Last May, seven faculty deans from Queen’s brought a motion to the Senate that would effectively end student-istered non-academic discipline at Queen’s—a 120-year-old tradition that is the only one of its kind in the country. The motive for the motion was to supposedly ensure that students breaking the rules were adequately punished—something the deans were apparently concerned with that the AMS wasn’t doing—and to safeguard the University’s reputation.
It all started with a seemingly innocent e-mail from Ten Thousand Villages asking me to donate a School Kit to help refugee and displaced children get a normal education. It seemed like a great idea: help a child by giving them the tools needed for education. But something made me hesitate.
“Let me emphasize that there is nothing wrong with partying with your friends as long as laws, such as those governing alcohol, noise and public safety are respected. Unfortunately, it was the actions of a small minority who chose to break the law that tarnished the memory of that weekend and blemished the reputation of Queen’s and Kingston,” says Harvey Rosen, Mayor.
We ought to seriously re-evaluate the recent changes in our foreign policy that stemmed from 9/11, the so-called War on Terror and our occupation of Afghanistan. Moreover, we need to recognize that the media is obstructing the truth about building seven and ask ourselves, why?
Behind the bright lights and loud cheers of another well-run Orientation Week, exists an abandoned event the class of 2010 will not be able to enjoy—house parties. These were memorable events where frosh met in their leaders’ houses. They were a chance for first-years to get a glimpse of off-campus housing and step outside the Queen’s bubble. This is the first year where frosh will not get to participate in these off-campus parties because of former Dean of Student Affairs, Janice Deakin’s decision to cancel these events. A frosh’s first off-campus gathering will probably be during unofficial, unsanctioned boozefests known as Wail the Gael, Wreck the Freck, Sauce the Boss and many others.
“I feeling overwhelmed when I first came to Queen’s. I had moved here from another continent and was having to deal with the double culture shock of becoming a university student and living in Canada,” writes Ahmed Kayssi. “I settled on the French floor in Victoria Hall with 40 other students, most of whom had not chosen to be on the floor, so the promised bilingual ambience never really materialized.”
The recent arrests of 17 men on allegations of being involved in a Toronto “terror cell” triggered a rude awakening for many Canadians, including myself. Putting aside my immediate shock, I realized that I had fallen prey to a comfortable naiveté in believing that our country was immune to the threats faced by the United States and others across the globe.
“Frivolous and worthless.” That’s exactly how RHM should be ed. Imagine what Eracism Week could have accomplished with just a fraction of the $50,000-plus-travelling-benefits you unquestioningly wasted on their salaries.
Unlike most graduating fourth-year students who were frantically trying to complete papers and year projects last week, my friend Dave Grant, Sci ’06, and I opted to spend the week of March 25 to 31 in Beijing, China to attend the fifteenth annual World Model United Nations (MUN) Conference.
We would like to respond to Joey Fox’s letter regarding Jon Elmer’s lecture on this campus. Fox writes that he was “deeply troubled” by what he viewed as Elmer’s “generalizations about Jews and Israelis.” Fox alleges that Elmer stated that “‘all Jews and Israelis want an eternal and undivided Jerusalem.’” While Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) does not have a transcript of the talk, we don’t believe that these statements were made that evening.
It’s a startling and difficult process to comprehend the level of interdependence at which we as individuals exist in the world today. Yet it is ever increasing, which is precisely why the issue of fair trade is pressing now, more than ever.
The editorial staff at the Queen’s Journal are either conservative or cowards. Nothing else explains their ridiculous editorial of March 16 (sic.) in which they advocate a further increase in tuition fees. Either your editorial staff s the increased privatized financing of post-secondary education (a conservative position) or it lacks the courage to take a principled and clear stand against increased tuition fees (a cowardly position).
I recently attended the Jon Elmer talk about the Gaza disengagement and was deeply troubled by what I heard. Throughout the speech, Jon Elmer engaged in generalizations about Jews and Israelis, asserting that “all Jews and Israelis want an eternal and undivided Jerusalem.”
I don’t quite when I decided to shave my head. I just talking about it non-stop during the months prior to Cuts for Cancer, aggravating more than one floormate. The way I saw it, if I could convince everyone around me that I could do it, then I would no longer have the option of chickening out (pride can be quite the tool).
Aboriginal people continue to be amongst the most marginalized populations in Canadian society. Land claims are still being disputed. Aboriginal people who live on reserves and in isolated communities often experience inadequate provision of essential services and lack opportunities for economic development. Aboriginal people are greatly overrepresented in prisons.
One of the most intriguing things about the fallout from the cartoon riots is the fact that both sides of the argument have highlighted the fact that these are depictions of the Prophet Mohammed and that, regardless of intention, it is Islamically impermissible to draw pictures of him.
Following Team USA’s loss in the quarterfinals of Olympic men’s hockey, forward Mike Modano had some choice words for the top s of USA hockey. Although Modano has since apologized for the “tone” of his diatribe, the fact is, he came across as a sore loser—to a global audience, no less.
