THE MCGILL TRIBUNE Published by the Students' Society of M cG ill University
by Michèle Dupuis
There will be no more lab rat solicita tion in McGill Publications. A new regulation passed by the Board of Gover nors last Monday forbids the solicitation of members of the McGill community as paid subjects for medical experiments by outside research companies. Dr. John Hooper, Vice-President of Bio Research, a company that solicits volunteers for research projects on cam pus, told the Tribune that BoG's new regulation dealt Bio Research "a serious blow." Hooper noted that McGill students stood to lose a great deal from the new regulation. "W e have a million dollar budget for volunteers for our experiments," Hooper said. Of the 6,000 people who participate
Bio Research To Look Elsewhere? in Bio Research's experiments annually "about five to ten percent of the volunteers come from McGill," said June Anslow, director of Clinical Research for Bio Research. Anslow estimated that students earned approx imately $50 per experiment. Anslow told the Tribune that Bio Research's experiments involve the for mulating of different doses of drugs on contract for pharmaceutical companies. She admitted that Bio Research does ex periments with prescription drugs. Anslow told the Tribune that Bio Research has to conform to ethical stan dards imposed on them by Bio
Research's own "institutional research board." "Nobody working for Bio Research is on the Board," Anslow stated. Anslow told the Tribune that the Board is com posed of doctors, technicians, and lay people. The biological research industry, ac cording to Anslow, is "strongly regulated," and a research team is re quired by Canadian law to inform all candidates of the name of the product, both the experimental and normal dosages, the exact details of the experi ment and all of the potential side effects
involved. However, when Vice Principal Freed man (Academic) addressed the Board of Governors last Monday, he stated that "I wouldn't be making this recommenda tion (about the regulation), if I didn't think it was necessary and justified." Vice Principal Freedman told the Board of Governors that the main reason for this new regulation was that McGill could "not be sure whether or not the companies had appeared before an ethics committee." When told this, Anslow flatly told the Tribune that the University "was misin-
PG SS Subm its Separate Brief
formed," and described the regulations they are required to abide by. Vice President Hooper told the Tribune that he was "attempting to con tact McGill to see if we can meet and find out why you (McGill's BoG) passed the regulation forbidding the recruitment of students for experiments." Hooper stated that he thought that the passing of this new regulation was a "strange thing to do." When asked about possible responses to the new regulation, Anslow stated that it was "sad" that Bio Research could no longer use the McGill press but she noted that "there are other means — like the Gazette." She also cited alternative sources of potential candidates "like Concordia and the CEGEP's."
Kilgour Sees Free Trade as Panacea by Stephanie Zelman
by Kelly Murphy
"W e might be contributing to reduc ing the provincial deficit, rather than paying for our education. SSMU does not necessarily represent the views of graduate students." Robert Barsky, president, Post Graduate Students' Society of McGill University (PGSS) made the comment in reference to the tuition fee increases sup ported by SSMU and the McGill Association of University Teachers (MAUT) in their joint student-staff brief prepared for the Parliamentary Commi sion on the Orientation and Financial Framework of Quebec's University System. PGSS is an autonomous student socie ty comprising some 5000 graduate students at McGill. At its Council meeting on September 10, PGSS passed the resolution that the student-staff brief "was not submitted to the PGSS, not en dorsed by the PGSS, and does not con stitute the position of the PGSS." In conjunction with graduate student societies from the universities of Laval, Sherbrooke, and Ecole Polytechnique, the PGSS has compiled its own brief to submit to the Commission. Opposition to any tuition feee increases without definite implementation of financial aid policies is the main focus of the docu ment. The McGill student-staff brief recom mends an increase in fees by $430 next year, and subsequent increases of $500 yearly until 1990, when a ceiling of $2500 is reached. However there are no specifics regarding aid programs in the Brief. Barsky explained the position adopted by the PGSS: "W e aren't suggesting that tuition shouldn't be increased, but it's necessary for 100 per cent of that in crease to return to the students. We've heard rumours of 60 per cent coming back, and 40 per cent being kept to feed the budget. The wording in the studentstaff brief simply wasn't strong enough regarding the importance of fiancial aid." Barsky noted that in recent new ar ticles Brodie had been more specific regarding aid programs, but that the brief did not contain such information. The PGSS view is that SSMU is far more oriented toward dealing with the concerns of the undergraduate than those of the graduate student. No provi sions have been made in the studentstaff brief specifically for the funding of
