https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/22dbd9774cc4599ba0128a00aa65831c.pdf?Expires=1790208000&Signature=MpKFGpB9A7q%7EIme1y2mpVlEdPegnwKG1xHPolvIdhyh8yojN0Jt3fLPT%7EMa%7EbL9mj5bdMqI0v%7EQm9qctDTzG3q8jnpD8NIPXF1cKMV0d5IIsygyahMshTP-I4wQwwHMQGhB7W698MCTL2PnXO%7E-p9ljnjWcWO7YAaZjSmsA91Nsb21uOd4MVdbTL8t80zZGY3TWs1ur4RfsEuTL4MgSN-EURXb7jifs-HpvXBMGd5LD3cBWjbOboAp74O0%7EijmV6CmTSIT5k2Js8Z7E-V94ecaigpLmDPAPCrINTdjF96fMStoACaGrrznSnUY704akw%7E%7EzXJp07J%7ESlSLMg6kGh8Q__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM d514715f32e74e9e98741b76a8799ba5 PDF Text Text News The McGill Daily, Monday, October 20, 2008 Shannon Kiely The McGill Daily S Ben Peck / The McGill Daily Harassment policy reviewed SACOMSS hopes survivors can appeal policy decisions Lendon Ebbels The McGill Daily M cGill’s policy sexual harassment is up for review this year for the first – and perhaps only – time in its existence. Adopted in December 2005, the policy, called Harassment, Sexual Harassment, and Discrimination Prohibited by Law, outlines the process by which members of the McGill community – students, employees, and office holders – can file and resolve a complaint of harassment, sexual harassment, or discrimination. But since it is mandated to only undergo a review in its third year of existence, with no provision for future reviews, the stakes are high within the McGill Senate working group. The Sexual Assault Centre of McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS), urged the body to focus on revising the definition of sexual harassment in a document submitted to the working group. The current definition of sexual harassment requires “intent, in whole or in part.” “We want to focus on the effect of the situation because that’s most relevant to the survivor, as opposed to intent, which is more relevant to the perpetrator,” said SACOMSS external coordinator Becky Harris. According to SACOMSS, regardless of intent, the effect is still sexual harassment if that’s how the survivor perceives it. Professor William Foster, Assistant Provost Policies and Procedures, who is chairing the group, said they will discuss the definition “intent.” “It can have a significant impact,” Foster said. “The issue of intent will be looked at.” He noted the difference between subjective intent, defined as delib- erate and conscious, and objective intent, the way a reasonable person would interpret conduct regardless of intent to sexually harass. SSMU president Kay Turner was concerned that decisions on sexual harassment cases effectively lie in the hands of two people. According to current policy, a member of the McGill community may file a complaint against another member to an assessor – an appointed administrator or academic. The assessor then attempts to facilitate a mutually agreeable informal resolution, but if the agreement fails, the assessor then recommends or discourages disciplinary action to the Provost. They in turn can render whatever disciplinary measures they see fit without having met the parties involved. “It would be better for complaints to go through some sort of group of people,” Turner said. She also criticized the current system’s lack of a mechanism for appeals. “My perception is that this is not an optimal policy. There are better ways it could be shaped for all parties involved, specifically in the review of complaints and the appeals process,” Turner said. SACOMSS’s letter shared Turner’s sentiments and suggested the working group create a provision for appeals. If parties agree to an informal resolution – such as a formal written apology or switching residences – they waive any right to external or further internal recourse. The survivor is therefore unable to sue the perpetrator in a court of law, or take any other course of action should they change their mind. If the decision goes all the way to the Provost, the survivor must go through a grievance procedure to appeal the decision. SACOMSS representatives have been invited to the next working group meeting. SMU councillors voted overwhelmingly against adopting as policy for the remainder of the academic year the six General Assembly (GA) motions that failed to reach quorum at the event and in the subsequent online ratification. SSMU President Kay Turner argued in Thursday’s meeting that Council could justifiably adopt the policies on its own initiative, based on what she said was high participation in the online ratification. “It’s rare for us to get that number, and it would be a huge waste to throw it away,” Turner said. By-laws adopted last fall require GA motions passed with fewer than two per cent of SSMU members in attendance – 397 students – be submitted for ratification online over the following two days. Only 250 showed up to the GA, with no more than 110 present at any one time. But the online vote also failed to reach its quorum – set at 15 per cent of SSMU membership – with only 1,669 students – 8.4 per cent – voting online. Club rep Cameron McKeich supported Turner’s motion and was satisfied with the GA turnout. He said voters were part of a core group of interested students that SSMU would have trouble expanding. “The constitution is a malleable document. There’s no point in defending a process that’s clearly broken,” said McKeich. “To ignore that input because of a technicality would take away the integrity of the GA.” Many councillors objected to bending SSMU constitutional by-laws. Engineering representative Manosij Majumdar was worried the motion would set a dangerous precedent for rejecting quorum. “That would be like winning a video game by reprogramming it,” he said. Turner maintained the motion respected SSMU’s constitution, News brief Int’l tuition hikes