1 10 29 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/5a0b889a97ee06a96db1e81cfcf9d4bc.pdf?Expires=1792022400&Signature=oZyyJurMpmjBe7sOG3nj78muORTyAkAVNmjHjaTeuKvjwkDHGiHSDHuKglEPP3lOseU2Ik8siTCuj2leoSW0pwC3fgFZA6Ea-RzAm9yQ1dZhB3RowhLS2Pye1NizgBsXz3V31ftybpy1w4hl-9MEEpUvd2K2YSnho9CiA54f6pZ9imcJ%7EkOnsbXQqhCZL1n0P9awQo4U6-NcofZQ--pgakav41yA9tFUCtA42PJWFJZwlV5sfxAEqeUKgVxf7%7EWb-RbofjmQumhc3il2QX4hwQy9EJNrV5MqkWq32V%7ErmoUhhFG0lD738-LQFS6V5uX2pR-kbSX-kr3Puy4D7FZPng__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 2f99c564b52b2d31701c6c1cfdfac94c PDF Text Text 6 Commentary The McGill Daily, Thursday, October 23, 2008 volume 98 number 15 editorial 3480 McTavish St., Rm. B-24 Montreal QC, H3A 1X9 phone 514.398.6784 fax 514.398.8318 mcgilldaily.com coordinating editor Jennifer Markowitz coordinating@mcgilldaily.com coordinating news editor Shannon Kiely news editors Erin Hale Nicholas Smith Alison Withers features editor Claire Caldwell commentary&compendium editor Max Halparin coordinating culture editor Leah Pires culture editors Joshua Frank Braden Goyette science+technology editor Stephen Davis / The McGill Daily Physics professor Ken Ragan chats about astrophysics and his intramural hockey team, Cold Fusion. Apparently they’re not doing very well. The case for irrelevance Lindsay Waterman mind&body editor Nadja Popovich photo editor Stephen Davis The conversationalist graphics editor Ben Peck production & design editors Will Vanderbilt Aaron Vansintjan web editor Ian Beattie copy editor Whitney Mallett cover design Stephen Davis le délit Maysa Phares redaction@delitfrancais.com Contributors Rosie Aiello, Komal Ali, Kelley Baldwin, Jacqueline Bird, Niko Block, Steven Campbell, Emily Clare, Madeline Coleman, Rupert Common, Andrea Damiano, Dana Drori, Corey Gulkin, Henry Gass, Becky Harris, Shu Jiang, Ivy Johnson, Thomas Large, Kristin Li, Evan Newton, Erin O’Callaghan, Aditi Ohri, Sasha Plotnikova, Dominic Popowich, Kortney Shapiro, Alana Taylor, Morgan Teeple Hopkins, Cathryn Theriault The Daily is published on most Mondays and Thursdays by the Daily Publications Society, an autonomous, not-for-profit organization whose membership includes all McGill undergraduates and most graduate students. Rosie Aiello I love Romantic poetry, but according to my uncle, it’s “completely useless, and contributes nothing to society. It’s a self-indulgent, selfsatisfying area of study, and as long as I live, I’ll tell you so.” This got me feeling bad for feeling deeply in love with anything so chimeric as poetry. But then I talked to Ken Ragan, Professor of Physics at McGill. He was part of a team of scientists that discovered the Top Quark, which is of no practical use, but whose discovery solidifies our current theories of matter. He told me many “useless” and fascinating things about black holes and anti-matter, and he said some- thing that – to me, in my current state of self-doubt – was particularly useful: “I sleep very well at night, knowing full well that what I do is irrelevant.” I feel quite an affinity for Ragan’s way of thinking, because if it weren’t for people like my uncle, I would sleep well at night knowing full well that Romantic poetry is irrelevant. Since neither the study of astrophysics or Romantic poetry is directly driven by humanitarian or economic ends, they are naively deemed irrelevant. Although I may appreciate Ragan’s corroborating my beliefs about education, the discussion begs the question: why in the name of all that is relevant do we continue investing hours and dollars into these disciplines? People are dying, while we indulge our “passions.” “In science, we talk about applied science versus curiosity-driven science,” Ragan explained. “Astrophysics is not relevant in that it makes someone’s life better or easier, but there is value in finding out how the world works.... Curiosity-driven science is a cultural endeavour, just as much as is something like Hollywood.” And when the first man laid his carefully constructed moon boot on the moon, the world watched and clutched their hands to their chests, fingers interlocked for the pride of the human race. And the celestial bodies spin around us, and we feel a sense of contentment, just knowing that we know that they’re there. But more fundamentally, Ragan believes that so-called “irrelevant” disciplines change our approach to living. “Physics taught me that the world is an understandable place. Physics allows you to take a large problem and break it up into small, manageable pieces, and from there you can find a solution,” he said. “Physics also taught me to look for proof, and to stand by conclusions based on empirical evidence.” Can you imagine if everyone made judgments based on evidence? So simple! In my case, Romantic poetry taught me that one’s compassion is directly proportionate to one’s imaginative capacity, and appropriately, that the truest way to see the world is with a childish sense of wonder. These may be romantic notions, but they’re also constructive. In this way, every irrelevant undertaking somehow contributes to social progress and to humanitarianism. Irrelevance does not imply “of no value.” There are certain modes of thought, approaches, and attitudes that we learn from such disciplines, the worth of which are great, though neither concrete nor quantifiable. Rosie’s column appears every other Thursday. You can send quarks to theconversationalist@mcgilldaily.com. Clearing up a couple SACOMSS issues 3480 McTavish St., Rm. B-26 Montreal QC, H3A 1X9 phone 514.398.6790 fax 514.398.8318 Boris Shedov treasury & fiscal manager Pierre Bouillon ad layout & design Geneviève Robert advertising & general manager dps board of directors Angel Chen, Jennifer Markowitz Lawrence Monoson, Drew Nelles, Maysa Phares, Perrin Valli, Eric Van Eyken (chair@dailyproductions.org) The Daily is proud to be a founding member of the Canadian University Press. All contents © 2008 Daily Publications Society. All rights reserved. The content of this newspaper is the responsibility of The McGill Daily and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University. Products or companies advertised in this newspaper are not necessarily endorsed by Daily staff. Printed by Imprimerie Transcontinental Transmag. Anjou, Quebec. ISSN 1192-4608. Corey Gulkin and Becky Harris HYDE PARK T he Sexual Assault Centre of McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS) offers services to survivors of sexual assault, their friends, family, partners, and allies. We’re writing this to clarify our centre’s beliefs, in response to recent events. One such article, “Pro-life group seeks SSMU club status,” appeared in the October 6 issue of The Daily. The article discussed Choose Life, a pro-life group which is trying to gain SSMU club status. SSMU VP Clubs & Services Samantha Cook was quoted as saying that SACOMSS would be a source of backlash as a group with a “more vested interest in women’s rights and reproductive rights.” Although SACOMSS identifies as an anti-oppressive and profeminist organization, we do not identify as either pro-life or prochoice. Anyone is welcome to use our services regardless of their opinions on abortion. SACOMSS offers non-judgemental support through support groups, a helpline, a drop-in centre, and an accompaniment branch. We also offer education through community outreach. Our services are all prosurvivor, meaning that we always believe the survivor and that sexual assault is never the survivor’s fault. Our space and volunteer opportunities are open to people of all genders, backgrounds, and beliefs. As a non-judgemental organization, we will not judge anyone based on their beliefs or any other criteria. We are here to support survivors of sexual assault, and unless Choose Life was to interfere with such support, we would have no reason to oppose their group gaining club status. We are aware that the beliefs of Choose Life’s parent organization, National Campus Life Network, conflict with our pro-survivor mandate. Their literature states that they believe that abortion in the case of sexual assault is merely a violent act in response to the violent act of sexual assault1. However, we do not know the extent of Choose Life’s involvement with this group. We also wanted to clarify that only the External Coordinators of SACOMSS can accurately speak on behalf of the centre’s mandates and beliefs. This means that no speaker, ally, or anyone else, even if supported by or endorsed by SACOMSS, can represent us as a centre. Corey Gulkin and Becky Harris are SACOMSS External Coordinators. They can be reached at sacomss@gmail.com, and more info can be found at sacomss.org. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Volume 98 Issue 15 Page Number(s) 6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Clearing up a couple SACOMSS issues Description An account of the resource An article from two SACOMSS coordinators clearing up some misconceptions about the organization. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Corey Gulkin, Becky Harris Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008/10/23 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Choose Life reproductive health reproductive justice sexual assault Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students' Society (SACOMSS) sexual violence SSMU https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/0f0664818a14d7a5ae009919046393b0.pdf?Expires=1792022400&Signature=WMoaDj-L6NvdKgyBRR6mn8l1f4R95Wi-3Yt8qquGej6agAey9PBbvuIPUpECgXW2cAzdw9rpuHBJhmplw4CCk-ND1F9n2Qf1svugD4yd%7Em6ZCOBaOZ6e4tsJAMvprdEK5Aa60veHxvaskpM04Pvn5Nn9EfjyZ2ruUZxU-tXENsGwp%7EukBgC47fAIlGOU3T3CujawCVW4bGhiI4AL6O2ZcJqt%7Eu05N4jlWfFtxnpKvjHA-Ux2TniP0jw9jE813xGzrS-JowgrI8fcg9i-5m-3plVprlT9gO3WJVcyY5B4Tgy4g%7EC9TE3noyD7payeBRos7k2TdzVDgB4ulAfjTOYvgg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 0ba94c5070db9f437de614d055bb1e65 PDF Text Text News The McGill Daily, Thursday, October 30, 2008 SSMU approves pro-life club 3 Choose Life’s status to be reviewed in three months Lina Crompton News Writer S SMU councillors voted 21 to two in favour of granting a controversial pro-life group on campus club status in a vote at Tuesday’s council meeting. After an animated debate from councillors, concerned students, and the club’s supporters, Choose Life was granted interim status and will be able to apply for full club status after three months as an interim club, the standard for all new clubs. The club will have to hold three events and satisfy other requirements to demonstrate it is active. Women’s Studies student Andrew Thorne, watching from the gallery, claimed Choose Life was a structurally violent group and opposed its legitimization through SSMU. “Pro-life is inherently violent against women and against human rights,” he said of the ideological mandate of the group. When council reached the debate on Choose Life’s club status, ten to 15 students filtered into the room. Members of the gallery came from various advocacy groups at McGill, including the Quebec Public Interest Research Group and the Union for Gender Empowerment. Signs from the gallery poked up with slogans including “legalize abortion” and “fight gender oppression.” Choose Life’s mandate, according to its constitution, is to “promote and respect human rights and human life from conception,” which they define in their constitution as “the moment fertilization occurs.” Choose Life’s director Natalie Fohl defended the group’s legitimacy at the meeting, stressing that SSMU club status will facilitate pro-life discussion at educational events and will ensure that a variety of services and options are available on campus Guy Lifshitz for The McGill Daily Max Silverman, last year’s VP External, commented that he had never seen a SSMU Council meeting so well attended. for women and partners faced with decisions about pregnancy. Fohl felt there was a lack of support on campus for women who decide to carry their pregnancy to term and worried that refusing Choose Life a campus voice would silence pro-life issues. “The more options there are on campus, the better off [women] will be with making decisions for their own care,” said Choose Life representative Kathryn Sawyer at the meeting. Councillor José Díaz disagreed with a gallery member