable to the administration. Also, if we went for the second proposal and got no approval in our own society, we would be in a very poor position." David Schulze, PGSS Vice-President External Affairs, added that the first scenario, "is an attempt through con­ crete measures to resolve problems with Students' Society." Though the con­ sultative measures would do a great deal to improve relations, increased represen­ tation (there are now 2 grad reps on a Council of 24) would be an immense ad­ vantage. "Students' Council representation is like a dog's breakfast," Schulze said. "They have all kinds of odd people com­ ing in back doors and side alleys; they have Club Reps, Residence Reps, stu­ dent Senators, and student members of the Board of Governors. There is also a disproportionately high Arts and

Engineering representation and an under-representation of graduate students." Paul Pickersgill, Students' Society President, invited as an observer, was asked to give the Students' Society view­ point. "W e have not begun negotiations," stated Pickersgill. "There have only been preliminary discussions and the PGSS proposals were presented to Students' Society Council last night. At this point, it's hard to state any firm posi­ tion." When pressed for his personal opinion, Pickersgill said, "It's not likely the PGSS proposals will be passed, especially the items on proportionate representation and the Students' Society executive member elected by PGSS." Fears were raised by PGSS councillors that increased graduate representation would not be an improvement if the undergraduates voted 'en bloc.' Mark Readman, PGSS Rep to Students' Coun cil and PGSS VP University Affairs, answered that councillors did not usual­ ly vote in blocks and that greater c o n tin u e d o n p a g e 3

Fee Hike Question Drafted b y M a r ie P a u le L a b b é

Tuition fee hikes came to the fore again at last Tuesday's Students' Coun­ cil. A student referendum addressing the controversial issue is in the works for this spring and a tentative format for the question to be put on the ballot was finally agreed upon after a long and ex­ haustive debate. This draft gives the student body one of four options: reject the tuition fee in­ crease; accept it; abstain; or neither. Those choosing the "neither" option w ill be encouraged to add their alter­ native solution at the bottom of the

ballot. If this option receives a majority, the ballots with suggestions w ill be studied and Council's policy may be reviewed. There -was some grumbling about the extra cost and time that such a pro­ cedure would require, but these objec­ tions were summarily quelled by Ian Brodie (VP External Affairs) who insisted that "once you're already counting ballots, it's no problem putting some in­ to a separate pile." Paul Pickersgill added that "w e are a democracy, we have to listen to everyone's opinion." c o n tin u e d o n p a g e 8

policy to the Senate in January 1988. The second accepted amendment, presented by Senator Chris Alexander, required that "the recommendations of the University Residence Committee concerning non-residence housing be implemented with the greatest possible speed." The motion also contains provisions for Douglas Hall to retain a slightly higher percentage of returning students. The overall limit is 5% higher than the

per hall limit for each year and it is assumed that Douglas Hall will account for the difference. Another amendment allows for special consideration to be given under certain "personal circumstances." Finally, the motion gives The Dean of Students and the Director of Residences the respon­ sibility of implementing the selection processes for meeting the returning stu­ dent quotas. During the great debate, several students in the observation area grumbl­ ed, groaned and appeared to be plotting a protest against the motion which was about to force them to fend for themselves in the real world of Montreal Urban Warfare. But they left. In other Senate action, a motion was passed which requires candidates for deanships to be 'academics.' This issue was brought about due to the recent changing of the position of Director of Admissions to Dean of Admissions. Chairman Johnston felt strongly enough about the issue to step down from the chair so that he could Join in the debate. Johnston had not supported the motion. In response to a question from Randy Flemings and Grace Ann Baker, concer­ ning irregular and inconvenient library hours, Dr. Eric Ormsby, Director of Libraries responded, "for the past six months, the Undergraduate Library in Redpath has been under intensive study by two separate task forces charged to examine the library services and make sp ecific recom m endations. These measures w ill take time." Dr. Ormsby also announced that the photocopiers in Redpath, McLennan and other libraries will now be serviced Sundays.

INSIDE:

M c G i l l Wri tes Back........ page 4 Wagner Expresses Alienation...page 6 E x p l o r i n g

Exploitation........... page 8 Basketball Low-Down............... page 11 $ 1 0 0 Fee G ro w s

Dipping Into Dip. Ed. costs associated w ith producing materials given to students in class. Students of M c G ill's Graduate Ron Kuranoff, M cG ill University's Diploma of Education program are pay­ Comptroller, does not hold with this in­ ing more than the regular allotted $100 terpretation of the policy. "The Depart­ ment of Education agrees with our inter­ course materials charge. "When I got my account at the end of pretation of the policy" of charging for December, they were charging above courses that require more than 30 credits and beyond this $100 ceiling," said per year. Kuranoff said that Education Amy Kaler, a Dip. ed. student and Minister Claude Ryan's office approved former Undergraduate representative to of M cGill's interpretation of the policy "in recent weeks." the Board of Governors. The flat $100 fee has been divided in­ According to Student Society Vice to a $3.33 per credit charge by the President (External) Ian Brodie, the situa­ M cGill Administration. Kaler explained tion has yet to be resolved. He believes that the Dip. ed. students take 45 credits that the- University w ill reimburse in their one year program, as compared students for all charges above the basic to 30 credits taken by the average Arts $100 level. student, and as such the students are "W e're pursuing the University Ad­ paying approximately $150 per year. ministration; if they are not in tune, we One hundred dollars is the legal limit have lots of people in the Ministry (of of the charge that came into effect on Education) who'll tell the university it's September 1, 1986. M cGill is required illegal," he said. The extra charges could be applied to by law to ensure that all monies accrued to this fee go directly to covering all c o n tin u e d o n p a g e 8 b y E liz a b e th P a s te r n a k

a n d M ic h è le D u p u is


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