McMASTER UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
www.thesil.ca
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2011
FROM CAMPUS TO YOU AND BACK AGAIN
Business school begins process of recovery
VOLUME 81, NO. 18
RACIST?
Deane hosts open meeting to put PACDSB report concerns to bed SAM COLBERT
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
“There will most certainly be action taken on the behavioural issues outlined both in this report and in the earlier Human Rights and Equity Services report about the business school from last spring.” These were the words uttered by Patrick Deane, president of McMaster University, at a town hall-style meeting on the recent report from the President’s Advisory Committee on the DeGroote School of Business (PACDSB). The purpose of the Feb. 1 gathering was not to dwell on the conflict in the business school, though. With current DeGroote dean Paul Bates stepping down and incoming interim dean Robert McNutt taking over, Deane hopes that the school can begin a process of healing. “When [McNutt] arrives, he will be looking forward. His mandate will be to bring about the regularization of relations within the faculty and to achieve some of the goals that were laid out in the report.” When McMaster’s office of Human Rights and Equity Services (HRES) published a report last spring called “Preliminary Audit on Allegations of Discrimination and Harassment at the School of Business McMaster University,” Peter George, McMaster president at the time, established the PACDSB to deal with the matter. Any formal action taken by HRES to address allegations of harassment, though, was to be dealt with independently of the PACDSB. Deane has recently received the confidential findings of the human rights office, and will determine in the coming weeks if the matter should be turned over to tribunal. The PACDSB spent months conducting extensive research, interviewing faculty, staff and administration in the business school, as well as relevant individuals outside the school and outside McMaster. Its report was made public in December. Among its recommendations were that the business school restructure its administration, that the “behavioural tone within the Faculty” is altered and that “the University work with Mr. Bates to redefine his role at McMaster.” As a result, Bates has agreed to step down. He will fulfill his contract in an administrative role at the new Ron Joyce Centre in Burlington. The satellite campus, which houses McMaster’s MBA program, was a pet project for Bates. McNutt, who has a long history in a variety of roles with McMaster, will take over as interim dean on Mar. 1. The report cites sources of conflict between Bates and his faculty. When McMaster hired Bates in March of 2004, they hoped that he would boost the school’s profile externally. His experience was not in academia, but in the business world, where had he led four major investment firms on the way to being named the Most Influential Broker of the Year by Investment Executive Magazine in 2000. He spent time on the boards of the Toronto Stock
EST. 1930
Panelists discuss implications of controversial Maclean’s Magazine article on enrolment of Asian students in Canadian universities.
FARZEEN FODA
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
“Too Asian,” according to an article published in Maclean’s Magazine, is a common descriptor used by prospective post-secondary students for some Canadian universities, particularly the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo and the University of British Columbia. This notion has fuelled outrage, disappointment and fear in Chinese-Canadian communities across the country. In response to the Maclean’s article, and other such articles that portrayed a similar sentiment, a panel discussion was held on Feb. 1 in Gilmour Hall to discuss the issues surrounding the article. “It’s not the words that they say. It’s the implications of those words,” said one of the panelists, Karen Sun, an environmental and social activist. Sun is currently the Executive Director of the Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter (CCNCTO). The other panelists included Florence Li, a co-organizer of the Youth Coalition Against Maclean’s and Project Coordinator for the CCNCTO, and Jeet Heer a cultural journalist and academic. Heer worked with current Publisher and Editor-In-Chief for Maclean’s, Kenneth Whyte during his time at the National Post. The final panelist, Donald Goellnicht, is a professor in the Department of English and Cultural Studies and is an Associate Dean in the School of Graduate Studies at McMaster. The 2010 University Rankings Issue of Maclean’s Magazine featured an article in the University Issues section about the growing enrolment of Asian students at • PLEASE SEE DCS, A5 the post-secondary level, a trend