who questioned the legal and moral implications of SSMU’s decision to accept a group with a controversial definition of conception. “Universities are the best places for this kind of debate. SSMU can’t stop pro-life groups just because of their definitions,” Diaz said. Based on tactics of outside prolife groups, other gallery members were worried Choose Life members would distribute graphic pamphlets hostile to abortion. In response to these accusations, Fohl assured council attendees that Choose Life’s activities would be nonincendiary. “[We’re] against using graphic pictures or circulating literature that could be construed as hateful,” Fohl said. Devin Alfaro, SSMU VP External, assured the room that if Choose Life was to circulate hateful material during its interim period, the society would stop its activities in their tracks. SSMU’s equity committee is prepared to receive student grievances against any club’s actions. SSMU President Kay Turner echoed Alfaro’s assertions. “In the SSMU Constitution, if one club demands recourse with another they can take it to the [Judicial] Board if there is behaviour that infringes or endangers another person’s or club’s livelihood,” she said. Law Students’ Representative Alexandre Shee supported granting Choose Life interim club status. “SSMU should not limit freedom, thought, or opinion as defined by the Canadian Constitution,” Shee said. “All clubs are innocent until proven guilty,” said councillor Hanchu Chen, arguing that Council should respect the group’s right to free speech and assembly. Other clubs that were swiftly granted interim status at the meeting include the Muggle Quidditch Team, the Thaqalayn Muslim Association, Fetish and Kink Enthusiasts, Dragon Boat Z, Aerospace Medicine Association, and the People’s Liberated Knitting Front. Migrant farm workers seek collective bargaining rights Seasonal worker status doesn’t guarantee full employee benefits Maria Forti News Writer T he right of migrant agricultural workers to collectively bargain for better contracts is at stake in a case before Quebec’s Labour Relations Commission that began hearings Friday. Seasonal Mexican workers at a farm in Saint-Augustin de Mirabel, about 40 kilometres north of Montreal, applied in July for accreditation to form a collective bargaining unit to secure better working conditions. During the hearing, five workers spoke about the conditions on the farm, including the long hours without breaks, the volatile temper of their boss, their reasons for migrating to Canada for work, and their lack of job security. “Workers who come here from Mexico deserve respect,” said Ausencio Flores, who has worked for farm owners Johanne L’Écuyer and Pierre Locas for about five years. “We do not come here so that [the bosses] can insult us. We come here as people, not as animals.” Flores added that workers entering Canada are threatened by the Mexican Consulate, saying they are told not to complain about anything at work or they will be considered “in conflict” with their contracts and will not be asked back to Canada for the next season. The United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW), which brought the application forward, is supporting the part-time workers’ collective bargaining efforts. When asked why he signed a union card with the UFCW, Gabriel Sanchez, another worker on the farm, explained that the language barrier made negotiations challenging. “We needed someone to help solve our problems and every time we called the Consulate, no one answered,” Sanchez said, speaking through a translator like most of the workers. “I don’t speak the language so it is not possible to talk [with my boss].” A collective bargaining strategy was opposed by the farm owners, who argued the part-time workers should not receive full employee benefits because the farm is not in operation all year, citing a provision in the Quebec Labour Code that requires at least three employees to work yearround to be eligible for certification. The UFCW is claiming that the provision in the Code is unconstitutional due to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that guarantees employees the right to collective bargaining, a change from its previous opinion. Hearings will resume Tuesday and continue into November. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Volume 98 Issue 17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SSMU approves pro-life club Description An account of the resource An article about a new pro-life/anti-abortion club at McGill called Choose Life. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lina Crompton Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008/10/30 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Choose Life reproductive health reproductive justice SSMU Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE) https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/b34827ed535656f1fd3d4e7fc322c6b3.pdf?Expires=1792022400&Signature=XHEa4iksADiMI%7ExomngdLTGnEQNqixL-CnyMTLOl%7EHFx5FNAcU8fS1F165WK-5t0TYvIglAaDUeeTrgR4apDVJ7lvybmzseg0CjwoAy0r7dabuH3ke88p9tf4gpyVy-UuJW3yUlEYibOsPCICvyNQVgfwT8B7r5LRBEHxKEMT7qWItjGrOvOglBb8QyTPsLYfbm4ghvcjC-EamotIAEPWeFzB%7EgknvfSWtiXGnfqbCoVHYr9Q7-60aQBLuBOBvp-4Upl5ehkL4dkGHSJtvfvE0mJjRkgERLplkOFbgkdttmrRDOmQtEjjSQQJ4Y8be9m0c1pKYkxME52YoTCovMiow__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 11dcc08c14875d56d4faa2e86aae8447 PDF Text Text Commentary The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 6, 2008 Pro-life education will endanger students Choose Life’s mandate violates the SSMU constitution The UGE Collective HYDE PARK L ast Tuesday, SSMU approved Choose Life for interim club status. The club’s stated aims include providing students with education on “the value of human life from conception,” as well as with “post-abortion help.” The Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE) Collective supports all students’ rights to hold opinions that differ from ours, and believes that SSMU and SSMU clubs should allow for the exchange of controversial ideas and divergent opinions. However, we believe that a line must be drawn when disseminating these opinions endangers other students’ emotional and physical well-being. Pro-life “education” is incompatible with an inclusive and safe Students’ Society. Choose Life is affiliated with the National Campus Life Network, a group that “supports Canada’s pro-life students” on campuses across Canada. Other campus groups affiliated with the Network have used blatantly hateful materials in their public education campaigns. One group at UBC used a display entitled the “Genocide Awareness Project,” displaying images of aborted fetuses and comparing abortion to the Holocaust and other genocides. While Choose Life has stated that they are not planning to use graphic images, we believe that any “pro-life” material in student space is harmful. The group claims to educate students about pregnancy options, but the purpose of “pro-life” education is to limit choices, not to provide them. By condemning abortion as an option, pro-life propaganda is targeting, alienating, and shaming a minority group within the student body – those who have had or are considering abortion. The people most affected by this tend to be already marginalized members of our student community, including women, survivors of sexual assault, sex workers, and people with limited access to health care. Choose Life’s goal of providing “after-abortion help” is also troubling. McGill Counseling Services, as well as a number of student groups, already work to provide non-judgmental support for people who are pregnant or who have had abortions. The only thing that could possibly be different about Choose Life’s support would be its judgmental slant. This “help” would only serve to encourage feel- ings of guilt among those who have had abortions and exploit their experiences for the pro-life cause. SSMU Council was not endorsing “pro-life” ideology by giving Choose Life status, but in doing this they are lending the group and its activities legitimacy – and potentially future funding and physical space. Council has expressed its desire to “give this group a chance,” promising to take action against any activities that violate SSMU’s constitution or equity policy. However, we feel that the group’s mandate already violates the constitution, and that even one public event has the potential to cause harm to members of the Students’ Society. SSMU has a responsibility to protect its members, and student space like the Shatner building should be safe and inclusive for all students. This responsibility means not allowing harmful propaganda to be spread using students’ space or money. How much harm must be done before our Students’ Society will act to defend students’ safety? You can reach the Union for Gender Empowerment Collective at unionforgenderempowerment@ gmail.com. Taking the “violence” out of Choose Life Alexandra Swann HYDE PARK E control over fertility through access both to birth control options and to abortions is an essential part of body rights for women. But the term “violence” does not belong in this discussion, and does nothing but sensationalize the issue by tying it to the important, tangentially related but ultimately separate issue of violence against women. In a cursory search, I could not find any definition of violence broad enough ven though personally I am vehemently pro-choice, I am very glad that Council decided to grant club status to Choose Life. Smothering the debate on the subject of abortion doesn't do any good for either side, and SSMU would have established a dangerous precedent if it chose to empower itself as the arbiPlease don’t tell me that trator of what moral disto be a feminist, I must be cussions or stances ought to be allowed on campus. intolerant of religion and attend We didn't elect SSMU to do the annual Eve Ensler cult that, and to presume such a right would limit freedom of conscience and speech on to incorporate this usage. The closcampus. However, I object to the use of the est was “an unjust or unwarranted term “structural violence” in relation exertion of force or power, as against to pro-life groups, and the notion rights or laws,” but by that definition, that such a stance is “inherently vio- SSMU choosing to deny this club lent” toward women. Certainly, with- interim status would have been using holding practical access to abortion its power unjustly in an act of “viodisproportionately affects women, lence.” In no way could this club – or and particularly women in vulnerable even the Canadian pro-life movesocial positions like racial minorities ment – be seen as having the power and the economically disadvantaged. necessary to fulfill the requirements It severely impacts the social and of this already questionable definieconomic options available to her for tion of “violence.” While I understand that this use is the rest of her life. Having increased “ fashionable among the radical left, to me, it’s an attempt to morally hijack the conversation by using a valueladen term that people automatically associate with physical force. By implying that someone who believes life begins at conception is morally equivalent to a man who beats his wife, it ultimately diminishes the more important problem of violence against women by equating an opinion to an act. They are not, and to suggest this demonstrates intolerance toward a justifiable moral position simply because you do not share it. I am a liberal feminist down to my core, but this is the kind of thing that makes people reluctant to declare themselves feminists today. The modern women's rights movement has somehow alienated the very group it seeks to represent. We drive away our moderates both through this kind of sensationalism, and by equating sexual freedom with exhibitionism. Please don't tell me that to be a feminist, I must be intolerant of religion and attend the annual Eve Ensler cult. Don't we have bigger things to worry about? Alexandra Swann is a U4 Political Science and Environmental Studies student. If you’re into this whole debate thing, you can reach her at alexandra.swann@mail.mcgill.ca. 9 Obama won, now there’s work to do Many are feeling a surge of joy and relief after the U.S. election, but we