Accessibility Queen’s
Accessibility Queen’s (AQ) is an AMS committee dedicated to improving accessibility on campus for students with disabilities. Funded entirely by student fees, AQ implements new and continuing initiatives to improve physical, academic, and social accessibility for Queen’s students. AQ offers to students with disabilities and provides a voice for all students concerned with accessibility.
To make campus buildings more accessible, AQ initiates and makes financial contributions to capital projects like the wheelchair lift in Mac-Corry. AQ’s transportation budget helps students with mobility impairments, either permanent disabilities or temporary injuries to get to campus. By purchasing equipment for the Adaptive Technology Lab and for special exam arrangements for students with disabilities, AQ improves academic accessibility at Queen’s. AQ subsidizes the cost of Sign Language Courses through Qcollege to make them more affordable for the average student. AQ also purchases resource guides to help students with disabilities access resources in the Kingston community.
of the committee sit on the Accessibility Oversight Committee with of the Queen’s istration to advocate on behalf of students with disabilities. AQ’s annual Awareness Week in the winter term raises awareness of the barriers facing students with disabilities and the many volunteer opportunities in the Kingston community. AQ attends the annual conference of the National Educational Association of Disabled Students to learn from similar efforts at other universities and subsidizes the participation of a staff member from Queen’s Disability Services.
Many barriers still exist for students with disabilities at Queen’s. AQ works closely with the istration and with student governments to ensure that physical, academic, and social accessibility are improved on campus, but AQ relies solely on student fees to be able to accomplish this. Please lend AQ your in this fall’s referendum. Please AQ at [email protected].
AMS Guide to Queen’s
The Guide to Queen’s is a comprehensive collection of information about student life at Queen’s. Funded by a mandatory $0.80 student fee, this publication is available to all undergraduate students. Designed to be a portable and convenient source of information about on- and off-campus services, extra-curricular activities and student government. This -friendly directory includes a map of the Kingston area, emergency phone numbers and basic information about nutrition, study skills and off-campus housing.
Meant to be students’ primary handbook when it comes to questions regarding life in Kingston as an undergraduate student, the Guide to Queen’s is an invaluable resource that is relevant to both first-year and upper-year students. Although it has been distributed for the past three years in residence, this year, it will also be made readily available to students living off-campus.
The Guide to Queen’s is a quick and handy reference tool that is updated yearly. By voting to renew this fee, you will help to ensure that you and your peers can continue to enjoy the benefits of a relevant and comprehensive information resource.
Campus Observation Room
Nobody who has a few drinks expects to end up in the Emergency Room at the end of the evening. However, the risk of choking on your own vomit is real especially if you have consumed a lot of alcohol.
The Campus Observation Room (C.O.R.) was established in 1990 to ensure the safety of students during Orientation Week and Alumni Weekend, times of known higher-risk alcohol consumption. COR has now expanded its operations to include Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights through September including expanded hours during Homecoming. Since its inception, COR has provided care to more than 600 students including 33 over Homecoming Weekend this fall.
Recognizing that students (especially first year students) may be at risk throughout the year, another program has been developed to address this need. The Peer Observation Program is currently operating at Victoria Hall, Brockington-Gordon and Leonard Hall residences. Students living in these buildings volunteer on an on-call basis to monitor students who are intoxicated. The service begins mid-October and runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings through the rest of the school year. These volunteers receive the same training as COR volunteers and work within a network that includes Campus Security, Queen’s First Aid, Residence Life and Hotel Dieu Detox Centre.
The level of funding provided by students has been at 50 cents per student since 1992. However with the expansion of programs and the need to train additional volunteers we are asking for an increase of 15 cents to offset our additional costs.
Queen’s has never had an alcohol-related death on campus. We are also the only university that has a Campus Observation Room and a Peer Observation Program. On November 1 or 2nd please vote to increase funding for this important service.
Dawn House Women’s Shelter
Dawn House Women’s Shelter is a non-profit; community based charitable organization, which opened its doors in December 1986 in response to the issues of homelessness. Dawn House Women’s Shelter provides temporary shelter for women age 16 and over, and their children who are homeless. Dawn House is the only shelter in Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington that provides services specific to homeless women and their children. The shelter is open and staffed 24 hours a day. Food and other basic necessities are provided to residents. Staff work with the women assisting them in securing safe, affordable permanent housing. Residents can stay at the shelter for a number of weeks while they ensure that they find the appropriate housing for their needs. Our 24-hour crisis line is available to callers for information, advocacy and referrals.
Dawn House Women’s Shelter is committed to providing a safe, comfortable and ive environment for women and their children in the face of a housing crisis. Last year, the shelter provided temporary housing for 232 women and children and responded to over 1300 crisis calls. 30% of the adult residents at Dawn House in 2004 were young women between the ages of 16-24.
