NEWS BRIEFS

Montreal newspaper documents drinking and stripping at student bash

Liam Churchill and Erika Meere The McGill Daily
(McGill University)

MONTREAL (CUP) — News of lewd behaviour at McGill’s Management carnival made national headlines this week, leaving university officials scrambling to repair another blow to McGill’s reputation and students questioning the newsworthiness of a party.

Articles and photos of the annual event appeared in Tuesday’s Journal de Montréal, which dedicated four pages, including its cover, to the story of students drinking heavily and removing some articles of clothing during the annual event.

Most of the photos were from an event that took place more than a year ago, in January 2005.

Media outlets across the country, including the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Calgary Sun, CTV and CBC, reported on the Journal’s initial piece. SSMU president Adam Conter said he had done as many as 17 television, newspaper and radio interviews, with reporters lined up outside his door at times.

“I was pretty surprised . . . . I don’t think it’s news,” he said. “I’m a university student living the university life, so those photos really weren’t that shocking to me.”

This is the third time this academic year that McGill has garnered negative attention in national media. In September, news surfaced that a rookie football player had been sexually assaulted by his teammates. Only a month later, McGill was named in Playboy magazine’s list of top-10 party schools — the only Canadian university to be given such a distinction.

University spokesperson Jennifer Robinson criticized the decision to make “news” from the photos and allegations of a few students. She questioned the motives of the newspaper and the article’s writer, Sébastien Ménard, who earlier this month published a piece about Munroe-Blum’s salary and benefits.

“Do I think a party at any university is a story? No, I don’t,” said Robinson, criticizing the newspaper for focusing its so-called investigative efforts on McGill.

Homophobic attacks in Antigonish

Elizabeth McMillan
The Xaverian Weekly
(St. Francis Xavier University)

ANTIGONISH, N.S. (CUP) — A walk home became violent last weekend for an Antigonish man.

After leaving a local bar on Saturday, February 4, he was attacked at an intersection across from campus. Unidentified assailants verbally and physically assaulted the victim, telling him they were beating him because he was gay.

The man who wished to remain anonymous sustained facial abrasions but was not hospitalized.

Corporal Jay MacInnis of the Antigonish RCMP explained that the attack is still under investigation and it is unclear whether or not the assailants are students.

MacInnis did confirm that derogatory comments were made by the assailants.

“It makes me sick to hear a story like this. Aren’t we supposed to be at a stage of higher acceptance?” third-year student Corey Bradbury asked.

Although last week’s incident was not widely publicized, it appears some people have taken notice.

Friday night another confrontation arose at a pizza parlour across the street from campus.

Recently elected Students’ Union president Harrison Stevens related how the customer behind him in line announced, “I’m going to kick the shit of you just like that fag got the shit kicked out of him,” to another passing male customer. Stevens does not know what provoked the man, and had never met the individual before.

After Stevens vocalized his opinion that the man’s statement was unacceptable and offensive, an argument ensued and both individuals were removed from the business. The fight continued on the sidewalk as they came to blows.

“When it was happening people just stood there and watched, even if they agreed why I was fighting they didn’t do anything,” said Stevens.