shouldn’t get too comfortable now that the confetti’s been swept away. It’s a good time to remember, while spirits are still running high, that all our political hopes shouldn’t have to ride on just one federal election, and a lot of crucial things won’t happen if they do. An undeniably significant symbolic change in America’s political climate has taken place. The election saw the biggest voter turnout since 1960, and Americans should be proud of that. Further, states like Virginia and Indiana went blue for the first time in decades. On the eve of the election, Germany’s Die Zeit listed six questions the outcome of this election would answer, among them: is the Reagan Revolution over? Is a generational shift taking place? Are we getting past racism? Tuesday night, America certainly gave some kind of yes. That said, Obama and Biden will face huge challenges come January, and there is a limited amount of change that can realistically happen at the federal level in the next four years. Like presidents before him, Obama will need to move cautiously to protect his chances of getting re-elected – a more difficult balancing act when you’re trying to unite a divided country. And between righting the economy, addressing torture, and ending the war in Iraq – not to mention the huge debt Bush has left behind – the president-elect already has a hefty amount of damage control in front of him. America is still incredibly divided. The Republican campaign strategy of appealing to “real America” exacerbated tensions that aren’t going to simply go away now that the polls have closed. The U.S. remains socially conservative, perhaps best shown on Tuesday, as residents in Arizona, Florida, and California joined 26 other states in banning gay marriage through constitutional amendments. While there is a lot of talk about a landslide, many states were blue only by a slim margin. Certain things about American political culture are probably going to stay the same: the polarizing two-party system, the disproportionate political sway of corporate interests, America’s position on the world stage as an imposing imperial power. With the economy taking centre stage in American politics, health care and education will likely remain in the background, and climate change probably won’t get a chance to be addressed in a way that matches the urgency of the situation. Politics today work in an emotional key, and the epic build-up to the election gets us so absorbed, it’s easy to forget the other levels that politics takes place on. Candidates’ faces have flashed on our screens so often, we only know them as pop stars. Now we hope they’ll materialize into life-size, progressive policy makers. An active citizenry is always crucial. Obama won’t be able to come through on the change he’s been promising for the past year without the support from Congressmen and women across the U.S. So don’t forget your local politics; write to your representatives, attend demonstrations, and keep a critical eye on activity in Washington, whether or not you can vote on who ends up there. Back up north, Jean Charest announced yesterday that Quebeckers will be heading to the polls in a month for a provincial election. While there were plenty of Canadians at Gert’s on Tuesday, we somehow doubt that New Hampshirites will come out in droves to weigh in on Quebec’s political future. Though poorly timed, the upcoming election certainly warrants your attention, since the result will directly influence many of the issues routinely covered in these pages: tuition fees, union rights, language issues, and farm and food policy, to name a few. There is an upside to hyper-mediated American elections. This one, in particular, felt like a real collective experience, and it’s brought out a surge of energy and political will that North America hasn’t seen in some time. Let’s not let it dwindle away now that November 4 has passed. Editorial Student Journalism Week is coming November 10 to 14. See the opposite page for details. It’s like ad ping-pong! � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Volume 98 Issue 19 Page Number(s) 9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Taking the "violence" out of Choose Life Description An account of the resource An article critiquing the way that some individuals and groups spoke about pro-life group Choose Life. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Alexandra Swann Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008/11/06 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Choose Life reproductive health reproductive justice SSMU https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/7cd8a3efa173c07185aa430ad80b8692.pdf?Expires=1792022400&Signature=N5DQIT0fSqM66B-NOiA%7EAZ9ibUAoDQ63aYI9O2K9v3eWzCoQrt9Wd8ptcoU6ZpKrUr4WdPYit18Ec3yzNt14Tl9rumuNkAz3XhfzeEh0Q1i36b5MYELymHHnFcA9MC4bMTNFG1d4Bp7Ha76Nm8pqcHMeSEZWCqts65sZcM57GsMiM2LrLAKKPgdv3Z2csmMWk7%7EIdycHj52SgmG2giiGGsOYOZi9XMqYpsOXoxFA9CD7W6V1HJnbhKIW4FPrOwuUHwpAdgerAnexvWkWiCUCO2sx-WhG4hQI-3kfjHw2V7XdiwLYUX9lCYuuuPFj9VnVPM3IAmULi6Llws1N-6vJaw__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 468801f9145adcfa9e894d5db0241b4f PDF Text Text 14 Commentary The McGill Daily, Thursday, November 13, 2008 Basing the abortion debate on biology David Sean Paterson HYDE PARK I have been watching the misleadingly named “pro-life” club debate with amusement and increasing revulsion over the last few weeks. In a letter to The Daily (Let’s include the unborn, Nov. 6), Choose Life member Amy Bergeron writes, “the present lack of protection of unborn human persons in Canadian law is no less worth questioning and challenging than was the legal status quo before women were recognized as persons in Canadian law.” I hope that statement caused every feminist on campus to breathe a collective gasp of moral outrage. What, if anything, is Bergeron basing that statement on? If her argument is based on biology, then Bergeron does not appear familiar with the subject – including what constitutes conscious life. It is not my responsibility to ensure that those who oppose abortion are sufficiently proactive in obtaining a rudimentary understanding of developmental biology. However, it might strengthen their arguments – despite what Bergeron states, they are currently certainly worth questioning. According to Bergeron and the regressive definitions she espouses, conscious and rational McGill women should be legally considered tantamount to a mass of cells with “potential.” From a materialist, neurobiological perspective however, this mass of cells has no functioning neural system, no consciousness, and thus is not a person, rendering her comparison to suffrage nonsensical. Even in the second trimester, a baby’s neural system is not complex enough for it to be considered conscious, except perhaps in the same way that a lobster is aware of its own existence to the extent that it knows not to pinch itself. Why does Bergeron consider this a person? Biology doesn’t. If her argument is based on faith, and if she is a dualist, Bergeron likely believes that this little blastula is a human because it has some sort of soul; perhaps comprised of something in the ether, or bestowed by a god whose existence is supported only by faith. She is of course entitled to hold and express this opinion under Canadian law – that’s part of what makes this country so great. However, back here in the realms of the tangible, as these faith-based beliefs begin to slide from opinion into a mandate, they gain potential to impinge upon the rights of others. And that is precisely the problem with the pro-life club. Obviously, Choose Life’s mandate includes ultimately extending legal rights to my aforementioned blastula, or to a bunch of cells to which the members intuitively ascribe a soul at the expense of adult, conscious people and their mature choices about what to do with their own bodies. However passive, we can expect lobbying on their positions because such a group would not exist simply for those who hold identical beliefs to sit around and preach to the converted. Self-righteous moralizing unpredicated on fact becomes perturbing when those who hold these irrational beliefs move from the farcical fringe and onto the ramparts of legitimized power. Hence why Palin appeared to be a hilarious troglodyte, but the idea of a VP Palin wielding actual political power in conjunction with her antiquated, faith-based beliefs, was sufficiently terrifying as to help motivate record voter turnout. A student group, however small and ill-supported, has both a voice and a capacity to influence its increasingly aggressive mandate on others. Freedom of speech and expression should not supersede human rights; you can say and believe what you like, but that doesn’t mean you can foist these opinions and their related implications on those who do not share them. However in the debate specific to legal status, anti-abortionists would do well to select an example more suitable to their cause than women’s suffrage if they expect to convince anyone with even modicum of scepticism. David Sean Paterson is a U3 Honours Cognitive Science and Neuroscience student. He can be reached at david.paterson@ mail.mcgill.ca. Yi Ariel Liu for The McGill Daily Letters: Medication, Masi, and the UN Letters Don’t belittle medication Re: “McGill Mental Heath cleans up” | News | Nov. 10 I take issue with Dr. Robert Franck’s comments regarding scaling back medication for McGill Mental Health Services patients. Saying that medication is not an answer, while a wonderful soundbite, is a somewhat dismissive statement that implies medication is never the right way to approach your problems. Further, it suggests that those who turn to medication are taking the easy way out, and are simply not trying hard enough to solve their problems in other ways. This is a gross oversimplification and oversight of the benefits that medication can deliver to some people. Let me point out that in real life, no one considers the medicating step lightly or flippantly. Medication can offer a very important starting push to those who are trying to stand on their own feet but just can’t get up, no matter how hard they try and no matter how much they talk about their problems with a psychologist. For some people medication is a necessity, usually a last hope, and I really don’t think it’s constructive to implement agendas that make those reaching out for help feel uncomfortable or ashamed to ask about the possibility of using medication. I would have hoped to hear a more understanding and less blackand-white approach to this sensitive and personal issue from our new clinical director. Nina Frampton U1 Chemistry You can write, but you can’t think Re: “Not all men are meatogynists” | Commentary | Nov. 6 Allow me to take this moment to congratulate Santiago Perez for writing his first letter to The Daily. One can only regret the fact that it did not contain anything more than logical fallacies and typical reactionary sentiments. Perez sets out to refute Sean Iacurti’s thesis that “the prevalence of women among vegetarians in western societies is due to a commonality that women feel toward the subjugation of cattle and swine,” and that “men practice their primeval rite of gender affirmation through ‘dominating animals’ by eating meat in greater numbers.” But he does this by citing some statistics from rural India that he just knew would come in handy one of these days! By now, I trust Perez sees the ridiculousness of debunking a hypothesis on Western society with an example from the East, so there’s no need for me to make him feel any worse about it. Bloviations aside, facts remain: there are more male hunters than female. There are more male murderers than female. While I don’t have the statistics in front of me, I would wager Mr. Perez a tender 20-ounce steak that there are also more male animal torturers. I’m male, and there is nothing I love more than a good steak. But I recognize that there is something sadistic inherent in my nature, that I certainly believe manifests itself in “racism, environmental decay, war, and class struture,” an obvious truth that Perez finds detrimental to his beloved feminist cause. I’m sure the feminist movement would rather he not pretend to speak for them, but