The Queen's Journal, Volume 144, Issue 27 by The Queen's Journal

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the

Queen’s University

journal

Vol. 144, Issue 27

F r i day , M a r c h 3 1 , 2 0 1 7

since

1873

LWT’s final Assembly drags on in debate over Student Activity Fee Policy

PHOTO BY VICTORIA GIBSON

AMS President Tyler Lively and VP (Operations) Dave Walker address Wednesday’s Assembly meeting.

Extensive amendments made to motion regarding student activity fees before Assembly approval Maureen O’Reilly Assistant News Editor In the last Assembly for this year’s AMS executives, Tyler Lively, president, and Dave Walker, vice-president (Operations), faced accusations of being “out of touch” with students, after proposing a motion regarding changes to the Student Activity Fee Policy. Wednesday’s meeting, the last of 2016-17 AMS Assembly gatherings, mainly comprised of a nearly three-hour long discussion — requiring several votes to extend the grueling conversation — on a single motion. The motion proposed that Assembly

approve a revised Student Activity Fee Policy, presented by Lively and Walker. Changes in the policy included rendering clubs engaged in “partisan political activity“ or whose primary purpose is lobbying ineligible for student fees, and requiring clubs to pass a two-thirds majority in referendum in order to ratify their student fee. Introducing the proposed policy change, Lively said the goal was to hold clubs accountable for how they utilize their levied student fees, and to reduce the current slate of student fees by eliminating clubs who use theirs irresponsibly. As it stands, the AMS currently levies 114 student fees, while most other Canadian universities fund their groups solely through grants. According to Walker, $35,000 in fees were never collected by clubs this year, and were reallocated to the AMS Membership Bursary Fund, as dictated by AMS policy. “I’m not necessarily okay with [uncollected fees] being in excess of what See We on page 3

Research assistants join PSAC Local 901 Unionisation wins majority vote as ballot box is opened after two years Morgan Dodson Assistant News Editor After two years of campaigning for unionisation and attending hearings to prove their job status, research assistants at Queen’s have won the right to unionise effective Feb. 16, 2017. Approximately 600 research assistants voted on union certification two years ago — on April 30, 2014 — however until the Labour Relations Board deemed them

eligible to join the union, the ballot box remained sealed. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) Local 901 President Craig Berggold explained that the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) viewed those who voted as students, not research assistants. “The union was asked to provide proof that the people who voted do work,” Berggold said. Over the two years, research assistants were asked to make statements to the OLRB describing their work. “At the end of the process the Labour Relations Board said ‘sounds like work to us’ as defined by the provincial law, therefore we can count the ballots. They opened up the box, we won the vote,” Berggold said.

See Unionisation on page 5

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Sports

Gaels’ striker returning to form after years of knee troubles page 10

Features

Editorials

Arts

page 6

page 7

page 8

Frats: why Queen’s hasn’t made the pledge Online:

queensjournal.ca

@queensjournal

Door-to-door check-ins a small step to combat a larger problem

facebook.com/queensjournal

Reviewing the drunken tradition of Queen’s Players

instagram.com/queensjournal

qjlongform.com

Postscript

What I’ll miss at Queen’s

page 15

News

2 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, March 31, 2017

CANADIAN POLITICS

Small but supportive turnout for Chris Alexander campus talk Alexander hopes to lead the way to a less divisive Conservative Party Blake Canning Assistant News Editor Kevin O’Leary’s talk at Queen’s filled Grant Hall, even the balconies, with approximately 1,000 people. On Tuesday, his opponent Chris Alexander brought out only 24 people, competing with a squeaky air conditioner in Room 3 in Macdonald Hall to be heard. Alexander’s promotion of a more even-keeled Conservative Party has been paralleled to the more aggressive rhetoric of some of his opponents. In his speech, Alexander highlighted his platform points, including an increase in immigration, an opposition to carbon taxing and the need for a French-speaking leader. “There are all these people that think they can be Prime Minister because they will learn French,” he said after his discussion. “When I hear them say that to a group of francophones, my heart sinks.” Before making his first run at politics as a Conservative, Alexander spent two years as the ambassador to Afghanistan where he was stationed at the embassy in Kabul. “We have an interest in helping in seeing success in every country,” he said, explaining what his time abroad taught him about Canada’s position on the global stage. “The least developed and poorest countries should never be out of our mind.” Though Alexander pointed out several inconsistencies between his ideas and those of the Trudeau government during his speech, his ideas weren’t radically opposed.

“I can sign on to a lot of the priorities the Trudeau government has identified, but I think they’ve taken an irresponsible approach to spending and getting results for taxpayer’s money,” he said. At the end of his speech, with a newly-bestowed Queen’s scarf draped over his shoulders, Alexander added, “I want to see us succeed economically, and then be the broadest, most ambitious voice in the world at tackling those issues.” He re-iterated the three issues of most importance to him and his campaign — poverty reduction, Indigenous affairs and climate change. After his address to the small crowd, Alexander sat down in Queen’s Pub (QP) with The Journal to discuss his platform and the current state of Canadian affairs. After only a few seconds seated, one of the QP servers interrupted by coming up to Alexander and introducing himself. In response, Alexander greeted the student with a question. “Are you with us?” he asked, to which the server replied that he was a member of the Conservative Party. Returning to business shortly after, Alexander began to critique his opponents. “I’ll be blunt,” he said. “[Kevin] O’Leary hasn’t put many policies forward. [Maxime] Bernier’s are libertarian. [Kellie Leitch] starts every speech with this sermon about interviews for everyone.” Coming into the campaign with experience in various sectors of the Canadian government, including his aforementioned time in the foreign service, Alexander said he believes that experience is what will carry him to Canada’s highest governmental position. “On the whole, I think people are going to be more inclined to someone who has experience at the table.”

Alexander spoke with The Journal at Queen’s Pub following his speech.

PHOTO BY BLAKE CANNING

News in Brief

Queen’s approves revisions to travel reimbursement and expense policy

Researchers awarded $449 thousand for maternal child health work

Effective March 20, Queen’s has revised its policy around university-related business travel. The existing Queen’s Travel and Expense Reimbursement Policy and Procedure underwent revisions, including the striking of a former requirement that itemized receipts are required for meals purchased while travelling. According to a comment in The Gazette from Heather Woermke, associate vice-principal (finance), the revisions reflect some recent changes in governmental regulation and clarifies any lingering ambiguities that had existed before. A Broader Public Secctor Expenses Directive came into effect earlier this year, on Jan. 1. As a result to the changes in policy, Queen’s business travellers can be reimbursed for their meals using per diems or original receipts for the actual cost, though they may only use one method per claim.

