The McGill Tribune Vol. 16 Issue 6

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P u b lis h e d b y th e S tu d e n ts ’ S o c ie ty o f M c G ill U n iv e r s ity

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October 8th , 1 9 9 6

Research community hit hard by two-day blackout B y A m y D iN o l o a n d N o a h G itter m a n

Members of M cGill’ s science community are still trying to assess damages caused by a 48-hour power failure that left the entire university in the dark on September 27 and 28. Professors and graduate stu­ dents in several departments returned to their offices to find that important research p ro jects, representing months of work, had been damaged or ruined. “We had some people who lost weeks, and in one case someone who lost years, o f re se a rch ,” said Professor Gerald Pollack of the biol­ ogy department. Items lost in the projects included cell cultures, chem­ icals and reagents which required refrigeration. Early in the morning on Friday, September 27, a back-up power line was supplying electricity to McGill while exten sive work was being done on the main line. When the back-up failed, there was no other line to turn to, and power across cam pus was cut. It took H ydroQuébec over 4 8 hours to set up another power line. In a letter, the C om m ercial C om m unications Director of the south sector Johanne Dufour, attributed this to “an incredi­ ble series of bad luck.” “W e tried to fix it, but every time we did a maneuver, there was another problem. We had at least six

SSM U P resid en t C hris C a rter takes the h ea t f o r R e d Cross a ctions

Carter under fire as Red Cross cancels blood drive B y N o a h G itter m a n

Controversy over the question­ naire used by the Canadian Red C ross to screen blood donors reached a crisis point last week, with the CRC unexp ectedly shutting down the SSMU blood drive. Some students, blaming SSMU President Chris Carter for the CRC’s actions, have since called for his removal from office. Two weeks ago, with the approach of the annual SSMU blood drive, students began criticising the CRC blood donor questionnaire as both d iscrim inatory and unsafe. Concern focused on a question that prevents any man who has had sex with another man from giving blood. In response to this issue, SSM U cou ncil passed a m otion on September 26 mandating Carter to petition the CRC to change their questionnaire. On October 1, Carter sent press releases to a number of media organ­ isations stating that, in line with the council motion, he was going to attempt donating blood as an openly gay man at the SSMU blood drive. Carter was hoping to make the point that as a homosexual, he would be rejected as a blood donor. However, the CRC found out about Carter’ s plans the same night; after holding

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Sexual Assault Centre of McGill Student’s Society

Help 398 -8500 Info 398 -2700 C entre Contre l’Agression de l’Association des Etudiants de L ’Université McGill

an em ergency meeting, the CRC decided to cancel the SSMU blood drive and postpone indefinitely any future drives at McGill. Many students are extremely upset over the cancellation, and have accused Carter of abusing his power as SSM U president by trying to stage the controversial media event. Blood drive C o-ordinator Sadeq Quraishi, speaking for a group which has organised a petition seeking Carter’ s removal, feels that Carter was out of line. “His mandate was clearly stat­ ed,” he said. “It does not by any means give him the authority to play with the media.” C arter, on the other hand, believes his actions are completely justifiable. “There was no intention to affect the blood drive — it was just another form of petitioning,” he said.

R e d C ro ss p u lls o u t To the C R C , C arter’ s state­ ments amounted to a challenge of the questionnaire, and their concern was for the safety of the blood sup­ ply. “W e cannot take any chances with people who say they are going to challenge the system,” said André Ménard, director of public relations for the eastern region of the CRC. “If you want to hold a protest, there is no problem with that, but if you challenge the system, then there’s a big problem.” Carter was appalled with the CRC for implying that there was a ch ance that he or som eone else would lie as blood donors. “I had already outed myself as gay [and] I had no intention to lie on the questionnaire,” he said. “I was highlighting the issue of problems with the questionnaire.” Carter also explained that in discussions with the CRC late on the night of October 2, he offered to call off his media event in exchange for a meeting with C R C o fficials. However, the CRC refused. Ménard explained that Carter created a con­ frontational situation where they could not guarantee that everyone would be truthful, even if Carter backed down. “By just saying ‘now I won’t

try and give blood,’ the confidence is still lost,” Ménard said. “We have to be safe. It’s not only a game, it’s a blood drive. It’s not only blood, it will save lives.” However, Carter accused the CRC of negligence for pulling out of McGill. “Does anyone think the blood supply is safe when the Red Cross closes down instead of discussing the issue?” he asked.

C a r t e r ’s a c tio n s q u e s tio n e d In response to Carter’s actions, a rally calling for his removal from

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F e a t u r e d I n s id e Transgender prof: Former professor

sues M cG ill......................... Pg.2 Edward Said: speaks on peace in

the Middle East.................... Pg.9 Abortion pill: sparking controversy among Canadians ....... Pg. 10 Bound to Crash: New films indi­ cate sex in cinema has come a long way, baby!...........................Pg-13 Redmen football: stave off late Concordia charge.................Pg. 77 W hat's O n listings ............Pg. 79

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