thank you very much. Rarely is one supplied with stronger proof that the ability to form a coherent sentence is wholly distinct from the ability to form a coherent thought. Ricky Kreitner U0 Humanistic studies Daily columnist Canada doesn’t care about native people Re: “First Nations self-governance is tricky” | Commentary | Nov. 10 Mookie, you are wrong in so many ways about the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. First off, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S. are not the only countries that have colonized indigenous populations! Brazil, China, India, Sweden, Peru, Mexico, all did (and do) as well, and the list goes on. And they signed the Declaration, so it’s not all foreign diplomats who have nothing more than a “theoretical” idea of what’s happening. Secondly, although they may be a minority now, indigenous peoples were a majority of population at the time of contact. Thirdly, the Declaration does not force Canada to stop abusing the human rights of Native people, all it does is recognize that they have fundamental human rights, like you and I. Maybe you should read the Declaration, because it’s obvious that you haven’t. Further, the UN is not responsible for the plight of indigenous peoples; governments and citizens (you and me) are those responsible for the ongoing colonization of indigenous peoples worldwide. Lastly, self-government and self-determination are different, and self-determination has not truly been achieved anywhere in North America. The Canadian government won’t even sign a document recognizing their human rights – even when that document is non-binding. You’re right about one thing, though, a solution to the issues facing Canada’s native peoples must be homegrown. But the “homegrown” solution until now has been abuse, assimilation, and colonization. When the UN comes up with a document that does nothing more than recognize the fundamental human rights of indigenous peoples, Canada – along with its white colonialist friends – decided to vote against it. Why not abstain? Why bring scrutiny down on itself? Because the Canadian government wants to make it clear to everyone (even when it could lie and just sign the damn thing)  that it doesn’t give a fuck about native people, so get off the land, its time for some new oil exploration. Charles Mostoller U3 Arts Masi shouldn’t help select the new ombudsperson It’s good to see that all three McGill papers are taking the issue of the ombudsperson seriously, but now that they’re advertising the selection committee, it’s time to get to the heart of the matter. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say this, but I think that having Provost Anthony Masi as the head of the selection committee represents a major conflict of interest. When Dr. Norman Cornett was removed from his teaching post over a year ago, it was Masi who encouraged the ombudsman at the time, Norman Miller, that it “was for the good of all students.” When Miller discovered that Dr. Cornett’s students were almost unanimously opposed to his being let go and that it wasn’t, in fact for the benefit of the students, he was prepared to speak to a Quebec labour tribunal on behalf of Dr. Cornett. Yet it was Masi who prevented Miller from speaking at the tribunal. My issue with this is that the ombudsperson needs to be independent from both McGill administration/ faculty and from the students. They need to be free to act as they see fit. The ombudsperson is akin to the independent judiciary in a state, but if the judiciary is in the pocket of the rulers, how can justice come about? I’m all for having the selection committee for the ombudsperson, but I believe that having Anthony Masi heading it up is most certainly not “for the good of the students.” Aly Jivraj BA’07 More letters were received for this issue than could be printed. They will appear in the next possible issue. Send your non-offensive letters to letters@mcgilldaily.com. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Volume 98 Issue 21 Page Number(s) 14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Basing the abortion debate on biology Description An account of the resource An article critiquing pro-life group Choose Life from a scientific standpoint. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource David Sean Paterson Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008/11/13 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Choose Life reproductive health reproductive justice Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE) https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/de2e3f4d57d5e37494262f0ce5be4c9d.pdf?Expires=1792022400&Signature=XzM5X%7EHKvpg9K26v8la86UNo59FGYhiDrc2fHnckGw%7EY3ngmVHitJ6rIARqYN8ddG6Irxd9wUyra7WDo3SwnstTjiKZ258cidv3QFhwe9z1z4RZFDmRbhogSFBfDiRcUbIgdnxwrnprt8L55wbBRvQnBaK6X88iFziV6%7Es1dVaMT8YZDyy%7E3oe%7Ekf3%7Ec-1AQKEjZ3feqsi837auU7ZVacaNhWiRJ9JlPkFqhvaAU20Zr9XdGYO8VrU%7EyVMlGt9dFvlKWWdQzcubA9adGAH8%7EQLZQNpGGrzt4tHoyRaGp4hH1OE1k9uHeYFWdHx4MKiYzKIljabrXRSLkoUkSrzmb9A__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM c80bfd70dfcb342ad30410d19ffbc75a PDF Text Text Nouvelles nouvelles@delitfrancais.com CAMPUS Quelles limites à la tolérance? Suite à la polémique causée par les activités du groupe Choose life survenue il y a deux semaines, le professeur Morton J. Mendelson s’est joint à une table ronde pour discuter avec l’AÉUM sur la régulation des activités étudiantes sur le campus. Alexandre Ruiz de Porras Guédon Le Délit L e jeudi 8 octobre dernier, l’Association des étudiants de l’Université McGill (AÉUM) a tenu une table ronde pour discuter des critères déterminant si un événement peut avoir lieu ou non sur le campus, suite à une conférence controversée organisée par le club étudiant anti-avortement Choose Life. Le groupe avait suscité la polémique début octobre en annonçant une conférence donnée par José Ruba, co-fondateur du Centre canadien pour la réforme bio-éthique, intitulée «Échos de l’Holocauste». Au cours de sa présentation, M. Ruba a comparé la pratique de l’avortement au génocide perpétré par les Nazis pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. La conférence devait avoir lieu dans les locaux de l’AÉUM, mais elle fut censurée lors de la réunion bimensuelle du Conseil législatif de celui-ci le 1er octobre dernier. La motion de censure a été votée en réaction à ce que l’AÉUM craignait être un événement qui violerait sa Constitution et sa politique d’éthique. Faisant fi de ladite motion, le club Choose Life a quand même décidé d’organiser la conférence dans un local étant hors de la jurisdiction de l’AÉUM, dans le bâtiment Leacock, à la même date et heure et montrant le même contenu que prévus. En pleine conférence, l’AÉUM a sommé les organisateurs de clore l’événement et a fait appel à l’administration pour tenter d’y mettre fin. Cependant, l’administration a décidé de laisser libre-cours à la conférence. Le professeur Morton J. Mendelson, vice-principal exécutif adjoint à la vie étudiante et à l’apprentissage de l’Université McGill, a le dernier mot sur les événements qui se tiennent sur le campus. C’est pour cela qu’il a été invité à discuter avec les étudiants sur les «limites du tolérable». M. Mendelson a cependant dit ne «pas savoir où est la limite» raisonnable et acceptable pour un événement étudiant de ce genre, laissant aux étudiants le soin d’exprimer leurs points de vue sur la question. «Lorsque je n’ai pas la réponse, je consulte les autres», a-t-il fait savoir. Il a également tenu à préciser que «les limites sont vagues» et que «l’Université est apolitique, séculaire et ne suit pas une ligne idéologique, mais [comprend] que certains étudiants veuillent s’exprimer sur [des] sujets» tels que l’avortement. Dans cette perspective d’expression des opinions divergentes, Mohammed Ashour, étudiant à la maîtrise en neuroscience, a lancé qu’«il ne devrait pas y avoir de place pour la propagande sur le campus, mais plutôt pour un dialogue». Il a ajouté que «la polémique peut parfois être une bonne chose, mais qu’il ne faut pas mélanger l’émotionnel au rationnel». Sarah Woolf, sénatrice de la faculté des arts et conseillère de l’AÉUM, a jugé qu’«il n’y avait pas de place pour le dialogue [lors de la conférence du club Choose Life]» et s’est dite «profondément déçue par la façon dont l’administration a géré l’affaire». M. Mendelson a répondu qu’il n’y «avait pas de place pour le dialogue puisqu’il y avait des perturbateurs qui empêchaient le déroulement de l’événement». Il a déclaré partir du principe que la présence à la conférence était laissée à la discrétion de chacun. Corey Omer, conseiller de l’AÉUM pour les clubs et services, a dit souhaiter une «plus grande régulation» des activités et événements ayant lieu sur le campus. Il a noté que, bien que «la limite soit, au final, subjective, une limite devrait être fixée, tout en respectant la politique d’éthique» de l’AÉUM. À la fin de cette table ronde, l’AÉUM est revenue à son point de départ, n’ayant pas su prendre le toreau par les cornes et aborder directement la question qui faisait polémique. Le club Choose Life n’a pour l’instant subi aucune «sanction» depuis. Le débat sur la liberté d’expression et la liberté de rassemblement est relancé.x POLITIQUE MUNICIPALE Ivan Neilson, Sarah Olle et Morton Mendelson parlent aux étudiants Alexandre Ruiz de Porras Guédon Vous avez une opinion? Nous vous donnons une voix! Courrier des lecteurs: nouvelles@delitfrancais.com Depuis plus de 25 ans Toute la technologie à votre service Tous les services au mê me endroit Dre Joëlle Marcil Chirurgien Dentiste Dr Nicholas Poirier Chirurgien Dentiste URGENCE 514.524.6848 1823, rue Sherbrooke Est, Montré al (Qué bec) www.centredentairedehautetechnologie.com Membres de l’A.S.E.Q. Mé tro Papineau Mé tro Sherbrooke 45 coin Sherbrooke 24 est coin Papineau Ligne verte Ligne orange 2 Nouvelles De grands projets pour Montréal Comment vaincre les fantômes du passé? Vincent Allaire Le Délit L ’Expo 67, le métro de Montréal, l’île SainteHélène, le Stade olympique: tous sont des réalisations des années 1960 qui ont fortement contribué à former l’identité de Montréal. Mais le désastre financier du stade –un milliard et demi de dollars remboursés sur plus de trente ans– nous rappelle constamment les dérapages que peut occasionner un projet visionnaire teinté de mégalomanie. C’est d’ailleurs pourquoi Montréal n’a pas été le théâtre de ce genre de projets depuis au moins une quarantaine d’années. Par contre, cette campagne électorale municipale montre que les partis font preuve d’audace et recommencent à proposer des projets qui sortent du train-train quotidien. Pour commencer, les trois principaux partis que sont Projet Montréal, mené par Richard Bergeron, Vision Montréal, avec Louise Harel en chef de file, et Union Montréal, la formation du maire sortant Gérald Tremblay, se rejoignent sur certains points. Tous s’entendent sur la nécessité de démolir l’autoroute Bonaventure pour mieux l’intégrer au centre-ville. De plus, tous prévoient des célébrations en 2017 pour le 375e anniversaire de fondation de Montréal. Voyons maintenant les propositions originales de chacun des partis. Vision Montréal propose de mettre en candidature Montréal pour l’obtention de l’Exposition universelle de 2020. Louise Harel argumente que ce projet permettrait à Montréal de se positionner en véritable métropole de calibre international et contribuerait à sa relance économique. Elle promet aussi de recouvrir l’autoroute Ville-Marie, entre le Palais des congrès et le pont Jacques-Cartier. Selon Louise Harel, c’est l’endroit rêvé pour recevoir les deux manifestations majeures que seraient le 375e anniversaire de Montréal et l’Exposition universelle de 2020. Union Montréal est moins grandiose dans ses promesses. L’équipe de Gérald Tremblay propose plutôt de continuer à investir dans le Quartier des spectacles. À terme en 2012, tout le quadrilatère qui entoure la Place des Arts sera réaménagé en parcs et en promenades pour rendre plus propice la tenue des nombreux festivals annuels qu’accueille ce secteur. Union Montréal prévoit également d’investir dans un projet nommé «Muséums nature». La pièce maîtresse de ce plan sera la construction d’un nouveau Planétarium situé entre le Stade olympique, le Biodôme et le centre Jean-Pierre Charbonneau. Finalement, Projet Montréal innove avec son projet d’entrée maritime de Montréal. L’objectif est de redonner aux Montréalais l’accès aux berges du SaintLaurent. Le terrain visé est délimité à l’ouest par le bâtiment Molson, passe en dessous du pont JacquesCartier, et mesure 2,5 kilomètres de long. Richard Bergeron prévoit d’y aménager un ensemble immobilier composé d’habitations, de bureaux, de restaurants ainsi qu’une promenade qui longerait le fleuve. De plus, toujours pour le projet d’entrée maritime, M. Bergeron entend proposer la pointe nord de l’île Sainte-Hélène à un investissement privé majeur. L’urbaniste de formation considère l’endroit comme le plus beau site de Montréal et rêve d’y voir s’ériger une construction de l’envergure de l’Opéra de Sydney en Australie. Bref, tous les partis proposent des idées originales pour faire rayonner Montréal. Cela signifie donc que peu importe l’issue du scrutin, les Montréalais se retrouveront avec des dirigeants qui ne semblent plus être effrayés par les fantômes du passé. Une perspective réjouissante? À vous de décider le 1er novembre prochain.x xle délit · le mardi 20 octobre 2009 · delitfrancais.com � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from Le Délit Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Volume 99 Issue 6 Page Number(s) 2 Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-10-20 Title A name given to the resource Quelle limites à la tolérance? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Alexandre Ruiz de Porras Guédon Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Le Délit Description An account of the resource Coverage of an SSMU town hall on the topic of rules about discrimination that clubs need to adhere to, in response to the club Choose Life. Choose Life reproductive health reproductive justice SSMU https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/6c12285a9f2c850bbeffc8e5a16c9a8e.pdf?Expires=1792022400&Signature=I2IvGI35XLDRbs8Lz2OnGO7KLNFGLhJ2WbHbS5-6o0sCUJoadtte6gGyniXa-bmrDifmv1pQ61J3H3qt5BBfoxBvbKNvLKjgTYpwlEdjkMzNNqDKKmLgpF4UQKJ8uMK123XCtekbzqCf8aA6Dxavi2zRomKBGz%7EjCwi8-vnbTEHGaZ90hijeQe9iKru12h-a1CpkwT4PIDaQ0VGaN0NnF3MW4dA9oPx70U292-alIFoL70HeiA0x2IO-%7ELAjd9EpaBJ%7EAHW8BfQS-WLNGBydizbIehChc8qFrmSI33jM8AiSQWvVdErVEoBX4SHt4yG1CjfXCXvBl8Njsd1R9G0I5w__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 1ce5e0031eebc62d03c2e99c941203fb PDF Text Text 4 News The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009 Refused homeless get new beds Program likely to end in the spring when funding dries up Hayley Lapalme McGill Daily H omeless people who are routinely refused from shelters because of cited misconduct will now have a place to sleep. The City of Montreal will offer a new bed service at select locations to keep the homeless from braving the cold overnight. Initiated on December 15, 2008, the service, known as the respite program, provides a small, private room to guests refused elsewhere for a period of 72 hours in an effort to reintegrate them back into the general shelter system. The urgency of such a program is marked by the death of André Gagnon, who died on a park bench from sub-zero temperatures in late December, days after the program began. The Réseau d’aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal (RAPSIM), a coalition that defends homeless rights, hopes that the inclusive nature of the respite program will attract those who previously avoided city services. “The minimum is to offer a place where they can spend the night out of the cold…and to help them to take more long term steps,” explained RAPSIM member Patricia Viannay. While emergency mechanisms have existed since 2003 to guarantee a bed to anyone who requests one, according to Cyril Morgan, Director of the Welcome Home Mission – an organization that reaches out to the homeless – many still choose to sleep outside or are refused access to shelters. “We found that many times, men get turned away because they were not received properly or because ONLINE Check out the audio version of this story at mcgilldaily.com and broadcast on CKUT in the coming days. they have trouble getting their story across. They need somebody who will sit down with them and will say, ‘look, what’s your problem, how can we help you, and where will we go from here?’” Morgan said. While intoxication, violence, disorderly behaviour, and drug use are often-cited reasons for refused access, RAPSIM suggested that the homeless are often refused for reasons more complicated than these labels suggest. “[Refusal] is related to a combination of problems: substance abuse issues are mixed with mental health issues,” explained Viannay, adding that compound problems complicate the shelter’s response to their case. Morgan explained that the respite program aims to improve the allocation of city beds, since most nights they are left empty as Montrealers prefer to sleep on the street. “I don’t know of anybody who has requested a bed in Montreal, and [for whom] none were found,” Morgan said. To date, the respite program has seen the Pavillion Patricia MacKenzie add two beds for women and Welcome Hall add four more for men to provide the respite service. Roughly a dozen people have used the service so far. Jacques Bertrand, also of RAPSIM, regretted that economic constraints have prevented the creation of a new location catering Rachel Wine / The McGill Daily While beds are almost always available to Montreal homeless, many still sleep on the street. specifically to the needs of respite guests, thus requiring an intensification of existing infrastructures instead. “What we did was less spectacular. The work was done quickly,” he said, adding that city institutions consulted only briefly before taking action. According to Viannay, there are few real alternatives to shelters in Montreal. Inadequate fallbacks include cafés, open stairways, bus shelters, park benches, garbage dumpsters, heating vents, or the underside of sandwich boards. There exists no legal way to force the homeless into shelters if they decline. The city seeks to catch part of the population neglected by the shelter system with the respite program. Rejent, a man living on the street since his wife died six years ago, expressed no desire to seek shelter in a city institution, describing them as depressing. He was not convinced that the public is concerned with the circumstances of the homeless. “We die like flies, and the world doesn’t care. We are a disposable community,” he said. Funding for the respite program – provided by the province and the city – will expire at the end of the winter, but Matthey Pearce of the Old Brewery Mission, a shelter in Old Montreal, stressed the need for it to be extended indefinitely. “While it may be true that you won’t die of the cold on the streets of Montreal in July, there are other reasons why you might be victimized and assaulted, and at risk in the summer. So we think this service should be yearlong,” he said. The city resurrected the model for the respite project from L’Echelle, a pilot project run by the Old Brewery Mission a few years ago. L’Echelle ran out of funds and closed operations at the end the end of the winter, and the respite program will likely go the same way. Pro-life club hosts controversial event during interim McGill students divided on Choose Life’s pictures of fetuses at crossroads Josh Nobleman News Writer P ro-life group Choose Life could push for full club status by month’s end, provided that the club’s interim activities are not considered unacceptable by SSMU’s Equity Committee. At the October 28 Council meeting, Choose Life was granted threemonth interim club status in a 21-totwo vote, amidst concerns voiced by students from the Quebec Public Interest Research Group-McGill and the Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE) about incendiary anti-abortion tactics used by similar groups. Preceding the vote, Choose Life president Natalie Fohl assured students and councillors that the club would not condone “using graphic pictures or circulating literature that could be construed as hateful.” SSMU VP External Devin Alfaro assured Council in October that definite consequences would follow if Choose Life were to circulate any such material, and Choose Life was granted the right to free speech and regular assembly. On November 24, at one of the club’s first events, Choose Life tabled at the McGill crossroads with displays of images of fetuses – an event Fohl hoped would bring the issue into public focus. The club established a voting booth and comment station asking when a fetus should legally be considered a person, “We wanted the voting to spark discussion, encourage people to reflect on the question, and voice their opinion,” said Fohl. Displayed on the table were to- scale images of a fetus developing from conception. Each month of pregnancy contained different facts about foetal development, and each fetus “said” something in the photo caption, with the seventh-month fetus saying, “I can look around!” On the table, in a binder, lay similar illustrations photocopied from a biology textbook, “Human Development.” Diagonally across from Choose Life, a group of students organized an informal counter-protest on the corner of the crossroads, handing out pieces of cloth reading “my body, my rules.” Other protesting students’ signs matched those displayed by the UGE at the October Council meeting: “Legalize abortion” and “fight gender oppression.” U3 Sociology student Sarah Golightly, a member of the UGE who took part in counter-protest, was concerned with the philosophy Choose Life was promoting. “[They’re] portraying people who have had abortions as immoral,” said Golightly. “I’m most concerned about the effect this could have on students [with] what I consider to be propaganda.” The UGE is due to publish a reproductive rights zine in February. However, U2 Philosophy Honours Trevor Bant did not react as strongly to the group’s event. “I see no problem as long as they say things in a respectful and tolerant manner,” Bant said. “But I don’t know how many McGill students would be sympathetic to their cause.” Fohl maintained that no pamphlets were actively handed out, and those available for circulation contained no inflammatory or graphic material, despite certain students’ charges that the club distributed hateful material. Complaints from individual students can be made through the SSMU Equity Committee; the Judicial Board hears grievances between clubs. According to SSMU VP Clubs & Services Samantha Cook, some student complaints have been taken up with the Equity Committee, but SSMU will not necessarily reopen the Choose Life debate at Council, as equity officers may decide the issue independently or defer it to a separate committee. To date, the Judicial Board has received no complaints. Choose Life’s next planned event is a talk on Monday by Mary Meehan, a veteran pro-life speaker urging liberals and feminists to defend the unborn. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Volume 98 Issue 27 Page Number(s) 4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Pro-Life club holds controversial event during interim Description An account of the resource Discussion of a controversial event in which Choose Life asked McGill students whether they believed a fetus should legally be considered a person. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Josh Nobleman Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009/01/15 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Choose Life reproductive health reproductive justice SSMU SSMU Equity Committee Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE) https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/f1e023a02556be373973d438b49c6425.pdf?Expires=1792022400&Signature=YrvhdaUMyP1r9Mc0rkVLdS1S-J0CQBkxLI8s2ZUGLBfT8sEC26jfLIT4N6uq89FGHyzbHdBvySrmHV4d%7EB7C9WBWuR0zwX8sd0UJhotfwSfPu7MRzuWlheTaWPflVc2ZkvNmXUb6%7EisNT56n4wroX9iSF0sx979EHctkawZ%7EypiT01vTlBW71sRsh5fro8C91ODmz%7EHpFsbHYvRH6w1TScsKkwZMc9AAhj8IvAknVU7AgUKoJPaf6c4IGj4xgPg1cAIghRc78tQas9LcV8xhm957VqCrfcwkjLr0rq4tNkKYZCltOwlyw9pvTnAmXN6Yqd5kJNreLwR8Syy7h748iQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM bfc0b9223875364848143e7fceae8899 PDF Text Text 6 News The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 22, 2009 Principal defends tuition increase, travel policy at Council The majority of international tuition goes to provincial government Erin Hale The McGill Daily P “There is no one more helpless than an unborn human being,” said Mary Meehan. Shu Jiang / The McGill Daily Pro-lifer seeks liberal support Eugenics sparks debate on abortion rights Ariel Lefkowitz News Writer P ro-life speaker Mary Meehan was met with general applause and a significant number of boos at her talk on liberal and feminist support for the pro-life cause during an event at McGill on Monday. The question and answer period, which lasted over an hour, saw many heated and a few virulent arguments. The talk, organized by Choose Life and entitled “Why Liberals and Feminists Should Defend the Unborn,” drew almost 100 individuals of varying opinions on the issue of abortion. The left side of Leacock 232 attracted the pro-choice supporters, while the pro-life supporters and event organizers opted to sit on the far right. Meehan criticized the left side’s current position of “worship[ping] at the shrine of choice.” “Some choices really should not even be considered, because they do involve harming or taking the lives of other people,” she said. “Liberals indeed are anti-choice on many issues... the death penalty, most wars, torture, rape, racial discrimination, and many more. They should add abortion to the list.” Speaking at length, Meehan suggested the existence of a “eugenics influence” in the pro-choice movement. She alleged that abortion is a new tool used for population control in the United States and around the world. Meehan also cast abortion as a civil rights issue. “Early in the 20th century, the eugenicists in the U.S. used compulsory sterilization of poor whites and poor African-Americans to keep their numbers down,” Meehan said. “But eugenicists did not have to use coercion after our Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe v. Wade.... One of the ways they do it is by supporting public funding of abortion.” Elise Eisenkraft Klein, U2 Jewish Studies, objected to what she believed was Meehan’s conflation of eugenics and the pro-choice movement. “Choosing to have an abortion is not the same as forced sterilization,” she said. Charles Pitman, U2 Economics and Philosophy, argued that support from eugenicists does not invalidate the legitimacy of the pro-choice position. “All sides of the [abortion] issue have allies that they aren’t proud of. It’s not like the pro-life side has only friends that are reputable,” he said. Meehan argued that abortions performed after neonatal testing for disabilities were wrong and that access to abortions increases paternal irresponsibility. “Guys have to talk to guys about walking out [on women]. We need to reinstate the old stigma against guys walking out on their children.” During the question period, Salma Moolji, U1 International Development Studies, told her story of becoming pro-choice while running a school for abused girls in Nicaragua. “The day that I decided to be ‘pro-choice’ was the day that I saw the child [of a] child die of starvation.... If I put myself one generation back, I would be in India, where my grandfather was sold into child slave labour.... I might have been that girl.” A few students in attendance were particularly incensed by Meehan’s sentiments. One such student, Elsa Beaulieu, a PhD candidate in Anthropology, called Meehan “arrogant” and “insidious.” At the end of a detailed and emotional criticism of Meehan’s points, she pleaded, “What about addressing the reality of women’s lives? What about the consequences of illegal abortions on women’s lives? What about it?” But derogatory comments from the audience toward Meehan convinced Raphael Dumas, U1 Civil Engineering, to reconsider his position. “Those few rude students actually pushed me in the direction of [the pro-life stance],” Dumas said. Meehan insisted that her position is not hostile to women who have had abortions. “I want to say to [those women who have had abortions] that I’m not out to make you feel badly or send you on a guilt trip, but I appeal to you to take another look at this issue, because there are more lives at stake every day. I hope that you will help save some of them.” Choose Life, granted interim club status by SSMU in October 2008, will be applying for full club status at the end of this month. According to Choose Life’s Community Outreach coordinator Kathryn Sawyer, the group tries to offer resources to “women who want an alternative to abortion” on campus. rincipal Heather Monroe-Blum was the highlight of the first SSMU Council session of the semester last Thursday evening. In her opening remarks, Monroe-Blum expressed a wish to stay in contact with Council on a more regular basis, and her intention to respond to all councillors’ questions. When Law Senator Alexandre Shee asked about tuition increases, Monroe-Blum tried to explain the financial logic behind her support for a form of deregulation of tuition fees, which she calls “re-regulation,” and described as deregulation with principles. “What you should know is with our international students...McGill receives only the Quebec tuition from your fees. If you pay, say $12,000, McGill receives $1,750, and the rest goes into the Quebec system to subsidize students who come in free from France and from the Francophonie. I think if you want to look at a fairness issue you should look at that,” Monroe-Blum said. Monroe-Blum noted that under her proposed system, the full amount charged to international students would get channelled back to the postsecondary institution they attend, and would theoretically benefit all students. She also defended McGill’s capital campaign and drive for private funding. NEWS BRIEF Right to write in French to be on syllabuses The right of students to submit graded assessments in French will be more widely publicized, thanks to two amended motions passed at yesterday’s Senate meeting. The first motion clarified the sort of assignments students are allowed to submit in French, and the second required all course outlines to reiterate that students have this right. Jane Everett, Dean of Students, introduced the motions on behalf of the Senate Committee on Student Affairs (CSA). “The right has been around since the eighties, but there is some question as to whether or not it exists in practice,” Everett explained. She stressed how important it is to remind students who are more comfortable using French than English “There’s often a question about [if we are] overly corporatized.... My experience is not that the private sector or philanthropists want to tell us how to do our business,” she said. “[But the] government tries to tell us all the time how to do our research. Government values certain disciplines over others...Humanities and social sciences get short [changed].” Arts Representative Sebastien Ronderos-Morgan asked about McGill’s new travel policy, which restricts students from travelling to countries with formal travel warnings from the Canadian government. After commenting on the “international nature of McGill,” MonroeBlum stressed how dangerous travel to insecure areas can be. She mentioned that Canadian diplomatic and federal support pulls out of the countries that the directive would prevent travel to. “I’ve lost three colleagues [in Afghanistan and Mumbai] in less than six months. These aren’t casual concerns about safety,” she said. SSMU VP External Devin Alfaro asked why former Quebec Health Minister Philipe Couillard was appointed as a Senior Fellow at McGill’s Law School. Couillard is under investigation by Quebec’s lobby commissioner for talks he held with a private health care company that was not registered with the provincial lobby bank and that hired Couillard two months after he retired as Health Minister. “Controversy, in itself, does not have us shy away if something is good at McGill. We actually invite a lot of people to come work in as a distinguished speaker or a fellow. If the guy’s corrupted, I think there’s no record on that,” Munroe-Blum said in his defence. that they will not be at an academic disadvantage at McGill. “The motion will establish a level playing ground for any student who is more familiar in French than in English. We are trying to accommodate that.” Adding the article to course outlines was a contentious move – several professors felt that the syllabus is not the proper medium through which to communicate students’ rights – and only passed narrowly after three recounts. With the second motion, CSA hoped to clarify the rule on submitting assignments in French and proposed changing the description of work that can be submitted from “essays, examinations, and theses” to “written work that is to be graded.” As before, this allowance does not apply to language proficiency courses. The motion passed overwhelmingly. The two proposals were originally introduced to Senate in last May, but procedural errors made their approval void, postponing their reevaluation. – Jennifer Markowitz � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Volume 98 Issue 28 Page Number(s) 6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Pro-Lifer seeks liberal support Description An account of the resource An article about a pro-life speaker appearing at McGill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ariel Lefkowitz Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009/01/22 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Choose Life events reproductive health reproductive justice SSMU https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/bfc44bba27d78047a14424b47376f6d7.pdf?Expires=1792022400&Signature=kawEO7QqlDqPh1QZ3uzUm-0hTz-qpWZTf%7EUqnp80IiJSS6rdgabJfM10X-RnA-Xck1p5dlY6YPo%7EjYieZAgfPgBb2eL0iohYs1LLtw5vngjh-jmJ74fMXcXDNTV8eQa8uc-qE6JS5gyDL2BAxmIULUO-Dy3ZoOXX-JlQ-L5QtgHfuaTwykZF4SqaBrkGdTfMp9%7ER1oz5kZC--Y3JDznTkGmwXpHiKbqA0URRhhveOsSwiUpW8OuWGmvzY9bJU7Ypym9wTN076KYmD5MQSpXZObJ31Tz0wCDS1ycJHsFyB8XX01d8xU%7EtKrY5ghKwWy6w0MFuuhQk1M1sGr1YkhCwXg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM e74eeb7a0cc46859b62b35866aa30edc PDF Text Text 23 The McGill Daily, Thursday, February 19, 2009 EDITORIAL Campus is no place to limit choice volume 98 number 36 editorial Across the country, university student associations have been revoking club status from pro-life student groups. And while Choose Life – which SSMU Council granted full-club status by a secret ballot last Thursday – has been easy to work with so far, their events have taken a one-way approach to dialogue that limits choice and options for women. The Daily strongly supports the promotion of dialogue on campus, and we’re not against Choose Life because their ideology doesn’t agree with ours; we’re against their methods. Having a pro-life group on its own wouldn’t be a bad thing, but after waiting six months, we’ve seen that Choose Life is primarily an anti-abortion group focused on vilifying women who have had or are considering an abortion, rather than providing support to pregnant students choosing to carry to term. This message has come through in Choose Life’s two most notable events – a fetus display at the Y intersection and a talk by Mary Meehan. During her speech, Meehan said, “Some choices really should not even be considered, because they do involve harming or taking the lives of other people.” The Daily finds this attitude offensive, and we disagree with the SSMU Equity Officers’ decision to deem the fetus display appropriate. In considering whether having this club makes students feel unsafe, or whether it targets a vulnerable group on campus, SSMU has argued no – it’s not so simple – but we disagree. Targeting pregnant university students with shock tactics is different than barraging omnivores with animal cruelty pamphlets. Though no two women facing the choice of abortion are the same, the choice is a difficult one – the outcome they choose is irreversible, intimately tied up with their own body, and comes with considerable social pressure surrounding it. A campus group does not have the right to make an individual feel ashamed for her choice, when it does not take into account the diverse factors that can lead to unwanted pregnancy – or the external pressures and practical realities that might guide her choice. Besides that, we already have referral services on campus, for instance with the Union for Gender Empowerment and the Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS). Despite being a resource primarily for survivors of sexual assault and their allies, SACOMSS already offers referrals to a variety of services – including ones for adoption, post-abortion counseling, and studentparent support – for everyone, and their volunteers undergo extensive training. While we worry that Choose Life might only guide students who approach them to centres that share their ideology, SACOMSS’s services are offered in a nondirectional way, meaning they believe each person knows their situation best. The Daily also supports any group that seeks to provide support for students who choose to go through with their pregnancies, and for reducing the stigma directed toward student-parents. We are not, however, in support of club status for a group that has clearly demonstrated that one of its intentions is to limit choice. By targeting students who have had or are considering an abortion, Choose Life does a disservice to undergraduate students at McGill – and being polite, filling out paperwork on time, and removing the intention to provide “post-abortion help” from their mandate are not sufficient reasons for Council’s decision. Only dialogue can allow pregnant women to inform themselves in making what they feel to be the best decision. Limiting choice has no place in that process. 