Four researchers from Queen’s and Kingston General Hospital Research Institute have been awarded $449,000 to establish the Queen Elizabeth Scholars Network for Equity in Maternal Child Health. The project is the first initiative of the ARCH research collaborative for global health, leveraging existing partnerships in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Americas and northern Canada. The funding will also go to supporting the work of 15 PhD students, post-doctoral fellows or early career researchers in low or middle income countries, as well as Canadians on international exchange. — Victoria Gibson

— Victoria Gibson

Assembly votes on Isabel space grant and OUSA renewal Mar. 29 AMS Assembly recap Maureen O’Reilly Assistant News Editor Before proposed changes to the Student Activity Fee Policy triggered a period of pointed questioning directed at Team LWT, this year’s final AMS Assembly approved structural changes to Non-Academic Misconduct policy and agreed to renew the University’s membership with Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA). Changes to Policy Manual 4

Assembly approved various proposed changes and restructuring to AMS Judicial Policy and Procedures, formerly known as Non-Academic Misconduct Rules and Regulations. According to Judicial Affairs Manager Ryan Pistorius, the changes reflect a complete reorganization of the policy, making it easier to navigate. The new Policy Infringement Protocol (PIP) clarifies where the AMS’ jurisdiction extends in discipline scenarios that pertain to AMS policy, rather than the Student Code of Conduct, especially considering the still relatively-new control of the University over certain student

disciplinary cases. The changes also explicitly outline a procedure for addressing conflicts of interest, pending further work next year, which didn’t exist before. The motion passed with no debate. OUSA Membership Renewal

According to AMS President Tyler Lively, the AMS put special consideration into reviewing their membership with OUSA this year after concerns were raised about the union’s governance. After weighing the “costs and benefits” of the membership, and noting that OUSA has introduced their own governance review to answer student concerns, the AMS decided to advocate for the renewal of the membership. Several members of assembly spoke to emphasize the importance of the membership, and with that, the motion passed. The membership will last three years, to be renewed again in 2019-20. MyIsabel Grant

Campus Activities Commissioner, Greg Kurcin, put forth a motion to create the MyIsabel Grant, which, according to his

proposal, strives to “provide groups on campus the chance to use the facilities at the Isabel Bader Centre for Performing Arts (IBCPA) at an affordable cost.” The grant will provide the chosen groups with two usages of the lobby, and two usages of the concert hall per academic term for a four-hour call free of charge. The motion passed unanimously. Reports

Engineering Society President Taylor Sawadsky read out a letter from Sci ’18 Representative Ryan Cattryesse reprimanding the AMS council and faculty society presidents for repeatedly failing to submit reports for AMS Assembly. The letter reminded student representatives that their salaries were paid by student fees, and that it was unacceptable to shirk their responsibilities to student constituents. In place of submitting a written report, student leaders often stand and administer an oral report on the spot at Assembly. According to Cattryesse’s letter, 10 student leaders failed to submit reports for this Assembly, and their “only penalty was to stand and speak.” Out of tens of elected representatives,

Nursing Science Society President Alexandra Palmeri was revealed as the only person to have submitted reports and been in attendance for each Assembly. Cattryesse concluded his letter by challenging the incoming AMS executive team to ensure these metrics improve next year. In her report, Vice-President (University Affairs) Carolyn Thompson explained she will be composing a long term guiding document to pass on to future executives on developments made with the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response working group. Thompson also noted that the Mayor of Kingston will be undertaking a feasibility study of rental licensing in Kingston. The incoming Commissioner of Municipal Affairs Stefano Hollands and incoming Vice-President (University Affairs) Palmer Lockridge will be included in these conversations, Thompson stated. Secretariat Miguel Martinez wrote in his report that the Secretariat will, from now on, report to the AMS President. Since the dissolution of the Commission of Internal Affairs, the Secretariat has been reporting to the Vice-President (University Affairs).

News

Friday, March 31, 2017

queensjournal.ca

•3

PHOTO BY VICTORIA GIBSON

Members of the April 2 AMS Assembly, at the last meeting of the accademic year, raise their placards to vote through motions.

‘We feel we’ve gone too far in the direction of just allowing student fees,’ President Lively says Continued from front

we budgeted for, because then students are paying for something they didn’t set out to pay for,” Walker said. “We feel we’ve gone too far in the direction of just allowing student fees,” Lively said. According to Lively, this large slate of fees puts an undue burden on students to understand where their money is going and places an administrative burden on the AMS and the University to process approximately two million opt-out fee transactions per year, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. However, when the proposed changes were posted online to a public Facebook group earlier in the week, many students that normally don’t attend Assembly came as members-at-large to voice their concerns for the impact on the clubs community. Several students in the gallery were concerned that the changes would mean their club couldn’t protest or negotiate with the University administration or government, which was seen as an issue for clubs like Queen’s Backing Action on Climate Change. However, Lively clarified that lobbying didn’t refer to protesting or negotiating, but rather referred to holding scheduled meetings and forging formal agreements with the government or administration. Lively admitted that the definitions in the outlined policy were too vague, and in an effort to respond to students’ qualms, he decided to highlight the terms “partisan political activity” and “lobbying” and task the Student Activity Fee Review Committee with clarifying them in the fall. “The current policy is unclear,” Lively said. The Student Activity Fee Review Committee was formed by the Student

Activity Fee Task Force, a group formed by Assembly in October of last year to put together the proposed changes. According to the Student Activity Fee Policy, the purpose of the committee is to review all applications for groups seeking fee changes and determine their eligibility. In a speech to the room, Clubs Caucus Chair Lauren Craik chastised the AMS for not consulting the clubs community on a clubs-centered policy, especially considering the fact that her position was created to be a direct line of communication between clubs and the AMS. “This is not a one-off in my Queen’s experience; clubs are not seen as important stakeholders in discussions of campus policy,” Craik said. In response, Walker said that they “didn’t quite do their job to talk to all stakeholders” and are trying to correct this “retroactively” by advocating for further clubs consultation with the Review committee.

This is not a one-off in my “Queen’s experience; clubs

are not seen as important stakeholders in discussions of campus policy.

had the rule already been implemented. Ten out of 19 fees on the most recent winter referendum passed with less than two-thirds majority. Lively defended the two-thirds majority, explaining that they’d rather increase the voting threshold than set unfair restrictions on clubs applying for student fees.

some cases we do need “ Inbroader support. ” — Tyler Lively, AMS President

“In some cases we do need broader support,” Lively said.

At several points, members of Assembly brought up the idea of tabling the motion — including adamant support from Engineering Society President Taylor Sawadsky — however, AMS policy prohibited the motion from being tabled at the year’s final meeting. After some further discussion, the assembly voted to include the two-thirds majority change as one of the clauses to be forwarded to and reviewed by the Student Activity Fee Review Committee in the fall. With those clauses to be submitted for review, the policy passed unanimously, and will now need to be approved by the Board of Directors before it can be ratified.

fill a gap in your program

”

— Lauren Craik, Clubs Caucus Chair

Another contentious point for students was the proposed change that in order to pass a student fee a club must receive a two-thirds majority in referendum. In the past it has always required a simple 50 per cent majority. Craik also vocally opposed the two-thirds majority change, explaining that most of student fees wouldn’t have passed this year

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Clubs Caucus Chair, Lauren Craik, chastised the AMS Executive team during AMS Assembly.

News

4 •queensjournal.ca

Friday, March 31, 2017

What used to be a gym still had old and broken equipment strewn around the room.

A mannequin, found in this position, still inhabiting an abandoned room.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Before the demolition In September 2016, the University began demolition on the Physical Education Centre (PEC). In October, the administration announced that they had received a $31.7 million investment from the Canadian government, on top of money already allotted, to fund the building of an Innovation and Wellness Centre in its place. Before demolition began, two students ventured inside the abandoned PEC, and shared their photographs with The Journal. The unlit hallways beneath the Physical Education Centre.

A pump, labelled with “attention” and an out-of-order notice.

Old posters advertising a Friday Night Mansion event covered the floor.

The pool in the PEC was part of a completed construction project in 1931, but had since been drained of water and put out of use.

News

Friday, March 31, 2017

queensjournal.ca

•5

Unionisation allows research assistants to advocate for paid training Continued from front

Berggold explained that defining what a research assistant actually is can vary depending on the employer. PSAC sent out a survey to all research assistants asking them to “describe their RA contract work.” Some of the responses that they received read, “I help put together an upcoming conference for my professor,” or “I do lab equipment setup for classes,” and even “I run background simulations for a 500-litre super heater liquid bubble chamber dark matter detector.” Prior to unionising, some research assistants would get a T4 and some would get a T4A, Berggold said. A T4A is given when the money received was defined as a scholarship, whereas a T4 is given when the money is defined as employment income. “This [unionising] will ensure that they move to T4s and they will have the same rights as all other workers in Ontario under provincial labour law.” This includes entitlement to unemployment insurance, pension contributions and collective bargaining to improve wages. Berggold explained that one of the biggest issues in academia is overtime. “We self-invest because we want to do a good job,” said Berggold. He further explained that often many more hours are allocated to work as a student, as they aren’t usually trained ahead of time. “With a union we can start advocating for training to be paid, and we can begin to

ensure that research assistants work only for the hours they’re paid,” said Berggold.