opposed Over 30 students from different Quebec universities protested the provincial deregulation of international tuition outside of the Quebec City summit of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) on Friday. Most participants were graduate students from the universities of Sherbrooke and Laval, according to Joel Pedneault, U2 Anthropology. SSMU bussed ten McGill students to Quebec City. Many students were from francophone countries, particularly Haiti and Senegal. claiming that SSMU Council is a separate body allowed to set policies. Turner argued that the bylaws were nonsensical, and suggested amending them to avoid future grey areas in quorum debates. She stressed the GA motions would be voted on again at the Winter GA regardless of Council’s decision. Alexandre Shee, the Law Student Association’s VP External, wondered what number of votes Council considered sufficient for creating SSMU policy if quorum is to be ignored. “Should we listen to the silent majority or the vocal minority? Maybe some students read the motions and decided they weren’t interested,” he said. Devin Alfaro, SSMU VP External, thought the eight per cent of students who voted online was a substantial number compared to the 29.8 to 35.8 per cent voter turnout in the last four SSMU elections, given that GA by-laws prohibit campaigning and restrict the voting period to 48 hours following the GA. He added that there are typically about 100 people actively campaigning to encourage voter turnout over the six-day election periods. Engineering representative Courtney Lessard objected to the motion based on the contention over certain GA question and the razorthin margin with which those questions passed at the event. Alfaro hoped the motion would help SSMU improve on the criticism it most often meets – that it doesn’t prioritize student consultation, as was the case last spring, when SSMU informed The Tribune they would force the newspaper into independence only two days before the motion went to council. “The [GA] system is broken, and this is an interim, band-aid solution.” While Council debated, VP Finance & Operations Tobias Silverstein giggled and whispered with Tribune editors in the gallery. He returned to his seat at the table when it came time to vote. Speeches focused on French nations’ access to French education. “One student said he wouldn’t be able to come from his third-world country to the University of Sherbrooke if tuition was so high,” said Pedneault. OIF aims to promote access to education in French speaking countries – particularly African ones, making the location of the protest particularly poignant. Accordingly, in theory the OIF should be opposed to economic barriers like tuition hikes. But Pedneault said their speeches were heard by police rather than delegates of the conference. “There were more police at one point than actual students – though that was because of the summit,” he said. “We had loudspeakers, but we don’t know if they heard us behind the barricade.” – Erin Hale What’s the haps SSMU shelves GA motions 5 Peace Talks and Israel’s Control of Palestine Monday, October 20, 7 p.m. QPIRG building, 3647 University Jesse Rosenfeld, a McGill graduate in International Development Studies, is now a journalist based in Ramallah, Palestine. His presentation focuses on Israel’s occupation of Palestine following the Annapolis peace negotiations. No cost. Garbage Man screening Tuesdsay, October 21, 8 p.m. 3475 Peel, Room 101 McGill Cinema Politica screens Oliver Hodge’s Garbage Man, an examination of Michael Reynolds’ “earth biotecture” advancement for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing in New Mexico. It’s free kids. McGill Bookfair Tuesday, October 22, 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. Redpath Hall The Women Associates of McGill and the McGill Women’s Alumnae Association host their 37th annual book fair raising money for student scholarships. Books start at 25-cents. Women in Academia: 21st Century Challenges Thursday, October 23, 6 p.m. Otto Maass Chemistry Building, Room 112 Dr. Evelynn Hammonds, the Dean of Harvard College, and Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz, professor of the history of science, will give the Muriel V. Roscoe Lecture on challenges women face in academia. Admission is free. Where are the wild things? Thursday, October 23, 6:30 p.m. AUS lounge, Leacock basement The Fine Arts Council is hosting a photography exhibit of work by McGill students. Admission is free, and as it is part of AUS’s weekly pub night, beer and wine will be sold. Green Business Week – Sustainable design Thursday, October 23, 6 p.m. Bronfman Building, Room 451 Eco-entrepreneur Cheryl Gladu, co-founder of ECOCITÉ – the people who brought you Habitat 1 – speaks on aggressively green, innovatively designed urban housing. The event is part of a week-long Green Business Week organized by Shaping Tomorrow’s Organizational Practices. Free. Send your non-profit event details to news@mcgilldaily. com with “haps” in the subject � 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 14 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 Harassment Policy Reviewed Description An account of the resource Article about McGill's sexual harassment policy being up for review for the first time since it was enacted. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lendon Ebbels 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 2008/10/20 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English policy Policy on Harassment and Discrimination Regulations Concerning Complaints of Sexual Harassment Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students' Society (SACOMSS) Sexual Violence Policy