Queen’s students should speak out against dishonesty
Dear Editors,
I was first in line for Queen’s Players tickets last Thursday and I want to apologize to everyone further back. People numbered seven and eight cut in line. I knew it and although I talked to them about it and asked them to leave, come number time I failed to do anything about it. People numbered nine and ten were kind enough not to point it out as well, although I’m sure they were aware of it after spending close to seven hours in line with the first six of us.
It may seem weird to you that I actually care about people cutting in behind me. However, for the approximately 200 people who were cut in front of, I’m sure it matters. I camped out for nine and a half hours to get my tickets and it doesn’t seem very fair to me or anyone else who gave up their evening to camp out that people can show up just before sale time and get their pick of tickets—especially when people have skipped classes, rescheduled work shifts and spent hours freezing outside.
I’m not suggesting that every time someone does something dishonest we need to stand up and scream about it, but for one of the best schools in Canada our morals aren’t keeping up. As students we need to stand up for each other. Our reputation in the Kingston community isn’t stellar, and unfortunately that means we don’t always get treated well. But when we start treating each other that way it has gone too far. We need to take responsibility and speak out against those things that undermine the fairness and validity of events that student groups put so much time and effort into trying to make fair. It hurts other students and makes the process more difficult for all of us.
So I urge you all to step up and redefine what Queen’s students tolerate. People cutting in line isn’t something we as students should just accept. All it takes is standing up and saying something, which I unfortunately failed to do.
Kathleen Moxley
ArtSci ’10
Recycling efforts go to waste because of laziness and disinterest
Dear Editors,
When going green at Queen’s, it’s the little things that make a difference. Like the fact that the Mac-Corry cafeteria uses recyclable containers for their salads and sandwiches, yet the holes on the recycling bins in the middle of the cafeteria are too small to actually fit them. Because people can’t recycle, they just throw them out instead. Or the fact that Simply To Go in Stauffer wraps their goodies in crinkly plastic bags that aren’t recyclable, even though recycling bins are located right around the corner.
It’s a disappointing feeling looking into a full recycling bin meant for pop cans and seeing nothing but coffee cups. How difficult is it to read the sign and put your garbage into the right slot? Surely Canada’s future leaders should be able to follow a few simple instructions for the good of all. And how hard is it to carry that paper bag or plastic wrapper for half a block until you see the next recycling bin? Just because a garbage bin is there doesn’t mean you have to use it to throw away perfectly recyclable stuff.
On the other hand, how hard is it for city workers to actually take the recycling that residents have collected in their blue and grey boxes? I walk around the Ghetto (and other neighbourhoods in Kingston) and see bins tipped over with only half of their contents gone and good, clean recyclables spilled out onto the sidewalk, not taken away. It’s enough to make you give up on recycling altogether.
We’re all in this for the long haul. Everybody—students, Queen’s istration, and Kingston city workers—can do their part, as long as we all just try a little bit harder and expend just a little bit of effort every day.
Renee Stephen
ArtSci ’09
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be ed, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to [email protected].