With a union we can start “advocating for training to be paid, and we can begin to ensure that research assistants work only for the hours they’re paid.

”

— Craig Berggold, PSAC 901 President

The union, he said, wants to create what is called “the minimum standard of fairness.” Now that research assistants are represented by PSAC Local 901, this allows them to begin to negotiate a first contract. “Traditionally there is a certain amount of time taken to begin to define the job, see who the employees are, form the bargaining committee, figure out what the demands are going to be, go through a process of negotiation, and then have the members ratify the contract,” said Berggold. Berggold hopes to have everything “up to speed and running in the fall semester with membership meetings.” “We can see that in the academic workers there is a trend of unionisation. This progressive movement is not going to stop. People recognize that work should be paid properly,” Berggold said T:10” in conclusion.

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Features

Friday, March 31, 2017

IN-DEPTH STORIES FROM AROUND CAMPUS AND IN THE COMMUNITY

GREEK LIFE

Jenna Zucker Lifestyle Editor Only one year since their inauguration last March, the Kappa Sigma fraternity near Queen’s now boasts around 40 “brothers”. From focusing on philanthropy and building a strong social community, Mitch Wilson, ArtSci ‘18, one of the vice-presidents, said that their fraternity’s goal is to build connections. However, Kappa Sigma have to call their chapter the “Kingston Colony” as Queen’s has a student government sanctioned ban on fraternities and sororities. This ban means that fraternities and sororities can’t be officially affiliated with the University or use AMS resources to promote their organizations. As per section 27 of AMS Policy Manual 3, fraternities and sororities are defined as groups “that are exclusive in membership and have secret oaths or pledges”, contrary to the AMS’ policy of inclusion. Queen’s is one of the only Canadian universities to have an outright ban on these societies. The University of Toronto alone has 26 Greek organizations. Closely following suit, UBC has 21 and Western has 17. Despite the ban, Kingston is home to three fraternities — Zeta Psi, Kappa Sigma and Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) — and one sorority, Alpha Pi Phi. All have formed within the last eight years, with two Greek organizations popping up just in the last five years. Nearly all fraternities and sororities in Canada, and those at Queen’s, are chapters of organizations originating in the United States. To recruit, fraternities and sororities rush — a period of assessment for potential members. Upon selection, these new members pledge to the organization. Due to the lack of affiliation with the university, finding people to pledge is difficult, the fraternities say. Fraternities and sororities aren’t allowed to recruit during

PHOTO BY JULIA BALAKRISHNAN

The pledge against fraternities Despite a long-standing ban on fraternities and sororities, Queen’s is seeing an emergence in Kingston-affiliated Greek societies Orientation Week, at events such as Queen’s in the Park, where clubs typically receive sign-ups. Because of this limited access, Kingston Greek organizations are forced to the outskirts of events. Most pledges they receive, the fraternities say are from word of mouth and Internet marketing. An aspect of rushing a fraternity has the pledges throw their own party at a “brother’s” house. One of the main requirements of getting accepted is making sure you’re able to socialize well with the rest of the fraternity. However, no fraternity or sorority interviewed would reveal what their initiation entails once a pledge becomes a member of the society. “We can’t give out that information. That information is privy only to that sorority. It’s a standardized thing. Each sorority has a different process. I know our process but I have no idea what another sorority would do,” Holly McCann, president of Alpha Pi Phi told The Journal. At Queen’s, the ban has been in place for the past 84 years. The rule originated in 1933 in response to Arts and Science and medical students forming two separate fraternities in the 1920s. The ban was disregarded by the medical student fraternity, who were then tried against the AMS court in 1934 for “contravention of the AMS constitution.” After being found guilty, they were no longer eligible to participate in all student political, social and athletic activities for a full year. In 2013, the issue of Greek societies was back on the table. The AMS executive re-evaluated the ban in January 2013. Assembly voted in favour of the ban again, a decision that was then endorsed by Queen’s Senate. At the time, the AMS also revised the wording to remove

the specific mention of the International Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Columbus — two non-Greek societies. Mitch Wilson is one of the “founding fathers” of Kappa Sigma. Wilson said the idea to start a fraternity came to current President Trev Shanahan, Sci ’18, who along with five other friends brought the vision to life. “We wanted to have something more personalized to us. We wanted the idea of us being part of a fraternity, but we also wanted to do something ourselves and make it where we could be in a position to direct things the way we wanted them to go,” Wilson said.

by not having access to classrooms or other valuable services on campus. “It kind of limits our students in a lot of ways, but it’s also beneficial. Because we aren’t a Queen’s sorority we have members that are in college as well. It just opens up membership to other schools. If someone from RMC wanted to come out and join, they are more than welcome. We do have active members from St. Lawrence College as well.” In addition to being required to uphold the sorority’s academic and philanthropic criteria, members of the sorority pay a membership fee of about $250.

“We just wanted to have the opportunity to do exactly what we wanted in terms of philanthropy, social events and really just customize it ourselves.” Alpha Pi Phi is the only Kingston-affiliated sorority that has been active since 2012. The sorority currently has 20 active members involved in their chapter. President McCann told The Journal that in being a part of the sisterhood, each member is required to fulfill both 20 hours of philanthropy or volunteer hours a semester and maintain a certain GPA. “If you follow sororities on Instagram all you see is these beautiful girls partying. We have different girls from all disciplines of school who all come together and create this unique sisterhood,” McCann said. She finds that by not being AMS sanctioned, they’re disadvantaged compared to other Queen’s groups

McCann explained that their price is lower since they don’t have a sorority house —membership at a U of T sorority can cost as much as $1,000, she said. “There are a lot of people in our fraternity that honestly, as much as it sucks to say, just didn’t really have friends,” Harrison Drew, president of Zeta Psi told The Journal. Drew noted the importance of taking in those who struggle socially, saying that induction into the fraternity will instantly give them a group of 40 best friends. “We’re just trying to show everyone a good time and that’s what Greek life and frats are about — the brotherhood and showing everyone else a good time,” said Aden Deitcher, president of AEPi. “We’re in a unique situation where we can provide that. If I want to, I can spend five grand on a house party and invite everyone for free and we want to give that to

“

However, Kappa Sigma have to call their chapter the “Kingston Colony” as Queen’s has a student government sanctioned ban on fraternities and sororities.

”

Queen’s. Having a big Greek life at Queen’s would make it way more fun for people.” While being affiliated with the school would make aspects of Greek life easier, the fraternities say they aren’t currently motivated to move beyond their status of being Kingston affiliated clubs. Carolyn Thompson, Vice President (University Affairs), said that, though it’s not something that the AMS would endeavour to do itself, any student can approach AMS Assembly to put the issue of the fraternity or sorority ban forward. “Given the way that Assembly works, if they make a strong case that this is something that is good for our students, our Assembly will make that decision and they will vote on it. I can’t tell you which way that would go but it would definitely be up to Assembly.” Even asked what the reversal of the Greek life ban would look like, Thompson said she wouldn’t be able to comment. “I’ve never been in a place where I would be around fraternities or sororities. So I don’t think I would ever know what the positives or the negatives would be and as I’ve been here, there have never been fraternities or sororities on campus. I don’t think I can say.” With the emergence of new fraternities and sororities, Thompson said she thinks it’s a valid argument for people to bring up to Assembly. “If it’s something that’s important to them, then they should bring it up and talk to our Assembly about it because they have the right to do so,” Thompson said. “We need to make sure that’s accessible for everyone to come and voice their concerns, their opinions and debates.”

