THE MC GILL TRIBUNE Volume 5, Number 17
Published by the Students' Society of McGill University
Tuesday 4 February, 1986
Council Gives D a lly Two Weeks by Adeeb Khalid
A unanimous Council resolution gave a newly created joint committee of Council and the Daily two weeks to "negotiate changes in the constitution and by-laws of the M cGill Daily" to make the newspaper more democratic and responsive to students. Council was voting on a substitute motion moved by Club Representative to Council Stephen Hum. Earlier, after a thunderous speech, StudSoc President James Green had moved that StudSoc "request the McGill University Senate and Board of Governors to strike a com mittee to draw up a new constitution for a democratically based, autonomous student newspaper that will replace the M cGill Daily. If the executive committee is not satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations after two weeks, it will pro ceed with the course of action sug gested by Green's original motion. Green spoke of a "lack of respon
siveness on the part of the Daily" and of the "general dissatisfaction on campus with the newspaper. "I don't know anybody on campus who has nothing bad to say about the Daily, which is an extraordinary state of affairs," he said. "M cGill has the most apathetic student body, and yet we've had a sit-in. Green was referring to the occupation of the Daily offices by a group of students two weeks ago. "W e don't want to be seen as ogres trampling over an autonomous student newspaper," said Green. "What we want is a responsible autonomous stu dent newspaper." Adam Quastel, a Daily news editor, speaking by leave of Council, respond ed to Green's charges. "The Daily finds the Council demands unacceptable for they seek to change our participatory democracy to the potential rule of a board of directors of a few people,” he said. "There is an enormous possibility for
Mega-Parties May Infringe Student Rights T h e Daily's W itts to c k sm iles in th e face o f adversity
Daily Committee Agenda by Tribune News Staff In the current negotiations with the Daily, StudSoc is asking for several amendments to the Daily constitution. The demands, approved by Council in confidential session on November 21, are, according to StudSoc President James Green, as follows: • The DPS should have the same referendum regulations as StudSoc; • The DPS should have the same election regulations as StudSoc; • The DPS should use StudSoc's Chief Returning Officer for its elections; • The DPS should use StudSoc Judicial Board for its disputes; • The DPS add at least two student councillors to its Board of Directors; • The DPS should get rid of the veto power of staff members in the Board of Directors; • The Board of Directors should be able to amend all by-laws and the constitu tion, and that this should be the only way to amend the constitution; • The objectives should be defined in the constitution, and not in the by-laws; • The fee structure of the society should be differentiated and graduated, so that graduate students pay less than undergraduates, and part-time students less than full-time students. • Membership to the staff to be gained by the number of submissions and not the number of contributions published; • The implementation of some sort of law by which editorial comments would be limited to the editorial page, and kept out of other sections of the newspaper. In addition, according to Green, StudSoc is also suggesting that the Board of Directors be given the power to appoint the Editor-in-Chief
by Adeeb Khalid The University Centre policy on "multi-level parties" was the only other issue to provoke debate at last week's Council meeting. Senate Representative to Council Ramesh Singal questioned the propriety of charging an admission fee to the Union Building on these occa sions. Multi-level parties are parties involv ing two or more floors in the building. The policy limits the times when such events can take place and outlines the new procedures for their organization. "Does charging admission to the building not infringe the right of these students to use the building who do not want to go to the party?" asked Singal. "W hy does anybody who only wants a piece of pizza have to pay for admis sion?" StudSoc President James Green states that such events cost money which has to be made up for. "Either we have multi-level parties and charge entrance or we don't have them," said Green. "W e can't have people going just for pizza." The policy however was adopted. Council also resolved to ask the Ex ecutive Committee to write the Federal Minister of Justice John Crosbie express
IRC Seeks Detour Managers After weeks of uncertainty, the Detour question will finally be settled on February 13th. The popular dance pub has been the object of controversy since the beginning of January, whep managers Jim Sheridan and John Gallagher were suspended and then a week later dismissed. On the 13th, the Inter-Residence Council's entertain ment committee w ill select the managers who will run Detour until the year is over. Aspiring managers must apply in pairs, as a 'team' submitting thier résumés no later than February 7th. The entertainment committee will be look ing for applicants with fresh new ideas, and a willingness to work alongside the IRC to create a successful student ser vice. Sheridan and Gallagher were dismiss ed over a failure to comply with IRC directives that called for a greater varie ty of food, better music, tighter security and a longer happy hour. Since their
dismissal, Detour has been run by members of the IR C executive, v o lu n te e rs and fo rm e r D e to u r employees who apparently are acting on these directives. Souvlaki and pizza are now available as alternatives to the trusty hot dog, and in an attempt to introduce some variety in the music, different DJs are being us ed. The IRC has already used Colin Mc Clelland and Doug Hylton, and hopes to hire Don Rossiter in the future. Some IRC critics believe that one motive behind the Sheridan-Gallagher dismissal was the profit to be made from Detour. However, acting IRC President Robin Cassel denied the allegations. She said all profits of IRC-managed Detours will be funnelled towards future parties and trips the IRC will sub sidize. Cassel assumed the position-of presi dent when former president Steven Matthews resigned on January 1 due to conflict of interest. Her term will end on February 5 because of the recent IRC
elections, in which four of the five elected positions open were filled by acclamation. The fifth position, IRC Vice-President Internal, remained va cant due to a lack of interest. Robin Cassel had previously held the position of VP Internal before she assumed the position of President. This leaves Cassel able to submit a resumé for the Detour manager's position, which she has helped fill as a member of the IRC ex ecutive. When reached on the telephone, Jim Sheridan said neither he, nor his partner John Gallagher would apply again. "I'm tired of the whole thing," he said. "It's time for someone else to run it.” Whether it is the publicity generated by controversy, or the success of the IRC directives, Detour is doing better than ever. Beer sales have risen by an average of fifteen cases, and the food is slowly becoming a financially selfsufficient department.