Although Dawn House Women’s Shelter receives funding from all three levels of government, this funding falls short of the amount we need to provide a quality service to residents and those calling on the crisis line. Since 1998, Dawn House has received much needed financial through Queen’s student activity fees. We depend greatly on the generosity of Queen’s students and other groups in the community to meet our needs.
Please the important work of Dawn House Women’s Shelter by voting YES.
Queen’s First Aid
”The volunteer of Queen’s First Aid offer emergency care to the community without prejudice or bias.” – Queen’s First Aid Mission Statement
The Mission Statement of Queen’s First Aid does not do justice to the wide range of community service provided by the entirely volunteer run organization.
A Little History…Queen’s First Aid (QFA) was established in 1986 for the purpose of providing first response services at Queen’s University events.
In 2000, QFA expanded to take on an On-Call service with limited hours, in which two highly trained responders will attend to any medical emergency on Campus. In 2002, Queen’s First Aid expanded again to provide a 24 hour-a-day, 7 day-a-week On-Call Response, dispatched by the Emergency Report Centre. In that same year, QFA acquired an Automated External Defibrillator and Pulse Oximeters, advanced equipment that increased QFA Responders’ ability to respond to major incidents. In addition to the on call system QFA continued its commitment to provide first aid coverage of events, free of charge, to all Queen’s organizations.
QFA Now… Over the past six years QFA has increased in size, increased its call volume dramatically, and increased its standard level of care – without increasing its student fee. In the 2004-2005 academic year, QFA Responders put in over 15,000 volunteer hours, and treated over 500 people. Our volunteer Responders have Advanced Medical First Responder training which helped them at those calls which ranged from minor cuts, to severe intoxication, to major medical emergencies. However, to maintain our current level of service it is necessary for us to request more help from the students at Queen’s, as our student fee is our main source of income. Student fees help fund advanced training, supplies, uniforms, and first aid kits.
Queen’s International Affairs Association The Queen’s International Affairs Association (QIAA) is Canada’s premier student run organization devoted to the promotion of dialogue regarding international politics and foreign affairs on campus. Based on values of global citizenship, our mandate hinges upon a commitment to provide interactive education, invaluable experiences and intriguing engagements, encouraging students across campus to discover the world around them. Since 1987, QIAA has conducted its work with quality and professionalism. We provide interactive education to students through our programming, successfully inviting diplomats and professionals from the world of foreign affairs to Queen’s. Speakers of the 2004-05 series include U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci, U.N. Ambassador Allan Rock and MSF President Leslie Shanks.
QIAA prides itself on providing financial , giving our invaluable off-campus experiences and further allows the wider community to recognize the exemplary quality of Queen’s students through our participation in national and international conferences. Our delegations represent Queen’s at Model United Nations conferences held in Harvard, McGill, University of British Columbia and Ottawa. QIAA also organizes the Queen’s Foreign Policy Conference held in our nation’s capital, allowing students to connect with Canada’s foreign policy.
QIAA completes the student’s university experience with intriguing opportunities to engage with international affairs. Projects and initiatives are conducted by our Member’s Council, while the Queen’s International Observer attracts the most forward-looking opinions on international affairs from students, faculty and practitioners, bringing them together in one publication. Throughout all of our endeavours we strive to be inclusive, providing a forum for education, experience and engagement.
We ask for your as our goals can only be achieved with the continuation of a mandatory fee of $0.65. For more information visit us at www.qiaa.org. Further questions about QIAA or the ways we use our student activity funds can be directed to our President, Simon Tam, at [email protected].
Queen’s Legal Aid
On November 1 and 2, 2005, we are asking the undergraduate students at Queen’s to vote in favor of continuing to pay the annual fee of $4.50 to Queen’s Legal Aid. Students at Queen’s have been in favor of paying these fees since 1974. At our clinic in MacDonald Hall, we provide legal services to Queen’s students and to low income local residents. At the same time we offer a unique clinical learning experience for law students. We are committed to our community. Queen’s Legal Aid can assist and even advocate for eligible students if they are having legal problems with: housing matters, Small Claims Court matters, some criminal and driving offences, Affidavits and Notarizations, many student discipline matters, OSAP, and more. By ing us, we can you. In addition, by helping us, you help low income local residents too. Many of these are the most vulnerable of society. Vote “YES” to the question, “Do you agree to the continuation of the mandatory fee of $4.50, for Queen’s Legal Aid, for the next three years?
The Journal
The Journal currently has a $2.50 mandatory student fee to partly fund the 40 issues it prints each year. That fee hasn’t increased since 1991, while the costs of producing a newspaper have steadily risen.