Friday, March 31, 2017

queensjournal.ca

EDITORIALS

•7

The Journal’s Perspective

Door-to-door check-ins admirable, but more work ahead for Guelph D

oor-to-door mental health check-ins are a kind gesture, not a sustainable solution. After four student suicides at Guelph University since the beginning of the academic year, the university’s faculty members and executives have been going door-to-door alongside their Residence Life team to check on students’ health and provide information about mental health support services on campus. The program has meaningful intentions. It could allow a first-year student — who may often feel disconnected from administration — to feel as though their concerns are being heard and prioritized. Since two out of four of these suicides have occurred in university residences, where these consultations are happening, the check-ins send t h e

message that administrators and faculty care about the people who are most vulnerable and that they’re willing to go straight to the source.

The program has “ meaningful intentions.

It could allow a first-year student — who may often feel disconnected from administration — to feel as though their concerns are being heard and prioritized.

”

Even though this is a reactionary measure, it could make someone feel valued. But while this is a meaningful gesture, it’s not a long-term shift

towards bettering policy, education and support systems around mental illness. This can’t be the only step towards better mental health resources at Guelph, especially because having a university executive knocking on a student’s door may not be the most inviting way for students to open up about their experiences. While the gesture may humanize administrators who students often see as intimidating, many students still may not feel comfortable telling a stranger that they’re not doing well. It’s important that students don’t only know that the administration is there for them, but also that their energy is being focused in areas that can implement long-term change to mental health resources. While it looks good on the surface to go door-to-door and talk to students, this can’t be a priority

over tangible changes in policy and its implementation.

While the gesture may “humanize administrators who students often see as intimidating, many students still may not feel comfortable telling a stranger that they’re not doing well.

”

If this is something they insist on doing, students deserve to know that these executives receive the proper training to deal with sensitive mental health situations.

If this is something they “insist on doing, students

deserve to know that these executives receive the proper training to deal with sensitive mental health situations.

”

For instance, Peer Support Centre volunteers here at Queen’s all receive SafeTALK training, which involves education about how to deal with students who display suicidal tendencies. In the future, door-to-door counselling using a peer-to-peer approach — like the AMS Peer Support Centre — could be a way for Guelph to maintain individual checkins with students while also focusing the administration’s energy towards tangible steps forward. Guelph’s practice of door-to -door mental health check-ins is a positive gesture — as long as it’s just a gesture and not an attempt at a permanent solution. — Journal Editorial Board

THE QUEEN’S JOURNAL Volume 144 Issue 27 www.queensjournal.ca @queensjournal Publishing since 1873

Features Editor

Editors in Chief

Jacob Rosen Jane Willsie

Production Manager

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News Editor

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Brigid Goulem

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Ramna Safeer

Opinions Editor

Arththy Valluvan Erika Streisfield

Arts Editor Assistant Arts Editor Assistant Sports Editor

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Sports Editor Lifestyle Editor

Editorial Board

Maureen O’Reilly

Matt Scace Clayton Tomlinson

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Want to contribute? For information visit: www.queensjournal.ca/contribute or email the Editors in Chief at journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca Contributions from all members of the Queen’s and Kingston community are welcome. The Journal reserves the right to edit all submissions. The Queen’s Journal is an editorially autonomous newspaper published by the Alma Mater Society of Queen’s University, Kingston. Editorial opinions expressed in The Journal are

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the sole responsibility of The Queen’s Journal Editorial Board, and are not necessarily those of the University, the AMS or their officers. 190 University Ave., Kingston, ON, K7L 3P4 Editorial Office: 613-533-2800 Business Office: 613-533-6711 Fax: 613-533-6728 Email: journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca Please address complaints and grievances to the Editors in Chief. The Queen’s Journal is printed on a Goss Community press by Performance Group of Companies in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Contents © 2016 by The Queen’s Journal; all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of The Journal. Circulation 4,000

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Friday, March 31, 2017

Arts ARTIST PROFILE

Part-time renowned artist, full-time 13-year-old Kingston native Evan Sharma’s art career is taking off Alex Palermo Assistant Arts Editor Evan Sharma has loved art his whole 13-year-old life, but he really started his signature style of using vibrant colours when he was “around nine or 10.” After being inspired by seeing the Mona Lisa on a trip to Paris when he was 10, Sharma was struck by the large impact a single painting could have on him. “I thought, ‘Why don’t I give [painting] a go and see what it’s like.’” Until he could convince his parents to invest in canvases, Sharma’s first paintings were on cardboard boxes. Ranging in his inspiration from Matisse to Andy Warhol, Sharma’s subjects are just as diverse, “I paint a lot of musical icons like John

Lennon and David Bowie,” the young artist said. For inspiration, Sharma recalls his vivid memories of childhood visits to the East Coast. “I definitely take a lot of energy from the mountains into my paintings,” he said describing the Maritime landscape. “I definitely use a lot of vibrant colours to express, number one, the lighting, but also the emotion.” Sharma’s finished works are reminiscent of Basquiat’s vivid, colourful Impressionist paintings, energetic and bold. He prefers to use acrylic paints, as he loves to work with layers, a process which would be drawn out if he were working with oil paints due to the extended drying time. “I also use a lot of paper, in the background, as well as vinyl for the music ones,” he said. Last year, Sharma was selected to be an artist at the Art Project Contemporary Art Fair in Toronto. As the youngest artist to be featured — previously the youngest was 17 — he garnered some serious national media attention, appearing on both Canada AM, and in several

documentaries. With a rise in popularity — some labelling him as the next Picasso — Sharma’s paintings have been acquired by collectors as far as Los Angeles and New York. To date, Sharma has completed around 30 paintings, most of which he’s sold. “I keep the ones I love, and hang them up on the wall,” Sharma said of his growing collection. Even with the growing success, Sharma doesn’t know if he wants to be an artist by trade when he grows up, “I think I want to become a doctor, but I would definitely keep art as a hobby,” Sharma said. The newly-teenaged Sharma is also interested in biology and environmental science. When he’s not at school or painting, you can find Sharma shredding on the ski slopes, fishing, playing volleyball and enjoying the outdoors. Currently, he’s doubling his time as an artist with his science fair project, where he’s trying to save the world from methane emissions.

REVIEW

Sharma’s vibrant Ziggy painting.

Queen’s Players: satires, selfies and sex! Clayton Tomlinson Staff Writer

Kate Neweduk as Kylie Jenner.

PHOTO BY JULIA BLAKRISHNAN

On Friday night at The Mansion, I witnessed the Queen’s Players’ most recent attack on cheek muscles and social stupidity, entitled Scooby-Doo! Wherefore Art Thou? Before the event started, the light tone of the night was made clear by a slideshow of Snapchats the cast members had taken. This slideshow, combined with the cramped bar packed to the gills with audience members, preluded the performance with a sudsy and

light-hearted atmosphere. Director Jeremy Settle, ArtSci’17, began the show by explaining the traditions of Queen’s Players performances that were to follow, like yelling “seamless” if one of the Players visibly fumbled their lines, or yelling “sing” when the title of a tune is spoken in hopes of getting a song out of the cast member. Also, Settle asked the audience to buy the performers beer, a unique aspect of Players that adds to the performers’ and the audience’s experience. This rendition of Queen’s Player’s show is a parody of Big

