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MCGILL TRIBUNE
f V o lu m e 5 , N u m b e r 11
Published by th e Students' Society of M cG ill U n iv ersity
T u esd ay 19 N o v e m b e r 1985
Biological Executive IgnoresASUS by Adeeb Khalid A committee formed by the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) last month to review credentials of its departmental associations has run into a wall of silence in the case of the M cGill Biological Students' Union (MBSU). David Gibson, ASUS president, says, "I don't even know who the persons who call themselves the MBSU are. We haven't been approached by them at all. Apparently, it is too much of a bother for the people who are running the association to come and talk to us." The ASUS constitution requires it to
grant funding to departmental associa tions it recognizes at the rate of four dollars for every student enrolled in a majors program in the department. This year, ASUS made recognition condi tional on a review of last year's election results and budgets of individual associations. So far, MBSU has neither attended ASUS meetings nor made a budget application. Gibson is worried on two accounts. " If MBSU does not ask for the money that rightfully belongs to biology students, it is the students who are be ing penalized," he said. "And their lack
of participation defeats the whole aim (of this year's ASUS) of restructuring grassroots participation in the two faculties. "This reluctance of the MBSU ex ecutive to divulge information could be because there were no elections last year, but we don't know anything for sure," Gibson said. The situation is complicated by the fact that MBSU is responsible for operating the cafeteria in the Stewart Biology building. If ASUS refuses recognition to MBSU, the legal situation concerning the cafeteria contract could
become very murky. MBSU president Jamal Mahdavian sees things rather differently. "W e don't have any problems with ASUS at a ll," he said. According to him, the problem is one of poor communications. "U p here on the hill, we don’t often have too much to do with ASUS. All we have received from them this year are a few letters. "O u r experience is that the ASUS doesn't do a heck of alot for us. Last year, MBSU took the intiative in publishing course evaluations but in September w e . received only four
copies of the document from ASUS which is far from sufficient for a large department like ours," Mahdavian said. He however, admitted that he had not attended any meetings of the ASUS president's council this year. Gibson, however, contends that "It is departmental associations that work through the ASUS, not the other way round. W e (the ASUS) are under no obligation to go looking for associa tions." A departmental association has to be recognized by the ASUS to func tion constitutionally and be eligible for continued on page 2
Fast Food on the Main
A sign of the tim es at St. L au re n t and P in e. Seen h ere, pro sp ective h am b o u rg eo is a w aitin g d elivery of fast fo o d . r u
Photo - Ezra Greenberg
Senate Favo u rs Im m ed iate Divestment by Sophie Wilson Last W ed n esd ay, S e n a te demonstrated its nearly unanimous sup port for M cGill's divestment from cor porations with investments in South Africa. Support for divestment came in the form of a 47-2-1 vote in favour of a resolution recommending "that the Board of Governors immediately divest M cGill University of all financial holdings in corporations, including fin a n c ia l in stitu tio n s, having in vestments in the Republic of South Africa." The Board of Governors, comprised of professors, students, university ad ministrators, and 'eminent persons' from the community, acts as the supreme decision-making body at M cGill. As an effective method for censuring the apartheid system, divestment itself remained virtually unchallenged at the Senate meeting. Debate hinged rather on the wording to be used in the message Senate sent to BoG. Two amendments were offered to water down the strength of the resolu tion proposed by Senators Mark Warner and Lilani Kumaranayake, both undergraduate Arts students. VicePrincipal Freedman suggested replacing the words "immediately divest" with "continue the orderly divestment of" M cG ill University. Senator Gretta Chambers also a BoG member, later of fered "im m ediately undertake the
