I was boring a friend to tears one night recounting a nightmare I had during graduate school in Chile. The marks for our law exam were handed out in bright fuchsia envelopes. I opened mine: it was a 3. An abysmal failure. (All marks were out of 7, and 5 was a pass.) No, no, I protested frantically to my professor. This mark must belong to another Janice.
I awoke in a panic at 3 a.m. and hauled myself to my desk where I remained for the next three days and nights poring over law cases. In the end, I earned a 6, or an A, reversing the initial scenario. Yet this nightmare still remains clear.
My friend, between bites of an overwraught hommus sandwich, confided that some 12 years after graduation he still suffers from exam nightmares. This topic seemed worthy of investigation for an alumni magazine. And, indeed, many confessed to similar occurrences for the story ìExam Nightmares.î
This is our worldwide issue, and the perfect opportunity to bring you two alumni with a worldwide impact: the chair of the Board of Governors, Richard (Dick) Pound, BComí62, BCLí64, and Vincent Truglia, MAí74.
Truglia is an American who earned his masterís degree in economics at McGill. However, we must reluctantly admit that he is much better known for downgrading Canadaís credit rating at Moodyís. Criticism is now flying that Canadaís internal affairs are being directed by bond traders in silk suspenders in New York instead of elected officials in Ottawa. Truglia is targeted as one of the culprits.
Richard Pound, meanwhile, is the Olympian man about Montreal who chairs the McGill Board of Governors, the Athletics Board, and is past-president of the Fund Council.
Ann Gibbon of the Globe and Mailís Report on Business interviewed Pound for the story ìThe Alchemist.î ìAccording to my sources, the only thing he doesnít seem to excel in is golf,î she reports. The McGill Twenty-First Century Fund (some $165 million has been raised; details are in the centrefold, no less) is sponsoring the full distribution this issue, marking the end of an era. Owing to escalating costs, the News will now be sent to graduates of the last two years and to donors. There has been mixed reaction to this policy, but we hope youíll understand or suggest alternatives. To ensure its future, the McGill News is soliciting voluntary subscriptions, and seeking additional advertising.
At press time, we were waiting to hear the date of the proposed
referendum on Quebec sovereignty (November 6 was the insiderís best
bet). As McGill law professor Jeremy Webber tells us, ìBy all accounts
anglophone Quebecers will vote overwhelmingly against separation in the
upcoming referendum.î His article is part of an excellent issue on the
future of Quebecís anglophone community in Choices, June 1995, published
by the Institute for Research on Public Policy in Montreal, whose
president is Monique JÈrÙme-Forget, BAí71, PhDí77. Quebecís 800,000
anglophones represent 13 percent of the population, and McGill is still
seen as the most recognizable English- language institution in the
province, but the University will not take a position on the debate. The
McGill News will keep you posted on referendum developments.