PHOTOS SUPPLIED BY BRIAN MCGIRR

Brother, featuring the likes of Kylie Jenner, Shrek, Romeo and Juliet, Daenerys Stormborn and hosted by Barney Stinson. The characters were fully-fleshed out and funny as they delivered satirical skits and songs on topics ranging from selfies and random hookups, to our apparent obsession with telling people we’re from Toronto. The cast mixed these characters’ clichés with hilarious quirks like Romeo claiming allegiance to ‘the 6ix’ throughout the show, a horny Marge Simpson and Velma and Shaggy’s breakup amid her philandering. It really sunk in that I was watching something special when Romeo sang both Enrique and Pitbull’s parts in ‘I Like It’, while working in Toronto landmarks. At one point, Shrek — whose green makeup was starting to show its age by this point in the show — donned a straw cowboy hat and managed to get out a plethora of song titles before settling on ‘Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy’. Yeah, the narrative was a little See Winter on page 9

Arts

Friday, March 31, 2017

queensjournal.ca

•9

AGNES

Giller Prize-winner Madeleine Thien visits Queen’s Canadian author reads from award winning novel at the Agnes Ghazal Baradari-Ghiami Video Editor Madeleine Thien is mesmerizing both on and off the page. On Monday, a crowd of English students, professors, and the odd community member was ushered into the front atrium of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre to hear the author speak. As the recipient of the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize for her novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing, Thien follows in a Queen’s tradition of inviting the preceding year’s winner to lecture at the school. With $25,000 in award money, the Giller Prize is the richest purse awarded to a work of Canadian fiction and is instrumental to the esteem of the Canadian literary scene and its authors. After an introduction from English Professor Petra Fachinger, the assembled crowd enthusiastically welcomed Thien. The small, serene, smiling and soft-spoken Thien immediately pulled out water, Kleenex and cough-drops from under the podium and excused herself for being sick. Nevertheless, all eyes and ears were drawn to her and kept attentive by her ensuing stories of memory, loss, and identity. As Thien read from her book, Do Not Say We Have Nothing, her voice smoothed out, glancing up periodically to the reverent crowd. Her expansive tome covers the

Thien reading at the Agnes.

lives of multiple, interweaving generations leading to and following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in China. It’s a challenging novel to work through, that posits the significance of music and love in the survival of violence.

Winter show warms up The Mansion Continued from page 8

iffy in the show, but not necessarily different from trying to navigate To The Lighthouse or a Dardenne brothers movie. It delivered critiques of social norms, revealing their silliness, without making social satire it’s only feature.

Barney Stinson, flamboyant but still in-the-closet, opened the show by introducing us to the people in the house. Like most reality shows, the performance featured a series of challenges that the characters had to accomplish to keep going. They built snowmen, with Marge’s addition of a penis to hers

Mike Young peforming at Queen’s Players.

PHOTO BY AUSTON CHHOR

Thien’s work reflects a cyclical idea of time by blurring together the past and present through the interconnectedness of her characters’ lives. Her adoption of music as an unadorned language counters the regimented and

politicized public language used during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Her novel deals with the nuances of silence; the value in existing in silences and often the need to break apart silences.

arousing everyone’s disgust. A running gag throughout was Velma losing her glasses, hilariously hindering her throughout the show. The best example of this was during the ski-trip skit, when she pleaded with everyone to help her off the lift because she couldn’t see it, but the other characters just talked over her the whole time. It turned out that Kylie Jenner had stolen the glasses because they looked good in selfies. As the show progressed, the man next to me in our row of three, began talking a bit and it turned out he was the father of the

girl playing Juliet. After he bought me a beer — I got him one in return — I realized this show was like no other. Rather than keeping to yourself, it was a concert where you bonded with complete strangers around you through laughing and dancing. Queen’s Players have accomplished something

PHOTO BY JULIA BALAKRISHNAN

Her story questions how we attempt to know the people around us, through words spoken and unspoken. Thien then answered audience questions, posed first by professors in an attempt to alleviate the shyness of the students in the room. On her draw towards fiction Thien explained, “I need to live differently than me. I need to live outside of myself.” The five-year research Thien undertook to write Do Not Say We Have Nothing involved becoming fluent in classical music and 20th century Chinese history through completely immersing herself in documentaries and books, such as Beijing Coma by Ma Jian, the author explained to the room. Thien claims that these alternative “languages” provide another way of understanding the world. Afterwards, Thien signed copies of her book. All fourth-year English students were presented with a free copy of Thien’s award-winning text to commemorate their time at Queen’s. The long line inched along slowly as Thien was amply generous with her time, exchanging anecdotes and offering words of encouragement individually. An author who speaks to the complicated and emotional nature of transnationalism, Thien is an irresistible voice in Canadian literature, one that is just beginning to shine.

wonderful with Scooby-Doo! Wherefore Art Thou? It’s ruminations on the selfie-laced hookup culture, it’s songs, it’s sexiness, made this a show that I’ll remember as best I can, and given the intoxicated atmosphere of the room, I’m sure I’m not the only one.

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Friday, March 31, 2017

MEN’S SOCCER

Jacob Schroeter’s road to recovery

Light at the end of the tunnel for Gaels striker Sebastian Bron Staff Writer A defining moment for Jacob Schroeter, for better or for worse was his first playoff game as a freshman Gael against Nipissing in October of 2014. In the dying minutes of extra time, with Queen’s edging a 2-1 lead, Schroeter tracked back a little further than he had to and committed to a tackle he probably shouldn’t have committed to. “And that’s when it happened.” He’d suffered a Level 2 MCL tear and wouldn’t be able to finish the rest of the post-season. Laying there on Richardson field, the adrenaline kicked in. “It’s a playoff game,” he recalls thinking to himself at the time. He played until the final whistle blew and “felt nothing.” The next day he couldn’t really walk and didn’t know what to expect. “But I’m a rookie at this point,” he said in retrospect. “I’m not going to approach the coach and say, ‘Oh, I feel a little off — like, I’m not gonna play the next playoff game.’” That Friday, two days after the game, Schroeter headed to practice. His optimism wavered but, like many in his position would, he pushed through it. When the team was running through some finishing drills he really knew. “I remember hitting the ball and my knee

just … ” Schroeter snapped his fingers to mimic the sound in his knee. “That’s when I knew. I never felt that kind of pain before.” The team’s athletic trainer, Colin McAuslan, took him off the field. Rather than be deflated, Schroeter remembered looking ahead with optimisim. “I had at least three to four years left of my undergrad career,” he said. “‘I’m going to do whatever I can to make a positive impact off the field — there’s nothing else I can do.’” But, without knowing it at the time, Schroeter would have to take two steps back to take one leap forward. ***

Growing up in Ottawa, Schroeter had taken great care of his body and had never fallen victim to a major injury. He played for the Ottawa Fury Academy, the city’s local professional soccer team, for the better part of a decade and stayed healthy throughout. Upon arriving in Kingston, Schroeter was a constant force for the Gaels from the outset, serving as their go-to striker and goal scorer in his rookie season. Before the tear, he led the team in scoring and was named an OUA East Second-Team All-Star. Coming to Queen’s was always an attractive option for the now-third year politics major. There was a clear bridge

Sports Schroeter leaps over the Carleton Ravens goaltender during a men’s soccer game this season.

between athletics and academics at the school. But what stood out to him was the program’s atmosphere.

when I knew. I never “feltThat’s that kind of pain before. ” — Jacob Schroeter

“I think a lot of athletes can attest to the fact that you don’t really need to have a conversation with anyone to realize there’s a connection [with a school]. I just knew I was in the right place.” ***

As Schroeter trotted off the field in October 2014, after being pulled from practice due to his injury, he knew he’d have a long road ahead of him to get healthy again. Nearly five months after that practice, he finally returned to form — cutting and

Kyla Crouse on defence for the women’s hockey team last year.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

Crouse says goodbye to Queen’s Fourth-year Gael reflects on her time with the women’s hockey team Matt Scace Staff Writer Kyla Crouse is moving on. After four years as a Gael, she and two other women’s hockey players are parting ways as their impending futures nudge them towards their professional lives and beyond.