3480 McTavish St., Rm. B-24 Montreal QC, H3A 1X9 phone 514.398.6784 fax 514.398.8318 mcgilldaily.com coordinating editor Jennifer Markowitz coordinating@mcgilldaily.com coordinating news editor Shannon Kiely news editors Erin Hale Nicholas Smith Alison Withers features editor Claire Caldwell commentary&compendium editor Max Halparin coordinating culture editor Braden Goyette culture editors Joshua Frank Whitney Mallett science+technology editor Nikki Bozinoff mind&body editor Nadja Popovich photo editor Stephen Davis graphics editor Sasha Plotnikova production & design editors Will Vanderbilt Aaron Vansintjan web editor Ian Beattie copy editor Hannah Freeman cover design Stephen Davis le délit Maysa Phares redaction@delitfrancais.com Contributors Rosie Aiello, Kelly-Marie Albert, Sajida Alvi, Catherine Archanbault-Wallenburg, Gregory Baum. Hilary Best, Marguerite Bravay, Mark Brooks, James Brophy, Stefan Christoff, Pamela Fillion, Veronica French, Talia Gordon, Wael Hallaq, Maya Hamovitch, Ryan Healy, Chelsea Howard (CUP), Steven Jordan, Thomas Kim, Thomas LaMarre, Sally Lin, Amy Lippman, Simone Lucas, Ian MacDonald (CUP) Camille McOuat, Hilary Morden, Chase Moser, Josh Nobleman, Samuel J. Noumoff, Erin O’Callaghan, Shannon Palus, Anthony Par Paré, Roxana Parsa, Duong Pham, Nadim Roberts, Diane Salema, Shea Sinnot, Lucca Townsend, Aquil Virani, Joseph Watts EDITORS’ NOTE Celebrating geeks The Daily is published on most Mondays and Thursdays by the Daily Publications Society, an autonomous, not-for-profit organization whose membership includes all McGill undergraduates and most graduate students. 3480 McTavish St., Rm. B-26 Montreal QC, H3A 1X9 phone 514.398.6790 fax 514.398.8318 Boris Shedov Pierre Bouillon Geneviève Robert advertising & general manager treasury & fiscal manager ad layout & design dps board of directors Angel Chen, Ana Gray Richardson-Bachand, Braden Goyette, Lauren Chang MacLean, Jennifer Markowitz, Lawrence Monoson, Maysa Phares, Perrin Valli, Eric Van Eyken (chair@dailyproductions.org) The Daily is proud to be a founding member of the Canadian University Press. All contents © 2009 Daily Publications Society. All rights reserved. The content of this newspaper is the responsibility of The McGill Daily and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University. Products or companies advertised in this newspaper are not necessarily endorsed by Daily staff. Printed by Imprimerie Transcontinental Transmag. Anjou, Quebec. ISSN 1192-4608. Sasha Plotnikova / The McGill Daily So what is a geek? Is it a pejorative term for the technologically-minded, or maybe does it just require excessive knowledge of something inglorious and bizarre? Throughout this special issue – with articles ranging from bridge to Battlestar Galactica, the McGill Computer Task Force to beer – we wanted to make it clear that the moniker of geekiness is far from set in stone. These days, we like to think of geeks as those uncelebrated individuals who have a quirky obsession with something found in murkier areas of the mainstream map. Geekdom is no longer confined to the world of computers or Star Trek; one can obsess over far more than ever before. It almost seems as if everyone has a bit of a geek inside. There’s nothing wrong with being obsessed with obscure things. In the current world of specialization, where we all have to hold on to that little quirk that makes us unique, it’s hard not to be a geek, and the Internet has made it easier for those with nuanced interests to band with others with similarly quirky interest. There seems to be a slow acceptance of geekiness; pop culture now embraces geek icons like Weezer, Steve Jobs, Quentin Tarantino – even Obama sometimes cracks the odd Star Trek joke. We might just be living in the Geek Age, where the onslaught of geekiness has diffused into hipsters, indie rockers, and rappers alike. From Ancient Geeks like Plato and Parmenides, Newton and Napoleon, Copernicus and Curie, Darwin and Dawkins, our history is full of geeks. So we say to you, bring out the geek inside yourself. Celebrate it, and think about how geeks like yourselves make the world go round. Erratum In “So you want more Theatre in The Daily, do ya” (Commentary, February 12), The Daily wrote that Tuesday Night Café (TNC) puts on four per year, most of which sell out, resulting in 1600 tickets sold. In fact, TNC put on three shows this year, with only about half selling out, resulting in at most 1200 tickets sold. The Daily regrets the errors. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Volume 98 Issue 36 Page Number(s) 23 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Campus is no place to limit choice Description An account of the resource An editorial criticizing pro-life club Choose Life. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McGill Daily Editorial Board Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009/02/19 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Choose Life editorial reproductive health reproductive justice Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students' Society (SACOMSS) Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE) https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/9dfe2a84eee2486698633a19d480f510.pdf?Expires=1792022400&Signature=geEbDCmTx6RCsfr2tfRHxyMwURddiFuAPV4eMp7GegJRvt%7E99sXUZ52pEaScq70hI09DNU7kQHv0JtcFyHMUCh5BIxE03rxib58w4erny-v87bH6mHd3aXR%7E2BjyU3x9NgxgMq5WMFGPpfF18pG4N%7EGPjCYYqNpEaKGM8G1f3hBKeXTKP17qqmtwDZ81%7Eti03du9qJXiRJYbUD-wD8a3wWV%7ECYJf4H8FipujL9LGrPIOM2ExYaFcgRGM7cZiFFwIWhQDCBxYME23qyRVHvPaD6elGAuawCcXM3ePkxh9cQRMFBzS-3NdOBdb1oCd6hoCnzMi0GrhMt3NkCv6lgbNDA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 98117c39303048a44378b22a28519530 PDF Text Text News The McGill Daily, Monday, September 28, 2009 McGill students protest outside of Choose Life event Stephen Davis The McGill Daily S tudents entering the Shatner Building Thursday afternoon were greeted by demonstrators with signs reading “I regret my abortion” and “I regret lost fatherhood” alongside about a dozen prochoice advocates protesting their presence on campus. SSMU club Choose Life invited three representatives of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign (SNMAC), a non-denominational Christian organization that shares testimonials and aims to discourage women from obtaining abortions, to speak in the Lev Buhkman room. Nancy Garez, a member of SNMAC who had an abortion in 1992, was grateful for the presence of pro-choice advocates. “I want to talk to them. I was like them before I had my abortion – we were all for choice in my family.” President and Choose Life founder Natalie Fohl (U3 Political Science and Biology) also saw the interaction as a positive experience. “[It was] a great opportunity for dialogue,” said Fohl. However, one protester who asked to remain anonymous was upset by SNMAC’s use of signs on campus, as well as Choose Life’s display of fetus photographs at the crossroads last November. “I am deeply disturbed...that someone might walk to class and encounter signs that target a difficult decision that they had to make.... Whether they are made to feel ashamed for a minute or for the rest of the year, it’s not okay,” they said. Arts Senator Sarah Woolf (U3 Political Science and Women’s Studies) student participated in the pro-choice protest and agreed that Choose Life’s activities, including hosting SNMAC, are offensive. “As a woman on campus, their activities are offensive to me. Within the context of their current activities, I don’t want them on campus,” Woolf said. Woolf added that she would be interested in hearing proposals from students on why Choose Life’s club status should be revoked. Critics questioned other tactics of SNMAC, including the implications of their emphasis on testimony. “I think that this kind of prolife activism is actually a lot more dangerous than traditional pro-life activism because it dresses itself What’s the haps Speakers share abortion experiences 5 Green Drinks Montreal Tuesday, September 29, 5- 7 p.m. Thomson House, 3650 McTavish The PGSS environment committee will present a talk by the McGill Food Systems Project about the origin and decision-making behind food selection at McGill cafeterias. Speakers will also discuss areas in need of improvement. Mix at 5 p.m.; talk at 6 p.m. No To Governance Bills 38 and 44, Yes to University Autonomy and Internal Democracy: Demonstration Thursday October 1, 12:30 p.m. Emilie-Gamelin Park (outside BerriUQAM Metro) The demonstration will protest Bills 38 and 44, which impose 60 per cent external representation on University and CEGEP Boards of Directors. Protest the weakening of university and CEGEP communities. Enough with privatization! No to managerial governance. Yes to democracy! Apply to speak at TEDx McGill! Stephen Davis / The McGill Daily Pro-choice advocates held their own signs, reading, “I do not regret my abortion.” up as being...non-judgmental. But it is,” said Erika Pierre (U4 Cultural Studies), who attended the event. “By presenting themselves as saying...‘We regret our abortions, therefore, you will also regret your abortion. We know better than you.’ They’re being a lot more sly and a lot more manipulative than traditional pro-life [activists],” Pierre added. Woolf echoed Pierre’s views. “The manipulation of personal – obviously tragic – stories to convince people that abortion is wrong on all fronts...