I’ll start off by saying that I’m a huge martial arts nerd, so don’t let it surprise you that the North American release of Fearless, Jet Li’s last martial arts epic, brought a nostalgic tear to my eye—I’ll it, I’m choking up even as I write this. I grew up with Jet Li and Jackie Chan movies, but I never truly started appreciating them until a couple of years ago.

s Darwin, ArtSci ’06, first came up with the idea of organizing a student symposium last year as a way to foster discussion about Queen’s identity in the wake of Homecoming 2005. Darwin was extremely dedicated to her cause and after a year of diligent planning should be commended for finally seeing the project through. Unfortunately, though Darwin said she would like to see the event occur regularly at Queen’s, there doesn’t appear to be enough momentum or willpower for it to continue in the future.

Here’s a story: It was an ordinary night and my friend and I were walking back home along Division Street as two guys were coming towards us. One of them looked at me and in what I presume to be some kind of Asian accent, he said “ya ya, me love you long time.” For those of you who don’t know that line, it comes from Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film, Full Metal Jacket. The movie tells of the experiences of three marines during the Vietnam War.

Queen’s prides itself on how easy it is to start a club or one of the more than 200 existing clubs on campus. However, the number of clubs and subsequent fees are quickly growing to unmanageable levels. Because our system is based on a “you’ve opted-in unless you tell us otherwise” structure, clubs could easily take advantage of those who are unaware. There’s always a portion of students who won’t check their fees and therefore will be paying a certain sum to each club, which adds up.

I can’t when I was this excited for school. Or scared. I always envisioned my fourth year to be smooth, seamless and, frankly, second nature. But this doesn’t happen when you switch programs at the end of your third year. Instead, I feel like I’m in first year all over again—filled with the same excitement and anxiety, only compounded because I still have yet to figure my life out, and the clock is ticking.

With Homecoming weekend only days away, students from other areas of the country are undoubtedly making plans to party at Queen’s. For those in residence, however, friends will be forced to make alternate overnight arrangements. In an attempt to maintain safety, limit the burden on staff and hopefully decrease the presence on Aberdeen, a Homecoming Committee made up of various residence coordinators decided to ban residence guests for this weekend.

If you ever walked up the house’s blue steps, you would know why it was difficult to watch a construction crew smash the place into pieces with the nonchalance of a five-year-old playing with Lego. Our new house on 190 University Ave. looks slicker than the first Journal House ever did, but that’s probably because it’s still brand new and no one has spilled anything on the couches yet.

Most students have come across the annual Maclean’s magazine university ranking issue. Although their editor downplays his own magazine’s influence, many students who pick up a glossy version of the Maclean’s university issue each year use it as a primary tool to assist them with choosing a university. This year, Queen’s, along with at least 21 other schools, pulled out of the survey and will no longer co-operate with the magazine to provide easy access or free range to information.

Joanna Nicholson reflects on her family’s experiences at Queen’s.

The focus of Kingston’s Committee for the Safe and Legal Use of Public and Private Space should have been on harm reduction, rather than preventing another “Aberdeen Street Riot” at this year’s Homecoming.

I am obsessed with America’s Next Top Model. How did this happen? My obsession started with a simple mention of the show. Outwardly, I exhibited disgust for a show that praised such narrow views of beauty. Inwardly, however, I became fascinated, secretly streaming episodes on youtube.com almost every night.

On April 10, Sukaina Mohsin Ali, a first-year student from Pakistan, died in her residence room—a death that family have said was preventable. When a tragic incident occurs, it’s natural for those involved to shift ability to others in an effort to cope with the situation. In Ali’s case, it would be wrong to suggest that there was a single cause for her death.

Growing up in the large and metropolitan—at least by Canadian standards—city of Calgary, I thought I was an expert when it came to the rules of urban politics. You know, when to hold the door for someone, when to say “hello” to a stranger and when to pretend to be absorbed in the fascinating world of your own arm hair, and all those other vague notions of “good citizenship” and “civility. Then I moved to Toronto for a summer of subway commutes and apartment elevator rides, and found my innocent, naïve notion of urban camaraderie stripped away.

The events that transpire at Homecoming 2006 will likely decide the fate of student-run non-academic discipline at Queen’s.