THE MCGILL TRIBUNE Volume 7, Issue 4
Published by the Students' Society of McGill University
Tuesday, September 29 1987
by Miles Pittman A proposal to amend the University’s regulations for final ex ams is going before Senate on Wednes day. If it receives approval, it will be come University policy in 1988-89 (at the earliest), and life at exam time will become radically different. The document, entitled Regulations Concerning Final Examinations. comes from the Academic Policy and Planning Committee (APPC), and it contains provisions to ban in-class tests during the last two weeks of school. Clinical, field, lab or seminar courses are excused from this, as are courses which have “a pattern of continuing evaluation” (i.e. language tests not worth more than 10%). In lecture courses, finals will have to be given ei ther in the formal exam period or before the last two weeks of classes. If they are scheduled as formal finals, they have to be worth at least 25%. If exams make up more than 50% of a course, profes sors will have to give a formal final, and “D” courses which have a December midterm will have the exam scheduled in the formal exam period. Under the new policy, the due date for all term work must be no later than the last day of classes, although it will still be possible to get extensions that run into the exam period. Graduate Representative to APPC, Lee Iverson, thinks that this clause is “a load of junk”. Initially, the proposal was to have term work in lieu of exams due no earlier than the last day of exams, to give students as much time to write papers as they have to study for finals. Now, the exact opposite of this is being proposed. Vice President University Affairs Maria Battaglia agrees:” It should be more lenient.” At the APPC meeting, when this change was made, Iverson was the only student present; although this change in the proposal did come from two students, who talked to another member of the Committee, Iverson said, “I didn’t feel that I was on solid footing” to oppose, due to lack of
student representation. He was opti mistic, however, about amending this clause at the Senate meeting. The proposed changes regarding inclass tests have been prompted by widespread student complaints. APPC Chairman Vice-Principal (Academic) Sam Freedman identifies the severest of these as excessive workload. With both term work and exams due in the last two weeks, “the Counselling Serv ice sees far more stressed students then than at any other time,” said Freedman. He suggested that in-class finals are not the best methods of evaluation. Prob lems of overcrowding and collusion or, as Freedman calls it, “group work”, preclude ideal exam conditions. Asso ciate Dean of Arts Martin Petter called
L io n e l Chow
University Exam Policy Revised
Students sardined into U1 classrooms.
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Plutonium over Canada by Kim Farley Should just one of the planned hundreds of plutonium filled aircrafts crash en route over the Canadian North, radioactive plutonium powder could be blown straight into the heart of populated areas. What? Radioactive nuclear waste? Why is Canada, a supposedly dedicated member of the Non-Proliferation Pact, allowing this toxic substance anywhere near its borders in the first place? These questions plagued Tad Homer-Dixon and Carolyn Lee, two Canadian PhD candidates at M.I.T., when they discovered an article about the proposed flights in theChristian Science Monitor several months ago. They became enraged. Homer-Dixon, the founder of Canadian Student Pugwash, spread that rage to McGill students at a Pugwash-sponsored lecture last Wednesday night. “It is a sorry commentary on this situation that two graduate students were the only ones to research the dangers of these flights. The bureaucracy just didn’t make the effort.” The scenario began to unfold five years ago, when the U.S. started formulating an agreement to transport uranium waste products containing plutonium from Japan to Europe for re-processing. (Under the terms of an agreement between the U.S. and Japan, the U.S. supplied Japan with the nuclear fuel and remains responsible for it. Japan can do nothing without American approval). Japan lacks its own re-processing facilities, which are in the planning stages but will not be completed until the year 2000. Japan, however, is unwilling to store the nuclear waste until that time. Instead, shipments are being scheduled from 1990 until the end of the century, by air rather than sea to offset hijacking risks. To Homer-Dixon, the American government’s failure to consult Canada about the plan denotes a “lack of respect for Canadian sovereignty.” He feels, however, that this failure was “an oversight, not a conscious attempt to ‘hush up’ negotiacontinued on page 3
