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Drop a hit of cinéma A&E
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M cG i l l Vol. 22 Issue 7
t r ib u n e
Published by the Students' Society of McGill University since 1981
W ednesday, October 16, 2002
GM's contract causes SSMU Council flare-up P resid en t D o e d e fe n d s B riseb o is' status as co n su ltan t J a m e s G rohsgal
NATHAN LEBIODA Tragically Hip front man Gord Downle crooned to a crowd of three thousand Friday night at Place des Arts.
Tonal Ecstasy is back, baby!
IN S ID E Science debates the A+ Mews Le Quebecker
DPINION/EDUORIAL Corporate ethics -EA TU R ES
Placekicker Pillai is hot Sp o r ts
4 7 9 16
“Now, / been in ja il, when til my m ail showed, That a man ca n t give his address out to b a d company. ” ......................... ..Bob Dylan
M ichael Liew There is something divine about two voices singing in perfect harmony. Put 17 voices together and you have... ecstasy. Th e oppor tunity to experience such musical bliss presented itself last Tuesday at the M cG ill Bookstore, where Tonal Ecstasy held its first public per formance of the year. M cG ill is home to three of only four amateur university a cap pella groups in Canada. Tonal
Ecstasy (“T X ”) is made up of M cG ill students from Canada and the U .S., of all years and faculties. O n ly three members are actually in the Faculty of Music, while the group boasts a surprising number of Science kids. Tuesdays set included a few favourites as well as new arrange ments. Brody Brown kicked things off with a soulful rendition of Stevie W onder’s “Superstition.” Sacha Mediné followed with Bobby See ECSTASY, page 14
Students’ Society of M cG ill University President Martin Doe defended contract negotiations with S S M U General Manager G u y Brisebois at a Council meeting on Thursday, after Law Senator Jeff Roberts chided the SSM U Executive for concealing the appar ent contradiction between Brisebois’ interim status as a con sultant and the constitutional requirement that the general man ager be a full-time employee. Roberts characterized the S S M U Executive’s actions as “deceitful or incompetent” because Council was not informed that an interim agreement signed this August changed Brisebois’ relation ship with S S M U from employee to consultant. Th e interim agreement expired on September 30, and S S M U executives hope to put a new contract, with the consultant lan guage intact, before Council soon. Doe asserted that the S S M U Executive Committee acted proper ly in renegotiating the contract to provide tax benefits for the General Manager and financial savings for SSM U. Parties investigating the issue questioned whether the terms of an interim agreement contravened the S S M U constitution’s requirement that the General Manager be a full time employee, and asked if the Executive bypassed Council by re engaging Brisebois with an interim agreement that may contradict the
job description imposed by S S M U by-laws. Doe pointed out that the presence of Brisebois at Council proved that he remains with the Students’ Society in the same capac ity. Summer business conducted by the S S M U Executive on behalf of Council must be reported to Councilors when the body recon venes in the fall term, but the issue was not brought to Council’s atten tion until the second meeting when Vice-President Clubs and Services Rachel DeLorie responded to Roberts’ question. DeLorie claimed none of the executives at the meet ing knew about Brisebois’ contract and told Roberts to defer the ques tion to the next session of Council, when Doe and V P Operations Kathleen Morrison, who were absent from the September 16 meeting, would be in attendance. Doe acknowledged that he did not adequately inform Councilors about events that transpired over the summer. “I ’m willing to concede Jeff Roberts’ concern that Council was not consulted,” said Doe. “Th e rea son w hy I didn’t consult was because the contract was structured in such a way that if no agreement was reached he’d return to his old contract. A n y deviations in pay, benefits, any other form, he’d have to reimburse the Society or the Society would have to reimburse him .” O n June 30, Brisebois termiSee SSMU GM, page 2