Tuesday, September 15. 1987
Published by the Students' Society of McGill University
A lot of big changes: little effect
Telephone Thief Robs Students of Service
by Ian Harrold Changes to McGill’s C ode o f Stu dent Conduct and Disciplinary P roce dures were crystallized last April 29th when the Senate revised regulations af fecting . among other things, sexual harassment, the relationship with civil law and authority and the term “know ingly” as it applies to the intent to commit a crime. Irwin Gopnick, the Dean of Stu dents, describes the changes as having “little effect” on everyday student life. Gopnick says the publication of a Handbook on Student Rights and Re sponsibilities is in itself an important step towards making students more aware of their situation in the McGill community. As well as the C ode o f Rights and Responsibilities, the Hand book includes the R evised C od e o f Student Grievance P rocedures, the C harter o f Student Rights and regula tions concerning complaints o f sexual harrassment and information about the new position of ‘Ombudsman for stu dents’. Section lc of the revised Student Code defines knowingly as distin guishing between “acts in which there by Jennifer Mori is an intent, from those which can be The Post-Graduate Students’ Soci shown to be accidental or inadvertent.” ety (PGSS) and the Students’ Society To avoid “paralysing” the system, struck an agreement this summer that Dean Gopnick says the student is pre could mean considerable alterations to sumed to have known about a rule the Students’ Society constitution. when no proof to the contrary can be In February, the PGSS, a faculty as found. He noted that this is standard sociation memebr of the Students’ So legal practise in the Western world. ciety, presented Students’ Council Maria Battaglia, VP University Af with a report outlining their grievances fairs, said that the added definition of and an ultimatum stipulating that knowingly: “won’t really help because StudSoc meet a list of PGSS demands this year they’re going to have prob or the PGSS would secede from the lems with (the word) intent.” Students’ Society. Each student asso Among other changes brought to ciation appointed a negotiation the Student Code is a clarification of committee and under the mediation of the relationship students have with Chris Ferguson, University Chaplain, a civil laws (section 14). The section compromise was reached. now includes offenses described in “We were presented with a list of Federal or Provincial laws but not demands and we worked from there,” specified in the Code. These are of said Daniel Tenenbaum, President of fenses only if an appointed officer of the Students’ Society and a member of the Code deems them to “adversely the negotiating committee. “We agree affect the functioning of the Univer with the PGSS that graduate students sity”. represent a group with different needs Section 8c of the Student Code now and we look forward to having good stipulates that “no student shall sexu relations with them this year.” ally harass another member of the The primary PGSS demand con University community” physically or cerned post-graduate students paying otherwise. According to Student Soci fees disproportionate to their use-of ety President Daniel Tennenbaum, Students Society facilities. The PGSS “the Handbook is the sort of thing compiled a survey which showed that people will keep on their shelf but will post-graduates were using StudSoc use when necessary...some of the facilities half as much as undergradu things people need it for are embarrass ates yet were paying three-quarters of ing.” the association’s fees. However, the The C ode o f Student G rievances has Students’ Society proved that post been revised to limit the student’s right graduate students were already paying to appeal the decision of a Disciplinary the correct amount in relation to under or Grievance Committee Hearing. graduates using the PGSS figures. Appeals will no longer be granted auto Everybody pays too much matically. An appeals committee has “There was a basic methodological been established to determine if there flaw in our survey,” remarked David has been an error in fact or in proce Schulze, member of the PGSS negoti dure; only then will an appeal be ating committee. “The survey only granted. Even this apparently major proved that undergraduates as well as change will have little effect on the graduates pay too much (to StudSoc) student body, as there were only four relative to underuse.” appeals all of last year. “The PGSS survey was based on
Volume 7, Issue 2
by Michèle Dupuis