[is] unacceptable,” she said. SNMAC eventually moved to the Lev Buckman room, where Garez, fellow member David MacDonald, and the campaign’s national coordinator, Angelina Steenstra, shared their experiences with abortion. The three spoke once at 1 p.m. and again at 2:30, each time to a group of around twenty students, while protesters sang songs and played guitar outside the room. Woolf described the demonstration as “A joyous protest,” adding, “You can have protests about things you’re angry about but still do it in an upbeat manner.” Inside, Garez described her life after her abortion. “My life became a mixture of broken relationships, anxiety crises, and heavy smoking,” Garez said. “[Abortion affected] my life and the life of my children. They have a sibling missing.” MacDonald explained that his views on abortion were derived wholly from his personal experiences with two abortions. “I came to my views on abortion long before I picked up a Bible,” he said, adding, “My position on abortion came really from a whole bunch of messed up stuff.” Steenstra spoke of choosing to receive an abortion after she was a victim of date rape at 15. “Abortion did not solve my problem. It ended it,” Steenstra said. Steenstra recalled the pressure placed on her to obtain an abortion by a coworker. “I didn’t know that abortion was an industry...my fears were used against me,” she said. Steenstra dealt with psychological problems for 14 years following her abortion. She explained how accepting that “[her] abortion had taken a human life” was vital to her healing process. “It’s the truth that set me free. Not euphemisms, not band-aids, not cover-ups,” Steenstra said. MacDonald expressed similar views, asking, “What is it that’s killed? Is it a blob of tissue? Well, there’s not a biologist on the planet that would say that.” U3 Arts and Science student Elaina Kaufman took issue with Steenstra and MacDonald’s language, asking if women who sought help from SNMAC would be encouraged to view their abortions as killing. Steenstra responded by saying, Want to meet about news? Do it at Shatner B-24 today at 4:30 “They would be encouraged to tell their story.” While speaking with The Daily after her testimonial, Steenstra elaborated: “When I talk about abortion in the context of killing, I’m talking about my own revelation.” Fohl supported Steenstra’s and MacDonald’s language, saying “It would be bizarre...if not dishonest, for them to use any other language.” Steenstra asserted that SNMAC’s only goal is to share testimonies and offer support to women and men. “Our goal is to reach out to people, one person at a time. We’re not political,” she said. But SNMAC is is not without some political interests. In a January 2007 issue of The New York Times Magazine, Emily Bazelon reported that the campaign’s cofounders, Georgette Forney and Janet Morana, participated in a rally near the US Supreme Court with banners reading “I Regret My Abortion.” SNMAC is funded partially by Priests for Life, whose web site encourages readers to “Help with voter registration and distribution of voter guides. Become involved, as citizens, in political campaigns. Vote in such a way that will advance the protection of life.” Fohl said that Choose Life plans to host a pro-life speaker in two weeks and is currently looking for a pro-choice speaker to participate in the event. Deadline: Thursday, October 1 An independentlyorganized TEDx event at McGill is looking for student speakers! Think you have an idea worth sharing? Email tedxmcgill@gmail.com to learn about the application process. All topics welcome. Missing Justice Panel Discussion Friday, October 2, 4 p.m. De Seve Cinema, 1400 De Maisonneuve O. This event will discuss the deaths and disappearances of hundreds of Canadian Indigenous women, as well as the root causes of violence against women and girls in Indigenous communities. There have been 521 official cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada since 1980. Panelists include, Indigenous women, campaigners, activists, and researchers. VDay McGill Benefit Concert Friday, October 2, 8 p.m. Gert’s Bar VDay is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. Come join VDay McGill and local artists for a night of music and fundraising. All proceeds will go to Montreal anti-violence organizations. McGill Conference on Global Food Security: Public Lecture Monday, October 5, 5 p.m. Centre Mont-Royal, 2200 Mansfield The effects of climate change on food production and availability will have a profound impact on both short and long term food security. Pre-registration required. Visit mcgill.ca/ globalfoodsecurity/ � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Volume 99 Issue 8 Page Number(s) 5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Speakers share abortion experiences Description An account of the resource An account of Choose Life's event platforming anti-abortion activists who have experienced or been affected by abortion. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stephen Davis Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009/09/28 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Choose Life events protest reproductive health reproductive justice https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/5499f1fa90e0b25eee5c836c98ccabb2.pdf?Expires=1792022400&Signature=MUUZLMrFUlTjFPErtiGq%7EKff6ZrEqWcRupZJgUQg96uWhg3UCTVIScrRbW5N7Vf4T9iGTOoGReAIdsNCREqCjFL9-7yY2pR4mXPO1dBLJygBedqVf170H-w9rL8P5xWaggFW6tpUEp%7EYULlr391tchHM92%7ELtS-2n91NRjOpZadnZGcl3Clp0NnuigOhSgq7XvxzzQRuWiEPzgwoyB4Xc986agP-LB3smeIDU7GfezmAkTVyAAsf6hbRDagAFFZ9MMf2VDs4pMpv4Y32oyGAwLrZjUkLSynuVBPOhfcHKt28dHeNCGa9OYXUWFKXNnQhjQNSae3Y3UG5Xr3b1VOEMQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM d39cee40e35538fbbc18183793e25436 PDF Text Text News The McGill Daily, Monday, October 5, 2009 5 McGill hosts Angela Davis Academic and activist draws hundreds to talk on the criminalization of race Emilio Comay del Junto News Writer H undreds of students, staff, and community members packed into the Leacock auditorium Thursday evening for a speech by renowned activist and philosopher Angela Davis. Part of a Media@McGill speaker series, Davis’ speech on what she called the “criminalization of race” attracted such a large turnout that organizers had to open two other rooms in the building so audience members could watch a live broadcast of the speech. Davis launched her talk with a discussion of the January 1 shooting of Oscar Grant. Grant, a 22-year-old African-American man from Davis’ home town of Oakland, California was unarmed and had been forced to the ground when he was shot in the back by transit police. Davis used the Grant’s case to frame her remarks, citing “the ubiquity of surveillance, and the relationship between media and surveillance” as well as how “actors on both sides of the criminal legal system attempted to deploy emerging forms of new media.” After outlining the details of Grant’s shooting, Davis talked about the unique activism and extensive video surrounding the event, while also linking it with a “long history of racial violence.” Davis, who teaches at the University of California at Santa Cruz, became well known in the sixties and seventies as a civil rights leader and Black Power activist. She was charged with murder, conspiracy, and kidnapping in 1971 after a gun registered in her name was connected with the kidnapping and killing of a federal judge by the Black Panthers, but was acquitted in a trial following international public outcry. Davis described her experience of “being attuned to the absence of black televisual representation” as a child growing up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama. She went on to explain, “There was a major exception to that mediated invisibility...which was the hypervisibility of black criminality. Most photographs of black people in the white press were mug shots.” Describing the origins of the “symbiotic relationship of racialization and criminalization”, Davis highlighted the implementation of “black codes” in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. She described vagrancy, absence from work, breach of job contracts, Olivia Davis/ The McGill Daily and possession of firearms as acts that were criminalized only when the person charged was black. Returning to the present, Davis applied the “notion of imputing crime to colour” to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and noted that while many white people who took things from stores were described as foragers, black people were described as looters. Davis emphasized that racial profiling by police is not an irrational holdover from forms of racism that have otherwise been abolished. “The constant monitoring and surveillance of communities of colour by law enforcement and penal systems, oftentimes assisted by the media, continues to reflect the degree to which populations of colour are seen as a threat.” Instead of these forms of policing, Davis suggested the need for “jobs and education and recreation and health care.” Concordia political science student Clio Windust said that Davis had “mellowed compared to her earlier writing.” Windust added that speakers like Davis play a crucial role in North American discourse because “there are still a lot of problems in the U.S. It hasn’t gone away, just improved a bit.” Davis said that there is currently a “new opening, a new historical conjuncture.... I want to encourage us to build communities of resistance and to use alternative media, dominant media when possible, to bring together academics and activists and artists and labour organizers to create transnational solidarity that reaches across nation and race and gender and sexuality.” Choose Life cancels “Echoes of the Holocaust” Decision follows SSMU Council censure of the club’s proposed pro-life event Naomi Endicott News Writer S SMU Council voted 15 for and two against with two abstentions this Thursday to censure a Choose Life event, “Echoes of the Holocaust.” The club had invited Jose Ruba from the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform to give the talk, that many believe would violate SSMU’s Constitution and Equity Policy. It was argued that the talk would slander women who had decided to have abortions, and belittle atrocities committed by the Nazis. The motion included a clause that would render the club ineligble for SSMU funding if they followed through with the event. During the debate, VP Clubs and Services Sarah Olle, who co-authered the motion with Arts Senator Sarah Woolf argued that likening the Holocaust to abortion – and comparing post-abortive women to Nazis – violated human dignity, and that the comparison was disrespectful to Jews and other communities. “Respecting human life also means respecting the dead,” Olle said, later adding, “This event seeks to use the millions of dead in the Holocaust to manipulate emotions." Clubs and Services Representative Corey Omer also took issue with the premise of the event, suggesting that Ruba’s reference to the Holocaust would not be academic but rather aimed to shock and appeal to emotion. Omer noted that other SSMU clubs, including Hillel McGill, had petitioned against the event. Choose Life President Natalie Fohl, however, argued that the event would not seek to compare the Holocaust with abortion, as they are two events which “cannot be quantified or compared in any way." Instead, Fohl said that the talk would confront the question of whether unborn children are dehumanized by the medical profession in a similar way to that in which the Nazi regime dehumanized Jews. Fohl added that the prohibition of this event would be an abuse of SSMU’s power. VP External Sebastian RonderosMorgan took issue with the graphic images of fetuses that would be used by Ruba during his presentation. Ronderos-Morgan felt Choose Life had broken a verbal commitment made last autumn to not use disturbing visuals. “[It is a] shame they have misled Council,” Ronderos-Morgan said. “I would speak in favour of this motion." However, Law Rep Joël Lightbound and Residences Rep Mark Bay expressed concern that a censure would limit the opportunity for discussion on campus. Olle also explained that because the event was scheduled outside Shatner and was not sponsored using SSMU funds, the Society could not directly censure the event. Following Council, Olle explained that she helped to put forward the resolution to show SSMU’s stance against the event. On Friday, Fohl confirmed that the talk was cancelled, but emphasized that the decision to cancel was not a direct response to SSMU’s decision, which the club opposed as a restriction of the right to freedom of expression. She said the decision had been made voluntarily given that the majority of her club’s membership felt it was not the right time to hold the presentation. Though Fohl indicated the threat to the club’s funding was considered in their decision, she said the club has never received funding from SSMU. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Volume 99 Issue 10 Page Number(s) 5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Choose Life cancels "Echoes of the Holocaust" Description An account of the resource News article about Choose Life canceling an event that equated abortion to the Holocaust following censure by SSMU. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Naomi Endicott Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009/10/05 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Antisemitism Choose Life events reproductive health reproductive justice SSMU