“I have no regrets, honestly no regrets, as cheesy as that is,” Crouse said with a beaming smile during an interview with The Journal. It’s now been about two weeks into the off-season for the women’s hockey team, who capped their season off at the U Sports Championship earlier in the month. Since their sixth-place finish at nationals, Crouse has had some time to reflect on her career as

well as a wild season. “Since I’m fully done and I’m not like some of the other girls coming back, it’s kind of a little weird transition for me because the girls actually have fitness testing tonight,” said Crouse who, since joining the team in 2013, has lived and breathed Queen’s hockey. Crouse sheepishly noted that she was still going to attend the fitness testing session with the team because she still wanted to feel like a part of the squad. Knowing that her time at Queen’s is finished remains a tough pill for Crouse to swallow. “I mean it’s kind of sad thinking I will not get a chance to play hockey any more but I’m proud with everything we’ve done over the course of the past year.” But it’s not the actual sport that Crouse thinks she will miss the most. “Hockey’s super fun but I’ll probably miss the relationship I’ve had with the girls. They’re like a second family. The first time I came to Queen’s [I] automatically had friends,” Crouse recalls. “They’re like your family because you see them every day, I talk to them more than my parents or even my housemates.” The period has also allowed for the reflection of her fondest memories as a Gael. Crouse remembered the recent U Sports Championship being one of the most positive highlights of her time at Queen’s. “I’ve never really won or made it past playoffs so it’s an experience that I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life. Being able to compete in a

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

sprinting at will. But he was cautious, as anyone would be, coming off a major injury. In August 2015, when the Gaels returned to Kingston for training camp, everything was seemingly in-check. But when he scored against Carleton during the opening game of the 2015-16 season, the pain in his knee began creeping back on him. Without any clear evidence of re-aggravating the injury from a tackle or contact with another player, he recalls “it just felt a little funny. ‘This doesn’t feel quite right.’” “I was like, ‘This is too many little, little pains in my knee,’” he said of his mindset after the game. To combat this feeling, trainers started to tape his knee for every practice and every game. Continuing to play through the pain, the Gaels and Schroeter were on a roll. The team had won all but one game, and Schroeter was named Queen’s, OUA and CIS Male Athlete of the week. See Back on page 12

national championship and finishing sixth in Canada is amazing,” Crouse said. So what now for the former hard-nosed, penalty-kill specialist? Crouse is currently awaiting a response from the Queen’s physiotherapy program but made it clear that a return to Queen’s wouldn’t mean a return to Queen’s hockey.

“

They’re like your family because you see them every day, I talk to them more than my parents or even my housemates.

”

— Kyla Crouse

“I’ve been thinking about it, I just don’t know if I would be able to handle the whole workload of doing physiotherapy and playing hockey. Now it’s like my undergrad, that’s my career so I don’t know if I’d ever want to jeopardize having to mess things up with my career for hockey,” Crouse stated firmly. Crouse ended her thoughts on her career at Queen’s with only positive memories and a sense of fulfillment. “I’m just proud of everyone. I feel like I’ve had an impact on a lot of the younger girls on the team and not only the younger girls but my year as well. I find that I’m just proud of everyone.”

Sports

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Winter Varsity Sports Power Rankings

The women’s basketball team had an incredible regular season this year, finishing with a record of 18-1, the best in the team’s history. In post-season play, the team picked up a silver at the OUA playoffs and fourth place at the U Sports national championships, as well as individual honours. The women’s basketball team started the season strong, bringing in a few new recruits. These included second-year post Veronika Lavergne who previously played in the NCAA and rookie wing Bridget Mulholland,

Hosting the U Sports National Championships, the women’s hockey team was guaranteed a spot at the tournament. The Gaels finished their up-and-down season in sixth place nationally. Before the tournament, the Gaels had been eliminated from the OUA quarterfinals in a double overtime loss to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. The team’s strong points this year came from veteran goaltender Stephanie Pascal and forward Addi Halladay.

The women’s volleyball team had a tough season this year. While they seemed to be on an upward trajectory throughout the season, they were handed the same first-round exit in the OUA playoffs that they’ve had the past three seasons in a row. While the first half of the team’s season was a difficult one with many close losses, the team was going into the OUA playoffs on a seemingly strong note, winning seven of their final 10 regular season games. They ended the regular season with a

Joseph Cattana and Sarah O’Flaherty, Journal Staff

Women’s Basketball who was named an OUA All-Rookie. The team’s strength was in the depth of their roster — with any player having the potential to take over a game. Three particularly successful players were Emily Hazlett, Robyn Pearson and Andrea Priamo, who were all awarded the honour of OUA All-Stars. Finally, head coach Dave Wilson, was given a double honour this season. Wilson was named both OUA Coach of the Year and U Sports Coach of the year.

Women’s Hockey Pascal spent a year on the sidelines due to a serious concussion from a point shot to the mask. During her first season back she’s been a consistent strength for the team in the net. She was ranked ninth in the OUA this year with a save percentage of .924 in the regular season — impressive even without considering she spent 377 days off the ice. The team’s third-year left wing Halladay was ranked sixth in the OUA this season, with 13 goals and three assists.

Women’s Volleyball 10-9 record. However, their strong play leading up to playoffs didn’t seem to matter against the Western Mustangs who swept them in the quarterfinals. One of the team’s strongest players this year was captain Caroline Livingston, who was also named an OUA East All-Star, alongside fellow outside hitter Isabelle Korchinski. Danielle Corrigan was named to the OUA All-Rookie team.

Last year, the Sports section said the men’s hockey team needed to prove themselves in the playoffs before being considered in the upper-tier of the OUA. This team did just that. After beating the Ottawa Gee-Gees and then the Concordia Stingers in the OUA playoffs, Queen’s matched up against the McGill Redmen in the OUA East final. The Gaels made quick work of the Redmen, sweeping their Montreal rivals and moving into the OUA Final — a feat they haven’t

Despite the loss of five starters, the men’s volleyball team turned some heads in the OUA this season. Led by Markus Trence, the Gaels had one of the most high-powered offences in the province. On the season, Trence finished second in the OUA with 261 kills, while setter Jamie Wright — who won’t be returning to the team next year — finished second in the league with 9.75 assist per set. After starting the season 5-1, the Gaels suffered two, three-game losing streaks

At 6-1, the men’s basketball team was one of the strongest teams coming out of the winter break. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t be able to keep their strong play going. The Gaels went on to drop their next 11 games, finishing the season with a 70-60 win against York. Despite the losing streak, Queen’s snuck into the playoffs with a 7-12 record, losing their first-round game to the Nipissing Lakers. Struggling to find consistency, the Gaels

Men’s Hockey JOURNAL FILE PHOTOS

achieved in 37 years. Although they lost to York in the final and to the University of New Brunswick in the first round of the U Sports University Cup, the men’s hockey team had a successful season. In the regular season, they snapped a 31-game losing streak to McGill, and were constantly ranked in the U-Sports top-ten. With their core group of players returning, high expectations will be placed on Brett Gibson’s squad for next season.

Men’s Volleyball throughout the season, seeing them finish with a 10-8 record. Finishing fourth in the OUA East, Queen’s was matched-up against the undefeated McMaster in the first round of the playoffs, losing in straight sets. With only a few players graduating, look for the team to continue to grow. Trence will be returning for his fifth-year of eligibility next year, accompanied by fellow outside hitter Zac Hutcheson. In Hutcheson’s first year starting for the Gaels, he led the OUA with 137 digs.

Men’s Basketball relied on graduating guard Sukhpreet Singh. In February, Singh made Gaels history, surpassing Mitch Leger for the program’s all-time scoring title in an away loss to U of T. Singh capped off his career with an OUA All-Star selection. With Singh moving on from his time as a Gael, the team will need to concentrate on filling the void he’ll leave next season.

