This is my first letter To Mr. Shapiro - because of problems to publish my letter in “The Reporter”.  The previous editor (Mr.McCabe - he published my open letter to Shapiro in December 2001 about Centraide) was replaced by Ms.Haldane in April 2002.  This lady so far is only showing her talents as a censor and manifest a very rude behaviour by not answering letters.  

She openly admits her poor writing and qualifications as the editor (look at a page two of the Sept. 12, 2002 edition) but it is not stupid but quite smart as these profiles are loved by our leaders.  Only such people are more likely to do a lot of dirty work for them without questioning its own conscious as they already are filling guilty to occupy high positions without satisfying qualifications.  Is she playing a role of a typical “kapo” in our university? (look bellow)

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My first letter to Mr. B.Shapiro:

 

Att: Mr. Bernard Shapiro - The Principal Fax :
398-4768

Montreal, May 27, 2002

Dear Mr. Shapiro,
I was very impressed by the sentiments in your memo of May 2. You speak of the University being "a welcoming oasis" and say that "through our inclusiveness we are able to enrich our lives." This is very refreshing, because I had remembered you as the person who a few years ago ostentatiously left room 609, just as I arrived for a meeting with McGill's top authorities. Mrs. Chambers and Mr. Pound with others were willing to hear my opinions about McGill, despite my perhaps unorthodox approach. They certainly showed openness and fair play.

Continuing in the tradition of openness, is there not some way that you, a top administrator, could help push my enclosed letter and opinion piece towards publication in The Reporter? So far, I have had no answer from the paper. Does this mean our University Relation Office exercises a double policy whereby only the chosen benefit from the University's "inclusiveness"? I am sure that as the author of the May 2 memo, you can correct this double standard. The last issue of The Reporter is to be published at the end of May.

Yours sincerely,

Slawomir Poplawski

Enc1,2 - or as finally edited can be viewed at:
http://www.geocities.com/slavekpop
--------------------------------------------------

Mr. Shapiro answered this letter the next day:

 

Date Sent:	Tuesday, May 28, 2002 8:38 AM
From:	Bernard Shapiro <[email protected]>
To:	slavek <>
Cc:	Kate Williams <>
Subject:	Your Memorandum
	Urgent New

 

Deqr Mr. Poplawski,     I received your note this morning, and I have forwarded it to the University Relations Office although I believe that the last issue of The Reporter has already been "put to bed".   I should add, however, I am not consulted with regards to what The Reporter chooses to print, and I do not make anyi attempt to tell them what or what not to print either.             Bernard Shapiro

 

 

 

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and bellow is not answered letter to him:

May 28, 2002

Att: Mr. B.Shapiro Fax:398-4768 e-mail:
[email protected]

Dear Mr. Shapiro,
Thank you for your fast response. It shows your understanding, and I wonder if I could get your additional permission to attach it to the next letter I sent to The Reporter?

I come from Europe, where two wars have taught us to take the teaching of history very seriously. We learn about the sorts of propaganda that existed, such as, "Our first secretary/führer is a good person who wants to help the people by providing work, education and medical care, but he is surrounded by dishonest, self-serving advisers". All social systems seem to have these parasites blocking communication between the rulers and ruled for their own profits. Many people today who criticize globalization also think
that it is the union of the most affluent and powerful, with their influence on politics, global finance and the mass media, that causes so much trouble: The powerful prefer to manipulate than to improve society. This explains why more and more people believe that the main cause of terrorism is a corrupt political establishment infiltrated by finance and the media in the US.

That is the macro. Coming back to the micro: With your administrative might, you need to investigate why the University Relation Office, among others, is now limiting communication between staff members and itself; and why I have waited almost a month after sending in a letter for publication and still have not had a decision. A couple of weeks ago, it seemed there might be progress, but it seems to me the appointment of Mrs. Blum has had an effect on communications. In my letter I name this affect as a creeping fascism - in order to provoke an enriching discussion.


S.Poplawski

P.S. I still believe that my letter with the opinion piece will be published and I will be very disappointed if not without providing the answer before. It seems that you, Mr. Shapiro, are also not informed about this issue. However, the used methods (no matter if the letters are going to be published or not) are very questionable and that is the main reason for my decision to inform as many as possible people about these matters.
P.P.S. It was not published in May and September without giving any explanation or answer from Ms.Haldane, Williams or Shapiro.

 

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 So far no answer is received from Mr. Shapiro or Mrs. Kate Williams - Director of University Relation Office (she was formally informed by the principal about my first letter). This "game" is going probably to nowhere but by playing it we can learn a lot and that is a very important role for the University. So let us continue to play and feel more challenged to answer raised problems instead of protecting artificially boosted egos:

Dear Friends at McGill,
Somehow, I don't think this second letter to Mr. Shapiro will be answered, because he is not willing to make a dent in the structure of the system.
The Principal is also a prisoner of the system: In the concentration camps of history, some prisoners were promoted into a position of "kapo", which gave them power over the other prisoners. They were worse than the Gestapo or SS. I think Mr. Shapiro and McGill's Propaganda Minister, Mrs. K.W., are forced by the system to take positions of kapos at McGill. Exaggeration? Well, it's worth a thought and consider this: One kapo can't fire or reprimand another kapo for not answering a regular prisoner's letter.

Also, we are all more or less prisoners of something else:
Money. For those who earn more, like the principal, earning 10 times more than the lowest-paid person here, or like our "minister of propaganda", earning 3-4 times more, the temptation to make moral compromises is much stronger than it is for us plebeians. Thus, only the morally sound should hold the top positions, and elections must be open and not held behind closed doors (as they were with the recently "elected" Mrs. Blum).
This government by kapos is magnified in government institutions or big organizations, where people can be harassed without visibly damaging their productivity. This is the group to which McGill belongs, and the results have been damaging. Stress has a more immediate effect in the private sector, which depends so directly on workers' efficiency. This explains why, paradoxically, people are often treated more reasonably there.
My account might seem simplistic, but it is nonetheless true, and might start people thinking about the petrified structure and old-boy-network of McGill.
Yours,
S.P.