File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_2002/postcolonial.0203, message 267


From: "julian samuel" <jjsamuel-AT-vif.com>
Subject: brilliant canadian journalism 1
Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 15:06:04 -0800


 Sunday » March 24 » 2002

Privatize McGill so it can excel

TOMMY SCHNURMACHER
Montreal Gazette


Sunday, March 24, 2002

It's time to privatize McGill University. Every few years, the board of
governors timidly floats a trial balloon on the subject. Sadly, the board
backs away at the first signs of grumbling from the usual suspects, who
would prefer that Canadians continue to worship at the altar of mediocrity.

We should stop running scared at the thought of having an elite university
for the best and the brightest.

Face the facts. The PQ government is far too busy subsidizing aluminum
companies in the regions to waste money ensuring McGill maintains the
international reputation it has built over a period of 180 years.

The Maclean's Guide to Canadian Universities 2002 noted "the school's sheer
brain power has made it a hotbed for innovation, and exceptional students
flock to the university from across Canada and around the world."

How long can that high standard be maintained?

Over the next few years, half of the professors at McGill are set to retire,
and there isn't enough money to replace them. The campus needs $175 million
for deferred maintenance. The government won't allow tuition to be raised.
McGill can't even keep the extra money that the government makes it charge
out-of-province students.

The government will provide cash for yet another stadium roof or concert
hall but not for McGill. It's quite content to have McGill coast on its
reputation as class size goes up and standards head south.

Students Bellyache

Don't count on the students to help out. They're constantly bellyaching even
though Quebec already has the lowest tuition in Canada.

Bernard Landry has promised to maintain the tuition freeze until hell
freezes over or at least until the next provincial election is out of the
way. He's not about to alienate students, one of the last constituencies the
PQ has left.

Student activists who occupied McGill principal Bernard Shapiro's office
five years ago defiantly announced that "any move toward an elite private
system is a direct attack on the foundations of our society and will not be
tolerated."

Privatization is an attack on the decline in quality of education that will
result if McGill maintains the status quo.

If McGill became a non-profit corporation like Harvard or Yale, its
principal would not have to worry about the need to grovel before successive
Quebec premiers. McGill's future would not be held hostage to the whims of
government if it went private and operated on the income from an annual
tuition of $10,000 per student plus corporate donations and endowment
income.

Don't buy the outdated claptrap that it would then serve only the rich.

According to a Quebec student-union report: "In order to attend the 'elite'
private university, an average student will have to incur a staggering
life-long debt. Private universities will be exclusive places of privilege,
open only to those who can afford to pay."

Makes for a noble sound bite, but it's not true.

Princeton attracts some of the most gifted students from around the world.
Do the rich and powerful send their kids there? You bet they do. And they
pay through the nose for the privilege.

Not Just for Rich

But it's not just for the rich. Brilliant students from ordinary working
families also manage to get in thanks to loans and scholarships. While such
students are expected to work part-time and during the summer, Princeton
recently implemented a program to pay off loan balances, thus allowing grads
to leave with zero debt.

Privatization, or at least some steps in that direction, must be considered
if McGill is to build on its achievements and hire the best profs instead of
staying at the low end of the hiring pecking order as it loses them to
Ontario, which is losing them to Alberta, which is losing them to the U.S.

Quebec has decided not to invest in higher education, but that's no reason
for Montreal not to boast its own Ivy League institution.

The miracle of McGill has been its remarkable ability to compete with
world-class American schools on a fraction of their budgets.

Imagine what it could accomplish if it had the money it deserved.

- Tommy Schnurmacher is heard weekdays 9 a.m. to noon on CJAD 800 radio. His
E-Mail address is tommys-AT-total.net.

© Copyright 2002 Montreal Gazette








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