Sports

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Friday, March 31, 2017

Back to square one Continued from page 10

While that run was integral to the men’s soccer team, it was short-lived. The next week, in a win against Trent, he tore his MCL again — this time worse than the last. He was demoralized. “I went from the peak of my Queen’s experience, being Canadian Athlete of the Week, coming back from my injury, feeling like I’m on top of the world,” and he paused, “I just … I will absolutely never forget the pain I felt. It was terrible.” He was back to square one. ***

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The day doctors told Schroeter he could throw away his crutches, he didn’t give it a second thought.

“Crutching from one end of the campus to the other is impossible,” he said, jokingly. The athletic trainers did everything they could to get him up to par, Schroeter said, meeting with him as early as 6 a.m. on some mornings. It wasn’t until May 2016 that Schroeter was back to full strength, not worried about his knee and it showed. His first week back, Schroeter was named an OUA Athlete of the Week. By seasons’ end, he led the Gaels in scoring with nine goals. People often approach heavy injuries as dead-ends, but for Schroeter, it something he simply had to play against. When asked what advice he’d give to someone in his position a year ago, Schroeter said, “Just take your time. Physically and mentally, just take your time and everything will be alright.”

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Schroeter goes to the net.

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Friday, March 31, 2017

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Lifestyle Shivani Gonzalez Features Editor

BUSINESS BASICS

Student startups:

437 Swimwear

In the Kingston winter, two commerce students start a swimwear business SUPPLIED BY 437 SWIMWEAR

Model Brooklyn Millet in a red 437 Swimwear suit.

CULTURE COMMENTARY

Next in our student start up series are two girls who followed their dream of starting a swimsuit business. For Hyla Nayeri and Adrien Bettio, a semester on exchange and an inspiring trip to Italy’s sunny Amalfi Coast turned into a full-blown business. When the two Queen’s students got home from exchange last summer, they started working on 437 Swimwear. It officially launched in November of 2016. Their focus when the business started was the products, not the details of the business. “We didn’t put a lot of effort into the small details, the name of the business, the logo, the website, we just did it,” Nayeri told The Journal. “It took us one day or two. The hardest part of starting a business is to actually do it, why waste your time on small things?” The vision for their brand is minimalist, with an emphasis on neutral colors like blush, olive, lead, wine, red, black, pink and white. This was an intentional decision, part of their philosophy that the sexiest thing about their suits is the women wearing them. The colours emphasize their belief that everyone should feel comfortable in a swimsuit. Nayeri’s personal favorite piece in the collection is “The Minimalist”

in blush, but she notes that “The Minimalist” in red is the website’s hottest seller. “It’s definitely sexy, it’s a must-have, every girl needs a red bathing suit,” she said. For the actual production process, Nayeri and Bettio create sketches, then get help from a middle-man who turns the sketches into actual designs, which are then sent to their supplier. Nayeri and Bettio, both Comm ’17, plan to work for the business full-time following graduation. “We’re going to China in early June, we’re going to be meeting with our manufacturers and then going to Bali for a month to work from Bali. Our full-time career goals enable us to work from wherever we have wi-fi and laptops,” Nayeri continued. In terms of the future of the brand, they’re working on a new collection which will likely be released in the early summer of 2017. They have plans to look into expanding the business in the future, with intimates, beachwear, sleepwear and a potential collaboration for a line of men’s swimsuits. While 437 Swimwear launched just nine months ago, Nayeri isn’t surprised that this is the path her life is taking. “It’s really unconventional, but I never thought I would do the conventional thing, I just knew I wanted something else,” Nayeri finished.

A white guy’s take on whitewashing Death Note Hollywood’s lack of diversity affects everyone Josh Granovsky Staff Writer As a straight, white male — also arguably known as mainstream media’s favourite demographic — I’ve never had trouble feeling represented. But an upcoming whitewashed series made me stop and think twice about how I might see myself if the imagining was all up to me. On March 22, Netflix released the trailer for its new movie Death Note, a live-action adaptation of a Japanese anime series. The wildly popular story revolves around Light Yagami, a high school student who comes into possession of a notebook with the power to kill anyone whose name is written in its pages. In Japan, the Death Note franchise has spawned four films, a TV drama and even a musical. The Netflix adaption seems like a logical next step on the franchise’s path to mainstream domination. However, fans of the series were shocked to see that the anime show’s new iteration had been stripped entirely of its Japanese identity. Light Yagami became Light Turner, portrayed by white actor Nat Wolff. The majority of the movie’s cast is white, and its location has been moved from Tokyo to Seattle.

Death Note is unfortunately a mere bullet point on a long list of whitewashing instances in Hollywood. Some more recent cases include Emma Stone playing a character with mixed Hawaiian and Asian descent in 2015’s Aloha, Tilda Swinton’s portrayal of a traditionally Asian character in last year’s Doctor Strange and Scarlett Johansson’s current leading role in an adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. Intrigued by the Death Note controversy, I decided to search the movie’s title on Twitter,

expecting to find a countless supply of arguments against the film’s cultural appropriation. I was surprised to find an almost equal number of defenses of Netflix’s casting choices among the bevy of tweets on the topic. Tweet after tweet explained how Netflix’s recasting and use of white actors was simply because Death Note is an American adaptation, and thus more accurately reflects America through its cast and location. These defenses inspired me to do a sort of introspection — which,

Netflix’s Death Note will be released on August 25.

believe me, doesn’t happen often. I’ve always been able to turn on the TV at any given moment and see someone that looked just like me doing practically anything. Since television was and is such an integral part of our cultural capital, what I saw on TV largely shaped and expanded my imagination. If I wanted to imagine myself as a goofball, I could watch a Jim Carrey movie. If I wanted to imagine myself as a detective, I could turn on The Pink Panther or Inspector Gadget. If I wanted

VIA YOUTUBE

to imagine myself as a superhero, I could turn on practically any superhero movie ever. The most important thing television or movies ever did for me was make me feel like I had a place in the world as anything I wanted to be. From a young age, I considered my possibilities as endless largely because I could quite literally see myself in any profession or time or place with the click of a remote. It terrifies me that so many children in the same society I live in are unable to do the same, due to the colour of their skin or where they come from. Representation matters, and I’m proof of that. Taking away someone’s representation in media limits their imagination and maybe their future in the process. Adaptation or not, Death Note was a prime opportunity to make at least some JapaneseAmericans and Canadians feel like they had a place in their country’s mainstream media, not to mention offer a leading Hollywood acting opportunity to Japanese actors. Netflix dropped the ball. I hope this controversy at least directs Netflix towards a path that allows every child to feel like they belong, just as I did.

LIFESTYLE

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Friday, March 31, 2017

RECIPE

Sweet honey cookies to get full marks Easy baking to make group projects a breeze

Kiera Liblik Staff Writer Hi, my name is Kiera and I hate group projects, like really hate them. Despite my best efforts, I still have to do a lot of them. Fortunately, I’ve discovered the key to getting full marks on participation from even the most savage of group members. Are you ready for it? It’s wild. Bring cookies. That is all you’ll ever need to do. I brought these bad boys to a group meeting earlier this week, and no word of a lie, one person ate probably 10 of them. That guy is giving me 100 per cent for being group member of the year. I have no doubts, only cookies. Ingredients: • 1 cup of softened butter • ½ cup of honey • 1 egg • 1 tbsp of vanilla

OUTDOORS

A perfect day of tree planting A small dose of mud and helping the wetlands

PHOTO BY KIERA LIBLIK

• 2 ½ cups of flour • Sprinkles (optional but recommended)

Directions: 1. Microwave honey until liquid. 2. Whisk together melted honey, butter, egg and vanilla. 3. Slowly add flower. 4. Add desired sprinkles. 5. Divide dough in half and cover in saran wrap. 6. Refrigerate for 20 minutes and preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit in the meantime. 7. Roll dough ¼ inch thick, make sure to flour your surface first. 8. Cut into fun shapes. 9. Bake for 10-12 minutes, your edges should start to darken. 10. Use to bribe your group members!