We are asking students to vote YES to an increase from $2.50 to $3.50 per student per year—essentially the cost of one exam-size latte at the Common Ground. Even with the increase, the Journal’s fee will still be among the lowest in the country. Consider the fees of other campus newspapers: $11.50 at Ryerson, $5 at McGill or $6 at Western.
Consider, as well, that these newspapers are in large urban centres with large advertising markets. Kingston’s is considerably smaller, and past years have proven that fluctuations in the market deeply affect the Journal’s operations.
A student fee of $3.50 would give the Journal a more stable source of revenue and allow us to print larger papers with more space for content. It would also allow the Journal to upgrade its computers, some of which are badly in need of replacement, and allow the Journal to maintain industry-standard software.
In 2003 the Journal ceased to print tobacco ments in accordance with Ontario government regulations restricting such advertising. That loss of revenue has also seriously affected the Journal’s operations.
While the Journal makes it a priority to keep its fee as low as possible, it also has a mandate to provide students with journalistic opportunities and to provide the campus with excellent student-focused news and opinions. For 133 years, the Journal has done so, and Journal staff have capitalized on their experience and gone on to careers at media outlets ranging from the Globe and Mail to the Associated Press.
your student voice on campus. ON NOV. 1 AND 2, VOTE YES TO THE JOURNAL FEE.
SAE Mini-Baja Design Team
The Mini-Baja vehicle design team has just completed its most successful season to date with two top five finishes in the three North American competitions. In order to compete at this level and to extend our success into the next season, it is imperative that the team receive additional .
STRIVE
(In an effort to maximize our use of paper and reduce the use of ink, we’ll keep this short and sweet!)
What would U2 sound like without Bono? What would Paris look like without the Eiffel Tower? What would Queen’s be like without STRIVE? And especially for that last one, we’re afraid that the void would be bigger than the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica!
STRIVE stands for Students Taking Responsible Initiatives for a Viable Environment and we are a committee for environmental education under the AMS Social Issues Commission. Our objective is to promote sustainable lifestyles on campus and raise awareness of environmental issues. Each year we launch Lug-A-Mug campaigns and waste audits; we hold eco-fairs and Green Markets; we run education seminars in residences, organize Earth Week, and also other clubs in their environmental endeavours. In general, we act as a catalyst to help make student action lead to positive change for our environment.
Tri-Aid
WE NEED TO HELP! Over the past year natural disaster after natural disaster have stricken people around the world, from the Indian Ocean Tsunami that killed over 100,000, Hurricane Katrina that has rebuilding costs over $200 Billion, and the recent South Asian Earthquake that has a climbing death toll over 20,000 people. As Queen’s Students and “Leaders of Global Citizenship” we should be leading the cause here at home to help the victims of these disasters. What we are proposing is a one-time opt-out fee of $3 equally shared between the three disasters. All the money raised will go directly to the Red Cross in those regions, working for emergency relief, working to rebuild and working to make those regions livable again. Furthermore, there are a number of on-campus efforts to these tragedies. The AMS, Queen’s Red Cross, Queen’s Pakistani Students Association and many more currently have a number of initiatives that need out . If we all work together we can contribute in a large way, and the citizens of the world along with the citizens of out own city and country will know that we truly are ready to be Global Citizens.
DESCRIPTION: One time collection of $3 for International Disaster Relief. Donated to the Red Cross for the recovery and rebuilding efforts of the natural disasters of the past year. Fee will be equally divided among the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the South Asian Earthquake.
Union Gallery
The Union Gallery opened in Stauffer Library in 1994. The gallery is special because it is the University’s only student run art gallery and because it provides a venue for students to show their work. Students have shown their for this gallery by visiting exhibits, serving on its committees, volunteering and by voting YES in referendum.
Since its last appearance on the referendum ballot in 2003, the gallery has expanded to include the Project Room. This small space located inside the main gallery presents installation, new media, time and sound-based works. This addition creates more opportunities for student exhibits and is a testament to the commitment of the gallery staff and student volunteers.
The Union Gallery provides opportunities for all students to get involved on a volunteer basis. As well it provides important career-oriented training for studio art students, and students interested in a career in arts istration (the Board of Directors is eighty percent students).
ission to the gallery is free. The gallery relies on its annual fundraiser (Cezanne’s Closet) and the small fee provisioned by the students at the University for their funding. The student fees allocated specifically for the gallery have been $1.50 per student since the gallery’s opening. To reflect the higher costs of gallery operation due to an increase in expenses and gallery activities, we are asking the students to a $0.25 fee increase per student. Given that we have not benefited from an increased student fee since our opening over ten years ago, this small amount is well over-due and much needed!
The gallery is a free, non-profit service that strives to enrich and benefit all Queen’s University students. Please the Union Gallery in the referendum by voting YES to our continued and increased funding!
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