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Is McGill cool? Who and what is cool at McGill? Of course we know that in 1996 "cool" is about as cool as "groovy," "hip," and "cats," but no one seems to know exactly what cool has been replaced by, so we assume it's still reasonably cool to say cool. Suggested alternatives were "chouette," "funky," and for those who walk on the wild side, "the dope." My brother, who goes to U of T, says "the word" is "wicked," but after all that's U of T, and I don't know if we subscribe to the same vocab as those Torontonians... Anyway, here's what McGill students have to say about what's cool at this fine institution of ours.
The Squirrel Situation "The squirrels are cool - so are the chestnuts they eat." "The squirrels are cool because they brighten your day as you walk to class." "The squirrels are cool because they really keep you going - they jump and flip - no one else does that." "The squirrels are cool because they are tame and they eat out of your hands." Sciurus carolinensis, better known as the grey squirrel, is native to North America. In the wilds these hardy little rodents are adept at gathering and hoarding tasty snacks like birch, oak, and hickory nuts. In urban environments (ahem), they eat anything from bird feeder and garden fare. Squirrels do not hibernate but prefer to venture out only in mild weather. They may be cute and cool, but squirrels can carry diseases; according to biology professor Donald Kramer, "one should avoid handling them or giving them an opportunity to bite."
The Architecture Café "The architecture café is cool. It has a co-op vegetarian food program and good strong coffee for 50 cents, if you have your own mug. Their prices are generally better than the prices in the other campus cafés, they're environmentally conscious and the atmosphere is comfortable and relaxed." The Architecture Cafeteria, in the basement of the Macdonald-Harrington Building, is a co-op: a-third of proceeds go to employees, a third to the Architecture Undergraduate Society, and a third to the grad committee. Its natural lighting creates a subdued atmosphere - "soothing," you might call it. In the words of Yann Bensoussan, one of the cafeteria's student directors, "It's more like a café than a cafeteria."
Football "Saturday afternoon football games against other universities, especially Queen's, are cool, and so is the fact that there are people from every region of Canada and from every walk of life at McGill." Cool football games: perhaps not a surprising observation, given that Dana is the quarterback. This season McGill's football team won the homecoming game against Queen's, 29-20. There was another 19-9 victory over Queen's (ha!) which qualified McGill for the playoff against Ottawa on November 9. McGill lost that game, but finished the season with 6 wins and 4 losses. Dana's best game was against Carleton, when he completed 65% of his passes for 350 yards.
Security Jeeps "The red McGill Security jeeps are cool - I'd like to have one!" The snazzy McGill "jeeps" are actually GM Trackers; I have been informed that it is not correct to call a Tracker a jeep. McGill bought five Trackers between 1991 and 1993 because they're well suited to maneuvering on a hilly and often snowy and icy campus. You can't actually drive one though (sorry, Chris) - except for one reserve vehicle, the Trackers are only driven by McGill security agents. The reserve is theoretically available for any McGill employee but is generally restricted to security guards and François Tavenas, VP Planning and Resources, who occasionally drives to the Macdonald Campus or to the Gault Estate. As a student you have to be in a crisis situation to get a ride in a red Tracker.
The Campus "It's cool to have a campus where most of the buildings and faculties are so close together - it really feels like a community." The downtown campus is compact but we mustn't forget the 544-hectare Macdonald Campus, a 30-minute drive away in St. Anne de Bellevue. "The new McTavish street is cool ... and the geeks sitting out on the Arts steps to smoke are cool." 
Ethnic Blend "The ethnic blend at McGill is cool. Coming from outside you fit in very easily here." McGillers hail from 140 different countries, and of Canadian universities McGill has the highest percentage of international students. Among undergrads, 67.3% are from Quebec, 21.4% are from the rest of Canada, and 11.3 % are international. Their first language: English, 56.2 %; other, 23.9% (statistics do not specify which); and French, 19.9%. McGill doesn't keep statistics on race or socioeconomic background, but a 1995 first-year survey showed only 56.5 % of the students had European roots, while 15.7% didn't respond. The next most numerous groups were East Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian at 5.5% each. Americans are the largest foreign presence on campus, followed by the French and Japanese.
Gert's "It's cool to say that you don't like Gert's but to go there anyway." Gert's Pub, officially "Gertrude's," has been in operation since time immemorial, or at least for 30 or 40 years, and is located in the Student Union Building, aka the Shatner Building, on McTavish Street. Supposedly the name originates with a librarian named Gertrude. The pub opens at 8 am and closes at 3 am., and on Thursday nights beer costs $1 until midnight and $1.50 after that. Shooters are $2 all evening. The amount of alcohol sold is top secret. "That would be promoting drinking and that would be irresponsible," Jon Chomski, SSMU VP Finance, says. That's all we wanted to know. Proceeds go to the operation and upkeep of the establishment, and student groups are welcome to fundraise by collecting cover charges or running coat checks, so party on at Gert's, it's cool, and we won't tell anyone you were there. "Gert's is cool because there are only students there so you don't have to worry about weirdos." 
Power Failures "Power failures are cool. Remember, they had to bring in extra generators to keep all the cadavers cold." No, there aren't any Frankenstein projects at McGill, he's referring to the 50-hour power outage which lasted from Friday, Sept. 27, 1996, at 1 am, to Sunday at 3pm. The entire university was out of commission - classes were cancelled and the libraries and computer labs were locked. Although there was some nail-biting over papers and assignments that could not be prepared for Monday, most of us were overjoyed to have an unexpected holiday! Other people were hard at work though; extra generators had to be operated to keep chilled not only the cadavers, but also an age-old chunk of iceberg being studied by geography students. The berg and biological material were saved. Hydro Quebec will pay the $160, 000 for direct intervention costs and McGill is negotiating for other losses, such as costs due to lost research time.
Left wing wannabees "It's cool at McGill to be a mildly apathetic left wing wanna-be. For instance, it's cool to be against tuition hikes and spending cuts, but not to actually do anything constructive about the problem." For example, the 30,000 strong McGill student body has an animal rights group with 15-20 full-time members. CARA, the animal rights group at Concordia, which has a student body of 26 000, has 40-50 full-time members as well as 700 registered student members and 200 members from the community at large.
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And now, the research methodology: I conducted an informal survey on McGill's downtown campus and via phone to Macdonald Campus. Students from nearly all undergraduate programs were approached at random and asked, "What's cool at McGill?" "Multiculturalism" and "the squirrels" were most often cited as cool- proof positive that we recognize and welcome the global village concept - and that we like rats with big, furry tails, although being "mildly apathetic left wing wanna bes," we don't want to protect them (like they need protection anyway!) by joining an animal rights group. With that, I leave you to draw your own conclusions about the character of McGill students. Chandra Wohleber was the McGill News' editorial assistant and is now seeking fame and fortune in London with the Student Work Abroad Program. SWAP provides a British work visa for two years, and that's cool. | |||