The McGill Tribune Vol. 15 Issue 24

Page 1

Published by the Students’ Society of McGill University

March 26th. 1996

t h is w e e k N e w s Holy days policy approved by Senate. Page 3

S c ie n c e Students’ “Ridiculous Wrappings” exhibit at Redpath Museum. Page 2

F e a tu r e s Some religious groups are using universities as a recruiting ground. Page 11

E n te rta in m e n t McGill students rock Capezios and f-stops. Page 15

S p o r ts Tribune athletes and team o f the year announced. Page 19 S u r f th e T r ib u n e W e b s ite ; http://www.accent.net/drummer/tribune/

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C o lu m n is ts Mila Aung-Thwin.......Page 7 Ted Frankel.............. Page 12 Don M cGowan............Page 7 D e p a r tm e n ts Crossword...................... Page8 Observer.......................... Page8 What’s O n ................ Page 23

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In Domino Contido

Volume 15 Issue 24

Graduate students protest B y B enji W

einstein _______________

Unable to reach an agreement with the university administration, the A sso cia tio n o f Graduate Students Employed at McGill held a one-day strike last Tuesday. Members of the TA union picketed outside the Roddick and Milton Gates in order to voice their con­ cerns. Last month, AGSEM mem­ bers voted in favour of giving the union a one-day strike mandate if the university failed to meet TA contract demands. After the uni­ versity presented its initial salary proposal, AGSEM announced the strike date to protest the adminis­ tration’s “offensive proposal.” At the gates, graduate students assembled with picket signs read­ ing, ‘We work for peanuts,’ and ‘Do we work for M cG ill or McDonald’s?’ Many striking TAs arrived as early as 7:30 a.m. and most stayed until the end o f the day. According to Michael Temelini, who represents AGSEM in negotiations with the university,

How sad would be November i f we had no knowledge o f the spring. - Edwin Way Teale the union was pleased with the strike turnout. “T his is great. It’s way beyond our expectations,” said Temelini. “We expect the adminis­ tration will start listening to a cou­ ple hundred people. They’ll see we are very serious.” Throughout the day, AGSEM members also encouraged under­ graduate students to join the picket line. Wearing stickers declaring their support for the union, and a

few even carrying signs, several undergraduate students marched in a show of solidarity. One under­ grad AGSEM sympathiser argued that union support is very impor­ tant. Blaming the failure of SSMU to pass a m otion supporting AGSEM in council, she lamented the small size of the undergraduate contingent. “ [The n egotiation s] really affect undergraduates, and I’m dis­ appointed not to see more here,”

said political science student Shari Hatch. “That has to do with SSMU shooting down support for AGSEM, because now [for under­ graduates] the strike isn’t legit­ imised.” While turnout of union mem­ bers at the strike was celebrated, the picketing cannot fulfil its pur­ pose unless it brings about a solu­ tion to the deadlocked negotia-

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General harassment policy sails through Senate B y Elizabeth W

asserman

After many months of work, SSMU VP University Affairs Lisa Grushcow and the Senate Sub­ com m ittee on Race and Ethnic Relations finally saw their efforts rewarded. The Policy on Discrimination and Harassment was unanimously approved during the March 20 Senate meeting. In a prelim inary address before opening discussion on the policy, VP Academic Bill Chan pointed out that the adoption of such a policy was long overdue. “W hile we have a sexual harassment policy [at McGill], we do not have at this time a policy dealing with other forms of harass­ ment and discrimination,” Chan stated. “Many may claim that such

a policy is not necessary, but I think that many more would inter­ pret the absence of such a policy as evidence that this university is neg­ ligent of the continuing struggle to eliminate harassment and discrimi­ nation in this university as well as in our society.” Associate Vice-Principal and member of the subcommittee on Race and Ethnic Relations, Fumiko Ikawa-Smith, explained the inade­ quacy o f the current regulations dealing with complaints o f this nature. “[T]he existin g p olicy is extremely confusing. [Procedure] depends on who the respondent is, who the informant is, and in the case o f students, there are five options,” explained Ikawa-Smith. Though none of the senators

expressly denied the need for a new policy, there was sufficient controversy surrounding both the definitions and the procedures out­ lined in the draft to fuel nearly three quarters of an hour’s worth of debate. Dean o f R eligious Studies Donna Runnalls was concerned that the policy prescribed an abrupt resort to formal procedure which might be inappropriate in some cases, and which could aggravate some conflicts. “One o f the things which I think is not addressed here is how to deal in a preliminary manner with issues which may be interpret­ ed as discrimination or harassment but which may not be understood by the perpetrator as such,” Runnalls commented. “I am very

concemed that we are... developing a culture of conflict rather than a culture of conflict resolution.” Grushcow replied that the pol­ icy aims to deal with complaints by the simplest and least formal means possible. “The [policy] draft does devote considerable space to infor­ mal resolution rather than formal resolution of a complaint,” said Grushcow. “What I intend this pol­ icy to do is to acknowledge that there are specific problems and to lay the groundwork for conflict res­ olution,” she further stated. Precisely what constitutes dis­ crimination is defined by the policy in accordance with Article 10 of the Quebec Charter o f Human Rights and Freedoms, which lists

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