orderly divestment by M cGill Universi ty", as amendment to the initial wor ding. Warner saw Freedman's amendment as simply telling BoG that "they're do ing a good jo b ". BoG has ordered M cGill divestment from three South Africa-related companies in the last four years. Said Warner, "Divesting from two, maybe three, corporations is not continual divestment." Appearing unsure of the strength of support they had, W arner and K u m aran ayake ch o se to accep t Chamber's wording as a friendly amendment to their resolution. M cGill investments in South Africa related corporations are estimated to be around $45 million, approximately one quarter of M cGill's financial portfolio. Thus M cGill receives about $4 million per year from South Africa related in vestment. Although much of the impetus for the current drive for divestment has come from the students at M cGill, a surprising number of professors spoke out in favour of relieving M cGill of its $4 million income "recruited on the basis of the apartheid system", as Professor John Crawhall described it at Wednes day's Senate meeting. Professor Samuel Noumoff, speaking after Crawhall, noted that "the other thing that concerns us is that we may lose some money". Reasoning that M cGill stood to gain "$4 milion, or the respea of ourselves", Noumoff propos
ed a return to the original wording of the divestment resolution. In order to say anything, Noumoff declared, one must "say it direaly, and say it simply." Several other members of Senate spoke for the virtue of simplicity and direaness, and ultimately, the original w o rd in g of W a r n e r 's and Kumarnayake's resolution was adopted by Senate. The Senate recommendation was the last manifestation of growing anti apartheid sentiment on campus, which culminated yesterday in the decision of the Board of Governors to go ahead with divestment. The Board was voting on Student Governor Amy Kaler's mo tion calling for immediate and total divestment from South Africa-related companies. Nathan Moss, BoG secretary, told the Tribune that BoG decisions have "very seldom" gone against Senate recom mendations. The only time Moss could remember such a BoG-Senate split occuring was the recent BoG decision to ratify Daily fee increases.
McGill Divests
by Jenny Henderson At the corner of St. Laurent and Pine streets, in the heart of Montreal's ethnic community, the foundation of a new fast food centre is sprouting up amidst the concern and disapproval of some area businesses. Indeed the graffitti sprayed on the fence surrounding the construction site which reads "N O BURGERS HERE!” is no Welcome sign. The two-storey building will have space for ten fast-food restaurants on the ground floor, with parking space outside. The second floor will be a mez zanine of dining space to accomodate overflow from the first floor. "The restaurants will probably be chains, resembling food outlets at Les Terrasses and 2020 University," said David Pressman, the architect of the project. He also observed that the choice of restaurants on St. Laurent is limited and that the fast food fair "may prove to be a very good thing." However, owners of established restaurants in the area have different ex pectations. Fernando Castanheira is the owner of two ethnic barbeque-style restaurants on the same block of St. Laurent: Coco Rico and Jano. He has been operating these businesses for fifteen years and maintains that the new competion is right neither for the special multi cultural character of St. Laurent nor for its economy. "St. Laurent is known as one of Mon treal's few remaining truly ethnic streets. The shops and restaurants offer spécialités of the original immigrants which are made on the spot. People will stop coming to the street if it becomes
the same as every other street in the ci ty," he said. As a landowner in the St. Laurent area, Castanheira foresees a resulting hike in rental prices of commercial space. "Food prices will go up too; everything will be affected indirectly," he said. Castenheira also said that his customers had expressed displeasure at the imposition of a fast food fair. He ad ded that this type of business was better suited to the area south of Sherbrooke. Other restaurant owners in the area seemed confident that their clientele would not be lost to the new fast food c e n tr e . T h e s e , h o w e v e r, w e re re s ta u ra n ts of a d iffe re n t class—nouveau cuisine and café-bars, for example, whose clientele generally pass over fast food. John Gardner, city councillor of an adjacent distria, is sympathetic to com plaints and agrees that the new fast food centre "should be objected to." He pointed out that the shops will not be compatible with the architeaural character of the street. St. Laurent is uni q u e th at a ll the sh op s h ave storefronts on the sidewalk and the food center will clash with the uniformity. "There are architectural controls which are not being exercised here," he said. It is difficult to preserve the cultural mosaic of streets like St. Laurent. This fast food centre is sprouting up in a time when different parts of Montreal are be ing renovated and remodelled by a surge of Yuppie expansionism. And who could be a more ideal Yuppie than a 1958 M cGill alumnus, architect of our next hamburger stand?