1 10 1 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/d9c28661b8179e5b13de46de1e760a94.pdf?Expires=1787788800&Signature=GVVqkUUXsMXSQxMc1fVrEQwTCMLY0OKrKGfciWr9hF%7ENuO%7E1f8bSllyfdxc1Sf7T1c%7EsNH-SI8lcVNA8L4FOc0sr4%7EMsD7zBL0APi53n2rTVwTiPNhV7dDhlkz7v2wM8ljxt2c9JqATuLLP83BLhsK4%7E1Z-V0PvDzNI78gvYof10f7C7wxxKRLQmTokxUSoYu0ws61UDEv9sdeTvyvyxs45Ku5xm%7EWTOXAebWh0DvnyJWxBrZ7u0c3sRmNanbd3QOjQ5ySCgLlg-0hz2Wt-jyXHmhtp08hxk-4JT2TDWFvx1Yl8PyV%7E0-8m5lAUpHYfPyCJLREXPM6P6k2yFs8XWjw__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM a8be1e0a597a916444df98e1ecce960a PDF Text Text McGill Dail • tember 16, 2004 3 News University restricts political events on campus students oppose new rules, administration praises balance of security and free speech new policy constraining angered student leaders activists. inst May 5, McGill's Senate approved a set of preliminary recom- meÜiOns limiting political events omcampus that was formulated by an ad-hoc committee of students, facultyand administrators. The committee recommended that the universityrestrictrallies,vigils and other The recommendations, which as regulations until Senate approvesa final plan, replace a policy that banned all political events og campus. But many worry that the new rules will do little to facilitate then we shouldn't be stopped from c "Shouldit beusedasa pretextto shut down freedom of expression, I Post Graduate Student Society think we have to raise that and alter (PGSS) VP Extemal Ahmed Alrepresented graduate studentsSafia the policy,"he said. on the committee that drafted the policy Some rules better than no and was unsatisfiedwith the result. rules? He pointed to the dangers of restrict- ing freedom of expressionat an 'Ihe issue of politicalevents on academic institution. campus came up la.q fall when the "I think censoring the students is ridiculous;" he said. "McGillshould University declined SSMUs request to hold a rally opposing tuition hikes on rnain Campus. SSMUleaders were sur- " McGillshould not be censoring what we think is contraverslal, what we think should be debated in a public freedom of expression. Ihe Universi5. e will now allow students to use the Arts Building stos for events such as vigils involving fewer than 25 people. The Three Bares area will host gatherings of 25 people, while rallies of more than 250 will have to be held •on rue McTavishin•front of the Shatner Building. this area is techni- cally off University property, orgamust also obtain authorization from the City of Montreal. An official at City Hall said the cityrequiresthree days to approve a for a protest. Student leaders reject the princiz ple of the recommendations, arguing hat the University shouldn't -place ns on how students use heir SSMU VP Community •and Govemment Daniel Friedlaender Il-lötionedthe need for any rules It all "lhe students aren't going to do ornething inappropriate," he said. If we choose to gather in a peaceJl and non-inflamnutory manner, forum" prised when the University told them that there was a long-standingpolicy banning politicalevents on campus. SSMUwas especially startled because they had been previously able to use campus space for that purpose Without Objection. In this regard, Noumoff is pleased that students and administratorswill finally have a concrete policy to work from. "We've not be censoring what we think is prescribednever have had a specific policy; it was done on controversial, what we think should the basis of adhockery. Things seem be debated in a public forum." to. have taken a different turn," he University • Vice PrincipaV said. "Myjudgment is that at least Administration and Finance Morty we now have policy that is •a Yalovsky argued that the recommen- known policy, and therefore that is dations do For secunty reasons, political rallies ot over 250 students will have to be held off campus, in front of Shatner, with municipal police approval. In formulatingtheir recommendations, the Senate committee considered articles 25 and 26 of the Charter of Students' Rights, which guarantee freedom of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly. But Chuck Adler, Director of the University Planning Offce and campus events committee not amount •to censor- progress." chair said the group's main ship, and that the University'spoliBut many campus activists do -was the security of the McGill oonV cies do not restrict politicalexpres- not view the policy as progress munity and sion, pointing to more routine arenas just because it is explicit. Samira Yalovskyagreed, adding that he for disagreement. Rahmani-Azad,-who sits on the is pleased with the manner in whidl "Politicaldebate will continue in McGill Quebec Public Interest recommendations strike a balance Leacock 132 and in our classrooms. Research Group (QPIRG) Board between students' rights and safety That's something we would never of Directors, is frustrated that the on arnpLE. attempt to-prevent,' he said. Universitywants to place any lim"I think the key thing is to create Samuel Noumoff, veteran Political its on the use of the •campusfor a safe, ropectful place for d&te on professor and Senate repre- student-organized events. he "Aslong as we have sentative, stressed that the policy is "We are lucky at McGill to that, we have a wonderful still in the preliminary stages, rnaking have a beautiful green campus Al-Safia said he struggled to enQ1re it hard to predict its effects.He added which students can use to gath- that the recommen&tions did not that action would need to be taken if er in. ..