May 10, 2001

Members of the Montreal Alouettes squared off against staff and volunteers associated with the Royal Victoria Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit in a charity basketball game on Saturday. Dozens of NICU's "alumni," once dangerously fragile newborns who've gone on to bigger and better things, enjoyed the action from the stands inside the McGill sports complex.
Photo: Owen Egan

Groen sticks to libraries
Daniel McCabe
Director of Libraries Frances Groen has steered the libraries through turbulent waters. With some promising signs for the years ahead, she shares her thoughts on what's next for McGill's library system.

Budget nears completion
Bronwyn Chester
McGill's proposed budget for 2001-2002 proposes millions in new spending on a variety of items. It would also result in the University's deficit rising to $31 million. Expect some serious belt tightening in 2002-2003.

The ins and outs of honorary degrees
Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins
At universities around the world, everyone from Mr. Rogers to Nobel Prize winners gets them. How does McGill decide whom to give its honorary degrees to?

The ghosts of convocations past
Daniel McCabe
The valedictorian turned prime minister. The medical student turned cold-blooded killer. The dean of music who hated jazz. Plus, some convocation wisdom from Mordecai Richler, Steven Pinker, Michael Smith and Rudyard Kipling.

Prosperity according to Reuven Brenner
Tod Hoffman
If you want a prosperous country, get government out of the way, says management professor Reuven Brenner. And if you want smokers to quit, get them to pay sky-high insurance premiums to cover the costs of their health care.

Weather watching
Sylvain Comeau
Atmospheric and oceanic sciences professor Jacques Derome will lead a new research network examining climate change. Part of its mission will be to determine which changes are natural and which are the result of human activities.

The big "what next?"
Daniel McCabe
They survived university. So what are they going to do with the rest of their lives? Some soon-to-be graduates share their thoughts on life after McGill.

Also in this issue Kaleidoscope Bob Parkinson branches out; Randy Chevrier delivers; Phil Beck opposes full disclosure On campus Earth rocks; Left turn; Teaching parents; Shaping up

Convocation Supplement Meet the accomplished men and woman who earned honorary doctorates and emeritus professorships from McGill this spring.