Queen's fans wave in vain. See story p. 9
graduate studies. In a letter from Daron Westman, PGSS VP (Administration), the stance of the PGSS was further iterated: "The incomes of graduate students in Quebec are usually below the poverty line and as professionals, graduate students should not pay one quarter to one third of their incomes toward tuition fees." Unprepared for the PGSS decision to present its own submission, SSMU VPExternal Ian Brodie, who will assist in presenting the brief to the Commission in October, expressed his surprise over last week's PGSS developments. "The plan for the student-staff brief was an nounced in June, but the PGSS made no move to get involved in the issue until this past week." Barsky has asserted that the PGSS was not given the report prior to its presenta tion in Quebec City. Brodie, however, has said that while the SSMU is not bound to issue formal invitations for sub missions on any issue to external groups, he has informally discussed the Brief with many graduate students since June, and knew of no dissension regarding it until after the PGSS Council meeting on September 10. All of the student societies are autonomous, Brodie said, and have the right to prepare reports to commissions such as this, however he did add that he was unsure as to whether opposition from within the university would serve to undermine McGill's clout during the hearings.
"The mid term blues" was how David Kilgour explained the Progressive Con servative decline in popularity as shown in recent polls, noting that both Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan underwent the same phenomina during their terms of office. The Member of Parliament for the Edmonton-Strathcona riding spoke to PC McGill last Monday about Free Trade. "I am astounded at the lack of discus sion about job protection" stated Kilgour. He noted that maintaining ac cess to the US market would ensure job protection for two to two and a half million people whose jobs depend on that tie as well as create employment for 700,000 young people. "W e have to take advantage of these markets" said Kilgour, refering to Pacific Rim trade. Kilgour stated that he wanted to seek an expansion of Canada's trade to include China, Japan and Hong Kong. When asked by the Tribune what ef fect he thought Free Trade negotiations would have on Canada's political in PhD students are the most affected by dependence as a nation, Kilgour stated the fee. They are charged the extra fees that "the main goal of a country is to get for the first three years of their program, everyone working because it can't have even though, as Schulze pointed out, a strong stand on foreign policy matters most have completed the course re unless it is economically strong." Kilgour then discussed the Tamil quirements before their third year. Asked if these students will be reim refugee controversy over their treatment bursed, Schulze replied that they will be by the Canadian Government. "They given academic credit at the beginning stayed at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel — of the next semester. Therefore, McGill that's what offends people." Kilgour also is able to collect and use the money dur stated that he would like to see reforms ing the first semester and pay it back in immigration law and policy whereby it would take no longer than five to six without interest. Schulze added that this system seems months to begin prosecution of illegal unfair in light of McGill's policy on late continued, page 3
Grads Protest Fee by Janet Mitchell If you are a graduate student writing a thesis you are paying $100 for course materials you may never use. As of September, 1986, all full-time McGill students are required to pay a $100 course material charge in addition to existing tuition fees. Graduate students are concerned because this fee is being charged to all full time students indiscriminately, regardless of whether or not they are tak ing courses. This policy principally af fects those who are working on a thesis as full time students but who have finish ed their required course work. David Schulze, Post-Graduate Representative, to the Board of Gover nors introduced the issue at the September 15 meeting of BoG. Vice Principal MacLaughlan, in charge of finance, replied that he was not aware of the situation, but would take the matter under advisement. When contacted for this article, M a cL a u g h lin was unavailable for comment. In an interview, David Schulze said that the problem stems from the univer sity's unwillingness to distinguish bet ween those full time students enrolled in courses and those writing theses. The McGill accounting department charges all students classified as full-time equal ly, assuming that all these students are taking at least one course.
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