At the invitation of the Engineering Society, Mayor Harvey Rosen visited the Integrated Learning Centre and Clark Hall Pub last Thursday.
He was invited to visit in an effort to improve the city’s perception of Queen’s engineering students.
“[We wanted] to extend a hand to the city and show them that students are willing to work with them on a variety of issues regarding Kingston community relations,” said EngSoc President Chris Zabaneh.
The tour began with a walk to Clark Hall, during which Zabaneh, along with other EngSoc , discussed with Rosen the many contributions engineering students make in the community. Zabaneh said engineering students have a reputation of being rowdy and drunk.
Zabaneh told the Journal many engineering students encounter a stigma surrounding the faculty’s reputation when looking for housing in the Ghetto.
He said he believes many landlords refuse to rent to engineering students, fearing this reputation. The students told Rosen about engineering students’ participation in the Terry Fox Run and Sci Formal, perhaps the largest engineering fundraising initiative. This year, the formal raised approximately $3,000 dollars for Literacy Kingston.
Rosen toured the Golden Words office and Clark Hall Pub.
Rosen was then accompanied to the ILC, where he met Science Quest business director Penny Lam. She explained that Science Quest is a summer camp, but also conducts spring workshops and even has an aboriginal outreach program.
The tour finally headed to the design area of the ILC, the workspace for several design teams, including the Solar Vehicle Team, the Fuel Cell Team and the Concrete Canoe Team.
Rosen told the Journal he was very impressed with the ILC and the contributions of the engineering students, adding that he has never had a negative view of engineering students, as one of his own sons is an engineering student at the University of Western Ontario.
Additionally, Rosen expressed his for the construction of facilities like the ILC.
“[Rosen] was very grateful for our work with the community and impressed by what we were able to do, given the size of our faculty,” Zabaneh said. “[The meeting] helped demonstrate how much we actually care about our community, and that is something Kingston media doesn’t understand.”
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