Older and Wiser by Anita Dehler Mature Students at McGill Mature students at McGill are 23 years or old and are resuming their studies either full or part-time after an extended absence from school. Dr. Donna L. Logsdon of the Facul ty of Education and Dr. Kay Sibbald, Associate Dean of Students, have, for the past five years, taken an active in terest in mature students at McGill by providing them with counselling and workshops. For the past few years, Dr. Logsdon has conducted a three-dat A c a d e m ic S k ills D e v e lo p m e n t Workshop for mature students prior to the beginning of fall classes. The pur pose of these workshops is to improve reading efficiency, note-taking skills and concentration and to provide hints for writing papers. These workshops also give mature students the oppor tunity to meet other mature students as well as the support staff. Follow-up workshops o f one hour each include topics on time manage ment, studying, and taking tests. Coming up this month will be a workshop in Stress management for mature students, March 3rd, from 9:15
a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Students register by calling Student Services at 392-4551. Mature students come to McGill for several reasons: to upgrade their pre sent skills; to pursue a career; for the sheer pleasure of learning. The pursuit of a career seems to be the most prevalent reason for returning to school especially in these times of economic uncertainty. Whatever the reasons may be, mature students, in returning to school, m ust m ake certain ad justments. First of all, mature students must redevelop their study skills, fur thermore, many of them have a spouse and children and this adds an extra stress in trying to strike a balance bet ween study time and family time. The Mature Students’ Association (MSA) of McGill came into existence in 1979 “ to provide a support/infor mation network” for mature students. The annual membership fee is $5. The MSA organizes social events, publishes newsletters and provides m ature students with its MSA loungs, located in room 136 o f the Arts Building. This lounge is a great place for mature students to congregate, to get to know
one another and to discuss common in terests and problems. Also, the MSA has an Associate Membership to Thompson House, a social and cultural centre run by the Post-Graduate S tu d e n ts’ Society fo r full-tim e graduate students and students registered for the Diploma od Educa tion in the Faculty of Education. Mature students may join Thompson House on a first come first serve basis at an annual membership fee of $55. brigitte Headley is the President of the Mature Students’ Association. She is a mature student at McGill and has been involved with the Association for the past two years. She said that this year, with budget cuts, the MSA has been hard hit with no funding from the Students’ Society. Due to a lack of funds, there has been little publicity about the MSA and as a result, many mature students are unaware of the Association. For more information about the Association mature students can phone the MSA lounge Monday to Thursday from 12pm to 2 pm at 392-5757. Mature students have not been ig nored at McGill. However, many of
them are uninformed about the ser vices and activities available to them. Brigitte Headley has put together a “ Handbook for Mature Students” to acquaint mature students with McGill. Those wishing a copy can pick one up in room 211 of the Powell Student Ser vices Building, located at 3637 Peel St.
One of an estimated 72 excess “ No” 'oters. We’ll get them next time.
Published by the Students’ Society of McGill University, Montréal, Québec.
McGill Plays Chad at UN by Brian Todd This weekend 18 students from McGill will play the part of Chad at the Harvard National Model United Na tions. The students mainly Political Science m ajors, have raised the necessary funds to participate in this event along with representatives of 100 other schools from across the United States and Canada. This is the first time a team from McGill has attended a model U.N. although Canadian schools have been attending for years. The delegates who have carefully researched their roles will debate on 11 different committees on behalf of Chad. These committees mimic actual counterparts in the United Nations. The Harvard International Relations Council who are running the event hope that, “ through the proper representation of the sovereign in terests of their nations, delegates will grow to understand the complexities of international relations and interna tional diplomacy as practiced through the United Nations.” Craig Greenfield, who formed the McGill Model United Nations Club, to send a delegation to the Harvard Model U.N. did a terrific amount of leg-work to bring the cost of the con ference down to the $30 a delegate it costs to register. The club has been recognized by the Political Science Students’ Association and has been
finanaced by the Arts and Science Undergrad Society, the Dean of Students, the External Affairs Depart ment of the Canadian government and the Dean of Arts. Dean Maxwell of Arts was particularly friendly and helpful, remarked Greenfield, as he himself had participated in a Model U.N. in his undergrad days at Sir George Williams (now Concordia) representing Czechoslovakia. When McGill represents Chad, it will be on several committees including the Economic and Social Council and the Organization for African Unity. In addition, the delegates will be par ticipating in a simulated trial at the In ternational Court of Justice against Libya for alleged border incursions. The Model U.N. tries to simulate the actions of her truelife counterpart. Delegates have prepared committee position papers which have been sent to Harvard and are being printed-up for circulation. In addition, the com mittee members have to prepare work ing papers. These are used during the sessions to try and come to some agree ment, when possible. Much like the real United Nations though, this is often quite impossible. Greenfield hopes that next year, the United Nations Club will expand and become a Students’ Society recognized W orld A ffairs A ssociation p a r
ticipating in such activities as a planned Canadian National Model U.N. in Montreal. Meanwhile the delegates
from Chad head-off to Boston to solve the problems of the world over the study-break.
Club Petition Sparks Second Referendum by Brian Todd The E xecutive C om m ittee o f Students’ Society, in response to a clubs’ petition of 126 names, gathered in one day, are rerunning the fee referendum. The fee question which failed by 72 votes in the February 16 and 17 vote will be run again with its wording cleared-up but with the amounts asked for unchanged. Of the 2337 people who voted, 1112 voted yes, 1184 voted no and 41 were of no opinion or spoiled their ballots. That works out to a “ no” vote of 50.7% and a “ yes” vote of 47.6%. In response to rumoured increases in Students’ Society prices, Amalia Mar tinez, President of the Latin America Students’ Association, circulated a petition among various club members on Friday asking the Executive Com mittee to rerun the referendum to clarify and define the results of the closely-battled referendum. Executive Committee, in a special meeting on
Monday afternoon, approved the deci sion to run the referendum question once again with the changes attached. According to Jon Shifman, Comp troller o f Students’ Society, “ the deci sion to rerun the referndum was not an easy one. It was a calculated risk.” Shifman said that the time for slogans was past. “ Students know we are here, now it is time for good honest discus sion. It is time to learn where we are failing and where we are succeeding. There is a chance to dialogue.” A “ Yes Committee” will be formed this week and the official campaign will begin next Monday. Shifman ex plained that while the strategy has yet to be decided upon, it would generally be the same as last time round. He hopes to get the clubs out and they will hopefully vote heavily “ yes” . He also hopes that Students’ Society will have a greater chance to meet with different groups and explain the question.