The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Winter and Spring exams just wouldn't be the same without the long lineups leading into the Sir Arthur Currie Gym, the coughs and sniffles echoing off the walls, and, of course, the familiar feel of the cold, hard exam chair. You'd never guess that this seat of torture is the same chair used at parties! Valued at $30, the exam chair is rented from Party Time Rentals by McGill for about $1 per day. With orders of approximately 1,000 chairs for each exam period, Special Events seem to be happy with their choice of chairs, having used them for years. What with its utilitarian grey colour, the Samsonite metal folding chair is sure to liven up any party ... or exam.

Out of the Old...

As a student who has sat through four years of lectures in decrepit and deteriorating seats, it must be said that students deserve better for their bottoms. When the seat is cracked and your sweater keeps catching on the metal remainder of what was once was an armrest, you know it's time for a new chair. Taking notes on the puny surface they call a tablette is next to impossible, while "getting to know your neighbour" takes on new meaning as you literally rub shoulders with the person next to you. Happily, McGill is finally able to begin doing something about this sad sit-uation. A $22-million project to improve the University's infrastructure (funded 70 percent by the Ministry of Education, 30 percent by McGill), will see more than $1 million going toward classroom improvements.

Into the New

An example of the new seats McGill is introducing into classrooms can be found in the newly constructed M.H. Wong Building. Moving away from uncomfortable, immovable chairs with attached side tablettes, the snappy new "7000 Series model" from Ducharme Seating International consists of a desk with an attached swivel seat on a post. At an approximate cost of $200 per seat and table, however, it may be some time before McGill can entirely phase out the old furniture.

Seat of Power

A sight to make eyes sore, Students' Society President Tara Newell's bright royal blue upholstered swivel chair is like a flash from the past, a garish relic of the disco era. According to Newell, the presidential throne was most likely "inherited from the University garbage piles in the days when the Society was an organ of the McGill administration." Despite advanced age and a questionable pedigree, it does have one bonus: it comes with a matching chair in dusty rose.

Newell and her blue chair received considerable attention on campus recently. An editorial she wrote for the student press was accompanied by a nude photo of the full-bodied President arranged artfully in her chair. Her reason? To make a point about gender inequity and assumptions based on body image.

The Principal Parks Here

Want to please the boss? McGill's Physical Resources certainly did by picking out and purchasing a chair that's guaranteed to ease any sore spots Principal Shapiro may have. McGill's CEO, who's in his office answering e-mail shortly after dawn each day, does have a bad back and it was not helped by the uncushioned wooden seat he inherited. To help ease another sore point -- the budget squeeze -- Physical Planner Brian Karasick says this high-backed seat of high office was a floor model which McGill purchased for less than a third of its original price when the showroom closed down.

I'll Take the Aisle

Thanks to the recent re-angling and re-distribution of its seats, the Arts Building's Moyse Hall, which can accommodate up to 306 people, is now a comfortable place to watch any play or musical. With the new seating arrangement, aisles are bigger, there's more leg room and you no longer have to lean around the heads in front of you to see the actors on stage. Although these standard theatre seats were installed circa 1965, replacing them at the estimated cost of $350 each was deemed too stiff a price to pay. However, three people were hired last summer to resew those seat covers in desperate need of repair; now the chairs no longer have stuffing peeking through tears in the dark upholstery.

Musical Chairs

The Faculty of Music sports its own concert hall, named after donor Maurice Pollack, which seats 600 people. Built in 1973 by the firm Bland, Lemoyne and Shine, Pollack Hall was a much-needed gift, as the Music Faculty had been using Redpath Hall as its auditorium since the 1950s. Pollack Hall's 25-year-old cushioned seats have seen better days, but as long as the performers play to a full house, they, at least, won't be subjected to the sight of the worn, orange-upholstered chairs.

Redpath Hall is still an ideal smaller venue to hear music because of its excellent acoustics. Instead of fixed seating as in Pollack Hall, Redpath provides up to 350 individual arm chairs that can be arranged as desired, or stacked and stored behind curtains when not required. Weathered wooden chairs with red vinyl seats and backs match the elegant ambience of the Hall with its stained glass windows, wood paneled walls and 40-foot ceiling.