[These recommendations) violate rights. Acmrding to Althe policy did result in an encroache- force students to lose ownership Safia, die committee initiallywanted ment of politicalexpression. of their own campus," she said. to ban all events from -1 alestinian refugees in mon•ealseek support MGill pror Palestinian refugees living in Montreal and zing deportation. up with a recommendation that was ridiculous—it was PGSSthat for the changes." recommendations will serve as guidelines until the comrnittee releass iB final rectxnnrn&ticywat the end of 2004-2005aedernic yar. The final policy will elaborate on security such as who will be responsible for paying for security guar&. Al-Sam Mid that cornmittee nrrn- bers would recommend that cover security costs, a policy he thought was unfair. you think of a dub, mly a limitedbudget, how can afford to pay ecurity guar& for a four-hour shift* He added that the Universityshould back its requirenrnt bf security guar& with the ash to Rind them. The Coalition says that the deportees will The deadline for applicatiorusvaries from be placed in countries such as Lebanon or state to state, but registrationfor most states and it really should not take more than five minutes. Don't wait until the last minute,' Jordan where they -are not citizens, arid have will still be open until late September. he said, to live under intolerable conditions. Interested students who are eligible to vote The McGillchapter of Democrats Abroad The demonstration will also commemorate in the upcoming election should check their also encourages eligible Voters to pick up the thousands of Palestinian refugees who local government's websites for more details a Federal Postcard Application, valid for all lost their lives during the 1982Israeli invasion about their respective state's deadlines. states, coalition is urging people of all of Beirut. lhere are also groups at McGillthat are Eligible voters can register at u,wtvfvap. walks of life to join them in their action. geared specifically toward helping eligible gov, a web site run by the United States govThe demonstration will start at the comer voters with the registration process. emment, or at u.uu.ot.etseast.oten)4.com, of Ste.-Catherineand Atwater (Atwater metro) A non-partisan group of professors who a web site run by the DemocraticNational will be stationed in the Leacock lobby until at 2 p.m. this Saturday, September 18. Committee. Both. web sites have specific Friday September 17, and in the McConnell state deadlines-and applications that can be —JoshGinsberg Engineering building all next week, spedownloadéd. cificallyfor the purpose of registering eligible Zuroff emphasized that absentee Deadline for American CoalitionAgainstthe DeportationOf absentee .lestinianRefugees will be holding a largeJes demonstration this Saturday in support erty, allowing eveqts in front or the Shatner building only. ballots looms It's not too late for Americin students wanting to cast their vote in November's federal election to register for absentee ballot applications. voters. One of the organizers of McGill'snon-par- tisan effort, Professor David Zuroff, stressed that while the application is easy to fill out, interested voters should make sure to apply as soon as possible. "We have all the necessary papers here ballots can be pivotal in an American presidential election. "Illis is going to be close," he said, referring to the margin of approval between this year's candidates, George W. Bush and John Kerry. is an extra special election." —Jeremy mman � 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. Volume 94 Issue 4 Page Number(s) 3 Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Paper 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 2004 Title A name given to the resource University Restricts Political Events on Campus Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource N/A (doesn't say) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Description An account of the resource A report on McGill University's new policy limiting political events on campus, introduced after student protests against tuition hikes. Campus Protests PGSS Political Action QPIRG SSMU Student Protests