c o n tin u e d on page 11
At The EUS?
by Sophie Wilson
New Executive Acclaimed
by Nicole Gaouette
ing StudSoc support for the acceptance of certain recommendations made to Parliament by the Equality of Rights sub committee. C lu b s R e p re s e n ta tiv e D a ro n Westman had earlier asked Council to endorse a letter being sent to Crosbie by McGill Nightline, GALO M and the Les bian Caucus of the Women's Union. The sub-committee's recommendations in clu d e am ending the Canadian Human Rights Act to include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination and to bring Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP hiring prac tices into conformity with the Human Rights Act. Council also accepted reports from its Nominating and External Affairs com mittees. The Constitutional Committee presented the draft version of the new StudSoc constitution to Council. Accor ding to the procedures, the document was automatically tabled till the next meeting.
change within the present structure," he said. "O ur policy is set by staff, and the amount of work involved in becom ing a staff member is extremely minimal. Green, however, was adamant. "There are thousands of people on campus who have absolutely no interest in becoming a journalist. We want representatives elected directly by students to have more power on the board (of directors)," he said. The Board of Directors of the DPS is composed of four student represen tatives elected campus-wide and three representatives of the Daily staff. Con stitutional amendments require five votes. Amendments must be then ratified by a referendum polling at least 15% of the membership of the DPS. "W e are going to Senate because Students' Society has no control over the Daily," said Green. Several councillors expressed doubts about the methods proposed by Green. Senate Representative Ramesh Singal said, "I agree with the spirit but not the methods of the move." O th e rs q u e stio n e d the a p propriateness of the move. Said BoG Representative to Council Amy Kaler, "There is no guarantee that the matter would be resolved satisfactorily if it is handed over to Senate. The action is too drastic, and punitive, not corrective. I'd support the existence of the Daily on campus in its present state." "It is too strong an action too soon," said Clubs Councillor Daron Westman. "W e don't want Senate dealing with student issues.” Because of similar objections, Clubs Councillor Stephen Hum introduced a substitute motion calling for a joint StudSoc-DPS constitutional committee recognized by both societies and em powered to propose amendments to the DPS constitution. Council finally passed the motion as amended by Singal who added the time limit and specified the composition of the committee. The five-member com mittee is to be composed of three coun cillors and two representatives of the Daily staff. C o u n c il named James G reen, Engineering Representative Beatris Pai-
Jacquie Muir resigned from her posi tion as VP Finance of the Engineering Undergraduate Society eleven days ago, after being confronted with accusa tions of "misappropriation of funds” . Although it is still unknown how much money is unaccounted for, EUS President David Williams has stated that the amount is in excess of $3,000. Although some reports have placed the figure as high as $10,000, Williams re jected the suggestion. "That's ridiculous," he said. "I don't think it's anywhere near that high." Williams stated that annual revenues at the EUS total roughly $60,000. Members of the EUS executive are re maining tightlipped about the incident. Williams, told the Tribune that he couldn't give figure on the amount of money involved until the EUS receives copies from the Bank of Montreal of all the cheques Muir wrote in the academic year. Cheques from the EUS have to be signed by both the president and the V P Finance. Williams explained that it was possible for Muir to have written che ques without his knowledge however, since it is "normal procedure" for the president to pre-sign blank cheques.
Williams hopes to settle with Muir "internally", rather than having to go to court over the matter. He stressed, however, that the EUS executive were not trying to cover up the possibility of embezzlement. "W e're committed to getting the money back. W e'll use every avenue—we're going to get it back." Several people interviewed have sug gested that Muir might have embezzled as some kind of elaborate, extravagant plea for attention. Melissa Gopnik, cochairman of the upcoming Winter Car nival with Jacquie Muir, told the Tribune that Muir's alleged action was "not normal embezzlement...not simp ly taking money." Gopnik resented media coverage of the incident, saying that "it's not right airing someone's p s y c h o lo g ic a l p r o b le m 's in a newspaper." Muir has resigned from her position as co-chairman of the Winter Carnival, as well as withdrawing from all her courses. Jacquie Muir herself could not be reached for comment. Apparently she has returned to her parents' home, and "doesn't want to talk to anyone from M cGill,” Her own telephone has been disconnected.