Post-Grads and Undergrads Reach Agreement services,” commented Tenenbaum. “There are other services grad students use, such as legal aid and political serv ices. The value of these was not included in the calculation of fees nor was the opportunity cost of any of the services.” Under the new agreement, the PGSS would continue to pay the same total fee to StudSoc although in differing proportions depending on post-gradu ate student standing. “Additional sessional students would pay 10% of the StudSoc fee, part-time students would pay 31 % and
“The survey only proved that undergraduates as well as graduates pay too much (to StudSoc) relative to underuse,” said Schulze. full-time students would pay 61% ,” added Tenenbaum. “We’re not making the gains in fee terms that we had hoped for,” said Schulze. “The flaw in the survey weakened our bargaining position.” Another PGSS demand was the im plementation of proportional represen tation on Students’ Council to better reflect the 25% of the student popula tion that graduate students comprise. The summer agreement allows for graduate and undergraduate represen tation for faculty associations on Stu dents Council. “Possibly all student councillors could be graduate students,” Tenen
baum told the Tribune. To take account of this larger constituency population, one faculty association student coun cillor would represent 2500 students instead of the present 2000. Students’ Society also offered the PGSS a raise in graduate representation on council from two faculty association reps to three, a new Senate/Board of Gover nors rep, and a non-voting member of the Students’ Society executive, the CommisssionerforGraduate Students’ Affairs. “W e’re satisfied with the arrange ment. We didn’t think we could get Students ’ Council to get rid of its Clubs Reps, Residence Reps, and Senators,” remarked Schulze, the man who has called Students’ Council representa tion a “dog’s dinner” for its haphazard and disproportionate representation. “There was some give and take on both sides,” said Tenenbaum. The PGSS had demanded that a non voting graduate student member be added to the Students’ Society execu tive to better represent graduate inter ests and that request may be fulfilled by the creation of the Commisionership for Graduate Student Affairs. This StudSoc executive would be voted from the PGSS executive and be a member of the executive bodies of both associations. “The purpose of this is to improve relations between the two bodies,” said Tenenbaum. “We feel we have an obligation to sell this to Students’ Council because it’s a negotiated settlement," remarked Tenenbaum. The agreement is to be presented to Students’ Council this | evening. “It’s the best we think we can get,” said Schulze, “and the PGSS should get this over with and pass to more impor tant issues.” The PGSS council will also be presented the agreement this week.
The free internal phone that was in stalled in the lobby of the Union build ing last April lasted approximately eighteen hours before it was stolen. To make matters worse, McGill Student’s Society (M SS) may never be able to re place it, according to MSS administra tive secretary, Lyn O ’Keefe. The problem, says O ’Keefe, is that the new telephone system, installed across the university last spring, does not allow for any type of adhesive on the back of telephones, it only provides a simple jack and plug, rendering the phone easy prey to any interloper. The system is responsile for the new 398 exchange. Although O ’Keefe is “fully aware of the inconvenience to students” she will not replace the system “only to have it stolen again”. However, O’Keefe will be looking into possible alternatives to those offered by the university and hopes to have some result by the end of next month. O ’Keefe told the Tribune that telephones from two of the univer sities food satellites had been stolen as well. When asked if he felt O ’Keefe was overstepping her authority as office administrator' , Daniel Tenenbaum, MSS President, said he did not think it was unreasonable; “it’s not a question of her going over our heads. “ Students, however, were unhappy with the news. “I hate it,” said Costa Marganis, a pe ripheral member of a fourth floor club. The phone was “useful,” according to Senior Vice President of AIESEC, Jennifer Rhee, to students who wanted to ensure that a fourth floor office was occupied before making the trip and to give directions to freshmen who cannot find the office. Véronique Lajoie, another AIESEC exec noted that this was particularly important since clubs cannot issue sets of keys to all their members. The free phone was particularily im portant to the clubs and offices of the Union Building which to this day re main without telecommunications as installation delays continue.
INSIDE: E n te rta in m e n t F e a tu re
p. 6 & 7
B erto n B ores to T ears....*.........p. 8 M cG ill S o cce r Preview .-----------.p . 10