that universities apparently worry of Asian students. will deter applicants of other ethnic The original title of the groups, specifically Caucasians. Maclean’s article, “ ‘Too Asian?’: The article begins with an Some Frosh Don’t Want to Study at interview with a high school gradu- an ‘Asian’ University” was changed ate, identified as Alexandra from to “The enrolment controversy: Toronto’s Havergal College, who Worries that efforts in the U.S. to admits that U of T was excluded limit enrolment of Asian students from her pool of prospective uni- in top universities may migrate to versities because “the only people Canada”. The revised title refers to from our school who went to U of the silent “Asian ceiling” or quota T were Asian,” said the high school on the number of Asian students graduate. admitted to elite U.S. universi Finally choosing the Uni- ties. This anti-Asian sentiment has versity of Western Ontario, the view ignited fears of such a trend moving of this high school graduate, ac- north. Undergraduate-level admiscording to the artision procedures at cle, represents the Canadian universiwidespread view ties currently rely that “an ‘Asian’ The history of racism almost exclusiveschool has come in Canada sheds a ly on transcripts, to mean one that different light on the which would seem is so academically to be the equal-opmatter, leaving focused that some portunity approach, students feel they but lends itself to several minority can no longer comcurrent debacle groups concerned the pete or have fun.” of racially divided about the Across universities, accordthe spectrum, it implications of the ing to the Maclean’s has been found that words in the article.” article. Asian students typ T h e ically work harder panelists present at and tend to be high achievers, and the meeting held at McMaster, enso it is no coincidence that it is these titled, “Beyond ‘Too Asian’: Restudents that are drawn to the top imagining Community and alliance programs at the top schools, which in the Internet Age” discussed the tend to be those that specialize in implications of the article. Math, Science and Business, three Karen Sun expressed her areas in which U of T, Waterloo and disappointment with the article as it UBC come out on top. relates to the narrow-minded school An article in the Toronto of thought that keeps Asians “perStar, originally entitled “Asian stu- petual foreigners.” Even third and dents suffering for success” was fourth generation Chinese-Canrenamed “Educators encourage adians whose grandparents built the parents of Asian background to let Canadian Pacific Railway are subtheir children study trades and arts,” ject to such discrimination, she said. while the Maclean’s article was also The ideology put forth by renamed after causing substantial the Maclean’s article and stereounrest in Chinese-Canadian com- types of Chinese-Canadians comes munities, being criticized for being as a source of frustration and dismay racist and perpetuating stereotypes for Sun. Sun ran in the last munici-
pal election, but felt she was overthrown by a candidate that simply had better connections than her. “Because you’re a visible minority, because you’re not part of the old boys’ club and they don’t want you there, you’re always going to be one step behind, and it is very frustrating.” Evidence for possible “Asian ceilings” at U.S. universities comes from findings that Asian students typically require much higher SAT scores than white applicants to be at equal standing in the admission process. Sun felt held back similarly, stating that, “the problem with the Maclean’s article is that they are saying that [Asians] are too hardworking … they’re working so hard that it is making it harder for other people, so let’s’ hold them back.” Sun reflected on the aftermath of the article within the Chinese-Canadian community. Many people wanted an apology, and many were unsure of what they wanted but knew that this approach to the successes of the ChineseCanadian community cannot go unnoticed. Sun felt that if the community doesn’t react now, “maybe universities down the road may feel it’s okay to put quotas [on the admission] of Asians, black people, or whoever they felt were messing with the way things should be.” Many have criticized her view, dismissing it as paranoid, but the history of racism in Canada sheds a different light on the matter, leaving several minority groups concerned about the implications of the words in the article. With a focus on discrimination of Asians throughout history, Sun was careful to stress that there may be ramifica• PLEASE SEE HISTORY, A3
[This Week in the Sil] Power of peer pressure Peers can play an important role in our lives. Knowing when to say enough is key to dealing with peer pressure. Pg. C1
Companies we all hate
There’s no place like...
Santino Marinucci delves into some of the world’s most hated corporations, and why.
Julie Doiron talks with ANDY about a career on the road and her new journey at home as a mother. Pg. D12
Pg. C7