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

A volunteer carries supplies through the Minesing Wetlands.

Cassandra Littlewood Staff Writer My friends and I drove through Wasaga Beach with open windows and the scent of fresh air filling the car. Green pastures, farmers markets and farm animals passed through the car windows. The day was off to a perfect start. We were excited that we’d chosen such a glorious day to plant trees, our little contribution to helping the earth. However, the moment we arrived on site we knew we’d made a grave mistake — we’d forgotten to wear rain boots. When we stepped out of the car to greet our guides and fellow tree planters, our feet sank into the mud. We’d decided to take part in a volunteer trip hosted by the Nature Conservancy of Canada to plant trees. The Nature Conservancy partnered with the Nottawasaga Valley Authority to plant trees in the Minesing Wetlands. The goal was to cover two acres of deciduous swamp forest to stabilize the area, protect it from erosion and provide habitats for wildlife. Our first task was to haul trees and tools to the planting site. We trudged back and forth along a narrow dirt path until the alreadyplanted trees cleared and we were greeted by acres of tall grass. We had reached our planting site along the Nottawasaga River. For those of you who’ve never planted trees, different species of trees require different planting methods and can only be planted in certain areas. This we were about to learn. In deciding that rain boots wouldn’t be a good choice on a hot day, we failed to realize that our feet and legs would be exposed to the elements, including poison

PHOTO BY CASSANDRA LITTLEWOOD

ivy and stinging nettles. My friends and I looked at each other and down at our bare legs and sneakers. If we hadn’t already regretted forgetting our boots when walking through mud and water on the way to the plant site, we were definitely regretting it now. Tree planting isn’t an activity that is easily done. Between shoveling, bending over, the stinging nettles and the sun — it turned out to be the hottest day 2016 had seen so far — it was no easy feat. However, despite the discomfort, the enthusiasm of the group motivated us through what turned out to be a lot harder work than we’d thought. One man, returning with a group that had separated from us, announced with a smile: “The warriors are back!” And warriors, we were, doing battle against mud, nettles and heat to find a home for 800 trees in the ground that day. With mud all over us and stinging nettle marks on our ankles, we were glad that we found this opportunity to learn more about tree planting and what it entails, despite the many obstacles that our group had to overcome. Green tubes protruding from the ground were there to protect the trees while they matured, but also served as markers of our successful work. As we surveyed the rows of green tubes that would in time become trees of a large forest, my friend turned to me and said, “We should mark our calendars to come back in 2026 to see the forest we helped plant.” “But next time, we’ll wear rain boots.”

LIFESTYLE

Friday, March 31, 2017

queensjournal.ca

• 15

POSTSCRIPT

Top 10 things I’ll miss after graduation — or will I?

Nabeela takes in campus during her last few weeks as an undergraduate student.

Nabeela Jivraj Staff Writer As graduation looms, I can’t help but look back on the past four years spent on this campus —the good, the bad and the ugly. The false sense of productivity found at CoGro

The best way to feel better about all the work you’ve been putting off is to grab a coffee and bagel at CoGro and get shit done. This often translates into 10 minutes spent trying to find a table, 45 minutes (minimum) running into every person you’ve met in the entire history of your undergrad, 12 minutes wondering whether QueensuSecure_WAP2 or eduroam will serve you better today, five minutes wishing that dog you pet was yours; 40 minutes on Instagram, and an impressive total of two new emails in your outbox. At least the Top Secret bagel was especially good today. Pita Grill & Poutine (emphasis on poutine)

For the good nights, the bad nights or just very late nights, fries, cheese and gravy will never let you down. For when your best friend decides to be vegetarian and says they can’t have poutine anymore but actually they totally can because the dudes at this place know and have veg gravy. For when you honestly just needed a snack to last you the walk home and you only have toonies and loonies left over from the bar. Pita Grill is always the answer. Getting called “exotic” at the club

I’m really flattered that you like my hair and my nose ring! Yes, I’m sure I’m from here. I’m really glad we had this conversation. I’m also really glad bar rail is $2.75 so I can spend the rest of this evening forgetting this ever happened. One hundred million Facebook notifications. Per. Day.

Mostly event invites plus Overheard posts, community posts, debates about when to have that next meeting, reminders to Tilt, Free & For Sale posts, all of this of course notwithstanding messages in the group chat you muted a while back. I’ll go right ahead and click “attending” as a sign of solidarity even though I already know I need to be at three other events at the exact same time. Lol.

The AMS

Running into a one night stand in *club* Metro “Hey!! Yeah… Vitamin Water is three for $5 right now… really great deal. My favourite one is Triple X… not sure why I felt compelled to say that. Yeah, okay. Good to see you also. Yep. Okay. Bye.” There are unending perks to a centrally located, median cost, 24-hour grocery. Some where you run into a hookup while scouting the aisles for cheap beverages. Waking up at 9:23 and still making that 9:30 class on the third floor of Ellis

“It’s a natural flush, professor”. In all seriousness though, the proximity of everything you could possibly need to the average Queen’s student makes life way easier. Not to mention way more spontaneous. I’m horrible at planning and I blame it on knowing I can be basically anywhere within 10 minutes’ notice. That was my cardio for the day, thanks. The unwritten dress code

Coming downstairs to a full house on the Sunday of HOCO Nothing says family quite like every square inch of your living room floor being taken up by your slumbering friends, surrounded by solo cups and general debris. As the sweet sound of TSwift and/or ‘Closer’ by The Chainsmokers echoes through the University District, you feel like this is maybe what true happiness feels like. So many friends, so much love. Actually, I’m pretty sure I don’t even know half of these people. Cha Gheill though am I right?

I never went to private school or had to wear a uniform. Most days though, I feel it wouldn’t be all that bad. Studies show that donning the same attire as one’s peers increases feelings of camaraderie and boosts team morale or something like that. Fortunately, between actual matching faculty/ club/campus bookstore clothing and a general convergence on all the same trends, identifying members of your clan isn’t difficult. Especially when literally everyone

PHOTO BY JULIA BALAKRISHNAN

around you falls into this category. There are pitfalls, though. The only way I’m able to keep track of which jacket and shoes belong to me is by wearing them at all times, the dent in the bottom of my S’well bottle is the only determining factor that allows me to pick it out of the army of other ones you can find at any table. I guess you could say this phenomenon has forced a certain attention to nuance I never had before. Home

My LifeSci degree taught me that Aristotle once said, “the whole is greater than the sum of all its parts.” There are way more than 10 things I’ll miss about my time at Queen’s, and though these parts include all the above, they’re not limited to the following: Principal Woolf’s Twitter; the abundance of acronyms; QP sangria; crossing the street when you see a squirrel; Ritual; hearing everything your housemates do; the sound of kids from KCVI having recess; days at the Pier; the two weeks where all you want in life is air conditioning; still not knowing your way around Mac-Corry; being surrounded by models; Physical Plant Services; “we have a Castle”; free hugs from Carley; Top Secret bagels; the ferry; knowing how dumb you were in first year; endless pizza; wishing you were an engineer; being incredibly glad you’re not an engineer; the brothers at Campus One Stop; Girl’s Night Out; three quarter zips; Tuesday Mod Club; your friends at Stauffer who you don’t actually know but you feel like you do from shared time in hell; Tommy’s; tricolour; skating to class; old friends, and new friends…. All these little parts have made up a place I’ll still be calling home well after graduation (sorry, Mom). Thank you, Queen’s.

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Friday, March 31, 2017