Poli-Sci Overcrowded By Sharon Hayes and Stéphane St-Onge The everpresent problem of over crowded classrooms in McGill’s Arts and Science Faculty has once again reared its ugly head. This year’s com plaints come from students in depart ments ranging from Art History to Political Science, predominately in200 level courses. The principle reason for overcrowd ing is increased enrollment, coupled with no increase in classroom space. Another reason is that McGill, unlike most other universities, allows a virtu ally unlimited enrollment in under graduate classes. Last year, Francis Scardera, a U2 Anthropology student, initiated a peti tion for an overcrowded 200 level history class. “People anticipated that the class numbers would lessen, yet it never occurred,” said Scardera. The petition, which was submitted to administration late in the semester has not yet been considered. Scardera adds.’T was not the only person feeling that the class
of francophones at McGill, to the “Daily Français” and survival tech niques for the french-speaking student. Guillemette says francophones at McGill recognize themselves instantly and are eager to help each other out. “They watch for French names and listen for French conversations in class and in the halls,” says Guillemette, “...there is such a thing as a french clique at McGill.” He says coming to McGill can be a real “adventure” for some who speak little English. His advise is to “take an intensive anglo phone bath.” As an example, he cites his own experience of living in resi dence , where “99% of the people are English.” The organization hopes to dispel “the paternalistic attitude of some” who would have francophones com pletely integrate themselves into the English student population. Guillemette hopes new McGill Québec members will want to help organize
events like a week-long festival of Quebec related concerts, cinema and speakers planned for next semester. The club has also set up an information bank for students wishing to take french as a second language courses in the Montreal area. Pierre Carabin, the Editor-in Chief of the “McGill Daily Français”, hopes the newspaper will provide an outlet for French students. Carabin expects to
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Designer bike racks
publish the “Daily Français” every second Tuesday fifteen times this year. Carabin personally feels that the Uni versity Administration puts out a “misleading bilingual image that doesn’t reflect the reality.” Although students are technically allowed to hand in assignments written in french, Carabin says this often is not the case. Student Society President, Daniel
by Angela Chapman Don’t blink or you’ll miss them. Six “state of the art” bicycle racks have been “strategically” placed around the University to minimize problems of blockage to handicap ac cess. Professor David Covo of the School of Architecture and Henry MacDonald, Furnishings Coordinator (Physical Plant), acting on findings of the Senate Committee on Facilities for Disabled Students, designed a bike rack of black metal tubing suitable for both kryptonite and the older cable locks. According to MacDonald and Covo, the budget for these racks was “about $6,000.” Covo elaborated that each rack was built at “between $600 and $700: a price two times as much as other models,” but that the committee “felt these other models were inappro priate.” These other models are rarely used and affectionately called “wheel busters.” Chuck Adler, Assistant Physical Planning Officer, told the Tribune that this year is “a trial year” for the racks
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Francophones an increasing presence at McGill by Ian Harrold Francophones at McGill make up a whopping 28% of the student body. This situation draws interesting paral lels to the outside world. Even though McGill is located in the middle of a vast French majority, this university tends to reflect the values of the still larger English majority located, for the most part, outside Quebec. That at least is what some prominent francophones on campus are saying and they’re plan ning to do something about it. McGill-Quebec is a new club for students that was founded last spring. Its main goal is to promote the French fact at McGill and make francophones more aware of their rights and them selves, says the clubs’ interim presi dent, Daniel Guillemette. The club, which according to Guillemette is politically neutral, recently held a Rendez-Vous which attracted over 125 students. Speakers at the meeting held forth on topics ranging from the history
was overcrowded. Most people not only signed their names on the petition, but wrote comments which filled the back of the sheets.” McGill’s Political Science depart ment may raise its academic standards next year to solve classroom over crowding. A departmental meeting will
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