Diagnosis Dreadful

Within the beautiful and old Arts building is the ugly and old lounge for English students. Chairs covered in cheap vinyl in shades of brown and orange date back perhaps 20 years and are well used by students who hang out in the lounge between and after classes. The room is a common area for eating lunch, snoozing on its dusty couches, socializing, reading, studying and holding meetings. The English lounge is in dire need of a facelift, but if rumours are to be believed, DESA (Department of English Students' Association) has a little surgery in mind already.

I Say, Jeeves...

In direct contrast to the decrepit English lounge is the Religious Studies faculty lounge in the William and Henry Birks Building, which was redone about ten years ago. What with its posh furnishings and elegant décor, professors can close their eyes and imagine themselves in the drawing room of a stately home. Although snoozers may be unwelcome, the lounge's genteel atmosphere simply begs for tea and crumpets.

Studious Sitting

Nothing beats sitting in a chair that has a split in its vinyl seat with foam sticking out. Squirm too much and you may end up with some of that foam on the seat of your pants when you walk away. McLennan's chairs, along with the rest of the building, are in need of repair. The majority of the chairs students sit on are the original ones purchased when the library was built back in the late 1960s. To be fair, the library has made some new chair purchases within the past couple of years for the computer terminals in the reference area. However, aware of tight budgets, most students would agree that the library's top priority should be to fix the leaking roof rather than buy new chairs.

Anyone Seen Suzanne?

Sitting, standing, socializing, smoking -- the 13 concrete steps at the base of the Arts Building are perfect for doing it all. However, even though the Arts steps are free for anyone to sit on, students found there are usually independent film fans and can recite a Leonard Cohen poem on command. An exaggeration perhaps, but nevertheless, the Arts steps are primarily where the "artsy" students sit.

Nature's Carpet

There is no cheaper seat than that of Mother Nature. Sitting on the grass next to the Three Bares... resting against a tree while studying... stretching out your legs and simply dozing...

McGill's greens are perhaps the best seats in the house. During the balmy summer months, they attract office workers from neighbouring high-rises who loosen ties, kick off shoes and enjoy picnic lunches on the grass.

Course in Cardboard

Searching for a chair that's not only one-of-a-kind but also costs next to nothing? Look no further than our very own School of Architecture, where teams of first-year students are challenged to design and build a chair made only from a couple of 60" x 81" sheets of two-ply cardboard. Project guidelines state that the chair must be "comfortable, light, stable and strong -- it will be occupied by large persons; it should also be easily assembled and disassembled and efficiently packaged for transportation and storage." The project encourages students to be at their most creative, while introducing them to design methodology in a hands-on environment. Tried, tested and true, these chairs are not only amazing to look at, but some are actually very comfortable to sit on!

Attention Sports Fans!

This year, McGill's Molson Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 17,000, will be host to the Alouettes, Montreal's CFL football team. This is good news for the University, since some $300,000 in repairs were done in preparation for the Alouettes' arrival, and McGill will get national exposure during televised games. Despite the sprucing up of the facilities, don't expect anything too fancy. Spectators still sit on simple wooden planks, most of which were installed in the 1970s. Oh, and you may not hear the name of the stadium mentioned too often on TV -- the Alouettes, after all, are sponsored by Labatt.

"He shoots, he scores!"

Fans have been leaping out of their seats for over 40 years at the McConnell Winter Stadium, cheering not only at hockey games but at all ice events. Built in 1957, the arena still sports its original seats. The 1,600 wooden fold-down seats with backs, mostly seats for two, cover three sides of the rink -- all painted bright red in a show of true McGill spirit.

Joining the Club

To show McGill's appreciation for long and loyal service, staff and faculty who have worked at the University for 25 years are honoured with a gift of their choice, ranging from prints of the campus to a clock. But the most popular item among Quarter Century Club members is a chair. Not just any chair, this special gift is a wooden captain's chair, painted black and highlighted with the McGill crest. Worth about $250, the chair comes with a brass plate inscribed with the staff member's name.