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 Copyright © 2002 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp. All rights reserved. Optimized for browser versions 4.0 and higher. --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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